RIFLEMAN'S JOURNAL - NOVEMBER 2008

Moseying off to the range afternoonish. Wimped on the MojoVZ, not enough powder on hand to make my usual load, can't afford to get more now, and I'm too tired to develop a new one. Primarily doing some overdue handgun science. First, some .357 Magnum batches from my 4" GP100:

.357 Magnum test loads
GP100 4"
All with WSPM primers
A: 158gr plated lead, 4.0gr Unique
B: 158gr plated lead, 4.4gr Unique
C: 158gr plated lead, 5.3gr Unique
D: 158gr plated lead, 4.2gr Trail Boss
E: 125gr plated lead, 7.0gr W231
F: 158gr lead, 21gr(v) Pyrodex P
G: 158gr lead, 21gr(v) Goex FFFg

Round#	A	B	C	D	E	F	G
1	395.6	587.2	690.8	566.1	1053	708.2	690.7
2	567.9	596.9	731.4	649.1	954.9	715.9	696.6
3	531.5	658.8	676.2	670.7	967.2	709.5	677.5
4	492.9	601.1	723.9	706.3	1017	688.9	686.0
5	526.9	611.0	754.9	670.5	971.2	734.5	697.8
6	610.2	599.8	739.8	677.5	952.5	713.0	693.2
7	527.4	546.8	730.8	595.4	927.4
8	550.5	633.7	745.0	636.8	916.6
9	781.5	595.6	723.9	676.4	928.0
10	523.4	-	724.0	692.6	914.1
11	524.9	543.1	728.5	642.2
12	534.0	658.9	727.9	701.2
Averages	547.2	603.0	724.8	657.1	957.2	711.7	690.3

The MTM pistol rest I bought at the club picnic was a great help, vastly reducing the risk of hitting the chronograph. Note load E, 125gr - I want a lighter load for plates so I don't beat myself up, and also second sis has requested some light .357 rounds. Recoil was indeed milder than the 158gr I'm using with the same charge, and there are no evident ignition issues, but flash and blast were Pronounced. Now me, I can use that as a psychological weapon to distract an opponent in head-to-head - but it's not exactly appropriate for doesn't-shoot-nearly-as-much-as-I-do sis. More development....

Yes, I used actual black powder (and Pyrodex substitute too), in the name of Science. It worked. And now you know. Volumetric load data found on the net somewhere or other, one of the Cowboy Action sites. Remember black powder and its substitutes must be compressed.

Trail Boss smells like dirty socks, BTW. Not the most consistent velocities either, in my experience.

Next, some .45ACP loads from the Witness - but I forgot to pack the magazines and had to single-load each. These rounds were made months ago, under different lunar phases and astrological conjunctions, so bear that in mind. For my current racing load, either plates or pins, I use Xtreme 230 or 200gr plated LRN, depending which I have on hand or which is in stock at Sportsman's Warehouse, over 5.3 or 5.5gr W231 respectively. Also bear in mind that the same Auto-Disk aperture may throw +/- .1 as local temperature and humidity changes:

.45ACP test loads
EAA Witness, 6" ported barrel, polygonal bore
All with WLP primers
A: 230gr plated lead, 5.2gr W231
B: 200gr XTP, 5.5g W231
C: 230gr Speer JHP, 5.3gr W231

Round#	A	B	C
1	695.3	749.4	790.5
2	729.9	784.5	786.5
3	731.0	752.7	809.2
4	703.9	773.3	806.4
5	745.0	723.2	784.4
6	686.4	737.0	817.6
7	701.4	749.5	804.7
8	729.2	745.4	783.5
9	689.3	738.8	779.6
10	697.7	755.7	782.3
Averages	710.9	751.0	794.5

Note the different velocities with essentially the same load, A vs. C, except plated vs. jacketed - but phase-of-the-moon might account for that.

While there I also had opportunity to test some .44 Magnum loads - the weapon was one of those old German "Great Western" or somesuch SAA clones, in .44 Magnum with a non-standard 6.5" barrel. I might have use of this weapon for the 2x4 shoot next month and anticipating this, last night I slapped together some test batches, using dies and components I bought from Yuri when he had to liquidate his Vaquero about a year ago.

.44 Magnum test loads
German Colt SAA clone, 6.5"
A-D with WLP primers; E & F with CCI300 primers
A: 200gr LRN, 7.0gr W231
B: 200gr LRN, 7.0gr Universal Clays
C: 200gr LRN, 6.4gr Trail Boss
D: 200gr LRN, 8.7gr Unique
E: 240gr LSWC, 21.4gr IMR4227
F: 240gr JHP, 21.4gr IMR4227

Round#	A	B	C	D	E	F
1	834.3	763.4	841.2	1020	1148	1135
2	897.4	902.5	885.3	1128	1189	1145
3	907.7	904.6	889.4	1229	1189	1176
4	904.2	864.8	887.4	1111	1225	1129
5	890.0	889.3	862.3	1069	1207	1147
6	823.6	958.7	844.0	1082	1240	1115
7	868.4	827.2	862.1	1088
8	900.1	788.5	818.4	1033
9	890.2	830.0	823.0	1063
10	840.6	851.0	855.5	1121
Averages	875.7	838.0	856.9	1094.4	1199.7	1141.2

There, don't say I never posted nuthin'. (And Do Not Question My Scienceness!)

The .44 load data came from my books and .PDFs, except the W231 load - I couldn't find one published for 200gr lead and finally found mention of one in some forum discussion somwehere (I'm far from the first to desire a milder .44 Magnum load). Loads E & F were made by Yuri for his Vaquero (he filled out the complete MTM box label for the lead but not for the JHP - in email he says he used the same load) and ow! Way too stiff for my taste, hence only one cylinder each. If that's the kind of load he was using, no wonder the Vaquero was the first one he thought of parting with when he needed money. Of course it was the same for me years ago when I had to liquidate my own Vaquero, but that was years before I started handloading. Loads A-C were pleasantly mild, though you can see the first-round ignition effect as the powder shifts in recoil; Trail Boss did better here but still smells. (Note that, since this was the first time I made .44 Magnum rounds, I removed round #6 of load A to check my crimp for bullet-pull (it was fine) then put it back in, re-shifting the powder.) Load D was snappier than I was looking for but seems to have more consistent ignition (which makes perfect sense as more of the internal case volume is used). Next time, 7.5 and 8.0gr W231 (since I have a lot of W231 for .357 and .45...), to address ignition without, hopefully, increasing recoil too much.

I have no idea what happened with rounds 7-10 of load B. It's interesting that something similar seems to have happened with load C.

