Jonnin

  Depends on how well the safe stops the current I guess.   If it arcs between the safe wall and a gun or knife or whatever with a keg of powder in the middle, it could.  If the safe stops it, its fine.   Loaded ammo I would think is going to go if it arcs.     That brings up the 2nd issue with making one.. there really isn't a good way to test it.

  It could be, depending on the safe, and whether you grounded it or not, and how far from the metal the electronics are stored, and whether there is any powder inside (its gonna spark, bet on it).   This is expensive solution if what you are protecting is commonplace items like a couple of phones or a laptop etc.   If you already have one and there is room ... it can work.

if its on and not cold, is it outta Freon or whatever they use now?

  Yep.   The civil unrest caused by the masses who go 3 months without power is a bit of a concern.   But honestly, I can't see it happening.. the countries that CAN are not likely to do so.  To emp on a grand scale you need a second or third level of nuke tech.  And if the idiots had the first level, they would have blown something up by now just because.   Its pretty far down the list of things to worry about for me.

  if its online and able to send signals, its probably not protected enough.   therein lies the real issue...  its exceedingly difficult to protect a live system.  Its aggravating but not difficult to protect a backup unit esp for small items.   The company I was with worked on the issue for a while.   Fixing a live system is *extremely* expensive -- almost every wire and indeed, almost everything made of metal has to be examined. 

Ill buy a cheap knife.  I can beat it up using it, lose it, run it through the laundry, you name it and not worry about it.  I don't need collectables or military paratrooper grade folded steel.   I have the nice stuff, but I don't use or carry any of it.   One of the best I ever had was a 25 dollar buck ... it cut what I put it to, and it was well made, and it was cheap, and it even stayed sharp for a while.     The last knife I bought was $10 at a gunshow.  It does exactly what I wanted it to do.   Im sure I am not alone out there in appreciating a work of art but not wanting to carry it around with me.  That said I am out of your buyer's area anyway, but just like some people buy cheap ammo or guns that cost less than some of the knives you guys are talking about, there are buyers for the cheap knives too.   Its probably like anything else... sell a few top shelf items and make 20 bucks now and then or sell dozens of cheaper ones making 2 bucks each....  probably evens out in the long run.  Most of your gun owners are going to want some hunting knives and a well made knife at a fair price and some high end stuff.   The really, really cheap stuff you can leave to the big box stores... walmart has some real gems in the < 50 dollar range and trying to compete with them is probably hopeless.

  Hopefully its a family drama issue and not a child molester.   

  the survival guide you downloaded onto it.  Your backup external hard disk with all your cool info.   Your antique watch.  A ham radio.  Whatever it is that YOU think is worth saving for when the lights come back on (assuming it is  a terrorist attack and not a total meltdown, of course).     These things are hard to build right.  a big metal (conductive..!) box with a plastic box inside that with your stuff inside that with at least 6 inches between your items and the outside walls, and ground the box.  That will stop a fair amount of juice.   What you MUST do is divert the energy pulse around your items and prevent it jumping the gap between the cage and the stuff.   The more potent the gap, the farther it can jump.   Think lightning.  It can jump a very long way thru the air, and it stops cold if it hits something and is grounded.

  It really depends on how bad it is.  I use dremel polish, diamond dust, and very fine grit sandpaper for most jobs.  Once in a while its bad enough that I use something rough...  but that should be avoided in general.  You should be able to drag whatever you are using across your skin without being scratched for most jobs...  and avoid power tools for most jobs (tempting but they make things uneven).

  A rental car and costs covered would be more than fine, agreed.  Adding on a warranty extension wouldn't be amiss either -- because if they did it right, that will never be used or cost them anything more --  its a way of saying "we screwed up, we fixed it, and we stand behind that fix".  

Looks like "machining" marks to me.  A lot of guns don't polish the insides of unimportant areas and so it looks just like it did when it came off the cutting machine that made it.   Its harmless, if ugly.    I'd check that shiny streak on the right... that slides across each round and it looks (could be dirt, or whatever) like it has a rough spot.  If so, polish that out.    After shooting, some guns will have that area of the slide rubbing the barrel a bit and youll see the wear marks.  If its rough there, polish it.  The gun will tell you.  As you shoot it, it will knock finish off and burnish the areas that are rubbed every shot.  If you find a burnished area that is rough, cleaning it up will smooth out the operation -- sometimes by a LOT.  Shooting it 1000 times will do it for you eventually but if its new I just go ahead and knock it down myself, esp when I can feel it.

