https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/finally-10mm-auto-for-rhino-revolvers-44821396

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FD3S1LXK

My son's first novel.  It's not Tolkien, but it's OK.

A few years my family started receiving our CMP USGI surplus 1911's. This has spawned a fair bit of 1911 shooting. During this journey I looked into the pistol qualification requirements at the time these guns were entering service in WWII.  I found this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enTnooHTsLY

This weekend we set up some two target stations and had a go at the qualifier. The shooters were my mom (79.5), me (55) and two of my sons (22,19). The shooting, if you aren't aware and haven't watched the video yet, is one-handed shooting.  Total course of fire is 45 rounds over 9 strings of five shots each.  Scoring is a combination of normal scoring + hit/miss scoring for the "quick fire".  Final score is an average of the percentage from slow, rapid and quick fire.

We were shooting 220 grain SWC over 5.4 grains of W231.  This is a 875 fps load and shoots pretty easily.  It normally feeds fine in these guns, but we did have a few malfunctions here and there.

Mom and I shot first.  Mom's heart and mind were in it, but after the slow fire strings her elbow was done.  She is only 4'10" tall, 120 lbs and nearly 80 years old.

I finished out the qualifier alone.  Then my two sons ran through the course.

Mom scored 29% on her slow fire string.  Room for improvement.

I scored 94% in slow fire, 57% in rapid fire and 93% in quick fire for a total score of 81% - Sharpshooter. I tanked (or mis-scored) my second rapid fire string, and it cost me "Expert".

The boys got 43%/56% on slow, 29%/42% on rapid and 40%/67% on quick for overall scores of 37% and 55%.  Both commented early and often how "wrong" it felt to shoot one handed.

All in all a very enjoyable time.  Next time Mom will shoot the Rapid Fire stages and the rest of of will hopefully shoot "better".

If you are looking for a fun time, this challenge is it.

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Some time back I bought about 500 of the 200 grain Speer Gold Dot HP bullets. Many thanks the Wade for hounding Speer until they released this as a component.

Despite having them on my shelf for many years, I had not really worked up a load for them.  This weekend I was able to start that journey.  I had 20 loaded up with Longshot.

Specs:
10mm Auto Starline brass, once fired
Winchester Large Pistol Primers
8.0 grains Longshot
200 Grain Speer GDHP
1.260" COAL
Dillon 550 press with powder drop

Test Conditions:
85° F - Sunny
7,400 feet elevation
25 yards
Witness Match 5" barrel
Sitting, two hands, no mechanical rest
Labradar
10 Shots

Velocity Results:

Average	1117.24 fps
Highest	1140.69 fps
Lowest	1082.95 fps
Ext. Spread	57.75 fps
Std. Dev	17.23 fps

Accuracy was not really in scope for this test.  I didn't have time to set up the bench and I am not the greatest shot without a good rest.  Still all 10 shots would have been "A" zone hits on an IPSC standard silhouette.

Brass looked fine.  Hodgdon lists 7.5 grains max with a RN Lead bullet for 1141 fps and 8.2 grains max for a Hornady FMJ for 1172 fps.

I will test the remaining ten for accuracy next time I have the bench set up.  And I plan to load up another 20 rounds at 8.2 grains I expect another 30-40 fps from that increase.

My second son lamented to me last week that "pistols are really hard to shoot".  So, we spent some time in dedicated accuracy training on Saturday. In addition to helping him with shooting, I wanted to figure out an issue with my Witness Stock III in 9X19.

The story of how I got this pistol is out of scope, but it has never run 9X19 quite right.  I also have a 38 Super barrel for it that works very well.  When shooting 9mm it runs the most or all of the first magazine fine.  But always before the end of the second magazine it is hanging up about 1/4" out of battery pretty much every shot.  And it isn't a "bump" the slide situation - It is locked up tight, like the brass is out of spec.  But it's not, brass is fine and if you clear the gun, and reload the exact round that was stuck it loads fine. I think the chamber is on the "tight" side and as powder residue builds up it causes a clearance issue.

Sure enough about half way through his second 5 shot string the issue manifested and by the end his fourth string it was every single shot.  Stripped the gun down and sure enough, factory ammo would not pass a "plunk" test.  Rounds could be pushed into the chamber with minor pressure, but they would not fall in and out. I was thinking the reamer fairy might have to visit the gun. 

