[38 special advise]

Thanks guys.No power factor needed. I am going to work up loads for two .38 revolvers that belong to my buddys wife and daughter. He wants to make sure they will be armed with guns and loads they can handle confedently..I intend to do the work ups and when I find one they like I will teach him and guide him in reloading his own..He is a very good competitor and instructor. Doesn't at the moment have the time to figure what to use so he can stockpile the components. I just might sell him my 550 and get a 650 with a .45 case feeder.

Again Thanks, Bill

[38 special advise]

I'm looking for a light to mediun load using lead...The powders I have on hand are, wst, aa2, bullseye, lots of unique and some 231. Also will the powder die on a 550 in 9 mm have to be changed?

Thanks, Bill

[.45 acp and Unique Power]

I run unique in 255 and 225. The 225 load will not burn clean enough 5.5 and under. 5.8 just right for shooting paper. A lead TC at 1.20 is good for about 780-810 fps and can shoot 1" groups at 30 feet.

[tuned 625 miss fires]

Good morning, I thought I'd give you an update. I shimmed the cylinder .003 ( as much as I can go without affecting trigger pull) and it still missed one out of fifty. I had the longer factory firing pin in the gun for about a year (.494) and never had a problem. I had a clyinder and slide .504 pin in the drawer so I installed this and went through the inners making sure there was no binding. The other day a ran 15 clips through it and it was fine. I also noticed that the pull weight was at just under 6#. Thanks agian for all your help .

Bill

[Bayou Bullet Question]

I run 255 running about 900 FPS in my 625.....I struggled with bullet walk until I threw the FDC away. Also make sure your lead is .452 and don't put too much flair on the case.

[tuned 625 miss fires]

Great help thanks. I have run real heavy loads ( 225 pf) for pin shoots. I think it put a little ware on my buddy. The firing pin was .003 + shorter than the new spare I have..They were the same when I installed the first one with a reduced spring they were factory replacements for the newer 625. They are .493 and .496... I have a real long pin in the draw .506 but I think these are the ones you can't dry fire, I think..Getting old and trying to remember were stuff is and what is is for can be a challenge ..LOL Also the strain screw shows a little wear so I will change that out when I get one. I also got a new reduced power main spring but I was under the impression that all leaf type springs don't lose power but I could be wrong. When I get the new one I will try a the old screw to see if there is a difference between old and new.

Tough finding all these parts in one place for sure. Most on Midway, some cylinder and slide and then the shims from KLN shims.

[tuned 625 miss fires]

Walter do you know what spec is? I ordered 2 .002 and 2 .003 shims.

[tuned 625 miss fires]

Well I checked the end shake measurements and this just might be the problem. Pushed foward .001pushed back .0075. Also the barrel and cylinder have a 1/2 .001 differance left and right. I orders some shims...

Bill

[tuned 625 miss fires]

Thanks for the help. There is no end shake that I can tell. Strain screw is square and clean. I will check the firing pin spring later though. As far as the hammer dragging it was shimmed and seems like it is the same as when I did the work on it.. I'll order a new spring and a firing pin. Good to have spares anyway. BTW I hate cleaning the pockets anyway, thanks for that.

Again thanks, Bill

[tuned 625 miss fires]

I have my 625 with a 6.25 lb pull that has been very reliable for the last 10,000 rounds. It has a reduced main spring and is smooth as glass. It just started missing two out of fifty. Strain screw is tight, no binding, single action will fire the misses in double.

Only thing I can figure is that I have been a bit lazy and the last 10 or so times the brass has been reloaded I have not cleaned the primer pockets. I also use just the same brass for the 625. I hand seat fed 150's, the firing pin was an extended one and I cleaned the area were the hammer contacts the frame.

I did the trigger job myself about two years ago, maybe it's time to have Mike work on it. I will do another fifty and clean the primer pockets to see if it will help.

[Why not shoot lead?]

My blood lead levels have been high for a while so I avoid lead bullets. I also shoot indoors a fair amount. Even the handling of lead ammo is a source of lead exposure.

Plated bullets don't cost that much more over lead so that's what I run.

I thought this and switched to jacketed levels still high..Quit using indoor ranges the levels fell below normal rather quickly, went back to lead and stayed outside the levels remained below normal...I reload 50,000 rounds of lead a year.

[9MM for pins]

The more shooters and classes at a pin shoot the more a 9 is useless for this game.

[DAWSON FRONT SIGHTS]

Now I understand!!You say that the roll pin that retains the sight also retains the bushing for the barrel. It doesn't look like it does but I am old and can't see worth a damn...I'll just drill the sight with a #47 and stick the roll pin back in..With the set screw, roll pin and a gallon of locktight I should be ready to go... BYW MY gun has a high round count and getting a new barrel bushing would be the bomb!!!! But the barrel to bushing fit is tight but the slide is a bit sloppy.....Thanks eerw

[DAWSON FRONT SIGHTS]

I didn't notice a bushing when I pushed the pin out...is the bushing two pieces or does it get installed after you drill to make the notch in the sight? It was a bear getting the new sight to seat all the way rearward..Maybe the bushing was still in..

Thanks I'll go and look to see if it is still in..

Bill

[DAWSON FRONT SIGHTS]

Sorry I wasn't clear enough. I didn't use the roll pin and I do have a #47 drill bit. The sight fit so tight and with a bit of loctight thought the added security of the set screw more than enough. The less I touch any gun with a power tool the better.

