The firearm thread

[Mr Merde]

Raining here now. No news from those who were commming down.

Picked up 50 brass for the 45-70 last night.

Needs some serious reshaping. I should get 20-30 good pieces out of them.

I will be preping them before reloading.
Drill out the flash hole to 0.09", primer pocket cleaneded up and cut to a uniform depth, deburr the flash hole.

Weigh them into batches. All the same headstamp so by weighing them any differences will be due to thickness of the brass. Those of approx the same weight should have the same space inside the case for the powder.

I do this with my .223 brass. These pieces all weigh within .5 gn of each other.

Call me pendantic but accuracy is all about uniformity and repeatability.

I like to cut out as many variables as possible then I have nothing but myself to blame when I miss.

Looking now for some full length dies for the 45-70. Then I will be ready to reload properly. I have been pouring over the books by Paul Mathews lately in search of any tips on making the perfect 45-70 BP round. My head is swimming with in formation.

The Rolling Block still needs the rear sight mounted to the upper tang. I'm a bit loathe to do this myself as I dont feel really confident in my ability to align it correctly.

Found a butt plate for this rifle. Half shutzen style made of solid brass. Weighs in at 1 kg for this alone. Total weight of the rifle should be about 14lbs. This should soak up the recoil of a heavy BP round with a 525 gn bullet.

Rain stopped.

Give me another 2-3 months and I will be in full training mode with my BP rifles. Sharron has agreed that I need to spend a little more time on my hobbies. We have spent so much on the house and garden and need a break.

I will probably be looking for another couple of hundred 45-70 brass eventually. That way I can find a nice lot of brass that match. It will also mean that I can vary my reloading in the search for the correct combination that suits the rifle.

So much to do and so little time. Oh well I plan on being around for a few more years.

Chris

[jono035]

Dunno about down that way but up here in Auckland it held out pretty well until an hour ago then just started bucketing down. Trouble driving kind of heavy rain. Thankfully we got all my mates stuff in the door right before it started, otherwise they would have had a very wet mattress and couches to sleep on tonight...

That's a pretty interesting history on that rifle, must be nice to have it up and shooting again.

[Indiana_Jones]

Well the weather was a bitch, but good to see the little man had a good time.

Loved that little pump .22

Cheers again Chris

-Indy

[ManDownUnder]

Well the weather was a bitch, but good to see the little man had a good time.

Loved that little pump .22

Cheers again Chris

-Indy

Ditto Chris - and thanks to you too Indy. My little man needs a few good men around from time to time... and he's up and raving on this morning.

He wants to invite his friends around to tell them about the shooting and he shot 4 in a one inch group with one flier, and the pump action .22 was the best gun but he liked this and that and he's got a pocket full of memories (aka spent .22 brass) and a HUGE bullet the cowboys used to shoot buffalo with and an even BIGGER piece of brass that it comes out of and Chris makes his own bullets and he's got a shotshell reloader like dad's and and and and... and it's only 11:00.

I think you guys get the idea.

The rain Gods were smiling on us yesterday too... the whole 100kms to Mr Merde's house with a mere hint of drizzle on the way - then ALMOST all the way home in total dry! I hope you got home dry Indy? We did all bar the last 10 kms (and then it totally and unmercifully PISSED DOWN).

All part of the adventure though... and the boys had a brilliant time. Ab-so-fucken-lutely brilliant time. It was only this morning I realised I was enjoying myself viacariously all afternoon... thinking back I spent most of the time cleaning guns (but she's run in now... goaties... LOOK OUT!)

Next time I bring the 270WSM...! Or maybe the HMR.

And the best till last. First words I got from Ruben this morning "Dad - can we go on another adventure today?" (closely followed by the tirade above). Very cute!

[Mr Merde]

MDU,

I am so very glad the youngster enjoyed himself. The future of our sport is in his and others of his age hands, and it is gratifying to see the enthusiasm pass on to this generation.

Sharron was very impressed by the young lad and she thinks you and Indy are real gentlemen.

No rain today apart from one shower. Sun is out and out of the wind it is quite warm.

Havent put the rifles away yet. Cleaning time I think.

Next time we will go to the 100 metre range and set up a number of targets at different distances.

I hope the demonstration of what a .22 does to a milk bottle full of water made the intended impression on the young one. He was telling me that he was that good that he felt he would hve got at least a couple of bunnies if we had of gone hunting. Hes got the bug mate. Your future hunting buddy is in the wings. Has he bent his mothers ears with shooting tales, I hope so.

Sharron said that next time you should stay for dinner.

I thoroughly enjoyed the day. Thanks for comming down to the sticks.

Chris

[Mr Merde]

Wolf,

Spoke to Harry yesterday.

He asked how trhe saving was going.

He is going to drop off the Brown Bess and all the bits and pieces here so when you are ready it will be easier for you to pick up.

Chris

[Indiana_Jones]

Ditto Chris - and thanks to you too Indy. My little man needs a few good men around from time to time... and he's up and raving on this morning.

