Toy Store Score, Part II

Some inquiries with other reloaders found me a potential source for small rifle primers. Said source is willing to trade their small rifle primers for either large rifle or large pistol primers.

I called my pusher last night and had him set aside a couple boxes of large rifle primers. Went down this morning and picked those up. While I was there, I noticed that he still had a set of RCBS .223Rem dies on the shelf ... so those came home with me. Midway pushed back the backorder date on the dies I had ordered, so I'll cancel those. I also found a second reloading tray so I can work on 100 rounds at a whack instead of 50. And, last but not least ... he had bulk packs of CCI Blazer .22. $20/per, but "a little more expensive" beats the hell out of Walmart's "empty shelf". Three of those came home with me.

Dear Wife and I shoot Appleseed several times per year - we're currently scheduled to instruct two more (this month and next), plus Dear Wife is doing an all-women Appleseed in Iowa at the end of this month. I expect we'll add more as the year goes on and our time-off schedule is sorted out. In any case, instructing at an Appleseed means having an extra brick or two of .22 for the shooters who run out (for sale, not donation), and shooting an Appleseed weekend means just shy of three bricks for the two of us.

I also managed to score yesterday - one of several places I'd been keeping an eye on for ammo had cases of Federal XM193 for $399. I grabbed one. It sold out between my order and six hours later. No shock.

Confirmed that my pusher has ready availability of the powder I will be loading .223 with. I have brass. I have about 600 bullets. Have one pound of powder for working up loads and will buy a keg when that's running low. I need to order some heavier bullets if I can find them in stock - 55gr is a fine plinking round, but out beyond 300m or so it's not going to shoot so well. Midway had stock on Barnes TripleShock 72gr, which will be fine for nuisance deer hunting, but I'd really like to find some 62gr BTHP at a reasonable price. I may grab a box or two of the 75gr and 80gr match bullets to see how far I can really stretch this AR...

Toy Store Score!

Dear Wife had errands for me to run today. I took advantage of the trip downtown to check Walmart and one of my pushers for available options.

Walmart turned up Remington UMC .223 55gr FMJ for $9.47; five boxes came home with me.

Pusher turned up PMC Bronze .223 55gr FMJ for $8.49 - another five boxes came with me. It would have been more, but he also had primers and powder ... so I grabbed two boxes of large pistol primers, a pound of Ramshot TAC, and a pound of Ramshot True Blue. I haven't loaded with these powders, but they have been getting excellent reviews. And they were available. I left a couple trays of large pistol primers on the shelf, along with about five boxes worth of large rifle primers. (I have about 500 of those on hand, and the only large rifle I load is .270 - I don't foresee needing more than a couple hundred in the course of my lifetime. Just don't shoot it much.) He had no small pistol or small rifle primers... but I promised I'd be calling every week or two to check.

Almost picked up a set of RCBS .223 dies - but held off because (A) they were pricey, and (B) I have a set of Lee dies on order with Midway - and without primers, dies are pointless.

When I have a workshop (goes with a house), I'll start exploring casting my own boolits. I already shoot quite a bit of lead in my pistols.





Edit: I read the "15-minute AR trigger job" found elsewhere online. I didn't particularly care for the idea of clipping spring legs. I don't mind polishing. I had picked up some rouge at Home Depot earlier. Put that on a felt wheel for my Dremel and had at the sear surfaces... light oil, reassembled, function checked ... a hair lighter, a little smoother, but still not as crisp as I wanted.

Disassembled again, and this time used my Lansky 600-grit stone on the sear surfaces. Only a few strokes on the hammer and the trigger - I don't want to make the trigger unsafe, only clean it up. Light oil, reassemble, dry fire ... it's not quite the proverbial "glass rod", but it's a hell of a lot cleaner than it was yesterday. For a $50 lower parts kit of unknown heritage (I don't know where M-A gets their stuff), I'll take it. An upgrade may happen down the line, but not anytime in the immediate future.

Gun Porn and A Range Report

I replaced the sight pin on the AR today. Took out the default .0-whatever square post and replaced it with a KNS Hooded Duplex Reticle. Wow... a .010" crosshair with rifle sight radius? Freakin' amazing. Appleseed teaches "focus your eye on the front sight" - well, it's almost impossible not to with this bad boy. It's just ... there. And given the human nature of centering circle-in-circle, it just lines right up.

That done, I snapped a few pictures, and headed off to the range to function check and zero.

Function check: load one round in a magazine, insert in rifle, work charging handle, chamber round, safety on, pull trigger - nothing. Safety off, pull trigger - BANG, and bolt locks back. Good. Drop mag, load two rounds in magazine, insert, charge, pull trigger and hold - BANG ... Good. Release trigger, feel sear reset, pull trigger - BANG. Bolt locks back. Good.

