Bamboo

Lots of the common 12ga trap and skeet powders make great pistol powders for our gamer loads. American Select is a favorite for every thing from 38 short colt/9x19 to 45acp. Others are red dot, promo, 700x, e3, clay dot, nobels GM3…you get the idea. For a Plan B powder check out what your powder source has in stock. Shotgun powder usually has good published load data for pistol loads, too.

Don’t know about the DWX in particular, but Dan Wesson has a history of making an off the shelf Open gun. They had the Havoc that was based on the now discontinued Caspian wide body frame. It was a good shooter but was still pricey and wasn’t as popular in the OTS market as the STI DVC. CZ 75 type open guns have won a lot of matches, and with the 1911 type trigger it would make sense for them to offer an OTS open gun as a halo product.

Welcome to the 38 super (comp) club. It is a great cartridge and easy to reload. And you have lots of no-drama powder choices. Both of those are good powders. I’ve tried a lot of different powders over the years but keep coming back to AA7. Fairly cheap, usually available, and safe. Ran it back in the 175pf days with loads going 180++pf with 124 or 130gr bullets with no pressure issues. 115gr jacketed is what I like best by a slim margin, but 124gr jacketed is also very good and match results are the same for me with either so I use what I got.

Yep, it is usually pretty much an extractor tweak/replacement...if even that. Sometimes need to mess with the breech face depending on the slide. I have an old Caspian that will reliably run anything you can load in the mags. Likewise have an STI that has been set up for super, and super comp just doesn't eject reliably. The real issue for the 38 super holdouts isn't the mechanics of the conversion, it is that we have all the reloading/processing hardware and gauging set-ups for 38 super, and many have buckets of 38 super brass. I have enough brass to literally last the rest of my Open division shooting days, and I know others who do also. Anyway, that is my story and I'm sticking to it.

Seems like the only 38 super shooters I know are OGs who are already rigged up and stocked up for 38 super. That would include me. So yeah there are some holdouts. if I was starting out in open again I’d definitely go the super comp route.

i used to see more repurposed open guns from the single stack days of USPSA but not so much any more. I think the old folks are aging out and when the guns get passed on people don't know what they are or even consider them worthwhile. Anyway, here is a thread about the same topic where i shared my old .38 super single stack open gun conversion to 9mm steel challenge gun. It was a cool old iron sight open .38 super and I made master with that gun. Couldn't get rid of it, but did repurpose it. I don't shoot a lot of steel challenge these days but my daughter is getting interested in shooting steel and am thinking this would be a great open gun to pass to her. Gun runs great, and I just use a gamer 115-124gr 9mm load that is probably sub minor...or barely minor. BTW - EGW has some good cone and threaded comps for projects like this and the prices are very fair. Good Luck with your build project!

Been using American Select for while and it is a really good drama free powder. Here is my basic 147gr load with American Select: Out of a DW PM9 1911 (5") I get the following with American Select: 147gr SNS FP at 1.135" OAL 3.0gr American Select = 126pf 3.2gr American Select = 129pf i get about the same with other 5" 9mm gats, too.

If you only need the little rubber plug you can cut a piece of shock-buff to fit and it works ok. The repair kit from MBX should be ordered when you order mags from them. I neglected to, so had to improvise. Next time I order a mag I'm including a repair kit.

EVH was one of a handful of guitarists who's sound you could recognize without looking at the credits. From his son's twitter post is sounds like he was a great Dad. An original shredder has left the building.

PM9 would be my choice. Have one and love it.

No harm at all (except for a few cases that might be oversized and develop a hard ring on the bottom), and that is what I do for 38 super processing. I like to use a regular die, then a U-die without the decapper installed to size it down progressively. After that I do a condition and case length check, and then reload them. Using pre-checked and processed brass makes the reloading process go super fast with very few issues.

When I ran out of 231 went on a search for a good general purpose powder for 9mm minor and .45acp. Tried several and had great results with Alliant American Select. Very clean, meters well, low recoil, and is consistantly accurate. It has become my go to powder for .45 and 9mm minor. Worth a try if you are expirementing with different powders.

Been using the POF flat trigger in PCCs and they have been flawless. Price is excellent and it comes with anti-rotation pins. Maybe not the latest and greatest, but rock solid with no drama. I like that.

For me shooting 9mm vs. 45 at Level I club matches was mostly a draw, with the edge going to 9mm for the extra rounds and ammo convenience. For larger matches I'd probably go with my .45 for the major pf points 'cuz those guys really know how to shoot a single stack and I don't.