Sniper Country Duty Roster

Dirty Steve,

I have an 2001 F150 with a 4.6L (similar to the old 289 cu inch) an 5-speed manual transmission. A solid platform for my needs. I put a camper shell on it, which allowed me to register it as a passenger vehicle instead of a business vehicle in Kalifornya. Saved a lotta bucks there. It has about 86K miles on it.

Last year, I decided to modify the truck. I did a cost analysis and decided that I was going to keep the truck until it fell apart and it was worthwhile to upgrade it. Here's a list:

- GPS. I go a long way sometimes and while I always carry a map and directions, I can do math in my head to figger out time to arrival, milage, cost of the trip, etc.

- bucket seats with 5-point racing seatbelt. I have back problems from my career as a Soldier. The bench seats killed me after about 4 hours. I completed a 3500 mile trip in 4 days in December 2006 and my back was fine even on 14 hour days.

- Brush bar with fog lights and long-range lights. Headlights replaced with HID's. Really lights up the road.

- K&N aircharger system with Granitelli Mass Air Flow sensor and PowerAid throttle body spacer. The intake breathed a lot easier.

- JBL headers and Jardine 3 inch exhaust with muffler. Probably should have gone with a 2 1/2 exhaust for low end torque as the power band really starts about 3000 RPM.

- Electric radiator fans. Picked up about 15 HP here.

- Computer upgrade to make the engine more responsive. If you do this, be sure to change to the original program when you go for your smog check. One thing I have noticed is that the exhaust does not have any soot on it which means the engine is burning really clean. Maybe 20 more HP.

- Edelbrock shock absorbers and helper springs on the rear springs. Overkill most of the time, but when when I made the 3500 mile trip, it really helped with the load of 1,407 pounds of crap I packed. Most of the time, the truck corners like my old sports car.

- Milage - about the same 14mpg in the city and 16mpg in the hiway, but LOTS more fun. YMMV.

On New Years Eve, I traveled from Phoenix to somewhere in Arizona at 100 mph for more than 2 hours. Anyone with any sense was at home and I figgered the police would be looking for drunks. The engine breathed easy.

If I had done some more research, I would have gone for the I-6 Diesel in the 250 cu inch range.

Have fun.

Trajan

Trajan Aurelius
East Bay, CA, USA!!! - Saturday, June 23, 2007, at 00:15:03 (ZULU)

"..I bought a VW Jetta diesel in 2006....I'm getting a consistant economy better than 46 MPG and it's not bad in terms of performance...."

MedicJim: You're spot on there. The VW TDI diesels have quite a following. A comrade of mine @ work has the 2005 TDI... Heck - it gets better mileage than the hybrids out there.... VW's got that pretty well figured out.

Take care all,

Ken

Ken Hunter
Nokesville, Va, Keep America - God Fearing, Armed and Free!!!.. - Saturday, June 23, 2007, at 00:58:44 (ZULU)

IFS will keep me a GM man.

Plus I love the power adders available for the D-max.

EFILive is the SW I use to program my ECM

LTChip
Saturday, June 23, 2007, at 05:07:27 (ZULU)

rod regier,

Got some sort of phobia about expander balls on de-capping stems. Basically, I just don't want to pull an expander ball back thru the case neck I just sized. Somethin' about that just doesn't seem right. Only time my case necks get expanded by something other than expanding gases when the round goes off is when I first get 'em. Thus, the die with the expander mandrel. Gives me almost perfect neck tension on my first loading. After firing (and expanding the case neck) I use a Redding Competition neck sizing die with the appropriate size titanium-nitride neck bushing to get it back to the right size.. Gives me, once again, almost perfect neck tension.

YMMV

jc
Cordova, TN, United States - Saturday, June 23, 2007, at 05:19:30 (ZULU)

Jon, I heard it from a guy who I figgured would know. Guess I shoulda did a fact check. Come to think of it never saw it listed on the Ford site. They whole which engine is better thing just depends on personal preferance more than anything. All makers have made mistakes.

Trajan,

I put over 200K on a 1997 Expedition. It had the 5.4 more engine than it needed. I put just shy of 200K on my 1997 Dodge 2500. You sure stuck a lot of money in that truck. It's good to be an American, huh? I keep mine vehicles till they wont give me crap on a trade in. But I trade it anyway just to get a way from they dang things at that point. I asked the last guy what he would give me for my Dogde. He said,"I wont charge you to leave it there." 1997 red Dodges had really crappy paint that just peeled off. Plus I hit assorted animals with it too. The brush guard did little to stop the cow I hit.

Gunna shoot some more pistols this week end. I put new scopes on my two 38 stupids. Aim Point on one and Burris Speed dot on the other. One is a Les Baer the other was made in New Zeland or the Land Down Under. Some how I still want another 1911. Five just ain enough.

Dirty STeve......

Dirty Steve
San Antonio , Texas, USA - Saturday, June 23, 2007, at 07:08:45 (ZULU)

LT Chip

A friend of mine had an 02 3500 not a dually, but he couldn't get 40k on a set of tires. Mileage on the 5.8 (5.7?) gas was barely 10mpg. I just stuck $2k in the front end of my F 250 with 125k miles i'll get another 100k out of her, they won't give me nothing in trade any way.

Dirty Steve

Speaking of 1911's i picked up a Colt Series 70 last week new in box never fired. Now i can't bring myself to shoot it. I guess i'll have to ware out my Colt Delta Elite 10 mm first. The guys got Winchester M1 Carbine and a International Harvester M1 Garand the he's laening towards selling. I can see i'm going to broke again.

Gary Kaney
N.W., IL, - Saturday, June 23, 2007, at 12:18:41 (ZULU)

Dirty Steve: "Some how I still want another 1911."

Just one more. Might as well face it...

Bivouac Gear: Besides sleeping with the deer the night before opening day, I haven't done any backpacking since the kids were born. They are old enough now to go along so I've been updating my gear.

The gear isn't like it used to be; It's WAY better. Ultralight titanium cook pots that nest with each other and/or with Nalgene bottles or tiny propane stoves, ultralight properly tensioned tarps that make the pancho hooch look like an old joke, LED flashlights, titanium tent pegs...all designed by people who know how tools are supposed to work. This gear is much less bulky, much lighter, much more convenient to use and - other than the stove - much more expensive.

I wonder if I'll still be able to afford a 600cm Jap sports bike, racing lessons and a beard combover in to next year's budget.

CDC'
Saturday, June 23, 2007, at 14:27:49 (ZULU)

I now have a new GAP built 7WSM in a Win 70 action. Barrel is a 1:9, 25"

I've got H4831SC and RL22 on hand, Winchester virgin brass, CCI mag primers and Sierra 175s (no moly). I plan to try the 180 grain Bergers as well.

I'm looking for any prep tips, sweet spots either in velocity or load amounts that others have experienced. What should be possible in terms of velocity with this combo?

medicjim
Saturday, June 23, 2007, at 15:38:55 (ZULU)

CDC: Look at the new JetBoil (www.jetboil.com)system. Last week, at Badlands, the students were taking a lunch break at the 1K range. Most of them were eating cold sammiches or crackers and such. I whipped out the Jetboil and stood there holding it while it cooked up a hot meal for me. In my hand. Isobutane fuel, piezoelectric ignitor, the whole shebang stores inside itself in a package no bigger than a mid-size can of beans. It'll boil 2 cups of water in about 2 minutes or less. $70 at Sportsmen's Warehouse. The new stuff is great, ain't it? I can carry,now, in a medium 3-day pack ,what used to make me look like Quasimodo with his sister on his back.

Charles S. Hunt
San Antonio, Texas, USA - Saturday, June 23, 2007, at 16:24:04 (ZULU)

JC:

If you're happy with the neck bushing system I'm certainly not going to talk you out of it. It works the brass the least necessary, which is a good thing.

My primary argument against it is that it can only push necks in one direction - inward. If the case neck is distorted for any reason other than from launching a projectile, then the bushing alone may not be enough to return it to a symmetric diameter. (Shipping dents, handling damage, etc). That means any asymmetric necks will be final-inside sized by the projectile you're seating. The other complication to the bushing system is that you need a family of bushings if you encounter brass with different wall thickness. That's (of course) most common if you deal with more than one headstamp brass. I don't mix headstamps when making "production" lots of ammunition, but I'm not rich enough to standardize on Lapua-only brass.

rod regier
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada - Saturday, June 23, 2007, at 18:29:58 (ZULU)

Dirty Steve,

Yes, it is good to be able to pour money into a truck. :) Now I can carry all my guns at one time...

About stoves - check out the Thermette at http://www.thermette.com/index.htm. If all you need to do is boil water, which is about half the time for me, it looks like a good idea. Burns anything.

I've used several stoves when camping. The Coleman multi-fuel stove is the least finicky. The MSR Whisper-Lite is the lightest and most carried. Esbit/trioxane is useful and I have one in my kit. I also carry several tea candles to keep warm. Sit on one blanket and wrap a blanket around your shoulders. Place the candle in the void. Leave your head outside of the blanket. I helped a couple of really chilled troops like this. They were probably hypothermic, but stopped shivering after about 20 minutes.

