Dranoel

Before my job got in the way of competing there were some new cartridges hitting the scene. I remember 9x22, 9x23, a 40S&W necked down to 9mm, and 38 super was still the most popular choice, Just wondering if anyone is still using any of those, and if not what is the popular round now?

Ok. I can see your point there to an extent. But if you got to a point where you were going to fire that last round anyway, now you still have to reload and then rack the slide. I think I would rather it locked back. With an extended release I'm thumbing the lever before my off hand is back in firing position.

How old is the gun? If it is an old gun, it may be chambered for .22 long, not .22LR. that would definitely cause the tightness loading .22LR.

I'm curious... Why would you not want the slide to lock back on an empty mag?

Spent a month in Sydney a couple years ago. Loved it. I'd move there in a heartbeat if I could. Welcome.

That is the kind of support I always appreciate from a company. Never had any serious problems with my reloading equipment but I did have a learning experience with a couple of my pocket knives. I have a Benchmade Monochrome that has been my work knife since I bought it in 2003. A few years ago I caught the pocket clip getting out of a scissor lift and broke it off. I called Benchmade to buy a new one and they sent one at no charge. Made my day. About a year before I bent the pocket clip on one of my Cold Steel knives when it snagged on my seatbelt. I spent several weeks sending e-mails, phone calls and even a snail mail to Cold Steel. To this day I have never heard from them. Needless to say I have never bought another Cold Steel knife, but Benchmade is what I go looking for. I have a few die sets from RCBS. Good to know they stand behind their products and support their customers. I'll look to them first in the future.

Thanks guys, much appreciated. Bob, that's what I was using them in back then and will be using them in the same gun now. But I'm building a new race gun based on the Caspian wide frame and hopefully it will be versatile enough to use for pins, plates and a little USPSA. I wish I was rich, I'd just build one for each, but for now I have to make one work for all of them.

Back in the early 90s, when I was competing regularly, there was a company in Mansfield that made a 152gr LSWC for .45. I can't seem to find any info on them now, so I was wondering if anyone knew of any companies making a similar bullet. Anyone know of any?

Just as I imagine it hurts when you spend $4500 for your racegun and you find out the guy that beat you in the match built his gun himself.

Before you start messing with the gun, make sure the problem isn't you. I don't mean that as an insult or a hack. One problem I have had is getting too relaxed with my grip. Being too soft can cause the gun to eject erratically. In my case it often causes brass to fly back towards me, but depending on how your gun is sprung/timed it may cause it to bounce off the breach and go forward. Take it to the range and fire a few mags through it paying close attention to what happens when you loosen or tighten your grip. Finding the right grip tension may also improve your accuracy and speed.

Sarge, I can see where you might say that. I can "Assemble" a decent gun, if I have all the parts on hand and they are good quality parts that require little fitting and do it in a day. But it is NOT going to be a $4500 job and it is NOT going to be the best thing you ever shot. It'll be better than average to be sure, but nothing to brag about. But that is not the way a top gunsmith makes his money. He makes his money because it takes him a LOT longer to finish the job. Not because he's dragging his feet to rack up hours, but because he is meticulous and paying attention to every little detail. And if it isn't up to his standards, it's not leaving his shop until it is. That earns you a reputation and it earns you the right to charge more than Billy Bob down at the local gun store. It's like the difference between a Corvette and a Ferrari. A Corvette is built on the principle of "best performance using stringent production tolerances". The result is a great performing sports car for $60K. A Ferrari is built on the principle of " the best performance with zero tolerance". It is perfect when it leaves the factory or it doesn't leave the factory. The result is a sports car that takes your breath away from every aspect, every single time you drive it but it's gonna cost you half a mil.

I have always had success with 180 gr hollow pts loaded to around 750 fps in my .45. Takes the pins off, doesn't shoot through and is very controllable.

I concur. And while I can appreciate what was said before about dremels being a bad idea, much like guns themselves a dremel in the hands of the inexperienced and or foolish is a disaster waiting to happen. But used properly and carefully it can be an invaluable tool. Years ago I did a lot of work on 1911s for friends who liked mine. I started out polishing ramps the same way I did mine, dowel rod and sandpaper/emory from 600 gr all the way up to 12,000 gr. When finished they looked like they were chrome plated. But it took DAYS. I tried using a dremel on an old military 1911 starting with the fine scotchbrite wheel to start and then polishing with a buffing wheel and rouge. End result? I honestly could not tell the difference between my hand polish jobs and the dremel. But the dremel job took less than two hours. The biggest mistakes most people make with the dremel is using the wrong speed and trying to take too much off all at once. A lot of people use a speed that is too slow for the bit they are using on the particular material and the bit chatters and jumps and gouges something you didn't want to touch. Or they turn it up too fast for the bit to work effectively and then put more pressure on it to get it to cut. This usually leads to broken bits and gouges or the pressure slows the bit speed and suddenly it cuts deeper than you wanted to go.

Hello, everyone. I've been shooting in one capacity or another for more than 40 years. My grandfather started me out with a Marlin single shot .22 youth rifle when I was about 8 and continued to instruct me on marksmanship and safety with a variety of guns. But I found I much preferred handguns to long guns. Earned the Navy Pistol Expert medal before I even got to my first Duty Station and bought a Auto Ordnance .45 when I got out. Did a lot of plinking til my father got me interested in IHMSA and that was the start of my competitive shooting. After watching a few local Bowling pin matches I got pretty heavy into that for a long time. Then I ended up in a job that left me with very little time for the range, let alone competition for 10 years. Now I have gotten old and out of shape but a new job is giving me the time to start shooting again. And it's a good way to force me to get out of the house more. So back to bowling pin shooting at the local club. Never been a big collector. I tend to keep what I need and everything else goes when someone makes me an offer. So my current collection is pretty small: '98 Mauser in 7mm for hunting. Makarov .380 for home and personal defense, Dan Wesson 44V10 for IHMSA revolver, standing and production, Thompson Center Contender in 7TCU for IHMSA Unlimited and my old Caspian .45 pin gun. The Caspian is getting a little long in the tooth and while it still operates flawlessly and prints tight groups I wanted to build a new one that I could also use for steel and USPSA type matches. So now I'm working out the details of what I want and need and finding some of the companies I dealt with before are gone. :S So I'm hoping those of you who have recent experience can advise me on a few things and hopefully I might be able to help someone with my experiences.