Handsome Rob

Lemme go look at that model.....

I've been looking really hard at the Lee Pro 4000 setup & although I'm a fan of their stuff, I just dunno.... the manual priming is off-putting & the whole thing just looks a bit janky, for want of a better word. I know the Dillon is far more expensive, even used, but the Lee just doesn't look like it's going to last. I could be wrong, but the Dillon I've seen running seems like it'll be going long after I'm gone! I've got a 'want' ad going for a 550, just to see what, if anything, is it there. I'm 90% certain that I think that might be the way to go. Maybe.

Tom Brady, six weeks into spending off season at home......... [sensitive] [/sensitive]

Not 100% sure exactly what I need, I'm basically chumming here. I'm looking for a setup to bulk load .223 & 9mm to start with. Mostly .223

Santa? That you?

Teach me about progressives. Not Dillons, I'm broke, but I'm also getting really muscular, loading bulk 5.56 & .300blk on my Forster co-ax. I've done around a thousand rounds this week & I have LOTS more to go! I'm thinking about maybe a Hornady or Lee, but I have literally zero clue what I'm looking at, the different types & styles, even how they really work & how they're used! I've spent a few hours watching someone else cranking out 9s on a Dillon & I just assumed it was magic...... I'm thinking it's about time I added something a little faster to my bench.

2800 total. 1800 Winchester, 1000 Remington 2-1/2. Unused in excellent condition. Want to trade 1:1 for small rifle primers. I'll take 2500 if you come pick them up. Located in our near Tullahoma, can't afford to freaking deliver them......

Nothing wrong with a 5.56/.223 with the correct bullet & shot placement. A good, scoped .30-30 will cover about 80% of Tennessee deer hunting. If you're looking at a new rifle, a .308 will cover all your bases, mouse to moose, inside of 500yds. A .30-06 is really no advantage over a .308, unless you're wanting to go after big stuff with heavier bullets. What's your rifle shooting experience level?

Y'all just step back & mind y bidness....mmkay?!

When you die, can I have your brain please? Your work never ceases to astonish me!

5.49 in every station in Tullahoma for diesel this morning. Regular gas 4.09

I've had a Pietta 1860 for a fair few years & several other models before this one. I always preferred the look of the round barrel over the octagonal of the 1851 & the partridge front sight rather than the pin. The '58 Remmys are a far stronger design with the top strap & the traditional sights are far, far better than the hammer notch on the Colt clones. Unfortunately they just don't point as well (honestly, nothing does) or fit my hand like the Colts. On that note, the Colt copies will shoot around 30-36" high at 15yds. Damn things are TOO faithful! The originals were regulated (for some damn silly reason) at 100yds. The absolute first & most essential thing you absolutely MUST do is switch out the standard nipples for No.11s. No.10 caps have been incredibly hard to find for a very long time. 11s are slightly longer & don't work reliably on the standard nips. A common problem that seems to be universal: caps bursting & falling into the rear of the cylinder. That'll jam it up REAL quick. You kinda have to 'flick' the pistol to the right as you recock it to make sure the spent caps clear. Clean it like you were letting a newborn lick it. Literally as soon as you get home from the range. You don't need funky chemicals, just warm tap water & dawn, a nylon bore brush, toothbrush & about an hour free of distractions. Anti-sieze on the nipples (don't be sparing. A stuck, broken or jacked up nip is almost fatal) oil on the hand & springs, grease on the base pin. If you're going to store it empty, a super light coat of bore-butter or muzzleloader specific patch lube can be wiped down the bore & each chamber. I use the blue triple 7 stuff myself. Conical bullets are fun, but far less accurate than you'd imagine & several times the price of round balls. If you're not using wads (hint: just buy the damn wads) you'll need to cap the muzzle end of each cylinder with lube. As far as loading goes, using the actual loading lever will loosen the action far quicker than shooting it ever will. Buy a cylinder loading press. NOT cheap one. If you insist on using the lever (perfectly fine on steel frame guns, ok occasionally on brass frames) Buy or build a loading stand. Completely load each cylinder in turn too. Powder, wad, ball. Then move to the next. Otherwise you just end up with spilt powder all over the place (learned that the hard way!) If you're going topless ('51, '60, '61) 20-28gn (volume) of Pyrodex P, Trip7 or FFFg is plenty. It ain't a .44mag, think of it as a very mild .38 special with big bullets. In a '58, you can bump up to 35gn but you start to run out of cylinder room beyond that. If you've got nuts like King Kong, wrists like beer barrels & really dislike yourself as a person & end up with a Walker or Dragoon, you literally can't get enough powder in there to damage anything on the gun. 60gn would be an average, I know a guy who hunts with one loaded with 75. It's a very, very legitimate deer killer at 80yds. But you also have to carry a 6lb pistol that's longer than your leg. Although you could reenact the barroom scene from Lonesome Dove to great applause......

From here to Wyoming in 2 days.....

Diesel just hit $5 in Tullahoma. Reg'lar is 4.09. That's up 40c since Sunday.

It.... it was you, wasn't it Bill?

Knock em off the price of the scope..... I'll take em.

Shoot em where it kills em. Heart/lungs (further forward & lower than deer) neck/spine, ear-'ole..... I've killed more with 5.56 & .300blk than anything else & I don't recall a single runner.

I still don't understand how Chinese SKSs are selling for a grand. That 336 price is well above my mental pay grade!

Highly unlikely. On both counts.

I don't know if it's any consolation to you, but I just got back from South Texas on Monday & diesel prices were about 80c-$1/gal cheaper, all through Louisiana & Texas. Alabama & Mississippi stations will absolutely lift your leg though.

$4.89 for diesel in McMinnville.

Hey, I said it was there. Never said it was convenient!

Look down a couple of threads.....

This has ended up being my kinda go-to, the last few years. Unlike anyone else on here, I do actually own several suitable hunting rifles (gasp in shock all you like commoners, I'm frikkin' LOADED with cash) This little madam started out as an end-of- season-Walmart-sale youth model 700 in .243. I fired it straight off to Jess at JES Reboring & had its tube scooped out to .358 winchester. Picked up a used Brown's Precision Pound'r stock (weighs 14oz, after chopping off the extra length actually) & slapped a recoil pad, scope & some paint on it. It hits like the hand of God when I need it to (220gn Speers at 2540fps) but I can also pick off skwerls with cast pistol bullets down to 800fps if I want to! If, for some ungodly reason, I suddenly became an average pauper like you lot & had to cut down to *gasps in poverty* Just. One. Rifle. This would be the one I'd keep, no question.

I swear, were it not for all the Canadistan scribble I'd already own this!