summer patriot, winter soldier

an idle observation ... no. 2 ... why the ar-15 and its derivatives is best ...

i am going to tell you why the ar-15 system is so influential, even though aspects of it are not universally revered or even particularly admired.

but, first a digression.--

go to this lovely website, run by a crazy russian whose english language syntax makes boris badenov sound like sir john gielgud, here, at http://world.guns.ru/assault-e.html .  the website host may fracture english, but he writes "guns" just fine, and in a very sprightly and opinionated fashion.  

he gets his points across.

and, go to those portions of his website that deal with the transition of the main battle rifle from the bolt action mauser dominated world, to the beginning semi automatic rifles such as the germans and russians and americans made.  

the early efforts were brutally complicated systems, and the fire control systems were the things of genius, ... , but, they didn't work so very reliably, simply put.  there were all sorts of brilliantly contrived mechanical linkages and this and that sort of contrivance designed to work with the bolt and breaching system to control the manner of fire, and whether it was done from an open bolt or a closed bolt, ... , and, yada yada yada.

it is worth spending a copy of evenings just looking at the efforts of some of the world's brightest people, and the abysmal failures issued forth by their efforts.

now, let's come back to the ar-15.

with the ar-15, the genius is found in the trigger.  and, the fact that the bolt and the bolt carrier have absolutely nothing to do, basically, with fire control.  as a result, the ar-15 is the most ridiculously flexible system ever designed.  maybe it is not the best at everything, but, with a little tinkering, it can be made to do just about anything.

for instance, i am a devoted fan of the russian rpd light machine gun, designed by the russian degtyarov.  http://world.guns.ru/machine/rus/degtyarov-rpd-e.html .  it is a marvelously clever and robust system, and a dedicated machine gun that fires only from the "open bolt" position.  i think it so mechanically fascinating, that i considered buying a kit and a receiver and obtaining a federal license to build one, and would have simply for the fun of building one, in all its glorious complexity.  (yeah, when pigs fly and i could scrape up enough money in the next five years.  i may have a hamburger this week, if i can afford that.  laughing.)

the rpd is one of the best purpose built light machine guns, ever, by anybody.  period.

and, then i got to thinking.

i can duplicate it with an ar-15 build, if i want a squad light machine gun all that badly.  you know, for fighting off the chinese hordes with about five lifetimes of ammunition to squander.  (to that end, i was reading at the mad russian's place about the bren light/intermediate machine gun, one of the best ever built, if not the best.  the brits made a lot during world war ii, and fired lots of shots through them, perhaps 15 billion rounds at totaled, if one source is to be believed.  factor in the americans, the germans, the russians, the chinese and the japanese into all that, and don't leave out the australians, fergeddabout the french, and that is a whole lot of ammo being fired through machine guns.  the great majority of which, didn't hit a damned thing except air and the ground.  all those people would have done more damage to each other equipped with hatchets, and made far less noise and smoke.  they are sinister as hell, and just about worthless, in my estimation.)

and, with an ar-15 trigger group of one sort or another, i can have a weapon that will fire single shots with a pull of the trigger, a burst of 3 shots with a pull of the trigger, or will fire fully automatically with a single pull of the trigger, all with the same trigger group.  all i have to do is pay my national firearms act excise tax to the friendly local neighborhood office of alcohol, tobacco and firearms, pass the application and records examination by a.t.f., and find a state in which it is legal to shoot a machine gun, and i can make all the empty brass my little heart would every want.

as to caliber, i can make it in any caliber i want, so long as it will fit in an ar-15 magazine/magazine well, of any barrel length.  say i want a 22 inch barrel, and to mount the whole thing on a bipod.  no problem.

i buy the appropriate trigger group, remove the old trigger from a lower with two pins, and place my upper on my lower, and i am ready to go.

and, i can "customize" an ar-15 to perform any function that an rpg can perform.  with the same 7.62x39mm russian round, if i like that.  or, with a .223, or with a 6.8mm remington spc, or a 6.5mm grendel if that suits my fancy.  if i am a real glutton for punishment, i can step up to the ar-10 platform, and do that with the 7.62x51 nato round.

all i have to do is remember to use a long enough gas tube so as not to cook the upper receiver, or to use a short stroke recoil system as now available in the ar-15.

the genius of this rifle lies in the trigger group.

you can fire single shot, bursts or full automatic fire.  you can fire semi automatic only.

it doesn't require any change to the bolt, or bolt carrier assembly to do this.  the bolt carrier goes back and forth, and the bolt turns to go in and out of battery with the breach and load and unload the ammo, and that is it.

and, back to the point about direct impingement or short stroke piston operation.

and, that is, you don't like something about the ar-15, ... , change it.

if you are satisfied building your ar-15 with the direct gas impingement system, or if you want to mimic the russian rpg with a gas system, by all means do so.

