BUDLITEGUY'S RANTS AND RAVES

Saturday 01/23/2010

2010-01-23T14:03:00.000-05:00

Well Its saturday and it is cold damp and my bones ache,another beautiful day in paradise. You know some people would say I'm just to dam pessimistic about everything. Well I am. I' just old and tired and worn out. I'm like an Edsel, I came out looking good from the factory had a lot of cool options but know one appreciated me. So I guess I have a right to be down and out. So until the next time.

2010-01-18T16:20:00.000-05:00

Well I was off today and bored, so I thought I would mess with reloading a couple of rounds for my Vetterli. I picked up last month.
I already had the Lee dies and some 348win Brass and a Lee 430 bullet mold. So I just needed to do some cutting resizing and loading.
I was going to cut the brass at the shoulder when I realized I had "loaned" my hacksaw to my neighbor, which was not at home. Next best thing I had was my copper tube cutter.While not the straightest cut, it worked. But it beveled the shell mouth!!!!!! So with Little help with some needle nose pliers and a deep well 7mm socket "which by the way made a good case mouth expander I got that part taken care of. I had never used the Lee dies and from the get-go I ran into problems. The brass was not de primed and the de-primer that came with the dies would not go into the mouth of the shell after cutting because of the Ball on it. It needs machining down some. So I changed it out with a straight pin de-capper and that took care of that problem. So I de-capped the Brass. Re-capped and was ready for the powder. I used 10 grains of Trail boss powder dipped with a 2.2cc Lee powder measure. I had measured this load with my Lee powder scales. 10 grains of Trail boss filled the shell to just below the shoulder.
I loaded my .430 dia. 299 grain bullets " this is what they weighed out at after casting with pure lead"I lubed them with T/C Bore Butter Grease, all I had on hand, and proceed outside. With 2 whole rounds. This was not a range session, just a function test. Loaded one round, aimed at paper plate placed at 10yrds on the bank behind my house and pulled the trigger. It WENT BANG, with one round through the paper.The shell ejected good no signs of pressure, chambered another round and same thing. So at least I know My Vetterli shoots. with a little work on the de-capping pin and better shell cutting and trimming and getting the bolt converted that came with this rifle. I used the converted bolt out of my other Vetterli. 'Hey I know I will hear from some of you on that one, but it worked. . I think I have a good shooting Vetterli. Oh the cleaning rod in the picture is from a SKS. Fit real Good.

MLK DAY

2010-01-18T10:51:00.001-05:00

Well I'm off of work today because of MLK'S birthday.
Some people have a problem with it being a holiday. I don't.
I have always wondered what the world would be like if Rev. King had not gotten assassinated just like JFK. Would the world be a better place. We will never know will we. It could not be any worse than it is.Both these men had a dream and that dream died with them.
So Happy Birthday Rev. King

Today

2010-01-17T17:24:00.000-05:00

Well I had posted a blog early and went back to edit it and It just disappeared, I guess I just hit the wrong button. No matter no one reads my blogs anyway. Its just a way for me to vent my frustrations and relieve my stress. But if you do happen to read this I just need to get this off of my chest.
I THINK THE WHOLE CURRENT STATE OF AFFAIRS IN THIS COUNTRY STINKS. Now with that said. I hope you have a blessed day and a good week.
Back in Baroque: The String Quartet Tribute to AC/DC

Quick Bible Link

2010-01-17T16:38:00.000-05:00

If you need a quick and simple link to view the Bible, then here it is.

