Braxton1

We had this happening so often that I decided to go the scientific route and break out the chronograph: Out of a Glock 22, a 9mm 147 gr. Hydra-Shok exits at around 350 fps. A 357 SIG round will come out of the same G-22 at approximately 500 fps. Of course, accuracy is no better than "broad side of a barn" at greater than 5 yards. Newton's First Law will give you a hit at very short distances. The real problem comes in during this scenario (This REALLY happened): A cop picks up a box of 9mm Hydra-Shok from the back of the training van. Loads all three mags of his G-22 and goes on his way. Luckily, he doesn't have to fire his gun in anger for the entire 4 months between qualifications. When he comes out to qualify, we tell him "Burn up your old ammo". He starts the course and has a Failure to Fire. When he does a "Tap, Rack, Bang", the old unfired round was not ejected. Somehow the extractor missed it. The new round pushes the chambered round down the barrel. The new round fires and the obstructed barrel now has a nice ring in it, ruining the barrel. The gun locked open and we couldn't get the slide forward without a hammer. After I got it unloaded and safe, I saw what the problem was. Nobody was hurt, but the barrel was a write-off.

That may be it, because my crimp is just a hair over .420. Thanks all for the responses. I reckon it's back to WSF. I wasn't sold on TG anyway. I bought some to try in 9Production with 147s and didn't really like it there, so I figured I would burn it up in 40. Sounds like a bad move on my part.

I have had the occasional sideways bullet strike lately, and not just at long range. Had one the other night within 5 yards. This is a very new development, as the G-35 usually shoots great groups. The only things that I have recently changed are: EGW U-die and Tight Group powder. The bullets are Ranier 180 FMJRN bullets. My first suspect item was possibly too tight of a taper crimp. Pulled a bullet and the jacket isn't cut. I don't really suspect the powder load. They make Major and it's a popular loading amount. Not to cast aspersions on the popular EGW die, but is there a chance that the brass is now so tight that the bullet is being re-sized undersize as I am seating it? I am gonna pull the U-die out and load a couple hundred with the Dillon original and see what happens.

I went to N-310 for my 147 grain Production loads (3.1 grains). I LOVE the way that it feels, but I started dropping some shots. Most of them were hitting high and going over the shoulder of the target. I have read somewhere on here that one of the GMs had the same issue, hypothesizing that the gun was actually un-locking before the bullet exited the barrel. I was shooting a "standards" course the other day with that load and was dialed in on the center of the lower A-Zone and shooting relatively slow (going for accuracy, as others had thrown a bunch of misses on the stage). All the rounds hit in a nice group, but in the upper A-Zone and B-zone. I haven't had any pressure issues in my gun, but a buddy shot some of these loads and had a case head separation. I am gonna burn up the 500 that I have loaded in practice and am going back to WSF.

I was having problems with my new RF-100. WSPM primers would get stuck under the stabilizer plate in the last inch before dropping into the tube. It appeared that the anvils were sticking against the small bump on the bottom of the "A" stabilizer plate. I carefully removed that bump, but that only led to flipped primers (I'd get 2-3 upside-down per 100). I called Dillon and told them what happened. They sent me a new plate. I put it in and it did the same sticking thing. Knowing that not having the bump at all was causing flipped primers and having the bump was catching the primers, I decided to try a "mid-range fix". I took a target paster and stuck it to the bottom of the stabilizer plate, just enough to lift the plate approximately .010 inch. I cut out a hole in the paster for the screw, trimmed off the excess, and re-attached it. The thickness of the paster was enough to lift the stabilizer and allow the anvils to clear. The machine will now perfectly load a 100 primer tube in 35-40 seconds, consistently. I thought about switching to the "B" stabilizer. That may work, but what I made by grinding off the bump was essentially a "B" stabilizer, so I don't know if I would have still had the flipping problem.

I went to clean the comp in my SuperComp gun last week. There was the expected amount of carbon buildup, but no lead (I only shoot 121 Grain HPs in this gun; no exposed lead on the base). What caught me really off guard was the amount of copper that was brazed inside the first comp chamber. Anybody ever seen that before? I checked the obvious (no bullets striking the sides of the exit hole). I am using 4756 powder at a 169 pf.

