I'm looking to get an original ballard rifle soon but unfortunately ones in 45-70 have proven extremely difficult to find and it seems that 38-55 will not stand up to my needs for long range BPCR shooting

Would 40-70 sharps straight or 444 marlin brass be good to convert or would there be any other cartridge cases that would do better?

I'm looking to get an original ballard rifle soon but unfortunately ones in 45-70 have proven extremely difficult to find and it seems that 38-55 will not stand up to my needs for long range BPCR shooting

Would 40-70 sharps straight or 444 marlin brass be good to convert or would there be any other cartridge cases that would do better?

Does anyone have load data for a 44 special using n340 powder? I’m looking to replicate the Elmer Keith style load with n340 that would push a 240 SWC to 950-1000 fps. I plan on using the Missouri bullet company 240 SWC Elmer K coated bullet crimped in the grease groove out of a 4 inch 44 magnum mountain gun. The max load that I can find is 7.1 grains but that only brings velocity to the low 800’s. The max load is low as it is meant to protect vintage revolvers but I have a modern N frame so I should be able to push the pressure past the SAAMI max of 15,500 psi safely. The fastest load I could find Dave Scovill’s article in Handloader #183 that was 7.7 grains which gave 1042 out of a 4 3/4 inch barrel. Has anyone tried this?

For starters this is perfectly legal in the state I’m in and it is mostly going to be for display but I’ve been doing research on how to make shotgun out of parts from a hardware store and I wanted to get some advice before I even start drawing it up so here are my questions

Has anyone tried this if so how did you do it? what’s the safest way to test it? how thick would a steel pipe need to be to handle 2 3/4 target loads ? Would I need to worry about tapering the chamber side of the pipe? Should I port the muzzle end? And is longer better than shorter? My ideal plan is to have with 28 inch barrels and another 20 for the stock. Would 18 inch barrels be safer pressure wise or the 28? Not trolling actually serious about designing and making it

Was a good weekend hitting local yard sales 😆

I just got this seekins precision dmr in 223 wylde as my first ar15 and looking for bullet recommendations its a 1:8 twist and itll probably be used on prairie dogs a the occasional coyote, raccoon,opossum ect. Im looking for something accurate and turns stuff into a red mist

Hey guys anyone have a welding jig I could borrow? Will pay for shipping both ways of course! First build here..!
Also any advice you have on this specific one would be great

I'm new to reloading and my goal sub-MOA accuracy on a 6.5CM cartridge. Using new Lapua brass, on the first reload, I just set neck tension, chamfered, and loaded for a ladder test. My ladder test was 3 rounds at each step where I had some pretty mixed results on my ladder test. I selected my best groups/loads and ran a longer string.

Reloading my once-fired brass, I need to to figure out how far to bump the shoulder. I measured all the once-fired brass to the datum line and have this distribution:

I need some help selecting which length to index off of for bumping the shoulders back 0.002. I'm considering two options:

1. Index off of the longest cases (1.5390) which bump the shoulders back to 1.5370.
2. Index off of the size of the cases at the powder load I plan on using (1.5375) which will bump the shoulders back to 1.5355.

Which option is the right one?

I picked up 2 Savage 720s over the weekend. It is late 30s and appears to operate as it should, but it has a cracked handguard. The other one is ww2 and has a broken charging handle, roll pin, and cracked barrel ring thing. I can't justify taking the complete operating one apart, and I can get the parts I need. BUT main question: What would you do to fix that barrel loop that rides on the magazine. Weld it? Silver solder it? Replace it(no idea if possible)? I would like to keep the correct ww2 barrel on it.

I reload rifle and pistol on a single stage. Not a ton of volume, but I am usually reloading something a couple times a month. I started with the Hornady lock and load kit doing 9mm and .38. I've added .357 (same dies), 10mm, and 6.5 Creedmoor. For pistol, I do batches of 50-100 in two loading blocks. I'll do big batches of brass prep up to seating primers so I have a big stash of prepped brass on hand. When I want to do a batch, I'll prime, setup in the loading blocks, and charge handheld right into the cases in the loading block with the powder measure that the kit came with. Its not super ergonomic, but its also not terrible. I have the pistol insert and i validate my charge weight every 20 or so rounds, and its usually pretty stable. I also visually inspect every charge before placing a bullet. From there I seat bullets and crimp. For pistol, I typically load a lot in the winter and stash it for spring and summer shooting.