Today Is Sunday

2010-01-17T11:16:00.008-05:00

Today is Sunday,just another day, it started out the same and it will end the same. I have no doubt in that! What happens during the day is up to me. Will I stay in today or will I go out and burn gas that I cannot afford to, will I eat in or eat out and spend money I don't have. What should I do? This is the everyday thing we ask ourselves on the weekend. During the week the decision is already made. We get up go to work and come home. I guess you do. If you are like me That is the only way I have to support my family. Unless you have a disability that keeps you from working or you have lost your job like so many hard working Americans have!!! "OR" unless you are one of those that are just to dam sorry to work and you want the rest of us to keep you up or you had rather steal or sell your drugs than to work. These are the ones I detest. Yes I'm mad and why shouldn't I be. Does the Government care that I can barely survive on what I make "NO" . Did the bank want to help when I ask about help with my house loan "NO" I made $50.00 to much a month to qualify for that. Does the Propane company care that my family is cold because I'm out of propane and they are charging $4.85 a Gal. for it and I don't have the money to pay for it, because they want it paid for up front and the least they will put in the tank is 50 gal's "NO" they dont care!!!!!!!! If you are reading this do you care, probable not, because you have your own problems to worry about and you are probable asking yourself if he cannot afford all of this, why does he have Internet!!!! Because This is all I have. I have no phone or T.V. I listen to the radio for my news. I e-mail my friends, I have giving up the others and I have sold most of everything that I have of value to help pay my bills. So this is the only luxury I have left. But I'm still working, I'm not on welfare, I do have some pride left. If anyone reads this, just to one thing for me. Remember me and my family in your prayers. That's one thing they cannot take away from me, "That's my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ" I'll have that until the day I die.

I'm Tired

2010-01-16T00:15:00.004-05:00

It has been awhile since I have been on here, but no time for the weary. I have been so disgusted with this world and the way my life has played out these past months. Every time I get ahead 3 steps I get knocked back 5. The Media Say's things are looking up but all I see is more hardship and less money in my pocket. This "so called Government" we have is a crock. A bunch of political hacks that all they care about is filling their pockets or sending everything overseas to "AID" these poor backward country's that need help. Well we the American people need help here. We need a bail out and we need to vote out the crooks in Washington. So please vote for the new guy or woman on the block in the Midterm elections. Lets put some some new blood in Washington and get that old bought and paid for blood out. We need a change and it is up to the American people to do it. So vote for someone that has not been in their. Lets vote the Bum's out.

Bill Hanes "Outlaw Tracker" part-6

2009-12-06T18:27:00.004-05:00

It was 6am and the sun had started to come up in the east. Everyone was in position, the Captain had slipped up to the rear of the building and was in the process of lighting the big bundle of dynamite to throw through the rear window. The guard on top of the building was no where to be seen. I figured he was asleep. The rest of us had the building surrounded ready for the fight. Just then one of Big Jim's men stepped out onto the front porch and all hell broke loose. Fred Baker cut loose with his Henry rifle putting a hole through the mans shirt, he was dead before he hit the ground. That's when I saw the Captain running towards the barn. I knew he had put the dynamite through the window. I yelled to give hell Boy's and everyone started shooting into the building. There was some return fire, but then the dynamite went up. The Blast flattened the old adobe building. The firing ended and we headed for our horse's. Two of our men had already pulled down the corral and was herding the horses at a dead run to the north. We didn't stick around to see if any of Big Jim's men were still kicking. We didn't care anyway, we had what we came for and now we could head home. I thought to myself that they had to be a better way to make a living. But I be damned if I knew what it was. The End "at least for now".

2009-10-16T23:09:00.003-04:00

Well Its Friday and I'm still not feeling up to par, it has been a tough painful week on me. As you see Bill Hanes is in limbo right now. Been kinda hard to concentrate with all of the pain med's. But if you have been following along he will be back. So take care until the next time.

Monday

2009-10-12T21:01:00.003-04:00

Well Its Monday again, Another CRAPPY DAY IN PARADISE. My header is MY LIFE AND WRITINGS, you have saw my writings so here is alittle about my life. I had an accident about a month ago, fell off of a ladder and broke some bones pulled some tendons and more or less messed myself up for a while. It has been cold and rainy here this weekend and that does not do my pain much good, plus I had a touch of a stomach bug. You ever tried to run to the bathroom on crutches. Oh well. So maybe I will get to feeling better in a couple of days and get back to "Bill Hanes". I hope everyone likes my crude writing style. Take care and keep your powder dry and your ear to the wind. Until next time.

