StraightSh00ter

The spring length is not a problem. I just changed out the hammer spring in one of my guns with a Wolff 17lb spring, and the spring was much longer like in the pic above. While the spring is longer, the wire is also a bit thinner and there are more coils. This lets the spring compress more, and for the same 17lbs spring allows for less stress in the spring steel. This creates a spring that lasts longer. It is a popular misconception that cutting coils off a spring reduces the power. The only thing it changes is the preload and the available amount of travel.

I got a cheap 1911 and did some trigger work on it, and had somewhat similar experience at first when installing a different trigger. The whole trigger mechanism was riding too far back in the gun, and while the take-up was nice and light, it was harder to push through the break. Without a mag in the gun I didn't notice it at first. It sounds like you should be able to adjust that out with the over-travel screw and the pre-travel/take-up tabs. It might need subsequent sear spring tuning. Granted this is the first time I worked on a trigger (though I have to say it came out perfect), so take it for what it's worth and confirm or let a 'smith do the work).

I thought these threads usually favored Tripp by a lot. I run (5) Tripp mags and love them. I've borrowed Wilsons at a match and had some troubles feeding, but that could have something to do with the situation and not being used to them I guess. The stock mags with my gun were Checkmate. They seem to run fine, too, but are only 9rd capacity so they're saved for certain occasions. Tripp mags do let the top round slide forward a little. I read that 9mm 1911s can have nose dive feeding troubles, and with Tripp having a reputation of rounds 'jumping' I thought that might give an edge toward reliability. The top round definitely launches up and forward, rather than sliding out low with the nose down. My gun runs flawlessly with Tripp mags. There are 2 new ones that are a little tighter and I have to load them into the gun a little harder, but that's adjustable and can break in as well. I've shot ~3000rds, 99% under match conditions, and don't have any recollection of loose rounds getting in the way during a mag change (when dropping partially loaded mags).

I shoot 9mm minor and really like it. I think the ideal setup for someone shooting major matches is a .40 though, because you can opt to shoot 8rds major or 10rds minor. For local matches I don't mind sacrificing a couple of points, and the extra 2rds capacity helps in situations like arrays of 8 steel targets. I bought another gun for backup and it's also a 9mm so I can run the same mags at a big match. I kick around the idea of converting it to .40 some day when I have more guns, but that might be a fantasy. I've shot .40 'softball' loads at a steel match, and to me they seemed no different than shooting 9mm. My guess though is that they were below minor PF but I'm not sure by how much. I shot a couple of factory .40s through the same gun and the difference was huge, and it wasn't really that fun. It's hard to find 1911 in .40 but there are a few. I have a Sig Traditional Match Elite which comes in 9mm and .40 and it's been absolutely flawless and accurate. The only gun I've shot that I like to shoot as much is a Dan Wesson, but if I did it over again I'd probably go with the Sig.

Another vote for tuning the ejector. I have similar issues on my (different) guns. Between the size of the slot on the mags and the way everything else is individually fit, finding things to just drop in and work is difficult or expensive. Most likely (though not certain) the ejector is made for a .45 round and had to be machined to work with a .40. Even if it was originally created for a .40 gun the design started from a .45 and was modified. Plus, different followers, feed lips, and different rounds in the mag can all affect the relationship of the round to the ejector. I just had my slide release adjusted on my new gun and this was explained to me by my 'smith. He asked which mags I shoot most, and asked that I leave one with some of my hand loaded rounds, to make sure things lined up properly. This was for the slide release but the same thing goes for the ejector as I asked the question. My Sig ejector has been coming slightly loose and I think it's because of the tolerances in the mag slots - some leave more of a gap than others, and some mags are harder to insert so they end up going in harder and potentially hitting the ejector. It might be frustrating that Infinity doesn't want to fix it, but it also might be faster and cheaper to bring it somewhere and have some material shaved off the side of the ejector. Changing the height that the mag sits in the gun will affect how the round loads into the chamber. If Infinity guns come with the mag sitting up that high and run well, I wouldn't change that if I didn't have to.

I'm getting a set of custom molded electronic (analog) ear buds with NRR 25dB and am wondering what to do for indoor situations. Do the electronic buds work right under passive ear muffs? Or do they amplify the sound of the shot after it's been reduced by the passive muffs? I currently use generic foam plugs under passive muffs and was thinking of getting a set of NRR 30 dB electronic muffs for indoor use, but then realized I might be able to double-up with the electronic ear pro I'm getting. Any thoughts/experience/suggestion?