Stapled up a sighter target at 25m, loaded five rounds, got slung up (note to self: order a Turner Sling!), get prone, check NPOA, focus ... squeeze ... BANG. Breathe. Hold. BANG. Breath. Hold. BANG. Etc.

Check group. About 1.5" excluding a called flier. Four inches low and two right. Adjust front sight for elevation, rear for windage, load five, repeat.

Elevation is spot on, windage still a hair right. Adjust windage, load five, repeat...

Prone. NPOA. Breathe. Focus. Squeeze. BANG. Breathe. Focus. Squeeze. CLICK. *BWAH?*

Work charging handle. Nothing comes out. Hm. Misfeed? Look. Spent round in chamber, rim ripped off by extractor. Sonofa ... No DammitStick in my truck or range bag, either. *swear some more* Remove upper, try to remove round with Leatherman tool and harsh words. No joy. *swear some more*

Packed up, headed home, stuck a brass rod down, and stuck case was removed in about thirty seconds. I will now have a brass rod in my truck at all times.

Lessons learned:
- This rifle is quite accurate. I expect when I have a dialed-in sight and hand loads with a proper sling, I will turn in pretty respectable scores.
- A DammitStick MUST be in my range bag from now on. This is the first stuck casing I've had in ANY of my firearms. EVER.
- Wolf .223 with a steel case really should not go in my AR, since that (steel casing) seems to be the reason the rim tore off. I have dies on order, have brass and bullets, need primers (HA!) and powder (double HA!).
- Wolf works fine in a Mini-14. It can stay there. I now have a near-lifetime supply of ammo for my Mini-14, since it is no match gun and will be relegated to utility work.

And now, on with the gun porn!
(Click to embiggen.)










Specs and particulars:
Lower: Territorial Gunsmith Limited Edition 2nd Amendment lower. #215 of 232. (Wife has 216.)
Lower Parts: M-A Parts. (Trigger is lousy. Considering upgrade.)
Grip: ERGO SureGrip right-hand.
Stock: Spec A2, rifle buffer.
Upper: DPMS DCM post-ban, 20" 1:8 stainless bull barrel, .223Rem, NM rear sight. Replaced front post with KNS reticle as mentioned above.
Magazine: PRE-BAN (it's dated 6/91) 30rd GI. I'll be ordering a pile of 10-round mags soon.

Engraving on the lower was part of the 2A edition. Color fill on roll marks is mine.

Match Blaster o' Doom

I ordered an AR upper from Model1 back in mid-February (had to wait for tax refund). They told me 16-18 weeks delivery time, which I accepted. 16" carbine, etc - very nice setup.

Last week a fellow on one of the gun forums I frequent put up a complete Panther Arms DCM match upper. 20" stainless 1:8 HBAR, float tube under standard handguards, sling swivel, A2 match sights, etc. Very reasonable price and available now. I jumped at it. The seller also included an M&D forearm weight - a bit more than 3lb of lead formed to fit inside the handguard.

It arrived today - however, the Brown Truck of Joy hates me, and consistently arrives around 2:30, just before I go to work.

Yep, same story today. I unboxed, gave it a quick once-over, threw the new grip on my lower, cursed because the screw didn't fit right, made some quick adjustments, and put it back on. There's a hair of play between upper and lower, which is no big deal, but the upper ... oh, it's pretty. Heavy, too. I can't wait to get this baby to the range! I'll try to get some pictures tonight or tomorrow and they'll be up then.

Quick dry-fire reveals that the trigger I have now ... sucks. I'll be polishing that and trying to improve the pull and break.

Now ... I need to find some more brass ammo, and a handful of post-ban 10rd mags.

I have decided to resume some blogging here. Not much; certainly not the volume I used to post in LiveJournal. As the title indicates, if you know your latin, this is about entertainment, and to me, entertainment is the shooting sports. Of all kinds. Hunting. IDPA. Trap/skeet. Target. Plinking. Appleseed. Working on guns, shooting guns, cleaning guns, reloading ammo for guns, etc.

So what's my background? I don't have one, really. First air rifle when I was about 12, a Crosman 760. Around age 21 I bought a Remington 597 .22, and it's been downhill ever since. I've shot handguns, rifles, and shotguns. Bolt-action, pump-action, revolvers, semi-autos, and single-shots. From the diminutive .17HMR up the massive .50BMG.

I don't have a particular preference in guns - I like most of them. The mechanical intricacies fascinate me. The elegant lines of an Italian double are as attractive to me as the blocky functionality of an AK. Admittedly, I have a penchant for older guns... but many do.

I'll start you off with one photo, and I expect there will be more as time goes on.


(Smith&Wesson 28-2 "Highway Patrolman" .357)