Thanks for all of the outstanding comments on the most recent posts!!
Reloading
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| A Lee tumble-lube "175" grain bullet cast of mystery alloy, lubed with 45-45-10 sticky-lube and sized to 0.401" |
Being a glutton for punishment, I am going to take a stab at reloading .40 S&W with cast bullets.
The people who do it say that you have to do EVERYTHING right to reload full-power, .40 S&W loads.
And then, almost as a footnote, they say that if you are content to reload it to match .45 ACP pressures and velocities it is much more forgiving. To provide a frame of reference, a 180 grain .40 S&W bullet with a muzzle velocity of 850 fps is about 75% of what a .45 ACP delivers...both energy on-target and recoil.
A review of published loading data and information on the web suggests that a 180 cast bullet in front of 4.5-to-5.0 grains of powder in the Win-231/Unique/Universal burn-rate range and a Cartridge Over All Length of 1.2" should have a max pressure in the 20ksi-to-25ksi range and the desired velocities. It will have 30% less energy than a full-bore .40 S&W but there are not many targets it will bounce off of with no effect.
As with all things shooty and reloady that you see on the internet, do your own research.
Black Walnuts
My belief is that we create the future by how we act in the present.
I am acting as if I will have the option to bid on the hunting lease when it comes on the market. I talked with the owner and they are fine with me planting black walnuts in those locations where the ash trees died.
Looking at the grafted black walnuts on my property, I have a two Sparks 147 that are just downwind of four Drake trees. Furthermore, the overlap in Sparks trees are receptive at the same time the Drake is dumping pollen. It is a good bet that 75% of the Sparks nuts are pollinated by Drake.
Sparks 147 has a very good tree form for a tree that was selected for nut quality. The branches are almost 90 degrees from the trunk and it appears to have good apical dominance (that is, central leader and not "Y-ing").
Both varieties have good foliage health.
It looks like I just got another task for this fall: to collect and stratify all of the Sparks 147 seed-nuts I can get my hands on.
Visitors
I had a visitor at the homestead today.
He was originally from southeastern Kentucky and he heard I had persimmons on the property.
He left with a bag of VERY ripe Juhl persimmons and some Enterprise apples to fry up for dessert. He was also impressed with the Emma Kay black walnuts. He had never run into a black walnut he could crush by stepping on it. God willing, I will graft a few sticks of Emma Kay on some of his seedlings next spring.
I looked the other way for just a second
And something ate all of the ripe Steuben grapes.
Maybe I will get them picked next year.
When Money Dies by Adam Fergusson
I ordered another copy. My gut-feel is that it will be important.
Today was a "Mom" day
Mom's roommate adores lemon-filled bismarks.
My mother is also fond of them.
The facility is touchy about using names. I think that they might be involved in the witness relocation program. So understand when I do not divulge the name of Mom's roommate.
But I can share that Mom's roommate has been an absolute peach and it is no trouble at all for me to spring for an extra lemon bismark every week.
Jobs
I keep toying around with the idea of looking for a job.
But then I look around "the farm" and ask myself "Am I better off getting my property squared way for whatever tempests might be coming our way or am I better off earning $12 an hour?"
The season being what it is, the answer is clearly to stick to my knitting and securing the harvest.
That might change after the last Gold Rush apple is picked and stowed away in winter storage.
Civil War
John Wilder made the call that by purely, technical definitions we are now in a Civil war.
He immediately tempered the pronouncement by noting that the official definition does not comprehend the size of the nation involved. For example, a thousand political assassinations in Vatican City is a much greater percentage of the inhabitants than a thousand assassinations in China or India.
Mr Wilder graciously credited me (ERJ) with some emails we shared regarding the topic.
Comments are well worth reading. Aesop notes that you will know we are in a Civil War when both sides modify their behaviors based on the high probability of drawing incoming fire. As of October 4, that risk is academic rather than real.
proper casting techniques can raise the Brinell by as much as two.
ReplyDeleteJust sayin'. Makes a big difference in how hard you can push them.
Adding some tin to Mongrel lead helps a LOT as well.
YMMV
Mongrel lead. I am going to have to remember that.
DeleteAh yes, casting... There are as many answers as there are reloaders...LOL
ReplyDeleteWhat Old NFO said.
ReplyDeleteI was lucky enough to come into a supply of used linotype in the way back times. I add about 10% by weight to wheel weights for my bullet alloy. If I press hard, I can just barely mark it with my thumb nail. I drop bullets from the hot mold into water to surface quench them.
Molds are like guns--each one prefers a different load.
As long as the risk of drawing fire is "academic" the left have zero incentive to cease and desist their ongoing efforts at destroying America and enslaving us. The ugly reality is the ONLY language that leftists have ever actually listened to is the language embodied in the art of violence.
ReplyDeleteTo solve a lot of the problems in shooting lead bullets you should powder coat them.
ReplyDeleteSee you tube for pointers.
I've read about 40% of "When Money Dies". It does explain a lot of what is going on. Led me to conclude that I should not fear the bubble because a good measure of it is debasement. I am certain they manipulate the price of gold to keep it down so that more can be purchased. At some point the lid comes off. Ever quietly drop some of your winnings in your pocket at a poker table to keep from being a target? Of course I keep it in de basement.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking the ratio is 95%/5% or so. No data.
ReplyDelete