markm59

Hey jake, Welcome. This is a great forum, lots of people to help. I have some of your steel. It's good stuff.

Update - Texas bound 101. We had a very interesting trip to Texas. Got caught in 12+ inches of rain in San Antonio so that messed with our plans. Drove from Lampasas to San Antonio on Rt 281, loved it, beautiful country. Also drove west out of Waco and was impressed with that area too. Drove north from La Grange on Rt 77 to Waco, good farm country, again very impressed. Things about Texas - long straight roads, no potholes and coming from Colorado that is a statement. Very clean, did not see alot of trash along the road. Very green, more so than I expected....not sure what it looks like in August. People are great, custiomer service at resturants is second to none. Great gas prices, better than Colorado and we have good prices here. Humidity that won't quit, not sure about shooting in 105 tempratures with 80% humidity. Bottom line - other than the heat/humidty I could find no fault. Now I just have to find a job. Texas here we come. Thanks to everyone who offered suggestions on areas to check out.

The Pine area had a fire about 10 years ago. My property has few trees, looks a little Bagdad like. But I can shoot on it. So I am OK with few trees but I am a little partial to the San Antonio area. I have been to Texas many times and was always impressed with that area and we Plan on spending 2 days there . Of course I need to find a job and we all know that's overrated . I'll post after we get back. It's going to be a busy 5 days

This posting was perfect timing. My wife and I are also intending to move to Texas. We are coming down next weekend , over the holiday. Not sure how much we can cover in 5days but going to give it a try. Colorado looking a little too much like California for my taste. Found a google map showing all the USPSA clubs in texas, could not believe the number. Looking forward to the trip and thank everyone for the general location tips. We plan to spend several days in the areas you highlighted. Hope to see you at a match within the next year. Both my wife and I shoot.

My wife and I have STI GMs and they have been great. Both in 38 SC. Our first open guns and we love shooting open . I would recommend them if money was tight but if you have 5k then go with the others you mentioned. The only fault I see is the factory triggers are poor and they're heavy. But they're flat shooting, comp works great with SR 7625 @ 7.2 grs.

I just loaded Power Pistol at 6.4 grs, Berrys 230 FMJ. Got exceptional results from such a small pistol.

Jensey, My wife started with a Taurus 1911 in 45. She had problems develop over time due to the recoil and muzzle blast. When I finally convinced her to shoot a 9mm her scores and times improved dramatically so now she beats me every once in awhile . Start with a 9. Shoot Production division where you aren't penalized for shooting minor. Also look at the Springfield XDM series which is what my wife was shooting. The XDM comes with interchangeable back straps to help people with small hands. Though you can't go wrong with the 1911, we own several.

Welcome to the forum, great place for info. I'm here in CO too. Been reloading for more than 30 years. Let me know if I can help

Hey guys, Talk about customer service. I was contacted by the inventor, even though he didn't sell me the machine he helped me troubleshoot it. It is up and running, found a bad connection. Thanks for everyone's input.

Hey guys, tried that. I even pulled the micro switch so I can make sure I was depressing the little blue button. Nothing. Switch is made in China,that's my first clue. I don't own a VOM and even if I did I wouldn't know what to check. Thanks for responding.

Happy New Year to everyone Just installed my first Mr Bulletfeeder. I have a green light on the power supply but I don't get any rotation. I suspect bad news but was hoping I might have missed something. Any ideas? Thanks

damn

Ok, confession time . Am I being cheap. I did find one locally for 1300 but that seems much higher than the norm.

Thanks everyone. I've seen several of the VM Zombie green tactical but not sure I wanted to go that route. Has anyone seen one of those up close. Didn't want to order that sight unseen. I've checked everywhere. Has anyone done business on Guns America and if so any isues

Guys and gals, Anyone know where I can get a Versamax Tactical.

Been loading Unique at 4.4grs in my 2 XDMs using MG 124 JHP at OAL of 1.115. Good results, not the most accurate combination but makes minor power. I can't out shoot the gun or load so I am pretty happy. I think Unique is a very versatile powder and readily available at a good price. Hard to beat that combo.

Hey Pat, Just got my new GM about a month ago. Had extractor problems but easily resolved. Factory trigger needed work but a local smith did a fantastic job on it. Accuracy, off a bench, was unreal although this is my first open gun. Mine is 38sc. I have been running both Autocomp and SR 7625 at 7 Grs and make major with the MG 124 JHP at 1.235 OAL. Of course I am at 7400 feet elevation and using super comp brass. I am leaning towards the 7625, more accurate at lower PF and feels softer My only complaint is delivery. STI is way behind and I am still waiting for my wife's GM and they were ordered the same time. I have to give kudos to Chuck at Shooters Connection. He has been outstanding and has spoon fed me the entire way since as I stated its my first open gun. Would I do it again, maybe. The gun is great but the customer service and delivery is unacceptable.

Update - Problem resolved. Great advice guys, the key was rotating the round when doing the barrel drop test to check for contact. Never checked that before, in over 30 years reloading. Anyway my OAL needs to be 1.115 +- then everything works fine. This was the OAL I started my testing with so I have plenty of data at that length. By the way, best powders in both XDMs were Unique, Titegroup and Autocomp, in that order. The Autocomp produced some superb accuracy in my wife's XDM, but didn't do as well in mine, which is why it was listed 3rd. Might be worth playing around with. Thanks again to everyone...what a great forum.

Thanks again guys. I'll take a look using the barrel drop test and see what it tells me. I take it the key is free rotation.

Thanks guys. When I load longer than 1.12 the slide is difficult to pull back with a round in the chamber. Load out to 1.15 and my wife can't rack the slide at all and I have to work at it. Again this is a loaded round in the chamber. It sounds like I just need to load at 1.115 as that worked without any issues. Both my Hornady and Lyman books quote 1.06 for this bullet weight/style. Its too bad, accuracy is awesome at 1.15 and the gun functions fine but its the whole "unload and show clear" that my wife would not be able to complete in a match. Appreciate the comments.

Hello all, I did a search this morning trying to find an answer but couldn't get right to the point. Here is the situation; I spent the last 2 weekends doing a major reloading evaluation on 2 new Springfield XDM 5.25's in 9mm. I have tons of data and found some great loads. It's the OAL that is bothering me. When I load Montana Gold 124 JHP to an OAL of greater than 1.13" my wife has some issue with unloading with a round in the chamber. It feels like the bullet is in the rifling but I don't see any marks on the bullet. I thought maybe she wasn't gripping, depressing the beavertail correctly, but I'll have issues also. Now the rounds feed well, accurate as all heck, with no malfunctions out to a 1.15" OAL. My XDM does the same thing with a round in the chamber at longer OAL. I measured the case length of some of the brass and none are over the maximum length. And she needs to be able to "Unload and show clear", which she just can't do at the longer lengths. I have a case gage, all rounds pass on that. I took the barrel out and dropped rounds in but I am not sure where the round should be positioned. Right now the case groove is centered perfectly where the extractor can grab it. I am use to 1911 barrels and have no idea how to judge the depth on the barrel test. When I load at 1.115, no issues although accuracy is not as good. I see all the posts and everyone seems to be loading out past 1.12" So I thought I would ask if anyone has some ideas on what's going on here. What about cleaning, I have not cleaned the guns but they have only 500 rounds through each. Thanks for the help.

Has anyone loaded 9mm major in an XDM? Any issues? Just curious. Thanks

Excellent information. Thanks

Uplula is awesome, I have even used it on single stack 45 acp mags without a hickup.

Has anyone have any experience with the PMP drop in trigger for the XDM? How much skill (since I don't have any) is required to install thuis trigger assembly.