Eight-Round Tuff Strips

Bianchi Speed Strips and their near-clones, the Tuff Products Quickstrips are a popular option for people who CCW a revolver to carry reloads. Being flat, they are easier to carry concealed than a speed loader.

Quickstrips are available for a variety of calibers and also in versions that carry 8 rounds. These have an advantage even if you're carrying a 6 shot revolver. This is my S&W 632 Airweight in .32 H&R Magnum.

As you can see, this allows you to space out the rounds in the strip to make loading 2 rounds at a time easier.

Incidentally, I don't carry a reload with the expectation I'd ever need it during a fight. Rather, it means that if I do have to defend myself with the gun and survive, I can remain armed afterwards.

The ammo is .32 H&R Magnum 98 grain powder coated wadcutters loaded by High Desert Cartridge. HDC says it's specced for the new S&W Ultra Carry revolvers in .32 H&R with a 1-7/8" barrel, which is the same as my older gun. I put just shy of a 50 round box through the gun yesterday and while I didn't chronograph it, I found it very clean shooting and accurate. It's my new carry load for this piece.

Roscoes at the Range

Yesterday I got out to do some shooting with a friend.

Top to bottom:

• 1974 Colt Detective Special in .38 Special I picked up about a week and a half ago.
• Early/mid-1990s S&W 632 Airweight in .32 H&R Magnum that was a gift from my dad several years ago.
• My friend's Charter Arms Professional in .32 H&R Mag.

I ran a couple different handloads through the Colt. Both were loaded with Lee TL358-158 cast semiwadcutters in mixed brass. The first batch were over 3.8 grains of HP-38 while the second batch were over 3.5 grains of Titegroup. In a medium frame gun like a S&W Model 10 these are very mild. They jump a bit more in a compact snub but remained controllable, especially the Titegroup loads.

First 18 shots with the Colt, with the HP-38 ammo, fired 2 hands, double action, from about 10 yards:

This is a great little gun. Colt should reintroduce it now that they've got back into wheelguns.

Next up was the Airweight. The last time I had it out I had several light strikes due to a reduced power hammer spring I'd installed. Before trying it again I put a 9.5 lb. Wolff hammer spring in it, which is actually a pound heavier than stock. This time it ran flawlessly

18 rounds from 10 yards, shooting .32 H&R Magnum 98 grain wadcutter rounds from High Desert Cartridge, which will be my new carry load. HDC uses powder coated bullets in this load and it burned very cleanly.

The Charter Arms Professional was bought by my friend around 2019. It was an inexpensive revolver but we've been impressed with it for the cost (about $300 at the time). It's a 7 shooter comparable in size to a Colt D-Frame (e.g., the Detective Special). He spent a lot of time working on the action and it's extremely smooth.

Another gun I brought out was my S&W Model 28-2 Highway Patrolman. This is an N-Frame .357 Magnum. I've owned it since the late 90s, when I traded an Astra A-75 towards it. If I remember correctly, the big Smith was priced at $250.

It's been ages since I've fired full house .357s from a revolver so we put 20 rounds of Federal American Eagle .357 158 grain JSPs through it. This is a screen cap from a video showing the gun in full recoil. In contrast, shooting the .38 Specials I had with me was a very mild experience due to the gun's 41 oz. weight.

The Model 28 is fitted with Thai Magnas and a grip adapter from BK Grips.

Aside from the wheelguns I also ran some rounds through my 2nd generation Keltec P32. I found that it dislikes the Fiocchi and Aguila FMJ I had on hand, giving me at least one failure to eject per magazine. My friend gave me some PPU .32 ACP FMJ with which it functioned 100% through two mags. The PPU also functions 100% in his Gen 1 P32, so we're going to split a case.

The Minilathe Came in Handy Again

Lately I've been doing a bit of shotgun shell reloading. I decided to pick up one of the inexpensive Russian-made presses from Daddy Ammo that allow you to deprime, prime, and apply a star crimp to plastic shells. By accident, I ordered the 16 gauge unit but decided to keep it, in case I eventually get an old 16 gauge gun. I ordered the 12 gauge unit and got it a couple days later.

When I got the 12 gauge unit I found that the decapping pin for 209 primers was just a small stud that didn't screw into the mandrel.

In the picture the capping insert is screwed into the mandrel. Below the press is the decapper that works with brass shotshells like Magtechs, the 209 decapping pin that came with the 16 gauge unit, the pin that came with the 12 gauge unit, and finally, the replacement I made.

The mandrel is threaded to take the decapping pins, which are threaded M6-1.0. I did some rummaging and found a few M6-1.0 bolts. I cut the head off one and then turned part of it down on my lathe enough so that it can decap hulls with 209 primers. 

I didn't have any suitable nuts in my stash so I ran over to Lowes and bought a pack for $2.79. I secured one in place with a cyanoacrylate glue. The nut provides something to grab if the pin gets stuck.

If I didn't have the lathe I could've chucked the bolt in a drill and turned it down with a file but using the lathe was easier and faster.

Soft Jaw Pliers For Gunsmithing

Last week I found an old Lee Loader for 20 gauge shotgun shells on eBay for a very good price so I snagged it. It's basically new-old stock and came complete in the cardboard box with instructions, loading data, and all the parts.

The kit that I bought dates from the 1960s, before Lee changed their shot dippers over to plastic. It's made from aluminum. There was some corrosion on it preventing me from pulling out the inside part to increase the volume of shot.

