Fried Chicken Blowout

Looking to see if there's someone out there that can give some input on a possible relocation to western Montana. We'll be flying in next month to look around and see what we think. This would be the first of many trips before a relocation from Colorado would take place. We're looking to get away from the massive growth that has taken place here in Colorado. A friend of mine is moving to Missoula and another friend lives in Moscow, ID so we're considering everything in between the Missoula area and over into Idaho. Might take a few years to pick a firm place and get the move done. Both my wife and I are RNs with more than 20 years experience so jobs won't be an issue, we just need a hospital or two within realistic commuting distance. Haven't decided if we want to life in a small town like Hamilton, MT where there's a small hospital or out in the fringes of the Bitterroot Valley or even within Missoula. We'll be scoping that out when we're there next month. We'll be going as far north as White Fish, MT and as far west as Coeur d'Alene, ID on our visit so jump in if you have info! If there's any locals to this area that can provide guidance on where to look, where to avoid and so on that would be great. Also what's the access to ranges and USPSA/IDPA in the area? Thanks, Jason

Yes yes just looking to see what the opinions are and to make sure I wasn't missing something in the last couple years of being out of competitive shooting.

The P320 would be a prime example of the mag ban because I don't think you could get those mags at all before our ban and as such you can't claim you had them before. Which is fine, just narrows my choices till I move to Montana in a few years. Tired of the lame stuff going on in Colorado.

Part of the fun for me is the challenge of leaning a new platform. I've only shot the M&P in competition and it's time to move on. I don't take the competition aspect of it too serious, or I try not to because it's generally disciplining shooting at a B level and watching such better skilled guys and girls. But I don't specifically train for competition so I have to know going into it that I'll never be that good shooting a match ever couple months and never doing any dry fire.

If I went Glock, I think I would just get a 19 and use it for everything. I wouldn't shoot enough USPSA for it to really matter.

I noticed watching a video of it that it looks pretty compact for sure.

Well... I've never heard of the Walther Q5. I'll check that out and also look at the CZ DA/SA with a decocker and see if anything gets me excited.

Thanks for the response. The VP9 was on the top of my list. I was hoping to get some feel back form people shooting the VP9 in matches as well as hear the feedback on the trigger. I didn't realize the P10 had a compact version so thanks for that tip. Okay I'll check out the production list and see what's on it. Thanks!

I've also posted this in IDPA as I figured there was two separate groups of users on the forum to some degree. I shoot both USPSA and IDPA so I'm trying both forums to see what the suggestions are. Hopefully that's not an issue. I'd like to ask a loaded question here and see where it goes. I've always been a die hard M&P9 fan, from the very beginning. I've had 12 of them, became an M&P armor and modified about 75 pistols since they came out with Apex parts, sights and other products from Speed Shooters. In the last couple years life has side tracked me from shooting and I was thinking about selling the M&Ps to move into something totally different to help spur me back into shooting. Now that I've been out of both IDPA and USPSA for a couple years I've lost track of some of the rules so I figured I'd ask for both rules help as well as advice on the new pistols. So here's what I'm looking for... 1. Prefer NO Manual Safety - Which pretty much leaves me with only being able to choose a striker fired pistol otherwise I'd be interested in a CZ. 2. Standard capacity mag can't exceed 15 rounds because of Colorado laws, I don't want anything that makes it difficult to get mags. 3. Must be 9mm - No exceptions 4. Must also have a compact version available for carry and BUG matches. 5. Must have a trigger good enough from the factory that I don't have to overhaul it like I've done for years with the M&P - No exceptions 6. Should be IDPA SSP and USPSA Production Legal Give me some suggestions here. I'd be happy to entertain all ideas from people, but I've never been a Glock fan for some reason. Although I should go check out the newest generation of them just incase they strike me differently now. Thanks for the help in advance!

I'd like to ask a loaded question here and see where it goes. I've always been a die hard M&P9 fan, from the very beginning. I've had 12 of them, became an M&P armor and modified about 75 pistols since they came out with Apex parts, sights and other products from Speed Shooters. In the last couple years life has side tracked me from shooting and I was thinking about selling the M&Ps to move into something totally different to help spur me back into shooting. Now that I've been out of both IDPA and USPSA for a couple years I've lost track of some of the rules so I figured I'd ask for both rules help as well as advice on the new pistols. So here's what I'm looking for... 1. Prefer NO Manual Safety - Which pretty much leaves me with only being able to choose a striker fired pistol otherwise I'd be interested in a CZ. 2. Standard capacity mag can't exceed 15 rounds because of Colorado laws, I don't want anything that makes it difficult to get mags. 3. Must be 9mm - No exceptions 4. Must also have a compact version available for carry and BUG matches. 5. Must have a trigger good enough from the factory that I don't have to overhaul it like I've done for years with the M&P - No exceptions 6. Should be IDPA SSP and USPSA Production Legal Give me some suggestions here. I'd be happy to entertain all ideas from people, but I've never been a Glock fan for some reason. Although I should go check out the newest generation of them just incase they strike me differently now. Thanks for the help in advance!

