Finally Shot the Gemmer Hawken

Back in January I got a .54 caliber flint Investarm Gemmer Hawken. It's the current version of the Lyman Great Plains Rifle that was sold for almost 50 years here in the US. I bought this rifle for a couple reasons. First, I wanted something a bit shorter than my longrifle for hunting. Second, I wanted the power of a .54. The deer we hunt up in Tioga get big and I would really like a complete pass-through to maximize blood trails. The huge doe I shot in 2022 stopped the .50 caliber ball I shot and the blood trail was very hard to follow. Bigger holes and two of them mean more blood out and air in, so hopefully blood trails will be a lot shorter.

Anyway, life got in the way and I didn't not shoot he rifle until today.

This is my first five shots, fired off the bench, from 50 yards. My point of aim was 6:00 on the top bullseye. As expected, it shot low because these rifles come with an extra tall front sight.

The lowest shot was the first, with the rest clustered into a couple inches. This is about as good as I can shoot from the bench with open iron sights, even with a cartridge gun, much less a flintlock. I'm quite happy with the group.

The load consisted of:

• Hornady .530" round ball
• 0.018" ticking patches lubed with October Country's Bumbling Bear Grease
• 80 grains of Scheutzen 2Fg black powder

Ignition was perfect the whole day. As long as I got spark there were no flashes in the pan and ignition was quick. I had to reverse the agate flint that came with the gun after 5 shots, and it last another 5 after that. I then replaced it with a real flint.

To raise the point of impact I needed to shorten the front sight. The file I had with me was too fine to remove enough metal in a reasonable amount of time so after awhile I gave up on it. After I got home I took the barrel out to my shop where I had a coarser file and took some off the top of the front sight.

If you know the sight radius of your gun, the distance to the target, and how much you need to move the point of impact, you can use this formula to determine how much to move an adjustable sight or file a fixed sight:

(Sight radius / Distance to target) (POI change needed) = Adjustment needed

All units must be the same. E.g., my rifle has a sight radius of 21.125" and 50 yards = 1800 inches. I needed to remove a bit over a tenth of an inch from the front sight to bring up the point of impact.

Something I noticed is that with this powder charge, ball size, and patch/lube combination, I can load a second shot without wiping but it's tough. After I get it zeroed I'll try with a liquid lube to see if that makes it easier. But I may look into a thinner patch for reloads while hunting, or bring a jag and patches wet with rubbing alcohol in my shooting patch when hunting. 

Tomorrow I'm planning to get together with a friend for some shooting and I'm bringing the Gemmer Hawken. Hunting season is coming up soon so I want to verify the zero get some practice in.

Thoughts on the Crowdstrike Outage

By now you're probably aware of the massive outages caused by a bug in Crowdstrike. The bug is the result of an update pushed out overnight, which caused Windows systems to become unusable. Unfortunately, Crowdstrike is very widely used by large corporations so the impact is immediate and widespread. A Symantec Enterprise Antivirus update had a similar effect about 12 years ago, but this one is much more widespread.

We are lucky that only Windows systems were directly affected. Crowdstrike also makes endpoint protection software for Mac and Linux. We use it on everything. Several of my coworkers who use Windows were dead in the water this morning. The fix was to reboot into safe mode and delete the affected file. PCs with Bitlocker disk encryption enabled needed a recovery key from IT. I use a Mac so I wasn't directly impacted but because user authentication servers run on Windows I had trouble accessing some systems.

This could have been a lot worse. If this had affected Linux systems, it potentially could have taken out DNS and NTP servers, and the Cisco Network Registrar systems used to provision cable modems. That would have killed voice, video, and Internet service for any customer's device which rebooted. Recovery would have been greatly impeded because IT personnel wouldn't be able to communicate or get the fix easily.

AIUI, it's taken out several airlines, shipping companies, banks, and various point of sale systems.

It's a perfect example of the dangers of IT software monoculture where one bug can take out a huge swath of systems.

Consider it a sign to increase preparations for grid (power and Internet) collapse.

Prime Day Deal on Frankford Arsenal Hand Priming Tool

It's Prime Day at Amazon and something that's on sale is the Frankford Arsenal Hand Priming Tool. I bought one a couple months ago and have primed at least 500 cases with it. Compared with the Lee Hand Priming Tool I used for years, the FA is much better built, robust, and also allows adjusting the primer seating depth.

Using the Lee tool I'd usually lose 1 or 2 primers out of 100 due to them seating sideways. I haven't lost one primer yet with the Frankford Arsenal tool.

Normally it's priced at $79.99 but for Prime Day it's $59.99. It's worth it at the normal price. The Prime Day price is a great deal.

Guns for Jews v3.1 is now live

My ebook, Guns for Jews v3.1 is now live. Compared with the earlier versions it is greatly expanded including additional gun recommendations, discussion of ammunition, child proofing your guns and safe storage, and much more.

Get it here and please share:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qR9S2erlML7xpfHhcx1yjpRKWk41U7If/view?usp=sharing

Sig Sauer P365X

The other day I traded off a few guns and came home with a Sig Sauer P365X. The gun comes with two 12 round magazines. I had enough store credit that I also got another 12 rounder and a 17 round extended magazine.

The P365X is part of Sig's family of compact and micro-sized 9mm semiauto pistols intended for conceal carry. The original P365 is exceptionally small, while the P365X is just slightly larger with a longer grip, and has a slide already milled to accept RMS-c footprint dot sights.

Overall the P365X is a tiny gun, especially when you consider its capacity. It's 6" long, 1.1" thick, and 4.8" tall. The barrel is 3.1" long. The slide is fitted with Sig's own night sights and is cut for an optic, as mentioned above.

