Owen Guns Bulletin Edition 28 October 2009
Welcome to the Twenty Eighth Edition of the Owen Guns Bulletin.
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Not Bullet or Powder Brand Specific.
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Fortnightly Specials
Special Prices can only be held for 14 days from the release of this Bulletin.
Sabatti S.P.A. One of Italy’s oldest manufactures , used to be partners with Tangfoglio, made in the Gardone Valley Brescia, they have Beretta and Franchi for neighbours. This part of the world has been famous for firearm manufacture for five hundred years.
The Sabattis come with open sights, and sling swivels (not shown), they are drilled and tapped to suit Weaver bases and rings (not included). They have a solid action with front double locking lugs and have a drop down floor plate magazine similar to Remington BDl and Parker-Hale Delux. For the quality of the wood and finish on the steel work they are a steal at.
$995 plus freight.
Light Force RM170 Stiker 100 watt Spotlight $160.
Light Force RM170 Stiker 100 watt Spotlight.
$160.
plus post.
This is one of the handist books around and they are a bargin at $12.00 for evey shooter.
Hypothetically say for instance you collected Lee Enfield Rifles or any other style and you was looking at a web address called ‘Used Firearms’ and came upon a some guns that did not look used. That in fact looked brand new, yet were made before we were born. Say they were something like this.
Calibre 303, Make Lee Enfield, Model No 4 Mk II, Action Bolt repeater, Scope Open sights, Condition Excellent, Serial No. A11389/A11390, Price $4200 ONO, Advertised 21 Oct 09 Licence No 000000. Comments Near Impossible to find like this, consecutive numbers. Both are in new like condition & will complement any collect.
If you had a book like the ‘Buyers Guide’ for the Lee Enfield it would encoarge you do to some reserch before you spent your $4200.
That reserch may lead you to find The manufacture of the No 4 Mk2 commenced at ROF Fazakerley in 1948/49. All No 4 Mk2 serial numbers were prefixed between 1948 and 1954 with PF. A small batch in 1955, the last year of manufacture were prefixed with UF.
The prefix A was assigned to –BSA Shirley 1942–ROF Maltby 1941–ROF Fazakerley 1942.
Serial number A11390 & A11389 as given in the advertisement would indicate manufacture at ROF Maltby c1941. Maltby was issued numerical range 10000-19999 prefixed by the relevant alphabetical prefix. Of course with the Mk2 commencing at Fazekerley with a prefix of PF or UF this could not have happened. If you had this 50 page book it could help a person to make there mind up before they spent $4200. Over the years I have had the displeasure of trying to break it to customers that they had made an uninformed decision. Remember Information is power.
$12.
plus post.
Remington Universal Cleaning Kit, All Calibres.
Remington Universal Cleaning Kit, All Calibres. Only solvent, and oil is not dispatched with the kits as postal regulations prohibit. They can be purchused seperatly but cannot be posted.
$66.
Plus Post.
The Range Officer Handbook
The Range Officers Handbook pay by Pay Pal see Bulletin Special Announcement Page
CLICK HERE
As already purchased by members of all Shooting Organisations.Some have even bought two copies one for home and one to take to the club. See Book Reviews by Nick Harvey in Sporting Shooters and Guns Australia in our new Gun Book Catagory.
The Range Officers Handbook is an encyclopedia or omnibus of firearms and ammunition and the use of them, it has:-
• 90 pages of Information for Range Officers,
• 239 pages on Coaching to Win,
• 110 pages on Air Rifle History &Training,
• 33 pages on hitting Clay Targets,
• 34 pages on Reloading Ammunition,
• 6 page of Contents,
• 18 pages of Index,
• 38 pages of Old into New, ( Chronological History of Firearms)
• 23 pages of Glossary of Terminology on Firearms and Optics
• Over 1000 drawings and photographs.
• Over 530 pages in a A4 stitched colour hardback.,
Some, hopefully will read it cover to cover, others will pick a heading out of the Contents pages and read a chapter or two, but no matter how much you know about shooting, reference material is always needed, as even people who rate as genius cannot retain everything. The real ability is being able to find out quickly and easily. You can check that you have the correct terminology, in the Glossary, check the Index and go straight to the right page. This book can be used as an information tool for a lifetime of shooting.
$75 for a Certified Numbered Book Signed by the author (state who you would like it dedicated to) plus $10 postage Australia wide.
The Range Officers Handbook pay by Pay Pal see Bulletin Special Announcement Page
CLICK HERE
Bad weather, rough handling. Heavy, repeated recoil. It’s all part of hunting, so your Leupold Rifleman is built to take it. You also get a bright, clear sight picture for precise targeting each and every time, even in low light conditions. Mount a Rifleman on your favourite rifle and hunt with confidence.
