wwillson

Smith & Wesson market the SD9 & SD40 as a special home defense and self defense handgun. The SD series clearly has it's heritage in the Sigma, which arguably failed in the marketplace. Why do you market a retake of a handgun that failed when you have an absolute market success in the M&P pistol series? Is Smith simply going for market share against less expensive pistols out there? I would think that Smith would concentrate on the M&P, which is gaining more market share against the higher-end competitors every day. There has to be more margin in the M&P than in the SD, or am I missing something? Wayne

Trapper, Thanks for the strong opinion! I like to hear opinions from folks who have actually owned and used a product and it seems your experience with Nikon has been anything but good. I'll steer clear of Nikon. Wayne

I was at the Oak Park Sportsman's Club this past weekend with some shooting friends. One husband and wife couple shoot cowboy action and were practicing for a upcoming match. They were kind enough to let the others in the group shoot all of the gun they were practicing with. I have to admit that it's the first time I've ever shot a lever action anything. I shot a lever action .357 rifle and a lever action 12ga shotgun. I was to involved in the shooting to even notice what models I was shooting, but they were really cool. Their Vaqueros were simply beautifully tricked out pistols! Judy gave me a bit of instruction on how to shoot targets cowboy style and said, "oh and by the way the triggers are VERY light". She wasn't kidding. The triggers on both of her Vaqueros were identical and were the best triggers I've ever pulled on any revolver or pistol in my life. I did ok shooting targets with the pistols as quickly as I could, but errored on the side of caution. I'm just glad nobody had a video camera to show the world how terrible I did with the rifle and shotgun. What a rush. Wayne

Shannow, This is a perfect word for me to use to describe some folks that I work with. I will say it often and with confidence! Wayne

Tom, Help me decide. Wayne

I've pretty much settled on 4.7g Titegroup under a 115g jacketed bullet as my 9mm practice round. Took me about 5 hours on my Hornady LNL AP. I'm hoping to shoot some IDPA this summer with these loads. Wayne

I shot my last 100 moly coated 9mm bullets over Titegroup this weekend. I truly don't understand why they smoke so much, but I was accused of loading black powder! Shooting jacketed with Titegroup produces about 1/10th as much smoke. I can't explain why. Wayne

Now that I've shot both of these pistols about 600 times each over several times to the range, I have a clear favorite - the S&W M&P. Why you ask? Two very simple reasons. First the grip on the M&P is simply more comfortable and is more versatile with the interchangeable back straps. The second and much more important reason is the M&P has MUCH less muzzle flip than the XD. I attribute the reduced muzzle flip of the M&P to the fact that the centerline of the barrel is much lower on the M&P than the XD. When shooting double/triple taps, the M&P is just much faster to get back on target. I will still vouch for both as being fabulously reliable. If I had to choose between which one to keep, it would definitely be the M&P. Wayne

It's time to pick a scope for this AR15 I just bought. Since the primary use for the rifle will be hunting yotes and general plinking I'm considering this Nikon Coyote Special. I'm sure the scope will work just fine for my stated main purposes. I do shoot prairie dogs, which I use a Leupold VX3-6.5x20x40LR with the varmint hunter's reticle on another AR. I'm wondering if the graduated circle reticle of the Nikon scope would work well enough for the much smaller prairie dogs are 200-400 yards? I have my doubts that the circles will work nearly as well as the Leupold varmint hunter's reticle on small PD's... Wayne

All, I have been looking for a backup gun to take prairie dog shooting and something a bit lighter than my Bushmaster Varminter to hunt Yotes with. I had enough $$ on my company incentive card for another AR, so I pulled the trigger... The Bushmaster Predator has a 20" fluted barrel with a 1 in 8" twist, but otherwise if very similar to the Varminter. I'm hoping the 55g varmint nightmare loads I shoot in the 24" 1 in 9" Varminter will tolerate the 1 in 8" twist rate of the Predator. It sure would be nice to be able to just shoot the same loads. It will be nice to be able to stabilize up to 75g bullets in the faster twist rate of the predator. Wayne

