Wednesday Windage: Test Your Carry Ammo! UPDATED!

 Everyone who carries has probably heard the advice to practice a bit with their carry ammo, with the firearms that you will be carrying. Rotating ammo is a good idea, too, so none of your ammo dies from old age and gun oil.  I recently tried some Federal Punch .22 Long Rifle ammo in my Ruger LCP II.  The little LCP II slips in and out of a pocket easily, so I often have it with me. These little guns can dry out quickly in a pocket, so you must clean and lube them regularly to keep them running. Mine runs great on CCI Mini Mags and Stingers. During practice sessions I also feed it Remington Thunderbolts, Golden Bullets, and various Federal long rifle rounds.  The LCP is broken in and it runs reliably....

...until I tried Federal Punch .22 LR.  The punch ammo, which runs fine in my Mk III and Mk IV pistols and 10/22s will not cycle in the LCP. I had to manually extract nearly every fired case. It took a bit of looking and figuring, but what I see is that the Punch cases are not just crimped into a groove of the bullets, the case mouth is ironed in and is thinned down in the process.  Federal must be using a rotating crimping tool to make the crimp hold extra firmly. That ironed-down case mouth is then folding out so it drags in the chamber.  Even more odd, the LCP II chamber is tighter than the chambers of my Mk Pistols. A fired case from the Mks will not fit into the chamber of the LCP.  It is an unexpected problem, but one I can live with because Punch works fine in other firearms.  Check out the photos and you can see what is happening.  I plan to shoot a bit of video tomorrow, so check back and see if the problem repeats on camera for us!

Fired Punch case, unfired Punch, Mini-Mag.

Punch crimp closeup.

Punch fired case mouth closeup.

UPDATE: We had some failures to eject Federal Punch cases with the little LCP II in .22 Long Rifle, so here is a function test with a different batch of Punch ammo, and comparing function with other .22 firearms and ammo.

Tuesday Torque II: Otto Langen, The Oldest Internal Combustion Engine!

 Another great pick, Merle. Many Thanks!

Tuesday Torque: Cold Starting A Fifty Horse Otto Diesel

 That's dramatic, Merle!

Corn From Start To Finish

 Our antique chicken feed grinders work better than the new mills like this man is using. Of course, a genuine stone bur mill beats them all!

Monday is coming up, Back To The Old Grind!

Weekend Steam III: Steam Powered Bike!

 Thank You, Merle! That feedwater pump is a cute little mechanism!

Weekend Steam II: Soule Steam Festival, October 31-November 1, 2025

 Here's a nice little steam show that is advertised in the current Engineers and Engines magazine. It is in Meridian, Mississippi and you can visit their website at www.soulelivesteam.com.  This video is from the 2021 show.

Weekend Steam: Top Toy Of The 1940s

 It still is the top toy in my book. Many Thanks, Merle!

Combines Are Easy To Find. Just Look For A Cloud Of Dust!

 I took Susan to town today for physical therapy, and then we wandered home, checking out the neighborhood.  Beans and corn are being harvested, and semi-trucks are rushing up and down the gravel roads.  Rain brings everything to a halt, so farmers work long hours while the ground and the roads are dry. The combine in this video has tracks rather than tires, so it's ready for rain-wet ground if that happens.  A neighbor stopped and visited while we shot our vid, and that's OK.  I wiped the sound track and added some nice music.

Chainsaw Mistakes

 I haven't checked Boomjekappen's YouTube channel for a few years, but he showed up today in my copyright notifications on YouTube. I am showed making a few mistakes, beginning at 3:36. The first one is cutting a lodged tree over a walking trail at Dolan Lake in Hamilton County, Illinois. I had been cutting all day and when I cut the tree loose I did not move away. The top snapped and I saw a chunk come back at me, with no time to move. Force directed, force reflected! The second is at our home, when I was cutting trees around the dam of our pond. I managed to lose my footing and went right into the water. Thank goodness I had turned off the saw and set it down. A running saw going into water would have had bad results. 

