Rimfire Range Day Number 4

Amanda and I hit the range again yesterday. She shot her Savage Rascal and my 10/22, while this time I brought my Remington Apache Nylon 77. Here's an older pic of it with my Remington 550-1.

Amanda mostly shot Aguila Super Extra SV loads from the same brick we'd tapped into earlier. This time, however, she had several rounds that failed to go off the first time they were hit by the firing pin. This happened in both rifles she shot. All went off when loaded back into the gun but rotated so that a different part of the rim was hit. After blowing through a couple hundred of the Aguilas she shot some Federal Automatch, which didn't give her any problems.

In the Nylon 77 I mostly shot Remington Golden Bullets from a 550 count box that I bought several years ago. It functioned perfectly with them and accuracy was good. I also tried some Federal Automatch, which did not shoot as accurately as the GBs, and with which I had a couple stovepipes.

I have to admit that after shooting at least 500 Golden Bullets in a few different rifles this week, I am reassessing my opinion of it. I do know that my Ruger 22/45 Lite and Norinco ATD do not like it, and my Beretta Jaguar isn't as reliable with it as with CCI Mini Mags, but it does work well in a few other .22s I own. I'll keep buying it when I run across it at a reasonable price, since it's one type of .22 LR ammo that seems to be more available than CCIs, and generally cheaper.

On the other hand, I'm underwhelmed with Federal Automatch. It's one of the .22 LR loads that I've noticed becoming more available, but I get more malfunctions with it in several of my guns than other loads, and accuracy is nothing to get excited about. Also, the waxy lube gets gummy if it's over 90 degrees or the gun is hot. My daughter's Savage Rascal will start getting stuck cases if she shoots a lot of Automatch when it's hot. The remedy is a quick chamber cleaning using a Q-Tip with some gun oil on it, or running a Boresnake through the barrel.

.22s in general tend to be finicky as to what loads they shoot accurately, and semi autos often function better with some loads than others. The only way to find out what shoots and functions well in any given .22 firearm is to try a variety of loads in it.

Another Rimfire Range Day

I made it to the range again today, this time with my 11 year old in tow. This was her first chance to try shooting my Ruger 10/22 fitted with Tech Sights and a Choate M4-style stock.

She did well with the Ruger. With the stock fully collapsed, it is short enough for her to shoulder and get a proper sight picture.

We shot the Ruger with Aguila Super Extra standard velocity .22 LR. It runs well in the Ruger but the powder does have a funny smell, similar to that of a lot of Russian ammo that I've fired. We had a few failures to feed but I tracked them down to an old 10 round magazine we were using. It also caused FTFs with CCI Mini Mags. That particular mag dates to the late 1970s and belonged to my father. Considering how much my brother and I shot his old 10/22 when we were kids, G-d only knows how many rounds have been through it. I'll try taking it apart and cleaning it to see if that'll make a difference.

I also brought my Remington 550-1 again, and this time grabbed a half-full brick of Winchester Xpert .22 LRs to try in it. I bought the Xperts the year before my daughter was born. The reason it lasted so long is because it was the worst, gummiest, dirtiest .22 LR I'd ever tried. The last time I tried it in the 10/22 the rifle choked on it. I'd shot it in my Old Model Ruger Single Six and a S&W Model 18 (both revolvers) and it gummed them up.

However, the waxy lube seemed to have dried out a little over the years. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Remington 550 fed them with only a few hiccups. I did get a few stovepipe failures to eject, but for the most part it functioned OK with the XPerts, and shot them fairly well. I wanted to burn up the rest of XPerts so when I noticed the FTEs starting to increase I added some additional FP10 to the bolt and inside the action, and the rifle kept going.

That Remington 550-1 has become my favorite .22 semiauto rifle. It's accurate, reliable, and handles even .22 CB Shorts as a semiauto.

The Williams Floating Chamber

Yesterday, I mentioned shooting some .22 CB Shorts in my Remington 550-1. The rifle is designed to feed .22 Shorts, Longs, and Long Rifles interchangeably. The mass of the bolt and the strength of the mainspring are balanced for .22 LR, so in order to feed .22 Shorts as a semi auto, they need a boost.

This is accomplished by the inclusion of a Williams floating chamber in the breech end of the barrel. When installed and shooting .22 Longs or LRs, the seam between the end of the floating chamber and the rest of the barrel is sealed by the cartridge case. However, it's uncovered when shooting Shorts, so some of the gas from the cartridge goes into the gap and floats the chamber, allowing it to recoil a short distance, giving additional impetus to the bolt. If you go over to Numrich Arms' website and look at their exploded diagram of a Remington 550-1, the floating chamber is part #50.

