steely

Hail to the King!!! I hope we are practicing the power play offense. We are going to need it to get past the Bruins.

March of last year I bought from Matt Shaver (Steel Horse Customs), who turned out to be a great guy to deal with. Shipping from his location was reasonable. I bought an AR 500 armored dueling tree (6" AR 500 plates with up-armored post, plus a set of 4" mild steel plates for .22LR) along with 3 AR 500 gongs of various shapes and sizes. The dueling tree was very well made. The gongs are great fun to shoot and also cut nice and clean. There is a video of his dueling tree on his website below. He has changed the base a bit to make it even more stable. If I can figure out how to post a picture of mine, I will. http://www.steelhorsecustoms.com/Steel_Horse_Customs/Welcome.html You can contact Matt at 971-832-0156, or send him an email [email protected] Good luck with your purchase.

I absolutely agree. My point was that others I have spoken with about reloading want to make as many rounds as fast as they can, so they lean towards a progressive versus single stage set up. If the user requires large volumes of ammo, then a progressive is the way to go.

OP, the kit you posted includes a Nosler reloading manual, so don't run out and buy one until you decide on a start up kit, as many come with an included reloading book. That said, I have 3 different books that I have acquired over time. All good to have as much reference material as possible. I am strictly a handgun loader and I only use an old RCBS RS2 single stage press. As I have told friends who get into hand loading, "it's not a race", meaning my objective isn't to load as many rounds as fast as I can. Hence, no turret or progressive press for me. For my purposes (approximately 35 range trips per year) the single stage press works well enough. You may decide to go for a turret or progressive press which will cost you more up front. Consider this, as I understand it, some guys who really get deep into reloading many calibers (including rifle) will have a second, single stage press that they set up for specific operations. Others here can comment on this, but I suppose you still won't go wrong if you start out with a single stage setup. Good luck!

How about the 1,000 round boxes of Remington UMC 115gr 9mm. $280 for the first and $210 for the second at Cherry Hill. Pretty good deal considering usual pricing at $15/box of 50.

In January, when guns were flying off the shelf and inventory was getting scarce, I made a handgun purchase at Cheyenne, which they held for 7 months while I waited for permits. Bob's did the same on another gun, then a third. All with the understanding that if I did not get approved (who could trust NJ at that point in time) they would take the guns back. Good prices and good service at both. They keep my business.

They had Remington UMC 9mm 1,000 round bulk packs at Cherry Hill last night. $280 for the first box, and 25% off on the second (= $210). With tax and less my $10 reward it was 25.7 cents a round for 2k rounds. Done buying for a while.

I scanned all of my purchase documents to pdf files, so as long as I keep my computer (and back up device) I will always be able to generate another copy of a lost document. Keep the originals in the gun safe. I also keep a copy with each of my handguns when I go to the range...just in case I need to prove ownership on the spot, or as Tony said, so I can "be on my way sooner". It really doesn't take much effort to have the documentation on hand. I think it shows any authority that I am being responsible, and making his/her job a bit easier. To that end, I also lock my ammo storage box when in transport, even if it is in my trunk...why not. I think it helps to support to a LEO that I am a responsible handgun owner, which could only help me to "be on my way sooner", which is all I really care about - avoiding BS that interferes with my life. As crazy/confusing as the gun laws are in this State (for us and the potentially uninformed LEO's), I think we should all err on the side of being cautious. In my experience it is almost effortless to do so. Unlike having to potentially waste my time and money defending stupidity if I cross paths with the wrong LEO.

Thank you. Compared to what I have read in this thread the NJSP are an embarrassment. My 7 month ordeal with them was over in August. Used my 3rd and last permit in late October. Another member recently got his permits from the same barracks in approx 4 months, which is still 50% longer than it used to take at the same location.

Great news for you! I dealt with him as well...and it took 7 months. There is hope, I hope!!

Tripp Cobra Mags in my Kimber Team Match II 9mm - 100% good. Chip McCormick and Kimber Pro Tac in my Kimber TLE II .45 - 100% good.

Update: At approximately 500 rounds down the pipe the gun is performing better. Last shot about 80 rounds (including 124 grain and 115 grain ammo) with no casings hitting me in the head, and casings did not dribble out onto the shooting bench. Thanks to everyone that provided input and support on this matter!

Well, you are 3 months in to what was a 7-month process for me at Red Lion. It will be interesting to see if your call to the firearms unit speeds things up for you. Please keep us posted. I have to say that shooting my Kimber TLE II .45, Sig MK 25 and Kimber Team Match 9mm have been so much fun that the 7-month ordeal is barely a memory. Good luck!

Thanks, Tony. I will look into making an adjustment after I run the first 500 rounds through the gun. I appreciate all of your help.

