Keep Your Powder Dry!

Many people who store ammo use 50 cal ammo cans and silica gel desiccant packets to absorb moisture.  I have seen various arguments against using desiccant in various forums.  Some will say they have ammo they have stored for decades without desiccant and it works just fine.  Or that military surplus ammo is already waterproof.  They don't explain why the military bothers to store it in waterproof cans if it's already waterproof.  Nobody says that using desiccant harms your ammo.  I have seen corroded ammo, although I confess that it still worked.  Still, I would rather play it safe.  Silica gel packs are not very expensive and can be purchased from most retailers that sell firearms accessories.  That being said, you can easily make them yourself for next to nothing.  A 4# bag of silica gel kitty litter sells for $4.17 at Walmart.  I have heard that rice will also work, but my understanding is that silica gel is the superior desiccant.

I just happened to have a 1 gallon can of government issue desiccant that was given to me by a friend who was cleaning out his garage.

I searched the internet to find out how much silica gel is ideal for an ammo can.  I saw answers ranging from 10 g to 40 g.  Supposedly, 40 g will keep a 3 cubic foot area dry.  I tried making a packet with 40 g, and it a bit too big, so I went with 25 g.

I used coffee filters (8-12 cup basket type) and weighed them on a kitchen scale.  I swear that scale read 25 g right before I snapped that pic.  I found that 2 heaping tablespoons was just about 25 g.

Gather up the edges until it looks like a teabag that is about 2" across the top.

Fold over the top edge and staple.

Toss it in with your ammo and close the can.

They say that you can "recharge" silica gel by baking it in an oven at 200 deg for 3 hours.  I plan to recharge them once a year.

Ammo Shelves

Here is a sturdy shelf unit that will hold 20 full ammo cans.  It costs about $40-45 to build.  You can build this with just a circular saw and a cordless drill/driver.  However, I used a miter saw, table saw, framing nailer, crown stapler, and impact driver.  For the truly thrifty, much of these materials can be found discarded at construction sites.

Material List:

7 2x4's ($2.53 each at Home Depot)
OSB ($12.57 a sheet)
48 2.5" deck screws ($8.47 for a box of 86)
crown staples or drywall screws ($6.47 for a box of 200)
32 framing nails or 2.5" deck screws

Each shelf is 36" wide by 14" deep.  Start by making a box with 2 36" and 2 11" 2x4's.  Put 2 nails or screws into the end of each long piece to fasten it to the shorter pieces.  Cover this frame with a 14x36" piece of OSB.  Secure it with crown staples or drywall screws to the frame.  Then make 3 more.

Cut 4 42" pieces of 2x4 for the uprights.  There are 3 screws wherever an upright meets a shelf.  There is 12" between the top of each shelf.  You could use nails instead of screws, but screws are less likely to come loose, and you can rapidly disassemble or reconfigure it.  The shelf spacing gives you just enough room for an ammo can with the handle folded flat.  You might want more clearance, but I wanted this unit to be as short as possible so it would be sturdy.

General or Food Storage Shelf Unit:
If you change the dimensions, but build it in the same way, you can make a much larger shelf unit.  Make the uprights 78".  Make the shelves 24x48" and space the shelves 24".  This shelf uses 10 2x4's, one sheet of OSB, and the same nails/screws as the ammo shelf unit.  Material cost is about $50.  Hint:  cut the OSB to 23.75 x 48" so you can get 4 pieces out of one sheet.  Most big home improvement stores will have a panel saw and can cut sheet goods to size for you.

Here's an idea (one that I practice).  Build one (or two) of the larger version of this shelf unit.  Then go to Costco and stock up on nonperishable food items that you use on a regular basis.  Rotate and replenish your stock by expiration date.  Expiration dates can be hard to find and read, so I remark each expiration date with a Sharpie.  You will save money in the long run, have an emergency food supply without having to pay anything extra for it, and it only takes up 8 square feet of space in your basement.

Refinishing a Walnut Stock

The following is a simple method for refinishing a walnut stock.  I have used this on M-1's, 10/22's and Enfields, and have been very pleased with the results.

