Lee Watne

With double stack magazines 9 MM or 9X23 work fine because of the way the ammo stacks in the magazines but with the single stack the tapered cartridge cases of the 9 MM's fan out in a full magazine (nine or ten loaded)and can nose dive if things don't go right. Something else may be wrong but that's my theory.

Thanks for the input. I'm leaning toward the 38 Super. I will use it in IDPA Enhanced Service Pistol (which means it must have a bushing barrel) and if it turns out accurate enough I may use it for a limited amount of NRA Bullseye competition in center fire.

I am thinking about customizing a 1911 to either 9MM or 38 Super. What do you folks think the best choice would be? I would reload for either one and use the 38 Super Comp cases for the 38 Super to eliminate the rim. I know there is a lot of cheap 9MM ammo on the market and that makes a strong argument for the 9MM but having gone that route, I think quality reloads are cheaper than quality factory ammo so with reloading there would be little difference in ammo cost other than cheaper cases for the 9MM. Theoretically, non tapered 38 Super ammo should feed better than tapered 9MM in a single stack. Also, the pistol would have a ramped barrel.

Turning off all the fluorescent lights in the house seemed to help mine.

The unique thing is this time I know everybody was using Bullseye. I still have trouble understanding why people shoot a pistol with one hand, but some of them can really shoot that way.

I shot in an indoor Bullseye match last week end. There were 8 shooters on the line all shooting various loads of Bullseye behind 180 and 200 grain lead bullets. There were 180 rounds for each of the 8 shooters totaling 1440 rounds down range. When finished we swept the floor to make the range ready for the public shooters and I noticed a significant amount of black "dust", like maybe a cup and a half in the sweepings. I put a couple of pinches in an envelope and took it home where I gave it a flame test. It was gun powder no doubt. Nothing burns like gun powder. It seems strange that the powder that is prefered by so many as the most accurate and consistent reduced power load leaves so much unburned powder behind. I don't know how much powder in a confined space it would take to blow the doors open, but I'm glad no one smokes on the firing line.

The bolt needs to be relieved too, but that can't be a big problem. I had heard that you could use 223 mags. There was also the rumor that there were problems with blowing primers. Have you heard anything about that? The thirty Remington uses large rifle primers. It seems that it would be easy to produce some cases for small rifle primers.

Why arn't people excited about this? Change a barrel and make major in an AR-15!

I forgot to say that AA2520 is a ball powder that meters extremely well. It's like tiny graphite coated ball bearings. It will take compression too. One trick with the Varget is to hesitate at the bottom of the reloading stroke and give it time to meter out. Also wiping the inside of the powder measure with a fabric softener tissue will help eliminate static electricity.

Some people have good results with AA2520 and Sierra 77's and 80's. I know a guy that made High Power Master with that combination.

I just thought I would let you know I had the same thing happen with a 9X23 with 115 Zero HP's .356 diameter and VV N340. The barrel has a long five port comp and three TJ holes. There are 16000 rounds down the tube, mostly 124 gr bullets. The interesting thing is that it doesn't seem to affect accuracy or velocity. The RO's hate it and I admit it's a little disconcerting to hear especially when on an indoor range. It's really wild there, bang, bang, bang, BOOM, bang, BOOM. I know VV N340 isn't the best choice for a combo such as this, but I have a lot of it.

I got a new Springfield 1911 Loaded a couple of years ago. The accuracy was not very good with factory ammo in 124 and 115 grain bullets. I also tried 38 super magazines from a couple of different manufacturers. They worked untill I tried to put ten rounds in them, then the top rounds fanned out so much due to case taper I got nose dives with the first round. (Notice how Kalashnikov handles case taper) The extra length of the magazine was no help either. I finally tried Metalform with the filler and settled on nine rounds with better reliability. The 38 super is a straight case, that's probably better for a single stack magazine. Double stack magazines seem to be more tolerant of case taper. My 9X23 double stack SV runs like a watch with 28 rounds in the big magazine.