Top-to-bottom, P365X, S&W Model 640-1 .357 Magnum, S&W M&P Shield 9:

The P365 family is very modular because the actual "gun" for legal purposes is the fire control unit (FCU), which includes the major mechanical components. You buy different grip modules and mix and match barrels and slides to create the configuration you desire.

For several years I've owned a Smith & Wesson M&P Shield 9, which is in the micro-9 class, but never really warmed up to it. (In contrast, I like the mid-size M&P 9 2.0 and full-size M&P 9 1.0 A LOT.)

Before shooting any new gun I always field strip it, remove any factory oil, and lubricate it per the owner's manual. I do this as a quality control check and to familiarize myself with the gun in case I need to resolve any issues at the range.

Field stripping is very simple and doesn't require any tools. First clear the gun to ensure it's unloaded. Then lock the slide to the rear. Next rotate the takedown lever on the left side of the frame downwards. Release the slide (which is under spring pressure) and pull it off the front of the frame.

Then pull off the recoil spring assembly and pull the barrel out of the slide.

Reassembly is in reverse order.

To remove the FCU, first clear the gun, then field strip it as normal. Then drive out the pin at the rear of the frame, from right to left. Next, tilt rear of the FCU up and pull the unit out of the grip module.

To drive out the pin you need a 3/32" punch. A Glock disassembly tool works well.

Strangely, Sig doesn't include a printed version of the owner's manual with the gun, which comes in a nice lockable plastic box with an extra mag, chamber flag, and a cable lock. There is a basic safety pamphlet included, which has a QR code on it to scan which takes you to the Sig website where you can download the manual.

In this litigious age I am amazed Sig's lawyers approved shipping a gun without a full owner's manual. You can call Sig to have them mail you a hard copy of the manual, which I intend to do so it can stay with the gun. Seriously, Sig Sauer, what are you thinking?

Yesterday I took the P365X to the range and put a mix of S&B 124 grain FMJ and Wolf Polyformance 115 grain FMJ for a total of 105 rounds through it. It had 3 or 4 failures to fully go into battery, which were resolved with a gentle tap on the back end of the slide.

Today, I did a quick field strip, clean, and relube, then took it back to the range and this time it ran flawlessly through 152 rounds of Wolf and 14 Speer Gold Dots that I had in my range bag. Today it ran flawlessly.

The P365X weighs just 17.8 oz. (500 grams) unloaded. As expected, recoil was pretty snappy. Compared with the M&P Shield, the grip is a little rounder in cross section and more comfortable for me.

The Sig's trigger reminds me of a double action revolver trigger but lighter and  with a shorter stroke. But, unlike a DA revolver trigger I can't stage it.

Shooting such a small pistol well with its short sight radius and level of recoil demands good form. If you don't have the fundamentals down pat you won't shoot well. It is not forgiving. Yesterday, I was definitely not in the zone. Today I really concentrated on my form more and shot better.

Something that will help accuracy especially under stress is a dot sight. I plan to get a Holosun green dot for it soon.

Because of the recoil I find that extended shooting sessions with this class of gun are taxing and my shooting degrades after awhile. Today I took a few breaks during the session to sweep up my spent brass and give my hand some rest.

The P365X fits a DeSantis outside the waistband holster I have for my Shield 9. It also fits a DeSantis Nemesis pocket holster but is a bit too big for my pants pockets. It would probably work OK in a large coat or vest pocket.

Overall, I am seriously impressed with the Sig P365X. It packs an amazing amount of firepower into a tiny gun that with practice is very shootable.

More Chronograph Results

Today I got some more use out of my Garmin Xero C1 chronograph. It's so easy to use I may as well chronograph all the things.

All data is for 10 shot strings. Muzzle velocity (MV) is in feet per second, with muzzle energy (ME) is in foot-pounds. The ambient temp was about 94*F and elevation above sea level is about 160 feet.

First up was a selection of 9mm from a Glock 34 with 5.3" barrel:

Wolf Polyformance 9mm 115 grain FMJ:

• MV: 1154.5 
• ME: 340.3

This ran about 60 FPS faster than when I shot it in my CZ P07 with a 4.36" barrel.

Sellier & Bellot 124 grain FMJ:

• MV: 1175.7
• ME: 380.61

Winchester M1152 115 grain FMJ-FP:

• MV: 1358.3
• ME: 471.05

M1152 is the relatively new US military standard issue 9mm Ball. As expected it was a lot hotter than the Wolf and S&B range ammo. I'll have to run some of this through a carbine to see how fast it goes from a 16" barrel.

Next up was some .38 Special, with a Lee TL358-158 SWC on top of 3.8 grains of HP-38. I fired these from a S&W Model 15-3 with a 4" barrel.

• MV: 743.1 
• ME: 193.8

This is a nice plinking and target load that's pleasant shooting in a K-Frame with Magnas and a grip adapter.

Finally, I ran some black powder .44-40s over the Garmin. These were shot in my Cimarron Model P (Colt Frontier Six Shooter replica) which has a 5.5" barrel. Both loads used a 219 grain bullet cast in an Accurate Molds 43-215C mold.

First up was a .44 Henry-equivalent load with 1.9cc (~30 grains) of pre-factory explosion Goex 3Fg, sparked by Federal No.150 large pistol primers.

• MV: 833
• ME: 337.68

Not bad, and not too far behind .45 ACP Ball.

Finally were some loaded with 2.2cc (~35 grains) of Scheutzen 3Fg, sparked with CCI large pistol primers.

• MV: 756.1
• ME: 278.27

I am very surprised at how much slower the Scheutzen loads ran. I was under the impression that it's at least as energetic as Goex, but that didn't seem to be the case with this batch.

