CHA-LEE

As stated in my post, Adding a reload to that Classifier cost me about half a second vs not needing to do a reload. Did it cost me extra time? Absolutely. Did that extra time pull down my potential Hit Factor on that Classifier? Absolutely. Is that stage or others like it an anomaly vs what we are normally exposed to in 24 round stages? Absolutely.

Test both out and figure out which one works best for YOU

In a properly built 1911/2011 style pistol, swapping barrels between guns without negatively impacting the fit, function or accuracy "Shouldn't" be possible. The key words in that sentence are "Properly Built". Are there gun manufactures that cut corners and undersize parts so that they don't have to "Fit" barrels to Slides & frames? Absolutely. You being able to swap barrels between your STI pistols tells you something about their manufacturing process.... I wouldn't suggest going "Shade Tree Mechanic" on your gun to try to make an already "Fit" barrel to a different gun. Not unless you have a TIG welder, Barrel Lug cutter, and willing to screw up the barrel to the point of ruining it.

It's funny that the 24 round Classifier "8 x 3 Trigger Freeze" came up in this discussion as one of the local Club matches had this Classifier two weekends ago when I was shooting Limited Optics using my 40 Cal gun. Yes I had to do a reload when others shooting CO, LO, OPN, and PCC with 9mm didn't. Guess what, I still won the stage overall. Did it cost me about half a second more to do the reload compared to others who didn't? Yep. Did that "disadvantage" dramatically impact my overall performance in the match? Nope. In fact, last weekend I attended a Club Match in Florida which was all high round count field course stages and more than half of the stages I had to do two reloads instead of one. Yep, it was such a disadvantage that I still won that match out of all the LO/CO shooters as well. Here is the reality guys, these so called disadvantages in mag capacity with 20 rounds vs 23 is BS most of the time. People are rarely losing matches because of an extra reload here or there regardless of it being masked in movement or not. There are a boat load of other things people are doing to waste time or points on the clock. The mountain of other skills you are screwing up regularly need way more attention and refinement than a few extra rounds in a mag will provide.

When a stage gets at or above 10 Hit Factor, and the target arrays are setup in a manner which allows for 24 rounds of non-stop shooting while blending positions, that is when not needing to do a reload becomes a significant advantage. Through my match experience since 2008, attending 50+ Level 1 matches and 10+ Level 2/3 matches a year, these types of stage scenarios are RARE. Do these stage scenarios exist? Yes. Are they common enough to worry about? No.

Yeah, unfortunately Prima V or SV stopped being imported to the US a few years back. Its a bummer as I really like that powder. But there are plenty of other powders on the market that can get the job done.

Clays is an awesome 40 Minor powder. When I run out of Prima-SV I will likely switch to Clays for these Minor loads.

I have seen a few people try the 9 barrel in a 40 slide conversion locally and they could never get the extraction 100% reliable. They would be 90% - 95% reliable but it would always end up screwing them over during a stage run eventually. I don't know about you guys, but this game is hard enough without also adding the element of battling unreliable equipment. I think Kimber can get away with using the same breach face for both because their customer base rarely shoots their guns more than a few hundred rounds a year. Most of the Kimber 1911's I see in matches have a short lived tenure in the practical shooting games where a significant amount of ammo is consumed.

That is a great question and hopefully others can chime in. My Atlas Artemis uses a plate system which offers a wide range of optic plates for the popular Red Dot sights on the market as well as an Adjustable or Fixed Rear Iron sight. So I can transition it back and forth from Iron sight and Red Dot configurations. If you are going to invest the $$$ to cut an existing Iron Sight slide it would probably make sense to pick a Plate system that still allows you to switch back and forth between Irons and Optics.

