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Issue 1/2005 04.01.2005:
Ed's Essays
Silent But Deadly
- Part III -
- Ed Harris Comments on the .32 S&W Long In a Rifle
Compact .32 revolvers have been my favorite trail guns ever since the late LTC
Ellis Lea (USA, Ret.) introduced me to them in the late 1970s while I was on the NRA
Staff. Ever since, I've wanted a light, handy companion rifle which would fire the .32
S&W Long, and now I finally have one. I fooled around with a .32 S&W Long barrel
on a Remington 788 action back in my NRA days, but while it was a quiet tack driver, it
wasn't something you could carry effortlessly all day up and down ridges and through the
woods. Years later the opportunity came to fix that little problem.
I lucked into a tiny 4-1/2 pound, pre-war H&R .410 single-barrel shotgun in a trade. I
didn't have much use for the .410 shotgun, but saw that the tiny H&R was well made and
had a much smaller action than current production. It was obvious that the makings of an
"American Rook Rifle" lurked in there. So I asked John Taylor, of Taylor Machine
(3625 Cheney Spangle Rd. Spangle, WA 99031) to make an extra rifle barrel for it, so that
I had my .32 break-open small game gun, without having to reline or cobble up the original
.410 barrel. With its new 26" rifle barrel chambered for the .32 S&W Long
installed it weighs 5 pounds, 4 ozs. Factory 98-gr. LRN loads are very quiet, only 75dB
like standard velocity .22 LR and provide 2-inch groups at 50 yards with iron sights.
Flat-nosed .32 revolver bullets at subsonic velocities are much more effective on small
game and wild turkey than any .22 rimfire, but destroy less edible meat than a .22 Long
Rifle HP or .22 WMR.
My favorite ".32 Long Rifle" loads use the Saeco #322, 120-gr. LFN .32-20
Winchester bullet. I load these as-cast, of wheel weights, unsized, tumble lubed with Lee
Liquid Alox with the bullet seated out and crimped in the lube groove. This provides an
overall cartridge length in a .32 S&W Long case that is the same as would be obtained
by crimping the same bullet in the crimp groove of a .32 H&R Magnum case. The exposed,
unsized driving band fits snugly in revolver chambers and also engraved slightly when
chambered in the rifle chamber, enabling zero jump, for best accuracy.
The minimum powder charge which safely enables the bullet to reliably exit the 26"
rifle barrel every time is 1.2 grains of Bullseye. This is a "silent but deadly"
450 f.p.s. BLOOP load, with an almost silent report, measured at only 70-72dB at 1 meter
from the rifle muzzle. This "CB cap on steroids" is accurate to 25 yards.
When seated out and loaded with 2 grains of Bullseye
it provides 850 f.p.s. in the rifle, 720 f.p.s. in my 4" S&W Model 31 and is
accurate to 50 yards or more. This is a full power revolver load for the .32 S&W Long
at the modest SAAMI pressures. When the Saeco #322 is seated out to the longer overall
cartridge length I have gone as high as 2.5 grains of Bullseye. This gives about 800
f.p.s. in my 4" S&W Model 31 and Ruger 4-5/8" Single Six, and about 950
f.p.s. in the 26" rifle. The heavier FN bullet is far more effective than the usual
98-gr. LRN factory stuff, and still has a mild report, the 2.5 grain load being measured
at 85-86dB, which compares to the "pop" of high velocity .22 LR fired from a
typical sporting rifle and far more quiet than the 90+dB of a .22 WMR or Hornet.
A heavy load which approximates the .32 H&R Magnum or .32-20 for use in well made,
modern post-war solid frame revolvers only, such as the Ruger SP101 or Single Six or any
other revolvers chambered for the .32 H&R Magnum uses Federal 200 small rifle and
either 6.0 grains of Alliant #2400 or 7 grs. Of either IMR or Hodgdon 4227 with the
120-gr. Saeco #322 bullet. These exceed SAAMI pressures for the .32 S&W Long, but are
safe in the Ruger revolvers and strudy post-war .32 solid frames such as the S&W Model
31, giving about 900 f.p.s. from a 4" revolver and 1200 f.p.s. the rifle.
For rifle use only, my most accurate load with the Saeco #322 uses 8 grains of H4198,
compressed, using the Federal 200 small rifle primer, seated out and heavily crimped into
the lube groove. This is subsonic, barely over 1000 f.p.s., relatively quiet in the 80dB
range, and drives 50-yard "bugholes" although it is not dual-purpose in either
rifle or revolver.
If you decide to build one of these "American Rook Rifles" the chamber body
dimensions should be minimum CIP or SAAMI, but you want a rifle-style throat with
.314" diameter forcing cone entrance and 3 degree included angle origin of rifling.
Rifling specs should approximate the .32-20, .300 bore x .310 groove, with 16" twist,
but if you have a slow twist .30 cal. rifle barrel, such as 12" or 14" twist per
turn, this will also work just fine.
