airedale

I have actually done that with milder reloads, I love the Model 95 and am astounded on how accurate it is. The Marlin 95 has a strong action but I do not feel comfortable firing the ammo that I am going to be loading out of it. All the loading manuals I own are explicit and have a strong warning to not use such ammo in any firearm other than bolt actions, the Ruger 1 and the TC Encores. Also the old Barnes bullets have no cannelure and can not be crimped, I already know from previous experience with the 458 mag they will creep forward from heavy recoil out of the case screwing up the cartridge's overall length so they have to be shot singly. Lastly I am always looking for an excuse to buy and try something new LOL! Al

Not familiar with that particular book myself. As far as value as always it comes down to rarity - numbers published, I don't think those types of books are worth big money but worth something as the information they have still contains valuable knowledge and makes for good reading. I have a fairly extensive collection of Gun Digest books from the early sixties on up, also a few Shooters Bibles, some of the older editions are worth a few bucks but nothing serious. Al

I know the history of the 45-70 very well. First of all I do not believe I ever said anything about being afraid of firing a 45-70, secondly I have shot my Marlin model 95 lever action extensively so I am well aware what kind of recoil a 45-70 has. The handloads that I will be putting through the Pro Hunter will be a large step up from what can be fired safely through the Marlin Lever action and quite a bit different recoil wise. I can be attaining velocities only 300 fps less than the 458 Winchester mag which I have also shot extensively and when pushing 500 grain bullets at 1800 fps your shoulder will know it especially out of a 7 pound rifle. Al

So many years ago I got it in my head to own and shoot a 458 Winchester Mag, I acquired a Ruger 77, bought a bunch of bullets and cases and had a ball with that rifle, the most fun was letting my friends touch it off. Well back in those days I did a lot of wheeling and dealing and the 458 went down the road for some other shooting implement that caught my fancy. Forward to today and I still have hundreds of 458 bullets on my shelf languishing. I have a model 95 Marlin 45-70 but having a tube magazine the round and pointed nosed bullets would not be safe to fire in a tube because of stout recoil. I decided to get a single shot 45-70 to play around with to fire those bullets and had settled on the new Henry but the darn things are almost impossible to find. After 2 years I got sick of fooling around and went ahead and bought a stainless barrel for my Thompson Center Encore Pro hunter and be done with it. So the barrel came in and I cleaned it up, mounted a TC scope base and used low Burris Zee rings and put a compact Leupold 2 1/2 X inside those. The Leupold for me is perfect for this rifle, the power matches the cartridge, it can handle recoil and the eye relief is very long so I will not be getting nailed by the scope. I have one of these little Leupolds mounted on a Marlin 94 44mag and it is great in the woods. Now I just got a get my hands on some new brass which should be coming in next week sometime. Got some old early Barnes copper jacket pointed jobs in 400 and 350 grain, some 400 Speer flat nose and 500 and 350 grain Hornady round nose. The old shoulder is going to be sore I think, I am hoping that TC flex stock will make things tolerable. Al

The 1911 full size pistol is a favorite of mine but as an every day carry for me is it just way to big, heavy and tough to conceal especially when wearing light clothes in warm seasons. As Rattler mentioned above there are compact 1911 style pistols that are so much lighter and easier to conceal, not very enthusiastic about a 380 but those little 1911 style Sigs and Kimbers in 9 mm have plenty of pop. I carry one of those miniature 1911 style Sig P938s in 9 mm, it's a shooter and totally reliable, it hides real nice and it is made out of metal. Al

The manuals of today have loading data that is more conservative than what was printed in loading manuals, and what was published by the gun and outdoor magazine writers 50 years ago, liability and safety the driving factors. Al

I picked up a new computer at the end of the summer, the old computer was Windows 7 and the new model came with Windows 10. There was a little bit of a learning curve but it did not take me long to get used to 10. It was the same deal when I went from Windows XP to Windows 7 and Windows Millennium to XP, once I figured out how the new OS worked there was no problem, most folks just do not like change when they get used to doing things a certain way. In a few days you will start getting the hang of 10 Rob and once you do you will be satisfied with it. Al

So Utica Cutlery is lying and falsely advertising, It is a $37.00 knife, you are not going to get premium wood, jigged bone or horn scales for that kind of money.

Camillus pocket knives are my favorites Otto, I was sick about them folding and closing shop, all those models with the Sid Bell animal inlays on the handles were very undervalued in my opinion, they are starting to bring big money now as folks realize what a high quality knife they were and are. Al

I have been collecting mostly pocket style knives for some time now and prefer American made stuff both vintage and new. Ebay has been the source for most of my finds and I am regularly poking around over there looking for something that catches my fancy. Most of the American manufacturers are just a memory, the Chinese have put most out of business flooding the market selling their cheap imitations on those TV informercial shows. One can buy a table full of those cheapos for what a high quality American made sells for. Once the US brand is out of business the good names are bought up and the Chinese make imitation knives such as Camillus, Schrade, Gerber Kershaw brands ETC using the brand recognition. Unlike NY companies Camillus and Schrade which had to fold, "Utica Cutlery" is still scratching out a living with a modest line of American made knives. I found a guy from Yorkville NY on Ebay that sells USA made Utica knives with a custom blade inscription for not a lot of money. I bought one for the heck of it and was pleasantly surprised, it is a decent little Trapper model and the blade inscription was nice. It is the second Utica knife I have purchased and am pleased with both. I thought I would put in a plug for both outfits. These inscribed knives would make a heck of a gift to any blade collector I think. "creativelaserspecialties" Al

