kcd19

i load lots of once fired & range brass, and have found most to be satisfactory for my purposes. i pick up anything i find & then carefully evaluate it at each step of my loading process. decap & tumble prunes out split/damaged necks and anything suspect around the web. anything that doesn't feel/act/look right during resizing gets pitched & anything that doesn't feel right (loose) when seating a primer gets discarded, too. lastly, when seating the bullet, any that seat too easily or seem to be lacking proper neck tension get dropped. of all the pickup brass i load, this is where the bulk of it winds up being discarded - the majority of them that get pitched at this stage seem to be primarily PMC & Speer.

i see. all the replies make good sense, for the reasons noted. no one gamed it like that, but afterwards the gears started turning. i don't recall if there was a mandatory reload; i didn't really pay much attention to the limited/open guys, and everyone else would have had to by design. there MAY have been a reload required. thanks for the replies.

I've been pondering a stage from a recent match. There was one stage that had 3 strings of fire on 6 metric targets. 6 no-shoots partially obscured the other 6. Shooters made 3 passes (freestyle/strong/weak), Comstock. What (if any) is the rule on scoring for a stage like this? More specifically... What would stop a shooter from making extra shots on the first freestyle string to mitigate lower scoring shots in the strong/weak position? A shooter would still have to engage all targets with 2 rounds from those positions, but if a shooter were to put 3 'A' shots into each target on the first string, those shots would still count in the overall scoring (one of those 'A' hits would supersede any lower B/C/D hit on another string), right? Thanks.

I can relate to this, and the couple of things I've seen on this thread about dialing back the throttle is what I've resolved myself to for the next one. This is the first season I've gone at this "seriously", and expect a lot. Here's the breakdown of the last classifier I shot. C 101 0 25.07 4.0287 120.000 100.00% C 113 20 27.93 3.3298 99.1824 82.65% U 91 30 23.63 2.5815 76.8933 64.08% There's me on the bottom. Overall, i had a pretty good day, despite the classifier stage. Watching everyone else on the squad shoot & thinking about what I'd shot when the results came out, i took away this.. - Recognize my abilities & stay within them. I put a lot of pressure on myself thinking "it's a classifier, I've got to do well". I had the fastest time, but was well outside of my abilities at that pace. The 30 points of penalty prove that. - The strong/weak hand strings, especially weak, demand slowing down, at least for me. It's a matter of mechanics & I've come to recognize it. - Focus on the sights, for that shot, and nothing else. Like someone else said, "just shoot".

having spent my first few matches in production last year, i was considering more or less the same question at the start of this season, and have settled on L-10 for the time being. being in NY, i'm already capped at 10 rounds, and it lets me take advantage of scoring major.. i agree with the advice to stick with 9mm for production, might as well take advantage of the minor scoring.

ok, that makes a lot more sense than what i was thinking. thanks for clearing that up.

thanks for the replies so far. it gives me some things to think about. i did some looking last night & this morning at results for L-10, both on the more regional/local level & the larger competitions and see what people are talking about as far as lower participation in L-10. I have one more question about that as far as it concerns classifications.. From what I understand of the classification process, it is based on hit factor, the same as the general scoring. The more local matches (that would be what i'm planning on shooting in, primarily) generally have 1-2 L-10 shooters, so would that create a false classification? i.e., if I were the only shooter in the division for the local match and was the only score for the classifier, would that wind up classifying me higher than it should? in general, what's the lame duck aspect of the lower participation? just that there's less of a pool to shoot against? thanks.

XD40 tactical in production & springfield range officer as my 1911. what's the penalty(?) for shooting as unclassified in a larger match? is it similar to highpower rifle where you're shooting unclassified/master and not against other shooters of your own classification?

i have a few questions about divisions, classifications, and the strategy for the long term. i started shooting a few matches last year in production, because that's what I had. this year i've joined USPSA and want to start thinking about really getting into the sport, long term. getting a classification & working toward improving, and so on. i've also picked up a 1911 that I'd like to use now & then, but mostly this is about my own general proficiency, not so much a dedicated "race gun". i had been figuring on continuing to shoot production with my .40 & occasionally sneaking in a match in SS, but I've started to reconsider that in favor of picking up some 10 rd mags for the 1911 and shooting L-10/Major, switching between guns. i figure that way i'd maintain continuity in the same division as far as classification goes with the option/goal of getting better with both platforms. as i understand it, 4 classifier scores (per division) gets you a classification and I don't know how many matches above and beyond the local club matches I'd actually make.. I think we have 7 scheduled for the year. so it's very unlikely (and potentially a stupid move on my part..) to try to maintain classifications in 2 divisions. the loads that run in the .40 aren't far off major, so the jump into L-10 wouldn't be much to consider from that standpoint. are there any "disadvantages" [perceived or otherwise] to being in L-10? (i get that it's all the same game with different operating parameters.. to my way of thinking, my equipment/load choices may actually be better suited in L-10.. ) any suggestions or criticisms of what i'm thinking? sorry for the rambles that crept in there.. thanks.

I adjusted the crimp on those loads and gave them a try today. Loaded everything back at 1.124 C.O.L, crimped to 0.417. This completely eliminated the misfeeds, both from slide lock & during normal firing. 5.0 g titegroup runs the gun nicely, and chronos just under major. The 4.5g loads run pretty well, but are a tiny bit sluggish. 4.0 doesn't cycle at all. Once I burn through my supply of 155 I will give the 180s a shot. Thanks all for your help, it is very much appreciated.

