John Wall

My good friend Greg Lee is planning to run an AR-15 course at Guns and Leather soon. This will be mostly understanding the gun and assembly. Call for details.

Typically, a 3" barrel 45 will work well with the Remington Golden Sabre 185 gr +P. The 230 gr will not reliably expand from a 3" barrel. You are unlikely to shoot enough of this expensive ammo to cause any excess wear and tear to your gun. Since you already have the gun, this will work for you. Practice with the little hand cannon, and make sure it will work for you in a pinch. BTW, the 40 with a 165 gr bullet in a like firearm will give about the same results as your 45. The smaller auto pistols are more susceptible to stoppages. Make sure yours works, and practice those stoppage reduction drills. Use only the best mags, and keep your gun clean and well serviced.

You will have better luck with #2 in 38 and 45, and #7 in 9X19 and the 40. #5 is a great powder, but in the 38 and 45, #2 is cheaper to use, and does not produce as much smoke in an indoor range. In the 9X19 and 40, they are loaded to higher pressure, and #7 is more suitable. In the 357, 41 and 44 mag, #9 is going to be hard to beat! If you use the 110 or 125 in the 357, #7 will work.

Thanks, Gene.

You will LOVE the 6.8 Rem. It is the ultimate sleeper. Powerful enough to harvest game. Flat shooting enough to have THUMP downrange. Recoil is miniscule. Accuracy is as good as it gets. It was designed to monumentally improve the AR platform. Ammo is not cheap, but the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.

Don't forget about the new TWRA range south of Clarksville. The range goes to the Eastern Time Zone, and there is plenty of shooting for rifle, pistol and shotgun. The Operators are fantastic folks. Tell them I said hello. http://tennessee.gov/twra/montgomerycomplex.html

What do you want to do with the gun? There are many different ways to deploy this versatile firearm. If you want a plinker, get the base model. If you want a firearm for shooting past 150 yards, or if you do not have the best eyesight, get a scope for your base model. If you want a firearm with dedicated optics, get a flat top. If you want your AR-15 to shoot as accurately as most bolt action rifles, get the full size gun with a heavy barrel contour (HBAR) If you want a precision long range rifle that shoots 223 and 5.56, get an accurized rifle built for the purpose with precision barrel, match trigger, full sized stock and such. Figure out what you want. If you want the firearm to perform dual chores, say a precision rifle and a standard carbine, get the precision rifle and add a carbine upper. You could even add a pistol caliber upper for cheap plinking, or for harvesting game, larger calibers such as 6.5 Grendel, 6.8 SPC, 7.62 Soviet, up to the 458 SOCOM (ballistics similar to the 45/70). These are extremely versatile firearms.

Nothing wrong with Phil Bredesen. Karl Dean might be a different matter.

You are probably thinking of American Ammunition, marked AMERC. I do not load or shoot it. For my Dillon 1050, I use Fed, Rem, Win, PMC and Starline. I will load military on my 650. The 1050 does not do well with military brass.

Guns and Leather typically carries ammo for your Glock. While you are there, look around, and try their world class range.

You appear to have a pre 1982 Mec 600. Some parts are still available. http://www.mecreloaders.com/order/600JrPre82PartsList.asp I have a passing knowledge of Mec products. I always suggest the Sizemaster if one desires a single stage press, and the 9000 series if one shoots enough for the progressive. These presses have a resizer built into the press, and any shell loaded will chamber in most any firearm. Take a look at what parts you are missing, and see what you can still get. I never recommend the adjustable charge bar. When I sold reloading equipment, I had about a 30% satisfaction rate from this charge bar. The Mec fixed shot bar and powder bushings CANNOT get out of adjustment.

I have a passing knowledge of the Glock weapons system and train with a G-17 exclusively. With this said, I typically carry a 642 Smith in a belly band. The 642 is the Gold Standard for discrete carry. However, if one desires a self loading handgun, the Glock is going to be hard to beat. I also prefer the 9X19 round in a self loader. The highly developed Remington 147 gr Golden Sabre will work when the chips are down. The 38 Special is still the standard in a revolver.

Apparently, these models have been built for export. They are available on a limited basis stateside. The -1 indicates an older model that is rated for +P ammo.

This is the best reason to INSPECT your carry ammo! I use a chamber gauge, available from Midway. The chamber gauge is a little below minimum chamber specs. If it will go in the gauge, it WILL go in the gun. Great post. BTW, ALL U.S. military ammo is chamber gauged! IT HAS TO WORK.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh175/ShootingCoach/IMG_0170.jpg Best go full screen for my bench. I used to load commercially, and still have a Dillon 1050 from those days. It will load a lot of ammo quickly. I load everything I shoot, except, of course, rimfire. 12, 20 , 28 , 410 shotshell. 9X19, 38 Spl, 357 Mag, 44 Mag, 45 Auto and 45 Auto Rim. 223 Remington, 5.56mm, 308 Win, 30/06. Fun, cheap, and accurate.

