TDA

Are you over flaring the case mouth?

I just bought 8 lbs of "Vita what'cha call it" (N320) from Recobs this morning. I wanted something for .45 ACP, .40, and 9mm. Hope I did the right thing!

By golly they do! I don't recall seeing them the last time I looked at their site. I may give them a try once I run low on what I have. Thanks!

It would be interesting if someone offered coated 200g LSWC's with no lube groove.

I've been keeping an eye open for some WST as I would really like to try some. Right now Red Dot is working real well for me, but I did buy some Bullseye today just out of curiosity. I was shooting lubed lead at first and dealing with smoke and minor lead fouling and just switched to Black Bullets coated 200g LSWC bullets and all is well. I tried TiteGroup again yesterday and shot a doughnut around the center of the target at 15 yards. Got out the Red Dot loads and punched 25 rounds through the center of the target... Red Dot is King so far! Thanks!

The powder bar on mine moved just under 3/8" with no case present. Normal Mine "clicked" as well until I cut a slight bevel on the plastic bushing so the spring slid into place easier.

Drift the front sight in the direction it is shooting. If it is shooting left, the front sight needs to be drifted left to correct it.

Thanks! Now I need a Chronograph...and a place to use it! I also want to start reloading either .40 or 9mm. Can't decide which just yet. Here is a 1992 Hercules (Aliant) catalog that I ran across last night that shows many more handgun loads than the information available from them now. http://www.castpics.net/LoadData/Freebies/RM/Alliant/Hercules_1992.pdf

I bought a Square Deal B from Brian (thank you!) and got it set up and running. Searched around a bit locally for powder and turned up a pound of Unique, a pound of Red Dot, and a friend gave me a bit of TiteGroup. Loaded up ten of each using non coated 200g LSWC set to 1.250" OAL which puts the shoulder (lead) about .005" from contacting the chamber throat. .470" crimp. The loads were about in the middle of what the Lyman's manual shows for those bullets. (marked on the target) Off to the range I went with my Remington R1 Enhanced and two injured middle fingers on my strong hand that were a bit tender. Here are the results at 15 yards just standing and shooting. The upper right target is what I had been shooting (LAX reloads) and I shot five of them to see how my injured hand was going to affect my shooting. Had to lighten up and adjust my grip a bit... They were shot in a clockwise rotation beginning in the upper right. The Red Dot felt pretty good, smoked a little and spit out a few glowing sparks from the muzzle. The TiteGroup smoked about like the Red Dot and didn't seem to show much flame or sparks. The Unique had the hardest felt recoil, smoked the most, and produced a decent size orange flame from the muzzle. The high flyer on the Unique was all me... I then shot the same order at 10 yards., which is pretty much meaningless, but I did it anyway. Once again, the flyer on the Unique was all me! All in all, as far as accuracy goes, I don't know that I could really tell the difference, but I chose the Red Dot for further loading. This is kind of fun!

Thank you for the info! It is greatly appreciated! I did buy the Lyman's manual and it has some useful info as well.

The Unique I bought was only a pound, and I picked up a pound of Red Dot this morning. I had lunch with a friend and he is going to give me some Tite Group to try as well. Now I at least have something to get me going, which was my main concern. I spoke to someone at the range a couple of weeks ago that was using VV powder for .45 loads, so next time I see him I'll ask if he found it locally or not. I really don't mind ordering larger quantities and paying the hazardous charges once I play with this a bit and figure out what I like. Thanks!

Thanks for that! I'm trying to avoid the hazmat fees when ordering powder if possible, so I'm trying to see what's available locally first. I was hoping to find one powder that would work well for 9mm, .40, and .45, but it doesn't seem like that is going to work out too well. I decided I wasn't going to buy any reloading equipment unless I could find powder first. My first stop was the local Bass Pro last Sunday and they had Unique in stock, so I figured it was better than nothing. Of course, I then had to go home and order a reloading press and all of the other accessories to go with it...

How does Unique compare to W231 as far as clean burning in loads around 800 fps (.45) I am just beginning the reloading venture ((just ordered the press) and Unique is all I have found locally. Edit: I should probably add: 200g LSWC. Thanks!

A bit of instruction on the fundamentals and then lots of practice is the answer IMHO. I shoot at an indoor range a few times a week and see all sorts of stuff like this. There a couple of relatively new shooters that slow fire target shoot Glocks at 7 yds and the targets look like they were hit with buckshot. They have a friend that they feel is an "expert" and they have been working with him to improve their accuracy. So far the collective wisdom has come up with the following: They need aluminum triggers because the stock triggers flex too much. You also definitely need a match barrel as the stock barrels lack accuracy. The trigger feel is lousy and they need trigger jobs. The sights are the worst and need to be replaced. A Tungsten guide rod and wolf springs are the way to go. You need to test different ammo to see which is more accurate at that distance. And the list goes on... After all of the "accuracy improvements" to shoot at 7 yds, the targets still look about the same. No mention of trigger control or dry fire practice... The range can be an interesting place to visit. I'm not sure if I am more addicted to shooting, or observing!