Trajan

Trajan Aurelius
East Bay, CA, USA!!! - Saturday, June 23, 2007, at 18:55:10 (ZULU)

Traditions Country:

I was just looking thru a photo album prepared for me by my aunt in the last few years.

I had discussed some photographs with her earlier which included some military rifle range pictures of her father (USMC late WWI). He completed basic after the 1918 Armistice. (So she knows of my interest in shooting and marksmenship.)

One of the items she included was from her uncle's past (my great uncle). It was his letter award for 1936-1937 for the Rifle Team of Missisippi State College. That institution was renamed Mississippi State University in 1958. I was encouraged to determine that there is today still the Bulldog Army/ROTC Rifle Team at Mississippi State University.

http://www.msstate.edu/web/orgs/search_for_one.php?org=Bulldog%20Army/ROTC%20Rifle%20Team

rod regier
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada - Saturday, June 23, 2007, at 23:58:10 (ZULU)

Hawgs,

Major Joe is alive and well. He, along with his lovely wife, Angie, Bravo from the roster, and Sarge were here this past week for a Advanced Phase I Sniper Course. Mrs. Major Joe CAN Shoot! It was a honor to have them here. Major Joe and Bravo polished the Bruce plaque and hoisted one in his honor. Angie was a real trooper, hanging in there for the long days and nights, and during night fire she was steadily drilling five hundred yard steel, without the aid of night vision.

Bravo has one HELL of a M1A1 !! Bravo,if you ever need anyone to babysit her, just let me know!

Sarge hung right in there with all the rest of the young bucks, thru the sweltering heat early in the week to the storms later in the week, and even showed em a thing or two!

Can't remember when I have had as much fun as I have had the past week! Too bad Chuck H. couldn't have been here too!

If ya'll dont' know it yet, this bar is the best place in hyperspace. Other boards refer to SC as "dinosaurs". Oh well...Steve and I have been called dinosaurs too, and are DAMN proud of that fact! You damn sure won't find a more knowledgable group of riflemen than what you will find hanging out here.

Bobby Whittington
Grandfield, OK, USA - Sunday, June 24, 2007, at 02:08:17 (ZULU)

"You damn sure won't find a more knowledgable group of riflemen than what you will find hanging out here."

Amen to that

UnPat

UnPat
Wi , USA - Sunday, June 24, 2007, at 02:26:43 (ZULU)

Sometime in the late Triassic, I bought something called a "Zip Stove" (click). A AA battery runs a little fan that acts as a bellows to burn anything flammable. The damned thing works. For most trips it replaced my Svea 123.

As soon as it's delivered, I'm going to give...

CDC'
Sunday, June 24, 2007, at 05:04:17 (ZULU)

...a Snow Peak Gigapower (click) a try. It fits in the same company's various nesting titanium pots and cup. The on-line reviews are good, but I haven't used them yet.

When I do, I'll report back. The reports are that it doesn't work below about 14 degrees farenheit. That could stink.

When going out for a quick night in the weeds, I usually cold-camp. Smells and monkey motion can't make it any easier to remain undetected. Sometimes I take along one of those little folding trioxane stoves.

CDC'
Sunday, June 24, 2007, at 05:14:40 (ZULU)

rod,

"If the case neck is distorted for any reason other than from launching a projectile, then the bushing alone may not be enough to return it to a symmetric diameter."

That's one of the things the expander mandrel is good for. Does a great job.

CDC',

That Snow Peak Gigapower ain't the only thing that doesn't work below 14 degrees F. Not well, anyway.

jc
Cordova, TN, United States - Sunday, June 24, 2007, at 05:58:44 (ZULU)

I got my Sinclair expander die with the mandrels I mentioned earlier. It seems to work well so I think I'll keep it. This will be the first time I've ever decided to go against 'Lito's advice on something so I hope it doesn't bite me in the ass LOL.

I got a little imperial wax on my fingertips and rolled a qtip on them for a very light coating on the cotton. I ran that around the inside of the neck and this would get about ten of them done before I applied more wax. It ran over the mandrel as smooth as silk and made the necks all perfectly round. Then I cleaned out the wax with a few quick spins of a clean qtip. I think I should probably use a solvent of some kind to make sure I get it all but I didn't have any today so I just did it with what I had. It was only the thinnest possible application of wax anyway. Then they went into the sizing die with the S bushing in place and the factory expander ball removed. Right now I have a bushing that only gives me 2 thou in neck tension but I'd like more for running through a magazine in an abusive manner. I'll order a smaller one on Monday to add to my growing collection.

I hope I don't hurt myself by trying so many new things before a match. New barrel in a cart I've never worked with, new scope, moly bullets which I've never tried, reloading procedures I've never done and almost no time to prepare. I'll have only one day to break in, zero out to 600 yards and lay down some more moly before packing it up dirty. I'll be dead in the water if I have a problem of any kind with my load. I'm loading up all 300 rounds and leaving for the range before firing a single shot. I'll have 100 to practice with and 200 for the match. That's it. The load is Lapua brass, Fed 210M, 42 gr of H4350 and a 115 moly DTAC seated to 2.860 average. I'm expecting 2,975-ish from that out of a 26" tube. We'll see.

Meanwhile my .260 is calling me from the safe "Marc I'm here, I'm reliable, I've done well for you, I'm an extension of your body" HA! I'll make sure to have it ready with enough ammo just in case.

I need to go back and read the discussions I skimmed over about powder measures from a month or so ago. I remember making a full of shit comment about mine throwing within a half grain grain plus or minus. It seemed right at the time but today I really paid attention to it. It's much better than that once it's thrown a few charges and I don't screw with it.

You guys wanna place bets on how long it will take for CDC to get a rice rocket?

MarcS
East S.F. Bay area, CA, - Sunday, June 24, 2007, at 07:03:04 (ZULU)

MarcS: Yep. That's changing a bunch of things at once. If you do it right, it doesn't take that much to adequately check out a rifle. It does, however, take more than it sounds like you have done. If my goal was to win the match, I'd take the .260.

Around here winter is the time to buy bikes. Dumb kid working construction buys bike he can't afford, work falls off, wife and/or girlfriend problems, bike sits in garage a couple of months...

Cheap .300 mags are even easier. I got my Sendero and 17 rounds of factory ammo for a song. He'd even wiped the blood off the scope.

CDC'
Sunday, June 24, 2007, at 12:47:52 (ZULU)

CDC...

It was the same here with the 44 mag craze in the '80s - '90s. Like new S&W 44 mags for less than 1/2 price, only fired 6 times ;)))

'lito

CatShooter
Spring has sprung, Da' creek has riz, I wonder where dem kitties is? - Sunday, June 24, 2007, at 13:21:00 (ZULU)

Ammo Country

Does anybody have any first hand knowledge of the quality of the ammo coming out of The Hunting Shack in Montana?

How does it compare to Fed GMM and Black Hills? I'm looking for alternative sources for 175gr (.308) and 75gr (.223) match ammo.

Moe

Moe Mensale
Boca Raton, FL, USofA - Sunday, June 24, 2007, at 14:37:08 (ZULU)

Bobby: Wish I could have been there, too. Lt. was none too happy about me being gon all that time, and the Sgt. was (and is) being a real richard about it. Think I'll do it again, next month, just to piss them off. I've spent the last 20 making nice to everyone, I've only got about seven months to just hack everyone off! Bravo, it was cool to meet you at last, wish I'd had time to stay and hang out with youse guys. I really wanted to meet Maj. Joe. I'd like to sit and pick his brains about some things, and fling some metal downrange with all of you. Maybe later. New Year shoot will be coming up before you know it!

I'm off to meet Boudica for dinner and a movie. Apparently, I've been making great strides in "sharing my feelings" and all that. I told her that I still ain't reading Cosmopolitan for any reason. It's hard to get in touch with your feminine side when you don't have one.....but I do want my Jeep back, so I guess I'll go along with it for now.

Charles S. Hunt
San Antonio, Texas, USA - Sunday, June 24, 2007, at 17:17:25 (ZULU)

Gentlemen,

Good News: A .308 SSG with a Super Sniper is not cutting edge stuff, but it sure is fun to play with. Got data out to 500 yards yesterday. Very happy with the results. I forget who is was on the roster who steered me to XSsights for the weaver mount for the SSG, but thanks, it works great.

Bad News: I am about two weeks late on this thread, but on the way home from the range, my U joint on my Land Rover, disintigrated, taking out my transmission in the process. Not good.

Pat II
Sunday, June 24, 2007, at 17:58:46 (ZULU)

Talk about man vs. wild! Check out these links:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19374624/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19332095/

Travis Morgan
Wichita, Ks., U.S.A. - Sunday, June 24, 2007, at 18:26:40 (ZULU)

Bobby,

Forgot to ask - How are your deputies doing? The motorcycle wreck made the news up here in Wichita. Didn't hear the whole story, but it sounded like one was okay, and the other is in bad shape. Prayers sent.

