Jonnin

I got a lee steel progressive 4 stage and totally set up for under $500 total. Already made most of it back, doing just one round of 500 .380 was over $100 saved, and I have also done a ton of 45 and more. Soon as I do the .40s I will be ahead of the game. I wouldnt go back. Progressive is very easy for simple handgun rounds and makes a ton of sense. If you do mostly rifle, I would get a single stage. If you are flat broke, get a single stage. If you make it a family event, maybe get 2 single stages and go at it... consider your options there. But one guy pulling the handle for simple handgun ammo, progressive is awesome.

Yea I stopped using the bridge too. I used to go there a lot, got married on it as well. If public places are to be posted, HCP holders should get a 10% tax refund (property, sales, etc) as we are being taxed to fund places that we cannot visit... I think I will bounce that idea off the elected officials... always fun to send those sorts of letters.

Doh! Ive done that a time or 2, not often, didnt think about it doing damage. Mental note added, use only in actual emergency.

Not bad but he forgot the gun (this does not really matter). The gun in question changes the recoil, accuracy, velocity, control, and more --- all the factors he sort of pins onto the ammo type alone (9mm vs .22 sort of thing). Sure went over a lot of unrelated stuff to finish up. The whole thing can be reduced to "hit vital anatomy with the most powerful thing you can use/control/carry in your circumstances". Also I would say that typical gun owners shoot for fun, and therefore shoot more often than many cops. Its not always hard core training shooting, but when it comes to hitting what you aim at and handling recoil, a typical gun owner is going to have that stuff under control. Maybe there are a lot of HCP folks that never shoot, I don't know any of them but it seems likely, esp in antigun areas of the country.

I do not care for long term storage. Instead, I recommend that you use a grocery store approach: buy ammo, put it in the back of the shelf. Take ammo to shoot, pull it off the front of the shelf. You always shoot the oldest ammo first this way, rather than constantly replace your shooter ammo while having a 20 year old stash in another room. However I do replace my defense ammo every 8 years, just to be sure its fresh and to handle any unforseen political nonsense (I do around september of presidential election years). I have yet to see ammo fail due to old age. I have shot paper shotgun shells and WW1 ammo, even a few pieces of pre depression ammo. All you really have to do is keep it dry. Thats it, nothing magic. Drop in a bunch of chem to keep it dry (moisture absorb packets or whatever you like) and replace them once a year. If you plan to bury it, put it in many layers of plastic, the innermost totally sealed with moiture packs at each level. Do not use biodegradable plastics. That ammo should be usable 200 years from now.

I have heard that its like a mini .223, prone to tumble, fragment, and penetrate armor, etc. I do not know how much of that was total bs, but that was why one guy said he loved his. Also that its very accurate and long range. Meh. Oddball ammo isnt worth it for me.

PF9: around $250 Taurus .45 : around $375 for a cheap non 1911 and up to $700 for the 1911 formats. at 1.5 times the price, sure its better. And yea, if you can trade them straight up, go for it!!

This. I cannot stand the guns my wife likes, and she hates a lot of mine too. I shoot hers anyway just so if its handy I can use it, but ugg. The only things we have in common is we each have a 1911 and each have a sig 380. Don't even try to pick for her is the best advice you can hear. Read the cornered cat web site, and have her read it too, then let her shoot different stuff until happy.

I use critical defense and the solid point buffalo bore in my 380 (sig p238). I have not tried the DPX, but I have used corbon over the years and it has always done a good job. I swapped to hornady & BB because they had 9x18, only reason.

Does it work? I mean, if it works, and you don't have to take the extractor out, do the best you can without taking it out? I have had some luck using kroil on stuck parts, and on occasion, dental floss (the ribbon kind) will slip in to knock out crud & loosen a piece. You can also try to wiggle it back and forth to loosen it. I dunno how easy it should be on that gun, but it seems like it should just come on out. Maybe look online to see if there is a trick to it, sometimes a piece is held by something you cannot see and there is a way to get it out that isnt obvious.

