Andrew B

I have both an SV and a STI 9mm. I load a 145gr lead bullet for the 9mm's and use my 38 super STI mags for them. I have never had a feeding problem doing this in either gun. I own the spacers - have never had to stick them in a mag. Dawson sells them if I remember right. The spacers should work in a 10 round mag - you may have to trim them though. It's a thick piece of plastic that inserts into the mag at the back so the ammo will seat further forward - compensates for shorter bullets. Comes with a new follower to accomodate the spacer. 2.8 grs of clays under the 145 lead makes minor and is like shooting a toy.

I am buying duracells from Lowe's for $3.47 each.

Use Small Rifle Primers 9.0 grs of IMR 4756 with a Montana Gold 124 10.5 Grs of VihtaVouri N105 with a Montana Gold 124 9.2grs of VihtaVouri 3n38 with a Montana Gold 124 All at 1.240 I have had problems with AA#7 and tight chambered guns. They would stop running after 70 or 80 rounds. Just too dirty. The N105 is very clean and has a very low spread. I like it the most. The 3n38 has quite a flash in a short gun.

My favorite lawyer joke: What's the problem with lawyer jokes? Lawyers don't think they're funny and no one else thinks they're jokes.

The C model is has a ported barrel. The port barrel is not allowed in any division except open. You would be competing against other open guns. If a C is what you own, you can avoid this by replacing the barrel with a non ported one.

or a hollow steel flgr. Bob at Brazos made me one. Or a recoil master - they seem to be pretty light.

STI recently opened a Custom Gun Shop. Well, it's not really possible to get a gun built by them exactly the way you want it as you pick options from their list. As long as what you want coincides with what they will do, then you can get exactly what you want. Hopefully, you don't want a trigger pull of less than 3 pounds on an open gun, etc. The part of Custom Gun Shop that they do totally have a handle on is blowing when they promised to deliver the gun. I ordered a gun from them earlier this year, was told a mid April date, just got off the phone with them and was told a mid May date. Arrrggghhhh.

Dogma dog - is your 6inch in .40 or .45? I ask since you commented on recoil pulse and compared it to your SS .45. I have both 5 and 6 inch .40's. The six inch slide is lightened and I used a bushing barrel to reduce the forward weight. The six inch advantage is that it shoots softer than the 5 and has a longer sight radius. When I was shooting limited, I found that I preferred shooting the 5 inch. It simply points better and I get better transitions with it.

The Othererik - have you tried a light recoil master? They got a lot of bad press when they came out, but have been improved. I used one in a competitor and felt it helped keep the hits closer together. I just got one last week to test in my short open gun. Have not been able to shoot it yet versus a spring. I also have a hollow, a steel and a tungsten guide rod that I will test against the RM in the gun to see what gives me the hits closest together in a double tap. Will post results as soon as I have something to say.

First comment is that you are turning a production gun into a custom gun and want to make changes before you shoot it as is. Since you will definately want the trigger done, have Bob lighten the trigger, go with the Aftec/supoercomp and leave the rest alone. 1) Trigger (Short or Gunsmith, black) Depends on hand size - comes with most popular - long curved 2) C-More "click adjustable" Red Dot Sight If the question is to click or not to click, it doesn't really make much difference. Easier to return to a certian switch position with the click. I have both and don't think the click is worth paying more for. 3) Drilled and Tapped Mag Release with Oversize Button Personal preference - Leave it alone for now. 4) Stainless Mag Well Makes the gun heavier - I vote no 5) S-1 or T-2 Different types of comps - use what comes standard on the gun - Ask Bob Londrigan about it. 6) RecoilMaster Personal preference - lets you shoot minor to major loads without changing springs - Most of the open guys I shoot with, including me, have gone to them. 7) Cyclone Mag Button Personal preference - Leave it alone for now. 8) Ultragrip I have it on my Brazos guns and like it a lot. The stock grip also works fine. 9) Big Mouth Magwell The competitor comes with a STI magwell. You can change it later if you feel the need . 2) Are Race guns really accurate? I know they perform, but how about pure accuracy from a rest. My P220 Sport is a tack driver. Rock River and Les Baer (perhaps others) have 1 1/2 in. garantees at 50yds. I have not seen any claims or info regarding accuracy performance of a race gun. What can be expected?? An open race gun should be extremely accurate. I also own a P220 sport, and you can expect no less accuracy from your open gun.