Codrea displays wisdom.

This is interesting. And variously frightening for anyone who's been paying attention.

Sizing brass, more fiddling with the Load-Master - having at the Small slider block from the Pro 1000s with Dremel, I have the case feeder working now, and with that done the Load-Master is fully operational for .45ACP. Later, I got my first stuck case, an HXP .30-06 in my Wells sizing die - I've disassembled the die but the expander ball is still inside. I plan to get some ¼" steel rod at the hardware store tomorrow, place the die in the single-stage press, and hammer it out - hopefully this won't wreck the expander ball. If it does I might need a new die set, but the shows I go to should have some used. -Aaaactually even if it does, if I can just get the case out, I have a workaround: I can use the .308 die in the five-station Load-Master, adjusting it just enough to expand the neck after the Wells die decaps and full-length resizes. If I do it right, using spacers under the locking ring for example, I won't even have to change the .308 die's regular setting. Improvise! Adapt! Overcome!

2002 - Sunday, 2 November 2008: Bonuzzzzz.

After laundry and a trip to the hardware store, time for chat & show. As promised, interview with Codrea, also discussing the Cooper Arms debacle. -I don't often bother 'blogging such current events here, I forward them to Codrea's larger audience instead, and I link him off my front page - you are reading him every day, right? Much election talk. Gottlieb was on, also an FN guy talking about their JBT-ized BAR, grump.

Making more .44 test batches - 7.5 & 8.0 W231, ditto Universal Clays, no stinky Trail Boss, no un-mild Unique. The Chronow Knows.... Testing next Saturday after AvA. -Also Turkey Shoot committee meeting after the match.

Continuing Pournelle's Exile - and Glory, written throughout the 1970s - and it's eerie how he predicts exactly the kind of socialist, degenerate society we're staring in the face two days from now.

Five bucks for a foot-long ¼" stainless rod - but then only a few strikes with a hammer to get the stuck case out, and that five bucks provides a tool to clear five six different cartridges I'm tooled for if this happens again. Dremel to saw open the wrecked case to get the expander ball out - looks ok, reassembles easily. Test - all is well. As a fellow chat-room Elf said in reference to the issue, it'd be a helluva time to be without an '06 sizer.

2003 - Monday, 3 November 2008: People who drive slow in the left lane should be publicly flogged.

Aaand I'm back to Hating the Job. Schedule still wrong, 'crat still 'crattish. Stupid useless petty control-freak documentation requirements. People who've never done a day's real work in their lives, making twice what our kind does and lording it over us. Effing Sons of Mary. Calling temp service at lunch... couple possibilities they'll email to me, but it might be more of the same and that won't do.

Finishing Pournelle - I fear we've passed the point where that path could have been followed. Guess we'll find out Wednesday-ish. (Some of the chat room Elves say they'll be taking Wednesday off and bunkering up. Some of my other readers too. Srsly. Next cycle, if there is one, I'll plan ahead.) Next is Heinlein's Starman Jones.

Meanwhile, back to reprocessing '06 - still 600 or so projectiles on hand, plenty of brass and primers, nearly out of powder and an 8lb keg is like $150, ow. After AvA, with what I learned at Appleseed and constant fiddling with the Load-Master, want to re-re-redevelop my M2 equivalent load... except the weather will skew the science now, hm.

Mm hm. Anyone wanna help me write a Constitutional prohibition against communism, socialism, and related -isms? I think it would fit in the Declaration of Rights, next to my equivalents of the 1st, 4th, 5th and like amendments. (Don't forget that preamble.) Something like a right to keep what you earn (RKE SNBI!)?

Aaand the temp service can't spell my e-dress, uh huh. Despite me typing it very clearly in the MSWord-format resumé I emailed to them. -Ya know, my mother taught me to read before I entered the public school system. Possibly the most useful thing anyone's ever done for me.

2004 - Tuesday, Election Day, 4 November 2008: Codrea illustrates the Blueshirt Problem. Which is getting worse.

Expecting election fistfights in the call center any moment. As my own stance is no secret I wouldn't be surprised to be spontaneously assaulted (and then, naturlich, prosecuted for the crime of self-defense). Checking tires for slashing before driving off, the last few days.

Sigh - I reckon I'll give up on my whitish-elephant .22 conversion (for now), and convert the 1911 back to .45 as God and Saint John intended, then start using it. (Shoots a bit high with the current sights, but I can just hold low I guess. Dovetailed front, should be an easy fix, just have to find the right dovetail.) Without the red dot. -Hm, drill press, hardware store, I could saw apart the scope mount and bolt in a riser so it clears the rear sight... someday. -Or maybe I could simply have someone replicate the firing pin the conversion does have, that should be simple lathe work and a simple cut for the retaining pin, then hardening of course. As for .45, with conventional rifling (as opposed to the Witness) I can use lead bullets if I'm unable to get plated or jacketed - and I have a mold and sizer that will work. I understand a 1911 in .45ACP can even be made to run on blackpowder, and I know the theory of making that. (...More Science... I think someone has even tried that with 9x19mm but case capacity was too small to generate enough recoil to cycle.)

Much lower call volume than the previous contract at least. But my psyche needs a change. Every year or so I just get tired. -And there's freaks, some in positions of Aw-thor-i-tie.

Starman Jones - Heinlein seems to have invented Star Trek 3D chess about 15 years before Roddenbery put it on TV. But Heinlein invented lots of things way ahead of anyone else. In Between Planets he got the idea for stealth shapes as we see in the F117. Waterbeds came from Stranger in a Strange Land; pressure suits much as we know them today from Have Spacesuit, Will Travel. And of course there's Rocketship Galileo/Destination Moon.

Ooo, this (via WRSA) could be useful! Until it's shut down of course.

Hey, off early due to low call volume. Since I was on that side of town, visited temp rep face-to-face - still nothing but he's looking. -Now you watch, the schedulecrat will be petty and spiteful because I dared question it's 'cratness, and I'll be scheduled to work 'till 11pm Saturdays, which would force me to quit. At least I have a full check in the pipeline so, if I don't buy another keg of BL-C(2) (or a Red 9 C96, or...), there's another month's rent.

America... is hated for our wealth, our success. Since when is success evil? This is America! We're good at stuff! It's not that we cheat or exploit other nations - the rest of the world just sucks. People like Hussein and all his murderous bigot friends like racist hatemonger Wright and certified bomb-throwing anarchist Ayers just can't stand that - because they also suck and are incapable of accomplishing anything on their own without tearing down something someone else has built. And that's what your vote is about. Do you want to live in a country where, with all the system's flaws, honest hard work can still get you ahead? Or a country where success is punished and everyone is brought down to the lowest common denominator?

