LHshooter

At our local NC Tier 3 match last year we had a stage set up with a surprise target behind a barrel as you left cover. A bunch of people did just what you said, they stepped out of cover, dumped rounds, reloaded and then blasted the surprise target when they got on top of it. Others didn't understand the rule, got a PE and bi*&%ed and moaned about the rule.

Just want to clarify what you said to make it a little clearer to the OP. You cannot leave a point of cover with the gun out of battery if you will be exposed to a surprise target or a target in the open. If the gun runs empty while you are in the open engaging targets you can perform a slide lock reload. But you cannot move into the open while performing a reload (either a tac reload or emergency reload) if you will be exposed to a target. A bunch of guys at my local clubs have fallen into this trap.

Wow, talk about being humbled. Maybe there is some hope for me. I happened to see a video on faster splits recently where it was recommended to use a metronome app to "train" your brain/finger to move faster by speeding up the beat to a rate faster than you would ever use and then the slower beats become attainable. Sorry for the off topic.

Hey zzt, thanks so much for the clarification of comps vs ports. Your suggestions for loads are very helpful. As I mentioned, my sweet spot for reloading has been 130-132 PF. I should be good to go powder and bullet wise. I also have some 115 factory stocked away I can try to see how it compares to my loads. P.s. the only way I'll ever get a sub 0.1 split is in my dreams. my 65 year old finger will never move that fast.

I recently obtained an MPA DS9 pistol and at the time purchased two barrels, one of them ported. I've never shot a ported barrel before but plan on using it for IDPA CO matches if it seems to make a noticeable (to me) difference in quicker dot recovery. Now I need to figure out which ammo to use that takes advantage of the ports. I've reviewed the archives here and took away that ported barrels want slow burning powder since it generates more gas, higher charges since they generate even more gas, and lighter bullets (124, 115). But people recommended powders like Titegroup, N320, CFE, Power Pistol. But when I check a Nov 2023 burn rate chart the slowest powder, CFE, is 45 out of 175 powders (#1 being fastest). So, these don't seem like slow powders to me. I typically load with Titegroup and recently bought N320 so I have those two on hand. Usually use 147 but recently switched to 124. I have powder and bullets but now what? Do I load to a higher PF to get more velocity/gas to make the ports work? I typically load to around 130-132 PF. Is there any factory ammo I can use? Read on another site that Fiocchi 124gr/1150fps/143 pf; S&B 124gr/1200 fps/149pf; Aguila 124gr/1115fps/138pf; Lawman 147gr/985fps/145pf; and American Eagle 147gr/1000fps/147pf give good results. The common theme between these seems to be PF above 140. Any suggestions for reload or factory ammo would be greatly appreciated.

I purchased an SRO in December and it came with 2 sets of Torx screws (short and long) and a T10 wrench.

I know the LOCs have been running about 26 weeks but they may have shortened that. In December they told me my model was running 20 weeks but they were working "diligently" to reduce that. Ended up shipping about 2 1/2 weeks quicker. Mine was worth the wait, hope yours is too.

