Kangan (imported) wrote: Mon Jul 21, 2008 6:14 am
If it was a windup clock - who the Heck was keeping it wound? I'd just let the darned thing run down and die a natural death. No need to waste expensive ammo on an inanimate object!
'Roo,
You're correct, of course. We always wound it 'cause, well, it DEMANDED we do so. This thing was like the voracious plant in "Little Shop Of Horrors". We had an abiding fear of a sudden visit by the donor and her finding the damned thing inert.
True, ammunition ain't all that cheap, but a guy at our office does custom reloading for rifle and handgun and he makes all my stuff, custom-tuned for the best performance in my personal arsenal, except for my shotguns, at very low cost.
Believe it or not, a few days before Dove Season opens circa Sept. One, I jiggle and wiggle out to the boat shed, turn on the AC in the attached workshop, and crank up my shotgun shell reloading presses. Using carefully developed formulae I refill my empties, loading for my 12 gauge (rarely used, 'cept for dux); 20 gauge (used a lot); and my dainty little 28 gauge (gotta reload for that one since ammunition is $$$$!) O load enough for Ash(leigh) and I to get through Dove and Quail seasons, with some heavier loads for a little AFLAAAAAAAC! shooting (See: Dux).
BigGuy taught me and Ash(leigh) how to select loads (Gauge, brand of shell, weight of shot charge, velocity, primer, wad, and type and amount of powder) to fit the type of shooting we'll be doing. This is a VERY demanding job in that you don't arbitrarily switch components. If you were out of the right powder for, say, a 20 gauge load, velocity 1200 FPS, and one ounce of shot and you used the same amount, by volume, of a powder used for a .45 caliber pistol load, you'd pull the shotgun's trigger and KABOOM! The barrel would rupture just ahead of the breech and you might lose a forearm, hand, and eyes. Some one standing near you would be injured as well.
We use semi-automated presses, with interchangeable bushings that measure the shot charge and powder and puch out the fired primer then feed a new primer into the empty shell. Once the thing is full at all stations, it's "one crank, one shell". I can load 500 rds of shotgun fodder in about three hours. Not bad for a girl!
Here's the model we use, and we have one for each gauge:
http://www.ableammo.com/catalog/product ... s_id=54927
This info will, I'm certain, be of interest to all EA members!
Well, YOU started me on this. One would think you'd have learned by now!
Love to all!
Yoli
AKA Annie Oak(ley)
shakemitk
shakemitk
