Agree, but the video chose what was probably locally available. Plus the Turkey hunters are willing to spend the big bucks for the few shots they get. And there's been more money put into research.
I'm particularly fond theoretically and anecdotally, of the load that originally used candy. Molten sugar poured into the shot column that hardened into a solid mass, that shatters on firing and kept the shot tightly grouped. Iirc the commercial version uses a polymer, which is probably both safer to automate and has other advantages.
Otoh... Goose loads are well proven and often not lead containing. The early Steel shot was rough on old guns, and loses velocity quickly. I remember the Ithaca 10 ga. Auto developed to use Steel shot, magnum velocity and larger load of shot.
The modern rareite loads are probably best, Tungsten is really pricy, but for life or death? Worth every penny.
Plus, Turkey loads, the best ones, actually don't spread "enough" for wing shooting. Not as bad as a single bullet, but the Purpose is a really really tight pattern for head shots and the density of pattern to hit the CNS. ( central nervous system.... a really really small target On turkeys. )
I do not recommend the 1.3, ( got mine free in a package deal ) it takes a lot of wind to stay up and is too fast for beginners. ( the 1.3 uses the same weight material and lines as the bigger kite, hence needs more wind. )
The 2.2 is a great first kite, For Adults! ( or supervised kids ) It can pull you right off your feet, and is a lot of fun.
I also have the Hydra 420, which can get a canoe going pretty fast. Right about the upper end of size on a kite not connected to a harness with quick release. It's a 3 line, and you can back it up off the ground after a crash. It's got the mesh covered air intakes with "one way valve" to stay inflated. It really will yank you off the ground, so I suggest it as a second, not first! trainer kite.
The Rush Pro School 300 is a full control depower kite that lets you change AOA in flight, and is suitable for snow board or ski use, but not for water. ( no one way valves )
All too expensive for me to want to shoot at, except the 1.3 maybe, and it's so quick it'd be a real challenge.
Plus an Olympic shooter who worked with them to build a very very good rifle.
Forgotten Weapons has done the history, from the L96A1 on, with decent detail. Recommended.
I also enjoy the Q&Arsenal folk, with their deep dives into historical firearms. Starting with a WW1 emphasis, along with others in the anniversary of the War, they've branched off into older & newer weapons.
Not everyone's cuppa, deep it goes. Personally I don't much care how many rifles were in each contract, but sometimes that's a n interesting insight into aspects otherwise invisible. Like how desperate a company is to keep going, when business gets tight. & other factors.
I am very interested in the "how it works" parts. For example , triggers. I mean, all you gotta do is release some thing under spring pressure. How hard can that be? How many ways?
Uh, but reliably, without accidental release. Even if dropped, etc. And smooth in a very specific way. Nothing shows the engineering like visual aids like animations, and Q&Arsenal does that so you can easily grasp some subtle stuff.
And serendipity, while doing various revolvers they found the assumed history of evolution was... Somewhat lacking. So they dug in and got copies of original patents, plus the production history already done, and are re-writing the history of wheel guns for who invented what.
I look forward to them getting a Chiappa Rhino .357 just so I can find out the lineage of the mechanism.
Plus Mae is fun to watch shoot. ( an enviable Significant Other "Isn't that the girl that shoots the Anti-Tank rifle, then laughs?" Yes. )
One thing I find interesting is the revolver development that didn't catch on, here. ( where we assume we're the revolver guys because... Sam Colt. ) The Abadie gate loading system for example, I've never seen on an American gun? And double action was more common earlier in Europe.
I'm going to get some green paracord so I can make my hand forged axe, a replica of a Tower of London exhibit, a Zombie-Viking weapon, which should trigger the living daylights out of the Aristocracy!
( it's my living room display and initial home defense item. Splits wood too. )
Posted on Saturday, September 07, 2024 - 10:01 am:
After watching a Massad Ayoob video where he points out the safety aspects of the 1911, John Moses Browning & Colt's Immortal Masterpiece, in a "snatched from cop" test on time to work action.
I brought it on my phone to the local gunshop. For grins, they then laughed as I took each long gun off the used rack with my eyes closed and worked the safety mechanism on each, blind.
