This week’s Vicious Circle covers the great Caliber Wars and the nebulous concept of “stopping power.” Because we, like Hollywood, are out of ideas. Also, I make jokes about pdb’s sex life. Give it a listen!

I finally got my lazy arse in gear and ordered up a new reloading press, a Lyman Crusher II Expert Kit. It offers about 80% of everything you need, all in one box (you’ll still need to get dies, shellholder, calipers, loading block, and maybe a tumbler and assorted odds ‘n’ ends). There’s a 4 1/2″ press window and 4″ of ram travel, which is important for me because I’ll be loading rounds with a 3.75″ OAL. That big opening *should* eliminate the fidgety contortions you have to go through when loading long rounds on a short press.

After my usual obsessive comparison-shopping, I found a screaming deal at Midsouth Shooters Supply: $239. No one else comes close to that; MidwayUSA wants $313, Graf’s is asking $294 (shipping included), and even Natchez is at $270. Shipping added $17.50, but unlike my last online shopping experience, I can’t bitch about that: I am, after all, ordering a big box containing 30-odd pounds of cast iron. I’ll happily pay the freight in this case. Hell, the total with shipping is STILL $15 less than the next-best deal BEFORE shipping and handling.

I know I’m going to get the “you should have bought Lee and saved some money” comments, and I considered that option. But… the gun-snob/cranky old man in me just cannot be convinced to like Lee. Too many plastic and aluminum parts, not enough cast iron and steel. It’s also a little off-putting that everyone sells replacement toggle links to go along with the Challenger press; if I need to start buying replacement parts as soon as I buy the press, I’m not buying the press!

Oh, another reason why I’m happy about finding the Midsouth deal: they gave me the option of FedEx over UPS. Press should be arriving on the Big White Truck of Happiness, instead of the Big Brown Truck of Broken Stuff, Rage and Disappointment, tomorrow afternoon.

They really don’t, and it’s a damn shame.

I was browsing gunbroker this morning and stumbled across an absolutely beautiful little Husqvarna Mauser in 9.3×57mm. It’s an aesthetic I just love: simple, minimal, almost austere. Nothing fancy or extraneous. Crisp, properly polished metalwork. A lean, elegant stock with absolutely no fat on it (look at how trim the forend is in picture 14). There’s no weight listed, but I’d be surprised if it breaks 7 lbs.

Yep, I want it.

But tomorrow it’s off to the Faire with a Major Internet Celebrity!

If you’re upgrading to Snow Leopard, (I’m not, since my G5 is now orphaned; Snow Leopard is Intel-only) be aware that the version of Flash bundled with 10.6 has known security holes and needs to be updated.

Personally, I’m just about done with Flash. What with the never-ending security holes, Adobe’s stubborn insistence on burying the privacy settings as deeply as possible (you have to go to Adobe’s website to change the privacy settings on your locally-installed copy of Flash), and the horrible, HORRIBLE performance on any non-Windows platform… Well, I just don’t need it.

The summer-long financial crisis is starting to ease at last, hopefully allowing me to pick back up with the .450/.400 Nitro project soon. Finally having cash in hand won’t help me much if components continue to be made of Unobtanium, though, so we’ll see…

Aside from a new recoil pad, the only other change in store for the gun itself is a slight tweak to the safety. Ruger No. 1s have a shotgun-style tang safety, and the front end sticks up just enough to hang up on the rim of big rimmed cartridges like the .450/.400. The solution is slightly trimming back and rounding off the front edge of the safety, just enough for clean ejection.

Then there’s load development. The goal is developing handloads that exactly duplicate original Kynoch ammo (400 grain bullets at 2125 fps). I’ll probably bite the bullet and order one box each of Kynoch solids and softs so I can run them over a chronograph. At $14/round it’ll be expensive knowledge, but it’s a necessary step if I’m going to exactly match Kynoch’s ballistics.

I’m also going to try to figure out why Hornady’s quoted ballistics are 75 fps off from the standard velocity for this cartridge. 75 fps isn’t a huge difference, but given the inflexible nature of regulation in double rifles it’s an odd discrepancy.

Of course, all of that is contingent on Reloder 15 and Federal 215 primers becoming available again, and who knows when THAT will be…