Excellent plan!

Most people plan their 'home defense' like a SWAT assault... much smarter to plan a layered defense and bunker up 'till the cops arrive. Although things are a little different in the rural world where response times are significantly longer, and it may be necessary to go outside to investigate the 'bump' in the night.

Deer season is somewhere between two and three months away depending on what state you live in... so there is no more time left to fuck around.

Left to Right:

Armscor 110gr .308 FMJ's... meant for .30Carbine, but will hold together for up to 3000fps or so. I'm gonna see if I can get them to cycle well in my AR10. I've got about 5 different powders to mess with, so should be able to find something.

Sierra 165gr Gamekings... my favorite .30cal hunting bullet. Cheap and reliable, plus good aero for a bit more energy on the long shots from a short barrel.

Nosler 165gr Accubonds... for me, don't do anything better than the Gamekings and are a bit more expensive. My buddy shoots these really hot out of his 300Winmag at like 3300fps and swears by them.

Sierra 175gr Matchkings... these are pulls I bought pretty cheap. RMR sells clones for less than I paid for pulls, so I'll go with them next time. I got 300 of them, so won't be needing any for awhile. If anybody cares, these are the bullets that most of our regular sniper forces use.

Also for comparison, I put a .223 55gr FMJ bullet next to each group... aren't they cute! And a .223 case next to a .308 case.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1439867602

Damn, I somehow got unsubbed to this thread and missed the buckshot discussion.
I have a lot of actual experience with this. Good choice Sam.

I've recently upped my concealed carry game. I'll do a gear dump tonight and post some pictures.

My deer season begins in 39 days...

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1439926893

Not that I'm counting or anything...

So, I shot my first ever IDPA match yesterday with my shiny new M&P CORE...

34 entrants, only two Experts, no Masters. I came in 2nd overall, splitting the two Experts, and only 1.5 seconds off the win... a result I was pretty happy with! :party:

I asked lots of questions, to make sure I understood the rules and procedures. After being an instructor for over 20 years, some of the stuff is counterintuitive to my training, so I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy it. It's definitely a game, but it's still usefull trigger time, and I had fun, so I decided to join IDPA, and will be shooting a Classifier next weekend.

USPSA is coming up in a couple of weeks... I think I'm going to be spending a lot of money on ammo this fall... :rofl:

The CORE shot really well. The suppressor height sights are a completely different sight picture than my carry M&P, and that was causing me a few issues. Nothing a little more trigger time shouldn't sort out.

Great job!

Dude, time to get into reloading... good equipment is a lifetime investment that saves money. Reloading pistol ammo is so easy... practically free brass, mimimal brass prep, cheap powder, cheap bullet options, etc...

Dillon RL550B is about $450 and comes set up to do one caliber.
Besides that, you really only need few more things... a scale, tumbler, puller, and one or two other minor things.

The benefit to reloading is not only saving money, but the ability to tweak loads exactly to your gun. For competition, a load that is strong enough to 100% reliably cycle the gun, but is much lighter than factory ammo, and is still accurate enough, is pretty easy to achieve.

My G19 shoots 115gr 9mm FMJ's in any brass with Winchester standard small pistol primers with 4.8gr of Power Pistol... right around 1050fps... really mild, minimal fouling.

I'm in the workshop reloading for the AR right now. I like my Lee single stage press and my Lee Classic Turret but for shooting tons of 9mm in competition a progressive press would be a fantastic tool.

Well... I've been handloading since ~1983.

I have all the gear, what I mostly lack is the time. And I hate working with 9mm brass... the tiny stuff drives me nuts! I am saving brass in case I decide time v. $ equation shifts, but for now I'm not going to load for the 9.

If I start shooting my 1911s more, I may pull out the press...

So, since referenced single stages and progressives...

I like single stage so I can do one thing at a time and keep my eyes on everything but have started using my turret more often. The Lee Classic Turret uses 4 pulls of the lever for one round. I use a flashlight to look in the case to spot check the powder charge now and then but sometimes it makes me a little nervous doing it that way. I am interested to hear opinions on this.

For handgun ammo, I've used a Lee Turret press for years, but the three station version. I size/decap on an RCBS single stage, then tumble and hand prime with a Lee hand primer. I can do the hand priming in front of the TV... Then I head to the turret press... powder, seat and taper crimp in three steps. I use a Lee Pro Auto Disk measure, and once I figure out the setting using a scale, I've found it's plenty accurate for service type handgun ammo. I've never had one fail to drop powder. Once you get a routine, you can run pretty quickly.

