beginner shooter

Are you saying to get rid of the shock buff all togeather or just replace them often? If the buff is causing problems I really want to know about it. -Mike

Ok guys some info from the range. I polished the breech face, feed ramp, and the chamber. The loads havent changed at all and I also put a 18.5lb Wolff spring plus a new shock buff in the gun and it runs like a friggin top! I ran over 700 rounds through her and she ran great the whole session, although I only brought 2 mags with me(was in a hurry when I left the house) so looking into the other mags would be a good thing to do. So far the advice Ive recieved has been top notch and got my blaster running quite well. Thanks to all of you for helping this newbie figure out his gun.

Update: The right side of my face feels like its been worked over by Mike Tyson and my right shoulder hurts like all holy hell. Is this normal and I just need to spend more time in the gym or is there something I can do put myself into less pain when shooting the 'big boy' stuff? Edited to add- I'm really starting to hurt now...... time for more Motrin..

Just got back from the range today and got a chance to play with my brand new 870. All I can say is holy friggin hanna! That thing is crazy loud/powerfull. I think I love this gun. The only real downside is the recoil. Seriously I need to take some motrin now to make my head not hurt so bad. But anyway, yay for new toys now I just need an 1100.

Ok Ill play. Took the dust cover off my AK-47 to diagnose why the sear wasnt holding the hammer after a cycle. Then tried to manually use my thumb to 'reset' the hammer to the sear and thumb slipped off hammer with live round in the chamber. The bolt smashed my thumb so bad I nearly vomited followed by one of the longest strings of four letter words you've ever heard. Yup you only do that once.

I know for a fact that Ive put over 2000 rounds on that spring. I have no idea how many it has had on it before I got it. Either way, the springs are only like $7 anyway so Ill go ahead and place an order with brownells. Come to think of it I think Ill replace all my mag springs too... and maybe buy another trigger... and pick up some Flitz... This is why I never go to Brownells! I always end up impulse buying way more stuff than I need. Thanks for the input though. Just to be sure, you meant 18.5lb spring right? I dont know why but that just seems really heavy to me, but if it works thats what Ill get.

Ipod touch. Have 2 32gb now. One I use for when Im riding my bike and the other permanently stays in the center console of my car (I have one of those fancy car sterios that lets you plug a couple usb devices in it). They're also really good for if you NEED to get on the interweb 'right just now' you can so long as you have a wifi signal. But my favorite I-device is my iphone. It does everything the ipod touch can do and more gps, music, phone calls, internet etc.

Same here. All my blasters are in the limited/stock area, but if you need something to keep you shooting until you can get yours replaced let me know.

No I bought it used. Since Ive bought it Ive put over 2000 rounds through it. Like I said, never a problem at the range when plinking. Only at matches when it really does matter. Ill check the feed lips on the mags. What kind of distance should I be measuring between them? Ill also try shortening up the rounds like you said and see if that helps. When checking the ramp I did see 2 little tick marks on the ramp. The gun usually jams when the bullet is inside the chamber and the brass is angled in an upward orientation still. Another thing that came to mind is to pollish the bolt face (??correct term??) on the slide so the back of the round can slide on it effortlessly. Thanks for the pointers. Ill try some of this stuff when I get home.

Im new to the sport and started by buying a P16 .40S&W. My problem, every time I shoot a match (well only twice now) I have a problem with the bullets not going all the way into the chamber. When this happenes the round is in its upward feeding into the chamber part of the cycle. Usually a firm tap with the heel of my left hand is enough to get that thing in there, but still this is time wasted on a malfunction that shouldnt even be happening in the first place. Whats REALLY odd is that when Im at the range just practicing willy-nilly this never seems to happen. Hopefully an expert out there can give me some good advice. Just watch. Now there's going to be about eleventy-billion people say "buy an Edge". Equipment: -Para PXT P16 Hi Cap Limited -3lb trigger job -factory Para mags with Dawson basepads and springs Ammo: -Mixed headstamp brass all check with a Lyman case guage -Powder is 5gr WST -Bullet Ive tried a variety but with no luck fixing my issue. Currently using cast lead moly bullets 180gr -OAL is 1.183

Yay its a card with my name on it. Actually its my membership to my local gun club. Now when I go all I have to do is sign in and start practicing. No more having to stop at the gas station to get correct change for a range fee. Its the little things that make me happy.

