MemphisMechanic

I have a strong fondness for BBI's bullets so I wasn't really expecting too much overlap - I just like knowing what someone else's gun shot well with, and hope that it'll help someone else who might actually want to shoot 115s. Sounds like we had identical fitting experiences, with the one difference being that my barrel dropped effortlessly into the muzzle end of the slide. All of my fitting was related to the length of the hood and the pad underneath the locking lugs. I'm sure we aren't the only two guys to use a sharpie instead of a $10 bottle of dykem. For a split second did you find yourself puzzled when you couldn't get the slide onto the gun without beginning to file / stone down the lower pad? I did. Turned out to go very smoothly though and I'd definitely do another one if my girl's gun decides it's hungry for one someday.

Charge weights are noted to the hundreths because I drop ten charges on the scale and take an average. Barrel: 5" M&P 9L / Apex SDI fitted barrel Temperature: 45 degrees F Bullet: 130 gr BBI Powder: 4.0 gr Solo1000 OAL: 1.110" Primer: Wolf 968,946,948,971,944,961,948,967,992,945 Average = 959 fps PF = 124.6 ES = 48 fps SD = 15.68 Barrel: 5" M&P 9L / Apex SDI fitted barrel Temperature: 45 degrees F Bullet: 130 gr BBI Powder: 4.23 gr Solo1000 OAL: 1.110" Primer: Wolf 994,1004,1029,983,996,976,984,994,1013,1024 Average = 999.7 fps PF = 129.9 ES = 53 fps SD = 17.67 Barrel: 5" M&P 9L / Apex SDI fitted barrel Temperature: 45 degrees F Bullet: 130 gr BBI Powder: 3.20 gr Clays OAL: 1.110" Primer: Wolf 976,989,992,968,997,976,977,986,967,992 Average = 982 fps PF = 127.6 ES = 48 fps SD = 10.58 Barrel: 5" M&P 9L / Apex SDI fitted barrel Temperature: 60 degrees F (indoors) Bullet: 130 gr BBI Powder: 3.35 gr Clays OAL: 1.105" Primer: Federal 987,1012,985,998,993,996,984,962,995,996 Average = 990.8 fps PF = 128.8 ES = 28 fps SD = 12.92 (I tested 3.5gr clays in between the 3.2 and 3.35 charges, and it showed pressure signs on the primers that matched the sudden jump from 129PF to 135.5! I'd estimate that 3.35 - 3.40 would be the fastest I'd go with that powder under a 130gr lead or coated. Clays showed very little smoke under a moly-coated bullet, almost as clean as Solo and certainly less smoky than WST.) Barrel: 5" M&P 9L / Apex SDI fitted barrel Temperature: 65 degrees F (indoors) Bullet: 130 gr BBI Powder: 4.10 gr WST OAL: 1.110" Primer: Winchester 1027,1033,1032,1053,1048,1020,1013,1063,1036,1041 Average = 1036.6 fps PF = 134.75 ES = 36 fps SD = 15.18 (Same load as above. Glock 34 factory barrel, back to back:) 1006,1014,1051,1043,977,1054,1054,1036,1034 Average = 1029.88 fps PF = 133.88 ES = 48 fps SD = 26.11 Barrel: 5" M&P 9L / Apex SDI fitted barrel Temperature: 65 degrees F (indoors) Bullet: 135 gr BBI Powder: 3.60 gr WST OAL: 1.130" Primer: Winchester 928,932,913,921,948,937,935,929,919,949 Average = 931.1 fps PF = 125.7 ES = 36 fps SD = 11.77 Barrel: 5" M&P 9L / Apex SDI fitted barrel Temperature: 65 degrees F (indoors) Bullet: 135 gr BBI Powder: 3.80 gr WST OAL: 1.130" Primer: Winchester 983,974,994,957,1000,993,998,989,966,988,975,976 Average = 982.75 fps PF = 132.67 ES = 26 fps SD = 13.33 I hope that helps a few of you. The 135gr BBI coated RN bullet and 3.8gr of WST is going to be my new match load, once I test it to see if it's accurate through my barrel, and my girl's stock M&P barrel. Now that Solo1000 is scarce and I don't want to burn through my stash of it without very good reason, I'm pretty happy with WST and plan to use it until my 8 pound jug is done. That said... stay tuned for a side-by-side comparison with Ramshot Competition. I have 8 pounds of that which arrived last night. My plan is to work a load up that shoots to the same power factor as the WST load, and compare them side by side for accuracy, felt recoil, and cleanliness (lack of smoke).

Distance for that target? What ammo were you feeding it? If you hand load, do you recall the recipe for it - or at least the bullet used?

