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Browning A5

 

Browning A5 and copies

 

While most gun designs and cartridges are the subject of great debate there is one thing that isn’t. Who was the greatest gun designer of all time? John Browning of course. Our best loved and most successful designs are a powerful testimony to his genius. 1894 Winchester, 1911 Colt, BAR, M2 50 cal. ( Still in production), A5, Remington 11, Savage autoloader, Remington 8 and 81, Browning Highpower, Superposed and a lot more.

Love it or not, The A5 is a fantastic shotgun. For many decades of the 1900s there was no doubt that it was king. This was earned by reliability. A lot of people that used other guns wished they had an A5 but had to settle for something less expensive. Only during the latter part of the last century when hunters began a love affair with magnum loads did the A5 lose out to competitors. The recoil operated mechanism is not well suited for different power levels. Add that to the high cost of machining steel parts and it is time for a new design. Manufacturers are kind of funny, they don’t like to lose money.

The recoil mechanism requires a careful balance for best operation. This is located on the magazine tube and you need to completely understand how it functions before moving on to the rest of the gun. The ring attached to the barrel has a bevel cut on the side that bears on the bronze friction piece. This bevel causes the friction piece to squeeze the magazine tube when the barrel is pushed back during recoil and distribute the recoil during the cycle of operation. The goal is to have enough friction to completely absorb the energy by the time that the barrel has moved completely to the rear. Too soon and it won’t cycle the action, too late and the barrel/bolt combination slams into the rest of the gun and the action (along with the shooter!) is battered.

A combination of several factors determine how much friction is present between the friction piece and magazine tube. The quality of the surface on the tube, the type of oil on the tube, strength of recoil spring and placement of the friction ring all play a role.

Inspect the tube carefully. It should be smooth and shiny. Any scratches, dent or pitting will affect friction. If the gun was recently refinished and the tube is blue this will increase friction.

The type of oil can be a real troublemaker. The design of this gun was from 1900 before we had the super friction reducing lubricants of today. It needs a very light coat of oil for corrosion protection but none of the Teflon, moly, PTFE oils. These oils will defeat the recoil absorbing mechanism and the gun will literally beat itself to pieces. Broken stocks, split forends and even cracked receivers can result from just using the wrong lube. Many years ago I lubed my friend’s magnum with Breakfree when it first came out. He damaged a nerve in his shoulder and missed several good hunts. I think he would like to see me trip and fall to this day.

Of course the friction piece needs to hug the tub snugly. It has a steel spring around it that facilitates this. It should require a little effort to move it on the tube by hand. If it drops on, replace it. The steel spring that clamps around the friction piece should also be a very snug fit.

The friction ring is a small ring with a bevel cut that rides between the bronze friction piece and recoil spring. Its job is to cause the bottom of the bronze friction piece to squeeze the tube like the bevel of the barrel ring. This increases the grab of the friction piece for shooting heavy loads. Hold the friction piece against the barrel ring and push with the friction ring on the bottom while these parts are out of the gun and you will get a good visual of how it works. The friction ring can be placed below the recoil spring next to the receiver for safe keeping when shooting light loads.

 

With experience you will know by feel when this mechanism is properly tuned. Placing the unloaded gun on the floor butt down and pushing the barrel back into the receiver will be all you need to do. It should push back with smooth heavy pressure. If it is galling, gummy or sliding free it will need attention.

Now that you have a good idea how the recoil mechanism should work lets look at the cycle of operation and what problems can be expected.
Loading~ Older models require that the release button be pressed to allow the carrier to rise as you push a shell in the magazine. The latter models have a two piece carrier that allows shells to be pushed into the magazine without doing anything extra. This is a nice feature and older models can be retrofitted without any problems. If the magazine spring is rusted or broken it will jam the magazine follower. You should not hear any scraping or squeaking when you push on the follower. I like to do this with a small wooden dowel rod so I can move the follower several inches while listening and feeling for problems. The feed latch and shell stop should not interfere with the loading process. The cartridge stop is located on the bottom of the bolt and the shell to be fed will rest against it. If it is worn or otherwise defective then the shell can ride over this and get between the carrier and bolt. A real pain in the neck to push it back into the magazine and sometimes you have to dismantle the gun to clear the jam. You might need to grind the face square to prevent this.

Amazing how many people have never had anything but an A5 and don’t have any idea how it feeds. When the gun is fired the bolt and barrel are locked together and ride back into the receiver compressing the recoil spring and the action spring that powers the bolt. The shell to be fed into the action is pushing against the cartridge stop on the bolt and rides back with it until the shell stop that is located in the side of the receiver comes inward and catches the loaded shell and stops it from moving. This part operates on a cut on the barrel and is critical for functioning. It only protrudes about a 1/16th of an inch so it has to have a well-defined edge that will hold the shell. If this shell slips over the shell will continue and feed into the ejection port before the fired case can be ejected. The jam will be a failure to eject but the problem will be feeding too early. The fired case will be half out of the port and after you pull it free it will load the shell. If it does its job correctly then the shell will be delayed until the barrel bolt combination has reached the end of its range of motion. Understand that the bolt has not opened yet. Now the bolt overrides the carrier dog and is held to the rear. The powerful recoil spring now powers the barrel forward. The bolt locked to the rear holds the fired shell by the rim with the extractor and the barrel is pulled off of the fired shell. When the barrel is all the way forward the ejector mounted on the barrel strikes the shell rim opposite the extractor and the fired case is pivoted around the extractor. About the same time that the ejector strikes the shell stop folds back into the side of the receiver and the shell that was resting on it is released. The carrier that is connected to the bolt via the carrier dog is prevented from moving upward by the feed latch. The released shell now pushing rearward forces the feed latch to release the carrier and now the bolt can ride forward and the carrier rises lifting the new shell as the bolt pushes it into the chamber and the bolt lock rises and locks the bolt ready for the next firing. Whew! No wonder nobody knew how it worked. And we haven’t even got to firing
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Firing~ the trigger of the A5 really shows off the talent of Mr. Browning. When the trigger is pulled the hammer that is held by the trigger releases and flies forward powered by the hammer spring. The hammer strikes the firing pin and it leaps forward striking the primer and you have another duck to pick. Sounds simple enough, what could go wrong? Let’s go back to the start. Before you pulled the trigger you pushed the safety to the fire position and heard a click. If the safety doesn’t click or stay in place the trigger spring is broken. This spring is under the hammer spring and has three fingers. The outside two prongs power the trigger return and the middle prong presses a detent ball that rides on the safety. That hammer spring also can be loose and won’t have enough power to fire. This is usually from someone trying to take down for cleaning and loosening the wrong screw. Notice the hammer hooks on front and back. The hammers will break but it is rare. Inspect for cracks, especially on the hammer that have been lightened by a series of holes being drilled through the side. Look at the safety sear which keeps the trigger from being pulled unless the bolt is closed and locked. This part rides inside the bolt link and is operated by rear of the slot in the link when the bolt goes all the way forward. The hammer also goes through the link to strike the firing pin. Firing pins break and many times keep working. If both parts are retained in the bolt it works like a two piece firing pin but might misfire now and then.

Extraction~ is fairly simple compared to feeding and firing. Remember the fired case is held to the motionless bolt as the barrel flies forward. Brownings have two extractors but the clones like the Remington 11 have only the right. You can inspect and see any problems. Notice that the left extractor is not a sharp hook but rather a smooth bump. Its job is to hold the shell against the bolt face and cause it to be released with a snap. Of course the problem can also be a pitted chamber or dirt and carbon. Caution the owner to lightly oil and keep the chamber clean. This will save a lot of extractors.

