Any Demographic that Actually Needs “No Spitting” Signs Should Expect Problems

It’s a banner day. I’m blogging from the gun room instead of the upstairs Chamber of Manliness.

Yesterday I set up a second set of Home Depot (only the finest) shelves, and I got the vast majority of my junk off the floor. I can walk in and out without tripping. My monitor is connected to a laptop, so it’s running. I have a nice comfy overpriced ergonomic chair. I’m within 20 feet of the refrigerator. It’s heaven.

I have Roku on the TV, so I can watch Youtube and Amazon Prime without using a browser.

Are you tired of the horrifyingly inappropriate “At Home Together” Roku home screen? Roku forces it on people, to remind them that a company that helps people watch Keeping up With the Kardashians is entitled to tell customers they can’t leave their houses. I kept getting rid of this theme, and it kept coming back. I finally found that if you go to the theme menu and select the customizing option, you can disable Big Sister themejacking. You’re welcome. Maybe I can find an AR-15-related theme, or one about whale-meat recipes.

I’m actually considering NOT blogging about coronavirus today. It’s yesterday’s news, unless you live in a place like New York. I don’t mean nothing is happening. Just that there isn’t a lot to say.

I talked to my cousin yesterday about the dirty habits of Northeasterners, which must surely be contributing to the epidemic. She started telling me how disgusted she got when she saw people sharing drinks and eating from each other’s plates. She told me about turning down things friends from the Northeast handed out at ball games. She said she watched them like a hawk. She was right there with me. It’s strange how people from the Northeast think germs are imaginary.

I just checked, and New York City is a major VD hub. Big surprise.

I have to say that I wonder what life will be like now that the lockdowns are about to be forced out of action. Will people flock to malls and restaurants? Will they pack places like T.G.I. Friday’s? I’ll bet they don’t. I’ll bet in-person commerce will still be pretty subdued. But at least we’ll have a choice.

By the way, I was wrong about the flu being as bad as coronavirus. It’s worse. I checked again, and they think the flu may have killed as many as 60,000 Americans this season. That’s on top of the 80,000 we lost last year. Remember all the mass graves and the economic hysteria? Me neither.

Coronavirus is on track for somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000. Hasn’t caught up with the flu yet.

Last night, I decided I was going to make 10mm ammunition. That didn’t work out. I set up my powder measure, and when I started weighing charges, they went like this: 9.3, 9.4, 9.7, 10.0…something was wrong.

Could it have had anything to do with the fact that I left the powder measure in the workshop for several years, where it rusted? Could it be in any way related to the fact that I had never, ever cleaned it?

I don’t want to jump to conclusions.

Cleaning a powder measure is not all that easy. I had already cleaned rust off the outside. I did that a few days ago, using the buffer. The inside was more of a challenge. I came up with a solution. I remembered that I had a big gun-cleaning kit with wire brushes of various sizes. I stuck brushes in a drill and reamed out the hollow parts of the powder measure.

I also noticed that powder was sticking to parts that were not rusted. I blame Hornady One Shot gun cleaner for this. It’s a phenomenal gun cleaner and dry lube. Hornady says to spray the insides of powder measures with it. Hasn’t worked for me. When I used it, powder stuck much worse. I think it leaves a residue powder likes.

I had to clean everything out with window cleaner and alcohol.

When I got this thing years ago, I broke it. Hornady said to spray the inside with One Shot, but this was impossible. The plastic hopper tube is about 8″ long, and you have to spray through it to get One Shot into the metal parts from above. I figured it must have been removable, so I tried to unscrew it. It popped out of the metal part. Hornady had pressed it in.

Nice.

Ever since then, I’ve held it in place with tape. I now think this is the smart way to go. If you ever need to clean your powder measure, it will be hard with the plastic in place. By fastening it with black electrician’s tape, I made it removable.

But thousands of people have used these things successfully without breaking them and putting tape on them, so I may be totally wrong.

It was a mistake following Hornady’s instructions. That, I’m sure of. Maybe the insides of the measure shouldn’t be lubed at all, or maybe a good-quality spray silicone is the best answer. I could also hit it with brake cleaner first. Some people pour graphite powder through them before using them.

Before long, I’m going to toss some Accurate No. 7 in there and weigh some charges. Hoping for the best. I don’t see any parts that could be considered ruined, so I don’t think a new powder measure is the answer.

Powder measures that were made more recently than mine come with internal baffles that supposedly make powder flow better. I have not been able to find them sold separately. I don’t know if they work.

I finally ordered a Powder Cop, which is a little device that gives you some warning when you fill a case too much or too little. I don’t plan to wait for it, because you can avoid problems simply by being careful. I think it’s a good buy, though. Blowing guns up in your hand is bad.

My plan is to make a whole lot of lead 10mm rounds for practice. After that, I’ll think about defense rounds, which would require me to change the settings on the press. I overbought defensive bullets. I think I have around 500. I believe I could go the rest of my life on that amount, including a little practice.

When 10mm is done, it will be time for .45 ACP. Then .38 Super.

I better start weighing charges. These cartridges aren’t going to create themselves.