FRAN DUIGAN…

It is with profound sadness that I inform you of the passing of
longtime Traveler and good friend, Francis Duigan. Fran was an avid
sportsman and supporter of the NRA.

This quiet gentlemen lost his battle with cancer on January 1, 2005.
His trademark, the Shamrock, and fond memories of this fine gentleman
will be with us forever.

Respectfully,

Al Anglace

MID WINTER SHOOT
East Mountain Preserve, Dover Plains, NY
January 16, 2005

Here are the choices: it’s well below freezing on a January Sunday.
The NFL is deep into the playoffs, with two good games on the tube. On
the kiddie channel there’s a riveting, must-see Sponge Bob, Square
Pants morning marathon. What’s to stop sane people from spending the
day sitting on the couch, petting the poodle and noshing on that
secret cache of kettle cooked potato chips and toothpick wieners
sautéed in Coca Cola?

Well, six squads and 53 guns forsook the sofa for what turned out to
be not such a bad day at all. It was in the mid 20s with little wind.
The previous rain had washed away most of the snow, but did leave
sheets of ice on the upper part of the course. No one showed up for
lunch with the telltale smears of mud from a fall, so people were
either smart enough to wear their “Stabilicers” ice cleats or agile
enough to grab on to someone else as they fell.

George Holomakoff and his staff at East Mountain gave us 12 stations
instead of the usual 15. Considering the potential winter weather, it
makes sense to reduce the stations a bit and shoot a few more birds at
each station to limit the exposure time.

The course was fairly forgiving with no one station being overly
difficult. The pair of rabbits shot from the podium on station two was
probably the most difficult. Hard frozen ground makes any wintertime
rabbit difficult and this erratic pair certainly put the “chance” into
the phrase “fat chance”. The shot was quartering away starting at
about 20 yards. It was probably best to use very open chokes and get
it over with fast. Those who tried to wait the rabbits out and pot
them at distance were often victimized.

It was fairly cloudy, so there was no difficulty with “sun shots”. In
fact, there was no reason why you couldn’t get a pretty good score on
the course. Well, no reason except that we only had six scores of 80
or better. It was jus one of those things where birds kept slipping
away. Winter will do that to you.

That didn’t bother Lavert Cypher though. He’s been shooting a
Winchester Model 21 12 ga SxS for the past year or so and is really
starting to score with it. He came in second at this shoot last year,
but outdid himself this year with a handicapped 96. He would have won
it with a 91 even without his SxS 5 bird handicap. This was
superlative shooting by a superlative shooter.

So too was Phil Steinkraus’ performance of a handicapped 90 with a SxS
tubed 410. I shot on Phil’s squad and was simply amazed at what he
could do with the pipsqueak pipe. His raw score of 65 would be
impressive under any conditions, but winter made it even more so.

At the awards, el jefe supremo Al Anglace turned MC duties over to
John Hryncewich (harder to say than Mr. Gun Glove) who hid behind his
winter beard and made sure that Eddie Moritt didn’t spend too much
time on the podium. Al was hors d’ combat because a winter cold had
robbed him of his voice. Of course, it didn’t stop him from shooting
in the ice and snow. Travelers are like that.

HOA LAVERT CYPHER 96 12 SxS
I-1 Phil Steinkraus 90 410 SxS
I-2 Ted Burke 83
II-1 Mark Marache 89
II-2 Mike Steiner 78
III-1 Peter Klein 74
III-2 George Parsons 73
IV-1 Marti Marache 72
IV-2 Fred Roesslein 66
V-1 Bob Foege 63
V-2 Tim Tice 57 12 SxS
VI-1 Gwyn Grant 46
VI-2 Bill Hawley 38
Msdm Carol Roesslein 48
Ldy-1 Stefanie Steinkraus 71
Ldy-2 Cyndi Dalena 69
SrVet Frank Horodyski 72
Vet-1 John Mohler 81
Vet-2 Ed Moritt 79
Jr-1 Colby Costa 49
Jr-2 Amber Kirylak 33
Guest Roy Rohel 79

NINETEEN YEAR AND COUNTING…

2005 marks the 19th year of your Connecticut Travelers. We’ve come a
long way since those first shoots in 1987.

