Membership Meetings

Meetings are held the 3^rd Monday of the month. Please try to attend & offer your voice & ideas. This is your club! Meet your fellow enthusiasts.

Next meetings:  9/18, 10/16, 11/20, 12/18 @ 7:30 pm

Come on an empty stomach, there is always a good meal afterwards. $2 beers!! 50/50 raffle!!

Membership

Membership applications can be printed from the BVCS web site https://bostonvalleycs.com.  Dave Brooks, our membership chairman, may be reached at 649-8762 or email at daveb45cal[at]yahoo[dot]com.

What's Happening @ Your Club?

Open Pistol Shooting

Tuesday nights; doors open @ 7pm.  Members’ range fee is $4 and nonmembers’ fee is $8 per night.  All are welcome but we encourage frequent non-members to become members and support the club.  Please be aware that non-members must fill out a one-time waiver.  Forms are on hand at the range.

Trap

As of this writing we have shot only 3 days for the Fall League. It seems that we may have a better turn out than the last league. One more team has said they would be coming out to shoot. The reason for the lack of info is, we give shooters a number of weeks to get signed up & shoot a qualifying number of scores. As stated earlier, we are into the 2nd week & a large bunch of shooters are still in the ATA competitive mode while area shoots are still available.

The summer doubles league attracted a few more shooters than we have had in the past. Shooting doubles for 6 weeks to fill in the summer slump was a fun deal & it finished on Aug. 10th with pizza & wings for paid up shooters.

The next newsletter will have more info on shooter numbers & winning scores . The trap people are here to give help & info to anyone wishing to try our sport. GIVE IT A SHOT !!!!

Thanks; trap person, Ernie

2017 Fall Pistol League

Dear Pistol Shooters,

I am planning on starting the fall league on September 28, 2017 with the first relay beginning at 6pm, a second starting at 7pm and a third relay starting at 8pm.

Tuesday will be open shooting only with Thursday reserved for league shooting.

Each week two national matches per relay will be shot for score at the 25 yard line. You can shoot one gun (22 cal.) or two guns (22 cal. and C.F.) for a score each week.

Come out, have fun and shoot the league. It will be great to see you again.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call me at 337-3555 or e-mail cwfjr45[at]gmail[dot]com.

Cliff

Fall Schedule - 10 Weeks

• Thursday - September 28
• Thursday - October 5, 12, 19, 26
• Thursday - November 2, 9, 16, 30
• Thursday - December 7
• No Shooting November 23rd
• Thursday - December 14, make-up

Suburban Pistol League

SPL will start October 4th, 2017 and run through last week in February. League fee will be 10 dollars for the year and range fee for every match you shoot. You don't have to shoot every match and this year the league trying a cf league to if the club would like to do the to just an other ranger fee it will be 10 matches and you have to have them in by end of February.

New shoot are always welcome if you want to know more contact me at 200-3466. See you in October.

Jim

Young Guns

For information on Young Guns contact Howard Hoelscher at 649-3432.

Website

We try to keep the website as current as possible.  Please check it out as it has a calendar of events posted as well as the newsletter and other information.  https://bostonvalleycs.com

Newsletter

The next Newsletter will be out in early January; deadline for information will be December 31st, 2016.  Please email information you would like to have published, or to add/edit/remove your email address, to Ryan Rosiek at ryan.rosiek[at]gmail[dot]com or John Battershell at jbdesigns[at]roadrunner[dot]com. Copies of the current newsletter are available at the club or on the website.

Reloading Equipment Recommendations

by John Battershell

I want to share some of my personal experiences with reloading equipment and what pieces I would recommend to someone thinking about getting into re-loading. Disclosure, I am not an expert in reloading. What I am is a detailed oriented research and development engineer who can offer detailed opinions on equipment with perspective on value, quality, speed, and user friendliness. I design very expensive equipment and am asked often to purchase equipment costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. With that said, I will give fair advice, but which is not absolute. There is always another way to skin a cat with re-loading. My recommendations will describe why I like or don't like something based on those 4 things of importance, value, quality, speed, and user ease.

Reloading Press

You have to get this basic piece of equipment to re-load. It is essentially a handle operated ram that will force cases into dies for the various operations needed. They can be single stage meaning there is one station on the press for one die at a time, or it can be a turret press which has 4 or more die stations allowing the user to progress from one die to another by indexing the turret to the next die. Finally, there are progressive presses which somewhat automatically index the cases from one die to another and which will perform 4 or more operations simultaneously with each stroke of the handle. These are the most expensive of presses and for which I don't really recommend for the beginning reloader. There are of course rare situations where a beginner could start with a progressive, but that isn't common. So for most all beginners, I will recommend a single stage. For brand, it is less important than one might think. The Lee press is generally the least expensive out there and will load just as accurate rounds as others. And if you are really on a budget, go ahead and get it. The next step up, which is what I did buy, is the RCBS rock chucker. It is not too bad price wise at $130-$150 depending on dealer. It is highly regarded by the reloading community. It will last a life time, no doubt about that. And it feels very nice on the stroke, something that is not as apparent on the lee. That doesn't make it more precise, but it feels so when using it. There are a couple others out there, but I have 100% confidence that if you buy the RCBS, you will never regret it, even if upgrading to a progressive later (which is what I did but I still use the rock chucker all the time.

