BigFreddie

Damn right there better be pics!

The Ops Group guy in charge of fuel for the wing said $3.90ish on base, $4.50ish at a contract location, $7.50+ in Afghanistan.

My last mission the FM had us put on tankering fuel for an AOR location. Seems the temp was higher than expegged and we were 12k over our max takeoff. We coordinated to defuel and the process was started. In the meantime the TACC DO told AMCC to direct us to go to the end if the runway and burn off the excess which would have taken as long as defueling. Smoke that in your fuel savings pipe. But, as you said, you can get away with murder in he AOR for fuel but preventing a dude from getting blown up hauling us fuel warrants carrying extra.

807 is my record so far...

I had talked with those guys a couple years ago about building an AK-74 underfolder and they seemed good to go. After watching last night with their 1000 yard AK I couldn't believe they were going to TLAR the headspace on the rifle. That is pretty basic gunsmithing 101 sh!t right there and the boss was giving the guy crap for it. Hell, if everything had to be perfect then you'd want your guy doing those measurements right not TLARing it... I've got to get my SCAR 17S review up soon... GREAT .308 battle rifle - lightweight and low recoil - only negative is finding mags...

I think it is foolish to only practice this technique - which is what it sounds like you are doing from your posts. I would definitely want to expand my training to include other aspects as well. It is much like flying - we always practice the difficult maneuvers but we also practice the easy ones too. For the person buying a handgun for the female in the house - watch getting into autoloaders. I've never had a problem racking the slide on an autoloader so I ASSumed it was that way for everyone. So I bought a used HK P7 PSP for my wife. Squeeze-cock action so it is safe, 8 round 9mm capacity, very reliable and rugged. Well, that whole plan blew up in my face when I determined my wife could neither squeeze it hard enough to get it cocked (STS) nor rack the slide. So now I have another gun for my collection she can't use... Probably going to look at a pink S&W revolver in .38 now... BF You can always install some parts from Apex Tactical to improve the trigger. Very easy to do and the parts are fairly inexpensive. You can look up videos on YouTube to see how to install the parts...

I've replaced pretty much all my stock trigger parts on my M&P with APEX parts. The reset assist mechanism from them is great as well for changing a relatively weak reset to one more like a Glock. If you find you don't like the grip texture on the inserts you can buy modified ones from a few dealers for around $30. And if anyone wants to swap out their sights, I have the massive M&P only sight tool - I'd be glad to send it to anyone who needs it for the cost of shipping only... BF

There were grumblings last year that what this guy proposed was going to happen. Prorate all HFP / CZTE. I believe it was left to the services to decide if they were going to do it or not. I could see it turning into a huge nightmare with finance. BF

I wanted to get one of the OOW BARs about 6 or 7 years ago - it was that or a Barrett M99. I ended up getting the Barrett - I sort of wish I had got the BAR since 30-06 is pretty cheap through the CMP and you can actually shoot it on 99% of the ranges in the US where as the Barrett is fairly limited to the ranges big enough to shoot it on and the ammo is pretty damn expensive. I'd still love to get an OOW BAR though... My range day today included: KAC SR15E3 FN SCAR 16 In Range Galil clone Arsenal SA M7A1R SW M&P 9 HK P7 PSP The KAC gun ran great with the Federal XM193 ammo but choked a bit on the underpowered Wolf I was using. The KAC proprietary mid-length set up coupled with the BattleComp made it extremely soft shooting even with the more powerful XM193. It was the SCAR's maiden trip to the range and it ran beautifully with the Wolf and XM193 but you could feel the difference in how the weapon cycled with the two types of ammo. Overall I really like the rifle for the first time out. The operation is a hybrid AK/AR system - you've got a reciprocating charging handle and all the operating levers are typical AR with an ambi safety that only has a 45 deg throw and a ambi mag release. The factory sights are actually very nice - the rear sight is very much like the KAC 600-meter sight and the front is like the typical Troy flip up sight. There are about 5 different shades of FDE on the gun though so that may annoy some folks out there. The In Range Galil clone was pretty fun. The mags went in the well with a little extra effort and the flash hider/comp had a tendency to work itself off as I shot. Decent accuracy with both the Wolf and minimal XM193 I ran through it. The stock is a little longer than I like. For those accustomed to getting pristine AK kits and a few US parts and building a nice AK - this is not the same. There weren't many nice/pristine Galil kits brought in and this rifle shows that. The parts still work but you can tell they've been used, torn apart, refinished and rebuilt. Arsenal SA M7A1R. What a great gun! The modern milled AK at its finest. If you could buy only one milled AK and didn't want a classic AK clone, this would be the one. Very accurate and 4 mags is no test of reliability for an AK... SW keeps chugging on... I'm around 2200 rounds with minimal wipe down... I changed out almost all the internal trigger parts over the winter with APEX Tactical parts which cleaned up the trigger pull and made the reset much more like the Glock reset. I also added two dot figure 8 sights as well. They worked great and it was actually right on after ripping both the front and rear sight off the gun... I guess I got lucky. The HK P7 was one of the German police imports - it has the heel mag release. I bought this one for the wife for a first gun... Might have been a bad idea. The squeeze-cock mechanism is pretty hefty but once engaged it is easy to hold. The trigger was nice and it shot very well for the 50 or so rounds I fired through it. It was a grade B gun but the only wear was on the high surfaces and minor overall for a gun built in 1982. BF

