M1A4ME

I finally got tired of unscrewing the front half of the full length recoil spring guide on my Colt Series 80 and ordered a new recoil spring/guide assembly and recoil spring plug. The add was for a Wilson flat recoil spring and guide together (why I called it an assembly in the first sentence). The add says the flat springs will give yield up to 10 times the life of the standard round springs. For you guys that shoot lots more ammo than I do, what are your real world experiences with flat recoil springs vs. the standard 1911 style recoil springs?

I'm having a similar issue. Trying to look at the springs frequently asked questions and every time I click on the subject/sticky it just opens up another page/tab to the general forums. The stickies/links below the thread title don't post with the link to the page so I went back and copied the line to the question/answers about shortening springs and it's that big long ugly thing below. And it still doesn't work. http://api.viglink.com/api/click?format=go&jsonp=vglnk_147277304041511&key=79bd9386a12d9ac58a81d42672c87dc4&libId=iskyyknr0101ax4w000DA2zyqkw31&subId=3532157973&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fforums.brianenos.com%2Findex.php%3F%2Ftopic%2F5006-frequently-asked-questions%2F&v=1&out=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.brianenos.com%2Fforums%2Findex.php%3Fact%3DST%26f%3D28%26t%3D3924%26s%3D&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fforums.brianenos.com%2Findex.php%3F%2Fforum%2F28-gun-springs%2F&title=Frequently Asked Questions - Gun Springs - Brian Enos's Forums... Maku mozo!&txt=What happens when I clip a recoil spring%3F

I've only broken a couple on the Lee dies. One in .223 and one on .357 SIG. No idea why the one broke on .357 SIG, but the .223 case had a loose primer in it (my fault for placing a can of .223 cases too close to the press and letting the primer catch tray overflow). I did the same thing. I bought several spares (so cheap) and since then haven't broken one. My Lee die usage has decreased though. RCBS X dies for .the rifle cartridges and just bought a set of Hornady carbide dies for 9MM. Still using Lee dies for .40 S&W and .45 acp though. Oh, a large part of my .223 and .308 resizing was crimped in primers in surplus military brass. When I've let a piece of berdan primed brass sneak into a can of brass it just pushes the Lee decapping pin back up out of the collet.

I don't consider time a factor, so my time doesn't figure into the cost (I actually enjoy reloading, shooting guns, cleaning guns, working on guns, etc.) so my reloads are cheaper than anything factory loaded that I can buy. As for accuracy, I have found that those Federal 9MM 115 grain FMJ cartridges are very accurate in my CZ P09 9MM. I use them anytime I sighting in a new gun, checking to see how a new gun shoots, adjusting sights after a sight install, etc. Once I get it close with the Federal ammo I finish sighting in with my reloaded hollow points. I've never found rifle ammo as accurate as what I reload myself, then again, I haven't shot much factory rifle ammo since back in the late 70's (when I started reloading).

Only you can figure out what gun/grip works best for you. Finding one that feels good in your hands and that's one more thing you're ahead on vs. fighting something that holds you back on your journey. I'm one of those who feels like grabbing a glock is like holding a 2X2 in my hand. Didn't help, either, that my 40 year old 1911 shot better groups for me, too. I "journeyed" through several brands/calibers of handguns before buying a CZ and finding a gun that fit my hands well (like my old 1911s) and shot really good groups. There are places where you can rent guns and range time. Don't know if there are any near you or not. I don't own a single "match" gun, or "competition" gun, mine are pretty much standard out of the box pistols. I have a couple with RMRs on them (boy, that was hard to make myself spend the money on) and that helps my aging eyes but doesn't make the gun more mechanically accurate. Good luck with what ever you find/buy.

I haven't tried in .308 yet. I've use TAC with 150 grain Hornady FMJBT in my M1 Garand and it worked great. If it will run a Garand with good accuracy it'll work in an M1A, or other .308. The comment about 7.62X51 military brass having thicker case walls and smaller internal volume = higher pressures with the same charge weight is accurate. If I recall correctly, my loads in military brass for the M1A with IMR4895 are around 2 grains less than when using commercial brass, could be more though, it's been a long time since I loaded anything for the M1A.

