[What Motivates You To Attend (and Return To) A Match?]

I agree with Shred on these surprise "challenges." I went to a match last year where a stage designer (open shooter) put the little square falling steel at the back of the bay, with a fault line way at the front. Don't know the depth, but I'd guess at least 35 yards. He apparently thought it was funny and a way to "get" people. I had a hell of a time bringing them down with my 1911 .45. The stage designer didn't do so good himself. What was really bad was watching a new shooter empty all his mags without hitting anything until the RO finally told him he didn't have to knock everything down. Bet that made him feel real good about his first match. It was just an excessively difficult stage for a general public match, in my opinion.

What you have to consider is that you will get shooters of all levels at your match when you design courses. You don't want to water things down so that they aren't challenging for advanced shooters, but at the same time you don't want things that A class and higher shooters have a hell of a time doing if most of your shooters are D-B class. Games of "hit the incredibly small target at 50 yards" are probably best in a side match.

[Wife Lost Her Job]

My wife's employer just gave her the boot today. Really pisses me off. She worked her ass off for these people. She was a receptionist, but she did just about everything around there, mostly all the crap work that others would dump on her. Things went south a few months ago when a new suit stepped in to manage the place and for whatever reason, he didn't like my wife. She started getting written up for stupid crap like the phones not getting answered, when they are constantly sending her on errands to pick up lunch, supplies, whatever or giving her assignments that took her away from the main phones! She would get conflicting requests from higher-ups and get bitched at or written up when someone didn't like the way things were done, even though she was just following orders. They built a total B.S. list of reasons to let her go, that are probably good grounds for a law suit, but it just ain't worth it. She's upset, of course, but it's probably for the best that she's out of there. Gonna put the crimp on our fun spending, including shooting, until she finds something else. Money isn't worth misery though. I hate the way she was treated and I hope that company goes down in flames. Bastards!

[What Motivates You To Attend (and Return To) A Match?]

I like going to matches primarily because they are a hell of a lot more fun and interesting than going to a regular target range and standing there shooting slowly at a bullseye (most target ranges have the one shot per second rule)! I'll go well out of my way to shoot a match, usually a good hour to hour and a half drive for most. Good people and fun stages will keep me coming back. This is a volunteer sport, so I want to go to matches where everybody pitches in and helps move the match along. I like a reasonably high round count. It is kind of a letdown to spend the better part of day at a match and only getting to shoot 100 rounds or less! Scores aren't a big deal to me, I can wait to see them whenever, but I'm not a real competive person. I'm curious to see where I rank, but that's about it.

[Best Place To Get G17 17 Rounders?]

Check with Mark at Summit Gun Broker. He should be able to cut you a deal if you're buying a few.

[Bullet "shaving" Problem]

Try posting a picture of a few unloaded cases (not the ones from the pulled bullets) if you can. What you're looking for is a burr around the perimiter of the case mouths. The marks left on the Prec. Delta *really* look like what I went through. There was no way I could increase the belling to fix the problem because the belling gets partially removed in the seating die - particularly so if you're using a Redding Competition seater.

Eric, I think you've got the right answer. This is about as good as a picture as I seem to be able to get with my camera. On the left are samples of good nickle and brass cases. On the right are nickle and brass samples from the bad batch. There is a definite difference in case mouth.

Click for larger image

With my cheapo mic', the good brass seems to be around .010-.012" at the case mouth. The bad stuff is .014-.016", with the Federal being the worst. Some of the Winchester is in the .012-.014" range, which explains why it seemed to work with jacketed, but not coated bullets, as the coating scrapes easier. The tighter tolerances of the Redding seating die may be more susceptible to this. I wonder if this brass might work in a different die? I'm not going to take the time to find out though!

This batch is going in the scrap heap. I came by it for free, so at least the only thing wasted was my time and a few bullets. Aaaaarrrrrgghhhhh!

Thanks for your help, ya'll. I owe you a beer, Eric!

