Wim

Caution:I learned to drive on my PlayStation

I also went a pin shoot for the first time recently. It was a blast! 175PF 180gr 40 S&W also wouldn't take them off the table "with authority". I've picked up some 220gr bullets to give a try as I'm told that heavy slower bullets do a better job. I had shot a few tables with other guys .45's before and I must say they worked waaay better. I did see in a thread somewhere on The Forum that in .357 230gr bullets are popular, so hopefully the 220's will be a step in the right direction. Anyone out there having success with a .40 on pins? Any thoughts on a load to take a look at (just bullet and velocity will suffice - I will need to load it with local powder)? Thanks. Wim

Thanks for the replies... I'll leave mine at home and buy something appropriate (but inappropriately small! ) on arrival... Wim

Now I'm a bit concerned. I'm visiting the US soon and figured I would bring, or buy a knife to carry for the 3 weeks that I'm there - I'm never without one here at home. I had no idea that there were all sorts of carry laws related to knives. Are there any basic guidlines (blade length etc.)? Any rules on serrated or smooth edges? I'm going to be almost all over, so I can't even be location specific. I usually carry a Cold Steel Recon (us lefties like the reversible clips). Thanks for any input. Wim

This is really cool... thanks. After years of slow offhand shooting I've been so intent on going fast that I get a good first shot and can often only recall seeing a target somewhere behind my hands and the gun for the rest of a stage (what Brian would call "BAB" I think) and little in the way of sight picture. Some of my times are way low - and so is the hit rate! If I go slower I'm hitting much better though. Between The Book and The Forum and posts like this I know it will come right over time. I had never dreamt that there was so much more to action shooting; after years of thinking I could shoot pretty well (which I suppose I can depending on the circumstances). My shooting has turned from an activity into a journey... Thanks. Wim

One more thumbs up for Lee

Thanks, Chris. A few good ideas that I'll give a try. Thank you for sharing them. I must say I've been pretty happy (and I'm cranky about my gadgets). Wim

I bought a Lee progressive after using a friend's one for ages (to load 9mm) and after going nuts using a single stage. It was a decision based on price. I am generally a shooting "brand snob" most of the time - I had NO Lee stuff before then, no dies, nothing, but I've been pleasantly surprised. I now load .40 S&W on the Lee. So far it's doing pretty well. I can go about 500 an hour without problems and giving some attention to what I'm doing. I can't comment on durability for 10's of thousands - not there yet. You need to: 1. Make some fine tuning adjustements to the angles of the "wire" part of the case feed to get it going perfectly. 2. Know that cases with less powder in them don't spill when the shellplate indexes between stations and that trying to index between stations at warp speed will likely spill powder; 3. Learn to feel primers seating (or at least not seating ) - but generally mine is pretty good. This has to do with the primer feed - keep the tube full and clean. Tie it together with cable ties so that it stays together (the sides can pop apart and then primers get hung up in the feed tube). 4. Watch to see whether the cases are fed right side up - i.e. whether they went into the tubes right side up from the "case collator" (what Lee calls the funnel thingy that you dump empty cases in to feed the case tubes - I think). 5. Refill the primer tray once it empties into the primer feed tube and be more aware once the primer tray is almost empty so that you don't try to charge an unprimed case. 6. Pull an old pillowcase or a plastic bag over the press to keep dust out of the primer feed tube and so on. Then get your rhythm going and don't try to go flat out - you'll be slower sorting out problems with primer misfeeds and powder spillage etc. Negatives: 1. I only have the standard cavities for the Autodisk powder measure, don't like stacking cavities and so I'm a bit limited as to the variation on how much powder I can load. 2. As it stands (I don't have a bullet feeder) placing the bullet into the case for seating is a bit awkward around the post position. (I can only imagine that it's worse if you seat on the second station and crimp on the last, but I would need to take a look. Accuracy seems okay for what I'm doing with the loaded product. Now I hope that singing the praises of Lee won't be bad luck for my press

