slidelock1

I ordered my 124 gr. jhp's in early February. Two weeks later I sent an e-mail asking where the bullets were and was told that my credit card was declined AND that they were having, "some (unidentified) problems" shipping bullets. Surprised about the credit card, I checked with my bank and was told my c.c. was good. I called back and and told them this and asked why they were trying to charge my card for bullets they hadn't shipped. I was given an ambiguous reply and an apology and was told the bullets would be shipped "soon". Two weeks later I called and was told that they weren't shipping bullets yet but would start soon. About three weeks after that, I sent an e-mail and was told that orders would be shipped in the order based upon the order dates. I waited. Last week I sent an e-mail and received the reply that they had no record of my order. Please resubmit. Now what???? I guess if I reordered I would go to the back of the line and wait indefinitely. I have been a long time loyal Montana Gold customer because their bullets were good and their customer service even better. What happened? If they were having production difficulties a simple message on their web sight would have been enough. Anyway, I don't appreciate their attitude and obfuscation and will move on to another manufacturer.

I have used a small Harbor Freight ultrasonic cleaner for a couple of years and I think it is GREAT! If mine was a larger model (my mistake) I wouldn't hesitate to put my Glock in it for cleaning. I would go with the Harbor Freight unit and some Simple Green. I'm sure the Midway model is great, and it probably has a larger generator, but for occasional home use, I think you will be very happy with the one from H.F.

I have used the ultrasonic cleaner from Harbor Freight and have found it to be a very useful tool. I put everything in it with a little Simple Green, turn it on and several minutes later it comes out sparkly clean. Mine is not long enough for a full frame pistol (my mistake) but I can't imagine it damaging your Glock. There are differences in ultrasonic cleaners: Some heat the solution, and some have more powerful generators. These features may allow removal of really tough stuck-on gunk and reduce the cleaning time. However, IMHO the Harbor Freight unit works just fine and you will save a bunch of bucks. Good luck!

I have a Browning Buckmark and have put thousands of rounds through it. In my experience the Browning is a little fussy on ammunition. It will USUALLY fire 90% +/- of the Federal Wallyworld stuff. It will fire about 85% if the bulk Remington and Winchester. BUT it will fire EVERY TIME the CCI mini mag hp's. These bullets are more expensive, but when reliability is an absolute requirement these are the bullets to go to! FYI, In a test, I have put over 3k rounds through my Buckmark without cleaning and I did not have one misfire using CCI's. However, I usually clean it every 500 - 1000 rounds. Good luck.

Wayne, I had the same problem with my old Pact. I called the company and they asked me to return the unit plus the sky screen sensors. They fixed the problem. It turned out to be one of the sensors went south. Give them a call. They're great to deal with.

I HAVE talked to Wil Shumann (April 19, 2007) about AA7, and he stated that at one time AA7 was in fact a gritty powder that eroded the barrel. However, it was completely reformulated years ago and that now is is no more erosive than any other powder out there. He mentioned the fact that he has used several HUNDRED pounds of it through his open gun with no erosion! He also mentioned that Hodgdon had a similar problem with HS7 eroding barrels and Hodgdon reformulated HS7 and renamed it Longshot. Maybe Accurate should have renamed AA7 to put to rest the bad rumors about it, but be that as it may, I have used several kegs of it in my open gun with zero erosion observed! So, if you like it, use it without fear.

I have used both of these powders in my 650 for rifle calibers with no problems. The reloads were excellent and the metering was always quite accurate. Good luck. BTW, you can ALWAYS talk to the folks at Dillon for their help and information.

Our club has been shooting Steel Challenge for several years. We allow our members to shoot a centerfire and a rimfire if they want. If they chose to do so, we use two scoring sheets, one for each gun. We break our shooters into two (or three) squads, and usually we all shoot centerfire first all the way through the squad. Then, those that signed-up for rimfire shoot rimfire. It does take a few hours to get through all the shooters, but none of us would have it any other way. BTW, we shoot ALL eight stages of the Steel Challenge. Hope this helps.

Uhm, Aimpoint COMP models come with as large as a 10 MOA dot and since they aren't the trick of the day, used ones in like new condition are plentiful and quite cheap. I have been using them for years on multiple open guns and haven't paid more than $150.00. New COMPs run $300.00 if you shop around. The Aimpoint 10 MOA dot in my opinion is really the equivalent of a larger size Cmore dot because they are by design sharper and brighter. I run a 7 MOA and I never use the highest setting. They also have a well deserved rep of being the most reliable tube dot you can buy. I did not realize Aimpoints came with a 10 moa dot, wow! Any idea on weight?

