Jamie Jackson

My condolences and Prayers for all. God Bless.

I love mine. I should have picked one up long ago.

Congrats Rob! You done Good! That little light is bright isn't it?

@E4 No More If we're talking raised beds, as I am a suburbanite, that is what I use. The best thing about raised beds (actually 2 things) is/are that weeds are almost a nonentity and beds can be constructed tall enough to make it easy on the back for tending. If we're talking planting a corn field I'll just stay in my lane and leave that to folks like @gregintenn With an unknown future having a productive garden adds a little piece of mind. We're around 14 years using raised beds and we always have plenty to freeze, can and share. Good luck to you Sir.

It's gonna be tough Greg. And unfortunately will just get worse. I don't put in a garden anywhere near the size of yours, but I am looking forward to getting all of beds beds up and running. Fortunately I ordered my seeds last fall and already have the onions and Chard planted. Wishing everyone good luck!

Congrats Rob. I think you'll be pleased with your choice. @maroonandwhite, I could send a lot of money at Inline that I don;t need to. LOL I have a cardboard box to the left of the press and have used the traditional knob. It works for me, so why change? But they have some nice gear.

There's been some excellent advice and information shared already. I finally wore out my first press, a Lee single stage, after 35 years and many 10's of thousands of a variety of handloads. I replaced it with the Lee Classic cast with the breech lock update and have no doubt it'll outlive me. I have a Dillon 550 B that I purchased around 1990. I have no idea how many 9mm and 45 acp I've loaded over the decades, but as many as 14,000/year to as few as 5,000/year. It's not auto-indexed, but honestly that's never been a concern, nor even a "want" for me. I can leisurely load 400 rounds an hour keeping a careful eye on each step. I think I've loaded around 4000 9mm so far this year. Handloading is my "Zen" place. I did send it back to Dillon several years ago for a "Tune up" and they returned a like new press to me. Dillon's customer service has always been incredible. I've lost track of the extra/spare parts and primer tubes they've given me over the years...but it's quite a bit. IF you go with a Dillon I would highly recommend an Inline Fabrication LED light kit. It's probably the best $34.00 I've spent on reloading gear in a long time. It's made seeing what these aging eyes are doing much easier! I also use a JW Systems extended primer track bearing plate. But that's a little more money for a later time LOL Good luck with your quest.

Just went out and measured the railing on the front deck and floor on the back deck. 5 inches. The sun is trying to peek out now...so I guess I'll run the weedeater tomorrow... Power came back on a bit after 0930...but I'm still gonna reload today! pic is thru my front door... it was cold out

I'm in West Knoxville. We lost power around 0600. Ran the generator awhile, made coffee and charged my phone. Judging from the snow on the deck and railings we got around 4 inches and it's still snowing. Very wet snow. Beautiful though. It's weird as I just cut the grass and did some yard work yesterday. Coming from South Mississippi/ New Orleans area I appreciate the variability of the seasons...just not so much daily seasonal change LOL Just glad I don't have to be out in it. Might be a good day to do some reloading.

Increased to $3.99 when I passed this morning. (Monday)

Just tagging in. $3.79 at Marathon on Kingston Pike near Lovell in Knoxville today.

Congratulations on a great move Lee. I better start putting some cash aside

These are challenging times for us handloaders. I like Green Dot for 9mm use fwiw. I was able to pick up some W231, H110, and Clean Shot a few weeks ago at Powder Valley. I just checked and they don't have any Green Dot this morning. So it's hit or miss these days. I check several sites several times a week for 2400...eventually I was shooting and talking with a friend yesterday, he's an avid handloader as well. He said he struck out on any components he was looking for in the Knoxville area, but ran across and picked up some Bullseye recently online. Like I said, hit or miss. Good luck and don't give up.

You're gonna make it rain. You know that don't you? I am so looking forward to garden time!

Thank you Rob. I'm hoping 2400 will start showing up again. All in time I reckon.

I did just this on Jan 12th. I loaded some 158 gr LSWC Hi Tek coated bullets (Hoosier's) for my LCR snubby in .38 spl. The powder was 3.6 gr AA#2. Winchester Magnum small pistol primers gave me an average of 693 fps Winchester Standard small pistol primers gave me an average of 649 fps. I've found AA#2 easy to ignite and certainly the magnum primers were for a "let's what happens" situation. No signs of a pressure spike, primers looked fine, and I couldn't appreciate a difference in felt recoil. I've loaded 10 k plus of 9mm using Magnum primers during the supply crunch after Newtown. I just initially dropped my charge around 10% and worked to my desired fps. Again, no issues. I do try to keep magnum primers on hand for powders like H110 for .357 mag loads as recommended. But I've certainly run it and 2400 using standard small pistol primers. I just checked my notes from 1993. I had a 686 at that time with lighter than factory springs (they are factory now) but those springs wouldn't set off (according to my notes) CCI magnum primers under a load of 16 gr H110. I switched over to Winchester standard small pistol primers and they ran fine. (Note, I didn't own a chrono in '93.) Yes @JustEd, those 1000 fps .357 loads are nice and mild. And I'm using the .38/.357 158 gr bullets I mentioned earlier. They listed as 14-16 BHN and are sized at .358. I like them. I'm abused myself and my guns enough over the years, so this is a pleasant .357 load to shoot.

I don't think you could get much better than Chuck Haggard. My creds are so old they have Kubota & John Peters signature on them (DTI). That means I am old LOL A friend and co-worker took an OC and a Baton Class at Tac 2 a few years back. I have no personal experience with them and don't know if they are still actively doing this. But maybe they can point you in the right direction. http://www.tac2.com/index.php?template=classdetail&recno=14 I would also contact Randy Harris at Harris Combative Strategies. Cruel Hand Luke on TGO. Actually I'd contact Randy first.

I plead guilty myself.

This! iirc there was the Yellow box 7.62x39 and maybe a Green box? The best thing was, way back when, it was so inexpensive. I've shot bunches of it back in the early 90's and it was fine. I think it got caught up in the Clinton ban, but I may not be remembering well... aging brain and all of that. I sold what I had left of it to collectors several years back. People will collect anything

Prayers for all. My condolences

That's probably one more round than I would have fired LOL! But I sure would love to have one.

I have always been intrigued by this class of guns, but never owned one. I handled, but didn't fire a Semmerling long ago. It was hefty and felt solid. Early '90's? A pistol in this genre that also intrigues me is the .357 COP. I learned of them reading the old Jerry Ahern "Survivalist" series of books. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COP_.357_Derringer I had an AMT .380 backup in the late to mid 1980's. It was a reliable example and very solid, and heavy for caliber. I pondered the 45 acp version but never moved on it.

"I understand. In death a member of project mayhem has a name" Awesome movie. One of my all time favorites. RIP "Meatloaf"

Powder Valley has H110 , Winchester 231, HP 38, and Clean Shot (7AM). Averages right at $30.00 per pound with Hazmat and shipping . Tolerable with today's pricing .

You're welcome. I recall you don't go up there anymore, but I have to do the 23 mile drive to get my chrono work done. sigh The offer stands if I can be of assist.