Lee Loader

I bet things have picked up in the tourist towns though.

RBHarter wrote:I bet things have picked up in the tourist towns though.

That fuel price will probably move upward as Spring Break nears!

Well, the project will be on a slight hold as I dropped the rifle off today to have the muzzle worked on. Gunsmith will do a recessed crown to give it a bit more protection being it is a hunting rifle.

That seems to be the nature of the oil business. My Dad had a Western Auto Store in an oil town in Oklahoma back when I was a small child. The oil depletion allowance bill came into effect and basically shut the town down. For several years before, Dad had made a profit in excess of ten thousand dollars in the early to mid-sixties. After that, he didn't have enough money to hardly pay his creditors.

He closed the store and we moved to North Carolina so Dad could take a job with Conner Mobile Homes where my Uncle was the banker. Went back to that town with Dad after Mom died. I was 30 years old then. It was a ghost town, with few open stores.

We looked in where Dad had cleaned up and left a couple small oil barrels as trash cans. Those same cans were sitting right where I remember they were when I was using them to stand up, as I was barely able to walk. Talk about a weird feeling.

That would be weird to experience but a story that has been repeated all over our country.

RD,
Regarding bullet lube, are you still "dipping" or now just tumble lubing?

http://www.ranchdogoutdoors.com/Firearm ... t_base.jpg

Dan

Dan 444 wrote:Regarding bullet lube, are you still "dipping" or now just tumble lubing?

Good morning Dan! I'm using Ben's Liquid Lube mix and tumble lubing. I started using the lube and method last fall exclusively and it sure sped things up.

Dan, how are your Bushnell 1.5-4.5x32s holding up? I've been meaning to ask as when I tried to prep my Rio Grande 45-70 for the desert mule deer hunt it seems to have toasted two of them in short order. I had gotten in a rush at that particular point and the turret movements and POI were not making any sense. I'm going to get back on it pretty quick here to find out.[hr]
The bullets I cast with 1 oz of #8 Mag Shot added (by Lee shot scoop) per 10# of alloy went through the 48 hour mark with no increase of BHN from my air cooled sample. Both oven and air at 21 BHN. If the oven baked bullet is going to pull away with an increase, it will be today or tomorrow. Once I have those results, I will know what to do next.

What is the point of dimishing returns for your oven project, RD? What's the minimum BHN difference to justify baking for you?

Michael,

My Bushnell 1.5-4.5x32s have held up well. I have had to send two back to Bushnell because they wouldn't focus well (blurry target lines) at 50 or 100 yards. These were new right out of the box. Bushnell sent me two new ones.
I never had a problem with them on my heavy recoilers....45-70 (1895) and 444; and you know that I'm from the Marshall Stanton school of STOUT loads. I'm pushing the RD 425g (45-70) and 300g (444), which are pretty big pills with significant powder (H335). Nice muzzle flash, too.
After about five years of shooting and dragging them through the mountains hunting, I changed both to Zeiss Conquests 3-9X40 just to make it a bit easier on my "older" eyes. I also changed to the same Zeiss's on my 375Win, 336ER and 32 WinSpl. I still have the Bushnell 1.5-4.5x32s on my 30-30, 35Rem, 219 Zipper, 218 Bee and 39A and they're working just fine. It's probably the 75K pressure you're pushing in that 45-70!
Do you find the Ben's Liquid Lube better than Alox? Where do you buy it from?
Best,
Dan

Dan 444 wrote:Michael,

My Bushnell 1.5-4.5x32s have held up well. I have had to send two back to Bushnell because they wouldn't focus well (blurry target lines) at 50 or 100 yards. These were new right out of the box. Bushnell sent me two new ones.
I never had a problem with them on my heavy recoilers....45-70 (1895) and 444; and you know that I'm from the Marshall Stanton school of STOUT loads. I'm pushing the RD 425g (45-70) and 300g (444), which are pretty big pills with significant powder (H335). Nice muzzle flash, too.
After about five years of shooting and dragging them through the mountains hunting, I changed both to Zeiss Conquests 3-9X40 just to make it a bit easier on my "older" eyes. I also changed to the same Zeiss's on my 375Win, 336ER and 32 WinSpl. I still have the Bushnell 1.5-4.5x32s on my 30-30, 35Rem, 219 Zipper, 218 Bee and 39A and they're working just fine. It's probably the 75K pressure you're pushing in that 45-70!
Do you find the Ben's Liquid Lube better than Alox? Where do you buy it from?
Best,
Dan

I've sent a couple back that I've had problems with and have received the new version of the scope.