I would like to make a point about the kits that are sold. Like lee and RCBS both sell the press stand alone or combined with a bunch of other stuff like a scale, funnels, shell holders, and maybe a cheap powder drop. I generally don't recommend the kit because most of the other stuff is not nice as what you will want. This is my recommendation as some of the stuff isn't needed at all, and other items are better to be upgraded anyways.

Scale

A scale is used to measure the powder. The beam scale is the least expensive but also the slowest and most awkward to use. What I really recommend is an electronic scale with digital readout. There are many good ones out there and I use the one from Hornady. Expect to spend $60-$80 for a scale. They will come with a couple check weights to re-calibrate it every so often. I cannot steer anyone away from one brand or other but I do recommend not buying cheaper scales like only $30 or so. I wouldn't trust them for reloading. The best advice I can give about getting good results with a digital scale is to turn it on 1/2 hour or more before you want to use it so it fully warms up. Then you re-zero it (or also do a calibration step). When scales are first turned on and zeroed, they drift from that point until fully warmed up. So the first measurements might be lower or higher than when measured 10 minutes later. So turn it on and leave it on overnight if you are going to load again tomorrow or so. They are very low power draw and keeping them on keeps them stable. Also keep them clean, and treat them nice without banging them around. Remember, your breath, a slight breeze, or bumping the table will disrupt a good measurement. No fans can be on near a scale or even HVAC vents nearby, and no vibrations in the table.

Dies

Die sets are sold for each caliber type. So for every caliber you intend to reload for, you need a die set. I have used dies from RCBS and from Hornady. Personally, I prefer the hornday for rifle calibers. In pistol calibers, I am not as picky but I do recommend that what ever pistol die you buy be of the carbide type. So look for the wording carbide when buying pistol dies. The carbide insert allows the dies to size the brass without the need of lubrication on the case. There are some cheap cheap dies that are just steel only, don't buy them. In any case, the die sets are not too expensive and run between about $35 dollars for each caliber set from Hornady. Of course you can get even better ones like from Redding, but you would need to be much more accomplished shooter to notice the improvements. So stick with Hornady for rifle and LEE, RCBS, or Hornady for pistol. I purchased RCBS pistol dies which work great but I wouldn't be ashamed to use the LEE pistol die set. Rifle dies sets are usually just two pieces, one for sizing and one for seating the bullet. Pistol dies need three, one for sizing, one to bell mouth the case, and one for seating. I then also buy one more die, the lee crimping die for pistol. For cost effectiveness, lee sells a 4 piece pistol die set for a good price which includes the crimping die. The easy to adjust crimp die puts the final crimp on pistol rounds, a most crucial step. Some die sets are set up to allow you to crimp on the same die that seats the bullet like my RCBS. I don’t recommend to use that feature. Many problems can occur such as scraping off lead or copper jackets since the crimp is occurring while the bullet is still be seated the final little bit. So I adjust the seating die to keep that function from happening (easy just read instructions). Then the last step is to use the lee crimp die to set the crimp on the bullet.

Sometimes, reloaders will crimp their rifle bullets. I don't see the need for that and the rifle rounds I make don't get a crimp. This is a preference and there isn't a right or wrong answer. But, if you decide you just want to crimp your rifle bullets, get the lee crimp die in the caliber you need, they work great and are not expensive, like $18 each.

Case cleaning

To be a reloader, you have to clean the fired brass before you reload it. I suppose you could always buy brand new brass and not need to do any cleaning, but that will defeat the cost benefit of cleaning your fired brass. There are now two popular methods for cleaning brass, the dry tumbling method and the wet tumbling method. Dry method uses a media such as crushed walnut shells or corn cob media and a vibratory machine to clean the brass. They sit in the bucket with the media and the vibrations slowly stir the brass through the media, sort of like a top loading clothes washing machine does. Draw backs are that you have to replace the media after it gets worn down and is ineffective, they make dust which bothers many, and they don't clean inside brass or primer pockets all that well. The wet tumbler uses water and small stainless steel pins and a drum that slowly spins to tumble the brass with the pins, water and some soap. This method really cleans the brass and they look brand new when done. This also cleans inside the brass and the primer pocket really well. My preference is the wet method and I have a few reasons why.

At first glance, the dry tumblers like the lyman or RCBS seem cheaper than a wet tumbler, and they are. The dry tumbler's don't include the media, so that is extra and about $35. The dry media also wears out and you will have to replace it at some point. The RCBS dry tumbler is $100 plus the media cost, $35. The frankford arsenal wet tumbler is definitely more at $180 but it includes the ss pin media which never wears out. For my comparison, there is a $45 difference, but in my opinion for a new reloader, the wet tumbling method is superior to dry. Spending extra now will pay off later. Plus the wet tumbler can tumble more brass at a time than a dry tumbler. I cannot recommend a wet tumbler enough. Buy the frankford arsenal one or if you are crafty, build a DIY tumbler like I did. Youtube will show you many examples.

With either tumbler, you have to separate the media from the brass when done cleaning. There are media separators sold that do this for about $30 or so. They work for dry or wet. When separating the wet pins, the method of use is slightly different and the bucket is filled with water to the top and then the brass with pins poured into the straining basket. Turning the basket lets the pins fall out to the bottom. I bought a RCBS and it works just fine, so for lack of any other, I recommend the RCBS one.

