Pipe Cleaners and .22s

I wanted to swab the chambers on this High Standard and my bag of pipe cleaners was handier than my .22 cleaning rod, so I figured I'd give it a try. Doubled over the pipe cleaner is a snug fit that still pushes through easily. You could even use it to clean a rifle bore by cutting a short section, folding it in half, and then pulling it through with a thin line. You're not going to be doing any serious scrubbing but it'll work for applying solvent or oil.

You can get pipe cleaners with embedded plastic bristles which would be slightly more aggressive but they are probably not needed unless the bore or chamber are really crusty, although I do find them handy for cleaning hard to access spots in guns.

Fixing a High Standard R-108 Sentinel Snub Revolver

One of my favorite guns is a High Standard Sentinel R-101 .22 with a nickeled finish and 3" barrel, that I bought in near-new condition about 5 years ago. It's given excellent service.

A couple years ago I found a later Sentinel R-108 snub with a 2" barrel, and the original box and papers included.I jumped on that because the shorter barrel makes it a lot more pocketable, and 9 rounds of CCI Stingers or Federal Punch .22s is nothing to sneeze at.

Unfortunately, the snub gave me problems at the outset with the cylinder binding. I tried swapping cylinder assemblies with one I grabbed off eBay but that was for nought. It needed to have the cylinder disassembled to find the problem. I figured it would be a burr or some grit had managed to work its way inside.

The problem is that the Sentinels are notoriously difficult to put back together once taken apart. They are held together with pins and you need to align all the holes just right, often under spring tension. So, the gun sat until today when I finally got tired of it occupying space.

After removing the cylinder from the frame, which isn't difficult, to get the cylinder stripped I had to remove the cylinder lock plunger pin (part # 7112). This pin is about as thick as a pencil lead and 3 or 4mm long. It's under pressure from a couple springs (#7513 and #7576).

I managed to drive it out and not shoot any parts across the room. Upon pulling everything apart I found that ejector rod spring (#7576) was splayed out on both ends, causing cylinder rotation to bind. I clipped both ends which still gives plenty of spring pressure for the ejector rod to rebound.

Now came reassembly. I had to hold three parts under spring pressure in alignment and drive that tiny pin back into place. Aside from a small diameter drift punch I found a small hook from a Harbor Freight set indispensable.

You also need to stick your tongue out at the right angle, squint correctly, cross your toes, and pray. In extreme cases you may need to sacrifice a chicken.

After reassembly and a few cylinder's worth of dry firing (safe to do with the Sentinel) it seems to be working smoothly.

Part of self reliance is being able to work on your guns. To that end, you should have a gunsmith's screwdriver kit with an assortment of bits that properly fit gun screws, a set of drift punches, a non-marring mallet, and a bench block. A vise with non-marring jaws will also be very handy. Also, magnetic parts trays help keep you from losing small parts when you've got a gun apart.

I feel like I earned a bowl of Half and Half in my Falcon pipe, along with a can of Yuengling Lager.

Hopefully I'll get to do a live fire test soon.

Graphing RF Line of Sight

I have a few friends who live within a reasonable distance for 2M simplex communications, if there is line of sight. Today I found this tool that allows you to graph LOS between two points on a map:

https://www.scadacore.com/tools/rf-path/rf-line-of-sight/

Here's a plot between my house on the left and a friend's on the right, assuming an antenna height of 10M:

Back in 2015, we were able to hold a conversation on 2M simplex, with Yagi directional antennas on both ends. In that test my antenna was only about 1M above ground, while my friend went up the hill behind his house and hung his antenna from a stick, about 1M up. See my two posts on that test, here and here.

Since there is a ridge about halfway between us, it is likely that knife edge diffraction played a role in the success of our QSO.

Expedient 10M Dipole Antenna

I whipped this up in about 15 minutes this afternoon.

I used a wire stripper/cutter and the reamer on the Victorinox Pioneer Swiss Army Knife. I could have used just the SAK.

Bill of materials:

• BNC-to-Binding post adapter
• No.36 bank line for a center hang loop (optional)
• Two lengths of 20 AWG silicone insulated wire, cut to 8 feet and 1/4" each. You may want to go a little longer and trim to length to adjust SWR as needed.
• Insulators cut from plastic dividers from a plastic parts bin organizer

The build is simple:

1. Cut the wires to length
2. Strip about 1" of the insulation of one end of each wire, twist, and put the stripped end through the hole in the binding post, one to the red and one to the black. Snug down the screw on the binding posts.
3. Cut the wire end insulators and drill two holes large enough for the 20AWG wire near one end. Drill a single hole on the other end.
4. On the end with two holes, thread the end of the wire through the hole closest to the edge then down through the second hole. Tie an overhand knot to prevent it from coming back through, then pull the wire snug. Here's a closeup:

Notes:

• I was going to crimp a ring connector onto the ends of the wires where they attach to the binding posts, but the rings weren't quite large enough. You might be able to drill them out a little with a step drill.
• Depending on what size line I use to hold up the antenna, I may need to add a small loop of bank line to either end. I didn't want to drill the third hole too large because the plastic I used was thin.

