kevin c

Wow, PV STILL has N320, this being the fourth day. Mebbe there is a little light at the end of the tunnel...

I have read (but can't confirm) that supra premium match ammo or components are often the same as the regular stuff with the difference being either more stringent QC or simply greater consistency of that particular production run than typical as identified by sufficient comparative testing. If you're talking about loading for the action pistol games, I should think that if the standard pistol primer goes bang, it's good. As far as breech face erosion, I have to confess my ignorance - why would the magnum primer cause more problems?

I use N320, which is also what I use for 40 major. I have heard good things about N310 but have not tried it.

I used to empty mine just for this reason. Recently though, I have taken to lining the measure with a clear plastic sheet cut from a document cover. Over the past four to six months I have had no discoloration. More time will tell better, but it looks promising. Even if sunlight did make some difference, I think most of us will use up the powder in the hopper well before it has a chance to go bad to the point where the internal ballistics of a load are going to be affected.

As of an hour ago, PV still has N320 4 pounders, limit 4 per order

As of right now, they still have it...

Ha, my SDB is as old as my USPSA shooting career (twenty years plus) and I've never reloaded on any other press. I would have even thought that the primer tubes for other Dillon presses might be different.

I shoot 9 minor, using range brass and coated bullets for most of my loads except for major match ammo. I do sort. PPU, AMerc, GFL, S&B and WCC 9mm brass I've had problems with either tight primer pockets crushing primers or brass thickness causing problems belling and shaving bullets as they're seated, so all that goes to the scrap box, along with any NT or other crimped cases. Stepped brass? Well, so far I haven't had a problem loading for my Glocks at 135 PF, but given the frequent first hand descriptions of case separations, I won't use them more than a couple times (starting from once fired - I mark my brass) or use obviously multiply reloaded cases with unknown provenance. Practice brass is mixed headstamps minus those above. Match brass is single headstamp: once fired for major, multifired for local. I find that the ammo loads more consistently and chrono's more consistently. On my limited testing the once fired single HS ammo seemed more accurate.

Is that for sure? We use ear protection to protect our hearing and the sport and the rules support that. If we think we need two sets of protection (muffs over plugs) for adequate protection and lose one, we have lost the protection we think necessary and I think we should be entitled to stop or be stopped to prevent damage. If I were holding the clock, I would stop the shooter (that guarantees the RS anyway, no matter how you interpret the situation). If I were the shooter, I'd still stop. I'd argue the point if the RO and RM think that my plugs were enough, but regardless my hearing is worth too much to me to risk continuing. Yeah, it's not the same as no plugs or muffs at all, but my understanding is that hearing damage is cumulative, and after 20+ years of shooting and RO'ing, I'd like to take every opportunity to protect what hearing I have left.

Have fun, be safe. Those sentiments I heartily endorse. I would add that, if you want to learn, get involved. The experienced shooters are always friendly around here, but are a bit more inclined to drop helpful hints, observations and suggestions to those who offer to help out. You don't have to know much, just be willing to pitch in with stapling up targets, moving props during stage builds and break down, and, if you have any special talents, like being a whiz with latest tablet software and cloud computing, you can gently point us old analog luddite geezers in the right direction...

I had tumbling of 147 grain Berrys through my stock Glock 9mm barrels. No xs crimp either. Also had tumbling (through the same barrels) of one brand of coated 9mm bullets (Bear Creek - same weight), but not with other brands. To be fair, if I'd tried other plated bullets they might have been OK, but I just settled on jacketed and later other brands of coated bullets that did work and left it at that.

I rarely load .45 ACP, but have had experiences similar to Flash74. Since I starte to load coated bullets, to avoid scraping off the coating and to help with setting the bullet onto the belled case more easily in the upright position, I've increased my bell. Since then I've been getting much more of the brass dusting than previously.

