Smokecloud

Wolf Primers are fine. the magums do have a thicker cup though, but the magnums do not burn hotter. So far I have only shot about 2000, but have 4k more to try, Iwill buy more.

When I researched all i could a few years back, the Lee Kit rated very high. RCBS was having issues with the QC of their dies and loaded rounds had lots of runout, the RCBS press is nice, but the Hornady was the same thing in a different color and less money. Hornady dies were not much better than RCBS. The Hot ticket then was CH4D dies in a Hornady press, but when you add the dies up at 200+ each, it was very easy to get 1200 into just basic reloading components. A few guys that were high volume shooters had purchased the Lee Kits in addition to the other stuff they already had and reported less bullet runout than even the CH4D on a regular basis. The downside to Lee is of course the small opening in the press, but you get used to it quickly. their is a couple of reviews of the Lee that "competitor" made up and posted over on biggerhammer.net, he also figured out all the little tricks to using the press easy and efficient, he loaded several thousand rounds without breaking anything. I bought my Lee kit and have been very happy with it. if I weight sort my LC Brass after match prepping it, then weight sort the pull down and resized AP bullets, I get 3/4" groups at 100 yards using pulldown 5010 surplus powder through my EDM. The idea of a progressive reloader for the BMG sounds exciting, I think there is too much case work involved for me to appreciate it and im sure it comes with a hefty pricetag. I have a dillon 650, so yes I drink the blue koolaid and am a big supporter of Dillon, but If I had to do it over again, I would go the same route. for small case tools, K&M tools are 1st class. The couple that make them are great people if you have not done business with them. When I called in my order, they wouldnt take a credit card and just mailed out the tools to me with instructions that once I got them, If I liked them, then send them a check. It was a little scary at 1st, but it was refreshing to see people that are not jaded by our current society and still believe in the honor system.

I have tried so many lubes I cant remember the names of some, but Hornady One shot, was exactly that or me, "one shot", never again will I buy that stuff. I usually just use RCBS on a pad, or have had good luck with Lee Lube (for 50BMG), but I hate the cleanup and re-oiling of the dies because its a water based formula and will rust the dies if left alone. Dillon lube works the best and I also use it for resizing military pulled projectiles for my BMG. All are finicky in some way or another and all will dent shoulders if not used carefully. I stumbled across something the other day that changed me forever. I was cleaning up one of my presses and had some full synthetic motor oil that I had drained out of the "empty" bottles after servicing my wifes car, anyhow, I was using that to oil the friction points on the rcbs press, when I had an evil little thought and grabbed a .308 case, the full length size die was in place, I dipped the case mouth into the oil about 1/16" to 1/8", this got some oil inside the neck evenly, i wiped it down the outside and even applied it to the shoulder thinking this was going to be fun to try to get it back out if it got stuck. It resized! I was even more impressed that the shoulder DIDNT DENT. I resized 75 cases in about 15 minutes, I started skipping lubing each piece and was only lubing every 2 or 3, there was still some oil on my fingers and i would just wipe them lightly as i placed then in the shell holder. I got sloppy and left the oil on the necks a little heavy, still no dents. I switched to some Amsoil 5/30 that I run on some gun rails because it doenst evaporate and lubricates better than anything I have ever tried and it doesnt burn off easily. Tried resizing the .308 with that and actually sizing about 5 -6 cases regularly without fully relubing. I was so excited I called my brother immediately and told him I was never buying case lube again. He tried it and dented several .223 cases, I asked him if his vent hole was possibly plugged, he checked it, yep, now that he has the same results, he is a believer. I leave it on the cases for my neck trimming and it lubes the pilot, but makes the shavings stick inside the neck. I tumble the cases clean anyhow. a bottle cap with 1/8" oil will size over 100 cases. try it, you might like it.

I have had good luck with with the small pistol wolf primers in .40sw, good performance, reliable ignition and only 87 per 5000, so I bought 1000 of the small rifle to try. I have not loaded them yet in the AR, but from what I have researched, there is supposed to be no ignition difference between the wolf magnum and standard primers, the magnums just have a thicker cup, which is generally recommended for the AR15. Everyone I have spoken to that has shot the wolf standard small primers out of an AR has not had any problems, but it seems to be generally recommended to purchase the magnums for a little extra safety. When I get brave, I will try some soon, in small batches and only load 2-3 in a mag at a time. Anyone here have any first hand test results? I dont have any of the magnums yet. I also read that the wolf primers were supposed to manufactured by PMC out of Korea, I have read that at two other forums from reliable people, but I have not been able to confirm it for myself.

after chrono tests, I will continue to use up my BR primers under varget topped off with 168 match king surrounded by a federal gold medal case with all the trimmings until I run out of them, then I will switch back to a CCI 250, especially if im loading 748. In the summer when things are warm, everything stays consistent, but when it gets cold, (I shot in -2deg F the other night, the BR primers just are not hot enough to keep the ES stable, even with Varget, which by me tests is much less temperature sensative than 748. the 748 pretty much requires a magnum primer to keep velocities consistent, but if you switch to a magnum primer, reduce the load and re-work it back up. I actually found the "sweet spot" .5grains less with the cheaper primer, thus saving more money.

