Carlos

If you are shooting a steel frame .40 in L/L-10; there is a good reason to select a similar (and familiar) steel frame for Production. While glocks work fine (its all I shoot in GSSF & for CCW) for Production, I like the steel frame CZ. Any advantage to a steel frame DA 9mm? Sig & Beretta seem to think so. Both Sig & Beretta's flagship guns were their DA 9mms; the Model 92 our troops carry in Iraq & the Sig 226. Both featured ALLOY aluminum frames only until last year. Suddenly both companies started offering steel frame versions of their flagship 9mm autos. WHY!??!?! Cheaper? no. Better for CCW? Of course not. Aluminum not able to stand up to 9mm recoil? No - aluminum is strong enough. They offered steel frames for competition use. That is not to say that an alloy or plastic gun can't compete (obvioulsy they can & do) but many shooters have compared light to heavy frames and prefer a heavy frame. SHooting 1/2 a year of USPSA with a GLock 17 (the GSSF model) was frustrating for me. Picking up a CZ-75B was love at first sight picture. I now shoot an 85 Combat with a 15 lb trigger spring. Regards, D.C. Johnson www.shootersparadise.com

Harmongreer wrote: "i think this happened because of slight bullet set back and PMC brass." I agree. Another critical reason to use the Lee carbide U or undersize die in .40 along with the Lee carbide crimp die or FCD crimp die. I also find V V powder more forgiving with hot loads for both .40 and Major9. Regards, D.C. Johnson www.shootersparadise.com

Just finished tonight's indoor match - 6 shooters per hour over 4 stages; 80 rounds each & we did it all inside of 36 feet of range. I am beat. We shoot again on the 3rd Wed. of next month. THere is also a USPSA/IDPA practice that Vlad runs; usually about 150 to 200 rounds; check out the forum on www.shootersparadise.com Regards, D.C. Johnson

So, no "close-out sale at rock-bottom prices"? Glad to hear you AI owners will not be left in the lurch; seemed like the hot-ticket (though expensive) for MOR. Regards, D.C. Johnson

I use MetalForm .40s (10 rnd) and a couple Tripp Cobra mags. Surprisingly, in my gun the Metalform are more relaible. In my gun that is. Would like to try out the 10 round Mec Gars. How much & where to buy? THanks, D.

Dave Dawson had a deal he once called the "Naked Gun"; it was an STI Edge or a Dawson Edge only without the finish for $1400. I thought - wow - a limited gn for $1400?!!? its $270 less than the STI offering only without the blueing - great deal! I was sadly mistaken. It was $1400 + plus YOUR PARTS. Figure retail price of those parts from Brownells is well over $1000 and you soon realize that $2400 for a basic limited gun & no finish ain't such a good deal. I guess that "deal" is discontinued since its no longer on the site. So; A.: $1400 or less.

Many of us run 147 grn bullets for Production. Follow the book loads for Titegroup if you want a safe, dependable, soft shooting Production load to start out with. Once your friend has been loading 9mm for a good long time & has experience, have him search around on be.com for other load info. I think that Titegroup is the most safe, competitive 147 Minor load for the 1st time or novice reloader. Don't be tempted to use a load not on the books at this stage. Regards, D.C. Johnson

I only shoot 180 grn bullets at just over Major. I run a 9 lb Wolf recoil spring. SV Limited 2011 w/ STI slide & Schuemann bull barrel.

Enjoyed a great time at the Saturday monthly match put on by the volunteers at Eastern SHore Practical Shooters. The 5 stages were well thought out and thoughtfully set up under cover & w/o steel on account of the weather man's prediction of light snow/rain and high winds. Thankfully, the weatherman was wrong on all accounts & we enjoyed a beautiful day shooting with a great bunch of guys from Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and possibly some NJ or PA guys mixed in. Here is a website for the club: http://www.e-s-p-s.org/ To ESPS; thanks guys & hope to see you again this season. Regards, D.C. Johnson

I carry either a Glock 19, a Steyr M40 (factory night sights for after dark use), or when I am jogging, a P-32 (all concealed). No point in posting a pic as they are all bone stock as they arrived from the factory/distributor. I have not modified them. Custom carry guns look cool & thanks for posting the pictures. However, I expect that if I ever have to shoot someone with it, I am not likely to get it back from the police. Why invest heavily in a gun that will be lost on the 1st use? The experience might be different for police officers using off duty guns but I am "only" a civilian with a CCW permit. Besides, I leave my CCW guns bone stock so not to give an over zealous prosecutor any advantage in court. I do not want to seem to be a "gun nut just itching to shoot somebody with a gun customized for the task". While that might not seem like a "nice" tactic to use against me in Court, it is fair. If I were using my law degree to prosecute people as my day job, I would use that tactic if it gained me a conviction of a person who I honestly believed had violated the law (a person who had an intent other than purely self defense/protection of the innocent from imminent severe bodily harm or death). Is a customized gun or a light trigger really relevant? It is up to the jury to decide guilt or innocence based on the facts. I would not be doing my job if I did not present the facts. Hopefully, one's defense attorney would be on the ball & object in time; otherwise the Judge will simply instruct the jury to disregard which they always do, of course. Same goes for ammo; I use only: "the same ammunition used by our public safety officials to protect themselves and the public (and especially the children) from harm at the hands of dangerous criminals". I choose that ammo because all I want to do is protect myself and nothing more (which is what any reasonable person would do). Regards, D.C. Johnson

I'll shoot in any weather. See my post in Gunsmithing on home parkerizing. D.C. Johnson

I know that Mec-Gar is building Para-Ord mags, so why not STI/SV mags? Also, there appear to be S_I mags available and made by both CR Speed and SPS, though I can't find a distributor. Any leads? D.

