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The movie theater shootings that happened last night/this morning is deeply saddening. If any of you know or are related to any of the victims my sympathy and prayers go to you as well as the victims. I hope we can figure out what causes people to do such insane things so we can try to keep it from happening.

Happy Friday everyone, even if it's the 13th.

Placed an order for a slug barrel for my Beretta 3901 20 gauge. It's the Citizen trim version. It's not much to look at but it's perfect for my needs. Originally I bought it to teach my children the fine art of wing shooting. The painted barrel and composite stocks don't give me heart palpitations if the gun gets dinged. About 2-3 years ago I brought it as a backup gun for my Ithaca Model 37 on my annual dove hunt in Arizona. It shot so well that it has been my "go to" gun for dove ever since. The reliability and cyclic rate really impressed me. Oh, I still let my offspring shoot it if they're good.

I've been looking for a home protection long arm for a while. In my suburban neighborhood, I believe a shotgun makes the most sense. Spacing between houses is 20 feet or less, and my home's internal construction is conventional drywall. Some areas of my home have restricted spaces and narrow passage ways. There's nowhere outdoors on my property that couldn't be reached by a shotgun.There's little crime in my city and police response is really good. There are a lot of burglaries and there have been a few home invasions, though. You have to love "Commuter Crime".

I've been looking for a 12 gauge semi-auto with a short barrel. If I was looking for a "bug out" gun, I'd choose a pump gun because I believe they are more reliable. However, the gun I want will be kept at home and kept clean. The main attraction of a semi-auto is that if I have to, I can shoot multiple times one handed when opening a door or if I lose the use of an arm/hand.

The Benelli M2, Beretta Tx4 and FNH SP would be great but costly. I understand that Remington has developed a tactical version of their Versa, but a 3.5 inch chamber makes the action a little long for my needs, even if the gas system is brilliantly simple to me. That leads me to consider the Mossberg 930. With my budget, it seems that it might do the trick.

In discussing this with my friends, a number of issues have come up. One pointed out that the Mossberg has an aluminum receiver and he doesn't trust aluminum's fatigue resistance with cyclic stresses. One should practice using a home defense arm and that might mean more rounds through it than what might be used in hunting. Another said I could save money by getting a basic version without a magazine extension. He thought that if one can't deter an assailant with 6 rounds (5 in the mag and 1 in the pipe), 8 or 9 won't make much difference and the shotgun will handle better. If I want tactical accessories, he said I can add those as I see fit.

I'm still thinking about it and would appreciate any words of wisdom from my THL friends as well. In the meantime, I ran across this sale announcement from BerettaUSA.com. Extra barrels for my Beretta usually list for US$300+. I saw Brownell's had them around US$290 or so. During the sale BerettaUSA was listing them for US$153 and added a discount of approx another $30. I bought the 22inch slug barrel with rifle sights. The barrel is still a little longer than I'd like but it's still better than the 26" barrel for use in tight quarters and I'd love to see what I can do with it when brush busting wild boar. With the barrel and the mag plug removed I'll have a pretty decent stop gap until I figure out what would be best for a more dedicated defense arm. Don't remember how long the sale will last but if anyone is interested, he/she ought to check it out. As I said before, I'd like to hear what anyone thinks about home defense arms. Hope you all have a good weekend.

Can anyone recommend or relate their experience with their favorite bullet chronographs? Until recently I wasn't too worried about bullet speed in my shooting. I was more concerned about group size or bullet drop at a given distance to figure my holdover.

Thanks to the bad influence of the sundry ballistic alchemists running amok on this web site, I've decided I want to get into things a might bit deeper. I have a couple of upcoming projects that will need "before and after pictures" to see if I get the results I want.

I don't have the biggest budget so I'm interested in getting the best "bang for the buck". I'll settle for a basic package and add bells and whistles to it later. Thanks.

Sorry everyone for this but if it makes you crack up too, then it's worth it. Can I post on the "What's On Your Mind" forum if there's really nothing IN my mind?

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Hi All. I'm prepping for my first hog hunt in condor country since the imposition of the California lead ban. Does anyone have any recommendations for copper 45-70 ammunition? I'm restricted to factory ammo for now. What I've seen is really pricey so I can't afford to buy & try a lot of samples. If anyone can help me narrow my search, it will really help. I'll be using them to feed my Marlin 1895. Max range probably 200 yards/180 meters. More on the hunt itself later.
Thanks and Happy Easter! Sometimes Lent can be very trying so I'm glad it's almost over.

