This Stove is Unbelievable

We just got our stove today, and the first thing we did is start it up. I can tell you without a doubt, this is the best designed survival cooking device on the market anywhere in our not so humble opinion. We were so impressed, we had to show all of our folks.....absolutely fantastic!

For Beginning Reloaders

From www.thehighroad.org


I'm posting this to help the new reloader figure out what they need in the way of equiment and to help them get started reloading safely and with a reasonable amount of knowledge. If anyone has any suggestions to add to this or changes to make to the below to improve this, please post or send me a PM and I'll be glad to have constructive criticism to improve the information.

Before you get any of the reloading equipment on the equipment list below, you’ll want to do some reading. You won’t need all of them, but here’s are some good manuals to start with:

The ABC's of Reloading (I strongly advise starting with this one.)
Metallic Cartridge Reloading (I strongly advise buying this one second.)
Speer Manual
Modern Reloading by Richard Lee
Lyman Metallic Reloading Handbook
Hornady 5th Edition Reloading Handbook (2 volume set)

1. A reloading press for what you're doing. You’ll need to know what type of cartridge and in what quantities you want too shoot before a press can be advised, so think on how much you think you'll shoot. This is the most important set of decision making you have regarding selection of equipment – how much?, what type? and in what quantities? are questions you need to start with.

Generally speaking, a single stage press may be better for more accurate cartridges in rifle and providing solid control of the reloading process for a new reloader. The only drawback is the volume of produced rounds versus the effort required can be low. The RCBS Rock Chucker, the Lee Classic Cast Press, Redding Boss and Forester Coax are all excellent choices. (However, the new Lee Classic Turret Press, capable of 200 rounds or better per hour, is beefy and may very well be a good choice for rifle as well as pistol.)

I should note you can easily reload smaller calibers like .223 on most progressives, but for ultimate accuracy, the competitors seem to go with a single stage for their long distance round building.). If you go with the Rock Chucker or Lee Classic Cast press, I'd suggest also getting a Hornady Lock N Load bushing conversion kit for the Rock chucker or Lee Classic Cast press with another 10 additional bushings. The Lee is the least expensive of the bunch, is the latest single stage out and has compared favorably with the Rock Chucker and like the Rock Chucker, will accept the Hornady Lock N Load Conversion Bushing kit.

With the Lock N Load bushings, you adjust your dies once, tighten down the lock ring and next time you want to change dies, you just insert, twist and snap/lock in and you're done changing dies in about 2 seconds. I used these on my Lee Classic Cast press and I have found them to be wonderful. BTW, you can use a single stage press to do specialized tasks and to reload quantities of less than 100 rounds at a time, such as hunting rifle ammunition, so it’s useful even if you do have a progressive.

For reloading pistol, you’d want to consider a turret or progressive press. If you are new, a turret would likely be the better choice (Unless you desire to reload large quantities in excess of 200 rounds an hour or a 1000 rounds a month.), to have a bit more control and to get an understanding of what’s happening, though a progressive is “do-able,” you run a larger risk of making a mistake that could harm you or damage your pistol/rifle. Good brands of turrets are Lee Classic Turret Press (4 station, automatic advance), RCBS (88901, cast iron) and Redding (T7, cast iron). For the lowest price, the Lee will do an excellent job, providing 200 plus rounds per hour and will get you started at a very affordable price. If you decide to stay with it, you may want to go progressive and keeping your Lee Classic Cast Turret will provide you inexpensive caliber changes for guns you don't shoot a lot.

If you find you reload a large quantity of rounds and want to go full blown progressive, excellent brands are Hornady Lock N Load (5 station fully automated; I have one and love it.), Dillon 550 (4 station semi-automated turret, quite popular with many folks.) or 650 (5 station fully automated, buddy of mine has one and loves it.), (Dillon’s SBD is a good press if you're only going to reload pistol, but it’s dies won’t fit anything other press, nor will any other dies fit it, so you’re stuck with Dillon dies and it doesn’t reload rifle.) and the RCBS 2000 (An excellent cast iron semi automated press comparable to the Dillon 550, it has an excellent primer feed - owners who post seem to love theirs. I have no personal experience).