I plan to load up some more of each of these loads but with the same primer to remove a variable, but I doubt that the results will be much different. I also need to chronograph some loads with Swiss 3Fg, of which I have a limited supply, along with a pound of some 1990s-vintage Elephant 3Fg. I'm expecting higher velocities with the Swiss and lower velocities with Elephant. 

A Vest for Concealed Carry

I just got one of these vests in gray for $27 on Amazon Prime, for use as a cover garment. It looks more REI rather than tacticool. Actually, it looks more Walmart-ish than REI.

It is lightweight and uninsulated, which is what I wanted. I already have fleece insulated vests for colder weather. The shell is nylon with a polyester mesh liner for ventilation. It has four pockets: two handwarmer pockets, a chest pocket, and one inside pocket. The zippers and stitching seem pretty good. Unlike the pics on Amazon the zipper pull is American-style, i.e. with the pull on the right side. There is a hanging loop on the back.

The vest should roll up compactly so it can be stuffed in a bag when traveling. It'll be handy for when you need a few extra pockets but not something that's borderline LBE.

I tried it with a few different guns in OWB holsters. On me it’s long enough to cover a 3” S&W K-Frame if I don’t raise my arm over my head. A 2.75" Ruger Speed Six concealed a little better. A 2” barrel gives more wiggle room. A S&W M&P9 Shield concealed well. A 4" K-Frame stuck out the bottom. The guns remained covered if I bent over.

I also tried it on over one of my bulkier hoodies and it fit ok with no binding in the arm holes. So, it could work also as a windbreaker over a sweatshirt or sweater, depending on the thickness.

Brownells Revolver Chamber Brushes

Cleaning the charge holes is an important part of maintaining a revolver. If you shoot .38 Specials in a .357 Magnum it's especially important to do so to knock back the crud ring that results. However, even using a bore brush this is a fair amount of work.

Brownells sells revolver chamber brushes for .38/.357 and .44/45. They are larger in diameter and longer than pistol bore brushes. This morning I used one when cleaning my S&W Model 64-2 snub .38.

(Yes, my workbench is cluttered.)

Note how much longer the chamber brush is than a bore brush. Also note that it's longer than the frame opening for the cylnder. Do not put the chamber brush down the bore because getting it back out is going to be extremely difficutl.

I ran the chamber brush dry through each charge hole once in each direction. It got rid of a lot of crud from the .38 Special 158 grain LSWC loads I fired yesterday.

Incidentally, after I finished cleaning the gun I replaced the wood grips and grip adapter with the set of Pachmayr Compacs it had when I got it. The Magnas with grip adapter were comfortable when dry firing but really whacked the inside of my left thumb when shooting the gun.

From last weekend:

The rubber grips are still pretty small so the piece should still conceal easily under a jacket or vest when Fall rolls around. This is a 6 shot K-Frame so it's not like I'm going to be stuffing this in my pants pocket, anyway.

Happiness is a Smith & Wesson Combat Masterpiece

... and a box of .38 reloads.

I bought this Model 15-3 used in 1996 and have put thousands of .38 Special reloads downrange through it since then.

Today I took it to the range to test a new-to-me load: a fairly soft cast Lee TL358-158 LSWC coated with Lee Liquid Alox on top 3.5 grains of Titegroup, sparked by Servicios Aventuras primers. I load the bullets unsized and then after seating, run the cartridge through a Lee carbide factory crimp die which not only crimps the bullet in place but also resizes the round so that it's within factory spec.

I ran 10 shots over my Garmin Xero C1 Pro chronograph and it clocked an average of 779.5 FPS with an SD of 17.2.

Rather than shoot for groups, I shot at my club's 25 yard plate rack. The plates are 12" discs and I hit them a lot more than not shooting fairly rapid double action.

This is a clean burning load leaving minimal powder residue and no leading.

Garmin Xero C1 Professional Chronograph

Many serious shooters, especially handloaders use a chronograph to measure the velocity of bullets. This allows you to get a better understanding of what the bullets you're shooting are actually doing. Ammunition manufacturers and reloading manuals provide velocity data, but the only way to see what ammunition really does in your gun is to measure it yourself.

Up until recently, most chronographs used optical sensors to calculate velocity. These devices work but have some disadvantages:

1. They must be placed in front of the firing line. So, if you're on a range with other people you need to coordinate setup and teardown, and tweaking the position.
2. Because they're in front of the gun, they are at risk of being hit. This is not uncommon. I know a couple people who've shot their chronographs.
3. They can be finicky depending on the lighting. Sometimes it's too bright. Other times it's too dim. Very shiny bullets may not register well. (A potential fix for that is to color them with a black marker.)

Several years ago the Lab Radar chronograph was introduced, using Doppler RADAR to calculate velocities. From what I've read it works well. More recently, Garmin came out with the Xero C1 Pro Chronograph, which also uses Doppler RADAR. I bought one last week and tried it for the first time on Wednesday. I am completely blown away by it.

The only criticism I have so far of the Garmin is that it doesn't come with a carrying case, so I got one of these for it.

Here's a picture of the Garmin on the shooting bench at my club along with a couple of the guns I shot. That little thing on the tripod is the entire unit.

A close up:

According to the instructions that Garmin shipped, when measuring pistol bullet velocity you should have the pistol 5" - 15" over the unit. When shooting a rifle, it should be 5" - 15" to the side and behind the muzzle. Also, the bullet needs to be able to travel at least 20 yards to the target.

The bottom of the unit is threaded to accept a standard 1/4-20 camera tripod mount, so if where you shoot doesn't have a suitable bench, you have an alternative. I've also seen mounts that allow you to attach it to a rifle.

I fired a total of 70 rounds over the Garmin with no errors. Before going to the range I downloaded the Garmin ShotView app to my iPhone 12. The app and the unit sync via Bluetooth.

