sargenv

Para P16-40 Stock 5" barrel 4.7 gr Titegroup 180 West Coast Plated RNFP Win Small Pistol Primer Asst Brass Seated 1.175" OAL I generally tend to get ~175 pf give or take. I used to use: 5.0 Win 231 Bear creek Moly coated 180 TC Win SP Primers Seated to 1.190" OAL Asst Brass The Titegroup load is a tad cleaner and doesn't smoke like the Bear Creeks. Vince

For me, I have a large amount of brass that is once fired either military or otherwise and I do have an electric case trimmer. I size and deprime, check the length on several in a batch, if oversized, I trim it all. If I were to run it on a progressive, my press primes in station 2, I'd drop powder in station 3, seat bullet on station 4 and crimp on 5. If I had a 550, I'd seat and crimp on 4. All of my deprime/sizing is done on a single stage Rockchucker. Same with trimming, it's all done as one large batch. Some military brass doesn't need to have the crimp removed, usually it is the brass with the + within a circle that doesn't need to be swaged. I'm finding PMC brass that was sold as mil needs to be swaged, I cull them out and set them aside. It is convenient to get the already processed stuff, but I have all the tools, it just takes some time, and in the fall and winter when I have some free evenings, I can process this stuff myself. I don't have the 650 plate and accessories for .223. I am using RCBS Small base dies and the Dillon spray on lube. I haven't had any issues. The Dillon lube saves a lot of time for me as I used to do the old lube one case, size, lube one case, size and on and on. It worked ok when loading 100 30-30's for a Contender but gets old fast loading hundreds of .223. Vince

Ok, all this talk about range stooges got me thinking of the one I was dealing with. Nice guy and all, but he just didn't know when to quit. I had been back onto IPSC for about 6 months at the time. I was at the range shooting my limited Para and maybe a revolver and a Sig. At the time I was shooting a modified Weaver stance that I'd shot for years, this was before switching over to an Isos hold. So here I am, shooting just fine, I think I was at the 15 yard line and putting them all where they should be going. Mr Range stooge comes up to me and starts telling me that my grip is all wrong and that the gun is going to start jamming, et al and puking on me if I continue to do that. I simply tell him "I've always shot this way, my very good friend pointed out this stance to me and I'd used it for years for high recoiling revolvers and now with major loaded ammo in my 40 Para". So he goes, yeah but is your friend an nra instructor? I told him no, but I am... He walked away after that, never offered another piece of unwanted advice again. Said person was barely a C limited class shooter. I had already surpassed him in our local classification array. Some people..... Vince

Someone local adapted regular tec tubes with PVC pipe, not quite sure how he did it, but it works like a charm. This was done for a 20 gauge 1100. Vince

D'oh, stupid me.. I was intending to say get the +P brass, but I guess I got sidetracked. Personally, I would go for the +P brass. Any thickness difference in something that low pressure would probably be negligable..but it would probably improve the life of it. Vince

I believe with the lower pressures you experience in standard 45 acp, you can pretty much use this stuff for a very long time. 45 acp is nowhere near as high pressure intense as 40 S&W, 38 super, or 9mm and if you always get all your brass back, it will last for a very long time. The only time you won't make it last all that long, is if for some strange reason, you load very hot, higher than normal pressure loads.. It is pretty easy to make major with 45 acp and the bullets tend not to need to go very fast. Low pressure and heavy bullets generally combine for long brass life. Vince

I wasn't sure that the WIN NT was like this, I do know that the FC NT brass did have smaller primer pockets.. It always seemed to screw up my 650. I had to go in and hand sort the several hundred from my 40's. I think I ended up with several hundred in the mix and I sometimes run into one that gunks up the works. Vince

Define light? You might be able to use data for 38 ACP (The precursor to 38 super). Same cartridge length, same bullet weights, half the pressure. We are not talking about .380 auto here. Or you could use standard book load 38 super.. and you know.. stay within common pressure limits. Vince

I used a Gilmore holster for a long time but won a Safariland 012 at a regional match a couple years ago and am now using that. I tried using the split Safariland mag pouches but actually prefer the Alluminators since I don't have to do a two stage twist of the wrist to put them in the gun. About the only thing I dislike about the Alluminators is when I am forced to go prone, they dig into my gut and are quite painful. I also shoot a P16-40 with the standard replacement of most things Para Vince

Have ya tried the old laser pointer trick? Our cat used to go nuts over the laser pointer and once in a while he'll be in the mood to chase it all around. They have a hard time trying to figure out why they can't catch it or sniff it or anything, but they go nuts Vince

The nerve of CNN saying that a Ruger Mini-14 is illegal for sale in CA. Well, if it is, then the state said it was ok that I could have an illegal gun. What idiots! Vince

Actually this might be the 6.5" classic. I have one with the newer cross bar hammer firing pin thingy. I love mine, it shoots well, soaks up major loads and is deadly accurate. When I bought mine, I bought it new for $500 plus fees and tax and it only came with 3 moon clips from the factory. I've since put in a spring kit and it has a pretty good DA trigger pull. When I want to change shooting disciplines and go for longer range sillouettes, I can hardly miss at 100 yards with it. I'm soon to be developing 220 gr loads for it as well. I say buy it, it's a great gun and you can't beat the price. Vince

I dunno.. I don't really have any issues shooting a stationary star or even a moving one.. but then my background from way back in moving targets, so I don't think anything of them. Sometimes I have a wee bit of trouble with them, but the last match I shot with one in it, I was shooting a production 9mm LDA.. 5 shots, 5 hits.. no problem I'm unclassified in Production but a mid B Limited shooter. Vince

Ballistic products also has buffer and load data for said buffer. Apparently you can't just buffer any load, they reccomend you only buffer loads with a pressure of 8500 psi or so since the buffer increases pressure a bit (up to 1500 psi). I believe they still sell the poly buffer which is like the grex as well as one called Mix #47. The problem you'd have with an extra full choke would be in the combo stages where you have clays or steel to knock over with shot to varying ranges and then you also have a different part of the stage that required slugs, so you'd be forced to use a more open choke for steel and clays so that when it came to slug time, you wouldn't take the front end of your gun off when that .690 slug tried to force itself into a .640 choke. Vince S.

