War Grizzly

My die setup is very close to yours. Rcbs 45 Colt sizer, rcbs 45 acp expander, rcbs 45 Colt to seat bullet, Lee 45 Colt die trimmed off the bottom to crimp. I use 180 gr bullets and I'm able to get away with a 45 Colt die to seat with the die body screwed all the way down to the shell plate and the seater plug almost bottomed out. All this in a Hornady progressive. I put very little thought into this setup and it happened to work so I leave it set. I run 3.2 grn of Clays under the 180 grn bullet. I have loaded lighter but my times did not improve and I felt that they were on the verge of a squib. I have recently switched over to running them though my rifle for a quick reload and that gives me another reason to not run on the fringes of failure. They are nonetheless much lighter in recoil than any 45 Colt case loading I have tried that actually burns clean.

I loaded in the milk house of an old dairy barn for a few years without climate control. It was simply not economical to heat or cool the space though I did have lights. During the spring and fall you could watch steel rust. I kept the dies, powder, primers, and scale inside a decommissioned refrigerator with a 60 watt light bulb constantly burning inside the refrigerator. This is the same refrigerator that I used to store welding electrodes and filler. That worked very well. Work in the milk house during the summer was unbearable for all but the predawn hours. I made it work. I was put in this situation when we became the full time caretakers for my father in law. What we thought would be a few months of rehabilitation became 4 years of round the clock care up until his death. I do not envy your situation but I do have the highest respect for you. Take time to care for yourself while you are caring for others.

I own a Cimarron 1889 basically by accident. I have $0.00 invested in it and I still think I got a bad deal. In all honesty they are not completely unworkable but for the price I feel there is better money to be spent. A shooter could get a raced up Stoeger from a reputable Smith for the cost of a stock 1889 that would be a struggle to shoot a match with. The specimen I own is from very early in production. Perhaps things have changed. Just my thoughts. If you want one by all means get one. Heck, I got one... Cheap

VID_20191229_152421794~2_640x360.mp4 Here's a video of me training this afternoon. I'm making plenty of mistakes and I'm still getting used to the bandolier but it shows a variation on TBD's technique from the video posted above. I shuck while he rotated and shucks. He's faster by a good margin and there's plenty of other differences between what he's doing and what I can do. On a good day of practice I can get 4 off from the table under 4 seconds. One of the more costly mistakes I'm making is closing my left hand around the barrels. I normally don't do that but the video doesnt lie. VID_20191229_152421794~2.mp4 VID_20191229_152421794~2.mp4

4.6 under a 200 grn Missouri rnfp is the load I use in both rifle and pistol. If I go any lighter they get dirty quick. Recoil is manageable in the pistol and next to nothing in the rifle but still rings the plates good. Also happens to be the same charge I use in my 38-40 so I don't change the powder drop.

I have loaded with all three of the powders you listed. All work fine. Pick your poison. I chose Clays because I'm cheap and it burns clean enough. If I want to step up the power a bit then universal or unique are better suited. I used to hunt with 44wcf 200 grain jacketed and a stiff load of unique. Most accurate hunting load. Best plinking load I found was a book minimum charge of Clays.

Guns, ammo, water. The truck or car is normally very close to the range. If it's further to the truck then I'll grab a screwdriver set although I've never needed anything. It's not that nothing has ever went wrong for me but during those times it wasn't something I was going to fix on the range anyway. It's more feasible just to grab a backup gun out of the vehicle or borrow something to finish the match. I have considered adding a shotgun chamber swab to the cart but haven't found the perfect one for me and so I run without. I may add some hand wipes to the cart because I like to eat an apple or whatever to keep me level, and I'm increasingly more paranoid about lead. It is during practice sessions that I determine what I need. When I used to shoot a Marlin I knew that I needed to carry a screwdriver because the screw came loose during practice.

I count my brass cost as depreciating about 80% per loading. That's basically because I lose about that much whether it be shooting at home or at a match. This makes my cost per round closer to $0.14 for 45 and 38/40. That's 3.5 primer. 1.5 powder 7 bullet 2 brass. This math accounts for brass lasting 14 loadings. I very rarely need to discard brass because it has split. I've considered making provisions to capture more of my brass at home but have never spent the time to do it. I buy brass 2000 cases at a time and shoot that until I end up with a pile that looks like about 500 then order more. This method I believe results in a reasonable balance that minimizes time spent reloading and policing brass while maximizing time spent shooting. I do sort my loaded cases before a match looking for any dents, splits, or high primers, but I do not run a match bucket and a practice bucket.

That's exactly the sort of info I was looking for. Kinda figured it was along those lines. I have some early gen short stroke links and some spare factory parts so I should be good to go. I've got to get deer season out of the way and then hopefully I'll tackle this on Thanksgiving weekend. Thanks a million

Myself, I wouldn't worry much about it. If you cut the half cock notch "properly" so that the trigger can't be pulled then the trigger itself must reset further than if the hammer simply has an extra notch cut at a more positive angle for the half cock position. In other words the trigger moves farther forward in the gun with the properly cut half cock. This is exacerbated in a short stroke because there isn't enough real estate on the hammer to allow for a smooth transition into half cock. Many short strokes are done exactly as yours are. It is good to be aware that careless handling at the load table could result in a discharge. This topic was discussed just a few months ago if memory serves me well.

I'm looking for general information on what is typically done when a rifle is short stroked by the cut, bend, weld technique. I have a new Uberti 1873 rifle and I'm considering going this route instead of buying new toggle links. For better or worse, I do my own gun work as part of what I enjoy about the sport and have my own machine shop. I've been able to short stroke my Rugers with good results by simply looking at pictures online but I can't seem to find anything showing what has been modified on Uberti rifles. I'm not looking for detailed specifics nor am I looking to work on anyone else's gun. I realize that this approach is not the cheapest and it will not result in the world's greatest rifle. Any help especially pictures would be much appreciated.

I've had success with a heavy charge of Unique under 200gr XTP. I consider it an ethical hunting cartridge out to 140yds. After that accuracy falls apart and energy drops too low for bullet performance.