At the Mid-Winter Martyrdom January shoot, a list of previous winners
was posted. For those wishing a trip down memory lane, here it is:

2004 Paul Elia 92
2003 George Ostrander 86
2002 Zaid Siddig 83
2001 John Mohler 83
2000 Al Anglace 90
1999 Al Anglace 80
1998 Gene Csicsak 92
1997 John Lawlor 84
1996 Gene Csicsak 84
1995 Mike Luppino 79
1994 Bill Losty 87 (-8F !)

Look at the temperature for that 1994 shoot. In the shoot report, one
of the contestants commented, “Look Phoebe, those ice sculptures seem
almost alive.” The sculptures were, of course, the long suffering
trappers sitting outside for three hours in that weather.

Still, in spite of the occasional frigid shoot or monsoon that
uprooted trees (Christmas Party shoot 2000), very little seems to stop
your Travelers from shooting their appointed rounds.

Membership in our club remains very strong. With the 45 new members we
just enrolled for 2005, we have 320 shooting families, or just under
700 individuals. If everyone decided to come at once, that would be
one heck of a shoot. Fortunately, things tend to get spaced out pretty
well. Our smallest shoot is the January one with between 50 and 70
participants. Our largest shoots are normally the July Orvis/Sandanona
shoot and the Christmas Party shoot at Mid-County. Our August Great
Eastern Classic at Addieville is also quite large, but the shoot is
open to the public, not just the Travelers.

The bottom line is that the Travelers are doing very well indeed. That
said, we are always looking for new ideas and new people to help us
run the club. The “if it ain’t broke…” philosophy is very nice, but
the Travelers are always on the lookout for new ideas and innovation.

If you have any suggestions, you can email them to Al Anglace at
ctsca@email.com or come in person to the annual meeting next month.

What changes would you like to see the Travelers make? How can we make
the club better?

Finally, do any of you have repressed literary talent? We could sure
use a co-editor here at “Reload!” You’d get your own corner office in
the massive “Reload!” complex overlooking the quaint little
Connecticut seaport town.

THE TECHNOID GETS THE LEAD OUT…

The most important single ingredient in a good shotgun pattern is high
quality shot. No matter what modern refinements the shotgun and
ammunition manufacturers come up with, high quality shot has more to
do with reducing flyers and filling out a pattern than any other
ingredient in the ballistic equation. Shot can differ tremendously in
quality in both factory shells and bagged shot. You want the good
stuff. What should you look for? Let the Technoid escort you down
the garden path while he explains everything in the usual excruciating
detail.

The quality of shot can be measured in four areas: 1) hardness 2)
roundness 3) size uniformity and 4) surface texture. Each one of
these qualities is important, although hardness is the one most
commonly discussed.

Hardness:

When reloaders buy shot, they are often confronted with a choice
between two grades of shot, commonly called "Chilled" and "Magnum".
The names do not have much meaning in themselves, but they are
supposed to indicate the relative hardness of the shot. "Magnum" shot
is claimed to be harder than "Chilled" and thus produce better
patterns. It normally does.

"Chilled" shot usually has the minimum amount of the hardening element
antimony (about 2%) required to facilitate the manufacturing process.
"Magnum" shot usually contains somewhere between 2% and 6% antimony,
depending on shot size and the scruples of the manufacturer. There
are no real industry standards and no list of ingredients, so you are
taking the contents on faith unless you test for yourself (read on
McDuff). In factory shells, you can be relatively confident that
major brand target grade shotshells in trap sizes #7.5 and #8 contain
the practical maximum of 5.5% to 6% antimony. You can also be pretty
sure that the promotional "dove and quail" 1 ounce, 3.25 dram loads from
the same makers contains the absolute minimum. At current world market
prices antimony costs about $1.42/pound today (up from 55¢/pound three
years ago) and lead costs 42¢/pound (up from 20¢/pound in 1993).
Usually the larger a pellet is, the less antimony is needed to
maintain its shape. #7.5s and #8s are best at around 6%, hard #9s are
usually around 4% as are hard #6s, #5s and #4s. Larger shot, even the
hard grade, often has less.

How do you test shot hardness? First obtain some known high quality
shot to serve as your control sample. The control and test shot must
be exactly the same measured size. The most expensive handicap trap
loads from a major manufacturer are quite reliable and would make a
good control sample. The Technoid uses shot taken from Federal
Handicap Trap loads which were specially made for the Grand American
trap shoot. Winchester silver bullets also have good shot as do most
competition pigeon loads, especially the Italian ones using Aguila
shot.