Um, you could have the cylinder machined to acept moon clips for 38 spl. I'm in the process of doing just that with a 4" 686 I have. I have speedloaders for it, but why not moon clip it? Make loading and unloading easier.. Vince S.

I would consider that High pressure as I load only 4.7 (max book weight) with a West Coast Plated 180 in my .40 Para. I make about 1000 fps with my combination (~180 pf). I also just use Winchester Small Pistol primers. I seat mine to 1.175"-1.180". Man 0.4 gr more than book max? Holy moly! Vince

Jacketed or Lead? Corbin out of Oregon are known for their presses to make jacketed bullet swagers. http://www.corbins.com/corbin.htm Magma Engineering is known for their cast bullet making furnace. http://www.magmaengr.com/ I think that covers it for now... Vince

Any powder can change dramatically from lot to lot. That's why the warnings are there in the loading manuals, powder manuals etc. Generally the warning goes something like "Re-check charge weights on every new lot of powder, even if it is the same type since density, intensity, and other factors may change from lot to lot". Then they go on to say back off by 5-15% and work your load back up. As much as we want lots of powder to be exactly the same, variations in manufacturing, variations in chemicals, etc all lend to variations in the end product. Think about it.. When was the last time that you had 2 steaks bought at different times from the same store taste/look/etc be exactly alike? I know a case where a friend was using a new batch of Titegroup. I sampled some of his loads and they felt hotter. I asked if he'd changed anything. he told me, "No, I keep the same settings on my loader, though I did buy a new jug of powder". Well, when he weighed his charges that evening, they were .2 gr over max. All he'd changed was the lot of powder. It pays to check, check, and re-check. Luckily he didn't have much ammo that he'd loaded. Vince

Almost as bad as forgetting to change mags, is not loading enough ammo in your mags... I was shooting Prod... Me, field course, array of 4 plus one target, 10 rounds, reload, array of 4 targets.. hey, why am I out of ammo after 4 shots... oh damn! reload, shoot more reload...... Vince

Actually, these are things I usually do when faced with targets at longer ranges. I haven't yet made up loads utilizing the hunting wads, but I may do so in the future when I don't want to deal with changing chokes. I can see that someone who might be stuck with a cylinder bore and no choke tubes could utilize these methods to increase their range. Combine those hunting wads with buckshot and you should be able to get nice tight patterns. Oddly enough, I just read an article about the plated shots and they found out that shot with a high antimony content (5-6%) did as well as or better than the plated shot at extended ranges. It actually surprised me as this is something I'd been following for a # of years. The problem with most ranges though, they limit you to size #4 bird shot so you can't generally utilize the larger sizes (#3 bird up to 000 buck). I have a chance to shoot a match coming up that will allow buckshot loads. I'm tempted to try some larger sizes to see if they are more effective with less constricted chokes. We'll see. Vince

Even if your gun is the 2.75" gun, you can do pretty well with it. The old stand by load for years was 3 3/4 dram with 1.25 ounces of 4, 5, or 6's. That used to be THE load for ducks before the "Magnum" craze. I generally load 1.125 ounces of #2 or BB steel to a velocity of about 1400 fps. It has taken everything from the smallest teal up to Honkers and Snows quite a ways up. I did however take a Honker at about 50 paces with 1 shot some time ago. It was at a 25 degree angle to me. It surprised the heck out of a hunting buddy. The gun I was using at the time was Browning B80 in 2.75". It worked for me. I stopped using it due to it requiring heavy target loads to work the action, I didn't like being beaten up, hence the Gold Purchase Vince

I'm sitting here staring at some quite low capacity drives. Maybe a gig a piece or so. I don't know if you have a use for these at all. If you do, hit me up and I'll see what I can scrounge. Vince

I load all of it except that pesky Federal NT stuff (the primer pockets are smaller). I load S&B, Amerc, Win, Rem, Fed, Starline, anything I can get my hands on. Of course this is when I don't have a surplus as big as I have right now (5k Speer o/f, 2k Fed Nickel o/f). But then I also don't shoot a finicky gun. I shoot a Para LDA with the factory barrel and slide with an aftec extractor. That probably means that the chamber and slide are not as tight and hence almost anything works. Diff guns like diff brass, simple as that. Vince

But see, after you zest all those lemons, you can now make lemonade by the gallon. At least, that's what my roommate does. Also instead of using the high octane 95% alcohol and thinning later, he chooses to use a very good 100 Proof Vodka and doesnt have to thin it as much. Alas, California doesn't allow shipment of Everclear Vince

I dunno, I shot a few rounds of skeet this week after not shooting moving shotgun targets and I managed a 24 and like a 22. The 24 I got as far as station 6 without a miss. But then I've always been a good wingshot. I've been shooting Shotguns since I was like 12 (37 now). Pistol and Rifle didn't start till I was already over 21. Vince