SolidRed

Tacticool Upgrades

admin — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 01:59:24 +0000

Converting my 1977 Remington 870 Wingmaster to a tactical shotgun.

I just wanted to add a flashlight. Then, I decided, what the heck, and I am going all out.

So, where to begin? What distinguishes a "tactical " shotgun from any other shotgun? Shotguns are meant for short to medium range game hunting, 25 to 35 yards. Excepting, of course, the deer slug guns which can reach out to 100 yards or better with pretty good accuracy. Long barrels keep the shot bunched together longer and allow a better aim at distance. Shot capacity is minimal for various reasons. Weight is one consideration as well as game laws which restrict the number of allowable shells. A long length of pull resulting from the way a hunting shotgun is aimed and fired. Usually held and fired from the firing shoulder across the chest allowing your body to line up laterally with the winged game. But when we switch to tactical, we shorten every thing up. We want our body more abreast to the prey and the shotgun more perpendicular to our chest. A shorter barrel makes the gun easier to bring to bear on our target and facilitates movement through close quarters better. More shot capacity means fewer reloads in danger situations and more rounds available to put on target in the initial encounter.

Length of pull is a personal issue. It has to "feel" right and yet allow for the proper placement of cheek to stock for aligning the sight picture. Contrary to some beliefs, you do still have to aim a shotgun. Although at very close range, pointing may be as effective if you can train yourself to use it as an extension of your pointing finger. In most instances, we would still want our length of pull shortened up a bit for tactical versus hunting applications or lengthened a bit for comfort. I want to be able to pull that butt right up against my chest and have a good sight picture quickly.

First thing is to shorten the barrel. It's the classic style 870 with the excellent wood stocks and beautiful checkering. It has a 28" barrel with a vent rib and full choke, chambered for 2 -3/4" only. Although I have shot 3" magnums through it with no problem ( I do not reccomend you do that, but it works fine for me) but, I see no reason for 3" magnums in a tactical shotgun. I added Tru Glo front bead sights and a butt stock shell carrier from Cabelas. Yes, I taped it on and yes, it is on the wrong side. That's the way I like it and it suits me fine. You can add your shell carrier anyway you want.

So what size barrel? 18" or 20" would be appropriate. But, it depends on the shot capacity I want. An 18" barrel should be a max of 7 shots as we don't want the shot extension to protrude beyond the barrel. Ideally (for me) I want the REM Choke so I can add the DNA collector but I can't justify the added cost (about $150 extra over the 18 or 20 inch fixed choke barrels). But I have plans to build my own DNA collector down the road. I could just cut the barrel off and de-solder the rib, but I want the option of being able to convert it back to a hunting gun. If you are thinking about this, remember, you don't have to hack that rib off. Just heat up the mounts with a propane torch to loosen the solder and snap 'em off with a channel lock pliers. Then cut the barrel to length with a hack saw and file/sand and paint or blue the barrel. I found a Remington 18" Cylinder Bore Bead Sight barrel at Cabelas for $125.00 so I picked it up. I ordered a 7 shot extension from Wilson Combat for $50.00

Next, a butt stock. I decided on the Knoxx SpecOps NRS (no recoil reduction) adjustable stock from Blackhawk.

I considered the Recoil reducing version but I have been shooting 12 gauge for 40 years and never had an issue with recoil. I plan on porting the barrel myself, which will help. I don't plan on ploughing 100 rounds through it in one day like trap shooting so I expect there won't be a problem. If I do experience an issue I'll replace the stock with a regular AR15 style and a buffer tube made for the shotgun or I'll just slip a gel pack recoil pad over the butt and tape it on. I chose the Blackhawk for quality and the adjustability will allow me to select the correct length of pull that feels comfortable with whatever I am wearing. I'll proably add a shell carrier to the stock so I have more rounds available like I do now.

So that's the essentials. A proper barrel, a good butt stock and a shot shell extension. Now for the cool additions.

Sights. The simplest is the bead sight. It is, afterall, a shotgun. Bead sights are effective and easy to bring on target. They have worked for years. Of course I could choose rifle sights or ghost ring sights. I have an issue with how fast they could be brought to bear though. We are talking very short range here. 25 yards or less. But there is an option that allows the use of bead or rifle sights in conjunction with something a little more modern and first and second kind of cool. I can go with a saddle mount sight. The proper saddle allows space between the receiver and the mount to see the hard sights while allowing a holographic sight to be added. Holographic sights with no magnification have proven extremely effective in short range for the ability to bring them to bear quickly and accurately. So that's my choice. But I want to do this without spending a lot of money. So pass on the expensive ones from Eotech and etc. UTG imports a good one for about $30.00 and also has a saddle mount for a good price. It's also available in a quick mount version for slightly higher price. In the event of battery failure on the dot sight, there is enough room between the mount and receiver to line up the bead sight or rifle sights and still have a good sight picture quickly and easily.

