Carlos

Just to muddy the waters, my 1st generation limited class Winchester Super X2 definitely jammed when brand new but seems to run 100% now (lock the bolt back for a week or two when new). Funny, S&B slugs ran 100%, it was Winchester traditional slugs that jammed it. It kicks about the same as an 1100/1187 which you'd expect from a gas gun. Hadn't though of or tried the under-arm-stick-through-trigger-gaurd approach for splits. Viable limited platform? Yes, certainly. Competitive at the highest levels? Dunno. I will not even say on a local level b/c I have not shot it enough in competition to fairly comment. 3 indoor matches and one outdoor barely constitute break in. BTW, I think Phil Strader has one or two of the new Remington Competition Masters for sale through www.shooters-paradise.com

Wil's comments concerned stainless centerfire autoloading pistol barrels (i.e., 1911s) using jacketed or plated bullets. Wil's & Brian Enos' cleaning comments would NOT apply to the use of lead bullets & I would suggest you clean any barrel used w/ exposed lead as per manufacturers recomendations. As for cleaning Glock barrels after shooting coated bullets, see my post on Precision bullets in the reloading section.

Hello Vince! First, let me say "thanks" for what must be a tediuos and somewhat thankless job in drafting these rules for our mutual benefit. Now, if you do not mind, could you name the top 5 rule changes likely to affect the average shooter? How about the top 5 most controversial rule changes? Curious about the big changes (if any). Regards, D.C. Johnson

PARAMAN: My experience exactly; dirty & that is why I dropped it. Duane has had better luck as far as cleanliness & I agree w. Duane that the mark on one side of the case is nothing to worry about if you choose to shoot Titegroup in .45. On the plus side, it is amazing to me that one uses such a small amount of titegroup in .45 and yet it is accurate & consistent - it really is very insensitive to position in the case. As for a cleaner powder, I stuck w. Clays under 200 westcoast SWCs or RNs (the latter loaded to 1.260" OAL) over 4.5 to 4.6 grns for about 169PF - NOTE: double check this load w/ the Hodgdon manual and NEVER excede the listed Max as published in the load book. Always start at least 10% below the recommneded charge and work up carefully checking for any sign of pressure.

Add MD & the District to that list. I shot a .45 STI Edge for 1.5 seasons; w/ Clays pushing 200 RNs or 185s, the gun was accurate and as soft shooting as the .40s. Only problem is, you will only get about 15 rounds in a magazine updated w/ the current STI or SV tubes. Sold my gun but I still have 2 Grams-tuned .45 magazines that use the original, shallow rib tubes from the early 1990s; these will reliably hold 16 for a start capacity of 17 rounds - which then puts you fairly close to the guys shooting .40s. Nothing wrong w/ the .45; brass lasts forever & reloading is very simple.

Add me to the list: 2002 parked my car 1 block from Baltimore city police station near inner harbor while having dinner IN TRANSIT from practice range N. of Baltimore to my home in VA. In less than 1.5 hrs, a junkie (Baltimore is FULL of junkies) broke into my car where I had foolishly lapsed in my habit of dis-abling the trunk latch; theif made off w/ a $400+ Ruger MK II pin gun w/ Volquartsen comp & Red dot. Here is the best part: I did a quick check of car but not the trunk b/c it was downtown Baltimore at night in the rain. Got home, discovered theft and called Baltimore PD: "Sorry, we don't take theft reports. You will have to make the interstate trip to report it in person." Me: "Don't you care to add this to your NICS system? That gun is not listed as stolen if you don't. I don't care about the theft report, just take the Ser. number and add it to NICS" PD "Sorry, come back to MD". ATF was a little more sympathetic, but not helpful - they would not add it to NICS - no matter which office I visited. Some of us have jobs & lives and we care about whats right - apparently bearucratic rules are sometimes more important than doing the right thing. I had to wait a week & spend a day just to drive back into MD to fill out the report. BTW, 2 friends have had handguns stolen from cars in Area 8 w/ in the last 6 mo. If given a choice in VA to leave my guns where they might get into the hands of criminals and bringing those same guns into a restaurant w/ my CCW and where I cannot have those same guns "concealed" - even Concelaed in a shooting bag (loaded or not - I do not see a difference in the current law), what do you think I should do?

Hey BJ! I still have about 300 or so of the precision 147s so I may give them another shot after York this weekend. I do switch between jacketed Wideners 147s and Precision coated - could that be part of the problem? To be on the safe side, I am shooting the jacketed 147s this weekend. BTW, I chronoed 130 at the Summerblast & accuracy was good enough to clean that all steel stage in about 10 seconds w/o prior cleaning (sorry to say that my best stage of the match was the chrono stage!). I have had Kriol in the 17 barrel for 2 days now and if that does not do it, I will also try that weird German stuff Ballistol & let you know what happens. As a last resort, there is always JB bore paste. See you at York.

