Nolan

Well, I've broken another grip frame. This one is an SV grip and it's broken in the same place as the other three. I just put this grip on 2 days before the Nationals and it's never been off the gun. The previous thread was Broken STI grip frame Here's a picture of 3 of them (I was too lazy to dig out the 4th one). They are from left to right SV, STI, STI. All of them are breaking in the top of the mag catch area. It actually looks like the material is getting pushed OUT. Anybody else having this problem or have any ideas?

Ouch! You know what they say, "The first year she listens. The second year he listens. The third year the neighbors listen!"

Uh-oh Erik, you've been out conspiracy theoried! I thought it was anti-military not anti-gun. By the way I like the cartoon and this Thanksgiving had some great theme marathons. Speed channel was running American Muscle car episodes one day and American Thunder motorcycles (with the Michele Smith Bobblehead ,er bubblehead hostess) the next. One movie channel was running all the great Kirosawa Samauri movies Yojimbo, Throne of Blood, Gates of Hell. Oops I forgot Yojimbo is one of those gun-grabbers dream come true movies.

Guninhand, You and your buddy believe wrong! I personally have seen big time mucky-mucks in the sport (TJ, TGO, MV & others) point out their errors to the RO when the RO missed the call and yes there were prize tables involved. I've seen them point out their own no-shoot hits that the RO missed. Perhaps some of your local big time mucky-mucks in the sport have a win by any means attitude, but it by no means permeates the sport. This is a pretty small society and such behavior IS noticed.

Rather than use Duct tape I think you could modify an old thumb safety to lock the slide. If I remember correctly some of the old silenced .45s locked the breech by holding the thumb safety up in the slide cutout.

Like Rhino and Detlef said, there is absolutely no difference in safety between holding my unloaded gun horizontally in a gun rug/bag or in my locked holster. The only physical difference is whether the crowd can tell if I've cleaned the bore lately. Of course in a CR holster they can't even tell that. I guess it's sorta like the difference between seeing Rhino in a speedo thong or wearing a pair of overalls? Both are legal (in some states) one just gives most people the Willies!

Midway sells a good resonably price brass polish. It used to be sold under the Midway label, but now it's Frankford Arsenal. I think it's $15.00 a quart. A couple of teaspoons works well, lasts a long time. I've been using it with good results.

Ohh Ohh, A spring loaded spike/guide rod with a really heavy spring to pop out and poke close targets with the spike. And now back to Robot Wars!

I haven't measured the Dillon dies so I'm just guessing here. I think they are tapered more at the mouth of the sizing die to ease entry of the cases. That means even when the die is touching the shell plate some of the brass is not being resized. EGW sells a modified Lee .001 undersize carbide sizing die that sizes much farther down the brass. The trade off is the occasional smashed case when it doesn't enter the sizing die. On my 1050 I use 2 sizing dies, the first one is the Dillon, then the EGW undersize die. On the 550 I just use the EGW die, but case lube is mandatory.

The Dillon case gauges are on the loose side of Maximum and the Midway case gauges are much tighter. A quick check is to try case gauging a fired case if it goes into the case gauge Oops the case gauge is the same size or larger than your chamber. I don't like using the barrel for case gauging because the chamber does not fully surround the case web and rim. A slightly bulged case or a dinged rim MAY case gauge just fine in one position, but if rotated 90 degrees the defect may cause problems. And you just know what position it will feed out of the magazine in the middle of a match! Back to the Lee Factory Crimp Die. If you're using it to iron out the Glock bulge your sizing die isn't doing a proper job! Fix that problem because the FCD is just a band-aid to the real problem.

I quit using the Lee Factory Crimp Die back when I was still shooting lead bullets in my .40. I was having problems because with lead the FCD would squeeze the bullet back out of the case a little bit on the up stroke. Even with jacketed bullets I don't think the FCD is a good idea because you will compress the bullet slightly which will reduce bullet pull verses an un-resized bullet in a properly sized case.

Actually if Erik wants a new slide because of the weight issue it would be relatively cheap to drill through the back of the slide. Then tap the holes and screw in a couple of ounces of tungsten to put the weight back in. No welding, and easy to move the weight forward or backwards, or to remove or install more weight. Question is it Limited legal?

