Jamie Jackson

Thank you mootw. No need to trouble yourself. I just have a special fondness for hammer shrouded Colts. And yours is a beauty! I carry a S&W 640 with Barami Hip Grips, have since '92. Would love to have an Agent to go along with it. After seeing your collection I reckon I better start searching LOL.

Great collection! Man, I love the Agent with the shroud and Barami hip grips! Is the hammer shroud a Waller & Sons?

Good suggestion on the double seal from peejman. I do the same and have found it makes a significant difference. When we find good "loss leader" buy on meats, life whole fryers or Boston Butt pork roasts, we'll pick up 40-50 pounds of them and vac seal them. We have 2 chest freezers and one is dedicated strictly to meats. I've found that vac sealing, with the double seal, has enabled us to keep these meats in good condition without freezer burn for 12-18 months. fwiw I always date the bags and usually include the sale price as a reference for myself. We also use the vac sealing for tablet or pill form medications except aspirin containing products. If you folks have seen the S.L.E.P. or Shelf Life Extension Program you know the wisdom and value of this. The pdf comes and goes off the interwebs, but the info is worth digging around for. I'll try and insert the pdf but I am a technotard... Our unit is an old Black & Decker I purchased for use in making BOK's that I sold a dozen years back and it's still going strong. SLEP.pdf

I agree 100% with the chronograph suggestion. I have and use a ProChrono and find it invaluable. http://www.midwayusa.com/product/852429/competition-electronics-prochrono-digital-chronograph Those are 3 of my favorite powders for 9mm and .38 spl. As we cast and PC, we had to learn to adapt OAL and bullet weight and extrapolate from the listed data to come up with safe and accurate loads. I've also found e-mailing the various powder manufactures has been extremely helpful during our load developments. I've been able to get data that simply isn't, for whatever reason, published, but served as a great starting point. But Chrono use has allowed us to safely develop some great loads. We had some loads in the past that exhibited key-holing. We had to tweak the velocity based on the OAL for our particular slugged barrels. This was with Green Dot powder and 130 gr .38 cal bullets resized for our barrels...worked great, even though we are no longer casting those particular bullets, it's great data to have on hand.

$499.00 ? I'm impressed brother! I look forward to meeting "her".

Very nice GTG! Good for you. Hope you will bring it out on Sunday.

lock n' load; I'm a 9mm guy myself. But if the .40 S&W Ranger T-series you are referring to is the RA40T it does make Dr. Gary K. Roberts (Doc GKR) list as a recommended carry round for that caliber. Here's one of many links to the same info: https://www.ar15.com/ammo/project/Self_Defense_Ammo_FAQ/#mozTocId759557 That's a good price, and if it shoots to POA and is reliable in your handgun, I'd consider that a good purchase. FWIW and imho most modern premium self defense ammo is quite adequate. The expanded talons do look wicked. I have seen the original Black Talons both expand and not expand in human beings. This was back in the 1990's and bullet technology has advanced considerably since that time. But seeing a few of those points (talons) protruding through the skin (transthoracic chest shot) does indeed look wicked!

Sorry for your loss Bresa. God Bless. You are fortunate to have been able to share the time you had with him, and him with you. That's a Blessing good Sir.

Save the C4 for a better project LagerHead LOL. My 550 is pushing 30 years old and Dillon did a rebuild on it a few years back. But I had the same problem you mention at one time. Dillon replaced my primer tube and sent me several new tips for it as well. All for free after I sent an e-mail explaining the issue. I keep a brass brush on my table and use it to keep the primer seating cup clean of residue. I tend to get "funk" buildup on the outside edges of the primer seating cup that will prevent the cup from coming completely back underneath the primer tube causing a very slight misalignment preventing a primer pickup. I just make sure I knock off that debris about every 1K-2K rounds. I also disassemble the primer pickup bar mechanism every 5K rounds or so and clean it up the same brass brush...no lube..and my 550 runs great. I am only loading 9mm on it at present and load at least 10 k per year. Works great for me. There's better uses for the C4!

I already had, and shot my S&W 686 and Colt Series 80 45 acp in '87 when I started handloading. I initially started simply because I wanted to learn the process and develop options. I handload now because I can craft ammo to meet my perceived specific needs or wants and I can at this point actually save money doing so. As a group of three we cast, powder coat, and handload primarily for 9mm. These loads are tailored to the velocity and accuracy that we are all quite pleased with. I realize some folks complain, or at least express concern over the time involved. I thoroughly enjoy the process of handloading...it's my "Zen" thing. But we can produce 9mm for at or less than most .22 LR sells for. Bulk purchased components allows us to not have to worry much about shortages during the last 2 panic periods...they'll show up again I venture to guess... I can also load quality accurate 5.56 brass cased ammo (purchased projectiles on sale with free shipping) for around $0.17/round. I'm happy with that. So I guess I already had the "chicken" and have added a few over the years...but really enjoy working with the "egg".

The owner is obviously not married...

