CocoBolo

I own two edge's one black one hard chromed, one tungsten guid rod and one recoil master. I have 6 mags none of them tuned but they only hold 19 or 20 rds. I would recommend the Dawson or Brazos tuning package, get the trigger work from these guys they know what they are doing and mine is great on both guns. My GM buddy shots and edge just like my black one but always says I have a better trigger, Dawson did mine. I have shot a bl of rounds thru both guns and they just run and run and run. I suggest that having a mag release setup that works for you is very important even at my "C" level of shooting. I put an exteded with button else I must change my grip on the gun. Good Luck. I shot everything from CZ75 TS and Tonfo's to the Edge is my gun of choice. When you get to be A class or higher getting the exact gun to all your preferences will become important, below that you'r not smart enought to know what it is you need. No I'm not that smart yet either but I am working on it.

+1 I shoot carbine and 3 gun matches. I won a carbine match, with the Wife's Marlin Camp 9. Have not won with my AR with optics comp etc. So they can be run fast.

Thanks for the Info You might want to contact Precision Delta they have been good about supporting matches in Texas. Rudy Project, LaRue Tactical, Dillion, Dawson Precision, SureFire and Brazos Custom Guns to name a few. Shooters from Area 8 probably buy products from these companies just like Texans. Straight order of finish if done from combined final results puts the Open gunner up a few spots and tends to penalize the Limited 10 shooter and Single Stack's. Sunday when they called 3 names the Limited 10 Division winner and I went into the prize table at the same time. I had the worst match of my life was 40th plus in 60 opens but 82 overall in the match of I think 130. If a match is heavly loaded with limited shooters then things can actually swing the other way. At Double Tap I ran open in a stage 1/4 second off a Limited GM's time with the same score, there were 148 limiteds he got 50th on the stage, I got 75th of 106 open shooters. It has to be that darn new math they started back in the 70's. The Gator in Lousiana has an order of finish prize table but they have a seperate prize table for each Division with the prizes distributed to division based upon number of entries. This kind of takes the advantage away from any one division. The Double Tap Championship is totally by Random drawing except for division winners. I will get my entry in next week it may say "un declared for Division". I just sold a limited gun and an open gun and have a new to me Edge Limited gun and a new to me Dawson open gun in the mail coming from Florida. So its going to be a tough choice.

I'm not going to complain about how far it is, I have my plane ticket, racking up lots of sky miles. I have not sent in my entry yet, trying to figure out if this match is more Open or Limited friendly. If you have been to the Double Tap Championship that is definately a limited gun match, open close shots fast a furious. Texas State Open is tight tough and littered with no shoots, Open gun friendly. Any suggestions? Is there a prize table, and if so is it order of finish or random drawing? Guns and slides? Is the range compact or do I need to bring my 4 wheeler to get around?

El Nubo - If you are down San Antonio way on the second Saturday of the Month sign up is at 0830 hammer down at 0900. This is American Action Shooting match, not USPSA, but it is a good place to hear your first Make Ready. This match caters to beginning shooters and a lot of shooters are new CHL holders. The course of fire are less complicated than IDPA or USPSA but the actual shooting can be tougher. Match fee $15.00 about 100-125 rounds. Bring your 9 and 3 mags, load to capacity and just shoot Stock Auto. Http://www.americanactionshooting.com Caution shooting a match can be addictive.

You didn't mention if you gun had a compensator on it. If it is a true 45 in the Single Stack sense I would go with Clays first. I run clays with my 200gr SWC 45 loads at 4.2 gr for 165 pf. Since you want a minor load you could probably drop to about 3.6-3.8 gr of Clays. A lot will depend on the gun, in the 45 if the load is too light you will have an issue first with not going into battery ejection etc, so you might have to lighten up the recoil spring. Universal clays is slower than clays and if you are going hunting and want to punch up a load to 200pf + univeral will do that. IMR7625 is a very good Open gun aka compensated gun powder, I use it in my Tanfoglio Gold Team open 38 Super. Winchester WST is a good powder for the 45 and light loads, it also works well in 9 mm and 40 S&W, easy to find and it is inexpensive as well.

