GBertolet

I always load mine at home before the match. It's much easier to load them sitting at a table, rather than at the range. Easier to keep track of the number of rounds in the mag loaded too. I don't hesitate to load SS mags the night before. If shooting limited, I prefer to load the morning of, before leaving for the club, leaving a round down also. I often see competitors with ammo, magazines, chamber checkers, sprawled out on the range getting ready. I have enough trouble getting my head together, without one more distraction.

Another thing to consider. The jet action of the escaping gasses at the muzzle, contribute to a portion of the recoil. Light charge weights of fast burning powders will have a much lower pressure at the muzzle, as combustion is mostly complete, vs charges of slower burning powders that are still burning yet at the muzzle. That's why powders such as Clays, Titegroup, WST, etc, will recoil somewhat less than the slower burning powders, loaded to the same PF. The difference isn't huge, but it is there.

I have yellow prescription shooting lenses anyway, so I told my optometrist what I wanted, a focal distance of 30 inches for pistol shooting. He set up an eyechart at that distance, and tried numerous reading lenses on my dominant eye, until one was found that the focus was perfect. He ordered the lense and installed it. Works great, and is good for rifle shooting also. It takes a couple of minutes for your brain to adjust when you put the glasses on, but after that things are good. The front sight is sharp with whatever color of FO I am using at the time, while the other eye is good for distance. I am able to shoot better with both eyes open now. Many people who get corrective surgery on their eyes, get one eye done for close, and the other for distance, so this concept is not new. The cost was not terribly expensive, and it allows me to be somewhat competitive, despite deteriorating eyesight form advancing age.

I tend to like the wide front sights. I have been using the EGW F.O front sight at .125 width, with the EGW jumbo headed F.O. insert, which is as wide as the sight blade. I tried both red and green, and feel I can see the green better. For normal IPSC ranges, the majority of shooting, with my aging eyes, I feel the large dot is faster to pick up on. For slower and more deliberate shooting, such as 50 yard standards, the smaller dot and blade might be a little better.

I think I created a monster. I was upset for only two minutes over this, honest. I asked for some input, and I got it. You punished me enough guys. Please end this thread.

Thank you David72 for your kind defense. This incident was over and done with two minutes after it happened. This is a discussion forum, the issue was simply raised for civil discussion by others, who found themselves in a similar situation. No other agenda intended. Put the long knives away.

This was a local monthly match, so those two rules were not followed. The stage was managed by the squad, with some new shooters helping tape and set steel, so mistakes will be made. At a major match, the scoring procedures would be announced at walkthrough, by the dedicated staff. Considering the circumstances, I got over this event in a couple of minutes, and moved on. I guess my real question is, to those that this has happened to at a local match, how was this type of issue resolved in your case?

As a shooter I was involved with a controversy. While shooting a large stage, targets behind me were being scored as I shot. When I got to the end of the COF, and the range was declared safe, I was notified by the person with the nook, I had a miss on the other side of the range. I asked to see the target, but was told it was already taped. I was quite upset. I vented for a bit, but let it go. Ultimately It made no difference in the final standings anyway. I likely did have a miss, but the targets were full of masking tape patches, with ends peeling, which are often semi-self sealing of hits. One could have been there, maybe the scorer did not carefully look. No opportunity for me either. Also no opportunity to request an overlay on the existing hit. Taping before scoring is a reshoot, but although I did not request a reshoot, but by the rules, would I have been entitled to one in this instance?

The last time I used 230 gr RN plated bullets, with Bullseye powder for USPSA, It took 4.3 gr, with Win primers, and loaded at 1.250 oal, to make 165 pf. This was in a 5" gun. Your results may vary. Since then I moved on to cast bullets with other powders.

I have found that too soft of an alloy in the bullets can cause this also. The 9mm is especially susceptible to this, due to small case, high pressure. Been there, done that. Tumbling is not always caused by too low of velocity, although it often is. Sometimes too high of a pressure spike, caused by heavier charges of fast burning powders, will cause the bullets to fail, and tumble also. I think the term is "plasticize" of the bullet alloy. Just another opinion.

Most clubs make all competitors sign a release, holding the club and match officials harmless. How well does this hold up in court? The way this discussion is going, the answer is probably not at all. This would indicate, whether you are running the timer, clipboard, taking registrations, or even being on the setup crew, would put you at risk of a financial disaster, because you would be part of the match staff. Not good! It would seem that buying your own insurance, even if it costs you a couple of hundred dollars a year would be imperative.

I am looking for some information. I am helping my friend who has a SP01 that shoots 3-4 inches high at 25 yards, with 124 gr brass Blazer ammo. There is a #4 rear sight that came with the new gun. We are looking for a #3 to lower the POI. Neither one of us can find one. Only the #5 seems available. My understanding is the #5 will make the gun shoot even higher. I have tried contacting Meprolight , and so far no response. Does Meprolight even make a #3? If so, where can we get one?