EricW wrote: "Regardless, I'd cough up the dough for jackets before I resorted to scrubbing gunk out of barrels again. I *hate* doing that. What a total waste of time. " Amen to that, brother! Thank you, (coated bullets) and GOODNIGHT! Jacketed/plated bullets, here I come.

I agree w/ loves to shoot: V V N105. This powder shows NO pressure signs w/ as much as I can pack into a Starline 9Supercomp case & a 5" SV - no hybrid holes. You will have to compress it but it works well w/o a fireball or the inconsistent report I got w/ N350 (crack crack BOOM crack BOOM). Amazing stuff, N105.

Recently bought my 1st 1K of Precision coated lead 147s for use in 9x19mm and have used about 1/2 of them loaded over V V powder to just over minor (about 850 to 890 FPS). I have shot about 300 to 500 out of my stock Glock 17. I do not clean my pistol barrels at all (ever) just the chambers - to see why, look at this link under "cleaning": http://www.schuemann.com/ However, when I examined the Glock barrel yesterday, I found a great deal of residue in/on the lands and grooves. What is worse, its in the front of the chamber too. A brush wrapped w/ a CLP soaked patch came out of the barrel totally black as did many many following patches. It did not all come out. It is soaking in Kroil at home right now to try to loosten some of this stuff. 1) what is this stuff? 2) how do I get rid of it? I know Precision's site says the bullets are "Polymer coated" & some claim its not Moly, but rather polymer. Others claim its moly mixed w. polymer. Anyone know for certain? If its moly, what works best to remove it? I have heard it never really goes away but what works best to remove most of it? I may just have to switch back to all jacketed or plated. Not planning on switching back to barrel cleaning!

Agree - if you can't find V V, select a powder at the SLOW end of the scale (I use V V N105, which is often used for .357Mag loads - slow!). Even the archaic Blue Dot would be better/safer than one of the faster powders like Titegroup in Major 38 Super. I agree that Jeff Maas' website is the place to start - take it w/ you to the gunstore & see what powders on the list for 124s are sold near you. I usually load to 1.260" OAL in my SV; find out what OAL your gun likes from its previous owner and adjust loads downward accordingly. CAUTION!!!! READ THE NOTES ON JEFF'S SITE RE: HYBRID HOLES!! Some loads that are safe in a gun w/ hybrid holes may be too much for an older gun that has no hybrid holes - Jeff's notes will tell you which load is for which type of barrel. Again, start out on the low side & work up w/ a slow powder.

My 17's generous chamber devours everything I feed it from 115s to 147s and even some FMJ 150s sized .3560" made for the 38 sup. and loaded to a hair over minor w/ Titegroup. I have noticed that the stock recoil spring is naturally on the heavy side to deal w/ the +p+ that will inevitably make its way through most Glocks sold in the US, thus reloads work best loaded to at least standard velocity. In working up 147 minor loads, I started very low and had to hold the gun stiff armed to get it to function. Otherwise, reloads run 100%.

I am w/ Brian, Ebraketurn & shootergrrrl - either one you buy is going to have to be built. You cannot simply look at the cost of a new STI or SV and think its going to run as the initial purchse price is simply the starting point of the project. You might look into Dave Dawson's guns; he sells STIs that are supposedly better that STIs and he also builds/sell/tunes STIs w/ his own name on them for considerably more $$$. Keep in mind that the companies and builders have no control over mags since they can't sell mags here in the US (beyond the total crap STI 10 rounders) and their hicap guns are dependent on mags that the shooter is responsible for finding & then tuning himself or w/ outside help. Sorta hard for them to garantee functioning of a new gun w/ such mags and ammo like 9 Supercomp that the company knows you have to hand-load to your own specs. BTW, you can find a link to the petition to sunset (end) the magazine ban on our section's website at www.vamdsection.org

