CenTX

Dave, Sorry for your loss. My father was a B-24 navigator in WW2 and flew missions over Germany, perhaps they knew each other. Have a safe trip. Bob

Its on the inside cover of the january Blue Press

I have a case of HAP 121 marked .356 and a case of HAP 125 marked .355. The 121 mics .356 the 125 mics .3555 with Lyman Digital Micrometer

Like the walls we had to climb in mid stage.

It's been over twenty years, but if my memory serves me well. Microlon is one of the early, if not the first, products that used teflon powder in a carrier liquid and sold it as a "metal treatment". Microlon was mineral sprits along with some other chemicals and teflon powder. It was originally developed as WZ-127. There were other products like Lubri-Lon that used motor oil as the carrier. Micrlon's claim to fame was that it was the first (only?) approved by the FAA for use in aircraft. For some reason the FAA is picky about what you put in aircraft engines, must be they don't like them falling out of the sky. The founder/inventor was an avid shooter and developed a .17 caliber wildcat cartride which he called the 17 Williams. The idea behind it is the mineral sprits, which is a solvent, cleans the pores of the metal and then the metal rubbing against metal forces microscopic particles of teflon into the pores and that reduces friction. They also had gear lube and grease with teflon powder mixed in.This is old information and they may have changed their formulation. Dupont was not happy with all these "snake oil" companies playing off of their trademark and prevented them from stating that the microscopic particles were teflon. Here is an article about use in guns. http://www.microlon.com/testresults/applic...canGunsmith.pdf

A pair of parallel jaw pliers are a nice addition

I am not an engineer and this is based on observation, not physics. However, I have a very accurate spring guage and haved tested a lot of springs for 5"slide guns. It's not as simple as just diameter, recoil spring systems are much more complex than that. Fortunately they will usually work over a wide range of weights. I have tested numerous springs and you not only have open weight and closed weight, you have straight wound and progessive wound, as well as length and don't forget coil bind. If you are using a buff that is another factor that will affect things. A buff adds a small amount of compression and slightly reduces overall travel. I have tested new springs that were mis-labeled as to weight. Tested one spring (don't remember the # or brand) that coil binded new out of the package. You can have two springs with the same weight slide open/compressed that can be several #s different with the slide closed. Don't forget that a spring with a different weight can change the point of impact. What weight spring do you use? As Matt Burkett says "How do you know?"

My 3N37 load was 8.4 gr with 125 gr Zero bullets at 1.24 OAL 5" bbl with two small holes and a short comp 1.75" three large ports on the top and two small holes on each side.

I am using N320 with HAP 180HP loaded to 1.18. The only load I have used, so I can't compare it to anything else.

Don't forget the other variables, even the same rated springs from the same supplier may vary in length and in both closed and open pressure.

I have a half dozen each of Dawson and Grams pads, happy with both. I use Grams pads & guts in my 38 Super SV mags and Dawson pads & followers in my 40 STIs. Both pads are great and have given me no problems whatsoever. I also have mags tuned by both and when it comes to tuning mags Grams beats Dawson hands down.

I have small hands and due to an accident my trigger finger is about 1/2 inch shorter then the index finger on my left had, so it is really short and it does not bend at the outer most joint. So it is unlikely your finger is shorter, this is what I found. On my 1911, I went short trigger and thin grips and thought that was my best set up. I then bought a SV wide body Open gun, put an STI short trigger in it and shot it for a year or so. Now the wide body feels "right" and the 1911 feels like the grip is too long in my hand. Most people don't like change, a 2011 feels strange after shooting a 1911. However, we adjust/adapt to things and then it feels right. I can't say for sure what you will like, but you may be surprised after giving a wide body a chance.

STI Eagle 5.1 4.9 VV N320 Winchester small rifle primers 1.179 OAL 180 HAP

One method of choosing a spring in an article written by dave Koebensky of W.C. Wolff Co. & Brownells GunTechs says: "A fair indicator is how far from the shooter the ejected cases land. Less than three feet you may indicate the need for a lighter spring, while more than six feet may indicate the need for a heavier spring. Keep in mind too light a spring may result in damage to your pistol."

