Crossfire June 2021

Don’t have a meltdown!

I have been using powder-coated bullets for Cowboy shooting for several years, purchasing them already coated then I read one of Tank Hoover’s pieces on powder coating at home. I obtained some powder from Eastwood, cast up a bunch of bullets with crimp grooves for .44-40, swirled and shook them in the powder, put them in the toaster oven at 400 degrees — and they melted on the cookie sheet!

It took me a little time to figure out what had happened. Some years ago I was fiddling with BPCR using a Sharps reproduction in .45-70. My alloy was lead and tin as suggested by Mike “Duke” Venturino, sans antimony. I also used the alloy for casting 44-40 bullets while I was shooting the Black Powder Cartridge category in SASS. Have not done any casting for a few years as I switched back to smokeless simply because the time to clean up the brass and guns after a shoot became too much of a burden. There was about an inch of the alloy in the bottom of my Magma pot when I lit it off. I then threw in a bunch of mixed stuff I had acquired over the years. Heck, this is for Cowboy loads, certainly don’t need match quality. Instead of dropping a 200-grain bullet, my mold was dropping them at 173 grains. This should have set off the alarm bells but, “They’re for Cowboy shooting.”

Checking the oven’s temp with both IR and mechanical thermometers proved the oven to be at the correct temperature. Then the light finally came on. The alloy was so tin-rich the melting point was down in the mid-300 degree range. Not too good when 400 degrees is necessary to cure the powder coat. Cast a batch with pure lead — bullets drop at 214 grains from same mold! Thought I’d pass it along to save someone else from the same mistake. Before powder coat, alloy melting temp didn’t mean much because we lubed the bullets. Now we’re bakin’ ’em!

Brad Glas

Old better than new?

Your recent piece on the .38 special as a trail gun (Campfire Tales, April 2021) hit me where I (used to) live. When I was young (a long time ago) the .38 special had a reputation as an all-around gun and was regarded as quite powerful. I opine the old .38 special was significantly more powerful than its much-diminished current rendition. 

Some years ago I chronographed. .38 special ammunition dating from ca. 1960. One box was Winchester-Western standard-pressure 158-grain round nose lead at an advertised 870 fps from a 6″ test barrel; the other was an equally old box of Remington Hi-Speed 158-grain round nose lead bullets at an advertised 1,060 fps from a 6″ test barrel. The 6″ revolver ballistics essentially equaled the advertised ballistics from a 6″ test barrel. 

Since you also mentioned the 38/44, I have a bit of trivia. As you mention, the first 38/44s were Heavy Duty models with 5″ barrels, and the 6 ½” barrels did not come out until the following year when the 38/44 Outdoorsman appeared. The test barrels established for 38/44 ammo ballistics were 5″, not the 6″ test barrels used for the standard pressure .38 Spl. This changed shortly before the 4-V barrels were standardized. 
Marshall Williams

Thank you for such an informative letter. Most interesting to arrive now as I just finished loading 1,000 .38 Specials with Red Dot, Clays and WW231 with most using the old Cramer 160-grain SWC hard cast bullet. —John Taffin

It’s OK after all

In your April 2021 edition of GUNS Magazine, Brent Wheat replied to Captain Darrell Haynes’ letter regarding Wheat’s comment in the Feb. 2021 edition about being stranded in Wichita, Kansas. Wheat mentioned he liked the Hard Rock Hotel. I’ve lived in or near Wichita for all but five years of my life. I haven’t gotten out much lately and wondered what I’d been missing out on. A Googling of Hard Rock locations indicates the closest one anywhere near Kansas is in Tulsa, OK.

Now I’m wondering where Brent was really stranded.
Roger Neugent

My face is red; after your letter I began wondering about incipient long-term memory loss. A few minutes poking around into my email archive and I discovered the event I referenced was in Tulsa, Oklahoma, not Wichita!

On a related note, yesterday I was speaking to a well-known editor at another publication and we both decided Hell had indeed frozen over because, after all the event and trade show cancellations of the last year, we are both wistfully looking forward to our next airplane flight! The tune will undoubtedly change the first time I crowd back into an airline seat, next to a screaming baby! —BW

Pampered precision

I enjoyed reading the “Baby my Scope?” article by Wayne Van Zwoll in the April 2021 issue. I have a question: I see some companies advertising scope-ring lapping tools to smoothe the inside of the rings. Are uneven/warped scope rings really an issue, especially with high quality rings, or is this just another gimmick?