I measured several different handloads in a variety of revolvers.

Colt Police Positive with 4" barrel in .32 Smith & Wesson Long

• 96 grain RNFP from Desperado Cowboy Bullets
• 3.8 grains of Alliant Unique
• Servicios Aventuras small pistol primer
• PPU brass
• Average muzzle velocity: 1058 FPS
• Average muzzle energy: 239 ft. lbs.

I was surprised at how fast this load shot, although it's not maximum according to some data I've seen. It wasn't particularly pleasant to shoot in the little Colt.

S&W Model 1905 Military & Police, 4th Change in .32-20 (.32 WCF).

• 96 grain RNFP from Desperado Cowboy Bullets
• 4.7 grains of Winchester AutoComp
• CCI small pistol primer
• Starline brass
• Average muzzle velocity: 746 FPS
• Average muzzle energy:  119 ft. lbs.

The low velocity surprised me here. AutoComp is specifically designed to generate a lot of gas for pistols fitted with compensators. As such, it's rather blasty. I'll be figuring out other loads to use, probably with Bullseye and/or HP-38.

Next up were some .38 Special full charge wadcutters in two guns, a S&W Model 64-2 .38 with a 1-7/8" barrel, and a Model 66-3 .357 Magnum with a 4" barrel.

Model 64-2 in .38 Special

• 148 grain #35891 button-nose, bevel-base wadcutter from Matt's bullets
• 3.5 grains Alliant Bullseye
• Winchester wadcutter brass
• Average muzzle velocity: 757 FPS
• Average muzzle energy: 188 ft. lbs.

I also fired the same load in the Model 66-3 in .357 Magnum.

• Average muzzle velocity: 844 FPS
• Average muzzle energy: 234 ft. lbs.

You can see that the longer barrel gives an extra 87 FPS and 46 ft. lbs. of energy.

Most standard pressure .38 Special 158 grain loads give around 750 FPS from a 4" barreled revolver. I had a box of .38s loaded with a Speer 158 grain LSWC on top of 3.5 grains of Bullseye. Let's see how they did in the two K-Frames:

Model 64-2 snub:

• Average muzzle velocity: 680 FPS
• Average muzzle energy: 163 ft. lbs.

Model 66-3:

• Average muzzle velocity: 774 FPS
• Average muzzle energy: 210 ft. lbs.

That's a noticeable difference. This load is quite comfortable to shoot in a K-Frame.

Last up were some .38 Specials loaded to duplicate the power of the .38/44, which was the predecessor of the .357 Magnum. Note that this load develops +P or +P+ level pressures and should never be fired in J-Frame or K-Frame .38 Special revolvers, or comparable guns from other makers. It should only be fired in guns chambered for .357 Magnum, or old S&W .38/44s or guns designed to handle these loads. I shot them in the Model 66-3 .357 Magnum.

Model 66-3:

• 178 grain #358429 Keith from Matt's bullets
• 5.9 grains of Alliant Herco
• Winchester Small Pistol primer
• Mixed brass
• Average muzzle velocity: 1028 FPS
• Average muzzle energy: 417.5 ft. lbs.

For the IPSC shooters, this load has a power factor of 183, so it easily makes major. This would make an excellent load for a woods walking gun, good for defense against most animals in the Lower 48 states.

The original .38/44 factory loads all used 158 grain bullets at 1125 FPS from a 6.5" barrel. I'm planning to load some with the same 5.9 grains of Herco under a 158 grain LSWC. I bet they'll get close to the original ballistics.

Meplat Comparison and Terminal Ballistics

Assuming proper shot placement, the terminal effectiveness of non-expanding bullets on game or in defensive applications is determined by (a) penetration and (b) the bullet's meplat, or nose. The best effect on living things is obtained by a wide, flat surface. This causes the maximum amount of damage and also allows the bullet to penetrate in a straight line rather than tumbling or glancing off bone. Here are a few bullets suitable for loading in .38 Special or .357 Magnum:

Left to right:

• Lyman 358429 SWC from Matt's Bullets. From his alloy it weighs in at 178 grains, is lubed with Carnauba Red, and is sized to .359". This is the bullet designed by Elmer Keith for use in his hot .38 Special loads that lead to the development of the .38/44 and the .357 Magnum.
• Lee TL358-158, nominally 158 grains and .358", cast by me from 16:1 lead:tin alloy. It's tumble lubed with Lee Liquid Alox. I load these unsized, then run the rounds through a Lee Carbide Factory Crimp Die, so even if they are a bit large, the outside of the case is swaged down to SAAMI spec.
• Speer 158 grain swaged SWC. Lube is some dry lube.
• Lyman 35891 148 grain wadcutter from Matt's Bullets. It's also sized to .359" and lubed with Carnauba Red.

Of the SWCs, the Lyman and Lee have wider meplats with sharp edges, while the Speer's meplat is both smaller and the edges are more rounded. The wadcutter has a short button nose but it's the full diameter shoulder that does the cutting.

On top of a suitable powder charge any of these bullets will offer plenty of penetration. However, the Speer would be my last choice for shooting anything larger than a groundhog due to the nose shape. I'd expect any of the others to perform well on game, with the edge in long range accuracy going to the Keith bullet.

C.E. "Ed" Harris has written about the use of "full charge wadcutters," for hunting and defense, although he favors a 146 grain double end wadcutter cast from a Saeco #348 mold on top of 3.5 grains of Bullseye, giving 850 - 870 FPS from a 4" .38 Special revolver.

He's also written about the penetration of the Keith bullet fired from a S&W .38/44 Heavy Duty during a test at the FBI's range at Quantico, in which it penetrated through two calibrated ordinance gelatin and then bounced off a thick plywood backer board. It was something like 30"+ of penetration. (This was in a forum post but I don't recall where.)