I would start with the .45 acp. Its easy to do that one, and its expensive enough to see some returns on your efforts right away. Some of the dumb stuff I did that maybe you wont if I tell you about it: 1) the how to put the dies in the press instructions are often not easy to understand at first. My first .45, the bullet was flush to the case mouth because I followed the instructions sort of blindly, pulled the handle, and crammed it on down. Put the bullet seating die in very shallow, seat and measure, move it down, seat and measure, until the bullet is the correct depth. 2) If you forget to put a primer in, the powder goes everywhere and stuff. 3) if you forget to lube up certain cases, like the 223, it gets stuck in the die. After 3 days of trying to get it out, I just bought another die -- lesson learned. 4) if you get a piece of junk in the primer seating area, it dents your primers as they go in. This is the most scared I have been to date of the process. Keep the primer seating thingy clean! 5) never force anything. A few brass cases are berdain(spelling?) primed, which means they have 2-3 off center holes instead of one in the middle. Force it, and you will bend up your die, the die cannot punch thru the solid brass where there is no hole... there are tools for this but I just toss those cases. Forcing anything around explosives is a bad plan, and besides, soft brass/copper/lead bend up when forced. The sizing die may take some force, but you shouldnt have to stand on the press arm or use your whole body weight, a good 20-30 pounds is top end on a tough rifle resize die. More than that, something is wrong (lube? steel? primer type? big dent? etc?). 6) your bench needs to be sturdy. I got a cheap plastic work table and it flexes on the 223 loads, I am going to have to replace it with something later (I even put a board on it to stiffen it, and it still flexes some). 7) you want some cabinets/shelves to organize the stuff. I have been at it less than a year and I have boxes of brass, bullets, primers, powder kegs, dies, press stuff (large/small primer thingys, and other such parts), cleaning stuff, lube, .... it really takes up space. 8) I have a box for bad ammo to go into. Seated too deep, forgot the primer, bent up, wrong case (hehe... I loaded a couple of 9mm into 380 and mak cases, oops). Stuff happens, at least once a month I make a totally unusable round and the bullet puller isnt always the answer. I toss them in the dangerous ammo box at the range when it gets fullish. ----------------- Lee makes a good auto powder device as well. So far I have had good luck with lee equipment (steel press, avoid the aluminum one). Their dies have some basic load data, and most powder manufacturers and bullet makers have free online manuals too. The lee auto primer or hand primer tools also flip them by shaking. The auto one mounts to the press, but I hated that setup and just pick it up, click in a primer, and put it back down. Its the one tool of theirs that could be better. Calipers are a must have item that I didnt see listed. A strong magnet makes removal of steel cases much faster (get one out of an old hard drive? Mine can pull a steel case out of a pile from 5 or so inches away). A jeweler's loupe (ok ok I cant spell) lets you inspect cases for cracks, if you can see it but are unsure if its a crack or just a scratch take a closer look. 223 needs a case trimmer (said above). I discard any case that is not trimmed -- this way, they are all exactly the same length after trimming. I use the cheap one that you stick in a drill, good enough. There are pricy ones that have their own motor and all. ----------------- When I start a new caliber, I weigh out cases first (clean cases!). I find 5 that are exactly the same. I do the same for the bullet (slug). Run them thru the press until they have powder in them. Re-weigh to ensure that all 5 are very, very close (consistent powder charge that matches your load data!). I then seat the bullets and verify all 5 with calipers. If they all weigh very close to the same, and seat to the same depth, I test fire these 5 rounds. If they work well in my gun, I proceed to make that load in bulk. I am no expert so I will stop there. Just stuff I have picked up on as I am learning.

It could just be a F-up. My wife had her wages garnished, collection calls, and a number of things that involved the police and money because she shared a name with a crook, and the person who hit the buttons to activate all the bad stuff on her did not carefully check the names against the SSN or something. It took months to clear it all up, but only a few days to get the worst of it dealt with. A kind lawyer helped for free: he dictated a letter for her to send that did much for the situation (by the whateveritwas act of 1983, if you keep doing what you are doing, your butt is gonna get sued and you will lose was the gist of it). Time is on your side if you are in the right. Be proactive and get help, but relax as well. Mistakes happen fairly often with the police, just like any other place: they have gone to the wrong address for a search/arrest, tangled up names and addresses, even sometimes give bad legal advice (esp about handgun carry questions). Not long ago they arrested a co-worker because his car was stolen (it was, and then it was returned to him by the police, but still listed as stolen due to a clerical error) -- he was held for hours before they finally figued it all out. Stuff happens.