If extraction went well then ejection will probably be a snap. Ejectors do break loose and disappear or worse go into the action. You should have spotted this on the initial inspection. Sharp and square ejectors give best results.

If you understand these cycles and inspect carefully you should spot the problem. Browning A5s usually break parts instead of bending or deforming and this makes them easier to diagnose the problem.

Parts to keep on hand are friction rings, trigger springs, extractors and magazine springs. The other parts are so infrequently used it will usually be more economical to order as needed.

A5 3” Magnum

Not an entirely different gun but it has enough problems of its own to make it into a separate discussion. The main difference is a longer stiffer recoil spring that is designed to take up that shoulder bruising recoil of the magnum, and I mean the old lead shot 1 7/8 oz load. After steel shot became the norm for waterfowl it became apparent that steel didn’t recoil as much as lead (you knew that!) and adjustments were necessary.

The first look at the friction rings on the magnum A5 might cause a double take but if you understand how they work it becomes simple. Two bronze friction rings and three bevel cut friction rings allow the owner to make more mistakes than a blind man with a rubix cube. Remember one bevel is built in the barrel ring and for max friction you want bevels on each side of the bronze friction pieces. Now it sounds easier doesn’t it. Of course the same information about lubrication applies with the magnum but maybe even more so. With close to double the load and fierce recoil more is at stake.

This model came with a recoil pad as standard equipment and it should probably be upgraded to one of the new softer pads.
If the gun is used with steel shot and has a full choke barrel now is a good time to educate the customer about better patterns with steel if he has the choke opened up a little.

If the customer wants a more versatile gun capable of firing light loads as well you can make a kit consisting of a standard recoil spring and friction piece and make a spacer with the lathe out of aluminum to make up the difference in length between the springs and it will function with light loads. Just make certain he understands he will wreck the gun shooting magnums with the light spring.

The A5 family of shotguns have proven record of reliability in field conditions. The secret to a long trouble free life with an A5 is stay with a good load and tune the gun for it. For most of the years this gun was manufactured this was not a problem because there were only two choices, light field load or heavy (high brass). Remember this and educate your customer (sometimes harder than stacking BBs) and this gun will still give years of trouble free shooting.

 

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Final Fitting

FINAL FITTING

 

IT IS ALWAYS THE DEVIL IN THE DETAILS THAT GETS YOU. IT WILL BE A SMALL SENTENCE INCLUDED WITH THE PARTS YOU BOUGHT FOR THAT OLD GUN THAT SAYS “SOME FITTING REQUIRED” THAT RELEASES THE SELLER FROM ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR HAVING THE PART THE CORRECT SIZE OR SHAPE. MAYBE THEY WILL USE THE PHRASE “TO BE INSTALLED BY A COMPETENT GUNSMITH” OR SOMETHING ELSE BUT IT COMES DOWN TO THE BOTTOM LINE IF YOU READ LONG ENOUGH, IT WILL BE THE WORK OF THE GUNSMITH THAT WILL EITHER MAKE THAT GUN WORK BETTER THAN NEW OR SOMETHING LESS. WHEN IT GETS DOWN TO THE LAST FEW THOUSANDTHS IT IS THE WORK OF THE OLD MASTER GUNSMITHS THAT WE WANT TO COPY. TO DO THIS WE NEED TO KNOW HOW THEY DID IT WAY BACK WHEN. EVEN THOUGH WE CAN APPRECIATE THE BEAUTY OF THEIR WORK THERE IS NO NEED TO ABANDON MODERN CONVENIENCE WHEN IT WILL PRODUCE A SAVINGS OR ENHANCE WORK. THOSE OLD GUYS WERE ALSO ALWAYS LOOKING FOR A BETTER, FASTER AND EASIER WAY BUT THEY WOULD NEVER USE ANY METHOD THAT RESULTED IN LOWER QUALITY WORK. THIS IS WHY WE MARVEL AT THEIR WORK.

THE HAND SCRAPER IS A MAGIC TOOL FOR FINAL FITTING. NOT MANY PEOPLE REALIZE HOW VERSATILE AND BENEFICIAL THIS TOOL CAN BE. THINK OF THE SCRAPER AS A ONE TOOTH FILE. IT CAN REMOVE THE FINEST SHAVING OF METAL AND CAN BE CUSTOM GROUND TO ANY SHAPE AND REGROUND AS MANY TIMES AS THE STEEL WILL ALLOW. STOCK MAKERS ARE ALL ABOUT SCRAPERS FOR REMOVING THAT FINAL BIT OF WOOD TO ACHIEVE THE PERFECT FIT BUT SCRAPERS ARE JUST AS VERSATILE WHEN IT COMES TO REMOVING METAL. AS LONG AS THE SCRAPER IS HARDER THAN THE METAL IT WILL REMOVE METAL. MY FAVORITE IS A THREE SIDED SCRAPER GROUND FROM AN OLD THREE SIDED FILE. I LIKE THE FLATS AROUND 1/4 INCH WIDE AND MINE TAPERS TO A POINT AFTER ABOUT 1 INCH. IT IS SET IN A SMOOTH HARDWOOD HANDLE. I HAVE SEVERAL OTHERS BUT THIS IS MY FAVORITE.

SMOKE IS THE MACHINIST INK OF OLD. A LIGHT COAT OF SOOT FROM A KEROSENE LAMP WILL MAKE A FLAT BLACK COATING THAT WILL BE DISTURBED BY THE LIGHTEST TOUCH. IN USE THE PART IS SMOKED AND THEN WORKED TO REVEAL WHERE THE HIGH SPOTS ARE LOCATED. THESE SPOTS ARE LIGHTLY SCRAPED OR POLISHED TO ACHIEVE A BETTER FIT. IT WON’T MAKE MOTHER HAPPY WHEN SHE SEES YOUR HANDS BUT IT HAS WORKED FOR CENTURIES. OF COURSE ANYTIME YOU WILL BE USING AN OPEN FLAME AT THE WORKBENCH OR EVEN INSIDE THE SHOP STOP AND REVIEW YOUR SAFETY.

ABRASIVE BLASTING WITH GLASS BEADS CAN BE OF USE LIKE THE SMOKE POT. WHEN THE PARTS ARE EVENLY FROSTED FROM THE BEAD BLASTER THEY CAN BE ASSEMBLED AND WORKED TO REVEAL HIGH SPOTS AND AREAS OF DRAG. THIS MIGHT BE EASIER THAN SMOKE IN SOME APPLICATIONS BUT BE CAREFUL WITH GETTING GLASS BEADS IN SENSITIVE AREAS.

LAPPING PLATES HAVE BEEN USED TO ACHIEVE PERFECTLY FLAT POLISHED SURFACES ON PARTS SINCE BEFORE JOHN BROWNING’S GRANDPA PICKED UP HIS FIRST FILE. LAPPING PLATES ARE PERFECTLY FLAT PLATES THAT ARE SCORED AT REGULAR INTERVALS FOR ABRASIVE COMPOUND. AS THE PART IS MOVED ACROSS THE SURFACE OF THE PLATE HIGH POINTS ARE GROUND DOWN UNTIL THE PART BECOMES PERFECTLY FLAT. IT IS LIKE A MANUALLY POWERED SURFACE GRINDER! PARTS LIKE THE SIDES OF HAMMERS AND TRIGGERS REALLY GET SLICK WHEN THE SIDES ARE POLISHED ON A LAPPING PLATE.

