Yes, boys and girls, it seems that UPS has all of its shit together. They found me, who is I – McGoo – with no problem whatsoever.
See? All my reloading goodies were in the box, right where they were supposed to be!
These are my new bullets. They are .40 S&W caliber. They are for my Sig Sauer P226 pistol that I bought two years ago and have never reloaded for. Aren’t they pretty!
These are the cases. I like to buy nickel-plated brass because it doesn’t tarnish so much – and it differentiates itself from bought ammo cases I’ve saved.
This is the progressive shell plate and loading dies for the reloading press. They do neat things.
This is a special piece of Reloading Bacon I just happened to have out. Later, it was digested.
This man did not help me unpack the box.
September 23, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Love that first pick. Shiny jackets and bacon–there is no higher reality.
September 23, 2009 at 6:24 pm
CB! I was just coming back to tell everyone to click on the photos – they embiggify quite nicely.
Aren’t the bullets and brass pretty!
September 23, 2009 at 6:57 pm
Jeebus!
A Census worker was hanged in a cemetery in Ky with “fed” written on him!
Clay county – where my ancestors nested … I wonder if the perp was Uncle Doober? He never liked feds….
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jbzG_BlkG2Hfc818EPRRn1bBlP6gD9AT92400
September 23, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Well, while that is hilarious. I saw something at the bloggess that may qualify as banner material. You be the judge:
“Sailing, like invisibility, is a skill that can last a lifetime”
September 23, 2009 at 7:40 pm
Speaking of hilarious, this was just on one of the kid shows on Cartoon Network.
The noise this guy makes really ices it.
September 23, 2009 at 7:53 pm
I’m not a fan of nickel plated cases, but to each his own. You got Starline cases though, right?
Now … good luck finding primers.
Let’s see if we can teach McGoo to play the gun version of beer pong – put a washcloth or small towel in the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket, and position the bucket so that it catches all your empties. No drinking [then!] if you miss, that’s later. One swallow per 5 cases. This also teaches you to find the most consistent loading data, which is usually more accurate.
September 23, 2009 at 8:34 pm
CB – I’ve seen that ratjump vid! Hilarious!
Drew:
Primers.
I don’t want to talk about primers. $30 a thousand – when you can find them! Last time I bought primers they were a penny apiece.
Except I already have ~8000 small pistol primers and 1000 large pistol primers.
And zero rifle primers.
Your gun pong – my CZ-52 would score damned near 100%! Christ does it eject consistently. Truly amazing. Me and my shooting buddy made our own high-power ammo from .223 casings years ago, and (naturally) didn’t want to lose any. He or I could position ourself in one spot and barely move the hands to catch every round.
Speaking of reload recipes – what do you like for .40 S&W?
And why don’t you like nickel? To each his own, as you say. And – yes – I bought Starline. Cheap. Readily available. Good lifetime.
September 23, 2009 at 9:50 pm
You had me at bacon…..
And HOLY SHIT on that Census worker death. You know how the media will spin his death, God rest his soul.
September 23, 2009 at 10:09 pm
Reloading bacon?
I want a brochure!
September 24, 2009 at 4:55 am
Yep, LC – I can’t believe there are still assholes out there who would hang a census taker. But it may have been suicide. No one knows yet…
Apotheosis – the use of bacon in reloading is an extremely advanced technique that is fraught with danger if not done correctly. People have been known to suffer completely debilitating hangnails – and bad breath! – when misapplying the Bacon Technique to blueprinting ammo. I, myself, managed to inflict a skidmark upon myself – twice – when I was learning The Way Of Bacon.
September 24, 2009 at 7:45 am
McGoo, rather than use bacon in reloading, I refer you to this:
http://www.silverbulletgunoil.net/
MUCH neater, and VERY effective
September 24, 2009 at 8:00 am
Are you sure you didn’t find that guy in one of the boxes?
September 24, 2009 at 11:03 am
McGoo isn’t kidding – the misuse of bacon during reloading lead to the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857. It’s true, look it up!!
September 24, 2009 at 12:02 pm
Wow, Drew wasn’t actually kidding – I did look it up.
You’re making me itchy to finally get around to buying a pistol again McGoo! And just look at what popped into my inbox this morning!.
September 24, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Enas, you go and buy that SW9VE or the SW40VE, and the first thing you do is send it to Frank Smith at
LSG Manufacturing
10059 Hwy 1476
Comanche, TX 76442
(325) 885-2700
info@lsgmfg.com
http://www.lsgmfg.com
for a trigger reworking. This is the pistol that S&W lost the lawsuit to Glock over, and as a result they had to kludge up the trigger. It’s pretty awful. Frank Smith is one of the best, and LSG is doing all of this under warranty. It’s free.
It’s a good solid pistol, and fairly inexpensive at about $340, but many folks feel the trigger needs some work.
September 24, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Enas – what Drew said! You can’t go wrong with a S&W, even with a doofified trigger assembly.
Yep. Bacon & bacon fat figure prominently in my future reloading efforts. Later I will post a photo of why this is true. I can’t right now because – um – its raining.
Note LC’s comment and link. The mightiness of pork fat knows no bounds.
It bears repeating that there is nothing bacon cannot do!
…And, Drew, I’m still curious as to why nickel-plated brass (NPB) got less than a stellar response from you? Honest – If there’s a serious downside to NPB I really want to know.
September 24, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Harley – how did you know? I think Midway sent him by mistake.
September 24, 2009 at 2:10 pm
For bacon lovers:
http://foodproof.com/photos/full/bacon-cheese-roll-1290
You can feel your arteries just cringe, can’t you?
