Cliff R

I have a Magpul drum for the AR-15. Other than somewhat of a PITA to load it's been flawless to date. Never had it apart, and not sure I want to take it apart after seeing yours......

I forgot to grab my cell phone to shoot some pics of the fight and aftermath. It was over pretty quickly as the 9mm pretty much did the Racoon in, he had just enough fight left in him to be good training for my new pup. The two females I lost last year were killing machines, especially Samantha (the one with the groundhog in the pic). For the most part if it moved it died. She would pile young groundhogs up here in the Spring like cordwood, and never had a mouse get away if we lifting up boards or metal siding around the old barn on our property. Best squirrel dog I ever had too, and when she was younger ran down a few rabbits and killed piles of ground squirrels. My surviving female Sophia is mostly a housedog, never took much to hunting and killing like her mom and sister did. Sadie is working out better than expected. You just never know with these things. Dogs are like people, good ones, bad ones, and a bunch in the middle someplace.......

So I fall asleep in my recliner night before last and get woke up by the dogs going ape-chit at the back door. I grab my M & P 9mm and a head lamp and follow them outside. The chickens are going nuts and I catch some bright eyes in my light as we all head that direction. A big bore Coon runs up a Maple tree and climbs to the top. I shot him out with the M & P which proved to be a little tricky as it was difficult to find him in the light and use the sights. After missing a couple of times he worked his way clear to the top of the tree but made the mistake of looking down and I zeroed in on his bright eyes and out he comes but full of piss and vinegar. The two older dogs abandoned me as neither one likes shooting all that much, but my new pup was right there and dove in with all four feet. She got nipped once but that just made her more determined to finish him off, which she did in short order. After the ordeal I decided there has to be a better way, so I rigged up a light on my most accurate 22 rifle. Next time I'll be better prepared. I did some test shooting and the cross hairs are dead in the center of the beam so I should be good to go. Sort of a crude rig but ready for business. Sadie got an extra treat when we got back to the house and plenty of lovin from the grandkids. She's only 9 months old and has some pretty big shoes to fill after loosing two of my Min Pins late last year. I couldn't be more proud of here, she's going to be a good one for sure........Cliff

As mentioned you can make your own mags by changing the follower or you can modify them. I made my own by modifying the stock followers with a round file. I just gently clamped them up in a soft jawed vise and filed a trough or channel in them to keep the cartridge in the center of the magazine. I've owned a 450 Bushmaster for quite a while now, excellent round and one of the most accurate rifles in my line-up. If most of if not all of the rounds fired down range aren't pretty much in the same hole at 100 yards you just didn't do your part! I don't find the recoil bad at all. It "thumps" a little from the bench when sighting in but not even noticed in a hunting scenario. Below is a pic of mine, and the very first target I shot with it sighting it in. I fired a couple of rounds which struck high right, moved the scope then put 5 rounds in the same hole. Third pic is a recovered bullet (most pass clear thru) from a huge whitetail buck at 200 yards. The bullet was just under the skin after passing thru both shoulders......

Using Hodgdon CFE Pistol powder, 7.5 grains. Don't have a chrony anymore but they should be around 1050-1100 fps in a 4" barrel.....

Might get two or three peoples attention since it took 4 gallon jugs of water and a 2 x 8 to stop one! I'm pretty much duplicating 10mm performance with the 185 grain load around 1100fps......

Below are some pics of the Hornady 185 grain XTP HP's. It took a couple of outings to finally stop one of those bullets effectively w/o a hard surface. Started out with 2 one gallons jugs of water, then 3, then 4. Was finally able to catch one after it passed thru 4 jugs with a 2 x 8 behind them. The bullet barely left a mark on the board so the expansion took place passing thru the jugs of water. It's reasonable to assume one would see good penetration from one of these bullets for hunting or self defense....

I've ground quite fond of my XDS-45. There isn't anything not to like about it. Been carrying it as my primary weapon ever since it followed me home. Been running a lot of rounds thru it too, and not a single malfunction of any kind with any type of ammo.......

