trodrig

Has anyone heard any details about the big match moving to St. George? Does the move to Utah have the potential to bring attendance levels up some?

Open division, registration #159! Check is in the mail!!

Based on the weight of the bullet, and what power factor you want to load, that will dictate the muzzle velocity you will need to achieve. Power_Factor = (Muzzle_Velocity X Bullet_Weight)/1000. I've heard bad things about Berry's at Major PF (>165). Never tried them personally. Been hearing good things about BBI and Bayou Bullets though.

I will never forget how warm and welcoming Linda was to me and Alexis as new shooters! She will be missed by everyone fortunate enough to have known her!

Unreal.

I've been told that 3n37 is really nice in 9mm Major. I don't know the exact charge weight as I'm a 38sc shooter! Dig around on the old threads and I'm sure you'll find some starting info. Although, 3n37 may be just as hard to find these days as HS6!

Also, remember that looking at the steps on the gauge is not necessarily required for every round. You use the gauge to set the sizer die up for a given brand/lot of brass. Once it's set, you should be good. I still drop all my finished rounds through the gauge just to make sure they drop free after final bullet seating and crimping but I don't look TOO closely at where the head is relative to the steps on the gauge. I use it more by feel than sight after the dies are adjusted and sized brass chambers/extracts easily from the rifle. I just run my finger over and make sure I can feel that it's below the top step and go. One thing I've noticed is that brass that has been sized such that it is between the steps on the JP gauge and then fired in my rifle will still fit the gauge after firing. The head on the fired cases is just a little above the top step, but the brass is not so fat around the circumference of the body that it won't fit into the gauge. Very tight chambers on these JP rifles!

I'm surprised the "before" case was hard to chamber/extract. The "after" case looks like you might have gone just a little too far. But, maybe it's hard to tell from the picture?

Yup, cam over is required to get my brass to fit in between the steps on the JP gauge. If I don't size to fit between the steps at least, or flush with the bottom step, then brass is hard to extract from my JP rifle. I've talked to a couple of very experienced reloaders and 3-gun shooters who have indicated the same. Some have taken a little off the base of the die to get sufficient shoulder bump without camming over. Some, loading on a single stage, have taken some off the shell holder to accomplish the same. I live with slight cam over.

Is the head flush with the top step of the gauge or the bottom step? Or is it in between? For my rifle, if it was flush with the top step, brass was hard to eject. I had to dial the sizer die down just a little further to get the head in between the steps and then it was smooth as silk to extract the rounds.

Looking at the data on Hodgdon's website there are ZERO entries for International Clays for any of the popular calibers used for USPSA/IPSC/Steel/3-gun. I.E., 9mm, 40s&w, 38 super, 45acp. I didn't look at 38 special or 357 mag loading data but I suspect there will not be any entries for International their either. The product description for International also makes no reference to its use in any handgun cartridges. Product descriptions for other dual use (shotgun and pistol) powders like Clays and Universal Clays DO specifically call out pistol cartridges that those powders are useful for. International Clays is a shotgun only powder.

Thanks again Kurt! Thomas

Call Shay at acguns.com and see what he can do for you. Can't say enough about the quality of his work!

Thanks all! The Ti firing pin from Brownell's is out of stock. Anyone have any experience with the ones from firingpin.net?

Thanks Mark and Kurt! Kurt, your description of weight of the hammer and spring not being there during a slam fire and allowing the firing pin to get blown back makes perfect sense. I know my posts and pictures are all confusing. I should've separated things out. The brass on the left of the first picture was the second round that fired from the first double I had that day. No tit of primer flowing back, but it looks like a very light firing pin hit to me and has some flow around the circumference of the firing pin dent. That one is from the 55gr load running at 2979fps. The brass on the right of the first picture was the second round that fired from the second double I had that day. Definite tit of primer flowing back and, from the discussion above, I think established as a slam fire. That one is from the 75gr load running at 2794fps. The picture in post #3 above is from the 75gr load where no double occurred. I'm going to assume that the case on the left in the first picture was a slam fire as well and perhaps just didn't flow the primer back to the same degree. We know from the case on the right that the rifle has a tendency to slam fire so it seems reasonable to conclude it would slam fire with any bullet/powder combination if the primers are the same. I'll try a Ti firing pin and if that doesn't fix it I'll go to a standard spring. Thanks so much for the help y'all! Thomas

Thanks Kurt! In that picture, the piece of brass that does not have the little tit sticking out was also from a double. That one was from the 55gr load. The second picture I'm talking about can be seen with the link in post #3. It's from the 75gr load where no double occurred and doesn't look over pressured to me. Thanks, Thomas

Kurt, both of the pieces of brass in the first picture came from doubles. They are from two separate instances. The other 2 pieces of brass that came from these separate two shot bursts looks completely normal. Are you saying that both primers in the first pic look like slams? From the other thread, it sounds like you also recommend a Ti firing pin in this instance. Is there a particular brand of Ti firing pin that is preferred here? Ramshot's current data for 5.56x45 Nato shows WIN case and WSR primer. Not trying to be argumentative with you AustinT, just explaining my reasoning behind the load. Thanks!