Just a note to tell you that I found something that I've never seen before: I was culling out brass the other day and a novice reloader was with me. I found a few CCI Blazer aluminum cases in with my brass, so I thought "What a great time to show him the difference between Boxer primers and Berdans". Imagine my surprise when I saw a conventional flash hole in the case, as opposed to the old in-case anvil of the old cases. Apparently, CCI is using Boxer primers in their new cases. I still wouldn't reload 'em, as the aluminum probably wouldn't re-size correctly, but at least we won't break decapping pins if one accidently sneaks into the casefeeder.

For those of you using the VV-310: What amount for a 147 JHP? I read 3.1 somewhere. I loaded 10 of 'em and they felt a little bit snappy. Maybe the pressure curve was different and I need to go back to a heavier spring, but I just wanted to check with y'all. Somebody gave me 4 lbs. of it, so I want to use it somewhere (I don't load 25ACP, so the loading manual is worthless...)

The problem with super light loads is that you run into the risk of detonation because of excessive air-space in the case. Cowboy shooters had a LOT of problems with it in the past, blowing up 45 Long Colts with regularity. Another problem that could arise is very inconsistent loads. The loading density (again a measure of powder volume versus case volume) will be very low, which can lead to horrible accuracy. On "Outer Limits", you can't afford any accuracy problems. On the competitive side, the reason I would not use 220s is because at Steel Load velocities, they are going so slow that you won't hear the "dings" quick enough. (BANG, pause, pause, pause, clunk)

The issue with a full wrap-around mag well on a single-stack is the lip on the front of almost everybody's basepads. If you were to make a magwell that was like the "Ice", it would not allow the mag to seat fully. That lip would hit the magwell and stop it. Removing the lip wouldn't be an option, as there would be absolutely nothing to prevent over-insertion. (The taper at the top of a the hi-cap, double-stack mags keeps this from happening in them.)

I have been running LS strikers since the first generation of 'em. (The ones that were "natural" titanium without the nitride coating) I have only broken one, and it was a first generation. Extractors breaking are a relative rarity now. There was a time when they broke all the time, especially in the 40 cal guns. The extractors had no bottom bevel on them and as the round cammed under it during the feeding cycle, it was putting a lot of stress on the bottom of the claw. Glock changed the design in '96 (?) and put a 5-degree slant into the face of the claw and the problem all but disappeared.

I found out the difference: The Speer nickel cases that were LARGE primed are headstamped 45 GLOCK. The correct, SMALL primed cases are marked 45 G.A.P.

Recently started loading for the GAP. Learned a couple of things. My load is 5.1 WSF behind a 230 FMJ, loaded to 1.155. This works in my G-37 and makes about a 165 PF. I will probably bump it up to 5.3 in the future. The biggest surprise has been with primers. All load data says that the GAP uses a Small Pistol primer. For almost all of my cases, that is true, but I have a few Speer cases that have a LARGE primer pocket. They are nickel-plated cases. Now for the weird part: Not ALL of the nickel-plated Speer cases are Large. Most of them are small pockets.

Well....the "air in FRONT of the bullet" theory explains something: I have always wondered why some of my bullets go low on the targets. That little puff of air hitting the comp must force the nose of the gun down. I feel much better now. My ego can recover. I always thought it was me. One of these days, I will pontificate on my theory of why the coriolis effect hurts my shooting more than most people's.... Bruce Braxton Senior Instructor College Park (GA) Police Dept. "Those who live by the sword....are probably pretty f***ing good at it" - me

Marty Liggins is no longer at AA. I looked for him at the SHOT Show and they said he was gone. The way it was explained to me in the late 80s was that AA7 is basically AA5 with a thicker coat of burn inhibitors. Some of the powder grains are more like dust, but they get a coating of inhibitor anyway. There is not enough powder-to-inhibitor ratio to enable it to burn, so it just sits in the barrel, waiting for the next bullet to scrape it along the barrel at 1450 fps. I can't vouch for the scientific accuracy of this statement, but I have noticed ugly scratched up barrels that were shot with AA7, namely 3 of mine. Once I switched to 540, 4756, 7625, and V-V powders, I haven't seen this particular malady.