I thought it would be a good idea to give my Remington a thorough cleaning, since I'd never removed the floating chamber, and since I bought it about 2.5 years ago it's seen close to 1,000 rounds through it, including 60 or so CB Shorts yesterday. It was filthy inside. After I got the floating chamber out and cleaned up I took some pics, here are a couple that came out halfway decent.

There was a fair amount of lead buildup on the shoulder of the piece, which I was able to scrape off with a small screwdriver.

Before being used in the Remington 550, the Williams floating chamber was used in the Colt Ace and .22 conversion kits, which were designed to mimic the recoil of a M1911 in .45 ACP.

It's a really clever solution to a couple interesting engineering task: make a semi auto that can feed .22 S, L. or LR interchangeably, and make a .22 pistol recoil more like a .45.

Another Rimfire Day at the Range

I was able to put some more .22 LR downrange today, from both my Ruger 10/22 and my Remington 550-1. Most of my shooting was done from the bench at some NRA 50 yard small bore targets that I printed up this morning. The 50 yard target has a 4" diameter bullseye. At 50 yards, the bullseye appears to be the same diameter as bead front sight on the Remington. IOW, it looks like a black dot at that range. The rear sight on the rifle is an open rear notch.

The top left target was shot with Federal Automatch 40 grain solids, the top right with Winchester Super-X 37 grain HPs, and the lower left with CCI Mini Mag 36 grain solids. (The holes in between the top two bulls were leftover from someone else.) I figure that with a scope I should be able to get the rifle grouping in about an inch or less at 50 yards with the right ammo. It definitely likes the Mini Mags.

I also put 20 rounds into an AQT-type target at 25 yards, offhand. This target is a 100 yard target scaled for shooting at 25 yards. The lower edge of the black is about 6.5" wide.

The front sight needs to be drifted a little left to move the POI to the right, but I'm pleased with the group. The Remington has a nice balance for offhand shooting.

I wrapped up the afternoon by doing some plinking at some 50 yard gongs. The largest of these are about 8" in diameter and I was able to hit them most of the time.

The Remington has a Williams floating chamber designed to allow it to function with .22 Short, Long, or Long Rifle, so I tried some CCI .22 Short CBs in the Remington and was happy to see that the rifle functioned most of the time with them.  I did get a number of stovepipes with the CBs, though. I suspect it would function better with regular .22 Shorts, either standard or high velocity loads. The tubular magazine will hold 20 .22 Shorts, which is fun for plinking. Shooting the CBs, the Remington sounds like an air rifle and no hearing protection is needed. The CBs dropped about a foot more at 50 yards than the HV .22 LR loads I shot earlier.

Today I Met a Real GI Joe

This afternoon I was at my club to send some .22 LR downrange. While I was there an older gentleman was also on the line and I saw that he needed to be reminded of our current cease fire procedures. After he packed up his stuff I walked up to him and introduced myself, and politely went over some range rules with him.

We got to talking and I saw that he was wearing a 75th Infantry Division cap, so I asked Joe where he was sent during World War 2. He told me Europe and that he went through the Battle of the Bulge.

Joe told me that during the Bulge, his company of 182 men got down to 16 men, before they got replacements. He said that a lot of the casualties were from trench foot.

One of the things Joe recounted to me how if you qualified as Expert with one of the small arms issued to the Army, you would get a three-day pass. He was issued an M1 Garand, but he qualified Expert with an M1 Carbine.

Joe's still pretty spry at 92 years old, but it's hard to imagine this old man who is maybe five feet tall slogging his way across Europe carrying an M1 Garand and fighting the Wehrmacht. God bless him and all those who served.

Here's some info about the US Army's 75th Infantry Division. 

Rimfire Range Day

I had a very therapeutic day at the range shooting two of my .22 rifles: a Ruger 10/22 and a Norinco ATD.

The Ruger is one that I bought in the early '00s, largely out of nostalgia. My father had a 10/22 that my brother and I shot quite a bit when we were kids in the late '70s/early '80s. I bought mine with the intention of leaving it mostly stock, sans a Power Custom hammer to improve the awful factory trigger. However, over the years it's picked up several mods:

• The Power Custom Hammer,
• A Volquartsen oversized left handed safety,
• "Slingshot" mod for the bolt release,
• An extended mag catch,
• A Butler Creek folding stock, which has now been replaced by
• A Choate Machine and Tool M4-style telescoping stock, and
• Tech Sights.

