Winchester 94 "Old Red"

I ordered this 1935-vintage Winchester 94 Sporting Rifle from a Gunbroker seller last Saturday and picked it up yesterday, along with a couple boxes of Remington .30-30 170 grain JSP ammo. To pay for it, I put a couple of other guns that were gathering dust on consignment.

It's drilled and tapped to accept a tang sight, one of which I may add.

Overall it's in excellent shape for a 91 year old rifle. The bore is excellent with sharp rifling, no pits, and a good crown. It was very clean. After I hosed out the old congealed oil the action works smoothly. The wood is sound and except for nine decades of dings the original varnish is in very good condition.

It should be a fine shooter and I plan to take it into the woods after whitetail next Fall.

There are 6 notches cut into the bottom of the stock (disclosed in the GB listing). The left side of the butt bears the initials, "RED," so I've named the rifle "Old Red."

Along with the rifle I bought two boxes of Remington .30-30 170 grain Core Lokt JSPs. I have reloading dies, a pound of IMR-3031, a brick of large rifle primers, a box of Hornady Interlock 170 grain JSP bullets, and 250 pieces of Starline brass on the way. I also have fifty 178 grain .310" bullets hand cast from Lyman No.2 alloy on the way from MOD Outfitters that I'm looking forward to loading for the old Winchester.

Today I slugged the bore by driving a .32 caliber bullet through it which allowed me to measure groove diameter. 

The rule of thumb for choosing the diameter of cast bullets for a rifle is to use those that are .001" to .002" over groove diameter. I'll load a few dummies with the .310" bullet to check functioning with, and also to verify that they chamber OK. Assuming all's good there I'll load up small batches of 10 with a couple different powders.

Tanker Holsters for Single Action Carry

I gave this setup a try to see how comfortable it would be for woods carry, although today it got carried on my walk around the subdivision where I live. It's a Cimarron Pistolero .357 Colt SAA clone in a World War Supply canvas tanker holster that's actually intended for S&W Victory Models. It actually works well for the single action and the cartridge loops on the strap make it a nice grab-n-go setup.

It carried comfortably under my coat. Not how I'd normally carry concealed because of the slow draw, but it's not bad for a low threat environment, IMO.

Aside from the canvas holster I have this leather Tanker holster from El Paso Saddlery, built for a 4" S&W N-Frame. I bought it for my Model 28-2 but the Cimarron hogleg fits in it with about a half inch of barrel poking out the end.

You could add a belt slide with cartridge loops to the EPS rig and like the cheaper canvas holster, have a pretty good rig for fast grab-n-go.

Wheelgun Wednesday

Today I was able to sneak out to the range for a couple hours for Wheelgun Wednesday. I brought two hoglegs with me: A Cimarron Model P in .44-40 WCF and a Cimarron Pistolero in .357 Magnum, shooting .38 Special ammunition.

First I ran two new-to-me handloads through the Model P. Both were loaded in Starline brass with a CCI No.300 primer and 7.0 grains of Winchester 244 powder. The first batch was loaded with a 200 grain lead round nose flat point (LRNFP) bullet, while the second was loaded with a 215 grain LRNFP.

The results were interesting and the opposite of what you'd expect. I.e., the lighter bullets ran slower than the heavier bullets. I attribute this to higher pressure with the higher bullet. I've seen this before with .38/44 handloads, where 5.9 grains of Herco gave ~100 FPS more muzzle velocity with a 178 grain Keith bullet than a 158 grain LSWC.

With the 200 grain bullet I got an average muzzle velocity of 827.1 FPS for 304 ft.lbs. of energy from the Model P's 5.5" barrel.

The 215 grain bullets ran at an average 903.3 FPS for 389.7 ft.lbs. of energy. About a 76 FPS difference. Both strings were 10 shots.

After running the .44s over the Garmin I changed to 10 yards and ran the Hickock-North drill with both guns, and also 6 shots one-handed on a B-8 center, followed by 10 shots fired two-handed on a B-8 center.

The ammo I used in the Pistolero were handloads with a Lee TL358-158 SWC over 4.7 grains of Unique, which ran about 842 FPS from my 4" S&W Model 15 last week. They should be going around that from the .357-chambered but 4-5/8" barreled Pistolero.

