DrWScott

"Thank You" to all of you who chimed in giving advice and encouragement I am going to let my son use my XDm 9mm since it is fully competition ready, I already have all the gear for it, and he handles it well. He has struggled with racking the slide, but now he's getting it just fine. With the small backstrap, it fits his hands better than most other double stack 9s. I have decided to buy myself a single stack 1911 STI Trojan and move into SS/L10. My intent is running it in SS/L10, then I can upgrade it to Limited and Open when the time comes for both of us.

Thanks to all of you who have chimed in. I already have an XDm in 9mm with the small backstrap and I also have small hands. I have made all of the legal changes to the gun except the trigger job and I hope to give this one to my son to get started. He already shoots it well, but right now it's the only competition gun I have. I'm in the process of trying to find the XDm in .40 already setup for Limited so I can shoot both guns in Prod and Limited and Limited 10 if I wish ( I LOVE the XDm line). I'm in negotiations for one now, but if any of you know of someone who has one for sale..... I agree that having him stick to Production will help him learn the ropes - that's exactly what I have done. Thanks again!

I really wasn't sure where to post this question, but here is as good as anywhere. My son, 10 yo, has quite an interest in shooting. He goes to the range with me often and has shot all the pistols and revolvers we have at the house. He has been out a couple of times at our local club matches, even shot our .22 Beretta Neos a couple of weeks ago at a fun match and is hooked already. I want to get him into a setup he can actually use for competition. Does anyone have any advice on whether he should stick with a 9mm or 40 in a Limited or Production. One guy advised me to get him an Open race gun as he can be more successful quickly and keep his interest, but I'm not sure if I want to spend that much right now. I prefer shooting production in 9mm, but I'm open to what has worked for some of you and your juniors. Thanks in advance for the input.

I do too. In my first match I had a stage with 21 steels - including a Texas Star and I did fantastic on it. But last week I absolutely blew the simple 6 steels - dunno why. But my biggest problem was NOT setting a limit for the steels and moving on to the papers for points.

Sorry, guess I could have been more clear. By paper I meant standard USPSA paper targets. I not only got mikes for not shooting, but got penalties as well. Live and learn.

I have an XDm I shoot in Production and want to replace the front sight with a fiber optic. Should I also replace the rear sight? The stock sights are dovetail with 3 white dots. Any opinions-insight-comments on the following (or other options)? Dawson fixed or adjustable Heinie Slant Pro Bo-Mar Tru-Glo TFO

I shot my 2nd local match this week and learned a VALUABLE lesson the hard way. On the final stage there were 6 steels and 12 papers. I was shooting Production with only 4 mags (first mistake). Then spent 2.5 mags on steels (2nd mistake) - yeah, I really need practice on steel. Then, when I went to shoot the remaining papers, simple math will tell you I only got to 8 of the 12 before running out of ammo. Thankfully, several of the experienced shooters in my club (South Florida Pistol Club) gave me GREAT advice so that doesn't happen again. I have competed in several sports over the years and have never experienced anything like the friendliness and helpfulness in this sport.