[The topic of places to shoot in Tuscon got me to thinking]

I am newly retired and am trying to convince my wife to go south for a month or two in the winter. December through February can be a little cold here. I know she would never go that long, but maybe I can squeeze a month out. If we go south, I would like to be able to shoot. Our shoots end here in October or earlier and don't start until around April. Are there shoots in the Phoenix or Tuscon area in the winter or other areas in that region and places one can find to stay? Say a long stay, reasonably priced motel or something? Any info you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

I winter in the phoenix area. Three good places to shoot.:

Rio Salado Sportsmans Club in Mesa , AZ - trap[. sporting clays, numerous pistol, rifle , air gun, machine gun etc matches going on every week. check their website.

Ben Avery Shooting Facilty - just north of Phoenix on Dept of ish and Game property, a huge complex with numerpous skeet, trap fiellds, 1000 yd rifle range, numerous rifle and pistol ranges spread over ca a mile in length.

Phoenix Rod & Gun Club.on the south side of Phoenix, IDPA, USPSA, ICORE, bullseye pistol, ranges for rifle and pistol in somewhat cramped quarters. The long ranhg rifle backdrop ios the South Mtn range.

I am a member of Rio Salado Gun Club and shoot here at least one aweek. But I also shoot ca once aweek at the other two ranges.

I don't kmnow about Tucson shooting but Phoenix atrea is a shooters paradise. Within 20 to 35 miles from my unit in Fountain Hills I can shoot in competition seven days a week.

[147gr FMJ-RN HP-38]

The w-W 14th Edition reloading manual listed 3.5 gr. W-231 as a maximum load with 147 gr. cast lead bulllets. They never` recommended W-231 with jacketed bullets of 147 gr. weight.

[Tell me about 9mm 1911s]

I owned a Springfield 9mm Target loaded and was very disappointed with it's accuracy. After two trips to the factory it would not do any better than 4 to 6 inch "shotgun patterns" at50 ft. I sold it and purchased a Dan Wesson PM-9 which provided nice tight ca. 1 inch ten shot groups at that same distance. Spare yourself the grief and get the Dan Wesson PM-9.

[Winchester 540 Still Good?]

It's an excellent powder for 9mm. Smell it and if it is not acrid then use it. The ball powders have a very long shelf life.

[Alliant E3 for Newbies]

Alliant E3 is much too fast for 9mm. If you can only find "shotgun powders" then I would opt for Green Dot, Red Dot/Promo or HX-700X. Also the more expensive single base IMR SR-7625 would be an excellent choice.

[How many times can you reuse .40 S&W Brass/Glock bulge?]

All of the 40 S&W once fired brass I obtain has been fired in Glocks. I use a Dillon 550 with a normal Lee carbide die set and shoot the resulting cartridges in Dan Wesson & STI 1911's, PO16-40, CZ-40B, and a S&W610. As a matter of policy I scrap brass from high pressure reloads after four reloads.

[Montana Gold 147gr CMJ Load Data - Where?]

I have used 3.5 gr. Bullseye wth all my 147 gr. FMJ loads - ca 900 fps.

[New 627 performance center.....not so much.]

Just picked up my nib 627. Not what I was expecting from the performance center. Sorry for the cell phone picks.

Cannot understand what you consider a problem. Upon examining the poor qualityphotos I cannot see any problem. Perhap's it's in the eyes of the beholder.

[Where is powder for .45 ACP available?]

I shoot a lot of lead` bullets in my 45ACP and also shoot plated and jacketed bullets. I have used the following powders over the years - HS-700X, Bullseye, Red Dot, E3, WST, WSL, VV N-310, W-231, Clays & Trail Boss for powder puff loads..

[WSL powder in handguns?]

In 45ACP I have used 3.5 gr. WSL with WLP and a 185 gr LSWC for 790 fps and excellent accuracy equivalent to my old load of 3.8 gr. VV N-310 withthe same components. Generally I use the so called shotgun powders in both my shotgun and pistol loads - WSL, WSF, WST, PROMO, HS-700X.