Case trimming and prepping

This is a topic that has so many choices for trimming. From very inexpensive to very expensive. I could write a whole paper just on trimming cases alone. I will try to keep it simple. The very inexpensive trimming method is a manual hand turning or maybe with a crank. The LEE trimmer works just fine and is low cost. You do buy a part of it caliber specific. The other part more universal. It has the option to turn by hand or to chuck up the cuter in cordless drill (what I have done). I can recommend this trimmer with only some comments. There is no adjustment on case length. It is set by the factory kit. It is not super fast as you manually have to put a case into the holder, tighten the holder so the case doesn't slip, then insert that into the cutter which is on your drill. You spin it for a few seconds until it is done and then loosen the holder to remove the case. Just fine for smaller batches of rifle cases. But if you want to do 1000 cases, this gets slow. A little step up in precision is the lee trimmer that has a crank and you mount it into your single stage press. This setup is about $45 and allows fine adjustments to the case length. It is still as slow as the cheaper version from LEE, but it appears nicer.

There are many other case trimmers that sit horizontally and you put the case into the thing, and then turn the crank. They all work fine and trim accurately, but they all suffer from slow speed. And if I want to prep a bunch of brass for my semi-auto rifle, they are too slow for me.

That brings me to two choices that are fast. The worlds finest trimmer (WFT) and the Giraud tri way trimmer. Both styles are purchased caliber specific and they mount into a cordless drill or my preferred location, a table top drill press. With these spinning in the drill press, you simply insert a case into the tool, it takes just a few seconds, and it is trimmed. So you pick up a case that has been sized, stick it into the tool, 4 seconds later, you drop it into the "done" bucket and grab another case. There is no faster method.

The difference between these two is small but important to note. The WTF case trims the length only. Afterwards, the case needs to be chamfered inside and out of the mouth. In fact all trimmers require chamfering after trimming except the Giraud one. This trimmer uses a carbide cutter that is shaped so that it trims the length AND also puts a chamfer on the inside and outside of the case mouth all at the same time. So in 4 seconds, the case is trimmed, and chamfered. Pretty cool. The Giraud tri way is $100 per caliber. The WFT is about $72 per caliber.

Chamfering

After trimming, unless using the Giraud tool, the case mouth needs chamfered both on the inside and outside. This is simple to do and the tools are not expensive. My recommendation is the lyman case prep multitool, $22. This tool contains all of the required bits for chamfering, inside and outside, plus bits for truing up the primer pockets. The kit also includes a nice aluminum handle that screws in half to store the small primer pocket bits inside. The tool bits can be used by hand with the aluminum handle, or you can remove the bit and chuck it up into the drill press or your cordless drill if there is a bunch of cases to do. I personally chuck up the inside case chamfer tool into the drill press and do primer pocket crimp removals and inside neck chamfer. The outside chamfer tool is in a cordless drill and I use that to touch up the outside of the neck. It really takes just seconds to do all three operations.

Case gauge

If you plan on reloading, a case gauge for every rifle caliber is required. This gauge is used to check that the case has been resized properly back to SAAMI specs. Dropping in the case into the case, you look at the bottom of the head to see if it is flush with the indicator marks on the gauge. If it is standing proud a little bit, then it is not sized enough. The gauge will also tell you if the case has been trimmed enough. If you shoot a semi-auto rifle, this gauge is a must. Bolt action rifle shooters can use their chamber as the case gauge but doing so means that the reloaded cartridge is only set up properly for their rifle. It may not be sized enough for another rifle, so keep that in mind. Several companies make the gauge and all are good. I have L.E. Wilson, but hornady makes them as does Lyman.

Priming

Re-priming the case is a process that I personally like to use a hand held manual priming tool. The advantage with this process is that I can feel the primer going into the pocket. This feel allows me to get a consistent prime from case to case, it also allows me to know if a primer pocket is loose as the force required to squeeze the handle will be very very light. I also can tell if I forgot to remove the crimp on a primer pocket from military brass. The primer gives very high resistance right from the start and I can stop and go fix that case. So while the RCBS rock chucker has a feature included to allow you to prime the cases, I recommend using a hand held unit instead. It will be faster and also allow sensitivity to you that is not possible with the tool attached to the press. There are many choices, I can recommend the RCBS priming tool. It has served me very well for thousands of cases.

Powder measure

A power drop (measure) is required to drop a measured load of powder into each case. These drops can be mounted into your manual press as they include the same thread size as dies. They also can be mounted on their own stand (purchased separately). The hornady lock n load powder drop I have came with a metal plate that allowed me to mount it off to the side of my RCBS rock chucker press. The plate mounted under the nut on top of the press and extended out with a hole that I mounted the powder drop on. It sits the drop off to the side of the press at a convenient height above the bench.

Like I said, I am using the Hornady lock n load powder drop. I have no complaints. There are other drops that work in the same manner using a rotating barrel to pick up powder from the hopper and then rotate with a crank to drop that measured load down into the case. You can hold the case right up to the bottom of the powder drop and drop powder directly into the case. Or you can drop the powder into a pan and measure the weight on the scale. Afterwards, you drop the powder into a case using a funnel.

I first drop powder into the pan and weigh it. I do this over and over until the weight is exactly what I need. There is an adjustment screw on the powder drops that allow you to adjust how much powder is dropped. Once you get it right, I then drop several more loads, measuring each one, to be sure I have the adjustment right. And then, during loading, I will check it again after 30 or so cases.