If you want each second to seem like minutes, each minute to seem like hours drink lots and lots of water before the match and then don't go to the bathroom! It's amazing how time drags when you've got to pee. Of course this only works on straight up hoser stages, it's not a good idea for prone, low ports or cooper tunnels unless you're wearing Depends.

Ha! Paul, I wasn't so lucky, but just as dumb! Just before the 2001 Back to Back Nationals I tuned up both my Limited and Open guns with all new bits and pieces. While at the range I checked the Limited gun by pointing it into the backstop and holding it at waist level with my left hand I stuck my right index finger in the trigger guard and proceeded to do my best Bob Munden imitation. I ripped through a full mag, no problems. Now to check out the open gun. Same drill except I really wanted to crank the trigger...so....I....leaned....over....the....gun to really get my finger moving........BIG mistake! My comp really works. I got off about 3 rounds before I could stop, the comp blast blew off my hat, and earmuffs (thank god for ear plugs!) and my face felt like David Littman had slapped me (and he should have for being so stupid!) Jack, I learned not to use my Dillon Border Shift ammo bag as a sandbag rest for my Dan Wesson .44 Mag. The cylinder gap blast cut 2 nice slits, one on each side of the gun.

Interesting! When I first got 2 barrel holes I had the dot squiggle, it's either gone because I changed my grip or I just learned to ignore it! So tell us how you came to this observation/conclusion.

Kevin, PMC has been advertising their Lead Free primers, but haven't personally seen any on the store shelves (not that I've actively searched.) By their advertising it reloads exactly like standard lead styphnate based primers. Does not require oversized flash holes, crimping, etc... and a 10 year shelf life. Let's hope it lives up to the advertising!

Erik, Hey aren't you a Microsoft windoze expert as well?

Brian, Thanks for the tip. Replacing a worn breechface is why I went ahead with the removable breechface. Well that and the fitted slide/barrel/frame kit certificate I won I guess folks really do go to the races to watch the car wrecks! The web stats for Kaboom are 4 times any other video on the site! I looked the gun over yesterday and it looks like the only real damage (besides the cleaning bill for my underwear!) is the broken screw and a bent firing pin.

Yes I've had the breechface off quite a few times during cleanings. Sometimes when I've checked the screw it's been loose, but most of the time it's been tight. I will be using loctite from now on.

Yes, mine was and I say WAS an SVI screw. It's hollow for the firing pin to pass through. I use a standard allen wrench to tighten the screw by sticking the long arm down the firing pin hole and turning the short arm. Maybe I don't know my own strength, but I shouldn't be able to overtighten it just using my fingers.

I think I may know why my Limited Gun started jamming at the end of the Limited Nationals. This Sunday at a local match it ejected the removable breechface along with the empty case. Unfortunately I didn't notice this and proceeded to clear the malfunction, chambered a fresh round and pulled the trigger.....KABOOM! The video is here Kaboom I'm OK, but haven't had the ambition to even really look at the gun to see what the damage was. I checked the breechface retaining screw when I cleaned the gun before the match and it was tight. We recovered the breechface and the retaining screw was sheared off leaving about 4 threads in the breechface.

A couple of years ago I was searching the web for a 3D CAD program called DesignCad. I think I was using Dogpile or maybe it was Jeeves, anyway I find the link and click it.......... And wind up on a Viagra website. I'm thinking *^%*&$ site jackers when I notice it IS the DesignCad home page........ The software companies name is VIAGRAFIX....pronounced Via Graphics.....not Viagra Fix...DOH! I wonder how many times somebody gets refered to that page looking for Viagra and can't figure out why the heck the only thing for sale is a damn drawing program. So what is he supposed to do? Draw an erection?

Does it matter?

Erik, I've been shooting 180 grain jacketed (170-175pf) for a couple of years and just recently tried some 200 grain jacketed. The gun feels really lazy, it feels very soft, but takes forever to get the sights back on target. I think I'm going to get some 165 grain jacketed bullets and try them.

Math class in 2002 A. If you invested $1,000.00 in WorldCom what is your net worth today? B. If you invested $1,000.00 in Enron what is your net worth today? C. If you bought $1,000.00 of Budweiser Beer, drank all the beer and recycled the aluminum cans what is your net worth today? Answers: A. $5.00 B. $16.00 C. $50.00 Lesson: Drink heavily and recycle.