practical_man

Varget will work in all of them. I like it. It is extruded powder so it is a little tough to get small variation using most volumetric powder measures.

In short, yes and you must. The good news is that verbalizing the rehearsal is a good start to visualization. As you do this more you CAN learn to see the actions without the words; making a movie of your rehearsal. For me visualization improved as my gun handling skills and match experience grew. Along the way the voice grew quieter and the visualization improved. See what you need to see applies well beyond sight alignment and trigger control. See you visualization movie - it is a silent film. Also this works outside the shooting sports. Visualizing really helps me organize work flow as I plan a project. It's a form of rehearsal and refinement. Hope this helps you

^^^this

I am 10 years younger than you. I wear corrective lenses. I prefer .100 wide front and .125 wide rear whenever I can get them.

I have had one about a year. My light module sucks in daylight. Scope works fine otherwise though.

Thanks for the info. I am still using issue boots.

Longshot is LOUD and not so good for minor PF ammo. I use it becaus I can't get anything else righ now and have some for heavy 12 gauge loads. Check Hodgdon for loads. I am loading 5.5 grains with 115 zero JHP.

So is this a failure to extract a fired case? Unclear from your description.

That is one of my favorite loads, except I use lead bullets.

Can you post a pic of the trigger bar when you get a chance? I am having trouble visualizing a y there. Thanks John

Softer primers will be more forgiving, but not solve a mechanical problem like a broken or worn out spring. I prefer to use Federal primers in my striker fired pistols shooting SAAMI spec ammo. Some lightened trigger kits for striker fired pistols use a lighter striker spring as part of the process of lightenting the trigger. That can cause light strikes, as can debris in the striker channel, sticking drop safety plunger, and a raft of other things that can go wrong. Sarge gives good advice in post #2. I have found light strikes are mostly attributable to: (1) too little velocity of the striker (caused by weak spring, gunk in the channel, or banging into the drop safety because it is out of battery or dirty, etc), or (2) or high/hard primers. Other things are possible, but much rarer. That said, I only striker fired pistols I own are Glocks and XDs. I have some limited experience with the M&P as they are popular with my kin.

not sure what long term means to you. I store brass outside in sealed plastic buckets without a problem. Home depot buckets with those little rubber seals for the lid. I've stored for up to two years without a problem. No need to even tumbe, just load and shoot. So long as you keep the water out oxidation will be minimal.

Depends on who you buy used parts from. Lots of people sell because they want to try something new. Stocks, forends, etc are likely to cause you no trouble. I have a couple of rifles built entirely of used parts, including bolts that aren't matched to the barrels because they were bought from different people. They shoot 2 moa with anything I feed them. Not BR accuracy, but good enough for most practical applications. I also build on Blemished receivers. So far no problems with LAR or Caspian blems... ON springs, just buy new. Change the buffer spring often depending on your frequency of usage, just like pistol recoil springs. Comps. Miculek is so cheap that I would just buy a new one. You do need to be aware of potentail damage from a baffle strike. Buying from this forum greatly increases your chances of getting good parts. I have bought quite a few things from the Classifieds here and never been disappointed. The Classifieds here generally represent tremendous value for both buyer and seller. Hope this helps

Kimber If you decide to build, Foster industries has quite a few single stack frames now. I just ordered 3 to put on the shelf for future builds. 3 sons will make you do stuff like that. Foster is the parent company of Caspian. I have had great results from both. I buy foster when available because they are significantly cheaper cosmetic blems. You will usually have to look hard for the blemish. Build is always a good option for 1911/2011. You don't have to buy parts twice and you get exactly what you want - or think you want so long as you don't mind waiting a bit for your builder or doing it yourself. If you want to do it yourself, Caspian will fit your frame and slide. They also have a range of frame checkering and slide cuts. Revolvers are a buy and modify proposition. I am shooting revos more now - back to my roots.

^^^^this is pretty good advice for the serious competitor. I use a variation on this technique when working up a load for a new gun, pistol or rifle. For shotgun I just follow the recipe from the powder manufacturer. Of note, I have found that most powders are more accurate toward the high end of a given load range. Typically I get best accuracy somewhere around 80% of the total load range. EG, if the start is 5.6 and the max is 7.6, then total range is 2.0 grains. 80% is 1.6 grains. I expect best accuracy to be around 5.6+1.6 = 7.2, give or take a little. This could be an anomaly attributable to the relatively small number of powders I have used. Seems to hold generally true for me with 9mm, 45 ACP, 38 special, 44 Special, 223, 308, 9.3x62, and 6.5x55. It does not hold for 44 mag and 357 mag loaded with rifle powders. YMMV I find OAL with dummy rounds. Once I have a starting OAL then I test for accuracy, then For power factor. Tweak OAL if required to get desired accuracy and power. Best accuracy is usually above PF minimums for me. Hope this helps. Working up a load is interesting. More interesting now that I have been using quick load software as a starting point. Someday we will have reliable component supplies and can slow down this experimentation.

Exactly what I do.

Sierrra, I have a Zanotti Armor modular safe. It is well made, but not cheap. Cost about as much as my Fort Knox safe. Easy to assemble and move around. I can do it by myself so long as I don't have to move it up stairs. It has made PCS moves much easier. I put my Fort Knox in storage and take the Zanotti with me as part of household goods. Lead time is about 6 weeks. Nice folks. They will build to suit you within reason. When I'm done moving around in the Army I will weld the Zanotti together and be done with it. As EKU says, 2 safes are more secure than one. Considering how much I have invested in shooting gear safes are cheap insurance against theives and curious kids. Most importantly, a convenient safe that you actually use could prevent a tragic incident involving undersupervised kids or grand kids. Also keeps important papers and the wife's things securely stored. Give Zanotti a call and see if they can meet your needs and budget. Hope this helps, -john

Just look in the vendor forum here. Many good guys who will do great work. Scott Springer has done good machine work.

Warren made mine fit 617. It is awesome and I use the same holster with K,L, and N frames with barrels from 4 to 7 inches. Warren is a stand up guy

Doug Of course the exception on lubed ammo is the MK19. That might be the source of legend. A little lube on the belt fed aluminum case ammo does improve feeding. It's relatively low pressure round so it isn't a problem.

Thanks Doug. Please keep educating the boys. This is not a great idea with Centerfire rifles for all the reasons Hatcher identified. And it gums up the mags pretty quickly. Might remind them that Dawson makes a pretty penny selling tool less base pads to help competition shooters combat dirty mags between match stages. Lubed ammo mixed with the AFG moon dust kicked up by anything that moves collects a lot of dirt that gums up the works. Keep your powder dry and stay on the high ground.

Mark I put a single drop of marine red oil on the top round of each magazine for my Marvel 22 conversion. This works great to keep the crud from 22 ammo loose and improves both feeding and firing. I DO NOT do this with Centerfire guns for work or sport.

Doug Can you PM me the units involved? Sounds like folklore and legend among high numbered units. I did 2 tours in IZ and 1 in AFG. NEVER lubed a mag or round. For anything. General rule for us was wet bolts, mags clean and dry. It's a rule I still follow. -john

4.5 grains of 231 will get you started with 115 grain bullets 7625 is better for working the comp. Wish I could find some.