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Savage .17HMR Hard Bolt, Feed Issues and 10 Round Magazine Fix

Filed under: DIY, Firearms, Stretching Your Money — Leave a comment
September 22, 2013

Its always disappointing when you buy something and it doesn’t work correctly…such it was with the 10 round magazine I bought for my Savage .17HMR. Originally it just came with one 5 round magazine, which is okay, but one is none so I had purchased a second 5 round magazine for it always. I was aware that they made 10 round magazines but truly saw no need to get one until after Sandyhook occurred and there was a lot of talk of limiting ‘high capacity’ magazines…so off I went to the local corner outdoors store and picked up a 10 round magazine…yeah, first off, I learned real fast that Savage makes a couple of different .17’s a Mach 2 and then the HMR…so wrong magazine. I finally found the correct one for my .17HMR on eBay, ordered it after going into sticker shock and never really have had a chance to use it until today (the rifle was sighted in using my 5 round magazines as I didn’t yet have the 10 round one). But today, I took my kids up to learn how to use the rifle and get some practice in myself and lo and behold…the 10 round magazine, manufactured by Savage went in HARD and getting it out…hahaha dynamite was being thought of but it finally came out with a lot of tugging and pulling. CRAP!!! Magazine NO GOOD…so off to the internet I go and what I found out was zilch regarding the way the magazine came and went into the rifle, I found a lot of information regarding .17HMR magazine not feeding correctly, but nothing about the magazine itself going in hard and not wanting to come out.

HMM…after watching people on YouTube ‘fix’ feeding issues (ding ding ding a light went off, I had one 5 round magazine that was hard to feed but did and I fixed that issue pronto) I got the bright idea that if you can fix the feeding issue then surely using similar techniques you can fix the magazine slide rails the same way…sanding!!! Taking a little off at time. Now everybody had a metal file or a sanding block or some sort of other ‘sanding tape’ to smooth out the burrs and sharp edges that caused feeding issues on the magazines but I have NONE of these and was impatient to make this work…surviving shtf mom light bulb time…emery board!!!

Yeah, that low tech thing that every woman used to have for her nails. Just a piece of cardboard with fine grit sandpaper on either side…ha! Got that…never really use them myself (fingers nails are not really conducive to gardening nor using a firearm) but I have them for a ‘trade/barter’ item along with some of the metal fingernail files and the boards used to shape fake nails too (these work wonders on split nails btw). So out came the good old emery board and remember the rule that less is more when working with a firearm (can’t replace what you take away but you can always take away more if need be) I went to work on the magazines.
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First up, the 5 round magazine that fed hard…Super easy on the ‘lip’ of the magazine where it was sharp and rough (burrs) over which the bullet goes into the chamber…file going down one way only and then back and forth and within in minutes everything was smooth to the touch…blew out the dust and put 5 rounds in, kept the safety on and then cycled the 5 bullets through…PERFECT and SMOOTH for the first time!!

Having gained confidence with this success (remember, all I used was that low tech old fashion finger nail file) I went to work on the 10 round magazine, specifically the rails. Working slowly I did the inside edges on both rails, then went under the rails and finally sanded down the top of the rails. Tried it, still tight…back to more work…did this several times until it still went in a bit tight but came out more easily…still need to spend more time working on it but the magazine now ‘works’ correctly…still too tight for my taste, but at least it goes in smoothly now and comes out without much effort.

I just wanted to share my experience with you just in case you have personally run into these problems with the Savage .17HMR of the bullets not feeding correctly and/or the bolt working hard (look for the burrs and sharp edge where the bullet comes up, out and over into the chamber on the magazine) or having a hard time with getting the magazine in and out. This is an easy fix for these issues and costs next to nothing, dollar stores, drug stores, almost everywhere sells emery boards…typically $1 for twelve of them.

