peterdaws

I run a Bul M5 in .40 for IPSC competition. The barrel is throated and I load ammo to 1 1/4". Back in 2011 I built a 6" 10mm top end for it to use on a trip to South Africa. I was having trouble getting it to feed so out of curiosity I tried some of my .40 loads in it and they fed. At which stage I had a light bulb moment and realised that long .40 could be loaded as if its a 10mm. So I just took the gun in .40 and some rounds loaded to 10mm power with 180grn. XTPs. Unfortunately the planned Blessbock hunt fell through but it made a reassuring car gun

Another consideration is that, when you come to sell your rifle, a complete JP rifle will sell more easily and at a better price than a self build which reduces the cost differential somewhat. That was pointed out to me after I had built a rifle with a JP top end and JP trigger on another lower. Awesome rifle non he less and my heirs and successors can curse me after I have gone for not maximising their inheritance

Bear in mind that you have to clear customs at the first point of landing in the US therefore avoid New York, Chicago and Los Angeles as transit points.. That's why I suggested Orlando or Dallas

I have a similar problem with LAX flying from Australia. So I fly to Dallas instead. Coming from your side I would be looking at flights in to Orlando or Dallas with connections to Las Vegas

I was born and raised in Birmingham so being reacquainted with the accent and local slang was a big part of the enjoyment for me. My dentist is also from Birmingham and has gypsy blood. We started talking about the show and reverted to broad Birmingham accents much to the confusion of her nurses. Though the peeky blinders gang existed the plots are pretty far fetched but fun to watch nevertheless. Back in the early 70's I worked with a guy who was on the fringes of the Birmingham underworld in the 50's and 60's. I remember him telling me that the Peeky blinder (who had long disappeared by that time) not only sewed razor blades in their caps but also in their jacket lapels. Bar fighting often involved grabbing jacket lapels to facilitate a head but - sometimes called a Glaswegian Kiss. Would have been an effective defence I think. Peter

There is a "wavy" lockwasher that Brownells sell to lock the mag cap on a rem 1100 when there is no ball detent in the forend. Brownells #838-000-021WB. I think it might be a fix placed between the carbon tube and the extension. I had a similar problem with "my" Versamax when I was in the US earlier his year. Unfortunaley I am back in Australia now but the gun isn't, so haven't had the chance to try it. Peter

Would you believe I am flying over from Australia on Thursday to shoot this match! (Well while I am there I may as well shoot the IPSC World Shoot as well ) Looking forward to them both Peter

No, the dust cover is plastic. You may get one screw into metal forward of the slide stop. Scopes have been mounted on Bul M5 dust covers but you need to sink nuts into the plastic on the inside to tap into. Peter

When I checked in for the last one, the nurse asked a whole list of questions including "and how do you feel" To which I replied "I've been starved for three days, force fed a gallon of poison and had dynestry, now all I have to look forward is being buggered by a bloody big fibre optic cable! How do you think I feel" She just ticked the box that said I was fine. Peter

I was loading .38 Spl blanks on my 650. Not having to seat projectiles I was working it pretty fast with no attempt to feel what the ram was doing. Snapped an indexing ring. Ordered one from our local supplier (I am in Australia) and borrowed one from a friend as I was in a hurry. A few hundred rounds later I broke the borrowed one. When I got the new one, I slowed down and realised I was getting a lot of resistance from the round not seating properly in Station 1. A strip down revealed that the spring that pushes the case positioning thingy had broken in the middle and the two halves wound themselves together. Replaced it with a cut down 5lb 1911 recoil spring (I was in a hurry as I said) The spring still works well years later, My other 650 also broke the same spring and now sports a 1911 recoil spring as well. Peter

They are very widely used here in Australia. I know that one of the manufacturers here uses a centrafuge to apply the coating. Another tumbles them and needs to do it three times. They are baked in a low temerature oven. What they use here is some kind of industrial high temeperature 2Pak paint. Obviously the bulletmakers keep exactly what they use secret for commercial reasons.

If you are going to chamber your dummy round from the magazine repeatedly, it will quickly become deformed and the projectile pushed into the case. Use a FMJ projectile. Put a piece of dowel (Cut from a pencil) the right length to support the projectile into the case before seating. Another way is to clean the case and projectile with a solvent. Put some epoxy into the case enought that it will flow and support the projectle, seat the projectile and leave the round nose down in a tray to let the epoxy run around the base of the projectile. If you are drilling a hole in the side of the case, do it after the bullet is seated as the case is easier to hold and the case less likely to deform. Peter

I am the Australian dstributor for CED. I recently had a client who's timer wouldn't charge. He was using a non CED charger which was the correct 5V. A CED charger worked no problems. I have also had clients blow them up with the wrong voltage charger. I'm sure CED in US can supply the correct charger for a reasonable sum, its not worth messing with it. Peter