One more tip on using the powder drops. It is desirable to have a block to hold a number of cases, like 50, so you can charge all of those cases at once, and then move on to the bullet seating operation. You can buy plastic cases from the store that do this, or you can make one from a block of hardwood. Measure out evenly, 50 spots on top of the block and use a drill press with a 3/8" forstner bit. This will fit 223 and 308 cases. If you are even a little bit crafty with wood, this works great and is nice and stable due to the weight of the wood block.

Bullet puller

I finish up this list of must haves with one more, the bullet puller. If you reload, you will make a mistake of some sort that will force you to pull the bullet apart and re-do it. Making a mistake on case sizing, dropping the wrong powder load to realize after seating bullets, realizing you used the wrong powder, realizing after testing your rounds that it was too much or too little powder so pulling them allows you to reload again with the desired amount, or several other ways that will necessitate pulling the round apart.

For rifle loads, the RCBS bullet puller works amazingly well. You buy a collet with the puller that fits your caliber and interchange these collets for each caliber you reload. So for me, I have one in .22 caliber and one in 30 caliber. This puller is mounted in your single stage press. You put the loaded round into the press, lower the handle until the case hits the bottom of the puller. Then you tighten the handle just snug which grabs the projectile. Then you raise the ram handle back up and the bullet is pulled out of the case. Simply remove the case from the holder and dump the powder out. Then loosen the handle and the bullet falls out of the collet. The nice thing is that no damage is done to the bullet and it can be reloaded again.

S.C.O.P.E.

Erie County SCOPE Chapter holds monthly meetings every 3rd Thursday of the month. Meetings are located at Harvey D. Morin VFW Post, 965 Center Road, West Seneca, NY 14224 and begin at 7pm.

Erie County Chapter

Carl Leas Chairman carlpride[at]msn.com 716-656-0350

Frain Boncore Secretary frankboncore[at]hotmail.com 716-674-3523

Please show your support for your 2nd amendment rights with your membership to the NRA and SCOPE. There are many links through these organizations to support your gun rights. Be pro-active in contacting your politicians.

Elected Officials

Hon. Charles Schumer, U.S. Senate, 846-4111

Hon. Kirsten Gillibrand, U.S. Senate, 854-9725

Hon. Chris Collins, U.S. Congress, 634-2324

Hon. Andrew Cuomo, Governor, 518-474-8390

Hon. Eric Schneiderman, Attorney General, 853-8400

Hon. Thomas DiNapoli, Comptroller, 518-474-4044

Hon. Patrick Gallivan, NY Senate, 656-8544

Hon. Timothy Kennedy, NY Senate, 826-2683

Hon. David DiPietro, NY Assembly, 585-786-0190

Hon. Michael Kearns, NY Assembly, 826-0152

Hon. Mark Poloncarz, County Executive, 858-8500

Membership Meetings

Meetings are held the 3^rd Monday of the month. Please try to attend & offer your voice & ideas. This is your club! Meet your fellow enthusiasts.

Next meetings:  7/17, 8/21, 9/18, 10/16 @ 7:30 pm

Come on an empty stomach, there is always a good meal afterwards. $2 beers!! 50/50 raffle!!

Membership

Membership applications can be printed from the BVCS web site https://bostonvalleycs.com.  Dave Brooks, our membership chairman, may be reached at 649-8762 or email at daveb45cal[at]yahoo[dot]com. Dues will be collected at the July 17th meeting at 6:30pm for those who will be there and wish to pay.

What's Happening @ Your Club?

Open Pistol Shooting

Tuesday nights; doors open @ 7pm.  Members’ range fee is $4 and nonmembers’ fee is $8 per night.  All are welcome but we encourage frequent non-members to become members and support the club.  Please be aware that non-members must fill out a one-time waiver.  Forms are on hand at the range.

Air Pistol

Schedule for 2017:

• Relay starts at 6pm, 7pm, 8pm on Wednesdays
• Cost is $4.00 to shoot per score
• A prepay $40.00 for 8 weeks will secure a time slot and range position
• Any additional scores would be $4.00 ( unlimited shoots- top 8 scores used)
• Pellets available to purchase as needed
• If you need to borrow an air pistol (call first) 867-4814
• Distance is 33 feet, sighters shots & 40 shots for record

Match Dates

August: 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 September: 6, 13, 20

Pizza party after the matches on the 20^th. Any questions call Jerry & Betty Dobson 867-4814.

Trap

Our Spring Trap league ended on June 29th & a party was held on July 2nd. It would seem appropriate to say that a good time was had by all in attendance. During this league, approx. 10,000 targets were thrown to accommodate the shooters in the program. Thank you to all of those that volunteered their time to make it a success.

A doubles trap league began on July 6th & will continue for a total of 6 weeks. Again, all are welcome to participate.

After the 6 week of doubles, a week of open shooting follows. The Fall League starts on August 20th & will run the normal 10 weeks. AGAIN, All are welcomed. If you have never done this before, help & advice is here. Do not feel as if you have to be an excellent shooter, good shooters start out with plenty of low scores & progress to getting better. Bottom line; DON'T BE AFRAID TO TRY!!!!

At the June meeting, I gave a report & told the membership on June 21st a shipment of targets & shooting supplies was to be delivered to our club. June 21st came & a large number of members, shooters & NON-SHOOTERS alike came out to provide more help than we had ever had in the past. I do believe it took only approx. an hour & 15 minutes to complete the mission. To each & everyone of those people - THANK YOU. It was great to see the members come together.

Trap person; Ernie

Young Guns

For information on Young Guns contact Howard Hoelscher at 649-3432.