Your choice depends a lot on what you like. Trigger style, size and weight (you want pocketish size ?), internal or external hammers, caliber/recoil, accuracy, price, reliability, safety style, etc. My advice is to find a place where you can rent guns for a few dollars to try out the various styles... try out a glock, try out a DAO kel-tec, try out a double action beretta, try out a single action 1911, shoot something in 9mm, 10mm, maybe 380. Get a handle on what you like about each one and dislike about each one. As for recommendations of specific guns, I am down to 2 carry weapons. A sig p238 which slips into a pocket and is and awesome 380 platform and one of the few small guns that is not DAO. Its totally invisible, but its also not a lot of firepower. My second weapon barely fits into a pocket, its on the extreme edge of what will fit into dress pants and jeans (men's). Its a beretta px4 subcompact in .40 caliber, with medium capacity. This is a great deal of power in a pocket sized gun, but before you get one try it in your own pockets, its very heavy (need a belt, or I do at least) and does not fit in all clothes. There are a large number of guns that fit the beretta size (not quite pocket sized, but small and can go in a pocket it you work hard to get it there); my wife had a taurus 709 slim and it was a nice, thin gun in 9mm. If you move up to waistband carry, you can fit any normal handgun in there, up to some 8 inches or so in length: some folks carry a 1911 this way. Your options for that method of carry are limitless. You have 2 options really. 2 guns, one in pocket, and something larger, or you can get a pocket gun and carry it IWB at times (why?). If you want a pocket gun, you either settle for a true pocket gun (usually low capacity, low power ammo, tiny size) or you stretch a little to get one of the many subcompacts into a pocket with some creative work (I had to make my own holster, for example). This is a personal choice usually. If you are in a very dangerous area, a pocket gun just is not going to work for a shootout with the local gang, and a 15+ rounder IWB is going to be "better". If you are mostly in safer areas and one or 2 goons jumps you at the gas station, the true pocket gun may be ideal. Anyway, buying a gun really comes down to picking one that best fits YOU, and should be taken slowly when you are new to it. A lot of little things that you do not notice when you buy one make it really easy to buy one you dislike, and its like a car, buy it and shoot it and its "used" now. The bodyguard revolver is a great choice, IMHO. It has a low capacity, but its a great gun. The laser sight is silly, to me, but then again I have shot handguns without them for 20+ years. The 380 version I do not care for, because the sig is a much, much better fit to the features that *I* like. I do not like any glocks, and that is also just personal matchup stuff, they are fine guns that are exactly wrong for *me*.

Its most likely fine. 8 shots double tapping is 3-4 bad guys if you don't miss much, so you ask yourself what exactly you are doing that gets you into this much or more trouble and stop doing that if you can! If you are forced into that sort of danger, maybe an extra magazine or 2 is in order to go with it or a high cap version. For most non-violent areas where one can walk in relative safety, your gun is more than fine, its only if you are in gang turf or similar that you need more. I prefer the biggest thing "caliber" that fits my other needs, just in case, but thats personal choice. A lot of the time, the biggest "caliber" for me means a 6 shot .380, so this isnt a plug for a hand cannon, it just means that when given a choice between my 5 shot .22 and my 6 shot 380 to slip in a pocket, the 380 wins. 9mm is more than fine, esp if you put 2 of them into important anatomy.

The cops call me all the time asking for money. I asked them why I pay taxes and got no good answer, so I told them to take it out of my last ticket and he hung up. The firemen call all the time wanting me to buy tickets to stuff like barry manilow or other horrible things --- why couldnt they sell tickets to the upcoming trans-siberian...?! I need to start doing this. I wonder if I call random folks if they will give me money if I just ask? Apparently *someone* keeps giving money away, cause they keep calling, so I just need to get a master list of friendly rich folks.... Ill be back later.

Seating deeper *could* work, if and ONLY IF the current depth is above the lowest depth. You can lower it to the lowest depth for your bullet type to see if that gets the job done, in other words, but do NOT go below that. Here again you could take 5, seat them to the lowest acceptable depth, test, and if that works, maybe save this batch of ammo (but make the next one a bit stronger and go back to a modest depth). It cannot be stressed enough that going past that minimum OAL is dangerous, tiny amounts of depth = a LOT of pressure, and its not linear.

I can understand doing this, but not why you let someone record it, lol. You had to know going in that it was going to be an ouch moment. I once pulled both triggers on my coach gun (at the same time) with 3 inch mags in it, but that was before the internet and a video camera would have used tape, so I was safe from anyone seeing it... (it was fairly painful, by the way, as in it took some few weeks for that bruise to clear up).

We had the same problems with my wife's. Not only did the plastic not cycle, the next step up (which did cycle it) made it became extremely motion sick... the slightest side to side motion (to acquire the next target in event-shooting) made it jam (not limp wrist, but same effect, and from side to side not forward to back). You need about 75% of the way between the starter load to max to get the gun to behave, but work your way up carefully, just make 5 rounds, try them, make 5 more, until you get it right. I shot my weak loads in another gun, almost any other brand will accept the lighter loads properly.

