Jump to content
SASS Wire Forum

Dubious Don #56333

Members
  • Posts

    1,892
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Previous Fields

  • SASS #
    56333
  • SASS Affiliated Club
    Arizona Cowboy Shooters Rio Salado Cowboys

Contact Methods

  • Website URL
    http://
  • ICQ
    0

Profile Information

  • Location
    Glendale, AT

Recent Profile Visitors

4,797 profile views

Dubious Don #56333's Achievements

SASS Wire Vet

SASS Wire Vet (1/1)

408

Reputation

  1. Factory nickel is a bit rare. Condition is everything of course. A 9mm conversion would be the easiest if you don't want a 38 Super. First off, I'd advise against shooting a 1930's vintage Colt with vintage springs with 38Super ammo most particularly. Get a complete spring replacement in any case from Wolff, gunsprings.com 9mm is easy; 9mm magazine, barrel fitted. Done. 45ACP would be a bit harder, replace the slide in it's entirety, takes different extractor/Firing pin and slide breechface cut. Barrel with link & pin. Elector which is pinned to the frame, not too difficult to change, actually. Everything else should be GTG. Remember don't shoot hunnert year old springs, LOL.
  2. haha. You funny. Not really. Having had some experience in this regard, I would strongly advise NO! An ounce of gunpowder doesn't look like much but it is. Powders burn at different rates. Black powder burns really fast. I mean REAL fast. Has a thump to it. That's called brissance. Funny I would mention that. Some smokeless powders, such as double-based, or nitro powders can be shock sensitive in the right conditions. The least bit of containment and they go thump too. (as in boom!) If you think you can pour half a can of powder in a pile and set a match to it without losing some hair & skin....lol. Good luck to ya, you're gonna need it. I used to be responsible for the disposal of ordnance that came through our property room. Military grade stuff was usually handled on the spot by our EOD. Ammunition, flares, fireworks, old powder, primers, for much of this the safe and proper way to dispose of it is incineration. We didn't just pile it in the desert or someplace and set fire to it. There's a procedure to follow and what's left STILL has to be culled for unfired rounds, etc. Gunpowder, even black powder is likewise rendered safe by burning. Not in a pile, not in the toilet. Small amounts at a time. SMALL. Gunpowder is not water soluble. Once it dries it's still very flammable. If you had an idea how modern sewage treatment plant operates, you'd see the problem with this. It's also illegal. Please. Don't flush your powder. Every police department/sheriff, state police has people detailed for this. Call'em and they'll usually pick it up.
  3. That there looks to be a solid install. Very nice and clean! My first reloading bench was a scrap piece of 3/4" plywood and four wrought iron legs I'd salvaged off an old electric organ. It worked for an RCBS Jr. LOL. Over the years I've had a number of workbenches and reloading benches. My typical design is 4x4" legs, 2x6" framing and either a 3/4" top or two sheets of that for my heaver workbench I made for our new range at work a decade ago. It's a full 4X8' with a mid-shelf. So far, it's held up to a lot of banging LOL. I've found that 3/4" six-ply is plenty rigid enough for my use but all my presses are mounted on Dillon Strong Mounts or in the case of the RCBS, it came with it's own shorter version. I simply drill holes in the top as needed, and the ones I don't use all the time like my Rock Chucker for small runs of oddball or case sizing operations or my MEC for BP I store elsewhere until its needed.
  4. No. It's always the "small" quiet ones. Mostly, the quiet ones.
  5. I don't currently use it but back in the before-time (before CAS, LOL) I used it for everythang I could As good or better than Bullseye. I've had a pause in my shooting for a bit, life reasons, so I'm still set on the powder/etc at the moment. Just getting back into the swing of things. I'd just recently started, prior to covid and the Present Emergency, switching from Trailboss to Universal. Not a one-to-one switch, and I will miss being able to load gallery loads for my older milsurps but those are mostly gone now anyway and I'll just have to suck it up without TB because that was a mainstay for me. Yes. By all means, go to 231. Because when I run out of what I have now, 231 is it!
  6. I didn't forget the Triple Lock. I was speaking specifically to the N frame in 357 magnum that was introduced as the Model 27 in 1935. That the 29 is based on the same frame and in theory, handles the 44M pressures quite nicely? So it should, in theory, alloy of steel used notwithstanding, should, in theory, a model 24 should be able to handle 44M. In theory. That one should or shouldn't was not addressed in my post. Which is why I recommended consulting gunsmiths that DO this custom work and would know better than myself or those perhaps...here.
