Gearing up for a Limited 40cal Sight Tracker Build...

[rugerp89ipsc]

Can yall give me a crash course, with lots of pictures and details, on what the guys shooting sight trackers in Limited are running.

Trying decide between a 5" and a 6" gun. I am sure, like everyone else, I am trying to find a balance between the extra sight radius and having a gun that steers well. Seems like a lightened 6" Sight tracker maybe the way to go, but just wondering what the guys with trigger time on them think.

I currently have a 5" long/wide Ramped STI frame that I was planning on using, but I can obviously get it chopped or sell it.

This is going to be solely for USPSA Limited.

[zzw26n]

Subscribed ....

[MikeRush]

You could split the difference and do a 5.4"? I'm currently shooting a light 6" tracker, although mine isn't all that similar to a standard tracker. Its great for accuracy, transitions well, and overall handles pretty nice. The extra visual feedback can be a double edged sword. I don't have enough rounds down range with a 5" tracker to make a fair comparison.

You may want to ask Rippspeed on the forum, he had a 5" and a 6" tracker and a good amount of trigger time with both.

[trp]

I'm looking forward to trying my 5" out, I found lot of the parts on the forum for my build the barrel is going to be the hardest thing to find

Saved a bunch of money getting prize table stuff and posting ads I would highly recommend it

[rugerp89ipsc]

Thanks guys. Trying to exercise some control... Looking at slide lock/thumb rests and slide rackers too... Been a while since I had significant time behind a 2011 (7+ish years since I shot Limited with a 2011) and I am seeing a lot of "new" styles and builds out there.

Thanks for the responses.

[MikeRush]

Thanks guys. Trying to exercise some control... Looking at slide lock/thumb rests and slide rackers too... Been a while since I had significant time behind a 2011 (7+ish years since I shot Limited with a 2011) and I am seeing a lot of "new" styles and builds out there.

Thanks for the responses.

If there is any way you can try both, with a timer and with a variety of drills, that would be ideal. I'm planning on building a second gun, so I have a backup and can get some serious time behind a more conventional, bull barrel 5" gun. I am still trying to decide if I make it a tracker or not. Then, I will shoot whatever I like best.

As far as starting with the Long/Wide, I think that is a good way to go. Its easy to cut it back, harder to weld it back on!

[love2fishnshoot]

Sub'd...interested in a sight tracker in the near future to but from either limcat or cheely

[amish_rabbi]

Ive seen alot of broken sight tracker barrels lately, both stock STI and custom builds from respected builders. It has honestly made me wary of sight trackers and because the rules allow it, I think a 5.4" or 6" barrel with a 5" slide and barrel weight with a sight on it (make it steel, TI or AL depending on what you want) is the way to go. you get the longer barrel for less required powder, you get the extra sight radius and you dont need the extra slide length/weight plus you dont have to worry about a broken barrel

[clawson2011]

Ive seen alot of broken sight tracker barrels lately, both stock STI and custom builds from respected builders. It has honestly made me wary of sight trackers and because the rules allow it, I think a 5.4" or 6" barrel with a 5" slide and barrel weight with a sight on it (make it steel, TI or AL depending on what you want) is the way to go. you get the longer barrel for less required powder, you get the extra sight radius and you dont need the extra slide length/weight plus you dont have to worry about a broken barrel

Please explain how these barrels are broken or if you have one a picture would be great. thanks

[amish_rabbi]

Ive seen alot of broken sight tracker barrels lately, both stock STI and custom builds from respected builders. It has honestly made me wary of sight trackers and because the rules allow it, I think a 5.4" or 6" barrel with a 5" slide and barrel weight with a sight on it (make it steel, TI or AL depending on what you want) is the way to go. you get the longer barrel for less required powder, you get the extra sight radius and you dont need the extra slide length/weight plus you dont have to worry about a broken barrel

Please explain how these barrels are broken or if you have one a picture would be great. thanks

got pictures somewhere but cant dig them up at the moment. all 3 have broken at the rear of the sight rib. And at random intervals as well, one friend broke 2 in a week, different builders and one gun had 50k through it while the other had 5k

[StraightUp_OG]

Broken Ribs on a sight tracker is caused by a incorrectly fit barrel. If you cut the slide too close to the rib and do not radius the slide it will peen the rib until it fails. I have built 2 trackers and neither show any signs of peening.

