Data dump

I’ll be posting pics from my classes to share with lab partners.

If RSS my blog you see some interesting science. For example, grain structure of steel at 500X!

Easy home back stop

Weerd Beard posted about decocking a gun.

He wondered about using a bucket o’ sand as a backstop. I find old phone books less messy.

My comment:
For dry practice, I first drop the hammer with a the gun pointed at a copy paper box full of old phone books/newspapers.

The box o’ truth guys tested bullets vs books and found 9 mm will go thru 7 inches of paper.

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot31.htm

But remember, the extra backing really helps stopping the bullet. A bullet that penetrates 7 inches of a 20 inch stack can go thru an 8 inch stack.

links

To Decock

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot31.htm
http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot7.htm

Turkey loads, recoil, and the elephant gun

This is for the guys and geeks that like numbers and ballistics.

My earlier post mentioned how the recoil of a seven and a half pound gun did a number on my shoulder.

No wonder. Turkey loads of infamous for heavy recoil. But how heavy?

I subscribe to the recoil velocity school of thought as The AnarchAngel so well explains.

Sure there are people who say a .375 H&H with 40 ft-lbs of recoil energy (RE) kicks twice as hard as a 180 grain 30-06 load with 20 ft-lbs of RE. Or maybe they’ve just convinced themselves that the 16 fps recoil velocity from a 375 hurts twice as much as 12 fps of recoil velocity from the ’06. I don’t know.

Here are the numbers for the turkey loads in my gun:
A load of 1.75 oz shot at a nominal 1300 fps has 2872 ft-lbs of “muzzle” energy, a recoil energy (RE) of 53.2 ft-lbs and a recoil velocity of 21.2fps.

I also fired a few Federal Top Gun loads:
One and 1/8 oz of shot at a nominal 1145 fps has 1432 ft-lbs of muzzle energy, RE of 20.3 ft-lbs and a recoil velocity of 13.1 fps.

In contrast, a 30-06 in an 8 lb gun has:
A 150 gr bullet at 2910 fps for 2820 ft-lbs of muzzle energy, RE of 18.6 ft-lbs and a recoil velocity of 12.2 fps.

And a heavy 458 Win Mag load in a 9.5 lb gun is:
A 500 gr bullet at 2260 fps for 5669 ft-lbs of muzzle energy, RE of 68.3 ft-lbs and a recoil velocity of 21.5 fps.

So that turkey load from that light shotgun was close to equal recoil of an elephant gun. And that was excluding the wad weight. The shotgun recoil is actually higher. So if you can handle long range sessions with a shotgun and turkey loads, you should find a 458 Win Mag downright pleasant.

So is turkey hunting the North America equivalent to elephant hunting? Not really, but it’s still cool.

Links
http://anarchangel.blogspot.com/2006/12/push-and-kick.html

Turkey loads will kick…

Well, for those who know me IRL, I’ve been busy like a one legged man in a butt-kicking contest. Finally have time for myself and for the blog.

There is no easy way to come back from a hiatus so let’s get to it.

It’s turkey hunting season in Ohio, and I finally had a chance to pattern my shotgun with turkey loads. 1.75 oz at a nominal 1300 FPS, in a gun that weights 7.63 lb with a sling, 7.29 lbs without the sling.

Not being used to bead sights, I had my head too high on the stock, once. The first shot whipped upward and slapped me hard; I felt it in my cheek!

The second shot was textbook, but after the third shot, I had a so-called “finch.” And I dry fired on the firing line until I was comfortable again.

All told, I fired four rounds of the stiff stuff and, frankly, at the time it was not so bad. But on the way home – my shoulder was protesting. I was surprised at how sore it became.

In hindsight, since my deltoid is what hurts the most, I say I was holding the gun wrong. Many people, Jeff Cooper being one, have commented on long guns having stocks too long. I’m over six foot with orangutang arms and I’m thinking the stock could benefit from being a 1/2 inch shorter. It’s worth checking out.

I hope to be in the woods Thursday, so I will be dry firing after I post this. I should dry fire twice more tomorrow. This way, if I get lucky like Phil Bourjaily, I can focus on the bird and not on what my body is doing. Contrary to popular belief, if your unconscious mind insists on bracing for recoil, you’re gonna “flinch.” Whether you notice recoil or not, it is still there but most importantly, your mind knows it will happen. You need to condition yourself to not fear the gun, so the fear isn’t lurking unexpectedly in the back of your mind.

I also fired a few Federal Top Gun loads, 1 and 1/8 oz at a nominal 1145 FPS.

About the recoil of a 30-06. But nothing like a turkey load.

Turkey loads will kick your arse.

links
http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/gun-nuts/2012/04/turkey-hunting-sleep-late-get-lucky

Newbius is dead….

Gawddamnitt!

We all lost someone important. For some of us he was a dear friend. For some of us he was fellow gun-blogger with nothing but goodwill and friendly advice. Our community has lost someone today.

http://oldnfo.blogspot.com/2012/03/weve-lost-another-friend.html

http://www.ma-rooned.com/2012/03/we-have-lost-good-man-and-good-friend.html

Damn I can’t write anymore…

A Moment of Beauty

The Unseen Sea from Simon Christen on Vimeo.

My internet is back up – FINALLY!

My fiance and I moved home a while ago. Total Charlie Foxtrot. The new place had a bad hardware connection so it took more work than usual to get things up and running.

It is a license to carry not a license to kill.

I’ve said the above several times in real life, figured I might as well say it on the blog.

Kevin has a post addressing the topic.

You have a right to personal defense, NOT a right to kill..

Oh, and ProArms Podcast #67 is a good reference. My favorite part was when the guest speaker was talking about the first time he took a class by Mas Ayoob and was shocked that good money was paid out to be told how much trouble you can get into for shooting someone even in self-defense.

links
http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/2012/01/i-know-its-fiction-but.html#disqus_thread
http://proarmspodcast.com/2011/04/30/067-the-two-jon-podcast/

QOTD Calvin Coolidge – Press On

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.

-Calvin Coolidge

Lasers, gun barrels and bright lights

Want’s not to love?

Sadly, I don’t think I’ll even have muzzle engraving on a gun.

See, some things are considered wrong just because so many people consider them wrong. While pictures like this one…

…or even this one…

..are funny in a gallows humor type way, to those of us in the know. Unfortunately, to many people, it shows a “Rambo-wannabe” mentality. That is unfairly judgemental and a shame.

Basically anything that would look cool in an action movie you should never had with you in a personal defense situation. It’s like having a jerk boss; people love to have them on TV, not so much in real life.

But if you engrave the rest of the gun, it shows class.

links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallows_humor
http://survivingtheworld.net/Lesson800.html