kylethunder380

If I am understanding you, I saw this with my EAA 9mm Match as well. It looked like a 'lolipop', the normal primer dent with a vertical line below it. I was using a very light recoil spring and the load was a little too hot. I swapped the recoil spring for a heavier one and the primer marks went away. In the end, I ended up putting the lighter spring back in and using a softer load because I liked the feel better. I don't think it is going to hurt anything... but it did bother me like it appears to be bothering you. Since a heavier spring didn't work for you, I now have Henning's XL firing pin in my gun and its a sweet part. I don't know if it would fix your 'problem' but it might be worth a try. -Kyle

I get upset when I have to send my pistol off to the gunsmith for work. The thought of having it stuffed into some evidence locker for 2 years makes me shudder. Yes, the chances of actually having to shoot someone are near-zero, but the way my luck has been going lately I would end up having to shoot someone the first day I decided to carry my competition gun. Long story short, I don't carry my 'baby'. I do like the idea of carrying something with a similar action/feel/safety-location, so that muscle memory/habits don't end up hurting you (or worse) on a very important day. -Kyle

You are a clever guy, head positioning is definitely a problem. But why are you saying that a red dot would be better than a scope- better eye relief? I've never had a red dot so I really don't know. Thanks for trying to help me out guys. Good ideas so far- keep them coming. -Kyle

My experience was the same. A while ago I ran out of primers for my 9mm (this was during the period where primers were almost NON-EXISTANT) and a local shop got some in, but they limited buyers to 1,000 of each 'type' of primer. I bought 1k of SP and 1k of MagSP (the MagSP were almost $10 cheaper for some reason) hoping that the MagSP's would work out okay with my handload. Turns out, the difference between the two was barely noticeable. If anything, the MagSP's IMPROVED the accuracy of my load (by a small amount) and the only thing I noticed was a small difference in the way they sounded compared to the regular SP's. I had no pressure signs/flattened primers, no light strikes/failure to ignite, etc... In the future, I will (happily) purchase whichever variant is available, and if the MagSP's are cheaper guess which ones I will choose? BTW: The SP's were CCI500's and the MagSP's were CCI550's. -Kyle

Guys, I'm hearing like I should get a rifle-length gas system and an 18" barrel as the ultimate 'soft shooting' setup. It is only a little longer than the 16", so the tradeoff seems worth it from a little better maneuverability vs. softer/less (perceived) recoil. What about the bolt carrier and buffer tube? I know JP makes a Low Mass bolt carrier and buffer tube, but does it really make the gun shoot softer than a regular carrier/buffer? Do you think this is something I should definitely have on my part list for my situation? -Kyle

Thanks, I really like the contour of those barrels, and I could have the section past the gas block fluted to skim even a little more weight off. But do you guys think a 18"/rifle-length gas would be easier to handle than a 16"/middy-length gas (as long as the 18" barrel is light) in this situation?

I was under the impression that the Carbon15 rifles were kind of crappy to say the least, is that not the truth? -Kyle

Hey guys, if you were going to build an AR (setup like 3-gun rifle) and wanted the lightest rifle possible while also being 'gentle' in the recoil department, what components would you use and why? This is the planning stages of a rifle for a wheelchair-bound shooter who cannot take heavy recoil (spine injury) and can't support a heavy/long rifle very well (at least comfortably.) Keep in mind we are NOT talking about a benchrest/precision stick here, rather something accurate and light enough for managing '3-gun-like' courses (300yds max.) Please try to be fairly specific with your ideas... Caliber (5.56, 6.5?) Barrel Length (14.5, 16, 18, longer?) Barrel Contour (m4/govt, med, etc.) Gas vs. Piston System (carb, middy, rifle) Handguard (carbon fiber?) Compensator (rolling thunder?) Stock Upper Receiver (forged vs. billet, are some lighter than others?) Lower Receiver (forged vs. billet, are some lighter than others?)

Wow, it looks amazing. How does it feel during recoil with the lightened slide? Which spring setup did you end up going with for minor? -Kyle

Yep! 2.6 of Solo 1000. -Kyle

I use them exclusively and will continue to do so. I like the product better than the moly's I was using previously because the coating doesn't come off on your hands, etc... I like them more than the MG CMJ's because of the price difference (although the MG CMJ's are very good bullets, don't get me wrong!) I won't say there is 'zero' smoke but almost, and Donnie is a great guy! I use the 160's for 9mm but like the 135's as well. If you want specific 9mm load information shoot me a pm, I worked up several. -Kyle

Steel for me...Shadow, 75B or Witness. Although I have handled a Phantom and the ergos were surprisingly good for what it is. -Kyle

Anyone know where I can get springs? What about the proper dimensions for the feed lips? -Kyle

Hey guys, what could be the cause of certain .22lr ammo feeding too high and jamming into the top of the barrel instead of 'into' the barrel? The gun is an older Hi Standard 106 that I inherited when my grandpa recently passed away. I KNOW he has never changed the mag spring, etc... It has sat under his bed for the past 40 years, don't think he shot it more than 2 times in that period. I was thinking maybe it needed a new mag spring, but it seems like the opposite would happen with a weak spring. Any help/ideas would be appreciated. Thanks, -Kyle

