Entries by Eileen Clarke

Lead-Free Hunting Bullets

This is an edited excerpt from the last 65 pages of The Big Book of Gun Gack III, which contain questions from the members of the website 24hourcampfire.com, where I post answers frequently in the forum “Ask The Gunwriters.” Gun Gack III’s Chapter 20 is an updated version of the magazine article mentioned in Geno’s […]

Forster Full-Length Rifle Sizing Dies

Due to being a rifle-writer I feel obligated to try all the reloading dies possible, but after decades of this find more Forster full-length rifle dies showing up on my shelves. Why? Because Forster reloading dies make a very quick and easy job of sizing bottle-necked rifle brass straight, so bullets end up heading into […]

Annealing Brass: Tricks to make hunting–as well as competitive shooting–easier on your wallet

Annealing Brass John Barsness The primary reason for annealing rifle brass is preventing case-necks from cracking—and they will, eventually, because firing and resizing cases “work hardens” brass, making the thin necks brittle. Most rifle cases will survive 4-5 firings, and some will last longer, depending on the brand and method of resizing. However, many handloaders […]

The Least Reliable “Pressure Indicator”

From Gun Gack III: Once More into the Breech An excerpt from Chapter 30: “The Least Reliable “Pressure Indicator” In his classic 1947 book Hatcher’s Notebook, recently retired Major General Julian S. Hatcher wrote about his almost 40 years in the U.S. Army involving various aspects of firearms from handguns to artillery. Hatcher had an […]

Power Case Trimming  (a chapter from Gun Gack II)

Enjoy this free chapter from Gun Gack II, on power case trimming. Some shooters believe rifle brass stretches when the neck gets pulled over an expander ball, but experiments with the expander assembly removed have proven this isn’t so. Some shooters also believe brass flows forward during firing, like a glacier, but this doesn’t occur […]

A Fitting Start to Hunting Season

This is a chapter I wrote for Charlie Sisk’s Selecting and Ordering a Custom Rifle book a few years ago, on rifle and shotgun fit for adults. Richard Mann also has a chapter in that book about fit for kids, suggesting that buying a custom rifle for your kids will bring a lot better return […]

Meat-Hunting Bullets

One of the downsides of hunting is meat loss due to the bruising and ripping of bullets. The most obvious solution is not to place bullets where they’ll damage a lot of meat, but that’s more complicated than it appears. A brain shot, for instance, kills animals instantly, but wild animals move their heads a […]