JimmyE

I'm going to try a Billretta this year for production. What would it take to get Dawson to make some fixed comp. rear sights? They already make front FOs. The Wilson sights are nice but a tighter square rear notch with .100" front would be better.

Would a Lewis scoring system work for the AM side in the next PRO/AM? Perhaps with high junior, lady, military, LEO, and (F.U. I don't even have legs!) categories. I'd like to see those folks have more than a random chance at a nice prize. Sure, it would take a bit longer to tabulate but it would make us all competitors in a match with prizes versus participants in an event with a raffle. I had a great time and the RO's did an amazing job. They didn't have the luxury of ducking into air conditioned vehicles between stages! I also had the pleasure of traveling and shooting with the highest scoring participant of the AM TO event. He's been shooting 3-gun for little over a year and wore a plain sweat-drenched T-shirt at the match. He doesn't even know that you can buy polyester shirts with your favorite companies already printed on them (like mine.. ). Congrats Shane, you deserve it!! Special thanks also to Linda Chico for superb organization.

Kinsler, I have a Vanek production legal kit in my G17 with a Jager striker. It breaks right at 2# (when measured from the lower portion of the trigger). Let me know if you want to sample it and I'll bring it next time you're at ORSA.

A fellow shooter in my club recently had the exact same problem with MGs. He has a lot of reloading experience with no previous issues so he was pretty baffled and also trying to make adjustments to his crimp and so forth. I'll point him to this thread.

Wow! This was a great match! I just wanted to thank Mike, Corey, all of the match staff and the sponsors for putting this on.

I just put a Versamax Tactical on layaway last week at a large retailer. I can switch my payments to a different gun without penalty and they are a Benelli dealer. Hmm....Decisions.....Decisions

Gander Mountian in Knoxville, TN had two Zombie models in stock for $1599. I asked about a black tactical and the salesman said he would check the back. Came out with a standard tactical model that rang up on sale for $1199. That's an expensive paint job.

Here are some pics of the Bladetech Ice DOH with my 5" STI.

I picked up a new Ruger 22/45 RP a couple of weeks ago. I had wavered for months between a Ruger and a Browning for a plinker/trainer/steel gun. I've put about 600 rounds of cheap Win wildcats through it without a single failure. For the price I really like it so far. Of course I had to take it apart to see what all the fuss is about and yes, it was a major PITA to take down and reassemble but the good thing is that the gun is put together tight so it will last a long time. A trigger job will definitely be required but it does have a 1911 feel and seems to be reliable so it's worth checking out and the gun looks pretty nice to boot.

I just got the "ice" holster for my 5" 2011 last week. It's cut right at 1/2" below the ejection port. The cutout is flared open and the gun can rotate forward inside the holster after being slightly lifted out of retention. Seems to be a good holster with the biggest advantage being easier draw from the seated position. I'll try to post some pics this weekend.

Thanks for taking the time to share this data. I just started loading for limited with Bear Creek 180's and 4.5 gr of Solo 1000 with COAL at 1.180 for a .40 5" STI. I haven't chrono'd yet but this will provide some comparative data as I ease the load up to major PF with some room to spare.

I'm just about ready to start shooting my custom .40 cal 2011 I had built for limited and ESP. This is what I chose to get off the ground but there are many choices: Comptac belt holster and 2 Comptac single mag pouches plus 2 CR Speed "versa" pouches. 4 x 126mm STI factory and 4 x 140mm STI mags, two are still factory and two have Grams 4mm basepad, spring and follower. I have the SV aluminum magwell. Already had CR Speed and Wilderness tactical belts. I was changing the Bladetech back and forth for my G34 and it works but kind of a PITA. I'll use the Comptac for a few months and then might try the new Bladetech Ice-DOH for everything but IDPA. Again, this will get me started but still will probably get 140mm springs for the IDPA mags and add guts and basepads for a couple more limited mags. I got most of my magazines off the classifieds and either traded stuff or paid $40 each for them. Hope that gives you some ideas.