2005 - Wednesday, 5 November 2008:

The United States of America
The Last Republic
Born in Battle
19 April 1775
Committed Suicide
4 November 2008

Shift bids - five slots available in my desired range, five more with Saturdays off but starting far later than I want to. Then, ESL customers with RatsNestOS. Five bloody hours. Like Agent Smith, "I must get free."

But there is no freedom anymore. This nation was it, the last land that even pretended to respect individual liberty, property, and human life (by that you can infer the abortion issue if you wish, about which I am ambivalent as I intend never to breed, or more accurately the unalienable natural human right to self-defense). As I said in this journal's opening page over six years ago, there's going to be another war in this country and I'm likely to get killed in it. The electorate has chosen socialism, and socialism is evil. From this point, liberty cannot be restored without the spilling of blood.

In... other news, since I made the mistake of checking email late last night, from which I learned too early of the death of our republic, I was up late finishing Starman Jones, which is of course Heinlein. Today I began Flint & Drake's Belisarius saga with the first omnibus volume, Thunder at Dawn (consisting of An Oblique Approach and In the Heart of Darkness), and the opening possible-future sequence projected by... one of the leading characters, eerily amplified my melancholy. (And it was damn good writing. Chewy and delicious wth expository sprinkles.) But this was followed, starting to snap me out of my funk, by the possibility that even the worst outcomes can be avoided, even the worst foes defeated.

So.

Back to work on the '06 brass.

2006 - Thursday, 6 November 2008: One small bit of coulda-told-you-so: Record Drop on Wall Street. "Obama's victory means that industries such as oil and gas producers, utilities and pharmaceuticals may face greater regulation and even taxes, while labor unions and automakers are expected to benefit. In addition, banks, insurance companies, hedge funds and the rest of the financial sector will almost certainly face attempts at a regulatory overhaul by the Democratic Congress next year." I got yer "chilling effect" right there.

Getting closer by the minute to de-employing myself. -A customer who can't figure out how to save and open a file in MSWorks' Word and can't (or won't) be walked through it. Whadda you say to that? I need out.

The next two years at least (not that I have much hope for the mid-term congressional elections) are going to be very bad indeed. If you're very solvent, buy gold and such, and hide it (I'm no expert in such things but I understand silver should also be considered, as being more useful for smaller transactions); in any case, if at all possible, stockpile rounds for what you do have and buy as many other arms as you can in private sale so they don't go into the illegal NICS database, then don't talk about them. In the worst case even a .22 in the tear duct can gain you a JBT-issue mousegun.

I'm reminded again of Kratman's writings, such as A State of Disobedience and Caliphate. I don't know whether I hope he's right or wrong, and I can't decide on which points either way.

Hey, off early again. There's a checkbox in the online timecard. Normally I don't, needing the pay, but I'm rapidly losing my tolerance for dimness.

Still can't find a reliable signal with the Cantenna. :-/ Nothing wrong with the product, my location just sucks.

Email's always behind at the hovel 'cause I'm always pooped, physically and/or emotionally. I get to it in spurts. Reader sends Weapons Cache 101. From the lists, perspective on NBC warfare.

Awright. So. Don't give up. In partial reply to a recent email from a reader, who asked if the Republic can any longer be saved, I said, "One thing I've learned from my amateur study of history, specifically relating to the founding of this nation: Even in the worst defeats of the War of Independence, George Washington never gave up. NEVER. Any ten other men would have curled up in a whimpering ball, but not him. I don't consider myself a Christian but every time I read a history book about that era, my agnosticism is shaken. There is historical evidence to support the theory that the God Washington worshipped loves the United States of America and wants us to prosper ('cause if you wargame it out objectively we'd all still be speaking British). I'm no George Washington and I don't know where to find one, but if he shows up we should be ready to join him. We should also continue working, as much as we can each in our own ways, to stem the rising enemy tide." Now let's all quit our whining, me included, and get to work. And let me refer you again to this piece of wisdom - each of us should operate in the area, and with the tools, we each believe to be most effective, and we shouldn't be smacking each other around for using different methods to reach the same goal. -What's that? Yer more broke than I usually am? Email's cheap, free at the library even, and there are plenty of free web-based email outfits if you can't afford an ISP. One dollar in the can at those particular tables at the shows. A bumper sticker to spread memes and show defiance. Anything.

2007 - Friday, 7 November 2008: As predicted, the petty spiteful schedulecrat - who, naturlich, is also the team manager - has assigned me to a schedule incompatible with the lifestyle I spend my paychecks on. Therefore I have resigned the call center job and will get my paychecks somedamnwhere else. (At least one cubemate is about to make the same decision for comparable reasons, as is another coworker I've known for years through SCA and gun culture.) Re-entering Frugal Mode - the next month's rent should not be a problem and, if necessary, I have some assets to liquidate.

I was starting to get recurring headaches again anyway. Checked temp service before crossing town - nothing yet. And there are a couple other services I can also fire up.

Mm-HM. Because, yup.

1911 converted back, only took a few minutes. Slave pins, 'cause I'm smart. I'm sure I'll get use from the red dot and mount someday - or maybe that's another asset I can liquidate if necessary.

Interesting... after cleaning the GP100, post-blackpowder-science, much of the lead buildup on the cylinder face and on the frame around the forcing cone is gone. Some kind of reaction to Goex or Pyrodex residue?

2008 - Saturday, 8 November 2008:

IT
WAS
THE
SHIRT.

I've been shooting competitively at Clark Rifles for about 5½ years, since my first match ever in July 2003. I've won the steel plate match a few times and often take the revolver division, but I've never won a rifle match of any kind, anywhere.

Until today.

Damn! I forgot to get a photo of my scorecard. The details will come out in the newsletter later but I got undisputable first place of nine, including the aforementioned #11 and #68, Mr. R. and Mr. E. respectively. HOO-EFFING-AAH. The course of fire was a bit odd - first stage was 200 yards from the bench, front sandbags only, no rear rest, five sighters in 5 minutes, then 10 for score in 5 minutes, worst five discarded - 97/1X, of possible 100. Love the Queen's rear sight. Clickety-hit. Second stage was five sighters in slow-prone on an SR1 at 100. Third stage was fifteen for score, rapid prone at 100, on two paper targets each with four bottle/can shapes - only two hits per shape counted, 10 points each; nine hits, 90 of possible 150. Fourth stage, slow-standing on SR1 at 100, 10 in 10 minutes - this being the same target used in stage two, with the worst five discarded the score was higher than it would normally be, 91/1X. The fifth stage was quite odd: 10 in 10 minutes from the bench on an SR1 at 100 yards, but the scoring rings were reversed, such that the 5 ring counted for 10 and an X or 10 counted for five. Anything outside the outer ring counted as 0. 89 of 100 there, for a total of 367/2x of a possible 450. And I won. The whole match (and $15!). Against some Really Good Shooters.

