Newguy

To add one question: Does barrel porting reduce velocity?

Back problems make it hard for me to bend down, so I'm thinking about rebarreling my .38 super to 9mm and leaving the brass on the ground. I'm almost out of bullets and need to order some soon. The problem is that I'm not 100% sure about converting because of the potential pressure/feeding issues in the 9mm. If I do convert, I don't want to get stuck with thousands of rounds of MG .38 super (.356) that won't fit a 9mm chamber. If I end up buying 124 gr. 9mm bullets (.355) will I experience any downsides like less accuracy if I use them in a .38 super? BTW, although I'm a fairly experienced reloader, I'm new to reloading for open.

I also just started shooting open. My draws are also a bit slower, I think because the gun is much heavier (especially nose heavy) than my ltd. I'm still trying to transition the sight reference from notch and post to red dot. I also don't like the blast in the face. It didn't bother me at first, but after 100 or so rounds I started blinking even with good ear protection. I guess I'll just have to get used to it.

I was in the same boat--shot limited for a couple of years and recently went to open. Since I wasn't sure I really wanted to shoot open class, I bought a lightly used .38 super for a good price (half of the original cost) just to see if I liked it. I like the gun, although I haven't competed with it yet. 1. Given equal effort (practice, dryfire, matches) which gun will help speed my improvement more? Travis Tomasie (and I think Max Michel) believe that the learning curve will be shorter with an open gun because of the dot. I've been shooting the open for the past few weeks and today I shot my limited gun. For whatever reason, I saw the front sight lift and return more clearly than I'd seen it before. Maybe it was related to practicing with the dot. I can't say for sure. What I am sure of is that my shooting didn't get worse going from an open to a limited gun. 2. If your opinion is open, should I go with a 5" gun or can a new open shooter handle the short hybrid open guns? Try the hybrid first. I shot one in 9mm major and was unimpressed--the gun felt violent, harsh and was unpleasant to shoot compared to a 5" .38 super. For me, the shorter transition times wasn't worth the trade-off. 3. Finally, if open is your answer, which caliber? The price of .38 super (10 cents a stick) gets expensive quick, and if you're cheap like me you you'll spend a lot of time on your knees looking for brass. Worrying about lost brass definitely takes some of the fun away from shooting. I'm thinking about rebarreling to 9mm so that I can walk away from the brass. That said, you're loading the 9mm pretty much to the margins and it may be tricky to make major.

I've loaded about 5k rounds of 180 gr. MB bullets. I love them. Accuracy is virtually identical to MG but the price is much better. Also, very consistent weight. They are a tad smokier than MG. Best of all, unlike Precision, they're always in stock (no 6-8 week backlogs). One caveat: according to Stidham (the manufacturer) both MB and Precision don't like Titegroup (smoky and less accurate). He recommended Ramshot Competition or VV320.

I've spent a bit of time thinking about this issue. The biggest problem in creating a convertible gun is the scope mount. You're on the right page with a Docter or JPoint milled into the slide. But, that's the compromise--if you don't like the slide mounted optic, you're out of luck. I can't see spending $2,000 on a new top end. A lower cost alternative would be an STI flattop slide, $300; Aftec extractor, $70; STI S-2 comp and barrel, $315; milling for Docter, $100; fitting barrel and slide, maybe $250. That comes out to less than $1,000 plus the cost of the Docter. That's the route I'm seriously considering. I find the .40 appealing because all I'd have to buy is 1 big stick (I already have 140 mm mags), lighter bullets and a slower powder. It seems like a fairly cheap way to get into open. If I decide I like the class, I can always build another gun down the road.

Schmitz, You can certainly drill a hole and stick in a retaining pin (Baer's come standard with that setup). It's the most permanent fix. Or, if it isn't too loose you can try to loctite (red) it in place. You can also use loctite and then a punch to spread it out the sight in the dovetail (not pretty but it works). Lastly, you can try to JB weld it in place--maybe a little too permanent. In terms of the hinge pin, try using a small punch to flare the ends of the pin. That should stop it from working loose.