1) the pins are designed to slip if you use too much force, but they also may need to be tightened.  I dunno about your brand but most brands you have to tighten them a LOT before the pin will work.  I am kind of a wimp, and it takes all I can do with 2 wrenches to get it right on MY dies.    Yes, you should resize.    3a:  get a standard commercial 9mm.  Put in your press.  Jack it up into your seating die.  Set it so that the die touches the bullet but does not seat it any deeper.  Try that to see where you are (measure your OAL against your recipe).  Should be close if you are not using a weird bullet. Start with it dialed a little "out" so if you are not right, you need to push in deeper.  Its easy to push in deeper and adjust.  Its not easy to pull the bullet back out and seat less deep.   3b .. not sure about your dies.  I have a 4th die (deprime size, powder / expand, seat, crimp) for it.  I just barely crimp 9mm a little.  If you over-do it, your brass can slip into the barrel too deep and may fail to fire.  My crimp mostly un-does the fat lead bullet's effect on the brass by squeezing it a little. For copper plated normal bullets you can literally just touch them with the crimp die, its not much at all.  The die should have an adjustment on it.    4) this is easy :)  you prime before you powder.  You powder before you put a bullet in.  If you powder before primer, the powder falls out the bottom of the case, and that sucks.  If you bullet before you powder, you will have a similar obvious issue.   I prime right after sizing die is done.   5) 9mm is quite forgiving but this is directly related to your recipe.  If you are cooking up a redline +P+ 357 mag rated 9mm, you can't afford an extra 1/2 a grain tossed in there.   If its a standard 9mm load shot in a +P rated gun, you can be pretty sloppy.   If its a mega hot powder that uses 2 grains for max load, 1/2 a gain of slop is a big deal.  If its using 8 grains, that extra 1/2 isn't so much.   Yours sound OK.  People make ammo using a water-dipper device to "measure" it and its fine.   For best results I use a fatter powder (more grains per load) which reduces the accuracy variation ... the more powder you use (by using a fat powder), the less a small error effects it, and the better your accuracy and consistency -- because your scale has a fixed amount of error by weight, right?   SO long as your errors don't push you past the DO NOT EXCEED limit on your load data, its fine.  And if using standard loads in a +P rated gun, you can even wiggle past that value safely for the better part of a grain on most powders.   * Look it up.   http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/ says (for 124 ) Hodgdon Titegroup 3.6 to 4.1   You are way past their max load here.   DO NOT EVER GUESS.  You can do linear interpolation between weights, and you can go low and work up, but DO NOT GUESS (please, for your own safety!)

This is just indication of the idiot left gone to seed.  Its the kind of thing you get when people haven't had a course in logic, lack common sense, and have been raised in a vacuum.    Its like a millionaire politician trying to explain how in touch he is with the common working man, only on a grander scale because the author has a triple helping of head-up-assedness.   I could write just as senseless a paper explaining how a violent criminal that is stupid enough to attack armed victims (which should be all of em) is simply committing suicide, just like suicide by cop.   It may or may not make much sense, but I could certainly write it and bend it towards a logical outcome of being armed.    Come to think of it, I would make more sense than this guy, at least, even if written as a joke.

Hmm well, Ill stick to my recommendation then.   If you love the 1911 and the 10mm, combination of the 2 seems like a fit.   The M&P is just going to feel like a popgun after a 10mm.    Again, though, I am assuming you actually want the recoil and blast and all.   If you want something on the tamer side, it might be just the thing.   I was a big noise recoil guy for a long long time,  and still am at heart, so keep that in mind :)

I'd rather have that 1911.   The M&P is a fine gun but 40 means another caliber to deal with, and it will be less exciting (recoil).   I'd say that 10mm is a lot like my desert eagle which is hands down one of the best guns I have ever bought.     But that begs the question of whether you have shot either model.  1911 and glock have very, very different grip - bore angle ratios and many people find one or the other odd.    The M&P is more glockish.     I have more confidence that you might like the 40 due to it being similar to a glock but that same thing makes it redundant in my eyes.   If you have shot a 1911 and like them, I still would recommend the 1911 more.   If you have not shot one, try one (even a basic 45) first.