SIGns you messed up

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We’re all familiar with the stories about the self-firing Sig 320 pistols, right? I got some spam from a vendor about police-trade in P320’s…check this out:
The entire gun, with night sights and one magazine, is almost the same price as just the fire-control unit by itself:


Thats embarassing. No police department with a competent legal department can justify buying these things with their perceived problems, and the departments that already have them are throwing them out on the used market as fast as they can for the same reasons..

Do I worry about my P320’s going off on their own? Not really…no more than any other gun, which is say pretty much not at all. I may have a little less faith in it when it is dropped than I would, say, a Glock, but I generally don’t feel unsafe with the SIG. That said, the SIG is something I really only have because of the Flux Raider platform, so it isn’t like its in my everyday carry rotation. (For those who are curious 90% of the time my daily driver is either the Glock 17 when Im not at work, and the S&W 642 when I am. The other 10% of the time is just what I happen to be in the mood for at the time…often its either a HiPower or .357.)

If youre looking for something cheap to stash away, these arent a bad choice. I’d take them apart, inspect them, and then scrupulously follow the factory manual on how to reassemble them.

Weekend stuff

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Well, yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day. It started out cold and by the afternoon I was sweltering up at the Beta Site moving stuff around. As is becoming a habit, here’s a weekly summary of highlights from the cameras:

There is, apparently, no shortage of mule deer up there. Unfortunately, you cannot shoot mule deer in that hunting district. You can drop whitetails but I do not believe I’ve ever seen a whitetail up there. Well, when the apocalypse gets here things like hunting regulations will be a quaint memory.

This weekends trip was mostly just tinkering with the solar panels that I hae up there. I’d left them horizontal over the summer since that was easy and didnt really have a downside. Now that snow has started to show up, I need to move them up at an angle to help keep snow off them and to get as much of the low winter sun as possible.

I’ll be up there next weekend for the start of hunting season. After that, I doubt I’ll be up there every weekend but I’ll be up there at least once a month, if I can, so I can see how the the road conditions change over the winter.

Starting the power part of the equation

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19

Stopped by one of the solar power companies here in Missoula this afternoon. I explained to them that I need a setup for an off-grid location and specified my needs. It would be running Starlink, some lighting, cameras, recharging small devices, and at a later date possibly a well pump and recharge an electric dirtbike. My concerns are reliability, survivability, durability, and modularity. There is a high likelihood of initial vacancy during winter, meaning no heat will be at the property so batteries will be in a sheltered but unheated environment. System needs to be adaptable to future expansion without srapping whatever is already in place.

Be interesting to see what they come up with.

More deal, more ammo

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Another ammo deal has walked into my life. Unfortunately, this one is an all-or-nothing type of thing which means I need to take in the stuff I have no use for in order to get the stuff I do have a use for. What do I have a use for? 25,000 rounds of .22, some .308, some .223, some 7×57. What do I have no need for? 6.5 Creedmoor, .264 Win., .204 Ruger, etc.

But Im into it cheap enough that I should be able to flip it at the next gun show in a hurry.

I already have something like 60,000 rounds of .22 on hand so I suspect most of this .22 LR will wind up going to the Beta Site bunkers. Maybe gift a few thousand rounds to some friends…ammo is always a good gift.

I pick the whole lot up on Friday, I’ll try to remember to post pics.

That ATFE decision about not enforcing NFA stuff

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First, lets get the funny meme out of the way:

For those who don’t get the joke, just google “gun boating accident”.

The dust hasn’t quite settled yet but after reducing the NFA transfer tax to $0, that move effectively removed the oversight of suppressors and the like since it was a tax regulation that gave them the foot in the door.

So…ATFE now says that, unless your state has restrictions, you can buy a suppressor same as you’d buy a 10/22.

Here’s the catch: any future administration could just as easily re-impose the tax, which means we are back to Form 1 and Form 4 red tape. So, if you believe that you have a need for such items (and you do…or, at least, you will)…buy them now.

According to what I’ve read, fifteen states, including Montana, have state regs in place regarding NFA stuff that keeps you from just treating them like any other type of firearm. Here’s a better telling of it:

It is my understanding that in Montana there is legislation for the 2027 legislative session in Montana to fix things so that Montanans can just make their own SBR’s and buy suppressors over the counter as Crom and nature intended.

In the meantime, strike while the iron is hot. Buy those suppressors and whatnot before the next election cycles put the mechanisms in place to dampen out fun.

