Saturday evening, still hot and humid

so if you don't have somewhere to go, stay cool indoors.  Data to check over.

About that brass processing,

since I got the Lyman rotary tumbler here's what I do:
Get home, throw the brass into the old vibratory tumbler to clean powder residue and such.  Picked-up cases are sorted and run through separately.

Bottleneck cases such as .308 and .30-06 I lube and resize, then measure.  Any that require trimming are trimmed.  These are set aside until there's enough of them for a load in the rotary.

Straight-wall cases(.357 Mag, .45-70, .45 colt, etc.) are checked over.  Then, for most of them, I use a depriming die to punch out the primer, then set them aside until enough for the rotary.  They rarely need trimming; those that do get it now so they'll be ready to load.

Cases intended for general practice I take no special pains on.  Cases intended for serious shooting I sort by length, or pick a lot and trim them to exact length before loading.

That's my process.

Finally, some range notes

On Blackhorn 209:
Did some checking around, and decided to start with 33.0 grains under the 500-grain Lee bullet.  Three variations on this:
Resized cases*, wad under the bullet.
Resized cases, wad under bullet and about 1/4 sheet of toilet paper under that as filler,
Black powder cases, same filler.
All worked.  The group with resized cases and the filler grouped better than without filler; the black-prepped cases a bit better yet.  According to data gathered, I can safely increase the charge up to 35.0 grains**; that would eliminate the need(such as it is) for a filler, and I'm going to work up to it.

Velocity on those loads was very close to that given by the compressed charge of 2f black.  With, as noted a couple of days ago, no need to use a blow tube between shots, or wipe the bore every five-ten.  The wiping being a pain because you have to remove the tang sight so the cleaning rod can go in.

Some vertical stringing with some loads(couple of black and Blackhorn), which- until I can try them again- I'll have to blame on myself; the velocities were fairly consistent on the black, very on the Blackhorn, so almost certainly my fault.  If there were a simple way to put a scope on this rifle for load testing, I'd do it to eliminate such error as much as possible.

So that's the results on that.  Spent a little time after the shooting was done scrounging for brass, and I've got to finish processing that stuff.  And loading some other stuff.  And more .45-70 for next time.


*I only resize the first half-inch of the cases; that works the brass as little as necessary while providing consistent neck tension on bullets.
With cases intended for black, I don't resize at all; only flare the case mouth enough to allow the bullet to slide in cleanly.
Both of these work because the cases are being fired in one rifle, so don't have to worry about any chamber differences between different ones.

'Progressives'

After the scandal involving the ejection of Jewish women carrying Star of David pride flags at Chicago’s Dyke March on June 28, a sister organization in the city has announced that it will follow suit by banning “Zionist displays” from its upcoming protest against sexual violence and “rape culture.”

The ban was announced this week on social media by the organizers of SlutWalk Chicago — part of an international protest movement that “fights rape culture, victim blaming, and slut shaming.” The Chicago event is set to take place on August 12.
Wonder when they'll start issuing their more devoted members some snazzy armbands?


"But lying under oath and submitting false documents and violating borders is different when WE do it!"

From Madam Hoyt:

Enter Marx and his “scientific socialism.”  It wasn’t.  And frankly, anyone who looked into Marx -- who not only didn’t know science from a hole in the ground, and who had many of the things he wrote about already wrong as judged by his contemporary economists -- would have known it wasn’t scientific.

But people wanted to believe it was possible, all the more so after WWI turned Europe into an abattoir and planted doubts about Western civilization.

...

As all the attempts at communist (or to be fair even socialist, though the collapse there was slower) governance failed, and the horrors unfolded for all to see, all these “progressives” turned, with hatred and disgust not against the philosophy that destroyed formerly prosperous countries but against the entities who were, somehow, responsible for their dream not working: the US, Western civilization and, ultimately, humanity.

Scene from the range

A bit more blunt than what the guy actually said, but I think covers it:
"No, you can't shoot your new AR.  Because while it does have a rail, you didn't put any sights on it.  And you're not allowed to shoot something without sights.

Also, what drew our attention to this is that you were rapid-firing said rifle.  Which is strictly against the rules you read and signed off on.

Refund?  Because you're a dumbass who brought in a rifle with no sights?  Really?"

This is about the third time I've seen this.  One guy had a brand-new AR variant chambered in .30-06, and wanted to try it out.  WITHOUT SIGHTS.  What the hell are these people thinking?

It's Friday, and still hot outside

Therefore, stay inside and get to studying

No, I don't have the range post ready

I really need to get that done

"No no, THOSE conquerors and oppressors

weren't white Europeans, so they don't count!"  Etc.
But wait! What about those First Nations and Native Americans who were oppressed and almost destroyed by other Indians? Can any Karankawa demand that monuments honoring the Comanche be removed and renamed? What about the Lakota who suffered because Delaware warriors acted as guides for the US Cavalry? Should the descendants of the people chased out of their homes by the Apache, Navajo, and Hopi have a right to insist that anything associated with their ancient oppressors be removed? Or those whose ancestors were conquered by the Inca?

If you take it to that extreme, it dissolves into folly. Germans must stop honoring Charlemagne because he had 2,000 Saxons executed for their retaliation for his allowing their pagan shrines to be destroyed. The French and British should remove all statues and monuments to Roman leaders, because Rome conquered and colonized their people and wiped out a tribe or two (or so Roman sources claim).

