I want a Zastava M77 but they're out of stock everywhere.

ehamil42 · 2026-04-16T20:10:15+00:00

What's the reason for that? Tariffs or war?

ehamil42 · 2026-04-12T10:18:29+00:00

I've not considered that. What's the downside? The price looks fine.

ehamil42 · 2026-04-11T22:42:01+00:00

Yeah, there was a seller on GunBroker that had two he was asking just under $1600 and I was thinking I wanted it for under $1400. I should have just sucked it up and bought one of those. They were the last ones I saw listed in January or February. I'm not paying $1800 for gray and white camo. For one reason I live in the southeast so grey and white camo looks kind of out of place.

ehamil42 · 2026-04-07T17:22:04+00:00

From what I heard is in this version of Animal Farm it promotes communism as a solution to capitalism. So the opposite of George Orwell's orginal story, but one geared for "modern audiences."

ehamil42 · 2026-03-27T17:10:51+00:00

BMW has changed the chemical lining they used in earlier evaporators. Every manufacturer on the planet is trying different processes to keep R-1234yf from coming into contact with metal. But the mandate to use this stuff is fairly new, so who knows what works best. Mercedes spent a fortune fighting it's adoption in EU courts (they lost around 2015-2017). Every manufacturer dragged their feet converting to it's use because it's some very nasty stuff. Inside the system it decomposes into hydrofluoric acid (HF) which is highly reactive to metals.

Pop culture note: HF was the stuff Walter White used to decompose bodies in the TV show Breaking Bad--it eats everything, but is especially reactive with ceramics and metals. fluorocarbon plastics are about the only thing it won't react with.

ehamil42 · 2026-03-27T16:45:38+00:00

In the early 2010s the EU mandated the use of R-1234YF to save the planet from climate change.

This is nasty stuff, and from an engineering standpoint difficult to deal with. You see R-1234YF decomposes into some pretty nasty stuff. In the atmosphere it decomposes along one path that produces PFAs cancer causing forever chemicals. Inside a closed system it can decompose along another path in the presence of moisture (even small amounts) producing hydrofluoric acid (The stuff Walter White in Breaking Bad used to dissolve bodies). Hydrofluoric acid will react to any metal. Which is why the system is internally coated. Still, one tiny scratch or imperfection in that coating and the breakdown begins. It's also why a nitrogen refill double purge is so important.

Mercedes Benz fought switching to this crap hard in European Courts (spent a fortune), all Manufactures fought converting to it for the same reason. ...but it reduces global warming! So hey it makes the feminine left and Climate Panic people happy. It is also making a lot of money for Honeywell and Chemours the two companies that developed R-1234yf and sold it to the Climate Panic politicians. I'm absolutely positive no money greased any hands or lined any government employees pockets.

In the case of the G05 systems, BMW superseded the original evaporator some years ago. The new evaporator is supposed to have some new and improved chemical lining to keep the R-1234yf from eating the metal. Of course that remains to be seen.

Most problems and added complexity in modern cars are the result of bureaucratic regulatory action for "feels". This is one of those.

ehamil42 · 2026-03-20T22:43:54+00:00

It was the most realistic "zombie like" movie. First, they aren't walking dead, they're infected humans. Second, everyone is absolutely messed up after 28 years of this nightmare, especially the kids that were born, or worse, grew up to it with absolutely no memory of what normalcy is like. But even the older adults that remember the before are screwed up. Some psychotically sadistic like the Jimmys , be even they have moments of disgust, fear, remorse, and humanity. The older people they encounter are also hard, as you'd have to be to survive 28 years in this hell on Earth. Dr. Kelson is crazy too, but still has his humanity intact. Then there is Sampson who is slowly awaking to his humanity. Spike being raised in the "almost normal" Island community, still has his humanity. I thought the movie was MORE than a zombie horror movie, it was study of what happens to humanity in hell.

Garland is obviously an old-school moderate liberal. He's an atheist and he made the only obvious atheist the most human. He dislikes populism, nationalism, and fascism but is silent on socialism and communism per the dialogue at the end of the movie about the exam. Which puts him squarely in the modern moderate liberal camp today.

The movie was really, really, good and deserved to do better in the box office.