Anyway, I need to continue to work on my one-hand shooting and well as file down the front sight on the Model P, which shoots low.

Powder Dippers

I got in the mail today this set of 3D printed dippers from eBay seller "3dReloaded." They fill in some gaps in the Lee powder dipper set. Note that the capacities are 0.20cc to 1.10cc. For whatever reason the maker didn't include the decimal points in his designs. 

A major reason why I got this set is because I think they'll be especially useful with powders that don't meter consistently with small charges, where a difference of 0.1 or 0.2 grains can make a big difference (e.g, Red Dot and Unique).

To start I'll probably measure each dipper with Bullseye, Titegroup, Red Dot, and Unique.

Winchester 244 in .44-40 WCF

A few years ago when reloading components were hard to come by, one of the powders that was seen relatively frequently on the shelf was Winchester 244, which is just ahead of Alliant Unique on Hodgdon's burn rate chart. When searching for loading data for Win-244 a common theme is that there is not much to be found.

I picked up a pound in 2024 and loaded a box of .38 Special 158 grain LSWCs but didn't do much with it. I mostly use Bullesye, Titegroup, and HP-38 in .38 Special, with some Unique thrown in for variety.

One thing I like about 244 is that like the other ball powders it meters consistently, so I wanted to find a use for it.

Another cartridge I load for is .44-40 WCF, which I shoot in a Cimarron Model P revolver, a Cimarron 1860 Henry rifle, and a Cimarron 1873 Sporting Rifle (all built by Uberti). Loaddata.com has data for Winchester 244 in .44-40, with 200 grain bullets ranging from 6.8 grains to 7.6 grains, and for 223 grain bullets from 6.5 to 7.4 grains, so today I decided to load some up.

Muzzle velocities for these loads range from around 928 FPS to a bit over 1,000 FPS from a 7" Colt Frontier Six Shooter, according to Loaddata.com. That's in the ballpark of what .44-40 will do with full charges of high quality black powder, e.g., Swiss.

I loaded 50 with a 200 grain RNFP from Desperado Cowboy Bullets and 50 with a 215 grain RNFP from Matt's Bullets, both over 7.0 grains of 244, which I dispensed using the No.9 rotor in my RCBS Little Dandy.

Performance of this should be similar to the Skeeter Load of a 250 grain Keith bullet over 7.5 grains of Unique in .44 Special, albeit with lighter bullets.

I'm hoping to try them out next weekend.

NOTE: Make sure you verify the load data before relying upon it, and if you use a Little Dandy do not rely on what my measure throws. Verify that yourself with a scale and your powder measure.

Pietta vs. Uberti Single Action Colt Clones

I came across this video from Brian Pearce today, discussing Pietta single action revolvers. He gives some nice technical information along with comparisons to the Colt originals and also the Uberti replicas. I found it interesting that the Pietta is closer dimensionally to the original Colts, while the Ubertis are a hair larger.

I've posted in the past about my two Colt single actions clones, a 4-5/8" .357 Magnum Cimarron Pistolero built by Pietta, and 5-1/2" ".44-40 Cimarron Model P built by Uberti. The Model P is built on a "black powder" style frame. I.e., the cylinder base pin is retained by a screw instead of a spring loaded plunger, which was introduced by Colt around 1895, IIRC. The plunger makes maintenance easier since removal and replacement of the cylinder doesn't require a tool.

Pietta below on the left, with the Uberti on the right. The lighting makes the color of the Pietta's frame look lighter than it actually is in normal light.

In the video, Mr. Pearce notes that the Pietta clones feature a removable cylinder bushing and a "Swiss safety," i.e., a two-position cylinder base pin that can be used to prevent the hammer from falling completely. My Uberti Model P, which has Colt-style lockwork rather than a floating firing pin, has both of these features as well. Actually, the cylinder bushing in my Pietta is stuck, and may even been peened in place so I'm leaving it be. There's no need to remove it except for replacement, at which time I'll apply judicious force.