Travis Morgan
Wichita, Ks., U.S.A. - Sunday, June 24, 2007, at 18:42:19 (ZULU)

re: Accu-Shot monopod

Has anyone resolved the compatability issue between the Eagle stock pack and the Accu-Shot monopod?

http://www.snipercountry.com/InReviews/AccushotMonopod.asp

"The Monopod's design precludes it from completely folding up against the stock toe when an Eagle Shooters Stock Pack is wrapped around the stock."

http://www.accu-shot.com/

http://www.eagleindustries.com/prd_detail.asp?ProdID=53&CatID=88&SubCatID=77

http://www.snipercountry.com/InReviews/EagleIndustries_SSP.asp

I would like to test out the concept of the Accu-shot, but I also really like the Eagle stock pack that I'm currently using.

rod regier
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada - Monday, June 25, 2007, at 00:29:44 (ZULU)

Chuck,

I have a feminine side but she is in Missourri. If I was single I would read "Cosmo". You must know how the other side thinks in order to become victorious. Luckily I'm married and don't need no readin ur learnin.

44 mags. I owned the exact same one three times. I wish I could find it one last time. 4" model 29. Elmer's favorite.

Dirty Steve.....

Dirty Steve
San Antonio , Texas, USA - Monday, June 25, 2007, at 02:53:54 (ZULU)

Chuck,

Not a nicer guy around than Major Joe,and he is pretty darn sharp. If I was still active, I would have loved to have served with him. I hear ya on the Lt's and Sgt's. PIA they can be. Just hang in there..not much longer and they can kiss yers!LOL

Travis,

Those deputies injured in the accident were from Oklahoma County, not my county. One is still in pretty bad shape, but is expected to pull thru, thank goodness. Thank you for asking about them, and keeping them in your thoughts and prayers!

Moe,

I have shot some of the HSM ammo, and it shot very well..just as good as BH or Fed GM in my stick. Have had a private class going on this weekend with 4 hunters that want to improve their long range skills. They are shooting HSM ammo with the Game King (grn tip) bullet. It is performing very well also. They are holding 1.5 MOA out to 500 yards with it. Only thing that I didn't like about the HSM stuff is that it seemed to be "dirtier" than my handloads or the other ammo I mentioned when I went to clean my rifle. Much more carbon fouling.

Bobby Whittington
Grandfield, Ok, USA - Monday, June 25, 2007, at 03:33:05 (ZULU)

My "Cosmo" move from 30 years ago: Sit on the young lady's couch and pick up her Cosmo. A blonde aerobics instructor works just fine. Turn to table of contents where it always has something like "How to have an incredible power of sex over a man" (actual article). Read article out loud while making witty and highly suggestive remarks. Enjoy.

It works. I wouldn't BS you.

CDC'
Monday, June 25, 2007, at 04:31:40 (ZULU)

Bobbie, that Bravo and his M1A impressed me years ago. That darn rifle shoots great. Man who built that knows his stuff. Jeff Corn I think?

Wes, email sent on 338 Lpaua. If you dont get send me one at Tacticalslings@aol.com

I will be gone next two days.

Undude/Mike

Mike Miller
Ca, - Monday, June 25, 2007, at 04:55:26 (ZULU)

MarcS,

Imperial Sizing Wax is water soluble so you don't need to use anything but water. Don't worry about solvents.

On reading "Cosmo" - comment was made several years ago that if you are single and looking for women, just read Cosmo, find out where you're supposed to be, and go there.

jc
Cordova, TN, United States - Monday, June 25, 2007, at 05:15:01 (ZULU)

(One for the engineers and other technical types. Duman saw a complete report. If he remembers it, you can ask his opinion. Full report is available to anyone who is interested.)

Quick and not that dirty way to check out a rifle for LR: Set three targets; One at 250 := close, one at maximum range := max, one (max +250)/2 := mid.

Mark 8 rounds for close, 10 for mid and 12 for max.

Draw rounds at random and fire at appropriate targets. You'll have to compensate for drop. Figure it out.

Open up the stat software you use. Excel will do. Label one field "distance", one "target drop" and the next some shorthand for "drop from horizontal".

Using data from your targets, determine drop from horizontal for each shot. That is the distance the bullet would have fallen if the rifle were fired from horizontal.

Make a new field and use the software pkg to calculate the square roots of the "drop from horizontal" observations.

Use your software package to fit a regression line to the above data where X = Distance and Y = Square root of horizontal drop.

You'll get a linear equation. Square the predicted response. This one is quadratic. I have determined that (Harrumph!!), from 250 yards out to 1000, the vertical paths of bullets we use in the rifles we shoot are "close enough as never mind" to being parabolas. Not everybody knows that. Feel special.

Anyway, that will put you pretty damned close FROM 250 TO MAX RANGE. There's significant error from 0 to 250.

Compare those results to the results predicted by your ballistics pkg. If there is less drop, compare to bullet with higher BC. If there's more, compare with bullet with lower BC. Use the ballistics chart that fits. I call this "Redneck Numerical Analysis".

This works too. I still wouldn't BS you.

CDC'
Monday, June 25, 2007, at 10:49:09 (ZULU)

The "Cosmo" remark was in reference to Clint Eastwood in "Heartbreak Ridge". I'm kind of in the same boat. But, if this one goes south, well.....I'll just fly out to Nevada a few times a year. Women under 40 bore me. Christi Brinkley seems VERY interesting.

Charles S. Hunt
San Antonio, Texas, USA - Monday, June 25, 2007, at 15:46:33 (ZULU)

Christie Brinkly is as fine now as she ever was. Me-ow....

DirtySteve.......

dirtysteve
Monday, June 25, 2007, at 20:02:40 (ZULU)

Water softeners;

Yep, I know it is way off target but I figured some of you fellas may get some useful info from it.

Some of you may be on a low-sodium diet. If you get your drinking/canteen water from a faucet that has a water softener on it, beware of higher sodium in the water. Most softeners on the market contain a mineral called zeolite that exchanges the hard water minerals (calcium and manganese)into sodium. The sodium is then sent through the water. A filter that contains activated carbon help remove much of the sodium but not all.

LATER Y'ALL

Jody Calhoun
Saraland, AL-Heart of Dixie, USA - Tuesday, June 26, 2007, at 02:22:17 (ZULU)

CDC',

"Redneck Numerical Analysis". I like it.

Just returned from 5-days in the forest, with some practicing alcoholics. Tried out some new gear, including an MSR-XGK stove. Stove heated ~1 litre of water in ~5-mins (~40F to boiling, 8.9K feet ASL). Fuel used was Coleman fuel (white gas?) for all the lamps, stoves, etc.. I bought the XGK because it can burn white gas, regular unleaded, kerosene, and diesel. So far, I'm pleased. I'll try gasoline next, see how it performs. Buddy of mine on SAR has one, he said to store in zip-loc bag, to keep micro-debris from clogging the fuel lines and orifices.

Crows woke me at 0-friggin'-30, the sun hadn't quite broken the horizon, so I crawled out of bag to take a leak. ~75 yards down in the meadow were two bull elk, watching me. With my Leica pocket binos (8x20) I counted 10-pts on one, 8-pts. on the other. These boys were big. They casually sauntered up the slope, and melted into the forest. Beautiful sight.

Shooting report? I suck. One rifle malfunctioned (firing pin failed to detonate the primer on 3 out of 5 shots), a Swaro scope malfunctioned (I was not pleased, I'll report more after I speak with Swaro), worked up some loads for 22-250, and couldn't hit the broad side of a berm with my AR-15. Gotta buckle down, and get it under control. Very disappointing.

BTW, that guy that had to cut his hand off, when he was trapped by a boulder? He's now a member of the Aspen SAR. Go figure.

Edited to add: 1) I made my own titanium tent spikes. Performed perfectly, didn't bend when rocks encountered. Aluminum spikes suck.

2) Sleeping bag liner - cotton/silk blend. Worked well, i didn't stick to the inside of the bag (after a few days without shower). However, it was snug. Not made for larger folks, unless there are different sizes.

3) Need to sleep with can of Raid. Woke up with spider webs on my face, looking up at a hairy spider over the tent doorway.

4) No bears this year, but slept with 45-ACP and 30-30 for comfort.

Duman
Tuesday, June 26, 2007, at 05:40:56 (ZULU)

Brownell's just bought Sinclair International...

Nothing will change, Sinclair will stay where they are, and it will be seemless - just bigger ;)))

You heard it here furstest ;)

'lito

CatShooter
Spring has sprung, da' creek has riz, I wonder where dem kitties is? - Tuesday, June 26, 2007, at 21:11:57 (ZULU)

Brownells announcement on same:

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/Company/news.aspx?newsid=110&WT.mc_ID=7000&WT.mc_ev=emailopen

Brownells® Purchases Sinclair International

Posted on: 6/26/2007

Brownells, the World's Largest Supplier of Firearms Accessories and Gunsmithing Tools, is extremely pleased and proud to announce the acquisition of Sinclair International, Inc. Sinclair International is one of the most respected manufacturers and suppliers of high quality reloading tools and shooting accessories in the world. Sinclair International, located in Indiana, is in its 22nd year and provides products to customers around the world. Brownells, operating out of Iowa, is in its 68th year and also supplies customers world-wide.