I had a Doctor sight frame mounted on my .45 for a few years. It finally broke due to recoil and it is out of warranty, so, I'm screwed. And when I called Doctor, they suggested that the sight will probably be unrepairable and I would have to buy a new one. Anyway, for some reason it wasn't my favorite set-up. I tried a C-more for a while and when it started malfunctioning I called the factory. Boy, the guy there was less than helpful. I would think twice about buying another C-more with their attitude! So, what's left Aimpoint or Oko? Aimpoints are quite pricey and they come with a small dot; Oko seems to be the next best choice if they are reliable.

Last year I did an experiment with new .38 super brass with different head stamps. I used a batch of 25 ea. with a medium load of Bullseye and 124 gr. Montana Gold bullets. I reloaded them 28 times and could have loaded them even more, but the experiment was growing a little too time consuming, so I quit. What I found out was that I would lose a very few cases (splits) initially within five-six reloads. At the end of the experiment, I had 17 cases of one brand left and 15 cases of the other brand. I measured velocity at each reload and found absolutely no loss from first to last. Conclusion: Load 'em until they split or you lose 'em.

Normally, on my open gun (STI 2011-.38super) I use a Bushnell Holosight, which I love. However, after two shoulder surgeries it has become clear that weight is a problem. I have researched all of the red dot sights, and the Oko seems to be the one of the lightest and brightest. Does anyone have any experience with these sights with regards to reliability, warranty, factory help, etc.? I have a C-more and it is only slightly lighter than my Holosight, and the Oko is nearly four ounces lighter than the Holosight! And at arm's length ounces DO make a difference in the weight of a pistol. As an aside, do you have any other lightening ideas? I have already removed the aluminum magwell (and that helped). I am also planning on removing the brass magazine weights.

I shoot steel a lot at our local club and annually at Piru, CA. The guys at my club LOVE to shoot .22's: It's fun, cheap and very challenging. Also, at Piru, they have one competition day dedicated to .22's. The other gun is usually something in the 9mm or .38 super either single stack or high cap. Almost everyone shoots light loads. Those with comps shoot loads heavy enough to make the comp work. Most folks start out in steel with whatever gun they have and as they get better switch to something else. If you have a gun you like for Open, L10, Production, etc. that gun will be perfect. Give it a whirl, shooting steel challenge is fun and just a little humbling.

Okay, I'm back. We had a little fire scare in the foothills here in central California. I took the scope mount off the frame and CANNOT find any cracks in it. Has anybody else got any ideas to try to fix this beast?

I know this thread is an "older one" and I hope by now that you have found an answer. I shoot and have shot Beretta's exclusively in trap competition since 1978 because of their incredible reliability (I started with an Al-2, graduated to a 390, an SO4, and an ASE Gold combo and over the course of years have probably put through over 100k rounds through these guns) and from time to time have had the same problem you've encountered. When this happened, I switched to a different primer. Since you use factory Federal, try Remington or Winchester ammunition or any of the others out there. Federal primers can run a teensy bit deep; some batches deeper than others, and even though they are "soft" I would occasionally get a light strike. As to why you get a light strike on one gun and ignition on another is one of life's little mysteries that you could spend forever pondering. FYI, the same thing happens with great frequency shooting .22's. I shoot over 15,000 rounds of these little guys annually in two different guns. I usually purchase bagfuls of Federal bulk at Walmart. I have a Ruger MKII that reliably fires the Federals every time; I have a Browning Buckmark that misfires them frequently, so in competition I use CCI's. If I put the misfired Federals in the Ruger they go off. This issue with .22's has been discussed at length for years in the .22 Forums with no answer discovered even by the most undaunted experimenters! I hope this helps. Good luck!

+1 If you have lead build up in the comp this will happen too. If it's a Lim... I'm betting on lead. The comp is clean. I've been shooting nothing but Montana Gold bullets, so lead would not be a problem. I even removed the comp but the results were the same - horrible!

I have a STI .38 super, Limcat version. It has been shooting tight groups with my regular load for months (1" @ 25 yds) until last weekend when the rounds started roaming all over the target in a 10-15" pattern. I have checked the C-more mounts which are tight; I have checked the C-more which seemed solid and even tried a replacement C-more with zero success. I have tried different loads and bullets with no success. The barrel is solid, I even replaced a loose barrel link, the comp. is tight, and the barrel/slide fit is tight. I cannot detect any cracks in the grip and the trigger remains where I set it five months ago at a little less than two pounds. I cleaned the barrel, checked for problems at the muzzle and cannot detect anything that would affect accuracy. I have tried everything that I can think of. HELP, WHAT AM I MISSING???

A tumbler is a tumbler and is only as good as the electric motor. I have had two Lyman tumblers for over eleven years. I don't think I paid more than $40.00 for either of them; I use them all the time and they are both still going strong. I have friends who have Frankford, Dillon, RCBS, etc., and the have all been extremely reliable. When and if mine ever wear out, I would buy a Dillon not because their tumblers are any better than the others but because their customer service is so outstanding that they have earned my business. So, buy what you like. I don't think you can make a mistake.