All round fired from an M&P 9L fitted with a 5" Apex barrel, whose velocities are nearly identical to my Glock 34 w/ factory barrel. (BBI = Black Bullets International) Temp: 50 degrees 130 BBI 3.2 gr Clays 1.110" Wolf Primer 967 976 968 962 980 992 962 962 971 972 Average 971.2 (126.2 PF) Temp: 50 degrees 130 gr BBI 3.35 Clays 1.105" Wolf Primer 987 1012 985 998 993 996 984 962 995 996 Avg 990.8 (128.8 PF) Repeat of the above load at 70 degrees (indoor range): 1060 996 998 959 998 993 986 Avg 998.6 (129.8 PF) Indoors @ 60 degrees 130 gr BBI 4.1 gr WST 1.110" Winchester Primer 1027 1083 1032 1053 1048 1020 1013 1063 1036 1041 (134.75 PF) Same load as above shot through a Glock, back to back: 1006 1014 1051 1043 977 1054 1054 1036 1034 Indoors @ 60 degrees 135 gr BBI 3.60 gr WST 1.130" Winchester primer 928 932 913 921 948 937 935 929 919 949 Avg 931.1 (125.7 PF) Indoors @ 60 degrees 135 gr BBI 3.80 gr WST 1.130" Winchester Primer 983 974 994 957 1000 996 998 989 966 988 975 976 Avg 988 (133.38 PF)

Why you expect to result in a softer recoiling gun, and what ACTUALLY result in a softer recoiling gun are exact opposites: * You want a light recoil spring. Heavier ones make the gun flip more. They don't "soak up the recoil" like you'd expect. * A heavier bullet is softer in recoil than a heavy one. Think of a 45ACP versus a 357SIG that have identical kinetic energy at the target. 357 is a crackling snappy and 45 is a dull heavy push. * Faster burning powders recoil less than slow burning ones. Again, totally opposite, but it is true. It's amazing how soft a 147 with a sprinkle of fast burning shotgun/ handgun powder like Solo100 or Clays or WST actually feels!

Accuracy wise... this is based on subjective feel and freehand groups at twenty yards so it is probably more opinion than fact, but I believe group size with 130 BBIs is about half of what it was. I have my factory barrel in my range bag and intend to bag the gun in tightly and shoot 5 groups with the factory barrel and five with the Apex. The reason I haven't done so yet is because I planned to lengthen my chamber and because I finished off my stock of Solo and haven't completed load development of something to replace it - I'm going to test both Ramshot Compeititon and WST since I have 8 pounds of each, and use whichever recoil impulse I like, provided one doesn't happen to turn out vastly more accurate than the other.

Certainly. It has two USPSA matches and about 1,000 rounds through it now. The gun feels different. It recoils different. When it locks into battery it locks into battery. Just feels tighter, and given the way the lug added to the underside of the barrel presses down onto the locking block to wedge the barrel up into the frame... it definitely is actually tighter. Fit yours very tight on the front to back dimension of the hood and the pad underneath the chamber that presses on the locking block. I shot for a nearly unecumbered fitting instead of the "shove slide forward with two pounds of force" method that Randy uses in the video. 800 rounds later there actually is a tiny tiny bit of slop in the system now. I wanted it a hair loose for a fitted gun, because I want mine to run dirty as hell. But if you want a super tight gun, really try to leave it so tight you're worried it won't cycle and go shoot it. On my ammo issues: Installation of an OEM striker spring didn't cut it. I wound up selling my old stock of 9,000 Wolf primers for $20/1000 and federal, Winchester, and even CCI have run through the gun like a Swiss watch. I am currently loading RN 135 and FP 130gr moly bullets to 1.110" so that they will pass the spin test. That's short. But it's also what I have to do in my girlfriends brand new M&P with the factory barrel. I have a reamer arriving from a friend tonight in the mail, and I'll be lengthening both chambers to let me load to 1.140" with all three bullet profiles I use. I've loaded dummy rounds with all three of these bullets to that length, since I want a little more case volume for use with Ramshot Comp, WST, and other very fast powders. And this way my M&P chambers will match the rest of my guns.

If your hands aren't tired after a dryfire session...

I have 8lbs of RS Competition on the way from Powder Valley. Because it's one of the few cool, clean, fast-burning powders you can put into a 9mm minor load that you can find in bulk nowdays! I've run Solo1000 for 20,000 rounds of 9mm coated 130gr, and love it. I have an 8lb jug of it that is my "major match only" powder unless the Ramshot powder wins me over. WST also shoots well under a moly bullet, and I have about 2 pounds of that left. I just finished up a pound of Clays that I stumbled across locally, and I have nothing bad to say about it. As soft as anything else including Solo, and similarly dirty. None of the powders I'm listing smoked much... but all leave a sooty deposit behind in your gun and aren't anywhere near as clean burning as N320. However, unlike the caked on charcoal that you have to chip off the backside of your barrel with a tiny gunsmith's pick axe when you shoot Titegroup... all of the rest of these powders left a soot that easily wiped off with a shot of gun scrubber. WST was probably the cleanest of the bunch. But it doesn't really matter. None of them was the mess that Titegroup was.

