moredes

How big a scoop is determined by the size of the plastic bottle or jug. A jug (like a plastic gallon milk jug, or bleach jug) usually has that curved hollow handle that can serve as a scoop's handle. Put the cap back on it, turn it upside down, and cut it in half with a diagonal cut so that when you hold the handle (and the jug looks like a scoop), the diagonal cut makes the jug look like a shovel. Don't buy those rollaway shelves at Sam's. You can find them or metal stack shelving at office surplus supply stores for $20-30, and they're twice as large and can carry 'way more weight. I found a rollaway that has 8 shelves; 5' x 30" stacked in two columns. I have four 5-gallon buckets of brass on each shelf. The surplus store had 40 or 50 of them they'd received on consignment from K-Mart. Mine cost $30. Use square translucent jugs with the tops cut off; they work great and they don't cost no $144. Neither do those 28lb or 40lb. cat litter buckets, which the vets and humane societies throw out by the ton. All ya gotta do is ask 'em for some.

A lot will depend on the local municipality, your new neighbors, and the manner in which you become acquainted with them. I bought 7 acres in MS, and I'm surrounded on 3 sides by neighbors and on the 4th side, I only have one neighbor. One of the main reasons I bought as much land where I did was so I could shoot on my land with impunity. The first thing I did was consult with the county clerk (known as the Chauncery Clerk down here) to find out where the unincorporated areas were. In unincorporated areas, there are supposedly no laws prohibiting me shooting, but I double-checked that with the Sheriff's Dept before I focussed my search in different locations. Then I told the real estate agent what I intended, and had her looking for land that had the correct "lay"--oriented in the right geographic direction (ideally, you want to shoot towards the north, so you have sun on your target most of the day, without shadow), and high ground at the end of my northern property line. We didn't fulfill either of those requirements--I ended up building a berm (NRA minimums are 10' high on the sides, if you have any--which would help abate noise, a little--and 15' as a target backstop). Once I'd bought the land, I went to all the neighbors and introduced myself. There are 9 immediate neighbors around my property. Three of them objected to the idea of my shooting, but I explained that I was an experienced shooter, and I would be shooting away from their direction (true in all cases--don't lie--it could get legal), into a berm I would have built according to NRA recommendations. Noise was the main objection for most people. My closest neighbor to my 200yd shooting bench objected mildly to the idea of me shooting .308's 200yd from his house. Safety wasn't the issue with him because he knew I'd be on the edge of my property shooting away from him--he objected to the likely noise. I offered to shoot on specific days, at specific times--I also told him I would be building a giant silencer to quell the .308 rifle discharges. (I built it with scrap R-19 insulation, old tires, and a couple of old scrap frames I found at a closed Target store.) The "silencer" is effective enough that I can shoot the .308 without ear protection--it's quieter than a .22. All this took a lot of time, visits, work, and some extra and unanticipated money, but... No one has complained, and I shoot .308's about 4hr / day twice a week, and IDPA-type drills (100-400rounds) once a week. Once a neighbor and I met at the mailbox, and he asked if I could change shooting days because his schedule changed, but that's it. No one's ever "come pounding on the door". I think it's all in how you get your neighbors to understand that you're willing to cooperate with them (at least, they think you are); several others in the neighborhood have taken up shooting since I moved here. It used to be that I was the lone shooter, but now I can hear practice gunfire sometimes in the "near distance".

You can ask damn near anything about HT here: AVS Forum You don't say if you intend to move up at a later date. If you mean you intend to replace your processor (not your amp), I'd advise Yamaha or Onkyo also. And I agree with Merlin; if you can afford it, go 7.1. If you're a 'tinkerer' like me, you might keep your eye on resale value also. If you upgrade to better equipment, you'll wanna recoup as much as you can for your older stuff. You don't list any of your other components, but I'd suggest the used market at that link, or EBay, can be a good place to find quality used merchandise. A processor won't "wear" like speakers or an "over-used" amplifier. Depending on your budget, and "risk tolerance" you can get into some 3-4 year old high-line gear that can fulfill your needs. I've bought used Krell and Mac gear from both sites. As long as you are prudent in your research about the gear and seller, you can get this stuff at fire sale prices.

I'm in Mississippi. I store all my powder, primers, and electrical equipment (timer, rangefinder, electronic scales, etc.) in the shed. Each type of supply is stored in a derelict refrigerator--one for primers only, one for powders only, etc. I got the refrigerators by asking the manager at Lowe's if I could have them. Lowe's and Home Depot remove old refrigerators when they deliver newly purchased units, if the owners want them to. Lowe's just saves them for garbage pickup, so the manager was happy to let me have them. Only use the rubber gasket-sealing refrigerators--the metal-locked doors will not allow expansion in the event of a fire.

Nothing works for manual swaging like the Dillon 600. Faced with 3000 Lake City .308 cases (same milsurp primer pocket as 45acp), I forked out the green for time's sake. It was only another $30-40 more than any slower tool. I C-clamped it at an angle of 45 degrees from the edge of the table. Once the primer pocket depth is set, I can do 650-700 cases an hour. I set up a rectangular box with about a 15" x 9" opening, on it's side, with a shim (a small weighted box, anything) underneath it to prop it at an angle of about 30 degrees so the mouth of the box is tilted up and away, at the end of the swing of the rod that supports the fired case. Feed the case onto the support rod with the left hand. Cycle the swager with the right. HIT the lever with the right thumb, launching the case into the box, (like 'field goaling' the brass case). Feed a new case with the left hand, cycle, etc. My Dillon had a slight amount of slop between the cavity and the case support rod. This caused an inconsistent misalignment between the primer pocket and the swager. I took some 1/2" strips of duct tape and shimmed the cavity on both sides so the brass would line up with the swager when the brass support rod is slammed home with the feeding left hand.

I started my wife out on a Ruger Mk II (.22's). Once she got used to that, I moved her to a 1911, but I reloaded some real light loads--4.5gr (?) / WW231 / 200LSWC as I recall. They weren't powerful enough to cycle the action with any reliability. The good feature about that is that she learned to clear the jams rather quickly while handling the gun with safety in mind, and the load didn't intimidate her. After ~50-75 of those rounds, we moved up to a reliable light load and by 200 rounds, she was shooting Winchester White Box without protest.

It used to be said that one should not reload on a carpeted floor, but I haven't read a reloading manual for that topic in 30yr, so I don't know if that 'wisdom' is still valid.