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.

.32-20 Quick Strips

The Tuff Products Quick Strips that I ordered the other day to use with my .32-20 Hand Ejector arrived today. They'll be perfect for packing reloads.

They can hold 8 cartridges each but I'll be loading only 6, which will give me a little more to hang onto while using. They also fit .32 S&W, .32 S&W Long, .32 H&R Magnum, .327 Federal Magnum, and 9x19. So, in the highly unlikely event you're packing a S&W Model 547 which is a 9mm K-Frame that doesn't use moon clips, these have you covered.

Revolver Day at the Range

Today I took a vacation day and brought the .32-20 S&W M-1905 M&P to the range along with a couple other wheelguns.

L - R, the .32-20, a nickeled post-War M&P "pre Model 10", and a Taurus 856. The postwar M&P and the Taurus are .38 Specials.

The .32-20 has one of the heaviest trigger pulls I've ever felt on a K-Frame, but it's smooth in both SA and DA. Shooting DA from 10 yards I was able to keep my shots in the -0 zone of an IDPA target. Considering the heavy trigger and poor sights I'm happy with that. I shot it with two loads, a 96 grain RNFP on top of 3.5 grains of Bullseye, and a 115 grain RNFP on top of 3.2 grains of Bullseye. The 115s shot a little higher, as expected.

When shooting rapid DA the gun squirms a little bit in my hands due to the pre-Magna service grips, even with the grip adapter in place. I will probably install a set of Magnas just to make it nicer to shoot but of course I'll hang onto the original grips, which are serial numbered to the gun.

I was shooting indoors today under florescent lights. This always makes poor sights harder to see compared with shooting in natural daylight and today was no exception. The rear sight on the M-1905 is a small V-notch while the front blade is fairly narrow. The postwar M&P has sights that are easier to see.

Overall, the .32-20 is a very nice shooter and I'm glad I bought it.

Because I've thought it would make a nice woods gun I'd like a couple speed loaders for it, if for no other reason than as a convenient way to carry a couple reloads. I tried K-Frame .38 speed loaders but they don't hold onto the narrower .32s. So, after some googling, I found that the Tuff Products Quick Strips sold for use with .32 S&W Long, .32 H&R Magnum, and .327 Federal, as well as 9mm should work with .32-20s. I ordered tow of the 2 packs of the orange versions. Being orange they should be easier to find if dropped and will help me tell them apart from my .38/.357 Quick Strips at a glance.

The postwar M&P is of course a very nice shooter. Unfortunately it's has a grooved trigger that likes to chew up my finger so after a cylinder or two I wrapped my finger with masking tape. In contrast, the .32-20 has a smooth trigger which is better for DA shooting.

The Taurus 856 is a surprisingly good shooter with a nice DA pull. It's a little larger than a J-Frame and holds 6 beans in the wheel, like a Colt Detective Special (whereas .38 J-Frames hold 5). I have small hands and find the grips comfortable. It'll make a good carry gun loaded with .38 Special wadcutters.

Painting Your Front Sights

Once you get north of 40 seeing the front sight on a pistol can become challenging. I'm in my second half-century so this has gotten even worse than it was for me in my forties.

If it's an older gun with either a plain black or worse yet, stainless front sight, it can be nigh impossible, especially if shooting indoors. If you can't replace the front sight or are unwilling to do so because of the gun's design or collectibility, painting it can make a big difference.

Several years ago I started out by painting the front sight on a couple guns white. This works as long as you're not shooting at a white target, at which point it's even worse than an unpainted sight. So, I picked up a set of Birchwood Casey Touch Up Sight Pens. The set came with three paint pens: white, red, and a lime green. The white pen was dead out of the box but the green pen is still going strong.

I first degrease the sight blade I want to paint, using rubbing alcohol. You can also use acetone. Wait for that to dry, then add a white base coat. Since my white pen was DOA I used white out correction fluid until I ran out, then I bought a bottle of white nail polish.

For example, here's the 1920s-vintage S&W Military & Police revolver I just got. The front sight is a thin half moon machined as part of the barrel.

First, the base coat:

(Sorry for the crappy focus.)

The white base coat helps the top coat(s) in green pop more. I generally use 2 or 3 coats of green, depending on how it looks. Make sure to let it dry thoroughly between coats.

Here's what it looks like with two coats of green. I'm going to add another.

White is very visible in the woods even at dusk but since I often shoot at white targets the green is a good compromise between maximum visibility in low light and usefulness against a variety of backgrounds.

