Carpenter bee loads

[enfield]

"What's a grit?" - Vinny Gambino, My Cousin Vinny

I'd try cornmeal in place of grits. After all, they're both corn.

Heck, if I lived in Denver I'd try granola.

 

[epj]

I think the walnut shell is a great idea. It should increase the effective range dramatically. I'm gonna load up some in .357 cases. Wonder if the heavier "shot" charges would require more powder. The two grains of Clays I used yesterday made a fair amount of noise. I don't want the cops pulling up with guns at the ready.

You guys with the squirt bottles and fly swatters are missing the point. They don't go "bang".

 

[DonD]

This thread is FUNNY! I've never had this issue in my adult years.

When I was a teenager, my Dad wanted me to take some ivy off the bricks. Seriously offended a bunch of bumblebees. My only thought at that time was insect spray. Did enjoy seeing them flying at me intent on stinging me and watching them "flameout" and fall to the ground when they got sprayed.

The only downside was that some "survivors" that didn't get a big hit of the poison tried to climb my socks and exact revenge. Got them too! Don

 

[blastfact]

In my Sigma I set a small mag. primer, 2gr. of TiteGroup, stuff brass chips and shavings from my lathe at work and seal with hot glue. The Sigma cycles just fine. Snakes die fast. Insects on the wing vaporize. Wasp nest and such leave a cloud. 16 + 1 ='s wonderful! Local LEO's and city fathers do not like them. One local LEO was very impressed when he watch me blow a red wasp nest to the next century. Then came the don't do that again. Yeah right,,, put on ignore and do as I like.

 

[Wee Hooker]

A scoped/dotted recoiless airgun is allot of fun on the big bumbles!

 

[Jellybean]

blowgun and wire darts is quite challenging.

I killed a wasp once using a straw as a blowgun and shooting darts made from staples and little piece of paper. My preferred weapon was rubber bands though.

epj, out of curiosity are you crimping or sealing your loads? I wasn't sure if the grits would would be heavy enough, or if there would be enough recoil to make the rounds fall apart. Also, did you try different charges of powder to see if it changed how the grits shot? Dropping down to 1.5 or 1 grain might make a large difference. Or, it may not.

 

[epj]

I used two cardboard wads, made from the top of a Winchester ammo box. I took an old .38 case and used it for a die. One wad goes over the powder, and one over the grits. The wads were seated snugly, but not forcefully. They were tight enough to carry the loose rounds around in my pocket for several hours without spilling my grits. I have not tried any other powder charges.
I am going to load up some .357 cases next week and try some walnut shell. It's a bit heavier and may give a bit greater range. I only loaded six rounds the first time, and didn't want to waste one on a pattern target. I had too many live targets to practice on.

 

[Jellybean]

Thanks epj, this could be a new fad, like the glue bullets I was reading about on a reloading forum. I might have to move some reloading equipment into the kitchen.

 

[whelenshooter]

Would one of you Southern boys PLEASE tell me the difference between grits and cornmeal?

 

[RalphK22]

I had a thread on this going a little while ago, in the 1961 to 1980 forum. I loaded some 38 cases with 2grs of bullseye, wads made from priority mail boxes and grits. I seated a cardboard wad over top of the two grains of bullseye with a number two pencil, then added grits another wad and gave a slight cramp. I had trouble with primers backing out. Bullseye is a little bit slower than clays, but I mean only a little bit. I think I saw a chart that shows clays at number five and bullseye at number seven for burn rate. Anyone have any ideas? Do you think Clays would make that big a difference, or am I maybe packing things too tight?

the report was very mild, and I was able to knock the carpenter bees out of the air up to 6 to 7 feet, and then of course I stomp on them.

 

[Jellybean]

Ralph, primers back out by the force of the primer and are then pushed back in when the powder burns and forces the case rearward, reseating the primer. If it doesn't lock up the gun it really isn't a problem, if it does lock up the gun you can try taking some select cases and drill the flash hole out a little larger. Make sure you mark these cases or at least keep them seperate from unaltered ones because they shouldn't be used with regular charges of powder.

 

[DonD]

A slight digression. When I was a teenager at a Naval Air Station north of LA (a LONG time ago), disgusting slugs were all over the vegetation, particularly in the morning.

It was GREAT fun to shoot them with a pellet pistol and watch them come apart. If you didn't see the hit, you could hear it! What a great reactive target and you felt that you were doing the neighborhood a great service.

More funny posts preceding this one. Don