At a recent NRA instructor class we got into a Curio and Relic discussion on one of the breaks, and one of the students told me he found a solution to the short cleaning rods that come with the Mosin Nagant 91/30s.
As always, I was open to learning how someone else did things, so I was all ears to hear about his Cleaning Rod Tip
What he did was to take a simple ¼ inch dowel rod and use that to push his patches down the bore.
Since it is wood, it won’t scratch the rifling – it is long enough to push the patch from the breech to the muzzle – and being slightly smaller than .30 it is a nice tight fit.
I like it, and now have a dowel rod near my cleaning bench. This is a great way to clean guns as the wood will not scratch the bore, it is cheap, and it keeps me from switching jags back and forth. For some reason I hate unscrewing and changing tips on my cleaning rod. With the cost of dowel rods and the ease at drilling one out for a jag I can afford to have a few.
There are some misconceptions about Glock maritime spring cups and shooting Glock pistols underwater that I want to clear up in this article.
You can shoot a Glock underwater without special maritime spring cups. Any Glock can be shot underwater.
However, water does not compress. Additionally it flows slower than air. This means that water can bind in the firing pin chamber and cause your Glock fail to cycle. Basically making it a single shot handgun.
To remedy this malfunction in water, Glock created maritime spring cups.
What Are Maritime Spring Cups?
Spring cups are two half cylinder shaped stops that fit in the firing pin spring and cup the firing pin connecting the two so that the spring can cause the firing pin to function. Spring cups are called the “million dollar part” because if you break them or lose one the gun WILL NOT function.
Normal spring cups are solid plastic, maritime spring cups have two channels cut into them to allow water to flow past them and empty out of the firing pin chamber, so that it can move fast enough to fire the handgun.
Spring Cups Allow Glocks to be More Reliable When Wet
Maritime cups don’t actually allow the gun to fire underwater; they just allow the gun to function more reliably when wet. While the gun CAN fire submerged, the idea is that when working in maritime environments like on rivers or swamps, if the gun is submerged you can pick it up and start firing without having to shake the water out or perform maintenance. In the Glock 18 courses they actually fire the full auto Glock until it smokes, dump it in 5 gallon buckets of water to cool, and then return to firing by using the maritime cups.
Shooting Guns While Underwater Can Cause Internal Injury
But besides the impact to on the gun, the water also impacts your body. When shooting on dry land, the atmosphere does not impact on the gun the same way the water does. Since the water does not compress, firing a gun underwater causes shockwaves. The impact of repeated underwater shockwaves can do major damage to a person’s internal organs. Therefore, this is one of those things that, just because you CAN, does not mean you SHOULD. There are several very cool you tube videos showing high speed camera footage of shockwaves caused by underwater gunfire.
Watch Your Backstop
Unfortunately enough people have tried out their maritime spring cups in their bathrooms, toilet bowls, and above ground pools that Glock considers the spring cups to be restricted items. Only law enforcement agencies can buy factory maritime cups, and only on official letterhead signed by the agency head.
Maritime Spring Cups Are Not Always The Best Choice
You can buy aftermarket cups, but you should know that they have less material to support the firing pin, so they are more prone to failure, they are not able to be seen without disassembling the slide, and if they break the gun is useless until repaired.
Spring cups are always replaced in a set of two. Glock only sells them in pairs, and factory cups are only a dollar. I do not see a need for using the maritime cups. If you want to run maritime spring cups, I am not mad at you, its your gun.
Just please be aware of the entire issue before you decide to tinker. There are a lot of modifications to Glocks that are factory blessed. I have done most of them to mine to show you exactly what they are. My favorite is a tie between the larger magazine release and the smooth trigger. In my new free PDF section I have a collection of Glock manuals
I recently got my Type 03 Federal Firearm License (more commonly called a C&R License). Stubbornly, I put off getting a Curio and Relics license for years. Once I saw how easy it was to get one I knew I should have done it decades ago.
If you are interested in older guns, war surplus, or inexpensive guns, then the Curio and Relic FFL ( what C&R stands for) might be something to look into.
There are some misconceptions about this type of federal firearm license. For some of you there might be some hesitance in getting a license to go about exercising a Constitutional Right. However, there are a lot of practical benefits of getting such a license.
Practical Benefits of a Curio and Relics License.
A C&R license gives you almost all the benefits of a Type 1 or Dealer FFL. The only two differences are that a Curio Relic license is for guns older than 50 years old that have historical value. However, some newer guns are also C&R guns depending on historical significance. You also cannot use this license to engage in the commercial business of dealing guns.
The BATFE Determines if a Gun is a Curio or Relic.
According to the ATF website:
To be recognized as curios or relics, firearms must fall within one of the following categories:
Have been manufactured at least 50 years prior to the current date, but not including replicas thereof; or
Be certified by the curator of a municipal, State, or Federal museum which exhibits firearms to be curios or relics of museum interest; or
Derive a substantial part of their monetary value from the fact that they are novel, rare, bizarre, or from the fact of their association with some historical figure, period, or event.
