{"id":9260,"date":"2026-04-13T00:15:53","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T00:15:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bigcountryexpat.com\/?p=9260"},"modified":"2026-04-13T00:15:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T00:15:54","slug":"sunday-relaxation-free-magazines-and-library-updates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bigcountryexpat.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/13\/sunday-relaxation-free-magazines-and-library-updates\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunday Relaxation, Free Magazines, and Library Updates"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Greetings and Salutations!
So, I appreciate all the congrats and thumbs up y’all have had for me and my project. I’m now in the home stretch if you will, and have been (again!) making MOAR!<\/strong> belts.

On that note:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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…with the understanding that the two times there IS<\/strong> such a thing as too much is when you’re swimming in deep<\/strong> water and\/or if you’re on fire….

Jes’ Sayin’

So I had a coupon from ammocanman dot com. 20? 25% off or something like that. I got it for I think buying a PILE of MREs from there during that time when the market was positively flooded… either way, when I get those ‘save on your next purchase’ cards when I receive a new toy that I’ve ordered, I have an envelope I stash them all in for a “just in case\/later” sort of thing.

I realized I wanted some ammo cans to stash the SAW belts in. SO I got a 4-pack of what are most commonly referred to as “M-60 ammo cans”… the correct nomenclature being the M19A1. They were about $15 a piece, but with the coupon and free shipping, it worked out to $12 a can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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So that’s been my Sunday Project.
Cleaning up and painting the cans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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….and yeah, the paining area IS a shitshow. I mean it’s easy enough to clean up, but for now, there’s nothing that -I’m- worried about. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cans for the most part are rust free, which is a plus, and I hit them with the proper OD Green (literal US DotMil issue) so I didn’t have to pain the entire can:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The color appears<\/em> to be ‘off’, but I think it’s the lighting and that the paint was still wet when I shot that pic. I then laid them out in the sun to dry and get a sort of ‘baked’ dry if you will. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As you can see, the color is a ‘trick of the light’ as I stated before. Then I moved them inside.

After that, and once they were good to go, I broke out my stencil, taped it down and hit it with the yellow paint:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Now, THIS one is attempt #2 as attempt #1 for whatever reason ‘bled’ allllll over the place. I think it was because the stencil wasn’t flat enough to the can, and when the paint sprayed on, it went UNDER the places where it shouldn’t have, leaving a bled-over mess. I repainted the can, and this time I was faaar more careful in ‘laying’ the stencil down, as you can see in the pic.

And it worked out nicely:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The ‘roughness’ on the pain I think is pollen. The Lanai is positively covered in the stuff. Only this can seemed to get hit with it, so no big deal. I mean it IS an ammo can after all. It’s like going to be used and abused right?

Now since it IS a can designed for 7.62mm, I filled in the interior and bottom with some cardboard. Times like this make me thankful for the Zon and the copious amounts of cardboard they ship their ‘stuff’ in:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This alleviates the belt from banging around and getting all twisted and whatnot as without the cardboard spacers, the belt has waaay too much room to flail around in, and it’s also noisy as all get out. By putting the spacers in, it comes out like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I might add another layer on the next can… I mean cardboard? I have plenty!

You can also see the starter tab (the brown plastic plate) on the right side of the can as well. Over all, I’d say it worked out quite nicely for a weekend project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And per my response to a comment: The overall weight of this, WITH an Optic and a 200 round drum should be about<\/em> 23.5+\/- pounds, which is 2 pounds lighter than a DotMil Issue M249.

Now the optic in question?
I found it on Palmetto State (of course)
Where in a Month or Two (after I pay off my current layaways) I’m looking at dropping MOAR<\/span><\/strong> coin on the sight for this. Namely:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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FULL RETARD Mode ACTIVATED!!!<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why not right?
Seem to be my favorite phrase these days…

So other things:
Does anyone want\/need 3 AC-Unity Windowed 30 round magazines for a VZ-58? My bro Cowboy came over yesterday in the A.M. to do a buffer tube swap-out on his Grandsons AR. A somewhat odd<\/em> thing this was… The lower was a CMMG AR lower… everything mil-spec, except for the buffer tube.

For whatever reason<\/em> it had a ‘standard size tube’. Meaning that mil-spec stocks couldn’t fit on it. The kid had bought a Magpul stock, but it wouldn’t go on ‘cos the ‘standard’ size diameter on the buffer tube is 0.05 of an inch larger<\/strong> than mil-spec.

This thing must be much older than I thought as ‘standard’ spec’d pieces-parts have pretty much went the way of the dinosaur. Sort of like AR-15 Bolt Carriers with that cut-out… <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The primary difference between an\u00a0M16 (full-auto) BCG\u00a0and an\u00a0AR-15 (semi-auto) BCG\u00a0is that the\u00a0M16 carrier has more material on the rear underside to actuate an auto sear, making it heavier and more robust. M16 BCGs are the industry standard for most AR-15 builds, offering better reliability, while AR-15 BCGs are lighter (H\/T the Goolag AI).

It used to be<\/em> as I recall illegal to have an M-16 BCG.

Nowadays?
I think 98% of ALL ARs built now have the M-16 BCG. And the same with buffer tubes and whatnot… so I switch out the tube. Now since I’m his so-to guy, he’d told me he’d picked up some extremely<\/em> cheap mags for his AK. Problem was, they weren’t fitting at all. <\/strong>I told him to bring them along…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At first glance, they look<\/em> OK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Then on closer inspection:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Yeah… the spine is on the far right instead of centered, and the locking lug is on the far left<\/strong> instead of being centered.

The VZ-58 look<\/strong>s<\/em> <\/strong>like an AK, and fires the same round, but is almost a completely different beast, as it uses a short stroke gas piston and has a bolt-hold open function. Looking at it up close, you can see the differences:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Seems Cowboy got 3 of them by accident…

Anyone want them?
Let me know in the comments or DM me.

So otherwise, like I said before, I’ve ‘tuned the static out’ from my headspace and timing. The only thing of note to me leastways was that it seems in Dublin, according to sources, the Gaurda (the cops) had a BIG ‘sick-out’ with over 400 fuzz calling in rather than face the wrath of the public.

Not sure which way it’s going to swing, but Ireland is over<\/strong> being told how to live by a bunch of unelected dictatorial beaurocrat scumbags from Brussels. Meh… let me know when they start killin’ politicians\/traitors. Then<\/strong> I’ll start paying attention…

Speaking of which: Last thing for tonight.
New files added to the Library of Mayhem:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I loaded the files and are as complete as I can make them. The M1337 folder has the link in word format to go to the primary website, and buy some of the parts that you need over and above. The M1337 BTW, looks like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I have to get the 3D Printer back up online.
MAYBE<\/em> this summer?
We’ll have to see.
So More Later
Big Country<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Greetings and Salutations!So, I appreciate all the congrats and thumbs up y’all have had for me and my project. I’m now in the home stretch if you will, and have been (again!) making MOAR! belts. On that note: …with the understanding that the two times there IS such a thing as too much is when … Continue reading “Sunday Relaxation, Free Magazines, and Library Updates”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigcountryexpat.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigcountryexpat.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigcountryexpat.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigcountryexpat.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigcountryexpat.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9260"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bigcountryexpat.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9279,"href":"https:\/\/bigcountryexpat.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9260\/revisions\/9279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigcountryexpat.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigcountryexpat.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigcountryexpat.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}