Smelting

I was reading a thread over on the Cast Boolits forum talking about smelting lead.

Cast bullet shooters get their lead from a variety of sources, including roofing fixtures, medical waste, telecommunication waste, and plumbing waste. We are recylers of the highest order. Old sheathing from an x-ray room remodel? Throw it in the pot. Cable sheathing found on the side of the road? It goes in the pot. Hurricane damaged roof flashing? Oh, yeah, it goes in the pot too. By far, the biggest source of lead bullet material is wheelweights. Those little clips they use to balance the wheels on your car. Wheelweights are made of lead, with some tin and antimony. They are hard lead, and great for making bullets. They are also very inexpensive, even free when a dedicated scrounger is on the hunt.

One well-known bullet caster once said "If it looks plumbous, I'm apt to make bullets with it."

Turning scrap lead into something useful requires melting it. Often in large quantities. This is easily done on a propane burner, your turkey fryer will work just fine. You can also use a Coleman stove, but you have to be aware that you are melting metal at very high temperatures. Safety is absolutely required. One little slip and you will enter the ranks of the severely burned.

In my second or third article for The Frugal Outdoosman, I covered bullet making safety. The same rules apply, so let's review them.

WARNING Casting bullets is dangerous. In addition to the dangers inherent in working with molten metal, lead is known to cause birth defects and cancer. Work outside or exhaust fumes to the outside. Wear safety goggles or glasses. Wash your hands before eating, drinking or smoking. Never allow liquids near casting area.

Never allow liquids near the casting area.

When we smelt scrap lead, those same rules apply. Get outside. Wear protective clothing, including eyewear. A pair of safety glasses costs about $5.00 down at the hardware store. What are your eyes worth? While you're there, pick up some gloves. Stand upwind of the fumes. Gather all your materials and equipment and keep the kids away. No playing, no alcohol while smelting. Someone could get hurt. Badly.

What we want to do is melt scrap lead and turn it into something useful. We need molds to pour the molten lead into. I use a variety of ingot molds. I have three of them depending on the type lead I am smelting. Pure soft lead goes into a square ingot mold. Wheelweights go into a discarded cornbread stick mold. Alloy goes into a specialty mold I picked up at a garage sale.

Water is your enemy. Lead melts at something around 620 degrees Farenheit. Water boils at 212 degrees. When water is introduced to molten lead it flashes to steam with explosive force and expands dramatically. That instant steam rises. One drop of water in a pot of metal will empty most of the pot of molten lead in a violent splash. Let's look at a picture taken at my house, in November 2004. You can click on it to view the full size photo.



In this photo, I had my smelting equipment set up on my driveway and was melting wheelweights for bullets. I had already melted some pure lead flashing and wanted to render the wheelweights to make some alloy. I filled the pot with raw wheelweights and let them melt, skimming the steel clips.

Unbeknownst to me, those wheelweights had recently been moistened inadvertently in a rainstorm. When I initially loaded the pot, everything was cool and as the scrap heated, the moisture evaporated off the metal. When I skimmed the steel clips, I decided to add some more raw wheelweights. When I dropped the first one in the pot, it exploded. Evidently, the wheelweight I dropped in the pot had some moisture on it, probably under the clip. As the wheelweight entered the molten metal, it fell toward the bottom of the pot and the moisture flashed to steam. The pot erupted, scattering molten lead across my driveway. I've included a measuring tape in the photo for scale. Most of the splash was confined to a three foot area directly adjacent to the pot. Later, while cleaning up, I found splashed droplets of lead as far as six feet from the pot. Any one of those small missiles could have caused excruciating pain and disfiguring injury. At the time of the accident, I was wearing safety glasses, a long sleeved flannel shirt and a baseball cap. I was not injured, but only by the Grace of God. My hand was within inches of the pot, as I was dropping metal into it.

Casting bullets is a wonderful way to turn scrap into useful material. It is a hobby that has given me years of enjoyment, relaxation, and education. Primitive metallurgy takes us back to the dawn of the Industrial Revolution and makes us more self-reliant. It is a magnificent hobby. Practice it, learn, explore, but be careful.