Very Good economy brands are the Lee Pro 1000 and Loadmaster (A very fast press, the Loadmaster, buddy of mine loves his and I've enjoyed reloading on it.). The Lee’s are less expensive and may take some tweaking and adjusting, but it can be done and it’s way less expensive to purchase, a serious consideration if your money is tight. You should be aware that if you buy the Lee’s, you’d need to adjust them properly to get good operation. Here’s a good how to website for Lee equipment and Lee Precision’s own website has excellent “how to” mpegs on it as well:

http://www.geocities.com/leereloading/index.htm

http://www.leeprecision.com/

2. Reloading dies for the caliber of your choice. I have Hornady, Lee, Lyman and RCBS dies, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy and use Dillon, who also load excellent ammo and were specifically designed for progressive reloading. Many posters who own them say Redding is the Cadillac of dies, but they tend to be pricey. I would only explore the Redding and other higher priced dies if your plan were to reload for serious competitive or long range hunting purposes.

For pistol, you'll want to buy carbide or TiN coated dies, so that you do not have to lubricate your brass to prevent it sticking in the die. For a single stage press (Or Lee Turret press), you'll need a shell holder that matches the caliber you're loading. For a progressive, you’ll need a shell plate.

3. A Powder measure/dispenser (Many kits include these.) I like the Hornady, RCBS and Redding brands for these. I have both the Hornady and Redding brands. Of these, the Hornady and RCBS have an automated version I’ve found to be more consistent because of the automated feature. Mine came with my Hornady Lock and Load Auto Progressive Press.

For more automated powder dispensing, the Lee Auto Disk, the Hornady Lock N Load and the Dillon measures offer case activated powder dispensing and expanding capabilities, which are very desirable if you wish to load pistol. All three work very well on a progressive press, giving consistent powder dispensing. Some powder measures work better when you use powder the measure "likes," so be aware and ask about which powders which measures work with with before you buy.

4. A powder scale, no matter single stage, turret or progressive, you'll need one of these. I like the RCBS 505 and 1010, the Hornady and the Dillon scales. I have a Redding, but wish I had gotten another brand because the fine adjustment is hard to see and can be bumped out of adjustment accidentally. My plan is to replace the Redding with an RCBS 1010 when I can, because of the positive fine adjustment on the RCBS 1010. Others like the electronic measures, but I haven’t found as mainly a progressive reloader the cost justifies the expensive for no more than I use my scale. (I use mine as a check for my powder measures, not to weigh out powder charges.)

5. A set of calipers to measure your cartridges with. I have a Frankford Arsenal set that's done well for me. I have recently replaced it with a 6” digital set I bought at Harbor Freight Tools (It’s done a great job since I’ve had it and I really like the digital feature.). Other folks spend a lot more money, but these have been more than accurate enough for everything I've loaded, including high-power rifle cartridges for competitive purposes.

6. A reloading manual- I have and like Speer, but Hornady, Lee and a couple other folks make excellent ones. I haven't heard much about Lyman's reloading manual, but their lead bullet manual is pretty good. A good loading book on the basics like the ABC's of Reloading and Metallic Cartridge Reloading can help you understand the process a lot better. Read them a couple times it will get you to a good understanding. Read the directions that come with your press, dies etc.

7. Some snap lid plastic storage containers with bins to store all the little pieces and parts from the equipment. It might not be a bad idea to look at plastic fishing tackle boxes, as they have lots of storage compartments.

8. Some Akro plastic bins to hold your brass, bullets and loaded cartridges while you're in the process of reloading. If you're loading single stage, you might need some cartridge blocks to regain the brass in various stages of production. Buy the cheapest bins out there, such as Harbor Freight; they're all plastic so you gain nothing by paying more. For reloading on a single stage, you’ll need loading blocks for the period where your cases are charged with powder and are waiting for bullets.

9. A couple of adjustable wrenches, one six inch and one eight inch. There may be other hand tools, but if you have a toolbox, you may already have them. Or you can identify the correct size wrenches you need for a better fit when adjusting things.