I use this color combination on the percussion muzzleloader that I shoot in woods walks, on which I never know what color the targets will be painted. So far, so good.

Hoppe's No.9 will dissolve the paint but didn't seem to hurt the nail polish. Solvents like Ed's Red which contains acetone will dissolve the nail polish, as well.

The paint does wear off so I'm going to experiment with a clear top coat to hopefully protect the green and keep me from having to touch it up as frequently.

Note that I leave my rear sights black. Whether shooting a rifle or pistol, your focus should be on the front sight.

S&W Model 1905, 4th Change Hand Ejector in .32-20

One gun that I've wanted for a long time has been a Smith & Wesson Hand Ejector in .32-20 (.32 WCF).

Winchester introduced the .32 WCF in 1882 for its Model 1873 lever action rifle. It was intended for use on game up to the size of deer, although it would be considered very marginal on deer by current standards. About five years later, Colt began chambering their revolvers in the round.

The .32 WCF survived the transition to smokeless powder. Aside from their single actions, Colt also chambered it in the Army Special and Official Police, and S&W added it to the Hand Ejector K-Frames.

From the time of its introduction up until around World War 2 and even past that, the .32-20 was popular for small game, controlling varmints on ranches and farms, and even self defense. Unfortunately, the Pennsylvania Game Commission stupidly barred the use of centerfire guns for small game around 15 years ago so my use of this gun will be mostly be for plinking and informal target shooting. It may also get carried on a friend's rural property where it would be useful for handling wild dogs or coyotes should we run across any.

Over the past few years I've seen a nice assortment of guns in .32-20 on Gunbroker but held off on buying one because once the Plandemic hit, ammo and even empty brass became unobtanium. That situation has recently started to get better but still isn't at the point where it was in early 2020.

I recently sold off a couple of guns that had been gathering dust for a few years and decided to put the money towards a .32-20 revolver. It so happens that my local gun monger who I've consigned guns with had one listed on Gunbroker. I won the auction yesterday and this morning I picked it up.

For a gun that's a century old it's in pretty good shape. The sideplate has some minor pitting and looks like it was lightly sanded at some point to remove rust, and then reblued, and has turned a plum brown (this was disclosed in the auction). The crane has also turned plum brown. All the screws turned freely and none are boogered up, which is nice.

There was a suitable Pachmayr grip adapter in my stash, which makes the skinny service stocks much more pleasant to hold and makes the gun more controllable in rapid fire. Recoil should be very mild in this gun so I'm not concerned with the hump on the frame from hurting the web of my hand.

I removed the sideplate and it was pretty clean inside. I just blasted it out with Remoil and then compressed air, then lubed the contact points with some FP-10 and closed it back up. The right grip has quite a bit of wear so I think this gun was carried a lot. Or maybe a prior owner shot it so much he wore the right grip panel down. Anyway, one of the grips has the gun's serial number penciled on the inner surface.

The bore and charge holes had some crud in them and there's a little bit of very minor pitting in the bore, also as described in the auction. Nothing that should prevent it from shooting well, though.

The timing and lockup are excellent and there's no end shake to speak of.

A 500 count box of Starline brass should arrive today while a set of Lee dies plus a factory crimp die should come tomorrow, so I plan to load up some ammo next week so I can shoot it next weekend.

I am most definitely looking forward to shooting it.

Got Some Range Time in Today

We had another beautiful Spring day here in southeast Pennsylvania. I got together with a friend and we did some shooting on his property. 

One of the guns I brought was my High Standard Sentinel .22 LR revolver, about which I've written here before (check the tags on the right).

Last June, I replaced the original square butt grip with a round butt grip.

This was the first time shooting the gun with the round butt. It works for me and will make the gun more concealable should I need to do so.

The ammo I fired through it today was a box of CCI Stingers. I found that they shoot closer to point of aim in this gun than ammo with heavier bullets, so that's what I've settled on for feeding it. I do want to try some Federal Punch and while I think I have a box I couldn't find it.

One thing we noticed today since we fired most of the ammo double action is that the grooved trigger really sucked for DA shooting, especially on the edges. After I got home and cleaned it, I removed the grip and held the piece in a vise, then used some 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper, and then a round stone to dull the serrations. This should make it better for DA practice sessions. 

Last week I bought a World War Supply canvas M3 Tanker Holster, which is based on the USGI WW2 leather holster for the S&W Victory Model and Colt Commando .38 Special revolvers. The High Standard Sentinel is a little smaller than a S&W K-Frame and fits nicely into this holster.

