BrianK

You don't need to stay at the low end, just find out what pressure signs are and understand that some pressure signs can be seen, except they can also be false. I'm thinking of primers here. Some are soft and hard so they can lead one astray. That's why I asked if you had a mic that reads to the 1/10000th. Brass will start to flow when we get into the range of danger. Mark a case on 2 sides of the head, measure. Then fire and measure again. There is a point at which one backs off. I haven't pushed pressure in so long that I forgot specifics. But it's online somewhere. But I'll also state that it's not a bad thing to stay away from high end loads. I go even further and severely download at times. It saves the wrist, shoulder, powder, and less powder burning in the barrel helps lengthen barrel life. Personally, (did I already write this?) if I need more ft/lbs I get a bigger cartridge rather than push pressure and velocity. I didn't always think that way (young and foolish!) but today I do. Thank god I never blew anything up but I came close once. Yes, it was my fault, but it wasn't at the same time. I'll explain. On the list of never do this... I once ordered 1k of .224 bullets. there were maybe 800 in similar packaging, but the rest were in slightly different packaging. I thought nothing of it. My test loads were showing 2x the number of holes in the target with 2 distinct groups and when I checked the brass something was definitely wrong. Unbelievable pressure signs! No mic required to see that the case heads had expanded. It was a clearly safe load that I had loaded, yet it wasn't. So I backed up and checked things when I got home. Everything checked out, yet I still had those unbelievable pressure signs. After scratching my head for a while, it made no sense! What I didn't check were the bullets and that was the "Ahh Ha!" moment. I measured them and they were .228" for some off the wall .22 centerfire that was long out of production (.22 Savage?), but they were used to fill my order. I missed the fine print on the boxes. I was swaging them down .004 in the barrel. The cores and jackets were separating and that gave me 2 groups on target. Other than a broken extractor the gun and operator were fine. FWIW it was a Ruger Mini-14. They make one very strong firearm. That was maybe 45 years ago. Today everything is suspect and I check everything I am able to. Pressure is our friend but it can get out of hand in a nanosecond. One good thing about ARs, the action is extremely strong. But you still have the right attitude to treat it with respect. Just curious, where are you in NJ? Only in general, I'm not looking for your address. That's where I lived 40+ years ago before I moved to a free state, and still have family down there. You folks have to swim upstream in rapids and waterfalls to have decent firearms. I got out before the madness really got going there. I had a secret clearance from the military and when I got out got my FOID in a very short time and I got permits to buy handguns in a day (seriously), so I didn't see what others saw. I went to buy a stereo and needed 2 forms of ID for them to take my check. I had one. The salesman rattled off a bunch of IDs and the last one he mentioned was the FOID, "But no one has those.", he stated. I pulled mine out and he looked it over. He'd never seen one before. I knew then to get the hell out of NJ. That happened at Gem Electronics in Paramus. I was raised in Ramsey and after getting out of the military lived in Pequannock for a time. The only reason I go back are for funerals.

FWIW, I'm pretty sure he mentioned 9mm. Sure if he loads only "normal" bottleneck cartridges he'll be OK, as long as he doesn't load subsonic with fast powders such as the 300BLK. I just assume everyone gets more guns and cartridges and goes more in depth. But yes, not everyone is me asking, "What if?" and then go out and make it happen. One of my subsonic loads is in .223 and uses just a few grains of Green Dot under an 80 grain bullet. No, it doesn't cycle the action of an AR. Another subsonic load in the Contender pushes a 35gr bullet and that uses even less powder. I have no idea just how deep he's going to get into the hobby. I never thought I'd be doing what I do today 55 years ago. Whatever.

