zatchmo

I'm loading super comp, not 9 Major, but I have tried both of these powders. Almost everybody who shoots 9 major in my area uses autocomp. I found the load data to be nearly interchangeable in my STI Matchmaster. I made major at 7.2 of autocomp, 7.3 of 7625. The feel was even very similar to me. The only reason I ended up with 7625 is it burns slightly cleaner in 38SC. Autocomp did seem to get cleaner the more I put in the case, so maybe it would have cleaned up by 7.4 grns, but I was worried about pressure. Good luck!

The 550 is a great press. And they hold their value. In 5 years if you decide you need faster, you can probably sell it for what you have into it and order the 650/1050 then.

I went from 2 550s to 1 550 for all my random stuff, and a 1050 for my primary pistol caliber. I shoot 38 SC, so primer swage is useless to me and I'm not a high volume shooter. Probably about 20k a year. For me, I actually prefer the priming system on the 1050 vx. the 650. I can load 1k rounds in under an hour easily including all the prep work. I don't think it's a huge amount faster than the 650, but was the right machine for me for sure. I have zero regrets and feel the money was well spent.

One other difference I didn't see mentioned is the taper vs straight walled case. SC is straight wall, and 9mm is tapered. It's a little easier to get 30 into a big stick with SC than with 9mm. A very VERY minor difference, but it is a difference.

I ordered my 1050 on the 20th, it arrived on the 26th of this month. 38 SC

Post up your location. I'm sure there's both in your area. Most people are happy to let you run a mag through to see which you prefer.

Gun is fixed. I dropped it off with our local gunsmith, and he tore into it and found the barrel was over-cut slightly and a long link was used to compensate. He re-fit the barrel, used the correct length link so the barrel wasn't having to over-cam in the slide and it runs like a top. Ran about 700 rounds through it this weekend without even the slightest hint of a hiccup. He said likely that over-cam issue was causing the slide to slow down a bit, and once in a while it would be enough to cause the issue.

After messing with it some more last night, I can see that the brass was going over top of the ejector. I'm not sure how, but there is definitely marks from the brass on top of the ejector. The tip of it is worn, but not broken. Maybe it was borderline too short to begin with and is now worn to the point it won't work anymore? The extractor looks to be in good shape. Also, thanks for the spring comments, but this is an open gun with a lightened slide. I think 9 pounds may be too heavy, however I've run some pretty minor ammo and never had a problem until now. I have the super comp extractor in it now, and am going to try that this weekend. If that doesn't make it run, I'll look at getting the ejector replaced.

That picture is EXACTLY what mine is doing. Unfortunately, I already have an Aftec. I suspect it's an extractor issue, I guess this may be a sign to just make the switch to super comp and hope the new Aftec fixes the issue.

Okay, I'm getting a little frustrated with this one. I've had several failures lately and I'm at a loss. What happens is the spent brass gets extracted, and jammed between the barrel hood and the breech face. It's like you set the spent round on top of the next one in the mag, primer towards the breech face. (sorry, I don't have any pictures right here) It has run fine for probably 5k+ rounds, and now I can't shoot a stage without at least one issue. 38 super, 169 PF at the state match 2 weeks ago. The gun has a standard recoil system with a 9# variable spring with 2 or 3 coils cut off. I suspect this gets it close to an 8 pound spring. The problem seems to happen with all of my mags, and isn't particular to one type of brass. I replaced the AFTEC springs this spring, I would guess they have about 3k rounds on them. After pulling the gun apart, I found nothing abnormal about it, or the extractor tube. It was a little bit dirty, but certainly nothing that I would be alarmed about. The ejector looks normal, it isn't broken at least. No cracks in the grip, frame, or slide that I could see. I can try replacing the Aftec springs again, but I would have expected them to last longer than 3k rounds. Anybody have any other ideas?

Wow, I thought one range here was bad at $8 per shooter for the range fees.

You may want to PM a moderator to get this put in the gunsmithing section. This is the reloading section... HOWEVER, I will say that none of my sights look like that.

Sounds like Mag Blueprinting will be getting my business. Super nice guy, fast turnaround, and great capacity. I'll let everyone know how they run when they show up.

I haven't heard of him before. I will definitely look into this. Thanks for the heads up.

That's interesting. I have a friend who has one or two of these, and he's lucky to get 27 rounds in them. Maybe the process has changed? I want to say his are only about 1 year old.