• All Leupold Golden Ring optics are covered by our Full Lifetime Guarantee
• For more information on construction or use of your Leupold Rifleman riflescope, email owenguns@spiderweb.com.au
• Incredibly rugged – the Riflemans 1&Prime maintube aircraft-grade aluminum to withstand heavy, repeated recoil.
• 100% waterproof; filled with bone-dry nitrogen and sealed for waterproof integrity.
• The Wide Duplex reticle is designed for a variety of hunting and shooting applications.
• Ample eye relief protects your eye from heavy recoil.
• Outstanding repeatable accuracy.
• Elevation and windage adjustment dials marked in ½ MOA increments.
• Fully coated lenses transmit a bright sight picture, even in low light conditions.
Leupold Rifle Scopes from $335. Best Prices in Australia
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Lee Breech Lock Challenger Reloading Kit
Includes Sold Cast ‘O’ Frame Press, Scales, Powder Measure, Case Trimmers, Case Lube, Auto Primer and Powder Funnel.
The Breech Lock Challenger Kit, A Reloading Kit Gift at $199.
An Extra benifitit includes a Lee Auto Primer all for $199. plus frieght.
Bushnell Sportsman 3–9 x 40
These Japanese manufactured rifle scopes made for the big companies in the USA are improving there quality, constantly closing the gaps between them and their Europeen competitors. The only thing that separates most top end scopes these days is the price.
Bushnell Sportsman Scopes 3–9 x 40
$90. plus postage.
John Benzen Lock Blade Folding Knife with Belt Pouch $10.00 plus post.
Only 10 left until new stock arrives.
John Benzen Lock Blade Folding Knife with Belt Pouch $10.00 plus post.
Quinetic Bullet Pullers, remove bullets the kinetic way, and save your components.
$49. plus post.
The Norinco JW 105. in .223 Remington.
The Norinco JW 105. in .223 Remington.
This is the (Jain Way) JW Model 105, Sometimes called Norinco. These rifles are made in the same factory that manufactures the now famous JW 15 .22 rifle (the Brno Mod One Copy) if you have had a JW15 or know of anyone who had one, you will know that they shoot sometimes better than the rifle they imitiated. These JW105 s are in .223 Remington calibre and have a five shot detachable magazine. They also come with Weaver style mount bases and Quick Detachable studs for QD sling swivels If you look carefully at the close up photograph you will notice a shiny silver colour, at the breech face,the camera has picked up the chrome plating from inside the chamber. The Chinese are the only non-military manufactures that can afford the chrome process of plating the Barrels and Chambers. They have also chromed the forward section of the Bolt. Chrome plating gives the best protection against erosion and corrosion than anything else besides regualr cleaning. The JW 105 is a copy of the Geveram that was very popular in the 1950s and 1960s, they were very good quality but I believe that Gevarm had to stop making them as the were too expensive to produce.
These are the best value .223 remington centre-fire, repeating rifle on the market.
Brand New $460.
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Slimline Electronic Ear Muffs
Slimline Electronic Ear Muffs
Hear and Protect
Hear normally up to 85 db Electronically reduces & protects hearing, Protects hearing above 85 db, Able to hear normal conversations and sounds to 85 decibels
Over 200 hours of battery life, Auto-adjust headband,Solid state circuit
Rotary on-off volume knob
HOW THE ELECTRONIC EAR MUFFS WORK
These electronic ear muffs are a high standard ear muff in design, they are made to feel light and comfortable for all day use. They can be used as standard ear muff when the electronic component is not turned on and will passively reduce noise like any normal ear muff. They have a standard noise reduction rating of 29 decibel and are a Class 5. Once turned on the microphone, located at the top of the ear muff, will pick up and amplify ambient noise. If some one standing next to you talks, their voice will be amplified through the speakers in both ear muffs. Should there be a loud noise, such as a firearm, the electronic ear muffs will automatically cut out and block the loud noise. The electronic ear muffs are designed to attenuate noise about 85 decibels, meaning that they will block out instantly, once the noise reaches a certain level. The electronic ear muffs allow you to control the volume level of ambient noise around you. On the shooting range with constant loud reports, the electronic ear muffs will block this noise. For range instructions or to communicate with another person, you can instantly hear them speak.
At the range or anywhere ear protection is constantly required, but you also need to hear instructions from others or you wish to be more aware of the ambient sound around you, these electronic ear muffs are what you need.
$65. plus post.
ACCURATE FIREARM DESIGN.
