Croomrider

There are two things to consider on Max OAL. One is the chamber of your barrel, and the other is what your magazines will accept. Use which ever one is shortest minus maybe .010 and start with that. Once you start testing loads you can then verify that your pistol will actually feed them reliably. With all of that considered, yes, I would load as long as you can and don't worry that the loading manuals may list a shorter OAL. You should not have any problem making your desired power factor with WSF and staying at a very reasonable pressure. Let the fun begin! Mike

Try it, I used to shoot cast lead wheel weights out of a 44 mag at 1400 fps, and had no problems. Mike

$72.59

It's gone now!

Very nice shooting. And that is why some people NEED accurate pistols! Mike

Just bump it up until you get the velocity you need. If your barrel is not getting the velocity, it is most likely not making the pressure either. Are you getting any signs of excess pressure? Mike

$100.50 each

Who built the gun? Do you have any recourse to get them to fix it? It is definitely not right, whether it will work or not. Mike

Will the magazines hold cartridges loaded to an OAL of 1.18? Is this a Shadow? Mike

They are behind on pretty much everything, but will take back orders. I have had some 40-170's on order since January 31st. They originally said 6 weeks. When six weeks rolled around I emailed and they said they would be getting back on those 4/22. That week rolled around and the date was pushed out to 5/13. I have a feeling they make all of the orders for a particular bullet and then move on to another one. At least I feel like I am getting close to getting a bunch of bullets! Mike

1 lb containers in stock. Mike

It will depend a little on which division you enter. If you enter the "Limited" division you might be able to get by with 2 mags, just barely, but you would really need 3 to be comfortable. That is a good division to start in to get used to the game but a G-34 would be at a little bit of a disadvantage in that division. You will probably want to end up shooting the "Production" division with your G-34. However, in that division you are limited to loading 10 rounds in your magazines, so you would really need 4 mags minimum for that division. Five would be better. Mike

Do not get the feeling you are too young. You are at a perfect age to start. Most older people wish they had started younger. We have several junior shooters in our club that regularly win matches against all of the adults. One young man who I believe is 17 now, just earned his "GM" classification in the production division. He started shooting several years ago. Another young man who is 14 just earned his "A" classification in production, and is a very tough competitor. Safe gun handling is not a problem for any of these junior shooters. Just like everyone else, they have to be coached and watched, but age, certainly by 14 is not a handicap for learning to handle a gun in a safe manner. In fact, it's probably much easier, because you won't have had years and years to develop bad habits. Good luck, and get ye to a range to start the journey! Mike

You shouldn't have any problem. I have used up to 5.5 grains of it with Precision 170's loaded to 1.160, and got a PF of 172. Guys use it to make major with pretty much all of the various bullet weights in 40, especially when loaded long. Just start low and work up using a chrono, you shouldn't have any problem. It's certainly much better than Clays, which some people use to make major as well. Mike

If the barrel is clean and oiled when you start a chrono session, I would burn a few shots through it before you start recording velocities. That can definitely have an effect. Chances are you will not go to chrono at a big match with a completely clean and oiled barrel. Mike

Was the barrel clean/oiled when you fired the first shot?

I think I would have a better chance of doing it with a red dot than with my irons. Might could have done it with irons 30 years ago. If I actually had to do it more often, I would probably do more to verify that my gun and ammo worked at that distance. We did have 2 large poppers at 50 yards at Area-6 and it took me 4 shots to knock them down. The wind can have an effect at that distance as well! Mike

I have done something similar to what you are trying to do and it worked fine. To plug the old gas port, just drill & tap 10-32 or something similar, but do not break through into the barrel which would open the hole in the barrel. Run an appropriate set screw in with red locktite and grind flush if desired. You can then locate the gas port where ever you want. I even made my own gas tube out of some thick walled SS tubing. I then experimented with the size of the port hole into the barrel to get the action to function smoothly without being violent. This is not rocket science and there are plenty of combinations that will work just fine. As a machinist, just go with your gut and don't let the part swappers tell you it won't work! Mike

Back your load off a little and try them. It's possible you could have problems setting them off in a pistol if the firing pin force is not strong enough. Mike

If the N350 will work for jacketed, it can't hurt to try it with lead. Personally, if I was in your situation I would try anything that might let me shoot. Sure some powders work better than others, but I would use practically anything that would work, if it was all I could get. Mike

It will definitely work. It is not a preferred powder by most people loading 40 for USPSA because it's a little slower on the burning rate scale and is best suited to max loads as for defense or hunting type purposes. The negatives will be a bigger muzzle blast/fireball, and more noise and perceived recoil. I doubt it will be anything you can't work with in these times where powder is not easy to find. I do not have any load information for it, but I'm sure you can get some by looking around. When the powder supply loosens up some, you may want to look at some of the faster powders such as VV-N320, WST, Tightgroup, Solo-1000, and some others, which may not have some of the downsides of PP! Mike

You can use the SRP in pistol, but it is NOT recommended to use SPP in rifle. Mike

You had better be careful using Clays in 9mm loads. 9mm in minor is not much different than 40 in major. I don't hear of very many people using Clays in 9mm, and haven't seen many published loads for it. I'm sure there are probably some doing it, but be extremely careful, especially with heavier bullets! Mike

4 lb containers $114.59! Mike

115gr bullets at about 1000 fps may be too low of a pressure with that powder, to make it burn consistently. Get your PF up to about 130 and then see what consistency you can get. Average about 5-10 throws to determine your charge, and by all means, don't make adjustments in the middle of a run! Mike