The Range Squirrel

Short and hopefully helpful to someone.

I make two modifications to my Hornady Powder Trickler to make it easier to use. The Range SquirrelI owned a Marlin 60 since 1987, but never really got ‘into’ guns until 2011 when I bought my first 9mm pistol. That was soon followed by a .380 and a 12 guage pump, and I was all […]

I have been shooting the Everglades Ammo 9mm 125gr Competition JHP for some time in the Magnum Research/IWI Baby Eagle that I use for club matches and have been very happy with them. The Everglades Competition JHP is a very close clone of the Hornady Action Pistol JHP with some dimensional differences; quite sufficient for […]

With the first rifle I started off OK, but point of aim shifted to the right (sigh). The second rifle with a red dot sadly didn’t have a chance. But it was still fun. The Range SquirrelI owned a Marlin 60 since 1987, but never really got ‘into’ guns until 2011 when I bought my […]

Back in April I did some horse trading at a gun show and acquired my first revolver, a used Polymer Taurus Judge. I picked up some Hornady factory ammo to be able to go out and shoot it that day, as well as picking up some plated projectiles and Winchester AutoComp powder at the local […]

Taurus Judge Public Defender Polymer 45 Colt Load Experimentation At the range I started off with the 5 rounds of AutoComp with the cover cards I spoke of in the last post. I cut the cover cards with this little paper punch found on Amazon. I was hoping for a marked improvement. This was achieved, […]

I recently acquired my first revolver, a Taurus Judge Public Defender Polymer in 45 Colt/.410. At the same time I purchased some Hornady FTX Leverevolution cartridges so I could go to the range to play with my new toy.   A new caliber is a sickness, I quickly got around to buying dies and finding […]

My wife’s son is building a 300 Blackout AR pistol, the trouble is factory ammo is made of that precious commodity known as unobtanium. I looked at my stash of prepped .223 brass and decided to do something about it. Converting .223 to 300Blk is not difficult, however the forums are full of new reloaders, […]

Since I purchased my Auto Breech Lock Pro I have had reliable service, however recently I have had indexing issues which would not allow the shell plate to advance completely to its next station. The Range SquirrelI owned a Marlin 60 since 1987, but never really got ‘into’ guns until 2011 when I bought my […]

Aside from firearms and reloading, one of my enduring interests is Open Source software; although I could hardly code my way out of a wet paper sack, I can get around. For non-geeks, the Open Source philosophy simply stated is that software code should be shared for others to use and adapt for their own […]

Back when I first started reloading, my first trip to the range with my 9mm reloads, I had a squib load, a muffled poof and I had lodged a bullet  about a half inch into the barrel. Fortunately I had the presence of mind to not pull the trigger again as that would have been […]

For a while I have been considering an addition to my Lee Breechlock Challenger single station press to speed up my production rate. I’m not such a high volume shooter to justify a Dillon or Hornady AP, but when club matches start back up I will put a lot of lead downrange in a short […]

There is a story I heard told over and over through the years in the car repair business; a customer walks into a garage for a repair and the conversation goes something like this Customer: I want it done cheap, I want it done right, I want it done fast. Mechanic: You’ll have to pick […]

Two employees I work with tested positive for the Wuhan, and due to exposure I am home bound for a week. What to do? I know, brass prep! While annealing .223 cases I took note that some had dings and creases from striking the AR deflector nub and some didn’t. The ones without dings were […]

After a failed start with 6 data points and chrono errors I went back to the bench and ended with 10 data points, and still chrono errors, but have enough data to extrapolate a roadmap going forward. The Range SquirrelI owned a Marlin 60 since 1987, but never really got ‘into’ guns until 2011 when […]

This post doesn’t have a conclusion, at least not yet. I just want to share some experimenting with Satterlee load development. With that out of the way, my current recipe for 223 is a 62gr load I put together a couple years ago when I was starting out using the tried and true ladder load […]

A few days ago I posted a couple pictures on Discord of the 4″ PVC extended drum wet tumbler I was putting together following Tree Top Flier’s recent updated video. One of the details he pointed out was the interrupters The Range SquirrelI owned a Marlin 60 since 1987, but never really got ‘into’ guns […]

Back in October I put together some light for caliber loads in 9mm with 90gr Hornady XTP bullets and Titegroup powder. My top load of 4.9gr of Titegroup averaged 1416fps. It was discussed at the time about seeing what kind of expansion I was getting, and today was the day. The Range SquirrelI owned a […]

I bring my DIY brass prep center to it’s conclusion. Could or should I have just bought a commercial solution like the Frankford Arsenal? Maybe, but I already had a World Finest Trimmer before the Frankford Arsenal unit with the universal trimmer came to market. The Range SquirrelI owned a Marlin 60 since 1987, but […]

Just over a year ago I posted my meager attempt at an all-in-one brass prep center based off of a Little Crow Gun Works World’s Finest Trimmer.  Although a qualified (It worked) success, it lacked much elegance and left brass all over my bench. A catch tray and later a strategically placed vacuum cleaner hose […]

I spent some time today developing some reduced power loads for my wife who is recoil sensitive. I do it in Ladder Load fashion, but I’m going down the ladder to the point of malfunction instead of the usual upward direction. The Range SquirrelI owned a Marlin 60 since 1987, but never really got ‘into’ […]

In a previous post I was determining what was causing my Lee Auto Drum Powder Measure to bind when throwing small charges. I found that the cup on the end of the adjusting barrel was protruding from the drum and catching on the wiper. I made an effective, but not elegant ‘repair’ that took care […]

Before Christmas my wife went into Academy to buy me a couple boxes of bullets as stocking stuffers, she is an encourager of my endeavors. She knew I load and shoot 9mm, and knew I had trays of Hornady bullets over my bench, but not what weights. The retail droid at Academy pointed her to […]

While developing a load with Titegroup I ran into issue with my Lee Auto Drum Powder Measure binding causing the action rod to bend when at low charge weights. Here’s the workaround I came up with to quickly ease the binding. The Range SquirrelI owned a Marlin 60 since 1987, but never really got ‘into’ […]