splashdown Posted June 12, 2017 Author Share Posted June 12, 2017 WestTex, I think it's documented in this thread over the past few pages. But the short story is this: With my STI, I settled on 135gr Rainiers with Power Pistol. Sold the gun and several years later built up a G23 that pulls double duty as CO and Open. I started with 135's for Open Major, but it was very snappy in the light weight gun. Tried 155's and it feels much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestTex Posted June 12, 2017 Share Posted June 12, 2017 Ah, I remember now. I may try some 155s and see how they feel. I definitely didn't like the 165s. They were too harsh and I really had to bear down to keep the dot in the window. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splashdown Posted June 12, 2017 Author Share Posted June 12, 2017 Are you shooting an STI? There are so many variables between bullet weight, powder type, charge weight, and recoil spring weight. WIth an STI, I feel like 135 is the way to go, but 155 may be a good option too. I tried every bullet weight. 135, 140, 155, 165 and 180. Never tried 200's but I knew that was the wrong end of the spectrum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestTex Posted June 12, 2017 Share Posted June 12, 2017 (edited) 9 minutes ago, splashdown said: Are you shooting an STI? There are so many variables between bullet weight, powder type, charge weight, and recoil spring weight. WIth an STI, I feel like 135 is the way to go, but 155 may be a good option too. I tried every bullet weight. 135, 140, 155, 165 and 180. Never tried 200's but I knew that was the wrong end of the spectrum. Yes, it's an older SVI frame and slide that has been Acc-u-railed. It has a hybrid barrel with 3 large popple holes, 4 up ports on the comp, and 2 very small side bleeders. I traded off one of my limited guns to see if I would like open. So far it's been alot of fun. I haven't bought any 135s yet but the 140s are close enough. They're really cheap to develop all of these loads with and have, so far, been very accurate and haven't leaded my barrel. Edited June 12, 2017 by WestTex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splashdown Posted June 12, 2017 Author Share Posted June 12, 2017 140's are close enough, but if they are moly coated (I know Bear Creek makes 140's) I would avoid them. The coating will gunk things up fast. With a hybrid barrel, you are going to want the lightest bullet you can find with a slower powder. Longshot may be good. Silhouette may be good too. I tried a Glock 24 with a hybrid barrel once. 8 holes and no comp. My 135's with 8.2 gr CFE Pistol tamed the muzzle flip well and it was LOUD. With no comp it didn't reduce recoil into the hand, but muzzle rise was held to a minimum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestTex Posted June 12, 2017 Share Posted June 12, 2017 Yeah, I learned my lesson with molys, shooting limited. Those darn things get everything dirty. The 140 fp I use are Ibejiheads. Ive had good luck with them in limited and have probably shot around 20k of their 180s and about 10k of their 190s. The 140s haven't leaded my barrel or showed any signs of it and I'm about 3k rounds in. I'm right about there as far as tuning this thing in. Muzzle control is great and dot tracks well. I do have a little room to sacrifice some muzzle flip for a softer shot so I'm thinking EGWs 7 chamber 5 port comp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NMinzghor Posted June 12, 2017 Share Posted June 12, 2017 5 hours ago, WestTex said: That's a nice rig. I just couldn't get the feel for a slide ride so I moved to a delta point and it feels great so far. It is definitely taking some getting used to. I have a 90 degree on my other and I seem to pick it up a bit faster. I'm going to ride this one out for the season and see how it goes. Are you using a mount for the Delta Point or milled in to the slide? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NMinzghor Posted June 12, 2017 Share Posted June 12, 2017 (edited) 5 hours ago, WestTex said: Well, I tried 8.2, 8.6, and 8.9 longshot loaded to 1.165 with a 140 grain fp bullet . 8.2 made major for me at 171 pf 8.6 was 175 pf and 8.9 at 177 pf. 8.2 was soft and the dot didn't leave the window. 