You will need:

Easy Off oven cleaner

dish washing gloves

3M green scratch pad

old tooth brush

00 very fine steel wool

0000 super fine steel wool

rags (old t-shirts)

Your choice of finish:

Tung oil for a lighter finish

Linseed oil for your standard GI finish

Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil for a somewhat glossy finish

Birchwood Casey walnut stain + Tru-Oil for a darker somewhat glossy finish

I like linseed oil for a surplus rifle, and Tru-Oil for a commercial rifle.  

Stripping the stock:

Remove all metal parts.  For the Garand, I recommend getting handguard clip pliers, $19.95 from CMP.  Put on some dishwashing gloves and safety glasses, go to the sink and spray the entire stock with Easy Off.  Don't leave it on for long.  Use a green 3M pad and scrub the stock under hot running water.  I like to use a tooth brush gently over any cartouches, rather that the scratch pad.  Be careful with the oven cleaner.  It is sodium hydroxide (lye) and it will burn you and can seriously damage your eyes.  Breathing it can irritate your lungs, so open a window or run the range hood if it is nearby.  Repeat this process if it does not look like all the finish came off.  

Let the stock dry for about two days.  You want it bone dry before you proceed.

Sand the stock with 00 steel wool.  Put your thumb over any cartouches to protect them during this process.  Repeat with 0000 steel wool.  Dings can be raised with a wet cloth and an iron, or sanded out with sand paper.  Wipe off any steel wool fragments when you are done.

For tung or linseed oil, just wipe it down, let it dry for a day, and repeat until it looks right.  For Birchwood-Casey products, follow the instructions.  Test the finish on the inside the stock where it won't be seen to check if you like it before proceeding.  

Fitting an M-1 Garand Stock

Replacing the stock set on your Garand first involves buying a stock set.  Which set to get is an entire debate unto itself, but I like the set from CMP for $118.95.  The CMP web site says "may require minor fitting."  This is a bit of an understatement.  The first step in fitting is getting the trigger guard to fit and clamp down with the right amount of pressure.  Tom Findley has an excellent resource on this:  http://www.trfindley.com/pgtgfix.html  Read Tom's page before you do anything.  To inlet some of the areas it is handy to have a set of small woodcarving tools.

This set is $9.99 at Harbor Freight.  Not fine tools, but they will work just fine.  Work slowly.  Remove only a little bit of wood at a time, and frequently test fit the parts.

When you get to the part in Tom's instructions where you are ready to start sanding the long surfaces that the trigger housing clamps against, you will need a sanding wedge, a block of wood that has a 10 degree incline.

This is the one I made from a block of 4x4.  You could cut it on a miter saw, but I prefer to use a table saw with a sled.  The base is a scrap of 1/4" plywood.  I used a protractor to draw a 10 degree line on the base, and then attached a scrap of 3/4" plywood along that line with brad nails from underneath.  Use the miter gauge to push the sled.

Use a phone book to adjust the height of the wedge and a block of wood to hold your sand paper.

It is very important to clamp the forend of the stock to your work surface.

Once your trigger guard is clamping down correctly, there are a few areas you want to inlet.  On commercial stocks, the inlet for the foot of the clip latch may be too far back.  Put a thin coat of grease on the foot of the clip latch to see if it is rubbing.  You may need to do some inletting here:

Be careful that you don't remove too much wood such that the inletting is visible when the stock is on the rifle.

Another problem area if the foot of the firing pin.  Use grease to see if it is hitting the stock and inlet here as needed:

Again, be careful that the inletting does not show when the stock is on the rifle.  Inletting for the clip latch and firing pin can be done with a Dremel tool and 1/8" flat bottom cutting bit (#194).

You also want to check that your op rod is not rubbing the stock.  Use a thin coat of grease as before to check.  The pencil sits in the area of interest.  The area near the point is more likely to rub.

Use a Dremel with a 1/2" sanding drum to clean up this area.