It was a good demo to show how well camo can be used and it's effectiveness but there is a big difference between playing hide and seek to being in a concealed shooting situation-position when hunting. Al

I have Honda red running in my veins, have had stellar performance and reliability with everything they manufacture. My son has a Pilot and he loves it, I purchased a Ridgeline pickup which is partly based on the pilot and I love it. Started out with Honda back in 1969 with a CB 750 motorcycle, Have since had a 2003 Valkyrie, a CB 450 and a 450 Rebel along with a couple of their generators. For me it is pretty tough to beat a Honda at anything.

If I had to guess I would say Oak because of the open grain and color. Al

Tracking down the "SKIDMARK" Murderer YIKES!! Get those cheesy drawers out of my face!!

I am somewhat biased! Below are a few photos I pulled off the Traditional Working Airedale forum posted by members from all over the US and Canada.

I did a lot of Coon hunting in my day, the methods used most are calling and with dogs. Not too many things more fun than hitting the timber at night with a good Coon dog. It is all about the skill and work of the dog unraveling the track, no matter what tricks the Coon pulls trying to fool the dog and making that Coon tree. Along with my Airedales I bred and trained English Coonhounds for Coon hunting and also did some competition hunting, some of the best times hunting I have ever had. As for eating, like anything else it is how they are prepared and cooked, it can be very good. Al

Hoppes Bench Rest 9 is my favorite, I have been using this stuff for a good long time, be it plastic, lead, powder or various bullet jacket residues it will take care of most stubborn bore fouling with good results quick and easy. Al

Merry Christmas "Hunting NYers"

When I was a impressionable young fellow I subscribed to and read all the major outdoor and gun magazines and was intrigued with hunting with a handgun. Back then hunting with a handgun was pretty much a novel idea, the old firearms writer Elmer Keith was handgun hunting's biggest proponent and he surely had me on the edge of my chair reading some of his escapades. Some of those tales were pretty tall but were good reading and had me fired up to give it a try myself. Back 50 years ago it took about a year to get approved for a permit, so during the long wait I had a S&W model 29 44 mag on layaway, bought all of my reloading components and loaded a bunch of shells and was totally ready for some action when that permit finally came through. Problem was it was approved in late winter and I was bummed out knowing I had to wait until fall to get some hunting in. Well a couple of hunting friends who also got into handguns the same time as myself suggested one of those PA preserves for a hog hunt. I was chomping at the bit so bad to use my new revolver on something other than paper targets I was all for it. So we booked a hunt at a preserve called The" Black Boar". We all took what they called "razorback" hogs , we also took a couple of other what were called non trophy animals, a couple of goats and a sheep. I took and used my best shooting 44 handload, a 225 gr Speer half jacket recipe that I found out of a magazine and they shot and performed as advertised with perfect mushrooms on the recovered bullets, still use that same load today. To sum things up, no it was not the same as what someone terms real hunting wide open space wild animals. Still with handguns we still had to get close and take good shots and the animals did not pose for shots. With rifles it would have been a cakewalk as getting within 100 yards was fairly easy but with handguns it made things interesting. The whole point was to actually see how handguns performed on a real animal and for me I came away with some worthwhile knowledge but zero desire to ever do it again. That knowledge paid off in the following Deer seasons hunting with a handgun as I took several Deer with the lessons learned. As a side note I took a trip to Tennessee to hunt a real so called European wild Boar with a handgun booking with an outfitter that used Dogs. It was an exciting hunt and I enjoyed it but the fact of the matter it was easier for me to take the big Russian in the so called wild than it was the little Razorback in PA on the preserve. Not for everybody but for a youngster, a rookie hunter or for testing out a bit more challenging weapon like a bow or handgun the preserves have their place especially off season. Al

No argument from me!

Smoking and putting anything into your lungs is going to promote health problems down the road guaranteed, be it vaping, tobacco or marijuana, all are no good! Al

Real nice setup with a lot of class! Al

I have shot recurves for many years, I love their simplicity, their tradition and like you found out with your new recurve, "they are a ton of fun". I am no expert or instructor, I can recommend Byron Ferguson's book "Be the Arrow" and plenty of practice, practice, practice and practice more. Good luck to you with your new bow. Al

The wife's hobby is folk art and paintings which she is pretty good at, she hand painted the "Michigan Autumn" paint scheme on my Oneida Eagle bow below. So I figured I would upgrade her crafting supplies and equipment with a comprehensive Air Brush painting setup. Al

So I have been working on a shooting shack for my back 40 range to keep me out of the winter weather. Needed some light inside to brighten things up and having no electricity out there I started poking around for something battery powered to light up the inside. Found this D cell powered lantern on Amazon with rave reviews so I bit and purchased one, also purchased some rechargeable D cells. Anyhow I charge up the batteries and fire this thing up, holy smokes this light will burn out your retinas!! Thank goodness it can be dimmed! It is by far the brightest lantern I have ever seen so if you are needing some real lighting power this baby does the trick! Al