Scotty2Hotty

:thumbup: Exactly! The US Army was headed in a great direction when it came up with a Designated Marksman and had a few rifles for the job. Now, they're swaying back to Vietnam era thinking with this "wall of lead" theory. I commend the British Ministry of Defense for purchasing a large amount of 7.62X51mm rifles from LMT in Chicago. They're developing their Designated Marksman program more than anyone has in the past. So far, I hear them and the Ghurkas are tearing up some Taliban.

Toyota's HOT HOT HOT!

I think it's going to be one of those, "Army testing" kinda things. Like for instance, the Multicam uniform is being fielded by the units replacing me. The Army likes to give units equipment to test, then they reflect upon their collected data. As they state, 500,000 M4's, will get the M4A1 treatment, but it's a 5 year phase. I would assume if the M4A1 is to be the newest rifle for the Army, units requiring new small arms will have the NSN # to order the M4A1 straight from Colt. The M4A1 has been around for a while, so assuming you had a Class III license, you could get one from Colt. So far the civilian market has been fortuate and reaped all the benefits from the firearms market trying to make Version X of a weapon for the military. Examples like the SCAR, ACR, Benelli M4, and the slew of .45 ACP auto pistols, exist thanks to them trying to score military contracts. PS- There will be plenty of M4 Carbines swimming around the Army supply system/small arms shops for some time. Our stockpiles of M14's aren't 100% gone, but they've been run through.

So, the Army and its infinate wisdom, is bringing the M4A1 to conventional units. In addition to buying new M4A1's, there is going to be a retro-fit kit, the small arms shop will be busy converting M4 Carbines into M4A1's. What this means, is the 3-round burst selection, will be replaced with AUTO. Fully automatic fire is being brought back to the standard rifleman. http://www.stripes.com/news/army-service-rifles-getting-significant-upgrades-1.123290 My opinion = I like my M4 since it's light and compact enough to get in and out of the vehicles I utilize in my job.(Not to mention I have an M203 that sits underneath) 5.56X45mm is a NATO mistake. Fully automatic fire can be handled by the M249's, M240B's, and M2's. I think there should be a push for a PDW weapon/cartridge like what H&K and Knights Armament has availible. If NATO didn't have the US by the nuts, we'd go back to the old days of .45ACP and 7.62X51mm chambered weapons. Like most things, this is a waste of tax payer money, like the ACU or Army Combat Uniform along with the M1114/M1151 HMMWV (Humvee). Maybe one day, our powers that be upstairs might listen to Joe on the ground.

If you plan on hitting up the Camp Perry matches, the M1A's dominate as usual. The AMU or Army Marksmanship Unit helped develop the National Match rifle used in those matches. For the average joe, Camp Perry is a great match to get started with, but it'll show your flaws quite quickly.

Top notch as usual Brady. Great looking trucks from the factory, especially without the graphics on em.

This man speaks truth! Greg showed me a money maker M1 Garand capable of MOA @ 1000 yards. I'd stick with the M1 chasis for a competition .30 caliber rifle. I understand the DMR role of an AR in 7.62 for the Military, since the ergonomics are similar to the M4/M16 platform. But for instance, the LMT308MWS will run you about $3K without glass, and 2 mags to boot. The M1A I picked up, I can find NATO 7.62X51mm ball for $11/20 rounds, mags from Checkmate are around $30, and it's a rock solid rifle. For the price of a 7.62 AR, you can be in the Match M1A price range and be impressed.

Screw the real estate market, I'm making my first million selling weapons to the Cartels. Pretty sure they're a cash only type of client, not to mention I can stock up on tequila while I'm down there.

Ain't skurred of Wisconsin. Gonna be a good game I think, but I don't know why everyone's gettin all excited. OSU will win this.

Yeah, it's a bit too "tacticool" for my taste. The breacher style choke, and the picatiny on top isn't my cup of tea. I'm a fan of the ghost rings after I shot my 590A1 and a Scattergun technologies boarder patrol model 870. Granted, I haven't read the specs on it to know enough about it yet. It'll probably sell pretty good though with the shift in the market towards tactical/military/LE weapons.

I think stock 870 (LOP) is 14"+. I know most of the shorter stocks are around 12" LOP. I figured there was a bit more to the Police model than the express. I've found Midway has a majority of the parts to convert my 870 HD, but I may just toss the coin at the Police model. I need another project

I've got one and a 590A1. I do like the 870 action personally and the overall finish of their shotguns.

I've been in the market for another scattergun lately (pump gun), and kept seeing the 870 HD models and some of the 870P models. I assumed P = Police version, but I hadn't known the huge difference between them. Here's the release from Remington for those interested: http://www.remingtonmilitary.com/articles/870ExpvsPol6-30-05.pdf I believe on average there's atleast a $300 difference in these shotguns. Granted, it's comparible to Mossberg 500 vs 590A1. Granted, dollar per dollar, your plain jane 870 can be turned into the exact same shotgun.