[Bullet "shaving" Problem]

Back your crimp WAY off too, you are really rolling it in there when you don't need to. It is also counter productive to crimp that tight. Look for no less than .420" at the case mouth, I like to see .421-.422".

Actually, the picture I posted is right out of the seating die and I crimp separately with the Lee FCD. The Redding seating die doesn't crimp. My crimp is .420"

I tried the regular (not undersized) sizing die a little bit ago and that didn't change anything. I also tried an exaggerated bell and that didn't work either. The Redding die does push that back in a bit, so it ends up being the same I think.

[Bullet "shaving" Problem]

Don't see anything wrong, but damage to the brass may not be visible to the naked eye, I suppose. The brass was free (maybe there was a reason for that.) It looks like the Federal doesn't work with any bullets I have, but the Winchester and others seems to be OK with FMJ. I wonder if changing to a regular sizing die would help? I might try that tomorrow. My head hurts from messing with this today. Time for beer. Eric, I'd happily share my Shiner Bock with you!

Here's a pic of what this mess looks like. Pulled Precision and Precision Delta bullets out of Federal cases, then a Precision in one of the Winchester cases fresh out of the seating die, uncrimped. You can see the bell and the buildup of lead that got pushed up. Note how the shaving starts past the base, so there is apparently enough bell. The nick at the bottom of that Precision bullet is probably from bouncing up and hitting the case in the kinetic bullet puller.

Click for larger image.

[Bullet "shaving" Problem]

I ran into a weird issue today. I've been loading .40 (new caliber to me, but I've been reloading others for many years) the past month or so with good results using once-fired Speer and RP brass. I've loaded Precision coated bullets and some Precision Delta FMJ. No issues with this brass. I got a hold of a batch of mixed brass that has a lot of Federal nickle plated and Winchester brass. The Federal brass seems to "shave" into both Precision coated and jacketed bullets. I'll see lead or copper shavings all the way around the case mouth. I tried some Zero JHP too for sanity and had the same problem on the Federal brass. The Winchester only seemed to cause this on the coated bullets. I pulled bullets and the shaving starts above the base a good ways, so it doesn't seem to be happening on initial seating.

I'm using a Dillon 550B, EGW/Lee undersize sizer, Redding competition seating die and Lee factory crimp die. The problem is happening in the seating die. There is plenty of bell. I've got the Redding die screwed down close to the base plate, just a hair from touching it. I'm seating to 1.135" for Glock use.

I'm wondering if maybe the seating die does any sizing? A little of the bell gets removed with a pass through that die, but it seems that would be somewhat normal. Can't see it being enough to damage the bullet.

Odd that this only happens with certain brass. I ran the brass through my tumbler for a few more hours to see if there might have been some abrasive residue in the cases, but that's apparently not it. I'm stumped! I've used the same die setup in 9mm for quite a while now, with any old brass, and I've not seen any issues. Any ideas?

[Where Do I Fit In?]

On second thought I would like to stick with the 1911 platform as that it was I mainly shoot in IDPA in ESP/CDP. The glock would allow me to shoot in SSP and Production both though if I wanted to do that where the XD is only legal in Production right? If thats the case what do most shooters shoot in L10?

I spent most of my first year of shooting (last year) with my 1911 in L-10. I plan to do some SS with it later this year, but I've been on an Open kick most of this year. I shoot Glocks in Production and Limited as an occasional diversion. I still ain't sure what I like best! You'll probably see more double-stacks in L-10, but you can be just as competitive with a single. Or you can pick up a .40 Glock and shoot Limited or Production. I bought a couple Glocks last year and you can find them dirt cheap as factory rebuilds. I got mine from Summit Gun Broker for $365 each w/ 3 mags. Shoot what you like best. I'm still trying to figure it out, but eventually I'll settle on a main gun. I've still got a revolver to take out and play with sometime too!

