jsykes

Don at Venom Custom makes a solid gun. Not sure if he’s taking orders now or not due to his workload. Pat Rafferty is another name I’d make a call to.

Infinity makes all their metal grips with the option for a right side mag button. Just choose it in the drop downs. They aren’t listed as lefty in the titles since it’s a build option. You have to wait for it to be made, it will likely require the most fitting, it is also one of the most expensive, but I’ve now used Cheely, LSI and Infinity grips and I definitely like the Infinity the best.

So I shot ten today just for feel. They certainly didn’t feel great for a competition load. It’s certainly a load I could use, but there’s a reason it’s not being done. It was worth the try. I’ll try to sell the powder and just go to the Sport Pistol I’ve always used. If I can’t sell it, maybe I’ll experiment with a PCC load with it.

I quickly loaded up ten tonight with 6.7gr, which is on the lighter end of the book loads for a 124gr. I can’t chrono them tomorrow but gonna shoot them and see how they feel. We’ll see what happens.

I just sold my open gun, didn’t think it would ever happen, but, you know, life dictated I pay some bills. That said, I now have about 12 pounds or so of AA7 and nearly 8000 124gr PD jhps that I’d like to use up. I know it’s not the ideal load, but hey, I got them and I’m sure I can make a usable load with them. I’ll see if I can unload the AA7 locally, but in the meantime give this a shot. Just thought I’d see if anyone else has ever tried it and what their results were.

They do not. I work in the industry and sell Sigs all day long. The actual shape and drill pattern for the two slides is identical, both are designed to take the Romeo 1 Pro or Leupold Delta Point Pro. The only difference, which I did forget about the first time I posted, is that the Legion is a plate that has the rear sight integrated into it. Therefore, when you remove the plate, you remove the rear sight and have more room toward the rear of the slide. The pro cut slides retain the rear sight when the plate is removed, therefore there is not as much room. This is what would allow the Springer plate and Romeo 3 to work on a Legion slide, but probably not on a pro cut slide, since the rear sight would get in the way for the larger footprint of the Romeo 3. That is the only thing I could think of that would cause Springer to say the mounts are different footprints. But they are in fact, not different as to what sights directly mount to them. And yes, the Max is a different slide altogether and does fit the Romeo3 directly. Directly from Sig's website:

Yes, they are. All Sigs currently in production use the same footprint. The difference is that the Legion loses the rear sight, while the AXG and pro cuts keep the rear sight and also have extra holes for RMR footprint sights. They may not make a plate for the pro cut since the rear sight might be in the way for the larger footprint of the R3s. But it might be something to look into.

I've been using a Springer Precision adapter plate on my X-Five Legion (same cut as the AXG) and it works quite well. Sits a bit taller, but it isnt a big deal at all and you'll get used to it very quick and no permanent modification needed.

Sidenote: where did you find CCI primers? I cant find those anywhere right now either.

When you say shell plates, I'm assuming you're talking about the trays that nest inside each other with slots of different sizes to sort brass. I use these and they are very quick and easy to use and if you're really only looking for .223 and 9mm it is a breeze because both calibers are caught in the same lower tray and virtually nothing else (except some .380). Anyone can find the time. I work at a range and so I can sort through all our used brass. When I'm only after 9mm, I just scoop a bunch in the nested trays, shake for about 30 seconds, dump out the first two trays and I get a lower tray full of .223 and 9mm. I sort out the .223 cause I don't want those, so it takes a few extra minutes per batch to pick those out, but in about 20 minutes (even picking out the 223) I was able to gather about 28 lbs worth of 9mm, which is roughly 3000 cases. So in your case, in less than a half hour at a time, you could have thousands of 9mm and .223 sorted very easily using the trays. I'd highly consider this and its probably the fastest and easiest route for you.

Its a middie. Its the Atlas comp. I wanted the gun tri-topped and Don said the Binary comp would leave the area around the ports a little too thin for his liking once cut. He said the Atlas was extremely close to the Binary and was already tri-topped so we went that way.

The only downside I've heard about the BUL guns is that they use proprietary mags and some other parts. I know several people that shoot Atlas and they love them. They have gotten a little expensive though. There are a lot of good options out there for what Atlas charges or less. Limcat Venom Bedell Akai Pat Rafferty and the list goes on. I recently had Don at Venom build me a gun. I got what is pretty much a clone of an Atlas for several grand less than what Atlas charges. Full custom with everything I wanted on it and the finishes I wanted. He was awesome to work with and got it in a very reasonable time. I sent him my deposit the first week of December, the parts were ordered a couple days later and I took delivery of it 2/26. I was all ready to do an Atlas, but then started reading the forums and doing some research and found Don. Look around, there are a lot of good options out there and not all of them are a year wait or have to cost a large fortune (even though all open guns seem to be a small fortune). Good luck.

