Ho-Ho-Ho, Santa brought me a rifle for Christmas

Christmas was good for me this year, and Santa was cooperative.  Actually, I can't give too much credit to him as it was my wife that gave me the green light to buy this expensive hole-puncher, haha!  Plus I have to thank my buddy Jay for getting me off my butt to go out and spend the money, plus my buddy Hermes from Reliable Gun for helping me find some glass for this beast.

So, on Boxing Day, I was planning on staying home and vegging out, but at around mid morning, my buddy Jay sends me a message telling me he was thinking about going out to Wholesale Sports to "look around".  Whenever I get those sorts of messages from him, it can only mean trouble.  I replied to him that they were having a 10-50% off scratch and save sale and the deal was sealed, a few hours later, Jay, my wife, and I hopped in the car and headed out.

We walked straight to the gun counter and the first thing I spot is this Remington 700P off to the side with a price tag in red on it, sub $1,000.  I'd been toying with getting a bolt action rifle for some time now, and it'd been a toss up between a 700P or a 5R.  Both of these rifles retail for about $1200-1300 or so and both were beyond my means for a long time, so when I saw the 700OP, I asked to look at it right away.  The clerk noticed the price on there and said that the sale was over on the 24th, but since I saw the price, he was obligated to give it to me at that price.  On top of that, there was a scratch and save that guaranteed at least another 10% off. 

There were two other customers, to my left and right who noticed the conversation, hovering like vultures, waiting to take a stab if I decided to walk away.  I could sense them in my peripherals.  Me being new to bolt action rifles, I looked over to my buddy Jay for some non-verbal advice.  He turned and said to me that he would kick me in the balls if I didn't buy that rifle for that price.  I knew it was a smoking deal as well considering it retails for $1,300 plus tax at Wholesale, and today it was going to cost me $980 tax in.  I think the best deal I could have scored on a normal given day would have been maybe about $1,200 tax in.

Within 5 minutes of walking into Wholesale Sports, I gave one look to the wife, got the ok nod, whipped out the credit card and told the clerk to wrap it up.  The vultures on either side of me dispersed, knowing there wouldn't be any meat left on this carcass to pick at. 

So, now I am a member of the precision rifle club.  Note how I didn't say precision shooter club....because I doubt I could hit the broad side of a barn from 100 meters away with my skills.  But getting the rifle was one thing, equiping it with a worthy peice of glass was another.  It seems to be a general understanding that you will probably spend more on a scope than the rifle itself.  I wasn't planning on getting the rifle for at least another year, so getting a scope at this point wasn't even in the realm of possibilities.

I went to visit my buddy Hermes from Reliable Gun.  It was strictly a social visit, and perhaps learn a thing or two about my newest aquisition.  Remember, I wasn't planning on getting this rifle until maybe the end of 2014, so getting glass for it and shooting it definitely wasn't happening for quite some time.  I was probably going to sit on this rifle for at least a year before I found a chance to shoot it.  Anyway, I got to the shop told him what Santa, or rather what my wife had got me for Christmas and told him eventually, I'd need to outfit it with a scope.  He kindly dug through his inventory and showed me something I could probably afford in the near future. 

Some rings I picked up from Reliable....you can see where this is going....

A one piece weaver multi-slot to go with the rings and my rifle.....nice shot of my feet there, sorry.

And the beast that I came home with.  I was not planning on coming home with a scope, but yet here it is.  I told Hermes that I didn't have enough $$ to get a scope that day, that I would have to wait out a bit and sell a few things in my inventory first and within two minutes, he made it all happen.  I went home with a Bushnell Elite 6500 4.5-30 X 50 scope and all the fixings (actually, I got the scope and rings from Reliable, but got the Weaver base from Italian Sporting Goods that same afternoon). 