Evolution of a metallic handloader, that would be me (and another). Maybe this will help, if not just ignore it. I started reloading for my brother who was in college in Utah in the late 60s. He wanted .300 Norma magnum for a Parker/Hale bolt action. I was told what to load and did under his guidance. I hated that cartridge/firearm. It was brutal. From there I moved to 9mm and loaded for a Browning Hi-Power for me. All of that on a single stage press (RCBS Rockchucker which I still use today half a century later). From there I started loading .38 Special for competition, 1k rounds a month. I just fired for groups I had no other data to work with. But they just needed to make holes. The RockChucker worked fine for years and I still use it today for load development, bullet pulling, and swaging brass into another cartridge, swaging bullets too. But 2 decades ago (or so) the wife asked if I wanted a Dillon and I gave in. I shoot alot and it would save me lots of time. It's what I use today but IMO it's not a good first press. One needs to know how to make good ammo before getting a progressive press. One can make a lot of garbage really fast with a progressive. OK, story, not me as the lead character... I once knew a family with a child who fancied himself a shooter. He wanted to reload .223/5.56 and bought a Dillon progressive press. He didn't want to waste time actually learning how to handload. He just wanted ammo now. He loaded max loads from the loading manuals, never testing anything. When his local supply ran out of one powder he bought another and loaded it to the max'. They've moved away and it's been decades since. I tried to explain to him, but he knew more than I did. I hope he learned. At some point you might want a progressive press, but not at this time. First learn to handload. Later once you learn the craft you might find that it's time for a progressive press. FWIW, a progressive makes a finished cartridge with every pull of the handle. One can also really screw up with double powder charges and that will ruin ones day so you want to know what you're doing and how the press works. The Dillon does it's best to not produce double charges but I've done it and knew I was doing it and caught it every time.

I know there are matches down by you. Can't remember the range (town) where I shot an outlaw steel challenge match years ago, but SC is lots of fun, outlaw match or not. It's drag racing with firearms, just go as fast as you can. Every once in awhile folks from southern Maine car pool up to Augusta or Hampden. Maybe go to a match near you and make connections? I'm an old guy with too much gear so I drive myself and stay sorta local. Hampden is as far as I go. Maybe some day we'll shake hands.

I confess I didn't know where Acton was so I looked it up. Lots of water by you and it looks to be out of the woke mess that is Portland. Doesn't look there is a good way to get there either. That's good. 😀 Re: competition, there's always a first time. There's only one way to have more fun and that's done in bed. Steel Challenge can be done with pretty much any firearm, and if .22, gear is absolutely minimal which is why I shoot a .22 in SC. That was my hard sell. If you're interested let me know.

I'm near Waterville. Off the wall question... Do you shoot competitively? (USPSA) If so, I'm pretty sure there's a match in Augusta this Saturday and I plan to be there. I just checked, yes, it's Saturday at Capitol City Rifle & Pistol Club. It's easy to get to, but depending on how far south you are it could be a haul.

At least one. I'm in central Maine.

I don't know about rail heights, but I like to raise my sight so that I'm not skoonching my head down through contortions to see through the sight(s). I've had people comment on the height until they try it. Just raise the gun up and put the buffer tube where it's comfortable and look through the sights, no contortions required. The downside? The distance between the barrel and the sight can be large and that needs to be taken into account when the target is close for pinpoint accuracy. Unless you're squirrel hunting pinpoint accuracy isn't required. Raising the sights up also allows the buttpad to actually be in place in the shoulder pocket and not floating above it. Yes, sights that high will look strange, but they're there to actually work and not for looks. Straight line recoil stocks require raised sights. That's just the way it is. I hope I addressed your question. It doesn't take a fortune to have various height "mounts" in stock. There are risers available to add or remove height as needed and they can be stacked to find what you need. edit: I don't see your location, but if you were near me (probably not) we could fit you to find what you need.

