Good read for casters out there.

As I beg and borrow to get some 44 Rem Mag materials I stumbled upon what seems to me to be a treasure trove of information for those wheel gun casters out there.  First, I have no intention to get into wheel guns, ever.  Simply not enough time and money to scratch that itch.  Phew!  But, casting bullets is an interesting pursuit, one I am still trying to figure out so every chance I have to read what others have to say I soak it up.

This web published book is 178 pages long and is stuffed with information.  I am unsure why I only just stumbled upon it but I do see it is copyrighted for 2011.  Enjoy.

From Ingot to Target:  A Cast Bullet Guide for Handgunners.

First 44 Rem Mag hand loads with unexpected results.

100y 44 Rem Mag.  Click image for larger view

I sinned and picked up a Marlin 336CB in 44 Rem Mag, ballard rifling.  I know, it is not the "real game" but a bunch of folk play the lever gun game and it seemed to me I was missing out on a bunch of fun.

Shooting the 30-30 and 44 lever guns have been a way for me to start learning how to reload in baby steps.  I cast up some 44s using a Lyman 2 cavity 429215.  Most of them fill out to over .430 so they get a nice squaring up of the driving bands when they run through the .430 sizer.  I found slugging my 30-30 barrel to be inconclusive.  I might have to try again on the 44 barrel.  Something about tapping a projectile through a barrel with a brass rod that still makes me nervous.

I started with my nice set of RCBS Cowboy dies, Federal primers and Unique which is what Mark gave me and what Bob says works very well in his Microgroove 336.  6.5 grains to start.  12" pattern.  6.0 grains was about the same.  I was pretty discouraged because I was testing my bullets w/o gas checks in hopes I could find something that I could use for CLA..  Then I tried 7 grains and wow.  Not to say it is great but it was nice to see a 3.5" group after a 12" with just .5g more powder.  I guess 7.5 grains is the next test.  A bit more recoil than 6.5 but something I should be able to live with.

The other concurrent test was to see if Federal primers would give me as many FTF problems.  CCI primers drove me crazy at the first match I shot the 44 but the Federals worked 100%.  Good news, it must be a primer issue, not a gun issue.

This was shot off a bench with a 20x scope.  No wind to speak of.  The far right shot  was me although it seems to have cut the paper differently.  All other shots were reasonable given my bench, rest and ability.

RCBS Customer Service Praise.

Back around June 11th I wrote that I was ham fisted with my RCBS decapping die and broke a pin on the 395th 30-30 case.  I should have sensed abnormal resistance but as a newbie, I just charged ahead.  I stopped by Riley's later in the week and after 15 minutes of iPhone work and catolog work, I left with a package of new pins that may or may not be the right size.  I guess I could have bought both sizes but I chose not to, I figure I had a 50/50 chance.

When I got home I spent some time on the RCBS website and found it still a bit vague so I sent an email to customer service asking them to advise which size pin I should use.  To my utter amazement they replied a) promptly b) in english and c) with the response that they would be sending me an entire new decapping unit with in the new button head pin format with a 5 pack of pins!  That response was back on 6/16.

Today, 6/24, I have a nice new decapping shaft and set of spare pins 1+5=6 for my 1980 set of FL 30-30 dies.  WOW!  Three thumbs up for RCBS!  No need to buy dies from any other company IMO!

Have a great weekend, let's hope the rain stops soon!

RCBS press history link.  I was trying to figure out the difference between a RS and  Jr.  I guess they are one and the same.  My RS (Reloader Special) lacks the following when compared to my RC (Rock Chucker) No extra "steel bushing" for die holder.  RS is just threaded cast iron.  No compound lever action on RS.  Unless you are doing a lot of rifle brass, the RS is just fine.

Pioneer Father's Day shoot in the WIND!

Pioneer, click for larger picture

When I got to the range at 7:15 I wondered if we would have much of a turnout given no one had yet arrived.  It was a slow start but Ernie, Bob, Mike and I made short work of the 240 animals.  Well, we made short work of the black spray paint as they were rusty from the last mach which was pouring rain if you recall.  This weekend day was something else.  WINDY!

We had a great turn out.  28 shooters and a number of new faces which was nice to see.  But did I say it was WINDY!  More specifically, GUSTY!  One minute the dust from the shot was going to the left, the next time to the right.  Still, we all had the same challenging conditions so it was a day for wind shooters!  It was also a good day for developing one's mental toughness.

