Handsome Rob

Not "how many firings" this time. I have some one fired brass that I just necked up from 8 to 9x57. Thing is, the one time it was fired (according to some deep dive historical headstamp research) was probably before 1920. Most of it dates to 1900-1920 All but 1 necked up perfectly (one neck actually ripped off. Never had that happen before, probably should've annealed first) & they seem like they should be fine, but I'm wondering if anyone knows: does brass get brittle with age? Some of these cases were so patinated they looked more like bronze, than brass. Can I anneal the entire case, to be sure? The load I have worked up is light & should be super low pressure (44,000CUP estimate) but I'm worried about the possibility of head separation due to the brass becoming brittle. Is that a thing? When I necked up some .308 brass for my .358 I had a bunch of split necks. Obviously, jumping up by a whole millimeter (0.039) isn't quite as much of a stretch compared to 0.05 but would I be better served by neck annealing anyway?

I'm tempted to buy the Steven's in the classifieds, just on principle! GO. GET. IT!

A .32 is a fantastic rifle to learn with. With a mild charge (8-12gn) it has about the same recoil as a .17hmr. It's also surprisingly powerful. A full house 18gn load under a .31 ball is the equivalent of a .22mag.

Not gonna lie, there's a learning curve & your attention to detail has to be spot on to make sure it's 100% reliable. You really learn to appreciate the difference between flint quality too! A great quality, English or French flint will give you 40-50 shots before it needs knapping. A cheap flint, anything from 5-20. You have to remember to wipe your flint, pan & frizzen after every shot. If you're hunting, dump & replace your priming charge every hour. Even when you do everything perfectly, there's going to be the occasional 'clack......f#@k!!!' There's a learning curve to shooting one too. When you watch someone else shoot, there's is almost no perceptible delay between the hammer drop & shot, but when you're on the trigger, it feels like there's a MASSIVE gap between the flash & the bang. You learn how to follow through & my gosh will it let you know if you've got a flinch!

Brushy Bill Roberts is currently pissing himself laughing.

The caplock on top was built for me by John D Anderson here in Tullahoma. .54, 42" 1:56 Rice barrel, completely built to my specs. Long rifle dimensions with Hawken furniture. The flintlock Fusil was built by a friend in Jacksonville. .62, rifle octagon-round 42" 1:62 Colerain barrel. Exhibition grade maple stock. Keyed, not pinned barrel.

Yup. Every year.

Do not waste your money with these idiots. I bought a .350 Legend upper from these comedians & after cleaning off all the shipping oil, stripping, cleaning & lubricating the bolt & bcg correctly, it literally would not feed a single round. Everyone I spoke to told me to use NOTHING but a CMMG mag & that's exactly what I have. After 4 days of no returned emails, I decided to pull it down & figure out what was going on. First off, the muzzle break wasn't correctly indexed (literally 60° off center) & was barely hand tight. The gas block was only held in place by 1 of the 2 set screws. The barrel nut itself was tight, but incorrectly torqued. That was the least of it.... The feed ramp was a mess of machining marks. The chamber mouth was rough & not at all finished & I have no idea what was used to ream the chamber, but it honestly looked like an un-lubricated 1/2" drill bit. I had to lap & polish EVERYTHING. I miked the chamber, after 3hrs of polishing & it's still within spec, but only just. That's how deep the scoring was..... After hours of polishing, it's now feeding as it should, although I've yet to shoot it. Bottom line, I tried to contact BCA to see about a return for inspection but they simply haven't responded to a single email. I will never, ever do business with these clowns again. Their assembly QC, on this upper, was literally non existent. As far as AR parts go, they are a complete ####-show.

1: Reliability 2: Concealability 3: Fit to my hand They were my only thoughts when I was shopping around & settled on the Sig.

Mostly Texas History Lessons & The Wild West Extravaganza. Texas history is very dry & educational, WWE (formerly Bloody Beaver) is hilarious. Still educational, but done in a lighthearted fashion. Each episode is about a single figure from western history. Texas history literally starts at the Ice Age....

So....I don't really study history, per se, but I do listen to a lot of historic podcasts & read a lot of old, historic literature. I wanna know, as a non-secular, historically interested dude: when did BC & AD become BCE & CE? I have always worked on the idea that BC was Before Christ, year 0 & worked backwards. IE: 1200 BC was 1200yrs before Jesus was invented (0 minus1200) & 1200 AD was 1200 years after Jesus was invented (did I mention I was non secular? Sorry. I meant atheist) ie: the year 1200. When did it become Before Common Era & Common Era??? My brain automatically, being & heathen & not knowing any better, immediately transposed it as 'before christ existed' & 'Christ's extinct'...... And why 'Common' Era? Do modern historians only publish & work with non judeo-christian fellows? Not trying to be inflammatory, I'm just asking..... Is it religious? Scientific? Political??? I really don't understand WHY it changed!