He is looking to install the one large ball at the front of the yoke the way the PC center does some guns. Brownells does not have a fixture or kit for this type of lock. You just have to find a ball and spring the size you want and use a appropriate roll pin starter punch as a staking tool. The large ball detent used at the front of the crane by Smith & Wesson is not a seperate staked in ball and spring. It is an assembled ball detent available from McMaster Carr Part number 84835A11. It is a press fit into the crane. Peter

We don't get Titegroup or Clays in Australia, but of the powders I have tried (Blue Dot, Red Dot, 231 and WST) the cleanest, and the best performer IMHO, is WST. Yes you do. Clays is AS30, Clays International is AS50 and Clays Universal is AP70. They are not the only powders ADI sell to Hogdons either. Peter

Oddly enough, so is "Clays". So is Solo1000. The Clays series of powders are Australian made. Clays is listed here as AS30 and recommended for both shotgun and pistol. We used to have an AP30 for pistol but it was dropped as AS30 (Clays) could be substituted. International is our AS50 a shotgun powder. We have AP50 here for pistol so no pistol loads are listed for AS50(International) either by the manufacturer or Hodgdon. Universal is our AP70 a pistol powder. We also have AS70 for shotgun. Universal is listed by Hodgdon for both shotgun and pistol. Peter

I have just completed a trip to the US which invoved two international flights and 5 domestic ones travelling with a handgun and ammo. Generally uneventful but little differences in the handling aroound the country. I had external locks on my bags and on the hard cases which contained gun and ammo which were the TSA approved dual key type. Was later told that the gun case ones should have been "my key only" but it didn't bother anyone. Of the six stateside check ins, one checking clerk wanted the gun box opened before she issued the label, one taped the label to the outside of the gun case and the other four told me to just to leave it loose in my luggage bag. (If the label has any relevence, then attaching it to the gunbox seems the most sensible approach.) As to TSA I was advised on the first leg to hang around for 10 minutes after my bags go in in case they needed to talk to me which I did. On the first leg (from LAX) I assumed that TSA would inspect the gun so left the padlocks unfastened. (On arrival from Australia, TSA had logged the details of my firearm on the computer so I had assumed that they would check it at every flight but of course they didn't) X-ray machines were passenger side of the check-in counter. After bags went through without being opened, I asked to be able to secure the gun case. They looked a bit miffed but allowed me to do it then put the bag back through the X-ray again because I had handled it. No problem. Other internal flights the bags just disappered into the system without me seeing TSA. Miami they had an X-ray machine seperate from the normal system which we took our luggage to after check-in. TSA put the bags through and gave you a nod of dismissal. Back at LAX for the international departure, after check in I had to take my bags to where oversize baggage is handled (same system here in Australia) There TSA had a sniffer but no X-ray. They opened all bags and swabbed them inside. They presumably could search them at their discretion. You could watch this happening if you wanted. There TSA keys wouldn't open my lock - turned out the one they needed was broken and they were going to head off somewhere to get another key but I just gave them my combination. Saw them clip someones lock who didn't have a TSA lock and didn't hang around. Generally I think the systems were O.K., but I got pretty frustrated by the personal search side. With their full body scanners they wanted everything out of your pockets including non magnetic stuff like cash and my wallet that only contained credit cards and business cards, as well as shoes and belt off. As I had the wallet in one pocket, Aussie dollars in another, large US bills in other and small US bills in the fourth I "spat the dummy" and opted for a pat down. Everywhere else in the World I have flown to I could pass the scanners wearing the same shoes, belt etc no problems. A bit long winded but while in the US I met quite few shooters that thought flying with guns was well nigh impossible. So if they let Aliens from the planet Oz do it then you should have no problems. Peter

I have had trouble with dirt building up under the aluminium case feeder that raised it so that it didn't line up. My press is an older one and I think the newer ones have the area underneath the case feeder cut away to reduce dirt build up but still worth checking. Make sure is is clean underneath and as previously suggested, free of burrs. Check that the case slides from the plate to the shellholder without hestation. I have also has the spring on the pusher break. I was loading blanks so going at a fair speed and broke two indexing rings before I worked out what was happening The two halves of the broken spring were winding into themselves and so slowly shortening. Didn't have a spare spring on hand. A cut down 5lb 1911 recoil spring now sits in there and I think less likely to break. Peter

Just had a look at the site. He says early on that he has a short block kit and the barrel is fitted. Regarding the cut he says he is cutting the recess for the .38 Super rim, not setting the hood length. Seems a bit odd as my .38 super reamer cuts this recess. My guess is that he is cutting it oversize as the case will be headspacing on the mouth and it will give a bit of clearance for cases burred up by the extractor. By the time brass gets to us here, its expensive and we try to make it last as long as possible . Stu, the author is a friend of mine. I will seek clarification from him. Peter Dawson Brisbane Australia

I haven't seen either of those but did stumble on to a pound of regular clays today. I am going to try it and some tightgroup that I already have. I also have a pound of international clays but don't have any data for it. The Clays powders are Australian. Clays is listed here as AS30 a shotgun powder as well as pistol. They used to make AP30 but they were close enough together that they dropped AP30 and list pistol loads for AS30. We have both AP 50 and AS50 but you only get the AS50 as Clays International so only shotgun data is listed for it. Our AP70 Is Clays Universal listed for pistol and shotgun. There is no AS70. Apart from Hodgon's reloading manual, you can use the ADI manual for the ADI Powders that Hodgon buy in. see http://www.adi-powders.com.au/handloaders-guide/ Peter Dawson Brisbane Australia