Issue 2/2002 13.10.2002:
Ed's Essays
Silence Is Golden
- Part II -
Text: Ed Harris
A .38 Special Cat Sneeze Load Update In the Marlin 1894 Cowboy Carbine
I went back to the 1967 NRA Handloader's Guide and re-read William Dresser's
article entitled "Minimum Loads In Handguns." With the Bullseye powder then
being manufactured, the author recommended 1.2 grains behind a 146-grain, flush-seated
H&G No.50BB cast full-wadcutter bullet for indoor gallery shooting in revolvers such
as the S&W K-38. It has been my experience that the gyroscopic
stability of wadcutter ammunition in S&W and Ruger revolver with 18-3/4" twist of
rifling is marginal below about 800 f.p.s., so I didn't have great hopes for match target
accuracy, but thought I might find something reasonable for double-action revolver
practice with my "carry gun" in my indoor bullet trap at 25 feet.
I wanted a quiet "Cat's Sneeze" load which could be used for shooting garden
pests without disturbing the neighbors. Another real concern is that today's "Big
Brother" technology utilizes computerized noise sampling and direction location on
cellular telephone towers around Washington, DC and some other major cities. This has been
very well documented in the public safety literature and is no secret. The equipment is
adapted from the methods developed by NATO to identify the sound signatures of individual
submarines.
Only now we are applying the principle on dry land, and instead of scatteriong sono-bouys
by P3C aircraft, they can put listening devices on a multitude of cellular towers which
cover every urban area and Interstate highway in the country. The computers can readily
discern the difference between a construction worker pounding a nail, and a firearm
discharge.
Experimental system now being evaluated as part of the Homeland Defense program in several
key cities have the ability to detect and identify a sound anomoly, and if it fits the
archival data signature bank of a known weapon, it automatically "polls"
surrounding tower sites to evaluate the sound and triangulate it accurately within 100
meters or so, while automating dispatch of the closest police units. A lawful firearm user
having a concealed weapon permit, preventing a crime in progress may be confronted
instantly by heavily armed law enforcement officers who think they are converging upon a
probable terrorist. Not a pleasant scenario for long term survival.
Our only hope for continued civilian firearms useage is to remain discreet and as
invisible as possible. We must refine the "silent without silencer" loads so
that we can blend in with the background noise level and not attract any attention. This
is why, as I quoted the late Frank Marshall, Jr.
"Silence is Golden."
My requirement was to develop one load which I could stock in quantity for use in any .38
Special revolver or "Cowboy Rifle." In my testing with current production
Alliant Bullseye power, the lowest charge with the Remington, factory-swged, soft lead
158-gr. semi-wadcutter bullet which would exit the barrel every time (100 rounds, 50 each
in rifle and revolver) was 1.2 grains of Bullseye, but only when used with a 3mm diameter
enlarged flash hole.
This is about as large as you can go in a case which uses the small size (.175" /
4.45mm) primer. This charge didn't always exist when using a the unmodified
0.078"-0.082" (1.98-2.08mm) flash hole, 2 bullets out of 50 rounds fired in the
18" Marlin carbine lodged within 3" of the muzzle.
The load was "plinking accurate in the basement at 25 feet, but at 50 yards in the
Marlin groups strung vertically over a foot! NOT acceptable! Velocity averaged 300 f .p .s
. in the 6" Ruger Security Six and 480 fps in the 18" Marlin, but velocity
standard Sd was over 100, which set off alarm bells! Had I taken the velocities first I
would have quit sooner... Just plain lucky I guess!
All test loads used the Lee Factory Crimp die to hold bullets securely in the case against
telescoping from compression of the tubular magazine spring in the Marlin 1894 carbine. I
have found that this also improves velocity uniformity, as it seems to prevent the primer
blast from dislodging the bullet before powder ignition in light loads. Of course, the
powder must be suitable. I have limited myself to Alliant Bullseye so far, because I have
it on hand and it would appear satisfactory.
A charge of 2 grains of Bullseye very satisfactory, but much louder (500 f.p.s. in the
revolver ) . Point of impact was 6" low at 25 yards, producing a loose 4" group
with noticeable projectile yaw from the 18-3/4" twist . Velocities were more uniform
and entirely acceptable. Noise-wise in the revolver it was more quiet than a
factory-loaded target 148-gr. wadcutter.
In the 18" Marlin it was fairly quiet, producing a satisfying "thunk"
rather than a crack, rather like firing standard velocity .22 LR match ammunitionfrom a
short-barreled sporting rifle. Not, however, like the "Cat's Sneeze" equivalent
of Eley Tenex fired from a long barreled target rifle. The velocityaveraged about 700
f.p.s., point of impact was useful for plainking with iron sights at 25-50 yards plinking
without changing the sights from my regular carbine zero for 158-gr. factory .357 Magnum
softpoints at 100 yards. I got 2" round groups at 25 yards, larger than I expect with
the best loads, but reasonable.
As the powder charge was increased above 2 grains velocities became more uniform and
accuracy improved. Using Alliant Bullseye of current manufacture it takes 3.8 grains with
the Remington 158-gr. lead SWC to approximate the velocity of factory standard velocity
lead-bullet .38 Special loads averaging 800 +/- 20 f.p.s. in a 6" revolver and 950
+/- 20 in the Marlin.