Well trust me, the kindness in definately contagious. IE; my buddy shot his first match on Sat and had a blast, but with a baby on the way he couldnt afford to go out and get any factory ammo. I figured since I had a Dillon and a bunch of brass I would load him up some rounds so he could play too. Wouldnt you know it, he shot just 2 under me overall and won in his division (although he was the only one in his division 'production'). Either way, the "helping others" rubs off on even the newest shooters so thanks for that.

Ive only been in this sport for a short time, but the caliber of the people that participate are some of the highest Ive met. Ive Never met a group of more helpfull and kind people in any other activity Ive participated in. Thanks to everyone who has helped me so far and to all those that Im sure will teach me in the future. -Mike

That 'white' stuff is called snow. Here in Utah we have all 4 seasons. Where as in, say, Texas there's only 2 (hot and a lot hotter). Joking aside, thanks for the reply. Yeah I really do enjoy every aspect of this sport (well maybe not the malfunctions). Hopefully the more I do it the better Ill get.

I do the checklist thing too, but I do it the night before. I just make sure to have everything in my bag before I go to bed so when I get up all I have to do is take a shower, get dressed, grab the bag and go to the range. Ive only shot 2 matches but so far Ive had everything I needed when I got to the range.

And the results. I'm Mike Miller. Didnt do too bad I think. 2nd match results

Ok. So heres my second match. Im the dude in the green shirt and my buddy is in the blue shirt. Please feel free to critique my shooting and heckle as neccesary. BTW, Dont pay any attention to my friends commentary on the last stage.... I was trying to be as safe as possible. Hope you guys enjoy watching me clear jams from my blaster. Last friggin time I use plated ammo.

Well, my second match is tomorrow at 0800. I still need to reload about 500 rounds tonight, but the blaster is clean and everything else is ready to go. Wish me some luck and if you have any pointers Im all ears.

Awesome!!.. Thank you!! No problem. Anyone (specially that age) that is selfless enough to go and do something like this for a worthy cause deserves support in my book.

Got one over the goal and the other a little closer.

Holy Crap! I never knew that this sort of thing could even be an issue. Ive always washed my hands after shooting, cleaning and reloading, but never even gave a thought to inhalation hazzards. Also, does pb absorb through the skin? Ive noticed that on leangthy reloading sessions my thumb, index and middle finger on my left hand (the one that puts the bullet on) are all black. Wow! Good thing I work in the med group here. I think Ill go down and ask one of the docs to put a pb test in for me. Then when my buddy in the lab draws my blood Im going to highly recommend he get one too (he and I both shoot a lot togeather). Someone should pin this thread as a warning for shooters who may just not know about the lead hazzard. -Mike

Yeah I'm with Sarge on this one. If your pay aint broke dont even darken the doorway of finance. When I got back from Iraq it took those clowns 2 and 1/2 months to get me my travel voucher back. On the plus side of things I paid off my GTC while I was downrange and didn't have that hanging over my head when I got back so when I did get back and finally got my travel voucher my happy self went and bought a Dillon 550 with 2 powder measures, sets of dies, etc etc.. Also, a friend of mine who used to ba a recruiter told me that the people that do the poorest on the ASVAB either end up being security forces or.... wait for it.... FINANCE people! Go friggin figure.

Thats what im gonna start trying to practice Being fairly new to the sport myself (5 matches in the books) I know the jittery, cant-sleep feeling you have. what you need to look back on (video of your matches is pricesless here) are your draws, reloads, etc. things you can re-create in dryfire and things you need to do everytime. As someone else said. you can run over a stage in your head a 1,000 times but it wont help much when you show up to your next match and its not there, haha. Of course the excecption would be classifier stages. Sooner or later, you'll see them again. Good advice here. Do you think it would be out of line to ask someone to video my stage while I shoot it? I just dont want to give the impression that I'm 'that guy' who comes off as needy and was wondering if this would be a socially acceptable thing to do.

Check out this one.