Forend. It seems like everybody and their dog makes a "tactical" forend for the 870. My idea of a tactical forend is one with rails. So I selected the MAKO tri-rail forend. This forend has a full length rail on the underside and a short rail on each side of the front end. The rear has ridged grips. It's of polymer construction and well made. I also selected a UTG RB-FGRP170B PRO Foldable Foregrip. This unit has removable slats to allow insertion of pressure plates for lighting options and a removable bottom cover for strage of extra batteries, etc.

Sling. Of course, being tactical, it has to have a sling. After looking at all kinds of single point, 2 point, 3 point, combination and convertible slings from just about every sling manufacturer, I settled on the simple SuperSling2+. A common 2 point sling with fantastic adjustability. Will suit me fine. It has Talon quick release swivels and is 1 and 1/4 inches wide nylon strap. The Blackhawk stock has a swivel stud built in, but I needed a way to attach the sling to the front. I picked up a rail mount sling adaptor from Shooter's Ridge.

Lights. Back to the original intention. To add a flashlight mount and a flashlight. There are as many light mounts as there are lights. From simple barrel clamps to rail mounted clamps. But I found a light and laser combo. The utility of a laser on a shotgun is questionable but the coolness factor is awesome. So I picked up another UTG product, the ELP38 Tactical LED Flashlight / Laser Combo. I decided to go with a 2.4" Tri-Rail barrel/magazine clamp for mounting. The laser can be locked into several positions and has elevation and windage adjustments so it can be aligned with the dot sight for better accuracy.

The Finished Item. Still need to adjust the location of the fore grip, but I'll need to practice with it to find the proper location for me. Here is "Brutus".

President Zero

admin — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 01:58:02 +0000

Lesson 1

admin — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 02:48:41 +0000

Lesson 1: A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings. The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door, there stands Bob , the next-door neighbor. Before she says a word, Bob says, 'I'll give you $800 to drop that towel.' After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob , after a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves. The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs. When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, 'Who was that?' 'It was Bob the next door neighbor,' sh e replies. 'Great,' the husband says, 'did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?' Moral of the story: If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.

T-Shirts Part 1

admin — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 02:43:08 +0000

Keep Track Of Your Cell Phone

admin — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 03:17:25 +0000

Several men are in the locker room of a golf club. A cell
phone on a bench rings and a man engages the hands free speaker
function and begins to talk. Everyone else in the room stops to listen.

Man: "Hello?"

Woman: "Honey, it's me. Are you at the club?"

Man: "Yes."

Woman: "I am at the mall now and found this beautiful leather coat. It's only $1,000. Is it okay if I buy it,

sweetie?"

Man: "Sure, go ahead if you like it that much. I want you to be happy."

Woman: "I also stopped by the Mercedes dealership and saw the new models. I saw one that I really liked. It's a

beautiful silver."

Man: "How much?"

Woman: "$60,000."

Man: "Okay, but for that price I want it with all the options."

Woman:"Great! Oh, and just one more thing. The house we wanted last year is back on the market. They're asking $950,000."

Man: "Wow, then go ahead and make them an offer, but just offer
$895,000."

Woman: "Okay. Thank you darling — you're wonderful! I'll see you later! I love you!"

Man: "Bye, I love you too."

The man hangs up. The other men in the locker room are looking at him in astonishment.

Then he asks, "Anyone know who this phone belongs to?"

History Lesson

admin — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 03:14:52 +0000

They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so
families used to all pee in a pot & then once a day it was taken
& Sold to the tannery…….if you had to do this to survive
you were "Piss Poor"

But worse than that were the really poor
folk who couldn't even afford to buy a pot……they "didn't have a pot
to piss in" & were the lowest of the low

The next time you are washing your hands and complain
because the water temperature isn't just how you like it,
think about how things used to be. Here are some facts about
the 1500s:

Most people got married in June because they took their
yearly bath in May, and they still smelled pretty good by June.
However, since they were starting to smell . ….. ..
Brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor.
Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting Married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water.
The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water,
then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the
children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you
could actually lose someone in it.. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the
baby out with the Bath water!"

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no
wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get
warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs)
lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and
sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof…
Hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the
house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs
and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence,
a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the bed to afforded some protection.
That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other
than dirt. Hence the saying, "Dirt poor." The wealthy had
slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet,
so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their
footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until,
when you opened the door, it would all start slipping
outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way.
Hence: a thresh hold.

