If that is a fiber wad it is a lot more substantial that the fiber wads I have, they totally disintegrate to particles and land in front of the firing line like brown sawdust.
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If that is a fiber wad it is a lot more substantial that the fiber wads I have, they totally disintegrate to particles and land in front of the firing line like brown sawdust.
I don't slug anything and especially large bores like shotguns have. I simply use calipers and measure across the muzzle between the lands. I even have a method for doing 5 groove barrels.
You just have to play with your calipers to get an accurate measurement, then you have to get repeat measurements to verify that you actually got something that was valid. Best to have the barrel in a vice so you don't have to try to hold it steady while measuring.
Been doing this for a while, like 40 years as a machinist. Dial calipers work better than digital for this as you can see when you are tight in the hole with a dial. IE: it doesn't move up or down when you have the jaws square to the center line.
I think those groups are pretty damn good shooting ! Now get in that Ice Boat and get after some of them Pink Elephants you got running around up there!
On another note:
Do you guys have Trolls in Finland? I watched a movie last week called "Troll Hunter" It was about a guy who worked for the Norwegian Govt keeping the far north Troll Population knocked down. He used a UV light gun and it turned them to stone (that's why they only come out at night) and then he broke up the stone carcass with a sledge hammer and then dynamited the pile of rocks into gravel. Then the Govt came in and blamed any damage or people they killed on Russian Bears.(Plausible Deniability) Apparently they have some pretty big ones up there and have erected power lines to keep them corralled in the far north. They come in all sizes and shapes from small to 200 feet tall.
The photography in this movie was pretty convincing? A lot of the terrain in the film looked like your shooting range? Looking for confirmation?
Randy
These wads are cork.
Calipers,yes,it takes practise. Uneven number of grooves makes it tough.
But a strange thing just happened: I found a casting pot for sale here in Finland! In a gun shop! A small Lyman pot, perfect for the occasional pure lead need.
Dear Santa... I've been good, I even made these Christmas balls.
https://i.postimg.cc/SxQ7k3Nm/IMG-20211220-WA0000.jpg
Bears.....200 feet tall? Oy! I need a new gun........
NO, it's some Trolls that are 200 feet tall. They come in all sizes. They just blame lots of deaths on Russian Bears. Trolls are not supposed to exist, and that's what the "Troll Hunter" is all about. He gets rid of them on teh QT when they go outside their protected boundaries. Since UV or sunlight is lethal to them, they only come out at night and they live far away from people as they can get. When they start causing trouble, that's the "Troll Hunter" steps in.
You can probably find the movie "On Demand" it was done with footage from University of Oslo Film Students who didn't believe it til they saw the Trolls in person. I have to say it was pretty convincing, and that's why I asked Petander if they have them in Finland too. I doubt Trolls would care much about borders so it serves to reason they they would have migrated over to Finland as well.
These are not the type of thing you go after with round balls or any other firearm. You need a UV Cannon !!! I'm looking for plans as we speak.
Randy
Petander: Has anyone bit into one of those balls thinking they were Jaw Breakers? They would officially be "Jaw Breakers" at that point!
They look delicious!
Randy
Do we have trolls? Absolutely. I took this pic a couple of years back.
https://i.postimg.cc/nhL3J1J9/IMG-20211221-WA0001.jpg
Yes these are good for trolls. A troll takes a bite, breaks a tooth - and swims away to Greenland, the only place with a troll dentist. Just hit them around the upper body, they are lightning fast catching the "candy".
Here is a popular winter colour I just made.
https://i.postimg.cc/jdt88b3X/IMG-20211221-WA0000.jpg
Your could call that color "Oreo bits" :)
That troll is a big fella! That's why I shoot a 12ga. it's more gun than a 20 ga.!
That pic makes me think I should be looking at a 10 ga. or maybe even 8 ga.!
Where's 6pt-sika when you need him?
Longbow
I lowered the rear sight a bit too much,also too much to the right.
A quick frozen fingers group:
https://i.postimg.cc/D0jCDdwz/IMG-20...141124-532.jpg
I still didn't remember to load sprue up!
We had -4° F in the morning.
https://i.postimg.cc/9QNx1BNg/IMG-20...141102-565.jpg
Not bad for a cold finger group! In fact pretty good... minute of troll for sure!
Not quite that cold here. Our temperature this morning was only -8.3°C (17°F) so balmy compared to Finland!
Longbow
Petander, that's a beautiful crimp. What tool are you using to roll those shells with.
Yes, me too ... I was admiring those roll crimps. I would have the same question, what crimping tool are you using ..... and what is your secret for those perfect roll crimps?