if you are worried about cooking the receiver and bolt group by firing too many rounds on full auto in your ersatz rpg, because the direct gas impingement system is putting too much gas into the receiver to operate the gun, ... , then simply go to a full rifle length gas piston/operating rod system, and pick from among the about 6 or 7 systems available out there.  pick a short one, an intermediate one, or a rifle length system, it won't make much of a difference, the rifle will work, and pretty reliably if teethed correctly.

and, this goes across the board.  you don't like a feature of the basic ar-15, change it.  you can, as a matter of mechanical fact, change just about any aspect of the ar-15 without having to alter any other aspect.

you wanna change the trigger/fire control?  do so, it does not alter the function of the bolt/bolt carrier or gas system in the slightest.  you want to put an operating handle out on the barrel shroud, or on the left side of the receiver, go ahead, you may do so with changing the trigger group for fire control, or really without having to mess at all with the bolt carrier group.

and, that is why the ar-15 rifle design is probably the best in the world.

again, you don't like something about it?  you think the caliber is a pipsqueak?  build an ar-15 in .300 winchester short magnum, if you want some oomph.  you can do it.  how do i know?

because, people have.  with just no trouble at all.

john jay

p.s.  as a matter of fact, i saw an advert the other day, pitching the ar-15 platform security detail mission, requiring a short coupled hideaway discrete carry weapon.  ala hk.

it featured an ar-15 with a 7 to 10.5" inch barrel, so you can wear it under your coat like the security guys do with the hk's.   designed to go full auto, clip after clip, without cooking the receiver, bolt & bolt carrier via the use of a short stroke piston system.

and, burst fire, full automatic.  from a closed bolt, or an open bolt, your choice on the spot.  back and forth, forth and back.  

trick.

the kalishnikov is a wonderful rifle and caliber.  a splendid rifle.  you cannot, however, do that with a kalishnikov, period.  not any day of the week.

the ar-15 system, you can make it do anything you want.  that's why it is the best.  and, that is why designers use it, for everything.

it all started with the letters "bcd" on the receiver ring of a model k-98 mauser my brother gave me a couple years back ... a little reminder of the reality of wwii ...

friends:

i reprint two letters i sent to friends just a little earlier this morning.  i am not going to add anything more to what is written there.

i will tell you that the second letter gets to the point of all this, and explains why i am just a little shaken by all this.

john jay @ 01.26.2011

p.s.  please understand, that despite what i say in the first letter, this rifle will be reassembled, and never altered, a copy of this post attached to it.  very sobering, the things recounted in the second letter.  caveat:  i will caution, that other letters to the chat room challenge the assertion that it is accepted historical fact that fritz walther, founder of the world famous walther arms company, was involved in the nefarious happenings described in letter number 2, though it would appear very likely that fritz walther availed himself of jewish slave labor in aid of the nazi war machine.  further observation:  also keep in mind that my rifle was made in 1942.

first letter.--

friends,

a couple years ago my brother gave me an old mauser 98, pretty rough looking.

 

manufactured "42" manufacturer's code "bcd."   i had no idea who that was.  so, i googled it, and got a link to this site.

 

http://rockislandauction.com/view_item/aid/48/lid/3433 

 

turns out, that my rifle is made by gustolf-werke, weimar and that it appears to have been fitted with an fn [fabrique nationale, in belgium] barrel as well. 

 

my rifle's receiver is serial numbered 1166, marked model 98 in the right spot.  the barrel has a circular proof with an f and another letter looks like an o to me, but appears the same as the proof at the link shown above.  (put your cursors on the pictures above the description, and you get a magnified enlargement, toot sweet.  my barrel is marked ch 327, and has the little german eagle proof as well, the numbers appearing the same as described in the link.)

 

and, my stock has a little c in the barrel channel, and is laminated of a similar appearing wood, running 20-22 laminations an inch.

 

unfortunately that is as good as it gets.

 

it is a frankenstein rifle from here on out.

 

the bolt does not match, and does not have a gustolf-werke mark, having a proof saying im 211, as near as i can make out.  the serial number is 932, and someone has very thoughtfully stenciled in 1166 with a mechanical stencil.  the extractor is a funky looking brown as depicted in the picture, but that is about it.  no proofs on the magazine/trigger guard housing, though come close on the serial number, that being 991, which looks "about right" when you glance at it.  it is proofed WaA855, which is also not a gustolf-werke proof.

 

no proofs on the butt cap.

 

the bayonet assembly and the collar for the barrel guard are obviously not milled, and the latter looks cast with a weld seam in it.  no proofs.

 

at the link, the guy though he said the rifle was a rare find, was asking $1,000 to $1,500 and that is not a very high premium for "rare" militaria."