Guys unfortunately us RO's do miss a no shoot, it is rare but it does happen. Last weekend at a major match on my stage after scoring was complete, as I checked the stage to make sure it was all ready to go props set targets taped, there it was a No Shoot. In this case it was inconsequential the little lady had several Mike's and had dropped her mag prematurely and had a couple of ugly jams. The score sheets were signed, so it was let go. In the case of shooting thru the barrel, since it is impenatrable hard cover a hit should not be scored either good or no shoot. A lot of times you will see the barrels dancing as the shooter shoots lets say 5 or 6 times at a target, you get there and there are two holes, kind of hard to figure out which ones went thru the barrel. I got two no shoots with one shot. It went thru the first no shoot broke the edge of the perf continued thru the stick and took a slight right turn and hit another no shoot breaking its purf. Since I had fired several shots in that array it was not possible for the RO to determine it was in fact one shot that hit both no shoots, but I knew it. Back to your questions. As an RO if the no shoot is pointed out during scoring ok, your not going to make any friends that way but it will get scored. After scoring is complete and remember by this time people have touched and taped targets, I won't score the no shoot but I will make sure it gets patched up. If you missed it scoring did you miss it on more than one shooter and or did a paster fall off or get brushed off by some one walking by the target. I don't think that you could win a protest since the targets had been touched.

Nice pic Roy I wish I could claim that idea as my own, but i actually overheard someone else ask the RO if it was ok to go under the tape. I thought it seemed to work out ok... I have to admit its a cool picture. The first shooter that came up with the going under idea was master gamer Kevin G, but after brining it up and getting other shooters to buy in he went around the corner. He had a decent run but blew a couple seconds on a totally missed reload, I talking he was 3 inches left of the gun a total miss of a huge mag well. Must have been the heat! Was it a good idea? As one of the RO's on the stage I can say that the fastest times were not under the tape but round the corner. One individual caught his gun on the tape as he went under, lets just say that his gun went 179 1/2 degrees up before he caught himself. The 180 is always a judgment call, except when it is blatant. What was the fast way around the stage. Easy remember its points per second, so don't be standing around, a consistent movement with continuious fire. Going to the end and working back thru the next to last section was a little faster as well.

My stage partner and I called it the dreaded palm, we switched ever other squad from running to scoring. However in all fairness our only complaint was that it took too long to print the score out. This left the RO running the shooter without assistance from the assistant RO, to help with little things like counting shots on production shooters, and watching for foot faults etc. Having eyes more than 3 times 20, but not being in the dark about it, my progressive lens worked fine on the some what small screens. With my shooting glasses it was of course just a blurr of gray. As the day wore on we became very fast at scoring using the palm, and recognize that the number of actual mistakes possible on the palm is less than on paper. If we could have dispensed with the printing it would have been possible to run more shooter in less time but we worked to eliminate down time and pushed squads thru at paper speeds. I would like to see the palms used at every local match, at the end of the match the results would be done. A big match is a lot of work, some folks that came just to shoot on Friday, worked for 4 to 6 hours helping set up stages as did many of the RO's. The food crew did an exceptional job and the food was the best I have had at any match in Texas. The stages were very good.

I happen to share Troy's opinion, so +1. I shoot open when I move after the make ready I will hold the gun in the holster, because little more than gravity is holding it in there. The good thing is that it did not discharge.

I am planning to put my GunCase locked into my suitcase that will have the range bag in it, is that a problem? I'm flying US Air from TX to Washington, DC (Reagan), to Area 8 Champoinship. Anybody flown into Reagan with guns? I was told not to go to Baltimore Washington, Marlyand doesn't like guns! At $15 for the first and $25 for the second bag each way, I'm shipping the ammo and maybe the clothes, heck don't need many clothes, its not a fashion show its a shooting match. I'm going to look for a pelican as well.