Between the two, the Uberti has a nicer blueing job but functionally the two guns are equivalent. I can't compare accuracy since I've never benched them. That said, I'm able to hit what I'm aiming at with either gun if I do my part.

Ruger's New Model Blackhawk is certainly a more modern design, safe to carry with all 6 chambers loaded, but a well-made Colt-pattern single action is still a fine sidearm when you keep its limitations in mind.

Some .38 Special Chronograph Results

Today I took several .38 handloads up to the range, along with my Ruger 50th Anniversary Blackhawk chambered for .357 Magnum, and my S&W Model 15-3 Combat Masterpiece, chambered for .38 Special. Here are the results:

All strings below are 10 shots.

From a Ruger 50th Anniversary Blackhawk .357 with 4-5/8" barrel:

.38 Special
21 grains Swiss 3Fg black powder
Missouri Bullet Company 158 grain LRNFP with BP lube
Mixed brass
Servicios Aventuras primers

MV 845.5 FPS
250.9 Ft-lbs.
ES 61
Max 881 FPS
Min 820 FPS
SD 16.7

.38 Special
21 grains Schuetzen 3Fg black powder
Missouri Bullet Company 158 grain LRNFP with BP lube
Mixed brass
Servicios Aventuras primers

MV 655.9 FPS (Weak sauce)
151.2 Ft-lbs.
ES 94.7
Max 712.9 FPS
Min 618.2 FPS
SD 27.8

From a Smith & Wesson Model 15-3 Combat Masterpiece with a 4" barrel:

.38 Special
Lee TL158-SWC, 158 grains
4.7 grains of Unique
Mixed brass
Servicios Aventuras primers

MV 842.5 FPS
249.8 Ft-lbs.
ES 162
Max 906.1 FPS
Min 744.1 (WTF?)
SD 47.8

.38 Special
Lee TL158-SWC, 158 grains
4.4 grains BE-86
Mixed brass
Servicios Aventuras primers

821.1 FPS
236.6 Ft.-lbs.
ES 42.8
Max 842.8
Min 800
SD 14

The BP load with Swiss would be decent for defense. This is probably comparable to the original black powder .38 Special round in muzzle velocity, with the same weight bullte. In contrast the Schuetzen load is so slow it performs closer to the weaker .38 Smith & Wesson round.

I crunched the numbers on the Unique load after dropping the low shot. It gave an average muzzle velocity of  853.5 FPS for 256 Ft.-lbs. of energy. Bumped up to 5.0 grains it averages 925.4 FPS and 301.2 Ft.lbs. of energy. That's a very solid woods or defense load.

The load with BE-86 exceeds most standard pressure 158 grain .38 Special loads in performance. Not bad at all. With a couple extra tenths of a grain it could probably exceed 900 FPS and give .38 +P levels of performance.

Wild Bill Hickok vs. Major Frank North Drill

Hat tip to Gary Hughes for bringing this "Wild Bill Hickok vs. Major Frank North" drill to my attention.

From The American Mercury, October 1937:

"Did you ever see Wild Bill Hickok shoot?"

"Many times."

"Was he pretty good?"

"Yes. But Frank was better.

Even Bill said so."

"Just how well could they shoot?"

You put up a letter envelope ten paces away, and if you could keep all six shots in the envelope you were counted good. One of the sbots had to be in the stamp which was pasted on the back of the en-velope, in the center."

"How big were the envelopes?"

"Five inches square. And the stamp an inch square."

Course of fire:

• 10 yards
• Primary hand ONLY
• Six shots
• All must hit within the 5" square
• One must hit the center stamp, 1" square
• No time limit

I shot it today with three of my pistols. I passed easily with the Ruger 50th Anniversary Blackhawk, shooting my .38 Special black powder handloads.

I did not pass this test shooting two of my double action revolvers: my S&W Model 432UC .32 H&R Mag and my S&W Model 15-3 shooting .38 Specials. Shooting double action with only one hand I have a tendency to push the point of impact to the right, which caused shots to lands outside the 5" square. While I can nail these targets shooting two-handed, I need to work on my one-handed double action shooting.