Since I have a fleet of 40 Cal Limited guns and my aging eyes can't see Iron Sights well anymore, I have decided to repurpose one of my Atlas Artemis 40 Cal Limited guns to compete in the Limited Optics division. My Artemis Limited gun was initially built with an RDS Plate system so I can simply take off the rear Iron Sight and add an Red Dot optic Plate. I have a bunch of 180gr 40 Cal bullets left so I will be reusing those in 40 Minor loads. I started off by making 130 - 135 Power factor loads using the same 180gr bullets and powder (Nobel Sport Prima-SV) with a 3.0gr powder drop. Much to my surprise the overall accuracy of these minor loads remained the same as the Major load, but the Point of Impact shifted a few inches. These 40 minor loads have a mega soft felt recoil. This super soft "Powder Puff" recoil impulse is significantly less than my 40 Major load at 170PF. I shot one match with this 130 - 135 PF ammo and much to my surprise I found it to be very distracting. The super soft recoil impulse, though nice feeling, was very distracting and also lead to me relaxing my grip too much because I didn't have to grip the gun HARD to manage the recoil. Relaxing my grip also had a negative impact to my overall aggressiveness during the stage run which basically made me do everything in a much more "Lazy" manner. The other thing that I noticed was that steel target hits were delayed due to the slower bullet flight time and knocking over steel to activate moving targets was also slower. All of this was very distracting for me which is exactly what I DON'T need during a stage run. I increased the powder drop to 3.2 which bumped up the Power Factor to around 150. This slightly spicier 40 Minor ammo had just enough harshness in the felt recoil that it forces me to grip the gun HARD all the time. I still need to do some dedicated Steel target and activator sequence testing with this ammo to see if that has improved as well. But so far, this 150 PF ammo isn't as distracting to me while shooting. On the Mag Capacity front, I can cram 21 rounds into my 140mm 40 cal mags, but I normally only put 20 rounds in them unless 21 is absolutely needed. I know that a similar 9mm 140mm mag setup can get 24+1 and that could be an advantage on some stages where it would eliminate a reload. So far in the matches I have shot, I am yet to run into a situation were only having 21+1 was a significant disadvantage. Most field courses have 1 or more steps of non-shooting movement where I can perform a reload and it doesn't add time to my stage run. I am sure that I will eventually run into a stage where having 24+1 will be a significant advantage from a potential hit factor perspective. But I think those will be infrequent enough that it really won't matter in the long run. I plan on continuing to shoot 40 Cal Limited Optics until my current supply of reloading components is exhausted (About 20K). This will give me enough time to truly determine if its a disadvantage over a 9mm setup. So far, it isn't. For all of those shooters out there who have a 40 Cal Limited Gun sitting in their safe collecting dust, getting the slide cut for a red dot and using it in Limited Optics could bring it a second life. Its also a heck of a lot cheaper than getting a whole new 9mm 2011 setup. Don't consider the 2 - 3 rounds less in the 140mm 40 mags as a significant disadvantage to the 9mm setups.

For the Occluded Dot people, make sure that you are sighting in your dot when its still Occluded. If you sight in the dot without it Occluded then add the occlusion back on afterwards, don't be surprised if your POI is biased 6 - 8 inches Left or Right from your original Zero POI. The POI shift depends on which eye is your dominant eye as well as which eye is observing the occlusion. For example a Right Eye Dominate Shooter with the Occluded dot presented in front of the Right eye, will likely have a Left biased POI. The real oddity about this scenario is that the Occluded Dot POI shift doesn't happen for everyone. In my training classes its been about a 50/50 mix of it happening or not. As always, test this out yourself to see if its a variable to consider.

