fm2176

That looks useful for those of us with both systems. I don't have any T-Stak boxes, but the Craftsman VersaStak is identical in all but color.

Very true. I view this as adding to my resume. The retirement and disability pay the mortgage, utilities, and for food, so my current job is kind of gun and resume enhancing money. Buy guns, get training and certifications, and maybe continue my formal education. If I'm still here in 20 years, there's no reason why I can't be a part-time college professor and an occasional firearms instructor. I plan to build rapport with the local LEO agencies and training facilities, to ensure that I'm at least employable even if I decide to finally take a break from the daily grind.

Went to the NRA Range Safety Officer Course today, compliments of my job. I'm not going to be expected to run the range often, but may have to cover down on occasion if someone has to go on break. The facility was nice and the instructor knowledgeable and effective. I'm already looking at other classes to take, as well as getting various NRA Instructor certifications. They'll be a good fallback or side gig if I want to get out more.

Nice, I have the Ryobi brad and pin nailers, along with the DeWalt finish nailer. All are bigger and heavier than their pneumatic counterparts, but for ease and quickness of use, I grab them over an air nailer and hose. I'm looking to get newer vehicles for my wife and I soon, and will be putting my M18 Fuel impact wrenches in roadside kits for them. I have the 2763 and 2767 high torque, as well as the mid-torque. They sure beat using a lug nut wrench or breaker bar. Activity here has been extremely slow, especially over the holidays. A lot of former regulars check in only rarely or not at all, it seems. Good seeing you post.

Well, I need to slow down on the gun buying and focus on training. I'm scheduled for 9 hour days but my start time fluctuates between 7am and 1pm and our range closes at 6pm, so I'm going to start identifying a couple of days a week to shoot after work. I've boresighted the Streamlight laser and night sights on the G17 but need to dial them in, along with the optic on the G45. I also need to do some research before choosing an optic for the Canik TP9SFx. The Canik seems to be very popular, with some calling it a "Glock killer"; a customer was gushing about it a few days ago and is planning to buy the one we currently have. I recognized his name when asked to pull a gun he ordered...seems he's been buying like I have. We have a few customers like him, and working in the vault I'm amazed at how after years of getting physically and mentally beat down I'm able to instantly recognize a name and the gun they ordered. When time permits I don't mind interacting with customers, and more than a few have purchased guns I've recommended. When customers get impatient or mouthy, though, I have to go back to the vault. I try to be proactive, keeping our two computer systems up (one for 4473 forms and the other for tracking what guns we have on hand and have physically disposed of) and when my other duties are accomplished, heading to the gun line for a final check as the customer is checking out. We have the federally mandated 1st and 2nd check, then a Lead, Manager, or I do one last look at the paperwork before releasing the firearm. It's redundant, but I've caught quite a few errors, from misspelled names to birth dates or expiration dates being wrong. For better or worse, we have a new critical error list that makes it even more important to be methodical and thorough in my position, though if I screw up and lose this job I'm still good to go.

No more guns, but I bought and installed TruGlo TFX Pro fiber optic night sights on the G17 and added a Streamlight TLR-8A laser/flashlight today. The G45 with the optic may get a light soon, but the G17 is fairly well kitted for home defense now. I'm thinking of getting a Galco shoulder holster to carry both. Not for practical concealed carry or anything but because...well it's America and I can (for now). Though I bought the Security-9 when I got the PC Carbine, I think I'll put the Glock magazine well in it and eventually pick up a few more 33 round mags. We also got a G26 Gen 4 in used a few days ago which I may look into getting.

Closing out the year with a bang. Got delayed on the Paratrooper SKS, so I figured I'd experiment and buy another Canik SP9. Got the "Proceed" on that one, so NICS seems to just randomly delay some things. It sucks I have to wait until next year to get my SKS, though. Next year I'll slow down a little. Maybe 2-3 a month. Home improvements and more secure storage is priority.

I was humoring myself. My Austrian tools are Glocks and the Turkish ones my Canik and the Winchester SXP. We live in different societies, but firearms are definitely tools. Many people use them to put food on the table, either by harvesting game or protecting crops and livestock. Others use them to ensure the safety of themselves and others. I group a lot of the European, North American, and Asian tools (of all sorts) together in that few modern tools are truly crude. Some are more utilitarian (think Harbor Freight) and others are a joy to look at and use (say, Snap-On or [insert German brand here]), but if they do the job with minimal injury to the user, they're better than what our predecessors worked with. Going back to power tools, I have some that were made in Mexico, Malaysia, or other countries, but the bulk of those here in the States are imported from China. I guess it's just easier to meet that all-important price point by shipping stuff across the Pacific than it is to make it domestically or import it from countries that build the same tool for other markets.

