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dave h

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Posts posted by dave h

  1. Now that Rocket Radio brings back some fond memorys!! About 1959 or 60 as a paperboy, can't remember the number but I had to sign up a certain number of new subscibers to get a Rocket Radio. I wanted it so bad being one order short I turned in a phony order then canceled my parents subscription to cover the extra newspaper. My ol'mam almost kicked my butt after he discovered I cut a hole in the wall so I could hook it up to a water pipe and listen to it in my bed.

     

    Funny looking back how our Fathers had no sense of humour ! I rode my motor bike into town on my 16th birthday to see about getting a motor bike lisence ! The local Cop made me push the Bike home & wake my father to tell him what I'd done (The death sentance would have been prefrable )After the Old man had kicked my arse from here till breakfast time! He drove me back into Quorn & the Copper had my license writtern out !As he said there was nothing in the law that he could of punished me with worse than what Dad could do to me ! One of my punishments ,along with a long spell on the wood heap chopping wood for Mum ,was the confersation of my Crystel radio for a month !!!! Now that hurt as we still had the old radio plays & serials ! A whole month with out westerns ,the Goon show ect ! Brings a tear to my eye even now !

    On the bright side I rang up Tandys today (a electrical supplier like Radio shack & eventualy got one of the Older staff who informed me that they have Crystal radios in stock ) Guess where I'm going this week ???

     

    Dave

     

  2. [attachmentid=15]

     

     

     

    This is My Lad,Evan with his shooting Car (please note the air conditioned comfort & easy access or quick escape route for Dad in emergencey ) I'm holding my 45-70 & SBH.44mag ,Ev has his Trapper in 30-30 & the ruger single six (with the mag cylynder in place I think ) .WE were off on what turned out to be a unsuccessfull goat hunt !

     

    Dave

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  3. Thanks for the info Dave.So our friend fritz is our cockie friend!We have some strange slang here too.Glad to hear some young feller is going to get a raising that he can always look back at and think those were the good days.I applaud you for that.My son is grown and gone,and I sorely miss the days we had hunting together and the setting around the campfires,cooking,lying,farting,and telling jokes.I thought they'd never end.When you get time,send us more hunting stories.I love gun work,but hunting is my no.1 love in life.Jerry

     

    I'm lucky in the sence that I got a second chance with having another son to hunt with as this is my second marraige !My Kids are grown up & now have in one case a Child of their own ! My eldest son is serving overseas with the SAS with the Army so we don't see much of him ! It's fantastic when he pays us a visit as it involves going out for a couple of days of just the Boys as it were . Only problem being his leading his step brother astray ! Teaching him how to out shoot Dad !!!!!!!

     

    Dave

     

  4. God I haven't heard of anybody using a Crystal radio in years ! THis brings back some pleasant childhood memeries !!!! Years ago I got a couple for my Nephews .They were right in to computers & all things tecnical ! It had them stuffed as they could'nt work out why there were no batteries & the radio still worked ! Those units I got from Radio shack & they came with a small ear piece ! On reading this I may just have to go & check out if you can still get them or if I have to get the parts my self ? Wonder if the Kids that work in these stores would know what a Cat's wishker is?

     

    Dave

  5. But Dave,if someone here say's "there's Joe Blow,he's a rancher down south,would ya'll say "there's Joe Blow,he's a stationer down south? I know it's a silly question,but it's the kinda crap I think about.Texas had huge ranches owned by dudes from Scotland in years past.I guess all pulled out when the cattle business turned into a gamble.