Website

We try to keep the website as current as possible.  Please check it out as it has a calendar of events posted as well as the newsletter and other information.  https://bostonvalleycs.com

Newsletter

The next Newsletter will be out in early September 2017; the deadline for information will be September 1st, 2017.  Please email information you would like to have published, or to add/edit/remove your email address, to Ryan Rosiek at ryan.rosiek[at]gmail[dot]com or John Battershell at jbdesigns[at]roadrunner[dot]com. Copies of the current newsletter are available at the club or on the website.

S.C.O.P.E.

Erie County SCOPE Chapter holds monthly meetings every 3rd Thursday of the month. Meetings are located at Harvey D. Morin VFW Post, 965 Center Road, West Seneca, NY 14224 and begin at 7pm.

Erie County Chapter

Carl Leas Chairman carlpride[at]msn.com 716-656-0350

Frain Boncore Secretary frankboncore[at]hotmail.com 716-674-3523

Please show your support for your 2nd amendment rights with your membership to the NRA and SCOPE. There are many links through these organizations to support your gun rights. Be pro-active in contacting your politicians.

Membership Meetings

Meetings are held the 3^rd Monday of the month. Please try to attend & offer your voice & ideas. This is your club! Meet your fellow enthusiasts.

Next meetings:   5/15, 6/19, 7/17, 8/21 @ 7:30 pm

Come on an empty stomach, there is always a good meal afterwards. $2 beers!! 50/50 raffle!!

Membership

Membership applications can be printed from the BVCS web site https://bostonvalleycs.com.  Dave Brooks, our membership chairman, may be reached at 649-8762 or email at daveb45cal[at]yahoo[dot]com.

What's Happening @ Your Club?

Open Pistol Shooting

Tuesday nights; doors open @ 7pm.  Members’ range fee is $4 and nonmembers’ fee is $8 per night.  All are welcome but we encourage frequent non-members to become members and support the club.  Please be aware that non-members must fill out a one-time waiver.  Forms are on hand at the range.

Air Pistol

Schedule for 2017:

• Relay starts at 6pm, 7pm, 8pm on Wednesdays
• Cost is $4.00 to shoot per score
• A prepay $40.00 for 8 weeks will secure a time slot and range position
• Any additional scores would be $4.00 ( unlimited shoots- top 8 scores used)
• Pellets available to purchase as needed
• If you need to borrow an air pistol (call first) 867-4814
• Distance is 33 feet, sighters shots & 40 shots for record

Match Dates

August: 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 September: 6, 13, 20

Pizza party after the matches on the 20^th. **Any questions call Jerry & Betty Dobson 867-4814.

Trap

Our BVCS Trap season started Sunday, April 23rd. As in the past, the shooting sigh up times are; Sundays: 9:00am - 12:00 noon & Thursdays 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm. The cost remains the same at $4.00 per round of 25 targets. Hope to see new & OLD faces come out to participate.

Purchase of targets was brought up at the March meeting. The purchase price stands at $5.91 per case as stated at the meeting. Ordering time is dependent on the number of shooters we have for the spring league, as we still have 300+ cases on hand. It takes 5- 6 weeks to process & get an order delivered. The committee will watch this closely!

BVCS hosted the last 2 weeks & the shoot off week for the WNY Winter Trap League. There was a good number of shooters those 3 weeks & the event ran like a well-oiled machine. The trap help was phenomenal! I wish to thank all of those that helped & worked so hard running squads & keeping the traps full of targets & making my job so much easier. Thanks to the bar personnel for doing a great job also. I do believe there was close to $700.00 taken in those 3 days. The YOUNG GUNS!!!! With the adult supervision of Mrs. Hoelsher, the young ladies & gentlemen did a bang-up job feeding the throngs of customers frequenting the ordering counter along with keeping the area clean & helping with general clean up afterwards. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! The trap committee covered the cost of all the food served by the kids to enhance their profits. We hope they did well, as they surely do deserve it.

Trap person; Ernie.

Young Guns

For information on Young Guns contact Howard Hoelscher at 649-3432.

Website

We try to keep the website as current as possible.  Please check it out as it has a calendar of events posted as well as the newsletter and other information.  https://bostonvalleycs.com

Newsletter

The next Newsletter will be out in early July 2017; the deadline for information will be June 30th, 2017.  Please email information you would like to have published, or to add/edit/remove your email address, to Ryan Rosiek at ryan.rosiek[at]gmail[dot]com or John Battershell at jbdesigns[at]roadrunner[dot]com. Copies of the current newsletter are available at the club or on the website.

To Reload or Not, 12 Considerations

From John Battershell

My first article on reloading will discuss the topic ""to reload or not to reload"".

Next article will be on my personal experiences with equipment and what pieces I would recommend to a new reloader. I will also write an article on some favorite loads and what I have learned from different loads I have made. I am sure I will come up with others on reloading for later.

While doing what I often do, searching around the web, I found an article discussing 12 topics on why you should or shouldn't reload. I am going to copy these topic headers; however, the explanation behind each topic will be of my own experience, thoughts, and opinions. I liked these topics because after reviewing them all, one really can have a reasonable and easy to understand guidance to help with the decision of:  should I start down the path of reloading? I know personally I have expressed my fondness of reloading and how ""great"" it all is. But is it really all that I have made it out to be. Well, if you are wondering yourself, consider the following.