I have been told that occasionally, some Glocks have a barrel locking block that is out of square. This can change the attitude of the barrel during lockup. I don't know if this is your problem or not, but if you choose to experiment, Lone Wolf sells a machined replacement for about $30.

I remember a quote from Rob Leatham, concerning up and coming shooters. He said that if you are getting all A's you are going too slow. You should speed things up until you average an A and a C on your targets. Then work on your accuracy until you are back at all A's. Repeat if necessiary to get where you want to be.

I had Mahovsky Metalife a BHP complete frame. He did all internal parts except the coil springs. Metalife plating is so thin no refitting is necessiary. I sent the frame disassembled, and it was returned assembled for no additional charge. He charged me $80 for the complete frame with 1 magazine. Turn around time was about 30 days. One concern I initially had, was that the hammer and sear were plated, and the resulting trigger pull was around 5 lbs and rough, where it was 4 1/4 lbs before. But after a few hundred rounds, it smoothed out and settled down to an almost unheard of 3 lbs for a Hi-Power, which I could never achieve before. Hard chrome is harder than steel, and after being burnished, the friction coefficient must have been reduced greatly to achieve this. I am very pleased with his service.

I had mine break there also. A call to Dillon, and I was send a new handle along with bushings.The new handle was of a different design, which indicates this failure was common with the old style handle. I had loaded tens of thousands of rounds before this happened. This is a good machine.

Check the tightness of the knurled nut on top of the blast shield. It's what the low primer buzzer clamps around. If it is too tight, the plastic tip on the bottom of the primer tube will be compressed and deformed, causing multiple primers to be dispensed at the same or wrong time. This can cause a whole host of issues.

I sometimes load for a 9mm with an oversized bore (.3575), and contacted DAA about their 9mm powder funnel dimensions for the SDB press. I had been loading for this 9 on a single stage press, with a modified 38 special expander, opening the case enough to prevent swaging upon seating using .358 cast bullets. The response I just received from Bjorn at DAA, said the diameter of their 9mm powder die is .358. Since there is usually 1 to 1.5 thou springback in the case, it will leave a .3565 to .357 net result. I think I am going to order one.

I feel the SDB is a better option for loading a few pistol calibers. It takes up less space and is self indexing, and still has the lifetime guarantee. I own a SDB, with all the common pistol calibers, and have also loaded ammo on the 550. I guess you can get used to about anything, but I found loading pistol ammo on the 550 a PITA, compared to the SDB. The drawbacks of the SDB are the cost of the proprietary dies, $90, and you cannot load rifle cartridges, if you are considering that in the future. They are both quality press, and it comes down the the features you like. There is no wrong choice here.

I have one of the Wilson tungsten guide rods, about 20 years old. @ 5 1/4 oz, they are quite heavy. They take a special proprietary recoil spring that is larger in diameter than the standard. As far as I know Wilson no longer carries that guide rod. I think Wolff made the special springs for Wilson, 17,15,13,and 11 lbs. My LGS said there was only about a $4 markup between dealer and retail on these guide rods, so he wasn't going to carry them any longer. It would be nice if Ross Carter would reintroduce them.

Some 9mm and 38 super barrels are .356 or larger. Not supposed to be by modern standards, but some barrels are. Plus, some properly sized .355 barrel guns shoot better with bullets at .356. You don't know unless you try.

I wanted to buy one of these in 9mm as a plinker, with the possibility of someday using it to compete in Production division. Cajun Gun works sell them with a tune package, that reworks the trigger mechanisim, shortening the reset and initial DA pull. The latest USPSA rule book is a little vague, but I think the rule intent is, this modification is illegal for Production Division. Can anyone confirm this?

In my experience, bull barrels don't shoot any better accuracy wise, than the standard barrel with bushing. Plus, you are adding more reciprocating mass, as the barrel moves front to back on the link during firing. This can offset some of the recoil reduction a bull barrel might give. A tungsten guide rod will do more for recoil reduction than a bull barrel will.

I am interested in purchasing a range cart mainly for USPSA pistol shooting. It must be collapsable to fit in the trunk of a car. Having the optional ability to carry 2 long guns and a modest amount of gear, along with the range bag would be great also. The carts I have been finding so far have been junk, or too elaborate and expensive for me. I am getting too old to keep carrying a range bag with 300 rds of 230 gr 45's, plus any gear for cold or foul weather. Any opinions, photo's or vendor links would be appreciated. My targeted maximum price would be around $250.

I had used 4.3 gr of Bullseye with the 230 gr cast bullet, achieving around 169 PF with decent results. The only fault with Bullseye I found, is it tends to smoke a little more than some of the other powders. As stated earlier, 5.0 gr of Bullseye was a factory hardball duplication load. That 5.7 gr load of Bullseye must be in the +P+ range. It will beat your gun pretty bad. Some of the data offered by the powder manufactures is kind of vague, as it is seldom mentioned in any great detail on how, and under what conditions they achieved those results. If your goal is USPSA major, I would start at 4.3 gr, and work up or down to get to where you want to be. No sense beating up yourself and your gun, any more than necessiary.