Oklahoma summer has arrived

Oh joy

I don't have a problem with summer, it's just that when the higher temps and humidity gang up, it can make the day something less than pleasant. It's great when there's time to sit in the shade out back with a book; the dog gets scratched, then finds one of her spots where she can snooze and make sure I don't sneak out on her, and the birds visit the feeder(which reminds me, more bird seed). But tilling the garden, or pruning, or mowing... as Lawdog put it, There I am, poaching nicely in my own perspiration, which does nicely cover it(although, I must note, if any rattlers are in the immediate vicinity, they keep well out of sight and don't curl up next to the hose).

Day before yesterday I cast some bullets. Be it said that something like the Lee bottom-pour melter is a wonderful thing; doesn't put off an excess of heat like the gas burner I once used, keeps things at temperature, and is a lot easier than a pot full of lead and a ladle. However, it DOES put off heat; combine that with ambient temps of upper 80's-low 90's, and it gets just a bit poaching even if you aren't in the sun.

I was using one of these Lee molds, which are good, but they do have their problems. They cost considerably less than a comparable Lyman or RCBS, and a LOT less than Saeco; they're also less finished when you get them(Carteach0 has a nice piece here on a couple of things to do to a new Lee mold before you use it). I've got molds from Lee, RCBS and Lyman, the two big differences I've noticed in use are
The Lyman and RCBS are pretty much ready as they come out of the box; degrease them, smoke them and go. No touchup needed.
These two are much less temperature-sensitive than the Lee. Once you get them warmed up, just keep going; Lee, because of the aluminum blocks, are much more likely to cool a touch and have to be warmed back up if you set them down for a minute. They can also be damn picky about what temperature lead gives good bullets. I've had one give good castings with the temp set at '5', and the next time I use it have to set it all the way up to '8' to get the damn thing to fill properly.

The Lee molds do work, you just have to keep in mind you may have to fiddle with settings a bit more with them.

I mentioned smoking the molds. Sometimes a bullet won't want to fall out of the mold after you open it, causing you to have to tap on the hinge pin to shake it loose(NEVER tap on the mold blocks!). One thing that helps here is to put a layer of soot in the cavity. Matches work, but I keep a candle handy, as it works much better than a match. There are spray-on mold-release agents you can buy, and they do work; it's just that candles are cheap and I already had one.

I'll throw in that this mold, for .30 Carbine, has given very good results; used with a gas check, I've fired hundreds through my Carbine with no sign of lead fouling. And I've used this RCBS mold to load for .30-30, .30-06, .308 and 7.5x55 Swiss with good results; the only problem is with some bolt rifles, the flat nose will occasionally hang up(most always, I've noticed, when feeding from the left) in some rifles. That problem is the main reason I got this Lee mold, as the pointed bullet should eliminate that problem.


On news other than what makes me sweat half to death,

Well, looks like some of the Evil Party people are getting a bit worried/upset about dealers being closed at the will of The Obama, and the losses of jobs and tax revenue it's causing/will cause. Most of them don't have the pull of that dirtbag Frank to 'save' dealers in their district, so they're getting a bit antsy, it seems. Of course, they have to properly massage The One's ego:
We recognize that efforts by your Auto Task Force prevented the total liquidation of General Motors and Chrysler, as well as their dealership networks. We commend your efforts to help these businesses survive these challenging economic times.
Well, yes, if he hadn't gotten into the middle of this they'd have had to file bankruptcy months ago BEFORE he poured billions of dollars of other peoples' money into them, and while the union brass would have been pissed, everyone else would have been better off.

One more celebrity discovers that- "WHAT?!?"- when you help elect a tax-raising socialist, he'll go after your stuff, too.
Today, though, I’ll cast him as Captain Louis Renault in Casablanca for his shock, shock! that a redistributionist Democratic Party might tax his industry into default
Yep.

Ah, yes, a proposal that the White House is somehow supposed to not have known about:The NY Times covers a trial balloon that would provoke outrage from the left if Bush-Cheney had proposed it. However, as the Times tells it, the proposal has no sponsorship at all - apparently it just fell from the sky, or something. Here we go:

The Obama administration is considering a change in the law for the military commissions at the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, that would clear the way for detainees facing the death penalty to plead guilty without a full trial.

The provision could permit military prosecutors to avoid airing the details of brutal interrogation techniques. It could also allow the five detainees who have been charged with the Sept. 11 attacks to achieve their stated goal of pleading guilty to gain what they have called martyrdom.
...

And Obama's position? Who knows?!? The Times is utterly mystified:

The draft legislation includes other changes administration officials disclosed last month when President Obama said he would continue the controversial military commission system with changes that would increase detainees’ rights. It is not known whether the White House has approved the proposed death penalty provision. A White House spokesman declined to comment.
Hope! Change!


Victor Davis Hanson has a very good piece that deals with Obama Versus the Way of the Universe. Well worth reading, although I'll argue with this:
Obama will come to his senses with his ‘Bush did it’, reset button, moral equivalency, soaring hope and change, with these apologies to Europeans, his Arab world Sermons on the Mount to Al Arabiya, in Turkey, in Cairo, etc., his touchy-feely videos to Iran, his “we are all victims of racism” sops to Ortega, Chavez, and Morales. It is only a matter of when, under what conditions, how high the price we must pay, and whether we lose the farm before he gains wisdom about the tragic universe in which we live.
Hell, Jimmy Carter, who seems to be Obama's model on some things, STILL doesn't get it. And if we lose the farm before he does get it, we're still screwed.

Ah well, things to do.