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40 Open


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5 hours ago, NMinzghor said:

I'm running Bedell on both of mine with the two of the front side ports machined off.  Very flat shooting with 135gr and 8.5gr of Silhouette. 

What reamer are you guys using to ream a 9mm comp to work for 40cal? What made you machine the front side ports off the bedell comp?

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You don't want to use a  reamer.  You'll have to make the hole larger than needed just to be sure bullets will clear.  You want to chuck the barrel in a lathe, center the bore, then bore out the comp.  I don't know of an 40sw Align Reamers, so you have to bore the comp concentric with the barrel bore.  0.020" over bore should be fine as long as you are aligned.

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58 minutes ago, zzt said:

You don't want to use a  reamer.  You'll have to make the hole larger than needed just to be sure bullets will clear.  You want to chuck the barrel in a lathe, center the bore, then bore out the comp.  I don't know of an 40sw Align Reamers, so you have to bore the comp concentric with the barrel bore.  0.020" over bore should be fine as long as you are aligned.

My boss has a lathe so putting the barrel in a lathe and centering the bore would be easy. He does this all the time on rifle and pist barrels that he is threading for brakes/comps. He has all the fancy tools and could help me.

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On 5/20/2018 at 2:30 PM, bjones6686 said:

What reamer are you guys using to ream a 9mm comp to work for 40cal? What made you machine the front side ports off the bedell comp?

Not sure on the reamer.  JPL built it.  The Bedell comes with 3 top ports and 4 side ports.  JPL cuts it back to two side ports.

20160203_135358_resized.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...
On ‎5‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 7:46 AM, NMinzghor said:

Not sure on the reamer.  JPL built it.  The Bedell comes with 3 top ports and 4 side ports.  JPL cuts it back to two side ports.

 

Are you using that one this season?  I've been thinking about 40 open a bit.  Are you going to PB this weekend?

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Not to hijack this thread, but I find those using a 40 Open inspiring. It’s not the most common Open Gun you’ll find at matches, but it’s how well you do with what ya bring. I started in 2016 and couldn’t justify the $$$$ for an open gun at the time. So I went in cheap and slow, just to learn the sport and then upgrade as time went on.

 

Glock 22 Open Gun, in .357 Sig. Talk about way out there, I know it’s very uncommon. There are a few here that actually use this round and I have talked to that helped me get started. But I had good knowledge of reloading the round, since I own a Glock 32 for 18 years. Price was cheap and was able to get it to run good for me. I was able to beat some of the 2011, STI guys/gals at matches (possible I caught them on a bad day).

 

One thing about my brass at a match, the squad knows it’s what I shoot and they are kind enough to retrieve them. I actually have people months later that picked my brass and handed a baggy of 357 to me, from matches months earlier, funny too. The brass is easy to spot on the ground. I can get Speer once fired for .063 cents.

 

People say it’s loud, I am used to it, but it’s normal to me. Now I am at a stage where I would really like to upgrade to STI, CZ, 2011, etc.. But, I am behind on the vast amount info that is out there, it’s going to take months to read advice here and around, as to what is the best investment. I have also though about getting an STI with a .357 barrel. So far on my list is the CZ Czechmate and the STI DVC in 357 sig…lol. Ya I know.

 

Anyways, thought I would share in your enthusiasm with the “not the standard open gun” stories and ideas.

Glock 31 a.jpg

Edited by Lastcat
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  • 8 months later...

Hi All,  I'm a late comer to 40 open and a relatively new USPSA Shooter.

I chose 40 b/c I've been loading 40 since the mid 90's and had all the equipment except big sticks already

My 40 Open is built on a  CK frame & Slide, Nowlin Barrel and Brazos Comp,

Still working on load development, but I stumbled on this one that is promising.

155 Montana Gold, 8.5 gr Blue Dot making just north of 170 power factor in 85F temperatures.  The load runs pretty flat in my comp.

Anyone else have experience with Blue Dot?

 

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I've used it in 38 super with awesome results, but I've only been using V N320 with 165 bullets in my open 40. I like it because it's cleaner and I also use it for other calibers. Blue Dot works great with comp guns though.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

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1 hour ago, Kurusty said:

I've used it in 38 super with awesome results, but I've only been using V N320 with 165 bullets in my open 40. I like it because it's cleaner and I also use it for other calibers. Blue Dot works great with comp guns though.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk
 

Thanks Kurusty.  I'm gonna run some in a night match just to see if it flames much.  Otherwise, I think I'll call it good and work on shooting.  I was working with N320 for open, too.  Just thought I could do better with more gas.  Shootable, but bouncy.

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N320 is way too fast a powder for Open, and 165gr is too heavy.  There simply isn't enough gas to make the comp and/or poppels work.  You should use 135s or 155s and powder no faster than WAC or Silhouette.

 

If you want something much better than Blue Dot, try Major Pistol powder.  Same speed, but cleaner and measures like water.

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17 hours ago, Kurusty said:

I'm still in the process of finding the correct spring rate for this load because of the dot bounce.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk
 

Hey Kurusty,  it may be unconventional, but I'm running a 12 lb recoil and 21 lb main shooting 155's and N320.

Edited by blackfatbob
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15 hours ago, zzt said:

N320 is way too fast a powder for Open, and 165gr is too heavy.  There simply isn't enough gas to make the comp and/or poppels work.  You should use 135s or 155s and powder no faster than WAC or Silhouette.

 

If you want something much better than Blue Dot, try Major Pistol powder.  Same speed, but cleaner and measures like water.