I do a lot of thinking when I'm doing "Honey Do"s. I just make sure I'm paying enough attention to not glue my hand to whatever I'm repairing. I'd been looking into alternatives to the 8mm (.329") bullets used for my Steyr-Mannilicher M1895 in case the supply of bullets dried up or became too expensive. One of those alternatives was using cast, paper patched boolits in 8mm (.323") boolits.

While doing some home plumbing repair I was using teflon thread tape on the male threads for a fitting. I reached for the wrong roll and got some tape that was 3/4" wide instead of the 1/2". Then it hit me. How would this stand up to the grooves of a rifle? I don't have a reloading setup just yet and so I can't find out on my own. So far, it fits really well on some Speer 9.3mm bullets I have for a different project. It even conforms decently to the flat base. I'd been playing around with a cigarette rolling machine to apply paper patches that worked pretty well but this wasn't even necessary.

In the in the next couple of weeks I'll send for some lead boolits, try patching them with teflon, and use a reverse slugging method (breech to muzzle) to see how well the tape stands up to rifling. I just need to be careful not to block the barrel permanently. Talk about having a painful wedgy;). When I can at least borrow someone else's seating die I can find out whether the tape will stay in place or bunch up in front of the case mouth. If it's safe, by all means try it and share what you find out with everyone.

Thanks

Normally I'm of the "Not Broke, Don't Fix" school. Unfortunately, as a CA resident I have to adhere to the Ridley/Tree Bill banning the use of lead boolits in a broad swath of Central California. I have several old shotguns with barrels that aren't rated for steel or "hevi-shot" and so did some looking at bismuth shot. It's much cheaper than copper and non-toxic. I didn't realize that it's one of the ingredients in Pepto Bismol.

Does anyone have any experience/knowledge casting boolits with bismuth? I wouldn't hunt with them until I had some way of verifying that such bullets would have humane, effective terminal ballistics, so I'd be just target shooting with them at first.

As of now, I'm trying to make room for a new workshop and setting up an eBay business selling all of the things that are taking up room from my workshop area. I'm trying to think this out now so that when I'm able to clear my back burners, I'll be able to make up for lost time. Any thoughts would be appreciated, especially if they keep me from "reinventing the wheel."

Hope things get only better for you all.

I wasn't sure if the information belonged here or in the Firearms/Optics subforum so I'm putting a link to it here:

http://thehunterslife.com/forums/showthread.php?p=107891#post107891

Take care, everyone.

Sorry I haven't been around much but I wanted to pass this on so that it  wouldn't die with me if I were hit by a car. Of course, now that I have  passed this on, I probably won't be hit by a car. You have to love  using Murphy's Law for your own advantage!

While reading the article "Old School Cool" in the September 2010 issue of the American Rifleman I saw a diagram of the breech mechanism for what would become the Winchester Model 1885. It was taken from the original patent of 1879. There were letters to denote the various parts but no descriptions. The light bulb finally went off (belatedly): Why not check the original patent on line?

A search yielded several patent search sites and I just chose Google Patents because it was the first on the list: http://www.google.com/patents. Brothers and Sisters of the Hunt, I suggest that if you can't find a regular parts diagram for your particular firearm, this a good alternative. More importantly, the way the parts and mechanisms function are described in the clearest, most explicit way possible. If your particular firearm isn't found, one can see how firearms of the type you have were meant to function. Often the patents will only show the original version of the device you are researching, but sometimes subsequent patents that are improvements can be found.

Another aspect that fascinated me about all of this was that finding subsequent patents was similar to touring a museum. Just entering the search terms "John M. Browning" and "Colt's" would show how Government Model 1911's or the M2 came to be. I saw one patent for an "Improved Barrel Cooling Device" for automatic weapons whose barrel travels rearward part way with the breech that suggested ways to make a nice stuffing box for boat propeller shafts. Following the Browning patents also shows the dates when John M. assigned patent rights to a John B. Browning as executor and further patents made by Val A. Browning during the 1930's.

