Doggorloader

Huh! Finally something I know about Been to the New belgium Brewery many times as it's located 4 blocks from my brother's house in Fort Collins, CO. It's an ultra modern brewery. Interesting place as the owner is far into mountain biking and I have been to the (Pro) races held on the course which is on brewery property. They don't make a beer that is not to my liking and I highly suggest you go here to get more info on the many beers they do make. They even have a flavor wheel that describes the different beers attributes. If the other flavors are available go for it. http://www.newbelgium.com/beer.aspx As for local NYS beers that I quite like, Saranac tastes pretty damn good. Hard to believe it's (the old Matt's) brewery and made where they used to make Utica Club. http://www.saranac.com/ My favorite is the "Lake Effect Lager"

+1 Purchased a P229 3 years ago in .40 S&W that came with a .357 Sig barrel. I learned that .357 Sig has definite challenges above and beyond loading other auto rounds. Things I have learned that have worked well as recorded in my reloading diary (don't load the .357 as often so I need to remind myself): 1. Use a soft copper plated bullet with a firm crimp (aprox. 0.378). You can use a light cannelure groove for the ultimate in bullet setback safety although they might be hard to find. 2. Starline brass, don't look back. I've never had to trim my starline brass and it has held up wonderfully. It does make you spend a little longer scrunging to pick up after you shoot for sure. Good news is that if you see a .357 Sig it probably will be yours. 3. If you are using a 9mm bullet, use one that has a minimum .355" bearing surface at the point where you will be crimping, otherwise, you will have a bullet setback problem. Many 9mm bullets won't work well because they have a long tapered bearing surface. Some are deceiving since they measure around .352 or so at the crimp point. Be careful. Actually, bullets measuring .3555 to .356 work best IMHO. 4. Bellmouth the case when loading little if at all so there is enough neck (tension) to hold the bullet. Expand the case mouth so the bullet will just "barely" squeeze into the case. This will cause the bullet to hold much more firmly in place. Chamfer the cases slightly if need be to assist seating. 5. If you use hard-jacketed bullets, you need a lighter crimp, otherwise the bullet can easily slip into the case. 6. Hard FMJ bullets only seem to work well with little or no crimp and little or no case mouth belling to help hold the bullet in place. This did not work as well for me to hold the bullet in place as the harder crimp technique described above with soft plated bullets. The Dillon crimp die works well with hard bullets. 7. I found and believe the bullet diameter range for the .357 SIG to be .355 to .356. You can get a 9mm .355 bullet to work in a 357 SIG case if it is shaped correctly and the correct bullet crimp is used for the type of bullet being used. I have had the best results using a bullet diameter between .3555 to .3560, and not the standard size .355 bullet, if possible. The correct bullet size and shape is important in minimizing bullet setback. A main reason why West Coast Bullets work excellently in 357 SIG is because they happen to measure .3555. (The listed SAAMI maximum for the 357 SIG bullet diameter is .3555.) 8. Over-All Length for my .357 Sig rounds I keep at 1.135. 9. Take the barrel out of your gun and if possible drop a factory round into the chamber to see how it fits. Then drop a reloaded round into the chamber to compare how it fits. If the round sits too high, then you are probably not resizing it quite right. You have to do a really full resize to shape the brass and lengthen the neck correctly, as well as make sure the shoulder is positioned correctly. Once the resizer die is positioned correctly, the correct brass shape should happen automatically from then on. My Dillon carbide die works well at "cam over" or slightly past touching the shellplate.

Cocky male is driving his brand new hot flashy convertible down the road going North and a middle aged women with her window down passes him going South. As she passes him she yells in a very loud voice "PIG" !!!!!!!!!! He immediately reacts to the situation with a violent hand gesture and yells "BITCH" !!!!!!!! A quarter mile down the road going 70 mph, he runs square head on into a 900 pound pig that had escaped from the nearby farm. Car is destroyed and he dies instantly. Makes you wonder if every so often you should listen more carefully to what women say?