The closer the dot/sights are to the bore axis the less the sight in distance matters as far as vertical POI shift from close to far. For example, slide mounted iron sights will have way less vertical POI shift at varied distances vs a frame mounted Red Dot (Open Gun, PCC, etc.). For Iron sight guns, I preferred a sight in distance of 10 Yards simply because the aiming spot on the target and the sights could both be seen at the same time with good enough clarity to keep the gun pointed at an exact spot on the target and hold it there while firing the shot. This would translate to a slightly high hit at 25+ yards but it was only a few inches at most. I can screw up the trigger press or steady hold on the aiming spot by that much at 25 yards shooting off-hand so to me, it was a wash. The thing that I would verify is horizontal POI shift at further distances 25/50 yards after I performed the 10 yard zero. Being off by a little bit horizontally at 10 yards can translate to 8 - 12 inches off at 50 yards. Being off by that much at distance translates to missing a popper at that distance consistently even though your hold on the target is perfect. Basically put, my horizontal zero is always validated and corrected for at 25/50 yards. If a perfect horizontal zero at 25/50 yards results in a slightly left or right POI shift at 10 yards, I don't care. At 10 yards or in I am usually shooting at such an aggressive pace that the slight horizontal POI shift will absolutely NOT matter. For Red Dot guns I will always zero them at 25 yards when the dot is at the lowest brightness setting possible. I will also perform this zero from a supported "Benched" position. The important part with this is that I ensure that the dot is in the very center of the glass for every shot while zeroing. When shooting from a supported/benched position we are usually in an abnormal head/body position behind the gun vs shooting a normal standing two handed freestyle position. Keeping the dot in the very center of the glass eliminates as much Parallax as possible. When people see a POI shift between their Supported and Unsupported shooting position groups, a LOT of times its due to them shooting when the dot is NOT in the center of the glass from the supported position and they are inducing Parallax into the POI equation. Yes, people can induce hold, trigger press, or anticipation related POI shift issues when shooting unsupported. Those are all marksmanship issues which need to be fixed on their own anyway. My point is that every Red Dot has a certain amount of Parallax any time the dot is NOT in the center of the glass. Some Red Dot sights only have a couple of inches of Parallax at 25 yards others have 6 - 10 inches of Parallax. Test the Parallax POI offset of your sight to know what you are dealing with. In my vertical POI shift at different distances testing with extreme Red Dot to Bore Axis setups found that the overall Vertical shift from close to far is much less when the sight in range is at a further distance, such as 25 yards. For example, my Open gun has a 2.5 inch low POI at 5 yards when I sight it in at 25 yards. This is in contrast to a 6 - 8 inch high POI at 25 yards with a 10 yard zero. Competition Strategy wise, I don't want to be doing POI shift hold over "Guessing" on the clock. Especially not for the hardest shots in the match which are usually distance shots. If we are shooting a red dot at the proper pace the only time it should be a stationary "Dot" is on the harder distance shots as we need that level of gun settle and trigger press to achieve valid hits. Basically put, I want the hit to go exactly where the dot currently is on the distance targets without needing to even think about vertical POI shift. On all of the closer stuff we should be shooting at an aggressive enough pace that we are using a Streak of the the dot within the glass while breaking the shot so a slight vertical POI shift in that type of sight picture doesn't even matter because the sighting system is literally a streak of red, not a stationary dot. I also perform the same horizontal POI verification at 50 yards with the Red Dot guns to ensure that it being slightly off at 25 isn't translating to missing the A-Zone at 50 yards. The moral of the story is that you need to sight in your guns in a manner that is relative to the shooting sport you are playing. The distance and method you use needs to have a purpose. Not just blindly trusting what others tell you. Go test this stuff out yourself to prove its purpose.

As others have already expressed, DO NOT monkey with the Barrel Link as a properly fit barrel bottoms out on the FRAME, not the Link. If your barrel is bottoming out on the link when its in the full back and down position, then it was fit incorrectly to start off with. As for the bottom of the feed ramp overhanging the frame, I always shorten/flatten the bottom of the ramp to make it even with the frame. The bottom of the feed ramp is never used in a properly setup 1911/2011 using the correct OAL ammo. When the bottom of the ramp overhangs the frame it can bash into the leading edge of the magazine tube which in of itself can cause other feeding issues because the rounds are bounding around within the magazine like a maraca. Look at the leading edge of your magazine tubes to see if they are getting beat up by the very bottom of the feed ramp. If they are, then you might want to cut back the feed ramp to be flush with the frame. This feed ramp hanging past the frame situation is alarmingly common on 1911/2011 builds. How well known gunsmiths miss that critical detail is beyond my comprehension. Maybe its because they like their guns coming back due to feeding problems?

The Bylaws basically eliminate the chance of a candidate being anyone other than someone on the Good Old Boys club.