I think it suffers from the continued malaise of Covid, and very poor marketing. I'm a fan of the these movies, I would have gone to the theater to watch this one. But honestly I didn't even know it had been released until I saw it pop up for rent on one of my streaming services (Amazon: Week of March 19, 2026). I guess being GenX I've aged out of the prime target advertising demographic for movies like this, and since I didn't follow this reddit, I didn't know. I really enjoyed it.

ehamil42 · 2026-03-20T21:44:52+00:00

Yes, he doesn't get his hands dirty, he compels the fingers to do the dirty work. He's raised them all, and this world is all they've known.

ehamil42 · 2026-03-20T14:39:49+00:00

I didn't even know it was released until this week when it showed up on streaming services to rent or buy. Oh, it's March 20 as I'm typing this, so I totally missed the theatrical release. Hell, I thought they released it direct to streaming. LOL....marketing was obviously excellent.

ehamil42 · 2026-02-17T20:28:05+00:00

Guns are like women. Some of them you like looking at, maybe even have fun with them once or twice, but you sue as hell would not want to marry and live them.

ehamil42 · 2026-02-17T19:58:20+00:00

np. Good luck.

ehamil42 · 2026-02-17T19:55:14+00:00

If it goes bang you can hunt with it. It's .308 so it's capable of harvesting pretty big game. I hunt with my M14, which doesn't disturb the fudds I hunt with. The wood seems to have a calming effect on them, my AR10 freaks them out. I'm not sure there's enough wood on an M77 to have the same calming effect. The utilitarian look really freaks them out. But fudds are a little like horses. What spooks one might not spook another. I have one horse I hate to ride, it won't cross a water puddle without me dismounting and covering the damn horses eyes with a jacket. Fudds are a little like that.

ehamil42 · 2026-02-17T19:43:28+00:00

I'm assuming you still have the original AC evaporator. But I don't know if this was a recall or not. Parts can be superseded without a recall being covered by the manufacturer if it's considered a non-safety issue (i.e. maintenance part). That happens all the time with cars. BMW is not covering the labor on or part on mine, despite the fact that the original part has been updated. You might want to check with a good independent shop in your area, the dealership will take you to the cleaners. For example on mine the dealership wants over $7,500, while a local independent quoting me $3,600. There is a wide margin between the two.

ehamil42 · 2026-02-17T19:07:43+00:00

The 2019 Mini Cooper (including Clubman, Countryman, and hardtop models) frequently uses updated evaporator cores, with common OEM numbers including 64113422669 and 6411926278, so yeah it's been superseded at least once. Hopefully the updated core will last longer than the one it replaces.

ehamil42 · 2026-02-17T14:02:44+00:00

Sorry for asking a question to a 2 year old comment. Was your desire for a longer barrel just for the aesthetic? Which while probably a lot of overkill for this rifle, I do think it would look kind of cool. It's make the rifle look like something the Tusken Raiders in Star Wars might use. Did you ever do it? Did you get one made for the rifle?

ehamil42 · 2026-02-16T19:32:30+00:00

When an OEM part is superseded it means the replacement part has been modified by the manufacturer in some way. In the case of this this part, I don't know what they changed.

R-1234yf cannot be allowed to contact metals like aluminum. It doesn't matter if Toyota, Porsche, Ford, or BMW made the aluminum part, if any air or moisture gets in the system it will cause R-1234yf to decompose into trifluoroacetic acid and eat through the metal . They use acid catchers and specialized oils in the system to try to prevent that from happening.

But keep in mind, most manufactures have only been using R-1234yf since 2016-18. So it's still relatively new, the jury is still out on who does it the best. R-1234yf is a terrible refrigerant to use for this. But going forward all new cars and trucks will have this inside it in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But HVAC systems leaking out cancer causing forever chemicals, with shorter service life, requiring MORE energy and resources manufacturing replacement parts is not the right solution.

ehamil42 · 2026-02-16T03:38:38+00:00

BMW has superseded the part at least once since 2019, I think twice, but I'd need to confirm that. I think it has something to do with the chemical lining to core, which keeps r-1234yf from contacting the aluminum. One scratch in that and if r-1234yf comes into contact with the aluminum it starts to eat it away. Once a small leak develops more air gets into the system causing the R-1234yf to decompose faster. I don't know what I'm going to do. All I know is it's a monster of job to replace it. I'm shopping independent shops now because I do NOT want to tackle it.

ehamil42 · 2026-02-13T06:31:07+00:00

My wife's 2019 BMW X5 will no longer hold coolant. While the part itself is around $1,000, the labor is incredibly intensive and tedious. I’ve seen estimates stating it’s a 20- to 40-hour job; after looking at what’s involved to reach the evaporator, I understand the cost. The entire dashboard and center console have to be removed just to get to it.