Bury the end inside the sight channel. When putting in the fiber, secure the slide in a padded clamp, and feed the fiber in from the muzzle end so that the free end is just a bit through the back side of the FS. Heat the end and, just as it begins to melt (might take a couple tries), pull the fiber forward so that the melted/expanded end wedges into the sight channel. Then cut and bloom the front end. The dot will be smaller and less distracting from the proper alignment of the top of the FS even with the top of the rear blade, but still easy to pick up.

My new car is too small and even if it weren't I don't think I would be inclined to wrestle a cart in and out. You'd still be lugging around a lot of stuff that you don't need. You want cheap? I use the inner range bag from my old big Shooter's Connection bag. I think that you can even order them separately from SC. Holds ammo, extra mags, loader, sun block, snacks and a drink, rule book and overlays. Not big enough for anything but the essentials, so you can't carry around more unnecessary crap.

^^^ Mirrors my sentiments exactly. IIRC, the SIRT is also cheaper.

The times, attitudes and individuals change. Starting out, in my thirties when I was more hale and hearty, a day in the rain was no big deal. Matches were also harder to come by so giving up on one meant a wait of a couple or more weeks before the next. And the prevailing perspective in USPSA back then was closer to the combat pistol training roots of the sport, so it was expected that you prepare for all contingencies by training in all contingencies. Now, twenty plus years later, it takes a bit more out of me to do a long day (matches are definite much longer now, at least out my way) in very cold/wet or hot/dry weather. The arthritis flares more when wet. I can now shoot a match every week end (some week ends I have a choice of venues) so missing one is not a hardship. And, for better or worse, most folks now look at USPSA as sport shooting to enjoy, not combat training to grimly endure. So, yeah, now sometimes I'll stay at home and read a good book, load some ammo, dry fire if I feel guilty, or just sleep in.

I had that happen to me at A2 a year or so ago. Table top start for all the mags. I set one down (I think it was a tenner), and AFTER it was lying there undisturbed for a couple of seconds it spontaneously disassembled, spewing ammo and mag guts all over and also knocking around my other mags. My best guess is that, since at big matches I routinely strip the mags apart if they hit the ground, that on reassembly I didn't get the nub of the spring retainer into the base plate hole and/or I didn't get the plate fully seated to engage the locking tabs. Either way, I'm glad the mag puke didn't happen on the clock, and I'm more careful on putting the mags back together.

Green for me. It just seems to stand out better to my eyes. But as mentioned severall times already, it's a matter of individual preference.

The hangar end cap? Guess I'm not familiar. Ia it something you purchase along with the steel plates? The back of the plates I've used have a deep flange on the back side. This fits into a slot in a steel fitting that goes over the top end of the 2x4. The plate is now hanging off the fitting by the flange, which has some play that helps the plate absorb the energy of the hit and also makes it ring.

Sevigny/Warren. Havent tried TTI. For all that I messed with my loads, once the fixed sights were dialed in, I have never needed to touch them with new loads (all roughly the same PF and bullet weight, granted).

The best steel target is one I can hit. But for training, mebbe one or two 8" round plates? You don't need the whole Steel Challenge set, or the bigger targets, just a couple small plates to keep you honest, accuracy wise. They break down into the plate, a hanger end cap, the base and a length of 2x4, all of which will fit easily into the trunk of your car. Lots of vendors. Get quality, especially on the plate.

Ours are on wheels, a big help when moving those suckers over gravel. A member handy with metal fab did them for use, using solid wheels with ball bearing axles. He also put on a universally jointed T bar handle. One person can now move the rack, even jockeying it into a specific position pretty much like parking a truck. We can rotate the handle on it's joint so that it's under the rack, better for storage and stage set up.

Heres our experience on a 25 yard by 45 yard bay that we have used for our sectional matches. We have done the same type of set up successfully a number of times since, with up to a couple hundred shooters over a two and a half day match (but with a set squadding schedule, not open as in the first case): http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=26393

My vote goes to N320. For the loads I make up with it for the action pistol games, it's actually cause for investigation if I get double digit SD's

I've done that, if the round comes straight at me at a good angle.. But just like when I'm the shooter myself, if the catch is problematic and draws my attention away from the gun, I let it fall.