In regards to the 45-70, it probably was the beating that I was taking. The rifle is nice to carry chasing nilgai but it is not a bench gun. A couple years ago, I thought that I would take a 10' tripod stand down to the refuge to hunt from because I had a 12' alligator spook the heck out of me followed by a 6' diamondback. I also thought I ought to shoot the rifle from the tripod as I'd never done that. I set it up on my range, crawled up on the seat, and pulled the trigger. The RG almost knocked me off the seat! All of a sudden being immobile from a fall with the coyotes eating me alive didn't seem as bad as avoiding the gators.

I do find Ben's recipe significantly better than the straight Alox cut with mineral spirits. The Johnson's One Step Wax really changes it up. If flows better, decreases the drying time (significantly), and reduces the die fouling (bullet seating and FCD). On my rifle bullets, I give it three light coats and the bands are filled with about a 4 hour dry time between the coats. The Johnson's wax has been discontinued but I found it online for less than 10 bucks a can so I bought enough to last me my lifetime.

Ranch Dog wrote:

Dan 444 wrote:Michael,

My Bushnell 1.5-4.5x32s have held up well. I have had to send two back to Bushnell because they wouldn't focus well (blurry target lines) at 50 or 100 yards. These were new right out of the box. Bushnell sent me two new ones.
I never had a problem with them on my heavy recoilers....45-70 (1895) and 444; and you know that I'm from the Marshall Stanton school of STOUT loads. I'm pushing the RD 425g (45-70) and 300g (444), which are pretty big pills with significant powder (H335). Nice muzzle flash, too.
After about five years of shooting and dragging them through the mountains hunting, I changed both to Zeiss Conquests 3-9X40 just to make it a bit easier on my "older" eyes. I also changed to the same Zeiss's on my 375Win, 336ER and 32 WinSpl. I still have the Bushnell 1.5-4.5x32s on my 30-30, 35Rem, 219 Zipper, 218 Bee and 39A and they're working just fine. It's probably the 75K pressure you're pushing in that 45-70!
Do you find the Ben's Liquid Lube better than Alox? Where do you buy it from?
Best,
Dan

I've sent a couple back that I've had problems with and have received the new version of the scope.

In regards to the 45-70, it probably was the beating that I was taking. The rifle is nice to carry chasing nilgai but it is not a bench gun. A couple years ago, I thought that I would take a 10' tripod stand down to the refuge to hunt from because I had a 12' alligator spook the heck out of me followed by a 6' diamondback. I also thought I ought to shoot the rifle from the tripod as I'd never done that. I set it up on my range, crawled up on the seat, and pulled the trigger. The RG almost knocked me off the seat! All of a sudden being immobile from a fall with the coyotes eating me alive didn't seem as bad as avoiding the gators.

I do find Ben's recipe significantly better than the straight Alox cut with mineral spirits. The Johnson's One Step Wax really changes it up. If flows better, decreases the drying time (significantly), and reduces the die fouling (bullet seating and FCD). On my rifle bullets, I give it three light coats and the bands are filled with about a 4 hour dry time between the coats. The Johnson's wax has been discontinued but I found it online for less than 10 bucks a can so I bought enough to last me my lifetime.

Michael,
Is Ben's Liquid Lube the same as the "45-45-10" recipe (45% alox, 45% Johnson paste wax, 10% mineral spirits)? If so, I'm all set with the ingredients.....I'll try tumble lubing 3X, instead of dipping.
Thanks,
Dan