Gun range 2022,2023,2024,2025

[ammoaddict]

I agree because i shot a new sd9 with the old style hinged trigger recently and it was far better than this thing
I'd read these are supposed to be 2.0 quality and i have several 2.0s
This was terrible compared to them.
It was funny though out of literally thousands of guns the 2 I looked at had issues
The colt surprised me I've own several
Basic models that were flawless from the box.

My wife bought me an sd40ve for my 50th birthday (61 now). Very hard and long trigger pull. My trigger scale goes to 15lbs, it maxed out before the trigger broke. I would estimate it to be 16 lbs. I bought the Apex tactical trigger and spring kit. It is so much better now. Shorter travel, not gritty like it was. I can't remember what the scale said now but I'm thinking it was 6 of 7 lbs now, but it felt lighter than it actually is. It was a vast improvement.

 

[Lnk]

My wife bought me an sd40ve for my 50th birthday (61 now). Very hard and long trigger pull. My trigger scale goes to 15lbs, it maxed out before the trigger broke. I would estimate it to be 16 lbs. I bought the Apex tactical trigger and spring kit. It is so much better now. Shorter travel, not gritty like it was. I can't remember what the scale said now but I'm thinking it was 6 of 7 lbs now, but it felt lighter than it actually is. It was a vast improvement.

A long time ago, I read Ed Mcgivern's fast and fancy revolver shooting. Wanted to be like Ed. Practiced with a Ruger GP100 firing double action all the time. Never did become like Ed, but can handle any kind of trigger. Heavy is ok as long as it isn't gritty. Really crisp light triggers never seem to go off exactly when I think they may. Have a hard time with lighter pistol triggers. 4-5 pounds is easy to fire. It made me less trigger sensitive as long as it's not too light.

 

[ammoaddict]

A long time ago, I read Ed Mcgivern's fast and fancy revolver shooting. Wanted to be like Ed. Practiced with a Ruger GP100 firing double action all the time. Never did become like Ed, but can handle any kind of trigger. Heavy is ok as long as it isn't gritty. Really crisp light triggers never seem to go off exactly when I think they may. Have a hard time with lighter pistol triggers. 4-5 pounds is easy to fire. It made me less trigger sensitive as long as it's not too light.

I can't shoot really light triggers anymore. My trigger finger is half numb from nerve damage from a herniated disc. I can't tell how much pressure I'm putting on the trigger and it fires before I want it to.

 

[Absolution]

I got the new grips in and it's definitely an improvement as it's palm swelled. The fit on them too was also really really good. They were tight.

 

[Lnk]

I got the new grips in and it's definitely an improvement as it's palm swelled. The fit on them too was also really really good. They were tight.

I miss slotted screws.

 

[Absolution]

I miss slotted screws.

Yeah , I really really hate torx when dealing with smaller and thinner fasteners. Thankfully I ordered a set of Alan Head screws right when I got the pistol. Because I knew that these ones were going to strip out from all the loctite they put on it and lo and behold one did and I had to cut a slot in it. They should hopefully be here today.

EDIT: the screws came in and they are no good, from the photos I thought the edges were tapered but they are not and as a result they stood very proud. So I put them on my 229 and got a set similar from the same manufacture to what I ordered for my other arex.

EDIT 2: I finally got the gun to where I want it, Trigger SA pull is averaged at 3lbs 5oz, The DA is averaged at 8lbs 12oz but smooth consistent. I ended up swapping the mainspring for the 17lb that came with the gun and now the 165gr hand loads operate perfectly @ 2.8grs of titegroup this is also getting me to the minimum power factor.

I also Loctited the overtravel screws and now there's .025 for trigger reset travel. A partial downside is the magazine has to be in the gun so the trigger bar doesn't flex for DA. I can probably remedy this by getting shims to remove the side to side movement of the trigger itself.

I also took out the worry of me running the weaker mainspring. I ran some steel case through it and it was still slamming the primers with authority after inspection.

 

[Absolution]

I decided to kick it old-school on the inside.

