Guns and Blowin Shit Up!

[alta]

yep, gotta start somewhere, but I really don't think a .380 is it. All of the dates I've taken to the range were very comfortable with .40 and .45 auto, even in a S&W Shield. The only things I've got that a date hasn't shot is the .454, .480 and .50ae. I even had one that shot my ruger only .45 colt loads.


Then there was one that was scared to shoot the garand. I finally coerced her to fire it and before I could say anything the clip had popped out. I handed to her with a full clip in it.

[richkrt99]

Went old school this weekend...well about 20 minutes worth anyway.  Busy with chores.


shooting 38 spcl rounds (158 FP) out of this is sweet.  No kick, not at all loud but thumps the target well enough.  Lever action is fun to shoot.

[richkrt99]

Went "new school" this weekend...AR-7.62x39
Finally got the "flash hider" in (actually Witt Machine's "muzzle rise eliminator") to complete this build (well, so far anyway).  Other than not all the FDE parts being the same color, I am very happy with this build.  It shoots much better than I expected.  Not a single malfunction, jamb, or feed failure of any kind so far, using 4 different cheap ammos so far; Tula (steel), Mesko brass (Yugoslavia), ZSR brass cased, MaxxTech Essential (steel).  All have cycled well without issue.  Gong's the gong every time.

[alta]

the only problem with using different colors from different manufacturers is they don't all use the same exact shade, except for black

[richkrt99]

And yet another installment....


Loaded some "new" powder this weekend.  Russian made supposedly closely similar to IMR 4064.  It looks fugly, but it worked just fine.  I'd guess I'd call this a square flake powder?  Bigger chunks than ...well anything I've used so far but it worked just fine.  Started at lower end of load, made/fired 5 rounds and all fired well.  Then 10 & same result, then 30 more and quick mag dump.  Worked well and I'd say mid range load - even though I'm at the bottom of the "estimated" load data.  It expelled my brass very uniformly to 4 o'clock position and not quite coffee can uniform, but prolly 5 gallon bucket would have caught 42 of the 45 shells.  I loaded couple hundred rounds but didn't fire anymore.
I did notice it fills the small 223 cartridge almost to the top and as the press progressed through stages, it would shake down a bit in the brass.  I did not have any trouble metering it (I checked about 10 times - every 25 rounds or so) and checked the weight was spot on.  I had one that the shell was full to top so I dumped it and did again - and this happened 5 times in a row. I measured it 5 times ands the weight was spot on.  Not sure if there was some dried crud inside the brass taking up space or what, but it was a little unnerving so I just tossed that piece of brass.  This powder is bigger pieces and seems a little big for a small 223 shell, but it fired nicely.

[alta]

I wouldn't say that powder is fugly, at least it's all uniform, based on the picture. I've not seen that shape before either, but it obviously works. Does it burn clean or dirty? Honestly, that question alone has been my driving choice in powders. If it burns dirty I won't touch it. A clean burning powder means less time cleaning things. During the shortages under obama, I was offered Blazzer ammo several times. I politely turned it down.


Did you ever figure out that .223/5.56 load?

[richkrt99]

Well you are right there, it is very uniform in size and shape, thickness, etc.  IT's just BIG.  I was loading at 23.1gr, but I'd bet I could not get 25gr in a .223 shell if I had to.  Literally when I started I thought my drop was off or something. I HAD it set at 25gr for the last (CFE) and just dialed it back until I got it at 23.0. Then I thought something was off because the cases looked so full.  I checked and checked and finally went and loaded 5 and then fired them.Seemed to be clean enough.  I mean I only fired 45 rounds or so, but I did not notice any stink or even a lot of smoke.  I have not checked the gun really.  I'd say at 1st glance not bad.  I'll clean the gun tonight -it was clean before those 45 rounds so we shall see.

Never solved the "other" powder issue, but then I never really went back to it yet.  I ran into couple pounds of CFE223 at Cabelas recently (which worked well for me) and I had a pound of 4064 which also was fine so I haven't gone back to the troubled one.  Still scratching my head - unless something was just off, I checked my notes and I started at the bottom and kept working up until I was getting flattened primers and some stuck cases and never got it to cycle reliably at any of the loads I tried from bottom up.


I actually bought the fugly "new" powder (Ft Smith FSP-749) and the troubled one (Ft Smith FSP-680) at the same time.  I intended the fugly one for .308 but found several .223 loads for it and it works fine so far.
I got a new Lyman book recently and it shows 223 load for the trouble "4198" also.  Gonna go back to it...some day, when I have more time.  can't seem to find more than couple hours to get in there and mess around.

[alta]

Id bet your "new" Russian powder was meant for bigger cases, like 7.62x54. Prolly would work fine in a .308. But, if it works for you it's good.
 

Fun fact of the day. The 7.62 X 54R(stands for rimmed, not russian) is the longest serving military cartridge ever. First fielded in the 1890s. Still in heavy front line use today.

[richkrt99]

I thought the 54R was for Russian - even saw it posted somewhere recently as that (Hornady somewhere)


These PSA guys don't waste any time....I had not heard about Poopy Joe shitting himself when meeting the pope couple days ago, but PSA is already putting it on lowers - check out the safety selector marks 

[richkrt99]

And I kept seeing "Let's Go Brandon" everywhere and had to look that up.