A belated thanks for all the advice. I'm sure it's a combination of things, although I've figured out that improper trigger squeeze (jerking, yanking, etc.) is the main culprit. When I pay attention to the trigger, especially the reset, all goes well and my group size shrinks. The main thing that's helped is remembering the word "gentle." The gun has a 2 1/4 lb trigger but in rapid fire I'm pulling on it like it's a da with a heavy trigger. When I'm gentle with the trigger, all goes better. Bountyhunter, I'm also playing with the finger in front of the triggerguard (yeah, I know it's not what the experts teach and I know the reasons why I shouldn't do it). I definitely feel like I have better control of the gun, especially during the recoil arc which goes to the right (on my weak hand side) in my gun. Still not sure I'll stick with it, though.

I haven't heard of the hinge pin breaking on a real Bo-Mar. The pin is prone to breakage on the Bo-Mar knock-offs (Keng sights--they look identical) used by STI, Baer, Caspian and others. You might check if it's a real Bo-Mar. It will say Bo-Mar on the right side and have the R insignia on the left. It pisses me off that manufacturers sell a $2,000 gun with crappy knock-off sights.

Try backing off one full turn on the set screw. I've seen guns where the set screw was on the edge (too far in) and the gun had the same intermittent problem.

Berry's doesn't use an H&G mold on their SWC's so the typical 1.250 OAL for the 200 gr. doesn't apply--at least it didn't for my Baer. IIRC, I had a tough time getting them to feed and the OAL was shorter than 1.250, maybe in the 1.220 (or shorter) range. You may luck out with 1.250 or just keep playing with the OAL until the bullet feeds. The Berry 200 gr. SWC was not my favorite bullet.

I was also activating the strong side safety when shooting, especially in reloads. Using a grinder and dremel I narrowed/cut back the strong side of the safety to where my finger is alongside of it rather than under it. No more problems. It's probably easier and more foolproof than trying to deepen the detent and possibly ruining the safety.

I'm shooting an STI d/s in .40 using 168-170 pf ammo. I've got small hands and the grip and trigger are about as small/short as I can get. When I shoot fast, my shots consistently go to the right (I'm a lefty) -- sometimes so far right they're off the paper. This doesn't happen when I'm shooting slow in timed fire. My weak hand thumb is not touching the frame so I'm not steering the gun (if it was, It would be going left anyway). I'm also cross dominant (left hand/right eye). I'm guessing the problem is with my stance (maybe I'm oscillating with the recoil) or with improper grip pressure. Any advice would be appreciated. BTW, just reverse the direction for you righties.

The versa hanger does keep the gun farther from the body. I first bought the Rescomp w/o the versa and then got one--a BIG difference.

Being one of those unfortunate people with a short index finger, I needed the shortest d/s trigger I could find. The STI and SVI short triggers were too long. The solution was to fill the STI trigger with some kind of epoxy and grind it down, but I couldn't find the right stuff until I discovered Premo! at Hobby lobby. This is a very thick polymer modeling clay that comes in a lot of colors and is baked on at a low temp (275 deg. for about 15 minutes or so). Anyway, I filled up the trigger with Premo, put in the hex wrench for the reset screw, cleaned/smoothed up the sides and baked it on. After it cooled, I used the dremel to ground the trigger down (about 1/4" from the frame at its the widest point). Although the trigger ended up smooth, I suppose a soldering gun could put some stippling on it. I was skeptical about whether Premo would bond to the polymer trigger, but after 3 weeks and a lot of rounds it's holding fine. BTW, the shorter trigger definitely makes the gun feel smaller and helps achieve the 90 deg. bend on the trigger finger.

The real obscenity is not Janet Jackson's right breast, but the fact that 65% of pro players are permanently disabled by the end of their career, and 50% of them file bankruptcy within 2 years after retiring. In Europe, or most other countries, partially baring a right breast wouldn't even raise an eyebrow. OTOH, using 300 pound men as battering rams is another story. I fear this country has its priorities a little mixed up about what is and isn't obscene.

