Recent content by Steve C

This is a close up picture of an unfired pistol primer. Look along the upper rim of the primer cup and you can see the legs of the primers anvil extending slightly above the rim. When the primer is seated properly into the bottom of the primer pocket these legs are pushed into the primer cup...

I have hand loaded a lot of Remington 115gr JHP's over the years, the same copper jacketed lead core bullet used in their UMC and standard Remington ammo and have shot factory ammo when I found it on sale. My handloads are generally higher velocity than the standard UMC and Remington brand...

Taurus redesigned their frame mounted safety on their PT92 and 96 series Beretta Clones to give it a hammer drop safety option in the 90's. I bought my Pt92 before this feature was offered in the late 80's. Being a handgun designed for military use they are of good quality and I have had good...

If you have hard cast commercial bullets you need to push them to magnum pressures in order to obdurate their base when shot to avoid leading as hard cast with light loads usually lead the barrel excessively. I prefer to load 158 gr hard cast LSWC commercial bullets with slower powders and like...

Shotgun shells are reloaded with the exact case hull, amount of shot, wads, primer, brands of product and powder charge listed in the data found in manuals, or on line data sources. Most of this data is developed by powder companies and can be located on line at websites by Hornady, Alliant...

When the surplus Egyptian ammo was available I bought quite a bit of the 9mm to shoot for cheap practice and a bunch of the 8mm Mauser that I shot in my Egyptian Hakim and FN49 as well as a Mauser 98. I still have several 50 round boxes of the 8mm left but the 9 is long gone. I knew the ammo...

I've been loading .38 spl using158gr cast RN and SWC bullets with 4.0 gr of Alliant Green Dot since I picked up a Keg at an estate sale a couple years ago. Using coated bullets there is little smoke and the load is accurate.

Current market prices are crazy and I don't even go to gun stores any more because I know that if I wait a year or so the prices will turn down as soon as this panic is over. It would make much more sense to sell your Luger for the much higher price you should be able to demand now and then...

Factory standard recoil springs are selected by the manufacture gun designers to provide reliable function in the handgun with the typical ammo SAAMI pressures that their customers will purchase. If you handload to a high pressure level or shoot a lot of +P or +P+ ammo as a member of law...

In its normal cycling of a round a semi auto will have a disconnector that disengages the firing mechanism until the firearm is back in full battery. For the 1911 design handguns the disconnector "disconnects" the sear from the trigger. If the slide is not fully engaged in battery the...

Birdshot and Buckshot spread the same from a cylinder bore typical for a riot/security shotgun. From a cylinder bore shotgun, shot either buck or bird will spread at an inch per yard of range. If you want to shoot buck use a improved cylinder choke tube if your father in law has a hunting...

There is really no point to determining the burn rate powder manufacturers make their powders vrs canister grade powders used by hand loaders. Powder manufacturers make smokeless powder and sell it in bulk, primarily to ammunition manufacturers. These are not canister grade powders at this...

I think the best way to remove cosmoline is with heat. My dad was a supply Sargent for a tanker battalion after WWII. When I complained about removing cosmoline from an SKS I'd bought using Brake Cleaner he told me how they did it in the army. They would take a 50 gallon drum, cut the top...

My favorite powder to load 9mm with defensive level loads using JHP's in 115 gr is Unique. I can get +P velocities in 9mm with 115 gr bullets (1,250 + fps) using 6.0 to 6.2gr of Unique and still keep pressures levels at standard. Unique is also good for 124 and 125gr JHP bullets. You will...

If you have a old gun with broken stock for a pattern a new stock can be made. I found this website in about 20 seconds using a google search. http://wenig.com/services