I'm new and I have a question(s)

13119 Views 41 Replies 11 Participants Last post by SpecialEd, Dec 22, 2003

dzrtram

Discussion Starter · Dec 17, 2003

I have this nagging urge to customize everything I own. Right now I have a 336 .30-30 that is just begging to be modified. I guess about all I can do is the .30-30AI conversion, or can I go .307?
I have opportunities to buy a .35 Remington at a good price. Sooo, I'm thinking, why mess with the .30-30 when I can convert the .35 to .356?
Now the question becomes, which is the better caliber, .30-30AI, .307, or .356?
I realize the .30-30AI is the most versatile because I can use .30-30 ammo off the shelf. But, I'm wondering if it's worth it compared to the .307 or .356.
I would sure appreciate some comparative specs on these calibers, and some comments, information, and advice, and your opinion on what you would do. Sorry, didn't mean to write a book.
Thanks for your help.

1 - 20 of 42 Posts

Charlie Petty

· #2 · Dec 18, 2003

There really is no answer to the "better" question unless you very carefully define what you hope to accomplish with the gun.

From a purely practical point of view "customizing" is rarely anything other than a way to pour money down a hole. Many of the "conversions" people want to do end up being so expensive that it is cheaper to trade guns or just go buy another one in the caliber you want.

Now... take two aspirin a go lie down in a quiet place. The madness will pass. I promise

dzrtram

Discussion Starter · #3 · Dec 18, 2003

Gosh, Charlie, you take the fun out of everything :wink: I know you are correct, but it's like any hobby, or at least most of them; they cost you money. However, I'll have a bunch of grandchildren that will enjoy my guns in Montana every hunting season.
Boy, I'm glad you didn't say that to all the wildcatters who made many of today's calibers available. That would be boring. Now, c'mon, you know it's true.

:!:

Charlie Petty said:
There really is no answer to the "better" question unless you very carefully define what you hope to accomplish with the gun.

From a purely practical point of view "customizing" is rarely anything other than a way to pour money down a hole. Many of the "conversions" people want to do end up being so expensive that it is cheaper to trade guns or just go buy another one in the caliber you want.

Now... take two aspirin a go lie down in a quiet place. The madness will pass. I promise

Charlie Petty

· #4 · Dec 18, 2003

One of the really good things about free advice is that you don't have to listen to it..

Besides when the grandkids are involved you get lots of attaboys which erase ill conceived conversion plans

dzrtram

Discussion Starter · #5 · Dec 18, 2003

Many times I'd be better off if I listened. I have a lot of money in guns I don't have time to use much. Just think of all the money a deer hunter puts into a gun he shoots a few days a year, at most. I have a Colt 1911 I put at least $1000 into years ago, but rarely shoot. Now, why did I do that :roll:

Charlie Petty said:
One of the really good things about free advice is that you don't have to listen to it..

Besides when the grandkids are involved you get lots of attaboys which erase ill conceived conversion plans

Dean Speir

· #6 · Dec 19, 2003

There are some compelling reasons for firearms customization… none of them seem to have been raised here, however.

I too poured scads of the ineluctable spondulux down a 1911 sink (a Serious 70 Gold Cup, at that!) many, many years ago… it was like dope or a good bottle of West Indian sipping rum: just a l-i-t-t-t-t-t-t-l-e more and then I'll get on with the rest of my life, I swear to the shade of Uncle Elmer!

There wasn't a single necessary "touch" performed if I had stopped a second and considered the matter dispassionately… I would have simply driven to West Hartford, stormed the gates of Colt and stuffed the $520 POS up the manufacturer's fundamental orifice!

My first… hoo boy!, is this true confessions time!… self-installed customization was a stainless Pachmayr Extended Slide Stop (O, the shame!) that wasn't beyond my technical abilities on my kitchen table, gave the deep blue pistol a really neat contrasting shiny look that would help me get the babes, and started me on the inevitable path downward!

That $13.95 gizmo is now mounted in lucite on my wall of fame/infamy along side my prized SSBB 45LC Clip, as a reminder to m'silly self of the sins of a mis-spent earlier time with guns. Hey!, it was all part of the learning curve, #1, and, #2, two decades later I sold the damned thing to Tim de Illy for probably 35%-40% of what I had into it… which I consider a highly successful bail-out! (Of course, Tim, before John Hunter or I could rally 'round and drink with him 'til the urge passed, turned around and shipped that Serious 70 off to Mike LaRocca for a major over-haul!)

