Carlos

Around here (Washington, D.C. area) most ranges that people frequent are indoors & 1 hour of range time is $10-$12. A few ranges in VA allow rifles & holster use/draw practice (NRA-HQ and Shooters Paradise; $225 per year); one allows use of rifles with frangible ammo against a steel backstop (Blue Ridge). Downside is rifles are limited to 25 to 50 yards only. None of the indoor ranges north of here in maryland allow use of holsters/draw or rifles and at least one requires that you buy all ammo from them; prices are similar to VA.

I have used the 255s & on bowling pins, they act like , well, bowling balls. Agree that a big, nose heavy .45 works well since you are swinging over a small arc. If you do opt for the 10mm, try to find some good 200 grn loads (VV N105 comes to mind) or possible the 220 grn cast bullets. Regards, D.C. Johnson www.shootersparadise.com

A-HA! Federal primers; they fall flat easier that a souffle' (and about as soft as a souffle to boot). The Standard IPSC has enough ooomph (technical gunsmithing term) to set off even the superhard S&B primers (look at your CZ factory test target) so I see no reason to be using Federals; those primers are telling you lies about pressure. The excellent, medium-hard Winchester small pistol is what I use in my gun & Titegroup book loads never flatten those. I suppose if one were really concerned about avoiding the occasional flat primer, one could switch to the hard CCI primers, but that is sorta like "fixing that pesky engine noise by turning up my car stereo" trick. Regards, C.

Agree w/ what has been posted - particularly BE; TG just does not seem to cause problems (as stated above, I use it in my Standard IPSC) even at USPSA major w/ 180s. Alternatively, I have not tried WST but see it mentioned here often & it is certainly available pluss it seems a little more up to date than Winchester 231. Q. for you: not using Federal primers are you? They flatten easily & show false pressure signs at book load levels.

Thanks for the confirmation Benny! Still quite an accomplishment I think. There are probably few smiths in the US with enough talent to pull off such a feat in 45 minutes. Regards, D.C. Johnson

I understand about V V in your area; sure its great powder but if its hard to find or you have to pay haz-mat, then its worthwhile to look for a suitable double-based powder. I have 2 of the Standard IPSC .40s & am loading .40 for them to the limit of the mag - about 1.160 to 1.170 so that they feed int he SV as well (2 brands of .40; one ammo OAL). What I use is out for you (V V and TG). Where next? You want something fast but also safe, clean and available. There was discussion here (including mixed results) with Hodgdon's Universal Clays for .40 Search on Universal. What was found seems to be: load it to "normal" .40 SW lengths (about 1.135" OAL for best performance. Apparently at longer lengths or at minor charges, it becomes inconsistent and dirty but may be viable at the Hodgdon recommended OAL (www.hodgdon.com). One powder that I have been meaning to try is the single based flake powder solo 1000. Another fast option (though it is quite dirty) is HP-38/W231 that might work even at the 1.160" to 1.170" length that the STD IPSC takes . D.C. Johnson www.shootersparadise.com EDIT: just checked hodgdon's website (VERIFY this data before use): COL: 1.125" 180 grian Jacketed Bullet, UNIVERSAL clays XXXX grains, 1046 fps 33,400 PSI

Good experience w/ brassmanbrass.com though shipping to Area 8 is a killer. Practice .40? unless its loaded w/ lead, I pick it up but as for a match, you can't stop the match to pick it up - at least around here. Had a single case blow-out w/ a worn piece of 9x19 (minor load too); the way I re-use my practice brass over and over, I believe there is a worn out piece of .40 out there w/ my name on it. Good thing I carry spare parts for the 1911 + a backup gun. Regards, D.C. Johnson

I thought that "Glockmeister dot com" place (look it up on google) had a picture gallery. also customglockracing.com (look it up too). The guy you want to do the work is John Nagel (aka Mad Scientist) of Team Lightning Strike; his open glocks are the shooting equivalent of OCC's custom Harleys.

