redmanfixit

I've been doing kind of an informal experiment with stained brass. The soils around many of the places I practice and compete (in Colorado) are alkaline and if brass is lost and buried, it comes up looking a lot like wolf cases. I have reloaded a bunch of this stained brass and found no problems with workability or strength in 9mm and .45 ACP. All my loads are up to power factor with a comfortable margin for chrono variations. I tend to use heavier bullets as I find them more effective for knocking steel around. Based on this experience, I'd say no worries!

Cha-Lee, From my Bag O' Evil Tricks. Sneakily get yer wifley wife into shooting. Buy her a nice gun and see that she has the right stuff to go with it. Let her select the gun. It does not matter if you think it is the right one for her, buy what she tells you she likes. You will shoot more. Trust me on this one. Congratulations, may you live happily ever after!! K The match you put on with RW & Master Z was very good!

Navy Corpsman Corpsman of Marines Entropy Remediation Technician (I fix things, buildings, broken stuff, Things out of whack put right!) Optician Yoga Teacher Electrician (Sparky) Own my own business and also have an online store. All of this largely a consequence of both a singular inability to concentrate and an indefensible compulsion to know how things work! Someday, if I can purge myself of an unfortunate appreciation of plastic handguns, I hope to be a supplicant for admission to the Single Stack Elitist Snobs! (If the Deity shoots a handgun it's a 1911 A1!) Single Stack is the ONE TRUE PATH.

I bet you're going to be terrific RO. WE make this a safe sport. All of us working together. A willingness to correct one another and be corrected when we need it. And cop to it when we blow it. No worries. You're not a machine!

One of the issues with any of the vaccines mentioned in this thread, are the presence of squalenes added to the vaccine to add additional irritation to the immune system to improve the immune reaction. There is some thinking that suggests this may be significant in Gulf War Syndrome. The Anthrax vaccine forced on the troops was rushed in production and poorly tested just like the H1N1 that's coming up. In this case it is thought to cause the emergence of auto immune dysfunction in some people. This seems to be not well understood. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, lupus, arthritis are all linked to this in Vets that were in the Sand Box, as well as others mentioned in the thread. An under publicized and effective approach is from old medicine. Find and take a high quality probiotic. It should be a broad mix with at least 10 different organisms in it. Most of what you see in health food stores is the 3 organism common type which is better than nothing. You get these types of organisms from eating fresh (not canned) fermented foods like sauerkraut or kimchee. Yogurt and kefir also are good sources of these three probiotic organisms as long as you are not lactose intolerant. Again, naturally cultured. Go to ercprobioticenzymes.com and look at the faq pages. There is also a pointer to a lecture on TED by Bonnie Bessler, a researcher at Princeton on bio-films. Yes I am involved with that web site and yes we sell stuff. If any of you want to buy what you find there, contact me and we'll sell it to members of this forum at a discount. The main reason is the FAQ pages, they are full of information about how the organisms effect the human immune system and why you should take SOMETHING like this all the time. Find a local beekeeper. We're all over the place. One that has a bee yard as close to where you live as possible. Eat that honey as part of your diet. Blended, store bought brands aren't as effective in this way. Honey is loaded with leftover bits of protein and cell parts from all the organisms that the bees inadvertently gather up with the nectar and pollen. These are rendered inert by the enzymes the bees use in making honey and the high sugar concentration. If the biofilm in your gut is healthy, it will pass information to your immune system about the microorganisms that will be making you sick every year. Most of these bugs are in the area already, with a few exceptions, and it's kind of like a custom vaccine without all the downsides of industrial medicine. This is also a dandy way to help get rid of allergies. Bee are cool! The best health care I know of is not getting sick!

Polycarbonate lenses are the best bet for impact resistance. That material exceeds the Z87 standard by a ridiculous margin. When you see shooters wearing regular prescription lenses, these days they are often polycarbonate. The index of refraction (how much the lens material bends light) is higher for that material so you can make the lenses thinner. That's a big deal for someone that requires a lot of correction. There are glass lenses that meet the Z87 industrial standard, but to do so requires them to be a minimum of 3 mm thick in the center and be chemically strengthened. These work well in an environment that has lots of abrasive particles floating around but they weigh a lot! Another common lens material is CR-39. This is also generally more impact resistant than glass but not as tough as polycarbonate. The main difference between them is the inherent impact resistance of the material. There are other details besides impact resistance, like the workability of the material as regards making prescription lenses from them or scratch resistance, but generally the average user isn't concerned with that. OK maybe the scratch resistance thing! In case you'd like to know what the Z87 standard is; The lens is supported on the top of a padded cylinder and a 7/8" steel ball is dropped 52" from a mechanism onto the front surface of the lens. If it breaks it fails. If you know the physics, you can figure it out in inch pounds, but that is one heck of a whack! Except for unusually thin lenses polycarbonate won't break when you drive a nail through them. Two things people MUST be aware of when selecting sport protective eyewear beyond impact resistance. 1. Optics- inexpensive usually means bad optics. I have written on this forum before about how to evaluate optics for distortion free viewing. BIG deal for sight picture. 2. UV absorption has to be considered. When you wear a darkly tinted lens, your iris opens up and exposes the crystalline lens inside your eye to higher levels of UV and near blue light. This exposure is a documented contributing factor in the development of cataracts. You can think of it like how it will work out in the long run if you don't wear hearing protection when you shoot. The second thing in this category would be IR absorption. The RayBan brand was developed by the Baush & Lomb company in response to the U.S. Air Force letting a contract for high altitude flying glasses in the 40's or so. They transmit well in the visible band and clamp the radiation off in IR and UV. The radiation environment at stratofortress altitudes is way different than at sea level where you have all that nice atmosphere protecting you from burning up. In the previous posts on this topic several people pointed out that you are only issued 2 eyes. Please take good care of them. Mom was right, if you're not careful with that damned BB gun, you'll poke your eye out!!! I was an optician for 18 years and I ran LARGE safety eyewear programs for industry and government. I answer questions if people ask them.