I actually did better with the 432UC J-Frame than the Model 15 K-Frame, but I shot the Model 15 last and had already done a fair amount of shooting by that point. I.e., I was tired.

Give it a try. You may find it more challenging than you think.

Link to the target: https://thetacticalprofessor.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/hickok-v-north-stamp.pdf

Edit: Most likely this is the Major Frank North referred to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_North 

Protecting PCs, Macs and Your Home Network Against Malicious Software

My latest Substack article, "Protecting PCs, Macs and Your Home Network Against Malicious Software" is now available. Go check it out.

Cimarron Pistolero

One of the slicker hoglegs I have in my stable is this 4.75" Cimarron Pistolero, built by Pietta. It's a .357 but in my hands it's seen almost entirely .38 Specials. It's one of the guns I kept when my brother and I divided up my father's collection after he passed last year.

As a .357 on a .45 frame it's got a lot of extra metal, which means it soaks up recoil from .38/44-equivalent loads with a 178 Keith and a stiff charge of Herco. Standard pressure .38 Specials are mild to shoot in it.

It's a copy of the Colt Model P and has the original type lockwork, meaning it should be charged with "load 1, skip 1, load 4 and pull the hammer all the way back then lower it onto the empty chamber." For a safety it has a 2-position cylinder pin that when inserted all the way blocks the hammer from dropping fully. This is more to meet import points under the Gun Control Act of 1968 than to actually be used.

I'm waiting on some 158 grain LRNFP bullets from Missouri Bullet Co. with a black powder-compatible lube. I've wanted to try black powder .38 Specials and figure cleanup of a single action will be easier than one of my double action revolvers. (.38 Special was originally a BP round for those who don't know, with 21 grains of BP under a 158 grain LRN bullet.) I load other rounds with BP, btw, so I'm not a newbie at that.

It'll be interesting to see what it'll do with black powder loads.

Hanukkah 2025

In case anyone wasn't paying attention we got another example of what "Globalize the Intifada" means today.

Once again we see a terrorist attack on Jews on a religious holiday. This time in Australia. An Australian spox on TV said that at least one of the perps was on their radar, "although not for terrorist acts".

I also saw over on X that per Israeli TV, supposedly the Mossad warned the Australian government of an upcoming terrorist attack. See: https://x.com/yudapearl/status/2000197269858271283

On the eve of Hanukkah, the holiday in which we celebrate our triumph over the Greek invaders who desecrated the Temple, we are once again reminded that secular governments will not protect us.

Nobody, Jew or gentile, who is defenseless is protected from harm. The right to self defense is the most basic of human rights. A disarmed populace is deprived of its most essential right to life.

Make no mistake, gun control is EVIL. It disarms victims but never keeps their oppressors from hurting them.

As an American, and as a Jew, I am a Second Amendment absolutist*. I'm a an Endowment Life Member of the NRA, and a Life Member of Gun Owners of America and the Second Amendment Foundation. I've donated to the Firearms Policy Coalition as well.

I'm armed to the teeth -- as ALL good Americans should be. It's been a long standing source of frustration for me that too many of my co-religionists can't get their heads out of their asses on this issue.

There are many Jewish Americans who have woken up to the need to be armed. Not enough, but it's happening. 

As for Israel's gun laws, they are a major reason why I'd never consider living there, permanently or even temporarily for work. Israelis basically live in one of the shittiest neighborhoods on the planet, surrounded by people who want to exterminate them, and their government denies them the means for effective self defence. Fuck. That. Shit.

In the aftermath of October 7th I put together a PDF book, "Guns for Jews," which is available for free from my Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/file/d/18GXFERy8nH1iM6ERtLs-PXX3qXDo5C0K/view?usp=drive_link

*Absolutist, as in it is my belief that all Americans should be able to purchase military grade arms anonymously online and have them shipped to their door. Further, Constitutional Carry should be the law of the land.

Why I Prefer Revolvers for Pocket Carry

A friend and I were recently discussing home defense and carry guns. We live in an urban/suburban environment. Wild animals aren't really a concern but two-legged cockroaches are. Primary concerns for carry guns are concealability and reliability. Another consideration is that we're both in our late 50s with hand issues.

