Alpo Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 I don't know why this crawled back in the memory. Several years ago I was reading an article on reloading on a budget. Guy told about when he got started. 38 Special. Lee loader. He did not have a scale, but he had a balance. The load he wanted was five grains of unique. And looka there - said right on the bottle that these were five grain aspirin tablets. So he put a pill on one side of his balance and put powder on the other side until they leveled out. Many years later he realized that the five grains was the amount of aspirin in the pill, but it also had other stuff in it to hold the aspirin together in pill form. And he weighed an aspirin tablet. I don't recall what he said an aspirin tablet weighed, but he had been shooting massive overloads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 Check this out: https://www.wyzant.com/resources/answers/403717/i_crushed_an_aspirin_tablet_and_got_341_5_mg_which_is_more_than_a_typical_tablet_weights_325_mg_why_did_this_happen 341.5 mg equals 5.27 grains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
July Smith Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 Reminds me of a story a gunsmith told me about a guy that kept bringing in a rifle with squibs stuck in the barrel. Same story, he was a new reloader without a scale. I don't remember the caliber, but his load manual had a suggested starting load of 35gr with his particular powder. This new reloader assumed it was 35 literal grains of powder and would count the individual kernels of powder out with a tweezers. Obviously the load was extremely underpowered and would result in squib after squib. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 1 hour ago, July Smith said: Reminds me of a story a gunsmith told me about a guy that kept bringing in a rifle with squibs stuck in the barrel. Same story, he was a new reloader without a scale. I don't remember the caliber, but his load manual had a suggested starting load of 35gr with his particular powder. This new reloader assumed it was 35 literal grains of powder and would count the individual kernels of powder out with a tweezers. Obviously the load was extremely underpowered and would result in squib after squib. Must have taken a very long time to get a box of 50! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cypress Sun Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 1 hour ago, July Smith said: Reminds me of a story a gunsmith told me about a guy that kept bringing in a rifle with squibs stuck in the barrel. Same story, he was a new reloader without a scale. I don't remember the caliber, but his load manual had a suggested starting load of 35gr with his particular powder. This new reloader assumed it was 35 literal grains of powder and would count the individual kernels of powder out with a tweezers. Obviously the load was extremely underpowered and would result in squib after squib. This may explain some of the cowboy loads I've seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 26 minutes ago, Cypress Sun said: This may explain some of the cowboy loads I've seen. Okay...I almost needed a new keyboard. Yeah, no kidding. I have actually been shocked at some loads I have heard / seen people shooting at matches. In those cases I do not think they should bbe able t say "Cowboy" Action Shooting...Maybe something a little more appropriate. I will stop now at the risk of huhting someone's wittle feewings... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 I'm sorry...that wasn't very nice. I retract the above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forty Rod SASS 3935 Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 2 hours ago, July Smith said: Reminds me of a story a gunsmith told me about a guy that kept bringing in a rifle with squibs stuck in the barrel. Same story, he was a new reloader without a scale. I don't remember the caliber, but his load manual had a suggested starting load of 35gr with his particular powder. This new reloader assumed it was 35 literal grains of powder and would count the individual kernels of powder out with a tweezers. Obviously the load was extremely underpowered and would result in squib after squib. When I worked in a muzzle loading shop in Anaheim we had a new customer (a high school teacher) come back after buying a TC Hawken and ask of there was a better way to measure powder. He said he kept losing count of the grains. We showed him a better way and he was so embarrassed that he turned the air red. The inconsiderate SOB got to where he could outshoot us "experts" within a month or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 After reading what @Forty Rod SASS 3935wrote above I recalled a guy at Cabela's. He asked the clerk in the reloading department "Where are your tweezers or what do you use to measure out powder?" The clerk, without missing a beat or even showing any sign of humor said "You don't need powder tweezers. Let me show you our powder measures." Afterwards he told me he gets that scenario about once a year and though he shows no emotion, inside he is laughing hilariously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Creek Law Dog Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 2 hours ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said: Okay...I almost needed a new keyboard. Yeah, no kidding. I have actually been shocked at some loads I have heard / seen people shooting at matches. In those cases I do not think they should bbe able t say "Cowboy" Action Shooting...Maybe something a little more appropriate. I will stop now at the risk of huhting someone's wittle feewings... I have spotted for shooters where you could actually keep the bullet in sight as it went towards the target. tink. