steve1

My Dad was a severe alcoholic. He realized his problem and tried to quit more than once. He went to treatment a couple times, and even quit for a year. During times of stress or turmoil he always returned to the bottle. It was like an old friend that never let him down. I think his real issue was growing up in a dysfunctional home. Actually it was growing up in a situation where noone wanted him and being moved from home to home at a young age. That is something you just don't get over. I noticed when he tried to quit drinking, after treatment, he was very very depressed. Too bad he couldn't have had ongoing therapy, support, and medication to help him get through life without alcohol. We now know more than we did then. We still have much more to learn. My father should have received dual diagnosis treatment. There are many treatment centers that do not look very deeply into a person's mental illness issues. Some think that drinking is the only real problem that needs treating. The treatment Dad went through involved drinking alcohol that had a chemical in it to make you vomit. I'm not sure if such treatment still exists, but it didn't work very well. My father never joined a support group such as AA. I'm sure it could have helped a lot. His real issue, underlying his drinking problem, was depression. It runs in our family. There may have also been some PTSD issues from his dysfunctional childhood. His mother died at a young age, and he did experience a lot of trauma for a kid. At any rate he ended up, later in life, becoming an alcoholic and a terrible parent.....

There's a lot more to it than that. The ATF requires manufaturers to make the semi-auto versions as hard to convert as possible. For an AR-15/M-16 the trigger, hammer, safety and bolt-carrier are different. And the lower receiver has a lot of material that prevents an auto sear from being installed. It can be done, but it's a good bit of work. reply] ........................................................................ I wonder though how many older weapons are on the market today. The older versions had a simple pin to hold the automatic sear in place. I'm no machinist, but it did look like a simple job to convert one to full auto....It sounds like the newer weapons are indeed different.

Most of my relatives are alcoholics. I watched my brother drink himself to death. My wife's dad did the same. He died alone at Christmas. AA can be a wonderful program. I'd look for another one to join. I wish I could have done more to save my brother. He never admitted he had a problem, right up to the end. He never joined AA either. I think with the right support, he may have been able to quit. Mental illness such as depression is often a factor that goes along with dependency issues. Many treatment centers only treat the addiction issue. These clients often return to drinking. They are self medicating their other problems.....

I owned a Clydesdale once. He was about 1/4 Belgium. I used to skid house logs and firewood with him. Even packed him in the mountains. What a wonderful horse! Gentle as a lamb. When we were skidding logs with him, he'd stick his head in the truck with us, and he would mooch part of our sandwich. I sure hated to sell him. He was like part of the family.

It's hard to keep up with all the changes in technology. I guess I'm not very familiar with a muzzle brake that can help reduce noise, recoil, and flash. The conventional muzzle brake reduces recoil, but increases noise levels dramatically. Sometimes it's hard to even shoot a magnum rifle without ear plugs. As John said, it can even be dangerous to other's hearing if you are shooting next to them. A lot of hunters have their magnum rifles ported like this, to help with recoil. Or a muzzle brake can be attached to the end. You end up with a very long barrel that sounds like an canon going off. The good news it doesn't kick bad. It seems there is a magnum fad these days. Many people are going to muzzle brakes. Most hunters want to shoot a gun that will reach way out there for a long shot. There is also extra nock-down power by shooting a big fat cartridge full of powder. Heavier bullets also buck the wind better. The draw backs are extra noise and recoil. You might need a barrel in the 24 to 26 inch range (before the muzzle brake is put on) to get the full effect of all that powder. So you might end up with a barrel almost 30 inches long. Man, that is a long barrel!

I read an article once on that type of horse. They were using them to pack in Alaska. If they are the same breed, they looked smaller, and were hardier than most other horses. They also had a different looking head on them, than I was used to seeing....

This warmer weather has me thinking about horses. There is still about a foot of snow here in Montana, but we had a nice day yesterday. I've been feeding five horses all winter. That's too many for me. I still have a wild mare I need to sell. I did get a nice colt out of that mare last Spring. I was thinking of breeding her to a Jack this spring. I'm tired of buying hay, so I think I'll down size my little herd by getting rid of that mare. I have a green broke four year old gelding with a good disposition. I'm anxious to start working with him again this Spring. He should shape up into a good cow and mountain horse. The other two are older geldings. They've never been packed before, but I should be able to teach them that easy enough. I hope to spend a lot of time packing and camping in the mountains this summer. That will cut into my skydiving time, but there's not time enough to do everything.