Just remember, easy does it, a little at a time and you can always take off more but can’t put it back…

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What Is An ISD? Storage Ideas On the Cheap

Filed under: DIY, Food Storage, Reuse Repurpose, Stretching Your Money — Leave a comment
September 20, 2013

ISD…okay…just what is that you ask? I is for improvised, S is Storage and D is for Device…Improvised Storage Device…yeah, okay, okay, I will admit that older son #2 came up with it and he is an admitted warfare nut and everything is put or translated into militaristic terms if you communicate with him. But hey, an ISD sounds lot better than ‘repurposed’ or ‘recycled’ doesn’t it?

So what is an ISD exactly…well, see the picture below for a few ideas…

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Of course the wonderful, multi-purpose 2 liter soda bottle. I use these to store rice, flour type products, popcorn, salt, sugar and other liquids (not water though as they are too thin as I have found out for long term use/storage). Gatorade bottles are great too for storing rice, flour, liquids and BEANS very easily. (Anyone who has tried to get beans into a 2 liter soda bottle knows what a pain in the rear that is let alone get them OUT and I am not into self torture food storage). How about those lunch meat containers? Put them into the dishwasher and guess what? Instant free storage. Old salad dressing bottles are great for making your own salad dressings, storing ‘homemade’ liquid soap or, if you are like me and buy in bulk, putting that liquid into a manageable container. I save and reuse the spice bottles too, again, great for breaking down from bulk purchase to manageable and you can use them to make and store your own toilet/tub scrub. One gallon water jugs that have been used? Either refill them and put outside for use as grey water (flushing toilets, watering plants, etc.) or refill with some other liquid purpose (recently I made bug killer from concentrate and used a one gallon jug to store extra in). I saved the empty laundry detergent containers to refill and reuse with my own laundry detergent and make gallons of bug killer from concentrate. Cottage cheese containers, sour cream containers? Yeah, those things that we constantly throw away…perfect for storing non-food items in such as nails, screws, thread, crayons, you name it…if it fits, it stores. Big vinegar containers I reuse to make large amounts of cleaners using vinegar. And, I will admit to reusing those zip lock bags too, a simple scrub and air dry and you get more than one use out of them. I save and reuse anything that is a ‘container’. I have a couple of totes with clean empty containers in them ‘just in case’. You never know…Any one with more ideas? Please do share your reuse ideas for ISD’s…improvised storage devices.

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Starbucks, Guns and ‘Respectful’ Request Not to Bring In

Filed under: Commentary — 1 Comment
September 18, 2013

gunscoffee
I am going to start off by saying this: This is my OPINION and my OPINION only…take it for what it is…
Starbucks is now ‘respectfully’ requesting that gun owners do not carry their firearms into their stores after a letter from citizens in Newtown, Connecticut sent a letter to Starbucks requesting an outright ban…REALLY??? Not that I am party to the liberal mindedness of Starbucks and I do realize that private property (ie store owners) can outright ‘ban’ firearms on their property, (such as the AMC movie theaters do…make a connection there??? And lets think about the other ‘no gun zones’ too where bad things have happened). I would question the reasoning behind their motive of ‘respectfully’ requesting that no ‘guns’ come into their stores, after all, a lot of ‘meetups’ occur in Starbucks where gun owners openly carry their firearms into the store, sit down and drink their coffee…and NOT ONCE HAS ANYTHING BAD HAPPENED. Geeze…have you ever heard of the saying ‘when seconds count the police are only minutes away’?
Really Starbucks? Now you are openly telling those who would seek to harm others or rob you, that your stores are ‘gun free’ (respectfully of course). Ever wonder why 7-11’s and other convenience stores openly courted police officers to come and get coffee??
In the risk assessment arena that now places you up there on soft targets. I used to enjoy a cup of joe once in a while from Starbucks inspite of their liberal socialist views, but this is my fare thee well parting…I am not going to be a sitting duck. Politics are one thing, but safety is another and no cup of coffee is worth my life being put in jeopardy.