Chris wrote: "Lately my CZ has been having some reliability problems" w/o more info, its not possible to say for certain what is going on w/ Chris's CZ but a previously reliable CZ that suddenly has problems suggests to me either a shot out extractor spring or weak mag springs. Get an extra power Wolf spring for both. CZ has a new 9mm mag design (made for them by Mec Gar) that might help as well. Chris - if you are still in the DC area, drop by: www.shootersparadise.com ; if you buy the CZ spring, I'll install it free of charge. Also, bring the new Glock to one of our competitions; plenty of glock experts there including Jason Jones who made Grand Master in Limited shooting his Glock 35. Regards, C.

We dropped a Wolff spring set ( RP mainspring & the lightest hammer rebound spring in the kit) into a friend's 625 last week w/ dramatic results. Best part? it was $17. Even with the screw all the way in, the trigger was phenominal; my scale stops at about 5 so we did not measure but I assure you, the trigger is excellent. Will be ordering one for my gun. As for other tricks, Rudy mentioned polishing the rebound spring tunnel; I might give that a try as well. C.

Hitting it consistently - THAT is impressive! Good work on that upper Alex. Agree there is something special about shooting at distance; living inside the DC beltway it is difficult to find a place to let the AR stretch its long legs but Sunday, I was able to shoot it out to 800 yards in (of all places) Maryland. Using a CMP/DCM National Match service rifle upper from White Oak precision & a lower I built, we lit up a round steel target about the size of a manhole cover starting at 400 yards. Spotting from 400 was not too bad. Ammo was Black Hills 75 grn JHP; off the seat of a 4-wheeler it was too easy to ring it every time so we switched to off hand (and managed a couple hits that way too). Then we moved back to 800 & though far mor difficult (using a large rock as a "bench") we managed a couple hits on that same steel. Spotting was very tricky at that range. We had to wind the 1/4 min N/M rear sight almost the whole way up but elevation was on. I could not believe it. Makes me want to take up service rifle. It also renews my faith in the accuracy of the AR. C.

Vanek is quite popular in USPSA production and it is one of the lightest I have seen' its break is a little mushy but light as it gets and will set off everything. Worth the $$$. For a crisp break, try John Nagel (aka Mad Scientist here) as he also does outstanding trigger work for USPSA; I have his open trigger & its amazing; ask directly about his Production triggers. No idea about IDPA. Regards, C.

Aikidale, I remember that as well since it was in a post here on be.com; thought one of them might have been Dave Dawson. I believe it since, in my experience with STI parts, they often come from the factory quite close to correct final dims for all-STI parts and I know that Dave had/has access to the jigs that speed up assembly to the point that 45 min (w/ 2 smiths on the job) is possible. Gun would be either in the white or stainless and certainly be a "no-frills/get the job-done" shooter.

I am sure this has been answered a million times in frontsite & the glock forum but I thought some of the Glock backstrap fillers were approved for USPSA production while others bumped one to open? If some fillers are Production approved, simply copy one of those & you are good to go. The Steyr is a fantastic pistol b/c: its an Austrian made, polymer framed, tennifer finished gun similar in size to a Glock 19 but with a much lower bore axis and better chamber support (plus it can shoot lead bullets); comes with standard profile sights IF you get the night sights. Tom Freeman of the United States Air Force shooting team used a Steyr M9 to make Production Master class. The gun is very capable. Regards, D.C. Johnson

Again, good work Tman. Here is a LINK to a "how-to" website that might lighten up the trigger. Before I get flamed, the expensive triggers are really nice & worth every cent. However, if your funds are tapped out from the build (and you obviously know your way around the AR very well by now) then maybe this link can improve the pull with just some careful smithing. Regards, C.

Oh yee of little faith (in Gramms, that is!) Call Bevin & ask. With his parts and a tune up, 16 should be possible. The SV follower trick - well, lets just say I did not like that follower and the top of the spring sometimes popping out the top of the mag. No idea what Bevin's new follower designs can do.

From my post above: "I use about 1.160 w/ either N320 or N330 under Zero 180 JHP or discontinued Star 180 FMJ TC." While I like & use Titegroup at times, it is supposed to have the highest nitro content of any current commercial double based powder (about 37% according to Hodgdon). So what you ask? So . . . it tends to burn a little hotter & also seems to produce more smoke when loaded behind lead bullets than say, V V N330 behind those same bullets as the same PF. I think N330 w/ a 180 at 1.160 is about ideal since i can use it in my SV as well as the Standard IPSC. Clean, relaitevly soft shooting and versatile. D.C. Johnson

My 1st Ltd gun was a used 45 edge. Most I got from Gramms tunned STI's was 16. If I had tried an SV follower I probably would get 17 in there.

