Butcher worked out well

Cooked up the steak for dinner yesterday. There was a noticeable difference in quality compared to the grocer. I have tried different cuts from the grocer, and have not been happy with any. Steak turned out extra good as I used one of Brigid's recipes off of her blog (home on the range via side bar). She has a recipe for a good rub for the steak and by following her cooking directions, you keep the moisture in the meat. She has a lot of good recipes (as well as great articles) on the site. She could make a great cookbook. I have some sausage I picked up from the same butcher. I will try it in some jambalaya for dinner. Once I have some room in freezer, I will stock up from there. They have some good package deals. It is still cold out, but I plan on hitting the club to try out the new plinker. The range should be frozen enough to walk on now, so I may be able to try the M1A while there as well.

One of my buddies from work dropped by yesterday to check out the dillon press. He is using the same type Lee turret press I had before the dillon. I think he may be adding  a dillon to his wish list. His kid is going through some hard times and moved back home. So his reloading room turned in to  a bedroom. I told him he could bring his supplies over and use my press. It is even set up for the caliber and bullet that he is loading. Might have to adjust the powder bar depending on his powder preference.

Pleasant morning

Headed to the new butcher this morning and hit the local gun shop on the way. He had a decent price on an economical shot gun. It is the Stoeger condor competition with adjustable comb, includes six chokes, and a vented barrel.  It isn't the prettiest gun. No fancy engraving, no gold inlays, but it should do well with skeet at the club and also double for a hunting gun. They also had a nice little plinker. I keep looking at conversion kits for my Smith and Wesson 1911, but for about the same price as a kit, I purchased GSG-1911. Not bad for $300 new. They had it in three flavors. Wood grip (mine), rubber grip, and tactical. The tactical had a rail and came with a fake silencer on it. Looks and feels good. Figure it will be a cheap plinker at the range and cheaper to shoot than the .45 while still being able to practice with a 1911 frame. Checked out their bow selection while I was there. They have an area outside the store where you can try out the bows. I need to do research and try out some of my friends bows before I even think about getting one. Best part of the gun purchase, used part of tax return. It is as if the Obama administration bought me a couple guns : )  That in it self gives me a warm feeling. Have to take pics of the store one of these days to post. It looks like a log cabin in and out. Has a porch with rocking chair placed for people to sit. As I stated, they have an area off porch to try out bows. The owners wife did the decor and did a nice job. It is decorated with deer heads, and rustic cabin decor. The owner and wife bring their daughter in usually. When I bought my .17 hmr last year and used them for an FFL, she was a baby napping in her stroller. Now she is a toddler wandering around the shop. The facility is very nice and family owned and operated. They were selling a lot of guns in the little time I was there. They have a full time gunsmith on duty as well. It is a pleasure dealing with them.

After the gun store, I headed a couple blocks over to the butcher my buddy at work told me about. It is a huge butcher shop. They have and enormous selection of meats, cheeses, wines, beers seasonings, soups, and various other foods. I picked up some sausage and some steaks. When I have more room in the freezer, I will definitely head back to stock up. Their prices are better than the grocers and the selection is a lot better. The girl scouts strategically placed their table of cookies right by the register. So as I write this, I am munching on fudge coated girl scout cookies while spike stares at me waiting for crumbs to fall. Saving the chocolate covered peanut butter ones for later. Gave spike a couple chew treats to keep him occupied for a while. The snow is gone. They have been talking snow all week. We didn't get enough to cover the grass. Just a dusting that was gone by this morning all together. Not suppose to get anymore. May head to the range tomorrow to try out some of the reloads and do a little plinking with the new toy.

Time to relax

Weekend is finally here. One of the guys at work told me about a decent butcher shop in the neighborhood. I use to live half a block from a butcher when I lived up north. I really miss that. My favorite from there were the pierogis. They were made there and a really nice variety.. Butcher down here is just past the Right to Bear Arms gun and bow store, so I will stop in and see what they have on special. Would like to get into bow shooting. Finally got a little white stuff falling from the sky. Just a dusting on the grass. Hopefully be gone by the time the sun comes up. This is my kind of winter. Wouldn't break my heart if I never saw snow again. Some of the kids at work keep hoping and praying for snow.They have the toys to play with in it. We are almost half way through February and I haven't had to break out the shovel yet. I should dig it out of the shed just so I know where it is in case I need it this year.  Got about half my .45 colt loading done yesterday after work. Will try to finish it in the morning. Hope to convert to .38 by lunch time tomorrow. Suppose to be cold all weekend, so reloading sounds like a good use of time. Pop a roast in the slow cooker with some veggies and let it stew all day. Maybe make some cornbread or corn muffins to go with it.

