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I tend to agree there's no point really in lightening the slide now given the rules change on weight, but I don't know if you'll have a problem by lightening the slide (unless the lightening-cuts end up having you crack a slide prematurely, which I guess it could make more likely to happen). Thing is, IMO one of the CZ's built-in design advantages is their slides already have less-mass riding over the frame than most other designs and there really isn't a whole bunch of weight in the slide to lose, and seems like the trend is heading towards having an overall heavier gun. The thing about lightening-cuts too is they're permanent, whereas it might just be better to play around with recoil springs to change slide velocity that way and find what one likes. Most/all of the guys I've seen with dots on S2's didn't have the slides lightened to necessarily change how the gun feels, they just did it because they had to in order to make weight under the old rules.

Agreed, those articles are good info. Not to oversimplify it, but one of the best things I've heard concerning crimp and 9mm with coated bullets on here was: "don't think of it as a crimp die, think of it as a bell-removal die..." makes it so much easier for me looking at it that way over getting out the calipers and chasing a magic number. Before, I was having some issues with questioning whether my crimp was set right. Since reading that, when I set my crimp die bell-removal die up, I just go a little at a time from where a round won't quite drop into the Hundo until it does, then give it an 1/8 of a turn more for some margin to work with all the different headstamped brass, and good to go. Ends up looking like there's no crimp at all, but everything passes the case gauge and chambers perfectly, no accuracy issues at all. When measured, my crimp probably averages around .379ish, but even if it it's more, if it passes the gauge it works in the gun, so I don't really sweat the number. I'm with Lee64, what a CZ measures out to, and what OAL really works over and over is usually different and shorter. On paper 1.130" should easily be fine in my S2, but depending on ogive, variance, or just plain bad luck, I consider 1.130" getting too close to iffy, and load for my S2 at 1.115" without having to worry about any variances in different brass/OAL biting me. I'm sure that 0.015" isn't the difference between whether I get an alpha or not lol! Point is, I wouldn't worry too much about going shorter affecting things too much with an S2, I doubt you could even measure it unless you went totally wonky and turned golfball-sized groups into baseball-sized groups. Honestly, I've always been confused about guys loading as long as they can get away with in 9mm, because I've never seen it really make any meaningful difference in accuracy. If it's for a 1911/2011 or some gun that needs a longer OAL in order to feed reliably, I get it... but it's not a 6mm Dasher or something where the shorter OAL might put one 1/4 mil off a plate at 700yrds lol!

Wait, you're supposed to remove the lube before shooting lol..? Hahaha. I seriously have never even considered re-tumbling rounds after loading them. IDK, but IMHO if one has to re-tumble to remove case lube, then they're using way too much in the first place. I use the Frankford Armory case lube lanolin+alcohol stuff (basically same as the Dillon stuff) and a few squirts goes a long way... I've got a plastic container with a lid that's about the size of a larger coffee can, I put 3-4 squirts in the container, throw in 4-5 handfuls of brass, put on the lid and give it a swirl/shake for few seconds, then take off the lid and wait a minute or so, then in to the case feeder the brass goes... That, plus a carbide sizing die, press runs nice and smooth as can be, rounds don't come out sticky at all and are ready to shoot. $1 at some random dollar store:

