Joe L

Monica, I've had similar experience rushing when using the timer during practice. I've got my strong arm in a sling right now so I can't do anything but weak hand only drills, but, in February, I get to start over with the drills, including draws. I will do them without the timer a lot before going back to the timer. Joe

The extended slide release lever is also used on the X-5 All Round. Perhaps that is another way to chase a new part down. Modifying a stock part is easy, however... This is the way to do it. If you don't get the part orange hot before bending, it will crack and eventually break off in service. However, be very careful not to bend the tab down any where it contacts the frame. If you do, the slide release will ride too high in the frame to allow the slide to pass over the tab when it is down and you won't be able to get the slide off the frame...easily. Don't ask me how I found out. I started with a new slide release lever that was just marginal and then made it worse. Once I got the slide off and understood what I had done, I fixed it and its worked fine ever since. In IDPA ESP, of course. The stock P226 part looks very similar to the X-5 piece once heated and bent. You can't make it perfect but it is good enough.

I'll buy one also. Joe

What a day!!! Left office early and went to local range, 60F, calm, sunny. Shot the X-5 first WHO, SA, standing, 15 and 25 yards, slow groups. Difference is this time my left arm/shoulder was NOT sore and was rested. Makes a lot of difference! I was able to get nearly all shots on 7" plate at 25 yards. I stopped at 20 rounds, but had 18 hits and 2 just off. No fliers. (Note in photo below is not correct.) Was 100% at 15 yards. 50 rounds total. Tried to duplicate the results with the P226-9-Bar-Sto but couldn't. 15 out of 20 at 25 yards, but 9/10 at 15, etc. I can't hold the lighter gun as steady as the X-5, plus left arm was getting a little tired after 50 rounds with the heavy gun. I finally feel like I have learned how to shoot weak hand only, standing. Essentially NO bad shots today out of 100 rounds. First time I've been able to say that since starting left hand only shooting. All of today's session done both eyes open, with a little chap stick on left lens. No vision related problems at all. Joe

Monday 1-2-12, went to the range after driving 5 hours, shot the P226-9mm-Bar-Sto only, 100 rounds, 30 rounds at 15 yards to get my eyes and fingers in the groove, used chap stick on the left lens, worked great, both eyes open. Shooting at 7" plates again, 70 rounds at 25 yards, was able to get several 4 out of 5 shot series on the plate but could not get a 5 out of 5. However, several 4 out of 5, so overall better than Sunday. No problem holding the gun, the left arm is getting stronger. A good day. Joe

It fits large hands very well. I have one that I can use in IDPA ESP in 9mm. It has to be trimmed at the beavertail to fit in the 8.75" long IDPA box and then lightened considerably to make the 43oz limit for IDPA. For your IPSC Production division gun, I don't think you need to do anything. Bruce Gray of Gray Guns uses one himself and he is what I consider to be the expert on the X-5. Mine will be going to his shop in Oregon for some work that is legal in IDPA ESP. The gun is an absolute nail driver but comes with a very light recoil spring which might result in some FTF initially, but will be fine after the gun loosens up a little. The double action is excellent but the hammer stroke is about 2/3 of the SA travel and will result in light strikes if you reduce the hammer spring weight. I use an 18 lb spring in mine but with a standard P226 trigger bar to get full hammer travel. If you like a heavy 5" gun, this is your pistol. I shoot a standard alloy frame P226 4.4" barrel gun also, but there is difference. I don't have any experience with the other guns you wanted to compare the X-5 to. Joe

Tried the chap stick on the left lens today and was able to shoot the entire session both eyes open without strain. This is the first session I've been able to do this. I am shooting weak hand only, standing, 20-30 yards to a 7" plate target. Slow groups. My strong arm is in a sling. Very happy with the use of very thin application of the chap stick. Joe

