djthemac

looking good!

got 10k from cabelas last week when they had them in stock for a few hours.

So I had a near death (at least for the gun) experience at the range. Gun specs: STI 5" eagle with bushing Bullet: Bear Creek Bullet 180 gr FP, w231 over 4.8grain, CCI SPP, COAL 1.18," mixed brass I was using Matt Burkett's traning program and was on drill 3 or 4, 10 shots strong hand, 10 shots weak hand, using a draw into the A zone from 10 yards on the clock. I was about round 7 into the weak hand side drill when I felt a "mush" instead of a bang, I quickly racked the slide, and noticed a small cloud of powder over the slide of the gun. The next round was stripped from the magazine, but the slide would not go into battery. I racked the slide again, same thing happened, stripped a round, would not go into battery. At this point I decided to halt the drill and examine what had happened and I noted a bear creek pill stuck in the chamber of the gun, which had prevented the other rounds from going into battery. I shaked the gun and the pill fell out on its own with no assistance. I did not hear or feel a pop, and I do not believe it was a squib load due to the powder puff, and lack of primer pop. Im thinking the bullet could be malformed, or the case cracked. In addition, the gun malfunctioned permanently a few drills later, when the hammer would not stay in the "cocked" position after the slide reciprocated. The gun could still be fired as a "single action." Thoughts?

Still new to the game, forive me in advance, but what would be considered a "major match?" thanks for all the advice guys, since it appears as though its impossible to moved down in a class without a specific request, I would like to use the classifier as an opportunity to push myself to go faster, while at the same time improving my transitions throughout the match

what is the 5% rule? 55 to 59% will yield a 'c' ?

Thanks, very good points! My shooting style is such that I am more of a hoser type, I like to run as fast as I can, shoot as fast as I can, and work on getting my accuracy up as well. I really want to move to open class, as I think this division would be more in line with my goals and attributes as a shooter, but I would like to make A or M in limited first, to "put the time in." I dont want to be the noobie, who shows up to open with a space blaster that he doesn't know how to use.

Howdy All! I have been shooting USPSA since September of last year, and I just got my first classification as a B shooter in limited! I am pretty stoked about this, and I am trying to do as much dry firing and drilling as possible (Anderson's & Stoeger's books) I was wondering what strategy is the best for advancing up the classification ladder. As I understand it, correct me if I am wrong, the best 6 of the last 8 classifier stages are utilized to compute your score. Once you achieve a classification, you will not be able to go down unless you specifically request it from HQ, even if your percentage drops below the line. With these concepts in mind, is it better to go for broke and shoot it as fast as possible, possibly incurring hits on no shoots etc to try and achieve a higher PF, or would it be better to incrementally increase the PF. Thanks!

just did some chrono work with my 4.8 grain loadings. i had quite a spread between 895 and 945 fps. did an average speed and found i s at 164.444 pf. lol time to up the load just a bit. 5.0 is what im shooting for now.

Bullet weight?? Sorry, all 180 grain, COL is max per reloading manuals for 180 graim Conical FP (I'm not at home so I can't measure and confirm) Sounds good! makes me feel better about my load making PF

I just started doing this as well. I had a bad run of ammo that would cause failure to go into battery, but I think it was because my FCD backed out a bit and I was crimping 40 at .425ish

.45 ACP?

I have shot a bunch and have not noticed anything. Approx 5000 rounds of mixed brass, 5 ish cracked brass, no case head separations

Bullet weight??

I have been using w231 exclusively for my STI 5" Brass: Mixed Bullet: 180 grain Bear Creek Bullet FP Primer: CCI SPP Powder W231 4.7-4.8 grains COAL: 1.175-1.80 Crimp: .420 ish I really really need to get out to the range and chrono this load to see if I make major.