The race/competition hammers greatly improve the single-action, pretty much removes any/all of the small amount of creep the stock hammers still have for a more crisp "glass rod" break in SA... and might be a "placebo effect" but I kinda think it improves the double-action a bit too (or just seems to). The race/comp hammers have changed geometry, differently cut hooks and the DA shelfs are different, it's pretty much impossible to alter a stock hammer to duplicate it. Usually yields around a ~3lb SA pull with most of any creep/trash gone. (If great vs good is enough, stop reading now lol. If there's any tiny amount of perceivable creep that's still present, or you want amazing vs great : read below lol) - Beyond swapping the hammer, the final and fully OCD step for a truly amazing CZ SA pull is to slightly re-profile the sear face's angle to remove most/all of the hammer-camming all CZ's have (if you pull really super slow in SA you can see the hammer cam back first a tiny bit before releasing and going forward, if you eliminate most or all of that the effect is amazing), but you have to make sure to keep the sear face bone straight and be careful to not round off any corners or the hammer-hook/sear engagement won't remain safe, like a 1911, the sear/hooks need good/solid engagement... usually delivers a 2lb (or less) SA with zero trash, as good or better than any 1911's SA. But, to do it right, and not ruin a sear or make the gun unsafe, it requires resigning yourself to disassembling/reassembling the gun a few/bunch of times in order to monitor how the hammer-camming is "disappearing" to get it right, because you can usually count how many swipes across the 600-grit it takes on your hands. If one doesn't have the patience for that then they shouldn't even try it and just send it to a pro (though, what's funny is that this process used to be a "normal" part of a pro CZ trigger-job from the major players, but I've seen a few so-called "pro package trigger jobs" from one of the major popular shops lately where they just swapped parts and skipped this step on dude's guns, and once I pointed it out and the dudes felt my gun's trigger they were kinda bummed having spent $$$)... that said sears are like $8 so if you go too far, trying again isn't that expensive (ask me how I know lol)... BTW, I'd only recommend doing this with a race/comp hammer because the hooks/dimensions are different than a stock hammer's, and doing this to a stock hammer requires removing too much material to eliminate the hammer-camming. After installing a race/comp hammer, all it takes is a brand-new/untouched piece of 600-grit (like with 1911 trigger-jobs, going too smooth can actually rob you of some "crispness", leave the 800, 1000+ grit and polish in the toolbox, you don't need it), a hard perfectly flat surface, patience, and time.

Shadow 3? ...hope not this soon lol. S2OR's are out there (though, nit many of 'em), you may just have to grab one off an auction site or something and have it shipped to your FFL to get one... BTW, helps if you search: "CZ 91251", that's how I found mine right after they were released for the USA...

BTW, If you end up doing the extended firing pin and reduced power spring, if you use the CGW one, immediately ditch their reduced power firing pin spring and use the Rami one from CZC or “Ultimate” one from Eric G... the CGW RPFPS spring is flimsy and I wouldn’t trust one to last more than a week, or just days if you dryfire a bit...

Do it, just do it. Definitely swap out the hammer for either the CGW race hammer or CZC competition hammer (both are great), and might as well do the short-reset disco and springs while you're at it. You won't regret it for a second. Most S2's are good out of the box, the race/comp hammers make them great. Get an extended firing pin if you use CCI primers and/or just want a little insurance and/or want to go lighter than a 13lb hammer spring to get your DA-pull down.

IMO wet tumbling is the way to go, agreed... but I'd say break down and just buy a $50 case dryer (food dehydrator) for drying the brass. Not really having to worry about getting any ringers because there was some moisture left over that got missed is worth it and seems guys have mixed results (or piss off their partners eventually lol) using the oven method. I usually leave 1000-1500 9mm cases in for an hour to dry (rotating/swapping the bottom trays to the top at 30mins) and it's probably overkill, but cases come out bone dry and I don't have to sweat it. Also, and this might just be my experience, but I've scrounged, tumbled, and then dried some downright icky brass that had seen maybe a week or so of rain and then sat in the mud and hot sun for maybe a week more... stuff that others' passed on (including me usually), but after a long 3hr tumble with Dawn + Lemon Shine came out good as new, no ringers. FWIW, out of all my reloading kit, this is probably the best ~$20 I've spent: https://www.lymanproducts.com/reloading/case-cleaning/lyman-dual-sifter-system easily allows me to shake the crap out of the brass so all the pins make it out of the cases, and I get all my pins back.

