GunslingerDK

I know this is an old thread, but I just wanted to share my experience with you all. I did this conversion of the follower, thanks OLP73!! I have a 9mm small frame and I am now able to load 20 rounds into my magazine, achieved only by converting the follower! I wonder what the capacity would be with Hennings base pads

Looks like I got a project on my hands. Unfortunately I did not read anything about leaving the firing pin block out when using Hennings Firing pin. I will try removing the sight and see where it gets me. If all else fails I'll just have to drill the block out... doesn't matter if I break it since I won't need it again. Thanks for the help guys....

Is the firing pin block that cylinder locking mechanism thingy?!? If it is, I did some changes to it to make it fit when I got Hennings x-long firing pin. Besides, Hennings firing pin is hardend so I find it hard to believe that it is bend after 8000 rounds when the original one has shot 20.000+

I can move the pin in when I push it. I tried rotating it with a pair of pliers, no luck. The picture shows how far out the firing pin will go.

In yesterdays match I had 5 FTF's, which is a lot in one day! The gun is a Witness Limited small frame 9mm. Primers are RWS. I have the Henning X-long firing pin, and have never had FTF's before (okay maybe 5 in 10.000 rounds, which I believe lies in the Magtech primers). Another Witness shooter suggested I had dirt in the firing pin hole. So I decided to remove the pin and clean it when I got home. Easier said than done! The pin won't come out?! When you press the pin and remove the back plate it's supposed to come out on its own, but it doesn't... it just sits there stubbonly. I tried soaking in oil and blowing out the gunk with an air gun, that didn't help (although some gunk came out). I removed the extractor as well... Why is my firing pin stuck? And what can I do?

I took part in my 3rd match this weekend and ran into a guy I knew a few years back. He shoots a Limited Custom like me. And since there aren't that many Tanfo-guys around these parts, he's my go-to guy in case of emergencies. (okay maybe emergency is a bad word to use, we don't shoot STI's do we?) He shoots open and said i should borrow his shock buffer and try it out, since he does not use it anymore. I did, and went to the range yesterday to try it out. Gun is a Witness Limited, 9mm, with 8lbs Wolff spring. Load is: 134gr LRN. N320/3.5gr. Velocity is a little shy of 1000fps. CBC brass and Magtech SP primers. I must say I'm impressed. Just the thought that my slide no longer batters the frame with every shot makes me sleep a little better at night. The way the buffer cushins the slide makes for a softer recoil. I don't think felt recoil has deminished, but is has become softer. And because the slide is slowed down it actually feels like the action has become "shorter"! I find the gun cycles a little faster and that a percentage of the recoil just fades away. I also tried it with my other load: 125gr lead spitzer with 3.6gr N320 - velocity is a little higher. The difference was greather with the heavier bullet. Do any of you guys use one as well? What do you think about it??

I have loaded around 20.000 rounds on my 650, without the powder check. I never had a squib. I only load 9mm and .38 special on it. When loading the 9 I can se see powder, which is not possible when doing .38 special. At first i was a little nervous by the fact that I was unable to see if there's powder in the case or not. A powder check die is $150 here in Denmark, so i think I will continue living without one!

I voted for Remington, since that was what I used until I started using Magtech. I only use Federal in my revolver loads....

I have a 650 and use an alu roller handle. When I first got the machine´, fatigue started occuring after about 300-400 rounds!With the ball handle I change my grip 4 times for every loaded round. So I got the roller handle af haven't looked back since. I just love it, I can easily load 1000 rounds without getting sore.

Thanks Tom! You're right... I will get the case feeder sometime around, just not now. I did however find an alternative. I bought 2 pieces of plastic tube around the same diameter as the one that comes with the machine. But they are much longer and have a split in the buttom. Each holds 50 9mm cases and 25 .38 specials, for now it works fine I saw another solution I'll try soon. I know a guy who mounted a "case feeder thingy" from a Lee 1000 (i think), you know that little device with 4 tubes... his works like a charm... so i'll copý his design when I get around to it! By the way. A 650 without options is $1000 here, and then comes the dies, toolheads and so on....