I agree 100% on this. Gen. Barry McCaffrey seemed to almost waver a few times understanding it's an uphill battle. As he said, it starts at the kitchen table with parents and their children. If we take charge of it from a legal stand point, a lot could change. Those boys down south of the boarder are only becoming more violent and brazen with their operations. It has gotten to the point where Gen. McCaffrey (RET.) believes it is a significant security threat to the United States, and it is. I've stayed somewhat up to date reading http://smallwarsjournal.com/ "the drug cartels cannot defeat the government through direct violent confrontation." That same sentiment has been shared pertaining to the Cartel/Zetas themselves in their battles with the Mexican government. Too bad they won't follow it unfortunately. Being there's about 8 or so Cartels running around, I see everyone having a hell of a time with putting a lid on things. For instance, here's something recent: http://www.valleycentral.com/news/story.aspx?id=523516 They came to party This is all the more reason a smarter solution should be emplaced. Granted Uncle Sugar can always hire a few free agents to go play ball, but in the end money talks, and moves mountains. -This could also have a small implication to the drug trade and why we don't want to step on toes, Mexico is #3 on our oil importing list. I got some figure of 1.2 Million barrels were imported from Mexico in Oct 08 for instance. Just my $.02 on the matter.

I wouldn't say we're in over our heads, but it is going to be spilling more and more into the United States. The United States has the largest demand for their products, and these Cartels have plenty of folks that do their biddings for them. We could do more, but it's a cat and mouse game. The boarder patrol alone isn't going to stop this stuff. But you know it's getting a little out of hand when a car bomb was let loose no more than 7 miles from the Texas boarder. I can't say I know more, I know bits and pieces from people in the intel business. Some of this is spilling over from our involvement during the 80's in Columbia. The overall scheme of things boils down to money. Money buys all, especially in south America. Lord knows, you have enough money, you can take/obtain power by force. The recent spur of violence can be attributed to the training at the School Of the Americas. It's being filtered down even further into the street gangs of America too. Like most I don't have an understanding as to why we haven't stopped some of this by force.

The Cartel is a bit more prepared than the Mexican government. Here's one of the many reasons why: "Several of them, according to the Mexican government, were trained at the School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Ga. The school, now known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, is the U.S. Army's principal Spanish-language training facility for Latin American military personnel." http://www.soaw.org/site/newswire_detail.php?id=708 We kinda caused this problem, almost similar to Afghanistan with the Mujahideen. Unfortunately, these "insurgents" work their way in. Due to Posse Comitatus, the US government CAN NOT employ Federal Military to snuff these turds out one by one. Once we get someone in power that gives a damn about our country, there will be a green light on the Cartel and Zetas. I'm pretty sure someone with in our government is lining their pockets too.

Kinda wish Colt followed suit, but that would put them even further on backorder Might have to sell my soul to find a damn XSE in stock.

To add a little to Greg's comments on the new G.I editions, the sights on these guns are archeic and trash. It's pretty difficult to find the front sight post on these weapons. I've shot a few, and never cared for them in the least bit. You'll see here: http://www.gunshopfinder.com/springfield/PW9609L.jpg Reproduction WWI era guns, that were similar to the 1918 model Colt made. Out of the box, the Remington is a leap ahead: http://tacticalgunsandgear.com/firearm_sales/images/Remington%20R1%201911.jpg Now again, not sure if you plan to take it out of the box and shoot it, or later on send it out for some work. Thought I'd toss that out there for some reference.

Will do. Got any pics you can shoot me?

Lemme see if there's a way to get you the money Hoblick, I'm very interested. You can give Fowler the holster, I'm not horribly interested in it. I'll give you $500 for it.

Hip fired, belly gun

As far as autos are concerned, if you were to be in a struggle, thrusting an automatic into someone can cause the slide to slide out of battery. A revolver won't have this sort of issue, if it were to ever present you.

Grizzly's "Brush Hawg" conversion to your Marlin lever rifle is about $1,300. All the things I listed above, are what is done to the rifle. You can buy a lever action rifle for a lot cheaper than $1,300 by all means. There's tons out there chambered in everything from .22, to common handgun rounds like .357 or .44, to some pretty large calibers to include .45-70 and upward. I never really thought about the Winchester 336 in my closet up until I looked at Grizzly Custom's page. I'm deffinately sending my rifle out to them for the "conversion" so to speak.

I almost want to spring for the re-chambering to .45-70 or .450 Marlin, but I like .30-30. It's a pretty good cartridge for most game and packs a respectable punch. I believe they shorten the mag tube down to 5 rounds, but that 16.5" barrel is mighty handy out in the woods. I was about to just slap a Konus Pro scope on and call it a day, but I'd deffinately rather have the iron sights and a shorter profile like the 1895 Guide Gun. I was in a debate on if I wanted to go with the hard chrome look, but the bluing along with the wood looks great!

I will agree with this to a point. I'd say a $400 1911 will do 80% of a $2,500 custom 1911. An average end user that will spend a little time with it at the range, may not notice the difference between a Springfield and a Wilson. In the same token, those spending $2,500 on a 1911, more than likely have a purpose for it. I've read one gun magazine editor's Wilson CQB had over 30,000 rounds put through it. You probably won't get a G.I style 1911 to do that, but it doesn't mean it isn't a good gun. But like anything, there's a difference between good and great. 100% agreed with this comment. I guess one other point I tend to have is why people stress so much about a price range. Personally I'm not looking so much into the price as compared to what I'm wanting out of a firearm. What is the purpose of this firearm? If this is a major means of protection, I'll buy the $900 firearm over the $400 firearm anyday of the week.