Quality oil finishes take time and are labor-intensive but they are absolutely worth it. After the pores are filled in the wood, some of the finish is smoothed out with 400-grit sandpaper and then rubbed with 000 steel wool until it is polished smooth and looks dull. After being cleaned with tack cloth to remove all of the dust, an oil finish cut with mineral spirits is rubbed onto the stock in multiple thin layers and then polished with 0000 steel wool. Apply finish. Repeat again and again and again...
How's this for home defense? A co-worker had an old shotgun he wanted to learn some about so I took a look and the dog got curious. It was obviously a workhorse of a shotgun at some point... here's how the cloth sling attached to the barrel (attached by a wide brass ring hammered down tight and trimmed): Awesome.
I am looking to get my Concealed Handgun License pretty soon. With that being said, I know guns, I just do not know anything about handguns. Does anyone have any recommendations for handguns or even what caliber handguns are good for concealed carry? I need to purchase the gun first and do some shooting with it before the class so I am familiar with the gun.
Do you want to pocket carry or use a conventional holster? What kind of capacity do you want? Would you prefer a revolver or auto-loader? As far as the ammo is concerned, there are a ton of ways to go and a ton of opinions about stopping power, penetration, expansion, etc. Personally, I think that whatever you can pull out and shoot quickly and accurately is going to be a deterent. The guy with the Walther P22 (.22 long rifle) that can empty his clip into a head-sized target at 20 yards in a matter of seconds is going to be a hell of a lot more useful in a deadly situation than an idiot with a .40 cal Glock who holds it sideways. Bottom line: Figure out the answers to the questions above. Then, find a gun that fits your hand, is comfortable to shoot (so you'll practice more often), and uses ammo that's readily available*. If you can, rent a few different guns at a local range (or talk to friends that have guns you can try) to see what you like best. If renting isn't a possibility, at least go to a shop and hold a few to see which ones feel best in your hand. *A lot of guys shooting .380 are having trouble finding it/finding it for a reasonable price. My buddy is trading in his pocket .380 for a pocket 9mm for that very reason. Just something to keep in mind, even though I think .380 is a good little round that a lot of great pistols use.
There's two self defense handgun species, revolvers and automatics. Revolvers will basically work whenever, wherever, in whatever conditions. Automatics will work fine, as long as you take care of them. You're not gonna need a hundred rounds, so don't worry about capacity. I think a 5 round revolver is more than enough for a self defense handgun. Regardless of whether or not you kill your attacker, they're gonna be running for the hills when they realize their victim is armed and aiming for them. Unless you're Charles Bronson, you're not gonna be cleaning up the streets, you're gonna make a bright flash and a loud noise while you take the opportunity to run. If you're more comfortable with a revolver, I suggest a .38 Special with a 6 round capacity. A 6 round revolver just seems right in my opinion, one round better than a 5 round cylinder. If you're gonna go with an automatic, anything with 8 down to 6 rounds will also do fine. I wouldn't take a caliber any higher than .40 S&W, but I wouldn't stop you from getting a .45. You don't need to worry about blowing anyone's face off, because frankly, if they're hit with a 9mm or a .357, they're not gonna be playing anymore. Getting shot sucks, regardless of caliber. That's just my two cents though. You take what feels best, and what you can shoot straightest with. That's the most important thing.
If you choose a revolver, I don't see a reason to go with a .38 Special instead of a .357 Magnum. .357 Magnum revolvers can fire .38 Special rounds, but .38 Specials cannot necessarily fire .357 Magnums. I don't think there's a repeating pistol design that will blow off anyone's face, so there's no real need to use this as a criteria. Most rounds > .38 Special should do the trick if you do your part. 9x19mm (Luger, Parabellum, the stuff NATO uses) and .45 ACP are probably going to be the easiest to find, and both have a long history of putting holes in people.
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.magnumresearch.com/bfr.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.magnumresearch.com/bfr.asp</a> Take a look at what they chamber those things in. I'm pretty sure they meant to call it the Big Fuckin' Revolver. I finally found some time to sand and trim up the fancy stock I got for myself earlier this spring. I'm glad they spared it from becoming firewood. Spoiler There's hours and hours of work to do, but gah dayum it's gonna make a rifle look good.