My new Romeo 1Pro came with a cover that fits with the shroud on it. You may want to check with Sig and see if that is something you can get.

I got an email from them the other day. They actually have had an employee test positive, so it has greatly slowed down business. Here is a copy of the email I received.

Wow, I wouldnt have thought that canned air would be a safe thing to do, just blowing the primer dust and bits of powder around the room. A lot of primer dust accumulates below the priming station after only a couple hundred rounds. But it certainly sounds easy enough so I'll give it a try. Thanks.

I first read some of the stickies and then did do a search for cleaning in this forum, but after about 7 pages, my actual question wasnt really being answered, so hope its not a repeat. I'm wondering how people do their day to day cleaning of their presses. I have a 550b and have now been using it for a few thousand rounds. I notice that random kernels of powder and a lot of dust from the primers collects very quickly. I initially started using a little keyboard vacuum which sucks it up very well, but then thought it may not be the best thing to use, considering the dust may be finer than the filter can take out, therefore just putting it back in the air, and even if it is getting caught in the filter, so is the random powder, so its probably a bit flammable as well. So looking for how others are doing it. Do you just use a wet paper towel or something similar to soak up the powder or any better ideas? Thanks for any input and hope its not too newbie of a question.

I ordered some 124 hollow points on 3/14 and they shipped 3/16 and I received them a few days later. Have you just tried calling them? In this age of digital correspondence, I've found the phone is still the best way to get answers as quick as possible.

I'll preface this by saying I'm fairly new to reloading and there are many people on here far more experienced than I am. That said though, I've been loading 9 major with factory Dillon dies on my 550 for a couple thousand rounds now and I've had no issue. I chamber check every round with a hundo gauge and I've only had a few rounds not pass. The few that have not passed also chambered fine in my 2011 and I still shot them. I also tested setback by taking a handful of rounds and continually rack them into the chamber and eject them and do it over and over again. At least 5 or 6 times per round. I measured each round with calipers after each chambering and only after about the 3rd or 4th chambering did I see any change and it was only on the level of a thousandth or two. Nothing I'd worry about. You can actually see in each case where the bullet stops in the case due to the bulge of the bullet expanding the case. Don't see how I could get any more case tension than that. So take that for what its worth, coming from an admitted reloading newbie. But they Dillon dies have been working just fine on my end.

Don is working on a site, the last time I spoke with him he said the FB page deletion has upped his effort on that. On another note, I finally found a Romeo3 Max and got it installed. This is my first open gun, so had no idea what to expect. I loaded up a recommended load from Don of 7.0 grains of Autocomp behind a 124 grain bullet. I went out and shot it today and was blown away at how easy it was to shoot. So flat and easy to track the dot. I love it. I dont know how it compares to other open guns since I've never shot one, but I'm loving this one and was totally surprised at how easy to shoot. The load averaged right at 170 pf, 1370 fps with a SD of 10. Now to load up a bunch, get a holster for it, do a couple practice rounds and get shooting it. Thanks Don.

Well, that didnt work. Apparently my information was backward. Looks like the original R3 is longer in front of the mounting holes, so it hit the blast shield on the mount, I was told it was the other way around. So no R3 mounted and no test fire today. So I'll either have to bite the bullet and pay a bit more or just wait. I may do a RTS2 as well while waiting, I can always put that on another gun later if need be.

I’m told the footprint is the same, just the new ones are longer in front. So a mount for the new optics work with all, but an original mount will not work with the new ones if it has a blast shield. I’ll find out in a bit as I plan to take the original off a rifle and try it today. if it doesn’t I’ll consider one of the others till the new one comes. I want a 6 moa dot. Sig store has them in stock, but I don’t want to pay their price. I work in a shop and actually get a good discount directly from Sig. but, Sig store is a separate retail establishments that buys stock from the parent company, so Sig won’t pull employee purchase stock from the retail store. So I sit and wait while watching it say “in stock” on the Sig website. But that is my choice for waiting to get it at a discounted rate rather than nearly $800 that Sig wants. I would consider a 3 moa dot if I could find one used or a great price, I don’t want to pay full price though to settle.

Yeah, I know things arent looking good right now. I do have an original Romeo3 on a rifle that I can take off and use, so I'm thinking of doing that. RTS2 is another option I'm thinking of.

Just got my blaster from Don this week. First open gun. Every time I look at it I am more impressed with it and the quality of the build. Loaded up some test rounds today and cant wait to get out and get shooting it. Unfortunately, still waiting for an optic from Sig and it may be a little while before I see it according to them.

Thats pretty sweet. Mine is off at finishing now getting a similar finish. I think the grey PVD is a winner.

Just sent off a deposit to Don this week for a new middy build. This will be my first venture into the open game. Don was great explaining everything and working with me, someone that doesnt have any open gun experience. Very honest guy and am leaving much of the build up to him and how he would "build it if it were his own." Can't wait.