If either of your hand guards is too long, remove wood from the rear of the hand guard.  The buttplate may not be centered evenly on the butt.  Draw a pencil line all around the buttplate.  Then remove it and sand the stock until there is an equal amount of wood all around the line.  I had to use 60 grit sandpaper to remove a lot of wood on mine.

This, along with Tom Findley's page covers the basics.  There are a lot of finer points as well.  If you want to be well versed on the fitting of M-1 stocks, go the the M-14 forum and read everything that Gus Fisher, MGySgt USMC (ret.),  has posted on the subject:  http://m14forum.com/gus-fisher/  You are unlikely to find anyone for knowledgable on the M-1 or M-14.

AR-15 Ejector Removal Jig

If you need to remove the ejector from the bolt of your AR-15, like when you are checking head space, it helps to have a tool to compress the ejector spring.  You can get tools to do this that run in the $20 to $50 dollar range.  I made my own for about $10 with hardware from Lowes.

 I started with a 4 x 8" piece of 3/4" plywood and a 1.5 x 1.5 x 4" block of wood that was a scrap of 2x4 in a previous life.  I drilled a hole in the plywood 2" from the end and centered, and inserted a 5/16-18 x 3/8" T-nut and a 5/16-18 x 2" brass screw.  Then I drilled a hole in the block 3/8" from the bottom and centered.  I inserted another 5/16-18 x 3/8" T-nut and a 6" section of 5/16-18 threaded rod.  A bench vise was use to press in the T-nuts.  I added a 5/16-18 knob on one end, and a piece of 5.56 mm brass, with the tapered part cut off, to the other end.  The cartridge case fits a bit loosely, so I used some masking tape around the end of the threaded rod to make it snug.  I cut a a small recess in the plywood base with a Forstner bit (you could use Dremel or standard drill bit) to give the ejector pin room to come out.

Here is the underside. I nailed the block to the plywood with 1.5" 16 gauge finish nails. Alternatively, you could screw it in place.  Note the countersinking of the screw head.

Side view.

Jig in action.

The brass screw fits nicely in the hole for the cam pin and will not mar the bolt.  Keep in mind that the ejector pin is not perfectly vertical in this configuration, so you will have to hold your 1/16" roll pin punch at a slight angle when driving out the pin. When you release the pressure on the ejector, turn the handle slowly and hold your hand over the bolt. Otherwise, you ejector may shoot across the room.

Budget IFAK

IFAK stands for Individual First Aid Kit or Improved First Aid Kit, depending on whom you ask.  This kit is issued to soldiers and is designed to address the most life threatening injuries likely to be experienced in combat.  It is not a boo-boo kit with bandaids and Neosporin.  It is used to treat arterial bleeding, sucking chest wounds, and to keep the airway open.  Anyone who carries a concealed handgun, should carry an IFAK.  If you are carrying, you are prepared for a gun fight.  If you are prepared for a gun fight, you should be prepared for gun shot wounds.

These kits can be expensive.  IFAKs from Dark Angel Medical or Chinook Medical run in the $140 to $165 range.  If you want multiple kits (one for the car, one for the house, one for an EDC bag, etc.) this adds up pretty quickly.  Even if you make your own kit, the Combat Gauze will cost you $30 or more, unless you buy it on eBay (watch the expiration date!).  The CAT will cost you another $30.  (Beware of cheap CAT counterfeits.)

I'm proposing a very inexpensive kit that you can assemble for a few bucks.  It will be similar in function to the expensive kits.  It lacks the hemostatic ability of Combat Gauze, the tourniquet is not as quick as a CAT, but this kit is far superior to no kit, which is where many of you are right now.  You can gradually upgrade it to the fancy stuff as your budget allows.  