I have never used WSL in 9mm. My favorite 9mm powder is WSF.

[First .38 Super a Range Trip]

So this morning I took out my new 627 Super for a test drive.

Until I get a lighter rebound spring in, I clipped a few coils off of a 14# and set the trigger to 5.25#. Results were promising:

So were the groupings:

Obviously, I was aiming for the center of the target. I really like the sight picture and even with the rear sight bottomed out this is what I got. Is close enough at 20 yards or should I start shopping for a new front sight?

Lee

I see you found the magic formula 3.3 gr WST. That is my favorite load.

[e3 vs Clays with plated 230 HP]

I have only experimented with E3 with 185 gr. LSWC. 3.4 gr. with WLP gave me 750 fps with excellent accuracy.

[Clays and Alliant Claydot]

Nothing magical. Just start on the low side and chrono until you obtain the same velocities. I use a lot of Aliant's PROMO starting with their RED DOT data.

[Bullet Suggestion for Sig 1911 - Paper shooting]

I do not have a Sig 1911 but my favorite 25 yard bullseye pistol load is 3.8 gr. HS-700X, RLP, behind a 185 gr. LSWC for 710 fps - a very mild and accurate load.

[WST in 9mm]

_{I have never seen any pressure tested data for WST in 9mm by the powders manufacturer so I tend to stick with WSF in 9mm.}

[How soft are CCI SP primers?]

In my limited experience CCI has been the hardest and Winchester in between Federal and CCI.

[Two guns blown up in five weeks...suggestions?]

I use either Bullseye or WSF in my 9mm loads. With either Bullseye or WSF it is very easy to see a double charge.

[S&W 327, 8shot, good to go?]

I own a S&W327PC model with alloy frame, titanium cylinder and barrel shroud. Great gun, comes back on target faster than my 627. It has a Lothar Walther barrel and has a preference for plated or jacketed bullets.

[STI Trojan 45 - Need to lighten the recoil]

So I love my trojan, and decided when I bought it that I wasn't going to change anything. Well now my wonderful soon to be wife wants to shoot it. But doesn't like the recoil of the 45. I have just been using factory ammo, as I didn't have the factory crimp die for 45 yet....

She handles things well, but she is just super slow between the first and second shot.

So does anyone have some advice on how to lighten the load?

Thanks

Chris

A nice light and very accurate load is 3.8 gr. HS-700X, Rem LP behind a 185 gr. LSWC seated 0.937" base to shoulder. Ca 710 fps with bullseye level accuracy out to 25 yards. You will need a lighter recoil spring in the 12 to 14 lb range depending on the gun.

[Best 1911 9mm for competition]

I hear alot about sti and dan wesson pm9? any others

There is an old adage about beauty being in the eyes of the beholder. It applies a lot to chice of firearm. Both the STI and DW PM-9 are excellent pistols. I personally prefer the DW PM-9.

[trigger kit unreliable]

The combination of Wolf reduced power mainspring and 13 lb. recoil spring seem to work well in most of my revolvers - 100% reliability with Federal primers fully seated and an Apex firing pin.

[40 S&W signs of brass wear]

With the high pressure cartridges such as 9mm and 40S&W I discard brass after 4 reloads. With the low pressure cartridges such as 38 Special and 45 ACP I tend to use the brass until it starts to fray at the case mouth.

[Need a "subsonic" powder recommendation]

I use plain old Bullseye for both 147 gr. plated and jacketed bullets - 3.5 gr. with the WSP gives me 890-910 fps depending on bullet.

[Powder]

Here in SW Michigan we have a distributor of Alliant and he has a limited but adequate supply of Alliant as well as Hodgdon distributed powders. In the past his shelves were bulging and had every powder made by Alliant as well as those powders distributed by Hlodgdon in stock.

[does wst powder seep through powder drop slide]

I have not noted any issues with WST in my Dillon 550.