Hi all. I have been loading .45 ACP quite successfully for a number of years. Also have had quite a bit of fun shooting various pistols chambered in .45. Inherited my press and equipment and a loading diary/record file that goes back a long ways from someone I trusted and respected in the shooting sports. Since I have read recently OAL and crimp wisdom on the forum (some made me wince) I would like to share the exerpts from the diary concerning those subjects. I would like to add, it has worked flawlessly for me using a variance of components. Quoted from the diary: 45 ACP OAL has NO effect on accuracy.... and almost no effect on pressure with the 45. OAL is meaningless unless you know exactly what bullet and brass you are using. (because nose lengths vary all over the map.) What is very meaningful is the exposed shoulder of lead bullet rounds, as this affects the head space. Pistol rounds should not be jammed into the rifling like rifle rounds sometimes are. Take your barrel out and drop your round into the vertical chamber. Adjust its overall length until the case rim falls by gravity just barely beyond flush with the end of the hood of the barrel. Record this setting for each bullet style(and brass)for future repeatability. Seriously, that is all there is to it. I hope you don't waste valuable time testing as I did before I learned the above. Some less informed people will argue with the above based on invalid testing and what they have read from the writers who don't shoot 45's. I have done extensive testing in a barrel tester and machine rests. Did a little with a bullet (loaded round) tester. Regarding Zero crimp... This is what the factory Ball rounds are supposed to have. However, it is hard to get perfect zero crimp with reloads. This is due mainly to variations in lead bullet diameters and case thickness. Therefore, the tested and true way to make up 45 rounds is to taper crimp the mouth of the case to something between .466 and .470". More crimp than this can cause bullet tumble. If you don't have a micrometer, crimp two rounds and hold them up together toward the light. When it is perfect you will see light between the cases near the crimped edge. The length of this lighted area varies from crimp die to crimp die but should be no more than .100". Another good test is to use your thumbnail and make sure the edge of the case is buried only half the thickness of the case mouth into the lead bullet. Loads done this way will feed better than factory wad... and can be just as accurate depending mostly on the bullet quality. Like I said, it has worked very well for me. and....no matter what bullets I purchase I have a way of making sure my OAL is consistant.

I load for and shoot well over 10,000 sporting clays targets a year and I agree with Mr. Ellis. In Hodgdon powders International Clays is the ticket. But.....I load 1 oz. When I switched to 1 oz two years ago my average went up 3 targets a round at least. I think it's a combo of less recoil and higher speed. I also break more long targets and with harder hits. Or, maybe I'm just happier cause it's cheaper and I shoot more. As to clean, I wipe my gun down and lube the pivot but I don't clean the barrels maybe every 2-3 months. Never thought much as to the powder being dirty. I get wad residue in the ports before anything else. Whatever powder (load) you end up liking, keep with it. Experimenting just adds one more variable to the mix.

Thank's for the B-Day wishes. Just got home from Sporting Clay's travelling league and shot 43. I am a happy man. It kick's out a 36 and brings the old average above the 40 mark. Enough to make me ready to We were the first group out and since there was only two of us they put us with a 14 year old girl with her father "caddying" for her. After she cleaned stations 1-4 we were thinking maybe it was time to get ready for a whippin! What a great thing to see. There are young people still interested in the sports. Looking forward to this year of shooting especially once the weather turns.

Another free grab bag on the table at the club from a former shooter heading to Florida. I picked up 3 boxes of 12 gauge and 2 of 16 gauge. Brass Hulls! I think you call them hulls. I would love to load these and shoot them but a search for recipes has come up with not much. I've seen suggestions of card type wads sealed with a glue gun....whatever. Seems like not the thing to experiment with. Any experience or help in the right direction would be appreciated. Tom

At my shop we used to do quite a bit of vibratory deburring on brass parts we made for breathing apparatus. The process needs to be done with the media in a liguid bath hence a waterproof tumbler (Expensive) Usually there is a form of lubrication (detergent) One that doesn't discolor brass is (Expensive) You therefore have to rinse and dry (Time Consuming) It's an art not a science and quite a bit of trial and error to detirmine the method and time. I forgot, what was the benefit again? .......