Normal extreme spread of these loads with iron sights is "one inch per ten"
(yards) in a handgun and "one inch per 25" in the Marlin, out to 100 yards. I
used Norma 158-gr. lead RN factory ammunition as a benchmark. It is repeatable at these
velocity ranges and gives 1.5" ten-shot groups at 25 yards from the 6" Ruger
Security Six revolver and approximately the same at 50 yards from the Marlin carbine.
At longer ranges I can reliably keep 10 out of 12 shots on a 12" steel gong at 100
yards from the 6" Ruger revolver and expoect the same when plinking at 200 yards with
my Marlin Cowboy Carbine. I do not change the sights, but use "Tennessee
elevation" (centering the "ghost image " of the gong in my other eye
between bottom of front sight bead and the sight dovetail base behind the slimmed portion
of the front sight blade).
I didn't load any test increments between 1.2 grains and 2 grains of Bullseye. I need to
do that, will do so and report. The 2 grain loads I tested here had unmodified, standard
flash holes. My next step is to load samples at 1.5, 1.7 and 2.0 grains, with enlarged
flash holes and see how they do.
Wrist rockets and "Bean Shooters"
If the anti-gunners get their way, we will soon all be reduced to carrying slingshots,
wrist rockets or "bean shooters." It might be interesting to start some
discussion of this on Gun Writers.
I remember when I was at NRA the D.C. police crame lab had an unusual homicide in which
there was a low velocity penetration of the skull, and the projectile exited, but wasn't
found, nor was any expended cartridge case.
At first they thought it was an accidental long range hit from a handgun, but an FBI Agent
from the Washington Field Office took one look at the evidence and pronouced that it was a
slingshot. He had experience with a similar case in California where a hunter had stumbled
across somebody's "pot farm" and met his demise in a similar matter.
Anyway, to make a long story short, we did some test firings and found that we could
reproduce the wound characteristics with a wrist rocket slingshot or similar device and
that a steel ball bearing from 1/4" to 1/2" diameter would reach velocities over
200 f.p.s.
The Wham-O brand slingshot of my youth is no longer made and some areas restrict the sale
of "wrist rockets" because they are used as gang weapons. We may be someday
reduced to making our own, and if so we could do much worse than follow the method
depicted in the 1960s Andy Griffith TV show, and use the lowly "Bean Shooter."
Look at this web site for how-to information, this is exactly what I used as a boy and I
took alot of rabbits and birds with it. In a pinch it would be a quiet self defense
weapon.
www.asheboro.com/users/teallen/bshooter.htm
Issue 1/2002 08.03.2002:
ED'S ESSAYS
"Wild Bunch" of GOW gunwriters has got a new member, well-known
firearms expert, ballistician and designer of firearms & ammo: CHARLES E. HARRIS. (To
friends just: "Ed"). Many visitors may presumably still recall his articles,
published by THE AMERICAN RIFLEMAN magazine, GUN DIGEST yearbook and other printed sources
of information. Ed lives in W. Virginia, U.S.A. He has been an environmental engineer
since 1988, a firearms designer of STURM, RUGER & Co since 1984 until 1988 and a
firearms expert/ ballistician of (U.S.) NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION until 1984.
We were in correspondence already 20+ years ago, when I was starting "The Magnificent
Revolution of Handloading"; i.e. bustle with the subsonic rifle loads. Ed carried out
some test-shooting with .308 caliber SCHUETZENPLINKER lead alloy bullets of his design and
VihtaVuori N320 powder. Accuracy of this combination was amazing at least from .308
Winchester test-barrel or rifle, especially at subsonic muzzle velocities. Powder N320 (or
"Finn-Unique" according to Ed) was not yet available in U.S.A. Small sample of
it (recklessly air-mailed from Finland) ran out soon: Amusement was over.
Especially our American visitors shall presumably agree with our wish: Welcome back to The
Gunwriter Club, Ed!
1702 MMII; PT.
ED'S ESSAYS
"SILENCE IS GOLDEN!"
By CHARLES E. HARRIS
Many years ago I had occasion to make up some subsonic loads in 7.62 NATO for use
in a suppressed M21 sniper rifle, which is based upon the M14. The NATO-type 148-gr. FMJBT
bullet is not adequately stabilized in the 12" twist of rifling barrel at subsonic
velocities, but the 110-gr. FMJRN bullet used in the .30 M1 carbine cartridge works well
and is quiet with 6 grains of Hercules (now Alliant) Bullseye.
The most effective "Silent Without Silencer" rifle I have is an old English
"Rook Rifle" which was originally chambered for the .360 No.5. Most of these
rifles will fire .38 Long Colt ammunition without alteration, but I have found it much
better to rechamber them to use .38 Special. Standard velocity 148-gr. hollow-based
wadcutter target ammunition is very quiet and accurate, and gives about 870 fps in a
25" barrel. The Marlin 1984 "Cowboy" lever action rifles with 24"
barrels are accurate and fairly quiet with ordinary standard velocity 158-gr. lead bullet
factory loads which provide about 950 fps. For minimum noise, I handload the factory
Remington 158-grain swaged lead SWC bullets with 4 grains of W-W 231 or 3.5 grains of
Bullseye for about 850 f.p.s. Below this velocity accuracy suffers due to inadequate
bullet stability.
