The Hobbit Hole XXXVIII - There and Back Again!

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

So the Black Gate of Mordor has just opened in the annual December showing of LOTR on TNT. Things look really bad!

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

More news from the Hobbit movies:

Casting rumors:
Musician/singer/writer/actor Tom Waits(don’t ask me) as a dwarf.
Guillermo Del Toro as an orc extra.
Viggo Mortenson as Aragorn.
Uncast FEMALE role (???).
Production info:
Peter Jackson says still planning 2011 Christmas release.
Theory — No firm casting can be made until the studios approve budget (probably in January), so likely they will announce everything, including casting at that point.

[SuziQ]

I gots me a job! On Thurs. I went to an Open House at a local bank for jobs in their 'in-supermarket' branches. I did a round-robin interview with four different managers, and somebody must have liked me, cause I got a call on Friday offering me a job! It's for a Part-Time (20-30hr a week) Teller position at a store in the next town over.

Their training sessions have been suspended through the holidays, so I won't start until Jan. 4th. That works well for me, anyway, because of all I have to do between now and New Years.

[300winmag]

Tonight's "Sunday Supplement" covers small gunsmithing items that happened during the week. First, the adapter that allows the use of a "real" flash hider on the Colt M4-22 while still keeping the barrel tensioned properly.

Now my little .22 has a real Smith Enterprises vortex flash hider, just like a grown-up M4.

While we're on the subject of flash hiders, I'm experimenting with a Vang flash hider on the Sig P556. Actually, this type of "flash hider" concentrates all the gas and flame and directs it out the front, rather than letting it dissipate to the sides.

This could be important in close quarters, and this "handgun" is intended for close-in shooting.

I have yet to try it, but it can't be any worse than some super-magnum handguns some clowns shoot that light up the entire range, and smack you with muzzle blast at the other end of the firing line.

I also switched main optics again, and I'm trying out the Leupold 1x prismatic. The Eotech is as nice as always, but without my glasses, it's just a fuzzy hologram of an aiming point in my field of view. With the Leupold, I have control of the focus, and can have nice sharp cross hairs, and target image, even without my glasses. The only drawback is the reduced eye relief, which means I need the device further back on the rails.

The main achievement for the week was installing the Troy Battlerail on the Sig 556. But since I put one on the Sig handgun earlier, this was a piece of cake, too. Here's the rifle with the handguard, top rail, and front sight off.

The quad rail has been installed, and the four Torx screws tightened up with red Loctite used, just like they did at the factory. The bottom rails were attached using blue Loctite. Due to the way the bottom rail fits, I had to put the "gangsta grip" on the rail before I attached the rail to the upper portion.

This might also be a good time to mention that Sig has the unfortunate tendency, going back to the Model 550, of "mixing and matching" various styles of front and rear backup sights, with the result of being unable to zero the rifle at the range you expect. These front and rear sights were mostly intended as backups, which is why there are "nailfile" front sights, and "matchstick" folding rear sights.

Regardless of where they zeroed on my Sigs, I found the factory sights tiny, hard to see, and not inspiring much confidence in me. If I have to abandon my main sighting system, I want M16-standard iron sights that are as large and durable (and viewable) as the ones on my first M16. If I have to use "last ditch" sights, I'm in big trouble. I'll have to address this issue with the FS2000, too.

The Sig sites can instruct you in how to get the right Sig backup sights to work properly with what you've got. But the also admit the only sure-fire way of making sure your sights work perfectly is to go with standard M4-type rail-mounted sights, of which there are dozens to choose from. They point out that these rail-mounted battle sights don't look as cool, or as streamlined, but are the only way to guarantee that you have something more than a last-ditch "matchstick" and "nail file" sight.

Finally, here's the rifle with the Leupold back on, waiting for something to cover all those spiny rails. The Sig takes seven sets of the Magpul XTR rail cover, as opposed to four for the M4-type.

I carefully put this cheese grater away until the rail covers arrive. Meanwhile, here are the leftover parts from this project:

Any or all of them are free to a good home. In addition, the Midwest Industries dovetail front sight is the only front sight that will line up at the proper height with a M4-type rail-mount rear sight. I was quite satisfied with it working along with the GG&G rear sight (which I'm still using), until I decided I need more "rail" to work with.

Now that I've modified this 556 so much, I hope to make the P522 (if it ever shows up) looking like the classic Sig 552 it's modeled on.

[SuziQ]

Uh, I thought when you're putting stuff together, it wasn't good to have parts left over. ;o)

We're going on Tuesday morning to have our interview with the officer at the local Police Dept. regarding our Class A License. WooHoo!

[300winmag]

Uh, I thought when you're putting stuff together, it wasn't good to have parts left over. ;o)

You're right. But when you're, say, customizing a car with a new set of wheels, you'll have the old wheels left over.

[ExGeeEye]

Remember, “for all lawful purposes” :)

[Overtaxed]

[300winmag]

I wonder how much the moron spent on this rig?

Or maybe it's a secret government project for non-Wall Street executives, in which case we're the morons who paid for it.

[HairOfTheDog]

You know what that thing is? It's actually a race-horse trainer. Horse isn't pulling it, as much as it is traveling with the horse. I thought it looked like others I've seen, and when I went to find examples, I found a story about this particular one. Roush’s Racing Training Car, for Horses and Camels - there's other pics of it in use.

[HairOfTheDog]

Here's the thing I've seen before.

YouTube - Kurt Equine Training System

What I haven't seen addressed is what happens if the horse trips or falls.

[300winmag]

That makes a certain amount of sense, because it looks like the horse has it pretty cushy, too.

I wonder if this is the same "Roush Racing" in Dearborn, MI? It's a bunch of ex-Ford executives who do race car and show car development for Ford. Sort of like a "skunk works". They have the inside track with Ford to build stuff that the stockholders don't need to know about. I'd be surprised (a bit) if they have branched out into horses and camels, though.

[osagebowman]

Congratulations! Especially since you won’t start until after the first of the year, so the wedding will be over.

LSA

[SuziQ]

Oh, yeah, we just copied the info our instructor gave us. Turns out, though, that the Sgt. we were supposed to meet with can’t do it tomorrow. So I’m going a week from tomorrow, and SirKit will go the first week in January.

[SuziQ]

Well, Tom Waits sure has a nice gravelly voice for a dwarf!

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

That is good, and it means I know something about him other than his being in the Hobbit. Thanks.

[SuziQ]

Oh, OK! The leftover stuff was stuff you didn’t need anymore. Now you can add it to your ‘parts’ inventory! ;o)

[SuziQ]

Yeah, and I just realized how many gifts I need to make, and how few days I have left to do them! Not to mention my dress for the wedding! Ruh Roh!

[SuziQ]

Tom Waits sang the theme song for the movie “The Smartest Guys in the Room”, about the Enron deal. It’s called “God’s Away on Business”; SirKit loves it!

[SuziQ]

OK, so while I’m here, I’ll just take this. K? Thanks. ;o)