Thanks, nice way to spend a little time on a nice Sunday afternoon.....testing some hand loads and emptying a few high capacity magazines. The S & W M & P and the new addition to my AR collection were flawless. I like to spend some time with any weapon I've added to the collection to make sure it functions like it should. Cool story but worth the read. About 5 years ago we rented a log cabin in Southern Ohio on 45 acres near Old Mans Cave. 7 couples went, and all of us took at least one handgun along for some planned target practice. One of my friends brought along his Glock 9mm, not sure what model but he had purchased it new about 3 years before the outing. He loaded it up and put it in the dresser drawer for home defense, but had never fired it. It would NOT run, fired once they jammed every single time. We messed around with it some but could make no improvements. Nothing obviously wrong with it, just refused to work with live ammo, one round and DONE. He ended up sending it back and Glock repaired it so it runs fine now. Just a good lesson in weapons and why you should spend a little time with your new pistol BEFORE you count on it to protect you and your family.......

Thanks, pretty happy with the outcome. Recoil is pretty hefty but on par with factory loads using the heavier 230 grain bullets. I also took the time yesterday to fire 60 rounds thru my M & P 9mm and another 40 rounds thru the little AR I put together couple of months ago......

Yep, the power of high velocity x weight.......I'm pretty content with the outcome and not going to make any further changes to it......

I've been wanting to work up a "high performance" load for my 45 XDS 4.0. I touched some on it in the 380 ACP thread below. Picked up some Hornady 185 grain XTP hollow points and backed them with 7.5 grains of CFE pistol powder. This should be good for close to 1100fps in a 4" barrel. It took some work but I was finally able to stop one without using something hard behind the target that might deform it. Started out with two gallons jugs of water, then three, and still couldn't stop one. It took 4 jugs and a 2 x 8 behind them. Distance to the target apprx 15'. The bullet barely put a visible mark on the 2 x 8 so I'm certain all the expansion was done passing thru the jugs of water. Expansion was excellent, didn't weigh the bullet but appears mostly intact and the jacket is peeled back nicely. Should make a good back-up weapon for Elk hunting (lots of bears where we hunt). I'm sure it will also make a nice self defense load, but for sure there would be a significant risk of collateral damage as easily as it passed thru 4 gallon jugs of water. The Hornady 185 grain load is on the right, left is a factory Remington 230 grain HP......

I would add here that I was working up a high-performance 45ACP load for Elk hunting out West. We hunt in bear country and tired of dragging around the heavy S & W 629 44 magnum. Going to be using my XDS 45ACP 4.0 instead, and wanted a good load for it capable of deep penetration plus good expansion.....I think I'm there with it......

Sorry about the delay for the .45 ACP testing. It was quite a bit more difficult to catch one of those bullets without using something hard enough to deform it. 2 gallon jugs of water barely slowed one down, 3 jugs weren't enough. It took 4 jugs of water and a 2 x 8 board to effectively stop one for inspection. Pics are below. Expansion was excellent and the jacket is well peeled back. For sure penetration with that particular load would easily pass right thru a torso and possible collateral damage. The bullets below are Hornady 185 XTP .451 hollow points. They are hand loaded with 7.5 grains of CFE pistol powder. The should be right around 1100fps and consider a +P load.......

Thanks. Time permitting I'll be testing the 45ACP in the next day or so. All-in-all pretty impressive performance from the little 380. Never underestimate the stopping/killing power of small caliber weapons. 22 long rifle is one of them and in most cases penetration is deep and most of if not all of the energy is used on the torso without a lot of risk of collateral damage........

Weather permitting I'll try to catch a Hornady 185 grain 45ACP bullet today. I loaded them with 7.5 grains of CFE Pistol powder which should put them close to 1100fps in a 4" barrel. I'm thinking it will take more than one milk jug full of water and a 2 x 8 to stop one w/o damaging it. I want the bullet to just make it thru the jegs and not get deformed by the board. Should be interesting, I'll put up some pics when it's successful. Left is a 230 grain Remington factory HP, right is the Hornady 185 grain high velocity handload.....

Yep, it shows how well they actually work hitting "soft" material, in this case just a plastic one gallon mild jug full of water. It measures pretty close to 1/2" in diameter all the way around. This test also tells me that with a good well placed upper torso shot it would be unlikely that I would put anyone standing behind that person in serious jeopardy or at least significantly lowering the risk of collateral-damage. Kind of important as we are responsible for every bullet we fire until it comes to rest......

Just for fun I fired one round at apprx 25 feet at a gallon milk jug full of water. I put a 2 x 8 behind to catch the bullet for inspection. Just curious as to how well some of this high cost fancy ammo really does when it hits something soft. The board had a very slight visible hit on it but hardly even dented it let alone tried to penetrate. The recovered bullet was laying about a foot to the right of the exploded milk jug. Expanded pretty well and uniform and would have done some pretty decent damage. It was fired from my secondary weapon, S & W Bodyguard, primary weapon is an XDX 45 using 185 grain Hornady hollow points loaded to around 1100fps. I'll test fire those next and use two jugs to see if I can stop one for inspection.........