More on Chamber Pressure.
A .22 caliber match target rifle made by Anschutz Model 1808, or a BSA International can be fired between 75,000 and 100,000 rounds before the increase in headspace begins to make itself manifest in lowered accuracy, and then in some models the bolt can be adjusted and the rifle be as good as new. Some others the barrel has to come out and adjustments made to move the chamber nearer to the bolts breech face. The accuracy life of the barrel is practically unlimited when low velocity target, non-corrosive cartridges with lubricated lead bullets are used, and there are records of rifles having maintained gilt edge accuracy for 250,000 rounds with occasional tightening up on the headspace, using the .22 Long Rifle, regular, lubricated cartridge.
We cannot state what is the strongest breech action without first asking what is the strength of the brass case. Cases differ greatly in their strength and anneal and ability to stand high pressures. No ‘normal’ case, as now made, will successfully withstand 75,000 pounds pressure. Proof cartridges of that pressure are made with special and very strong cases. It is also conceivable that any of the types of breech closures described here may be constructed with such large dimensions of parts and of such materials that it will be stronger than any existing action. But from experiments conducted with actions regularly manufactured up to the end of the 20th Century it is quite clear that the Arisaka Type 38 (San Bar rifle) is slightly stronger than the Mauser which is a bit stronger than any other. In experiments which went far beyond the strength of the case, Mauser type actions have sometimes successfully withstood a pressure of 125,000 pounds. A Springfield 1903 action (which is of Mauser type) when constructed of the most recent steel and heat treatment, will successfully withstand the seating of a 172 grain M1 bullet in the bore just ahead of the chamber, and then seating a normal M1 cartridge back of it, thus firing the service powder charge with two bullets ahead of it. The same rifle will, however, be entirely destroyed by firing a single 8 mm Mauser cartridge in it. The .30-06 bullet has a diameter of .308 inch, while the 8 mm bullet measures .324-inch. It happens that the 8 mm, cartridge can readily be inserted in the .30-06 chamber and the bolt closed on many rifles of this caliber. In the same way as .308 winchester will fit in a .270 win. Even in the strongest of rifles the larger than bore projectiles cause the most havoc. Of course P.O. Ackley experiments of welding cleaning rods in Arisaka barrels and then firing proof load up them showed who had the strongest action. Every new creation that P.O. Ackley came up with to destroy the Arisaka the receiver remained intact. We cannot assume that your 21st Century sporting rifle will be as strong. The Arisaka was itself a variation of the Mauser rifle so we are giving credit for strength some of that must go back to the Mauser brothers designs.
Of course strength of a receiver and its action parts is a large part of a firearms safety design but to protect the human operator another large important part is its ability to vent the uncontainable excess gasses away from the operator-shooters vital soft skin and eyes.
The most prevalent flare-backs of gas are those that occur from punctured or leaky primers, the exhaust from which is most liable to enter the firing pin hole in the face of the breech bolt or block. Then the gas, if not diverted or dissipated, may travel the full length of the firing pin straight into the eye of the shooter. To divert or dissipate this gas every action for high power rifle cartridges should have one or more gas ports. Those provided in the German Mauser Model 1898 action are regarded as being very effective. On the left side of the bolt are two oblong ports, about .20″ by .45”inch , the forward one starting about .75 inch in rear of the bolt face. Each of these ports extends through the wall of the bolt into the firing pin hole. Any gas escaping into the firing pin hole will largely exhaust through these ports into the groove in the receiver through which the top of left locking lug slides to the rear, and will pass to the rear through that groove and out the thumb cut on the left side of the receiver. To divert any gas that might pass to the rear along the outside of the bolt, the forward surface of the bolt sleeve is formed like a shield, and would divert such gas to the side instead of allowing it to come back into the eye of the shooter. Most blow ups that I have examined after the event show that the Mauser vents a large part of the gas down into the magazine blowing out the floorplate, it seems not hot enough to damage the ammunition in the magazine. I have never seen any secondary explosions for the magazine ammunition. Often the stock is shattered but this is always due to a serious blow up and not just with gas escaping from a leaky primer.
Other sporting actions commonly have a small hole drilled through the bolt wall into the firing pin hole about half an inch in rear of the bolt face. When the action is closed this hole registers with a similar hole in the side of the receiver, through which the gas will pass off to the outside. We hope.
