In the .308 Bellm thread earlier,Blaine wrote:

"Hi again Mike
And thanks for the kind words! I learned a hell of alot about rifles and cartridges during the time you were out here thanks to you. And i am very grateful to you for all that you have taught me over the years, Thankyou! I have not tryed the loaded ammo you mentioned, but i damn sure will now! Ian has taken over the 5.6x50r and wont let me have it back, guess i cant blame him as it sure is a dandy little rig, Damn good to hear from you again Mike! Take Care Buddy! - Blaine"

At the risk of looking like a mutual admiration society, a correction is definitely in order. This sounds pretty one sided.

I don't know who learned the most from the association we had. I dare say that in the long run I learned a lot more about Contenders with Blaine doing the range work he did for me than I did from any other source during that time period especially.

That is a fact.

I did not want his statement to stand when I am quite in his debt.

One of the most crucial things he brought to the surface, and one that took a number of hard headed years for me to appreciate is the need to get the headspace right when sizing cases.

For the record, I pulled out the "Custom Contender Chronicle" issue with Blaine's article, "Coyote Busting with the Triple Deuce." In it he explained how accuracy suffered when the cases either got too long (from shoulder to headstamp) or varied quite a bit in the same dimension and how paying attention to headspace would always bring it back in.

For years I tried to treat Contenders like bolt guns in regard to tight headspace. While there may be some successes with this approach, it produces far more problems. Believe it or not, doing it right, ie., making the cases actually fit the shoulder to breechface dimension, works better. Imagine that.

Yet the vast majority of shooters remain oblivious to anything resembling the actual headspace they produce with their case resizing procedures...... and wonder why they have problems. Again, imagine that.

Then, hob knobbing around with Don Bower, the issue of how cases are sized surfaced again, and while Don's approach has some holes in it, his approach DOES underscore the need to keep the cases the correct length from shoulder to headstamp.

So. Mr. Eddy. My hat goes off to you for some very important things YOU taught me, to say nothing of the excellent range work you did developing loads for quite a few rounds in Contender carbines when the carbine was still something of a novelty yet nearly 20 years ago.

Man, you are getting OLD!

All the best....

Mike

Blaine Eddy? Didn't he have a "Twangy Guitar?"

Cas I cant sing worth a crap. but i do have a twangy guitar. Hell Mike that mutual admiration stuff sounds perty good to me, hell im speechless my friend, your comments have got me a grinnin ear to ear, do you remember when i told you the velocities i was getting out of the .307 B.S? My God i will never forget the look on your face and the tone of your voice! Needless to say i retired that Frame many years ago. My hell i had some fun with those Wildcats of yours. I think Lloyd still has the .250 Ackley Imp, he's killed a few deer with it i understand. God i used to love to scare the hell out of old lloyd when we were out nitehunting. Man for a religious guy he could sure profane with the best of em. do you remember when we were nitehuntin down near where you lived out here and i drove past those bunch of people in robes holding hands around that bon-fire. hell old lloyd thought they that they were a bunch of Devil worshipers and that they were going to chase us down and kill us. my god i laughed so hard i thought i was gonna die! do you remember that Mike? Man those were some good old times.

Yep..... I DO remember the .300 BS (correction) loads. You had that thing hummin' loading it to full tilt .307 Win. levels. Sometimes it amazes me what the frames will stand and survive!

As time has gone by I have come to better appreciate just how much of the pressure load the case does absorb, and the thicker and stronger the case, the more you can get away with.

I either missed or forgot about robed folks around a bonfire????

For all those years of gun stuff, I'm the idiot for not going out with the best predator hunter I know! Not too many folks can top what you have done busting predators, especially with Contender carbines. It's not too late.

I still want to see the Eddy Funny Bunny in operation. Still use 'em?

Don't know if you caught it or not, but when 1buba and TRCuda were here for a visit awhile back, I chambered two 20" .250 Sav. Imp. barrels with 1-12" twists, one for 1buba and one for me, but have not blued them yet.... soon. Another serious varmint hunter in MO got the 1-14" twist barrel I had ear tagged for myself, and I finally got a couple more made up.

Mike

Not blued yet??? Oh JEEEEZEEEE!

:-) I've been so busy i wouldn't have time to work up a load, but I will be thrilled when the day arrives with that beauty of a barrel!

Blain, the Heritic has mentioned you on several occasions and it is very clear that he holds you and your skill in high regaurd. I hope that some day I have the pleasure of meeting you in person.

steve (1buba)

1buba,
You like coyote hunting. Blaine will keep you on the edge of your chair with his tactics and experiences. Guaranteed.

Next reunion at the training camp to include Blaine Eddy????.... then I get to sit back and listen instead of doing most of the talking.

Just a few more chambers to go, then bluing!

Mike, THE TC Heretic

You are right Mike! I must admit sometimes its hard to get me to shut up,especially when it comes to huntin stories. did i ever tell you about the time me and Mike Jones thought we saw a Bigfoot out nitehuntin, whatever it was it was only about 75yds out and mike was lookin at it through a 10x leupold with a 100 watt lamp pointed at it,I know it sounds crazy but mike kept saying "oh my god its got a mans face" over and over again. I told him to shoot the damn thing but he refused. It finally turned and walked out of the light. To this day i have no idea what it could have been, Poor mike started drinking after that and has never quit. Lloyd said that it was Cain that we saw . lloyd's always been perty deep into the religious stuff. One of these times i'll have to tell you about the time old lloyd slid down into a gigantic wash down in the Henry Mountains to retrieve a Coyote and he couldnt get back out of the wash, it was bitter cold, and he had gotten frostbite in his fingers trying to claw his way up out of that wash.He could hear me laughing up on the edge of the wash and boy was he mad. I remember it was so cold that the tears were freezing to my cheek, every time i would try to tell lloyd sorry for laughing i just couldnt help it and i'd bust a gut again, he told me i wasn't going to heaven and i told him he wasnt either after the profanity that had just come out of his mouth, Anyway,we did kill 7 dogs that day. I too look forward to meeting you to sometime 1BUBA! Sorry for the rambling guys. - Blaine

Ok, the big foot story pushed me over the edge. Please concider this my official request for a reunion at "The Heritics" with the addtion of the Most Honorable Blain.

Mike, is there a good weekend coming up?

steve

Is there such a thing as a bad weekend?

Bet you'd have to line things up pretty soon. Unless things have changed for Blaine, he'll be finishing concrete again before long to subsidize his winter habits of huntin' predators.

BTW, see what I mean about the stories? He has some good ones, but best of all, he knows his stuff when it comes to both guns and nailing predators.

Mike

Man Eddy, you sure do turn up in some strange places sometimes, don't you know??