Update** A reader found an upwind/downwind error in the article. Good Catch! I fixed it.

Range report

I went out and shot the 311041 bullets through the Winchester 94 today. Results were fairly disappointing, yet illuminating. The bullets were all treated alike, lubed with Lee Liquid Alox, gas checked, sized to 0.309, then lubed again. The brass was prepped by neck-sizing, trimming, flaring and cleaning primer pockets. I primed the brass with Winchester large rifle primers and loaded them with surplus IMR 4895 powder. I was shooting off the bench, with iron sights at 50 yards. The results are below.

311041 results- Win 94- 05/13/06
Surplus IMR 4895	5 shot	4 shot
25.0 grs	3.7"	n/a
25.5 grs	3.1"	n/a
26.0 grs	4.0"	n/a
26.5 grs	3.4"	2.2"
27.0 grs	2.4"	1.6"
27.5 grs	5.0"	n/a

I included a 4 shot and a 5 shot measurement to take flyers into consideration. The two groups where I gave a 4 shot measurement, the flyer was obviously outside the group. With the other targets, they were uniform in distribution. Flyers will make a good man cuss.

It looks like with my alloy, the 311041 likes 27.0 grains of 4895. This is a load I can count on. The sights on the Winchester subtend about 4 inches at that distance, so it is shooting into the front sight.

I finished the day by shooting my service pistol, a Kimber custom. It still shoots reliable into 3 inches at 25 yards. Not great by any means, but not shabby, either. I burned 150 rounds of ammunition, the last hundred by cranking off seven shots as quickly as I could. I was able to keep all the shots on an 8.5 X 11 piece of paper at 25 yards. That is okay for service accuracy and will help my score when we qualify next month. Now I have to reload all that brass.

Y'all have a great weekend.

Update: Junior is my editor and found some nomenclature problems. They've been resolved. Thanks, Junior!

Government Records

Once, back in my Parole days, there was a piddling criminal who had committed a piddling offense. He was sentenced to a year in the pen, and had served about six months, then came out on parole. He did his parole successfully and was released. We'll call him Ben. The State of Louisiana, in its wisdom and common practice, gave Ben a First Offender Pardon. A Go-Forth-And-Sin-No-More document that allowed him to get on with his life.

As is also the practice, his case-file was put in a room that contained thousands of closed files and we went on with our work. Ben wasn't on our radar any more. While he had his pardon, it didn't increase his IQ any. Ben wasn't the brightest bulb on the tree.

Once a year, Ben showed up at the office, and asked to talk with me. After several years, when I heard Ben was in the lobby, I'd go to the closed files and pull his records. He wanted another copy of his pardon. I'd make him a copy and he'd be gone for another year. This went on for eight or ten years.

One morning, Ben showed up at the office with a document in his hands. Ben had been a law-abiding citizen for many years and had a court order, an expungement order, that ordered me to destroy all records pertaining to Ben. I invited him into the records room, pulled his file and let him watch while I ran his file through a shredder. Ben was thrilled. I kept a copy of the expungement order and let Ben go whistling off into his life. I dropped the expungement order in a file we kept for that purpose.

Next year, Ben showed up in the office again. "Mr. D. I need a copy of my pardon."

"Can't do it, Ben, those records have been destroyed. You brought me an order and I destoyed them in your presence. Remember?"

A look of grief crossed Ben's face. "But I need a copy of that pardon for a job application."

"Ben" I explained it once again. "You remember last year when you brought me the Court Order that the judge signed, ordering me to destroy your records? You remember standing beside me when I dropped your file into the shredder? You want a copy of the expungement order? I still have that, but otherwise, I did just what you wanted me to do."

Ben dropped his head. "Oh, hell!"

Sometimes, having records in a file room is a good thing.

The NSA program

It seems there is a newly-found NSA program that has everyone in a hissy fit.

Michelle Malkin talks about it at Hot Air, and other folks are up in arms about it. SayUncle is pissed off. Okay. It's all right to get pissed off.

Dudes! Chill! It's okay. BellSouth, Verizon, and AT&T have been sending copies of the phone bill. They're not collecting conversations, they're collecting numbers. Who's calling who?

