Smokecloud

My vote is for the Dawson pads. I have shot the Arredondo's, they work flawlessly, but if you lose your takedown tool, you will have a very difficult time taking them apart, especially at a match. The Dawsons look better IMO and are more user friendly for cleaning.

Im still trying to get my gun together, but I got one of Bob's lightened slides a couple of months ago and asked what springs he recommended at the time. The Brazo's recommendation was a Wolff 14lb variable for the limited setup.

4.3 gr titegroup under 180 gr lasercast at 1.135 makes about 170 out of my factory and KKM barrel.

Thanks for the reply's, I will get one ordered. It will be about 3 weeks before I get another day to set up the barrel and fit the slide anyhow, so that will give me plenty of time. I will probably procrastinate for another couple of days regardless.

Im building a new blaster, its a STI Frame with long wide dustcover, unique slide and of course, full length guide rod. I have STI's reverse plug, but dont like the reverse bevel cut on the end of it. Im looking for a flat end that will match the length of the guide rod, so both are flat, smooth and clean looking. Any suggestions as to brand or order number. I have looked at quite a few, but most dont show the front in their pic's. I dont want a tungsten one because of weight.

I recently had to make the same decision, the 550 or the 650, I have been using a 450 for about 20 years, but since it still technically belonged to my dad, I never upgraded it. I looked at upgrading it on top of trying to purchase it from my ol man, but he wouldnt sell, not even for $200, which was more that it was bought for back in the mid 80's. So even if he had sold, the upgrades would have put me over the cost of a new 550b. So I decided to give him his loader back and get a faster one. At my most intense shooting years, I would shoot about 30k a year of centerfire (not counting .22 for ground squirrals and rabbits), and now that I have two kids in diapers, my time has been radically modified. My shooting is no more than about 5k a year on average, but hopefully will come back up in a year or two. after reading over everything i could to choose which press I wanted, I decided to go with the 650 for several reasons. Sometimes my reloading time is limited to 30 minutes or possibly one hour, so I need the maximum production available without pusing myself or the machines limits. It might be a month before I get my next reloading time ok'd by the wife. My next biggest decision was safety, I like the powder check die and extra station for that die, especially since I load mostly lead and coated bullets, I need seperate crimp and seat stations and dont have to sacrifice either for the check die. I always visually check for powder prior to bullet placement, but there is always some exception for one mistake, kid snuck up on ya, phone rang or whatever, so I like the 2nd safety measure. Afterall, loading is only cost effective if you dont blow up your expensive gun. I was undecided if I really needed the auto indexing because I have done it manually so long, that I thought it might handicap me. I perform several safety checks very frequently while loading and if I stopped and checked something, I didnt want to have to fight the machine to get back to where I was. I decided to go with the times and try the auto index, who knows, I might like it. turns out that I liked it very much and Dillon has already figured out several features to include for people like me who like to pull cases out at various stages and measure or inspect without messing up the rest of the process. I dont have a case feeder and am not sure If I need one, because I still believe in inspecting every piece of brass prior to putting in the reloader. I think that having a case feeder would be too tempting to just dump it from the tumbler to the feeder and crank away and hope you checked them well enough when you picked them up off the ground. Even after inspecting cases twice, I find small things I missed in prior handlings, so I have always been anal about case inspection. My last decision to buy a 650 was because I have 5 guns in .40sw and that is pretty much all I shoot anymore in high volume. Yeah, I have 38's and .45's and various other rifle and pistol calibers, but I only shoot about 1000 45's a year and maybe 200-300 .38's and so forth. All of my rifle rounds get the tedious match quality loading procedure, so I dont think I like loading them any other way than on my single stage press, so RCBS for all the low quantity and high quality stuff. If I was shooting more volume in other calibers, I would be tempted to save for a 550 for that stuff because of the cheaper change over cost and ease of changeover. But there is always my pops 450 if I need a moderate volume of any of those cases too.

I had the pivot pin work loose on a Ruger MK II adj. rear sight. The last time the pin peeked out at me, I touched it with a little red loctite, tapped it back in and the problem never reared its ugly head again. Of course, I have a Dawson adjustable on my G35 and have not had that problem, but if you chose to chat with Dawson, they will fix it for you pronto.

after reading all the good stuff about slide glide, I got to thinking that the extra light weight Amsoil grease I had in the garage looked like slide glide and had superior lubricating properties compared to everything else I had tried, so I thought (being the cheap b*stard I am) that a hole tube of that stuff was about $5 and would last me a lifetime compared to the $8 small jar of slideglide. I tried it on several guns and was amazed at the results. I then began using the 0-50W amsoil Oil for lubricating anything else on the guns. My brother is a professional engine builder and an amsoil dealer, so I always seemed to have some in my garage. I began draining the empty bottles overnight and collecting what was in the cap in the morning, only takes about 5 bottles to get a couple of oz's of oil. I tried it on several guns and found it to work better than any gun oil I had ever tried. the wear seemed to dissappear on my guns. I began using the oil on my duty gun because it didnt evaporate off like remoil or the others did. a month later, the barrel was still wet! I never have compared it to slideglide and slideglide might be better, but im sure the margin would be very un-noticeable, but knowing me, I will probably have to try it someday just to see. In the meantime, its amsoil for me. I have also had good luck with the white lithium grease in cold weather (glocks anyhow). Breakfree isnt a very good lubricant, but it is about the best protective oil I have ever used, that stuff prevents rust like no other.