See: http://www.nraila.org/Issues/FactSheets/Re...7&issue=005 It's still being considered in NY.

I've pulled apart quite a few shells to see what's in them. The Estates I've separated all had shot in them that was "silver" in color. Whatever that means. Very round rolled on the surface plate and seemed harder than most. Coated? Don't know. My 1 oz 12 ga hard shot reloads are costing exactly $4.29 a box to load that's including tax on the components. Promo shells seem to be the lowest right now at a place called Dick's Sporting Goods a chain and are $4.99/box less 10% on a case + tax. or $49.50 a case out the door. The fella at dick's told me Friday that when the next truck comes prices are going up.

2008 made me the new President at the club. Many offered congrats, others told me they thought I was smarter than that. What I do have are newly elected BOD members who are very interested in putting that part of our Club back into USPSA/IPSC type activities. They have tried to contact the older x members who were active in such to no avail. We have since evolved into a primarily wing shooting clay target oriented club and I would like to see more diversity. We still have all the equipment/props whatever in storage and they have been bringing them out informally on Sunday afternoons and the numbers have grown. Many new members just for that purpose as well. We still have the chronograph, timers, old files on rules ect. What I need is to either have helpful people contact him (them) or me for guidance and/or who they can best contact for that help. Thanks, Tom

In my haste I forgot to mention we do have two decent shooters at the club (Bill the lawyer) and (Jim the bank president) who shoot mid 30's and an occasional 40 who do shoot Remington Nitros and STS's. They both shoot a variety of shotguns that all end in an a,e,i,o,or u. Never a Y. But....they only shoot the moola shells when they shoot together, when Bill shoots with the rest of us he shoots Estates and Jim shoots Rem. game loads. That probably says alot about ammo choice right there. I do reload for league and registered shoots and believe me, any time I can get Jim and Bill to go out together the game is 100 hull pickup and

I belong to a pretty active sporting clays club. We have two level 1 instructors and at least 6 master class shooters as members and visiting thru weekly shooting and leagues at least a dozen more master class shooters. Guess what, not a one shoots any AA or STS or Nitro rounds. They all shoot Estates, Remington Promos or whatever is on sale. They all routinely break way over 40/50. IMHO it's the knowlege of the targets and the ability to apply and repeat the learned skills in varying conditions and target presentations that matters, not the price of your ammo. The less you spend on shells the more you can practice and the more consistant you will get. Estates work just fine in 1 oz and the Remington game loads at $3.98/box at Dick's now work even better cause they are cheaper. I buy equal amounts of #8 for close in type targets and 7 1/2 for the longer targets. Even if I think that matters it's worth the trouble in the habit! Oh....and my average is over 40. Tom

Found on the gun club bulletin board and it passed the test.....It did make me grin so I truelly found humor in the content: This appears to answer most questions re: Conservatives and Liberals... Subject: Beer and the Wheel - Beer and the Wheel The two most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented to get man to the beer. These were the foundation of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into two distinct subgroups: 1. Liberals 2. Conservatives. Once beer was discovered, it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented yet, so while our early humans were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery. That's how villages were formed. Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to B-B-Q at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as the Conservative movement. Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly B-B-Q's and doing the sewing, fetching, and hair dressing. This was the beginning of the Liberal movement. Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into women. The rest became known as girlie-men or wussies. Some noteworthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the invention of group therapy, group hugs, and the concept of voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that conservatives provided. Over the years Conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth: the elephant. Liberals are symbolized by the jackass. A few modern liberals like Mexican light beer (with lime added), but most prefer a chilled glass of Sauvignon Blanc,with passion fruit and kiwi aromas which are marked by grassy notes, then rounded out on the midpalate by peach flavors crisp and refreshing, with a hint of chalky minerality on the finish; or Perrier bottled water. They eat raw fish but dislike beef. Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard liberal fare. Another interesting evolutionary side note: most of their women have higher testosterone levels than their men. Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, Ivy League professors, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood and group therapists are liberals. Liberals invented the designated-hitter rule because it wasn't fair to make the pitcher also bat. Conservatives drink Sam Adams, Harpoon IPA or Yuengling Lager. They eat red meat and still provide for their women. Conservatives are big-game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks, construction workers, firemen, medical doctors, police officers, corporate executives, athletes, Marines, and generally anyone who works productively. Conservatives who own companies hire other conservatives who want to work for a living. Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to govern the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were coming to America. They crept in after the Wild West was tamed and created a business of trying to get more for nothing. Here ends today's lesson in world history: It should be noted that a Liberal may have a momentary urge to angrily respond to the above before forwarding it. A Conservative will simply laugh and be so convinced of the absolute truth of this history that it will be forwarded immediately to other true believers and to more liberals just to piss them off.