I use the left over drips from my 1 qt and 5 qt jugs from the car/truck oil/filter changes. I set the jugs at an angle for a few days then pour what will pour out into a 1 qt bottle and refill my little plastic squeeze bottles from that. What weight? Whatever I put in a vehicle. 0W-20, 5W-30, 10W-30, 10W-40. I don't think the guns can tell the difference, and it's all mixed together in the 1 qt. bottle anyway. I've been using mostly Mobil 1 for about 7 or 8 years now. Works great. If it will protect/lube my car engine at 6,000 rpm it'll work on my guns.

I'm curious about the slide. If you can't buy a .40 S&W pistol, did you have a 9MM slide opened up to accommodate the back end of the .357 SIG case or is it okay to buy a .40 S&W slide and have it shipped over there as long as you don't have the barrel, too? And, very pretty pistol, how does it shoot? My first CZ, a P07, I bought in .40 S&W specifically to then buy a 9MM barrel and have it rechambered to .357 SIG. I took it to the range to shoot and it did so well I wouldn't ever consider messing it up by having it converted to .357 SIG. So I bought a P09 in .40 S&W but so far haven't gotten around to having a 9MM barrel rechambered for it. I still need to do that (got a lot of .357 SIG brass/ammo in the shed since I no longer shoot my M&P .357 SIG.)

Reloading manuals are like car repair manuals. Info you can use will be in one, but not the other. Buy more than one brand/makers manual. Also, companies like Hogden (also contains Winchester and IMR data), Accurate Arms, Ramshot and Alliance have web sites you can look up on your computer/internet and get all kinds of loading data for their powders. Now is the time to be looking for different powders that you can substitute for your favorites. If you can't find your favorites, you need to know which other powders will work as well, or almost as well. My favorite .223 powder is IMR4198. I just (a couple months back) found out I can get similar accuracy with BLC2 in my AR15's. I've tried CFE223 (didn't get the accuracy I wanted, but haven't given up), TAC (accuracy was okay but the most accurate load doesn't function well in my rifle length gas systems), H335 also is showing some promise. I just mention these as an example that testing different components now can give you back ups if components start to dry up again.

Absolutely. The most accurate revolver I ever shot was a buddy's S&W M14 back when we were in college. Awesome gun with 148 grain HBWC and 2.7 grains of Bullseye. Awesome.

I just picked up 5,000 Federal SP primers at the last gun show I went to. $140. He had more but I just picked up what I needed for the brass I bought a few months back (small primer .45 acp - hey, for the price I paid for that brass that no one want to fool with, I couldn't pass it up). If primers are beginning to be hard to find I might have to buy some more next weekend at the next gun show.

Never shot a chrono, but I absolutely destroyed my cellphone one day at the range. I clipped to a pocket on the range bag and set the range bag on the bench in front/to the left of me so I could hear the phone ring and remember to take some pictures. While sighting in an AR15 with a scope on it I was working my way across the three targets I'd stapled up when I hear my youngest son holler, "Wow! Cool man! Wait till I show my buddies these pictures." I asked him what he was talking about and he just repeated the phrases about cool, pictures, show friends, etc. I asked again and repeated the (at the time) non-sensical phrases. I raised up off the rifle and asked him what in the hell he was hollering about and he said, "You just blew your cellphone all to hell." I looked at the range bag and only the back half of the phone (with some pieces missing) was still hanging on the pocket. The rest was spread out across the old brass and dirt in front of the bench towards the target line. I picked up the pieces at the next opportunity and carried them all home. You just can't see stuff up close through a scope. Twisting to the right, to aim at the target on the left got that phone good. Didn't put a mark on the range bag either.

I don't compete. I do like reliable accurate pistols. I've been through Glock (only bought 1), XDM (bought 2 and the 3.8" 9MM shot much better groups than the 5.25" 9MM - maybe I got a bad one), M&P (reliability issues with the 9MM and tumbling bullets with the .357 SIG) and finally got a P07. The P07 (must have got a good one) has a 3&1/4 lb. single action trigger pull and an 8&1/2 lb. DA trigger pull - factory. Groups were head and shoulders above the previous guns. That led to a P09 9MM and that thing is a laser. The trigger pull (factory) on the P09 was 3&3/4 lbs SA and DA was also slightly higher than the P07. I've bought a few CZs since those two. I won't be buying anything else in the future.

