Jamie Jackson

I always carry concealed and never noticed the sign. Heck I've in them with a couple of instructors and most of the class. We must have all missed that sign...

Great advice already. I too only use magnum primers for H110 and 2400 as Greg mentioned. I have some good .357 loads using AA#2, Unique, and Bullseye I tend to keep my 158 gr bullets at or just below 1000 fps. I also load 9mm using mag primers from time to time and just reduce the powder charge a bit. @ReeferMac As a matter of fact I'll be heading out to ORSA this week to chrono some loads. You are always welcome. IMHO a chronograph, along with a good manual, are some of the best handloading investments a person could make. Alliant, as well as most powders manufactures, offer solid handloading data on their websites. Tech support at Alliant is excellent and they've helped me work up some loads they don't even list. Good people IMO. Just PM or email me if I can be of assist. Jamie

Drizzle and rain here in West Knoxville. I just got back from Point Blank and the threat of weather sure isn't stopping folks from going shooting. Glad to see folks doing so actually. I have 2 Big Buddy propane heaters and plenty of fuel, ran the generator last week and have plenty of gas. Looks like I'll mostly need an umbrella... You guys are some good cooks! Making me hungry looking at those pics!

I'll be a backup to @TripleGGG if needed. Just PM me if you'd like.

Got a Johnny's catalog in the mail this past week. We ordered seeds from Victory last year for this years raised beds. Of course there's always temptations awaiting in those seed catalogs.

It's good to have someone keep you on the straight and narrow. Handsome helper you have there. Dutch Masters Perfecto? I haven't had one of those cigars is 40 years. Don't see many cigar boxes around these days.

Thank you Greg. That's actually tolerable at today's prices. 2400 too? Tempting

Just out of curiosity Greg, do you recall the price on the Bullseye? Very versatile powder. Not the cleanest, but versatile. TIA

I agree @Swede, way too plentiful. Just a PIA to have to cull them out. But it's now a step in my process. @gregintenn, The majority of my dies are RCBS. I have 1 Lyman and 1 Hornady. The RCBS small pins mike at 1.55 mm, the Lyman at 1.55mm. The Hornady are for 32 S&W and mike at 1.75mm. The RCBS 1.55 pins work great for 9mm (normally), .380, and .38/,357 FWIW I've dramatically trimmed down what I shoot and load for over the past 3 years. So I no longer have any Lee dies. I shouldn't complain. At least I can handload range ammo whenever I like, and that's a big plus in the times we find ourselves in.

Merry Christmas folks.

I'm terrible with photography, but I'll try and get a decent photo of the RCBS pins I've been using. The attached photo shows a piece of Winchester brass on the left and Norma brass on the right. It seems Norma and Federal (maybe others) are selling pistol ammo (intermittently) from their websites direct to customers at decent (near Pre-COVID) pricing. I haven't purchased any factory ammo sine Black Friday sales in 2019. But apparently folks are buying the Norma and Federal as that seems to be the majority of brass I'm scrounging these days. FWIW I'm seeing a lot of Blazer brass as well. The Norma is the only one giving me any issues. It's a bit of a PIA, but guess I'll sorting 9mm now <sigh>.

@deerslayer, I hear you on the S&B and tight primer pockets. I've always thought I had enough of that "feel" to stop mid-stroke (like with a mil-crimped or especially Berdan primed brass). I can see a size difference looking down into the brass, but the smaller diameter Norma flash hole is just close enough and seems to trap the decapping pin on the upstroke, pulling it free. I shouldn't complain and will certainly be checking more closely in the future. I've read on other forums where folks were enlarging the 9mm (an other caliber) Norma flash holes. I think I'll just sort and discard into my junk brass bucket.