[trp]

Hmmm first I've heard of this, hopefully this isn't the case with most of these and only a few

[Stician]

It depends on your skill level. Under the timer it doesn't make a discernable difference. Consistent loads and consistent handling of the gun will though. I would lean towards 5" or 5.4" for sight tracker. 6" might be too nose heavy, at least that's what Matt Cheely recommended when he built my 5.4 SDC.

[MWP]

Or a 5" gun with threaded barrel, and blank comp with sight on it, aka pre dot open gun?

Low weight, any sight radius you want, and no "hard to source" ribbed barrel.

[MikeRush]

This is my 6" tracker. With the aluminum guide rod and plastic mainspring housing I had it down to 36 oz.

In hindsight I would probably rather leave the dust cover long for a bit more weight down low- perhaps like some of the limcat Open guns where the compensator nestles down to the slide, but instead front sight block to the frame. It started as a bull barrel- it seemed to cycle too sluggish for my taste as a bull so I had it turned down and a Briley spherical bushing fit. I think at least in the 6" length, with a bull, I'd use a short dust cover and with bushing, a long dust cover.

The front sight block "comp" is relatively light, as it is titanium and counterbored to remove weight.

It is light, precise, and makes major with a light powder charge. It does have more vertical rise than something heavier, and takes a bit more grip pressure, but tracks straight and predictable. I love the gun, but...

I have struggled adapting to the extra sight radius. I see more movement in the front sight. I've added a bit of weight back in to stabilize things, but I still am seeing more, and seeing more of the misalignment (that I have in shorter guns as well, I just can't see it as much) which leads to me either struggling for the perfect sight picture, or ignoring all the feedback completely and shooting blind. That's entirely on me. I am going to build a 5" or 5.4" to be box legal, as I do travel and am interested in shooting IPSC abroad. Ill shoot both, and see what I shoot best.

Feedback from people that have shot it has been generally positive. Guys who shoot open have liked how it cycles fast, and allows you to recover the sight picture quickly.

I don't see a reason to have extra length that isn't barrel, as all the barrel you get lowers the amount of powder you need to make major.

[818-DVC]

Nice pistola, Mike

[rugerp89ipsc]

Great response! Thanks for the insight. All my trigger time has been with a 5" Dawson in 40, SA RO 1911 and Glock 34s in Production. The 5.4 sounds like it maybe a natural for me, but I am still a little hesitant on a 6". Almost all the sight trackers that long in my area seem to be 9mm guns for 3 G. I wonder if some trigger time on them would be helpful or deceiving for making my choice. Any thoughts?

[amish_rabbi]

Broken Ribs on a sight tracker is caused by a incorrectly fit barrel. If you cut the slide too close to the rib and do not radius the slide it will peen the rib until it fails. I have built 2 trackers and neither show any signs of peening.

Which is what I would say if this was 3 guns from the same builder, but 3 guns, two from custom builders and one stock STI makes me think it is also part of the design of the sight tracker. Looking at the barrel ribs, there is not nearly enough rad on where the rib attaches to the barrel for my liking, that point is a stress riser and I can see why it cracks.

Mike's gun is exactly what I'm talking about, barrel length, sight radius, sight not on the slide and no worries about stress risers in the barrel rib. all the benefits, none of the downsides

[MikeRush]

Nice pistola, Mike

Thanks! Your build is beautiful as well.

Great response! Thanks for the insight. All my trigger time has been with a 5" Dawson in 40, SA RO 1911 and Glock 34s in Production. The 5.4 sounds like it maybe a natural for me, but I am still a little hesitant on a 6". Almost all the sight trackers that long in my area seem to be 9mm guns for 3 G. I wonder if some trigger time on them would be helpful or deceiving for making my choice. Any thoughts?

