1911's

Shot of the shelf at the range with three of my favorite handguns!

 

Best Of....CMP Advanced Maintenance Class. Day One.

One of my most popular blog posts.  From three years ago:
 
So the trip looked like this from the car:

Yes my friend ML, I did run the thing faster than 38 MPH!

I wind up at the CMP facility in Anniston AL. I'm here to assemble a Special Grade M-1 Garand for a three day class. 

Twenty students get started. First, we pick out the heart of one of these. A receiver, gas cylinder, stripped bolt and a new Criterion barrel. The three armorers guided us as we picked through bins of parts even after we were given a lecture and power point on what to look for and what to get. 

First was bolt lapping. 

This is the method of using a mild abrasive compound to insure that the bolt meets the receiver with maximum surface area. You apply the compound and rotate the bolt in and out of battery to achieve this. You can see that I have removed most of the finish on the lugs here (shiny parts on the back). Almost 85% there. That's good enough!    

Then we go on a tour of the facility. 

Lots of rifles! They are awaiting inspection and grading.

This case denotes 50 Springfield Armory M-1's. Rack grade and ready for further processing.

 Same deal here. 

Need any ammo? They have it, but these pallet loads are to support the mission of CMP.  Training. 

Sigh, Look at this:

This is where the rifles get sorted. Some go to auction, some are stripped, and everything in between.

 Then we go to the air rifle range. There are only two of these in the US. The Olympic shooters train here. 

Scoring is electronic and in real time. 

Looks like you can spend some money on a tricked out air rifle just as much as any other one.

    












Then after lunch, we get to it. We are going to install the new barrel into a HRA receiver. Barrel timing is discussed. We want the barrel to be "crushed" into the receiver, yet have enough play to time the barrel.  

Timing the barrel means that you achieved the crush, yet have enough play to get the front sight mount in the proper alignment. 

Here is the BHW. This is a receiver wrench.  The barrel is placed into a vice and then we go to it. 

A simple yet effective method of aligning the front sight with the receiver is taught. Using two steel rods, one on the front sight pad and one on the receiver we get this. 

This is close, but needs a slight tweak. 


Random people doing the same thing.

Then the barrel reaming. This is a BIG deal! It took two passes with the reamer to insure bolt lockup and good head space. We used "NO-GO"and "GO" gauges to watch the progress of our efforts.

Here is my first pass attempt on that! 

That was the first day. More later! 


  

I'm Back!

Sorta.  After a phone conversation tonight when my friend said I needed to dust off the Blog, I was humbled.  Who on the planet would ever want to hear my ramblings?  'We do.'

Very well Sir.  Challenge accepted. Let me see if I can turn the knob up a bit.  And thank you for challenging me!  

Knob.  Turning.

 

Oh, no.

The person behind the Weaponsman Blog has passed.  I will truly miss his knowledge and art with the written word.  He linked to some of my posts back in the day and said next time he was in this state we should get together. 

Sadly that is not to be.  

Rest in Peach Sir and think you for your service to this Country.     

From the Bench!

A long time friend asks if I can "clean up" his fathers and then his shotgun.  It was my friends first one and says it has sit for several decades.  I say of course.  

He brings me a Remington Model 58 in 16 gauge.  This is the first gas operated model offered by Remington.  I get to it. 

  

Disassembly quickly showed that everything needed a bath.

 Everything that could fit got stuffed into a ultrasonic cleaner.  Springs were replaced and attention was given to the gas selector knob.  You controlled the amount of gas to the action of the shotty by selecting "H" or "L" denoting high or low brass.   I used sight paint to bring that back. 

  

































Then the shell latches came out.  Supposedly you CAN reassemble the gun without staking them back in but that seems to require about 4 hands, a third eye, and a dead chickens fresh blood arrayed in a replica of the Remington logo.  I got the tool to put them back in. 

Then attention to the metal.  Look at the engraving! 

Finally get it all back together. 

 























Now the best part.  Function check!  It shot fantastic.
Although only made from 1956 to 1963, this shotgun and the lessons learned from it morphed into the venerable Model 1100 that is still made today.  

I am very proud to give this shotty back to my friend so that he can pass it down to his grandson when the time comes.  What a great piece of history.  Thanks for dropping it off my friend!  
 

From the Bench

A Remington Model 58 shotgun in 16 ga.  Been busy.  Be right back with all the details on this first autoloader from Remington.  