OTHER LAPS CAN BE FASHIONED INTO ANY REQUIRED SHAPE AND USED TO POLISH ALMOST ANYTHING. JUST LIKE BUFFING WHEELS THEY SHOULD ONLY BE USED WITH ONE SIZE ABRASIVE. LAPS CAN BE MADE OF LEAD, BRASS OR EVEN WOOD. IN USE THE ABRASIVE STICKS INTO THE SOFT SURFACE AND CUTS THE HARDER METAL. WHILE NOT EXACTLY LAPPING, A WOODEN STICK WITH BROWNELL’S 555 POLISH WILL TAKE STEEL TO AN OPTICAL FINISH AND PUT AN EDGE ON A KNIFE THAT IS SCARY SHARP.

POLISHING STICKS CAN BE MADE UP WITH FINE SANDPAPER FOR A FEW BUCKS THAT WILL DO AWESOME POLISHING. SIMPLY PUT THE PAPER ON A FLAT SURFACE AND SPRAY WITH ADHESIVE. THEN WRAP TIGHTLY ON THE STICK AND TRIM EXCESS WITH A RAZOR KNIFE. A POOR BOY’S VERSION OF A LAPPING PLATE CAN BE MADE BY USING THE FINE SANDPAPER GLUED TO A FLAT SURFACE. WOOD WILL WORK BUT SOMETIMES A TRIP TO THE LOCAL GLASS SHOP WILL RESULT IN A PIECE OF FLAT GLASS THAT WILL SERVE AS PERFECTLY FLAT BACKING JUST FOR THE PRICE OF ASKING!

ONE OF THE CLOSELY GUARDED SECRETS OF MASTER GUNSMITHS WAS TO MATCH WORKING PARTS AS TO HARDNESS. THIS REQUIRES A ROCKWELL TESTER BUT THE RESULTS WILL BE YOUR WORK HOLDING UP BETTER TO WEAR. IT ONLY MAKES SENSE THAT WHEN A HARD AND NOT SO HARD PART RUB TOGETHER FOR YEARS THAT THE SOFTER PART WILL WEAR OUT, HOWEVER IF BOTH PARTS ARE EQUALLY MATCHED THE WEAR LOAD WILL SHARED AND THE PARTS WILL GO THROUGH MANY MORE CYCLES BEFORE THEY NEED REFITTING. THE FAMOUS PISTOLSMITH JOHN VIDECKI WAS ENVIED FOR 1911 TRIGGER JOBS THAT SEEMED TO OUTLAST EVERYBODY ELSE’S WORK. HE TOLD ME HE SORTED AND MATCHED UP HAMMERS AND SEARS TO THE SAME ROCKWELL HARDNESS BEFORE HAND AND THAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE. HE ALSO MADE SURE OF CORRECT PART GEOMETRY. WE SHOT TOGETHER FOR MANY YEARS AND HAD A LOT OF GOOD TIMES.

 

TIMOTHY P. WHEALTON

 

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Hope

HOPE

I wrote this after reading 1st Peter. It’s a letter he wrote late in life to Christians living in a bad time. How did he have so much hope? Christians were being tortured in horrible ways for having faith in Jesus.
Hope gets a bad rap sometimes in our modern language. Let’s say I need to borrow $500 this month. You don’t really have it to spare but I convince you that I will absolutely pay you back before next month so you can pay your bills on time. You ask me after the 7th if I am going to pay and I say “absolutely”. You ask me on the 18th and I say “absolutely”. You ask me on the 28th and I say “I hope so”! You know you made a mistake. Seems hope has a double meaning. Be careful where your hope resides!

It’s not without reason that our God is referred to as the God of Hope throughout the bible. It is hope that is intertwined who we are as Christians. It sustains us, makes us joyful in good times and is our life preserver when times are bad. But what is it?

Hope is the confident expectation that things will be better. For Christians our hope centers on a future with God. Not just being there where God is but connected with God and able to share without holding anything back. That hope is in the future but tremendous rewards are given in the present for those with hope.

Everybody wants hope. Millions are spent each year as major corporations search for ways to give their employees hope. They call it “optimism”. You can call it faith, hope or optimism but it is still the same. It has been proven over and over that optimistic people work harder, are happier, and are healthier, more generous and smarter. You know this is true. Whenever you compare someone who can’t but thinks he can to someone that can but thinks he can’t, hopeful people win every time. Seems like hope is a gas gauge for the soul. People with plenty of hope are anxious to take on new task, work harder and want to things completed so they can tackle something new. People with hope have a peace that passes all understanding. Hope is the fire we have to keep burning in our lives.

No reason for a Christian to not be overflowing with hope. So what keeps us from bubbling over? It’s an enemy as old as time itself. He fell from Heaven like lightning before time began. He was there in the garden. He is still here and full of lies. He is Satan. He is always at your elbow. He can be well dressed and charming. He looks good in heels or blue jeans when it fits his purpose. If you are not working for God you will be working for Satan. His retirement plan stinks!

While our God is all about the future Satan is all about your past. God says I have cleaned you and made you new. Satan says you have done bad things and don’t deserve a good future. We know all too well the mistakes of our past. They haunt us without any help but Satan has plenty of help.

Who would help Satan? Sad answer is most of your friends and you and me. It might not be recognized at first glance but it’s there. You will see it as soon as a person starts to excel. We don’t like to be outdone so we help the Devil by pulling up someone’s past. No matter what they do we won’t let them escape their mistakes. Maybe we do it to make our mistakes look smaller but we do it. Peter tells us to be a student, not a critic. Students learn

So how do we get hope. If you are a Christian you have hope. But we want more. We want our hope tanks full and running over. Number 1 best way I found is to study the 4 stories of Jesus life. It’s the first 4 books of the New Testament. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Not just a glance but a study. The jewels are so numerous you will find new ones every time you look. Small details that bring understanding. Never stop learning. Without knowledge you can never have hope. With knowledge of God you can’t help but have hope!

The next way is to put God’s plan into action. God says just test me and you will know I am real and you will be filled with hope. Hope is faith and our Bible says without works faith is dead. God is all about freedom, he will give you opportunity to serve him over and over. You get to decide how to serve. No wrong choices here. Jesus brought it out over and over in his parables that the faithful servant will be busy doing the will of God.

Be ready for Satan when you start. He hates faith, hope, love and anything that connects you with God. If your faith is in God then Satan has lost. If your faith is in yourself he has won. Satan will attack you when your hope is at its lowest point. Every time!

Maybe you have seen a glow stick before. They started out as toys for children but now they are much more. In an emergency they can be used for rescue or a safety marker on a kid’s bike. You will see them on Halloween so drivers can spot the trick or treaters. But they have been used by our military for several years in combat. The military version is infrared. Not visible to the eye without night vision. Our troops are the only ones that can see them. In a firefight at night they can spot friendly troops.

So what are the directions on the glow stick? They have to be broken to shine. Same directions work for Christians. We were broken and now we can shine! A believer filled with the knowledge of God will be filled with hope and shine for all to see!

2016 years ago you were given a present. You should have received by now. Maybe you have never opened your present or maybe you opened it but set it aside for later. Open and enjoy the best present ever given this year.