I would be on an animal as I "lean" on the wind and just as I break the shot the wind would subside and I would fall off the animal.  Shooters wind was maddening to say the least.  My TX buddies would laugh at me by calling today's wind "wind" but, when you are not used to being buffeted about, it can be discouraging.  My best advice on a day like today, shoot the lulls and be sure to use your whole clock.  I need to work on this as I let the wind get to me on the first match.

Giving up.  It is so easy to give up and just want the whole thing (match) to end especially when we all start at chickens in NH.  Because we know Rams and Turkeys are ahead and things can likely get worse..  To give up is a huge loss of a great training opportunity.  I almost gave up.  I had for a moment decided to shoot my 39A SB cowboy gun.  But that would be a cop out.  So, I picked up Blaze and had another run at it.  9 7 5 5 = 26.  I should have had 10 pigs regardless of the conditions so I need to work on that.  The long line was just a fight.  I was happy to have hit a ram on my last shot of a long weekend of  160 competitive shots.  Every shot is a lesson, be sure to benefit from it and don't throw it away.

Yup, this is an ADDICTIVE game.

NY Hendrick Hudson Post match reivew

Hendrick Hudson, click for larger picture

We had a good time in NY.  We left at 5:30 am from the Hillsborough Park & Ride and Dave kindly drove.  It was my fourth time to HHFG and this is the first time I had the pleasure of being a passenger.  We were there by 7:45 so 2:15 was pretty good.  It was a bit longer coming home due to traffic and we were a tad tired.  I don't think we were pushing it at all getting there, we just have a direct route and it works.

The picture to the right is from the post lunch match where they convert 3 of the 1/5th stands into 1/2 scale animals.  This accomodates all levels of shooters  Those who want to shoot a club SB Cowboy match can and those who want another try at 1/5th can get in a second match in the afternoon.  Since they shoot squaded with two relays there is still "capacity for 8 1/5th shooters in the afternoon.  Or, if you don't make the first match which starts at 9:45 you can sleep in and catch the second match after lunch.  For the long distance traveler such as the NH gang, it lets you shoot twice, standard and hunter, with your spotter.  Not a bad program. Just remember to shoot the top animals first!.

The match was run perfectly with about about 25 shooters.  I don't exactly recall the results.  Rick shot a 28 with the Smallbore Rifle, I shot a 28 with Smallbore Hunter Rifle and Dave shot something a little less.  That made Rick the Match Champion for SBR and me the Match Champion for SBHR.  It was not enough to win the Club trophy as we came in first loser behind a club from Salem.  Maybe next year! Picture to the right is from the far left of the range.  They have 16 identical positions, each bench has a notch for two rifles to stand on the very nice concrete pad.  With 2 relays they can accommodate 32 1/5th shooters.  I don't think we had that many but it would be fun to try!

Range results with balistic data

I went armed with the follow info.

Chickens are 11 feet closer and should require -.25 MOA.the normal settings
Pigs are 17 feet closer and should require -.75 MOA the normal settings
Turkeys are 22 feet closer and should require -1.25 MOA the normal settings
Rams are 28 feet closer and should require -1.5 MOA the normal settings

One gun (Woodie) was just not zeroed with the gun I was shooting.  It was also windy so it was hard to figure out what was really happening at 100y.  I almost packed it in but the results were so squirrely I decided to move to 40m and confirm true zero.

With that done I opted to confirm Blaze and interestingly it conformed quite nicely to the expected adjustments.  Rams was spot on.  8.5 became 7.0.  Amazing.  Still, too much wind to truly believe 100y results but it is a start.

JBM Trajectory web site. Free software on line.

When I first started this game some 10 years ago I was very analytical.  Now, I just go to the range and dial in my zeros.  Not sure why I changed my approach because the trajectory graph I used way back then was amazingly accurate.  Perhaps is it because I can get to a range easily and half the fun is shooting your equipment and finding your zeros.

In order to do my at home analysis I found this great free web software.  JBM software is very detailed but has great output.  The only guess work you have to do is to take a stab at your muzzle velocity.  Or, pull out the chronograph and get the real number for your favorite ammo and do it right.  I don't own a chronograph.

(This is a work in process post to see if I can get the data to stay with the link.)

Since we are heading to Hendrick Hudson in NY which uses yards and not meters it seemed like a good time to do some ballistics charts. Although there is a site in period it is nice to know what should happen to help sort through the chaos when getting sorted at a new range.