So far as permitted by non-interference with the interchangeability of parts, all Manual breach loading Service Rifles, and indeed all other weapons manufactured by Government Arsenals, have been improved from time to time through the last Century. For example, the materials of which it has been made have been improved now and then as our knowledge of the metallurgy of steel increased. In about 1934 an improvement was made in the Springfield 03 Rifle by increasing the size and improving the location of the gas port, much in line with those seen in the Mauser Model 1898 rifle. Similar improvements were made in the gas ports of the Winchester Model 54 rifle, and these were incorporated in their Model 70 rifle. If we examine any breech action which has stood the test of long years of successful use, we will see that some arrangement has been made to safely exhaust the gas that might escape from a punctured, leaky, or blown-out primer. Even the old Winchester Single Shot rifle, which dates back sixty years, had a gas port from the firing-pin hole that exhausted out of the top of the breech block. On the other hand we will find many breech actions which did not have any such provision. The otherwise rather popular Stevens Model 44V2 action is an example; gas escaping to the rear in that action would be directed through the firing-pin hole almost directly into the shooter’s eyes.This matter of gas ports and the deflection of escaping gas is extremely important because when it is not properly attended to there is great danger that sooner or later the shooter’s eyes may be seriously injured, if indeed he does not lose his eyesight. With properly made factory rifle ammunition, used in modern rifles in good condition, leaking primer malfunctions do not occur oftener than perhaps once in ten million rounds. If we assume that the owner of a rifle averages firing ten. rounds from it annually, then in a year his chance of experiencing such an occurrence is one in a million. The point, however, is that there is a chance, and when the eyes are concerned it does not pay to take any chances. Practically no chance is taken if the rifle has a properly designed gas port system. Usually the shooter would be unaware of such a malfunction unless he examined the fired cartridge case, after the event and prior to reloading.
This matter becomes of increasing importance to those shooters who use hand loaded ammunition or “wild cat” cartridges, and
Photo GAS PORTS
Study the above photographs closely and note those small apertures which lead into the bolt
head and firing pin channel of the rifles depicted. These holes were not put there to save weight or to carry out some featherbed trades union rules—they were put there for the safety of the man shooting the rifle. They are known as gas ports and their function should be more clearly understood by riflemen, particularly by those riflemen who indulge in handloading their cartridges to the last pound of permissible pressure and the others a few thousand pounds beyond that again.
These small holes or gas ports exhaust gas that may leak back from a punctured or blown primer, or from a case that does not obturate properly. Such small escapes of gas occur more frequently than is generally realized, but pass unnoticed through these ports. However, these ports are never large enough to exhaust the far greater volume of gas that rushes to the rear from a case head that “lets go” due to very excessive pressure, this usually wrecking the breech action and often resulting in serious injury to the shooter. Beware of excessive pressure which is pretty sure to result sooner or later from a powder charge which exceeds the maximum. Sometimes by not much more than half a grain and we could see you the reader on a marble slab and your rifle on my bench with your relatives asking me to find out what caused it and hoping they can still claim on the insurance.
Shooting glasses improve the contrast and so improve definition assisting you to hit things, they also might save you from going blind when hot molten brass come flying out the back of your rifle. It has happen to me on more than one occasion and it might happen to me again but I will have my shooters glasses on next time.
This article will be continued in Edition 29.
UNDERSTANDING RELOADING AMMUNITION.
Case Preparation and Resizing
AS ALREADY mentioned, the brass case (and other types,) contracts or “springs back” after firing, but does not quite return by itself to its original pre-firing dimensions. It shrinks enough to permit easy extraction, but not much more. It still comes out of the firearm larger than it went in. Generally unless excess pressures were developed in firing, a fired case will re-enter the chamber in which it was fired. If the chamber has any slight eccentricity or a bulge it will only fit back in the chamber if it is returned at the very same angle as it was when it was fired. It will not, however, freely enter another chamber that is smaller or has an opposite eccentricity. Consequently, only if the case were fired in an absolute minimum size chamber could it be expected to enter all other chambers of the same caliber without resizing. Incidentally, quite a few chambers are slightly out-of-round, eccentric, and such chambers may not accept their own fired cases unless precisely oriented. However, once that eccentric chamber is known many benchrest shooters use it to make sure that the case is entered in the exact same place each time and so shoot some very tight groups feeding in each round one at a time to fit in the same place. Of course, for practical reasons in all other types of shooting the full length sizer die takes the bulge out of the cases and for all intents and purposes they are as good as new ones. Most bulges or eccentric chambers give good service without the owner even being aware of them.
Resizing consists simply of forcing the fired case into a die shaped like the chamber but slightly smaller so that the case is reduced in all pertinent dimensions back to approximately minimum chamber size. Then, it can be depended upon to chamber freely in almost any gun you might encounter. This operation is known simply as full-length resizing.
