jmaass

I should make it clear that I **really** like the .40 S&W EMP, and will be spending some money on tweaking it once the feed reliability is 100%. Here's my list of enhancements-to-come for this carry gun: Drop the trigger to 3.5-pounds from the factory 4.75-pounds; Checker the frontstrap 25- or 30-lpi; Round-off/de-fang the thumb safety (it's eating a hole in my thumb with a high grip!) Birdsong Black-T finish overall; Black Davidson grips;

Thanks, Bart. I have eight factory magazines ("Mfg. in Italy by MEG-GAR for Springfield Armory"), and all are the same. I don't think the problem is the magazines. They haven't been shipping this .40 S&W version of the EMP for more than six months (the 9mm version has shipped for a couple of years), so I suspect they might have a few issues to tweak. I have received an RMA from Springfield to return the EMP for service, and I'll be sending it Monday. I expect that they will undercut and shape the ejector to provide for clearance. The only other "factory defect" is that they did not provide checkering on the front strap - who designs an expensive personal defense gun with a smooth, slippery front strap? I doubt that I'll get them to "repair" that error under warrenty!

I've been having double-feed problems with my EMP in .40 S&W. It now has over 800 rounds through it in the past month, and the problem has been consistent. I noticed what I think is the cause, but I'd like confirmation from others. With the slide locked-back, I inserted a loaded magazine and noted that the ejector was pressed down hard on the top round's rim and the bottom portion just above the ejector groove. See the photos below for the damage to the top round in each magazine, on the left side. Note also that this magazine was inserted gently until it locked into place, not slammed home with the slide locked open. None of my other 1911-type guns have this clearance problem. This would seem to tilt the next round nose-up a bit while the ejection process is happening, slowing the slide, impeding ejection, and resulting in a double-feed. I'm also seeing some brass shavings adhered to the bottom of the ejector, and in the chamber when cleaning. I'm contacting Springfield Armory today, but was wondering whether I am correct that this is the likely cause of my reliability problems? Some photos:

The civilian demand is not the issue. Government contracts are the issue. See: Summary Posting Elswhere Aliant Techsystems (ATK) is ATK is Speer, CCI, Federal, Alliant powder, CCI & Federal primers, Speer bullets. General Dynamics is partnered with Olin (Winchester). Together, they are currently making 1.2 billion rounds a year for this government contract, ramping up 300 million additional each year until they top out at 2 billion rounds a year. Yes, the consumer shooter has reacted to shortages by emptying the shelves of reloading components and ammunition. Re-filling them is a function of existing production capability and demands from "preferred customers" with contracts.

It takes time to build production lines and/or new factories, and to hire/train peopel to operate them. I forget who it was off the top, but one of the major producers announced that they were building a new production facility to catch up on new military orders. They were already running at full capacity, and subcontrcting all the capacity they could get from other producers. New factories don't arrive pre-constructed from the UPS truck!

Don't blame the hoarders alone. There have been a number of reports in the gun media about the effect of increased government purchases for the military taxing the production capabilities of the component and ammunition manufacturers. Add to that the unreasonable hysteria fanned by NRA and some right-wing media and shooters following the election, and what you get are short supplies and higher prices.

One of the guys I shot with had a wife who was an elementary school teacher, and she wanted as many as she could get. She cleaned them throroghly, and then had her students use them in art projects.

You will find some light loads on the .38 Super IPSC Loads List at IPSC Loads Lists. Note that the majority of the loads are IPSC Major or above (old 175 power factor), but the power factor is listed for each of the loads described.

I dont subscribe to this Rob. House Flippers in our area who would buy a home and then put it right back on the market for 10%-20% higher were not popular folks. This kind of opportunistic business practice is causing a lot folks much pain and suffering right now. I am gonna be the dissenting voice here and suggest that if you are going to sell primers to "friends", charge what you payed for them. I am never happy making a profit from friends. If you really will need to replenish them in the near future, do not sell them. The future prices and availability can not be predicted. If we demonize those who have primers and sell them for the price the market allows, then there will soon be no primers coming out of those closets and into your press!

Something I've noted with electronic muffs is that "Bang!" and "Poof!" sound about the same. I stopped wearing them back when I was ROing, although I continue wearing them in the indoor range for practice around other shooters.

Even if they are seperated from the gun? Thanks for the info. In Ohio I am pretty sure a loaded magazine that fits a gun in the same car constitues a loaded gun if it is the same compartment of the vehicle. We were preached at to keep the magazine out of reach if its loaded. That is if I remember my CCW class correctly. Nope - In Ohio you cannot transport loaded magazines for your match gun in any compartment of the vehicle (unless you have a CHL, which I assume you do not in this posting). You must transport all firearms unloaded (Ohio Revised Code 2923.16). The "other compartment" option still requires the firearm to be unloaded. "Unloaded" is defined in Ohio Revised Code 2923.16(K)(5). A firearm is unloaded: 1) If there is no ammunition in the firearm being transported, and 2) If there is no ammunition in a magazine or speed-loader for the firearm being transported. Thanks to Ken Hanson, a firearms attorney who shoots USPSA, tgeaches Ohio CCW classes, and who wrote the book, "The Ohio Guide to Firearm Laws".