I may have some more 45 stuff in storage around here someplace. I'm starting to clean up, down size and move some stuff that I'm not using and no plans of ever using it.....

Nice rifle! One of the most accurate rifles I ever had in my inventory was a model 788 in 22-250. With a Speer 52 grain BR bullet backed by H414 every round virtually in the same hole. The 788 was considered Remingtons "bargain" rifle back then and came with a cheap stock and rear lug bolt. Decades ago I logged a LOT of time with the 243 and 6mm. Owned several rifles in those calibers years ago and worked up some very accurate loads for them. Without exception all those calibers and my 22/250 were very fond of H414. I had a chronagraph at that time and getting good velocity with it as well and nearly all in the same hole accuracy at 100 yards. Of course my info is a it dated as I had worked everything up and quit experimenting with them around 1990. I eventually sold off all those rifles and loaded the safe up with AR platforms in various calibers instead. The 243/6mm's are dubbed a very capable deer cartridge. However I had several really bad experiences with them on deer at longer ranges so went to bigger calibers instead. If you don't mind the extra recoil over a 223 or 22/250 they are EXCELLENT for coyotes, groundhogs and other varmints......IMHO......

Recoil is certainly a consideration for target and bench rest stuff but for big game hunting rifles not so much. When you are putting rounds on a big bull Elk moving fast thru thick timber you woln't even remember how hard the gun hit you. Your adrenalin will be pumping and you'll be using all the skills you have to put him down before he disappears over the mountain. For the last 3 decades I've hunting most big game with a 45/70 Marlin model 1895 pushing 300 grain Sierra bullets at 2400fps. On the bench you'll cry for your momma after touching one off and lucky the scope didn't lay you wide open and for sure your hat and glasses will be on the ground if you forgot to remove them! In the woods taking game I've never once even noticed the recoil. I recently retired the old Marlin and use my 308-AR instead. I love the platform, weatherproof, rugged, less bullet drop at longer ranges, and super-quick follow up shots. Very interested in how yours ends up for weight when finished. Hopefully it will come in under 10 pounds ready to hunt.......

Hunting Elk and smaller game to 300 yards plus wanting a light weight package is tough with these platforms. I started out with 308-AR's years before I found this site and just ordered up a complete 18" upper with a nearly full length free-float rail. The barrel was pretty heavy profile. After jumping thru some hoops with parts compatibility I picked up my pride and joy and my heart sank. This thing was HEAVY, and awkward. Not what I was planning on dragging around at 10,000-12,000' out in Colorado in October and since I hunt public land you've got to hike in at least a mile from the nearest trail or access road before you are going to start seeing any Bulls. PSA threw a 14.7" upper on their website with a welded flash hider in a lighter profile so I grabbed it up. Much happier with the end result and it tops the scale at exactly 10 pounds and that's with the A2 stock filled with a cleaning kit and some survival stuff. Even though I only trimmed a little over 3" from the barrel length it "feels" 1/3rd lighter than the longer/awkward rifle. I see no loss of accuracy at all and can't even tell any more bullet drop out to 300 yards at the range we built on my brothers farm. Something to note here is that with any given barrel profile a larger caliber has a bigger hole bored thru it so it shaves some weight. Shorter barrels also reduce muzzle weight and make the rifle "feel" lighter and more nimble in your hands in a hunting scenario. I'd also mention at 300 yards or less the smaller calibers really offer little in terminal performance over the 308 round. They all shoot pretty darned flat in that range and you're not going to miss an Elk simply because you have your holdover figured out......

Sold.....

Item is sold....tks..

I move them across the floor with an aluminum motorcycle jack (concrete or hard floors only, doesn't work for chit on carpet). I they need to be lifted to move over a threshold or the room is carpeted I go to my trailer and fetch a big wide HD ratchet strap and 8 soft loop tie down straps for it. I lace the strap thru one end of the soft loops putting two at each corner of the safe. The ratchet strap is tightened down so that when you bend down slightly and grap the free end of one of the soft loops you raise that corner of the safe about an inch or so when you stand straight up. Four guys can easily pick up a heavy safe and lift and maneuver it as needed. Once into the room I use the motorcycle jack provided it's not a carpeted room where we'll continue to use the soft loops moving the safe a few inches at a time till we get it to it's final destination.......