RGinIdaho

Looks like I goofed when typing that one! Should have read bushing-less.

Locally, it was viewed as a cone style at a State match. Fortunately I had an Eagle, 9mm, bushing barrel as a backup knowing local interpretations always supersede… Going to revisit the 40. I like it better than the 9mm.

Always wanted to run the 40 cal, bushing barreled, Eagle 5.0 in ESP with 180gr minor loads. The old bull, heavy or coned language in the rule always made its use unclear. It sounds like an option now…

Try these; Elvex Full Lens Magnifier Inexpensive but effective.

In my case, both

I tried bifocals. Both Top and bottom. Went to an optom eye doctor and had glasses made to the correct focal length for the sights. Never was happy with the results. A friend showed me a pair of Elvex RX-550C Full Lens safety glasses. These have a round, 50mm reading lens and are z87 rated. They only come in clear. I went with a 1.5, 2.0 was too much. So far so good. I can see the sights clearly and the targets are pretty sharp as well. They really tightened my 25yd groups! They are only about 8 bucks. No real risk to try them out. I'll wear normal shades until I'm on deck then change to the Elvex. Takes a minute or so for my eyes to adjust to the change in perception. Kind of like walking down stairs with bifocals. Sketchy until your eyes adjust. Still getting used to swapping glasses before my run and I'll forget and wear my shades. No bueno!

I think we all know IDPA rules and interpretations are inconsistent to the point no one would take that chance. Not even me...

When I look at them in 40 or 9, they look heavy, bushing or not. How heavy is heavy and who decides? What the statement for the P320-X inferred was that if the manufacturer says "bull barrel:" not heavy or coned; then the barrel is legal. It doesn't say anything about how it looks to the SO, MD, me or Stevie Wonder! Rules are either consistently applied or; IDPA...

There is no rule against a bull barrel, only heavy or coned barrels. When I look at the rules and the position statement; I begin to think the STI Eagle or edge with a bushing-less barrel fits with this interpretation of the rules. STI advertises the Eagle and Edge as having a "bull barrel". The ones I have don't resemble cones and STI clearly defines the barrel as a "bull barrel." The rules not listing bull barrel and stating heavy and/or cone without a barrel bushing; leads me to wonder what about a bull barrel without a barrel bushing? I may have overlooked it but I can't fin a rule stating a bushing is required or that a bull barrel without a bushing is illegal. 8.1.8 Non-IDPA-Legal Features and Modifications for All Divisions C. Heavy and/or cone style barrels without a barrel bushing except as allowed in ESP, CCP, Bug and CDP divisions with length restrictions. 8.2.2.2 ESP Permitted Features and Modifications (Inclusive list): T. Heavy or cone style barrels on firearms with barrel length of 4.25” or less. What do you think?

Took me a while to do more testing - t6-t7 fused! I took two 9mm single stacks to the range, a commander sized DW and an STI Trojan. I ran 10 drills per gun. Shoot six with six in the gun, reload with a full 10round and shoot six. I shot 124gr plated and coated RN's. The 147gr were coated, plated, RN and FPs. OAL's ran from 1.135 to 1.150. Mags were a mix of Dawson, Wilson(both types of follower) and DW mags. All 10round mags. I cut way back on the force and tried to maintain speed. Sort of felt like sliding them home. Not a single jam in either gun.

Your pics look similar to my experience. I took the slide off both guns, seated mags forcefully, and the rounds move up. Mine don't move up quite as much as yours but they spread the lips and the mag sticks in the frame. The round is wedged enough that it must be pushed into the mag with the thumb or dowel before the mag will drop free. My ejector clearance is more than adequate when checked with stuck mag.

Intentional testing with both guns, all mags in both guns, multiple attempts per mag, el prez each time, all fail to feed the first round if reloaded as usual. Some will work if downloaded to as few as 6 rounds. All seem to work if I slow down and think about the reload and the force used. I have 28mags, all brands but the McCormick, I can't believe all 28 have feed lip problems. But maybe... Guns run 100% other than the slide lock reload issue. If I seat with slide closed, USPSA, no issues at all. I haven't tried cutting any of the springs, hate to alter something until I'm confident this is the issue. The mags feed to well otherwise. I know I slam them home smartly, I've broken two Wilson 47d base pads over the last five years. At the time, the first thought that came to mind was, these are very old mags, the plastic must have dried and weakened. Starting to think differently now.

I have found this same slide lock issue on my Trojan and Dan Wesson. I have Tripp, Dawson, Wilson(plastic & metal followers) and Metalform (rib in front & rear spacer). All run 100% in both guns regardless of bullet weight, handload, factory or OAL. I have about 5 of each mag brand/type. I tried; heavier recoil springs, more clearance on the ejector, leave mags loaded, change oal, bullet weight, etc. What I found; when I slam a mag home at speed, the mag stops on the mag catch, clear of the ejector. The rounds in the magazine continue to move up, spreading the feed lips. This results in a round that won't feed from slide lock and a spread mag that will not extract from the grip frame without significant force. Sometimes, I can strike the rear of the slide and the round will feed, other times multiple "slingshots" will work. I can always take a dowel and tap the top round down into the mag and then the mag will feed or drop free of the gun. Right now, I'm shooting single stack in 45acp. More times than not, seating a mag causes the slide to close, a round to strip and I'm on my way! Glock, M&P, polymer gun behavior, not heavy steel 1911 behavior! As I type this, I realize that there was a match a couple of years ago where I over inserted an AR mag. I could not understand how it happened at the time. If I consciously reload with less force, I have no problem at all with the Trojan or DW. I was thinking of trying 38super mags as the feed lips should have more strength in the rear. Then I realized, retraining must occur... I need to retrain myself to not seat the mags so forcefully. Once I finish next week's local 1911 match, I'm going back to the squirt guns and plan to retrain my muscle memory toward a more reasonable amount of force on the reload.

Get a 2 gallon, clear Ziploc bag. Remove the small springs with your hands and pistol in the bag.

I've found that metering(within reason) is not as critical as getting the powder into its proper pressure range. My notes show single digit sd's with N320 and 125's at 4.2 and 4.3gr. Below 4.2 with 125's I was in the low 20's for SD. I get single digit SD's with thrown charges and mixed brass with several different powder/bullet wt. combos. Just have to find the right charge. Sounds like you are getting consistent throws at 3.6gr. Maybe the powder would do better at a higher or lower pressure range?