AR 15 Gun building weight and helpful instructions

The heaviest battle weapon was the Tommy gun which weighed 14 & ¾ pounds with a loaded drum magazine. An M1 Garand weighs 9.5 lb with 8 rounds of ammo. The AR 15 is most desirable because of its light weight. The lighter the gun the more ammo you can carry. It is said that the weight of 700 bullets in 7.62X39 (for AK 47 or SKS rifles) equals the weight of over 1000 bullets for 223or 5.56 ammo (for the AR 15 rifle). Light weight AR rifles weigh 6 lb and everything you add goes up from there. I think the best build on an AR would have the weight distributed so you can hold it in one hand by the grip and the gun balances both ways. This would allow you to shoot it like a pistol if you were desperate and injuries precluded supporting it normally at the shoulder. When putting together an AR one must decide what he wants a gun to do. Lighter weight sacrifice greater accuracy and the range you would get from heavy barrel guns. If you want light weight mobility you will settle for a close to mid-range gun which will also work well for close quarters use and has a shorter barrel. Again the trade-off of other benefits associated with a heavier and longer barrel guns is the reach to further targets. The AR 15 is one of the most flexible weapons ever made to allow for add-on’s of varying products. People who want to pistol build an AR end up with nether accuracy or range and the gun works best with heavier bullets. But the real down play is the fact that rifle ammo uses a slower burning propellant. This means that the AR pistol can in no way burn all the rifle powder in the pistol barrel so you also louse muzzle velocity, reach and accuracy, and have a gun more prone to jams.

Barnes and Noble Reverse Piracy $560

  I guess you could call it reverse shoplifting. My book is American Handbook on Guns Ammoand Freedom; I do not take things and never have.  I deposited four books each in four different Barnes and Noble Book Stores. Face value at $35 each so that was a gift of $35 X 16 = $560 giveaway. Foolish perhaps! ISBN bar codes should ring up at the register. In the future, hopefully their computer records will show that at one time they sold my books. How did I do it - my book is 553 pages long so it is no feather weight. I had an old backpack the kids used in school and put as many books in as would fit (which was 4). Looking about I found a shelf where they would fit in, categories like crafts. Given my book is on homemade gun construction, powder, primer, bullets, clip making, spring making and a host of other gun related topics to keep a gun running in an emergency I think that would qualify as a craft. Before leaving I showed the clerk at the register that my back pack was empty. Cost of shipping to Barnes and Noble zero dollars. Cost of printing to Barnes and Noble zero dollars. Cost of paying a person to stock the book zero dollars. Revenue they collect $560.

Return to me zero dollars.  The loss of printing costs for a book that large is something I cannot afford to do every day, chance of having them beat down my door and want more books, less than slight. The one positive note is that sixteen people can say that they got a copy of my book at Barnes and Noble. Was it worth it? It depends who the 16 people are. My book is on Amazon as well.

Richard W. Norman    

How Much Ammo and What Caliber in a Spam Can

A Spam Can is what a can of communist block ammo is shipped in. They come with a can opener but can be opened with the tip of a flat tipped screw driver and a hammer if you do not have a can opener. Put your foot on the can. The screw driver tip is turned at a 45 degree angle and struck from the side near the tip along the edge of the can. As soon as the screw driver pierces the can only let the tip enter 3/8 of an inch and continue hitting the tip from the side near the tip this will tear the can open very easily .

The number of 7.62X54 bullets in a spam can is about 400

The number of 7.62X39  bullets in a spam can is 640 to 700 rounds

You will know if you have the wrong ammo for the wrong gun by the quantity in a can. A minimal storage amount for a rifle should be 1000 rounds of ammo. The BATF was taking note of 1000 round orders so only by smaller quantities each month until you get what you want. First choice buy from a gun shop and pay cash second choice order ammo one can at a time and do not order again for 30 days into the next calendar month.  

Critical is to have the stripper clips for the caliber you shoot. For 7.62X39 this is a 10 round stripper clip and for 7.62X54 these are 5 found clips  get as many as you can afford.
How to make at home what you need for your gun when the day comes you may no longer be able to buy it American Handbook on Guns Ammo and Freedom  

Bullet Mold Galling Failing

This is a condition which occurs on bullet molds is called galling. First let us define the terms in relation to bullet molds.

 1) A sprew plate or sprews cutter is the top plate that cuts off the excess lead when you cast a bullet.

