tbarker13

If you want to stay around 2k, it's going to be tough to have one built for that price - particularly if you are including mags in your budget. I've gone the full custom route. And I've bought a couple guns from guys on the classifieds here. If i were starting over, I would start with a nice used gun from the classifieds here. You can grab some nice stuff well within your budget if you keep an eye on the guns that pop up. I personally prefer the STI eagle, but I think it's safe to say that the Edge is the more popular gun.

Took a class with Manny Bragg a couple months back. He was running a 10lb spring in his Edge. (with a lightened slide). He suggested I do the same with my gun. I asked if he was worried at all about wear on the slide. Said he had thousands upon thousands of rounds through the gun without any problems. Saw him take the gun apart to loan his recoil spring to another student who wanted to check out the difference. Bragg wasn't using a shock buff.

I think I nod in that situation as well, but just because it seems sort of natural to do so. I find myself doing it without even thinking about it.

I've been a Safety Officer for IDPA for a couple years and recently got certified as an RO. I did both because our club needs people to help run matches. Sadly, the range commands are similar but not exactly the same. There are times when training from one of the disciplines runs over into the other - as I am generally running or helping to run a squad two or three weekends a month. Often we have new/inexperienced shooters. And my number one priority is making sure they get in and out of the stage without harming themselves or anyone else. If someone is bothered because I accidentally let a "slide down" slip into my RO cadence, that's cool. If they want to make a big deal out of it, I'm more than happy to surrender the timer to them so that I, too, can just concentrate on my shooting. That, or I would be more than happy to help them find a spot on a squad with another RO who's a little more perfect. At larger matches, I can see the need to be picky about range commands. But at club matches, unless the RO's commands are somehow confusing to you, I don't see a reason to get bent out of shape. We're all just out to have fun, as safely as possible.

Better results this last time out. (Will also soon try out the .400 BBIs) With the Berrys WST 5.2 @ 1.19 avg. 954 pf 171.7 WST 5.2 @ 1.18 avg. 946 pf 170.2 WST 5.3 @ 1.2 avg. 951 pf 171.1 WST 5.4 @ 1.2 avg. 944 pf 169.9 With the ZEROs N320 5.2 @ 1.18 avg. 923 pf 166.1 N320 5.2 @ 1.19 avg. 909 pf 163.6 N320 5.3 @ 1.19 avg 928 pf 167.0 N320 5.5 @ 1.2 avg 953 pf 171.5 WST 5.2 @ 1.18 avg. 913 pf 164.3 WST 5.2 @ 1.19 avg. 917 pf 165,0

I'm going to try out some BBIs sized to .400.

Thanks for the suggestions. I've got a list of 10 more loads I will try, some increasing the powder from above. Others going shorter. With the Berrys WST 5.2 @ 1.19 WST 5.2 @ 1.18 WST 5.3 @ 1.2 WST 5.4 @ 1.2 With the ZEROs N320 5.2 @ 1.18 N320 5.2 @ 1.19 N320 5.3 @ 1.19 N320 5.5 @ 1.2 WST 5.2 @ 1.18 WST 5.2 @ 1.19

I guess I'm just going off my searches of this forum for loads. I didn't come across many recipes that pushed much beyond 5.2 WST at 1.2 OAL. I find the WST/Berry's combo to be the most frustrating. I increased the powder from 5.0 to 5.2 without any real increase in velocity. It's like the bullet is just refusing to go any faster. I guess my next step is to take the N320/Zero and WST/Zero loads a little higher (or shorter). As for the BBIs, they just won't chamber reliably in the gun. That's actually the reason I bought the Redding competition seating die (on the advice of the gun maker) - to see if that would help with increasing the reliability. After extensive email exchanges with the gunmaker over the BBI issue, it just seemed best to try other bullet options for this gun.

So I am trying to work up a major load for a new gun. I started with 180 gr BBIs with 5.0 grains of WST at 1.2 oal. The load worked great (171 pf), but the gun just doesn't seem to like BBIs. So I've had to start over. What I have right now are Berrys 180s and Zero 180s along with WST and N320. I took eight different loads out to the range tonight and made pf with one of them - barely. I feel like I might already be pushing the limit on these. Hoping someone might have some thoughts. All loads are with mixed brass and magtech primers. OAL 1.2. Loading on a Dillon 650 with a Redding competition seating die and a Lee factory crimp die, with a fairly light crimp. In the case of WST, I should mention the temperature outside was around 80 degrees. Berrys 180 WST 5.0 = avg vel: 909 (pf 163.5) WST 5.1 = avg vel: 903 (pf 162.5) WST 5.2 = avg vel: 911 (pf 163.9) Zero 180 WST 5.0 = avg vel: 856 (pf 154.0) WST 5.1 = avg vel: 862 (pf 155.1) WST 5.2 = avg vel: 890 (pf 160.2) Zero 180 N320 5.3 = avg vel: 910 (pf 163.8) N320 5.4 = avg vel: 920 (pf 165.6) The Berrys/WST combo just seems to be going nowhere, which is unfortunate as it seems to be the most accurate. The Zero/WST combo looks like I'd have to take it up to 5.3 or 5.4. The Zero/N320 combo looks like I'd need to get it up to 5.5 gr.

When I shoot one of my Eagles in IDPA, I use a minor load with WST and 155gr bullets. With a 10lb recoil spring, the gun barely moves during recoil. Recoil is just not an issue if you load minor.