Let's say your wife is suspicious that you are fooling around. She grabs your cell phone bill when it comes in and runs down the numbers called. One number pops up really frequently. She jots down the number and calls it. Turns out, it's a travel agency that you have been calling, booking a romantic getaway for your tenth anniversary. She feels like an idiot and knows you love her.

On the other hand, the number that pops up frequently ain't a travel agency, it's your girlfriend. She adds 2+2 and gets 4. You're busted.

Now, on a more national note, suppose that you're an aspiring terrorist. Your activities come to the attention of nsa.gov and they pull your phone bills. Who's calling who? If you're talking to Abdul the Bomb Maker, the .gov has an interest in that. Even if the call is inocuous enough that you and he are just exchanging falafel recipes, they know you are talking to a terrorist. It's information that can be used in the war on terror. Simple investigation can separate the sheep from the goats. We do that all the time in police work.

We're at war, folks. Let's not forget that. Ole Imadinnerjacket in Iran has recently written us a letter telling us that God is going to destroy our culture, and that Islam will be the force He uses. The good folks at the NSA are trying to make sure his aspirations take it up the wazoo. They're not interested in you talking to your girlfriend.

Oh, and while I'm at it. If you're cheating on your wife, stop it. It ain't good. Nothing good comes from marital infidelity. If you're talking to Abdul the Bomb maker, know that the .gov has a legitimate interest in that. I mean, conspirators are getting life now, right?

**UPDATE** Blogger doesn't support trackbacks, evidently, so the link to Malkin's post is here.

Guard on the Borders.

I was watching NBC tonight and saw where President Bush is going to put National Guard troops on the southern border.

It's about damned time. Looks like he is finally throwing us a bone. Now, if he'll just deport all the illegals. They can get in line over there to come here. We can worry about citizenship later.

Friday wrap-up

It was a busy week, and slow in the blogging hobby. I didn't play with guns much this week, concentrating on family and other duties. I did load some cast bullet loads tonight for the .30-30.

When working up a load, you have to make changes. But you make them one at a time, and evaluate your change of a single item. The poor groups I was getting with the 311041 was based on a mold that wasn't thoroughly prepped. The bullets were coming out at different weights. I looked at the mold and saw daylight between the halves, so I took out some needle files and cleaned the face of the mold, eliminating all the burrs. When the mold was closing properly I cast some bullets with good results. They were averaging 178.6 grains, with an SD of 0.9 grains.

I lubed a buncb of them, seated gas checks, and sized them to 0.309. Then I lubed them again. While they were drying, I prepped brass. Trimmed it, expanded it, cleaned primer pockets, seated new primers and got ready for loading.

Tonite, I duplicated the load that gave me such poor performance. 25 gains of surplus 4895, but wth more uniform bullets. Then I adjusted the measure and loaded the same load with 25.5 grains, 26.0 grains, 26.5 grains, 27.0 grains, and 27.5 grains of the same powder. FIve rounds of each in half grain increments. I should find one load that shoots like I want it to shoot.

Then I loaded everthing in the truck, along with my 1911 and a couple of hundred rounds of .45 ACP. Tomorrow is a range day. I'm looking forward to a little trigger time.

Defend the Pork

Who elected those nitwits in the Senate? We did! And we can unelect them if they keep this up.

Need proof of how pork-addicted Congress has become? Consider this: Some in the Senate are looking for ways to shift funds from the troops in Iraq to some of their favorite pet projects.
At risk is the $94.4 supplemental spending bill President Bush requested from Congress to provide $92 billion for hurricane relief and the troops in Iraq, and $2.4 billion for avian flu response. Despite his warning that anything more would be vetoed, several senators abused the legislation's must-pass status to add $14 billion in wasteful pork-barrel goodies for influential constituents, labor unions and corporations.

The Senate is so addicted to pork that they have no concern at all about an Islamic takeover of that chamber. The smell of bacon alone is enough to send a jihadi running.