I should be able to try this out later in the week and will post a follow up. If by chance I cut the wires too short I can replace them, then repurpose them for use on a 6M dipole.

My First Whack at a Homebrew Jungle Antenna

This afternoon I made a VHF jungle antenna for the first time. 

The jungle antenna is a field expedient ground plane antenna that can be made with limited supplies and tools, under austere conditions, though I built on my dining room table (the XYL is out of town).

This antenna design is featured in military manuals, survivalist videos on YouTube, and @NCScout has a great blog post on them on his site Brushbeater and in his book, The Guerilla's Guide to the Baofeng Radio.

Materials Used:

• 18 AWG wire
• #36 bank line
• A BNC F-to-binding post adapter from Amazon
• Bamboo stakes garden stakes from Lowes, to spread out the ground plane radials.

The only tool I used for the initial build was a SOG PowerAccess multitool, leftmost in the above picture. It is 4.5" long, which I used to measure the wire and bamboo for cuts.

I first cut thee 22" long pieces of bamboo for the spreaders. These were tied into a triangle with bank line.

Three radials were cut to ~20" and one wire for the vertical radiator was cut to 18".

I attached a bank line hang loop to the end of the vertical with a sheet bend. The other end of the vertical was stripped and put into the red binding post. The three radiators were stripped on one end, combined, and attached to the black binding post. The other ends have a small overhand knot tied in them and then were tied to the corners of the triangle.

Unfortunately, SWR (Standing Wave Ratio) came out high on both VHF and UHF, measured with my NanoVNA. On 2M VHF, SWR was 2.29 at 146.5 MHz. On 70cm UHF it was a bit better, 1.86 at 450.2 MHz.

After dinner I made a couple changes. First, I replaced the 18" vertical element with one cut to 19.2", with an overhand knot tied at the top end, with my bank line hang loop tied under that with a couple half hitches.

I have it suspended from an uncut bamboo stake in my second floor home office. Yes, it's a bit cluttered.

I also improved the ground plane part by replacing the bank line securing the ends of the radials and bamboo pieces with a cable tie at each junction. This made the structure much stronger.

After reworking it I remeasured SWR with 29.5 feet of RG-174 coaxial feed line. It's much improved now.

On the 2M calling frequency of 146.52 MHz SWR is now at 1.36, and on the 446 MHz 70cm calling freq it's at 1.06.

Note that SWR will probably change some with the antenna hanging in free space but I cannot test that today because it's been raining off and on outside.

Reception of a couple local repeaters has been very good but I haven't transmitted with it yet.

Measuring SWR on an Ed Fong J-Pole with a NanoVNA

I have an Ed Fong roll up J-Pole antenna for use with 2M/70cm HTs. It's currently hanging from a thumb tack pushed into the wall of my shack up near the ceiling. I thought it would be interesting to measure the SWR (Standing Wave Ratio) on it for 144 Mhz through 446 Mhz, using a NanoVNA. 

After getting the reading I uploaded the picture to Google Gemini, ChatGPT, and Grok for analysis. Here's what Grok had to say:

This is a classic NanoVNA SWR (Standing Wave Ratio) plot of an Ed Fong-style dual-band J-pole antenna (2 m / 70 cm).

What the Graph Shows

• X-axis (horizontal): Frequency sweep from 144.000 MHz (START) to 460.000 MHz (STOP).
  This covers the entire 2-meter band (144–148 MHz) and most of the 70 cm band (430–450 MHz), plus the frequencies in between.
• Y-axis (vertical): SWR, scaled from 1.00 (bottom of the screen) to 1.75 (top of the screen).
  The labels at the top (“CH0 SWR 1.00/ 1.75”) confirm this narrow scale, which zooms in on the good-performance region.
• Blue trace: Measured SWR at each frequency (derived from the reflection measurement on CH0 / S11).

Key rule for reading SWR plots on a NanoVNA:
Lower on the screen = better match (lower SWR).
Higher on the screen = worse match (higher SWR).