I've thought long and hard on this one. The trigger design of the M&P really blows it for Production. I have several M&Ps, it's the only pistol I shoot, but I can't stand that hooked two-piece factory trigger. All mine now wear Apex Flat Faced Triggers (including my Shields), which are wonderful, but changing out that trigger shoe is illegal for Production. Now, it's not an issue with Limited or Limited 10, but I think you see more people there that are afflicted with buying the most expensive toys they can get their hands on and the M&P just doesn't fit into that market well. As an instructor I've stopped recommending the M&P line, except for the Shield, to students because the trigger is so horrible that it's difficult to teach new shooters without overhauling their new guns with Apex parts.

I've got the Vortex Strike Eagle and I'm totally not impressed. It's good for the money but optical clarity is really poor over 4x even after spending time on the phone with the Vortex rep talking all about the eye piece adjustment which has a non-standard function in this particular scope. My suggest is to stick with a quality 1-4x rather than a budget 1-6x. But there's a possibility that I got a lemon from Vortex. I'll give it a few more matches and if I'm still dissatisfied I'll send it back for them to check out.

I had the larger of the Hornady models for precision rifle brass, I was totally not impressed. Overall my Dillon tumbler did a better job. The ultrasonic left things kinda dingy and didn't do well with case lube on the cases. I think they have their use for cleaning the inside of the case but that's about it. There's no way I would mess with one for pistol.

https://www.magpul.com/products/moe-rifle-stock Comes in at 13.5" LOP as shipped but you can get a 0.8" extended butt pad and I thought it took the same spacers as the shotgun stock they make which should get you several more inches. But you'd have to check on that spacer working.

You may find that the newer 4.25" has the updated sear block without the ability to install the RAM. And I think that sear block also changes the ejector as well, but I can't remember. I remember working on a FS that had an angled or canted ejector, but it was a while ago. Can't remember the specifics, I just remember when I pulled it apart to do the work it stood out as different to me. Not sure if that different ejector would require a specific cut in the slide. But I could be remembering a Shield or something. If your ejector is flat and straight then just ignore my babbling.

44mag.com

Yes, but they are invisible. When did Glock stop making the ceramic slides? and carbon fiber barrels? When they discontinued the Model 7? After all I saw that in a movie -- so it would have to be true, right? And they weren't just ceramic, they were porcelain. They don't show up on airport x-ray machines and they cost more than you make in a month. And now that it's on the internet -- it's definitely true! To get back to the OP's question -- I agree with Mark -- it'll depend upon the kid, in terms of when they're ready. How is the kid on a range normally? Is he able to safely shoot on a common firing line? Does he understand the meaning of "Stop" to be Stop whatever you're doing, finger off the trigger, muzzle pointing in a safe direction, wait for instruction? How is he with responding to the USPSA range commands? Can he safely run the manual of arms for his blaster when given the commands? Can the kid work with a holster, and reload on the clock? How;s the 180 awareness? I've passed youngsters on a safety check who were calm, could respond to direction, knew how their guns worked -- and how to clear shooter induced malfunctions safely-- and I've not passed other kids who did more than they were asked to do, got confused and rather than wait for instructions, decided to do their own thing, or couldn't keep their finger off the trigger. I've also not passed plenty of folks who simply didn't understand how their gun worked -- both youth and adult. In any case where folks don't pass, I've delivered the new privately, and suggested how to fix their knowledge or skill gaps, so they could safely compete in the future. Assuming that a kid is calm, can respond to range commands, and knows the manual of arms, I'd always start them with a few steel challenge matches as the transition to competition. Once those go well, a USPSA practice session is in order. To make it steel challenge relatable, it can be as simple as a few boxes on the ground and a couple of targets. Start with simple drills -- engage each target, walk to the next box directly downrange, gun up in sight line, engage each target again. Then you slowly proceed to picking up the movement pace, adding reloads -- first static in a box, then on the move between positions, angled movement -- first without reloads, then with -- retrograde movement, and finally side to side movement. Add in some shooting around barricades or through a port, and you're done. And use USPSA range commands for each live fire drill. By the time you're done, the student should have cone through them a couple of dozen times..... Depending on the student, you might be able to do it in 4 hours, or it could take all day, or several sessions..... After all that -- they're ready to walk through the stages of a USPSA match as a competitor. First match I'd insist on nothing faster than a walking pace -- the absolute emphasis should be on safety and hitting the targets..... Nik, Thanks for the post. Very good points. I ended up getting him a new Ruger 22/45 with some of Mark's advice and will work with him on range commands and manual of arms before hand to make sure he's squared away before the first match. He's a safe kid with guns but when we put them in front of other people and they get nervous, all kinds of things can happen. Thanks

