A SMALL VICTORY

Credit can seem to be a gift at times, but far too often it becomes a rope that many people hang themselves with. I've been somewhat responsible over the years paying my bills; though not always perfect, my record is sufficiently good that companies are still willing to loan me piles of money.

But several months ago, I came to the decision that I wanted to carry as little debt as possible. Though I have a salary sufficient to pay my bills, I've lived too long with monthly payments that seemed to never end. And due to some life changes I'd hoped to make, it was paramount to bring my monthly expenses down in such a manner that I wasn't wasting 10-20% of my monthly salary on interest payments.

After hearing Dave Ramsey's radio program for a few weeks, I decided that much of his advice was rather sound. Though I've not been starving myself on beans and rice, I have cut down my recreational spending significantly and put those funds towards killing off debt.

Last month was a milestone: paying of one of my two credit cards. Today was another - a few moments ago, Kawasaki was paid off and I officially own my motorcycle. I've still one thing left to pay off, but having the others taken care of frees up even more money to quickly erase my final debt. I expect I can be completely debt-free within the next 12-16 weeks.

The last bike payment was significant; I'd looked forward to this day for several months. Not only to own the bike, but to be free of the billing cycle. In light of recent events in life, though... somehow the victory is bittersweet.

I suppose it's a victory nonetheless.

FIRST TARGETS

Somehow this post stayed in the Draft folder and never got published... perhaps it's a bit late to be adding it now, but I was rather pleased with the results of my first attempt at making ammo so I'll still share the pics:

The first batch of reloads:

And the first 10 targets:


Over the past month I've been experimenting with powder levels, and have also tried cheaper lead bullets. So far, 5.9gr of HS-6 shoots the best. FMJ-ENC bullets have given me more consistent rounds - both dimensionally and in groupings. Overall, buying a press has greatly improved my shooting. Though it was a much greater expense than a couple of boxes of WWB, it was a very good decision in the end.

ON MATTERS OF SACRIFICE

Two views:

Success, wealth and celebrity gained and kept for private interest is a small thing. It makes us comfortable, eases the material hardships our children will bear, purchases a fleeting regard for our lives, yet not the self-respect that, in the end, matters most. But sacrifice for a cause greater than yourself, and you invest your life with the eminence of that cause, your self-respect assured.

John McCain
Address at the Naval Academy
April 2, 2008

...

It only stands to reason that where there’s sacrifice, there’s someone collecting the sacrificial offerings. Where there’s service, there is someone being served. The man who speaks to you of sacrifice is speaking of slaves and masters, and intends to be the master.

Ayn Rand

CRIMINAL DEFICIT

There's no way to rule innocent men.

The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them.

One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone?


But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted and you create a nation of law-breakers.

Ayn Rand

READY TO LOCK-N-LOAD.

The final box of necessities arrived this week, and I was able to take the first steps away from "relying" on factory 9mm. I'm taking the process very slowly - not only for safety reasons, but also to be become very familiar with how to best approach the process.

I've spent a few hours with some cleaned shells, the seating and crimp dies, and a caliper. Along the way, I've learned that OAL for 9mm is a rather relative thing depending on who writes the load data. It's a place where the process becomes a combination of science and intuition, backed up by a lot of careful testing and observation at the range. Most people entering the world of reloading have little difficulty understanding the importance of min/max powder loads, but proper seating depth takes more study and research.

After much reading and seeking advice from experienced reloaders, I believe I have a good starting point for loads. My first rounds will be using HS-6 powder, CCI primers, and Hornady 124gr FMJ bullets. I'm also going to stick with small batches - perhaps 5-10 of each version, using near-minimum powder levels.

I'm still pondering which variable to adjust first, but I believe that I'll leave the powder weight as a constant, first concentrating on finding the best OAL for my P99. Once that's established, I'll slowly experiment with varying the powder amount.

Though I'm anxious to begin, it will be put aside for a couple of days... I'm getting away for the weekend with The Bethy, and quite honestly the reloading can wait a bit longer. ;)

On a side note - if you want to learn more about reloading and are looking for a good community of people to discuss it with, I recommend stopping by a recently-created forum - GlockPost.com. Don't let the name fool you... it isn't a Glock-specific forum in the least. No one cares what gun you own nor what press you use; you'll find fun conversation with a very diverse membership, as well a lot of valuable advice for starting this hobby. Whether you are new to the hobby or have reloaded for years, we'd like to have you stop by.

You won't find a lot of KoolAid at GlockPost.com... but if you BBQ, we'd love to hear your recipe. ;)

ALMOST THERE

When I decided to start reloading, I made the decision to purchase the equipment in stages. Budget-wise this was a smart thing, and gave me extra time to do a lot of reading before starting to work with explosive components. In the meantime, I'd created shopping lists on Midway and Midsouth Shooter's Supply. Dies, a shellplate, a caliper and other various parts were on the lists. A couple of items - such as the pistol measuring rotor - were on "out of stock", but I decided by the time I was ready to purchase the retailers would have everything available.

Last week, I checked the lists again for completeness and was troubled to see that not only were certain items still not in stock, but others had either become "out of stock" or gone on backorder. Apparently I'm not the only person taking a step away from factory ammo, as rather common items (such as 9mm dies) were completely out of stock.

After a lot of searching, I came upon Grafs.com and found everything I needed was in-stock. However, some items were nearly sold out. I decided it was time to finish purchasing what I needed, else run the risk of having to wait until retailer back orders arrived (whenever that might be).

The package arrived on Monday, and I spent the evening prepping all the dies and installing them into the press. Along with the parts, I ordered a can of Hornady One-Shot Gun Cleaner & Dry Lube. It absolutely degreased the parts, and left a very slight dry film for protection and lubrication. Avoid the brake cleaner, the teflon spray and the alcohol... this product is simply wonderful, and I wish I had used it from the beginning.

The caliper, scale, and a small order of bullets should arrive by Friday - so unless I've left something off the list, I'll be ready to start making some test rounds.

AEROSOL TEFLON

I called Hornady on Monday to order a replacement powder rotor. The conversation went something like this:

thorn: Hi Karen. A screw in the rotor was too tight, and by the time I removed it I'd stripped the hole. I need to order a new rotor and some screws.

Karen: Ok, let me start with your address.

thorn: Blah blah blah Cincinnati, Ohio.

Karen: I'll ship it today. Need anything else?

No charge, even for shipping. This is how a company creates a customer for life.

The parts arrived on Friday afternoon, and today I degreased the powder funnel system and installed everything into place. Observant readers will notice a few things are missing in the photo... for example, dies and a shellplate. I'll be ordering them sometime in the next week or so, and should actually be making ammunition within a couple of weeks.

Oh, as to the title...

If you should ever find yourself lubricating steel parts with aerosol teflon drylube - read the can. It probably says "shake well". Be sure you do this. And while spraying: if you start to see the spray take on the appearance of white foam, stop spraying and shake the can for a minute. The foam is NOT your friend.

Should you forget this quality advice, be aware that the parts will be coated in solidified white gunk. Brake cleaner will not remove this substance. Scrub with a towel and rubbing alcohol.

Dried teflon foam is a very bad thing.