Per USAMMA (US Army Medical Material Agency), here is what is in a typical IFAK:

6515-01-521-7976 Tourniquet, Combat Application 1 (CAT)

6510-01-492-2275 Bandage Kit, Elastic 1 (6" Israeli bandage)

  OR 6510-01-460-0849 Bandage Kit, Elastic 1 (4" Israeli bandage)

6510-01-503-2117 Bandage GA4-1/2” 100’s 1 (H&H compressed gauze)

6510-00-926-8883 Adhesive Tape Surg 2” 6’s PG 1 

6515-01-180-0467 Airway, Nasopharyngeal 1 

6515-01-519-9161 Glove, Patient Exam 100’s 4 

6510-01-562-3325 Dressing, Combat Gauze 1

http://www.usamma.army.mil/assets/docs/IFAK.pdf

For an a high-speed kit, I would add the following:

6510-01-581-0553 Halo Chest Seal, 1 pkg (2 per pkg)

6515-01-541-0635 14 g x 3.25" needle, 1

Budget IFAK:

1.  Triangular bandage, 1

37x37x52" in a right triangle shape, cut from an old sheet

Iron it and fold it into a cravat, like a military issue triangular bandage (NSN 6510-00-201-1755).

Price:  free if you have an old sheet or about $2 if you buy an old sheet from a thrift store

2.  3/8 x 6" oak dowel, 1

Together with the triangular bandage, you can make a tourniquet.

Price:  $1.28 for a 36" dowel from Lowe's (you can make 5 from one dowel)

3.  ABD dressing, 5x9", 1

Might be called "surgical pad" at your pharmacy.  You can substitute a maxi-pad if you feel secure in doing so.  

Price:  free to a few bucks

4.  Ace bandage, 4", 1

Combine this with an ABD pad or maxi-pad to make a pressure bandage that is not as quick or slick as an Israeli bandage, but it does the job.

Price:  about $5

5.  Nitrile gloves, 4

You will likely have to buy a big box, but you can make multiple kits.  Use the leftovers for messy jobs around the house or garage.

Price $7.99 for 100 at Harbor Freight

6.  Duct tape, 24"

Wrap it around an old credit card or similar type card. 

Price:  Free (you should have this already)

7.  Nasopharyngeal airway, 28 French, 1

Price:  $5.99 on eBay

8.  Ziploc bag, 1 quart, 1

Holds the contents of the kit.  Can be used with duct tape to form an occlusive dressing for sucking chest wounds.  

Price:  Free (from your kitchen)

Build a Budget IFAK (or 2, or 3) today.  Gradually replace the items in the kit with the high-speed stuff as your budget allows.  

Glock Sight Tools

Thinking about changing out the sights on your Glock?  Thinking about doing it yourself, but the tools are more expensive that having a gunsmith do it?  You can buy the tools needed for about $120 from conventional sources (Midway or Brownells).  Or you can buy them from eBay and Lowes/Home Depot, work a little DIY magic, and the damage will be about $43.  Yes, you can do it with a punch, but the site pusher is gentler and does a better job of making small adjustments at the range.

Maryland Gun Works makes a very nice rear sight pusher tool that costs about $100.

Ed Brown makes a front sight tool that runs around $20.

You can get a less expensive sight pusher on eBay for $39.95 (free shipping) from a seller named 4x4machineshop.  This works on the Glock, 1911, and most pistols with straight sides.  They have another model that includes shims for pistols with angled sides for $49.95.  I have used this tool to install sights on my Glock and it works well.  You will need a wrench to turn the bolt.  This tool is also handy for adjusting your sights at the range.

You can make your own front sight tool for the Glock.  Just get a 3/16" 6 point 1/4" drive deep socket ($2.97 from Lowes).  You will have to use a bench grinder to make it work.  The front site screw is very close to the front of the slide and the socket is too fat to clear the space.  Grind away the circumference of the body of the socket until it will fit.  Also, the screw head is very low profile.  You fill have to flatten the the end of the socket, because the rounded edges won't let it grip the screw.  You also need to taper the end a bit.

You could also buy a Craftsman 3/16" nut driver at your local Sears for $6.49.  You still might have to grind the tip a bit due to the rounded edges at the end and the very low profile nature of the Glock front sight screw head.

You will also need a triangular file for fitting of the rear sight to the dovetail.  You can pick one of these up for under $5.  I won't go into the process of how you change out the sights.  There are plenty of resources on the internet for that.