The End of Irish Shooters Digest??

yubabill1

I always enjoyed Cal Ward's articles in the ISD whenever I bought it.

Will be sad to see it go, but I've stopped buying magazines in the last few years (the Easons/top shelf thing finally put an end to it for me).

Grizzly 45

Did that ICABS campaign of the top shelf go anywhere? Limerick and last time I was in Dublin, they were all still midlevel, where they always have been. Nothing on the tits, tattoos and gay shelf.:)

gunny123

I was looking at the isd in easons in dundrum during the week. It was on the lowest shelf.

Grizzly 45

Anyone buying a final edition as a keepsake in Dec?Probably will.

grassroot1

Cal Ward wrote: »

[font=Arial","sans-serif]It's a tough job to manage/edit/publish a magazine, attract advertising and collect money from advertisers and get good writers and Eric Parkes has done a great job for over 20 years.  I wrote (part-time, I’m now retired from my job teaching IT) for the Digest for 17 years because I loved meeting shooters and dealers and going places and taking photos and doing research and writing about it.  I made good friends and had a lot of fun and it would be very sad if the Irish Shooter lost the only publication that was prepared to fight his corner but the fact is the Internet is hurting all the specialist publications and even the big newspapers.  I've written my last article saying goodbye and thanks to my readers and I'll send it in this weekend.  I'll miss the Digest but I am thoroughly disillusioned with the direction Irish shooting has taken. Commercial poaching, section 42's out of control, wildlife disappearing, political infighting, power struggles, lawsuits, clever boys looking for new ways to screw money out of the shooter and shooting and everyone an expert and no-one keeping an eye on the ball and all this instead of taking on the guards and the government who are determined to introduce a gun ban.  Unless we cop ourselves on we could very easily end up regulated out of existence with nothing to shoot, no pistols or high-powered rifles and astronomical fees for membership of clubs and access to ranges and the best of our hunting sold to tourists.  We are sleepwalking towards a cliff-edge.  Will online publications/websites/forums change this insanity?  I hope so but am not sure they will.  [/font]
[font=Arial","sans-serif] Grizzly 45 said kind things about me – thanks.  [/font]

I hope you say all of that and more in you article Cal Thank you

yubabill1

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Did that ICABS campaign of the top shelf go anywhere? Limerick and last time I was in Dublin, they were all still midlevel, where they always have been. Nothing on the tits, tattoos and gay shelf.:)

AFAIK they sent ICABS a promise to move the mags to the top shelf and then left them where they had always been following lots of us writing in.

Mississippi.

I would only of bought ISD a few times a year but Cal's articles would of been one of the the main reasons I did buy it, so to Cal , Thanks for all the work you put in to it and best wishes for the future.

feartuath

Cal Ward wrote: »

[font=Arial","sans-serif]It's a tough job to manage/edit/publish a magazine, attract advertising and collect money from advertisers and get good writers and Eric Parkes has done a great job for over 20 years.  I wrote (part-time, I’m now retired from my job teaching IT) for the Digest for 17 years because I loved meeting shooters and dealers and going places and taking photos and doing research and writing about it.  I made good friends and had a lot of fun and it would be very sad if the Irish Shooter lost the only publication that was prepared to fight his corner but the fact is the Internet is hurting all the specialist publications and even the big newspapers.  I've written my last article saying goodbye and thanks to my readers and I'll send it in this weekend.  I'll miss the Digest but I am thoroughly disillusioned with the direction Irish shooting has taken. Commercial poaching, section 42's out of control, wildlife disappearing, political infighting, power struggles, lawsuits, clever boys looking for new ways to screw money out of the shooter and shooting and everyone an expert and no-one keeping an eye on the ball and all this instead of taking on the guards and the government who are determined to introduce a gun ban.  Unless we cop ourselves on we could very easily end up regulated out of existence with nothing to shoot, no pistols or high-powered rifles and astronomical fees for membership of clubs and access to ranges and the best of our hunting sold to tourists.  We are sleepwalking towards a cliff-edge.  Will online publications/websites/forums change this insanity?  I hope so but am not sure they will.  [/font]
[font=Arial","sans-serif] Grizzly 45 said kind things about me – thanks.  [/font]

I have been buying the digest from the beginning and still have 99% of the magazine's right back to the first black and white editions.
How shooting and the shooting industry had changed.
As mainly a rifle shooter I will miss Cal Wards articles though I did not always agree with him but he tells a lot of truth.

I fear for hunting in the future.
My own county is destroyed by commercial hunting , day and night on the hills with quads.
Us farmers are sick of these guys driving around constantly parking at gates every where, no shooting signs being erected where there was none ever.

Kat1170

feartuath wrote: »

I fear for hunting in the future.
My own county is destroyed by commercial hunting , day and night on the hills with quads.
Us farmers are sick of these guys driving around constantly parking at gates every where, no shooting signs being erected where there was none ever.

Commercial Poaching would be more correct IMHO

blackpearl

gunny123 wrote: »

To be honest i gave up buying papers and magazines years ago. I am into old motorcycles and used to buy all the monthly magazines, but after a few years i found i was reading the same articles, slightly changed, maybe with different photos.