Thanks for all the reply's. I am learning a lot. I also just got a email from STI, they apparently do not offer the clark/para cut in their frames, so If im going to go that route, looks like I would have to buy a SV frame. I havent had much time to read up yet. Internet problems and two kids in diapers, but they will goto sleep sometime today and hopefully my net will still be working when they do.

+1 on playing with the shockbuff. If its too thick, it will cause your slide to short stroke and definitely alter your ejection. take the buff out and shoot the gun a few times and see if it changes the distance your brass goes. If you are now getting 6ft ejections, you know your buff is too thick. You can then order thinner ones and start fiddling with them until you find the thickest size that does not interfere with the ejection process.

I am getting ready to build a new Limited race gun in .40sw. Looking at STI frame, Bar-Sto bull barrel and Caspian slide. I have spoke to a couple of people about the various barrel ramp cuts and their pros and cons. What is the preferred method here with you guys? Seems like the STI mostly offers the Nowlin/Wilson cut more than the Clark/Para cut. When I look at barrel selections to match them up, I noticed that Bar-Sto also offers the "Bar-Sto" cut for their ramp, but I have yet to see a frame offered for that cut. I have emails into Bar-Sto, Brownells, STI and various others, but of course email is slow and I dont have any replies as of yet (about a week). Im thinking of just ordering the Wilson/Nowlin cut for both barrel and frame. Oh, another question, does anyone know where a Bar-Sto barrel might be in stock? I know what the wait game is like for one of those. I have checked with midwayusa, Brownells and speedshooter.com, but they all do not seem to stock that particular barrel at this time. Thanks guys.

I built an Oly shorty carbine about 15 years ago, it has worked flawlessly for thousands of rounds. I chose it then due to cost, and when compared to colts and SA's, the lower receivers were built a lot beefier. When I first got the kit, the lower and upper were a sloppy fit, a quick call to OLY had things straightened out fast, great customer service, I sent back the lower and upper and they hand selected the returns, they were tight. There were not many players in the game back then and it was a good bet. Now days though, there are a lot of good companies making quality stuff. Im in the middle of building another Carbine, but this flavor will be DPMS.

I have 4 of the Dawson's, they came from brownells. one of them give me 20 rds, the others currently give 19. I checked Dawsons site, there is no mention of different round count options, but brownells does list them as being +3. I really like brownells, but it wouldnt be the first time they have misprinted or misrepresented something.

WHAT? That is aweful, I have never heard of reloading being illegal in any country. Sorry to hear that. Just put good sights on the gun you currently have, then save up for the gun you want. glocks are not that unreasonable to purchase, but I would not spend the money for the adjustable sights from glock. If you choose a G34/G35, opt for the plain fixed plastic sights and spend the extra money they would have charged you for a set of real sights when you get it. The factory adj. sights are very poor quality.

I have the .100 Dawson fiber optic front sight with the adj dawson rear. My only complaint is the sharp corners on the rear sight, I need to break down the edge a little, but I love those sights. Dont get any fiber in the rear, its too busy. My sig pulls about 12lbs on double action over about 3/4" of pull. Just keep in mind that the glock is a double action type pull, but more like 1/4". The standard 3.5 connector will yield about 4.5lbs on the scale. the polish job can drop it to 4lbs, but mostly will make the trigger smooth, which makes it feel lighter. The heavier pull connector like the 5.0 will have a shorter trigger pull than the 3.5. For that reason, I have seen some shooters, prefer the 5.0 connector,(pulls about 5.5 to 6lb then polish, then add Woff spring kit and get it back down to 3 to 3.5. The shorter trigger pull makes it feel more crisp. I love my glocks and I have played with a lot of high dollar triggers. Most of them, no matter what is done, still feels like an old dart gun to me, so we just do what we can. Instead of spending the cash on a full magwell ($100+), you might try the Seattle Slug grip weight, it has a ramped edge that helps with reloads, and adds 3.5oz to the grip, which helps the balance tremdously when the gun is running out of ammo, it soaks up a little recoil too, which is always nice. It wont break the bank at about $20 and you dont run into issues of what mag pads you have to run if you are running brand X magwell. I can run stock mags or extended's with no issues. I didnt like the brass appearance on my G35 with KKM stainless Bbl, so I got some brass black, now it looks like black chrome and is acceptable.

