Jonathan Taliani
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Posts posted by Jonathan Taliani
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What grain bullets were you shooting? That makes a pretty big difference in POA/POI.
I'm a big proponent of the extended firing pin and lightened firing pin spring. IMO, it never hurts to have a bit of extra insurance.
As to the failure to feed, I'd mark your mags so you can keep track of them. If you notice a pattern of the having the issue with a specific mag, the spring is likely the culprit. CZ factory mags do not have the strongest springs.
Most importantly, Enjoy!!!
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My Shadow has an extended firing pin and ligher FPS too. With the CGW 11.5 mainspring, it will light off any primer I've ever used. With the CGW 8.5, it will run Federal without any issues and I've only had one light strike with anything else.
Either a 13 or 15 should be able to reliably light off anything with deeply seated primers.
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Can the MBF not be mounted on a Dillon RL550B? Thinking of buying this as my 1st reloader....that or an XL650.
It can be done but it requires you to run a combined seater/crimp die. The 550 only has four stations. You'd need to do:
Station 1 - Sizing
Station 2 - Priming/Belling/Powder Charge
Station 3 - Bullet Feeder
Station 4 - Seat/Crimp
If you are definitely getting a bullet feeder, I would go with the 650. It adds a more effective case feeder system, is fully progressive, and allows you to run separate seating and crimping dies due to 5th Station.
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I managed to bevel the top edge of the inner bushings and things finally slipped together. I need to get a longer screw like Malcom suggested, so that I can wiggle them into the frame easier. Thanks guys.
Dawson sells a tool for pulling the bushings into place. As I recall, it goes for $15. Certainly more expensive than just a long screw, but it is quite nice and works perfectly.
Here is a Link
Thanks for the link! I have been looking for that tool.
Glad I could help!
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Open gun? Nah. Could easily install a stubby Cheely shorty racker on it and still fit the IPSC box. Is this gun gonna give an IPSC open gun a run for it's money? No.
Did that grip develop a tumor?
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Yeah, Mike is a very busy guy and unfortunately has a hard time keeping up with orders and return emails/phone calls. He is otherwise great to deal with.
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I managed to bevel the top edge of the inner bushings and things finally slipped together. I need to get a longer screw like Malcom suggested, so that I can wiggle them into the frame easier. Thanks guys.
Dawson sells a tool for pulling the bushings into place. As I recall, it goes for $15. Certainly more expensive than just a long screw, but it is quite nice and works perfectly.
Here is a Link
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Hey Jonathan, I'm waiting for a left handed version to come but did get to play with a right handed one. Anyway I agree the machining is rough, little fuzzy plastic things everywhere. If you haven't, take an old toothbrush and go over it. I keep a couple around for gun cleaning anyway. The plastic fuzz will come right off.
Thanks for the tip. I was able to get the majority of it cleaned up with just a dry patch and rubbing it. That's why it was tougher to accomodate that pic request. I'm not sure why they don't clean it off before assembly. This was one of the lesser issues, but for the price of the holster, I would anticipate it would already be done. Definitely not a deal breaker though.
In my opinion the screws that mount the holster coming from the inside to the outside is a vast improvement over the Ghost. You can easily mount it to any thickness belt then easily trim the extra screw. The screws in the Ghost going from outside in aren't near as easy to work on and also have to be trimmed or they'll ruin your shirts. These are going to be much easier to cut to the required length.
I agree that I too would prefer to have this option over the Ghost, but I would prefer even more just to have the DAA belt attachment. No issue with screw protrusion and the inner/outer belt gets a much more secure hold with the skinnier thickness metal uprights.
The lock is, again IMO, an improvement over the Ghost, at least for drawing. The ball coming up/out when you draw gets it completely clear of the trigger guard unlike the Ghost where you have to draw "through" the ball which always causes a bit of a hitch, at least with my steel SV grip. Again, I don't have mine on my belt but it's very noticeably smoother than the Ghost.