9mm Major kinda seems like it's own headache when it comes to case-fill/powder, but I think it kinda wouldn't be too hard to get a powder check working for a more "normal" caliber... My setup can do ~1000rds p/hr if everything's clicking along, but if/when I upgrade I'd want to be able to go faster, and I wouldn't feel comfortable doing so without a powder check of some sort. Yeah, I totally get it, how Dillon operates makes total sense from a business standpoint, especially as a new reloader: collect the extra profit you've earned with your products and service while still making some good stuff that isn't priced too scary for new people to get into. The funny thing about reloading equipment I've found is: the prices look different when compared from how they looked before you got into it, to when you're in. A lot of us spend a lot of money on pricey guns without really thinking too much about it, that's just what they cost sometimes. But in reality, some of the presses and stuff probably cost a lot more to manufacture than guns, but have to come to market at a lower price-point because the market is much smaller. At $2800-3000 the Evo is probably the top-of-the-line manual "pro-sumer" press, and it can seem expensive; but, that's about the price of a decent Limited gun, Production gun plus all the kit, or entry-level Open gun... so it really isn't that crazy lol. Before I got into it, spending $1500 for an XL750+case feeder+MBF seemed like kind of a lot (even though I've got more than a few guns that cost that much or more). But now that I've been reloading for a bit, ~$3500 or less for an Evo+MBF doesn't seem that bad at all, and I kinda wish I could jump back in time hahaha... Again though, I think the real issue these days for all of us is the shortages with components: I've got about a year's or worth of primers, 2-3 years of bullets/powder and still don't know if that's enough, so I'm hesitant to upgrade my stuff right now...

Yeah, after getting in to the details I had already pretty much decided Evo > RL1100... but then I briefly got to check them both out next to one and other on a bench (well, an Evo and a S1050, but close enough, a buddy of mine just got an Evo and is giving his 1050 to his cousin), it's just not even close, the Evo is crazy. Yes, the Evo is more expensive, but it's easy to see why. I think if anyone was in the market and willing to spend $2000+ on a new press, if they see them next to one and other in the flesh, it makes the choice easy. The Dillon presses are great, they work and can deliver the goods for sure, but next to the Evo, the Dillon designs show their age; the Dillon presses have lots of things hanging off them that look like something from Dr. Suess with bars and stuff sticking out like they were slapped on at the end, there's none of that on the the Evo, it's just an obviously more modern design. The biggest takeaway for me though, as someone who hasn't spent much time really looking at a 1050/1100 and coming from a 650/750, might have been the station setup: on paper the 1050/1100 just looks like it has 2 less stations than an Evo, but to me it's really like 3 less stations (or 2.5 less depending on how you look at it) because the 1050/1100's don't allow you to use a die or do anything besides just prime at it's #4 station, whereas on the Evo the priming station can pull double duty doing something else there if one wants to. And I guess the big thing to me with the 1050/1100 is there isn't enough stations after the powder drop to seat and crimp separately and still run an MBF and a powder check... jumping up to the "big dog" press for more output/ to go faster, and one day automate, and not being able to use a powder check without combining seat/crimp is kind of silly IMO, I never really noticed that... unless I'm missing something? To me, the better build/design plus the extra stations easily covers the $1000 price difference between the 1100 and Evo. But really, the RL1100 should be a $1500 press, not a $2000 press, and I think that extra $500 is just for the Dillon name and because they can IMHO. Sick setup BTW!

^^^That is something worth thinking about! If you haven't thought about it yet, you will, but try to filter out some of the spookiness of the dreaded double-charge and/or squib-load that could happen by knowing yourself and being comfortable with what press you pick to work with. The 550 is a solid press, many guys never sell them because they're so bombproof and can do many calibers without it costing a whole lot for caliber conversions. BUT, you need to inform yourself about the differences between a manual-indexing press and an auto-indexing press: because, while the 550 is 'technically" a progressive press because all the dies/stations can being doing different tasks at the same time and the shell plate moves, there are many (including myself) that don't really consider it a truly progressive press because it isn't auto-indexing and doesn't move/turn the cases for you with each pull of the handle. So, if you were to pull the handle to charge powder, then, let's say, get a text from work or something that distracts you for a minute, then you go back to the press and pull the handle again without indexing/moving/advancing the shell plate: if you don't catch it before you seat the bullet, bam, double-charge, a KABOOM is coming. Or, you're in the middle of 100 rounds starting to pull the handle on a powder drop and the phone rings, then you finish your call and go back to the press and instinctively advance/move the shell plate without dropping powder (you don't want a double-charge after all), again, don't catch it before you seat the bullet: you've made an empty primed-case that is either a loud snap-cap or if a little powder dropped into it, potentially a squib. A manual-index press requires your complete and total attention or bad things can happen (...like all firearms related stuff really lol). If you can trust yourself with the responsibility of always keeping track of what's going on where, and always remembering when to (and when not to) advance the shellplate, then the 550 is probably the best thing out there for the money. Now, a lot of guys may say an auto-indexing press is too much for a beginner, but I don't agree. IMO, if anything, an auto-indexing press can add a margin of safety as it advances/moves the cases with every pull of the handle, so one has to actually go out of their way to fak things up and intervene by removing and replacing cases to set up a double-charge or to miss dropping powder in a case... which can totally happen, like if your fixing an issue or something, but if you train yourself to be carful and respectful of what you're doing the moving shell plate usually helps. Really with both types of presses you should visually verify your powder drops, if it seems wonky, dump it, don't take chances. (Some powders are harder to see/verify than others which is what OdenIII was talking about above: a powder like Titegroup doesn't fill the cases much, so it might be easier too miss a double-charge, whereas some others fill the case a bunch and a double-charge would spill over and be obvious). I just feel like a manual-index press requires more resolve to avoid screwing yourself accidentally lol. Just something you should consider. Chances are you'll end up with an auto-indexing press at some point anyway, so again, don't be afraid to spend more to get more. I'd recommend taking a hard look at an XL750, you can buy the case feeder when you can afford it (a when, not an if), and you won't outgrow it for a long time, if ever. A used 650 is also a great suggestion, though their priming systems are a little more unkind to beginners as it's "prime all the time" instead of "prime on demand". I know it was mentioned earlier, but it bears repeating, the Dillon presses hold most of their value or sometimes actually appreciate (a Super 1050 was $1500 10 years ago, now they're $2000, same machine), so while it might hurt a little in the short term, it may be worth spending a little more than your planned budget to grab something you won't have to upgrade from or can one day sell without really losing much.