shooting high, could be a result of the crappy stock sights, but could also be a result of a low grip. Glocks liked to be griped high up on the backstrap and as already mentioned, light pressure on the lower part of the front of the grip, this should bring your shots down and improve your consistency. As far as shooting to the right, I suggest using less trigger finger and really work on pulling straight rearward. If you are already doing these things and still having problems, see aftermarket sights and set zero them for yourself. Look at the .25 cent trigger job, this will smooth the pull up quite a bit, you can get a spring kit for under $10 from wolf that replaces the safety plunger spring, the striker spring and the trigger reset spring, this along with the .25 cent polishing, will usually yield about 2 1/2 lbs if you have the 3.5lb connector. Its a cheap way to significantly improve the trigger without breaking the bank. If you find that improving the trigger makes you fall in love with your new glock, then you can consider one of the expensive trigger jobs. I switched to glock from sig a couple of years ago. My sig shot more accurately from a rest (1" @25 yds). My glocks usually shoot around 2.5" @25 from a rest, but when shooting offhand, you usually dont notice that kind of difference. It took me a couple of years to get really comfortable with the glocks, but now that I am proficient with them, I dont long for my sig, it just sits in the safe.

I shot this last saturday, I won the stage, I was surprised, we had a GM and two M class shooters. Im currently unclassified, but shot it in 14.57 with all "A's" and one "C". My hit factor was 5.9712, the ohio calculator put me at 90%. That will be O.K., since I bombed the last classifier by putting 2 in the black for 2 - 10 point penalties. I think that rated me as a "C" class shooter, it was the only stage I trashed, I did pretty well on the others. Oh, I currently shoot Limited division with a mild modified Glock 35, KKM bbl, Dawson sights, .25 cent trigger job and seattle slug, Laser-Cast 180gr over TG

Sorry if this comes off wrong, but I dont trust too many people to check "my" stuff, I have seen way too many people that have been reloading for 20+ years that still cant produce something that will pass the guage test or worse. Check it for yourself. Run the ram to the top and screw the die body in until it touches the ram, then set your crimp adjustment screw until you get the desired crimp, currently I like .421 with lasercast, some like .420 some like other numbers. If the die is not touching the shell plate, then you are not sizing all the way down. You should not have any bulge after that. I have heard a rumor or two that one or two people still had a very small amount of bulge and ended up setting up the FCD on a single stage press, this was because the shell plate assembly on the 550 was bulky enough to not allow the die to size down far enough and the single stage press cured the problem. You are correct, the deluxe 4 die set from lee contains the FCD. I use a dillon case guage, some are tighter, some guages are looser. Make sure you seat the bullet to manufacturers specs. The KKM's like shorter profile bullets, like the 180 seated to 1.125. I have feed problems with the 170 SWC seated at 1.135 because the nose is too long and it hits the top of the chamber, that is the trade off of having more case support, so I just shoot the 180's, which I like better anyhow. You don't have to push the 180's as fast and felt recoil is less.

in my G35, my KKM is about 20-30FPS faster than stock.

The Lee Factory Crimp Die (FCD), crimps the case after the bullet has been seated, separating those two steps, which is a must if reloading lead to avoid shaving the lead off the bullet while seating. The extra added effect of the FCD is that it has a carbide size ring and effectively resizes the loaded round. Since it has less of a radiused opening, it sizes further down than the initial size die. That extra 16th of an inch is where all of your problems lurk. you can get them for about $12 through midway. I was skeptical at first, but for that kind of money, it was worth a try. Now I wont load without it.

I shoot a G35 with KKM barrel and a stock barrel. I still prefer to use the Lee FCD, it sizes down the furthest of all dies I have tested (RCBS, Dillon, Lee standard resize die). The KKM seem to shoot lead more accurately, but the stock glock barrel shoots jacketed just a scootch better. Interestingly enough, the KKM shoots all bullets about 30 FPS faster than the stock barrel. I shoot lead through my stock barrel from time to time, because I have a few thousand of the SWC's that wont feed through the tighter chamber of the KKM. The stock barrel is harder to clean than the KKM. No matter what size die you use, follow up with the FCD for the final crimp and size. I have zero guage failures using this method for about 7500 rds so far. All I shoot is glock fired brass from the range.

"When my Range Lawyer gets ahold of you, you will never be able to ride straight again!" or "Hemmorhoids got you down? Our newly designed saddle will have you sitt'in tall and shooting straight again!"

Here is another manual for mildot. http://www.vikingtactics.com/Info/MIL%20DOT%20GUIDEv3.doc

I wonder why he doesnt go to the reno gun show, I have looked for bulk bullets there several times and can only find one vender selling laser-cast at terribly high prices.

I see that the bulletguy.com has them shipped in a 1900rd box for 146.00, in the time of rising costs of bullets, Im always looking for a deal, but I do not ever see anyone shooting the speer bullets. Is this because they are usually not a good deal?