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Looking for loads and holster ideas I ran across an old post by Recoil Junky and his 1911. I just picked one of these up a few months ago, a Springfield MilSpec version, and was wondering what RJ is feeding his, as well as anyone else who has one.
 
 
I tried the same load I shoot in my PT-145 and it mostly works ok, but was hanging up occasionally. Thats a 230gr Lee Truncated Cone Tumble Lube with Liquid Alox cast from straight wheel weights and pushed through a Lee Sizer over 8.0gr of AA#5 in whatever cases I have handy. Velocity in the 1911 is 860 fps and 745 fps in the sub-compact PT-145 (3 inch barrel). I determined the problem was the liquid alox and the truncated cone...I think. I cleaned up a hundred of them, scrubbing the alox off the truncated cone, and will verify that was the problem soon.
 
It seems the truncated cone was sliding up the feed ramp which was dragging the excess lube down the bullet and depositing it on the case, which every ten rounds or so was enough to keep the slide from completely going into battery. It was gumming up the works. Instead of pushing the slide into battery and firing, I ejected those rounds, took them home and checked em out every which way. Nothing out of spec, and once cleaned they all fell right into the chamber, and back out.
 
 
So in the future either I need to go without lube, cut lube in half at least or change bullet/lube combo. I may just have to get a lube/sizer for Christmas for future cast bullets in the several that I load, though that will mean new molds as well. I sure dont want to clean the remaining cartridges I already have loaded, as it is a lot, but that is almost certainly necessary if I want to shoot the same loads in both 45s. Seperating them one for each pistol is something I just find impracticle, even though people do it all the time for different guns in like chamberings.
 
Thoughts?

Is it me or is Joe Bloggs making a habit of goading Kombi everytime he posts? It was annoying and is becoming reminiscient of a former member we had from Montana. If so it would be best to nip this in the bud with a reminder that this is a friendly forum.  Everyone should feel free to be able to post their opinion without snide replies.  Discussion should be the focus, argumentative replies distract from the theme of this community.

These are the peppers I have growing out back. I think I have most of them identified.
 
Chile Pequin

 
Thai Chile

 
Rams Horn

 
Peperoncini

 
Serano maybe? Little darker and a little smaller than a serano IMO.

 
Maybe a type of Thai chile of some sort. About 3-5 inches, started off purple and turning black.

 
Jalapenos of course

 
And there is a Habanero (I think)

Here you go David
 
Holster for the Taurus 40 S&W
Holster for the .45 which can go inside the belt with the straps I made that are removable, it snaps on my belt or take them off and you can run a belt through the slots
A single mag holster that started off as a double that I thought was overkill so I cut it in half and made a single mag holder for me and a buck knife case for my son. Luckily a Taurus PT100 mag and a Buck lockback are just about the same size.
One of the knife sheaths I made (it has several brothers that I gifted).

Nothing much to report here other than the fact that my little brother is wheels up out of Afghanistan.  A couple days in Europe and then a couple weeks decompression and demobilization in the states then home.  It's been a long year with the situation deteriorating there and I will be glad to lay my hands on him.  He's done his duty twice now and hopefully this will be the last deployment for him.  I'm sure most of you can imagine how happy I am right now.

My son got a small female coyote yesterday while deer hunting. He got a shot on her while trotting at about 75 yards, right in the the shoulder with the Savage .243 Win with a 95 gr Nosler BT. DRT, lots of blood loss, exit wound not too terribly big.  Would have preferred a trotting buck....

Well I asked Santa for a Ruger .22 LR and got two of them for Christmas...sort of. I added a Ruger 10-22 to the safe for the ability to shoot high velocity ammo, which I have a lot of, and to see if they live up to all the hype. I have a limited amount of standard velocity 22 ammo, and all of my 22 rifles are older Mossbergs which I dont like shooting the high velocity stuff through. So Santa was kind enough to get me a 10-22 (he has to fill out the ATF 4473 too).
 
Then my dad comes by and tells me that I can have the Ruger Single Six New Model that was in my safe. I had borrowed it again, this time to copy the holster it was in, an old Hunter model western holster that is super quality, very much in contrast to what they sell today. I need a holster for the Heritage .22 LR/Mag combo I picked up a couple months ago. The only problem with the Single Six, is that the long rifle cylinder has been lost for a decade so it is not a conversion anymore, just a 22 Mag. I hope to talk to Ruger tomorrow and see what I have to do about a replacement cylinder, may be cost prohibitive.

We dont really have a forum for regular ammo or recalls, so I am throwing this up here. Not a lot of details unfortunately, but I got this from work and should be creditable. Some government issue 9mm ammo apparently had some junk make it through QC. You can see the crease across the primer, looks to be double struck or the ram was off center when it seated the primer. The report said the round went off when it fell on the floor. If that's what happened then it was faulty from the factory. Though it could have been a CYA thing and somebody was screwing with the ammo and set one off by striking the primer with something.

