jkrispies

Here's your stupid question of the day to add to this discussion: are Bo-Mar low mount sights allowed? I'm wondering since they require some milling to the slide to fit properly.

I ordered an RL550B and accessories mid-day on Dec. 21 and had it bolted down onto my bench on Dec. 24th. By comparison, I made an order at Midway on the same day, and I'm still waiting for it. Not bad for FREE SHIPPING during the busiest time of the year! Kudos, guys!

I'm in the process of working up a load with .356 125 grain Hornady Action Pistol for my Glock. I've run about 700 rounds through it so far, and it hasn't blown up yet. Accuracy is top notch so far, and I'm betting that it'll be my best load by the time I'm done. If you buy it in bulk from Midway, its price is kinda-sorta in league with the 125gr Zero. The only thing I'd bear in mind while working up the load is that the tighter bore-to-bullet fit should also mean higher pressure levels, so the old "take it slow" advice holds especially true. I sent Hornady an email asking them for loading advice. They said to use the 124gr XTP load data from their loadbook for their 121gr HAP load... so if anybody happens to own that book, I'd love to hear that data for Titegroup!!! As for me, I'm starting at the low end for a 125 JHP load and working my way up.

Two things I noticed this year: 1. The oil companies' profits rose proportionally to the price increases "due to storms/wars/insert whatever". and 2. The prices suddenly dropped like rocks in a lake when Bush made a speech that mentioned importing oil from Siberia. Hhmmm...

Shadetree, I don't know how true it is (it's probably not!), but I've heard it said on several boards that Glocks can sometimes vary in terms of fit. If you're concerned about accuracy, you might want to purchase your gun from someplace that has several already in stock so that you can compare the fit of each gun and choose the best of the litter. J

+1 to everything stated above. If I were you and looking to spend my money on any particular die that you don't already own, I'd recommend the Redding competition seating die first, followed by the EGW. Frankly, though, why fix what isn't broken... especially if it's for ONLY the name of a manufacturer, regardless of the quality of said manufacturer?

Jeez... that 22 sounds like it's possessed! I can't believe that it would be a "wearing out" issue that quickly. Have you had it looked at to see if something just flat out broke... or if it was a bad batch of ammo?

LOL Glocks are the easiest pistols to customize and add/remove options. Alot of the accuracy also depends on the ammunition you plan to shoot through said gun. I have a G17 that I always considered to be an average accuracy Glock, until one day whern I shot 50 rounds of 147gr. 9mm handloads at a GSSF indoor match and scored 498 out of 500. Keep in mind this is timed and therefore under pressure. I now think this Glock is just as accurate as anything else I own, but I also now know my handloads are probably better than factory ammo. 1. +1 on the ease of "gunsmithing" your own Glock. This is easily the #1 reason that I'd use to recommend a Glock to anyone. 2. ++1 on the benefits of handloading to increase accuracy... provided you're willing to invest the time and money into that persuit, otherwise you might want to simply invest in a handfitted barrel. Of course, any benfits you might achieve through having a primo barrel will easily be negated through shooting sub-par ammuntion. My solution has been to learn reloading first, then layer the benefits of using primo ammunition by conjoining it with a handfitted barrel. Of course, everytime I buy another new reloading gizmo, my much-anticipated tricked-out Glock keeps getting put off another month, and then another month...

Jake, I am sure most of us would agree the kid is out of line. I think many of the responses are trying to explain and help mend the situation. +1 with and +++with jkrispies, We figure Chills 1994 is smart =he asked for help. Jake the kid is a kid and could not ask for help on this forum. of course the kid is wrong too. When I had my kids at home I wish I had gotten help from a forum like this. I think it is realy cool how many wont to help both Chills and the kid Jamie Correct. After I wrote the post, I was worried that it would come across that I didn't feel that the kid was wrong. On the contrary, yelling "I hate you!" at anybody is unacceptable. Having said that, you can't remedy any situation until you figure out what is causing it, as well as understanding that there could be multiple causes as well as mutiple (read: layered) solutions. Best, J

