Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[MustangMike]

I was doing some reloading recently for both my 30-06s and my 300 Win Mag.

I found an old box of 300 Win Mag brass that I put aside years ago. One brass had "failed", case head separation on extraction. It was the 16th loading on that brass!

I generally neck size, and only FL size after 4 or 5 loadings. The failure was after a Full Length sizing.

When I full length size that round, the brass seems to get worked too much.

When I neck size only for my Ruger American Rifle in 30-06, my group sizes drop by over 1/2" (to about 1/2").

My 300 Win Mag (a Bicentennial Ruger M-77) used to shoot 5/8" groups at 100 yds, but it has a lot of rounds through it, and now I'm happy if I can keep it under 1.5".

Best accuracy is with the bullets seated longer than what will fit in the magazine. I'm working on finding a different profile bullet to use under the first bullet that will feed and still shoot well if follow up shots are needed. (The non tipped bullets are shorter)

 

[GrizG]

I was doing some reloading recently for both my 30-06s and my 300 Win Mag.

I found an old box of 300 Win Mag brass that I put aside years ago. One brass had "failed", case head separation on extraction. It was the 16th loading on that brass!

I generally neck size, and only FL size after 4 or 5 loadings. The failure was after a Full Length sizing.

When I full length size that round, the brass seems to get worked too much.

When I neck size only for my Ruger American Rifle in 30-06, my group sizes drop by over 1/2" (to about 1/2").

My 300 Win Mag (a Bicentennial Ruger M-77) used to shoot 5/8" groups at 100 yds, but it has a lot of rounds through it, and now I'm happy if I can keep it under 1.5".

Best accuracy is with the bullets seated longer than what will fit in the magazine. I'm working on finding a different profile bullet to use under the first bullet that will feed and still shoot well if follow up shots are needed. (The non tipped bullets are shorter)

I use neck size only Huntington dies with my Ruger No 1 rifles... plenty of cam action for loading and extraction. Huntington is/was the custom die arm of RCBS. I neck size only for a 77/22 in .22 Hornet too... a gun that shot 3-5" groups with factory ammo suddenly shot one hole groups with my very first reloads! I was pissed when I fired the first group because I could only see one hole in the target through the scope and thought it was shooting patterns instead of groups... that was until I walked down range and could see 3 shots overlapping! LOL

Over the years I've found ammo I loaded years ago suffered neck splits while in storage. With that I bought new unprimed brass for some of my guns... I haven't been able to find new .257 Roberts
brass (or ammo). It doesn't seem any has been made in a while so I annealed the case mouths.

 

[MustangMike]

My 06 and 300 Win Mag are fine with neck sizing, and I like the Lee Neck Sizing dies.

My 270 WSM gets neck splits if I neck size only, and seems to not grow much if I full length resize it, so I do every time.

Dies are hard to find for my 348, so I just put a washer under the Full Length size die to Neck Size the brass. Works well!

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

Guy has been here for 2 hours. Already a lot more room in the furnace room!
View attachment 985463

hi svk - i would never have imagined that plumbing set up in ur hot water room posted other day...

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

I used to love watching the guy hunting for fat wood in South Ga. He had a little terrier type dog that was trained to sniff out the stumps. The timber companies would clear cut a section for pulp. Then they chipped all the brush for mixing with coal for the power company. They then brought in the guy with the dog and he would find the stumps and mark them with flags. Then a trackhoe came in and dug up all the stumps and loaded them into large trailers. The stumps went to a dynamite factory somewhere around Brunswick or Jesup ga. Once the stumps where gone they disked the ground and replanted in pines. Wait about 20 years and rinse and repeat. Timber companies had a helicopter they used to broadcast fertilizer You could see them in a large field with a fertilizer truck pumping the fert into a huge broadcaster hopper and the helicopter taking off and flying over a new stand of trees and making a cloud of dust in the air.

i have heard of fat_ _ and fat _ _s... of course fat ***s, too... to just mention a few. fatwood was interesting

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

How much wood is too much?? The other day I was driving along and literally a quarter mile from my house a guy had a huge oak cut down that he was cutting into rounds..I got home and looked at my wood pile which had already grown significantly over the last couple months and realized I had no more room.

good question, sometimes if no more room, too much can be a mute point!

