ChuckB

I have the XD ACP magwell on my XDM .45 5.25. It's permanent but its awesome! It also works with stock mags as long as you have a slam pad. http://www.shop.canyoncreekcustom.com/product.sc?productId=24&categoryId=14 I also have my Canyon Creek magazines on the way. http://www.shop.canyoncreekcustom.com/product.sc?productId=36&categoryId=13

If I shoot week handed with my dominate eye my shots are way off. I just close my right eye. I actually close it as soon as possible (usally before "shooter ready") so that my sights are on as I index just as if I was shooting right handed (well except that I have an eye closed). If I close it after or during the index I have to search for the sights. I'll have to try shooting with the gun further to the right.

You probably don't have "excessive muzzle flip" but the more muzzle flip you can remove the faster and more accurate you can shoot. Competitors spend all kinds of money on upgrades, train constantly, work on their hand strength and work up hand loads to remove any muzzle flip they can. It's something we all work on and probably always will be. It's one of the big skills that has to be learned when transitioning from a static shooter to a practical shooter.

I'm not arguing the validity of the video but I believe it would be easy to misinterpret. Your strong hand needs to be as tight as possible against the beaver tail and against the back strap. Your weak hand should fill any space that is left. Leaving a gap between the back strap and your strong hand will create a pocket that would increase the muzzle flip... and not allow you to engage the safety. The only times I have had problems with my XDM was when showing clear. For some reason I used to shift my grip on the gun and I wasn't able to rack the slide.

My very limited work out experience leads me to believe that high reps build strength while heavier weights build mass. I don't want to look like Popeye so I go for the higher reps. After injuring my elbow though I do a set of reps that provide a good work out verses working until I can no longer close the gripper.

Toothguy, great idea, just difficult to take with you or do while working.

I was fortunate enough to be very embarrassed with myself after trying Cha-lee’s dynamometer. In fact I had the weakest grip on the list… at least at the time I saw it. I was also one of the lowest classified shooters on the list as well. I order my CoC and went to work on a 3 day a week regimen. I actually ordered the Sport instead of the trainer based on what my left hand measured on the dynamometer. I started out doing 3 sets of 10 reps on both hands and by the end of the third set I could no longer close the gripper with my left hand. The first thing I learned was not to do it first thing in the morning. I could do several more reps if I did the exercises closer to lunch time. The end of the day had the same problem. I worked my way up to 4 reps of 20 before I started getting the pain in my left elbow. It got bad enough that I couldn’t grip or carry any weight with my left hand. Even just brushing my elbow against a door frame was very painful. I stopped the exercises for several months but my elbow really didn’t get better. Interestingly enough I also had a large naught in my left shoulder. I found that if I would use our message chair once or twice a day I could keep the pain bearable but still really couldn’t grip or carry anything. A few months later while doing research I ran across this post and a few others. I started out using a couple of rubber bands around my left fingers instead of the Expand Your Hands Bands. I did 100 reps 3 times a week for 3 weeks and my elbow got noticeably better. At the end of the 3 weeks though I actually ended up with a pain in the other side of my elbow. Out of curiosity I grabbed my CoC and did 10 reps, the pain was instantly gone. This was a major Ah Ha moment. I ordered my Expand Your Hands Bands (haven’t received them yet) and went out and got one of those dynoflex gyro balls. The first couple of days I played with it until my arms were noodles. Now I’m trying to work out a regimen to combine the Expand your hands, CoC and the dynoflex. Just to try to use all of the muscles. At this point my elbow and both arms feel better than they ever have. My biggest advice, start exercising everything you can as opposed to just using the crushers. Avoid the injury. Sorry for the long post but I hope it is helpful.

I'm using a 16# spring in my 5.25 .45 with major loads. I used a 14# spring for a while which was awesome when new but after a couple thousand rounds I could really feal the slide slamming hard during recoil. I upgraded to the 16 because that was what I had and I doubt I'll go back to the 14#.

It's not just reloaders that need to check their loads. At Colorado ST this year someone had the misfortune of going subminor with an off the self 9mm round. Rumor had it they were TulAmmo.

Now it's easy for me to make powerfactor, I just have to load 5 grains. I believe it's really just a situation where you don't want to be alone. When the published data says you should be able to make it with a considerably lower load one gets a bit uneasy when they have to load beyond the maximums. Once you hear that everyone has to make the same or similar load it becomes much easier.

I have over 400 rounds on the 16# spring now and while I've had two magazine related malfunctions I've had no issues with the recoil spring. If I get brave enough I may try the 14# at some point when it doesn't matter but I would call the 16# a success. That being said though I can feel a difference when manually racking the slide but I've noticed no difference when shooting. Not that I expected to and I haven't really done a side by side comparison.