So much for leaving the rifle mostly stock.

I installed the Choate stock and Tech Sights last week so that my almost-11 year old daughter could shoot it. She's been wanting to move up from her Savage Rascal single shot, but most .22 rifles have a  stock that's too long for her. She should be able to shoot the Ruger from a rest with the stock in the fully collapsed position.

I really like the Choate M4-type stock. Stylistically, it looks like a cross between an M1 Carbine stock and an M4 stock. It feels solid and the shape of the buttstock gives a good cheek weld. The stock has two storage tubes for batteries or whatever. The texture of the stock gives a good grip. It installed easily, although I did need to relieve an area inside the stock to accommodate the oversized lefty safety.

I installed Tech Sights because my daughter didn't want to use a scope or red dot. She likes peep sights. Shooting with iron sights is a valuable skill so far be it from me to discourage her. I got the TSR200 which is fully adjustable.

I bought the stock and Tech Sights from E. Arthur Brown Co. They were great to deal with and I'll probably order more gun stuff from them in the future.

One mod I did to the Tech Sights was to replace the front post with a Hi Viz fiber optic unit. At 47, it's not as easy to see iron sights as it used to be, especially in low lighting. The Hi Viz fiber optic from post is an improvement over a plain black post.

I got the Tech Sights zeroed at 25 yards with Remington Golden Bullets. I figured that if the rifle shoots the cheap Golden Bullets well, my daughter can use them for plinking. I also tried Federal Automatch and Aguila Super Extra subsonics in the Ruger. They also shot well.

Along with zeroing the Ruger I was able to run plenty of rounds through my three Ruger BX-25 magazines to wring them out. The BX-25s are the mags to get if you want high capacity magazines for the 10/22. Last year I found this Rothco pouch at Amazon, which hold three BX-25 magazines and has a small pocket to hold accessories like a sight adjustment tool or basic cleaning kit. It has a belt loop on the back.

The Rothco 2-pocket ammo pouch is inexpensive but fairly well made from canvas. It's a good choice for long .22 magazines.

After I got the Ruger's sights zeroed I switch to my Norinco ATD, which is a copy of the Browning SA-22 that's been in production since 1914 or so. (I previously posted about the ATD here and here.) I wanted to try the Federal Automatch and Aguila Super Extra in the Norinco. It shoots very well with both rounds, although I had a couple failures to eject with the Automatch. Accuracy with both loads was good. Each target is 20 shots.

The sights on the Norinco consist of a bead front with a buckhorn rear. Frankly, they suck. I am very pleased with this accuracy.

Since I'm on vacation this week I'm hoping to get to the range at least one more time.

Lathe Cross Slide Digital Readout

Over on Dave Markowitz's Machine Shop, I posted a short piece on how I added a digital readout (DRO) to my mini lathe.

This should make it a lot easier to turn stock down the desired diameter.

Link.

Testing the Arrow 146-BP3 2M Yagi Antenna

Pics and details here.

PA to MO on 5 Watts

Yesterday I spent some time out back with my Yaesu FT-817ND and laptop, playing with digital modes. I got a new Easy Digi interface from KF5INZ for connecting the FT-817ND to laptops and wanted to get it setup before taking it to Tioga County next weekend. I wound up having a nice rag chew with another ham who is located in Missouri, using the Olivia 16/500 mode.

I did a write up over on Survival Preps, here:

Backyard Digital Radio Practice

I also did a separate post on configuring a Mac to use the Easy Digi, FT-817ND, and Fldigi:

Configuring Fldigi on a Mac for use with an Easy Digi Radio Interface

CZ P-09 Initial Review

Several years ago I had a CZ-85 Combat in 9mm, but it had some issues related to the slide stop and also its grip was too large for my hand. I wound up trading it off. However, I retained a desire to own a CZ handgun, and two nights ago I came home with one of CZ's newer polymer-framed models, a P-09 Duty. Price was $566 OTD.

CZ introduced the compact P-07 a few years ago, and the P-09 a couple years later. Both combine a CZ-75 type mechanism with a more modern polymer frame. This allowed CZ to cram large magazine capacities into slim grips. In 9mm, the P-07 has a 16 round mag, while the P-09 holds 19 in its flush fit magazine.

