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.... June   2008 ~~~~ Editor:  Cliff Hanger ~~~~
Frontier Days No12 - A Cowboy Black Powder Event at Double R Bar, May 18, 2008

It was a great but gruesome day with the heat index in Lucerne Valley on Sunday. The temperature grew to over 100 degrees. Twenty, very hearty and dedicated souls braved the conditions but had a wonderful time shooting that good ‘ol smokey stuff. From the 181 rounds required by all 6 stages, over 20lbs of black powder and substitutes went up in smoke that day. Now this didn’t include all of those extra shotgun shells used on Stage 2 when you had to shoot from the Hip! Yes, there were quite a variety of stage designs where in some cases; a little bit of role playing went on before you were given the buzzer. But it didn’t take long before a little bit of adlib came into play. This was a sure sign of people having fun.

Stage 2 – Barkeep, I need MORE whiskey! As Doc Skinner starts off……

The match this year included another new category, Josey Wales. This required the use of 4 pistols and a shotgun. No rifle is used so the stage designs became a little challenging. Initially, the thought was to just shoot the pistol caliber rifle targets. That was the requirement only on a couple of stages. The remainder was to continue with a variety of sequences on the same or additional set of pistol targets. Looked as if it worked out. Next year, this category may require 2 of the 4 pistols to be either Walkers or Dragoons. Remember that the Josey Wales character wore 2 Walkers and a ’58 Remington in a shoulder rig.

Buffalo Hunter and Monte Walsh still remain very strong big bore rifle categories. Monte Walsh only being offered initially last year at shoot No11 held at Pala, enjoyed an equally good number at Thunder Valley in December. Thanks again to Weedy and Ivory Jack for getting us to bring this to reality.

Stage 4 – Where’s the BEEF?! As Honest Henry sends another one way out there shooting the Monte Walsh category. By the way, he won that category.
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This shooting discipline requires just a few more pieces of hardware than that plain ‘ol smokeless stuff.

 
“Down boy, DOWN!”  Jailhouse Jim with his shotgun from the hip in Stage 2. A few extra shells were used here by many.
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The match wrapped up about mid afternoon. So with Prof Bullspit being our honorary scorer, we finished up with a few donated door prizes and proceeded to the presentation.
 
Back row (L-R): Desert Dawg, Cowboy, Diamond Back Jack, Outlaw, Jailhouse Jim, Buffalo Hunter, and Speckles, Lady Outlaw
Front Row (L-R): White Lightnin, Real Cowboy, Prof Bullspit, Josey Wales, and Honest Henry, Monte Walsh.

Honest Henry was our overall high score for the match. Congratulations to all and hope to see ya all again.

I would like to extend my gratification to Double R Bar and the Lions organizations for their support and use of this fine facility. Frontier Days has been running since 1997 down at Pala and once at Cajon Cowboys in 2002. I believe we’ve found a new home.
Adios,
Red Sun
SASS #635 
 

Reloading Blackpowder Shotshells with Antique Tooling – No 4
by Red Sun SASS#635

Welcome back to the final installation of this series of articles. We’re going to complete the loading process of this hull and roll crimp the end. In addition, there will be a few items regarding the vintage tooling used for the roll crimping. Now let’s get going with the loading process. Last month we showed an array of components that will be loaded into the hull. Here’s a repeat of the items displayed.

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For this particular length hull and capacity, the components shown have been chosen to provide the correct stack so that the roll crimp can be formed with good retention properties. Leaving about 3/16” at the end of the hull allows the paper to fold over down to the overshot card. We’ll examine that later in the process. So here we go….

First our 2½ drams of powder will be dropped in to the funnel and then an over powder card will be placed over the powder. This card is punched out of a milk carton.

Now we’ll take the plunger and firmly set the card with some compression on the black powder. Some firm hand pressure and hearing the “crunch” is about all I do. Next we insert the wad. This is the gas seal for the assembly, so it will be a little tight starting into the funnel. And now we use the plunger with another good firm push to seat it.
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You may have noticed the shot weight marking on the card. These are created by a set of rubber stamps available through Ballistic Products. In fact, most all of these components can be ordered from them. It’s helpful to mark these to know what you may have loaded. You can also, simply write on the card itself too.
Overshot card samples on some vintage shotshells. Notice all the details for the loads.
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Tool made by Ideal Mfg patented in 1896. This would be their Diamond Grade model. This tool will be used for the roll crimping. The choice comes from the fact that Ideal patented a “round” crimp tool insert that was serviceable unlike most other tools that I have come across. Below are the details from one of their catalogs.
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We’ll start by looking at the hull after we have seated the over shot card. Here the remaining lip of the hull is the key in getting just the right fold over edge that helps in retaining the components in place and providing a seal.
The “edge” revealed is the area that will be “rolled” over.
Now we setup the crimper onto a worktable or bench and proceed with the crimp process.
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With the left hand, the pressure arm of the tool holds the shell in place and the gripper bites the edges of the brass base and keeps the shell from turning while you turn the crimp handle. Usually the rate at which the handle is turned will affect the quality of the crimp and finish. This is a trial and error type effort.
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And now we have the finished product. Let me say that this is not limited to paper hulls. The same can be accomplished using a plastic hull. The rolling pins in this tool are hardened and will work well on plastic. 

In summary, we have gone through quite an exercise. I’ll have to admit that we’ve spent that last 4 months with this and at this rate it will be 8 years before we fill a box of shells. Actually, once you have the setup, the average time per shell is less that a minute. 

This concludes this series of articles. If you are interested in a compiled and expanded version of these four articles, send me an email. The charge at this time will be $12.00 including the shipping. You can send check or money order to:

F.D. Boatright
928 Oldham Court
Encinitas, CA 92024
In the meantime, your comments and suggestions are welcome. Please forward those to Redsun635@aol.com.

Happy Reloading,
Red Sun

Copyright 2008  All Rights Reserved
 

All articles submitted to the "Brimstone Gazette" are the property of the author, used with their expressed permission. 
The Brimstone Pistoleros are not responsible for any accidents which may occur from use of  loading data, firearms information, or recommendations published on the Brimstone Pistoleros web site.