The Lee FCD can apparently not (according to the instructions that come with it) overcrimp. I suppose that is all based on not having excessively oversized bullets, and / or thick brass, but I suppose that the idea is that the dimensions will not reduce the diameter so much that you can no longer headspace on the case mouth. In my experience accuracy is determined by so many factors that the discussion is probably far beyond my knowledge and experience, but for example with certain loads and slower burning powders you want crimp to ensure that you get proper ignition of the powder - heavier crimp will reduce unburnt powder in some of those cases (I've experienced that myself with magnum revolvers - I have no experience with .38 Super, 9X23 etc.) and therefore improve shot to shot consistency. The idea here is to increase case neck tension. It's also suggested that with really fast burning poweder and a lot of unoccupied (air space) in the loaded case crimp achieves the same. I have no experience of that either, but recall seeing it in a loading manual as a teenager, using 38 spl wadcutter laods as a test. I've also seen comments in some of the manuals about crimp asissting in aligning the heel of the bullet more squarely relative to the case mouth after the fact - I'm not so convinced of that one, particulalry in a straight walled case without body taper, but I suppose that the theory is possible. Just bear in mind that to be really consistent (i.e. achieve consistent neck tension) case length needs to be the same to achieve the same crimp, so does case wall thicknes. Taper crimps are a little more foregiving than roll crimps here, but I don't know of any action shooters who trim to the same case OAL. But I do know a few (@nal? self included?) revolver shooters (and silhouette junkies) who do! a test on rifles: http://www.accuratereloading.com/crimping.html A discussion on rifles again: http://yarchive.net/gun/ammo/crimping.html (Bart Bobbit) The answer is surely to test it for yourself and see - and if you aren't capable of setting up to test accuracy to discern a difference it probably won't make a difference to your performance. Sometimes it is aguable that higher neck tension is desireable, that to my mind is what it is about. Wim

At this point those of you with action plans are waaaay ahead of me Best of luck with it, hope that sorts it out for you!

Okay. Mine is different. Sorry - but even if it was the same problem I still didn't have a solution! Wim

I know that this thread is old already, but I posted a question in the limited /standard gun tech section which I think is relevant and on a search I found this thread. I apologise in advance if the description is inellegant (and LOOONG) but I'm trying to do a few things at the same time here, sorry. The bullet noses of my unfired cartridges look exactly like the photograph posted by Merlin. Initially I also thought that I had "nosedives" and people were recommending recutting my ramp, commenting on the barrel to frame fit etc. (it's a ramped barrel on a Para). I don't think that is the problem. I worked it out after I kept a few of the dinged rounds - which I used not to do (silly me!). Take the dinged round and put it in a mag in the gun. Remove the barrel from the slide and postion it correctly on the frame and start stripping the top cartridge by hand and you will probably notice that it meets the feedramp higher than the marks on the bullet would imply if it were being stripped by the breech face (like would happen under cycling). What I noticed is that the height at which the bullet meets the ramp indicates to me that the cartridge is being dragged int othe feedramp when the one above it chambers - i.e. the bottom of the slide (the firing pin housing area) is pulling the cartridge below (due to friction I suppose) and slamming the nose into the feedramp. On the next cycle you appear to get a "nosedive" jam because the nose of the cartridge is already jammed into the outside corners of the feedramp (and with lead bullets - properly jammed in there sometimes). I tested it by inserting a loaded mag and retracting the slide just short of enough to strip a round and letting it go forward - most of the time it would pull the top cartridge forward at least a bit and sometimes into the feedramp (by friction of the underside of the breech area I suppose). Another test is to see if you ever get the "nosedive" on feeding the first round from the mag - cycling by hand - or by loading the gun (chambering a round) and then inserting a fresh loaded mag and firing the gun. Now remove the round that is fed from the mag when you fired the first shot and inspect it. Chances are no jams under those circumstances and no marks on the bullet. Now if you had fired that one the next round fed would again have the problem. i.e. you should never have this problem the first shot you fire after a mag change. I think I've just identified the problem, not the solution. Flexmoney replying to my post suggested just breaking the bottom edge on the breechface. (Posted yesterday under limited technical). This is why maybe having the mag sit lower could solve the problem as there may be less friction from the underside of the breech are / firing pin housing on cycling. But too low then you get inconsistent stripping from the mag again. Any other ideas are welcome. Wim

Thanks for the input. Not to sound totally idiotic, you are referring to the bottom edge of the breech face? i.e. where it would ride on the case in the mag below. I'll look at that and it's certainly worth a try. What makes me wonder though is that the breech face has contacted the first round and stripped it from the mag and it's likely the area behind the breech face that is causing the problem. Thanks for the input, will give it a try. Wim

When my Para P16 chambers a round, the one below is dragged into the feedramp. It's not the top round catching the one below; I can duplicate it by retracting the slide so that it just doesn't strip a cartridge and then letting it go forward. It seems that the friction from the underside of the slide (the firing pin housing area I suppose) drags the round below forward. The nose of the bullet smashes into the feedramp (ramped aftermarket barrel) and causes hangups from time to time as the deformed nose of the bullet hooks onto the bottom outside edges of the ramp. (A narrower round nose design will probably be less problematic, but won't avert the problem). The dings on the bullet noses make it very clear where the bullet is hitting and the height - so it's clear that it's not in feeding (i.e. the cartridge is still sitting too low when this happens). The mags are standard Para. The guy who built the gun before me was running 38 super or 9mm mags (don't recall) which probably avoided this problem as the cartridge sits lower in the narrower mag, but I had problems with the top rounds often not stripping from the mag (I sold them to buy the new mags, so I can't test them out to see if the same problem exists). I know this is getting long.... so, in closing, I'm surprised that this doesn't happen more often now that I've discovered the problem. So I'm hoping that someone has encountered and sorted this out beofre. Maybe tuning the mags will help? Any ideas welcome and thanks for ANY input (short of sell the Para and buy a * instead). Wim

I use the FCD and find it good. But my understanding was that the die sized the bullet in the case as necessary - particularly for poorly sized / inconsistent lead bullets, so that the case neck diameter is correct (which was the contribution that it made to my relaods). The neck of the cases sometimes don't make it to the end of the chamber so the headspace is wrong. The primary purpose was not to size the bottom of the case as I understood, if that's your problem the undersize sizing die seems to be the "right" product.

