airedale

I have shot quite a few snake shot cartridges in both 357 and 44 mag out of my revolvers, I used them mainly to kill rats and chipmunks in my barn. I buy the empty capsules and load my own with number 9 shot. At reasonable range they are very effective. I hope to get some loaded up for my 44 spl soon. Al

Picked up one of these HME practice hangers from Amazon earlier in the summer, it has worked out well, it is solid and light weight so it is easy to move around and sells for $35. Slung a few out of the Oneida Eagle this afternoon and have to say this bow is really growing on me, likes the old Easton XX75s and lays them in there pretty well. Al

There's no suggestion that you should change what you use at the range. only in the woods. Sorry but I know what is going on here and have been in the fight for years, the ultimate goal is not only to ban traditional lead ammo period which will put a big hurt on firearms owners but also hunting period these people are in bed with the Animal rights organizations. There is plenty of documentation they in fact brag about it. They have already started this trend in California and take a look at what has happened to gun ownership, ammo and hunting, The numbers do not lie! Al

As a target shooter and hunter I use what shoots best out of my rifles-handguns and priced within reason. For someone that shoots a couple of bullets a year at a Deer price would not be a factor, with the amount of shooting I do I would go broke. If someone likes non lead good for them, I even have some myself but please do not tell me that a copper bullet kills better than and good traditional lead core bullet. I have used both and the bottom line is dead is dead! Some day there may be across the board availability of non lead projectiles that perform and are priced competitively with traditional bullets, only then would I consider switching. But that is only half the reason, all one has to do is take a look at California and the huge decline in hunting and shooting sports to see that there is a stealthy anti gun and anti hunting agenda behind the pro non lead movement. Both the Humane Society of the United States, Peta and other anti gun-hunting groups see this as an opportunity to whittle down our numbers and like I said take a good look at California for yourself to see this is not some made up fake news. More below Al ==================================================================================== The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is at it again. Well, truthfully, they never really stopped. They are just attempting to re-energize their base by attacking hunters and gun owners. The largest animal rights anti-hunting organization in the U.S., and possibly the world, has filed a petition with the Department of the Interior demanding legislation to stop the use of lead-based ammunition on public land. This will impact both hunters and target shooters. Joining the HSUS are other anti-hunting groups including The Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, the Natural Resources Defense Council and The Sierra Club. The press release states that five individual sportsmen are included as petitioners. HSUS clearly views hunters and gun owners as barbarians who should perhaps be using stone age tools of rocks or spears against animals. Never mind that hunters desire is to have the most effective tools and ammunition possible to make a quick clean and humane kill. It's really not about the suffering of animals - it is only about the HSUS and their liberal agenda. It's not about saving anything or stopping suffering. It's all about raising money for HSUS. And they do know how to raise money. The fifty-page petition spells out the HSUS position and makes many claims against the use of lead. It is clearly part of their overall goal to shut down hunting in the United States. Target shooting on public lands and ranges, is also in their sights. It is clearly an effort to deceive an unsuspecting public which many polls show supports legal sport hunting. The HSUS conveniently ignores that hunters (along with fishermen and trappers) fund wildlife conservation across the United States. It is a user pay funding system that does not rely upon general tax revenue funding while providing wildlife conservation benefits for the general public. The National Shooting Sports Foundation points out that no conclusive evidence exists that shows hunters and target shooters using traditional ammunition have caused a decline in the population of raptors. Rather, raptor populations, including the population of bald eagles, continue a steady rise. That's a welcome and positive trend that coincides with the longstanding, widespread use of traditional ammunition by sportsmen. Advocates of banning traditional ammunition also attempt to cite human health risks, but studies have shown that those who consume game taken with traditional ammunition do not have higher blood lead levels than the national average. In addition to hunting and target shooting, I am an avid trap shooter. I have reloaded shot shells, rifle and handgun ammunition for over forty-years. I consume dove, rabbit, pheasant and venison our family harvests each year using traditional lead ammunition. My annual physical includes a liver scan and lead tests. They remain normal and show no impact. Based on this personal experience, I see no significant human health risk from lead ammunition. The new attacks on lead ammunition may be something of a ploy by the HSUS to deflect attention from the recent rulings in the case against Ringling Brothers Circus. Feld Entertainment, Inc., operator of the Ringling Brothers Circus, recovered $15.75 million in attorney fees from HSUS and their co-defendants who include Born Free USA/Animal Protection Institute, Fund for Animals, Animal Welfare Institute, and the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The US Sportsmen Alliance (USSA) reported that during the course of the lawsuit, evidence was uncovered that some of the groups, were secretly paying a plaintiff's living expenses and had submitted false information regarding those payments. In response, Feld Entertainment sued HSUS and the other groups under federal anti-racketeering laws known as the RICO Act. “Sportsmen, farmers, ranchers, and other animal owners have long understood just how far these groups will go to pursue their extremist agenda,” said Nick Pinizzotto, U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance president and CEO. “Hopefully this settlement will help to rein in their underhanded ways. We’re happy to see the court dismiss this case and send a message that these sorts of tactics are not acceptable.” Of course this is a temporary reversal for the HSUS. Their tactics of misrepresenting facts continues to be reflected in both their petition filing and press releases. For me, their worst claim is that the petition is supported by sportsmen across the United States. I just can't imagine knowledgeable sportsmen getting in bed, so to speak, with the HSUS. The HSUS is anti-hunting and anti-gun through and through. Their only interest in sportsmen is to eliminate our activities and way of life. Believing anything else is would require some kind of fancy rose-colored glasses and a serious case of denial. Ammunition manufacturers will need to make bullets that have ballistics equivalent to lead ammunition. Stopping power is a prime consideration both for hunting and self-defense use. Finally, ammunition needs to be competitively priced and reasonably affordable. Conventional ammunition is both scarce and costly enough. The transition to non-toxic shot shells for waterfowl hunters took several years for technology in both the ammunition and shotguns to effectively catch up. There may be factors in rifle performance, such as barrel lengths and rate of twist, that may complicate the challenge. Pursuit of lead-free ammunition should come from within the sportsmen community in partnership with firearms and ammunition manufacturers. It most certainly should not be an arbitrary decision by government bureaucrats or influenced by those who oppose all hunting. There is plenty more for anyone interested. https://www.nvfac.org/lead-ammo-petitions/