'Cause I was wearing the Appleseed shirt (which you can't see under the flannel).

Not bad for the day after walking off the job.

After, despite rain and wind, while waiting for the Turkey Shoot committee meeting, got the .44 science:

.44 Magnum test loads
German Colt SAA clone, 6.5"
All 200gr LRNFP with WLP primers
A: 7.6gr W231
B: 8.2gr W231
C: 7.5gr Universal Clays
D: 8.1gr Universal Clays
E: 7.7gr Unique

Round#	A	B	C	D	E
1	938.7	982.6	832.8	968.3	752.0
2	947.4	1009	940.5	920.8	949.9
3	953.6	1026	890.0	995.8	935.8
4	990.9	980.5	949.4	997.1	972.9
5	908.1	968.1	886.0	1017	919.5
6	944.5	988.9	849.9	1015	949.4
7	913.5	972.5	817.3	931.7	911.5
8	946.4	972.8	818.5	951.7	893.2
9	1000	992.7	901.8	991.8	923.6
10	975.8	963.9	943.7	940.3	904.6
Averages	951.9	985.7	893.0	973.0	911.2

Remember that round #1 in each column was the first in the cylinder, as was #7, and observe the different velocities between the first and subsequent rounds as the powder shifts in the cavernous .44 Magnum case during recoil. (Load C felt all right, and it'd be CAS-legal if I ever did that, but the numbers still bug me.) Buuut, since it's not likely I'll be able to acquire the two hundred or more pieces of additional .44 bra$s I'll need in time, and since the SAA's loading gate would be a great disadvantage in speed competition, I'm figuring on using either the Witness or the 1911 in the 2x4 shoot, and I'm leaning toward the 1911. -And that reminds me that I went to the show this morning before the match, where I really shouldn't have bought an old RCBS .30-06 two-die set for $10 (as a spare in case I get another stuck case), or for $40, an LC-2 belt with the big plastic wedge-lock buckle (not fastex) and a canvas two-pocket USGI 1911 magazine pouch (which won't close on the floorplate bumpers but I figure I can find, adapt, or make something that will) and, worth more by itself, a genuine Bianchi "#UM84/92 UNIVERSAL MILITARY HOLSTER", reversible even, and the 1911 fits perfectly (though I'll want a leg tie-down for the draw (and there's already a big metal loop on the bottom to attach such)). Whoa, just discovered the synthetic cleaning rod along the front of the holster, molded with a cleaning jag for 9mm but also with a hole in the end which easily self-threads for standard tips! And the flap slips right off altogether with the (superior!) belt-latch open. (If I'm going to be indefinitely humping in the field a flap holster makes sense, rather than some open-topped Kydex.) Someone thought about this design. (The pull-tab for the flap catch can rattle, but if necessary that can be fixed with a bit of electrical tape.) I understand there are some add-ons for this, like a thumb-break conversion? So now I have a bit more field gear, and an excuse to take the 1911 out of the safe more often (no, the long-slide, extended, ported Witness won't fit, but my chopped P35 does (with some movement; I expect a standard-length P35 would fit almost as perfectly as my beavertail-equipped 1911, which doesn't move at all with the flap closed)).

While at the show, for the short time I was there, I tormented myself with the usual unattainables, like a pre-Zit M629, 6.5", $550; a rare M58 fixed-sight .41 (a Shotgun News columnist wrote it up a year or so ago); a few Marlin M39s including a straight-stock, none under $400; and assorted Lugers, few if any under four figures. I got there just as the place officially opened so I can't say whether business was brisk - maybe Cruffler will report later.

And yes, I'm on the Turkey Shoot committee and will be directing the 2x4 shoot which seemed highly attractive for both participants and spectators last year. I didn't fire a single round all day last year; this time there are three shooting events, mine in the afternoon, the rifle event in the morning (turkey shapes at 100 and balloons at 200, 20 shots for score and unlimited sighters), and between & during, a blind envelope shoot - manila leter-size envelopes each containing a piece of paper with a photocopy of a dollar bill, each in a different location on the paper. You can buy up to five envelopes at $1 each, then fire three rounds only at each envelope from 25 yards with the weapon of your choice. The shot closest to Washington's head wins, 1st/2nd/3rd $25/$15/$10, and there's no way to tell until the envelopes are opened. (Club members, & one guest each, only.)

I also got bonus brass - fourteen pieces of .30-.378 Weatherby. What staggering ignoramus abandons Weatherby brass? At today's prices? Prolly some union-voting Sportsman. His loss, my gain, barteriffic. Also a couple fistfuls of .223, for which I still have no weapon but If This Goes On the stuff could become currency, knowwhatImean?

2009 - Sunday, 9 November 2008: Yeah, I scored on the holster, belt, and pouch for $40. No buyer's remorse there. And it's curious that the last set of .30-06 dies I bought were also $10, which is of course a fraction of retail.

Don't mince words, RH, tell us how you really feel! -And I agree.

...I'm on kind of a roll here - 2nd Garand in September, 1st on plates last month, now 1st in the AvA. Once is happenstance....

Reader sends a bit of history. Now compare that to some previous wisdom. ¡Viva los guerilleros!

At the AvA Mr. E. alerted me to a show - went - small - bought nothing but overheard one vendor saying their shelves, too, were rapidly emptying. Charles Daly P35, Big Dot, extended safety, $400 in box; RIA M1911A1, $440 in box. In another time, where we could contemplate arms for enjoyment rather than engagement, an S&W M63 8-shot .22LR J-frame, 5" barrel, adjustable sights, would make an excellent subversion piece, $620 in box. Many EBRs, many options. Mosins and Mausers all over the exhibit hall too, don't forget those, they do still work.

Chat & show every Sunday 1100PT. Much Hussein talk, much mention of the record nationwide spike in arms sales.

HOLY CRAPPING CRAP! Go here, then where it says National, pull it down and choose West. I'm #42 in the Region! :-O

Reader sends Quote o'the Day: "Keep a goverment poor and weak and it's your servant; when it is rich and powerful it becomes your master." H. Beam Piper, Lone Star Planet

Chat Elf sends what he sent to the RNC:

2010 - Monday, United States Marine Corps Day, 10 November 2008: Zzzz. No calls, no customers, no bureaucrats, no green-haired freaks, no crappy commute... unemployment has it's good points, for a while.