I don't have a case feeder... and here's why: I live in Denmark, the most expensive country in the world! By the time the casefeeder reaches Denmark, it is subjected to shipping, import tax (30%) plus what the dealer makes on it... at the end of the day this amounts to $300! And a case feeder ain't worth that, not for a student like me anyways. I'd rather spend that on shooting. And oh yeah... I paid a fortune for my 650... but love it to death!!

I haven't shoot anything else than lead bullet in my Limited the last 3 years. Reloading with cast bullets allows me to shoot 5 times as much for the same amount of money.... so for me the casting and sizing hassle is worth it. I have heard opposing arguments on using cast in polygonal bores. I have never owned another 9mm than my witness so can't really comment on that. however it is my experience that my bore requires harder bullets than conventional bores. Each gun is its own, so you may not have the same issues. What is important is to distinguish between leading and lead fouling. I mean, if you can shoot 400 shots without accuracy degrading then I wouldn't call it leading per say. I use a 130gr LRN bullet with 3.6gr of N320, this gives me a powerfaktor of about 128.

I kinda figured. And yes I bell my brass, but only enough so as the lead bullets don't shear. I will have to make harder bullets and crimp them some more. Thanks for your help!

Why no case feeder?? I'll tell you why... because by the time it reaches denmark it's well over $300! Being a student I can manage to stand up every 20 rounds and fill the tube and use the money saved on primers and powder. But I admit, I would love to have a case feeder... . and probably will buy one some day. I've been thinking about getting some longer plastic tubes, that will probably help a little....

Sorry for the delay, had a busy weekend. It is a 9mm. The COL is 1.140". The bullets are 130gr Round nose and 120gr Spitzer. Both lead and sized to .357. Of course the slide has no effect on ignition, my bad... of course I meant that the slide doesn't close entirely. I increased the crimp on some rounds and tested them yesterday. With the 8lbs spring it cycles perfectly, but with the 6lbs I still get a few that doesn't close properly. Maybe increasing the crimp some more will help this?? No I do not test gage the rounds. However I do remove my barrel from the gun and put the round in. They only need a very fine push to go in completely. Are they supposed to go all the way in by them selves and fall out when turned upside down??

I just installed Hennings long firing pin, 13lbs hammer spring and a lighter recoil spring on my witness limited. Here's what I experienced. Before installing these new parts I used the stock spring, I think it's 5.56kg which would be around 12lbs. I shoot lead bullets and therefore only crimp just enough to make the round chamber so as not to mash the bullet. These light-crimped cartridges are 100% reliable with the heavier spring, but I quickly found out the rounds would not chamber with the 6 and 8 lbs springs. I loaded 100 rounds whiched I crimped some more. I get 100% ignition with the 8lbs spring but with the 6lbs spring only about 50%. And here's where it gets tricky. After adding slideglide to the slide, the lugs, the barrel and the guide rod, the gun started jamming. With the 6 lbs spring I could forget about it, the 8lbs was a little better but still jammed a few shots out of every 10. I removed the slide glide and the 8lbs worked like a charm again. It is the standard slide glide, and the temperature is around 40 degrees. It's a pretty easy fix, I just have to crimp them further... and if I mash the bullets I will just have to make them harder. I would like to know if anybody else have experienced this?? Any tricks or don'ts?? Did I add to much slide glide? Or does it have something to do with my mag springs? Gun is 5 years old and has somewhere between 25.000 and 35.000 shots through it.

Guns, what guns?? I only saw legs and blond hair

+1 for the Speedsec gear. I have been using the holster and mag holders for around 3 years now and they are awesome. In terms of the mag holders I have used Safariland and CR Speed and prefer the Speedsec holders they are adjustable and also easier to adjust. On Hennings website he lists Speedmag pouches, but it says large frame under both of them? I have a small frame... does it not matter or??

Okay, I think I'll go for the speedsec then! What about speedmag pouches, are they any good? I see Henning has these! Can you adjust how tight the mags sit?