Snow

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Ran up to the Beta Site this weekend to swap out the Jackery 1500 for the Jackery 3000. I wanted something with a more capacious battery to compensate for the upcoming overcast days of winter and the resultant effect on solar panel output.

So, headed up there and swapped out the battery and updated the panel to two 200w panels. And, of course while I was up there I swapped out the SD cards on the static cameras and am sharing the interesting pics with you savages:

First off, we have a rare hoverdeer:

Next up, check out this utter unit of a deer:

Once I had gotten done the things I went up the for, the weather started to turn. The rain to to sleet, which turned to snow, and we get this:

Usually October, and sometimes November, has a couple very summery days left it but I suspect this is the closing of the ‘outdoor construction’ window. It also means that my trips up there will probably be reduced since there’s really not much need for me to go up there once the snow falls. I absolutely will be trying to get up there at least once a month until spring so I can evaluate accessibility throughout the winter…truck, sidebyside, snowmobile, whatever. The only needs that I see for me to be up there, other than that accessibility evaluation, between now and spring is for either camera issue resolution or security issues. Now is the time to start planning on spring, which I am going to plan around a June 1 date but I suspect I may be able to get in and out of there easily as early as May. But for planning purposes – June 1.

I should mention that I will, as best as I can, be up there during hunting season.

I suppose now is a good time to evaluate how the year went. By most objective standards, it was….okay. I got a few of the big expense items done – got the survey (which was a big deal), got the storage tanks buried (another rather un-cheap expense), got Starlink setup, got cameras installed, and got the cargo container situated. I like to think of it as laying the groundwork for next years more major adventures – well, septic, and solar system. And, of course, the actual ‘real’ structure of residence.

But, for now, it’s time to put things away and go dormant for the winter. For the next several months it’ll all be theory…planning, scheduling, saving, etc…in preparation for the spring.

 

All American 25q at CostCo

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For those of you who are local to Missoula: CostCo has the AA 25 qt pressure canner marked down to $199.97 with the ‘death star’ on the price label. Sez Google:

The Costco “Death Star” is a small asterisk symbol printed in the upper corner of a price tag that indicates an item is being deleted or will not be restocked in its current form.

What It Means

Pending Delete: The warehouse supervisor or corporate system has flagged the Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) to stop reordering.

Not Always Permanent: While some items are gone for good, others may return as seasonal products, package or size updates, or with a new model number and SKU.

Inventory Clear-out: Once the remaining stock on the floor sells out, the space will make room for new inventory.

Related Price Tag Clues

Price Ending in .97: Indicates a manager markdown or clearance price, which often accompanies the asterisk.

Price Ending in .00 or .88: Signals a rare manager special used to clear out the final few items or floor models.

Price Ending in .99: The standard full price, meaning the item has plenty of inventory and is staying put for now.

Sooooo…..

I just bought one of these a few weeks ago for a friend and it was about $35 more back then, so this is a great deal on a top-of-the-line pressure canner if you don’t already have one. Ive had one of these All Americans for a while now and haven’t had a lick of trouble with it. Good, solid, built-to-last build quality.

Freedom seeds

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18

Buddy texts me and tells me that a guy is bringing in a bunch of ammo to sell and would I be interested? Well…you had me at “.308 and .223”.

Lets see….

  • 1000 rds. Lake City 62. Gr Green Tip 5.56
  • 1000 rds. Prvi Partizan 55 gr. FMJ 5.56
  • 500 rds. Federal 55 gr. FMJBT 5.56
  • 500 rds. Norma Tac-223 55 gr. FMJBT 5.56
  • 500 rds. Federal American Eagle 150 gr FMJ 7.62×51
  • 500 rds. Federal Gold Medal Match 168 gr. SMK .308 Win.
  • 200 rds. German battle pack FMJ 7.62×51

Price? Well….let’s see… $0.25 for the 5.56 and $0.40 for the .308. Yes, thats a case of Federal Gold Medal Match for $0.40 per round.

I have a friend with a nice little .308 rifle and they do not reload for it, so the Gold Medal will go to them at my cost (because I’m nice that way) and the rest will be kept for Der Tag. Probably take a case or two up to the Beta Site.

This is fortuitous…I’ve been wanting to have some ammo to stash around and this should help with that.

Right place, right time, but it still hurts to fork over the hundos.