Another form of resizing length often used when the fired cases will be used again in the same gun is called neck-sizing. just as the name implies, it consists of forcing only the case neck into the die which reduces it in diameter. Some use special short dies, only long enough to accept the neck of the case, for this purpose, but generally typical full-length dies are used by backing off the die in the press a few turns and by observing how far they work the neck of the case. When this is done in a full-length resizing die it is not true neck-sizing for it involves a partial resizing of the case body as well. It simply isn’t possible to force the case far enough into a full-length die to resize the neck without also producing some small resizing of the body. Many believe that this destroys the close case chamber fit thought to be an advantage of neck-sizing. It’s the practical side of shooting that prevents us all form reloading the one cartridge case and returning into the same place in the chamber it was fired in and by just replacing primer, powder and pushing a bullet in the same seating depth hand feeding it to the rifle without the bullet falling out and shooting the rifle whilst it is in a return to zero steel machine rest. Then those groups will be tight. That might be the ideal situation for benchrest but in the eal world its impossible.
Neck-sizing may be conducted to either the full length of the neck or only a small portion of the mouth. The shallow bit is adequate for target or varmint ammunition to be single loaded, but will not hold the bullet securely enough for magazine feeding or rough handling. However, ‘all other conditions being ideal’, a minimal amount of neck sizing will improve accuracy in most cases because the fire formed case neck assures best alignment of the bullet in the bore. If as above, “All other conditions are ideal” very often this is un achievable and the best results are found with full re-sizing.
Partial resizing has another disadvantage not often recognized. It can actually make the case difficult to chamber. This is easily understood when we consider how the sizing die really works and how the case must react to it. As the case is forced into the die, the walls are squeezed inward. This has the same effect as if you took a handful of clay and squeezed it. Just as the clay would elongate and squirt out the sides of your closed hand, the shoulder portion of the case moves forward. In full-length resizing, as the case is forced completely into the die, the die shoulder pushes the case shoulder back to its proper position. However, when the case is only partially sized, the shoulder does not contact the die and remains in the forward position. This results in excessive head-to-cone length, and when the case is chambered, its shoulder jams tightly against the chamber shoulder and prevents the bolt from being closed and locked. It may seize and lock the whole works up until a wooden mallet or boot heel can be applied to the bolt handle. Hopefully not a boot heel.
Since resizing involves heavy metal to metal contact, lubrication is essential. Try ramming a dry brass case into a dry sizing die, and you’re in trouble. With extra effort, you can probably force the case at least most of the way in the die, but there it will stay. The rim won’t withstand the force necessary to pull it back out. Adequate lubrication prevents this, and also greatly reduces the effort required for resizing. Just any old oil that happens to be handy, or grease, for that matter, won’t do the job. A lubricant with high film strength is necessary because of the high pressures involved. This is the reason simple household oils won’t work. Their film is broken by the pressure of die/case contact, and all the lubricant is forced out from between the two. The result is much the same as if there was no lubricant present.
At one time a fellow had to scratch around a little bit for a good resizing lubricant and graphite powder and liquid detergent was used with a little struggle. I had to neck some .223 Rem cases down to .222 Rem, so I could reload for a shooting demonstration in China in the early eighties, I had the .222 rem dies, they had an Anschutz Rifle in .222 rem I knew that I could use the tails stock in a lathe as a press but I could not find any liquid soap to use as a lube. Only God know what they were using to wash the dishes with at that time? I even went to the kitchen in the hotel I was staying in asking for detergent. The had never heard of it. I ended up buying pencils and crushing up the lead graphite to use for the neck down job. It was labourious crushing the pencil lead with a hammer but it got the job done, the die released cartridge case with its new shape. I turned them to length and loaded them up. These days nearly all makers of loading dies and tools offer excellent lubricants made specifically for this purpose. Considering the quantities used, this stuff is actually quite economical. However, lack of it need not present a problem there are a good many entirely suitable lubricants readily available. One of the old time favourites that can be found in the western world which works very nearly as well as the special types. It is simple anhydrous lanolin in a stiff paste form. Plain medical type green soap (liquid form) also works quite well as it more then likely will have the lanolin within it, or something else very close to it, and is readily obtainable at the super duper market.
The usual tendency is to use far too much lubricant. A very thin film over the case body only, from head to rear of shoulder, is adequate. Even if this film does not cover the entire surface of the case body, enough of it will be transferred and spread around inside the die that occasional bare spots will not cause any difficulty. If an excessive amount of lubricant is placed on the case, it will accumulate quickly on the inside of the die and will be forced to flow forward and will accumulate at the die shoulder. As the lubricant is not compressible to any significant degree, it will puddle up there and cause dints in the case shoulder. These dints are usually referred to as “oil dints.” In moderate form, they cause no harm except to the case’s appearance. Firing soon irons them right back out again. However, if enough lubricant has accumulated, the bulges will be so deep that the brass splits, spoiling the case.
