New Frontier Armory and the KMAR

  A few years ago I bought a commemorative Nevada AR lower offered on a popular internet forum. There was a recent discussion there regarding doing the same thing again. Since I had given mine away to a nephew, I was excited about the possibility.

After a bit of a legal spat between a Reno company that seems to think they own the rights to the phrase emblazoned on the Nevada State flag and the nice folks at New Frontier Armory in North Las Vegas, we finally saw the finished product. Guido's refusal to back down on the use of the term "Battle Born" I have dubbed this my Kiss My Ass Rifle.

  Full disclosure requires that I should mention that I am friends with the owner on at least a level that when he comes to town, we have dinner and tell dirty jokes. I'd like to think I get some form of special treatment in my dealings with them, but I have never heard a disparaging word about the service or products from NFA, so it's probably just wishful thinking.

  I ordered the NV commemorative and they generously offered to include a personalized serial number. Since the intention was to build an heirloom rifle for my youngest daughter who was born in Nevada and this is the state's 150th celebration, adding our four character last name as the SN just made it that much nicer. 

I could write about how nice the fit and finish is, but really… it's a fucking AR lower. It's pretty nice and not terribly galoopian for being a billet lower. I hate the boutique nature of many of the billet lowers that just exist to be different, but that is matter of personal taste. This one is fairly inoffensive to my delicate sensibilities and the custom touches made it worth the effort. The other item that really makes it shine is the price point. $119. 

   Two items of interest. When it showed up, there was included one of their Lower Parts Kits with a reduced weight trigger. It's not a match trigger, but it's nicer than any out of the box military LPK trigger I have ever used and they offer those at $50. Also, I had put a note in the special instructions to draw sexy women on the outside of the box. They failed to meet this perfectly reasonable request, however they did use an entire Victoria's Secret catalog as packing material which kinda made up for it. 

   The rifle has since been assembled using a variety of parts and Im taking it out to shoot it this afternoon.

Overall, it's a good deal and a good part. Make sure you include a ridiculous request in the Special Notes section if you order one.  

  

Roscoe's Shotgun Sponge Painting

So I know several folks have dressed up their rifles with camouflage paint jobs. I have a few rifles that I’ve rattle cannedmyself. Using varying techniques like painters tape to try for tiger stripes or bags of nets. After that paint was stripped off with Powder Blaster (D’OH!) it was redone with a fishnet stocking for a much more impressive finish. Laundry bags and nettings work fine, but fishnets seem to make things more interesting. I still have the “Pinestraw” technique to try or use some other vegetation.

Recently I was reviewing the refinishing page over on ARFCOM for info on another project I’m working on and found the idea for Sponge Camo. Basically, apply a base coat with another color to break up the lines and then using a “Natural” sponge, alternate the colors onto the other shade, and maybe add another color or 2. After I caroused the picture thread awhile, I decided to try it myself.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_19/321800_.html

I choose the colors Brown, Army Green, and Sand as what best resembles my surrounding terrain.

First, I painted up a piece of scrap wood. With a base coat of Army Green, then I sprayed some Sand.

Then cutting up and using the “Sea Sponge” I found, I tried dabbing the colors to try to meld them.

Threw on some Brown for a little contrast and that was pretty much my pattern. I’m fairly pleased with the Sea Sponge but the natural sponge make for better designs and not have a distinct finished line.

When using the sponge, I tried to remember the old saying, “Just a little Dab will do ya.” I didn’t need to try to sop up all the paint to smear. I just varied up my design with either light or heavy pressings. I chose a Remington 870 to be the test weapon. I disassembled it some for better coverage.

 

 

 

I went over it a few times with sponge sections of different cuts.

I could have used a dark green for a little more contrast and better coverage. Finished it off with a flat clear coat and that’s it.In the end, it’s camo and it’s better that having a black Donkey Dick in your hands out in the sage.

 

Roscoe is a regular Adventure Dynamics contributor and Deputy Sheriff in a Western US state. 

G-Monkey

Ameriglo Pro i-dot fail

When the Gunmonkey traded off his Glock 26 for an M&P Shield 9, he started searching for a set of night sights. After looking all over he decided to go with the Ameriglo pro i-dot.