    What kind of bird hunting do you have?I'm wanting to go somewhere like your neck of the woods once in my life before I stroke out or fall and break a hip,and after lots of years,I'm getting back into quail and dove shooting,and think that wood be a good excuse to go somewhere wild and different.I'm past the point of having to kill some big game animal on a hunt to feel successful.Nowadays,it's the experience of the trip and the hunt I'm after.I would like to shoot a dingo and have a full mount.That'd be something to have a dingo and coyote full mount just to see the difference.Lets us know about the cocaine bombs.It would take care of several kinds of varmits around here.Jerry

     

    One more thing Dave,is the ducks guts a good thing or bad?Jerry

     

    Sorry bout that Jerry I forget myself on occastion with our slang ! The ducks guts means something is just right or exellant ! As flash as a "rat with a gold tooth" is another way of saying it ! If something is just right it is "Just like a brought one " Down here it would be (depending on the size of the proprty ) Joe from down south ? Yeah "his a Big Cockie" or Joe from down south ? "No mate his just a small time Cockie" It's funny most of the big stations over here were taken up by Blokes from Scotland ! They must have colinized the world of Cattle farming (must be a small country syndrome or something ) Vestery was a Scot as were the Mac Lachlins who owned Commonwealth hills (the biggest sheep station in the southern hemisphere in it's day ) As for bird shooting ? There you have me ! I know there is a duck season .There is also quail ,dove ,& Geese in the Northern Territory .But it's something I've never delt in (as there was no money in it ) I live on a large property of roughly 20,000 acres (No I'm not a Cockie I leave that up to my Brother ) I enjoy shooting crows ,Rabbits ,Foxes ,Goats in my spare time anything else is like work!

    The curse of shooting for a living is trying to relax & seperate leasure from Work ! My 12 yr old step son has given me a second lease of life as he & his sisters were born in the city & had never ventured out of there until their mother & I got together ! So in the last 5 yrs the Lad has his own Bush bashing car (Minus doors, front fenders trunk lid ,& windscreen & uit's a case of every night I'm Home of can we go spotlighting Dad ???????? It's nice to go out without haveing to worry about hitting or missing & tallies ect ! He quite often helps himself to a .22 out of the safe & goes to scare a rabbit or 2 or takes his .310cadet & clobbers a Goat !

     

    Dave

  6. Dave,40 years ago or so,when ranchers in North Texas thought the coyotes were bad,would raise hell with the state enough that they'd send what they called govt. trappers out to thin the critters,but they didn't trap at all.They put out cynied bombs (sorry about the spelling).They had a string on the bomb that had a scent lure on it,and when the coyote pulled it,cynied gas hit them in the face killing them real fast.I've seen dead coyotes less than 10 feet from the bomb.The trappers put warning signs all around the bombs warning folks to keep their dogs away.They thought they had lots of singing dogs then,but there's 10 times more now.About 15 years ago I saw the same warning signs around Junction Texas,and figured tree huggers would have put a stop to that.I have a stupid little question for you Dave.If we have a ranch,we're ranchers,but if ya'll call them stations,are you considered ranchers?Stationers don't sound so good.Jerry

     

     

    Down here a Station owner is Known as just that .They are also refered to as "Cockies" (a Native bird that causes great damage to crops .A pink & grey parrot ! The term is not one of indearment ) Most of the larger Stations are owned by large coorparations & employ Managers to see to the day to day Running of the Land ! VRD in the North was the size of Belgium & was owned by a Lord Vestery of the Blue star Shipping company .It is said that he never came to Australia to see what he had invested in .It has since changed hands & I have No idea of which company owns it these days ! The Bombs you speak of .Would have been the Duck's Guts over here ! Instead we have until recently used Stichnyne & 1080 .There is now a test going on to use Pure Cocaine in the baits as it causes the animal to go into Hyperthermia & Die in a "Humaine Fashion " (Please note my political correctness ,in my line of work I'm dealing with do gooders & tree huggers all the time these days !!!!)

    Dave

     

  7. Google has agreed to censor references to anything contrary to the Chicoms. This includes references to Tienamen Square, and other such things. Add this to Google's refusal to support gun-related advertisements. I use Yahoo.

     

    Cheers for the Heads up on that FC! I did'nt realise this! Added to the fact of Googles hesitation to release details of the number of hits on Child Porn sites to the Gov it makes for a fairly shakey company

     

    Dave

     

  8. I too am laughing yet about the dried apricots!

     

    But $1 a snout is $1 more than we get here in Texas. Our legislature is too damned distracted by the school financing problem than to take the feral hog problem under consideration. Texas needs more money (hell, who don't?)

