Lee Bell

There's a lot I don't know about the issues, but I have to say, one thing confuses me. I figured the primary purpose of running classifiers was to provide a way for members to get initial classifications and to update them as skills improved or deteriorated. As an unclassified shooter, I'd like to see as many classifiers as practical. Unfortunately, my club ran a special classifier just before I joined. I'm not sure if or when another is scheduled. To be honest, it's disturbing to realize that I'm looking at a minimum of 4 months before I can get my initial classification. Lee

Different times, different situation. Back then, it was a lot easier for a women that wanted to stay at home, to do so, but a lot harder for those that didn't, to find equal jobs or equal pay. By the way, as much as we complained while it was going on, most of us knew that there was no downside to a bunch of women burning their bras. Freedom is a wonderful thing to behold. Lee PS: I don't live in Davie any more. I don't even live in the US. I'm hiding out in Siberia. Trust me.

If that's what you like, that's what you should shoot. FWIW, I agree with you. The term bullseye wadcutter, as a gun description, is not familiar to me, but the concept is. My Bullseye 1911 doesn't have sights either. I use a slide mounted red dot. So did I, but that's not quite as much of an issue as you might assume. For high volume shooting, like USPSA, you're normally less concerned with extreme precision and more concerned with power factors and volume. Most of us that reload, use progressive reloaders for this sport. Either way, you're going probably not going to want to change everything, every time you switch between your bullseye loads and your major power factor ones. Sticking to .45, will let you use the same primer pickup, but will require you to reset pretty much everything else. If you have to change everything, it's not much harder, or much more expensive, to load a different caliber, .40 for example. You can shoot Limited 10 with a 1911 pistol. You can't shoot production with one and you'd be at a significant disadvantage in Limited. You might consider Single Stack, a division specifically set up for 1911 shooters. In my personal opinion, it's a more challanging division than Limited 10. It requires you to pay a lot more attention to planning how to shoot and move through the stage to minimize time lost to reloading. It's an interesting game that some of us really enjoy. Move. It snows in New Jersey. Come to Florida. All your neighbors already have. Good choice. To start out, shoot whatever you want. Long term, though, .45 is a pretty big disadvantage, with or without hand loading. .40 is particularly attractive both because it allows you to load more rounds into the same space and because the brass is easier to come by. Lee

First, I do not allow loaded ammo into the "practice" area. Hard fast rule. All "shootin" ammo is Zero JHP, so for the dummy loads I used some 147 gr lead bullets to distinguish the difference. I do not like to leave rounds in a magazine, so I keep the dummy rounds in a zip-lok bag in the practice area and load them into the mag at the start of the session and unload them at the end of the session. I need to try the magic marker. I didn't think it would stay on the brass very well, but will give it a try. Bill Good plan if you have the resources to have a designated practice area. We don't have basements in Florida, somewhat limiting our options. My practice area is my family room, bedroom, living room, where ever my wife isn't at the time. I don't normally leave loaded magazines just laying around, dummy or otherwise, but I'm just a bit paranoid about safety issues. Better safe than sorry. Frankly, it's more likely that I'd pick up my dummy rounds as live ones as it is that I'd pick up live ones thinking they are dummies. Either way would be a problem. Lee

Could you elaborate on that? Old guys don't do well when the most significant factor is the ability to run fast and jump over tall buildings in a single bound. We do better when intelligence and treachery are are more significant competitive advantages.

Not a bad idea, but if you do this, mark the dummy rounds very clearly. I use a magic marker to color mine completely, case, bullet, everything so that it's as hard as possible for me to pick up a mag loaded with live rounds and insert it thinking it's a mag of dummy rounds. Holes in walls, furniture, expensive electronic devices, and people, are not easy to explain to an angry spouse and not likely to do your future gun ownership and shooting plans much good. In the past, I've colored everything black. I almost alway seem to have a black marker handy. Now that I'm loading Precision Bullet's moly coated bullets, I'll probably choose a different color, maybe read. Lee

Sure. It's still .357 and 10mm. I do too. I just think the rules, as they are, allow the conversion. The only thing unclear in the original question was, in my opinion, the barrel length and that's already been resolved. Actually, we have more than that. We have all sorts of equipment does and dont's. From my perspective, none of them preclude the proposed barrel change, at least none I've noticed so far. Yep. You want to see things get intesting really quickly, let's consider all the S_I .40 shooters that are loading long. Lyman says the max length for a .40 is 1.135 inches. I'd bet money that most S_I shooters load longer than that. I know I do. I shoot a .40 Kimber with rounds loaded to 1.2 inches overall. That's long enough that it won't fit in a .40 magazine. I assume others, like me, use 10mm magazines to accomodate the extra length. So, I'm shooting a round loaded in a .40 case, with the same bullet I use in my 10mm loads, at the same velocity (but different powder charge) as my competition loads for the 10mm, in a 10mm magazine in a .40 caliber gun. I'm a long way from alone. Things get very complicated very quickly when you start to interpret the rules more stringently than they are actually written. It's a slippery slope that is better avoided in the first place. Lee

How did you do that? There have been several I would have deleted if I knew how.

