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Those that know me, know this has been a long time coming. Hope this is a helpful little nugget I wrote up. This is just some stuff I like and what I use. Having used just about every part and part combo this is what works for me. I have reasons for each part. I get alot of questions and i hope this finds some well. As always YMMV. @PatriotDefense @johnbu 9mm GT Stroked slide Beveled mag well(transition between mag well helps smooth reloads) Tuned 9mm Extractor(typically factory extractor is 38. 9mm needs more tension for reliability) Polished and Lapped rails. Hammer face angled and polish(smoothes recoil and slide movement) Hammer strut hole opened and smoothed( eliminates spring bind and friction. Also a must for única hammer ( Slide faced and comp(if needed) retimed. Breach Face inner edge chamfer and polish (smooth feeding) Extractor Channel polish( crud gets built up here. This ensures free movement ) Fireing Pin channel polish.(reliable strikes) Slide bottom front Chamfer(reduce's drag on 2nd round and reliable feeding) Slide rear bottom Chamfer(smooths recoil as slide travels over hammer) FPB removal( not needed in open. Reduces FP drag) All before adding parts. My favorite parts list and combos V12 barrel EGD Brass grips(bring weight back into hands) DAA adjustable thumrest, hand checkered by me Henning Mag well Gen 1( design keeps magwell from walking forward) Over sized Safeties, hand checkerd by me( more dexterity) Henning short Trigger(medium spring) PD Light Guide Rod PD Fireing pin(heavy for reliability) Única DA/SA heavy hammer(used as SA only) #patriotdefense bolo disconnector( eliminates pre travel) EGW sear (gives shortest reset) 6-9lb recoil spring (I prefer 8lb) PD 13lb hammer spring( works with heavy hammer and pd parts) PD reduced Power FP spring Xtra power Extractor spring 9mm Extractor PD reduced Sear spring Precision made sear cage pin made by me( eliminates sear cage + sear wobble, and a crisper disengagement on trigger press) Factory polished sear cage( less friction on moving sear) Xtreme G2 racker or Angled G1 racker. Xtreme trigger plunger Factory trigger bar (almost need to own several to pick best one) Over sized mag release(factory) IPSC Alex RTS2 mount 8 MOA RTS2 or 8 MOA slide ride Única Hammer short strut. #dgbullets 115g bullets HS6 or AA7 powder Current Slide/Frame combo Older Limited frame with better checkering and up swept beaver tail GT slide V12 9mm stroked. Also Tanfoglio 40s&w slides will and can to be tuned to run 9mm reliably with a 9mm barrel obviously. The Spare GT barrel that comes with the gun, can also be used with limited slide in conjuction with cone comp. This is basically what you have to do to the GTs and this is thee best parts and parts combos I've used and found. Enjoy.

When you make gauges, you discover there's a much wider variety of bullets and pistols out there than you can imagine. Over the past year or so we've seen ammunition made with coated and lead bullets that exceed the SAAMI .401" maximum diameter one way or another (coating thickness variance, out of roundness, slightly misaligned loading dies, mold parting lines, heavy crimps, and so on) and yet the shooters report the ammunition fits and fires fine and to please make them a gauge that it will fit into, so we went ahead and made a new gauge-- Announcing the ".40XL" 100-round case gauge. Same chamber-reamed chamber, but the bullet area is enlarged and designed for lead and coated bullets .401" and larger in diameter, loaded over SAAMI length or not. If you are loading ammunition with bullets that don't quite fit into the .40 or .40L gauge, or are tired of giving ammo a light push to seat it in the gauge, the 40XL is the gauge for you (make sure that slightly-oversize-bullet ammunition fits in your pistol properly before ordering however) Since .401" bullets are the SAAMI maximum spec and this gauge is larger than that, we still recommend the .40 gauge for regular-length SAAMI ammunition and the 40L gauge for shooters using jacketed or plated bullets .401" or smaller at over-SAAMI lengths. Think of them as the .40, 40-Long and .40 Long+Wide. Available at your favorite dealers probably by the time you read this if they are on the ball. If your favorite dealer doesn't carry Shockbottle products, slap them upside the head and tell them you are the customer and the customer is always right and you say they should.

