Joe D

I have been shooting lead bullets through Glocks for years. I load a 160 gr lead bullet in 9mm. IMO the worst device ever made was the Lee Factory Crimp die. I taper "crimp" mine to .379" at the mouth. 1.150" OAL in a G34 and 1.200" in a Range Officer.

Get some of these and load them long. http://www.xtremebullets.com/9mm-165-RN-p/xc9mm-165rn-b0500.htm

I shoot one of our Kimbers in ESP on occasion. 3.0 of Clays and 3.4 of Promo go an average of 650-660 fps with a 200 gr SWC.OAL is 1.250". I use 9 round mags in ESP. Love those big round holes.

Fortunately I had ordered 16 lbs of Solo and 16 lbs of Clays before the madness started. Promo works well as does Clay Dot. Midway had some Clay Dot for about 10 minutes. I just happened to be sitting at my computer when the notification popped up. I go through powder fairly quickly as I am loading for two. One of our local gun stores tends to have pistol powder most of the time.

I could be wrong on this, but I think the STI/SVI grip/gun was designed around the .45ACP round. The Caspian around the 38 Super.

That's interesting. My go to load back when I shot plated bullets was 3.0 gr of TG with a 147 gr Rainier bullet. I got unbelievable groups out of a G34.

I load my RO 9mm out to 1.200". Shoots 160 gr lead very accurately with Solo 1000 and Promo.

You will need a 38 Super follower. The Checkmate 38 Super mags have the exact same follower as the high$$$ Tripps.

Metalform 9mm mags have a removable spacer. Or just use the Checkmate 38 Super mags. I have both.

I have several pistol/shotgun powders listed in the "notify me" area of Brownells, Midway and Midsouth for 2+ weeks. Am yet to get a hit. OTOH not sure I really need any.

OTOH I could just weld him a front sight on his Edge. 1/4" low hydrogen rod should work. Of course I would have to heat up the slide before I welded it.

It won't help his shooting. He never looks at the sights anyway.

I have been shooting 160 gr lead bullets in 9mm for years. I like S1000 as it is very lead bullet friendly. I could not get the 160 gr bullet to stabilize with Clays out of a stock Glock barrel at a 130 PF. Never tried it in a barrel with normal rifling. I have also worked up loads with Promo that shoot well. Shoot me a PM if you want load data.

A couple of thousands below the hood will not cause any serious accuracy issues. I found no reason to change the bushing in my RO as it was plenty snug. Remember we are not talking about a gun that will be used in Bullseye. Are you able to shoot good groups with another gun? Have you shot your gun from a rest? Not talking about a Ransom Rest. Just a good supported position from a bench. I like the long throat in the RO. My 9mm Kimber had the same throat depth. I choose to ream out the throat on a 9mm RIA I owned to allow the use of longer bullets = 38 Super mags. It is doubtful any of the above mentioned issues would cause the awful accuracy you described. Just look at some of the old Colts. They clanked and rattled, but would certainly group much better than 5" at 15 yds.

How does the flake size of Clay Dot compare to Clays?

Tim, just checking to see if you know your Kimber history.

Fred Kart makes the best 1911 barrels period. I prefer to use their regular barrels. I am just "old fashioned". The Easy Fit barrels work well also.

You should have even contact on the BOTTOM lug and slide stop pin. The barrel has two lug recesses, just in front of the hood, where the slide lugs fit into. You should have contact with the rear lug. Building a 1911 from scratch is in some ways easier in that you use a Wilson lug cutter to cut the bottom lug.http://www.blindhogg.com/pics/tool5.jpg OTOH you can use a Kart Easy Fit barrel. I have done a couple of these. What you want to do is install the slide stop. Then slowly ease the slide forward. If the pin is too large it won't go into battery. If the slide goes into battery put some marker in the rear barrel lug recess and close the slide. Look for marks in the marker.

What about a Clakamas model?

All this nonsense has driven me to Alliant Promo. I find it and CFE Pistol locally. I am down to about 12 lbs of Clays and S1000. Promo is actually working pretty well in 9,.40 and .45 when loaded to a 130 PF. I think I paid $129 for an 8 lb jug of Promo.

Blue, you really need to check before you just stick in a .200" slide stop. I use Dykem http://itwprofessionalbrands.com/1172/dykem/hi-spot/dykem-hi-spot-blue to coat the rear lug recess of the barrel. Rack the slide a few times to see if the barrel lug is contacting the slide lug. You could probably use a Sharpie also. Mine has full contact when in battery. I did a trigger job on a friend's .45 RO and saw that his had good contact with the stock slide stop. It will vary a bit from gun to gun.

Bill, my first choice will always be a Kimber. A 9mm Stainless Target is in the $1,100 range. I had one. Actually a friend and I have swapped it back and forth several times. I installed a Kimber .40 barrel to go along with the 9mm barrel. Kimber uses the same breech face for both. I own a couple of .45 Stainless Target models. One I shoot in ESP with 130 PF loads. I think the RO has a better stock grip safety design. I fitted an Ed Brown safety to the ESP gun.

Just strap this to your powder thrower. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Aqua-Culture-5-15-Gallon-Single-Outlet-Aquarium-Air-Pump-1-Ct-Fish-Aquatic-Pets/10532632 I bent a coat hanger and attached one end to the pump and the other into the vent hole of the thrower aluminum top. I also use an elastic strap to pull the pump against the aluminum bottom of the thrower. Don't tighten it too tight. There are micro vibrators, but they are mostly DC. Darn where is Nikola Tesla when I need him. Amazon has dozens of them.

I shoot SP .45 at other folks range. I left a lot at Arab.

Doc, 1.050" is a really short OAL. Did you mean 1.150"?