Carlos

Heck, I;ll find some factory 15s or (gasp) shoot a Glock in Production of we can make Area 8 a reality. If you build it, they will come.

I carry an M40 daily. Already, I have taken some heat at the range from folks reminding me that Steyr was recently sanctioned by the State Department. Only my gun was built & bought long before that happened. Anyway, I am a fan of the design; so much so that I trust my life to it. What is not to like about a highly reliable Austrian gun with a Tennifer finish and the lowest axis of bore next to a P7? Glad to know they now back up these fine weapons with service a-la Dillon, Glock, etc.

Agreed. Unless they can find a way to funnel through DCM somehow, then everything gets cut to pieces before it can come back in. What's worse is that they are likely to be "donated" as foreign aid to countries like Iraq, Afganistan, etc. before they would ever turn them over to DCM/CMP. I wish this were not the case, but I have to agree w/ Patrick's pesimism here.

Factory FMJ Boat Tail; 55 grn from Federal. Even goes off with the light trigger springs. For indoor use (25 yard 3gun competition) I use Wolf. Even Wolf shoots under an inch at 25 yards.

Excellent bullets; I used them at last year's Nationals. Make the OAL 1.180 to 1.200" with those bullets. Remember - you are loading for a 1911, not the shorter .40s that your reloaidn manual contemplates. I tried Unique and I thought it was the worst, most dirty, smelly, temp sensitive powder ever. Better choices? Titegroup; Universal, N-320, even N330 or N340 - maybe even HP-38 or WSF or the hard kickin Power Pistol.

As proof of concept, the multiple World Champ shoots the Large Frame Tanfoglio and the gun comes from Tanfoglio ready to run. It is extremely popular outside the USA. Its certainly capable. There are more 2011 gunsmiths in the USA - that is true. However, EGW and others still retain the ability to customize Tanfoglios from their work on the old Tanfoglio open guns of the 90s (that were sold by Springfield as the "P9").

Xre wrote: "Seems like your 12gr load, Carlos, ought to be pretty "crunchy" when you're seating the head, eh?? " Hahaha - never thought of describing any of my reloading practices as "crunchy" - but that is an accurate description! I used a 2 step crimp with a combo seat/crimp die and then an extra crimp only die in the last station of the 650. I also crimp the Montanas tightly.

Might be reference to blackening of metalic sights with either spray-can sight black or for the old schoolers, with a carbide lamp that deposits black soot for an extra crisp sight picture.

I thought I was the only guy who liked black-parkerized race guns!!?!?! Good lookin blaster and I like the creative extra machining on that gun - as well as the large "9x19" on the barrel. D.C. Johnson

So much for that idea, unfortunately. My CZs run like crap with the fixed 10 rounders and I only own two of them anyway. And taking the Normal capacity mags (16 rounders) there in pieces is not an option according to the NJ A.G. Will not be shooting Production in NJ. Lets keep going with the creative ideas though. Perhaps we can find a way out of this situation.

My major loads with N105 produced very very little pressure - to the point where it looked almost like the WSP primers has been fired w/ NO powder ot projectile. I could not add enough 105 to get primer pressure signs. Must be Federal primers you are using? I was loading close to 12 grns at one point to see what effect it might have on the comp. Super safe powder IMHO. Can you tell us more about your load?

You indicate that several thou rounds you have already contain 3.3 grns; I would not shorten those any due to pressure. The internal ballistics program Quickload would SUGGEST that loading shorter than 1.160 with that much N310 could cause pressure problems. -again, just a Quickload SUGGESTION until someone actually pressure tests N310/147 loads. My preferred load for years has been 3.2 grns between 1.140 and 1.155" (Zero JHP). In my CZ magazines (latest 15 and 16 round MecGars) any longer than 1.155 can sometimes get hung up in the mag. Two close friends earned their A cards with this load and combined we probably have loaded 30K of this combination; I set up all 3 of our 650s with Lee brand U or Undersized dies. If you shoot a long barreled Glock 34, you could probably make PF with 3.1 or possibly even 3.0 grns.

Sad day; my maternal grandfather worked in that plant and now it will be no more. Anyone know what country makes Winchester primers? They are the most popular primer in the USPSA. CZ-USA is now a stand-alone company from it's parent company overseas. CZ-USA also owns the American company, Dan Wesson. For now though, the CZ pistols and rifles are manufactured in the Czech Republic.

" believe Rudy is using the 185 gr. RN with the hollowbase, and he seems to do just fine..." That is what he told me he was using just before he moved out of Area 8; forgot to ask him about his load at the Nationals as we got to talking about his new training job. I hope he gets back into wheelguns for the 2006 Nationals. Rudy is a great guy to be around. D.

Spooke wrote: I shoot Frontier in my 625. 230 grain copper plated. I am also not much of a bench tester, but I can hit the upper A-zone @20yds all day long with these bullets. I like Frontier. Frontier = PLATED HARD CAST LEAD Berrys/Ranier/Speer = swaged lead core which mean its soft, pure lead, not hardcast. I have used the strange Berrys 185 grn Hollow Base (its as hollow as a blackpowder Minnie ball), the westcoast 200 rn and the frontier 230. I like the accuracy of the Frontier the best from my 625.

