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Author Archives: Finch
End of season cleaning of M1 Garand
To avoid POI changes I only take my M1 Garand apart to clean it during the season if it rains during a match. I’ve gotten lucky and only had one match in the pouring rain, knock on wood. Constant disassembly can also cause excessive wear. So during the season I use a bore guide and just clean the barrel, reapplying grease as needed.
Bore guide:
After the season I do a detailed field strip and clean everything. Don’t remove the gas tube as every time you take it off it could loosen it and cause accuracy issues. I leave the key and the tube only removing the gas plug so I can clean the carbon build up.
Before putting it back together I like to hand rub a light coat of pure raw linseed oil on to the stock which helps seal it up and restores the spots on the stock that have dried up due to me sweeting on it all season.
Your gun rights, gun bans, and what you can do.
As I’m sure you’ve heard Obama and several democratic members of congress have been wailing for gun control. Feinstein has promised to introduce a highly restrictive bill which will effect all gun owners and seriously hurt highpower and other shooting sports. This ban specifically bans the popular competition rifles the AR-15 and M1 carbine. In essence this would snuff out the “highpower community” by forcing us to register our rifles and forbidding any potential new shooters from acquiring a match rifle. The summery is below.
Summary of 2013 legislation
Following is a summary of the 2013 legislation:
Bans the sale, transfer, importation, or manufacturing of:
120 specifically-named firearms;
Certain other semiautomatic rifles, handguns, shotguns that can accept a detachable magazine and have one or more military characteristics; and
Semiautomatic rifles and handguns with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds.
Strengthens the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban and various state bans by:
Moving from a 2-characteristic test to a 1-characteristic test;
Eliminating the easy-to-remove bayonet mounts and flash suppressors from the characteristics test; and
Banning firearms with “thumbhole stocks” and “bullet buttons” to address attempts to “work around” prior bans.
Bans large-capacity ammunition feeding devices capable of accepting more than 10 rounds.
Protects legitimate hunters and the rights of existing gun owners by:
Grandfathering weapons legally possessed on the date of enactment;
Exempting over 900 specifically-named weapons used for hunting or sporting purposes; and
Exempting antique, manually-operated, and permanently disabled weapons.
Requires that grandfathered weapons be registered under the National Firearms Act, to include:
Background check of owner and any transferee;
Type and serial number of the firearm;
Positive identification, including photograph and fingerprint;
Certification from local law enforcement of identity and that possession would not violate State or local law; and
Dedicated funding for ATF to implement registration.
A pdf of the bill summary is available here.
Please take a moment to contact your representatives and senators and ask that they actively oppose any gun control legislation.
Contact all of them here:
http://www.nraila.org/get-involved-locally/grassroots/write-your-reps.aspx
Contact the speaker of the house here:
http://www.speaker.gov/Contact/
A “legitimate” match rifle at risk of being banned.
Have Gun Will Travel: Flying With a Handgun
I fly fairly frequently for work, but I’ve never had guts to check a handgun. My wife and I went to the Florida Keys for our 5th anniversary and much to her dismay I decided its time to make this happen. Turns out it’s pretty easy to do. I bought an orange pelican 1200 with pick and pluck ,and a set of matching master locks just big enough to fit through the lock points. Pick and pluck certainly does not look nice but it gets the job done.
Review your airlines policy, but for US air the firearm needs to be unloaded in a locked hard side case. Do NOT use a “TSA approved” lock, the firearm should only be accessible to you. Keep the key with you and place a spare in your carry on. This case can be put in your larger soft sided checked bag. I take the extra step of using a bike cable lock to lock the hard case to the soft luggage. While it wouldn’t take more than a few minutes and basic tools to get the cable off the bag, I would hope it would slow down a rogue airport employee looking to quickly make off with my Glock.
Ammo can be in the larger soft luggage bag, but must be in a manufactures case or similar. I carry buffalo bore their package is nice for reuse. Some airlines allow you to keep your ammo In the locked hard case others allow you to store ammo in a loaded magazine. I find it easier to keep it separate, as I generally fly US Airways. 
When you get to the airport go to the counter and tell them you would like to declare a firearm. If its busy you may want to ask where to go at the start of the line. At PHL I needed to go to the “special assistance line” at MIA I just went to the regular line. At the counter you will sign a little orange form declaring it is unloaded and unlock the case placing the tag inside. At PHL I was walked down to the end where my bag was handed off to TSA at MIA the X-ray is on a different level so I was told I’d be paged at the gate if there was a problem (there were no problems).
At your final destination you’ll claim your bag as normal from the belt so don’t stop for 6 beers after your flight lest your Glock becomes property of one of the homeless that roam PHL. Make sure you check the state laws of your destination before you fly with a gun and avoid NJ and NY, It is also a good practice to review the airline polices. I have flown, US air, United, and Delta in this manner.
Worlds Finest Trimmer Review
I have been using a RCBS trimpro for some time with decent results however I was looking for something faster and perhaps more accurate. I’ve been looking at The “worlds finest trimmer” (WFT) from little crow gunworks since Creedmoor started selling them. I like that it indexes on the shoulder this seems to make more sense.
I really like the idea of this trimmer. It’s design is very clever. It’s basically a drill bit with an assembly around it that holds a ball bearing that holds the shoulders of the case.
I’ve had some mixed results with it. On the plus side it is very fast and once it is set it keeps the brass within .01.
However it is not fun to set. I had a lot of trouble using the recommended method of inserting a case that is the proper size and adjusting the bit to touch the case mouth. In this case the trimmer seems to take around .03 more from the case. Some trial and error I was able to get it where I wanted it and I sure wont be changing it anytime soon .
Overall I would recommend this trimmer for at least casual or bulk reviewers. I am going to keep it to use for larger batches of reloads for the Garand however I’ve since picked up a Wilson trimmer which I prefer to this one.
