T Bacus

I have one. I use it for steel matches. The extra shot is nice and I like the 5" barrel for a little extra sight radius. I used mine at the Blackwater Steel Challenge and was very happy with it. Shot the entire match without needing an on the clock reload. The gun was given an action job, fiber optic front sight and Weigand rear sight blade. I also use a set of Houge wood grips.

If you send the plater an assebled firearm they will reassemble it and insure that the parts fit together properly. If you send parts, or a dissasemmbled firearm, they will plate them and return them to you as is. Most gunsmiths do not want the refinisher doing any work on the gun other than applying the finish. If additional fitting is needed after refinish then the gunsmith will take care of it. I have been sending disassembled guns to refinishers for more than 20 years and have never had one attempt to fit the parts for me after plating, nor would I want them to.

Or make Open major only.

For those who don't know, John Shaw was the IPSC US National Champion in 1980 and 1981. He was the first to win a National title with a 'Pin Gun' as they were known back then. In 1982 J Michael Plaxco was the first to the Nationals with a 1911 fitted with a compensator as we know them today. It is not hyperbole to say that the two most sinificant events in IPSC/USPSA shooting were John Shaw winning in 1980 with the first pin gun and Jerry Barnhart winning with a red dot in 1989.

Hard to beat the Smith V-Tac. Can easily be set up for Open or Tactical, JP trigger, Viking handguard and lifetime warranry. http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product4_750001_750051_766094_-1_757785_757784_757784_ProductDisplayErrorView_Y

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My 1100 Competition Master has a fiber optic front sight and a mid bead. If I put the fiber optic directly on top of the mid bead it hits dead on with Winchester Ranger LE RR slugs at 50 yards.

Gotta say I love my Rem 1100 Competition Master. My shooting partner has the current version, the Tactical, and he loves it.

I've never really thought about it but I've always just gone by the manufactures published length. The generally accepted way to measure an unknown model is from the rear of the cylinder barrel to the front of the muzzle for a revolver and from the breechface to the muzzle (with slide closed) on an auto. Good grief, I've got to stop posting at 4:00AM.

Rereadng some of what you said, yes the 2" gun would have less felt recoil if they weighed the same. However with any IDPA legal revolver that is equiped with a 2-2.5" barrel, a 4" barrel gun will weigh more. A 4" 686 can legaly be brought up to the 42oz weight limit. About the heaviest you could go with a 2.5" 686 is around 37-38oz with Pachmyers, a good 4-5oz lighter. Another thing to remember is felt recoil is not generated on a 'straight line'. Recoil generated in the first inch of bullet travel is far greater than recoil generated in the last inch of bullet travel.

Everything you say would be true if the lower power factor of the 2" barrel was from a lower pressure load, but the pressure of the load is not less. A 105 power factor load produces exactly the same pressure whether it is fired from a 4" barrel of from a 2" barrel, the pressure (thrust on the bullet) just ends sooner with the 2" barrel. The velocity loss is not a result of lower pressure it is a result of the identical pressure accellerating the bullet for a shortend period of time. By the time the expanding gases have pushed the bullet through the cylinder and down 2" of barrel the pressure of the load has dropped considerably, the vast majority of the felt recoil being generated before the bullet has even left the cylinder. The amount of pressure (thrust) generated in the last 2" inches of a 4" barrel is far less than is generated in the first 2". As said before, if the shorter barrel was an advantage at 105pf it would have been an advantage at 125pf. How many majors were won with a 2" revolver when the pf was 125, how many top revolver competitors used 2" guns for this advantage in reduced recoil? Are you now going to retire your 4" guns to take advantage of the lower recoiling 2" guns? With ESRs 165pf people should be flocking to 2" barreled 625s for the reduced recoil, yet that's not happening. Given the extremely competitive nature of IDPA competition, especially at the top levels, it's hard to argue that an advantage exists, but no one is using it. Winchester White Box 9mm will produce less velocity from a G26 than it does from a G17 or 34, I don't see any competitive shooters flocking to this supposedly lower recoiling G26. BTW, I agree with you, pf should be measured from the competitors gun, it just makes the MDs job easier.

Loading power factor for a 4" barrel and then shooting that same load out of a shorter barrel does NOT reduce felt recoil. A load that makes a 105pf out of a 4" barrel 686 will have less felt recoil than the same load shot when from a 2.5" 686. Fire it from a 2" Model 10 and it will have even more felt recoil. Each gun may develop a different velocity but the pressure of the load is the same regaurdless of the gun it's fired from. When using the same ammo gun weight determins felt recoil, not velocity. Anyone here want to argue that a 38 Special 125gr+P load kicks less when fired from a 2" snubby than when fred from a 4" heavy barrel Model 10? Another way of looking at it. Develop the perfect 105pf load for your 4" model 10. Then take a Hacksaw and cut two inches off of the barrel. Do you now think the gun will kick less?

Number one... reliability Number two... durability Number three. accuracy I get to look at a lot of guns and it still amazes me how many smiths out there can't fit a barrel properly.

The same way you get to Carnagie Hall, practice, practice, practice!

For the short period of time I shot SSP I used a Beretta 9mm. I shot Master on the classifier the first time I tried.

I haven't run matches in quite a long time but when I did I did it a lot, and my first rule of thumb was don't do anything to make problems for myself. Trying to police power factor with reactive targets is only going to cause you as the match director headaches. If you have a need to ensure that competitors are using pf legal ammo then set up the chrono. I ALWAYS set steel so that it would fall if you looked at it hard. If you believe that some competitors are using sub pf ammo in an attempt to cheat then pull their ammo when they aren't expecting it and chrono it. As for competitors loading to 105 in a 4" barrel and then shooting a 2" for less recoil, why in the world would someone do that. Any advantage gained in lower recoil is lost by virtue of the shorter gun being harder to shoot accurately. People weren't doing this at 125pf and they won't be doing it at 105.

Yes the gun is legal for ESP Division in IDPA, or CDP if you get one in 45ACP. For those interested here is what they look like. The top one belongs to a friend, the bottom one is mine, both are in 40S&W. The gun comes standard with a pair of black Aluma Grips. The top one has been replaced with a set of STI thin grips and the magwell trimmed to match. Mine sports a set of Craig Spegel grips. I also replaced the long trigger with a short one in mine.

Nothing is ideal, but I think this comes pretty darn close. S&W 686SSR, Safariland holster, trimmed Jet loaders & TKW loader holders. This is my rig...

I like Springfield, Kimber and the Trojans from STI. All of the Trjans we have sold have run 100% out of the box. We have had pretty good luck with the Kimbers, only a couple needed minor adjustments. Springfields on the other hand don't seem to do that well out of the box, most we have had come through our shop needed adjustment. A little extractor work, ejector work and some ramp polishing and they seem to hit their stride. All seem to like the new Wilson ETM mags, everyone around here is using them now. Tim

That would make for a pretty heavy gun, a soft shooter for sure. Personally I prefer a lighter gun but to each his own. Tim

For me, the best grips have always been from Craig Spegel.

Two guesses, True Grit, Shane. Tim

Why do so many people have trouble understanding that the IDPA equipment rules are not about practicality they are about preventing an equipment race, real or percived. USPSA is for people who like to take gun design to the limits, IDPA is not. Both games are fun, but stop trying to turn IDPA into USPSA lite.

An as accurate description of the differences between IDPA and USPSA as I've ever read.

So the instructions on the form say send a copy....