The trace shows clear downward dips at the resonant frequencies — these are the “good” spots.

Interpretation of the Dips (Resonances)

J-pole antennas (especially dual-band designs like Ed Fong’s) are not simple dipoles. They consist of a radiating element + a matching stub, so they naturally exhibit multiple resonant modes, including harmonics. This is exactly what you see:

• Left side of the plot (near 144 MHz marker): One or more dips in/near the 2 m band. The marker is placed right at 144.000 MHz (lower edge of the band). The trace near the marker is on the shoulder of a dip, indicating usable (but not necessarily the absolute best) SWR at the very bottom of the band. The main 2 m resonance is likely slightly higher (typical center ~146 MHz).
• Middle of the plot: Several additional dips. These are intermediate/harmonic modes that are normal for this antenna type but usually not used for transmitting.
• Right side of the plot (toward 430–460 MHz): Prominent dip(s) corresponding to the 70 cm band. One of the deeper dips is in this region, showing excellent match where it matters. The trace also trends low again near the right edge (~460 MHz), consistent with another higher-order response.

Between the dips the trace rises high (often off the top of the 1.75 scale) — this is completely normal and expected. You only care about SWR in the actual amateur bands you use.

Overall Performance Assessment

This is a very good result for a dual-band J-pole:

• Multiple deep dips reaching close to the bottom of the scale → SWR very close to 1.0 at the resonant frequencies (excellent match).
• The scale only goes up to 1.75, and the dips are well below that → the antenna is well-tuned for both 2 m and 70 cm.
• Typical real-world Ed Fong J-poles show SWR in the 1.2–1.8 range on both bands when properly built; your scan is right in that ballpark or better.

Quick Summary Table

Frequency Region	Expected Behavior	What You See in the Plot	Quality
144–148 MHz (2 m)	Main resonance	Clear dip(s) near left side	Good to excellent
~200–400 MHz (in between)	High SWR (unused)	Trace high between dips	Normal
430–450 MHz (70 cm)	3rd-harmonic resonance	Prominent dip(s) toward right	Excellent
>450 MHz	Higher-order modes	Trace trending low again	Normal for J-pole

Bottom Line

Your Ed Fong J-pole is performing as designed — it has solid low-SWR resonances in both the 2 m and 70 cm bands. The multiple dips are characteristic of this antenna style and are not a problem.

