arrowrod

FNS-9 Longslide. I love this gun. The trigger is awful. Looking everywhere on the net, replicated the "smooth, polish, clip spring procedures. The trigger was still awful. Even cut the striker so there would be less movement for the sear to release the striker. The trigger was still awful. I shoot my M&P 9mm Pro very well, but the trigger is just BETTER. Then I had an epiphany. Modifying the "sear" was the wrong approach. The FNS uses a sear "ramp", kind of like a M&P, except it's an intermediate step to the sear release. Anyway, I took the sear "ramp" out and cut a less aggressive ramp. Finally, A trigger that I can shoot. Having done all of this, I will admit that the FNS sear still pushes the striker back before releasing the striker. (The M&P sear rotates out of the way.) What boggles my mind is 5 years after releasing the FNS 9, and having Dave Sevigny modify, use, and win with it, the FN factory and Dave Sevigny seem completely uninterested in supporting this gun. I think the FNS has better controls, better ergonomics, and better reload capabilities. The trigger SUCKS. (And I think mine had a 12 pound trigger.)

I shoot a Saiga, home made. I am lucky to have two local 3 gun matches a month. Unfortunately, because I crush the competition in long shotgun stages, the matches are starting to be 10 target shotgun stages. So yeah, tubers are afraid.

I don't know your financial situation, but... Get a S&W M&P Pro, in 9MM. Put a GREEN fiber optic rod in the front sight. Most old guys can see green better than red. The best shooter you know will spend the time to show you a better way... ASK. I'm 71

I shoot production because I like the extra strategy involved with ten round magazines. I previously shot Limited-10, but major loads started reeking havoc with my elbows. Also I'm a super senior, and if enough old farts show up, I usually win the super senior trophy at our Florida major matches. Elrod wins all of the super senior open trophies. He beats me like a drum in open.

What are you trying to accomplish? This is a sport run by volunteers. Don't you think that local match directors are aware of the "anomalies"? If you push this far enough, all you are going to do is get the rules for production changed. Are you seeing the XDs and M&Ps having an advantage over the Glocks? Last year the rage was XDs replacing Glocks. This year M&Ps are replacing XDs. If Glock offers a new design, then next year the rage will be Glocks replacing M&Ps. Shooters are always looking for a way to spend money. Me included.

They still have not started to first production lot, so it looks like a few more weeks. Paul Pluff Smith & Wesson 2100 Roosevelt Ave Springfield, MA 01104 Email received from Paul Today. He's supposed to be the Sales Manager.

Yeah, they are selling the heck out of M&Ps, that is why they are offering a rebate, and then extending the rebate, and closing the plant for 4th quarter of 2007. I know I thought I wanted a M&P9L. No, I can't buy a sear. No, I can't buy a holster, I have to make my own. Who is in charge? Remember when Mercedes acquired Chrysler? They gave up trying to turn it around. Basically gave it away. So this new guy, Michael Golden, acquires S&W. S&W is touting its state of the art manufacturing facility. Apparently, the S&W workers are so adept at manufacturing that they can close for a quarter every year. SWHC stock $5.66 down .47 yesterday. SWHC stock $6.13 down .20 day before I guess the market knows.

Ain't this fun. Here we are guessing. Looking at a previous post, they pointed to a "stock analysis" of S&W stock. I noticed that S&W shut down their manufacturing during the 4th quarter of 2007. They also extended their "rebate". Giving away $100 with every gun can't be beneficial. Normally rebates are good because very few people take advantage. I would expect more than 90% of M&P buyers submit their rebate forms. Interesting that nobody has seen M&P9L guns at the range. Blade Tech has not gotten a model to make holsters. The "supported" S&W shooters have not gotten guns to try. But, 309 law enforcement agencies have purchased M&P products. Apparently they built so many M&Ps that they can supply them with a closed plant. And, Gallery of Guns, the distributer listed on their web site has 0 (zero) M&P9 full size firearms. Some thing is funny.

Where is the data? USPSAs Front Sight magazine had a article showing .223 brakes with measured recoil data. An acquintance of mine, who happens to build gun training simulators, and has a comprehensive machine shop, found a research paper written in the 50s that did an exhaustive study on recoil control. The paper went on to describe the mathematic formulas needed to machine the optimum recoil device. Because he is an avid shooter, he has the usual large collection of "brakes", collected over the years. So naturally, he plugged the formulas derived from the research into the collection of brakes, and lo and behold, a few came close. Most were far off. Yes, he has used the research paper to design brakes for his personal guns. He thinks they work better, but has not created a test environment to verify the results. Apparently, engineering credentials are not necessary in after market brake design. Mr Hill, do you have measured recoil data showing the superiority of your design?