I hope you got home dry Indy? We did all bar the last 10 kms (and then it totally and unmercifully PISSED DOWN).

I could see how glad the little guy was when we were inside chatting/having coffee, he had the biggest grin on his face!

Ummm I got very lucky, it chucked it down just as I was leaving the chippies getting my dinner, only 2km up the road from my place!

Sharron was very impressed by the young lad and she thinks you and Indy are real gentlemen.

I thoroughly enjoyed the day. Thanks for comming down to the sticks.

Chris

Was there another Indy there?!

Thanks for having us

Will have to come out again in the not to distant future. Perhaps get Wolf to come along.

-Indy

[ManDownUnder]

I could see how glad the little guy was when we were inside chatting/having coffee, he had the biggest grin on his face!

Yeah man, he's hooked all right.

Will have to come out again in the not to distant future. Perhaps get Wolf to come along.

-Indy

Did I mention my newfound ability to print targets... in living colour? One of the tools that followed me to my home office is a colour laser printer...

[Mr Merde]

Well I better design and build some sort of target holder for the range.

Plenty of scrap lying around.

15, 25, 50, 75 and 100 metre targets.

Shouldnt be too hard to do.

Better get the tape measure out to make sure of the distances.

Looks like I will be working on the firing point a bit also. Thistle is rather uncomfortable when lying on it.

Mark from the UK rang this morning. He has managed to get the Springfield Trapdoor on ticket after much hassle from the police as to how he came into possession of a rifle in the Uk that wasnt registered. Bugger me but there are hundred of thousands of unlicenced firearms in the UK. At one time 1/2 million shotguns "dissappeared" when they bought individual registering of each shotgun. This was after the Hungerford incident and Michael Ryan didnt even use a shotgun. Anyway, Mark is bringing the rifle with him on the 4th Sept. He will also bring a supply of brass for loading and a mould for a 405gn bullet. He will apply for a 1 year licence when he gets to Auckland airport.The rifle is going to be a gift to me so he was wondering if he will be liable for import duty etc on a gift.

Being that this rifle is 126 years old it is certainly second hand goods.

Bastard made me quite jealous. His old man is in the process of buying an original Rigby target muzzle loading rifle of the 1870's. These were the epitome of muzzle loaders. Costing him 5000UKP or approx $13,000NZ for this rifle. I know his dad has a couple of Whitworth rifles with the hexagonal bullet and bore. Len (Mark's dad is captain of the British muzzleloading team competing at the world champs in the US in Sept).

Chris

[Mr Merde]

just sent Spank an e-mail suggesting that this "thread" surely deserves to have its own forum now as with over 3000 posts it is very prolific.

It could be subdivided into vatrious themes.

If you agree may I suggest you also approach him with a similar suggestion.

Chris

[Wolf]

just sent Spank an e-mail suggesting that this "thread" surely deserves to have its own forum now as with over 3000 posts it is very prolific.

It could be subdivided into vatrious themes.

If you agree may I suggest you also approach him with a similar suggestion.

Chris

Over 3000 posts? Amateurs compared with the infamous "Scottish Thread"

Good idea. Bags I don't get the job of splitting this thread down into its component topics!

[Mr Merde]

"Police in stand-off with hit-and-run suspect

Updated 10:46AM Monday Jul 06, 2009

Police are involved in a stand-off on the banks of the Waikato River with a man believed to have been involved in a hit-and-run this morning.
Inspector Kerry Watson said a police officer has been injured and the man is waving planks of wood.
NZPA is reporting that the man is standing on the edge of the Waikato River and police officers are negotiating with him.
The man was reported to have run from a crashed car after a hit-and-run in the Hamilton suburb of Pukete about 8.30am which left one person - thought to be a police officer - injured, Radio New Zealand reported.
A Herald reporter at the scene said the shirtless man briefly jumped into the river.
The Waikato Times said Delamere Road was cordoned off and there was a large police presence on the riverbank near Pukete Bridge.
Mr Watson said police were not commenting because the incident had "not been resolved".
St John Ambulance Waikato operations manager Mark Taylor confirmed a police officer has been transported to Waikato Hospital with moderate injuries."

++++++++++++++++++++

Waiting for the AOS to arrive and shoot him. A plank of wood has to be more dangerous than a golf club or a chair leg.

[Wolf]

"Police in stand-off with hit-and-run suspect

Waiting for the AOS to arrive and shoot him. A plank of wood has to be more dangerous than a golf club or a chair leg.

BAN ALL PLANKS OF WOOD.

Dangerous weapons. Always been suspicious of how builders stockpile the stuff...

[Indiana_Jones]

wait wait guys....

did the plank of would have a 'free-standing' pistol grip?!

-Indy

[Mr Merde]

wait wait guys....

did the plank of would have a 'free-standing' pistol grip?!

-Indy

No but it has already caused injury to a police officer.

It has the potential to be shaped to have a "free standing pistol grip" though