Then I had a thought...Swap in the RSA from my Witness Match in 10mm that had a stiffer recoil spring.  A glance in my range bag revealed a 20lb spring just hanging out, so rather than steal from the Match, I just put in the 20 lb spring.

We ran another 150 or so rounds with out so much as a hiccup. It seems it just needed a little extra "help".  And, to be honest a 20 lb spring is probably more appropriate for the 38 Super Comp loads I run.

As far as my son's shooting;  He had a little issue with trigger control.  I feel like a bad coach for not noticing this before, but he took the concept of trigger discipline to a whole new level.  He was keeping his trigger finger on the side of the frame until he was ready for the gun to fire, then trying to move from frame, to trigger to shot in one smooth, nearly instant motion.  I clarified that once his sights were pointed down-range and he was in shooting position, he should gently rest his finger on the trigger, do his final sight alignment and then just increase trigger pressure until the gun surprised him with a shot.  His 6-8" groups that were low-right almost immediately became 3-4" groups clustered around the center of the aim point.  Another couple sessions and he will surpass me.

**Very Preliminary Findings - Limited Data Set**

Saturday I was both doing some training with my second son who wants to shoot pistol better and doing some chronograph testing of some handloads. The test docket included velocity verification for a 45 ACP load.  The load is 5.4 grains of W231 under an NOE 453-197 SWC.  That bullet weighs 210 grains with powder coat in my alloy.  I have used this load for some time, but recently changed from CCI to Ginex primers so I wanted to re-validate.  Loads were produced on a Dillon 550C.

The first 5 shots averaged 927 fps, dev 15.8 fps, spread 38 fps. There was no velocity "cluster".  Gave about a 4" group at 25 yards two hands off a folding table, no bag.  Generally I will measure the "best three" but there really wasn't a best three.

To be honest I was a little disappointed in the accuracy...I am sure the pistol can shoot better than this, and I felt good about the shots, so I didn't think I was the problem.

My son shot a 5 shot string, with similar accuracy results*.  These were not chronographed.

On a whim, I loaded up 5 more shots all with Winchester headstamp.  Turned the labradar back on and gave it another go. This time the average was 953 fps, deviation was 10 fps and the spread was 20.  And this time I had three shots within 4 fps of each other (958, 961, 962) and two that were 942.  Group size dropped to 2.5", with three shots in about 1.25".

Two 5-shot tests do not make a statistically significant trend.  But the results were enough to inspire me to at least re-sort the brass into headstamp groups. And I am planning some more targeted testing by headstamp.

Generally I have considered minute of soda can "good enough" for pistol ammo, so I have not really sorted brass as the juice wasn't worth the squeeze.  But a new game has emerged at the cabin - The Roma Challenge.  When a tomato goes over the edge, it is placed on a stump on the side of the mountain.  The stump is 25 yards from the deck.  The challenge is to hit the tomato standing unsupported from the deck.  A roma tomato at 25 yards standing with a pistol is a small target, so "minute of soda can" isn't going to cut it.

I will report back once I have generated a larger data set.

*After a bit of coaching my son was shooting pretty much on par with me. He needed some coaching on his trigger control and his group size dropped from about 6-8" at 25 yards to 3-4" with 9mm Armscor 115 FMJ.

I recently read a discussion about striker vs hammer fired semi-auto's.  And then last night for un-related reasons I changed my EDC (more on that later). It got me thinking about the decision tree for choosing a gun to have with you.  And I thought this crowd might have some unique insights since 10mm enthusiasts tend to have more than one or two options.

My EDC choices have varied over the years. For the last several months it has been my Para P16/10mm and before that it was my Glock 20/29 for many years. Last night it changed to my Witness full-size.  And not because The_Shadow bought a cool Witness.

The demographics of my home have changed and now again includes toddlers both as residents and visitors.  While I hope I never leave a gun un-attended, it seemed prudent to choose a DA/SA auto so small hands would have a harder time operating the fire control group.

So, what drives your choices?  Anything stand out as "the reason" for you current or for a past choice you can share?