If you want the exact SWR number at 144 MHz (or any other specific frequency), just move the marker on the NanoVNA and read the value at the top of the screen. You can also narrow the sweep (e.g., 140–150 MHz or 420–450 MHz) for a more detailed view of each band.

~~~

Afterwards, I ran scans but limited the range to 140 - 150 MHz and 450 - 460 MHz, to get more granular views of the 2M and 70cm bands. But this shows how you can use AI to help you understand raw data.

Building a 2M Jungle Antenna

Brett from the Survivalcomms YouTube channel has this nice video on how to build a 2M jungle antenna. The only tool he used to build it was a Leatherman multitool. After he built and hoisted it he measured scanned it with a spectrum analyzer.

This is the same antenna design described by NC Scout on the Brushbeater blog, here. It's a 1/4 wave vertical with three counterpoise elements that create the ground plane.

You might wonder whether a jungle antenna or a roll-up J-pole works better on VHF. Realistically they are very similar but the J-pole is more portable. This archived thread from the Arfcom ham forum goes into some details.

One advantage to the jungle antenna is that some folks (i.e., me) may find it easier to build. When I've tried to strip 300 Ohm TV twinlead to make a J-pole I always mangled the conductors because the wire inside the insulation is so thin. In contrast I find it easier to strip insulation from other slightly thicker wire, like lamp cord. So, for me, if I needed to make an expedient antenna, I'd go with the jungle antenna, assuming I had the BNC-to-banna plug adapter.

Yaesu FT-7800R Programming

Today I found out the hard way not to use CHIRP* to program my Yaesu FT-7800R radio. IIRC, this worked OK for me in the past but not on my current M4 MacBook Air, with a Cable Matters USB-C to RS-232 adapter. I was able to download the pre-existing memory channels fine but when I made some changes and uploaded them to the rig, only the first two memory channels worked.

I wound up doing a factory reset on the radio and trying again with the same result.

So, I bit the bullet and ordered the RT Systems ADMS-2K software plus their USB-29 programming cable. 

The cable will be shipped to me but RT Systems provided me with a download link for the Mac software. I grabbed that and tried it with the aforementioned Cable Matters adapter and the Yaesu RS-232 programming cable, and it worked fine. Once I receive the RT Systems cable I use that, since it'll be a more elegant setup.

My radio is at least 20 years old and while futzing with it I noticed that the microphone cable is fraying on both ends, although it still worked for me to get into a local 2M net this morning. I checked for replacement mics and found a replacement cable only at Amazon, which I should get tomorrow.

*In contrast to the Yaesu rig, CHIRP has never given me a lick of trouble with my Baofeng UV-5Rs or UV-25PRO.

One-Handed Racking of the Ruger Security-380

This shows just how easy it is to rack the slide on the Security-380 by hooking the rear sight on your pants pocket.

The front edge of the rear sight is undercut a bit probably just for this purpose.

Ruger Security-380 Lite Rack

Being in my late 50s and having spent about 26 years in IT using a keyboard a lot, my hands no longer take well to heavy recoiling guns. I recently got a CZ-82 in 9mm Makarov but being a straight blowback, I'm limited to about 50 rounds per session with that gun.

A couple days ago I traded off my SIG P365X, which had gotten unpleasant to shoot, in favor of a Ruger Security-380 Lite Rack. It's based on the Security-9 Compact but chambered for .380 ACP. Size-wise it's comparable to a Beretta 81 or 84 Cheetah .32 or a SIG P365 AXG Legion. Unlike the blowback Berettas, the Ruger is a locked-breech gun so my hope was that it would have mild recoil.

Shown between a 3" S&W Model 10-8 K-Frame and a S&W Model 432UC J-Frame (my EDC):

I tried a few holsters that I have on hand for other guns and found that it fits my El Paso Saddlery M-1942 Tanker made for the S&W M&P M2.0 Compact 9mm:

It's large trigger guard kept it from seating in a Tanker holster for 1911s.

The Ruger came with two 15-round mags (for this RSR-exclusive SKU), a mag loader, chamber flag, owner's manual, and gun lock.

The front sight is a green fiber optic while the rear is blacked out with a U-notch that gives just the right amount of space on the sides of the front when aiming. Sight visibility is excellent.

My hands are medium-sized and I'm able to grip the gun and reach the trigger comfortably.

There is a thumb safety on the left side, but not on the right for us lefties. The safety lever is small and might not be easy to work with gloves on. I plan to ignore it.

One caution I saw in a video review by Honest Outlaw on YouTube is that if you eject magazines and let them fall onto a concrete floor, they may shed their floorplates and possibly break. So, don't do that.

Today was a good day to test my theory that a locked-breech large .380 pistol would be good for folks with hand issues, because they were acting up.

While .380 ACP may not be as powerful as 9mm, the ballistics are similar to those of the Colt 1851 Navy .36 percussion revolver, which put a lot of men in the ground in the late 19th Century. Think of the Ruger as a 15-shot Colt Navy.

I put 137 rounds of .380 FMJ through it (38 Federal American Eagle, 49 CCI Blazer w/aluminum cases, and 50 rounds of PMC). The gun ran perfectly.