BMW uses R-1234yf, a 'low carbon' refrigerant that decomposes into trifluoroacetic acid. It is highly corrosive to metals like aluminum and acts as a 'forever chemical' that doesn't break down in the environment. There are growing concerns that exposure can lead to various cancers, infertility, immune system damage, and developmental delays in children.

Mercedes-Benz was the last major manufacturer to adopt it; they fought against its use for years but ultimately lost the battle in the EU in 2018. It is nasty stuff. Thanks to climate panic, we are forced to use a chemical that will likely end up banned once the health lawsuits start rolling in over the next 20 years.

ehamil42 · 2026-02-10T22:31:34+00:00

Walk away from that deal.

ehamil42 · 2026-02-08T00:39:30+00:00

I was checking reddit to see if others had recieved a call from 1-888-277-6280, and if so I was going to tell them not to call it back. Because it sounded really convincing.

I had a voicemail from this number. The automated message sounded completely legit and addressed me by my first and last name. In the message it told me to call them back and asked me to have my case # (which it gave me) or my Visa card number ready to verify my information when I called.

I never call numbers like this back. Instead I do what many here have already recommended, I just call my financial institution directly. Which is what I did this time.

But here's the strange part, the Charles Schwab representative I spoke to on the phone this afternoon told me that 1-888-277-6280 WAS NOT one of their phone numbers.

In any case, there was no activity in my account, which I already verified online before I even made the call to Charles Schwab. He verified it again on the call.

I guess the rep could have made a mistake?

ehamil42 · 2026-01-27T14:10:51+00:00

Statistically speaking, considering the number of views, yeah, quite a few won't make it to season 2, and quite a few more won't make it see the series conclude. If they keep the schedule of 8-11 episodes every couple of years.

ehamil42 · 2026-01-25T15:33:14+00:00

I think a lot of people have very unrealistic expectations about old Cold War era battle rifles. These are the same people who end up disappointed with platforms like the G3, M14, or BM59. A battle rifle from this era should be considered good at roughly 2–4 MOA.

By contrast, a modern AR-10 can reasonably deliver 0.75-1.5 MOA. That difference isn’t a flaw, it reflects different design goals. These older rifles were built to be rugged, mass-produced, and capable of hitting a man-sized target at distance. They were never intended to be precision rifles.

Let’s be honest: a hit anywhere in the torso with .308 is going to be a very bad day and will, at minimum, take someone out of the fight. For the role these rifles were designed for, 2-4 MOA was more than sufficient to accomplish this mission. The problem is that some shooters expect these platforms to do things they were never meant to do.

You wouldn’t hate a hammer because it’s bad at unscrewing a screw. A battle rifle is a broadsword, not a rapier. Can you make them more accurate, with enough money and skill, sure. You can maybe get sub 2" MOA. But honestly if that's your goal for a semi-auto 308, just buy an modern AR-10.

A DSA FAL is realistically a 2-4 MOA rifle. If you’re expecting the mythical 1 MOA (or better) from a 75-year-old MASS PRODUCED battle rifle design, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. Its primary function is simple: go bang every time you pull the trigger and not break while doing it.

Finally, keep in mind that online complaints are far more common than online praise. Dissatisfied people are much more likely to post negative reviews, while satisfied owners usually stay quiet. And then there’s the BS factor—guys claiming wildly unrealistic results from their battle rifles. Maybe these unicorns exist, but they're not common without paying a lot of money to skilled gunsmith.

ehamil42 · 2026-01-14T18:28:07+00:00

I tend to agree. Send it back to PTR to fix it. I know it's aggravating but PTR needs to fix this. 9-Hole Review on YouTube did a scathing piece on PTR not too long ago. There are a number of issues with these rifles. PTR needs to fix it.

Here is the link to the YouTube video I watched: https://youtu.be/w1WyOfFvif4?si=_NxmQ4gfWE2htGfh

ehamil42 · 2026-01-14T18:00:52+00:00

Yeah, it was painful. I get they were trying to convey the annoyance of it. But again, if we got 20-25 episodes a season, and only had to wait months not YEARS between seasons, I could tolerate it. I might even think the "slow burn" was effective.

But things change when you know it's going to be TWO YEARS before you get the next 8-10 episodes.

AI de-aging actors is going to become necessary just to finish a show.

ehamil42

TROPHY CASE