Bill Hanes "Outlaw Tracker" Part-5

2009-10-07T18:27:00.008-04:00

We had caught up with the Comanche's. They had headed straight to where the Mcluery's were headed. Big Jim Auden's Hell Hole. The Horse's were in the corral, and the Comanches were outside passing a bottle around. Looks like they had made their trade with Big Jim. As it looked from Bill's vantage point, there was about 8 Comanche's and Big Jim had at least 15 men around his "store" as he liked to call it. The store, which was an Old Spanish built adobe building. Was built up on a small Rise, with a good open view to the front and sides. His Look Outs had a good view in any direction. Behind it about 75 yards back, was a straight up and down solid rock wall about 100 feet high. The corral was off to the left, with a barn and a couple of more out buildings. To the right was open ground with no cover. Same as the front, any attack would be suicide to make on this place from those two direction's. So that meant the left side, where the corral was, provided the best cover. Bill went back and told the Captain what he seen and The Captain decided the best thing was to wait, until the Comanche's rode out. Slip in early in the morning right before dawn, using the shadow of the rock wall to cover their approach and steal all the horse's back. The Captain also decide if they could, he would like to put Big Jim out of business for good. So he said we would dynamite the store, and torch the out buildings. That should leave him a message to get out of Texas. To Bill it all sounded way to easy. " to be Continued"

Bill Hanes "Outlaw Tracker" Part-4

2009-10-06T21:18:00.009-04:00

The Ranger Posse had followed the Comanche's trail, but it had split into Three groups. The main group had went on south with ten of the horse's. While the other two groups had went west and east with five horse's apiece. The captain decided to stay with the main party and try and get those horse's back, ten was better than none. Bill and another ranger rode ahead to scout out the trail. They had not gone far when an arrow went into the Rangers chest, he fell from his horse and didn't move. Bill reined his horse up and looked to his right. There came three Comanche's riding straight for him. he pulled his Winchester from the scabbard and fired one quick shot. A Comanche fell but the other two keep coming. Bill turned and rode hard back towards the posse. The Comanche's firing at him as he went. Bill turned and fired another shot and a Comanche horse fell throwing the ride into the dust. Bill then reined his horse to a stop turned and fired again, This time missing. The last Comanche turned and went back the way he came, Bill was hard on his trail. He knew if that one got back to the main party they would not get those horse's back. The Comanche Bill had un-horsed was on his feet running the opposed way, but Bill concentrated on the rider, Bill horse was just a bit faster and he was almost on him, he raised his rifle and fired again. The Comanche's horse went down, Bill rode past the fallen Comanche at full gallop and fired again, the Comanche went down with a bullet in his chest. Bill then turned his attention back to the other Comanche, but there was no need the posse had came riding hard when they had heard the shots,and the Captain had taken care of him with one shot from his 45/70 Sharps. A good two hundred yard shot it was too. Bill went and checked the fallen Ranger, he was dead. They buried him and Captain said a few words over his grave and told them to mount up, They had a job to finish. "To be Continued"

Bill Hanes "Outlaw Tracker" Part-3

2009-10-06T20:33:00.006-04:00

Bill knew he did not stand a chance in hell against all of those Comanche's, but he had to do something. The Mclurey's were both good as dead, The game had come to a quick end when the Comanche chief had rode up pointed to the brother's said something to the warrior's and rode back into the woods to the south end of the field. Two of the Comanche's had went up scalped both of them alive and then bent over their screaming body's and took their knives and cut a hole in each brothers side and reach in grab their intestines and stretch them out across the field and left them for the vultures to feast on. The Comanche's were good at a slow death. Bill watched the Comanche's leave off to the south with the Horse's. He got up made his way back to his horses and went back up to the trail. Thats when he heard a group of riders coming up from behind fast. He got his horse's back off the trail and got down behind some rocks cocked his Winchester and got ready for whoever was coming his way, but low and behold it was the posse. He was sure glad to see them. Ranger Captain L.W. Murphy was at the lead, Bill jumped up waived his hat. Murphy ask what was going on? Bill told him what had happened while getting on his horse. Captain Murphy told the 8 men riding with him to get ready and follow them. They were getting them horse's back. Bill lead the way to the field where the Mclurey Brothers were. They were still alive. Captain Murphy looked down on the brothers, Fred Mclurey ask the Captain to shoot them to end their suffering, The Captain looked at them both and said you have got what you deserve for Killing old man Baker and his wife, I ain't wasting a bullet on either of you. Men lets ride. The Captain was a hard man.”To Be Continued”

