Switching to Open......Any advise that you wish you knew before you switched?

[teros135]

2 hours ago, KampKustoms said:

By the amount of questions, products, and threads out there, "buy once, cries once", does't apply. More like, "buy many times, cry everytime".

(haven't switched.... yet)

Please feel free to not shoot open.  Sounds like you'd be very unhappy.

[KampKustoms]

1 hour ago, teros135 said:

Please feel free to not shoot open.  Sounds like you'd be very unhappy.

I believe you misunderstood. I'm excited to go open, but am still in the research stage and understand the cost of experimenting and finding what one likes. Experimenting is half the fun!

Edited January 20, 2017 by KampKustoms

[kneelingatlas]

9 hours ago, KampKustoms said:

By the amount of questions, products, and threads out there, "buy once, cries once", does't apply. More like, "buy many times, cry everytime".

(haven't switched.... yet)

Like new cars, Open guns depreciate as soon as you drive them off the lot, so if you buy a used, low-milage model you can try it out and get most of what you paid if you decide to sell it and try something different.

The chances of being 100% content with your first of fifth Open gun are slim, so don't agonize over the "perfect setup", just grab something for a good value, shoot it and figure out what works for you.

Along those lines, if you finger yourself wanting to change calibers, cut back the slide, or change the gun in a significant way, don't! Just sell that one and buy another closer to what you want.  Otherwise you'll find yourself with $5K into a gun worth $3K and you'll hate yourself for it.

Edited January 21, 2017 by kneelingatlas

[Expflier]

20 hours ago, kneelingatlas said:

Along those lines, if you finger yourself wanting to change calibers, cut back the slide, or change the gun in a significant way, don't! Just sell that one and buy another closer to what you want.  Otherwise you'll find yourself with $5K into a gun worth $3K and you'll hate yourself for it.

Words of wisdom. Amazing how a great deal on a open gun can snowball out of control!

[Novock]

The best advise I could give you is dry fire like crazy to make shooting a dot second nature... Buy quality gear and save if necessary to make that happen. Don't settle for a "budget" or "entry level" rig or you may get frustrated and end up spending what you would have on a high end gun, just getting the "budget" gun running reliably. Once you get a load you like stick with it.

Welcome to the party!

[BallisticianX]

The things that stick out to take into consideration when building the gun:

Titanium Comp, reduces nose weight for less nose dive and easier transitions.
I've found a appreciation for the CFD comp recently...New Bedell comp is a good choice as well.

Aggressive grip texture, keep that hot rod from slipping in your grip when you make unknowing grip pressure changes while swinging it around.

Flat trigger, the flat trigger just gives that consistent feel regardless of where your finger rests on the face of it. To go a step further get the SVI trigger system so you can change those flat inserts out to find your preferred insert length.

Choose a slide cut/lightening scheme that gets your slide to 10.5 ozs. That will reduce nose dives when everything else is tuned up to reduce flip.

Also when choosing this slide cuts pick something unique and eye catching. Remember sex sells so make it sexy in order to increase sell ability when you inevitably find the desire to build another one.

I finally will also suggest the PT Evo steel grip. I've found it to be an awesome addition to balance and dampening weight in the most impactful spot to reduce felt recoil and muzzle flip while not affecting transition speed. The Evo Profile is comfortable and naturally gets that dot on target in line with my eye. (Ps; if you go with an Evo or another steel grip, have it done with the build. Overall labor is cheaper that way versus adding it later by a gunsmith. If you think your gonna install it yourself later on your in for a long tedious task. Trust me if you have a busy life it's worth the money spent to get it installed. It's quite possibly the worlds worse gunsmith job bestowed on us!

That's my two cents....hope it helps.





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[Sporky]

Awesome reply!
Any thoughts on finding 38 super brass?

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[jcc7x7]

2 hours ago, Sporky said:

Awesome reply!
Any thoughts on finding 38 super brass?

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Close your eyes open your wallet and call Starline.  order as much as you want to afford at one time and have it ready to go.

I loaded in 1000 round batches when I shot supercomp so I had some idea of the times loaded.

Went to 9 major cause I got tired of chasing brass.

[Hi-Power Jack]

4 minutes ago, jcc7x7 said:

Close your eyes, open your wallet and call Starline. 

May as well start with fresh, new Starline brass.   

Load them up, shoot them all in practice 3-4 times, and then

it costs the same to lose the fifth reload at a match as it costs

to shoot 9mm.   

(NO, I went the 9mm route - be damned if I'm going to support

Starline when I can get 9mm brass so inexpensively).   

[Sarge]

46 minutes ago, Hi-Power Jack said:

May as well start with fresh, new Starline brass.   

Load them up, shoot them all in practice 3-4 times, and then

it costs the same to lose the fifth reload at a match as it costs

to shoot 9mm.   

(NO, I went the 9mm route - be damned if I'm going to support

Starline when I can get 9mm brass so inexpensively).   

I still have never bought a single piece of 9mm brass. 

[tyler2you]

3 hours ago, Sporky said:

Awesome reply!
Any thoughts on finding 38 super brass?

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Volunteer to work a major match.  The RO crew typically gets to keep whatever they pick up on their stage.

[blueeyedme]

3 hours ago, tyler2you said:

Volunteer to work a major match.  The RO crew typically gets to keep whatever they pick up on their stage.

Yep!  I pick it up, clean it up and sell the 38 Super and SC off for $110/M.  It's a nice tip for working major matches.  Personally, I shoot 9 Major and have never bought brass in my life.

Edited January 25, 2017 by blueeyedme

[BallisticianX]

Awesome reply!
Any thoughts on finding 38 super brass?