Is the recoil spring stacking a common problem with shok buffs? Would you just cut off enough coils to compensate for the width of the buff to cure the problem? Thanks. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You should always check the length of recoil springs. There can be a variation in length even with the same weight springs. I tested a brand new spring for a friend and the coils touched in the gauge, if you had used a buff it likely would have been too long and caused coil bind. However, that is probably an exception as all the new springs I have bought were ok with a buff. Sherd has instructions somewhere on here with instructions on building a recoil spring tester. I don't recall if it checks length or just weight. The SDM Spring Tester, picture attached, has been discontinued, but it checks length & weight. Verify, but I believe the spec for a compressed spring on a 5" gun is 1.625". Reoil_Spring_Guage.pdf

You have Dawson followers in you SV tubes? I use Dawson in my STI mags, but they won't work without modification in my SV tubes, the groves on the follower are in the wrong place for SV mag tubes.

When the slide moves to the rear and cocks the hammer it has to overcome not only the recoil spring, but also the mainspring. Mainsprings are available commercially in at least 15, 17 and 19 pound ratings. With a lighter mainspring the slide is easier to move to the rear, but you will also have a lighter hammer/primer strike and therefore the possibility of a failure.

It seems to me (IMHO) there is one major varible that explains why there is a lot of variation in compensators and yet most of them seem to work. That is there are a lot of variations in loads. When you work up a load you are tuning it for "your gun" and that includes the compensator.

Don't forget the ones that get something on approval and keep putting off paying, meanwhile the "buyer" has posted your stuff for sale at a higher price. If they get the higher price they pay you, if it doesn't sell they eventually send it back. Not as bad as not being paid, but still very aggravating.

I just received a replacement technology part from a vendor in that area. I was really happy with my old part, but on the new part the workmanship was crude and the bottom is not close to flat where it mounts on a flat base. The legs were cut off and on one side they were cut more or less flush and on the other side there is a ridge where the legs were cut off. I called and tech support said that is the way it is supposed to be and that the flexing of the body when I tighten it down is normal. Oh, well I'll give it a try, but next time I need a similar product, I will definitely look at other manufacturers.

Can you brrow a known good mag to try? Then you would know if it is mags or the gun. If the extractor is the problem try the Brazos Custom "Pro Series Performance Tuned" extractor, for me was a drop in part and worked great.

I suggest you check all springs, with or without buff, for coil bind. While testing spring pressure for a friend I have found, on at least one occasion, coil bind without a buff.

Call Dillon and tell them the exact problems you are having and listen to what they say to fix the problems. I wish I had written everything down because they resolved my problems. I was having similar problems caused by inconsistent powder drops after a year of consistent drops and my OAL became inconsistent, I probably screwed up the OAL trying to solve my powder problem. I reset all the powder stuff multiple times according to the documentation and still had inconsitant powder weights. When I called Dillon the instructions I was given to adjust the powder measure were different than the written documentation, but they resolved my problems. If I ever have problems with my 550 again, the first thing I'll do is pick up the phone and call Dillon.

I took classes from Jeff Cooper, Chuck Taylor and Ross Seyfried (when he was IPSC World Championin 1981 or 82). Then quit shooting for about 20 years . I started shooting again in Nov 2003 as a Limited 10 Senior with 20+year old gear. (Why in the hell do I have all these seven round mags?) In April 2004 I bought an Open Gun and 8 days later took a Matt Burkett Class, it was like drinking water from a fire hydrant. Lots of good info and hands on practice. This year took a class from Max & Travis, once again lots of good info and practice from two quality insructors. I almost forgot that they were army. So now, thanks to Matt, Max & Travis, I know what I am supposed to do to win. Of course knowing what to do and doing it are two different things.

On my 550 I replaced the crank, link arms, link arm pin and associated parts (see attachment). The new 550B parts are different than the old parts on my 550. The 550B link arms and crank have small holes in them (lubrication holes?) and the pivot rod (link arm pin) that goes through the crank is larger with smaller diameters on both ends while the 550 link arm pin was only one diameter.