Jamie Jackson

I know that feeling, from previous experiences, it sucks. Have you replanted beans yet?

My green beans struggled particularly hard with this past hot dry spell. Hope it's past anyway as we've been getting daily rain this past week. I was only able to get about 1 pot of green beans... <sigh> I've never had such a low production of green beans before... I replanted bush bean and pole beans on June 22nd and they are really coming up well now. (Fingers crossed and a Prayer). My carrots were planted in a 4x4 bed. I picked them Tuesday, only got about 3 pounds. So I purchased an additional 3 pounds and pressure canned them using a mixture of orange juice and brown sugar and this made 9 pints of quite delicious "Glazed" carrots. The 4x8 bed I planted in okra June 22nd is coming up well also. With a lot of luck I'll be able to can some pickled okra. LOve that stuff. Good luck everyone. Strange times these are.

I had chicory growing in my herb box...but a fat rabbit decided it was too temping a delicacy. Ate them down to the ground! <sigh> I need to add sage and cilantro and have recently placed an order to Victory Seeds. I've had great luck with their seeds. https://www.victoryseeds.com/ My Dill is bolting and has apparently done so in a couple of beds because I've harvested dill from 2 beds already. I just cut it, toss in a gallon ziplock bag and toss in the freezer. Works well for canning in my experience. I've had rosemary grow into a damn small tree before. Hardy plant!

Sorry for the bad run of luck @Ronald_55! Wishing a speedy recovery to your Missus as well! Hopefully we'll all catch a bit of rain here and there. My beds seem to do much better with rain water than the garden hose.

This heat has been a challenge for my raised beds, meaning frequent watering. I've been eating out of my garden for over a month, like 6 cuttings of Swiss Chard and 2 of Turnips, lettuce and cherry tomatoes. My regular tomatoes are coming in now. A fresh tomato sandwich is a rite of summer! Zucchini and yellow squash are finally producing and butternut squash is finally setting. Carrots are doing well and about ready to pick. I have a rack of onions drying and they are about ready to bag... been eating them and cooking with them for several weeks. Sure beats store bought! My small green bean bed didn't do well, but they've been replanted (bush beans) and I planted some pole beans. They're coming up well. Okra plants are coming up good as well. Hoping to catch the okra right and pickle some. Sure would love a couple of days of slow soaking rain... Oh yeah, planted a cuke from seed in a pot and it's producing well. I have a quart of refrigerator sweet pickle mix ready in the fridge right now.

I live in West Knoxville and do the majority of my pistol shooting at RangeUSA ( 1-2xwk ) and have nothing but positive things to say about it and the good folks there. I've been a member at ORSA since I relocated here in '06. You can read about ORSA and download an application from their website. There are multiple ranges and iirc there are some hoops to jump (orientations) for such as access to the Action Pistol Range and the 1000 yd range. But there is a 200 yd bench range and a 100 yd (?) steel target rifle range, as well as an indoor range that's primarily open on the weekends. Windrock is a good range within it's space limitations and is run by good folks. Norris used to have a decent range but I haven't been up there in several years. Members used to post about Norris here on TGO... it may, or may not, be searchable. I was used to shooting on public ranges, as well as member only, back in the SW MS/ NE LA area prior to moving here. We're pretty fortunate to have so many opportunities open to us these days. Just my inflation adjusted $0.02 worth...

Target Sports has been keeping them in stock for several weeks now. Very expensive, I agree. Midway has been getting CCI primers on a pretty regular basis and the price is high there as well. and IIRC Midway limits you to only 1000 per order. But... at least we are seeing them staying around for a bit. Hopefully things will eventually get better. IDK, hope isn't a great plan. Time will tell...

Welcome aboard and Welcome to TN.

Totally agree. As the saying goes... "The Devil is in the details"

If this is addressed to me, no everything is as it should be, except the smaller than standard primer holes I encountered. I routinely handload at least 5000 9mm rounds per year, usually more and as many as 14K a few years back..same setup and of course, well maintained. That's why this press will probably outlast me. As I mentioned upthread, apparently a few on the 9mm Norma cases passed through without a hitch... unfortunately not all. I read the same complaint or issue on Brian Enos and several other forums... once I found it to be as issue for me, I discovered I wasn't alone in this. I just sort my range brass and cull out the 9mm Norma cases. But Hey, it's free, I have no right to complain...I guess

Welcome aboard!