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Why I Like My Springfield Gun…

Filed under: Commentary — 2 Comments
September 9, 2013

20130909_32Ask me why I like Springfield firearms…yes, I know they are expensive compared to other firearms but in my opinion, you get what you pay for, even used.

But just this weekend I had an ‘interesting’ experience with a Springfield XD 9 sub-compact 3” barrel 9mm. I had purchased this used from someone local in my area, almost brand new (only 200 rounds put through it) with all original equipment. Looked good, lightweight, the only catch it seemed to me once I got it was that the magazines would not easily go in, had to ‘slam’ or should I say use a tad bit of force to get them to lock in place. No biggie, have had other handguns that did the same thing…I even got lucky and found that rare extra high capacity magazine up at the local sporting goods store (hehehehe..paid pre-Sandyhook price for it) so I am thinking I am good to go…one standard 13 round magazine and 2 high capacity…ammunition not a problem since I was smart enough to ‘stock’ up a few rounds and got lucky there too at the local store…a load of 9mm target rounds had come in…great…good to go…

So my boyfriend and I go out Sunday to put my new ‘toy’ through its paces and see what it does…a little kick, not too bad for a 3” barrel, easy to sight in with…shoots accurately at 20 yards so far (that’s all we did) and did really well with reloads too…put about 50 or so rounds through it…so now for the fun part…had to go get my kids up north, so I took my Springfield with me (yes, I carry concealed)…no biggie there either, however, when I got home late last night (Sunday) and I did my usual routine of taking the magazine out…well, something else came out with it…an EAR PLUG!!! Yep, and definitely not mine (I use orange ones this one was tan and well, lets say someone didn’t clean the wax out of their ears lately).

Seriously, out came an ear plug with the magazine when I took out it out…No wonder the magazine wouldn’t go in easily!!! Duh…but who woulda thought…no issues firing it, fed the rounds quickly and without a hitch…racked correctly… Even with an EAR PLUG in the magazine area it still worked like a charm, just like it was supposed to do…I am willing to bet that a Ruger or Glock would have jammed or misfired. Did learn one other thing…when you buy used, take it apart and clean it first! Maybe I would have found that ear plug jammed up in there, maybe not and at this point it doesn’t matter, but man, really? An ear plug in the magazine slot??? Oh well, this is a story I will tell forever I think…and btw, the magazine now goes in smooth as butter with a dead silent click.

I think I will trust this little firepower to keep me safe up close….wouldn’t you? In a SHTF situation you never know what will happen and now I absolutely trust my Springfield to work properly even when an ear plug is stuffed in it. A little dirt? nawww…not a problem!

Ask me why I like my Springfields…can your gun do that?

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Cleaning Seasoning Old Cast Iron Waffle Maker With Wooden Handles and Pans

Filed under: Cooking, DIY, Stretching Your Money — Leave a comment
September 4, 2013

Seasoning cast iron…you see lots of ways out there, but many of them are for ‘new’ cast iron and the old time or very rusty looking ones. Last year I won at auction for less than $20 including shipping a cast iron waffle maker with the original wooden handles. Really cool, very old, original Wagner…problem was it had been painted on the outside (guess someone thought it would look ‘pretty’ that way) and the inside was a rusted mess…now here’s the thing about ‘rust’ and cast iron…you do the best you can to remove it and then go ahead and season it…best practice for removing heavily rusted cast iron is to use a steel brush and elbow grease…now I know some people go overboard and use sandblasting, oven cleaner (um, excuse me but that stuff gets INTO the cast iron and you will be eating it) and other extreme measures that are not necessary. You don’t have to remove all the rust!!! Do the best you can and move on! If you feel that you need more than soap and steel wool or a steel brush you may safely use salt or baking soda…I used soap, baking soda and a steel brush (for the inside and fire ring). It took several go arounds to get it decently de-rusted and to remove most of the paint from the outside but I got it done…I used soap only along with the steel brush to clean two small ‘egg’ pans that I recently found on the cheap at a thrift shop. They a tad bit of rust but some crusty stuff in/around the bottom rim of the pans.
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After cleaning it is important that you HEAT them up before seasoning them…I just used the stove top on a low temperature setting…no oven (and YES I have a glass top range and YES its okay to use cast iron on these stoves, just be sure to PICK THEM UP to move them around, do NOT slide otherwise you will get scratches on the surface). It is important to dry them out by heating for two reasons, first, you want to make sure all the water is gone before coating with your choice of oil/fat so that they are less likely to rust again and secondly, by drying them out thoroughly using heat you open the ‘pores’ to readily absorb the oil deep into the cast iron which helps prevent future rust and less sticking to occur.