Need to replace the Nikon Monarch I stole from my son's 308 and have narrowed the choices to Refield Revenge 3-9x42 or the Nikon ProStaff 3-9x40. The Redfield is about $30 cheaper. I really like the Nikon I have, but sure the ProStaff will not be as good as the Monarch though.
Thoughts?

Paul,
I thought of you as I read this article.  Just as you and everyone here, I take what I read with a grain of salt, boil it down when I can and juddge for myself what was said, what was implied and what was not said (often the most telling).  Those folks in Missouri are dead on when they say "Show me" as a picture is worth a thousand words and I like to see things for myself.  I also realize that authors in a magazine are writing for profit, not neccessarily for the purpose of enlightening anyone or to record their own experiences for their own benefit.  When you read something it helps to know why it was written, as that sometimes sheds new light on the words.  
 
That said, or rambled, I read an article in Handloader magazine written by Terry Wieland that I think we could all appreciate.  The general theme of the article was that there are a lot of myths out there concerning shooting and handloading, beginning on the ammo box, continuing into the reloading manuals and onto the magazines.  The portion that I liked best said "...I began to seriously question the gospel I read in the pages of Outdoor Life.  By the time I reached my 40s I believed nothing unless I saw it for myself and certainly would not repeat anything in print unless I'd tried it and knew that it worked" (Wieland, Handloader, 285, pg 64, Aug 2013)
 
Words to live by Mr Wieland  All in all I really like Handloader and most of the contributors in it.  Venturino, Pearce and Barsness seem to be straight shooters as well.

Anyone ever play with ham radio?

This film was mentioned in another thread, and not wanting to hijack it as I have a tendency to do, I thought I would mention a couple others that are well worth finding.  
 
The same company that produced "Fireproof" which is a great movie about working at making a marriage succesful, also made a movie called "Courageous" which deals with the trials and tribulations of being a father, as well as the responsibilities that come with fatherhood.  Both of them have a Christian message, but being Christian is by no means a prerequisite to watching them.  The message they impart applies to any and all who hold family values as a virtue.  These are movies you can sit down with your children and watch and not have to wonder if they are going to be exposed to something they shouldn't.  And they pull this off while still being entertaining.
 
Another film along the same lines but produced by a different group is "The Grace Card".  Deals with tough choices, being honest with ourselves and racism.  If you have access to NetFlix they have them and I can almost guarantee everyone here will enjoy them.

I was wondering if anyone had heard of this or possibly used one.  Says it is new by Lee, fits into a special die, holds case, trims, chamfers and deburs all at once.  Requires the Trimmer and a seperate Die.  Total price should be about $16 for the trimmer and $9 for each cartridge die you need. Not all cartridges seem to be available.
 

I'm not sure what yet, but some of these aren't going to get done this weekend
 
Mow yard
Go to the dump
Try to find rodents in mom's attic
Cast Shot
Zero Rifle
Load Ammo (Pistol/Shotgun)
Test .35 Rem Loads
Load more Ammo
Bowling Pin Shoot
Make some brew
Gun Store
Sit on the porch and watch the birds

I got my breakfast growing out back. Decided to get some chickens a while back, and ordered 16 which arrived a couple weeks ago. Got a straight run of 15 Rhode Island Reds, a Black Cochin hen and a White Crested Black Polish rooster as freebie. The reds are mixed, hopefully about half hens half roosters, but who knows. What is for certain is that most of the roosters will end up in the pot, starting with whichever one crows first in the middle of the night
 

After about ten years of rifle and pistol handloading I finally got into shotshell loading.  Previously I just didn't see the economy or need for loading shotshells, but the way things are going I decided I ought to at least be able to load some basic shells.  I didn't want to fork out the dough for a MEC Junior, even though that is what I really wanted, so I got a Lee Load All and started the hunt for components, which is a task all in itself these days.
 
 I had to search three counties and have a fourth still to go in the hope of getting the powder I originally wanted.  He is a commercial reloader, and with sales being so high, he only has time to open his shop once a week for in store sales and its a bit of a hump and hard to make it after work(prices are great though).  That's in addition to internet sales.  Primers (and all they had are TulAmmo primers), wads and Hornady 00 Buck shot at one store, but they didn't have any powder.  Powder at another store, but they didn't have any shot, wads or primers.  Lee load all from Midway, of course they didn't have the molds (00 or #4 buck) though.  No one had the molds, and I must have searched a dozen different vendors and all the stores.  Finally Midsouth had the Lee 00B six cavity 18 shot mold and handles, snagged them.  I am not exaggerating when I say I checked the online vendors every day, and Midsouth only had them one day and they sold out again.  The others never showed as having them.  I also ordered 500 once used Remington hulls from a guy in Florida, not needed but dirt cheap so I got em.  I have picked up more than enough good hulls at the local range now that the weather has warmed up, but when I started gathering they werent there.
 
