Back in Maryland and in the shop working. Making a copy of the 56 bullet for the Butler Bison.
Had some good planning clarity this am. Kelly actually started the thread. The previous owner of our property in Fla., was very methodical. He had progressed around the property in phases, as he originally occupied the property. Early on, he'd evidently made a nice building, about 12-14' square, as a shop from which to work on the property - prior to the main shop being built. It has nice doors and windows, benches, electrical panel, wired for lights, 110v and 220v. Metal roof and siding. Good floor. Nicely sealed against bugs, etc. Well, since it is right up at the gardens, I'd seen it as Kellys potting/garden shed. She has a nice one here I built for her. But, as we were discussing where to put a shooting lane this am, over coffee; she said that building might be where I was talking about. And, we were going to return the left garden area to the woods, below the building, anyway. (They had had waaay too much garden). We had discussed if I'd use the War Wagon or not. I have wanted a contained shooting station, to collect my gear and offer some possible sound proofing. But I pointed out I didn't want it to be as much work to cart stuff to a shooting station here, as it has been to go to the range in Maryland.
Kelly said it wasn't settled that she had to use that building, and it was really too nice for what she needed. Got me thinking, and that cleared a bit of a log jam in my mind. This building could also house the compressors for the tank filling station. All tanks and filling gear. It could also house the casting station, and all associated casting tooling. Molds and sizing dies. Store lead and the ton of already cast slugs in tins. Hold a great shooting station with a safe shooting lane in the right direction. Wow. I hadn't considered all of that, because I had already assigned the building in my mind. But it would get a huge amount of stuff out of my workspace, and collect it around it's intended usage! All I'd need do was carry a gun to the building. It would be easy to insulate and climate control. This would also house all of the shooting "stuff" and return the war wagon to a most useful 10' box trailer. Hummmmm. Love it.
And so .... We progress. ONWARD!!
Gary



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/14/2012 02:30PM by barnespneumatic.

Got the dual mold cavities cut. One bullet head 56. One 56 Raptor. Anxious to get the Bison to the Range.

Gary

Holy cow gary! An air conditioned shooting bench? Well, aren't we just living in the lap of luxury now!

Hi Jerry,
Hey ... YOU 2 can purchase a pc. of South Alabama. ;?) Then you can come shoot.

Gary

Oh, I SOOOOOOOO want to!

Just rent an excavator and build a 100 yard shooting tunnel. You can run the AC in one end and vent it out the other, walk to your targets in air-conditioned comfort 24/7.

That idea appeals to me alot. But - the expense might be a tad over the realistic limit.

The excavating part isn't prohibitive, but the fifty sections of 6 foot by 72" diameter reinforced concrete pipe gets a bit pricey. Especially when installed, those things weigh a ton. Well, actually 1800 lbs per foot, but you know...character building and all that.

I could just dig it out and reinforce it with bed slats every three feet?

I'm not so sure that bed slats would be the ideal tunnel roof material down in steamy Florida. You need something that's impervious to corrosion, that's cheap, and doesn't weigh a ton.

Hmmm... Hey, I know! Abandoned fiberglass boats!

They're everywhere up here, stashed in the woods and sitting around in yards on rotten, rusted out trailers. The older models where they used wood cores are almost all out of service, motor mounts soggy and spongy, uneconomical to repair and too expensive to take to the dump. Nobody wants them, and they're almost impossible to burn or dispose of properly. You could just sawsall off the noses and line the hulls nose-to-tail like shingles on a roof. Of course, you'd have to find a home for all the cut-off topsides, but where there's a backhoe, there's a way!