The trigger pull is consistent and my SWAG is that it breaks at about 4 - 4.5 lbs. There is zero overtravel due to a stop molded into the trigger guard. There is a little takeup in the pull before you encounter resistance, similar to a two-stage military rifle trigger.

The two 15-round mags that were included with the gun definitely need a magazine loader to fill, especially for the final round. I used my Maglula UpLULA instead of the one included with the gun. The magazines have the same bodies as those for the Security-9, but with a spacer in the back to work with the shorter .380 rounds. Any mag loader meant for double-column 9mm pistol mags will work.

Seating a fully loaded magazine with the slide forward requires you to give it a good whack on the bottom to ensure it's latched in place.

I shot it on paper at 10 yards and on steel at 25 yards. The point of impact is a little to the right at 10, more so at 25. Looking down at the top of the slide it looks like Ruger didn't get the rear sight perfectly centered. It's a hair off to the right. I'm going to center it before I shoot it the next time.

Field stripping is easy but may require a small flat head screwdriver to pull out the takedown pin, if it's dirty or dry. A good accessory for this gun would be a Czech surplus CZ-82 cleaning rod, which has a flat head screwdriver on the tip.

Despite Ruger not getting the rear sight properly centered on my sample, overall I'm very impressed with the Security-380.

The recoil is very soft, similar to the Beretta .32. However, the slide is much easier to rack than the Beretta's, more like a .22 autoloader's. Even after 137 rounds my hands weren't feeling much worse than when I started. If you have hand strength or pain issues, or are just recoil-sensitive, this is a gun to seriously check out.

Ballistol Gun Cleaning Wipes

Last weekend I placed an order with the Ballistol online store for a couple bottles of their oil, along with some of their cleaning wipes. In my experience, Ballistol is a pretty good CLP, and when made into a water/Ballistol emulsion, is good for cleaning black powder or corrosive primer fouling. I've been using it more lately because it's non-toxic.

My order arrived today and I used one of the wipes for cleaning my S&W Model 64-3 and my EDC, Model 432UC.

The wipe is made from is some kind of synthetic cloth. It reminds me of the Hoppe's No.9 synthetic cleaning patches. It was large enough that I cut two rectangular patches from it and used one each to clean the bores of my guns, after first running a brush wet with Ballistol through them. The remaining wipe was large enough for me to do a quick external wipe down of both guns. I.e., cleaning fouling off the outside of each cylinder and getting rid of most of the fouling inside the cylinder window on each gun's frame.

Ballistol is often criticized for its smell, which reminds many people of dirty gym socks. I noticed that the smell of the wipes wasn't nearly as pungent as when you use a spray bottle, whether aerosol or pump. I don't like Ballistol's odor so this was welcome.

I'm planning to add a couple wipes to each field cleaning kit I have for my guns. They'll be good for external wipe downs and if necessary, oiling the bore. 

Jewish Armed Self Defense Case

Here's another recent example of why Jewish Americans must embrace and exercise their right to keep and bear arms as protected by the Second Amendment. Being a defenseless victim is NOT a Jewish virtue. In fact, it is against Jewish law.

https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/man-charged-antisemitic-hate-crime-miami-beach/3790877/

My book "Guns for Jews" discusses why being armed for self defense is in accordance with Jewish law, and provides resources for those new to owning and carrying a firearm. The link goes to the free PDF on my Google Drive.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18GXFERy8nH1iM6ERtLs-PXX3qXDo5C0K/view?usp=drive_link

Home Defense Shotgun Setup

As antisemitism continues to rise I want to remind my fellow Jewish Americans that if you aren't armed for self defense, you need to be. See my free book, "Guns for Jews," which is a free book I wrote to help Jewish Americans arm themselves. It's a PDF hosted on my Google Drive.

Ideally, your first gun should be a handgun to along with a concealed carry permit. However, many jurisdictions where Jewish Americans live make it difficult and time consuming to get a handgun and a carry permit. Something you can probably get with less paperwork and delay is a shotgun for home defense.

I've had this Mossberg 500 Mariner 12 gauge shotgun for close to 20 years. It's pretty much a dedicated home defense gun, although I did use it in one or two action matches over 10 years ago. Recently, I've done a few mods to make it more useful for me.

When choosing these modifications, I kept Greg Ellifritz's comments in these posts in mind:

• https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/shotguns-for-home-protection
• https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/home-defense-shotgun-questions-answered

So, after a couple different configurations over the years, I think I've settled on my final set up:

1. Magpul SGA stock, set to my length of pull using spacers. Five extra rounds are kept in a Hill People Gear stock cuff. I also added a QD sling swivel stud to the stock.
2. A Hi Viz clamp on fiber optic front sight, which much more visible and taller than the factory bead. This corrected the high point of impact with the factory bead.
3. Defender Tactical Mini-Pro Lifer and Cartridge Arrestor System, so I can shoot the 1.75" mini shells.
4. CVLIFE 1.25" quickly adjustable rifle sling.
5. CDM Gear ROC-12 accessory rail.