Unless I just had unlimited $ to spend on this, I'd be very hesitant to spend $4,000 on a 9mm limited gun. If you really get into it, it won't be long before you regret not getting a .40 cal. If you are intent on starting with 9mm, get an STI Eagle from Brazos or Dawson in 9mm. Shoot it for a while to make sure it's what you really want. You can always sell it later, if you really want to go the custom route.

I've always kind of liked the stock trigger in the glock. I don't usually shoot my glock that often in matches, but the trigger is still stock.

Experienced the same problems when using 40 cal Bayou Bullets with the cannelure. I noticed it was more severe with the last few rounds that I was squeezing into the mag. My guess was that it was caused by the rim of the bullet being loaded - as it passed over the bullet beneath it. I also wondered if the UPULA loader was causing it as it pressed the round down into the mag tube. Never seemed to have an impact on reliability, etc.

Yeah, it was a little longer than the 8 months I'd expected. But I know part of the problem was that Matt broke his leg last year, putting a delay in some of this stuff. Just a great guy to deal with, though. Has a lot of patience for questions, etc. I think my build changed 4-5 times while I was waiting for it to actually start.

Just got an email today from Matt that this is on its way to me today. Nothing terribly fancy. Straight-up 5-inch barrel, short dust cover, bull barrel. But I do love this gun... Should anyone be curious, the latin inscription on the side = never despair

I'd be shocked to find a true SS-level shooter (not a sandbagger) able to shoot the classifier as a master. Not saying it's impossible. But there are just so many match-oriented skills required in the classifier. I don't really see anything wrong with practicing some of the classifer strings, particularly if they represent a weakness in your match shooting. There are a few elements of the classifier that I love to shoot. Some verison of El Presidente, for example, appears over and over in matches - at least the ones I've shot in. So why not practice it?

Awesome looking gun. But not IDPA legal.

Well, since you want to be able to use in IDPA (I assume that's what you meant), you'll be somewhat limited in the customization you can do. On my IDPA-legal Eagle, I had it flat-topped, had the grip stipled pretty agressively (work by Matt Cheely) and then added a stainless steel STI magwell - which was cut by a friend to fit in the IDPA box. Also added a flat SVI trigger. I suppose you could have the grip painted by someone if you wanted to add some color or something to the gun.

I'd suggest doing a little research on some of the military surpus sites. I'm sort of in the same boat you are - looking for a mauser, enfield, etc. I can tell you that Mitchell's is something of a dirty word on many of those sites. A lot of the mauser experts suggest (to put it politely) that Mitchell's overstates what it is selling. One of the things they supposedly do is force match bolts to receivers. They renumber bolts to match the receivers on the gun. In the world of mausers - matching receivers/bolts is a pretty big deal. Doesn't guarantee proper headspacing, but you have a better shot at it. Still, most of the critics still seem to agree that Mitchell's guns are good shooters. The big knock seems to be that they just aren't worth what the company charges for them. Oh, and the in-the-white bolt that Mitchell's does is a big turn-off for mauser purists. My own searching right now is pushing me toward the 6.5mm swedish mauser. Seems to be very well regarded. The Czech mauser (v24, I think) also gets high grades. Of course the 8mm Kar98 would be a great option, though they really seem pricey when you look at the nicer models made before the end of the war, when slave labor and hurried construction supposedly contributed to a decline in quality on the rifles. It's been suggested to avoid the mausers that went through Russian rearsenals. (often marked with an X on the receiver). Apparently the russians just sort of tossed all the parts in piles and put them back together at random - virtually guaranteeing you won't find them with matching bolts and receivers. Maybe someone else will come along with more expertise. I certainly don't claim to be an expert. Just happens to be a subject I've been researching extensively this past month.

Ah the Series 80. A much different animal than what I thought you were talking about.

That's a really tough one to answer, given the potential variables in terms of manufacturing date, wear, etc. When you say "original 1911a1," I assume you mean WWII era. The value can really be hurt by any non-original parts, amount of finish loss, refinishing (even military arsenal refinishing), etc. I was shopping for one last year - spent a lot of time on gunbroker, checking out completed auctions (rather than asking prices). The prices are all over the map - from $1,000 to $3,000 and $4,000. Best thing to do is go to some of the 1911 collectors forums and talk to some of the guys who specialize in those guns. I've seen them pick apart guns that - to me - looked quite original.

Same setup for me. I use my Brazos mags for matches. Use the ones I worked on myself for practice. Fortunately, there doesn't seem to be any difference in performance.

Wasn't able to be there last weekend. And really, I just don't have a ton of interest in 3-gun. But I, personally, thought it was cool that Mose tried to included the various disciplines. As long as it can be done in a way that's safe and without adding a lot of extra time to complete the stages, I'd say go for it. I love the idea of seeing guys with ARs and 2011s shooting in the same place as guys with six-guns and lever actions.

I haven't in the past, but will be doing so. At two recent state IDPA matches, I watched several guys suffer significant gun issues, including one rear sight that just broke into two pieces. My backup won't be identical. But I shoot ESP in IDPA and Limited in USPSA. So my backup with be an Eagle in .40 cal that can be used for either game.

I was having a problem with my eagle (9mm) where cases started getting hung up on their way out of the ejection port. Was using a new tuned extractor from Brazos. I talked to him - he suggested tuning the ejector, which was still stock. I don't have the link handy, but I followed the "how-to" guide that he has posted on his site. At least 2k rounds later and the problem has not repeated.