John Tuley

Here in the Front Range of Colorado (i.e. the edge of the plains, not up in the Rockies) we had snowfall yesterday through this morning. On my drive in to work, the roads were the worst we've had all winter/spring. It's not just Fairbanks that won't warm up!

I've had good results with WeaponShield CLP for everything, but I also use Slide Glide in my competition guns where appropriate. I lube my guns pretty liberally. I used to be a Hoppes #9 (solvent then oil) guy, then used Mlitec-1 on my USP for a while, before settling on WeaponShield for the last few years. I do still get out Hoppes or Montana Xtreme when I have a lot of copper fouling.

Thanks for all the info! I appreciate everyone's contributions.

CC's work was an improvement in what way? Was the trigger smoother? Shorter? Lighter? I don't doubt you that it was better than the kit. As much as I've seen in this thread in favor of the PRP kit, I think I want to have a pro do the work for two reasons: first, he'll do a better job than I will, even if it's just installing/fitting the kit (which I doubt). Second, this is for a carry gun, so it has to work. I have some mechanical sympathy, but not enough to feel like I can guarantee that level of reliability. Thanks for your input; it's definitely helpful!

Thanks, I didn't think about Springfield.

I recently bought an XDm .40 for carry. From my research here, it seems like Canyon Creek, Springer Precision and Powder River Precision all have excellent reputations and loyal followings, and I'm 100% convinced that all three do great work. So I'm not asking which is "best." I'd like to see if anyone can describe the differences between them (or two of them, if you haven't come across all three). Pretravel, overtravel, crispness of the break, crispness of the reset -- things like that. Then I'll try to decide which is closest to my ideal trigger. Weight's going to be 3.5-4 pounds, since it's a carry gun, so that's not a factor. I'd love, of course, to shoot all of them, but that's probably not feasible (since it requires finding them, shooting side-by-side, etc.). If it happens to work out, I'll be happy and will do that. Thanks in advance for everyone's input!

Dot Torture Drill Probably depends on your level of shooting - the DTD is helpful at my level to improve my trigger control. +1 for this drill. I print mine from http://pistol-training.com/drills/dot-torture; the printout has directions on it. At 10 feet, I have yet to run this drill clean. (For context, I'm bottom-C in Production and L10.) It's great at exposing the weaknesses in your fundamentals.

What amazes me are the number of spelling and grammar mistakes I see in cover letters from applicants. I'm a software engineer (and hiring the same) - so English spelling and grammar may not be the most crucial things to the job, but computers aren't forgiving, and spelling/syntax mistakes in code simply won't work. And really ... if you're applying for a job, can you not take an extra five minutes and check your letter and resume? If you're not willing to put that small amount of effort into trying to get this job, why should I even look at your application?

Colorado actually has pretty great open carry laws. Anybody (who can possess a handgun in the first place) can open carry. You need a permit (issued by the county sheriff) to conceal a handgun on your person. However, private properties may of course post and enforce restrictions, and many movie theaters here do just that. Side note: membership-in-good-standing in a national shooting sport replaces the state's training requirement, which was convenient. All that said, I too would like to add my +1 to sympathy for the victims. I hope justice will come swiftly and surely, and that the survivors and families of the victims are able to find some small comfort, or at least closure, from it.

My experience with Tripp mags: I have five 10-rd Cobra mags for my .40 Trojan. (They're .40, not 10mm, since I run factory ammo.) Out of the five, four are pretty good but #3 tends to fail to feed the first round (when loaded to 10) -- it seems to nosedive. I'm still shooting it a bit more, confirming this problem, and then will contact Tripp to see about resolution (i.e. determine if it's the mag or the gun that's likely to be the source, and how to proceed). -- John.

To each his own, of course, but I prefer to keep zombies in videogames (Left 4 Dead 2, anyone?) and in survival planning. (I figure if you're ready for the "zombie apocalypse, you're ready for darn near anything.) So, no zombie-killin' ammo, zombie-killin' EoTechs, zombie-killin' machetes, "zombie slayer" ejection port covers for me . . . but if I see one at the range, I promise to look suitably impressed and appreciative, and will enjoy the owner's fun with their toys. 'Cause let's be honest -- your toys are all about you, not me, and if you like 'em, I like you liking 'em. -- John.

When I shot L10, I had four pouches, starting around where the belt buckle would have been. Those first couple were angled back, but the last two were angled forward. Basically, I loosened the cant adjustment on each one and positioned it to the most natural angle, to keep my wrist as straight and "comfortable" as possible. So they kind of reverse-fanned, like / / | \. With production, of course, you have to start behind the hip line -- but I suggest the same process. Start by loosening the screws that hold the pouches at a certain cant, position according to what feels right, tighten, and move to next one. Don't start by assuming that they should all be canted at the same angle, or even in the same direction. -- John.

The math gets even worse. Let's assume a 20,000 round life on a 20" AR15 barrel, firing ammunition with a muzzle velocity of 3000fps. (We're playing with roundish numbers to make the math easier.) Doing some algebra and assuming a constant acceleration, we come to the formula time = length / (24 * velocity) (with length in inches, velocity in ft/sec, and time in seconds) for the length of time the bullet spends in the barrel during a single shot. (I haven't studied internal ballistics and I know the acceleration isn't constant, so feel free to add a small "fudge" factor if you like -- it won't change the picture much.) So our conclusion is that it takes roughly 1/900th of a second for the bullet to travel those 20 inches. So your barrel's working life is 22.222 seconds. A .45 making 900fps out of a 5" barrel 20,000 times comes to 4.630 seconds. Now ... be glad that you got a whole "minute and a quarter" of shooting! -- John.