Wednesday Windage: Build Your Hunting Habitat

 Susan and I planted these chestnut trees forty nine years ago, and we enjoy picking up nuts every year. We have to get out and pick up before the nuts are all eaten by wildlife, but we get enough for snacks. Our deer hunting friends always start out each fall hunting around these trees.

Tuesday Torque: That's A Big'un!

 Big four cylinder Fairbanks at Boonville, MO.  Close call by the guy who falls. Stay clear of big moving parts! Thank You, Merle!

No Stress Nowadays

 It's been nearly forty years since I have had to assemble a resume. I plan on continuing this streak!

Back To The Old Grind!

Weekend Steam III: Go East, You Mid-Westerners

 Susan, Zeke, and I got to ride behind N & W 611 on a trip out to Washington D.C. in 1999. It's big and beautiful. Thanks, Merle!

Weekend Steam II: West Coast Shay and Appalachian Shays

 Number 9 gets around. It came to Iowa from California in 1966, moved to Colorado for a few years, and now it is back in operation at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. Stan Mathews started the Midwest Central at Old Threshers, and it continues to carry on.

The Cass Scenic Railroad in West Virginia also has Shays, and it is a must-see for all steam fans. Thanks for the links, Merle!

Steam Plowing At Andover, South Dakota

 The Case 150, a Case 110, and the only 45 HP tandem compound Minneapolis were all turning furrows at Andover.

Soybean Harvest

 The crops are ripe and ready to harvest, and the ground is dry! Farmers are pushing to get through those acres before we have a wet spell. It's dusty, but harvesting soybeans always raises clouds of dust. I started recording just as the grain tank went empty, but I will be watching for Terry to do the other fields, and will get some of the action.

Life Changing/Life Saving Surgery

 Twenty five years ago I had a serious heartburn problem. Doctors had me taking proton pump inhibitors and that caused some bad side effects without solving the problem of hiatal hernia and eroded esophagus. Dr. Nathaniel Soper, then at Barnes/Wash U fixed me with a Nissen fundoplication. I have had no heartburn for twenty five years, and my esophagus is good. Dr. Soper is now in Phoenix, and is still doing good work.

Wednesday Windage

 

Our friend Mary drove all the way over from Kansas City to help after Susan's surgery. That was a really big deal, what with foster Schips to care for in addition to the household chores that Susan can't perform for a while. We had some range time for her before she went home, and she wanted to shoot the M1. We covered the loading procedure as part of the orientation for that rifle, and she opted to use a two handed loading method rather than risk a thumb. I highly recommend that for safety's sake. I had not checked the sights in many years, although I knew it was on plates OK at 100 yards, but I wanted to know how close it was.  A simple black dot at 25 yards was used for the check.

The first two shots showed that the windage was off by 5/4 inch at 25 yards. At 25 yards, 1/4 inch equals 1 minute of angle, so I clicked the M1 rear sight to the right (clockwise) 5 clicks for five minutes of angle correction.  The next shot was centered in the dot, at about 1 inch above the point of aim. That will be very close to the same at 100 yards with 30-06 ballistics. I was using 150 grain bullets loaded to 2700 feet per second with IMR-4895 powder.

Here's a video with Mary trying out the M1 after running some rounds through a Model 66 S & W:

Mary was shooting at the Red Coat target at 50 yards, and did very well. The M1 pushes her back, but the weight of the rifle made it an easy recoil, and she suffered no bruising. Darn good shooting, I think!

Tuesday Torque: Vintage Tractors

 

I saw the American at Rollag a few years ago. It is an oddball, and one-of-a-kind.  Thanks, Merle!

Bella And Stella Looking For A Home!

 Two of the foster dogs available through Midwest Schipperke Rescue. Find Midwest on Facebook or comment on this blog if you are interested in adopting these two adorable dogs.

Weekend Steam II: Hard Pulling!

 Good One, Merle!

Weekend Steam: A Steam Powered Bone Shaker!

 Thanks, Merle! I would love to see that under steam, on the road.

