Search Results for: grain mill

Pat’s Product Review: Springfield Armory EMP 40

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…EMP 40 was so much fun to shoot, I burned through more than 500 rounds of ammo in my testing. I shot the EMP for more than three months, and never had any problems. I used Italian Gun Grease to lube the pistol at the onset of my testing and never cleaned or lubed the gun after that. I’ve found, in my humble opinion, that Italian Gun Grease lube is the absolute best there is on the market – bar none. In my testing, I had ammo from Black Hills Ammunition 155-grain JHP, 180-grain JHP and the 140-grain Barnes all-copper TAC-XP hollow point, as well as the 180-grain FMJ reloaded ammo. From Buffalo Bore Ammunition I had their standard pressure 140-grain Barnes all-copper TAC-XP hollow point and the same in 125-grain – both are standard pressure, but still a bit hotter than any other maker’s standard pressure 40 S&W loads….


The Family Cow, by Faith S.

…for your state or find natural farmers in your area and query them.  We have done something similar to the above with all of our large animals for almost 20 years and have had maybe one or two incidences where we needed the vet for sickness. As far as feeding the cow other than grazing, we give a very small amount of grain, mostly to top dress a supplement.  For example, we would give our ½ mini milk cow about two cups and our standard sizes one quart.  They do not need grain at all though especially if you get the grazing genetics going for you.  Too much grain is not good and will shorten the cow’s life.  Excess grain will make the cows system acidic and cause many health challenges that most confinement dairies think are normal occurrences.  If you feed more than ½ or 1% of the body…


Pat’s Product Review: Ruger SR45

…thousand rounds, however, for the time being, those days are over, until I can get a steady ammo supply coming in to replace the ammo I shoot-up in my articles. Still, I had a great selection of ammo on-hand for testing over several months and I fired-up more than 300 rounds in my testing – I wanted to give this SR45 a good work out.   From Black Hills, I had their outstanding, and almost match-grade 230-grain FMJ load, and this one has always been a fine performer for me. I also had their steel-cased 230-grain FMJ load. In the 185-grain bullet weight, I had their JHP brass-cased and steel-cased ammo. And, my favorite Black Hills .45 ACP load is their 185-grain Barnes all-copper hollow point, TAC-XP +P load. From Buffalo Bore, I had a wide assortment of .45ACP to run through the SR45. I had their brand-new 160-grain Barnes…


Sweet Spot For the 21st Century With Calibers Beating .308- Part 4, by Alpine Evader

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…accuracy in an AR: “1-9 is ideal for 62 grain M855, but the much longer M856 tracer rerquired an ideal of 1-6, and 1-7 was the compromise, so it became the current mil-spec. As noted above it does fine with bullets up to about 70 grains but is iffy above that depending on muzzle velocity, air density (temp, altitude and humidity dependent) and max range desired. “1-12 is superb for 55 grain M193 and was the old mil-spec, but 55 grain shoots almost as well in 1-9 and longer boat tail 55 grain bullets like the M193 do pretty well in most 1-7 barrels as long as you are not seeking bench rest accuracy. 62 grain bullets do not do well with this twist. “1-8 is like 1-9 but better suited to weights up to 77 grains. in my opinion it is probably the optimum twist if you want an…


The $100 Homestead Grain Winnower – Part 1, by PapaP

One of the pillars of homestead food production is growing small grains such as wheat, barley, oats, etc. The classic text for homestead grain production is Small-Scale Grain Raising, by Gene Logsdon (1977). His focus is on using small-scale or appropriate technology, usually human powered. For example, harvesting small grains would entail the use of a scythe for cutting the grain, a flail for threshing the grain followed by tossing the grain into the air to winnow or separate the grain from the chaff. I was raised on a traditional farm in the 1960s and 1970s where we used farm-scale equipment and I understand the process of raising small grains. However, the scale of homestead grain raising doesn’t justify the purchase or operation of the traditional farm equipment used for grain production. If only a few acres or less is dedicated to wheat for personal use on a homestead, buying…