If used for defense against people, hollow points are probably a better choice at least from a 4" or longer barrel. Both the Lyman 358429 and Speer swaged bullet are available in such versions. The FBI Load, AKA .38 Special +P 158 grain lead SWC hollow point has been proven in defensive shootings for decades.

Some Reloading and Casting Today

Today I spent some time out in my shop doing some reloading and bullet casting.

First, I loaded 100 rounds of .38 Special consisting of:

• Lee TL358-158 SWC
• 3.8 grains of HP-38
• Mixed brass
• Servicios Aventuras small pistol primer 

This is a nice, mild shooting load for informal target shooting or plinking.

This is my first time using the SA primers, which I bought from Norma USA a couple months ago. They are made in Argentina. I used my Frankford Arsenal hand primer and they all seated easily in my brass, which has been loaded several times. I've read elsewhere that they may be a little harder to seat if your brass has tight primer pockets. I'll post a follow up after I shoot them, and assuming they work without issues, I'll probably use up the 3K that I bought before dipping any further into my supply of Aguila, CCI, Federal, and Winchester small pistol primers.

After loading the .38s I broken in the Lee Pro 4 20lb. casting pot I picked up last month using MidwayUSA's birthday pricing. I cast up a couple hundred of the aforementioned Lee SWCs, this time using 1:16 tin:lead alloy from Rotometals. Compared with the softer alloy I've used with this mold previously, I should be able to drive these bullets a little faster without leading.

I was pleased with the Lee pot. Unlike their smaller 10 lb. pot the valve didn't clog. However, the handle gets much warmer. The next time I use it I'll probably raise it on a couple of 4x4s, so I don't need to bend over as much to see underneath.

Any day you get to go in the woods and

...make smoke, is a good day.

Today I took off from work and went up to my club and shot the woods walk course. It's getting overgrown so some of the targets were blocked by weeds but I still had a good time. The rifle was my "California Rifle," really a gun styled after rifles made by Slotter in Philadelphia for the California trade in the mid 19th Century. I bought it from Track of the Wolf in February 2023 and it's become my favorite rifle, even if the lock is on the wrong side.

I shot my normal match load of  55 grains of 3Fg Goex, a 0.018" patch lubed with Mr. Flintlock Lube, and a .490 ball. Today I used home cast balls. This combination allowed me to shoot 25 rounds without cleaning the bore and loading the last shot was as easy as the first.

Smith & Wesson Model 640 Range Report.

I'm pleased to note that the gunsmithing I did on my S&W Model 640 I did this morning worked out. I took it to the range tonigh and put 50 rounds of my handloads through it. The loads were a 148 grain button nose, bevel base wadcutter from Matt's Bullets, 3.3 grains of Alliant Bullseye Powder, and CCI primers in Winchester wadcutter brass. The gun functioned perfectly.

Something to mention is that of the major American primer brands, CCIs have the hardest cups. So, if the gun runs well with them it should work fine with Federal (the softest), Remington, or Winchester primers.

Note that the reason I needed to work on it earlier today was because I'd installed an Apex Duty/Carry kit in it, which has a reduced power hammer spring and extended firing pin. (The kit also includes a reduced power rebound spring but I managed to launch that into the ether so my gun has the OEM rebound spring.) Even without the lighter rebound slide spring it's much easier to shoot well than as it came from the factory.

This is 50 shots at 7 yards. All of my shots were on the target.

This gun will definitely be carried.

Replacing the Hand Spring in a S&W Revolver

If you need to replace a hand spring in a Smith & Wesson revolver this video shows how:

In the video he used a dental tool to push the spring forward so that it's in the correct position relative to the hand. I found that a spring bar tool as used for changing watch bands worked perfectly. I used one that was included in this inexpensive kit.

Lee TL358-158SWC Bullet Mold

Over the past month I've done a couple bullet casting sessions, mostly making 158 grain (nominally) lead semiwadcutters in a 2-cavity Lee TL358-158SWC mold. I also cast a couple hundred .490 round balls for my .50 caliber muzzleloading rifles.

Bullets cast from this Lee mold have a nice reputation for accuracy in .38 Special and mild .357 Magnum loads. I also like that the design incorporates a wide meplat that will perform well if I shoot anything besides paper or steel with it.

This image swiped borrowed from the Lee Precision website shows was they look like:

Aside from that wide meplat, the tumble lube design makes for easy casting and prep. I cast them from soft alloy since I'll be keeping them under 950 FPS. I used pure lead with some old, unneeded cast bullets added to the mix to add some tin for better mold fill-out and stretch the melt a little. I can still scratch the bullets with a thumbnail, however.

To lube, I put a batch in a small container and then dribble some Lee Liquid Alox on, then mix them all up until the lube is evenly distributed over all the bullets. LLA comes out of the bottle brown but you only need a very light coating, such that the bullets are still mostly silver colored.

You can also thin the LLA with some mineral spirits to stretch it out and speed drying.

White Label Lube's Liquid Xlox is a substitute for LLA and may be more cost effective than LLA, but I haven't tried it.

The wet bullets are then set on a sheet of wax paper to dry. They're good to go in about 12 hours.

Tumble lube designs are also good for powder coating if that's your thing.

Lee sells several other tumble lube designs, and I've read on forums devoted to cast bullet shooting that others get good results tumble lubing conventional designs as well.

I don't size the bullets before loading. Instead, I make sure that my case mouths are adequately flared. I seat them, then in a separate operation I run the loaded rounds through a Lee Factory Carbide Crimp Die, which also sizes the case down to factory dimensions. Thus, if the bullets are a bit oversized and caused a bulged case, it gets sized back down to the correct dimensions.