[Remington 11-87 For 3 Gun]

I paid $300 for a used 1100 at Cabelas here after a little haggling. Gun show prices around here are typically in the 350-400 dollar range, at least when I was shopping last year. $449 seems kind of high, but maybe it's in superb condition. The barrel might prove a little too long for 3-gun, but you can always have it cut back and threaded for chokes.

[Erratic Brass Ejection W/ Titegroup]

I am having a hard time believing that TG has anything to do with it whatsoever. The only thing, in that regard, that I could guess is that the difference in recoil might have you gripping the gun differently?

Yeah, I am too, but there is certainly a noticable difference between loads. Don't think so...I had XRe shoot it for a second opinion and the brass was flying around too with the Titegroup loads. I first noticed it from a rested position while chronoing. There's really not that much "feel" between the two, mainly a little more muzzle flip with Power Pistol. Strange... I don't really care where the brass ends up at matches since I don't pick up much .40, but I definitely don't want any stove pipes!

Oh one thing do you have new or old style extractor?

Not sure, how can I tell? The gun is a factory rebuild I bought last year. It's shot fine with UMC factory ammo since I bought it. Didn't notice anything unusual until I started playing with Titegroup.

Seems like lots of folks are running a 15# spring. Maybe that's the ticket?

[Erratic Brass Ejection W/ Titegroup]

I just started reloading for my G22 (my Limited gun.) It has a KKM barrel, stock guide rod / spring, and most of Ralph's trigger kit in it. I started my load experiments with Titegroup and Power Pistol, to compare fast and slow powders. I'm using Precision coated bullets at 1.135, WSP, and Speer brass for initial load developlment. Both 4.3gr. of Titegroup and 5.5gr. of PP are around 168PF.

So, I like the feel of Titegroup a little better, as it exhibits slightly less recoil. The problem is that the brass ejection is extremely erratic. Some fly over my shoulder, some barely tumble out of the gun, some to the side. It's like watching a popcorn popper with the lid off! I've had one stove pipe jam out of about a hundred so far. Power Pistol seems to toss the brass a healthy distance consistently to about the 4 o'clock position from the gun.

Over the chrono, Titegroup is very consistent in spite of the crazy brass throwing. I had one 10 shot group with a standard deviation of 3.16! Power Pistol is typically in the mid to upper teens on SD.

I did try 4.4gr. of Titegroup, which shot at about 172PF, but no real improvement in ejection.

I plan to try some VV320 to see if another fast powder does the same thing. I assume that since Titegroup is fast, it creates less thrust over time and may not be pushing the slide hard enough. Do those of you who shoot the fast powders in the Glock use a lighter recoil spring? I'm thinking that would help, but I could be missing something else here. Any other thoughts?

[Great 2# Drop In Triogger Kit!]

I just installed the kit, and there is a slight problem. Have any of you experienced the reset being too weak if the slide isn't quickly racked? If I just bring the slide back an inch or so to reset the trigger, it never resets far enough for the trigger safety to reset. Not a huge issue, since it seems to reset fully during actual full slide pulls (haven't shot the new trigger yet), but I'm wondering if it is typical

Don't know if it's typical, but I had the same problem with my 2nd gen. G22 and G17. Having the trigger safety impaired bothered me. Ralph offered to help get this working, but I ended up just taking out the trigger bar & spring and left the other parts in. It's light enough for me this way and I didn't feel like messing with it any further. I also had trouble in the G22 with it sometimes kicking the trigger safety out in such a way under full slide movement that the back of the safety would jam against the frame when pulling the trigger. I thought maybe these problems could just be my old frames. Anyway, Ralph was super friendly and helpful on the phone with me. Give him a shout and I'm sure he'll be happy to assist.

[Shooting Open]

I bought one of those expensive "training aids" this year. I'm not sure I like shooting open, but it definitely points out flaws in my presentation of the gun. If you don't get a good draw, you search for the dot and that (to me anyway) takes more time to correct than with a limited gun. I find it rather unforgiving. I shot production at the last match though and thought I did better than normal. There's absolutely something to this open thing. If you have the means, give it a try.

