Finally.
The Fed Equis man dropped a small box on my front porch about a half hour ago, and the cam pin was among the pieces inside. Actually, since the shipping was the same, I ordered 2 cam pins, and a firing pin, and 2 firing pin retainer pins.
Now to put it all together, and hit the range later in the week.
As you might remember, Vera was a placeholder name for this project, so . . .
Coming Soon: Name The AR.
I wanted to relate something that happened at the gun show last weekend. Sorry I didn’t included it in the earlier post but I was reminded of it this morning.
This will be a shock to Diane Feinstein and Chuck Schumer, but it’s a familiar sight at a gun show – someone has purchased a gun, and they are standing there while the dealer waits on the phone to get the results of the background check. In Georgia, if you have a Georgia Weapons License this doesn’t last too long, because the GBI can check your GWL record quickly, bypassing the NICS.
But if not, you wait for the NICS check.
I was walking in an aisle at the gun show, and a fellow was waiting for the dealer who was on the phone, holding a clipboard with a form 4473 on it. On the table between them was a pistol case with a bill of sale on it. As I got closer, he asked the dealer “Oh, does this take care of registration, too?”
The dealer didn’t understand him, partially because it was fairly loud in the Cobb County Civic Center, and partially because the question didn’t make sense.
As I moved past, he asked it again, and the dealer just looked at him sideways. And it dawned on me what he was saying.
“Do you mean registering the gun?” I asked him. He said yes.
It was then I noticed, he was fairly well built, with a military haircut. And his accent was . . . well . . . not from around here. Yankee-ish. I guessed he had just moved here either with the Air Force or Army.
“Oh, there’s no gun registration in Georgia,” I told him. He seemed taken aback. I repeated it.
“Oh. Really?”
“Really. Georgia doesn’t care how many guns you have. Welcome to the South.”
“Thank you, sir!”
Welcome, indeed.
This past Saturday I decided to brave it and attend a gun show at the Cobb County Civic Center. I wrote about a gun show at the Civic Center some time back, and reviewing that post today, I see how much this one was different, in a post Sandy Hook world.
There seemed to be two recurring themes at most of the tables: Fear and Famine.
Fear led to price gouging. Even guns that had no chance of being banned were $100 more than I had seen them before, including $350 Mossberg 500 shotguns and $339 Ruger 10/22s. Gen4 Glock 17s were for sale at more than one table for $699, that I saw at my local gun store for $559.
There were quite a few individuals walking around with AR’s shouldered, with flags and signs advertising them for sale. The cheapest one I saw was $1500. A lot of people were asking about them, but no one was buying them, from what I could tell. (I could be wrong, they could have easily been completing their business out of my sight.)
Magazines were a joke. MAGPUL 30 round AR magazines which sold for $15 last fall were $49 at the show, when you could find them. (File that under Famine, too, I guess.) Korean made Glock magazines, normally 2 for $30, were $29 each. Glock factory mags were $39. Beat up GI mags for ARs were $20, which would have been $8 a year ago.
Admission has gone up from $8 in 2011 to $10. My first gun show cost me $4 to get in. Yes, it was Union dollars.
Famine meant there were a lot fewer of some items. There were some AR-15’s for sale, but the cheapest one I saw was a DPMS for $1259. Most were $1800 or higher. There were no dedicated AR-15 tables, as there were at the last show. This meant it was a good thing I had ordered the bolt carrier and bolt for my AR-15, rather than wait to buy it at the show as I had first thought. But the tables with all the small parts were not there.
Don’t even ask about ammo. I didn’t find any .22LR beyond the odd single box of match ammo for $1 a round. Even the reloaders like Georgia Arms were selling ammo for 50% more than I paid just last fall. It sure looks like the day of Blazer 9mm for $8 a box is long gone. 9mm is more like $20 a box now.
I used to see crates of Mosin Nagants and tables of SKSs, but there were none but singles of either. Granted, the SKSs were good samples, matching number Yugos or Norincos.
Some other things I noticed, though, that gave me hope:
In all, I guess it was as good a gun show as we could expect in today’s climate. There were no mile-long lines at least. I didn’t find the AR parts I wanted but I didn’t come away empty handed either.
One last observation: Sellers, few things dissuade me from commerce with you than not posting prices on your merchandise. Yes, I know you are negotiable. But let me know whether you are worth starting the conversation.
See you at the next one!
LANGUAGE WARNING.
First they came for the blacks, and I spoke up because it was wrong, even though I’m not black.
Then they came for the gays, and I spoke up, even though I’m not gay.
Then they came for the Muslims, and I spoke up, because it was wrong, even though I’m an atheist.
When they came for illegal aliens, I spoke up, even though I’m a legal immigrant.
Then they came for the pornographers, rebels and dissenters and their speech and flag burning, and I spoke up, because rights are not only for the establishment.
Then they came for the gun owners, and you liberal shitbags threw me under the bus, even though I’d done nothing wrong. So when they come to put you on the train, you can fucking choke and die.
Michael Z. Williamson, The Sacred Cow Slaugherhouse blog
+++++
I’m not at that point yet, but I understand why he feels that way.
Fill Yer Hands 