Both of us used to favor semi autos for concealed carry. He changed over to a Kimber K6S .357 snub, mostly due to problems with grasping the slide on an auto.

In the past I've pocket carried guns like a Ruger LCP .380, a Ruger LCP II Lite Rack .22 LR, and a Keltec P32 in .32 ACP. The problems I've encounterd have been in the case of the LCP .380 is that recoil is extremely unpleasant, while the P32 has had some reliability problems and seems picky with regards to which ammo it functions with. Likewise, the LCP II is very ammo sensitive.

Ruger LCP II Lite Rack .22LR

Keltec P32 .32ACP, with regular and extended mags.

So, earlier this year I changed over first to a S&W Model 632 Airweight and now a S&W 432UC, both in .32 H&R Magnum for pocket carry.

The 632 was retired because it was a gift from my late father, and it's one of only 1471 made in the 1990s. The 432 is new production and has better sights.

The .32 Magnum in a J-Frame is a good choice for concealed carry in my opinion. J-Frames, especially the Centennial-style with an enclosed hammer, is snag-free and can be fired from within a pocket without jamming. In my experience they've been more reliable than subcompact semiauto pistols. The .32s give you 6 shots vs. 5 shots in a .38, .357, or 9mm J-Frame.

The ammo I carry is .32 H&R Magnum 100 grain wadcutter from High Desert Cartridge Company. I've run this over my Garmin chronograph from the 432UC, where it ran a bit over 800 FPS. Per Steve at HDCC it will meet the FBI's minimum penetration requirements in ballistic gel. In effect, this gives me a 5/16" hole punch that will reach an assailant's vitals. Compared with 85 grain JHPs in the same gun it's easier to control.

I should note that my 432UC was not perfect out of the box, however. It has a flaw in the finish which really shouldn't have left the factory but considering it's a carry piece I'm willing to overlook that. Also, the factory grips didn't suit my hand at all so I went on eBay and found a set of the old Uncle Mike's Boot Grips that I like. Finally, the trigger was very heavy, so I got a reduced power rebound slide spring from Wolff. This brought the trigger pull down to an acceptable weight without compromising trigger return, or ignition as a lighter hammer spring might.

S&W 432UC .32 H&R Magnum

I use a Simply Rugged Pocket Protector holster and carry a reload in a Quickstrip.

This is comfortable to pocket carry all day.

Revolver Guy has an unflattering review of a 432UC Ti up. Something he noted is that it's fitted with a short, "California" firing pin to improve its drop safety. It turns out this hurts ignition reliability. I already had on hand an Apex "extended" firing pin, which is actually the same length as the original J-Frame firing pins, so I installed it. I've not had any failures to ignite.

Note, a Colt D-Frame like the Detective Special will get you a 6th shot but be slightly larger, and unless you install a hammer shroud isn't as snag free. It's still nicely pocketable.

Information Technology with Dave Substack

Over the past week I've made the effort to revive my IT and cybersecurity focused Substack, Information Technology with Dave.

If you like what I write it would really help the Substack if you like my articles and subscribe to it.

Thanks.

Criminal Activity in my Neighborhood Yesterday

We had an incident in our neighborhood yesterday which seems like it was a couple who were either casing my neighbor, or trying the old "distract the victim with a pretty girl" method of robbery.

Note that my neighborhood is not a high-crime area. There is a fair amount of property crime in our township but it's concentrated at a shopping mall about 1.5 - 2 miles away. Violent crime is rare.

My neighbor called me this morning to give me a heads up on the following.

At about 3:30 PM my neighbor came home from work to find his driveway blocked by an SUV, probably a black Honda Ridgeline. As he pulled up he beeped his horn and they moved forward so he could pull into his driveway.

As my neighbor got out of his truck a woman got out of the Honda. He immediately felt something off but was carrying concealed. He asked if he could help her.

She replied by asking if he wanted to sell his truck, which is a 20-year old Toyota Tacoma 4x2, not exactly something in high demand. This raised further red flags in his mind. After a little more questioning and stuttered replies, she got back in her vehicle and then drove off.