1-1-12 New Year's Day Excellent range session this morning! Decided not to shoot the 22 at all. Went right to the P226-9-Bar-Sto gun and slow shot (paper) 7" plates at 20 and 30 yards. Was able to get in 100 rounds with the alloy gun and another 25 with the X-5. The X-5 is still a little too heavy for WHO shooting with the left arm in rehab. But the 32 oz standard P226 was fine. I also tried chap stick on the left lens, just enough to allow me to shoot both eyes open in bright sunlight with no trouble at all, right eye. I will continue with this method until the brain learns to concentrate on the right eye view of the sights. Here is what I am proud of, considering my current status... I know this isn't a good group, but I was able to get 5 shots out of 5 on a 7" plate at 30 yards, WHO, no rest or support, standing today, first time since learning to shoot left hand. This is a milestone for me. All it took was 1000 rounds of 22 and a few nights of dry fire practice. The limitation has always been the strength of the left hand. I got overly ambitious after the good result with the standard P226 and decided to try the X-5. First 10 rounds were excellent at 20 yards, but I tired out soon after that and could not match the 30 yard group from the standard gun. Strong hand, two-hand grip before surgery, I could shoot 3" groups standing with the X-5 and 4" groups with the P226. WHO, left arm just can't support the heavier X-5 gun steady enough to allow good groups yet at 30 yards. But I think that weakness will go away by February. Joe

Bill--Yes, therapy with stretch bands of varying strengths, left shoulder is getting stronger and recovery so far has been excellent. The right shoulder never hurt very bad after surgery and I have benefitted from knowing what to expect from the first one. Putting on a seat belt and tying my shoes one handed are tougher than anything at the shooting range. I don't have a left handed holster and shouldn't really need to draw weak handed once the right shoulder is rehabilitated so, no, no draw drills. Now that I have the strength to handle the 9mm gun left handed, I am going to start multiple targets and distances with a timer shooting weak hand only. That will be fun, now that I know I can hit a target! See update below for today. Thanks for the note. Joe

Friday, 12-30-11. Still away from my normal shooting range. Still shooting only the 22. Shot at 30 yards today from a soft rest, weak hand only, bright sun made shooting with both eyes open difficult. Added sun shade to keep glare off the sights. Only 130 rounds. Groups not good today, arms sore from fighting the ice and mud. Will take Saturday off and hit it hard on Sunday.

I have a large Midway range bag, it is so large that I overloaded it and damaged a shoulder trying to catch it as it fell out of a truck. I switched over to two smaller bags to limit the weight while recovering and got tired of digging around for pens, tape, timer batteries, glasses,etc. Yesterday I got a tool caddy and tried it out this morning. Worked great, no hunting for small items, no zippers to fight with. I keep the pistols separate in the old small Academy bag, and the ammo separate also. Here are some photos... For me, this open tool caddy type bag is going to work much better than the larger Midway bag or the smaller totally enclosed dark bag with no compartments. Joe

No shooting on Tuesday, travel day. Went out this morning 12-28-11 and shot the 22 at 30 yards, half rest, half weak hand only, standing. Today I tried to shoot both eyes open with good success. I think I can train myself to ignore the weak eye. This was done even shooting left handed with dominant right eye. I did not have much difficulty focusing on the sights and lining up the shots with the right eye, standing or from a rest. About 165 rounds, slow. A good day under difficult conditions, weather and road wise. Will continue tomorrow, several days available for range sessions this week. Joe

Very interesting range diary. Lots of good experience in here to help a newbie like me. Thanks. Joe

Went to the range today just to shoot some. Had to share a bay with some people that were not very careful with their tons of hardware. Couldn't really concentrate. It was fun, just not much "training". 100 rounds 22, 100 rounds 9mm. Both shoulders a little sore. Christmas nearly did me in. Joe

Christmas Day--Range visit with my son and his brother-in-law for just some fun targets at 15 and 30 yards. No 22 today. Started with the P226-9mm Bar-Sto and then decided to try the X-5. Was able to hold and shoot the X-5 Ok weak hand only, left hand. 100 rounds total with the 9's. On the way out, stopped at the silhouette range and decided to try the 1911 at the 50 yard steel pigs. Knocked down 4 pigs with 8 shots, weak hand only, standing, no rest! Very happy to have done this. First time I've had the nerve to try hitting the pigs weak hand only, much less with the 45. A good day with some quality range time with my son, finished off with a good round on the pigs! I'm happy. Joe