^^^ this is really good advice and well stated. I was where you're at until just over a month ago... I just bought my 9mm ammo because it was fairly affordable to do so, right up until it wasn't (and when/if I could find it) lol. Plus, this past year or so I'd developed a taste for shooting better ammo than just whatever FMJ was cheapest, and found myself paying more to get more action pistol oriented type stuff loaded to around 130 power factor like: Federal Syntech or smaller shop loaded 9mm from Impact Ammo and NC Shooters. USPSA Masters and Grand Masters can probably shoot great and win matches shooting hotter whatever power factor ammo through a Hi-Point, but for most of us out there trying to just improve and shoot the next match better than the last, shooting the same power factor ammo most everyone else is helps, and it's more fun. Power factor is a funny thing, it matters and it doesn't, but when you've been used to shooting cheap 115gr loads that are zipping along and are snappy, and then you shoot heavier-for-caliber loads in 124, 135, 147gr making about the same or less power factor but with a much nicer recoil impulse, you won't want to go back. So shooting the better/funner stuff can get more expensive; yet another reason to load your own. I was on a pretty steady diet of the Federal Syntech 150gr stuff (which is probably the best off-the-shelf/factory USPSA stuff) before I jumped into reloading, but in no time at all, the rounds I'm making are better: the recoil impulse is just as good, but they're noticably more accurate out of my guns, and they easily cost less than half of what I was paying. That said, I've been shooting competition on and off for over a decade, and I've kind of had my toes dipped into the reloading thing for most of that time, thinking about it, but being on the fence (because 9mm had stayed fairly affordable)... But, I was picking up info, reading a LOT of old threads on here before I purchased a single thing or began reloading. This forum is a goldmine for knowledge for lots of shooting related things, but IMO it's also the best place to scrounge knowledge about reloading because competition shooters really shoot, most of the peeps around here burn thousands of rounds per year and have the experience that goes with that. Most of the stuff you read or see on here is proven, it's not just stuff spit out by guys who load just a couple hundred rounds here and there. So, the best advice I can give you is to just look up all the questions you might have; you'll probably find most of your answers somewhere in the threads on here (TIP: you can google "whatever + Brian enos" and you'll be amazed at how much stuff pops up, like: "best 9mm reloading press + Brian Enos"). For equipment, be realistic about what you'll need to spend as some stuff is "buy once cry once"; if you want "a Glock", buy the Glock, don't settle for a Taurus, you'll regret it more than the little you save. Also, when scanning old threads, you'll see that a lot of guys are using the same basic stuff, don't ignore that, if it can be broken someone has probably broken it already on here, so don't be afraid to pay a few bucks more for stuff that's vetted and proven and has become a defacto "standard". It doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg to get into, but if a $500 budget won't get you what you think you'll need, then wait and save a little longer. IMHO, if you're hooked on shooting and will be doing it for years not months, buy the best press you can afford right off the bat, unless you're flush and rolling Gucci and can afford to just jump straight to a Mark7, make sure it's blue and says Dillon on it (remember what I said earlier about buying a "Glock"? Everything else is a "Taurus" lol). Beware the Square Deal B, it'a proprietary closed-system, you don't want that. Between this forum and Youtube you'll be fine. Good luck and welcome!

I've seriously considered having an S2 cut for an Sig R3Max/XL due to envying the clearer non-magnified glass, but their durability is just too suspect for me to commit. I'm ok with having a backup because seems all the pistol dots can fail, but I don't want to have to own 3 or 4 to know I'll be covered and always have one working over the course of a year. That said, while I'm mostly happy with my SRO's due to their durability, I hope Trijicon isn't just sitting on their hands and hope there will be a version 2.0 sooner rather than later that fixes the slight distortion and magnification, for what they cost they probably should've had it right out of the gate. But, they've been selling MRO's which are far worse for years now without really fixing them, so I won't hold my breath...

I went back and forth between trading in my recently purchased XL750 for either an RL1100 or Mark7 Evo, ordered then cancelled one of each actually... In the end decided to just hold onto the XL750 for now, and decided I'm going to buy an Evo once/if components become available again and/or stabilize. The 750+casefeeder+MBF, while not ideal, works fine for me for now and would allow for me to tear through all the components I have on-hand in a few weeks if I wanted. I just can't see upgrading to a better press right now when the only primers I can find are from scumbags charging ~$150 per 1K on auction sites. The way things are looking, we all probably better get used to more dry fire

I've been running the CHPWS plate for an SRO on my S2OR for a while now, no complaints. FWIW, just checked out CHPWS' site, and looks like I've got their older version of their P-10 plate (P-10 plate works on the S2OR, mine is 1-piece, no steel T-nuts underneath). Looks like their newer V4 plate has steel T-nuts now, and they've also got a different/new S2OR specific plate with a dovetail for a rear iron sight too now. IMHO the plate with the rear dovetail seems kinda lame, the extra backup sights on a Timmy-style Glock make sense, but I see them as just a distraction on an S2 (I even cut off my front sight lol, don't need it).