I ended up getting rid of my brand new Aimpoint Micro H1 and the new Larue Tactical LT660 QD riser, but I think it was worth it.  I figured I have a decent optic with my Aimpoint PRO with 2moa, and though the Micro looks cooler and it's lighter, it's a 4MOA and the set up costs $300 more.  Besides that, I had the PRO mounted on my 10/22, in the ARchangel G36 kit, which already weighed a ton with the bull barrel.  I decided to lighten the load on the 10/22 so I took the Aimpoint Pro off the Ruger 10/22 and put it back on to my AR.  Now I'll have to get a new optic for my 10/22, but I think a $75 Bushnell TRS-25 will do just fine - lighter and cheaper. 

The sticker price for the Elite 6500 at Reliable was just over $1,000, but that's already cheaper than some places that have it listed at $1,400 or so.  I could have opted for the Elite Tactical version like on my M14, but the arguement here was, am I going to adjust it all that often once I have it dialed in?  Probably not is my guess.  I dunno to be honest as I've only tested it out on my M14 once, and that was before shimming the scope base.

Oh, I totally forgot to post an update to my M14 scope issues.  I took my M14 to the only M14 Doctor I know - Roy.  He's been shooting for longer than I've been alive and he knows M14s inside and out.  Anyway, for some reason, the scope I had on my M14 was sitting completely off centre for the longest time, and I took it to him to have a look.  After 3 hrs of mucking around on the thing, he came to the conclusion that the best thing to do was to shim the M14.CA CASM scope base.  Taking tin from a pop can, he straightened the thing out and two years of scratching my head vanished within seconds.  I still have to take it out to test, but I can visibly see a difference on how the scope now sits on my M14.  Thanks Roy!

Ok, so unpacking this thing was just like unpacking of my Bushnell Elite Tactical.  For women, I'd imagine this is just like opening the powder-blue box from Tiffany's.  The scope wrapped in plastic, and neatly seated in cardboard cutouts.  The manuals and warrantee cards were inside and the huge sunsade was also neatly packed.

Compared to my Elite Tactical 5-15x 40mm, this new scope was definitely bigger.  Instead of the 1 in tube, this one was 30mm.  From what I've been told, it allows a lot more light through, plus the fact that it's a 50mm objective versus a 40mm, making for a better image.  Me, being the noob shooter, I doubt I will notice a difference.  We'll see when I finally get these puppies out to the range. 

I also took the Winchester (yes, that was the brand) bipod off the M14.  One of these days, I might shell out for a Harris bipod, but I might just wait until I've outgrown this cheap $25 one.  In fact, it will probably take me years before learn to outshoot this current setup (rifle, scope, etc).

Like on my M14, the scope looks massive with the sunshade on.

I hope to get this rig out to the range soon.  With any luck, I'll be able to land some rounds on paper without too many headaches.  Despite my buddy Jay egging me on to get this rifle, he hates Remington and is very pissed off with his SS BDL in .30-06.  Roy keeps saying he will change that one day, and I'm not sure what to make of it all.  I've heard Remington used to be good, but their QC has gone downhill lately.  I've also heard that their mid-range to high end models haven't suffered so I should be safe with my 700p.  That being said, Jay's rifle retailed for about the same price as my 700p and he wants to melt down his 700 for scrap.  We'll see when I take this rig out for a test drive.

Aimpoint Micro H1 and Larue Tactical LT660 QD Mount for the AR

More stuff!  I'm posting these post Christmas, but actually, I got these a few months back and didn't get around to posting pictures until just yesterday.

I've been swapping optics back and forth on my rifles for the last few years, and nothing ever seems to stay put.  My AR started off with a Deal Extreme Fakepoint Micro with an equally fake LaRue LT660 QD riser mount, and it actually lasted a few years before it finally crapped out on me a few months ago.  A real Aimpoint was pricy beyond my means at the time, so I opted for the Aimpoint Pro, which came with the right height mount, and was priced at least $300 cheaper. 

So, I got the PRO and put it on my AR, then I scored a wicked deal on a Micro.  I ended up moving the PRO over to my Ruger 10/22.  The Ruger originally had a Bushnell TRS-25, so I moved it over to my 870 shotgun. 

Anyway, I ordered the LaRue LT660 1/3 cowitness QD riser for the Micro and here it is.  The packaging was basically a plastic bag, and at first, I couldn't see a huge difference between the Deal Extreme versus the real deal, other than the markings.