#5 in the country right now in Production is Tom Freeman. Tom is a member of the Airforce Shooting Team. He is not paid to hawk Glocks, Berretas, Paras, or anything else. He shoots a Steyr M9 in production w/ Heine Slant Pros modified to fit the Steyr. Think that gun can't win? Tell it to Tom. Think others are motivated to win w/ their brand? I do. Steyr does not have a team & does not pay Tom - he can shoot whatever he wants & no, the Air force does not issue Steyrs. Its simply a good gun capable of winning of you do your part. Steyr is back in business through RWS. There are parts & Service available through Diamond Trail Shooters Supply (641) 623-3098 -ask for Dennis. I shoot the M9, and Glock 17 in Production. To me, the downside to the Steyr is its the same size as a Glock 19 and a little extra length would be nice to have. When the targets are out at 50 yrds or so, there might be slight edge to a Glock 34, but any closer than that & the Steyr is lightning fast. Here is the best part: about $300 new from CDNN w/ one mag plus $24 for extra mags. Is this the best gun available? I can't make that claim. If you want shot to shot consistent trigger pull, I'd look at the Steyr M9 and the Glock 17/34. Otherwise the CZ 85 in 9mm and the Elite II Berreta seem to shoot well the few times I have tried them. The axis of bore on the Sig is too high for me. Never shot an XD or an LDA but I do not like .40 minor. Tell us what you decide. EDIT: oops - turns out he is #6 in the US.

I use an Uncle Mikes/G-17 & its about 80-90% as good a s the rest. however, the hooper & some of the others sit a bit lower on the belt and have other features like a cut out front that offer slight advantages. No question that the UM works just fine, its just that the others have advantages. Are the advantages worth $60 vs. $15 for the Uncle Mikes? You decide.

Sorry, but I have to agree w/ Flex & Mad Scientist on this; the Carver may be well made & is popular w/ the GSSF crowd but for our sport, USPSA, it mounts very far forward - far more so than most open guns mount their sights, thus putting your scope perilously close to the compensator and blow holes (if any). Even if the scope stays on the gun w/ this mount, I would want to have an effective blast shield custom machined & mounted to prevent the comp & blow hole blast from damaging the scope (esp. w/ AA powders). In addition, some models mount the scope too high w/ the idea that you can use the regualr sights too - neat trick, but not optimal for serious competition. There are other options too; the inovative & competition oriented mount from Mad scientist comes to mind as one. If you are just shooting steel or GSSF do not mind the forward mount & are looking for a plug & play mount and compensator, you might also check out the Seidler system which was recommended to me from a former member of the Austrian National Glock team. This mount has the advanatge of no perm. modification to Glock, very low mount, and the barrel/comp just drop in. Do a search on Buffer Technologies for info and price. You can also see the Seidler on glockmeister.com in the photo section. Just don't expect to use this mount on the "C" model Glocks & I would hesitate to try major 9 w/ out more support info on the Seidler barrel. Let us know what you decide! D.C. Johnson

I am w/ you on the 185s or even take a lesson from the bullseye gang & shoot the 152 grn SWC from National or the sintered plated 155 from Westcoast. Snappy? Maybe at major, but at 125 powerfactor it should be a pussycat. You only need around 800 FPS and that will be a lot easier to hit swingers with than a 230 grain at minor: 230x125/100= 543FPS. 152s will run 100% in the SW25 but the 1911 may require a really light spring - like maybe in the 9 lb range.

About every other month, there is a unofficial, non-USPSA sanctioned 3gun indoor match at the NRA HQ off Rt. 66 just outside D.C. The range offers up to 50 yards and the organizers wisely prohibit pistol caliber carbines so that everyone simply uses their normal 3gun rifle. Otherwise, the match rules follow the USPSA handbook. There is always a mix of paper and steel (and sometimes pins) @ 50 yards for rifle; shotgun features some heavy steel that will fall w/ 5s or 6s (no buckshot stage) and there is usually a slug stage or two on paper. THere has been a weapon transition stage where a competitor empties the shotgun, places it on a table, action open, and procedes downrange to engage w/ handgun (DQ if you head downrange & shotgun not empty/locked open). Since its indoor, competitors often have the chance to go prone on at least one stage. There are also official USPSA 3gun matches at York Isaac Walton near York PA. They have a 200 yard range but I have not seen it used for rifle - perhaps it has. Otherwise, rifles are shot under 40 yards and people do use pistol cal carbines as well as traditional 5.56. There was a grueling shotgun stage last year w/ 4 heavy tombstones requiring slugs at 75 yards or more and gobs of paper targets; few competitors got all 4 tombstones down and times for the stage were in the 1 min range. Challenges are good though. York also has a buckshot specific stage where they count the number of pellet hits on paper. In addition, they use a 2 arm windmill contraption set off by an activator. There is a clay bird on each arm that must be broken or perforated. Overall, an excellent match.