For better or worse, we Yankees don't really have many options. Despite having a lot of tool brands over here, most have offshored production to China. Many of the European brands you often write about are unavailable, or at least prohibitively expensive and inconvenient to import. Like many Americans, I like convenience and instant gratification. This is why you hear stores like Home Depot, Lowe's, and sometime Menards brought up so often. They are big boxes that stock, and quickly sell, a lot of "Big Name" tools (DeWalt, Milwaukee, heck, even Ryobi) for relatively cheap prices. Lowe's used to sell Metabo (pre-HPT acquisition), and still sells Bosch and Flex, while Home Depot sells Makita, but every one of those brands' tools seem to be made in China, so we get different stuff over here. For the foreseeable future, I'll be using and abusing my Asian-made power tools and enjoying the US-made Snap-On and other hand tools. As evidenced by my recent TIA activity, I've been buying some decent Austrian, Turkish, and other tools recently, though admittedly my next tool is going to be Chinese--an early '90s Norinco SKS that takes AK mags. It might get along with the Yugoslavian M56/66.

I'd do the same. It should last long enough for your needs, subject of course to wear and tear from usage.

I went ahead and reversed the mag releases on rhe Glocks just now before field stripping the LCP Max and noting it has a near identical mag release. So, i went ahead and reversed it as well. Ive gotten used to using my middle finger to drop a mag on right handed pistols, but my old primary carry gun, the Beretta 92F, has had the mag release reversed for over twenty years, so with some dry fire drills and a little range time hopefully I burn the reversals into muscle memory. Here in all their glory are the new lefty pistols, and a random Seagrams 7 bottle for good measure. 🙈

I went to Lowe's this morning and found that the Flexiclick is now called the Chameleon. At $229, I think I'll wait for a sale or special buy.

I entered and hopefully he won!

Glock 45 MOS and Vortex Viper it was today. I started the form and had everything ready to go by the time I clocked out. New DeSantis IWB holster, three more boxes of Silvertips, and just got done mounting the red dot optic. I'm enjoying the new job and realizing that maybe I don't need or even want to put on another uniform full time. That said, I spoke to the Sheriff a couple of weeks ago when he came to pick up a gun and found out that his office is working to get volunteer reservists into a part-time academy. East Baton Rouge has a lot of info online, and I fairly certain their academy will be used by my parish and others. I have no idea what service weapon they issue here, but over the river, EBRSO issues revolvers to Reserve Deputies. I liked my S&W 19, but since most departments allow volunteers to buy their own, I'll probably carry the G45 with optic or maybe the G17. If I do go that route, a G26 is on the short list as a backup.

The Flexiclick is one of the Bosch 12v tools I've been considering for some time. I have Milwaukee M12 and have thought about getting their installation driver, but I like the size and format of the Bosch.

I've been feeling the cordless tool bug again, but have only been to Lowe's (largest Bosch distributor in the States) once since moving back in July. I think I might get back into the Bosch 12v system. I found a 12v drill and radio combo in an L-Boxx a few years ago but gave it to my daughter. As for the heat gun, I think that the Ridgid butane/battery gun is pretty good. It heats quickly and the battery lasts a while, especially if I put one of the larger Octane ones on it.

I think I'll buy the Vortex Venom 3 MOA red dot (RDO) tomorrow. I'll probably order a Streamlight light with green laser in the next few days as well, unless we have one at work, in which case I'll bring it home. I was thinking of putting both on the Canik but now I'm thinking that the Streamlight should go on the Glock 17 instead. My Glock isn't an MOS (optic ready), and to be honest I prefer iron sights, so the RDO will be an experiment for the fairly inexpensive Canik. Speaking of which, I'll probably impulse buy either the Glock 45 MOS or the Smith & Wesson Equalizer this week. I guess I'm in the Christmas spirit in a greedy Grinch sort of way. Buying all the guns now but eventually the kids will get them and probably sell them for pennies on the dollar. I gave one of the Chiappa Little Badgers I bought last week to my 14-year-old. She and one or both of her sisters may get some trigger time in the back yard later today. If so, I might toss in a few centerfire rounds, either shotgun or pistol, as I have a new Winchester shotgun and the PC Carbine to break in. They'll have fun regardless of the noise level. The archery target stays up and the BB guns are always available for them to shoot, there's the volleyball net, a tree to use the hatchets and axe on, and a lot of open space, so they have plenty of outdoors activities to partake in. Obviously, firearms are much more restricted to them and only handled under my supervision, though I usually have 2-3 on or near me at all times.

Same to you! My family has 400 years of history on the Eastern Shore and I have many fond memories of Ocean City from my youth. My Dad was a good friend of Red Bird, who was an actor and had worked later at the nearby Frontier Town attraction before he died working on the then-new Centre at Salisbury.

Not bad. I have some NWS tools with Irwin branding, from back when Lowe's ran their clearance on the stuff. It seems that Irwin decided to do away with their @$40 pliers and cutters to sell similar looking Chinese made ones for half the cost. Anyway, I picked up a number of side cutters, some linesman pliers, and one of the pistol grip needle nose for about $11 per. These Kleins look good and I may pick up a pair if I see them in store somewhere.

