Brass, hurricane responses and other stuff

I sorted some .223 Rem/5.56 NATO brass

I sorted some mixed .223 Rem/5.56 NATO brass after tumbling, resizing and trimming. The lightest piece was 87 grains. The heaviest piece was 108 grains. The the ratio of mass density of yellow brass and a dense, spherical powder like H-335 is 8.5:1, so the difference in internal volumes between the two extremes is the equivalent of 2.5 grains of powder.

The vast majority of the pieces ranged between 90.5 grains and 102.9 grains (a difference of 1.3 grains of H-335). I sorted them into < 93 grains, 93-to-95 grains and over 95 grains and the bags were nearly equivalent in weight. The over 95 grains population was evenly distributed between 95.1 grains-to 102.9 grains with a node at 102 grains.

So, the <93gr and 93-95gr group are suitable for what passes as "precision shooting" at Casa ERJ while the 95gr+ group will be downloaded by 1.0 grains of powder and used for "make noise" shooting.

Useful Links:

Volume Mass Density table of common powders

Thread on brass weights by headstamp at Sniper's Hide

Hurricane response

Quite a comparison between the Federal Government's responses to Hurricane Isaias in October 2026 and the response to Hurricane Helene in September 2024. Only 25 months difference. What changed?

It is telling that the mainstream media isn't pointing out the differences.

The leftists like to gaslight the public and claim that "the media has a right-wing bias" because they are owned by large conglomerates. 

You cannot hate these people enough.

What Sixty Million People Learned About Water, Warmth and Medicine During Spain’s Ten-Hour Blackout

 A LONG (5500 words long!) essay on substack about historical grid-down situations. 

A sample of the content:

Survival advice has a poor reputation, partly because it is usually sold rather than explained and partly because it is framed around wilderness scenarios most people never encounter. A grid-down event is a municipal scenario. The environment does not change; the systems do. What a household needs is the ability to substitute, for a fortnight, functions that municipalities and markets normally perform invisibly.

Water. A person can go roughly three weeks without eating and about three days without drinking, and in heat the second figure falls. The planning number is one gallon per person per day for drinking and basic hygiene — twenty-eight gallons for a fortnight — but the figure misleads in both directions, because a domestic hot-water cylinder holds thirty to fifty gallons of drinkable water, a toilet cistern holds another three, and municipal pressure usually persists for a day or two, which is time to fill containers. Water from a hot-water cylinder should be drawn from the drain tap, allowed to cool, and disinfected if there is any doubt. Water in a toilet cistern is usually drinkable provided no chemical cleaner has been added; water in the bowl is not.

Disinfection needs more care than most guides give it. The standard field dose is two drops of plain, unscented household bleach per litre of clear water, or eight drops per gallon, using bleach of about five to six per cent sodium hypochlorite. Double the dose if the water is cloudy, and allow thirty minutes of contact before drinking...

Exercise notes

Yesterday was supposed to be a running day. I pushed a lawn mower for an hour instead. Old puffballs make a big cloud when you hit them with a lawn mower.

Today is supposed to be a lifting day.

Ducks

We are up to three eggs a day from five hens. They are eating more than they were during the summer but I did not increase the calcium. Yesterday, I had my first egg with a dented egg-shell. Therefore, it is time to add FOUR teaspoons of calcium carbonate per feeding rather than three spoons.

Random note

Mrs ERJ likes Melrose apples better than Galarina for eating. Both apples are grower-friendly and the Melrose, being a larger apple, require less labor to pick.

Bonus video clip

Woman harvesting some green alfalfa to feed to her pig.

According to the internet, which sometimes tells the truth, alfalfa can be fed to pigs to supplement protein, minerals and fiber but there are parameters that must be respected.