CocoBolo

I use to think no Glock Open gun would run, then I got beat by one at the AASA Nationals, in the 9th round of the Man on Man Shoot Off. I still got the second place trophy and an XD. Before the MonM there was 300 rds of steel stages, I won that part of the match, the Glock was first loser. I bought one of the darn Glock things, here on the Forum, the guy said it ran, he didn't lie! It runs like a champ. No it will not run Minor, it will run super minor which is 5.6 to 5.8 Gr of AutoComp with either a 115 or 124gr RN or JHP, Over the crono this comes out to about 145 pf. For Sminor I use an 11# spring, mags have the Taylor Free Lance extension and hold 27. For Major, well it is a hand full but at 172 pf (7.3gr of Silhouette) with a 124gr JHP (Precision Delta), it runs the big sticks no problem. The recoil spring is a 22#. The gun is all LoneWolf with an SJC comp. I've run about 20-30k rounds thru it with no memory of a single FTF or not going bang. It runs all pistol primers, however don't try a MagTech rifle primer. If I didn't have 3 STI platform open guns I'd shoot the Glock all the time. I take it out for Steel Challenge and 2 Guns. Maybe because I don't have a 5# fishing weight on the front?

L10 appears to be the odd duck. I'd let it go and keep SS just as it is.

Back Ground - 9 major SVI 140 mag with Dawson 2+ pad, has worked for years without issue. I'm having issues on occasion when a round gets under the follower and the mag goes salt shacker. I alread replaced the spring and the follower and the problem persists. Mag is clean and has not been dropped after loading. The twin to this mag (zakley the same) continues to work 100%, as does the longer brother 170 mag. Spring and follower are grams. Ideas?

I've used 140's without spacers, but 170's are a different story. I use the metal spacers, grams guts. New mag springs every year, buy the 10 pack of 170 springs and cut them for the 140's. Keeping them clean and NO LUBE works best, although for a time I used a drylube spray with success, then ran out and never started again. A 100% means shooting a whole season without a malfunction, not one match.

imho the old SVI mags are the best for 9 Major with no spacer. Plain ole STI Mags work good for 38/38SC. I always look for them when I drop in.

IMHO my favorite bullet for 9 mm minor is 135gr Bayou, propelled by an IMR7625 or N320. I agree the 147gr is sluggish and the impulse thud reaks havoc on my timing, it is all in my head, perception.

No load is going to make you fast as rimfire. My load for Steel Challenge with a 2011 Open gun is 5.8 gr of AutoComp with a 124gr JHP, (1.165 oal) this load ties the holes together at 25 yards. Since the pandodemic has made getting what you want hard, I have been running Armscor 115gr RN bullets at 6.0gr and they are not as accurate but still plenty accurate for steel challenge. There is enough gas that the gun handles a lot like you are shooting major, the impulse you are use to is there, and the gun runs. These load crono out @145 pf. When I've tried those mouse fart loads you know the 95gr with a fast powder like N320, Tite Group, WST etc, it was like I was always waiting on the slide to close. For the non open gun I do run pretty much standard minor loads 125gr coated with 3.8gr N320. I don't worry much about how fast I can make up a shot, I concentrate on hitting it the first time. I just ride the recoil to the next target.

Polishing the button track of the mag inside and out does wonders. Keep the mags clean, no lube of any kind. (this means clean them every time they are used!). The gun also needs to be cleaned and lubed after every match. I put the whole VQ parts kit they call it the Competition kit. The extractor and firing pin are a must have.

IMHO Lee Dies are crap, had them sold them. Once fired is fine for Maj loading I've shot a few 100,000+, loaded on Dillon 650 with Dillon dies, or Hornady with Hornady dies. I started out shooting them more than once, but when I saw all the primers in the corn, I made the decision once and done, replacing slides is expensive (breach face erosion). One step I added to the process is the magnet check, since some brass isn't brass but looks like it. I started out running all the brass thru the casepro (rolling), but changed to only rolling the drop check failures. The drop check is your friend, if it doesn't drop all the way in and fall out freely it is bad, toss it or fix it. I also recommend the bullet cases, makes it easy to find that short round or a high primer. For major matches I will do a second drop check, insurance.

I started out shooting Limited with a TS, there were two problems, 1- Not enough head space, you have to load short, I was shooting titegroup and 200gr JHP's. 2- Switched to Precision 185's, didn't blow up cases but the molly coating clogged the barrel. Sold it bought a used taxi tested tuff STI Edge, no problems. Upgraded that one to a Dawson HPF edge even better. Bought an Infinity, it is a good safe queen, the Edge edged it out.

Not everyone goes to the match thinking they are going to win the Hummer. I don't go to a match thinking who can I beat today. I'm more into my hit factor than how I finish. At 73 I know that I'm probably not going to out run a 20 something, I shoot because it is fun. I shoot Open, because I like it, but if the mood strikes it could be Limited, SS, CO, or PCC. Before CO and PCC came along everyone aspired to shoot open.

Once you get the screws tightened up you can move on to solving the infamous brass rain! Or maybe even the once in a thousand upside down case. Both of these appear to be related to the "Case Count", if too few cases are in the hopper it rains more often and the number of upside down cases goes up. Running on High rather than low seems to give the most reliable feeding. 9 mm is more problematic than 38 Super, that shorter case length is more prone to wedging in the funnel leading to the tube, then it rains. If you listen while loading most problems can be detected early.