The P-09 came in a plastic case with a test target, manual, warranty info, cleaning brush, cleaning rod with patch loop, two magazines, a gun lock, replacement back straps, and safety.

As configured from the factory, the P-09 is a DA/SA design with a decocker. However, by replacing the decocker with the safety, the gun can be carried cocked and locked, like a 1911 or Browning High Power. If configured with the safety, you can also carry the gun hammer down on a loaded chamber, but you have to manually lower the hammer to do so. Both sets of controls are rather flat. I don't think this is a problem with the decocker but if I was using the safety, I'd want it to stick out a little more for a better purchase. I'll stick with the decocker.

The interchangeable backstraps allow you to modify the size of the grip to better fit your hand. Mine came with the Small backstrap installed, which I will leave in place.

Like many modern designs, the P-09 sports an M-1913 Picatinny rail under the frame in front of the trigger guard. I'm planning to mount a light there.

The P-09 is pretty thin at a ~1.5" thick, but the height (~5.8") and length (~8.1") make it a full size pistol. It weighs 27.35 oz. unloaded without a magazine.

The sights are typical modern service pistol sights: fixed, well-defined, and have a three-dot pattern. The dots are actually photo-luminescent paint and will glow in the dark if charged by exposing them to light. To me this is a gimmicky substitute for tritium night sights or even fiber optics. I may swap out the front sight for a FO unit.

The DA trigger has a long, creepy takeup but feels less than 10 pounds (I don't have a trigger scale). The SA pull also has some creep and is probably around 5 pounds. Not great but not horrible for a new gun. It will smooth up with use, and I won't think of replacing any parts or doing a trigger job until the gun has a minimum of 500 rounds through it.

For a person like myself with small hands, the P-09 has a very ergonomic grip. The trigger reach is short enough that I can get the pad of my index finger fully on the trigger without stretching. Also, the decocker (or safety if it's installed) are both ambidextrous, and the magazine catch can be reversed for lefties. Even though I'm a southpaw, I'm leaving the mag catch as-is. Long ago I learned to use the middle finger of my left hand for mag catches.

The back of the grip has a nice beavertail that spreads recoil out across the web of your hand.

Before I shoot a new gun for the first time I always field strip it. This is to ensure that everything inside is in good shape, that it's properly lubricated, and it's a good way to familiarize yourself with a new gun. After getting the P-09 home last night I took it out to my shop and following the instruction manual, took it down. Takedown is simple, similar to that of a Browning High Power. The slide stop is still a bit stiff coming out so I needed to use a dowel to get it started. The other things of note were that the gun was bone-dry, and that the recoil spring is captured on its guide rod, so removing and reinstalling it was a snap. After oiling the gun with FP-10 and running a patch through the bore, it went back together easily.

Yesterday I took the P-09 to Langhorne Rod and Gun Club and put 125 rounds of Herter's 9mm 115 FMJ through it. The Herter's ammo was made in the Czech Republic by Sellier & Bellot for Cabela's, so it was only fitting to use it in the CZ.

The magazine springs are very stiff, so I was glad that I had my Butler Creek MagLULA with me. (Seriously, don't leave home without one if you're shooting an autoloader with a double stack magazine.) Getting the 19th round in was very hard, so I called it good at 18. After the mags see some more use I suspect they'll get a bit easier to load.

Accuracy was good. At 10 yards I was able to keep most of my shots inside of a ~3.5" hole, except for called flyers caused by me. There were no malfunctions.

The first 36 shots:

89 more shots:

CZ autoloaders have relatively low bore lines, so muzzle flip wasn't bad at all. And, even though the gun is fairly light, recoil was mild.

Today provided a good test of the P-09's grip stippling. It was hot and humid, so my hands were sweaty. Despite this, I had no problems hanging onto the gun.

With only 125 rounds through the gun so far, it's not even broken in or proven. However, my initial impression is VERY favorable. The reviews I've found online by actual owners have all been favorable, so I'm expecting that I'll remain pleased with it. The CZ P-09 looks like a good choice for range duty and home defense. If I was buying a similar pistol with concealed carry in mind, I'd look to the smaller CZ P-07. That said, one should be able to CCW a P-09 with a good holster, gun belt, and cover garment.

