bunsen27

Just an FYI I believe that to utilize the JP Low Mass Operating system you needed to use a stock with a full length buffer tube. I'm not sure if you were planing on using one for this rifle or not. It is a great feature of the JP rifles when combined with their muzzle break and adjustable gas block and was one of the principle features that attracted me to JP rifles. YMMV

I just got my first AR-10 as well recently, although more for a LR application than 3gun (24" barrel). 168's & 175's with ~ 42-44gr of Varget are a pretty good load in most AR-10's although your 16" barrel might just be a little too short to realize the potential of the 175's at distance. For a more economical 3gun load I believe many HM shooters are running Hornaday 150gr FMJ's over W748, AA2460, or TAC. All of those are ball powders so they meter well in a Dillon powder measure or other volume type powder measue. Might want to put up a post in the Multi Gun section. I'm sure several of the HM guys would be willing to share their hoser recipes. One thing I can add as far as case prep goes for bolt vs. AR's use a case guage on every round after FL resizing and trimming. Also consider the small base sizer dies.

Sorry for the confusion we went on a tangent about ambi releases for 1911's.

S & A makes a very nice ambi mag release for about $100. the wife used one for years on her springfield 1911. Thanks for the info. I'll have to look into it. It's a little more $$ than I am looking to spend on a mag release, but if the Ed Brown one doesn't work out I may have to go that route.

I run a medium grip on my M&P. I have small hands and swapped the mag release to the "wrong" side before I even put any rounds through the gun. I had previously done this to both of my Sig's also. I activate the button with my middle finger, keeping my trigger finger well away from the trigger. I really like having the mag release on that side of the frame because my grip doesn't change, and I actually think I'm a little faster on the reloads. This year I am shooting SS, but have opted for an Ed Brown extended mag release button on the "correct" side mainly due to the limited options and cost of those limited options.

There are actually quite a few excellent monthly matches in the Raleigh area: USPSA at Sir Walter-1st Sat IDPA at the Range in Oxford-1st & 2nd Sun Fun Match at the Range in Oxford- 3rd Sun USPSA at Range37 - 4th Sat If you have any interest in outlaw 3gun check out the monthly match at DRPC on the 2nd Sat I'm probably forgetting a few others.

Anybody had any range time with one of these yet?

My understanding is that both the PST and Razor line have Japanese glass. The Razor's are assembled in Japan while the PST's are assembled in the Philippines. The reticules offered are significantly different in style also. I believe the Razor has some additional lens coatings and other goodies that contribute the $1k price difference. As for the relative illumination between the two I don't believe the Razor offers an illuminated reticule in the 1-4x (according to Vortex's website). http://www.vortexoptics.com/product/vortex-razor-hd-1-4x24-riflescope-with-cqmr-1-reticle http://www.vortexoptics.com/product/vortex-viper-pst-1-4x24-riflescope-with-tmcq-moa-reticle/reticle

I'm quite new to the long range game myself so my equipment might not be standard. Spotting scope is a 20-50x, rifle scope is a 6-24x. I have no issues* seeing .30cal holes in a 200-300yd target through my 24x scope (*with reasonable lighting). Beyond 300yds I switch over to the spotting scope. Typically I prefer to use Shoot-N-See 8"-12" targets on USPSA cardboard backers at 300+ and 2" Shoot-N-See dots on a cardboard backer for 100yd and 200yd work when doing group work or load development. I'm going to be purchasing some AR500 round steel plates leter this year in 6", 8", 10", and possibly 12".

I concur with the previous posts that the stock DPMS barrel is quite good and perfectly acceptable for most applications. I've had my 24" bull barreled LR-308 for about 3 weeks. I have ~300 rounds through it, and it already has two LR competions under it's belt. I did not do any load development initially (due to time constraints) nor barrel seasoning (I don't believe in the Tooth fairy either). I just used my M1A load of 168gr Nos HPBT over 41.3gr of IMR-4895 at 2.800 OAL. Accuracy was 0.75-1.00MOA. This past weekend I finally had some time and wanted to see exactly how good the rifle could shoot. Here are my load development targets from the local indoor 100yd range: I think my stock DPMS barrel REALLY likes 43.0gr-43.5gr of Varget under a 175gr Nos HPBT. I did upgrade my rifle with a Magpul PRS, JP VTac handguard, JP trigger, JP adjustable gas block, and JP/Benny Cooley Comp. It sports a Vortex Viper PST 6-24x. If you haven't done so already I'd invest in a top quality trigger for your lower. Without that determining your rifles true accuaracy capabilities could be impaired. I prefer JP triggers others prefer Geissele. Both are top quality IMO.

