NJKen

Welcome back..... There was a shooting in connecticut that got the government on the "lets ban everything" kick and the hording of ammo started. Also, Obama has proven to be the best gun and ammo salesman ever in this country!! Lets give him a hand for such a great accomplishment! All added up it became teh perfect storm of gun and ammo shortage. Most things have recovered somewhat but rimfire ammo is still tough. That is the very very short version of it. Ken

That is correct. I have seen m855 listed simply as ss109 a couple of times now. It is an incorrect use of numbers for sure! Ken

Bob is 100% on the money. If it is listed with the X it is almost always Lake City ammo regardless of whos name is on the box (usually american eagle or federal). Some smaller ammo manufacturers will just call it m193 or m855 and it is just a clone of the LC ammo. Not all of it is bad though I think PMC drops the X and their ammo isnt half bad. Another confusion piont is I have seen people list XM855 as SS109, again, largely the same product. The last letter (A, J, etc..) is a packaging identifier. I cannot find my decoding info to tell you exactly what it means. The packaginf options are: loose, boxed 20rds, stripper clips, and boxed stripper clip 30 rnds. Ken

Most of them do. They can be forced and screw up brass however. You need te develop a "feel" for whatever system you go with. FWIW, a lot of prep methods are not goof proof. Read the instructions and be prepared to waste a few (literaly just one or two pieces most of the time) pieces of brass and you will be just fine. Ken

Sometimes you get that 4 stake crimp LC brass (seems to be mostly '12 nato) and the case mouth reamer is all that works on it. Swageing them leaves 4 sharp little blades that hang up on everything. Using a case mouth reamer is a valid method to me. You just take the tiniest bit of metal off with it. If you can see the slope of the reamer in the pocket edge you have gone too far. When done rite this method leaves a nice tight primer pocket that will never get loose before the brass wears out. Keep in mind, I usually swage. It is nice to have alternative methods for when things arent working out rite. Ken

Im in.. Gonna bring along another electric thrower this time. Ken

I need to load me up some of them. The last time I made em they went all the way through a 1.25" SS plate at 100 yards and set the grass on fire on the other side. All fun stuff! Ken

If you dont like this you need to get your head checked! http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=HBolpKSYamk#t=39

Funny thing, I had that same problem and it turned out to be the phone I had. I think that can happen to anyone on any network. I still get 2 or 3 day old text messages but only from sprint customers. I supose that is a problem on Sprints network since it never happens with any other carrier. Ken

The neck chamfer tool is the quickest and best option if you expect to have only the occasional piece of crimped brass. Having said that I must also tell you that this requires skill and patience! I know it sounds easy but you can wreck brass quick this way. You only take off the tiniest amount of brass. If you can see a slope on the edge of the primer pocket, you have removed too much. If you want to try this method, practice on some scrap brass. Ken

I use my smartphone intensely for work. I have tried everyone and found verizon to be the most reliable and ATT to be the least reliable. Every carrier has dead spots. Verizon has one rite in the middle of the neighborhood just 5 blocks up from me. If you are having good results with t-mobil go for it! Ken

Im not a gamer nor do I own an X-box but that is just too dam funny not to watch! Ken

It may seem like a coupler to you but if it is permenantly one piece it could be considered a single magazine capable of holding more than 15 rounds. I think that law is BS but the law is the law and I would hate to see someone get busted for making something cool and useful but just a little out of the "definition" of the law. BTW, pretty nice work there! Ken

This ^^ The Socom comes with that trick little gass block/ brake assy. The M1A standard has a longer barrel with a non pinned flash hider on it. Ken

Best idea yet! Ken

I have had problems with Remingtons UMC ammo in the past but noithing like this. This is going to create another throw it over the wall situation. I am very interested to see what remington has to say about this. Let us know what you hear back from them. Ken

For what its worth annealing definatley adds life to brass when done properly! If you see it glow it has most definatley exceeded 750degrees! Since I started doing it I no longer throw out .223 at 8 loadings with split necks. I have some brass I just shot with NJPilot that was on its 12 load and stll shows no sign of impending failure. I also dont load too hot either. I typically load a 55gn to about 2900fps for plinking and a 69gn to about 2600 for serious work. Keeping the loads on the lighter side slows brass stretch. I hear good things about the RCBS X dies but have never tried them. They are supposed to eliminate trimming after one initial trim. Once you get in the grove of riffle reloading it is not that bad. If you made the 300 cases yourself you have chosen the maximum workload of relaoding. The next time around will be a little quicker. I do all my reloading in stages. Ill clean a bunch of brass one day, size, trim, and anneal if necessary the next, prime, charge and load at another time. I do everything single stage on a RCBS rockchucker or RCBS Summit press, including pistol. By breaking up the process like I do I find that I can load quite a bit of ammo. When I shoot, I shoot a lot! As for my take on lube.. I use Oneshot for pistol brass and .223 sometimes. I have had decent luck. I usually use imperial sizing wax or hornady oneshot sizing wax (seem to be the same except for color) for rifle up to 300 win mag. Anything bigger and I get the lube pad out and use the RCBS caselube. Ken

How about a link or a copy of the article? Ken Edit: Found it myself http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/01/christie_not_defending_nj_gun_law_in_states_highest_court.html#incart_river_default

So true...Im from western PA and have lived in Alaska. It does not truly snow in NJ! Ken

Ive never seen that one but its dam funny! Ken

Will do. A buddy of mine is closing his fathers steel fabrication business. I know there are several very old ancient anvils over there. Ken

Wow, thats a new low! In my town they use reassessment to bust people for failure to get permits. Ken

I used to be the guy that had to remove it. Not any more! I feel your pain!! Ken

Im jealous of every one of you that have an escape plan! I will leave this dam state, Even if they do fix the stupid gun laws here. I just dont know when, only that ill be here for several more years. Ken

I hope we get a blizzard followed by another blizzard! Im ready. BRING IT! I apologize to all snow haters if this actually happens but I would love it. Ken