Carlos, Who is doing the warranty and providing parts for the Steyr? Last I heard KBI wasn't handling the Steyr any more and, AFAIK, CDNN just wholesales guns. Never heard of them doing any repairs or warranty work. I don't think Steyr's are being imported any more (I may be wrong) and that CDNN is just selling off the stock they got from KBI. I'd be interested since they're really nice guns and a great value--I once owned two and kick myself for selling them.

In another post, one forum member mentioned that the 2nd knuckle should be bent at about 90 degrees to the trigger. This got me looking at my STI to see where my knuckle bent. Not even close to 90 degrees and that's with the STI short curved trigger. This has practical consequences since to get a decent surface means that my strong hand (I'm a leftie) is touching the frame and steering the gun. Otherwise, only a tiny part of my finger touches the trigger. Well, I thought I'd look for the smallest trigger I could find and started with Brownells. Turns out that the STI short curved is 2.31" long while the SVI Infinity short curved is 2.1" (their short flat trigger is 2.2"). The regular STI long is 2.44" and the Infinity long curved is 2.3" which is the same as the short STI. Since I don't have STI and Infinity triggers to compare, has anyone seen a difference between the two? Is the SVI with the short insert actually shorter than the STI short or is it just a difference in how the companies measure their triggers/bows? I'd hate to plunk down the money for an SVI to find there's no difference. If they are the same, I suppose I could epoxy the inside of the STI short curved trigger and file it down.

I agree that $140 is pretty stiff for a magwell. I've seen one on a gun and they look nice but I'm not sure they're worth that. I have a Pinnacle on my s/s and it's BIG. Plus it only cost $50. http://www.pinnacle-guns.com/current_specials/index.html

Where can I find the Hiett red buffs? Brownells is out of stock and I can't find anyone else who stocks them. I also can't find the website for Hiett to order directly.

Every 150-200 rounds or so I get a stovepipe. Here's the gun specs: Briley Signature series (linkless barrel) .40 S&W Sprinco guide rod w/ 12 lb recoil spring (165 pf loads) Aftec extractor STI mags with Grams followers Well lubed with Slideglide At first, I the culprit was the extractor, but the tension is pretty right (the fp stop has been rounded as per Aftec's instructions--also polished). Changed out the recoil spring and still have the same problem. Could it be the Sprinco? Did anyone have similar problem with this setup?

Thanks for the advice. I went back to the KISS principle and stuck my tungsten rod back in. Don't know that I see much of a difference between that and the RM. I somehow gotta learn to stop searching for the holy grail and believe that the improvement will come from more practice not more equipment.

I finally got my STI RM to work in my Briley. For the first 40 rounds or so it worked fine, but then all of a sudden it got what could best be described as slurpy--a very pronounced kind of slingshot secondary impulse. Is this normal? What can I do to cure it?

If money were no object? Briley Signature Series top end, which includes a lightened slide, linkless bull barrel, serrations, Bomar, etc. Brazos front fiber optic. Frame would be a Caspian race ready long dustcover w/ built-in magwell and accu-rails. Colt-style undercut triggerguard, 25 lpi checkering. Internals would be Koenig hammer, EGW sear, and Aftec extractor. SVI ambi safety, adjustable trigger and beavertail. Brazed plunger tube and then hardchromed. Cal.=.40 S&W (shoots flatter than the .45). Final adjustments by a good smith. Alternatively, if money were _really_ no object: The Liebenberg Signature gun (http://www.pistoldynamics.com/Sig_XTx.html). Paul Liebenberg is doing the most innovative stuff in the 1911 world. His guns are a work of art and I suspect they shoot like nothing else.

Chris, Thanks so much. It helped a whole lot!!!! Instead of destroying a recoil plug, I'll call Chris on Monday--apparently he's on vacation until then. The a-hole I spoke to was in sales. I really wish STI would do a better job of training their personnel. I just can't stomach arrogant guys who think they know it all but know nothing. Thanks for the help.