Weekend Steam: Tough Shape

MrPete222 found an interesting old engine at a rummage sale. Have a look, and see if he gets it together.

Crankin' It Up With Our Old Buddy Brat

Brat was out in the utility room tonight, laying on the open window sill, and I had to call him a couple times before he came to the Brunswick for our weekly Crank-Up.  This record is cracking, and has a serious chigger bite on both sides, but it still sounds pretty good.  The rumble seat song is pretty risque, even for the 1920's.

The No-Good Bum Is Going To Be Prosecuted

...Go read about a good catch by a Southern Illinois cop, at WSIL TV3 News.

Late Bloomers

The long cold spring has caused our poppies to bloom a bit later than they usually do. They normally pop by the middle of April, and are often done by May. They have been making a great show for a little more than a week now, and the yard is really a show with peonies, irises, azalea and poppies showing off together.

Fidgety Feet

 There are a couple goose families living on our pond this year.  We think this is the same couple that raised goslings here last year.  In previous years, coyotes or foxes have killed the babies and run off the parents.  Another couple moved in, too, and they have two tiny goslings toddling around behind them.  A couple days ago, we saw a groundhog working his way around the edge of the yard, and unbeknownst to him, he was heading for the geese with the newly hatched pair.  Mama goose launched on him when he loped into her danger zone,  flogging and pecking him until he was well past her babies.  Poor groundhog then suddenly realized that he was separated from his home zone and he had to turn around and run the Mama Goose Gauntlet a second time.  He'll never go near a goose again.

We have noticed that the geese will disappear for a day or two and then reappear.  We found our missing geese, goslings and all, at a neighbors pond nearly 1/2 mile away (2350') when we made the loop around back of our timber.  They have been making this journey with the babies, on foot, going through two patches of timber.  It has to be tough on goslings who are just a week old, but it should make them appreciate the convenience of flight after they sprout feathers.

Survived the Drought of 2012

Our Little Sunshine.

Ruger's Auction To Benefit the Youth Shooting Sports Alliance

Ruger makes a change this week, donating the proceeds from their latest auction to the Youth Shooting Sports Alliance.  Click Over to Ruger's Gun Broker Auction page to read all about this new-old-stock Security Six made in 1975.

Mother's Day Cemetery Crawl

We started the Mother's Day festivities with waffles, sausage, eggs and coffee first thing Sunday morning, then hit Kentucky Fried for the mid-day meal.  The temps were perfect for outdoor recreation, so we visited some of the rural cemeteries in our neighborhood.  We reminisced over family names and local history.  We need to go back with a shovel to this grave and level it up a bit.  Some around it have lost their spires, and they are nowhere to be seen.  This cemetery is missing a bunch of stones, and that is a trend we have seen in the last thirty years.  One of the locals will mow the cemetery with a Bush-Hog, knock down a few stones every time, and then dispose of the evidence instead of placing them back where they belong.  One cemetery that has most of its stones has an interesting story.  A neighbor was hired to mow it, and the stones were not laid out so he could run his tractor through it.  He rearranged the stones so he could do a neat job from the seat of his tractor.  That's better than many others have done, so I give him Kudos for that. 

A reputation can follow you for a long time.  One fellow buried near here had to be carried down a dirt road by the pallbearers on a rainy day, and then the casket had to be lifted over a fence.  While he was being handed over in a downpour, the pallbearers lost their grip and dropped him.  One of the men is still quoted as sputtering, "The old sonofabitch is STILL causing trouble!"

"...Gives You A Good Feeling."

Back To The Old Grind!

On Mother's Day...

...Say a little prayer for those whose marriages produce only nieces and nephews.

Mothers' Day Song Fest!

Weekend Steam: Really, Really Big

From SteamRailwayWorld.

Crankin' It Up

Sad Day Today.  One of our old cats had to make the final trip to the vet.  Cancer is a heartless beast.  No party music this time.  Rest In Peace, Hank, you have been a precious pal.

