Allgoodhits

I have a 1911 with PD (Warren Moore) Bianchi Shroud. I am looking for a left side scope mount which will marry up with the hole pattern for the above shroud hole pattern. I want to remove the shroud and install a light weight scope ( Aimpoint H1 or similar) to the existing former Bianchi Gun. Object is to reduce weight significantly for another use. Any recommendations are welcomed. Martin

The upstate New York Matches were in Holland Patent, NY. About 10 miles north of Utica. The Club was named Trenton Fish & Game. Like Russell said I don't think they have an AP program anymore. They were run by Bill Judycki then Tom Kwasniewski. Vito Buccelato used run matches on L.I. at the Freeport Police Benevolent Range. I don't think they have them, but you may check. There used to be matches near Wilkes Barre, PA. Bear Creek as I recall. That guy was Ken Hewitt There ARE matches at Chambersburg Pistol & Rifle Club in Chambersburg, PA

Congrats to all who participated in BC 2018. I have shot competitively for decades. There is no match/tournament quite like the Bianchi Cup. Those who excel there are truly champions. I shot BC for many years, but haven't been in recent years, and likely will not return. I feel someone must bring this forward, so it may as well be me. Previous Winners are featured on a quite impressive "banner flag" with their name, picture, what category they won, the year and I think their score. Last year, 80 year old John Sander's won Grand Senior with a score of 1908. John is a three time winner of the Grand Senior Category. He missed 2017, as he was in the hospital recovering from ByPass surgery. He had previously received in lieu of a Cup like the others receive, two Eagles, and finally a "Cup" last year in 2017. He did not go this year. There was "no banner flag" made for John Sanders. They had a year to do this, there is NO acceptable excuse for this failure on the part of NRA Competitions. Disappointed NRA Benefactor Member

.38 Super - Consider these 115 gr 4.3 - 4.4 gr Clays 4.2 - 4.3 gr Alliant E3 125 gr 4.1 - 4.2 gr Clays 4.0 - 4.1 gr Alliant E3

I have used both Bayou 200 SWC and Penn 200 LSWC with 3.5 - 3.6 gr Clays with 2.5" or less 50 yd accuracy. I get less than 2" 50 yd accuracy with the Bayou 185 SWC I use 3.8 - 3.9 Clays or 3.6 - 3.7 Alliant E3 or 3.9 - 4.0 WST. I load at 1.240 - 1.242 OAL. with these bullets. This are on a quality slide scoped 1911.

Grant, I am pretty sure John Pride has shot at least one 1920 with a revolver at BC. Am I wrong? MJ

FWIW, The needs do tend to grow. Roller handle and case feeder should be considered among first upgrades.. Shell Plate Bearing kit is nice, and yes the MR Bullet Feeder too.

Ordered Red Hill Tactical holster for XFive on May 3 and it was delivered today. They claimed about 30 days, and they were spot on. Looks great by the way, nicely done RHT.

I might add, John was seventy when he first started shooting. I introduced him to NRA AP. I took him to his first match at Central Jersey Club in Brick, NJ. From there as the say, it is history. He has cleaned the mover in registered competitions, unrecognized by NRA because then they were not recognizing GS National Records. By the way on May 27, 2016 he was having heart bypass surgery and missed the 2016 Bianchi Cup. This year on May 27 he earned a Cup. Going into the last event, the Practical, he was only down two points. The Practical often is a good match for him. He was a tad loose and dropped ten points, giving him a total down of 12, for a 1908. Also, I might add, this is his 3rd Grand Senior National Action Pistol Championship. Yes, he is awesome, and he isn't done! Martin

The exact length GG guide rod is not yet available for XFive. I am using the GG 320F guide rod. It does not quite reach the opening of the guide rod housing at the muzzle. Yes it works. Is it smart, may be yet to be determined? I hand cycled it many dozens of times. No snagging, no perception of any "hitting". So far 250 - 300 rds with the 320F and 14lb spring. YRMV. Are Talons available with sandpaper type texture, or just the rubbery feel? Thanks! MJ

My error, it is GG 320F (full size, not X5 guide rod. Yes, it is a tad short, but works fine with no binding or snagging.

I was at the Crawfish Cup in Lake Charles, LA in April 2017when the topic was brought clearly to light. The XFive will fit in the USPSA Production Box with mag well attached, however not with 21 rd mags which come with it. Modified base pad 17 rdrs will fit in magwell, and within box when inserted. I saw this as a no brainer, since there is nothing in NRA AP rules which stipulate anything other than all magazines used in Production must be the same and they must all fit in the box. I "thought" the issue would be meeting the "readily available to the general public" language for Production in NRA AP Rules. There is no "number" requirement, just "readily available to the general public". The NRA was convinced this is the case, thus approved. I have an XFive, but I have yet to see one, on a shelf in any gun store. It is an exceptional, out of the box $1,000 gun fore sure.