The joining of these two highly-respected companies brings to the firearms world the top-quality selection of the very best products, the exceptional personal customer service and the absolute guarantee of customer satisfaction their customers expect. "It was a very natural decision," said Frank Brownell, President of Brownells, "for us to join with another very successful, highly regarded company with the same values, the same care and concern for their customers and the same quality and service standards we hold dear." Bill Gravatt, president of Sinclair remarked that, "With Brownells Sinclair will continue providing the very best products available, and will strengthen our product line for shooters of all disciplines. I’m extremely excited about the future for both companies."

Sinclair International will function as a separate entity of Brownells, and Bill Gravatt, will continue as the President of Sinclair International. The focus of Sinclair International will continue to be on providing high-quality products to their customers along with exceptional, personal customer service.

For more information, please contact Larry Weeks at (641) 623-5401 Dept. #PDM or larryw@brownells.com or Bill Gravatt at (260) 493-1858 or billg@sinclairintl.com.

rod regier
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada - Tuesday, June 26, 2007, at 23:43:13 (ZULU)

This is the funniest thing I've heard in months.

http://www.soundsofswc.com/soundsofswc.html

Lifes been full lately: Changed jobs, Annual Training, moved to another state, a weeks business trip to Denver (Mt Evans ROCKS!), NRA HP Coaches school... and that's just the last 5 weeks. Maybe my Guard unit'll be deployed & I'll get some rest.

Thanks for all the smarts I've gotten here over the years. I love this bar!

SSG Mac
State of Exhaustion, - Wednesday, June 27, 2007, at 02:24:52 (ZULU)

Gents,

Bobby has a first class operation. For those who have a rifle course on their to-do list, I would recommend Badlands hands down.

Angie and I stepped into the Adv Sniper I, mainly to hang out with Bravo and Sarge. I was pretty sure that basic rifle would have been a better fit for both myself and the wife---but we decided to follow the crowd and step it up a notch. I was sure we'd be in over our heads.

Not the case!

Bobby, Steve and Rich were observing everything on the line, and were quick with timely advice as well as a boot in the fourth point when needed. End result: Angie and I, shooting together for the forst time as spotter/ shooter, managed just fine. And we did not come to blows, as had been predicted by friends and family (I reside on the receiving end). In fact, this ignited a passion (hey, now!) for LR shooting in her that will make my days alone at my bench a thing o' the past. Good stuff.

Wife impressed most of us there: On the hides, she got closer than anyone to the observers, then took both shots without getting busted. The others on that rotation were all busted. The land nav thing was a game for me (no compass throughout). She would read the terrain and point to where she thought we would fing the little red rebar--and was spot-on each time. In fact, on the last point, she figured out that we had bumped a small ridge long before I gave up beating the grass---and moved us north by 100 meters--and there it was. We ended up waiting on everyone else at the finish.

On the gun, she just put 'em where ya tell her to put 'em. Add five MO|A up, center target, favor right....Clang! Just that easy.

Me on the other hand, I wanted to second guess any wind calls that were different than the one I made already:(( I finally learned to just follow the spotter's call. Even when it was easy to see how wrong it may be: She gave me 240 yard data (target 5) on the unknown course for target 4 (720 yards as i recall)--I knew sumptin wuz wrong---but i dialed it and shot dirt anyway. Cuz that was what Rich was kicking my butt for: "not doing" what I was told...Angie realized right off---but it was a one shot drill. Bravo won that one easily.

Bruce Robinson's Memorial did get a brasso scrub. Bravo and I hoisted a couple of cold ones while knocking down the green tint. Worked extra hard on his likeness. Seemed fitting as a my old desert boots, though I wish I had been there for the dedication. That was my way of being there, finally.

In all, Angie and i had the greatest time. And a bit of trivea: That was our first multi-night away from the kids, ever. She called it our deferred honeymoon. Ha! Some men might pop cherries on their honeymoon---we popped primers. haha.

If you ever held off of a tactical course because you ain't had time to train up---I will tell you that is a BS excuse. Angie and i were as cold as a brass wind sock in alaska, and Bobby's crew had us up to speed on day one (good data does that for you). All you need is decent equipment, and an understanding of the marksmanship fundementals. Hold hard, and listen!!!

If you held off for cost---compare Badlands to any other. Then go to Badlands and get a good old fashioned dollar's worth---or, more than you can imagine once you compare badland's rates with those other choices.

If exact timing is an issue---try the sniper I if basic rifle doesn't work. Or vice-versa. The instructors will challenge you, one-on-one, in either case. But they push to the edge without going over.

We had a kid who had a scope go south. No back up. I had a spare, but the instructors beat me to it. The kid now had the nicest set up on the line, for sure.

Think about that: Where else can you go where the death of your scope wouldn't end your day if no spare was brought?

Angie and I are making plans for sniperquest. If she gets her wind calls down some and I start to see trace on bright days better, we will enter. If not, we'll volunteer to help out with the events. Either way, we'll be there this year barring emergencies.

I am also looking to take Blake thru the fall class.

Badlands rocks.

If you haven't gone: go.

Oh, Howdy, ya'll! Been a while, eh?

Joe M
Wednesday, June 27, 2007, at 04:40:20 (ZULU)

Duman: As you've probably figured out, the ballistics chart indicated by the "Redneck Numerical Analysis" method also gives you windage.

Since a quadratic is completely characterized by any three points on its graph, you can still make do with a target set at much less than max range and any point fairly near (close + max)/2. Precise measurement is critical.

You'd be surprised how long it took to come up with that and the credentials of the people who were stumped by the prolem.

Joe: How's the reloading project going?

CDC'
Wednesday, June 27, 2007, at 11:14:36 (ZULU)

Duman,

What caused the failure to fire? Last time I heard of that was several years back. Turned out to be a combination of hard primers in Remington factory ammo and weak firing pin springs in Browning A-Bolts.

Joe M.,

Howdy to you and welcome back.

Moe,

And a belated welcome back to you too.

Cheers,

Doc

Doc Holloway
The muggy Ozark boonies, MO, USA - Wednesday, June 27, 2007, at 13:12:53 (ZULU)

Doc,

The FTF resulted from the firing pin not adequately hitting the primer. There was a small dimple, but not enough of a strike. The same ammo, in different rifle, performs perfectly. I'm trying to locate someone who actually knows something about Kimbers. Of Oregon.

Suggestions and information are welcome.

Duman
Wednesday, June 27, 2007, at 17:33:14 (ZULU)

DEBKAfile reports: Iranian Revolutionary Guards suicide unit’s incursion of S. Iraq is another step in undeclared war

June 27, 2007, 12:15 PM (GMT+02:00)

Early this week, Tehran deployed in southern Iraq and southern Iran contingents of Revolutionary Guards Corps of suicide fighters in anticipation of an American attack on Iranian soil.

Those units were posted to fight off a possible US Marines landing in southern Iran. Tehran believes the American force will be assigned with destroying RG bases and infrastructure in the south and sabotaging the oil wells and installations of Iranian province of Khuzestan.

The RG fighters were dropped by helicopter in southern Iraq on June 24 and 25. Their task will be to launch suicide attacks on US and British bases and command posts in the region the moment Iran comes under American attack.

Also in anticipation of a showdown, Tehran announced Tuesday at only two hours notice the rationing of gas for Iran’s private motorists to 100 liters per month. Protesters started torching gas stations Wednesday.

For lack of refining capacity, the oil-rich country imports 40% of its gasoline needs and oil products. Tehran sharply reined in private consumption to free up reserves for the armed forces in case of war and keep power stations and water supplies running in an emergency.

DEBKAfile’s military sources report that these two steps in three days attest to the certainty of Iran’s government and military that a military confrontation with the US is around the corner.

The British Sun newspaper first disclosed the Iranian troop thrust into southern Iraq Monday, June 25, reporting: “It is an extremely alarming development and raises the stakes considerably. In effect, it means we are in a full war with Iran – but nobody has officially declared it.”

DEBKAfile’s military experts add: In effect, the Iranian military incursion of Iraq is the fourth military invasion of foreign territory underway in the Middle East at this very moment. None are officially admitted.

1. The Turkish army is fighting Kurdish PKK rebels in Iraqi Kurdistan on the other side of their border. Almost daily, Turkish units backed by tanks, fighter planes and helicopters cross into northern Iraq and battle with the rebels. Washington, Ankara, Baghdad and Irbil blandly ignore this ongoing war.

2. In the second week of the six-week long confrontation between the Lebanese army and the pro-Damascus radical Palestinian Fatah al-Islam near Tripoli, the Syrian army and security service began pushing into the embattled camp reinforcements of hundreds Palestinian fighters, members of groups under their control. These fighters, an estimated 1,600-strong, have since fanned out in clusters in northern Lebanon, the Beqaa Valley, the mountains north of Tripoli and south of Beirut. The Syrian army keeps them well supplied with ammunition, food and fuel.

