CocoBolo

First lets clear the air on USPSA. The fastest Limited Gun in Texas shoots an Eagle, GM David Wears. So, the Eagle in 40 is an extremely competent gun in good hands. Another Limited GM i shoot with also shoots the Eagle and prefers it to the heavier Edge the defacto most common Limited Gun, he currently shoots Open, aging eyes. So yes Eagle rocks for a limited gun. I prefer the heavier Edge. YMMV IDPA, I don't shoot it much but every time I do, they bitch about my gun, even my USPSA legal 45 single stack, its been to the box and scales several times, legal, then I proceed to piss them off by shooting all head shots. Its a tack driver. Ok enough COCO humor. With the low round count in IDPA stages I just don't seen much advantage in downloading to minor, and there isn't enough cost savings to make any difference in cost. Shoot major forget about minor. Just start with a good load that will give you recoil similar to a 9 mm with 40. Stick to the heavy bullets 185gr Precision is my favorite or the 180gr Bayou, with 4.7gr WST or 4.5gr N320 at @ 1.185 OAL. Jacketed bullets take 5.0gr or more to get to major, and the recoil can be a bit snappy. STI Mags - In 40 I bought 4 over the counter mags, put "DAWSON" followers in them and they have run for 5 years with no tuning or modification. They don't hold as many rounds as the Grams or Bolens followers but they are 100% reliable, which is way more important than an extra round. I have 8 mags for my open guns, 9 major the hardest to make run, all are just plain stock mags with either stock guts 140's or Grams followers in the 170 mm big sticks, these run 100%. I would have more confidence in this tuning if they did it with the gun, how can a mag be assured to work if you have not tried it in the gun? Want to make the gun choke load up some short ammo @1.140 or shorter. New STI Gun: You got about a 50/50 chance it will run out of the box, if you order it from Dawson, for an extra cost you can get him to "run test it" he has a range in the shop, it will need a trigger job anyway and you will want the fiber optic sitght etc. I bought all my STI's used, except one I had built, they all run 100%. Dave Dawson is good people so is Bob Londrigen at Brazos. Reloading - In 2008 I was shooting 40 all the time, a box of 180gr 40 was $7.57 I didn't reload, shooting 2,000 rounds a month cost $300, today it would cost $800 to $1000, and that would have me sitting at home knitting. Even with todays component costs I can reload 2000 40's for $400. I load a lot of .223 and shoot them, my .25 a round compared to $1.50 a round is way cheaper, and my reload with 69gr SMK's a way better. The cost of the equipment is a wash, if you get a Dillon press reload for 10 years and sell it you will get almost all of your money back, so it was basically free. I started reloading with $1,000 best money I spent in the sport.

Sounds like a violation of COCO rule 3. Giving away the easy A's. The D Koenig low mass hammer is my favorite, however, if your gun is running, working 100%, that violates another rule. If it ain't broke don't fix it. The timer is a tool we use for more than just matches. Maybe you need to measure your split times so you know where you are in the world of shooting. Recently at a match we had a stage started off with "Point Blank" blasting (24 near point blank shots) followed by a plate rack thru a port at 30 yards. After everones runs we started looking at split times in the burp section mine were .18 but the fastest shooter was .12 and that shooter had 4 mikies in the burp section, so I beat him in the stage and it was enough to allow me to beat him in the match, though I encountered premature empty mag because I was whaling on the trigger so fast some times I shot 3 instead of two, but a little Giving Away the easy A's took him out. Those while open gun splits were not enough to hold back a limited shooter with a VIP, he whoopped both of us with .20 splits, and had all A's. Rule 1, Nevery rush the shot, take the time you need to make the hit, but only that time. Rule 2, Nothing worse than a slow miss.

Somebody show me a broken carbon fiber tube, that wasn't stepped on by a Rhino, drove over with an 18 wheeler, or Squashed with a bob cat bucket. My daddy always said jr could break a crowbar, well I haven't managed to break the PRI yet. I have to agree Mark CO knows way more than most of us, he is running a CF tube so I must have guessed right when I got mine. I really did not know how much I liked my lite weight gun till I built a new gun because Obama said I couldn't have one, bet me buckwheat. Any how politics aside, the heavier gun, which I thought I wanted taught me how much I like my old gun! Sometimes you have to go down the wrong path to figure out you were already on the right path. Which CF tube is right for you well that may just be a matter of preference. If I get another one I'll try Marks. The only thing the heavy gun does is make shooting long range a bit easier since its harder to move. Plus with all the rails I can hang a couple flash lights, a cleaning kit, a roll of toilet paper, an a I-pad on it. Ooops that's not me that is those Tactical guys at the IDPA match. I have rails but now all I want to do is get rail covers, they might be good for something I just don't know what.

