Zak Smith

If you want a new A1-length stock, Cavalry Arms sells them as their "C1" stock for $30-some. -z

Make that, Franken-AR. This one started life as a "Special Build" rock river 16". It has the mid-length gas system and the barrel is full "bull" rear of the gas block, Hbar in front. I put on an Armalite tube to prevent burning and an A1-length stock from CavArms. Next, I sent it off to J.P. for their BC Comp, Adj. gas block, and SRTS. More pictures here: http://www.demigod.org/~zak/pictures/2003-...humbnails.shtml -z

re: soot. I'm shooting 200gr West Coast plated RN bullets with 5.1gr Titegroup and getting the soot. This is not a "light" load. -z

I just got my upper back from JP. It's a 16" rock-river. Had them install the BC comp and the stainless adjustable gas block. To get it to lock the bolt back using BH 68gr, I unscrewed it only about 1 turn from totally closed. I am very pleased with the rifle now. It does not move very much. I may still try out the Low Mass bolt, though. -z

I just got my AR upper back from JP - had their BC comp, an adjustable gas block, and the SRTS installed. The gentleman I spoke to originally said it would be about two weeks. Well, the upper arrived at JP on the 29th, they called me on the 2nd (after Labor day) to verify some stuff, and I had it back in my hands today, the 16th. That's some service I could get used to! -z

The word is that the cast-frame BHP's take a heat-treat better and are consequently stronger. -z

Most of the .40 Limited guns I see around here are generally like this one, an SV from SpeedShooters.com: -z

No doubt TG is cleaner than Bullseye, but the cleanest powder? How come the end of my 1911 is covered in soot after I finish practicing with TG loads? -z

VV-N310 is next to Bullseye in the burn rate chart. It's clean. Way cleaner than Titegroup. -z

It really depends on how you position your head relative to the upper receiver and the eye relief of the scope. If you shoot nose-to-charging-handle, there will be about 1.5" between your eye's lens and the rear end of the flat-top. So if you had a scope with 1.5" of eye relief, it would be set up correctly if its rear lens was even with the rear of the flat-top. The TA01 and TA31 ACOGs happen to have this eye relief. If you have a scope with 2.5" of eye relief, the rear lens of the scope will have to be 1" in front of the rear end of the flat-top. That's how my TA11 with about 2.4" of eye relief is set up. When I had a Leupold with about 3.4 - 4.6" of eye relief (VXIII 1.5-5X), I had to mount it about 2 - 2.5" forward of the rear of the flat-top for proper eye relief. I used an ARMS #36S-EX (Super-Extended) with Leupold "medium" height rings for this config. You might be able to get by with putting two super-high rings (like the Leu MK4) behind the scope turrets. If you shoot with your head further back on the stock, you can move everything further back too. -z

Is this for shooting in a particular division (e.g. Limited, Open, something else)? In USPSA, .38Super is defined to be "minor" in the Limited class. -z

I was under the impression that you could put a standard firing pin in, and remove the plunger... but that's just from what I've read. You might find someone who's done it over on pistolsmith.com

The South African surplus M193 is very hot, but not so accurate. Pie-plate size groups at 200-yards are common. -z

http://www.jprifles.com/RecoilEliminator.shtml -z

~ 2836 fps, for 156 PF. Haven't chrono'd "real" Q3131/A. All I had on hand was the BH and some South African M193. -z

Black Hills "blue box: 55gr FMJ did not make minor out of my 16" RRA. -z

Erik, Thanks. I'll try that. Thumbs parallel and not touching frame, right? -z

Sorry, the Glock is out. -z

Answers to questions, I'm in Colorado - we're still free. I expect to spend about $2000 +/- 300 on the gun and about another $500 in mags (to start off). With this one, I want to buy the right thing first. I'll see if I can shoot some local guys' pistols. -z

Erik, Yes, right-handed. I've been laying my weak-handed thumb along the frame - the pad of the thumb usually comes to rest on the forward end of the slide stop lever. -z

I plan to order a Limited gun in the next few months. I don't know what I want yet. I'll be using it for USPSA/IPSC Limited and 3Gun. Currently, I'm shooting an off-the-shelf single-stack .45. Can someone give me an introduction to the Limited gun, and what options I should consider? thanks Zak

I've been shooting virtually all the local IPSC matches for the last 2-3 months. My accuracy has always been good but my speed suffers. That's fine. I can work on speed. Previously, I was able to consistently keep ten rounds of .45 in a 1.5" circle at 7 yards in slow-fire, and usually put it through the previous hole at-will. Somehow in the last two weeks, I've started to throw shots to the right - about 1-2" and maybe another 1 or 2" high or low. Out of a mag of ten, I'll have about 4-5 where they should be, and another group about 1-2" to the right (and maybe up or down a little), and then maybe one or two more strung out to the right. Interestingly, when I shoot faster - that is, perform the action of pulling the trigger faster - the rounds end up in the right place more often. The only things that have changed in the last two weeks: I widened my rear sight notch about .04" wider, and I've been more tired than usual. Any suggestions? -z

If I can find a partner and a bolt rifle, I really want to go next year. -z

Let's assume you can get the same sight picture with either fixed or adjustable sights -- the Heinie is the same shape as the adjustable Bomar. Is the argument against fixed sights, then, that you might want to change loads which would change the POI? -z

I posted a series of pictures over on this thread on THR: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?...9007#post469007 All the pictures I got: http://demigod.org/~zak/pictures/rm3gm-200...humbnails.shtml -z