Fiberoptic front sights ARE legal in Stockmeister and Am Civ in GSSF- provided you "disable" them w/ a black magic marker or sharpie prior to shooting. Take another look at the rulebook - it suggests this "fix". I have shot 2 GSSF matches in Stockmeister & Am Civ. w/ my fiberoptic "disabled" w/ the prior approval of the GSSF match director - I checked w/ them prior to shooting to avoid any hassles later. Only cover the rear face of the fiber w/ the sharpie - as long as it looks black when aimed at the target, then its OK. To re-enable the optic for USPSA, I used a few strokes of sandpaper but that method dulls the optic a bit. Might try alcohol if you go this route.

STI Edge in .45 ACP, 167 PF loads - extractor broke @ about 8K rounds - it was the original & ser. numbered to the gun. Dropped in an Aftec and it ran almost 100%. Traditional extractors suck - S&W did the right thing w/ a real extractor in their 1911. Other than that, I have had 2 leaf springs go down & replaced recoil and mag springs several times. If you buy an Edge, you might want to send it to Dawson or another builder before you shoot it to have it re-worked & de-bugged. Alternatively, just buy one of the custom "2011"s out there - it will cost more but that seems to be how it is.

Good response so far (as usual from Skywalker). Here in the US, commonly Flitz metal polish is used - it takes off virtually no metal but will smooth things out. The technique I used was to plug the chamber w/ several patches & lightly clamp barrel in vice using the ramp to clamp on. Then I took a cleaned, fired case and wrapped it in the thinest cloth I could find - from an old dress shirt. I coated that w/ Flitz and worked it back and forth in the direction that the rounds will follow duringing fireing (into the chamber). It took forever so plan on mustering some patience before you start. As for chamber polishing & more info on Flitz, do a Google.com search on Varmit Al's reloading pages (or something to that effect) for more info on polishing chambers. I have not heard of this having a noticeable effect on handguns - only on some ARs.

LovestoShoot: You are using lead? Your load is close to what I am working up: 200 grn Westcoast Plated RFP at 1.155" OAL over 4.0 grns of VV N-320. I had to load at that OAL for use in a Steyr M40. I knew that plated and jacketed bullets require MORE powder to reach a given velocity than lead. I could not find a load for N-320 & plated 200s on Jeff Maass' website, so I used the data for lead 200s at a shorter OAL than my load. My theory is: if its safe w/ lead at that weight of powder and: its safe at a shorter OAL & w/ that much powder, then my longer, plated load must be safe. Functioned OK last night at the range; no idea what PF. Unfortunately it was "Cops shoot for free" night at the range and everybody showed up (no chance to set up chrono).

Take a look at this "advice" on parenting: http://www.msnbc.com/news/919201.asp?0ql=c9p Gist of it is that its OK, even preferable, for parents to raise their children in a "weapons free environment - even toy weapons" and this is to include toy bows and arrows!! (where is Gina Davis when she is needed? Now its gotten to toy bow and arrow control??!?). It propagates the AMA advice to parents to call around to check if their children's palymates live in a house where an adult chooses to lawfully own a firearm - then, the Today show's "advice" adds that a parent might want to ask if the firearm could be removed while their child is present. If I were asked this, I'd remove it allright - I'd remove it from my house along w/ that person's child for a trip to the gun range preceded by a thorough gun safety lesson! Children are better off learning gun safety, not runaway&hide-in-the-closet strategies. This is another example of blatant attempts by a radical freedom-hating, anti-civil liberties, minority of Americans who wish to ostracise anyone who lives in a household w/ a gunowner (50% of households contain a firearm). The Today show should be ashamed of itself. Pisses me off.

Poked around the website & did not find results. Have not appeared yet on the IPSC mainsite either. Anyone know where to find them once they are out?

Well, making 9mm ammo out of junky old stuff I was GIVEN was pretty cheap (not worth it to reload 9? Blah! free is free). Here is the post: http://64.62.172.100/~brianeno/index.php?a...=ST&f=10&t=5944 Some other skinflint stunts I have pulled: -reloading .45 Russian Wolf steel cases - they are boxer & worked for 2 or 3 relaodings before cracking - got the idea from a '70s reolading manual's statement about how you can reloade old WWII US made steel cases & extractor wear w. steel is just an old wives tale. -Reloading .45 Blazer - good grief, is that cheap or what!??! Trust me on this - you really do not want to try this one. -running out of primers & pulling apart someone else's discarded .45 reloads picked up after a match to salvage the primed case (I always pick up loaded rounds left after a match so that kids don't get ahold of them - I usually throw them into the range box or dump them into the "duds" can every once in a while). I would never use somebody else's reloads, thats not safe - - but I might use their primed cases. -going through my 6x fired 9 Supercomp brass & finding some w/ loose primer pockets, then recycling it into mild 9 Largo loads for an old Astra model 400 blowback from the '30s I have. Thats cheap! Man, it sucks being middle class sometimes (ha ha).