Sweet Spot For the 21st Century With Calibers Beating .308- Part 3, by Alpine Evader

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…your 6.8 brass or your .270 brass that makes up most of the shootable difference for long-range engagement. Ammo Weight and Mag/Pouche Considerations The weight of 129 grain 6.5 Creedmoor is one pound per 20 rounds of ammo. That’s 50% less than the 180 grain .308. 129 grain 6.5 Creedmoor costs $0.80 per round,which is the same as the 120 grain 6.8 SST. You could carry 300 rounds in 15 magazines at 17 lbs. That results in eight pounds you don’t have to hump. However, if you don’t already own the 7.62×51 PMAG magazines and the mag pouches MOLLE gear, you’re looking at about four hundred dollars ($400) per person, just to get to that point. Creedmoor Outperforms and Costs The Same Creedmoor outperforms the 6.8 and costs the same. It outperforms the .308 in everything but bashing down cinder blocks and costs nearly the same for match grade performance….


Letter Re: Vacuum Sealing Jars and Feed Store Grain

…grain from the bottom of his grain bin back to the top. This is done using a powerful blower using air. This keeps the bugs down and blows out eggs. This is why you don’t want bags that have been “sitting” for a while. IMMEDIATELY, when you arrive home with the newly purchased grain, you need to winnow it again. You do this with a fan set on the highest speed. Get outdoors, because there will be a mess. I like to use a 5- or 6-gallon white buckets, so I can see the “bugs” that might be present. I use a small scoop or coffee can and slowly pour the grain into the bucket in the air flow in front of the fan. It will take a little practice to get this right. I let the contents fall about three feet from the scoop to the bottom of the…


Beer Brewing Basics, by Doctus

…this web site. It works, it’s easy, it’s cheap, and best of all, you can make it at home!  Step 1 Crush your grain into grist and add it to your mash tun.  If you already have a grain mill for post-TEOTWAWKI milling, you can use it pre-TEOTWAWKI to crush grain for beer.  Don’t mill the grain into flour, just crush it enough to make it a coarsely crushed grist.  Step 2 Heat your strike water to about 170° and add it into your mash tun.  Your mash should steep at a temperature of roughly 155°.  When you add the strike water to the grain, it normally will cool the water to the proper temperature.  Be careful not to overheat the strike water since over heating the water will kill the enzymes that convert the starch into sugar.  Stir the grain thoroughly, close the lid and cover with blankets.  Let…


Pat’s Product Review: Ruger P95 9mm Pistol

…than accurate for the task at hand. The Buffalo Bore 95 grain Barnes TAC-XP +P+ shot groups a little bigger than the Black Hills 115 grain Barnes TAC-XP +P rounds did. For this particular Ruger P95, I’d pick the Black Hills 115 grain +P load for my daily carry use because it was a bit more accurate. For a bedside load, I’d take the Barnes 95 grain +P+ load if I were worried about over-penetration. For my money, you can’t go wrong with any of the Black Hills or Buffalo Bore loads in the P95.   In more than 500 rounds of testing the P95, the only problems I encountered were with the Blazer 115 grain loads – then again, most 9mm guns I’ve fired this under-powered ammo in, I’ve had problems! The only “good” thing I can say about this Blazer ammo is, it’s cheap, and it’s good if you…


Ruger AR-556 MPR, by Pat Cascio

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…the muzzle brake and install a flash suppressor in its place, too. One MagPul 30-round PMAG is included in the package. MagPul makes the best AR mags in the world, in my humble opinion. That’s a lot of features found on this AR, compared to many entry-level guns. Do you need or want those features? I can’t answer that question for you. But it sure makes for a first-class AR, that has everything you need for the most accurate shooting, and long-lasting durability you’d want from an AR. Testing Ammunition Courtesy of the nice folks at Black Hills Ammunition, I had a great selection of .223 Remington ammo to shoot through this Ruger AR. Here’s a list: 50 grain Hornady V-MAX, 52 grain Match Hollow Point, 55 grain FMJ, 55 grain Soft Point, 60 grain Soft Point, 60 grain Hornady V-MAX, 68 grain Sierra Match King, 75 grain Heavy Match…