I picked up some 180 gr Swamp Popper Bullets from the Gator Classic. Watched their videos and it seems to be a pretty legit coating. Anyone have any experience with these? They seem to be a new company and new line and I haven't found much information out there. I have always been a Bayou Bullet shooter but always interested in something else that maybe better. http://shop.backwatershooters.com/main.sc

I picked up some Swamp Popper Bullets from the Gator Classic. Watched their videos and it seems to be a pretty legit coating. Anyone have any experience with these? They seem to be a new company and new line and I haven't found much information out there. I have always been a Bayou Bullet shooter but always interested in something else that maybe better. http://shop.backwatershooters.com/main.sc

I have recently tried a new brand of bullets from thebluebullets.com. After using moly coated bullets for quite a while, a couple of local USPSA shooters here in NC started a bullet company. I tried a sample pack, loaded them to major PF in .40 with Clays and tried them out. They worked great. Accurate, no more smoke than any other bullet I have tried and no blue residue in the barrel when I cleaned it. I decided to try them in the next match. I shot my first "A" classifier (this may not be due to the bullets, but who knows....lol). I am sold, these are great bullets, I save on shipping and I get to support a local business. They offer all the popular USPSA calibers and support our sport.

Im looking for a major load using 700x with a 200gr bayou bullet. And a minor load for a 155gr bayou with 700x. Out of a CZ tactical sport Thanks for the help.

I recently picked up the M&P Shield in 9mm, and love it. Also started loading and shooting bayou bullets as love them as well. The pistol is reliable and the bullts are accurate with no leading and little smoke. 124 gr bayou bullet Starline case CCI SP primer Power pistol powder (going to try longshot and bluedot when I can find it) Anyway I got in touch with apex tactical to find out if their Forward Set Sear and Trigger kit will work in the Shield. It will not but was told they maybe working on it with R&D. Apparently they have gotten a number of requests for this, so if there is anyone out there that would be interested in this product from them please contact themand let them know!

Hello all, I shot in USPSA back in the late 90's to early 2000's. I had a SV in 38 super that I used in open class. I ended up having to sell it all due to health reasons. I have recently been getting back into the shooting sports, and recently contacted a local club member that I used to shoot with. He had told me that he had switched to all cowboy shooting and had not shot ans USPSA in many years. He also told me that since he didnt shoot them anymore, he would offer both of his STI 38 super open guns to me for sale, including all of the equipment to go along with them, since they were only taking up space in his gun cabinet. Well, to make a long story short, I fell into a really good deal. I ended up with no hesitation buying btoh of them, all 11 mags, and the belt, holster and mag pouches. Last week, I ordered a Dillon 650 like I had back when I was shooting. I am now stuck between a rock and a hard place. I remember when I was shooting in this club, that the one member had also built the 2 guns for the guy that I purchased. The guy I purchased them from made sure to give me this guys number and told me that if I had any questions, on the guns , reloading or anything like that I could call him or the guy that built them for him. Well the guy that sold them to me cant remember what components he used when he was reloading, and I cant get the other guy to answer his phone. I do know the guy that built them is retired and may be out on vacation. With the weather going to turn good here in a few weeks, I am trying to get all of the reloading components bought so that when I get my 650 from Dillon, I can immediately get busy with working up a load for the open guns. I do remember when I had my complete factory SV 38 super, I was using the following components(correct me if this does not sound right, I am going by memory from 12 years ago) Starline 38 Super Comp brass(IF I remember right, we had to work with the extractor to get it to extract the rimless cases)\ 9.2 grains of VV N350 powder(If I remember right, I was told at the Area 5, Y2K match in 2001 at Barry, Illlinois that these were pretty hot) Winchester Small Rifle Primers (was told to use small rifle since they were toguher to handle the extreme pressures of a 38 Super Open load)\ Montana Gold 124 Grain CMJ(round nose or flat??) 1.245 Overall Length Feel free to put in your 2 cents on this list of components. The STI 38 Super Open guns I just bought were built by a local gun builder that did it as a hobby, he is well known in the area, so I have no doubts that he built them right. Frame - Standard STI 2011 frame(Hard Chrome) Slides - Standard STI slides 5"(Hard Chrome) Barrels - both are Nowlin 38 Super Bushing barrels Cmore Serendipity Red Dots I appreciate any and all comments, suggestions on the reloading components. One thing I have noticed, I have seen .355" diameter bullets which are basically 9mm, but I have also seen .356 diameter bullets offered.\ I need the .355" diameter bullets correct? Thanks, Matt