8 THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19,2016
Sports/Schools
Always remember to keep your powder dry
T he phrase “keep your
powder dry” has
come to mean, be
ready for a possible emer
gency. It comes from the
fact that gunpowder does
not do its thing when wet.
During hurricane Matthew
I thought about it being the
Saturday before the end of
muzzleloader season for
deer. It would have been
hard to keep ones powder
dry sitting in a stand that
Saturday afternoon.
Today’s modern metal
lic cartridges all but make
the axiom obsolete. Even
my homemade snake shot
is waterproof at least to
some extent. Proved by the
dunking Bob and I took on
our canoe trip. When I got
home I spread the snake
shot cartridges out on the
workbench to dry and after
a week gave them a try, not
on an actual snake but on
an aluminum can. They shot
just as good as they would
have the day I loaded them.
My snake shot consists of
a primed .44 magnum case,
a small amount of powder
topped by a disc of thin
cardboard, some #7 1/2 shot
and another cardboard disc.
The outside cardboard is
sealed with a product called
Lee Liquid Alox, LLA for
short. Alox is a
waxy bullet lube
used for cast bul
lets. The Lee Pre
cision Company
makes all kinds of
products for cast
ing and reloading.
Though not the
intended use, LLA
works as water
proofer also.
Way back when
before I owned
a muzzleloader I
Do It Outdoors
Wade Betts
had borrowed one. The out
ing was more of a scouting
trip before the upcoming
rifle season than an actual
hunt. Good thing too, as it
turned out. I was
walking down
the edge of a field
and a bear just
appeared right
there in front
of me, then a
smaller bear and
another smaller
bear. A mama
with twin cubs.
Me and my bor
rowed muzzle-
loader decided to
go the other way.
That next weekend when
I tried to shoot the gun so
I could clean it and give it
back to my buddy Bryan, it
didn’t shoot. I had failed to
keep my powder dry.
In 1981 I started reload
ing shotgun shells, back
then there were still a lot
of paper shells and most of
the plastic ones had paper
base wads. Base wads are
at the bottom of the shell on
the inside. Now a days, all
or at least almost all shot-
gun shells either have an
integral base wad or a base
wad made of plastic. The
paper would absorb water
and if not completely dried
the water would cause all
kinds of problems. When
the trigger was pulled the
gun would make a hissing
sound and the shot would
leave the barrel and just
sprinkle out on the ground.
Sometimes the wad or shot
cup would actually travel
further than the shot. This
was funny but also poten
tially dangerous. If the wad
stayed in the barrel and an
other shell was fired with
the barrel obstructed, the
gun could explode. To this
day, I shine a flashlight into
every empty shell to check
the base wad.
Hunting season, the elec
tion, cyber attacks, email
hacks, ISIS. With all the stuff
going on in the world, these
days we all need to keep our
powder dry.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Wayne Jordan
(above) teaches
Mallorie Stallings
how to use a fire
hose during a
recent field trip
to downtown
Hertford.
Held
Trip
Thank You for Your Service
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SUBMITTED PHOTO
First Grade
students from
Perquimans
Central School
took a walking tour
of local businesses
in downtown
Hertford recently.
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Teacher Honored
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Annette Whidbee
has been
recognized as this
year’s Perquimans
County Schools
Exceptional
Children Teacher
of Excellence.
Whidbee is a
lead Exceptional
Children Teacher
at Perquimans
County High
School. She will
be honored at
the State EC
Conference that
will be held in
Greensboro this
month.
Book Grant
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Helen Lane, a Kindergarten
teacher at Perquimans
Central, recently received
a Donor’s Choose grant in
the amount of $370 for an
organizing rack with book
bins and science books for
students.
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