What a remarkable accomplishment - Master at 4! You shouldn't hold it against her that she never made GM in the intervening 14 years!

Thanks, but I sold my XL650 a few years ago, since not using one press (RL-1050) was better than not using two presses! The RL-1050 is set up for 9x21, and I don't want to plan on doing caliber switches with The Beast. I've considered adding a new XL650 to fill the hole on my reloading bench, but for now I have acquired enough factory .40S&W (2300+ rounds) to keep me practicing for a while with the new carry gun, at least until the availability of components loosens up. I'll keep the June RO class in mind.

Not to mention that your insurance costs would be incredibly high. In all, not a practical venture for anyone who has to ask.

No, they are stil available. Fed Small Pistol Pimers, the only item with a quantity selector on the right side.

I won't be down this month, but sometime in the near future I'll pack up my camera gear and come visit. Until three weeks ago, I hadn't fired a round in six years (new job/company, primarily, plus blown out knee). I've read Front Sight each month, kept a current rulebook here, and even purchased a current Classifier notebook. In the past three weeks I've bought a new gun (Springfield EMP 40), fired 1200+ rounds, applied for my Ohio CCW, and cleaned up my old web pages (I kept the IPSC Loads Lists and old Coursebooks, but eliminated the rest). I even got out my McLearn-built open guns and fired the 60 9x21 rounds I had left in my safe (those guns can still **shoot**!). I still see courses of fire in everyday travels. I've even had thoughts of taking some classes and getting back my long-expired CRO certification. So, I may not be a lost cause.

There were a few years in the 90s at Circleville that we ran 12-months-a-year matches, but eventually we ceded victory to cold weather and good sense. There was a legendary match in February 1992 called by the "old timers" the Great Mud Match. Here are a couple of photos taken by the late Julius Foris at that match. There wasn't much movement required. Rinsing off in the creek was required bnefore driving home! Those I recognize in these photos are are Pedro Pineda, Joyce Meuthing, and Paul Hernandez (?).

Hmmm, have Ohio shooters become wimpy in the past seven years? ;-)

1) Once-fired brass, not new brass. Once-fired has proven that the primer hole goes all the way through. B. I took the barrel out of my gun and dropped each round into the chamber to make sure it goes in and comes out smoothly. This had the secondary benefit of allowing for visual inspection each round. (It doesn't take long once you establish a rhythm.) III) Bumped up my load just a bit to account for any temperature variations. (My open gun preferred hotter loads anyway). Delta) I put the match ammo in Dillon 100-round ammo boxes and visually and tactilely checked to see that all the lengths are the same and there are no high primers. This also allowed counting them before I put them in heavy-duty (freezer) baggies. e) Don't change between lots of your components just before or during loading of the match ammo. Use a known lot of powder and primers, and confirm with a chrono, if possible.

Browning Buck Mark, with 5-inch bull barrel cut to 3-inches and re-crowned.

Nothing improved my (Open Class) shooting more than the hard work I did to learn to keep both eyes open, however I'm shooting. I cannot do it with open sights (which I've been using a lot practicing with a new carry gun), but with the C-More on the Open guns it's now automatic even after a very long layoff. I was experimenting with the open sights over the past two days, using dominant (left) eye and non-dominant eye, and I cannot focus well enough with the weak eye to do anything reliably.

You wil find a number of 200gr loads (lead and jacketed) on the IPSC Loads List at: http://www.k8nd.com/documents/hl40sw.pdf. Note that this list was compiled when the power factor was 175, but the measured velocity is listed for each load.

I can find them! ;-) http://www.k8nd.com/stage.htm I've added a warning at the top of the page about the courses of fire being dated - the last was posted in 2002. Even though they may not be compliant with all current rules, there are some interesting shooting challenges contained therein. Feel free to update them for your own use. (I have the Word sources here if anyone wants them). Here's a sample: http://www.k8nd.com/documents/EasyTough.pdf Six or seven of my courses have been used at USPSA Nationals matches over the years, and several more were used at other major matches.

The Jeff Maas site is a bit dated, but I've found the data is still pretty helpful: http://www.k8nd.com/documents/hl38sup.pdf Jeff Maass himself is pretty dated! ;-)

...and with a week's delay, he appears! I've been out of the game for a long while now (work, and then serious knee injury), and keeping up the coverage of local stuff on the web site suffered greatly. Anyone interested in one or two Matt McLearn built 9x21 Caspians? 8-( The IPSC Resources web pages from http://home.columbus.rr.com/jmaass has been moved to http://www.k8nd.com/. The old Roadrunner web pages haven't disappeared yet, but they are static and should go away Real Soon Now. I will be removing the Stage Design part completely when I have time (many of the courses now have rules problems), but I will retain the three current IPSC Loads Lists indefinitely at: http://www.k8nd.com/ipscload.htm Also when I have time, I need to search through my backup disks to find some of the source for the IPSC Loads Lists - a hard disk crash eradicated my working Word sources. DVC, Jeff Maass K8ND USPSA L-1192 Near Columbus Ohio Maass' IPSC Resources: http://www.k8nd.com