[alta]

I thought the 54R was for Russian - even saw it posted somewhere recently as that (Hornady somewhere)

It was invented by the Russians, but it's a rimmed case, hence the R.

nother fun fact. This 1872 round was originally called the .45 Colt. It wasn't called Long Colt until 1904 when the .45 Auto Colt Pistol was made. It was an attempt to limit confusion between the two. Thus the the proper name is Colt, not Long Colt. Of course the reason we all know the .45 ACP is from the 1911 pistol. It's called the 1911 because that's the year the U.S. army adopted it as its standard side arm. The 1911 is based on earlier designs that date to 1890.

[richkrt99]

Anyone (which I guess means Alta) ever use any Norma ammo - Swiss

[alta]

Anyone (which I guess means Alta) ever use any Norma ammo - Swiss

never used it, because its usually too expensive even when supplies are plentiful. I've only heard good things about their stuff though, and I do buy their brass for one caliber.

[richkrt99]

never used it, because its usually too expensive even when supplies are plentiful. I've only heard good things about their stuff though, and I do buy their brass for one caliber.

On sale for Veterans day....Range/Training rounds


Norma .308 M80 ball   $264 for 400 rounds with an ammo can, free ship.. that's $.66/round which is about what it cost me to make it with used brass.


also 5.56x45 62gr FMJ $480/1000 rounds  (not great price but decent compared to "recent" costs)


9mm  124gr RN  $315/1000


guess I could have just pasted the link to be faster 


https://www.ammoshoponline.com/shop/?swoof=1&pa_ammocaliber=308-7-62x51mm,308-win-2

[alta]

I never considered them for range ammo, I was always looking at their hunting/match ammo

[richkrt99]

I wouldn't say that powder is fugly, at least it's all uniform, based on the picture. I've not seen that shape before either, but it obviously works. Does it burn clean or dirty? Honestly, that question alone has been my driving choice in powders. If it burns dirty I won't touch it. A clean burning powder means less time cleaning things. During the shortages under obama, I was offered Blazzer ammo several times. I politely turned it down.


Did you ever figure out that .223/5.56 load?

Made some more ammo with the Russian powder.  Shot about 100 rounds with it yesterday.  Perfect cycling, no malfunctions whatsoever, accurate "enough" to be on target (shooting steel, not paper so no real accuracy testing, but rather just making sure the load shoots well enough)
Definitely dirty though.  Pics of bolt after 100 rounds.  Cleans easily as it nickel boron coated.  Barrel clean after a few passes too, so maybe it just "looks" dirty cause it shows on the nickel coating more?  Looks dirty to me though.  No real smoke or stink when firing.


But 23.1 Gr of these big flakes nearly FILL a .223 case...little scaring looking when you are loading.  And a a progressive press....when you cycle to the next station you get a few flake popping out when it snaps into next station.  This powder is really for the 7.62x39 and .308 but the .223 formula works well too.

[richkrt99]

Americans bought 39 million guns in 2021.  First year in the last 20 that it did not increase over the previous year, but considering 2020 was a RECORD year with 39,695,315 that's not that surprising.  38.9 million sold in 2021.

What surprises me is the breakdown by state with Illinois purchasing 8,036,858 guns in 2021 (which is more than 20% of all the US guns purchased) with only about 8.6 million persons over 21 years old.  Roughly 197 million Americans over age 21, so Illinois' roughly 4 percent of the US +21 population purchased 20% of all US guns sold in 2021

Prolly cause there is so much hunting going on in Illinois.

Top 6 states in 2021:

Illinois      8,036,858
Kentucky  3,473,035

Texas       1,794,401
Indiana    1,698,198
California 1,351,076
PA           1,278,678


Texas is not surprising based on population, shear size, and...well, it's Texas.
California...well based on 23+ million of them over 21 then 1.3m guns is not so much...so less then 6% of the 21+ bought guns
whereas, Illinois is roughly 94% of 21+ population bought guns in 2021

[alta]

Just to point out, there is no federal law against someone 18-21 from owning a handgun. The federal law as written says a licensed dealer can't sell a handgun to them. The assumption is they inherited or were gifted them from family. There's quite a few that buy hunting gear and range toys.




this also interesting, but I think the numbers are low …


https://alternatewars.com/Politics/Firearms/Count/AR15_Production.htm


plus it only goes to 2017

[richkrt99]

Yeah, I ran the numbers for 21+ but 18+ was pretty close to same percentages.  I was just surprised at how high Illinois was.
Of course all those numbers are based on background checks so no telling what else actually went on "outside" the legal route.


I am surprised the leftist haven't jumped on the stats that 2021 was actually a reduction in sales for the 1st time in 20 years and claiming responsibility for reducing sales by creating gun laws and such.

[alta]

Yeah, I ran the numbers for 21+ but 18+ was pretty close to same percentages.  I was just surprised at how high Illinois was.
Of course all those numbers are based on background checks so no telling what else actually went on "outside" the legal route.

most places also only run one background check per purchase, it’s not uncommon for a single purchase to involve 2-3 firearms. There’s also the rare occurrence where a check is run and the sale doesn’t happen.