 

when i first looked at it, the receiver ring was machined, ... , well, pretty bad.  it was just horrible, with machining marks, and the ring is discernibly a little smaller, confirmed by touch, until it comes back to the front of the recoil lug.  at that point the ring is uniform in dimension to the face of the breach area.

but, that is just the way the ring is in the picture above, so my initial expectation that the receiver was forged and the rest of it added from the bone yard doesn't appear to hold up.  it just must have been the way they set up the machining, and once they started it that way, they never changed.

 

not quite up to the standards of my 1908 brazilian (7x57mm) and my 1909 argie (7mm rem mag.)

 

it is in nice shape, after all that.     no rust.    amazing.   a little cosmoline in the barrel channel.   but, no rust, no pitting below the stock line or under the wood.  the parts to the trigger, and some other things look like they were made yesterday, further confirming the frankenstein impression.  and, my front sight is different, no cleaning rod.

 

and, some yahoo scraped away whatever has been painted on it recently to see what the finish and wood looked like, and sanded down to the wood to confirm his suspicion that the stock was laminated.  wonder who might have done that.

 

so, i am gonna "fix it up."  laughing.  it doesn't have enough "value" to "preserve" for me, as far as i am concerned, so i am gonna make it shiny, the way i like 'em, and see how shiny i can get a stock laminated out of "only god know's what."

 

but, all in all, kinda fun.    and, fun figuring out how to get the bayonet thing off.  it was pretty easy once i made the mental calculus, hey, it's not like the germans to leave an unsightly gap between the little spring hickey and the cover over the bayonet lug fixture, and once i said, nah, that's there on purpose, the rest of it was easy.  somebody before me hadn't figured it out, and the little housing was marred on the receiver side where somebody tried to "coax it" with a screwdriver and hammer, but, that was on another rifle, because the barrel underneath on this one was not dinged: whatever dinged the housing, dinged the barrel it was on, too, ... , trust me.

 

well, good night.

 

i was almost sorta rich, until i got to the other proofs.  laughing.   john

 

 

second letter.

dear friends:

 

note:  i will blog this tomorrow, and will send you the link when done.

 

my brother bought me an old wwii rifle a couple years ago, and just this night i started looking at it, and took it apart to apprise myself of its general condition.

 

on the receiver was stamped the manufacturer's code, "bcd."   all things are known by google.   i looked up the code, and found that it was for "gustolf [gustloff]-werke, weimar" and that had the rifle more matching serial numbers it might have been worth quite a bit, financially.

 

i continued researching the code, and something interesting, very interesting and quite disturbing, came to light.  the rifle was manufactured by jewish slave labor, brought into the factory every day from buchenwald.  6,000 day laborers, to make rifles for the nazi war effort.

 

the machinery to make the rifles had been confiscated from two brothers, jewish, by a nazi gauleiter who appropriated the arms plant to his own purposes.  another person involved in this transparent robbery was fritz walther, the founder of the prestigious and "respected" walther arms company, prospering and doing business in germany and america this very day.  he, amongst others, complained to hitler that the owners of the company,  arthur simpson and julius simpson, were driving other german armaments makers out of business in that area, a claim seemingly utterly fantastical given that war production had been going full bore in germany in some time by the time the theft of the business from the brothers was effected.

 

i give to you, the following letter(s) at the chat room which explains these circumstances (i have absolutely no idea who "standard modell" [or “hambone”] is [are], of course.

 

the link to the chat room.--    http://forums.gunboards.com/archive/index.php/t-167842.html?s=46e23c5200bdb734ce97778ddeb5915f  

 

standard modell

04-19-2010, 06:48 PM

Buchenwald concentration camp 1937-1945: a guide to the permanent ... - Google Books Result
Harry Stein, Gedenkstätte Buchenwald - 2004 - History - 320 pages

Albert Speer to Heinrich Himmler re SS arms production in Buchenwald, Mar. 25, 1943; 2 DIN A 4 sheets; Bundesarchiv Berlin, Bestand Personlicher Stab ...
books.google.com/books?isbn=3892446954...

 

Hambone

04-19-2010, 10:53 PM

Buchenwald concentration camp 1937-1945: a guide to the permanent ... - Google Books Result
Harry Stein, Gedenkstätte Buchenwald - 2004 - History - 320 pages

Albert Speer to Heinrich Himmler re SS arms production in Buchenwald, Mar. 25, 1943; 2 DIN A 4 sheets; Bundesarchiv Berlin, Bestand Personlicher Stab ...
books.google.com/books?isbn=3892446954...

http://www.threadbombing.com/data/media/2/bale_and_kermit.gif

 

 

standard modell

Well, I guess it is safe to conclude that none of the experts have any idea about identifying Buchenwald assembled K98s. In a 1945 Red Cross report on activities at the Fritz Sauckel werke in the camp amongst other equiptment it mentions 3.7 cm anti-tank guns and carriages as primary goods and on a long list - milling rifle receivers at the bottom. Like Steyr, k98s were not a high priority. And no reports of runes.