Tbh, I only identified 3/4 of them. The bolt actions kinda blurred together, so many push feed with near identical safeties.
100% function on cartridge arms mechanisms. 2 muzzle loaders took me over 10 seconds to find the breach lever.
The gun equivalent of a stick shift. They might take it from you, but you've got time to grab a frying pan with an Arisaka or a 1911.
( the most laughs came from identifying the Arisaka and an Eddystone 1917. )
Posted on Wednesday, September 11, 2024 - 08:58 pm:
So. A deal came up that I could not pass up. The timing was horrible. Bear Creek Arsenal had AR 308 uppers and lowers on sale. Complete uppers from $235. Complete lowers at $189. I opted for a 16" nitrided SOCOM profile upper and the standard lower. The upper is a little heavy at 7.5lbs, but I'll be keeping this rifle bare bones. I'll probably put a slip over pad on the stock, use a 3x prism sight, and swap their muzzle device for the standard A2 item.
The lower came in already. Looked like standard fare. Waiting on the upper yet.
I'm selling a NIB Bodyguard 380 and the Mosin project to cover most if not all of it.
My AR collection will be complete with a 22lr, 9mm, 5.56, and 7.62.
I looked up some reviews. Some mixed on reliability (I've seen some major brands have issues) so I'll just have to hope for the best there. Accuracy with good ammo is in the range of 1-1/2 MOA, which is plenty good enough for me.
Posted on Wednesday, September 11, 2024 - 11:52 pm:
Rick, Price wise it looks like a good deal if the quality is there. Weight wise it isn't. The entire Ruger .308 SFAR weighs less than your upper in both 16 and 20 inch barrel versions.
Posted on Thursday, September 12, 2024 - 11:43 pm:
This is a traditional big frame AR-10... although the barrel profile is also a factor.
I don't expect the SFAR to have a very long bolt life. The webbing between bolt lugs is extremely thin. This is also done in all AR's in 7.62x39 (aside from the CMMG Mutant) and the bolt life tends to run a fair bit shorter than a standard AR. That said, it's a cool rifle. However, I like to stick with established and proven designs (the BCA is based on the DPMS pattern).
With my optic of choice it'll be an 11lb rifle. A proper beefy girl. What it will also be is a complete rifle at $520 (with optic).
My go to gun is a sub 8lb 5.56. This is just something to have. I'd like have guns in all the calibers I've used in the military, although I'm not sure if I'd want to do a 50BMG again
Posted on Saturday, September 14, 2024 - 09:35 am:
I like a bit of mass for a .308 class rifle. Recoil is a function of velocity & mass of the projectile and launcher.
A friend won in a Turkey Raffle a Remington 700 in .30-06 ( plastic stock ) and a Chinese scope covered in sharp rails. ( I mention the rails since they are a hazard to operating the bolt )
His first shot cut his eyebrow due to underappreciation of recoil & too far aft mounting. My first shot rapped my knuckle on the trigger guard, ditto underappreciated recoil. ( couldn't give digital commentary for days! )
Personally, after that painful reminder of Battle Rifle Cartridge power levels, I found it a little unpleasant to the shoulder, but not excessive. Despite being from a low point in Remington's manufacturing history, the trigger and function were pretty darn good.
He didn't enjoy it much, even after moving the Chinesium scope forward so it didn't hurt his face anymore. ( there wasn't room between the bolt handle and the rails for a finger, so keeping hands intact required care ) I probably should trade him for the rifle, he hasn't used it since. PTSD?
So while I DO appreciate a lightweight rifle, I also have an understanding of physics and the psychology of flinching.
One joint, and you've got a murder, a suicide, and a teen in a straight jacket in an insane asylum. They just don't have Reefer like that today!
Old joke. Not so many asylums today, the crazy people are now called shelter deficient and in horrible conditions. ( unless they're foreign Invited Invaders ) Modern cannabis products are incredibly more powerful than when I first told that joke in High School.
And stressed kids on drugs being at higher risk of suicide? Maybe. ?? It's possible.
However... I haven't read the entire study, to see how they counted stuff. It makes a difference.