Redneck Lathe DRO

Having digital read outs (DROs) on my mill has spoiled me, so I've been wanting to add them to my lathe. One idea I've seen has been to adapt inexpensive digital tire depth gauges bought on eBay for under $10. I tried this out tonight. Here's my proof of concept redneck lathe DRO:

I setup the lathe with a 3/4" diameter aluminum rod in the chuck and the DRO affixed to the saddle and cross slide with magnets. My goal was to turn the rod down to 1/2", which would require advancing the tool 1/8". (When turning down stock in lathe, since you're cutting a rotating piece, you divide the amount you want to remove in half, then move the cutting tool that amount. E.g., 0.75" - 0.5" = 0.25" to remove, thus you move the cutter in 0.125", or 1/8".)

Unfortunately, it's not going to work, as it's not accurate enough. I turned the stock down until the DRO read that I'd moved the cutter in 0.125", but when I measured the rod, I got 0.490". It was off by 1/1000" over such a small distance, which in metalworking terms is too coarse.

I'm going to go ahead and try the iGaging DROs, which a lot of mini mill and mini lathe owners have had good results with. I'm planning to install one for the cross slide and another for the compound.

Cut My First Single Point Threads

I'll be adding info about this to my machining site, but thought it was worth posting here as well.

Tonight I cut my first single point threads on my mini lathe. One of the advantages that the Chinese-made mini lathes have over the American-made Sherlines and Taigs is that they can be used for thread cutting without any additional attachments. To setup the lathe to cut threads at the desired pitch, you change gears in the headstock. A good explanation of the procedure can be found in the Little Machine Shop Mini Lathe User's Guide (PDF).

After finding my change gears and the reading the threading section of the LMS guide, I was able to cut 1/2x28 threads on the end of this 1/2" 6061 aluminum rod:

1/2x28 is of course the standard thread used for muzzle devices on .22s and 5.56mm firearms. E.g., my Ruger 22/45 Lite's barrel is threaded 1/2x28.

The cutting tool I used was from a set that I got at Harbor Freight shortly after I bought the lathe, with 1/4" shanks. I used some Tap Magic as cutting fluid but I probably could have cut these threads dry. (I've used a lot of WD-40 as cutting fluid when working with aluminum since I got my lathe and mill in 2013.)

Since I'm just learning how to thread on the lathe and wanted to reduce the risk of crashing the tool into the chuck, I got a spindle hand crank from Little Machine Shop. It fits into the spindle the same way a bicycle handlebar stem goes into the head tube.

Aside from safety, the spindle hand crank gives you lots of low speed torque. However, if I ever want to thread a barrel I'll have to do it under power, because the hand crank blocks the spindle bore.

Also shown in the above pics is a chip tray that I fashioned from some sheet steel and attached to the cross slide using a couple existing holes. I ran across this mod on the web somewhere and thought it was a good idea. It should keep the ways a bit cleaner. Here's a better view:

If the chip tray gets in the way of a job it can be easily removed.

External Battery Packs for Cell Phones, Tablets, Etc.

Most of us rely on cell phones, tablets, and maybe a GPS unit in our daily lives and out in the field. Smart phones are basically pocket computers and it's easy to become reliant on them to augment our own knowledge. Unfortunately, they eat electricity and many of the most popular models don't have replaceable batteries. That's where an external battery pack comes in.

External battery packs range in size from units the size of a lipstick to large blocks. Modern battery technology is allowing manufacturers to cram more amp hours into smaller units, but if you want more than one phone recharge, or need to recharge more than one device, you're going to have to buy one of the larger units.

Last Fall I picked up an EasyACC 15,000 mAh pack from Amazon, and used it on my Fall deer hunting trip. It's about at the limit of what I'd call pocket-sized. The two USB ports can theoretically be used to simultaneously charge two devices, although one port puts out 1.5A and the other puts out 2.1A. However, if one of your devices requires a 2A minimum input then you'll be limited to charging one device at a time.

Aside from the big pack, I also have a smaller unit from Duracell that I picked up when I bought my first iPhone. I carry this one in my EDC bag to and from work, just in case there's a foul up during my commute and I need to give my phone a boost.

Word

Pi Finder

I'm putzing around with my Raspberry Pi again, and came across Ivan X's Raspberry Pi Party site. One of the utilities he has which you may find useful is Pi Finder, a program to find and connect via SSH to your Raspberry Pi running in headless mode, when you don't know its IP address. Pi Finder is an app that runs on Mac OS 10.5+.

If you need a similar app that can run on Windows or Linux (plus Mac OS X), check out Adafruit's Raspberry Pi Finder.

