Dusty Devil Dale

My belt holds 10. I've encountered two stages, one in a big match, that used 8. I use all 10 slots (actually 5 doubles). From the left side, I keep six of my light 7/8oz loads for ordinary KD targets. From. the right, I usually keep four 1-1/8 oz loads for clay birds. That has worked out well, but it does make for a wider pistol separation.

Everything I have read says you must make sure all propane appliances are turned off and tank valves closed w/ pilots off while on the highway, and in particular while at a station refueling. They make it sound like it is a law, but without saying that directly. But when driving for 5-7 hrs or more in a day, how can food be kept cold in the fridge or frozen in the freezer without propane or 120V power? The insulation in those boxes does not look that good to me. Stopping in advance of, and after, refueling to shut things down and then turn them back on is always an option, but is that necessary? Or am I wrong about the insulation quality in a TT or RV? What am I over- or under-looking? Do you folks shut everything off in travel, or to refuel? and do any of you know of a case where a gas station fire started from a pilot light on a travel trailer? It does not seem like the gasoline fumes at an outdoor station could reach the 30% ignition c oncentration unless there is a significant spill. --I could be wrong there. What is your experience? Do you use dry ice?

If a money management firm needs to advertise that way, beware. And don't plan on a banquet.

I'm 73, living in a 15ac pecan orchard and having an 80ac timber ranch 40 miles up the mountain --managing both. LOTS of physical work, but I'd way rather die dusty on a tractor than live for 15 more years in a subdivision --- or worse. That's just me. Your mileage may differ. I did the subdivision thing once. Couldn't handle it very well. I was country born.

Look GOOD before you leap. There's nothing worse than not having enough to do and vegetating in front of the tube.

Next time you stop by the Purdy establishment to be measured for your custom English Double, they will measure you up for the "cast" of the gunstock.

A nice thing about the Grabber is that the design makes it very difficult (I'll stop short of saying "impossible") to produce a double powder drop or to spill powder or shot all over the bench and floor. One mistake NOT to make is to forget to put the red plug back in the powder or shot magazine after refilling, then later tilting the support frame down to change bars. (Don't ask how I know). 15# of shot on the bench and floor is one heck of a mess and stepping on that many shot can send you cartwheeling (again, don't ask). (Don't be a victim by buying the Grabber. Instead PM me the contact info of the person selling it for that price and I'll make sure it goes off the market ---- to protect other prospective victims.)

Changing a person's mind is usually more of a challenge than we realize. Some time ago, I read a very good but hard-reading, book entitled "Doubt and Certainty in Science" (I cannot remember the author). The book had a section describing the physiology of the learning process. It used an interesting model. The brain learns by growing/establishing new pathways along which neurological (electro-chemical) impulses travel. The brain makes the paths as short as possible within its structure. By using them repeatedly (i.e., by having repetitive needs or thinking the same thoughts), they become like freeways, transmitting the impulses more and more rapidly. That is what practice, muscle memory and repetition are about. But once learned and reinforced, the brain will resist conflicting information, avoiding the need to move impulses down new, different and slower paths. Remember, your brain is trying to move about 10,000 to 12,000 impulses PER SECOND! So when we expect someone to change their mind about something that has become repetitively reinforced, we are literally seeking physiological changes. That can be done, but it requires the the brain to realize some major disturbance that causes physiological consequence, like grief, stress, fear, pain, etc. (think electrical shock avoidance), such that the brain perceives need to protect itself by risking use of new, slower pathways -- it wants to stay on its high-speed freeway. So "made-up" minds are unlikely change easily based on harmless conversational rhetoric alone. Indoctrination/brain-washing is the process of deliberately establishing new concepts as freeways in young, formative minds, or interrupting the existing freeways in older minds with real or false information repetitively enough and disturbingly enough for new freeways to replace old ones. Once concepts like "anti-gun" or "global climate risk" or "assault weapon bans" or "The Big Lie" become reinforced by repetition, they become actual physiological structures that offer "stubborn" resistance. I've found the model interesting and useful, at least in curbing my frustrating past efforts to try to use logic to convince people who are not about to "change their mind".

I encountered a lot of anti-hunting activists when I worked as a manager for the State Dept of Fish and Wildlife (retired 11 yrs ago). Some were pretty hateful. When I was in a patient mood, I would explain to them that nature is not kind. Only humans and their pets or livestock have the privilege of a quick, painless death or anesthesia. The others are eaten alive as soon as they are sick, old, injured, weak, sleep too soundly or as infants killed by predators. There is a reason why most animals produce so many offspring over their breeding lifespan. For example, with deer, the norm is two fawns PER YEAR and the breeding lifespan can be 12 yrs. (Imagine the human population if every female on Earth produced twins every year for 15-20 yrs.) If all of those offspring survive to breeding age and do the same, the overpopulation would rapidly consume all available food and living space. I would ask which they would prefer, a quick death from a bullet or starving, or being eaten alive, they usually piped down to think for a minute. I figured that was the best I could expect from them. I doubt I changed anybody's thinking. Brainwashing is nearly impossible to overcome with facts or logic.

