Month: December 2023

Imperial Resizing Wax works great at keeping your brass from getting stuck in your dies.

Imperial Resizing Wax doesn’t want to come off your brass unless it is onto a clean white dress shirt.

Purple Power degreaser on a paper towel takes off the wax.

Removing Imperial Resizing Wax from 100 cases makes my fingers cramp.

Dawn Dish soap does not remove Imperial Resizing Wax in the wet tumbler.

LimiShine does not remove Imperial Resizing Wax in the wet tumbler.

Dawn Dish soap plus LimiShine does not remove Imperial Resizing Wax in the wet tumbler.

(It leaves the cases covered in wax AND all the gunk cleaned from the inside of the brass. UGLY)

Purple Power at about 10-20% solution will remove Imperial Resizing Wax from cases!

Using Purple Power after Dawn and LemiShine leaves the brass clean but dull.

Using Purple Power first, with no media, strips the Imperial Wax off

Finishing with a run of Dawn Dish soap followed by a run with just LimiShine leaves a beautiful, like new finish.

Purple Power is cheap when you buy it in bulk, it is ok to use it to clean brass.

The size of a flash hole is nominally 1/16 in, or 0.061.

If the hole is smaller than 0.070 inches, your decapping pin might not go into the hole and if you add too much pressure, it will break.

McJ Tools sells bulk decapping pins, which are nicer than anything I’ve seen from the “Names”.

The decapping pin in the Frankford hand decapping tool is the same as the pin used in Lee dies.

The decapping pins of a Redding die will get stuck in flash holes smaller than 1/16 in.

McJ Tools makes a tool for normalizing flash holes to 0.070 inches.

Some brass has a thicker web between the case and the primer pocket than others.

The McJ Tool flash hole normalizer does not cut as deeply as the web of some brass.

McJ Tool makes a primer pocket normalizer tool to cut the primer pocket to size and depth.

The McJ Tool pocket normalizer does not remove military crimps.

A normal-sized primer pocket is just a little too small for some #41 primers.

The Layman EZ trim tool is fast and easy to use. I trimmed 300–500 pieces of brass in an evening with it.

The Layman EZ trim tool uses the case hold down system I had designed for my drill press/milling machine adapter to trim cases.

Wet tumbling your brass can cause the necks to close up slightly.

Redding neck lube works wonderfully when resizing the necks of cases.

The RCBS swagging dies create perfect primer pockets that can be primed easily.

A depth of cut of 0.050 on a 3/8in boring bar in 6061 will deflect. Spring passes are required.

Having the wrong tool height on a boring bar can cause excess loading.

Using a Lee turret press with auto advance is really nice when it can be used. The four positions are: Neck sizing, through die powder charge, bullet seating die, and empty.

It takes almost the same amount of time from pouring powder to being ready for more powder as it takes the auto charge machine to throw the next charge, accurate to 0.1grains.

If you have good ladder sights, 45-70 can travel a long distance, accurately.

(2450 words)

When you choose a firearm, you choose it for a reason. Yes, I have some firearms that are in the safe because they followed me home. But there are many more that were picked for a reason.

We pick our firearms for looks, for the feel in the hand, the cool factor, the weight, and a multitude of different options.

We also pick for practical reasons. As an example, I have critters that get into the chicken house and into the feed and are sometimes on the porch. There are bears that roam the area. These are all targets at different times.

There is a display rack in the living room. It holds four lever action rifles. The blue haired fairie has them named, “bear”, “deer”, “raccoon”, and “squirrel”. In order, 45-70, 30-30 Winchester, .357 Magnum, .22 LR. Each has a different purpose, coming from different requirements.

Anybody who is anybody will tell you that those rifles really don’t have the ability to go the distance. They are all 100 yards, or less, rifles. The real truth is that I can ring steel at 100 yards with any of them. But getting a line of sight of 100 yards around here is difficult.

In the safe is a Remington 700 in 7.62×51. I’ve taken deer with it at around 600 yards. That rifle has great optics on it, and it was designed for taking shoots at that distance, or greater.
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My family use to watch Bing Crosby Christmas Specials every Christmas.

Hagar happened to mention that she truly enjoyed the David Bowie and Bing Crosby version of this song.

I will also note that she pointed out that if some kid showed up and started playing a drum around my baby, just as I got him to sleep, it would not be a joyful event.

(1800 words)
How to open a can of worms… There are people who have the recipe they swear by. Yet, they will admit that there are other recipes that function nearly as well as theirs does. Bullets, on the other hand, have much stronger feelings.