George, a breakthrough for me today. After shooting the SIG 9's (casually) with my son and his brother-in-law today, we stopped at the silhouette range before heading back to the house. I pulled out my 1911 and knocked down 4 steel pigs at 50 yards with 8 shots, no rest, weak (left) hand only. That was good for me. Two weeks ago, I wouldn't even have stopped at the 50 yard silhouettes with my right arm in a sling. This was a good accomplishment for me, especially since I haven't been shooting this gun very often at all. You can learn to shoot left handed, believe me. Joe

J_Maker, It took me a hundred rounds shooting weak hand only before I felt like there was a chance I could learn to shoot well. I have since shot 2000 rounds left handed only because of shoulder surgery to my strong side right shoulder. It is like starting over shooting--you have to train your trigger finger and get used to lining up the sights with (for me) the right eye. But, you WILL learn to shoot fairly well fairly quickly if you stick with it. I had no choice so I have made good progress. You just have to dedicate some time and ammo to the task, then shoot 30-50 rounds weak hand only each range visit to keep your skill level high, after you have learned. Joe

Saturday--went to the range in spite of snow, 29F, overcast. Shot 120 rounds with the 22 then 15 with the 9mm. Wet, damp, poor conditions. Groups not quite as good as on Friday. Did not have a clean 15 out of 15 on 3" from 30 yards with a rest. On average 60% of shots in the 3". All weak hand only from a rest at 30 yards. Limitation is partly eye sight--can't see the 3" clear enough to generate identical sight alignment from one shot to the next. Trigger control is good-very few fliers. May try shooting only the 9mm tomorrow or Monday. Need to be able to get same group size with 9mm as with 22. Edit late Saturday night, Christmas Eve. I re-read sections of Brian's book. I am starting to understand a little more what he was talking about as far as the relationship of the trigger movement as a response to sight picture. I worked hard at seeing the sights lined up properly with the fuzzy 3" target. The gun went off a few times when I had it right. At least a few times, the gun went off while aiming, not after aiming. I will work on this more Sunday and Monday. Joe

I just examined the 22 conversion slide after the range session above. This gun was filthy but still running fine, believe it or not. It's snowing here now, by the way. I cleaned it anyway. LOL. (I think around 700 rounds since last cleaning.) Joe

Office is closed today, so was able to go to the range at 8:30am, cloudy, wind out of the north 10-15 mph, 29F, felt very cool to me, not enough clothes. Only shot P226-22LR, 90 rounds, 30 yards, rest, weak hand only, of course. Today I shot CCI Mini-mags to get a little more oomph for the slide. 15 rounds per magazine, worked perfectly today. Did not clean the gun before or after shooting. Good results after adjusting rear sight 2 clicks up, 6 oclock hold on 3" splatter target. As long as I did the breathing correctly and steady release of the trigger, good group, as shown below. I gave up after an hour and went back home. Very happy with weak hand trigger control today. Can't wait to try free hand shooting on Saturday or Monday. Will take Christmas day off. Joe

Shooting from a rest first at 25 yards will show you what will eventually be possible from a standing position. I am limited in what I can do right now due to surgery on my right shoulder, so I am shooting weak hand only both from a rest and from a standing position. It was like starting all over again learning trigger control, sight alignment, recoil control. Spend enough time shooting from the rest to get good groups slow fire, then move to standing and stay with it. Then move back further from the target and shoot some more as described in the posts above. If you see you are grouping all shots to the right or left compared to shooting from a rest, you need to work on your trigger finger control so that you don't push the gun to the side as you are releasing the shot. Joe