For another quiet combination with available factory rifles and ammunition, use .32
S&W Long factory loads with the 98-gr. lead roundnosed bullet in old rifles chambered
for the .32-20 Winchester. These were very popular ranchers and farmers guns in the USA
prior to 1940 and are highly prized today by turkey hunters. Standard factory .32 S&W
Long ammunition is very quiet and accurate to 50 yards or so, although fired cases swell
up a bit.
It is much better to reload a reduced charge of 3 grains of Bullseye in the .32-20 case
with the standard 100-gr. flatnosed cast lead bullet which is popular for Cowboy Action
Shooting. I use the Ideal Nr. 3118 bullet cast for the .32-20 in the .30-30 Winchester
with 4 grains of Bullseye. In old rifles with 24" or longer barrels this is very
quiet. Newly manufactured Marlin "Cowboy" guns will give the same result.
IMR shotshell powder "PB," which stands for "porous based" is a fine
grained and easily ignited, bulky powder intended for trap, skeet loads and upland game
bird loads. This powder burns very similarly to Alliant's Unique or VihtaVuori's N320,
which makes it excellent for subsonic loads. For cast lead plainbased bullets weighing
from 100 to 130 grains, a charge of 4 grains of PB works provides subsonic velocity in
.32-20 rifles, and 5 grains in the 7.62x39, 6 grains in the .30-30, and 7 grains in the
.303 British, 7.62 NATO or 7.62x53R. If jacketed bullets are substituted, it is absolutely
necessary that the bore be thoroughly cleaned, lightly oiled, the bullets themselves
lightly lubricated by tumbling in Lee Liquid Alox, and these charges also increased by 1
grain, across the board.
C.E. Harris
Comment of Chief Editor: Ed Harris is our new gunwriter; a worldwide known authority
on firearms and ballistics in 1980s. Ed was also a professional firearms designer since
1984 until 1988. "Hard core" of authorities in GOW is now much more hardened.
1802 MMII; PT.
"ED'S RED" FORMULA
From The Cast Bullet Journal, No. 140, July - August 1999 Dangerously Close to the Beltway
"Ed's Red" -- Revisited By C.E. "Ed" Harris
Since I mixed my first "Ed's Red" (ER) bore cleaner five years ago,
hundreds of users have told me that they find it as effective as commercial products. This
cleaner has an action similar to military rifle bore cleaner, such as Mil-C-372B. It is
highly effective for removing plastic fouling from shotgun bores, caked carbon in
semi-automatic rifles or pistols, or leading in revolvers. "ER" is not a
"decoppering" solution for fast removal of heavy jacket fouling, but because is
more effective in removal of caked carbon and primer residues than most other cleaners, so
metal fouling is reduced when "ER" is used.
Claude Copper and I researched the subject rather thoroughly and determined there was no
technical reason why an effective firearm bore cleaner couldn't be mixed using common
hardware store ingredients. The resulting cleaner is safe, effective, inexpensive,
provides good corrosion protection and adequate residual lubrication. Routine oiling after
cleaning is unnecessary except for storage exceeding 1 year, or in harsh environments,
such as salt air exposure. The formula is adapted from Hatcher's "Frankford Arsenal
Cleaner No. 18", but substitutes equivalent modern materials. Hatcher's recipe called
for equal parts of acetone, turpentine, Pratt's Astral Oil, land sperm oil, and
(optionally) 200 grams of anhydrous lanolin per liter of cleaner.
Some discussion of the ingredients in "ER" is helpful to understand the
properties of the cleaner and how it works. Pratts Astral Oil was nothing more than acid
free, deodorized kerosene. Today you would ask for "K-1" kerosene of the type
sold for use in indoor space heaters.
An inexpensive, effective substitute for sperm oil is Dexron II automatic transmission
fluid. Prior to 1950 most ATFs were sperm oil based. During WWII, sperm oil was mostly
unavailable, so highly refined, dewaxed hydrofinished petroleum oils were developed, which
had excellent thermal stability. When antioxidants were added to prevent gumming, these
worked well in precision instruments.
With the high demand for automatic transmission autos after WWII, sperm oil was no longer
practical to produce ATFs in the needed quantities, so the wartime expedients were mass
produced. ATFs have been continually improved over the years. The additives contained in
Dexron include detergents or other surfactants which are highly suitable for inclusion in
an all-purpose cleaner, lubricant and preservative.
Hatcher's Frankford Arsenal No. 18 used gum spirits of turpentine, but turpentine is both
expensive and also highly flammable, so I chose not to use it. Much safer and more
inexpensive are "aliphatic mineral spirits", which are an open-chain organic
solvent, rather than the closed-chain, benzene ring structure, common to
"aromatics", such as naptha or "lighter fluid". Sometimes called
"safety solvent", aliphatic mineral spirits are used for thinning oil based
paint, as automotive parts cleaner and is commonly sold under the names "odorless
mineral spirits", "Stoddard Solvent", or "Varsol".
