DougCarden

Look at the Allchin comps. They are aluminum and work very well. DougC

Everyone knows, or will at some point, someone that has a Boom and blows up a receiver on an AR when they have one piece of weak brass that won't hold the bullet tight enough with case tension and pushes the bullet back and overpressures the round. Hornady had a large batch that didn't get crimped and had the same problems in the past. There is a reason there is a cannalure on the bullets. Give it a light crimp on the cannualure and then don't worry about it. If you are running it in a bolt gun no problem, neck size away. I have had enough guys tell me when the receiver blows up next to their face it is a humbling experience and I don't want to experience it myself.... DougC

Patriot, I agree with everything you posted. As I have run large matches and done all jobs in between, I can relate to what happened at the match. Both of my guns puked out so I was just happy to be there until the 4 plus hour ordeal with the results and "prize table" I wish them well, but I won't attend until they show that they can put on a well run and organized match worthy of the high entry fee. I am sure they won't miss me and won't like my criticism but it is what it is. I hope they work to improve and fix what went wrong last year, but the facts are the facts. DougC PS. I typed up a big post with facts of what happened, but deleted since at this point it really doesn't matter and someone somewhere will be butthurt..... The consumer will decide what happens........and I hope it succeeds!

That is a good problem to have. I have bought the oversize pin sets from Cylinder and Slide and have found on ALL of my STI frame I can push the hammer pin in snuggly, and the sear pin is a tighter fit. I am able to have much better, lower trigger weights using these pin sets and put them in all of my 1911/2011s now. Oversized pins are almost always a good thing on these frames.... Good luck! DougC

I will politely just say that after last year experiencing the "new management" there is no way in hell I would spend money to travel to NC to shoot what most likely will be a large club level match. I base this on competing and traveling to large steel matches for over 20 years, including the first several years of PRO AM when it came back. If and when they have a track record of putting on a large match smoothly with following their own published rules and prize distribution will I spend my airfare money and go to another match. Until this happens I will spend my money elsewhere. DougC

Sat Mar 19 Green Valley match April 16 Green Valley Match April 22-23 Crawfish Cup May 22-28 Bianchi Cup June 18 Cameron Cup GV July 16 Green Valley match Aug 20-21 Steamboat match WY Aug 20 Green Valley match Sept 17 Green Valley match Oct 15 Green Vallely match Please someone from VA copy this and put in the VA and PA matches as well please! DougC

12 moa on my Cmore. It helps on really sunny day when they can wash out on white steel. DougC

It is not just getting the cases wet. This happens due to corrosion based on long term being wet and the priming compound deteriorating and glueing in the primer body. If you wet tumble and take a week to deprime no biggie. But from what I have heard you should deprime prior to tumbling so the media doesn't get stuck in the flash hole.

Been there done that. They are welded in there with the primer compound. Deprime them all, inspect, and discard. That is the only tried and true method that will not enrage you when trying to prime the cases..... DougC

Jared, When I used one I had to do the same. You have to hold down a combo of two of the buttons together for at least 5 seconds until you get a blinking screen and then you go from there. Hope it helps! DougC

just resize it then inspect the primer pockets then load the batch. Less exciting for sure...... DougC

That's what I did when I switched over to an STI open gun. Worked just fine. I actually bought some from members here and didn't have to pay retail. This situation is nothing new, been going on for years as there have been countless threads just like this. If you love the match and want to shoot with the best you will figure out how to make it happen. If you don't like it being in California then find another range and staff to run the match and submit it to HQ. It is that simple. Let's find something else to focus on..... DougC

Hi there. I have been loading for over 25 years, all on Dillon equipment. Most of the time it has been on the 1050. There are a lot of things you have to pay attention to when loading, regardless of equipment. When you become experienced you will be able to "feel" when you have resistance with the swage rod in the second stage is trying to push the old primer into the case when the primer decap pin is broken. It takes more force to pull the handle all the way through when that happens. If something feels wrong, or it takes more effort to pull down or through, you need to stop and find out why. You have figured out "why" it happened, but don't know "how" it happened. I think you need to spend some time just decapping brass so you can feel the stroke and the rhythm you need to run the machine. You also need to check your brass to see if you have any berdan cases in there, which would break your decap stem as well. There is a lot of things that go into loading, especially with the 1050. It is an awesome machine, but you have to understand it, make adjustments, and interpret what is going on with it. You might seek out another "veteran" that understands the 1050 and has used it for years. In short, you should be able to feel the primer getting mashed in the case by the primer swage because it takes more force to do that. Go slow, you need to learn how to walk before you run with the 1050. PS this will happen with any primer, not just federals...... Good luck, DougC