Im with you and just starting loading for 40 for an STI eagle. I was under the impression that people load long specifically so that bullets dont "nose dive" on the feedramp, and have a more linear route of travel from mag to chamber. 1.130 is a safe answer... but its way short if you are looking to load long. I think most glocks (which do have magazine restrictions) load in that range. I have been using 1.175 to 1.18 so far with pretty good success.

I run a EGW U die in station 1 and a Lee Factory Crimp at station 5... overkill? perhaps, but it makes me happy

I've been using 180grain SNS casting LTC, or Bear Creek 180grain FP with 4.8 grains of W-231 to great effect lately.

nice link!

easy peasy. although I admittedly screwed up my first posilock by forcing the screw... just fiddle with it, it will fall into place

thanks for the link!

do you remember what charge you used with 231?

delete please

Good Afternoon Everyone! I just purchased my first STI, a 5" Eagle blued, from Dawson with his CRP package installed. I have been doing massive reloading for .45 ACP, but I plan to use this gun for USPSA/Steel/IDPA. I understand I will have to shave down the mag well to fit in the box. Will I be ok loading out to 1.180 with this gun? I have a crap ton of W-231 I'd like to use up, but I have heard excellent things about tight group, which I'd consider moving to after I use up the W231. I have 500 SNS casting 180grain TC lead bullets and 1000 bear creek lead moly bullets on the way what do you guys think about the following loads Bullet: SNS casting 180grain FP Brass: RWS once fired from LEO brass Powder: Winchester 231 Powder Charge: 4.3, 4.6, 4.9, 5.2 Crimp: .420? COAL: 1.180? Bullet: SNS casting 180 grain FP Brass: RWS once fired from LEO brass Powder: Tightgroup Powder Charge:4.2, 4.5, 4.8 Crimp: .420 COAL: 1.180

honestly open sounds so fun and if i am looking to spend 2 g's on a nice sti for limited i could get into an open for 800 more. this may sound stupid but i have a fear of showing up with a race gun and getting smoked and lold at by other shooters. maybe in a few months!

Thanks for the advice, I think moving to limited is probably something that I would like to pursue, and sticking with a 1911 frame would be excellent. I like that you can use the STI for both USPSA as well as IDPA. Do you have any thoughts on the M&P with apex trigger mods as a viable Limited/ESP gun? We typically shoot 5 stages at our USPSA matches, and 1 stage is classifier. The last 3 classifier stages I have shot and then typed into the online classifier prediction site shows that I am a middle of the road B shooter. However, I feel that I either have stupendously good luck when I shoot the classifier stages, or I choke on complicated non-classifier stages. I just go as fast as I can, with care not to hit the no shoots, and aim for center mass when I shoot the classifier stages, which has worked out pretty well for me. I certainly dont feel like a B class shooter. If you think you will win by shooting C's as fast as you can, you won't go far in this sport. Depends on what division you shoot. In Production and SS it's all the same. Seems to me like if you stay in SS/CDP you don't need to buy another gun. If you want to shoot cheaper, you need to get into production or limited to get away from the .45 costs. Edit: I don't mean to come off snarky but I think you should study the different divisions in the IDPA and USPSA rule books and things would be much clearer to you. One of the things that I have learned quickly is how different the games are, and the best way to play them. I was in for a rude awakening when I started doing all slide lock reloads for USPSA, or when I was dropping half used magazines all over the IDPA course of fire. I am struggling to work on the best combination between speed vs accuracy in USPSA. Do you find that you should be shooting 90% A hits to be competitive? I think I probably shoot 60% A hits and 40% C hits. From a hypothetical standpoint, dropping 1 point for a C-zone hit is made up for with the amount of time I can shave off, when running and gunning through a stage especially on a longer stage; at least thats the justification in my mind. Is this incorrect? I currently reload LRN for .45, and I can do it relatively cheaply. In order to get into a new class I think the .40 would probably be the most viable option, and I would have to get the 650 set up costing at least 200.00 for conversion costs. I was originally thinking S&W MP .40 for both, but if I can use the STI for both Limited and ESP I think thats what I want to do! Thanks for the help