kv501

Mine wasn't quite as bad as a lot of people's, but I had the same thing. What I did was get a Dawson adjustable with the .305 tall front and everything is hunky dory now. They are a little spendy and some people don't like adjustables (some think there is a fragility issue; not my experience), but this works well for me. Another route you could try is to shoot a heavier bullet. I shoot 124's, but I know a 147 loaded to the same power factor shoots a little higher in my gun. It sounds counterintuitive, but a heavier bullet requires more momentum to get moving and will stay in the barrel a little longer during recoil. 23 grains isn't much weight, but it does make a measurable difference in my experience. Let us know what you try and how it works!

Oh man, am I wishing for that. I am looking out my office window right now at 4 below zero, 19 below windchill, and 3+ feet of snow built up since the end of November. All that jazz aside, congratulations on shooting again!

The most accurate .357 load I have ever found to work in my 627 is 3.3 gr of Trail Boss under a Dardas Cast 158 SWC. It feels like a .22, espescially in an N frame, so you won't win any testosterone contests, but with a scope at 50 yards the gun will shoot a ragged 1.5" hole all day. I belive it hovered very close around 760 FPS, which isn't even minor power factor with a 158 gr bullet. On the other end of the spectrum the he next most accurate load I use is a 180 grain XTP, 13.5 gr of H110, loaded to 1.575". This one makes 1410 FPS, is ungodly loud, and has the moost impressive fireball I've ever seen out of a small bore handgun at twilight. I killed a doe and a small buck with it in eastern Iowa this past fall. Very accurate but definitely not for recoil-sensitive people. Those are the 2 I shoot most out of a .357, so I don't have a lot of tried and true data for the middle-of-the-road loads.

I have an XD which sees mostly plinking and an M&P9 L that I shoot production with. Both of them get the same load. I load 124 gr MG JHP over 4.2 grains of TiteGroup, 1.125 with Federal primers and in both guns that load is quite a bit more accurate thatn a longer OAL. It also makes almost identical power factors @ 137 (that is as low as I am willing to go) out of both guns. It is not so much a function of a certain OAL being inherently "accurate;" it is a matter of what is accurate in your gun. I have several loads in several calibers (pistol and rifle) which are deadly in the gun I shoot them out of, but won't group at all when fired in other guns. What I would suggest is: 1. If your gun is sensitive to OAL find a length which will feed reliably, 100% all of the time, no questions asked. In this game you have nothing without reliability. You can be the best shot in the world but if you start tanking stages because your stuff won't run this sport is going to be zero fun. 2. Once you have that established, try different charges until you find the most accurate load (obviously make sure it ejects EVERY time too. Don't take power factor into account until you have done those things. If I have a load that is at 140 power factor, feeds 100%, but only groups 3 inches at 25 vs. a load that shoots 130 PF, won't feed all the time, but groups a half inch at 25, I'm talking the first one for sure. Bottom line is try to get all the preconceived notions (like a longer OAL being more accurate) out of the way before you start. Find one that runs, then narrow it down to the most accurate one that does. My highly amateur opinion is that you are going to gain a whole lot more if your time is spent shooting rather than chasing OAL's and charge weights around .

I have a permanent indentation in the headliner of my Blazer from one of those. For those of you wondering, it was a combination of my brother sleeping (he was wearing the hat) in the passenger seat and me driving a little too fast over some railroad tracks about 8 years ago. He is still pissed.

Brian, mods/contributors: I have been a casual shooter and reloader for a long time but just started shooting in USPSA in March of last year. I want to tell you how invaluable the community you have created with your forums and store is to me and everyone else in the shooting world. I can honestly say without a doubt that I would never have had the guts to go buy a new gun, mags, bullets, timer, blah blah blah (the list goes on and on) without the help and information I have gotten from the forum. No *ss kissing, no bullsh*t, it's the truth. If you would have asked me a year ago if I thought I'd shoot in 14 club matches, 2 sectionals and an Area match in my first year I would have said you were crazy. Without the help I've gotten along the way I wouldn't have. The forum, the people contributing, and the information in it gave me the confidence and knowledge to turn what I thought would be a weekend hobby into a way of life so to speak. I know that sounds way over the top, but when I consider the people I've met traveling to matches, the fun I've had, and the anticipation of someday watching my four year-old get way better at this than me...it means something. There is no other hobby/sport that I know of where there is such a rich source of information and camaraderie as this one. It is rare to find a store (whether brick and mortar or on the web) where the proprietor is out to help you first and sell you something second. It would be easy for you to tell newcomers to the shooting sports to buy all kinds of crap they don't need, only to find out they have wasted their money and so quit. Reading your FAQ's and posts told me first and foremost that I'll never be able to buy an A hit, and that when starting to learn my money would be better spent on bullets rather than gear. I respect that. Along with all that comes the enjoyment I've had getting into this. My son who I mentioned before stands right next to me and runs the timer when I dry fire and practice reloads, and I can see it on his face that he is mesmerized. Not because I'm good, but because he's a part of it. A lot of times when he doesn't know I'm looking I see him in his room dry firing his nerf gun; THAT is what makes this stuff special. It is something I hope he and I will be able to do together until I can't stand up anymore, and I wouldn't have ever started without all this. What you have going here is unbelievable and I just wanted to say thanks.

