timcalhoun

That's too bad, I hope they feel better soon.

Don't feel like the lone ranger, I have not touched a gun since I injured my hand in September. It's almost healed so, here we go!!!!

You're going to have a great time. You will find that the folks there are friendly and helpful. I'm shooting Sunday so I won't be there when you shoot, but the guy who does registration will make you feel right at home as will the squad you shoot with.

There are always huge discrepancies between reloading manuals. Mainly because they use different methods/materials to calculate max pressure. As you stated, start low and work up while looking for high pressure signs. A chronograph is a huge help when evaluating load performance too.

I have always carried ambi safeties.

Oh no you didn't.....

I have been carrying a 1911 most everyday since 89, and never once has my thumb safety bumped off. My holsters for the past 15yrs do have the flap between me and the gun covering the safety. So any movement of my body is rubbing the holster and never the safety, plus it is more comfortable which is why I switched. But even before that, when wearing open top holsters, I still never had an issue.

I stopped using the series 80 FP safety and the Swartz (or however you spell it) system long ago. I have seen one of my Kimber II series fail. It worked perfectly in my hand but when a friend of mine would shoot it......no bang, only a click. His hands are bigger and maybe a little more meaty than mine and he could find the area where the grip safety disengaged but the FP block was not completely out of the way. I'm not foolish enough to believe that I will always have the perfect grip on the gun if heaven forbid I need to use it in an emergency. Also, I now adjust my grip safeties so that very little movement will disengage them but still works perfectly.

Thanks Leroy, I learned something new today, so it is already a good day. Sounds like a really bad idea, and I suspect you are right about the true reason behind it. Thanks again.

Sorry, what are "fingers"? Maybe I need another cup of coffee? LOL

Just a little more info for your bag. As alluded to before, round count is a big factor with aluminum frames. Particularly aluminum frames with standard non ramped barrels. The frame ramp over time will wear relatively quickly (dings, pitts etc..), and once the anodization has been compromised you are done (nose dive malfs are common then). You cannot polish an aluminum frame ramp. At that point you would be forced to either re barrel it with a ramped barrel or I have seen steel inserts put into the frame ramp itself. I think both options compromise the strength of the frame too much though. All that being said you are probably safe for the first 25K rounds. So, for a carry gun and most shooters, it is really no big deal.

That's funny. I remember getting direction once and the guy told me to make a left where the exxon use to be. LOL

Series 70 for the animation. The Kimber is exactly the same except for the firing pin safety that is the Schwartz system. Everything else applies though. If you need help with anything don't hesitate to holler at me, it seems we live close to each other.

This is good too. HERITAGE GUN BOOKS : JERRY KUHNHAUSEN THE COLT .45 AUTOMATIC - World's Largest Supplier of Firearm Accessories, Gun Parts and Gunsmithing Tools

This will help you understand the beast. The hide feature is awesome. http://www.m1911.org/loader.swf

Not worth it. Never mind.

It depends on what "better" means. If you are talking about a good carry trigger then it is no big deal getting an 80's trigger to feel great at 4-5lbs. But once you start to get below 3lb it gets harder to get them there. I can do a trigger at or under 2lb pretty easily with a series 70 but I wont even try that with a series 80.

You said a lot of what is important to know. I guess I would ask you what is your goal? As many have mentioned, dry fire is important, but what is more important is dry firing with good technique. You sure don't want to put into muscle memory bad habits. It really helps when you have someone to watch you, since most are not aware of the poor technique they are repeating. As you know, a bad habit will keep you from getting better at some point, and to get better you will have to break the bad habit anyway and sooner is way better than later. As far as trigger control for practical pistol application you have two schools of thought, slapping and pinning. Rob Leatham is one who slaps the trigger 100% of the time while most do a combination of both. Guys who teach the pinning technique (I am one) pin the trigger for targets that are far enough away to do so, and then slap it when targets are closer. Those distances are different depending on your skill level. Beginners should pin the trigger at all distances at first until their skill level dictates otherwise. Bottom line and to paraphrase Rob, "it doesn't matter which method you use as long as your sights are right the moment the gun goes bang". Way easier said than done right? LOL Bullseye and pure accuracy shooting is a total different ball game but is also important to know how to do. I would suggest getting together with someone who is up on modern technique, (Much instruction is about 20 years behind the curve BTW) and making sure your technique is sound and then get Steve Anderson's book titled Refinement and Repetition. That is a good start.

In general the load data will and should be the same. However, if you happen to be loading very hot max pressure for some reason, then conceivably you could have a problem. We are talking case volume here, and it will change between different bullet shapes slightly when loading to the same OAL. OAL for a JHP will normally give you slightly more volume than a FMJ (with the same base, no lead exposed), because the bullet itself is longer. More volume = less pressure, and vise-versa. But if you are not pushing the envelope beyond written data or wildcatting, then the difference is not large enough to have case failure.

You can just buy the pin no big deal (buy extra ones and have them available for the future). It happens usually when something is in the case that shouldn't be. But sometimes they just break.

Vihtavuori powders are the sweetest shooting and cleanest powders by far IMO, but they are pricey. Titegroup and clays are great ones but as said, titegroup is hotter and snappier (but I like snappy) and clays is too fast for some calibers and the pressure spike curve is quick. In 9, 40, 45, and 38S the Vihtavuorin powders have proven themselves to me as the best, but I do shoot others as a cheaper alternative through the year, but I'm trying to get the gun to fell and act like it does with the Vihtavuori powders.

Also, Hornady reloading manual: 45acp 200g OAL 1.23 starts at 6.9 and goes to 8.5 grains. Speer reloading manual: 45acp 200g OAL 1.200 starts at 7.0 and goes to 8.3 Both loads are for power pistol.

I get the best results with my CED with direct sunlight using the diffusors and canting the diffusors toward the sun so that the shadow of the diffusors are on the eyes. When I do this it gives me the same results as in the box using the infrared system. Very accurate. My shooting chrony was very fickle but it was a much older model. It was my first chronograph I had maybe 20 years ago. It seemed to only function well on cloudy days and sucked on sunny days. BTW, in general fast powder + heavy bullet = flat, soft shooting load. I have always had amazing results with Clays in 45 acp. FWIW

Well that is a very light load for Power Pistol. Most of my load data starts at 7. grains of PP with a 200g bullet and goes up to as high as 8.3. But the FPS even at 6.5 seems low unless your lead bullets are not measuring .452. Strange.....

Dolomite, Just a FWIW thing for the future once you get good parts, and you probably already know, but if the hammer/sear relationship is right you should have no trouble getting a 2 lb or under trigger to run 100% with about 10-12oz of reset. Also, your pre travel and reset are at the bare minimum, and with so little room for error you could be asking for trouble in a high stress situation with a carry gun. Most of these demons wont show up at the gun range when you are just shooting normal, but under the stress of just competition shooting (not even the unbelievable stress of a self defense situation), all of a sudden your gun is chocking with hammer follow or falling to half cock etc. I've seen it hundreds of times. The comments are always the same "it ran perfect at the range yesterday", yet every time they try to really push the trigger the gun crashes. Again..........FWIW. It could be that the gun will be completely rock solid, but if you have not done it, shoot the gun as fast and as hard as you can for at least 6 rounds at a time for a bunch of magazines (maybe 50-100rounds). That will tell you what you need to know.