I've always been a striker fired pistol guy, had never even fired a 1911 pistol. When I had a chance to shoot an MPA DS9 several months back I knew I wanted one, it just was a great experience. I had never heard of MPA so I looked into them and found that some people were negative because of earlier quality issues but most people seemed to be positive. I saw the company took care of customers issues and stood behind the product. I then met someone else with a DS9 that also loved it so placed an order. In the meantime, I learned about 1911's in general and read about the gripes that some people had about the DS9 so I would know what to look for. Just under 18 weeks from day of order to day of delivery I picked mine up yesterday. My FFL told me she didn't like the grip because it hurt her hand but thought the slide was amazing. My hands sweat a lot in the summer so I ordered the A3 aggressive grip and it is pretty aggressive. This grip texture is not for dainty handed people. That said, I don't find it too uncomfortable. The only place where I really notice it is the inside of my fingers where I grip the front strap of the grip. The rest of my SH feels fine, even at the meat of my palm where it hits the backstrap. My WH has no issues. I'm pretty sure I will get used to the grip texture pretty quickly and I doubt the gun will slip in my hand when I sweat. Don't know what my hands will feel like after 10 or 15 minutes of dry fire. As far as the finish goes, there are no rough edges, tool/machine marks anywhere. The DLC coating is terrific over the entire pistol and it feels silky smooth to the touch. I think I'm gonna cry the first time this pistol gets a scratch. As far as the fit, the slide to frame fit is amazing. There is zero movement in the left/right, up/down, fore/aft, and rotational directions. It's as if the slide is fused to the frame. There is no movement of the barrel at all. When I rack the slide it is amazing, it's like a well-oiled machine. The feel is like it is gliding on ice. The magwell fits the grip very nicely, there are no gaps, no unevenness around the circumference of the magwell with the grip. The back edge of the extractor is flush with the slide and there are no gaps. Someone had complained that their trigger had a lot of slop and that there was excessive movement up/down. This is the only part of my pistol where I have found some movement. I can move the trigger up/down less than 0.025". Don't know if this is normal or too much. I imagine that some 1911 aficiondos can tell me what if anything else I am missing to look at. Overall, I think MPA has built me a masterpiece but I won't know for sure until I shoot it over the next week. I have 11 different kinds of ammo, a combination of factory and reloads. My plan is to zero the dot using Blazer 124's and then run 25 rounds of each ammo to see how the gun likes it. I'm hoping it shoots as well as the one I shot previously where I had no issues. I will write another post once I get the range results Finally, I also purchased a ported barrel along with the pistol and will get around to testing that as I may want to use it in IDPA CO matches. I'm not familiar with shooting ported barrels so if anyone has any ideas re factory ammo or what reloads work well I would appreciate it. Not sure if I have to look for velocity or PF when finding the right load. May have to pose this question on the Reloading thread.

I certainly don't have to operate it that slowly. I'm using a Lee single stage press and I just pull the handle down, pause, and bring it back up. A few things I did before running powder was to wash the drum in Dawn detergent and let it air dry. Then I ran about 1 hopper of powder thru the measure. I also read where some people rubbed everything down with dryer sheets to eliminate static. You might try those tips if you haven't already. Good luck.

I'm new to the Auto Drum but before I recently purchased it I read several posts where people said that if you operated the handle to quickly all the powder would not drop into the case. I have not loaded too much yet, but I operate the ram slowly and pause at the top of the stroke before lowering it. I have had very good success so far with very consistent loads. I have been using N320 and Titegroup, FYI.

I guess Ben Stoeger will be releasing a YouTube video about this latest AD replacement shortly. There is getting to be too much drama in USPSA admin. I'm just a regular member that doesn't participate in major matches and the inner workings of USPSA but it's getting out of hand, even for me. New primetime show coming - The Real ADs of USPSA

If you end up looking for an alternative, check out the Timney Alpha Glock trigger. Should give you a 3 lb trigger pull. I tried the Vogel and Zev Ultimate triggers first but like the Timney best. Can't comment on the Johnny Glock as I have never tried it.

I messed around with a few of the cell phone shot timer apps several years back and found they were not very reliable so I went and bought a shot timer. Maybe times have changed and they have gotten more reliable, I don't know. I will say if all you want is par time for dry fire then you can probably make due with an app.

That's been my big issue lately, the casing tipping and the primer inserting at an angle. I know it's been about 10 years since I started reloading but I swear I didn't have that issue long ago. I'm going to buy the RCBS shell holder and hope that fixes the problem. Thanks everyone for your input.

I could swear when I started reloading 10+ years ago the casings didn't wobble as much as they do now. Since the Lee shell holder is "universal " for 3 different calibers that may be part of the problem. I see that RCBS sells one just for 9mm. I may buy that to see if it holds the casing tighter. I understand all the shell holders fit other brand presses. Thanks for your insight.