Yesterday I put 50 of the Lee bullets through a 3" Model 64, loaded on top of 4.1 grains of HP-38 in mixed brass, with CCI small pistol primers. In a 4" barrel and depending on barrel/cylinder gap, this load should run around 850 FPS +/-. It's probably closer to 800 from a 3" tube.

There was very minimal leading, if any. The lube leaves a bit of soot on the gun and is smokey. Many peopple don't like either but to me it's a part of shooting a revolver. The soot wipes right off with a rag anyway.

My late father's favorite .38 Special handload was a 158 grain LSWC, usually Remington swaged bullets, on top of 4.3 grains of HP-38 in mixed brass and usually with Winchester small pistol primers. It's very accurate but when I got the S&W Model 15 that he shot a lot of these through I had to remove quite a bit of leading. The front edges of the cylinder were actually covered in lead deposits. He shot a lot and got lazy with cleaning in his later years, what can I say?

The next batch of these I load will probably be a bit slower, with either 3.9 grains of HP-38, 3.5 grains of Bullseye, or some other charge. The paper or steel targets I shoot won't know the difference and recoil will be a little less, which is good for my hands.

I've recently acquired a pound each of Accurate No.2, Hodgdon Titegroup, and Winchester 244, none of which I've previously used. The No.2 and Titegroup should good for light target loads while the 244 is closer to Unique and may be good for heavier loads suitable for woods carry.

IMHO, bullet casting is not only fun but it's a good prep. Yes, it's time consuming but it helps insulate you from component shortages that happen every election cycle or artificially generated panic. Cast bullets are old fashioned but remain effective projectiles.

FN PS90

One of the guns I've had an interest in for several years is the FN PS90. This is the semiauto-only civilian version of the P90 submachine gun/personal defense weapon that FN created for NATO use back in 1989 - 90. 

Last summer I picked up a PSA Rock 5.7 so I already had some experience with the 5.7x28 cartridge. 

A couple weeks ago I turned the proceeds of consigning three guns into a PS90. I added a Primary Arms SLx Advanced Push Button Micro Red Dot Sight - Gen II red dot sight, along with a sling from Urban ERT. The PS90 came with a single 50 round magazine so I bought three more from Grabagun.com, who had the lowest price on them.

One final accessory that I highly recommend is a spent cartridge collector AKA brass catcher. FN offers one but the price is ridiculous. Instead, I got one from jemachinetech.us that works well. It is large enough to hold 50 spent cases.

My initial impressions are as follows:

• The gun is totally ambidextrous. The charging handles and magazine catch are symmetrical and easily operated with either hand. There is no last round bolt hold-open. Spent cartridges eject out the bottom of the gun.
• It's very small but heavier than you think it would be. Since it's a straight blowback design the bolt is heavy.
• Even though it's fitted with a 16" barrel to prevent it from classed a short barreled rifle under the National Firearms Act, it's very compact. If you filed a Form 1 and SBRed it, it would be about the same length as a computer keyboard.
• The length of pull is a bit short. Since I'm short this isn't a problem for me but if you're tall it might be. I think there are extended butt pads available.
• Takedown for field stripping is stupid simple. The mechanism appears to be quite simple.
• The magazine design is genius.
• The trigger pull sucks. It's heavy and spongy. OK in a combat gun and the risk of an inadvertent discharge is low but it would be nicer to shoot if it was several pounds lighter.
• I like the horizontal rocker safety.
• The charging handles don't provide a lot of purchase. I may install an extended handle at least on the right side.

Today I put 190 rounds through the PS90:

• 100 x FN SS197SR 40 grain Hornady VMAX (made by Fiocchi USA)
• 40 x Fiocchi Range Dymanics 40 grain FMJ
• 50 x AAC 40 grain FMJ

The AAC ammunition felt very consistent. In contrast, the ammo made Fiocchi had a few rounds which felt like they were loaded a bit light.

The SS197SR and FRD ammo gave me a few malfunctions where the bolt didn't seem to reciprocate far enough back to recock the hammer and strip a new round into the chamber. However, they may have been related to my #2 magazine so I'll keep an eye on that one.

The PS90 performed perfectly with the AAC ammo.

Recoil was a little more than I expected though not by any means unpleasant. This is due to the heavy mass of the reciprocating parts.

The Primary Arms red dot sight is a good fit for the PS90 (or any other close-in gun, for that matter). The 2MOA dot is large enough to see easily but small enough to be precise. Even with my astigmatism the dot was defined enough to use, albeit not perfectly sharp.

I got it zeroed easily so that point of aim = point of impact at 50 yards. Due to the high sight line over the bore, I plan to shoot the gun at both closer and longer distances to see how POI is affected. E.g., I'm expecting it to shoot low at close range.

After zeroing the rifle I spent some time banging gongs at 50 yards. Two of these are about 8" wide while one is about 12" wide x 18" high, and there's also a 12" - 16" plate. Finally, there's an old bowling pin hanging in the bunker setup to catch splatter from the steel plates.

From the bench it grouped into about 1.5" to 2" at 50 yards.

It's very easy with the PS90 to hit the small plates doing drills from low ready, either single shots or double taps.

Especially from the PS90's longer barrel, the 5.7x28's ballistics should make it suitable for close range self defense. It's an easy gun to quickly get hits on face-sized targets out to 50 yards at least. Recoil is very mild and the noise and blast are much less than 5.56 NATO. It's not a replacement for an AR15 or AK. It's not an infantry rifle. It's a PDW.

I could see where a PS90 would be useful on a farm or ranch as a tractor gun to take care of varmints up to the size of coyote or even a bit bigger. It's super compact and carries a lot of rounds on board.