Mustang wrote: "I'm really surprised that I seem to be the only one around who has the best of both worlds, capacity and non-grenade ammo. Can we say 10MM? Same capacity as the .40. You have to load the 10MM DOWN to make major. With a load that might be "questionable" in a .40 the 10MM isn't even breathing hard. My own load is 4.5 of Clays (green container) behind a 200 gr. JFP. OAL 1.245". 172 PF and very soft shooting. No pressure signs. From the experienceof one of my buddies I would definitely NOT recommend this in a .40. He didn't blow the gun up but the brass was UGLY. And yes, if you saw it, I'm the guy who wrote the article "Why Not The 10MM?" in Front Sight magazine a few years back. 10MM, try it, you'll like it." Load .40 cal out to 1.220" or longer OAL and it pretty much IS 10mm. Its ceased to be ".40 S&W" since it is beyond the specified max SAAMI OAL and will not work in the majority of factory .40 cal guns (besides 1911/2011s). Moreover, we don't police brass or pick it up around here (VA/MD Section). 10mm brass is crazy expensive compared to .40 - which is nearly free. If 10mm were more popular & brass was free, I might be more into it.

After being in your shoes some years back, I can relate. Here is what I did: By the end of 2001, I owned a lot of suitable handguns and after selling off my .45 Edge, I built myself a .40 cal SV from an old open gun I have. It was & still is a fine gun for Limited and it took me to the last Nationals. However, I shot 10% below my percentage in Limited, B Class. Seems like there are a lot of guys shooting Limited, B class. It was a little de-moralizing, though I blame only my self for not shooting better. Anyway, I realized that what separates the A & B shooters from the Masters was not really speed as much as it was points. Put another way, they shoot more "A"s. Ie, more accuracy. They also recover faster from mistakes (we all make them). Then I saw Saul Kirsch's excellent Nationals video: TGO (Leatham) flat out stated that guys do not shoot with enough accuracy, placing their faith in pure speed. I could certainly apply the principle of "more accuracy" in Limited. However, I often got hung up on magazine capacity, constant cleaning, reloading, springs, etc. It became a bit much to handle at a time when I should have been thinking about my accuracy. In Production, I MUST concentrate on accuracy for points. Besides, with my CZ 9mms, the guns always work, the mags rarely need cleaning and never need tuning (buy the newer 16rd Mec Gars - they are the best ever made), and I get more mag change practice. And accuracy? CZs are incredibly accurate. I have two close friends who got it right & simply stuck with Production & made very few changes to thier basic set-up, concentrating instead on improvement. They are now A's while I am still a B class shooter. Gun wise, take the path of least hassle (Production) and concentrate on accuracy. D.C. Johnson www.shootersparadise.com

Though N-310 is being used in USPSA in calibers like 9mm and .40, it has the distinct advantage of being a very very consistent SINGLE BASE powder while Titewad appears to be a double based fast burner for a non-pistol application. I trust GM Iprod's warnings on this powder and would avoid Titewad for safety's sake.

Might give Kimber a call; they make a lot of the very 1911s used in IDPA.

Not a very good photo, but here are two AKs in 5.56mm. Both are made in the USA (or at least a majority of the parts are - according to how the batfe counts parts). The top gun is from Arsenal of Las Vegas and uses a solid milled receiver and Bulgarian parts (the best IMHO). The magazine is clear like the ones for the Sig 550 series and it uses a windage adjustable rear sight like the RPK machinegun. The muzzle break is loosely based on the AK-74 break but is a US made copy. The bottom gun is a stamped, hardened sheet steel receivered Romanian SAR-3 with Bulgarian plum furnature from an AK-74 kit that I will get around to one of these days (with the correct # of US parts of course). The barrel is from that kit & the wood in the picture is the original stock set that came on the SAR - only stripped & re-finnished. Besides the stocks, I re-cut the crown and it is now quite accurate with quality brands of .223 ammo. It is lighter than the milled gun and I like the shorter stocks on these. I think that with quality low-mounted optics, these guns are viable choices in 3 gun. Yes- they do take a little longer to reload, but that can be trained for. These guns are very reliable.

On a related note; if I have a SA/DA auto like Beretta or specifically, a CZ -75, and I want to shoot in ESP, the question is: CAN I start with the hammer DOWN ? Yes, I know that the 1st shot would be DA and every shot thereafter would be SA (no competitive advantage) - but I did not see anything that would prevent this in the rules.

Dan Wesson 1911 or a CZ such as the CZ 85 Compact (now 75 Compact) in .40.

RW Magnus wrote: "If you reload I highly recomment the EGW under sizing die. You will eliminate the Glock bulge and forget about bullet setback. I also feel the Lee factory crimp Die (FCD) is a good investment. YMMV but I will not reload 40's without them now." Exactly. Most people wrongly blame case head seperations on false "double charge" because they are clueless about what set-back is or how sensitive the .40 is to OAL/effect of a set back. Alternatively, they blame seperation on the Glock chamber or weak brass (though there ARE problems with certain older types of brass or really worn out .40 brass). I have loaded well over 20K of .40; all of it with at least 180 grn bullets and most of it loaded to Major with sometimes questionable brass and using the die combo above, I have had ZERO KBs with .40.

Jimmy - back to your question: reality is that .40 Minor can actaully produce LESS perceived recoil than 9mm; the .40 you know & like shooting is potentially the best XD for production division. Simply buy some .40 minor from Precision Delta or possibly Atlanta arms and your problems are solved. Or reload.

"This bugs me. I don't know." I believe you read the rules correctly. It would bug me too, since it appears that you did not gain any competitive advantage nor was it your intent to gain an advantage. Appears to be a matter of "rules is rules." "Probably sell it all for a XD9 Tactical" That appears to be the best course of action. Probably will get more $$ putting the .40 barrel back in & selling the conversion seperate from the gun.