I have a PRI, what is good about it? It is carbon fiber weighs nothing, makes the gun light. When compared to my backup gun that has a Quad Rail aluminum unit, it is one fat bertha butt. Why is light weight good? Swings faster stops faster. As you might know, perverted 3-gun stage designers like making senior citizens run a 100 hards with the rifle, then take 500 yard shots with a plastic barrel for a support. One less pound adds up on the run.

I was wondering the same thing. My thought is that in the context of what he was talking about ("Essential Equipment"), CocoBolo meant a case gauge. The real question I have is what are "dowas"? No disrespect intended to CocoBolo... I love it when he chimes in on a thread. I seem to always learn something new from his posts as the guy is a wealth of knowledge in everything I seem to be interested in.. but seriously what are "Extra Dowas"? Extra Dowas are things like a round counter, little twinkle lights hanging in the press, powder measure knobs, micrometer adjustment for powder measure, bullet feeder etc. I have a bullet feeder, I used it some I didn't think it was much faster, I load with a hand full of bullets, and stuff them Like Lalanie Laker stuffs a shotgun! While not necessary a primer flip tray is nice to have, but you can do it with two pieces of card board if you use win or cci primers. Hold the primers up to the card board roll it over remove the primer plastic holder place a second piece of cardboard on top and flip it again. Or get the Hornady primer flip tray, the best one out there, easier to lose on the bench than the big expensive Dillon but works better. Primer tubes, I have a bunch of Dillon tubes, basic inferior, I use just one Hornady tube and its got 100,000 of primer thru it. Load it up dump it into the press, load it again, start cranking, doing 200 at a time works well. If you use Dillon dies get decapping pins and some c-clips, you will need them, with the Hornady dies get the pins. Loading manuels, I have several like brand new, collecting dust. so I qualify as having them. I don't use them I use the reloading data from the powder mfg site and Brian Enos forum, and some times I travel out on the ragged edge and do my own thing. Don't do this at home kids. Borrow a dusty book from a friend after you get going give it back. Drop Check aka Case Guage aka Plunk Check. These definitely need a full instruction manuel. If it don't fall all the way in and fall out there is something wrong, but people stuff them in and poke them out and wonder why their gun chokes, go figure. This is time to go ISO9002 at the drop check. It will not catch everything, high primers drop check fine, an extra long round no problem. This is where those bullet case come in handy, in the case with the primers up, look at them, also if there is a long or short one it sticks up or is sunk down compared to the others. Rifle requires more stuff, primarily a trimmer, a primer pocket reamer, and a chamfer and de-bur tool. For pistol start with Jacketed Bullets! They are almost idiot proof.. Lead, Moly, and Plated bullets are harder to get right, tumbling is not right, taking a crap in the barrel isn't right and a host of other potential issues. When working up a new profile I just load a long dummy round (no primer or powder) don't crimp, I put it in the barrel (out of gun), then I take my thumb and mash it in till it bottoms. After I remove it I measure it and subtract .010. Try a new dummy at that length. Load up 10 dummys and cycle them thru the gun both fast and slow. And that is as easy as it gets. (note that they must fit in the mags). Crimp - In general when the bullet is seated measure it, after the crimp is applied is should be .002 smaller. This is a start point. Measure the OAL press it against the bench firmly with the thumb, measure it again, if it moved more crimp. Final check cycle a few rounds thru the gun, measure them again if they move more than .003-004 something ain't right. Crimp is little of the hold, it is the neck tension that holds it. Belling - just enough you don't cut the coating or jacket, you should be able to sit the bullet in the neck.

My 140's will run without the spacer but the 170's were not 100% without the spacer so I just used the spacers in all of them, except the SVI's which run 100% without the spacer. I use the plastic in the 140 and metal in the 170's. After 3 years the plastic spacers are still working fine and looking good. The steel master is a cute little toy, I shot a friends some with minor ammo and it was more bouncey than my full size open gun with major. It could just be me but I find no use for minor loads in an open gun. YMMV

I found that the main issue I had with CZ first DA was the length of the pull, so I put a CCGW (Cajun) disconnect in the gun which made the pull a lot shorter, albeit a tad stiffer. I find the shorter pull worked for me, the single action I actually went up on the main sprint to 10.5# as you couldn't tell the trigger pull from the return spring, reset is nearly as short as my open 2011s. With a good load it recoils about like an open gun, just need to be louder.