 

standard modell

04-14-2010, 08:19 AM

The Nazis made an example of the Simson Company. ‘ ...Wilhelm Gustloff ... was an ardent Swiss Nazi shot dead in Bern by a Jewish student named David Frankfurter on 4 February 1936. To honor Gustloff, the Nazis had given his name to one of the first “Aryanized” companies of the Reich, in this case a firm formerly owned by the Jews Arthur and Julius Simson. The Simsons’ company, the Suhler Weapons and Vehicle Works, had received the dubious privilege of being the only Jewish firm to receive contracts from the German army after the Treaty of Versailles. That Jews should be entrusted with defense contracts, of course, enraged the Nazis. The national press had pilloried the Simsons since the 1920s, accusing them of embezzlement and demonizing them as the spearhead of a world Jewish consipracy to emasculate the German armed forces. By 1935, the Gauleiter of Thuringen, Fritz Sauckel, finally succeeded in throwing the Simson brothers in jail and appropriating their company.’ --The Business of Genocide, p. 191.

During the war, Gustloff Werke, which was under the management of Fritz Walther, opened a factory at the Buchenwald concentration camp to manufacture carbines, and later machine guns, using slave labor.

Gauleiter Fritz Sauckel, who was in charge of the Nazi slave labor program, was hanged for war crimes in 1946. Fritz Walther lived on to revive the Walther company in the ‘50s and died in 1966. Arthur Simson died in Los Angeles in 1969. The Simson family eventually received partial reparation for their losses from the German government.

 

standard modell

04-14-2010, 08:32 AM

. In March of 1933, after Hitler became Chancellor, the Association of Zella-Mehlis Gun Manufacturers, led by Fritz Walther, sent Hitler a letter complaining that Simson held a monopoly that was forcing them out of business.

Because he was a Jew, Arthur Simson (the grandson of the company founder, Moses Simson) and several of his employees were eventually jailed by the Nazis in 1935. After seven months in prison, Simson was forced to admit evading income taxes and to sign the rights to his company over to Nazi Gauleiter Fritz Sauckel. A few months after his release on bail, Simson and his family fled to Switzerland and eventually to the United States of America. Sauckel renamed the company Berlin-Suhler Waffen- und Fahrzeugwerke (BSW), but after the assassination of the Swiss Nazi Party leader Wilhelm Gustloff, Sauckel renamed it Gustloff Werke.* The Parabellum machinery in the Simson factory was removed to the Heinrich Krieghoff Waffenfabrik, which was also located in Suhl.

 

 

 

an idle observation ... something just strikes me funny, as in funny oddly peculiar ...

the ar-16 rifle and the 5.56x41mm nato (.223 remington) it shoots, are disparaged at every turn, and derided no end by critics.  (few of whom, it must be observed, have ever been killed or wounded by it.)

(al miller, a crusty old wwii vet and prominent gun writer, rather testily chastises those who similarly disparage the 7.92x57mm german service round of wwii, noting simply that they were never chased around the deck of a troop transport dodging 7.92mm bullets fired from strafing fighters, as he was.  he noted he learned plenty of respect for the round, which he never forgot.)

but, oddly enough, the rifle and its cartridge influence gun and cartridge design the world over, the rifle's basic operating system copied by many subsequent arms (some refining same, admittedly), and most nations of the world including the soviet remnant and the chinese emulating the overall performance parameters of the cartridge.

apparently mechanical engineers, metallurgists, chemists and ballisticians & associated scientists, wound pathologist and gun designers are not as knowledgeable on such matters as journalists.

on the other hand, the ak-47 and its variants, and the cartridge they shoot, the 7.62x39mm russian, receive fulsome praise from all such knowledgeable quarters.  this, even while the rifle's cartridge has been abandoned by both the russians and the chinese in favor of near clones of the 5.56mm nato, and even while the rifle seems to be loosing influence among those who design infantry weapons.

few infantry weapons of recent derivation do not emulate the ar-16 bolt and bolt carrier, and fire control systems.  some do no like the ar's direct gas impingement system, and it is current right now to emulate the ak's piston drive system, but, in the main, the layout and the mechanics of the ar-15/16/10, or its cousin, the ar-180 seem to dominate gun systems designs.

the people who design such things tend to imitate those things which work and are reliable.  yet, the ar-15/16 is excoriated with this sin or that omission or that failing and/or shortcoming.

still, the people who design such things tend to continue to copy it, and emulate it.

and, they will continue to do so, until something else demonstrably better & more reliable & more efficient comes along.  perhaps they are simply waiting for some knowledgeable people, like a journalist hit on the head by an apple contemplating the universe under an apple tree, to invent that next better thing.