Alessi. No straps, just a tight fitting holster. been carrying it for 6 years now, I run and chase bad guys and have never had an issue. Best ankle holster I have ever owned.

+1 I have large hands and long thumbs, so I agree with the layout of the XD being troublesome. I have a g35 and switched the slide stop to a standard one and I just barely clear it, but I do. I have compared the g22 next to a 4.5" XD and shot them side by side. Same ammo, same barrel length, the XD had less perceived recoil, probably because the grip fit my hand better. the XD shot tigher groups than my G22. I really liked the feel of the metal mags of the XD on reloads in the polymer frame. I was going through the same delimma (just different caliber) between the G35 and the tactical XD. All I had to compare was the G22 size (my duty gun) and a friends same size XD. I chose to go with the glock for a couple of reasons. the finish was far better on the slide on the Glock. I know the glocks very well mechanically and can do most anything to them myself. Aftermarket support is huge in comparison to the XD. and it was just a scaled up version of what I have to carry. Mags were the same as my carry mags. Price was comparible. Pick which ever one fits her best. they are both really good guns, it really comes down to personal choice.

DonT, What BUIS do you have on yours? Another concern is that my buis will lay down flat. A friend of mine has a YHM rear and when its folded, its still about 1/4" from laying down. This is because its for the flat top that sits a little lower than the piece right above the charging handle. Mine is flat all the way across, so I need to chose one that looks nice. Same plane aperture would be nice, but looking around, those seem to be scarce and rather expensive for what you get. I mostly want a peep that I can sight at 50 yds, and shoot out to several hundred, but I want a larger peep for low light conditions with the same POI. Our guns look pretty close. mine has the 16" heavy bbl, but no M4 cuts. My front sight just came in last night, it is the gas block replacment with rail bottom, all one piece, well the clamp on one from YHM. I have had this upper for several years, I had purchased it to shoot on my olympic arms because i was not happy with the way my shorty shot, this upper originally had a one piece free float DPMS handguard on it and I ran a variable power scope on the flat top. I had cut the front sight off myself and smoothed it up about 5 years ago when things werent as easy to find. I finally decided to put a 2nd gun together and scored a DPMS lower and 6 position collapsible stock. Im building it to shoot some 3 gun, but I may also use it at work. I have picked up a single point sling, but still need the attachment piece. A nice trigger is on my list, but not right now. I have to see how my Deparment handles us changing to AR's. They may not allow a JP if its adjustable. I have considered the non-adjustable JARD trigger, but am running out of money and may have to wait. I still need a light of some sort and the mount in my patrol vehicle may be the limiting factor there.

Thanks for the replies. Yes, im using the supplied lock nut, but still had the indexing problem. yes, im trying to make it look cosmetically appealing. I think that its close enough, that I may be able to sand down a little on one side of the lock nut and make it index correctly. the brake with the lock nut will screw completely on, its just cockeyed, so to make it index correctly, i have to unscrew it 9/10 of a turn, leaving the big gap. If I sand down the lock nut, I believe I can make it index correctly with just a little elbow grease. Now, should I put any blue locktight on the threads or leave it alone? Im also installing a YHM free float 4 rail handguard, YHM flip up front sight and Eotech 552 with flip up covers. I have not decided on my rear BUIS yet, there is not a lot of options for same plane apertures.

I have searched quite a bit and found a couple of short articles but have not found what im after. I ordered my Miculek comp from brownells and it didnt come with any instructions. Which way is up? I see that there is a slight difference in the location of the first baffles, im assuming that the baffle closest to the thread should be up to prevent muzzle rise. When i install my comp in this manner, I still have about 1/16" that i need a washer of some sort to be installed because of a gap between the face of the barrel and the back of the lock nut. Is a "peel washer" the way to go on this? Thanks for any input and sorry if this has been beat to death, but I have spent over an hour researching it and cant come up with any photos or clear instructions.

excellent bullets, but the only way I could afford to shoot them was to go in with a few buddies and make a trip to their business and purchase a bulk order (50k+) and take them home. shipping adds a considerable amount to the cost, but bulk qauantities are the way to go if you can. It has been about 3 years or so since I made my last purchase and am still shooting on that lot, but it usually knocks off about 20-25 bucks per 1000. back then, it was about 40% price reduction to what was shown on-line, I have no idea what kind of pricing you could get now that everything is jacked up.