I've helped put on several GSSF matches now in Colorado. I think that the basic presumptions are that the factory ammo only pronouncement precludes fussing over power factor. As far as a generous reshoot policy. Glock wants to build brand loyalty and bring new shooters into the sport. They especially stress the family nature and environment of the matches. Seems to work pretty well in Colorado as there are lots of family groups that show up. They figure that us "hardcore" shooters will shoot no matter what. And we either like Glocks or not! If it's too hard for newbies they may get discouraged before the shooting bug really bites them. It's waaaay too late to reach IPSC shooters, mostly shootin' bums and always gaming anyway. So make it fun and not too frustrating for young people and especially women. I think it's an excellent strategy. Women are the primary socializers of children and I think it's a good idea to stop raising victims and sheep! This opinion is worth every penny you paid for it!!

I had the chance to spend some time with a little Miniature Dachshund, not enough time. I still dream about her. Her name was as long as she was but we called her Red Dog for short. I know the feelings you're having. I found the link below in an e-mail from a friend. I think they're Angel's, really. I resolved that I would do my best to make them last longer, perhaps because I'm selfish and I hate to cry for a lost friend. Look around where you live and find a supplement called Nu-Pro. Comes in Gold And Silver versions. This is a GREAT supplement and I've seen it do wonders for old dogs that everyone thought were on the way out. Give your dog probiotics and DO NOT FEED THEM ANYTHING that has "and meat by-products" on it. I don't mean to put an ad in here but I know lots of people who love dogs will read it. I want all of them to have as much time with their humans as possible. It likely won't be time for awhile, but there's a little dog spirit out there waiting for you when you're ready. I would much rather be the kind of person that feels these feelings for a dog than the kind that does not. If the price I have to pay to have one of these astonishing little beings in my life is feeling like that at the end than so be it. I wouldn't miss it for the world. You ARE as good a person as your dog thought.

Perhaps another suggestion. A good question to start would be, do you wear prescription eyeglasses? Do you find your night vision to be sharp ordinarily? I agree that lighting is a major contributor in this described situation. Consider aperture effect. As your pupil opens up to allow more light in compensation for the illumination level, you are using more of the surface of your lenses, Cornea and crystalline lens. Often this will reveal a 1st division error in your vision. (Low power) That you really don't notice in brighter lighting conditions. This has an effect on visual tasking that is surprisingly deteriorative! Be sure to check the optics of your eye protection. There can easily be aberrations that have an exaggerated effects in low light. It's possible that you might be able to get an Optometrist (best choice actually) to make up a pair of shooting glasses for low light situations. If you explain to him (or her) your situation, a correction can be made that in normal light might be a little too strong (over correction) but would make your vision sharper for low light! It is likely to improve your sight picture and thus your aim. I'm near 60 and I have found fiber optic sights to be a helpful addition to one of my guns that I also use for CCW. Hope this is helpful.

Don't fret too much kids! Remember in the day, We made our own out of .22 brass. RCBS stands for Rock Chucker Bullet Swage!! Those compound presses will generate more than enough pressure to make lead flow like tooth paste. This knowledge is not lost. Us Americans are smart enough to make any damn thing we want if we have to!! Many of the businesses we rely on were started by now OLD GUYS that were pretty darned independent. Nice opportunity to get together with yer Buds and BS, drink a little beer and make a bunch of components if you can't get them any other way!!

A pal of mine found an old guy that's been reloading since shortly after mud was invented....or so. He rigged up a sizing die for straight wall auto rimmed (.45 ACP among others) that's a push through. This re-forms the case all the way down into the web area where a standard size die set up won't reach very well. If you're a brass scrounge like myself, even brass that's been through guns with poorly supported web areas is returned to very acceptable specs. In a tight custom gun it can make an enormous difference. Another nice thing about it is that if the case is too work hardened to take that particular process it'll break so you can eliminate it before you waste components on reloading it. I don't think it would work very well on a tapered case like 9mm for example but it might be a clue as to how brass can be brought back with a little attention of the right sort. There are makers of custom dies that could make a carbide size die that would do this!