Coconut Pie

2009-10-05T20:25:00.004-04:00

Start off with 5-Eggs 2- Cups of sugar 1- Stick of melted Butter 3/4 cups of buttermilk 1- Pack of frozen Coconut ---------------------- Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend thoroughly Pour into a large unbaked deep pie crust or 2 medium sized unbaked crust. and bake at 350 deg for 30 Min's or until firm For a homemade pie crust 1-cup of flour 1/2 cup Crisco Mix until coarse like cornmeal, add 2-3 tbls Iced water until it sticks together Put on floured surface Roll out very thin Large enough to fit Pie pan. "Use plenty of flour turn and flour while rolling so it will not stick to surface"

WHAT IS IT

2009-10-05T20:02:00.006-04:00

I thought I would put a couple of my Favorite Recipe's on here this evening. To start off with "A What Is It" 1lb Lean ground Chuck 1- Packet Lipton Onion Soup Mix 1-Egg 2- Slices of 2 to 3 day old Bread 1 -Tbls Worchteshire Sauce 1- Can of Campbell's Mushroom soup ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Mix Ground Chuck,Onion Soup Mix, Egg, Worchteshire Sauce and Then Crumble the Bread to the mix Make into a small Loaf and place in a baking pan with room on all sides of loaf. Mix Mushroom soup with 1/2 cans of water in a bowl and pour over loaf,making sure it runs all around it. Bake in a Pre-Heated oven at 350 deg. for 45 Min's and make sure the Mushroom Gravy does not boil away. Remove from oven let sit for 5 Min's Do not salt Onion soup mix will take care of that. Serve with your favorite side's and enjoy.

Bill Hanes "Outlaw Tracker" Part-2

2009-10-05T05:39:00.004-04:00

After running a cold camp the night before Bill was glad to see the sun come up. He had not had a fire in 5 nights and the weather was turning brisk. It being October. He had gotten an early start and gotten back on the trail of the Mclurey Brothers. They seemed not to be in any hurry, and he still had no sight of the posse that was following him. He thought he had marked a good trail for them to follow, hell a blind man could have followed, but yet no sign, he was getting a bit worried. He could handle the Mclurey's, But if any of their friends were waiting for them further on, then that would be a problem. Thats when he heard it!!! A scream, a pain riddled scream of a man. It was down in the valley to the left of him. Bill eased his horse and the pack horse off of the trail and tied them up to a tree out of sight of the trail pulled his Winchester Carbine out of the scabbarded grabbed a bag of 44/40 shells off of the horse and went ahead on foot. The scream was louder this time and straight ahead. Bill eased his way up to a rise that over looked the field below and could not believe his eyes. There was both Mclurey brothers stacked out in the field with about 6 Comanche's around them. This was bad. The brothers he could handle but 6 or more Comanche's, he was not getting paid enough for that. The Comanche's were using the brothers as targets for their Knife throwing game, Bill had seen this before. They would lay all of their victims items out on the ground and what item the Comanche picked out, then he threw his knife at one of the victims. If the knife struck and stuck then the item was his, if he missed then it went to the next "player". This could go on for hours and it looked like they just started. Because Fred Mclurey still had a knife sticking out of his leg. The Comanche picked up his prize and walked over and jerked his knife out of Fred's leg. This brought another scream, and now it looked like it was Toms turn. Where the hell was that posse!!!!!! To be continued

Swiss Vetterli Rifle

2009-10-04T14:27:00.013-04:00

This is a Rifle that I enjoy shooting, so I thought I would share a little history on it. After the Civil War most country's seen the need to change from their old Muzzle loading Rifles to a Breech loader. So in an 18th century arms race each country tried to come up with and idea of a modern military arm to issue their troops. The Swiss followed suit. In 1867 they began converting some of their muzzleloading .41 caliber rifles to a breechloading trapdoor system Know as the M1842/59/67 Swiss Milbank-Amsler. It was chambered in the new .41 Swiss rim fire round M1867 0r 10.4x38 RF Swiss. They also ordered 15,000 Peabody rifles chambered in 41 Swiss from the U.S. These stayed in service for two years, Things where changing and the repeating bolt action rifle Was being developed by the other European country's, for the Swiss to keep up that's where Swiss engineer Friedrich Vetterli stepped in with his 12 shot tubular magazine bolt-action rifle. The model 1867 VetterlThis rifle was inspired by the American made Henry Rifle.It had a tubular 12 round enclosed under barrel magazine, when the bolt was pulled to the rear, the empty shell was extracted and this in turn released a new shell from the magazine into a shell lift assemble. When the bolt was pushed forward the lift assembly raised and lined the shell with the bolt where as it was pushed into the chamber, the rifle was ready to fire again. New rounds where loaded into the magazine through a opening in right hand side of the receiver. This rifle say service with the Swiss army from 1869 until 1890 when it was replaced by the Schmidt-Rubin . It was also used and issued to the Italian Army in a Modified Version up through WW-1. Pictured at right Swiss Version on top, Italian Version on bottom. This Rifle was sold as surplus after being replaced by the Schmidt-Rubin. Ammo was made for it by Remington up until the 1940's This old War horse can still be shoot able with a little work and reloading skills. So I hope you have enjoyed this little tid-bit of info on the Swiss Vetterli. Until the next time: Look to God but remember to keep your powder dry just in case.