I now have almost 400 rounds of 5.0 grains of clays with the 1.27 OAL through my XDM. I've had two malfunction issues which were magazine related. It seemed the follower was hanging up in the mag and a good cleaning of all of them seemed to have cleared up that issue. My official chrono results at the State match last weekend averaged a 172.6 power factor. Thanks everyone for your help.

I'll want to stay in Limited so a comp wont be an option. It sounds like the 16# spring is worth a try though.

I'm loading for major... Mostly, but will probably shoot some minor rounds as well. I do have stainless and tungson guide rods. My hope of course was to drop some additional force that was throwing my hand around while firing. No malfunctions to speak of.

I have a XDM 5.25 45 that I just started reloading for. I would like to experiment with a lighter recoil spring. Where should I begin and what do I need to watch out for? I have purchased the 16 and 14 pound springs and I'm reloading to make power factor. Thanks for the help.

Here's some updated data, I've finally hit power factor! Don’t use this data though, work up your own loads. Keep in mind I have an extremely long OAL (yes I get that a lot) at 1.27, Rainier 200 gr bullets and Clay's powder. 4.8 gr = 819 FPS 4.9 gr = 829 FPS 5.0 gr = 846 FPS Primers and cases look good with no signs of pressure issues. Next I'll need to reconfirm this data and try some at 5.1 just to make sure everything is safe with some leeway.

I actually just made it back to the range today and I'm putting the data together now. I'm up to 4.7 Gr with a 1.27 OAL at an average of 807 FPS. I've loaded up some 4.8, 4.9 and 5.0 for testing next time. I also put some together with a 1.22 OAL, 4.4 Gr is coming in at an average of 770 FPS.

CocoBolo, what issues should I watch for with the OAL? Just feeding or others? I've been following the lead data for the Rainiers only because that is the only guidince from Rainer. http://www.rainierballistics.com/loaddata.php I was having a hard time measureing the crimp. It was just too easier to get an incorrect measurement by moving the calibur just a thousands of an inch. I actually went to the thumb test instead of actually measuring. They seem to be about .469 to .471 though when I do try to measure.

Well the Internet of course. It seemed like most of the posts I read were making power factor with 4.2 to 4.3 grains. Yes I know, the Internet is a collection of worthless information. I guess it wasn't just forums, even the hodgdon site had 4.3 grains making power factor. Of course that was with a shorter OAL.

Griz, yes I have re-calibrated it since orientally posting. It now weighs out at 50g just as it should. Njl, other then increasing pressure I don't see any benefit of going shorter. The original concern is that I wasn't getting the velocity I expected and afraid to go above the posted maximums. It seems that if I'm loading longer I'll have to go above the posted maximums and I'll just have to do it carefully. In the end though I have a round customized for my gun both in size and power.

Ok, sorry guys but I am proving to be incapable of getting the correct data from the bench to the computer. The chamber is 1.29. With that in mind,how would you compensate for the OAL?

Sorry, typo 1.229. Also my compensation should have been in the hundredths not the thousands. So my OAL would be 1.119 or 1.109. If we round for sanity that puts me right at the often recommended 1.22 or 1.20. Loading to 1.22 gives me the ability to fluctuate .005 in either direction and still be within most recommended OALs (Hodgdon published length is 1.225). A lot of work to get to a standard published or recommended load but at least I know the data behind the OAL.

Kalaur, what your saying makes a lot of sense. Why make a custom round exactly like what is published in a book, if your going to customize it you may as well customize it to your gun. So, someone stop me if I'm going to blow myself up but here is the plan. 1. I have measured my chamber using the following method and found it to be 1.229 (edited) http://www.xdtalk.com/forums/ammo-can/124758-finding-max-oal.html 2. I'm thinking I will build the rounds to 1.227 (Edited) to keep the round off of the rifling and relieve the initial pressure. I know half of the reloading world will tell me it is too long but it's what rifle reloaders do on a normal basis. It also does appear to feed fine from the magazines. 3. I'll start my loads at 4.1 and build them up watching for pressure issues. 4. My expectation is that I'll be well above the posted 4.3 maximum due to my extended OAL. Thoughts?

That's not the first recommendation I've heard for WST, from what I hear it is supposed to be pretty good. At this point though I just need to learn what I'm doing wrong, otherwise I'll just switch components and continue to have the same issues. It appears that I'm not getting the same velocity others are with a given load. That says to me that I'm either having issues weighing or my OAL isn't correct.

Just Clays, not universal or international.