To test hardness, you will need to build a delightfully complicated
little machine. Junior Technoids to the fore! From case hardened
steel construct a pair of levers pivoting about a central trunion pin.
The forepart of each lever should be formed into a gradual 11 degree
pointed taper, flattened on the inside. The rear part should be
spatulate in form and coated in a tactility enhancing polymer. If this
sounds like a medium sized pair of needle nose pliers available from
K-mart, so be it. The Technoid never does it the easy way, but you
can.

Take a pellet from your high quality control sample and give it a
little squeeze with the tip of the pliers. Repeat with a pellet from
the test sample. Do this a dozen or so times and you will develop a
surprisingly accurate feel for the comparative hardness.

Hardness can also be guesstimated by weighing equal volumes of each
shot on your powder scale. Antimony is lighter than lead.

If the samples weigh the same, they probably contain about the same
amount of antimony. If one sample is lighter than the other, the
lighter sample contains more antimony and is harder. This should
confirm the results of your pliers test. You must make sure that your
sample pellets are exactly the same size for this test to work
properly.

Roundness:

Shot must start off round if it is to end up round. The shell that
repairs shot in flight has not yet been invented. To test for initial
roundness, simply put a pellet on a pane of glass or a large dinner
plate and roll it around under strong light. If it is not round, it
will wobble. Repeat several times. Visually check in a larger sample
for any obviously distorted pellets. Good shot is round- all of it.

Size uniformity:

You will need a micrometer. No, do not try to build one. You’ll have
to buy this. Measure a couple of dozen pellets from your test batch
to see if they are the size they claim to be. Shot sizes are based on
the Rule of Seventeen. This states that subtracting the shot size
from seventeen will give the measured diameter omitting the decimal.
Example: 17-#8=.009" measured size, i.e. 17-8=9. A #8 pellet is thus
.009" in diameter, #9 is .008" and #7.5 is .0095". A normal sample of
shot will contain pellets of _ a size variance either way. More than
that is bad, less variance is good. High quality shot is carefully
graded.

Surface Texture:

High quality shot is usually mirror bright. It almost has the
appearance of perfect shiny little ball bearings. Lower quality shot
does not have this polished appearance and appears dull. The outer
surface, being less smooth, has less lubricity as it moves down the
barrel and through the air. The result is more deformation in the
barrel and more drag in the air, hence a lower quality pattern. This
is why the highest possible quality shot is nickel plated. A few
makers graphite coat their shot, hoping to improve lubricity without
going to the expense of a polished finish. This is not as good. At
the lowest end of surface quality is grey shot. As lead shot ages, it
oxidizes and becomes coated with a powdery, pale grey "rust". This
makes for a rough surface and subsequently poorer patterns. High
quality shot should not have any grey pellets mixed in.

That is all there is to it. If you know that you are using high
quality shot, you have eliminated the greatest cause of poor patterns.
Get the lead out and test for the best. It absolutely can be worth a
bird or two.

THE JUDGE GOES TWO BY TWO...

The most frequently asked rules questions concern "no birds" within
pairs. The Judge tries to address this at least once per year. He
hopes that he is not courting your displeasure by cross examining it
yet again, but our newer members must be briefed.

The Connecticut Travelers shoot under NSCA rules. The NSCA rules and
rule book have remained essentially unchanged for the past couple of
years. NSCA rules on "no-birds" within pairs are as follows:

True Pair (both birds thrown at the same time): if either bird is a
"no-bird" (a broken or irregular target), the pair must be repeated
and the results of any previous attempt do not count. Example: If a
true pair is thrown and one hits a tree or comes out broken, but you
shoot at the remaining good one, nothing is established and the pair
must be thrown again.

Following Pair (the second bird is thrown immediately after the first)
is treated the same as a true pair. If either bird is a "no-bird" for
any reason, nothing is established, whether you shoot or not, and the
pair must be thrown again.

Report Pair (the second bird is thrown when the trapper hears the
sound of the shot at the first bird) has a different rule. If the
first bird of a report pair comes out broken or is irregular, no bird
in the pair can be scored and the pair is repeated. If the first bird
is good and the second bird is a "no-bird", the results of the shot at
the first bird are established and the pair is then repeated to
establish the second bird. The repeat pair must be shot in the normal
sequence (first shot at first bird, second shot at the second bird),
but only the shot at the second target counts.