Thank you Randy for providing this opportunity! This is an incredible value. imho, having standards, whether an agency’s or your own, is the only sensible and realistic way we can gauge or measure our progress…and these “quals” are fun and a challenge to shoot as well! I’m looking forward to this. Hope to see some fellow TGOer’s as well. And Thank you GTG for hosting this session.

Of course Brother! Prayers sent. You know you can call me if you need anything my friend.

I'm bumping this back up to see how folks are doing, and if anyone has any new drills they are running. I had to take about a 3 month hiatus from shooting to recover for a surgery I had. Getting old sucks... I'm back to shooting the Dot Torture drill, FAST Test, and running Bill Drills to try and improve my split times while maintaining accuracy... always a challenge for me... I'm using the 6" circle with the 1" square for the Bill Drills. https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?2124-Printable-Targets I was working with some friends that are relatively new to shooting yesterday, and as they are new (Randy knows them...Tammy & Alex), incorporated some ball & dummy rounds into mags I loaded for them. I do the same for myself as It helps me practice malfunction clearances. It helps me diagnosis fundamentals for them. I also use the six 2" circles and practices non-dominate (weak hand) shooting from 3-7 yards with my J frame BUG. 3-5 yards are fine, I struggle with 7 yards...but accept the challenge. I've printed out the 3M drill Randy posted above and will be running our group through it our next range session. I should have already done this...I'm a slacker... So, what are you folks doing?

GTG, TGO David recommended Aholster in a previous thread. I picked up a left hand model for my 9mm Shield. It's an excellent holster, good price and very thin, yet sturdy. By it's design it actually stays in the friggin' pocket when you draw! And you don't have to worry about an inadvertent mag dump while the guns in your pocket, something I've experienced with soft pocket holsters. It conceals quite well in my carpenter jeans. Here's the links: http://www.lefthandholster.com/pocket-aholster.html http://shop.aholster.com/product.sc?productId=1&categoryId=1

Well Prayers and the NRA certainly didn't hurt anything...

Thank you hipower. So really the current pricing is not outlandish all things considered then. fwiw I not really looking at purchasing a .22 mag at this time...but I've been known to pick up a box or two of ammo just in case I need some at a later date.

I believe the rumor was addressed a year or so ago when someone e-mailed Winchester...something to do with an employee not knowing what they were talking about? Am I misremembering this?

I've used W 231 for a very long time. It's a very fine powder and meters extremely well. I've loaded 10's of thousands of rounds of 45 acp with it, as well as 9mm and .38 spl. I've even blown up a Glock 21 with it because I screwed up and double charged a case. 11.4 grains will tear up a darn Glock!! But Glock replaced it, even knowing that it was my fault... (late 1990's). fwiw that was my only double charge and I load at least 10k of handgun rounds each year. Pay attention folks! As I mentioned, it a very fine powder and it doesn't take much powder in a case to reach max load data. As long as you don't get distracted, as I did, and pay attention, as I didn't, it's a great and economical powder.

Thanks for posting this GTG. That's a nice looking pen and doesn't necessarily scream "Weapon!" LOL I can definitely see the utility of this. Do you have a version to use as a "trainer"?

Excuse my ignorance. I haven't owned a .22 mag since the late 1960's, early 1970's...it was one of those convertible single actions (.22 and .22 mag cylinders) and I sold it before enlisting in the Navy. What was the general pricing for .22 mag before the Newtown madness? I realize prices will stay higher than pre-Newtown...but curious nonetheless.

Welcome to you and the missus Bob. The local USPSA, IDPA, Steel and 3 gun are located in Oak Ridge at ORSA, for when you get settled in and such. Links below: http://orsaonline.org/ http://orsaonline.org/iclubs.asp?id=4 http://orsaonline.org/faq.asp

H 335 is my favorite powder for 55gr 5.56 loads. I believe I have chrono data for that very load...if I can find it...I need to be a better bookkeeper! I've found it to be a very accurate handload, using range pickup brass as well, out of my 22 year old Bushmaster. I do inspect, sort, and trim & prep my brass...anything funky gets toss into the brass scarp bucket. So far so good.

Reading the above discussion about making shotgun slugs reminded me a couple of articles I read via Western Rifle Shooter's Association a few years back... the article's were entitled "Turning Ballistic Water into Wine" (1&2) and cover much of what Dolo mentioned. Good stuff to know! The articles were a bit more expansive in Chuck Brant's original blogspot, but these still have useful info imho. It looks like his included links are still functional as well. http://chuckbrant.com/turning-ballistic-water-into-wine-2/ http://chuckbrant.com/more-turning-ballistic-water-into-wine/ Western Rifle link below...worth subscribing to if you have an interest: https://westernrifleshooters.wordpress.com/

I believe folks are referring to Tessalon Perles (Benzonate 100mg). It's an antitussive or cough suppressant medication that's prescription only (to best of my knowledge) for short term use. I've given it to a lot of patients and it seems to work well for them. I've never taken them myself, but my wife has used them with good results. https://www.drugs.com/cdi/tessalon-perles.html