A couple of months ago I talked about some upcoming projects that I wanted to do, and how I would decide the order to do them. The order turned out to be to refurbish my Mossberg 500, then build a new AR-15, then upgrade my Ruger 10/22.
Since then I have completed the Mossberg refurbish. I plan to go shoot it next week and report on the results.
However, a number of factors have led me to revise the order of the other 2. First is the fact that building the AR would have cost more money than I have available at this time, in essence stalling both remaining projects until I have saved up enough. Adding to this is the fact that the AR will add another caliber of ammunition to my inventory, relatively expensive ammunition.
So this led me to reconsider my rankings, and move the 10/22 rebuild up. In fact, all the parts are on order, and should be in hand by the weekend. This means that, barring a family emergency or zombie apocalypse, I should be able to complete the project, and take my 10/22 to the range next week.
So, given my earlier post about the rigorous method I used to rank my projects, how do I justify the change?
It turns out that the Utility factor has a lot more involved in it than just how much I would shoot the gun in a perfect world. I didn't really consider the cost of ammo, which was a mistake.
And, it reminds me that rankings are fluid, and can change. And, it reminds me that, when it all comes down to it, as Captain Barbosa once pointed out, the rankings are really more like guidelines.
+++
Yes, I could reload my own .223, but that is, in essence, another project. It is on my list, but not very high, I admit.
+++
On a semi-related note, as I've related before, I name my guns, and my son and I almost always refer to them by name. The 10/22 was named originally Captain America, to complement Bucky, the Buck Mark. Since then, we've both taken to calling the 10/22 in its current configuration Steve Rogers. (If you are unaware of the correlation, Google it. Sorry, Carson's Law.)
So now, here comes the Super Soldier project.