Homesteading Aspect Oddball Thread

Three years ago I upgraded to copper bullets for deer hunting.  But they aren't as accurate in my grandpa's deer rifle.  I picked up some reloading equipment a few years ago and decided it was finally time to try to make my own rounds.  That way I could fine tune the loads to give me accurate results.  I learned how from youtube videos and reading two reloading manuals.  And asking advice of a neighbor who reloads.

So far I've assembled 120 cartridges.  At $2.50 each from the store (if you can even find them), I think I've already paid off the reloading equipment with the savings.

I made four batches of ammo so far.  Each required:
- Tumbling cases to clean them
- Inspecting the used cases for issues
- Lubing the cases and brushing out the bullet holes in the cases
- Resizing the case diameters with a case sizing die (this also deprimed them)
- Trimming the case lengths to spec
- Deburring inside and outside of the nech
- Brushing out the primer holes
- Priming the cases with new primers
- Measuring out various powder loads and weighing each one for accuracy
- Seating bullets to various depths
- Crimping

I used two different powders and the second one seemed to do a bit better.  I think I'm close to a load and need to shoot a few more of them to be sure.

I did 3 rounds to test each variable (30 tests).  So lots of time at the range to hone this in.  My best group is 1.1" at 100 yards which I'm very happy with. Much better than the 3" groups I was getting from factory ammo.

This is a variation on a nest bb, but I think it belongs in homesteading:

"Conventional homestead techniques and projects
Projects might involve glue, paint, and toxins that we typically want to minimize in the other aspects
A few things that might fit better in another aspect, but that aspect was “full”

When you inherit the land from Otis, you will get two homes.   The “old house” that Otis was born in and the “new house” that Otis built."

Turns out Otis's" new house" had only a half bath on the main floor, so it was remodeled and a bathtub was added. The tub and surround needed caulking. Not replacing old caulk (nest bb) but new conventional gick caulk.

1 point?

I put together a Ham Radio Corner. It's not a Shack with a Tower so I'm posting it here rather than under the Straw bit.

Here is my corner. I put a desk, cabinet, and small UPS.


I have an HF rig (with tuner) and UHF/VHF rig, each with power supplies.


In the cabinet is all the tools, manuals, papers and whatnot for radioing. It's in one place so I don't misplace any of it.


The HF radio is connected to a 40m di-pole, ~15' high.




The UHF/VHF antenna is a custom 2m J-pole from copper tubing.


There are two cables going up to the attic, one for each antenna.


At my desk is a binder containing some important information.
FCC rules

RF exposure Calculations

And of course the ARRL frequency chart.


Don't forget to join your local club!

I wasn't sure whether to post this one or not as I'm unaware if it aligns with permaculture values.  Stump removal is certainly an old timer homesteading pastime - I've seen several interesting horse powered devices for the task, and growing up I even had a neighbor whose job involved stump removal by blasting them out with dynamite. But I can understand there are advantages to leaving the stump undisturbed as well. This stump was located where I want to stockpile sawmill shavings, so removal of the stump would make unobstructed scooping up of shavings with the front loader easier. I started at 10:42 and finished at 11:34 thanks to the use of the backhoe rather than shovel and axe.  The perspective in the first few pictures makes the stump look small, but you can gauge the scale better in the last picture showing the stump being held by a 2-ft wide backhoe bucket.