I really like my Custom II. I've added a Kimber magwell, vz grips and Dawson FO front sight w/Heinie rear. I have both the Chip McCormick Powermags (5) and Wilson Elite Tactical mags (3). Both are reliable in my gun but the Wilson's are much easier to seat when loaded to capacity so if I were to buy more, it would be the Wilson ETMs. Both are high quality however.

My drop-in Storm Lake barrel has proven to be both reliable and accurate in my G34. I'm shooting mostly hard-cast lead bullets and load with Dillon dies. I haven't noticed any significant leading either.

I have a Vanek classic trigger with reduced power FP spring in my G34 which worked flawless with Fed primers. Ran out and could only get Rem SPP and then started having quite a few light strikes. I put in the medium power spring which solved the problem. It's great that he includes this spring which provides a quick fix rather than frustration. I finally had some more Fed primers come in on backorder and looking forward to using those again.

Looking at the headstamps, it's a pretty diverse mix of different brands but majority is Win, Rem, Blazer, PMC, and Speer. There seems to be a lot more military and odd-ball stuff from the commercial range that I have bought bulk brass from. It seems that the majority of brass used to be Win or Rem from shooters buying WalMart ammo but with the situation now, that seems to have changed. I don't think that I'm doing anything wrong per se but what likely could've happened is that one day, I grabbed from a pile of brass from some unknown shooter that WAS doing something wrong. I have found a few cases with cracked heads in my pool of polished brass. I found one that had a very slight hairline crack that I had actually loaded and spotted it when putting it in the 100 rnd box. Now that I'm shooting almost every week including steel which requires a good ammo supply, I have loaded a couple hundred rounds at a time and dumped them in a bulk box hence less inspection. I think that the moral of the story is that if you're going to load what others leave behind, be careful and don't take things for granted.

Thanks again for the input and I appreciate your responses. I'm at about 5K rounds during the last six months since setting up the 550b and outside of a couple of light strikes (which were gun/primer issues) I've had nothing but great luck but I was loading MG 124 gr. JHPs with 4.5 gr. Universal Clays loaded to 1.13 OAL. I ran out of U. Clays and bought an 8lb. jug of Titegroup and also recently bought 10K 125 gr. hard-cast lead bullets (and a Storm Lake barrel). I realize that this is not ideal but after reading a lot of info from loading manuals and this forum, this combo does not appear to be totally outlandish for practice/local matches, just dirty and man is smokes. I'm going to increase the OAL to 1.150, stick with the 3.8 gr. of TG for now since too little powder is obviously not the problem. I also found a small amount of wax build-up in my dies. I will also check for set back but my loads do have a slight coke bottle. I will also admit to not case-gauging every round recently but will definitely go back to it. Hopefully I just got off with a couple of warnings. JE

Thanks for the constructive advice. I take reloading seriously and am pretty cautious. I have a bright lamp over the press and stand while loading in order to inspect every charge before seating. I look at every case before it goes on the press and throw out anything questionable and only load a couple hundred at a time. I'm also measuring the charge and dimensions of the first few rounds at the beginning of every session. I have had great success with my loads so far but since I had two case failures in a short period of time makes me have to think about everything critically. I have not seen any signs of pressure in my spent cases. My plan is to decrease the crimp to .378 and clean the chamber with a brush more often. I'm shooting 4-5 matches a month (IDPA/USPSA/steel) and hope to find time for more practice so the gunk builds up pretty fast with lead over Titegroup. I will also buy a large illuminated magnifying lens for better case inspection. JE

I'm up to the point of loading several thousands of 9mm minor through my Dillon 550b. I use collected range brass and supplement with purchased once-fired from an indoor range. I visually inspect my rounds after loading and have culled a couple of cracked cases. I recently had two cases fail at the base which caused a little tingle in the hand and extra smoke from the wrong end of the gun but no damage. My question for the higher volume shooters out there is: does this occasionally occur or has my reloading become a bit too "economical"? The data: G34, Storm Lake barrel, 125 gr LRN, 3.8 gr TG, 1.125 OAL, Fed or Rem SPP, 0.376 crimp. Yes, it's pretty dirty and I scrub every 500 rounds or so. I have an intermediate level of reloading experience but just not at this throughput. Would also like to avoid the dreaded KB or missing finger if possible Thanks, JE