Hey fellow gun people- I've got a favor to ask. If you haven't already checked it out, please take a look at my blog and critique away. I figured I do enough stuff that doesn't get posted here to warrant creating another channel for curious people to see what projects I'm working on and the mountain of photos I take (I am willing to bet some people are sick of me posting on this thread all the damn time with lots of photos pulling bandwidth). <a class="postlink" href="http://northernriflestocks.wordpress.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://northernriflestocks.wordpress.com/</a> I'll be adding more step-by-step things (lots of tutorials, actually), deeper insights into stuff I'm doing, and whatever else I think is interesting. But seriously- if you think I can improve it, please tell me what you think should be done. Thanks!
I just took up a custom project that's completely different for anything I've done before. I'm making a custom walnut stock set for a Romanian AK. More details... <a class="postlink" href="http://northernriflestocks.wordpress.com/2010/10/08/a-custom-ak/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://northernriflestocks.wordpress.co ... custom-ak/</a>
Thinking about moving up from my .22 semi-auto rifle to a bolt action Mossberg .308 called the "Night Train". I shot it at a field day at our local sportsmans club, and it felt like it was built just for me. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.tactical-life.com/online/products/mossbergs-100atr-night-train-ii/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.tactical-life.com/online/pro ... -train-ii/</a> Anyone have any experience with those?
Hello fellow gun lovers! I'm going to be turning 21 in a few months where I'll finally be of age to own and apply for a concealed weapon carry license. I'm just now beginning to do research for which handgun to purchase and was hoping you guys could provide some input. My experience so far includes a handful of trips to the range (would go much more often but target ammo is so fucking expensive) with my father and his .357, Walther PPKS, and a much smaller caliber handgun that I can't remember the name of. I've been looking forward to owning my own once I'm old enough. I just want to point out that I won't allow myself to go out there carrying a loaded weapon without educating myself and plenty of visits to the range, etc. For now, I just want to shop around and so any input on a good first weapon would be much appreciated. And maybe in a few years I'll look around for a rifle...
The stock optics and trigger on that weapon are questionable at best, and just from the comments on that page there seem to be some safety issues with the trigger assembly. Personally if you are going to step into a .308 setup on a budget, get a Savage Model 10 and Leopold optics, and get them used. For under a grand you can put together a pretty slick little .308 setup that you could still take on a hunt. Mossberg knows a lot about making shotguns, but I'm not sure they know much about making accurate long range weapons. EDIT: I just saw that gun is $250 at WALMART. Well, that's what it is... a $250 gun.
As BrianH said, I'd probably look somewhere else. If you don't want to break the bank, check out the new Marlin XS7 or the Thompson Center Venture. Both come in 308 if that's what you're set on. You can find the Marlin for less than $350 and it's gotten decent reviews from the guys over at thehighroad.org, a forum I check out from time to time. The TC Venture can be found for under $500, has also gotten good reviews, and comes with a guarantee that it'll shoot 1MOA.
If you don't want to spend a lot of money, pick up a Stevens 200. It's a Savage with a cheaper stock, cheaper metal finish, and a simple trigger (no Accu-trigger). You should be able to pick one up new for less than $300, maybe even $250. I've done some work on a Savage for a buddy and have concluded they are great for three reasons. First, the Accu-trigger is one of the best out-of-the-box factory triggers imaginable. Two, swapping out barrels is very easy and with a couple of spare barrels, you can hunt virtually anything with one rifle. Three, the floating bolt head is a great way to save on manufacturing costs while improving performance. The only downside is them not being very attractive, but if you want a cheap rifle that'll shoot lights-out... buy a Savage.
I'm putting a diamond-shaped ebony inlay into a stock... it's an interesting project that I dreamed up recently. <a class="postlink" href="http://northernriflestocks.wordpress.com/2010/10/12/a-diamond-in-the-rough-part-iii/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://northernriflestocks.wordpress.co ... -part-iii/</a> I haven't yet seen anything done like this so I'm really flying by the seat of my pants.
Thanks for the advice guys. The one I shot was set up as a .30-06, so that's the size I was looking for. My current .22 semi auto is a Savage, it's been good thus far other than the slide being a little clicky. I'd rather go .30-06 than .308. I'm assuming your recommendations for that would be similar?
What you plan on doing with the rifle will determine what caliber to go with. I'd personally go with the .308... it can do virtually everything the .30/06 can with less recoil and higher efficiency (but efficiency really only matters if you plan on reloading). That and it's an inherently accurate round... they typically shoot better than other chamberings right out of the box. The slide is clicky? What do you mean with this?