Do you have loading manuals? Online info might work, IDK. I've been handloading for 55 years and haven't looked into how good online sources are today for noobs. But be careful of online loads. I'm not proud of it but I recently wrote WW231 instead of WW296. It was done innocently enough but the powders have hugely different burn rates. I went back and corrected it ASAP. Mind farts happen, people are human. I check online loads through the filter of experience and burn rate charts to see if they're anywhere close to reality. You should too. There are many places online to get burn rate charts. If a powder uses something outlandish as compared to other known safe loads shy away from it. Unless you're going for a subsonic load reduce the starting load by 15-20% and work up. Don't go for max' velocity. Stay away from that. Of you need more energy on target get a different cartridge. Subsonic loads are worked up differently (they're worked down). You might want to get a chronograph to see what your load is actually doing. Sky screen models work but are a PITA to set up, some require 110v and clear skies, BTDT. I like the LabRadar units, they're so much easier, but they don't do shotshells reliably, they're extremely portable, don't require 110v and the sky is meaningless. But it's not mandatory for reloading. But as a handloader (as opposed to a reloader) eventually you'll want data. Just keep it in mind. If you do want to push pressure, does your mic' read to the 1/10,000"? Measuring the case head, same 2 points will tell if you need to back off on the pressure. But as I already wrote, don't push pressure/velocity. Need more ft/lbs on target? Use a different cartridge. If you are working up a load for a 150 grain bullet but onl have load data for a 165 (similar construction) you can use it knowing that it's going to be safe. Just don't go the other way without significant downloading. OK, now a story. I once knew a chap with 2 kids, one was a boy who was newly into shooting and had too mush $ and not enough sense to ask questions. He was reloading for .223 and bought powder locally which meant that he never had enough of one powder and had to use various other powders. When he told me he was loading maximum loads with every powder I about pooped myself. No testing, no working up. Just using book load data and blindly loading. All loads were put into an ammo can so any attempt at saving powder was useless. You don't want to be that child. Keep records, test, start slow and build up to get what you want. Label everything, get ammo boxes. I chamber gauge everything today, esp' semi-auto ammo, but I have to say that before chamber gauging I never had an issue. But today I shoot lots of semi-autos and in years past it was lots of bolt actions (neck sized for that particular rifle) that cam closed. You are entering the rabbit hole. It can be shallow or as deep as you want to go. You can be a reloader or a handloader. You decide and you can change the decision at any time.

I got to test the load tonight and it works, near as I can tell, as I want. I need bigger vermin to show up. As seen in the test in the shop there was a boom (probably not hearing safe) but no blast.

Welcome to the forum! So sorry you live behind enemy lines. I saw what was coming many decades ago and got the hell out. I still have family there and I think it must be like a coyote sitting on a cactus for them. I hear the stories and then look at their eyes when they come to visit in my free state and can't believe what we can buy over the counter. You know you can move, right? They'll tax the crap out of you to leave the state, but you can choose to live free or stay behind enemy lines. Can't help with the AR10 since I have a .300BLK AR where things are much simpler.

I can find sites that say they have it. One requires a $300 minimum order. Others don't take credit card. One called me back asking for money over the phone. Like I'm going to do that. One wanted my first born as payment, well not really but they think it's gold, at least that's how it was priced.

The end of civilization as we know it. I don't mind having it on the shelf and sharing it and I always buy in bulk. Prices only go up and I find sometimes it gets made of unobtainium. I also use it for other loads so having it on hand is just a good move IMO.

None of the known reputable retailers seem to have it. I can find folks I've never heard of before who say they have it but lots of things can be stated just to scam people. Does anyone know of anyone having it and is reputable? I'm probably looking for 2 2# kegs. TIA.

I didn't know a can was possible for the Garand. I have to wonder how much noise would come out the gas port and if it would be worth doing? Here's a discussion about it. https://www.glocktalk.com/threads/m1-garand-and-suppressor-silencer-anyone-combine-the-two.1588708/ Yet another discussion. Cursor way down in the link below to find links to videos.