3. Israeli tank and armored infantry forces conduct ongoing counter-terror operations against Hamas, Jihad Islami and allied Palestinian terrorist groups in southern and northern Gaza. Since the Palestinian Islamist Hamas takeover of Gaza last week, Israeli tanks supported by helicopter and pilot-less aircraft are engaged in ongoing firefights with Palestinian anti-tank units.

HOLD ON TO YOUR HATS!!!

Gooch out

Gooch
Wednesday, June 27, 2007, at 17:52:33 (ZULU)

Duman,

Kimber of Oregon made some fine rifles. What caliber is it and have you checked the headspace? Was the ammo factory or reload?

Cheers,

Doc

Doc Holloway
The muggy Ozark boonies, MO, USA - Wednesday, June 27, 2007, at 18:32:03 (ZULU)

Howdy Rosterfarians!

Chuck, Bobby, Sarge – great to put faces with the names! I didn’t get to talk with Chuck much due to time (my loss!), but I’ll say that Bobby is a great instructor (as well as other areas) and Sarge is a GREAT guy. I’ll partner with you again any time my friend! What Joe said about the class was 100% in spades, except for the part about most everyone being impressed with Angie – that’s not the way I saw it. She was, literally, the darling of the course! To get spooled up faster would have required a turbocharger, and I’d wager she’ll have one of those on the next go-round. How long has she been using that rifle? Well, let’s count the empties. What kind of ammo is it? Ask Sarge, it’s his recipe, and how fast did it go from ‘I bet you can’t make that shot’ to ‘I ain’t bettin’ you anything’? ;-) Just spread the love around a little and don’t make me the called target on the next stalk HA!

Like Joe said, BadLands gave a great course, taught by great folks (Steve, Rich and Bobby are now on my formal ‘entirely appreciated’ list), and centered on practical teaching. I’d recommend the course we did any time without reservation. When one adds in the price factor, any haze around the subject just disappears. It would have been a good value at double the price, literally. My only regret was leaving that quart of sweat in the passenger seat of Rich’s truck, and being a bit dense a time or two. Shooting (or more appropriately connecting with) movers was as much fun as Disney ever thought of, and the stalk was tremendous (except for the chiggers). Yeah, I even got my 2 rounds off undetected – and kept the second empty as a souvenir.

One of the least intuitive things I learned at BadLands: “bite me” is not a proper wind call. The most intuitive thing I learned at BadLands: great friends + shooting + strangers typically = great time with friends old and new.

We’re dinosaurs? Hardly. And imagine this: I didn’t see a single PDA out there! There’s a reason I like this place the best –my ‘home’ if you will- although I don’t post much.

Mike, right-o, that was Geoff Corn that built Betty Lou. You noticed Bobby didn’t say how well I shot – he’s smart. He knows it’d either go to my head (and make me believe my own press releases) or embarrass the both of us. HA! DOUBLE HA! That’s a joke just for me. As Yotus Eraticatorus once said, a bullet has to go somewhere!

And here’s one for / from Master Rick: DON’T PURCHASE A.R.M.S. PRODUCTS! There are a few here that know the whole story, but in short, the #22L rings I put on Betty Lou back in 2000 (IIRC) finally came undone, just prior to the class. Had me stressing / running hard to diagnose the problem (who figures that the problem would be scope rings?!) and then to correct the problem. I’ve got Badgers on her right now, but what a PITA to diagnose and fix. The rings went back to ARMS for refurb, and I thought they’d be OK. One was, the other was questionable enough I wasn’t going to chance it. BAH. I’d really rather have throw-lever rings on my stick, but I’ll wait until Mark LaRue has ‘em ready before I remove these Badgers.

Now where can I go to catch up on the posts that I missed over the last couple of weeks?

CDC, I’m interested in your stove testing! I’ve been using an MSR Whisperlite International for years, and am / was about to buy my boy one of his own. If you’ve got a better recommendation, I’d like to hear it. Personally, I prefer liquid fuels, just because they still work at lower temperatures when the compressed gasses don’t. Especially the MSR types that have the warming cup under the generator – doesn’t take much gas in the cup to make it work fast and well. I prefer that to the paste stuff (one less thing to carry / lose) anyway. Nalgene bottles? I like ‘em. The narrow mouth version is a waste of time, but the wide mouth accepts an insert for non-sloppy drinking. I’ve got the inserts, but opt to just drink sloppily. Best of all, rice or beans won’t leave them with a taste that won’t wash out. FWIW, I went to get Bub his own Sweetwater Guardian too, and learned that technology has left me in the past. He wound up with an MSR miniworks, and I feel confident I’ll replace my old Guardian with a miniworks as well – more for commonality than anything else ‘cause the only problem the Guardian has would be remedied by a resupply of filter elements. MSR now owns Sweetwater too. People think I’m too cautious about my drinking water, but those who have gotten sick once don’t think so. As The Jefe said, giardia will make the bottom fall out of your world, and vice versa.

Shooting stuff: on the 300WM, is the mag box long enough to seat a 338 Lapdog?

Chuck, on ‘sharing feelings country’ – I was once hit up about my ‘inner child’. I nonchalantly, almost flippantly, stated that mine was sitting on a street curb sharpening his bayonet. Got no more BS at that point anyway. You are incredibly right – it’s much cheaper to rent than it is to buy.

Duman – on the XGK, it’s a good blowtorch. Er, stove. If all I was concerned about was boiling water, it’d be my pick as ‘best I know of’ (and I’m not trying to insinuate that I know of a slew of them). If you try to do some more delicate things with it (sauté mushrooms and onions, eggs over easy, or slowly warm stew) you’ll find it’s a... good blowtorch. Plenty of top end, hard on the low end. For MountainHouse meals and tea water only, it’d be my pick.

Bravo
So where is my duffle bag?, - Wednesday, June 27, 2007, at 22:14:24 (ZULU)

Bravo,

"If you try to do some more delicate things with it (sauté mushrooms and onions, eggs over easy, or slowly warm stew....."

None of those stoves were intended for gourmet cooking. If you're trying to warm something slowly, nest it in a pot of water, it'll keep it from burning. For baking breads, a buddy of mine has perfected some Dutch-Oven recipes. If you're trying to saute' mushrooms, or cooking eggs over easy, you're probably not on a backpacking trip, which is what these stoves are for. If you're car camping, take propane and a multiple burner Coleman stove, with an accoutrement of cast iron pans. A can of PAM helps keep stuff from sticking, but don't confuse it with the can of RAID. :8-p

Duman
Wednesday, June 27, 2007, at 23:48:41 (ZULU)

I've got an MSR Dragonfly for liquid fuels and also a Primus stove like the one CDC posted earlier for E&E use that burns butane mix. The MSR works great for everything from WOT to simmer, runs fine on JP8, is claimed to work on heavier crap like DF2 and should work OK with the super refined ULS crap they call diesel these days. The Primus is the size of a pack of smokes and stays in my LBE along with a fuel cylinder. The MSR stays in the pack along with a fuel bottle, all packed up inside the little black bag along with the heat reflector.

I don't do a lot of fine cooking, scrambled eggs is as delicate as it gets, but it beats an MRE. Although you know, a cooked MRE along with some accents can be pretty damned good these days.

Bravo, 300Win is supposed to be 3.340, the Lap is lots longer length, 3.780 or some such. S/F.....Ken M

Ken M
IL, USA - Thursday, June 28, 2007, at 00:25:54 (ZULU)

Bravo: The Snow Peak GS-100 came in today. It's a tiny little thing. All I bought it for was for is to boil water on ultra light trips. Click for a review by a guy who seems to have checked it out more thouroughly than I expect to.

CDC'
Thursday, June 28, 2007, at 02:16:34 (ZULU)

"We’re dinosaurs?"

I am slowly realizing that this is a compliment of the highest order.

Consider the young'un who "only" has a cell phone. He claims "I never had a battery short charge, not ever." OK, fair enough---he changes phones with the latest swiss army gadget master every six months...but what did that prove? Same for the gadget guys on the range: Ask them how it holds up and get the "just fine" reply. But be sure to ask how long he's owned that rifle, too. "Got it last year" kinda puts the longevity claims of battery operated electronics into perspective. I learned a very long time ago to KISS as much as possible---mainly due to the fact that I had to carry it all over hell's back half on my back. But as the years rolled by, KISS made sense in other ways too.

I wonder how many snipers we will lose when we finally fight an enemy who "borrows" our night---lasing a target for range when BG is watching with a NVG can be hazardous (Gen IV, autogated tubes works in daylight---now i know why---it sees in a whole 'nuther wavelength range). I wonder how hard it would be to drop the wavelength of a LRF below the threshold of an intensifier? That's something we'll think on after a noticeable loss. Typical.

But the archaic art isn't really all that archaic. If you do something that works after all else fails, we call that a principle. I'd say us dinos are pretty principled folks. If the fundementals of LR shooting with non-battery powered aids is old-school---well, there be a reason for that. Old school, IMHO, means "proven." A 25 year-old with a long gun doesn't have the odometer to prove anything yet. Heheh. And didn't I just sound like the old farts that drove me nuts in my youth???

