Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[woodchip rookie]

The other day when I taught my Grandsons reloading, I ended up digging through the boxes on the shelf on my reloading bench, and ended up discovering some supplies that had been lost in time, including three different powders I though I was almost out of, and bullets for the 270 (that my brother now uses) that are NLA and I did not think I had.

The bullet is the old Nosler Solid Base, before they started using ballistic tips. They were a little harder than the ballistic tip bullets that replaced them. There were 47 of them left in the box, so I can do some testing at the range and still load two boxes. I'm going to try them with a different powder, and compare them to the 270 MRX bullets (they have also been discontinued, but I stocked up a bit while they were still available). Trouble is, those MRX bullets were expensive as sin, and are only 20 in a box, and I want to save most of them for my 270 WSM.

I have 4 full boxes of MRX, and an opened box that had 4 bullets left. So my plan is to load a few of both bullets with some Reloader 22 powder and see how they shoot. If they both shoot well, I'll load a box of each. If neither of them shoot well, (or to the same point of impact) I'll just go back to my old load of the Nosler with IRM 4350.

Too cold to be building saws or wood furniture (I like to do both of those outside), so I'll play with the reloading a bit before my busy Tax Season begins.

I also had 3 Grandkids over today, we loaded some more 223 and played some cards.

I've always got something going on!

You run 4350 in 270?

 

[U&A]

This guy helped out today by driving a water tanker.
View attachment 785695

Your breaking my heart right now man.[emoji17]

Poor little guy


Sent while firmly grasping my redline lubed RAM [emoji231]

 

[woodchip rookie]

if I were to get a bike now it would be for the woods.

I have that too

 

[U&A]

I have that too

How you like it? Do ok in the deeper mud?


Sent while firmly grasping my redline lubed RAM [emoji231]

 

[Cowboy254]

Glad to hear it's ok for you for now cowboy. I take it that the weather driving these fires is pretty unusual, climate change?

I wouldn't say it is particularly unusual, we have a pretty wide range of what can be regarded as 'normal' in these parts. One aspect is that we haven't had much in the way of rain for a month in SE Aust. We have also had a number of dry thunderstorms that started fires. Without 20-30mm of rain to put them out, they have just been ticking over - not going anywhere but not going out either. The fires that nearly took out my parents' town actually started a month ago but were in an area that was inaccessible. So it sat and did nothing for some time. We actually drove past them when we went down there fishing several weeks ago. But get the right conditions (or wrong conditions, if you like) and they can break containment lines and move 100km in a day, and if you're in the way...

But there are plenty of years when we have no rain for a month. There are also plenty of years that we get dry thunderstorms that start fires (I'd say almost every year). Every year, we will get days of 40°C with strong winds ahead of an approaching cold front. Most years you don't get all three in combination. Occasionally, you do. It happened in 2009 and in 1983 and this year in my state and this year and 1993/4 in New South Wales.

The biggest issue we have control over is forest management. Eucalypts produce a large quantity of leaves and bark material constantly and in this part of the country, Green influence has to a large extent prevented fuel reduction burning to a minimum. A bit like speed in a vehicle where velocity increases braking distance by a multiple, double the fuel load on the ground multiplies the heat production in a fire by a factor of 4. Now, 4MW/metre of firefront is the maximum that can be fought by firemen on the ground and these fires have been producing around 30MW/m. Black Saturday fires in 2009 were producing up to 70MW/m, because the dumb local councils allowed roads and tracks to be overgrown and allowed no cool burns for many years. If you got sprung picking up wood for a campfire from the side of the road, you got prosecuted! When more than a hundred people got roasted in Kinglake, you should have seen the arse-covering that went on amongst the local government. They got away with it of course .

Every Royal Commission investigation into bushfires in SE Australia since 1939 has come out with the same recommendations regarding planned burns to reduce fuel load and every single time, after a few years, the recommendations are quietly shelved. Then the fuel builds up again and bad things happen. In this country, bushfires are a question of when, not if. Risk management is critical but unfortunately, it is only politically popular for three months after a bushfire disaster. After that, it gets ignored. Until next time. Oh, and the time after that. And also the time after that. So properties get destroyed, animals die and people die because it is politically inconvenient to reduce the risk in any practical manner.