6. Inforce WML 400 lumen weapon light mounted so I can activate it using my right thumb (I'm left handed).

I've been wanting to try out 1.75" mini shells due to their reduced recoil and because you can load more in the tube magazine. Mossberg shotguns are easily modified to run with the mini shells with adapters from either Op Sol or Defender Tactical. The Mossberg 590S comes from the factory already setup to handle mini-shells.

Even if I keep the gun loaded with Federal 2.75" 00 Flitecontrol for now, the mini shell adaptor gives me the ability to use reduced recoil loads when I'm older.

Since I no longer have any small children in the house, the gun is kept in a closet "cruiser ready," i.e., full magazine, empty chamber, bolt locked forward.

Set up this way, the Mossberg will handle any home defense situation I can reasonably think of in my suburban location.

Links:

(Some of these are affiliate links.)

• Inforce weaponlight: https://amzn.to/4unaiN7
• CGM gear light mount rail: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081NTW9TM?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_3
• HiViz fiber optic sight: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002INN3G?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_3
• CVLife sling: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WRB433Q?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1&th=1
• QD sling swivels: https://amzn.to/4loI8gF
• Sling swivel studs: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMTXBT1R?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_3&th=1
• Magpul SGA stock for Mossberg 500/590: https://magpul.com/sgastock-mossberg500-590-590a1.html?mp_global_color=118
• Defender Tactical Mini-Pro Lifter and Cartridge Arrestor System: https://defendertactical.com/products/mini-pro
• Hill People Gear Stock Cuff: https://hillpeoplegear.com/Products/By-Activity/Hunting/CategoryID/37/ProductID/43

 

Warsun T7 EDC Pocket Light

In the past week I picked up a Warsun T7 pocket sized flat flashlight from Amazon. It's a handy little light for when you need to get some work done and don't need or want something super bright.

It charges via USB-C and has multiple modes, all controlled with a single button.

The case is made from aluminum. One end has an LED while the opposite end has a magnet so you can hang it to provide area illumination, e.g., under the hood of a car.

Here are some pictures showing its size, next to a quarter for reference.

 

Not counting the pocket clip, it's 0.30" thick, 4.4" long, and about 0.95" wide. It slips comfortably in a pocket like a thin pocket knife.

It's plenty bright for walking around in the dark. Today I took advantage of the side light while working to clear a slow drain. It was perfect for illuminating under a bathroom vanity.

I can't comment yet on run time but it should be at least a few hours when used on low. If I have one criticism it's that it relies on one button to cycle through all the modes, and I'd just assume that it didn't have a strobe mode for the side LED. But for $12 on Prime (or $23 for a two pack) I can't complain.

Loaded Some Reduced Recoil .30-30s Today

Today I loaded up 50 rounds of .30-30 (.30 WCF) reduced loads with lead bullets and Unique powder. These will primarily be fired in a late 1940s-vintage Stevens 325-B bolt action.

The bullets were 1990s-vintage Alberts Scheutzen Plinker 154 grain swaged lead from my late father's stash. I used some Federal No.210 large rifle primers I bought back then when I was loading .30-06 for shooting in an M-1 Garand in Service Rifle competition back in the 90s. I haven't loaded much high power rifle since then.

After seating but before crimping:

Aesthetically, I really like the retro look of these loads.

I chose a mild charge of 9.0 grains of Unique, which should drive the bullet to around 1200 - 1300 FPS, but I'll run some over a chronograph to be sure. I've see data for 150 grain lead bullets with up to 11.0 grains of Unique.

I also inventoried my .30 caliber cast bullets. I have a box of Lasercast 170 grain RNFPs. They are designed to use a gas check but those aren't installed. I  have a bag of gas checks which I can add using my Lee sizer, and did that for 20 bullets. I also have some Lee 178 grain RNFP gas checked bullets from MOD Outfitters, sized .310. I should be able to drive the gas checked bullets close to 2,000 FPS. I'll try using Winchester 748 powder or IMR 3031 for that.

Charger Cables and Adapters

One of the less-pleasant aspects of getting older is spending more time in hospitals, whether as a patient with a relative who is a patient. That means at some point you may find yourself needed to charge your phone, tablet, or laptop.

For example, my mother recently had a hospital stay and had her iPhone with her to communicate with the rest of the family and to keep her occupied (she uses the Kindle app a lot). We saw that her hospital bed actually had a couple of USB ports provided so patients could charge their devices.

Unfortunately, the ports were USB-A. Her charging cable is USB-C on both ends. Luckily, it was about 8 feet long and she brought the power brick, and we were able to use a wall outlet near the head of her bed. But this experience got me to thinking and I ordered a couple things to provide more flexible charging options.

• First, a two-pack of Anker USB-C to USB-C cables that are 10 feet long. Long charging cables are handy not just in hospitals, but also when travelling when you might not have easy access to an outlet.
• Second, a two-pack of USB-C to USB-A adapters. One of these would've been handy for my mother.

