spd522

My Paras all have S&A magwells and I haven't found a basepad/mag combination that won't fit yet. Arrendondo, Grams, Dawson, Para, and a couple that aren't even made any more. I have mags made from 1992 through 2005. Craig

The Dawson pads require the Arredondo inserts. The fingers on the insert extend the indents and prevent the rounds from stacking sideways at the bottom. Craig

My P18 I got in 1999 runs with ammo loaded out to 1.200. I don't normally load it that long, but did when I changed my open gun from 38 Super to 9mm. I loaded them long to try to get them to run with the mid-90s series of 38 Super mags I already had. Never could get the Super mags to work with 9mm at any length. With the 9mm mags that came with the P18, it would run with all the length 9mm I tested in the P18 and ran 38 supers in the Open gun. So the factory 9mm mags were good with either gun but the 38 Super mags only ran with in the open gun with Supers (or Super Comp). I also have some STI for Para mags, a 140 and a 170, and neither are reliable enough for me to use in anything more than practice. I have 3 Paras and like them but they do seem to be magazine picky at times.

Just switch the basepads to the Dawson extended and you won't have fit issues. Or change the magwell to the SA but it requires frame modification. I get 21 in mine with Dawsons without tuning. I think they will hold more but I don't want to risk reliability by tweaking them to hold another round or two. Craig

I mounted both of my WRS holsters with the ELS system. I used the large clips, not the smaller ones used for mags and shotgun carriers. Craig

My bet is it will only show up in the SS frame guns. The alloy frames would take a pounding. Craig

I have a Match barrel being installed in my 9L by C-Rums. I ordered the barrel when I first saw them listed on the website in Sept. I got it in a few weeks. I gave Jeff the pistol and my M2 to do some tweaking over the winter with no pressure other than have it done by spring. So he may not even have touched it yet with all the other customers he is dealing with. My past experience with BarSto barrels has been excellent. I am sure the M&P will be better for it too. Craig

Sounds like what my M2 has been doing lately. It does it when dropping the bolt when empty but has never done so when loaded and shooting. Until the Arkansas 3 gun last week. I had to rack a round out of the chamber and drop the bolt a few times to get it to free up so I could load. However, I always depress the bolt release when the trigger group is reinstalled. Actually, that has probably only been about 4 times in the two years I have owned it. It's a place to start looking. Thanks Mike. Craig

I bought a pair on the reviews by other shooters. Great traction and some of the most comfortable shoes I have ever had. You wouldn't expect that to look at them. I have problems with my knees and feet and usually by the end of the day, my legs are hurting. Not so wearing these. I liked them so much, I bought a second pair to have in case they change the design down the road. I have only done that with one other pair of shoes and they were Danners. Craig

95% of the time, I run a 26" M2 with a 12 rd Nordic tube. But for matches with capacity limits, I run a 21" M2 with an 8 rd Nordic tube. Craig

I can't post most of my videos. Too much profanity. Craig

Is there a check-in time or place confirmed? I think in the past the match hotel had a room for it Friday night. And maybe Saturday AM at the range. Craig

My 11.5" DPMS with a Burris Fastfire will keep them all in a group a bit larger than the size of a softball at 300. And I suck with precision shooting with a red dot. Someone with good eyes could cut that down a bunch. Craig

Oakley Half Jackets. Mine are prescription as my right eye is farsighted and left is nearsighted. Just the opposite of what I want to be able to see a front sight. So I got lenses made to change it. Kind of crazy for about 5 minutes after putting them on but after that, I could wear them full time just fine. I got VR28, Persimmon, and clear lens to cover the bases. Craig

I have the Evo 18" rifle gas UL and it is great. Weight is around 23 oz and it is very accurate. I don't notice any POI change as the barrel heats up. I was using an 18" DPMS SASS barrel with the same 1/8 twist. It was very accurate also but the Evo weighs almost half. Very noticable in transitions. Craig

I have a Briley tube on mine that gives it 11 in the tube. I would have to take it apart to check the spring. I got it back in the 90s before Nordic or RCI were the ticket. The Briley isn't like the others where you can pop the end off. Briley is a one piece tube so it comes off at the barrel lug. Craig

I had a couple of the SPS for Para mags and they never worked reliably in my guns. Sold them. I have a 140 and 170 STI for Para and neither of them are trustworthy enough out of the box for me to use. STI mags need the stupid insert in the back if you want to use 9mm. At least the older ones did. Some day I will dig them out and get them to work. Right now I just use Para P18 mags with Dawson pads and didn't have to tune them to work right. Craig

I got my P18 on letterhead in 1999 when they only were available to LE. I used it for IDPA and then 3 Gun. Mine isn't finicky about ammo at all and the only time I have a malfunction is when I try to shove too many rounds in the mag. The Arrendondo insert gets jammed up into the spring and prevents the rounds from feeding up from the mag. Other than that, it's been great. Lots of rounds through it, accurate, and soft shooting. I had a frame built into an open gun back in the mid 90s and had several mags that were for 38 Super. None of them would work in the P18 and reliably feed 9mm. Even loaded long. I could use the mags that came with the P18 in the open gun with 38 Super and they would work. I put a mike and caliper to them and really couldn't find but a few thousands difference in the mags. Perhaps the pistol frames themselves were different enough to make the difference. I have spoken to some who specialized in Paras and they said they could use the 38 Super mags in 9mm but some required a bit of tuning. About 2005, I had the open gun rebarreled to 9mm and use the P18 mags exclusively in both guns. Craig

Nice thing about the 870 or any pump for that matter is that the mag tube spring can be quite light and still work. Less resistance is smoother. Craig

I did a count. I am using products in this match from 13 of the sponsors (last count) of this match. I believe we should all support those who support us. Thank you all sponsors for helping get this match off the ground. Craig

Can the duty rifle have optics or irons only?

Well said Linda. I have been to all 4 matches. Little quirks pop up at all matches and I am surprised there aren't a lot more at one the size of this. ROs were great and we had nothing to complain about regarding the heat. They were in it all the time and I never heard a complaint from any of them. I had fun in spite of my lame performance. The Rock is a great place to shoot and I look forward to my next trip back. Craig

Crap. I don't shoot heavy (gun, not me) that often and look forward to those matches that I do. Oh well, I am sure the steel will appreciate not being hit with my usual 460 PF 175 smk. Craig

I got one for my HTO rifle and liked it so much I bought a 2nd one for my TO rifle. Mine are 2FP and the reticle is visible and clear. I only turn on the illumination in the shadows or cloudy/dark backgrounds. Otherwise, the black reticle is easy to pick up. For $650 it's a great deal. The best deal I got on a new one was just under $1100. FYI- a shooting buddy has a Swaro Z6i and the same Bushnell 1-6.5 I have. He said if he had to do it over, he would have bought two of the Bushnells. He said the Swaro isn't worth double the Bushy price. Craig

Bladetech WRS for 3 gun. I have one for my M&P 9L and one for 1911/Para. Never lost a pistol, even on nasty falls. For USPSA, I use a Bladetech DOH for Production/SS and CR speed for Ltd/L10/Open. Craig