Win 1000 rounds of .380 ACP Ammo from Lucky Gunner and the Firearm Blog!

Listen up folks, one of my favorite firearms blogs, The Firearm Blog and Lucky Gunner have gotten together to host a sweet little contest. They are giving the winner 1,000 rounds of .380 ACP ammo! Now that's quite nice. You can check it out here and enjoy all the great firearm articles, videos and pics that the Firearm Blog brings us each week. The Firearm Blog is my favorite source for some of the latest firearms related info out there. So, check them out and don't forget to stop by the Lucky Gunner for your ammo needs as well.

Arsenal SGL 20 AKM with Blond Wood Furniture

This Independence Day weekend James and I tried out the Arsenal SGL 20 Russian Izhmash AKM. This is one nice rifle. Nice finish, build and accurate out of the box. I put some Ironwood blond furniture on it. It came with some nice plum furniture, but I really dig the blond look. No failures of any kind with this rifle. I got a great deal on this rifle a while back when K-VAR had their big "stimulus" sale. If I had the funds, I'd buy another.

Here's how it started out:







And here it is now:







Here's the video of James and I with the Arsenal SGL 20.

Blonde Wood AK Furniture

I have some Bulgy AK 74 wood furniture that I stripped the lacquer from and refinished in order to give it the blonde look.

This is what is started out as:



This is the look I wanted:







I used Formby's Paint & Poly Remover, some brushes, sandpaper, a plastic scrapper, Oxyclean and Minwax "Natural" stain to do this project.


I first applied Formby's Paint & Poly Remover (a gelatinous substance) with a brush to the wood and let it set in for about 30+ minutes. I then used a plastic scrapper to remove the old stain that bubbled up to the surface (kind of weird/cool).




Once it dried, I sanded off the excess gunk (stain) with some light grit sandpaper. I cleaned off the wood and then I used a strong mix of OxyClean and water (in a small tub) to bleach the wood after stripping it.




Here is how the Oxyclean bleached it.







I let the wood dry for about a week and then I sanded it and applied the first coat of Minwax "Natural" stain. Well, it did not turn out to be blond, but it looks nice. I should have just used Shellac or maybe a Golden Pecan stain.











I got a ton of help from the nice guys at Gunco.net and ak47.net. Let me know if you need any help attempting this. I plan on doing more refinishing in the future and I'll be glad to share any tips with you. I'd love to hear your tips as well.

My SAR 3 (AK in 5.56) Rifle

Well, after much debate, I broke down and bought a SAR 3 rifle. I used to own a WASR 3, and had to take it back to the store where I bought it. That rifle was a jam-o-matic joke. The quality and finish were poor and it no matter which mags (Weiger East German or the Romanian versions) the rifle experience FTF's and FTE's. I was really disappointed, as the concept of an AK 74 style rifle in 5.56 really appealed to me.

Here's what an out of the box WASR 3 looks like (rough wood and finish, non threaded barrel).



I did quite a lot of reseatch before I bought my SAR 3, and found a good deal on Gun Broker. The rifle came with black, polymer furniture. It was pretty nice, but as I already have a nice set on my SLR-160fr, I wanted to use some Bulgarian AK 74 wood furniture. I attempted to bleach the wood in order to give it a blond look, but that didn't work out. I do like the way it turned out though.



I had to mod a Bugarian 5.56 "Circle 10" mag to fit the rifle. The rifle came with a bakelite AK style mag that's labled 5.56. I haven't taken the rifle to the range yet, but I will do that this coming Independence Day weekend and post the video. I think I'm going to take out my recently deceased Hoover vacuum cleaner!

Glock 23 Pistol (James and I at the range) 40 Cal.

I know that it's been a while since I've last posted anything, but I was able to go to the range with my friend James the other weekend. It was his first time with a Glock 23, or .40 cal pistol for that matter. I was there to let off some steam after a brutal work week in corporate America. I thought that James would like it, so I asked him to come along. We both had a lot of fun.

P.O.F. p415 (HK 416 clone) with Barska red dot

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I took out my P.O.F. p415 (HK 416 clone) with Barska Electro Sight red dot optic. The red dot sight works pretty well, and is sighted in at about 25 yards. I used PMC 55 grain ammo and got pretty good results. I really like my P.O.F. p415. It's accurate, easily modified, a bit on the heavy side, but really a great rifle. It has an "18 heavy barrel and a great HK style front sight. I use a Stag Arms lower with the POF upper and I've had good luck with just about all the mags I've used. I bought some Tapco mags for $10 a piece and they work great so far. I really like the Korean HK 416 knock-off magazines as well. The POF p415 upper is a bit pricey, but if you want quality and accuracy, POF is the way to go. If I had the money, I'd like to get one of their 7.62x51 (.308) models.

Lone Wolf 40-9 (9mm) Conversion Barrel for Glock 23 (.40 cal)

I bought a Lone Wolf 40-9mm conversion barrel for my Glock 23, along with some KCI after market Glock 19 mags. I bought four magazines that came with mag pouches. All four of them worked without a hitch. Not bad for $40 total. I wasn't sure how the 40-9 conversion barrel would perform, but it was FANTASTIC! I just dropped it in and used the Glock 19 mags. I didn't have to change out the ejector or anything else. The barrel was really accurate, and was basically point and shoot. It only cost $99 and I can now shoot lead (sans jacket) bullets without worrying about a KB.

I had a lot of fun shooting with my LW 40-9 barrel and went through about 300 rounds in two different sessions. The shots were fired mostly from about 20 feet, but some were at the 5-7 range. My wife LOVED it! I recommend this barrel to those who want to save money while practicing, but want to have a .40 cal pistol at the same time.