Yep, I gots gizmos...but the GPS stayed in the tuffbox, the LRF stayed on the shelf, the PDA stayed on the dock, and our riffles, a swaro spotter, a map, and a compass (or sun angles) did just fine. Batteries not included for the trip.

Diesel country: Read a report about an F250 7.3L that averaged 23.9 mpg @ 67 MPH (sweet spot). The after market parts were highflow intake, 4" exhaust (down pipe swapped out too), synthetic lubes everywhere, a bedcover, and a 65 horse programming mod. That's it. I imagine there's more to be had with a ton more cash (injectors, turbo unit, skinny tires, plastic hood and tailgate etc)--but hey, 24mpg in a 8000 pound defintition of flat plate drag? Oil burners are where it's at!

Stove country: Hmmmm. I had an MSR blow up in my face once, and went to the PEAK1 multifuel. It is a beast of weight and space, but get's er done. Flame adjusts down well with white gas. Not so much with thicker fuels. As it turns out, the pressurization system is similar in both stoves. Nothing gained, except psychologically:)) Having the front half of yer head denuded in a flashfire does weird things to yer equipment choices.

Joe M
Thursday, June 28, 2007, at 03:59:44 (ZULU)

CDC',

"Full report is available to anyone who is interested"

Call me interested. (nope, ain't going there)

email is JerryLCopelandatbellsouthdotnet. Just change the at and the dot, but then I really didn't have to tell you that.

Thanks much,

jc
Cordova, TN, United States - Thursday, June 28, 2007, at 05:13:21 (ZULU)

When I was getting the Cat 1 LRSO course from NAVSPAWAR back a few years, I asked the certified smart guy about the GVS-5 LRF and NOD's. He said you couldn't see it, so we tried it during the night and no shit, you couldn't. Pulse was too short. Of course, those things are NOT eyesafe(and I'm cool with that) So there's always ways of doing business properly. I had my ATL drop three MF's in about 15 seconds(from decision to last guy dropping) at 710yds, so put me firmly in the LRF camp. Nothing nearby to mil off of, and shots WILL be in a hurry. It's a tool, it's certainly no reason not to be able to do it(less effectively) the old way. Redundancy is good, but don't ignore tools just because they're new. Old LRF's were Neodynium YAG(Yttrium Aluminum Garnet), the newer eyesafe lasers are a different wavelength IOT reduce eyesafety issues(NdYAG is 1064nm FYI)

BTW, because LRF's are so quick and easy, I generally don't use the shit outta them establishing all sorts of crazy target reference points. I'll usually have maybe one or two per sector for baseline reference and then zap the specific target when it appears. Total exposure for observation, really really low; in sunlight, God would have to hate you for anyone to see the LRF pulse, even more to know what they were seeing, and God would have to be singleing you out for truly profane punishment for the enemy to react in time to prevent a shot. After the shot, well, you're leaving bodies around, that's a pretty good indicator that there's a sniper somewhere about. People tend to do really stupid shit when somebody gets smoked right in front of them outta the blue unless they're really well trained, and even then there's always the reaction/perception gap while things get figured out. I'm not talking the individual cover response, I'm talking about actually doing something productive done as a organized unit. If you've got good troops, individual drills allow for productive things to be done, at the individual level, while the leadership gets things figured out, coordinated and controlled unit action going.

Oh, at 25YO, I had 12 years of national level competitive rifle experience;)

All the big trucks don't bother running synthetics in the crank case, when you take 48qts, the fuel savings don't pay off for synthetic motor oils. Transmission, transfer cases and gear syn lubes are good stuff and widely used. S/F....Ken M

Ken M
IL, USA - Thursday, June 28, 2007, at 08:37:45 (ZULU)

Ken M, you sir are the proverbial exception anymore. They say that pretty soon, 80% of the US will be urban dwellers...

As for detecting short pulse emiters; a tech savey adversary would find that problem easy to solve. Hell, we play with microphone arrays to pinpoint gunshots now, My point is, if we pattern ourselves in Modus Operandi, we will be targeted thru the same. Our current enemy doesn't have enough respect for their own lives to solve these riddles---but then again, we usually don't end up fighting the last fight even though we'll eventually train to do so anyway. Also, on the army side, we expanded our DM/ Sniper capability rather quickly. In doing so, we also went "off the shelf" for much equipment---equipment that won't get replaced with mil-spec once this blank-check war ends. Civie lasers do light up NVGs. I knew that the second Gen LTDs were outside the NVG wavelength--but was unsure about the newer NSN'd LRFs I saw in the system. In short though, the "old school" stuff at the basic level minimizes your signature to the one thing that matters: One well placed shot. I don't ignore the tools, like i said--got 'em.

But take a look at the predominate culture around us: they're looking for a pill that melts fat like exercise. They want the "easy button" for all things hard. They're also going to form the next generation of our military. AQ in Iraq took notice of the US sniper in 2005, and targeted them with pecific tactics in 05. Got a bunch all at once--and that was just "using their head." My point was that a second or first world enemy will also feel the sting of effectiveness, but add tech prowess to the tactics. That could make the fall of 2005 look small potatoes in comparison, eh?

I looked at the crankcase oil as a break-even, with the extended life of the synth-oil, it kinda washes at 15 quarts to same cost point. I figure the added protection tilts toward the manmade stuff for my little diesel. I can see how the big pans would skew the costs to the point of "why bother":))

Hey, I missed this place. I forget why I got mad and left...

Joe M
Thursday, June 28, 2007, at 12:10:06 (ZULU)

Sorta an addendum to my previous post:

There are all sorts of laser emission detectors out there, mainly oriented to the armoured fighting vehicle market. Some have some very nifty features, such as auto cueing and slewing and automatic smoke discharge. Most countries on this tech level will also have millimetric radars, sound detection gear or other dedicated anti-sniper/gunshot detection stuff around any of their super hard targets. I don't see that as a suitable operating environment for snipers. Better to use something with a large explosive warhead delivered via aircraft or better yet via hypersonic missile. Megatons of money are being used towards this end. Might as well give the USAF and USN something to do with their budget. S/F.....Ken M

Ken M
IL, USA - Thursday, June 28, 2007, at 12:10:24 (ZULU)

Got beat by 18 seconds. Nuts:)

I largely concur. For the limited # of US Army snipers/DM's I saw/worked with and for USMC snipers in most Bns, better TTP's for employment would mean much greater success than any hardware issues. I believe(still), with great reason, that sniper casualties are almost exclusively due to being forcefed bullshit employment schemes concocted by people who have no idea WTF they're doing. I know my teams got forced into doing stupid shit(TM) far too often, and I'm sure it happened to others. Sooner or later, you run outta luck, even against the Iraqis.

There's too many stupid people involved with tasking snipers, and I don't see any solution since the problem is personality based. Combine an individual commander's giant ego, the rather crazed idea that rank corresponds to technical/tactical knowledge and a micromanagement environment and things go pear shaped.

Actually, I do know a partial solution: Reduce the staff burden, so that you may be more selective as to who exactly has tasking authority. It's a lot easier to find 50 smart people than 500 and with bloated US staffs being what they are, there's just too many people to educate so as to avoid them introducing stupid ideas at Bn planning meetings and such. You can only shoot down so many stupid ideas before some start to sneak through. And if you're libel to get labeled the "loner" or "not a team player" if you spend all your Bn face time shooting down their dumb shit. Ask me how I know this is true:(

All of which has little to do with LRF's:) S/F.....Ken M

Ken M
IL, USA - Thursday, June 28, 2007, at 12:21:29 (ZULU)

Ken: We "prior enlisted" officers kinda graviated to one another in each assignment. We (usually) remembered how "great ideas" played out at the user level, and would get our asses handed to us when we spoke out at the various meetings. Inevitably, we'd grouse about how to change that culture: Force a two-year enlisted hitch for any commissioning free ride. Tough sell, but there is little else that could work. The arguement against is: "No one will want to come play." Fine, man the critical slots and then let the NCOs grow back into those roles that our current "too many" officers have taken over.

But you are right: It is the decision makers mis-understanding the capability, then mis-using it that kills guys. The quick fix to that is to deploy the force "UTC." Over time, an asshat who kills snipers would stand out like a strobe. DX him, and ensure his replacement knows why he was disgraced. Same for the command structure: things won't be the "next guys problem" if you will be him. The WWII "for the duration" thing has merits, though compulsory service would help with the next problem...

Joe M
Thursday, June 28, 2007, at 12:39:21 (ZULU)

"It is the decision makers mis-understanding the capability, then mis-using it that kills guys. The quick fix to that is to deploy the force "UTC." Over time, an asshat who kills snipers would stand out like a strobe."

Talk about the high cost of education.

jc: This evening. It's on another 'puter and I'm off to work.

CDC'
Thursday, June 28, 2007, at 13:36:14 (ZULU)

Any of you in Kentucky might want to go to this auction. Click my name.

Travis Morgan
Wichita, Ks., U.S.A. - Thursday, June 28, 2007, at 13:46:29 (ZULU)

CDC, Historically, have we ever had another way of gaining some military prowess?

joe m
Thursday, June 28, 2007, at 14:30:18 (ZULU)

Joe M,

Welcome back. Now where is Rick?