The Google site allows you to download the patents in .pdf format for later reading. Even if you aren't a tinkerer or gunsmith, the information is just amazing. I know that other countries have their own versions of the U. S. Patent office so I'll have to find out about those too. It would be interesting to research Paul Mauser's Patent for the Model 98 and compare it to those of the Springfield '03 and the Winchester Model 70 if they even exist.

A word of advice: researching patents is sort of like shopping at a warehouse store such as Costco or Sam's Club here in the USA. You go in for just one or two things and end up coming out with a flat bed cart full of merchandise you didn't know "you needed." If you are like me, make a "shopping list" of what you are looking for or else you'll go off on tangents and end up with a bloated desk top or Downloads Folder. It is that cool!

Another source for information on antique or out of production firearms is Cornell Publications LLC: http://www.cornellpubs.com/index.php
I purchased a reprint of the Sequence of Take-down and Assembly Operations for the Winchester Model 88 Lever Action Center Fire Rifle, dated 1958. It was originally published by the Products Service Department of Winchester Western Division, Olin Mathieson Chemical Corporation. A Winchester engineer named A. A. Arnold compiled a whole series of these for several guns: "Models 37, 42, 50, 61, 63, 69a, 70, 72, 75, 88, 94, 12 and 12 Featherweight, 1200, 1300." I agree with the assessment that these are "masterpieces." My copy ran $19.95 USD and it is a bargain. I'm going to post a reference to this thread in the Antique/Collectable subforum.

Have a good week everyone.

[The following was taken from THL Facebook :]

The following was taken from THL Facebook :
               

There's been word of increasing Feral Pig  populations in San Diego County in and around the Cleveland National  Forest. I'm going to contact the Park Rangers in the Palomar and  Descanso districts to get some maps and other info. Believe it or not,  hunting is actually being encouraged as a management tool. There's a lot of private and Tribal Reservation land so good  maps and nav skills will be important. More later.

In response to Erik's question about where to sign up:
Hey Erik
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/cleveland/recreation/hunting/palomardisthunt.shtml
You can contact  the ranger district station at the phone # on the link and they'll  email you information. Out of state hunting license is $144.65 and a Non  Resident Pig Tag is $66.70. Year round season and no bag limit. I've  learned that the best times are in the Fall around acorn drop or Spring (After most  of the rainfall but before high temps make them more nocturnal). The  Rangers were very helpful. They are supposed to be willing to share info  on sightings, etc.

In response to Erik's comment about how steep the fees are:
Resident fees are much lower: $41.50 for license & pig tag is  $19.95. The pig tags are actually meant for census purposes, at least  for where & when they were harvested. I'm guessing that elements of  our State Govt have a bad attitude toward resident hunters so  nonresident ones would add to their "problems." Temporary nonresident  licenses, though much cheaper, don't permit hunting of big game  species. IMHO, in a government bureaucracy it's possible that one hand  is either unaware or unconcerned with what the other is trying to do.

Also, thanks to Jamie for the kind wishes.

[Is anyone familiar with the Savage 340/Stevens 325? It looks like a good deal and because of BritHunter's 30-30 bolt gun, I've been more interested than I would have been. Believe me, this piece is not on the same level as his is. I saw that they use Savage's barrel nut so the possibility of re-barreling to 25-35 Improved would be interesting. I already have a Marlin in 30-30 so this wouldn't be redundant. Prices on Gunbroker seem to be running in the US$250-350 range.]

               Is anyone familiar with the Savage 340/Stevens  325? It looks like a good deal and because of BritHunter's 30-30 bolt gun,  I've been more interested than I would have been. Believe me, this piece  is not on the same level as his is. I saw that they use Savage's barrel  nut so the possibility of re-barreling to 25-35 Improved would  be interesting. I already have a Marlin in 30-30 so this wouldn't be  redundant. Prices on Gunbroker seem to be running in the US$250-350 range.

It's great to come back to the Forum. Going to the one in Inglewood, CA just wasn't cutting it! Thanks, Barry, Paul, Ravenbeauty, Daryl and everyone else for fixing The Hunter's Life. I hope everything good comes your way.

