The Hobbit Hole XXXVII - ...Down a thirsty throat and be glad indeed!

[osagebowman]

Whoo0hooo - That sounds a like busy weekend. Glad to hear all the books and boxes are in thenewhouse. One more moving weekend and you both will be set for a while. Congrats.

[osagebowman]

Too bad you don’t a box of portable holes for the flowers. They are fairly agressive and self seed so it won’t be long before the five are ten.

Great day, mowing and weed-eatering, moving the bird feeders around. Got a couple of newer birds, a rose-breasted grosbeak and brown thrasher. Neat getting new birds.

[Overtaxed]

I tried putting up birdfeeders but they only attracted lots of bushy-tailed grays.

I took a break from gardening activities today.

[osagebowman]

heh, yup, the squirrels are ‘rascaly varmints.

[Corin Stormhands]

squirrels = threadkillers

[TalonDJ]

As much trouble as you’re having with that mini-14, I’ve scratched it off my wish list.

No kidding. That thing is looking less nifty all the time. I am not afraid of a little smithing but I don't like to HAVE to do smithing to make my magazines fit. :P

Fortunately my wishlist is still plenty long.

[Overtaxed]

[300winmag]

No kidding. That thing is looking less nifty all the time. I am not afraid of a little smithing but I don't like to HAVE to do smithing to make my magazines fit. :P

I have to say a few things in defense of the Mini-14 in general, and my Mini-14 in particular. First, mine is a very early 181-series. The original was series 180, and it received major upgrades, resulting in the 181 and later series. My early 181 was recalled by Ruger for a second proof testing, and now has two acceptance marks on the top of the receiver ring. All of this was done as a precaution because Ruger suspected that some 181s might not have been proofed to full specs. Ruger has always been very conscientious about things like this.

Second, I haven't touched a Mini-14 other than this one. For all I know, the design is now more forgiving of aftermarket mags. People would not be selling aftermarket magazines if every user was having the degree of problems I did. Ruger wouldn't be selling many Minis, either.

Finally, there are things I like about this rifle. The trigger assembly is an exact scale model of the M14 trigger, and is a known quantity. It tuned up nicely with a little bit of magical NanoLube. I recommend the extra-power Wolff hammer and op rod springs. The hammer spring is a one-time hassle to install (pay a gunsmith to do it), and the powerful op rod spring is a genuine pain to reassemble, but I think I have a workable assist for that. Both improve overall reliability, which is the first requirement for any rifle. The thin, whippy barrel degrades accuracy, but that's a fault common to any rifle with a skinny barrel, including lots of "sporters".

[300winmag]

I just got back from my local EBR store. Still no SiG 556 pistol, but I saw the first Ruger Mini-14 in the rack in ages. This one was one of the new (from 2008) "580" series. And it looks like Ruger got series about their Mini-14.

The new rifle shows a much heavier barrel, and user reports say it provides accuracy comparable to the average AR-15. I also suspect by now that aftermarket magazines are much less of a problem. I was working on an "antique" rather than a current model.

Also, the $750 price gets you a "sporter" synthetic stock, ghost-ring rear and protected post front sights, flash hider, and built-in scope bases.

[TalonDJ]

Not bad at all considering what ARs are going for.

[TalonDJ]

Bored Monday Afternoon Gunporn and Range Report

I finally got some picts up of two of our newer additions both from the Kahr CW series.

Kahr arms decided their very fine line of small handguns was missing something a little cheaper. They wanted to get the price under 500 bucks. They pulled it off by taking one of their polymer framed guns eliminating a couple machining steps and shipping it with just one magazine. The CWs only come in ‘full size’ and not the more compact ‘m’ models that other kahrs do. The two we have are the 9 and the 40. These two are only negligibly different in size with the 40 having a slightly wider grip and heavier slide (naturally).



As you can see they are indistinguishable from a distance. The XD is there for reference.

They both are a tight squeeze in an Uncle Mikes Sidekick size 3 (or is it a 2, I forget) but they do fit. One interesting thing is that compared with a XD 40 compact they have about the same height footprint even though the XD only can fit 3 fingers on the grip and the CW fits all 4. This works because the side and upper area of the frame are smaller than on the XD. Here is one of them sitting unde Jen’s XD40.



The CW is about the biggest gun one could consider ‘pocket’ size. They can go in the front of Dockers though there is a fair bit of printing. They ride pretty comfortably in a cargo pocket or down some Thunderware. Even thinner than a 1911 it also rides will IWB. The CW is about the smallest thing I have seen that still has a grip that fits your whole hand. Because it is so easy to drop in a pocket the CW40 has become my main carry gun.

On the range they are not all that much fun. Not that they are fun guns anyway. They shoot well and have a very smooth, though rather long, trigger pull. With some dry firing at him I discovered it was best to toss out the policy of using the meaty part of the end of a finger. I get a smoother pull but doing to the middle of the second finger segment. They have a long and very smooth ‘double action’ pull. As the long pull is their only safety feature I rather like it.

Their polymer frame only has metal rails in the back, And not in the back and the front as some other polymer framed guns do. So I don’t expect they would hold up well to really heavy use. But that is not what they are intended for anyway.

The feed ramp on the 40 is pretty steep and sometimes it does not like feeding the first round. I have seen this with other 40’s too, and it probably has to do with their blunt noses. That is not a real issue though because it has never failed to feed while firing. It usually goes to battery when I drop the slide with the lever. I don’t usually carry a spare mag anyway so it does not bother me.

The 9mm version has a decently snappy ‘kick’ while the 40 is stepping across the line of ‘uncomfortable’. I did not pay much attention to their accuracy. But it seemed good. Anyway, the long trigger pull on a small gripped gun would throw me off more than any mechanical accuracy factors inherent in the gun.

I don’t particularly like having two guns of different calibers that are hard to tell apart. If I found a replacement for the 40 I might be tempted to trade it (but that goes against my policy to never get rid of a gun)

[osagebowman]

Very nice carry pieces you have there. Kahrs have a good rep, glad they work for you. The plastic should be a lot better than steel or aluminum for a pocket pistol down there.

[Corin Stormhands]

RE: 24

All I’ll say is “told ya so...”

[300winmag]

see more pwn and owned pictures

Maybe somebody stole the SD card to use in a "Zombies, next 50km" road sign.

[RosieCotton]

I’m gonna have to watch it tomorrow. I’ve been awake since five and I feel like I’m coming down with a cold, plus I’m supposed to be at work early tomorrow agin. Wanna go to bed early.

[Corin Stormhands]

I won’t spoil it for you.

Next week, by the way, it’s all over.

[HairOfTheDog]

Oh - OK - fair enough. :~)

Hope you don’t catch a cold! :~o

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

We're 3 episodes behind now... but we're going to slog through them all, I'm determined. After that, probably won't bother with next season, I'm thinking.

[Corin Stormhands]

Yeah, next year may be a wait for the DVD season.

I, on the other hand, am avoiding arguments over the Star Trek canon. It doesn’t bother me. I liked the movie.

g’nite folks

[Lil'freeper]

Hmmm... haven’t seen it yet. Will tonight. Yaaay DVRs. Last season was the tipping point for wanting to wait for the DVD. ‘Course that didn’t work out. ;P But still. We haven’t been paying close attention to this series this year. Just going through the motions.