"Check the bases with a magnet and they will probably be steel," says one helpful numbnuts who didn't sign his comment.
Really? "Steel", you say?
Jesus wept, what kind of drooling simpleton do you think I am? We'll leave aside all the years where I, you know, ran a ____ing gun store and just focus on the fact that the shells are base-up in the sidesaddle. You think I might have noticed that they weren't yellow? That I use a magnet on a string to pick them up off the range floor and dump them in the trash, separate from the recyclable stuff?
I fix a shotgun in a hotel room two thousand miles from home with a %^&$ nail file and a month later I've got somebody trying to patiently explain 'chamber polishing' to me like I just fell of the turnip truck and bumped my head on my first firearm yesterday.
So, I'm going to throttle back on the firearms content. Instead, here...
You're funny.
ReplyDelete"Like offering driving tips to Niki Lauda."
ReplyDeleteDude, I think your cat forgot how to.
ReplyDeleteAre you sure it's a cat? It might only be a "cat-like object".
ReplyDeleteAppears to me your cat is defective , his head is all off to the side and stuff , possibly you could fix that with the application of a couple of nail files and some tape or jb-weld
ReplyDeleteRemember that scene in The Matrix when Neo met Trinity. He said something like "I just thought... you were a guy."
ReplyDeleteI saw your name all over the internet before I ever got to your blog. I had the same thought. I'm still impressed regardless. Rarely post because there's a high probability I'll say something stupid. (BTW< I am not the one that suggested you check with a magnet - I do sign my posts.)
Wow!
ReplyDeleteGerry
I... just...
ReplyDeleteEven if I'd bought the ammunition sight unseen and loaded the gun blindfolded, when you shoulder the thing, the ammo in the sidesaddle is literally right in front of your nose.
It also appears to be orangish if you hadn't noticed;)
ReplyDelete@Odysseus The cat? Or the ammo?
ReplyDelete@Tam I think those comments are all wrong. I bet it is because you tried to use 3" magnum 12 GA shells in a 20 GA 2 1/2" Chamber. Silly mistake I'm sure, something only the most experienced experts would notice.
Stick a magnet near it on a string and you can get that cat rightside up toot sweet.
ReplyDeleteIs that your carry cat? The orange ones don't do well when carried IWB.
ReplyDeleteOr was it a 4" super magnum in a 2 7/8" target chamber load... oh bother...
ReplyDeleteit's 'cause you're just a girl...
ReplyDelete(ducks and covers)
;)
Tam: "...when you shoulder the thing..."
ReplyDeleteThe thing that goes up?
DAY-UM, you ARE ticked! As a mere on-looker, who loves da snark as well as your expertise, allow me to make two points; 1) Don't sweat the small shit. And 2) It's ALL small shit. This, too, shall pass. Like the plague.......sit on da Porch, have a brew, and laugh at the ijits life sends your way. They can be amusing, occaisionally....
ReplyDeleteWe recently added two cats to our household (well if end of July can still be recent) who could be that cat's offspring. Almost identical coloring.
ReplyDeleteThing is they're 6-ish months old now and the smaller of the two is the same size as yours already. I hope they're about done growing.
You're a girl, silly. Girls don't know anything about ammo.
ReplyDeleteMemo to self: throttle back on using the Old Timer's voice and calling her "Little Missy", at least for a couple of weeks.
ReplyDeleteShootin' Buddy
"You're a girl, silly. Girls don't know anything about ammo"
ReplyDeleteThis seems like the VFTP comment equivalent of "hold my beer and watch this" :)
What did you expect?
ReplyDeleteI like the your firearm content because I find it educational so don't throttle back.
ReplyDeleteA pussy is always cute when stretched out on her back.
ReplyDeleteCareful though, they get pissed real easy.
Tom C.
In the first half of that post I was thinking, "hey my 870 used to do that!"
ReplyDeleteThen you narrowed down to ammo. Mine was the wood from the handguard swelling and grabbing on the magazine tube.
So my experience is of no value to your problem, huh? Especially since you're not running a wooden handguard.
So I am glad I didn't comment there! Except I commented here... Dammit!
As for your cat problem...
He clearly has lost prime. Before you attempt a restart be sure to apply cat-nip or a small piece of chicken.
Pfft. Orange male cats. That's the mall ninja gear of felines. Torbie females like the one currently occupying my lap? Now there's a cat for serious cat people.
ReplyDelete(In all seriousness, Huck is adorable. I want to rub his belly even though I'm pretty sure it's a trap.)
-Some cranky chick.
I've always wondered if Tam gave 'nip to Huck. She might not have a house left afterwards.
ReplyDeleteI have an orange tabby similar to the one pictured. 17 years old. Taught me the meaning of the term "Fight like a cornered cat," the day he fought three dogs to a draw. Damn near killed him, but he held his own. Only cat I would trust to back me up in a fight.
ReplyDeleteExistential LOL.
ReplyDeleteRobert
Don't worry about the upside down thing. If he rolls off the side of the sofa he will likely land on his feet.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, cat's are often attributed to have fantastic acrobatic abilities, and are in fact known for their ability to land on their feed.
