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Pair of Herters .401 Power Mags

Ehhh, That'll buff Right out....   back in action in no time.

Friday night was celebrating,.. Friday afternoon was a rush to finish up and get out to go celebrate.   Monday morning was dragging in hung over so,..   Friday Night not so bad..

Beauty is in the eyes of the beer holder,.   looks like a stripped down Springfield Armory M-6 that got "Mad-Maxed"    I'll stick with my 10-22  or if I could ever pry the Stevens favorite from my brothers claws.  the Ballard is a bit heavy for field use

I failed to find the crack pipe icon when I posted but yeah I looked at him a bit funny and decided to just "move on"   been at this game for over 25 years and it had to be one of the more outrageous claims lately easier to just walk away.    Still love my SMLE and do fire form them, they just seem to grow quicker than my M-1 brass    Back to the thread at hand :   I am still thinking of someday adding a Mosin to the collection  just have to get opportunity and finances to arrive at the same time.  Surplus Ammo . com had a Deal of the day for a Spam Can at 89.00  don't know what the going rate is but I bet shipping would have hurt.

I have to get one of these some day, it is on the list.   Especially after yesterday when someone told me it is just as powerful and accurate as a .338 Lapua  but cheaper :cool:   Y'all been holding out on me, your secret is out .. :rofl:   I'll keep my '06s :stir:   Seriously though I kind of like the idea of old rimmed cartridges , it could keep my Enfield company  and my SKS won't be so lonely either   for those that reload the 54R I am guessing they don't stretch as badly as .303s ?  I neck size and download the old Brit to preserve my small stash of brass but still they seem to grow faster than my '06 brass due to the long taper and locking setup of the SMLE it seems.

Maybe some time soon I will get my .22 pistols and rifles out of the back of the safe   once I can get some std. velocity stored back up  my Anschutz  and Browning don't get fed the HS stuff  I still have a few pounds of remmy High speeds but the CCI Match is kinda thin..

did you check to see if your paper was properly....     CALIBRATED   ?   :popcorn:

now as for all around I'd probably go for my Chinese SKS  in 7.62 x 39   if you could specify the situation that decision may change    25 and 50 yds. is still almost handgun category though, and for that in those available calibers I might be more likely to go with one of my S&Ws Accuracy the M52-2 148 HBWC .38 SPL  825-850 fps Power my 586-1 158 gr JHP .357Mag 1270 fps   but that isn't in the spirit of this post so I guess the 7.62 would be my choice for general use and a .223/5.56 for accuracy work

some things to read while you await your arrival.   http://www.garandgear.com/m1-garand-tutorials http://www.fulton-armory.com/m1garandfaqs.aspx also TM9-1275 and TM9-1005

   Rifles are a different category,  light and fast is relative  at handgun velocities much like cars using HP to weight ratio we could do the same with bullets and lumping rifles in with handguns would be something like lumping in an ENZO Ferrari with a VW beetle, a Yugo, and a Dodge Omni  they would all hurt if they ran into you at their "normal operating speed" but the splat from the Enzo ..... all effective enough to splatter a human     It sucks we even as a species have to think about shot placement on a fellow human who has decided that visiting violence on us is somehow a"normal acceptable" practice :(   But I am glad we have tools that if used properly will modify that behavior if it comes right down to it.    Practice with your chosen pistol/ammo/holster setup, study your anatomy, study your situational awareness, have a plan with your loved ones so if they are nearby they know what they should/shouldn't do and light a candle that that time never comes that you need to use this knowledge, knowing that if you do you have done all you can to have a good outcome to an uncertain and unpredictable situation.   I hope no one who reads this ever has to go to that dark place,some have peered through the door and some have walked in and came back, it isn't something that should be on your vacation list.

you can always re barrel it later, lot of Ol' m-1 smiths still around  FULTON ARMORY among others.   learned to love the M-1 on an older one that had a spot in the barrel that let gas by so she would short stroke and catch the shell on the receiver bridge just above the chamber   still held to  maybe 3" at 100 yds.   my 1943  (80s Korean return BLUE SKY)  M-1 holds under 2" with hand loads  built like a tank and will outlive me I am sure   GET ONE ASAP nicest one you can afford and worry about the other details later

a lot of folks never went home after stepping in front of a .45 or 9mm round nose / ball round not that I'd volunteer to step in front of any round but as far as "proven"  performance well, kinda hard to stack up against over lets say......500 years.   Hollow points etc. are nice but if you are relying on expansion in a variable medium target to get the job done in the event you ever need to stop someone/something well maybe a lottery ticket might be a surer bet.   like real estate it comes down to location,location location  most projectiles travel plenty fast enough to stop someone/something if it is hit properly  I will give you that a bigger round has more room for error though, I left the caliber/gun argument years ago    Always believed it better to save money and invest time and effort in anatomy lessons,situational awareness and marksmanship practice   John

time to come up with a .401 Blackout ? always liked the .40   JD Jones has already done some groundwork for you on these : .338 Whisper   also been done in .375 and .416 Whisper

