diff --git a/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/actions/reporting/RecordPipeBufferedWrapper.java b/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/actions/reporting/RecordPipeBufferedWrapper.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..08117c06
--- /dev/null
+++ b/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/actions/reporting/RecordPipeBufferedWrapper.java
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+/*
+ * QQQ - Low-code Application Framework for Engineers.
+ * Copyright (C) 2021-2022.  Kingsrook, LLC
+ * 651 N Broad St Ste 205 # 6917 | Middletown DE 19709 | United States
+ * contact@kingsrook.com
+ * https://github.com/Kingsrook/
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+ * License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+package com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.actions.reporting;
+
+
+import java.util.List;
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.exceptions.QException;
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.data.QRecord;
+
+
+/*******************************************************************************
+ ** Subclass of BufferedRecordPipe, which ultimately sends records down to an
+ ** original RecordPipe.
+ **
+ ** Meant to be used where: someone passed in a RecordPipe (so they have a reference
+ ** to it, and they are waiting to read from it), but the producer knows that
+ ** it will be better to buffer the records, so they want to use a buffered pipe
+ ** (but they still need the records to end up in the original pipe - thus -
+ ** it gets wrapped by an object of this class).
+ *******************************************************************************/
+public class RecordPipeBufferedWrapper extends BufferedRecordPipe
+{
+   private RecordPipe wrappedPipe;
+
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** Constructor - uses default buffer size
+    **
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   public RecordPipeBufferedWrapper(RecordPipe wrappedPipe)
+   {
+      this.wrappedPipe = wrappedPipe;
+   }
+
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** Constructor - customize buffer size.
+    **
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   public RecordPipeBufferedWrapper(Integer bufferSize, RecordPipe wrappedPipe)
+   {
+      super(bufferSize);
+      this.wrappedPipe = wrappedPipe;
+   }
+
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    ** when it's time to actually add records into the pipe, actually add them
+    ** into the wrapped pipe!
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   @Override
+   public void addRecords(List<QRecord> records) throws QException
+   {
+      wrappedPipe.addRecords(records);
+   }
+
+}
diff --git a/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/actions/tables/QueryAction.java b/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/actions/tables/QueryAction.java
index a90535f9..1a5e5c84 100644
--- a/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/actions/tables/QueryAction.java
+++ b/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/actions/tables/QueryAction.java
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.actions.customizers.AbstractPostQueryCusto
 import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.actions.customizers.QCodeLoader;
 import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.actions.customizers.TableCustomizers;
 import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.actions.reporting.BufferedRecordPipe;
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.actions.reporting.RecordPipeBufferedWrapper;
 import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.actions.values.QPossibleValueTranslator;
 import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.actions.values.QValueFormatter;
 import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.context.QContext;
@@ -83,6 +84,15 @@ public class QueryAction
       if(queryInput.getRecordPipe() != null)
       {
          queryInput.getRecordPipe().setPostRecordActions(this::postRecordActions);
+
+         if(queryInput.getIncludeAssociations())
+         {
+            //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+            // if the user requested to include associations, it's important that that is buffered, //
+            // (for performance reasons), so, wrap the user's pipe with a buffer                    //
+            //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+            queryInput.setRecordPipe(new RecordPipeBufferedWrapper(queryInput.getRecordPipe()));
+         }
       }
 
       QBackendModuleDispatcher qBackendModuleDispatcher = new QBackendModuleDispatcher();
@@ -111,6 +121,7 @@ public class QueryAction
     *******************************************************************************/
    private void manageAssociations(QueryInput queryInput, List<QRecord> queryOutputRecords) throws QException
    {
+      LOG.info("In manageAssociations for " + queryInput.getTableName() + " with " + queryOutputRecords.size() + " records");
       QTableMetaData table = queryInput.getTable();
       for(Association association : CollectionUtils.nonNullList(table.getAssociations()))
       {
diff --git a/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/actions/tables/helpers/ValidateRecordSecurityLockHelper.java b/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/actions/tables/helpers/ValidateRecordSecurityLockHelper.java
index c69a2fc0..ae44f8fe 100644
--- a/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/actions/tables/helpers/ValidateRecordSecurityLockHelper.java
+++ b/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/actions/tables/helpers/ValidateRecordSecurityLockHelper.java
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ public class ValidateRecordSecurityLockHelper
          QSecurityKeyType securityKeyType = QContext.getQInstance().getSecurityKeyType(recordSecurityLock.getSecurityKeyType());
          if(StringUtils.hasContent(securityKeyType.getAllAccessKeyName()) && QContext.getQSession().hasSecurityKeyValue(securityKeyType.getAllAccessKeyName(), true, QFieldType.BOOLEAN))
          {
-            LOG.debug("Session has " + securityKeyType.getAllAccessKeyName() + " - not checking this lock.");
+            LOG.trace("Session has " + securityKeyType.getAllAccessKeyName() + " - not checking this lock.");
          }
          else
          {
diff --git a/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/modules/backend/implementations/memory/MemoryQueryAction.java b/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/modules/backend/implementations/memory/MemoryQueryAction.java
index cd0e8bf7..962fe46a 100644
--- a/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/modules/backend/implementations/memory/MemoryQueryAction.java
+++ b/qqq-backend-core/src/main/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/modules/backend/implementations/memory/MemoryQueryAction.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.actions.interfaces.QueryInterface;
 import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.exceptions.QException;
 import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.actions.tables.query.QueryInput;
 import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.actions.tables.query.QueryOutput;
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.model.data.QRecord;
 