8.6 and 8.9 actually felt the same and had a hard smack in the hand with no noticeable gain in muzzle control. I then loaded 30 more of the 8.2 but accuracy suffered and I had fliers. Switched back to the 7.6 WAC and accuracy returned and muzzle rise felt the same as 8.2 longshot. I'm going to try a EGW comp next and revisit HS6 because I do agree that it feels the softest but WAC has better dot tracking. I want to try a different comp configuration to see if I can tame the recoil a bit. You guys have wanting to load test again. I might have to give HS6 and AC a try. I don't think AC was even around when I settled on Longshot. Gonna have to wait until the end of the season now. Here is a link to today's match if you want to check out the recoil with Longshot. Edited June 12, 2017 by NMinzghor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestTex Posted June 12, 2017 Share Posted June 12, 2017 5 minutes ago, NMinzghor said: It is definitely taking some getting used to. I have a 90 degree on my other and I seem to pick it up a bit faster. I'm going to ride this one out for the season and see how it goes. Are you using a mount for the Delta Point or milled in to the slide? I'm currently using the Arredondo mount with delta point and it is holding up, though I'm only about 400 rounds in so no comment on durability. The mount itself is extremely low. I might have space for a credit card to fit between it and the slide. I love the dot on the dp pro. It's much brighter than my slide ride and very easy to pick up for me. I have shot mostly limited with some production and recently carry optics and open. Carry optics was easy for me to pick up because my grip and handling is the way I shoot my limited guns. Open with a slide ride was hard for me to adjust to so I just changed to the dp pro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NMinzghor Posted June 12, 2017 Share Posted June 12, 2017 Just now, WestTex said: I'm currently using the Arredondo mount with delta point and it is holding up, though I'm only about 400 rounds in so no comment on durability. The mount itself is extremely low. I might have space for a credit card to fit between it and the slide. I love the dot on the dp pro. It's much brighter than my slide ride and very easy to pick up for me. I have shot mostly limited with some production and recently carry optics and open. Carry optics was easy for me to pick up because my grip and handling is the way I shoot my limited guns. Open with a slide ride was hard for me to adjust to so I just changed to the dp pro. What's the dot size on that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestTex Posted June 12, 2017 Share Posted June 12, 2017 5 minutes ago, NMinzghor said: What's the dot size on that? I'm using the 2.5 moa dot. Don't let the small size fool you. It is PLENTY bright on a sunny Texas day, much more so than my 6 moa cmore. Setting it on max brightness gives you a small bloom that makes it appear somewhere between a 6 moa and 8 moa cmore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestTex Posted June 12, 2017 Share Posted June 12, 2017 Just out of curiosity, has anyone used the 11mm grams pads or dawson para pads on their sti 140 mags? If so, what's the round count? I just ordered a couple of mbx big sticks but I have 11 140 mags that could use a little extra. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NMinzghor Posted June 12, 2017 Share Posted June 12, 2017 2 minutes ago, WestTex said: Just out of curiosity, has anyone used the 11mm grams pads or dawson para pads on their sti 140 mags? If so, what's the round count? I just ordered a couple of mbx big sticks but I have 11 140 mags that could use a little extra. I use nothing but Grams basepads. I get 20 in my short sticks and 25 in my big sticks. Beven can get one more in each but he has mutant thumbs. I'm trying out a MBX big stick. It can load 26 but there is nothing left on the spring so I only load 25. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestTex Posted June 12, 2017 Share Posted June 12, 2017 8 minutes ago, NMinzghor said: I use nothing but Grams basepads. I get 20 in my short sticks and 25 in my big sticks. Beven can get one more in each but he has mutant thumbs. I'm trying out a MBX big stick. It can load 26 but there is nothing left on the spring so I only load 25. Which grams pad do you use? My current 140s are setup with Taran guts and 4mm pads and fit the gauge(barely). With modification to the follower im able to start with 21+1. I'm just wondering if I switch that 4mm basepad out to an 11mm if I can get 22 or 23 reloadable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NMinzghor Posted June 12, 2017 Share Posted June 12, 2017 Just now, WestTex said: Which grams pad do you use? My current 140s are setup with Taran guts and 4mm pads and fit the gauge(barely). With modification to the follower im able to start with 21+1. I'm just wondering if I switch that 4mm basepad out to an 11mm if I can get 22 or 23 reloadable. Your short sticks don't need to fit in the gauge for open so I'm not sure why that would matter. I recommend you call Beven directly and he can tell you exactly what to get based on what you want. He is a super neat guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestTex Posted June 12, 2017 Share Posted June 12, 2017 My current configurations are for limited(which I still shoot on occasion). I'm asking about the 11mm grams vs the dawson paras to see what would give me the most. Good call on contacting Bevens. I'm not sure why that didn't cross