This may be a dumb question but does a shell plate holder ever wear out to where the casing wiggles too much in the holder? I am not a high volume reloader and use a simple Lee single stage turret press. I have maybe reloaded 20k to 25k 9mm over the years. Now, it seems as though the casings wiggle quite a bit and sometimes cause problems especially when seating a primer. I often have to readjust the casing and push it back in the plate holder. I know this plate holder (R19) is for 9mm, 10mm and .40 cal but wonder if maybe after sliding thousands of casings in and out it has worn a few thousandths of an inch off the plate to where a 9mm casing is now too loose. It's a low $$ part bu5 figured I would ask before buying a replacement.

I ended up buying a Rival Arms slide that was milled for the RMR/SRO footprint and have a Holosun 507c on it.

As a LH shooter I used my trigger finger to hit the mag release on my gen 2 Glock 17. Once Glock released a gen that allowed for ambi mag release I quickly switched to right side mag release which I found worked faster for me. This carried over to my Sig P320 X5 where i can drop a mag quickly on the right side especially with an extended mag release. I am new to the 1911/2011 platform and have ordered an MPA and an Atlas, both with RH mag releases. We'll see how that works for me.

Thanks for the info. I'll probably try 4.2 at 1.13" and see what PF I get. P.s. I also have a pre-legion x5, bought in the first month's it was released. Has shot great all these years. Only thing I don't like is that it only takes the Romeo1 unless I use a plate.

What OAL are you using with the 4.1 of N320? I just chronod some N320 with 124 grain coated bullets yesterday testing 3.9, 4.0 and 4.1 grains with OAL of 1.14 thru my Sig 320 X5 and got PF's of 120 to 126. I thought it would be higher than that. Don't know if I should bump it up to 4.2 grains or shorten the OAL.

UPS and FedEx rates have gotten pretty stupid. You may want to go on the UPS website and see how much it would cost to ship that weight item and compare to what PT is charging you ($25). Seems only the big boys get a discount from the shippers. Last week I sent a large photo in a flattened cardboard box USPS from NC to NY. Weighed less than 1 lb, cost over $15 and took 4 days. They aren't any better and much less reliable.

I imagine they will be announced at SHOT show later this month. I've got 5 months to go on my Athena order. Wonder if they'll let me switch if they announce something Interesting.

I used to use skateboard tape but found the "grippiness" would wear fairly quickly and sometimes the tape just wouldn't stick well to the grip. After reading/viewing people applying silicon carbide I decided to try it for myself. I had a spare Sig P320 grip module that I decided to practice on before committing. I used a Dremel tool to grind off the grip texture and anyplace else I wanted to apply the carbide and then using 15 minute epoxy I brushed it on with a sponge brush and then spooned the carbide on over a plastic bag to catch the excess. I have to admit it came out pretty damn good, so good that I did the same to my G34. After about 18 months I've noticed little if any wear/reduction in grippiness. If it happens in the future, I'll just sand down and reapply. There are a bunch of videos online showing how to do it - some are amateurish and others are really good. I'm not worried about resale, when I die my firearms will be disposed of in my estate plan, I won't be around to worry about.

Exactly, that's what I was a little concerned about when I found 1 bullet 2 grains light. That's about 16 fps which could be an issue at chrono. I typically try to load to PF of 130 to 132 for a little breathing room.

Rightly or wrongly, when I reload I typically buy bullets, powder, and primers, work up some loads to verify power factor and then go to town and reload. I really never paid too much attention to how consistent the weight of the bullets are relative to the advertised weight. For the past few years I have used 147 gn Hoosier Bullets and when I initially checked a random sample I found them to weigh an average of 146.8 gns with a standard deviation of 0.252. I thought that was pretty damn good. Recently I bought some 124 gn bullets from Summit City and decided to check them. I took a random sample of 20 bullets and found the following: Minimum = 122 gn Maximum = 125.2 gn Mean = 124.3 Std Dev = 0.634 While the mean looks pretty good to me, the std dev is 2.7x greater than the Hoosier Bullets I usually use. Is this good enough or should I go back to what I usually use. I decided to try the Summit City since they were a little less expensive and I read good things about them regarding accuracy and lack of smoke. I've never had an issue with the Hoosier Bullets as far as accuracy but sometimes they seem more smoky to me. BTW - I used Blue Bullets in the past until I learned their weight variance is even worse than the Summit City results I just measured. Plus I had to pay sales tax.