Jim Watson

I have a .45 Buzzard (Eagle copy out of a local shop.) It is a round nose only gun, probably because I had the builder use a plain barrel I had on hand instead of buying an integral ramp barrel like the factory STI. With that limitation, it shoots very well, although I think a .45 2011 has few applications. I am loading .45 midrange (minor) and shooting it in IDPA ESP.

Is Wilson making these from scratch or are they cutting up a Sig part? 8.2.2.2 ESP Permitted Features and Modifications (Inclusive list): B. Grips may be changed provided they do not weigh more than 2.00 oz. more than the factory standard weight for that model. D. Robar-style grip reduction. If the former, you could argue B. If the latter, surely D applies.

In 9mm minor with HP38, CCI and Federal Small Rifle made NO difference in velocity for me; all velocity ranges for rifle and pistol primers overlapped except Remington SP which was noiceably but not a lot faster.

A 2 lb, ok, 2.3 or 1.75 or whatever it comes out at, is a VERY light Glock trigger. A friend had one like that and even this old 1911 hand was impressed. You can do good USPSA etc shooting with one but you will not likely see one on the 50 yard line at the NRA Nationals. Unfortunately the one above did not hold up and had to be reworked to something the machinery was made to do.

25 is fine. Service pistol trajectory is trivial to 25 and not as much as most people think to 50, if zeroed there. If you are having to "hold over" at such distances, you are yanking and flinching.

Same deal, I shot .45 at the small local club this past weekend to conserve my small primers and 9mm ammo for bigger matches. You don't need a "setup" or different springs. Assuming it is functionally reliable, just go shooting.

Better to ream a 625 than put up with oversize throats on a 25.

I was wondering that. A stainless version of a 1950 Target would be neat; but I suspect a typo. Roundnose bullets just bounce right into my M25, but the charge holes are chamfered a bit.

Problem is, an Open gun or a rifle is so loud that even the best ear protection is not really enough to get the report down to an endurable level. Other guns are marginally too loud. Campaign headquarters for silencers. In particular, the Sordin is a very deluxe piece of kit, but it is not quiet enough for sustained fire. There is an Internet Guru known as Trevor who massaged the specs to make it look as good as any, but if you apply the same calculations to my $20 Peltor passive, you get a much higher rating even by his method. Quieter is quieter.

I know a guy who shoots a President in ESP.

Briley Linkless had a short slide stop that required a new hole, but I think the inside had to be cut out for the cam and track. No clue.

I don't know about shock bottle but my EGW 4 hole has no "throat". A sized case will gauge but a loaded round with any bearing surface above the case mouth will not. My Lyman single has a long throat so a new load must be verified by plonk.

Ah HA! Time for a nozzle. I was getting high primers which turned out to be a cracked crank which finally fell apart. A new crank and careful alignment got me back to well seated primers but still some sideways. A new tip - the old one did not SHOW wear - a spritz of silicone, and careful alignment (It took a quarter turn on the bracket screw 14037 the opposite direction that it appeared to need.) worked for a few. It will be tomorrow before I load any number of rounds.

Right. Load 8+1 at power factor 165+ for CDP, or 10+1 at power factor 125+ for SSP or ESP or CO. And you MUST load the +1 unless the CoF specifies something different. Also, your reload magazines must hold the same number as your first.

I have seen too many failures to eject mild 147s from Glocks around here. A couple of us have gone to 124s, others cheaping it out with 115s. If yours does, try the slowest 124 you can find. Atlanta has a 124 at 1060 that will be a lot softer than snappy 115 gr econoball.

Tolerances overlap. WYSIWYG, you can if you can, you can't if you can't, which is why you get opposing reports. Before Colt and Winchester got into the game, the CP Elite 9x23 had two reamers; one for a new barrel, the other to relieve a .38 barrel just enough for the tapered case.

I preload magazines either the night before or the morning of the match. I want to be looking over the targets and talking to people I may not have seen in a month, not feverishly cramming ammo into clips.

Yup, same place. Looking at how thin the web is in that mung metal casting, it is easy to see why. I broke two SDB mounting flanges, replaced for free of course. The second replacement was beefed up there, so they do pay attention and not just "Ho hum, send out another." I really crunched the threaded end of the handle, I will report to FLG tomorrow morning and I am sure he can straighten it out, even if the handle comes out an inch shorter. So I went over to FLGs place and showed him the handle. He looked it over, told me what I should have done, set it up in the lathe and chased the threads. It took off a good deal of displaced steel and galled on aluminum. He even lathe filed out the wrench marks and cold blued it. Then we sat on the porch and got caught up socially until it got too hot. FLG is one of the few people that Dillon charges for parts, he can't resist telling them how they could improve the product. Fedex tracking says maybe Monday for the replacement crank. I think I have enough ammo loaded to get me through the weekend.

It was a challenge getting the sucker apart. I had to beat and twist the handle out of the broken crank. Now I will be trying to clean up the threads. I doubt FLG has a die that big but I may have to ask.

Late to the party, but my 9mm 550 head is Dillon, Dillon, Hornady Microjust, Lee CFC. I have a U die but I seldom use it for anything but 115 gr jacketed bullets, the regular sizing die is fine with longer, heavier bullets, commonly coated these days. I don't have a bullet feeder. The MBF "powder funnel" was not effective, the "M" step is all but imperceptible. I understand there is another brand that I might try, but the Dillon isn't bad.

I don't put Dan Wesson in the same price range as Wilson. I know some Nighthawk shooters but that skews the statistics since two of them are sponsored. There was the guy who blew up two Berryville guns but I don't recall which brand.

I see very few Wilson guns at IDPA matches around here, so that doesn't really apply.

I broke my 550b's handle-ram toggle, the "crank" #13409 on the drawing . It had probably been cracked for a while, I was having to push the handle harder and farther to seat primers. I even ground out the clearance notch in the loaded round chute to let the handle swing farther away on the prime stroke. Finally it just slammed over and I saw the crank had broken clear away, both sides of the bottom of the ram. I phoned in to ask about sending it in for repair but Jeff said he would just send me the part and an alignment tool.

Now if they will make one that will cock the hammer or fake it like the ones you can get for a Glock, they will have something.

Now it is really weird. A case of 124 gr RN 9mm came in last week, on order for 5 weeks, and they were the old style. Old stock in the Quarantine? Back to a known product? I dunno. I kind of like the old style, I fancy that they feed better in long actions like 1911 and I am not setting up a Ransom Rest to test fine accuracy. Be interesting to see what the next lot looks like but it will take us a while to shoot these and the remaining NLG.