We’ll start by breaking bullets down into two categories, bullets that transfer as much energy as possible to the target, and those that don’t.

I just finished some reloading. Many of the rounds I loaded were 55gr .224, Full Metal Jacket Boat Tail. Some were 55gr Soft Point Boat Tail.

The difference being that one had a pointy noise covered in copper. The other had the very tip, exposing the lead of the core.

Given that the size of that tip was maybe 0.080 in diameter, I did not expect to see any difference. I was wrong.

Using the super scientific test media known as “pumpkin”, I placed two small pumpkins down range and put 10 rounds into it. All hit. Nice grouping. There was significant damage to the pumpkin. It was still obviously a pumpkin.

I changed magazines, made sure the soft points were going where I wanted (rang steel). Then I went to put the last 10 rounds into the other pumpkin. I was only able to put one round into the second pumpkin.

That “soft point” round caused the pumpkin to fly to pieces. I ended up with pumpkin pieces as much as 4 yards from the point of impact.

This has shown me just how much difference there can be.

History

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Part of the Heller methodology is the use of text, history, and tradition of regulations.

Not discussions, not proposed laws, not policy, but actual regulations. That is, laws passed by the legislatures of the state or federal government.

Today, it is pretty easy to gather the current laws. It is more difficult to get historical records. “The Court House burned down.” isn’t just an excuse, it actually happened, in several places.

Remember that in the war of 1812, the British marched into Washington, D.C. and burned large parts of it.

So what is a rogue court and an infringing state to do when they can’t find a regulation to match their proposed infringement?

Find somebody who made it up!

The quote was taken from the Duke Center for Firearms Law web page.

Something stands out in that “law,” claiming to be from 1792. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but our readers are much sharper than I am.

My memory is pretty poor, but I seem to remember that the American Revelation ended September 3, 1783. The author of this piece of “history” wants us to believe that nearly a decade later, North Caroline was still referring to the “King” and “Lords”?

This “regulation” does not pass the sniff test. I believe it to be fabricated. When it was fabricated, I do not know. But for the Second Circuit court to depend on it indicates that they did not treat their job seriously.

The Second Circuit then cites to [xCite item=”NCSEYPBD” pos=1]. This should be familiar to the Second Circuit, and to those of us in the Second Amendment Community.

In other words, the Supreme Court has already looked at this law and found that it does not support infringements.

[xCiteBib]

B.L.U.F.
In reading some recent filings, I came across this excellent take down of the Second Circuit Court’s opinion.
(1550 words)

The following is mostly from plaintiffs (good guys) in Kipke v. Moore in the District Court of Maryland. As mentioned the other day, the state is using the opinion out of the Second Circuit to bolster their arguments. The plaintiffs are having none of it.

NRA v. Bondi was the case down in Florida where the 3 judge panel found that 18, 19, and 20-year-olds were not part of “The People”. They published their opinion. Their opinion was immediately stayed by another judge on the Eleventh Circuit court. The case was then taken up en banc.

We are waiting for the en banc panel to issue their opinion.

Citing to NRA v. Bondi as good case law is a profound error. It is no different than citing to [xCite item=”CK44UVC7″ pos=1] to support a current regulation. (Dred Scott was an awful Supreme Court opinion that has been corrected by the Supreme Court.)

The Circuit Courts like to think of themselves as Supreme Courts. Even if the Supreme Court has told the Article III inferior courts how to do something, the Circuit Courts, which are inferior courts, will hold on to their past opinions with a stranglehold.

The Forth Circuit court should have had an easy task when asked if Kolbe is still good law. The Supreme Court just GVRed a case to the Fourth, telling them that using Kolbe they got it wrong. Yes, Kolbe is part of the dung heap of the past.

Depending on decisions, pre-dating Bruen is wrong. The problem that these rogue courts have, is that they don’t have any ground to stand on. Every time they think they are on firm ground, it turns to quicksand. They knew they were infringing when they used the means-end tests. They knew they were ignoring what the Supreme Court wanted. They were more concerned with their agenda.

In [xCite item=”S46UYT4P” pos=2], the Supreme Court clearly stated that the Second Amendment is incorporated. That it applies to the states as well as the Federal government. For the Second Circuit to say that state law is somehow different is an abuse of their authority.
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There are numerous cases that are bouncing closer and closer to the Supreme Court. The readers of the tea leaves all agree, the Supreme Court is going to static.

