cuzinvinny

I have to agree with Husky Sig on his last point. Once you shoot a Sig that has been worked over by Bruce Gray you will be amazed.

I shot my first match about 3 weeks ago, and had an absolutely great time. The one bit of advice that stuck with me from all of my reading on this forum was the "Try to shoot all A's". I was pretty happy with my performance. Shot a bunch of A's, some C's, a few D's and 3 Mikes (all into hard cover - all 3 were shots I pulled low). While my time was less than stellar, the "Shoot A's" advice was a huge help. So from my perspective you can't repeat this advice too often.

An old co-worker talked about owning a Patriot safe, he was pleased with it. But now I'm not sure if it was the Cannon patriot series or the Patriot Safe Company.

I'm not really a plastic gun fan, but the M&P really has me thinking about one, and for some reason the 9L is the one that really catches my fancy. However, the constant production delays really has me wondering if I want to try one of the early models.

Are you trying to tell us you actually need a reason to buy a new gun Actually your gun sounds like my last truck. One of the timing gears broke. My mechanic told me he could drop in a new motor to keep it running, but was quick to point out that there were no guarantees on the transmission, rear end, etc. If it were me, after 80K I'd be thinking about a new gun.

I have been using white rice with good results. It's cheap and readily available, although I've never seen it in anything larger than a 20 pound bag.

Thanks for all the replies, I think I'll start with the Wilson Combat book.

As I've become more familiar with my 1911, I've started to proceed further and further in the disassembly and re-assembly process. Just removed the extractor for cleaning, for the first time. I've decided that I really need either a good DVD or book with detailed (meaning lots of pictures) dis-assembly and re-assembly instructions. Any recommendations?

I've just recently switched from using the Ultra-Dot match dot to a C-more for steel plates. I always changed the Ultra-Dot battery at the beginning of the season even though it did not appear to need replacing. Does the C-more require more frequent changes?

I especially liked the related episodes of Shooting USA and Sighting-In. The USPSA championship on Shooting USA followed by the Sighting-In episode that examined the specific guns used by the competitors was especially interesting.

If high capacity magazines are illegal in CA. surely a high cap revolver would be forbidden.

Guess I'll just have to wait to see which is available first, the XDM or the M&P 9L

As others have noted, it is individual to every gun. To Kingman's point, the Bar-Sto barrel in my Caspian 1911 prefers the 147 grain bullets. I have had good results with American Eagle 147 grain, and horrible results with Winchester White box 115 grain bullets. In fact I have had terrible results with all 115 grain bullets, and powder combinations. I am currently loading a lead 147 grain bullet with WW231 powder (don't remember the exact charge) but get 1.5 to 2" groups at 25 yards.

McCoy, When I'm after the most accurate load in a specific gun, I always let the gun dictate which load it prefers. In this case my 627 likes a 158 grain lead SWC (wasn't using the truncated cone bullet when I developed this load) with AA#5 at about 900 fps. I don't have my chrono results with me at this moment, so I don't know the exact powder charge. I will try to remember to check later this evening.

I like betterbullets.com He usually ships within a day or two and ships in the USPS $8.00 flat rate box.

I use the Hornady powder cop, which works quite well with the LNL press. Either brand provides that extra step of protection to prevent a squib load or a double charge. You will need to keep a constant eye on the Hornady die to visually watch for either condition, whereas the RCBS die will lock up the press automatically with either. (At least that is the way I understand it to work.) I guess if your a production hound the RCBS might be a better option. I enjoy reloading as a hobby, so slowing down to watch the powder cop is no big deal for me.

I just had my 627 at the range yesterday. I was checking a few loads over the chronograph. I am using a 158 grain truncated cone bullet, as I think it makes for quicker reloads than even the round nose, but that is just my opinion. I prefer 3.7 grains of Bullseye for a light static steel plate load, at about 700 fps. However, since my "If I could only have one powder" favorite is AA#5, I tried a couple of light loads using that powder. 5.5 grains of AA#5 ran about 750 fps, and 6.0 grains ran about 800.

Another club you might want to check out is just east of Harrisburg, in Palmyra. Here is their link www.palmyrasportsmens.com. You especially will want to check out their big steel shoot, the PSA shootout, in April. Their is a thread about it in the match section.

My only competition experience has been in a local steel plate league. In an effort to improve, I want to develop a dry fire routine, and therefore need a timer to measure my progress. One of my co-workers will be out of town for a few weeks, and he gave me his CED8000 to try out. My problem is that I am quite frustrated with the instruction book. I simply want to dry fire 5 shots and review my results. Upon reviewing the different timing modes available, I can't find one that will meet my needs. They all seem to add on the results of the next string so that when I review the results I'm not really sure what I'm looking at. I'm even OK with firing my 5 shots writing down the results and clearing the timer, but can't find a way to completely clear the previous results. Is this timer better suited to a more advanced shooter, is there a timer that will better meet my needs, or is there a timers for idiots book out there?

Forgive me if this is not the correct forum for this topic, but since I'm new and still a beginner when it comes to competition, I'll start here. When people talk about guns for competition, the one name that always seems to be missing is SIG. It seems the top production names are Glock, Springfield XD, CZ, and the M&P. I owned a P228 a few years back and found it fun and plesant to shoot. I would think it should be capable of competing with those already mentioned. While admittedly on the pricey side, I would think the Sig X5 would be another great possibility for competition. So why does Sig name seem so absent?

Just when I had myself talked out of a Les Baer Premier II. Actually you all make a good point about shooting major. I must admit to being a bigger fan of the 1911 than a fan of the 9mm. I do plan on checking out a USPSA match at our local club, and have actually talked with a few of the USPSA guys already. One of them did let me give his CZ a try. As far as the HOOKED part, I know exactly what you mean. After only one steel plate match, I knew I was hooked in a big way. I'm expecting more of the same.

Greetings from S.E. PA - I'm a new member, but have been lurking in the shadows for a while. I'm new to competative shooting, with this year being my first try at it. I've been shooting in a steel plate league, using my S&W model 627. It has been great fun, and has helped make going to the range even more fun than it had been previously, if that's possible. I plan on shooting the league next year but want to try something else in between those matches. I'd like to try a semi-auto for some local IDPA/USPSA matches. I'm leaning toward a 1911 in 9mm. I've narrowed my choices to a Springfield Armory loaded, or a STI trojan. Any recommendations regarding one over the other, or any reasons to abanden both choices.