 

 

 

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Friends

Friends

My parents knew how important they were years ago. When I was old enough to be trusted to leave the yard I would have to get permission first. This was one of the few occasions where forgiveness was NOT easier to get than permission. Whenever I asked to leave the next question was “Who will you be with?” It seemed that who I was with was more important to them than where I was going. It was a long time before I found out why.
My parents were old enough to know (I thought they were born old!) how much our friends shape our lives. Friends will set the standards that we live by. It won’t be in a written resolution but it will be obvious what they consider worthy goals and we will try to conform. Good friends enhance performance more than any other reward. We were built to connect, we want to connect and connecting with a quality friend is the best hope we have. As the saying goes “steel sharpens steel!”
Throughout my life my friends have proven to be a catalyst for everything that has happened. Sometimes they coached me to new heights. Sometimes they kept me from reaching a new low but they were always involved. My friends are very different but all are useful and enrich my life. I often pray that they can say the same about me. Or as I told my brother “I wish your brother was as good as mine!”
If you do something really good or reach a goal without friends you will feel like you haven’t done anything special. The joy from sharing with a friend is always better than the actual reward. Friends are that important. It is obvious that were designed to connect and once we do having a friend magnify every experience. Sharing the experience just makes it richer and much more important. That’s why the first thing we do when something happens is tell a friend.
It’s hard to imagine how bad a life would be without friends. You get up and weigh and you have lost 20 pounds. No one to tell. You get to work and you have been promoted. It’s just a day at work cause there no one that cares. You get a call from the doctor that your biopsy is back and you need to come in for a consultation and to bring a friend. You have to go alone. You wish you had someone. Doesn’t sound like much of a life does it?
When I was 19 I was a telephone man and I went to work on an old man’s phone. He was over 90 but his mind was sharp and his life had been full. He had lots of stories to tell. He was gassed in WWI and shot in WWII. He fell in love with a prostitute and married her. He loved her 30 years till she died in his arms. He had a friend in the war that was killed saving him when he was wounded. It seemed he had lived the equivalent of 3 lives in his 90 years. I stayed as long as I could but before I left I remember saying “It must be nice to live so long.” He sighed and said “Not really, you have to watch your friends die.” It didn’t sink in then but I have heard his words many times since then in my head. When you lose a friend you are diminished.
Friendships are certainly not the same. Some friends are experts at one thing and can help you in a certain field. Since I was involved with competitive shooting for most of my life I had several shooting friends. They wanted to shoot better than me but only if I was shooting my best. On the days when I shot on the wrong target or my gun gave trouble they took no joy in a better score. But when I had a good day they relished telling about firing a score even one point higher. They knew getting beat would make me work harder. They also knew me working harder would make them work harder. We improved each other. Steel sharpens steel. That’s what friends are all about.
Some friends are needy. They need more help than they can ever give back and have little to repay the “friend debt.” Somehow effort used to help a friend always get paid back. Maybe it is the sincerity of their thanks or it might the way we are wired but it always feels really good to help someone that can’t pay it back. When it is a friend it always feels like the right thing to do.
I recently read a story about a man that depended on friends. He made the hike on the Appalachian Trail. If you don’t know it is a mountain hiking trail that starts in Georgia and ends in Maine. It is over 2000 miles of foot travel. You carry what you need with you. There are shelters spaced a day apart but they only give you shelter from mountain weather which can be rather nasty. Most hikers trying to do the entire trail start in April in Georgia and follow the warm air north.
This man’s name is Trevor. He didn’t have anyone to hike the entire trail with so he would go as far as he could and then wait till the next group coming through would pass him sitting on the trail. He would ask if he could hike with them. Many said no but enough were willing to make friends with a stranger to keep him on the trail. He became the first blind person to make the hike from Georgia to Maine
Try to imagine sitting in the woods on a trail and hoping someone comes. What if nobody comes? Imagine hearing someone (or something!) approaching. Are they friendly? Are they good? Will they rob me? Will they leave me here? Will I be a tasty snack? Staking your life on your ability to make friends is a little unnerving.
We stake our lives on our ability to make friends so we better be good at it. We select our friends so we need to be good at assessing what a friend can do, can’t do, won’t do and will do. I must have had help selecting my friends because I don’t think I’m capable of getting the ones I have on my own. Only problem is they can’t be around all the time and I need help 24×7!
I need a friend that I can keep in my pocket. Someone that will be with me day and night ready to help. He needs to very smart, very interested in me, want the best for me even if it kills him. Someone that will never betray my trust and always have my back. This friend needs to add to my life and never take away. He will need to be patient, forgiving, kind, truthful and show me by example how I can be my best. Sounds like a pipe dream doesn’t it. I thought so too.
Imagine a friend you can summon in one second no matter where you are. With a fulltime friend like that on-call you could learn to rely on him a lot more. It would be so easy! All you have to do is look at the problem and ask “OK, what do I do?” A true friend will steer you clear of being self-centered because he knows that brings disaster in the end.
A true friend will tell what is best. It might not be what you want to hear but that is what makes it a “true friend.” Seems like that has been where I went wrong many times. I knew what a good friend would tell me to do but I did what I wanted instead of what was best.
There are people that live each day with a friend like that. They are called Christians. In one second they can have God with them. That is the easy part because he never leaves them anyway. Even though they have messed up God’s plan over and over he has forgiven them. And when they ask for forgiveness in the future he will forgive again. As long as the request is sincere and coupled with the hope to do it right next time.
It can go to your head to have friend that powerful. That’s Ok as long as you let it go to your heart too. This friend is a teacher and he does what all teachers do. They try to make their students like them. It won’t ever happen but the students can be the best version of their selves possible.
Having God for your best friend is God’s plan. He made us to connect with him. When we accept him fully we begin to understand how wonderful a friend truly is and it only gets better. We learn more with each passing day how God loves us, cares for us and protects us from evil.
As awesome as it is to have God as your best friend it only happens with an invitation. We are more blind than Trevor when it comes to life. We need to make that invitation and walk the trail to forever with God before we are left alone in darkness.

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Long Range Shooting

 

 

 

Long Range Shooting School

 

Some things just seem too complicated at first glance so we just put them on the back burner till a better time comes along. Long range shooting must be one of these because it is rare to get new people to show up at a match unless an “old shooter” has brought them for the first time. Maybe performance anxiety or fear of finding out how bad they really shoot but a lot of people never get to enjoy the fun of doing something they once thought impossible, hitting a target with a bullet fired from a rifle 1000 yards away. Maybe the interest in long range shooting stirred up by the American Sniper movie will encourage a few more people to give it a try.

The sport of long range shooting has a rich history that dates back to the 1800’s. America distinguished itself early as a rifleman’s country in international competition and is currently the home of more gun owners and competition shooters than anywhere on earth.

Long range shooting is a true lifetime sport that will have senior competitors competing with open and junior class shooters without handicap. Not unusual to have a 70 year old man win a match and a 19 year old woman take second or vice versa. That won’t happen in any of the “ball sports”.

Maybe you are asking “exactly what is long range”? Well for the majority of shooters it means 1000 yard shooting. There are 600 yard matches and matches where we shoot 800, 900 and 1000 but the heart of long range is the 1000 yard line. That is around 5/8 of a mile and your bullet will be dropping over 30 feet. That would be hard to figure but you already know it will be 1000 yards for every shot. You also know when you come back next time that it will be 1000 yards every shot so you don’t have to find a “zero” and adjust but one time! Sounds easy already doesn’t it!

But what style of shooting will it be? It’s  a question that gets asked a lot. The answer is it’s your choice. You can shoot from a rest with a scope or try your hand at shooting prone while holding your rifle off the ground with the aid of a sling. Most long range matches are a combination of “F” class shooters and “sling” shooters. Since the time limits are the same this doesn’t pose any problems.

“F” class shooting is long range shooting using rest or sand bags on the ground. It might be called benchrest without a bench. The rifle can be supported front and rear on rest placed on the ground and any rifle any sight  combination is allowed.  F class shooters make up the bulk of the shooters attending our N.C. long range matches. A heavy barrel bolt action in a caliber like 6.5×284 or 6mm with a fast twist barrel and fitted with a 24 power scope would be right at home with this group. Since the rifle is rested and the distance doesn’t change the competition is centered around having the most accurate rifle, loading the most accurate ammunition and reading the wind changes that cause the bullet to deflect left and right.

