Brenden

I love the 454. I was going to buy an Encore barrel in 454, but I chose to go with the 480 Ruger instead. MGM is making my barrel as we speak, 8.5" long. Should be a great deer thumper. I still love my 375 JDJ in the Encore pistol, but having an extra barrel is nice. My friend shoots an Encore pistol in 45-70 with no brake. It is wicked with the IMR 3031 loads with the 350's. I shot two rounds of the 405's a couple weeks ago. My hands are still sore from it! My 375 will leave your knuckles bloody and hand sore after about 20 rounds. I have rather large hands and no matter how I hold that darn thing, it smacks my knuckles. It shoots like a rifle, but can be hard to control. Most off the time I shoot one handed off the bench. I plan on cutting the trigger guard spur off and relocating it. T/C is the worst designed hand cannon ever, but they are damn accurate. Brenden

hope you had a good one. Wish I could have been there to jump out of the cake for ya! Brenden

I built my first AR this spring. I swore I would never own one. it's one gun I take out every time now. Mines just a 5.56, but it's awesome. I mounted a 3x9 Bushnell on it and accuracy rivals my bolt guns with the 1x7 twist and 69 grain sierra bullets. I'm going to do a 300 blackout pistol soon. I think it would be a great home defense item. I do lust for an AR 10. One in 7mm-08 would be a great critter getter. Brenden

You can't find many around here that will pass a drug test, he didn't lie there. That's southern West Virginia, and just about every state around. It's your typical politician word war. Nothing new to me. Coal is about the only source of income in southern West Virginian, well that and drugs. We bear hunted down there for years. It's a drug filled wasteland. If we listened to everything they said, not a one would receive a vote. None are worth voting for now, nothing ever changes, just empty promises and meaningless campaigns. I believe I summed up about all of them with the last statement. EPA has tried to shut down coal for years. Haven't gained too much ground. Coal is dying, is dirty, cost millions of dollars every year for violations, and people are sick of seeing mountains removed. Gas is the future, for now. People are already sick of seeing drilling rigs setting on the hills, and pipelines cutting through their land. There isn't too much gas in southern WV, as stated above, this is about it for income. Coal is always the main campaign issue here, but nothing is ever done. Nothing more than a hot topic. In short, this happens every year, Karl. Brenden

Graf and Sons has PPU brass for $50 a hundred. It's supposed to be very good brass as I've heard good reviews about it. Watch Midway for brass. I got 3 boxes on sale a few months ago for a decent price. I usually form just about everything from 30-06. I'm trying to get out of that as it could be disastrous when dealing with 25-06, 30-06, 338-06, 8mm-06 and now the 35 Whelen. I may just be paranoid... Thanks, Brenden

Midway had the 7mm bullets on sale probably four months ago or more. They were around $17 a hundred if my memory is correct. As far as "blemishes", I can't really see them. I haven't sat down and measured each bullet either. For less than 100 yard shooting, I feel they will be ok. Open sights and my eyes don't agree much past 100 yards. I can remember a few years ago shooting deer routinely with a muzzleloader with open sights at double that range. Funny how things change. I used a 21" green mountain barrel for the 7x57. It was originally going to be a cast bullet weapon until I stumbled onto the blemished bullets. It's on a Brazilian sr action. I'm working on the stock now. Still need to chamber and weld a new The 35 is a green mountain barrel as well. They may not be the best barrel in the world, but have always shot well for me. Thanks, Brenden

I have acquired a 24" 35 whelen barrel and it now resides on a spare action. It is still short chambered, and needs finished. For those that have the 35 AI, is there much improvement over the standard? Is it worth the extra effort and work? I'm always looking for something different, and haven't added any Ackley Improved cartridges to the stable yet. From what I see the Whelen is a good performer, improved or not. I've also been working on a 7x57 on a small ring. It should make a nice short range plinker once finished. I bought several hundred 162 grain interbond "blemished" bullets to load for it. I just drilled and tapped it for a reciver sight last weekend, so it's coming along nicely. Thanks, Brenden

I've been watching this round in great anticipation. To me, it just looks like a 375 Ruger necked down. I really like the .375 case, along with the RUM cases. In my opinion a case should never have a belt unless it's a H&H or a Weatherby. Most other cases have enough shoulder to headspace off of, and don't need it. A belt is the weakest link in a cartridge. It will sure be a barrel burner, but for long range deer hunting it will be a nice round. I'm glad to see companies offering new items. Yes they are niche items and will never outlast a 30-06, but are pretty darn cool. Brenden

Haha! That's way south of me. I have a good bit of friends down that way that were affected. It's a shame for sure. Brenden

I wanted to do a 338 RUM, but this 300 RUM was available for under $100. I like the big magnums, the recoil isn't too bad but I like to shoot a lot and you can't do that with the big boys. I will never again have a muzzle brake. My 375 JDJ pistol has one and I touched it off on a doe this year and didn't have time to put in hearing protection. Never again, I couldn't hear for over a week. Brenden

A while back I said I was looking for a looking for a low recoil and reasonable cartridge to deer hunt with. All though I have all I need, I'm always looking for something else. I was talking to a friend of mine the other day, and were discussing how well I like my 7mm STW. I told him I needed another barrel for my savage switch barrel rig to complement my STW. Well I bought a barrel tonight as the price was right and I've had a hankering for another long range weapon. 300 Remington Ultra Mag. Guess there goes my shoulder as well as my sensible approach to caliber selection! Should be a fun gun to play with. Maybe one day I will grow up.. Brenden

