Wednesday Windage: How Accurate Are Minie Balls In Modern Reproduction Rifles?

 We have an Armisport 1853 Enfield in .58 caliber, and it is a good shooter with Minie balls. The first shot from a clean barrel will be off a bit, but then the gun shoots where you aim. I used it to take a deer in 1999, and it caused impressive damage to the deer's heart and lungs.   The standard loading in the 1860s for that rifle was 60 grains of black powder. I bumped it up a bit to 70 grains, but I think 60 grains would have done just as well.  The deer was only about 5 yards away when I made my shot. Too much powder behind a Minie is a bad idea. Too much pressure will cause the skirt to blow out as the bullet leaves the barrel.  Minies must be cast from soft lead so they can expand to the riflings. Hard lead is likely to break at the bands, leaving a ring of lead in the barrel. Don't try to hot-rod your musket!  Anyway, this video is a good one.  I think you will enjoy it. 

Wednesday Windage: Belly Band Holster

 I bought a belly band holster to try out, and these are my thoughts after trying it with various pistols. Leave your thoughts in the Comments. Re-holstering is my greatest concern. Don't blow your leg off!

Participation Trophy Winner!

 Carmi Rifle Club and the White County Farm Bureau host a steel shoot every July. We recently had our fifteenth annual event. Young, old, fast or slow, all are welcome to compete, and each competitor has a chance of winning a pistol that is made available through a local firearm emporium. A winning score is nice, but that is mostly just for bragging rights. This year, I was the lucky winner, and now have a new Mk IV Ruger Competition pistol. I ran it for the first time yesterday and have it pretty well sighted in. The trigger pull from the factory is a crisp 3 3/4 pounds. That's nice in a new factory pistol. It will probably break in to around 3 pounds. Anyway, here is some of the action, and a photo of the new hardware. 

William Kirk, Washington Gun Law Channel, On Illinois Firearm Laws

 William Kirk is an attorney who keeps us updated on firearm legal issues nationwide. He covers Illinois news regularly, and this video is a good one. 

Mike Venturino Collection and Wolf Ears Holsters

 Firearm enthusiasts were all saddened last year when Mike Venturino passed away. A collection of his columns for American Handgunner was published, and I ordered one right away. It is a great collection with many years of Mike's knowledge in his postings.  Click the photo if you wish to get a copy for yourself, or for friends and family. 

Mike discussed Mexican Loop holsters in one of his articles, an authentic style of holster from the late 19th Century. He featured a couple from Wolf Ears Holsters, Stan Dolega, proprietor, of Laramie, Wyoming.  Stan builds his Mexican Loop holsters with a bit of belly between the two restraining straps, so the holster doesn't try to climb when you draw. It is an authentic design that was used in the 19th Century. Click the photo for Wolf Ears' website. 

The holsters are made to order, so there is a bit of lag time after ordering. Stan called to make sure the information I sent was correct, and provided an estimated time. Wyoming, and his shop was very cold at the time, and he was running behind, but the holster arrived in three weeks.  It is a perfect fit, and shows excellent workmanship. Click over to Stan's website and have a look around. 

Everybody Wants A Hawken

Jeremiah Johnson greatly increased the interest in hunting with muzzleloaders back in the 1970s. Manufacturers and importers are still benefitting from that movie. Hawken rifles evidently did not have a large role in the fur trade, but that does not make them any less desirable for enthusiasts today. A fifty caliber roundball rifle will do a number on a deer with a reasonable charge of powder, and will typically punch all the way through the heart/lungs to the hide on the other side. Modern muzzleloaders have a faster twist than the originals and can use Minie balls, saboted pistol bullets, or other "long" bullets cast of soft lead. Those projectiles will easily go completely through a deer. There is some interesting and informative history in the following videos. I need to warm up my bullet molds!