"Dude, what the heck are you going to do with it???" -shoot bunny rabbits, puppy dogs, anything that pisses me off . . . Seriously, the cost is just a little too rich for my budget right now as I would want to build it as you suggest (on the Granite Mountain action). Thank you for the additional information as well as the entertaining thread. Regards, D.C. Johnson

Showed up yesterday; N.Va inside the D.C. Beltway. Report on the Bali shotgun match was too cool.

George - thanks again for the pic.s So that rifle is built on a CZ-550 action? It seems like a great rifle; does your smith have a website and would he consider building another such rifle? Thanks! D.C. Johnson

Got the word from Angus; the basepads are in and are a factory supplied CZ original OEM part intended for the 75B and 85 Combat so they are legal for use in USPSA Production division. Should cure the occasional "palm-ectomy" that the steel base-pads sometimes caused. In addition, Angus' new Team CZ-USA mate Todd Sindelar (also of Team Shooters Paradise) showed up at the monthly match with the new generation CZ 75/85 magazines that feature a re-designed mag body. The feed-lips feature an angled bend at the top much like the ones used on the Standard IPSC. This is in contrast to the old mag that has a rounded radius at the top leading to the feed lips. Also, in the new mags, there are no side-dents like there were on the older 15 round mags (the dents that had to be milled out to use the CPMI extensions). Of course, mag manufacture has been contracted out to the excellent Mec-Gar corp of Italy (as it has been for years). Regards, D.C. Johnson (not the fastest, but once named "most violent reload in USPSA")

The CR speed is an excellent holster for the 625; it is my holster of choice. Check out Phil's site to see if he can help you: www.shootersparadise.com

Sad thing is that there were likely reprecussions in Glynco over this incident even though the quality of instruction at FLETC is actually quite good (though about 1/10th as long as it should be). I would not blame the guy's instructors as it is apparent that no amount of proper teaching would have made it through that officer's thick skull. That man should not have been hired as an agent and lets hope that they now have him washing patrol vehicles or some other assignment with a lower risk of injuring people (and as far away from a firearm as possible). D.C. Johnson

Came free w/ my really old used 650 so I use it. Besides, I also have old powder throwers & I do not use that bar thingy so squibs are possible w/o the checker.

Really enjoyed that forum when I 1st found it & quickly learned that certain cartridges are exempt from BATF's ruling that anything rifled, breachloading and over .50 cal is generally destructive device. Turns out things like the ".600 overkill" have been examined & declared "sporting" calibers. Too cool - so now can we expect a "He-Man" or Heavy Metal sub-division for MOR using .50s, Overkills, & 4-Bores? Thanks for the pics, D.C. Johnson

Complaints in the past centered on ammo sold by Wolf -- in the past. The new grey colored Wolf is different and addresses at least one complaint: the laquer that coated the steel cases in the past. New "polymer" wolf has a much thinner coating of a different material on the case (the new material being some sort of "polymer" - which does not tell us much). It appears for function well in ARs. The second common complaint had to do with the old Wolf 55 grian bullet being a copper-washed steel jacketed bullet. The new 62 grain bullets look like copper to me; anyone test the 62 grain recently? Even if they are steel washed with copper, I have seen ZERO scientific evidence that Russian mild steel jacketed bullets that have been copper washed have ANY more wear effect on an AR-15 barrel than the common copper or gilding metal jackets used in all other .223. Same goes for extractor wear; its an old wives' tale until someone can furnish any credible proof of increased wear. Gun Geek - thanks for the report. Anyone alse try the 62 grain .223 ammo & care to report? Regards, D.C. Johnson www.shootersparadise.com

Got it - thanks for the update & use info! Regards, C.

I shoot a 625 as does a good friend; both guns have trigger work. Federal primers are the ONLY way to make a 625 with a light trigger work 100%. For all my other guns, I use Winchester but Federal is the way to go w/a 625.

Burn rate unknown, but I know that the SASS shooters tend to use light charges of very fast powders like Titegroup and Clays so one would imagine the new powder would duplicate the performace of their favored heavy bullet/minor or sub minor loads (only with more bulk). Looks promising.

(BTW - bullet data for above is for 230 grn?) Well this is an OLD thread but when I checked the website tonight there is STILL no data on this powder for handgun use published on Aliant's site. Have been helping a friend get started with .45 & E3 is one of the powders he bought; anyone have additional data or comments on E3? Thanks in advance, D.C. Johnson www.shootersparadise.com