I just launched my new website. Lo-fi Gun & Game
It will continue in the same vein as this blog, just a little shinier looking and with the credibility of its own domain name. I will be migrating some content from this blog over to the new site but I will also be putting out as much new content as one guy can. Please throw me some traffic.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
New Guns.com articles on mini-shotshells
I was recently organizing my reloading bench when I came across a load data sheet (printed by Ballistic Products Inc.) that I acquired a few years ago. The subject of the sheet was reduced length (shorter than 2-3/4 inch) shotshells. Since I had the materials required for the project and too much time on my hands – on account of being recently laid off – I decided to put together some twelve- gauge, two-inch length shotshells with payloads of both birdshot and buckshot.
The details of the project can be found by clicking the links at the end of the article, but the condensed version is that while the mini-shells were fun to make and did increase the capacity of my Benelli Nova by two rounds, the patterns they produced left a bit to be desired. At five yards, patterns were acceptable, but at ten yards, some pellets apparently went wild and missed the 14x22 inch poster board targets completely. Wild projectiles are never a good thing.
My theory is that the pellets suffered a great deal of deformation before leaving the muzzle. None of the loads incorporated any kind of buffer, Teflon wrap, or shot cup, all of which can cushion shot and/or prevent it from scrubbing against the chamber and bore. Additionally, since my gun has a 3-1/2 inch chamber, it’s possible that the shot column began to expand in the chamber itself before passing the forcing cone, which may have exacerbated pellet deformation. The rounds may have fared better fired from a 2-3/4 inch chambered gun.
On a positive note, all tested rounds fed and cycled perfectly in my pump action Benelli Nova.
The complete articles I wrote on reduced length shotshells can be found on guns.com by clicking the links below.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Fishing trip report: February 11, 2012
After a delayed start to the season due to an unseasonably warm winter here in coastal, Downeast Maine, I’m finally getting in a few ice fishing trips and this morning managed to ice my first decent fish of the winter.
I was out on the ice by 6:30 a.m. and almost called it quits after a short two and a half hours on account of the rain and snow mix that was falling on me the whole time. I’m the sort of fisherman who will endure all kinds of nasty weather, but only if I’m actually catching something.
I was fishing with three lines total. Two were the Ice Rigger and Arctic Warrior rod tenders I wrote about in my last post and the third was a short, heavy action, jigging rod rigged with a bucktail jig. The static lines were baited with whole dead suckers.
I drilled six holes along a straight, 200-yard line over water that ranged from six to approximately 40 feet in depth. I set the rod tender rigs at opposite ends of the line of holes and then moved along in between them, jigging over a range of depths.
I hadn’t had a single bite in three hours and I was considering calling it a day and getting warm when something of reasonable size slammed my jig. After a short but vigorous fight, I iced a 21-inch, two pound, lake trout. It certainly wasn’t a trophy sized fish, but I like catching lake trout in this size range as they are big enough to fillet, but not so large they are too strong to be good table fare. Lakers like this one are delectable when kippered.
The fish was caught just off the bottom in approximately 40 feet of water on a blue, ¾ ounce, bucktail jig tipped with a small piece of sucker meat. I didn’t give the jig too much motion, just a slight bouncing action interspersed with occasional pauses.
Shortly after my initial catch, I also hooked and iced a much smaller lake trout that was promptly returned to the water. After that I didn’t have a single bite and ended the trip an hour later.
While I was happy to catch what I did, it was unfortunate that I did not get a hit on the Ice Rigger tip-up so I could see how it performed. On an earlier trip, I did learn that both the Ice rigger and the Arctic Warrior are sufficiently wind-resistant, which is a definite plus. I also found that a few drops of Smelt-Rite oil applied to spools, guides, and the surface of the water itself went a long way to keep rods and reels from freezing up.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Rod Tenders reviewed: the Arctic Warrior vs. the Ice Rigger
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This article has been moved to my new site, http://www.lofigunandgame.com/ice-rigger-v-arctic-warrior
Please visit and send some traffic my way.
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