If you view this from the kid's point of view, there's a lot to be commended from the above post. Any time there's a conflict between two people, it can only be resolved when both sides see the situation from the other person's point of view. I don't think you're giving any credence to her feelings, and they are every bit as legitimate as yours. Now... before I go on... I want to make the disclaimer that I'm NOT a bleeding-heart support-their-self-esteem BS liberal, as there's a lot of folks who are going to stereotype me as soon as I admit that I'm a... teacher. And I've dealt with well over a thousand teenagers throughout the past ten years, so I can say that I have a little experience with teenage angst, as well as earning the respect of teenagers. My advice to help deal with this: 1. You'd better love that kid, because if you don't she'll know it. And if you don't love that kid, hit the road, Jack. 2. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Don't EVER go against your word, otherwise you'll never earn her respect. 3. Watch the body language and the tone. In my classroom, I've said things that would get anybody else fired in about two seconds, but my kids all know that I love 'em because of the WAY that I say it. 4. Never tell a kid what NOT to do. Tell them what they SHOULD do. Without letting them know the correct behavior, you're just confusing the matter. Also, be aware that a lot of psychologists have proven that kids hear "no" words so often, they start tuning them out, like an annoying noise that won't go away. The end result is that when you say something like "Don't hit your sister," what they actually hear is "Hit your sister." "Keep your hands to yourself when your sister annoys you" works infinitely better. I know it sounds very warm and fuzzy, but it's true. 5. On the really bad days, bear in mind that teenagers are going through some SERIOUS hormonal imbalances. In many respects, they're temporarily brain damaged. Literally. 6. LIGHTEN UP, DUDE! I don't know how many times I've gone to answer the rechargeable phone and it's been dead... and I'm not gonna divorce my wife because of it! And your kid eats Cheerios while she has a runny nose? Dang, so do I! Really, if this is the worst you can come up with... Honestly, I've pulled knives off of gang kids, I deal with stoned students on a daily basis, and I've sat through parent/student/teacher meetings where the kid has spoken to their parents so rudely, I've volunteered to leave the room so that the parent can deal with the kid in a manner that I'm not legally allowed to witness. You're not even close to being in that league. J

Lee makes the die itself (there aren't any special markings to distinguish it from any other Lee die), but it's to EGW's specifications. By making it 1/1000th tighter, the brass will feed more reliably; furthermore, it sizes farther down than any other die, which will get rid of the Glock "guppy-belly" you'll run into shooting .40S&W out of a stock barrel.

WildWest, Lee makes the U-die on their own, already undersized; I think you have to call them specifically to request it, however. I had similar questions about the EGW die due to some "Internet myths" that I'd read about it. I ended up having a short email conversating George Smith at EGW regarding the matter that really cleared things up. With his permission, I'll post it below, edited for format but not content... I understand that you grind the bottom of Lee U-dies to make your undersize reloading die. I'm wondering if you offer the ground regular sized dies? Thanks, John Hi John, Isn't the internet fun? No. We do not grind the dies here. If you grind the bottom of the die, the bottom gets too sharp and scores the case. And If you get a tight case the carbide insert pulls out of the die. (I've seen that.) Our dies are made to our spec, smaller corner radius to reach further down, smaller by .001-002 in diameter to size the case more, clean up bulges and retain the bullet better. (Never hold by the crimp.) They are available by calling or on line. Thank you for asking geo Thanks for the explanation, George! I went ahead and ordered one of your dies after receiving your reply. I was also wondering, since I've seen the statement more than once on discussion boards that your dies are simply ground Lee U-dies, would you mind if I quoted your reply when the subject crops up again? It might actually help your sales, as I've seen a few folks post the suggestion to have a machinist grind the bottom off of existing dies. >From the sound of your reply, that wouldn't work anyway, and perhaps it would help to nudge the person to simply buy from you to begin with. Of course, I won't do any quoting without your blessing! Hi John, No problem, you can quote me on that. Grinding a flat on the bottom will shave the case and make it easier for the insert to come out. Best regards, geo

I'm glad to see this topic going so strongly, as I'm a lefty AND a newbie to the sport. I'm also struggling with the mag change (albeit on a Glock) as I've got the "long fingers syndrome" and have to readjust my grip if I pop it with my index finger. Readjustment, of course, takes time. Has anybody ever tried releasing the mag by sneaking the index finger of the right hand inbetween the left hand's trigger finger and middle finger (where the mag release button sits) prior to going for the magazine? Since my fingers are long, it seems like my right index finger is already there, and doing so requires no grip adjustment for my shooting hand. I realize that this is going to slow me down to a certain extent since it's holding up my right hand from immediately getting down to the spare mags... but is it quicker (and more easing of the mind) than having to readjust my shooting hand grip from having it screwed up due to my long fingers? Anybody have an opinion?

Now that we know that you already own the CZ... the real question is how much money you're willing to spend in the immediate future. The bottom line is that it's cheaper to buy Wal-mart 9mm or 9mm Blazer than it is to reload the stuff. If you're sticking with the .45... then there's no question to reload, IMHO. So, if your funds are very limited, just stick with the 9mm at Wally World, get some serious range time in with the CZ, and put off reloading for a later date. Having said that... Reloading is a great hobby that perfectly compliments the shooting (and I think will make you a better shooter by making you MUCH more familiar with your equipment while simultaneously accurizing your guns), so you'll want to (and WILL) get into it anyway if you stick with the sport for any length of time. Why not just conquer your concerns, dive into the deep end of the pool, and get started sooner rather than later? And having said THAT... While reloading will save you money in the long run, the initial investment can be very expensive. Buy a book or two first and talk to some reloaders beforehand so that you don't have any rude surprises (ie, "That scale I absolutely need costs HOW MUCH???"). Even if you can't afford to get into it now, do yourself a favor and get in the habit of collecting your empty brass (standing on top of an old bed sheet is the trick) so that you'll have a great big pile of it saved up for later.