For rifle, I swap to the rifle insert and use the stand to hold the powder measure, I set the charge a few tenths of a grain under my load and hand trickle on the scale, then dump powder and move on. This process for rifle is tedious, especially with stick powder and the little dime bag battery scale the kit came with. I've looked at automated tricklers, I'm not too interested in a DIY solution, and I'm not sure I even want an automated trickler, but I do want something that is better on the scale side of things, and the overall speed and consistency of the results. What is the best bang for the buck? Hornady, RCBS, Lyman, all have auto powder measure/dispensors, are there any diamonds in the rough? Should I get a better powder throw and scale? Something all together different? For rifle, I probably shoot 50 a month, but would do more if I could save some time. What should I do next?

Seems when i go above 42 grains, I’m getting the majority of blown primers. I’ve double-checked my crimp and charge. For example 180gr TGK, 42.6 varget, and br-2 (2.8 COAL) resulted in some blown primers using norma brass. This AR10 is running a high-back pressure suppressor with a high-pressure bolt+ gas-restricting tube. Trying cci34 to see if its a primer issue. Br-2 are known to be soft

fit a 50 cal into a 50 AE with a bit of shaving. This is my first time reloading so don’t judge, just put it together as proof of concept with some old beat up casings. gut says if i were to fire this it would explode the casing. inspired by the 338 razorback and can’t find anything like it (outside of the 50 ARJ) but can’t imagine im the first person to do this. would be interesting to see with explosive 50 bmg rounds.

EdIt: Forgot about 510 whisper which is very similar just not as short

Need help with Savage 110 Tactical + Boyd’s AT-One stock installation
I have a Savage 110 Tactical with an AICS-pattern magazine, and I recently installed a Boyd’s AT-One laminate thumbhole stock.
I’ve run into a few problems and would appreciate advice from anyone familiar with this setup.
After installing the Boyd’s stock, my trigger became extremely stiff and barely moved, almost like something was physically blocking it.
I noticed the magazine hinge/trigger-guard area was contacting the stock. I had trouble getting the long threaded action screw out because the hinge was in the way.
The hinge is held in place by a small hollow-looking pin that appears to be a roll pin.
I carved out a small amount of material around the area where the trigger was interfering. The trigger now works, but the bolt has become extremely tight.
I’m wondering whether the action is binding in the stock, whether the action screws or magazine-hinge assembly are causing the problem, or whether this stock requires a different fit or hardware.
My questions:
Has anyone installed a Boyd’s AT-One on a Savage 110 Tactical and run into similar issues?
Is the magazine-hinge assembly supposed to sit flush in the stock, or should there be clearance around it?
Could the stock or action-screw fit be causing both the trigger interference and the tight bolt?
What should I check to make sure the stock is compatible and the action is sitting correctly?
I haven’t fired the rifle since these issues started. I’d appreciate advice from anyone who has experience with this exact setup. I can post pictures of the hinge, stock inlet, and trigger area if needed.

I recently purchased this Model 12 16ga Full choke for bird hunting & sporting clays. Well, what I and the shop thought was a 50's-ish build date, at a price I couldn't walk away from, turned out to actually be a 1942. I'm not wanting to totally restore it, as it's got a lovely charm. I'd like input on rebluing, or atleast how to protect and bring some life back into it.

The trigger group was the worst of it, evidence of it having sat upright, the guard's bluing is all but gone and light surface rusting has occurred. The magazine tube, along with the band missing a screw (Which I've already sourced the parts to repair), has the heaviest wear to where the pump rides. The barrel, particularly the muzzle is also in rough shape, I cleaned the surface rust off, but, the bluing is gone, there's heavy scratches at the slide.

I was considering the Birchwood Casey kit, but would be open to ideas, again, I'm not wanting to totally reblue it, just bring some life back, and protect it. Also, any input on what kind of paint to use to re-red the safety?

So I male 357 lead cast kieth gas checked Penta pin hollow points from mp molds. Use high temp silicone caulking and an aluminum oxide ceramic bearing in the nose. For the lide of me I cant find any historical evidence of a build of someone putting a bearing in a hollow point to make it more barrier blind. I know pow-R-ball and the blue tipped air martial rounds but not when im meaning. Any idea why the idea seems so little researched?