Nice looking weapon Marc. Bipods are a needed accessory for long range shooting in my opinion. I use them on most of my hunting rifles for prone shooting. I don't really like the long bipods that you can use sitting. They are just too big and bulky in my opinion. But even they would be usefull if you have to shoot above tall grass or brush or for those shots when a prone position is impossible. I usually carry a couple of crossed sticks (light dowel) held together with a heavy rubber band. These work great for a sitting postion above the grass. I've shot a number of deer with them.

Full auto on an M-16 might be affective at close range, as John said. Shoot a few rounds, then release the trigger. That would take discipline. On the old M-16's, it was easy to slip in an automatic sear. It was held in place by a pin. It sounds like the newer models have all been changed. I used to be able to disassemble and assemble one, in seconds, almost blind folded. All I needed was the punch on my swiss army knife. I wouldn't mind owning an AR or M-16 now, but I think I'd enjoy shooting an M-14 more. I enjoyed shooting an M-1 garand too. I just wish they weren't so darn heavy. Too bad all these rifles cost so much, now days. I imagine too, that you can spend a lot more getting one fine tuned to shoot well....

This is a bit off the subject....But I was doing some thinking. If there are any BATF types, who read this, don't panic. I don't even own an AR or M-16. I was just wondering how difficult it is to convert one to full auto. In weapons training, years ago, I was told this was a very simple matter. All you needed was an automatic sear. There isn't much to an automatic sear. I think any handyman or want to be machinist could easily build one. I imagine these can even be bought somewhere, easily enough. The next question is..... Is a fully automatic M-16 really any more dangerous or even needed. We were trained in the army, to fire about a three round burst and then take you finger off the trigger. The newer M-16's have this built into them (I believe). In the old days, you could hold the trigger down and use up an entire magazine. The first shot was in there, and the rest were all over the place (usually above your intended target). I can see why the newer models aren't made that way any more. Are there any situations where full auto is needed? If I owned an AR-15 or M-16 I think I'd be content to leave it as semi automatic. I know people get all panicy when you mention the word full-auto, but I'm wondering if semi-auto isn't just as deadly, on many weapons. I shot an M-14 on full auto once. The first shot was in there. the next two were way, way, above the target. On weapons that recoil a lot, full auto certainly is not effective. In fact it's a great way to waste ammo. An M-60 machine gun was like shooting a sewing machine. It had enough heft that the muzzle didn't rise too bad. Full auto was good on a weapon like that. I can see the purpose of full auto if there isn't much muzzle jump, but on some weapons I wonder why they even have full auto. On that Viper it would probably be fine because it didn't look like the muzzle was rising much. There isn't much recoil at all to an M-16, but there is enough muzzle jump (on a longer barrel), that I never really liked shooting it on full auto. I remember one story, told by a sargent fresh back from Vietnam....An armed enemy soldier was running across an open area. An entire platoon of soldiers openned up with their M-16's on full auto, shooting off hand. Most soldiers figured the more rounds fired, the better. Everyone was soon out of ammo and grabbing for fresh magazines. The enemy soldier was still running unscathed across a rice paddy. Then an old salt with lot's of combat experience, knelt down, fired one or two rounds on semi, and the Viet Cong soldier dropped in his tracks. So much for full auto... But what do I know. I've never been in combat. Anyone else have any thoughts on this. I know one guy who owns a full automatic AR-15. He acts like this is really a hot item to own. I wonder if a semi-auto (in that weapon) isn't just as deadly....

I used to order brass, powder, and bullets from Mid-Way and Mid-South. You could save a lot of money by ordering in bulk. Anybody tried those companies lately?

I watched a special on TV where experiments were being done with the M-16 Viper. They were using modified ammo for that short of a barrel. It is indeed quite a weapon. I don't know if this would fall into the sub-machine gun category, but it probably would. Submachine guns have come a long ways over the years. I remember when the UZI was considered the best. That M-16 Viper would definitely have more power and shoot further than the standard 9 mm parabellum rounds. I'm not sure what the police use now days, (for a submachine gun) but I'll bet they are a lot better than an UZI. I think the worst sub-machine gun I fired was a grease gun. What a piece of junk! I didn't like the Thompson either. I'll bet things have come a long way since those weapons were invented. You mentioned noise being a problem with the Viper. That has me wondering what soldiers do these days to prevent hearing loss. In a fire fight there probably wouldn't be any ear plugs. Inside of a building with numerous weapons and other explosions going off I'll bet it is hard to prevent substantial hearing loss, from even a single fire fight. Even a pistol being fired in a building, without ear plugs is awful. I still have hearing loss from firing heavy weapons, at Bragg. One day I forgot my ear plugs and didn't want to admit I was stupid. Lack of intelligence was one thing you could get washed out for. I was even stupider in trying to get through that day without hearing protection. My ears rang for days after. I still don't own a hearing aid, but I should have got one years ago....

