I had a productive afternoon at the lathe today.

I have long used the Hornady (Originally Stoney Point) Chamber-All case gauge system to find out the cartridge case's head to ogive length. Then you can figure out how to set up your dies for your choice of distance off the lands. Part of the Drill (Ha, Ha) is to take a case that has been fired in your Chamber. Then you need to use a set of dies for disassembling your cartridges to help you run a bullet into the neck multiple times so that there is some grip, but not too tight. Then you can use the hornady "Slider" to help measure the base to Ogive measurement. Then you can make a dummy round for full engagement into the lands With That Bullet. Then you can make a dummy case for 0,005", 0.010," and so on off the lands. Once you figure out the "sweet" distance off the lands, just go with that case.

Needed for producing an altered case are:
1. A size "L" letter drill.
2. A 5/6-36 Tap.
Yeah, I thought the sizes were screwy too. Here is the procedure I followed with great success today:

1. Chuck the cartridge case in the Three Jaw with the case head centered, and sticking out of the jaws.
2. Chuck up the "L" drill.
3. Set the speed at 270-400 RPM.
4. Secure the 0.290"/L/7.3mm drill in the tailstock. No lubrication.
5. Feed the drill all the way in, and then pull the bit out.
6. Remove the drill bit, and chuck up the 5/16-36 HSS Tap in the tailstock chuck.
7. At 70-100 RPM, feed the Tap into the case head. It will be drawn right in.
8. Turn the lathe off. Then select reverse, and turn the lathe back on. It will spit the Tap out just like a good Catholic girl.
9. Go over the Tapping procedure two more times by hand.
10. You are done. My references state that a small bench top "Hobby" lathe gives superior results. I don't know that to be true, yet, but I will find out on my old "Shop Fox" lathe (Taiwan model is what I have).

I am going to do this with some 416 Rigby, 416 Rem Mag, 404 Jeffery, 470 NE, 9.3 x 92mm, and you get the idea.
If the hobby lathe works well, I will have to consider making cases for people without access to lathes for a nominal fee. Least I can do for all the help board members have given me.

Monthly meeting of the First Wives Club (FWC).

quote:

Originally posted by lawndart:
I had a productive afternoon at the lathe today.

I have long used the Hornady (Originally Stoney Point) Chamber-All case gauge system to find out the cartridge case's head to ogive length. Then you can figure out how to set up your dies for your choice of distance off the lands. Part of the Drill (Ha, Ha) is to take a case that has been fired in your Chamber. Then you need to use a set of dies for disassembling your cartridges to help you run a bullet into the neck multiple times so that there is some grip, but not too tight. Then you can use the hornady "Slider" to help measure the base to Ogive measurement. Then you can make a dummy round for full engagement into the lands With That Bullet. Then you can make a dummy case for 0,005", 0.010," and so on off the lands. Once you figure out the "sweet" distance off the lands, just go with that case.

Needed for producing an altered case are:
1. A size "L" letter drill.
2. A 5/6-36 Tap.
Yeah, I thought the sizes were screwy too. Here is the procedure I followed with great success today:

1. Chuck the cartridge case in the Three Jaw with the case head centered, and sticking out of the jaws.
2. Chuck up the "L" drill.
3. Set the speed at 270-400 RPM.
4. Secure the 0.290"/L/7.3mm drill in the tailstock. No lubrication.
5. Feed the drill all the way in, and then pull the bit out.
6. Remove the drill bit, and chuck up the 5/16-36 HSS Tap in the tailstock chuck.
7. At 70-100 RPM, feed the Tap into the case head. It will be drawn right in.
8. Turn the lathe off. Then select reverse, and turn the lathe back on. It will spit the Tap out just like a good Catholic girl.
9. Go over the Tapping procedure two more times by hand.
10. You are done. My references state that a small bench top "Hobby" lathe gives superior results. I don't know that to be true, yet, but I will find out on my old "Shop Fox" lathe (Taiwan model is what I have).

I am going to do this with some 416 Rigby, 416 Rem Mag, 404 Jeffery, 470 NE, 9.3 x 92mm, and you get the idea.
If the hobby lathe works well, I will have to consider making cases for people without access to lathes for a nominal fee. Least I can do for all the help board members have given me.

Monthly meeting of the First Wives Club (FWC).

I'm pretty sure I met that gal at Happy Hour at a Miramar Wednesday night.

You have way too much free time.

Yeah, if you can't get laid at Miramar on Saturday night, there was something wrong with you, like no aviator or pilot wings on your flight suit.

