matt2ace

The only thing that might occur would be some sort of distortion in the dot shape due to an improperly ground lense. I agree with Al that the issue is more likely to be the module.

1000 rounds per month in practice. 2 matches per month for another ~250-300. Dry-fire 4-5 times/week for 15-45 minutes depending on the drills I run. IF primers were not in such short supply, I would probably shoot closer to 1500 rounds/month in practice.

Here's the latest iteration of my Gan's built 9mm major gun. I have had it since April and 7000 rounds later it has never failed me once. I changed to the STI Al-grip about month before the Nationals. It feels more rigid and the balance improved for me. When I got back from the Nationals, I found a guy who does anodizing for paintball guns and had him do all of the aluminum parts in blue, just because..............

Sounds like plenty. I have 2 x 170 and 6 x 140. I rarely use more than 1 -170 and 3 -140s in a monthly match. Good luck finding SVI mags. They are perpetually out of stock on the website. I was told by a reliable source that most, if not all, of the 9/38S mags go to buyers of SVI guns.

Check out Gan's Enterprise....... I had 2 built this year in (way) less than 30 days. You will need to supply him with all the parts including a frame. You will save money too! Dan builds a fantastic gun, but there are others out there who are just as good, Gary is one of them. http://www.gansguns.com/

Cost depends on a number of factors..... USPSA, IDPA or both? What division? Let's assume you plan to shoot production division in USPSA and that you already own guns for that division (M&P or Glock are most common) Do you each have a gun? Do you have atleast 5 x 10 shot magazine? You could share mags if you have the same type of gun. Do you have holsters and atleast 2 double mag pouches each? Monthly consumables......... You can expect to shoot ~500 rounds/month (2 matches x 125 rounds/match each) Plan for another 500 rounds or more per month if you are going to practice (you won't improve if don't spend time practicing) Assume about $20 each per match in fees That's about as basic as it comes to equip'd for USPSA or IDPA.

B-class......4 minute I adjust it for light conditions and sometimes for battery condition. A new battery generally does not need to be turned up all the way outdoors, unless the conditions are very bright sun.

A true custom open gun.......I would love a chance to shoot it, just to compare with an STI. A great project and fantastic result. Thanks for sharing the info with us.

I have been using both the Quinn and Barry mounts for a 2 seasons now. I never see anything but the dot. Of course, as a left eye dominant, left-handed shooter, it's just not part of my visual field when shooting. I never shot a standard C-more mount. Every time I tried one, it felt like the sight was too high. I am getting one of Matt's mounts next to compare with the Quinn-I that I current have.

Very nice build. Looks like it falls into the 'shorty' category of 9mm open guns. Looking forward to a range report. What's the mag capacity? Are you going to need to build big-sticks like they do for Caspians? I know it's one-off right now, but what would estimate for build cost vs and STI or SV? Just curious...... Good Luck!

+1 Brian What you describe has become something of a philosophy for me as a stage designer. I generally like to design longer stages, but more importantly, I want to have stages that challenge the shooter to come up with an efficient solution and use as many of shooting skills as possibles. Getting a stage designed the provides multiple solutions that require changes in focus (long, short distance shots), wide transitions, and a mix of target types (mover, steel, hardcover, no shoots, etc.) is a source of great satisfaction to me. Anyone who has shot my stages at DCPA knows just how serious I take stage design.

Ravin.......search the posts in the reloading section, there is a LOT of info on 9mm major loads. I am running the following with a 3 port up+ 2 side port comp (Gans #12) with no barrel holes. 7.8gr Silhouette 124gr MGD CMJ 1.185 OAL Wolf SRP or SPM primers This chronos at 171-173 PF routinely. This load fills the cases about 3/4 of the way which is better than most powders for 9mm major. Overall, I feel it is a pretty clean powder

+1 Bart Three of us had the same experience at the 2008 Nationals shooting open. We all had ammo that chono'd 171-173+ through our chrono's and at recent major matches. I was the high PF 166.2, the others were 165.6, 165.4 at the Nationals. This was with new or once-fire, same headstamp brass for all of us. That experience reminded me just how important it is to allow for enough variability between chronos and range conditions when setting up a major load.

I love shooting lefty. Yes, equipment WAS harder to find 10 years ago.....not anymore. Being ambidexterous does help with weak-hand strings. Shooting the USPSA Nationals and Long Island Championship this year, I would stand at the start point of every stage with my left hand raised. Some ROs would see this and figure out they had a lefty up and stand on the correct side for LAMR. A few of the ROs would give me the LAMR command while standing on my right side. I would just stand ther looking at him with my hand raised and a smile on my face . He would look at me and repeat LAMR. I would look down to my right and then back up at him, left hand still raised . At that point, he would look down, see that there was no gun on that side and move to my left side at which point I would LAMR. I never got any attitude, mostly a chuckle and some comment like "Oh, your one of them".......always in good humor. I plan to get a Techware shirt made with an arrow on the back pointing left with the work GUN and one pointing right with the work AMMO.

