Carlos

The 18" barrel version was the one I referred to. You want the 22" in order to get the most out of the gun under the rules.

I get that problem too, even though I have not broken my SX2 (bought around 2002). Happened from nearly new & after I lent it to a friend for a 750+ round shotgun class at Blackwater. Thought I saw a fix posted here someplace (or was it global village?). Had to do with beefed up springs? Anyone? Also - I think the new CDNN guns might be slightly down on magazine capacity over my 2002 Winchester. What bbl length?

And yet 92% would use 9mm. 50% gravitate to two manufacturers. Two other manufacturers account for 23% of the remaining 50%. Thats 73% ging for one of 4 guns. Exactly - and I see that as a problem since new shooters (which we desperately need) will feel the need to have one of those guns to be competitive (whether it is true or not). I am all in favor of keeping the door open to new shooters & the folks "behind enemy lines" in CA, NY, etc. BTW - I have shot an SP-01 for the last 3 years and I live in a state without mag restrictions. If the rules change, I am set as far as equipment. Thus, I don't have a dog in this fight. But I want USPSA to do the right thing. Keep production as it is.

I think there were surplus police CZs imported into the US from South Africa & sold off for low prices. Some Turkish departments issue clones. And CZs might have been issued to police in Argentina (I saw HPs there for sure - but possible CZs too - this was in BA in the 90s).

Keep in mind that 9mm Major was successful at the OLD power factor of 175+ even when loaded to the short lengths required by the Springfield P-9 open guns. Sure- the brass was 2mm longer but the OAL was a max of 1.160 or so (same as current 9major) and that brass was no stronger than once fired 9mm brass used today for milder 9mm Major. And, back in the day, they did not have the selection of safe modern powders that you have now. 9mm Major is as safe as any caliber loaded for open major.

I shot revolver with Bob at Thurmont about three weeks back & he kicked butt with that new moonclip holder of his. Good design & excellent fabrication on Bob's part. I think it is the way to go for revolver. And Bob is a heck of a nice guy to boot.

That is what most USPSA & IPSC competitors believe. Look at the obsession with gaining 1 or 2 extra rounds here on be.com and on the global village. We probably spend more time on this topic than any other gun-technical topic. Does it matter in reality? -frankly, reality does not matter. Popular perception is that 1 or 2 rounds really matter in our sport. AND - course designers create stages to force what they perceive as magazine capacity (I certainly have done that: making a course 12 rounds intead of 10 or 11 or making it 22 rounds instead of 20, etc.). RacerBA wrote: "17 vs. 19 is no big deal. Losing a couple of rounds to someone isn't as big a deal as people make it out to be. Reloading on the move isn't going to cost me much more time." That may be true. I tend to agree with you. But its not what people believe nor is it what they will do. Everyone will jump to the highest capacity 9mm-only production guns based on perception (they do it in IPSC). I also agree with TGO that accuracy is what counts and in general, too many of us are too obsessed with speed at the expense of accuracy (that is what I recall of the interview with him from the '05 nationals. Will TGO's advice go unheeded? I think so. Change the capacity rules and you will only see 4 guns in production: SP-01 (18 rounds) Tanfoglio (same) Glock 17 (18 rnds - yes you can usually squeeze on extra in a 17) or Para LDA-18. The door will be closed to any other guns being "perceived" as competitive. That would be an unfortunate change from the successful division we have now. Leave Production alone.

Putting a 16" long 2" diameter bull barrel on it. . In England, don't they still allow certain "long barreled Revolvers" and classify them as rifles? Odd - for sure - but perhaps they have some insights?

How about the site of our last Nationals, the United States Shooting Academy? http://www.usshootingacademy.com/index.html Shooting instruction offered by Phil Strader, among others (take a look at the staff roster). The South West would be another good option (Angus is, like you, European), as would possibly a visit to Frank Garcia's range.