That's what I used for the second part of last year. I am very happy with it. Thanks! Mine arrived yesterday and... I'm not sure what to think. Outer shipping box is pristine, but the *inside* of the scope box looks like it was shaken by a gorilla for a week or two. Scope was loose inside the box, all the little "cut-outs" that should have held the scope in place were bent/battered/torn. I called the vendor to see if this is "normal", they haven't returned the call. I'm reluctant to mount the scope before I know whether or not it is likely to have been damaged in shipping (or a return/refurb?!?) My Viper PST 6-24x FFP showed up that way also 2 weeks ago. Vortex has a 100% lifetime warranty on their products so I figured "why not mount it". I've put ~250 rounds (.308 Win) downrage the past two weeks in range days and tactical long range competitions with NO issues and no shift in zero. Glass is amazingly clear even up to 24x. I also have Vortex Viper binoc's, and two Viper 2-7x scopes with the BDC reticle on my 3gun AR's. My next Vortex purchases are going to be another Viper PST for my M1A and one of their new Viper HS LR for my deer rifle. The past two weekends a lot of folks have looked through my PST and ALL were impressed with the clarity and quality of the product for the pricepoint....even the guys shooting scopes that have the initials NF and S&B. I've been slurping the Vortex koolaide for about 9 months and all my shooting buddies think I'm nutz, but they routinely comment on the quality of my optics. It annoys them greatly when I tell them I paid a fraction of what they did for theirs.

Thank you! I ordered it and the adapter last week through your storefront. They arrived this week and they work great with my Lyman 55.

Your Dillon did not come with an AT500 die. Both the AT 500 and the RL450 powder dies use a setscrew to hold the powder funnel. I honestly don't know what the differences between those two dies are, if any. Your RL550 powder die does not have a setscrew. According to Dillon's literature, you need an RL450 die, PN 20308, and the threaded adapter, PN 20029, to use your Lyman threaded powder measure. I hope this helped. I think it did. I just wasn't sure which powder die the RL550b came with. I was hoping I only needed to spend ~$20 instead of $42. Oh well it should be worth it so I don't have the headache of inconsistent powder charged from extruded powders in my long range rifle loads. Thanks for the clarification and info.

Sorry to bring up an old thread but I want to adapt my Lyman #55 powder measure to my RL550B. I know that I will need the powder measure adapter. Where I am confused it exactly which poweder die I need. Dillon's website states that a RL 450 powder die is required. Is a RL 450 and an AT 500 powder die dimensionally equivelant where the powder measure adapter would attach? I'm assuming the RL550 came with the AT 500 powder die? The RL550B is my first Dillon and I've only had it 2 months so I'm still learning. Thanks in advance.

I have Version II and have enjoyed it so far. I'm planning on picking up Version III soon. It definitely helps with speeding up your calculation skills and establishing a pre-shot routine.

I'll add my vote for a Springfiled Loaded model. The two models I deliberated between were PI9132LPand PX9152LP. Both have adjustable sights and ambi-safeties while only the PX9152LP has a built in magwell. I ended up with the PI9132LP because of a lower price and greater availability at that time. All I've added to it has been a Techwell SP with Mil-Tac G10 grips. I'm very pleased with it's performance so far, but I may have some trigger work done in the future. Hope that helps.

I'll second this reccomendation. I've gotten .223 and .308 once fired, processed, military brass from him and have been extremely pleased.

The Crossfire series is made in China and that is reflected in the price point. Viper and PST series are Japanese glass and assembled in Phillipines IIRC. Razor is Japenese glass and also assembled in Japan. I'm not sure what the details on the Diamondback series are. One other point to mention is that Vortex has OUTSTANDING customer service and a lifetime transferrable product warranty. Great people to deal with if you have any issue because they stand behind their products.

This is the exact scope I've used all year for 3gun. I bought a back up one in September and recently put it on my M1A for a DMR style match. I've had zero issues with it. Glass is good and it holds zero (it takes a beating well). The BDC reticle is thin enough to not completely obscure a 10" target out to about 650yds. The product description on SWFA is messed up. Possibly they have inadvertantly listed some of the new or upgraded features with the discontinued scope. Although Vortex has not updated anything on their website about this scope being discontinued or upgraded. The PST is an excellent scope as well but still not readily available in the marketplace. In another 2-3 months that issue should be corrected. For the money I think it is a fantastic scope for the 3gun game. I've also used it out to 650yds on 10" steel gongs without any issues. Some guys like to spend as much as or more than their rifles value in optics, I'm not one of them. YMMV

I also just got a 550 for Xmas and have experienced similar issues with powder metering and bullet seating. I did a bunch of research on the forums and found out that extruded can be REALLY finicky in the Dillon powder measure especially in a .22 cal case mouth. I avoided the issue entirely by sticking with a ball powder (W748) and it metered flawlessly. Now for my .308's I went with IMR-4895 and had similar issues as you described, even with polishing the internals of the powder metering system. As for the bullet seating issues with the RCBS die I had no issues with my 55gr load, but when I switched to the 69gr Noslers it was a P.I.T.A. to get the die reset properly. As Graham mentioned the RCBS dies is both a seating and crimping die. With the 55gr Hornady's I had a light crimp, but with the 69gr Noslers I had backed the die out 1 full turn and raised up the seating spindle to accommodate the longer bullet. I had to continually adjust the die body in (increase crimp) while simultaneously adjusting the spindle out for OAL. Otherwise when seated to an OAL of 2.260 the bullet would easily get pushed back into the case (loose). Even once I got that sorted out every 2 out of 10 bullets would get the tip sheared off a little while seating. I disassembled the die, put the spindle in an electric drill, took some 600 grit paper to the outside edge and a Q-tip with buffing compound to the inside cone to alleviate the issue. The spindle in my die had a VERY sharp edge to it. I can still shear the tip off if the bullet is severely misaligned and I force it, but otherwise it's fine. Since I will be loading both the 55gr and 69gr loads frequently I will be purchasing a second seating die, most likely a Forster. Hope that helped.

So many matches....so little vacation time. Any idea when match applications may be available?

I've had good success with W748 for both 55gr & 69gr loads. It's a ball powder so it meters quite well in a Dillon. Max loads are 26.3 and 24.5 respectively. I'm still load developing for the 55gr (25.0gr currently), but have dialed in my 69gr load at 23.6gr 18" 1 in 9 twist JP barrel, YMMV

I'm hoping to put one choke on the gun and leave it alone. I wish I could do that as well, but one club I shoot at has VERY heavy steel and they like to put them out past 25yds. I run the LF for there and try to stick with a Mod or LM for everything else. I should mention that I only run one type of shell: 1 1/8oz heavy game loads of either #7.5 or #8. Hence why I swap chokes a bit. Some people that only run one choke will often times carry high brass #4's or #6's and possibly some #4 buckshot for heavy steel or Texas stars. Two different schools of thought, but with similar results.

Just got my 46" Voodoo Tactical Bag from Sportsman's Guide after following this discussion. Am well pleased with it (especially for the price....after coupons it was barely more than $50) - very well thought out design, and I love the extra webbing on the outside that will accept extra MOLLE pouches of your choice. Thanks for the recommend! I can't say enough good things about the 46" Voodoo bag I got from SG a month ago! Tons of storage for accessories and guns. One thing I did add was a couple of SAW mag pouches (http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=556341). I can put extra boxes of shotgun shells in one and my PMAG coupled mags from Springer Precision in the other. So you guys are able to get both your rifle and your shotgun into this Voodoo Tactical bag? If so, does it have two separate sections?...or do you put a pad in between each? It easily accommodates both my AR and Remington 1100 with extended bolt handle and side saddle. Basically it zips/unzips down the center, when fully open you secure each weapon to each half of the bag with Velcro straps, there is a 1/4" - 3/8" divider pad that goes between the two halves of the bag when you zip it closed. In addition to the main rifle compartment the front portion of the bag has 3 large exterior pockets with lots of space for MOLLE gear. Also behind that section is an additional pouch (12"W x 20"L) that has two built in padded pistol pouches. For Stage 1 of the FB3G I had my bag loaded up with: 18" JP-15 w scope 22" Rem 1100 with extended bolt handle and side saddle M&P 9L w/ 5 mags Springer XDM w/ 3 mags four 30 round PMags extra A2 lower receiver ammo: 90 rounds .223, 35 shotgun, 100 rounds 9mm I felt so bad for the guy hoisting my bag up via rope to the second floor for that stage. The bag with safely and securely hold more gear than most people can physically carry.

I routinely shoot slugs through my Modified choke, and on occasion shot a few through a Light Full. I personally would not try to shoot a slug through a Full or X-Full. Do be aware that your POI (point of impact) may change with each choke.