During the installation, he beat the holy shit out of the rear sight dovetail portion. It was so mangled, he decided it would just be better off to go with the original rear and just rock the high visibility front sight. 

 Seriously smashed to the point it would not go into the slot. Damage caused by striking with a BRASS hammer.

   The sight mated right up and provides a great high speed sight picture. Just find the bright orange dot and "BANG!".

   Today, after a range trip to requalify, he noticed the orange insert was walking out. That's two strikes. First the metal proved so soft that a brass hammer mangled it and then the insert starts to fall out. He did call and leave a message, giving them the opportunity to make it right. 

                 This aint right!

G. Monkey is a certified M&P Armorer, so despite his redneck tendencies, he does kinda know what he is doing. We'll let you know how the customer service thing works out.

Roscoe's StoveTec review

Howdy,

Roscoe here with a review of the nifty camp stove I had out this past weekend. Officially it’s the “StoveTec Deluxe 2-door Wood, Biomass, or Charcoal Fuel Stove.” I had gotten it back inApril of 2013 and I remember firing it up in the backyard and got water to boil with it (Wohoo). But that was as far as I had gone with using it. I watched several video reviews on Youtubeof it and the general consensus was, It’s Badass. Some of the videos were painful to watch as can be expected when dealing with Youtube but at least it gave me the ideas on its operation, possible fuels, and cookware.

Simply, build a fire in the chamber and it directs the heat up under your cookware and with the added collar, more heat is used, allowing stuff to cook faster. The stove came with 2 grates, one to use with wood and Biomass and the other with charcoal (haven’t tired that yet so hopefully save that for the next Adventure Dynamics Excursion). The initial fire I started was with what was available, some paper, pine needles, twigs, and pinecones (pinecones were Awesome in this thing). I was lazy and used a Zippo but there would be no problem starting it with fire steel. Once the fire got going, I just fed in some branches on the rack into the top chamber. The natural branches seemed to burn better and create more heat in the StoveTec rather than the processed 1” x 2” stakes often used with target stands. With either one, the wood burned, we had fire, and made hot food(Yay Team).

The cookware that was used was Woks as well as a simple pot. The Wok was set inside the StoveTec collar and heated up fast. Unfortunately, some technique needs to be learned to make theStoveTec able to simmer or to cut down on the heat. That would have saved the extra dark and crispy bacon and rubberized Elk (luckily the Kielbasa came out just fine).  The simple small pot was used to heat water but was used without the collar; possibly making it take longer to get boiling. Things to try next time are aCast Iron skillet and maybe a Dutch oven.

With the weight of the StoveTec being about 22lbs, it makes it good for camping out of the Adventure Dynamics Technicals at a basecamp whilst we go out Lurping but it wouldn’t be much fun to have it strapped to your back. The price I got it for was $124 with free shipping off of Amazon. However, it no longer seems to be on their website. But it looks like you can order directly fromStoveTec.

http://stovetecstore.net/index.php/

This looks to be a very similar stove to the StoveTec.

http://www.amazon.com/EcoZoom-Versa-Rocket-Stove-Charcoal/dp/B005GQZ4O0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393229331&sr=8-1&keywords=stovetec+rocket+stove 

 

 

Some of the Youtube nonsense I sat threw was the types ofStoveTec Stoves put out by the manufacturer. (Don’t know why but I kind of wanted to throat punch him while watching the video).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn_dcFz2YdM

This is decent video on the different types of cookware used on the StoveTec that gave some cooking ideas and camp food possibilities. (Same guy, still needs a throat punch).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XTVJL7-uxo

So while carousing Youtube, I saw several videos of what folks were making on their StoveTecs. Albeit, some of them looked to be a rather ambitious undertaking; best done with a trial run at the homestead to better plan the prep work (and if that dinner fails, In-N-Out, Chinese, or Dominoes could be a life saver).

In closing, I was impressed with the stove and think it was a wise investment; who doesn’t like to play with fire and have hot food?

~Roscoe out

Editor's note: For those who might be making the derp face at the prospect of the Tactical Wok, we are hoping to get a write up from the subject matter expert.  Sage fire wok'd elk steak in fresh bacon grease...

