Carlos

EDIT: there is an answer now and it appears to be from MV. Will not cross-post it here so as not to violate either set of forum rules. I WILL say I disagree w/ the rule's need - particularly as stated. It has nothing to do with safety and it has nothing to do w/ moving USPSA's in the direction of harmonizing w/ IPSC rules. What is needed is to erase that rule from the proposal for the next rulebook. For the non-production shooters reading this, just think about how long you are going to have to wait around at chrono due to this unecessary rule.

Hate to admit it, but its an issue limited to the plated bullets or how they are loaded (BTW - did you know the Speer Gold Dot and the Federal "Fusion" rifle ammo are electroplated?). If you have another gun shooting minor, save the bullets for lower velocity work. Also consider less crimp or a slower powder.

If you plan on re-using the brass, then bell as little as possible. Around here, we don't pick up brass, so the amount that the brass gets "worked" in the reloading process is meaningless to me.

The primers on the fired casing pictured above don't seem to show much pressure at all; certainly not excessive pressure. Perhaps this has to do with proper powder selection and the use of high quality brands like Vihta Vouri, Lapua and Norma? Also, several rifles in this chambering feature longer barrels than 16" - including some Valmets, Russian Saigas and various long barreled AK variants.

drop in a $8 Wolff hammer spring (15 lb or 16 lb - if you use CCI) and the gun is ready to go in USPSA or IDPA (except SP-01 in IDPA). The Combat model is optimized for either sport.

He is a class act who has occasionally crossed over to "the dark side" to shoot USPSA w/ us at our humble local club match for extra trigger time. Ernie is a great spokesman for S&W - and like Julie, he actually uses an M&P that anyone can get - even showing up right before last year's winter nationals w/ the brand new M&P and full-house .40 ammo (factory loading from a big-box store like WalMart).

Good move. The CZ-75B, 85 Combat and SP-01 are guns with all-steel frames with an all steel slide. Very accurate. As for pedigree, they use a barrel/lockup that is a very close relative of John Moses Browning's last design before he died: the Browning P-35 High Power. Also, besides the 1911 and now, the custom Glock, they are about the only guns that have a history of being so strong that they can survive a constant diet of 9mm Major as used in our sport.

IMHO, the USPSA President, who proposed it, has a responsibility to state his reasons for doing so to the membership. State what the problem is and how this will fix it. If BOD members who opposed it can state their comments and face the membership, he should follow their example and do the same. Agreed. Would like to hear an explanation of "why" USPSA is deemed to "need" this new rule. Has there been a problem in Production Division we are not aware of? Regards, C.

Good point. For those who doubt its safety, please take another look at the components above which are being used by the Finns: generally the ultra high quality Lapua brass & bullets, Vihta Vouri powder and an AR upper or probably the extreme quality Valmet rendition of an AK - often w/ a longer than 16" barrel. This stuff ain't your daddy's gunshow-bargain AK and wolf ammo. Still, it would have quite the "rainbow" trajectory.

Agreed - for the non-competition shooter this makes sense. However, many of those on this forum are loading .40 to an OAL that is close to 10mm OAL for use in a 1911 style gun - which really makes the .40 we shoot into a different cartridge altogether. For those who are loading .40 to "short OAL" or reloading manual OAL (max of about 1.160" or less) Titegroup has the advantage of being able to safely propel a 180 grn bullet (virtually everyone uses the 180 for its low recoil advantage) to our "major" requirement. Flex - agree that the "dirt" which TG produces is easily cleaned and it is not the sort of fouling that tends to stop up the gun (unlike Unique for example - filthy stuff).

Tite Group works for me every time also. Not dirty at all. Titegroup Major (high pressure) = clean Titegroup minor = dirty. Titegroup + bare lead or "coated" bullets = dirty (but IMHO, lead is dirty no matter what powder you use).

This is a great thread. Perhaps we could get it permanently tagged in the reloading section or if anyone is willing to collect all the photos to show what to look out for . . . ?

Mine still works. Bought the X2 MK I in 02 and took it to N. Mtn. Eric Lund still lived around here & I let him and about 5 others run their ammo through it. No problem. Did 3 or 4 of the 3guns at NRA (gun does not like: Fiocci lo recoil buck or strangely - any Winchester ammo - but it loves Federal & Rem incl low recoil). Did 10 or more indoor 3 gunshoots at Shooters Paradise & another 5 or 10 in Area 8. Took it skeet shooting 5 or 6 times & got 2 light strikes - so I added a Wolff hammer spring. Then I lent it to a friend for a shotgun only class he took at Blackwater - 1000+ rounds. Said the cops who showed up had lots of extra ammo - incl slugs - so he took all they would give him. He also said the cops complained a lot about their sore shoulders. Recently, it sometimes does release an extra round onto the carrier which prevents topping off between arrays - but it does not jam the gun. And it still keeps on running. I used to own an 1100 for hunting. It jammed a lot more. The X2 has stopped up on a few occasions & usually due to ammo - but nothing like all the jams w/ the 1100. ANd nothing breaks on the X2.

It was, at one time, an MD State requirement until the last Governor relaxed the interpretation and allowed a barrel lock instead of an ILS (kinda funny - Glock ILS was allowed but all CAS/SASS revolvers were banned). That governor lost in November. The ILS may yet again rear its ugly/unecessary head.