When I built a new rifle with a mtch grade barrel a while ago I also went through the same process of finding the "best break-in procedure". So I went to the barrel oracle! Dan Lilja - he pm mailed me after I asked him directly about Gale McMillan's thoughts on the subject. This is an edited cut and paste from Dan's reply to me.... "...Gail has been dead for 5 years or so now but I've known him since the 1970's and know his two sons well. Rock buys barrels from us and Kelly is the stockmaker.... I think that a proper break-in is important and recommend that customers follow the procedure we have on our website. However, with barrels that have not been lapped it is doubtful that they'll ever completely break-in. Using the procedure on a rough factory barrel is probably a waste of time. Hope that helps a little." These are the links to the relevant articles on Dan Lilja's site... http://www.riflebarrels.com/support/center...maintenance.htm http://www.riflebarrels.com/articles/barre...rel_fouling.htm Now I just hope that I can scrape enough cash together to build another rifle - with a Lilja barrel! Wim

Thanks for all of the feedback. Here's what I'm going to do: Cut off the rear part of the slidestop from just behind the little notch that retains the spring that keeps the slidestop down. That way I figure the spring stops the tab left there from "flopping" about and jamming things up. The tab left will also be short enough not to get in the way of feeding if it moves a bit and I will avoid the whole trigger pin walk issue. And it leaves a piece to wiggle about (if need be) when stripping out the trigger group. Thanks for the input, it helped me decide what to do to avoid the concerns expressed by everyone. I'll let you all know how it works out; but I may not do it immediately. Wim

I don't have the experience or skill - at all (yet! ) - to comment, so just a question in the form of an observation regarding the earlier replies. Isn't it similar to arguing that shooting limited / standard gun and open in IPSC will mess up timing and that you need to shoot guns that feel the same (and those certainly don't)? From everything I've read Flexmoney seems right on the money. I suppose it's just that the guys who are at the top of their game know what they need to do / feel / see to be really good in all the disciplines (not meant as a criticism of anyone who has replied and who will make me look like the beginner that I am), but we see certain of the big names in various disciplines in the top 5 or 6 in all of them with enough regularity to make me think that it's got to do with more than just PF and timing...

Ditto for Lee factory crimp. And never had a problem with setback, even when I messed up and seated waaay to long , which would have caused it if anything... I think they are the bomb for autolaoders.

http://www.tirsportif.com/REGLES/ipsarules.htm#Anchor-Eight Good pics of tables and pin set ups

Thanks very much; that's the kind of input that I was looking for. Wim

Thanks for the input. Yep, I was worried about the trigger pin "walking" which was why I figured I would leave at least a tab at that junction, or machine a similar thickness washer. There is already a very slight wobble on a Glock trigger and I wouldn't want to increase it. Making a mod to stop the slide from locking back when the mag empties is not my worry. It hasn't heppened for a veeery long time, but my grip is really high and I risk locking the slide back under recoil as my grip puts my stronghand thumb right under the lever (its the standard factory "slimline" model). I could just grind the tab off - or make it a lot smaller from what you are saying. I could probably grind most of it away and just leave a tab to wiggle if I need to when stripping it down - I don't take the trigger group out much anyway. Thanks. Wim

Does anyone have experience in dealing with Model1Sales.Com and any comments about their products? (Complete kits particularly). Thanks. Wim

I've carried a Glock 23C for about 8 yrs or something now. But I shoot my Para Ord more and generally take a very high thumb grip, so I risk locking my Glock slide back under reecoil with my stronghand thumb (although it hasn't happened since my first Glock shooting session). I know - you guys will probably tell me I should just shoot Glock , but over here in South Africa we are just trying to keep the guns that we have right now, before buying (and trying to license) new ones... What is the best wat to deactivate the slide stop - any ideas? I figured I could just remove it and cut off the part that protrudes from the trigger area. Otherwise I could just remove it, but I figure I'll need a similar thickness spacer alongside the trigger to stop it from wobbling horribly side to side. Has anyone done this, or have any ideas? It's not really about locking back on empty mags, that looks like an easier mod, it's about my thumb under recoil. I prefer slides that don't lock back anyway. Thanks for any input. Wim

Peter I checked out your location - must have helped a bit! I should have guessed. Thanks again. Wim