There is that. But the solution is really simple, that's what quoting a post is for. Once it's in someone elses post it can't be edited out by the butthurt person. It's pretty simple to quote a post. The reason I wrote what I did was because I had to leave my computer in the middle of an edit and it timed my edit out so that I had to post again. I really dislike people who do that (Look at me! Look at me!) and I was forced to be what I dislike. On other forums I can go back days later with more data so that it doesn't look as though I'm looking for attention. Oh well. Here I have to do that. Sorry I wrote about the forum failing. But what gave me that impression is that I think I saw forums that hadn't had a new post in years. Maybe it was somewhere else. BTW, could you read the frustration in my post? 🙂

What a ridiculous forum that times out on an edit! Here's the rest that should have been above. No wonder the forum is failing. A jackass was a member and his effect has continued to be an issue. Insanity! By all means, assume all of us are the same as the jackass. I'll tolerate it for a short time until heads are pulled out of asses. edit: thanks for that video! BTW, while today we may have forgotten what we did for the French in WW2, as of '70 they didn't. Our platoon visited Normandy in '71 and the ladies at the Airborne museum in St. Mere Eglise nearly soiled their panties. It's a small farming town, so read nothing into that, good folks. My point is that the French 50 years ago were grateful for what we did. I gather that they still are today from what I've seen. But they are our people (1 of the 12 tribes, melting pot? Yeah for the 12 tribes). What a shame that we had to fight! And for what!?? Satan at work, nothing more.

I guess it would have been a privilege to have known him. Why is my keyboard so blurry and why are my eyes leaking? I'd have given my right nut to have known him. THOSE folks we owe so much to! FWIW, That was the same sort of chinstrap we used from '70-'73. I'm betting that's where it came from. It worked fine! In the pic' with them standing in the plane I don't know about stress, that's the narrators take. I was in that position and we just had things to attend to, Stress? I would go to sleep on the plane before a jump. Others would joke. One character on one jump took out a baggie of vegetable soup, acted like he puked in it and then drank it. But they weren't combat jumps. I doubt any of us would have acted different in a combat jump since each jump put our lives on the line (and we got paid combat pay) and we all had our mental escapes. Just do what we were trained to do and come out OK, and look out for each other. Prejump commands had that built in. edit: thanks for that video!

I no longer get all "comparing this and that". Since I'm not an operator and never even played one on TV I just want something serviceable. I don't spend a lot and they work just fine. Just gotta read the fine print. I have purchased crap and they are used for larger slung flashlights. These work fine for me and don't break the bank. Buy when they're available. They aren't available now. I've purchased a number of these at least twice. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N75HB15/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

In agreement with many others. I'm generally not a fan of single point slings but for my little guy I have one there. It's only there to hold the firearm should the need arise for me having both hands free. Not likely until the threat has been proven neutralized and everything is clear.

Definitely not subsonic, and it definitely wouldn't be used with a can.... I just got to brainstorming and means LOOK OUT! When I get around to loading .32/20 again, and playing with loads, I have some .30 sabots and some 33(?) or are they 35 grain(?) .22 bullets. I wonder how fast I can push them? And how wildly fast a burn rate I'll need to use to get them there? In a .308 handgun with a far too fast powder for .30 bullets I got 55grain bullets up 3600 fps. I never got much better than 3" at 100 yards and the mfgr told me that was about all I could expect, so while an interesting loading project I scrapped the load. Blast was impressive. Yet another project for a cartridge that I have no real use for, except for kicks.

The great missing bullet caper has been solved. It finally dawned on me that the container I had them in is empty. So today that finally settled in and I looked in my loaded ammo. Sure enough there they were. I don't remember load testing them and I would have had to do that. Aging is so much fun! Like soft serve joey, I too can hide my own Easter eggs!

Yeah, my only 300BLK is an AR. My .32/20 is a Contender (.308 bore) and should be fine with it. I tend to think of them as the same cartridge even though they are very different. BTW, that was a good video.

Good video, well done! They sound like my .223 butterfly fart loads in the Contender. You probably had this happen... when I shoot it at the range I've had people come over from an adjacent range because they can hear the tink as steel is hit, but no bang. Anyway, yes, that's what I'm looking for in the .32/20 Contender. But I just got in a NOE 150 mould. The bullet shape is the same. I figure one mould and use it for the "pfft" loads and also load them supersonic for the AR.

OK, so Trail Boss is out for the 300BLK. Maybe it'll work in the .32/20.