In your price range my first choice would be a Ruger. Preferably a MkII. I've owned several and enjoyed them. I currently have a MKIII and would trade it in a heartbeat for another MkII.
The following is based on my own limited personal experience:
AR type: Pros comparatively inexpensive. Good accuracy and reliable. Easy to accessorize with many shared AR15 parts. Easy maintenance. Cons: Heavy when decked out.
Ma1: Pros: Well balanced, good accuracy and reliability...
I've painted a few guns with Krylon and with the camo paint offered through Brownells. Even after several coats, markings remain quite visible. I've also done a few pistols in Duracoat, but to be honest I prefer the paint. Paint is easier to correct and redo and this comes in handy when doing...
Half cocked is a hold over from the days of the revolver, from the percussion cap and cartridge guns, with the firing pin located at the end of the hammer. The idea of keeping the hammer off the primer or the cap prevents accidental discharge when the hammer is struck.
Unlike most modern...
I've shot several of them and found them quite capable. I for one like the external extractor feature and that is one of the reasons I went with the Sig GSR as one of my 1911 purchases. I haven't added a S&W to my bin yet, but I see no reason why I won't when the opportunity comes
Yes, it would take only .17 seconds @ 1800 fps if the slug had a flat trajectory and traveled at a constant rate of speed. I don't currently have access to my dope book, but a Foster Type rifled slug leaves an 18.5" barrel at under 1,400 fps and if I remember correctly is traveling at less than...
You mean you don't already use them? Like these little 750 gr solid brass cnc machined wonders I load (kinda hafta work at them to get 'em in standard 1911 mag, though):
I'm a big fan of bore snakes and my collection of Dewey Rods are all but forgotten.
Mostly I use Break Free CLP after each trip to the range. However, I still use Sweet's 7.62 in my precision rifles every 200 rounds.
Mostly carry a S&W 340pd with CT grips in a Hume holster in the front pocket of my trousers, or without a holster in a coat pocket. Often carry a P226 in a Serpa when helping out at a buddy's gun store or at the range.
Yes. I've seen several S&W 41 pistols and other semi-auto .22s with damaged firing pins and chamber areas due to excessive dry firing, galled and/or broken firing pins/breach faces on Lugers, Winchester Model 21 and Beretta 682, damaged hammers and deformed pins on Colt's SAA and New Service...
sitting on my father's knee I pulled the trigger on his '03 springfield, pre-kindergarten.
A savage model 3 and a colt's woodsman early elementary school. Winchester 52s in hunter/shooting safety courses in 2nd-3rd grade. My first gun of my very own my 10th birthday, a Ruger 10-22.
Depends on the gun. Usually a field stripping will tell me what I need to know. But on a C&R like a Luger or WWI 1911, a thorough detailed strip is in order. Often Sellers won't allow me to do this and I've learned to walk away, as a replaced firing pin in a luger can be a $1,000 detraction...
Below is a picture of my 1917 DWM (it's a Weirmar Rail Police LP.08). Note the checkered button on the end of the take down lever. It is missing on the P.08 subject of this thread.
In 1917 there were 2 manufacturers of P.08, The Erfurt State Arsenal and Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken...