isleman75

Um, no. Bad Idea. Get a Lee Reloading manual. I don't have mine in front of me, but it's probably in there. If not, .303 British is nearly it's equal. Ballistically, the .308 Win is way hotter than the .303 Savage. The Savage is closer to 30-30 Win. Careful...

The main reason for loading .40 cal long in game guns on the 1911/2011 platform is reliability. It is much greater at lengths approaching 1.20 instead of the 1.12 or so that most factory .40 barrels are chambered for. The reason is that the 1911/2011 was designed around the .38 Super (long) and then the .45 ACP (also longer than .40S&W) and it is much easier to make the gun run very reliably with longer rounds. If you want to run longer ammo, you must have most barrels reamed. It's no big deal, and most reputable pistol 'smiths will have one in stock to do the job quickly. I use the Dave Manson reamers and they work great.

Plus One for jingling them around a bit at all phases before inserting them into the plate. Split cases make a very distinct and different ring than the good ones. Rattling them in the bin with your fingers also sometimes gives away the split ones.

.40 is a much higher pressure round than .45 ACP. Pressure/heat/speed, all add up to higher probability of leading. I would try different powders as well since some burn "hotter" than others. Also the comment about crimp is correct. Check that your case mouth is around .422 or so after crimp. Much tighter and you're digging into the bullet with the case mouth. I've had pretty good luck with Universal Clays or Bullseye- both burn and meter nearly identically in my Schuemann STI.

I love the Bayous as well!! I've had great luck with Bullseye loaded at 4.7 or 4.8 depending on OAL. I had a bunch of Universal Clays and when I started with a new batch of Bullseye, they metered nearly identically and gave very similar results. Bullseye was only a little cleaner. Lots of people really live the VV, but there's something to be said for powder that's sold nearly everywhere powder is sold..

The last post is correct. All bullets are different in every barrel. Xtremes worked fine for me in my Schuemann .40 standard barrel...That is all except for the extreme spread in velocity. I could never get it reasonable with those bullets. The spread between rounds was anywhere from 20fps to 100fps...This would be 10-shot strings!! Crazy..And can affect power factor very easily. The only way to know for sure is try them in your gun..

It is very possible for mags to over-insert and get caught by the mag catch in the 2011 platform. The best thing you can do is polish your mag release button. The way the STI version is made, it's pretty easy for that hole in the magazine to easily go past the mag catch and the mag body will then push the mag catch/release if it's over-inserted. Yours is getting caught because of the spring pressure of the mag catch and the lack of polish on one or both parts. Dawson's posi lock mag catch looks to be a perfect fix for this malady (and the reason Dave Dawson came up with it) and there is a very cool video for it on their web site that explains how it works better than I can write it. You should fix it quick either way because this "over-insertion" can also easily break ejectors if the lips on the mag are already very close to the ejector on full insertion.

Sorry, well put by Croomrider...

Very well put by Merlin. This is part of the beauty of the 1911/2011 platform. They are infinitely tune-able with the various springs, and even the radius on the fp stop. Some smiths even build their guns with barely a broken 90 degree edge on the bottom of the fp stop. This delays opening of the slide and cocking of the hammer. Was popular with the bullseye shooters back in the day..

Safety feature only..The 1911 has 3 of them, because of the overly-cautious military..

I also run a Dawson..Thing is soo long it almost peeks out the hole at rest...looks scary long, but goes bang every time, even with the hard Wolf primers.

You might try Dawson followers. They use the factory STI spring, slightly modified. I've been extremely happy with them on my latest build. 1500rds with zero failures.

I just finished a limited .40 STI/schuemann, full length dust cover, etc. I got half the parts at cost and the other half from Brazos, which is close to cost on many things. After all was said and done, I probably saved $50 over a new gun already assembled, like the Dawson or basic STI. It was nice to build it myself, as I am an experienced 'smith, but you won't save much because I also didn't have to buy any tools. I also have access to a gunsmith shop any time I want, which helped immensely. There are a few tools that are a necessity and you may be better off having certain jobs done by someone with experience, like fitting the barrel/slide. If you get it wrong, it can prove very costly. Slides and barrels aren't exactly cheap.

Another thing to check would be the breech face. That should be polished very smooth, with something that will keep the surface very flat. If the back of the case catches a rough breech face, it will case a FTF, just like a too-tight extractor. The fitment of an extractor for 38/40 is also very different than 45acp. The actual hook tip should ride on the deep inner grooved portion of the case on the .40 instead of the inside of the hook actually touching the edge of the outside of the rim of the case (like on 45acp). Brazos has great technical articles and pics on his web site discussing this. Education and experience is the best tool for making game guns work!

I would say find someone that knows how to properly adjust an extractor on the 1911/2011 platform and you will be fine. There are also a few tips on Brazos' web site that thoroughly discuss the intricacies and differences between how an extractor should hold 40S&W/9mm and 45 acp cases. From what I hear, many love the Aftecs, but it seams like a pricey "fix" for a "problem" that never existed. Like many pieces on a 1911/2011, an extractor needs to be properly fit and tuned to run in the game guns we love...