I have the volquartson setup in mine also, they work nice. Sounds like you have covered most all basis. The only thing I can think of is in the cleaning. I have to be very careful in cleaning mine and pay extra attention to the area in the top of the receiver just above where the bolt rests. if you dont use a toothpick or something similar to remove all of the buildup there, my gun will not function. A toothbrush will not reach it and sometimes the gunk looks like it belongs it blends so well. That will cause some bolt problems because it doesnt close completely. The other problem I had after I rebuilt it, was some of the bake on finish I applied, was inside the receiver tube and caused some friction on the bolt, after I removed it, all things worked flawlessly again. Did you put the trigger kit in to fix the problem or has it the problem just began since you installed it?

if you have any real mileage on your mk II, you might check the length of your firing pin as well. I rebuilt mine at almost 50k rds, it started having misfires and ejection problems. I bought a new firing pin and found that it was about 1/16" longer and the tip was more prominent than the old one. It had beat itself flat and shortened. I also replaced the hammer spring along with all the springs in the gun. New exctractor and all problems were solved. if your gun is fairly new, then I would suggest looking for burrs or high spots on the sides of the hammer, firing pin and other related parts that could cause drag, then polish them a little. Your reliability should improve if done right. Brownells has all the factory replacement parts at a reasonable price.

here is a very helpful site. I am not casting yet, but I have been stockpiling lead and building ingots. I will buy the Lee 6 bullet cavity when I take the plunge. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/index.php

dont forget that some of the differences may simply be jacketed speeds vs. hardcast or plated. My G35 makes major with 4.2 TG most days with hardcast or plated, but if I load jacketed, I have to push them harder to get the same speeds. That doesnt change with either the KKM or the stock barrel.

Sometimes I dont have much vision and I just have to see it to know if I like it. The open was very close to what I was thinking. This picture of the Limited Bedel is what I wanted to see, its the same magwell and I have the silver trigger, stainless barrel, stainless ambi safety, beavertail and hammer. Now just imagine that setup with a brazos slide, Im sold. I think I will go forward with Ion Bond on the slide and frame and leave all the rest of the parts shiney. Thanks for the all the photos. When its done, I will try to post one of mine for you.

that is what im looking for! Thanks for the pic.

Wow, nice setups, thanks for the quick replies.

Hi all, just got my new blaster put together, its a STI full length dust cover, with a Brazos lightened slide, Bar-Sto bull barrel with the SVI (non-triglide) interchangeable trigger and Dawson Precision heavy hard chrome magwell. The gun is still in the white and I need to shoot it a bit to make sure everything is the way I like it before immortalizing it in a nice finish. I was originally going to have it hard chromed, but I kind of like what the Ion Bond has to offer. Since I have glocks, I really dont want another all black gun, so I have considered a two tone finish, perhaps Ion Bond the frame and slide and Hard Chrome all the small parts. The trigger is silver as well as the mag well. I was thinking of leaving the barrel silver so it would show through the holes in the black slide. Any Thoughts? How about Pics of any guns that might be done in similar colors. I considered doing the frame and slide different colors, but it seems that I always end up with having the some parts colors matching the touching parts, like silver beavertail with silver frame and I lose the contrast I would look for in a two tone. Oh, the grip is also black. Thanks for any feedback

www.springerprecision.com He posts here regularly. Scott is a super nice guy and great to do business with, his turnaround times are hard to beat, he is located in Bend, Oregon.

Dont forget that the glock 35 has a 5.3" barrel and the Para has a 5.0" barrel, that is enough to make 30-50fps difference alone with some powders. Then you have to consider that if all things were equal, even from the same manufacturer, different barrels just simply give different velocities, it all depends on how smooth it is and what the actual inside diameter is, depth of the groves, etc. barrel makers use the same cutters for making lots of barrels, tools wear out and have to be changed, so there are some differences in tolerances out there. when you chrono your para with the same load in the same conditions and you lose another 50 to 100fps, it will probably be safe to say that your barrel is shot out, but it will probably also be accompanied by a loss of accuracy.

not sure what he usually sets them to, I havent spoke to him about it. I know he is very trust worthy in his decisions, but I thought if he gave me any decision making for the process, I would at least try to be a little educated in the procedure. I have seen people debate longer vs. shorter over all the deminsions and I am just trying to understand the pros and cons. I see that some top smiths set up chambers to accept up to 1.250" loaded rounds, even though the general consensus seem to be cartridges loaded to about 1.165 to 1.20 when loaded long for the 2011's. thanks for the replies

Im building a STI 2011 with bull barrel Bar-Sto in .40sw for limited. What is the best depth to have the chamber cut to? Some go deeper and some dont, what are the benefits of both? Im currently looking at 1.25. Suggestions?

tech plate