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Have you guys tried this basepad? It adds zero rounds and adds enough length and padding to work well with my Dawson ice magwell. I use them on both STI 126mm (10rd) 9mm and .40 mags. https://www.doubletapsports.com/doubletap-custom-products/doubletap-sports-magazine-base-pads-dts-126

Collecting old spent primers... hmmm. Have you found a use for them yet?

JP all the way. Ditto on the quality differences. When you pick it up you know. The great thing about JP carriers is how easy they are to clean given the slickness. That alone is HUGE for me.

Nordic Components (NC-22) .22LR AR uppers was all the rage a couple of years ago, and then... it just disappeared. Did they stop making it or are there production issues? Because it's been a long time for production issues. JP used to offer the JPNC-22 uppers, which used the NC-22 bolt system. Now it's labeled as something else, with more options. Are they still using the NC system, or have they developed their own? Then I hear that the guy who designed the original NC .22 AR system is now selling it under the TACCOM brand? Looks ok but it has some funky lightweight barrel and not a lot of options. I'm really confused. Does anyone know or can shed some insight?

A no frills carbine is something you can use to test stuff, beat up, and just abuse the heck out of in training/practice. Throw in on the ground, throw it in the mud, bang it against cover, etc. Will you do that with your game gun or precision gun? And who knows, if you use it long enough you mind find it reliable and light enough to carry around when the zombie apocalypse comes, or rather, the most accessible, being it that it’s ready to go in your truck. So, of course you “need” it. What a stupid question.

May I ask if the Tripp 8rd mags are easier to seat than the Wilson 47Ds? Those 47D single stack mags are really tough to seat when full.

The POI shift happened to me a few years back. For me, the reason was a new limcat glare shield I installed. I don't know why, but it changed my POI, and weirdly it kept on shifting, so I had to remove it. http://www.shootersconnectionstore.com/Limcat-C-More-Glare-Shield-P422.aspx

Sent you a PM on an STI Marvel unit.

Like these guys said, if your M2 runs on the cheap stuff, you are golden. You get to practice what you will shoot at matches. I found out after multiple multiple jams during matches that my M2 just doesn't like the cheap Walmart stuff. Maybe it's the tighter tolerance but the sometimes the cheap Federal/Winchester shells are slightly misshapen and they get caught on on the shell carrier or elsewhere. I switched to Remington STS and Winchester AAs and the problems went away. Too bad they are too expensive to practice with. As for size, I use #7 1/2 generally. For slugs, Winchester Ranger reduced load slugs. Bought a case back when ombexpress was still around and is still lasting for matches.

Anyone?

I cannot find the answer to this anywhere, so maybe someone can help... What is the thread for the magazine tube endcap for the Benelli M2?

So I have a long dust cover on a limited .40 that works well and served me for years, but I came to the point that I wish I had a short dust cover due to the versatility. This may or may not apply to you, but if you ever want to put a .22 conversion upper on your 2011 frame down the line, the long dust cover is just too long. It sticks out and looks pretty horrid.

Sorry I didn't see and forgot about this thread. Thanks for the suggestion. I guess there's no off-the-shelf solution for now. The bigger problem is that the TacSol mags don't drop free from my 1911 (or 2011 w/ the widebody mags for that matter). I have to look for a solution in sanding the mag tube down.

After hearing the TacSol 2211 .22 upper is the cat's meow I picked one up for my 1911 with some TacSol single stack mags. My idea is to run it: 1) as a trainer for .45 single stack and 2) for our local club's USPSA style .22 matches. So I want to get a Dawson no gap magwell (http://www.dawsonprecision.com/ProductDetail.jsp?LISTID=80001583-1340725703). I'll get the Dawson basepads specifically made for the magwell for my .45 mags, but then I run into the issue of the TacSol .22 mags not being able to be seated properly in the nogap magwell. My solution was to get another insert (the standard Ice magwell insert) when I shoot w/ the .22 upper, but I still get the issue of the TacSol magazine bases being too thin to quickly insert the mags. I'm not aware of any aftermarket mods to the TacSol magazine basepads. Can anyone offer any solutions to this? Thanks in advance.

I have a 550 too and like most people always thought I am meticulous about reloading. But it just takes one distraction, one tired moment, one night of "quick 50 extra rounds" before a match and it can happen. We've all been there. We just have to find a routine in reloading that a long series of mistakes that will have to happen before you can squib or double charge a round. How many loaded rounds do you have left that is "suspect"? I've never doubled charged a case but I have made squib .45acp rounds before. 5grs of bullseye under 230gr FMJ. I pulled all the rounds of course after it happened but before I did so I weighed them and pulled out the suspect rounds that weighed too low. It actually worked and I was able to identify the squibs. This only works for high powder charges I think, and the fact that I have OCD about loading same brass cases with each batch helped in weight sorting.

I've had feeding inconsistencies w/ my M2 from the beginning. I've tried everything, and then in the end what made it work was simply shooting better shells. So I moved up from the Wally World Winchester and Federal shells and moved on to the Win AAs and Rem STS shells. I think it may very well be the inconsistencies in the lower quality shells themselves and my M2 was quite picky about that. So I use the cheap stuff for practice, the quality stuff for matches.