If you like what you read, share with your friends.

If you don't, go fuck yourself...

And then tell your friends.

-G.Monkey

Clear Ballistics "Gelatin" boils Dutch over

So a friend posts a picture of this ballistics gelatin and immediately I notice the coloration.
My interest in colorless gelatin is peeked, usually gelatin has a yellowed hue to it.  I'm curious about the process to achieve this glass like look to a protein. 

After getting my grubby mitts on a chunk of this stuff I knew immediately it was faaaaaaar from an actual gelatin.   Ok... No biggie,  right?

Right... But...
When someone says ballistics gelatin it sets into motion a certain material and mind set of said material,  again non issue.

I proceeded to the website:
ClearBallistcs.com

At fist glance... "Friggin aye!" An American company providing American jobs and services to Americans and american depts,agencies and so on.
I'm thinking "Clear Ballistcs, you have my attention!"
Huge respect at this beginning point

But then,  reading through the information, I can't count on my hands and feet how many times they refer to the product as "Our Ballistics Gelatin" 
So much so, I felt slimey and lied to after half way through the information offered.  I felt they were trying to convince me of some proprietary knowledge and amazing new "gelatin"

Being a practioner of science on a daily basis and using products either EXACTLY the same or very similar drives me to a point of view concerning Clear Ballistics and the slight MISINFORMATION with concerns to the customer base. "THIS SHIT PISSES ME OFF!"
I offer a simple lesson, some questions and concerns...

First,  ballistics...   No need to explain,  if you need a definition... Clearly you live in a world of  rainbows and unicorns that crap multiflavored jelly beans. Where we all get along , drive Prius'  and live together of the same exact media fed opinions we self righteously justify to meet the expectations of our skill-less peers whom you hold in such high regards... 

Uh-hmmm,  off my soapbox

Back to simple science and explanations, ballistics being covered... We can move to gelatin.

Gelatin simply put- is a flavorless semi solid material,  a by-product of domestic animals/partially 
Hydrolysed collagen.  We all know its many uses as a filler, binder, delivery system in many processes.  Another favorite use for it is as a topical haemostatic.  Topic for a product review, not rant.

Back on target...

The company does casually mention the product is synthetic somewhere.  Maybe it's just me,  if its synthetic... By definition (my product knowledge & usage) you can look it up too) the marketing of this product in reference to the constant barrage of "OUR BALLISTICS GELATIN" is a gross misdirection/misinformation of products knowledge to the consumer whom may or may not understand the difference in materials.

That said,  not everyone needs a Phd in organic/inorganic chemistry. And...  I'm a firm believer in " if it works and meets spec, good to go" I pose some questions one should always ask...

~If its synthetic, what is it?
~being reclaimable, do I want to expose myself, my family,my belongings, my work place to this?
~Where's the MSDS of information on how to deal with this stuff if a health or combustable incident/accident should happen.
~How does product continuity factor in, when I de-gas( remove air bubbles ) from this product in a crockpot/oven/oor fucking campfire for that matter at home or work. Exposing what other chemicals to be gassed out. 
Maybe I'm the Dumby here...  Or need a lesson, or need to do some serious "OUR BALLISTICS GELATIN" testing with a larger block than the provided muffin tin sample. Degassing any synthetic poly siloxanes (silicones) should be done by at minimal,  a technician... In a vac-chamber, or pressure pot.  Upon doing this, you can achieve the consistent and controlled output of durometer, shore(hardness/softness)  and more... To achieve the FBI specifications.

Synthetic~ this word implys "made artificially". Simple right?
Silicone~ more accurately referred to as poly siloxanes-an inorganic-organic polymer of qualities meaning heat resistant, inert synthetic polymer.  NOT...GELATIN

Do you want to be cooking this crap at home or work with no proper protective measures in place? I certainly do!  but,  thats what we here at Adventure Dynamics are about! informing YOU about products YOU wanna use.  Testing shit to the limits, so YOU dont have too!   Im sure FDA approved means something to somebody,  most certainly not this guy.

Its irresponsible and just plain douchebaggy to market "OUR BALLISTICS GELATIN" as a gelatin.