This is so simple that I like to call it a “bachelor recipe”.  A bachelor with little cooking experience could throw this together at short notice and look like he knows what he’s doing. The marinade also works well with turkey, poultry and pork. I don’t recommend using bachelors for the marinade, but I have known quite a few marinated bachelors in my bar-hopping days oh so long ago:

Marinade:

• Garlic Powder applied generously. Use garlic salt only as a last resort since there’s plenty of salt in the Soy Sauce.
• 1 bunch (1 handful in metric) Rosemary Needles
• Soy Sauce to cover in bowl or less if marinated in bag

Note: Quantities are left vague on purpose. Use the TLAR (That Looks About Right) method of judging quantities. The only thing you can overdo is time marinating the breasts. The beauty of this recipe is that you can throw it together in a hurry. I’ve gotten away with as little as 90 minutes soak time. You can take a little longer with pork or turkey.

Brochettes:

• Anaheim chiles, Canned Whole Ortega Chiles or, if you have nothing else, green bell pepper cut into 1.5x1.5 inch (3.81cm) squares
• Sliced onion, cut into 1 x 1 inch (2.54 cm) pieces
• Cherry or wedge cut Tomatoes
• Mushroom Caps
• 3-6 Wild Dove Breasts per skewer depending on whether everyone limited out

Directions:

• Clean Dove and separate breasts. Keep skin on breasts if possible. Save rest of body for soup stock or gravy in other dishes.
• Arrange breasts front side up in shallow container.  Lift skin along outside edges and douse with Garlic Powder in between skin and breast meat.
• Bend Rosemary Needles to break and slide in between skin and breast meat. Leave loose needles in bottom of pan to mix with soy sauce. Pull skin back over breasts.
• Pour Soy Sauce to cover. Cover container and throw into refrigerator 3 hours max. It’s really easy for the marinade to overwhelm the taste of the dove breasts. If you are marinating in a plastic bag, put seasoned breasts and loose rosemary into bag first and then add soy sauce. Squeeze bag on closing to eliminate air. You won’t have to turn the breasts for even coverage that way.
• After marinating breasts, slide the different ingredients onto skewers. Experience has shown me that you're best off inserting skewer from back of breast, next to breast bone. Then you can slide an onion slice over the front and nestle a tomato in behind the breast. Arrange the rest of the ingredients as it suits you. If you want, reserve marinade. If grilling with wooden skewers, soak them first in water so the exposed ends don’t char. To prevent the pieces from rotating on the skewers when turning, use two skewers in parallel for each brochette/kebab.
• Pour reserved marinade into sauce pan and add water about equal to 1/4 of the volume of the marinade. Bring to boil then reduce to simmer while grilling/broiling brochettes.
• Use medium high flame on grill or broil at about 400F/205C.

Cook for approximately 10 minutes while turning frequently. Check for doneness.

• When breasts are done, remove from heat, let rest for 5 minutes and then slide off of skewers onto a bed of rice on each plate.
• Use heated marinade for pouring onto rice.
• Enjoy!

I just got this YouTube link in an email from a relative. I love how this guy sticks to his guns:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNmi-bBhWG8
Take care.

I have a 7 month old Belgian Malinois Shepherd. The upcoming Fourth of July will be his first. I don't know if he'll ever be much of a hunting dog but I don't want him to freak out when he hears fireworks and gunshots. Dogs of his breed are regularly used in Police K-9 units so I know it can be done.

I'm asking around and reading up on it, but if there's a place where I can ask people with practical experience, it would have to be here. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

The opening of dove season, September 1, is always a big day in California. The last few years I've been going to a place near Coolidge, AZ and have had some great shooting. After opening day, there's still some great shooting to be had down near the Salton Sea in SoCal. It's not as hectic as opening day +1 to +3, but it's still fun.  Anyone else going? If so, where?

Where can I find out how you go about developing a new wildcat  cartridge?
I'm impressed with the discussions in the thread on the .25-303. Down the road a ways, I'd like to see about developing an improved 8x56R Austrian/Hungarian cartridge. One version would shoot the usual .329 pill for guns with good barrels and one would be .338 for guns that could use a little re-boring.

One reason I'd like to try this is because the brass may or may not become scarce in the future. I think that cartridge life would be extended by reducing cartridge taper. Hopefully reducing the cartridge taper would also reduce bolt back thrust and increasing action life. I think the extractor has enough guts to pull the spent cartridge from the chamber, within reason.

I also noticed that cartridges like the .338x53R wildcat, based on the 7.62, and .338 Federal seem to have superior performance despite having smaller charge capacities. I know it's an old round, but the cartridge just doesn't seem very efficient. The muzzle flash I've seen also tells me that there's a lot of unburned propellant being expelled. That can't be good for chamber leade/throat life.