“Sling” shooters are basically NRA highpower competitors. They shoot from the prone position and the rifle must be supported by the shooter. It take a little more practice to learn how to maintain a good position but the idea is the same. The scoring rings are larger since the rifles are held and not rested. Sling shooters are shooting rifles equipped with open sights most of the time. While this sounds impossible the open sights are very refined and used to center on a black circle in the middle of a white background. It also helps that our ranges face north so the targets are in the sun. Most long range matches will have events for open sights and scope sighted rifles. Usually the scores are almost identical or only separated by a few points. Sling shooters have more shooting opportunities. They shoot in regular highpower matches, Palma matches and Fullbore matches.

Palma is a special long range match fired between the English speaking countries of the world in a host country every 4 years. The format is 15 shots from the 800, 900, and 1000yard line. Rifles must be 308 Winchester caliber and bullets over 156 grains are prohibited. Open sights only

Fullbore is new to the U.S. It is fired from 300 to 1000 yards and with 308 rifles and open sights only. It has it’s roots in military competition and is the most popular long range match for most of the countries that allow rifle shooting. The targets are challenging and it is all fired prone position slow fire. Slow fire means the target is pulled down and scored each shot. All long range shooting of all types are slow fire events. You can use a semi auto but you will only load one at a time.

 

You will find a lot of different caliber rifles being fired at 1000 yards but the majority will be 308 Winchester and 6.5×284. Most will be bolt actions with long heavy barrels and stocks with features to make them easier to shoot from the prone position. Except for Palma and Fullbore you are not restricted by caliber. Since you cannot use a muzzle brake to vent your muzzle blast and recoil on your competitor lying next to you you might enjoy something less than the largest thing your action will handle. Remember you don’t have to kill the target, only hit it!

Bullet selection will depend on the caliber and barrel but usually it will be a boat tail match bullet chosen for it’s ability to be less deflected by side wind during flight to the target. I always like to save a lot of head scratching and just copy what the winners are using. Once you win you can start looking for something better. By then you should know enough about the sport to make better decisions.

The other equipment needed will consist of a ammo, spotting scope, a ground mat, sunblock, some snacks and drinks and any other comfort items. Position shooters or “sling shooters” will need shooting coats and gloves to help keep them steady and protect from recoil. That rifle didn’t seem to kick when you shot that deer last year but you will firing it close to 100 times at the match each day.

Since it is hard to describe every type of long range shooting I will just try to describe how to try shooting a 1000 yard match with a local club. The closest one for  eastern North Carolina and me is the Coastal Carolina Rifle Club.

So what kind of rifle will you need? The rules allow several but if you have never been to a match or don’t have a friend to help you it is probably best to go and observe the first time. Shooters love to talk and they love new shooters that want to try so you will find lots of advice. You can shoot old military rifles like an M1 Garand or a tricked out match rifle. You can spend a lot or a little but a shooter that shoots anything learns more than one that stays home and talks about shooting.

 

Entry in the match is easy. First look at the club web site. coastalcarolinarifleclub.com. Check out the club information and pick an upcoming match. The range is on base at Stones Bay and it is an active USMC range where Marines shoot most week days. Access is restricted so you will need to email your intentions and vehicle information at least 10 days prior so a pass can be made available at the sentry gate. You simply stop at the gate, show your ID and pick up your pass. The Marines are great host and very accommodating.

Next you drive to the 1000 yard range and go to the range house to enter and get your target assignments. You will pay an entry fee and usually a target puller fee. Having a paid target puller allows the shooter more time to prepare and enjoy a leisurely day. It is without question money well spent.

Normally each target will have 4 shooters assigned. Relay 1 will shoot first. Relay 2 will assist the shooter during sighting and record the hits on a score sheet. Relay 3 and 4 will be waiting in the area behind the firing line or operating the target if no paid target pullers are available. Relay 2 shoots next while relay 1 scores and 3 and 4 are still idle. When relay 2 is finished 3 and 4 come to the firing line while 1 and 2 rest and prepare.

Most 1000 yard matches are fired with a 30 minute time limit. Shooters are allowed unlimited sighting shots to get on target and the score keeper can assist. The target is pulled down in a pit and a white disc is inserted in the shot hole. When the target is raised the shooter can see where the shot impacted and adjust as needed. When the next shot is fired the target is pulled and the spotting disc is moved to the new shot hole. The old impact is covered with a paster and the process is repeated. The shooter will tell the score keeper when he is ready to begin shooting the 20 rounds for score.

Once the shooter has started firing the shots for record the score keeper cannot assist or coach the shooter since this is an individual competition. Team matches are the only time a shooter can get advice on adjusting sights, wind changes or other help. Many shooters fire 5 or 6 rounds before “going for record” but if it takes as many as 10 it will be hard to complete the 20 record shots before the time expires. Extra time will be given if the target breaks or is slow but not for taking too long to shoot.

For F class shooters the ability to hold the rifle steady on target no problem since it is rested but firing from rest brings its own peculiar set of difficulties. Rifles powerful enough to be accurate at 1000 yards are going to recoil. This recoil must be handled the same each shot to get good accuracy. You can’t change any pressure on the rifle without affecting accuracy. It is like shooting a tuning fork.

Once shooters learn how to shoot regardless of sling or rested they must learn to compensate for wind deflection. A 10 MPH wind will move a 308 bullet 100 inches when it is blowing from the side (full value). Since the 10 ring on the target is 20 inches and you are aiming at the middle it is only 10 inches from the middle to the 9 ring. So if everything else is perfect and the wind changes over an average of 1 mph you will shoot a nine!

1000 yard wind reading is a subject that deserves it’s own article but here is the short version. The sights or scope will have adjustments that are made to move the strike of the bullet 1/4 minute of angle per click. That equals 2.5 inches at 1000 yards. You look at the angle the wind is blowing in relation to the bullet flight. Straight in the face at 12 o’clock or at behind at 6 o’clock  has zero value, across the range from a 3 or 9 o’clock has full value.

Here is an example. 1000 yard with an eight mph average wind coming in around 2 o’clock. It is hitting the flight of the bullet around a 45 degree angle and will be a half value wind. It will move the bullet strike 40 inches to the left. You will adjust 16 clicks to the right ( 1/4 minute adjustments) for a center hit.

While it is impossible for most shooters to find a 1000 yard range to use for practice a lot of training can be done at short range. Reduced targets are available to simulate for 1000 yard shooting at 100, 200 or 300 yards. A good 22 target rifle fitted with scope or open sight will teach the basics of position shooting with a sling and help you build a good prone position. Even match air rifle at 10 meters prone will make you a better 1000 yard shooter.

One of the most important things to find for a shooter is a shooting buddy. This should be someone close to your ability so your natural competitive desire will encourage you to practice. Having someone to travel to matches, listen to your ideas and push you a little when you want to find an easier sport will have a wonderful effect on your shooting and add to your fun. Hopefully you will do the same for your buddy!

 

Timothy P. Whealton

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What will we wear in Heaven

 

 

 

What will we wear in Heaven?

(Written in June 2015)

It was a little over a year ago when the Chaplin asked if we needed any help with anything. My sister had been silent but suddenly said she said she had some questions about Heaven. When the Chaplin said “please let me help” her question was “what will we wear in Heaven”? I could tell he was not expecting this question. When he asked her to clarify she wanted to know if we would all wear white robes in Heaven or be naked or have outfits? If we had outfits would we wear the same thing forever or would you change each day? Could you wear more than one outfit a day. Were there places to shop for clothes or were they provided? What about shoes? I could tell the Chaplin had spent his time telling people how to get to heaven but like the rest of us he really couldn’t  say what we would be doing on a daily basis. I didn’t want to confound the poor Chaplin with more than he could handle but I had questions too. I wanted to know what we would do each day but I already knew what we would wear.