That's all I've ever used. If you don't have a low lying, wet area, just take a hammer to it & sprinkle it in a shallow scrape.

Be aware, if you aren't already, AR15 parts compatability is pretty much universal across all makes, brands & chamberings. AR10, not so much. Certain barrels won't work with certain uppers, barrel nuts have different threads, uppers & lowers need to be matching styles etc... 5.56/.223 is always going to be the most available & popular round & with modern bullets is a far, far more capable hunting round to much longer range than in the past. 350 leg. would be my next choice just because of ammo availability & it's getting to be well known as a capable deer round. It's downfall is simply cost as a target round, terrible ballistics & lack of reloading options.

Damn. Sorry. Once the bottle only has a couple or 3 shots, fill it up with honey. It takes a few days to mix itself, but it's awesome on breakfast cereal, mixed with oatmeal & is especially good as a BBQ or roast glaze. I marinate my dove breasts in it for poppers & use mix it with home made blackberry & chili jam as a dipping sauce for wild game. Delish!

Oddly, I used to make mead before we had bees. These days it's really hard to snag a few pounds that we could be eating or selling! However, one thing I really do enjoy for myself, is to polish off 9/10ths of a bottle of bourbon.

I tried pretty much everything from 3" to 15 yards before I connected with my first. It's literally impossible to say. Every single bird is different & that's what makes wing shooting so much fun!

Literally the first time I've used my shotgun since opening day last year! I got just short of a limit at 13, in Bledsoe country over a cut wheat field. Not as many guns as last year (I think maybe 35 a compared to 120+) Had great action from 12 to 12:30 then hit the usual afternoon lull until 4. It took me a full box to bag my first, but after that I averaged 3 shells to a bird. Still making it the most expensive game meat there is! I may try to get out Saturday afternoon as well, but I don't know of any local fields worth the drive.

The main reason I'm looking at Nucanoe is the width. There's a lot of me & not a lot of kayak! It's not going to be a regular use item, I've really zero interest in fishing locally (I'll never understand the bass obsession...) I just want something super duper basic I can truck along with me when I go to the gulf, or Atlantic coast. I'm far more interested in stability, than fishability.

I'm still getting used to it. Having never shot with one before this I'm finding it less instinctive. First shot is definitely slower, but follow ups are much quicker & my groups do seem a hair tighter with it.

Yes. Yes it is. You'll find the TLR-7 sub on Amazon

Long shot (and yes, I placed a want ad) In looking very seriously for a Nucanoe. 12 footer & either a Freedom or Classic. I find myself taking more & more trips into the flats & marshes around the coasts of Florida, Louisiana & now Texas & I'm looking for a small, truck top or bedable boat & several folk have pointed me towards these. If any of you yak guys happen to hear of, or see one for sale, sub $800, please keep me in mind. If anyone actually HAS one & can give me more thoughts & opinions, I'd be very interested to hear about them.

Completely unenforceable & would cost so many states, so much revenue from our of state hunters (think all western states) & state line hunters, that it'll never, ever happen.

Addendum: A lot of, probably most, outfitters, guides & concessions will let you whack a baboon or two for free. They think of them the way we think of coyotes. DO NOT post them on Facebook! You wanna find out how irrational & well connected anti hunters are? Post a grip-and-grin with something that looks like a person. It cost a good friend of mine his entire career. As a freaking game warden of all things.

I've only been to Africa once & that was bowhunting in Namibia, so I have no gun advice to offer. But one thing I know is common & relevant, is the upsell. Set yourself a budget. I'm sure you're 'package' includes the common species (warthog & Impala or springbok, occasionally blue wildebeest) but you're going to see a BUNCH of other stuff & your PH is GOING to tell you what a trophy it is & you'd be simply mad to pass it up! Red Hartebeest, Zebra, Waterbuck, Blesbok..... it's all there for the selling. Find out trophy fees in advance & set a limit. It might be one exceptional critter or a good mixed bag. Up to you. But you HAVE to stick to your budget. Think of it like setting a limit in a casino. Don't forget to tip your skinners. Cheap pocket knives are always welcome. If you want to be super nice, leave a big bottle of ibuprofen in your room, along with a bunch of AA batteries when you leave. The cleaners will share them out with the cooks, skinners & their families & their are incredibly appreciated. Also, you'll need to check on trophy shipping costs. The 2 trophies I had shipped to England (Black Wildebeest - $1200 trophy fee & Springbok - $300 trophy fee) consists of 2 skulls, a skin & a cape & the shipping alone cost more than the hunt. I want to say the shipping & import fee was around $2800. They shipped in a wooden crate that weighed about 30lb by itself!

Looks like a Fajen, to me. I also can't believe else noticed that it's a cack-handed stock on a right hand rifle. H&H would absolutely never compromise like that.