RIIID

I go for the Winchester 1890's and some day I'll have a '73. Rich

Flex, In #21 Authorized mods, the first line states "Internal throating and polishing to improve accuracy, reliability and function." So I guess one can throat and polish some weight off internally and still be legal. On the M there is a lightening cut in the slide that normal 40 cal slides don't get. Other than that there isn't much weight that can be removed internally to make a noticeable change. External cuts will loose weight that can be noticeable. A typical coffin cut will loose a half of an ounce. Rich

Flex, The biggest change in the inside is a transfer bar that eliminates pulling the trigger to remove the top end. The fit and feel of the M is much better than the original XD. Rich

The M is the way to go in the XD line, given a choice between the original or the new M. The XD's are a better built gun in design and material than the M&P in my opinion. The M's can be tuned and customized like the rest of the XD line. Rich

It's available through the Custom Shop.

After helping my dad when growing up to training a couple of my own, the dog is the indicator as to when its ready for the field. Every dog is different, once you can control your dog you can try going out into a field. Most books are giving you an average age that author has found dogs will be able to respond. Rich

Imagine that a super big magwell is big enough to miss. An S&A magwell that is blended properly is about the right size. The key is practice, the one drill I found helpful is Matt Burkett's 10 mag reload drill done on par time. Rich

Let's face it most of the guns being used in Production aren't true DA guns. The XD, M&P, LDA, and yes the Glock aren't true DA guns, they fall in between SA and DA. A lot of the confusion comes from what definition one uses to qualify what is a DA. My definition is, "With a single pull of the trigger the gun will cock and fire(that is the traditional definition from S&W), the gun has restrike capability, and being able to decock without firing the gun". None of the above mentioned guns can resrike or decock without firing the gun. Production would be pretty sparse with the available guns that would fit into my definition. I believe USPSA realize this and allowed "safe action/striker fired guns to be included in Production. What's done is done, you can't back up after 8 years, if you do Production is dead. Rich

I'm waiting for the machine shop to do the run on the magwells. Rich

Use a Safariland 5186/7 for the regular 5" XD or CR Speed holster for Limited/L-10. Rich

The key is to make them straight and true first. Rich

Z changing the sport you like so it's more affordable could back fire. It could evolve into a sport you hate then what, go back to the old way. Making this sport more affordable every time the prices go up is chasing. If you can't afford to shoot the sport, then find a way, but don't make the rest of us change the sport we like because of your problems. There's a lot of shooters who would like to shoot more but, just can't do it because they lack the funds or family commitments or......... Do what you can and enjoy it. Trying to squeeze the most out of every penny might just cost more in the long run. If you want to look for signs in the past, back in the mid 90's there was a push to get the 9X23 and 356STW legal for Limited. If three major manufactures would make ammo to major (175 PF) it would be legal. They looked to the future and saw it wouldn't be good for the sport in the long run and got rid of that 3 manufacturers clause or something like that. I'm sure we all know someone who is still pissed about that. The rules state for major scoring a 10mm/.40 cal dia. bullet is the minimum. So if you want to save money and use a 9mm dia. bullet you'll be scored minor. No need for all of this what if, the rules are real clear on this. Watering down the sport to save money is a real bad sign. Rich

If you want economics to dictate the rules, start your own shooting game Z. Practical shooting is an expensive sport, it's not for everyones pocket book. There's other cheaper shooting games out there. Rich

A small roll pin punch will fix the problem, either stake it from the sides or from the top. Make sure the pin isn't broke before staking it. Rich

I would say the XD hasn't fallen out of favor by the amount of guns coming into the shop these days, I can't keep up. With the XDM out there now I expect even more of a demand. It's a viable Limited division gun besides Production and Lim-10. Over the last couple of years I've had dozens of customers completely switch over all of their handguns to XD's. Some of these shooters were Glock and 1911 fanatics. The biggest problem shooters have with the XD is that they think they can do the same things to them like 1911's and Glocks, you can't. It's a totally different design. Some dismissed the XD in the beginning over the lack of spare parts availability, now with after market and OEM parts readily available that excuse doesn't work anymore. Rich

Scott, Check out Brownell's BBA program for its credit card services. Rich

With the GI the ejection port will need to be lowered and while your there flare it. Go with a S&A magwell, it will do two things give a decent mag opening and get rid of the ILS system in the main spring housing. A set of sights to your liking and a complete fire control system. The frame to slide and barrel fit have been getting real good in the last couple of years, so you shouldn't have to do anything there. A beavertail and thumb safety/ambi and a good set of squared bottom grips and you will have a decent shooter for quite sometime. Becareful 1911's can be habit forming. Rich

Howard, XD/XDM Rich

6-RL 1000's 2-Lee Load-all's (shotshell) Rich

Jerry's is a distributor, no retail sales. Rich

The manual safety was for a proposed contract that was shelved, a polymer frame .45acp.

It is probably different spacer blocks at the breech face, I think that is what I was told they were trying to do. Rich

The XDM has been added to the Production gun list, since it has been added to Pro. it would also be legal for Limited and L-10. Pro. requires 2000 units made Limited requires 500. Rich

Try a C R Speed holster. Rich

Or just buy a metal frame gun to start with. Rich