Letter Re: My Adventure in Growing Wheat, by Carl in Wisconsin

…the heads in one direction, and you get about a bundles worth before you have to transport it. If the grain is ripe, and you lay the heads over the end of a flat surface, all you have to do is whack the heads only, and the kernels will fall out. (Or you can do it on a tarp or something on the ground. But still, whacking the heads only on ripe grain makes it easy to remove the straw by hand.) After cutting, the grain should be let dry to loosen the seeds from their hulls. As to the cleaning of grain, I have seen several versions of a hand operated fanning mill. All were about three feet to 40 inches square. (And about 5 feet tall.) At the top, a hopper the width of the machine and between two and three feet wide with a sloped bottom so…


Pat’s Product Review: SIG Sauer 1911 TACOPS

…Accuracy was outstanding, with groups of 2-3 inches at 25-yards over a rest. The Winchester 230 grain FMJ USA white box ammo was used to break the gun in – I fired a couple boxes of this stuff through the gun just to get a good feel for it. This is always a good and affordable round for target practice on the range. The Buffalo Bore ammo I used most was their 185 grain JHP +P load, and this one gets your attention – recoil is there – but nothing you can’t manage. I also fired some of their 230 grain FMJ +P ammo through the gun, and it didn’t seem as stout as their 186 grain JHP +P load was. Black Hills Ammunition sent me 4 cases of .45 ACP to use – I’ve been testing a lot of 1911s lately and my ammo locker was getting very low….


An Overview of Handloading .45 ACP by Pat Cascio

…uses in their rounds that use hard cast lead bullets. So right off the bat, I had a lot of respect for Rim Rock Bullets – if Buffalo Bore is using ’em in their ammo – then I knew they would be good. Much of my own reloading for the .45 ACP has been either 230 grain FMJ, 200 grain SWC, 185 grain SWC and 185 grain JHP bullets. For shooting pleasure and target practice, it’s hard to beat the 185 grain SWC and 200 grain SWC lead bullets. My only complaint about using lead bullets in the past have been they were soft lead, and they really get a gun dirty and the barrel needs extra time to clean it – and I don’t enjoy spending a lot of time cleaning my guns – I’d rather be out shooting. The Rim Rock 200 grain SWC bullet is lead, hard…


Pat’s Product Review: Springfield Armory Champion Operator 1911

…I had their 185-grain Barnes all-copper hollow point that is +P rated, the 185-grain JHP +P, 200-grain, 230-grain FMJ FN and their 255-grain hard Cast FN loadings. From Winchester Ammunition I had their ever popular USA brand 230-grain FMJ load, which I use for function testing for starters whenever shooting .45 ACP caliber handguns. So, I had a good selection of ammo to run through the Operator. And, as mentioned, I had zero malfunctions of any type. All shooting was done from 25 yards.   On average, the Operator would group about 2 to 2-1/2 inches from a rest, over the hood of my car – and I don’t use mechanical rests, I use a rolled-up sleeping bag or a jacket. Was there a winner in the accuracy department? Yes, and it surprised me, the Buffalo Bore 255-grain hard Cast FN load was giving me groups under 2-inches, but I…


Pat’s Product Review: Black Hills Ammunition

…68-grain Heavy Match Hollow Point loading – it shoots great in any AR I’ve run it through.   In the 9mm department, I have two favorites, and I don’t know if I could nail it down to just one of these rounds as my favorite. I like the 124-grain JHP +P load, that is coming out of full-sized duty guns at about 1,250 per second. I like the 124-grain bullet because they penetrate a little deeper and expand well. It’s a great load. I also love the 115-grain Barnes all-copper Tac XP +P load – this load is coming at about 1,200 feet per second, and it penetrates deeply and stays together – no matter what it might hit. Many years back, we didn’t  have such a variety of 9mm self-defense ammo – the few JHP loads we had, just didn’t perform all that well, that’s why the FBI and…