I couldn't agree more all the way around on the trigger. This is IMO one of the best parts of the holster. I do not care for the Ghost trigger/locking system at all. I like the DAA lock, but prefer the 3 position settings on this holster. I think you are also correct that the up and out motion of the ball is probably what caused me to perceive the draw as smoother than the Ghost. It really is kind of a hybrid between the Ghost and DAA. The ball of the Ghost with the motion of the DAA.
I'm interested in the "ton of play" you mentioned. I'm looking forward to comparing that to my Ghost. There does seem to be more right/left rocking than the Ghost but much less muzzle up/down and the magnets seem to almost eliminate that.
Granted, I'm going from a sample of one with each of these holsters, so there is the possibility of holster machining or grip variance. That being said, I have never experienced this kind of left/right play. If anything, my aluminum grip is slightly wide (it hangs up in the Ghost holster) but I can still fully rock it left/right. Fortunately, the magnets seem to help in this area too. It holds it a little more snugly so I don't perceive the rocking when I am moving (just around the house) or when I draw. The magnets absolutely help with the front/back over the Ghost. That was the biggest turn-off/deal breaker with the Ghost for me though.
Dust cover wear is one of my concerns too. Maybe your bottom magnet not touching is the way it's supposed to be?
It's not the end of the world as my competition guns will inevitably get wear anyways, but why accelerate it if not necessary. I'm not sure on that one. Absent the wear aspects, I would prefer that the bottom magnet did contact as there is a noticeable difference in hold. It still has magnetic pull but not as pronounced as the top one. I think part of the issue may be the free rolling of my top magnet. It has more resistance in spinning than the bottom magnet. If I decide to keep it, I'm going to disassemble to see if there is a burr or possibly plastic shaving obstruction. I'll probably throw some lube in there too.
Replies in green within quote.
Thanks for all the feedback everyone. I hope that I'm helping those on the fence make a decision without unjustly swaying them one way or another.
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Nice handiwork as always!!!
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Thanks brother...That's awesome so far...have you decided if you will keep it or on to something else? Do you feel the Pros outweigh the Cons? Thanks
I'm still torn. I plan to make a final decision tonight. I didn't get to play around with it at all last night. For me, the con presently weighing most heavily is the adjustability due to the offset. The screws and other sharp items, while disappointing, can be fairly easily remedied. If I do decide not to keep it, I'm going back to the Race Master. I'll let you know what route I decide to go.
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Unless it was old stock, I have purchased large quantities of newer CCI, Win, and Fed primers over the last several years. No such issues with any of them. I have never compared them to 15 year old primers though since I've only been reloading/shooting for about 7 years.
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I like the rubber grips as they fit my hand really well, but I am considering the aluminum so I can put grip tape on where needed, but I just find the thin grips just aren't enough as I find my support had doesn't even contact the grip much which makes my grip on the gun unstable. I haven't tried the thick aluminum ones and am hoping that maybe they might fit the bill. I have yet to see VZ grips in person, and the Hogue aluminum ones look really nice and they appear to follow the factory grip profile which might also be with checking out. Thanks for the input guys!
IMO the VZs are the best looking and feeling of the bunch. I like the Tactical Diamonds and I LOVE the Diamondbacks. Either option provides superior aggressiveness to aluminum and grip tape (and I typically prefer grip tape on my other pistols).
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That sounds like a great plan. That's more or less the same thing I do but with a 1050/650 combo. It's still nice having a non-1050 for quick easy change-overs of less frequently shot calibers. For creating large quantities of high quality ammo, though, the 1050 rocks!
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Yeah, it would be awesome if it could be pulled off. If you don't have a 1050 yet and are on the fence, it is still an excellent press even without this capability. Originally bought it primarily for rifle and ended up getting so spoiled that I do virtually all of my pistol loading on it now too. It's extremely smooth and priming on the downstroke is AMAZING!