Why can't S&W bump the M&P up to a 10mm    guess they already used the name for the rifle :(

keep biding my time for a 640 or a 642     smaller than my G-23

used them on My Garand and PPC revolver  out of calcium carbide but have the set still  I have tried other methods but that always seemed the blackest the sights ever got, maybe I wasn't using the right tape or lighter.. any methods wipes off really easy though  and I recall Birchwood Casey offering a spray on sight black but never tried it.   makes the sights blacker than the bullseye so you do get some contrast and it tends to draw your eyes to the sights where they belong.   maybe time to find some carbide and drag the old gear out for a retro shooting day

I'll be sticking with my JP Cooley comp   only folks that don't like it are the ones who stand near me when it goes off, so I tend to not take it to places that would put me on a bench next to several shooters

if you are looking for match brass just separate by mfg. trim to a common length,chamfer the mouths and deburr the flash holes  it isn't as finicky as rifle brass then work up the load.   after much testing in my wad-cutter guns both a "PPC Revolver" and a S&W M-52    I found that the flash hole uniforming made a difference in the Revolver but case OAL didn't   in the M-52  the case OAL did make a difference in addition to the flash hole being uniformed I would say it had to do with the taper crimping and pressures driving the semi-auto action vs. a revolver   it is the only handgun brass I trim   same mfg. but not same lot tried the whole same lot thing and noticed no difference   Fed. nickle Winchester Brass Remington brass ( factory same lot #)   Federal or Winchester primers 148gr. HBWC  2.7 grs. Bullseye  or 3.1 of WW 231 if going long (50 yds. line) taper crimped to .003" below re-sized at case mouth.

As you research this  keep in mind a lot of folks never came home that stepped in front of a jacketed round nose "ball" round or two.   shot placement is first and foremost  these whizz bang bullet designs are neat to watch in gelatine etc. but it has been proven time and again that hollow points of any design will not reliably expand at most handgun velocities so you would basically be shooting jacketed round nose if if they fail to open up due to any number of factors      hoping you never have to find out if your carry ammo expanded like it was designed to.   John

Where would a captured system like the JP fit in  or is that so different it just "is what it is" ?

try drop checking resized rounds into the chamber no drop is a sizing issue and if they drop in then it is a crimp issue,.. I taper crimp all my pistol rounds and they drop just fine.   .45ACP 10mm .40S&W .38/.357 .401 Herters   in my experience and opinion roll crimping is obsolete  taper crimp holds better and is more consistent

I'll say it again,.. a good notebook and lots of meticulous notes every time you sit down to the bench....and always double check settings DO NOT rely on memory there's alot of difference between a charge of 4.7gr Bullseye and 7.4gr Bullseye for example and some of the number powders look similar but are vastly different in "personality"   I think and close enough  are words that should never be used while at said bench it is pretty black and white either perfectly right or perfectly wrong   any of those press kits are a good starting point   I have in my "toolbox" a Lyman and RCBS single stage and a Dillon 450 with powder upgrade kit  and they all make top shelf ammo though I lean to RCBS or Dillon for my dies I do use LEE for my .223/5.56  my 10mm set uses dies form 3 different mfgs.    a good solid bench to mount the press to with good lighting and a separate shelf for the scale and if it is digital no fluorescent lighting as it will cause variances I use 2 beam scales and check weights to verify often   case lube for rifles is pretty much mandatory and optional for pistol cases you can make your own for pennies using alcohol and lanolin and a dollar store spray bottle    Adopt the 1 powder 1 bullet on the bench policy keep all other components separated from the table you really don't want to mix powders the results are unpredictable and usually not good.   When I started out my Dad had the 15 year old me write out a Loading Plan  basically a sheet of paper with powder and charge weight, bullet and primers along with any press settings (OAL,Crimp) he would check it and we would double check charge weight against the established loading manual and that sheet hung near the press until after loading then it was put into a loose leaf binder and went to the range with us so I could fill out any range notes.      This practice has kept me from KABOOMING for close to 30 years now.  I have loaded bad ammo we all do at some point  a crimp setting off,short or long OAL etc. which brings me to the next piece of equipment  a Bullet Puller  you will use it eventually so go buy one when you get your press I think every press should come with one.....   Always keep in mind what you are doing has certain risks, like anything else in life if done right can be enjoyed for years  done wrong you end up in the ER or worse.   I wish you good times and enjoyment in your new hobby,   John

Ruger Deerstalker re-introduced with a detachable mag maybe like the rotary in a 10-22 and in other calibers like .40 10mm .38/.357 Mag etc. possibly a take-down design   would love to go through the Archives at these older gun companies and see what they said "Nahhh" to at the time and could make now due to technological advancements

set off a few high primered handloads in practice (young and dumb) out of my M-1 quite a surprise once when letting bolt fly home on a chambered round (offhand) and others would just double if loaded into the clip  now I just pull those rejects down and single load using a SLED or a 2 rnd. clip   always keep em pointed where people ain't  you just never know