So out of the WHOLE NATION of potential candidates to do the job, only three "Buddies" were considered and interviewed for the job. I don't recall a publicly available job posting for the DNROI position. What you described is exactly what I described. USPSA HQ is run like most local Clubs are administered. Who is considered or gets to do the job? The last man standing who is willing to "Volunteer" to do it. This is exactly what happens with local clubs and is mirrored at the top of the org at the HQ level. Doesn't sound like an effective way to acquire and retain the best talent for the job does it?

There are way too many examples of current USPSA Employee's repeatedly performing inappropriate actions or incompetent work performance which in any "Normal" business would result in immediate termination on the first occurrence. The simple truth is that nobody is holding these employees accountable for their poor actions or ineffective work performance. That is the root of the problem. If screwing it up or acting like a donkey in public had a tangible penalty within USPSA HQ policy, and was actually enforced, then it wouldn't be happening.

It would probably make the most sense if USPSA Interviewed for and Hired someone for the position that can actually do the job effectively. Instead of the current process of "My buddy can do it" so lets see how it works out....

Open Glock Setups = Fail Boat Many people have tried making those things work, including Team Glock, and ultimately abandon the project because they are not reliable.

Yikes.........

I am trying to understand the correlation to my comment. Was the person who dropped their gun (Fumbled their reholster) not liable for their actions? Was that a tragic accident? Absolutely. Accident or not, the person fumbling the gun is still liable for their actions. I also use that very example for shooters who like to smash their gun back into their holster after making ready is a proven fatal mistake behavior. Another common example of poor choices is someone doing a "Home Brew Dremel Trigger Job" on their gun and end up with an AD in the holster and a bullet in their leg. Or better yet, the people who shoot themselves in the leg during the draw because their booger picker is on the trigger before the gun even clears the holster. Yet another poor choice. Freedom = Choices. Not all choices are good ones. Being an adult means that you OWN all of your choices, even the bad ones.

Do you practice PROGRAMMING a stage in Dry Fire or Live Fire training? If not, how do you expect to do it in a match?

When I transitioned from 3 Year to Life membership mid cycle in my 3 year membership they pro-rated the Life membership to take advantage of what was left on the 3 year. This also happened about a decade ago and there has been a lot of change at USPSA HQ since then. You should confirm with USPSA HQ to see if that process is still valid.

As shown by the responses in this thread both for and against specific trigger weights this is a tricky subject. I am not a fan of putting a warning label, helmet, air bag, seat belt, or arbitrary chosen limits on something because a subset of people can't stop doing stupid stuff. The following mantra holds true and always will....Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. If someone wants to use a 1lb trigger on their gun, go for it. I honestly don't care because they will also take ownership of the associated Reliability, Liability and Risk associated with that choice. We are adults and as such we need to own our decisions. We can advise people to make more prudent choices but we can't and shouldn't force people to make a choice. Freedom isn't free. Freedom affords people the opportunity to make the wrong choice. Accountability and Freedom of Choice are tied together. Choose wisely my friends as the wrong choice when playing games with deadly weapons can result in fatal Accountability.

A sub 1lb 1911/2011 trigger job is possible. But as many have already pointed out that light of a trigger is on the ragged edge of reliability. At least in the Action Shooting sports use case (Rage Blasting tens of thousands of rounds every year in sometimes sub optimal range conditions). When I started shooting I also fell into the "I need a super light trigger to shoot better" fallacy which really doesn't have much improvement on match performance in of itself. When the buzzer goes off everyone is smashing the crap out of the trigger with 10+ lbs of force most of the time so does a super light trigger make a difference in that situation? I will take a short and crisp action trigger that is heavy any day over a mushy or creepy super light trigger. Being able to feel a definitive difference between the take up prep and sear push through is important. My preferred trigger weight is in the 2.5 - 3.5lb range. But I have also shot 5+ lb trigger guns without seeing much difference in my hit quality on target. Learning how to pull the trigger without displacing the sights during that process is an important skill that we all need to continually hone. Super light triggers mask peoples problems with pulling the trigger properly. People with trigger pull skill issues will always battle poor or inconsistent hit quality at speed. The sobering truth that every shooter needs to face at some point is that mastering trigger control takes time, effort, and regular practice. That skill can't be bought like a super light trigger can. At some point you can't buy or equipment race your way out of improving raw marksmanship skills.

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