Posted on 09/23/2009 6:19:16 AM PDT by HairOfTheDog
Welcome to The Hobbit Hole!
I've become one of the Van People.
The Bar-Sto stainless steel almost-drop-in barrel in .357Sig needed some almost-fitting, as I suspected. I needed to remove about .006" from the back edge so it would lock up in the ejection port. For $11 plus postage, I could have sent the barrel and slide to them, and waited.
I tried to file it off, but the barrel is so hard, the file just skidded off, and wouldn't "bite in". So I found my "medium" diamond hone, and spent two pleasant hours honing down the rim so things fit. When I got close, I switched to fine, and then super-fine diamond hones. Then a few minutes of final work-in with NanoLube. It actually locks up slicker and more solidly than the factory barrel with 50 rounds through it. I don't have the ability to measure things so close, but I suspect the new barrel is about .0005" shorter, which is the equivalent of a thousand rounds of work-in. I need more projects like that.
Finally, I got the RCBS collet-type bullet puller working. First, I had to spend two hours looking for the scattered pieces of my RCBS Rock-Chucker press. The press itself, being hugh, was easy to find, but a bear to get out from underneath a bench. The other pieces were in boxes and drawers that I had forgotten about years ago. In fact, I estimate I had never laid eyes on my reloading press for at least 15 years.
Setup was quick, since I only had to push four mile-long bolts through the holes in my loading bench. Pulling bullets is not hard work with a press like this. The puller setup itself was easy.
It was so easy, the first time I tried it, I thought something went wrong. I ran the round up into the puller, and then pulled down on the handle. It was so effortless I felt something had to be wrong. But there was a case with powder in the shell holder. I threw that away without further muss or fuss, then loosened the handle on the collet. A perfect .45 bullet dropped into my hand.
I'm so glad I got the puller. It's honestly ten times faster and easier, almost silent, and nearly effortless. If I have a rainy day ahead of me, I'll put my portable DVD player on the bench, and watch movies while I pull the ~820 bullets still to go.
Vans are cool. That one should stand you a few years. My van is that same color.
Any fresh bebbeh pics? MrsEx asks.
Is this an announcement that you’ll be needing more transport room?
If’n you don’t need those 800 cases I might know a home for them...
So I have this Armscor 1911. Pretty cheap but a fair shooter. I noticed cleaning it the other day that it is beating the crud out of it self on the inside. Lots of places with imacpt marks like sliding hitting the frame when all the way back.Also plenty of scrapes and gouges from things just fitting a little ‘off’ like the interface between the top rear of the chamber and the slide.
Have you seem much like that? I am blaming it on soft steel and lose tolarances. It still shoots fine, and what do you expect for 420 bucks, but still it is a bit disturbing.
minivan... requests for bebe images... hmmm...
‘zackly
methinks somebody is nesting...
These are Berdan-primed cases, and almost impossible to reload. I was never planning on reloading the brass because of that.
Couple of things to try with your M1911 clone. If you suspect slide/frame battering, get a plastic buffer that goes on the recoil spring guide should provide some cushion.
After a thorough cleaning and degreasing, if you see areas if excessive wear, try some Nanolube, and see if it will remove enough metal to stop the wear. For instance, use some on the frame rails and slide, and cycle the slide a few dozen times to see if it then moves freely.
Some of the smaller parts, if showing excessive wear, could be replaced with higher-quality items. A critical set of parts is the sear and disconnector. Brand-name versions machined from hardened tool steel should cost about $40 for the pair. I'm putting them in my clones as part of my preventative maintenance program. If you have the handgun torn down completely, it's a good opportunity to swap out some of the smaller parts for quality versions you can trust.
There are also "rebuild kits" that contain every small part and spring. Even if you don't use all the parts at once, it's a good way of getting enough spares at a better price, for later use.
Just for camping gear and borrowed short people, sorry. Also it’s five years newer, and sold to me for less than half its worth.
MrsEx likes the bebbehs. Or fave right now is wee James, my cousin’s fourth and last, who is just five months old.
It was his arrival that made it necessary for them to get a larger van, and made the one I now have available.
Kinda wish so, but not so. We’re both 46 this year.
Minivans are great. They can carry crazy amounts of stuff. I am driving Jen's old car, a cavalier about like what you swapped out. I sure do prefer the upright posture of the van. My back misses the old ‘88 Lincoln. My brother has an Odyssey like that one. He loves it. We opted for the Toyota. Used, but I doubt we got anywhere near the great deal you did.
backatcha!
it was good tuh know yuh...
Um...you're telling that to a 52-year-old with a 10-year-old son...
Just sayin'. :-D
Ah yes! The collet puller! That’s funny. :-) You do what I do! Since it’s not “dangerous” pulling bullets, I bring the portable CD player into the closet and listen while pulling bullets...and before ya know it, the job is done! Glad it’s working out for you. :-) I’ve got .224, .243, and .308 collets if you ever want to borrow them. :-)
It is a source of great unhappiness. Please let it go.
Sorry bro. Didn’t mean to offend.
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