musicman

I'm no officer or military vet. I've never yet needed to use my gun to save my life or someone else's. At this point, I am simply an enthusiast/hobbyist who enjoys shooting and also appreciates the potential equalizing power of a firearm in a bad situation. My following opinion is based solely on things I've seen at many gun ranges and the two IDPA matches I've shot. Very often I see plastic pistol owners complain about mushy/hard triggers, poor accuracy (most of the time I believe it to be the shooter, rarely the gun) but much more rarely do I see folks with genuine function problems from their plastic fantastics. At both IDPA matches I shot, however, someone with a 1911 simply could not get the gun to run. 1911s were vastly outnumbered by M&Ps, Glocks, XDs, and CZs. In two matches, I only saw one person have a problem with something OTHER than a 1911, and that was a new load they hadn't tested before cranking out. Swapped back to her old load and she was back on pace, beating the ever-lovin' dog crap out of the rest of us! There is nothing like the glass-break trigger of a nice 1911 or the way it makes you feel to hold and shoot a nice one. Unfortunately I feel there is so much variance in manufacturing and tuning of this established design that to simply say "1911s are the best" or "1911s suck more dirt than a Dyson" is quite foolish. When we factor in things like modern materials, increased capacity of newer designs, and newer high pressure calibers I also feel it's akin to sticking one's head in the sand to deny the advantages the modern platforms offer the user in a defensive role.

I don't have experience with 700x, but I've had an experience with Ramshot Zip and Lee's (I think) watered down data that I wanted to share.  I, like a few others, generally start in the middle of load data for my auto rounds.  Until Zip, I never had an issue with cycling, etc.  I had a nice range day and tried them in my guns... FTE nearly every time.  :down:  I went back home, bumped it up a bit, and went back for a quick range trip with just my 3913 and VOILA!  Problem solved! :rock:   I cranked out 150 more of those for our next outing, thinking all was well.  3913 = great.  Shield = FTE about 40% of the time.   :squint:  I tried them in my M&P 40 with the 9 barrel and got about the same 40% FTE rate.  I was right in the middle of the lower threshold for these guns' minimum cycling pressures/velocities.   All of this is just to point out that before you crank out a bunch of rounds, make sure they work in ALL your guns!  :nervous:

Haha! Removed.

Ditto all the Shield love. I was seriously amazed the first time I shot mine, and still am newly impressed every time I take it to the range. It's an easier shooting gun than most compact 9s that weigh 50% more. I really don't know how Smith engineered that. My wife, a beautiful, delicate lady, has no trouble racking the slide and shoots it well. Incredibly accurate gun, too. Nothing given up vs the full size guns but round count, imho.

Whew!! I've been planning on getting a bunch of stuff from you at the Mboro show for awhile! Sidenote: check the classifieds and buy my M&P 9c, somebody!!

Sweet!! Just wish I had a place to use something like that! :up:

Hahaha!!! When conversations get to this point in face-to-face settings with a group of people, I usally burst into song, doing my best Elton John impression singing "and CAAAAANNNN you feeeeeellll.... th' LLOOOOOVVVVVeeee toniiiight...." to break the tension in the air. Wish there was an emoticon for that right now!

Oh dang. I'm a dummy... I'm half awake/half napping and didn't read the title properly... you're asking specifically about Winchester Super Target, aren't you? Geez... I should just go to sleep and stay out of it! Anywho, I guess I'll take a stab at what you're ACTUALLY talking about! Ha! WST was actually the very first powder I ever bought and loaded with. 40 cal is the only thing I've ever used it in, and it's been fine. I've since moved to other powders that were better suited to use across a few handgun calibers, but if things were tight and it was the only thing I had on hand for a certain load, I wouldn't hesitate to use it again. I've just found other powders that were more economical or gave better velocities in the applications I used it for. What loads were you thinking of using WST for? BTW, thanks for bring this up! I've been trying to use up my partial cans of powder that I've kinda moved on from so I can free up some space in my reloading shelves. I just went through the back of one shelf and found about 1/4lb of WST. Oughtta be able to knock out 300-400 rounds of 40 with that! :-)