1. Are you, or can you be, detailed oriented?

Ammunition used in modern firearms is pretty powerful stuff. The phrase, safety first, cannot really be over-emphasized with respect to reloading. There happen to be many ways that the reloader can ""mess-up"" the loaded cartridge. And some of these mistakes can lead to catastrophic failure of the firearm and possibly serious injury to oneself. Simple tasks like charging the case properly is likely the number one area that leads to kabooms in firearms. Under charging (yes that can be bad) and the obvious overcharging of powder by a significant amount will lead to a very bad day for the shooter. As an example, when loading target pistol rounds for 9mm, 45acp, 38special, most cases will hold a double charge of powder and still allow a bullet to be seated. So getting mixed up where you are in a cycle, pulling the handle twice by accident after you answered the phone or looked at a text, or fixing a problem on the press and then charging again without checking will all be bad and likely result in a broken gun. Using the wrong powder for a load can also be just as bad. Following the recipes that are published and not deviating from min and max loads is critical for safety. And with all that in mind, the loader has to have a organized, regimented character and be a bit meticulous. Not trying to overly scare someone as it is not hard to load safe cartridges. It's not like making nitro-glycerin or fixing a swiss watch, but you have to pay attention, use proper tools, follow directions, and keep your head on straight. So, if you can do that, you'll be fine. If you mess up making your coffee sometimes, I'd advise to buy factory loads. Oh, and save the beers for after you've loaded for the night.

2. It's a gateway drug.

Once you start down the path of reloading, it is easy to get hooked and move on to all sorts of cartridges. So true, that you will buy a different rifle or pistol just to get a new caliber to load for. I have done that very thing, building a .300 blackout rifle so that I could load that caliber. Or, you will get into smelting your own lead to make cheap bullets out of wheel weights and have a whole foundry in your garage for processing lead and pouring lead bullets, complete with re-sizers, and powder coating station and oven to coat the bullets with cool read polymers. Now you need storage for lead, a place to get rid of scrap, more containers to hold bullets you just made and more space needed. Beware.

3. You'll save money.

You can! This does require that you don't place a dollar amount on your own time needed to reload. But I can just about guarantee that you will save money ""rolling"" your own bullets. Saying that though, you will have to reload enough (that is shoot enough) to recover the costs of the equipment you will buy. In simple terms, if you only shoot a few hundred pistol rounds a year, and just a few boxes of rifle ammo for hunting or for fun, you would be better off, money wise, to just buy factory loads at the local gun store. But if you're like me and believe you will shoot a fair amount of rounds, you can easily recover the cost of the equipment. I can give a couple examples of how the price breaks down. Popular round to reload is .223 remington. Factory blasting ammo, 55grain stuff is about $.40 each up to $.50 each. I don't shoot steel case so I won't compare to that cheap stuff. My pricing goes like this: powder charge is $.11 per, bullet is $.09 per, primer is $.03 per, and cases are like $.01 per considering you reload them 4 to 5 times. So that is about $.24 per round of 55 grain blasting ammo compared to $.45 average factory for around $200 saved per case of ammo. 2000-3000 rounds shot will pay off a nice reloading kit. But I don't load 55 gr blasting ammo too much but concentrate on target rounds for CMP shooting and the like. The savings for this type of .223 is much greater. Still about $.11 for powder charge, $.03 for the primer, $.01 for the case and now up to $.20 for the 69 gr Sierra Match King target bullet. Cost is higher for this reload at $.45 per but the factory target ammo equivalent is easily $1.00 or more. So the savings can add up faster. Final example is 45auto. 230gr 45auto ball ammo is generally around $.50 per. Plus or minus a nickel. To reload this, my costs are $.02 for the 5.1 grain powder charge, $.03 for primer, $.01 for case (these can be reloaded many more times than rifle), and about $.10 to $.15 per for 230gr FMJ (pulled bullets are .10, factory hornady 230FMJ are .15)  If I use the higher bullet cost, $.21 per loaded round of ball ammo. Loading the target 45 ammo is cheaper due to cheaper lead bullet costs of only $.09 for Cliff's lead projectiles for a total of $.15per round. And my 9mm target rounds with coated lead bullets are only about $.12 per round. At that price, I can shoot 9mm for the same price as good .22LR target ammo. It's obvious that the costs for reloaded rounds are less than factory. But let's go on.

4. You'll spend more money.

This is almost universally accepted as fact. You might start off with a basic reloading kit, and if you get addicted, you'll add more elaborate gear. And it is just a fact, when you know your rounds cost less, you will shoot more. However, you have more fun because you shoot more. But there are other things that I have found myself and others to spend more on. Examples: I have bought many of the 50cal metal surplus ammo cans to store reloaded ammo in, more plastic storage containers to store brass in, more bullets and powder and primers now sit on my shelves, more reloading equipment which is a step up from my original purchase (that is why will have an article on recommended equipment for best bang for buck). I bought a different rifle for a new cartridge, I have fancy brass cleaning machine and it goes on. Again, not trying to scare anyone away, but we as hobbyists do have trouble at times controlling our urge to ""upgrade"" or add to our stash. It is totally in your control though if you want to keep costs lower.