With its alloy frame the Sentinel weighs only around 20 oz. so it's nice to carry. It would make a nice gun for the woods. In the past two years since I bought the revolver I've fired hundreds of rounds through it and had zero malfunctions, including no misfires. If I was limited to a rimfire for self defense this would probably be my first choice.

Ruger Speed Six Range Report

I shot the Ruger today for the first time. Both groups below were fired double action at 10 yards.

The Pachmayr Compac grips I installed are great, BTW. They are very comfortable for my small hands and do a good job of absorbing recoil. I'm half tempted to modify the grip frame of my Service Six to Speed Six dimensions and install a set of these.

The lower group is 40 rounds of .38 handloads with a Speer 158 grain .358 LSWC on top of 4.9 grains of Winchester Autocomp in mixed brass with CCI primers. This is a full .38 Special service load equivalent.

The headshots were .38s with a 178 grain .359 Keith LSWC on top of 5.3 grains of Unique in mixed brass and CCI primers. This is +P and approaching a .38/44 load.

The load with the Keiths has been very accurate in my 4" S&W Model 15-3, Ruger Service Six, and S&W Model 28-2 but between the Carnauba Red bullet lube and Unique, it's very smoky. As a black powder shooter that doesn't bother me, however. The fouling wipes right off.

One of the nice things about Autocomp, though, is how nicely and consistently it meters in a powder measure, in contrast to Unique. A couple years ago I made my own load chart for my RCBS Little Dandy. I took a variety of powders and did an average of 10 throws in the different rotors and Autocomp was by far the most consistent, even better than other ball powders like HP-38 and Universal.

New to Me Ruger Speed Six

I've long been a fan of the Ruger Security, Service, and Speed Six revolvers. I much prefer them to their successor, the GP-100, which while being stronger and simpler to make, is bigger and in my experience, not as smooth.

The Ruger Sixes were made in both blued and stainless steel versions. The primary differences are the sights and shape of the butt.

• Security Six: Adjustable sights, square butt, 2.75", 4", or 6" barrel.
• Police Service Six: Fixed sights, square butt, 2.75" or 4" barrel.
• Speed Six: Fixed sights, round butt, 2.75" or 4" barrel.

Most of the Sixes were chambered for .357 Magnum. There were some chambered for .38 Special for department contracts, and some Speed Sixes in 9mm which used moon clips.

Of the three major Six variants the Speed Six is the least common.

The Sixes are a bit beefier and more durable than S&W K-Frames but will still fit in many K-Frame holsters. For example, my 4" Police Service Six fits nicely in my Victory Model shoulder holster. (I've had the Service Six for years and it's a fine shooter, especially since I installed a set of Sile wooden target stocks.)

The first centerfire handgun I ever shot was my father's blued 6" Security Six that he used in bullseye competition back in the 80s. Between all the rounds he fired, nightly dry firing, and a Wolff spring kit, it was very smooth with a great trigger. Unfortunately he traded it off many years ago.

Last week I did some searching on Gunbroker and found that Robertson Trading Post had several Speed Sixes listed for sale at reasonable-for-2024 prices. I ordered one and picked it up from my local FFL today.

Aside from what are purported to be squadron markings on the left side of the frame, the gun is in excellent shape and appears to have been barely shot. It's very clean and the action is smooth for a Ruger. Lockup is solid and the timing is perfect. There is a small ding on the left of the front sight but it doesn't affect sight picture.

According to Ruger's web site the serial number places it as 1982 production.

It had a set of Sile rubber grips on it which are actually meant for a Security or Service Six with a square butt. I got this set of NOS Pachmayr Compacs off eBay for under $20 shipped. They fit the gun better and feel like they were made for me. I have a 3" S&W Model 10-8 with the same grips and it's very comfortable to shoot.

Although the Ruger is a .357 Magnum, it will see only .38 Special loads with maybe a few exceptions, since I'm not a fan of .357 blast and flash.

One might wonder what's the point of a medium-frame snubbie. IMO, it would make for a fine carry gun in cooler weather when you can tuck it into a large coat pocket or wear it outside the waistband but under a coat or vest.

Got a Lathe Spider

A couple weeks ago I ordered a spider for my 7x14 minilathe, something I should have bought years ago. Little Machine Shop had it as their weekly special so I finally pulled the trigger on it.

Link to minilathe spider: https://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=1136

The spider threads onto the end of the spindle and provides additional support to long workpieces, to prevent them from whipping around.

To install the spider you remove the gear cover on the end of the headstock and simply thread it onto the end of the spindle.