" Unfortunately what I did find only demonstrated how in-depth and complicated the task of finding a race gun is." You don't need to start with a Ferrari. Many of the open shooters on this site are pretty advanced and have evolved to were they know what they want out of a gun and have them built to accomodate their tastes. Reading these posts can be intimidating. There are a great many open shooters who are in the game with STI Competitors - a production gun - that can be purchased new from Brazos for $2,375 and delivered shortly. He has them in stock. You don't have to buy a custom built gun and wait a year for it. You may end up there, but I don't recommend you start there. "Is 9mm sufficient and accurate?" I am not convinced that 9mm major can work as well as a 38 super/supercomp as the overall length limits what powders you can use to make major which limits the amount of gas produced whichs limits the effectiveness of the comp. I have not purchased a 9mm major because I don't want to be limited in what powder I can use. The guys I know using 9mm open guns are struggling to work out loads that operate the gun well. That said, there are guys shooting 9mm major very competitively. The brass is cheap and you do lose brass at matches. Super brass runs about .10 versus .01 for 9mm. 9mm open is less expensive to operate, I just am not convinced it does the job as well. I am curious - what is prompting you to come over to the dark side?

I am using 6.0 grs of Winchester Super Feild under a 115 for steel in a short open guns. I was getting a lot of split cases when I tried titegroup and bullseye in lite 38 super loads. I didn't know zero made 108's - will have to try some of those.

Dave Dawson will be producing arched and wedged in the next couple of weeks. Spoke to him on this last weeks and ordered a arched. Use the arched on all my guns. With a high hold, I feel that the arch makes the grip fit into my hands better.

You can move the seating die forward to station 3 if you want and eliminate some opportunity for powder spillage. The case will not have to travel thru an empty station before a bullet is put on the top of it. Or You can move the powder drop to station 3 and accomplish the same thing. Depends on if you have big hands and have trouble putting the bullet on the case in station 3. Or You can buy the powder check system. It's cheap insurance. With a 650, you really have to work hard at it to get a double charge, but if the powder bar sticks and starts throwing 1/2 charges, you may not notice it at first.

Brownell's sells the carters spray http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/Pro...MPENSATOR+SPRAY Oops - just tried to order some - they have a note that it has been dropped by the factory.

I have a friend who shoots nothing but lead thru his open gun. He swears that if you soak the comp over night in Hoppe's that the lead comes out easily with a dentist's pick. Good luck.

From "Dogma Dog" "Based on all this, the "optimum" solution should be a load that propels the bullet to the minimum possibel power factor, using the heaviest charge of a slow burning powder such that the pressure when the bullet exits the barrel is maximized...I think that would happen if all the powder was just burned as the bullet exited the barrel, so I suppose you could load to the point you get unburned powder, and back off just a bit, and be there." I agree with the theory. When I first started using an open gun on steel, I loaded lighter charges of the slow powder that I use for major. It works ok, but has wide swings in velocity. I believe that at the lower power factor, you don't get reliable ignition of the slower powders and that the volume of gas produced really does not work the comp well anyway. In practice, what works better for me, is a somewhat lighter bullet (115gr is what I have gone to for this) and a powder with a medium burn rate - SR7625 or Super Feild to acheive a consistent load with a light power factor. You end up with a gun that has less recoil, but a little more bounce - less jet effect from the front of the gun, but also less gas exiting the upper ports on the comp. I think this is why guns purpose built for steel have relatively small comps. Since you are shooting at each target once, then have to more the gun to the next target, the small bounce is an acceptable tradeoff for the decrease in recoil and the increase in control. Dog, see you Friday night.

I went to the EGW die for 38 super and now my 650 is spitting out used primers - about one out of 10. Any ideas for a fix?

This is probably anathema here, since it is not a custom built gun, but the wait on a STI short open gun, the Stinger, is 8 to 10 weeks (I called STI) with a price tag of about $2,500 (per my local dealer who loves me). I'm thinking about adding one to the other stuff in the second safe. Per STI, pictures on the web site will be up after the Shot show in Feb.

http://usgi1911.tripod.com/function/ http://usgi1911.tripod.com/used1911/ These may be of help

I am shooting a Dawsun minigun 2 (shortened slide) with a ported barrel. 9.0 grains of IMR 4756 with a 124 makes 172PF out of it. You might also try 7.5 grains of IMR 7625. I have a friend with a tribrid that is using that. Reload at your own risk.

Might also be too much recoil spring. I dropped several pounds of spring and my gun returns closer to the same place.

I use this for 38 super as well - works the comp well and is clean.

I use them on all my 1911 and 2011 guns. I like the way it gives full contact across the palm and forces the hand higher.

I ordered 4 guns from Dawson, including a minigun in October 2002. They were delivered from May to September 2003. The guns from Dawson have been flawless and I would recommend him in a heartbeat. His only problem is his estimate of delivery time. I was originally told January 2003. I ordered 2 from Brazos in June 2003. I was told late November 2003. I hope to see them before year end. I don't like the wait. Heck, waiting for popcorn in a microwave irritates me. As someone else pointed out, there is a wait as the smith is busy. He's busy because he has a good rep based on delivering good work. Waiting for the Dawson guns lit me up, but I am very happy with the finshed product. I would actually be leary of a smith who could deliver a custom gun in 2 weeks.