The wasps and I are currently engaged in a 20 year war spanning the vast lands of Oklahoma. I've attempted to negotiate a peace with them on multiple occasions. But they always chose violence....
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Mustard seed over 2 gns 700X, out of a 4 inch 357, at 2 & 5 ft.
https://i.imgur.com/zkrRK5I.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/IyP6HvT.jpeg
Rice
https://i.imgur.com/DjLgbFe.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/wDpp3n8.jpeg
Back to work after vacation last week so no weekday playing for me.
Fancy pasta for your killing? Sounds like it would work good but may be hard on the siding.
I don't want salt anywhere near my firearms. Also no used walnut shell media. Carbon and polishing compound is no bueno for the barrel.
Me too. They have treated me poorly over the years. My last straw was last year when 3 were hanging out on the top of my storm door. All 3 stung me in the back of the neck as I exited the door. Having absolutely zero clue what had happened I hit the deck face first. Luckily no damage other than the need to clean out the shorts then rage and vengeance. All stinging insects choose combat if near my house.
I stand by rice as being the most effective media. The sharp ends and long end-over-end pieces rip up a wasp. Paper says it all.
Ok, so I guess my memory was finder than reality. Still not a bad patter for 5-6 feet.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...ebcfdae46a.jpg
ancini de pepe pasta is fairly round and probably 1/3 to 1/2 the size of a grain of rice. Maybe the size of small tapioca.
I was out behind the garage, feeding the chickens, when I heard it. Faint, at first. Just nudging the edge of my consiousness. As I finished up and shut the coop door the sound came into focus. That unmistakable, low-pitched buzz. The enemy. A carpenter.
"I hear you. I'll be right back." A smile crept onto my face as I turned for the house.
Now armed with my trusty .357 Magnum Rice Chucker of Death, I crept down the pathway between the house and the garage. Listening carefully for any sign of the enemy.
This one is sly, I know. That's why he's lived this long. I think he might be the last of them. He hasn't shown himself yet. Probably the same carp that fell back to the neighbor's the other day. It's best if I can get the drop on him.
I didn't have to wait long. There it was. Faint, but clear. There. Over by the shed. They always liked to eat my shed. I stalked toward the shed, trying to see everywhere at once. The sound grew louder as I approached. I had to be right. There he was! Hovering low to the left of the shed!
I crept closer, took careful aim (I wanted this one DEAD) and BANG! ZING! He's around the corner!
Dang it! Too far. I knew it and did it anyway. No time for that. I can chew myself out later. Now I've alerted him and the battle is on.
I move swiftly around the corner, Rice Chucker of Death leading the way. The carp is right there, Not three feet away. Perfect.
As I squeeze off my shot the carp zips straight up and then mounts a charge at my face! My supreme efforts to move my face backwards six feet, while my feet remained firmly planted, proved futile. Thankfully, the charge was merely a feint as the carp performed a half-loop barrel roll and headed back the other way. BANGzig. BANGzag. Around the next corner he goes.
The neighbor's house is in the backdrop around that corner. I know I can't shoot. But I still need intel. Hopefully, I can see where he goes, at least.
I burst around the corner before he can disappear and there he is. Chest height, 2-3' and not moving a bit. We stared at each other for a good 10 seconds while I planned my next move. I'm sure it's that same filthy carp from the other day. He's using the neighbor as a shield now!
I could advance and try to push him around the corner, thereby maintaining visual contact. But he might fall back to the neighbor's again.
Or I could try to get around the other direction before he goes anywhere, but then I lose visual contact and he could disappear.
I went with the latter, counting on his love of eating my shed to keep him around a bit longer if he wasn't being pushed too hard. Addicts are nothing if not predictable.
Two shots left. Stay focused. Don't get excited and screw up like you did in the baginning. I'm ready to round the final corner when I heard a buzz over my head going towards the shed.
I glance up, knowing it isn't the carp (the buzz was too high pitched). A wasp. Perched right by the spot that other wasp came out of last year and nailed me in the...wait a minute...
Then I knew. It was the same wasp. That filthy carp was building an army! He would never give up his favorite snack. It was him or me. He had to be stopped. And I had to stop him. I took careful aim and disintegrated the wasp. I couldn't afford to have an enemy at my back as I moved in for the final kill.
One shot left. Better make it count.
I took a breath, let it out, and stepped out from the corner.
My eye locked on the carp as I brought up the Rice Chucker of Death. Time slowed as I obtained sight picture. This was it! I began to squeeze and ZING he went up and at my face again, veering off at the last second. This time heading back the way I came from. I turned in time to see him go around the next corner.
Sprinting past the shed, I caught him on the next side and fired my last shot. He lay there kicking and (hopefully) begging for his life.
Slowly, I lowered Rice Chucker to my side. It was over. Taking one step forward I ground the enemy into the dirt beneath my boot heel. (actually a flip-flop)
A well-spent 35 cents.
plug for safety glasses: When I shot the wasp a piece of rice came back and hit me in the head. It didn't hurt. But it would have been not fun in the eye.
Good story and well written. Nothing like the death rattle of the enemy in the afternoon. Puts a glow on the day. james
I will never top that!
Having reloaded for 40 years I am very aware of the increased pressure of small volume cases. The thing that was strange about this was the huge change from a .38spl case to the 9mm case. Even at 5x less powder than the .38s I still seem to have higher pressure in the 9mm.
Edit: I switched from Bullseye in the .38 and .45LC to salvaged 12ga shell powder somewhere in there. May be the reason for the drastic difference.
Bullseye is pretty fast, but there are some faster powders used in 12 gauge.
Think you had some compression in the 9mm wasp load? Or less than the 38? I went back and read the first post for the 38 recipe. There wasn’t any cream of wheat buffer in those loads. Could the 9mm have actually had a heavier projectile weight than 38 special? Could the duplex payload somehow made more friction and caused the pressure to spike?
Weren’t you using a fast shotgun powder in 9mm with the first round pop discussion? I don’t remember what it was.
Could be a combo of the powder, more compression with the cereal box wads vs corrugated cardboard and adding cream of wheat with the rice making a heavier load. That vid where the wasp disintegrated was a 0.4gr load. Could decrease to 0.3 easily
ETA: TiteWad is my fav 9mm powder and it is very fast.
The Lyman 5th edition copyright 2023 also contains data for Vihtavuori N310 powder in 12 gauge. 7/8 ounce, And 1 ounce loads on page 149 and a 1-1/8 ounce load on page 150.
Every burn rate chart I recall has N310 faster than bullseye. It’s usually in the top three fastest powders on every chart.
I got my .45LC to 9mm adapters in yesterday. They work good in the derringer with the 9mm .04gr loads with rice/COW mix. I'm doing a thread on them for shooting 9mm bullets.
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