Thursday, 9 June 2022
Wednesday, 8 June 2022
Initial Set-Up: Wed. afternoon.
Just getting some stuff ready: (went on to field strip the Ruger MkII)
Ruger Mk II .. Partial Strip Down and Clean. Remove Main Spring Assembly and Bolt Assembly. .. Clean and Lube .. Reassembly. *Note the reassembly can be tricky, correct alignment of the Hammer Strut is the bane of this model :)
Wednesday Range Day
Short update: Follow up focus was on .22LR this morning, 200 rounds (CCI - Blazer) all good. Remington 22 100 round boxes .. various guns .. having a few no fires after good firing pin contact plus a few miss feeds on 3 guns and 11 mags ... No issues with other types os 22LR manufacturers.
Update; 22RL ammo inventory .. 3,600 rounds.
Plan to Re-Zero a few pistols using: EZshoot Bore Sight
Tuesday, 7 June 2022
Tuesday Range day
Short update: Focus was on .22LR this morning, 200 rounds (CCI & Blazer) All guns / ammo ran good, no issues ..
Planning to shoot Wed. morning.
Update: 22LR Ammo running total: 3,800 rounds.
**A good Cost / Quality small Cleaning Kit $9.99 (amazon) made by: "Cross Armory" .. at that price, I bought two kits
223 and 5.56 (nato) "Vive la différence"
The differences can be boiled down to; Two "Tangible" Differences and One recommendation.
A) Visual difference: 5.56 Case has a Primer Crimp/Swage.. 223 uses the Standard Crimp Pocket.
B) Internal dimensioning of Barrel Cartridge Chamber/Pocket .. The Main One that matters is the: Free-Bore Length. 223 is 0.025" .. 5.56 is 0.050". (25 thou. vs 50 thou.)
Personal Recommendation: Safe to fire both cartridges in a rifle chambered for 5.56 NATO. Only fire 5.56 in a Rifle chambered for 5.56 Nato. Main reason; the 223 shorter "free-Bore" may cause a Higher Pressure build up, if used to fire a 5.56 Nato cartridge.
Sunday, 5 June 2022
UPDATE: Monday 6th. Range Set-Up and .22LR Ammo status.
CCI Standard Velocity: 2,250 rounds.
Blazer Standard Velovity: 100 rounds.
Winchester 1280fps: 500 rounds.
Federal Gold Medal: 550 rounds.
Mixed in Range Bag: 400 rounds.
Eley Tenex: 100 rounds. .. "Highest Quality Ammo"
Eley Practice: 100 rounds.
Total......................... 4,000 rounds.
As of: Monday June 6th.
Wednesday, 1 June 2022
S&W 22a New parts and Feed Ramp Smoothing .....
Wednesday, 18 April 2018
ICI Nobel Ardeer / Massey Ferguson; Kilmarnock
Leaving school after sitting my “A” and “O” levels ( at Irvine Royal Academy) I took my first “Real Job” .. ICI Nobel division; Ardeer, Stevenston, Ayrshire Scotland. As part of tenure with ICI I managed to attend university and graduated with a Mech. Eng. degree.

The Ardeer peninsula in Ayrshire is basically a gigantic sand dune - chosen by Alfred Nobel in 1871 as the site for his British Dynamite Factory because of it's remote location and lots of sand to make protective berms and blast walls.
It soon grew into the world's largest explosives factory, making explosives for mining and quarrying, and expanding into other explosives and propellants for both civilian and military uses.
Nobel Explosives became part of ICI (Imperial Chemical Industries) in 1926, but production shifted away and the Ardeer plant diversified into other non-explosive products, unfortunately these didn't do so well - much of the site is now derelict.
Thinking back .. my experiences at Ardeer were to serve me well in future ventures & adventures. It would be a Herculean task just to list the Skilled trades and unique process mastered at Ardeer. Some trades seldom encountered in an industrial habitat: Sailmakers, Patternmakers, Tinsmiths, Blacksmiths, Instrument Artificers, Glassblowers, Train Drivers.
These coupled with major: metal, wood and glass working trades along with many detailed facets within a trade made a unique set of learning adventures. Add to all this a plethora of Engineers and Scientists of every ilk. To help visualize this site.. It’s approx 21 Sq. miles .. 7 miles long by 3 miles wide. A shipping dock on the Irvine (south) side. Inside the factory boundaries: Infirmary, Dentist, Banking to name a few.
Nobel Enterprises was sold in 2002 to Inabata.
As an apprentice tool maker and mechanical engineering candidate I got a 6 month rotation in most of the factory activates: Explosives, Chemical and Acids. In the explosives section you learn about Static Electricity VERY fast. Negligence could be and was fatal in some instances.
I worked there from 1965 thu 1971.
Shorty after leaving ICI I worked briefly for Massey Ferguson in Kilmarnock, before moving to USA.
Monday, 16 April 2018
On Line Video Sharing … Options
You Tube has become the defacto site for WWW video sharing. There are notable exceptions and alternates, China offering the prime examples.
All of that said, factions within the You Tube contributor community feel a real need to find alternate sites free from You Tube ownership censoring various videos and channels. As a note: many many YouTube users are extremely contented and extoll the virtues of the platform.
A number of alternate sites are being explored. I am evaluating and using Two of the available alternatives: UGETUBE and VIMEO.