There are people who have spent decades observing the Supreme Court, attempting to predict what they will do in any particular situation. Some of them have great track records, some reaching as high as 50%!

Cases exist in different “states”. Everything before final judgement is interlocutory. This means that the case hasn’t reached a conclusion at this level.

The current spat of infringements being challenged are all in that interlocutory state. The Supreme Court doesn’t normally act on cases that are still interlocutory. They much prefer everything done and ready for them to give an opinion that is going to stick.

So don’t worry when you see the Supreme Court hasn’t done something.

The reloading series is nearing an end, I have a few more articles to write in that series.

If you think there is something I’m missing, please let me know in the comments. I might have it queued up for an article already, or I might have missed it.

For those of you that do progressive reloading, yes, I know it is the cat’s meow. I might touch on it, but I’ve never used a progressive press. I’m not the right person to write that article.

As always, feel free to give us your thoughts in the comments below.

Have a great weekend!

We have some bad news. The case which was put on the Supreme Court’s emergency docket asking for a writ of injunction has been denied.

The total information we have currently is:
Dec 14 2023 Application (23A486) referred to the Court.
Application (23A486) for a writ of injunction pending certiorari presented to Justice Barrett and by her referred to the Court is denied.

B.L.U.F.
A quick update regarding some 2A cases kicking around. Touching on how bad case law begets bad case law.
(1200 words)

In June 2022, the Supreme Court issued the Bruen opinion. This case answered one question: Is New York’s “proper cause” requirement for a CCW constitutional?

The Supreme Court answered with a resounding “NO!”.

In dealing with the question, they stated that subjective criteria was not acceptable. They went on to explain how they reached their opinion using text, history, and tradition. In the associated dicta, they told the Article III inferior courts how they should analyze any Second Amendment challenges.

It is important to understand that the Supreme Court gives explicit answers regarding the question they are answering and instructions on how the inferior courts can do it themselves.

When an inferior court says that the Supreme Court hasn’t issued an opinion on something, that is the court being cowardly, ignorant, or attempting to subvert The Constitution.

If the plaintiffs make a Second Amendment challenge, they are responsible for proving that the proposed conduct implicates the plain text of the Second Amendment.

To take just one example, a 16-year-old wishes to purchase a firearm. They are refused because they are underage.

The text of the Second Amendment reads; A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

The state might argue that 16 year-olds are not part of the people for reasons. But this is not the first step.

The plaintiffs wish to purchase a firearm. All firearms are arms. Thus, the “Arms” requirement is met. They wish to purchase, possess arms. This satisfies “to keep and bear arms”.

They are a part of “the people”. That means the plain text of the Second Amendment is implicated.

If the state starts arguing that they are not part of the people protected by the Second Amendment, that is part of the second step: history and tradition.

Anytime the state is arguing that something is not an arm, or it is not being kept, or it isn’t bearing, or they are not part of the people, they are attempting to subvert the clear intentions of the Supreme Court.

Once the plaintiffs have proved that the proposed conduct implicates the plain text of the Second Amendment, the burden shifts to the state. The plaintiffs are done.

In that second stage, the plaintiffs can argue why particular regulations are not analogous, or not of the correct period. That is their job, to eliminate the regulations presented by the state from being considered.

Everything else the state brings up can be challenged as being irrelevant. If an expert is giving an opinion on legal matters, that is inappropriate. The legal experts are the attorneys and the Court, experts give opinions about non-legal issues.

The First Domino

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(2600 words)

All recipes for charges are given by weight. Normally, to 0.1 grains.

Each powder has a different density and a different required charge.

Powders come in different granule shapes. There are flakes. There are cylinders, formed by pushing wet powder through round holes, then cutting them into small cylinders. Finally, there are spherical granules.

The surface area of a granule is the biggest factor in how fast a given powder burns. The same composition, in different shapes, will burn at different rates.

For each lot of powder, the density for that powder should be the same, on average. For each can of powder, the density will be the same.

The volume required to for a charge is the density of the powder multiplied by the weight of the charge.

There are powders that take small charges, some take larger. For example, the Hodgdon recipe for 45ACp says that IMR Blue can be used with a starting charge of 9.0 grains. They also say that you can use Clays with a starting charge of 3.7grains.

There is only a 0.3grain difference between the starting charge and maximum charge when using Clays. This is not a lot of room for error.

There is a bit more range for IMR Blue. Regardless, the point of this is to let you know that we are measuring small values accurately and repeatably.
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