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PD brass is no where near as good as the stuff I buy from Ammobrass LLC. The Ammobrass stuff is FULLY processed, not just cleaned and inspected. They resize and decap, swage the primer pocket, roll size, clean in SS media, dry and apply a light coat of wax. 100% of it drops into and out of my Shockbottle chamber checker, and it sails through the press like butter.

Where did you get 40k from? I leave about 10,000 cases on the ground each year at matches. So Starline 38SC would cost $1,600 shipped. Fully processed costs me $380.

I would recommend the Burris Fast Fire III 8 MOA. It is inexpensive, light and has a lifetime warranty. The 8 MOA dot is fine for everything USPSA and better for SCSA. Batteries last forever, and the unit is rugged and inexpensive. The oldest of my five lives slide mounted on a 1911 45. After 40,000 rounds the little plastic cover over the LED port split and fell off. The unit still worked fine, but Burris insisted on replacing it. My other four work just as well. Vortex is a hot name now, but three of the four people who bought them at my club had to send them back in for repairs. 3 and 4 MOA dots tend to get lost in bright sun. I generally prefer dots in the 6 to 8 range, but I'm loving the 5 MOA on my SRO. A C-More RTS2 v5 in 6 ot 8 MOA would be another good choice. I like both of mine, but they eat batteries.

The lock back follower is -1. A properly designed mag catch prevents over insertion of a mag. I have springs with both type followers on, only because one club required going to slide lock for some of their games. For everything else I use the standard non-lock back followers.

At all the Level I matches I shoot, you can hang around until after tear down and scrounge for brass. With everything gone it is very time consuming. Plus it is hard to find on the ranges that are grass. No thanks. So that would cost me $1600 per year for 38SC vs. $380 for fully processed once fired 9mm brass. No thanks. That delta buys be 10,000 115 HAPs and half the powder I'll use in a year.

Practice is the only time I can recover brass. My motto is shoot in practice what you will shoot in the match. I shoot approx. 10,000 rounds a year in USPSA and SCSA matches. That's $1,600 in lost brass a year. Maybe if I were still working, but definitely not on a retirement income. Geez. That's half a new gun. When I decided to build my two new Open guns- a 2011 for USPSA major and a 1911 for SCSA minor, everyone told be I'd spend the first six months tacking down problems and fixing them. Well, I had none of those problems. The 2011 ran 100% from the first shot. I did have a problem initially with the 1911. I fitted the slide and frame too tightly for a minor gun and couldn't get it to run with anything less than 150PF. I loosened it up just a tad and now it runs 132-135PF 100%. Really the biggest problem was finding 1911 9mm mags that worked 100%. So if you are leaning towards 9mm major, don't let the 9mm kaboom crowd scare you off. I've never seen a 9mm kaboom, even with those that shoot fast powders like Autocomp and CFE. Use slow powders and load long. Pressures will be low and the gun will last almost forever. Plus you can buy fully processed brass for under 4 cents each. That's what I do.

The only problem with 9mm major is case capacity. Generally speaking, you can get the gun to run soft, or flat, but not both without some compromise. 3N38 is a nice powder, but not for 9mm major unless you want to shoot 124s or 127s. You cannot get enough of it to stay in the case for 115s. So I'm using mine up for minor steel loads. My go to powder for major is Shooters World Major Pistol powder. It is denser than 3N38 and doesn't spill all over the shell plate when indexing. It is also very compressible; something that cannot be said of 3N38. My load is once fired, fully processed brass, CCI500, 10.2gr MP and 115 HAP at 1.161" OAL. Super clean, accurate and an SD of 4.9. My slide is 10.5 oz., but has full metal everywhere that counts. I run an 8 lb. recoil spring and have no doubt the slide will last longer than I will.

