Beef15

The LnL AP's primer seating is pretty disappointing, but functional better than 99% of the time IME, more like 99.a whole lot of nines. In over 10k rounds I've had 3 failures that I attributed to high primers and possibly two others that got ejected and not retried or inspected. You must remember to push the handle forward until it stops not just a half hearted bump, they will not seat as deep as you can do with some other tools, they are just barely past flush, usually 1-2 out of a hundred looks high to me and get a trip through my RCBS bench mounted which always gets them further in. Things to minimize it, keep the shellplate tight, shim the subplate if it has too much play, put a washer/dime/etc where the primer spud contacts the frame. With the exception of the first these are all stupid things you shouldn't have to do, but life will go on. I'll make an extended spud or mod one, one of these days.

I shoot one in USPSA production, see lots of others there. A few in limited. And even an occasional one in open. In the non-sanctioned action pistol match I shoot 1/3-1/2 the field will be Glocks. They may not be the best, but they are adequate for most pistol matches.

All loads or just one load? If just one, possibly ammo, if all probably shooter. The common short cut is more finger. If constant though drift or adjust sight is an option.

Shoot a ton of lubed lead. I don't usually notice the smoke until I review video, never anything near what's required to obscure a target. Indoors it would probably be more noticeable. I don't think coated hurts a thing, I have read that claim before, but never any proof. I've only run a couple thousand. Some coatings smoke, some only with certain powders. Thing about lubed lead, alloy can compensate some, but proper fit is pretty crucial to prevent leading, severe leading leads to keyholing and can send pressure into the danger zone. 9mm is the most obnoxious because bore diameters run all over the place, most other calibers tend to run close to SAAMI. Leading also can occur with coated, but they seem a little less sensitive to fit, usually if you get leading with them it's due to something in your loading. I'll buy coated sometimes, but I mostly just lube what I cast. I really don't think one has a big advantage over the other.

When I stopped by the shop a few years back they said their alloy is soft. Soft alloy means more lead than COWW or #2 which most molds are designed around. More lead will be heavier. That said had very little variance in 147s and they were slightly heavy. Shot great.

I tried some AS this weekend. Meters terrible. Shoots ok, seemed real boomy like Power Pistol, nothing notable about the recoil. 4.4gr pushed a 190gr coated bullet @1.17 to an average of 930fps out of a 4.25" M&P. ES and SD were bad, but dropped to single digits at 4.8gr. Guess maybe I'll try dropping the charge lower, but what I'm seeing it's a non starter for me in 40.

I started shooting USPSA four months ago. Wanting to get classified has kept me coming back, scores getting tossed because clubs run the same classifiers as the one down the road is kinda irritating, I'm still not classified, but I pretty well know where I will be, and I want to do better, so I'll be back. Why I don't try to bring shooter friends. Time/distance, I have to set an alarm to remind me to get online at X time a week prior to hope I can land a spot. Then an hour minimum to the nearest, most start early and run to mid afternoon so by the time I'm home Saturday is gone. Cost, I reload, and shooting is my hobby, therefore I can swing it. Most the people I casually shoot with buy, 150-200 rounds for the match alone takes a big bite of their hobby money, very few only have the one. Human factor, most the people I shoot with do it for fun, or they think they're tactical, and just aren't competitive about it. I'm not a terribly sociable person, but I tend to say hi to people I'm spending a day with, it's rare that 5 squad mates even acknowledge I exist, pointers uh, I've had maybe one or two ROs give me a pointer and maybe two competitors. So my opinion the friendliness of USPSA is a myth, it doesn't bother me but I don't really feel inclined to bring someone else so they can feel like an outcast. There's a local defensive pistol match good bit closer, little later in the day, and usually just a touch over 100rnds, half the entry fee, 5 stages, a core of helpful/friendly people that set the mood, MD that loves teaching, no preregistration, and usually over by early afternoon, I've taken people there, they've come back when they can swing it, as difficult as that is I don't even bother with trying to get anyone to USPSA, maybe if one of them shows a lot of commitment I would.

Good ol' Unique, works in practically everything. Seriously though, there's a ton. I like Bullseye, Titegroup, and lately Red Dot. I don't have much use for slower powders. But they are a bit harder to get in trouble with usually.

No TTI, but no issues.

Just my opinion as a relative newb. Limited with the big mags and major scoring will almost certainly be more enjoyable. Production is a mental excercise on top of speed and accuracy. Not that it isn't fun, I started with it and have stayed, but it slips away from enjoyable to frustrating as easy as one unplanned shot.