Performance goals would be like that of the .338 Federal. I messed with some sketches and what I've been coming up with look like an 8mm or .338 rimmed version of the .284 Winchester. That's probably a little hotter than my requirements but I wouldn't have to load it up that hot.

Anyhow, pretty pictures are one thing, but they sort of reminded me how much I DON'T know. I know many of you here are knowledgeable about the process, but I don't want to put anyone through a "how-to". If anyone could point me to where I can find out how it's done, I'd be obliged. I have enough on my plate for now so I can spend the intervening time learning how this whole thing works. Then I can see if this project is worthwhile.

Thanks in advance.

I'm all messed up again. Against my own advice, I went to a local gunshop in Culver City, CA "just to look." Going through the used gun racks to see if a used Marlin 336A in .35 Rem was still there, I came across her. She's curvy, nice lines, long slim lovely barrel, a butt stock that can bring tears to my eyes. She has a pert little front post sight without a hood. She's dark brown on the stock with a scattering of dimples. She wears her original dark blue makeup well without any thin spots. Winny is a Win Model 88 and her dimensions are 42-22-.308 (Length-barrel-bore). She wears a classic Weaver 3 power scope like it was meant for her. I don't like to ask a lady so I guessed her weight at about 8 pounds. She wouldn't tell me how old she was but I snuck a peek at her serial # and later found out that, like me, she was born in 1958. I wonder what her sign is (Maybe I'm laying it on a little thick). She seemed to move pretty smoothly without a lot of effort on my part. I barely know her but we stood cheek to cheek as easily as if we'd known each other for a long time.

Obviously I'm bedazzled. Does anyone have any experience with others like her? The shop wants $600 American with scope. Is that reasonable? Would it be sacrilege if I took her to get a barrel lift in .284 Winchester? I don't mind the recoil, I'd take a slap in the face from her just for the attention she'd be giving me.

I wasn't looking for her. I already have a BAR LongTrac in 30-06, a Marlin 336RC in .30-30 (hopefully to be Improved soon), a Marlin 1895S in .45-70 and 2 Steyr Mannlicher M-95s as tinkering guinea pigs. If anything, I wanted something in .264/6.5mm or smaller. I need a short barreled shotgun more than anything right now, but the curve of her lever is amazing. I can't wait to see her tomorrow to examine her checkering.:D Any counseling from you good people would be appreciated.

Thought I'd share a link to a local news channel video. I don't know if there is a conspiracy behind the ammo and component shortage but the following has to be some sort of factor:

http://www.cbs2.com/video/?id=104478@kcbs.dayport.com

Reseda is a suburb of L. A. just north of me on the other side of the Santa Monica Mountains in the western San Fernando Valley. Those are ro-ro shipping containers, the kind you see on the container ships. They are huge. They are big enough that some people in nearby Redondo Beach are using them to build a house. I don't know if this guy was stockpiling for Armageddon, or getting ready to gouge like a convenience store owner after a hurricane, but the thought of all that ammo "going up in smoke" at a time when things are so scarce just makes me want to shake my head and spit.

Gentlemen, Scholars, Lovers of Projectile Throwers:
Went to a local indoor range yesterday to shoot with a friend during our lunches. I've been prepping a couple of .22 rifles for my daughter to learn on starting this summer. I wanted to sight them in after changing the sights. I can't believe how much fun I had. I'd read several articles about .22 rimfires being a cost effective way to practice the basic skills, even if you shoot the big stuff.

That started me thinking. I know that can be dangerous, but I promise not to sprain anything. Anyway, with all of the talk about ammunition shortages and such, I wanted to ask for everyone's opinion. What if, theoretically and for some strange reason, .22 rimfire ammo was not available? What reloadable round would be a good replacement assuming one could still get reloading components? It would have to be:

• cheap
  
• reasonably accurate
  
• easy on a student shooter while still learning/reinforcing the basics
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• components as available as .22 long rifle ammo generally is
  
• have a large number of and kinds of firearms to shoot it
  
• easy to reload (A novice reloader like myself could gain experience)
  
• have as many uses as the .22 long rifle
  
• fun

I'd value your opinions. I'd post this as a poll but I want to hear your reasons. If there is enough response, maybe I will move this thread to the polls. Thanks in advance.