AustinMike

Be real careful with that safety plunger spring. Make sure you get the extractor seated right before taking your finger off the plunger. That little thing can sproing away and disappear in the carpet. Don't ask how I know that. This book has some great pictures of how to take Glocks apart and put 'em back together: Complete Glock Reference

Plated bullets should scoot down the barrel faster, so you'll probably be able to back off your load a tenth of a grain or two.

zip308, there is no right answer for everybody. It's pure personal preference. I don't like white outlines myself because I find them distracting. I have the plain black target rear and that works. However, my Glocks and 1911 have Dawson FO front and rear and I like that a lot. I'd have gotten that for my revolver rear if they made them. Lots of folks don't like the rear dots either. My eyes find it faster to line up 3 dots than the tops of the sights for some reason.

I've noticed a little lead around the forcing cone, on the top strap, cylinder face. Not a real big deal, but I just wondered if having a sealed bullet base would get rid of what little is there and cut down on the scrubbing time during cleaning.

Anybody remember "If it's not Scottish, it's CRAP!!!"

When I first got my 625, I had issues similar to what you describe. I was using ratty brass from my 1911 (which seems to eat any brass I stuff in it.) I bought some brand new Starline brass and the problem went away. The 625 has it's own reserved brass now and the 1911 gets range scraps. I run with Federal primers and seat 'em deep.

Good idea on the Montana Golds - don't know why I didn't think of that. I'll try some hollow points for giggles. I can always run them in the 1911 if they don't work so good in the 625. Looks like I'll be getting some Hornady 230gr. HAP to try, courtesy of Shred. I'll try some MGs if it doesn't work out. That probably has a lot to do with it. Fast Clays plus exposed soft lead does seem to result in some lead residue on the gun.

It's about time to order bullets again and I was thinking of trying some Zero 230gr. JHPs. The thought is they should be a little cleaner than the exposed base of the 230gr. FMJs I've been shooting in my 625. Anybody using hollow points in their wheelguns? I was worried about them hanging up on reloads, but they look fairly rounded near the cavity.

Anybody have any experience with a Lyman LE-1200? I noticed Midway has them on sale for $100 this month. Good deal or spend the extra $40 for the Dillon? I've got the Dillon beam scale now and I'm considering an electronic scale for faster measurements and sanity checking.

Cuz, my sight has plenty of room to spare on the flat part. Maybe it's a difference in S&W models? Mine is a 625-3, 1989. Seems like I remember reading somewhere that others have reported some overhang with the SDM sight.

I tried running a 14# spring in my Kimber with Major 230gr. loads and loved the feel, but I was getting some peening on the guide rod "wings" and slide. Unfortunately, buffers don't seem to work in my gun. I'm back with a 16# spring.

I've got them on both of my Glocks and on my 1911. I've got the .100" width front on all. Love 'em! I use the FO rears on all of them. I think it's faster to line up the 3 dots than the tops of the sights, but that's just me. The rear fiber isn't that bright and I don't think it's distracting at all. But, I figured I could black them out if I ever change my mind. The rear sight is kind of big and blocky, but I've never had problems snagging on anything.

N310 and Clays are very similar in my experience. 3.8gr. of N310 would make Major PF out of my Kimber with that same bullet. I did have to seat pretty deep to get those things to feed though (about 1.230", if I remember.) I'd say 3.6gr. would be a good starting point to try. I experimented with N310 vs. Clays and found N310 to be a little more consistent in velocity, but not enough to justify the extra cost (nearly double the price of Clays around here.) Clays seems to get more consistent with hotter loads. They both burn fairly clean and recoil feels about the same to me. N310 did work better at pushing 200gr. bullets to Major PF without pressure signs in my gun, but I decided to stick with 230gr. bullets and I'm now using Zero FMJ with 4.1gr. of Clays.

I found my 5" 625-3 Model of 1989 on an auction site for $485, in excellent condition. New ones are only about $100 more around here, but I like the older ones with no silly lock. A trigger job was about $70. I replaced the sights with an SDM FO front and Millet target rear, for around $65 or $70, if I remember. Lucked out and found a Miculek grip on ebay for $35! I do still need to get the cylinder holes chamfered. I guess that will come out to somewhere between $700-800 for the complete tricked-out six shooter. Here's a pretty good write-up I found on checking out a used revolver: Revolver Checkout

For a starter gun, if you look around there are good and inexpensive used regular 1100's around. I recently bought one for $300 and added a Choate extension for around $40. My 'smith is installing a DMW Easy Loader for me now and I'll be ready to rock at the next match!

What an awful feeling! I've had some very close calls with 4-legged creatures on my motorcycle. So far, the only things I've hit (or hit me actually) have been birds. One small bird swooped down into my path and smacked just below my knee at about 50mph. Shower of feathers and the force knocked my leg off the peg. I was just bruised a bit. Had another encounter where a huge pigeon hit one of my mirrors. Knocked the mirror loose and blew feathers in my face was all.

I briefly considered the Kel-Tec, but I thought it felt like a toy. Too much plastic for me and the front sight is absolutely ridiculous. There are also not many options for scope mounting. The Mech-Tech's can be had for around $250 on Gun Broker from time to time. They have a Weaver scope base, where the Kel-Tec has zip, they sell a scope mount for about another $50. The Mech-Tech slips on and off as easily as the Glock slide does, so you can go back and forth in seconds. I've got a buddy who has a CX-4 Storm and really likes it. Big stick mags are pretty easy to find. The Ruger carbine seems like a good piece, but I don't know about mag availability.

+1 for a Mech-Tech CCU for Glock 17. You can find them for well under $300 on Gun Broker. It's a real cheap carbine solution, if you've already got a Glock, that is. I got mine for a cheap blaster to use in 3-gun until I can afford that dream AR.

I've never liked their web site. It is very difficult to find what you're looking for. I find that it's a lot easier to just use their printed catalog and enter the part numbers online.

That doesn't sound sight. I could see where "ball" type powders might be a hair more consistent and not have bridging problems, but +/- .3 grain variance? I load lots of Clays (VERY bulky) with my 550B and I've never had any big variance issues.

Samuel Smith Winter Welcome! I usually bring a case in to share with the boys at work, which reminds me, I'd better get by the store tonight and get it before Friday. I'll always take their Imperial Stout too, quite possibly my favorite beer in the world! Mmmm...beer!

Yeah, baby!!!

The web site is just saying that you need to raise front and rear sights equal amounts when making a change, so if you had a .250/.360 combination and you went to the .300 on the the front, they say you probably want to go .050 on the the rear up to .410. However...I asked them about the sights directly and was told that regardless of blade height, the Millet sits on the gun about .050 higher than the factory Smith. So, .300 SDM and .360 Millet seems to work fine, as suggested by the gang out here. Why go .300 on the front? Because Carmoney said so. It seems to work well for me too.

So sorry to hear this, Dave. I know it's got to be tough. Your story and pictures got me teared up thinking about my grandfather. It's been 10 years now since he passed away and I still miss him very much. If there is anything I can do, give me a call.

I've been using plastic shoe boxes. They're about $1.50 at the Container Store. Or it's a good time to go into Home Depot or Lowe's as they usually have big cheap storage bins for Christmas decorations.