Here's a plug for two businesses, three if you count Amazon.

Amazon's seller is Shooters World of Dacula, Georgia. The company promised to have my order here by June 22. It appeared in my mailbox June 8.

The product is  a .45 ACP dedicated crimp die from Lee Precision, the good guys in Hartford, Wisconsin. I've been using their stuff for ever,  including the "Lee Loader" on which I loaded my first cartridge sometime during the Harding Administration. Yes, .45 ACP.

The die works as billed, no fuss. I'd never been quite happy with the way my Herter's die crimps the .45s. I was getting too many slightly loose bullets or, in curing that, crimps that I didn't trust to positively headspace the round.  The crimp die solves the problem nicely, and, to boot,  sizes the entire loaded round. If nothing else it adds deep layer of confidence that my loads will chamber perfectly, every time.

It's the second recent reminder how much I like Lee stuff. The first was the .45 Colt die set. I bought it at a Cabela's and asked the clerk to grab me a shell holder. No need, he said. Lee packages a holder with the dies. Good  idea.  Good company.

Invasion

This is about a third of them, all I was able to get in a grab shot in the rain. A pair with their offspring wandering  the front yard isn't unusual, but a  whole goose neighborhood decided to picnic here this morning.

(Speaking of Which)

Tomoko in her home on the hlll above Yokosuka Harbor, early 1960s.

T

Retro beauty

I know. Going to garage sales is declasse.


But I'll accept the lifted eyebrows for the chance to own an as-new   f4.5 Nikon 300.  At  $10.  In 1967 It was something I wanted, sort of needed, and couldn't afford.

The Macro at left  was little cheaper.

I swear, people, I am >this close< to hauling out the FTn bodies and taking real pictures again, even if I have to depend on an outside lab.