  7. Hey Doc, So I just happen to have some 44's around. Checked'em. No, none of the 624's took .44M rounds. All went in the chamber and stopped just short, as depicted in your photos. Right about the length of the magnum case over the special. Imagine that. Back before I had my own shop, just a kid fresh out of the Army, I bought a S&W N frame that started out as something else and had been rechambered to 45 Colt. I took it to a local guy that I trusted with the work. Good shooter. Over the years I've seen a number of N frames originally in 455 or something else rechambered for 45 Colt. Note that 45 colt is substantially more powerful IE; pressure than 455...etc. S&W has chambered both J, K, N frames in a wide variety of calibers. I can tell you from personal experience that it is "safe" to shoot +P 38 in a Pre-90's J frame but the gun will wear faster and requite retiming, etc. My original backup M60 I retimed twice, stretching the crane once. put 25 years of service on that cute little sweetie now retired to the special shelf in my safe. I can also tell you that shooting magnum in a K frame likewise shortens it's service life compared to a diet of specials. One of the reasons S&W brought out the L frame was this precise issue. I can also tell you that the stainless models wore faster than the blued models. (But I LOVE my K's anyway.) N Frame. Diff'rnt critter but not by much. LOoK at the history; started as 357M, then hay, lets makee fortyfo's !!!LOL And they did. SO this frame size has spanned how many years? In how many calibers? Safely for all of them? I've included a link to the SAAMI 2022 specs, what you're looking for is on page 18. Take note of the pressure listed for the 44 Special and the mag. Big difference, huh? I didn't find a reference for differing alloys used in the different models in any of my S&W books, doesn't mean they didn't, I'd only be guessing what they used. I've no idea, but it wouldn't surprise me if they used identical steel/treatments. Yes you could ask them, they'll ask you why and you'll know what they'll say. I have a better idea if you still have the caliber change bug; there are several custom shops out there specializing in revolvers/caliber changes. Seek one of them out, ask away. Probably better than S&W IMO. SAAMI Z299.3-2022 - CFP&R Ammunition You prolly already know that the dimensions for Frame window/cylinder length/girth between a 24/27/29/624/629 is purty much near the same. Zactly, near as I can figger. Only difference is the depths of the chamber. Nice little shooter ya got there!
  8. You suspect right LOL. Being local, I've been to Tombstone several times. Terfertiller's book along with some others lended an on-site guide as I walked through the events of that day on a number of occasions. Personally, both sides had their issues but one facet, the Dem/Republican feud was as bad then as it is now LOL.
  9. I started CAS in 2003. At the time, I was working full time on a range, Prior, I'd pretty much paused my "shooting hobby" because shooting was now work. I found other hobbies outside of shooting to "relax" when I wasn't working. That lasted um, not quite ten years when I decided I NEEDED to get back into a shooting competition but not shotgunning and not IPSC/USPSA, something "fun". stumbled on CAS, never looked back! I shot it continually up until a few years ago when life got in the way. Happens. Slowly getting everything back on track, CAS is next. Here's how I did it originally. After finding and obtaining the required firearms, leather, etc I started with dry practice. My Practice board was a piece of masonite with circles, cowboys, different simulated targets stuck on. Laid out like you would see at a match stage. I had a folding plastic table, made an upright gun rack to clamp to that and I was in business. Practice the basics. Draw, presentation to line of sight, cocking, firing, different sequences, holster/stage weapons. Just as if I was shooting a stage. Working on a range at least a couple times a week I'd get twenty minutes to myself and I would bring my cowboy guns. Practice the same way live fire. Once I got to shooting matches regular, the dry practice supplemented that. I''m doing the same thing now, been laid off a good bit so practicing up. Don't want to look like a fumblefingers next time out! Good luck, God Bless!
