Carlos

CHP: you want to feel a really really soft production load, try 147 grain bullets at about 875 FPS (128 powerfactor) and load long to 1.150" for positive feeding in your Glock; it will radically change your view. You might also consider the following powders: book loads: N 330 or Titegroup Even softer yet: (non book load) N310.

I must agree with Wakal here; mag fed shotguns ARE allowed in Limited & that is the current rule. No one has been able to show ANY rule that clearly states "box fed or detachable magazine fed shotguns are confined to Open division." There is no rule to state that a detachable "magazine" is a speedloader. Rather, if we are to rely on the word: "regarded" , then consider this: the object which is commonly "regarded" as a "speed loader" means: a tube holding shotgun shells which is used to fill the fixed magazine of common autoloading shotguns. Such "speed loaders" lack a spring and are more akin to a "stripper clip" which is most certainly NOT a magazine but rather a device for filling a magazine. What we are discussing is clearly a magazine and NOT a speedloader! The word, "magazine" is commonly "regarded" as a detachable box containing ammo under spring tension and which is a required part to normaly operate the firearm; BATF/DHS considers a magazine to be an included part of the firearm; not an accesory like a stripper clip or speeloader. While agree that current popular shotguns might become less competitive were magazines available for the Saiga, such is progress. The answer is not to mutilate the language or torture logic by somehow calling a magazine a "speedloader" but rather let the winning technology & shooting skill decide.

Well it may not be what most consider "factory ammo" but Atlanta Arms commercial reloads in .40 were minor through several competitor's guns; not that I would advocate relying on commercial reloads in a match . . .

Excellent article!! I own and compete and carry an M9 and M40. A couple points from article: "The Steyr pistol has an even lower bore axis than the Glock." So what? Sooooo . . it does not flip as much as other guns. I.E., it stays more flat. Does that matter? Ask an experienced Open division shooter if flat shooting = faster. Or try a "low hold" on any 1911 vs a higher one. Lower bore axis = good. This thing is as low as it gets. "The Steyr pistol has less felt recoil than a similar sized Glock 23." Yep - size is just about equal to a 23 or a Glock 19. I with they made one the size of a Glock 17 but the Steyr is still excellent. "The Steyr M40 has a shorter, crisper trigger pull than the standard Glock." Yep - pretty light & capable of better w/ little work plus the reset is short. "People with small or large hands can easily adjust to the Steyr grip." At 6'2" I hace BIG mits. This thing fits! Obviously it will fit small hands just as well; the grip is considerably smaller than a Glock. Can it win? Ask the Air FOrce shooting team's Tom Freeman. He was once ranked #5 in the US in Production shooting this gun. Highcaps? Regular sight? Yep. I converted preban S&W Sigma highcaps by cutting an extra mag catch (don't worry, ATF approves of this since they still work in the smegma, er, Sigma). Unlike the gun, Sigma mags are excellent quality. Sights are standard dovetail and the night sights are normal post & notch. Is there support? Yep full US based parts and warranty support though you won't need it. Aren't they discontinued? No. Excellent gun and at $300 from CDNN, these are a real STEAL!!! Do a search on the word Steyr on www.gunsmith.com , here on BE and on www.glocktalk.com There is ample info.

Hmmm- squaters & meth labs in the neighborhood?? It could be viewed as bad (glass 1/2 empty) but it could also be viewed as an opportunity (glass 1/2 full) since the house prices probably make property a real value there; what your neighborhood needs is about a dozen families from the BE.com community to move in at the same time & clean the place up. Done right, property values go up for everyone. Sounds perposterous but groups of investors have targeted crack dealer infested neighborhoods in Baltimore (my old home town) for just such urban renewal projects. House prices in those neighborhoods are right, you just need more of the right neighbors (and fewer of the wrong neighbors). The investors target blocks, buy up all they can and offer the remaining residents fair prices for their homes. Too early to tell how this is working but the idea is sound to me, particularly if you could get a few LEOs to move in as well. Nothing scatters roaches faster than a uniform in the hood or a cruiser parked in a driveway. Anyone want to be Brian's neighbor?? Having lived in Baltimore, Buffalo, and Marin County, CA, I can think of worse places to live than Tempe.

What is even more scary is that they have been known to "revive" spent primers!! They simply punch out the primer dent & add a mixture taken from "strike anywhere" matches! (actually works for them sometimes!) This area has been famous for decades for its weapons bazaars where vitually any weapon (or a copy thereof) can be had for a price. It is also the likely hiding place of good old Osama (in honor of him, I designed a cave-like stage called "Osama's Hideout"). Some of the more colorful examples of Pakistani improvised gun I recall were: 7.62 AK-47 converted to fire 8mm mauser and No. I SMLE converted to .458 mag. Anyone remember stories about: 1) guerilla reloading by Philippine insurgents/US advisors during WW II?? I believe it involved 1903 Springfields 2) Conversion of de-linked .30-06 to 7.62 NATO for use in G-3/HK-91s during an African conflict in the 1980s? I seem to remember this one came with photos.

