Grizzly Adams' Reformed .348 to .45-75 Brass

"Grizzly" Adams of New Mexico offered to convert some brass for my .45-75 and I took him up on 10 pieces to see how his method using the CH Tool tapered expanders compared to my ad hoc method using expander dies from the .375, .429 and .457 cartridges which I had on hand. He was able to return the cases to me very quickly and they arrived Friday, May 25.

I must say that, before fireforming, his cases are neater in appearance and with smoother necks. They also seem to be more concentric. Next step is to fireform all the cases and trim to final length. I'll let you know how these cases look after fireforming.

STOL Competition - Amazing

I take it these planes don't have a load but, wow! These are airplanes, not helicopters. Absolutely fantastic and worth sharing. Thanks to Mr. Completely for posting this for me to see.

.50-90 Sharps Brass and the .45-75 Winchester

The Starline .50-90 Sharps brass arrived today. I don't think it will do for .45-75 as is because the rim diameter is just too much larger to avoid turning it down. I haven't measured it yet, but it won't fit in the .45-75 shell holder. Nothing lost though, I've been thinking of a .50-90...

I also got the Lyman 457122 mold and I'm chuffed about that. Just need time to cast some up (and a sizing die and top punch for my sizer...)

Ticks!

I know many will chime in with more experiences and advice, but I just wanted to caution all the "uber outdoorsmen" here to use tick repellents and to look for ticks and to remove them correctly/carefully. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Lyme Disease and other debilitating diseases from ignoring these precautions can happen to any of us.

I was reminded of this this morning by a fellow who had a tick get him just behind the knee. His symptoms were like the worst kind of flu (less nausea and diarrhea) plus dementia and vertigo. He's on some sort of anti-bacterial medication but still, nearly 2 weeks later, has "bad days".

If you have a tick bite and notice any symptoms, get to a doctor!

Bathroom renovations continue...

Yep, the renovations continue... to get my goat! What a royal pain! I no sooner get the old big mirror cut to new dimensions than the electricians put the GFI outlet in the wrong place which requires I take the mirror back to be shortened. I love my wife but she's right, we don't speak the same language. My language is the language/jargon of the trades and hers is the language of her "vision" (the single best word that describes what she imagines). I speak in specifics and she in generalities which she thinks I must understand. She has a vision, the general parameters of which she can communicate to one and all. But the devil is in the details. I simply can not always understand what she means. Much hair pulling, were my hair longer, results from this. It should be very nice once we get it done. After all, she has very nice visions!

Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting

It always amazes me that there are folks that can do this. Of course they can shoot this fast and well because they practice so it really isn't the shooting that amazes me. What amazes me is that the guys found a wife that supports this kind of fun.

Miscellaneous

Bought a single box of Hornady .308 220 gr. RN bullets yesterday. $30. Prices just keep going up. Read this topic on The Perfect Union. I suggest that you do as I've been recommending and get the components and rimfire ammo you can afford, now. The prices will only go up. Those bullets I bought yesterday cost $20 a year ago.

I've also order 20 ea Starline .50-90 Sharps cases to convert to .45-75 (well some of them), just to see how it works. Having a number of cases I can convert and knowing what they are will enable me to take advantage of good prices should I be so lucky.

I also ordered Lyman mold 457122 for the 330 gr. HP bullet that works in the .45-75. I've now got to get a sizing die and top punch for my sizer.

Grant Cunningham must have started the plumbing problems. I've got one I need to resolve, hopefully today. How a drain from a sink and a washer gets clogged is beyond me. Maybe there's a sock in there? Anyway, I've got a cast iron nipple I can't get loose even after heating and penetrating oil. I'm going to try a breaker bar and then, if that doesn't work, call a plumber. *sigh* The breaker bar worked a charm and the nipple turned right out. Hard to know how soap scum and dirt clog a drain! Seems clear now and the washer drains with out backing out the drain pipe.

Back to the .45-75, a friend has been sent 10 .348 Winchester cases to see if his CH Tool die set will convert the cases better than my previously noted ad hoc system. Maybe I'll have them next week and be able to report on the comparison.

In the for-what-its-worth department, Ten-X has had my ammo order for 2 boxes of .45-75 ammo, paid for, for 2 weeks now and not a word as to back order. Since they are using Jamison brass and everyone is backordered, I'd presume they are backordered as well. However, they've not had the courtesy of a notification. What's up with that?

In stark contrast, Buffalo Arms telephoned me immediately after receiving my order to let me know that my order for 1 box of their ammo and 50 cases was backordered and they had no idea when they could deliver. Big difference in customer service. What do you think that means so far as my future purchasing choices?

My Browning 1895 - UPDATED

It is a crappy photo. I simply haven't had the time to do better.

Some guns are just easier to shoot well than others. This one has the firing pin strike slightly off center but it has yet to be a problem. It hangs well, the trigger is pretty good (I'm a trigger insensitive kinda shooter, if it doesn't take two fingers to pull it doesn't much bother me.), and the sights are at just the right distance that in the right light I can do well with them.

Processing 100 cases now for a 220 gr. bullet load. My goal is 2000 to 2100 fps. It is much cheaper to run such a load in a .30 than a .31. This isn't difficult to do with IMR or Hogdon 4350 and produces a round the penetrates and kills well without excessive recoil.

I haven't gotten the Ukranian Lyman 38 reproduction sight installed yet but hope to go do this soon. This will make the rifle really useful as it will give a wide range of adjustment.

Here's a video about the 1895 rifle...