  10. I don't think you can get a baffle in a MEC bottle, LOL. Never saw anyone make an aftermarket. Only powder measures I have that use baffles are the ones came on the 650, the RCBS Grand. I still use my old Redding measure, doesn't have a baffle. Loaded tens of thousands of rounds with that over the years, no issues. The only thing a baffle "solves" is the powder drop is dependent on the pressure exerted by what's in the hopper. Full hopper=slightly heavier powder charge compared to when the hopper is almost empty. Equals a more consistent drop. Not aware of any articles on the subject with specific data.
  11. I'm happy that you eventually prevailed, Brother. While my experiences don't quite mirror yours, I saw many of the same things in my forty years as a Peace Officer. Happily retired but I stayed on as a Reserve simply because I enjoy giving back to "My Family." When the family business sometimes involves picking up dog turds, one does his or her best to do the best job they can without getting any on themselves. Not always an easy task. Life is full of challenges. Once upon a time, "we" got a new provost Marshal. That billet was slated for an O-5 LtCol. He was an O-6. They sent him to us after we was unselected for higher rank. It was unusual for the Provost Marshal to attend Guardmounts. But he did, for all four shifts of two Platoons so everyone heard his welcome speech, his goals and intentions. Personally. One of the finest Officers I served under. Along the way I saw, that for one to rise in the ranks (much as it is in local law enforcement) above a certain level, a modicum of "political prowess" is required. I worked for a number of those, including a guy who was on the LT's list and lets just say what "the department" asked him to do, he wouldn't. Today he's just a Beat Cop. Happily finishing out his time. And those in the upper echelons? Un-elected by the voters that next cycle and gone. The rest of us put what was left of our department back together and drove onward. Not that the old guard was bad. Truth, sometimes, is a matter of perspective rather than black/white. But truth IS that, too. Honest mistakes were made along with some intentional ones. One of the most important lessons I learned in forty years was perspective. God Bless.
  12. Alex Wellerstein's excellent tool. It's a handy reference "with slides" that illustrates to the layman the area of destruction regarding nuclear weapons. It shows the area and defines the differing effects found for heat, radiation, air pressure and so on. One of the texts I used back in the day was Glasstone's Effects of Nuclear Weapons. it came with a circular slide rule, the Nuclear Bomb Effects Computer. Did basically the same thing as Wellerstein's website without the slides, LOL. To do these calculations you need to know the size of the device. Airburst versus surface, wind direction/speed altitude and more importantly, the estimated yield. (size of the blast.) This allows the effects or radiation to be calculated, among other factors. In addition, you can survey the damage and estimate the yield that way. Estimate. These above calculations allow you to do a reasonable estimation on fallout. Wellerstein's website does that too. Fallout is spread by wind, weather. Google "Downwinders". This is a specific group of people living in a defined area, primarily in the Southwestern USA (and others) in the 1950's-60's that were exposed to fallout from the above ground nuclear tests at the Nevada Test Site. (and other places in the world like Bikini) Circular Error of Probability; this is the radius of a circle where the probability of 50% of the impacts will be inside. Back fifty years ago, that circle could be a mile. Or more. Today, that circle can be measured in stadium size and some systems can drop the warhead on specific seats. Which is why they don't need a nine megaton nuke to destroy NORAD under its granite mountain or buried command bunkers anymore. Because of the above, nuclear weapons were quite large, 500kt, 1.4 Mt and the big one, what they put on the 56 Titan II's the W-53. Nine Mt. Kiloton = Equal to a thousand tons of TNT Megaton = A million tons of TNT Today they use something like 300Kt, depending on the system and some missiles have three, up to ten or more warheads. Each. Which can be independently targeted. Some can be decoys as well. Back in the day, my State, Arizona was A-Numbah #1 on the hit list for nukes. We had two wings of Titan II ICBM's around Tucson and several SAC bases, plus strategic assets in the Phoenix area. Today, not so much. The Air Guard refueling wing is still based out of Phoenix. The old SAC base in Tucson does different stuff than ICBM's. Luke AFB west of Phoenix is only a training base, these days for F-35's. Sound of FREEDOM, baby! None of these would