Posted on 09/23/2009 6:19:16 AM PDT by HairOfTheDog
Welcome to The Hobbit Hole!
Hey Hobbit Hole people!! Time to wake from our slumber!
There is a trailer! Here ‘tis:
I don't know how long I will have to wait for my can, but I have a list of mods that I will be applying long before that. I even have a dummy Gemtech suppressor on order just to get used to handling properties so I don't embarrass myself when the real thing arrives.
Meanwhile, here's the results after remembering to read the instructions on zeroing the red dot sight.
Afterwards, I gave it a thorough cleanup, including giving the back of the receiver a light rap with a plastic mallet to remove it from the frame. After several dozen light raps didn't accomplish anything, I decided to go with my ultra-precise Mexican screwdriver takedown tool.
The receiver came off with the fourth solid whack. I did a bit of precision fitting with Nanolube, so the next time it will disassemble in a more controlled manner. I keep forgetting how filthy .22LR ammo is, but I'll become intimately familiar with cleaning procedures.
I also realized that the 1/2x28 barrel thread is the same as used on AR15 barrels. Just for grins, I put on the Noveske "flaming pig" flash hider for this photo:
After I install the trigger mods, I'll be doing a lot of testing with every brand of subsonic ammo I can get my hands on. Meanwhile, I'm debating getting a threaded barrel for my Walther P22.
I can hardly wait until the gun grabbers discover this "loophole", and have multiple cows.
More baby steps on the long road to achieving a real suppressor on my Ruger 22/45. But that's okay, because I have a lot of work yet to do on the pistol itself. Most of it involves undoing the "improvements" that Ruger's product liability lawyers put into the Mark III.
First, new results after the aftermarket kit got rid of the magazine safety mechanism. It basically turns the Mark III into a Mark II, but at extra cost, and some user-unfriendly gunsmithing. Here are the first results with a trigger that is more normal for a Ruger .22.
The target on the left was made with RWS subsonic ammo, the one on the right with Remington. At seven yards, the Ruger should be able to chew out the "X" ring with 50 rounds, so we're mainly looking at my current level of skill.
Still, the results came with the much-improved trigger pull. These were the parts I exorcised from the original configuration.
On the left are the hammer, disconnector, bushing, and fiendish spring of the original. That dark smudge on the side of the hammer is powder fouling being ground into the precisions surfaces of the hammer by the disconnector parts. It works well if you're aiming for a lousy trigger pull to go along with the false sense of safety a magazine disconnector brings.
On the right is the original main takedown pin. The new two-piece one makes quick cleaning actually quick, and a total takedown marginally less agonizing. The conversion took about two hours of trying to stuff five pounds of parts into one pound of handgun, but now that it's done, it doesn't need to be done again. I would recommend three extra hands for anyone considering doing it themselves.
St. Barbara must have taken pity on me, because my next project, done on a whim, went so smoothly I was done before I realized it. On a hunch, I thought the Magpul mid-length MOE handguard would work on the M4P(piston), and would look and feel much better than the factory one. A half-hour of careful grinding of the guide ridges inside the front of the upper half of the handguard left things a perfect fit. To top it off, the lower half then fit perfectly with no effort on my part.
It's slimmer, trimmer, and feels better than the original. I think it also looks more sexy, almost like something off a FAL, which, being ancient, still gets high marks for exotic beauty. Of course, I had the benefit of my specialized handguard fixture and removal tool, which were the equivalent of five extra hands. This isn't the first time that my $100 investment in tools saved me a million dollars of grief. It was so easy, I'm almost tempted to do it again.
And for a second easy project in one week, I installed a threaded adapter on my Walther P22, awaiting the day when I can put the real thing on it. Some of the newer .22 pistols, like this Walther, and the Sig Mosquito, use the new euro-style "tension" barrels, where a front nut compresses a sleeve around the thin rifled liner, providing "tunable" stiffness to a light weight barrel that would previously needed a heavy barrel to do the same thing.
In this case, all I did after unscrewing the standard barrel nut was to put on the threaded one. Finding the special wrench was a bit of an adventure, but that was my own fault for forgetting where I put the important stuff so it won't get lost. It wasn't lost, but it took me about two hours to find it again.
The Ruger with the dummy can attached looks like "business". On the Walther, it just looks and feels "cute".
And yes, the sights are still high enough to work with the suppressor in place. Now to see how the Walther likes subsonic ammunition. It wasn't very fussy with the regular stuff.
And a Happy New Year to you, too.
(I've been away before-- during my Army years-- but this is the first time I ever went away on my own, on purpose.)
MrsEx has an old, dear friend who lives in Virginia. She and her husband usually go to Myrtle Beach, SC for Christmas (their only "kids" are a pair of schnauzers). This year, they invited us to join them.
We visited Appomattox Court House, Virgina (where Gens. Lee and Grant met):
Then, a five hour drive later:
View from our balcony Christmas morning:
Church:
Back at home now.
It was fine, and I like MrsExs friends (not so much their dogs!)-- but I told Mrs Ex "no more beach vacations in winter".
just tripped on your post in Latest Comments.. Love your pictorial story of the past week. A photojournalist you are!
Happy New Year.
Looks like for now the 2nd Amendment enthusiasts are keeping the threads hopping...
Good!
If you have been pinged, and would rather not, please say so here or by FReepmail.
If you know of anyone I have left out, please let them know and have them say so here or by FReepmail, that I may grovel appropriately and add them to the Great Roll.
thank you!!!!!
Hobbits....they’re back. And they’ve got guns.
Thanks Ex - looking forward to the Hobbit this year!
Hi Dolly, it’s good to see you again!
Folks, Dolly and I were able to meet and moot while shooting cowboys in October.
I’m not positive, but I think Dolly snapped the photo in post #3631.
Happy New Years Win-Mag. We’re all hoping that 2012 is better than 2011. Still for the high points and low points, we’re all still here.
The new Ruger is SU-WEET. The fake suppresor looks like the real deal, that alone should turn some heads at the range. I know it would around here.
Yep, the Rugers will test anyone’s patience when it comes to take down and ‘reassemble in reverse order’. The Marks I through III, folks swear by them and folks swear at ‘em. I like the CCI-standard velocity for bullseye shooting; plates and pins get Federal bulk pack. Some are using CCI-Blazers and report good results.
One thing you can say about the Rugers, there is a heap of aftermarket goodies available to customize both internals and externals to one’s hearts content. Needless to say, I’ve been tempted.
Morning - sounds like a nice mid-winter break, especially without the snow. The whoosh-woosh of the waves is pleasant anytime. I spent quite a bit of time in Mrytle Beach in the late 80s working. Nice place, in the off season.
THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN
Hotter than the Dickens however... all the pix are on Facebook..Yes, I am pretty sure that one is mine (yours now).. Many people were taking pix of your & your little Annie Oakley. She was a cutie)
You forgot me in your list. I never get pinged these days. Guess I know why now ;-)
Please accept my apologies. I’m snekFReeping at work, but soon as I get home I’ll (re
)inscribe your “name” on The Great Roll of the Shire.
What’s this?
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