I am not immune to picking up range brass if abandoned and historically have not paid much attention to sorting it by headstamp. I primarily load (on my beloved and 3 decade old Dillon 550) range or practice ammo. And I've loaded quite literally 10's of thousands of 9mm rounds from range pickup brass since the 1980's. FWIW the majority of my range pickup brass has come from cleaning up the indoor range at ORSA when I S.O.'d there this past year. As mentioned I load 9mm on my Dillon. I use RCBS dies (Collet decapping pin in my RCBS die). I, of course, have broken a few decapping pins over the years. But I had 3 episodes of the pin getting stuck in Norma 9mm brass within the past 2 weeks. You would think I would have thought to check the brass after the first time! The pin had to be driven out with a punch and hammer... Apparently the flash hole on Norma brass is markedly smaller than the flash hole the plethora of my range pickup brass. It's just a hair smaller in diameter than my RCBS decapping pins, at least for the most part. (Checking back through the 400 rounds I've handloaded this past week, I found 3 Norma brass that apparently passed muster...) I didn't know that was a "thing". But after doing an internet search it apparently has been a "thing" noted on several forum reloading sections the past 6 months. I sorted 700 pieces of brass today and removed around 80 pieces of Norma brass from the pile. Have any of you folks experienced this with Norma brass? I miss the good old days of Winchester and Federal brass left laying on the ground

I know you must be so proud! Congratulations to you both!

Already on my Prayer list and doubling my efforts! God Bless.

God Bless you and your family, especially during this very difficult time. You are in my Prayers.

Welcome back K. Hope all's well with you.

As I am with my wife in the hospital, I can't give a lengthy response. But we have an All American pressure canner (not a pressure cooker) and I have canned a wide variety of meats. Beef, venison, poultry, fish and even bacon. Get a Ball Blue book on canning and read before deciding. Easy to do, just strictly adhere to the guidelines.

Prayers sent for you both my brother! God's Grace will shine down on you. Of that I have no doubt! Daily prayers will be intensified! Reach out to me if I can be of any service my friend.

Welcome aboard! And welcome to TN!

Powder Valley has H110 and 2400 as I type this. Availability seems to be occurring more frequently.

That's outstanding Greg! Congrats on a great garden. I agree @ReeferMac, but that's the good part about being able to can or freeze whatever we have an abundance of in a given year. We were hit with squash borer and powdery mildew this year, but still managed to put up about 20 quarts of green beans, 30 quarts pickles and a ton of zucchini. Eating fresh tomatoes every day...awesome! We're trying a late crop of crook neck squash and our butternut squash is coming up well. Okra is just beginning to set pods and a 3rd planting of green beans is coming up well. The best part is eating something from the garden every day. We still have tomatoes and sauce in the freezer from last year. We're trying to grow rutabaga for the first time and have turnips coming up. Time will tell.

We were kicking around the idea of using some zucchini a few dishes with marinara sauce. My wife bakes zucchini with Parmesan cheese and Mozzarella cheese and it delicious! My favorite zucchini bread has lots of chocolate chips btw

Having some concerns about my cukes The plants look good and have lots of blooms...but I have never had cukes produce so slowly. I water them regularly, the bed has been well fertilized (on the "organic" side of nutrients ala Steve Solomon). I canned another 7 quarts of Kosher Dill pickles from them yesterday, but I am used to a more robust production. As I needed an 8th quart (my brine mixture yields 8-9 quarts worth of brine) I decided to try making a quart of Kosher dill zucchini. We have used our recipe on quite a number of green vegetables like okra, green tomatoes, green beans etc with great success. The zucchini plants are still huge and still producing 2-3 zucchini a day and there's only so much zucchini bread a man can eat! Have any of you guys ever pickled zucchini before? The first run of green beans have finished. I was able to put around 20 quarts in the freezer... and we've been eating them with new potatoes (volunteer) as well. I've replanted one of the beds with another crop of green beans and they are coming up well. Butter nut squash are coming up well too. Oh...the tomatoes are low production and slow to ripen compared to previous years. And while I'm complaining, canning on a glass top stove sucks. LOL Some years are simply better, and easier, than others.

Thank you. As this is my first time trying to grow potatoes in a raised bed, it took all of my self control to not go dig some up, just to check, after reading your post! LOL I'm just hoping for a few potatoes to cook with my green beans. Time will tell. I'm sure yours will yield well for you and you'll get that positive ROI! I picked 2 gallon bags of green beans yesterday and will blanch those today to get them in the freezer. I pulled up the remainder of the Swiss chard as the zucchini plants are taking over that 4x8 bed. I'll probably plant some butternut squash as in that bed when the zucchini is finished. Ah, the challenges of limited gardening space. We also got our first 2 vine ripened tomatoes yesterday... slowly getting there. I did can our first kosher dill pickles yesterday. 6 quarts of goodness!