Go to your local pet store. They sell crushed walnut shells as bedding for lizards and other reptiles and it's cheaper than buying tumbling or blasting media.

After 20,000 rounds on a Dillon 650 in 9mm, I agree with you. The Dillon die wasn't any less accurate than the Redding in maintaining OAL. It's just much easier to set the value with the micrometer die. That said, for flat-point slugs like this 125gr Black Bullet I find that the Dillon die, when flipped to the flat-point side, does a much better job of seating bullets straight. If I don't pay attention with the Redding to keep them very straight as the lift into the die, it'll flop sideways and shave some of the moly coating off as it's pressed into the case. That didn't happen with the Dillon. For round-nose profiles the Redding does terrific.

This one reply is the grand summary of the entire thread. The guy at the top of the leader board is inevitably one of the most accurate shooters at the match. Always. They are also very skilled at knowing how fast they need to shoot a given stage in order to win it. Currently that means pushing so hard that their group size is barely able to stay inside the -0, and that occasionally one shot wanders just outside it. Vying for the top 5 spots in a sanctioned match is currently about who dropped too many shots into the -3 or clipped a noshoot. Perhaps soon we'll all be taking an extra fraction on each shot to keep them inside the -0. It'll be a game of who went two points down versus shot it clean... instead of the current "who dropped eight points to my two down because the clipped a -3." But nothing at the Expert or Master level will really change. It'll only add a second or two to a stage winning time. The winners will just be harder on the front sight a few yards closer to the targets than they were before. Hell, the stage winning time might not even decrease. What it WOULD do is slow the Marksman and Sharpshooters way down. And that's why I oppose it. This sport is already discouraging enough the new shooter who can't honestly keep their shots inside the -0 yet! It certainly won't make anyone shoot more "real life" speed. I know that personally two or three shots into an agressor's chest in the "one down" portion of the torso before he can shoot me sounds like a fantastic plan. So in my estimation, that argument for doubling the points down is right out the window.

I had that problem after a really good classifier score. I shot it twice in a row and became a paper Master. My goal since SS had been to make it to MA.So yep. Paper Master getting beaten by up and coming Experts at sanctioned matches. I used it as motivation to buckle down and start dry firing 30 mins a night a few days a week and worked at it until I was in the hunt for a division championship at the matches I attended. One hell of a motivator!

That makes sense. PD is close enough to me that a group of locals would get together on a group buy with a one-case minimum, and one of our locals with family down there would go pick them up. So I've fired around 30,000 of their 124 & 147 FMJs. I can say that both of those would vary in weight by less than 0.5gr from bullet to bullet, and now that I shoot BBIs almost exclusively, you're right. Some of my 135s weigh a grain or two more than another bullet will.

I'm assuming you're shooting limited minor due to a lack of mags and pouches, with an eye toward production once you have enough gear. Stage 1, the final target before your first reload? Either shoot it earlier (as you begin to move that way) so you can truly load into your second position, or load after that side, when making that transition into the port in the brown barricade. Your load was really more flat-footed than done between two positions as you ran so far into the final target before beginning it. Practice a load as you drive out of a position within the first two steps to start, then within one step as your goal after that. That's what you want to do every possible change in USPSA. And if you can stick reloads while leaning/pushing off, you can damn sure do them flat-footed. Production is a game of alphas and efficient, moving reloads. Might as well start now! Second stage you flubbed the draw... but good job taking a second go at it instead of ripping the gun out by holding it god only knows where. We've all done that at least once, and re-gripping is preferred remedy. Better yet, draw at 80% speed in a match and build that 105% speed higher and higher at home when the gun is empty. Again, ideally while taking a step in a random direction. Be more aggressive moving to the left position, then load as you return to the middle. That would have avoided a dry gun situation. Math better. Swingers get two hits as the begin to stall at the end of their arc, and the second hit while stopped. Close swingers you can chase through their arc like you did... But without taking extra shots. Take 10% off your speed on the trigger and really really hone in on the sights. Two alphas at a .25 split beat a pair of .15 splits every single time. Don't think "slow down" ... think "be more visually patient" and get those sights aligned hard before breaking your second shot. Then you won't need a third.

