Freeze, Comrade
October 21st, 2008More Stuff we All Need
You know what I really REALLY want? Other than a pickup?
1. A floor drill press.
2. A Saiga 12 shotgun.
I’m just about positive we are going to see the price of tools drop considerably, because commodities are getting cheap and the dollar is getting strong. So I am hoping I’ll be able to get a good deal on a drill press. And I am convinced that a Saiga 12 shotgun with a laser and extended magazines is just about the best security weapon you can get for under a thousand dollars.
What is a Saiga 12? It’s an AK-47 that shoots 12-gauge rounds. And you can get ten-round clips, which negates the big weakness of security shotguns, which is capacity. So hopefully, you get AK reliability, autoloader speed, 12-gauge stopping power, and rifle capacity.
These guns are supposed to be super-reliable, and they cycle fast, and you can have one for a little over five hundred bucks. And I’m pretty sure no rifle or pistol can compare, in terms of effectiveness. Being hit with one dose of buckshot is like being shot by several .30-caliber weapons at once.
I considered a Saiga .410. Supposedly, .410 loads are highly effective, and you get less recoil and muzzle rise and so on. But gun nuts seem convinced that 12 gauge is the way to go.
Right now, I depend on pistols to protect myself. And pistols are swell. They work great at household distances, and they’re easy to carry and maneuver. But it’s easy to miss with a pistol. If you’re within a hundred feet, I can pretty much count on hitting you at will with a long gun, even if you’re moving and I shoot from the hip. At least, I have found that to be true in the past. I guess you wouldn’t want to shoot from the hip if you could avoid it, because of recoil problems, but it illustrates the difference between pistols and long guns. It’s also harder to shoot yourself with a long gun.
Last time I went to the range, I looked at the nearly-new lumber they had put in the ground by the targets. It was the same stuff they use to make railroad ties. There were long pieces of it running across the range in front of the target bases. Mike and I were amazed to see that the wood already had bullet tracks in it. Seven yards from the firing line! There are people who go to the gun range and aim at the targets from seven yards and hit the ground! Bet that doesn’t happen much with long guns.
I think you can also put bayonets on these things. Not sure. Imagine explaining that to the cops, when they arrive to scoop up a criminal’s remains.
I saw a nice Delta bench drill press yesterday at Lowe’s. I felt like hugging it. I keep thinking of all the miserable jobs I’ve had to do, that would have been simple with a drill press. Maybe I’ll get my wish, and Steel City prices will slide back to ’07 levels.
October 21st, 2008 at 3:37 PM
get a Grizzly catalog. you must buy a drill press with a mortising attachment. nothing else will do.
October 21st, 2008 at 4:00 PM
Stick with the 12 gauge. I surely wouldn’t want to get hit with a blast from a .410, but if you can handle the recoil, a 12 gauge is a better choice.
My main home defense shotgun is a Remington 870 12 gauge with 18.5″ barrel, M3 weapon light and extended magazine. 7 rounds of Buck in a dead-reliable gun. I also have a few 20 gauge guns I wouldn’t hesitate to rely upon. The great thing is, you can pick up a slightly used one for a few hundred bucks. Same applies for Mossberg 500s.
The Saigas are a very compelling weapon. 10 rounds of 12 gauge goodness with AK-like reliability? What’s not to love?
Plus, if Hopey McChangey does get elected, they might be near the top of the new “ban-list”.
October 21st, 2008 at 4:43 PM
Yeah, but can it do this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4ebtj1jR7c
October 21st, 2008 at 6:23 PM
I have two itty-bitty benchtop tools I want to replace, a bandsaw and a drill press. Now that I’m getting back into the garage/workshop from time to time I’m sort of drooling over the prospect, some day, of having a full-size bandsaw
Benchtop tools are nice, sure… if there’s no other alternative. So, yes, I am totally with you on the drill press issue.
October 21st, 2008 at 7:35 PM
I was sponsored by Saiga in IPSC competition 10 years ago when they first came out, boy did I stir up the pot. I ran both the 12 and the 410 till they banned me. Then Winchester and Remington came out with hot racing shot guns and I’m back in, kind of depends what year it is and who is complaining. A lot of firepower, lots of fun and low recoil, cheap price,eats dirt and a chrome lined barrel to boot, get all three sizes.
October 21st, 2008 at 8:47 PM
I’ve handled a Saiga 12. Had My Smarter Half not already given me a Remington 870 (have I mentioned how Smart my Smarter Half is?) earlier in the year I’d have taken the Saiga in a heartbeat. AK reliability and magazine feed 12 ga. goodness. What’s not to like?
