New Toy.. errrr Reliable Transportation

No, not Doyle's fucking Choo-choo. It's my 2006 Honda Civic Si:

So Robb, you wanna race or what? I'm under warranty until 100K miles or 2013, so let me know when you feel like breaking a German half shaft.

AR-15 Complete

Wow. It's been awhile, and yea, though you may have committed me to the scant memory of the internet's abyss, I am indeed still here. I would like to introduce to you, for the first time in a public forum, my Superior Arms S-15 rifle, built by yours truly over a period of many months. Thanks go out to my wife who let me do this:





Rundown of the nitty-gritty:
Superior Arms S-15 lower receiver
YHM A3 Upper w/ M4 ramps
CMMG Lower Parts Kit
DEZ Arms 16" Gov't. profile barrel (ramps hand finished by me to match upper)
YHM Rifle-length freefloat lightweight railed handguard
Promag Vertical Foregrip
Collapsable Stock
YHM solid Front Sight
UTG A2 Rear Sight (will be replaced with a YHM rear soon)
MagPul XTM Rail Panels
Model 1 Sales Charging Handle
Larue Tactical M-16 Bolt Carrier Group.
I'm also using a std. A2 flash hider, and a carbine length gas system (with a YHM low-profile gas block). Assembly of the lower took about 10 minutes on the first try, with no flubs or scratches anywhere, and the upper assembly was done properly with all the tees crossed and lower-case jays dotted (That means an action block and a torque wrench, with locktite where locktite was needed).


I took it out and got a 50/300 yard battle zero on it, and shot it in a Highpower match this past weekend. I generally speaking can't shoot for shit in a match, but I did manage a 96-2X sans sling in sitting rapid, so the gun is at least good enough to score well on the SR-21 target. I really intended this as a "every American should own one of these" type builds rather than a high-precision deal, as I've got my K-31 if I need to put holes in things at great distances, and I'm very happy with it. I will be adding an Aimpoint M3 or M4 in the very near future and I think it will make a great little rifle.

Car still needs work.

Well, two years since I last ran the car, and I'm having the same problem (only more severe this time). My times were 12.044 and 12.067 on two consecutive passes, and I went to jet-up, and didn't have the right jets for the rear, and couldn't buy any at the track, so I just raised the float level a little bit, and got another .10 out of it with 11.905. I'm still off by about 2-4mph on the top end, and my 1/8 mile times are right for about 11.75-11.80, I'm just dropping off on the top end.

This is the first time I've run the car in less that 98*F air, and the humidity was low (65%) so I thought I could get a PB out of it, but I think I really need more fuel. Of course, I grabbed a box of spark plugs to swap in when I got to the track, but hadn't labeled the box "used," so when I opened them up, I got a nice little surprise. It was impossible to read them, as I've put about 200-300 miles of street time on those plugs.

I also had a bit of a wierd vibration or shake at the top of second gear - it might be time to pull the TH350 and root around in its guts a bit. I really don't want to go back to the TH400 and have to get another driveshaft...

Anyone who's interested can see my combination here.

I Thought This Was Settled...

David Codrea brings up an old discussion on what would be used by modern hunters on a T-Rex, though I suppose self defense shootings would likely be necessary for anyone living in an inhabited area.

I thought this matter was already settled by Lara Croft. You simply have to find a large clearing with four ancient spiked wheels in it, shoot it with dual .45 ACP 1911-A1s, or Dual .45 ACP USP Expert Match handguns, to enrage it. Run towards one of the wheels, and when it charges, use your special "bullet time" ability (like in John Woo movies) to stun it with a single headshot, and it will slam into the wheel. Do this with three of the four spiked wheels, and the beast will fall.

Building an AR-15

This is a fairly new endeavor for me - I recently bought a Superior Arms S-15 stripped lower receiver, and a CMMG lower parts kit. I'm using a generic 6-position collapsible stock, and that's it for now. I'll post pics when I get the chance, but thanks to AR15.com for the wonderful thread about assembly, including a few videos of the process.

I'm currently shopping for some used upper parts, so if any readers (do I have readers?) have anything lying around in the parts bin, I'm in the market for some purchases.

I'm thinking of building a 16" M4 profile with an M4 flattop and some sort of free-floating 4-rail hand guard. My WASR or K-31 just aren't tacti-cool enough for an HK-owning "operator" such as yours truly.

No Excuses...

I've just been lazy- posting comments elswhere and not posting here. Now, for a few posts...

Busy few weeks...

...The in-laws came up from Chicago for a visit, so some house-cleaning was in order. Now if I could just get over my adolescent desire to just shove everything in the closet and call the room "clean..."

I didn't report on the third High Power match I shot a few weeks back, well, because the results are embarassing. I spent time working on my prone position, and lost ground (bigtime) on standing offhand, and sitting.

I'm still working on the second acoustic piece for the single w/ Jerry, and I'll get around to posting a finished version sometime this weekend, I hope.

Now, on to a meatier post for the day.

Flooding

I didn't post anything yet because I had my fingers crossed that there'd be nothing to report, but it's official:

Saukville is under water, and it's leaking into my basement.

Now, I really don't have mush to complain about, because the 40 or so gallons I've shop-vac'd out of my carpeting down there is nothing considering the fact that my basement floor is now several feet (like 3-4) under the water level outside. But, that does mean it's going to be seeping in around the base of the outside walls until the water level recedes. I'll post some during-and-after flooding pictures when the water gets back down to normal.

EDIT: I think we're going to go check to see if the DPW needs help filling sandbags this afternoon.

High-Power Rifle Match #2

Well, I just got back from my second High-Power match. Again, this was at West Bend Barton Sportsmans' Club, and was 4 ten round relays of 10 shots each. I scored a 298 this time (out of a possible 400), and my groupings were much better. I've got to get used to having a slightly different zero in the different positions, and that will bring the groups closer to the center. I hope to hit at least 84% next match, which will put me into the Sharpshooter class. I did the math, and if they all go in the black, you're there.

On another note, instead of taking the handicap and shooting the rapid fire relays in two strings of 5, at 70 seconds each, I used charging clips borrowed from my buddy to shoot all 10 in 70 seconds. It was a blast! Let me tell you, I don't doubt that a squad of men with bolt actions and a ready supply of ammo on chargers could lay down a TON of fire. I'm going to pick up some of the chargers and plan on using them from now on.

Oh, score breakdown was:
Offhand, Slow (200 yards): 75
Sitting, Rapid (200 yards): 81
Prone, Rapid (300 yards): 75
Prone, Slow (600 yards): 67

On reduced targets (SR-1, SR-1, SR-21, and MR-31, respectively), shot at 100 yards.

Shades of Sorrow - My Way (Acoustic)

Well, here it is. Jerry Bakkus composed the music and lyrics, and performed the main guitar and solo, as well as the lead vocals. I performed the harmony guitar and vocals parts, and engineered the recording and mixdown on my home PC.