Thunderbolts used to be the go to ammo for my Ruger Mk1 5.5" bull barrel and my Winchester M52B. Nothing (Federal) was close. I gave up on Winchester ammo when I was a teenager. I did some some 325 round boxes of Federal in the local Walmart the other day but I didn't buy them because Gander Mountain waited 4 days to send me an e-mail that they'd canceled by order to them for 525 round boxes of the same Federal .22 ammo. I now delete Gander Mountain ads from my e-mail list as they proved they can't be depended on. I need to get back to Walmart and see if they still have anything besides the 10 cents per round CCI .22 ammo. Prior to seeing that Federal .22 ammo at the Walmart store I'd only seen 50 round boxes of Remington. The clerks were getting in bricks of 500 rounds and pulling the individual boxes out and lining them up on the shelf with a limit of three 50 round boxes per customer. I'd just shake my head and go home to load .223 ammo.

I have dual illuminated RMRs on my CZs. I've read that the Leupold DP Pro has a larger lens area than the RMR. It also has the option of mounting an adjustable rear sight on the back of it. My next "dot" pistol will be with the DP Pro. It's sitting on the bench waiting on me to make up my mind which CZ it will sit on.

My RMRs are on CZs, not Glocks, but... I went with the dual illuminated models as well. Mine are for EDC/home defense. I well say that you might want to stay away from the green dot models. If you are inside looking outside, or under a range cover and the target is in full sunlight the green dot is almost impossible to see. The amber dot works regardless of where I'm at or the lighting conditions of the gun vs. the target. I have read that some folks buy the smaller dot battery operated RMRs and leave the dot intensity turned down for longer range targets and then turn it up for closer targets. They say the brighter the intensity the larger the dot looks to them and that makes it okay for close up/faster acquisition use. Might try one out in a store if they'll let you.

Where's his problem? Focusing on the front sight? Or being able to see the targets as the distance increases? As my eyes began to lose the ability to focus on the front sight I found that a smaller rear aperture helped a lot. Sort of by accident. I never had much use for those HK diopter rear sights when I was younger. I got a SIG 556R and realized I could "see" the front sight post just fine with those tiny little holes in the rear sight. What I did on my M1 Garand was by a rear aperture insert from B. Jones. I don't know if you can use those in the competition you participate in but they work. Look up B. Jones web site and look at what he offers. He also makes rear sights for AR15's with the A2 rear sight. The insert is just a small lens that goes into a NM rear sight hood along with an o-ring, to hold it in, and helps your eye focus on the front sight, or the target, depending on your eyes and the lens you order. Not being able to see as well as you once did is a pain. A link to the site. http://www.bjonessights.com/AR15.html

I have one on a 10.5" barreled AR15 pistol (.223). I think it works. We fired them at the range several times. The range/tables are under an overhead cover, which is supposed to make guns "louder". We couldn't see that it was any worse than a short barreled magnum revolver. The folks a few tables down from us said they could tell it was loud, but not objectionably loud. I have not fired it with the outside "tube" unscrewed from the compensator part that actually screws to the barrel. I have been beside it, but not in front of it when it was fired and it doesn't seem overly loud to me. If you've fired a 2&3/4" .357 or a 4" .44 magnum you know the concussion you feel in your throat and sinuses. I don't get that from the 10.5" with that kinetics unit on it. I have a Noveske Pig on the 8.5" barreled AR15 (pistols, these are pistols if I didn't mention it before) and can't tell the difference.

I used standard primers for years with H110 and W296. No issues, but it was mostly in .44 magnum loads. My favorite powder for 125 grain hollow points years ago was Blue Dot. I did use 2400 as well, but Blue Dot gave me the best groups. I used either Federal or CCI primers at that time. I never saw anything else in the gun stores.