I have always been blessed to be a dreamer. While I’m awake I can dream up all sorts of things but it is when I’m asleep that I really show off. One night I might be a war correspondent gathering information during a complicated global conflict or maybe a sailor gliding over beautiful blue green water. I just don’t know till I go to sleep but I do know it is usually a great way to spend the night. I rarely have disturbing dreams. I have had a few but even those were not crazy or what you would call nightmares. Most are enjoyable, some enlightening and some down right funny.

Like the time I dreamed I was black. I dreamed I was in bed and my Mother ( who was a large black woman) came and opened the bedroom door and told me to get up out of that bed and do what she had told me to do. That was when I looked at my hands and realized my hands were black. I had never thought about being black so I don’t know where that dream came from. When I told my friend Johnny at the shop about it he said “I wouldn’t have been looking at my hands”.

In spite of an amazing ability to dream while asleep the most amazing sight I ever had in my mind came while I was awake. I don’t know if is correct to call it a vision or a daydream but I know what I saw and it has remained clear for 26 years. I didn’t discuss it for many years because I didn’t want people to think I was crazy but I don’t think I can hide that anymore so I will share. Maybe there is someone that needs to hear it. God has a way of shining his light on something and letting it help someone.

It was on my birthday in 1989. I was shooting in a rifle match in Butner with the National Guard team. The Guard never cared if it was your birthday when they made the schedule. I was on the firing line when a police officer from Butner Public Safety drove up and asked if Tim Whealton was there. I immediately had that sick feeling you get in the pit of your stomach. He told me they had been notified that my mother was in the hospital in New Bern and not doing well. I left the range and started the 3 hour drive to New Bern. On the way I found out Mom had suffered a heart attack and cardiac arrest. She had been resuscitated in the ambulance and was alive on a ventilator. If you knew my Mom you knew this was the worst case scenario. She had retired as a hospital nurse and always let us know to never resuscitate her or allow her to be kept alive with no hope recovery. The ambulance crew had no way of knowing this and they did what they were supposed to do. Experienced ambulance crews will look for reasons to not do CPR but standing orders are clear, when in doubt resuscitate.

I thought about when I had called to check on her a few days before. I had asked her what she was doing and her reply was like so many times before, “just sitting here waiting for Jesus to say “come on Bessie!” That was my Mom. She had worn out her body and was ready to see her Lord and if you knew her of this you had no doubts.

When I arrived at the hospital my family was already there in the family waiting area outside the cardiac unit. The doctors came out and gave us the grim news. Her heart was beating but she was brain damaged with no hope of recovery. Even though each of us knew exactly what she would want us to do it was amazing how hard it was to say it was time to turn off the ventilator. In the back of our minds I’m sure we thought about those stories of people waking up but this was reality and we had to be strong for her and each other. She had raised us to be ready and we all agreed. After we signed the consent we waited in the family area in silence. That was when I had my vision.

I was sitting with my eyes closed and suddenly I was in the cardiac unit looking down the hall. I saw my mother come out of her room and start walking down the hall towards me. Even though she was coming towards me she wasn’t coming to me in particular. She had the most beautiful smile on her face and she was wearing a conservative gray outfit that fit well. As she walked past the open rooms she waved goodbye and smiled. With every step she seemed to be aging in reverse and was becoming more beautiful. Suddenly her progress was stopped and hands were on her shoulders. Her smile was gone and a look of fear came over her face. I was back in the waiting room.

I waited in silence with the others and after a long time the doctor came out with news. They had removed the ventilator and she wasn’t breathing but after a period of a couple of minutes she had started breathing on her own. Apparently there was enough brain function to make her breathe but nothing else. There was no way to predict how long this could go on but it was the worse case scenario. Four days later, late at night the angels came and she got to leave for good. I know exactly what she was wearing and how she looked.

I’m convinced you get to wear what you want. Just make sure you get there!

 

 

Timothy P. Whealton

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The Path

I Got It Wrong

Not unusual for me but I don’t like it. I wasted a lot of time trying to be a minimum Christian. I wanted to be good enough to be accepted at church but bad enough that the fun people would like me too. It didn’t work and I failed with both. Then I kept waiting for a blinding flash of light and voice of the Almighty to tell me what to do. I thought that to become a Christian I would have to go through something Like the Apostle Paul when God struck him blind to get his attention. I figured the bigger the sin the bigger the event to change. I was wrong!
When I talked with many of my favorite Christians I heard a familiar theme repeated over and over. They changed their lives by doing one small step of obedience after another. Their lives didn’t change in a big bang but more like a long fizzle. Now I realize that following Jesus is what changes you. You don’t have to do anything spectacular to start, just follow.

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“But that’s not why I bought it”

You probably bought a bore sighter when you first decided to start working on guns so you could sight in a rifle without shooting it at the range. You might have decided that it wasn’t worth what you paid for it when you fired that bore sighted rifle for the first time. If you were lucky or had a big target you might have been on the paper but certainly bore sighting isn’t sighting in.

Even though the bore sighter or collimator won’t sight in your rifle it is still a big help and an ammo saver. I always bore sight first and then fire a quick shot at 25 yards to make sure I don’t waste time getting on target. When I say quick shot I mean just an offhand shot. It won’t be perfect and it doesn’t have to be. Just remember where the crosshairs were on the target and make sure your shot is where you expect it. Remember if the scope is high above the bore the bullet strike will be low at 25 yards. As a matter of fact if you use a good ballistic program you can find out where your rifle will strike at 25 or 100 yards when it is sighted in at any distant yardage. This can be a real plus when you are headed to a 600 yard match and you have a new scope on your rifle. My 308 match rifle will strike 4.5 inches high at 25 yards when it is zeroed for 600 yard shooting.

Your bore sighter will also be used after you have finished firing  and have a good zero at a specific range. Say you just shot at 900 yards, it only takes a few seconds to record the bore sighter setting so next time you can confirm that you really have the rifle adjusted for 900 yards.

Now you probably already knew about bore sighters but maybe there are some other things that you can do with a collimator that hasn’t occurred to you yet. Here are a few of the neat tricks of the trade.

Checking scopes– use your bore sighter to look at the repeatability of your scope adjustments and backlash. Backlash is dead space when you are adjusting in one direction and you reverse. You are clicking right and the crosshairs are moving the correct amount each click but when you go back the other direction it clicks maybe 3 clicks before the crosshairs move. This drives good shooters up the wall in competition.

It goes something like this— You shoot and get a 10 but it is on the right side. You click one click left and shoot another 10 in the same spot. You put on another click trying to get to the X ring in the middle of the target but still hit in the same spot. Now you decide to try 2 or more clicks and get a 9 on the left side. Disgusted you move right one click and get another 9 in the same spot. If you knew you had this much backlash you would know how to adjust your scope. The bore sighter is the quickest way to find out about these internal problems in scopes.

Checking iron sights– the bore sighter will allow you to align iron sights just like a scope. It just might be a little harder to see! It can also be used to find out how high a new sight will need to be by using the bore sighter with a caliper. By holding the points of the caliper on the barrel where the front sight will go you can sight across the rear sight and adjust the caliper to center it on the bore sighter just like the caliper is a front sight. Of course it can be used the same way in place of the rear sight.  If you use the same bore sighter all the time you should know where on the grid will be closer to being sighted in!

You can even use the bore sighter to check bedding–If the crosshairs move when you slacken and tighten the action screws you might need to pay some attention to your bedding. If you can push the barrel from side to side in the barrel channel and the crosshairs stops in different locations on the bore sighter it will do the same when it shoots.