Having been a commercial reloader I am certain..... If you want one buy one. DougC

Hence, ergo.....sigh......<smacks head icon>. Steel Challenge is not USPSA. It is a sanctioned match administrated by USPSA. It is a different match completely. I, for one, am glad Zack is taking the Bull by the horns to clarify things for Match management. I noticed last weekend while running a match that Practiscore had 5 runs for Outer Limits in stead of 4. We went ahead and shot 5 because I could not find a way to throw one out....It will get fixed but it is one of those things that have to get tweaked. DougC

I have found a single gauge is much faster than a set up like that. You can have a handful of ammo and drop it in/ dump it out pretty fast in front of the tv. Those are nice, but when I am doing thousands to box up, pistol or rifle, It is faster to use the single gauge for me. DougC

Speaking as someone who has been the match director of National and state level steel matches......and watching this thread.....How about we work on getting all Match staff and directors to just follow the rule book we have now. I have seen more heartburn from well meaning but ill advised ROs at matches not knowing the rules. Most of the time the Match Director will side with his team, good bad or indifferent but it is what it is. I think if we had everyone following the rules we currently have there would be less issues. As for the OP question. If you are shooting a three day match and complete day one shooting rimfire, then have a DQ on the second day....You should be done for that day and eat the DQ for that event. If you are scheduled for a third separate match the next day, then I have no problem with the shooter shooting the third day. That is how it has always been done at the SC, and I see no reason to change what works. If you are shooting two guns at the same match and DQ then you are done for the day. Pretty simple.... My .02 centavos..... DougC

Yeah....Steel Challenge matches are dead....... Yeah right! Way to go guys! This is more quality SC matches than I have seen at any one time since I have been shooting. Keep it up DougC

Try a lighter load with 320. 340 is slower and will have more felt recoil. Falling steel load around here is 4.2gr 320 with 115jhp...... DougC

Good stuff here guys! Thanks for sharing. That is consistent with me seeing the load data from 38 short colt and 9mm is usually .02 grains more in 9mm....good to have the empirical data as well! DougC

Um...no that is a bad idea due to the burn rate of the powder. If you run light loads you will have a lot of unburnt powder gunking the gun up. If the smoke bothers you see if you can buy the same bullet from one of the casters that do the "Bayou" style coating, that will help immensely. DougC

VV 310 is best, 320 better, and 340 will work but will have unburnt powder as it is too slow for most loads. 340 is one of the best powders for 9mm due to it's burn rate. DougC

Be very careful using 310 with heavy bullets. It was the most accurate powder for short colt when I worked up the Zero 150 JRN .356 load years ago. It was great at 125PF. 130PF showed pressure signs and sticky extraction. That was with 3.1gr 310 at 1.130 OAL in 38 short colt-2inches at 50yds. 310 is a linear pressure curve powder. it will warn you before you get there if you pay attention. Make sure before you load up all your brass with this load to test it in 100 degree temps to see if there is any overpressure problems. That light of a charge should be fine, but it is better to be safe than sorry. I can't wait to try it myself. Just realize that changing the OAL will make a big difference so go slow. DougC

Hi Larry. It is a completely different game. Different rules. It was not made to make people's lives easier. It is difficult game, and not everyone likes it and that is ok. Nothing is broken with Steel Challenge except the administration of it. There is no need to "level the playing field" by upping the PF for other shooters. Most shooters that practice find that lower PF ammo does help them when they are seriously practicing/competing. If they want to load the ammo then more power to them. The majority of the shooters don't get serious about SC and that is ok. I see no reason to penalize competitors that do specialize. My PF is 115 for my ammo BTW...... DougC

If you order in a bunch of powder and have a pound or two left of your old batch you can mix them together. Then work your load up. Usually you will be within 0.01grain or two of the original load and you won't have to guess..... DougC