When it really happens: SHTF...

[fjruple]

Well-- It has been awhile since I posted last. I have been basically running two fulltime jobs and one part-time job since The COVID-19 started. A part-time (two day) gun shop job had turned to 5 days a week plus a full time gunsmithing job. Doctor told me to cut back to two days and just work on firearms at my leisure or I will end up with a stroke or heart attack that's if the COVID-19 does not get me first! All of the gunsmithing has been converting AR platforms to make them NJ compliant. I did 9 in the past two days and have 2 more in the que to be done. I now have a cardboard box filled with the "evil" AR flash hiders. I will have to start putting them into a 5 gallon bucket. Price has become no objective for folks wanting an AR platform. Everything is over $1,000 US dollars and up. Ammunition has reach the world of unoptainable. 9mm is being limited to to just the 9mm pistols that we have to sell. 5.56mm/.223 Remington to one box per customer. Finally received one case of .38 special. No .22LR for the past two months. On my personal side I have upgraded my mini lathe from a 10" to 16" and purchased a Grizzly DRO mini mill at a great price and free shipping. That will give me a better handle on my gunsmithing operation without having to beg for lathe or milling time from a friend to get work done. I have not watched the news or any TV shows for the past two weeks. Everytime I watch our new President-elect I start to laugh as he reminds me of one of Jeff Dumham's puppets, Walther. My wife thinks I am nuts when I laugh at him on the television until I told her why. She then told me I was right he does look like Walter!! I hope everyone is safe and healthy. Keep your powder dry and your firearms close at hand to protect your family.

PS-- Ovidio - Love your M39, I wish there was a way to put a Parker Hale Match sight on one without damaging the rifle.

[Ovidio]

Well--

PS-- Ovidio - Love your M39, I wish there was a way to put a Parker Hale Match sight on one without damaging the rifle.

Thanks.
If you find a way to do it, let me know.
It could be a nice frankenrifle
I hope tomorrow I'll be able to go shoot it again.
Now that I have new glasses and see the world clearly again...

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

Poll question. I think I can get better feedback here than any other source.
How close do you think the excrement is to the fan?

[Ovidio]

Very close. Tomorrow is the last day we’ll be allowed out of our community...
I’ll go go to the pistol range in the late morning, to the rifle range in the afternoon. Then I’ll load like crazy and be ready...

[Aragorn243]

Poll question. I think I can get better feedback here than any other source.
How close do you think the excrement is to the fan?

They've been very patient with us on this one thread concerning politics so I will try to be very careful in what I say and keep things very generalized.

I actually don't think it's very close yet. It's like the calm before the storm however. I think a lot depends on the legal challenges to the election. 71+ million voters believe extreme fraud was conducted by the opposing side but they are all being polite, quiet, and waiting for the process to unfold. 60- million voters believe they won because the media has assured them they have. As this group contains all the rioters, looters and malcontents, if the challenges reverse the media call, all hell will break loose.

We are assured by all that fraud did not occur but I'm all of a sudden getting mail sent to me with complete strangers names on them. Three pieces of identical mail, one addressed to me, two addressed to complete strangers, all Liberty Mutual Insurance ads. A fourth piece of mail addressed to stranger #1 is a Santander ad. This all came yesterday. I'm thinking my address has been used so someone can either vote in multiple precincts or mailing in their vote. I have reported it to my state rep but have not heard back yet. What are the odds of three identical ads being sent at the same day to the same address with three different names on them, two of which have never lived here and a fourth piece has an ad from another company for one of the two strangers? Not very high in my book, not without purpose. I am not a strong believer in coincidence.

I just learned from family that lives in the central part of the state that procedures vary greatly from county to county. I live in a high risk region and schools have been fully open since early September which is our normal starting time. We opened one week later than usual. Sports programs have been in place the entire time although spectators have been restricted. My family lives in a low risk county that just opened their schools this week and are already talking about shutting them down and my niece has already been quarantined. Apparently they spent all this time doing nothing to prepare their schools. No barriers in the cafeterias, no effort to social distance the kids, etc. Not sure if this is pure incompetence or fear or what.

Meanwhile, I'm in one of those moods where I feel "I must find a new gun to purchase" It happens. This is not a panic buy for home protection, I'm covered there. I want a new WWI or WWII pistol. There aren't any. There aren't any anythings. I was so close to buying that piece of crap 8mm Carcano I mentioned because of this "desire" to do something. Gun shops are nearly empty counter wise in small stuff. Hunting rifles are around but don't seem to be "nice" ones. Milsurps are gone. Prices I'm seeing people are paying for them when they find them are ridiculous. My "investments" have doubled and tripled in one year. It's crazy. The only ammo I seem to be able to reliably find is 300 Savage. What makes this interesting is I haven't seen that caliber for sale for years. I suspect it's one they pump out every three or four years and this just happened to be the year. At $40 a box, I'll pass, but nearly everyone has it. Local shop has it for $38 and I was actually tempted over $2. I have about 8 boxes of empties to reload so I really don't need it. Just going stir crazy I guess. Finding myself opening one of the safes and just staring in there more and more often also. I have them packed in there like sardines so not about to take anything out. Take me a week to get them back in.