     

    I may have missed it, but how do you you show proof of doing in a camel? Scalp? Snout?

     

    We used to have a bounty on coyote scalps, but that was before the school children problem came about. It don't help the state that we have to educate the children of not only Texas, but also of Mexico!

     

    fritz

     

    WE take the Ears as proof of a kill when just culling ! Everthing is taken when shooting for human /Pet food consumption The animal is dressed in the Field (the Liver ,Kidneys ,Heart & lungs must be left in the beast for inspection the same thing applies for Kangeroos) they are then moved to a large mobile Chiller were they are then shipped to the Processing Plants ! On a Culling job like I was just involed in each camel is worth $200.00 to me & I work by my self where as For The Meat industry It is a case of hiring several Hands to assist in the removal & dressing of the Carcass .A large Bull or cow is worth round the $800.00 mark ,but after I allow for wages for the crew & find a reliable crew at that it whittles down my profit margin ! Roos are normaly a one man operation although I've hired Off siders over the years in times of Plenty when I was Training up New Guys (They work for nothing ) The first time I ever saw the Dried apricot idea I did'nt belive that it would work ! It was a art form in it's self to get it just right ! But the expression of discussd on the Inspectors face on opening the bag was always priceless ! Most would stand up wind & get you to count them out ,then rebag them & into the furnace to be destroyed! This went on for years before somebody got careless & got too greedy & added to many Home made Snouts (ruined a perfectly good cottage industry ! Apricot growers must of felt the Pinch ! To say nothing of the Fall in Pigs destroied on the Books of the Gov inspectors )

    Dave

     

  9. Dried apricots! Yer crackin' me up!

     

    Mate I just pray the statureof limitations is up on the things we used to do ! In the Northern Territry Dog scalps were worth 5/8's of nothing due to it being cattle country ! Yet over the Border in WA or down south in SA they were worth in those days about $30.00 in Gov bounty It would scare the Bejeeze out of the Berucrats in the Deptment s concerned in Feral & Dog control of the number of Dingos that crossed the borders to comit suicide ! (Well their scalps crossed the borders anyway ) A good Dogger before they modified the rules on scalps could get a good 6 or 7 out of one dog ! In my Dad's day 1930's until the 60's they used to use Kangaroo hides cut up & then mixed & left in the sun to make up scalp Numbers ! Funny thing is young Blokes ask these days why it's so hard to break into the industry ???????? Before the kangaroo Indutry was reclassified as for Human consumption & monitered more closely I was selling to one Processor BoB Jesser (He still owes me money ) That would take Goats as Roos & stick the Tags we were issued on them ! THereby classing them as Roo meat & getting more for the meat !

     

    Dave

  10. Now that sounds like fun! Wild dog hunting.

    Camels in Australia! Who'd have thunk it?!

     

    FC. Dog stifferning used to be a "trade" unto it's self as it were. Doggers were always viewed with suspition by all & sundry! THere is a Fence that starts on the Great Austrailian Bight (infact it hangs over the Clifts) & then travels through the desert between SA, WA, the Northern Territory & into NSW & finnishes up in a field in the middle of nowhere ! Although it was buil;t as a Rbbit Proof fence it later became a Dog Fence to control Dingos .In the early days there were control Officers (Doggers ) ever 20 mile & they were issued Push bikes to patrol their section of the Fence ! Imagine a push bike (we're talking early 1900's) carrying Crow bar ,Fencing gear ,shovel ,Water Bag ,Rations ,Rifle ect through sand ! These were hard men indeed ! I did a stint on the Fence .But I had the luxury of a 4x4 & 500miles of fence to maintain ! The Gov used to pay a bounty for Dog scalps ,but now it is up to the indavidual Property owners to pay the Dogger the price per scalp varies from about$60.00 to 160.00 per scalp with several states still emploing their own Officers on a limited scale & then contracting out work ! In the past when working on Stations(large Properties ) I have been known to stop on my way out to work if I saw a Dog that had been run over in town & scalp it & faithfully "cash" it in on the Station ,stating that I got it on the Station !!!!!