Yes you can, I have a couple of open sight equipped rifles set up similar to what you are wanting to do. "Warne or Leupold quick detach" rings are the answer, they hold well, I messed around detaching the scope and putting it back on checking for reliability, everything stayed zeroed in. Al

RIP Gale, I got to meet Gale Sayers at the Shotshow in Atlanta the mid 80s, he was representing a company (Sawyer) marketing an insect-snake bite extractor, those things work great, I have used it several times for bee stings and still have it in my medicine cabinet. As for Gale Sayers you could not meet a nicer guy and I was awestruck to say the least, talk about nifty moves! Al

Check out Ebay, there will be many choices available. Al

FAKE HUNTER!!!!

I would be willing to bet Wolc has forgot more about Deer hunting that you will ever know! Al

Hey Grampy I am at a loss as to why I got the misfire. I am using 777 in fff and with the recommended 20 gr charge and a patched round ball I am getting 100% reliability and good accuracy. The 32 cal maxi ball weighs 110 grs substantially heavier than the round ball but ballistic wise superior both in power, trajectory and effective range not to mention easier to load. I am using a recommended load of 40 grs of the same 777 powder. I know the 777 is a bit harder to ignite so I have ordered a hot shot nipple that is supposed to give a slightly hotter spark, if that does not work I will try a musket nipple conversion which gives a hotter spark yet. I would really like to make this rifle reliable with those maxi balls as it will open things up from being short range Squirrel hunting gun to something that is effective on animals as large as Coyote out to 100 yards. Now as to screw in bullet pullers I do have a couple those in different sizes and tried to use them first. Problem was two fold, the ramrods that are threaded for the bullet pullers I have will not fit down the small bore of the 32 cal and also the brass bore guide on those pullers will not fit in the 32 bore. So as of now I am totally sold on the CO2 gizmos and would use it even if I have a puller that I could. Al

As noted in a thread in one of the forums up above there is getting to be a severe shortage in ammo, but not only ammo, firearms in stock has fallen sharply also. I have been looking to buy a revolver in 357 since spring, the closing of non essential businesses and gov offices (Pistol Permit) made that a no go until mid summer. By then what was a healthy firearm inventory had become depleted due to several factors but mostly panic buying, and when a desired model is found in stock they are now selling for inflated scalper prices. This fiasco got kicked off with some factories shut down production due to the virus, then you have Riots, Democrats pushing the reimagining of Police (AKA Defunding). and blatant gun control measures. So now we have the big panic rush on purchasing firearms for the obvious reasons and stock piling ammo again as was done during the Obama years. During that time I saw $15 bricks of 22 ammo selling for over $100 at gun shows which by the way have been shut down also. I do not see any short term improvement in the situation until the election when then one of two things is going to happen. If Trump comes back things will calm down and go back to somewhat normal. If Sleepy Joe gets elected "Katie Bar The Door" Prices and inventory will make the Obama era seem to have been the good old days. Elections Have Consequences