Thank you. That doesn't sound bad at all. I don't particularly love the idea of the 'threads'.

Thanks. I was looking in the Dillon forum - it's kind of interesting it's not there.

Are the new ones shipping with the threads? What is Uniquetek's method?

I saw a 'consolidated' thread, but it's only got dimensions at this point. I was looking for a place to share my idea (nothing fancy, but practical and safe - it makes it tough to start reloading without my safety glasses )

No more reports? It's hard to believe there's only a handful. I was hoping to hear about the thread retention improvements before deciding. I'm also curious if they come assembled, and if there's any plastic parts inside?

I'd say they kind of fit. I say that because the cap head screw shoulder fits against the powder measure half ring to hold it tight in place. These screws have no shoulder, so the flattened head has to be tightened against the half ring if you want a tight fit. Since I leave my powder measure just a bit loose it's not an issue for me, but if you like to lock it in place, then I do not recommend them. That's the same deal with the ones from Hit Factor. They send them with plastic spacers, but the spacers still hit the ring a little. I picked up some thinner aluminum spacers from HD for about $.11 ea. and now it can be tightened down just fine. However, 1) I see/appreciate some advantage to keeping it loose, and 2) because space is tight, it still seems easier to use a tool if you want it tight. The best option is probably having a wrench stand and just knowing which size to use. I don't have either of those at the moment (too many other projects to prioritize making a wrench stand) so the thumb screws are working. The case feeder was my best Christmas present. I'm glad Santa was good this year, otherwise I might not have done his Christmas shopping for him! The case feeder is like the key that turns the 'trial version' into the 'full version'. I woke up late yesterday and thought: since I was going to be late for work anyway, why not press 100rds for Friday night practice? Then I had an extra half hour between work and shooting and pressed another 100rds. I had dinner late and couldn't sleep, so I pressed another 300rds last night Holy cow am I glad I didn't get the LCT (turret) press!

Where did you get just the thumbscrews? I'm betting Home Depot or Lowe's. Maybe I'll take a run out there today and see if they have them. EDIT: Found them at the local ACE hardware. 10-24 by 3/4" Do they fit, or do you need spacers to clear the powder measure body?

Maybe what's missing is that everyone's arms, torso, and legs are not scaled to each other? I'll give you another way to look at it: with the 650-only mount, the top of the stock handle is 5" below the top of the bench when the handle is down. If I were doing it again, I'd measure the height of my palm from the floor, and try to make that the minimum height the handle comes down to. After loading a few thousand rounds I realize I'd prefer not to have to lean over to push the handle all the way down. Another thing, if you want to do other things on the bench (reload primer tubes, sort brass, etc) then you want the bench at a comfortable working height, and to adjust the press mount accordingly. I don't want my bench to be 4-5" taller, but I'd like the press to be a little taller, which means a spacer or new stand or something (or a new handle).

I ordered a Whidden and should arrive today. I was thinking what you just mentioned about having some forgiveness so I ordered the standard floating model. We'll see how it works.It sure looks like they've got a little increase in business from this thread. Lol. Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk Did you ever do an alignment? My machine is running AMAZING since I did the alignment. I did 500 rds yesterday w/o a single hangup. And mine was like yours where it ran better with the pins out of the tool head. You can do the alignment using the powder funnel if you didn't get the alignment tool.

Thanks, I'll give that a try. I don't have a stone but I've got sandpaper and a nice granite surface. Should I start with 800 grit? I've been using 1500 for polishing which seems to be working very well. I fired ~100rds at the range yesterday, everything is working well. The pre-travel might be a little short; I noticed my finger coming just slightly off the trigger between shots and I don't think I like that. Right now it's got the shortest trigger pull I've ever seen (granted my experience is limited). The creep is interesting: I didn't think I would notice it shooting splits, but while the trigger pull was smooth I was definitely aware that it was not crisp.

Got it! The whole trigger action was too far back and there was some binding between the sear and disco. After further adjustment and changing the main spring, it ended up amazing but a touch too light to be safe. A slight adjustment of the sear leg and I'm in business! There's still a touch of creep - I don't think I can fix that without a jig but I can live with it for awhile. Fun stuff!

I did this morning, no hammer follow. Thanks for asking - I hadn't thought to check that yet.