Happy New Year to all! Sorry for the delay in the feedback, but I was waiting for the actual field test! I bought the Briley extension to go waterfowl hunting since I gather that my 21" barrel probably won't cut it for those 30-50yd shots. So, I just came back from 2 days of goose hunting at the Finger Lakes in NY (12/26-27). Man, what an awesome trip. Our party of 4 took 30 geese total between the 2 days - 12 on first day, 18 on second. The bag limit was 3/person but we had 2 guides with us so absolute max was 18. I've uploaded some videos onto youtube to share. Goose Hunting - Day 1 Goose Hunting - Day 2 Here are some pics of the Briley extension. Basically, there's a male coupler that's much like a choke (but thinner) and joins the extension with the barrel. The end of the extension is threaded as well to put in chokes, or even another extension. I used a factory modified choke for waterfowl hunting. There's a small gap between the barrel and the extension, which I think is good since I wouldn't want them touching and potentially rubbing as I tighten the extension. The extension works just as advertised and up to expectations. My 21" Benelli M2 barrel effectively became a 27", and it shows up when I patterned it against my friend's longer-barreled shotgun. I had some concerns that the extension could come loose during shooting, but it didn't really loosen, especially if you're just hunting w/ 2+1 rounds max. I did not put in loctite b/c I was taking it on and off regularly (my range bag did not fit the shotgun w/ the extension. Overall, I really like the extension. It allowed me to save hundreds of bucks on another M2 barrel or even another shotgun. There's a couple of minor things that I want to mention though - 1) I had some initial issues with the extension - for some reason, my factory Benelli crio chokes would not screw into the thread, but Briley chokes would fit just fine. I sent it back to Sean @ powerfactorshooting.com and he took care of the problem for me. I think the threads weren't cut right or some of the taps were left in there or something. I don't really remember. Sean can chime in and let us know the details. 2) I did not like how the extension came in 2 pieces. Sometimes when I unscrew the extension, the coupler would stay in the barrel, and it is extremely hard to remove since there's no knurling and you cannot use a choke wrench on the smooth surface. I wound up having to use a strap wrench, but I think you can do it w/ the end of a mousepad or just wrap a rubber band on it and do it too.

I just ordered a 6" extension from Sean @ powerfactorshooting. Will report back after some testing.

I only want a longer barrel for hunting purposes. I've been told steel shot has rapid velocity loss given the lower mass, and you would be be making as much as 40-50 yard shots. This means you need a pretty full choke and some powerful loads (preferably 3 or 3.5inch shells), with a long barrel to put them up to speed.

Ok I know this is totally the opposite direction of the usual topic, but I want to extend my Benelli M2 Field's 21" barrel to about 28" for upland/waterfowl hunting. At first I was going to buy a new barrel, but then I saw the scarcity/price. Yikes. I came across this item - Briley Mag Extension. If it does what it suggests, I can just get a 6" extension for about $120 and be on my merry way. Does anyone have any experience using that extension? Any thoughts to cons of using an extension?

Check this article out. The author runs a 17" Krieger barrel. http://demigodllc.com/articles/evolution-of-the-3-gun-practical-rifle/ I've considered running a Krieger barrel cut down to 17" simply b/c of the weight of the normal medium contour barrel. In the end I opted to have a lighter weight gun and went w/ an 18" RLGS LW barrel w/a turned down profile from Firebird. I just felt that for me, having a lighter gun makes more difference in maneuverability than a shorter gun.

If you want precision rifle reloading on the 550B, consider getting John Widden's floating lock dies on their CNC machined 550 toolheads combined with Uniquetek's clamp system. This locks the toolhead down to the press so there's no wiggle room, while still providing cushion for concentricity. Then get either Redding or Forster seating dies. You're basically turning your 550 into a precision single stage. Don't forget, a "single stage" is not magically more accurate, you'd also need to get quality ones to see an advantage. If you want to get crazy precision, you'd want an arbor press with better tolerance. Everything else is non-specific to the press. Case prep is perhaps the biggest time consumer and it just depends on how crazy you want to get. You would need for example a quality trimmer (manual like Sinclair, or auto like Giraud), neck turner (Nielson's pumpkin), bullet meplat trimmer/pointer, various case neck gauges, etc. You also need to weigh each powder charge. Read some articles on 6mmbr.com on case prep. Also, start off with quality brass like Lapua for the .308 and never look back. If you're not talking about crazy precision, then I would just get the .308 caliber conversion on the 550B. I reload precision .308 on the 550B, and all I'm doing on the press is bullet seating/bullet pointing, which only requires a shell plate (I think the .308 uses the .45acp shell plate, so I didn't need to get a separate conversion kit).

I prefer the Aimpoint reticle because the dot itself seems more vibrant and solid. The Eotech circle and dot seems more like a "dotted line" vs. a "solid line," if you know what I mean. It just doesn't seem continuous for some reason. I also did not find the 65 MOA circle particularly helpful in acquiring closeup targets, instead, it seems kind of cluttered to me and sometimes obstructive to what I want to see at a distance. I just need the one bright dot. If you want to shoot any targets beyond 100yards, I think you do need a 2moa instead of a 4moa dot though.

Cas, remind me to ask you about the latch mod this Saturday night at dinner in PA. I'm intrigued as well. I'm driving up there w/ Perry and we're staying at the same hotel.

Do you guys know of any differences between the old JP/LWD "High Performance Bolt" and the current "Enhanced Bolt?" I read that supposedly the old LW bolts are radiused around the lugs and has a slightly different shape extractor (which are features to increase reliability) and the new Enhanced bolt doesn't have these features (aside from the same better-quality steel)? Also, was the old one more expensive than this new one? LW advertises the performance bolt for $150 and JP has the new enhanced bolt for $100.