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zzt... You're spot on. Of the 18 combinations I've chrono'd and shot my favorite few have been 155 and 165 with moderately quicker burning powders. They seem to produce the favorable dot movement.

I enjoy shooting my local outlaw matches on Thursday nights. At this time I really have no aspirations more serious than that. Most stages can be run without consequence of reduced capacity since the match director seems fond of throwing mandatory reloads in to stage design. I wanted to tinker with an open gun. Regardless of how many people do it, I wasn't real comfortable loading 9 to make major. I have everything I needed to load 40. I didn't want to have the added expense of setting up to load 38 super. I have a Tanfo in 9mm that I have grown quite find of so I am comfortable with the platform. I race motorcycles too which takes up my weekend time and money budget

I enjoy shooting my local outlaw matches on Thursday nights. At this time I really have no aspirations more serious than that. Most stages can be run without consequence of reduced capacity since the match director seems fond of throwing mandatory reloads in to stage design. I wanted to tinker with an open gun. Regardless of how many people do it, I wasn't real comfortable loading 9 to make major. I have everything I needed to load 40. I didn't want to have the added expense of setting up to load 38 super. I have a Tanfo in 9mm that I have grown quite find of so I am comfortable with the platform. I race motorcycles too which takes up my weekend time and money budget. I suppose if I decide to thin my current herd of 3 motorcycles in the garage I may end up with a 38 super and aspirations of big matches.

Thanks for your insight. Kinda reinforces what I've been finding through my experimentation, especially after really looking at other comps and noting that they are mostly WAY different than the Gold Team comp. I feel like I'm getting real close to where I want it to be but it's just so far from conventional. But taking in to account the fact that my set up is like a special unicorn, it's starting to make sense.

I'm not sure, I think I read somewhere that Tanfoglio is Italian for "we hear you"

Thanks for the inspiration on the Pioneer front. You may be on to something about conventional wisdom not applying to my journey. There is not nearly the treasure trove of information available for loading open 40 that there is for 38/9. It also seems that there's a lot of tinkerers who spend a lot of time and effort creating a perfect compensator to work with the load they want to shoot. My approach has been to find the load that works for the comp I have. And...the journey continues.

Excellent resources there. Thank you!

I tried WSF because the Tanfo has all those ports in the barrel. The logic is to go a little faster to get the bullet moving before I hit the ports and start bleeding pressure. I'm not sure I'd put in the same group as Clays? Clays is #9 on my burn rate chart and WSF comes in at 37. Autocomp is 43, 3N38 is 48.

I see what you're saying with the same charge and two different bullet weights... I guess what path I'm going down is thinking same powder and different weights to make major... for instance with WSF. I can get major PF in a 165g bullet with 6.1g of powder. If I go down to a 135g bullet I'm going to be running something like 7.5-7.6g of powder. I am finding the recoil impulse much more pronounced with little perceived difference in muzzle rise. Not to mention the accompanying shock wave that follows. That's where I question the point of diminishing return.

Being new to open, I'm actively sponging as much wisdom as I can from the folks who have been doing it longer than me. I'm hoping someone can shed some light about gunpowder and how it relates to the way a compensated pistol shoots. From what one can easily gather, the general opinion is slow powder + light bullet = magic. Full disclosure here, I'm shooting a Tanfo Gold Team in 40S&W so that changes the dynamic somewhat on the specifics of load recipe but the concept remains the same.. Make major + Shoot flat = Happy shooter! I have about 1500 rounds out the snout of my gun, a whole bunch of which are over the top of a chrono with different powders and bullet weights in search of "THE ONE". Since I am shooting a "40 in OPEN" and it's "NOT a 2011" my approach is clearly unorthodox, but I'm having fun learning and I like to tinker. Without getting overly specific I want to share my impressions and maybe some of you wily veterans can help me make light of my observations. I've tried loads with 6 different powders in varying weights and 3 different bullet weights. In spite of conventional wisdom I have found that with the lighter bullets and slower powders I do not like the recoil impulse and I find the loads obnoxiously loud. Heavier bullets with faster powder (my go to load for my non comped gun) shoot almost like my limited gun. But heavier bullets with a powder that falls somewhere in between (WSF to be exact) seem to be my happy place. All that said... On to the question(s) Let's take 2 loads right from Hodgdon's load data and compare: 135g bullet, 8.0g Winchester AutoComp lists 26,600cup pressure 165g bullet, 6.1g Winchester WSF lists 27,600cup pressure Both loads just barely squeak in to major PF to the best of my recollection. I'd have to look at my spread sheet again to verify. When shooting these loads, The Autocomp load was obnoxiously loud and the recoil was much more stout. Muzzle flip feels about the same with the WSF load but I didn't video and watch in slow motion (yet) to verify my suspicions. The WSF load is much kinder to both my hands and ears. The general consensus of opinion says Autocomp would make "more gas to run the comp" but according to the specs it makes less pressure. All things being equal (same barrel length and diameter) isn't the comp essentially just redirecting the gas pressure in a different direction to obtain the desired result of less felt recoil and muzzle rise? Is there a point of diminishing return with the slower powder? In other words, am I just needlessly using more powder to get the same pressure gas to exit the comp? Does that obnoxious noise come from the slower powder still burning as it is being vented out the comp? Am I the only guy in the world who lays in bed at night wondering these things? Thanks for reading through my rambling thoughts and any insight would be appreciated.

I got in touch with Bill at Higher Capacity about a big stick for my gold team in 40s&w. Nobody lists 170mm new in 40. I sent him 4 complete mags last Monday and today I had 2 big sticks waiting for me when I got home from work. 9 days turnaround with shipping. I'm pretty excited to see how they run. He sent them back with grams springs in them too.

Thanks guys. Like I said before... never paid it much mind. But then it did seem peculiar after he mentioned it. I'll put my mind at ease.

I have a Gold Team in .40. Love the gun so far, have about 1500 trouble free rounds down the pipe. Never really put much thought in to it before but I was at my local Thursday night match and after I finished a stage the guy picking up brass looked at me and said "How the hell does your gun throw the brass forward?" Since I'm the only outcast who shoots a Tanfo out there on Thursdays I really don't have anybody to ask. Do you other guys have this same thing going on or am I a special case? If this is not normal does anybody know what I should be doing to resolve it?

now that I looked at that old picture of when I put that stuff together... I realized that my work bench hasn't been that clean since I built it!

My multi-purpose bench top has served me well for 10 years at this point although it is due for perhaps a sand and refinish. I mounted some cabinets to the wall in the garage then I went to Home Depot and bought a 4'X8' sheet of 3/4" pressboard had them cut it in half (2'X8') laid the 2 pieces on top and fastened to the cabinets. I put a coat of urethane sealer on top, caulked the back edge to the wall, and fastened a piece of aluminum angle to the front edge. Since It's not a dedicated loading bench I mounted my press to a 12" long 4x4 and just clamp it in my vise when I load. I have a solid bench that has taken every bit of abuse I have thrown at it for a decade.