Alinramblings.... things I learn't today

[alinwa]

I found that;
Montana Extreme will eat a metal Ronsonol can. I'm in a constant search for solvent handling methods, literally hundreds of containers. I've found some decent methods but the metal flip-spout Ronsonol can just flunked


I found that;
Boattails hanging down into the powder chamber a long way don't necessarily hurt accuracy.

I do this a lot but have never on Match stuff. Today I was in a hurry. I had re-chambered a barrel for my Heavy gun using a 300WSM reamer with .000 freebore and wanted to try some Berger 230gr......and didn't want to take the time to throat for them..... here's a pic



These hang 'WAYYYY down! But they shot good enough that I slobbered together a box of Match loads with them just in case I don't get time to throat it "right"

I learned a new way to take pix thru my scope

I'm lazy, I'm always short for time and I live on the range..... so I rarely go down and re-hang nor collect targets. I shoot enough, and fast enough shooting right out the window that I'll roll another gun into rotation rather than let one cool. I generally have at least 3 in rotation anyway. I shoot on blueprint paper and often test many guns on one sheet of paper. I document with sketches and if I'm running out of light I'll shoot a phone pic thru the scope. And it's ALWAYS a pita.

But today I got smart. I ran out on the chopsaw and cut a hunk of pipe. It took me two tries to get it right. It makes documentation easy and I was proud enough to take a pic of me taking a pic...... here's a pic



And lastly...... this one is 'YUGE for me. I screwed up a resizing die and maybe stumbled into something good.

I say MAYBE, fingers crossed.

I'm a fitted die FREAK..... so much so that I insist on selling guns, even hunting guns ONLY with fitted dies. I truly believe that NO RIFLE of any sort can possibly shoot to anywhere near it's potential without perfectly fitted ammunition. I've tried every avenue available for over 20yrs trying to solve this conundrum easily and repeatably. I've recently experimented with re-cutting factory dies to fit my chambers. Factory dies are always too small and I purposely build my chambers over-sized so re-cutting dies makes sense if I need a die quick (Whidden is several months out for instance)

So I bought a boatload of Redding Type S full length sizers, the ones that take neck bushings and started whittling. The first one I started my cut at the shoulder too far in and buggered the neck/shoulder junction. I look into the die and I can see a flat ring instead of a blend where the shoulder meets the body.

But I got the other dimensions OK, and I'd paid 90 bucks for the die so what-the-hey, "let's try 'er out!"

It actually leaves a step in the shoulder when it sizes....... But I sized and fired a round of cases 6 times, fired them HOT, repeatedly....... and they fell into the chamber with no bolt resistance and after the 5th sizing the cases had not grown at all.....

NONE


They were LOCKED from sliding by that wee step and they re-sized perfectly over and over! Now, until I've loaded these cases 30-40-50 times I won't KNOW, but I'm fairly certain this can work

here's a pic showing the resultant ring at the junction.



At this point my assertion is "that step's not a MISTAKE, that's a FEATURE!"

LOL

There was more but I'm tired and this site won't take some of the pic files.... so anyways, good day here since't I couldn't be AT a match, at least I got one gun tuned up for the next one

al

 

[John S]

Great idea on the phone thing

I am going to try it on a spotting scope

 

[alinwa]

I'm gonna' try resize and post a top picture of the step




Hey, I got it!

The "step" isn't as flat as it looks..... the boring bar uses a replaceable bit with a radius if probably 30 thou. But it's definitely a pitch change. You can feel it with your nail.

 

[alinwa]

"The Man Who Learns HOW To Do The Work Will Always Have A Job"

"The Man Who Learns WHY Will Always Be His Boss"​

And this is why my inadvertent step may prove to be a boon in the long run.

In My Opinion (or, "as I do it")

The mechanism of truly scrupulous brass resizing is based on never sliding the shoulder of the case. If you never slip the case in the sizing die, but instead just collapse the sidewalls back down a half-thou, it can't grow longer. You can then fire that case over and over.

And over.

I do this with dozens of chamberings. But keeping this fittage to absolute minimum takes practice, and it varies day to day through temperature changes. I've done it for years using Skip's die shims, stacked in different ways and by keeping notes as how some stacks vary by a half-thou or somesuch, or by honing shims on sandpaper. I can easily keep up with ONE gun when I'm shooting it day after day but running several guns, and setting setups aside for weeks/months/years can turn it into a mindbender. Sometimes I live with a little 'feel on closing'

What I found was, with this tiny step in the shoulder I quickly and easily got "bolt handle falls closed" sizing because the little step/key keeps the shoulder lock into place. It would probably crumple the casewall before letting the shoulder slip.

I'll be testing it.

 

[Zebra13]

Great idea on the phone thing

I am going to try it on a spotting scope

John,

Years ago, I machined up an adapter for my Leupold spotter and my digital camera before a backcountry bow hunt. It worked pretty good. The buck in the photo was probably 1000-1500 yards away at the time of the photo. Not bad for a California deer, huh?

Adapter is pictured on the right.

They now make all manner of adapters for attaching phones to spotting scopes, rifle scopes, etc.

Justin

 

[alinwa]

Not bad for a California deer, huh?

My forebrain said "friggin' BOONER!!" then I clicked on it. That is the largest skinny-rack deer I've ever seen..... short on mass but big on inches.

Bea'yoootifull, thank you for that pic, I be putting into my files.

 

[John S]

Justin,

I bought one of those adapters. Didn't work worth squat.

Nice buck. Where exactly was that?

 

[dmort]

Mule Deer

With those big ears thats my guess, so I will say the NE part of the state.

Mort

 

[alinwa]

Another picture of the "step" in the shoulder from the die I screwed up (or maybe didn't!)

 

[alinwa]

I got no idea how that through the scope thumbnail got attached

 

[Zebra13]

Gents,

The buck, a mulie, was safely in the confines of Sequoia National Park, in Tulare county.

He was the second biggest buck I've ever seen in Cali and I figger' he's in the 160-170 class. He'd rank pretty high in the state record book.

Justin

 

[alinwa]

And here's a picture of how it looks when the case slides in the die (thereby growing longer) as opposed to just collapsing straight back.



I was re-using some junk brass instead of making new cases. The chamber I was fitting to is cut with same reamer but is a thou shorter so I just dropped the shoulder back a thou..... that long roll action of the case shoulder sliding is the result of .001 sizing for length