I've never bought a new CZ, they have all been used (5), but I did buy a couple of Tanfo's new. Back to CZ, my Shadow 01, I never did get a set of sights that could be adjusted to POI to POA, close but no Cigar. Close enough to shoot production. Last year I decided to throw a DOT on it. Due to "political" factors I had new loads to test. My most accurate STI open gun is a tack driver, it connects all the holes at 25 yards with ease. Next up the 12 yr old Shadow 01, with its new dot. Ooh crap it is out shooting the STI. All shots fired from a bench rest. Then comes the real test, free style, same 25 yards, STI open nice group about 2" for 5 shots, next up the CZ, oops my FU is weak on this one, about 4". Not the gun the Indian. The steel test, like a steel challenge stage, on the timer. Not believing it but I'm faster with the CZ, the timer don't lie. On rifle grouping is pure science and discovery just a couple tenths of a grain makes all the difference in the world. In pistol the POI can move 4" at 25 yards just changing to a different powder (major power factor 9 mm), not so much with minor. Test the gun and not the Indian, do some shooting on a bench rest. Nothing wreaks havoc on pistol accuracy like a loose barrel bushing, then barrel lock up. I had a gun that the slide was so loose on it, it rattled when you shook it, but it was still very accurate with good barrel lockup and a tight bushing. When I shoot a strange gun I'm more accurate because I take more time on each shot, the psychology factor.

I've only loaded a few 100,000 rounds, but I've never counted the cases. I keep Brass in a 3# coffee can, I pour in a half can at a time. When it starts to get low, and you can hear this, I pour in more. The amount of brass is a level that is @1 1/2 inches below the clutch. When you let the amount of brass run low you will encounter more anomalies, up side down cases, and the dreaded brass rain. I tighten the clutch as needed. When I pour in brass, I give it a shot of one shot, this keeps the reloading smooth and easy. I clean the case feed when its dirty.

When I started shooting I would by 40 cal 250 rd boxes of ammo for $17.00 that is cheaper than primers today, granted that was two Dem presidents ago. I'm going wait a little longer to see if the price drops.

If you have Federal Primers (SP) you can run a 10# spring, I've done that with 100% reliable ignition in WARM WEATHER. When the ambient temp dropped to about 40, things got weird. I started to get delayed ignition, I would pull the trigger, and it was like a second before the bang. It probably wasn't a whole second but it seemed like it, the first time it happened I was about to reach up and grab the slide when it went off. This continued thru the match. The next day it warmed up and it was all good, but I swapped in the next heavier spring an 11# anyway. I now use whatever primer I can get, and this led to inconsistent ignition, shooting a match I had a few failures. All of those failures were CCI primers, all the WInchesters went off. Some were rifle primers, and the ones with no dent at all were Magtech Rifle, they have a D on them. The good thing was it was steel challenge and it didn't spoil my match, just a few runs. I just got the calibration kit and changed out the 11# for a 13#. Upping the spring did not significantly change the single action pull, but since I have the short disconnect in the gun that makes the double action pull much shorter it did add a couple pounds to that pull. The shorter pull works for me, but you might like the long easy pull better, depends.

LOL AA7 When I went from 10gr to 10.5 grains it tamed the beast. That was 38SC with a 124gr 11.2 gr for a 115. I've shot it in 9 maj with 10gr and it felt good.

There is a point where friction and inertia meet, and when this happens the next round does not make it to the chamber. A 7# may cause the gun to stop feeding. Everyone has to try holes at least once. If it doesn't work out just replace the barrel and try a different comp. If your split is improved by .01 or even .02 this could add up to a full 2 seconds in a match.

If I were shooting at running pigs I'd go for an EOTech or a HoloSun 2 moa. If however you might just want to shoot more conventional game, and I do recall a friend and I bugle up a Sika, he had that Bushnell and he couldn't make him out, I handed him my rifle with a Simmons 44 mag, and he said dam the sun came up and he could make the shot. You need a good pair of binoculars, those little rascals will sneak right up on you so close you can't see them without binoculars. A 3x9 or 3x10 is probably a handicap at 150 yards a good 1x4 with @50 mm would give you a good field of view, stay on 1 till you have a target over 200 yards. No scope will help if you don't know your zero and where it hits at different ranges.

The recoil in stock trim was not conducive to fast shooting, IMHO. There was too much bounce, if it had shot as well as a Marlin Camp 9, that would have been good, but nope it didn't. This specific gun may not be representative of other blow back AR's, having purchased it used, not sure the prior owner didn't muck it up, but he said it was stock, he also said it ran and it did not. The ammo I was shooting could also be a factor, since it only feeds Round Nose reliably, I was using up the Ammo I loaded for Steel in a Glock Open gun, probably about 140pf. Have another 3# coffee can full to shoot up.

I've got 5 of them so I'm gonna say I like them best, if I could I'd put one on my CZ Shadow.

Engineering 101 duct tape or WD 40, I'll go with if it isn't broke don't fix it, or if brute force isn't work you just are not using enough. That load sounds a little rodent methane to me, I'd add a couple tenths and see if it resolves the problem, max load is 4.4gr.

Most of the shooters I see are running stages without reloads, they have 55 round mags, but since I only have 27rd mags that run 100%, I'll be reloading, and I am going to practice your techniques. Thanks for the video.

TexasTactical.org puts on a couple of IDPA matches every month in Bulverde. You could probably make a weekend out of it with IDPA on Saturday and Steel Challenge or Sunday, or USPSA.

From the draw is just one aspect, as is following a reload, add to that you need to practice every common position, like leaning around a wall, crouching in a window, on the move and on and on. The preponderance of evidence clearly shows as you watch shooters struggle to find their CO dot match after match. My own experience making that transition from limited to Open, was within a week I thought I was ready, within a month I knew I wasn't. If you have even one hesitation in a match caused by the dot, well you have not mastered it yet.