If I'm reading correctly you are referencing ORSA (Oak Ridge)? If so, I am a member at ORSA. I've been a member since 2006. I primarily shoot at Range USA simply because it's so close. But we meet as a small group at least 2 times a month and shoot on the Action Pistol Range at ORSA. There are a lot of hoops to jump through as in attending General orientation class and a specific orientation class for the Action Pistol Range (ACP). AS best I can recall no rifles or shotguns on the ACP and you must use only competition approved targets like USPSA and IDPA targets. But you can work from the holster, set up and run scenario based targeting, can run pistol caliber carbines and .22 rifles (I shoot my RDS 10/22 frequently), and shoot steel as long as no aren't destroying things or missing up stages set for matches. As long as a person is safe and responsible you have a lot of leeway. There are various matches pretty much every weekend on the ACP...so plan your trips accordingly. IDPA-USPSA-Cowboy-Steel-3 Gun etc. There are multiple rifle and pistol ranges as well as a 15 yard indoor range (I S.O. there once a month). Nothing fancy in the Indoor range and much more restrictive than it once was. Lots of cameras Big Brother style ...probably one of the negative aspects you mentioned. It is what it is... I've met a lot of great people at ORSA...a lot of great people at Range USA as well. ORSA has an application at their website. Price has increased, the new application mentions a background check and carry permit...I just skimmed over it. And you need a sponsor which is easy. Windrock is another good place to shoot up in Oliver Springs. I think they have a website and "book-face" thing. Randy Harris and AJ hold training classes there periodically and I understand Windrock has a great Back-up Gun Match. I'm getting too old and gimpy to run and gun anymore but still make frequent use of ORSA and Range USA. Hope you guys find what you are looking for. Jamie

This is probably one of the most challenging times to get into handloading, unfortunately. I've been handloading for more than 35 years and I just slowly accumulated the items I needed starting with a Lee single stage press. I loaded with it around 5 years before purchasing my Dillon 550. I've only just replaced the Lee (with another Lee) this past year... they eventually wear out. Midway and Titan periodically still have sales (and free shipping), so picking up an item here and there spreads the initial investment pain out. Components... well this is no doubt the most difficult time since I started to find components, especially primers. I last purchased primers in 2017. I see and read that folks are periodically finding primers but at significantly higher prices than times past. And they sell out fast... but at least they are periodically available. If stored properly they last a very long time. I used some CCI primers within the past couple of years I purchased in the early '90's for example. A couple of good loading manuals are a good place to get started. I hope we'll see greater availability of all components within the next couple of years, but Lord only knows what the new normal price will be. Good luck on your venture.

It's been crazy. I've got onions, Swiss Chard, beets and spinach coming up. But I'm afraid to plant anything else yet. Want to, just waiting for better weather.

My condolences and Prayers for all. God Bless.

PM sent Offer withdrawn per my 2nd PM. Thank you.

I love mine. I should have picked one up long ago.

Congrats Rob! You done Good! That little light is bright isn't it?

@E4 No More If we're talking raised beds, as I am a suburbanite, that is what I use. The best thing about raised beds (actually 2 things) is/are that weeds are almost a nonentity and beds can be constructed tall enough to make it easy on the back for tending. If we're talking planting a corn field I'll just stay in my lane and leave that to folks like @gregintenn With an unknown future having a productive garden adds a little piece of mind. We're around 14 years using raised beds and we always have plenty to freeze, can and share. Good luck to you Sir.

It's gonna be tough Greg. And unfortunately will just get worse. I don't put in a garden anywhere near the size of yours, but I am looking forward to getting all of beds beds up and running. Fortunately I ordered my seeds last fall and already have the onions and Chard planted. Wishing everyone good luck!

Congrats Rob. I think you'll be pleased with your choice. @maroonandwhite, I could send a lot of money at Inline that I don;t need to. LOL I have a cardboard box to the left of the press and have used the traditional knob. It works for me, so why change? But they have some nice gear.

There's been some excellent advice and information shared already. I finally wore out my first press, a Lee single stage, after 35 years and many 10's of thousands of a variety of handloads. I replaced it with the Lee Classic cast with the breech lock update and have no doubt it'll outlive me. I have a Dillon 550 B that I purchased around 1990. I have no idea how many 9mm and 45 acp I've loaded over the decades, but as many as 14,000/year to as few as 5,000/year. It's not auto-indexed, but honestly that's never been a concern, nor even a "want" for me. I can leisurely load 400 rounds an hour keeping a careful eye on each step. I think I've loaded around 4000 9mm so far this year. Handloading is my "Zen" place. I did send it back to Dillon several years ago for a "Tune up" and they returned a like new press to me. Dillon's customer service has always been incredible. I've lost track of the extra/spare parts and primer tubes they've given me over the years...but it's quite a bit. IF you go with a Dillon I would highly recommend an Inline Fabrication LED light kit. It's probably the best $34.00 I've spent on reloading gear in a long time. It's made seeing what these aging eyes are doing much easier! I also use a JW Systems extended primer track bearing plate. But that's a little more money for a later time LOL Good luck with your quest.

Just went out and measured the railing on the front deck and floor on the back deck. 5 inches. The sun is trying to peek out now...so I guess I'll run the weedeater tomorrow... Power came back on a bit after 0930...but I'm still gonna reload today! pic is thru my front door... it was cold out

I'm in West Knoxville. We lost power around 0600. Ran the generator awhile, made coffee and charged my phone. Judging from the snow on the deck and railings we got around 4 inches and it's still snowing. Very wet snow. Beautiful though. It's weird as I just cut the grass and did some yard work yesterday. Coming from South Mississippi/ New Orleans area I appreciate the variability of the seasons...just not so much daily seasonal change LOL Just glad I don't have to be out in it. Might be a good day to do some reloading.

Increased to $3.99 when I passed this morning. (Monday)