Hey Boys and Girls.
I’d like to say first off, thanks for taking the time to read through this thread as it means a lot to me to help a good friend of mine.
I’ll start off the story by giving you all a brief rundown of the circumstances that have led me to this post.
I have a friend who lives in the US of A and has had a good career in the military as an ARMY Ranger and Airborne Engineer. For those of you who know what army engineer’s do he’s that guy. He spent a good part of his ARMY life behind enemy lines doing the things that movies are made from.
After the ARMY he found himself protecting the public by keeping the criminal element locked up and safe in there 6x9 government issued dorm rooms.
So let’s get to why I’m wrighting to you for help.
It was during his time in the military when he developed diabetes and led to his early retirement from service, with partial pension. During the course of the next decade in public service his health deteriorated to the point where he has completely lost the vision in one eye and has less than 50% in the other. This again has forced him out of the work force and has left him reeling. Subsequently as a result of being forced out of work he has lost all rights to his medical insurances as they were work issued and have run out. Those of you who have had any experience with the US medical system will know that you have to pay for your medical insurance and, well basically you get what you pay for and for the majority of people across the border that’s not much. Because of this he has had to make some massive sacrifices to insure his health and keep a half way descent quality of life. These include loss of transportation and personal effects as well as the loss of his home.
I’m not intending this to be a Thread about who has the best med plan because we all know what the answer to that quandary is.
Because of the rapid degenerative effects of his medical issues he has been feeling very down, as some of you can imagine.
What I am asking is for a little help. But not in the usual ways. This friend of mine has been one of those guys who always has a smile on his face and can make you laugh during the most stressful times. Shooting sports have been a big part of his life style for many years and now that’s all gone too.
So I’d like to return the favor.
My plan is to make him a walking cane from spent cases as I know this would put a smile on his face and crate conversation. The problem I’m faced with is I have no idea what the vision impaired canes dimensions are based on, and I’m trying to figure out what calibers to use as well as a bunch of other smaller variables to deal with.
What I’m looking for are a few ideas and a few cases to start with.
Some of the ideas I had were to machine out the primer pocket so the case neck will fit snugly into the opening then braze or solder them together making up one section of the cane.
Another was to place the cases inside a clear plastic tube of some sort thus building them in sections again.
If anyone has a few old cases that maybe have been shot past their prime and or have some they just don’t use anymore and wouldn’t mind sending them that would be fantastic, the bigger the better. I have the more common stuff like .303, .308, .223, 9mm, and 30-06, but I’m looking for some oddball stuff that I don’t have like .50, .416, 45-70 to name a few.
Any ideas and or foreseeable issues that you might have let me know
I thank you in advance for taking the time to read this and sharing your thoughts and ideas.
I’d like to say first off, thanks for taking the time to read through this thread as it means a lot to me to help a good friend of mine.
I’ll start off the story by giving you all a brief rundown of the circumstances that have led me to this post.
I have a friend who lives in the US of A and has had a good career in the military as an ARMY Ranger and Airborne Engineer. For those of you who know what army engineer’s do he’s that guy. He spent a good part of his ARMY life behind enemy lines doing the things that movies are made from.
After the ARMY he found himself protecting the public by keeping the criminal element locked up and safe in there 6x9 government issued dorm rooms.
So let’s get to why I’m wrighting to you for help.
It was during his time in the military when he developed diabetes and led to his early retirement from service, with partial pension. During the course of the next decade in public service his health deteriorated to the point where he has completely lost the vision in one eye and has less than 50% in the other. This again has forced him out of the work force and has left him reeling. Subsequently as a result of being forced out of work he has lost all rights to his medical insurances as they were work issued and have run out. Those of you who have had any experience with the US medical system will know that you have to pay for your medical insurance and, well basically you get what you pay for and for the majority of people across the border that’s not much. Because of this he has had to make some massive sacrifices to insure his health and keep a half way descent quality of life. These include loss of transportation and personal effects as well as the loss of his home.
I’m not intending this to be a Thread about who has the best med plan because we all know what the answer to that quandary is.
Because of the rapid degenerative effects of his medical issues he has been feeling very down, as some of you can imagine.
What I am asking is for a little help. But not in the usual ways. This friend of mine has been one of those guys who always has a smile on his face and can make you laugh during the most stressful times. Shooting sports have been a big part of his life style for many years and now that’s all gone too.
So I’d like to return the favor.
My plan is to make him a walking cane from spent cases as I know this would put a smile on his face and crate conversation. The problem I’m faced with is I have no idea what the vision impaired canes dimensions are based on, and I’m trying to figure out what calibers to use as well as a bunch of other smaller variables to deal with.
What I’m looking for are a few ideas and a few cases to start with.
Some of the ideas I had were to machine out the primer pocket so the case neck will fit snugly into the opening then braze or solder them together making up one section of the cane.
Another was to place the cases inside a clear plastic tube of some sort thus building them in sections again.
If anyone has a few old cases that maybe have been shot past their prime and or have some they just don’t use anymore and wouldn’t mind sending them that would be fantastic, the bigger the better. I have the more common stuff like .303, .308, .223, 9mm, and 30-06, but I’m looking for some oddball stuff that I don’t have like .50, .416, 45-70 to name a few.
Any ideas and or foreseeable issues that you might have let me know
I thank you in advance for taking the time to read this and sharing your thoughts and ideas.