I had zero failures with my Vanek classic trigger with light FP spring and Federal primers. Started loading Rem primers since it was all I could get and started having light strikes. I cleaned the FP channel and made sure that the primers were seated properly but had the same problem. Installed the medium power spring and was running 100% for awhile but had a light strike again tonight. I think the brand of primer is the root of my problems anyway.

I got the "in-stock" email from Midway for Rem small pistol primers and tried to order 10K immediately. My order got kicked back with a notice for a 5K per customer limit but I did get an email confirmation for the 5K so we'll see if they ship. I talked to a Cabelas rep who indicated that shipments are going out, just have to wait a couple weeks. Maybe supply will loosen up a bit soon and 5K SPPs plus what I have now should get me through the summer.

I think that the sustained shortages that we are now experiencing are due to market manipulation. I spoke to a dealer yesterday who is expecting a limited shipment of small pistol primers. He told me that his wholesaler has millions of SPPs in stock but has been sitting on them (in order to drive up the price). We saw the same type of thing last summer with gas when refineries would only produce limited quantities of fuel in order to claim that there was a shortage while the oil tankers were stacked up waiting to unload crude. How much do you think it costs to make a rifle or pistol primer? Probably a fraction of a penny so there is an enormous markup when paying $30/K which people are now considering a fair deal. I think if the internet chatter shifted from "I'm going to buy everything I can get my hands on" to "I'm going to shoot what I have for now and wait a while to buy more" you would see inventories at our favorite dealers go back up and prices settle down. We've all heard the stories of people camping out at discount stores waiting to slap down their credit card to buy the whole shipment of ammo off of the truck. If hype driven demand dropped off even for a short time, it's likely that someone will show up at your next match selling primers and ammo out of their trunk at great prices to get out from under their credit card debt. These price bubbles now pop up in any market whether it be real estate, tech stocks, toilet paper, and now unfortunately, ammunition. The concerns regarding new regulations are justified but it does not appear that new laws will blow through DC as easily as previously feared (as long as we keep up the fight). I didn't mean for my post to sound like a soap box sermon but just wanted to share my thoughts and see if any of you are thinking the same. Don't get me wrong, I believe in capitalism and a smart businessman should be free to make an extra buck but the consumer has ultimate control over the market. I think that the competitive shooting community suffers the most from market manipulation and artificial inflation since we actually SHOOT the ammo and reloading components that we purchase while promoting the safe and sporting use of firearms.

I'm an intermediate shooter and new to this forum but wanted to share my experience in interest of the topic. I've been aiming a G17 with the common DIY mods but wanted to get a 5” gun. I was set on a G34 but put a 100 rnds through a M&P rental first before buying. Like others, I found the ergs and grip angle to be more natural so I went for the M&P Pro. I’ve put about 500 rnds through the gun but had several FTEs. There is a thread on this problem. I like the M&P and hope to get the bugs fixed ASAP but it has made me appreciate my G17 more since it has been dead reliable and maintenance is so simple. I like the fact that the slide, including the extractor, can be entirely stripped down with ease and hosed out. It's user friendly and I have total confidence in its function. In hindsight, I kind of regret not getting the G34 plus, jumping from Glock to M&P is not cheap considering $35-$40 mags and new kydex . IMHO, if you are already dedicated to the 4" M&P then a new Pro/9L is an easy choice but if you are thinking of switching from your Glock platform just be entirely sure before you buy.

I have experienced the same problem with my new Pro as witnessed by SMSI. I dismissed the first couple failures to "break in" but after checking the extractor tension on live rounds, it's pretty loose compared to another popular polymer gun I own. I called S&W and it looks like I will be sending mine in also. It's good to hear that others have had luck with S&W warranty service. Still a bit disappointing however. je