Bill Hanes "Outlaw Tracker' Oct.4 1875

2009-10-04T10:23:00.011-04:00

It was a warm morning in the foot hills of the Balcones Escarpment. Bill Hanes had been tracking the Mclurey Brothers for 4 days. he was getting close, because that old feeling down the back of his neck was starting to show. Bill is a paid tracker for the Texas Rangers, has been for the past 6 yr's. He had joined the rangers in 1860 when he was 16. Then the Civil War came and he went and rode with 5th Texas Cavalry, That was ten years ago, now he tracked men for a living. It was a hard and dangerous life. But it was all He knew. The Mclurey brothers 4 days earlier had made a visit to the Baker Ranch. A small spread in Burnett county. It had mostly horses a few cattle on it, it was run by old man Baker his wife and his two son's . Well the Mclurey brothers had visited while the son's were away. Just Old man Baker and his wife where there. They had shot the old man in the barn and his wife at the Kitchen door . She still had that old Smith Carbine in her hand, at least she had gotten off a shot and had hit one of the brothers. Bill had found a small trace of blood near the corral. The brothers had ransacked the house, took what could be eaten or sold and had made off with about 20 horse's. Bill had a run in with these two before but nothing like this, small stuff, drinking and fighting. Together they were mean and nasty. Back shooters though, would not face ya down. That's why Bill was taking it slow and easy. No hurry, Bill knew where they were headed. To Big Jim Auden's place. He ran a trading post If you wanted to call it that, Hell hole suited it better. He Dealt in stolen horse's mostly. Traded them to the Indians or run them down into Mexico or up north, anywhere to put a gold coin in his pocket. Usually had about 8 to 10 men working for him. All had a price on their heads. Bill would bade his time for now and let the posse catch up. For right now Bill was just getting paid to track not to kill, "to be Continued"

Hello All

2009-10-03T20:42:00.005-04:00

Hello Well this is my 1st time at being a blogger. I'm new to this but I do have an opinon and some will not agree with it. Does this bother me, No, not at all. It is everyone freedom under our Constitution and Bill Of Rights to dis-agree with how or what is said by almost everyone in this great country of ours. So Just sit back and follow along with my day to day post. If you don't like it then you can just click on the x and move on. To start off with this is Saturday the 3rd day of October 2009. Not much happened with me today. I usually Get up, do my Saturday morning running around hitting the yard sells, pawn shop's and Gun Store's. Oh yeah I'm a Gun Nut. Take it as you may. Was brought up around gun's and hunting. I'm southern its in our blood. At least mine. But for awhile I will have to change my schedule since I'm laid up for awhile do to an injury.So I watched my girls boyfriend get the old John Deere out, grass was in a bad need of mowing. This took up most of his evening. HEE HAW. I have a big yard and a slow old mower. It was given to me so I don't complain to much about it. Yeah That another thing about me I'm thrifty, My wife calls it cheap. But hey if its free then it's for me. Have to save money some way. I'm what you would call a scrounger. Someone Else's junk is my treasure!!!! So enough on that. H finally got the mowing done about 6pm, so after a quick easy hot dog supper, This is where I have landed. But Tombstone is coming on and I have to watch it, I might have missed something in the past 20 times I have watched it. So in the great words of Val Kilmer aka Doc Holiday, I'm your huckleberry. Until tomorrow, 'Put your trust in God; but mind to keep your powder dry!'”