Accoutrements

1/7/12

I did receive the loading tool from Sage Outfitters.  Unlike the more expensive tool (better made) from Arizona Sharpshooters, the Sage Outfitters tool did not have the relief for over the primer pocket.  Probably not a big deal but I wanted one so I took a round file and cut the relief myself (lower pic above) and it works fine.

More stuff.  I wanted to try wiping between shots as an alternative to my blow tube so I purchased a Derlin wiping rod with integral jag designed to have a good fit with the Dave Maurer Arsenal patches.  The patches are 2″ round and are made of some form of paper.  They are supposed to not stick together when wet so you can have a stack of them pre-moistened with your favorite wiping solution (I’m going to try a 50/50 mix of Dex-Cool antifreeze and water).  Just put a wet patch on the jag, push it through and it falls off when it exits the barrel and you retract the cleaning rod.

Here you can see the size of the rod in my 30″ barrel.

UPDATE 3/24/12

I forgot to mention the Delrin Cleaning Jag I bought from Arizona Sharpshooters.  It is design for a tight fit so to force the patch into the grooves to better remove lead and fouling.  In the first picture you can see the 45 caliber delrin jag next to a traditional 45 cal brass jag, notice that the delrin jag is larger, .408 in diameter to be exact.  This means that you will likely not be able to just push your rod down your barrel as it will be too tight.  The compressibility of the delrin really shoves the patch into the grooves and you will likely need to tap your rod with a hammer to push it through your barrel.  I start with a short section and then add a section to it as I need until it’s through the barrel.  I think it works great. (sorry, too lazy to grab the tripod for this shot)

I purchased a tumbler from Harbor Freight, couldn’t resist the $39 price tag, as well as some ceramic media from Sage Outfitters.  Here are pictures of the machine and of the media.

UPDATE 4/7/12

I’ve added a few more accoutrements to my collection.  The first item is a sight insert holder.  If you go back to my post on Sights you’ll notice that the front globe sight has replaceable inserts.  These inserts are changed depending on the particular target you’re shooting at and your personal taste.  There are a number of sight caddy’s on the market, most of them being of the acrylic “select an insert” (my term, I don’t know what else to call them) variety.  I was leaning towards that style until I saw the caddy that MVA offers.

The caddy itself is a small plastic case roughly 4″x2″x.25″ which has white faced magnetic material, like those magnetic advertisements that you stick on your fridge, which holds the inserts.

You can easily fit 20 of the larger sized Lee Shaver inserts which is what I use and probably a few more of the smaller Lyman 17a style inserts.

I think the caddy works well though you do need to have a bit of a fingernail to lift the insert quickly.  They are well presented, easy to see and securely held in place.  It was a good buy for $12 and MVA shipped both it and another item in a padded envelope for $3 so that was a nice surprise as well.

While I had made a Blow Tube from a 45/70 empty brass when I was ordering the caddy I came across this MVA blow tube which was machined from aluminum and had an o-ring seal to keep water out of the chamber….I love well made things and I had to have it for the mere $10 they were asking.

It is a nice piece of craftsmanship with machined and anodized aluminum.  The o-ring provides that “suction” feeling fit.  I haven’t used this tube but I’m sure it will work out fine.

For those of you who don’t know, a blow tube is used between each shot to blow warm, moist air into the barrel to soften the black powder fouling and maintain bullet accuracy.