Rainy Thursday

It was raining when I awoke and after coffee, it hadn't let up. I went out into the carport when Milady left for work and decided that it would be a good time to catch up on projects that were stacked on my bench.

Fixed a kid's toy, a plastic truck that makes lots of noise. I'll have to send that home with him the next time I see that particular grandkid.

Then I took out my Remington Model 700. Someone told me recently that all Remington .30 caliber barrels were a 1:12 twist. That didn't sound right, but I thought I'd measure it. My particular Rem 700 was made in August 1983, although I didn't buy it until January 2011. I realized I didn't know the barrel twist, which is an arcane bit of knowledge that might be useful, so I took down my cleaning rod, fitted a patch to a jag and measured the twist. Mine is 1:10, just like my other .308s. The only 1:12 rifles I own are my Win94s.

That being done, I noticed some brass from the Thanksgiving shoot that I needed to sort. I collect brass, and it gets thrown into a box under my bench until a rainy day when I decide to sort brass. That's not one of my favorite activities, but something that a handloader must do occasionally. Before too long, I was on my knees by the brass box, pulling out zip-lock bags and wal-mart bags from shoots long past. I commenced sorting brass and had to find new containers. Before it was done, I had sorted two gallons of .38 special brass, a full gallon of .45 ACP, nearly a half-gallon of .44 magnum, and several dozen pieces of .44 special. Exactly one piece of .357 magnum brass, though for the life of me, I can't imagine who took just one shot with the .357. That ain't natural.

I took down some rifles and gave them a good wiping, then put everything away. It's 10:45 a.m. and I've cleared my bench. Dishes are washed, clothes are folded and put away. I guess I could run the vacuum, but I'm not nearly that bored yet.

It's still raining outside. In another hour, the dog and I will eat lunch.