Pins this Saturday, hm. Expensive lifestyle. I hope to get up to the range Wednesday for practice, and if it works I'll use my 1911 on pins and 2x4s, and maybe plates too (as opposed to the Witness). If the 1911 will become part of my field gear I'd better get used to it, and besides, how long have I been pining for a 1911?

Continuing Belisarius, good. Perhaps slightly too comical at times but it soon enough steers back to Fate-Of-The-World gravitas - a well-rounded literary meal. One wouldn't mind seeing it given the Babylon 5 treatment, creative-control and production-quality-wise.

Another dispatch from Sipsey Street. -Hey, road-sign bumper sticker, somebody make it!

Sis forwards a report that people were standing in line at a recent WAC show and that ammunition was selling particularly briskly.

Reader sends subcaliber shotgun inserts. Several gauge/caliber combinations and three lengths available, 18", 10", and a 2.75" which ought to work in repeaters.

2011 - Tuesday, Veterans' Day, 11 November 2008: The Republic will be saved by men who remember that their oaths are to the Constitution. I know some of those guys....

Nothing from the temp service yet. I'm just taking it easy for a while. Range tomorrow I think.

The Agenda Vanishes. I saved my own copy of the .HTML from the Google cache. See also WRSA's copy. Does Hussein even know what the internet is? I tell ya, my screennamesake woulda loved the 'net.

Yuri fictionalizes. He got the "pecking at their lifeless eyes" part from me, heh.

2012 - Wednesday, 12 November 2008: Crappy weather, not going to range. Maybe Friday.

Quote o' the Day.

Via WoG, something to consider where SCOTUS is concerned. Third paragraph specifically - some more adjustment seems to be in order, hm. "In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution." - Thomas Jefferson

2013 - Thursday, 13 November 2008: Zzz. Don't want to reenter the workforce.

Finished Thunder at Dawn - next omnibus, Storm at Noontide, not out 'til April, so I'm just going to the single volumes - the library should cough up Destiny's Shield in a couple days. (Having, for some reason, avoided this series for so long, now I'm impatient to continue it.) Meanwhile, starting The January Dancer by Michael Flynn, author of the Firestar series and coauthor of Fallen Angels.

Final check from work - more than I figured, I should be safe into next month, expenses-wise.

Hm, latest SGN, Charles Daly has entered the AR market.

Codrea rants. And cops wonder why we hate them. I'll bet money, the cops lurking here have first-hand knowledge of their coworkers committing outright crimes just like these, if they haven't done so their own selves. And do these "good" cops, whose own hands may not be technically as dirty, do anything about the bad cops they know about? Crimes of omission; accomplices after the fact; the same behavior would get us jailed for years. They'll bust us peasants for anything they can fabricate but literally let, and help, their own fellows get away with murder.

2014 - Friday, 14 November 2008: Zzz. Much better weather, wandering up to the range afternoonish with just the 1911. Aaand besides shooting higher than I recall, I had some misfeeds, even with the RN load I use in the Witness. So, I'll be using the Witness on pins tomorrow and likely on 2x4s on the 6th. But I got a little science:

.45ACP test loads
M1911 5"
A: WCC99 230gr FMJ factory
B: 226gr cast LRN, 5.3gr W231, WLP
C: 215gr LSWC, 5.3gr W231, WLP
D: 200gr plated LSWC, 5.6gr W231, WLP
E: 230gr plated LRN, 5.3gr W231, WLP

Round#	A	B	C	D	E
1	816.3	767.0	797.2	850.5	688.3
2	802.2	771.7	815.9	859.3	687.9
3	810.2	778.2	794.2	859.6	699.9
4	816.5	771.3	801.1	840.5	701.1
5	804.8			850.6	739.4
6	824.9			853.1	731.5
7	813.8			827.1	704.3
8	812.7			843.3	697.2
Averages	812.7	772.1	802.1	848.0	706.2

I started with load A as a baseline - factory load, military headstamp, presumably equivalent to USGI M1911 Ball, though TM 43-0001-27 says it should be 70-odd fps faster - could just be age and weather, shrug. Load B was some bullets I cast myself, from a Lee 90384 double-cavity mold, meant for a percussion revolver I think, and tumble-lubed with Lee liquid Alox - I only had four rounds made but they all went bang. Load C was some LSWC I found at a show, source unknown, and they appear to be lubed with some kind of... graphite-looking stuff? No problems with those either, but again, only four. Load D I've had a while, Xtreme plated LSWC - I was hoping the shoulder of the semi-wadcutter would "grab" bowling pins better, but neither of my .45s likes it much - misfeeds. With RN instead of SWC, and +/- .1gr, that's the same load I'm currently set up for, and I whipped out about a hundred this evening for pins tomorrow. Load E is the alternate load if Sportsman's Warehouse doesn't have the 200gr plated RN on the shelf. The 1911 gave me a misfeed even with this load however - so this pistol is not ready to race yet. And it should have a taller front sight so I can sight in properly - it was inches high at only 15 yards. The Witness, last I checked, is running fine with RN and is adequately sighted in, and I have Kydex for both, so I'm going back to the Tanfoglio.

Oh, at the show last weekend one of the 'smiths there - not one I've dealt with before - said that early next year he's expecting to get a lathe and would then be willing to tackle the .22 conversion! Elephant not so white after all maybe.

2015 - Saturday, 15 November 2008: Znrk. Sleep in all week, drag self out of bed early on weekend.... Still buying lottery tickets, splendiferous emails from Nigeria and Hong Kong notwithstanding.

While preparing for pins, discovered that my .45 rounds were too long and would jam in the Witness' magazine; my seating die had worked loose. Adjusted, laboriously ran rounds back through Load-Master (another reason I strongly prefer plated bullets - unplated would likely have shaved lead all over), refilled magazines - all seems well now. (I was getting different misfeeds in the 1911 - Witness magazines evidently need a shorter COAL.) But that's something reloaders have to keep an eye on, especially with progressives where it's easy to churn out a hundred or more rounds without noticing that something's gone wrong.

The January Dancer by Michael Flynn, pg. 54:

So there had better be a damned good reason for it, because even if it is good, it is still damned. Yet, better to fight over liberty and loyalty than over tuppence difference in the tariff on lace. Bigger wars have been fought for a great deal less. And if a man will not fight to keep his liberties, he is a slave to the first tyrant who would kill to take them. That doesn't make things less ugly, but it might mean that in later years, when a man wakes in the dead of night in a cold, shivering sweat, he can, at length, go back to sleep.

