I hear from a lot of people who want to share experiences, or offer additional information, referencing topics appearing on in Guns on NewsGuy. There is always some guy with a .50 BMG sporter who wants to swap e-mail at 2 AM. I also get some pretty good tech questions about specific firearms. I’m okay with the firearms I have direct experience with but, as most of you have noticed, I’m not an expert by any definition. A couple of suggestions for people seeking information on specific firearms not covered here –
If you have a Usenet news connection, always try rec.guns, a very well developed discussion group. Proper groups protocol suggests participants look through existing posts to see if their question has previously been addressed. If not, you can post a clear, concise message of your own, and probably get help from another group participant. If you are a member of this news service you can search for related posts, or directly access the rec.guns news group.
Manufacturer’s web site are an excellent source of information. These sites frequently offer tech support, FAQ’s (frequently asked questions and answers), or list tech support phone numbers. Powder suppliers online, as an example, offer product specs, reloading manuals, new product news, and tech support via e-mail.
Guns on NewsGuy has been steadily building in traffic and, no, I don’t know why. Personally, I think it’s just people checking for my mistakes. If there are readers who want me to set up a local exchange for them, with open public access, let me know. I’ll set up so it can be accessed from a link on this page, and maybe there would be enough combined experience for people to assist one another.
Shooting groups the size of New Jersey, well…maybe Rhode Island
Last week I posted a 200 grain handload for the .338-378 Weatherby, and I noted I couldn’t get the load to group below 1.5″. At the same session, I was also having a difficult time with loads that were historically very accurate and grouped tightly. I assumed I had broken optics, or a toasted barrel.
The problem turned out to be extremely loose trigger guard screws, a condition that left the receiver and barrel floating around in the fiberglass stock. Apparently, the Accumark has a blatant disregard for LocTite of any color, fracturing red in this case. I cleaned up the threads, whipped on some blue and cranked everything down. The Nosler Ballistic Tip 200 grain load is better than 1 MOA. – Now there’s a comment on “Don’t overlook the obvious”.
Incidentally, the Lilja Precision Rifle Barrels, Inc has some interesting articles that touch on the .338-378 as well as several other 1,000 yard plinkers. You might also drop in and see Russ on his web site. He has completed a really nice Savage 112BVSS-S based custom .338-378, just don’t mention Bill Ruger if you write to him. If there are more folks out there who also enjoy shooting .338-378’s or .300-378’s and have a web site, let me know and we’ll point people to it.
On-line Supply
If you’re like me and you do a lot of your gun supply ordering sometime in the evening, when the noise of the day goes away and you have few minutes to yourself, it’s nice to know Brownells finally their full online catalogue up and running.
Brownells bills themselves as “The world’s largest supplier of firearm accessories and gunsmithing tools” and I would believe that to be an accurate description. Brownells sells everything from commercial grade tools and process equipment, to factory firearms parts from leading manufacturers. You can order a chronograph, bench rest quality barreled actions, or every imaginable part for custom and competition pistols and revolvers.
Appearing so at a theater near you ?
Force of habit, I always buy shop manuals for my firearms. Just nice to know how everything works and goes together, never know when the information will come in handy. Lately I’ve found that many general manuals overlap in most models, but each seems to be missing information on one or two unique models that I need.
This time I skipped the hard copy, and bought a Lenny Magill video tape, “Complete SIG Sauer P Series” for use with my P229. At $19, this tape is less expensive than most books. The production is very good, including lighting and detail images.
The information covers selection and use of tools, theory of operation of various assemblies, and precautionary notes. I found myself wanting to move ahead of the tape, but the foundation material was too good to skip.
Improving the Simmons boresighter
I think the Simmons boresighter is a nice piece of equipment. It’s solid and complete as a kit, packaged with spuds for all popular bore sizes. The only problem I’ve encountered is a lack of a snug fit in large bores.