By the way, nice shooting and it seems you have a winning rifled barrel/round ball combo there. Congrats!
That picture came from the Troll Hunter movie I was talking about. So YOU are the Troll Hunter!!! I thought he looked familiar! You are in the foreground and this was taken just before You blasted the big guy with your UV Ray Gun. This was one of the big ones that they erected high voltage power lines to keep fenced in. A map they showed in the movie showed the power lines going in a circle. They had no beginning or end point ! It was just a Big Fence!
Apparently there are many different varieties/species of Trolls and they all have names. They go from @6 feet high to as much as 200 feet tall. The ones doing most of the damage are about 20 feet tall. They eat meat, and can smell Christians, and they have no problem killing people. They are also the most likely to go "Off the Reservation."
Going shooting at Petander's range at night might get you Et.
Then the Govt. comes in cleans up the mess and blames it on Russian Bears.
They keep the notion that these things exist tamped down pretty well so they can evoke "Plausible Deniability" when things happen. If they get more than a few problems in any given area they call the Troll Hunter in to take care of it. He got knocked around a few times in the movie and was a pretty tough guy.
Randy.
Thanks,the stars aligned nicely this time.
It is OMV Smart Box, an italian motorized crimper. I also use new hulls for now, primers costing almost the same as primed hulls. I only load slugs and tungsten, some occasional buckshot.
This OMV makes nice star crimps,too:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7mxBG8UKC1o
Good Morning
Thank you for this fine write-up and excellent photos. Your range reminds me much of the white birch that grows up in Michigan where I grew up.
I remain a RB fan as our hunting ranges in the river bottoms we roam about are a maximum of 50 yards. 33 yards is my longest shot.
I saw that troll movie a couple years ago. I do know strange things happen in thick river bottoms at night that sometimes are very tough to explain with a rational answer.
I was down in one of my favorite hunting areas at 3 am waiting on a big buck that normally came through about 5 am. At around 3:30 am I heard something walk past on the main critter trail 18 yards from where I was standing leaning against a 4 foot wide beech tree. I always rub myself and gear down with apples when leaving my car. I do have corn crunchers track me and lick my tree pegs off and on.
The steps were a loud "thwap"at about 1 second cadence. I first heard it approaching about 50 yards to my north and last heard it continuing down the trail about 50 yards to my south. The whole time frame took well over one minute. When it was somewhat closest to my position it stopped for a moment, then continued heading south.
It was hearing that creature pass through that made me decide a caliber .58 muzzle loader was not big enough to depend on for very early morning river bottom adventures. Or double Fox 12 gauge with RB is carried. I decided to never again stay on ground level in the dark. We also bought our first night vision scope.
I never heard that "foot stomp" again. Maybe a large bull or a large black bear.... Even considered a "Bigfoot" type.
Never thought about a troll. That would be easy to explain the foot thumping noise.
I have asked a couple older deer hunters who have hunted those river bottoms years before me. I am 71. One (Dan) who listened very attentively and whose eyes got wider and wider as I told the story never commented about what he thought it might have been. Dan only asked me what I thought it was. No I do not drink either. But I no longer discount the possibility that maybe those old legends have some truth hidden away.
I grew up and hunted with the great grandsons of the last Potowatamee chief in the Riverside, Michigan area. Fred the oldest told me some stories his grand mother told him when when he was a young boy. Most were very believable. Some made me wonder. I wonder now sometimes about what my sons think about me hearing those loud footsteps pass by.
A RB out of a 4 bore does sound rather handy. But I do carry a 50 Alaskan with 500 grain FNGC pushed at 1850 fps in those bottoms when I am down there in those wee early hours.
Mike in Peru
This project got delayed, had to get rid of my gallbladder around holidays.
Back to these RB:s tomorrow, I'm eventually hoping for 1450 fps while keeping the same accuracy. Still 3N38.
First I confirm my old load zero, then a couple of new loads. Five of these are RE-loaded hulls with old load & Rem 209A. I have never loaded a used shotshell before,does save five cents but...
About saving: To save my OCD nerves,Santa brought me that RCBS measure/dispenser. I should have gotten one decades ago!!!
https://i.postimg.cc/43Jj4Lkj/IMG-20...2701-575-3.jpg
Petander: good to hear you made it thru your operation. Now if someone says "You've got alot of Gall to say that? ,"
You can say,,,, "No I Don't!!!" :mrgreen:
Randy
You make it sound like wasting $0.05 is nothing but to us frugal types it just goes against the grain!🙂
Looking forward to your range results.
And good to have you back shooting.
Longbow