With the shooting magazines, i found i was mostly reading "reviews" of firearms or products, and realised i was paying for the privilage of reading fawning adverts for products i didn't really want to buy.

Papers ? Hmmmmm, well most irish papers are now owned by voldemort, and i certainly don't want to read anything he has anything to do with.

The web and blogs have killed the print media, especially in the realm of sports or pastimes.

ISD the only mag for irish hunters sad day top class if you were into field trialling the reports on the setters and pointer trials were great.

Grizzly 45

Picked up the last copy of it today in Easons.[Jan 2018].True to format it stayed the same until the end. [Nice pic of Eric P on the back cover too.]

However, I would ask Cal, if he can, and subject to whatever publishing laws might or might not be broken here, to reproduce his last article here.

He said a lot of home truth on a good few subjects in the Irish shooting scene that should be heeded by all concerned.
Also, it is a pity that the DAI/HCAP ms information is featured in the last insight article.When we know it has been checked [but not checkmated] as of the current time.
We know this, but how many outside the non cyberspace era don't know about it yet, and will still believe it is mandatory, and still give their cash to DAI /HCAP? Maybe that is the problem, with paper these days?The info is as outdated as the dead sea scrolls by the time it leaves the press?

Cass

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

However, I would ask Cal, if he can, and subject to whatever publishing laws might or might not be broken here, to reproduce his last article here.

If he owns the copyright to the article then he can post it. If not then written permission from the ISD is needed before it can be published here as the Mods need to see written permission to pass onto admins int he case of future complaint about the article appearing here.

[quotee]Maybe that is the problem, with paper these days?The info is as outdated as the dead sea scrolls by the time it leaves the press?[/QUOTE]
One of the reasons. Also paper never refuses ink. I'll say no more.

Walter Mittys Brother

Walter Mittys Brother wrote: »

Cal, well said BUT your articles were crap and hardly ever relevant to what we do here.

BUT I'll miss them & the Digest all the same.

Just read the last edition of the ISD.

Cal, your last article was a fitting tribute to your time with ISD. I found it brought back many memories, some forgotten. Your summation of the past is spot on! Your thoughts on the future, which does not look good for our sport, I totally concur with.

You say you may continue elsewhere. I hope you do As I said in my earlier comment your articles were often not relevant to what we do here but I do admit for a good few years your articles were the reason I held in there & kept buying the ISD.

Well done to Cal & all who were associated with the ISD!

I will miss it.

useurowname

I'll miss the The Shooters Digest, informative, interesting, straight forward and OURS. Advertised springer pups in there one time, got one call from an old boy who chewed the ear off me for about an hour and half telling me of every dog he ever owned, then told me he was a pointer man now ! Anyway something I'll remember.

blackpearl

So is this the end or is their someone in the wings waiting to take over?.

123shooter

Didn't someone once start an online shooting magazine here on Boards once about 9 years ago? What happened?

Birdnuts

123shooter wrote: »

Didn't someone once start an online shooting magazine here on Boards once about 9 years ago? What happened?

I remember that - he used to put up links to it and it was a good read in fairness. Hasn't posted anything here for ages AFAIK

Grizzly 45

Birdnuts wrote: »

I remember that - he used to put up links to it and it was a good read in fairness. Hasn't posted anything here for ages AFAIK

Guess that says a lot about the difficulty of running a mag.Be it online or paper.

Grizzly 45

For Cal's fans..He is now blogging https://calward.blogspot.ie/

Cal Ward

Thanks Grizzly.  You ARE a gentleman. I'm just planning to post a story every month or so. No ads and very little on the shooting scene in the Republic.  I've had enough of the infighting. When the Digest closed and people got in contact I realised I missed photography and scribbling and the contact with the readers so I'll just post on whatever I'm currently interested in.  I am aware my interests are not those of most shooters but I have gotten to know a lot of readers over the years and many are friends who told me they enjoy reading about black powder, historic firearms and the like.  Since the blog is not a commercial venture I am free of the need to appeal to the majority.  I'm retired now and like most of my friends I just shoot for fun and I suppose I'll just write for fun too.  Eric has wished me well and I'll be keeping in touch with him.  If anyone ever feels the need to share a yarn I'll be delighted to include it.  This month I'm looking into why my .45 cast bullets don't expand - riveting stuff.  Keep in touch.

Grizzly 45

Cal,FWIW and not telling your biz in any way or form.

But now as ISD is no more, and you were the most multi-faceted writer on the diverse topics it had and as there is just Boards.ie, Firearms United Ireland on FB and your blog now keeping the Irish shooting public informed on things here.Might I suggest an odd "jaundiced eye" article on events as they unfold in Ireland?

As you said yourself you are not beholden to anyone or getting sponsorship or need to worry about "offending" too much anymore.I mean as a stalker yourself,of a lifetime worths experience, We'd love to hear your opinion either way on things like the HCAP fiasco?:) An article that would have been too much of a hot potato to publish in ISD?

Best
Grizzly45.