Update: I bought some 124 gr PMC ammo at the range yesterday, and shot 50 rounds of it plus 50 rounds of 115 gr WWB. The Tripp magazines worked fine (no failure to lock the slide after the last round, and no feed issues). No failure to lock the slide with the Kimber supplied magazine either. Field stripped to clean the gun this morning and I could find no dings or dents on the ramp. Whew! According to my wife, 7 or 8 out of 10 casings per magazine were landing a few feet to my left and behind me, while the other 2 or 3 still dribbled out, landing on the shooting bench. She saw no difference between the 124 and 115 gr ammo. I thought of this today - we failed to note if the dribblers were early in the mag, or the later rounds, or intermittent within each magazine fired (I used 4 total mags). Will note this on my next range trip. With 340 rounds through the pistol, I will continue to use it "as is" and monitor results. Based upon yesterdays performance, it appears the gun is working better than the first three times I used it. Thanks again for all the input and help! Will post again after next range visit.

Yes, field stripped and cleaned, then lubed lightly with Rem oil before the first round was fired. Did the same with my trouble free Kimber TLE II in .45. Oh well, it'll get fixed at some point.

Yes, but that ship has sailed. :-) I haven't seen anything but 115gr 9mm ammo available for the past 5 months or so, other than in home defense rounds. I will buy some when I find it and give it a try, to see if the casings dribble out or not. Will definitely keep you guys in the loop. Thanks for the input!

Packing for a striper fishing trip to Montauk tomorrow, but I took the slide off and looked at each of the Tripp mags while inserted in the gun and they do not stick up like the Wilson in the pictures you shared (pre-customization). I also compared them to the Kimber mag and the lip of the Tripps appears to be just a bit lower than even the Kimber mag so I don't think I will have the problem with a damaged ramp/barrel. Sorry to see that you had that problem, but glad that you went to the trouble of sharing the pics so we all can benefit from the experience. I will report back on the Tripp performance when I get back from Montauk and hit the range. Thanks!

Thanks again, Tony. I appreciate you taking the time to provide the links and very thorough responses to my questions. I did not know that extractor gauges and tensioning tools even existed. May very well be worth the investment for me as well. I think I am going to learn much about these handguns as time moves forward, especially with all the willing folks on this Forum.

Thanks, Bob. I will if I have any problems with the Tripp mags.

Thanks for chiming in, Tony. Your experience with the same gun is very helpful. When you say the shake test didn't work for you, what happened in your case that it didn't work. Also, what type of gauge (trigger pull??), and what kind of numbers should I be looking for? I got the Tripp mags in the mail today, so I will know more about how they work with this gun when I get a chance to shoot it next week. I will report back on performance with Tripp versus the factory mag that came with the gun. I hope I don't have to start filing parts down to get the slide stop to work better. At that point I might have to send it back for repair. I will be getting a Sig P226 in a few weeks so I will at least have a 9mm to shoot if I bite the bullet and send it back. Big decision there, I know. I also called the folks at Bob's Little Sport Shop where I bought the Kimber. They were very nice, but said they hadn't seen this problem before. They also said they would send it back to Kimber for me if I wanted them to.

Yes sir. Only 250 rounds through the pipe. My Kimber .45 was flawless out of the box, bought that new a few months ago, which is why I am looking for ideas. I just got off the phone with Kimber customer service. The person I spoke with suggested I put another couple hundred rounds through the gun and see if things change. He also said a heavier grain round (I am only using 115gr) might make a difference. I replied that the gun should shoot all and not just some flavors of ammo. He also pulled a gun from stock and said the recoil spring was snug on that gun as well, especially at the base of the spring, and that it shouldn't make a difference with regard to the weak ejection I am experiencing. The slide goes into battery without problem. Thanks!

Thanks for the thought on this, Freejersey. It reminded me that the recoil spring does not slide on the guide rod easily. It appears to be a tight fit. I don't see any imperfections on the rod (it is smooth). The gun came with a 12lb spring, so if it doesn't loosen up in the next couple of hundred rounds I will replace the spring and see if it makes a difference. Perhaps a call to Kimber will help get me a replacement, so I will try that as well. Greatly appreciate the help from the responders!

Thanks for the advice and the offer. Will see how the Tripps work and contact you if they don't. Yes, it has a magwell.

I just read the thread about 9mm 1911 choices, noting Tony357's post about his Kimber Team 2. I am fairly new to shooting semi auto pistol. I recently picked up the Kimber listed above (new) and have about 250 rounds through it. I notice that the casings dribble out of the gun, basically falling at my feet, or occasionally one hits me in the head. I am using Federal and Remington 115gr ball ammo. For what its worth, I am comparing this gun to my Kimber TLE II in .45, which ejects the casings 10 or so feet behind me. Is this an extractor problem? I did the test of putting a round in the extractor and shaking it with the slide off the gun. It stays put with even a hard shake. Do I need to put more rounds through the gun before I tweak anything? Not sure If it matters, but the slide does not always lock back after the last round is fired. This only happened twice in the 27 or so times I have put a full mag in and shot it. All with the 1 factory mag I have been using. I just ordered 3 Tripp Cobra mags so that problem will hopefully get resolved using them. Lastly, I keep the gun clean and lube the rails with REM oil prior to shooting. Any thoughts on these issues are appreciated!