Ok, the way GrumpyOne's explained it makes sense, I think. My bullets are measuring 0.399 and the case walls are 0.009, so .399 + 0.018 puts me right around 0.417 as the outer measurement after the crimp, right? I will give that a go and see where it gets me. Thanks for the heads-up on the heavier bullets. I've been seeing more and more minor loads with 180s since I'd started into this. I will try to pick some up at some point and give them a try, but for now I've got 1k of the 155s for the better part of this season. Appreciate the replies..

I took some measurements - right at the very front of the case mouth, I have WWB at 0.417 and my reloads at 0.419-0.420 Perhaps more telling are the pulled bullets from each.. I don't have much of any crimp mark on mine, while the WWB crimp measures 0.393 +/- 0.0001 & is very prominent in the photo. Sounds like perhaps there is some room for improvement on how I'm crimping things. Pulling the factories took a couple of solid blows where my reloads are generally coming loose with less effort than that. Thanks.

Thanks for all of the replies. I loaded up some more to test & managed to get some time on a chrono, so I have some more things to add. A few replies and additions.. - the brass is generally in good shape. Most of it is once-fired from my own gun (factories), the rest is once-fired police brass. I am pretty careful about inspecting it for bulges, dings, dents, etc. - I chamber checked all of the leftovers from last weekend and it all dropped in nicely. I checked everything I loaded for this weekend similarly and kept anything that was sticky or slow to go in/out separate. - I worked on my form & had less issues with holding the last shot open, but still had issues feeding from the mag, both from slide lock & during courses of fire. Here are some loads that I tried.. All with Titegroup & 155gr Berry's FP 5.2g, loaded to 1.120" - PF 166.8 1066 1086 1077 5.0g, 1.118" - PF 159.3 1035 1018 1031 4.5g, 1.120 - PF 149.2 944 960 984 All of these are perfectly pleasant to shoot; the 4.5 loads are a bit sluggish ejecting and I had one fail to hold open. The upper two loads seem to be reliable, and if I have to move it up a bit for for consistent reliability, so be it. The biggest issue I am seeing right now is the poor feeding, especially from slide lock. I've tried all 6 of my mags & it's not isolated to a single mag. I've adjusted C.O.L between 1.118 and 1.128 and see little difference in the way they feed from slide lock; i get failures across the board. I've taken a picture & attached it, this is more or less the failure that I get, where the rim isn't fully engaged within the extractor and the front of the bullet is wedged into the top of the chamber. At this point, I suspect it could have something to do with the crimp. I've compared mine to some other reloads (not mine), and I seem to be able to catch a thumbnail a lot more on mine than the other ones. While I do get the "bump" as the press cams over and finishes the stroke, the edge of the brass is still very squared & doesn't seem to be as tapered/smoothed over as a factory load might. I took the barrel out and tried to simulate a misfeed in the general fashion that this seems to be occurring, and the edge of the brass does seem to be catching the top part of the breech face, which agrees with what the failure seems to be in that the shell doesn't quite "turn the corner" and finish chambering. Does this seem plausible or something that you've seen? Does anyone have a general approach to determining how much crimp to apply? I aim to disassemble what I've got left over at this point and work up some more with a bit more crimp & give those a try. Thanks much for all of your replies.. much appreciated.

I've recently started reloading for my Springfield XD40 Tactical/5" for Production class, the intent being to work up some minor loads instead of using factory (WWB). I've come up with the first batch using data from Hodgdon's data and reading this forum & others. I'd loaded up 50 to try, using the following recipe. Mixed headstamp/once-fired, primarily WW CCI500 5.0 gr Hodgdon Titegroup 155gr Berry's truncated/flat 1.125 C.O.L I gave them a try this last weekend and was pleased, overall. Much nicer to shoot than the factory 165 loading I'd been using for production. I had a couple of issues with them, though. - The loads failed to lock the slide on the final shot several times. I this to be because they're slightly underpowered for the factory recoil spring, and I should either bump up the charge, get a lighter spring, or count my shots. Am I on the right track here? - I had a few fail to feed. The slide would move them forward, but they failed to completely engage the extractor and finish chambering. It left them 'wedged' with the bullet at the top of the chamber and the rim only about 1/2 engaged in the extractor. * My first thought was "too long", but then I did some follow up the last couple of days, and see that 1.125 isn't at all an unreasonable length & is fairly common. * I'd thought a little about short stroking issues, but I should note that the very first round I fed, from slide lock, using the slide release jammed in this fashion. This pistol has been 100% reliable since I bought it 2 years ago. No stoppages at all, all factory WWB.. I got out the calipers and measured COL on the factory rounds vs. the 6 leftover reloads that I brought home.. The WWB measured a nominal 1.116, and my reloads were between 1.122 and 1.125. What should I try first for the feed issues? I have a few ideas: - bump my COL back to a length that I know works (1.116) - eliminate the mixed headstamp factor and load up some of my own (previously fired in that gun) WW cases - add a bit to the charge (i'm 10% under the low end that Hodgdon is specifying for 155gr bullets) to eliminate short stroking as a suspect Thanks for any help you can give on the issue.