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

I use neck size only Huntington dies with my Ruger No 1 rifles... plenty of cam action for loading and extraction. Huntington is/was the custom die arm of RCBS. I neck size only for a 77/22 in .22 Hornet too... a gun that shot 3-5" groups with factory ammo suddenly shot one hole groups with my very first reloads! I was pissed when I fired the first group because I could only see one hole in the target through the scope and thought it was shooting patterns instead of groups... that was until I walked down range and could see 3 shots overlapping! LOL

Over the years I've found ammo I loaded years ago suffered neck splits while in storage. With that I bought new unprimed brass for some of my guns... I haven't been able to find new .257 Roberts
brass (or ammo). It doesn't seem any has been made in a while so I annealed the case mouths.

ny Dad reloaded all his. he like magnum loads. so if at range.... bang, bang, bang... then he or i would fire! BOOM! then everyone would look about!

 

[farmer steve]

For the wheelbarrow aficionados. I saw this at the produce auction today.

 

[svk]

For better or worse all of my brass is sized full length. I have multiple guns in most of the calibers I load for, so I figured no sense having gun specific cartridges when I am only hunting and plinking.

If I was going for accuracy with one rifle I would neck size.

 

[svk]

I was doing some reloading recently for both my 30-06s and my 300 Win Mag.

I found an old box of 300 Win Mag brass that I put aside years ago. One brass had "failed", case head separation on extraction. It was the 16th loading on that brass!

I generally neck size, and only FL size after 4 or 5 loadings. The failure was after a Full Length sizing.

When I full length size that round, the brass seems to get worked too much.

When I neck size only for my Ruger American Rifle in 30-06, my group sizes drop by over 1/2" (to about 1/2").

My 300 Win Mag (a Bicentennial Ruger M-77) used to shoot 5/8" groups at 100 yds, but it has a lot of rounds through it, and now I'm happy if I can keep it under 1.5".

Best accuracy is with the bullets seated longer than what will fit in the magazine. I'm working on finding a different profile bullet to use under the first bullet that will feed and still shoot well if follow up shots are needed. (The non tipped bullets are shorter)

That is a lot of rounds for any cartridge let alone a magnum.

 

[old CB]

i have heard of fat_ _ and fat _ _s... of course fat ***s, too... to just mention a few. fatwood was interesting

Fatwood is generally a thing from the southeast--Georgia and thereabout--from southern yellow pine.

But I harvest it here in Colorado from Ponderosa Pine stumps. Not every stump by any means. But frequently the stump remaining after I remove a Pondo has pine pitch oozing from it in copious quantity within a day or two. Kids go to sit on a bright, fresh stump and are practically glued to it.

Don't know how it works, but years down the line certain of those stumps are preserved, barkless, and quite heavy. I split them up small, and every piece glistens with pitch and smells like turpentine. You don't want to put a sizable chunk in the stove or you'd overfire it something terrible. I put a chunk about the size of my fist in the stove recently and the stove was cranking hot, making noises I didn't like, black smoke pouring from the chimney--and that's from wood that has seasoned many years.

I keep some around for firestarter--one match to a piece of it will serve in place of a fistful of kindling. I've given away several boxes and buckets of this stuff to friends. Pretty fancy stuff.

 

[GrizG]

ny Dad reloaded all his. he like magnum loads. so if at range.... bang, bang, bang... then he or i would fire! BOOM! then everyone would look about!

I started reloading at age 16... At 15 I mowed lawns, cut brush, and did other odd jobs and saved my money. With it I bought a Remington 700 BDL in .30-06 for my first deer season and received an RCBS reloading outfit for Christmas. Many, many, many rounds, and 48+ years later, I still use it. By volume .38 Special is way out in the lead... I did 5-6,000 rounds of those a year for quite a number of years. They cost me 4¢ to 4½¢ per round with purchased cast bullets! A mix of .357 Mag., .44 Mag, and .45 ACP round out the handgun selection. Rifles... I load for a number of rifle rounds but not in numbers anywhere near the handgun ammo. The .30-06 and .257 Roberts have the greatest volume of rifle rounds but .22 Hornet, .270 Win, .30-30 and .45-70 have seen their share. My son has been loading .38 Special and .40 S&W on my equipment. I also reload shot shells in .410, 28 gauge, 20 gauge and 12 gauge.... 20 gauge is the volume winner, 28 second, .410 third and 12 gauge last.

Reloading has been an enjoyable hobby. I cannot say I saved any money though as I probably shot 5-10+ times what I would have if I didn't reload!

 

[GrizG]

ny Dad reloaded all his. he like magnum loads. so if at range.... bang, bang, bang... then he or i would fire! BOOM! then everyone would look about!