Where does this lead? It leads to a swirling vortex of nasty recriminations and accusations of genocide and mass murder, of willing and pre-planned destruction of peoples.
Not long ago an arrogant little shit from South Africa, who is Zulu and who had a Rhodes scholarship, got seriously nasty toward a waitress who dared to be white;  among other things demanding "Give us back the land!"  Then got very shitty toward anyone who had a problem with it.  My question would've been "Which land?  The land your ancestors stole from the people who lived here before, that land that the Africaners/British took from you, or the land you left when you decided to invade the people further south?"  Because I'm really tired of this crap.

Tab clearing

And they wonder why and bitch about people not supporting some 'institutes of higher learning'.


The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is entangled in a new controversy only a week after the public lashed out at officials for refusing to release video footage of crimes over fears the videos would incite racism.

Recent reports indicate that BART has seen double the amount of rapes in the first six months of 2017 than all of 2016.


Bernard Sanders is a socialist, so there should be no surprise about him being a damned liar.


More on 'Higher' Education.

Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California has been accused of systematically targeting Republicans students on campus, joining UC Berkeley and DePaul University in the chorus of left-wing takeovers of academic institutions.

OCC has been accused of everything from hiring a private investigator to target GOP-supporting clubs to expelling a student on false pretenses.

In case you haven't heard, there's a movie coming out about the events at Dunkirk.  And some of the usual suspects are whining because
"the fact that there are only a couple of women and no lead actors of color." This, Truitt explains, "may rub some the wrong way."
Etc.
I'll let you deal with this idiocy on your own.

Couple of quick notes:

First, on anything except a muzzleloader, I'm about to tell Holy Black to go to hell, and take its adherents with it.  Pickiest damned stuff to load with...

As in make up some cartridges using a load that worked quite well before.  Before what?  Before I had to get another bottle of powder.  Same brand and granulation, only now it's spread all over the target.  Great big PITA.

Second, first thoughts on Blackhorn 209.
I think I'm going to like it.  It's not as bulky as black, and doesn't need compression to burn well.  Some smoke, less than 2f gave in comparable loads.
You don't have to use a blow tube between shots, and don't have to wipe the bore between groups.
Couple of loads showed real promise.

Tomorrow I'll try to give a better writeup, right now I need a shower.

Oh, and I picked up the first tick of the season.  Yay.

Range day was had,

and I did not melt.  Never made it to the pistol side; by the time I finished the rifle stuff I was too hot, and it was late enough, that I had to go.  But did find some things out, including that some people either don't think, or are jackasses.  As in I saw a glint in a trash can, and found almost fifty rounds of new, once-fired .270 brass.  Someone actually took the time to pick it up, put it in the cartridge sleeves, and throw it in the trash.

I think I know someone who'll be able to use it.

More on the rest of the stuff later.  I need to drink some more, and eat something.

Take a successful(very), adaptable(VERY) predator,

treat it like it's a poor widdle fuzzy that only wants to be friends, and yeah, this is what happens.

Think I mentioned once, the biggest coyote I've ever seen was right the the middle of Oklahoma City one winter.  Make themselves at home anywhere.


So the racists at La Raza have discovered that a lot of people, including 'hispanics', aren't racist and don't like racists.  Also, and more important to them,
Appealing to a broader swath of this diverse group is necessary now that the "fat years" under President Obama are gone.
Guarantee, if these bastards still had a friendly face in the Oval Office, they'd be pushing LA RAZA!! just as hard as they could.  Remember, their motto is For The Race everything. Outside The Race, nothing
Downright National Socialist, isn't it?

I've been thinking about putting together a upper in 5.56

simply because there's so much of that available, and sometimes on sale it's not worth reloading for general practice.

I've discovered that, if I can find a complete upper on sale, it'll be cheaper than buying the parts and putting one together.


Over to Californicated,
Gun-control groups have not expressed much public concern over the delays and setbacks. The 2016 California gun-control measures represented a bright spot for the movement in a year that largely favored the efforts of gun-rights groups. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence did not immediately return a request for comment from the Washington Free Beacon but previously said they were not worried about the delayed implementation of new assault-weapon regulations.
Of course they're not troubled; things are horrendously screwed up and gun owners and firearms-related businesses are the ones being screwed by all this, which is just find with the Brady bunch.


Over to The Media.  Y'know, the clowns who spent most of a decade covering for and boosting Obama & Co., but now scream and yell about how they're not being properly respected.

Very much a case of "You bastards made this bed; deal with it."

Scenes from the range

"Is it too late to buy another target?"
"Well, since they're closing the registers, and it's ten minutes until you have to have your stuff packed up and heading for the door, yes."


Couple came in to rent and try out some guns.  Lady was doing most of the shooting, so she got the full 'Here's how it works, here's the safety stuff to do and not do' talk.  Then asked "Any questions?"

She smiled and said "You sound just like my drill instructor."

I take that as a compliment.

If this information is correct, a bunch of 'child care' workers and a judge

need to become unemployed.  And the judge lose his license to practice law.
...MDHHS caseworkers told Mr. Johnson, a 100-percent disabled Marine Corps veteran who sought custody of his grandson that he would have to give the agency the serial numbers of all of his firearms. When he questioned this, the caseworkers allegedly told him, “If you want to care for your grandson you will have to give up some of your constitutional rights.” This was after the state asked the Johnsons to be foster parents to their grandson.

Two weeks later, the lawsuit alleges, a Gogebic County Court judge told the Johnsons that if they wanted their grandson placed in their care, “We know we are violating numerous constitutional rights here, but if you do not comply, we will remove the boy from your home.”

Yeah, when the media screams about Trump's 'attacks' on them,

I'm not real sympathetic; I remember screaming at THEM about a lot of this crap as it was happening.

Or, in the case of their 'reporting', not happening.

But we're supposed to forget about or ignore all this now.  Because "We Are The Media".

Screw you bastards.  You can't be trusted, and we damned well know it.