    For many years there was a bounty paid on Feral Pigs it wa about $1.00 per snout ,so we would get dried apricots & punch 2 holes in them with a pencil & mix them in with the snouts & leave them out in the sun for about a week! THere was not a Gov inspector in the world that had the stomach to really take care in counting them !In Western Australia there is still I belive a $5.00 bounty paid on Starlings (Black birds ) As it is free of the damned things .Whilst working for the WA gov as a pest control Officer (Dingos Camels,Horses ,Donkys )I lined my Little brother up in SA to shoot Starlings with his Air rifle ,pack em on ice & frieght em over to me were I trckled them on to the market! Like all good things though word got round on what I was doing & other greedy people flooded the market as it were & it did'nt take long before some one realised what was going on !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

     

    Dave

  11. Dave,

     

    The Aussies are probably the most prolific SMLE modifiers around. What are you guys doing to your rifles to accurize them and add scopes and stuff? I've also read a fair amount about you guys making some semi-standard wildcats for these rifles like the 25-303 and others.

     

    You ever tinker with these rifles much or were you too busy working with them to work on them?

     

    Jason

     

    Jason I personally have made tinkering,converting,sporterizing on the odd occassion off loading real clunkers to new chums ! They have been the basis for nearly all of my working rifles ! Moden calibers came & went but at one stage there were about 30 Enfeilds in my safe at one time . The two most popular wildcats were the 270-303 & the 25-303 . There was a time when several home grown companies stocked factory ammo & brass for nearly all of the 303 convertions from .22-303 (5 types that I know of ) 243-303,25-303& 270-303 .Of course these companies went by way of the DO-DO ! But a local company Simplex (God love em ) still stock dies ,including Forming dies for em ! There has been a resurgance of intrest in the last couple of years for the 25-303.

    I still own & use the first Mk1 (1902) I ever bought as a Water Buff Rifle in the late 60's (the Old girl is on her 8th barrel ) The Old PH's tool kit comprised of a Hacksaw blade,Triangular File ,Car inner tube (for bedding ) & a stick of brase as when you cut em back (the stock ) they shot about 6" high so you soldied som brase on the fore sight & filed it down until she shot where you wanted it ! It must be remembered we shot (& still do hundreds of miles from any gunsmith ) Mounts ? There was a Aussie company "Field" that produced several different types of mount but failing that ! I have once wittnessed a set of mounts that had been Arc welded to the reciver of a Smelly !

    Ammo was normaly Milsup ranging from 215gn RN to 174 gn solids (which were dum-dumed by cutting a small piece off the nose with side cutters ! God help you if you cut too much off )I suppose apart from the appeal of a cheap tool ,these rifles have proven them selves time & time again & everybody has a story to tell about sporterizing ,reloading & the leasons learnt

     

    Dave

     

  12. A 'touchy-feely' CNN reporter, while interviewing a Marine sniper, asked, "What do you feel when you shoot a terrorist?"

     

    The Marine shrugged and replied, "Recoil."

     

     

    Roscoedoh you now owe me the cost of cleaning my key board & Moniter ! I read that with a mouth ful of coke ! wich is now sprayed over everything ! I bet that Reporter will have nightmares for the next 10 yrs Plus !

    As For the Marine ? God Bless Him & keep him safe ! & Keep up the Good work ! My Son is with the SASR1 & is overseas at the moment .I've sent the Quote to him in case of reporters !

     

    Dave

     

  13. You shot camels for dog food? Where? 90 miles with broken ribs had to be the trip from hell.

     

    Coyotes- all my brother's cats and chickens, as well as guinea hens are dead. My nephew also shot 4 wild dogs in a row.

