The Radical Skinner....

Before you ask, I didn't skin a radical with it, not that it hasn't crossed my mind occasionally. I really wouldn't want to skunk up a nice knife.

This blade is also full tanged, .221 thick, 64 Rockwell and deeply hollow ground. As I do most of the knives I build, all wood and bolts are epoxied in place. The three inch blade has some really deep serrations for "cutting tendons", or sawing lumber possibly. I've never seen the use for them. The scales are layered bluegreen and black. The sheath is once again ordered from the wholesaler soaked in linseed oil.

This blank came with a defect common to the entire run of blades, a corner that was pulled and too long. This made the width of the curve on the grips too wide for the scales I could buy in standard width. I could buy a wider piece, I could have bought a whole 4X8 sheet, but instead decided to reshape the tang. I removed the sharp corner and rounded it down to a more comfortable shape.

Most jobs done with a knife could be done with a piece of broken glass. It would be, after all, sharp enough. The purpose of all the other stuff is comfort and control. That's why the shaping in this case is mostly organic curves and rounded shapes. The curves give the layered wood nice cats eye ovals and color changes.

One really nice thing about the tool is it's heft. It's thick and heavy in your hand. In conjunction with the round shapes, it feels really good in your hand.

I have actually used this knife, to put down a deer hit by a car near Steamboat Springs in Colorado. This while all my guns were locked in the back of the truck in cases, just too much trouble to get to.

Another home built knife

This is my favorite skinning knife. As a friend of mine said, "You can skin a whale with a four inch blade, it just takes longer." Longer blades cover more area, they are also harder to control.
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This one is also .221 thick 440 stainless. The knife is seven and three quarters inches long. It has epoxy impregnated hard wood grips and nickle silver bolts. It's full tang has finger grooves as well as a gut hook for opening the body cavity of game. The blade is three inches of hollow ground sharpness with a Rockwell hardness of about sixty four. Hard enough to hold a a good edge, but it can be sharpened with about anything.

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The scales are laminated in brown, green and black stained hard wood. They are set with a layer of Super Glue underneath to keep anything from leaking under them and being unsanitary.

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The sheath was bought from the supplier of the blade blank and soaked in a zip lock of linseed oil. That transforms a pinkish tan to a chocolate brown and hopefully will preserve the leather long past my demise. I've never been a fan of drop in sheaths, you never know when a missed step will leave you injured, and if you are alone and lose your knife, nothing good will come of it.

I don't worry about that issue because of the fact that I carry a couple of backups.

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When I shape the grips, I drill the holes to fit the blade and then glue and bolt the scales in place. When all is dry I'll star shaping them with a sanding wheel. This allows me to blend the shapes and remove material with out damaging the steel or it's finish. The final step for this grip is a polish with a cotton wheel and plastic polish.

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Not counting my time or equipment, I probably have fifty or so dollars in a knife that will last several life times.

Watch this and ....

forward it to all your friends, even your enemies, Odumbo is wrong again.

http://transsylvaniaphoenix.blogspot.com/2008/06/video-obama-hates-my-family-heirloom.html

I am one of the most investigated people in the world because of my job, every five years I get the full deal. I also have a concealed carry permit, an Honorable Discharge, membership in a Law Enforcement Association, and experience in not shooting some people who really needed it.

He still wants my guns.

The best deer rifle I own!

This will continue the list of rifles I really enjoy.

It started life as an 1896 Krag-Jorgenson Mauser in 6.5 X 55. This lively little round launches a 140gr bullet at a comfortable 2700 fps, if I remember right. It is a favorite because you can shoot all day and the only thing it hurts is your pocket, and that no more than any other.

We have a local gunsmith that loves his work enough that he doesn't overcharge for it. I am a sort of weird type when it comes to guns, I don't really care if the weapon is pretty as long as it's functional. I discussed the changes with the smith and settled on a shorter barrel, drilled and tapped for a scope, mounted and bore sighted, with some spot bluing and a sporter safety for the first round. That cost me seventy dollars. I did some range work, and didn't care for the trigger. For the sum of thirty five dollars he added three pieces and made it a fully adjustable trigger. The synthetic stock is from Butler Creek and the Scope is Simmons. The last touch was a black finish that resembles Parkerised.

I have actually murdered a deer with this one (it has to be murder, cause it isn't a fair fight), it's effectiveness is beyond question. The only shot fired in hunger resulted in a chunk of lung the size of my fist on the ground, and a dead deer in about four seconds. Rough on the deer, but better than laying in your lap after a tumble through the wind shield.

Some folks like their guns shiny and new. I'll take mine as individuals, the way I want them.

The first one

This was my first rifle, a Sears single shot made by Winchester. It now bears the cheapest .22 scope made, and doesn't get much use. I will say, however when I was twelve, the barrel never cooled off. It was, and is, the most reliable firearm I have ever owned. I learned to shoot carefully and attended to the basics religiously. Some of my contemporaries would take two boxes of ammo, that's a hundred rounds people, and bring home nothing. I'm sure those little semi auto rifles were a lot of fun, but I like game dinners. I have gone hunting with two bullets, and brought home two squirrels.

I think my Dad may have paid twenty five dollars for it.

I will keep this one until my son wants it, or someday his son.

And if you really want to get their attention.....

Then use a bigger hammer. A few years ago I had a business that sort of migrated to a handy man service. If you got the money, I will find the time, kind of. A coworker with a positive aversion to manual labor asked me to give him a price for painting his house. He mentioned he might barter a rifle for the work. It was a brick house. I researched the rifle and found it to be worth about fifteen hundred dollars. Needless to say, I went for the brushes.

So for about forty hours work I acquired a Browning "A" Bolt in stainless, with the boss system. It was topped with a Leopold 4 to 14 Police Sniper Scope. The rifle is chambered for .300 Win Mag

With a 165 grain bullet and a sand bag, I can hit a dime at 100 yards. On the first shot anyway, after that it becomes a process of will to soak up the punishment, it needs to be much heavier.

That was my first rifle chambered for "an A$$ whuppin' in a box."

Who are the monsters here?

I, like everyone else, saw the pictures of the 1060 lb pig killed on the hunting preserve. The kid was shooting a hand gun bigger than any I have ever shot, and he's eleven. Good on him. Not enough gun for that pig, but how would you know?

I went to the website, www.monsterpig.com , and looked around, then I read the comments. They are extremely fair, they have a negative as well as a positive section.

The people who are leaving negative comments have,,,, issues, I can't believe the sick crap directed at this kid.

To those folks who want to offer violence to him, hey stupid, he carries a gun, and if you threaten him with lethal force, he can legally use it!

To the tree huggers, stick with things that don't bite. If you run over to a similar beast to express your love and respect for wild life, engrave your name on your belt buckle, so, if it is found, you can be identified. What the H$11 do you think the tusks are for? It would gut you then eat you, the nick name "monster" is appropriate because of his size as well as his eating habits. This isn't an "Innocent animal", this is a brutal killer raised for hunting. The news article on the site, reported that the hunters spent some time avoiding the hog.

Where do you think bacon comes from?