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When using Loctite is is important to make sure all the old stuff is removed and everything is clean. I run a tap through to clean out the old Loctite, then clean everything with alcohol. Then apply the Loctite and install. If you want a stronger bond, procede as above except use Loctite primer first. Let it dry, apply Loctite and VERY quickly install. You only have 15-20 seconds to get the screw in and tight before it bonds.

That is incorrect gentlemen. A primer only squib will cycle the slide in my 2011 Open gun with a 7 lb. spring and a lightened slide. It will also cycle my CZ TS with a 12 lb. spring. It will not cycle my 1911 45 with unlightened slide and 14 lb. spring.

I've had several squibs. One, on an Open gun sounded just like every other shot. The only way I knew there was a squib was I could not chamber a fresh round. Even the RO said that was the loudest squib he'd ever heard. So it was likely a light powder drop. All the other squibs went poof, so both I and the RO knew it right away. They were primer only squibs and easy to remove. I now have a light and look to see powder in every case before the bullet is dropped. With the Dillon powder measure, the powder would occasionally bridge and not drop the entire charge. The measure on the LnL I now use is much better in that regard.

Loading the Shockbottle (Hundo) is easy and fast. The nose of the bullets hit the table and the rear of the case stands proud. You lift the case and anything that does not fall flush gets removed for practice. You can run your fingers over all the cases to feel for high primers. The gauge holds the rounds more tightly than the case, so marking them with a Sharpie is way easier. When you are sure everything is okay, put an empty case on top of the gauge and invert. All the rounds are now in the case. Takes two seconds. Repeat with another case if you want the rounds nose down in the case.

The problem might be misdiagnosed above. There are a couple of possible causes. One is described above. Another is the decapping pin got moved up into the die by some swaged primer pockets. Lower the pin so the primer gets pushed completely out. Lastly, I had the primer draw problem when I first started using my LnL. I followed advice similar to that given above and it made the problem worse. Hornady said to file the bottom of the pin flat, then just break the edge. That cured the problem 100%.

I don't do any plunk testing after determining what the OAL can be. I use Shockbottle 100 round case gauges. If they drop freely in and out, they are match ammo. Any that does not drop all the way in (very few) get put in the practice pile. I cannot imagine going back to checking one at a time. With the Shockbottle, you just put a 100 round case on top of it and invert it.

Dykem is actually a layout fluid and is not ideally suited for what you are thinking of doing. Prussian Blue would be a much better choice. You rub some onto only one surface of a mating pair. When you slide the pair back and forth, the blue will transfer to the other surface at any contact points. If you must use Dykem, apply the very thinnest of coats.

I shot it in a custom gun with a Truebore barrel with custom comp cuts.

I will, just not clipped to my belt.

Ditto. DW if you are willing to spend that much. SA if not. There are bunches of SA 1911 9mm and 45 at my home club. They all run, shoot accurately and cause no problem. You have to shoot about 500 rounds before the trigger smooths out. Or, you could do a little polishing yourself.

I wasn't happy with their major ammo. They load short and use a faster powder than I do. Recoil was harsh. I'd use it if I didn't reload. I liked their 124gr minor ammo for steel. Worked well, and not having to reload minor was a treat.

I received an email confirming the order on 6/24/19. I received an email confirming shipping on 8/27/19. I received it 3 or 4 days later. So it was slightly more than 60 days.

I run a 7 lb. spring and 135PF ammo and have no issues. If I try to go lower, I don't make it through an 8 stage SCSA match without hiccups. BTW, unless you enjoy scraping lead out of you comp, don't shoot anything but JHP of heavy plate bullets out of it. You can buy reman JHP from Everglades ammo and a couple of other places. LAX Ammo sells new and reman ammo loaded with X-Treme plated bullets. Do not buy the Blazer ammo. The brass cased ammo is a copper wash and will lead your comp. The Al cased ammo has heavier plating and may work.

I received mine two weeks ago. It came with the case and lanyard I ordered, and also a carabiner to hang it on a belt loop. I like it a lot. I'll be ordering the belt clip mentioned above. I don't think I'll use it when running shooters, but it will be great for practice, dry fire, etc.

Yes. It is faster. It just hurts my elbows, both of which are shot. That's why I said half regret. For the first couple of stages I love it being faster. For the last couple my elbows are killing me and I wish it was softer.

I tried no holes in the latest gun. It was soft and effective, but I was hoping for flatter. So I put two 3/16" poppels in. The gun does shoot flatter, but it hits my hand a lot harder. I half regret doing it. The comp was 99.9% effective in venting all the gas. Now it is hardly working at all.

S, I have a couple of friends who started just like you. Clip on holster and mag pouches. They now both have two piece belts, holster and mag pouches. It make a huge difference, even if you are not going to practice draws and dry fire. It is also safer. I shoot with a friend who is never, ever going to make it out of D Class. He doesn't care one whit. He has fun and enjoys the company. Do the same. Shoot whatever Division you have the equipment for. Limited is more fun than Production and requires fewer mags. There is no rule that says you have to put extended base pads on Limited mags to increase capacity. Shoot what you have. Stage plan around your capacity. You can add goodies in the future if you decide to.