Belts.... Many of them.

So, I received a free belt for review here in June.  From Kore Essentials.  They call it a EDC belt.  

The thing most people don't do is spend as much time researching and testing the holster and belt they use as much as they do the handgun.  That is sad, as they all must work together well.  Obviously belts such as these really are nice, but not up to the demands of hanging a handgun off of them:

   



















My goto belts for OWB and IWB work well, yet scream "GUN" to those that know and are not quite as stylish as this belt.  

See what I mean? 

So the first thing of note on this belt is the lack of holes.  Second is the ratchet release on the bottom of the buckle.  The belt comes ready to fit any waist from "24 to "54 inches.  Cut at the desired length, attach the buckle and you are ready to go.  

I am also told the buckle can work in a pinch as a bottle opener, but I have not tested that =) 

Being able to adjust the belt in 1/4 inch increments gives me a bit of tighter control in adapting between OWB and IWB carry as opposed to traditional belts where I usually have to punch a hole where I need one.  

See what I mean?

I find this belt to be up to the task for handguns up to 4 pounds.  

A truly ingenious design and well crafted.  I recommend if you are looking for a carry belt to at least try one of these.  

*I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a sample for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.*

  

BRB!

Going to the land of horses and bourbon. Colt Collectors Convention in KY this week. 

Great shirt and blinged out name tag, huh?  

 

Tap, Tap, Tap. Is this thing still on?

I'm still here!  It's been sorta interesting here this summer.  I'll try to at least post something once a week again.  

The test between the first gen Colt Mustang and the new XSP is barely underway. I'll post something about that shortly. 

NRA Annual Meeting

So on May 19th, I left for the NRAAM in Louisville KY. Met up with some friends for Dinner upon arrival and showed up the next day at the Media desk to check in. 

"Blogger huh?" They pull this blog up and much hilarity ensued. 

Behind the media desk shot as this Blog is pulled up =) 

80 Thousand + attendees. About the same as Indy, but I found the venue not as crowded. May have just been me though. 

 






















Attend an Instructor update. Although I can understand instructor push back to the new blended learning, I also understand instructor's negative feedback. I have no solution to this change in format except to say it appears the NRA is protecting itself on professional and legal levels with the blended online and instructor approach. 

 

















Over 700 instructors attended this seminar. 


So, off to a booth or two:

Convention staff all said the same thing. Attendees were polite and well mannered. LPD Officers actually thanked me for being there. That seems to be a standard of these annual meetings.

See you in Atlanta in 2017! 

 

NRAAM

NRA instructor meeting! 700 or so of us! 

So it begins....

The Colt XSP .380 on the line today for a quick 100 rounds of generic Winchester white box 95 grain ammo. As usual, the safety is well, a Colt one. 

No faults noted today. It is a really soft shooting pistol compared to some pocket .380's around here. 

Next week the original Mustang, same ammo and perhaps some chrono work. 

I apologize in advance if this post looks wonky, trying to figure out the iThingy blogger app before the NRAAM!

Somebody Caught Me!

Doing two things. Working and having fun at the same time! Bad that they got my bald spot but I'll take it! Good going young lady! 

 

So.....

After being motivated by a noted gun blogger and conversations tonight I have been motivated to do the 2000 round test that Tam has been doing. 

I'm doing it with a twist though. A brand new Colt Mustang XSP with less than 100 rounds through it head to head with a first generation Colt Mustang (1987 or so) with less than 500 rounds through it. 

I'll field strip both, clean and lube them. Lets see how this goes! 

Dang it Tam! Like I need another hobby right now! Like figuring this camera out =)

 

 

I Need to Get Organized!

Wandering around after a competition shoot and needed some new magazines. Was going to order some then in a small cabinet found this stuff. 

I really need some help to inventory this place!

 

Visitors!

So last week these two dropped by:

They were kind enough to allow their human and his friend to come along! Murph and The Shekel were present as well. A great evening was had by all (I hope). 

Really good to see friends, have some food and shoot some stuff! Too short as always and I really don't entertain guests that often. Hope I'm not rusty. 

Care package for my four legged friends was graciously  provided by another friend over at Excels at Nothing. They as before were a big hit! 

Come by anytime ya'll!   

 
 

Bumrush!

I fear this will happen again this week! These two are formidable opponents! At least I will have home field advantage.