Naturally, the people that make the decisions are not the people that are affected by the outcomes.

 

[Cowboy254]

This guy helped out today by driving a water tanker.
View attachment 785695

"I said turn LEFT you dummy"!

It's funny how animals of all sorts will accept human company in life threatening times. Koalas are cute though. Just have to watch out for their not-so-friendly drop-cousins .

 

[Jeffkrib]

All the state ex fire commissioners have been warning the federal government to invest in more equipment, as the scientist have been warning due to climate change Fire seasons will get worse. We are currently in a savage drought which do happen here in Aus. I for one think there is truth in what the scientists are saying. Just look at any country and see how much land has been cleared of forest in the last 200 years it has to have an effect on the worlds climate.

 

[woodchip rookie]

How you like it? Do ok in the deeper mud?


Sent while firmly grasping my redline lubed RAM [emoji231]

If you let the tires down to like 5psi its pretty good. 18psi is road pressure. If you get on wet grass at that pressure its pretty slippery.

 

[LondonNeil]

Thanks cowboy, I was wondering if it was weather or some other change like you outlined. I very thorough response!

 

[square1]

"I said turn LEFT you dummy"!

It's funny how animals of all sorts will accept human company in life threatening times. Koalas are cute though. Just have to watch out for their not-so-friendly drop-cousins .

Sadly I have read they, koalas, are functionally extinct due to loss of their food source. No longer enough eucalyptus to support a viable population

 

[MechanicMatt]

Took my dogs on a walk this morning, hit the corner of the yard where the wood is being processed. After church I’ll be running the splitter again

 

[svk]

Is once fired brass any good Mike? I have boxes of Remington 270 collecting dust.

Yup that’s as good as gold. “Regular” rifle cartridges can be loaded 5-10 times or more as long as you aren’t using max loads.

I sold my 7mm-08 several years ago but I think that brass was at 6 or 7 firings and I still had 17 of the cartridges left. They usually crack at the neck eventually.

 

[U&A]

This guy helped out today by driving a water tanker.
View attachment 785695

I cant stop looking at this dang picture. My heart is hurting for you guys in Australia. And this little guy they say is now on the verge of extinction because of the fires?


Sent while firmly grasping my redline lubed RAM [emoji231]

 

[MustangMike]

FS, I'll be glad to take that brass off of your hands next time I see you. I will put it to good use. I found 2 boxes of 270 that have 6 + 7 reloads on them respectively, and discovered a neck crack, so I will be replacing them with the new brass.

WR, Nice dirt bike, wish I had one of them!

WR, yes I use IMR 4350 in the 270 quite a bit. Generally, 55 gr to push a 130 gr slug. Works well. (that load was with the NLA Win 120 primer).

There is hardly a cartridge around that I can't find a good load for with just one of two powders: IMR 4350 and IMR 4064. (I load 223, 220 Swift, 270 Win, 270 WSM, 30-30, 30-06, 300 Win Mag and 348 Winchester).

That said, I prefer H-335 for the 223 and Reloader 22 meters + dribbles extremely well, and is very well suited for the 270, 270 WSM, and 300 Win Mag.

I used to load the 300 Win Mag with 70 gr of IMR 4350 and a Win 120 primer (NLA) and could stuff either a 180 or 165 gr bullet in front of it and get consistent 5 shot 5/8" groups at 100 yds.

I also often choose the IMR powders for hunting because they are supposed to be less temperature sensitive than the Reloader powders. In reality, you likely will not notice the difference.

 

[MustangMike]

I cant stop looking at this dang picture. My heart is hurting for you guys in Australia. And this little they say is now on the verge of extinction because of the fires?


Sent while firmly grasping my redline lubed RAM [emoji231]

They keep running these tear jerker shows trying to convince us that Polar Bears are going extinct due to climate change … the truth of the matter is there are more of them now then there ever were!

The world was warmer during the Roman Empire, and yet Polar Bears did not go extinct! (I guess they drove their chariots too much!!!)

We should do everything reasonable to be as clean as possible, and more people mean wiping out more natural habitat, etc. It is part of the reason I own 50 acres and keep it wooded, my small part.

