MemphisMechanic

Jesus. Tell PD to stop making things. ...my wallet hates them.

Check the price on the Henning pads from his website before committing to the Springers btw. In a 6-pack they are probably the cheapest ones out there, and IMO they're shaped the best for consistent grip on your mags.

1. Did you chronograph those loads that tumbled? If so, how fast were they going and what was your standard deviation with this ammo? (If not, then you're flying blind and you really need to buy or borrow a chronograph, because you've only done step 1 out of 4, in load development) 2. What gun were they shot out of? Were they .355 or .356 sized bullets? Have you slugged the gun's barrel? 3. Have you experimented with different powder charges and overall lengths (OALs) using that bullet and that gun?

Springs likely to get lost: The one under the firing pin block / safety. The spring on the trigger pivot pin The spring AND TINY PLUNGER inside the magazine catch. (Comes loose when you pull the trigger bar plunger and spring up out of the frame.)

Pretty much sums it up, Moto. I miss running reduced Striker springs in Glock & Smith and still going bang on high Winchester primers. But I'm in love with the gun enough to keep plugging away. I'm 95% certain it's an under-fit or over-fit FPB, just like you and ARy.

I highly recommend shooting L-10 in Minor for a few matches with the M&P, if you have enough mags and belt pouches (4 min, 5 common.) Don't go spend money right now when you don't know which division you'll want to be shooting in six months. There will be tons of gear nuts at the matches eager to preach the gospel of their gun and their division. People who want to try to win you over to their favorite brand. Ask around and people will practically shove their gun into your hands to test drive after the match. Take them up on it. Then make an informed decision on divisions and gear.

That's what I did. CCI and Winchester primers off my reloading press went bang just fine. Personally I prefer a gun with a 1/2lb heavier trigger that eats hard primers... to a picky gun with the lightest possible springs. Just slap a 4.5 or 5 in there and shoot whatever you want. Tune the gun to your preferred source of ammo, not the other way around.

That sounds revolting. It's snappy, smoky, dirty, expensive stuff.

What exactly do you think a "pro" armorer can do for the world's simplest handgun that a patient owner cannot?

Small frame CZ mags are quite a bit smaller in width and depth than Glock ones. Even smaller than M&P mags and other similar guns, which already rattle around in a Glock mag carrier. Hopefully that Velcro trick works out. I'm a big fan of the ghost mag pouch, which is the only one that will actually holds everything from a Glock to a CZ mag.

Have you taken any effort to seat primers especially deep, or are you running your press as per usual with your other guns? What press do you load on?

I've run an 11, 13, and the factory 17. I prefer the 13, but haven't run a 15.

I've had that same thought. Particularly since several people chimed in saying they had to do zero fitting... I had a chat with Johnbu explaining what I was doing wrong with it. That the block isn't slowly dropped as your trigger travels - that the sear below it snaps down after the shot breaks. On the next range trip, I'm pulling the FPB out at the first sign of any trouble. Won't be waiting to see if it happens again, etc.

... imIm in no rush, John. Next match isn't until Jan 14! And regarding a backyard range? That leaves you with absolutely no excuses for being anything short of A or M! I can always lean on the "I only get to shoot twice a month and dryfire makes my vag hurt" excuse!

It lets you hold the firearm the way you want to naturally hold everything else, with thumb and fingers closer to forming a complete circle around the object. That is not the way you should be holding a handgun to shoot it rapidly.

I think I had the firing pin block very insufficiently fitted. Contact was visible with the "paint firing pin with sharpie then dryfire 50 times" method. Not enough to cause peening on the pin, but I hope it was enough to cause the firing pin to be slowed when firing, and cause my issues. I removed a good bit more from the block tonight, shooting for the block to barely remain tall enough to function before the trigger is pulled. We will see. I won't get to test fire it again for nearly a week to find out, though.

I'd put the casefeeder on the wa using an L-bracket for shelving before I mounted it to he bench. The wall flexes less! My press runs smoother with the bench lagged into the wall, for certain.

I'm considering changing to a Wolff or E.G. Medium spring because they're heavier. They'll light the ammo that comes off the press that I use - along with the 15k Magnum CCI primers that I have. Both of which I'm going to be using. Changing something in that mix isn't negotiable - assuming I don't find a way to punch primers in more deeply and consistently using the 650. Something will have to change on the gun. But I truly believe all of this is us talking in circles. Between the firing pin block, perhaps there's a burr in the firing pin channel, I have a press that's got an absolutely filthy priming system... I think I'll get it running on a 14lb PD spring eventually - with the help of this forum with time and effort.

The casefeeder is on top of a thinwall piece of steel tubing that is fixed to the top of the press you're rocking back and forth with a 2.5' long pry bar. It's always going to sway some, unless you move it off the press. You'll still never avoid having one inverted case every 100-500 assembled rounds, though. It's going to happen occasionally. At least they are the least frustrating type of "jam." Another bit of advice: Fill two small boxes with brass. One gets kept full of clean spent brass that is ready to go into station 1 if a case needs to be discarded. The second box is kept full of a few dozen pieces of sized and deprived brass. That box is the key. Anytime you pitch a defective case or clear a jam, you currently end up with a brand new primer coming off the press onto the "ski jump" chute. Right? Well, keep a box of deprimed and sized brass handy, and you can simply stick one of those into station 2 after culling a bad case, push that primer up into it instead of letting it spit out the side of the machine... and keep going without building up a stockpile of primers on the ski jump.

I do indeed. Adjusted to just barely kiss the sides of the case and fix any "Gauge failure" bulges that might be present, but I take the time to pull bullets when setting up a FCD to make sure it isn't affecting the size of the bullet, or crimping down into the coating. Most FCD issues come from having them set too aggressively.

Find a chronograph. If the above poster is correct and you are at or below a starting load, dirty brass and guns will be expected. Things burn more cleanly as you get closer to the maximum loads. Cleanliness also depends greatly on the powder in question. Some are always going to leave the gun dirty, while powders like N-320 and Prima V will leave it nearly spotless.

I do understand that. However, my intention was to set the Tanfo up to in no way qualify as a light striking gun. If that meant running the factory hammer spring and the gun has a 7.5lb DA? I'd do that, if I had to. But I know there have to be a ton of Tanfos running around on non-federal primers loaded on 650s, so I'll figure out what's going on with my gun to make it run like theirs. Trigger pull weight isnt as important to me as a gun that will run on marginal ammunition when filthy.

Tanfo 9mm mags are $15 each through CDNN

With the heaviest hammer spring (14lb) and a full treatment of PD parts Im at 6.5 and 3, glass smooth. Zero-pretravel single action. It's certainly shootable, and I don't mind the weight I need to have to run my stockpile of CCI primers. 1.4 and 4.5ish weights are easy enough if you want to be slaved to federal primers just like with CZ. There's not much different anymore aside from ergonomics. DA trigger reach is shorter on Tanfos too, despite longer frames. Okay! Done with Tanfo chat! Back to Shadow 2...

My gun (once Patriot Defense came out with a full line of Tanfo parts similar to what CGW did for CZs) has a prettt damn nice trigger now. Its 1.5 DA / 0.5 SA pounds lighter and smoother than my buddies CZCustom SP01 Shadow. I've not felt a CGW or truly worked-over fully polished gun to compare to my Tanfoglio. But it really doesn't matter, in my opinion. They're both more than good enough to make the shooter the limitation, and beyond that you're just tinkering for the sake of tinkering. A 1/4lb lighter trigger or .5mm less reset doesn't honestly matter in your match scores. These days, it's simply a matter of "pick the one you like most and go have fun" which is a great thing.