to my mind, the whole thing is like berating julia roberts for her little mole thingie, and praising soviet shot putters for their wonderful swedish braids & buns, when discussing feminine design attributes.  it makes no sense to me, ... , but a lot of things are like that in this world.

i just accept that it puzzles me.

john jay @ 01.26.2011

 

an updated "index to 6.8mm load development" is published, and the link below ...

http://wintersoldier2008.typepad.com/summer_patriot_winter_sol/2010/07/an-index-of-posts-on-the-68-remington-spc-adventures-in-reloading-making-the-ar15-work-in-this-chamb.html  

the post deals with load development, functioning issues related to the ar-15, and the author's attempts at developing a "whisper" load for the 6.8mm remington spc cartridge, and ar-15 rifle.

tedious to some, perhaps, but interesting to certain people.  me, for instance.  laughing.

john jay  @ 01.26.2011

with some apology to "hints from héloise" ....

i remain convinced that this country was made great by those of us with lots & lots of time on our hands.--

i don't know about you, but i am a person much alarmed by the fact that one cannot obtain suitable hangers for heavy garments.  nothing bothers the mildly obsessive compulsive side of me than to walk into my bedroom, peer into a closet, and see a pair of jeans hanging in the swayed droop of a hanger that just isn't up to the task of maintaining structural rigidity.

one sees metaphors everywhere at my age, and one doesn't want any of that bullshit intruding into one's life, does one?

so, this morning i decided to do something about it, because as i was hanging my jeans up from a fresh laundering, i could not find a suitable wire hanger with requisite dimension to keep from sagging.  as i said, no damned sagging in my house.

i looked around for a suitable substitute, and all of a sudden it hit me when i was looking at a couple of those "cardboard tube" abominations that the dry cleaners have fobbed off on us.  i grabbed two, and a roll of black elastic electricians tape, and set to work.  well, the long and the short of it is, i taped the two hangers together, taking some care to really wrap the tape very tightly around the cardboard, and to keep all nice and plumb and square.

they worked wonderfully.  the jeans hung ramrod straight across "the crease of suspension," as i like to put it, adding a nice aspect of order and discipline to what was becoming a rowdy assemblage of droopy pants.

but, no more card board hangers.   dang me.

and, then i espied the most despised of all implements, the pink plastic hanger: in a fit of desperation, i once bought a package at wally world.  i grabbed two of the neglected things, ... , who wants to befoul a nice landfill?, ... , and tightly bound them together.  they worked perfectly.  i am gonna keep my eye on them, and if they droop, i will add a third, ... , ahem, ... , shaft to the bottom structural, ... , ahem, ... , member, and tape it up jake, too.  hey, desperate times call for desperate measures.

i am a bachelor.  i have my standards.  they are pretty low, but, they are standards.

now, i am never gonna wear out a steam iron, except maybe by benign neglect.  but, i do not like unsightly wrinkles across the thigh of my jeans, where there should be a straight crease where they have hung on a good rigid hanger.

say you're cruising wally world on a good saturday night, ... , if "you've the stomach for it," and you see a likely 250 pound prospect cruising the aisle looking for a good bargain on 5 cases of house brand cola, accoutered in 150 pounds of slacks, and halter tops, as it were.

why, it is mightily emboldening and enticing, if as such a vision of pulchritude murmurs as you pass by, enveloping all in some highly floral tropical effluvia,  says to you, fella, that's a mighty straight ... crease ... you have there.  and, jiggles coyly.

why, i shudder to envision it.  i mean, really, i do shudder to envision it.

who knows where this little invention of mine will lead?  fame?  fortune?   social "eptitude?"

who cares?  my jeans are hanging in my closet, with no sag, and all is right with the world, until i have had time to ruminate over it after breakfast.  but, maybe a few zzzzzzz's back in a warm sack, before i meet the world head on this day.  i don't want to either rush breakfast, or ruin it, by dwelling on unpleasant things.

i've lots of time.

john jay @ 01.25.2011

as to the term "whisper" & cartridges, don't forget ...

... that the term "whisper" is a registered trademark of j.d. jones and ssk enterprises, who basically developed the concept and led the charge to the development of many very interesting & fascinating cartridges along these lines.

go to ssk's website and see.

and, go to "cartridges of the world" by frank c. barnes to read all about them.

john jay @ 01.25.2011

what is the animus that drives the murder and mayhem in mexico?

armed thugs spray a crowd at a soccer game, just before it is to start, in mexico.

why?

what is the animus that drives this murderous frenzy in mexico?  how is it tied in with mexican politics.

this sort of stuff does not go on, it does not get tolerated, unless it somehow benefits those in the political structure, or who aspire to be in the political structure.  are we seeing the establishment of the first drug cartel as a nation state?

can anybody explain this?

to me, mexico looks to be a country in the throes of political revolution, and i haven't the foggiest notion of what supports this drive of criminals to supplant government and establish themselves in power.

can anybody explain this to me?  this appears to have decayed into a situation where the drug lords display raw naked power in a manner that even the columbian drug lords could not rival.  to my mind, mexican political figures cannot simply be tolerating this, but must be complicit in it somehow.

can anybody explain this?

john jay @ 01.25.2011

p.s.  to my mind, it is a situation that begs for the presence of u.s. troops to quash this violence, if for nothing else than to preserve our borders and our security.  these thugs must be dealt with summarily, as they are way beyond any process.

the 6.8mm spc "whisper project" is given new life, resuscitated ...

update:  a revised & updated index of posts on load development for the 6.8mm remington spc.  end update. 