Acetone is included to provide an aggressive, fast-acting solvent for caked smokeless
powder residues. Because acetone readily evaporates and the fumes are harmful in high
concentrations, it is recommended that it be left out if the cleaner will be used indoors,
in soak tanks or in enclosed spaces lacking forced air ventilation. Containers should be
kept tightly closed when not in use. "ER" is still effective without acetone,
but not as "fast-acting".
"Ed's Red" does not chemically dissolve copper fouling in rifle bores, but it
does a better job of removing carbon and primer residue than most other cleaners. Many
users have told me that frequent and exclusive use of "ER" reduces copper
deposits, because it removes the old impacted powder fouling left behind by other
cleaners. This reduces the abrasion and adhesion of jacket metal to the bore, leaving a
cleaner surface condition, which reduces subsequent fouling. Experience indicates that
"ER" will actually remove metal fouling in bores if it is left to
"soak" for a few days so the surfactants will do the job, when followed by a
repeat cleaning. You simply have to be patient.
Addition of lanolin to "ER" is optional, because the cleaner works perfectly
well and gives adequate corrosion protection and lubrication without it. Inclusion of
lanolin makes the cleaner easier on the hands, increases its lubricity and film strength
and improves corrosion protection if firearms, tools or equipment will be routinely
exposed to salt air, water spray, or corrosive urban atmospheres.
I recommend the lanolin be included if you intend to use the cleaner as a protectant for
long-term storage or for a "flush" after water cleaning of black powder firearms
or those fired with military chlorate primers. This is because lanolin has a great
affinity for water and readily emulsifies so that the bore can be wiped of residual
moisture, leaving a protective film. If you inspect your guns and wipe them down twice
yearly, you can leave out the lanolin and save about $10 per gallon.
At current retail prices, you can buy all the ingredients to mix "ER", without
the lanolin, for about $12 per gallon. I urge you to mix some yourself. I am confident it
will work as well for you as it does for me and hundreds of users who got the
"recipe" on the Fidonet Firearms Echo.
CONTENTS: "Ed's Red Bore Cleaner"
1 part - Dexron ATF, GM Spec. D-20265 or later.
1 part - Kerosene - deodorized, K1.
1 part - Aliphatic Mineral Spirits CAS #64741-49-9, or substitute "Stoddard
Solvent", CAS #8052-41-3, or equivalent.
1 part - Acetone, CAS #67-64-1.
(Optional 1 lb. of Lanolin, Anhydrous, USP per gallon, or OK to substitute Lanolin,
Modified, Topical Lubricant, from the drug store.)
MIXING INSTRUCTIONS:
Mix outdoors, in good ventilation. Use a clean 1 gallon metal, chemical resistant, heavy
gage PET or PVC plastic container. NFPA approved plastic gasoline storage containers are
OK. Do NOT use HDPE, which is permeable, because the acetone will slowly evaporate.
Acetone in "ER" will attack HDPE over time, causing the container to collapse,
making a heck of a mess!
Add the ATF first. Use the empty ATF container to measure the other components, so that it
is thoroughly rinsed. If you incorporate the lanolin into the mixture, melt this carefully
in a double boiler, taking precautions against fire. Pour the melted lanolin into a larger
container, rinsing the lanolin container with the bore cleaner mix, and stirring until it
is all dissolved. I recommend diverting up to 4 ozs. per quart of the 50-50 ATF/kerosene
mix to use as "ER-compatible" gun oil. This can be done without impairing the
effectiveness of the remaining mix. Label and safety warnings follow:
FIREARM BORE CLEANER CAUTION: FLAMMABLE MIXTURE HARMFUL IF SWALLOWED KEEP OUT OF
REACH OF CHILDREN
Contents: petroleum distillates, surfactants, organometallic antioxidants and acetone.
Flammable mixture, keep away from heat, sparks or flame.
FIRST AID: If swallowed, DO NOT induce vomiting, call physician immediately.
In case of eye contact, immediately flush thoroughly with water and call a physician. For
skin contact, wash thoroughly.
Use with adequate ventilation. Avoid breathing vapors or spray mist. It is a violation of
Federal law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling. Reports have
associated repeated and prolonged occupational overexposure to solvents with permanent
brain damage and nervous system damage. If using in closed armory vaults lacking forced
air ventilation, wear respiratory protection meeting NIOSH TC23C or equivalent. Keep
container tightly closed when not in use.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE:
Open the firearm action and ensure the bore is clear. Cleaning is most effective when done
while the barrel is still warm from firing. Saturate a cotton patch with bore cleaner,
wrap or impale on jag and push it through the bore from breech to muzzle. The patch should
be a snug fit. Let the first patch fall off and do not pull it back into the bore.
Wet a second patch, and similarly start it into the bore from the breech, this time
scrubbing from the throat area forward in 4-5" strokes and gradually advancing until
the patch emerges out the muzzle. Waiting approximately 1 minute to let the bore cleaner
to soak will improve its action.