Generally, if the round will work in your 9mm 1911, it'll work in your Glock. That said, depends on which generation Glock you have, as I've been hearing for a while now that the Gen 5 Glock's are their own animal now and have much shorter chambers than the older generations, so you may have to load for those more like you would for a CZ (shorter rather than longer). For some reason a lot of guys try to load their 9mm rounds as longs possible, mostly because they can. But if loading long isn't needed for feeding/reliability or noticeably better accuracy, rounds that are loaded shorter or to a more "middle-of-the road" length will work in more guns... I load my 9mmm to 1.115 on average (to accommodate an CZ S2 with a shorter chamber), and the same load/round works great in an 9MM STI Trojan, Glock 17 3rd Gen, and MPX PCC. I've tried loading longer to squeeze more accuracy or to just see what it did for me in my Trojan (9mm 1911), but it didn't get me anything extra or perform any differently than the 1.115 round in my case (other than being a little long for the CZ). As far as the Blue Bullets, that's all I use, but I'd recommend the "special order" .356 size over their standard .355. Seems for every other coated-bullet maker out there besides Blue, .356 is the standard... so I consider .356 the "real standard" if you will. The slightly larger tighter fitting bullet is generally considered less likely to lead up your barrels. I've heard Blue just went to "their standard" size of .355 so guys new to coated bullets wouldn't have to adjust their flare much or over crimp them as easily and mess up their coating. YMMV.

I've never used a C-more, but I totally get the "no tube thing", been running a 5 Moa SRO for a while now on my MPX and it weighs nothing and is fast. Super easy to get your head behind on a PCC. The SRO's aren't perfect, and Trijicon still seems to have trouble actually putting out a true 1X sight, but besides working great in CO, they're a huge step up from an MRO on a PCC, way less magnification and distortion.

Hiperfire has come out with a new disconnector design for the 24/hipertouch-series triggers, supposedly specifically to address the the MPX's punishment... I read about it and saw pics of it on an MPX FB group, it's shaped differently than the the older/original one. Contact them and they'll send you it and a new spring or two, mine is already in the mail...

I work in audio, so protecting my hearing is a big deal to me. That said, shooting probably isn't the best sport in that regard, but I try to do what I can lol! It's great that you get checked regularly, most people don't until they've done serious damage and are saying "What?" all the time. And the scary thing is: hearing doesn't really come back, once it's gone it's gone, if it lasts more than a couple days it usually means it's permanent.

Fact is, and the shorter version of what I was saying is, the cheap foam earplugs when used correctly, rated at 30+ dB noise reduction, are probably the best for most shooters if you want to preserve your hearing. Don't even really get me started on Open guns... let's just say if you value your hearing, you probably should pick another division... I actually try to pick a squad with the fewest number of Open shooters, because with those, usually the safest place for one's hearing is behind the gun pulling the trigger since the sound and concussion coming off the comps is usually directed elsewhere. They're also the reason why I'll probably never become an USPSA RO/Safety Officer, the guys chasing them around with a timer are getting the s**t kicked out of their eardrums. And, regardless of what noise reduction one's ear pro are rated, you can't hide from concussion, if you can feel it then it's damaging your hearing, it literally rattles your inner ear, making you slowly go deaf with every round fired.