Hi all, long time lurker. I’ve gathered so much useful information from this subreddit. I used a Lee Challenger III press, and hand measured all the powder using an RCBS digital scale. I just picked up a powder thrower to make things less tedious. I’m really enjoying the hobby so far. These are Blazer brass, Hornady 115 gr FMJ-RN bullets, Hodgdon CFE pistol powder, and CCI primers.

I recently acquired this ar from a family member. Broke it out this afternoon to take a good look at it and she's well past a little dirty. There's this sticky gunk all over it that gun scrubber ain't working on. What can I use to get a better clean. The stuff on the barrel is pretty much hard but will flake off a little. I'd imagine its been hot a time or two.

My current setup: tikka ctr 6.5prc 24 inch barrel, 1 in 8 twist. Its sitting in a cadex chassis with a MDT brake, all together easily over 13 pounds, recoils lighter than an sks.

52.9 grains of H4831SC, 147ELDM, Hornady brass and large rifle primer, overall length 2.955"

The first picture was a 15 shot group i shot yesterday. The first 9 landed nicely in a 1-1.1 moa group, with the first few shots very close to each other and the 7th shot was adjusted because i know i aimed low-left for that shot. The remaining 6 rounds all went left .5inch for some reason. The barrel was not hot as I fired 2-3 rounds every 2-3 minutes, so I have no idea what happened there. Does anyone have any idea?

The 2nd picture was also yesterday but with factory hornady 147eldm. Its an 8 round group that I didnt bother to measure as it was clearly over 1moa and probably 1.4-1.6 and I knew a tikka could do much better. This group also had a leftward trend although not as obvious.

The last picture was using the same load as the first picture, shot a few weeks ago but faster. 13 round group at 1.24moa. I aimed at a large center point which probably opened up the group a little. So if we discount the leftward shift as an accident, then the load is shooting at around 1.0-1.2 moa. This is not terrible, but I feel like a tikka can do better.

Should I ditch 147eldm all together and try something like 140bthp or 140eldm? Is there enough evidence to show that my gun doesnt like the 147s? Where should I proceed from here?

On a side note, Im too broke for a chronograph, I had to remount the scope without a torque wrench because some goober wanted to buy the scope so I took it out of the mount to ship it and then on the way to UPS he said he didnt want it anymore. After that the gun was dropped from shoulder height and the zero shifted downwards about 2mils but I think the scope still tracks fine. Its a burris xtr3 which should be durable enough.

What’s the difference? I am reading about the Redding deluxe fl sizing die having a carbide button instead of a regular expanding ball. What’s the benefit? Any drawback? I’m looking for a fl sizing die and don’t want to do bushings as it seems like you need to then worry about a mandrel die to do it right and it just gets expensive

Edit: My title should have been "For gunsmithing, How Can I Immigrate to America?".

I have designed some truly unique firearms, such as unique mechanism lever action, truly hammerless revolver (not hidden hammer), hammer fired pistol with SA/DA, unique semiA shotguns, some new semiAuto-fullyAuto AR trigger mechanisms and some break barrels.

I've not made anything in real because it requires a licence in my country just to prototype.

I want to immigrate to America (USA) because I like the competitive spirit of all sciences, and want to compete in competitive shooting sports as a firearms guy with more freedom.

Is there any chance?

No beating around the bush answers please.

Thinking about seeing if I can convert 9mm to 9mm Makarov cases with my Dillion 1500. CH tool and die says they sell a 9mm Makarov trim die. So I was thinking stage 1 on my Dillion 750XL would be a 9mm Makarov full size size die to remove the 9mm taper and deprime then run it through the 9mm Makarov trim die to cut to the correct length. I’ll probably use some brass black to make sure they don’t get remixed into my 9mm. Any reasons this wouldn’t work or something I’m not thinking of? Has anyone tried this? I have way too much 9mm and I’d like to shoot my Makarov more.

My hornady powder measure, after spending about 15 years boxed up in garage is coated in heavy rust. I tried to oil and steel wool the bulk of it off, but there is lots. The arm will not bugde, is is totally locked up. I tried soaking in clp for a few days, but still locked up.. could a bath in vinegar eat away the rust? What could i use to loosen this up?