October 21st, 2008 at 9:11 PM
If you get the Saiga 12 gauge, DO get it set up in proper AK configuration. Tromix is good. Enjoy:
http://www.tromix.com/
October 21st, 2008 at 11:30 PM
I like the third video on that site
October 21st, 2008 at 11:58 PM
Steve,
You really, really NEED a drill press. “Way back when”, I had no stationary power tools, and a buddy brought his drill press to my place. He had no place to set it up, as he lived in a mobile home at the time. After a couple of years, he got a house with a garage, took his drill press home, and I nearly cried. Called on every ad in the paper for drill presses, finally found one. Almost immediately after making the deal with the owner, the phone rang, he answered….turned to me and asked “do you want to make a profit on the drill press?”
These days, I use the BridgePort instead of a drill press, but you aren’t to that point. (yet!)
October 22nd, 2008 at 1:44 AM
20 years ago I bought a mail order drill press (Chinese made) from Harbor Freight (pre-interne), it was delivered to my door for not much cash and is still working with the original belt. It has 5 speeds set by moving a belt up and down a set of pulleys, depth set lock and a moveable drill table and a work light built in. I got the benchtop model but the floor stands are OK too, just harder to move about, there is a lot of cast iron in them things. You can spend a fortune on brand names but as far as I am concerned the average home workshop and small jobs just don’t justify the expense. If I want something milled to one thousandth I go to a pro, even with a good lathe I would not have the practice and skill to get what I need it it has to be precise. Go for the low end and then save up enough for that Saiga…..
October 22nd, 2008 at 1:59 AM
Take a look at the Taurus “Judge”. It’s the revolver that shoots either .45s or .410s. Simply alternate .45s and .410 in the cylinder. At 10 yards, the .410 does plenty of damage but probably not fatal. If the problem persists, the second round fired is the .45 long colt.
October 22nd, 2008 at 2:20 AM
This is the first I’ve heard of the Saiga 12…I just watched some YouTube videos…Good Lord! That thing is awesome.
Get one now before B.O. gets in.
October 22nd, 2008 at 3:55 AM
Since the Delta is made in China too, and costs half again or more, get a Grizzly. After you decide that you’re going into woodworking is plenty of time to get the morticing attachment. Look at the Garret Wade catalog and website for drill bits and stuff like that. Still made in China, but better finish and as cheap or cheaper than Grizz.
DO NOT buy a cheap ass drill press vice unless you can regrow fingers as easily as a starfish does legs. Spend the money and avoid the ER.
October 22nd, 2008 at 12:36 PM
I don’t think science agrres with the notion that a shotgun is superior for home defense, especially with regard to spread. Please see here: http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot3_2.htm
October 22nd, 2008 at 1:43 PM
Most people have a wildly exaggerated idea of the width of the pattern a shotgun will produce at self-defense distances. But the page you cite appears to confirm that a shotgun is a great defensive weapon.
October 22nd, 2008 at 6:50 PM
I thought the best thing about the shotgun for home defense, is that you don’t even have to shoot it.
October 22nd, 2008 at 6:52 PM
og is right…I thought mortising as soon as I read the posting.
I also thought about how cool it would be having a really stout bench top drill press that avoided taking up floor space and could possibly move on and off the bench you have already built else reside on a new “cart” project with retractable you could build to make it mobile and not a fixture taking up space against a wall like my old Craftsman floor mount press.
Something like this “Radial Drill Press” shown in og’s Grizzly catalogue:
http://www.grizzly.com/products/Radial-Drill-Press/G9969
Just one man’s opinion
October 22nd, 2008 at 7:00 PM
Here is my problem with the bench drill press idea. It saves floor space while it’s on the bench. Then you take it off…and put it on the floor. Where it takes up exactly the same amount of space as a floor drill press.
October 23rd, 2008 at 6:14 PM
Yes, I’ve thought of that also, and if you look at that link the thing I was referencing weighs a zillion pounds (ok something like 350 pounds if I remember correctly) and it would have to be on a wheeled cart to truely be mobile else you’d have intestines trying to squirt out of various unmentionable orifices when you pick it up…but I digress…
Maybe og and I can come up with a way to mount it on a Workmate and ad some wheels or castors or something..don’t call us…we’ll call you…
October 24th, 2008 at 12:50 AM
Get drill press at the house with laser center marking, picked up a benchtop from sears and I like the little laser light even after i prick punch my holes during layout. at the shop the bridgeport mill makes a better drill press (with a DRO) get spoiled with it.
bob