For pitted, heavily carbon-fouled service rifles, leaded revolvers or neglected bores a
bronze brush wet with bore cleaner many be used to remove stubborn deposits. This is
unnecessary for smooth, target-grade barrels in routine use.
Use a final wet patch pushed straight through the bore to flush out loosened residue
dissolved by Ed's Red. Let the patch fall off the jag without pulling it back through the
bore. If you are finished firing, leaving the bore wet will protect it from rust for 1
year under average atmospheric conditions.
If lanolin is incorporated into the mixture, it will protect the firearm from rust for up
to two years, even in a humid environment. (For longer storage use Lee Liquid Alox or
Cosmoline). "ER" will readily remove hardened Alox or Cosmoline.
Wipe spilled Ed's Red from exterior surfaces before storing the gun. While Ed's Red is
harmless to blue and nickel finishes, the acetone it contains is harmful to most wood
finishes.
Before firing again, push two dry patches through the bore and dry the chamber, using a
patch wrapped around a suitably sized brush or jag. First shot point of impact usually
will not be disturbed by Ed's Red if the bore is cleaned as described.
I have determined to my satisfaction that when Ed's Red is used exclusively and
thoroughly, that hot water cleaning is unnecessary after use of Pyrodex or military
chlorate primers. However, if bores are not wiped between shots and are heavily caked from
black powder fouling, hot water cleaning is recommended first to break up heavy fouling
deposits. Water cleaning should be followed by a flush with Ed's Red to prevent
after-rusting which could result from residual moisture. It is ALWAYS a good practice to
clean TWICE, TWO DAYS APART whenever using chlorate primed ammunition, just to make sure
you get all the corrosive residue out.
This "Recipe" has been placed in the public domain, and may be freely
distributed provided that it is done so in its entirety with all current revisions,
instructions and safety warnings included herein, and that proper attribution is given to
the author.
CEH.
Good Guns I Kept After I "Lost Interest"
By C.E. "Ed" Harris
It wasn't that long ago I thought that reloading 500 rounds to shoot every week,
and working for a year on a magazine article that didn't pay enough to cover my expenses,
actually was fun! At the range, rude clowns would pester me with stupid questions while I
tried to "work." They'd blab on without the courtesy of waiting for a reply,
interrupting with an answer they already "knew," being ready to argue for hours,
while ignoring any pretext of science, engineering or common sense. Those days are gone
for me now, thank God!
I've lost all interest in club shooting and competition, selling my Rod & Gun Club
membership. So they won't see me at the range any more. A few old friends I'll miss know
who they are and still stay in touch. It's ironic that from a club of hundreds of members,
after 30 years I can count on the fingers of one hand the intelligent, well mannered
gentlemen still living whom I am honored and thankful to have known.
The shooting game in America is dying because young people are not taking up the sport.
Liberals and entertainment media use violence to sell the fearful on big government,
trading our rights and freedom for the false security of "Homeland Defense"
after September 11. Anti gunners are waiting patiently for the rest of the post WWII
"baby boomer" generation to die off, so that the politicians can ban private
ownership of guns outright without today's spoiled brats even raising a whimper. They'll
get away with it, because most shooters are too stupid to see past the next election.
What was once the honorable hobby of outdoorsmen, citizen soldiers and amateur historians
has been prostituted by costly games having no basis in reality. Competition has no
purpose other than to sell more guns and accessories in a saturated market. Our
head-in-sand Liberals of mis-applied compassion don't even have to ban guns. This is
because our own shooting industry, advertisers and mass marketing have turned sport
shooting into the pastime of monied elitists.
The cost of sport shooting has been driven out of reach of most ordinary working people
and is surely killing our Second Amendment heritage just as certainly as if the cursed
liberals had done it legislatively. The "gentleman good guys" such as the late
John Amber, Bud Waite and Col. E.H. Harrison are surely rolling in their graves.
America's sport shooters who survive have forgotten that competition is about skill and
hunting is an expression of reverence for our great outdoors and the game. The noble
simplicity of it all hidden by today's advertising hype. The great outdoorsman Frank
Marshall, Jr. killed most of his deer with a sporterized .303 Lee Enfield while wearing a
tattered flannel short, bib overalls, smoking a Lucky Strike, watching the wafting smoke
and stalking up on quietly upon them from downwind. Today's arrogant kids who learn how to
hunt on the Internet need to get out of their tree stands and learn to enjoy nature and
walk quietly around the woods so that they may truly enjoy them instead of worrying about
how they smell!
After I changed careers and left the shooting industry, I didn't fire a shot in four years
and didn't miss it at all. After my Dad died I started going back up to our country place,
in the mountains of West Virginia, escaping daily suburban stresses to recall a simpler
time. A neighbor invited me to help him zero a woodchuck rifle at his farm nearby and hunt
deer with him in the fall. This was like turning the clock back 30 years and returning to
my boyhood home. An occasional outing with a few close friends was delightful, 100 miles
away from obnoxious newly rich who shoot the same arrogant way as they drive their
expensive German cars which seem to have replaced the Fords and Chevy's we grew up with.
