HeinrichDerLowe

Every time I check up on this thread, I gain a greater understanding of why some people take up our sport but eventually decide not to come back. Boo.

Thanks guys. The detailed info on the extractor was certainly helpful. I hadn't thought to pull mine for cleaning since the round count was so low, but I have it out now and its quite dirty. Hopefully a thorough scrubbing will resolve the matter.

Some significant malfunctions have taken my SP01 Shadow out of match rotation. About my setup: -Purchased from CZ custom in January -Round Count 1,000-1,200 -Mags: Mec-Gar AFC 17rd (the factory 18rd mags are junk) -Ammo: Precision Delta 124gr JHP over TiteGroup (have also tried various factory loads) About the malfunction: -Stove-pipe failure to eject, with a second round feeding into chamber underneath. The fresh round essentially results in a double-feed since it is caught over the feed ramp while still retained by the feed lips on the magazine. -Removing the stove-piped spent case results in a true double feed as the slide grabs yet another round from the magazine. -To resolve it, I have to strip the magazine from the gun with some authority, rack the slide, fresh mag, rack slide, and go (finally). Other Observations: -The malfunction has been occurring with increased regularity, beginning after ~500 rounds. Now occurs about every 50rds. -The malfunction has occurred with numerous magazines. -My gun was delivered with a very rough chamber and leaves brass heavily scored. I initially thought the increased friction between the spent casing and chamber was slowing the slide sufficiently to prevent proper ejection. -Another competitor has an identical SP01 Shadow (purchased at the same time) with ~1,500rds that has just begun exhibiting the exact same malfunction as my gun. Since his does not leave scored brass, I suspect the rough chamber is not the cause of my trouble. -There does appear to be a bit of dirt on the outside edge of the extractor, but it seems to actuate properly. Has anyone else experienced this problem? If so, how did you correct it? Suggestions?

I'm not convinced that we need to start running match directors, stage designers, volunteers, and even entire clubs out of our sport because they set up challenging, enjoyable, and safe stages that sometimes bend the more technical USPSA rules. That notion seems particularly dubious when USPSA hasn't yet incorporated other rule changes into the rulebook. Getting back to addressing illegal stages: in most circumstances, the best opportunity to correct them is when you're there early to help build the stages.

Glad to hear they stand behind their product. That gives me a bit more piece of mind that I'll eventually get my money's worth out of these (so far) excellent muffs.

That's exactly my point. Some match directors use the level 1 exemption as an excuse for an illegal stage, even though it often does not apply. That said, I enjoy the social aspects of the game as much as any other, and frankly don't mind shooting a club match stage that bends the rules (within reason). For those of us that don't have several matches to choose from on any given weekend, shooting a fun and safe stage that falls outside of USPSA rules beats not shooting at all.

I did the same on my Magpul BUIS.

if you remove the slide, you can press the firing pin in flush with the back of the slide and observe that it (hopefully) does not protrude out the breech face. I have an extended firing pin in my 75b, and it is visible, but still below the breech face when the back end of the pin is pressed flush with back of the slide. Of course mine has the fpb so even if try to push the firing pin further, it won't go without depressing the fpb plunger, so I can sleep slightly easier than you. BTW, I agree with you that the half-cock notch doesn't really offer any advantage. I was unable to detect a difference in draw to first shot times between the two positions. Of course at anything under 20 yards, I was also unable to detect any difference in draw to first shot between hammer fully down and starting cocked and locked. Got it, thanks!

I really like the offset sights, but have difficulty understanding the purpose of the fine peep when the sights are primarily used for close in work. My question to ya'll is whether you actually use the backup irons for longer range (perhaps in the unlikely event your scope fails in a match) or do you leave the scope on higher magnification and use the offsets for burning through close targets?

This is exactly what I was afraid of... After explaining the various divisions to my Fiancé, she announced a desire to try open. She is rather petite and her hands are easily fatigued by heavy/long trigger pulls. We decided to get her a single stack gun with narrow grips and a light trigger and see where it goes. I wan't to make sure she really likes the sport before pouring money and time into an open gun that I have no intention of using. Its always good to see more women and "youts" (think - My Cousin Vinny) in this sport.

One of our local clubs relies upon the Level 1 exemption for everything. Nobody makes a big stink about it unless the stage is unsafe -- the "big solution" is often for the first squad on the stage to fix the problem themselves. I personally don't get worked up about it and don't mind shooting an illegal stage if it's both safe and fun. I draw the line when someone advocates stretching the rules in one direction to penalize competitors while stretching them in the other to overlook bad stages.

Firing pin only extend to hit the primer with the force of the hammer. Besides that the FP is retracted in the slide a small amount. You should start with the hammer fully down. That is the rule for your gun. Thank you for the info, do you know a good way to verify that the firing pin does not extend beyond the breech face with the hammer against it (so I can sleep easier)? I'm just trying to be safe on the range, and certainly not trying to break any rules. I took another look at the rulebook and at the extensive thread about the topic in the rules section. The consensus does seem to be that the hammer cannot rest on the notch and must be against the firing pin. That said, the whole thing turns on the definition of 'fully forward' and 'decocker' (not in the glossary). The lawyer in me can't resist making the substance-over-form argument that the notch/half-cock actually functions the same as a decocker, or that the hammer is fully forward when resting on that notch. I'm not convinced that there is any competitive advantage to starting from the half vs hammer on the firing pin (although others say there's a difference with their guns), and there is certainly no competitive advantage over a gun equipped with an external decocking mechanism. Further, given that safety considerations are paramount in our sport, I'm not sure why it should yield to uniformity or ease of enforcement in this instance. Notwithstanding the foregoing, I'm now starting with the hammer against the firing pin (everyone else can sleep easier).

Update - After messing with both the die and paper clip on several occasions, the problem persists. The shell is consistently misaligned by 1/8" or more on at least 50% of the strokes. Time to 'escalate' my trouble shooting. I've borrowed another tool head and die to try, and have ordered another set of Dillon die locking rings that I can tighten with greater authority than redding's knurled locking rings. I'll let you know how it shakes out.

A couple weeks ago I ripped my finger open on a screw protruding from a stage door, and had to wonder around asking for a first aid kit. I strongly recommend springing for better bandaids than those included in first aid kits. The Nexcare bandages and Tegaderm is great for sealing off tears, scrapes, and cuts on movable areas (like fingers). LA Police Gear had reasonably priced bags along with an assortment of individual items to build your own kit at a fraction of the cost. Without any specialized first aid training (beyond what I received through the years in the Boy Scouts), I decided to skip the more technical items that I couldn't use. Mostly stuff to handle cuts and scrapes, with just a couple items to address severe trauma until someone more competent arrives.

Why are you using .40 mags for your 9mm? More specifically: does it solve the problem of the base pads slipping off? And do you have to adjust the feed lips?