I shoot 3 stage fun matches every week. I normally show up with 200 rounds, but have not yet needed more than 100. On the other hand, I've seen people go home who failed to bring enough. I'll keep on carrying extra. The more stanges in the match, the more ammunition I'd bring. I reload and all my ammo boxes hold 100 rounds. If 100 isn't enough, and it isn't, I'll take 200 or 300 or . . . Lee

Personally, I think you've made your case. Your original question did not specify a barrel length. You've since clarified that, stating that any barrel you'd put in your pistol would be the same length as the one it originally came with. You're absolutely correct about the definition of caliber and that .40 and 10mm are, in fact, the same caliber. For what it's worth, I made the same transition you're making, for the same reason. I started out shooting .40, a Colt Delta Elite in my case, and switched to .40 specifically because of the availability of brass. It wasn't the cost, but the difficulty in getting brass at any price. I'm still waiting on brass I ordered months ago that is backordered by my supplier. Because my 10mm is a Delta Elite, I chose not to convert it to .40. I bought a new 1911 in .40. There's no such thing as too many guns. I suggest you buy the replacement barrel, ensuring that it is the same length as the original and carry a copy of the paperwork identifying the length to matches. If/when you run into problems, make sure you're surrounded by people that actually know what caliber .40 and 10mm are. Lee

Since the rounds headspace on the case mouth, it would not work well. At least one of my friends, firmly in the grip of whatever he was drinking that day, managed to shoot .40s out of a 10mm. I turns out that the extractor will hold them in place well enough for ignition. I imagine it's pretty tough on the extractor as well as on the chamber. Lee

Many of which have 10 round magazines only because of the AWB or similar limits still imposed in some geographies.

Works for me. I'll be 59 next month. I no longer have the physical ability or vision to compete in an all out race. I do, however, still have a strong desire to compete. A division that highlights the mental and accuracy aspects of the sport over the more physical ones, suites me well. As much as I like the casual stages run at Markham on Thursday nights, I'll be looking for opportunities to get classified and to gain match experience. Perhaps next year, we'll both compete in the Open. Lee

Frankly, I had not given the need to shoot more accurately a lot of thought. I kind of accept that regardless of division. I do find, though, that I really enjoy the increased mental aspect of planning how I'm going to shoot the stage and when I'm going to reload to do it most efficiently. Been there, done that. Once I was single, then I was married, then I was single, then I was married, then I was single, now I'm married again. Third time appears to be a charm. I've been with wife number three more than twice as long as both other wives combined. Lee

It doesn't surprise me. Single stack is a relatively new addition to the competitive lineup. Most good competitors had already found a division they like when Single Stack was inplemented as a provisional division. Many newer competitors started practical shooting for something to do with a gun originally purchased for personal defense that, lucky for all of us, wasn't getting any use for that purpose. Add all of that to the fact that Single Stack results are still not incorporated into the master data base, at least as far as I know, and the reason why there are only a few competitors in the division at a major tournament seems pretty obvious. For now, I see Single Stack as an entry level division for those that own, and enjoy shooting 1911 style guns. It's not for everyone, but is quite appealing to the more traditional in the sport, people that grew up shooting Colt Government Model .45s and still love and respect them. A lot of peple in the division are relatively new and at least some, including me, don't participate in major matches because we just aren't ready for that quite yet. Give us a year or two as an official, non-provisional, division and we'll see what happens. Lee

Worth much more than that, but you didn't address a couple of more or less important ones, specifically, how honest are the number of gun ratings, is there a brand you like and a better place to buy from? Lee

I used to do this. Now, I tapir crimp a couple thosanths to smooth the transition between bullet and case to make feeding as reliable as possible. Lee

Or when you're practicing for when the other guy can.