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Not sure if you need 38 super (semi-rimmed) or 38 Super Comp (rimless) brass. For open guns Super Comp is the way to go. No magazine issues with stacking and hooking issues like regular 38 super semi rimmed. (They are both interchangeable with the possibility of a minor extractor adjustment.) 38 super & Super Comp are both readily available from Starline. The only other source for 38 Super Comp I know of is Armscor, they started making it but I can not speak of its quality.


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[Sporky]

Mine is just super as far as I can tell.  I just ordered some Starline From Midway today and it should be here by the end of the week.  Hopefully I can get some rounds made up and can get some rounds down range.

I think I am going to start saving up for a custom now and maybe switch to 9mm on that one.  I will wait and see how bad the Super is cost wise and go from there.  I am excited to just get shooting already!  I don't remember this much fuss when I started shooting limited, but this is just another animal all together.

Thanks for all the help

 

[BallisticianX]

Mine is just super as far as I can tell.  I just ordered some Starline From Midway today and it should be here by the end of the week.  Hopefully I can get some rounds made up and can get some rounds down range.

I think I am going to start saving up for a custom now and maybe switch to 9mm on that one.  I will wait and see how bad the Super is cost wise and go from there.  I am excited to just get shooting already!  I don't remember this much fuss when I started shooting limited, but this is just another animal all together.

Thanks for all the help

 

You can use Super Comp even if it was originally built around regular super. The only thing you might have to do is increase the extractor tension. But you may not have too. In open the rimless super comp is a more reliable choice. It improves magazine reliability without that regular 38 super semi-rim causing the rounds to curve and hook each other inside the mag.


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[Sporky]

Should I get a 38 super sizing die? I have one from my 9mm set.

 

[js1130146]

34 minutes ago, Sporky said:

Should I get a 38 super sizing die? I have one from my 9mm set.

 

Yes. 38 super is a straight wall case and 9mm has a taper

[3gunDQ]

(1) Get the Mr bullet feeder for your Dillon, if you don't have a Dillon 650/1050.... buy one.

(2) buy a superbada$$ gun.... even if you can't shoot you'll still have a bada$$ gun and bada$$ guns kick ass. 

(3) dry fire, a lot..... everyone thinks you can pick up a dot gun and rock it, they are wrong.

(4) take a class from a pro, since you are in TN you are near a lot of really good shooters.

(5) enjoy spending money... open is expensive 

 

 

[BallisticianX]

Dry fire is a good piece of advice. Make sure to incorporate practice draws to bring the dot to the target in the screen. Bad grip and no draw practice with a dot is not forgiving and will cost you lots of time trying to frantically find the dot.


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[Chutist]

Best advice I saw so far... find a clean used gun (that is know to run) to start with... you'll learn what you like and go from there.   I shot open for years and was blessed with an open gun that ran 100%.  I shoot with a bunch of guns now and I'm always amazed at how many can't get though a match without a malfunction.  Gun, Mags, ammo...sort of like Fuel, air, spark in a car.  Ya gotta pay attention to all three.   

[buckaroo45]

Chutist has a good recipe. Wish I'd known that when I went to Open. That and I'd add to go straight to 9MM Major. LOTS less hassle to my mind unless you like the issues caused by first wives and full on race cars. Same kinda drama with fussy guns; frustrating and irritating at the same time. First buy a gun already proven to run 100% then go shoot snot out of it. You'll have lots more fun and more money for ammo. Oh, and learn to reload in volume. You'll be surprised how fast those things can eat boolits. YRMV but not bloody likely.  Why do you think it's called "The Dark Side"?

[BBQDawg]

Been shooting uspsa now a little over 3 years starting with Single Stack and then to Limited.  About 7 months ago switched to Open and having the most fun ever had shooting.  Wish I had done it sooner.  Have been through several guns, constantly upgrading.  Tried 9mm major first, but decided I liked SuperComp better.  Lots of good advice above, the best of which is plenty of dry firing so you can find the red dot.  It's amazing how that sucker can disappear on you when you have to make a presentation of the gun in a position other than your normal draw, such as weak hand, around corners, etc., and occasionally on your normal draw if your grip is not what it should have been.  Then it does seem like an eternity to find it.

[Jerry Anderson]

The fun factor is off the chart. Now it tenths of a second separate the top guys. Keep trying and so slow to go fast.

[kmanick]

hey guys a new member on this board with a question, I'm just getting into this "competitive" shooting , going to start with steel plate

and I notice a lot of you are doing your own reloads. why? is it a cost factor or is it that you can't find an off the shelve round that works perfectly for you?

I've been shooting a lot of S&B 115gr & 124gr and Fiocchi 115gr with my M&P 9L and both rounds seem to hit pretty much where I put them consistently. 

at $189.00 a case  shipped is it that much cheaper to reload 9mm yourself? or again is it finding a weight that works best for you that you can't get 

"off the shelf"?

[kneelingatlas]

12 minutes ago, kmanick said:

$189.00 a case  shipped is it that much cheaper to reload 9mm yourself? or again is it finding a weight that works best for you that you can't get 

"off the shelf"?

 

There are a few facets to your question, but first, yes, not including the value of your time, you can load your own comparable rounds for less.  More importantly reloading allows you to tailor your loads to your specific purpose.  In USPSA, there are specific power factor requirements, factory ammo might be hotter than it needs to be in some cases, not hot enough in others.

 

When it comes to compensated race guns, there is very little available off the shelf which will make the gun run at all, let alone achieve the desired effect, so you'll find the vast majority of Open shooters reload.