I point out States that decriminalized marijuana tend to be left leaning. Teens & Adults with Left leaning upbringing and beliefs are well documented to have much more depression. ( than moderate/middle politically, people )
Thus the story really is Leftist victims of Orwellian induced mental illness are more likely to suicide. That's pretty solid.
But to be honest, so is early recreational drug use. Alcohol is #1 on the suicide factor list. Lots of studies and it's logical, alcohol is a depressant. But the drug involved is probably irrelevant except for severity, it's the self medication aspect that may matter most.
And that's very individual. Are you drinking that beer to unwind? Forget your troubles? Enjoy similar mindset to your buds watching football? Etc...???
Posted on Saturday, September 14, 2024 - 09:21 pm:
"I like a bit of mass for a .308 class rifle. Recoil is a function of velocity & mass of the projectile and launcher."
Pat,
It would seem you are ignorant of the primary innovation in the AR design...the buffer assembly. See that big long spring in the picture above? It eliminates bloody eyebrows in all but the most inept shooters. It also allows the shooter to reacquire the target more quickly.
Feel free to redirect the subject as you usually do.
The buffer assembly? I'd think the innovation was the gas piston/bolt?
You have a real point with the spring stretching the time of recoil vs. any locked, manual action. Certainly enough that your contention is valid.
Aka, good point! Thank you.
The eyebrow thing, as stated, was both poor judgment on mounting the scope, AND poor technique. Aka, didn't grip it firmly enough & surprised by magnitude of recoil. Mea culpa technique with my knuckle rap! Second shot I was fine.
An AR pattern rifle still has a final hard impulse when the spring bottoms out, unlike the very rare Ultimax 100, but I'm told that constant-recoil system really only shines in full auto. Since the total impulse is the same no matter how many springs and buffers you use. ( it's still more "gentle", it's just not that big a deal in 5.56 fired semi auto )
I'm not going to defensively claim that the total impulse is the same ( true ) & therefore there's no difference. ( false ) Because recoil is absorbed and felt by our squishy bodies much differently as you change time/speed/force.
A buddy had a Franchi long recoil action 20 ga. that gave a perceived kick worse than many 12 ga. pumps, because of the slam of the bolt/barrel into the buffer. Otoh a Browning gas operated ( FN, same as the Winchester Super X 2 ) 12, feels almost like a 20. Very different curves on the acceleration of butt into shoulder.
Plastic and aluminum weren't new. The way Stoner used forged ( or cast ) parts was unusual, but the materials weren't.
Recoil springs and buffers weren't new.
I don't remember that exact kind of bolt/piston anywhere else, was that the Stoner Original idea?
Everything else I can point to older examples.
Stoner was following the change from milled receivers to sheet metal to ( Stoner's ) forged to shape ( to polymer, later ), allowed by the idea that you just needed a loose fit bolt shaped space to recoil in, the locking up was in the barrel extension. ( other names also used )
He picked the specific lightweight aluminum construction to play to Fairchild's technology strengths. Aerial camera bodies!
Ironically, the AK-47 was originally planned for bent sheet metal, but the industrial technology for that ( copied from the German Sturmgewehr ) wasn't ready in the USSR. That's why the original mass production version was milled steel & The improved AKM ( AK-47M ) sheet.
I speculate that if Fairchild had been stamping experts, the AR-10 would be quite different. In looks and construction, anyway.
The original S&W M&P10 is my favorite configuration of modern AR-10.
It's the closest to the original concept of a modern, inline action, lightweight battle rifle. It's only 7lbs 11oz unloaded despite an 18" barrel.
I find that a stock with a wide enough recoil pad makes a lot of difference in shooting comfort.
I know that my (now son's) Mosin Carbine with metal butt plate, full powered cartridge, and relatively light weight due to the short barrel makes it something that I wouldn't want to shoot all day.
I considered putting a combination muzzle brake/flash hider on my AR-10, but I'm getting to where I just don't need all that extra noise. A cheesy hard rubber slip over butt pad should suffice for shooting comfort.
"Isn't that the girl that shoots the Anti-Tank rifle, then laughs?" Yes. ) 