My S&J Hardware free float railed handguard.  The screws are starting to strip from constant tightenning.  I probably should have used some loctite on them.

As you can tell, I even lost one.  For some reason, my kit only came with 4 screws.  I contaced S&J Hardware and they said they will mail be ten replacements.  It's the holiday season though, so I don't expect them anytime soon.

So I mounted the Micro to the LT660 and it fit like a glove.  They say that the LT660 was manufactured specifically for the Micro and they weren't kidding.  It was like they were both machined in the same factory and I had no troubles mating the two.

So, two years later, I went from a $25 Fakepoint with mount to a $700 unit.  When I first got into firearms, I never imagined in a million years that I would spend that much on optics, let alone the firarm itself.  Talk about an expensive hobby.

New 1911,Beretta and M14 parts

I have to stop ordering stuff online, it's so addictive, haha!  I ordered a bunch of miscellaneous stuff for a few different firearms and evertime a package arrices, it's like Christmas.

Sadlak spring guide for my M14, and a Wolff spring to go with it (because the factory Norinco spring was too thick).

And a pile of miscellaneous pistol parts.

Hex grip screws for my Beretta 92FS....personally, I can't stand flat-head screws.

A flat mainspring housing for my GSG1911 .22LR.  Not a big fan of the arched mainspring housing that it came with.  This one is from Colt, surprisingly made of plastic, but it fit the GSG like a glove.

A Wolff guide rod for the Beretta.  The factory one was made of plastic, and it probably would have been fine, but I just didn't like the idea of it being plastic.

More grip screws, these ones for my 1911s.

Stainless barrel bushing from Springfield Armories.  I got this one for my Norinco 1911A1 Police.  

As you can see, the factory one is probably just blued, but it wasn't soley for this costmetic reason that I decided to replace it as you'll see later.

Not only is the Springfield unit better looking, it had a better fit surprisingly.  I figured I might have to do a bit of fitting, but it dropped right in and fit nice and snug between the slide and the barrel, as if it were custom made for my pistol. 

Here's another shot of it.  As you can see, the material on the face is thicker and the lines are more defined.

The main spring housings for my GSG 1911.  The top one is the new plastic unit from Colt, the lower one is the factory metal one from GSG.  I know, replacing metal with plastic is sort of opposite with what I said earlier with the Beretta guide rod, but I figured that the guide rod is a long, thin piece of plastic that's under repetitive stress and action, this one is not.

The new MSH installed in the GSG.

I orderd an extra set of hex grip screws for 1911s, but it turns out that GSG uses a different thread pattern and standard 1911 grip screws won't thread into a GSG.  Weird, and not something you'd think would be different, considering the GSG is supposed to be 80% compatible with standard 1911 parts.

My GSG is starting to show a lot of wear on the slide.  It's known to have a cheap finish, and one other thing to worry about is the slide is made out of alluminum or some sort of alluminum alloy.  There seems to be a lot of wear where the slide meets the slide stop, and this thing has less than 5000 rounds through it.  I'm a little worried and might contact GSG about it.

Here's my Norinco 1911A1 Police with the new barrel bushing and grip screws.  I installed the same grip screws onto my Remington R1 Enhanced.  To be honest though, having hex grip screws is more cosmetic.  If I sit back and think about it, having a flat head screw driver is just about the same as carrying a set of allen keys.

Now the face of my Norc is looking a lot better, similar to my Remington R1E.  Though the Remington is still light years ahead of the Norc in terms of fit and finish, and when you rack the Remington, it feels like butter, they both perform about the same at the range.   

Here's a comparison between the Beretta guide rods, the steel one is above.

And lastly, here's a shot of the Sadlak spring guide and spring for my M14.  I didn't bother taking a picure of this part installed, but it dropped right in with no problems.  I don't shoot the M14 that often, and I'm not even sure I will detect any benefits from using this item, but it was fairly inexpensive (about $25 for the guide and $12 for the spring).  It does feel a lot smoother to rack the M14, but I'm not sure how that will translate to benefits when shooting.  We'll see I guess.