McAllyn

In your area, if I'm in a pinch, I buy from the walmarts in Tullahoma and Winchester or from Hoselton's. Of course, that's only if I've neglected my reloading duties. Mac

If it's like BeeZid or QuiBids, you buy "bid tokens" at .60 each. Everytime someone bids, the item increases by .01. You're not buying from a person like eBay or Gunbroker, you're buying from the website company. So, if something sells for 9.00, yeah, you got a good deal, especially if you only bid once, but the company sold 900 .60 bids. Mac

I have a Defender in 9mm, and for the 14 rounds I put through it to function test, it worked great. All my other 1911/2011's are 40. The Hi-Power is a great machine, I just don't have one because they aren't as easy to tinker with as a 1911, CZ, Beretta or Glock. (I tend to tinker with my weapons.) Mac

So far in 9MM, I've had/have Beretta 92's, Beretta Cougar, Sig P6/225, CZ SP01, Glock 26, Glock 34, M&P 9Pro, XD9Tactical, Kahr CW9, and a Colt Defender. If you have a larger hand, and don't mind it's bulk for carry, I highly recommend the Beretta 92. Out of the box, the DA trigger pull is a bit long and heavy, but after about 200 rounds, it smooths out quite a bit. The trigger is also fairly tunable without a major ordeal. Mac

"Shakeweight depleted. Entering sleep mode." Mac

Depends on what you're doing with it. Plinking or competition or SD? My target/competition round is: Zero 180JHP over 4.9g VVN320 with CCI500 primer in range pickup brass. Loaded out to 1.20OAL. That's in my STI 1911/2011's. Not sure it even fits in a non-1911ish magazine. I buy factory SD rounds, but that's just a preference. Mac

I would think it depends on which stance you use. If you use a thumbs forward centered stance, just move the weapon 2 inches to the left. If you're holding across your body, or strong arm straight, etc. then you have a lot more work to do. Brian Enos and several other world class shooters are cross-dominant, and they seem to have figured out several solutions. I think there's several different threads on Enos's forum about cross-dominance. Mac

FWIW, I think the same thing about Remington's 1911. Don't hate it, but not going to buy one just because it says Remington on the side. Mac

Yes, my post was complete sarcasm. I don't like to use smileys, so I could not express it that way. I like Ruger firearms. I have (3) 10/22's and (5) MkII's and (1)22/45. I wouldn't shy away from any of their wheelguns or centerfire rifles either. Never particularly cared for any of their centerfire semi's, but that's just a preference, not that I found anything wrong with them. I just second the notion expressed above that bringing a 1911 to the game 100 years late might be a bad call. There are already established manufacturers at all levels in the market, and establishing a foothold against some of them will be difficult to say the least. They do have the name to fall back on, but that's a double edged sword. If this 1911 performs well, then they could very well knock a couple of the smaller manufacturers down the ladder, but if it does not do well, it could effect their entire brand. No one can be everything to everyone. I'll stick to DPMS AR's, Remington bolt guns, Smith wheelies, STI 1911's, Ruger rimfires, and Glock semi's. I appreciate manufacturers that pick a market and EXCEL. Mac

Change the grips and you have a Springfield Loaded. Wouldn't be surprised to find the parts come from the same place. I'm just glad we finally have a tier 1 manufacturer doing 1911's. Mac

How much protection are you providing to your family if you're in County for 90 days for carrying illegally? Even a cut down ball bat in hand would be better than being several miles away in a concrete cell. Mac

My only issue with the 357 Sig round is overpenetration. Very little will put that round to a dead-stop, excuse the pun. However, the terminal ballistics are impressive. Mac

I got one perfect CoM shot on a hostage on stage 5, it was all down hill from there. Worst thing about it was I called the Mike on the wrong target, so my makeup shot ended up on the left target instead of the right. Nice 3-1-1-0 array. Mac

It was an awesome match. It was great to be able to put a few faces to names. I did better this year than last year, but still didn't do great. Mac

Harbor Freight has a rinky-dink electric cement mixer for $129.99. Was looking at it the other day to polish brass. I'd take out the metal tumblers and replace them with some kydex flaps from some scrap I have around. Looks like it would take an entire 5 gallon bucket of brass at one time. Meh, at 129.99, it costs less than my ultrasonic that doesn't do that good of a job anyway. Mac

FYI, the GRx and Bulge Buster dies are technically for brass that has been shot from a Glock. The issue that they solve (this is under arguement) is that those cases can be bulged at the bottom to where they won't fully chamber in another weapon. So, if you use range pickup .40 brass, eventually you will run into a piece of brass that is beyond spec. Mac

I mainly load 9MM and 40, using Vihtavouri N320 powder and CCI 500 Small Pistol Primers. 4.1g with Zero brand 125g JHP in 9MM, and 5.0g with Zero brand 180JHP. These are competition rounds, not self defense rounds. When I do load .223, I use Sierra bullets, Varget powder, and CCI 400 Small Rifle Primers. One thing you'll notice is that EVERYONE uses a different mix of powder, bullets, brass, and primers. There are almost as many pet loads out there as there are weapons to shoot them in. The reason is reloading is a very personal experience. You get to build and customize your load to what you want to feel and what your weapon wants to use. And, as pointed out, the items I listed are pretty much the absolute minimum to get reloading safely. Once you get into it, you'll find that there is ALWAYS another gizmo or widget that you need now or will need sooner or later. Mac

I have a CH single stage, a Dillon Square Deal B, and a Dillon 550b. If I were to do it all over again, I'd just buy the 550b and get it over with. Buy the 550 with whichever caliber conversion kit you shoot the most, a set of dies, at least one reloading manual, a scale, a bullet puller, calipers, and a primer flip tray. Then, you're off to the races. There is a constant arguement over whether reloading actually saves you money. Some say no, because you shoot more. I say yes because at 2k rounds per month, I really can't shoot more than that, and I was shooting that much before I started reloading. Best of luck to you, and the guys here will be able to answer any possible questions you can come up with. Mac

FWIW, I have an SLP Mk1 which is basically the same thing without the pistol grip stock and it's an awesome machine. Mac

Know how to make $1M mining for gold? Start with $10M, take 6 guys who know nothing about mining, and spend 5 months in Alaska. At the end of the 5 months, you should have about $1M left. Mac

The only issue I know of with the Witness would be the large frame model (the only frame imported) does not work well with 9MM because the spacers in the magazines. I know Henning has been working on this by having the magazines redesigned. If you want more information on the Witness, do a search for Tanfoglio, since the EAA's are basically Tanfoglios. I do know they are extremly popular in Europe and they are designed as a lower-priced CZ. Mac

Seems that on VERY cheap mags, you probably stand a better chance of the feed lips deforming before the spring dies. We're talking sub-ProMag magazines. If there is even such a thing. Mac

Hmmm, I have some leftover kydex from a mag-pouch project. Looks like I'm gonna have to break out the heat gun. Mac

Here's me with my non-surprising recommendation: STI Spartan Under $700 to start, alot of the basics included, and the sky's the limit when you want to upgrade. Mac