... by federal's no. 215 large rifle magnum primer.

there is great irony here.

the 6.8mm spc is a bit of a pipsqueak.  several manufacturers, to include hornady and ssa even make the case with a small rifle primer.  the federal 215 was developed so that roy weatherby could bring his very large .378 weatherby cartridge to full flame: other primers could not successfully ignite the huge amounts of powder used in the mammoth .378 case.  the federal 215 has a reputation of being a very hot, ... , that would be "brissiant," to you, ... , primer capable of igniting large powder charges.

i am now using about 6.5 grains of imr "trail boss" powder in my "whisper" load, whereas the .378 weatherby uses more than 110 grains of some powders in some of its loads.  it ignites as much as 115 grains of powder in the latter developed .416 weatherby magnum cartridge, and upwards of 125 grains in the .460 weatherby.

why would i need a federal 215 powder?  for 6.5 grains of powder?  (5% to 6% of the loads a no. 215 primer can ignite ... .)

well, the "trail boss" is "floofy," and a lot of that "floof" is not devoted to making things go "boom," but, rather the opposite, it is designed inhibit "boom" in order to produce quite moderate pressures, something along the line of approximately half the pressure of very high intensity powders.  it uses basically the same chemicals as other powders, but with a lot of inhibitors to hold the power production down.  so, to make it burn evenly, you have to get it burning, right now.

and, i noticed at my last session shooting about 6.7 grains of "trail boss" over a normal large rifle primer, that the velocity was erratic, and the rifle seemed "sluggish" as the powder ignited.  and, i also noticed that 6.3 grains of powder, 6.5 grains of powder, and 6.7 grains of powder didn't seem to materially effect velocity changes, and, that velocity was often "high" at about 970 fps or "low" at about 870 fps without regard to the powder charge.

from that i determined that the powder was not gonna deliver too much more than 950 fps on a dependable basis, and that for some reason ignition and burning were erratic, regardless of charge level and bullet weight.

at first, i didn't see too much way around these results, and resultant quandary, and i was very disappointed.  so close, so far from my goal.

and then i thought, ... , hey, it happens occasionally, ... , well, if the normal primer is not getting dependable ignition, let's put a fire under it.  and, i also figured that trying to eek just a little more velocity from such a small amount of powder in such a small case was not worth the bother, as the powder appears to generate the pressure it generates and not a whole lot more with just minute tweaks of the powder charge.

i concluded, just get a dependable velocity level without erratic variations, and live with it.

so, back down to 6.5 grains of "trail boss," as i felt that charge would give just about what i was gonna get in terms of velocity and pressure level.

and, enter the federal no. 215 large rifle magnum primer, the hottest and biggest rifle primer of them all.  (yes, i know, the russians have something bigger, for sure.  laughing.)  i figured if anything would ignite the powder, and light it dependably and predictably, it would be no. 215.

so, ever hopeful, i set the chronograph up, with a target now available on the 100 yard range now the tourists have gone home with the passing weekend, to get both velocity readings and some indications of accuracy.

the first shot out of a freshly cleaned and oiled barrel, ... , hey, you cannot get them totally dry, ... , was 1021 over the screens, but after the barrel was fouled they all more or less settled in at around 950 fps+.  and, when i went to examine the target after the first five shots, i had a group, not a great one as the first shot was a "flyer" high, but, a group.  i shot five more shots, and they all landed in a nice cluster within the first group.  (this was not entirely unexpected.  when you clean an ar-15, you leave them generously oiled around wear points, ... , and, yes, this will make a difference on bullet impact, and the bore being "slick" can give some velocity change.)

so, the first five shots went 4.6", with a high and a low shot. the next five all at around 950 fps+, went into a nice 8-shot cluster with shots from the first five, producing an overall grouping of 2.38", if one disregards the two errant shots from the first group.  the best 6-shot group, all in a nice round center cluster measured 1.6", which is not too bad at all. i know what caused the first high one, i don't know the cause of the low shot, but suspect it can be attributable to my shooting technique, because the last five shots went into a nice cluster, producing the nice 8 shot group.

so, remington 6.8mm spc cases, federal 215 large rifle magnum primer igniting 6.5 grains of "floofy" imr "trail boss" powder behind 130 grain sierra game king .277 caliber bullets, and i have eight shots all withing spitting distance of each other at 100 yards, and all right around 950 fps.

