You can 3D Print a Heavy Caliber Gun.

In San Francisco, an AR-15 is a “Heavy Caliber Gun”.

capture17First off… What is a Heavy Caliber Gun?  A .45-70?  .50 BMG?  40mm Bofors?   If I hear “heavy caliber” I’m thinking of Artillery or something Anti-Tank.  So I was thinking “3D Print some Artillery?  I’m in!”  And then I clicked the link.
I am sorely disappointed.  5.56mm and .223 are a .22 Caliber… that is not by any means a “heavy caliber”.  Maybe if your targets are Chipmunks.  Maybe.
I should have known though… The source is CBS out of San Fran… Every Caliber is a Heavy Caliber.
No one tell them that you can get an AR type rifle in .308.  They would shit themselves until they died.
Quick – someone tell them that you can get an AR type rifle in .308!

 

Drag Racing x4

20150329_125634

A few folks from work and I went to the zMAX 4 Wide Dragway to watch the Nationals.
Drag Racing is the automotive equivalent of Gladiatorial Combat.  It’s loud, it’s violent, and it’s over suddenly.   But man… You feel it.  Now, when you drag 4 cars at the same time.  Good hell.  That’s just bananas.  The sound and fury is staggering.   Ear Plugs are not optional.  They are quite mandatory unless you enjoy hearing loss.

20150329_133740
I have to say that my son and I truly enjoyed the experience.  We watched records being broken.  We watched dreams die.  We watched it all.   And loved it.
We were entertained.
I want to thank the zMAX organization for letting us hang out with them and experience a bit of all that they do.   It was a truly impressive spectacle that we will not soon forget.  I’d post a video… but was told that was a No-No by the NHRA.  I shall respect that.

BOLT LUBE by ZMAX

10487246_10205167478719975_6131840037654178969_n  Testing out a new product from ZMax.  This bounced off my desk the other day and I’ve put it to the test.  I know there are some great gun products out there already, and I know we all have our favorites… So I’m pretty dang jaded when it comes to some new latest and greatest gun care product.
However, ZMax is different.  ZMax has a long history of working lubricants for the automotive industry.   And a lot of that in racing. They have some serious Lubricant Engineering chops.  So when I saw this stuff, it raised an eyebrow.  If these guys can help race engines perform better and longer… a gun oil should be real easy for them to do right.

So I’ve been testing it since I got it.  My 1911, one of my 870 Tacticals and a few other things are now lubed and coated with ZMax’s “BOLT LUBE”.    My 870 is gleaming darkly with it, and the 1911 feels like its been pampered.  I am genuinely impressed so far.  And honestly, nothing has actually impressed me since Slipstream and FIREclean.

Some of ZMax’s claims are going to take some time to sort out.  But others I’m seeing evidence that it does just as advertised.   The oil is thicker than most new gun oils.  It really does stay where you put it.  Other oils can run like water… Such MPRO-7’s gun oil.  This stuff is different… It’s slick in a way that can only be described as creamy.
You can usually feel rather quickly if a gun oil is going to work for you or not.  This stuff works.    I don’t know anything about the Micro-Lubricant part of the label.  I’ll have to talk to them about it, but there’s something to it.

The BORE Cleaner and Conditioner seems to work just fine as well.  It’s hard to test a cleaner when my guns are already clean.  But I used it on some other things and it cleaned the metal quite nicely, leaving the surface with what feels like a micro-film of some sort of lubricant.  That’s probably the “Conditioner” part.

The site talks a lot about “soaking into the metal”.   And I’ve yet to see metal soaking a fluid in like a sponge, but I know what they are talking about.  Penetrating into the microscopic nooks and crannies that are only seen under an electron microscope.  That’s where moisture can get, so that’s where corrosion starts.  Getting in there with whatever micro-lubricant they have is a good thing.

I have high hopes for this product.  It has a solid foundation and history behind it.  While it’s a new product, it didn’t just pop out of the blue.     I’ll keep you guys posted on how it tests out the more I use it.

20150316_122516UPDATE:   Tested further in my Beretta 92FS.  Let’s put it this way.  I’m sold on it.  As I said before, “I gotta talk to these guys.”  Well, I did.  I talked to them.  Zmax is HQ’d at the race track, and I met the fellas there at the 4 Wide Drag Strip.   Okay, first off… 4 wide drag racing?  That’s just bananas.  I will be getting tickets to that.  You want to see more power launching than that – You’ll have to get on an Aircraft Carrier.    In talking with the Zmax crew – I discussed this with them.  “Just what is in Zmax that makes it work different from other lube?”   Pretty much the answer was in Molecule size.  Here’s what they said, “If a normal oil molecule is, say, the size of a basketball.  Then the the size of the Zmax molecule is the size of a ping pong ball.”  It’s 80 times smaller.  That’s how it penetrates into the metal, lifts carbon off, keeps carbon from sticking.  That’s the secret.  That is legitimately impressive.  In my Beretta?  Well, my Beretta was already slick.  The feeling as I said before?  Creamy?  That’s the feel in the Beretta.  But there’s a difference.  Not only does it feel so smooth… But it’s not bleeding oil.  The oil stays put, as advertised.
Pretty much – Bolt Lube by ZMax does what it’s advertised to do.  That’s also impressive.
A bit more though that is not advertised.  It works better when it gets hot.  Which makes this IDEAL for all your Class III applications.  In and on suppressors and full autos.  Any gun that you are going to run hard… get hot.  That’s where the ZMax comes into it’s own.