If you are going to carry your firearm for professional purposes, you have the Gold Standard. The Glock, with proper training, service, and ammo is mighty hard to beat, and is easily mastered. The 40 cal round is full house, and is close to a magnum in performance without the term being used in court. You did good. Get snap caps, do stoppage reduction drills, practice, and MARCH ON.

The Scandium Snubbies are basically uncontrollable with magnum ammo. Best bet is a 642 or 442. I know of a good gunshop in East Nashville that will give you a deal.

As far as moving to Tn from Fl with HCP. "Applicant must complete the application and pay the applicable renewal fee of Fifty dollars ($50.00) and complete approved handgun safety course." Cut and pasted from TCA's.

After reading the link about Fort Jackson, even if registered and approved, you will not be able to legally carry a firearm on post unless you are going; "to and from quarters to and from hunting areas to and from an authorized shooting area" I would find a motel with a safe in the room, and stay the extra day. Laws concerning search and seizure are different on a Military Installation. By entering the area, you are consenting to a search of your vehicle and possessions. This is the cheap way. I would say, that as a law abiding Citizen, you are more likely to be made an example if you are caught illegally carrying a firearm on a Federal Installation. That's my opinion as a multi-licensed State Certified Trainer of Armed Professionals and Citizens.

When at our monthly pot luck dinner at church, a married couple asked me what I did for a living. I told them I trained Armed Professionals and Citizens. They said, "That's nice", and moved from the table where we were eating and sat at the table farthest away from me. I think the next time I will say I am a piano player at a bordello and see what the response is. LOL As far as carrying, in my limited circle of friends of like minds, even THEY don't know and cannot tell that I carry. I have a build that allows good concealment of a "J" frame Smith.

Accurate Arms #7 is going to be hard to beat in any standard 165gr to 180 gr 40 caliber handload. We reloaders buy MUCH better powder than the ammo factories. They cannot afford to use cannister powders. It is cheaper for them to by a rail car full of something, and use an in house ballistics lab to develop suitable loads. Remington, in their shotshell loads, go so far as to vary the length of their hulls slightly to accomodate differing powders. We, on the other hand, can continue to buy kegs of powder, and get the same results from them year after year.

Using a powder suitable for measures is cardinal to consistent charges. I personally use Hodgdon's Titegroup for my non magnum handgun loads. It is designed for low pressure loads, even in large hulls like the 45 Colt. Winchester 231 is another powder used by commercial loaders for good uniformity. Accurate Arm's #2 and #5 are great for low pressure plinkers. #7 is ideal for the 9X19 and such, while #9 is hard to beat for factory level 357, 41 and 44 Mag loads. Bulky flake powders used in powder measures typically do not give consistent charge weights for small amounts. I have a Dillon 650 and a 1050. These come equipped with measures that WILL provide +- .1 gr accuracy. The RCBS Uniflo powder measure, which can be equipped with a small or large drum, allowing one to load cartridges from the 25 Auto to the large rifle cartridges, will give unbeatable consistency. The Little Dandy will give excellent results. Make sure your scale has either changeable inserts or has adjustments that can be locked down. I believe Lee's model is the Auto Disk. Once set up, it CANNOT throw errant powder charges. A loading block, and constant, visual inspection of each charged case at each step in the reloading process is also another key to safe and successful non progressive reloading. Also, learning a repeatable technique so the scale is manipulated the SAME WAY EVERY TIME is important to achieving good consistency. Most factory ammo is loaded to within .2 gr.

As one who trains Armed Professionals and Citizens, I think folks who carry should be able to responsibly load, unload, demonstrate safe handling skills and be able to hit a target at close range. I consider close range 7 yards and closer. It will be hard to justify firing shots at longer range in court. However, don't forget!!! A 100% shooter ON THE RANGE will be a 10%-15% shooter IN A LETHAL CONFRONTATION.

Dear Mugster, Simple research and common sense will bear out that during a lethal confrontation, the defender will focus on the threat. Even trained Law Enforcement will do the same, and NOT shoot Center Of Mass (COM). The "Miami Shootout" was a good example of this. According to a Forensic Analysis of this firefight, SEVEN wounds to primary gun hands and arms occurred. http://www.firearmstactical.com/briefs7.htm According to a brief in the Tactical Firearms Institute site, "If you hold both your arms out in front of you as if you were holding a handgun in a two handed shooting grip, you’ll observe that a bullet will have to pass diagonally through approximately 4-5 inches of forearm muscle (assuming the bullet doesn’t strike bone) before it exits to penetrate your chest." http://www.firearmstactical.com/briefs5.htm There are many other articles and reports of this, if you care to document them yourself. I am also thinking of time I have spent in Simunitions and Airsoft training with Law Enforcement. A majority of shots ARE to the gun hand and primary arm. I have already spent more time on this than I intended, for your benefit. "People of integrity expect to be believed. When they are not, they let time prove them right.";)

"Rabbi has Barnaul and wolf .223 @5.00 a box out the door right now." Darn, Rabbi, I thought you were supposed to make a little money on your merchandise! Great price! After a class with LEO folks shooting a bunch of Wolf ammo through AR-15's (and one M-16 with a suppressor), I would say to buy this stuff!