That said, these draconian measures being proposed by some will not make any difference at all, and are all about making us feel guilty and gaining political control.

When one of these Hollywood types flies around the Country on a private jet and says I should not be allowed to drive my Mustang, I want to smack them in their face! I can not stomach a hypocrite!

 

[U&A]

They keep running these tear jerker shows trying to convince us that Polar Bears are going extinct due to climate change … the truth of the matter is there are more of them now then there ever were!

The world was warmer during the Roman Empire, and yet Polar Bears did not go extinct! (I guess they drove their chariots too much!!!)

We should do everything reasonable to be as clean as possible, and more people mean wiping out more natural habitat, etc. It is part of the reason I own 50 acres and keep it wooded, my small part.

That said, these draconian measures being proposed by some will not make any difference at all, and are all about making us feel guilty and gaining political control.

When one of these Hollywood types flies around the Country on a private jet and says I should not be allowed to drive my Mustang, I want to smack them in their face! I can not stomach a hypocrite!

That is my plan with my 20 acres. Keep it all woods and swamp. Not very valuable to developers because of all the swamp anyways. But that swamp support soooo much life it’s unreal. And the good part is 99% of the swap is on my property. It basically fills up the back third of my property.

The property is in our trust to never be developed on.


Sent while firmly grasping my redline lubed RAM [emoji231]

 

[rarefish383]

Is once fired brass any good Mike? I have boxes of Remington 270 collecting dust.

Dang Steve, the only way I can shoot my 22 HiPower is take used 30-30 brass, run it through a 25-35 die, then run it through a 22HP, and then try and find 70gr .228 bullets. The modern .224 bullets wont work, and most of them are too long. The old HiPower had a slow 1:12 twist, so it needs short for bore size bullets. But, it does work.

 

[rarefish383]

FS, I'll be glad to take that brass off of your hands next time I see you. I will put it to good use. I found 2 boxes of 270 that have 6 + 7 reloads on them respectively, and discovered a neck crack, so I will be replacing them with the new brass.

WR, Nice dirt bike, wish I had one of them!

WR, yes I use IMR 4350 in the 270 quite a bit. Generally, 55 gr to push a 130 gr slug. Works well. (that load was with the NLA Win 120 primer).

There is hardly a cartridge around that I can't find a good load for with just one of two powders: IMR 4350 and IMR 4064. (I load 223, 220 Swift, 270 Win, 270 WSM, 30-30, 30-06, 300 Win Mag and 348 Winchester).

That said, I prefer H-335 for the 223 and Reloader 22 meters + dribbles extremely well, and is very well suited for the 270, 270 WSM, and 300 Win Mag.

I used to load the 300 Win Mag with 70 gr of IMR 4350 and a Win 120 primer (NLA) and could stuff either a 180 or 165 gr bullet in front of it and get consistent 5 shot 5/8" groups at 100 yds.

I also often choose the IMR powders for hunting because they are supposed to be less temperature sensitive than the Reloader powders. In reality, you likely will not notice the difference.

Mike, if it happens again I'll let you know. Last year one of the guys on the Savage forum let us know that Walmart had an unadvertised sale going on Federal ammo. It was for 30-30 150gr, 243, 270, and 30-06 only. It was $9.96 a box, with a ten box limit. Federal had a $5 a box rebate going at the same time. I had just bought a 1912 Savage Saddle Ring Carbine in 30-30, so I ran into the first Walmart I passed. I asked the clerk and he said, nope, no sale going. Asked him to scan a box, and he hit the 170's and showed $15. I asked him to scan the 150's and he started getting snotty, until he hit them. He laughed and said, $9.96 a box. They only had 4 boxes so when I got home I hit out Walmart. Same thing, the clerks knew nothing about it. They had 6 boxes which gave me my 10. A month or two later I got my $50 rebate card. Net price was $4.96 a box. I don't even shoot the 30-30, as I go through a box, I'll probably reform them to 22 HP.

 

[rarefish383]

This guy helped out today by driving a water tanker.
View attachment 785695

He's so cute he looks like a Steiff stuffed toy.

 

[farmer steve]

@rarefish383. I have 30-30 brass if you want some.
@MustangMike. The 270 brass are yours.