James Cox

To lap, or not to lap, steel scope rings — a good question, Jim! I don’t routinely lap, as stamped and machined rings made now have shown me no need. They’re held to close tolerances and they lack the machine marks and sharp edges occasionally found on older scope rings. As you may know, convention once had it split rings had to be kept in pairs, halves oriented as received to ensure against slightly off-axis positioning, thus marring the scope tube. I have it on good report matching halves are no longer necessary on CNC’d rings. If I come into rings of the era that produced $50 scopes and 20-cent gasoline, I do check alignment by feel before installing them. If there’s a burr or sharp edge, I touch it with a stone to ensure it doesn’t scrape scope finish. A palpable “overbite” would be cause to get out the lapping kit. Ring misalignment (a skewed base or off-axis screw holes in the receiver) is another reason you might lap. Barring these issues, lapping most new rings seems to me akin to lapping bolt lugs into their seats. It’s a step toward perfect union with the scope tube. With high-quality steel rings, I don’t think it necessary or, in most cases, noticeably helpful. —Wayne

Use enough gun

I enjoyed the article by Dave Anderson regarding killing a velociraptor. It is an interesting mental exercise. A few years ago, I bought a book, rexGun by Dr. Stephen W. Templar. It is a serious treatment of the usefulness of modern firearms for large extinct dinosaurs. Some of my hunting buddies thought I was a little weird for “wasting my money” on a book like this one. Thanks to Dave Anderson, I’m feeling vindicated.
Joe Cascarelli
Substitute ARs Part Deux

Brent, Tom and Roy discussed possible AR-15 ownership difficulties in the near future and what other types of guns could be used in place of them. They all sounded like good ideas, but I was surprised they didn’t mention the SKS or AK as a replacement. Or do you think these types of guns would be included in a so-called “buy-back”?
Tom Luttrell

I think they’ll try to stop any kind of “scary-looking” gun, so the SKS/AK would definitely be in that category … not that any of them could even fire the darn things! —BW

Substitute ARs

I just had to write that Guns Podcast #69 hit it out of the park! Being a seasoned citizen, I totally relate to the .30-30 as a go-to rifle for when things go south. Back in the day we always carried a Winchester Model 94 in a hard case in the trunk of the squad car. We had Garands in the LEC (law enforcement center) but I never recall them being shot except on qualification days. Being a rural force, the M94 was called on for dispensing deer, cattle or horses hit by autos if they were in a spot hard to get close enough for a revolver round.

As I write this I have two go-to levers in the safe. A Marlin 336 in .30-30 and a limited run Marlin 94 in .44 Mag with a 16 ¼” barrel. Both have sling swivels and rear aperture sights. The .30-30 is better ballistically than the 7.62×39 that everyone raves about and if the .44 Mag is impressive in a handgun, it flat out blows the doors off in a carbine!
Buck

Shorty shooter

I served in the Air Force in Vietnam from ’66-’67 and ’68-’69 and since I was an overage in my aircraft shop, I was loaned out to the Air Police and pulled guard duty many times. I associated with many Air Police personnel and some K-9 guards. I carried an M16 and was allowed to keep my ammunition at work as well as my Quarters.

Here is my question. I am wondering if you know what the K-9 handlers were issued for their weapons? Their M-16s were shorter since they had to control the K9 with one hand and fire one-handed. We called them AR-14s but I am sure this was not the military name for them. I was reading your article about the IDF Mekut’zar carbine and it brought back those memories since their rifles are shorter. Do you know what the military term for those shorter M16s were?
Bob

The carbines were almost assuredly XM177s. If I recall correctly the XM177E1 had a 10″ barrel while the XM177E2’s was 11.5″. Most Army pukes called them CAR15s. I think the USAF designated the guns the GAU-5A or GAU-5A/A. These carbines sported sliding stocks and a stubby sound moderator/flash suppressor. They served as the evolutionary basis for today’s M4 Carbines. 