Happy birthday! Brenden

Amen to that. I've wore a lot of bandages from shooting the 375 JDJ and 7mm-08. I've also come to the conclusion that the T/C is the worst made platform for a pistol. My friend fires Hornady Leaver-evoulation 325's through the old 70'. You learn to respect the old girl quickly. Brenden

AZ, A good friend of mine has an Encore in 45-70. He is quite larger than I and can only handle 6 shots through it before he needs a break. I'm a pistol recoil junkie and I touched it off 3 times screaming profanities each shot. I have never experienced that much pain in my life from shooting a pistol. I had no use of my hands for over two hours. Very accurate, just abusive. My savage striker build is going to be a .338 win mag, without the muzzle break. It should be manageable throwing 160 grain barnes bullets. We will see. Now back on track,that just reminded me of a story. Brenden

Those are nice guns Tony. My most accurate- 7mm STW with a Nikon scope, 8mm-06 with a weaver scope, 375 JDJ with a swift 2x scope, and 338-06. Inaccurate- 7mm remington magnum ( barrel is toast ) and my dad's old 25-06. He shot that gun like it was an extension of his body. I can't shoot that thing worth a darn. Brenden

I'm sorry to hear of your troubles. Hopefully things will get better for you. That Taylor was a fine piece as well. Like you said, why have what you can't use? I'm glad you can get enjoyment out of this pistol. Looks to be very nice. Brenden

I can't believe you traded the 35 AI. I remember that gun, I'm a bit sad now. Brenden

Is that one of those Jackayotes Dave? Pretty good picture! What kind of velocities do you get from the AI? I've thought that a 6.5 AI would make a good rig, figured it would be basically the same as a 6.5-06 though. When this project first started,I wanted 264 win mag performance without the belt. The more I think about all this, I have about the best rifle I could ask for. The 7mm STW, it's pure magic at 400 yards! Brenden

Ammo isn't much of a problem. Around five years ago, I started getting worried about shortages. Needless to say, I own dies, brass, and bullets for guns I don't even own. I made sure I picked up several thousand pieces of 06' brass as I'm a huge fan of that case and necking it up and down. The same is for .243 and .308. The only gun I do not have a good bit of brass for is the 7mm STW. I shoot that gun the most so that is a bit of a problem. A local store had a good supply of powder even after the scare hit. I started buying a pound of powder a week on my way home. I'm set for a while. I still buy what I can when funds/availability permit. I'm a bit paranoid, I know. Brenden

You know I was looking through my actions last night, and the 93 is going to get a .35 Remington barrel. I've talked about doing this for 5 years now, so it's time. Just so everyone knows, 22-250 and 220 Swift are dirty words to me. I'm not a huge .22 caliber fan and both of these rounds are a waste of good case capacity. I load the 22-250 for my father in law and was shocked when I dumped excessive amounts of 4350 in there and and couldn't fill it up. It's a deer killing machine, just not for me. I like a 6mm for my small gun. I'm still kicking it around. 280 AI is in the running. My 7mm magnum' s barrel has went south in the accuracy department so I need something to fill the void between 7mm-08 and 7mm STW. After hunting with the STW this season, I've come to the conclusion that it's an awesome round. I made a 387 yard shot with it this year and have been getting insanely tiny groups when target shooting. I can live with recoil with results like that. That new Nosler round sounds impressive. A 6.5mm slinging a 130 grain bullet at 3400 fps is right up my alley. Brenden

I plan on doing one, some day. My plan was to build one off of that 95 action that I got off of you. I bought a box of 150 grain 35 Remington shells and proceded to screw a barrel stub on and test feeding. My theory was that with a blank extractor ( then cut to the 35's head ) feeding should be great. It really didn't feed too bad with stock extractor and follower. Really if it feeds two rounds that's all you need. Two in the mag and one in the tube, by the time you get number 4 chambered he will be long gone, especially on a drive. Your mileage may very. Does the 445 not feed? I like that round. Out of the tube you are running, I'd say that weapon is a fast stepping number. Brenden

Thank you Reloader. You have put my mind at ease. Now I just need to cut the chamber on the 7x57 and load some ammo. I want to cast ammo, and cannot wait until I'm able to. Finding time is the hard part. Building a gun and loading ammo for it to hunt is what drives me. I think it would be very neat to harvest an animal with a gun you built and a bullet you cast. That's taking it to another level. Thanks for sharing your recipes and knowledge. This is an interesting read. Brenden

That is an interesting read. I'm starting to get into this sort of process as I am putting together a 7x57 on a 93 action for a plinking gun. My first thought was to shoot cast bullets through it, but then I bought 200 "blemished" bullets from Midway. They are 162 grain accubonds. I will shoot them up then go to cast only. I was only intrested in a 100 yard gun and remember reading about the " universal load ". I have a can of 2400 on hand, would 16 grains be a good safe starting point or should I drop back to 14 and work up? I've read a lot about reduced loads, and its very confusing to me as most people believe you will die if you get 2400 around something other than a pistol. If nothing else I may start with IMR 4895 and drop back a bit around their youth loads ( 60% of a starting load) Brenden

That is a good deer. Big congratulations on taking him with that gun. I bet that thing is bringing the heat out of that long barrel. Brenden

I forgot about saying I will send money as well. I will get something headed your way. Is a check ok for you? I promise it won't bounce! Brenden