Now, if we're talking hot .357 or .44 mag loads, I usually do those on a single stage with a powder measure. Rifle ammo, I only really load for precision stuff, and that's a lot more intensive and always single stage.

I love my Dillon 550. For 9mm, setup-to-cleanup, I can do 250rds in the first hour... if I wanted to go for 2hrs, I manage 600rds... and that's with taking a small break in between hundreds to load up the primer hopper. Sticking to a 250-300rd/hr rhythm is easy if you have everything laid out and a good feel for the machine.

I've been using Alliant Power Pistol exclusively... meters perfectly, burns clean, works with every primer I've tried... and it's CHEAP!

My feelings on the safety disadvantage of using a progressive from the standpoint of possible overcharge... not gonna worry for 9mm. I haven't checked, but I don't think I could put more than 6gr's in on accident without having a compressed load... which if I didn't see it happen, would feel/hear the crunch... plus, although it would be snappy, I think well within the tolerances of the average semi-auto pistol to handle.

Now... magnum revolver's... WOULD NOT FUCK AROUND when loading. You're probably not loading as much ammo and can afford to take more time during the loading process.

RMC... got to shoot my bargain $79 PSA barrel the other day. BAZINGA! The loads are all on my Dillon, banged them out quick. 55gr Hornady FMJ's, WCC or LC brass trimmed to 1.740, Winchester primers, and 24.0 of AR Comp. I was getting 2850fps and you can see the results.

Lowest hit on top-left group was cold barrel... otherwise that would have been down in the 1.5" range. Also, I always shoot the middle bullseye last on these types of targets... and usually semi-rapid, so they're always worse. I'll call this load well under 2moa.

Next time I load, I'll see if I can tweak a little... have some Wolf and Remington primers I'll load up 10ea with and see what happens. I've also got a bit more seating depth to play with, so maybe load a few long. I like the AR Comp a lot, clean and meters great.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1440506817

If you don't have a dedicated concealed carry belt, get one.
It makes a substantial difference in comfort and is a much sturdier platform.
This is an instructor's belt from crossbreed holsters. I opted for the velcro model with velcro lining inside.
This allows me to use v clips on my holsters, which makes my rig invisible with my shirt tucked in.
Speaking of holsters, I have an alien gear holster for my 1911.
I don't know how it compares in comfort to the cross breed holsters, but it is more comfortable to carry the 1911 than my Ruger lc9, which rides in the bianchi holster.
I absolutely love it.
I EDC a flashlight too, which is that pen looking thing on the left.
Foursevens was selling them at $30, and unfortunately, they are being discontinued.
If you are looking for an EDC light, get one while you can.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1440539980

I wear a Crossbreed belt every day. Having a proper gun belt is a fantastic thing even when you aren't carrying. Wilderness Instructor's belt is another good choice if you want a casual outdoorsy looking belt instead of leather.

Another good EDC light is the Streamlight Protac 2L. Here's mine with the SureFire Executive incandescent it replaced:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1440552089
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1440552089

They also make a AA version that's a bit smaller, but not as bright.

My Eagletac goes pretty much everywhere with me. Have had it for a few years now, rotating 2 batteries through it, still performs like new. Some of the anodizing has rubbed off, but can't argue with 720lm from a torch the size of a Chapstick.

Here's the post where I compare it with a standard Maglite.

https://www.miataturbo.net/insert-bs...79/#post914501

Didn't have the best luck with my first round of 6.8spc... bad enough that I'm not going to show you. I'm making a lot of changes to the second batch... lots more case prep and hand-weighing charges... plus I took an hour to organize and clean the bench and all my supplies.

Monk, you paid $30 for the Preon Penlight? Damn, I should have waited. I scoured the web 5 months ago and got one for $47.xx + S&H.

Nice light. Only problem is that if you want to keep it in a pants pocket, it can be turned on when squatting (which I have to do pretty often). First time it happened to me I thought I had lost control of my bladder and was peeing myself because my crotch started feeling warm.

Also, I just picked up a box of these to test/use in my CW9. Some people have said that these shouldn't be used in subcompact pistols and someone even said Hornady also advises against subs (but it doesn't say on the box), but some bloggers that I respect have said they like them and mousegunaddict.blogspot.com did what I consider to be a thorough review (with a Kahr PM9 no less) and showed the round passing FBI standards. And users on various Kahr forums have said they cycle perfectly. I'll still run a few mags through my gun, but I might have a new carry round.


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1441135751