Captain Bill Burt

If you shop around for components you should be able to load .38 for under .09 per round. My wife and I shoot bullets loaded similarly to Randy, but with 2.7 of Clays. The Dillon 650 is easy to operate and easy to maintain. Once you get used to it you should be able to do 600 rounds an hour pretty easily. You can go faster, but my experience has been poor once you are pushing 700 or so rounds an hour. Just over 2 hours a month gets me the 1,400 or so rounds my wife and I use each month. The auto indexing feature isn’t that challenging in my experience. If you suspect something went wrong just STOP, pull the pins and inspect each cartridge. Hurrying during reloading is a bad idea. Although technically this is ‘rocket science’ my experience has been that it’s just not that complicated. Many shooters are very OCD about reloading, and that’s fine. I take a more casual approach. I set COAL initially by setting my reload next to some Georgia Arms ammo I knew fed well and placing a bubble level across both. When they were level I knew my seating die was set correctly. I set the crimp using my finger to feel the seam. I set the bell visually. No crushed mouths or lead shavings and you’re good to go. I stick with the minimum bell needed to increase case longevity . I check for split cases by grabbing a handful of brass and shaking it before throwing it in the hopper. If you have a split case you’ll be able to hear it if your hearing is near normal. I use Clays and don’t have a powder check. Never had an issue with bridging and in 9 years have never had a squib. I’ve had two split cases get through during that 9 years. I don’t trim brass nor inspect it other than as I’m loading at the LT. when in doubt I toss it. If the occasional .357 gets through you’ll see it when you place the bullet. You can toss it then and you’re out a penny or two for the primer.

My experience has been that initially the 97 is easier to learn and get decent times with. When I purchased my 97 I was running four shots through it in just under six seconds within a couple of hours. My SKB took longer to master, but my times are better than with the 97, about four seconds for four shots. I still have a couple of 97s but they’re safe queens. You don’t have to be able to pull four in one hand to be proficient with a 97. Two in each hand also works well or three in one hand and one in the other.

I wouldn't kick her out of bed if she were eating frogs. Finish the frog dear and get back in bed. I wear Levi's too, but not as well as she does.

They could get frost burns from the ice cream!

Me too!

The question that comes to my mind is if he had gotten out of that truck and starting shooting would it have been duelist or traditional. I would be pretty disappointed to see him with both hands on a pistol.

He's a TV star now too, so he'll probably be needing to buy a new, bigger hat. We need to check his truck for scuff marks, he may have run over something/someone.

Yeah. Just a few bad apples who are about to turn their lives around. Gentle giants.

So you can't use your rifle at match speeds? $99 for the package and $59 for each additional bullet? So if I want to practice firing 10 round pistol strings, like a match requires, I'm looking at over $600 bucks? Still might be good for practicing first shots, but not anything else.

I would prefer me with my AR AND you next to me with your shotgun!

True, but a man alone with an AR is infinitely better prepared than a man alone without a gun.

They're actually sitting in a small box in the back of my closet accumulating. When I get enough to be worth the trouble I'll have to figure something out. I bet if I bring them to a cowboy match someone will take them, fully aware that there may or may not be something wrong with them.

I don't know where that quote came from, but it wasn't me.

Although I like your comment I'm going to respectfully disagree. Gamers have been, and in some circles still are, criticized despite being within the rules. They're also sneered at by some 'real smoke and flame cowboys' for their calibers of choice and attire.

I have an 870 with extended mag too, and a Mossberg 930, both fully loaded. But if it's mob time and they're not in my house, I'm going to the AR.