be a Primary target in WWIII. In Theory. Not all that long ago, I did new calculations for my AO. If. If they dropped one on Luke, because of their long runways and ability to potentially service strategic assets, they just might drop one or two on that base. I live nine miles, as the crow flies. Weapons of @ 300kt, the most common, actually, that "they" might use, my home is just outside the major effects of blast, heat, overpressure. In Theory. Provided I'm not on the roof or in an exposed area, I and my family would be fine. Fallout comes after. How long depends on the factors discussed previously. The short version is IF, if we bugged out immediately, we could make it to a "safe" distance north and east away from that detonation and OUT of the initial fallout zone. If the power doesn't go out and scramble all the traffic lights. IF the other three, four million others sharing this Valley of the Sun with me don't all panic and hit the streets too, that is. LOL. When I was a young troop stationed in Western Europe we knew any incursion by the Soviets would include nukes/chemicals. Which is why we practiced the bugout, basically. Then "we" as in the entire frickin' US Army turns into a spearhead aimed right for those commie so-and-so's trying to storm through the Fulda Gap. They never told us this but "everybody knew" that if the WWIII balloon went up, BOTH sides would probably immediately go to nukes and chemicals. First tactical (in theater) size, then strategic.<---this means they bomb DC. Omaha. Etc. Oh. And if you were wondering, in my experience, I and my fellow Soldiers were acutely aware that should WWIII happen to us, we weren't going to make it home. Even if we "won", we knew the score of life in a nuclear post-WWIII world. We knew we were never going to make it home. We knew that THAT didn't matter, because the defense of Freedom from the commies rested at OUR feet. So, we might as well stand tall, fight like hell and take a few commies with us in the hopes that future generations would rebuild and prosper. As they did after WWII. As they did all down through Human History. At least that's how it rolled in my little AO, simply a part of a small cog in the Big Green Machine. Now you know how Private Snuffy got his name..... Since it's been fifty years, the declass of most of this information is astounding. You can look up the above ground testing they did in Nevada and other places. Here's a good place to start; List of United States nuclear weapons tests - Wikipedia Special points of interests; testing series of Operations Plumb bob and Upshot-Knothole. Yes. They built "towns" then nuked them to see what would happen. Yes. They exposed our own troops DELIBERATELY to then study the effects of radiation/fallout protection. Yes. They did extensive testing to ensure that none of these weapons would go high-order on accident. (None did, but they surely cracked a few up during the times of SAC/Airborne Alerts/Launch on Warning. Oh. What FUN those days were) One of the best texts on the subject is Effects of Nuclear Weapons by Glasstone. Considered "the" text. It's one I used back in the day and I still do...as a hobby. LOL
  13. Cap & ball for pistols. Black powder shells in shotgun, black powder shells in a lever rifle. Have at it.
  14. Social Media has empowered a lot of these idjits. They say things online that would earn them a punch in the nose if they said it to the right someone's face. They become emboldened and this is the result. they also feel it's "ok" to trespass, damage property because Trump is bad or some other such nonsense so they rationalize their improper conduct because "Trump's a nazi" or some other such crap which is supposed to make it ok. As for the paintball guy, even though it wasn't "a firearm" I believe it would be at the minimum, misdemeanor assault with a good chance they'd raise it to felony weight. I don't condone that sort of conduct either. Either act within the law or suffer the consequences. Here Endeth The Lesson
  15. "The Duncan-Carter Hearing Protection Act was delivered by GOP sponsors U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan of South Carolina and Rep. John Carter of Texas and aims to deregulate suppressors as a safety measure to help promote their use in protecting hearing." http://www.guns.com/2017/01/10/hearing-protection-act-introduced-to-new-congress/ I would urge y'all to contact your congress-critters and Senators about this bill. Remember suppressors and silencers are the same thing. Stress these devices would still require the same paperwork and background check, along with all the regulatory protections that a handgun would.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.