My recent acquisition of a Fusion 1911 sparked some renewed research into 9X23 Win and very heavy 38 Super Comp loads.  I find the 9X23 very interesting as a case study:  Ramped frame design with a very strong cartridge case head to enable 50K psi internal ballistics pressures.

This got me thinking about 10mm Auto.

6.8 SPC offers a potential brass source for a 55K PSI capable case head, with some trimming and reaming. So brass can be sourced for a wildcat experiment relatively easily.

A web search turned up that this was not an original idea.  But, it appears previous endeavours didn't get past the ideation phase.  I would guess that the brass reaming was the first hurdle.

Next came the question of gun strength.  I spent about 10 hours over the holiday weekend dusting off engineering books and collaborating with family members that are engineers. The math says a 1911 barrel would have a safety margin that is acceptable:  1.4 in 4140 (fully annealed), 1.5 in 416R. Most 1911 barrels in carbon steel are hardened and normalized, which would boost that margin to 2.2.

The Tanfoglio guns get a bit more interesting since I don't have good data on there barrel steel.  I assume it is 4140 or a similar arsenal steel, and that it is significantly hardened and normalized. With that assumption the safety margin is at least 1.6 in arsenal steel.  If they are using 416R the margin is below an acceptable threshold at 1.1, unless they are using some trick in the hardening process to exceed the typical 416R yield values.

So, testing in 1911 :-)

Next came the question of the action strength.  Due to the complexity of the geometries in the action, this is really a challenge for software that I no longer have a license for.  As a smoke test I calculated the lbs-force in a 460 Rowland and compared it to a 50K PSI 10mm round.  The 10mm is less but only by about 2%.

I would add here that this is being approached as a wildcat exercise.  A "production" implementation would require significantly more review.  I am trying to ensure I won't blow up my guns if I get to the testing ammo phase.

With this diligence completed, I stepped into a review of the internal ballistics.  No sense in doing this if there is not a meaningful gain in velocity over 10mm Auto.

This is where my excitement diminished a bit.  I was optimistically hoping to see a 20% + gain in velocity for mid-weight bullets and more for light bullets.  Realistically it appears the gains would be 12-13% for the bullets 135 and less, and about 8-9% for mid-weight bullets.  This gives a 135 grain JHP at a probable 1800 fps, and a 155 grain at a probable 1630 fps.

If 20% or a bit more was accessible, then I would be ordering a reamer for Forster.  But 10% is not so exciting given the reward.

The CMP has announced a partnership with Heritage Arms USA to sell M1 Garand rifles using new production forged receivers made in the USA. This is nearly 90 years since the rifle was adopted and nearly 70 years since the last ones were produced. The rifles will feature new production receivers, barrels and stocks and will contain a mix of NOS USGI and new commercial small parts.

The rifles will initially be chambered in 30-06 and 308 but other historically significant variants are in the works.

The delivery will follow the CMP 1911 pattern and the guns will have to ship to an FFL, not direct to seller like surplus USGI Garands.  They will be using a new digital order process different from both USGI Garand and CMP 1911 sales processes.

Price will be $1900.00 + $40 S&H as well as any FFL fees on the buyers end.  For comparison MSRP of a Springfield M1A is $1785.00

This is exciting news for M1 Garand enthusiasts and ensures that these classic firearms - "The greatest battle implement ever devised" - will exist for decades to come.

https://thecmp.org/introducing-the-m1-garand-by-cmp-a-new-chapter-begins/

Yesterday my oldest received her masters degree in Bio-statistics from the Duke University School of Medicine.  She is the first of my children to receive an advanced degree.  She entered her program two years ago with two children, ages 3 and 2. and she finished the program with with three.  She maintained an 3.7 GPA and completed as first author a meta analysis on multiple sclerosis.

She is an amazing woman and make me think that occasionally I get something right.  In reality I know it is mostly her mothers influence.

Of course I can't ever just leave well enough alone.

Loving my new to me Fusion Gold 9mm I couldn't help but think it would be "super" if it had the option of having a bit more "oomph".  So I ordered a Fusion 38 Super match grade barrel and a barrel bushing to I could fit a caliber conversion to the gun.

Got the barrel on Monday. I have fit one other 1911 barrel to a gun and that project is still under-way (maybe another thread on that). All the instructions I have found suggest starting by fitting the barrel hood to the slide.

It didn't start great.  The barrel only made it about 1" into the slide before it came to a stop.  Marking fluid showed it rubbing on the top of the barrel chamber about 11:00, but that seemed like the wrong place to start removing material. My google-foo didn't turn much up - either I was the remedial student or this is an uncommon problem.

While I stewed on this the first night I fit the bushing to the slide. It took minimal fitting to be nice and tight to the slide.

So, I started checking.  The barrel dropped straight into every other 1911 slide I tried:  Para, STI, Remington Rand, RIA, Ruger. It was a tiny bit tight on the STI and the Ruger passing through the muzzle end of the slide.  This made me think I had a "max" spec barrel chamber and a "min" spec slide tunnel and I was not sure which should be clearanced or where. Default thinking was clearance the barrel, but where.

I contact Fusion CS and explained my issue in detail with measurements, etc. Within 24 hours I had a response from Tyler Serva with specific directions to ignore the rubbing on the top of the barrel and to clearance the barrel foot on the opposite side of the rubbing. With that information I had the barrel passing fully into the slide in about 15 minutes.  Very impressed with the Fusion support.

Now that I had reached familiar ground I centered up the barrel using the Brownells alignment guide and clearanced the sides of the barrel hood into the slide.  I didn't count strokes but recall about 15-20 strokes on the ejection port side and about 4-5 stokes on the other side of the barrel hood. I used my jewelers file set and a wide flat jewelers file. I removed maybe .003-.004" total for a tight but smooth fit.

Clearancing the face of the barrel hood so the barrel could lock into the lugs was next. I could force the barrel into the lugs so I knew it didn't need much. I put sharpie on the face of the hood and just kissed it with the file until the sharpie was gone.  Did that three times and it was moving smoothing but tight into the lugs.  Engagement was .048" so I didn't have to fit the pads of the upper lugs at all.

I then installed the Brownells 1911 barrel holder and installed the barrel/slide to the frame to check the lower lugs.  They were perfect out of the box - The thumb safety would "just" clear and engage if I firmly closed the action.

I measured and based on the math I needed a #3 link, which is the "stock" or "spec" size.  Installed the link in the barrel, put some sharpy on the lower lugs and assembled the gun. First time in my live have had to use a bushing tool, but there was no moving it with my fingers.

The slide stop pin was similarly tight going in the first time. Cycled the slide about 30 or forty times by hand the then took the gun down.  I used the "slide off" method instead of the standard GI method to avoid rotating the bushing when it is in lockup.  The lower barrel lugs showed the perfect engagement pattern with rubbing at lock-up evenly across both lugs right on top. No contact once the action unlocks.

I then installed the barrel in the frame with the slide stop pin and examined the barrel to frame engagement.  It was textbook.

Reassembled the whole gun and checked feeding from a magazine.  It fed empty cases, dummy HP's and dummy SWC's loaded to max COAL.

This weekend I should get some range time, but all indications are I have a 1911 in 38 Super ready to go.  After confirming function with live ammo it will all come apart again for a final polish of any remaining tool marks I left behind.

Very impressed with the Fusion barrel and bushing.  Already thinking about ordering a 10mm barrel.  I have long wanted a frame ramped 10mm 1911 and this gives me that option for the cost of a barrel, plug and spring.

https://www.keltecweapons.com/firearm/rifles/sub2000-series/

Now in 10mm!

As of Friday I am no longer type 2 diabetic.  Been off the medication since January and my A1C is still "normal".  Just had to loose 60 lbs. This summer I plan to loose another 20-25 lbs to solidify things.  The doc was very clear that if I gain the weight back, I will get the diabetes back too.

Just wanted to share my good news!

My recent acquisition and subsequent range session with a Fusion Firearms 1911 with 20 LPI front strap checkering made me question my commitment of stair tread adhesive traction for grip. So I grabbed the cheapest 1911 in my safe, my Tisas GI model, and abused it with a 30 LPI checkering file.

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Overall very happy with the result. My vertical likes are ever so slightly off vertical. But the diamonds are sharp and the frame is very grippy.  It just needs a better set of grips than the plastic factory ones and it will be done.