I gave up Glocks for open a couple of years ago. I shot a G22 and G24 with significant slide lightening. My G24 was slightly lighter than a stock G34/35 with the slot cut longer and the cuts in the sides. I will help with slide speed, but you will need to tune the recoil spring with any change to slide weight. My G22 had a hybrid barrel, plus the cuts in the side. I was very light to the point where the pounding from running major 40 cal. resulted in a crack through recoil rod hole. I don't think the gunsmith who did these cuts is in business anymore.

Courier just dropped off the bag with ALL the contents I was stressing pretty bad this afternoon........your support in this post was greatly appreciated

My first Nationals and it was a blast. I shot with 5 other friends from my old club in VT (GMPS) and a crew from the Border Patrol pistol team. I could not have asked for a better group of shooters to spend 4 days of running (ok , more shuffling and hopping) and gunning. I had a chance to speak with a number of the top shooters and made new friends with many others. I agree with some comments on the look of stages, but that was incidental to the overall quality of the stages. Yes, there were only a few longer stages, but they made up for it with lots of no-shoots (got way to familiar with those) at short amd long distances. The movers varied in speed and type which kept things interesting. Stage 2 was a killer if you timed the swingers wrong and the bobber on stage 9 looked easier than it was. Having some experience with past A7 matches, I agree that it will only improve from here if Desert Sportsman continues to host the Nationals. The range was a very different from any place I have ever shot before. The heat and low humidity does require a different mindset than I am used to on the east coast. I stayed hydrated and never felt the heat was too bad, even at 105F on Saturday. The view was amazing, atleast for someone who has never been in the Nevada (or any other) desert before. Kudos the the range staff......they were the best! Did anyone else find the constant sound of ricochettes a bit disconcerting?

Delta called to tell me that they put my bag on the delivery truck and it should (will?) be delivered tonight......... Now let's see if there is anything left in the bag. The experience, whether it works out fine or not really makes me question any travel with gun in checked luggage. It is likely I will travel to matches by air again. Direct flights help, if you get Let's face it, living in the New York State does not offers many major matches within reasonsable driving distance (A7, A8, LIC). I cannot see giving up a chance to shoot the Nationals again if I get a slot, it was just TOO MUCH FUN!

Somehow this post went in twice.......would one of the moderators combine these responses with the duplicate (most up to date) post. THANKS

My first Nationals was a great experience until I left Vegas! I packed up my gear, one gun in each bag. I even cable locked the gun cases to the suitcase frames. All my gear (belt, mags, spare parts, camel back, etc.) goes in the bag with the backup gun. It goes smooth at the airport check-in (Delta airlines) and I wave goodbye to my bags down the belt. This is the last I see of one bag. I arrive at Westchester airport almost 10 hours later (LV to Atlanta, Atlanta to Westchester, NY) only to find a bag missing. I did get the bag with my primary gun, but nothing more. This is near mid-night on Wednesday....I go the baggage office only to be told that the bag was sent to Salt Lake City and would be routed on Northwest. Needless to say, that was a crock. Now it's Thursday afternoon. I have spent 4+ hours on the phone with Delta only to the told the following: - Your bag was misrouted from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City (first call to customer service) - We decided to give it to Northwest (code sharing partnership) to fly it to Westerchester (second call to customer service) - There is no tracability on our computer system once we hand it off to NW and they we have way to trace it on our system or NWs it seems - We cannot get any answers from any airport your bag passed through....there is nobody picking up a phone on some locations (what the F**K?) - Our system shows the bag is still in Vegas (this is after my 3 call today), but we still cannot find it - We are sorry, but there is nothing we can do.....we are only customer service, not the airport operations - Bags get lost all the time, "we are not responsible" (the service reps exact words to me) - No, we do not provide the public the contact phone numbers for airport baggage support, those are for our use only - You cannot make a claim for 5 days and we only cover $500 max The Delta website now says my bag has arrived in Westchester.....maybe I will actually get all my gear back before the LI Championship this weekend. If the bag is a total loss, I may be covered for about the half the value between my travel insurance ($1k), the airline ($500), and my NRA policy ($1k). .......and if you don't already have extra insurance on your guns, get it before you travel again. DELTA has the worst baggage handling record of any airline in the US. STAY AWAY FROM DELTA AT ALL COSTS!

Where do I find Tru-Grips? http://www.ericwesselman.com/store/STI_SV.html

7.7gr Silhouette 124gr MGD Wolf SRP (just switched from Wolf SPM) 1.185 OAL 172PF 5 inch Shuemann AET, Gans #12 comp IMHO, there is little difference, if any, in PF between SRP and SPP for the same load. The difference is the SRP are a bit harder primer.

I think our boxes are going to travel together Alfie. I must have dropped mine off just after you today

I agree that it's more about the person doing the trigger work and their preferences than one set of parts being much better than another. My switch from EGW to Extreme was on the recommendation a friend who did the trigger work with the Extreme parts. I shot his gun and several others with his trigger jobs and they were so much crisper and smoother than the trigger on my (new) gun so I had him do the work. His preference is Extreme or Cylinder and Slide (same company I am told). I would have sent the gun back for work on the existing trigger by a round trip cost $150, most than the parts and labor for a new trigger job (smith is a friend, labor was free).

Fits great, looks great.........works GREAT!