10. Bullet pullers, both kinetic and collet types, to correct your mistakes. Why both? The kinetic puller to cover oddball calibers you decide to buy and load and the collet puller to cover the calibers you load the most. I had the kinetic made by Frankford Arsenal in the past, but because of price changes, I now recommend the RCBS one, because of their excellent warranty (They’ll exchange it if it breaks, no matter how long you’ve owned it.). BTW, the collets for the Frankford Arsenal fit the RCBS. I like the Hornady and RCBS collet pullers, because of their operation speed and they don’t spill the powder everywhere.

11. A brass trimmer. I have an RCBS Trim Pro automated version and have recently added the head that chamfers. Makes it real nice if you’re processing large quantities of brass that need trimming and chamfering. I used to compete in high-power rifle, reload lots of rifle cartridges that need to be trimmed to length occasionally. For smaller quantities of brass, a hand trimmer would be sufficient and much more fun to use. You will need to check your brass is not over the maximum allowed length. After trimming, you will need a de-burring tool cleans up the inside and outside necks so the case-mouth isn't sharp and bullets insert smoothly without damage. RCBS offers the Trim Mate to automate this, as well as the chamfering heads for their Trim Pro. Most automatic pistol cartridges do not need to be trimmed. If you[‘re doing a serious volume of competitive shooting, you may want to take a look at the Giraud and Gracey trimmers.

12. Cartridge gauge. These are nicely convenient to check to see if your reloaded cartridges are within SAAMI specification. They are especially useful when reloading pistol cartridges I’ve found.

13. Case lube - I use Hornady One Shot on my rifle cartridges, but I find it and their cleaner lube handy for lubricating moving parts on my progressive that I don't have grease and oil getting into. For rifle cartridges you can lube with a pad and case lube (such as the one included in the RCBS kit) or use something like Hornady one-shot or try out Imperial Sizing Die Wax, which I hear is another excellent product. My recommendation is the One Shot or the Imperial wax over the messy lube pads.

14. Brass - I recommend you research and buy a better brand of brass, particularly what the majority of folks shooting your caliber are loading, it'll generally be (but not always) the best compromise of quality and price. Occasionally something new comes along that whips the "standard" pretty badly. Though sometimes, it’s about the same price to buy preloaded cartridges, shoot them and reload the brass. You come out about the same cost wise, but get to shoot it more. Range pick up can be nice at times as well. If you’re not sure about a brand of brass, ask on the reloading forums. Thoroughly inspect any brass you decide to reload in order to identify problems with that brass.

15. Powder - Again, start with the "Ole standby" for your cartridge (if one exists) and then move out to other brands as you gain reloading experience. Post on the net and folks will provide you with what the “Ole standby” is for any particular caliber.

16. Bullets - FMJ is great, but lead is cheaper. I'd advise buying them in bulk, 500 to a thousand at a time. You'll want to learn how to reload before you even think about making your own lead bullets. Depending on the caliber you're shooting, this will certainly result in significant savings. This is for range practice. For hunting, go with the best bullets you can afford for the type of animal you’re hunting. Once you’ve learned how to reload, you can also cast and “roll your own” bullets as well.

17. Safety glasses, wear them while you're reloading, just like you do when you're shooting. There is nothing like making a mistake; then blowing up a primer and losing an eye to ruin one’s day.

18. You will need to clean the brass. Bose's Guns, (http://www.bosesguns.com/) has a Frankford Arsenal combination that does well, it's the one I have. Another more expensive alternative would be the Dillon combination (Dillonprecision.com). Other manufacturers make other good ones as well. The ones mentioned are the ones I’m familiar with.

Finally, build yourself a nice, stable reloading bench. Some make their bench huge, with lots of surface area. I suggest to you that rather than do this; you make the bench just big enough to set up a reloading operation with AKRO plastic bins (bought cheaply from an industrial supply outfit in large quantity). You will need a single "universal" reloading tray to hold the cartridges while they are primed and charged, waiting for bullets.