After letting some Kroil soak into it for a few days, I used this set of soft jaw pliers to rotate the inner sleeve and break it free. I was then able to pull it all the way out and clean the corrosion off with 0000 steel wool.

I originally bought the pliers to help removal of the cap for the CO2 cylinder chamber on my QB-77 pellet rifle. Since then, they've come in handy for a variety of projects when I needed a good grip on something but didn't want to scratch it.

If you do any kind of home gunsmithing I highly recommend picking up a set.

Yarzheit Candles for Emergencies

If you want to stock up on candles for emergencies, yarzheit candles are a good choice. They are lit by Jews on the anniversary of a loved one's death and are intended to burn for at least 24 hours.

Thursday morning I lit one for my father and it burned for about 36 hours.

It was a Manischewitz brand candle. (Amazon link.)

Yarzheit candles are available in glass or tin containers. I recommend the glass for maximizing light output.

Compared with many other candles they are relatively safe to leave unattended, as long as you place them on a heat proof surface. They are small, short, and not prone to tipping over.

Be an Asset

It sure looks like what happened overnight in New Orleans was a terrorist attack, in the same vein as the recent Christmas market attack in Germany.

This got me thinking about how we can prepare to be assets in such an incident, rather than a hinderance.

First, read this article "Responder Zero" at the Integrated Skills Group website.

https://integratedskillsgroup.com/2021/06/responder-zero/

As a matter of fact, I encourage you to read everything on that site. It's one of the best, if not the best prepping-related sites on the Internet.

Second, know basic first aid. The American Red Cross offers courses. Find one here: https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/first-aid 

Third, take a Stop the Bleed class from the American College of Surgeons. STB is focused on controlling bleeding injuries from trauma and stabilizing the victim until proper medical care arrives. An in person class is best but they also have online training in case you can't get to one in person.

https://stopthebleed.org

Fourth, if you are legally able to, get training and carry a concealed firearm. In this incident, after he exited his truck with a rifle, the perpetrator was taken out by police. What if this happened at an event in which there were no police?

See my PDF ebook, "Guns for Jews" for beginner's guidance.

https://x.com/davemarkowitz/status/1860425977001542091

Quick Strips for .410 Shells

Most revolver shooters are familiar with Bianchi Speed Strips and the similar Tuff Products Quick Strip for carrying spare ammunition. Well, the .44/.45 size Quick Strips also work for .410 shells:

While this takes up more room than the 5-round box, it's easier to handle as a unit especially if you're wearing gloves.

A Rossi .410 Single Shot

A few weeks ago I got to shoot an old H&R folding .410 shotgun that belongs to a friend, and instantly got a bad case of the wants. I offered to buy it from him but he's not selling, and I can't blame him. He owns some property and it would be a perfect piece for taking care of varmints in his garden or to tote while he's walking his land.

So, I got to looking for a .410 break barrel on Gunbroker. I lost an auction for a nearly mint condition Stevens 94 but found a gently used Rossi SS4112811. I picked it up from my FFL a couple days ago and it's in even better shape than described in the listing. It's basically new old stock. The only thing that was missing was the OEM cable lock, which is no loss IMHO. This model is no longer listed on Rossi's website.

The barrel is 28" long with a modified choke, which is preferable for my needs to the full choke most .410s have. I think, anyway. I need to pattern it.

The gun weighs about 3.8 lbs. It feels like a toy but it means that you can carry it all day.

Rossi's method of takedown is good. The forearm is held on by the same screw which the front sling swivel is attached to. It's captured so it can't be lost.

Like the H&R single shots made in the past several decades the Rossi has a transfer bar, allowing it to be safely carried loaded with the hammer down. It also has a manual hammer blocking safety mounted on the left side of the receiver. At first my reaction was to regard this as superflous but it will allow me to hunt with the gun cocked, much as one would with a hammerless double or a pump gun. I'm left handed so the safety is easy to push off with my trigger finger. A righty could use his thumb, but for once this is a gun feature that's actually more southpaw-friendly.

The plastic furniture is hollow, which got me thinking about using it to store emergency supplies. There's plenty of room in the stock to hold a bore snake or maybe a collapsible cleaning rod, and a bottle of oil, or a ziplock bag with some shells. The forearm is hollow with reinforcing ribs. If I cut one out it could hold shells. I may just stash some fire starting gear in it.

Since the 2020 pandemic, .410 ammo has been scarce on gun shop shelves, and most of that seems to oriented for defensive use in Taurus Judge or S&W Governor revolvers. My FFL only had shells loaded with No.9 shot. However, I've been able to find a variety of .410 ammo online in both 2.5" and 3" length, and have acquired several boxes to experiment with, ranging from No.9s to No.4s to buck and slugs.

UPS should be bringing a stock cuff for ammo and a repro M1 Carbine sling today.

I'm also planning to fireform some .303 British empties into all-brass shells, using instructions posted elsewhere by @Outpost75. The gun closes on the .303 cases but it's a little tight so first I'll sand a thou or so off the case heads. I also have a box of Magtech 2.4" brass shells on the way from Ballistic Products along with suitable cards and wads. Next weekend there's a gun show and I'll try to pick up some Lil-Gun and/or H-110/W-296 to reload with. Apparently, 2400 is also good for reloading .410 but lately it's pretty much unobtanium. And I can always use the Holy Black.

I have several 12 and 20 gauge shotguns so this acquisition wasn't a need, but it should be fun to experiment with.