I had everything but the molds a couple weeks ago, and couldn't wait to play any longer so grabbed the only box of 00B shot I had seen.  Even though I got robbed I wanted to get started.  I loaded up 4 sets of increasing loads of 9 pellets 00B in 2 3/4" shells and ran them across the chrony to see where we were at and to make sure I wasn't exceeding pressure as the exact hull wasn't listed in any book, but the construction is nearly identical to a Win AA hull.  I must say, I was more than a little hesitant firing the first round over my chronograph, I kept having visions of it getting obliterated.  The max load listed I couldn't get to in the Lee, they dont have a bushing with enough room in it with the only powder I could get that went with the only wads I could find that went with the hulls I had on hand:Banghead:   So I was a grain under max. Buck shot doesn't have a lot of loads listed anywhere apparently. Shooting these in the Mossberg with the 18" barrel gave a less than awe inspiring velocity, the 28" gave about 100 fps more.  I checked both, but these loads are intended more for two legged varmints than four, as such most likely to be fired out of the 18" tube.  Some 3" hunting loads will come later.  
 
The day I checked velocity was nasty, cold, rainy and rushed.  All I had time to do was check velocity.  This morning my son and gave a more thorough run at the patterning board.  I used a Federal 2 3/4" 9 pellet 00B as a control, being the same number of pellets and size, slightly more velocity than mine.  I had them on hand.  At 25 yards half of the Federal pellets were still in the shot cup which blew a hole through the target (same at 30 yards).  The group was very small, but I would call that a detriment  as it was small enough that someone who was not very proficient (say my wife) could concievably miss with it at 25 yards.  My loads, each of the three lighter loads as well as the max all spread well, but all staying within the torso of a man sized sillouhette (sp).  And this was out of the 18" barrel.  The 28" with full choke gave a slightly tighter pattern, but not significantly so.  
 
So, I called the whole thing a success and proceeded to phase two.  The molds came Fedex yesterday afternoon, but i was to busy to get to them.  Today the boy (youngest son) and I sat down to get some serious casting done.  I wanted him to start getting some experience and figured today was as good as any, though a single or double mold would be better to learn on.  We sat down and cranked out about 6 1/2 pounds of shot, maybe 80 rounds worth :grin: If I get the powder I want this week, I will load these in a different hull and see how they do.
 
Two side notes.  Keeping the end of my bench modular is really working out.  I can swap case trimmer, shotshell loader, powder measure or whatever by keeping them mounted to 2x4s with universal holes in them which then mount to the same place on the bench.  Wood screws now, but I am going to grab a couple long machine screws and wingnuts in the future.  Then when I am done I can take them out and have bench room to work on.
 
And the holes I punched in the paper at 35 yards with the .357 today, all in the 10 ring :grin:

It's a sad day...my little girl is going to her Senior Prom tonight.  I guess it is inevitable, she will eventually lead her own life without me, but she will always be my baby girl.  At least before they kick the parents out, they have a daddy/daughter dance at their prom, I like that.  
 
On a side note, though this is a sign I may be getting old, you guys are still older

I need some data if anyone can supply it.  In the process of working up a load for my 35 Rem chambered Marlin 336, using the Hornady 200gr FTX bullet and only have data from Hodgdon, which lists a max charge of 38.3 grains of Varget.  It is also noted as being compressed, though mine isnt compressed when I got to 38.3 grains of Varget.  I see absolutely no pressure signs and the velocity is about 75-100 fps slower than I think it ought to be.  As it is a somewhat newer bullet, my other load manuals dont have it listed.  I think it is perhaps a bit conservative and was wondering what other books have Varget max load listed as.
 
So, if anyone has Lyman's 49th edition or another newer manual, could you look up the max charge for Varget in the 35 Rem with the 200gr FTX bullet.

Disclaimer:  I am sure I am mixing terms and my math/engineering/physics knowledge is not my strong suit.  This is only theoretical at this point.
 
Would it not be possible to measure energy by measuring how far a known weight is moved?  Isn't that the criteria for foot/pounds?  
 
Was thinking of a way to measure residual energy AFTER pass through.  Energy before, and at impact is easily enough detrmined with projectile velocity and weight.  My thought was a block of a known weight set on a simple set of rails (to eliminate friction as a variable as much as possible) behind the target that replicated a game size animal.  A deer ribcage after butchering and stuffed with the offal and covered in the hide would seem great.  The block would have to be steel I would think to preclude absorbtion of the impact energy.

I'm sittin here pondering people and old Darwin, and wondering how it is possible that we still have so many stupid people floating around.  Working on my belief in creation and that we were created in His image, and Darwin's survival of the fittest, we should have started off pretty good and got better.  Well folks, I gotta tell you, I am pretty sure there is some serious de-evolution going on. I mean some of these people should have at the very least driven off bridges, stuck forks in electrical sockets or maybe tried to use the hair dryer while standing in the tub. I am particularly impressed by those that are so stupid that they cant even recognize they need help and/or ignore that help when offered.  Must be nice being convinced you know everything, think of the self confidence that must give:Banghead:
 
That is all, I am done now.:lipsrsealed: