tgford58

I have no doubt that you will make your goals. Just stay in the habit of practicing and pushing. Get yourself to some matches and shoot. Take it from me you need to keep up your practice schedule. I got lazy over the last month and hadn't practiced live or dry fire for 4 weeks. Got my butt handed to me at a major. Ran a Mike on almost every stage. Keep posting your progress, I like reading how you are doing.

Well here's the report out on the EGW U die. I readjusted the die with the locking ring on the underside and have it set 1/8 turn short of touching the shell plate. After 2500 rounds the only rejects have been 5 for a ding in the case mouth where the case feeder didn't push the case all the way back. Typically we would have had 50 - 75 rejects on this many rounds loaded. Yes, it is a bit stiffer to load but with the blast of one shot not so much as to cause any problems. Going to run another 1000 or so tonight and expect the same results. $29 dollars and my problems are solved.

I think you got your answer. Clean the cases not the pockets. But clean the cases.

Man!!! if you are shooting B already after 2 months you should make GM by next year. Good job, just make sure you keep your expectations realistic. I had my M in another discipline and the transfer over to USPSA has been interesting. I have no illusions of getting back an M anytime soon but at my age it comes down to good stage administration more than accuracy. I've seen a few younger guys that fight through some difficult times (heck, I've wanted to sell my guns a time or two) and end up leaving the sport. You are in the best position possible to climb the ladder quickly, young and driven counts for allot. just keep plugging and working = but most of all keep liking what you do - regardless of classification.

I juist invested in the E.A.R. brand in ear - both electronic and passive (sonic vavle) plugs. The molds are in and the hearing protection is being made. I'll let you know when I get them. The electronic are about $1000 a set but the passive are $150 - more than reasonable.

I load to 1.270. I've run over 20k rounds this year and never had any idication of over pressure. Split case, flat primers, excessive stretch - nothing. They chrono at 775 - 785 fps for a 175pf.

Good idea on the locknut. In use a case gage because they are machined at minimum spec. We shoot 4 different .45 depending on SS or L10 so it's best to know our reloads will fit them all.

Great ideas, sure beats the heck out of cutting shims. You know I may have to lube cases a bit for her. With the two dies I'm afraid her right arm may start looking like Popeye. Heck of a story on anniversaries. Ours was August 1st - spent it at a club match. Damn I have the perfect woman.

I run Clays at 4.6 grains under a Precision Delta 230 FMJRN. I like the powder allot. I have runs some Universal and found it much dirtier and problematic getting major without pressure indications. I've settled on Clays for .45 and .40 though little data exists for the .40. I don't know where you are located but we seem to have an adequate quantity of 8# Clays in Indiana.

As a note to others loading .45. I installed an EGW U die in the second stage of my Dillon 650 to address and issue I was having with bulged bottoms on some cases. What I had found is that out of 100 rounds loaded I was getting 5 - 10% that were not fitting my case gage. Most all shot in practice but I won't use them in competition. After investigating roll sizing and reading othere issues on this site, I followed the suggestion to buy the U die to work the bottom of the case better. There was some problem in istallation, the die was not quite long enough to reach the shell plate and still have the locking nut make contact with the threads. I have it spaced up maybe 3/4 of a turn higher than I would normally - a problem I am going to fix by shimming under the nut as it is loose on the die and screwing it tight to the bottom. First 500 rounds through the press - even with this less tha ideal set-up - I had no rounds not fit the gage except for 2 that has small wrinkles in the case mouth. The handle works a bit harder but not so much as to make it uncomfortable for either me or my wife. I still think roll sizing is a good option and will probably send my brass out and have it all sized and sorted. But for day to day operation, especially with range brass - this seems to work real well.

Sorta looks like you found a smith. Matts one of the best is what I hear. He's going to build my wides limited gun. But damn! Detroit?

Colt Special Combat .45. Chip McCormick Power mag plus. My wife runs the same mags in a Kimber Team Match II. I have the added benefit of being able to run the same gun SS so it is a matter of stage management to switch.

I have the same problem with 40 and 45. I called Dillon and was told that new or very clean brass will leave deposits on the expander and cause the drag. Mine got so bad at times that I could barely get the handle back up. On their suggestion I took the die out and polished it with 600 grit sandpaper to remove the brass deposits then sprayed the piece with dry moly spray that I bought through Brownells. Problem solved. I have to redo this from time to time but my 650 sees a lot of volume. We run 5 - 10,000 rounds per month and have to repolish and retreat about every 4 - 6 weeks.

For my money it is Gary Natale at Gans Guns. He did a Custom Limited gun for me that runs like a dream and looks great. Plus the turn around time was phenominal.

Thank God she has a sense of humor. The cigarette on the bench - makes me cringe. I keep a fire extinguisher handy but I ain't going to complain. We run 3 - 5000 rounds per week through that press and she does well over half.

As a question on this thread. Doesn't the USPSA have provisions to alter classifications upward if a shooter finishes above their class in a majot shoot? I guess I have heard of this happening but it must not happen often if the sandbagging claim is thrown around so much. If it was a person may get away with sandbagging once - the gun grab - but it wouldn't happen twice. From my personal experience at least with the people I shoot with, there are great shooters - high A - that seem to have some type of brain fart when it comes to classifiers. I know this isn't intentional since I know how badly they want the M on their card. For my money, I would live to see more special classifier matches, especially at the end of the year. Perhaps those of us that are trying hard to improve over the year could get a chance to climb the classification system.

So Wik, have you joined USPSA yet? Shot any club matches. I've been watching your posts with some interest. I just don't see where you are putting much of your practice into practical application.

I agree with Gman when a swinger presents itself and you can catch it at the bottom of the arc as it transitions back the other way. The only successful way I have found for hidden swinger - and I am sure there are better methods - by hidden swingers I mean the ones that are behind barrels and only present themselves at the top of their arc - is to pick my aim point where it will intercept the target on the leading edge. I time my trigger pull to start when I first see the target in my sight picture. I adjust that further onto the target if it happens to be a slow swinger. Between the lag time for reaction time and the relative speed of the swinger I get on target hits. I won't say always A zone but A - C hits.

OK. I have written in another forum how perfect my wife is. Just want to offer up a little more proof. Eat your hearts out guys.

Well the forum is "things I like". But you're right I love her to death. She is the best friend I've ever had. And she loves to shoot!

What I like the most is having a supportive wife that cajoled me into returning to competitive shooting after a 15+ year lay-off. Shooting was always a first love for me, the time spent on the range trying to perfect my abilities. How many women, especially non-shooters would accept the expense and the time. And to top it off allow the 20 truckloads of dirt to be drug across her lawn to build a big boy payground. Not only that but take up the same sport and spend almost every waking hour shooting. Well I have a new first love but now I get to share my old first love with her. So I like my wife and all she has given and done.

I always take the opportunity to trumpet the .45. Don't get me wrong, I own and enjoy my .40s also-the .45 are just a personal choice. From a handling standpoint, I can't tell a nickels worth of difference between the recoil of the .45 and .40 if they are loaded to about the same PF. I can't speak to reliability, I have new guns gone over by a good pistolsmith prior to fielding and other than finding mags and loads that work well there are no issues - this applies to both. Reload cost is about identical, component costs are the same with brass being the swing vote - .45 can be a bit harder to find once fired. In the end, buy the pistol that makes you like - I bet you'll form an opinion pretty quick.

I don't know how many people signed up so far but I do know that the shooters should have a great time. I talked to Repete this past weekend and he and his dad have some great stages designed with unique starting positions.

Wat cool. Welcome aboard. I'm new this year too. I only have one piece of advise and that is to go slow. The quickest way to get on the outside is to make some safety mistakes and you are bound to make a few. Make sure that you tell them when you sign up that you are new to USPSA and they will have someone walk you through the whole thing. It has been a phenominal year and I have loved every minute of it.