The May Mr. Completely e-Postal Is Up...

...over at  The Smallest Conservavtive.  This contest is designed by Danno's Sand Castle Son, and it's a good one, with huge rewards in points if you are willing to risk half of your shots on the highest value target.  The scoring criteria is HERE, so you can begin forming your strategy to win fame and glory in the gun-blogging world. 

This contest will run through the month of May, so you should have plenty of opportunities to schedule some range time with family and friends.  We have hosts lined up for the year, through November, so join in on the fun.  You know you need the practice.

March:  Mr. Completely

April:  Jimmy B, theCUG

May:  Sand Castle Son at Smallest Conservative and 

June:  Zeke of Engineering Johnson

July: Billll of Bill’s Idle Mind

August: Carteach of Carteach0

September: True Blue Sam, right here

October: Susan at Mrs. True Blue Sam

November: Danno at Sand Castle Scrolls

Tactical Solutions Magazine Release

 My old Ruger 10/22 Sporter still had the original magazine release; the one that you have to poke with your index finger, just behind the mag well. I went whole-hog and spent the extra money for a Tactical Solutions release lever, and it really does make dropping the mag quick and easy; I've already dropped the magazine twice when I didn't mean to do that. I think this modification is great for quick changes under pressure, such as in a timed event, but for running down stray 'possums, I think the current style that Ruger installs on these guns is the better choice. Sure is pretty, though, and easy to use. So easy that you have to think about NOT dropping the magazine.

New Rifle In The Rack

I stopped by Larry's Gun Shop in McLeansboro recently to shop for reloading supplies, and there was a new Ruger 10/22 Stainless Tactical model on the rack.   Larry quoted a good price on it, below suggested retail, and I grabbed it while the getting was good.  I really like the slick look of the barrel without iron sights.

A wish list of modifications was assembled, and I fired off an order to Midway and the Appleseed Store.  While I was doing my online shopping, I clicked over to Mr. Completely's Magnum Supply and ordered a new set of Pro-Ears muffs for the Mrs.  I made those three orders on a Saturday evening, (Midway in Missouri, Appleseed in Colorado, and Magnum Supply in western Washington State) and all of them arrived in my mailbox the next Thursday!  That's great service!  I changed out the stock hammer and spring for a Volquartsen target hammer, lowering the trigger pull from nearly seven pounds to two and a half.

Larry had this Bushnell red dot scope for a decent price, and that went on top.  Ruger cautions against using Loctite on the rail mounting screws, but I carefully applied some on the bottom side of the screw heads and didn't let any drip into the receiver.

I had a set of swivel studs on hand, but the rear one was meant for screwing into wood.  The back end of the stock was easy to pop out, and a piece of hickory was fitted to the bottom of the interior of the stock.  A little work with a drill, and the rear stud screwed in securely.  Midway provided the 1 1/4" sling swivels.

The front stud is a clamp-on, and no drilling was needed on the front end of the stock.

G.I. Websling, installed!  It will improve my shooting in offhand, kneeling, and prone.

The stock bolt release requires some fiddling every time to make the bolt drop, and you can change that easily if you have a small chainsaw file.  The little pointy thing in the hole needs to be removed, plus a little more.

Are you done yet?  No, the hole must be arched out slightly to allow the bolt to release easily.  Leave it straight like this, and you will be taking the bolt release out again for more filing.  CLICK HERE to see how after market manufacturers shape this hole.  Watch the brief video to see how this modification speeds up the operation of your 10/22.  This little rifle is going be lots of fun to shoot, and it will be getting a good workout in the months ahead. 

Fair Catch

 I enjoy catching old cars out in the sticks, and avoid taking photos of junkers I see along public highways; heck, that's sort of like poaching deer.

 One of my bigger tree planting jobs this year required multiple visits over several months, and the planting took place recently.  I checked on the progress, and made my final inspection last week.

