Zastava ZPAP92 AK Pistol

Shortly before the election I ordered a Zastava ZPAP92 Kalashnikov pistol from a Gunbroker seller and had it shipped to a local FFL to handle the transfer. I decided to pull the trigger on it (sorry) because if Harris had won, she'd be more able to mess with acquiring such a gun down the road since POTUS has more leeway to affect imports than domestically produced firearms.

As we now know, the American people resoundingly rejected her flavor of Marxism, so I now consider it a celebratory purchase.

The gun is essentially a "pistol" version of a "Krink," chambered for 7.62x39 with a 10" barrel.

This ZPAP is fitted with "Serbian red" wood furniture and an SB Tactical TF1913 brace attached to a Picatinny rail attached to the rear trunnion.

It came with a single 30 round polymer magazine with metal reinforced locking lugs. Like other mags from the former Yugoslavia it has a bolt hold-open follower, which I'm not really a fan of. Most of my shooting with the gun so far was with Hungarian 20 round "tanker" mags.

A nice feature is that the safety selector has a notch in it for use as a bolt hold-open. It's a little awkward to use but simple and works.

The receiver cover is hinged at the front, with a two-leaf open rear sight graduated for 200M and 400M mounted to it. There's a short section of Picatinny rail mounted between the rear sight and the hinge.

The front sight base has left hand 26mm thread, instead of the more common 24.5mm threads. It's fitted with a Krink-style booster.

Because the short barrel has a lot of blast I also picked up a Midwest Industries Blast Can, which is designed to redirect blast and flash downrange.

Yesterday I put 80 rounds of Vympel 7.62x39 through the gun for a basic function check. As expected it ran perfectly, but shot about 8" low at 15 yards. I used the front sight adjustment tool from an AK cleaning kit to raise the point of impact, but I will do a final zero at 50 yards.

I also tried both the Krink booster and the Blast Can to see if there was any difference from the shooter's perspective. I didn't notice much of a difference. I'll try them side by side again but for now I have the booster on the gun.

The Vympel ammo has corrosive primers so I wanted to do a basic cleaning before packing up. So, I hosed everything down with DRNCH (pronounced "dirnch"), which is imported by Zastava USA from Serbia. It's a CLP type aerosol cleaner with a mild smell. I don't know if it's specifically rated to clean corrosive primer residue, but if that residue is saturated with oil it won't be able to absorb atmospheric moisture to cause rust. I'll do a thorough cleaning today.

So why a Krink? Because:

The bag is a Sarma assault pack, which is a knock-off of a Maxpedition bag.

Going forward I need to zero it at 50 yards and put some kind of a dot sight on it, and run a pile of ammo through it.

Prvi Partisan Stars and Stripes 12 Gauge 2.75" 9-Pellet 00 Buckshot

Yesterday I patterned some Prvi Partisan Stars and Strips 12 gauge 2.75" 9-pellet 00 buckshot. It's made for Prvi in Italy by Cheddite. I shot them through my Mossberg 500 Mariner pump action shotgun, which has an 18" cylinder bore barrel with a bead sight. It also wears a Magpul SGA buttstock setup for my short length of pull.

With the factory bead the gun shot a little high, so last week I added a Hi Viz clamp on fiber optic front sight that clamps onto the barrel. It has a notch at the front that mates with the factory bead and keeps it from rotating. It just clamps onto the barrel but is tight enough that I have no concern it will come loose.

Aside from better visibility, the Hi Viz bead lowered the point of impact so that it coincides with my point of aim out to at least 20 yards.

Anyway, here are the patterns with the Prvi buckshot.

5 yards:

10 yards:

Two rounds at 20 yards:

The shells I normally keep loaded in the Mossberg for home defense are Federal reduced recoil 2.75" 00 buckshot in Flitecontrol wads. At about 12 yards that ammo patterns about what the Prvi did at 5 yards, and at 25 yards will keep all 9 pellets on a paper dinner plate.

While the Federal Flitecontrol patterns much tighter than the Prvi, it's a lot more expensive which may be important for people on lower incomes. Regardless of cost, the Prvi patterns well enough for inside the home engagements. A 10 yard (30 feet) shot would be a long shot inside most homes.

Indeed, at typical inside the home range, the wider patterning Prvi buckshot may cause more severe wounds to an assailant than Flitecontrol, due to the more dispersed wound channels.

The 5 and 10 yard patterns also demonstrate the necessity for aiming a shotgun, in contrast to the myth of pointing it in the general direction of a threat.

How to Report Election Fraud

If we work together, we can make this election too big to rig!

