picking up speed

[svandamme]

back from the range, did some serious shootin'

first 4x20 shots for the competition in .22, offhanded at 25 meter
169
146
146
142 (out of 200)

Not gonna win, just need to shoot another 2 so i got my 20

Then shot some .45 selfloads
them wadcutters are still to light at 8.4grain AA7 powder, they barely cycle and i can tell fom the sooth on the outside of the casing, that they simply don't expand enough for a gas seal..
one of the 7.8 loads was even weaker then it should have been.. it was so weak the bullet went to 25 meter, bounced off the ballistic plate without deforming and rolled back to the firing line, go figure.



The soft loads did something to the gun as at one point the gun chambered a round, it went to battery
but my trigger would not pull, hammer did not fall and the slide seemed jammed when i tried to cycle.
another round, same thing, a factory round, same thing.field stripped the gun, couldn't find anything wrong no change after i reassembled.

Only when i got a snap cap in there did the hammer fall ..
Ran 2 mags of Fiocchi through it, all good again.

Me thinks that the weak loads got some dirt in the trigger mechanism. dunno what else could cause this?


My 230 grain ball with Vitha Vuori N340 was good to go , no problems with that, that'll be my plinking ammo



After that a friend introduced me to the 100 meter rifle shooting.
Shot a 7.5 Swiss , standing, iron sight
first shot was on the card,
then 2 shots from bench rest, got a 7 and 8 out of that.

Also shot a Springfield 1903 in 30-06, standing, got two 6'es out of that

Not bad considering it was my first go at the 100 meter, at least that's how i rate it.. 2012 i plan to get routine done with the 1911, and practice long rifle with club weapons, while i wait for the M1a to be found, delivered, and permitted.

[BadOscar]

Do you ride the thumb safety with your thumb? Sometimes I will not fully engage the grip safety when I use that grip style. It doesn't happen if I have slim grips on the gun. Maybe your problem is something else but I doubt it is related to light loads.

[svandamme]

Ran some better SWC loads, at 9.2 grain it's almost there.
I'll run a small test batch at 9.4, 9.6, 9.8 that should do the trick

The 6.2 Vihtavuori with 230 Ball batch i made earlier is perfect for plinking, not a hot load , but i can shoot volumes of that and not get tired. No jams whatsoever, they are all consistent ( these were all loaded with the Dillon in mass production mode, with the powder check die)

And i found out what that jam was previously with the weak SWC's.
Had one again like it, turns out, with the weak loads it sometimes does not fully go to battery, but very difficult to see, it's just a hair from being fully closed.
If you look from behind, you can't even see it.
It went away at 9 grains or more AA7 powder..

Anyway, had fun today, broke my personal best in the .22 club pistol competition at 25 meters, got me a 173/200 , with a club Ruger.

25 test SWC's 10 meter, not for accuracy yet
40 of my homemade 230 grain ball @ 25 meters, worked out fine , good group. offhanded

Then ran through 2 full mags of Fiocchi Rapid fire and quick reload at 10 meters...
all in the black..that rotten piece of cardboard target didn't walk away from that , no sir.

[svandamme]

Ran the 195 grain copper SWC up from 9.2 up to 10 grains of AA7, no problem
Going to settle on 9.6 as the middel ground, make a bigger batch of those to work the AA powder out..

Also snatched up some 200 grain LSWC , with the VVN340 and a 6.3 load according to the VV load tables, all good..
Eventually going to make this the steady diet for the PM7, barrel will last longer with LSWC and those bullets are about half the price of the copper plated ones...


Another fun day at the range, ran about 100 rounds with the .45 , then went to the 100 meter to log some rifle time , so i can send in my permit request (need about 10 rifle days logged for that)..

So shot with the club .22 bolt action rifle, some russian made thing.
With a diopter , i managed a group of 50 rds about the size of a stretched hand.. without any flyers. so that's not bad for a first try
9 more sessions to go, then the club chairman can print out a certificate that i'm a regular rifle shooter, so i can get the permit for the M1a. Can't wait.

[Hoss in IL]

Glad to hear your loads are working out for you. I just finished 1300 rounds of .380 auto for my brother in law. I hate those tiny bullets, hard to grab.

I didn't read through all of the thread pages.....did you end up finding a good source for your powder? It would be terrible to spend all of that time and components working up to a "perfect" load and then not be able to get your powder for a long time. Not trying to put a hex on ya, I just remember you saying that you were at the mercy of the local suppliers for components.

Keep up the good work!

[svandamme]

No, it was a full on jam
Safety would not even engage
The slide only racked with more force the usual

In the garage now, gonna take it apart and see if I can find something more

[BadOscar]

Check the ejector for signs of rubbing on the top. A couple of my DW's needed a little stoning because of of rubbing there. One locked up much like you describe. A too tight extractor could also cause the jam you describe.

[svandamme]

took er down to the trigger , can't say i found any obvious signs of damage or unusual wear.

bit dirty, but that's it.

The top of the ejector :

There is a slight hint of wear on the right edge of the ejector.. not sure if that is what you mean? I mean, it's barely visible..

[BadOscar]

Ejector looks fine. How's the extractor? Dave has a good post about extractors here http://www.cotep.org/forum/showthread.php?t=566

[svandamme]

extractor looks fine too.

It really felt like something in the trigger/safety mechanisme.
It did not jam after firing, it jammed before.
Even after i field stripped, and reassembled.. i racked a fresh round and it jammed again.. so it's not an ejection or feed problem.. the slide was closed, in battery... Really weird..

But on the plus side, i've now gone past the normal field strip and taken it apart to the frame with the help of http://how-i-did-it.org/detail-1911/reassembly.html

That's a great tutorial..

So though it's not clear what caused this, i think it's to do with them SWC's i made.. something was wrong with em.. The gun is fine..