Excellent argument, Eric & Vince; personally I think Vince takes the point on this one since the mag is part of the unmodified OEM design. It is required for functioning of the gun. HOWEVER, if we are talking USPSA, we need to consider the facts in USPSA's jurisdiction: the US. There WAS a viable mag fed shotgun (the USAS-12) which was re-classified by ATF as a class III destructive device and banned from further production. Magazines were banned from civilian manufacture shortly thereafter. I know of exactly one such gun in use in USPSA with none on the way (realistically). What does that leave as far as box fed semi's?? The Saiga 12 and 20 which are Kalashnikov (AK-47) derived actions. I took the plunge & bought a Saiga 20 and it is the only Kalashnikov actioned gun that has ever jammed on me. Moreover, the AWB limits mags to 5 for shotguns (not 10). There are a very very few 8 round prebans for the Saiga 12 out there; I have NEVER heard of a preban 20 gauge mag. Swapping mags every 5 rounds has not proven to be the winning combination. Now, is it theoretically possible to hunt down those few 8 rounders out there & shoot the saiga 12 in Limited?? Possible but extremely unlikely. If the AWB expires however, I know I can swap 8 round mags a lot faster than my competitor can stuff 8 rounds in a tube fed gun - even with the ungainly mag retainer on the AK system. Until we have an anwer on the AWB, the Saiga is not a viable option in USPSA.

Rich - wow, I thought that " V V N-318" was a misprint until you mentioned N3SL which I have heard of. What country are you in & anyone have any idea if N318 is available in the US??

For the zillionth time, I-Shot bags. Use the "SEARCH" function before posting a new question & then post only if you do not find a response. We are more than willing to help those who help themselves first. Regards, C.

I use Ballistol non-toxic lube mixed with water & let em soak in a plastic jug. As for disposal, when the jug is full, it should not be any more toxic to the landfill than throwing out spent primers (which do contain lead styphynate and mercury salts).

In designing the November Match at our local club (ShootersParadise.com) I selected MiniMart as our indoor classifier; the results are up on the website under USPSA/IPSC and "Past Match Results: November 2003".

They are indeed plated. THe most accurate factory data you are likely to find is from Speer, since they manufacture the Electroplated "TMJ" or "Total Metal Jacket" (gee-wonder how they did that?!?!) AND they publish a reloading manual that features common .45 powders incl. the old stand by 231 (HP38 is nearly the same). In my opinion, Regular Plain Old Clays powder feels better (though you will have to use 4.5 grns at 1.250" to get it to Major and its beyond the max Hodgdon load). You could also use a book load for the slower Universal Clays but it will kick more. Best of all, use V V N310, but since V V is brand new in the USA (only been around for 15 years) I doubt anybody will take my suggestion. Still, N310 and WC 200 grn RN or FP are as good as it gets.

Actually, 3 sources of 10 round .40 mags: 1) Tripp research cobra mag (pricey but good & less than a "pre-ban"/post S_I mag) 2) Metalform (search & buy in bulk) and 3) "I just got two new CMC 10-rd .45 mags and used them in my .40 Trojan. These feed perfectly in my gun with no changes to the feed lips. They hold 11 rounds of .40 fully stuffed. Natchez Shooters Supply had them on sale for about $18 as I recall" SS 1911 limited to .45?? Not anymore.

I like the new data on V V's N 310 powder in .45 ACP; this stuff is GREAT and far far supperior to the fast but dirty/inconsistent Bullseye (no offense to the Bullseye users out there). I also like the 3N38 data; I would have liked more data on 9mm Major (besides their sole 1122 FPS / 147 Grain loading with N105) as well as more N 310 data in 9mm, like 124, 135 and 147 data (though I bet we'll never see that). Still progress is progress; good work V V.

Eric wrote" "Crimp is a crock! You've got problems if you are trying to hold the bullet in the case with crimp. Just ask the star of the Competition Reloading video" Amen brothers Eric and Brian! About every reloading manual out there need to be re-written and the word "crimp" needs to be limited to Revolver ammo (where there is an actual crimp that does hold the bullet in place). WHen it comes to autoloader ammo, I have long believed that you can "adjust" crimp in only by changing the sized diameter of the case; i.e., achieving the classic "coke bottle" shape. 2 Cats: don't pitch the brass; it sounds like you are on the verge of solving the problem; there is plenty of good advice in this thread. Regards, C. (aka Carlitos, TY44934, CBR600).