Armchair Quarterbacking: McDonald’s

The Big Mac Promise
The Big Mac Promise

McDonald’s is in a financial crisis and is bleeding money.  And another report has the CEO saying that they are needing to evolve.  I agree.  McDonalds has been one my least favorite Drive Through’s for about 30 years now.  In fact, the only time I stop in a Mickey D’s is when I’m road tripping… Not to eat though.  Well, maybe sometimes.  But mainly just for the clean restrooms.  They may have the cleanest Men’s Rooms going coast to coast.

But let’s talk about that brand.  Yeah.  It needs to change.  First off, Ronald McDonald is a Clown.  Everyone hates clowns.  Clowns need to go away forever.  Seriously.  Every time I see a clown, I think “Rule #2”.  When McDonalds started out – there was no Clowns.  McDonald’s started in the 50’s, but the clown didn’t show up until 1963.  There was no need for that other than an attempt to market to children… and really kids don’t need a clown to inspire them to chow down on fatty salty and sugary foods.    Kid’s don’t drive the car that pulls into parking lot and kids don’t have the Plastic to pay for an order.  Market to the folks that do.  The Child-Adults with cell phones that could do a space launch and an attention span of a Gold Fish and the life ambition of apathetic Person Of Walmart.  Or the guy with kids that doesn’t have time to cook.  Let’s look at that second guy.  Dude’s busy, has some kids in the car and want to get them some food because they are hungry and cranky and hey, he could use something to eat as well.

The Big Mac Reality
The Big Mac Reality

The Menu’s Flagship Burger – The Big Mac.  It’s pathetic.  It’s not big.  The meat patties are tiny and tasteless and if you are lucky you have a decent amount of shredded lettuce to at least keep the buns apart.  I generally like burgers that have something between the buns.  You have something called the Big Mac, it needs to be substantial.  The Quarter Pounder has a good patty… How about you use 2 Quarter Pounder patties in the Big Mac?  Forget everything else and think about that for a moment.  Look at what everyone else is doing… Big Thick Juicy Burgers.  McDonald’s, your burgers have not been thick or juicy for some time.   Forget your Specialty burgers that come and go – I’m talking about your core menu items.  The staples that have been around for as long as I can remember… Your patties suck.  They are too thin, and too small.  Seriously, I’ve had thicker patties from White Castle.    And when they get served they are generally cold and dry.    Get some meat in there.  The whole Wendy’s “Where’s the Beef?” series of commercials, they were talking about you, McDonald’s.  And you didn’t do anything about it.

Five Guys... Enough Said.
Five Guys… Enough Said.

The problem with McDonald’s is that you lost your Soul.  That clown stole it.  Go back to the source.  What you started out being.  Be that again.   You’re trying to be all things to all people and it’s just not working.  Outfits like In & Out Burger and Five Guys are smoking you.  Why?  Because they are giving their customers what they want… Something they want to eat.  They’ve embraced the fact that they are a fast food burger chain.   They decided they want to offer the best burgers that they can.   You guys?  Your gourmet specialty burgers are generally pretty dang sad… because they are made by the same non-engaged Min-Wager Clowns that don’t care about or even know about what a good burger is.

In & Out Burger.
In & Out Burger.

This is for the CEO of McDonald’s personally… Jump into a car with a friend that is truthful and honest with you.  And you guys go on a Road Trip.  Go to In & Out.  Go to Five Guys.  Go to the other top burger joints in the country and really look at and taste the food.  And then ask yourself why you can’t do that.  And all those reasons you come up with as to why you can’t make a damn good burger like that…. FIX THAT.  All those reasons should become your action points.   This isn’t Rocket Surgery… This is Burgers.

Your chicken sandwiches are not that bad… Not that great, but not bad.  I’m no judge of chicken though.  You’re fish sandwiches suck though.  Same reasons your burgers do now.  But that’s something else… You need to get back in touch with the burger.  Do that, everything else can fall into place.

Does this patch look familiar, McDonald's?
Does this patch look familiar, McDonald’s?

We’ve got a saying around here.  “No Clown Shoes”.   Get rid of the clowns… Relearn what a good burger is.  Get your soul back.   And while you are at it – get rid of the garish bright red and yellow.  Tone those colors down.   That will let people know you can be taken seriously.