[Harley Davidson]

I think actually HD has a patent on the sound. The japs try to program a miss fire in there to duplicate the sound.

Huh? I don't know of any companies deliberately injecting faults to reproduce sound, but a quick search found this (a trademark, not patent): Harley Trademark That's freakin' funny! I gotta say, the sound grates on me. Yeah, it may seem cool at first, but I regularly ride REAL long distances (just under 1K miles last Sunday) and that much noise for that long = pain. No thanks. I kept my exhaust stock for that reason on my Valk and I regularly get jabbed at stop lights by the v-twin gang. I let 'em laugh it up and then let 'em see my tail lights when the light changes. I know guys that run wide open pipes on these flat sixes though and that is some serious ear spank, much louder than a v-twin. Just ain't practical, IMO, kinda like shooting open class with no ear protection. Some people dig it though, so whatever makes ya happy.

Not intended to jab at HD, but since "jap" keeps getting tossed out here, I just can't resist...

Made where?

Ride it like ya stole it, fellas!

[Harley Davidson]

Weird how motorcycle (or automotive for that matter) brand can become almost a religious/political debate! They're all man-made machines and things break, I don't care what brand. In my travels there isn't a single brand that I haven't seen broken down out there, especially in the groups I ride with where we rack up tons of miles. I really hate the stupid insults that go back and forth over brand (and yeah, I've been guilty myself of lashing back at the HD crowd.)

Gotta take the negative comments for what they're worth, Kimberkid. Take a look at the odometers and the people ragging on the other brand usually don't ride that much anyway. I got some sneers and "Jap Bike" comments myself on this last trip. Funny, my "Jap Bike" (Honda Valkyrie) was built in Marysville, Ohio by American workers! Make that dealer take care of you, man. Those things aren't cheap and you shouldn't have to be inconvenienced. Ride it often and be safe!

[Harley Davidson]

Just got back from a trip through the Rocky Mountains on my Valkyrie. What a ride! Logged 2,320 miles over the 5 day trip. Just under 1,000 miles in the saddle yesterday coming home. Had my clutch sensor flake out a few times and had to start in neutral. I hate all the damn sensors and computer crap they put on bikes. I know how to ride, don't need a freakin' computer to "help!" Found out that 'ol dragon didn't like the altitude all that much. Noticable loss of power, like I was riding some crusty old V-twin. Hard starting the whole time and I was afraid for a while she wasn't going to wake back up after a break on a 12,000 foot peak! We're back down on earth in the 100 degree heat and she's breathing fire again! I'll have trip pics up on my web site later. I'm dead tired for now and have to go to work!

Harley, Beemer, rice burner...what ever ya got, ride it like ya stole it!!!

[Harley Davidson]

Sorry to hear about your troubles. Harleys get ripped on a lot, but the truth is any bike can have problems and it comes down to how well the manufacturer and your dealer stand behind it. I've had my Honda Valkyrie for a little over 5 years and I've got about 67K miles on it. I've had two issues the whole time and both were fixed by the dealer under warranty. Had the fuel valve leak once, which was a quick fix. Most catastrophically, I had the gear splines in the rear wheel give way at about 75mph in the middle of nowhere, east Texas! Now, that is a frightening noise. Kinda like a Glock kaboom in the final drive! Not fun and had to get towed back to Austin. Ironically, a buddy on a Harley V-rod had to help with the rescue. That's what I get for ribbing him all these years!

I contend that the splines were the dealer's fault. When they did the teardown, it was bone dry in there. They are supposed to apply moly paste to the splines when the rear tire gets replaced and the tire they put on hadn't been there a real long time. I was pretty pissed about this, but of course they claimed they did no wrong and even had the gall to say that it was possible that Honda might say it was a maintenance issue and not cover it under warranty (even though the dealer has done all required maintenance!) I said, look, it's either a manufacturer defect (doubtful) or a failure by the dealer to perform proper maintenance procedure. Argue amongst yourselves and decide who pays, but it ain't gonna be me! Honda picked up the tab and I had it fixed in under a week.