Thank you sir.  I'll give it a try

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Thank you, I'm running a hybrid barrel with a 10lb spring currently, but I'm going to test 11,12,& 13lb this weekend. I'm also going to try 155's again..

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

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54 minutes ago, Kurusty said:

Thank you, I'm running a hybrid barrel with a 10lb spring currently, but I'm going to test 11,12,& 13lb this weekend. I'm also going to try 155's again..

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk
 

I went from an 18 lb main spring to the 21 lb at the same time.  That took away most of the slap.  Down side is it makes table starts a bear.  Good luck.

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  • 2 months later...

Subbing to this, investigating a .40 Open Glock running 180gr rounds from Atlanta Arms, Fenix and Angelfire. I have no interest in reloading at this time.

 

Edit: This is sounding more and more like a waste of time.

 

 

Edited by nick779
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  • 4 months later...

Ok, I'm interested now. 

I've read through this entire thread and now I feel I must venture down the .40 open road.

 

My Edge I use for limited already has the frame drilled and tapped for a dot mount, and the slide has been dovetailed for a slide racker. 

 

I'm thinking I'll just run without a comp at first and see how that works out, then if need be, have a threaded barrel and comp fit to the slide. 

 

Think it'll work or will the dot be all over the place?

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1 hour ago, Matt1911 said:

Ok, I'm interested now. 

I've read through this entire thread and now I feel I must venture down the .40 open road.

 

My Edge I use for limited already has the frame drilled and tapped for a dot mount, and the slide has been dovetailed for a slide racker. 

 

I'm thinking I'll just run without a comp at first and see how that works out, then if need be, have a threaded barrel and comp fit to the slide. 

 

Think it'll work or will the dot be all over the place?

 

 

I think the dot will be jumpy, but probably no more than a sliderider on a CO gun.  Good news is you will be able to sell the dot and mount and recoup most or all of your money if you don't like it and everybody needs a 170 mag anyway.  

 

I built a 40 open gun out of an XDM 4.5 recently and it was OK, but i am just not a dot guy so  I started selling it off a part at a time, just got the barrel and comp left now so my venture to open didn't cost much.  Also if you have or can pick up and XDm 40 cheap i have a barrel, comp, and mount in the classifieds.  How's that for a shameless plug haha.  Good luck

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1 hour ago, Matt1911 said:

Ok, I'm interested now. 

I've read through this entire thread and now I feel I must venture down the .40 open road.

 

My Edge I use for limited already has the frame drilled and tapped for a dot mount, and the slide has been dovetailed for a slide racker. 

 

I'm thinking I'll just run without a comp at first and see how that works out, then if need be, have a threaded barrel and comp fit to the slide. 

 

Think it'll work or will the dot be all over the place?

 

You are wasting your time.  Adding a frame mounted dot and a racker just means you are shooting a Limited gun with an optic.  How is that going to simulate Open?  If you use your Limited loads you learn nothing, especially if you are using heavy bullets.  If you use a light bullet, slow powder major load, all you get is more recoil.  What makes an Open gun open is the comp and the load you develop for it.  The comp makes the gun shoot softer and flatter.  In 40 you can tailor a load to make the gun shoot dead flat with just a comp.  That's something you cannot do with 9mm.  You also want the slide lightened so action is sped up.  It also reduces dot rise.

 

My suggestion is to try and find one to shoot before you make any changes to your Limited gun.  They are not as rare as you might expect.  If you decide to modify your Limited gun ( a valid option ), be aware that you can't go back.  At the barest minimum you have to have the front of the slide milled down and cut at an approx. 1 degree angle.  The you have to fit a barrel and comp.  Those three things will run you about $600.  Then you won't like the fact the slide and comp are different sizes.  So another $50-$100 to machine the comp to match the slide.  Then slide lightening.  Cost depends on what you have dome.  My last slide cost $480 just for the lightening cuts.

 

Another suggestion is to find a used one to buy.  I've bought several used Open guns.  When I've decided to sell one or two, I'v been able to get fairly close to what I initially paid for them.  That's how I initially got into Open.  I wanted to try it so I bought an Open upper for my CZ TS Limited gun.  I was hooked, but wanted to stay with 1911/2011 platforms.  So I bought a used custom Open in 40sw.  Later on I bought another used semi-custom gun as a backup.  If I had it to do over again, I'd skip the CZ upper.  Otherwise I'd do exactly the same.

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54 minutes ago, Matt1911 said:

My slide has been lightened already. 

I'll play with some loads to see what I can do about muzzle flip. 

 

135 and 155gr bullets will give you the least muzzle flip, at the expense of a harder hit to your hand.  Also consider loading minor.  Use a fast powder like Alliant e3 and a 155gr bullet at around 850fps.   That will knock steel down with authority and not beat you up.  That won't hold you back a bit for Open in steel challenge, but your splits in USPSA Open will not be as fast as with a comp'd gun.  It's a shame you are not closer.  I'd let you shoot one of mine.

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20 hours ago, zzt said:

 

135 and 155gr bullets will give you the least muzzle flip, at the expense of a harder hit to your hand.  Also consider loading minor.  Use a fast powder like Alliant e3 and a 155gr bullet at around 850fps.   That will knock steel down with authority and not beat you up.  That won't hold you back a bit for Open in steel challenge, but your splits in USPSA Open will not be as fast as with a comp'd gun.  It's a shame you are not closer.  I'd let you shoot one of mine.

Minor loads may be where the sweet spot is. I'd love to shoot one, but everyone in my area is all about 9 major. 

Edited by Matt1911
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