Before she drove off my neighbor was able to see through the Honda's darkly tinted windows that there was someone else inside, who tried to lower himself to avoid being seen.

Neighbor called the police. An officer was nearby and was over in about a minute to take a statement. He agreed that they were casing the house or looking to distract my neighbor while the second person in the Honda tried to get into the house.

I have a Ring Doorbell at my front door and a Ring Stick Up camera that covers my driveway and the street in front of my neighbor. They did capture the Honda on video. However, the video from my driveway camera was not able to resolve its license plate due to distance.

My neighbor has been looking into getting security cameras and more external lighting. This incident got him to stop procrastinating and he is now going to move forward. I'm probably going to augment my exterior security stuff as well.

I put together a list of the cameras and exterior solar lighting I have so my neighbor has a starting point for his own system. It's in a Google Sheet which I've shared from my G Drive, here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CS6mvUdXwghgEi8iP9QDSePdnUr_TxGVmWE9EUWO6RQ/edit?usp=sharing

Edit: Another neighbor captured some better quality video. Looks like it may be a late model Toyota Tundra. 

Edit 2: We got a better quality pic and ran that through ChatGPT and Google Gemini. Both IDed the truck as a third-gen Toyota Tundra.

More .38 Special Chronograph Results

Yesterday I loaded up 250 rounds of .38 Special. I used up the final 150 Speer 158 grain LSWCs I got when my brother and I split my dad's reloading components last year. These were loaded over 3.5 grains of Titegroup with Aguila No.1-1/2 small pistol primers. I've chronographed that load in the past and from a 4" .38 Special revolver it goes about 775 - 780 FPS, which is comparable to what factory 158 grain lead loads do.

I also had my first dud primer in quite some time today. It was one of the Aguilas. I hit it two or three times in a S&W Model 10-8 and then once more for good measure in a Pietta Pistolero (Colt SAA replica). No dice, so I'll put down that round and punch out the dud primer.

Aside from the Titegroup loads, I also put together 100 rounds with a Lee TL358-158SWC cast bullet over 4.7 grains of Unique, with Servicios Aventuras primers.

Results:

That's a large standard deviation and extreme spread, but not unusual with Unique. It's positionally dependent in the case which can lead to large spreads. That said, it shot well, albeit with a lot of smoke. The combination of the Lee Liquid Alox bullet lubricant and Unique powder makes for a very smokey smokeless load.

I don't have the ability to measure chamber pressure but the performance is definitely in the +P category. IMO, this would make a good woods load for Pennsylvania, and with proper shot placement would likely do well if defending yourself against a criminal. Even though the Lee SWC is not a hollowpoint it's got a very wide meplat and will penetrate well.

Edit: I'm a dope. This batch was loaded with 5.0 grains of Unique, not 4.7. That explains the average MV of over 900 FPS.

Cylinder Throats on my .32-20

My brother has a set of pin gauges to today I measured the cylinder throats on my .32-20 S&W M-1905, 4th Change Military & Police. I hypothesized that if they were too large it would be the cause of the low velocities I'm seeing with it.

Nope, every one of them measured 0.313". Combined with the barrel/cylinder gap of 0.003" to 0.008" it's in spec. The only thing I can think of is the barrel. Some barrels are just slower than others.

To be fair, this gun is for informal plinking and target shooting for me, since centerfire rifles and handguns aren't legal for small game in PA, and I have much better choices for self defense, so the low velocities don't really matter.

Full charge wadcutters in .38 Special

I've previously mentioned the use of "full charge" wadcutters in .38 Special. As with much of the stuff I do, I got the idea from C.E. Harris. Read his article here.

Today I ran 10 such loads over my Garmin Xero C1 Pro chronograph with the following results:

Full specs for my handloads:

• .358 powder coated 148 grain double end wadcutters from Missouri Bullet Company
• 3.5 grains of Alliant Bullseye powder
• Winchester WSP small pistol primer
• Mixed .38 brass

I fired them from a Ruger Police Service Six chambered for .357 Magnum, with a 4" barrel.

Substituting 3.5 grains of Hodgdon Titegroup for the Bullseye should give similar results but be cleaner burning.