Lubricant need not be applied to the outside of the case neck. Actually, after only a few properly lubricated cases have been run through the die, a very small amount of lubricant will have been carried up into the neck and will provide all the lubrication needed there. Too much will cause oil dents.
Lubricating the inside of the case neck is another matter. A typical fired bottle-neck case will contain a slight amount of gritty powder fouling inside the neck. At its as-fired diameter, this neck will pass freely over the expander plug in the die. Once reduced, though, it is then expanded considerably as it is pulled over the plug while being withdrawn from the die. Expander plugs are usually fairly long in relation to their diameter, and while fairly smooth, still create a great deal of friction with the case neck. Given a slightly rough plug with long bearing surface and sharp edges (as many of them are) and gritty residue in the neck, enough drag can be exerted to actually pull the neck off. Lubrication will reduce this problem considerably, but is not necessarily the best solution.
A classic method of lubricating the inside of the case neck is to merely press the mouth down against a stamp pad moistened with lubricant, causing a very tiny bead ( a hairs breadth) of lube to well up inside the mouth. This is then distributed over the inside of the neck as it passes over the expander. If more than a very tiny amount of lubricant is thus used, it may cause contamination or dampening of the powder charge so care must be exercised. Dry lubricants are better, admitting of less probability of error, and both powdered graphite and finely divided mica have been used for many years. A snug-fitting brush dusted with dry lube is simply passed through the case neck, depositing there sufficient lubricant to do the job.
Other approaches can be taken to the problem of inside neck lubrication. Simplest is the use of tungsten carbide expander balls with a very short bearing surface. These are available in several makes of dies, in which dies the position of the ball can be varied to place its passage through the case neck at the point where maximum leverage is being exerted as the case is withdrawn. The carbide greatly reduces friction and case withdrawal effort is also reduced. Thus supposedly no lubricant is supposed to be necessary in the neck with clean cases. Beware remember with shooting cleanliness is next to Godliness.
Conventional steel expanders can be greatly improved in this respect by altering them, sharp edges must be removed and a gentle taper ground or stoned so that only about 1/16″ of bearing surface remains. A high polish on the expander will also help.
If either altered or carbide expanders are combined with cleaning of the case necks, lubrication is no longer necessary. If only a moderate number of cases are to be cleaned, then simply a few passes through the neck of each with a tight-fitting brass bristle bore brush will do the job nicely. Alternatively, chuck a bristle (not wire) bore brush in a drill press or electric hand drill clamped in a vise and quickly pass the necks once over the spinning brush. But, when large numbers of cases are involved, tumbling is the answer. While many tumbling mediums will do a good job, I’ve had excellent results in the case necks proper with red rouge-impregnated ground nut hulls for use in its tumblers. When cases are tumbled sufficiently long to clean and polish them externally, the necks are automatically cleaned to the point that no lubrication is needed with properly shaped and finished expander plugs.
Before resizing, cases must be cleaned and free from grit. Grit or dirt of any sort will be carried into the die and imbedded either in the case or in the die. In either instance, it results in longitudinal scratches in the die cavity which will scratch every subsequent case resized therein. The result doesn’t necessarily weaken cases, but it makes them look like they are stuffed.
Cases need not be smooth and brightly polished before resizing, just clean. So, unless appearance is important to you, simply washing them in detergent will do the job, in the sink in a plastic bowl. A quick and simple method consists of boiling the cases in water and detergent for a few moments, then dumping them into a large strainer or collander to drain, then rinsing them under the hottest running tap water. Drain, dump them out on a large, heavily-napped towel, and rumble them around the towel a bit to get rid of as much excess as possible. They will then dry of their own heat in fairly short order. However, if it becomes necessary like for an urgent loading project to dry the cases in a hurry, they may be placed in the centre of an oven set at no more than 250. F dump them out on a sheet of tinfoil and set them in an oven for thirty minutes or so at 200° to evaporate residual moisture out of primer pockets and flash holes. Always check for water there before repriming.
One little trick to eliminate separate lubrication of cases is to wash them in soap (not detergent) and hot water, and then let them dry without rinsing off the soap film. Once the cases are thoroughly dry, the thin, soapy film does an acceptable job of lubricating the case during its passage through the die. Green soap works well for this. And, the dry soap film inside the case will not contaminate powder or primer.