The standard spuds have one spring loaded clip to provide grip within the bore. At times, the weight of the boresighter will cause it to rotate until the clip catches in a rifling groove, off center. The B-Square company makes a set of adjustable spuds that eliminates this problem.
The B-Square product, top left, uses an expandable arbor, the rod is split into 4 parts and all expand or contract uniformly as adjustment is made with a knurled knob on the opposite end of the arbor. You can see the original Simmons spud on the bottom has a single spring loaded clip.
The expandable arbors are available in three sizes: .24 – 7MM, 7MM – .35, and .35 – .45. There are only two improvements I would make to the B Square products. The first would be to mark the size range on the arbors so mistakes aren’t made with border line cases. The second would be to plate them with something other than hard chrome. Just like the original Simmons spuds, they look very fashy, I’d still rather have soft, dull brass. At $19 per arbor, they are still a pretty good deal.
Spend less….shoot more
I have a bullet shelf that looks like a collection of every type and color of bullet box ever produced, ranging from 22’s to 45’s. There’s cast and jacketed, boat tail and flat nose, moly, copper, and “who the heck knows” – basically every combination you could think of. After careful evaluation and assessment, one package stands high above the others.
The Bowl-O-Bullets. It’s 100 Remington JHP’s in an 8oz Rubbermaid pop top container. The container is very important, as the bullets arrive in a small plastic bag. I use to pay $10 – $17 per box of 100, now I pay $5 – $9. These are just factory Remington bullets, not rejects, seconds or blemished, and they are as accurate as anything else I’ve shot. I can save approximately $25 – $50 per month by using them, depending on how much shooting I have done.
In comparison to Speer Gold Dot bullets of the same weight and type, 155 grain 10MM, the bulk bullets had a total weight swing of .5 grains, the Speer bullets varied by 1.1 grains. Neither had a dial indicator perceptible out of round condition, both had a bullet to bullet variance in diameter of .0005″. So I have to figure the difference must be in the expensive and low cost material is the plastic box. I use bulk bullets for my .45 auto, .40 S&W and .357 SIG loads. Some of the high volume rifle stuff is next. You may want to compare some of the Remington and Winchester bulk prices for yourself.
Cost of handloading – it’s all in how you answer the questions
If I were going to start the handloading equipment selection process all over again, I would clearly do some things differently. I like to play with various loads and cartridges, so I never really get to what most people would consider serious production. Running 200 rounds of any specific load is max for me. More frequently, I find myself loading for 4 difference cartridges at the same session, with no more than 20 rounds of the same type. I am not a candidate for a progressive set up but, of course, that’s what I use.
I could have saved a ton getting started. For under $300 I could have bought a single station heavy duty press, with all necessary accessories included: scale, die set, powder measure, and manuals – just add bullets and powder.
I would have had greater flexibility, and ease of use. The press could have been from anyone of several manufacturers, they all offer a similar setup. But I chose a progressive press that ended up costing about $700 to begin loading, then missed an opportunity to redeem my purchasing error, by going on and expanding the set up for every cartridge I shoot. The cost per cartridge type for the single station press is about $29. The cost per cartridge type for the Ammo Master is over twice as much.
A silly product award might go to the .338-378 shell plate, the five position fixture that rotates a cartridge through the press stations. The plate won’t index with that much mass in motion, and the powder measure can’t handle a uniform powder throw over 70 grains, much less 120 grains. Obviously, this isn’t the type of cartridge you take to the range in case quantities. So now I’m going to upgrade my equipment to my exact requirements.
At less than $100, the RCBS Rock Chucker is a great single station press, like a lot of presses from other manufacturers that are similar in type – Simple, heavy duty, long stroke and standard dies. I referenced the RCBS product because of the investment I already have in shell holders, dies and other accessories. But I actually had an even lower cost option.
RCBS makes a progressive to single station coversion for the Ammo Master, about $59. I’ll get my single station press without losing the progressive capability when appropriate, and the Ammo Master is very heavy duty, with a lot of leverage. I think it’s going to improve the quality of my large case ammo and, without all the setup changes and flow interruption, it may even be faster.
