Paul Revere's Legacy

Via someone on the Appleseed forums (Transform), I learned of an interview of the author of Paul Revere's Ride, David Hackett Fischer, where he voices something that occurred to me when I read the book:

I think he had a message for us as well. To me, the interest of the story is partly that. I think we can see a kind of message, first of all, in what he was doing. For me it was mainly the kind of collective effort in that cause of freedom, and we forgot about that. We forgot about both sides of it, sometimes. I think people on the left today, some of my colleagues at academe, tend to forget about American ideas of freedom. People on the right tend to forget about collective action. Paul Revere and his friends brought those two things together, and I think that's a message for us.

Yeah.

Revolutionary War Books

A list from a thread on the Appleseed forum:

Robert Gross "The Minutemen and their World."
David MccCllough "1776"
David Hackett Fischer "Albion's Seed" and "Liberty and Freedom" and "Washington's Crossing"
Stephen Halbrook "The Founder's Second Amendment"
Peter Oliver "Origin and Progress of the American Rebellion, a Tory View"
Richard Lacrosse "The Frontier Rifleman"
Lyman Draper "King's Mountain and it's Heroes"

Edit [2013.01.03]:
An Appleseed Radio email also noted:
Thomas B. Allen "Tories"
Esther Forbes "Johnny Tremain" (fiction)

Case Cleaning

Found on the Appleseed forum:

I just received a new case cleaning machine from Thumlers. I got the Model B High Speed and use Stainless pin media with Lemi shine and Dawn dish soap. I had been using a Thumler vibratory tumbler with corn cob media & case polish for years and yes, it gets the cases clean on the outside, but the inside and the primer pocket never got the crud out. (even after 8 hours of tumbling!) This new “wet” tumbler is simply the best thing I have ever used for cleaning the brass cases before reloading. It cleans the outside (even the really cruddy range brass), the primer pockets and the inside of the case to spotless squeaky clean.

Before I was using a brass brush to remove the carbon from the necks so it wouldn’t damage the expander in the die, and using a primer pocket cleaner to remove most of the heavy primer residue from the primer pocket. Now its just clean directly after tumbling. No additional steps needed. Here is what I do and if anybody else has any experience or suggestions with this type of tumbling I’d love to hear it.

1. Fill the tumbler with 5 lbs. of Stainless Media
2. Fill the tumbler with just under 1 gallon of the hottest water I can get from the faucet
3. Put in 2 tbs. of Dawn dish soap
4. Put in 1 tsp. of Lemi shine
5. Put in about 50 or so cases depending on the size (I use 8mm Mauser, 7.62x54R, 8x56RS)
6. Assemble the gasket, cover panel, and thumb screws
7. Run it on the machine for 4 hrs.
8. Remove the brass from the drum and dump the media out of the case as I remove it (make sure the media comes out, it’s a B*&ch to pick up out of the sink)
9. Rinse the brass with clear water
10. Towel dry and then let air dry to make sure the water is out of the inside of the case

Then I lube the cases, size them, and trim them & run them through again using the same process above for about 2 hrs. to remove any case lube or brass shavings. Then they dry again and its prime, powder, bullet, bang! Then do it all over again.

Honestly the brass looks new when its done in the tumbler and it is well worth the investment. I got mine for about $220 delivered with the media and the machine. Lemi-shine is $3.50 a container and the Dawn I stole from the Wife.. (sorry honey…)

Anyway, I just started with this new thingy and would welcome any advice. I'll try and post some Pic.'s of the cases when i can.

Cheers,
Mauser

Might have to give it a try.

Minnesota Appleseed

On the Appleseed forums, there's a Minnesota-specific area, which has a list of Minnesota riflemen and after-action reports for shoots.  There's an AAR for the April 2011 Rochester shoot.

Also, there's an instructor selling Tech-SIGHTS on the forums.

Past history: AARs for the April 2010 shoot in Rochester and June 2010 shoot in LaCrosse.

Ruger 10/22 Peep Sights

While searching for Tech-SIGHTS reviews, I found an article on 10/22 peep sights from someone who prefers an alternative:

So the recipe for my favorite final setup is as follows:

• Williams FP-AG-TK Receiver Sight (sold with adj. knobs now)
• Lyman Globe Sights: #17ATC @ .852″ height,”
• Williams Aperture 3/8″ Diameter with .050 aperture
• Weaver T0-9 top mount base ( one piece tip-off base )

Of course, this combination costs way more than the Tech-SIGHTS. I'd like to see what NDS comes up with for the Ruger receiver.

NYT Article on Appleseed

The anti-gun bias drips off the page.  I did get something out of the article, though: I didn't know Fred's real name (Jack Dailey).

NoDakSpud 10/22 Sights

In a previous post regarding Liberty Training Rifles for Appleseed, I mentioned Tech-SIGHTS.  On an Appleseed forum post, a dealer mentions that they're made in Taiwan.  Then I found on Arfcom that NoDak Spud makes a similar product with a rail, which is made in the U.S., but currently only for their 10/22 receiver.

Liberty Training Rifle

The recommended rifle for an Appleseed shoot is the so-called "Liberty Training Rifle", described both on the Appleseed forums and the blog.

The suggested sights are "Tech-SIGHTS" (dunno what's up with the capitalization).  The set for the 10/22 replace the front dovetail sight and screw into the factory scope rail holes in the receiver.  I've heard that the sights are made in China, though, which would be highly unfortunate.  The other two open sight options I've seen are Eagle Zephyr and Williams FireSights; the former appears to be no longer made, and the latter is poorly reviewed.  Apparently one of the first appearances of the Tech-SIGHTS was on the forums on The High Road.