C.A. Wason

I have 2 springfield 1911's, a colt, and a kimber. Each one has a different distance the trigger travels from being fired to the reset position. The kimber has the least amount of reset. Additionally having handled 4 other kimbers belonging to friends I find that the shorter reset travel/distance seems to be the consistent with all the kimbers. Is there a way to shorten the reset distance on the springfield and the colt?

Upon further seaching I found some info on the CMP website. The thread was discussing the use of lubricant on M1 rifles. The concensus there was Lubriplate 130 AA was the choice of many. While still a calcium type lubricant, it had some specifications that were different from the 105 type, mostly in its pressure rating, and its operating temps. Both the 130 and 105 have significant ability regarding not being washed away by water and therefore are very good at preventing corrosion . I do not know if either of them has the characteristic of helping to float away debris, powder or lead fouling though while maintaining its lubricity. With the amount you have as Flex suggested use it and see how it does........if it was free to you so much the better.

Not to belabor the point, but, just a little more information on calcium based grease: http://www.machinerylubrication.com/articl...p?articleid=909 This was the easiest for me to understand....which means it was pretty basic.

Well, I googled that 105 stuff and didn't find anything. Maybe I searched it wrong. I did a search on Calcium based lubricants and found some info. But not being a chemist it didn't do me any good. If I understood what I read, the calcium base is a carrier of sorts for the lubricating material, and makes the slippery part stick more. It also enhances the load capacity of the lubricant, and seems to be more water resistant than a non calcium based lube. Course my interpetation of what I read could be completely wrong too!! Load capacity doesn't seem to be an issue reference firearms lube. I suppose the higher water resistant quality of the calcium based lube could be helpful if one was in that kind of wet invironment.....jungle.....Navy Seal....hopefully some will chime in with a "good" answer. Automotive application of it was centered on front wheel drive drive trains. CW

heard of this stuff called "Slide Glide"....bought some.....really works good on my 1911's........did I say it really works good?? Yup, it does. Don't know about that 105 stuff. Seeing as it is engine assembly lubricant it might be really good for that though. Yup, slide glide is what I'm thinkin.

I make an announcement at the beginning regarding the positions/jobs that need to be accomplished, and how "everyone works." Then, if later I recognize someone isn't doing their part I go to that person and tell them individually/privately that I need them to do whatever the certain job is that they are not doing. I have had good success with that method. If that doesn't work, I call them out publicly so to speak and tell them I need them to do their part. Sometimes being embarassed in front of the squad compells them. I admit that my first instinct is to call them out publicly and tell them to get the job done. I realized that for me, using the first technique as above is usually more successful. New shooters seem to not work because they are somewhat overwhelmed with the total experience. I cut them a little slack, and try to set an example for them. But after one match they should understand the process and what needs to be done. A larger percentage of the time people who have shot enough to know better are the ones who aren't working. Some have told me, "I paid my match fees, and I came here to shoot not work." Those folks I am a bit more verbally forceful with. Funny thing is we shouldn't even have to be talking about this, because everyone should know better.

Everything is nothing, and nothing is everything..........

My wife and I both shoot. We practice with live fire 2 to 3 times a week, 2 to 4 hours each time. On the days we don't actually shoot we dry fire or handle guns in some form of training, drawing or movement kinds of things, or reviewing the videos from the latest practice . Both of us are involved in the reloading process and the cleaning and maintenance of our guns. We talk about our shooting constantly in regard to improvement and bounce ideas off of each other as to different concepts we might try to attain our shooting goals. While it isn't a daily "total immersion" process in actual practice, each and every day is in part devoted to something shooting related. So the daily central theme is shooting. I think not shooting every day gives us a introspective opportunity in reference to how we can shoot more consistantly, or about what we can do to improve some facet we have not yet mastered (there are still alot of those ). This "schedule" has evolved over seveal years, and seems to be of benefit to us. I recall that we used to shoot live fire practice every day, and some days when we were done I felt I had in a way wasted ammo. This was because I wasn't focused, and I was just pulling the trigger. I guess we all mature as shooters at different rates. I know the learning about shooting, and myself keeps me coming back. After reading all of the above it likely won't suprise anyone that our friends are almost exclusively all shooters too. That may sound excessive, but it works for us. Finding something that works is a good thing!

