Bad Knee

 There was a time when my father-in-law asked if I knew then what I know now now about the effects on my body would be, would I still do that stuff. I answered absolutely yes.

I twisted my left knee wrestling in high school, fell on my left knee cap when I slipped coming out of a semi-truck trailer working my way through school. Then bent my left leg backwards playing softball. Blew out my right shoulder working on an old car.

I was on the high school wrestling and golf teams. Had to quit golf and move to second base playing ball due to the shoulder injury. Sold my dirt bike because after a day riding I limped for a week. Played soft ball until I was 45. Then my eldest returned from the marines and got me hooked on paintball. Had to wear a knee brace to walk after playing. Finally had to quit paintball when I was 65. That was ten years ago, and I still miss it. I also miss the Boss and I riding our horses.

Over the years I've tweeked the knee a few times, but a couple days wearing a brace got me back to normal. Not this time! Three weeks ago, after mowing grass, the left knee was hurting and it still does. Got another three weeks to see a bone doctor.

In my old age my activities are a lot less physical. I used to be a hunter, now I'm a gun guy.  Walking 100 yards to set up a target is now painful. So I still haven't found the right load for the  Ishapore or the Grendel.

Fuel Prices

 Everybody seems to be concerned about gas/diesel prices. And the direct impact on the cost of everything. The theory is that this is directly proportional to the price of crude oil. I don't think this is entirely true. 

Years ago crude oil was as high if not higher than it is now, and gas prices were much lower. I believe the price issue is mostly due to refineries. For years the government waged war on fossil fuels, so why would any company invest money in refineries when being fought by the government.

In addition, I recently learned the the same refineries that process diesel also refine heating oil. Those refineries are running at maximum capacity.

Pressure = Velocity

 Over the years I've owned, and still own, 2 handguns that produce higher velocities than the reloading manuals predict. The first was a Ruger Security Six, and the other a Kimber 1911 45acp. Higher velocity means higher pressure. I usually do all my reload testing for accuracy (consistency) then measure velocity just for the record. This time that bit me in the ass.

Using Sierra bullets and Sierra loading manual I found a load for the AR15 Grendel that met my expectations. Recently I loaded a box for confirmation without measuring velocity. That was a mistake. I was ignoring possible pressure issues. After about 15 rounds into the box, the rifle locked up. I couldn't clear it, so it's at the local gunsmith.

Ignorant/Stupid or Both

 A few decades ago I realized that my political values were and are quite stable. Since then the republican party drifted slightly left and the democrats have fallen off the end of the road. It used to be that the word socialism was considered a taboo. Now the democrats use it to hide the fact that they are pushing communism. Which, actually means, they are after absolute power over every aspect of this country.

If you vote for their promised utopia you are either ignorant or stupid, and you'll get what all the other countries have become that went the same way. There's a reason that a whole lot more people try to come here. 

I have concern for our future. There seems to be a lot of ignorant/stupid people out there.

Grendel Test Again

 Retested 3 different load weights of TAC pushing 120 gr Sierra GK bullets. The best of the 5 shot groups was 1-1/8 inches at 100 yards. That isn't a great number, but 3 shots clustered at 3/8 inch. That makes me think the other 2 were not a function of the hardware & ammo, but the guy pressing the trigger.

Crappy

 Haven't had a chance to do additional load testing for the Grendel because of a crappy situation.

The Boss took a bath and it wouldn't drain all the way, and the toilet was bubbling. The pump up toilet in the basement pumped up into the bath tub and overflowed the toilet in the main level. One hell of a shitty mess. A day later plumbers ran a camera down the vent and managed to push the clog down stream. The camera showed a partially collapsed pipe with some roots that was collecting solids. So for a few days we didn't put any toilet paper into the system. 

Yesterday plumbers started digging up the pipe that runs to the septic tank. It leaves the house under the concrete patio and runs under the concrete, parallel to the house, for about 60 feet. The sewer pipe is a thin wall polymer of some kind. About 12 feet were at least partially collapsed. The collapsed length has now been temporally replaced with schedule 40 PVC. All joints are fitted but not glued because I'm having the total length sleeved internally, old and new, to strengthen and prevent future issues like this. 

The sleeving may be a week away, but the system is useable again.

Thankfully our fifth wheel camper sits next to the house, so at least we didn't have to rent a porta potty.

Grendel Load Test

 Took the Grendel to the range late this morning. What I consider high temperature and high humidity caused water to condense on the rifle, that is stored in air conditioning. The scope lenses also fogged, so I had to wait to start shooting.

I had 3 loads each with 2 different powders. The groups were inconsistent at best. Seems the Grendel is a bit finnicky about powder charge weights. A 0.3 grain difference can be significant. To make things worse, after getting home, I noticed that the linear compensator had loosened. Now I'll need to redo the experiment.

Oh well, a bad day at the range is better than a good day at work.

- - - - - - Update 7/12

Reran the previous load testing with the linear compensator remaining tight. Three of the loads are worth running again, two with TAC and one with 8308. Both pushing 120 grain Sierra Game Kings. It seems the barrel likes velocity in the 2400-2500 f/s range. Once I determine the best load I'll play with the compensator location to see if I can tighten the groups by changing the the barrel harmonics a bit.