I think shooting one in 9 probably would be misleading, in terms of splits and recoil, but would give you a pretty good idea of how it would point and transition- which could be useful. Honestly, the small differences probably don't matter too much- this was discussed on one of Ben's podcasts recently. As far as 6" being too much, I guess it depends on what you need to see. The sight radius is similar to the Glock 34, despite the difference in barrel length. I will say I handled a 6" conventional sight tracker build by Tim Graves and it was in the low/mid 40s, but felt much more lively in the hand due to how it was balanced and machined. I would never have guessed it weighed that much just by handling it.

It's funny, because I feel like the 6" can be too much feedback for paper, but I shot a 5" in the match yesterday and struggled on the little/far pieces of steel. Maybe I need a 5.4? In all honesty, what I need is practice... sometimes we overthink these things. Nils has been winning with a plain but well made 5", without slide lightening, without a tracker barrel, without stroke, without any of that stuff.

Doesn't stop me from seeking out more race from the gun because as a former drag racer that is what you do!

Broken Ribs on a sight tracker is caused by a incorrectly fit barrel. If you cut the slide too close to the rib and do not radius the slide it will peen the rib until it fails. I have built 2 trackers and neither show any signs of peening.

Which is what I would say if this was 3 guns from the same builder, but 3 guns, two from custom builders and one stock STI makes me think it is also part of the design of the sight tracker. Looking at the barrel ribs, there is not nearly enough rad on where the rib attaches to the barrel for my liking, that point is a stress riser and I can see why it cracks.

Mike's gun is exactly what I'm talking about, barrel length, sight radius, sight not on the slide and no worries about stress risers in the barrel rib. all the benefits, none of the downsides

The other thing I like about this setup is how much weight you can get out. May not matter as much for a 5", but I have seen 6" trackers with ridiculous amounts of fluting still wind up as a relatively heavy barrel. We went through a couple of stages of reduction on mine, but wound up with a bushing barrel and I really like how it points. Again, I'd like a bit of weight back in the frame, but the barrel/slide weight combo shoots how I like it to.

Some people would love the 6" bull/titanium FSB combo. I think it was around 9 oz, which is like the Limcat tungsten sleeved barrels. It was definitely soft, with a gentle, gentle lift, but I wanted more snap and more precision when swinging it around. Akai is taking it a step further in weight with his "pelican" barrels, which are similar in concept to mine but executed differently.

[Stician]

Great response! Thanks for the insight. All my trigger time has been with a 5" Dawson in 40, SA RO 1911 and Glock 34s in Production. The 5.4 sounds like it maybe a natural for me, but I am still a little hesitant on a 6". Almost all the sight trackers that long in my area seem to be 9mm guns for 3 G. I wonder if some trigger time on them would be helpful or deceiving for making my choice. Any thoughts?

My 6" Cheely is 36 oz and 5.4" Cheely is 35 oz. They don't feel very different. I've since added a tungsten guide rod for +1 oz and a brass magwell for +2 oz on the 5.4 and it still doesn't feel significantly different. Both shoot well.

I've shot a 5" SVI sight tracker with IEE grip and it was nice but not any flatter than my 5.4". The impulse was different but the front sight jumped about the same.

Edited March 29, 2015 by Stician

[StraightUp_OG]

Yeah no question Mike's is pretty sweet! It does take the need for fitting the rib out of the equation and the extended sight radius is superior.

I forgot I also used a hybrid in my open gun.

It's not a big deal to fit one and the slide should never touch the barrel at the back of the rib. SVI builds them and I never hear of theirs cracking and Cheely, Glenn and other name smiths seem to be building them correctly. The tech is not new and been around since the early 90's.

But you could be right it might be bad QC on a batch or a problem with heat treating but it's conjecture without seeing the slides and barrels. What I can say is that I have had no issue with any of mine and glad I have cache of barrels to build up.