Here is a link to Aguila Match ammo so we know what the difference is between meters and yards.  From this data and knowing the following facts.

40y = 37m  so, instead of zero it is .3 moa higher or .25 moa for a scope.
60y = 55m  so, instead of 2.7 it is 2.0 moa or a difference of .7 or .75 for a scope
77y = 70m  so, instead of 5.6 it is 4.4 moa or a difference of 1.2 or 1.25 for a scope
100y = 91m so, instead of 9.7 it is 8.1 moa or a difference of 1.6 or 1.5 for a scope.

I used this chart to figure out what to expect at these distances against our current meter settings.  (Go to bottom and click on calculate) to get the raw data.  Or, use it for your gun.

The primary fly in the ointment is the assumption that the muzzle velocity out of my gun will be 1,050 FPS.  I don't own a chronograph and I guessed on the muzzle velocity.  I read it may be more like 1,025 FPS.

Inter club match for silhouette shooters in the North East

Hendrick Hudson Fish & Game is holding a club match June 18th where teams from various clubs compete for bragging rights.  There is a handicap system for equalizing M, AAA, AA etc shooters.  Read more here about the exact details. NH is going to head over and see if we can win the title!

Here is a sample of their results from the last match.

So why not jump in the car and head on over.  Here are some approx times for those who might travel some distances.  Gate opens at 7:45, folks start signing up at 8:15, practice at 9 to 9:30, first relay called to the line 9:45.  These are target times. 

Put Gun Club Way or Rd, Averill Park, NY 12018 in your GPS and see how many miles it is.  I don't have a GPS but Mapquest says 135 miles or a little over 3 hours given the non hwy miles from my house.

Sounds like some fun.  See you there!

As Lanny says, figure out what you are doing right and REPEAT!

After today's match I am not able to put my finger on what happened that led to a personal best of 34/40. (8 8 9 9)  I was very excited to shoot my 44 Marlin lever gun that I picked up last fall.  Read, my mind was focused on the "dark side" of silhouette.  All things that are not either Air Rifle or Small Bore silhouette are tossed in the category "The Dark Side" of silhouette.  With good humor of course but IMO Cowboy dilutes your efforts with the 1/5th animals.

Even with that strategy I seem to cross back and forth now and again because 1/5th has been a lonely game in NH.  Today I decided to shoot SB first fearing the 44 might contribute to any flinch I am trying to suppress.  For whatever reason my hold was solid after not touching a SB gun for two weeks if not longer.  I quickly invoked coaching rule 101.6, paragraph iv, section 2.  Always figure out what you are doing right and repeat.  Avoid focusing on what you are doing wrong and correcting it, instead figure out what you are doing right and repeat.  NPA, use timer, read notes and sight picture comments from prior match, learn from each shot and adjust if necessary, feet position, squeeze don't snatch.  All basic stuff, there was nothing earth shatteringly different other than a borrowed vest, having a spotter and white animals.  I can't imagine white vs. black animals would make that kind of difference.  The vest was not much different than mine which I left at home.  What was different?  Could it be I was not fully focused on 1/5th and I just got up and shot without any "arousal" as the 10m guys call it?

I cannot figure out what was different.  The first two hits on Turkeys were sloppy breaks but seemed to catch an edge.  I knuckled down and cleaned the bottom 5.  Missed #7 and then got the rest.  Rams went about the same way.  First shot arced in and nicked the back edge so the animal fell forward.  It was a good break but it with the help of my spotter I knew I had to hold low which worked.  I guess that means I was using real time data to adjust my game.  Often I react to what is happening too late and it costs me a bunch of animals.  It could be having a spotter for the whole match.  Hummm.

After that I shot my 44 and I had technical problems which aggravated me.  I should just put it up and focus on smallbore after today.  Pistol cartridge is just one big distraction.  But maybe it was a positive distraction given my smallbore results.  The worst part of it is I now have 2 legs into Master class.  No more shooting Blaze in Hunter until PA!  If I can shoot a 32 in PA, so be it! 

From a participation perspective, today was pretty exciting.  We had more 1/5th shooters than "other" disciplines and there was actually a wait to shoot the small animals.  Must have been because they heard we were going to shoot at white animals!

Cheers!