Chronographed the .32-20

Today I took the M-1905 Military & Police .32-20 to the range and ran a couple different loads over my Garmin Xero C1 chronograph.

First up were 10 of the rounds I loaded last week with an antique Ideal tong tool. These had a 107 grain RNFP bullet over 3.85 grains of Unique.

Next were 10 rounds from a box of HSM .32-20 cowboy action shooting ammo, which have a 115 grain RNFP bullet that's rated at 850 FPS, though HSM doesn't specify on the box or their website from what barrel length. I suspect it's from a rifle or at least a 7.5" revolver.

When I've chronographed this gun before it's been on the slow side. After I got home and cleaned it I measured the barrel/cylinder gap for each chamber using feeler gauges. They ranged from .003" to .008", so the gaps are in spec.

I need to measure the cylinder throats. I have a feeling they're a bit large and that's why the muzzle velocities I'm seeing are slower than load data suggests.

Free Soldier Softshell Jacket.

A couple months ago I realized I needed a new softshell jacket. However, I didn't want to spend REI-money as this will be mostly used around town, with light field usage. So, after doing some searching on and off Amazon I ordered a Free Soldier brand Soft Shell Hooded Military Tactical Jacket.

It has over 6,000 reviews on Amazon with an average rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars, so for $56 I thought it was worth a try. It's available in a variety of colors. I went with OD green which strikes a nice balance of being low key in either the city or the woods, without being as overtly military as a camo pattern. I prefer green over brown in the woods since it's not deer-colored.

Like most of the tactical soft shells on the market it's a copy of the TAD Gear Stealth Raider Hoodie, but at a much lower price.

My initial impressions were favorable. The sewing seems to be good quality, the zippers all move smoothly, there were no loose threads, and it fits me well with room for layering. I'm 5'5" but with a spare tire and broad shoulders for my height so I got a 2XL.

Jackets should have a hood if you're going to be out in inclement weather for an extended time. They keep you dryer and warmer. Ideally, the hood should fit comfortably over a hat without forcing it down onto your head. The hood on this jacket meets that requirement. The hood can be rolled up and secured with a flap although I normally just leave it unrolled. The front of the hood can be adjusted with shock cords that run down into the front pockets. It's big enough to comfortably fit over a ball cap and the brim is long enough to fully cover the cap's brim. Aside from helping to create a nice microclimate in front of your face, this is also great for those of us who wear glasses.

The FS jacket has six external pockets. There are two front pockets with long zippers. Inside each is a D-ring to dummy cord items to and a pen or penlight pocket. The right front pocket also has an internal vertical cell phone pocket that easily fits my iPhone 16 Pro.

Both arms have bicep pockets with Velcro panels on the outside. There's also a small pocket on the lower left arm.

Finally, there's a poacher's pocket on the back with zips on both sides. This would be good for stashing a beanie, gloves, or scarf but I wouldn't want something too bulky back there.

There are no inside pockets, which is a negative IMO. A Napoleon pocket would also be nice.

The cuffs are adjustable with Velcro and the hem is adjustable with shock cords to keep out the wind. There are pit zips for ventilation. The front zipper is two way and the pull is on the right side, i.e., American style.

Softshells should be wind and water resistant.

My initial test of the jacket's water resistance was to stand outside from about 10 - 15 minutes in a pouring rain while it was 70*F. While a short test it did not wet through. I felt some cold from the rain on my shoulders but after I came back inside and doffed the jacket it was completely dry inside. Based on this it should handle brief showers fine, and snow shouldn't be a problem, either.

Wind resistance is very good. I've taken it on a couple half hour walks in ~40*F weather with wind at 20 MPH, gusting to 35 MPH. It kept out the wind just fine.

I haven't owned it long enough to determine long term durability but the initial impressions are good, and the price was right.

Loading .32-20 WCF Ammunition with an Antique Ideal Tong Tool

Over the weekend I cast some bullets in an antique Ideal reloading tool, so I thought I'd put together a post on how to actually use these things.