Thanks for the comments Mark and RS! The primers were bought in either mid 2012 or late 2011. I really don't think the load is the issue. The primers only look like they do in the first picture when the rifle doubles. I had just stripped the BCG and cleaned the bolt, etc before this last shooting session and the gun doubled only about 30 rounds into the session. The way all of the other primers look, I don't think there could be that much debris built up with that few amount of rounds on a clean bolt. I'll strip it down tomorrow and see if I can identify debris in the FP hole. Mark, do you think that the JP silent captured spring system would improve things? Does it have a weaker equivalent spring to it than the standard buffer spring? I'd run harder primers if I could find them but at the moment I've gotta work with what I have on hand. Perhaps a Ti FP will be in my future. I'll lube the snot out of the bolt next time out and see if that helps at all. I run the gun really wet, if oil doesn't splatter on my shooting glasses, I typically pour on some more FP10. But maybe I need to get more actually in the bolt? Thanks!

Sorry, I should've been more clear. All of the 75gr loads are using LC brass. All of the 55gr loads are using the FC brass. Both are using WSR primers which is what Ramshot's data calls for. Each load, with their respective brands of brass, were worked up from the starting charge listed in Ramshot's data for the respective bullet. The only time the primers look odd with either of the loads is when a double occurs. I have shot several rounds (over 50 of each) of these loads, with their respective headstamps of brass, over a chrono, and not seen pressure signs. Again, only time the issue with the primer has been observed is when the rifle doubles. I read on another thread where Kurtm was describing an anomaly that sounds similar to the appearance of the primer on the right of my first picture. See post #3 on this thread: http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=135736 It sounds like this is what's happening in my case. Would y'all agree? Thanks!

10-shot average velocity of the load on the right is 2794fps. This is the 75gr Hornady BTHP. Powder charge of 24.8gr TAC is well within limits of Ramshot's published data for "Nato/Mil Specification". Here's a pic of brass from the same lot/load of ammo where a double did not occur: http://www.flickr.com/photos/66863609@N08/9211964270/

Is the one on the left the Lee Factory Crimp die? Can't quite make out the markings on it. The one on the right looks like a Dillon die. I use the Dillon die for 38 super comp...only in 38 super and not 45 ACP as that one is marked!

Hey folks! I've been having random doubles with my rifle. Usually from the bench, occasionally when shooting in a match freestyle and 2 times in a match shooting prone. At first I thought the doubles were bump fires caused by me not hooking the trigger properly. This past weekend I went out and shot again paying special attention to how I was manipulating the trigger but still had doubles on 2 separate occurrences. I was able to retrieve the brass from both occurrences. In each case, one piece of brass had a strange look to where the firing pin impacted the primer and the other piece from the double had the normal firing pin dent. Here's a pic of the two pieces of brass which I believe were the second shots from each double. The one on the left looks like the firing pin just barely dented the primer. The one on the right looks as though brass from the primer was popped back into the firing pin hole. Could it be that these occurred as the result of a slam fire and not a trigger bounce double? The rifle is an 18" JP CTR-02 with all of the standard equipment (LMOS BCG/Buffer, JP spring, JP trigger and fire control group, etc). Gas block has been adjusted to just lock the bolt back on an empty mag with this load. Brass is getting thrown about 5 feet from the shooting position. Loads are: 1) 55gr Hornady FMJ-BT, 25.4gr TAC, WSR Primer 2) 75gr Hornady BTHP, 24.8gr TAC, WSR Primer No pressure signs are evident on any of the rounds that were fired without the occurrence of the double. If this is the result of a slam fire, what can be done to rectify the situation? http://www.flickr.com/photos/66863609@N08/9211768500/ Thanks for your help!

Are they not accepting case orders (4000 count) for 115 JHP's or did they already sell out of them? All I'm seeing are 1000 count boxes right now. Not sure if I'm just late to the party or if they're limiting to 1000 count per bullet type. Thanks! Thomas

Awesome! Shay does some great work!

I run Dawson base pads. I run Dawson followers with ISMI springs in my 140's and Gramms in my 170's. Congrats on the new gun! An STI Trubore was my first open gun. They're great guns!