UW Mitch

Thanks! Yesterday tried some in my big C&M Topline tumbler and left them out in the sun to bake all afternoon (pull them into the garage overnight just in case maybe condensation would form in the morning). Today should get up to about 100*F here in Oregon so I will be leaving them out all day. I will keep this batch of brass sequestered and keep an eye out for anything weird that occurs with ammo loaded since this is a new variable for me. I really appreciate everyone's input on this old thread. It feels really nice after having taken a break from shooting for so many years that the community is just as strong and helpful as ever, which I feel has been lacking in my life in other online groups. Mitch

Thanks for confirming two things - your experience and that I should trust but verify myself. I guess since no one is jumping up and down saying "holy s#!t I totally ruined a whole batch of ammo, I should be good to go I will tumble a batch, pop a few primers and inspect just like you suggest.

I actually read this whole thread and no one mentioned a concern about moisture in the primers/pockets and no one mentioned checking for it - maybe that's my answer though, it's actually not a problem.

I know this is an old thread but I'm just getting back into reloading and remember how much I hated the dust of my dry tumbling. I'm hoping to get some feedback from those of you who wet tumble with the primers in - have you ever run into any issues with moisture in the primer/primer pocket? I would like do the following process: 9mm brass collected from outdoor range - somewhat dirty Wet tumble primer in for a little bit with just water Swap out water for Wash'n'wax + Lemishine - tumble 1.5 hours (primer still in) Rinse & give a little spin in media separator Let it sit out in the sun on a tray for a few hours (I'd only do this on sunny warm/hot Oregon summer days like we have coming up here Monday) Take the tumbled/dried brass - lube with Hornady 1 shot, then reload as normal My only hesitation here is somehow moisture being trapped in the primer / primer pocket. My alternative would be to do the tumble, dry, deprime only, then dry some more then lube & reload. I don't want to run dirty brass through my 650 to deprime before wet tumbling. ~Mitch

It would've been so easy for him to (1) push a squib rod or pen down the barrel to see if there was an obstructions then (2) pull the slide off, and then inspect the barrel by itself if it was determined that something was blocking the barrel. Does this shooter have no friends that could help him out? Sigh... ~Mitch

Looks very cool and very sturdy. I'm a little confused on the draw bar aspect of it - is this because you have a need to remove your 650 from your bench often? I would've thought with that nice 3/8" piece of plate you'd just drill and tap and bolt the strong mount right into it. ~Mitch

But what you can do is be out there diligently taping and encouraging your whole squad to do the same so that this doesn't happen. Or when it does you can throw a little bit of a fit that you're the only guy taping while your squad is in the shade sipping lemonade. ~Mitch

I like that you use a pipe cutter. I would've used a dremel for it, but when I did mine I threw it in the lathe (overkill...). ~Mitch

I would say that is not typical of Henning. My experience has been that if he was traveling he had an assistant to help with the customer correspondence and email. I love his products and they're worth the wait (although after 2 weeks, I can understand frustration about not being able to get in touch with him). Have you tried calling? ~Mitch

You don't list your location so it would be hard for anyone to offer to help you out. I was able to get an order in with Natchezz about a month ago, per tip given on the forum. So I ordered a little more than I need, with the intention of sharing with the local USPSA shooters that are either new to reloading or were otherwise caught off guard. If you're not a total dick at the matches, you may have a friend who could loan you some primers to get you through a few more matches if you're out. ~Mitch

"major" scoring doesn't matter in production as everyone is scored "minor". So XDm Comp in 9mm versus 45acp for USPSA Production - in theory as you pointed out, lower cost, also less recoil and hopefully faster follow-up. But if you shoot them side by side with the clock and you're getting better/faster hits with the 45 and you don't mind the cost aspect go with that - especially if you're relatively new, it's not like you're at the ragged edge of your potential. Either way you go you'll continue to improve as you practice and shoot more matches. Regardless, I would work your dry fire, work your fundamentals, and see if you can get that 9mm hitting spot on. Low left might very well be a little bit of trigger slap. ~Mitch

That is way cool! I would have been skeptical that a tabletop mill would have the rigidity to do much gunsmith work, but I guess I'm wrong there. ~Mitch

FWIW, I load once fired for my 9Major, but the once I shoot it, I throw that brass in another pile to build regular 9mm practice ammo. Glad to hear you're alright.

Agree! The lesson to this shooter is to clearly mark or identify his mags as his in some way, shape or form. I like to mark the base pads because when they're in the mag pouch you can see it. I use a label maker...used to use nail polish. ~Mitch

It's not quite luck. If you only look back 4 years at the last election. Anyone who reloading in volume for something like USPSA would've found the supply we had in the last 18 month prior to the election a God-send, and should have been recovering their probably depleted supplies from the previous 2+ years. I think the tragic string of shootings worsened the run on supplies, but it's a decent idea to always have a backstock of supplies to weather these kinds of fluctuation. Having a back stock means in normal times resupplying as you use (like on a monthly or quarterly basis), not buying a year or two of supply and restocking when it's down to zero. ~Mitch

You could consider shooting the XDM in 9mm in Limited. Greater magazine capacity, cheaper to shoot. If you shoot alpha's not a big deal to score minor. I know one local shooter who shoots minor because of cost and capacity advantages. Just a thought... ~Mitch

That is crazy business... ~Mitch

If he knew he had the wrong glasses on, he should have asked for an ULSC and asked nicely - "would be possible to swap my glasses and/or go 1-down if the next shooter is ready?". If I step up to the line with no batteries in my dot and say "oh well I'll just try it" and I shoot terrible, that's my fault, not the RO. I can't believe this even warranted a debate with the CRO. ~Mitch

I like Varget...

Sometimes I wish I was still a Seattle resident ~Mitch

After Obama was elected in 2008 it wasn't until 2010 that an order I placed in December 2008 from Powder Valley and from Cabelas was filled. So that was about 14-18 months waiting on backorder. By 2011 supply seemed back to "normal" with still inflated pricing. I will pine just a little and recall that when I started reloading in 2003 I could go to the gun show and Winchester SPP's for $12/1000. I would imagine the "norm" will be around $25-35/1000 once we can start getting more supply. My in ~2006 or so when primer prices increased from the $12 to $16-17 was to stock up enough for a year of shooting. Now I don't shoot quite as much so I'm stocked up more like 18 months of primers, brass and bullets. I try not to keep too much powder on hand. ~Mitch

I've had custom knives on order for nearly a decade. Although I didn't have materials or a deposit with them, two knifemakers actually passed away before starting what I ordered. Maybe gunsmiths are different, but I'd imagine if you want something from a specific gunsmith, some may have this kind of wait. That being said, there's probably a good number of excellent smiths that wouldn't make you wait quite this long. ~Mitch

That is the sad truth

Thanks for the heads up - hopefully the sales system was up to date when I placed my order.

Amen to that.