I'm getting ready to buy a gun safe. I don't know much about them and there aren't a lot of places where I can see and touch them before ordering. I can't think of a better place to ask than in a forum full of people with a variety of guns that would be hard or at least expensive to replace. Counting in my mind, I have 11 long guns including a standard AR-15, a few with scopes and a few with bolts. I'll probably never own more than 2 or three more long guns. I probably have a bit more than a dozen handguns, mostly autoloaders, but a few revolvers. My target guns, including one 1911, a Buckmark .22 and a Contender with 14 inch bull barrel, have scopes. I'll want to put my wife's more expensive, less often worn, jewelry in the safe as well as a very few important documents. I think I want a fire resistant safe, but that's one of the things I hope to find out in this forum. 1. What should I consider in selecting a gun safe? 2. How realistic are the rated gun capacities for people with scoped rifles? 3. Is it enough that the safe weighs 500 lbs or more or does it need to be bolted down? 4. Electonic or dial lock and why? 5. Do I need a dehumidifier if the safe is in an air conditioned home (Florida). 6. What brand and where to buy? 7. What have I forgotten to ask? Lee

Any reloading components seem exceptionally rare in the Ft. Lauderdale area and at the last gun show, I didn't see a single vendor selling anything, brass, primers or bullets. There's a guy a couple hundred miles up the coast that carries a good inventory and, it my order is tied right, will bring them down to the West Palm shows, about an hour drive from here. That saves me shipping charges. I'll probably be calling him later today, or Powder Valley, or whoever. I was buying primers 5,000 at a time. I'll order as many as I can figure out storage space for this time. Storage space is getting scarce. Lee

I envy you that. I paid $31 for 1,000 from Bass Pro Shop just a few days ago. They're gone already. I have close to 10,000 Precision bullets and zero primers. Just my luck. Lee

Others have tried their hand at this, I'll toss in my $.02 worth. I've purchased several new guns this year and have been surprised at some of the things I found: All of them seem to have required more break in than I'm used to. I've had feeding problems, slide lock back problems and general accuaracy problems. Where I used to expect a gun to shoot well right out of the box, then expected it to shoot well after about 500 rounds, I no longer expect particularly good results until after 1,000 or more rounds. What has really suprised me is the trouble I've had with sights. My Colt Gold Cup came with a broken front sight. I sent it back to Colt who replaced the sight, but didn't get it tight. After one trip to the range, I could wiggle it with my finger. I got a local gunsmith to fix it. One more trip to the range, and the rear sight was clearly not right. It got replaced at my expense too. Disgusted with Colt, I bought a Kimber, the Stainless Gold Match II sold out of their custom shop. It took more than 500 rounds to settle down, and now shoots nicely, but I had sight problems with it too. The locking screw for the rear dovetail sight worked loose, letting the sight move by as much as 1/16 of an inch, left to right. Needless to say, this is enough to keep it from shooting tight groups. I fixed this one myself. The point of all this is that I'm finding unexpected problems with guns that should be ready to go pretty much right out of the box. Both the need to fire more rounds for break in than normal and problems with sights would explain the issues you're experiencing. Check the sights and give it some time. It will either work or it won't. One more suggestion which may or may not have been mentioned. Take a look at the muzzle, looking for anything uneven or damaged. It doesn't take much wrong at the crown end of the barrel to blow consistency all the heck. Lee

A friend of mine turned me on to this. It works quite well if you're wearing the right kind of pants. I normally shoot in Jeans and it works great for me. Stuff the bottom of your pockets with paper to the point where a mazagines stuck in the pocket sticks up enough to be reached easily. I tend to use my left side rear pocket. I can stick two mags in that pocket, facing the right way easier than I can do the same thing with a mag pouch and can retrieve them almost as quickly. YMMV. Lee

Modify your present setup and go with a .40. You will cuss yourself if you get either the 9 or the 45 if you shoot USPSA. The cost of new reloading components in a hell of a lot less than buying another gun. When you realize the penalties of owning a minor gun or having 3 or 4 less rounds than your competition you will end up buying another gun to correct your mistake. I'm sure that, at some point in time, you've given bad advise. I'm also sure that this is not that point. Right on the money. Lee

I'd go for, wait, I did go for, the 550B. If you only want to reload 9mm, I'd take a good look at available deals on factory ammunition and consider how well it suits my needs and whether I would ever load enough to offset the price of any reloading equipment. Depending on your use, you may find you need to reload 9mm, no matter what the cost, to get what you want/need. If you'll really never want to reload anything but 9mm, then the SDB is probably the press for you. Once you start reloading, though, it's not likely you'll limit yourself to a single caliber. I've never loaded .380 or .32 and probably never will. I do, however, reload for all my other center fire pistols, .38, .357, .44 Special, .44 Magnum, 9mm, 10mm, .40, and .45. The more calibers you reload, the more you reload for, the more sense the 550B makes. My guess is, you'll be reloading for everything you own in the near future. You might as well start out with what you'll want to use for that purpose. Lee