To recap the NSCA rules: True or Following pair- nothing established
if either bird is broken or irregular. Report pair- first bird
established if the first bird is good and the second is not.

This case is closed. Jury dismissed.

CHEF MARK…

One of the highlights of Travelers shoots at East Mountain is the fact
that Chef Mark D’Andrea of “Chef on Call” prepares our delicious
breakfast and luncheon. Yes, it’s true that the Travelers are
generally easy targets, being as ravenous as Egyptian locusts, but the
Chef’s cooking has always been spot on. His tomato soup with smoked
bacon followed by turkey tetrazzini, the comfort food of our
childhoods, were absolutely first rate at this last shoot.

Chef Mark is available for private parties and catering. Contact him
at Tel: 203-866-1699, Cell: 203-921-7334, Email:
Chefcall@optonline.net.

“RELOAD!” ON THE INTERNET…

If you find that you have worn out your paper copy of “Reload!” by
constantly reading it, dispair not! You’ll find the current issue as
well as the last ten years worth posted at www.ShotgunReport.com .
Great literature never goes away. It just sort of festers in the
background.

RECOIL…

Draw your own conclusions:

9# gun, 1-1/8 oz @ 1150 fps 16.2 ft/lb
8# gun, 1-1/8 oz @ 1150 fps 18.2 ft/lb
7# gun, 1-1/8 oz @ 1150 fps 20.8 ft/lb

9# gun, 1-1/8 oz @ 1200 fps 18.1 ft/lb
8# gun, 1-1/8 oz @ 1200 fps 20.4 ft/lb
7# gun, 1-1/8 oz @ 1200 fps 23.3 ft/lb

9# gun, 1-1/8 oz @ 1300 fps 22.4 ft/lb
8# gun, 1-1/8 oz @ 1300 fps 25.2 ft/lb
7# gun, 1-1/8 oz @ 1300 fps 28.8 ft/lb

9# gun, 1 oz @ 1150 fps 12.8 ft/lb
8# gun, 1 oz @ 1150 fps 14.4 ft/lb
7# gun, 1 oz @ 1150 fps 16.5 ft/lb

9# gun, 1 oz @ 1200 fps 14.3 ft/lb
8# gun, 1 oz @ 1200 fps 16.1 ft/lb
7# gun, 1 oz @ 1200 fps 18.4 ft/lb

9# gun, 1 oz @ 1300 fps 17.7 ft/lb
8# gun, 1 oz @ 1300 fps 19.9 ft/lb
7# gun, 1 oz @ 1300 fps 22.7 ft/lb

9# gun, 1 oz @ 1400 fps 21.6 ft/lb
8# gun, 1 oz @ 1400 fps 24.3 ft/lb
7# gun, 1 oz @ 1400 fps 27.7 ft/lb

9# gun, 7/8 oz @ 1200 fps 11.0 ft/lb
8# gun, 7/8 oz @ 1200 fps 12.3 ft/lb
7# gun, 7/8 oz @ 1200 fps 14.1 ft/lb

9# gun, 7/8 oz @ 1350 fps 15.0 ft/lb
8# gun, 7/8 oz @ 1350 fps 16.9 ft/lb
7# gun, 7/8 oz @ 1350 fps 19.3 ft/lb

FAMOUS LAST WORDS: “Hey, hold my beer and watch this!”

*** 2005 CTSCA SHOOTING CALENDAR ***

FEB 20 ANNUAL MEETING- EAST MOUNTAIN PRESERVE, NY
MAR 20 MARCH MADNESS - MID HUDSON SHOOTING GROUNDS, NY
APR 8~10 NORTH SOUTH SKIRMISH-SPRING TRIP TO MARYLAND
APR 17 TAX TIME REVOLT- OLD NEWGATE COON CLUB, CT
MAY tba COURTING CLAYS- venue to be announced
MAY 15 MAY MINUET- TAMARACK PRESERVE, NY
JUN 12 RUDY PASSERO CLUB CH- MID-HUDSON SHOOTING GROUNDS, NY
JUL 17 SUMMERTIME, SUMMERTIME- ORVIS/SANDANONA, NY
AUG 12~14 GREAT EASTERN LOBSTER CLASSIC- ADDIEVILLE EAST FARM, RI
SEP 18 SEPTEMBERSHUTZENFEST-MILLBROOK ROD & GUN CLUB, NY
OCT 1~3 ANNUAL FALL TRIP- PA & NY WEEKEND TOUR
OCT 16 SMALL GAUGE CLUB CH- FAIRFIELD COUNTY FISH AND GAME, CT
NOV 13 monthly shoot- to be announced
NOV 27 KOEHLER SOCIETY FUNDRAISER-venue to be announced
DEC 18 DICK LOSEE MEMORIAL SHOOT /CHRISTMAS PARTY- MID COUNTY, NY