I recall working with an Air Force combat controller in the desert someplace back in the 1990s who had a cool M4-style weapon. His rifle had round plastic handguards and a stepped 14.5″ barrel but a slick-sided upper without a forward assist. In all my travels I never saw a GI-issue weapon like that anyplace else!
—Will Dabbs

Velociraptor Part Two

I loved the article by Dave Anderson. I cannot fault his logic for “hunting” dinosaurs or his choice.
I have to agree with the movie. A jungle gun needs to be short. Short means fast on target. Short is a get-off-me gun. Why do you think early British tiger hunters in India used mobile tree stands (elephants) to hunt from? They had bolt action rifles with limited rounds, like the Ruger guide gun, though longer. Besides better visibility (less limbs in the way), it was so a wounded tiger couldn’t get to them.

Back to fast. A trained soldier with a bolt action rifle can lay down a respectable, keep-down rate of fire. If I remember right, the top British mad-minute competitors circa WWI could achieve a rate around 13 rpm with their rifles topped off and stripper clips ready. A pump-action shotgun could come close to double that with a detachable box magazine, but an extended tube would limit the 60-second actual rate of fire.

Back to the movie. I would take the head shot. Pump. Assess. Decide. Five rounds left. How many raptors in the enclosure? He mentioned it, but I haven’t watched it in a year or two. Four or five?
Kevin Steffen

Roll on Rolling Block

I am looking for someone who builds repro #1 (not Hepburn) Rolling Blocks, but have had no success. Mike Venturino advised me several years ago to get a SAA from U.S. Firearms — I did by way of Doug Turnbull — best advice on a firearms purchase I ever received. I’m wondering if Mr. Venturino could help me out once again? I think I want one in .44/77.
Rick Bell

This one is tough. Used to be Lone Star was there, but the fellow accidentally shot himself. Then there was John King in Kalispell, MT but he retired. There’s a fellow in Silver City, NM. I can’t remember his name right off but I’ll try to drag it up and send it along. —Duke

Mark I Thingy

Dr. Dabbs’ story about the US M16 reconditioned IDF Mekut’zar Carbine (April 2021) explained away the wrappings in the photos shown on the firearm(s) as an “elastic band thingy.”

Can you guys pin the description of nomenclature down a bit more definitively for me and offer possible suggestions on where to purchase them please? I’ve checked with IDF surplus stores and the like but am so far coming up shorthanded. Those “thingy” things would solve a multitude of “thingies” for me on several of my builds.
Peter J. Bertini

Zahal.org is one-stop shopping for the “Thingy, Elastic Band, Mark I, OD” as well as most any other cool-guy IDF kit. That’s where I landed my stuff.
—Will Dabbs

Mistaken Identity?

I don’t know when it started, or why someone thought it a good idea, but I would love to see it ended in my immediate future. “What?” you might ask: splitting stories and even (what the heck!) letters to the editor, into greatly separated parts of your publication. Why can’t I simply read an article from start to finish without having to skip through the magazine to try to find it? This has annoyed me for all of the five decades I have been reading magazines, and it will continue to until such time as I either no longer read those publications, or die. Come on guys!
Tim Knipp

I’m not clear what you’re referring to — GUNS stories almost never have a “jump” (journalism jargon for moving the remainder of the story to another non-sequential page) aside from letters. We are one of the few magazines in the world that doesn’t use jumps. Unfortunately, we must do it with letters since they are one of the last pieces to be laid out due to timing. —BW

A rose by any other name

In the April mag I really enjoyed the Dave Workman article as to the changing use of certain phrases and catch words in the anti-gun movement. He is quite right in the way the anti-gunners change words and phases to suit the changing climate of gun banning. They do use what is more palatable to the general public.

I am asking we gun owners and gun writers to not use similar terminology when we converse or even publish articles in magazines. I am aware this will be a daunting task but I think we can change the narrative if we try. A great example is when hunters say they “harvested” some game animal instead of “I killed a 10-point this morning.” “Harvested” denotes a crop that was planted and reaped! Let’s call killing what it is and not play the game of changing the words and how they are used in order to placate the anti-gunners.
Harry Kinsley

I’ve actually written the same essential thought in the past because I’ve concluded it is a wrong idea to try sanitizing hunting in an effort to make it more socially acceptable to people who dislike hunting, hunters and guns. When we’re encouraged by wildlife agencies to cover our game during transport, or hide it in the enclosed bed of a pickup with the canopy lid closed, we’re sending a message we know what we do is wrong so we need to conceal it.

I grew up in an era when we had “big buck” contests at sporting goods stores, and we ran photos of successful deer and elk hunters on the front page or in the sports page of our local weekly newspapers. Nowadays, we’d be burned in effigy.
—Dave Workman

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