The GG guide rod used was full size. It came with a 15 lb spring from GG. 320-F as I recall.

I just saw where Patrick Franks of USAMU fired a 1916 with a 320 XFive as his second gun at 2017 Bianchi Cup. This should adequately address how exceptional the gun is as a Production platform, and speaks volumes as to his talent.

Having put abut 700 rds through my XFive now, here are my findings. General: I have read numerous complaints about its tightness. To me that is a plus, not a negative. After all, one of the promises was its accuracy. Yes, it is very accurate. I have shot only hand loads through it. Some loads would not reliably run in the gun, due to their lack of pressure to fully extract and eject rounds. As the magazine capacity was diminished it got better. A very, very firm grip helped too. After increasing powder charge a tad, it became 100% reliable, and the increased loads were still under 130PF. With lighter loads, fewer rounds in the mags help, as does a very firm grip. Battery: I never encountered a failure to go into battery during normal firing of the gun, excepting the failure to extract and eject as mentioned above with low PF loads, which obviously prevent the battery condition. If you attempt to ease the slide forward, it likely will not go into battery. I have installed a GG guide rod so that I can control which recoil spring to use. The GG guide rod came with a 15 lb. I am running a 14 lb, which works fine with my hand loads. If I bump the loads up a tad, then I will experiment with the 15 lb spring, or even run the factory captured spring/rod assembly. During normal firing, I am sure it will strip a round off the follower, chamber and go completely into battery with an even lighter recoil spring. Accuracy: With my hand loads, my 65 year old eyes and the .90 front sight it is a challenge to really get the sight picture, I like. Having said that, I have fired many groups under 2.5" at 50 yds with this gun, simply shooting prone. I think the gun will shoot 1.5 - 1.75" at 50 yds with the right ammo, the right eyes and the right talent behind the trigger. Hand loads used: I have tried Zero 115 JHP old stye, Zero 125 JHP Conical, Hornady 125 HAP, Bayou 124 TCG, Bayou 120 TCG. The same mild powder charge of WST was used across the board. No changes to powder charge and no changes to OAL die setting, but there was slight variation in OAL due to slightly different bullet noses. They were pretty much 1.075 +/- .005. I knew all the loads would be soft (120 +/-PF) so I wasn't concerned. All the jacketed loads were too soft to run the gun with more than 2 or 3 rounds in a mag. After, I kicked the load up by 2/10ths it ran flawless. (Except for the 115 gr bullets. They still needed more powder to make them 100% with topped off mags.) Magazines locked back etc. After the increased powder charge, my 125's JHP were running about 1000fps and the 120, 124 BB were running 1050 - 1020 fps respectively. I did not chrono the 115 JHP. All very accurate, all had more potential with some tuning for the specific bullet/weight/material. Maybe a different powder too. I had, and like WST for .38 Spl and .38 Super. That is why it was used. Trigger: I am a revolver guy, so I found the trigger quite acceptable, but I have replaced it with Gray Guns Straight Face PELT. Before it was in the low to mid 7 lb range with Lyman Electronic tester, depending on where the rod was placed on the trigger. After the GG PELT trigger it dropped considerably. Way lower than expected or advertised. I do not know if this was because I "over wrestled" the spring into place or because of the way which I lubricate, or was I just lucky. (I use a dab of STP on contact surfaces of trigger, and on slide rails during warm weather.) After the PELT, the same trigger weight test results ranged from right at 4 to about 4.5 lbs. I had some break below 4 lbs. For me, if a revolver or DA, or a striker, I just "keep the trigger moving" and it works well for me. But again, I am a revolver guy so a 6-8 lb trigger is what I am used to, which has to be moved almost half an inch. So the Sig 320 trigger was fine to my feel. I commit to the trigger and keep it moving until it breaks. Sights: I am a patridge front sight guy. The fiber optic is coming off, and a wider patridge is going on. Solid click adjustments on rear. Good sights IMO. Grip: Too slick for my taste. Added skateboard tape. I have seen the pre-cut tape kits, but I need tape added to the smooth area of the back of the grip. The pre-cuts only cover the existing textured areas. Magazines: I have not used the 21 rdrs. I bought 4 17 rdrs and had to modify the the base pads so that they would clear the magwell. A bit of a pain, but after I got the first one done, which gave me a template to how much, and where material had to come off, it took less time to do 3 than it did the first one. Holster: Red Hil Tactical ordered, not yet received Closing: As I said, I am a revolver guy. If I could only have one handgun, it would be a 4" S&W .357 magnum revolver. Either a Model 586, 686 or 19 or 66. However, if one of those were not available, and I could only have one, then the Sig 320 XFive is rapidly winning me over. It is that good, so far, IMO.

