Garrison Joe

That was a really poor design choice by the maker who oversized the loaded round checker - thus defeating 100% of the purpose of the tool. Hope you can get your funds back. So many good reloading tools are being made by reputable manufacturers, that I don't buy such important items off EBay. good luck, GJ

Rabbit and squirrel hunting. 4 and 6 widely used even today.

It's the RO's job to call any penalties, like a SDQ. It's the spotters' job to call hits and misses. They can point out a POSSIBLE penalty, but RO has to call it. Unless it's a situation where an immediate Cease Fire needs to be called, like a person down range.

You have to be on the firing line to determine "breaking the 170." Looking at a video is NOT the way to judge it. I'll trust the eye witnesses who were right there. good luck, GJ

Out of what powders you have, TiteGroup will run the 1911 better over a wide range of loads. The best 1911 powders IME, and also classics, are WST, Unique and Bullseye. good luck, GJ

Once. I've even forgotten. Can you?

What you thought you had to be bent about was about 4 years ago, and has nothing to do with this thread.

Looked up the applicable rule in the handbook. Page 13 under 1911 Pistol Modern Category Modifications good luck, GJ

That is not a rib, it's a sight base. That older style of adjustable sight needs a long slot to mount the front part of the sight. Besides, factory (OEM) full ribs have been allowed if they are part of the manufacturing process, not an add-on. Like on some Gold Cups. good luck, GJ

Mine get edited when I spot a typo after posting it, or I want to comment on another point, like I did about the question of how the OP's ammo looked. None were edited after another poster added their reply. GJ

What I see looking up that model, is that the rear sight is either a Millett or Bo-Mar-style rear target sight, adjustable. It is almost certainly a legal rear sight for a "Modern" category 1911. Not even close for Traditional category for a lot of reasons after taking 5 minutes worth of look at a video about them. What did this little birdie tell you made the gun illegal for Modern? There might be other reasons for failing Modern checks, but a sight base and adjustable sight would not be one. Gun was made as a hardball gun, as I understand, so you should not be surprised if you need to tune the barrel and feed ramp some to feed lead bullet loads. good luck, GJ

A new 1911 has traditionally needed about 200 factory power FMJ rounds through it to break it in. Loosen up the action, wear in the extractor, etc. The Taurus? Would not HURT to run some through it, too. Fire 50 or so, clean the gun. Repeat. Look for any failures of any sort. If a 1911 is hiccuping on factory FMJ, it for sure has problems that can get in the way of running lighter power lead bullet ammo. Report back how the break ins go. There COULD be a function problem with both guns, but very unlikely. Unlikely either will malfunction with FMJ, but the object is to loosen the gun up so testing with lighter lead bullet ammo tells no lies. So, loosen the guns up before you seriously start looking for why the reloaded ammo does not run the guns well. The ammo you have loaded at this point looks reasonable. Nose is a little flat-ish compared to FMJ ammo. That should not cause a failure to feed the last 1/8" into chamber though. Powder coating CAN cause some chambering problems. Have the bullets been run through a sizer die AFTER being powder coated? I have seen some coatings so thick or so non-slick that they cause a failure to feed, but mostly by sticking the nose to the feed ramp and depositing powder coat color there. good luck, GJ

Layered safety, I would guess. Just like in aviation, where a mistake in operation or mechanical failure can be fatal. But, I did not help write the rules. I just shoot by them. good luck, GJ

Gun is not in battery (ready to drop hammer on firing pin) until the rear surface of slide and rear surface of frame just below the joint between them are perfectly flush. This is not a jam, or a failure to feed. It's a failure to go into battery. If you push the slide forward with a strong tap of heel of your off-hand, does this resolve the failure-to-fully-chamber problem and let it fire? If it does, do you keep the disconnector tip lubed with a drop of oil every time you take gun apart for cleaning? Are you using range pickup brass to reload? If so, you really need a chamber check gauge to see if your brass has a base bulge common with loads that are hot enough to swell the case just in front of the extractor groove. Barrel plunking probably will not find these bulged brass situations. Spend $20 or so and get a good loaded round checker gauge! The most common problem new .45 auto loaders have is they run into brass with bulges at the base, which the sizer die in .45 auto will not remove! That is where the Lee bulge-buster kit comes in really handy. This consists of a push-thru die and a push rod which install on a spare single-stage press. Even a loaded round can be pushed through this die safely. But the best way to use it is "bulge bust" all fired brass that you know you did not shoot from your own guns, before you reload it. If you sometimes shoot almost +P level reload ammo, you may want to bust all your own fired brass, too. The bulge if not removed, sometimes means the round will not fully chamber, thus will not fire. Second cause of failure "just short of fully chambered" is a bullet seated long enough to jam the ogive of the nose into the very short throat of the 1911. If you find the rounds that do not chamber and inspect the exposed bullet nose for rifling marks, it should tell you if that round was over-length for your gun. No part of the cylindrical SHANK of the bullet should be in front of the case mouth. Only the rounded ogive of the nose can hang out in front of the mouth. good luck, GJ

Show us a picture of the jam next time you have it happen. That will tell us which of several types of feed jams you are having. Jam with nose on ramp, jam from nose diving of the round, three-point jam, etc, etc. Get a couple of pictures for best info - one showing the nose of bullet and front half of case, and another of the rim of the case and whether it has slipped under the hook of the extractor. Happens under what condition? First round out of a full mag, or the last one out? Both of these situations may point to a magazine problem, but different causes. Randomly? Could be the extractor is not tuned to pick up the round real well. In fact, that would be my first guess, especially with a lower price range gun. The extractor is not just for ejecting a case - it controls a "controlled feed" of the round into the chamber. What the #*@) does "dropping a round into the mag" mean? You mean just loading a single round into the mag? I hope so, because if you are placing a loose round on top of the mag follower (not into the mag itself) or into the chamber loosely and dropping the slide, you are putting a LOT of stress on the extractor making it snap over the rim. As for mags, I would not trust an "unverified maker's" OEM mag from Taurus. I would trust a Wilson or Tripp or Checkmate. Not so much the McCormick without replacing the spring and follower. But show us how your failure to feed occurs before you run out and buy anything! Your "ejection of cases" test shows your springs are about right. good luck, GJ