While I’m waiting for UPS, I’ll make up some loading blocks for the .378 base and some other simple fixtures to assist in this single station loading effort. I’ll let you know how it all works out.
Back to School
I was going through an assortment of old hunting licenses, and I started thinking about the Hunter’s Education course I took about 100 years ago, at a local church community center. At the time, I believe the course was actually called the Hunter’s Safety Course, and it’s focus was how to go hunting and avoid shooting your buddy. I assumed it’s evolved since that time, along with smokeless powder.
I decided I would take the course again. I wanted to see what was new, who was attending the classes these days, and who was teaching the courses. I made 11 or 12 phone calls, including 2 to the Department of Fish and Game, all unable to tell me where the course was given, or who historically offered it. The Dept. of Fish and Game was the least helpful, and the person who took my call, was obviously having a problem with the word “Hunter”.
I finally found the course was being offered at the Lake Chabot rifle range, at 6AM on the third Saturday of each month. I’m looking forward to the class, but I am not a morning person. One of the reasons I’ve hunted less frequently during recent years was my inability to get the game to stay up later in the evenings. I’ll update on the current sate of the course on completion.
Anti-Gun Junk
The rise in government’s involvement in firearms ownership, and a slew of local laws designed to ban all forms of guns, has drawn me more into the political side than I would care to be involved. But there is no choice. I know if I don’t get involved I’m going to lose access to a sport that means a great deal to me, So I’ll be at –
Tuesday, February 23, 7 p.m.
Supervisors Chambers
70 W. Hedding St., San Jose 95110
Arrive at 6:00 p.m. for rally.
Free parking after 5 p.m. across street.
And I will place a call and send a fax and e-mail to –
The supervisors are: (area code – 408)
Joe Simitian 299-3540 joe_simitian@qmgate5.bos.co.santa-clara.ca.us
Pete McHugh 299-2443 peter_mchugh@qmgate3.bos.co.santa-clara.ca.us
Don Gage 299-3273 don_gage@qmgate1.bos.co.santa-clara.ca.us
James Beall, Jr. 299-3924 james_beall@qmgate4.bos.co.santa-clara.ca.us
Blanca Alvarado 299-2040 blanca_alvarado@qmgate2.bos.co.santa-clara.ca.us
FAX number is: 408-298-8460 “For Distribution to Board” on fax
Notice as received – Santa Clara County Supervisors on Tuesday, February 23 at 7 p.m. will hold the final evening public hearing to consider gun control ordinances that threaten your firearm rights. This countywide gun control, under the guise of violence prevention, is being pushed by the local public health department, which is being heavily influenced by anti-gun organizations. They are considering:
* ADDITIONAL “end user sales tax” to be paid directly by you on all
firearm, firearm-related products, and ammunition purchases.
* PROHIBIT you from buying ammunition unless you have a firearm license
and can show legal proof of firearm ownership for that particular
ammunition. (How you show legal ownership is unspecified!)
* ANNUAL state registration and mandatory qualifying with EACH handgun you
own. State licensing of all firearm owners. Unlawful possession could
result in you becoming a felon and banned for life from possessing any
firearms.
* BAN the sale of certain handguns countywide. (Which handguns? Those the county says are “not suitable for sporting use.”)
* ENACT zoning restrictions requiring all firearm dealers to obtain a
land-use permit, granted only after a public hearing. (Zoning changes
threaten both gun shows AND firearm dealers.)
* BAN all legal residential firearm dealers throughout the county.
If you’re in the area, own guns and would like to keep them, please attend and bring along any friends and family members who share the same interest.
In the mean time – see you next week.
More “A varmint load for the .338-378 Weatherby”: A varmint load for the .338-378 Weatherby A varmint load for the .338-378 Weatherby II.. Handload Data 338-378 Weatherby Magnum
Thanks
Joe
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