....and scoring was done just off the line. I seem to recall, the mover was 3 shot passes at 15 yds instead of the 6 now. I "think" that is why it is called the Moving Target (Modified) Event.

I'll be there.

Here it was I received from Damien today regarding the Production box questions. " We are waiting on the final minutes from the Comp Rules committee to be 100% sure that the wording that was submitted was in fact what was adopted. It should be online and in the Bianchi Program by mid next week. The box will be used in the USPSA dimensions, NOT the IDPA dimensions. The magazine must be in the pistol. Revolver will most likely not have a box this year. Chances are there will in 2018. All other existing Production rules apply."

Four things which should be clarified, which are not in the quoted text, and the quoted text does not reference any other source. Dimensions, three, of the box. (Be clear) Magazine in box, does not say magazine in gun. (Be clear) The "Dawson Box" does not have a lid. It is essentially a frame. A straight edge is used to determine if there is a width issue. (Be clear) Are revolvers pistols? (Be clear) Simply and easily addressing these four vague areas would make things so much easier, simpler for all. It would have taken seconds to add clear language. How much time, with how many posts will transpire with our worthless opinions as to what exactly they meant? BTW, I have already spoken to a seasoned NRA referee. Only referred to Dawson Box for answer.

The Box. I recently inquired about this as well, after hearing about a box. Being one who got caught up in NRA's indecisiveness over details, especially in Production, I wanted to be as sure as is possible in advance. I was provided as an answer to a link to the box Dawson Precision makes. After looking at the Dawson link and box, I Immediately had another level of questions, which to no surprise could not be answered. My questions came about because The Dawson box is convertible. In other words it will measure for USPSA standards, or if one uses the supplied insert, then, it can be used for IDPA. My specific question was, what is the dimension of the box passed by NRA Committee, and was it to be two dimensional or three dimensional? Only told , "the box" and that it would be 3 dimensional. Here is what I know, or think I know based on the link provided in response to my question. The " Box" for Production. If they use: USPSA rules, the gun must fit in a box 8 15/16" x 6" x 1 5/8" (Production revolver excluded?) IDPA rules, the gun must fit in a box 8 3/4" x 6" x 1/5/8" (Production revolver excluded?) I do not know if other changes will apply to other existing Production rules. Must gun fit in box with magazine inserted is yet another question? Sadly, if past is prologue, some will find out well in advance or already know, some will find out at equipment check in, while others will not find out until after they have shot. Good luck getting a definitive, absolute ruling. Cheers, MJ

Plate Shoot, Pin Shoot. Yuk. Now a target as big as the "world". I think I can hit that! I'm in for the World Shoot. Will there be broad sided barn doors too? I've been practicing on them.

Does Bayou Bullets use Gator Snot as a lube? These are the green bullets that Jerry M. uses correct? Although, I think Jerry uses a 158 RN.

With the revo, IMO, shoot all double action, start pulling the trigger before eveything is perfect, and have the confidence that sights will get aligned and placed where you want them by the time the hammer falls. With anything except the 50 yd stage, unless you start the trigger moving soon and keep it moving, then you likely will get rushed and ultimately make ambush type shots to beat the clock. Toughest time limits with the revo, IMO, will probably be 10 yds on the Barricade(6 shots in 5 seconds) and the 25 yd line of the Practical (one and one in 5 seconds, two and two in 6 seconds and the real hump will be three and three in 7 seconds). All of these are no problem, provided you get on the trigger pretty soon and keep it moving, smoothly yet quickly. Very tight grip works best for me.

Al previous posts were spot on. I too shoot K frames, and I have cracked barrels with jacketed bullets and "fast" poders like W231, BE, WST etc. Last year I used the Precision Black Bullet in 125 gr w/WST and it worked great. Firm crimp or it will lead even though moly coated. I started using Zero 125 gra jacketed bullets with a much slower powder and it workd great and no barrel issue yet. The powder I chose was WSF. There is no data, so I guessed and so far all has been good.

The Northern Virginia crowd will be there minus one, as he now lives in Cheyene, WY. But he is coming anyway.