*** OTHER 2005 SHOOTS OF INTEREST ***
ALWAYS, ALWAYS, CALL AHEAD TO CONFIRM

FEB 6 FROSTBITE STEAK & CLAYS, NEWGATE COON CLUB, CT, 860-738-3619
MAR 25 GOOD FRIDAY SHOOT, NEWGATE COON CLUB, CT, 860-738-3619
MAY 29 3 SHOT PIG ROAST- 180 BIRDS, NEWGATE COONCLUB, CT, 860-738-3619
APR 15~17 BIG SEAFOOD BLAST, M&M SHOOTING PRESERVE, NJ, 856-935-1230
APR 24 GATOR SHOOT, FAIRFIELD COUNTY FISH & GAME, CT, 203 426-8508
MAY 17~22 U.S. OPEN, M&M SHOOTING PRESERVE, NJ, 856-935-1230

LET US KNOW OF UPCOMING LOCAL SHOOTS SO THAT WE CAN SPREAD THE WORD

CONTACTING THE TRAVELERS...

CTSCA Home Office: Email <ctsca @email.com> (by far the best way) or
telephone 860-354-9351 if you absolutely must. Membership, Address
Changes and Shooting Class status: Contact Cyndi Dalena at
860-582-3142 between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM. Or Email
<shotguncyndi@prodigy.net>. Guide Book questions, Dick Orenstein
<oren@umich.edu> or call 203-226-5251. To place an ad, post a shoot
date in Reload! or simply heap abuse on the editor, contact Bruce Buck
at tel: 203-454-1080, or email: <bcb23@columbia.edu>.

**** THE UPCOMING TRAVELERS MONTHLY SHOOT ****

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2005
ANNUAL MEETING AND FUN SHOOT
EAST MOUNTAIN PRESERVE
DOVER PLAINS, NY

Our Annual Meeting, always held in February, is not really a shoot,
but naturally, being Travelers, when the meeting is over you’ll have
the chance to yank the trigger and watch 'em smoke. The Annual Meeting
will start in the East Mountain clubhouse at 9:00 AM sharp. Please be
on time or come a little early to lobby for your favorite projects and
scarf up some of the delicious breakfast. The meeting will last until
about noon. We will hear from President Anglace about how
magnificently the Travelers did in 2004, elect the usual suspects into
office and then discuss where we will go in 2005. Member participation
is highly encouraged. If you don’t attend, don’t complain later. Well,
actually, whiners automatically become committee chairmen. It’s the
rule of the jungle.

At mid-day we’ll have a catered luncheon. Thereafter we will break up
into squads, roll out onto the course and shoot a friendly round of
casual sporting. If you would like some coaching, we will squad you
with other shooters of equal ability and send along an experienced
Travelers Mentor coach to help you out with the usual bad advice. It
is a nice chance to get in a little shooting and perhaps improve your
game.

The fee for luncheon and the shooting (formal course, informal
scorekeeping) is $50. If you just want to come to the meeting and skip
the luncheon and shooting, there is no charge. Please consider
attending and send in your paid reservation so that it arrives by
Wednesday, February 16th. That’s just two days after Valentine’s Day
guys. Buy flowers for her first and then mail in that reservation. She
deserves the flowers. You deserve a day’s shooting.

As a member-run club the Travelers have been very, very successful.
We want to make sure that we continue to do what you want us to do.
We can’t do that unless you come and share your thoughts. THE ANNUAL
MEETING AND SHOOTING IS FOR MEMBERS ONLY. Please, no guests this
month. NEW MEMBERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND.

Directions to East Mountain Preserve, Dover Plains, NY:

At the junction of Rte 84 and NY Rte 22, take Rte 22 North for about
27 miles to the town of Dover Plains. Turn Right at the first traffic
light in Dover Plains and go straight for one mile directly into the
East Mountain driveway. If lost call East Mountain Preserve at
914-877-6274.