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What, no way. Here is the story: http://www.thestate.com/sports/story/511622.html If I hadn't read the article, I'd have never believed it. That is pretty sad. As far as the topic is concerned, not sure how much I'm looking forward to the rest of the season. Probably less so than the Clemson fans out there. Other than last year, being a Mississippi State alum tends to be painful (i.e. during football season).

That sounds like a good plan. As stated above, Wilson's warranty is as good as they come. A buddy had problems with some of his after dropping them on concrete at an indoor range over several years, and Wilson replaced them anyway.

I agree. Sevigny usually wins Production with his Glock, but last year, Max Jr. almost beat him with a CZ, even though he hadn't practiced with it for very long. Rob won in 2006 with an XD. The M&P can be equally as competetive in the right hands. Even if the M&P isn't Production-legal yet, that wouldn't stop me if I preferred the M&P. There's not much doubt it will be on the list sometime soon.

Not sure where you get to shoot, but many club matches will have shooters with at least 2 or possibly even all 3 of the guns you've mentioned. Most shooters wouldn't mind letting you shoot a few rounds through their guns, and actually handling them might help you make your decision. This question is mostly about personal preference. A year ago (after Angus let me take his personal competition gun to a safe area to drool over), I'd have chosen the SP-01. 6 months ago (after shooting a friend's XD from Springer), I'd have chosen the XD.

Chris, You'll get a lot of good advice pretty quick, but if you have considered having someone else do this work, check with Carmoney. He did a complete action job on my 625, and everyone else at my home range drools over it .

.22's are a very good idea. Lot cheaper, and you can work on many of the fundamentals with them. I have a 10-shot 617, and if you ever get one of these, I highly recommend the DS-10 speedloaders. There is information on the speedloaders on one of the older threads in this forum.

Congrats on your non-DQ, and be very glad that the gun didn't sustain too much damage. Several years ago, I bumped an open gun out of the holster onto a concrete floor at an indoor range. If I remember correctly, the cost to rebody a cracked C-More frame is around $90 or so. Lessons learned the hard way are not soon forgotten.

Welcome to the forum! If you already have something that will work, I'd recommend just taking it and factory ammo to the first couple of matches. After that, you'll have a much better idea of what you want. Each division has its own challenges, and they're all fun.

Congratulations, Luke.

3rd vote for regular grips. I also have medium-sized hands and don't like the larger grips. As stated in other threads, I like the Hogue Big Butt grips, though. The forward wood projection at the bottom of those grips allows my weak hand to provide a little more recoil control. Just my opinion.

Pretty cool. Look at the 2nd plate on the last 2 runs, and it looks like a jacket or ricochet going upward on both runs.

Congratulations to your club. It's good to hear of a new club in Alabama, especially one that's getting off to a great start. Heck, I think the attendance at your first match may be higher than any we've ever had in Mobile. Keep it up, and I hope to see you on the range someday. Gregg Wheat

Cool video, Pat. Thanks for sharing.

Congratulations! Will be praying for all of you.

I agree. You can't beat their service. Never any questions, and shipping is so fast it surprises me every time.

Cool video . Even better pics on the grips . Talk about a conversation piece.

You are right.... anything over 16 is a long course. Thanks - wanted to make sure that was right. I now know that it helps to search for singular (course) and plural (courses) when doing a search .

I went to the online rule book and searched for "long course", and the only time it occurs in the book is in this rule. What defines a long course? Sorry - Went back and looked through it again, and my understanding is that a long course is any course over 16 rounds. Please correct me if this is an incorrect statement. Thanks.

Trying....to....restrain.... The Hogue grips are what I have also, and I really like them. Wasn't there a song a few years back - "I like --- ----"? Lots of people must fit this category. Every new shooter at the range can't resist asking about them . Couldn't resist.

The grips may have been designed for Bianchi Cup, but I've found them extremely handy in USPSA competition. Has a similar advantage to a big magwell on a limited or open gun. The outside (bottom) of my weak hand presses firmly against the front of the big butt, which helps with controlling the gun.

Nice looking gun, Chris. David - I have a HiViz on a 686 that looks just like that one, except red. Mine is pinned, and that one appears to be. IMHO - The round top can make longer shots a little more difficult, but not too bad, especially considering we don't shoot at long distances very much in USPSA matches.

Welcome & +1 to what Toolguy said. Supplement plenty of dry fire with enough range time to figure out how fast you can get good hits on each target (based on size and distance). There are also some good threads on this forum on reload techniques (including some helpful videos). Your times will take care of themselves.

After much discussion / debate, it looks like this thread could really pay off. It may or may not be too late to do much this year, but surely USPSA could be prepared to offer its shooters assistance like this in the future, even if only at the WS. I'm sure there would be a lot more work than first comes to mind, but this sounds like a really good idea. It wouldn't eliminate all reasons that people choose not to go, but it could really help those who choose to go.

I have to agree. Challenging stages can be very fun to shoot, but why intentionally design one that is obviously going to cause problems? Just my $0.02.

Well, I guess you have a point. Nationals aren't meant to be easy, and everyone has to shoot the same stages anyway. At least they don't have any boxes that have to be carried "luggage fashion" this year .