Luckily, I bought the extended warranty. Got 3 years with the bike plus 4 extra, so it's covered until 2008.

I leave in the morning for a trip to Colorado! I try to take Jezebel (that's my Valk) out across a few states at least once a year.

[2400 In 9mm Major]

Lots of unburned stuff everywhere, trying loads from 10.2 up to 11.4.

Including on my chrono about 15 feet in front of the muzzle!

[Power Pistol Powder]

Added some more chrono results and initial observations to my post above. Isn't load development fun???

[Wifes New Open Gun]

I've got one of JL's guns (AET 2 port barrel) and my minor load is 7.4gr HS-6, 115gr. Zero JHP, WSP, 1.135". That's about as low as I seem to be able to go and have it run flat and reliable, for reasons JL stated. That's about 140PF. I have to run an 8# recoil spring with that load. It is a LOUD load in my gun, but not really to me shooting it. I just wear custom molded ear plugs and I'm fine. RO's hate me though.

My major load is 8.4gr HS-6, 125gr. Zero JHP, WSR, 1.155". That's about 170PF. I use a 10# recoil spring with that load. Kind of a pain to change springs, but I couldn't find one that worked well with major and minor loads for me. I would shoot only major, but at least one steel match I go to requires minor.

[Power Pistol Powder]

Id like to see someones loads with power pistol and precision 185 grian bullets loaded short...

harmon

Just got back from chronoing some loads.

Glock 22, KKM barrel

Speer brass

1.135" OAL

WSP primers

185gr. Precision Bullets

Power Pistol:

5.5 grains = 918.4 avg = 169PF

5.6 grains = 927.7 avg = 171PF

5.8 grains = 937.4 avg = 173PF

6.0 grains = 972.7 avg = 179PF

Titegroup:

4.3 grains = 908.5 avg = 168PF

4.4 grains = 931.8 avg = 172PF

The 4.3 grains of Titegroup was amazingly consistent. 10 shot string had an extreme spread of 11.43 (3.16 standard deviation! )

I'll have to load bigger batches now and more closely compare 4.3 of Titegroup to 5.5 of Power Pistol. Initially I noticed that Titegroup load had a softer pop to it, but Power Pistol didn't seem unmanageable. I did notice a little inconsistency in brass ejection with Titegroup. No jams, but had a few cases shoot straight up instead of to the side and I've never seen my gun do that before. Wonder if with that fast of a powder if I'd have to go with a little lighter recoil spring. I'm running the stock Glock spring and rod. I'll have to see how they shoot in matches before reaching any decisions. I plan to try some N320 as well, to further confound the issue. I'd kind of like to see PP work though, since it's cheap and I like the extra safety margin of the slower powder. We'll see...

[Why .40?]

Anyway, I was looking at getting another glock, had G17s sold them both, wish I hadn't but if I get another glock it will either be a 17 or a 22.

If you're gonna by a Glock, let me recommend Summit Gun Broker. I bought a G17 and G22 from him last year. They're factory rebuilds and I paid $365 each with 3 mags. They work like new and still have Glock's lifetime warranty. I recently got a used police trade-in G23 for home & carry from him and it's also a great gun. He's done me right on 3 transactions now and saved me some cash over buying new. No affiliation, kick-backs, etc., just a satisfied customer. I understand he is going to be on vacation for most of July, FYI.

[Truck Bed Linings]

I had something called SuperLiner sprayed in a few months ago. Has a lifetime warranty and seems to be working fine. Throwing Steel Challenge gongs in the truck bed hasn't marred it yet.

[Great 2# Drop In Triogger Kit!]

Does anybody know how to get a-hold of this Ralph guy ??? I tried sending him an e-mail with the address shown on his web-page, but haven't heard back yet.

I've had good luck getting him on the phone. His number is at the top of his web site.