I give the company 1 of 5 stars for this review/ rant
 One full star for being Merican company
NO star for douchebag marketing methodology

The product itself gets 5 stars and truely is a kick ass product, and a kick ass idea for a ballistics medium of an existing material.  Revolutionary,  really...   The uses are limitless
Good on ya mate!

      You can even out a wobbly table

If you decide to use this product,  do your homework.  As always be informed on what you are fuckin around with.

      You can keep a pesky door open.

As for Clear Ballistics,  I would gladly change/retract this review/rant if a choice of responsible words is used

Speaking of responsible usage, here the author demonstrates the "Teeth Magnificator" properties of Clear Ballistics  "Gel"


FUCK YOU
YOU FUCKIN FUCKS
~Dutch Uh'Vins

Nebo Eco Lantern: cranky light and review

So there I was with the power out, holding a super high speed, mega bright tactical flashlight, thinking I was the man, then the batteries died, yep after about 1.5 hours of use, they were done like Rob Blagojevich’s career.  And of course they are the 3v style, so no; I did not have 20 spares lying around the house.  

So this got me thinking (yes it does happen sometimes) and I looked at all my survival supplies and found a moderate deficiency, a light that does not require batteries, oil, propane, or any other consumable potentially irreplaceable commodity to run on.   I do have oil lanterns, propane lanterns, small AA flashlights, mega bright tac lights, and other items that are good for the short term, but nothing that would last for the long outages.

That’s when I started doing some research on a light for the house that does not run on the above mentioned items and was bright enough to light up a room unlike those little hand crank flashlights that barely have enough power to light up your hand 6 inches from the bulb.   That’s when I came across this little Gem, the Nebo Eco Lantern, and ordered it up to give it a try.   

 

It was $39.97 with free shipping and showed up in two days (extra points for the person that knows where I ordered it from…).  

So here is my review of said lantern, of course it’s only been a week, but enough time to put it through some testing.  

Let’s start by talking about the charging methods, this little bastard can be charged by cigarette lighter, wall plug, solar power, and it has a hand crank, not shitting you, that’s a pretty good selection.  

Pros:

•

   Lightweight

•           

   No 3v batteries that last for 2 hours max

•

   157 Lumens, enough to light up a room

•

    6 hour Run Time, then when it runs out you just crank the sucker….

•

    LED Bulbs for long life

•

    Charging indicator so you know when to stop cranking away

•

     Seems pretty sturdy, did not drop it on the ground yet,  maybe after some more whisky

 

Cons:

•

   If you stare at it when you turn it on, could give you a slight seizure, almost happened to me

•

   High price tag of $39.97, but that’s probably because I am cheap and think everything should be 10 bucks

•

   Takes 12 hours of sunlight to get a full charge, ok in summer, not so much in winter, but again, the thing has a damn hand crank.   When the shit hits the fan, I will have the kids cranking away on these during the night to earn their keep.  

Overall:  So far this thing is pretty good, thinking about buying another one so that when I drunk drop this one I will still have one.  

Recommendation: 4 Crusty old Stars - Would recommend; Now if you buy it or not, I don’t care, I gots mine already.    

Thanks for playing,

-SL

ACUs...in the brown, in the pink

After the crappy results of the tan, we gave the ACUs another shot. This time, we got down with the Dark Brown.

The usual characters. Some poor result tan ACUs, the killer green ACUs (Humboldtflauge), MarPat desert.

We used the same bucket, same method, same salt, blahblahblah.

If you need the details go back and read the previous installments. 

Use gloves or you'll dye your hands. 

And after all the effort, letting them soak, wringing, then a wash and dry....

TAAAAADAAAAA! Total crap...

In direct sunlight, they appear pink, except for the Massif shirt, which actually looks purple. This stuff would be awesome if we wanted to blend into a Pride Parade. Not that we are opposed to that sort of thing, but we are more likely go Au Natural butt nekkid than in these hideous failures. 

So there you have it. We do the hard research so you don't have to. In this case, we learned how to take a $5 billion government failure and make it worse. At least when we jack things up, we do it with $3 worth of our own money. Speaking of which, we accept donations.

Cash, paypal, sexy selfies, candy, ammunition, precious metals, Applebee's Gift Certificates...

-G. Monkey