HDR
ok, - Thursday, June 28, 2007, at 21:26:30 (ZULU)

Duman, gotcha! What I was trying to say was that if you want a stove that has the capability of doing good food while camping out of the back of the truck (groceries in the Igloo cooler – mostly what I do at this phase in life, probably for another year or two), then I like something with a bit more adjustability than the XKG. For packing, I’m with you. The International lets me do the nice stuff pretty well, but still carry it on day (minimal load) hikes for MountainHouse chow prep. Elsewise, you’re 100% on the big double-burner Coleman and cast iron skillets – I moved to where I am now from EXACTLY there. FWIW, before I got my International, I used the Peak 1 dual fuel that Patron Joe spoke of. Still got it in storage…. It had more flame control than I knew what to do with LOL!

And speaking of Bub, he let me know earlier this week that he still hasn’t got his pig. He said it’s been raining so hard (really funky for that part of the world) that they had to pull the 4X4 out of the muck with a tractor though, so they’re not going out as often as possible. He did say that he headshot a trio of bunnies that day though (he was happy with 3 headshots using 4 rounds LOL! That’s my boy!). He’s never had to cook wabbit himself, but he’s got a great-aunt that volunteered HA! Did I mention that I took him to an Appleseed shoot? Still don’t understand why I can say the exact same things they do, but he listens to them more than he does me….

So what action is ‘the cool thing’ for the 338 Lapdog? A half inch longer than a 300WM doesn’t sound like something even a shoe horn would fix.

CDC, looked like a nifty stove, but I really don’t use anything but liquid fuel (Coleman gas / unleaded gasoline). Is there a weight savings that I don’t see?

Now who is the smart puppy that bothered to write down the dope for the Mk4 M3 308M collar? I’m wondering if I ought to see about changing to it, as in ‘will this fit my curve better’. Sarge, it turns out that my 308 collar (got it here in front of me as I type) is the M and not the Y. If it was the Y, it’d be on its way to you right now.

Bravo
Thursday, June 28, 2007, at 22:01:51 (ZULU)

Bravo,

"Still don’t understand why I can say the exact same things they do, but he listens to them more than he does me…."

It's called the "Consultant Syndrome". That's like an engineer talking to a manager, manager doesn't believe, then consultant is hired at 2x the salary. Same story from carpet-bagger, mangler listens, then assigns engineer to do what engineer initially proposed. Mangler gets credit/promoted, engineer gets steamed, and corporation muddles forward.

Engineer goes home to Dogbert, who doesn't GAS, evil HR cat DGAS either, nothing changes, and the earth continues to spin.

Ummmmmmmmmmmmm......................

Duman
Friday, June 29, 2007, at 00:34:10 (ZULU)

Joe M. Welocme home(To the Roster)."Hey, I missed this place. I forget why I got mad and left..." It was because of pie fights. In all likely hood I was probably involved. But I promise not to throw any more pies if you continue to hang out. Leave and I will call the Bakery in Castroville and order a truck load of pies. It will be messy.

Bravo, I got 4.7 inches at my house. This Global Warming stuff is making it green here.

Dirty Steve...

Dirty Steve
San Antonio , Texas, USA - Friday, June 29, 2007, at 00:49:43 (ZULU)

Hey Bravo, what are you shooting that matches the .308 cam off the MK4M3? I think you'll find the 300WM and 30-06 cams to better match your loads for 175 gr sierra or 155 scenar..

I used a MSR dragonfly to cook for a dozen guys last time my team deployed to a disaster...I really cannot say I find fault with it in any way...it's a lightweight, compact tool that will hold up to heavy use.

http://www.msrcorp.com/stoves/dragonfly.asp

medicjim
Friday, June 29, 2007, at 03:01:26 (ZULU)

Hey youz guys - there's a guy that is selling a set of Redfield "green" standard mounts and rings for $25.

These are the ones used by the M-40 sniper rifles in VN, in the early part of the war.

Any of you guys building an M-40, this is what you need for mounts.

http://longrangehunting.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=160115&an=0&page=0&gonew=1#UNREAD

It's the second item down from the top.

'lito

CatShooter
Spring has sprung, da' creek has riz, I wonder where dem kitties is? - Friday, June 29, 2007, at 03:40:04 (ZULU)

Duman: Did you, by any strange chance, keep the Excel spreadsheet I sent you on fitting quadratic functions to target data?

jc: I can't find the stinking thing. What it amounted to is this: I did a spreadsheet of error distributions around drop estimates obtained from Sierra's somewhat funky software vs. a polynomial function fit to those data using SAS software. The result was that, from 250 yards on out, a bullet's path is described almost exactly by a quadratic function. Duman saw it and he agreed.

Three points are all you need to find a quadratic function. So gather your data and do the "Redneck Numerical Analysis" trick and you're home. After coming up with that, I've used it several times. It works.

I KNOW I didn't flush that damned spreadsheet. Let me scratch around some more.

CDC'
Friday, June 29, 2007, at 03:44:34 (ZULU)

Gentlemen,

Stove Country: I have a inexpensive, simple burner that uses the small cans of iso butane fuel and have had it for over 20 years. Simple, lightweight, inexpensive and that and an extra cannister of butane lasted on lengthy trips with almost daily use. Sucks at altitude. Someone on my team always had a MSR whisperlight and they generally worked great.

Question: How did Steyr-Mannlicher make a sturdy, reliable detachable magazine from a factory rifle with 1970s technology while it still seems to be beyond Remingtons capabilty now?

Pat II
Friday, June 29, 2007, at 04:01:58 (ZULU)

CDC',

If you're referring to the 6mm file, yes, I still have it, I just sent it your way. If that is the wrong file, I'll have to scrounge some more.

Duman
Friday, June 29, 2007, at 04:30:46 (ZULU)

Same way Savage had that wonderful rotary mag for the 99, they actually spent the money to hire/retain quality machinists. Now, everything is off shored to some sweatbox shop full of illiterate primates chained to a rusty bench lathe because they work for cheap.

Of course, ultimately, the consumer brought this about because they buy garbage because it's cheaper. The Walmart effect.

I haven't bought a new, non-custom factory rifle in several years. I doubt I'm gonna start anytime soon. S/F....Ken M

Ken M
IL, USA - Friday, June 29, 2007, at 05:01:53 (ZULU)

Since I missed the Truck Country episode....

Anybody have any tales of woe with the Ford Triton V-10? My `94 250 is coming up on 170K and will need a front end rebuild to pass insp. Not sure I`m up for dumping big money into a truck I never really liked for 13 years. Did I mention the puss brakes, the wimpy 215hp 5.8l boat anchor, the rust and the shitty auto hubs? Anyhow, I`m looking. Bowtie is not out of the question, just never owned one and don`t care for how they look or drive. I do some intermittant capacity hauling and a travel trailer may be in the not too distant future. Don`t really have an interest in the diesel thingie ($5500 option!). I would like to stay married through this. Thanks for any input.

Joe,

You left `cause... Oh hell, who cares. Welcome back. Slice of pie anyone?

Steve Racer
Somewhere in Dillsburg, PA, - Friday, June 29, 2007, at 06:12:16 (ZULU)

Steve: I bought my 3/4 ton oilburner "off-lease" from a fleet. Musta been the boss's rig---it has all the good options. Here's how it worked out: had 11k on the odometer, a year on the born on date, added the 100K warranty coverage (paid for itself a couple of times---it replaced two tires, ball joints, a bad injector, two front tie rods and dampers, a skid plate--all of which was caused by my abuse--no questions), and drove away with tags for a few grand under half price of new.

I surfed diesels on autotrader and the truck/ tractor pages....used 300 miles for searches, compared price points up and down, year by year...and found two killer deals an hour away in opposite directions. BTW, mentioning the other trucks on my list made for some competitive bidding by the dealers.

Why buy new??? Let someone else eat the $20-25K loss.

Ken M: I hear ya. I've got the bug for a turn bolt .260.

Anyone want a deal on a sproinger M21 full of USGI match parts???

(I actually want to move down to a rack grade M1A, purely irons too)

Joe M
Friday, June 29, 2007, at 07:23:37 (ZULU)

Steve,

Go Bowtie! Chevies are easier to work on than Fords, and the front wheels don't tilt when you turn. I always thought that was retarded. Chevies also have a better ride. Dodges are more difficult to work on than the bowties, but you generally don't have to work on a Dodge. .........unless I buy it.

Just my .02.

Travis Morgan
Wichita, Ks., U.S.A. - Friday, June 29, 2007, at 07:55:24 (ZULU)

The GMC/Chevy truck interior has always disappointed me. That's based on two 1500's, a 5500, a 6500 and a 1992 Kodiak. They all have the same damned interior, and those are spread over 12 years production. I could see not changing anything if it worked great, but IME, GMC interiors have been really marginal.