1: I build my own Open guns. If I didn't, I'd be looking at a Cheely Custom. I love the e2 grip, and his parts are solid. He puts the same parts in his guns that I do, except for the slide. He won't sell any of his stash. Limcats feel good in the hand. I used to like the Evo grip before the e2 came along. I'd also seriously look at the Honcho. 2: 9mm Major all the way. I use 115 HAPs with Major Pistol powder. That is the best I've found for two 3/16" poppels and an efficient comp. Pressures are low when loaded to 1.161" OAL. All my matches are essentially lost brass, so that killed 38SC for me. $.16 cents each is too much to throw away for as much as I shoot. That being said, if you can get over the brass cost, 38SC gives you a lot more flexibility, especially if you are a 3N38 lover. 3: nix on the original C-More. It sits too high and eats batteries quickly. I have two RTS2s v4 6 MOA. I no longer use them in USPSA or SCSA competition. Love the view and the dot, but cannot get it bright enough for SCSA. I have three DPP 2.5 that I currently use for competitions. I love the ergonomics of them, but not the 2.5. To get it bright enough to see on white steel in bring sunlight you have to crank up the dot. That makes it bloom, and that's a little distracting for me. The 7.5 MOA is worthless, IMO. I'm trying the SRO right now. So far I love it. The 5 MOA dot stays round and doesn't bloom at high power. It does halo like every other sight I've tried if you crank it up in dim light. However, the dot stays round. I really like the auto brightness setting. It reacts quickly enough and seems to get it just right for sun and shade. If you get a Honcho, I'd mount the SRO on the slide, not the frame. I'd frame mount any of the others. BTW, The Burris FF3 8 MOA gets little love in these forums, but it is a great sight. The oldest of mine is slide mounted on my 1911 45. It went 40,000 rounds before the plastic cover over the diode port cracked and fell off. Sight still worked. The other four are just as good. Batteries last for many years. The dot gradually gets dimmer and dimmer, but you don't notice. If you pop a new battery in twice a year, the dot is bright enough for SCSA. I still like the SRO for the bigger window. 4: easy MBX 170s and 155s. I do have some STI Gen2 tubes with TTI guts and pads. I use them for classifiers and any time I have to drop a mag in dust or mud.

No. I'll also say it is hit or miss at the limit. For example, with my bone stock MBX 40 mags I get 20 reloadable from all. One of them will hold 21, but I don't consider it reloadable. I don't like to slam mags home. The TTI 11 coil spring, +1 follower and the 3G2 pad should get you to 21 +1. If you go with the 4G2, make sure you are getting the already modified one that fits the gauge. I ordered mine online (not from TTI). They were listed as 4G2, but they were not when I received them. Everything else equal, the $mm allows one more round over the 3mm.

Not if you modify the pad. Evidently you no longer have to modify the base. From the website: *4mm (4 the Gauge) is recommended for anyone doing mag tuning who has a USPSA mag gauge. - The 4mm is angled in the back and will fit the gauge while allowing one extra round over the 3mm. It’s the base pad that all the mag tuners have been waiting for to get that extra edge! That being said, the +1 follower will do the same thing with the 3G2 pad. My 4G pads are the old style and will not fit the gauge without modification.

I shoot Open. The 4G base pads definitely do not fit in the 141.25mm gauge without modification. I believe the website says so.

Call and ask. The picture may be old.

Keeping mags loaded does not hurt the springs unless you cram that last bullet in. I have STI Gen 2 double stack mags and MBX. The STI tubes are more delicate, and I've had to tune the feed lips. Personally, I much prefer the MBX. I fully load my mags the day before the match, or two days before. I've had the same springs and followers in my MBX 40 mags for three years without a problem. My MBX 9mm mags are only a year old, but I expect the same from them.

I have no idea. That being said, I'd not buy the powder if it said Rifle on the jug. Another thread complained about the same thing and said the powder was much slower that the last batch of MP.

Yes. Some stores list it as discontinued by them. Both Grafs and Midsouth have it in stock. I didn't check anywhere else, because they are the two I buy from.

I have tried CCI Standard (0032), CCI AR Tactical, Geco Semi Auto and Eley Target. The most accurate is the Eley target. However, it cannot be depended on for SCSA. There are occasional FtFs and failures to extract. This is typical for a Wiland Benz chamber, I'm told. All of the rest functioned 100%. The AR Tactical was the least accurate. The Geco was very nice, but you get liquid wax on your hands from handling/loading it. I use AR Tactical in my RFPO gun, because it will not reliably cycle standard velocity ammo. The last case of AR Tactical I bought is not as good as the previous cases. I get a FtF about once every 300 rounds. So I won't be using it again.