I have seen some of these sights mounted on pistols and they look pretty awesome. The front sight JUMPS out and it seems that it would be THE set-up for Limited, Production, and SS. Yet, I don't see them at the matches. Is there any reason shooters seem to prefer the all black or the FO sights to these type of sights?

I've shot competitive trap for over 30 years and most if not all trapshooters get "trigger freeze", which I think is just another word for a flinch. Part of your brain tells you to pull the trigger while the other part says, "hold on a sec., you're not on the target". I've also had this happen during pistol competition and it is usually when I try to go faster than I should. In my experience, sometimes just trying to go a little slower will help, but the minute you forget to do this you'll start to freeze again. Time will cure the flinch. If it is REALLY bad, take a couple of weeks off and practice via visualization or try shooting another discipline (such as Bullseye, IDPA, Steel, etc.). Good luck!

I have shot Steel Challenge for about five years and I think the rimfire part is the most fun! I use a Browning Buckmark with a Bushnell Holosight and have done very well with it. I have also used a Ruger MKII Government bull barrel and the Bushnell holosight with similar results to my Browning. The trigger on the MkII Government is really awesome (about 2lbs.and very clean) and much better than the Browning's creepy sandy 4lb trigger. However, for some reason I keep going back to the Browning. I shoot it under 100 seconds. My buddy uses a Ruger MkIII 22/45 with custom grips and a Tasco red dot and is pretty awesome with that rig. He too shoots under 100 seconds. IMHO, I have found, after shooting this event for a number of years, that reliability is as important (if not more so) than the gun. Even one mis-fire is too costly. My Ruger will shoot any .22, even the Walmart Federals, reliably and accurately. My Browning will mis-fire the aforementioned Federals once every 30 to 40 rounds; so, when I use the Browning, I use CCI Minimags and never have a ftf. My suggestion is that when you find a rimfire that you want to shoot in the Steel Challenge, start putting some serious rounds through it and record the number of ftf's and fte's with each brand. Keep working until you find a brand of ammo that goes bang with I think you will see mostly Rugers and Brownings in this event. I have seen more than one shooter have a seizure over his .22 conversion (Marvel, Ceiner, etc.) not working reliably.

I shoot an STI 2011 in .38 super comp. and have adjusted the trigger to 1.75 lbs. I have used this pull weight on this gun for several years without a problem. A couple of months ago I noticed that the trigger pull weight had dropped to about 1.0 lbs. I reset the left two tines back up to 2.25 lbs. A few rounds later the pull was back down to 1.25lbs. I repeated the adjustment only to have the same results a third time. Okay, so I exchanged the sear for a brand new Wilson Bullet Proof model and set the trigger to 2.5 lbs. And, you guessed it, after about a hundred rounds the pull weight dropped down to 1.25 lbs. I took the sear spring out, reset the tines to a measured pull weight of 3.25 lbs. The NEXT afternoon BEFORE I even fired a shot I measured the pull weight and it was down to 2.75 lbs!!! My pull weight measuring tool is electronic and I took the average of ten "pulls" to measure the weight. I shoot 5.1 gr. Bullseye behind a Montana Gold 124gr. JHP. What the heck is going on here?

At this point in time I've reloaded the AP brass 21 times WITH NO LOSS OF ACCURACY. I think this is a sufficient test of the brass. And it may be concluded that until it splits it is fine to use. http://www.brianenos.com/forums/style_imag...icons/icon1.gif I am thinking that the last batch of jacketed bullets I bought, and from which I noticed the accuracy change in my gun, may have been either slightly undersized or oversized. The batch of bullets I used on this test is a different batch from the original reloads. Unfortunately, I've got about 600 rounds loaded with the original (inaccurate) bullets so, I've got a bunch of practice rounds to use-up. Case closed!

The reason I want full contact is that I primarily shoot steel, and when I drop my hands for the draw, I am constantly searching for the right trigger finger position. I would like my hand and trigger finger grip to be the same everytime. At the last Steel Challenge I noticed some guys have used bondo on their grips - ugly, but I guess beauty is as beauty does. Anyway, I would like a more "finished", professional look when I'm done.

I have large hands and there is a significant space between my trigger finger and the grip (1/2" or more). In order to properly place my finger on the trigger I have to curl my index finger outward. When I do this, the last joint on my index finger is either too far into the trigger or not far enough. And this results in a lack of consistency and, therefore, accuracy. I have tried gluing some dense foam on the grip beneath my trigger finger, but this usually gets knocked-off on one of my draws. The location I need to enlarge is too high on the grip for tape (I tried that). Does anyone have an idea that might work????