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I don't think anyone has pulled this off. The norm is to have two seperate tool heads. The RT1200 is too big.
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Another view of the hardware/attachments:
I should have put red paper under this pic so it was easier to see, but this shows the gap between the gun and front magnetic. The gun is as far down as it will go:
These next two try to illustrate the amount of left/right play within the holster. The gun is fully seated in both, this is just pushing it first all the way to the right and then all the way to the left. You can see the trigger in the second pic, but again, this is not lifted out at all:
This shows the reversed offset that I mentioned, basically just turning the brackets over to have the holster in front instead of behind:
Sorry these aren't better quality. Hopefully it will still provide a bit more clarification. Since the highlighted/requested pics were of the cons (understandly so) I want to emphasis that I am not trying to rip this holster apart. Overall, I think it seems like a very nice holster, but I wanted to try and give an unbias review of the pros and cons.
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Good morning all!
I did my best to try and capture all of the requested pics. They are not the highest quality as my camera does not do well without a lot of light and it was completely overcast yesterday. Also, some of the areas are difficult to capture in pics. I'll have to split this into 2 posts.
This first pic illustrates the top of the trigger guard area. You can see a line going around the perimeter from the cut. You can't tell from the pic, but this is pretty pronounced and quite sharp:
The next pic shows a very bad example of the plastic shavings I referred to. If you look in the lettering you can see a small amount of what's left in there. This was attached to every cut and loosely stuck in all of the fitting/hardware:
In these pics you can see some of the many threads that stick out and also see how cramped it gets to meet the 2" requirement if you reverse the offset (my doing, not theirs, but I needed to as discussed above):
This pic was very hard to capture well, but it tries to show the rub marks on the dustcover:
This is the amount of forward travel the holster will allow with the gun completely seated (as mentioned, the magnet does help to keep it from coming forward like the Ghost):
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har har har!
i had a 650. sold it and bout a 1050. got it in 45 and bought a 223 conversion etc etc.
switching it over from 45 to 223 was not too bad. now that i have done it once it will be much easier....BUT
last night i picked up one in 45. so now i got one for 223 set up and one for 45! oh my!
Congrats on the RL snag! I have always heard that the RLs have a shorter smoother stroke, but I have never seen side by side pics before. The toolhead on the RL is much lower. It's a more dramatic difference than I thought.
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My opinion is that it is not worth getting a CGM if that is the only reason you are looking to upgrade. I'm not sure if Charlie still offers it, but previously he would put the pre-travel screw in his Classic kit for $5-10. I can't honestly say that I perceive much benefit from the minor reduction in pre-travel that my trigger allowed. That being said, I'd rather have it than not.
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Can you provide any photos?
Do you have anything specific you are looking for? There are several pics and a video in the other thread, though I'd be happy to take some more if you'd like.
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The fit and finish is atrocious. It looks like a 7th grader put it together from scrap parts and forgot to sand anything down. I really can't believe they would send anything out in this condition. If it works great I suppose I can finish it myself, but goodness - what a disappointment.
I too was completely taken back by this. In the pictures, I thought it was not a very good looking holster, but that isn't the real issue. In person I think it is better looking (by far) but you can see all of the real problems. Mine had plastic shavings around every cut and fitting. The edges of the plastic cuts, particularly around the top of the holster body (where the rear of the trigger guard sits), are in desperate need of a good sanding. There is a sharp ridge along this entire section. Another issue was raised in the other thread. There are screw threads sticking out all over the place. I've already scratched the heck out of myself. My unit also already has a number of small scratches and dings. Overall, these aspects where a pretty big let down. Like you said, I'm still going to give it a fair shake as a holster, but it is disappointing to know that I will have to do a LOT of cleanup work myself if I keep it (not just for appearance but primarily to keep from getting cut up).
I'll go ahead and add my preliminary review of this holster. This will be updated after I spend a little more time with it. At this point, I have mounted it on a belt and done around 40 minutes of drawing practice with it. This is a free flow of observations and not in any particular order. As always, this is just my opinions and experience, yours may differ.