Repairs And Spares

 My Ruger Mk III broke down one week ago. I diagnosed the problem easily when I tore the gun down. Coils had fallen off the firing pin rebound spring. Oscillation within the firing pin channel evidently wore some spots thin on the spring. I called Ruger's factory in Prescott, Arizona Monday afternoon, and the parts arrived Friday. The nice lady who waited on me knew the products well, and took care of me quickly.

The pistol went back together in a few minutes, and I will test it out tomorrow. I need to figure a way to store the spares in the grip of one of the pistols, so I can find them if I have this problem again. 

Squibs Caused By....

 I had a squib yesterday, and the bullet struck the target, so I shot again, with no bullet strike. I checked the bore and the bullet was a couple inches from the muzzle.  It punched out easily, I went back to shoot, and had another squib. Three in succession had to be an equipment issue. 

I have seen light strikes cause ignition problems before, and that was my suspicion. I pulled the bolt and found that the firing pin rebound spring had shed some coils. That causes the firing pin to not be struck properly when the hammer falls. Gotta call Prescott in the morning to order a replacement and a few spares.

It's always something. Back To The Old Grind!

Slippery Dave!...(A Timely Re-post; I have firearms to clean!)

...Make your own Slippery Dave gun cleaner/lube! and start saving money when you clean and lube your guns. I've tried many of the gun oils on the market, and when you study them you will figure out that there is no magical spout in the refinery that spits out gun oil. Gun cleaners and gun oils are basically solvents and oils in varying combinations, and if you know what you want, you can come up with a good combo yourself.  Ballistol, one of the favorite old-time gun cleaner/oils will mix with water for cleaning black powder residue, and will clean your action while leaving a coat of oil. That's easy to figure out. It will clean black powder fouling and mix with water because of alcohol in the mix, and it has hydrocarbon solvents, too, to clean and to thin the oil. Here's all you need to make your own version of that gun cleaner/oil.

Sea Foam is a mix of alcohol (smells like isopropyl), naphtha, (Coleman fuel) and kerosene. Marvel Mystery Oil is a light oil with oil-of-wintergreen added, which eats corrosion and is a degreaser. It has paraffin, which provides a protective coating to metal, and it smells good, too. Mix these together and you have a darn good gun cleaner/oil. I add about half an ounce of chainsaw bar lube to the mix, because it clings to metal really well. I keep a pump oil can in my cleaning kit for shooting this mix down the barrel, and it makes the bore shine. You can also put it on your barrel cleaning snake for a quick pull-through.  Instead of paying $16 a pint for a name brand cleaner, you will have about $6 or $8 in a quart. You can use any oil you prefer; some folks like 5W-30 synthetic, some like ATF.  Rather than buying Seafoam, you can substitute mineral spirits and isopropyl alcohol. You can get pure isopropyl in Iso-Heet gas line antifreeze from the car care section of popular stores or at an auto parts store.

Keep your mix in an airtight bottle, because the solvents will evaporate if given the chance. Don't use any gun cleaning product or solvent around an ignition source; and don't smoke while cleaning your guns. Beware of oily cloths from cleaning.

Shooting Old U.S. Military Guns With Clint Smith

Illinois Is A Cluster Migraine

 Illinois passed an "assault weapon" law in January, and multiple lawsuits are being used to fight it. We will have to wait and see what happens. This video shows one of the effects of the law. Even a basic Ruger 10/22 is illegal. (and much, much more) Click it over to YouTube to read the comments. Many here in Illinois have not studied the law enough to understand the consequences. Most County Sheriffs say that they will not enforce this law, but the IL State Police are forging ahead, and are targeting small gun shops around the state. Pritzker drove half of the FFLs out of business a couple years ago and now he is going after the rest. 

New Hi-Point 10 mm! You Need One....

 ...because it is illegal in Illinois. If Chicago politicians don't like it, it must be good! It is a great product, made by Americans, for Americans! All of the video reviews I have seen so far show this new model to be a reliable firearm at a great price.

Raul Mendez: You Probably Did Not Hear His Name In The News