Two recent threads on CGN have reminded me about an old friend and his adventures with handloading and hunting during the “dirty thirtys”.
His name was Eric Hall, and he wintered for several years in the Shaw Creek drainage, south-central Vancouver Island. At that time Shaw Creek was a refuge for Rooseveldt elk, and Eric had a trappers license in the same drainage. He was also charged with a wardens’ duties in the refuge, for which he received some tiny remuneration.
His rifle was a Winchester model 54 in its first configuration, 270 Win. Of course Eric had all the tools needed to build a cabin and maintain his traps etc., and these included a small and large hand auger, many files, hammers, a small anvil and so on. He loaded all his ammunition the easy way by making the tools in the bush. The decapper was a long quarter inch bolt with the threaded end filed to the right diameter and length for a decapping pin. A block of maple was drilled through with a hole slightly small than the diameter of the cartridge base. Place cartridge over hole, insert bolt and feel for the flash hole. Tap with hammer and decapping is done. Move the cartridge over to a solid part of the block, juggle a primer around ‘til it feels right and hold it on the block firmly. Insert another quarter inch bolt filed flat, tap with hammer and the primer is seated.
The hard part was setting up for neck sizing. To do this Eric drilled a hole about one quarter inch diameter in a small piece of scrap steel three eighths inch thick. This hole he enlarged with a round file until it was just right, which was a trial and error process. Too small and the brass is over worked. Not good when new brass cost money that you just don’t have. Get carried away and naturally the brass won’t hold the bullet firmly enough, and there’s no fix except to start fresh. Getting it “just right” was harder because Eric shot his own cast for the easy game like wintering blue grouse ( and maybe some larger animals that we shouldn’t get into). He had a small stock of jacketed bullets which he reserved for black bear, which were and still are abundant in the area. Just right meant he shaved a bit off the cast and hoped they stuck. Jacketed and cast were both seated with a modified bottle capper, and finished length was an eyeball estimate. Powder was measured with a home made dipper, and I think he told me one scoop worked for cast, two for jacketed.
When Eric told me this and many other stories he was working part time for Federal Fisheries during the sixtys. He still had both eyes, ten fingers, and was sharp as a tack despite some hard times that few of us could or would want to endure today.
His name was Eric Hall, and he wintered for several years in the Shaw Creek drainage, south-central Vancouver Island. At that time Shaw Creek was a refuge for Rooseveldt elk, and Eric had a trappers license in the same drainage. He was also charged with a wardens’ duties in the refuge, for which he received some tiny remuneration.
His rifle was a Winchester model 54 in its first configuration, 270 Win. Of course Eric had all the tools needed to build a cabin and maintain his traps etc., and these included a small and large hand auger, many files, hammers, a small anvil and so on. He loaded all his ammunition the easy way by making the tools in the bush. The decapper was a long quarter inch bolt with the threaded end filed to the right diameter and length for a decapping pin. A block of maple was drilled through with a hole slightly small than the diameter of the cartridge base. Place cartridge over hole, insert bolt and feel for the flash hole. Tap with hammer and decapping is done. Move the cartridge over to a solid part of the block, juggle a primer around ‘til it feels right and hold it on the block firmly. Insert another quarter inch bolt filed flat, tap with hammer and the primer is seated.
The hard part was setting up for neck sizing. To do this Eric drilled a hole about one quarter inch diameter in a small piece of scrap steel three eighths inch thick. This hole he enlarged with a round file until it was just right, which was a trial and error process. Too small and the brass is over worked. Not good when new brass cost money that you just don’t have. Get carried away and naturally the brass won’t hold the bullet firmly enough, and there’s no fix except to start fresh. Getting it “just right” was harder because Eric shot his own cast for the easy game like wintering blue grouse ( and maybe some larger animals that we shouldn’t get into). He had a small stock of jacketed bullets which he reserved for black bear, which were and still are abundant in the area. Just right meant he shaved a bit off the cast and hoped they stuck. Jacketed and cast were both seated with a modified bottle capper, and finished length was an eyeball estimate. Powder was measured with a home made dipper, and I think he told me one scoop worked for cast, two for jacketed.
When Eric told me this and many other stories he was working part time for Federal Fisheries during the sixtys. He still had both eyes, ten fingers, and was sharp as a tack despite some hard times that few of us could or would want to endure today.
