MemphisMechanic

I would like to second his meme post which can be summed up as “it’s a horrible idea! just buy a used 2011 Open for roughly the same final sum.” Open + light plastic gun = constant maintenance and inferior performance.

It doesn’t matter which gun you use. How fast you shoot isn’t where you pick up the pace when you’re new. You need to run instead of stroll, have the gun up when you get there instead of arrive then push out, keep it up on small movements, reload faster, and transition from target to target faster. I’d suggest the 9 largely because you’re more comfortable with it and you’ll save money on ammo while learning to do all of the above in your first months of shooting USPSA.

That’s because you are on this forum. BE has many great qualities. Being a place that tolerates ruthlessly honest discussion about a vendor who has a defective product is not one of them. Things get locked, and things get deleted, when things get gritty. This is a happy place where your zen headspace is never knocked askew. You’ve been around long enough that you should know this well.

Cerakoted it myself. I’ve done quite a bit of it on my guns through the years.

The S3 takes some work to make sexy. Yes.

This. I’ve built and shot a PCC at USPSA matches, so I’m not hating even though the division is not my favorite. You never handed anything you owned to an RO with a handgun. Just because you suddenly arrive with a long gun and one more itty bitty piece of plastic to juggle doesn’t mean he’s now supposed to assist. His job is safety. Yours is to juggle mags and such. Sometimes I watch new PCC shooters, and wonder if I was the only one who practiced flag manipulation and loading/unloading at home before I brought a rifle to a match.

This. legal unmodified in USPSA for Production. Illegally overweight in all IDPA divisions, even ESP. If you mill enough weight out of it you could get it into USPSA Carry Optics, but her weight is an issue. 3-gun, also good to go.

This. Tell them what you broke and one or two will show up free. Dillon isn’t like other companies. In the best way.

Epoxy a bit of steel to it, and stick it to a compact magnet from home depot attached to your belt. I forget who posted that idea here, but I’m doing it because it’s brilliantly simple.

If you’re that drawn to the accu and you already have the belt rig, go for it. You can certainly flip it if you decide production isn’t your jam.

Factory ammo is usually loaded with a bulk canister powder specifically spec’d for that use which isn’t available to aftermarket reloaders.

Because you need fewer pouches and you might decide you like limited, or open, or a polymer gun in carryoptics. And something like a G17 or 34 or other common plastic gun won’t be a large investment of cash. A glock holster and mag pouches will sell easily if you decide to move on. If you’re sure you want a shadow, don’t buy one yet. Get to a match without a gun and find a guy with a Shadow 2. You’ll like it even more, likely. (If they’re available in Cali-stan)

Get a Glock 17 - should be relatively easy to find even in CA on a budget. Avoid tricking it out and shoot it in limited minor for 3 or 4 matches. Make friends and talk often about “I’m thinking about trying [whichever division guy in front of you is geared up for].” You’ll wind up shooting his gun in short order, we all love our particular gear and are eager to show a novice it’s greatness. Repeat for different shooters and guns, at different matches. Fondle every division’s guns in the safe area. Decide what you want to shoot. Sell the Glock to break even on it, or keep it. Whatever. Buy the new gun you test drove and fell in love with - and make a single informed purchase this way. (Personally? After 10 yrs in Production I have to say that I’m enjoying the hell out of welfare open minor... er... carry optics.)

It’ll be heavily dependent upon the shape of the projectile. Having the chamber reamed so you can load as long as you want is the way to go IMO!

@CHA-LEE is Charlie Perez. https://bigpandaperformance.com/store-1/path-of-focused-effort-a-learning-guide-for-practical-shooting-1

Problem is that you need a hardened reamer for the Shadow 2’s barrel, unlike the original gun. I’ve got one, I’ve cut a few Shadow2’s to 1.150” with any bullet profile for friends - because a lot of shops use a reamer made from HSS, which won’t do it.

Handle a Walther PPQ first. Preferably with the small backstrap. You’ll like the grip size and access to the mag/slide releases a lot more than a Glock. Prices aren’t too different. If you like an ordinary PPQ’s grip at the gun store, grab a 5” PPQ M2 or the competition-oriented Q5 Match. They all share an identical grip.

I’m all for this. I run faster than the old guys.

Search through the M&P forum for multiple threads on the issue. Many long threads. My initial post hating on the M&P is... informed hatred. I shot one for nearly ten years. The M&P barrel unlocks extremely early in the recoil cycle - pull your slide back slowly and look at how early it drops open compared to other 9mm guns you own. The barrel has left a fixed consistent relationship with the slide before slower loads have exited the barrel. Mine shot any budget coated or plated 124gr bullet into 3.5” or so at 25yd. Shooting even the precision delta 147 FMJ (a brand known for their accuracy) groups opened up to 6 to 8 inches. Installing an APEX semi-drop in brought me down to 2.5-3.0” with those same bullets at 25. Their barrel wedges itself firmly between the locking block and underside of the slide when properly fit, and has a pad on it’s underside which requires the slide to retract twice as far before the barrel begins to drop free. Doing it over again, I’d have stuck with 124s and saved $200. But I was dead-set on shooting 147s back when I thought gear mattered, and some magic handload recipe would be a similar advantage. I left the M&P to shoot a Tanfoglio which could put ANY decent handload inside 2.5” at 25 - it shot 1.75”ish groups consistently when I found what it liked. I now shoot Walther PPQs/Q5s and they’re very nearly that accurate. So I still consider the M&P a sloppy gun compared to what I’ve grown used to.

I should have specified that M&P often suffer accuracy issues *with heavy bullets.* But. You’re also comparing perhaps the benchmark for accuracy, the PD JHP, to one of the bullets more notorious for it’s inaccuracy. So it’s tough to say which the primary cause of this.

As far as I’ve seen, they didn’t do anything in the 2.0 to remedy the accuracy issues of the 1.0 with heavy bullets that a lot of us struggled with. That was the most hilarious place in which the 2.0 dropped the ball.

You’re shooting Xtremes. They’re notoriously shady on accuracy. They’re also 147s going through an M&P. That gun shoots 4 to 6” groups on it’s best day, and is infamous for it. (APEX sells so many hand-fit barrels for a reason.) Why are you surprised?

Run a factory pin. They work great and are also free. Leave it like it is.

I paid by check from a prince in Saudi Arabia I know from craigslist. Please ship immediately.

With all this hype, I’ll be wanting 10,000 loaded 38S as soon it comes out! ...Even though all of my guns are 9mm minor.