good.

i put my standard load of 115 grain sierra matchking bthp's in front of 28.2 grains of h-322 using a cci primer over the chronograph at 2550 fps, into a nice little 1.18" three shot cluster, just as a check.  this group, two shots dead even in elevation and .96" apart, and 3.5" above the point of aim, 1.1" above the third shot in the group, nearly forming a perfect isosceles triangle.

then, i grabbed one shell, walked down a couple of benches, and shot the 300 yard steel gong with a dead center hold, (actually, holding about 2/3's the way up on a 14" x 18" gong) fudging the wind just a bit to the right, making a nice resounding clang.

all without changing the settings on the scope.  my little ballistics program indicates that by being 3.5" high at 100 yards, i would be 4.2" low at 275 yards, and 11 inches low at 325 yards.  so, there is you basic 2/3's the way up the gong hold.  in addition, at 425 yards the hold over would be app. 33", and at 475 yards the hold over to point of zero would be about 48".  in essence, without changing values in the scope, a hold just above the top of the head at 425 yards, and you are flirting with a belt buckle hit.

update:  bill wilson is the chief cook and bottle washer of "wilson combat", a company devoted to precision firearms, and the sale thereof.  he has become a proponent and user of the 6.8mm remington spc cartridge, and has created a line of fine rifles in which the cartridge is to be used, said rifles being built per his specifications, design and manufacture on the ar-15 chassis.  you may read of his efforts, at the following link, http://www.wilsoncombat.com/68project.htm , which is very informative, indeed.

at the link, various persons are shown photographed with a number of game animals taken by the 6.8mm remington spc cartridge, and the rifles mr. wilson purveys.  among these animals are some very large wild/feral hogs of domestic origin, but which have tended to go back to their genetic origins free of captivity, and allowed to breed on their own.  they are robust, tough and jealous of life, not giving it up easily, and are regarded as pound for pound as tough as any grizzly bear to kill.   lots of people use very large caliber weapons to kill them, the .350 remington magnum being something of a favorite: suffice it to say, such cartridges as this are very large in comparison to the 6.8mm remington spc.

that this cartridge is able to kill these animals with such dispatch is indicative of the power of the weapon and round, all in very small, efficient packages.  end update.  01.26.2011.

or, you can do it the new fangled way and use a prescribed amount of clicks to change the scope setting, or use "kentucky windage" as i am prone to do.  my lord, who can keep track of all that other stuff, or who has time?  but, notice something.  when you start getting "way out there," (at 425 & 475 yards, in the example immediately above) the sighting adjustments over an increment of just 50 yards of distance means 12 inches of additional hold at the greater distance.  this holds true of all cartridges, regardless of initial velocity: when the trajectory starts going down, it starts going down.

(an aside/digression: this is why most infantry rifles of modern vintage are about 350 to 400 yards propositions, in my estimation, dependent upon the skill of the shooter.  under battle conditions, the average infantryman is gonna be pretty hard pressed to be super accurate at these ranges.  as to snipers, well, they are different.  they work in teams, one guy doing the range stuff with a range finder and reading out clicks, the shooter making the adjustments and aiming the rifle.  and, all of this is based upon pre-shoot establishment of clicks and ranges, meticulously recorded in notebooks or on small handheld computers.  and, ranging is not "guessed." it is lasered, with a modern & very expensive range finder. military snipers are very skilled technicians.  period.)

this is the versatility and utility i was looking for out of this cartridge:  yes, i am a smiling, happy boy right now.  

i have one rifle and one optic that can deliver 2550 fps at the muzzle, and hit a 300 yd gong with about 3/4's the energy level of a 150 grain service load from a 7.62mm nato (.308 winchester), and with that same load shoot a 1.00" group at 100 yards, hitting about 3 inches high over the cross hairs.  and, using my whisper load, that same rifle with no alteration, and using the same scope setting, can shoot a subsonic load to a 100 yard target and leave 8 out of 10 shots in a 2.38" cluster.

again, i know what made the first "high" shot go where it did, but, i haven't a clue as to the nature of the operator error that led to the low shot.

i think that i have a viable concept.--

a rifle and cartridge with which a shooter could deliver a clandestine shot under cover of darkness using a "whisper" cartridge, such a shot being "serious" to about 150 to 200 yards with the "night optics" capability of generation 4 night sights without being detected because of the use of laser illumination.

and, a rifle and cartridge with which a shooter could do battle on a conventional battlefield under any condition using the normal cartridge, such capability extending to 350 to 400 yards, or perhaps even 450 yards, with ample lethality and accuracy.

all with basically the same optics, and without having to effect any change at all to the "package" except by the change of basic ammunition.

so, the 6.8mm "whisper" breaths deeply again, and is resuscitated, and reinvigorated, ... , all by the use of the most wildly "inappropriate" component imaginable, the federal large rifle magnum no. 215 primer.  laughing.  go figure.

but, it seems to work.  now, it is just to "tweak" things a bit, and refine the accuracy of the "whisper" cartridge.  but, with today's results, i am very, very optimistic, and very much re-enthused. 

it's gonna work just fine.  nothing left, but some tinkering.  but, this is a viable baby.

john jay @ 01.24.2011

summary:

6.8mm remington spc "whisper," 100 yards, @ 950 fps.

