There you go. Matching spring weight to ammo proof. No different than than matching the springs on your front and rear scooter boingers for your weight and riding style. Same same.

Quote from: WarrenJ on December 05, 2010, 07:16:08 PM
When we shot the 2nd Chance bowling pin shoot, I usually ran a real heavy 22-24 lb spring.  We were shooting 255 grain bullets with LOTS of Unique.  My standard, major powerfactor IPSC loads with 200grain HG 68's ran well with 20 lb springs.  I always felt that the heavier spring also helped a lumpy reload get into battery once in a while. 

Whats a lumpy reload?

Quote from: Monsterlover on December 05, 2010, 08:47:34 PM
Whats a lumpy reload?

Most likely he is talking about a round with a low powder count. The worst case being a squib round.


January Steel Squib round

Quote from: kopfjäger on December 05, 2010, 08:58:38 PM
Most likely he is talking about a round with a low powder count. The worst case being a squib round.

Or one where the brass has been reloaded so many times that it is a touch out of shape, and requires a stronger spring to drive it home, and into battery.  Scary though, as that case is not longer within spec, and should not be used any longer. 

How does that happen?

I load .45acp and the dies bring the brass back into shape. Case failure normally is at the mouth where it splits. Work hardening over time from the crimp.

All the bad brass I have, other than that, is from ejection issues.

Just from cases being overused, re-loaded too many times.  I used to only re-use a case once (twice if I was loading them light) back in the day when I re-loaded. 

Huh.

Im of the opinion that straight wall cases last almot forever.

Till they split from the crimp at least.

Quote from: WarrenJ on December 05, 2010, 08:35:02 AM
In reference to glocks and custom 1911's - glocks are tools whereas a custom 1911 is a piece of personal weaponry - its like having a soulless Universal Japanese Motorcycle for transportation or having a wonderful, thundering, fit-like-a-glove, Ducati.

In the, save my ass category, I will take the one that cranks all the time. 

Soulless can be a good charactaristic for a gun at times.

Quote from: psycledelic on December 06, 2010, 04:28:11 AM
In the, save my ass category, I will take the one that cranks all the time. 

Soulless can be a good charactaristic for a gun at times.

Never a problem for a good 1911

Kaboom!

Knock on wood, thankfully I have never had that happen to any hand gun or been around when it happened to someone else. Reason #1 to always wear safety glasses when shooting! That dude's hand will heal but losing an eye to flying Glock parts would suck big time.

Fortunately when my glock blew, the barrel and slide stayed locked up.  It blew the right side of the frame out and blew out the trigger and trashed the mag.  The side of my right index finger was numb for a couple of days but it didn't break the skin.  Pretty lucky.

As far as lumpy reloads - when loading cast bullets, you can get a little rim of bullet lube or sliver of lead on the edge of the casemouth that can cause problems.  Semi auto pistol brass can also get lumpy at the web of the case where the resizing die does not get to.  This can happen with well used brass and/or with +p loads.  After learning the hard way 20+ years ago about 45 Auto reloading snags, I gage every round that is to be used for match shooting and relegate the fails to the practice bucket.  This gives you some good, real world practice at clearing jams.  I usually load 1000 - 2000 rounds at a crack, so gaging each individual round is a significant time committment. 

Damn, those pictures suck.  That guy is lucky his finger is still attached.

Quote from: ducatiz on December 06, 2010, 05:12:26 AM
Never a problem for a good 1911

I know. 
I usually shoot with my father-in-law, who is a diehard .45acp & 1911 loyalist.  Since I am partial to Glocks and 10mm, we always end up talking shit to each other before the day is done.  Good for the relationship. I like shooting his Kimbers, but I'm sure not gonna let him know it.  I might make him proud one day.  A Delta Elite is on my short list.

I've seen 2 1911's have power disassemblies.  Both of them from firing out of battery.  This can happen if dirt or something makes the disconnector stick or if you are just having a bad day.  In the one instance, it blew the grips off, blew the mag out of the gun and pushed the bullets into the case of the top three rounds in the mag, bulged both sides of the slide.  The base of the case blew off and came back and hit me in the middle of the chest, leaving a nice round welt and burn.  I was about 10 feet behind and slightly to the right of the shooter.  His hands were all black and very sore but he wasn't bleeding. 

1911's are great, but they are not magical.  They are mechanical devices and they will occasionally fail. 

Of course!

But those stories are few and far between compared to glocks and the metal frame means lower incidence of injury.

That being said, I have a 3rd gen G17 but only use factory ammo and no +P

Someone just gave me a big pile of 9mm range brass - mostly once fired.  As I was sorting through it, I found a nice 9mm case with the characteristic rectangular glock firing pin hit with a blown out sidewall.  I have no way of knowing if it was a reload or +p but it still doesn't give me a warm IZ_ feeling.  I really like my 19 but after seeing that case and having my 21 come apart, I am not as comfortable as I would like to be with it.