From what I can tell it's a No.4 although it differs a little from other No.4s I've seen, in regards to how priming is handled. Anyway, here it is:

With this one tool, you can do the following:

1. Cast bullets and size them
2. Decap spent cases
3. Reprime empty cases
4. Flare the case mouth
5. Seat a new bullet in place

Originally it came in a cardboard box with a powder scoop for the right amount of black powder, and a decapping pin. The scoop and decapping pin are usually missing when you find these tools today. For a decapping pin you can use a Lee Precision case length guide intended for trimming brass.

If you need to decap, place the decapper inside a spent case the put the case into the bullet seating chamber, and close the handles. This will pop out the spent primer. The extractor claw on the right side handle will pull the case out a bit so you can remove it from the tool.

I got 49 usable bullets from this session. You need to get and keep the mold hot which is challenging because of the small bullet and the mass of the tool, which is made from cast iron. The entire tool acts like a heat sink. Despite this, when I weighed the bullets they were pretty consistent at 107 grains plus or minus a grain, using soft lead. Only visibly wrinkled bullets weighed less.

The bullets are of a round nosed, flat pointed design, intended for use in lever action rifles and revolvers. It would make a good small game bullet.

To flare the case mouths, I used the outside of the bullet seating chamber as shown here:

Next up I needed to prime the cases. As you can see there's a position on the end of the mold blocks for this.

I was not happy how the Ideal tool handled the combination of virgin Starline .32-20 brass and Aguila No.1-1/2 primers. I couldn't really get the primers flush or below flush. The pin that drives the primers into the pockets needed to be a couple thousands longer. It may be worn down from use. So, I only did a couple then resorted to using a modern Frankford Arsenal hand priming tool to prime the rest of the brass. Another option would be to finish seating the primers flush using a dowel inserted in the case and tapping the case down onto a metal surface like an anvil. (This is how primers are seated using a Lee Loader.)

With bullets and primed cases in hand, the next step is to charge the cases with powder. I'll be shooting this ammo in a 1920s S&W Model 1905, 4th Change Military & Police revolver. I don't want to clean up black powder fouling so instead, I used Alliant Unique. (One of my better pre-election year purchases was an 8 lb. keg of Unique in the Fall of 2019.) Unique could easily have been used by early Ideal customers since it was introduced in 1900 and has been in production ever since.

To measure the powder I used a Lee 0.5cc dipper. With my technique and this batch of Unique, I get an average charge of 3.85 grains per scoop. I could use a slightly higher charge but since I'll just be paper punching or plinking with this ammo there's no need to hot rod a 100 year old gun.

OK, now it's time to seat the bullets. That large lube groove is there to handle a good amount of grease, e.g., tallow or a beeswax/tallow mix, which you need when shooting black powder. Since I'm shooting smokeless I just lubed the bullets with Lee Liquid Alox.

Charged case with bullet in the seating chamber:

And the extractor claw pulling the complete round of ammo out of the seating chamber:

The cartridge on the left is what they look like after the previous step. Something to keep in mind with this sort of tool is that it does not apply a strong crimp. When loaded of a full charge of black powder the bullet cannot telescope back into the case. That's not true with smokeless which leaves a mostly empty case, so as a final step I ran the assembled rounds through a Lee Carbide Factory Crimp Die on my press to fully secure the bullet in the case mouth.

There are some downsides to handloading using this kind of tool:

• It's slow.
• It works only with the bullet cast in the integral mold, since seating depth isn't adjustable. However, the bullets from the mold are well suited to the cartridge.
• The aforementioned lack of crimp.
• Because the entire tool including the handles is made from cast iron, it acts as a heat sink so getting good bullets from the mold can be a challenge.

That said, now I have 49 more rounds of .32-20 ammo, mostly loaded using late 19th Century technology.

BTW, here's what I'll be firing this ammo in, a 1920s vintage S&W Model 1905, 4th Change, Military & Police revolver. I replaced the original service grips with a set of later Magnas plus a Robertson Trading post grip adapter (copy of the Tyler T-Grip) to make it easier to hold onto when shooting double action. The paint on the front sight is to make it easier to see with 57 year old eyes. The M-1905 is the predecessor to the familiar Model 10, most commonly chambered for .38 Special.