Having owned both large and small bench setups, I've found setting up two or even three smaller benches and making shelving units to store the accessories and reloading components works better for me.

I've had to move a time or two and the huge benches were a real problem. With a bench narrower than the width of your doors, if you have to move, you don't have to disassemble it (Much more convenient not to have to disassemble when you're busy as hell trying to get ready to move.) Also, make it short enough you can move it around corners within your house.

Summer Project-A Forge?

Build your own portable forge

By Corcceigh Green

Backwoodshome.com

Looking for a handy summer project while building skills, supplies, and knowledge to put away for a rainy future? Here’s one to consider: try making your own forge. The ability to forge scrap metal into useful tools is a skill that can bring self reliance and even extra income to any handy person willing to turn a hobby into a part time trade. Whether you’re just pounding out a simple project like a poker or hammering out custom knives, you’ll be building the tools and skills you’ll need to become more self reliant in the future.

The portable forge, made from an old charcoal grill, fire brick, and iron pipe. The portable forge, made from an old charcoal grill, fire brick, and iron pipe.

Building a small, portable hobby forge is not that difficult. This article will show you how to build one from a charcoal grill. Later, when you delve more deeply into blacksmithing, you can build yourself a full blown smithy.

Let’s start with what you’ll need. For my first forge, which I built six years ago, I started with an old portable 24-inch charcoal grill. Next, I bought myself some iron pipes and fixtures: one 18-inch pipe, two 6-inch pipes, one 8-inch pipe, two pipe caps, one elbow connector, and one T connector. All pipes and fixtures were 1-inch diameter, and all pipes were threaded on both ends.

Black or galvanized pipe?

Buy black pipe. If you buy galvanized pipe, you will have to let it “burn off” for a few hours before you can use it. “Burning off” is the process where, after you’ve completed your forge, you load it with charcoal (not storebought charcoal) and burn while forcing air through the pipes. During this process, approach the forge only to load coals, and come in with the wind. The zinc in the galvanized pipes is burning off at this time and will pose a hazard, as it is toxic.

Next, you’ll need 12 fire bricks.

Here’s how to build your portable forge: Screw one end cap on one end of each of the 6-inch pipes. Next, using a drill press or hand drill with a one quarter inch drill bit, drill holes (not on the threads) on one side of a pipe. Start at the open end, drill a hole, then measure one half inch toward the opposite end and drill another hole. Repeat this process until you have a line of holes running between the threads, from one end of the pipe to the other end. Next, using the same drill bit, offset the pipe to the right one half inch, and drill between the existing holes, again from one end of the pipe to the other. Repeat this process one half inch to the left of the first holes drilled and you have finished the first pipe. Do the same thing with the other pipe. . You do not have to drill all the way around the pipe, as you want the air to flow upward only, through the coals in the forge.

Now take the T connector and, using the same drill bit, drill three holes  parallel with the threading one half inch apart and 3 quarters of an inch inward away from the threading. Complete this process on both sides of the T connector's parallel connectors. Next, screw the 6-inch pipes into the T connector so that all the holes face the same way, as in Figure B. Now connect the 8-inch pipe into the stem of the T connector. That’s it; you’ve just built a tuyere, the part of the forge that channels air up through the coals.

For the body of the forge, assemble the 24-inch diameter charcoal grill. You only need to connect the charcoal burner to the tripod. You don’t need the grill, and you can remove the center grill holder with a hack saw. Next, drill out the bottom center of the burner so that the one inch diameter pipe will fit through the hole. You can use a reamer and a hand drill for this job. When looking from the ground up, your hole must be directly in the center of the burner.

Next, before laying the bricks out in the burner, I like to spread ashes in the burner so that I have a flat surface in which to lay out the bricks. In place of ashes, sand will work fine.

Next, lay fire bricks, face side down. With your six remaining fire bricks you will make a rectangular box by laying the remaining bricks edge down on top of the face down bricks You’ve just completed the body of the forge.