Yom HaShoah 2024

Yom HaShoah / Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laG'vurah, known in English as Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day begins tonight at sundown and runs until Monday evening.

For my entire life I've heard the rallying cry, "Never Again!" But it's happening again.

It is now over six months since the pogrom of October 7, 2023. This was the greatest loss of Jewish lives since the Holocaust. Many of the men, women, and children taken as hostages by Hamas and their allies in Gaza still languish in captivity, among them several American citizens.

Indeed, the Hamas founding charter explicitly calls for the destruction of Israel and the slaughter of Jews. You can read an English translation of the 1988 charter here. 

In other words, Hamas is not too far different from Nazism regarding Jews.

Since October 7th, I have seen more antisemitism in the United States than I did in my previous 55 years COMBINED. The level of open hatred on display in "progressive" media and on university campuses should shock the conscience of every upstanding American.

Much of this hate that we're now seeing domestically is the direct result of allowing mass quantities of people from traditionally antisemitic cultures into the county, and allowing donations to American universities from places like Qatar (which is one of the biggest supporters of Hamas).

What can we as Jewish Americans do?

• Jewish business owners should blacklist from any kind of financial support any university that allows the pro-Palestinian protests to continue. Peaceful protest is our right as Americans but these immediately went far beyond peaceful to harassing and intimidating Jewish students and faculty.
• The "protestors" on American college campuses are providing material aid to terrorist organizations and should be treated as such.
• Identify organizations and companies that provide support to the Palestinian protesters, and boycott them. Make them infamous for their support of Nazi ideology.
• Demand that foreign countries be barred from donating to American universities.
• Demand the explusion and deportation of any foreign students who participated in these protests.
• Demand that immigration from places like Gaza is shut down.

But all of these will take time and in the interim Jewish Americans are seeing increased levels of harassment. Most of us are of Ashkenazic ancestry and in one way or another are infected with the Shtetl Mentality. For our survival that needs to be discarded.

As I have said many times, Jewish Americans need to embrace their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. As Americans we have the nearly unique ability to arm ourselves for self- and the common defense.

For "Never Again!" to mean anything it must be backed up with more than words. It needs to be backed up with the ability to immediately and decisively respond to violence with force. Without that, the slogan may as well be, "Never Forget."

Nobody will protect us, but us. And this is something we as individuals must take to heart. Even in Israel the government not only failed miserably to protect its citizens, it actively prevented them from defending themselves because most Jews in Israel are disarmed.

I have decades of experience with firearms so back in November 2023, I published the first version of an ebook, "Guns for Jews." It's a primer especially intended for American Jews who are looking into buying a gun for self preservation. In it I include some justifications for doing so under Jewish law, some general recommendations, and some specific recommendations.

Last week I uploaded v3.0 of "Guns for Jews" as a PDF that you can download here: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WgjlXp2sDGPYTpjNdskWqYQVwF380SlG/view?usp=sharing

Note that in the document I am not trying to sell anything. This is a brain dump to benefit my fellow Jewish Americans. I also encourage sharing the link or the file in the hopes of spreading knowledge.

Some Truths About The Israeli / Palestinian Conflict

This was originally posted by Hillel Fuld (@HilzFuld) on X / Twitter on May 1, 2024. It sums up the reality of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict rather well. I am reposting it in full in case it gets yanked.

---

Ok, no one else will say it, so I will! 

Some truths that are 100% objective, and despite that, are completely politically incorrect to say:

- An Arab Palestine never existed. It just didn’t, and nothing you’re going to chant will change that. No such place ever existed. Don’t believe me? Tell me what year it was established and what the national anthem was. Exactly. Never existed. 

Also? Spoiler: It never will.

- The West Bank is Judea and Samaria, where Jews originated. Repeat after me… Jooooodeeeaaa. Does it sound like something? Perhaps the word “Jew”? That’s because Jews are from Judea. The West Bank is a made-up term meant to delegitimize Israel. 

- The Palestinian people, yes, the people, not only their leadership, support terror and want to annihilate the Jews and remove the Jewish state. How do I know? Well for starters, read the charter of the Palestinian Authority (the PA.) Also? Who do you think elected Hamas? That’s right. The Palestinians. As a people. Are there innocent people in Gaza? Sure. Were there innocent Germans in Nazi Germany? Sure. The people have chosen terror and are now paying for that decision.  

- Hamas cares less about the Palestinians than Israel does. Fact. Israel has gone way above and beyond to minimize civilian deaths in Gaza and has sent in thousands of tons of aid. Hamas has blocked that aid and tried to maximize civilian deaths, not only in Israel, but also in Gaza. Why would they do that? So that fools on X can say Israel is committing genocide when the reality is that Israel is doing no such thing. Hamas, on the other hand…

- There are many, many kind-hearted Muslims in the world. But depending on which poll you believe, anywhere between 10%-20% of them are fundamentalist. That’s tens of millions of people dedicated to the destruction of western civilization. The rest of them are silent, which makes them irrelevant.  So why is that? Well, here are some direct quotes from the Quran. 

"Slay the unbelievers wherever you find them." Koran 3:28

"Muslims must not take the infidels as friends." Koran 3:85

"Any religion other than Islam is not acceptable." Koran 5:33

"Maim and crucify the infidels if they criticize Islam. Koran 8:12

"Terrorize and behead those who believe in scriptures other than the Koran." Koran 8:60

"Muslims must muster all weapons to terrorize the infidels." Koran 8:65

"When opportunity arises kill the infidels wherever you find them."  Koran 9:30

"The Jews and Christians are perverts, fight them." Koran 9:123

Of course there are many more but you get the point. Islam has a problem with you and me. And they don’t even hide it. 