Regarding magnums and booms... My 3" S&W Model 629 .44 Magnum is brutal... There have been times when people left the outdoor range due to the concussion and muzzle blast. Many of my gun savoy associates refuse to shoot it. I commented after shooting a .454 Casual that my 3" 629 was far worse in terms or muzzle blast and recoil. With that I was invited to bring it to the armed guard training class I audited for a research project. One guy who did shoot it that time is a trainer of civilians, armed guards, police and military and an expert firearms witness in court. The look on his face was priceless when "The Dragon" went off in his hands. His eyes were wide and his mouth hung open. He looked at me and then mouthed the word "WOW!" He didn't want the armed guard students behind us to see his reaction! LOL All of the other students in that class shot 9 MM and .40 S&W semi-autos. I shot a S&W Model 13... a fixed sight, K-Frame, heavy barrel .357 Magnum. People noticed the difference.

It terms of rifles, the most ear piecing thing I've experienced was a CAR M16 on full auto... The big bore magnums are loud for sure but they don't have that piercing thing going on and certainly don't have the same rate of fire. A burst from a BAR is quite impressive but again, not like that 10" CAR. In terms of cyclic speed, an H&K MP5K machine pistol is way faster but those 9MM rounds aren't in the same league...

Lots of good fun memories!

 

[dancan]

I remember an idea from the 70’s, to put a car engine (vented exhaust, of course) in everyone’s basement. The internal combustion engine is nortoriously inefficient, but the ‘waste heat’ would warm the house. The engine would turn a generator to make electricity for everything else.

Philbert

A fella I know had an old 60kw genny that would run his woodworking shop , in the winter he would switch 2 valves run the coolant through 2 commercial ceiling mounted hot water heaters .
He'd scrounge used oil from restaurants to run it .

 

[chipper1]

Regarding magnums and booms... My 3" S&W Model 629 .44 Magnum is brutal... There have been times when people left the outdoor range due to the concussion and muzzle blast. Many of my gun savoy associates refuse to shoot it. I commented after shooting a .454 Casual that my 3" 629 was far worse in terms or muzzle blast and recoil. With that I was invited to bring it to the armed guard training class I audited for a research project. One guy who did shoot it that time is a trainer of civilians, armed guards, police and military and an expert firearms witness in court. The look on his face was priceless when "The Dragon" went off in his hands. His eyes were wide and his mouth hung open. He looked at me and then mouthed the word "WOW!" He didn't want the armed guard students behind us to see his reaction! LOL All of the other students in that class shot 9 MM and .40 S&W semi-autos. I shot a S&W Model 13... a fixed sight, K-Frame, heavy barrel .357 Magnum. People noticed the difference.

It terms of rifles, the most ear piecing thing I've experienced was a CAR M16 on full auto... The big bore magnums are loud for sure but they don't have that piercing thing going on and certainly don't have the same rate of fire. A burst from a BAR is quite impressive but again, not like that 10" CAR. In terms of cyclic speed, an H&K MP5K machine pistol is way faster but those 9MM rounds aren't in the same league...

Lots of good fun memories!

Not sure why, shooting my taurus pt-22 hurts my ears more than my 10.5 556, kinda funny.
The 18" 556 with a brake is much louder than those two lol.
I was at a buddies the other night and he was showing me his magnum research 350 legend, looked like a fun one . An mp5 would be a toy I'd be more inclined to use on a normal basis, and probably what I'd choose over that 350 .
As far as reloading I haven't reloaded in so many yrs I'm not sure I'd be able to figure it out again.

 

[chipper1]

Fatwood is generally a thing from the southeast--Georgia and thereabout--from southern yellow pine.

But I harvest it here in Colorado from Ponderosa Pine stumps. Not every stump by any means. But frequently the stump remaining after I remove a Pondo has pine pitch oozing from it in copious quantity within a day or two. Kids go to sit on a bright, fresh stump and are practically glued to it.

Don't know how it works, but years down the line certain of those stumps are preserved, barkless, and quite heavy. I split them up small, and every piece glistens with pitch and smells like turpentine. You don't want to put a sizable chunk in the stove or you'd overfire it something terrible. I put a chunk about the size of my fist in the stove recently and the stove was cranking hot, making noises I didn't like, black smoke pouring from the chimney--and that's from wood that has seasoned many years.