We learn from such things… and the instructive stories are myriad, including that of a surgeon friend of mind who sent a beautiful heavy-barreled Remington 700 BDL off to Sam someone in Michigan (can't remember his last name but he marketed some accessories under the trade name "Answer Products") for a custom muzzle-brake and wound up having him "turn the barrel down." (As with many doctors… our own Dr. B not withstanding… who routinely make life and death decisions, you can't tell them much, and my friend responded to my gentle urgings to reconsider, with a "It'll be a fantastic gun when he's finished!" And "fantastic" it remains to this day… fired five rounds and stuffed in a dark recess of his climate-controlled gun room for the past dozen years.)

Resist! Resist the urge the way the Polish Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto resisted the Nazis in 1943… and spend the money on ammo and a case of fine Caribbean sipping rum!

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dzrtram

Discussion Starter · #7 · Dec 19, 2003

Good advice, Dean. The one place I disagree is where you agree it is a good learning device. I spend about 90% of my time with guns reloading, cleaning, repairing, talking, emailing, chatting on the web, and considering custom work. Of all of this I learn the most considering custom work, most of which I never do.
I would entirely resist this temptation, like the Jews resisted the Nazis, but, then, you know what happened to the Jews. I'd rather waste my money, NOT! :wink:

SpecialEd

· #8 · Dec 19, 2003

DeanSpeir said:
ineluctable spondulux

Now that's a keeper! I'm gonna have to use that one. :wink:

The preceeding posts beg the question. Does anyone carry a PDW that is "out-of-the-box Stock?"

Ed

Charlie Petty

· #9 · Dec 19, 2003

yes...

WaltGraham

· #10 · Dec 19, 2003

... ditto

Tim Burke

· #11 · Dec 19, 2003

Sometimes.

csmkersh

· #12 · Dec 20, 2003

Tim Burke said:
Sometimes.

I have to with Tim on this one. If I'm carrying my Kimber or one of my SIGs, it's "stock-out-of-the-box." Even Gladson's Perfect Pistol wasn't - night sights and a new slide return spring. My circa 1968 Government Model 1911A1 now sports ambi-safety, tritium sights, Shooting Star grips, trigger, sear and hammer replaced and, this will warm Dean's heart, a full length recoil spring guide rod... :bolt:

dzrtram

Discussion Starter · #13 · Dec 20, 2003

Allmy carry or self defense guns are box stock, unless they need a trigger job, which they all do, and night sights. That's about all I do. I wouldn't own a defense gun without night sights.

Charlie Petty

· #14 · Dec 20, 2003

:007:

We re you awol when I gave the guide rod lecture?

csmkersh

· #15 · Dec 20, 2003

Charlie Petty said:
:007:

We re you awol when I gave the guide rod lecture?

Yessir, sadly I was. The pistol wasn't giving any problems, and according to the "experts" in the gun rags, it was way kool - especially for the sellers pocketbook.

I really ought to put the factory rod back in, but haven't. Maybe the next time I clean it and have to take a allen wrench to the damn rod to strip the gun. :banghead:

Richard Jefferies

· #16 · Dec 20, 2003

Of my three carry guns one is box stock, one only has different stocks, and one is very customized. I carry mostly the first, then the second, and rarely the third. The order of preference has more to do with weight than anything else. (The Kimber Ultra Ten II in my avatar is my primary now.)

dzrtram

Discussion Starter · #17 · Dec 20, 2003

Since I'm new, I didn't. If you have a copy you could cut and paste, I'd sure like to read it.
Thanks

dzrtram said:
Allmy carry or self defense guns are box stock, unless they need a trigger job, which they all do, and night sights. That's about all I do. I wouldn't own a defense gun without night sights.

Charlie Petty

· #18 · Dec 20, 2003

Some people call those things "clues". Allen wrenches, hammers and paper clips were not included in Mr. Browning's plan.

Wayne Novak says full length guide rods do three things and all of them are bad:

1. break
2. make it impossible to field strip without tools
3. cost money (the sellers think this is a good thing)

I have, however, discovered something even worse. That's the full length dust cover. You can't press check the gun. Field stripping really is impossible without a friend or two and special tools.

TBeck

· #19 · Dec 21, 2003

Two of my three carry guns are box stock. The third has had a trigger job and a set of Eagle Secret Service stocks added.

The only at home gunsmithing I've ever attempted was putting a Power Custom trigger and an extended magazine release in a 10/22. That went well and I decided to quit while I was ahead.

dzrtram

Discussion Starter · #20 · Dec 21, 2003

Charlie, I don't use the 1911 much. Would you mind telling me what is meant by "press check" the gun?

Charlie Petty said:
Some people call those things "clues". Allen wrenches, hammers and paper clips were not included in Mr. Browning's plan.

Wayne Novak says full length guide rods do three things and all of them are bad:

1. break
2. make it impossible to field strip without tools
3. cost money (the sellers think this is a good thing)

I have, however, discovered something even worse. That's the full length dust cover. You can't press check the gun. Field stripping really is impossible without a friend or two and special tools.

1 - 20 of 42 Posts

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