Prov1x

what happened to our squads? we squaded over 2-3 weeks ago and now over half of our squad got moved or even unsquaded?

Wow 428 rounds is going to be some serious shooting. Good thing I just placed an order for more bullets that should be here by next week. I don't think I would have had enough extras. Stages look awesome with a lot of different positions and swingers, movers etc...excited to be going to my first nationals!

A friend and I were out practicing last night at the range. He was shooting his STI Edge and I borrowed it for a few drills. I am about to place an order for a custom 2011 and my friend has talked me into running drills back to back with his STI and my M&P. Hopefully wednesday I will get a chance to. I'll report back afterwards on my results.

I bought a trojan last year and only changed the recoil spring. Its stock off the shelf and has ran great. I use the tripp cobra system mags and have never had a problem.

Uh oh...I think I am going to have to throw one more in the mix. Matt Mclearn returned my call today after I posted my first reply. Real nice guy. Any info on him?

Well it looks like I've narrowed it down between two companies offering about the same price, same wait time and features. Matt Cheeley or Dan Bedell. Anybody have any more info to share in regards to either builder? Feel free to message me...thanks.

Thanks for the info everyone. Please do feel free to pm me and share your good or bad experiences. Still looking around and I'm still not even close to deciding who to go with.

How are the predator tactical pistols? I've looked at their stuff on the web but not in person. Does anybody have any experience with them? Feel free to pm me or post your experience here. I know they are out of my original price range but i can always save longer if need be.

I'm looking to get set up with either a full custom or semi custom 2011 sometime in the near future for next season. I know pretty much zero about custom work, who does what or who's good and who's not. I was looking at getting a CRP sti eagle from dawson precision but I'm not 100% sure I want that look of the sti frame, slide cuts etc. I know i'm wanting a short dust cover, front and rear thin serrations (not big ones like are standard sti) but thats about it. I am shooting an sti trojan .40 for ss and its a great gun so I havent totally rulled it out yet. I'm also shooting a s&w m&p pro .40 in limited now. So what are my options for under $3k better yet mid $2k's? Thanks!

I agree with some of this. True, buying a custom isn't going to make you any better over buying a stock Edge. I respectfully disagree that all you need are good magazines. I too have seen some really talented shooters with basically stock a Edge beat guys as well. The difference is they have been around long enough that when the ambisafety, link pin, ejector, extractor, slide stop, or one of the many other issues comes up, they work on their own guns. For a person who has no working knowledge, they either have to send their gun off for a month to get fixed, pay a gunsmith to fix it, or learn how to work on it themselves. Now if you don't mind tinkering or have a gunsmith friend handy, then buying a stock gun is less of an issue. This reply makes me a little nervous. I recently bought a used but very low round count STI Tactical 5.0 in .40s&w. I've shot 200 rounds through it without issue. I may use it in USPSA Limited at some point, but currently use a Sig X-5 Competition. Should I expect to start having issues with my STI Tactical with some of the area's you mentioned above? Are these problems common on an STI that hasn't been worked over by a gunsmith? I think he is just saying that IF any of those things go wrong, which I'm guessing are the most common, that they know how to fix them. And that can happen to any gun, even a custom gun, maybe less likely, but I could be reading it wrong.

I was thinking about the exact same question here recently and after handling the LDC and SDC...I'm going to get the SDC STI Eagle. The LDC one just felt too heavy out front for me. I do have small hands though and I think that may have something to do with the overall feel of it. I also will need a short trigger in mine to make it more comfortable for me to shoot.

I asked this same question to one of the above mentioned GM's. I asked "How much performance difference do you think it makes, in limited division, shooting an STI or an M&P Pro .40?" Which is what I shoot now with 18 rounds per mag (taylor freelance extensions) and a tungsten guide rod. He said based on ergonomics of the more custom guns, shorter/lighter/more defind breaks in triggers, heavier frames and faster follow up shots, that you could possible improve around 7-10%. I don't know if he was talking in general or just to me regarding my shooting abilities since I've been training with him. But for me personally, I would tend to think that I would improve in regards to what he mentioned...but I suck at math and wouldn't know how to figure that into percentage wise when I finally get an STI. That's my plan for after nationals where I'll be shooting production. I'm an A in production and B in Limited.

Production nationals in my own back yard awesome! I don't know about the dates for ss though. Getting time off might be tough for a lot of people. I guess I'll just have to plan way ahead now.

Anybody got a shot of the scores? It's not updated on the match website yet.

I hope to make this match! Thanks for the update.

Have fun guys and shoot well. Wish I could have made the trip!

Let us know how it goes and what the results of the session were.

I have a friend that does exactly the same thing. When we are shooting he will "relax" on the classifier as to not shoot it well so he doesn't go higher...well turns out that is usually his best stage of a match. He is classified as a "B" shooter but is really a "C" class shooter. I think it all has to do with not trying too hard. When he relaxes and knows what he has to do, he does it. When he stresses about it or over thinks it he doesn't do well. Try relaxing more on other stages and know what you need to do and don't over think it.

I'm thinking about making the trip up to this match but it will be my first time shooting area 3. How does the match work? Shoot 6 stages on one morning and then 6 the next morning while other shooters start at 1pm on both days? I see the mornings are already full and I would be shooting in the afternoons. Online it says 1 a.m., hopefully that's suppose to be p.m.

Note: threads merged here. A friend of mine and I were out practicing the other day and I noticed that he had beveled or shaved down the inside of his magwell on his M&P pro 9mm. I asked him if it was legal and he said yes it was but I was thinking otherwise. Whats the verdict on a modification like that to a production gun?

Thanks for the videos and live reports! Awesome work...can't wait to get there and shoot on Saturday.

Thanks for the videos and live reports! Awesome work...can't wait to get there and shoot on Saturday.

I voted STI Trojan .40sw because that is exactly what I just did. I bought mine from somewhere else but it is sweet out of the box and I put 200 rounds of my current reloads through it without a single hiccup. Mine came with the dp fiber optic front sight and a s/a magwell and one mag. I don't think you can go wrong with the Trojan and definitely save up for a reloader either way you go.

what would the difference be in performance between the two? sorry for the simple questions but this will be my first year shooting ss and don't know what to change or keep the same etc...

I just picked up a STI Trojan in .40sw and am wanting to replace the recoil spring to help reduce the recoil a bit. I'm shooting about 168-170 power factor with my current reloads. I was looking at Dawson Precisions website and thought about buying from them so any suggestions are welcome. Thanks! ETA: I put 200 rounds of my reloads through it this past weekend and everything ran great with no malfuntions of any kind and this is about the only option I'm wanting to change right now.