Ya'know Cy, I was thinking about that. Abs and Jerry and those guys put on a GREAT show about every time I've been up there. It seems to attract a really good group of people as well. The matches run like an industrial assembly line. I pretty much quit bringing a chair to sit on between shooters because usually there isn't any time anyway!! Bout the time you get done resetting and taping it's time to do it again!!! There's going to be a wazoo full of people to run through the match and I wonder if there will be any time to clean gear off after a run! Even Glocks and 1911's can choke on the sand when those annoying little rocks wedge in between the followers and mag bodies. Some of the high cap race guns REALLY choke on that sort of stuff. I was trying to figure out how to avoid dropping mags in the mud without making my times take on a geological scale! I think Mr. Anderson's shot shell sack brass bag is looking pretty good! I've been looking at the satellite shots this morning and it watered That area ALL Night LONG!! Looks like we're going to need sunscreen in the morning though. I think it's going to be an intense fun memorable day. I think we're going to have a BLAST and I can hardly wait!!!

Perhaps the FCD is adjusted a little tight?? I'm using one on both 9mm and .45 acp and haven't seen the deformation you mentioned.

Sunday will be NICE!! You'll see. Happily the soil is pretty sandy on most of the lanes but I'm still planning on wearing actual boots instead of my birkenstocks. Extra mags are a VERY good idea. Sunday is going to be a long crazy day. What fun.

There is much evidence to support that balance in the outer world begins in the inner. We have preferences in handedness, eye dominance, the side we sleep on. as well as many others. (Think about it!) The awkwardness and lack of fine motor control that comes from training opposite our preferences, frustrates most people to the point that not much development is accomplished. Eventually, if you persist, it will effect the structure of your nervous system and thus your thinking and perception. When you find yourself thrust into circumstances in which your feet are grounding in shifting sands, being strong and flexible on both sides can matter a lot! It's always a question of balance.

Single Stack is the "one true path"!! There are others that are worthy, this is so. Ahhh.....Single Stack. I am sure that if the Deity shoots a handgun, it's probably a 1911 A1. Customized by John M. himself!

Wisdom is where you find it. One afternoon, I found myself watching Gilligan's island. Nothing new under the sun, Gilligan was doing Icarus. The Professor had, like Daedalus, fashioned wings and Gilligan had "risen" to the occasion. The scene opens to find "The Skipper" crashing through the jungle (he ALWAYS crashed) He emerges into the clearing over which Gilligan is hovering, with the Professors wings, glee all over his face and the Skipper says "Gilligan, what are you doing up there!" Gilligan replies " I'm flyin' Skipper!!!" The Skipper says " You can't do that!" To which Gilligan replies " I can't??" The Skipper says " NO!!" .......and down came Gilligan in a heap in the sand. Those are the beliefs. Those are the voices whose instruction you received when you knew no better and thus accepted utterly. It is an extraordinary being that can reach that level of belief and release those false pronouncements. We always do what we learn first! Take care what you say to a child.

NICE guns Dude!! All those photos are excellent!

Thank You!! TJ. I guess I'll investigate Rex as a possible hand loading propellant. Mostly I Load .45 ACP and 9mm. I had not heard of it before.

At risk of some thread drift, I've noticed that the propellant used by CCI in the Blazer Brass .45 ACP is remarkably clean. Would the Rex #2 be similar? I have wondered if I could find out what they were using! Didn't think I could just call them on the phone and ask.

Entrainment! To be completely absorbed in the moment. One pointed focus. Not to grasp for the state, but to allow myself to slip into it. Making the ammo, cleaning the gun, getting my gear ready. Fussing with the mags. Practice my draw, mag changes, tap rack bang! To see people I know and get to know people I don't. How burned propellant smells. When the light is right I can see the bullets going down range! Fine mechanisms. Seeing the sights lift! (Thanks Brian) The experience of being in the presence of kindred spirits all looking at what we think is the same object and trying to communicate about the experience and what we think we see. Sometimes it's SO easy. It is always exactly what it is. The dance of Shiva. Quantum flux. Isn't it cool? "What's the purpose of life, the meaning? To fart around! Of course!!" Kurt Vonnegut

I and several of my friends have been running Xtreme plated bullets with excellent results. 230 RN .45 and 9mm 124 RN. The 9mm has run thru Glocks, Springfield XD's, S&W 659, M&P and Hi-powers with no problems. Good bullets. 45's run through various 1911 A1's, Glocks. No problems.

I think I still have the "Who is John Galt" T-shirt I had made after I read it. A bumper sticker seemed too....distant.

There are only two questions in this entire experience. What am I lookin' at here? Did you see that?? everything else follows those two questions.

Navy days for me too. Marines. They never leave you behind. You can walk into the woods with people like that and when it starts whumpin and thumpin you don't need to look for them. You know where they will be.