First use of RCII on 30-30

Mark asked if I would FL size, trim and bell the 400+ shells.  I had picked up a nice RCBS Rockchucker II at a gun show this winter and wanted to try it out.  It worked great but I had to beef up my bench which I did AFTER the 400 cases were done.  Put a giant piece of fir vertical to the press all the way back to the wall, (6x7x22) under the bench.  4" long deck screws captured it to the 3/4" plywood and I used some threaded 7/16" rod through the 3/4" bench and 6" fir block.  Now there is some REAL beef under the press and I look forward to another 30-30 test.  Only casualty was a broken de-capping pin on the 4th to last shell.  I was stupid!  The pin had loosened up so it was not centered and I put too much pressure on it as I wanted to finish.  Did I say STUPID! I'm smarter than that but I was tired of running the press.  Good lesson.

When a shell holder is a shell holder.... but.for a different tool.

Nothing new here for savvy reloaders but I am just dipping a toe in the water.  I was fortunate enough to purchase some of John Livingston's reloading equipment to seed the dark side of reloading.  John sucked me into this mess, I was just hoping he would be here to educate me.  I am honored to be keeping his equipment running and hopefully will be able to share what I learn with other newbies or even the next generation.  At this point I am still a newbie myself so that is a few years out.  Some of what I picked up includes a complete set of Lee shell holders and a RCBS Jr press with a shell holder in it.  But, as luck would have it, not the #2 needed for 30-30.  Instead it had a #23 which must have been used for loading 32 Auto.

RCBS Press Shell holder vs Lee Primer Shell holder?

I was told RCBS and Lee  shellholders are basically interchangeable except take care to note they may have different overall heights and therefore are not 100% interchangeable.  This nice cross reference would certainly suggest they are interchangeable but based on the picture to the right, Lee and RCBS are just not designed to affix to the ram the same way.  I don't have a Lee press.  Perhaps what I have is a set of Lee shell holders but for the Lee PRIMER tool!!  And, there is a whole different set for the PRESS...argh!  Live and learn.  I found the RCBS #4 is fairly close to a #2 and it allowed me to size four 30-30 junk shells.  Still, I will scrounge up a #2 and do it right

update 6/20/11.  I purchased a #18 and a #2 to go along with my #4 and #23.  My 44 Rem Mag range brass is now ready to load.

With Winning in Mind, Books part II

Simply put, this book, With Winning in Mind by Lanny Bassham is a must read if you want to improve your results. I have read this book three times and each time I get something new from it.  My favorite line which I often recall is "I'm the best snow shooter in the world.". 

A great book written by an Olympic Rifle Champion Lanny Bassham.  The power of positive thinking.  The importance of understanding the power of the subconscious.  In short, you don't want to think about executing the shot, you want your body to do it just as you instinctively apply the brakes when a car pulls in front of you. 

How to get a copy?  I am a huge fan of Half.com.  A good place to get used books.  There are always a few copies for sale.  As of the date of this post, here is the offering. 

Luck is where practice and perpetration come together!

Coon-ass-challenge is tonight in Winnsboro

I want to wish all my shooting buddies down in Winnsboro good luck as the start of the 1/5th game begins.  There are likely 200 SB Silhouette shooters now in Winnsboro getting ready for the start of the match on Saturday.  To get ready and have some fun they have what is called the Coon-Ass-Challenge fun match on Friday night before the beer truck is turned on. 

You are envited to form a team of 4 shooters and come up with the best stupid, fun, silly name you can.  Truth be told just about everybody creates a team but obviously there is some degree of getting the top master shooters to make a team against another team of top master shooters.  But, to counter that they spot  AA, A, B shooters some extra points.  Once you are triple A your swimming with the big fish. 

Winnsboro, LA 2005 Coon Ass Challenge 4th place

Back in 2005 we made a team with Ernie, Sandy, John and myself.  John had turkeys which is the hardest.  Ernie had rams.  Sandy had chickens and I had pigs.  The teams (12 at a time) are called to the line and what is usually an individual sport becomes a team sport.  Talk about nerves.  Even worse, to have pigs you are expected to clean them!  To make a very long story short we tied for 3rd.  I recall I managed 9 pigs and everyone else did very well so the scrappy little team from Texas and Alaska had spoiled some Master class teams.  The lowest classed shooter of each team had to shoot off on turkeys to settle 3rd vs. 4th.  Ernie was none to optimistic as he stepped up to the line with a nationally ranked Master shooter from California but we manged to take 4th and get some cool t-shirts along with a brick of RWS Target ammo.  It sure is a fun sport plus you make some life long friends!