Are you going to believe you lying eyes or are going to believe me. I have both G34 and G35 production guns. At equivalent Power Factors, as close to 130 as I can make them, the G35 shoots softer with 180 grain Zeros than G34 with 147 Zeros. Unfortunately, and I don't understand why, I leave steel poppers standing with the 180 Zeros. Guess what I shoot major matches with?

S&W said: "Late May". Was that Mr S&W? When I called S&W customer service on April 2nd: The rep said the "Official release date" was April 1st. He said he expected it to be sometime after May 1. My Opinion: "S&W are not seriously in the gun business." How tough can it be to lengthen a slide? If I could catch the "CEO" of S&W, I would certainly speak to him in a loud voice. Me wanting a M&P9L has to be one of the stupid ideas of the year.

I hate to use the word stupid. Single Stack .45? 3-Gun is not about the pistol anyway. It is about the rifle and shotgun. In fact, I wonder why it isn't 2-gun. The two local clubs I shoot 3-gun at use 10 round .40 cal for pistol for HM. Why?, because we are old, but not that old. They only people infatuated with SS .45 are WWII guys, and the last time I looked, they are leaving us. Go to you local gun store. They have a whole stack of .45s that nobody will buy. Angus Hobdell won the Florida Open SS last year. He beat two other guys. Give it up. If the rules are stupid, they will be ignored. 360 PF for rifle? Why. We use 320. Ain't the 3-Gun rules still provisional? Does anybody on the BOD shoot HM? Does any USPSA affiliated club shoot 3-gun by USPSA rules? We don't. 3-Gun HM is 308 PF 320 with no optics, 20 round magazine, 12 gauge pump with 8+1 no optics no comps. Major power factor factory ammunition pistol with 10 round magazines no optics no comps. Have you all got that! If you can't see, shoot a mouse gun with optics.

Just for fun. The secret to reloading is the AGP Gen-2 "rebuild kit"($10 from AGP) or the Gen-2 magazine. I tried to modify my "Gen-1" parts, but was not able to match the follower, which is thinner. The second secret is shaving the bolt and bolt holder. The third secret is storing your mags upright in your pouch. My pouches are in front of me. I grap the top half of the mag, while pushing the extended magazine release. I use my fist to knock the empty out and rock and lock. 2.5 seconds shot to aimed shot. Grabbing the top half gives much more control and power in the rock and lock move. Oh yeah, I had to practice. I went to the range every day for 4 weeks. Load 3 rounds, beep, shoot steel, reload full mag, aim shoot. 50 rounds every day. Took two weeks to get under 4 seconds.

There is a long learning period on the Saiga. Look at Tony Rumore's post just prior to mine. "Taran will have his Saiga back from Tromix shortly. There will be some improvements made over the older Makkos gun." Dean Makkos has had his Saiga for what, two months? The Saiga has numerous flat surfaces, sharp edges, and a particular nasty constriction leading into the chamber. I usually got to experience these during a match. Over time, I corrected all of them. The big break though for me was the AGP "Gen-2" magazines. I went from struggling to insert a mag into a closed bolt to 2.5 second shot to aimed shot reloads. Dean Makkos must of heard of my success, because he hasn't shown up at our local 3-Gun match since I started winning the shotgun stages. (A little bit of humor, Dean beats me like a drum.) Now I have a magazine well, and have modified the AGP mags to fit. Hit the extended mag release and the mags jump out of the gun. Stuff in a new one, and unlike the AR-15 platform, you get a satisfying "click", signaling the mag is seated. I know that Tony Rumore and others, particularly Jamshot have done a significant amount of work on porting and muzzle breaks. I asked my gun business friend what research is available to help with recoil reduction. His response, "funny you should ask, there is a paper written in the 50's by a guy in England that is exhaustive". He went on to say, that using the formulas that had been developed by the paper, and measuring a lot of the work of others, it appeared that the apparent "trial and error", work had produced some muzzle breaks that were close to the "algorithms" the paper had developed, but many were not. None that he was aware of matched exactly.