If you need extra charging bricks these Anker 20W chargers are good. They accept both USB-A and USB-C cables. I have a couple in regular use.

Velcro cable ties or Nite Ize Gear Ties are useful for keeping cables neat when not in use or if they are longer than needed.

The chargers and cables are cheap enough so you can buy a couple and keep one in a grab and go bag kept ready for unexpected hospital stays. Having them around gives you one less thing to worry about in a stressful situation.

Support Kit for the Stevens 325-B .30-30

Today I put together an accessory kit to help keep the Stevens 325-B .30-30 running in the field.

• Two spare 3-round magazines
• East German surplus RG-57 AKM cleaning kit
• East German surplus grenade pouch

All items were bought from Numrich Arms.

Numrich warned that the magazines may require final fitting. However, both of mine locked into the rifle easily and fed three rounds into the chamber.

The RG-57 cleaning kit is based around a pull-through, a couple bore brushes, a broom-like brush,  an AKM tool, and a small oil bottle, all contained within a tin reminiscent of vintage pipe tobacco tins. The tin is contained in vinyl pouch with a snap, and a coarse net-like cleaning cloth.

The two bore brushes attach to the patch pulling loop with a hook. I tried the pull-through with one of the large cotton cleaning patches and it pulled through easily, dry or wet.

This site has a nice overview of the kit. Note that mine came with a different kind of pouch to keep it in.

I filled the oil bottle with Ballistol. Apparently the East Germans used it for gun oil, not solvent. Because Ballistol is a CLP it'll be good for both cleaning the rifle and protecting it against rust.

I got turned onto the East German grenade pouches by Jess on the Endurance Room YouTube channel, where he uses one to hold his fire kit. They contain a divider which for my uses I cut out. Numrich has them cheap in NOS condition.

I also added a small Ziplock bag with some cotton flannel cleaning patches.

This kit should handle most needs short of an obstructed bore or a stuck case. If I encounter either in the field I may be able to knock out a bore obstruction by dropping the pull-through's weight on it, but a stuck case would require a cleaning rod to knock out.

IMO, this would be a good setup for one of these rifles kept as a truck gun.

While out hunting I'd have this in my pack with at least one of the spare magazines in a jacket pocket.

WFC Peep Sight for the Stevens 325-B

I lucked out and found on eBay a vintage WFC peep sight meant for the Stevens 325 / Savage 340 and snagged it.

This should noticeably improve the practical accuracy of the rifle compared with an open rear sight. It's missing the mounting screws but I just checked the threads on the rifle and they are 10-32, so sourcing a couple suitable cap screws will be easy. I may have some in my shop but if not, Lowe's or Home Depot will have them.

Since this peep sight design hangs off the back of the receiver it's a bit more vulnerable to damage than a barrel-mounted open sight. So, I want a backup. I have a Marble's #95 sight on the way from Midwest Gunworks. The #95 has a folding leaf so it will be down and out of the way of the peep sight.

Stevens 325-B Bolt Action .30-30

Several years ago when Ruger introduced their Ruger American Ranch Rifle in 7.62x39 I had immediate case of the wants. I have a large supply of the caliber and it would be very useful here in Pennsylvania. However, I generally don't buy right handed bolt action rifles unless they are a classic or military surplus. So, I've held off on getting one.

However, yesterday I got my hands on a suitable alternative in another caliber I stock with similar ballistics. It's a right handed boltgun but for this case I'll make an exception. It's a Savage Stevens 325B in .30-30 Winchester.

In 1947 or '48, Savage Arms' Stevens subsidiary introduced a new rifle, the model 325. It was designed to appeal to returning GIs who'd gotten used to shooting bolt action rifles and was chambered initially in .30-30 and .22 Hornet. After a few years it was renamed the Savage 340 and in addition to these two calibers, was chambered in .222 Remington, .223 Remington, and .225 Winchester. Savage sold the 340s until 1985.

These rifles used modern manufacturing techniques including many stamped sheet steel parts, to help keep the cost down. Instead of walnut the stock was made from birch. It sold for $38 in 1948, which an inflation calculator tells me is worth about $656 today.

The Stevens is rather plain, but a serviceable rifle. I imagine that many of them were working guns on farms. Over on the Gun and Game Forum, member Outpost75, who owns a Savage 340A in .30-30, described them, "These are good, sturdy, accurate little rifles, if a bit "agricultural" looking."

This Stevens 325B in .30-30 followed me home from the Oaks, PA gun show yesterday. It's in excellent shape for a 76 year old gun. It's stamped on the top of the barrel near the receiver with a B inside of a circle. This appears to be a Savage date code indicating it was built in 1950.   The bore and crown are spotless. Along with the gun I bought a Chicom SKS sling. I like these because they are simple, light, quiet, and easy to adjust.

The unloaded rifle weighs 7 lbs. but feels a little lighter to me because it balances very well. The barrel is 21" long, and the length of pull is about 13-5/8", which fits me nicely.