I used it today while drilling and tapping the flared end of the factory ramrod that came with my Investarm Gemmer Hawken. Even though I bought an unbreakable Delrin rod for it from Track of the Wolf, which is threaded on both ends, I want to keep the OEM wood rod as a spare.

This shows the ramrod mounted through the spindle bore.

And here I was using the lathe as a tapping guide to keep the 10-32 tap straight. I did not do this under power. Instead, I used the chuck key as a handle and rotated the chuck manually. Power to the lathe was off when I did this.

Aside from drilling and tapping the end of the OEM ramrod to accept 10-32 accessories like cleaning jags, worms, and bullet pullers, both ends of both rods got drilled and cross-pinned. To drill the holes I used my minimill.

Always cross-pin your ramrod tips! Failing to do so can result in the ends pulling off the rod if you get a jag stuck or need to pull a ball. It's simple to do so:

1. Drill a hole through the rod crossways. I used a #40 drill because for my pin I used some brass rod 0.098" in diameter.
2. Chamfer both ends of the hole.
3. Drive the rod through the hole and cut it off. I used side cutters.
4. Using a hammer, peen over both ends on a metal surface. I used the anvil on my bench vise.
5. File the ends of the pin smooth.

One end of the Delrin rod from Track is tapped 10-32 and the other is 8-32. I will use 10-32 jags, etc. and have an aluminum T-handle with an 8-32 stud on the end. I have qualms about using it for cleaning or ball pulling.

Just another example of how my small, tabletop machines help me out with gunsmithing tasks.

Video: Banner Grabbing with Nmap

 

Video: Nmap Scanning for Specific Open Ports

 

Investarm Gemmer Hawken Rifle

With Lyman getting out of the black powder business, Muzzle-loaders.com has taken over as an importer of Investarm guns. I had a 10% off coupon from them that expired at the end of last year, so on 12/26/23  I put it towards a left handed .54 flintlock Gemmer Hawken. It arrived this past Wednesday. The Gemmer Hawken is the current incarnation of the Lyman Great Plains Rifle, which for decades has been very highly regarded for a production muzzleloader.

Back in the 1990s I had a LH flint .54 Lyman GPR but sold it off after a few years. At the time I wasn't hunting and my shooting interests were more along the lines of milsurps and S&W revolvers. I wish that I had kept it. Let's just say that the Investarm rifles made today are not as nice as those made even 10 years ago, much less my old GPR. In particular, the triggers were horrendous. Rough, difficult to set, and so heavy when unset as to be unusable. So, I ordered a Davis Deerslayer from the Log Cabin Shop and it arrived today. The Deerslayer was originally designed for use in  the T/C Hawken and Renegade, rifles but it also works in similar guns like the GPR/GH.

Installation was painless and while the instructions mention removing wood, that wasn't required. (Doing so may be required on a T/C.) The rifle now has an easy to set trigger that would be usable even when unset. Dry firing it feels like I'm holding one of my custom muzzleloaders. In my opinion the Davis triggers are worth the $80 asking price (although it shouldn't be necessary to replace the triggers on a factory rifle to get something usable).

Pic before installing the new triggers:

Yesterday I added a couple coats of clear Watco Danish Oil to the stock, which is some unspecified European hardwood that was lightly finished. Older Investarm guns, including the Cabela's Hawken I took a big doe with in 2022, had walnut stocks. I also replaced the vent liner with an RMC unit that uses an Allen wrench for removal. It's coned internally as well on the outside so it should help ignition.

The lock sparks well even with the cut agate flint that it came with. L&R now makes left handed RPL replacement flintlocks to fit the GPR/GH but I'll give the factory lock a solid workout before thinking of replacing it.

The only other modification I have planned it to put slots in the barrel keys and install pins held in by the escutcheons so they can't fall out and get lost.

I may not be able to shoot it until next weekend, due to the weather. I'm hopeful that it will shoot well with 70 - 80 grains of 3Fg and a patched .530 ball. I'm also going to try some .526 balls which should make for easier loading in the field. My reason for getting a .54 is to improve my chances of a complete pass-through on the large whitetail deer up in Tioga County, compared with the .50s I've been using.

As an aside along those lines, I'm hoping to work up a good conical load for my percussion Cabela's Hawken .50 that I can use during the early antlerless season. I have some Hornady Great Plains bullets that should shoot well in the gun and be really effective on deer.

Aside from the larger ball, the Gemmer Hawken will give me a flintlock rifle that's easier to handle inside a deer blind, since it's significantly shorter than the longrifle I toted last week.

More to follow after I shoot it ...