So I charge up the interstate to shoot pins. Different setup this time - double entries, rimfire and centerfire. I don't have a suitable rimfire but Reuel loaned me one of the three he brought for the purpose, an AMT Lightning, which as you can see is a Ruger MkII clone. You can't see the hooked trigger guard but it's a nice touch. This was the first time I'd used a red dot in competition. Didn't win (nor centerfire neither) but again didn't embarrass myself; and the only thing wrong with the Ruger-design pistols is the sluggish magazine change, and that's been addressed in the MkIII and the 22/45.

That's the holster for my Witness. No retention there, just a bucket to set the pistol in, with the magazines rattling about in the Witness' carrier on the other hip. Hey, not like I'm getting nationally-ranked here. Anyhow I will have the 1911 conversion worked on, pending income - it was fun. One thing that threw me off was the low recoil; with Witness and GP100 I'm used to a certain amount of shot-to-shot recovery time, and there's a lot less here.

Now you're thinking, "Bowling pins with a .22? Nuh-uh!" To which I must respond uh-huh. For regular stages, there were three regular pins at the back edge of the table, where a .22LR strike would be plenty to tip them over; and two sawed-off heads at the front edge, light enough to fly when hit properly. For the ending stage, beginning seated, the stop pin had a loose head placed atop it; you had to shoot the head off the body of the pin first, then knock the body over separately, to avoid penalties. I managed:

After everyone had run through the rimfire course we did it all again with the regular centerfires on regular pins in the regular arrangement. I got 4th of 16 in rimfires (with a borrowed pistol!), and 6th of 16 in centerfire (6th of 13 Major autoloaders - there was one .22 in the "centerfire" course, one 9mm (AR24), and everyone else used a .45ACP - one N-frame, and most of the rest were assorted flavors of 1911 except for my Tanfoglio).

After this, we did a brief IPSC-style thing on a few steel plates:

Hit the four squares in whatever order you choose, one hit each, then hit the round stop plate last. Didn't win, didn't completely suck, 3rd of 6 who stayed for it.

There's nothing wrong with the Witness, or my ammunition. I'm just not used to it. In one of the pins runs I had a good start, but of course the pins wouldn't leave the table so I had to keep blasting - if they were plates (which only have to fall down) I'd've been way ahead. Zero malfunctions also, BTW - haven't had a failure in the Witness since the last time I tried SWC.

Fuel prices are dropping! You've probably heard. Local ARCO $2.15 yesterday, $2.13 today in Woodland, WA, which is way out in the sticks where everything costs more. This trend began before the socialist-in-chief-elect was elected - next year we'll have lines and rationing I bet. Watch, he'll try to fix prices. Pshyeah, that'll work.

2016 - Sunday, 16 November 2008: Zzzz.

Chat & show every Sunday 1100PT. More Hussein talk. -So. No election riots. But of course the socialist racist "won" so the mob got what it wanted. There will be racist oppression in this country again though - "no whites allowed", "whites need not apply", "driving while white". You know they're already thinking it. I might have to invest in that Sioux regalia after all....

Prepare. If you want a real rifle instead of a mousegun.

Read the new proposed "assault weapons" ban. Note that the M1, or an unaltered Simonov, are not exempted.

2017 - Monday, 17 November 2008: Zzz.

For some time, on talk radio, I've heard about Hillsdale College, noted for their independence and their refusal to accept our stolen tax dollars. Now, in the latest American Rifleman is a one-page article reporting that Hillsdale is "dedicating part of its curriculum to the U.S. Constitution and the Second Amendment by establishing The Hillsdale College Firearms Educational Facility." Of course the place hosts less than 1,400 students, so the cultural impact will be limited, but at least someone is trying.

Reader sends link to online books, featuring Clausewitz. Later I stumbled across another likely-looking source.

Hey - the Charles Daly P35 clone. Nice pistol. According to forum chatter from CD, it's discontinued? But there's now something to do with Dan Wesson, according to a forum post from KBI's president? Anyone got news?

2018 - Tuesday, 18 November 2008: In the news, rising unemployment figures in Oregon (and Washington), layoffs from some of the big companies - not a good time to have walked off the job. But I gots me principles. And word was they were going to yank that contract as well. Ambivalent as usual about work, recalling the million daily annoyances of bosses, coworkers, and environment - not really pestering the temp service at this point.

Chapter.

2019 - Wednesday, 19 November 2008: Family friend points out there will be an Appleseed in Castle Rock, which is in day-trip range of the hovel, 13-14 December. Which is not really enough time to build all that '06 again, but there may be a .22 I can lay hands on, and this range is 25m only. But, figuring event fee and fuel and all, I'm looking at about a $200 weekend and I just don't have it to spare, hm. -In the larger picture I see that the Project has landed space at NRA's Whittington Center for their signature weekend, good for them! Major exposure. If I can't make Castle Rock, I'm not seeing another I can reach short of lottery winnings (California is right out), but of course one must keep checking the list for updates.

Last night, on library disc, I watched Barbarosa. Never mind Willie Nelson's politics-by-association - I wasn't paying anything for the film that hadn't already been stolen in taxes - it was a good story. Victims of circumstance; honor; loyalty; family.

Temp service calls - possible production job, assembling PCs with pre-loaded software. Long commute, and the hours would put me in the thickest traffic both ways, but $10.70/hour (the call center was $11.74 and burger-flipping is, what, about $10?), weekends off, and I've done that kind of work before. They'll be sending my resumé and they should call me again in a week or so. -This is why I like temp services: they look for me.

Continuing The January Dancer, a somewhat laborious read, style-wise, but a satisfyingly deep story. Next will be Destiny's Shield, third in Drake & Flint's Belisarius saga, and the fourth, Fortune's Stroke, is already waiting.

Aw crap! I do not have the bandwidth for this!

Nerd apparel and stuff.

2020 - Thursday, 20 November 2008: Hey, a donation! Thank you! -I notice the button sends the notification to my old Iguanasoft address - generating new button, going back and stripping the button from past months, leaving it only in the current month and a few other strategic places.

Even more Heller analysis.

And another chapter.

2021 - Friday, 21 November 2008: Zzz. Because I can.

Reader sends initial report of a recently-acquired ChiCom clone of the the Browning .22 autoloading rifle - you know, the one so elegantly designed you wonder what all those other parts in a Marlin are for:

I have yet to deal with the barrel, however, since there's a lead build-up at the muzzle, and considering the condition of the rest of the rifle, I am leaning heavily in the direction of simply buying a new one. Seems like a worthy expenditure of $45 [i.e. from Numrich], IMHO. I can still see the rifling, so I'll prolly scrub it out anyway.