After drying these out well on the stove I allowed them to cool down enough to handle, they were still very warm, but not hot. And this is were I diverged on how I ‘seasoned’ them.

The small egg pans I used a very light coat of olive oil rubbed on with a paper towel and then popped into a pre-heated (350 degrees) oven. I kept these in the oven until all visible signs of the oil was gone. Took about 2 hours. Allow to slowly cool down before storing.

The waffle maker was another story. Since I couldn’t remove the handles I had to season on the stove top using a burner on a very low setting (I used the number 2 setting on the dial). You want to use a very low setting to keep the wooden handles from splitting. I was able to lightly rub on oil on the fire ring and on the outside of the waffle maker, but because of the groves on the inside, I got out the Pam spray and put a quick, light coat on the inside of the waffle maker..then onto the stove top they went…originally I put it together and just used one burner, but the fire ring was done well before the ‘maker’ part of it was so I broke the waffle maker down and put each side on its on burner (see pictures). It took about 6 hours for the waffle maker pieces to completely absorb the oil I had sprayed on, but it was well worth the extra time and effort! I now have a working cast iron waffle maker…and was able to save the original wooden handles! Again, allow to slowly cool down before storing.

Alternately you can also clean this way:
From VaCreepinoutdoors

Some simple rules for cast iron:
Do NOT use chemicals to clean them…the cast iron will absorb the chemicals and then you eat them when you use them.
Do NOT be afraid of using steel wool or a steel brush to clean them up the first time.
Be sure to reason your cast iron if you insist on using soap and water to ‘clean’ them after using them.
Every time you use soap and scrub you are removing the ‘seasoning’ and you will have to reseason the pot/pan.
Be sure to use A LOT of oil or fat when cooking using cast iron or if using a dutch oven type cast iron pot, low heat, long cook time to avoid burning food to the bottom and sides.
You don’t have to ‘clean’ after each use…a quick wipe out with a rag or simply wiping with a rag and water is all you need to do in between uses…this keeps the seasoning in tact and adds to it.
NO you won’t get sick if you don’t ‘clean’ them. Just WIPE clean with a cloth…if you use water be sure to reheat to prevent rust.
Remember, cast iron will pick up smells from where you keep them for long term storage. Avoid storing in an area with strong smells unless you don’t mind it.

Have fun and get cooking with cast iron! You can use them anywhere, fire pits, stove tops, ovens, woodstoves, grills, rocket stoves…you name it, versatile cast iron is great to use and as a bonus will add minerals and flavoring to anything you cook in them.

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Product Review A Tale of Two Pressure Cookers

Filed under: Commentary, Cooking, Product Reviews — 1 Comment
August 26, 2013

I am all about saving money and getting the most bang for my buck, however, I do live by the rule ‘pay now, pay later, but pay you will’… in other words, you can buy the cheapest or mid-grade item right now, because its ‘cheap’, but you wind up having to replace it later on down road because it wears out faster, quits working or doesn’t work properly because its ‘cheap’.
The flip side to that saying is that sometimes you can find great items, expensive ones on ebay, craigslist or yardsales and be cheap but get the ‘expensive’ product. And that is what I usually like to do, find what I what I want at the cheapest price available.