We finished our new 10 station 50 target venue at the club this month. All new (20) Lincoln traps and automated counter/controller system to boot. What a job but I would put our course up against the best in NY right now. The stands are all new but....the gun racks are pure crap and we have no benches. I shot a year ago in PA and they had a great bench/rack set up with a beaut of a bench with the gun rack right on the back. I forgot to take pictures. Anyone have such an animal at their club or venue that could post pictures or better yet send plans would be greatly appreciated. Tom

Just a sidenote. Our Club was broken into in early July. They came thru the steel door with a security deadbolt to get in the building. We had a Diebold closet size safe that was donated to the Club by one of the businesses in town that remodeled and it was a top of the line concrete filled monster. They worked on the door and broke thru the hinges but the side bolts held. They did succeed in peeling back the top right corner by beating the crap out of it and were able to reach down in with an arm and snag the petty cash to the tune of $250. The weeks receipts were just to the left and were missed at over $700. That fancy concrete was all over the floor. All it proved to me was that any safe no matter how substantial can be breached and it only takes detirmination. The cleanup and door replacement cost more than they took.

Arrived first as usual 7:00 AM at the club to make coffee, open up the clays course and prepare for our every Sunday clays shoot. Unlocked the front door and ...damn...someone left the back door ajar again and forgot to lock it from Wed. No, holy crap! it's pretty much toast, lockset and deadbolt destroyed, steel skin peeled back. Looked around and nothing was disturbed and then a sick feeling. The safe! The back hall had concrete remnants all over from the safe wall and the door and top corner were peeled back with about a 8 inch hole. What a mess. Luckily the door bolts held because they did get the hinges off as well. The cops found arm hair samples on the door hole put there when they reached as far in as they could. They got the petty cash bag ($250) and the daily start up cash drawer from the register ($75) and that was it. If their arms were 4 " lomger they would have gotten the receipts from Wed. sporting clays ($403) and a donation for our new auto traps ($200). Instead of shooting yesterday two of us got to hang a new door and clean up the mess. We had numerous suggestions on what might be done to the perps if caught. Most involved large caliber devices and body parts.

Eric: Our club is on the final stages of converting from a mix of manual and auto's to a complete auto trap course complete with counter/controllers to the tune of $50K plus. I have been in charge of calling/researching/quoting/whatever for over 6 months. The general overall feeling among the top clubs is that you can't beat Lincoln both for quality and their excellent service. We are about to purchase 18 of them. They are available in that quantity for $2227 each. It is possible that we could piggy back extra traps on to the order and drop ship them at that price from the factory to you which is quantity discounted if you were interested. We also will have at least 3 Promatic traps for sale when this goes thru at a fraction of new cost. They are the "Junior" models which are 90 target single stackers. They are at work every week at our club now we are just sick of restocking them (as in getting teen age trappers to do it). I also know from my research of at least 3 clubs that are buying new Lincoln's now and have their old (3 year old) one's for sale at what I believe was in the $1200 range each. We looked very hard at that option two before going for the new one's. Let me know if you want contact names. I still have them. Tom

WOMAN'S LOVE POEM Before I lay me down to sleep, I pray for a man, who's not a creep. One who's handsome, smart and strong. One who loves to listen long. One who thinks before he speaks. One who'll call, not wait for weeks. I pray he's gainfully employed. When I spend his cash, won't be annoyed. Pulls out my chair and opens my door. Massages my back and begs to do more. Oh! Send me a man who'll make love to my mind. Knows what to answer to "how big is my behind?" I pray that this man will love me to no end, And always be my very best friend. MAN'S LOVE POEM I pray for a deaf-mute nymphomaniac with huge boobs who owns a bar on a golf course, and loves to send me fishing and hunting. This doesn't rhyme and I don't give a shit.

