That's right, I'm back. Suckered back after scouring youtube for videos to help inform me better about my new hobby, and getting hooked on the powerfactor videos.
The new hobby? Handloading. Yup, finally. I'm just about ready to start getting components. All I really need to know now is if I need to get a case trimmer or not for handgun reloading. Lyman's says "yes!", but then again they also seem to push the single stage press idea, too and assume you're reloading for rifle cartridges and want bullseye shooting accuracy, and handgun loading is treated somewhat as a secondary issue.
Reason for new hobby? I picked up my first new toy in about 1 year (last "new toy" was the Sig P238... my little pocket blaster... and I bought that just about 1 year ago) and one I've been wanting since I went to gunsite 6 years ago: A 1911.
Yup, that holy grail of handguns, that masterpiece of Saint Browning, John Moses, the beauty of beauties... a 1911. Not a kimber, not a para, not a Taurus. So, you say, which Springfield or Colt did you buy? Neither. Springfield's trigger just felt too... heavy. Not sure if it was trigger weight or simply how the trigger broke the sear, but it just felt like driving over a speed bump a little too fast. The colt's trigger break felt alright, but the trigger itself and the whole gun's "lockup" just felt too loose. The trigger could be heard to rattle, and you could see it do so too. BLEH! No thanks. Not for the price it was carrying. I then looked at the Sig 1911. Nice gun, felt good, trigger felt good, and then I saw the stock sights. For what I was getting and the added hassle of their non-standard-shaped slide? No thanks. Not when I couldn't see the dots in daylight (they were pure nightsites... no daylight visibility at all, not even indoors).
So, then at last, after trying to show me the kimbers (to which I said, "Sorry, not interested in them, but I'll look at one anyway"), the salesman brought out the Smith & Wesson. Commander-sized E-series, with the rounded heel.
Until then it was a solid tie between the Springfield or the Sig, with the Sig winning out (I could always replace the sights) on price.
Springfield and sig lost the match by a landslide in an instant.
Forgive the irreverance of posting a meh!-quality picture (included is my daily carry gear sans phone, which is taking the picture):
Couldn't seem to post directly, so here's the permanent FB-linkThe only downside is the upside for carry: very light frame (scandium). Recoil is heavy. However, it is still controllable. This'll be the last time I go with scandium instead of normal blued or stainless. A good belt and holster can handle the extra ounces of the not-so-light steel.
As far as handloading, I'm trying to figure out a basic load using clays powder and a moly-coat bullet. Hodgdon has loading data for 230gr LRN, which I suppose would work for 230gr moly-coat/poly-coat. However, I'm looking for a basic load that still meets IDPA's 165000 powerfactor but is still lower recoil. The lyman's handbook is handy for load dimensions, but when they mention clay's and a cast LRN, it says to use the load only using Federal brass (I have no idea how this 49th edition is up-to-date, as the bullet listings for 45acp seem scarce and hardly in keeping with a good deal of the options available). So I'm thinking maybe a 200gr bullet. Any help there would be nice. I have saved up Remington UMC nickel-coated brass from my factory hardball that I'm using for practice. Afterwards, it looks like starline will be the best supplier for brass for me to build up an initial supply to reuse from.
Btw, for those wondering what I'm going to do with my former daily carry (the M&P357c), I'm still using it very much. That gun is very near and dear. A wonderful carry gun and fantastic shooter for it's size and the power of the cartridge it is handling, I have no desire to relegate it to the obscurity of being a "I only shoot this at the range when I'm bored and want to switch it up sometime" gun. No thanks. It has served too well for that to be its reward upon being upstaged by the SW1911SC. I'm looking at getting an ankle-lite holster for it for it to ride as backup, or as primary (for driving). The Sig P238 was always intended as dress-clothing blackup, so that's what it's going to stay employed as: dress carry primary or dress carry backup (mainly when out of state, as most of my church knows I carry, and with me running audio, I'm closest to the main entrance door and can clearly see EVERYONE who comes in and out of that door, so if I even needed a reason to be armed, that would be sufficient reason, so I have no problem with them spotting my 1911's holster peeking out beneath my dress vest on occassion).