Can't watch the news anymore because it's either election or Covid propaganda that can easily be refuted with a 5 second web search.

I am getting concerned about my wife. She's been depressed since this started and she was so excited when Grey's came on last night. Neither of us were aware the premiers started but she couldn't handle it after half an hour because it also became propaganda. We ended up watching a horror movie and she hates horror movies.

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

They've been very patient with us on this one thread concerning politics so I will try to be very careful in what I say and keep things very generalized.

I kept that in mind with the poll question and am thankful for the slack and will not push the envelope.
Other than the geographic comments I could have written your last post. Sounds very much like my present situation.

Finding myself opening one of the safes and just staring in there more and more often also. I have them packed in there like sardines so not about to take anything out. Take me a week to get them back in.

Especially that comment.
Trying to stay optimistic though it seems an uphill battle and the alternative seems bleak.
Show this weekend perhaps there is an oldie to fill a hole in the collection and create one in my wallet (not to the degree that a new AR now would).
Thanks to the moderators for the slack and to you and all the other posters here for keeping this thread alive.

[oldpaul]

I see countries like Swedenicon doing well

Not so well. Sweden's chief epidemiologist has admitted that the country is now experiencing a second wave of coronavirus cases, despite predicting that the country's no-lockdown policy would prevent another virus surge. Sweden, whose unorthodox virus-fighting strategy has garnered global attention, registered a record 5,990 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, the highest since the start of the pandemic, Health Agency statistics showed.

The increase compared with a high of 4,697 daily cases recorded earlier this month.

Sweden registered 42 new deaths, taking the total to 6,164 deaths. Sweden’s death rate per capita is several times higher than that of its Nordic neighbours but somewhat lower than some larger European countries such as Spain From Reuters and Yahoo News today. Best. Tom

[Ovidio]

Not so well. Sweden's chief epidemiologist has admitted that the country is now experiencing a second wave of coronavirus cases, despite predicting that the country's no-lockdown policy would prevent another virus surge. Sweden, whose unorthodox virus-fighting strategy has garnered global attention, registered a record 5,990 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, the highest since the start of the pandemic, Health Agency statistics showed.

The increase compared with a high of 4,697 daily cases recorded earlier this month.

Sweden registered 42 new deaths, taking the total to 6,164 deaths. Sweden’s death rate per capita is several times higher than that of its Nordic neighbours but somewhat lower than some larger European countries such as Spain From Reuters and Yahoo News today. Best. Tom

You’re right.
Just heard it a few minutes ago myself...
I don’t understand anything anymore...
So I’m prepping my shorties for the last range trip in a while.
Then a couple rifles for the afternoon...
I also have about 10 pounds of ribs, marinated a few days, into the sous vide since yesterday at noon.
Evening with a farewell bbq and a couple beers.
Then...

[Ovidio]

I prepared my rifles in their “sleeping bags”...

Both safes quietly protected from humidity and contact.
Let’s see, after today, when I’ll be able to take them out again...

Attachment 112232

[fjruple]

I thought I would put together some observations on what I am seeing in the gun business. Friends in both the gun and ammunition industries were telling before the election that it would be Mid-2021 before they would be catch up with demand. I had the local Glock representative in the other day and we talked about the availability of Glock pistols. He told me that before the crisis, Glock USA was making about 100,000 pistols per month. He told me that last month that Glock produced 250,000 pistols and still cannot keep up with the demand. There appears to be no hunting season this year as it seems the producers are focusing on the production of "tactical" weapons and ammunition. Thank God our shop put in a good stockpile of hunting ammunition (generally shotgun ammo) last year because there is none this year only "tactical" LE 12 gauge 00 Buckshot. The timing of the Remington break up did not help any either.

The market has narrowed down to any 5.56mm/.223 Remington AR platforms good or bad. It maybe hard to believe but I have Ruger mini-14s and they are a hard sale and they sit. Any 9mm pistol, everyone wants a Glock 17 or 19. The other Glock 9mm pistols are good sellers as well. .45ACP and .40 S&W pistols are a very distance 2nd place. Next is 12 gauge pump action shotguns. American made 12 gauge shotguns seem to be unobtainable. Mossberg seems to be the only US company producing shotguns. With the break up of Remington their products seems to be on hold until the new companies that acquired the Remington holdings such as Bushmaster, Marlin, etc., can take effective control to beginning production of the firearms and ammunition. All of the 12 gauge shotguns we have been selling have been made in Turkey. They are not really bad guns and appear to be better made than some of the US made products. Just about all come with chrome plated bore and removable choke tubes both of which are pluses. When the Biden administration comes into office on January 20th all bets are off. It could be 2023 before the production meets up with demand according to my industry sources.

Another observation that has serious implications is the complete lack of firearms safety knowledge on the part of many new firearm buyers. There is the potential for a lot of Darwin Award winners who will remove themselves or the people around themselves from the gene pool due the the lack of safe gun handling. Some folks have the common sense to schedule training courses others are born "experts" probably with tragic results.