Thanks so much for the Birthday wishes and cheer but really couldn't reply, We went to the Hawaian Island of Kauai on March 9th and just got back Sat. a total of 21 days. My sister owns a beautiful vacation house right on Hanalei Bay and it is (I counted) 45 paces from the beach with the Pacific Ocean beyond. She has offered it for years and I finally took her up on it. Some of the best surfing known to man is in Hanalei, the Napali coast is 2.5 miles away, Princeville resort is 2 miles and is rated one of the top golf destinations in the world. It is not widely developed so there were no hoards of tourists just pristine beaches and scenery. The restaurants are all native cuisine, the Hawaian beer was some of the best I've had and the fish markets were supreme when we cooked at home. Temps never varied, it was either 82 most days and a couple it was 81. The ocean was out the front door and volcanic peaks with waterfalls out the back. Went to the Club Sunday and my mind was so at ease I shot a 47 on the sporting clays course and 23/25 on the five stand. Oh, did I mention thanks for the Birthday wishes?

I have reloaded for all my rifles on the 550B from day 1. .243 7mm Mag .308 30-06 .300 Weatherby Mag .44 Mag All the same process and FWIW it's the way I do it. I deprime with a universal depriming die on station 1 and remove. Burnish or hone neck insides with a stand I made from a cordless drill and special honing tools I made which I think makes the neck tension more consistant. Power clean primer pockets on the same machine using a RCBS primer tool. Tumble Neck size the bottle necks and belted, full size the .44 , reprime, drop powder charge 1/2 grain short on the 550B remove at station #2. ( most are charged with a tubular powder that doesn't work well in a powder measure.) Trickle to charge off the press. Seat back on the 550B using a Redding Comp seating die. I don't crimp any of them except the lever gun. Most people think it's all a big waste of time but my guns shoot better than most and if it even makes me think I can shoot closer groups it's worth the time. Good Luck!

Question back. What cases, caliber, bullet, press, pictures if you have them. More info needed.

It is a Model 66 F Comp. He's asking $775 and it seems high but I don't know what they cost new. I don't have a need to carry and I don't need any more safe queens. However, he does have a Browning Citori XS Sporting Clays unshot, still in the box, and the wood is better than most you see. It's a steal @ $1750 and at least I would use it. Thanks for the help. Tom

Please don't mistake this for a disguised sale proposal. It's not. A regular at our club has decided to "reshufle the deck" and readjust his focus on firearm (collecting) purchases. I think the wife said too many of these things they have to go. Whatever. Among many handgun shotgun and rifle offerings he has one revolver that interests me but I have no idea if it is a deal, waste of money, whatever. It's a S&W Model 66, 3" barrel, Performance Center version, .357 Mag.,complete with original (2) sets of grips rosewood and rubber, in the original aluminum hard Performance Center case inside the original S&W cardboard. It is in unshot condition and still has the warning label and zip tie on the hammer thru the trigger guard. He claims it is or will be worth bucks cause they are no longer made. What's it worth? I will tell his asking price if anybody helps with this. I'm torn, it's a real nice piece but not exactly one on my wish list. I know this guy and he really isn't a wheeler dealer just looking to get a fair price. I'm still thinking hard about it. Nothing looks better than too many revolvers in the safe.

I hunt New York whitetails with a 629 Classic and a 240 grain XTP over 23.8 gr of H110 seems to be the sweet spot with the revolver. Doesn't seem to work as well with the 300 gr XTP in the Model 94 lever gun. When I went boar hunting in Florida I spent some time trying to get better results with the Winchester and I found H4227 worked very well and my load data says best at 20.4 gr. Those are in my guns though.