AustinMike

Possible, I don't have one to try, but I'd have to chamber a couple thousand cases. I ended up recycling the batch I had.

Sounds like a good idea at first, but I got a batch of brass that had been tumbled like that. With looser tolerance dies, you may not notice any problems at all. With my setup of a Lee u-die and a Redding competition seater, I was getting shaved bullets. Drove me nuts for several hours trying to figure out the problem. Eric finally bet on the cement mixer cleaning method and had me check the case wall thickness. Bingo! Case walls at the mouth were too thick and under magnification you could see the edges looked like they were peened by tiny hammers. It's very subtle, but it's enough to shred bullet jacketing. It's the cases smacking against each other in a rotary tumbler or cement mixer that does this. I won't buy brass from anyone anymore unless it's uncleaned or I can be assured it was cleaned in a vibratory cleaner. I'm attaching pictures of what I'm talking about. Hard to see with the naked eye, but there's good cases on the left and "mixerized" cases on the right. The other pic shows what happens when you seat with a tight tolerance die like the Redding (and yes, there is plenty of bell to the case.)

Not necessarily. Throwing hardware at a software problem isn't going to help. I'm sure I could train myself to shoot with a dot, but after playing with an open gun for a few months I concluded I'm just an iron sight shooter. Shooting open did point out some flaws in my presentation of the gun (i.e. the dot dance.) Overall, I can't say it did anything magical (other than lightening my wallet considerably.) I'm back to my Glock.

Careful, my wife got the vacuum she wanted some time back. It was like $500 or $600 IIRC. Some Oreck thing that you'd think would start itself up every morning and clean the house, make the bed, take out the trash for that price. I about lost it. All she said was, "how much did you spend on guns the past year?" Damn. I gots no answer for that one!

I think the U-die was a big help when I was shooting a LWD barrel in one of my Glocks. That was a really tight chamber but with the U-die I didn't even bother chamber checking for local matches anyway.

Squadded with Voight at the TX Limited. Heard some "pocka-pocka, pocka-pocka, ping!, pocka-pocka". Can't forget those poppers!

I'd say the U-die slows things down a little. I keep the shell plate pretty snug on my 550 and don't have problems other than sometimes tearing up a case with a slightly deformed mouth that I missed. It's a bit more important to make sure you've got tension set correctly with the little paper clip looking thingy that guides the case on the sizer station on the 550 so the case is lined up right. One Shot lube helps keep the press running smoother. If I had the extra stations to run through a regular sizing die before the U-die, I probably would do so.

Took a break from my Calculus homework and read this thread. I'm with Merlin. Da bigger bullet make the popper fall down very nice. Just shoot a .45 "flying ashtray" and the air it displaces is enough to knock the popper down as it sails past if you miss. I hate math, but unfortunately my homework isn't gonna solve itself. Now back to squiggly lines...

Does this one have to be be slid on the barrel (i.e. comp removed?)

That's where I'm confused too. I'm not seeing anything on their site as described. Didn't see anything on Armalite's site either. If someone has a product link, please share! About the closest thing I can find is this Yankee Hill. Is that what ya'll mean? Any problems with a sight that clamps on like this getting knocked around and losing your zero? Thanks, Mike

Ah...so, this plus this?

Anyone got a link to the front sight that you're mounting out just behind the muzzle? I haven't found anything like that, other than a flip-up YHM that clamps on. Seems like that could be prone to getting knocked around though? Are you guys getting the front sight pinned into the barrel?

What pricks! Wishing for a fast recovery of Kim's gun and swift justice. A little police brutality is in order.

Don't tell our lead programmer. Our software runs on Windows, Linux, and Solaris. He does it all on his Mac. I think he uses Fusion to run Windows as needed and cross compilers to do the builds. I still code on Windows at work, but I'm running Linux at home.

That sucks! Well, guess I need to take the ol' magnet on a stick and root around in my brass bin.

If you look around, there are deals to be had on semi-auto shotguns. I picked up my Remmy 1100 for $300 off the used rack at a Cabelas. They were asking $325 I think and I offered the $300. Just added a Choate tube and an EZ loader and I was in the game for a little over $400 invested. Look around for used when bird hunting seasons start and people are trading in older guns. There can be some cheap workable solutions out there.

I've got a Chrony, forget the model, but it's got the remote display/control. The Chrony is OK, but I'd probably buy a CED if I was going to do it over again since that's what they will probably have at matches. The Chrony can be finicky sometimes, but I think they all are to some extent. Try to chrono on cloudy days and it'll work better.

There shouldn't be anything in your barrel when you go to shoot. It is a good idea to leave a very thin bit of oil on the bore as protection after cleaning before you store it and swab it out with a couple dry patches before shooting. CLP = clean, lubricate, protect. I don't think it does any of those particularly well though! Jack of all trades, master of none sort of thing.

I didn't care for Titegroup myself. My favorite load in the G22 for major PF is 4.3 grains of Universal Clays and a 200gr. Precision (moly) bullet for about 170PF. I have a KKM barrel in my gun though. I've always been a little paranoid about having as much chamber support as possible in .40. Anyway, it's very soft recoil. More of a slower "push" than a snap, kinda like I was used to coming from shooting .45 for so many years. Depends on what feels best to you really. To me, heavy bullet and fast-ish powder feels best out of 5" or shorter barrels. When I shot a Glock 24 with a 6" barrel, 180gr. bullets felt better.

Mike, sunday the 24th we are gonna shoot carbines about 9:30, be 5 stages, short, quich and nasty. Or we are haveing 3 gun the 31st. Like to see you here.-----------Larry I'll be at the TX State Limited the 24th. 31st...maybe. Ya'll have a email list I can get on? I've been wanting to get down there. I need to get that AR out and see if I can hit anything past 100 yards sometime!

At the time, I was using one of the Simmons Pro Diamonds. A C-more or a cheap Simmons red dot would probably be just fine for pistol bay stages. I never shot the thing past 50 yards and it'll hold a good group inside of that. I had a few 33 round mags and I was runnin' around with the ARs just fine! I sold that setup when I got the AR, but kinda wished I'd kept it around now.

Depends on the match. Around here all we have to work with are pistol bays. I got by with a 9mm Mech-Tech carbine attachment on my Glock 17 for almost 2 years before I decided I "needed" an AR. I've still never shot a match where I really needed it, although I hope to make it down to Corpus some day at least! It's more about the cool factor at the moment and I apparently felt I wasn't spending enough on ammo.

I've crushed enough primers on my 550B that I'm having to sort out the S&B stuff. I use Federal, but I may try another brand. Either that or see if a buddy with a 1050 will let me run the S&B's through. Or maybe I can just use this to build a case for my wife of why I "need" a 1050!

The fields are downright crispy out here in Hutto. Doesn't stop morons from flicking cigarettes out their windows along 1660. Geez, I hope it rains soon! The winds were brisk yesterday, which was making me nervous. Grass fire would not be good right now! Glad to hear DP is OK!

I like the holster idea! I also need to find a small sticker that I saw on someone's bike a while back: "If you value your own life as much as I value this bike, don't f**k with it." I also have a beater pickup and I've been known to wedge next to expensive cars hanging over the line. Now that is fun! I've had one lady bitch at me before and I just said that I'm inside my lines, so what's the problem?