I use them all the time. Dunno why, but I seem to go to AA5 and AA2 for my 9/40 stuff, and Win/Hodgdon for my 38/357 and 44 stuff. I've used all the brands across each caliber I load and all have been fine... only one I had any hint of trouble with was Ramshot Zip, but I just bumped my charge up and everything was fine. One benefit of the AA powders are that they are very fine, so small charges are more consistent than with the larger 231 particles. I think that's really why I've settled in them for 9/40. When I'm dropping 10-16 grains of something in a magnum case, particle size is pretty much a non-issue. These days, be open to trying anything. What you want may not be available, so be flexible and buy whatever you can get that will work!

I have that exact conversation quite often, BigK. About half the time the only response is a blank stare... sometimes a dropped jaw.

Well I'll be a monkey's uncle!! And I'm generally indifferent to monkeys. Anyway, I stand corrected. Great article, thanks for finding some real info!

My guess is it's simply a branded product. Smith & Wesson doesn't make knives... Taylor Brands makes knives with S&W logos on 'em.

I'm guessing WW is WallyWorld - Wal-Mart, an international big-box retailer that sells everything from food to furniture to TVs to ammo. EW probably stands for Everything Weapons - a local firearms store run by ammo gougers. :-)

That whole act is awesome! His later stuff gets so far beyond raunch I couldn't stand to watch it. :-(

I don't have time to read the actual post right now. I just wanted to say I literally spewed water when I read the typo "shartage" in the title of this thread. Guess this really IS threadcrapping! Haha!

Ditto. I've always had great experiences w joebob. Inventory displayed is always correct... crazy how some e-tailers can't manage that concept!

Wow is right!!! That's WWAAAYYYY worse than the teething problems the Shield and XDS had. Man, I was kinda' interested in the R51. This is pretty much killing it for me. :/ Yay for my M&Ps and Shields!!!

Sweet CZ!! Love it.

Yea. This is nuts. I won't deny I've bought a few boxes for family and friends at 8 and 10 cents a round, but this is ridiculous.

I've seen that vid, too. Wonder what would happen if you field stripped it, then tried to put it back together again?

HHMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmm..............  vveerrrrryyyy interesting!  I've been wondering about something like this.  I don't like the glovebox thing I've got going on now.  Would you mind sharing a ballpark idea of what you paid?   Oh, and excellent gun choice, btw!  :D

Snazzy!! Shoot it yet?

Mag is gone. Thanks! I'm super excited and thankful to be on the receiving end of Robin48's generosity. :rock: I've been looking for a fair price... heck... even a NORMAL price on a couple extra mags for my M&P 9c, but they're just about always out of stock at midway, etc. This, however, is the absolute BEST deal I ever could have hoped for!! I don't have something as awesome as Robin48 offered, but it's another S&W magazine. Up for grabs is a used 14rd Sigma 40 cal mag. I sold my Sigma at least 5 years ago, but found this mag in a box a couple years ago. I'm pretty sure these will also fit the newer SD40 guns. I held onto it thinking I may get an SD40 as a glove box gun or something, but now I have enough M&Ps for each glovebox. :dirty: First PM in my inbox gets it. Please send your mailing address, or if you're in S Nashville to N Murfreesboro I'll be happy to meetany day this week after 4pm.

Sweet!!! I really love the CZ/clone guns, too... I just don't have any yet. :-( We always love pics if u got any! I'm saving my pennies and keeping my eyes peeled for a fullsize, steel framed EAA Witness in 10MM. Bud's has the poly short-barrelldd versions for $380, but I'm under no pretense that I'll conceal carry a 10MM! I want a giant mama-honkin' fire-breathing beast of a pistol that'll make the most of the "40 Magnum." So, out of all your CZ design guns, which is your favorite, and which do you think is the best value?

Ok, I obviously just misconstrued a few comments. Good deal! :)