bwit

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, Howard !

I have had the same problem, except my gauge[ Lyman ] is slightly tighter than the STI chamber, if you can imagine that. I found that a number of bullets do not set straight in the brass and hit the side of the barrel chamber at its end. If you insert the cartridge into the chamber a few times, forcing it in, then removing it you will see scraping marks on the bullet or brass. You have to put it in the same way each time without turning the cartridge head [clocking]. Of course, don't force one in that is so tight you can't squib rod it back out. I checked to see if perhaps the bullet was hitting rifling or the tapered leade of the barrel by loading a few test [empty] cartridges in varying lengths till I was way past the length the mag could handle. No problem, OK, so it wasn't that. What helped a lot was a Redding Pro bullet seating die and still sometimes bullets are not perfectly straight with the brass case. I have much fewer rejects though. Since using the Redding Pro seater, I still have the problem but it is not with the frequency it was. I use a Lee factory crimp die to size and taper crimp at the last press stage. This eliminates a few more rejects. You have to be careful here though because if you do more than kiss the top edge of the brass with the taper part of the die your reject rate will increase. All of the 'rejects' cycle and shoot fine through a Para Ordnance pistol I have. A KISS bullet feeder has reduced my rejects to about 1 to 3% as it sticks the bullet into the case straighter. What I am wondering about, as a contributing factor to the problem, is all the Glock shot brass most of us reuse. I have seen a lot of pieces where the cartridge head and body are not at perfect right angles to each other. I find this sometimes when the case will not enter the sizing die even though it is sitting flat on the shellplate. This is my story and I'm sticking to it but if anyone has any ideas I'd love to go back to when I didn't EVER gauge my reloads. p.s. At the start of all this I tried the EGW or Lee's U-die. All of my cartridges are really loose in the body of the die because of this. I still use it but it feel it does nothing to solve this problem.

You can't go wrong or make a bad decision if you buy BOTH. And you'll need both.

dajarrel: As a matter of fact, I never even noticed the noise. There were other things occupying my attention at that moment. Yeah, I imagine it was the fountain of fire coming out of the primer tube, right? I also am curious about when it happened and what brand of primers you use. Knock on wood, I usually use Winchesters and have, without realizing it, crushed them sideways or had them go in backwards. So far I'm lucky, no bangs. I'm usually really concentrating on what I am doing and would probably have to crawl down from the ceiling after one went off and change my pants.

It's not inflation Gentleman Jim. I's called screwing you cuz we can, it's like the bullet prices. I saw a brick of Rem Thunderbolt .22 at Farm and Fleet [a cheap place] for $24.00. Last Dec they were $9.00. Of course, there is no relationship to the metals increase and the price. Like why do plated lead bullets from Berry or Rainier cost the same [about] as FMJ from Precision Delta or M.G.???

I agree and if you look at the bigger pic of your avatar at Arredondo -whew, it's gettin hot in here ! !

I haven't seen better pricing anwhere than Starline direct from the factory and their quality is without compare [great]. Yeah, you guys are right, It's the scarcity and demand for the high used price.

What's a Fantogglio anyway. Sounds Italian, like a type of Lasagna. [sTI shooter pullin yer laig]

Ooooohhh, now I am salivating.

I assume you are talking about a .40 S&W caliber??? If so, lots of us use Titegroup 4.7 gr with whatever jacketed 180 grain bullets you happen to have. Accurate and major with some margin, but temperature sensitive. Hotter the weather, hotter the load. You can probably figure a load from here by comparing this info with the 180 and 200gr bullet loads in your loading handbook.

Any other input on the 9mm mag subject? I for sure need to learn all I can. 00bullitt can you share some of what HSMITH pm'd?

I think most of us feel the way 00bullitt does. My hat is off to the great gunsmiths and others like HSMITH who do good work and take care of us. But YOU have to understand how your gun works and be able to fix what comes up as it does come up. What choice do you have, send it out to someone everytime something isn't right? You would not be shooting when you want it and it would cost you a lot.

