I was thinking the bluing should have been half worn off, and I was wondering about the shiny grips too. I think all the gun makers used linseed oil back in the old days, but I'm not sure. And like you said, it is shootable. It's not like you're going to ruin the collector's value of it. Since cowboy action shooting caught on ammo has been made by a few different companies. People were cutting down .45 Colt brass and reloading it before that. The good news is that the brass can be reloaded a lot of times. It's not really powerful with high enough pressure to stretch the brass out much. Just like .38 Special brass can be loaded over and over.

 

I'm not a reloader myself. I do save my brass for a friend who is.

 

Used to reload. Haven't had the need to in a good long time. After moving all our ammo from Mass. to NH I can honestly say we're set for a long time.

 

Reloading sounds just about as exciting as fishing. Or golf!!

 

The brass is the most expensive component to buy, so you can save a lot of money by reloading, but it's not for me. I always picked up my brass at the range and saved it, but only mine. There's no telling how good anything else laying there is. I sent a guy on another forum a bunch of 5.56 and .223 brass of mine plus a little from my dad. I think he paid for the shipping but I can't remember. I sent another guy a bunch of other brass. I think it cost almost $27 to ship but he sent me an even $30 to cover it. Something like that. I had .38 Special, .357 Magnum and .357 Maximum in one bag, .44 Special and .44 magnum in another, and .45 ACP and .45 Colt, each in their own bag. I never bring home my shotgun shells.

 

I don't have a shotgun. I do have two rifles. A Ruger 10/22 and my DSA FN FAL. The FAL is a blast to shoot.
The friend I give my brass to lives here in the canyon. They were reloading .223s yesterday. All I ever have is .35 special P+, .357, .45 acp and 762x51 nato brass.

 

I'm not in too bad of shape myself.

 

I found I could get about 4 uses out of non-magnum shot shells, and about 5 out of brass as long as they weren't heavy loads. Never had a problem as long as their were no issues to begin with. Threw out any with crinkling and cracks.
When I buy 5.56 it's usually in bulk and it isn't really cost effective to reload. Feel the same way about 9 mm.

 

I finally got to go grooming last night.
That truck is a 2007 Chevy 1-ton with the 8.1L Vortec. The CGVW weight rating of the truck is 22,000 lbs. Cat, trailer and truck tip the scales just over 27,000 lbs.
I would guess that about 80% of the 72,000 miles on this truck has been towing a snowcat. Not one engine or trans problem and it has the 6-speed Hydra-Matic and not the Allison.
I have never seen a truck work soo hard for soo many miles with soo few problems.
They are finally going to replace it next year with a new F-450.



Clear skies and a near full moon. I had already come down this one and graded out all the moguls and drifts.



Then I turned around and took this one to show you what the tiller on the back of the snowcat does.
Last night was a good night. The trails turned out perfect.



The weather changes quickly. This was up on Big Flat 1:00 AM and about 10,400 ft.
That pole with the reflector on it is how I find my way in a blizzard. The next one is about another 50 yards.

10 hours on the cat. 56.7 miles, 57.6 gallons of fuel. That was a 13 hour shift. Add another 2 hours drive time for me to go get the cat and come back home when I was done.

 

Were you up on Paiute 01 by Mt. Belknap before getting into the Big John Flat? We got turned around by cold and snow when we were there last fall. Some people coming up from the other side said the snow was drifting on the Flat. Would love to sled there on a clear crisp day.