You Can’t be a Dealer on a C&R License, but You Can Make Occasional Sales
It is also important to know that you CAN sell parts of your collection; you just cannot buy a gun for the specific purpose of selling it. For an example – There are places where you can buy a crate of 20 Mosin Nagant rifles for around $1900, but if you do not have the cash, you cannot make a deal with your 10 buddies to sell them a rifle to make up the difference.
What I like about the type 03 license is that I can order guns directly from distributors and have them shipped to my door without background checks – even from out of state. I can also get the guns at dealer pricing.
As a matter of fact many places like have dealer pricing that is available when you send them a copy of your license. I actually saved more money on the first order on parts from midway then I spent on the license. (Unfortunately I believe Midway and Brownells have discontinued dealer pricing for C&R Licensees.)
The cost of the license is $30 for three years. But as you write the check or put in your credit card, now that the ATF will cash your payment the day they get it, but it may take weeks to months before you get the actual license.
The process to get the C&R license is very easy:
Download the application form at the BATFE website.
Copy 1 of the download is to be filled out and submitted to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives along with the application fee.
Copy 2 of the download is to be filled out and sent to the Chief Law Enforcement Officer (CLEO)in your community.
The CLEO is typically the Chief of Police or Sheriff where you live.
The form asks for the CLEO to sign that there is no legal reason you should be denied the license, not that he approves.
As long as you can legally own firearms then the CLEO does not have a reason not to sign.
Submit your fee and your paperwork
The approval process can take anywhere from about six weeks to three months, depending upon the backlog at the ATF. Once approved, you will need to renew your C&R FFL every three years or anytime you move to a new address.
Once you get your license there are some things to do
(some you can do while you wait)
The first thing to do is make a lot of copies of the license.
Place the original in a safe place (like your gun safe).
It makes it easy if you then sign a copy and scan it as a PDF – you will need to send a signed copy to anyone you use you C&R with, either to buy guns or receive dealer discounts.
Next you need to buy a logbook. At the bottom of this article I have a link to the logbook I bought. It is one of the cheaper logbooks, has a lot of room, and is good quality.
You must have a logbook, because you have to log each gun you buy on your license. However, if you buy a gun that is not related to your C&R it does not have to be logged (Actually it SHOULD NOT be logged in your C&R log). i.e. If you buy a Gen 4 Glock or some other new manufacture gun do not log them.
Any gun purchased on the license must also be logged out when it is disposed of – meaning if you sell something in your collection, you must log who you sold it to, when you sold it, and list the number off some form of government issued identification issued to them – Driver License or FFL number.
Home Visit Misconceptions
Many people say they won’t get an FFL because that allow the Feds to come into your home without a warrant. This is a misconception. The BATFE does have the right to inspect you C&R inventory and log book once a year, but you can bring your paperwork and collection to them.
If you have a Type 01 FFL, they can do one unannounced yearly inspection during your posted business hours, but typically the structure listed on a commercial FFL is not someone’s home.
Getting my Curio license has been worthwhile to me. Buying a Mosin Nagant at C&R price of $110 including shipping sure $150 for the same gun at a dealer. One gun makes your money back.
Being able to buy guns and having them shipped to my door is really cool.
I am not a Glock Fanboy that thinks nothing beats a Glock. But the Glock has its place in the tool chest.
I understand them and how to make them work better.
One thing I do not like about Glocks are their magazine release button. This post show Glock magazine catch replacement with parts from larger Glocks so that the catch is easier to use.
The first through third generations of Glocks have a short and small magazine release (the gen-4 has a magazine release button 3x the size of the others and needs no replacement).
You can buy aftermarket extended magazine release, but if you have a compact Glock, the equivalent caliber full size model’s magazine release is bigger and will work perfectly as an extended release.
Using an OEM part will be much cheaper than using aftermarket parts. – This might not be factory, but it is something the factory is aware of, and they basically did the same thing with the Gen-4 guns.
I learned about this “trick” for Glock magazine catch replacement from the actual factory Glock armorer school so this is not some redneck trick like sanding down the Glock connecter as a “trigger job”
Today I am taking some Sellier and Bellot 308 Match Ammunition to the range to try out in my CETME rifle.
Sellier and Bellot has been producing cartridge ammunition since 1825.
They produce ammunition using high quality components which is used by hunters, competition shooters, law enforcement agencies and militaries around the world.
This ammunition is new production, non-corrosive, in boxer primed, reloadable brass cases.
Here is the Technical Information on the rounds:
Caliber: 308 Winchester
Bullet Weight: 168 Grains
Bullet Style: Hollow Point Boat Tail
Case Type: Brass
Ballistics Information
Muzzle Velocity: 2628 fps
Muzzle Energy: 2577 ft. lbs.
I found this ammo to be good quality, but I had a problem with very hard primers. That is not always a problem and if you have a gun with a free floating firing pin, then it is a good thing, but if you are shooting a gun with a light firing pin spring you may have many failure to fire malfunctions with this ammo.
This .308 Math Ammunition is actually better than my ability to fire it, and after using it in other guns, I am starting to think that it may have been my gun – not for the group – that was my fault, but for the hard primers.
There are some misconceptions about Glock maritime spring cups and shooting Glock pistols underwater that I want to clear up in this article.
