philoshop

Happy Birthday!

It's entirely up to her to get over her hoplophobia. I taught her husband (my kid brother) how to shoot 40+ years ago, and I taught her kids how to shoot and handle guns when they were teenagers. The kids had a lot of fun plinking that day, and they still comment on it.

Enjoy the birthday feast!

Busy day! Looks good!

Fade in. The family is sitting around the dinner table after the Christmas feast, discussing current events, and having some laughs. The youngest person in the room is 20 yo, and it's a pretty intelligent group of doctors, dentists, nurses, college students, etc. The subject of gun control comes up and my SIL makes a comment: "Only a crazy person would think they need to carry a gun everywhere they go." Without really thinking, I made the mistake of saying: "I'm not crazy, but I'm carrying a gun right now." Oops. SIL kind of flipped out, like I was somehow an immediate threat. She's a school teacher, btw. She asked to see it, and I told her no. (I wasn't going to make it worse.) She asked me why I was carrying and I told her it's like putting on socks in the morning, I don't give it much thought any more. ... Things mostly returned to normal for the evening, except for the icy stare-daggers from the SIL. My brother called me last night to say they had made it back to New Hampshire okay after their holiday excursion. He chuckled when he let me know that his wife is still seriously pi***d at me. He's a family psychologist, so he'll work it out.

I'm sorry about your friend, Pygmy. That sounds like a collection I'd like to see. We can only hope the guns he cared so much about are being appropriately cared for today.

Scrimshaw with skulls. Skullshaw? Cool stuff Paula, thanks for the post.

I will never part with my 1960's model 37 Featherlight, (SN 972796). A true masterpiece of design and workmanship... And it doesn't throw empties at your buddies in a duck blind.

All the best to you!!

Everything that happens in this country is two heartbeats away from becoming a 'gun law'.

Belo, I honestly don't understand your animosity when it comes to this section of the site. We all hunt. Most of us use guns to accomplish that, at least part of the time. Our ability to keep those guns depends entirely on preserving the Constitution as it was written. Every single bit of politics in the US today can be boiled down to the Constitution: Maintain it vs change it. Sometimes the disagreement is subtle with regard to the 2nd Ammendment, and sometimes it's very direct, but it's always important to pay attention to who is coming down on which side and why.

Enjoy the day my friend, and may many sheds come your way!

Similar to an Eskimo Ulu knife. They're great for skinning, but chopping veggies wouldn't be a stretch either. ;-]

MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

I find that chasing it down with a couple shots of good bourbon helps.

If I go into the woods with only chainsaws the deer will stand there and watch me cut. If I take the .44 with me in a shoulder holster I never see a deer. Not only do they know when the seasons are open, I think they have spies watching me gear up in the morning.

I would ask them, "Why are you wasting our time and money?"

Apparently it was a problem when the .17 HMR was first introduced, and has since been corrected. Hornady was not annealing the .22mag cases before neck sizing and bullet seating. I'm still using .17 ammo that was purchased in bulk in the early 2000's and approximately 10% have splits in the case necks. The cartridge was brand new to the market at the time and Hornady was the only manufacturer. I bought 5000 rounds for about $450 so culling out 10% in pursuit of accuracy is not a big deal. ;-] My apologies for any confusion.

Feels like spring out there!!! Except for the mud keeping me from hauling firewood, I won't complain about it.

Nice looking set-up! As far as ammo selection, it's like any other rimfire in that the gun will 'like' some ammo more than others for accuracy. Range testing will narrow it down. Another thing to watch for with .17 ammo is small splits/cracks in the case necks from the factory. There's nothing remotely dangerous about it, but it can affect accuracy. Especially on a squirrel's head at 100 yards. I cull the split necks out and use them for plinking rather than hunting.

If the moisture is on the inside it won't ever go away. I don't think that's your problem. Butler Creek flip-caps will keep the snow and direct rain away from the lenses. Learn how to keep the glass really clean. Broken record here, I know. But it's important. You might want to get see-through scope rings if you do a lot of hunting in adverse conditions. They're almost mandatory when hunting bears on Kodiak Island in Alaska, where a murky/foggy scope could kill you.

Merry Christmas Growalot!

That would be perfect for the log splitter! Merry Christmas to me! I have the TSC garage-in-a box for my tractor. 4 years as of last month, and holding up quite well, for $300. Build it level so that everything can be tightened down correctly, and anchor it like you're expecting Katrina.

Hopefully it's not fog on the inside of the tube. That would mean your scope is toast. Assuming the 'fog' is on the outside of the lens: The most important thing is keeping the glass absolutely clean. Clean glass will bead up and shed moisture very quickly, but the tiniest bit of dust or other contaminants will hold it in place and give you a 'foggy' or distorted view. And learn how to properly clean your glass. Plenty of youtube videos will show you how to do it right, and it doesn't cost very much. The other thing is: Keep the glass at working temperature. If you can safely keep it outside over night in an unheated shed or garage, that's good. Don't set it on the front seat of your truck with the heat blasting, etc, etc. Condensation happens mostly when going from cold to warm, but with a rain/snow mix it can get weird. I can be a little extreme about taking care of the optics, but I have a lot invested in riflescopes, camera lenses and telescopes. That $200 gun in my rack might not get as much TLC as it deserves, but the $800 scope on it is something I'll never ignore.