I have tried loading 205 gr RNHB moly coated bullets in .45 ACP. It was a bit frustrating...until I figured out what the problem was(I think). Although I am not a ballistician I surmise this: When a hollow base bullet is used we need to consider that we have in a way (via the cavity in the base of the bullet) increased the amount of space the powder is captured in before ignition. I presented the loaded 1911 to the chronograph directly from the holster, and fired 5 rounds thru the chrono. I then loaded the pistol with another 5 round mag and held the muzzle straight up before aiming it thru the chronograph and firing each of the 5 rounds. From the holster the standard deviation was significant for the 5 rounds....about 110 FPS. For the 5 rounds with the pistol starting muzzle up before leveling it to the chronograph for each shot the SD was only 30. I was using REX II powder which I do not think is overly sensitive reference position within the case. With the muzzle up test the powder was stacked mostly against the primer, and thus the ignition more consistent. With the muzzle up test the powder was not only spread out in the case, but in the HB of the bullet as well.....and its position was less consistent and so was the velocity. I abandoned the HB bullets and went back to the 230's. I would be interested to hear how your HB bullets work out.

Learning to understand something you don't understand is working on a weakness. Right? (I may have misunderstood what you meant though??) I believe we need to understand who we are, but not define ourselves by that. Does that make sense? For example, if you a right-brained person...you don't have to limit yourself to right-brained behavior. After all, you have more than half a brain. If I tend to do things...learn things..see things...in a certain way/perspective, then the challenge for me is to explore them from a different perspective. Sometimes, that different perspective is what it takes to jump my thinking out of the groove it is in. +1 "If you argue for your limitations you are sure to have them." For me if I think or say to myself that I can't do something, or do it well, I never will. Regarding fine and gross motor skills I have found that adrenaline erodes the fine motor skills more quickly. A squirt of adrenaline can be caused by the timer beeping to start the scenario, or a malfunction that interrupts the flow of a shooting sequence. I think that most people are capable of having equally good fine and gross motor skills......but many tend to practice what they do well instead of where they need to focus the training attention....on a less perfected skill. Practice doesn't make "perfect"....... perfect practice makes perfect.

While dry firing I have only used the timer if I am working on a specific problem. I time myself a couple times doing the drill to get a base time. Then I decide what I need to do to smooth that paticular drill out or make it more efficient, and then practice without the timer several times until I think I have it figured out. Then I reintroduce the timer. This has been successful, but I have noticed the timer beep sometimes makes my movements jerky or less accurate because now I am trying to go fast. I liked Brians idea of using the timer for a start signal only. Maybe that will get me to a place where I don't try to accelerate my movements and lose the smooth quality that lets me be quicker when I hear the beep. SMOOTH IS FAST.

GMB The video was a good one, and shows you using a holster a bit higher than the one I am using in competition. The third run, while it was the same time as the first, was very smooooth. I did some drills with the hands held above the shoulders as well as hands flat on the table while standing. Both those positions added .15 - .20. So I agree with your comment about the start position I used. While my initial draw is quite similar to yours I am bringing the gun up higher, and keeping it in tight and bringing the non-gun hand to the slide. As I wrote that I realized that I likely do it like that because I shoot from a modified Weaver.....man its amazing the little things we learn just by talking about shooting isn't it? Thank you for your post and the video. To have measuring devices for these skills is beneficial. CAW

Hand on the gun for the draw and an empty chamber is different enough that I can't pull any info from the times. What starting position would allow you to corrolate? I rack the gun by rotating the gun 90d...magwell points toward 3 o'clock. This brings the slide to my left hand...and in the center-line of the body. It feels more natural to me this way, as I don't have to cant the wrists into weird positions. Then, the hands come together and I press out. I will have to try that. It isn't what I am doing now. Here is a nearly identical technique as used (fantastically) by Phil Strader. Phil at Nationals. I think you are on the right track here, for sure. Cadence is..at best..a training tool, and only if you need it. You don't. Your sensor feedback is guiding your shooting. Your split times are real good. I've experienced the same thing that you have observed. While doing a Bill Drill (Draw and 6 shots total on one target), my first split after the draw would be a 0.18 and the following splits would be a bit quicker (around 0.15). That just kinda depends. How much different? If your splits are in the teens and easy transitions are coming in above 0.35...then you likely have your vision locked onto the front sight and haven't located the target to drive the gun to. On the four target split question, Originally they were at .34. I now have them down to .24 - .25....mostly by driving the gun faster/more agressively. Is it realistic to expect those #3 and #5 splits to be low .20's or teens? Sometimes the transition will be similar to the splits. In this video, the last 6 shots are on 3 targets at 15y or so (2 shots on each). They were closely spaced and I was able to ride the recoil onto the next target. (I also do a load and rack after the start buzzer.) Thank you for your comments and observations. I appreciate knowing where I am regarding those times, and where I need to go. CAW