To be completely honest, she's not exactly saying "we should have one," but she's agreeing "that's cool and if we have the money (haha) I won't object to you buying it." But that's progress, and I'm working on the money thing. I also think their business model is backwards: I'd pay some good money to go to TopShotLand, or whatever the theme park would be named, and pick my favorite ten challenges that they've ever done and run them. I'd pay even more money if Taran and some of the other coaches would work with me for 30 minutes first! -- John.

My wife enjoys watching it with me -- and she's not really a shooter. She's also seeing some of those really cool toys agreeing with me when I say "that's really cool ... I want one someday." Hell, even the cute 22-year-old intern at work watches Top Shot and talks with me about it at the office. I think Top Shot is relatively good PR for shooting in general, as others on this forum have said before. The shooting is fairly uncomplicated (for the most part), and they almost never move, but they also have had VERY few (but not zero, I'll admit) safety violations, so they're presenting shooting as a safe and fun sport to the general TV-watching public. That's something we could do with more of, instead of our TV action heroes committing multiple unsafe maneuvers in seemingly every frame. Long story short, it's not terribly exciting shooting, but it I think it is good for shooters, and it gives my wife and I something to laugh at together, which little enough TV does these days. -- John.

Guy behind the counter: "yeah, these M&P15-22s are a hoot." Potential customer: "interesting that they took the 'AR' out the name, why do you think that is?" 'Expert': "well, since they're .22 they're not really assault rifles."

This! How many other people think that, instead of making a TV show with the funding they have, they should just make Top Shot Theme Park? Hell, I'd pay a goodly sum of money to go shoot all of those stages (and yes, I'd take the rock throwing events too, if that was the only way I could shoot the firearm stages), even without the coaching. Who's with me?

A guy at work (who doesn't even seem to be involved in action pistol sports) told me that he and his son are trying to acquire the gear to start 3-gun. Random guy at the range last week, who shoots IDPA and Steel Challenge mostly, said the same thing (for himself and his wife). So there's a nonzero portion of the population that's, shall we say, "3-gun curious." -- John.

Do you remove these documents from the glovebox every time you exit the car? I'm a bit confused on the practicality of this one, since I need those documents any time I'm operating the vehicle ... -- John.

Second for The Beltman. Mine is a bullhide belt with the velcro liner instead of the stiffener, but I haven't had any issues with stiffness (and I plan on carrying in a Comp-Tac with velcro clips soon). In fact, I'm planning on ordering a second one, so that I have both brown and black. --John.

I have a Trojan .40 with a trigger job by Bobby at Freedom Gunworks. It's had 370 rounds through it so far, so nothing definitive, but no trouble yet. That's with Federal American Eagle FMJs, Federal HST JHPs, and Hornady Critical Defense (like a "ballistic tip" or plastic-filled JHP). The first 200 rounds were with the stock mag that came with the gun; the rest were Tripp System (10rd) .40 magazines. (I bought the .40, not 10mm, mags since I don't have a press and will be running factory ammo for a while.) Again, the round count is too small to be anything but early data, but zero hiccups so far isn't too shabby. I plan on putting MUCH more down the pipe in the coming months. Oh, and the pistol itself feels great. Bobby did a really nice trigger and I'm loving the gun so far. --John.

I actually prefer to heat up a flathead screwdriver and press it against the fiber. In my experience, if your pressure is even you'll get a very round dot, and there's no discoloration from the flame. This method has the added benefit that you can press the melty fiber into the contours of the post, getting it a little snugger (and less likely to bounce around and break). I also do the muzzle end of the fiber FIRST, then cut the other end. (And I let the muzzle-end of the fiber get big, to suck in that much more light.) The less excess you leave, the smaller the dot will be as you melt it down. This, combined with the screwdriver, gives you a lot of control over the size of your dot. Unfortunately, it also means that if you screw up, you've just wasted the whole length of fiber that's in the sight, instead of clipping off the "mushroom" and trying again with 1/8" less than you had to start with. -- John.

While that sounds simple, I don't have the punches (yet) and I'm not confident of my ability to put the trigger parts back together while maintaining the careful tuning done by Mr. Hill. Seriously, this trigger barely moves, and I'd really like to keep it that way. Know any good references to help me through this? Optimally, a friendly forum member who might be willing to supervise in return for, say, a few beers . . . but I'd settle for a video on Youtube or Brownells if I have to. --John.

I just switched to a BCM (medium), and I love it. Particularly if you are in the one-sided-grasp (instead of over-the-top) school . . . The engineer in me likes the fact that the BCM has more contact between the latch and handle, which should help distribute the force of your pull across the back of the handle, reducing torque and the likelihood of damaging the part. -- John.

Any advice for when this is impossible? I've got a Benny Hill rifle with a JP trigger, and the trigger seems to be blocking the lever from moving (both hammer back and forward). I'm VERY happy with this trigger and would REALLY like to not ruin it in the process of what seems like it should be a simple job. Thanks, --John.