     

    FC Camels wander around most of the Northern areas of Australia from the middle of Nth western aust right through to the eastern states . There is a estimated 700,000 feral camels in the Northern Territory alone ! Not only are they shot for Pet food these days but there is a market for Human consumption ,as well as a live export trade for calves & younger camels a Good one can bring up to 40'000 dollars ! I was away this last 10 days on a dingo control project ! I was also asked to destroy any Camels I came across but to leave any juvinile & calves .When I enquired why the sudden show of feelings by the property manager ? He informed me that they would muster up any young stock but did'nt need the hassel of the Old Bulls & Cows . (Hey I got a nice bonus out of it so I'm not complaining ) My incident with the ribs is a common issue with Pro Shooters over here ,a number are injured or killed each year. It's just not a publisied thing (it don't sell papers) This week I accounted for 37 dogs & 15 Camels

     

     

    Dave

  14. Looks like Huber it will be. I'm going to buy one when the funds come up a little. I want to shoot this rifle again. This time with some proper sandbags to steady up on. My first shoot I was using a truck hood and a rolled up pair of coveralls as my rest. I want to bench it now.

     

    If you get a chance, list what loads are popular for Enfields in your neck of the woods. :D

     

     

    My personal faverite loads for the .303Brit are 150gn 36gns of H4895

    174/180gn 34gns of H4895 or 43gns of H414/H4350

    215gn 40gns of H414/H4350

    These are starting loads & are sutible for Mk3 actions . There is a formular for reduced loads from Hodgdon ,but it escapes me at the presant time !

     

     

    Dave

  15. Here's a pic for you: The top one is in .357Max, the bottom is .17 Ackley Bee. Took a deer a year or so ago with the Max. (one shot, about 125yds) I really like the little rifle, perfectly adequate on our smaller Texas deer, and very handy.

    I still have the .357Max reamer I could make a deal with you for, or if you know how, (I don't) I could send it to the reamer loan thingy they have going here.

    I have a large Martini action, it may wind up being a .50-90 (or some BP round). I would like to have one of the .303 actions-I really have the urge for a 7x57Martini!...

    IPB Image

     

    My long suffering Barrel maker has a Reamer in 357Max at the moment .So it's just a matter of sweet talking him into turning out a nice medium weight barrel for me ! His slightly snowed under with work at the presant time (including several barrels I have ordered )So I have no wish to incure his wrath at the presant time ! It would not be the first time his chased me out of his shop whilst threaterning my with bodily harm ! That would require ,a Proctologist to remove the Blank from my body !!!!!

     

    Dave

     

  16. My learned collegues have hit the nail on the head as far as education is concerned ! I've been a Pro shooter for all of my life (with a short exception of when the Army decided it needed me to keep the world a free place ) Yeah ! Everybody tells me what a great career & Life I have! Shooting for a living ! Yeah that's all I do for a living ! Or as I see it ! It's the only thing I can do for a living ,as I left school at 14 as like you I hated it ! Now I'm a victam of a lack of education ! No do the hard yard & then decide what you want

     

    Dave

  17. Dave

    I'm going to start reloading as soon as barrel breakin is over. I'm going to try 190gr Match Bullets for my first attempt in this caliber. I want to see how close a group I can make with an Enfield action.

     

    What do you think of Huber triggers? It's a trigger with a ball bearing made on to it. Some other outfit was advertising a new adjustable trigger assembly but I can't seem to find them on the web.

     

    One other problem that has cropped up is my gunsmith didn't bevel the chamber opening where the feed ramp is. I've decided to ignore this since I'm going to use this rifle only for target shooting. When I get tired of single loading I'll bevel the chamber opening. One advantage about this is no dings or dents in the projectile as it goes into the chamber.

    9755[/snapback]

     

    Only heard good things about Huber triggers.It seems to be the best kept secret in the world of the Web on where to get them ! I've just found a new Gunsmith! I've yet to try him out ! I normally get my barrel work done by Sprinters

     

    Dave

     

  18. Well the Air Force officer recruiter gave me the skinny on my odds of becoming an Air Force officer, less than one in ten.  Unless I want to be a lab jockey chemist.