My experiences with lack of sleep go back to the U.S. Army. You get tired, sleepy, you fight it by moving, talking, smacking yourself, etc. If wintertime use snow/ice/cold water (I've seen guys dump ice/snow down inside their field jacket/long underwear to shock themselves to alertness) to help. Then you get a "second wind" and everything is okay for several more hours. Then the need/desire for sleep comes back. You fight through that with what works for you. After that you go into the "stupid" stage. Not funny things are funny. You laugh your butt off at people falling down, dropping stuff that shouldn't be dropped. If the first couple of sleepy stages are bad, for the job, this last one is just dangerous. Eventually you go out, no matter how hard you fight it. We were out one night when there was 6 to 8 inches of snow on the ground with a frozen crust over it. You'd stay on top some steps, break through on other steps. Up and down the hills and through the brush. I got picked to stay at the ORP and was sent down near a stream to watch in that direction. It started with freezing rain that turned to sleet. I crawled up under a holly bush/tree (the only thing that had leaves on it to block some of the freezing rain/sleet. If someone had told me I could fall asleep in those miserable conditions I'd have told them they were crazy. Some deer coming up the creek bank woke me up, breaking through the crust on the snow and slipping around trying to get up the creek bank into the woods. I don't think they ever knew I was there. A few minutes after they passed by the Sgt. sent someone down to pull me back to the ORP and we left the area. I can't imagine really firing live weapons in that state of mind. It might be real ugly.

I think, when you're "in the zone" things go on around you that you are oblivious to. Things that would normally catch your attention or cause a reaction. Not important things, but trivial things compared to what the focus of your mind/body is working to accomplish. I was coaching a guy with an M1A at a range one day. We were shooting pop up targets at ranges from 200 to 400 yds. They popped up in different places at different distances and he was all about identifying and knocking down targets. I big old horse fly came out of the brush/trees to his left and lit on his fore head, just above his eyebrows and began to walk around. I kept waiting on him to rear up and brush his hand at it but he didn't. He'd fire. The muzzle blast from the M1A would cause the horse fly to take off and fly in an erratic pattern out in front of him. Erratic in how smooth the flight was and in the circle it flew out and then back to his forehead. I again waited on him to reach up and brush the horse fly away as it walked around on his forehead. He shot again and once more the horse fly left his head to fly an even more erratic pattern in front of him before coming back to his forehead. I watched this repeat 5 times till at last the horsefly's erratic flight pattern (it got worse with every shot) resulted in it flying into the grass out in front of the firing line. When his stage was over I asked him about the horsefly and he looked at me funny and said, "What horsefly?" Something that you would normally feel/notice immediately and react to was completely unnoticed by him while watching for the pop ups and firing on them.

On the CZ Forum a lot of guys say they put a small o-ring in the slide so that that hammer never contacts the firing pin when dry firing. I can't tell you the specific size but you could ask over there, or someone here may know the correct size.

My old CZ 85 (Pre isn't polycoated (or whatever the modern finish is). It appears to have been parkerized and that should be on the insides, too. I got out the big drill bit box and still didn't have anything close to the hole diameter on the top of the slide. Either way to big or way to small. Still idea what the diameter is on bottom or top.

I don't compete with anyone but myself, but I can tell you why I picked CZs. More accurate than any of the other plastic framed pistols I've bought the last few years (Glock, XDM, M&P). Feels as good in my hand as the best of those (M&P). Just as reliable as the best of those (XDM and Glock). As to the dropping the hammer to half cock, when I was in the US Army (many years ago) and was on the battalion combat pistol team they made us run the 1911A1's that way. Lock the slide back, point the muzzle down at the ground in front of us at a 45 degree angle, insert the 5 round magazine, use the slide stop to release the slide, while holding the grip in our firing hand, place the thumb of the opposite hand in front of the firing pin, pull the trigger (dropping the hammer on the back of your thumb), remove your trigger finger from the trigger and trigger guard, remove your thumb from in front of the hammer, leaving the hammer on the half cock notch while continuing to leave the pistol pointed down at the ground at a 45 degree angle in front of you. Then, when the fire command was given, thumb cock the hammer, aim the pistol at the target and begin firing. I thought it was pretty stupid since I'd never carry a 1911 around on half cock or load a 5 round magazine, but then again, there were a lot of things about the US Army that didn't match up with what I thought was smart.

Yeah, sorry, the brain thinks one thing, the fingers type something else. Primary Machine. Bruce and I e-mailed back and forth several times. He was very helpful and communicated with me to let me know how it was going and when he'd put the parts in the mail to come back to me. Sorry.