Bleg!

My favorite Merchant O’Death has asked for my assistance, and I’m passing on the request:

I have a friend who is looking for an AR barrel (NOT an upper) chambered in 5.45X39, that also has the PROPER BORE DIAMETER. He recently purchased an AR in 5.45 and after a trip to the range (and a 16″ group at 100yds) discovered that, while the chamber is 5.45, the bore diameter is 5.56mm. I figured you might have an answer or two. I would greatly appreciate any info you are willing to pass along.

I couldn’t find anything in stock anywhere. Any ideas?

.300 Winchester Magnum Brass?

Anyone?  Bueller?

So far as I can tell, unless you have something chambered in a relatively obscure black-powder metallic cartridge caliber, there is no brass to be found on the open market.

I have a brand-new .300 Win Mag coming that I’d really like to, you know, shoot eventually, and the current panic has made brass for it unobtanium – even more rare than .22 rimfire ammo.

This sh!t has got to cease.

UPDATE:  Found some – Norma, in stock at Grafs.  For about the price of gold per ounce. (*sigh*)

I think I’ll wait….

UPDATE:  Seems I can get Winchester brass already loaded for less than Norma brass empty, so I bought a case of 180 grain Super-X for $25.99/box.  That should do.

Burying Them Won’t Save Them

Huge arsenal of guns and ammo found – hidden behind false wall day after Dunblane massacre

A builder renovating a house has discovered a huge arsenal of guns and ammunition that were hidden behind a false wall the day after the Dunblane massacre.

More than 30 shotguns and pistols, along with hundreds of rounds of ammunition, were discovered in a semi-detached house in the quiet village of Dinas Powys in south Wales.

The guns were wrapped in newspaper dated March 14 1996, the day after the Dunblane primary school massacre in which sixteen children and a teacher lost their lives.

Simon Berni, the builder who discovered the haul, said: “It was an incredible arsenal – full, absolutely choc-a-bloc with eight shelves of fire arms and ammunition”.

Mr Berni said: “I was shocked because there weren’t any bricks in the wall but a lot of shotgun barrels and hand guns…They obviously belonged to somebody who knew what they were doing as they were all greased and beautifully wrapped up in newspaper.”

Police are investigating the gun stash, but believe it’s likely the property’s previous owner simply hadn’t registered them and hid the weapons to avoid losing them in a government crackdown on guns in the wake of Dunblane.

So someone hadn’t registered his guns, still managed to acquire a lot of ammo, and could see the writing on the wall after Dunblane – but instead of turning them in during an amnesty he carefully preserved and stored them, never to use them again.

In other words, he lost them, anyway.

Some talk about stashing guns and ammo against a similar eventuality here.

For what? So somebody else can stumble across them a decade or two later?

So I Bought Another Rifle

I decided to pull the trigger, so to speak, and purchased another Remington 700 – this time a .300 Winchester Magnum.  This one is also a 5R, but it has a 26″ fluted barrel and a Bell & Carlson stock.  All the metal is finished in black Cerakote.  It’ll be a couple of weeks before I have it in hand, but it looks a lot like this one:

 photo Rifle.jpg

 photo Stock.jpg

 photo Barrel.jpg
I’m no wimp, but when I go to the range, I like to SHOOT, and .300WM exceeds my shoulder capacity after ten five rounds, so I have to put a muzzle brake on it.  Looks like there’s plenty of meat at the end for threading.

What say the Hive?  Any recommendations for “Best Muzzle Brake for a .300 Win Mag”?

Oh, and my original 5R is going up for sale.  I’m only going to keep one .308, and that’s going to be the M25.

UPDATE:  Three nibbles on the .308 already!

UPDATE II – 3/29:  I’ve got a buyer!

Glock Perfection

Say Uncle linked to a Brietbart piece, ABC’s ‘Nightline’ Takes Aim at Glock Handguns in which ‘Nightline’ really hammers on the meme that Glock (the manufacturer) is eeeeeeviiilllll.

Something I noted though – I recently received a complimentary copy of Paul M. Barrett’s Glock: The Rise of America’s Gun from the publisher for review. I’m way overdue on that review (and honestly, others have done that far better than I), but I noted throughout the Brietbart column that it seemed that whoever did the ‘Nightline’ hit piece had read Mr. Barrett’s book, too. Used it as an outline, almost. When Barrett details how Glock would allow police departments to trade in their old service weapons for a discount on new Glocks, and then would sell those weapons to wholesalers, I could read an undercurrent of anger at how Glock was “putting guns on the streets” – especially when they took older Glock models (with pre-ban “high-capacity” magazines) in trade, thus illustrating the absurdity of the 1994 AWB. The ‘Nightline’ piece expands on that anger.

I’ve met Paul Barrett – he attended the Gun Blogger Rendezvous a couple of years ago, trying to gin up enthusiasm for his book. He seems a nice guy and a good investigative reporter, but I thought at the time that his book would be used as ammunition for the anti-gun forces out there, and I believe it has been.

Interesting Data Point

My Arizona CCW expired this month, so last month I filled out the renewal form and mailed them a cashier’s check.

It’s been a few weeks.  No permit.

So I called them today.  “We’re currently processing only those applications that came in before February 15,” I was told. “At the start of the year, it seems like EVERYBODY wanted to get a permit.  We’re buried in applications.”

This is in a state where a permit is not required for carrying concealed.  I have one because it gets me out of the instant background check when I purchase a firearm, and it also lets me carry in several other states (but no longer in Nevada).

I was advised to give them “another couple of weeks” before checking back.

Happy Birthday to Me!

So last year, I was given a Colt Pocket Hammerless Vest Pocket .25.  It was the second-oldest gun in my safe. Now it’s third-oldest.  This year, my father-in-law gave me his original 1917-vintage Colt 1911!

 photo 90a36924-b859-4e32-8086-b2fa1d367ed0.jpg

 photo 081360b0-4413-4941-ac3a-1977983e6162.jpg
 photo efaa9566-5e27-48dd-9c84-5d3b4e5c208f.jpg
It’s pretty pitted, and appears to have been reblued some time in the past, but I believe the double-diamond walnut grip panels are original, and I know for a fact that it feeds and shoots hardball just fine. Not bad for a 96 year-old handgun.