     

    Which is ironic since my degree is in chemistry, but I don't want to spend the next fifteen years in a lab.  There is nearly a 100% chance the AF would take me as a chemist, it is a "Technical" field, where a 2.5 gpa is all that is required.  The last OTS board only had three applicants for the "Technical" (science and engineering) fields, they are so hurting for electrical engineers that they don't even have a grade requirement.  My grades were around the 2.8 range, but since I want a "Non-Technical" job then the recommended GPA for the OTS Board is 3.2 or higher, and the records show that they prefer MUCH higher.

     

    However, I could still enlist in the AF, directly into the field I want to be working, combat controller.  However, the chances of earning a commission are still about the same, but I would have until 34 to earn a commission.

     

    Which means that the Army becomes a better alternative.  Much easier for me to get into OCS, practically assured.  Practically assured that I'll get the field of my choice as well.  Or I could reup and stay enlisted, maybe apply for an OCS slot before I hit 29.

     

    I have no idea what the Marine Corps offers, and I have no interest in being in the Navy. 

     

    I loved my job on Active duty, but after spending time with a hospital unit in the Reserves left a bad taste in my mouth.  I was looking for a different taste of BS in the Air Force.

     

    I want to serve, but I also want to take care of my wife, and start a family. 

     

    My only real option for an officer career is the Army, the AF looks like it is enlisted only for me at this time.  Even in a time of war the AF gets more OTS applications than it needs, by a factor of 8. 

     

    So pray for me and my family, God has a way of putting us where he wants us, but I'd like to come to a decision point and act on it soon.  It is weighing heavily on my mind, how to spend the next fifteen years of my life. 

     

    Jimro

    9719[/snapback]

     

    Jimro .I'm not right up in the religion Biz but I do know that God has our lives under control & he will know which way to point you & open doors for you ! My prayers for your guidence are with you ! Try to sit back & let God show you which way you must go ! Hope this helps

    Dave

  19. One of my great weaknesses in life is the Humble Martini Cadet action ! My .22 Hornet is a origanal Sportco (a now deflunct South Australian company ) I had a long gone Uncle who was their Head Gun smith & sepcialized in rechambering Cadet actions ! Over the years I've rebarreled them to 218 Bee ,222 Rimmed ,25-20 ,Re chambered or rebarreled to 32-20 & Re cut or rebarreled to .357 mag ! I have normally had one hidden in the back of the safe as a Rainy day project ! My first "Big Game" Rifle was a .310 Cadet !

    Some time back my Stepson who had never shot until he moved out to my place was looking through the safe & found my spare .310 & ended up claiming it for his own use (much searching round for .310 Dies .....Now were'd I put em ?) So I found myself with out a Spare project action ! My Gun guy has come to the rescue & has found me a Cadet (at the right price ) I really have a urge to go for a 357max this time round ! Also I have tracked down a Greener action in .303 . I think this will become a 270-303.

     

    Dave

  20. As usual I'm a day late and a dollar short but howdy Dave ,good to hear from ya' and hope you come around often. Jim

    9707[/snapback]

     

    Know where your comming from Jim (I hope to be late for my own funeral ....only cause I'm too broke to afford it ) As I have a fair bit of time on my hands these days (hope the wife don't read this ) I hope to get on a fair amount smile.gif

     

    Dave

     

  21. OK!

      The accesories can be included. The wife can not! I said no family. It has got to be a material thing.Dave, I know a kangaroo and a mate might be the same but they are not a material object. Lets have fun! Give me your best!

     

    Swamprat

    9636[/snapback]

     

     

    I said " Knife" not "wife" you Twit ! biggrin.gif The wife would be the first to go ! & if I sampled the product of that still of yours ........Well the Ugliest Roo in the world would start to look good biggrin.gif (come to think of it if ya spend enough time out on your own .....Hell you do'nt even need the product of the Still ohmy.gif )

     

    Dave

     

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