All, I have a Hornady Lock-n-Load AP, which has proved to be a great press for me. I do have a rather annoying problem though with a die bushing that won't stay tight in the press. While loading this past weekend I started having a problem that about every 50th round, the die bushing holding the 9mm taper crimp die would loosen. If I didn't notice the bushing starting to loosen, by seeing the die move slightly, then the die would completely loosen and pop all the way up in the press. Does anyone know how to keep the die bushings from loosening? Thanks, Wayne

Those four rules are rules to live by. Very simple, yet complete. I couldn't have said it better myself. Thanks! Wayne

I called Lee, they are manufacturing date codes. There should be no difference in the dies. Wayne

I got the two free magazine deal when I bought the M&P 9c. I chose the compact magazines, but had I been thinking I would have chosen the regular mags. I could have used regular sized mags in a full sized M&P or the compact with the grip fillers. Wayne

I've posted this to the home page. Thanks Barry for yet another great article! Wayne

I have two sets of Lee .223 dies. The bullet seating/crimp dies have different serial numbers. They are Lee-223-G9 and Lee-223-D9. Does anyone know what the difference is between these two dies? Thanks, Wayne

Everywhere I've looked for these magazines, nobody has them in stock. Has anyone been able to find them? Wayne

Pablo, It's time to reload... :-) If I would have done as much shooting and reloading when I was younger as I do now, I would have been more broke and divorced... I'm so please you are getting the addiction. You're welcome. Wayne

Barry, I would have loved to celebrate the 100th anniversary, but I was in Mexico where they don't have a 2nd amendment as we do. Sometimes when I take a 1911 completely apart (an I mean completely) I just sit there an look at all those parts and marvel at what John Browning accomplished. How many pistols in the last 100 years have borrowed ideas from the 1911? I find the 1911 to be an amazing example of engineering and human ingenuity. Wayne

Bob, I think that's a great deal since you didn't have to spend your time casting. I'm very curious to see if you have leading problems with the relatively soft wheel weight lead. Wayne

Bob, It sure looks like Joe has some serious talent! Maybe someday... Wayne

Hey Bob, good to see you posting here again. I thought we moderated BITOG heavily, but "piece of scrap" gets you a warning? Yeesh! We'd really like to see the pictures of your new toys. Wayne

Quote:Probably a bit better for your health as well in regard to the Pb. Yeah, most heavy metals are a significant health risk, but I'm extremely careful not touch my face/mouth and clean up really well when I'm done. Quote:My indoor range requires at least partial MJ, but really lean toward FMJ. The indoor range I shoot at couldn't care less. I wonder if some are required by insurance to ban cast? Quote:Frankly, loading 9mm doesn't seem like a value gaining proposition. Sure it's great to get the exact load you want - and for this reason alone worth it. But I can get plinking 9mm with FMJ for ~0.15$ per round. My time alone is worth more than that. Even Walmart stuff is ~0.20/round. Most of what I can get is on the $0.20/round or more. My reloads are about $0.10/round and I shoot quite a bit. I also consider reloading to be as much fun as shooting, so it's a win-win. Quote:Now start talking larger odder calibers and wowser, reloading is REAAAAAALLY worth it. I bought a box of 20 super high end .357 Sig (just to see grin )man....over 1.00 a shot at $22.95 WOW - I'll bet those $1.00/round load really kill that paper dead! :-) Wayne

I have cast at least 20,000 .452 bullets for 45ACP in the last couple years. My motivation was to learn about bullet casting and to reduce costs. I certainly learned a ton about casting both from people here and on other forums and by doing. I seriously doubt that I saved much money over buying cast bullets, as I can get .452 bullets from Michael Meyers at Illinois Bullets very inexpensively. If I factor my time in, then it makes casting silly. The cast bullets from Mike are cast from a lead alloy of the proper hardness, which means I don't have to scrub lead from my barrels every time I get home from the range. I think the mix of clamp-on and stick-on wheel weights make an alloy that's simply to soft. I did try clamp-on only weights and heat-treating with pretty good results, but I'm still tired of scrubbing lead from barrels. I've been shooting almost entirely 9mm, which has become my favorite pistol caliber, for about the last year. FMJ 115g RN 9mm bullets from Montana Gold are about 7.5 cents each. I can get cast 9mm bullets from Illinois Bullet for 6 cents each. Unless bullet prices drastically increase, I'll be buying instead of casting. Wayne

brueggma, Did you get a chance to shoot the Glock yet? Wayne