loneranger04

I've got the FA and I had to have my son the electrician re-wire the motor once. The wires from the motor are not very durable. However I've cleaned thousands of rounds of brass and does a good job. I had the thumlers vibratory tumbler and it did a good job but not any better than the FA.

I definately recommend the Gloxwork extended striker however I've seen many times where someone has lubed or allowed lube (from cleaning the breach face with a Hoppes soaked brush) into the striker channel. That will slow the striker down enough to get light primer strikes.

I smoked a pork butt yesterday on the Big Green Egg. Took me 8 1/2 hours. I tried something different so it didn't turn out quite as good as I had hoped but pork butt is pretty hard to screw up. Bud Lite in the beer fridge. Probably have a Boulevard Wheat later when we go out to eat with the in-laws.

I used to shoot IDPA then found 3 gun to be much more fun because of the lack of structure/rules. The rules didn't even let you point you finger at the target. With 3 gun you get a chance to rehearse the stage. Point is 3 gun is a game. Gaming is not only allowed, it's encouraged. Look at the spinner as a challenge and figure that part of the game out. I used to have problems with the spinner until I looked at it as part of the game and loaded for it. We have a #6 shot maximum for the stage however I've got a SBE and the 3 1/2" turkey loads really make her spin. When I hear people say something like "that's not real world" I laugh because 3 gun is a game, not training. Let's shoot the spinner and have some fun.

What RPatton said. I like my black sights but with my older eyes I need that fiber optic to draw my vision to that sight. I can probably still shoot more accurately with the black sight post but not near as fast...and I'm not that fast anyway.

One thing I learned the hard way is the striker channels should have zero lube in them. Any lube slows the striker down.

Absolutely pull the bullets. I've seen squibs total a nice Smith 28 and a fairly new Nighthawk 1911. Luckily neither shooter was injured. If your "friend" is having trouble watching his powder level then he can get a device that warns you of low powder levels but the nice thing I like about the 550B is you can eyeball the powder in the case before topping it with a bullet. Best defense against squibs.

You need to clean you're brass before you size it for sure or you will damage your dies. I use a vibratory with walnut hulls first then size and deprime before running it through my wet tumbler but you can buy a universal depriming die cheap that just knocks out the primer then you can wet tumble so the primer pockets are clean.

Congrats to all those Kansas boys. Looks like you all had lots of fun.

I use a sandbag to support my hands only. No part of the pistol touches the rest. I'm not the greatest pistol shooter but am able to get 3" to 4" groups at 25 yards this way and occasionally get a 2" group. I recently purchased a Frankenstein G17L. Has a Lonewolf barrel and slide and with my standard load I was getting 8-12" groups from a sandbag supporting the gun on the dust cover. After changing to using a sandbag to only support my hand the groups shrunk to 5-6". I read this thread today so got off my duff and tried my new loads and now I'm down to 2-4" at 25 yards. Had to seat the bullet closer to the lands. Point is to try different ways of supporting the pistol and see if it helps. Your mileage may vary.

I've found that trying to support the front part of the lower end of a Glock with a rest causes erratic groups. I'd forgot this when I purchased a G17L and was getting similar groups but I played around with my support and started getting much better groups.

I don't know how old you are but a wider rear sight allows for more light and as your eyes age more light is better. I can't remember what brand I'm using but I always get the wider rear sight.

I've never had that problem. I just buy them then figure out what part of my budget goes without. I've done it many, many times over the years and seldom do I regret it.

It sucks getting old. I've been under height, for my weight, most my life and it's caught up with me now that I'm trying to run and gun. The guys older than me tell me that if you stop moving, you die. Three gun is the physical challenge I need to push myself to get into shape to be competitive. It's my motivation but a full day of setting up, shooting then taking it all down is definately pushing my abilities...especially in the beat of summer. So far my only pain meds are some icy cold beers after I get home from the match.

I find reloading enjoyable, especially pistol on my 550b but there are times that it's not that economical and for .223 it's getting close again on cost. I lose a lot of my brass at matches so by the time you add in brass cost then you're not saving much and prep on .223 brass is a PITA. With current cost of components it's .25-.28 cent a round reloaded and you can buy brass cased ammo here and there for $350-$375 per 1000 rounds. As labor intensive as it is for brass work it's not worth the savings. If you are able to recover most or all of your brass then you're saving another .07 a round.