It depends on how you want the gun to feel. Poppels make the gun shoot flatter, but rob gas from the comp. So it hits your hand harder. You can add more powder to get more gas to the comp, but you have limited case capacity in 9mm. If you insist on using 3N38 in 9mm major, I would go without poppels. You will most likely be stuck using 124s, so you won't be making a lot of gas. If you go to slower, denser powders that actually are compressible (like AA7 and Major Pistol), you have more options. With 9mm major you can make it shoot flat, or soft, but not both. You can compromise on something in between. FWIW, my latest Open gun wears a custom 3-port comp and two 3/16" poppels. I load 10.2gr Major Pistol powder under a 115 JHP @ 1.161" OAL. That gets me 168PF with an SD of 4. I have injuries that prevent me from gripping the gun hard, so the muzzle rises a little. When my buddy, a welder, shoots it, it is dead flat.

$1042 for the short block kit, fitted, timed and linked. Slide can be Unique or Tri-toped for the same price. Gans prices are posted on his web site. They are reasonable. His slide lightening charges are a little high, but the work is first rate. The remaining cost is for the components that will go into or on the gun. You could have a first rate Open gun with first rate parts for under $3500. That assumes you don't go nuts with the cosmetics and slide lightening. If I were starting from scratch, that's what I would do, except I would have Gans do only the machining. I did essentially the same thing on my last build, except nothing was final fit. I had JEM Guns build a short block using a custom comp cut Trubore bland and their frame and slide. The slide to frame fit was a light interference fit, and there was and extra .0015" left on the lower barrel lugs to allow for final fitting of the lockup. I don't have a mill, so I farmed out all the machining. Everything else I fit by hand. Warwick does all of that for you. Slide to frame fit has clearances of .0003" to .0004" and parallelism to within .0005". Barrel is timed and uses their proprietary link. Instead of the usual five links to choose from and modify, they have 27 different sizes, so the timing is perfect.

I build my own guns, but farm out the slide lightening and machining. I don't have the patience to wait 7 months for a custom gun, nor am I willing to pay an inflated price for a 'Name'. The quickest way to get a custom gun that runs 100% from the start is as follows. Order a short block kit from Warwick Tactical. They sell frames, slides and short block sets to a number of custom builders with 'names'. Order it with their standard Barsto barrel threaded to 11/16x40. Have them tri-top the slide if you like. no additional charge. If you want to go with a cone comp, order a threaded bushing barrel. Buy the rest of the components you want to go into the gun and send everything to Gans Custom Guns/Gans Enterprises. Tell him what you want and you will have a fully custom gun back in about 3 weeks.

I'd check the sear nose under magnification to see what is happening. It may be that it has been damaged after a while, because the location of the components is incorrect. 1. back off your overtravel screw a lot. Dress the sear and try again. 2. Replace the disco with another brand and try again. I had a similar issue when building my last Open gun. It turned out the trigger bow was slightly to long. I took a punch, placed it where the disco rides and gave it a tap. That made it ever so slightly concave. Problem solved. You don't want to know how many days of swapping out parts it took for me to figure that one out.

That's just BS. You never load shorter than the OAL listed in the manual, because if you do you will raise the pressure. You won't know by how much. As I said, load longer if you have to for feeding.

If your mags or springs are new they will require breaking in before they will reliably feed long OALs. 1911 9mm mags ARE a problem. For example, Tripp and Wilson mags absolutely will not work in my 1911 Open gun. I finally settled on Brownell's 9mm mags. After extended break in they will feed JHP ammo loaded to 1.161" OAL. OAL has a direct influence on pressure. For a given charge and bullet, shorter OALs produce higher chamber pressures. Shorter OALs require less powder to make the same PF as a long OAL. Your reloading manual will specify the OAL the data was recorded at. Don't vary from that, unless that OAL will not feed and you have to load longer. The first thing I do with any new barrel is determine what my max OAL is, and the range of OALs that will feed properly. Load five in a case with no powder or primer to .010" lower than your max OAL. Then do another five .010" shorter than that. Repeat until you find the OAL that will not feed. You've established your range. Pull the bullets and pick a load within your range. The same manufacturer makes both the Dawson and Brownell's 9mm mags. Since you have three brands of mags, try your ladder of OALs in each to see what works.

I've put the C&S kit in two guns. I had to modify the hammer hooks because they were not square and only .016". For reference, EGW kits did drop in without mods. In two custom builds I used EGW kits and they just dropped in. They only thing I did was polish to a mirror finish. I did not have to 'correct' anything. I just had to put a new EGW sear and hammer in my Sig Tacops. I put a True Radius on the long nose sear, and had to adjust the angle of the hammer hooks by something between .0001" and .0002". It was that close. Not EGW's fault.

Better yet, just put a 70 series hammer in and polish everything else.