Since you now have the tuyere and the body of the forge, you can simply put everything together by placing the tuyere’s 8-inch pipe down between the bricks through the bottom hole of the forge. Then screw the elbow connector to the tuyere’s open end, then to the 18-inch pipe. You now have the means to force air through your forge.

As a blower to actually force air through the pipes, you can use a squirrel cage blower or bellows. For simplicity I use an old shop-vac with one end of its hose on the exhaust outport and the other end put over the open end of the 18-inch pipe. Make sure that the shop-vac’s hose is attached to the exhaust port. You want to force air up through the pipes, and through the coals. You do not want to suck smoke and hot coals down into the shop-vac.

I would like to point out here that I have not recommended that you lay the bricks permanently with mortar, or in this case refractory clay. This way you can remove the bricks and pipes for mobility.Once you’ve connected the shop-vac or blower, you have completed the project, and you now own a forge, one of the central pieces of equipment that you’ll need for blacksmithing projects.

Other pieces of equipment you’ll need are: an anvil, (which can be made from a length of railroad track or I-beam), a cross pein hammer, 2 or 3-pound sledge, a pair of tongs, a metal ash can to catch coals and hot embers as they fall through the bottom hole of the forge. Sooner or later, you’ll also want two metal cans that can accommodate hot metal of at least three feet in length—one for water to cool iron and mild steel, and for emergencies, and the other for oil to quench and harden high carbon steel.

Making charcoal

Earlier in the article, I stated not to use store-bought charcoal (the kind most people cook out with). This is because store-bought charcoal contains impurities which can contaminate the steel or iron being worked, and can cause your project to become brittle. Fortunately, you can make your own contaminate-free charcoal.

Start by gathering some hardwood such as maple, oak, hickory. In many cases willow is preferred. I have had good results with all hardwoods. Saw the wood to adequate length (between the span and half the span of a hand). Chop to different thicknesses, but no thicker than is long. Next, you can either dig a fire pit or do as I do, which is use an old gas-burning grill with a lid with the gas components removed and the bottom lined with fire bricks. When I am sure the fire is burning adequately, I load the grill (or pit) with an abundance of hardwood and close the lid. In the case of the fire pit, cover with dirt, leaving one or more small openings to act as chimneys. Allow to burn for some time, 15 minutes to half an hour depending on the size of your pit/grill. Check periodically. When the wood becomes blackened through most of its depth, but not fully consumed, you have charcoal fuel. Depending on your project, you may need between one and three wheelbarrow loads of charcoal fuel. If the hardwood is burning into ash, or becoming too fully consumed by the fire, you are allowing too much oxygen into the fire. If this happens, block off places that air is getting in with more dirt, or bricks. When you are satisfied that you are getting quality charcoal, remove your charcoal from the fire using tongs, and bury it in sand or dirt, or immerse it in water or, in the case of the fire pit, bury fully, blocking all air intake, and allow the fire to smother.

Now that you have your forge, fuel, and other essential equipment, you’ll be ready for your first project.

Unless you have a well ventilated smithy, you’ll have to wait until dark. The reason for dark is that you must be able to see the color of the steel or iron being worked. You must bring the iron or steel you are working up to a red color before you can shape it with the hammer. In broad daylight this process is too difficult to discern, but much easier in dim light.