Packages at the door

That was some very quick shipping. I had two packages of bullets sitting on my stoop when I got home. I am still amazed that there are still trusting people out there. I ordered them Tuesday and put the check in the mailbox. Most people wait until a check clears to ship (myself included). It is nice to see there are still people that trust in others in the world. The product looks great. He even shipped me some sample bullets (.38 RNFP) to try out. They are different than the RNFP's I usually get in that caliber as they have a slight ledge on them. I want to see if they feed in my lever gun ok before ordering 1000 of them. His prices are extremely reasonable. I will print out a order form and take it to the club so members can order from him. It will help the supplier out as well as save the cowboy shooters alot of money. Suppose to be cold and slight possibility of snow, so it sounds like perfect reload weather. I want to hit it hard. Hope to load all the .45 colt brass, several hundred rounds of .38, 100 .357 magnum and hopefully set up the .45 acp and get some ran off to try out during the week. Guy at the gunstore I buy my powder and most supplies from recommended running off a small batch and making sure they feed smoothly and that it cycles well. He says sometimes you have to adjust the charge to make sure it ejects properly. This will be the first reload for a rimless round.

Stocking up

Found an online source for lead bullets that come out to about .13 a piece. Way cheaper than I can get them in the store, and it is the same alloy mix. Ordered 4000 of them in three calibers. Should be set for quite some time. I also picked up the conversion kit to run .45 acp in the dillon. I will now be able to load lead rounds for the 1911 to use at cowboy town. Nice to find trusting people in this day and age. I placed the order for the bullets on line. The guy doesn't do credit cards. When I placed the order through the site, he e-mailed back that the order would ship the next day. He isn't even waiting for the check. You don't get that too often any more. Be nice if they arrive by the weekend. Suppose to be cold this weekend, so it is perfect weather for reloading.

I picked up a die plate for the dillon to run 30-06 as well. I have had the dies for some time and have lots of brass saved up. Usually shoot the surplus ammo in the garrand. Would like to try some custom reloads to see how she shoots. Have to do some digging and see what bullets work best. Figure I can use the die plate for 30-06, 308, and 30-40 krag. I don't plan on doing frequent runs on them, so no sense buying separate plates for all of them. The pistol calibers I use enough of, it is smarter to leave them set in their own plates ready to install quickly. Probably set up on .303 brit as well at some point. One of the guys at work gave me some ammo to use in my enfields. He sold his and had no use for it any more.

 Just need to survive two more days at work. It has been soooo slow, the days drag. It is just a temporary lag. When the work hits, we will be buried alive again. Beginning of year usually has a dead spot in the work flow, but this is the longest one we have had. It has given me time to catch up on neglected maintenance issues. Also able to do some cross training on the machines which will help out when things get busy again.

Gun show day

It was a pleasant day. First thing in the morning, I headed to the gun show at the armory. They had some good deals going on. It was one of the smaller ones they have had in a while, but the crowd was HUGE. Parking lot was full. I managed to get a few hundred rounds of .45 colt brass and a few plastic cases to hold the ammo when loaded. Bumped into a few vendors I  usually deal with. The reloader did not bring any lead bullets this time around, so I will have to order some through the net. I picked up some .45 acp brass on the cheap as well. Went over to the rifle case table and picked up a couple long /scoped rifle cases. They are American made and not badly priced.

Next stop, Booneville gunshow. It is a little hole in the wall 4h center in the sticks. It is really small, but generally has some really interesting stuff, as well as some good grub. Had a tenderloin sandwich for lunch and it was excellent. Bumped into the guy in charge of the cowboy shoots at the club and talked to him for a while. He usually has a table at all the gunshows. He has one at both of the gun shows this weekend. His buddy is handling the one at the armory. He does some really nice leather work. He had a couple of nice revolvers for sale as well. He referred me to a couple places on the web for lead bullets for a really reasonable price. I picked up a heavy duty hard double rifle case for sixty bucks. I saw a colt single action out there I may go back for. They had several tables of old military memorabilia as well.

Heading back from there, I dropped off at Buck and Jakes outfitters. It is a decent little gun and archery store. I bought my safe there a few years back. Prices have really gone up. They had a really small safe of the same make I bought for the same price I paid a few years ago. Mine is easily three times the size. I picked up a Lyman reload manual while I was there and checked out their reloading gear. Didn't have any luck finding a scope mount for the M1A. The guy that has the M1A and Garrand stuff wasn't there this show. Maybe next show. A couple more weeks and the local 4H will have their gunshow. May have luck there on the mount. Probably spend tomorrow reloading .45 colt so I can set back up and load some more .38 as I have gone through a lot of it already. The weather has been too nice to stay in. Want to run off some .357 as well. It is nice temperature wise, but very wet. May shoot cowboy town tomorrow, but I am sure the rifle range is way too wet to mess with.

Still enjoying the warmth

Actually worked a forty hour week this week. It's February, in the 60's, and I actually get off in the early afternoon all week and am able to enjoy the weather. Took the Vette out to blow the cobwebs out of it and wash off some of the dust. Suppose to get a little rain over the weekend, but still plan on hitting the range. I have yet to shoot the M1A and plan on it this weekend. They have three gun shows going on this weekend as well, so hopefully I can get more brass for the .45 colt and get a set of dies for .45 acp so I can load lead ammo for the 1911 .  Should be a pleasant and busy weekend. One of the shows is at the armory and I am hoping the guy is there that sells garrand and m1a items. He had a few different scope mounts for the M1A's. He usually has garrand ammo at a reasonable price along with military memorabilia. Reloader there has bullets at a really decent price as well. Going to hit the one out in Booneville as well. Usually bump in to some of the guys from work at that one.