Originally posted 11/9/2006

Lyman Remington 1858 New Model Army

I got this Lyman marketed Italian reproduction of the Remington 1858 New Army revolver, caliber .44, in 1974 in a gun store in downtown San Angelo, Texas. At the time I was stationed at Goodfellow Air Force Base attending a school and my buddy, Perry Fuller, showed me around. (By the way, Perry is a great fellow and has his own web site, The Churchwarden) Anyway, Perry took me to all the gun shops in town and at one they showed me this revolver. With money burning a hole in my pocket, I bought the gun and Perry and I went shooting. He let me clean the gun in his house and his wife, Amy, cooked a quail we shot using a Ithaca lever-action single shot 20 ga that Perry owned. Good times. I'm glad Perry and Amy are still together after all these years. But I digress...

These guns were made by Armi San Paulo or Uberti. Meant to be replicas or reproductions (a semantics subject for another time) of the Remington Army revolvers they are supposedly noticeably smaller than the originals. There is enough difference that Uberti went to great effort to make an original sized gun and to promote the difference. Still, I've never had a lick of trouble with the gun that wasn't my fault.

My favorite load with this gun is a Hornady .451" swaged round ball over 30 gr. of Pyrodex P lit by a Remington #11 cap. this load is about as powerful as you can reasonably expect from this revolver and is accurate enough that I've repeatedly hit a military "E" type silhouette at 100 yards averaging a little better than 5 of 6 at that range.

The holster used for this gun is from Bianchi (back when John ran the business) and originally had a concho on the outside. I've removed that as I'm not one for shiny things. This holster has served me well for years. As you can see in this photo (click for a larger version), this gun could be a valuable and excellent part of my muzzleloading kit.

For a while, this was my home defense gun and was carefully loaded with wax melted around the nipples for over 2 years. When I finally fired it, every chamber fired perfectly. I think that a properly loaded cap and ball revolver can be a formidable defense tool, at least for the first 5 rounds. Why 5? Because the hammer must be carried on a bare nipple to an empty chamber. Safety first, the old fashioned way!

I wanted to use this revolver more but you can't carry it during muzzleloading season. Funny, huh? Oh, as a CHP holder I can carry my CHP gun, concealed, but not this (which I can't conceal). As though I'm going to smack a deer with it.

Winchester 1876 Survey

Mr. Rick Bachman aka Buck Stinson (click on the name to send him an e-mail) is compiling a collectors' database of 1876 Winchesters. He is not at all interested in who owns the guns, only in their configuration. Don't worry if you send him a duplicate. You might include info missed by another reporter.

Serial number
Rifle, carbine or musket
Round barrel, octagon barrel, half octagon or heavy barrel over 1" across muzzle.
Caliber/chambering
Barrel length
Any special order features. ie, shotgun butt, half mag, set trigger, etc.
Any rework like outside refinish, new wood, etc.

This includes any stripped receivers or parts guns with serial numbers. These are also added to the list. If known, I might mention if it has been lettered.

RCBS Die Prices

Once upon a time one could afford to reform one case to another but now... Well, having been a machinist of sorts, I fail to see how RCBS justifies setting the MSRP of a form and trim die for $488.99! And WHY or HOW is it different from this form and trim die for $474.99? Makes me want to cuss.

New Grand-Daughter!

Born today at 10:03 AM was my Grand-Daughter Madeleine Grace Swisher. She weighed 8 lbs 2-1/2 oz and was 20" tall/long has blue eyes and black hair. Both mother and daughter are doing fine.

.45-75 Cases in Hand

Because I made them, I've got my first two .45-75 cases in hand. Well, they are just a hair short, because I started with just a hair too short .348 Winchester brass. But I'm excited. I'd like to drop a few of these empties in the sand myself. Did I say I'm excited.

Here's the steps I used.
1. .348 Winchester new brass
2. run brass into .348 sizing die just enough to ensure case mouth is round.
3. quick trim case to 2 inches (I now recommend 2.02 inches) with Dremel cutoff wheel.
4. put case in Lyman trimmer and square case mouth likely removing another .01"
5. chamfer case mouth
6. dip case mouth 3/10" into moly
7. run case into .375 expander (from .38-55 die set)
8. run case into .429 expander (from .444 Marlin or .44 Mag die set)
9. run case into .457 expander (from .45-70 die set)
10. lube and run case into .45-75 sizing die sans decapper rod/pin
11. trim to 1.88"

I tried the cases in my rifle and the rims of the .348 Winchester cases work (or seem to with empty brass) as is. This is a big time saver! The only thing these cases need is to be fireformed.

Mike Venturino used W231 and a round ball as his fireforming load. I have Bullseye. I need to research how much would be usable in this case.

Ruger Old Army Holster Enroute

Got notification to day tht Rob Leahy of Simply Rugged Holsters has shipped my 120 (Tom Threepersons modified) for the Ruger Old Army and a neat Swedish Mora knife. I don't know how long since I ordered but Rob has been collecting halibut. When you see a hundred pounds or so of halibut on the dock you know somebody has a good life. I think I can wait a bit while Rob feeds the kids! Rob makes a great product and I'm going to keep ordering from him to ensure that somebody lives a life I'd like to live.

.348 Winchester Brass and Dies Arrive

I got the dies because I could but what I really wanted was the .348 brass to become .45-75 Winchester brass. I'm so excited! Another step closer to fun times.

Another option for forming the .45-75 is to start with .50-90 Sharps brass. It is all a matter of cost and availability. If I found the brass, for less than the .348 or Jamison, that's what I'd do. I'm afraid that it is pretty expensive as Starline sells it for $1.16 per each or $286 per 250 cases. Jamison .45-75 is $1.25 per each or $124.99 per hundred (not including shipping) and the Bertram is $2.85 per each or $56.99 for a box of 20. .348 Winchester brass (when available) goes for $.59 per each or $29.49 per bag of 50. If the .348 Winchester is unavailable or you don't want to thin rims the .50-90 looks a lot better price wise.