Caffeinated

For production I run 6 and for Single Stack I run 7 with the ability to run an 8th if it's some extraordinarily long stage. I like to do the initial load from my belt for consistency's sake.

Pretty much what i do for all pistols is I put the pistol in a bench mounted vice with soft jaw protectors. Then I take up any pre travel in the trigger and pull back very slowly with a RCBS pull gauge until the trigger breaks. This usually gives me repeatable results.

I love my Luminox watch and rarely take it off. For a watch that cost less than $200 I get a lot of compliments on it. Amazon has good prices depending on the model your looking for.

Another vote for the Impact Sport. I've had mine for a couple of years and several of my friends run them as well without problems. Amazon has them cheap.

No easy way to separate large and small primer brass other than looking at it. I look when I'm picking it up and then again before it goes in the hopper. I load on a Hornady Lock n Load and every once in a while a small primer case will get in there. Haven't had any exploding primers yet with CCI's. As far as the Clays 4.0 load, I be live that is the Max for a 230gr bullet. You may want to start around 3.7 and work up.

Believe it or not, I love coffee also. I don't see the relative small amount of caffeine you intake causing the problems your describing.

You mention that you have bailed out of a few matches after doing poorly on the first stage. That leads me to believe that a lot of your problem is mental. Maybe you are too concerned with how you look in front of the other competitors. Perhaps the stress that a timer adds is getting to you. If you can target shoot well enough and your only having trouble shooting a competition, then my advice is to keep trying and you will get better. I shoot a weekly move and shoot bowling pin match that regularly has 30+ shooters. There is a group of older shooters that unofficially competes among themselves and their skills have progressed tremendously over the past year. Keep at it and have fun.

The file worked better than the Dremel for me for the initial fitting, but Cratex bits in the Dremel really helped give a nice finished look. I did a lot of the initial fitting with a 1x30" belt sander, then the file followed by the Cratex bits. Check out this link for more info: http://www.blindhogg.com/gunsmith/magwell.html

I'm a 36" waist and for my single stack rig with 7 mag pouches, I run a 40" belt. If I was going to run 5 mag pouches I would probably go with a 38" belt.

I didn't see how you got the pull down to 2 lbs (drop in trigger kit or bending sear spring, etc.) but regardless you want to make sure the pistol does not double. As mentioned before, take the gun to the range and load only 2 rounds and fire, then proceed t0 3 rounds. Do this a few times. I've seen guns go full auto and when it happens unexpectedly it can be deadly. If your still concerned (not a bad thing) have a gunsmith look it over.

Try experimenting with different spring weights until you find something you like. Luckily springs are cheap and easy to play with The other big factor is the ammo your shooting. I shoot 230gr bullets with Clay's powder which results in a fairly soft recoil. I run a 17lb mainspring and a 14# recoil spring (stock was 16# in my Kimber).

Congratulations on your family's success, I enjoyed reading that.

I haven't been reloading all that long, but I try to handle each round as much as possible. From taking them out of the akron bin to putting them in the 100 round cases to loading them in the magazines. The more competitive I get, the more I feel the need to inspect each case.

My symptoms were my knees felt like they aged several decades over the span of a couple of weeks, headaches and general irritability. Those went away as my levels came down.

I've been dealing with elevated lead levels for the last 10 months. The first time I was checked it was 66. My doctor said they would only start chelation at level 70. The main cause for the high level was running a weekly indoor match in a poorly ventilated range. I was not reloading at the time. My numbers dropped to 37 after 5 weeks then 27 8 weeks after that. I'm due to be retested. Some of the precautions I now take included wearing gloves when reloading and cleaning my guns. Wearing gloves, glasses and a respirator when messing with my tumbler(outside)and using D-Lead wipes and soap often. Staying out of poorly ventilated ranges is biggie. Having 2 small kids I was concerned about their levels as kids are extremely susceptible to lead poisoning. They both tested alright, but I'm mindful about changing clothes and washing up really well after shooting. I did not receive a call from anyone from CDC or OSHA, etc.