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TonyG35

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Posts posted by TonyG35

  1. The only person I have been able to talk to did not have much success with Atlanta Arms .40L in his Limited (in fact I believe he has choosen to put the gun up for sale because of this, I could be wrong since I don't have all the details) which began my search for others. Not to mention it never hurts to shop the competition to see if I can find something better/cheaper possibly. Still searching for someone local to me in the NOVA/WV Eastern Panhandle, but I have been contacted recently with the offer of some sample rounds to try out.

    I may be putting the cart before the horse, but by all accounts I have read in order to get 140mm mags to run reliably in an EAA Limited I need to load long. I very much wish I could get 21 rounds with factory ammo, since I lack my own personal reloading equipment, but it appears that its just not possible to have much success unless I am not using extended basepads.

    My STI Edge does not like the AA&A .40L. Failure to feeds and poor accuracy. Think what is happening is the bullet gets pushed back a little when hitting the feed ramp.

    Factory is accurate and runs ok but not 100%. MG bullets with 1.22 OAL runs with no issues.

  2. I had a dozen bullets or so out of a box of 500 that were so oversized that they wouldn't fit in my gun at all. I had a bunch of malfunctions in a match before I discovered the problem and have since chamber checked all of my ammo.

    If the U-die really is that effective, I need to get one like yesterday.

    I know the feeling on having ammo problems before realizing i need to gage check ammo <_< (IN match)

    And Kevin, I love how you and I seem to be going through the same thing right now, haha. Im about to start buying my parts to reload for 40 as well. I think I'm going to go the carbide G-RX die route and use it on my single stage press.

    Corey, I'd wait on that. Load with the Dillon dies first, see what happens. If they don't feed, then spend the money on the GRx die. Otherwise, you are throwing money at at a not yet existent problem.

    If you are shooting a gun with a tight chamber like an STI and you are using range brass or any kind of unknown brass you will need a U-die. This is a fact. You might get lucky and find

    a bunch of brass that works fine but eventually it will bite you. The die is cheap so save yourself the trouble of waiting.

  3. Checked with AA&A. Their .40 long averages at 950 out of a G22. Shot it out of my G35 and got ~970 which is exactly what another member stated they saw out of a G35 at a major match.

    Based on this I guess my chrono is right on. I didn't think the STI barrel would be faster than the Glock but it looks like it is. Set my loads as close as possible to 4.9gr and getting very

    consistent results in the 940's. Guess I will see how close I am at Nationals.

    How did it work out at Nationals? R,

    That's about the only stage that I did well on at Nationals... Came in a little lower than the results posted above 929, 933, 936 for a PF of 168.5

    I also did some averages on my powder measure and it came in closer to 4.8gr of TG. Seems to be a good combination so

    going to stick with it.

  4. Ok - My DVR fooled me. It said it recorded the 3 Gun Naitonals show... but it was really SMM3G repeat.

    Did I miss it?

    The title of Show 7 was USPSA Multi-Gun Nationals, but it was a re-run of SMM3G. I don't think it was your DVR. There was some error somewhere however.

    Same thing for the Thur. show. Anyone know what is going on?

  5. Shoot a match twice. First time can be your "competition" run. The second can be a practice match - run as fast as you can, take shots in a different order, try a different plan, etc. No law says that every match has to be competition.

    That would be great if you could actually shoot matches twice once for score and again after the match or the next day for practice but don't know where that would be allowed. Guess it would depend on the range and the club.

    I agree with using most of your ammo for matches if there is nothing you need to practice with live fire but there are a lot of skills that dry fire will not cover and taking on those skills in a match will not help you learn them. Don't know if I would call them fundamentals but things like how many rounds can you shoot at a 50yd target in 5 sec. and get all hits. Without experimenting with this in practice there is no way to know. There are tons of examples like this where you will only learn in live fire practice. If I had to put a % of rounds per skill level I would guess something like this: (Assumes you have an adequate practice area, Also assumes you shoot at least one match per month)

    Would be curious to see what everyone else would put as a % estimate. Maybe a poll would be good?

    Percentage of rounds used for practice

    D/C - 70-80%

    B - 40-50%

    A/M/GM - 20%

  6. My eye doctor had this big ugly set of glasses where he could change the lenses to different prescriptions as I was looking through my sites. I just picked the one I liked the best.

    My shooting eye was backed off about .25 if I remember right. Then had a pair of Rudy inserts made up like that and one regular so I can use the Rudy's for normal sun glasses as well.

    He also offered a 30 day trial period. It might be good to ask for this in case the first try doesn't work out.

  7. The issue with only shooting matches for me is you are in competition mode and you can't really practice skills under those conditions. Your subconscious is doing the shooting and you are along for the ride. In practice you can really work on weaknesses. I find myself making the same mistakes over and over again in matches if I don't figure it out in practice first. It's difficult to miss matches and practice more but I have come to the realization that it's necessary to make performance improvements.

