Battery Operated Fuel Pump

 We are forecast to get up to over a foot of snow and sleet here in Southeastern Pennsylvania. I just got inside from opening the locks to my sheds so they don't freeze shut, and putting gas in my snow blower. I keep gas in military surplus jerrycans.

This battery operated pump works really well for transferring gasoline from a can into the fuel tank of a generator, snow blower, or whatever without making a mess. I bought one in October and have used it a few times now. I wish I had one years ago.

Black Powder Shooting Supplies Now Getting Scarce

Last week I ordered 5 boxes of Hornady .454 round balls from Track of the Wolf. I got my order today, but only 1 box, with the rest cancelled, with a note that they cannot backorder balls.

So I checked out Midway. Hornady .454s are gone, no backorder. They did have Speer in stock so I ordered 10 boxes at $9.99 each.

That should keep me set for a while. I have a Lee .454 ball mold but it's either oversize or the alloy I used last time has some tin in it, because the balls dropped at .456 - .457. That's OK for my Ruger Old Army but unnecessarily hard to load in my Remingtons and Rogers & Spencer.

The online sources for black powder that I've checked have been depleted. I still have a decent supply from a bulk order from several years back.

Percussion caps have also been difficult to buy in the past couple of months. I was able to get a 2,500 count box of RWS #107+ caps last week from Midway, so I'm set for a while. Midway is now out of stock for all caps.

I'm still waiting to receive the percussion cap maker that I ordered at the start of the month from 22LRreloader.com.

Combustible Paper Cartridges for Cap and Ball Revolvers

I have a sneaking suspicion that more than a few preppers have added a cap and ball revolver or two to their arsenals. Although obsolete since the 19th Century, they are still deadly weapons and when setup and loaded correctly, they are a reliable for six shots. On top of that, in most states they are available legally without completing any paperwork or submitting to a background check.

Most contemporary shooters load their cap and ball revolvers with cap and ball. However, in the 19th Century, especially in the Civil War, they were commonly loaded with combustible paper cartridges. These allow you to load them a lot faster and reduce the amount of gear required for you to take to the range or the field for a shooting session.

Over on Blog O-Stuff, I put up a post about making combustible paper cartridges for cap and ball revolvers. Check it out.