Virtually all of us have the tools to report election interference, voter intimidation, and illegal voting in near real-time: smartphones with Internet access and the X (Twitter) service. If we use them, it will be much more difficult for the Democrats to steal this election.

Unlike 2020, we have a major platform on which to report election shenanigans, thanks to

@elonmusk

. We saw the effectiveness of this earlier this week when polls in Bucks County, PA were shut down early during early voting. Because it got reported on X, a lawsuit was filed and the court issued an order to extend early voting through Friday, November 1st. That got us a couple more days of early voting!

We also have a better ground game due to people like

@ScottPresler

in Pennsylvania. Scott worked his ass off getting voters registered and mainly due to him, Bucks and Luzerne Counties flipped from blue to red. He's also taken to task misbehaving county boards of electors.

Additionally, the RNC is now chaired by

@LaraLeaTrump

, not Rona (Romney) McDaniel.

First, join the X Election Integrity Community:

https://x.com/i/communities/1848518910653415584

If you see any irregularities at your polling place do your best to gather evidence:

• Take pictures and or video.
• If there's a vehicle involved, e.g., dropping off boxes of ballots, get a picture of the license plate.
• Report your findings to the X Election Integrity Community.
• Tag
  @ScottPresler
  (if you're in PA),
  @GOP
  ,
  @RobertKennedyJr
  ,
  @realDonaldTrump
  ,
  @TuckerCarlson
  ,
  @LaraLeaTrump
  and any other large pro-Trump account on X.
• Report what you've see to your state's Department of State or elections commission. Here are links for the swing states:
• PA:
  https://www.pa.gov/en/agencies/vote.html
• NC:
  https://www.ncsbe.gov/about-elections/election-security/investigations-division
• MI:
  https://www.michigan.gov/sos/report-fraud
• WI:
  https://elections.wi.gov/elections/election-security-integrity/election-complaints-concerns
• NV:
  https://www.nvsos.gov/sos/elections/election-information/report-potential-election-law-violation
• GA:
  https://law.georgia.gov/resources/election-fraud-complaint-hotline

Please repost this for a wider audience.

Let's go!

#election

#electionfraud

#CitizenJournalists

50% off Anker SOLIX C1000 Portable Power Station

  If you are in need of a portable power station with a built-in inverter, this Anker unit is 50% off today at Amazon.

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New Sheath for the Cattaraugus 225Q Quartermaster Knife

The replica sheath that I ordered from eBay seller "banddinsidethegoldmine" arrived today. It's a pretty close replica of the original sheaths. Here's a pic with the knife in the replica sheath next to the original that it came with. After I took the pic I applied some neatsfoot oil, which darkened it a bit, as expected.

The seller also has right handed sheaths, but since I'm left handed I stuck with the historically correct lefty sheath.

Cattaraugus 225Q "Quartermaster" Knife

Last week I started reading up on the Cattaruagus 225Q "Quartermaster" knives that were produced for the US military during World War 2. My interest was piqued so I went online looking for one as a user.

Up until fairly recently they were available for $50 or less but as with everything else, prices have gone up. I found this one on eBay and was able to get it for $90 + tax and shipping. It arrived today.

For a knife made about 80 years ago it's in extremely nice shape. The carbon blade is free from serious corrosion or pitting and shows signs of only light use. It came with a nice, sharp edge, too.

The stacked leather washer handle is also in very nice condition. It bears the typical random grooves found on my 225Qs, intended to enhance one's grip. The pommel is tight and doesn't show any signs of being used as a hammer. Overall the hilt is tight. I've applied a few light coats of Fiebing's 100% neatsfoot oil and the washers have soaked it up. I'll add some more and then give it a coat of Sno-Seal, which is mostly beeswax.

On the other hand, the sheath is showing its age and for that reason I have a replica on the way for actual use. I've given it a couple light coats of neatsfoot oil and like the knife's handle, it's drinking up the oil.

The 225Q has a 6" blade with a swedge on the back of the tip, but it's not sharpened. The blade is 3/16" thick at the spine and a hair under 1.3" wide. The small guard shouldn't get in the way of use in woodcraft or dressing game.

The blade shape is very similar to my Varusteleka Terävä Jääkäripuukko 140, which I've used to process a few deer. I'd expect the Cattaruagus to perform similarly to the Finnish knife.

For size references, here's the Cattaraugus flanked by a Mora Kansbol and a Case Stockman.

As a contemporary of the USN Mk.2 fighting knife, AKA the "Kabar," it invites a comparison. The 225Q's blade is an inch shorter but a little thicker. I like the feel much better than the more famous Kabar. Likewise, the blade geometry on the 225Q makes it a better field knife than the later USAF Aircrew Survival Knife, AKA the "bolt knife". (Having used a USAF knife in the field, I am not a fan of it.)

