AustinMike

I'm considering picking up a Glock to have something economical to shoot for steel competitions (and maybe occasional IPSC) so I can get out there more often. I normally shoot .45 in a 1911, but it takes time to reload and the costs run up there even with reloading. I was thinking a 9mm should be good steel plinker since power factor isn't an issue and the ammo is so cheap (I wouldn't be reloading for 9mm.) I'm thinking of either the Glock 17 or 34. The 34 feels more balanced in my hand (empty anyway.) I'm not sure that the extra barrel length of the 34 offers any benefit in steel shooting (except maybe an Outer Limits stage?) The slide and mag releases aren't particularly important in steel to me either. Is the trigger that much better? Any other compelling reasons to go with a 34 over the 17? Thanks...

Those fiber optic sights are sweet. That's a good possibility. Maybe some different grips. I'm not crazy about finger grooves. I'd like to shoot IPSC and Steel matches with this gun. I bought a few moon holders and what clips my dealer had in stock (about 24 to start with.) Oh, yeah. Dillon RL550B! It's pretty noisy, kinda like a baby rattle. Seems to shoot fine though. Looks like that's what it is. There's some sort of little metal thingy floating under the firing pin hole. <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yep, I started using Federal exclusively last year. I've been very happy with them. I've got another gun that has a light strike and Federal works flawlessly. I'm thinking the chamfering would be a good thing. I'm no expert after just 100 rounds, but getting the moon clips in there fast just wasn't happening.

Yep, this is a 625-3. Picked it up online for $430 and it looks like it's rarely been shot. The cylinder face had virtually no powder scoring. Can't believe how clean it is for its age! I was in the market for a 625 and jumped at the chance to grab an older gun with the firing pin on the hammer and no silly built-in lock! Good used revolvers are hard to find at the gun shows around here and I never see them this cheap. Any tips or tricks to share? I'll probably get a trigger job done on it and maybe get the chambers chamfered. Thanks, Mike

Hey, gang. I just got a 625 Model of 1989 in that I bought in an auction. The thing is clean as a whistle as in near perfect condition on the finish, except for a place on the barrel where some idiot wrote "ACP" at some point and it scratched through the finish. It's only visible when the light hits it right, so no big deal. Other than that, it looks like this gun has barely been shot. As cheap as the gun was, if that's the only thing wrong with it, I'm doing good. I shot 100 rounds today and it's straight as an arrow. Anyway, I've got two concerns. 1) There is a rattle in the gun somewhere in the action area. It's produced by shaking the gun up and down (vertically), but not side to side. Functionality doesn't seem to be affected. Lockup is tight, no play to speak of in the cylinder. I ran it through the revolver checkout at the top of this forum (nice writeup!) The rattle can be heard in any state (hammer back, hammer down, full lockup.) It is inside the gun and is not coming from the cylinder or cylinder release. Is this normal? 2) I had a couple instances of the cylinder binding. I've got a couple theories. These are my reloads, so it could have been a couple shallow primer seats. The other thing it could have been is that *I think* these instances were only with some cast bullets (I tried some plated too.) I'm wondering if maybe some bullet lube or lead around the cases may have prevented proper head spacing. I was using brand new moon clips. Sound likely? Thanks for the help. This looks like it's going to be a fun gun!

I would be that buddy. In my experimentations, I like the feel of 4.0gr. Clays under a 230gr. bullet. It's a soft and quiet shooter that should be making major, but I don't have a Chronograph. Doesn't really count unless you measure out of your gun anyway. I bought some Titegroup to try recently with 200gr. bullets. From data I've seen, getting the velocity to make major with Clays is kind of pushing the limits of the powder (maybe, depends on the gun.) The Titegroup loads I tried (4.8gr. under Rainier 200gr. SWC) were LOUD and had a very snappy recoil. Haven't tried it with the 230gr. bullets yet. Once I decide on a 230gr. bullet to stick with and verify the velocity out of my barrel, I think Clays is going to be a keeper for me. I've been using Rainier bullets for a long time, but I've been looking for a more cost effective solution. I don't like shooting lead because of all the smoke. I just got a sample pack of Precision coated bullets in, but haven't had a chance to load any up yet.

I tried some Laser-Cast 230gr RN in my Kimber for the first time and got some nasty leading with 50 shots. In addition to the barrel getting leaded (mainly at the first inch or so of the rifling), I had some lead stuck to the breech face in a semi-circle outline of the case rim. My standard load has been 4.0gr Clays under 230gr Rainier RN. I cleaned all the lead out and tried again with 3.8gr Clays. This looked a lot better, with no real leading to speak of (just some lube gunk.) I fired some of the plated bullets to clear out what little was left behind. I don't know for sure if it was the reduced load that cleaned things up. Another theory that went through my head is that maybe there was some copper build up that contributed to the excessive leading initially and maybe I got it all out with the extra scrubbing to get the lead out. I've always shot plated bullets in the Kimber, but was looking for something less expensive. Based on the dirtiness and the smoke, I didn't care for the lead experience. I'm probably going to try some of the Precision black bullets since those are cheaper than the Rainier bullets I usually use. If those make a mess, I'll just stick with what works and pay the extra coin.