If you find that he over rotates in his attempts at orientation correction, you can shorten the tail a quarter inch at a time until he lands plumb.
UPDATE: Finer adjustments can be attained through fire lapping.
Now, Tamara, that's what we call a 'cat'. I don't know if you noticed, but he seems to be upside down.
ReplyDeleteOh, and 30 comments and nobody took the bait? You all disappoint me.
ReplyDeleteThe cat appears to be holding it wrong...
ReplyDelete" ennifer said...
ReplyDeleteThe cat appears to be holding it wrong...
"
Defiantly stance is off anyway
If you place the allegedly defective ammunition in a box containing a magnet and seal the box, you can correctly assume that the casing is both steel and not steel simultaneously.
ReplyDeleteI think.
Way to tie it all together, B5K!
DeleteJeffCville
I fix a shotgun in a hotel room two thousand miles from home
ReplyDeleteI meant to ask about that way back.
What problems did you have with the original extractor? Or was it one of those MIM = bad things?
Are you absolutely sure that is a cat? Because, I have too say, in my experience, an animal laying in that pose is a Dog, not a cat. period. /officious voice off
ReplyDelete.
.
Yea, my dog sleeps in an almost identical pose quite regularly. quite amusing when she then tries to get up after hearing a noise and spends a couple moments flailing before remembering that her feet aren't in contact with the ground
Tam, I can't help but notice that the cat is sort of stripey. I don't know if anyone else has had this problem but it always seems to me that the stripey cats (especially the large ones as that appears to be) have a tendency to do that. Just stop and go upside down with no notice.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I've finally figured out what the problem was with my cat and why I kept getting bloody when I tried to do speed-loads... she's got really sharp burrs on all four corners! Really, someone needs to look into quality control. I hope the new two that I came into recently are better!
I don't know if that's a cat or not. I don't have a cat - although I sure would like one and have read all about them and know someone who has a friend who has a cat. Then again even though I don't have one I'm not sure I'd want one - I've read on the internet that they can be fussy eaters, hard to take care of, a full size one is difficult to conceal and sometimes handle, and only cognoscenti like to have them as it makes them appear elite or something. Besides, it's an old design and I'm sure there's bound to be something better somewhere.
ReplyDeleteI do however have dogs and can tell you that because there's fur, a tail, four feet and pointy ears that that might just be a dog you've got there. In which case yours sucks and you're holding it wrong.
KM: Putting words in Tam's mouth; she replaced the MIM extractor with a proper steel one, but it needed deburred.
ReplyDeleteSome of the smart-asses will be within reach in a short couple weeks. I will gladly help distract for the coming assault. :D
ReplyDeleteAbout the cat, is that what is referred to as Tango Uniform, or is it a trap for the unwary?
ReplyDeleteDoes that cat come with turnips?
ReplyDeleteActually, that reminds me that I've got a Mossberg 835 that jams up solid with the turkey load shells I got for it and I've no clue why.
Anyone who thinks only dogs do that hasn't spent much time around cats.
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, Huck's holding it wrong.
Are you sure he is upside down?
ReplyDeleteYou might have held the camera upside down while he was falling from your ceiling mounted couch.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete*headdesk*
ReplyDeleteYour cat's action arms look fine, what are they going on about?
ReplyDelete"headdesk"
ReplyDeleteSorry for laughing at your misery but this had me openly chuckling in my cubicle.
Oh and I recommend 1600 grit wet/dry paper for the chamber ;)
Cannot possibly be your cat. Appears to be a relatively common caliber, and not an antique.
ReplyDeleteHowever, if you apply a sufficiently cold magnet against it's backside, you can clearly determine what gauge its claws are. I suggest having a band-aid handy if you try this.
Angus McT:
ReplyDeleteI like upgrades but pulling a MIM part that *works* and replacing it with a "proper steel" part that doesn't is not my idea of a good fix and is not an upgrade.
(if the OEM malfed, I missed that info)
Kinda the reason my 1911s & Smith revos still have whatever MIM parts they have in them, they've worked for decades.
Is that not a Broadripple miniature bitting tiger?
ReplyDeleteKM,
ReplyDelete"I like upgrades but pulling a MIM part that *works* and replacing it with a "proper steel" part that doesn't is not my idea of a good fix and is not an upgrade."
The MIM part likely would have run fine for the match.
However.
There is a reason that the 870 Police models all had non-MIM extractors and Remington eventually dropped the MIM and went back to the machined part across the 870 line.
The error here was cause by neither the MIM part nor the machined replacement, but by the operating nut who didn't function-check her shotgun before flying across country to a match.
There's a lot more to whether a part is "good" or "bad" than whether it's MIM or not.
Tabbys don't jam like other cats tend to do.
ReplyDeleteDremel makes a great cylinder honing tool...works real fast too.
ReplyDeleteGreat for 1911 ramps also.
G. Smith
Dremel. The gunsmith's friend :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm like Leatherwing's quote "Rarely post because there's a high probability I'll say something stupid."