I found my old Yamaha guitar in the garage and gave it to my 15 year old. I need to reverse the bridge again, since I set it up to play left handed years ago. Frankly, I always sucked at playing, learning some Nirvana back in the '90s but mostly just abusing my guitars. In my angst-ridden teenage years I smashed one of my guitars against my Chevette. Speaking of guitars and cars, that same guitar was the one I picked up at the age of 14. I drove my dad's '78 Bill Blass edition Lincoln Mark V 25 miles to the music store, backed into someone as I was leaving, and damned near ran out of gas as I hit some back roads in a state of panic. Naturally, I didn't have my license, and I was worried someone would hit the payphone and call the police. I had a few dollars left over and gas was only about $0.75/gallon back then, so I was good, though I wonder how I was able to pay for the gas without being questioned as to why such a young man was driving a big luxury car.

It's been stated many times on these forums, especially given the recent influx of threads by users seeking to keep their dead or dying cordless tools going, but you're probably best off just giving up the old ni-cad Harbor Freight stuff and getting something newer. If you want to stick with Harbor Freight, their Hercules and Bauer brand cordless tools won't break the bank and are trying to compete with the big boys in the US, namely DeWalt and Milwaukee respectively. To put it in perspective, consider how long in the tooth the Porter Cable 18v ni-cad battery is. Over ten years ago I got my first li-ion set, which was Porter Cable 18v--basically the ni-cad tools with some cool LITHIUM stickers, the newer batteries, and a multi-chemistry charger. Within a year or so, the PC 18v system was being discontinued in favor of their 20v Max system. By 2014 Lowe's (Porter Cable's largest distributor on the East Coast) only sold ni-cad batteries, effectively reverting the 18v system back to its origin. I stopped seeing new batteries altogether around 2016 or so, with the exception of the occasional old stock. In short, even with Porter Cable batteries running your Harbor Freight tools you're looking at using 15+ year old technology in batteries that are likely a few years old at least, all for cordless tools that many considered disposable from the get-go. If you can find and adapter and keep your tools running, that's outstanding! I'm all for using what works and keeping things out of the dump, but I have a feeling that you're looking for something so niche it may be unavailable.

Seconded. As nice as it would be to continue using our tried and true tools, older cordless tools usually aren't worth the expense and hassle of keeping on the tool bench. Nickel-cadmium and nickel-metal hydride batteries have been replaced by lithium-ion for a number of reasons, and modern brushless stuff like the DeWalt 12v Max Xtreme line makes even their older 12v Max stuff look archaic. I bought my Xtreme drill with a reciprocating saw, two batteries, and charger in a DeWalt backpack for about $129 a year or two ago. Rebuilding or replacing older batteries will probably run at least half of that price.

When I first moved back to my home, I fenced in a small area behind the house, big enough for the dogs to go outside without having to put on the leashes. Nothing fancy or permanent, just few pickets and some wire weld fencing, and to be honest I never even finished putting on the fence retainers. Speaking of which, those were my most recent penny deal at Home Depot. With retirement and disability pay soon to hit, pending updates to the house are imminent, but besides what needs to be inside I really need to fence in a larger area. Simply put, the part of the yard the dogs regularly access looks the part, with dog toys strewn everywhere, holes dug for long-forgotten chews and bones, and of course pet waste. My neighbor put a section of privacy fence up when he had his pool installed in 2009, tying into it with twisted wire horse fencing. I don't know how much it cost, but it was cheaper than chain link and has held up well over the years. I'm thinking of doing something similar, maybe spanning the side of my house with a privacy fence tying into his, with either wire or chain link surrounding the remainder of my backyard. I'd say I'm looking at about a half acre; my property is just under an acre with a big front yard. Does anyone have suggestions or comments as to what type of fencing I should consider? I like chain link, but besides the cost I always think of how shoddy they can get with lack of maintenance or abuse: rusted, broken or missing pipes, etc. A full privacy fence is pretty expensive as well and I'll eventually have to deal with warped or broken boards. Thanks in advance to anyone sharing their opinions and/or experiences.

I've heard great things about them and plan to accessorize mine as a competition pistol. Mine is the TP9SFx, which is designed for target shooting, so a red dot optic is going on it soon, and I might add a light to make it a bedside gun if it proves reliable and accurate. I used to swear by Federal 9BP "Hi-Shok" ammo but due to availability I've been feeding my 9mms with Winchester 115-grain Silvertips. A quick search shows that I can get a case of 9BPs for a little over $500, so I may order some in the next month or two.

Picked up my Chiappa Little Badger today, and went ahead and bought the scoped green version of the same rifle. They seem like excellent survival/backpack guns. While they are single shot they are much smaller and lighter than my Marlin Papoose and less awkward than my Henry US Survival (AR-7). Going forward I guess I'll have to show a little discipline. It's easy coming into work, seeing something, and just buying it, but there are a lot of home projects to work on. I still plan to fill out the collection a bit, though, in the name of customer service. The SIG Sauer P365 and Springfield Hellcat are on the list since they're big sellers. Due to pricing I might add a Taurus G2 or G3 and a Stoeger 9mm, as well as eventually a Henry lever action or two.