I'll bet you don't run CCI primers.

This ^^^. Both of my Trubore blanks had to be throated to take 1.161" OAL JHPs. HAP, PD, Everglades, etc., it doesn't matter. Same with 124s.

Assuming there is nothing amiss with the gun, if your mag feed lips are correct, OAL is not the issue. My Open gun will feed factory and long OALs equally well. It even feed ultra short 115gr RN reloads.

Unless Steve has incorporated the required change in new production, you have to modify the Everglades block slightly to get the e2 to seat properly. I take a small file and about 60 seconds to do. Here is the mod. Remove a little material from the intersection of the chamfer and the top of the block.

I can't wear wool. even smart wool sox. I have a bunch that go unused. Apr thru Dec I wear my running shoes. Jan thru Mar I wear my Goretex lined backpacking boots. The bays are always a mess then, so I want high ankle waterproof. If it snows before the Dec match, I wear boots.

That would be a logistical nightmare. Plus, I can flat out tell you it doesn't work. Even if all the orders were made correctly, people change their minds and take something other than what they ordered. Then other people have to eat something they didn't order, or not eat at all because they have an allergy or something that prevents them from eating what is left. Your idea of having a known good caterer prepare the food it a good one. Just be sure to have something(s) non-pork and non-meat for the number of shooters who cannot eat one or both of those things. I happen to be allergic the the entire family of bell peppers. That's another reason I bring my own food. The volunteer servers have no idea what's in the food. The idea of a vendor truck in lieu of a provided meal is another of those ideas that just does not work. It disrupts the match, because they cannot make a large number of orders quickly, especially since each one it picked form a long menu. I can't tell you how many times I've called for a shooter who wasn't there because he was at the food truck. The apology is always the same. "I had no idea it would take so long", or a variation of that. So if you are going to provide lunch, make sure the food is good and the hot food is served hot. Placing a hot pulled pork in a large Aluminum foil pan and putting it on a table with no hot plate guarantees the food will be cold before all of it is served. Same for Hamburgers. They don't stay hot for long. A woman who catered one of my shoots had many tricks up her sleeve. She would pre-cook and sear all the hamburgers, then drop them into Coke. Weird, but effective. The soda kept them moist. She would pull some out, put them on the grill and in less than a minute or two could produce a new batch of hot, tasty hamburgers. She had tricks for the other foods as well. So everyone always got hot food. I wish she had stayed in business. I'd still be using her.

The front of your feed lips are too far apart. Also, MBX springs have to be conditioned by leaving them completely loaded for a week or two until they take a set. That doesn't sound like your problem, because a nose dive is the result of too long MBX springs. If you haven't already done so, it pays to condition them.

22 LR certainly does generate enough gas to work a comp on a pistol. Through an efficient 2-port comp on by 1911 conversion, the dot barely move when firing Eley Force. With Eley Target, the movement is considerably more. That being said, the 'ports' jrdoran shows will do absolutely nothing the help muzzle rise. You don't need the ports to help with the timer. I was astonished by how loud the Wiland barrel was with standard velocity ammo. It is way louder than when fired from a 16" barrel.

The actual barrels are the same, except the SS 'barrel' has a comp port. Although off topic, I'd like to comment on the accuracy of at least my barrel. I have the standard black barrel without port. I sighted in in quickly on Sunday and was surprised at how closely all the types of ammo I shot grouped at 16 yards. Yesterday I ran the new gun through its paces to see whether it would run enough ammo for an entire match. I shot CCI Standard, Geco Semi Auto, Eley Target and CCI AR Tactical. With all the ammo I was able to knock down standard Air Rifle sized silhouettes at 50 yards. The hard ones were the baby chickens. Their body area was smaller than a nickel, but larger than a dime. The only ammo that would consistently knock them down was the Eley Target. This was with the stock resting on my palm and my elbow resting on the bench. Offhand I was lucky to hit three chickens in five shots. So the bottom line is this barrel is way more than accurate enough for Steel Challenge, which is what I bought it for. On a lark I'm going to buy a scope for it and rests and see how it does in a bench rest competition.