So if Cartridge Case tumblers are hard to find as they are at the moment, (Something to do with Customs and the approval for Australian three Pin Plugs)have a close look at your dish washer or the washing machine, why have a dog and bark yourself. Of course it might get you the divorce you don’t want but nice clean cases can be done for you in not time at all, in volume, while you take it easy and have happy thoughts of being single again.
In Edition 29 More on Cartridge Case Preparation.
A Free External Ballistics Calculator for all Components not Brand Specific.
Click This Link to read the Instruction Sheet.
Email : OwenGuns@spiderweb.com.au and the External Ballistics Calculator program will be sent to you in EXCELL Format free of charge.
Thought For the Week.
“In the land of the Blind the One Eyed man is King”.
For those who like trivia it is a quote from Erasmus of Rotterdam and dates from 1510, but as we know it could be older as he included it with 4000 others in a collection of proverbs. I have thought much about the words in the last few days as I feel that either I am blinded to the right way of the world or that with my one good eye I can see what other cannot see. For instance, this in the British Daily Telegraph the other day,
“The high-profile group of artists also includes members of Nine Inch Nails and Rage Against the Machine, whose songs are on record as having played to detainees at the Cuban prison, and many others who fear that their work may have similarly misused by the Bush administration.” (Of course Mr Obama administration would not do this)
“At Guantanamo, the U.S. government turned a jukebox into an instrument of torture,” said Thomas Blanton, executive director of the National Security Archive, which is helping the musicians – who are demanding the detention facility be closed
A 2004 Pentagon report stated that the “futility technique included the playing of Metallica, Britney Spears and Rap music”. One detainee spent hours being forced to listen to the Drowning Pool’s “Let the Bodies Hit the Floor”.
Other inmates complained of being subjected to the work of Eminem, Bruce Moron and the Bee Gees in order to prevent them sleeping. Members of the hip hop band The Roots said in a statement: “When we found out that music was being used as part of the torture going on at Guantanamo.”
Well the poor little terrorists, but cannot everyone else see that these music groups torture millions every day, the innocent can be in the Dental Chair and if the torture tools are not bad enough they force that sort of rubbish to you, as they are grinding and drilling. Why feel sorry for the little terrorist who is being tortured with his own Juke Box in the scary jail, when we have to put up with that noisy pain, whenever you are ‘on hold’ on the phone, or on a train or in a supermarket, or if you make the mistake of trying to catch something intelligent on the news and the adds come on. We are all tortured and have been for years, I used to complain about Roy Orbison with that awful wailing noise he made, but these days it sixty times louder and definitely past the pain threshold. I like good classical music a Welsh Choir or a Military band but I don’t believe that I should impose that on others in any way. Today we have these morons who have a new car stereo and torture all that drive near them, we are all forced to hear this rubbish all the time.
Now the perpetrator admit its Torture.
Now for the bizarre, we have the manufactures of this torture admitting that its torture and wanting the US Government to stop imposing it on prisoners. Usually they would want the royalties ,they had been missing out on. Prison used to be tough I remember reading the Count of Monte Cristo at least he did n’t have to put up with screaming rip rap, hip hop monkeys like those poor terrorist in Guantanamo Bay. The poor things, living near the beach in a Caribbean hide-a- way and having to put up with that. When I was a teenager we volunteered to go and fight for Queen and Country and ten shillings a week. Most of the time we never got enough to eat, except at Christmas dinner, we were freezing cold, soaking wet, chased and screamed at, abused constantly, shot at, blown up, broken down, brainwashed and built up again by being told we were the finest soldiers in the world. That lasted three minutes and then hell began again. We never had pop groups protesting to save us from the Drill Sergeant. A dry cell would have been paradise.
The world has turned upside down.
I often wondered why unlike WWII and Korea, that the Entertainers of today do not seem to go and entertain the troops in Irak and Afghanistan, well they wouldn’t, it would be just more torture, or is it really that they are on the other side. They are on the side of terrorist so they support terrorism, so should be treated as Terrorists. These pop groups are on the other side why do our young people idolise them? Really they are traitors and should join their friends living near the sea in Cuba, on an island in the Caribbean then they could enjoy what they have contributed to the Duke Box. If I was a guard there, I would be playing a little bit of pre-recorded Vivaldi the Four Seasons through my electronic ear muffs, while I turned up the volume on the Duke Box so they could enjoy their own works.
I can see that with my one Eye.