Being a gunsmith is hard enough. Might as well save yourself some trouble when you can. Learning to get the most out of your tools can make your life a lot easier!  Your tools will help you “Do Good Work” but they won’t do it for you!

 

Timothy P. Whealton

 

 

 

 

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Springs

Springs

 

You probably took them for granted before starting a course of study in Gunsmithing. It’s easy to do, they are everywhere and cheap. They rarely fail compared to how much they are operated and are hidden from view. When you stop and think about it springs make a lot of thing possible that would be hard to live without. Before you can make one you have to know what a spring really is made of and how this little moving part works without moving parts.

Springs are made of carbon steel. The carbon has to be of sufficient quantities in the steel before the steel can be transformed into a spring. The best way to make sure of this is to purchase spring steel specifically for spring making. Brownells sells every type of spring making stock a gunsmith is likely to need and I’m sure there are others as well. The old blacksmith didn’t have a way to log on and order spring stock but you can be sure he would have loved to have the resources we have today. The old saying “they don’t make it like they use too” is true about steel and we should be happy. Steel quality was quite a headache for the old craftsman. Still there will be many times a small piece of steel left over from a job can be fashioned into a spring by a gunsmith if he has a basic knowledge that the old blacksmith learned through years at the grinder and anvil.

A quick way to find out if the steel has carbon in sufficient quantities for tempering is to grind a small section on the grinding wheel and observe the sparks. Grinding wheels cut out small cuts of steel so fast that the chips burn. If carbon is present the sparks will be more white than red, shorter than with low carbon steel and have a little flower bloom looking thing on the end. Try it yourself with a piece of cold rolled steel and a piece of spring and look at the difference. You will quickly get a feel for spotting the spring steel.

Ever wonder what the carbon does? Why it has to be heated? Why quenched? Well here is the short version as told to me by an old blacksmith. It might not be a good description for the chemist but it works for making springs and tools. The steel molecules are formed together in a matrix structure and the carbon is outside the matrix. The steel structures can slide past each other without the carbon being in the way. This happens when the steel is annealed or dead soft. When the material is heated to a cherry red heat the steel structures become very active and the matrix opens up enough to allow the carbon compounds to enter the matrix. Once the steel has the carbon dispersed throughout the matrix it is cooled rapidly. This can be a water plunge or other material that would give a little slower cooling than water. This might be quenching oil or even air. This will be important because some steel will form cracks if cooled too quickly. Now at this point in the process the steel is very, very hard. It will stand a lot of compression but no bending and will fracture with the slightest impact. Then the steel is heated a second time but this time the idea is to reverse some of the operation. This is called tempering or drawing. Actually drawing is a good name because your objective is to draw some of the carbon out of the matrix but not all. We want to leave enough so the steel structure will have some grab and resist moving and return to its former position when the pressure is released. This heat will be around 620 degrees F. Depending on the steel makeup. It can be done in a flame, on an electric element, in a heat treat oven or even in a lead pot. The temperature can be judged with color of the steel, oven thermostat, lead thermometer or temperature sensitive material painted on the spring. Quenching is not necessary but a lot of old timers liked to put it in dry lime or cold ashes (it insulates) and after the spring cools it can be tested with several compressions. You will know if you have a spring very quickly. Like I said it isn’t really what happens but it explained the process to me, maybe it will work for you. Or take a course in metallurgy and learn about austenite, pearlite and martensitic formations during heat treatment.

Springs will usually be preloaded (somewhat compressed) when installed in a firearm. Look carefully at the job the spring does before you try to “improve” how it works. Take the 1911 recoil spring for example. With the slide closed the spring is confined to 4 inches, at full recoil it is compressed further to 2 inches. Its job at full recoil is to have absorbed all the recoil, its job at rest is to close the slide and lock the barrel into the slide. If you cut a heavy spring it might still be strong at full recoil (2″) but too weak when the slide closes (4″).   I use a simple spring gauge to measure. A flat plate with a .250 hole is held in the vise. A long nail is inserted through the spring and the hole. The nail has a hole in the end that is hooked with a spring gauge and I can see how strong the spring is at 2″ and 4″. It also allows me to sort and tag all those springs that accumulate in the box.  I want my 1911 springs to have 6 pounds at 4″ and barely eject with the selected load for a target gun. Duty guns will be allowed to hit the ejector and eject with a snap to insure positive functioning.

Just remember if you cut a spring that you made it shorter but stiffer and more prone to breakage.

The Brownells catalog and most gunsmithing books have directions on making springs. After reading you can see it isn’t really technical, however nothing makes up for knowledge and careful work. So trying making a few practice springs before you make that special spring. Remember that spring will have your reputation on it when the customer pulls the hammer back on opening day!