Agreed. As stated above, "-probably not a good combo for the beginner, particularly if you are not familiar with the dangers of set-back and how to avoid it. 147s are the way to go & can be loaded w/ book loads of N330 or Titegroup from Hodgdon. Both work OK."

Partial D.C. gun laws on www.packing.org No new residents can own or possess handguns or "unregistered ammuntion or components". Imagine my horror when a single round of .357 fell out of my wallet onto the floor of a Safeway supermarket in D.C. one night (left the hardware in VA, must have missed that single round). Picked it up, paid & high-tailed it outta there. A single spent cartridge case in D.C. can get you arrested. They need a lot more than voting rights in D.C. Come to think of it, "Congressman Marion Barry" just does not sound right to me for some reason.

Skywalker, you are correct my friend. Generally good advice here. Couple of things to emphasize: -it's not a book load so use at your own risk -probably not a good combo for the beginner, particularly if you are not familiar with the dangers of set-back and how to avoid it. 147s are the way to go & can be loaded w/ book loads of N330 or Titegroup from Hodgdon. Both work OK. -320 is nearly as good and the internal ballistics calculator "QuickLoad" predicts that a minor 320/147 load w/ OAL over 1.145 is closer to the industry "safe" standard pressure for 9x19mm. Book loads for 147s begin with N330 powder. -the OAL is likely too long for a G19 mag. About 1.160 max on those. I prefer 1.155" for Glock -I have only gone as high as 3.2 grns though with the variation in Dillon powder measures, there could have been some with 3.3 in the mix. -Use decent once fired brass. I have had a single case blow out with a 9mm cases that I loaded about 10 times before using it for the N310 load/147. Gun was a G17. Broke the mag catch. Gun & hands OK though it stung for a while. -If I were you, I would switch to N330 for 6 months; buy a Lee brand "U" or undersize die and Lee FCD, always use OneShot, and when you have experience under your belt, return to N310 w/ 3.1 grns (if needed for Minor in G19, use 3.2). Regards, D.C. Johnson

Nice looking rifle & the co-witnessed dot is a cool touch. Good work. "but I built the lower" Do you mean built or assembled? What internals did you use? How is the trigger? Reason I ask is that I build lowers from raw materials as well as from 80% complete forgings & castings. Was the lower built from an 80% complete? For those interested, take a look at the following websites: www.roderuscustom.tzo.com ar15.com in "build it yourself" section - look for "80%" for 40% finished forgings, there is a company called Les Baer (google search) that sells lowers with the magwell broached For raw forgings, try a company called "DS Arms". Anyone trying to save $$$ by making your own lower, don't bother. Takes a lot of time & tooling but very worthwhile.

Excellent! THanks for the link. Regards, C.

"Hmmm ... I wonder if Entreprise will start making their guns again, now that magazines aren't a problem. " I hope so, Rhino. I saw one once in Area 8 that was for sale & it appeared to be of excellent quality. I am all in favor of new technology (thought the Enterprise did appear to be quite similar to Para but made from US steel) and more options in Limited. For general USPSA shooter use one year from now, maybe we will see: -Enterprise .40 Limited -Bul .40 Limited -Caspian .40 Limited -Springfield Armory .40 Limited like TGO shoots - if they would only make it into a general production item rather than custom shop only and a few dark horses: -CZ "TS" Limited 40 (similar to Standar IPSC) -Sig X-5 -Tanfoglio Limited .40 I love my SV, but innovation will only benefit the shooter & I would like to have more choices than just S_I. Yes, I did see Sevigny's finish at the FL open. I will not be selling my SV for a glock however. Thanks for the heads up on the Mec Gars. Regards, C.

Anyone know if Mec-Gar will be making replacement "normal cap" .40 mags for the Bul 1911 and the Para? How about for the SPS and S_I? Anyone care to post a range report on the Bul .40 once they begin shipping? Thanks, D.