  8. I set this stage up for practice because it covers some of my weaknesses (before reading this thread). Searched for something on this classifier after looking at the HF's.

    To get into the low 40% range (limited) you need a HF of ~3. I could probably practice this thing for weeks and not get into the 3's. Wish I could see the list

    of HF's for the classes. Would be interesting to see the bell curve on this one. Still a good setup for long distance, strong, and weak hand practice.

  9. Checked with AA&A. Their .40 long averages at 950 out of a G22. Shot it out of my G35 and got ~970 which is exactly what another member stated they saw out of a G35 at a major match.

    Based on this I guess my chrono is right on. I didn't think the STI barrel would be faster than the Glock but it looks like it is. Set my loads as close as possible to 4.9gr and getting very

    consistent results in the 940's. Guess I will see how close I am at Nationals.

  10. I think you can trust those results (the umbrella is a good idea BTW), but consider that weather (mostly temp) will cause powders to react differently. Some get faster when it gets warmer and others do the opposite. Have you chrono'd the AA&A and your current load at different temps to compare?

    Generally speaking, I'd be extremely surprised if anybody can feel the difference between your two handloads. Take your nominal 940fps load, which can actually be 960fps according to your ES. Compare that with your 980-1000fps load. 20-40fps difference is going to be hard to feel, if at all.

    If the primers are just starting to flatten, I wouldn't be terribly concerned. .40 Major with heavy bullets and fast powders is a very high pressure combination....something often overlooked. R,

    The umbrella actually works great because after your done with the chrono you can use it for shade while your loading mags and even shooting. Haven't had a chance to

    do much in different temps yet. With the 4.8-4.9gr the primers are just starting to flatten. At 5-5.1 they are pretty flat.

    When you say I can trust the results to you mean absolute results or relative results. I would think that 1000FPS for AA&A is faster than they actually are but maybe not?

    If I look at the load data below I found on the forum then I believe my results. The only reason I am doubting them is because I have read that the AA&A just barely makes major.

    John Merricks 180gr Mont. Gold 4.7gr Titegroup 1.200" 948 170.6 (66) Para 5" Bbl

    Jeffrey Vince-Cruz 180gr Remington FMJ 4.8gr Titegroup 1.200" 948 170.6 (71) STI 6" bull Bbl

    Sam Gardali 180gr Mont. Gold 4.9gr Titegroup 1.215" 935 168.3 (53) SVI 5" Bbl

    If you're using shade over the chrono and standing back at 15' like you are, I'd be willing to bet your absolute results are at least reasonable...meaning within the range of error any chrono has.

    I have zero experience with the AA&A .40 Major, but I've been very impressed with their 9mm and .38SC. 1000fps seems a little fast, but not that much...probably only 25-50fps over what 90% of us are running and that's within the difference you can see with slightly higher temps.

    How many rounds are you running per string? I've settled on at least two 20-shot strings before I believe what I'm seeing, and then I do that on multiple days with different conditions.

    Just going off the loads you list, and what I've seen many other folks using your load seems pretty reasonable. Yes, you definitely want to make sure you've got enough bullet pull (neck tension) so setback isn't a concern, but that's not too hard to do. My .40 Major load with N320 slightly flattens primers and I'd bet that most everyone using TG or similar powders is seeing similar flattening. While it's only hiding the symptoms, that's also part of why quite a few folks use SR primers for .40 Major...it's definitely not a low pressure load the way most of us are loading it. R,

    Thank you for all of the feedback. I am feeling a little better about my results now so will start to run more rounds through the chrono. Typically I run 10 rounds but now that I am close will probably run more as you suggested. Might make one more minor adjustment to stay in the 4.9-5.0gr range. Think I also need to make sure I keep the ammo out of the Sun before I chrono it.

  11. Set your chrono at 10 feet (USPSA/IDPA/IPSC distance).

    Drop your load to about 4.3gr/TG and then re-chrono.

    This is my load in the G35 and STI Trojan and makes major.

    Don't want to turn this into a load data thread but assuming you are using a short OAL close to factory ammo like 1.125.

    My gun will not feed short OAL's reliably. 1.22 seems to feed the best so need to use more powder.

    I tried 10ft with my chrono and it seemed to be getting velocities in the 850 FPS range at times so decided to back up to 15' and

    no longer saw the low readings.

  12. I think you can trust those results (the umbrella is a good idea BTW), but consider that weather (mostly temp) will cause powders to react differently. Some get faster when it gets warmer and others do the opposite. Have you chrono'd the AA&A and your current load at different temps to compare?