EDIT: if any is wondering, it's jeweling, it's a way to polish out a surface while not changing the overall dimensions to an *extent*. I was taught it when working with revolvers and other older guns from an individual who was at the time the top of the class, It's something in recent years seems to have fallen out of favor. Probably for a conglomerate of reasons, It requires a drill press, the round cratex rods, and a decently sanded surface if you want a show room level of quality. The cratex rods have become rather expensive, and for the *Extent* the surface must be sanded for a perfect jeweling but there is still benefits even without it looking perfect, as it keeps more surface uniformity compared to a buffing wheel, or worst case a Dremel.

I will say I still polish out stuff as it's quick and within acceptance. But jeweling still adds a super nice touch of pride.

 

[Hoser]

Took the afternoon off today and shot my 444 for the first time, very surprised at how well the stock irons shot. I switched from the ancient corelokts I had to leveroutine and it tightened things up a bit.
The pre-64 was disappointing, hopefully just built up copper and nothing major, I have probably 2k through the old girl it only shoots paper to check accuracy
All at 100yrds

 

[JimBear]

Single stage reloading presses. What are your thoughts on them ?

My son has a Lee so thats how I am leaning. RCBS seems to be the best rated/recommended across the sites I have seen on the interweb but also seems pricey for the package deal thru midway.

I am a beginner at this so I don’t know beans about them or reloading.

 

[Absolution]

Single stage reloading presses. What are your thoughts on them ?

My son has a Lee so thats how I am leaning. RCBS seems to be the best rated/recommended across the sites I have seen on the interweb but also seems pricey for the package deal thru midway.

I am a beginner at this so I don’t know beans about them or reloading.

I don't have an Lee single stage. But I do have a RCBS rock chucker two of them actually and they are alright for what they are. Recently (Year or so) I bought a Frankford arsenal M-Press that I keep on my desk and I've really been enjoying it. I wouldn't buy it at it's full price though, I had found mine on a $150 ebay listing.

It does have some quirks. It doesn't have a primer seater, But I usually hand prime my stuff. It uses die blocks to hold the reloading dies. Some view this as a con but on a single stage press it really speeds things up. It doesn't use shell plates. It uses what I would call spinnable dials which fit a general range of case rims.

If you are looking at it in full price then get what it's a "Copy" from, which is a Forester co-ax. product to product the coax is more refined for a slight increase at full price. (That is if you can buy them when they are in stock)

Also I took apart my Frankford cleaned it and put in a thinner grease when I first got it. As some reviews on it mentioned there being grit in it, and they were right.
I use my 300 win mag brass as a test bench for presses and it actually does a really nice job with it.
I chose it because it has a small foot print and with it being an overhead press I was able to set it on a angle to my office chair.


EDIT: I reload my rifle rounds (And 500S&W) though single stage presses. But for my pistols such as 9mm, 10mm, 45 I do it through a progressive or at least I did. I need to find a place with room to set them up. Now owning the Frankford I would consider any single stage press with quick change dies to be a god send. I have a turret press as well but I don't use it anymore since getting this one, going between different calibers the ability to quick switch really makes it enjoyable.

EDIT 2: for the RCBS single stage rock chucker, I would also consider the priming option to be a non existent, It one of the reason why I always primed by hand. It's was just slow to do it with the chucker and turret.

EDIT 3: I will also say the Frankford hand primer is the best hand primer I've ever bought and it's worth the money. As it's physically nicer than my RCBS ones and it comes with a complete set of shell holders.

Amazon.com

 

[FergusonTO35]

Single stage reloading presses. What are your thoughts on them ?

My son has a Lee so thats how I am leaning. RCBS seems to be the best rated/recommended across the sites I have seen on the interweb but also seems pricey for the package deal thru midway.

I am a beginner at this so I don’t know beans about them or reloading.

I really like my Lyman cast iron press, I think it's called the Crusher. They come up on Fleabay for reasonable prices often. If I was going to buy a new one, I would look hard at the Lee cast press. It's basically the same as the others and can use quick release bushings.

