Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Eileen announces Rifle Loony News is up....

....on www.riflesandrecipes.com for our subscribers.

As always, if you have trouble logging on, contact riflesandrecipesgmail.com, or if really desperate, you can phone 406-521-0273.

Thanks, and good hunting!

Thank you, John! You two enjoy your Sunday.

I looked for the new & improved Gack Hats, but alas , not to be seen.
No doubt an IT oversight ... Carry On

We decided to try a newer more spouse friendly Gun Gack hat. Instead of Gun Gack: Need has nothin' to do with it, the hat reads Gun Gack spoken here. This is the only color for now, but if it gets as popular as our Rifle Loony Hats I'll add new colors.

This Loon might need One of Each ! What’s Need & Spoken Here

Decisions, decisions

All Gack , No Jack

Thx, L3 ❤️

Enjoying the heck out of it. Nice dissertation on primers in there. I also stocked up somewhat on those about 6-7 years ago. Including a box of 1500 Fiocchi LR primers, ( 10 packs of 150). Haven't used hardly any yet. Ever use any of those ? Just curious. It was nice to see the Russian Tula primers get a nice word. Got a bunch of those also, which primarily get into 7.62x54R cases ( Staying with the Russian theme), and seem to work just fine in a Mosin with a no gunsmithing mount scout scope on it. Back in the mid 1990's I standardized my 6.5x55 loads to include CCI Bench Rest Primers, ( BR-2 ) and IIRC it was an unscientific test just based on some random group sizes, didn't own a chrono at the time. Then there's the CCI No. 34 LR primers ( Mil Spec for 7.62mm ammo ) for the M1-A and M-1. Snagged 5000 of them thru Midway USA circa 2015 or so. Thicker and/or harder cup to help deter slam fires. I assume they'd still work OK in a bolt gun if it ever came to that (?). Haven't finished perusing the rest of the latest edition yet but I'm retired and tomorrow's another day. Gotta load some .280's for my buddy that still works full time. Thanks for the latest RLN.

22250rem,

Glad you liked the stuff on rifle primers. Have not used any Fiocchi rifle primers except in Fiocchi factory rifle ammo, but would expect them to be very good. One of the guys at CCI told me a few years ago that their mil-spec rifle primers aren't just tough, but have a different interior geometry, especially in the top of the anvil, to help prevent slam-fires. They will indeed work in a bolt gun.

I wrote the primer essay partly for use as one of the introductory chapters in next year's Gun Gack 4: The Little Book of Rifle Handloads That work. Will also include introductory chapters on brass, sizing and powders--but most of it will be relatively short (say a paragraph) notes on various rifle cartridges, and list of loads that have shot well in different rifles chambered in that specific cartridge. Some people claim that such "universal" loads are myths, since different rifles often prefer different loads. To a certain extent that can be true, but I have owned and loaded for a lot of different rifles over the decades, and have found some loads usually do shoot with better than average accuracy (often much better than average) in certain cartridges. In way, it will be an expanded "Loads That Work," an article I've published a couple of times over the years.

As always, RLN was a very pleasant read. Eileen's cookies are way too tempting for a fellow trying to shed a few pounds!

Looking forward to Gun Gack 4!

Wholeheartedly agree - there are some loads that work very well in most rifles.

Regards, Guy

She gave up her 16 ga army&navy ".... need to finish the rest

So pumped to get Eileen’s email yesterday! I’ll be reading.

Yeah, she was obviously conflicted about that. But she hadn't hunted with that little 16 in several years, mostly due to her recoil headache problem that started developing maybe a dozen years ago. We eventually found she could handle the recoil of a light 28-gauge double, or a heavier 20, but nothing more. I did load some 28-gauge equivalent ammo for the Army & Navy, but somewhere in there she purchased a Hatfield 28-gauge SxS that she really liked, and we always have plenty of 28 and 20 factory ammo on hand, and she gravitated toward using them instead of the same basic ballistics in 16 handloads. I suspect part of the reason is that I have to do so much handloading as part of my job that she felt better about using factory shotshells.

Is it too early to get on the pre-pre-order list for Gun Gack 4?

Now on to reading Loony News...

Nope! We started a list a while ago. Just put you on it.

i gotta say Eileen sure has made it easy for me to find and use the computer internet for guys with poor skills like me to find and use Rifle Loony News ! thank you very much Eileen,Pete53

Mule Deer, please put me on the list for GG IV.

Ditto here, John!

John, any thoughts on extending Forcing Cones wrt recoil & pattern uniformity in 16 or 20 gauge ?
With only 2-3/4” chambers, I think things have to fit better ie abrupt cones could be intrusive.

I can recommend the Ruger Red label 20 ga for recoil attenuation , due to its receiver weight , designed for 3” magnums. lengthened forcing cones and mild backboring don’t hurt either.

Nothing like a 28 ga SxS that fits & points nice though ;-)

I'd like to be put on the list for G C IV please.

338Rules,

Yep, forcing cones and bore dimensions can make some difference. In fact I have a Ruger Red Label 20 that kicks relatively mildly even with 3" ammo, partly due to the 7-pound weight.

But Eileen's waterfowl gun these days is a Browning Gold 20-gauge, which weights 6 pounds 13 ounces. Its felt recoil is a LOT less than the Ruger, due to the gas-operated action. Haven't looked at the forcing cone, but one of the features of Browning Golds when they were introduced as longer cones and slightly larger bores.

There is a bit of benefit to over boring, cone work, and porting but they are small. Shot weight, velocity, and stock fit make a true difference. Gas guns work as well soften recoil.