 
 /*******************************************************************************
@@ -43,7 +44,16 @@ public class MemoryQueryAction implements QueryInterface
       try
       {
          QueryOutput queryOutput = new QueryOutput(queryInput);
-         queryOutput.addRecords(MemoryRecordStore.getInstance().query(queryInput));
+
+         ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+         // add the records to the output one-by-one -- this more closely matches how "real" backends perform //
+         // and works better w/ pipes                                                                         //
+         ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+         for(QRecord qRecord : MemoryRecordStore.getInstance().query(queryInput))
+         {
+            queryOutput.addRecord(qRecord);
+         }
+
          return (queryOutput);
       }
       catch(Exception e)
diff --git a/qqq-backend-core/src/test/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/actions/tables/QueryActionTest.java b/qqq-backend-core/src/test/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/actions/tables/QueryActionTest.java
index 9c70a049..8051f33a 100644
--- a/qqq-backend-core/src/test/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/actions/tables/QueryActionTest.java
+++ b/qqq-backend-core/src/test/java/com/kingsrook/qqq/backend/core/actions/tables/QueryActionTest.java
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ package com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.actions.tables;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
 import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.BaseTest;
+import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.actions.async.AsyncRecordPipeLoop;
 import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.actions.reporting.RecordPipe;
 import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.context.QContext;
 import com.kingsrook.qqq.backend.core.exceptions.QException;
@@ -200,6 +201,41 @@ class QueryActionTest extends BaseTest
 
 
 
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    **
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   @Test
+   void testQueryManyRecordsAssociationsWithPipe() throws QException
+   {
+      QContext.getQSession().withSecurityKeyValue(TestUtils.SECURITY_KEY_TYPE_STORE_ALL_ACCESS, true);
+      insertNOrdersWithAssociations(2500);
+
+      RecordPipe pipe       = new RecordPipe(1000);
+      QueryInput queryInput = new QueryInput();
+      queryInput.setTableName(TestUtils.TABLE_NAME_ORDER);
+      queryInput.setRecordPipe(pipe);
+      queryInput.setIncludeAssociations(true);
+
+      int recordsConsumed = new AsyncRecordPipeLoop().run("Test", null, pipe, (callback) ->
+      {
+         new QueryAction().execute(queryInput);
+         return (true);
+      }, () ->
+      {
+         List<QRecord> records = pipe.consumeAvailableRecords();
+         for(QRecord record : records)
+         {
+            assertEquals(1, record.getAssociatedRecords().get("orderLine").size());
+            assertEquals(1, record.getAssociatedRecords().get("extrinsics").size());
+         }
+         return (records.size());
+      });
+
+      assertEquals(2500, recordsConsumed);
+   }
+
+
+
    /*******************************************************************************
     **
     *******************************************************************************/
@@ -356,4 +392,25 @@ class QueryActionTest extends BaseTest
       ));
       new InsertAction().execute(insertInput);
    }
+
+
+
+   /*******************************************************************************
+    **
+    *******************************************************************************/
+   private static void insertNOrdersWithAssociations(int n) throws QException
+   {
+      List<QRecord> recordList = new ArrayList<>();
+      for(int i = 0; i < n; i++)
+      {
+         recordList.add(new QRecord().withValue("storeId", 1).withValue("orderNo", "ORD" + i)
+            .withAssociatedRecord("orderLine", new QRecord().withValue("sku", "BASIC1").withValue("quantity", 3))
+            .withAssociatedRecord("extrinsics", new QRecord().withValue("key", "YOUR-FIELD").withValue("value", "YOUR-VALUE")));
+      }
+
+      InsertInput insertInput = new InsertInput();
+      insertInput.setTableName(TestUtils.TABLE_NAME_ORDER);
+      insertInput.setRecords(recordList);
+      new InsertAction().execute(insertInput);
+   }
 }