Thanks, Tim! Regarding transitions, that is certainly something I spotted as well. I believe a consequence of shooting a lot of IDPA (which tends to feature a lot of more closely packed target arrays) is that I lose my bangbangbamgbang speed and start with the "bangbang pause" when targets vary from steel to paper, distance, and how wide-open they are. It's definitely something to work on. On movement? Actually I did a phenomenal job hitting my markers on the ground with one exception - the close port at the beginning of the 3rd or 4th stage that I obviously overshoot. While retreating, I'm looking over my left shoulder at the ground because the bottom of the 2nd post holding up the wall IS my marker for my left foot. That doesn't mean I move quickly, but I did have a destination locked in! However... I need to speed up my feet. Watching it critically, my load isn't done in time to really let me start my legs pumping like a GM, and I need to take longer strides with more foot speed. That's the most obvious thing to me. Thanks for the critique!

I'm curious to see if you all see the same things that I do when I watch this video. Unclassified production shooter, who hadn't fired a shot in USPSA in three years, trying to break the rust loose. I made sure to include the hit factors and breakdown of my accuracy in there. I definitely need more alphas so I need to turn the vision up a bit.

What Bkreutz said! Replace the striker spring with a factory or extra-power one and check the timing. That's almost certainly the problem.

You're welcome.

Why is that? Thousands of CZ shooters do it a year at LAMR ("shooter, load and make ready!") in Production without incident.If they're responsible gun handlers who watch where the point the muzzle, the worst possible outcome is an inadvertent round into the berm and a disqualification, which is extremely rare.

I tried titegroup (under a 124JHP) at 1.010, 1.120, and soft on up to 1.060 in my G34 back when I started loading. It was roughly a 20fps variation, if that. As long as you're nowhere near a compressed load (and that's unlikely with TG) I wouldn't stress about it personally.

Lead or moly or coated will always shoot the softest. They are softer and seal (think like a wine cork) to bore quickly and less of the powder charge bypasses the bullet. Next comes plated. Finally fully copper jacketed and JHPs. Lead is the smokiest, then plated, then jacketed, then finally JHPs as the cleanest. Heavier bullets shoot softer than light ones. Heavy bullets loaded slow are the hardest to stabilize - our M&Ps are well known to often have accuracy issues with 147s. I swapped to a $200 Apex custom fitted barrel due to this. But it always shot 124s just fine. 124 splits the difference between the cheaper snappier 115 and the butter soft 147s. I personally shoot a 135gr black bullet now, and it feels just like a 147 jacketed bullet. Powder is largely chosen now by what we can find. I'm using Green Dot, WST, and Clays nowdays. Solo1000 is my personal favorite but I only have one 8llb jug left and it's impossible to find nowdays. So I'm dabbling with other loads for non-major matches. Same with primers. Pick what you can get affordably. Even the harder CCIs run through an M&P just fine if you fully seat them in the 650 and haven't swapped to a lighter striker spring. I find a 13-lb recoil spring and stock striker spring to be the ticket for running harder primers. An 11-lb spring and Winchester or Federal primers works well, but the 13/stock runs dirty, and eats it all. I learned to load on a 650 and have never loaded a double or squib after 40k rounds. Be patient. Go over to that friends house and volunteer to load his ammo on his press while he supervises. I've had newbies do that with me, taught them a ton in 2 hours before their press even showed up.

You ability to shoot a rhythm with good hits requires two things: Grip pressure and vision. You were probably harder on the sights with your vision than usual and had your grip pressure between the left and right hands balanced so that the sights were tracking vertically and the front post just kept coming back to the center of the notch more consistently than normal. Play with these things. Try it.

Shoot as fast as you can with a clean, clear look at the front sight centered in the A zone. Take a target to the range and practice that, even if you have to do it at a static indoor range with several post-it notes stuck to their big boring target to transition between.

I second the above advice - Burkett reloads to get the hand speed from gun -> magazine draw -> magwell moving more quickly. Faster hands leave more time for a consistent, smooth insertion inside your 1.0 second window. Get the button depressed before your front sight has finished lifting in recoil from your final shot, and pull the gun straight back and keep the grip vertical the entire trip back to meet the offhand, rotating it just in time to visually acquire it as the mag arrives. Definitely lose the outward wrist flick. Hit the button before a vertical grip's trip back to your chest and it'll fall free in plenty of time. You want efficiency of motion and to maximize body mechanics. Find Max Michels video on YouTube from HotShots. 6, load 6, load 6 in under 5 seconds. The loads are beautiful and shown in slow-mo. Same with the Travis Tomasie "the perfect reload" video on YouTube. Look for small things. Compare to video of yourself.