Magtech seemed harder than Winchester SPs but I only bought two or three bricks before supply dried up, maybe 3 or 4 light strikes. Could've not been seated fully.

I polished everything in my 17, and squared the rear of the cruciform with a stone (mine was not and the "cut" resembled a mountain range), slightly changed the ramp/radius of the trigger bar. Installed a Ghost 3.3 did the Spaulding cut, lighter striker block spring, stronger trigger spring, not sure the pull weight, but it's much lighter than stock, no wall, very short reset. It is even lighter with a 4lb striker spring, but won't reset the trigger safety reliably, and will choke if I get lazy seating on the press, so I keep the factory in, will someday remember to add a 4.5 and/or 5.0 to an order. I have another 17 just polished with a Zev connector and stronger trigger spring and lighter block spring, it's lighter than stock, otherwise feels nearly the same, not nearly as good as the above. FWIW there was a massive difference in the pull of my two theoretically identical G17.3s out of the box, what worked for one may not have worked out the same in the other.

Nope, won't hurt anything, probably not the best idea for long term storage. Yes, it will, I usually clean the bore of my 17 every 1000-1500, unless I do something stupid and lead it up. I have detail stripped and cleaned the FCG twice, once when I did the trigger work a couple years ago and again this year when pieces were approaching unrecognizable, gun has 10k on it, maybe more, everything cleaned up just fine without any excess effort.

Pretty sure Titegroup is in my Lyman 49th for 147 cast, and max was lower than 3.2, jacketed I don't recall. Anyway with various coated 147s 3.2gr of TG did absolutely fine, COAL was always longer than 1.10". Reloading requires attention, TG is very dense, minor changes in charge matter with it and can be a little hard to spot, however it also meters very well so if your technique is solid it will treat you well.

IME, 120-125gr bullets seem to be easiest to develop accurate loads with, for whatever reason. I load 120s for plinking. I use heavier bullets for matches. Saving powder with a heavier bullet really doesn't save money. Run the math.

Extractor tension and/or clocking. My SA lost tension early and had a lot of potential for rotation. Still worked but ejected all over the place.

Nope. Didn't do it. Read about it after purchase.

Might help if you post the type of gun you need a barrel for. If it's the Glock you've been trying to load for, stay away from Lone Wolf or have them ream it for the upcharge, you'll have to phone in your order to do so. Plenty accurate, but had to load real short.

My story. Believed it, shot plated, then coated, eventually bought a land and groove threaded barrel, started casting, leaded barrel, slugged barrel, sized bullets appropriately got rid of leading. Decided I was interested in USPSA, dug OEM barrel out, slugged it, basically the same, tried ten rounds, ok, went twenty, ok, went a hundred, ok, quit counting, clean when the gun is dirty. If you can make it work, it's fine.

The little range I practice at got crushed brick from some demolition project, guess it was cheap. I'd hate to fall on it, but it pretty well settled/packed hard on its own within a summer, drains great, and the grip is good. My one recommendation whatever you use is landscape cloth under, weeds will find a way, but it will slow them some.

8" 223/5.56 without a can will blind and deafen everyone in the room, even with single ear pro it's pretty unpleasant. 9mm +P+ would certainly be easier on the shooter if unsuppressed. Both would require you research your ammo carefully. Velocity will be far below normal for .223/5.56. The 9mm may be over enough to make some bullets unreliable.

I haven't measured, but looking at his pics my RCBS bench mounted can push them very near if not that far with ease, it presses very evenly and just flattens them no dimple. However, even with a lightened striker spring it's not necessary so far as I can tell. Never had an issue with any I knew were below flush, did have issues when I just ran rounds off and didn't do any inspection at all... my LnL's primer seating is not the most consistent. WSPs are pretty much all I use.

200yds, G17, fullsize torso silhouette, 3 hits out of five attempts last time.

With the 147s I'd use Titegroup, Bullseye, or Reddot. I've mostly abandoned lighter bullets. Bullseye worked well enough. I have not done a lot of experimenting, just found powders that delivered what I wanted and ran them.

I might be inclined to search for mechanical/gas deficiencies if you haven't. I'm not in my manual right now, but 21gr of H335 sounds very low. My old go to plinking load and one I've read many times is 25gr with a 55gr bullet, it's moving along, but never had any issues with it in quite a few rifles. My new favorite, economical, while more accurate and a very mild recoil for fast pairs is 21ish grains of RL10x with a 55gr FMJ, preferable Hornady. I usually stay in the .223Rem realm, but as above, my ARs all have generous throats and can handle either.