Pros:
~ Very smooth release/draw (It is similar to the Ghost retention/draw but actually feels more clean and smooth to me)
~ Solid retention (Unlocked - not as secure as DAA RM in my opinion but better than the others, Locked - as secure as any other)
~ Loose trigger guard tolerances (This is will in both pro and con - the pro is that it allows much greater variance in grips: custom cuts, metal grips, STI/SVI, etc)
~ Great locking system (I actually sligthly prefer the "trigger" over the DAA RM. It is wide and smooth making it very easy to slide your finger across. I also like having 3 positions - Up/Unlocked, Down/Locked but out of the way and can't be snagged, Half-way/Locked but ready for relese by swiping your middle finger like the DAA)
~ Extremely easy to reholster (Can go straight down, front to back/down, etc. The magnets help to suck it back into place)
~ More draw flexibility than the DAA RM (Same as reholstering, it is more forgiving of different strokes)
~ Magnets really are just plain neat!
Cons:
~ FIT AND FINISH (as noted above - cosmetic and function)
~ Loose trigger guard tolerances (The gun has a TON of play - left to right and muzzle front to back. I can completely wobble the pistol left/right more than any other holster I've ever tried. The muzzle front/back is better and more secure than the Ghost because it is assisted by the magnets, otherwise the travel is about the same as the Ghost)
~ Lower magnet doesn't contact my dustcover which reduces its function (Not sure if this is by design or an issue with mine but it would be nice to have a bit more hold)
~ Almost certainly will wear the dustcover (Even after the minor amount of draw practice, I can already see rub marks on my STI LDC. Again, this might just be an issue with mine)
~ Holster/Belt attachment offset (This is turning out to be a big con for me. I am pretty thin through my abdominal area which leaves my hip bones without a lot of padding. Normally this is not an issue as I just adjust the belt attachment to right behind my Iliac Crest [upper front of the hip bone - the part that sticks out]. Unfortunately for me, this places the holster much farther back than I like due to the offset. Going from Diehli's idea, I switched the direction of the offset [instead of the holster body sitting rear of the belt attachment, it now sits in front]. This largely eliminated this issue but not puts the holster closer to all of the hangers/attachments and their sharp protrusions. This would not likely be an issue for those with more cushioning or who prefer a different holster location)
~ Even more expensive than the already not cheap DAA RM if you add the $25 thigh pad (Don't get me wrong, I have zero issue paying for quality)
I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot of variables. If you have any specific questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
At this point, I have very mixed feelings. There are parts about this holster that I like a lot, but then there are things that I'm not sure I'll be able to get past. I'm already left wishing I could take aspects of this holster and my Race Master and put them together.
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can you elaborate on your statement " .... my trigger only let me take out very little Pre-travel"? I thought Sarge said his was production legal as well ...? Is there variance in how much pre-travel you can take out with individual guns based on manufacturing tolerances?
You are correct. Both Sarge and I ran/run the Classic Grand Master trigger and we both agree that it is legal. The only part I was saying differed was the amount of pretravel reduction we were legally able to do. Sarge said "It will adjust a long way before the trigger tab starts catching". With mine, I did not have a lot of trigger travel to adjust without interfering with the safety (ie I could do some adjustment and stay legal, but not much). As to variance, I don't know if it is that or a difference in subjective view of how much travel is being removed. Either way, I wouldn't get hung up on it. As I mentioned above, this really isn't the selling point of the Classic GM over the Classic. The adjustment is easy to do and takes less than 5 minutes.
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In his typical feat of shipping magic, Manny teleported my new holster into my mail box today! I only had 5 minutes to check it out. I'll post an initial review later.
I will say at the outset, while not as aesthetically pleasing as the Race Master IMO, it looks MUCH better in person than in the pics.
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Just checked and DR7 no longer works but DSR is still up and running.