Included in the Senate's bill was $700 million to move a railroad line to help develop condos and casinos along Mississippi's damaged coast, $500 million to repair a shipyard, $4 billion to farmers (on top of the $25 billion they're already getting this year), $594 million for highways, $1.1 billion for the fishing industry and $20 million for AmeriCorps.
As an aide to Sen. Bill Frist, Tennessee Republican, described the plan, the conferees could avoid painful choices and still meet the president's $94.4 billion limit by simply applying an across-the-board cut to the Senate version. With the Senate wanting $108.9 billion, an across-the-board cut of 13.2 percent would be required to bring the Senate's plan into line with the president's target.

Oh, yeah! Cut everything across the board to keep the pork in the budget! That's a wonderful idea.

Ttrent Lott of Mississippi wants $700 million to move a railroad line that we just repaired after Katrina. I drove across that line last weekend, and trains were running on it, bringing much needed supplies and commerce to the Gulf Coast. Yeah, they'd like to develop condos and casinos. Land is easy to find on the coast right now. Lots of For Sale signs along the coast. There is no shortage of salable land. This earmark is pure pork, along with the money for farmers, and the shipyard repair money. Pork everywhere.

This is my own party. The small government party. The responsible party. The conservative party. The Stupid Party. Between pork and immigraiton, these nitwits have lost me, along with most of the rest of their base. They have igoned the mandate they were given and have become unresponsive to the people. Damn them.

Hat tip to the Rottweiler.

Hacked again

I see Aaron has been hacked again, by some lizard that calls himself 020.

Evidently, Aaron pissed off some folks, some Islamists, by defending the right of free speech. They are hacking him so regularly now that it has become almost monotonous. Monotony, of course, is what we expect from fundamental Islam. Monotony of thought, monotony of speech, monotony of experience. Everything in Islam is forbidden unless it is expressly allowed. I suppose that would be the most monotonous experience imaginable. No wonder the jihadis are so excited about becoming a martyr. Almost anything is preferable to living under Islam on this planet.

By hacking him, they lose the argument. Hacking is a violation of free speech and reflects the hate and lack of intellectual rigor that their arguments possess. It is a cowardly manner of silencing dissent, of refusing to let other viewpoints be heard.

The act of hacking a dissident site is illuminative of the free speech practiced in many parts of the Islamic world. It should serve as a powerful reminder of what we are fighting and remind us all that the battlefield is here too. We must defeat fundamental Islamists wherever they show themselves. The price of defeat is too high.

Barrier Reef

Why hasn't anyone floated the idea of a barrier reef for the Louisiana coastline. We certainly have enough debris. Like destroyed school buses. Drain the fluids, take them offshore and dump them. Or refrigerators. Recover the freon, take them offshore and dump them. Building materials. Same deal. Destroyed houses. Same deal. Take it offshore and heave it overboard.

I bet we have enough debris in this state right now to construct a barrier reef from Sabine Pass to the Pearl River. From what little I know about barrier reefs, they slow down wave action, let the coastline stabilize and protect the coast from storms.

Okay, this is probably a bone-headed idea. Someone educate me on why it isn't feasible.

The Iranian Letter

I have just finished reading the letter from the President of Iran to the President of the United States. What a revealing document.

He spends a good deal of time airing the Palestinian greivances and states that

Young people, university students and ordinary people have many questions about the phenomenon of Israel. I am sure you are familiar with some of them. Throughout history many countries have been occupied, but I think the establishment of a new country with a new people, is a new phenomenon that is exclusive to our times. Students are saying that sixty years ago such a country did no exist. The show old documents and globes and say try as we have, we have not been able to find a country named Israel.

I tell them to study the history of WWI and II. One of my students told me that during WWII, which more than tens of millions of people perished in, news about the war, was quickly disseminated by the warring parties. Each touted their victories and the most recent battlefront defeat of the other party. After the war, they claimed that six million Jews had been killed. Six million people that were surely related to at least two million families.

Again let us assume that these events are true. Does that logically translate into the establishment of the state of Israel in the Middle East or support for such a state? How can this phenomenon be rationalised or explained?

Interesting. He intends to destroy Israel. He sees his work as the hand of God.

I read this letter as a statement of intent. As a declaration of purpose. It is well written, carefully crafted to a specific purpose. It lays out a series of greivances and a reliance on the Almighty to achieve a purpose. Then it lays out the purpose.

