DickP
Member
Hello all:
My friend lives in Alaska, and has a .480 Ruger Alaskan - the snub-nosed version.
He's thinking of getting into handloading, and he's also mentioned that he'd like to have some real low-pressure, target practice type loads - this is the only handgun he owns, so he'd like to something to plink at cans with...
In the past I've melted paraffin wax in a pie pan, let it cool, and cookie-cuttered wax plugs into uncharged brass, primed them, and spent afternoons plinking at aluminum cans. This was with smaller-caliber revolvers, and they still required some scrubbing afterwards to get all the wax out.
(I realize that, if he were to make wax bullets for a .480, the POA would probably vary significantly from original zero, but I'm sure he'd record any adjustments made while plinking, and re-zero before he carried regular loads again.)
My questions are:
1) Is there any reason why he shouldn't be shooting wax plugs out this gun? I've never had problems, but I don't know if, for example, he's risking huge pressure surges if he forgets to clean wax out of the barrel before he shot a fullhouse load...? Should he just buy a Mk III and forget about turning a .480 into a mouse gun?
2) If the answer above is no, then what's the best way for someone who lacks any reloading equipment to de-prime and prime a case? This handheld primer:
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=278665
was rated highly, but it doesn't say whether it also deprimes a case. Does this model also function as a de-primer?
Thanks!
My friend lives in Alaska, and has a .480 Ruger Alaskan - the snub-nosed version.
He's thinking of getting into handloading, and he's also mentioned that he'd like to have some real low-pressure, target practice type loads - this is the only handgun he owns, so he'd like to something to plink at cans with...
In the past I've melted paraffin wax in a pie pan, let it cool, and cookie-cuttered wax plugs into uncharged brass, primed them, and spent afternoons plinking at aluminum cans. This was with smaller-caliber revolvers, and they still required some scrubbing afterwards to get all the wax out.
(I realize that, if he were to make wax bullets for a .480, the POA would probably vary significantly from original zero, but I'm sure he'd record any adjustments made while plinking, and re-zero before he carried regular loads again.)
My questions are:
1) Is there any reason why he shouldn't be shooting wax plugs out this gun? I've never had problems, but I don't know if, for example, he's risking huge pressure surges if he forgets to clean wax out of the barrel before he shot a fullhouse load...? Should he just buy a Mk III and forget about turning a .480 into a mouse gun?
2) If the answer above is no, then what's the best way for someone who lacks any reloading equipment to de-prime and prime a case? This handheld primer:
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=278665
was rated highly, but it doesn't say whether it also deprimes a case. Does this model also function as a de-primer?
Thanks!