Stone Tool Making

by Eric Heline

Here's a refresher for stone knappers and those of you who would like to get away from blown glass and begin to make some real works of art with flint, obsidian or other natural materials.
To begin with, determine a workable material by looking for conchoidal fracturing. This means the material will fracture in an arc, forming a dished (or domed) surface. Stones which fracture in straight line, or angular planes, do not work as well and should be avoided to start with.
One of the best overall liths to work with is obsidian, in terms of ease of flaking, sharpness (the sharpest), and great beauty. Obsidian comes in a wide variety of colors: black is the commonest, sometimes translucent, ("Apache tears" are obsidian-pebbles, polished by sand, wind and water). Red and black, or "mahogany", is also fairly common.
Other varieties include grey (usually opaque) which tends to a bit harder to work with. Snowflake, which is black with white "snowflake" inclusions, tends to present problems with getting a proper edge, as the more crystalline nature of the inclusions, they will flake or fracture differently (almost crumble) from the surrounding black matrix of the obsidian proper.
Most varieties of obsidian can be purchased from rock shops in large enough pieces or cores to get good blanks from. Since they are sold as lapidary material, they are generally "sound" rocks.
Another excellent material is jasper which come sin a wide variety of colors, combinations of colors, and hardnesses. It also has a glassy look, like obsidian, but is not translucent. Don't confuse picture jasper with picture stone. Picture stone is actually a sandstone, and will not have a glassy, polished look to it when in an unworked, rough state.
Flint and chert, of course are the two most widely used materials of the native Americans. They are basically of the same mineral composition, being mostly fine grained quartz, the microscopic quartz crystals cemented together by a matrix of "impurities". There are many varieties and colors of both, flint being primarily black, translucent sometimes, or grey. Chert is used to describe tan or white material. Chert will also have brown, yellow, red, or blue colors too, the colors derived from other minerals within the matrix.
Flint and chert are very hard sedimentary rocks, and often need to be heat treated before they can be worked. Heat treating is a rather involved process, though simple enough to do. A good book which covers all the elements of flint and chert and the heat treating of them is The Art of Flint Knapping, by D. C. Waldorf.

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Making the Tools
Step 1 - Direct Percussion

Step one is to get blanks off from the core.The first method is by direct percussion: striking the edge of the core with a hammerstone (granite makes a good hammerstone) or a baton of deer antler. Remember! A glancing blow to the edge. A direct blow will simply shatter the core. With glassy-type rocks (obsidians) a very indirect glancing blow is used. With the harder materials (jaspers, cherts and flints), a more direct, though still glancing blow is needed.
Step 2 -- Indirect percussionIndirect percussion, using an antler punch, now removes any unwanted knobs or high spots on the blanks. An anvil or work surface is needed -- either a flat piece of hardwood or a large rock. The blank is placed on the anvil and held down with one hand, leaving the thumb and forefinger to hold the punch to the area to be removed, and striking the end of the punch with the hammerstone.
Step 3 -- Percussion FlakingPercussion flaking is now employed to thin the blank down. Holding the blank on the anvil, the antler punch is placed on the edge of the blank or along one side of any "squared" edge, then striking the punch with the hammerstone, peeling large flakes off across the face of the blank.
Step 4 -- CrumblingCrumbling now achieves the basic shape of the tool to be fashioned. Placing the blank on the anvil, or now in the hand mitt, flat sides down, with a large pointed antler tine held at a 90-degree angle to the edge desired, press down with a rolling twist and crumble the edge away, working along the edge to get the basic shape.
Step 5 -- AbradingAbrade (or grind) the edge (held at a 900 angle) upon a piece of hard sandstone or other rock to get an even working surface, smoothing out the tough spots from the crumbling process.
Step 6 -- Pressure FlakingNext, pressure flaking begins the actual process of producing an edge on the shaped blank. Holding the lank in the handmitt, and starting out with a large flaker of antler tine, press directly into the edge, and with a rolling, downward motion peel flakes off across the face of the blank. The more pressure exerted into the edge, the larger the flakes which will come off. Remember, by placing the flaker on the edge, and rolling down, the flakes will come off the underside of the blank as its held in the handmitt. Work all along the edges and from both faces of the blank. Repeat the process with smaller flakers as necessary depending on the size of the tool being made.
Step 7 -- KnappingThe actual technique of knapping takes very small flakes off along the edge, and produces the final razor sharpness. Using very pointed, sometimes almost needlelike flakers of antler, remove the flakes with the same inward pressure, and rolling downward twist as is used in pressure flaking.
Step 8 -- NibblingNibblers are antler tines with a notch ground into the end, and are used to crumble the notches into the bottom corners of the point, the notches, of course, used to lash the point to the arrow shaft. Pressure flaking also works to flake the notches.

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Tools of the Trade

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From The Tracker magazine, Summer 1982, published by the Tracker School.
For more articles from The Tracker magazine, visit the Tracker Trail website.