Eric wrote: "There are guys shooting lead in their Glock with few problems. " I have heard this also. Usually, when a Glock shooter gets away with shooting lead, the bullets are very hard cast and usually its a .45 ACP Glock (low projectile velocity). The lead "problems often seem to be from 9mm (high velocity). Keep in mind that if you want to shoot lead in a Glock, the Precision brand, plastic and MolyDisulfide coated bullet is comparable as to price and diameter. A co-worker called Precision and it took some doing to get them to admit that they do use Moly in their coating mixture. However, I do not see this as a problem; the Precision bullet is accurate and less expensive than most GLOCK bullets (i.e. plated and jacketed). Maybe not quite so cheap as lead, but still cheap.

Open rear rifle sight that looks just like the one on a standard Ruger 10-22. Beats the HELL out of a POS "ghost ring". I don't like Ghost ring rear sights. Anyway, my SX2 Mk I rear sight went out of whack the 1st time I took the gun apart & I had to lower the rear sight to its lowest setting just to get it on target @ 25 yards; before that it was: aime at letter A in the A zone; hit neck shots/upper A/B zone. I have since left it folded DOWN. I use the cantelever optic mount AS the rear sight. Works surprisingly well. Try it sometime & let me know what you think.

Phil Strader has been hosting indoor matches for several months here: www.shootersparadise.com You can see each month's stages before the match on our website. This month is a USPSA approved, all-classifier match. I help out with stage design/set-up/RO duties. We will soon add IDPA matches though I will not be involved in running those. A few thoughts: Use non-steel "plates" indoors. The rubber "plates" sold though Dillon (called something like "NuBold") solve any fragmentation/light breakage problems and can be shot point-blank without danger. We do not use those for classifiers however. When we do use real steel (poppers, activators, plates) a simple, thin plywood "roof" over the steel prevents any light breakage by catching all framents. We have not lost a light yet. To allow greater use of the 180, Phil has lined the walls with steel plate that is close to T1 hardness. We limit the angle of hits to 45 degrees or less. So far, there has been NO perceptable damage for thousands of hits by all types of bullets loaded to Major. Space and shoot through problems are a major impediments to our stage design. To allow greater flexibility in stage design, I devised and built temporary backstops using 12" deep portable boxes filled with backstop material (shredded non-steel belted radial tires). I would like to hear from other indoor match directors now that outdoor shooting has stopped for the winter. I am always looking for new ideas/stage designs. Thanks, TY44934

Production: CZ 85 Combat OR IMI Jericho 941FS (aka desert baby eagle in US) OR Steyr M9 L10: CZ 97B (.45ACP) OR Steyr M40

Hopefully, you will see the lower from my open SV blaster with its new STI .40 top end for limited. It started life as Tawn Argeris' open gun for the 99 world shoot at Cebu; I removed the C-More (going to the Jpoint) and w/ the help of a gunsmith friend, built the .40 upper. Barrel is KKM and sights - well they came out of an old parts box so who knows where they came from originally. I blasted it & black parked it using Palmetto parkerizing solution; I'll probably GunKote over that just for corrosion protection. Due to the lack of full length frame, I am running the Cominoli tungsten rod instead of RM; it currently weighs 4 OZ. more than Phil's new gun. My Webpage

Agreed! I have a 16" gun & gave up on finding comp for it. Try 147 loads - you will be surprised how the sights stay on target much better w/ 147 than 115 or 124. Regards, C.

"Heyyy, you don't suppose Clark works at Sierra now? (Inside joke for long-time members.)" hahahahahaha! Man you crack me up sometimes Eric! Seriously, I would never have expected a US based company to publish Major loads with straight Clays - especially at 1.125" and then to even suggest that 320 can be used at all in .40??? What gives?

Eric wrote: "Carlos, poo-pooing Clays and then recommending N310 under a heavy neener bullet? For shame!" Fair enough. The 310 load is no where near a book load & should be approached (if at all) with great caution. Not for the beginner by any means. The N310 charge is so low that double or even tripple charges might be possible if one were to make a mistake. Considering the pressure signs I saw at a charge of just 3.3 grns of N310, a double charge could well damage the gun & possibly the shooter. What would be a safe alternative to N310 for Minor 9mm? Book loads of Titegroup & 147s - shoots almost as well as N310 without the same risks. Not a bad choice at all. A cleaner load might be .1 grn under the min VV book load for N330. Certainly very safe and from a friend's testing, this load was a significant improvement over factory 147s as far as recoil and cleanliness. As for straight Clays, it was my favorite powder in .45 and I even loaded 200s to major using it (though like N310, that is NOT allowed in Hodgdon's book) and shot it out of a ramped, fully supported barrel STI Edge (very strong gun). However, as much as I like Clays, I agree w/ Jeff that Clays does not belong in Major .40 loads. -EDIT- Re read Scott G's comments - wow, that is something to think about. I believe Brian once used Clays back when powerfactor was 175 and some of the weaker, early generation .40 brass was still out there. I seem to remember a comment that the trouble with Clays had to do with temperature & that leaving it in the trunk in the Arizona sun in summer caused Clays pressures to skyrocket unpredictably. I believe he also mentioned that some shooters even resorted to keeping reloads in a cooler until just prior to shooting a stage. Brian and Jeff have far more experience & I still do not plan on trying straight Clays in high pressure .40 (though for low pressure rounds like .45ACP, it is still one of my favorites).