I can also see that the Bimbo’s and Bimbett’s the talking Barbie and Kens on the CNN business news are all talking up the Stock Market again but I cannot believe that these experts have not studied what happened in between 1929 and 1933. There was not just one Wall Street Crash there were many, that caused the World Depression. In those year the governments poured currency into the economies like a fireman pouring oil onto a fire and expecting it to go out. Injecting so much liquidity into the world’s banking system may fleetingly suppress the problem but it fuels and enormous catastrophe injecting trillions of dollars into the world’s banking system, this newly electronically created money is now beginning to flow into the world economy. Electronically created money is money created on the keyboard of some flunkies laptop, in Obama’s office. This false sense of hope is based on the assumption that the banking system once again lending to consumers financing their consumptive lifestyles, by enslaving themselves in debt, will jump start a new boom.
As in the early 1930s the stage is now set for massive inflation Their budget deficits have blown out of control, like a self consuming forest fire, following the bank bail-outs, which did not save General Motors and Chrysler at all, they can only be financed through creating more electronic money out of that lap top, or borrowing it at an ever increasing interest rates from some one else with another Laptop. Because none of it really exists. The train is at the station and is on the steel track for the spectacular and startling crash of the Western World.
America’s creditors (they are the people who have savings in U.S Dollars) have become increasingly horrified about the viability of the US being able to finance its budget and current account deficits. We are now seeing the downward spiral in the value of the US dollar against the Euro and every other main currency. The dollar will continue to fall in value unless the USA can correct its current account and budget deficits. There is little chance of this happening with rising oil prices, Obama’ Health plan and the huge amounts of money required to give confidence and pay for the economy collapse of last year. Obama is not sat playing a harp while his men burn Rome. That was what Emperor Nero was famous for, he is different, he is sitting on the porch of the White House, screaming ‘There is No Fire’, “There is No Fire”, while the flames are licking up his trouser legs, as his men burn bundles of money on the floor below.
The worlds Reserve banks, (which has already began in Australia) will be forced to increase interest rates in an attempt to support the currency, but this will only bring about more corporate collapses, unemployment, defaults on home mortgages, and huge lack of confidence in the world economy. Either way the Western World cannot save it economies from collapsing. Its only hope, as in the 1930s will be war. When you have not got a job, war will seem like a perceptible, but short relief.
You might say but where is the good news well its coming, The One Eyed man, and my wife always accuses me of being ‘One Eyed’ not just because of my floaters.
On channel seven last week they came out with a lot of Queensland s Weapons Licencing information, most of these figures will be totally wrong but that is not the point, the point is it shows the futility of it all. They quoted that there were 500,000 licensed firearms in Queensland, well that’s confusing because in 1997 at the start of this registration of longarms the then Minister of Police Russell Cooper quoted that there were a million licensed shooters. (Under the old scheme of a life time licence) At that time the Police Weapons Licencing Branch employed five people and took up a few rooms on one of the floors at Rome Street Police Station, then it took up a floor and now they have moved to a new complex at Woolloongabba, now they employ 155 people and work two shifts, 7 to 3 and then 3 to 11pm. Do to a question in parliament we were told that the Weapons Licencing Branch cost over $6,000,000. Per year to run.
Of course these politicians never tell the truth, they would have not included the new premises, or the ever increasing computer which need to reproduce it self every two years, or the massive communication bill to telecom trying to sort the nightmare out between police stations and Weapons Licencing Branch, or the cost of all those applications for new licenses and renewals, and firearm registration at every Police Station in the State every day of the week. The cost of sending police to ever licenced shooter in the state to look at his safe and check if the bolts are in the rifles or if they are a lever action that the action is broken. Do they cost, the lost time in fighting real crime? While they are doing this, some poor soul is being beaten to death within a 100 metres of the Roma Street Police Station. The cost to the shooter per years would be worth millions and the cost to the Dealers that have to sort out the problems the police and the system create. This could all fill a book not a thought for the week. Channel 7 then tell us that 900 firearms are stolen in three years but only 3 of them are used in crimes. They admitted that the Police lose more than the private individual shoots. Well that figures, when they can lose a shipment of Glock hand guns between the airport and the police station, that’s why we have a permanent Royal Commission, such as the CJC and the CMC investigating our keepers. Anyone would have to be blind not to see that 3 crimes committed in 3 years with stolen firearms is an exercise in futility. How many crimes with stolen cars, how many with stolen beer bottles? They do everything to restrict the lawful firearm industry and it is still growing, one crime a year with a licenced firearm is it worth the cost. Someone else must be able to get one eye open somewhere and see that all this is useless.
Continued on www.owenguns.com
See Part 3 of the article, ‘The Individual Verses the State’ Filed Under the new category ‘Gun Law Reform’ Gun Laws A Confidence Trick.
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