Why 11? Peter

I have had Tanfoglio Polygonal barrels and Schuemann barrels that were too small for my comp reamer and initially I did as above but the setting up drove me potty. So I took one of the pilots I had made, cross drilled it and soldered in a piece of tungsten carbide which I ground to make a single tooth cutter projecting from the pilot the right amount to give me the bore diameter I want. In effect I have a piloted boring bar. Now it's a quick set up to chuck the boring bar in the tailstock and the barrel in the headstock and open up the comp. Cut slowly and clear chips freqently though as there is nothing to channel them away. Peter

If it turns out that no taller rear sight is available, you can have a taller blade soldered or screwed to the rear face of the existing sight. Its a popular conversion here for Bo-mars and Milletts on guns for PPC type matches, except that they make them wider as well as taller. Sorry, here is Australia Peter

They do or did a 5" XD, I have one which I use for IPSC Production. Is there much difference between XD and XDM slides and barrels? I would love an XDM or the HS equivalent but Australian law requires a 120mm minimum barrel length so it has to be the 5" Peter

Here in Australia we rushed into reloading for .357 SIG when it was provisionally approved for major calibre in IPSC Standard Division. Government has denied us the use of calibres over .38 for some years now so it gave us a chance to compete again with major calibre standard guns. As a result we now have a couple of years of developing and using the calibre. Nearly all guns so chambered here are on the 1911 platform including Paras, Buls S-Is etc. There are also a smattering of Glocks and Tanfoglios around. As we are also 10 round restricted there are a few that have adopted the calibre for open guns as well, mainly as it gives them compatibility with their standard guns. Whilst its true that the factory (or SAAMI?) specs specify a case that headspaces on the rim, we nearly all started using resized .40 brass and because that leaves the neck short, we were setting our dies to headsapce on the shoulder. I doubt that many, if any realised, that it was supposed to headspace on the mouth at that stage anyway. Case forming is so effortless that I would just throw .40 cases into the hopper with the already resized ones and there was only slight difference in the pressure required to cycle the press beween the two. Initially the most used propellent was AP100 which is a slower burning powder in the series that includes Clays, Clays International and Clays Universal. This is the most popular powder used for IPSC Race guns in Australia using 125-130 grain projectiles so was a good starting point. The most common problem we had was that of bullets loose in the case and setting back. The most common fix was the Lee Crimp die that works on the Collet Principle. Dies are almost universally Lee or Dillon. LEES are readily available and relatively inexpensive. Few have had any problem with them, Some run them dry and others use a lube, mostly Hornady One Shot. The well heeled or Dillon obssesed use Dillon for Dillon for slightly less loading pressue and a smoother finish. Just to be different, I split the difference. I have a Dillon .40 cal die in Stage1 of my 1050 and a LEE sizing Dies in Stage 2, the Primer pocket crimper not being needed. Very soon we started to use heavier projectiles for the same reason that we did in .40 cal. Up to 145grain ran fine but some tried 165s and 180s. Problems with the projectile yawing or even tumbling started. I am pretty sure that it is because the twist of the rechambered 9mm barrels was too slow. However some believe that it was unsuitable powder or crimping problems. When I progressed up to 145 grain projectiles using AP100. I was finding that I had unburnt powder grains and velocity spread was a bit erratic. Clearly we were taking AP100 ouside its comfort zone. Attempts to get suitable major loads (170p.f.+) with AP70 (Clays Universal) were pushing the envelope. I also had several misfeeds where the slide didn't quite go into battery. I experienced it several times in matches and cylcled the action to finish the stage so I could never determine the cause. When one day it happened on the rare occasion I was practicing, I carefully unloaded the gun and took it off line and stripped it. There was a single powder grain sitting on the shoulder of the chamber!. So I changed to Power Pistol worked up to a nice load with the 145 grain projectile and my problem disappered. The only concern was that the imported powders tend to have an unreliable supply chain and the laws here limit the amount we can hoard. From this experience, I wonder if .357SIG, having been designed essentially as a service round was designed to headspace on the mouth so that there can be a slight clearance bewtwen case and chamber shoulders? Recently one of our bullet makers came out with a 170 grain projectile without a lube groove. (Coated cast lead projectiles are almost universally used here) I think because its shorter than conventional lube grooved projectiles I have seen no instability problems with it. Better yet AP70 (Clays Universal) seems to be just perfect for it. I havn't Ransom Rested my loads but loaded to 174-178p.f. I am getting very low velocity spread and single digit Standard Deviation. Loaded out to 1.25" for my Bul M5 it has proven 100% reliable so far. After a two year search I think I may have found the Holy Grail in SIG loads for Standard Division. Peter