This was a rough job for the contractor, because much of the acreage had volunteer trees coming up, requiring zig-zags, dodges, and difficult turnarounds.  There is hardly a straight row on over 100 acres of upland planting.

 And on my last visit, I ran across this sad old classic.  There isn't much that can be said about this one.  It's too far gone for any hope of restoration, but it's off the beaten path far enough that scrappers haven't swiped it.

Ruger's Auction To Benefit Honored American Veterans Afield

Ruger keeps putting out great guns to benefit the charities that you want to help!  This week is the final auction in the series for Honored American Veterans Afield, and it is very popular; judging from the view numbers and the current bid.  It is a sample of a Ruger 10/22 Rifle with a black laminated stock, manufactured in 1989, and stored all these many years in the Ruger vault.

100 % of the proceeds of this auction go to Honored American Veterans Afield, so be generous if you would like to own this rifle.  Click Here, or on the photo to visit the GunBroker auction page.

Sneak Preview

It was painful.  Check back later this week for the sad pics.

April e-Postal Results!

Click Here to go to the Conservative UAW Guy's blog and check out the scores for the April contest.  The May contest will be posted soon at Sand Castle Scrolls, and The Smallest Conservative.

Busy Schedule

Back To The Old Grind!

Not My Victrola: Hot Roaring Twenties Jazz...

...by Duke Ellington.  EdmundusRex just uploaded Jazz Lips, from 1928 by Duke's orchestra.  This song is well into the electric recording era, but still is musically in the 1920's; it's a good one.

Weekend Steam

Jimnutz107 provides a fascinating visit to the Illinois Railroad Museum.

Paying Too Little; Scope Deals Too Good To Be True

 Billll, of Bill's Idle Mind blog left a comment tonight that prompted me to post my recent experience with an inexpensive red dot scope.

Billll said..."I discovered that my Hi Point is not the 6 MOA gun I had thought it to be, but I have a nice 6 MOA scope available at a good price."

My Ruger Mk III .22 pistol has a Simmons 51105 red dot scope mounted on it, and though it has been holding its zero, I have had a few problems with it.  The directions that came with it did not tell the minute-of-angle value of clicks, so sighting it in required some experimentation.  Soon after this scope was sighted in, it began losing the red dot when shooting, and the knob had to be jiggled to bring the dot back; that is aggravating when you are shooting against the clock.

The last time we shot at the Carmi Rifle Club I realized that the adjustment knob was getting really loose, and I had to touch it between shots to keep it turned on.  I did a search for information about this scope, and found that others are having the same problems.  Here is what I found when I tore into it.

 Remove the battery, spin out the retaining ring and remove the rheostat plate, and I found two screws rattling around.  The top two screws were loose, and if I hadn't checked into this, the adjustment knob would have fallen off.

I had a real surprise when I snugged the screws back into their holes.  Tighten them down, and the knob won't turn!  Yes, these screws can barely be snugged up at all, certainly not enough to stay put.  I daubed a bit of Loctite under the heads of all four screws, and I am hoping that it stays together.

Place the rheostat plate in the knob, spin in the retaining ring, and you are ready to replace the battery.  I will be shooting a bit over the weekend to see if the knob stays in place.  After this experience, I sure would not recommend a Simmons red dot scope to anyone. 

Our other Mk III has a Bushnell red dot, and it is performing like a champ so far.   I have since bought another Bushnell to install on a 10/22, and it seems to be a good one, too.  We will continue to shoot the Simmons and report back on whether the Loctite keeps things in place.

Southern Indiana Antique Machinery Show

The annual show at Evansville is just over a month away, coming up June 7, 8 and 9, 2013.  We have been attending this show for a few years now, and it is always a good one.  There are lots of gas engines, tractors, old cars, and a few steam engines, with plenty of shade for relief from the late-spring warm temps.  We captured this fine example of a Rumely Oil Pull at the June, 2012 show.