I started on a LNL great machine, reliable, simple, and easy to master. I had two Dillon 650's sold one kept the LNL. Either machine is a great machine the Dillon is more complicated and harder to master. If you load lots of calibers and I do on the LNL it is less expensive and easier to change over. If you mostly run one the Dillon 650. When you get the case feeder the cost is about equal for the set up. I'm sure that the 550 is a great machine however not being progressive offers up a good opportunity to load a double or a squib and my observation is that most that have them were on a 550 YMMV, and you can do that on any loader with no effort at all. A loader is like a gun an investment, its not like buy a car where the value plummets, in that regard Dillon holds its value better than the LNL. I could just say that I am getting nearly free use of my Dillon 650 because I can get almost all of my money back after loading a 100,000 rounds, no foolin. Essentials: Press Caliper Analogue or Digital Scale (if you only get one then get a beam, they don't go ape shit when the weather changes.) Dies Conversion Kit (for dillon on bushings for LNL). Cheap Hammer Bullet Puller. A drop check Tumbler & Media (Primers, Brass, Bullets and Powder) Not required Strong Mount Roller Handle Extra dowas like trays ets. Nice to Have Powder Check. A good solid bench I made mine from the lumber from an Emu pen I tore down, go tired of chasing the rascals when they got out.. Nice shelf with 20k of bullet and lots of brass and she is rock solid.

CZ SP01 Shadow Target. It isn't the shape or trigger but the Weight and balance, and it is a fine shooting gun. Since I shoot open all Iron Sights are a major adjustment!

what load do you use to make 9mm major Richard, that's a whole different question than the one on this topic - you might look up the topic reloading 9mm major & see the answers - usually WAC or HS6 with a 124 gr all jacketed bullet - but dozens of other more esoteric possibilities. Welcome to the Forum, BTW. WAC & HS6 are pretty good, but I prefer Silhouette. 7.7 @ 1.165 MTG 124gr JHP SPP (CCI preferred). The reamer is faster than the swagger, and Gloves save the fingers, but alternate hands if you have a lot of them.

Ok, now I've seen it. I'm up for one. My only constructive suggestion is it needs a little bling-a-factation, for those that are less practicle. Maybe some diagnal slots so it don't look like a big metal fender skirt.

Yes I can google, but when you don't have the right keyword or phrase its not very productive. U could just pm me with the tip.

My friend Don has a handle ends in sow here was able to get his 75B trigger nicer than the trigger on the Shadow, so it is possible and even with the FPB. He was running all the CGW stuff and put me on to them. The extended firing pin is legal and I call it "essential". With the 8.5# spring on a cold day at a match my gun did the weirdest crap ever. At first I thought it was broke, I would pull the trigger nothing, then rack it and it would shoot. On the next stage I pull the trigger, but instead of racking I just held it down about 1-2 seconds later it go boom. I repeated this thru the 32 round stage pull trigger wait boom. So I put the 10-11 pound spring in and it worked normally after that.

http://cajungunworks.com/ I would caution you that in todays component and ammo situation be sure that you can still get reliable ignition. I did a 75B for the wife, and it is a good gun for production, 13# hammer spring, and the competition hammer. Sets off WIN SPP fine but not sure it would work with CCI primers. In my shadow I found the shorter throw on the double action did more for me that the lighter pull, since the pull length is shorter the time to pull it thru is shorter. YMMV. It is possible to go to far on these triggers my shadow it is impossible to decern the resistance of the return spring and the trigger, so I backed it off a bit.

I've not seen the pictures. I've been running the sidemores for 3 years, I've replaced several C-Mores, they don't seem to be like a good rifle scope that will last a life time. I've used 4 to 8 on dot size I like the 6 best for pistol. When I had catarc's I had some difficulty seeing the dot at times but since my surgery even the 4 seems to be easy to use and provides for better accuracy. All of my guns have the 5 hole pattern, as long as the 3 holes matched up I would not have a problem with that. I run a thumbrest and find that it makes consistent placment of the thumb a reality and helps to be more consistent in the grip. Before reading this I had been considering going back to the tube scope, but now I think I'll just wait on this new optic to come out.

I've run Bayou Bullets in both 38S and 9 major without any issues, no caca in the barrel or comp. 125gr at 1473 fps, yes 182 pf, in a worn out 38S barrel with the same load that the jacketed bullet couldn't make 165 out of. My good friend and GM caught the idea but tried a different bullet the Precision moly and had a disaster on his hands, tumbling, and filled the comp with lead to the point that the bullets were hitting the lead. You will need to back off the charge weight, and this may well impact the performance of the comp and cause the gun to get bouncey, yes we develop loads not just to meet pf but also to get the gun to behave in recoil in such a way that it is easier to shoot and sometime we crank it up to get there.