I have a 9mm Large Frame Match that has been my main gun for a while. My mags also have the spacer in the front and still using the factory red followers. I DID get nosedive's initially but only with non-roundnose bullets or really soft lead bullets. The feedramp comes polished from Tanfo, but you could go a little further to make it mirror finished if you want. Regardless, I think you should stick to round nose bullets and load them as long as possible for your chamber. With my current load, I can load up my mags to 17 (can't fit 18 yet) and haven't had a single nose-dive, ever. Also watch Henning's video on how to load mags... I know it sounds stupid but he shows you how to get the rounds to line up better as you are loading, and this minimizes the 'gap' you see between the 1st and 2nd rounds of a full mag. I think the problem mainly gets bad with people who are trying to increase the capacity of their (large) 9mm mags with extended base plates and Grams aftermarket internals. As you noticed the gap gets worse as you add more rounds to the mag, so you can imagine how the gap would look with 23 rounds instead of 18. If you are willing to try different bullets and OAL's I think you can get the factory mags to run reliably with 18 rounds. But, if you want to increase the capacity beyond 18 and still be reliable, I don't think it's possible in the large frame (unless you send your mags to Jim Anglin.) -Kyle Edited: I forgot to mention that I use the Lee Factory Crimp Die. Not sure if that is part of the reason for my luck or not since I have used it from the start.

I have a few thousand at the house waiting on a press. That said, I have spoken to plenty of people who use them and have heard nary a complaint. I'm sure some of them will chime in here shortly. By the way, that'd be Donnie Miculek, not Dennis. Donnie is awesome and so are his bullets. I shoot 9mm and have not used the 125's but I have used the 135's and the 160's and they both were the best bullets I've ever used. My barrel is easy to clean afterwards (still using Kroil like I did with the moly's, but that might not be necessary) and there is no lube ring like regular cast bullets to gunk dies/actions up. The coating is tougher than the black moly and it doesn't come off on your hands, etc. like they do. The prices are decent and the consistency has been great for all the batches I've ordered so far. I won't buy anything else now. As far as powders, I tested a bunch (including Clays) but WSF and Solo 1000 worked best in my gun (WSF for IDPA loads, Solo for lighter steel loads.) -Kyle

I've used it in my .357mag 158gn LRN target loads with good results. -Kyle

I don't remove the trigger, I just remove the slide. With the slide off, you just stick the allen wrench down into the back of the trigger at about a 45 degree angle while pulling the trigger and you can feel it when it goes in. Then, rotate clockwise to reduce the pre-travel, rotate counter-clockwise to increase the pre-travel. If you go too far, there is a point where the sear won't reset (or will reset very slowly) so you NEED some pre-travel. -Kyle

Yeah I got mine a while ago and all I will say is thank god for Henning! You can crank them down without fear of breaking them and mine have stayed put (without loctite) so far. With the factory screws you pretty much were forced to use loctite and you risk scratching up those pretty Henning grips when the screwdriver pops out of the slot... not to mention the profile digging into your hands. If you want to use Henning's grips, save yourself the trouble and pony up for the screws... They really are VERY high quality and a major improvement. He put a lot of time and money into getting these right for us Tanfo shooters. -Kyle

Yep. +1. -Kyle

No I haven't. Thanks guys, -Kyle

Hey guys, I'd like to purchase a 1911 but have a question. Is there a beavertail grip-safety that would work better for someone with med-large, but very skinny hands? A friend let me shoot his single-stack gun which had an Ed Brown GS and it doesn't 'sit' between my thumb and index-finger like it does for him. No matter how hard I jam my hand in there, I don't have enough 'meat' there to make much contact. I feel like I get robbed of some recoil control because of this, and I guess I could wear a glove on that hand, but I don't like the feel of shooting with gloves on. Does anyone make a beavertail that dips lower, i.e. doesn't have such a high cut, for a 1911? Would an extreme under-cut on the front strap, in-turn, help me make better contact with the beavertail? Seems like that might help me get 'higher'. If so, who makes a (factory) 1911 with the deepest undercut front-strap? His 1911 did not have an under-cut front-strap for some reason, but had everything else it seemed like... Thanks, -Kyle

Hey guys, I recently noticed a strange mark on the primers of my fired cases. This happened only with my 'hottest' 9mm load (around 145pf), but it did happen 100% of the time with that load. I've been using a lighter recoil spring (8lb) than the factory (11lb) for so long that I'd forgotten about it until this happened. The mark looks like a lollipop, where the normal/round primer mark is the 'sucker' and the weird mark is the 'handle'. I can't take a photo of it or else I would, but it is basically as I've described. I tried putting my old recoil spring in, and guess what? It went away, completely. So, now I don't use that load because I prefer my lighter loads and the feel of my lighter spring, but I am still curious as to what could have been making that mark. I can understand that the slide was moving faster than it should have been, but could early ejection cause the firing pin (or something else?) to actually 'drag' on the primer before the case exits? No one I've shown my cases to has ever seen this. My gun is a 9mm EAA/Tanfoglio, and the firing pin looks fine at the tip (no burrs or anything like that). Thanks, -Kyle

I too use the 8lb recoil spring in my 9mm Elite Match. I much prefer the feel of it when shooting light loads compared to the 10lb but recently saw some issues when using a load in the 145 PF range. Switching back to the 10lb spring with that load made the problems go away. When I say 'problems', I am not a gunsmith but I was getting rimfire-like marks at the bottom of the round firing-pin mark on my primers. It was almost like the slide was going too fast, causing ejection a little early in which case the primer was rubbing on something on the way out. This did not occur with my light 9mm loads using the 8lb spring, but occurred 100% of the time with the hotter load and like I said- popping in the 10lb spring made the marks go away. So what do I do now? I no longer use that 'hotter' load and my 8lb spring gets to stay in. -Kyle

What caliber are we talking here? 9mm start load is listed as 3.7 gr (975-1025 fps) and max load: 4.2 gr (1050-1125 fps) Sorry, caliber is 9mm. Thanks bball97, that is the info I was after. -Kyle