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Balanced Life

Balanced Life

We all want it. A balanced life. Everything in the right proportion. Work, play, family, God, money, private, public, etc. We look at friends, relatives, TV and Facebook to find the people that can do it so we can copy them and finally get the balanced life. We know if we can find balance it will bring happiness, security, wealth and envy. The perception is that a balanced life is perfection.
At times it almost seems like the universe has conspired against us when it comes to finding balance. Each segment of our lives have to be balanced before we can balance the whole thing. Like balancing a stick we have to know a few things before try. First we have to know the center of gravity. It’s the first law of balance. If the stick is straight the center of gravity is the center but life is anything but straight. There are always humps lumps and twist. Constantly changing, growing being pruned it almost defies being balanced.
When we try to balance a crooked stick we have to know where to look or what to focus on. We call it the focal point. It’s the second law of balance. If we aren’t watching the right thing we won’t know if we are balanced. Somethings need to balance as far to the left or right as they can go without falling. Others need to be dead center. A carpenter might be happy if the shelf he installed looks straight. The machinist is horrified if the part he made is a human hair (.004”) bigger on one end. It’s all in the focal point.
When it comes to balancing life it will be dynamic rather than static balancing. This means as life changes the balance point moves. It’s the third law of balance. Balance requires constant correction. If you are old enough to read this you already know it is true. Whether it is job, money, family or health it will be changing. You must adapt to change in circumstances or you will be changed by circumstances. It requires constant corrections in the balance point to stay in balance.
If we are balancing a simple stick we are subject to the law of Pinocchio. You remember the story. If he told a lie his nose grew. It didn’t grow the next year but right then. When consequences are immediate we make corrections immediately. Sort of like the dog with a shock collar.
So what happens when we let life get out of balance? Nothing! Or at least nothing immediately. We don’t live by the law of Pinocchio, we live by the law of the harvest. We reap what we sow but not immediately. The law of the harvest is you reap later and greater. A farmer plants one seed and hopes to reap 1000 seeds next year. Our success and failures show up just like the farmers, later and greater, good or bad.
The law of the Harvest is dangerous. It gives us the illusion that maybe we won’t suffer consequences for foolish deeds. Maybe what we did will slip by unremembered and we will be fine. But the Bible says God will not be mocked, we will reap what we sow.
One of our most important areas of life that we have to balance is our finances. Finances have a way of affecting so many areas of our life. Most of us work 5 days so we can live better for 2. If money is going to be that important we need to be knowing where our money is going!
I have an advantage over a preacher when it comes to talking about money. Most say “Oh no, it’s time for the tithing sermon”. As a layman I don’t have to worry about my income from the collection but I do have to worry about how my church will pay its bills.
Tithe is a religious word. You won’t see it anywhere else. It literally means 1/10. You know how it works, you have a dollar you give a dime. You have 100$ you give 10. You have 10,000 you give 1000. Wow, now that is a lot of money! I can see a lot of things I could get with $1000. Besides if everybody else would tithe they wouldn’t need $1000 from me. Why do I have to give more than the other people? I’m paying their way. That’s not fair. It’s my money! Money can make you greedy and wreck your life if you don’t know how to balance.
We use money to get stuff. We get some stuff and we want more stuff. If getting something made us happy then it only stand to reason that getting a lot will make us real happy. We fill up the house and then move it to the garage to make room for more stuff. We fill the garage and get a storage building. Some of it was stuff from other people that died. We die and a huge pile of stuff is left behind. Someone else sorts through and throws most of it away. Some they add to their stuff until they die. We die but stuff never dies.
Did we own the stuff or did it own us? We worked hard and gave up precious time to get the stuff. We had to move it, clean it, repair it, replace it, protect it and even insure it. Stuff is money. It brings the same problems. Greed will never leave us. It’s part of our legacy. Mine, mine, mine.
We need to understand that we have an appetite for stuff. An appetite is a term that we use but I’m not sure we understand. When we have a desire for something and get it we are satisfied but an appetite is not like a desire. If you feed an appetite it only gets stronger. I have an appetite for ice cream. After I eat it I’m not happy. I don’t have any more to eat. It is the consuming that feeds my appetite.
If we got in the middle of the Church and God came and stood on one side and Satan stood on the other and we had to choose we would get it right. It would be so easy to know who we wanted to go with. But if God was on one side and all our stuff was on the other side it would be a little more difficult. That’s the power of stuff!
Where did stuff come from? Stuff was here before I was so it belonged to someone else. Where will stuff go? When I die it will be divided among those left behind so is it really my stuff or is it more accurate to say it is mine while I’m here. If it is only mine while I’m here who does my stuff really belong to?
It’s obvious that the real owner has to be God. Since he alone has the power of creation and is from everlasting to everlasting he owns everything. So where does my ownership fit in? It is one of the most important principles of life and that is the principle of the steward. A steward has ownership temporarily until the master calls for his property. That fits the description 100%.
A good steward uses the resource exactly as the master would. He does what his master would do. Now it is important to realize we aren’t talking about the 10% we tithe we are talking about everything we own. It is God’s stuff. It is entrusted to us for a short time and we are directed to use it to honor God and fulfill his plan. The steward is paid by the master when he returns to take possession of his property. Every Christian is a steward!
Jesus gave us a fantastic view of what God wants us to do with his stuff with his parable of the three servants. It starts in Matthew 25-15. If you are a Bible person you remember this one.
A master is going on a journey so he leaves his money (stuff) with 3 servants (stewards). With one he leaves 5 talents (a large sum of money), another receives 2 and another 1. This division was not by chance but according to the ability of the stewards. We know that all of us don’t have the same ability, especially when it comes to money!
Both the servant that had 5 and the servant that had 2 used the money like their master would have and doubled it. The third was afraid he would lose the money so he buried it. He knew he would not make any gain but at least he wouldn’t lose any.
When the master returned and asked for his property the first two were rewarded and praised for using the property of the master. By using it like the master would have used it they had honored him and increased. Their work was part of their masters plan.
The third servant gave back everything the master had given him. You might think the master would have been satisfied that nothing was lost but it is obvious that this master had a plan for growth. He was furious that this servant had opportunity and let it go. Because he was afraid to act he had changed the plan of the master to fit his wishes.
It is a real change in our way of thinking to realize you are a steward. I’m not looking forward to telling God how I spent his money! I’m glad his grace abounds. Stewardship is our center of gravity. Our first law of balance is realize Its God’s money. All of it!
I lived most of my life in debt. Seems it wasn’t what I wanted to do I just sort of drifted into it. It wasn’t God’s plan, it was mine. I lived on 110% of my income for years. I was sure that at some point I would get real busy and focus on my income and pay off my debts. It was always easier to wait and do it later. The problem with debt is it’s always more when you wait.
We live in a unique time. When the children of Israel were about to enter the Promised Land Moses gave them a couple of long speeches. It’s called the book of Deuteromy . He tells them If they follow Gods plan they will prosper and never need to borrow. They will lend to others but never have to borrow. The mindset was that you borrowed when you were not doing well. It was a sign that things were not right.
That mindset seemed to survive for thousands of years. I remember my parents agonizing over getting a loan to get through hard times. I remember when credit cards first appeared. I was a telephone man and my wife was a school teacher. We could not qualify for a credit card and they were only used at gas stations. Now I get offers at least twice a week. The offers say “congratulations” you are doing so good you can borrow more! You have so much buying potential! My how the times have changed!
I use to think that Jesus slipped up and got it wrong when he said you can’t serve God and money. He used the word mammon which translated to mean your “treasure” You will either serve one or the other. Its Matthew 6.24. I wanted to say “Jesus I think you meant God or Satan”. That is the classic struggle but now I see he made that statement for us in our present day. It fits us better than any people since time began.
You get your credit card for convenience. It makes it easy to pay. It safer than cash. They give discounts, points for free tickets and cash back. No wonder we want them. But at what price?
The average interest rate is 17%. If you make the minimum payment you will pay it off in 14 years. That means you will pay 500% more. You go out to eat and put it on the card. Your $50 dinner for 2 will cost $250. Do you remember what you had for dinner 14 years ago?
Once you get a balance on your card you realize it is climbing. You decide not to charge anything else. You get $300 from Aunt Jane and you buy something really cool instead of using the card. Its just a deception because you have to look at how much better off you would have been if you had paid it on your balance. You know who loves deception?
The average American that has credit card debt owes 16000 in credit card debt. That’s just the card. There is still the car, house, student loan, etc. How does that affect his balance of work, family, God, church, health, recreation and everything else. To correct the imbalance he created he has to focus on making money to pay the bills. He can’t turn down anything or anyway to make enough money.
If you are out of balance in your financial life you are also out of balance in every other area. You have marriage problems, family problems and more. So how do you correct it? Second law of balance is I need to be knowing where my moneys’ going. Bad English but good finance.
You can spy on your money for a couple weeks and get a good idea. Keep a list on your phone or a piece of paper. Write down everything, you will have surprises!
Your job, family, health and money will always be changing. To keep it in balance we must constantly adjust. Once you have a spending plan (don’t say budget, budgets constrict and stop you from doing things so you will abandon a budget) it will come down to math. Not complicated square roots and reciprocals but just adding and subtracting. Spending plan is like eating plan. It’s all in the verbiage but eating plan sounds better than diet.
My old method was to pay my debts then spend on the things I wanted and what was leftover could be used for giving. We all know what leftovers are. Look in the fridge in the Tupperware. Was it beef or kidney? Yea, let God have that cause I don’t want it! Since it was money I could have used spending I really wanted my giving to be noticed so I could at least get some recognition. I hate to admit it but that was me.
You have heard it all your life, “You can’t take it with you!” If you study your Bible you will find out that’s a lie! When you manage your wealth in a way that honors God you have treasure laid up for you in heaven. Now, for some even better news. Treasure laid up for you in Heaven is an annuity. You will draw dividends forever and never use any of the deposit. It just keeps paying and paying
Maybe a 10/10/80 plan or whatever numbers work for you would be better. Give 10 save 10 and live on 80. Whatever numbers you use do your giving and saving first and then your living. If you are thinking like a steward you are realizing that that 100% will be used to honor God, not just the 10% you give. More good news, It’s God’s money but you get credit for spending it!
As Christians we realize we were created by God for a purpose. When we connect with God and honor him we receive hope and joy beyond understanding. The hope is that God will find our efforts to honor him pleasing. The joy is our reward when we do.
Heaven’s bank is open 24×7. Open your fruit account today.