As an Open Gunner, I love my HPF Edge (basically stock Edge hard chromed with a Trigger Job). Reliable accurate, and fun to shoot, familiar grip etc. I had a custom SVI Limited gun sold it, liked the Edge more. $1800 you can get about any time just check GunsAmerica.com, but for new its about as good as it gets. I've never bought a new STI, I get mine after they have been made to run, or I have a good smith assemble it into a running gun. Mine $1600 with 4 mags, base pads etc, had 50 rounds on it. (HardChromed Dawson HPF), ran from day one, the only competition gun I have done nothing to in 5 years. Thats it I am getting it out and shooting it in the match Sunday, I'll get my butt kicked by the Limited shooter I'm brining along, ooh well.

If you have a drill press lee has a primer pocket reamer (cheap) you can chuck up and go to town with. Just do them all it is faster than reading the head stamps. Keep the drill press on a lower speed, hold it up there and it will only sink so far, and after a few you can see the depth on the reamer and and it is easy and faster than the swagger. albiet not as uniform. I used it on a few thousand .223, before I picked up the used swagger, which freed up the drill press for the trimmer. You will read lots of things about 9 mm brass, I shoot 9 major, fire them once and donate to other shooters and the range, but in 4 years I've shot basically everything without an issue, except those that are steel disguised as brass, check all of it with a magnet, if it sticks it is not brass.

The effects of timing are if I push lower than .12 seconds on the split it will be high if I hit the sweet spot .14 its about even and at .16 it is low, wait to .20 and it is even again. And all this is, is the natural recoil of the gun. If you can stop that you should be able to stop the tide coming in. Practice cadence, pop...pop not popop. You can only shot as fast as you can see. However, I think there is much more to be gained by working on movement skill than pulling the trigger faster.

With enough time you will learn to feel the bad guys when you go to seat the primer, reach in pluck it up and toss it into the recycle bin. I found looking thru thousands of head stamps to find a hand full totally intolerable. I do smash an occasional primer, but very few. This tends to fill up the ski slope on the Dillon 650, and is a non issue on the LNL. I probably have a 5 gallon bucket full of bad guys, one of these days I'll get the big rod for my swagger I use on .223, and take a day and swag them all.

WOW pricey $229 yeah buddy. But the wife says how much do you have in the shotgun, I tood the 5th amendment.

I had an awesome smith fit a new slide on one of my guns, went to check it out and the POI moved 14". After some adjustment of the C-More I was spot on and off sandbags my friend the 1000 yard bench rest guy shot a 1/2" group at 25 yards. Now me the guy that can only shoot fast was more like 2" so make sure you are testing correctly. It don't hurt to have a peek into the comp and look for copper dust and shiny little lines either, bullets hitting the comp are a common and repeating problem. I was fine for a long time then switched from CMJ's to JHP's and 2 of my 3 guns had to have the comps reamed again.... The only one that didn't was the one with the new slide.

I have both a CZ and several STIs, while I like my CZ75 I would never put it on the same level as any STI or 2011. There is a reason everyone shoots an STI/2011, its because its the best!Cz's are not that durable. When my friend bought a tactical sport, the slide stop always breaks! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD I only shot about 50K rounds thru my Tactical Sport, but it never broke the slide stop! The only thing I've seen on more than one it trouble with the trigger and in all cases they dinked with it! The STI is the Ford the SVI is the Cadillac, and the CZ is your Audi. To put it bluntly you the consumer want an affordable gun, so STI yields to the market forces and makes it at a price you will buy it, SVI does not cater to the general market, each gun is built by one craftsman, much the same as having a gun built. Having owned and shot all 3 the SVI is superior in fit finish and appearance, but when it comes to function they are all 3 very good. CZ needs to wake up and smell the coffee, the mags don't allow the OAL we need to run fast powder with heavy bullets. yeahyeahyeah I ditched the CZ because of split cases and blown off tops, the longer S_I cured that issue amazing going from 1.140 to 1.185.

In Cruiser ready once the first round is loaded I can chuck in a tube of 4, for 14 rounds, I may just need to get a shorter tube and give up the 14 round, capacity and go down to 13, that would knock off 3" and it could fit in a normal case, making those strolls thru the lobby less exciting. The AR cases I have hold 5 mags in pockets and you notice people looking at the slightly exposed mag and those shiny bullets in the top, so now I turn them over. We have a new law in Texas where hotels in the state have to Verbally tell you if they have a weapons policy the 30-06 law signs out behind the building don't count.

Silhouette, HS6, and AutoComp all good 9 major powders, I prefer silhouette less dot movement than autocomp not as much palm slap as HS6. Congrats on ur Tupperware, I've seen a couple that run. I prefer a little more metal, maybe it will work for you, double up on ear protection, try to ignore the gun concentrate on the targets, it goes up it comes down, just watch for the dot to return. All open guns feel violent at first but after a while you learn to ignore it, Zen.