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 I think this is a prime example of where a little knowledge is dangerous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackwater 53393 Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 Shot in a Black Powder match at the old Possum Trot several years ago. One lady shooter was having trouble getting her pistol rounds to the targets! I’m NOT JOKING! The targets were no more than seven to ten yards out and she had to shoot her pistols so that the bullet would follow a real arc to reach the targets!! We were cleaning up the range in the evening between the first and second days of the match and found quite a few completely undamaged .32 cal bullets at the base of the pistol targets!! One of the range officers asked her if she had any powder in her cartridges . She was pretty angry when she replied, but everyone else was asking that same question. The next time we saw her , she was at least making some smoke and the spotters could hear a little ring when she managed to hit the targets!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgavin Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 This is akin to early days of riding Harleys with the old points-style ignition components. Adjust the points to a dime's thickness... or two nickels if you don't have a dime handy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyesa Horg Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 The dime worked fine and Chevy points would work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 1 hour ago, bgavin said: This is akin to early days of riding Harleys with the old points-style ignition components. Adjust the points to a dime's thickness... or two nickels if you don't have a dime handy. 50 minutes ago, Eyesa Horg said: The dime worked fine and Chevy points would work! Matchbooks worked for Yamahas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpo Posted April 5, 2022 Author Share Posted April 5, 2022 1 hour ago, bgavin said: This is akin to early days of riding Harleys with the old points-style ignition components. Adjust the points to a dime's thickness... or two nickels if you don't have a dime handy. That reminds me of the story I heard about why Minnesota state quarters did not work in vending machines. They think that the duct tape they used to hold the two dimes and nickel together was coming loose and gumming up the works of the machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokin Gator SASS #29736 Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 I got a box of 45 Colt ammo as a prize years ago. It was 160 or 165 gr cowboy ammo. I could not believe the little "pop" it made when fired and very, very little recoil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Chance Morgun Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 4 hours ago, Buffalo Creek Law Dog said: I have spotted for shooters where you could actually keep the bullet in sight as it went towards the target. tink. We have one shooter whose loads are so light that if it looks like it's going to miss, he can run down move target into the bullet's path. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wallaby Jack, SASS #44062 Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 ....... getting that 1/2 grain can be a bit of a booger with some of that fine powder ...... ......... not only do you need tweezers, but also a scalpel and a microscope ...... .............. and you need a microscope so that you can be accurate enough with your cut so that you can use the offcut in your next load .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpo Posted April 5, 2022 Author Share Posted April 5, 2022 5 hours ago, Buffalo Creek Law Dog said: I have spotted for shooters where you could actually keep the bullet in sight as it went towards the target. tink. Birdgun Quail, Colt 36 Navy. Blow the picture up some and you can see the ball in that red circle I drew. Round about 7:00. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 Well, up in Oregon I could swear I saw one guys bullets swerve in a gust of wind. It still hit the target. I jokingly asked him if he had homing devices in his bullets. He actually snarled. I don’t think he thought I was very funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crooked River Pete, SASS 43485 Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 I just weighed one, 5.5 grains, labeled as 325 mg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watab kid Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 truth in advertising - we never have had it - or politics .......................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokin Gator SASS #29736 Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 When conditions are just right it can be pretty easy to catch a glimpse of the bullet in flight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willie Miss 45 Posted April 7, 2022 Share Posted April 7, 2022 I know its not thr same but i have some clips of bullet trace fom my 308 at Clinton Irwin. Pretty cool. Look close. Willie Miss 45 308 bullet trace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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