Thread: Hey Ya'll

Looking forward to the report.

So do tell a bit about the rifle and cartridge?
We have more than a few that are in to firearms from competition to hobbyist.
IDPA, long range target shooting, and reloading here.
Almost ready to start casting as well.

I first got deep into designing the rifle and cartridge back in 1999, I finished it in 2000 and killed my first deer with it about a month later. It was something I had wanted to do for many years. I had been reloading (a lot) for over 20 years by then and had a good understanding of internal ballistics.

It is a 280 Remington, necked down to 6mm with the shoulder blown forward almost 1/2 an inch and the body taper significantly reduced. I don't remember the exact numbers for the dimensions right now, but if you want them I will look it up for you later. It has more case capacity than a 240 Weatherby or a 240 Gibbs. The final load is 69.5 grains of Hodgdon 870 behind a molly coated 100 gr Nosler Partition. Operating pressure is 65,000 psi. The average velocity for that load is 3519 fps. My original idea was to make a very long range deer or antelope cartridge that would perform well in high wind conditions without excessive recoil. I did manage to achieve that, but then I learned that I preferred up close hunting to the long range stuff.

The rifle started life as a Remington 721, but the only thing I kept was the action and receiver. I installed a 28" Blackstar II barrel and I had JGS build the reamers. It has a set trigger and bipod and an 8 X 32 power scope on it. And with all of that on it, it worked out that the first deer I killed with it popped out close and I shot it at 25 yards. It took me another year to take a long rang shot on a deer with it. It shoots well and lives up to what I wanted, but I just prefer close up hunting now.

My biggest goal was to try to do it all just like the old designers had done a hundred years before me. So, I didn't allow myself to use anybody else's math formulas. I made myself derive the ones I needed and worked out all of the calculations that way. Which kind of explains why I was kind of reluctant to pull the trigger the first time.

I call the cartridge the 6mm Harp and the reamer design carries no royalties. I wanted it to be useable by anyone who wanted to make it. I name it that just because I couldn't think of any cool names. I was asked later why I didn't name it a 6mm/280 Remington Ackley Improved. I explained that it was because I had not followed all of Ackley's improvement designs and because Mr. Ackley had never given me permission to use his name in association with my cartridge. Anyway, that is why it is named what it is named.

To answer your other question. I was the Base Marksmanship Coordinator for my base for 13 years. We had some good teams and sent people to national competitions pretty regular. I have competed in rifle, pistol, machinegun and sniper matches and all of them except the sniper I have done some national competition at. These were all military matches though so they are all combat matches. It has been many years since I cast bullets. I enjoyed it a lot. If I can be of any help to you with any of it just let me know. I am sure you have a lot of good help already.

Jeff

And the update on the razors is: You can't depend on the mail.

The package was sent from New Orleans on the 25th and left their post office early in the morning on the 26th and was supposed to be here today. Nobody knows where it is right now though. So, I my report will be delayed at least 2 days. Well it could be worse, they haven't officially told me that it's lost yet.

Hi and welcome. Ed

Thanks Ed,

Hey Guys,

I got my razors and I tried shaving last night. No blood, but I can't really call it a success. The biggest problem I had was one I didn't anticipate. I am 56 years old and my near vision is shot so I wear glasses for near work. For me the bad near vision starts about 6 to 8 feet away. This is giving me a combination problem. In order to see the blade without my hand blocking the view I have to look to the side (like I'm sure everyone has to do, but I had not thought of) and if I wear big lenses the frames get in the way and if I don't wear any glasses I can't see worth a flip. I managed to get the right cheek shaved, but not well shaved. My left hand was about as bad as I expected and I decided to not push it anymore for the night. Any suggestions?

The next problem I am having that I didn't expect is that the shaving soap is drying very quickly even though I am getting my face very wet before applying it. You guys can probably tell me how to solve that one very quickly.

I bought 2 razors; a Joseph Rodgers Booths Special (shortened long ago) and a Long. I tried the Joseph Rodgers last night. I am including pictures that came from the guy I bought them from. So, these are the razor pictures I promised you, but no blood pictures yet.



Jeff

The drying is probably caused by 2 things, under hydration of the lather to begin with, and drying out on the face while you are shaving other regions of the face (Quadrants, lol)
It is not too big of an issue, and it will happen less as you get quicker shaving. Add a few more drops of water at the start. If it dries on your face, just dip the tip of the brush in some water and brush on your face, then add more lather from your bowl.
As far as vision, my wife has a mirror the has magnification on both sides for doing her makeup. It mounts on the wall and is adjutable height wise, and also scissors out from the wall. I think it was an IKEA item. New IKEA FRACK Extendable Magnifying Bathroom Mirror Makeup Shaving Shower Wall | eBay

Hope this helps.

Thanks souschefdude,

I will increase the water and see if I can make it work that way.

I considered a different mirror, but I was unaware that one this useful existed. I will get it.


Thanks again

Jeff

Being a life long near sighted person who, in the days before plastic lenses had the "coke bottle" thick glass lenses, finally figure out how to shave with bifocals added to the glasses. I don't wear my everyday glasses when I shave. I had another pair of my computer glasses made (actually just the bifocal part expanded up to full lens size) and use them in shaving. Can't wear them when doing sideburns so I use one of the expanding mirrors also. After I get the sideburns done down to my jaw line I put the 'computer glasses' back on and finish shaving. In a way I am shaving blind at the sideburn level and have learned to go by touch and am totally aware of where the point of the razor is at all times, especially when I am using a square point (I refuse to dull the tip). Hope this helps.

Sorry, I don't think I said hello, but if I did, sorry for repeating myself.
Sounds like I cant help with your 2 issues as they have been covered, though if you cant get to Ikea, a similar mirror is available from eBay, but with only one side that magnifies, it is available in 6 or 8 inch and is fairly cheap.
My eyesight isn't bad, but I do like being able to get the mirror close to my face rather than the other way around like I used to do with the mirror behind my sink.