Completely worth the $125 [from online auction].

Procrastinating, up late slapping together 403 rounds of .45/200 and 100 of .357/158. Yay progressive presses. -Load-Master working pretty good for .45 now, thanks again sis!

2022 - Saturday, 22 November 2008:

I IZ TEH
DOUBLE
AWSUMM!!!

1st Revolver!
AND!
1st Autoloader!

Breen's rimfire whupped me in the match final of course - it's hard to compete against a red-dot .22 with anything but another such - but my .45 Witness beat Breen's .40 P9! With both GP100 and Witness I had several perfect no-miss runs, both in qualifying and in head-to-head. All three qualifying runs with the GP100 were perfect, and two with the Witness. I was even closing in on Breen in the final, with the Witness. No buyer's remorse for that pistol. There was some Drama in Revolvers - only four in the division, and the Mateba wasn't one of them (that thing is fast), so I bragged that I would win - and got knocked into the loser's bracket in the first round! (Of course that guy had a red-dot (S&W M610, using .40S&W rounds in moon clips).) Came back fine though.

I am pretty good with a handgun. And a couple weekends ago I demonstrated that I am also pretty good with a rifle.

2023 - Sunday, 23 November 2008: Zzz.

OAC show - torment as u$ual. Kinda vacant there though, most probably went to the big Expo show instead.

Chat & show every Sunday 1100PT. Yet more Hussein talk. -From a Kalifornia Elf: "This guy in Kalifornia retired and decided to move out of state. He stuck two tacos on the hood of his truck. When he got to a place where he was asked, 'What are those things?', he said 'I have found my new home.' He was in Wyoming."

Mm-hm.

The reader who recently bought an XD in .45 reports that the trigger is improving with continued use. -There were two XDs at plates yesterday, 9mm and .40 (M). Both seemed to be working well, but these were new shooters so it was, um, not feasible to study accuracy. And that reminds me of something I thought of during chat. All these new arms sales - a lot of these will be from first-time owners, or casual types who "like guns, hyuk hyuk" but barely know what a sight picture is. I'm all for getting more arms into the hands of private citizens, but without training, self- or otherwise, and practice, most of these will be eliminated in their first skirmishes. Prepare.

2024 - Monday, 24 November 2008: Zzzz.

2025 - Tuesday, 25 November 2008: Zzzz!

Sending rent check now, while I still can.

There is indeed a run on arms and munitions nationwide. Even at Bi-Mart, some empty slots on the ammunition shelves. I need more WSPM primers for .357 loads.... And, next time I can afford it, another big jug of BL-C(2).

2026 - Wednesday, 26 November 2008: Zz.

Back here I speculated aloud about escaped murderer Lon Horiuchi eventually endorsing a rifle product as some company or organization or other sucks up to the JBTs. And... words fail. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and more to come I'm sure. I guess the company thinks that with the government as a customer, they'll be able to stay in business when Hussein's anti-freedom crusade drives the other manufacturers out of business. I've commented on this before, regarding Kimber making JBT-specific pistols (SIS, LAPD SWAT), Stag Arms making JBT-specific rifles ("battle tested by elite SWAT teams" in radio ads). Shortsighted and self-destructive - eventually there won't be any private companies and these businesses will be nationalized. Hell, they're already grabbing financial outfits and the sheeple electorate just thumbs the remote - a little rifle shop won't even be a speed bump. Of course, once the business is run by the government, then there's no longer any incentive to compete or do a good job or even show up some days, and the "precision" the State wanted to steal will evaporate.

In other news via Yuri, Charter Arms Rimless Revolver. Faithful readers may remember my references to the S&W M547 and the Medusa. Now if Charter were to make this in a full-size 6-shot .45ACP (or 10mm) with like a 4" barrel and an adjustable rear sight....

Radio news, massive traffic jams across the city as people skip work early for the 4-day weekend. Probably not going to hear from the temp service until next week.

From the lists, gunsmithing .PDFs.

Reader recommends 3.4gr Bullseye under 125gr for a light .357 load - and I'm out. Since I was going to the library anyway I stopped at Bi-Mart - and they don't have any. So, with no reason not to, I drove to another Bi-Mart - and they didn't have any either. (The frightened ones are buying new arms and cartridges; the smart ones already have that and are buying powder & primers (they were out of WSPM too).) Finally got some at no-longer-G.I. Joe's. So: Sierra V starts at 7.4gr for 125gr jacketed, 1,200fps, way hotter than I'm after. (I'm treating the Xtreme plated lead as jacketed, for load data purposes - I've recovered some and they are stoutly plated - I reclaimed some in the pot and sometimes had to use pliers to breach the plating to get the already-molten lead out. I'm quite fond of this brand, and used it for both my division wins last weekend.) Speer #10 starts hotter still. Lyman #45 shows 3.0gr under 121gr cast for 764fps, that'd be very much what I want if ignition is good, and ignition is the problem I've been fighting since I started loading .357. Ah - I tried this and that's where the squib came from. I'll start at 4.0, 4.5, and 5.0. Aha! I have a 125gr Bullseye load already! I knew I'd used this powder before.

Big muslim terrorist attacks in India - Savage reading this on the air (I've been waiting for him to), bewailing the evident and utter lack of vertebral fortitude in dealing with these vermin.

Bumper sticker.

2027 - Thursday, 27 November 2008: And another. Is the industry leadership that ignorant? Zumbo, Cooper Arms, and now this. Let's not forget S&W/HUD/Clinton and Bill Ruger suggesting the 10-round limit. Yay internets. Likely the most important anti-tyranny invention since gunpowder itself.

So three years ago I was using 4.5gr Bullseye under 125gr plated lead - but I didn't have a chronograph then. Trying that again, with different primers for Science: WSP, WSPM, CCI500 and CCI550. Chrono Saturday methinks. Aaand, more .44 test loads - I've reached the limit of what I want with W231, recoil-wise, and with Universal Clays. Trying 8.2 Unique to split the difference, and per Lyman #45 and the Auto-Disk, 5.0, 5.6 and 6.2 Bullseye under Silver State 200gr LRN, all with WLP primers 'cause that's all I have except one brick of Magtech #2½ I haven't tried with anything yet. -And now, having produced mass quantities for the 2x4 shoot, I'm out of .45 bullets to make test batches with, which is a shame 'cause I have two good loads there which could be used for controls, changing only the primer.