Most of this is exactly spot on... Except, the truth of the matter is ALL currently available electronic ear pro is bad, and even a response time of 1 to 5 milliseconds is way too slow to prevent the transient sounds (like a snare drum crack, or a gunshot report) from causing hearing damage. All electronic ear pro works off of electronic and/or digital compression/limiting to do what they do, except the compression/limiting algorithms they incorporate are basically s**t compared to what they'd have to be to truly "catch" a transient sound before it could do any damage. It really doesn't matter what you spend on electronic ear pro either, whether $50 for the Impact Sports you see at every match, or $350+ on the latest bluetooth enabled rechargeable earbuds, they're all a bit gimmicky in a way, since they might let you hear range commands easier or allow you to pump tunes from you iPhone into them, but none of that is actually protecting your hearing as best as possible. If you really want to protect your hearing you want PASSIVE ear pro, the electronic stuff just isn't fast enough. Also, as mentioned, most electronic ear pro can't match the noise reduction available with passive ear pro: with electronic muffs/plugs costing ~$50-450+ only able to do 26dB of NR, while passive muffs/plugs costing $1-10 can do 33dB NR. It's because they physically can't, the tech just isn't there yet, the electronics that are used to raise dialogue and ambient sound while still attenuating (turning down) transient sounds is just what's available that's small enough to be worn on/in the ear, that doesn't mean it's good. In order for electronic ear pro to incorporate a fast enough Attack Time (that's what the speed response setting of a compressor/limiter is called), it'd have to cost several thousand dollars, and I'm not even sure the technology exists yet to miniaturize that tech enough to use it 'real time' and wear on your head while shooting.You want the most noise reduction you can get. Lastly, but importantly, the Decibel scale doesn't work like a "normal" scale, it's not "1, 2, 3, 4, etc" or like the volume knob on your stereo, raising in a linear fashion; every 6dB is perceived as TWICE AS LOUD, so the difference between 26dB and 33dB means the 26dB NR ear pro is letting sounds through more than TWICE as loudly as 33dB NR ear pro. The ubiquitous foamy ear plugs (with usually ~32-34dB NR) are great, but like stated above, they have to be inserted/used properly. Any of the passive muffs that offer 32-35dB NR are also great, and can be had easily for under $20. BOTH, is even better, I always recommend both when shooting indoors, but even outdoors, both is safer for you. For the best seal, most protection, and all-day comfort, nothing beats custom plugs though. Custom plugs have as close to a perfect seal as one can get (they're molded to your ears after all), so while foamies can work great, 33dB NR plugs that fit poorly or walk out aren't delivering 33dB NR, a good seal delivers what it's capable of 100% of the time. Also, custom plugs allow air to move into your ear more like "normal" (no plugs), which provides spatiality and directionality so you don't feel as "plugged up". While pricey, I use and can recommend these: https://1of1custom.com/products/pro-impulse-custom-ear-plug (if one wants to be able to change filters; though, I usually just end up using the Total Block inserts for shooting), or these if you want a KISS option: https://1of1custom.com/products/total-block There are a few other manufacturers I've used and had good experiences with too, but seems companies and/or audiologists offering the ACS brand are good to go, so that's what I'd recommend. The custom plugs with the filters are pretty much the only available way to just attenuate enough to hear range commands and such fairly easily (-15dB NR) while still being fast enough and providing more noise reduction to catch dangerous transient sounds (-33dB), but $185+ for plugs that work with a passive system is a hard sell... "electronic" sounds way cooler even though it isn't. Beware though, all "custom earplugs" aren't created equal, if you can buy them at Academy or online, or get them made and wear them the same day, then they're not even close to the real thing. Don't get fooled thinking a set of "custom earplugs" you can pick up for $30 and mold yourself at home is even anything like real custom plugs, they're not. If you have to first make an appointment to get them, and then some guy/gal squirts stuff into your ears and then tells you to expect a package in 2-6 weeks, than they're probably legit.

Sorry, meant no harm, no affiliation, just stumbled upon a cool find the OP might dig...

I was looking for another Trojan in 9mm and stumbled across this one in .40, looks like it was well loved, but a lot of life left I'd bet: [link removed per Forum Guidelines - Sorry] The Trojan's I've had over the years were/are on par with the DW's, better than most if not all of the others in the around or a bit over $1000 range IMO.

LOL! Scope creep is real hahaha! Honestly, what I said before about cost vs benefit still holds true, the 750 w/case feeder + MBF is pretty awesome; but while it's hard to put a price on annoying, apparently for me the price of annoying is $1000. Regardless of cost, the upstroke-priming and crimped brass was killing me, so I figured WTH! I decided to trade-up to the 1100 because if I didn't, I'd end up getting the Evo, than I'd have to automate it, then etc... lol!