Gun Thread: First November Edition!

Howdy, Y'all! Welcome to the wondrously fabulous Gun Thread! As always, I want to thank all of our regulars for being here week in and week out, and also offer a bigly Gun Thread welcome to any newcomers who may be joining us tonight. Howdy and thank you for stopping by! I hope you find our wacky conversation on the subject of guns 'n shooting both enjoyable and informative. You are always welcome to lurk in the shadows of shame, but I'd like to invite you to jump into the conversation, say howdy, and tell us what kind of shooting you like to do!

Holy Shitballs! How in the ever-loving Hell did it get to be November? Did everyone survive Halloween? Any hauntings at the range?

With that, step into the dojo and let's get to the gun stuff below, shall we?

300 yds - lots of hits on the target

500 yards, some nice groups here

750 yards - somebody using a shotgun?

1000 yds - three grouped close to center - very nicely done!

All in all, not bad shooting for a bunch of morons! Nicely done! All y'all should be proud of yourselves.

Why, it;s none other than our pal CBD who is out there buying uppers!

Oh look! Another gun I don't need, but really, really want! But I have an excuse; Weasel made me get it.

That's a White Oak Varmint Upper with a 24" barrel. And if you look carefully you will see that ejects on the correct...left...side! Yup! They make left-hand uppers, which is very nice, because depending on the load and how the rifles are gassed, the ejected shells get mighty close to my face. The lead time was supposed to be six-eight weeks, which was a miserable bit of news to get from White Oak, but they built it and shipped it in just a couple of weeks. And when it arrived and I stripped it to check a couple of things -- like was the gas key staked properly, and was the barrel nice and tight -- I discovered why they have a good reputation. Everything was exactly as it should be. It was even lubed well, although I run my ARs dripping wet, so it got some more oil before I reassembled it. I also noticed that they had test fired it, which is a nice touch.

I put it on a lower with a good trigger (Timney), but eventually I will build a dedicated lower, because it is sort of a specialized rifle and I will hopefully get better accuracy with an adjustable stock and a rifle-length buffer and spring. But for now? The carbine-length stuff worked just fine when I sighted it in at my little 25-yard range.

I shot about 40 rounds of 77 grain .223, when all I really needed was about 10 rounds to get it on paper. Because it was fun! Even contorting myself on a shooting position designed for pistols, it was a hoot to shoot a long-barreled rifle in a caliber that has seen shorter and shorter barrels on the market. The first round was on paper, so I knew that I got sort of close to maybe mounting the scope halfway decently. I know there are 93-step processes for mounting a scope, but all I did was make sure the upper was level, then I carefully leveled the scope as I slowly tightened the rings...checking the level after each round until I reached the specified tightness.

Next step? A 100 yard range!

And that's where everything fell apart...sort of. The eye relief and stock length (I put an adjustable stock on the lower) were way off because I had adjusted them while standing. So when I got behind the rifle on the bench I had to contort and squish and do all sorts of stuff that made the range babes run for the hills! Oh...my rear bag, which fit my other ARs perfectly, was a little low. What a mess.

But the rifle is very accurate, and that made it a very satisfying trip in spite of my own-goal with the rifle set-up. My best was a 0.45 MOA three shot group, and I had a couple of five-shot groups nicely under 1.0 MOA, all with commodity 77 grain ammo!

I learned a bunch of lessons, but they can be distilled down to: "Test your set-up before you go to the range!" I'm not complaining though. I shot an accurate rifle on a gorgeous autumn day, chatted with the friendly range officer (There is one asshole at this range), and had a great time.

And the best part is that I have to go back when I fix my set-up! First World Problem?

Revolver

Semi-AutoPistol

Zeroing Red Dots

FSJ's new little sister has a name! Gertrude, or Gerdie for short. Here they announce the arrival of the mailman!

PROTIP: Sound on LOW

Q: Weasel, did it come from beneath the sea?
A: Well yes, evidently it did.

Cigar of the Week

This week our pal Diogenes scores again with this excellent review of the H Upmann AJ Fernandez

I have said it before, you cannot go wrong with H Upmann cigars. The H Upmann AJ Fernandez is no exception. The company describes it as a "historic" Cuban-legacy brand with a fresh blend drawn from an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper leaf and a hearty interior of premium Dominican and Nicaraguan long-filler tobaccos.

Yeah;yeah;yeah, blah, blah...

Marketing guys. Annoying aren't they? But this part hits the nail: "The result is a medium to full-bodied profile of cedar, nuts, coffee bean, and oak with hints of pepper from the first draw to the last."

In my experience I have found that the first time you put any cigar to your mouth, you get the immediate taste of the tobacco and all the more subtle notes are there as well. Then, as you ease into the middle of the cigar, they mellow out into a blend with the smoke and overall taste of the stick. The AJ Fernandez hits you with the cedar and pepper right from the start and those flavors do not diminish. This can be off-putting to some but for most cigar smokers, it is a fine way to stay focused on the cigar, and to enjoy the flavor of whatever you may be enjoying with it. In my case, a generous dollop of Aberlour single malt. Additionally, I found, in my cigar at least, the coffee flavor ebbed and flowed with the smoke. I thought that was kinda cool and very pleasant.

Definitely a medium to full bodied smoke, they run about $10 each. Given that, it is a smoke you may "want" to have vice want to "try." But either way, you will likely enjoy it.

Excellent, Diogenes! Thank you!

Here are some different online cigar vendors. You will find they not only carry different brands and different lines from those brands, but also varying selections of vitolas (sizes/shapes) of given lines. It's good to have options, especially if you're looking for a specific cigar.

Cigarsinternational.com
Cigarpage.com
Famous-smoke.com
Cigarsdaily.com
Neptunecigar.com
Smallbatchcigar.com
Bobalu Cigar Company
Cigarbid.com
Nicks Cigar World New!

A note about sources. The brick & mortar/online divide exists with cigars, as with guns, and most consumer products, with respect to price. As with guns - since both are "persecuted industries", basically - I make a conscious effort to source at least some of my cigars from my local store(s). It's a small thing, but the brick & mortar segment for both guns and tobacco are precious, and worth supporting where you can. And if you're lucky enough to have a good cigar store/lounge available, they're often a good social event with many dangerous people of the sort who own scary gunz, or read smart military blogs like this one. -rhomboid

Anyone have others to include? Perhaps a small local roller who makes a cigar you like? Send me your recommendation and a link to the site!

Ammo Link-O-Rama
I'm really very seriously not kidding around anymore. Buy Ammo
AmmoSeek - online ammo search tool
GunBot - online ammo search tool
SG Ammo
Palmetto State Armory
Georgia Arms
AmmoMan
Target Sports USA
Bud's Gun Shop
American Elite Ammo NEW!

Please note the new and improved protonmail account gunthread at protonmail dot com. An informal Gun Thread archive can be found HERE. Future expansion plans are in the works for the site Weasel Gun Thread. If you have a question you would like to ask Gun Thread Staff offline, just send us a note and we'll do our best to answer. If you care to share the story of your favorite firearm, send a picture with your nic and tell us what you sadly lost in the tragic canoe accident. If you would like to remain completely anonymous, just say so. Lurkers are always welcome!

That's it for this week - have you been to the range?

posted by Weasel at 07:00 PM

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