2028 - Friday, 28 November 2008: ZzzZZZzz.

Finished Destiny's Forge, going directly to Fortune's Stroke.

Club newsletter & calendar, and three Garand matches listed this year - but two of them are on the same day as my plate matches! Argh! Emailed CMP guy - I want all the JCG matches I can get, and I run the plate match. Hopefully they're just typos. Two muzzleloader matches, no evident conflict there - Hawken.

Whoa, I went up to #39 in CMP's western region! Click, then pull down "National" and select "West".

2029 - Saturday, 29 November 2008: Z.

Range day! Science! Started with the house-duty Winchester factory JHP, just to use it up, then proceeded as shown, including a string of the current 158gr load just to be thorough:

.357 Magnum test loads
GP100 4"
A: Winchester Q4204 110gr JHP
B: 158gr plated lead, 7.0gr W231, WSPM
C-F all 125gr plated lead, 4.5gr Bullseye
C: WSP
D: WSPM
E: CCI500
F: CCI550

Round#	A	B	C	D	E	F
1	1308	1018	858.2	799.2	816.9	831.1
2	1358	1002	875.9	864.7	866.8	825.6
3	1336	1002	867.6	879.6	-	875.7
4	1379	1015	859.7	875.5	908.5	850.9
5	1301	976.4	880.1	862.1	882.5	879.9
6	1338	986.3	864.2	867.5	879.5	881.2
7		900.6	841.2	-	775.8	853.2
8		959.1	910.1	915.3	884.0	861.4
9		984.1	865.6	882.4	871.6	877.5
10		1037	870.3	888.1	877.0	883.7
Averages	1337	988.1	869.3	870.5	862.5	862.0

The 158/7.0 load looks all right, but round #7 bothers me - remember the big thing I've been fighting since I started reloading is that first-round effect, the first round in a revolver's cylinder having a lower velocity than subsequent rounds as the powder shifts in the case. The 125/4.5 loads all seem to show the first-round effect except for the CCI magnum primers, hm. The effect is not pronounced in any of the four and may not even be there, signal-to-noise-wise - I'll throw together a couple hundred of C for second sis. (First sis says she's coming down for the Turkey Shoot.)

This is why we buy chronographs. We can see what we're doing.

-A fellow at the range, after I described the problem, suggested - IIRC - using a full-capacity load of 4895 rifle powder in .357 Magnum. Double-huh?

Next was that SAA clone again, still searching for a mild load which ignites consistently:

.44 Magnum test loads
German SAA clone, 6.5"
All 200gr lead with WLP primers
A: 8.2gr Unique
B: 5.0gr Bullseye
C: 5.6gr Bullseye
D: 6.2gr Bullseye

Round#	A	B	C	D
1	979.4	824.8	893.4	922.6
2	1072	839.5	928.0	964.2
3	1097	818.7	919.9	966.2
4	1000	838.6	895.2	937.2
5	1014	794.0	926.0	934.8
6	1014	854.3	912.2	944.5
7	836.4	815.9	890.5	907.5
8	1045	838.1	904.8	962.5
9	1001	808.0	922.0	954.7
10	988.8	821.2	947.8	990.1
Averages	1005	825.3	914.0	948.4

First-round effect evident in all four. Load A has more recoil than I want - that's it for the Unique development in this cartridge (except, I do have some 240gr LSWC from Yuri's fire sale - I'll fiddle with those later, they'll seat deeper and therefore use more case capacity which may help - but a heavier bullet will have greater recoil, hm). B-D were mild enough but D is approaching the SASS limit, hm.

After this, more thoroughness with the .45 loads in the Witness:

.45ACP test loads
EAA Witness, 6" ported barrel, polygonal bore
All with WLP primers
A: 200gr plated lead, 5.5g W231
B: 230gr plated lead, 5.2gr W231

Round#	A	B
1	740.6	756.5
2	818.0	739.4
3	787.2	774.2
4	798.0	766.5
5	805.3	771.5
6	819.7	720.4
7	809.7	757.1
8	821.2	740.7
9	799.3	767.4
10	832.4	745.7
Averages	803.1	753.9

These strings were straight from one magazine, and the numbers are interesting, less consistent than I expected, again hm. In each string the forst round was loaded by dropping the slide on a full magazine, so I would expect powder position to be the same for each round as it cycled.

With the science done, again with the 1911 - a few more misfeeds even with the same loads which work perfectly in the Witness, and still shooting way high - still not ready to race. Also, curiously weak cycling and the slide would not lock back automatically after the last shot, though it would lock manually without difficulty. Might need a reduced recoil spring, and/or maybe I should take out the buffer.

2030 - Sunday, 30 November 2008: Blessed zzzz. (At the link, read the first quote.)

Chat & show every Sunday 1100PT.

Reader/Elf suggests, to eliminate the first-round effect, adding corn starch as filler - using two powder measures, one for the powder and a second for the filler, hm. The resulting load would need to be compressed, if only lightly, to prevent shifting and mixing, hm. I have one original spring-loaded Auto-Disk and one Auto-Disk Pro with the ball-chain return; the former will work on any press, the latter needs to be anchored to the shell carrier on a Lee progressive, but of course all three of my progressives are Lee. Problem - the Pro 1000s have only three stations. First is one powder measure, second is seating, third is a Lee FCD or other crimp die. The Load-Master has five stations, but I only have one shellplate for it, .45/.308. However, with the two-measure theory and the double-disk kits I could throw full-power charges for .30-06. OTOH the RCBS measure stand I have works well, and I'd also have to get a second rifle charging die, and the original spring-powered Auto-Disk will crush a rifle case's mouth, and I'd need the second double disk kit (spacers and longer screws - I suppose I could fabricate that), and... interesting theory but likely more trouble than it's worth. The RCBS on the stand will serve for rifle rounds I think, and I know it's accurate. Elf quips, "...and you'd need to get a motor from a washing machine and then devise some Rube Goldberg method to make it all work, and then set the camera so you can then 'blog a photo of you reading Ringo whilst loading ammo, heh."

From the 'blogosphere, another Appleseed report.

Reader sends science.

Reader informs that the Browning-brand .40 P35 can accept a standard 9x19mm upper, BTW, though the frame itself is reinforced. One presumes 9x19mm magazines would also fit (IIRC there was a Ruger P-series model whose magazines could be used for either 9x19mm or .40S&W). This reader passes along reports that a Browning-brand .40 upper will also drop onto a standard 9mm P35 frame, but will batter said frame to uselessness quickly.

Up yours Bloomberg. The Bengal tiger FAL is particularly fetching.

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