Yeah and you can wait a year for your items to show up from botach also. Thread drift, but I ordered 7 of them in December and had them on my doorstep in four days (9mm).

Holy buckets. For that price, you could buy 3 more mags from Botach Tactical, a set of Dawson fixed sights (with or without dots/fibers), and the Apex M&P45 action kit which includes their sear, striker block kit, and sear springs. If you want 3 more dots get some lume paint and your done. Wow.

I have the DOH and I will second what G-Man said. That thing definitely pushes the measurement limits. You can measure from the attachment point even without a gun and see that it is extremely close. I would go as far to say that if someone pushed the issue at a match you might get burned (or at least have to remove the offset). Adding the washer like he said is sort of like going 135 power factor; makes you safe without a real detriment.

My M&P9 L has done this since day one. Some people say that theirs also slam charges but sometimes doesn't strip a round off of the mag; I have never had it not strip one. I have tried seating the mag harder, softer, funny angles, etc. and can't get it not to feed. The reason I mention it is because after I became sure that it will always strip another round I started to use it to my advantage by running the gun dry if the situation gave an advantage. I know some people will say I am waiting to get burned (which I can understand). I did make up my mind that if it happens once I'm done.

This thread is the place for all things 9 Minor: http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=89264&st=125 You will find more than enough info to get started and adding to the thread keeps everything in one place.

I load that bullet at 1.125, over 4.2 grains of TiteGroup and it makes 135 power factor out of my M&P9L. 1.200-1.250ish is a very common OAL with that bullet and powder; you will find it listed here quite often. Here is a thread which covers non-Major 9mm loads in depth and you will find a lot of info on the combo you are using. http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=89264 You don't say its purpose or what gun you are shooting it out of, but that 3.8 charge you listed most likely won't make minor if you are shooting production. Is there a reason you want/need to load that short when there are proven loads around 1.200?

Very negligible to me. I carry a fullsize and shoot Production with an L. The main reason is to get the extra barrel length and sight radius. It will obviously put some more weight out front which is also a plus. If you are going to shoot Production or the like, the price difference is very worth it. Get an Apex sear and go to Dawson or Warren for sights if you don't like the factory ones. After that find a 135 PF load it will shoot, don't tweak it, and shoot as much as you can afford.

Thanks for the replies, guys. I ordered a set from Manny Bragg; hopefully he has them in stock. Maybe Eric has some other stuff going on. I know all too well how that goes.

Tried the search earlier and got lots of good info on the grips, but nothing has been posted in quite a long time about ordering, etc. Unless someone else has found something I didn't. Thanks, Nick

Hello-- I was wondering if there is anyone who has recently ordered a set of TruGrip tapes from the Wesselman website. I would like to pick up a set but when I emailed a couple of times to get an estimated delivery time I got no answer. I also see that EricW hasn't posted here in quite some time. I am ready and willing to place the order, but not really until I can tell if things are up and going. Any info you may have would be appreciated. I completely understand if he's busy and has other irons in the fire, I just didn't want to hit the checkout button if things were shut down. Also, If you have recently made a purchase, what was the time from order to arrival? Thanks a bunch, Nick

I am a new shooter who will be shooting his first match on April 18th. I have just about all of the equipment I need except for mag pouches (I have searched and read quite a bit on the forum, but my question is about a specific pouch that I wan't able to find reference to). Here is my question/situation: I have ordered two of these pouches (M&P 9 Pro) from recommedations I have read here. However, looking through the forums more I am seeing that I will be needing at least 4 mags on my belt so I need to order 2 more. At $32 a piece plus shipping, this is a lot of money for me for 2 more pouches, and I found the Millenium Series also by Blade-Tech. I am wondering if anyone here has tried these, and how they work compared to the more expensive standard model. It looks to me like they would work just fine for me (they have Tek Lok just like the more expensive pouches, and they also have adjustable tensioners. If any of you guys or gals have used these before and had good luck I'd like to just cancel my current order and just order 4 of the Millenium Series pouches. Any thoughts are welcome. Also, I'd like to say thanks to everyone and to Brian for hosting a site like this. I am a longtime reloader and pistol shooter but have never competed, and I can honestly say that I would never have been able to prepare myself for practical shooting (as prepared as I can get at this point) without the help and info in these forums. What you guys do here is a great service to new shooters, and I don't think I'd ever have attempted joining USPSA or shooting a match without them. I can see how someone trying to go in cold with no preparation could get overwhelmed and give up. Thanks again, and let me know what you think on the pouches. kv501