Liberalism and Western style democracy have not been able to help realize the ideals of humanity. Today these two concepts have failed. Those with insight can already hear the sounds of the shattering and fall of the ideology and thoughts of the liberal democratic
systems.

We increasingly see that people around the world are flocking towards a main focal point – that is the Almighty God. Undoubtedly through faith in God and the teachings of the prophets, the people will conquer their problems. My question for you is: “Do you not want to join them?”

Mr President,

Whether we like it or not, the world is gravitating towards faith in the Almighty and justice and the will of God will prevail over all things.

He intends that God will take us down too.

Who's Border Patrol

Michelle Malkin is all over this.

It turns out that our Border Patrol is telling the Mexican government about Minuteman activities on our southern border. We learn from the Ontario, CA Daily Bulletin:

While Minuteman civilian patrols are keeping an eye out for illegal border crossers, the U.S. Border Patrol is keeping an eye out for Minutemen -- and telling the Mexican government where they are.
According to three documents on the Mexican Secretary of Foreign Relations Web site, the U.S. Border Patrol is to notify the Mexican government as to the location of Minutemen and other civilian border patrol groups when they participate in apprehending illegal immigrants -- and if and when violence is used against border crossers.

That frosts my oversized butt. Bush had better put an end to this immediately, or I am going to join those calling for his ouster. Sharing intelligence about American citizens with an arguably hostile government could be construed as treason.

I'm having an RCOB moment.

A local problem

One of the lessons I took away from our Biloxi trip are that hurricanes are a local problem. The solution is pretty much a local solution.

At the end of any natural disaster, whether it is fire, or earthquake, tornado, or hurricane, the folks who own the property are those most invested in the solution. The clean-up comes down to whoever is left, whoever is available to haul away debris and begin the rebuilding. That isn't to say that government doesn't have a part of the solution, but the major work is done by the people left standing on the ground.

Let's say you own a business, a restaurant. It is a thriving concern, employing fifty people. It is on a bay that gets hit with a huge storm surge. After the storm, it looks like this: That building is worthless. Ruined. And it is your problem. You have insurance, no doubt, and the land that the building sits on has value. It is waterfront property, which always has value, but the value is diminished after the storm.

As a property owner, you have a couple of choices. 1) Take the insurance money and rebuild. 2) Take the insurance money and cut your losses, sell the property at a residual value. Find something else to do for a living.

Does the government have a role in the rebuilding? Sure. Absolutely. The government has an interest in restoring infrastructure, getting power and water and roads back to normal. Rebuilding bridges so that commerce can commence. Local leadership has to restore the assets that allow the commerce to rebuild.

But the power to rebuild or not stays with the land owners. Property ownership is a powerful economic incentive to act in your own best interest. Even when a property owner decides to sell at a loss, the new owner has an economic interest in the property, and he picked it up for a song. The new owner buys a blighted property with full knowledge that it may be a year or two before the bridges are rebuilt, before the economy is restored. That all factors into the buy decision and the selling price of the property.

Initially, when the wind stops blowing and the rains quit, the guy with a bulldozer is the king of the economic jungle. He is in demand. Anyone who owns a bulldozer and backhoe is fully employed. He can set his own rates and pick his jobs. That guy's influence will diminish over time, as the debris is cleared away, and the people who know how to work concrete, or carpentery, or brick masonry will come into their own. They will be fully employed for a time, then the other industries will have their place in the sun.

The one thing the economy does not need is the welfare dependents. Those folks are a drain on a disaster economy. Government should be fully engaged in restoring services and infrastucture to the producing economy. The welfare drains, those without skills or knowledge or the willingness to work are not necessary to the vitality of rebuilding. They are better off in Atlanta, or Houston, or somewhere else that can provide for them.

Driveway to Nowhere

We're back from Biloxi, where Milady and I had a thoroughly refreshing experience. Sobering, yet refreshing.



This is a Google Earth shot of the place we were staying in Biloxi. The Isle of Capri Casino is most easily identified by the blue roof in the bottom center of the photo. That blue roof is their parking garage. You can click on the pictures for a larger view.