Bill

[DAWSON FRONT SIGHTS]

I installed one of these. used the set screw with no problem...use red loctight the original has something like this on it and it came out without a problem after removing roll pin....Dawson knows what he is doing...BTW the "factory sights need to be drilled with a #47 bit after you install the sight..they don't come with a "notch" in them.....

[Accu-Railed]

Got my gun back yesterday from Doug Jones and it is a thing of beauty..Zeroed in the c-more last night and off a rest shot a five shot 1" group at 25 yards..........he did a bit more than railed it, new f p s ( I had a flat small radius one), 17 lb main spring, wielded and refit the barrel, new barrel link, 10 lbs recoil spring ( I had a 17#), new longer ejector and re crowned the barrel.

The gun is like it is on tight ball bearings. Off hand the dot stays on target a lot better with my heavy pin loads and the rising of the slide is almost straight back. His attention to detail is what I would expect from a gun smith of his experience. Turn around time was just over three weeks.

He recommends shooters choice fp10 for lube with SS guns, I have been using gun butter. Anybody else on this recommend?

Thanks Doug

Bill

[Overall accuracy of the SP-01...]

I have a 75b ss that I installed a comp hammer and sear a few years ago. pull is a clean 2.5 and I shoot a PD 124 JHP under wst. Now a couple of years ago this gun would print quite well..With my limited skills I could group 2-3" off hand at 30'. I have an LB and a S&W in 45 acp that shoot way under this now but the cz has gotten a bit loose. Slide movement coupled with a tiny bit of barrel end play has, for me anyway, has made me very dissapointed in it's accuracy. Is it good enough for idpa? Sure it is but shooting golf balls at 25' it isn't. BTW in 15-16 thousand rounds this gun has never failed. I wish there was some way to tighten up the barrel. I think it might be due to the SS because by Smith 1911 SS had to have accu-rails applied after 50000 rounds, it is an open gun with the optics mounted to the frame. The LB has the same amount of use and it's still very tight and it's a blued gun.

[Comp Cleaning?]

I shoot lead and when the comp need a cleaning I take the barrel out of the gun and heat up the comp a bit. Not a lot just enough to soften the lead so I can pick it out in a soft gloob...remember to remove the set screw and add some fresh loctight.

[Edge]

I am a competitive Pins shooter that missed the mid 80's. I am thinking of an eagle (bushing) in hard chrome and in 9mm since I have been loading about 30000 a year for my cz 75...I have the cz all tuned up ( comp hammer, sear, single action trigger, 2.5 trigger pull, adjustable lpa rear sight) but am a bit disappointed in it's accuracy with 50,000 through it I think it is getting tired. All my .45 shoot circles around the cz. Iron sight or my open pin gun offhand can do 1.5 groups at 30' in quick order.

I am getting into steel and we run dueling tree competitions. I am a certified IDPA RO and this is why I want a bushing. As far as limited ( limited minor) there are some shoots within an hours ride that I am wanting to attend were A limited gun would come in mighty handy. I could go with a Trojan but it is time to have a upscaled and hard chromed gun. I do have one more question? Are the firing parts the same in the Trojan and the eagle or edge?

I am getting close to ordering something!!!!!!! Thanks for the feedback.

Bill

[STI Trojan vs. S&]

I have a S&W SS 1911 that has many rounds down it. It has loosened up quite a bit with 50000+ pin loads down her. It is off to be acc-u-railed at the moment. I gave it a 2.5# crisp trigger and with a good fitted bushing is very accurate. Only complaint was when I tried to put a standard mount c-more on it...Because of the external extractor I couldn't use that mount, had to go with a sideways one. I and a smith could not tune that damn thing....

I shot a couple performance shop ones and I would suggest that you not go this route..I felt the triggers to heavy and they weren't as accurate as my beater...I would get a non PS and shoot it, due a poor mans trigger job and dry fire it about 10000 times....Then make a decision if it needs professional help. JMO Good luck

[Edge]

The reason I ask is that I own two LB and love the workmanship and the great accuracy. I want a limited gun and just might go with a chromed bushing out of the box dawson sti eagle but I am spoiled by the LB.

[Edge]

How accurate are they? Will one in 9mm shoot 1" at 26 yards? On a rest of course.

[Accu-Railed]

Good timing on this subject. I have a 4 year old S&W SS 1911 that I bought to shoot pins with. As it progressed it got a c-more and a comped barrel as well as a few other things done to it. I have about 40,000+ heavy PF 215 loads threw it...For what I use it for it's been very accurate, I can in rapid fire mag after mag into a 2" hole at 30'. Being a contender at pin shoot was easy with this gun...Lately I have been "leaving" one and feel that my shooting was getting sloppy with this gun, thankfully my LB that I use in the iron sight division is still running very tight.

So I decided to check my zero which has never really drifted in the three years it's been on the gun. I Did have to make changes when shooting different loads. First three shots were 2" high an 2" left, The next two were on...Hmm I might be getting ready for the "home".

Now the slides been getting a bit loose over the last year and I noticed that the side to side sloppinessss was now joined with a quite a bit of play up and down at the forwardrd end of the slide...Was thinking of retiring it but decided to let Doug Jones tighten it up. I will get it back in a couple of weeks and hopefully it will put a few more years life back into the gun.... BTW Dougs price is 215, 25 for shipping back and I paid 10 to ship to him. Way cheaper that building a new beater..

[Bomar sight]

Thanks Guys....I took .040 off the top of the sight with a file...stoned it smooth and blued it....with the Bomar just a half a turn clicks off the bottom it is dead on at 30'....... Saved me some $$............