New Commo Blog

Another commo-related blog worth checking out:

Communications Tradecraft

Updates to my Machining Website

I made a couple updates to Dave Markowitz's Machine Shop:

• Added material to the page about my Big Dog Metal Works 7x14 lathe.
• Added material to the page about firesteels.

Redding #2 Powder Scale

After loading up some .308 on Tuesday I came to the conclusion that the Lee scale I've had for several years is a total POS. It's hard to zero, too light so that it moves if you look at it wrong, and just feels cheap. So,  I got a Redding #2 powder scale from Amazon to replace it. It's ~5x the price of the Lee but it's much nicer and easy to zero. Additionally, the Redding will measure up to 505 grains, vs. the 100 grain capacity of the Lee.

I also got a set of Lyman check weights, and according to them, the Redding scale is right on.

Note: A lot of reloading equipment is from Lee. E.g., Classic Turret Press, various sets of dies, hand priming tool, and a bullet sizing die. They work great and fantastic values, but their powder scale just isn't up to snuff, IMHO.

Barnett Recruit Recurve Crossbow

The Barnett Recruit Recurve crossbow that I ordered from Amazon came today. Intended quarry include deer, feral cats, and zombies.

Just kidding about the cats.

I went with a recurve crossbow because I wanted a simpler, more user-serviceable design.

The kit included the bow, 3 hex wrenches, red/green dot sight, quiver, 3 Easton XX75 bolts with 100 grain field points, a spare bolt retaining spring, and a tube of string wax the size of a Chapstick. I also ordered 2 x 5 packs of carbon bolts w/100 grain field tips, along with a rope cocking device (RCD) and extra string wax. The RCD and extra wax were shipped separately and got delayed. (I think they are using USPS for the second package. Grrrrr.)

The draw weight is 150 lbs. with a 12.5" power stroke and I'm just able to cock it without the RCD as long as I wear gloves, so I took 3 shots after I put it together. Point of aim was the bullseye on the deer's chest in the pic below. The trigger isn't bad; Barnett advertises it at 3.5 pounds. The distance to target was ~10 yards. I'll zero the sight after I get the RCD. There's a fair amount of vibration when it's shot so I'm glad that I used blue Loctite on the screws when I assembled it.

"Muzzle" velocity is supposed to be ~245 FPS. The minimum weight bolt you can shoot is 340 grains but Barnett recommends a 400 grain bolt (including the point). The fiberglass prod came strung, which greatly eased assembly. I need to pick up a stringer and a spare string.

The crossbow only weighs about 5 pounds as you see it above, a lot less than the compound xbows I've held. The width is around 27" so it doesn't feel cumbersome. It has studs for QD sling swivels and the LOP is adjustable. It has an "anti dryfire" safety. Unless there's a bolt loaded you cannot disengage the safety. I need to figure out a way to make the safety quieter because it's kind of screechy (metal rubbing on metal).

Barnett recommends that you wax the string serving and flight rails every 5 or 6 shots to reduce wear, and to wax the whole string when white fuzz appears.

My initial impressions of this crossbow are good. We'll really see how it shoots once I get the cocking device and get the chance to wring it out.

Edit 4/22/15 to add:

The package with my extra string wax and rope cocking device arrived this evening and I was able to take a few more shots with the crossbow. The RCD makes a huge difference in cocking the bow. I will probably shorten the RCD a little, to make it a little easier to use with this setup.

One more accessory I'm going to see if I can find is a small stock pack that I can strap to the buttstock. I'd use it to store the RCD, a tube of wax, and hex wrenches on the bow.

New iPhone 6

Last night I went to the local Verizon Wireless store and upgraded my phone from an iPhone 5 to an iPhone 6. The 5 was about two years old and starting to get sluggish, plus the battery life was deteriorating.

Since I backup my phone to my laptop, I had to wait until I got home to restore from the backup, but before doing so had to upgraded iOS on the new phone. That went pretty smoothly, except that I had to delete and reinstall CloudMagic before it would let me setup my work Exchange account.

So far, what I like about the new phone is the greater capacity (64 Gb vs. 32 Gb), faster CPU, better call quality, and larger screen. I am not wild about the smooth rounded sides, which make it less secure when holding it. However, I have a Magpul case on order from Amazon which should arrive tomorrow to eliminate that concern.

I'm hoping that the iPhone 6 will have better battery life than the 5 but it's too early to tell. The camera should be better, based on the pictures I've seen taken with my wife's iPhone 6.