Texas Tactical Carbine Match its a two gun rifle and pistol. Simple stage shoot 4 targets twice each with the rifle then reload and shoot them again. Mags downloaded to 8 rounds. He takes his AR aka M4A3 with optics shoots the 4 targets the bolt locks back, he drops the mag, he reaches for his mag grabs his Cell phone stuffs it in and hits the bolt catch, plastic rains on the rang! SpaceCity Challenge 2009. Torrential rain for over an hour place is a lake, everyone is under cover, you see a guy with two range bags covered in plastic held wrist above shoulders running towards the parking lot mid calf high water splashing, then he disappears, he found the drainage ditch, but then he emerges bags still held high!

Congrats. Since you already beat all the C's its time to move up, congrats again. What is that Tobey Keith Song, I want to talk about Me! I use to fight the wife to go to matches, Now she works weekends Freedom! I read the book some of it made sense, I still can't meditate or visualize the stage but I'm working on it. Going to TX Open Champ next week the goal is no negative points! One more thing shooting single stack is the hardest class, I have one I'm trying to master it. Wanna share your load data?

Any 180 violation is a problem. I was bending into my bag to get some ammo, looked up and the shooter on the stage was running with his gun pointed at me with his finger on the trigger. No I was not wearing a brown shirt, I definatly moved faster than he did. He was DQed. I RO major matches DoubleTap, SpaceCity so far this year. 1 DQ at DoubleTap and 2 at SpaceCity. 2 each firing out of the park and one 180 violation. One was an open gun that got hung in the port on exit with finger on trigger the other was racking the slide with finger on trigger mag full of mud. In local matches as an RO we try to coach shooters, but when they put lives in danger they go home. One local shooter I know was DQ'ed from 5 matches in a couple of months, he is still shooting and has not been sent home in some time. Its a learning process some learn faster than others. Safe Shooting to all.

I just bought some Clays to Try in my 45. Initial load with 200 precision is 4.1gr. I shoot 200 gr Precisions. I have been shooting 4.7 gr of WST, a little snappy but a good load. I tired N320 by the time I made major at 5.1 gr it wasn't much better than WST, just cost more. The gun is a BC Armory Custom Caspian SS, I put a 12lb variable recoil spring from Brazos Custom Guns and it shoots awesomely soft and flat with the 200gr bullets. 230 or 200 I think that it has a lot to do with your skill level. If you are a B or up you are going to feel more snappy while us C and D guys need something we can handle. I dropped my 40 to 185 gr from 200's, because I now have the skill to handle the extra snap. I was put on the 200's in 45 with WST by a friend that is a GM, my other SS buddy a "B" shoots 230's with tite group, and he smokes the place up.

Down it Texas we shoot a lot as well. For me USPSA Match at Bullethole Saturday USPSA Match at RiverCityShooters Sunday. But some will be shooting IDPA Saturday at CedarRidge Others will be blasting Steel Pro Am Style Steel at AustinLoneStar Paracticle Pisol Club Match. What to do Monday, gather up friends go to the AASA bay have a man on man shoot off on plate racks and ducks! Indy 500 ben there done that. I sat next to a guy, looked like he had been burned badly, after a while he told me he was there in respect for his son. The prior year a car had come thur the fence and landed on him and his son the son died, seats were great just coming off turn 4. The following year I was in the pits helping my old friend Poncho Carter, we drove sprints together back in the late 60's and early 70's. To old for racing can't see well that is why I shoot open. Racing is an addiction just like shooting, only it costs a lot more.

You are right I measured again and the rim is .385 the base of the brass is .380 and at the crimp is .378. I verified the length again and all of my ammo is between 1.255 and 1.260. The guy I bought the gun from works for Dawson, he was going to ream the chamber for longer ammo but because of the polygonal rifling he could not do it, it takes a special reamer. Eaa has the mags if you buy 3 they are $25.00 each, they are 18 round. The big sticks they may have but I think the last time I checked they were $125.00. If you had a new mag and it worked you could use it to figure out whats up with your mags. Henning has mags and he knows a lot about these guns, as does Canyon Creek. My Silver Team had all kinds of wierd feed problems because the head space on the comp was not correct. I had a smith fit it to .008 clearance between the slide and the comp and it ran perfect after that. So I understand how fustrating it can be.

