gasmitty

I ran into the small Norma flash holes in 9mm cases a few months ago. After bending a couple of regular decapping pins, I just started scrapping Norma brass. For other reasons, I just changed over to the .003" undersized Lee sizing/decapping die, and that one-piece decapping pin just punches right through the teeny Norma flash hole like it was a beer can.

I made the move to 9mm for the steel matches some years ago where there's no scoring advantage to .45. In a 5" 1911 (Range Officer), my optimum load is 4.0 gr of Titegroup pushing a 124 gr plated or jacketed RN; OAL is 1.15". I've run Berry's & Xtreme plated (slight edge to Xtreme) and Precision Delta and Rocky Mountain Reloading FMJs. RMRs seem to have the most consistent accuracy and velocity for me. I tried 147s but they offered no performance advantage for me and were a little more expensive. I also tried Bayou Bullets (my primary source for .45 pills) in 135, 145 and 147 gr denominations, but they also offered no improvement over the 124s.

A little late to the thread, but I've shot about 4000 RMR 124 FMJs through my Range Officer. 4.0 gr of Titegroup gives me a very reliable 1080 ft/sec and not a trace of leading.

Use a shot timer and measure your own split times over multiple strings, and see what the difference is for YOU. Recoil spring rates also enter into the situation as slide momentum and muzzle rise affect YOUR time to reacquire the front sight. The answer will not lie in calculated recoil impulse numbers.

Thank you for that! I wasn't sure because NATO didn't appear until 1949 and "Western Bloc" wasn't a common definition before then, either. I would shoot this or a similar match just as a hoot - ol' graybeard moderately competent with a Garand. I'd score myself on points and leave out time, because the ARs and M14/M1As would leave me in the dust on reloads. But my grin at the end of the day would be as big as anybody else's!

Is the M1 Garand too old to be considered for the Free World class? Just thinking ahead to future opportunities.

I think you mean an oversized firing pin stop, no?