Change of Plans

Plans are very interesting. I and many others get paid good money to make plans. Nothing ever goes according to our plans. We planned to go to Monterey, CA to the Navy Post-Graduate School to take a course on Afghanistan. We ended up stuck in Yuma, AZ for 2 nights and 3 days doing nothing.

If that wasn't enough. I found out that I will not be able to go to Ft. Benning in September unless some money shows up or the situation changes dramatically. This is perfect because I passed up several other schools and another semester of master's classes for this opportunity. 

All is not lost because it will be a great time hanging out with Vanessa and Ellie until deployment. Who knows what else God has planned for me down the road. Every once in a while I need a reminder to stop trying to figure everything out and it has never been more clear.

On to new business, where am I going to hunt!

California Trip (maybe)

Yesterday at 6am we started our trip to Monterey, CA. We sat in the waiting area in Warner Robins four about 3 hours. After we loaded up they informed us we would stop for fuel in Oklahoma City and in Yuma, AZ. Evidently there was some trouble on the landing in Yuma. I'm not sure if the problem caused the landing or the landing caused the problem but it was a rush either way. So here we are in Yuma. The local economy clearly wasn't ready for an extra 100 people. It took us several hours to check-in. We're trying again to head to Monterey. We're all wondering what this will do to our class. Will we get credit if we show up a day late to a 3 day course?

Versatility

The most versatile cartridge is often discussed when magazine editors are short on articles to fill the pages. American Rifleman's top 10 rifle lists caused some hype for sure. The issue is too many variables. They reviewed rifle-cartridge pairs as opposed to rifles and maybe cartridges the next month. The average reader would disagree with one or both elements.

Anyway, the most versatile big game cartridge is by far the .270 Winchester. For years and years it has but down big game time after time all over the United States. The magic of the .270 is the bullet velocity/weight/frontal area combination. The 3,000 fps mark allows any bullet to perform as intended and 130-150 grains is plenty of weight. The magnums out there can out-perform but not without more powder, more muzzle blast, and more recoil.

The most versatile varmint round is the .243 Winchester. It's a necked-down version of the .308 just like the .260 Remington and the 7mm-08. It can do the varmint thing with 50 grain bullets and covers the bottom spectrum of North American big game with 100 grain bullets. Not to mention that the .243 is a competent competition round. It has even been showing up at 1,000 yard matches with the 6.5's.

A rifle should be judged as a rifle, not the cartridge it throws. The Remington 700 wins my most versatile vote. It has been around my entire life and continues to kill animals and bad guys world wide, with the help of a skilled marksman and quality optics. It has good out-of-the-box accuracy and may be the most popular custom rifle platform save the Mauser 98.

Most significantly, the best rifle is one that is adequate for what you are doing and shoots where you look. If you don't know what I'm talking about keep looking.

If you're bored to death now just check out this picture of Ellie.

Reloading 300 SAUM

I'm going out on a limb and reloading the 300 SAUM. At $41.00 for a box of 20 who can afford not to reload. I'm not a fan of the magnums but I figured we would give it a go. The ballistics are very similar to the 300 winchester magnum. I don't see anything wrong with the 300 winchester magnum but short actions are just awesome.  Here's the load if you were wondering:

Remington Brass

180 gr. Nosler Partition

Winchester Mag rifle primers

63 gr. of IMR 4350 (medium-slow)

This load is only safe for a rifle in good condition that is functioning properly. Do not attempt to duplicate this load without first consulting a commercial reloading manual.

Mercedes 300 TD running like a champ now

Well the car is back up and running strong. Mercedes Benz just installed the trap oxidizer delete, a new turbo, and new exhaust free of charge. Evidently the recall, or what Mercedes calls a campaign is still open since 1996. Their customer service at RBM North was outstanding. I love driving the car because I get twice as much mileage out of a tank. It is pretty awesome to have it going again.  If you have an older diesel Mercedes-Benz and it's running ragged or seems to have a clogged exhaust, take it to the dealership before the campaign ends!

On another note, I have stepped up my physical training program. My intensity just hasn't been there. I also think I need to work on my swimming form. I think a triathlon may be in my near future if I can get this swimming thing down. I guess another implied task would be to get a bike. 

Thoughts for this evening

1. First of all, Vanessa and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary on Friday and she gets more and more awesome every day. Tonight I attributed this to her terrible short-term memory. We're a match made in heaven for sure.

2. Ellie smiled at me for the first time today and nothing of this world will every compare to that.

3. Panther Arms already makes the 338 federal in an AR-10 platform. I was correct saying that it was a good idea but it had already been executed.

4. We met our new prospective partner church and they seemed awesome.

5. Pat got an awesome 79 Corvette that is not amphibious evidently.

6. The new .45 loads are sweet! 4.7 grns. of win 231, 200 gr. rainer bullet, mixed brass, win LP primers. The new reloading press is also awesome. I recommend a Dillion RL550B to anyone that has a semi-auto. When I get the automatic primer feed functioning for large primers I will really be in business.

7. I hope we have all of our IT equipment tomorrow at the inventory.

8. Evidently I am going to Monterey CA for a week at the end of August for a counter insurgency commander's course. The uniform is civies! The "hey you" details seem to get better as I go up in rank.

9. The coupon I thought I had was $20.00 off, not 20% as I originally thought so I just ordered one Nikon 6-18x40 mil-dot scope. It will find a nice home on top of the Rifleman's rifle. I plan to shoot it this year in the 600 meter open at River Bend Gun Club. I will also try to find some F class long range shoots at Ft. Benning.

New Reloader and Reloading Thoughts

It was time for an upgrade on a reloader. I finally made the jump to a progressive press. Only because I got a deal on it of course. I upgraded to the Dillon RL550B. Dillon claims 400-600 per hour but we'll see. I'm sure this speed is at the cost of quality. You can't beat the "feel" of the single stage press. I've decided to only load my high-volume loads like the .45 ACP and the .223 Remington. My line of thought is that a semi-auto needs a progressive press to feed it. I will continue to load precision rifle rounds for bolt and lever guns on the Rock Chucker 4 single-stage. We should be up and running in a few days.

I was reading up on the .338 federal yesterday. I think an encore barrel in this chambering is in order. There's something magical about a short-action case that can put a 220 grain bullet on target at .308 velocities. The .338-06 didn't make it on the commercial market but I think the .338 federal might do it. I believe that it will be more popular for the same reason the .308 edged out the 30-06 as the military round back in the 1950s. It's a lot shorter with similar performance. The word is efficiency. I wonder how long it will take an AR-10 manufacturer to introduce this chambering. My money is on Panther Arms being the first.

I haven't forgot the 6.8 SPC. I think this might be another encore venture. There is something cool about a round designed specifically to kill enemies of the United States. Patriotic. I'm not sure if I could justify the single-shot with a round designed to fit the AR-15 platform. We'll see. I may just have to call it a .270 short. I wonder if there is a .270-08 out there somewhere?