The same place it says felons cannot have em. The same place it says that "arms" does not equal bazookas or machine guns. The same place that it says that folks in jail cannot have them. Word for word, 'the people' are the same 'the people' in the other similar paragraphs (for example: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers...). "the people" is us, its every citizen. Probably, there was no need for exceptions because the folks that need to be excepted would have been hung from the nearest tree in short order. Since we don't do that anymore, a few limitations are in order for those sorts of folks (the extremely criminal violent, sane or not, should probably not be handed a bazooka...).

I stuck a very old scope on mine that was 2-4.5 power and its good to 100 yards or so. I would say try to get a used cheapo from someone here, maybe one that came with a trade or something, rather than a new rock bottom chinese offbrand. I honesty couldnt recommend anything new in that price range out of fear it would fog up or lose zero or something.

no expert but its not really dusty in any format I have ever seen. Its sort of sticky (it isnt, but it likes static cling, so it stays put where it lands often) and largish pellets that do not seem to dust. It doesnt have any warnings about birth defects, just explosions, really. Again, all I can figure out is the usual: Discharging firearms in poorly ventilated areas, cleaning firearms or handling ammunition may result in exposure to lead and other substances known cause birth defects, reproductive harm and other serious physical injury which is all about the lead.

Thanks. The +p was unrelated to the 380, was actually a 9mm question tossed into the mix. I finally found an exact load for that one anyway, but the odd bullets took a while to find data for (flat nose hollow based jacketed 124 grain). The early info I found was that those pressure up faster than normal, and the loading data confirmed it (lower than other similar bullets). Ok. I may try it. Whatever I get is going to do like 1500 or more rounds per pound, so its going to take me a few days to pick one out, but the blue dot does look good. I dont care if it blows a bit of fire or smoke, its the final energy that I want to regulate. Fire and smoke are cool, so long as that isnt tied to a 5000 FPS bomb... my makarov using russian ammo looks like I am using powder left over from a fireworks shop.

What steps can we take to keep anti-gun shrinks from saying we are all insane and unfit? Thats where this will lead, eventually. I have been around a number of mentally ill folks, and only one of them is a danger really, the rest are just "eccentric". That one guy will never get one (its pretty well documented that he is a risk now) but there is a need for improvement here. I cannot for the life of me think of a way to limit the access to guns that is fair to everyone while effective against this sort of problem. Its really impossible to say that somone has snapped; many times the person who has snapped is calm and normalish, at the most seeming distracted, right up to the time when the violence starts. There is no good answer to this issue in most cases. In a few, where friends, family, and associates can all see that there is a problem and could report it, something can be done, but in most cases, the association causes the person to hesitate to make the report, and nothing prevents the person from getting whatever they want. Its not worth it to create more laws for the tiny handful that would be stopped. Mostly, what is needed is education of the society at large to encourage reporting of people who are clearly a danger, before it is too late. Similar programs have mostly failed though, to stop drug abuse, domestic violence, and other things, education just has not really stopped the problem. As I said, I am at a loss for anything effective that could be done that does not wrong normal gun owners.... I think this might be a situation where nothing useful can be done and government should do nothing at all.

The washers are not a total loss. They *look* like they make decent finger grooves. I would say cut them in half to make the finger groove effect and add wood or plastic or something around the back to polish it off. Heck, cut a slot into an old handle, push it in there, and secure it with 2-3 bolts or whatever and its close to done.

Regular primers and, of course, most bullets contain lead. This is bad for anyone to eat, and strongly recommended to be kept away from young kids that consider tasting of everything to be one of the best ways to learn more about the item in question.... Non toxic primers have no lead in them but you still should avoid eating them. The lead, if not eaten, is not going to pollute the home, as it is contained in these items and does not evaporate or anything unless you are boiling the lead inside to cast bullets (dont do that, even without kids, take that mess outside!). Gun powder is probably also best not consumed, but traces of it that get loose in the house (and, it WILL) should be harmless. Its mostly carbon and nitrates, and more or less harmless to touch or even eat in small amounts. I doubt the texture and taste would encourage even a kid to eat much of it. Bottom line: lock up your reloading supplies until your kid reaches about age 25 (just kidding, but age 8 maybe for real). Also, small hands can get mangled in the press, esp the undeneath part where it transfers the force thru a couple of hinges and such. I would say devise a way to lock the press all the way up or down and lock up the materials when not in use, and it will be fine to reload in the home. The same goes for live ammo, keep that away from kids too. And loaded guns are right out. The biggest dangers, IMHO, are lead poisioning and crushed hands from the press.