Zak wrote: “Some people think there's a federal law that says you have to inform the common carrier that you are shipping a firearm/handgun. This is ONLY true when NOT shipping to a FFL. So for the common case of shipping a gun off to your gunsmith, or selling a gun and sending it to the destination FFL, you are NOT legally required to disclose it.” EricW replied: “FedEx's shipping policy requires you to declare the handgun. I generally declare guns that I sell just because I'm insuring someone else's property and don't want the claim rejected.” Just to clarify, I am well aware that I (as a non-FFL holder) am allowed to send firearms to an FFL holder through common carriers (but NOT U.S. postal service - that is reserved for FFL to FFL shipments only). I am NOT required by law to inform the common carrier that the package contains a firearm. The notification is not law, but merely some huge faceless company’s misguided policy (hey, the rental car companies have a “policy” that I must drive less than 55mph at all times; suuuuure- that’s what I’ll do!). What are the risks of violating this policy? Hmmm. 1) Insurance? Maybe. If the packages were to be stolen, UPS might claim no duty to honor the insurance because the sender misrepresented the contents. Fair enough, but if I pay for overnight W/ a tracking number & label the contents as “rock samples” then what are the chances of theft? I think they are low. 2) UPS might discover the gun. So what? Could they refuse to deliver? Yep. Then I’d simply walk over to FedEx & re-send. Could they keep the gun? No - what basis would they have? You did not break any laws (only company policy) & if they try to confiscate the gun, it would constitute theft of a firearm, unlawful transfer, etc. They can’t turn it over to police because no crime was committed. UPS overnight for shipping guns is beginning to look more attractive. Eric - that really blows. I could not agree with you more about the “demonization” of guns by the mindless PC crowd & the media composed of liberal spin doctors. I would think an apology from FedEx is in order but I would not hold my breath these days.

Just got back from the range to try out some SV .40/ 180 grn loads (could not chrono sadly). Powders used: Titegroup and N320 w. Ranier 180s and Zero 180 JHPs. FIRST: WARNING!! STAY AWAY FROM CLAYS IN MAJOR .40!! Don’t take my word alone for it, look at Jeff Maass' website and reloading data: http://home.columbus.rr.com/jmaass/index.html There, you will find Jeff’s Clays (straight Clays of course) warning as follows: “In particular, you are urged to avoid any load using Hodgdon CLAYS for IPSC-velocity .40S&W loads. Although many of the ‘Super Squad’ shooters are using Clays, Hodgdon’s loading data shows a maximum IPSC power factor of 153 for CLAYS. Although it is possible to load to a power factor of 165 using CLAYS, especially in guns that allow a cartridge overall length of 1.200” and greater, there are FAR SAFER options available with the medium and slower burning powders.” He adds the following: “.40S&W for IPSC Major. Powder Choices When it comes to selecting a powder to use in loading a new caliber, reloaders tend to try to use whatever powder they have on hand or which they have traditionally used for other calibers. In gathering these loads, I received numerous reports that the .40S&W is dangerously unpredictable when loaded to IPSC Major velocities with fast-burning powders and heavy bullets. These reports have come from enough independent sources that I have taken them to heart, and I have omitted from this list any load using the fastest powders (generally, those faster than VihtaVuori N320).” Anyway, the loads I used were from Jeff’s list and were slightly modified by backing off a tenth or two and often loading longer to as long as 1.220" OAL. Though they sound different, I found major loads using 320 and Titegroup to be quite similar as to feel and accuracy. Price wise, Titegroup wins hands down. Now for 9mm Minor, it IS worth reloading & Forum member “High Tech Redneck” and I both agree that the ultimate 9mm Minor load is a 147 over N310 powder. You will not find this published & do not even think of going much over 900 fps with this load (use only about 3.1 or 3.2 grns MAX and load it long to 1.155 - it will still fit in a Glock mag at that length). This is about as good a Minor load as is possible. The published Titegroup.147 loads are not bad either; I tried those before moving to N310. BTW, I spent 2 years working downtown & living in the old schoolhouse near Delaware & Utica. Buffalo was a fun town & I miss it sometimes. Be safe & shoot well. Best regards, C.