120 rounds with the 22 followed by 60 with the P226-9mm Bar-Sto today with a friend. Good day, built on what I learned on Sunday with the 9. Still have the occasional flyer to the right when I rush the trigger with the left hand only standing trigger action. Education is not complete! Never is. Shot 10/15/25 yard groups. Still can't shoot more than 5 shot groups without the left arm getting weary with the 9. The 22 won't cycle reliably with Federal Auto Match unless it is cleaned and light oil used. Also, only 10 rounds in the SIGPower magazines instead of 15. Spring pressure is too much drag on the slide at 15. This is a 30F weather problem only, 15 rounds OK with a dirty gun at 60F. Just need to keep working at it. At least today I didn't have any problems with the transition to the 9mm from the 22. I think it is because I have some recent experience with the 9 and the recoil is no longer a surprise, instead it is expected and welcomed. Joe

That's great!! Congratulations. Now we both know how good it feels just to get out and be able to shoot your normal gun while recovering. I can't tell you how happy I was with being able to hit a 3" target at 15 yards (occasionally) yesterday, weak hand only, standing, with my normal IDPA gun (P226-9mm). Joe

Got a chance to go back to the range this afternoon, this time I shot only the P226-9mm Bar-sto gun. Decided to shoot standing weak hand only at 10, 15, and 25 yards. Shot 150 rounds, got off to a shaky start, but settled down, got grip right, worked the trigger correctly, and could call most of the shots. Couldn't hold the gun on the center of the target very well, left arm still too weak, but I'm getting there. Had several 5 shot sequences where I was able to get 4 out of 5 on a 3" target at 15 yards. Still can't quite do all five, but will get there. Did well enough to try 25 yards and was able to shoot a 6" group standing. Before I quit, was able to get a 4" group from a rest at 30 yards, weak hand only. It will take some more work, but I am confident now that I will be able to shoot 3" groups from 15 yards and maybe 4" at 25, eventually, at least on a calm, not too cold, day. This is fun. It's always good to get to shoot the 9mm instead of just the 22. This was a good session with my friend who was trying to improve his weak hand only skills as well. He has a little more work to do as he hasn't had the opportunity to put a lot of rounds down range with a 22 like I have. Over 700 rounds for the week, even though I was out of town for 3 days. Joe

An excellent training session this morning. 45F, cloudy, calm. 240 rounds 22LR through the P226-22. Decided to concentrate on standing, weak hand only shots today. Started with 1" targets at 10 yards, then 2" at 15 yards, finally 15 rounds at 3" from 25 yards and 15 rounds at 3" from 30 yards from a rest. So over 200 rounds free standing, weak hand only, for the first time since surgery. First time I was confident enough to shoot free hand! Left arm is still weak and the arm muscles were very tired by the end of the 2 hour range session. Shot 5 shots at a time, then go look and mark the shots, then five more, repeat. Tried a different stance this time. Tried more of a bullseye style stance, with the right leg behind the left at about a 45 degree angle. Kept sling hand close to chest. Tried breathing slowly and shooting on exhale. Also tried to wrap left thumb around gun tighter and with knuckle up against the tail of the gun. Tighter grip seemed to eliminate the high right groupings. Still have to be very conscious of the grip strength and trigger pull, but at least I didn't reinforce any errors today. Shooting 5 shot groups give me some time to rest the weak arm and to think about what I need to do differently on the next sequence. 15 round magazines are great and I have two. Shot only Federal AutoMatch today. Still have 700 rounds of CCI MiniMags to shoot. The gun starts having failures to eject when the chamber gets dirty. The gun needs a good cleaning and oiling. Rem Oil is too thin for the rails, go back to CLP. Too cold for Slide Glide Lite. Maybe TW25B will work. Overall, what I have to say about session today is that I need to continue with 80% of shooting done free hand and 20% or less off a rest. I can shoot 3" groups off a rest at 30 yards, that is good enough for now, weak hand only. What I need to do is keep practicing and improving until I can shoot 3" groups at 25 yards weak hand only standing. Gonna take another 1000 rounds, but, if today is any indication, I can do it. Joe