MicroMax 380

A couple decades ago I bought a used Llama 1911 45acp from a coworker.  That was my first 1911. Then I got a new Llama 1911 with a 3.5" barrel as my first carry piece. They were both adequate, but not up to the standards of the 2 Kimbers I now own.  

Before I bought the Kimbers I happen to handle a Llama Micromax 380. I bought it for 2 reasons. It was cute and fit my small hands well. And also it was the baby to the father and mother I already owned.

The little 380 was never reliable. It would fail to feed at least once every magazine. Over the years I let it rest in the safe, until a few months ago.  The rim of the cartridge would get hung up on the extractor. I tried modifying the extractor and then installing a new one to no avail. I was examining it again the other day and saw something odd. Below the extractor, part of the bolt was not machined on that side resulting in a protrusion that might be catching the cartridge head.

I examined my other pistols (6) and non of them had a protrusion like that.  I have now eliminated the protrusion.  I don't yet know if that was the issue or not, but what the hell.  If that fixes it great, if not oh well.

Another Delay

Yesterday I went to the local RV place to pick up our 5th wheel.  I left it there a couple of weeks ago for them to check the brakes and fix a few non-functional items before we leave for a long trip. One part (non-functional) was not available.  The brakes were fine, but they replaced the wheel bearings. 

This trailer has a capture plate that mates with the automatic sliding hitch. It had to be removed to mate with their standard hitches.  When they tried to reinstall the capture plate one of the bolts broke. The bolt and mating part had damaged threads. These are proprietary parts, so who knows when I'll get it back.  Hopefully before we're due to leave.

Cheap Scopes

Last Christmas a friend received a bolt action rifle chambered in 450 Bushmaster, complete with a 3-9X scope.  He wanted it for deer hunting. Because of his work schedule he finally got around to bringing it to my place for laser bore sighting a few weeks ago.  Then this last weekend I went with him to the range to help with getting the scope set.  He is not really a gun guy and never messed with a scope before. 

After some frustration we got it close and left it that way because of trying to minimize ammo usage.  Not only is that stuff expensive, but hard to get as well.

First, the click adjustments were mushy that required knob wiggling to hopefully get it set.  

Then we found, the hard way, that after adjustment something internal would require at least 3 rounds fired before things settled. Sometimes the first round after adjustment didn't change at all. I hope it hangs in there for his deer hunt.

Cheap scopes and recoiling rifles don't get along very well.  Years ago I purchased a cheap scope for my 7mm Mag. It lasted all of 5 rounds before the internals shook lose.

If he's not comfortable with using his new rifle, I'll let him use my lever action 454 Casull, and I'll carry my revolver in 357 Mag. I've taken many white tails with that old Ruger.