I'm looking forward to taking this knife into the woods and using as it was intended to be.

First Range Trip with the Rector Rifle

I took the Rector rifle to the range today.

My load was a .389 ball in a 0.018" pillow ticking patch lubed with Hoppe's No.9 BP Lube and Bore Cleaner, on top of 50 grains of Goex 3Fg. This seated easily with only thumb pressure in the muzzle. It shot several inches high at 50 yards from the bench but unfortunately did not group well. I think it's too loose a patch/ball combination.

So I decided to try a thicker patch on my 12th shot. I had some 0.020" patch material with me. I loaded it up and it was noticeably more snug. However, on this shot, the cleanout screw blew out.

The screw didn't go far, landing on the shooting bench. This obviously put an end to shooting the rifle for the day so I cleaned it up and put it away.

After getting home and inspecting the screw closely it looks like the threads stripped out. I think what happened is that was undersized and let go with the higher pressure with the tighter patch.

It looks like I can retap the hole for the cleanout screw hole to accept a 10-32 screw to get the gun back into shooting condition.

Aside from being a bit undersized, the .389 balls didn't look so great. I've had excellent results from Rush Creek balls previously but these didn't look good. I got a Lee .390 mold in and will cast up a bunch to try.

If I can't get the rifle grouping well I'll probably send the barrel to Bobby Hoyt and have it rebored to .45.

Anyway, aside from the Rector rifle I also brought my Numrich Arms H&A Heritage Model underhammer .45. I've always shot .440 balls from it since that what my dad used when he taught me to shoot with it. I decided to try .433 balls for easier loading because I want to shoot it from woods walks without using a mallet to start the balls. With the .433 balls in ticking over 50 grains of Goex 3Fg, all the holes were touching from the 50 yard bench. After I got home I ordered a Lee .433 mold.

After shooting that group I adjusted the sights so POA = POI at 50 yards.

A Percussion Target Rifle by J.H. Rector

I picked up this original 19th Century target rifle via trade yesterday at Dixon's. The asking price was $850.

From what I've been able to determine, J.H. Rector was active in Syracuse 1845 - 1855, and later moved to Buffalo, NY with a partner. My SWAG is that it was built sometime around 1850.

The .40 caliber barrel is 29.5" long and 1" across the flats. It's held to the stock with a single key. It's rifled with 6 grooves although I haven't checked the twist rate yet. The best thing, is that it's in excellent condition. It had some surface rust in the bore which cleaned up nicely with Hoppe's No.9 and elbow grease. There's no significant pitting.It has a hooked breech, but it's not a patent breech. This is an ideal setup IMO. I borescoped it today and this is the breech face. You can see where the flash channel enters the barrel:

The barrel is marked "J.H. Rector Syracuse" with the serial number. It's also marked "Cut by E.G. Davies".

The nipple is .265" x 28 and in good shape but has a larger hole than I'd like. As it turns out Track carries this size as "oversize" nipples, so I ordered a couple.

A closeup of the lock, which is marked "A.T Russel" (only one L):

A sharp eye will see that the hammer nose is damaged, likely from corrosion. I measured its diameter and I may be able to use the neck of a .44-40 case soldered on as repair.

Very clean inside. It's fitted with a fly, although that's not strictly necessary since it doesn't have set triggers.

It holds solid at full and half cock.

The tang is drilled and tapped for a lollipop-style peep sight, which is missing. Once I figure out the thread size I'll look into making a replacement.

All the furniture is iron (tested with a magnet) except for the brass inlays on both sides of the butt.

That small crack at the heel, along with a small chip behind the tang, along with a few dents are the only stock damage.

The business end:

The ramrod appears to be original or a period replacement. The muzzle end is plain but the bottom is fitted with a reversible tow worm.

The gun weighs 9.1 lbs. on my bathroom scale and 46.5" long overall.

For the past few months I've been casually looking for a shootable 19th Century percussion rifle on Gunbroker and Guns International. So, when I saw this on the rack at Dixon's I found it hard to resist.

It's in fantastic shape for a gun that's potentially 175 - 180 years old. I plan to shoot it. Along with the gun I got a bag of .389" balls and have a Lee .390 mold on the way from Track of the Wolf.

Incidentally, if you search for 19th Century percussion rifles you'll find a lot of them that resemble this one. By the last few decades of the century much of the country was settled so this style was developed for target shooting, not taking large game or fighting. Many gunsmiths along the Eastern seaboard were turning out very high quality guns of this type. You can see some of them in Ned Roberts' The Muzzleloading Caplock Rifle, which is pretty much the Bible for percussion rifles.