I don't have as many guns as I used to, but the favorites which I kept serve my modest,
practical needs. What little hunting I do these days is for deer, varmints in my vegetable
garden, wild turkey, rabbits and upland game birds close to home. My target shooting is
informal, with revolvers handguns and traditional, muzzle-loading black powder rifles to
100 yards, centerfire rifles to 300 yards, mostly for woodchucks, but certainly not the
fantasy 600 to 1000 yard "sniper" ranges anymore.
Ken Warner wrote in his Practical Book of Guns that before 1950 most American homes had a
.22 rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun and either a .30-30 lever action or .30-'06 bolt action.
Most handguns were .22s, but if center-fire, were almost certainly a .38 Special, unless a
returning WWII veteran was an officer who kept his .45 automatic. Things were practical
and simple then.
I learned to fire the Springfield and Colt Official Police revolver young enough to be
confident of their accurate rapidity. They appear far less sinister than a semi-automatic
such as a Garand or AR-15 and get the job done without scattering the fired brass all
over. My "West Virginia battery" has built-in redundancy, because experience
taught me that all essential systems need a backup, whether they be motor vehicles,
two-way radio communications, home heating, knives, or firearms.
The Long and Short of It, Two Revolvers
If you would have one handgun, General Julian S. Hatcher, USA, said that it should be a
.38 Special. I agree, but prefer two. The which I carry afield and shoot most is a blue
Colt Official Police with 4" barrel and fixed sights. It's sturdy, accurate, rugged
and reliable. Because I don't see fixed sights as well today as I used to, I also have a
6" Ruger Security Six, which is a .357 Magnum, though I do shoot .38s in it most of
the time. The Ruger is for 100 yard plinking and varmint when its longer barrel doesn't
get in the way. Both revolvers are carried in military-style flap holsters to protect the
gun. As Bill Jordan said: "Speed's fine, but accuracy's final."
My basic .38 Special load is a sub-sonic, standard velocity, not +P 160-gr. cast Redding
#358 or LBT flatnosed, traditional style "Cowboy" bullet. I use soft lead, no
harder than 12-13 BHN, typically automobile wheelweights, or 50-50 linotype and plumber's
lead, . The heavy flat-nosed bullet penetrates clear through feral dogs and is accurate to
100 yards or more.
It "lets the air out" of bunnies, groundhogs and the occasional wild turkey just
fine, without damaging edible meat. I do keep a box or two of factory-loaded Winchester
X38SPD 158-gr. lead hollowpoint +P "FBI loads" around for defensive carry. This
works for me.
Two Walking Around Rifles
Having a revolver and rifle which used the same common ammunition was very important in
frontier days. Today's shooters seem to be educated beyond their basic intelligence and
defeat the basic purpose by tinkering with specialized loads which don't shoot well in
both guns. While I do keep a box or two of .357 Magnum factory 158-gr. Softpoint loads
around for my Marlin M1894C carbine, most of the time I use those ordinary subsonic .38
Special Cowboy loads, which shoot to the iron sights at 100 yards and are very quiet and
effective small game loads at 950 f.p.s. from its 8" barrel.
The "walking around gun" which I carry when I don't take along a revolver is an
old single-shot English Rook rifle. This was originally a .360 No. 5, but I rechambered it
by hand to use .38 Special ammunition. It's Medford-style rifling has a large barrel
groove diameter of about .366" (9.3mm), which requires use of very soft, nearly pure
lead bullets loaded with fast burning pistol powder to provide sufficient base upset to
take the rifling. With my Cowboy loads it is accurate enough to shoot the heads off grouse
at woods ranges or to kill rabbits at 50 yards. I have a custom NEI mould which casts a
175-gr. flat-nosed hollowbased bullet made especially for it. My best loads are accurate
enough to kill groundhogs at 200 yards when my 6X Unertl is placed on the rifle. With my
normal charge of 4.2 grains of W-W 231 pistol powder, the combination is VERY quiet, every
bit as much so as an MP5SD firing 147-gr. OSM Special Ball!
Two Accurate .22s
If you read my GUN DIGEST article, "Getting the Best from Your .22 Rimfire" you
already know the answer. My heavy-barrel Ruger M77/.22 was custom built, but they make one
that way now. I have two interchangable barrels, a short, stubby 16.5" bull barrel
for the woods and a longer 24" one with iron rights to simulate a military
bolt-action rifle for practice. I use a 6X Leupold M8 scope with a "Madison-County
dual dot reticle" by Premier. This reticle features a 1 mil "dot"
(subtending 10cm at 100m) at the intersection of the crosswires and a smaller 1/2 mil
"dot" centered 2 mils below the intersection, to provide hold-over for longer
range shooting. Ordinary CCI Blazer high velocity ammunition groups ten shots within 3/4
inch at 50 yards anytime.