Flash Hider? .............................................................. Both the M-16 and AR-15 have flash suppressors. They may help a little with muzzle flash, but if you have a real short barrel, standard 223 ammo will produce a huge flash because of unburned powder. The powder burns as the bullet travels down the barrel. All the powder should be burned up by the time the bullet leaves the barrel. There's no flash suppressor tht will work on too short of a barrel or the wrong ammo. Perhaps a 16 inch barrel is too short for standard M-16 ammo. I don't know though. It might shoot okay. I'll bet Lou Diamond knows. Another example was something really stupid, that I did once, when I was a kid. I started reloading when I was 12 or 13. My Dad let me do about whatever, I wanted as long as I didn't blow the house up. A friend and I decided we'd load up some coyote ammo for my trusty 30/06. This was a poor varmit rifle, but it was the only bigger gun I had. Stupid us...we didn't even have a loading manual. This friend of mine watched a guy load a box of shells once, so he was the brains behind this fiasco. We bought some 110 grain bullets and a can of 4831 powder. We loaded up a charge that should have been behind a 180 grain bullet. So, then we drove out in the back 40 to try them out. Anyone who reloads would know this was way to slow of a burning powder for that bullet. And yes, we had too much powder behind that little bullet. It was getting a little dark when I finally touched one off. "Holy Christ" There was about three feet of flame that came out of the barrel, and a boom that scared both of us. When I finally got my vision back I noticed little specks of powder, all over the snow. This is an extreme example of what not to do, but it shows what can happen if all the powder does not burn before the bullet leaves the barrel....

Yes, You are the winner Airtwardo. I used to do that all the time.....

It's amazing all the modifications you can do these days to that kind of rifle. John Rich's advice seems right on. The rate of twist is importanat. I never liked too short of a barrel. Some times you lose a lot in velocity by taking inches off a barrel....A short barrel may be handier....A longer barrel would work better for long range work. 600 yards is a very long shot. I doubt if a 16 inch barrel would be worth much at that range. I'd look hard at what kind of muzzle veloscity you get out of a shorter barrel compared to a longer one. Sometimes a couple inches can make a big difference. I'm also wondering about muzzle flash....With too short of a barrel you may have unburned powder. I'd think that would be the case on a 16 inch barrel. Maybe I am wrong, but that would be a consideration to think about. You could load your own ammo with a faster burning powder, and solve muzzle flash problems. There may be some faster burning ammo for short barrels on the market too. It's sure a lot easier to just buy stock ammo for that kind of rifle, rather than reload. Reloads may not work too well in an automatic either. You have to resize carefully for an auto. I'd listen to Lou Diamond and John. They probably have forgot more about automatic weapons than I will ever know. It's been years since I've even fired that kind of weapon...

Maybe that is something new. I got out in 76. Are you referring to the different color of flash on your beret (which represents your group)? But I don't think that had much to do with JFK....

I think that poster says it all Airtwardo. I had to laugh when I read it. I think everyone who ends up in an elite unit thinks they are the cat's "Meow". I remember walking through O'hair Airport with my bloused corcoran boots and green beret on my head and thinking I was pretty hot. Actually I was just a twenty year old kid who probably wasn't any tougher than a lot of folks. I have to agree Navy Seals went through a lot rougher training than I ever did. Sometimes having a big head is a good prior to going into combat. I'm glad I never had to do that. Guarison cap must be the correct name for that cap. Everyone called it the other name....

............................................................. We were given the cunt cap after jump school. It had a glider, parachute, insignia on it. I think WW II paratroopers wore that same cap. When I got to S.F. Training in 1970, I heard some stories of President Kennedy's visit there. Special forces were a pet project of his. All kinds of money was infused into Bragg after that for Special Forces. New barracks were built on Smoke Bomb Hill. The JFK school for special warfare was built. I wish I knew more on the history on that. Some of this is off the top of my head. There was one guy who supposedly bit the head off a rattlesnake to show how hard-core S.F. troops were, and impress Kennedy. Whether or not it was really a rattlesnake, I don't know. S.F. troops were sometimes called snake eaters....

