whan

Absolutely - most clubs are made up of casual shooters that will never hope to place well at nationals/areas or probably even ever go to one of those matches. Classifiers are great to help those shooters have a sense of progress. This forum is filled with more serious shooters, so you get a bias of people who focus on match performance and less on classification, but that's not reflective of the norm. I personally am a mix of both - I finally just made M recently, so care less now about classifiers but it is still an achievement I am proud of having made, especially since it was my goal when I first started in USPSA 4 years ago. On top of that, I do believe that part of USPSA's brand value is that classifications actually mean something. A flawed system, but being a GM or even M does mean something even outside of the competitive shooting world. People don't really care about IDPA or multigun classifications in the same way. PCSL will take quite a while to have their classifications mean something in the broader gunosphere

As someone who shot single stack seriously for a while, the % difference in capacity isn't the whole picture. Because of USPSA rules requiring max 32 round stages, there is little functional difference between having 24 and 20 rounds in terms of stage planning. Generally will still only require 1 reload in both scenarios, leaving plenty of buffer for makeups In single stack, it's a much bigger difference because you'll often have things like 8 round positions with 2 steel, or 4 and 6 round positions in close proximity. Much higher risk having to go 1:1 with a major SS gun in the former, and the second would force a reload for major where you could blend together for minor. As a result the risk vs. major scoring tradeoff is a lot closer to parity. I agree with you and lean the same direction. LO has already become immensely popular, I doubt even a new BoD would kill it or roll it into CO as a megadivision. The most logical step is to roll CO back to match IPSC production optics more closely

Nvm it looks like OP already tried my advice

Got the P+ for a 2011 as well, the Staccato P actually fits pretty snug, to the point where there’s decent retention even without the lock

Thanks for the feedback all, great to know. Our range (Richmond RRGC) isn't super dusty, sort of just dirt + some gravel. Sounds like unless it's muddy after range or I kick dirt into the mag, won't need to clean during match, at least for a local. I don't mind taking a bit of a risk at locals and trying to see when I start seeing issues

Not the grip, but from what I understand the barrel weight affects cycle time, as in a browning style action the barrel needs to tilt upwards and unlock before the slide is able to move rearward. A heavier barrel unlocks slower and functionally also slows slide movement.

About to hop into LO after shooting CO and SS for a long time. I’ve generally had pretty good luck with Tanfo, P320 and 9mm wilson 1911 mags and never really got any malfunctions while cleaning them only once every few months or so. Know that others on my range will brush theirs between stages if any hit the ground. I know 2011 mags are more sensitive, but in your experience is it needed to that level? Or could i get away with just cleaning after each match instead (obviously for majors I don’t mind cleaning between stages if necessary)

It started as 10, to match production. Was too low to attract participation. I do think 15 round CO is the sweet spot now that LO exists. I for one am happy that Prod moved to 15. While it's not going to revive the division by any means, I bet there will be a slight bump in popularity

And then now that Atlas has become well-known, you have people wanting to even flex on them by getting Infinity which is considered higher prestige. The video by 1911 syndicate made them mainstream across timmies IMO, in addition to another relatively recent one by Colion But I guess gun culture has always been that way, a lot of people who mostly collect vs. actually shoot, and where there is a strong emphasis on having the most top tier or most rugged gear, even if you'll never come close to utilizing those capabilities. I had to talk a number of friends into not getting the Trijicon RMRcc on their CCW guns (because it kind of sucks), who were literally only going to buy it because of the brand perception Granted, I'm not immune to it either, I do love custom guns, my AR-15 is a KAC SR-15 (bought prior to the GarandThumb Video and crazy hype), and I use a JP5 for PCC.

Have mentioned before in other threads, but for our club seeing a lot of open shooters moving to LO at least part time. CO still larger, and has some of the top shooters, most of whom are planning to stay in CO. I'm probably the only one that's in the top 10% CO of our club planning to moving to LO at the moment

I agree, there's always been far more money in the tactical / "normie" market for guns. A lot larger population, including people who are more of the collector type who will pay up for perceived status symbols vs. actual performance. On top of that, they usually barely shoot, so almost no warranty claims to deal with. Much more daunting to serve the competition market and know your gun is going to have to hold up to being shot 10-20k rounds a year on average It does require a strong brand name, Infinity and Atlas are now at that point being well known, so that people with those guns can brag to those with "only" stacccatos how nice their guns are. But reality is that there are full custom gun makers that will make nicer guns to your exact spec for the same or lower price.

I think as a standalone division, it's great. USPSA divisions should take into account what's popular in the broader gun community (to a reasonable extent). Obviously 9mm 2011s have become very popular, but even outside of that you have lots of striker guns with magwells and a large variety of aftermarket parts bolted on. LO is the right place to allow any non-compensated 9mm gun to play IMO, instead of what's happened to CO. I think eventually having LO provides the opportunity to narrow CO to be a less racy division and one more aligned with the original intent of being factory-type guns with minimal mods. Ideally no need to buy aftermarket basepads to be competitive (personally want 15 round cap), no thumb rests, no ultra heavy brass grips (45oz weight limit maybe). It should be one where you can just buy a glock 34, holosun, some mags, and a holster from a local gun store and go be competitive. Finally, I am lazy and do like to spend money on fancy guns. Love custom guns, and chose to shoot SS minor instead of production for my first 3 years of USPSA just so I could shoot a custom 1911 instead of a Tanfo or Shadow2. Don't reload, still shoot factory ammo as I really just want to buy gear that works and go shoot instead of having to tweak/tune stuff on my own. Hoping to make M class in CO on my next classifier (84.3% now) but will jump to LO afterwards / once my gun from Venom arrives

Buy an aluminum mainspring housing to swap in, that will cut probably 2 oz? May not be perfect match in terms of grip texturing alignment between grip and MSH but probably not a huge issue if you're considering cutting it up as well. You probably can also do a cut on sides similar to how infinity does for their grips

Dot for me. While I think given engagement distances / types it’s less of an advantage for CCW, it is still fundamentally a force multiplier for your handgun. Between the comp’d slide on my P365XL Macro Comp, and the dot, it gives me a lot of confidence in my capabilities for what is otherwise a very small and light handgun. Have shot a few outlaw CCW matches and found that this setup doesn’t leave my really wanting anything more for EDC

I almost went subminor shooting blazer brass 115gr 9mm out of a 5" 1911 at a major. 125.9PF. Granted, Chrono was low for everyone that day, but it seems normal factory range ammo can sometimes be close to that 125pf floor