9 shots cumulative, discounting "first shot" flyer  --        2.9" 

best 8 shots, cumulative,                                   --         2.38"

best 6 shots, cumulative,                                   --         1.60"

6.8mm remington spc, 100 yards, @ 2550 fps: full power load. 

three shots, cumulative, barrel thoroughly fouled    --     1.18"

please note:  a little note on "shooting technique."  i drive up, set up the target and chrony (so that i hit the target, and miss the chronograph).  i throw a blanket over a concrete "pad" so as not to mar the rifle, and i hold the rifle in hand and against my shoulder, with a leather shot filled pad under the toe of the stock.  (to control erratic elevation, from the stock slipping against my shoulder.)

i hold the rifles forestock in my left hand, on a shot filled bag on top of the concrete pad.  i hold the rifle's pistol grip in the right hand, right index finger on the trigger.   i snug into the stock with my cheek, and hold the rifle next to my shoulder.

and, i pull the trigger.   that's it.

oh, yeah, when i am done, i pack up, clean up, collect the target and drive home to do the measuring.  

now, that's it.  no fancy rests, no use of a bipod, or any other little trick to ring (sic) ["wring" is better, doncha think?: jjjay.] utmost accuracy.  i can basically do the same thing shooting high prone lying on my belly with this rifle.  these are reasonably repeatable figures on accuracy, and they are not too bad.

 

 

a modest, noncontroversial observation regarding muslims in the west ...

the only way to blunt the demographic attack waged by the islamic penis and vagina resident in the west is to expel the muslim populations and send them right back to their countries of origin.

this is salubrious to the west in the long run, and not at all harmful to those muslims who now reside amongst us, and to those we should send home, right now.--

if those muslims have not accepted and adopted our values, and are not willing to adhere to them, e.g., to the extent that they adhere to islam above all other creeds and legal and civil obligation, then sending them back to their homelands where they will be in the majority view of things can do them no harm.

what harm can there be, in being back home amongst family and friends.

to the extent that some muslims have accepted and adopted our values, and adhere to the precepts of progressive modernity, e.g., to the extent that they observe our legal and civil obligations as paramount to their faith, then sending them back home to the homelands of their origins can only help those countries be more progressive, and also will work no hardship upon them because now the paramount civil authority is in agreement with their belief and culture.

i do not worry myself over those muslims who have rejected islam, and who reject islamic rule of their countries.  if there are any, in any number, i am not aware of it as they really haven't come to much to the fore.

we have salmon rushdie, waffa sultan, and a few prominent others.  we can make exceptions, and accept their presence here.  not a problem.  to do so will not over tax the resources of any board requested to look into their separate cases, because they simply do not number very many.

but, in the main, expulsion by any means necessary is a beneficial thing.  

for them, and for us.  and, the sooner the better.

and, as a first measure, we should tear down all the mosques, and do away with supporting islamic worship.

what, we should show religious tolerance to the worshipers of ba'al should they want to erect a burning cauldron in which to sacrifice first born girls at the beginning of the spring fertility festivals?  the worshippers of ba'alzebub  belief in nothing any less inimical to the values of democracy than do practicing muslims.

john jay @ 01.24.2011

the 6.8mm spc "whisper project" .... stymied .... dead in the water ....

well, shit.

i thought that i had something going, even that i was near success with my project to make a "whisper" round from a factory case.

so far, very close, but no cigar.

oh, i have found that imr "trail boss" powder works fairly well, ... , sometimes.  but, it is also apparent that trail boss give erratic velocities. sometimes it is right on the money, but every so often (and the "every so often" occurs often enough to be unacceptable), a particular round will give very slow velocity.

give that the trajectory of a bullet traveling 950 fps or so results in a trajectory in which precise aiming over 100 yards or so is a bit problematic to begin with, it becomes almost ridiculously silly to make a good aim with a bullet that gives perhaps 780 fps: predetermined sight settings and holdover calculations just go right out the window.

so, for the time being i am thwarted.  i have a concept that almost works, and indeed, works pretty well about 80% of the time.  but, that ain't gonna cut it.

so, back to the drawing board, and a powder that will produce consistent velocity values.

anybody have any suggestions?  j.d. jones, do you have "your ears on?"

john jay @ 01.23.2011