But sometimes, like with pressure cookers, you really don’t want to buy used (too much of a risk and many time pieces are missing and yes, you can buy the replacements, but that just adds to the cost doesn’t it?) so last year, when I went looking to purchase a pressure cooker I turned to Amazon to get one at ‘cheaper’ price. There were two available by Presto and here is my tale of two pressure cookers:

Of course I wanted to save money so I went with the cheaper 6 quart Aluminum pressure cooker (about $25 at the time) by Presto. And this is a direct quote:

• Cooks three to ten times faster than ordinary cooking methods, saving time, energy, and money.
• Pressure regulator maintains the proper cooking pressure automatically.
• Strong, heavy-gauge aluminum for quick, even heating.
• Includes cooking rack and complete 64-page instruction/recipe book.
• 9-3/4 by 16-2/3 by 8-1/2 inches; 12 year limited warranty.
4 and half stars from over 300 people…heck yeah I thought! The other one available was the Presto 6 quart Stainless Steel pressure cooker and at the time was almost twice the cost…nope, I thought, why spend the extra money for something ‘fancier’ and honestly what I thought was just a ‘shinier’ version designed to make Presto extra money?
And of course, I had done my research on pressure cookers and found mixed comments on using them on induction and glass cook tops (I have a glass one). So…I went cheap, ignoring my ‘pay now, pay later, but pay you will’ rule….

Fast forward over the past year…I used this aluminum pressure cooker weekly, not one problem…everything came out perfect, no problems, quick, easy meals…until one day last week…I put in my meat, proper water amount, etc. did everything I was supposed to do, got it wobbling properly and knew I had at least 20 minutes before it would be ready so I jumped in the shower (that one of the pleasures of using a pressure cooker by the way, get it going and move on to something else). When I got out of the shower I smelled the food, which is not usual, but this was really strong…something was a foot. Got dressed quickly and went to check on the cooker and the closer I got the more burn smell I got and then I noticed the whole POT was wobbling along…NOT A GOOD SIGN!!!
Alright, even though the timer said I had at least another 10 minutes to finish cooking I took it off the burner and did my quick cool down, the pot itself definitely no longer sat flatly on the stove, in fact it very rounded at the bottom. Got it open and the meat was burned beyond recognition, 1 inch think burned crap on the bottom of the cooker…lets just say, something went horribly wrong this go around. Warped and burned beyond saving it was…sigh…trash…complete failure on many levels…so much for trying to save money…

So, I bit the bullet and purchased the stainless steel version, a bit more money, but having used stainless steel pots and pans for YEARS I know this one will last forever….it even clearly states:

• Chicken, fish, meat, and vegetables cook to perfection fast; Helps tenderize economical cuts of meat
• Pressure regulator maintains the proper cooking pressure automatically; Complete 64-page instruction/recipe book included
• Ideal for use on regular, smooth-top and induction ranges; Dishwasher safe for easy cleaning
• Cover lock indicator shows when there is pressure inside the cooker and prevents the cover from being opened until pressure is safely reduced
• Helper handle for ease of handling; Extended 12-year limited warranty

You can check the stainless steel one out here:
<a href="Presto 01362 6-Quart Stainless Steel Pressure Cooker

Good news is that now that the old one has died I now have another base plate, weight regulator…threw away the seal as I suspect that the seal also failed since the pot warped on the base…at least I was able to salvage something from ‘trying to save money’…sometimes its just not worth it and in a SHTF situation, or another situation where you might not be able to replace something easily, just keep this little story in mind… cheaper is not necessarily ‘better’.

I have used my stainless steel pressure cooker and to be honest, wow! What difference I notice in the texture and taste of the food and the clean up was so easy (the aluminum was a bit of scrub to clean well)…all over the type of metal used…who woulda thunk it? So ladies and gents, do yourself a favor and spend the extra money if you are wanting to get into pressure cooking…it’s a great way to save time, money (energy bills) and get the slow cook taste in no time…get stainless!!

And be sure to browse the books for pressure cooking for great recipes and a few other favorite things I have found:

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