5. What's your time worth?

In the example of .223 target ammo, I calculate a savings of $.55 per round. So if I was a business, my labor costs better be less than $.55 to make one round. I do load on a progressive loader which I easily get 400rounds of rifle or pistol ammo per hour. But, I also have spent probably 2 hours to prep those 400 pieces of .223 brass when figuring in cleaning, resizing and depriming, trimming, chamfering case mouth, and removing the crimp from military brass. The total then is closer to 3 hours to make 400 rounds. Let's say your take home pay is $20/hour after taxes. That would be $60 total to make those 400 rounds. In this case, it still pays to reload since my example saved $220 for those 400 rounds but only cost me $60 in labor. But some examples, the savings may not be as large, such as reloading 55grain blasting ammo in .223.  The savings are about $80 for the 400 rounds ($.20 savings per round x 400) and my labor was figured to be $60 to make them. Savings is still there, but not as big. IMO, I don't worry about labor because it is a hobby and I suspect most others don't. But if you do value your time differently than me, it can be considered

6. Do you shoot often, or do you want to shoot more often?

Reloading will make the most sense if you shoot often or desire to shoot more and want to reduce the price per round so that you can shoot more for the same amount of $$ spent. Like was said a bit earlier, reloading may not make much sense if you are a casual shooter.

7. Do you like to tinker?

From some of the examples above, it seems clear that reloading takes a bit of time to do, some skills to learn, and a near continuous learning curve. To enjoy the savings in $, you need to enjoy the process of reloading. I do enjoy the process, I like to learn, and I find it really rewarding to roll my own ammo. In the politically charged world with so many politicians trying to take our gun rights away, I value the new skills learned to load ammunition more than I ever thought I would. I don't mind the repetitive steps required (and there are lots of repetitive steps, doing the same thing over and over again) but I turn on the radio, have a pop to drink and go to town. Usually at only 1 to 2 hours at a time. Sometimes only 30 minutes at a time. Walk by the shop, go in and prep another 100 or more cases by doing the trimming. Maybe I spent 15 minutes but I am closer to prepping that batch of 1000cases.

8. Do you compete?

This is an area that can really pay off for a reloader. If you are a competitive pistol shooter, you will go through piles of ammo. Reloading maybe the only way you can keep up with competing. For the Bullseye shooter at our club, lead only bullets must be used. Reloading will allow you to get lead target loads to keep up with your weekly shooting. I also like the fact that when I practice or shoot with my kids and wife, the target loads I made are lower recoiling and more enjoyable to shoot a bunch during a range session.

9. Do you shoot rifles?

Pistol reloading saves money, but rifle reloading really saves money. The example above for .223 target ammo is at least $.55/round savings. But if you like some hot shot calibers, the savings will be even more. Strange calibers that are not very popular have very high factory ammo costs. But the reloaded costs are just as low as about any other common rifle round like .223 or .308.  It would not be surprising to save more than $1 per round for some stuff like 300 win mag and the like. My one example for me was the .300 blackout. Factory ammo for this cartridge is usually about $1 per and that is why not as many shoot it. But reloads are only $.33 each.

10. Do you live for accuracy bragging rights?

If you want to milk the best accuracy out of your particular rifle, there isn't a better way than to reload. Factory loads will be loaded with quality components and if it is reputable, be accurate. But those factory loads are built to standards that work in any rifle out there but that may not be perfect for your rifle. Reloading will allow you to tailor the round to be just right. Such as adjusting the amount of powder (to get a specific velocity), the type powder, the type of projectile, how far the bullet is set from the lands of the rifling, or how far the case is resized (for bolt actions, you can resize just enough for your chamber whereas factory loads will be to SAMMI specs and have more headspace). And there are other tricks that can be done to improve the load for your rifle. Too many to list for this article.

11. Do you hunt?

You can hand craft your hunting load using just the bullet you want, at just the velocity you want, and tailor the accuracy to be better than factory. And you also would get the satisfaction of using your own handload during the hunt.

12. Does your family like you?

You're going to spend a bunch of time in the basement or garage. Do you need to get away for the family for stretches of time? Do they need you to get away for stretches of time? Who knows really, but as long as my ""chores"" are done, the time spent by myself loading is peaceful and stress free.

S.C.O.P.E.

Erie County SCOPE Chapter holds monthly meetings every 3rd Thursday of the month. Meetings are located at Harvey D. Morin VFW Post, 965 Center Road, West Seneca, NY 14224 and begin at 7pm.

Erie County Chapter

Carl Leas Chairman carlpride[at]msn.com 716-656-0350

Frain Boncore Secretary frankboncore[at]hotmail.com 716-674-3523

Please show your support for your 2nd amendment rights with your membership to the NRA and SCOPE. There are many links through these organizations to support your gun rights. Be pro-active in contacting your politicians.

Membership Meetings

Meetings are held the 3rd Monday of the month. Please try to attend & offer your voice & ideas. This is your club!  Meet your fellow enthusiasts.

Next meetings: 1/16, 2/20, 3/20, 4/17 @ 7:30 pm.

Come on an empty stomach, there is always a good meal afterwards. $2 beers!! 50/50 raffle!!

Membership

Membership applications can be printed from the BVCS web site https://bostonvalleycs.com.  Dave Brooks, our membership chairman, may be reached at 649-8792 or email at daveb45cal[at]yahoo[dot]com.

What's happening @ your club?

Pistol

Dear Pistol Shooters,

I am planning on starting the Winter League January 26^th 2017 the first relay beginning at 6pm, a second starting at 7pm, and a third relay starting at 8pm.

Tuesday will be open shooting only with Thursday reserved for league shooting.

Each week two national matches per relay will be shot for score at the 25 yard line.  You can shoot one gun (22 cal.) or two guns (22 cal. and CF) for a score each week.

