What Manly Things Did You Do Today?

Physically, my Dad can shoot big guns, all day long, at 6'2 and 270lbs. But, mentally, he gets confused. Its sad to see the decline.
Once he was :
Lineman and Captain of the SMU football team.
Navigator of a C130 during Vietnam
Dentist
Private Pilot.

 

Went into my barber expecting a shave and a haircut. He apologized because he forgot to put me down for the shave but he'll get me next time, hot towels and everything. He did trim up what beard I have and after checking out let me slap on some of his big bottle of Clubman. Now I normally dislike it a lot but for some reason this stuff smelled different, cleaner somehow, than what I've always smelled at Walgreens and CVS. It's actually...good! Weird.

 

Isn't the loss of the sense of smell a sign of COVID?

 

Rake leaves.
Patch a hole in our kitchen ceiling.
Now for a short nap, then work on my sermon for tomorrow. Psalm 107:1, 8-9, 15-16, 21-22, 32-32, 43. It is the Sunday before Thanksgiving, after all.

 

Raked and mulched leaves.
Made a big fire in the fire pit and roasted Hot Dog and Smores with the wife, daughter, and daughters boyfriend. I used pecan wood from my tree, that I had to trim at the beginning of the year. I love the smell and taste of cooking with pecan wood.

 

That’s a classic black powder rifle! The original became known as the “Plains Rifle.” A .50 caliber ball or especially a Minnie ball will do the job within the rifle’s range.

 

3 weeks out from a reverse shoulder replacement, I was able to get a 40 pound bag of dog food in the cart and later in the truck.

 

Took my son out to the range to get ready for muzzleloader season.



From left to right:

T/C Greyhawk in Stainless
Lyman Deerstalker with dual globe sights
Our matching set of CVA Nitride Optima V2’s with Vortex Crossfire scopes

All are .50 caliber…


Three shot group at 50 yards in the center target. The extra in the upper right was an extra shot I took with a new bullet I am trying. It was not a flyer. I was aiming for the upper right bullseye


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Love the look of that Lyman Deerstalker!

I bet that's the one that works the best, too.

Because everybody knows - stuff that LOOKS cooler always works better!
;-)
- Bax

 

The Lyman is a great rifle for sure! It’s an older one but was still unfired when I purchased it. I am seriously OCD about keeping it pristine. You can’t buy them new anymore…

The two CVA’s can stretch out further than any line of sight I would get hunting here. Easily 150 yards with the scopes, BH209 powder and modern saboted bullets.

I am comfortable out to 100 yards with the Deerstalker with PRB’s and fffg BP. The globe sights are great but anything further is beyond my older eyes. It’s a tack driver if you do everything else right.

I have not shot the Greyhawk much yet, but it shows signs of being really good as well. I’m trying to work up some harder hitting Elk and/moose loads with this one. Old school lead bullets with felt wads and real BP. I can’t bear to put a scope on these, but am looking for better irons to get much past 50.

 

I do Pyrodex. BP scares me.
I kinda HAVE to use BP in a frizzen, though.
Because of that fear, I don't shoot my flintlock much. My .50 Hawken is percussion, so it gets used more often.
- Bax

 

All this black powder rifle talk makes me want to dust mine off, and fire a bunch of rounds.

I loved using the Black Powder. The plume of smoke and the smell was awesome. Especially when a bunch of guys/gals got together and for a Rendezvous.

.

 

Why do you fear real BP? I’ve been working with it for 40 years and never had any issues. I tried Pyrodex during a shortage years back and it was just OK. More crud in the barrel between shots and very fast to cause rust. Although with both you need to stay on top of cleaning….

 

Pyrodex burns more like modern gunpowder. In contrast, BP is explosive, Pyrodex is easier/safer to store, handle, and use, IMHO. If you compare the burn rate, BP is screaming fast, while Pyrodex is much slower (if you've never experimented yourself, YouTube has plenty of videos comparing the two). BP creates a big pressure spike to spit out the ball, while Pyrodex gives it a longer, slower continuous push out of the barrel (at a lower chamber pressure). I don't think minor variations in Pyrodex charges have as much effect as variations in BP charges - at least in my Armi San Marco Hawken; my groups are tighter with Pyrodex. I confess I use BP in the frizzen of my flintlock, though (even though I hate handling the stuff), because it ignites more reliably than Pyrodex. Your mileage may vary, so use whatever works best for you and your specific equipment!

- Bax

 

"... especially when a bunch of guys/gals got together and for a Rendezvous."

Now you're just talkin' dirty, Itchy Whiskers! I'm telling yer Mom!
;-)
- Bax

 

There is no inherent accuracy advantage to using Pyrodex over black powder, and you need to be consistent with both if you really want to squeeze the best groups out of a BP firearm.

Beyond powder, top accuracy is just as much about introducing absolute consistency with everything. Patch materials, consistency with lube application, ball weight and shape, wiping the barrel the same way after every shot, etc.

There is a great book out there by a guy named Dutch Schultz called “Black Powder Accuracy, an Application of Logic to one of Life’s Most Rewarding Sports”. I wholeheartedly recommend that anyone interested in BP sports and hunting read this from cover to cover…..

 

Took a part time job at the zoo. Already beginning to question it.

 

Was a shovel involved?

 

Reminds me of a poor young 2-striper (E3 rank) in Rhein Main AB, Germany.
His duty was to hook up the waste service truck to empty the aircraft latrines. It was winter, so for things to be frozen isn't surprising. He went to hook up the hose, but when he turned the collar to lock it in place, it didn't catch due to being frozen. What did happen was that he had turned it enough to open the valve on the aircraft, and all that sewer waste came down on him. Funny to see him scrambling like he did, but really felt sorry for him. Poor kid. Such is the life of a 2-striper.

 

Last thing I saw was that poor little monkey trying to shove the cork back in.

- ancient Chinese punchline