His typical deflection, he does not post in the other board sections because he has nothing to say or contribute about hunting or shooting. He is a political hack troll plain and simple and is here to stir the pot. Al

More deflection from the non hunting troll When the Dems say outright is that they are coming after guns, can not be any more clear, I take them for their word, your problem is you do not have a clue how important these issues are to dyed in the wool shooters and hunters because you are a posing political hack on a hunting board just here to stir the pot. You are not going to change any minds with your horseshit and as far as I am concerned you and all like you should be thrown out of here on your head you toxic troll, you are no friend of the outdoor sports or the shooting fraternity. Hell I do not remember you posting once on anything related to hunting, this is New York Hunting DUH!!!!! Al

Is it a front sight hood?

I kill the first legal Deer I see to give me more time to small game hunt so the answer to the question is yes. Al

As the old saying goes "It is not the size of the dog in the fight, It is the size of the fight in the dog!

So after I got the Squirrel rifle sighted in with patched round balls I decided to fire some little 110 gr maxi balls I found online, the rifle has a 1 in 48 twist so in theory it should shoot bullets half way decent. So I fire two shots and both bullets print right on the money but when I pull the trigger on number three I get a misfire, put another cap on hope that I can clear the barrel and another pop from just the primer. Take the nipple off and stick a pick into the flash hole, reassemble and fire another shot and still nothing. So this is the first time ever I had a failure to fire with any of my black powder rifles and one thing I know is is not so easy to clear the barrel of an old style sidelock. Unlike an inline where one can just take off the breach plug and ram the load out with a rod these sidelocks are a whole different ballgame. But something came to the rescue, I had in my black powder box a thing-a ma-jig called the "Thompson Center Magnum Silent Ball Discharger" it is one of those things like the stuck case remover I have on my reloading bench, and as the saying goes, you may never have the need to use it but the one time you do you will wish you had one. So I actually got this gizmo as a gift about 25 years ago and had no idea if it would work, read the instructions and assembled it, put the end over the nipple and gave it a hard push and 'pop!" the load flew out onto the ground as neat as could be, so this thing works great and I am so happy to have had it available. Only had one small CO2 cartridge that came with the device and the one firing depleted it's contents so that ended the maxi ball experiment until I get some new CO2 cartridges, have some ordered and on the way. Al

Including you, I will go with my list and their agenda over the bunch of posers your candidate Biden put up!

Thankfully there are people like me that call you out on your smoke and mirrors, that bunch you listed is so phony it is laughable and if hunting ended tomorrow they could give two shits! The list below is the real deal and there are not any that supports Biden! NRA Sportsman'a Alliance Safari Club Ducks Unlimited National Wild Turkey Federation Quality Deer Management Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Boone & Crockett Club Mule Deer Foundation Pheasants Forever National Trappers Association National Shooting Sports Foundation NY State Houndsman Conservation

I read it all and I am not buying into that sack of lies for one second, as far as I am concerned anyone who is for Biden is in no way shape or form a friend to the outdoor and shooting sports Mr Duper! Al

Democrats rolling out the same old playbook around election time portraying themselves as friends of the outdoor sports when nothing can be farther from the truth. Obama shooting skeet, Hillary claiming she Duck hunted and John Kerry the great bird hunter, all smoke and mirror bullshit as anyone that has been in the trenches with these phonies knows. Al

Got the smoke poles out to check zero and try a couple of new loads for the upcoming season. The Thompson Center Cherokee 45 caliber is what I am going to use this year for Deer. It has been one of the most picky rifles I have ever come across, I have finally got this thing shoot the way I like using Pyrodex RS and cast lead Thompson Center Maxi Balls, a load which pretty much is the equivalent the the 44 mag pistol load which should be effective with no problem out to 100 yards or so. The Thompson Center Hawken is also 45 cal and that shoots just about everything I stuff down the stainless Green Mountain barrel well, but she weighs a couple of more pounds than the Cherokee which is a dream to handle and carry. Got the Traditions Squirrel rifle 32 cal zeroed in with the changed out fire sights, my old eyes are a problem with any open sights these days and the fire type sights have been my best solution and all three muzzleloaders now have them. Will hit the timber and see if I can kill something. Al

I only use HiTech rests, the one on my recurve broke today, just ordered a couple of new new flippers. Al