Powerslide91

Thanks for the tips on the mag release. I'll try to play around with it this weekend. Found another question; the handguard I believe is sold as M-LOK, but I cannot get the T nut to pass through the openings. I was trying to install a set of grip scales from an old project, so I know the scales have fit other M-LOK handguards before. Anyone run into this? Edit: I'm measuring ~ 6.8mm on the slot in the handguard. Edit to my edit: now also found that the QD pockets for the sling do not retain a sling, which I think was mentioned in this thread a while back. So now pretty sure it is worth an email to Rock Island....

Thinking for mags and mag extensions.... I picked up a VR80 a few weeks ago and am still going through breakin with it all stock. But I do notice the mag latch / release seems "funky". From the feel it seems to me the mag is dragging on the latch arm in removing the mag from the magwell with the release button pushed. It also seems when I push the mag release the latch arm can get bound up in the receiver. There was a time or two when the magazine would not pull out of the magwell as I pushed the button. Has anyone else seen anything about the mag latch fit or operation? Does anyone know if I can adjust the depth of the latch arm in the receiver like an AR mag latch? I have not yet tried to disassembly my mag latch yet... Thanks.

I think $120 is for a 3 pack of +3 extensions. Each extension looks to be ~ $40.

Looks like some additional options for extensions: http://taylorfreelancestore.com/vr80/

Just more data; it has been a long time since I used this combo but on my old 5" XD I settled in on 3.6gr n320 @ 1.135" with a MG 147gr CMJ. I was after recoil feel and accuracy, I was not worried about power factor but I think it was around 130 PF.

I was able to get a good couple of days back at my press finally. Made up several test loads and then hit the range. These pictures are off a bipod at 200 yards. This is the factory ammo I tried to use at the Extreme match earlier this year. This is one of my test builds. Needless to say, I'm very relieved. The group looked good and the ballistics matches up well with my reticle. So I made up several hundred round yesterday to give me some practice time and to get through Rocky Mountain. Thanks again to all that offered up some info. I've got the stuck case remover on order and will get back to trying to dial in the brass processing part of this in the coming weeks. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

Adding a picture of one of the dummy round after I pulled it down. I can just barely feel the line where the crimp was with my fingernail. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

I've been trying to get some time at the press this weekend... trying to get ready for Rocky Mountain actually. Kinda crazy to take such a new setup to that match but I told myself I wanted to run Heavy Metal this year Rocky so I'm trying to make it happen. I am going to set aside the brass prep part of the reloading for a while till I have more time to get it dialed in and figured out. So I bought some processed brass from MI Brass and from measuring it, it looks great. So; today I'm setting up the second tool head to reload. I'm planning to use; LC brass CCI 200 primers 8208 XBR powder Sierra 135gr SMK So fishing with a few questions; From suggestions, reading online, looking through my reloading books and playing around trying to predict how the ballistics will match my reticle, I plan to try to get around 2800 FPS out of an 18" JP barrel. So I think I am going to start around 44 grains and probably try a few loading increasing towards 45 grains in steps of 0.3 grains. I do have a chrono so will confirm the velocity out at the range. Any recommendations on OAL? I need to measure at the tip of the bullet, I played around with some dummy rounds and test fit them in my mags and rifle and I think I am going to start using 2.775". I have seen people running longer out to 2.800". My Hornady book shows 2.690" for a 130 grain as another data point. Lastly looking for any feedback on the crimp. My dies include a Redding taper crimp. I tried to set it to just kiss the top of the brass. When I measured the dummy rounds at the mouth of the case it measures 0.340" after seating the bullet and then 0.337" after the crimp. Any feedback on this? Thanks again all.

Hey all, thanks for all the feedback. Ok, so seems like lack of lube is at least a big part of my problem. I used the same procedure as I have been using for reloading 223; that is walnut tumble clean it. They lay out maybe 100 pieces on a plastic sheet, spray from about 2 ft away with Dillon lube, wait a couple minutes, then mix the brass around on the sheet and spray it a second time. I've always had an easy time with 223, but it really felt like it was not enough with the 308 and the comments here confirm it in my mind. I've ignored the press for the last couple days but my next task will be to try to un-stick the die. I don't have a case puller so I'll need to either go invest in one or figure out how to tap it out. I will try letting the die sit in my vice for a bit and dribble some penetrating oil around the case. The intended rifle is a JP 308 for 3 gunning. Speaking of; I shot the rifle yesterday at a local match and used some factory ZQI I had left over. I picked up my cases and then checked the ones I know I fired in the same JP case gauge. I saw the same behavior as what I saw from the LC brass; in that the case will stick out of the gauge maybe 0.25" or so. So I think that is comforting some in that at least the LC brass I have is maybe not so badly deformed after all. Thanks again.

Sorry if this gets long winded, I am frustrated and maybe just self venting here while looking for some info. I have loaded maybe 40k 223 rounds over many years. And finally wanted to branch out and start reloading 308. I use a Dillon 650 with the 2 toolhead setups. I was working last night to start dialing in the brass prep toolhead (station 1 = Redding Comp full length sizing die set to 90% size, Station 3 = Dillon RT1200 set to finish the sizing and trim). The brass I have is LC, some from local pickup, some from online sources that sell bulk brass. I tumbled the brass in walnut shell for a few hours to clean it up. I then applied a couple sprays of Dillon case lube. When I checked several pieces of the brass in my JP case gauge, the brass would not even go all the way into the gauge, sticking out maybe .25 inch or so. This is already very different from my experience with 556 brass. Even with random 556 range brass, it would at least go into the gauge so I could see how much I needed to bump the shoulder back. But the 308 brass is acting like the base of it is highly expanded. Anyway, I kept trying to bump a couple of the pieces of brass into the first die to get the die height dialed in. It was not easy and I was putting wwwwaaayyyy more force on the press handle that I was comfortable with. I got 2 pieces of brass sized so they dropped into the case gauge no problem, and on the third piece I was able to size it, but when I tried to remove the brass from the die, it ended up ripping off the case rim. Sooooo, couple of things; Is this typical for 308 brass to need so much to resize? I am assuming I have some of the dreaded "machine gun" brass that was badly expanded in the act of shooting? I have not yet tried measuring a larger amount of my brass against the case gauge to see what the mix is I have of it. Any tricks for getting the stuck case out of my sizing die? I have not been able to remove the center stem that holds the decapper. I'm not sure if the expander ball is getting caught on the case mouth or ??? I can fully unscrew the decapping rod at the top, but it will not pull out. Maybe I have just not tried hard enough to pull on it? If I can get the decapper out of the way, I assume I can tap the case out using a punch. But since it is stuck in the way, are there any tricks to remove the case from the rim side? Thanks all.

Wow, so many awesome matches right here in little ol Texas.

Another vote for the Tacos. I liked the aspect that I could use the same pouch for 308 and 223 mags going forward. I ended up using a solder iron to push a T nut through the taco so I could mount an ELS fork to it.

I've been playing around trying to find a nice 3G load for 45 as well. Just getting started looking at 200gr SWC and Clays at 1.25" OAL. I'm curious what kind of groups would be expected or accepted? I tend to use a sandbag at 25 yards to try to figure out a load the gun likes. So far, I have not seen a real large difference in group size but as I mentioned, I am just starting out.

Always a fun match. Looking forward to it again this year.

I've seen several times people referring to stones the action bars. Me being a pump gun noob, is there any info out there on exactly how to take the SG apart and what areas to be focused on? My supernova is still very new to me and I have not really spent much time to learn about it yet internally. I've just been focused on trying to get some time behind the trigger to get used to it. Thanks.