 2) A sprue is the glob of lead the speew cutter cuts off.

 3) Locking lugs are the dimples sticking out of one half of the bullet mold that aligns with a coinciding hole or grove in the other half of the bullet mold which keeps the two halves in alignment.

4) Failing bullet molds have several reasons which I will list below.

A) Galling is when the sprew cuter  rubs against the bullet mold and one or both deteriorate.

B) Ladle pour burn – This is typically found when people use pouring ladles to cast bullets. As the mold and ladle are turned the hot lead hits one side of the mold first and the steal begins to deteriorate eventually leading to an out of shaped bullet making the mold unusable.

  

 Bullet mold failure has several reasons depending on the mold in question. Aluminum molds are inexpensive and less durable than steal molds and so one cannot expect them to give as long a life as steal molds. The trade off is the savings in price. A galling mold has the sprew cutter chewing up the metal beneath it. This can occur on steal or aluminum molds.

Galling aluminum mold- Aluminum molds have the sprew plate fairly snug from the factory and this should be left that way. I have found that a little lubricant at the corner will help. Graphite is problematic as it will not last long and every few minutes you will need to reapply it. Bees wax should never be used in any condition on any bullet mold as it travels.

Lubricating aluminum molds. Wax, oil, grease, lard, etc has no business in a bullet cavity it will cause the bullet to wrinkle and drive you crazy.  However there is a solution for aluminum bullet molds and is best when the mold is new. First clean the mold by slushing it around in lacquer thinner. With the mold clean and dry start to cast until the mold is up to temperature. Now cast and leave the bullets in the bullet mold and move the sprew cutter aside. Using a lit candle and the end of a toothpick get the smallest amount of wax possible on the end of the toothpick, almost nothing!  Touch it by the sprew plate where the mold pivots. On one side and then do it again on the other with another toothpick. Close and reopen the mold. Look to make sure that the wax is not traveling toward a bullet cavity. Wipe away if the wax moves at all toward the cavity. Open and close the hot mold a number of times to make sure the wax is staying in place. Now begin to cast this should last for over 100 lb of bullet casting before it needs to be reapplied.

Lubricating steel molds- Steel molds should have the sprew plate adjusted so it is fairly louse so it closes just by a jerk of the wrist.  No lubricant of any type should be used on a steal mold. And the steel mold should have the factory lubricant removed with lacquer thinner before use and it should be re-lubricated for storage when you are finishes with a lite oil.

Galling steal mold – This is a hopeful post and non-definitive as I do not have any other test subjects. I have had galling steal molds before and I think it is from carbon deposit concentrations in the steal. When a steal mold starts to gall there is no stopping it. Usually the manufacture will replace it for free as long as it does not show abuse. Having a galling mold I thought I would cast until the gall worked its way into the bullet cavity. While casting I remembered that some old bullet molds were made of brass and stopped casting and let the galling mold cool. Taking the sprew plate off I took an old shell casing and gave the top of the mold a real workout by hand until it was covered with embedded brass. I have casted quit a bit with it over time and the galling has not continued.

Ladle pour burn- As mentioned this condition sometimes occurs when people use pouring ladles however this condition never occurs when using a downspout pot.  

This should give you an overview of bullet mold problems.

Richard W. Norman     Author of American Handbook on Guns Ammo and Freedom        

Gun Book Internet Censorship

 Some of the problem I have faced in promoting my book. Strange to note the Internet controls on guns and gun information not faced by other blogs and sites that are not gun related. Many blog sites are given top ratings simply asking a single question about guns or gun processes like bullet casting or reloading. 6 or 8 comments are made and at the bottom they restrict any further comment or threads. If you type in gun books many gun books appear but many other books are mixed in which are not gun related in any way. So there is no avenue to make a book known if the public do not know what it is called. There is no list of gun books for people to shop from. One gun breakdown instruction manual of an obscure gun lists the small number sold like more than 35 the last time I looked and has a near the top listing. Gun books sold on Amazon may have a list of 1 available which makes it look as though the book is out of print.   

The controls desired by political leaders is to stop independent gun information on the Internet and some have expressed that gun information should be censored as soon as possible. In less you have written a gun book you could not appreciate the uphill battle we gun writers are facing. My book is on its third printing and sells well at gun shows but Internet sells are almost nonexistent. My blog site for the most part gets 3 or 4 hits on a post and never gets a hit again.