Cal Ward

Hi Grizzly

The HCAP.  I haven't done the HCAP nor will I when the "grandfather" period ends. I wrote an article on it when it was introduced and won't be revisiting it.  I know people have strong opinions on it. People have to make their own judgements about it.  Regarding hot potatoes I will say only that the shooting scene in the Republic of Ireland is an obscene mess and I am now out of it. As for having opinions; that is allowed but any expression of them should and must be accompanied by verified facts. We live in dangerous times.

gunny123

Cal Ward wrote: »

We live in dangerous times.

Seemingly caused by "our own" :rolleyes:

Cal Ward

Velocity. Weight. Shape. Calibre. Lead hardness. Resistance as in buffalo versus rabbit. Juju. Mostly velocity.

gunny123

Cal Ward wrote: »

Velocity. Weight. Shape. Calibre. Lead hardness. Resistance as in buffalo versus rabbit. Juju. Mostly velocity.

I did read an article about reloading for hunting with large revolvers (.45-70) in the usa, years ago. The writer recommended casting the bullets from reclaimed wheel balancing weights, or linotype. This type of lead is very hard, i had plenty of linotype i bought at a scrapyard, and it was very hard.

Ordinary roofing lead is very soft, but then i suppose you meet problems such as barrel leading and the bullet stripping when it hits the rifling.

Cal Ward

Roofng lead is soft and Vintage lead is purer and harder to source. Wheelweights are hard to get now too.  These days most people keep recycling the same lead from the backstop.  This is of notoriously variable purity.  I cast an ingot of backstop lead and tested it at Brinnel 8.  When I got back to it 2 years later it had "cured" to Brinnel 14. I've pestered every engineer I know for an eplanation. They think it's the antimony/arsenic/tin additives but it is so hard it rings when struck. It is etremely difficult to get a backstop lead bullet down the barrel of a muzzleloader and in the event of a misfire it is impossible to get back up.  It's dreadful stuff but it's all we have since the supply of old pipes and old roofing lead started running out.

gunny123

123shooter wrote: »

So now you know why they invented the copper jacket.

I think a fast bullet can disintegrate when it leaves the barrel without a jacket.

Yes, i have heard of .17 caliber wildcats that push tiny bullets so fast, they can disintegrate in flight.

Cal Ward

That's the only advantage of hard lead.  I'm puting 30 cal gaschecked slugs out at 1850 fps and still no problems.  Some of the yank bloggers are claiming much higher velocities.  We'll see.  When Sierra match King heads hit £46 per 100 I stopped using them

Cal Ward

Interesting point. The wisdom is drop the cast slug in cold water to harden it. At this point all I can say (until I've done more experimentation) is that a 165 grain gaschecked, well lubricated, swaged to .311 calibre slug from a Mosin at 1650 fps is accurate to 300 yards and doesn't lead the barrel. Increase velocity or weight or change the propellant and thete is immediate evidence of lead fouling. I am currently experimenting with lubricants. Thr goal is 2000+ fps velocity and 600 yard accuracy. This will keep me busy all nect summer.

Microscopic cooling cracks. Interesting. Maybe try slow cooling?

Cal Ward

Sir I see you are an engineer!!

Ok. Lead bullets are a known quantity and work very well if you disregard their low ballistic coefficient and a tendency to strip in the bore and lead the barrel at higher speeds causing keyholing and flyers.. 
They do not:

1. Disintegrate in flight - that is the preserve of ultra high velocity 22's and 17's.  I have experienced only ONE bullet disintegration and that was a 243 Ackley improved at 3500 fps from a flawed barrel.  Such talk of lead bullet explosions is nonsense
2.  Cause pressure spikes with recommended loads - lead is softer than copper and will eventually depart the barrel albeit in a stripped condition.  I have never seen indications of pressure in most calibres althought the thin straight walled cases will wear out fast at higher pressures.  For example nitro powder in a nineteenth century straight walled case designed for black powder will cause accelerated splitting.

The wisdom among the cast bulleteers is that everything works fine up to a velocity ceiling at which leading/stripping starts.  Lubrication helps a LOT and a good lube will raise the velocity/leading ceiling.  In pistols the velocity ceiling seems to be around 900 fps but many would disagree.  In rifles I personally find that leading starts to occur at varying velocities. My Sharps .45 leads at 1200 fps.  My Mosin at 1800 fps and my .45 Colt carbine doesn't lead up to 1300 fps at which point the cases start to suffer and a different problem takes over.  My muzzleloaders like soft lead and that's what I load in them.  As you rightly point out, barrel twist rate is a major factor in lead fouling/stripping as is powder burning rate. I would add lead hardness and alloy to that.

May I ask?  Would you be aware of industrial lubricants that would be more efficient than my witches' brew of beeswax, lanolin, neatsfoot oil etc?  Also would you happen to know why in some instances slower burning powders cause more serious leading than faster ones?  For example 20 grains of fast powder might be clean while 40 grains of slow powder might render the barrel unshootable after 10 rounds.

Please make allowances for my blatant attempt to pick your brains - my excuse is that most engineers offer guesswork to specific questions.