There is a site in Denmark that has these for sale. I've been doing a lot of reading and had actually decided to get a Speedsec 5 for my EAA Limited, as Henning says this is the best one. However on the danish site they don't list Tanfoglio as an option when buying this holster, and they call it Speedsec 5CW Holster... is this the same one Henning has? I have not seen the above mentioned Super Ghost Carbon Holster mentioned here. Does this one have the same problems/issues I've been reading the Ghost Holster has?

I know how eye surgery makes your life better etc. So all I'm really looking for is replies regarding improvements on your shooting. I have read the threads on the subject here, but would like some more imputs. I have minus 3.00, which means I can't see s*** without glasses or contacts. I've always hated glasses, and I've come to hate the contacts as well. When I focus really hard they start floating around in my eyes. This means I'm hardly able to test groupings at 25 yards.... everything is pretty blurry. I get 4" groups with my Freedom Arms from a sand bag, which speaks for itself. I have no doubt in my mind that I want this surgery. Unfortunately I have a sty in my one eye, so I assume this has to be gone before they will operate on me. I'm especially interested in hearing more about the "master eye set for front sight and the other set for infinity" thing?? That sounds very cool. But how does it affect every day life when not shooting? I'm very excited about this, and can't wait to see how my sights look afterwards!

Hmmm... never heard this before. Now pardon me for asking, but I assume we are not talking about squibs? If you do not have much experience in shooting lead I can give you a few basics. Make sure to slug your bore so you know its exact size, and size .001 over groove (PM me if you do not know how to slug a gun). For the velocity range you are looking for wheel weights or an alloy of equal hardness of about BHN12 will suffice. Is this commercial cast or your own creation?? Maybe the primers somehow failed to ignite all the powder?

Jacketed bullets have become quite expensive in Denmark the last few years. You can't hardly find any jacketed under .20 a pop, plated are about .10! I'm a student and shoot 3-400 rounds a week on average. So for me this was also quite simple, quit shooting or start casting (and no, shooting less is not an option)! After I started casting I started LOVING casting! I also shoot a lot of revolver, preferably my Freedom Arms Model 83 in .357. I use 180gr bullets for this one. Hornady 180gr XTP now cost 70 CENTS, and a mold is $125 so you do the math! Shooting cast in an automatic can be somewhat of a challenge. When exchanging a jacket bullet with a cast one you throw a lot of variables into the equation, alloy composition, alloy hardness and lube, and then of course there are the usual such as powder, primers etc. But once you've figured out what your gun likes you actually can shoot lead without leading your barrel. Many people don't believe this. The reason for this is that if they once in their lives bought commercial cast and it leaded their barrel thay think lead doesn't work period... this is not true. Commercial cast is usually sized to fit the majority bore sizes, and it is usually very soft. But if you for instance, as I, have a barrel that measures .356 then a .355 or a .356 cast bullet will be to small thus causing gasses to blow by the bullets and melting the sides. You need to size 001" over bore diameter in order to get it to seal properly. And you will need a fairly hard bullet to reach major and in some guns also minor, depends on the gun. I use 3 3-cavity molds simultaniously and put out about 2000 bullets in 4 hours, and I can size 600 bullets per hour. And that is not a lot of work considering that commercial ammo is about $14-16 per 50 rounds and I make the same 50 rounds for $3! Once you have a mold you don't have to worry about your favorite bullet going out of stock or out of production. Oh... and as far as accuracy goes.... lead is just as accurate as jacketed. Lead vs. barrel is a lot let friction than jacketed vs. barrel, so shooting lead doesn't wear the barrel as much as jacketed. Due to the less friction you can push the bullets to equal velocity using less powder. But I can see how smoke from the lube can cause problems in the summer... I only have experience casting for 9mm, .38 special and .357 mag. Many of the rules here also apply to .40 and so on. But really, experimentation is the key!!

Thanks Henning. I'll be filling in an order shortly. I just have to find out if my gun is a large frame or a small frame. I've read here on the forum that you can tell by the length of the magazine, I just can't find the thread now?! It measures 5.11", can anybody recall the numbers of the 2 frames?

I would say it's perfectly safe in a Smith & Wesson. I have tested some .38 Special +P not long ago. These were made with 120gr cast boolits and 6.4gr N320...