ReplyDeleteBut I will say: That commenter-who-pissed-you-off wouldn't say that to your face.
Great responses here :)
I've got one of those red cats. He's an angry little bastard.
ReplyDeleteI remember being a smartass know-i-tall about photography once, I apologize.
ReplyDeleteThe cat's stance is wrong.
ReplyDeleteTam,
ReplyDeleteSorry about your 870 going down. :( I guess I can be a numbnut sometimes I guess, lol
Oh, Vern, dude, if that was you I'm sorry! You just inadvertently stepped on the tail of my pet peeve. :(
ReplyDeleteIf you polish that cat's belly, he'll turn right side up just fine. Head will probably reappear, too.
ReplyDeleteGlad I came back today, I was getting ready to check all my shotgun rounds with a magnet. But then I don't have any rounds nor do I have a shotgun. And I would only tell you what I think when I have a thought that was real important - and even this one isn't important enough to post. But you are most informative and interesting which in a wayward America is a target.
ReplyDelete"in a world... where 'women and children' is still considered a category by an ever-shrinking number of aging men... one woman fights to bring light to the darkness...."
ReplyDeleteYeah, Tam, but when you post on your blog all-
ReplyDelete"Zomg! Cheap Winchester hulls jam in my 870, derpy-whuuuut?!"
people start to wonder if you know that they have started using small primers in 45 acp brass or that water is actually wet.
C'mon, I know you may have been on TFL or THR once or twice in the past few years. This is news to nobody who actually uses a shotgun for more than a doorstop.
evan price,
ReplyDeleteFunnily, we did a bunch of shooting with the 100-round pack of steel-based Winchester that Shootin' Buddy (aka ksfreeman, aka El Tejon) brought along. There's a reason I included a lot number.
No, I don't hang out at TFL or THR much. If I didn't use any brand of ammunition that someone had bitched about on derpygunforum.com, ALL my guns would be doorstops.
Good point. Everybody also knows that Wolf steel case breaks extractors in 1911s and Blazer aluminum cases cause Glock kabooms. And surplus ammo bought from foreign military stockpiles may have been secretly reloaded with C4 by stealth ninjas during the cold war.
ReplyDeleteAnd the shortage of double-deuce is a .gov conspiracy.
How are we on vaccines this week? Good or bad?
I go through a lot of shotshells for practice and fun. I like Winchester Super-Targets, they also pack them under Universal for Walmart and something else for Dicks or Meijer. In my Mossbergs they never fail to work. Same for Federal Top Guns and Remington Gun Clubs, or Cabelas Rio shells.
ReplyDeleteFriends with 870s? They can't shoot the Winchester shells. Jams, hard extraction, the works. Dunno what makes the 870 so sensitive, maybe tighter clearances?
At any rate, my vote for worst is the Federal Field and Range shells. The wad is nothing more than a plastic tube, no cushion. Dirty, lots of carbon fouling. And the smoke smells stinky too. Pattern was very open. Not buying them again.
Gee Tam, I know you've got to be over it now.
ReplyDeleteMain reason I love your blog is your knowledge about all things shooty. Your politics, not so much. Your snark, absolutyly.
Hey look new words.
Now, Tamara, that's what we call a 'cat'.
ReplyDeleteI hear the British call it a "spanner."
jf
Did Huck just finish trying to follow a 1911 vs .9mm "discussion", or is the first batch of fall catnip really that good?
ReplyDeleteLittleRed1
Huck is just too big for CCW. I would suggest he be the "open carry" feline in your household.
ReplyDeleteHey, I first came to your blog because somebody else long ago posted a jokingly referenced link to a pic of a redhead in a bikini on their blog, and said that this other link went to her GUNBLOG.
ReplyDeleteFunny old world, isn't it.
Ban me if you want, I stayed for the free ice cream because it was and is really good.
Hell, *I* mentioned elsewhere that the Winchester Super Speed hulls sucked ass because they were aluminum (okay, okay, maybe Zinc)-clad steel, and that I was shocked that Winchester, the brand that puts out the standard-in-the-industry AA line of birdshot and target shells, would put out such utter crap as Super Speed. But my point was simply to say that I'd learned the hard way a few years back that Super Speed is not bargain, at half the price.
ReplyDeleteHell, I've been backing your knowledge on guns for 13 years. Why start condescending now? :)
Tam, I didn't suggest polishing the chamber. Who the hell thinks that is a good idea? I guess the same hillbillies that think that cut shells are the bees knees and this internet thing is just a fad...
ReplyDeleteThe internet? Heck, electricity is just a passing fad, especially if the Greenies have anything to say about it!
ReplyDeleteSince discovering, courtesy of Tam, that I'm a "hipster" (apparently all that's required to achieve said status is a goatee, cool glasses, and a couple of obscure guns in the safe), I make sure my carry cats all ride in silver-trimmed, tooled-leather barbecue rigs. My current carry cat is a Russian Blue. You've probably never seen one.
ReplyDelete