my mind haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcc7x7 Posted June 12, 2017 Share Posted June 12, 2017 Paras will run with some patient beveling where the mag/base transition. Used it for a 9 so don't have a number of rounds rounds for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzt Posted June 12, 2017 Share Posted June 12, 2017 I have two 40 Open pistols. On is a Gans Custom with comp and two 3/16" poppels. The other runs a comp only. While working up loads I tried a lot of bullet and powder combinations. The softest was HS-6 under a 135gr Rainier for 172PF. At 188PF the pistol was dead flat, but it was load and violent. I decided I liked WAC better, because the dot tracked better. It was still loud with the 135, so I went to a 155gr. I liked that much better. It is not as load and is less violent. The dot tracks beautifully and comes back down to where it started. The dot never leaves the glass. My 172PF loads are as follows: All are mixed brass. CCI 500, 7.1gr WAC, Rainier 155 plated TC, OAL 1.126". CCI 500 7.2gr Silhouette, Rainier 155 plated TC, OAL 1.126" WSP, 7.1 WAC, Montana Gold 155 JHP, OAL 1.180" I also use the X-treme 155gr RNFP. I prefer the Silhouette because it burns cleaner than WAC. The Rainiers are the most accurate, by far. The MGs come next, then the X-tremes. I load to 1.126" because I also own a CZ TS and that length feeds perfectly in it. I'm fortunate in that both my 2011 Open pistols feed OALs from 1.126" to 1.180" equally well. I use MBX and SVI mags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestTex Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 Thanks again zzt! I'm interested in trying our some MG 155s vs Ranier and see how they run in my gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestTex Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 13 hours ago, jcc7x7 said: Paras will run with some patient beveling where the mag/base transition. Used it for a 9 so don't have a number of rounds rounds for you I ordered one of each to try and will list my findings when I try them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestTex Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 Ok, so I've used the the MBX mag through two matches and it runs flawless. With it's original follower I can squeeze in 26 but can't stick the mag in as the spring can't compress anymore. I ended up pulling a modified Taran follower from one of my other mags and used it, and I can now start with 26+1 I've used it on 6 stages to start so far and it ran on all of them so it's a bit early to say how reliable this configuration is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NMinzghor Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 On 6/22/2017 at 8:30 AM, WestTex said: Ok, so I've used the the MBX mag through two matches and it runs flawless. With it's original follower I can squeeze in 26 but can't stick the mag in as the spring can't compress anymore. I ended up pulling a modified Taran follower from one of my other mags and used it, and I can now start with 26+1 I've used it on 6 stages to start so far and it ran on all of them so it's a bit early to say how reliable this configuration is. I've had the same luck. I can get 26 but can't get it in the gun. I have been running it 25 + 1. Hate the base pad setup on it. I wants to drag the spring every time you take the bottom off. It has worked pretty well so far though. I might try some different followers also. The original looks like it was whittled out with a pocket knife. Lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NMinzghor Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 (edited) 5 minutes ago, NMinzghor said: Edited June 24, 2017 by NMinzghor double posted same info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestTex Posted June 25, 2017 Share Posted June 25, 2017 11 hours ago, NMinzghor said: I've had the same luck. I can get 26 but can't get it in the gun. I have been running it 25 + 1. Hate the base pad setup on it. I wants to drag the spring every time you take the bottom off. It has worked pretty well so far though. I might try some different followers also. The original looks like it was whittled out with a pocket knife. Lol. Yeah, I think the ones now are 3d printed. It's in a spare parts bin for now, because I'm still liking the way I have it configured. Also received my MG 155 hps to try out so I'm going to so some load development on those. I switched my dot and the front of the gun is a little heavy now so my dot dances now instead of tracking straight up and down. Now I'm looking for a steel grip to remedy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbecker Posted June 25, 2017 Share Posted June 25, 2017 Can anyone recommend a gunsmith that can convert a 40 cal 2011 limited gun to a 40 open gun? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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