I keep some around for firestarter--one match to a piece of it will serve in place of a fistful of kindling. I've given away several boxes and buckets of this stuff to friends. Pretty fancy stuff.

The stuff I got was brought up from Georgia to the GTG. He had some a few yrs ago but I forgot to get some, then when I was picked in the raffle this yr(I didn't even know I was entered in it), I made sure I grabbed a chunk.
Some of the red pine here will leak like that out of the stump or the branches . I always bring WD-40 with me on pine jobs. It's usually in the truck, but not a big deal if it isn't, but when I got to cut pine I check a few times to make sure. I hate that stuff on my saws, nothing worse here. I like pine pitch about as much as I like rust .

 

[GrizG]

Not sure why, shooting my taurus pt-22 hurts my ears more than my 10.5 556, kinda funny.
The 18" 556 with a brake is much louder than those two lol.
I was at a buddies the other night and he was showing me his magnum research 350 legend, looked like a fun one . An mp5 would be a toy I'd be more inclined to use on a normal basis, and probably what I'd choose over that 350 .
As far as reloading I haven't reloaded in so many yrs I'm not sure I'd be able to figure it out again.

What are you putting in that PT-22?? LOL

The MP5 and MP5K that I shot were ridiculously easy to shoot and make tight groups with even on full mag dumps... Ed Suter came up to me and said "That's good gun control." They were Sandy Froman's guns. (Ma Deuce, former President of the NRA). David Kopel and Don Kates were there shooting with us too. A suppressed Sterling was a goof... I don't recall the rounds we were shooting but the gun was silent even with no muffs. I suspect they were sub-sonic. You'd hear the main spring bouncing around inside the gun and that was it! UZI... interesting gun but if push came to shove I'd rather have an MP5.

I really like the Thompson for it's nostalgic look, feel, and sound. One evening the sun was coming in low over our left shoulders and you could watch the .45s fly through the air almost like tracers. A couple guys I shot with while working in Williamsburg, VA had them. Tree removal on that range started with a small muzzle loading cannon. Sten... I had a bad habit of loosing a round inside the gun. LOL I didn't shoot it enough to figure out what I was doing to cause that problem... George had his CAR M16 there and Jon later got a belt fed Browning.

I was at Numrich Arms's retail store one time (long closed) and a dealer from PA was there. He had Class III stuff with him. Grease Gun, German MP40 and a BAR. I shot them all. The sub-guns weren't much different to shoot than any other sub-gun I'd shot. The BAR was a different story... full auto '30-06 off the bi-pod was very cool and got everyone's attention at Gun Parts. After the Moonies bought the Auto Ordinance brand they apparently didn't have as much shooting going on there... They farmed some parts out to local machine shops and those jobs disappeared too.

If I think of it I'll look around for photos and scan them... no smart phones in those days!

 

[cookies]

Down here fatlighter aka lighter aka rich pine is well known. I offer it as splits when I run firewood for sale ads, I keep about a 1/2 a cord of it on hand. The stuff can be a royal pta to go collect since its often a stump, buried or half the trunk is fully rotten and slam full of creepy crawlies. I have considered selling it by the flat rate box on ebay just to reduce the amount I have.

 

[turnkey4099]

The stuff I got was brought up from Georgia to the GTG. He had some a few yrs ago but I forgot to get some, then when I was picked in the raffle this yr(I didn't even know I was entered in it), I made sure I grabbed a chunk.
Some of the red pine here will leak like that out of the stump or the branches . I always bring WD-40 with me on pine jobs. It's usually in the truck, but not a big deal if it isn't, but when I got to cut pine I check a few times to make sure. I hate that stuff on my saws, nothing worse here. I like pine pitch about as much as I like rust .

Thanks. I had brake cleaner on the shopping list. I didn't know WD40 would work also. One of the small trees at the old house scrounge apparently has pitchy wood as when I finished it my MS362 bar was coated. I'll tryi a shot of WD40 in the morning.

 

[chipper1]

Thanks. I had brake cleaner on the shopping list. I didn't know WD40 would work also. One of the small trees at the old house scrounge apparently has pitchy wood as when I finished it my MS362 bar was coated. I'll tryi a shot of WD40 in the morning.

Sure thing.
I spray them down before I start cutting, everything except the handle/handlebar/starter handle, then I pay them down every time I refuel. Most times they are cleaner when I finish than when I started other than the handles. When I'm finished I spray them handles and all and then wipe the handles off when I get home, and sometimes I clean the rest of the saw, but they usually look pretty good for my work saws.