I hear good things about the Ford V10's in commercial use. Lots of guys have minimal reported problems, but they tend to trade them in between 150 and 180k miles, so they could come unglued after that and I wouldn't know. I prefer diesel for trucks, yeah it's $ up front, but you really make out over the life of the truck, especially if you do a lot of loaded driving. Like Joe said, shop the used market, lots of trade in commercial light duty stuff out there if you're looking for a work truck.

Speaking of which, how's the trucking enterprise going along, Joe? S/F.....Ken M

Ken M
IL, USA - Friday, June 29, 2007, at 11:23:34 (ZULU)

Duman: Thanks. That was it. All that came through was the data but having the file name will let me find it on the other computer.

jc: Patience.

Joe: I got a deal something like that on a loaded 4wd 2001 Toyota Tacoma with 9800 miles. Being patient and cheap as hell has its rewards.

CDC'
Friday, June 29, 2007, at 13:01:50 (ZULU)

Joe,

The two main reasons for considering new are the factory warranty and the fact that I get invoice price right up front cause I am a Mack Trucks Inc. (Volvo) employee. Cash back incentives on top can really take the sting out of it. I know guys at work who bought at the right time with the right deal who had around 10k knocked off sticker. Ordering exactly what you want is nice, too, and really cuts down the time it takes to get the deal done. Am I the only one on the planet who thinks an 8' bed is necessary? Just the week or so I`ve spent so far show`s me if I want a short bed crew cab in black, I can choose my year and price. The lack of trucks optioned the way I want is bumming me down already. That`s the part I really hate. The surfing and the calling and the driving and the haggling. I don`t need another hobbie, trust me. A half-built house is more than enough to suck up all my spare time, I don`t want to become a professional truck buyer on top of it. Inspection is coming up at the end of Aug. so I need to get moving. I`ll give Auto Trader a try.

Thanks all for the help.

Steve Racer
Somewhere in Dillsburg, PA, - Friday, June 29, 2007, at 14:30:36 (ZULU)

CDC' - I'm surprised the file didn't make it through. Attachments can be a crapshoot.

Doc - I can't rule out hard primers. Thanks for the idea, i'll look into it.

Truck Country

Ford, Dodge have the best interiors, IMHO. GMC/Chevy are still lacking refinement.

Ford/Dodge quality sucks. Two friends bought Ford V10-Triton, extended cab, 4x4, trucks (ca. 2004?). The 4WD lockup on the front end of one locked up, wouldn't unlock, put one of the guys in the ditch. Had it repaired. Twice. Both have had the trucks in for several repairs, some silent recalls. MPG on the V10 sucks. They report between 9-12 MPG. They don't lack power, the only thing they can't pass is a gas station.

Japanese trucks have come a long way in 10-years, but not for big loads or towing. The Americans still own that market. The American trucks are better with fuel economy, in many cases.

I just put ~$4K into my '94 GMC, expect to get another 100K miles. Much less expensive than even a 'newer' used vehicle. It meets ~95% of my needs. My next truck will be a GMC with Duramax 6.6L, Allison 6-speed auto-tranny, with bells and whistles.

Duman
Friday, June 29, 2007, at 16:52:27 (ZULU)

Speed Racer, I would say get a diffrent truck just because your vehicle is up in years and miles. Plus you say you never really liked it. I would go for a diesel. Better MPG when towing. Most have 8 foot beds. And yes an 8 foot bed is needed. If you can not lay a sheet of plywood down and shut the tail gate it is too short. I had a short bed. Thought hey this is great I can park it real well and bla bla. Then I tried using it for doing chores. I thought huh I shoulda got the long bed. If you wait for Hurricane season you may find some great deals. If a major hurricane hits fuel price sore and if they stay up for about 2 months folks will be trading in there big vehicles just to get some more fuel efficient. Thats is if they really don't need the big truck. They will take a huge hit. You can surf the internet check all the local and nearly local dealership lots, plus Autotrader and Carmax. I got an 05 in 06 for 16K less than the original sticker. It was still under factory warranty(I got the extended too). Plus the previous owner had a sprayed in bedliner put in so I didn't have too.

Timing and/or being patient will pay off.

JoeM. "(I actually want to move down to a rack grade M1A, purely irons too)" Tired of hitting your target? Ha just kidding.

DirtySteve..........

Dirty Steve
San Antonio , Texas, USA - Friday, June 29, 2007, at 17:29:12 (ZULU)

Guys for those of you that have been wanting a Nikon spotting scope for a while and just didn't want to shell out the "big bucks" Natchez Shooter Supply has the Sky and Earth spotting scope on sale for $199.95 according the the e-mail flyer I just got. This is the 15x45x60 and comes with a tripod. http://www.natchezss.com/

Just thought I'd pass it on.

I know guys I've been remiss in posting about the Advacned Phase 1 @ Badlands but have been sicker than a whipped dog and finally went ot the doc this afternoon. I'll post more later in the week-end!

Sarge

Sarge
Southern Area 51, NM, USA - Friday, June 29, 2007, at 23:34:50 (ZULU)

Duman: A search revealed that my copy is on a zip disk somewhere. Your's didn't come through because of a software compatibility issue. Please send that file to jc. He posted his addy.

Bravo: "Is there a weight savings that I don’t see?"

I assumed that the Snow Peak was lighter than the MSR stoves but didn't check. It is less bulky and certainly looks to me like it would be simpler to get going. Bulk is my enemy and getting a scratch camp set up in the dark, in a storm, on uneven ground, with numb fingers is challenge enough without having to put together a MSR stove. Not that the MSR is bad - it isn't - but the little Snow Peak stove looks easier yet.

This is just something I'm going to try out. Maybe it will work. Maybe not.

CDC'
Saturday, June 30, 2007, at 02:26:24 (ZULU)

Click if you're sick of clicking 1 for English. I need this on a CD to blast at foreigners blasting circus music at stoplights.

Travis Morgan
Wichita, Ks., U.S.A. - Saturday, June 30, 2007, at 07:03:59 (ZULU)

Bravo: Stove and one Snow Peak fuel can

fits in the "Mini Solo Cookset",

http://www.backcountrygear.com/catalog/stovedetail.cfm/SN2300

which nests in this one

http://www.backcountrygear.com/catalog/accessdetail.cfm/SN2450

which - if you have gotten carried away - nests in this one

http://www.backcountrygear.com/catalog/accessdetail.cfm/SN2500

If you're using MSR fuel cannisters, you can nest the "Mini Solo" on a Nalgene bottle as you would a canteen cup and put the stove and fuel in the next bigger pot. Since I carry a Nalgene bottle anyway, using the MSR fuel doesn't seem like it would be any big deal for routine backpacking. For overnights while hunting, Snow Peak fuel and the Mini Cookset look like the way to go.

Seems like a light, compact, flexible system but the damned stuff is EXPENSIVE. I wonder what my stern Scotts forebearers would have thought of me buying a titanium fork and spoon for 15 bucks.

CDC'
Saturday, June 30, 2007, at 10:56:42 (ZULU)

CDC, methinks your stern Scots forebears wouldn't have spent $15 cash on anything less than a Conestoga wagon in days of yore. That was a LOT of money. However, if they had had to carry their cookware, on their backs, from Ellis Island to wherever they ended up, I'll wager that they'd have given it some serious thought. Look at the Jetboil again. Screw the isobutane can on the end, push a button and two minutes or less later, two cups of boiling water. You can hold it in your hand while you do it, which helps if you're really cold. (voice of experience). And, if the terrain is iffy, holding it precludes having it tip over just as the water is hot.

Press one for English.....have a little fun. Press "dos" para Espanol, then when the espanich operator comes on, say loudly in English, "Hey, what the hell is this?" Then when they transfer you back to an English operator, "Yo tengo un problema con mi Jetboil, y yo tengo un pragunta, senior"....then when they transfer you to the espanich operator, well, you get the drift.

Charles S. Hunt
San Antonio, Texas, USA - Saturday, June 30, 2007, at 15:44:28 (ZULU)

Duman: "Ford/Dodge quality sucks...."

Hmmm... don't know about Ford... Haven't seen it in the Dodges since '94.... maybe sour ones in the 80's??.... All the folks @ work - quite a few of 'em have the gas/diesel dodges... personal reviews are pretty good across the board. Had one blow a rear-end seal a few years ago... but that's about it.....

Raffles: Folks - we're waiting for permission (should happen this weekend) to turn on the pistol raffle... Not only a pistol --but the largest collection of goodies that I have ever seen. Drawing will be held at shot show '08.... slow cooker -- but - man-o-man what you will get if you have the right ticket.....

Ken

Ken Hunter
Nokesville, Va, Keep America - God Fearing, Armed and Free!!!.. - Saturday, June 30, 2007, at 19:52:49 (ZULU)

JC,

File on it's way.

Duman

Duman
Saturday, June 30, 2007, at 20:05:01 (ZULU)

Guys,

I just loaded and delivered a welder to a friend. What a hassle. Do any of you have experience with Tommy Lift or Eagle Lift gates for pickup trucks? That looks like the cat's meow for getting heavy stuff into the truck.

Duman
Saturday, June 30, 2007, at 20:07:15 (ZULU)

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