Guy Neill

I've not worked with ported barrels, but I would expect they fall somewhere between plain barrels and compensated barrels in performance. For plain barrels you are commonly looking for the smallest amount of powder that will drive the bullet to the needed velocity. This says a fast-burning powder. For compensators to be most effective they need a larger quantity of gas. This indicates a slower burning powder. The more powder, the more gas. The powder gases comprise a significant part of recoil, unless countered by a comp. Overall, it comes down to a load and bullet you feel good with. I've generally favored 124/5 gr bullets in the 9mm, but many favor other weight bullets. I would think of a ported barrel first as paralleling a plain barrel to begin with and let your experience after shooting it a while direct you to changes if felt necessary.

If there was no powder, the base of the bullet will be blackened. If the base of the bullet is clean, there was powder, but it failed to ignite.

My thanks for the information. It sems I corrupted the terminology by saying Series instead of Gen. Sorry about that. Somehow, various posts I've read were not clear (to me) that the Gen 1-2 referred only to magazines. I do appreciate the insights. Guy

I'm quite behind these days after my medical problems. I see references to Series 1 and Series 2 2011s. Is this referring to frames, or grips, or both? Are Series 2 grips usable on Series 1 frames or does Series 1 frames require Series 1 grips? How do I identify Series 1 from Series 2 - both frames and grips? Are Series 1 or Series 2 preferred, in general? Taking stock, I find I have 2011 frames from STI, Brazos and Davinci. I'll confess, at this time I have no idea when or where I acquired the Davinci frame. Any opinions of these frames, good or bad (any of them or all of them)? As above, how do I tell if they are Series 1 or 2? I appreciate the help/education. Guy

Maybe best to contact the various barrel makers - Barsto, KKM, Kart, Nowlin plus others

5-pound gun 124gr = 1.66 ft-lbs 147gr = 1.37 ft-lbs

That gives recoil energies of (still assuming a 36-ounce gun)' 124gr - 3.68 147gr - 3.04

sorry, I was using post one values.

Leet's look at your numbers; Gun weight - not given, but assuming 36 ounces. Powder weight - unknown - using zero bullet weight - 115gr bullet velocity - 1145 fps recoil energy = 2.46 ft-lbs Similarly, 124gr recoil = 2.04 ft-lbs 147gr recoil = 2.58 ft-lbs

Yes - if the powder charge weights vary, it will vary the recoil energy.

Since calculating recoil energy starts with a momentum balance to determine the gun velocity - as I recall, equal power factor will equal recoil energy. Power factor is a momentum value, but with odd units. The powder gases are part of the ejecta and play a part in the momentum. Once the gun velocity is known, putting it in the kinetic energy formula gives the recoil energy. As stated above, many like the heavier, slower bullets for spreading the recoil energy over a longer period of time. Also, as stated, many prefer the sharper (quicker) recoil energy of a lighter, faster bullet. Even though the actual recoil energy is the same.

Yes - first question is if they both used the same bullet. If not, the bullet is a prime part and data for the bullet is generally preferred. If they are the same bullet, I would start at the lowest load and work up in 0.3gr increments, looking at chrono data, and looking at the accuracy, then make my determination from the results from your gun.

Comparing Hodgdon data between 231 and 244, they did not show the velocity increase I obtained, but 244 generally did show higher velocities than 231. I've not seen any accray results published. In my testing I was looking at the velocities and did not delve into accuracy. Acccuracy is highly dependent on the gun (and te shooter) but I expect 244 to be capable. It's a matter of seeing what each does in your gun.

It does not look as if I tested 244 in the 40, but in 9mm it gave about 40% more velocity compared to equivalent 231 charges,

Without referring to my notes at the moment, my recollection is that 244 charges weights are comparable to 231, but velocities are higher.

You may also note that for a semi-auto it may offer better reliability to always full length size.

Neck sizing dies typically do not size the case body, or only minimally. For cases coming from a known gun (chamber) neck sizing can work well. For cases of unknown origin, it's likely better to full length size.

You might talk with Springfield Armory as a first step

Your description suggests you are skipping the sizing die after decapping. Use the sizing die after decapping and see if there is a difference. You might double check the bullet diameters and maybe measure the expander plug diameter as well. The expander plug should be a bit smaller than the bullet diameter. Check the case mouth diameter before and after crimping.

I expect machining everything into the barrel is more complex than mounting a thread-on comp.

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Did any fire on a second firing pin strike? If so, it could indicate the primers that failed to fire the first time were not completely seated.

My recollection is that Jerry started using a red dot in 1990. At the 1990 IPSC World Shoot, Dou K won with Jerry B placing second. They were to only shooters using red dots.

Numerous factors can affect chrono results. What is the barrel bore diameter compared to the bullet diameter? It's not unknow for the muzzle flash to start the chronograph, giving low velocity readings. I've not used AA7 recently, so I do not recall what sort of muzzle flash it gives. Still, a baffle to protect thestart screen may be of benefit.

For me, one of the goals in dry fire is to drop the hammer without disturbing the sight picture. Capturing the hammer would not allow that. Note that the firing pin spring wll take a beating and should be replaced frequently. Also, inspect the firing pin stop as it may crack.