Ok, I went out to my metal building got my Gold Team mags out and loaded up 4 of them. I don't have any gap between the first and second round. My gun runs 100%. I measured the widest points on the brass cases. .408. I use a case pro, but if new brass gives you the same problem that is not the issue. I also use 124 gr RN Montana Gold bullets with OAL of 1.255-1.260. I am shooting range pickup 38 Super Comp all brands and some have been loaded more times than I would want to count. I had a lot of issues with brass until I found the right powder, aka not too much pressure. I use N350 at 8.0 gr. I was using IMR 7625 at 7.3 gr, but it was a tad high on pressure. I also have used New TJ and StarLine and they both worked flawlessly. I paint my brass with Dykem, makes it easy to find on the range so I only lose a few pieces at each match. I can shoot these bullets in either the Gold Team or my Sti the both run 100%. My thought is tune the springs. Bend the spring so that it puts more pressure on the front of the bullet. Also looking from the back side of the bullet the follower should lean about 15-20 degrees to the right. When I unloaded the mags the rounds strip out easy and smooth. I have Grams followers, I have no idea where the springs came from, but they fit and all appear to have been cut off with dull pliers. I also have a few mags with those red Tanfo followers, they also work. Hope this helps.

I just wanted to say that the second video showed a lot of improvement. One thing in the second video that I think is important is that you establish the weak hand grip closer in before pushing the gun out. I personally have been working on this in my dry fire. I found that with my open gun when I establish the weak hand close into the body and push the gun out I will be on target every time. This is my second year, just the beginning but I do an average of 6 matches or more a month. Being old I have to keep shooting or my muscles forget what they are supposed to do. On the down side your knees were not bent but you were not in the sitting down pose as before. The big thing with having the knees bent is so you can rotate the upper body shooting at an array of tragets, rotating the upper body keeps the eye and the gun in the same relationship. If your knees are locked up you can't swivel the hip, you will move your arms and this is when the misses start happening. I think that this becomes more important in Open than in Iron sights, if you lose the dot its real bad. You need a timer if you don't have one get one. Practice technique then do the runs with an easy par time set, then as you get better lower the par time. Stagger your target arrays different spacing overlapping and upper and lower, don't always draw to a 5 foot target mix it up a bit. I worked at trying to shoot faster for some time as that is what people kept telling me. So at a match I handed the RO my timer, after all was said and done I reviewed the shots. My splits were .21 to .22 my transitions were about .48-.54. I quit working at shooting faster, I already shoot plenty fast I started working on the 80% which is movement on the stage, planning the stage, reloading etc, I have been doing better at matches since I did that. I still try to dry fire 30 minutes a day and at least 1 hour for two weeks before any major match. I have the Burkett viedo and watch it again every few months. Good Luck and Keep working at it, it takes time and lots of practice. One more thing Attack the Stage be deliberate and smooth, smooth is fast. There is a 80 year old lady that shoots open she looks like she's on a Sunday walk, but she is smooth and fast.

I ordered Book with a free press last year and it took about 8 weeks and no they don't communicate but I did finally get it and it was like a suprise since I had forgotten about it. I have not ordered anthing else from them, I get Lee stuff from MidwayUsa (good company) or Grafs.com also a good company. I had to wait 4 months for Hornady 40 Cal Dies this year, that is how far behind these places are with products! I use to order primers on Monday get them on Wednesday and shoot them on Saturday order them now shoot them next year maybe.

Heavy metal should be: Single stack pistol, .45ACP 8+1 Max 12 Ga. Pump Shotgun, 6+1. .308 winchester or abov, Iron sights, 20 round max, no mag cinch, Sling attached, no comps or brakes unless they are original to that rifle. I'm on board with these, other wise shoot tactical or open. Lets don't let 3 Gun Rules get to be like Little League.