And, I am now a bit addicted to checkering I think.  I have a 20 LPI and a 25 LPI file inbound and and making plans for my SR1911 in 10mm to get some treatment.  I also found out that there are 40 LPI files, which is probably shallow enough to use on my Para, RIA HC and Hi Power.  The thin fronstrap on those guns usually precludes checkering as it removes too much depth.

Some added pictures:

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James Reeves asking the important question:

I have on hand about 22K primers, a couple hundred lbs of powder, about 1K lbs of lead, plus maybe another 10K of jacketed bullets.  I have no idea on brass, other than to say at least 1K for everything I shoot except 6.5 Carcano.

I could really use some small pistol primers. I have only 1K of those on hand. I can sub in small rifle of course, and I have 6K of those so I am not "worried", but I also would not pass on a deal.

So, how are you stocked?

Do you have a preferred or favorite coffee ritual in the morning.  For me it's 30 oz of plain old drip coffee, black, using the Costco medium roast beans in the silver leopard spotted bag.

Have been using a 14 cup Cuisinart machine, but it is damaged and will need to be replaced soon.

So, what's in your kitchen and do you have any strong opinions about your coffee?

Per my other thread, I have a new to me 1911 in 9mm.

TBH, I have always thought a 1911 in 9mm was a curiosity. If I want a SA Auto in 9mm the Hi-Power is my go to.  I have a nice utility grade FN and it has a trigger just as good as my new 1911 9mm.  If I were going to carry a nine, the HiPower is lighter, has 5 more rounds and shoots just as well.

It seems to me a 1911 with a .35 bore should be in 38 Super or 9X23. I have a 38 Super Witness, and have several thousand Starline 38 Super Comp brass on hand. It seems like a natural fit to get a 38 Super barrel for this gun.

OTOH, 9X23 offers a tiny advantage over 38 Super Comp on paper.  I have read conflicting information about the safety of loading 38 Super Comp brass to 9X23 pressure - Some say your are  a loon if you do, others say it is fine.  Going 9X23 would eliminate the question, but would add another caliber to my already complicated list of cartridges I load and shoot.

So, thoughts?  Leave it alone and enjoy it as a range gun?  Get a 38 Super Barrel and load hot?  Just add more logistics challenges to my life?

Anyone shoot 9X23 and have feelings about it?  Anyone shoot super hot 38 Super Comp and have feedback?

The pawn shop I use for my FFL was a block away so rather than sit in the tire waiting room I went down to check out what was at the pawn shop.  You might see where this is going.

They had this 9mm Fusion Freedom Gold in the case.  After some back and forth I was out the door for $400.  The gun had some holster/carry wear as well as some dings in the grip panels.  And the action felt - well not quite right.

During the detail strip a small sliver of steel came out. Took me a bit to figure out what it was, but it was the half-cock ledge.  Many 1911's don't have a half cock anymore, and I certainly never use one, so I am not losing sleep over it. Whatever force was needed to break it off is a little more concerning, but the action feels very good now. That bit of steel was certainly the issue with how it felt at the shop.

I also found some surface rust here and there, so I hit the whole frame with degreaser, then steel wool over the rust, then dawn and hot water.  From there the frame and slide went into boiling water, then over to the parkerizing solution until they stopped "fizzing".  Back to the water for a rinse, then out, dried, oiled, rubbed down with grease and brushed out with a stiff plastic bristle brush.  I also taped off the checkering on the grips and then sanded down the smooth section and re-coated it with boiled linseed oil.

It cleaned up really nice.  Very happy right now.  Should get it out to shoot next weekend, hopefully it runs as good as it now looks.

I am thinking of picking up a 38 Super barrel for it as I have always wanted a 1911 in 38 Super to go with my Witness Stock III.  I also found it has the larger 40/10mm breech face, so of course I will add a 10mm barrel to the mix too.

Anyone here a user of Gordon's Reloading Tool (GRT)?

For those not familiar, it's like Quickload, but open source-ish.  I am a Mac/Linux guy but it was relatively easy to get installed and working.  I would suppose it is easier on Windows.

I have used it somewhat superficially.  Just wondering if it is a core part of anyone's reloading process.