This shot is taken from the hotel, to the north-northeast. Notice the driveways from the highway, leading to nothing. Total devastation.



The destroyed bridge in this photo is the bridge crossing the bay. That is US Hwy 90, the main east-west route along the Gulf. Totally destroyed. Every slab of concrete was knocked off the bridge and into the Gulf waters. These scenes repeat themselves all along the coast.

One thing that I noticed was the resilience of the people. At those spots where people intend to remain, there would be the driveway, a pile of debris, a clean slab, and a travel trailer parked on the slab. People living on their land, covering their ground. The travel trailers were often the ubiquitous FEMAtorium's, or less often, a private brand trailer with slide-outs. Either way, those people were home. Starting over, making life better.

I was struck by the difference that a couple of feet elevation made, or the difference that might be caused by the height of a house. The structures close to the shore were hit hard. The structures in the next block were hit less hard. The stuctures four blocks away were pretty much okay.



These two houses were about a block from the Gulf. The brown house on the right was damaged severely. Notice the travel trailer parked out back. The white house in the trees behind it had some superficial damage. When we stopped to snap this photo we noticed that the white house is inhabited, and people were moving around in the yard. The difference of four of five feet elevation and the shelter of the trees made a world of difference.

It'll take me a while to think about what I have seen and the lessons I should draw from it. I went to Biloxi with some preconcieved notions and came away with an altered understanding. I went thinking that I knew, and came away knowing that I can think.

New Orleans inside scoop

The Oyster is my ears and eyes in New Orleans. He and I don't look at things with the same perspective. He is left-leaning progressive and I am right-leaning conservative. He is insane Democrat, and I am Republican. I've learned to listen to his coherent thoughts although his rants sometimes leave me depressed.

It's funny, my best friend in the whole world is a Democrat. My wife is a Democrat, and the Oyster is a Democrat. I'm having trouble leading any of the three of them into the light.

Yet, the boy has the scoop on the New Orleans mayoral race, and if you want to see what the townsfolk are thinking, you ought to ride on over. In comments, tell him Pawpaw sent you.

I'm going to Biloxi this weekend. Y'all keep it between the navigational beacons until I get back.

Little Patrick

Little Patrick has a problem lately, slamming into things with his car. Takes after Daddy that way, I suppose.

We find in the Constitution that he is immune from prosecution when he is in DC.

Section 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other place.

Of course, as Daddy's son he is typically exempt from prosecution anyway. Daddy got away with manslaughter. Patrick considers it a birth-right.

Y'all want to impeach somebody? Patrick might be a good place to start. The Senate has never had the balls to impeach Teddy. So much more the shame. I'm becoming convinced that no one in either deliberative body has a moral compass worth following.

Travel Plans

Milday and I like to get out of town a couple or three times a year. Generally, in May, we take off to New Orleans. Not this year. Maybe my Google skills ain't up to it, but it seems like all I hear of New Orleans is doom and gloom.

I go to sites like the Chanber of Commerce and the Convention and Visitors Bureau, and I really don't get a good feeling about the recovery. I see that Harrah's has reopened, and that is good, I'm just wondering what took them so damned long? The Chamber of Commerce only lists seven "preferred" hotels in New Orleans, and I'm wondering if those seven are the only ones open? I went to the Convention and Visitors website and their list of hotels isn't even in alphabetical order. I couldn't find the Doubletree in that list and it's one of my favorite hotels in New Orleans. Is it open? Who knows?

I went back to Google and searched some of the tourist sites, and it looks like Biloxi might be up and running. I made reservations at the Isle of Capri and we intend to soak up a little sun, wander around Biloxi, and see some things that we can't see around here.

I'm sure I'll see some devastation. I'm sure I'll see some refuse and storm damage. The websites from Biloxi are optimistic and upbeat and seem to want me to come visit. I can eat a good meal, look at the Gulf, and recharge my batteries, if only for a couple of days. Milady will probably drop a nickel in a slot machine. I'll probably lose a few dollars at the blackjack table. I've gotta drive right past New Orleans to do all that, and that is a damned shame.