I think most of us feel the way 00bullitt does. My hat is off to the great gunsmiths and others like HSMITH who do good work and take care of us. But YOU have to understand how your gun works and be able to fix what comes up as it does come up. What choice do you have, send it out to someone everytime something isn't right? You would not be shooting when you want it and it would cost you a lot.

Yes, there is a correlation to a lot of these things: Usually Stock market down and / or dollar down, metals [ silver, platinum, & Gold especially] up. Many of todays increases are marketing tricks. I note that many of our consumer goods over the years have been quite cheap and our retail prices based on the cost to produce but in the last 10 -15 years I see more and more companies getting considerable increases in their selling prices, [ gigging us severely ] because they can and they know we will pay for it. One example that comes to mind is Gillette razor blades, something most of us use. In the 80's I was buying a razor handle and the blade cartridge that fit it was about .25. Since then, they figured out they could charge us more and I've seen the price go up and up till it is where it is today. If you buy the latest Marketing trick they have today, I think it's five blades in one cartridge, you will pay close to $5 for each cartridge. I've overheard more than one guy in the store say 'Oh, my God!'or something similar and put the package back on the shelf. Can you imagine - $50. for a package of blades. There is so much markup in this country, the Rx companies in Canada, that sell us discount medicines also sell these same blades cheaper.

I hate to be a kill joy and I realize this is somewhat like reading the directions but you could call Dillon. They know all about these presses. Call them anyway and ask for the new parts you need - - it's free

The way I use calling your shots and the way I think it is supposed to be used, is that it tells you when you are making mistakes, that is shooting where you don't want to. It may tell you that you hurried too much, had poor alignment and that the shot went to the left or ??? This means to me that I need to correct as I go along what I am doing wrong. There is a point, in my humble opinion, where, when the shot is far off, it does not matter where the shot went, you just know that you are not shooting where you want and this is your signal to recognize and correct the problem. So basically, it is an indicator of where you are shooting by watching the front sight, which is where your eyes should be anyway, not on the target looking for the holes.

zhunter, how can I make your avatar larger ?? WOW

"Peace be with you, or at least a pleasant, high pitched, harmless humm... " Thanks Big Lau, you made me laugh. I think the important thing to remember, that for some reason is a well kept secret, is that exposure to hearing damaging noise is cumulative. A loud noise here and there, going shooting without ear protection one day, all add up. Each time you are exposed to noise over a certain level you are doing damage and losing some of your hearing ability. It's like you have a glass full of water and every so often you pour a little out. Soon you will have lost all the water [ and your hearing].

I found what he said about the presses mechanically to be very fair and true to the extent of my knowledge, [since I don't have a Hornady press] but I do use Hornady's Lock and Load powder measure on my Dillon since I feel it far more accurate than the Dillon Measure and easier to use. Like a lot of things in life there are trade offs but each has it's place. No one press was superior to another, BUT I am not giving up my 650.

I use a small straightedge held longitudinally along the top of the cartridge case body[stainless ruler or ??] and held up to the light. You can then see the crimp and if it is up or down and to what degree. I usually adjust it so that you see a slight hook toward the cartridge body. This is enough. You are not really into the bullet itself but it is enough so it will not interfere with anything upon chambering. All of the cases are a slightly different length so they will not all be the same, of course. If you are concerned about not having the bullet tight enough pound a couple out with a hammer type bullet remover. You'll be surprised how tight the brass holds the bullet. When you do this you should see no ring aroung the bullet from the crimp. I use a Lee Factory Crimp Die in the last station to size and remove any bell.

Happy B'Day buddy. The holster I bought from you rocks. Glad you got a new avatar, the other one was annoying

Welcome to USPSA and the Enos Forum. Your shooting friends and this forum, especially, will be your greatest resouces. It's all here, you just have to locate the info you need.

Very Nice. Built on a Ruger .22? I thought you needed big bore with big loads to blow the pins off the table??? I guess I'm missing something.

Have you guys or anyone else had any problems with these Armscor .38 super rl cases. I just had a case heaad separation on one. Scared the #&@$ out of me.

nice looking finished product. WE HAVE A NEW KING ! ! ! !