If I remeber right??(God that was a long time ago)...I used to take the little strings out of 550 cord, and then use the gutted sheath for a cord. I'd put this through the cone and then through the grommet. I'd then wrap all that around a packing paddle and start pulling for all I was worth. You had to be tough to be a rigger back then... Of course i did all this on the floor. We couldn't afford an honest to god packing table. Closed a lot of reserves like that. Some people said it resembled a monkey doing something unnatural to a football....

Oh yeah. The guy has super powers over powder supplies and prices. Quote ................................................................... You took this entirely out of context. Go back and read the rest of my message. I'm not blaming all this on Obama. What I said was just the opposite. The huge down turn in our economy could signal even worse things to come. Many people think that they may need to defend what they own, if things get chaotic enough. I knew people thirty years ago who were starting to stockpile ammo and weapons for that day. This is not a new idea. I just think that people are thinking of what could happen, and they are preparing for the worst. No, I'm not personally a doomsday advocate, but I also don't see anything wrong with being prepared for the future. Perhaps we have never known a time like this in our life time, but that doesn't mean it will never happen. My brother, relied on government and police to keep him safe during the L. A. riots. Guess what, it didn't work. He found out there was noone then who would even show up when he called for help. In New Orleans, I knew people who had guns to protect their home, and family from looters. Other houses were being ravaged by thugs. People with guns were able to protect what they owned. Don't tell me this can't work. I'm not an ultra right winger. I even voted for Obama. I'm just thinking about what the future will hold.....

I tried to pick up some bullets and powder this weekend, and couldn't find what I needed. The price of powder is going sky high. I noticed the same thing over Christmas. I wonder if this is all over Obama taking office. I think the state of the economy is driving a lot of this. If things get to be dog eat dog, a firearm and ammo would be a good thing to have. The "have nots" aren't going to sit back and starve. Others are going to defend what they have. I'm not saying that is what is happening now, but some people think so. I do have a gloomy outlook though. Some day this may be the case.....

That reminds me of another story. This one is Montana + pilot + gun + ex-wife + boyfriend = shootout + life in prison. This reminds me of doing algebra. We had another jump pilot back in the 70's. He was a real quiet guy with lot's of money. He also flew helicopters in the National Guard. He was married for a while. His woman ended up running off with another guy. So, this once fun loving jump pilot ended up shooting the boy friend with a 44 magnum. He caught them both in bed and promptly dispatched the boy friend Dirty Harry style. I wonder if skydivers and jump pilots were crazier back then? Am I getting too far off subject?

That reminds me of another story. It was pilot + Texas + jumpers + weapons = money + death. Since I don't have any new stories I think I'll tell this one again. We had a great jump pilot named Craig. He flew jumpers here in Montana. I hadn't heard from Craig for years. One day I read his obituary in the paper. It said he died somewhere in Texas. I found out later he was flying guns into Mexico. He was doing quite well at that profession. Then someone murdered him. They found his body in the bottom of an outhouse. It was a gun deal that had gone sour.... I always thought that Montana was kind of like the wild west, but Texas may have it beat.

It's been years and years since I've flown with a firearm. I made one flight to Alaska with a couple of scope sighted rifles in a (fiberglass foam-lined) case. That case looked like it had been through a war when I picked it up. It must have been really thrown around. One rifle slid into the other. The barrel put a big ding in the stock of the other. Maybe there are better bag handlers now. Some may not like out of state hunters or something. At any rate I was pissed when I saw what had happened to my pet rifles. So these are the lessons I learned.... if I do that again, I'm going to buy a better gun case. Two rifles in one case may not be smart. Pistols would travel fine, but a scope sighted rifle might very well be knocked out of zero by the time you get there, (not to mention other damage). Crossing the Canadian Border with a pistol may be next to impossible now. In 1969 I drove to Alaska with a 22 pistol. They put it in a plastic bag with a lead seal. When I got to Alaska, I could take it out of the bag, but they checked the seal to make sure it hadn't been tampered with. As far as I know, the average Joe can't bring a pistol into Canada now. I knew a truck driver who forgot he had a pistol and he tried crossing that border. He was in deep trouble for that. Another time my wife went garage saling in Alaska. One of the things she bought was a flintlock pirate pistol. I forgot all about it until we were about to go through the Canadian check station. We decided not to say anything, in hopes they didn't find it. Luckily they didn't or people would probably still be bringing me cigarettes in jail. The RCMP don't take kindly to pistols.

My new (old) P.C. is this color too. Red, white, and blue. Don't have a clue what it's called. Randy Jones had that color back in the day....Are you out there Randy???? My favorite is still the Red Devil....