Thanks for the information. I have heard that the reason so many people use 200 grain bullets in the 45 ACP is because when we were using 45 open guns we needed the extra gas to run the comps and the habit stuck.

Is this combo better than the 200 or 230? What is your load?

I've been sitting at the reloading bench since I started reloading in 1957 at the age of 14. Someday I would like to try reloading standing up before I get too old.

A little lube makes magic. Try some with Dillon lube or Hornady One Shot. Make sure some goes in the case mouths on at least some of the cases. I know the One Shot won't cause misfires and I don't think the Dillon lube will either. To make sure as an experiment use a loading block so you can be sure the lube gets inside the case. If it makes the system work better you've found the problem. If not look elsewhere. Not all cases are equal. You can run into "stinker lots" sometimes.

Do you lube your cases before reloading?

Try www.okweber.com, they are in Oregon. Most of the heavy match bullets come in 500 packs.

This is kind of fun, I'm trying to decide which I like best. Clays is a flufy powder and fills the case enough on a 45 so it's easy to see while you are loading. Tite Group on the other hand is so dense it's hard to see in the case on the shell plate while loading. This could make double charging somewhat of a danger. I think Clays has a very narrow margin of usefulness, too hot really when loading to the old major loads, but just about perfect for the new major. I tried some reduced bullseye loads and they didn't work well, so gave up on that pretty quick, almost as quick as I gave up on bullseye shooting. Alliant's Bullseye is still King of reduced loads. My 45 seems to shoot the Tite Group into smaller groups at PF 165 and I have four pounds to go through so I'll give it a good trial run. Both seem to meter well in my Dillon powder measure. It could be static electricity if you have a problem. Try wiping the inside of your powder measure with a fabric softener sheet.

I have been going by the advertised claim that One Shot will not contaminate powder or primers. Started using one shot when it first came out. I use loading blocks and hose the cases lightly at a 45 degree angle to the case mouths from about six inches away two directions. This gets almost as much inside the case as outside. After 100,000 plus reloads there has been no problem with contaminated powder. I suppose not many people would put their cases in loading blocks. This must work for rifle too because no stuck cases in many thousands of rounds (10,000+ 223 cases for sure but many more 270, 338, 356, and 30-30). I hit the rifle cases harder but get no dents in the shoulder. I didn't know One Shot was so bad for rifle reloading or I wouldn't have used it for the last ten or fifteen years.

Try a tiny bit of super glue on loose primers. Nail polish flakes off in the gun but super glue seems to hang in there. I don't intentionally use cases with loose primers, but if you can get caught with some loose pockets and it's a pain to disrupt your reloading cycle by picking off the loose feeling primer pocket cases from your loading plate, you can save the day by using the super glue. When the cases are in a box with all the primers up it isn't too bad to apply the glue, but don't over do it. The thin viscosity glue seems to work best because it flows around the primer. Then after you fire the rounds don't pick them up! The rest of the cases in that lot are most likely close to going bad too. Let some range scrounger pick them up for reloading so he can jam his gun with loose primers.

Living a long way from the supply in Alaska, bullet suppliers charge for shipping here. Some local shops sell plated bullets at substantially lower prices than I can get swaged jacket bullets shipped up here. Will I be sacrificing accuracy for a lower price by using the plated bullets? I don't want to use lead cast due to smoke in the indoor ranges. I noticed that a lot of people at the IDPA Nationals were using plated bullets according to the Tactical Journal.

Laser sights keep getting smaller and less cumbersome. Has anyone tried them? Are they any good?

Thanks for all the input. I talked to the people that are the custom shop for Trijicon inserts,and they say you can put one in a .100" width front sight as long as you have enough length. I have an idea the older you get the more light you need in your sight picture. The sights start looking like a glob of black lint when the front sight fills up the rear sight too much. Poor lighting conditions make it worse too. The .100 FS and .125 RS notch is what I'm going for. Well, now you young guys know what you have to look forward to.

Thanks for the quick answer. That was for a full length 1911, sometimes I forget there are other kinds. Can you get a tritium insert for a .100" front sight? The IDPA matches here always have a lot of low light stages.