Having read several of posts/replies on B.E.'s forum I formed the opinion that most of you won't mind me asking a question or two. My wife and I are somewhat accomplished cowboy shooters, I have a good deal of firearms law enforcement training as well....... which doesnt always help in competitive shooting sports Recently a new shooting discipline has started in cowboy action shooting. It is referred to as Wild Bunch, after the movie. The rule in WB differ from cowboy generally in the handgun used. WB is shot with a 1911, single stack, single action in .45 acp, a winchester 1897 shotgun, and a .40 or larger lever rifle. The course of fire usually requires from 10 to 20 rounds of pistol, 4-8 rounds of shotgun, and 10 rounds of rifle on steel targets from 6 to 20 yards. The targets vary in size, and any hit on the steel is a hit.....a miss is a 5 second penalty. My first question is related to draw/first shot times, and subsequent split times. The pistol is holstered in a top draw leather holster, slide forward, hammer down on an empty chamber, and a magazine loaded with 5 rounds in the gun. Obviously, upon drawing the shooter has to chamber a round. I ran these times today. 200 grn RNFP Moly bullet 4.2 grs REX II OAL 1.200 PF 150 Five shots from the holster, starting position, hand on gun, chambering round, all hits, @ 7 yards 14”X14” target (When I cut and pasted the info below it wasn't all mushed together....tried to edit it for ease of reading but it didn't work) 1st shot 1.41 1st shot 1.40 1st shot 1.29 2 .26 2 .22 2 .21 3 .24 3 .17 3 .18 4 .18 4 .17 4 .18 5 .17 5 .18 5 .17 Total 2.26 Total 2.14 Total 2.03 230 grn RNFP Moly bullet 4.2 grs REX II OAL 1.200 PF 168 1st shot 1.60 1st shot 1.36 1st shot 1.37 2 .23 2 .24 2 .22 3 .24 3 .22 3 .19 4 .19 4 .20 4 .18 5 .15 5 .18 5 .17 Total 2.41 Total 2.20 Total 2.13 Chambering a round at the draw really does cut into time. I have done the draw, chamber and fire the first shot on the target described in 1.06 and 1.09 with hits, which feels over the edge. But the numbers above are more match realistic times. Any comments/ideas that might allow for a faster first shot time? My second question is related to the shot to shot split times. By looking at the runs above it looks like I am firing the last 3 shots of the string faster than the first 2 shots, split wise. While shooting the above strings I felt like I was accelerating the last 3 shots. Is the concept of accelerating OK, or should I be shooting something more of a cadence. I have gotten away from cadence shooting in cowboy matches, and shoot more along the lines of sight/target/opportunity....sometimes the target seems bigger, or the sights seem bigger or more crystal clear, and when that happens I pull the trigger, instead of doing the cadence thing. I also wanted to know if when you shoot 4 targets side by side by side with 2 rounds is your 3rd and 5th shot a longer split time because of the transition from one target to the next? I know this kind of shooting is quite different from what most of you are involved with, but I am hopeful that you might have some ideas about perfomance improvement that I have not come up with.

And on that note........ For me it was almost like I had to give myself permission to shoot faster. It took me along time to go from extreme accuracy to accuracy that is acceptable for the game. Being determined from a mental outlook, to shoot faster will allow you to shoot faster. At one point I found my wife was shooting faster than I was. I asked her what she had done or how she came to be faster than she had been......she told me "The way to shoot faster is.....shoot faster". Some say to practice over the edge and shoot the match on the edge. Some say if you don't have a couple misses during the match you are not shooting fast enough. Some say to only shoot as fast as you can accurately....but how do you personally define accurate? Is any hit location in the A zone ok, or are you trying to shoot X's so to speak? Prior to this type of shooting did you compete in another shooting sport that was scored on an alotted time for getting your shots off, or a shooting sport where the time didn't matter but accuracy did? If so maybe you dragged some of that experience with you into this sport sub conciously.