Sad to say that none of the top 4 or 5 manufacturers are building a dedicated 3 gun upper as you describe. Instead, the excellent (though small-volume) custom builders supply uppers/ rifles ready to run. We are just too small of a market to justify the really big names in building a gun for us. Remington built us the "Competition Master" shotgun, but to get it to sell, they had to change the name & marketing to "Tactical" (then it sold like hotcakes). I wish the competition community was more relevant. NOTE: Of the big makers, DPMS offers both USPSA & the general 3gun/multigun community great match support & prizes.

Maybe a topic for another day, but I think there are quite a few folks using Clays & I am using Solo 1000 due to its clean burning qualities.

Undersized cylinders from S&W would certainly cause a problem. From a machining standpoint, the reamers used in mass production actually get smaller with each use (by a tiny fraction) and they have a limited lifespan - like any tool. I do not know what sort of wear Ti causes on a chamber reamer. Add in the Ti anodizing process, and it could get tricky for S&W to get it right all the time.

I agree with you. By keeping the 10 round limit in Production, USPSA creates a division that welcomes 40, and even 45ACP. Besides, we all know how much most cops need USPSA-type practice so it benefits us to make the sport welcoming to them. USPSA also welcomes a wider variety of 9mm guns than IPSC production does - where in IPSC, there is a perception that you need a Glock 17 or a SP-01 (or LDA) to be competitive due to the one to three extra round capacity (look at the stats). I do not live in California nor is there a magazine restriction in my state. BUT, the largest gun-buying market in the US is California. If the magazine capacity in Production is increased, it will effectively leave out the shooters in those states (yes I know about "pre-ban magazine" owners - lets not go there again). I do not see the need for an increase in Production mag limits in USPSA (perhaps IPSC could change their rule?).

Hi Bill & welcome to the 625 club. I noticed you did not mention what type of 230 grain bullet you use. Is it a lead bullet? Could it be oversized slightly? Also, you wrote: "The failure is the rounds won't go all the way into the cylinder on the revolver. Just too tight. " If it is not a build up of crud in the cyclinder, then I suspect something is up with the ammo. Do you use the Lee FCD too?

While there may be some reamers that are larger than others, I hate to tell you this, but the EGW die - or at least a standard Lee - in a new 550 is probably your best option. A friend reloaded for his .40 glock w/ an SDB for years until he bought a CZ. None of his reloads would chamber in the CZ's match chamber. THe SBD die was just too sloppy & did not reach far enough down the brass for the reloads to work in anything but his Glock's cavernous chamber. And he had 2 case head separations before switching away from the SDB. Since getting a 550 & Lee dies, no problems since his ammo is now safe. I would fix your press & die combo rather than trying to hog out the fine KKM barrel you have. And use OneShot like it shows in Brian's video.

I don't want to turn this into an "us vs. them" thread. However, if there is a distinction to be drawn, it should be made between those who shoot USPSA and those who will hopefully discover USPSA. The increasing numbers are encouraging. The correction of the "Jim Zumbo" attitude is encouraging. The increasing number of CCWs issued and the states that are shall issue - this is also encouraging. What can we do to keep the trend going? A.: bring a friend to your next "shoot" (try not to call it "competition" around the newbies) and show them what its really all about.

If we want to hold on to our rights, including owning guns & protecting ourselves with them, then we NEED women on board in MUCH larger numbers than we have right now. How? I believe it is a woman's RIGHT TO CHOOSE - to protect herself & her childen from larger, more powerful male attackers and the one tool that can give a mother/woman that edge is a concealed handgun carried with a lawful permit & weilded by HER experienced hands. Q. Is a mother's instinct to protect her children strong, or weak? If you frame the "gun control" debate as "Taking away a mother's/woman's RIGHT TO CHOOSE (to protect herself)", you will get a lot more women on our side. Put aside the macho crap guys, there is too much at stake here. Get your wife a permit. Get your daughter a permit. Get your grandmother a permit. And make sure they can shoot.

Wasn't Mad Cow disease spread by unregulated animal feed - specifically, meat by products fed to cows? Also, how is melanine harvested from demolition sites? (and on this topic - why are our gasoline & lead prices so high again?) I think some strategic independence is in order here in the US.