In my present state of chancy health, I try to find little projects to do, to give me some sense of interaction with others. For example, the simple project noted above totally wasted me. I look back to the time when I performed extremely complicated maneuvers in fighter jets, or in the hospital when attempting to help cure the ailments of my patients, and sigh with nostalgia.

I always wondered if you bump your knees when you come to a sudden stop.
My brother-in-law flew one of those F-16's has a photo of the great pyramid of Giza in the background told me there was plenty of room.

I was always strapped in so tight for air combat maneuvering (ACM) or dogfighting - Basic Fighter Maneuvering (BFM), that I never bumped my knees. Never crunched into anything on the ground, so I don't know about that. The F-16 cockpit is pretty tight, but you are surrounded by the clear canopy, so there isn't a feeling of claustrophobia. Crossing either the Atlantic, or part of the Pacific oceans did get trying, and tiring. Always wanted to stop, and get out to stretch my legs. I always taped a "Texas" catheter to my wanker - it's like a condom made very thick with a tube out the business end. That way, I could drink a lot of fluids, and stay hydrated. The 16 had a real autopilot, for a change, so you could just kick back with your hands holding the latest edition of Handloader, or Rifle to read. We had to refuel every forty-five minutes or so. I think that was mainly to keep us awake.

If you pushed over to zero "G" loading to eliminated induced drag (you still had parasitic drag) you would feel a little "floaty" in your seat. On the other hand, if you spent much time at eight to ten "Gz" you would end up with "Geasles", small red spots all over your arms and lower legs from small blood vessels bursting. I didn't like that, because I knew it was happening to my internal organs. In the end, I blew my L5/S1 disc, and needed surgery. Many of my compadres are now suffering from "Viper neck." They will all need "Jack and Stack" procedures done to their cervical spines. It was all worth it of course. We lived to sneak in on an Eagle driver with his head buried in his scope, cough with the guard (emergency) frequency selected, and then squeeze him to death over the next minute or two. The inevitability of saddling him up and gunning his brains onto his boots was what cherished memories are made of. You needed great eyesight. Above that you needed to be able to sense the smallest distortion in that big sky. If you saw the enemy first, you could turn off all of your emitters, head for the weeds (fifty feet or so) and fly a curving approach, finally pulling straight up, shooting Aim 9 heat missiles as you climbed. Two dead before you hit the merge, and then you could have a knife fight with the trailing element. Never sweeten your shot, or hang around very long. Just kill one trailer, and blow on through.

Those skills were perishable. I was always a better pilot on Friday than I was on the next Monday. Just wish I could hit the reset button, and do it again.

Rainbow Lorikeets:

Those skills were perishable. I was always a better pilot on Friday than I was on the next Monday. Just wish I could hit the reset button, and do it again.

My opinion you just did it again. There is nothing like calling for help halfway up a mountian side and looking down into the cockpit of a fast mover as he passed by.

quote:

...Needed for producing an altered case are:
1. A size "L" letter drill.
2. A 5/6-36 Tap.
Yeah, I thought the sizes were screwy too. Here is the procedure I followed with great success today:

1. Chuck the cartridge case in the Three Jaw with the case head centered, and sticking out of the jaws.
2. Chuck up the "L" drill.
3. Set the speed at 270-400 RPM.
4. Secure the 0.290"/L/7.3mm drill in the tailstock. No lubrication.
5. Feed the drill all the way in, and then pull the bit out.
6. Remove the drill bit, and chuck up the 5/16-36 HSS Tap in the tailstock chuck.
7. At 70-100 RPM, feed the Tap into the case head. It will be drawn right in.
8. Turn the lathe off. Then select reverse, and turn the lathe back on. It will spit the Tap out just like a good Catholic girl.
9. Go over the Tapping procedure two more times by hand.
10. You are done. My references state that a small bench top "Hobby" lathe gives superior results. I don't know that to be true, yet, but I will find out on my old "Shop Fox" lathe (Taiwan model is what I have).

I am going to do this with some 416 Rigby, 416 Rem Mag, 404 Jeffery, 470 NE, 9.3 x 92mm, and you get the idea.....

I use a similar process through step 6. I turn the chuck by hand for the tapping procedure.

That is what I used to do. I no longer have the grip strength to turn the tap. The in and out with the lathe was a desperation move that ended up working better than I had anticipated. I think my hobby lathe will do an even better job. The brass is slippery; I may try some rosin or electrician's tape. I was surprised by how well it worked having the lathe do the work. After I finished the machine work, I did re-tap twice by hand. That helped with the finish on the threads, and it screwed on the Hornady tool more easily.