practical_man

My first metallic progressive press was a 550. It has exceeded my expectations in every way - pistol and rifle calibers. I also have a SDB for 45 ACP bullseye loads. Not thrilled with SDB because it is so small. I was going to buy another 550 until I used a 650 with Ponsneas-Warren power adaptor. I am saving for the latter set up. I truly makes loading effortless. -John

Matt, The loading block tooth guy posted is a useful item. They can be had for around $25. I made mine, but I just like the satisfaction of tinkering. The load block lets you get by without as many speedloaders. That sad I have about 8 speedloaders. Consider the Jet leader instead of more comp 3s. I have a couple Jet loaders and like the better than safariland. They are worth the extra $5 in my opinion. Wish I had started with them from the beginning. -John

Yep. These two are great. If you can only get one, I think volume 1 is the one to get. It is certainly the one I use most often. It has plenty of detail about fitting critical dimensions. This site can be helpful too. http://www.1911pro.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=23&start=0

the 45 bullet i shoot most is the H&G 68 200 grain SWC. Soft shooting and accurate in all of my 1911s.

For 230 grain bullets I use 4.1 grains of Clays. Both loads are exceptionally accurate to 50 yards. -john

I have a couple of GR connectors. They exhibit longer than factory pre travel. Not terrible it longer. They are easy enough to bend down a bit to get them to release earlier. You just need to lower the tab that engages the trigger bar a small amount. A NY trigger "spring" helps it feel a bit better to me, but I like shooting revolvers. I don't have a Glockworks trigger so no basis to compare. You can get pretty good results with factory parts that's how I prefer to do it now.

I use both. Comp 3s for k frame and jet for L frame. If I had it to do over again I would buy only Jets. They are well with the extra couple of dollars per loader. Bubberizing is helpful and neat to do but it takes me a while to do it. Not all loaders have received that treatment. If only I had a lathe and a milling machine to speed things up... You won't regret buying the jet loaders. -john

Almost every shooting related item I own was purchased used. I've been burned a couple times with internet-related purchases from auctions and other web sites (but not this one). Generally, if I can look at it before I buy it there are no worries.

Dick You are getting some good advice. If the barrel crown nod lands are good then you need either a larger diameter lead bullet or drive it faster. If you are shooting jacketed bullets try shooting them at 125 to 135 PF. They should not keyhole

This worked perfectly. Thanks for the tip!

As others have said, absolutely. I have do e it to a couple of my k frames with good result, along with 11 pound Wolff rebound slide springs and bending the hammer spring. I did mine with a Dremel cutoff wheel and sanding disks. Worked fine and looks good. Polishing rebound slide and knocking tool marks off the internals won't hurt either. Warren also did a couple of revolvers for me. He also drilled some holes in the hammer to remove weight and did his magic on all the small things that matter. His work is superb. One day I hope to be able to achieve the same results. -john

Thank you. Didn't even think of that option. Hope it works

I use Gmail to follow forums and receive private messages on this forum. Worked fine till 8 November. I no longer received email notifications from this site or personal message notifications. I have the forum email "notagoodaddress" in my gmail contacts. Checked spam and junk folders and found no messages routed there. I deleted and re-established my forum subscriptions. That didn't fix the problem. I use iPad, iPhone iOS 6, safari, google chrome, and Mozilla Firefox browsers. Email to the iPad application or Mozilla thunderbird. Looking for a little help. Thanks John DeJarnette Fort Leavenworth, KS

I like mine. Still trying to find a reliable way to use it with semi auto pistols. Well worth the money if you shoot at an indoor range.

Somewhat, My 625 is very loose in it, it shakes front to back 1/4" , Upon re-holster it typically doesn't engage the lock, and I have to pull the little bolt upwards in the back. It's ooo-kkkk, I wouldn't mind using it - But I am hoping there are some better options out there. I love my CR Speed holsters. Also check out Protocol Design's universal holster he is a vendor here and is excellent to deal with. Sold my CR Speed after I got a holster from Warren (ProtocolDesigns). It is simple, secure and works with all my revolvers. Money well spent.

Never had this problem with any Glock. Is the barrel in battery when you try to pull it apart? Have you pulled the trigger to disengage striker?

I have a set of big but grips that came off a PC 627 and fit my standard 627 just fine. No idea what the nice lady a Hogue was talking about. -john

The crimp on military brass is just a few thousandths near the opening of the primer pocket. Shouldn't take much effort to remove it. I have the RCBS crimp swager and have no trouble at all removing crimp from pistol or rifle cases.

Thanks Cullen. Does the .125 wide sight use the same .040 fiber? I am thinking hard about an XDm 5.25 for Action Pistol production. I would prefer to buy only one Dawson front sight when I get the pistol. - John

Scott, What diameter fiber optic pipe is in the Dawson .100 front sight? Thanks, John

Mark - the 10 shot conversion is easy enuf to do. I added the 6 shot cyl to my 10 shot so I could shoot in in BE. Brownells has the parts. Less than $150. Of corse that is a lot of 22 ammo. I also have the HKS six round loaders for the 617. The are fine. Someday someone will make a spring loaded jet loader for the 22.. Best regards,- JohnJohn

Great post. I hadn't thought of the bronze washer. Can you post a picture and source for it? Thanks

3.5 to 4 grains of win 231 works for me with 158 gr JHP. It is one of my favorites for 38 special and a bunch of other calibers for mild target loads. If I could only have one pistol powder, 231 would be it. Universal and Unique don't work so well for me at 38 special pressures. Bullseye will work fine too if you want something different. 2.8 to 3 grains of Clays works good with 158 LSWC. -John

First off, congrats on your cabinet making. That's a great skill and a tough way to make a living. I have built a couple benches over the years. Started off sitting and found out I like standing much better because it is less tiring and I can see inside the cases better. That bench was 4 feet long, and a little too short for me. My current bench is 6 feet long, 24 inches deep, and 42 inches high. It has a vise mounted on one end and I bolt different loaders to it as needed. I don't have drawers, but will on the next upgrade. Drawers for calipers and small tools, seperate drawers for tool heads and caliber conversions. Cabinet for powders and cabinet for projectiles. I keep the scale on the bench top all the time so it is easy to find and use; you could put it in a drawer or cabinet above the bench. I will add that it's impractical for me to permanent mount 4 MEC shotgun loaders, a dillon 550 and Dillon SDB on a bench. If I had the space, I probably still wouldn't do it. Just too easy to swap them out. Bench top material is important. I have two pieces of 3/4 plywood laminated together. That wasn't hard enough. I added some Masonite, but still don't love that. Not sure there is a perfect solution, ESP when loading shots bells and the inevitable shot spill. Color matters too. Lighter colors are easier for me to deal with. And don't forget kid proof. Kids or grand kids will want to "help", especially if you aren't in the room. Latches on doors and drawers are inconvenient, but a good idea. Last point is on lighting. Plann for way more than you think you need. Flooding the work area with light makes all the difference. If you put cabinets above the bench under lighting would be great. -John

I regularly shoot 3.8 grains of Clays under H&G130 185 grain LSWC. Soft shooting, and it will stay inside 3" group at 50 yards if I do my part. Clays can get a little quirky in cold weather, so I bump up the powder a bit when temps are low. Crimp at .469". Haven't shot 231 in the 45 for a long time. Might give that a try again. As another post noted, Titegroup is excellent in 45. Economical too. It does burn pretty hot though. It will warm up the cylindr on my 625 to the point I don't like hanging onto it after a few cylinders full. -JohnJohn