Ha! Anything I can do to get in the way!

You beat me to this post-- I noticed the same thing and had precisely the same thought. I even rewound it and watched a few times... and I don't think he fully closed the eye, but gave it a really good squint. Of course, I'm not exactly sure if Jerry Miculek is 100% human. There's gotta be some divine intervention in anybody who can shoot a revolver like that!

TLS has one of the greatest lines in filmdom: "Has anybody ever checked you for a heartbeat?"

Well, in that case: That one is Sneezy. That one is Dopey...

If you have CostCo's up in Canada (and a membership), check with their ticket folks or go online. They sell a pretty good package ticket that gives you a discount on (as I recall...) the zoo, Disneyland, and one other place... which might be Sea World.

I'm sorry, I know that Tactical debates are not a good idea on this forum but this is an exceptionally bad idea. If you have kids, or neighbors, or anyone else that may come to your home, you absolutely must be able to identify your target before killing it. What happens to the neighbor or cop that comes to your door because it didn't latch and the wind blew it open in the middle of the night. The risk of a flashlight, "making yourself a target" is far outweighed by the ten years on a manslaughter beef. This reminds me of something that happened back in my bachelor days, when I was renting a guest house in someone's back yard. I was hauling groceries in from the curb and had put a few perishables immediately into the refridgerator, which took a matter of a few minutes at the most. When I turned around to go retrieve another bag from outside, I almost crapped my pants to see a stranger in my living room! It turned out to be a senile woman from the down the street. She'd literally walked through my landlord's backyard, through the gate to my yard, and quietly through my front door... managing to sneak past my dog in the process. I walked her back to her house and politely asked her husband to keep track of her, as the ending might not have been so happy if it had been the middle of the night. From this experience, I can certainly attest that identifying your "foe" is an must.

Hhmmm... Brian's bio page has his interest listed as "Listening to the sounds things make when [oddly deleted word...] pick them up, and when you set them down." Now... I understand... the photo was taken by somebody walking in oversized clown shoes across of a field of packing bubbles, which interupted Brian's train of thought! YES!!!

Chris, My wife recently started joining me at the firing range. She enjoys shooting my G17, but it's about as much as she can handle. I've never shot a .40 myself, but I'd guess that it would be the proverbial straw that would break the camel's back if she tried to handle one. As far as "stopping power" is concerned regarding the 9mm vs. .40SW, there's countless unresolved threads discussing that. What's more important, to my mind, is whether or not your wife will be competant/comfortable enough to hit the target. It wouldn't matter a darn whether she was shooting a .22lr or a howitzer if she can't hit what she's aiming at. My $.02, J

Like a lot of others, I'm doing the Lee Pro 1000 thing right now, and I'm wishing that I had the Dillon 550. On the plus side with the Lee, I don't have a lot of money and it gave me a progressive that I can actually afford. On the minus side, it is a pain in the... well, that's been beaten to death already, now, hasn't it? First of all, what will you ULITIMATELY reload, and what's the volume you plan on doing? If it's pistol only for the rest of your life and a fair amount (1000ish a month) then the SDB would be the way to go for your price range. If you plan on eventually doing rifle calibers, though, the SDB won't cut it in the long run and you'd be better off saving your money until you can afford the 550 or something similar. Now, if you're not planning on reloading that much (say, 100 a week at tops), then I'd recommend getting a used single stage such as an RCBS Rockchucker and learning the skill. Once you know what you're doing and decide to load on a larger scale, you can use your knowledge/experience to decide which progressive is best for your needs. If nothing else, buy a good reloading book first (I'd recommend the Lyman Reloading Manual) and read it thoroughly before buying anything. There's lots of nickle and dime costs that may surprise you if you haven't studied up enough. Within your starting budget, you'll also NEED a scale, calipers, loading blocks, additional manuals to confirm your "recipes," etc. And then, of course, there's the brass, powder, primer, and bullets! If you're totally set on $250, then the $40 Lee Pro 1000 may be your best/only choice. J

"So maybe if I just stand here, they won't notice that I forgot my gun..."

Was anybody able to get ahold of Mr. Graham via email? Two weeks and nary a reply on my end...