earthshine402

is it with one round left in the mag? if so, possibly trim your follower. I had something like this happen when i dorked around with an optic mount - adding a new screw to include a thumb rest on a 90 degree mount. I would rack the slide, and it would stick back with no mag in the gun. Turns out the furthest back screw on the optic mount was sticking out into the frame, interfering with the recoil assembly.. i took the screw out, filed it down until flush, and the problem went away.. those are my 2 ideas..

Have you ran through quite a few of these, I have heard clays can be petty touchy when going over 180's? I'd like to try this load out. Yea probably at least 500. I have recently switched to Open, but the 200 gr With Clays i like best so far in Limited. A little softer and most accurate i have loaded.

3.55 gr Clays with .400 200gr Ibejiheads loaded to 1.200" gets about 169.5 PF for me.

before claiming it would be good for ESP - i would make sure it can actually fit a box with a magazine inserted.. the sights may prohibit it from fitting the box.

you are missing a metal grip option, lots of people going to those now.

shorter OALs are accompanied by higher pressure

Discussion on open powders/ dot movement: This is out of a 4.5" Bedell in 38 SC with 3 holes in the barrel and a 90 degree optic mount. I loaded up 20 round of each: 9.6, 9.8, 10, 10.2, 10.4 gr of 3n38 with a MG 124gr JHP at ~1.245" in an attempt to get a good idea of finding a load that would make the dot not move too much or move predictably. All of them seemed to bounce around randomly- as in - they have a side-to-side wiggle, and the higher ones actually made the dot dip. How do you guys go about fine tuning your open load and what do you look for? Is a little dot movement always present? It is possible I need to try some more and try to observe better. I am new to open division, so please excuse any ignorance on some things. I would like a nice predictable up-down motion, but the only one I have seen close to that so far was with some HS-6 around 9.0 gr. It seemed to recoil a bit harder, and it is more dirty than 3n38. I recently picked up some 1# containers of n350, 3n37, n105, winchester 572 to experiment with, I'm not sure when I'll get around to it. I also have loaded up a few test loads with HS-6 and have 1# of autocomp and cfe pistol on the shelf, but understand that they might not be ideal for 38SC.

650 with a case and bullet feeder.. loads great! i also have a nice part that a local shooter made that replaces the plastic ramp that engages the primer system advance - so i can disable the primer system advance if i want - great during load development.

I ordered a pound of this stuff to try out in 38SC - some chatter on the interwebs says it might be sort of a replacement for 4756, I figured it was worth checking out.

Atlas Gunworks

Maybe you mixed up which rounds were which.

I was thinking the same thing..

Update on the OAL with 124JHPs and compressing 3n38: I belled as little as I could with the Mr. Bullet Feeder expander, and used the EGW undersize die, and still had the same thing happen - the OAL with actual powder in the round was longer than the setting with a dummy load. I have eliminated the possibility that there was not enough neck tension. I went back to the regular LEE sizing die as I like the way the regular sizer runs in my press after push-through sizing everything and keeping the lube on the cases.. just easier to operate the press.. and undersizing I don't think buys me anything. I think it has come down to this: the bullet is deforming upon the pressure in seating. I was originally using a LEE seating die with a round nose plug, and now I'm using a Dillon seating die also with a round nose plug. What kind of seating plug are you using for compressed loads with MG JHPs?

Seems relevant to an STI vs CK thread! LOL! haha

does this mean less bell? I thought I had a minimal bell.. I also just ordered the EGW undersize die..

I load on a 650 with a bullet feeder. Current die setup: Lee sizing die, Mr. Bullet Feeder expander, bullet feeder, dillon seat, dillon crimp. I previously had Lee seat and Lee FCD, and was also seeing the OAL variation, got the Dillon seat/crimp to attempt to set it straight but behavior remained.

I loaded up some 3n38 with the same bullet and OAL, and encountered some interesting seating issues. Once I hit about 9.8 gr, my OAL got longer - 1.240, 1.245, 1.25. I initially set my OAL by making dummy loads. It seems that once the powder started to compress, the bullet may have been slipping back out a little after the seating, so I cranked down on the seater die until I got more in the neighborhood of 1.235. However, with this practice, some of them were pretty short - like 1.221. I push-through sized all my brass with Hornady one shot, and left the lube on there. Will re-tumbling the brass help with the increasing OAL, or should I consider a seat-and-crimp in one step instead? How do you guys achieve a consistent OAL with JHPs once the powder starts to compress?

don't run the FCD with coated bullets - what you are seeing here is the bullet is being swaged down smaller and not "bouncing" back like brass does. I prefer regular crimp dies- Dillon seat, Dillon crimp.

i throw them out, when loading 147 coated at minor PF. I don't like the way they load/ case gauge, had issues with them. I don't load 9 major for reference.

OK wow, looks quite a bit higher than what I am seeing with 8.8gr 3n38.. thanks for the vid. Perhaps its a good idea for me to ease into these charges. My plan is to load from 9.0 - 10.2gr 3n38. MG JHP 124 1.235". I will shoot each weight and closely inspect the brass before shooting the next level up.

I'm just starting some load development with 3n38 for 38SC. Calibrating my powder drop, and even at 8.8 gr of powder, it looks like if I put much more in there with a MG JHP 124gr at 1.235" it will be compressed. Does this seem right? Maybe compressed loads is just the norm for open and I'm not quite used to it, just getting into it now..

Thank you

Well, it is approaching the start of the outdoor season here in New Hampshire and we are gearing up for the season.. Looking to make sure our Nooks are up to date.. I go here http://rootnscoreit.com/and it tells me "if you already have a rooted nook, click on the Tourist Class".. but this page is all in Latin or something... can you not just re-do the original express installation with the new version of Practiscore? Did I just get trolled?

I would bet it is somewhere between a 180gr and a 200gr load. I used to shoot 180gr Ibejiheads with 4.6gr of n320. Maybe start at 4.1 and work your way up?

I have 3 pouches - front one in the middle below my belly button is bullets out, or bullets facing forward of where i am looking. The rest run along the side and also face forward of where i am, but the pouches are not run in the "bullets out" configuration.