Recent content by chasw44

I have two Marlins, an M1894 in .44 mag and a M444 with a custom 1in24 twist Douglas barrel. The .444 is a tack driver with 300 grain cast bullets, the M1894 has the factory Ballard tube, with the 1in48 twist, which I had cut back to 18.5 inches so I could mount the front sight behind the front...

Aside from the OP's question, I want to point out Washington State has a long history of "shall issue" licenses to carry a concealed pistol. It was already a longstanding tradition when I moved here in 1977 and I gather it got started back in the 1930s when the Federal government clamped down...

During the Vietnam war, I saw a GI in class A uniform walking around the terminal at SFO with a "trophy" SKS slung over his shoulder. I thought it was a little odd at the time, but as I recall, this was before the onset of heavy duty airport security checks. Also before the Army prohibited the...

H: 2-1/2 lbs letoff on a pistol is about right, IMO. Your problem is the creep, it seems. No sense sending it back to Cimarron, their legal staff probably considers the creep to be normal, the sign of a safe trigger. To correct it, you need to carefully reduce the engagement surfaces...

If drawings are available, you might be able to fabricate a sear. I note that restorers of old cars are forced to make parts that are simply no longer available. For a sear, the part would need to be heat treated or at least case hardened, an additional complication. - CW

Woodstock's method is similar to mine, except I use TruOil without the Armorall added. Yes, it takes longer, but the results are the same. Two coats of TruOil, with about 2 days drying for each coat, followed by smoothing with 000 steel wool and a final coat of gunstock wax, does the trick...

Boosted: In my experience, the problem of empty cases coming straight back to the shooter is usually caused by an extractor that is not profiled correctly. Reference Kuhnhausen's book, or see the link below, for details including line drawings, but factory extractors are usually not shaped...

The finishing touch is wax, I suggest, after the last coat of Tung oil. I like Birchwood Casey's gunstock wax, but any good furniture paste wax made with Carnuba is OK. - CW

Sleazy: I suggest Federal primers, they seem to have softer cups. - CW

I too scrounge brass at my local rifle range. Every Fall, we get an influx of shooters whose only purpose is to sight in their rifles in prep for the deer and elk seasons. Hereabouts (Western Washington), they almost universally shoot either .270 or .30-06. Or at least that's the kind of...

.452 will work just fine in .45 acp autoloaders. fyi, many M1911 pattern pistols do best with 200 grainers. You might try some of the old standard H&G 68 style, 200 grain lead semiwadcutters. With so much happening in these pistols at the instant of firing, some believe its best accuracy-wise...

Can't comment on the Accurate powder charge, I don't use that brand. The 9mm P is a high pressure round that typically does best with slower powders like WSF or Bluedot. As for OAL, 1.16 seems a bit long. The best bet is to load the longest length that will still fit easily in the chamber of...

Ditto Big Jake's comment about the Rockchucker and its ability to take the LocknLoad system. I can't imagine going back to laboriously adjusting my dies every time I used them. - CW

Ditto on the Lyman no 49 for data. Richard Lee's book is another good source for the basics of reloading. All the other manuals are specific to a particular make of bullets or powders. In that respect, they are useful only to a degree. Personally, I rely on my trusty Lyman no 46, Ken Waters'...

I designed my own bench, customized to my ergonomics and the space I had to work with. I started with the principle that is should be very sturdy. That has payed off over and over again. The stresses you put on the bench when sizing or reforming brass, for example, are substantial and will...