 

[FergusonTO35]

Took the afternoon off today and shot my 444 for the first time, very surprised at how well the stock irons shot. I switched from the ancient corelokts I had to leveroutine and it tightened things up a bit.
The pre-64 was disappointing, hopefully just built up copper and nothing major, I have probably 2k through the old girl it only shoots paper to check accuracy
All at 100yrds

Is the target on the left from the Winchester? I find that cheek weld is everything on lever actions but especially with Winchesters. Are you using factory ammo? In every .30-30 I've owned, reloads with starting charges are always the most accurate. My favorite is 30 grains IMR 4064 under a 170, or 32 grains under a 150.

I gave my Henry H001T .22 some exercise yesterday. With a good cheek weld, this thing will compete with most sporter bolt action .22's. As a bonus, it really likes cheap ammo like Thunderbolts. I had some Norma Tac-22 40 grain ammo laying around and tried those out. They group fairly well, but POI is seriously like 2.5" below Thunderbolts and Aguila Super Extra. They are rated at only 1100 fps or so.

 

[Duce]

I really like my Lyman cast iron press, I think it's called the Crusher. They come up on Fleabay for reasonable prices often. If I was going to buy a new one, I would look hard at the Lee cast press. It's basically the same as the others and can use quick release bushings.

Rock Crusher.

 

[Firewood Hoarder]

Single stage reloading presses. What are your thoughts on them ?

My son has a Lee so thats how I am leaning. RCBS seems to be the best rated/recommended across the sites I have seen on the interweb but also seems pricey for the package deal thru midway.

I am a beginner at this so I don’t know beans about them or reloading.

I started with a Lee Breechlock Challenger as my first single stage press. Got the entire kit as a Christmas gift many years ago, and I still have all the original pieces and they all still function. I want to say it was about $100 for the entire "kit" which had the press, 3 quick change bushings, priming arms, priming trays for large and small primers, safety scale, and a rotary powder measure.

The only issue I ever had with it was I dropped one of the priming arms on the floor, and I broke the little tab on it which retains it in the ram to prime on the down-stroke. Replacement piece was only like $5 at the time and I found it in stock at my local Cabelas.

Their quality can be spotty, but they are local to me and I like supporting local business, so I own a bunch of Lee products.

 

[Hoser]

No I realized after posting I should have edited the picture to show the groups. I was sighting the 444 in so it made accuracy look poor. That’s the 30-30 and the 444 group again but corrected.
My Winchester has always shot lights out with factory win PP 170 so that’s what I use, just this last year it seems to shoot horribly, cleaned the bore last night and hardy got anything back

 

[Absolution]

Gamer belt is almost complete, still waiting on the holster..... Annoying that i ordered this stuff well over a week after I had ordered the holster. (And the mag pouches were on backorder)

 

[FergusonTO35]

No I realized after posting I should have edited the picture to show the groups. I was sighting the 444 in so it made accuracy look poor. That’s the 30-30 and the 444 group again but corrected.
My Winchester has always shot lights out with factory win PP 170 so that’s what I use, just this last year it seems to shoot horribly, cleaned the bore last night and hardy got anything back

What kind of ammo are you using? If with lead bullets, those can take an awful lot of experimentation to get right. My 94 likes the Lee 309-170-RF an awful lot, at least as good as jacketed. The RCBS 150 grain flat point shows promise but I haven't done much work with it yet.

 

[Hoser]

Winchester 170 grain PP factory ammo. Ive tried a lot of other commercial ammo, and handloads, it likes the factory win. Like I said I’ve put atleast 2k rounds through it, probably only 3-400 on paper but it’s never shot this poorly

 

[FergusonTO35]

Hmm, I wonder if something is putting pressure on the barrel suddenly? Lever actions are known for this.

 

[footstep]

Single stage reloading presses. What are your thoughts on them ?

My son has a Lee so thats how I am leaning. RCBS seems to be the best rated/recommended across the sites I have seen on the interweb but also seems pricey for the package deal thru midway.

I am a beginner at this so I don’t know beans about them or reloading.

I run the Dillon 550 for my 38/357 & the 650 for 380,9mm,40 s&w, 5.56 & 308, there great machine's, and never had a problem with them, if your a high volume shooter I would go with the Dillon 750, its worth the money