Come out, have fun and shoot the league.  It will be great to see you again.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call me at 337-3555 or e-mail cwfjr45[at]gmail[dot]com.

Cliff

Winter Schedule – 10 Weeks

Thursday: January 26 Thursday: February 2, 9, 16, 23 Thursday: March 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 Thursday: April 6 – Make up

Open Pistol Shooting

Tuesday nights; doors open @ 7pm. Members’ range fee is $4 and nonmembers’ fee is $8 per night. All are welcome but we encourage frequent non-members to become members and support the club. Please be aware that non-members must fill out a one-time waiver. Forms are on hand at the range.

Trap League

Fall trap? Are you serious? It's still in the high 80's, with very high humidity suited to summer shooting.  Alas, it is September & actual fall is only 2 weeks away, so follow through we must!  3 weeks into the league there are 32 shooters, so far, compared to 41 for the fall league last year, with hopefully more to follow. All shooters have until the 22nd of Sept. to sign up for our league. Things have gone fairly well so far with enough of the weekly faithful coming out to keep the well oiled machine we call the BVCS trap program running with only minor distractions. Thank you to those people!  As stated earlier, there is still time to get involved. Thanks; Trap Person.

Suburban Pistol

League continues into January and February, the complete schedule can be found at the end of the Newsletter.

BVCS Light Rifle & Heavy Rifle Matches

Spring 2017 Schedule

BVCS Light Rifle & Heavy Rifle Matches using .22 cal. Rim fire rifles & Air Rifles

• Shooting position is off-hand standing with the target 50 feet.
• The sport is designed so that expensive special equipment is NOT required.
• It is possible to be competitive with equipment you may already own.
• There is a maximum weight on scoped or open sight guns of 8.5 pounds for
• Light Rifle, any heavier would be considered Heavy Rifle.
• We will have 2 classes of competitors: Light Rifle & Heavy Rifle.
• Slings or other devices that provide artificial support are not allowed.
• A match consists of one completed target with 30 record shots per target.
• Each target has two sighter targets & ten record targets with three shots on each.
• Shooters are given 5 min. for sighters.
• Shooters are given 40 min. for record shots on 10 bulls.
• Target used is the NRA Official Light Rifle Target A-32 (2 together)
• A perfect match score is 300.
• Registration and a one-time weigh in of each rifle is required before shooting the matches.
• Cost per match is $4.00 ( paid before shooting )
• A prepay $40.00 for 8 matches to secure a time slot and range position is available. Any additional scores would be $4.00.
• You may shoot ahead or behind for all dates.
• You may shoot unlimited matches & your top 8 scores will be for record.
• Prizes based on number of competitors.
• Pizza Party: April 19th after the matches

Match Dates

March: 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 April: 5, 12, 19

Relays: 6pm, 7pm, 8pm

Reminders:

• Non-members MUST sign insurance waiver forms
• You may compete in BOTH light and heavy rifle matches, but required to pay $4 for each match
• Shooting positions are on a first come paid basis unless you prepay $40 for 8 weeks reserving a time slot and range position

Air Pistol

Schedule for 2017:

• Relay starts at 6pm, 7pm, 8pm on Wednesdays
• Cost is $4.00 to shoot per score
• A prepay $40.00 for 8 weeks will secure a time slot and range position
• Any additional scores would be $4.00 ( unlimited shoots- top 8 scores used)
• Pellets available to purchase as needed
• If you need to borrow an air pistol (call first) 867-4814
• Distance is 33 feet, sighters shots & 40 shots for record

Match Dates

August: 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 September: 6, 13, 20

Pizza party after the matches on the 20^th.  Any questions call Jerry & Betty Dobson 867-4814.

Trap

Trap has been dormant for the winter season since the Fall Trap League finished in Late October. The next shooting will occur on March 26th, April 2nd & April 9th.  These are the dates for the WNY Winter League that shoot at many local clubs. This will be a busy & profitable time for our club.  Any & all trap help will be greatly appreciated along with some friendly bartenders. The Young guns have agreed to do the kitchen duty with the trap program paying all expenses for them. Food, coffee, donuts, etc.

The BVCS Spring league will begin on April 23rd & run for 10 weeks. As always, we look forward to seeing & serving members & other participants at our shooting endeavors.

Thank You; Trap

Young Guns

For information on Young Guns contact Howard Hoelscher at 649-3432.

Website

We try to keep the website as current as possible.  Please check it out as it has a calendar of events posted as well as the newsletter and other information. https://bostonvalleycs.com

Newsletter

The next Newsletter will be out in early May 2017; the deadline for information will be April 30th, 2017. Please email information you would like to have published, or to add/edit/remove your email address, to Ryan Rosiek at rosiek56[at]gmail[dot]com. Copies of the current Newsletter are available at the club or on the website.

S.C.O.P.E.

Erie County SCOPE Chapter holds monthly meetings every 3rd Thursday of the month. Meetings are located at Harvey D. Morin VFW Post, 965 Center Road, West Seneca, NY 14224 and begin at 7pm.

Erie County Chapter

Carl Leas Chairman carlpride[at]msn.com 716-656-0350

Frain Boncore Secretary frankboncore[at]hotmail.com 716-674-3523

Please show your support for your 2nd amendment rights with your membership to the NRA and SCOPE. There are many links through these organizations to support your gun rights. Be pro-active in contacting your politicians