Your fries are great.  Don’t touch them.

 

Classified

madnessGeneral Petraeus pleaded guilting to moving and retaining Classified Information.   Personal Notes.
Now we’ve got SecState Hillary Clinton who had Email Servers set up in her own home… and exclusively ran ALL her emails through her own server.   In direct violation of Federal Record Keeping laws.
And the tactics of defense they are using to counter questions?  To insult the question and mock the person asking questions about the emails. Roughly 55,000 pages of emails.
How many of these are classified?  How many counts of moving and retaining Classified information is on top of the violations of the Record Keeping laws?
Remember this is the same Hilary Clinton that had stolen/missing FBI files found on her desk.  The same that had a Staffer caught red handed stuffing documents down his trousers.  While at the same time people around her were either getting arrested or winding up dying of mysterious suicides.
Hillary Clinton is the Reincarnation of Al Capone.   She’s the least trustworthy person in DC next to Al Gore and… Well… Most of the DNC Figureheads.

New Job: Point Blank Range

11000395_838593676176594_1416655401949180606_nAs some of you know, I am no longer with Blackstone Shooting Sports.  I left a couple weeks ago and I am happy to announce that I am now with Point Blank Range, as their new Marketing Manager.
This new job is going to be a lot of fun, doing all the things I love to do.  So I am really looking forward to this!
So if you are going to visit the Charlotte, NC area, head to the Point Blank Range South Charlotte location in Matthews.   I’ll be there most of the time starting tomorrow.

My Springfield Armory 1911 GI No More

10993492_10205039089750331_2520949170993450144_nThis is my Springfield Armory GI 1911.  I’ve had this gun for some years now, kept it and enjoyed it as stock, refusing to modify it or change it in any way.  Well, two things happened to while I was in Jacksonville, NC.  The GI style wood grips cracked on me, and before I really “Discovered” Fireclean, it suffered form a corrosion attack on the slide.   So I had to scrub the corrosion off it, and change the grips.
Well, once I had gone and done all that keeping it “stock” just isn’t the same anymore.

10993439_10205039089710330_5305848336307885131_nThe gun shoots remarkable well for an old warhorse.  I love the fact that even with the old nubbin sights, it’s still an accurate shooter.  I fired 100 rounds of standard Winchester White Box 230 grains, and 50 rounds of Hornady JHP’s without a single failure.  The gun got hot.  So hot that it was really difficult to rack the slide… but it kept shooting as long as the mag had ammo in it.  It showed no signs of slowing down either.  That was probably due to the Slipstream lubrication, and a good old GI style 1911 working together in harmony.

Here’s the one problem I had though.  Hammer Bite.  Not bad enough to be painful, but it was irritating and distracting.  So to solve that problem, I went ahead and ordered some parts from Brownells.  A new Commander style Hammer, sear to match that, and a Commander style drop in beavertail safety.  Wilson Combat parts of course.   They should be here in 4 to 5 days.  Can’t wait.   Once those parts are in, my GI will no longer be a GI.  This saddens me a bit.

Shooting the 464 SPX

First thing, you’ll notice that the rifle is sporting a different butt-stock.   Thanks to Matt for sending it.  The new stock still had some wiggle to it like most all M4 stocks do, but it’s not rattling as it fits much better than the original ATI.   It’s bit lighter, and a lot less bulky.  It feels much better.  I’m keeping the rubber pad, which is the bulkiest bit now… not for recoil, but to anchor it in the shoulder while you run the lever.  Recoil is a shove, since the gun weights nothing.  But it’s nothing too sharp or uncomfortable.  It may be a tad bit much for smaller children, but I have seen reduced recoil load for .30-30 – I believe from Federal, which would allow this gun to be quite manageable.   For anyone else, it’s really no problem.   Now, I did learn that the location I have that little Streamlight TLR-1 mounted at… That’s just got to go.  Because that will impact your support hand in less than comfortable ways.
B-jEql-CYAAQJuwHere are a few shot groups.
Yes, they are hitting a bit low because I still need to adjust them.  I’ll do that once I pick up some Loctite and get out a tiny little screwdriver.  Then I get set it and it will stay.  But you can see the groups are not bad at all for a short, light lever-action carbine.    That nice little Cloverleaf makes me very happy.  These Mossberg 464’s are shooters right out of the box.

Now, they are no Winchester 94’s to be sure.  The action still needs to work in and the loading gate and feed mechanisms need to wear in a bit… but the gun really did run great.  I had no problems with it at all.   I really couldn’t be happier with this little thumper.

Update:   Here’s what it looks like now.20150224_110438
20150224_110505I can’t wait to get this out and hunt with it.  All I’m going to add to this gun is a sling.  A simple black nylon GI sling.

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