(Getting quite an
education, aren't you?)

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big
kettle that always hung over the fire.. Every day they lit
the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly
vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the
stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold
overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew
had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence
the rhyme: Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas
porridge in the pot nine days old. Sometimes they could
obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When
visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show
off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, "bring home
the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests
and would all sit around and chew the fat.

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with
high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the
food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often
with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were
considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt
bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and
guests got the top, or the upper crust.

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination
would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days.
Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and
prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen
table for a couple of days and the family would gather
around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would
wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.

England is old and small and the local folks started running
out of places to bury people. So they would dig up
coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the
grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins
were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they
realized they had been burying people alive. So they would
tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the
coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell.
Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night
(the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus,someone
could be, saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer.

And that's
the truth….Now, whoever said History was boring!!!
So…get out there and educate someone! ~~~ Share
these facts with a friend.

PAINTING THE PORCH

admin — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 03:12:35 +0000

A blonde teenager in Springfield, Ohio,

wanting to earn some extra money for the summer,

decided to hire herself out as a "handy-woman"

and started canvassing a nearby well-to-do neighborhood.

She went to the front door of the first house and asked

the owner if he had any odd jobs for her to do.

"Well, I guess I could use somebody to paint my porch,"

he said, "How much will you charge me?"

Delighted, the girl quickly responded, "How about $50?"

The man agreed and told her that the paint brushes and

everything she would need was in the garage.

The man's wife, hearing the conversation said to her husband,

"Does she realize that our porch goes

ALL the way around the house?"

He responded, "That's a bit cynical, isn't it?"

The wife replied, "You're right.

I guess I'm starting to believe all those dumb blonde jokes

we've been getting by email lately."

Later that day, the blonde came to the door to collect her money.

"You're finished already?" the startled husband asked.

"Yes, the blonde replied, and I even had paint left over,

so I gave it two coats."

Impressed, the man reached into his pocket

for the $50.00 and handed it to her along with a $10.00 tip.

"And by the way, "the blonde added,

"it's not a Porch, it's a Lexus."

Financial Planning

admin — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 02:53:22 +0000

Dan was a single guy living at home with his father and working in the family business.
When he found out he was going to inherit a fortune when his sickly father died, he decided he needed to find a wife with whom to share his fortune.
One evening, at an investment meeting, he spotted the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her natural beauty took his breath away.
"I may look like just an ordinary guy," he said to her, "but in just a few years, my father will die and I will inherit $200 million." Impressed, the woman asked for his business card and three days later, she became his stepmother.

Women are so much better at financial planning than men.

Larry The Cable Guy’s Proverbs

admin — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 02:44:08 +0000

1.A day without sunshine is like night.

2. On the other hand, you have different fingers.

3. 42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.

4. 99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.

5. Remember, half the people you know are below average.
6. He who laughs last, thinks slowest.

7. Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.

8. The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese in the trap.

9. Support bacteria. They're the only culture most people have.

10. A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

11. Change is inevitable, except from vending machines.

12. If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments.

13. How many of you believe in psycho-kinesis? Raise my hand.

14. OK, so what's the speed of dark?

15. When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

16. Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.

17.. How much deeper would the ocean be without sponges?

18. Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

19. What happens if you get scared half to death, twice?

20. Why do psychics have to ask you your name?

21. Inside every older person is a younger person wondering, 'What the heck happened?'

22. Just remember — if the world didn't suck, we would all fall off.

23. Light travels faster than sound. That's why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

24. Life isn't like a box of chocolates. It's more like a jar of jalapenos. What you do today, might burn your butt tomorrow.

Never Question A Drunk

admin — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 02:35:37 +0000

I was shopping at the local supermarket where I selected:

A half-gallon of 2% milk,
A carton of eggs,
A quart of orange juice,
A head of green leaf lettuce,
A 2 lb. can of coffee, and
A 1 lb. package of bacon.
As I was unloading my items on the conveyor belt to check out, a drunk standing behind me watched as I placed the items in front of the cashier.
While the cashier was ringing up the purchases, the drunk calmly stated, 'You must be single.'
I was a bit startled by this proclamation, but I was intrigued by the drunk's intuition, since I was indeed single.
I looked at the six items on the belt and saw nothing particularly unusual about my selections that could have tipped off the drunk to my marital status.
Curiosity getting the better of me, I said: 'Well, you know what, you're absolutely right. But how on earth did you know that?'

The drunk replied, 'Cause you're ugly.