If you're enamored with Jeff Cooper's scout rifle concept one of these would be a good scout-ish platform, keeping in mind that it cannot be rechambered for .308 and scope mounting requires a side-mounted rail. You won't get stripped clip loading but because it uses detachable box magazines, that's moot, IMHO.

The detachable box magazine feed also makes these ideal for truck gun usage. You can keep a couple magazines loaded and locked in a separate container from the rifle, but quickly load it when required.

The standard scope mounts for this series of rifles mounts to the side of the receiver, due to the split bridge design. My rifle was built before Savage came out with their side mount so it lacks the drilled and tapped mounting holes. However, it is drilled and tapped for a receiver peep sight. I setup a search on eBay to see if one turns up.

For now I'll rely on the open iron sights. Another possibility is to drill and tap the receiver ring for a short section of Picatinny rail and mount a small dot sight on it. That would help preserve the rifle's handling while giving a much better sighting arrangement.

Something to keep in mind if you buy one of these is that the bolt has only one locking lug, relying on the root of the bolt handle to act as a safety lug. Compared with, e.g., a Mauser, Mosin-Nagant, or Lee-Enfield, the action is relatively weak. That said, it is plenty strong enough for factory loads in the calibers for which it was built.

The Stevens feeds from a three-round detachable box magazine. I like such magazines on hunting rifles because they facilitate easy loading and unloading, and with a spare magazine in your pocket you're set for a day's hunt. I ordered a couple reproductions from Numrich Arms, which may require a little final fitting.

The magazine is also a limiting factor on those who want to use spitzer bullets in the .30-30. While rifles with tubular magazines can't use hard-tipped pointed bullets because of the risk of unwanted detonation in the mag, the short length of the Savage / Stevens pretty much limits cartridges to those with the same length as factory loads. Here's the mag filled with Remington 170 grain Core Lokt factory loads. You can see there isn't much room for a longer bullet.

An interesting feature on my rifle is a .30-30 case head inlet into the right side of the butt. The pictures I've found of the Stevens lack this so I'm guessing a previous owner put it there. Pretty cool.

The .30-30 cartridge is great for shooting cast bullets, which I plan to do. So I slugged the bore by driving a .32 caliber lead bullet through the barrel and then measuring the groove diameter, which came out to .30905". I have some .310" bullets from MOD Outfitters I'll be trying in the Stevens after I get the chance to load some .30-30s.

In my wanderings online to search for info about the Stevens 325 and Savage 340 rifle I ran across these two articles by Leeroy Wisner, which are worth saving if you have one:

• Stevens 325 and Savage 340 Bolt Action Rifle
• Gunsmithing the Savage Model 340 Rifle

And also this site:

• The Savage 340

I've always thought this series of rifles was neat and I'm happy to have finally acquired one. Now all I need to happen is for the weather to warm up so it's normal Southeast, PA winter instead of feeling like I live on Hoth, and I'll get to shoot it.

Winter Storm Fern AAR

We lucked out with this storm. My area got about 6" to 7" of snow but that got topped with an inch or two of sleet. I ran my snowblower once late Sunday afternoon, then spent a few hours with the blower and shovels on Monday, after which I was beat.

Cleaning my driveway apron was the worst part, due to the depth and density of the packed ice and snow. It strained my snowblower's engine and I had to be careful to keep it from stalling.

The snowblower is 24" wide and about 16 to 18" tall.

The engine has been giving me issues requiring me to run it with the choke in the start position to keep it from stalling but I think something came unclogged and after running it awhile I was able to turn it to the running position. It would benefit from having the carb stripped and cleaned out.

Other than the quirks of running my snowblower we didn't have any storm-related problems. Power didn't even flicker, cell service remained up, and our Internet was fine.

Now the forecasters are saying we might have another storm this coming Sunday. Other than some grocery restocking we should be prepared if we get hit again.

Winter Storm Fern Preps

Where I live in PA is looking to get the more snow dumped on us than we have in several years, so I took some time to prepare.

Yesterday, I ran my snowblower for about 5 minutes to ensure it works and blow out the cobwebs. I also ran to Lowe's for some silicone spray and used that to hose it down inside and out. This helps minimize snow sticking to it. I did that to a couple shovels as well. If you don't have silicone spray you can also use cooking spray.

While out I filled the tank in my truck and a 5 gallon jerrycan with gas. I have two full cans so I should have plenty for the snowblower with some left over for the generator, if needed.

Speaking of which, today I changed out the starter battery on my generator and ran it for awhile to ensure the new battery is fully charged.

All devices will be charged by Saturday night, along with power banks. From the forecasts I've seen it doesn't look like we're going to get really strong winds but the amount of snow may take down trees which may then fall on power lines.

We have plenty of food in the house and even if we lose power we have a natural gas fireplace that works when the power's out.

If you're in the path of this storm, get ready and be safe.