September 24, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Yah I’m not really thinking about getting one of those specifically as I still have my heart set on a 1911 pistol in the .45 caliber. MUCH more expensive but damn they are sweet! ;-D
September 24, 2009 at 4:21 pm
I had a 1911 Colt years ago… Beautiful weapon… Excellent choice.
They go nicely with bacon too.
September 24, 2009 at 5:05 pm
LC – its a little known fact that that checkerboard bacon weave is used in space by NASA to protect the space station from micro-meteors. It’s been working for years. It should be noted that its never failed yet.
The military is considering it to replace Kevlar in body armor, too.
Enas – Sully – I own a Springfield Armory 1911 .45, and love it. There’s just something about throwing ~half-inch bullets around that is soooo impressive.
But my favorite of all time is still the .44 mag. It speaks with utter authority no matter what the occasion.
September 24, 2009 at 7:05 pm
Steamboat, a change of topic…….
Apologies to all.
Is there a bank out there that is friendly to Americans?
I note that my current bank, BofA, has received Federal Funds (OUR Money) to remain in business.
A local branch of BofA has shown disrespect to a fallen Marine.
I don’t have much, but, I would like to know that MY bank really
supports our Armed Services.
Again, apologies for interrupting the thread.
Semper Fi Marine!
September 24, 2009 at 7:31 pm
I’m with you Roy – BofUnA is mine too and they’ve seriously pissed me off. First it was making it easier for illegal aliens to open accounts and qualify for home loans, then it was the bailout money and just today I read that its charity arm gave over a million to ACORN as well as generally doing lots of business with them. Despite the major pain in the butt to move all my accounts I’m seriously considering going with a local bank that hasn’t touch a dime of fed funds.
September 24, 2009 at 7:49 pm
I eagerly dropped BofA last year when I moved.
I’m presently using US Bank. They haven’t given me any trouble so far, except the obligatory call every 3 months to try to sell me on extended services I don’t want or need. But I don’t know their status vis-a-vis fed funds.
And Roy – you can go ahead and interrupt our musings here any fucking time you want! Especially when it’s something like this. Thank you.
September 24, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Hey, Guinness Day is almost over–I say Guinness is lame…compared to what I posted.
September 25, 2009 at 9:55 am
If you use nickel plated brass for pistol reloading, and you have carbide dies, and you use a tiny bit of ISDW every dozen or so cases as you reload, you should have no problems.
I do not like plated brass for rifle ammo. I find the plating chips off the case necks. You have to chamfer the case mouths on any rifle brass, and that starts the chipping process happening.
I worry about how nickel work hardens – more than brass, or less – I don’t know. Uneven neck tension destroys accuracy. You can’t neck turn plated brass. Oh sure, you CAN physically do it, but now you’ve removed the plating from either the inside or the outside of the case neck. And that leads to more chips. You want white hot chips of nickel going down your barrel when you fire? You think lead and copper fouling is bad enough, so let’s add nickel to that mix?
Even cleaning cases in the corn media tumbler leads to chipping.
I have heard that nickle is harder than brass, and will scratch up your jacketed bullets. I have seen this happen. I have also heard that the cases will split sooner. I know from experience that it is almost impossible to properly anneal plated cases.
But nickel plated cases always extract easier, and they stay nice looking for a much longer time. If you do the cowboy thing and put your ammo in leather belt loops, then plated cases are almost mandatory. Leather will kill brass cases in just a couple of months.
For pistol ammo that isn’t loaded super hot, and that is well cleaned before reloading – maybe IOSSO cleaner, or hot water & dishwasher detergent just to clean the powder fouling? – and given a very slight lube with good old ISDW … I guess that should be Ok.
ISDW = Imperial Sizing Die Wax. Redding owns them these days I think, or at least is selling a copycat product. Best goop ever; all reloaders should have some on hand. Use on your die threads, press linkages, decapping pin shafts, etc. And a tiny bit on every 10th case to keep things running slick when using carbide dies. Catch that case as it comes off the press and wipe it off with a paper towel. Just remember to clean out your resize die with GumOut or brake cleaner once in a while … like before or after every reloading session, duh. TSI-301 works great for this and prevents rust too.
There are some dies that when new don’t like ISDW. I ran across this with a set of Hornady .30-30. Tore the case necks off. After recleaning the sizing die I glopped a few sacrificial cases up with sticky old icky RCBS case lube and that did the trick. After that, a tiny wipe of ISDW was enough … even after cleaning that die for the next session.
Ok, I’ll shut up now.
September 25, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Thanks, Drew! I need to digest this stuff – lots of good info.
Speaking of lube: my lobe pad went dry during the 15 years in storage (quell surprise!) and I need to get a new on and some new case lube. I guess I’ll get some ISDW too. Midway?
September 25, 2009 at 1:35 pm
BTW: I just paid $32 for 1K large magnum pistol primers. My asshole hurts.
There are no rifle primers to be had – anywhere, apparently.
September 25, 2009 at 8:33 pm
So, how’s the reloading going? The only thing I shot today was photos…of moonbats…at the G-20. Take a look.
September 25, 2009 at 9:40 pm
I just loaded up my first 6 rounds since 1994. They were just a little batch to chronograph and see if the press settings are correct.
Went really well.
September 25, 2009 at 11:01 pm
Found this via myra:
http://renalfailure.wordpress.com/2009/09/24/activate-baby-shield/#comment-4782
It’s hilarious.
September 26, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Hellooooooo?
No Space Twats? Where’s Bert?
McGoo, I’m not paying you to reload. Hurry up with the funneh!
September 26, 2009 at 2:42 pm
Oop!
Sorry about that, xbradtc.
I was … um … walking the parapet … considering a thousand things.
Uh … yeah. That’s right. I remember it now.