Monthly Archives: July 2015

Shotshell Reloading – Part 1

by Woodsbum

Lately, I have been almost obsessed with reloading. This may or may not be evident with my posts. If you want to see the next installment that addresses my mindset and why I got what I got, please click here.

A few weeks ago I ran into my neighborhood sporting goods store and came across a mispriced MEC 9000GN loader. Since then I have acquired almost all the parts needed for my pistol/rifle reloading and am now diving into shotshells to get ready for hunting season. To help myself and any of my readers out I decided to do a multipart series of posts on my quest to learn how to reload for my shotgun. This series will be numbered and this is Shotshell Reloading – Part 1.

Here is a good picture of my MEC I purchased:

MEC 9000GN

These units are usually around $600, but due to a mispriced tag I got this one for $300. This made me decide upon MEC rather than going for a Ponsness Warren like my brother and father praise. The fact that I got a progressive for less than the PW single stage was also a nice bonus that I can’t really complain about.

Because I am unable to keep stock items unaltered for very long, I went ahead and did some additional purchases. I picked up a Universal Charge Bar, 3″ conversion kit, steel shot conversion kit, Super Crown and adapter. This will allow me to reload 3 inch steel shot shells that I use for duck hunting and put a very clean, factory style crimp on the shells. Unfortunately, I will have to pick up a different loader for my goose loads, which are 3 1/2″ shells. Once I get heavily back into goose hunting I will take the time to get set up for those. Until then, I will just stick with the 3″ duck loads and 2 3/4″ self defense loads on this machine.

Here are a couple good videos about shotshell reloading and the components used to reload shotshells.

At this time I have a lot of components on order that I am waiting to arrive via Big Brown Truck. When these get here I will go more into my quest to make the perfect duck loads. Until then, I will start Shotshell Reloading – Part 2 with a brief explanation as to why reloading your own ammunition is an important step in my evolution into a well prepared and well rounded outdoorsman. Maybe it will help you get off the fence make a choice for yourself.

Stay safe!!!

Princeton Tec Headlamp

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by Woodsbum

Gunguy sent me a link to a Princeton Tec headlamp on Amazon that he had run across and was really loving. This prompted me to go ahead and grab one for myself. This is the Tec Quad 4 LED. Although I already have several and use my Black Diamond Storm for most of my non-grease related activities, this seemed like it would be a great second headlamp to toss into the truck or even use for tracking.

It really blew my mind to some degree that this came with red, blue, and green lens covers. This makes the light WELL worth the purchase. Here is why: depending on the lighting situation and ground color/environment you can use different colored light to find tracks much easier. If you don’t believe me, go try it. Sometimes white light works well, but if you put a green or blue light on the track it will suddenly materialize where you could only see little outlines previously.

Princeton Tec Headlamp

One thing you should know is that this model is not too unlike those issued to our Army personnel in their field gear. My son-in-law uses his all the time in the field and in garrison. This one is just slightly different than the issued model, but his supply will take these as replacement items if the soldier has to replace one.

Now mine seems to work very well although the ratchet thing that allows it to pivot does seem like it will wear out quite quickly. I have other lights that have done this and this Princeton is well on its way to becoming a flopping light rather than headlamp that can be adjusted. Only time will tell, but I do have that concern regarding the hinge.

Other than just messing around with it I have not had an opportunity to test it on a hunt or while tracking game. An upcoming hunt around Bumping Lake for elk will be its first, true test more than day trips. I am excited about the colored lenses, though. This feature may make this my new “favorite headlamp.”

All said and done, I can’t complain. It seems to repel water effectively, it is bright and has some beam adjustment. Like with all seals, I do recommend you use some sort of jelly or waterproofing on the seal of the battery compartment. Mine was really dry and I didn’t trust it without some lube. Overall, it is well worth the money paid for it and it seems to be a good “hunting” light that my Black Diamond just isn’t.

If I had to put a label of recommended or not, I would recommend it at this point.

Agoseris

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by Woodsbum

Here is another yellow flowered, edible plant that can be found all around the PNW. The agoseris is very similar to the dandelion and salsify. It grows in open foothills, mountain slopes and alpine areas. You will find it in grassy or open areas.

The flowers and leaves can be eaten raw or the dried sap from the stem and leaves can be chewed as gum or eaten.

As I progress through these edible plants, I am really beginning to enjoy the diverse foliage that the PNW offers. This is beginning to be quite interesting and enjoyable. If all continues to go well, I might even start gathering things to try while I am out in the woods. That would be a stretch, but it would be quite fun to get to that point.

Making Arrows?

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by Woodsbum

I was surfing around and found these videos that I thought were quite interesting. Having tried to make arrows on my own without ANY training, I think that there is enough information in these videos to help me to get some arrows that don’t turn corners.

Now I do want to toss out the disclaimer that the first two are not my favorite, but I do like the way he makes the arrows a uniform size.

This one is about fletching how to attach fletches to a homemade arrow. It also breaks down the idea of helical and how to pick the right arrows.

I like this video on straightening arrows. If you use the below technique to straighten your homemade arrows, you can actually come up with usable projectiles.

I have never seen this process and it is very cool to see. Now I am going to have to buy me some more tools.

Fixed My Posts

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by Woodsbum

I spent numerous hours this last week fixing my tags, SEO data, and formats of my posts. It amazed me at how much work many of the updates cause. Several of my older posts lost such things as carriage returns, spacing, formating and links, etc.

There are still a few links and pictures that have to be fixed, but I will get to that sometime next week.

This weekend I have several chores that I will be working on as well as some ammunition that I have to reload to get ready for hunting season. Several good things are coming down the line to include my work on finishing my Bushclass Intermediate certification and some projects around my house.

No rest for the weary……