I'm pretty sure Federal law requires a Gunsmith to hold a FFL if working on firearms for monetary gain other than their own personal firearms.

A method I used for the blink was to put 20 rounds of slugs through a 12ga 18" barrel automatic shotgun. I shoot a shotgun left handed so it's a bit more exciting not only having the explosion inches from my face, but having the ejection port right there as well! After that a pistol at arms length was a non issue. No more blinking. I also run a half dozen rounds of 44 magnum through a Blackhawk to keep the blinking tuned up. Works for me!

Until we reach the heavy caliber pistols this is true. This noise and recoil sensitivity is the only true flinch when it comes to pre ignition push. Most active shooters work though this fairly quickly. What we are left with is the shooter subconsciously tries to compensate for recoil that hasn't happened yet. Ray Chapman called that being a Now shooter. This is why a shooter can do just fine when shooting slow but anticipates when they try to shoot faster. Shooting faster changes the timing of the trigger pull/ignition/recoil cycle. The conscious mind has to see and recognize the sight movement before the subconscious can begin to correct it. So, noise/recoil sensitivity=flinch. Recoil anticipation=not a flinch. I agree that recoil anticipation is NOT a flinch. Yes, it will produce a downward movement of the pistol, as evidenced even by good shooters when they unexpectedly run dry and drop hammer on an empty chamber or dummy round. But this is not a fault really. And is not a flinch. It is a trained response. Just wanted to make that point and differentiate flinch from recoil anticipation. +1 on this. The only time the push is a fault is when it is before ignition. Then it is the classic low left shot for a right handed shooter. I'd buy that as well. When I started shooting I chose .40 cal and shot it a lot using standard ball ammo, not lightly loaded hand loads, and was damn accurate with it. After about a year of listening to all of the 9mm hype I decided to try 9mm and couldn't hit a damn thing with it. Apparently, I was programmed for .40 cal recoil. It took me a long time and a lot of rounds before I was able to shoot 9mm as well as I did .40. Now it makes no difference what I shoot.

A P227 would solve that problem!

You might pay a bit of attention to those others at the range shooting those shotgun blast targets at 7 yds. I always watch them for a minute, as there is something to learn there too. I watch them close their eyes just as the trigger breaks, some just jerk the trigger back as fast as they can, others pull back on the pistol when pressing the trigger, others drop the muzzle when pressing the trigger, etc. All will tell you that the sight picture was perfect... Watch them and then question yourself. Am I jerking the trigger like that? Did I close my eyes? Am I squeezing the grip as I press the trigger causing the muzzle to drop? Then pay attention to what you are doing. Concentrate on the front sight and watch for the muzzle flash when it goes "bang" to verify you are not blinking or closing your eyes. Be aware of your finger slowly and smoothly pressing the trigger, etc. See what it is that they are doing wrong and the results of it, and then try to correct that in your own shooting. It may help, or it may not!

This was interesting. Every time I opened my eyes, the front sight was about a blade width to the left, but the elevation was good. I usually stood dead square to the target, so I moved my right foot back about six inches and the sights never change now. I was using a DA/SA pistol (Beretta) so I sighted, closed my eyes, made six dry DA trigger pulls as fast as I could, opened my eyes, and the sights were dead on. Thanks!

Good point! I picked up a couple of pair of glasses to try, but have not shot with them yet. I wear pretty strong progressives and it is difficult to maintain focus at times with them. Any slight head movement and the sights blur. I find it especially difficult when practicing draws as if I focus on the target and then bring the gun up to my eyes the sights are completely blurred. I have to make myself keep my head tipped back enough to completely blur the target so the sights will be in focus when the gun comes up. One of the pair of glasses I have to try are of a focal length of the front sight so nothing will be in focus but the sight. Thanks!!

Good thread! I'm trying to figure all of this out as well. I'm new to shooting, but probably dispensed 4500 rounds in the last year and have yet to see the front sight return to where it started. I've tried numerous grips shooting Glock, Sig, M&P, Beretta, and 1911. Very frustrating! 6'5", large hands, very strong grip, and no problem with accuracy. Just painfully s l o w on follow up shots, as I need to find the front sight and re-align the pistol after each shot. I've never had to re-grip the pistol between shots so it's not moving around in my hands, just re-align the sights. I'll be trying some of the advise here! Thanks!

May be a silly question, but how do you time dry fire such as draws and Bill Drills? Thanks!

May be a silly question, but how do you time dry fire such as draws and Bill Drills? Thanks!

Thank You!