My latest project is the conversion of a 12 gauge, Remington 870 shotgun into a full fledged tactical weapon.
I started off with a Remington 870 Tactical model shotgun that I picked up brand new, still in the box, never fired. This particular model has an 18 inch barrel with a factory installed, 6 shot magazine tube (with one in the chamber, this gives a 7 shot capacity). It came with a black polycarbonate long stock.
My first priority modification was to replace the factory supplied butt stock with an adjustable, Blackhawk, Knoxx Specops Recoil Reducing stock. I picked up a new Blackhawk stock and installed it right away. Blackhawk is on their second generation of the original Knoxx Recoil Reducing stock and it is loaded with upgrades and improvements that you won't find on the original.
The stock is adjustable with 7 different length settings, has a releasable sling swivel for use with a single point sling, a standard sling swivel stub on the butt, and an adapter plate for attaching a sling behind the receiver. The butt pad has been upgraded with a thicker and more shock absorbing model. The internal spring set up has been redesigned on these second generation models as well. Overall, an amazing stock!
The Blackhawk stock comes with an oversized, but "more ergonomic", fore stock, but I will not be using it. I am sticking with the original Remington "cob" fore stock. It is my personal opinion that this cob style stock grip is far superior in a combat situation......
I won't try to explain exactly how the stock works, but have instead posted a video from the company that does an amazing job of explaining the function and features........ so here it is for your viewing pleasure:
Here is one more video from the folks over at Blackhawk. This is the promotional video for the first generation stock, but it still applies to this newest edition.
I am also planning on running a single point bungee sling with this shotgun. I have one on order that should be here soon. I plan on attaching the sling to the quick release swivel on the stock so it will be easy-on, easy-off. Here's the stock photo from the seller:
Here is a photo album of the shotgun up to today. Stay tuned for additional postings on this project as I keep making modifications and adjustment........
Last year I tracked down a source for Czechoslovakian Army Shovels down in California............
....... as luck would have it, my Mom lives a very short distance away from the warehouse and was going to be passing by the address a very short time later. She swung by and braved the dark and musty warehouse to search out, and hand-pick, one of these shovels for me! Well, after a long wait, it was personally delivered a few days ago. What a great addition to the shovel collection! (The Czech shovel is the one on the far right):
The shovel and case are in fantastic shape, and even came with a bit of Czech dirt to assure that it was authentic. These fixed bladed shovels were used from the 1950's, through the 1980's and probably into the 1990's. This particular shovel has a leather case that has the old 1950's textured leather, mixed with the later period smooth leather. This would place the case in the late 1950's to 1960's time period.
There are no dates or markings on the shovel or case............. Essentially these shovels are identical to the old WW2 shovels with the exception of the the case. The WW2 cases had only one belt hanger and the post-war cases have two.
There is very little information about these shovels (as far as I could find after extensive research), but I did find an outstanding website that is filled with tons of post-war Czechoslovakian Army information. It is my "go-to" site for anything Czech now........ here's the link to their site:
http://www.csla.cz/en/index.htm
Before we jump down to the photo album of this shovel and case, let's take a look at a few photos showing the shovel in use (from the website I linked to above):
Here is the photo album:
Yesterday while I was riding my bicycle home from work, I swung through the Port Townsend boat yard to check out a pretty unique boat that was in the yard for a new coat of bottom paint. The boat is a 64 foot, SSBN Transit Protection System Screening Vessel, These boats are owned by the US Navy and operated by the US Coast Guard. (SSBN stands for: SS means SUBMARINE, the B means BALLISTIC NUCLEAR WEAPONS and the N mean NUCLEAR power plant). They are tasked with protecting the US Navy Nuclear Attack Submarines when they are moving into and out of ports. This particular boat is from US Naval Submarine Base Bangor, on the Hood Canal here in Washington State (a short distance from Port Townsend).
I don't know a lot about these boats, but I do know that they are US Navy owned and US Coast Guard operated. I would imagine this is because the USCG is technically not military, and as such are US Federal Law Enforcement Officers and can therefore enforce Civil Law, unlike the US Navy.
So, without further delay, here is an album of photos of this unique vessel:
