zzt

I use 115 JHPs under 10.8gr AA7 Powder at 1.161" OAL. Case is mostly full, but powder doesn't spill out when the shell plate turns.

I've completely given up on Aftec types. Now I use only EGW HD extractors. They run 100% and last seemingly forever. I will not that for 9mm I have them custom milled so the are 9mm specific, not 9/40.

Precision Delta. Rogers PC coated bullets are 21 Brinell. Most are between 15 and 18, still hard. Even Berry's uses 15 Brinell lead for their plated bullets. I agree with you on the Precision coated. Slick and more accurate than most. I use them in 40 and 45. Unfortunately, they are gone and I only have 2k left.

You are going to have to experiment. A lot of gas will be shooting up from those ports. That will bleed off velocity. With too slow a powder you may drive the muzzle down. I'd start in the middle of the range using a 124 JHP over a middle load of AutoComp. See what that does to the muzzle, and what the PF is. Adjust powder charge up or down to fine tune. If you are making too much gas with AutoComp, drop down to AA2. It is a little faster. My 132 PF load is 124 JHP over 4.5gr AA2. It shoots soft and flat. I only have two poppels. You have seven. So you won't reach 132 with my load. Before I went to a slower powder for more gas than AutoComp, I'd try 115gr JHPs.

All coated bullets smell when fired. HiTech is the worst. Coated bullets start life as hard cast lead bullets. Diameters vary. Coating thickness varies. Some brands are infamous for leading the barrel. They are less accurate than good plated of jacketed. If you shoot them at steel they break up into larger chunks than plated or jacketed, and they fly father. Good cast lead/coated bullets are expensive. Same with plated. The majority of the makers of really good coated and plated bullets went out of business. If you are going to be paying 9 or 10 cents each for bullets, why not use all JHPs. They don't foul comps and poppels. They don't lead your bore. They don't smoke. They don't smell. They are super accurate. I buy JHPs in bulk for 9.5 cents each, delivered. Berry's plated on sale, or inexpensive coated are going to be between 9 and 10 cents after tax and shipping. Why bother?

You can have Bob use a bald slide for the short block and make your own lightening cuts.

Not a bad place to be.

Do you make short blocks?

I do not believe JEM Guns currently makes short blocks. I sent a barrel to him so he could make me a short block. His short block requires additional fitting. Additionally, his marching, especially inside the dust cover leaves something to be desired. I have worked with three Brazos Open short blocks. One was all STI parts. The next two were Brazos slide and frame with his Barsto Open barrel. Absolutely zero fitting required with either. Side note: Brazos now machined his frames for Cheely's e2 grip. If you want a plastic grip, you will have to fight mightily to get it on. The frame will likely require modification.

I suspect it would only show up in SDs. I did shoot a bunch of the minor ammo loaded with the Lee at an outlaw action/steel match. Some of them were bound to be +/- .005". I did not notice anything. I was concentrating on the targets. I'll measure some more and shoot them to see if they feel any different. I'm not sure that will tell anything. There are going to be pressure differences in all the same OAL ammo, because of the relatively large variation in case capacity.

If you have too much bell in the case mouth after expanding, it will cause problems. In any case, I'd suggest switching to a Mr. Bulletfeeder two step expander/funnel and changing the stem on your seating die. That will eliminate the need to 'align' the bullet before seating. No 'bell' is required with the MBF expander. You may also consider going to a Hornady seating die. It aligns the bullet no matter what stem you use.

I would say it is essential. No matter how hard I work, I cannot gain, I only cannot lose. Very frustrating.

Seating stem 'contours well' over PDs doesn't mean anything. If the PDs are as dimensionally accurate as you say, switch to a flat stem. See what happens. What is your crimp die?

Okay. I just went down and measured a random sample of 20 of my 9 major rounds. Every one was between 1,162" and 1.163". I load on a Hornady LnL with a case feeder and a bullet feeder. I seat with a Hornady seater and crimp with a Lee FCD. I use 115 HAP or Zero JHP bullets. I do use fully processed, once fired, same HS brass for major. I load with the sizing/decapping die removed. I would never accept a +/- .005" deviation. I load minor with mixed range pick up brass that has been roll sized and processed. I don't sort anything. The only brass I chuck is stepped brass, and then only if I catch it at the first station. On the Hornady with Berry's plated, not more than .001 OAL difference. With RMR plated seconds, I get as much as .002" variation. Loading on a squishy Lee 6-pac pro with RMR JHPs, I mostly get a .001" variation when I operate the press correctly. I get more if I don't get the stroke right. There is no hard bottom at the end of the stroke. I'll get 2 or 3% up to .004" under and the same for .005 over. The press is new, so I'm still working on getting the setup perfect. Again, it has to be you or something in your setup. PD v2 JHPs are decent bullets, so I don't think they are the problem. You might try changing your seating die stem. I once had an OAL problem and changing the stem to a different profile cured it. I'm out of the Zeros now, and HAPs are not available at anything approaching reasonable pricing. I just received 4900 PD 115 v2 JHPs. We'll see how that goes. They have a rounded profile, instead of the truncated cone profile of the HAPs and Zeros. Another thought, if you are crimping with a seater/crimp die, make sure the seater stem is way out of the picture. I use an FCD for crimping all calibers, so that isn't a problem.

I own several rimfires and shoot RFPO and RFRO in SCSA. You don't hammer down for rimfires. I was referring to PCC shooters afraid of breaking the firing pin.