Take your logic and go somewhere else!!! It will not be tolerated here! I've ordered pizza in the pattern with my iPhone before and we did not spontaneously explode... BF

Rumor has it they squashed the Taurus 28 gauge pistol... Said it was a short barreled shotgun and not a pistol. Taurus apparently removed it from their booth at SHOT Show. BF

That's pretty awesome... The history would be great to have from your Dad. IF you decide to shoot it, get ammo from the CMP or at least make sure it is designed for the Garand Federal is making some specifically for the Garand under its American Eagle line. Shooting the Garand with heavy weight 30-06 hunting ammo can damage it... BF

According to this website: HERE that serial number was produced in January 1944. You gotta love the M-1 Garand... Very distinctive ping!

You really can't go wrong with an 870. I've got a couple and one's pretty well modified and it is a great gun... The Kel Tec will probably be $1500 - or enough to buy about 4 or 5 870s. BF

Check out the new shotty from Kel Tec, the KSG: New to the market, probably won't see it for a while. I think it will be officially introduced at SHOT Show... and Vetter's list is right on the money. You need to be a responsible, even keeled individual to CCW. BF

I'm saddened by the tragic events of Saturday. It makes me feel very bad that some guy, who is likely bat-shit crazy, targeted a group of people and viciously shot them down. I can't explain it and he likely can't either - but he did it... I feel ashamed that I was mad early on because this idiot is likely to cause me more pain in my hobby and cost people freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution. I also hate the nanny-state mentality in our country (and in the AF as well for that matter) - as soon as someone screws up we can't place the blame on the person responsible but we sure as hell put in place a bunch of rules and regulations that the offender wouldn't have followed anyhow... As a group I very much think gun owners are a good lot. I've seen many people offer up their rifles and pistols for others to use in matches - hell when I was TDY in San Antonio I was able to get a loaner rifle for a carbine match from a person I had met twice before. Again, this lunatic has shed extremely negative light on a group of people who are law abiding and dedicated to their hobby. It really is too bad... And as others mentioned there are a lot of other things in the US that kill people every year. Cars, motorcycles, doctors, pools, etc, etc - yet none of them are demonized like firearms. I can't explain it but that's the way it is... BF

Everyone's hit on the important points in this mishap. Rudder, slats, speeds... I honestly believe it started when he over rotated and was slow on the climbout - you should be pestering your local safety guys to see the full report. It applies to every airplane out there... The CRM out of this is going to be nothing like the CRM that will come from the 4 engine flame out in Pakistan. That will be very, very interesting to see and read when it comes out. Nothing like having your worse flying experience ever caught on HD video for the world to see. BF

He is a class act. I was there for his DESERT STORM speech at Arnold Hall in '99 or '00. He also gave an excellent LT 101 speech that was about attention to detail - the stories were about his baseball, USAFA, UPT buddies who died in airplane crashes because their lack of attention to detail. The last story was about his former roommate and godfather to his son who died in an OV-10 crash in Korea. At the end, he grabbed his glass of water off the podium and said, "I promised to toast his memory every year with people who he would respect and serve with" and with that he slugged down the rest of his water, threw the glass against the wall and walked out. I've never heard 900 cadets as quiet as that in my four years there. I think we sat there for 10 minutes in absolute silence. His son was in my squadron his freshman year - it was fun to see all the freshmen sign out on a Friday night as a big group - "where the hell are you all going?" They'd answer, "the comm's house!" and off they'd go. Who was I to stop them?

Still debating... It will really be interesting - I see the 65 year old guys hitting the limit and the airlines starting to hire. That being said the airlines are highly unstable - timing there may be even more important than in the AF. As someone mentioned I'm not sure how the new crew rest rules are going to influence hiring as well. If they have to hire more bodies will the bigger pool be getting paid the same or less than they are now? That being said, I can't recall one airline guy doing a 120, 179 or 365 to any desert location... I bet a good number of dudes are going to bail. Even more would bail if the economy wasn't as bad as it is now. Too many deployments and beat downs from big blue... BF

If anyone has a Smith and Wesson M&P and needs to swap out the sights, let me know. I broke down and bought a sight removal tool and would be willing to let people use it to swap out their sights... BF

I believe you are correct - the AD guys at my base (airlift, not refueling wing) are very, very busy because there is no Reserve help available because there are currently no man days to be had... BF

Dingle is awesome. Funny as hell - once heard him say "I'd be so happy I'd French kiss a rattle snake...". You almost needed a decoder ring for him but a great guy.

Just did a safety briefing about stabilized approaches. I know the criteria came to the C-5 world due to a crew miscalculating their gross weight by 100k and another that couldn't arrest the sink after a very steep tactical approach. Both ended up doing considerable damage to the aircraft. The SII you speak of had an expiration date of 31 July 10 - so it is no longer in effect. BF

But don't work out too hard... High Intensity Training

Best we be careful about what we wish for... They could change it to make it even more arbitrary and less "realistic" BF