Those things are what I call Fat Boys, I have a 5 gallon bucket I throw bad brass in when it is full I take all them fat boys to the salvage yard. Redding has a new sizing die called a G-RX that pushes the brass all the way thru the die, it will size them, but looking at those I would be afraid to shoot them afterwards they are just morbidley obese. I tried the EGW die didn't do it, so I ground it down so it would go further down the brass that didn't work either, so I became an RO now I got plenty too much brass, ama a great tan. I wind up throwing 30% in the salvage bucket. I de-prime and size then drop check them in the SAMMI gauge it they pass they go up to the case feeder. Its a shame to waste primers when there is such a shortage. I would never offend the Dillon users, its a great loader. I sold my Dillon dies and replaced them with Hornady, after that I quit using One Shot and have more time to spend with the Wife. Spray a little one shot on your brass roll them around and it will make sizing easier, but it won't cure the Fat Boys, they just need to go to the crusher.

I was not going to shoot this match. I made the mistake of looking at the stages. Once I saw the stages I had to shoot the match. These are awsome stages look like lots of fun so come on out and shoot. If you are faster than I am please disregard this invitation. Just kidding, I'm not that fast. See you at the Match. I'll be your RO on one of the Stages.

I have a Gold Team V8 38 Super and it runs 100% on all 15 of the mags that I have one is a big stick the others are 24 rd with base pads some are Meccar. I do use a case pro on my 38 SuperComp brass, only becsuse I picked up a lot of range brass that was fat boyed like it came out of a glock. I am going to assume that you keep your mags clean, if a mag hits the dirt it gets cleaned before it is used again. Given all that I have read, I would put a new slide stop in the gun and see if that cures the issue. There is a nice Video on how to load high cap mags on Hennings Site, I started loading mine like he does in the video and have had no problems. Another thing I always do is shake the mag after it is loaded if it rattles that is a problem that will happen sometimes you take a round out and put it back and no more rattle. I have a couple of favorite mags I like them beacause the are easy to load the springs seem to be real weak but they always work well. I have both Grams and Dawson followers as well as a few Tanfogilio's all seem to work. I have a Witness 40 I shot limited with for a while and the only feed issue I had with it was locking open with one round in the mag, I fixed that it never locked open again. I have more problems with my STI mags than the Eaa mags and gun. The STI mags take little dirt to stop working and if you lose count and try to poke an extra one in the round winds up under the follower. I have a 40 Silver Team open, that gun will jam at whim mostly stove pipes when the round is not hot enough if it ain't 175 pf or up it just won't run. If you slightly limp rist like when shooting over and wall at low targets your going to wind up with a double feed and have to drop the mag. I had some issues early on when I was using a real nasty dirty powder HS6, the gun would get very dirty during a match and get sluggish and I would have to clean it. I use N350 now and shoot 300+ round matches with ease and even double shot the gun at one match with no issues.

Big H - The only way not to have feed issues with reloads is the plunk check aka SAMMI gauge. If it drops into the gauge then is will drop into the chamber. There are a lot of people shooting Glocks well. Since you are already use to shooting a hinged trigger gun the adjustment to the Glock might not be that bad. The Glock is light weight and easy to drive but expect more recoil and muzzle flip. If you handle recoil very well then it won't slow you down that much. The CZ 75 TS and the STI Edge are both heavy guns harder to drive but your muzzle doesn't point at the moon after each shot. The STI is a sliding Trigger the CZ is a hinged trigger. Your SP01 is likewise a weight forward balance and it is all steel heavier than the Glock. Most STI Edge guns run a tungsten guide rod for even more weight out front. Some like it snappy and some like it soft, I like it soft and flat which lets me shoot fast, one reason I started shooting open. The one single most overlooked thing in picking a gun is DOES IT FIT YOU? With my STI guns I had to change the main spring housing so that the gun pointed to my natural point of aim. If the gun does not you are constantly fighting it and that slows you down. A lot of people don't fit the Glock, especially those with smaller hands. Emanual Bragg can pony up with 23 rounds in his STI limited gun, if your limited gun can't get it up with 21 to 23 rounds you will be at a disadvantage on some field courses. Good luck with what ever you choose. See ya on the range.