Memo to New Orleans: I know that you took a bad hit last August. I know you are in turmoil and life in the City has changed. You want my tourism dollar, you have to get a little more upbeat, more confident, more fun. Have someone put up a website luring me to the Big Easy. I'd really like to come to New Orleans and play for a long weekend, but until you get your act together, it ain't happening.

Public Bribery

From the Dead Pelican, and the Times Picayune, we get this story about the man who bribed an unknown representative but who has close ties to Representative William Jefferson. It is truly damning testimony. We should remember that a person is assumed innocent until proven guilty, that the presumption of innocence applies until the jury speaks or the plea is taken.

However.

Bribery of pubic officials is a crime that strikes directly to the heart of our government. Public officials should avoid even the appearance of corruption. Public officials should conduct all business in a purely transparent matter.

Republican or Democrat, corruption is wrong. It takes advantage of the most needy and causes distrust in our elected officials.

Haircuts

I'm a child of the sixties. I wore my hair long, and sported Earth Pants and beads. I sewed a peace sign to the hem of my pants. Then I joined the Army. The Army was full of hippies in the mid '70s. My hair was cut in accordance with Army Regulations, and I learned that short hair had a decided advantage in the field. It didn't attract lice, or get greasy, or get caught in stuff. Tanks are full of stuff to capture hair.

When I came out of the Army, I noticed that the neighborhood barbershop had closed. Guys were getting "styles". By the mid '80s, the predominate hairstyle was damned near bouffant. I wasn't playing. Still in the Reserves, I got my monthly haircut the week before drill. I would tell the stylist to put a number four guard on a pair of clippers and go crazy. For a while, I got a discount at one place as long as I didn't tell anyone where I got my hair cut.

One day I was wandering through Wal-Mart and saw a set of clippers. Cool. No more paying for haircuts. I conned my daughter into cutting my hair in the kitchen. After two cuts, I had depreciated the investment. For the past five years I have been getting my haircuts for free. Milady cuts it in the kitchen, or my daughter is pressed into service. The grandkids get the whack-treatment too, when they sit still long enough.

I've offered to return the favor and cut Milady's hair, but she demurs, preferring the attentions of the sylist at the shop down the road. There is probably chit-chat in that place. I wouldn't know.

The difference between a good haircut and a bad one, is two weeks.

Aaron's blog

It looks like Aaron got hacked again, by another jihadi.

It's about time to send someone to jail. Hacking a website is against the law. More importantly, hacking a website is just poor taste. Tacky. Juvenile.

Those bastards ought to be throttled. They're cowards whose ideas won't stand up to public scrutiny. They espouse a failed doctrine. When ideas fail, they resort to hacking. They lose automatically in any rational debate.

Range Report - 311041

Last week I talked about reloading cast bullets and now it's time for my range report.

The bullets I loaded were the Lee custom 311041. I lubed them with Lee Liquid Alox, then seated a gas check and sized them to 0.309. I seated them in Remington brass over 25.0 grains of IMR4895 with a Winchester large rifle primer. I applied a good crimp in the crimping groove, with a Factory Crimp die.

To say I was disappointed was an understatement. My average velocity was in the mid 1700's but I was getting an extreme spead of 213. I don't even remember the Standard Deviation, but it was way out of line, too. Something is wrong with this load, and Junior has been helping me diagnose it.



The thing patterns like a shotgun. The target above is at 50 yards, iron sights, supported.

I'm including this target as a lesson to neophyte reloaders. Sometimes something goes wrong and we don't understand what the problem is. When we read about shooting in the magazines, all the rifles shoot beautifully and all the reloads exceed factory velocity, while showing accuracy that can only be found .. well.. in the magazines.

Most of the time, this is what we start with. We cuss and scratch our heads and we cry and try to figure out what the rifle likes.

My Sharps has a load that it likes. It really likes that bullet/brass/powder coombination and will shoot it into almost the same hole day in and day out.

I have a couple of loads that my Wnchester really likes. It shoots those loads extremely well. It doesn't like this load, or some combination of this load. I'll figure it out. It will become a good honest hunting load. It takes time and patience and the knowledge that load development takes time.

I'll figure it out.