    Generally speaking, I'd be extremely surprised if anybody can feel the difference between your two handloads. Take your nominal 940fps load, which can actually be 960fps according to your ES. Compare that with your 980-1000fps load. 20-40fps difference is going to be hard to feel, if at all.

    If the primers are just starting to flatten, I wouldn't be terribly concerned. .40 Major with heavy bullets and fast powders is a very high pressure combination....something often overlooked. R,

    Competely agree with Bart. Very high pressure. There are better alternative powders out there to make major with, and not have the issues with the pressure. Just think, one bullet setback as it noses into the chamber and you have a potential KABOOM :surprise: if it sets back enough (especially since you are already to the point of flattening primers). While flattening a primer isn't all that much of a concern for me either, I KNOW my bullets won't set back when they chamber. I'm not saying TG is unsafe in 40 major (probably far from it), but I'd keep an eye peeled for overt signs...

    That is a concern. I guess the reason I started out with TG is because it seems to be a very popular powder for Lim. Major based on what I have read. I might try something else and use the TG for 3-Gun where I can load it to minor.

  13. I think you can trust those results (the umbrella is a good idea BTW), but consider that weather (mostly temp) will cause powders to react differently. Some get faster when it gets warmer and others do the opposite. Have you chrono'd the AA&A and your current load at different temps to compare?

    Generally speaking, I'd be extremely surprised if anybody can feel the difference between your two handloads. Take your nominal 940fps load, which can actually be 960fps according to your ES. Compare that with your 980-1000fps load. 20-40fps difference is going to be hard to feel, if at all.

    If the primers are just starting to flatten, I wouldn't be terribly concerned. .40 Major with heavy bullets and fast powders is a very high pressure combination....something often overlooked. R,

    The umbrella actually works great because after your done with the chrono you can use it for shade while your loading mags and even shooting. Haven't had a chance to

    do much in different temps yet. With the 4.8-4.9gr the primers are just starting to flatten. At 5-5.1 they are pretty flat.

    When you say I can trust the results to you mean absolute results or relative results. I would think that 1000FPS for AA&A is faster than they actually are but maybe not?

    If I look at the load data below I found on the forum then I believe my results. The only reason I am doubting them is because I have read that the AA&A just barely makes major.

    John Merricks 180gr Mont. Gold 4.7gr Titegroup 1.200” 948 170.6 (66) Para 5” Bbl

    Jeffrey Vince-Cruz 180gr Remington FMJ 4.8gr Titegroup 1.200” 948 170.6 (71) STI 6” bull Bbl

    Sam Gardali 180gr Mont. Gold 4.9gr Titegroup 1.215” 935 168.3 (53) SVI 5” Bbl

  14. I don't have a fancy light box setup for my chrono so trying to use other ammo to compare against my re-loads to verify if they will make major.

    Using the 1.18OAL .40 180gr from Atlanta Arms and Ammo as a base line I was thinking if my loads are as fast or faster than they should make major PF.

    Today the AA&A were in the 1010 FPS range +/- 20FPS.

    My re-loads from a STI Edge 5" brl: 4.8-4.9gr TiteGroup, 1.22 OAL, 180gr Montana Gold JHP, Federal Primers. 940 FPS +/- 20FPS

    Recoil feels similar to the AA&A.

    If I bump up the powder 1/8th of a turn to ~5.0-5.1gr of TG the load feels too hot and starts to flatten out the primers. Chrono's in the 980-1000FPS range.

    My normal setup is to put the Chrono under an unbrella ~5ft. off the ground and shoot from ~15ft away. There is no shade where I shoot and it's always sunny.

    The question is should I trust these results or can the different types of bullets be causing some strange effects at the Chrono?

  15. My First Bench:

    Note - the Craftsman label was put on upside down by the mfg. not mecool.gif

    This bench works well if you want a high bench but does need to be anchored to the wall.

    post-15282-127834204449_thumb.jpg

  16. ISMI springs are the way to go. Don't think you need to replace the followers unless they look damaged. It's also a good idea to label your mags so you can keep track of the ones with issues. Carry backups and some extra springs in your range bag.

  17. One thing that would concern me with the triangle is low light conditions. With the crosshairs if you loose the dot you can still see them. Not sure what you would see

    with the triangle. It's not very often that you can't see the dot but at a covered range on a cloudy day you can't.

  18. Don't forget the grip unless you like the plastic stock grip. This is good stuff:

    http://www.brianenos...showtopic=91586

    Easy to install/trim to fit around the magwell? I'm not very good with delicate procedures. :wacko:

    It's not the easiest but really not that hard and they give you three grips so if you mess one up it's not a big deal.

    The easiest way to go is the non wrap around type of grip tape that comes in panels you just peel and stick but

    it's not nearly as good as this stuff.

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