Cabooses Replaced By FREDs*

 

Susan's father, O.T. Bentrup going out on his last ride.

*FRED: From Wikipedia, The end of train device (ETD), sometimes referred to as an EOT, flashing rear-end device (FRED) or sense and braking unit (SBU) is an electronic device mounted on the end of freight trains in replacement of a caboose. They are divided into three categories: "dumb" units, which only provide a visible indication of the rear of the train with a flashing red taillight; "average intelligence" units with a brake pipe pressure gauge; and "smart" units, which send back data to the crew in the locomotive via radio-based telemetry.^[1] They originated in North America, and are also used elsewhere in the world, where they may include complete End of Train Air System (ETAS) or Sense and Brake Unit (SBU) devices.

USPS Tracking Laughs!?

 We mailed a package by Priority Mail from our local Post Office on September 8, and it is supposed to arrive in southwest Georgia today, but that's not happening. The package has arrived four times and left the St. Louis sorting facility three times, and that is where it sits now. They expect it to be delivered (to Georgia) by 9:00 PM this evening. Fat Chance! UPDATE! 5:42 pm, 9/11, the package left St. Louis again!

Click To Enlarge

To Mt. Vernon and back to St. Louis!

On the road again!

Leaving St. Louis Again!

September 17, it left St. Louis in the morning, came back that night!

Our package left St. Louis today, and was back in the facility twenty minutes later. It didn't even get across the Mississippi!

Tuesday Torque: Engine Show Treats

 Here are some good ones that Merle has passed on to us. The one that really caught my eye is the little tractor with the 4 HP Bessemer farm engine. They run if you keep the oiler filled. Let the oiler go dry and your rod bearing is going to fail quickly. Not many of these survived. Thanks, Merle!

Everyone Should Have An Estwing!

 I have kept an Estwing hatchet closeby for more than fifty years. It's a handy tool. We also have an Estwing rock pick, and it comes in handy around the garden and yard.

Back To The Old Grind!

One More Weekend Steam!

 Andover, South Dakota is where we should all be this weekend to see Kory Anderson's Case 150 operate before it is put to bed for the Winter!

Weekend Steam: Better Late Than Never!

 I have been busy taking care of Susan and her new shoulder, while doing laundry, dishes, feeding and walking dogs. Merle has sent some good links, so here are a few! Many Thanks, Merle!

This steam powered drag bike is really something. It uses superheated water released through a rocket nozzle to take off like a bat out of you-know-where.

Any Ice Today Lady?

 Susan got her new shoulder at Barnes West Tuesday morning, and she came home Wednesday afternoon.  Nausea from the anesthesia was her only problem and she is doing well now. We are keeping her hydrated, medicated, and are chilling her shoulder frequently with an ice bucket that circulates cold water to a pad that covers her shoulder and upper arm.

Replacement of the shoulder is much easier on the patient than rotator cuff surgery to repair torn muscles. They did have to cut two tendons to install the hardware, and the shoulder has to be immobile for two weeks for healing before physical therapy can begin.  Because of Susan's experience with her dislocation after one of her hip surgeries, she told the surgeon to "Screw that thing in!" She did.  We really like the surgeon, Dr. Melissa Wright. It pays to ask around and shop for the right specialist.

Susan has a followup appointment with Dr. Wright in two weeks, and then we begin physical therapy.  She is iced down for the night and settled into a Lazy Boy. The dogs just about were out of their minds while Susan was gone for two days, but they are settled in now. 

Feeling Better Now

Susan got her new shoulder this morning and fought nausea all day, but she is doing much better now. She will be coming home tomorrow!

 

Tuesday Torque II: 150 HP Diesel At Rollag

Tuesday Torque: Ancient Innovation

 This self propelled combine would have had all the neighbors talking way back when it was new. Thanks, Merle! It's a new one to me!

Iwo Jima Holdouts

 

Grind No More

 Susan is getting a new right shoulder today. Her factory issued one has been grinding for a few years, and today is the day she gets it fixed!