I've got the CR Speed EDC belt. While I don't use it for EDC, it's good for any match use. Of course you have to slide things on and off and intermingle with the belt loops, but it's significantly thicker than using the CR Speed inner belt for IDPA. Not sure what the DAA belts are like. At one point I had multiple setups for IDPA, USPSA and 3-Gun. This got kinda silly in the amount of money I had in gear. I've since narrowed it down to one belt and all the same gear I can mix and match depending on the match I'm going to. SO the CR Speed EDC works for everything. And since I'm not running multiple holsters and mag pouches for different matches I would still have to be sliding stuff on and off belts. If you get the EDC belt or even a standard double belt USPSA setup, I highly recommend the Arredondo Belt Keeper to keep your belt from getting caught on something. It's actually more important for the double USPSA style belt. I watch a top GM during the Area 2 3-Gun Championships almost completely dump his entire belt rig when he caught the end of the belt on a prop. Pistol stayed in the holster but ended up at his ankle. http://cpwsa.com/collections/belts/products/arredondo-belt-keeper

On target here... Never put it into words. But man those things turn me off, just didn't realize why till you said what you did.

They really are the ones to beat. Only downside at all is limited selection of bullet profiles. yes you got that right, the bullet profile on the 9mm 147 is like the change BBI made to their latest 9mm 147 also, both have to be seated too deep in the case to clear the rifiling or lands, the bullet profile on the designs like the SNS, Bayou,, Acme are much better, dont have to seated as far in the case, less bulge in the case. Chet Ah yes I can see that being an issue with 147gr where you would use up too much of the case capacity and end up with pressure issues. I shoot their 125gr and do have to load shorter than a standard RN to keep the bullet out of the lands. I had one M&P that was throated shorter and would jam the bullet into the lands on loads that would work fine in all my other guns, whereas that would never happen with a RN bullet.

Good point on the trigger bar. If your trigger bar loop is open too much it makes it harder for the sear to reset. If that's the issue, closing the loop some, which will result in increased pre-travel, but will fix the non-reset issue.

If you have the FSS kit you need the larger spring sear block. I did several when Apex was drilling them several years ago. They stopped that when the new sear blocks became easier to buy and then I bought a few of them to swap out. I never ran the small spring sear block with any of the kit installs I did. For myself and others I've done about a dozen FSS installs. I can tell you if you're running a true "competition" sear spring in the larger sear block that was not meant for the FSS kit you will get sear flutter and dead triggers as a result. If you run the actual "competition" trigger return spring that is sold as a stand alone item or with the non-FSS competition kit for the factory trigger shoe, it's too light for the FSS trigger shoe and the drag of the RAM. You need to run the FSS sear spring provided with the kit OR you can run the factory sear spring from the larger sear block which is what I've done with a few of them. You also need to run one of the provided FSS trigger return springs OR the factory spring. With the factory trigger return and sear spring you can get about a 2.5# pull and it works 100% of the time, but I found it a little mushy for me. I run the FSS sear and heavy trigger return spring from the kit which gets me a solid feeling trigger in the 4.25 - 4.5# range. But I also use the Apex striker spring and everything is polished. Apex has also changed the springs they provide with the FSS kits over the years. They didn't use to come with two trigger return springs and now they do. But back to you question, I've never had an issue with the RAM as long as you use the correct FSS spring for the RAM. I just outlined the other items above incase you can pick something out that you're maybe not thinking of. What's your current trigger pull with the gun as-is with the issues going on? Also a warning to mucking around with too light of a trigger on these, I did have an M&P40 Pro go full auto on me when I had messed with things to such a point that I got the pull below 2#. Excessive polishing of parts and too light of springs was at fault.

I've never found any brand of coated, plated or FMJ bullets to beat the price on Precision Bullets. I use their 125gr 9mm with great results, better accuracy than the Extremes I've loaded and 0.3gr less powder to the same PF. If anyone knows of a better deal after taking a look at Precision Bullets, please post up. Gun runs as clean as FMJ with their coating. All prices include shipping. http://www.precisionbullets.com/store/

CMC - Got one in all my shorter guns. Work perfect, good price and good feel. Tad bit of creep but very good for the money.

I have the RT1200b and it's amazing. Can size and trim 223 at about 1600 rounds an hour. I do no other brass prep besides to clean them before the loading pass. I'm sure the 1500 is even better. This company will also make you custom dies for anything that Dillon does not sell. I had a die made for 6.5 Creedmoor. https://www.ch4d.com