This is way too much fun I got it really close just adjusting the pre-travel, over travel, and sear spring. Right now the pull is *short, and really close in pull weight to my 2.5lb pull Sig. There is just a touch of creep that I'll probably just leave alone. But what came up is: -I can now drop the hammer from half cock with the trigger. I'm pretty sure I couldn't do that before. -It feels like two 'clicks' during the reset, the first one soft or faint and the second is right at the end of the trigger release. My thought, based on a little bit that I've read, is I've got too little pre-travel (affecting the half cock). I don't know about the reset clicks, other than maybe 1) disconnector rubbing/clearing the sear and 2) the disconnector springing into place? It feels like the disco moves into place right (the major click) near the very end of the release, which is different than my Sig where it seems to move back immediately. I guess I'm thinking the whole trigger travel was too far back - too little pre-travel and too much over travel. Last night I could really feel the springiness of the left leg of the sear spring. Today I reduced the over travel (and lightened the spring force a little) and basically all of that went away. I didn't adjust the pre-travel though, so the pull got a bit shorter. Thanks for reading and any ideas. I'll play with it some more after work tomorrow. I was really psyched to try it out at the range tomorrow (it's huge difference and feels amazing) but I don't want to take any risks (like with the half cock thing).

I have a lot to learn, no doubt about that I think this is only the second time I've done a detailed strip on a gun. But I was hooked on 1911s well before this! Like every other project lately, this started out just wanting to make the best of what's already in the gun w/o going to a 'smith. After the initial adjustments I was amazed at how much better it got, which made me want to take it a step further. I thought this would be a good opportunity to start trying doing my own work on a gun. I've had my primary gun setup nicely and don't wan't to risk anything working on that one. If I can't get to 'good enough' I'll probably buy a new trigger group and have someone install it, but I at least want to give it a shot. The parts are either MIM or cast - the disconnector had a seam down the middle, and even after polishing to a mirror finish there's still a cavity in the center. For that reason I didn't really want to bring it to a 'smith for a trigger job as it seems like one of those 'lipstick on a pig' scenarios. I'll do the Dykem check and see how things look. I could see from a little bit of wear in the blue that things aren't quite square - it looks more like it needs a cleanup as opposed to angles being changed, but I guess we'll see what happens.

I bought a 'cheap' (Metro Arms) 9mm 1911 to use as my backup gun. I polished the disconnector, adjusted the center leg of the sear spring, and fit and polished a different trigger bow. I still need to adjust the left/sear spring leg and I didn't touch the sear/hammer hooks. The pre-travel and reset are good, the pull through the break is a little heavy (left spring leg), and there is a bit of creep. My understanding is a new sear opens a can of worms trying to fit it to the safety, hammer, pin spacing, etc., so I've got a couple of questions: -Can I clean up the onlyt hammer hooks first w/o adjusting the sear? I would use the proper stone and maintain the existing angle. The hammer hook looks like the biggest culprit as the edges are visibly not crisp. -If still needed, can I bring only the sear, or only the sear and hammer, to a 'smith? -Is there any other way to DIY the sear angles without buying a jig/fixture?

Welcome! Practical pistol is a blast. What caliber is the P229? Blade Tech seems to be the popular choice for holster, but there are other brands (Comp Tac, DA/Double Alpha, and Safariland and Uncle Mike's are less expensive but still respected). Shooters Connection is a great outlet for shooting gear, and they're in Kentucky. You can't go wrong with just about anything they stock, and you can give them a call or email if you have questions about gear. They're shooters too, and great to deal with. *Just read their return policy before you open anything. They're strict about it, but it's a fair policy. I use the Shooters Connection belt, which is the same as the popular CR Speed for a few bucks less. There are plenty of threads about gear, so definitely hear what others have to say as well. Have fun!

I'm loving Single Stack division, so I picked up one of these for a backup gun. For the money it's a nice gun. I really like how it feels in my hands, and the first time shooting it I was able to put 7 rounds in a 1.5" hole from 15yds (freehand). It shoots nice and straight. The slide to frame fit is pretty perfect, and other parts feel tight although there's plenty of sharp edges, and things sort of bind a little as opposed to slip tightly in place. Overall I'm very happy with the purchase. Taking the gun apart reveals where the price difference is between it and something like my Sig. The fit and finish of a $1000 gun is really noticeable when you look at one and then the other. But still, $500 gets all the features one really needs, a pretty decent trigger pull, and a nice slide and frame to work with.

I like the tactical better. There's a Marauder at the gun shop down the street that I can't take my mind off. The standard adjustable sight blade seemed huge to me (doesn't have beveled corners?), and I guess I just like the tactical style sight. Novak and Kensight both make adjustable sights which should fit that dovetail.

I think the Sig TME is even a better value I'm loving my 9mm.