Well, I am not Bob and I can't keep up w/ him in wheelgunnin (ICORE or USPSA). But the plan is, so far as I know, to set up and shoot the ICORE match on the Saturdays prior to the North Mountain USPSA shoot (which will be on Sunday). The North Mountain schedule for 2007 will appear on our section's website: www.vamdsection.org Also, our new section coordinator, Tino DiMatina, is a classified Revolver shooter in USPSA, though not a revolver regular, but maybe we can coax him out to the Orchard a day early for an ICORE shoot. Also, for those travelling from a long ways off, you might consider shooting the ICORE on Sat. and sticking around for Dan & Elaine Chandler's excellent USPSA match on Sunday (aka North Mountain USPSA). Regards, Douglas

I added a Fulton Armory (google search) side charger carrier to a DPMS upper that I modified on a mill. It is in the right side. Next time, I will not buy the Fulton, but rather, drill/tap my own carrier and add a slot so the reciprocating handle is in the LEFT side.

Great advice so far. Here is a suggestion: -do not spend a single cent more on your shooting equipment (except ammo) and for goodness sakes stay in your division. Just practice - and most of it should be dry fire. Your equipment can take you all the way and do not let anyone talk you into this or that gun/division. But to get to the top, the investment you need to make is: TIME. How much? 20 min a night. Every night. Just get the gun in your hand and dry fire. Don't go longer than 20 min or you will get bored. But by having the gun in your hand & your eyes on those sights every night, you WILL improve. Probably quickly. The books & tapes/DVDs might help, but they cannot replace the time with gun-in-hand. D.

In a story entitled "US Mint moves to ban penny melting" ABCNews.com reports that copper demand is so high that in other countries, its cost effective to buy a penny AND the energy to melt it, just to get the scrap copper. Our ammunition uses copper in the brass case and primer as well as possibly in the bullet jacket. Here is a quote: "Rapid industrial growth in countries like China and India has dramatically driven up the price of scrap metal. In fact, copper prices are up more than 180 percent since mid-2003, selling for just more than $3 a pound. " Here is the ABCNEWS.COM LINK Lead is up too. It is used in car/motorcycle batteries and the auto-industry in China is booming. Explains why I had to pay $45 for 230 grn Zeros - and that was for only 500 at a gunshow! Lead is also used in our primers (Federals are up to $90+ for a box of 5K). So, you guys like Precision bullets ?

I'm curious, do you mean not pick up the brass while practicing or at matches? I spent 60 seconds at matches picking up my brass, any more time than that and I feel like I'm getting in the way of the next shooter. While practicing, with any caliber, I probably retain 99% of my brass. I can get back brass from practice with little problem. But I shoot a lot of matches, and the ranges i frequent are usually very uncooperative in regards to finding your brass... Around here, we don't pick up brass at a match, local or sectional/area. I know it may still be an old custom in a few places, but fewer and fewer places seem to do it.

Chris - I know where you can get the gun pictured in your avatar converted to 9mm Major for a reasonable price.

Kinda sounds like me now that you mention it. I have been struggling with the same issue on my high-mileage "A" gun. It was getting progressively later on the carry up. I bought an oversized hand and was trying to solve the problem that way. My latest effort has been to replace the star and the old hand. Everything ran very well this past weekend with a *much* earlier lockup, so I'm cautiously declaring victory. Sadly have to agree. My brother's Model 19 started spitting jacket material during a pin shoot in 1999. Returned it w/ a kind note. They repaired it - but cherged my brother $80 in parts labor (believe a hand was replaced). Gun was left on the front porch in Baltimore city (can't recall if S&W used UPS, FED Ex or USPS back then). Fixed? Nope. 2nd cylinder of JHPs through the gun sent one big crescent-shaped sliver of jacket material backwards into my thumb and it started bleeding all over. ANother piece hit a bystander in the forehead & left a black mark. Back it went - w/ a slighty less kind note. This time, they did not charge for the repair. Gun worked great! BUT, they replaced the frame w/one that had a different serial number - which would have been just fine except that my brother lived in California at the time. Thank God he moved. Hopefully, customer service repairs have improved since the company is back in U.S. hands & both Julie and Jerry are on S&W's payroll, albeit in a different department. D.

$130 per 1000 for 180 grn bullets sounds good - especially since they throw in the case primer & powder plus saving you the time reloadng 1000 rounds. AND - it makes power factor. USGI practice .45 ACP was once made out of steel. Anyone seen the price of 180 grn bullets these days?

Thanks to Bob Purdue and Dan and Elaine Chandler for organizing this - the second ICORE club in Virginia (the 1st one is here: www.shootersparadise.com). Very good weather today, that was surpassed only by the company and good shooting by all (not to mention the best squirell chili I've had all season). Regards, Douglas

I guess if someone could point out to them the $$ benefits they reap from SASS shooting then maybe they would take another look at potential $$ from USPSA and IDPA (though we are, sadly, a fraction of the size of the SASS crowd). Had a Red Hawk .44 years ago and it was a great firearm that performed very very well while I owned it. Would love to see a 5" .45 ACP version (on a diet of course). Politics aside, nothing wrong w. a ruger 6-shooter.

Too true! I practice here: www.shootersparadise.com Its rifle/pistol/shotgun indoor range w/ a pro shop that was once owned by GM Phil Strader. Draw allowed and there is a USPSA program that I used to run prior to 06. Also an active ICORE, IDPA and 3gun programs so the managers/staff treat the competition community VERY well (since they are part of that community!). Weekly CCW courses. And in the past there have been RO/CRO classes in addition to an IDPA S.O. class and a competition beginer's class. Overall, it has a lot of benefits and very few, if any, drawbacks (other than not being in my back yard & sitting on 50+ acres of my own. Someday . . ) D.