+1 Main things for me were the auto-indexing of the 650 (makes it *much* harder to screw up and double-charge a case), and the case feeder which, obviously, you can now get with the 550. I also like the extra position available in the 650 which provides extra flexibility. For example, you can add a dedicated neck-sizing die when loading rifle... or a powder-check die, or whatever. Go for the 650. You won't regret it. Bruce Agreed. EGW "U" die, auto indexing, & powder check die have meant zero mistakes for me. Maybe it can be done with other presses (should be anyway). Personally, I like the extra precautions a 650 offers.

REX-0, aka Rex24 or Rex "Azure-blue" is the most fast-burning Rex powder. Here in Italy we use Rex powders a lot, but near anyone uses the Rex-0, especially for the 40 S&W caliber. We cosiders it too fast, even for .45 ACP. But, to be honest, I've not tested it personally. Here in the US, we usually use the most fast burning powders in .45 ACP for the low-power requirements of USPSA/IDPA & NRA Bullseye competition. The powders we often use include the V V N-310 that you likely have in Italy, as well as our Bullseye, W231/HP-38, regular Hodgdon Clays (a shotgun powder) Solo 1000, Titegroup and a few others that lead the burn rate chart as "fast." We only need to meet the 165 PF level, so these fast powders are safe for our purpose. And, the .45 is capable of much much higher PF, although it might be advisable to use a slower powder for such powerful loads in the .45 ACP (do a search on loads used for bowling pins, or serch "45 Super"). I agree that these fast powders listed above, along with Rex-0, might be slightly more risky for use in the .40, where a setback, combined with such fast powders, could generate excessive pressure (as a setback can do with ANY powder, I realize). Industry pressure limits for .40 in the US are about 35,000PSI with NO "+p" limit/margin where as the .45 runs about 17,000 PSI (i.e. - about 1/2 as much). I realize that you follow CIP limits in Italy, not SAAMI.

Atlanta Arms ammo comes in 2 varieties: -Black box - new components, meets power factor and it is outstanding quality for good price. -Blue Box commercial reloads. Not bad usually - but it might not meet power factor in .40 in YOUR gun. That is a simple reality of having to deal with re-cycled .40 brass as EVERY commercial reloader MUST. Just make sure you chrono it before you head to a big match. If anyone bad-mouths Atlanta, then ask them which variety they were using, since they will probably leave that detail out. Atlanta or Delta precision are your best options for USPSA.

If you look at the Lee book, they list a +p 200 grain LEAD load at 800 FPS. That is 25 FPS shy of major - and as a published load, you can assume they were looking at it being safe in the weakest .38s out there. If your gun is a really strong & modern design in good condition & you load as long as you can, you might just squeak by shooting Major from a .38 special. But I'd use a .357 or .45 ACP if for nothing other than peace of mind.

That is unfortunate. I know that the SV/STIs come throated to accept 1.170 and even longer. A 9mm chamber reamer works on any 9mm barrel. Also, longer OAL 9mm ammo might address whatever feeding concerns that Graufel had in choosing an unlimited free supply of .38 super over 9mm major. Agree that all those holes may make 9Major more difficult - but again, that would be off set if the 9mm could be loaded longer than 1.160".

Just to add: Yes, fire destroyed the range last month. Yes, this is the range/store that Phil once owned. The new owners have announced that they will rebuild and reopen the range & store in 5 to 7 months. Until then, the Shooters website & forum have a lot of info on 3gunning in this area and are up & running at: www.shootersparadise.com Shooters Paradise Regards, D.

Graufel - who gets his ammo for free - also said something to that effect over on the ISPC global village. Maybe if .38 sup were cheap and 9mm was expensive, I would go for super - but it looks like 9mm will work fine & I am not sure that people have really tried loading it long for the Gold Team - on the order of 1.160 to 1.180 with certain bullets. Henning - are the 9mm guns also throated for long-loaded ammo? BTW - the guns from about 1990 were fed 9mm ammo at 180+ power factor - and they were the small framed guns! The newer guns are much larger and can only be stronger than the ones from 15 years ago.