Good Housekeeping

For those with a reloading bench (we’ll get to the other housecleaning in a minute), do yourself a favor by occasionally dusting things off. Pro tip: In order to keep dust off your valuable press, cover it with a big plastic litter bag when not in use. I’ve been doing this for years, and it has saved me some grief on occasion.

Back when I was a junior in high school, my science teacher reminded us, “We live in a world of dust.” Don’t believe me? Just invite your maiden aunt over for dinner and watch her give your home the white glove treatment.

Good car litter bags are made of pretty tough plastic, and — at least for me — they slip right over my progressive press for those long periods when I’m busy with other chores and can’t be loading up fresh ammunition. Rarely do I need to vigorously clean my press, which is an old RCBS Piggyback installed on top of an equally old Rock Chucker single-stage press. I have loaded thousands of rounds on this rugged unit, which was one of the best ideas RCBS ever had, in my humble opinion.

Now and then, I also run a vacuum across the surface of my loading bench. Unsurprisingly, I occasionally find loose powder granules, and one does not want that stuff to build up. Don’t try mixing it; just dump it and make it inert.

Here’s another tip I’ve mentioned before. Save the plastic cartridge holders from boxes of handgun ammunition. They make great loading blocks for cartridges with base diameters of 0.473 or less (i.e., .30-06, .35 Remington, .308 Winchester, .300 Savage, .270 Winchester, .25-06 Remington, .257 Roberts and so on), and they might just accommodate cartridge cases with slightly larger base diameters.

If you have a small hand broom, use it to sweep up any powder spills. I also use it to clean up brass shavings around my case trimmer.

Sometimes, I clean the threads of my loading dies, and likewise wipe off some of the moving parts of my press.

Last but not least, keep your loading manuals together and within easy reach! I converted a wooden apple crate into a shelf above my bench, and they all fit.

The ‘Other’ Clean Up

We all know what next Tuesday brings. I’ve been reminding readers about this on and off for months. This is the final installment.

Look at it this way: there’s a 4×5-point buck at 250 yards across a canyon. You’ve got about five good minutes of shooting light, but it’s fading fast, and it’s the last day of your hunt. THAT is what the election next week comes down to, and the Second Amendment is definitely on the line.

Last month, when California Congressman Darrell Issa spoke at the 39th annual Gun Rights Policy Conference in San Diego, he told the audience that Vice President Kamala Harris “has spent her entire career here in California attacking the Second Amendment.” If she becomes president, he predicted, she will continue to weaponize federal agencies to make California gun laws the standard across the country. He should know, having been involved in Golden State politics for several years.

My full-time day job as a gun rights journalist is wrapping up soon, and for the past many months, I’ve been encouraging, begging, reminding, brow-beating and cajoling everyone to vote: my friends, family, and particularly my readers. On Wednesday, Nov. 6, there will not be a second chance.

There’s been talk of a “Red Wave” once again. Don’t sit back and relax, thinking you won’t need to get off the couch, go to the polls and submit a ballot. You are the “Red Wave.” Don’t let this wave smash against a breakwater of apathy.

If you’re going to be hunting next week, you should already have an absentee ballot. Fill it out and submit it. My state has all-mail-in voting, so my ballot will be dropped in the collection box outside my local library.

The Rasmussen polling firm recently reported that 58% of likely voters planned to vote early. We should know by now if that was accurate. Thirty-seven percent said they would take advantage of in-person early voting where available. Another 39% will wait until next Tuesday to vote.

On the bright side, after next week, political ads will disappear, and candidates will stop flooding you with requests for money.

In Case You Missed It

In late September, the White House issued a 13-page “progress report” on the Biden-Harris Office of Gun Violence Prevention, listing the following as accomplishments:

“Since December 2023, at least 31 states have introduced new legislation to address gun violence. At least 17 states have enacted new legislation, including a safe storage law in California, a gun dealer accountability law in Washington, a victims compensation law in Maryland, a ghost gun ban in Vermont, a background check expansion in Maine, and a permit to purchase law in Delaware.”

According to people in the firearms community, those aren’t accomplishments; they are added gun controls, responses to tragedies that earlier gun control laws did not prevent, and which only affect law-abiding citizens.

Meanwhile, California Gov. Gavin Newsom four weeks ago signed legislation prohibiting local municipalities from requiring voter identification in order to vote on local issues. Anybody see the massive hypocrisy here? Newsom and his contemporaries vehemently dislike Voter ID laws, but they insist on forcing law-abiding gun buyers to jump through all sorts of hoops, including providing photo identification and submitting to background checks in order to buy a firearm.

This dual standard approach to the Second Amendment confirms that anti-gunners want to reduce the right to keep and bear arms to a tightly regulated government privilege.

Two months ago, I traded some emails with a liberal journalist of my acquaintance regarding gun rights. His position is that we need more control over guns. My response was blunt: This isn’t about guns; it’s about rights.

Last month, the Biden-Harris administration announced new executive actions on guns.

At this writing, there were at least four and possibly five petitions to the U.S. Supreme Court for review of gun rights cases, including Maryland’s ban on so-called “assault weapons.” One left-wing author recently suggested during a television interview that Biden should “dissolve” the Supreme Court because of its present conservative majority.

Whew, I am Relieved!

Imagine my relief when Rasmussen, the veteran polling firm, recently reported how only 30% of likely voters think pop star Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris makes it more likely she will win next Tuesday.

Swift endorsed Harris back on Sept. 10, and for at least one full news cycle, it was among the top stories to come across the wires. According to Rasmussen, “49% of Democrats believe the endorsement makes it more likely Harris will be elected, a belief shared by only 16% of Republicans and 24% of voters not affiliated with either major party. Fifty-six percent (56%) of Republicans and 52% of unaffiliated voters think Swift’s endorsement won’t make much difference in who wins the presidential election, an opinion shared by 34% of Democrats.”

Allow me to exhale a huge sigh of relief. I was losing sleep over Swift’s electoral influence.

The Mailbag

Editor:

I was convinced of the need to carry a spare magazine (See “Spare Yourself,” Sept. 26) by watching the episode “Limbo” of the 1980’s version of “Magnum P.I.” Spoiler for anyone who never watched it, Magnum is shot almost to death in a gunfight because he didn’t bring along a spare mag for his 1911. (The series renewed for one more season, so Magnum recovered.)

I carry my EDC pistol (a .40 FNS compact) with a ten-round concealment magazine and carry a ten-round spare. I feel safe this way because I live in an exceptionally safe town (El Paso, Texas) with something like seven law enforcement agencies providing protection. I have 14-round magazines available if I need them, or at least feel I need them. I am also convinced that if the political party that advocates limiting magazine capacity to 10 rounds gains more power, I will need to carry 14-round spare magazines to be safe. Not feel safe, but actually be safe. Ironic, isn’t it?
— A.X. Perez

Dave replies: I’m always gratified and sometimes surprised by which topics strike a nerve with readers. Carrying a spare magazine is simply common sense. I learned a long time ago that just when you think something may be unnecessary, you will suddenly need it badly, and in a hurry. Back when I carried a revolver for personal protection, I practiced a lot with HKS speed loaders to get my reload time down to a few seconds. Thanks for reading GUNS and American Handgunner. Stay safe and shoot straight.

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