My other .22 is a single-shot Remington bolt-action which I bought "a piece at a
time" for $5 at a barn sale. The old woman who sold it to me surely wouldn't have let
me have it or would have charged me at least $50, has she known the bird dropping
encrusted pieces would assemble into a rifle! This old barn rifle dates from the 1930s and
looks terribly "agricultural," but after soaking in a mixture of automatic
transmission fluid and kerosene the dirt, pigeon droppings, feathers and most of the rust
cleaned away well. Best of all, thanks to long use with greased lead bullets, the bore in
its heavy 28" barrel was perfect. My windfall is both accurate and silent when used
with standard velocity ammunition. Its original factory peep sights were rusted firmly in
place still as perfectly zeroed when left many years ago! The rifle takes apart easily
with one screw and fits easily on my WWII surplus U.S. Army packboard, and fires
penny-sized iron sight 50-yd. groups on demand.
Two Shotguns for Bunnies or "Business"
Many shooters think double shotguns are delightful, but I don't own one any more. I used
to have several, but they are like women, delicate, dainty, fussy, inflexible and
demanding. Give me a sturdy "pump gun" that always works, I don't care how ugly
it, if it handles reasonably and is dependable. It took me thirty years to wear out my
first Remington Model 870, in however many thousand rounds it takes for them to run out of
places to stake new cartridge stops. I replaced my old gun with a new 3" Magnum 870
police model with Parkerized finish, plain wooden riot stock, 20" rifle sight slug
barrel and a spare 26" ribbed barrel with screw-in chokes. If I live long enough to
wear it out I'll be happy.
My other shotgun is the smoothbore equivalent of the walking around rifle, a skinny,
4-pound, 20" barrel, chopped off, cylinder bore H&R .410 single-barrel hammer
gun. It used to have a 26" barrel until one day an oversized, handloaded round ball
had trouble getting through the choke. The gun actually recoiled forward, opening up the
muzzle end like the spreading hood of a cobra! A few minutes with a tubing cutter and file
cured that and it now patterns better than ever! Its original 2-1/2" chamber was
rechambered by hand to accept 3" shells, so it now can use any .410 cartridges shells
I may find cheap at yard sales (not too darned likely!) It is as good a 25 yard bunny and
quail gun as you could want. I buy skeet loads of No. 9 shot for fun, and use 3" No.
6s for small game. Three stacked .40 cal. round balls loaded in .444 Marlin brass with a
.44 cal. Ox Yoke Originals with 16 grs. of IMR4227 make a formidable close range varmint
load and get out the bore fine now that there isn';t any more choke in the way!
One Switch-barrel and a Rough and Ready Bolt Rifle
Townsend Whelen said that only accurate rifles are interesting. I agree, but ad the caveat
that they must have field utility. I sold all of my competition rifles because they
epitomized the contrived, NRA money-eating games. I kept one single-shot, bolt-action Sako
switch-barrel, McMillan stocked hunting rifle with barrels for .22-250, 7.62x39, .308 Win.
and .30-'06. The .22-250 when used with full loads is a reliable 400 yard varmint rifle,
but is also highly accurate even when throttled back to quieter .22 WMR levels with 6 grs.
of W-W 231 and a 50-gr. Sierra Blitz. Just be sure to lightly lubricate jacketed bullets
by tumbling in Lee Liquid Alox diluted 50-50 in clear mineral spirits, letting them dry
before loading, so that the bullets don't stick in the bore!
The 7.62x39 barrel has no purpose other than as an accurate plinker with cheap military
ammo, which lets me practice as much as I want without chasing brass, reloading or wearing
my "good" barrels. The .308 and .30-'06 barrels are accurate hunting rifles
which enable me shoot use common, plentiful ammunition. I change scopes with each barrel
and do so as needed, in a few minutes, going right back to zero. This is much less trouble
than storing four scoped hunting rifles.
Some shooting enthusiasts will be bothered by the obvious lack of an "assault
rifle" here. I don't need one because I don't fantasize fire fights against hordes of
AK-armed adversaries. Lets get real! All I want is an accurate, reasonable deterrent which
doesn't appear aggressive or attract too much attention. What a 12-ga. Model 870 riot gun
won't handle, a ten-shot bolt-action does. My customized, heavy-barrel No. 4 MkII Long
Branch .303 is as accurate as a National Match M1 rifle. It can deliver ten accurate aimed
rounds in thirty seconds before having to reload. Rapid reloads are possible shoving a
charger down alongside its offset scope. The folding A.J. Parker 8/53 conversion of its
Mk.I battlesight doesn't get in the way.
The above concept is well tried and proven. In the early 1970s I marveled at Maj. J.N.
Blashford-Snell's "expedition rifle" featured in the British publication Guns
Review. While working at the NRA I had the opportunity to fire an Enfield Envoy and a
similar Canadian Long Branch sniper rifle. I took the features I liked, cloned them and
added a few personal touches such as a "machined from the block" side-mount
which uses Ruger quick detachable scope rings with oversized knobs I lengthened the butt
to a 13.5" length of pull, and installed a Winchester M70 steel buttplate. The
fore-end was cut off 2" ahead of the lower band, the upper handguard discarded and
the works glass bedded. Oversized knobs on the quick detachable side mount permit the
scope to be removed easily. The cheek piece is also quick detachable, but the scope is
actually quite useable without it.
CEH.
Gunwriters on the Web Ed's Essays: http://guns.connect.fi/gow/ed.html