Keep in mind that at usual CAS ranges, under ten yards, you are essentially shooting a rifle. The pattern at that range is smaller than your hand. So general pointing probably won't get it done, at least until you burn a few boxes of shells practicing.

I've seen multiple squib (3) stacked in a 6" S&W 686 with factory. 357 ammo. No gun damage. But I've personally blown a foot long hole in a shotgun barrel, years ago, due to an undetected squib. The weird part is that the squib load actually dropped a quail, but the wad apparently didn't clear and caused the damage. Nobody was injured, luckily. (The load was 19gn Red Dot and 1-1/8 oz.) Shotgun squibs are a very different arena, even with light loads.

regarding spotting, I'm trying to imagine how with a sxs a charge from one barrel could hit a target and the other, shot simo, be a complete miss. I question if it is possible.

I also cannot find any rule prohibiting a shotgun double-fire. It isn't really a safety issue, as long as loads are not powerful enough to separate the barrels. Spotting may become difficult, but the spent hulls will tell the story on how many were fired. . And as with gunfighters, how much separation is "separate firing" (to a bunch of shooting enthusiast observers with impaired hearing and wearing ear plugs)? Does it matter?

It would be best to teach young people honesty and respect for the law and for law enforcement (and self) whether or not you agree with it and regardless of whether it is convenient or not. Sadly that has not been done very well, so now we are talking here about shooting them (offenders). Folks just needed to spank 'em back when they were good learners. Instead we listened to psychologists and school boards instead of eons of history. We got what we have now.

Agree. I would not hone/alter a chamber cut at a factory with a precision chamber reamer unless I could actually see damage--like a dented chamber wall, deep scratches or high burrs that could not be easily polished out AND were in a location and magnitude that they could actually affect loading or hull shucking. Just because we can all buy gunsmithing tools or a Dremel does not mean that all of us have the expertise, supportive tooling, and experience to use them properly at the kitchen table. Humility and self restraint can save a lot of expensive gun damage.

DO NOT hone the inside diameter of the extractors. If they get enlarged a very small amount, the rims of some hulls can slide inside the extractor arms under recoil, and jamb the gun. They can be very difficult to remove, and the gun won't close. I've seen a number of otherwise nice sxs shotguns damaged by unknowing people using cylinder hones way too aggressively. The cylinders and forcing cones are manufactured the correct diameters, to pretty exacting standards. If hulls are sticking, it is because the cylinders are either abraded/scored, or because they are dirty. The latter is most common. First, focus on keeping them clean. If they look scored, a bit of polish is usually all that is needed. Very light loads, like we use in CAS, do not do a good job of sealing hulls against the cylinder walls, so blowback of gasses and cellulose often occurs, coating the inside cylinder wall. It builds up down by the forcing cone, and it is not always visible. Most of us have had the experience of looking into shotgun cylinders that look clean, then cleaning them and getting out a huge amount of deposited crud. So concentrate first on making sure the steel is clean. Permanent material removal, like honing, is almost never the first thing to try. If you use a hone, work slowly -- check frequently.

If you are shooting for time, that extra stiffness, clearance issue and the second or two to get the hulls out (twice or more times per stage) really adds seconds over a five or ten stage match. Personally, I'd be looking for a different shotgun or for somebody capable to modify the CZ. For our CAS shooting, all of that wonderful balance stuff doesn't really mean very much. What consumes time and wins or loses matches is the shotgun loading and reloading transitions.

I think you answered your own question. Go with the 12 GA availability and work on a soft load. I'm a small frame guy, but long before high school (mid 1960s), at 105 lbs, I was shooting lots of geese with 3" mag 12 ga 1-7/8 oz loads. My bet is that the g'nephew can easily handle any 12 ga load; especially typical cowboy "butterfly" loads like most people shoot. Try 12 gn Extralite and 7/8oz.

Take a look at (inside) your seating and crimp dies. If they have built-up crud, it can affect seating depth.

Bottled drinking water is about the same per-gallon as regular gasoline.

What is "Free" exactly? Everything belongs to somebody, so for one person to receive it for "free", somebody else is giving it up or paying for it.

I'm definitely in. This was great fun last year.

It deserves a prominent display place. I would happily trade with you (My mail last week only had a jury duty notice.)

Roger, the Pick, Sing, and S'mores jam was a lot of fun last year. Are you planning a similar format this year? A couple people I know have asked: By "acoustic" instruments, does that include acoustic-electric?

Computer cabinets with wheels, BIG repair bills and every imagineable unneeded feature.