Richard W. Norman

All American anti Disarmament Hand Book

This book was released in 2008 and unique in the fact that it dealt with upcoming goals to disarm the country. Its premise was to place within the public's hands the ability  to make homemade guns, shot, ammo, powder and primers. The author Richard W. Norman took home arms production into simply use what was available to offer plans for a  number of guns and included a full auto blueprints and plans of the WWII STEN SMG which the British made from old pipe and scrap metal which was a front line gun in the war.  The front of the book outlined a number of comparisons in the overthrow of nations like Germany and Russia where national disarmament lead to tyranny. He also offered solutions to stop a socialist shift in the USA if it should occur. The Title All American Anti-Disarmament Handbook was very misunderstood. So many people thought it was a book on Disarmament not catching the Anti (meant against) and not realizing that the title was against disarmament. This necessitated a change for other printings. The Book is currently called American Handbook on Guns Ammo  and Freedom and more than one third larger with over 450 photos and drawings and over 553 pages in length. The book takes you into making gun repair parts in an emergency and includes smokeless propellant formulas and all the information from the first book is expanded and amplified. You will have within your grasp the ability to make your gun shoot if you have no ammo or fix it if it is broken or make a gun if you had no gun; all with simple tools and salvage. The value of such information in an emergency would be priceless,       

Richard W. Norman All American Anti-Disarmament Handbook is now American Handbook on Guns Ammo and Freedom third printing 

Checking a Powder Scale (Gun) (Ammo)

I have loaded for years and recently came across a situation which caused me no small bit of concern. I like to use the powder Unique for reloading where ever I can because it has been around for a long time and if the shells ever get wet you can pull the bullet and after the powder and primer is dried you can put it back in the shell casing and the bullet will shoot as well as any other. The fact that the powder is known for long term storage is legendary. Picking a load for a different shell casing than I had loaded before I was greatly concerned because the amount of Unique being used. The powder nearly filled the case to just below the bullet. Now if you reload you will know that a pistol powder charge is very fast burning propellant and if you load too much you can louse a gun.

Being in doubt as to the accurecy of my powder scale something had to be done to have a comparison check of the powder charge. I had a set of powder dippers but had gotten rid of them some time ago as I never thought I would need them again as I had moved on to better equipment. My Lee powder throwing disks were not gauged to throw Unique for the project at hand as the powder chart attested. RCBS makes a set of weights to check a scale with but none were readily available and I wanted to finish the project.

I went on line and spent some time looking at comments on loading the shell with Unique and found that others mentioned the amount of powder being used in the shell casing prohibited a double charge if a mistake was made throwing the powder. This made me feel a little better but I am a careful fellow and wanted to be sure I was not climbing the wrong tree. I do not use an electric scale as in an emergency batteries may not be available. I reload in the garage and the scale had set for a while so the first thing was to take the balancing arm off and dust off the pivot point as settling dust and dirt could change the way the scale works. A small spider had nested in  the spot where the balances pivot point were and he was so small you wouldn’t have noticed if you did not look for him. So if you uses a regular powder scale 1) dust off the pivot point before  you start to reload. 2) Zero out your scale so when all the balances are at zero the pointer points at zero. 3) It is well to have the ability to check your scale before loading. This requires some method to throw on a known charge and compare it to your scale. I found myself looking for another set of powder dippers to do a comparative charge.

 4) The RCBS scale check weights are

Quantity

1………………200 Grain

2………………100 Grain

1……………… 50 Grain

2……………….20 Grain

1……………….10 Grain

1……………….5 Grain

2………………  2 Grain

1………………..1 Grain

1……………….5 Grain

1……………….Pair of tweezers

The RCBS weight set is Farley pricey $40 give or take. It would be best to have a comparative scale to make these check weights (borrowed from a friend), yet in a time when you know your scale is working right you could produce these weights out of aluminum soda can cutouts and sand paper the edge of the cutout as you get close to the exact weight. I have made counter balances such as these and it takes about 30 minutes. Mark them with a permanent marker and put the weights in an old medicine bottle. It also will not matter if you fold them to make some of them more usable. A pair of old tweezers may be useful if the wife will part with them or loan them to you from time to time or buy them from the dollar store.

Richard W. Norman       American Handbook on Guns Ammo and Freedom