- There will never be a two-state solution. Want to know why? Because there is not one Palestinian leader who can even utter the words “Israel has a right to exist.” They won’t accept a state alongside Israel. So no two-state solution is even remotely relevant. 

- Based on historical events and the premise that history repeats itself, the fall of America has begun. When morality goes out the window, antisemitism spikes, and that’s the beginning of the end of the empire. It’s happened countless times and it seems to be happening now. 

- These campus warriors don’t care about Palestinians. Most of them never met a single Palestinian or even visited Israel. Most of them don’t know what river and what sea. These are not pro-Palestine marches. They are anti-Jewish marches. The Palestinians are only an excuse. And they are 100% being funded and if you think otherwise, well, you’re a fool. 

- Any person who says the words “Globalize the intifada” is openly inciting to terror and should be imprisoned immediately as they are a danger to society. 

- Not only do these campus morons not care about the Palestinians, no one does. That’s right. No one really cares about the Palestinians. How do I know? Well, tell me, how many political leaders have called on Egypt to open their borders? How many Muslim countries offered to take in Palestinians? No one cares. In every generation, Jew haters find an excuse to showcase their antisemitism. This generation, it’s the Palestinians. 

- Israel stole zero land. The UN gave Israel a state and the Arabs a state. Israel accepted. The Arabs rejected and attacked. And lost. And attacked again. And lost again. And again and again and again. Israel stole nothing. All it did was defend itself from psychotic neighbors. And it continues to do so today. 

- What Israel has done in Gaza is the farthest thing from genocide that we’ve seen in any modern war. The ratio between terrorist and civilian is the lowest we’ve ever seen. Hamas’ numbers are a total fabrication and anyone who quotes them is being played. 

- All the countries that are attacking Israel militarily and diplomatically are funded by Iran. Qatar is right there alongside Iran. 

- Blaming Netanyahu for October 7th, and I don’t care if you’re Jewish, Israeli, or not, is ludicrous. Quite frankly, the Bibi obsession is a sickness. And no, I didn’t vote for him but I’ve yet to hear anyone recommend someone who can replace him and run this country.  

- Anyone who does not stand with Israel now is actively supporting pedophiles and rapists. This isn’t just another war and not taking sides is taking sides. This is East vs West and there will be only one winner. Choose wisely. 

- Liberal progressive politics and Palestinian values have ZERO overlap. 

- Anyone who says Israel is an apartheid state is either an ignoramus, an antisemite, or most likely, both. 

- There is no such thing as settler violence or Jewish terrorists. Are there lone wolves who behave in a way that is condemned by Israeli society in its entirety? Sure. But “Settler violence” is no more a thing that “Secular rapists” or “Religious murderers.” They exist but they are statistically insignificant and repeating this lie is both dangerous and dishonest. 

- Obama was/is an antisemite and sure, he did some nice things for Israel, but many of his actions illustrate that he had a deep hatred for the only Jewish state and its leadership. Biden is not far behind. 

- Trump is a lunatic. But he also did good things for America and for Israel. I wouldn’t hire him to babysit my kids though. 

- There are individuals in Israeli politics, past and present, who are so obsessed with bringing down Netanyahu, that they’ve betrayed their own people and country. I won’t share more now but you will 100% be hearing more about this in the future. Hint: Pay attention to the name Ehud. 

- I don’t know to what extent and this has nothing to do with the previous point, but Hamas could not do what it did without inside help of some kind. 

- Hamas murdered, raped, beheaded, and burned families alive. I really try so hard not to see or share atrocities, but Israeli women were found with nails in their genitalia. You don’t stand with Israel? You stand with that. There is no option C. 

- Israel left Gaza in 2005 and handed it to the Palestinians to create a state. That was naive, dumb, and dangerous. Israel should never have done that. If they didn’t, October 7th would never have happened. Is it ideal to rule over Gaza? No. But it’s better than October 7th. 

- There will never be peace between Israel and the  people who call themselves Palestinians. At least not in our lifetime. Why? Because they don’t want peace. Their entire existence from day one is to remove Israel. How do I know? Because Israel offered them a state in 1947, 67, 91, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2019, and 2020. They rejected them all.

- While Israel and the Jewish people have contributed endlessly to the betterment of the world across all areas of life, the Palestinians invented nothing besides suicide bombers. They’ve enhanced our world in no way whatsoever. 

- And finally, the greatest truth of all, Israel will definitively win this war and as long as Hamas puts the Palestinians in danger, more Palestinians will die, some of them innocents. That’s unfortunate but does not detract in any way from the legitimacy of this war. If you didn’t have a problem with the allies dropping bombs on Germany and killing millions, then you shouldn’t have anything to say about this war. If you do, it’s not because you love the Palestinians. It’s because you hate Jews. 

I’ll stop here. 

If I offended you with any of the above truths, well, you know what they say? Sometimes the truth hurts. 

The faster we internalize all of this, the sooner we can address the conflict effectively. We need to stop the PC game. It’s a dangerous game that directly breeds terror and causes loss of life on both sides.

We need to call a spade a spade. 

If you consider the Palestinians a people worthy of a state, then they are a people that elected Hamas and need to be held accountable. If they are not to be held accountable, then they are not worthy of a state. Are they a people or a random group of people throwing a 75 year tantrum? 

You simply can’t have it both ways. 

One thing is certain, Am Yisrael Chai, the Jewish people live, now and forever!  

Major Updates to "Guns for Jews"

Today I posted a major revision with many updates to my ebook, "Guns For Jews." It's now hosted as a PDF on my Google Drive. Direct link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WgjlXp2sDGPYTpjNdskWqYQVwF380SlG/view?usp=sharing

It's my hope that this will be shared with as many of my fellow Members of the Tribe as possible.