djthemac

Most of the open shooters in my area are using bear creek bullets, when I moved to open I jumped on the band wagon. 147 grain BCB with 6.5 HS6 makes for a soft shooting load that doesnt break the bank. You will get some leading with the comp, however I shot a bit of one shot lube in the comp before the shooting starts to prevent build up. My friend told me that he cleans about every 5000 rounds. Also unlike with FMJ/JHP your barrel bore will last forever.

just run a 9mm I got my STI 40 Eagle converted to 9mm major by a local gunsmith and it has been perfect for me. All you need is a new barrel, comp, scope and mount and your in a new division.

thanks for the hookup! got 5k SPP and 4lbs of WST

I also have these marks on some of my rounds... I load to 1.180-1.185 and have put around 15K rounds through this gun with no issues (I do use a LFC die and a U die so I am not worried about set back) I was/am a little weary about the concept of loading long. I have heard rumors that not all STI eagle/edge chambers were cut long, and I can definitely see the bullet contacting something in the rifling even at 1.180 during chmaber checks. I am nervous about going longer then that.

Currently still in stock 1850 PST, however, with the hazmat and 2000 limit, is not worth the cost IMO. O how I loathe thee senor obummer and senora feinstein

I just use this as my primary hobby/obsession and put all my extra coins towards getting better!! Also I only shoot around 250ish rounds at matches, the rest of it is used in practice. I am not sure how into practical shooting you are planning on getting, but there are some great GM's around who have written books on how to practice effectively on varying amounts of ammo. I am currently using the Mike Seeklander book which I highly recommend if you are interested.

I allocate 350.00 a month for all shooting expenses broken down as follows 140.00 = 2000 Bear Creek .40 180 TC bullets 80.00 = 2000 Small Pistol Primers (F U obummer) 30.00 = WST powder (10,000 grains roughly) 20.00 = brass I lose a bunch at matches 20.00 = fuel to get to matches 40.00 = 2 X local club match entry fees 20.00 = random stuff? For you, there are a bunch of variables mostly pertaining to bullet type 9mm 30.00 = 500 bear creek 147 grain 9mm bullets 10.00 = 2000 grains of W-231 20.00 = 500 small pistol primers 0.00 = I assume you will be reusing brass 223 50.00 = 500 XM193 55grain FMJ 33.00 = 500 powder charges (I use ramshot tac @ 25.5 grains requiring 1.78lbs per 500) 20.00 = 500 small rifle primers 0.00 = I assume you will be reusing brass

I noticed you didn't touch any mags but the front one until the very end, I don't have enough experience to tell you that's good, bad or indifferent; just something I noticed. I run through all the mags on my belt, just to make sure the 'hunt for mag' mode comes automatic without any delay. Funny you should say that. In matches for some reason my go to mag is the 2nd (middle) one. I need to move my bels around during practice and see where things make sense. OR I could just train myself to grab and go the way they are. I'll run through the entire belt over and over until I can do a perfect run.I used to do that as well, when I first got my limited set up and was allowed more freedom to place mag pouches. I also primarily practice reloads from the mag that is 12:00 on my belly as this seems to be the shortest distance mag change. I have not found any stages at a local match over 35 rounds so it made sense to me at that time to practice drawing from the one [and possibly] only mag pouch necessary. However, after botching and dropping a few mags, I have made the commitment to practice reloads from all the mag pouches that I have. Also something to consider, most experienced shooters align their index finger along the front "spine" of the magazine almost touching the bullet tip with their off hand to steer the mag into the magwell. From the video it looks like you are primarily grabbing from the basepad of the magazine. Have you experimented with this at all? The steep cant of the mag angle in your pouches may be prohibiting the front index finger grip

what are your draw and reload times individually?

It all comes down to who wants it more. You said you dry fired for an hour... thats great. Do that 5 times a week, and split it into 2 sessions so you can remain extremely focused while you do it. I am currently using the Mike Seeklander program and do draws M/W (sides/surrender/barricade etc) and reloads (all varieties) T/TH, Friday is specialized skills. Getting comfortable behind the gun will be paramount to improving. If you have not purchased it already, get a hold of steve anderson's book "refinement and repetition" http://www.amazon.com/Refinement-Repetition-Dry-fire-Dramatic-Improvement/dp/1930847769 while were on the subject, start listening to SA's podcast, besides the awesome information/advice/and guru abilities, Mr. Anderson is absolutely hilarious. http://andersonshooting.libsyn.com/ One of my favorite podcasts was when SA covered the topic of "focus." He observed a recent match and saw shooters who had a ton of different "focii?" some people were concerned about their times, some people were concerned about their overall ranking, some were concerned about beating a specific competitor... all this stuff is worthless, in the grand scheme of things. You need to focus on yourself, and improving your fundamentals. When you shoot for any other reason, your body will start to add stress (imperceptibly to the conscious mind) causing your to pull shots, outrun your positions, and once you start blowing stages... watch out for the trainwreck that follows.

I started with a 650. Strictly speaking from a hypothetical standpoint, having an extra station for a check die as well as auto-indexing are great safety features to have. Speaking from a practical standpoint I have loaded somewhere in the vicinity of 25,000 rounds over the past year (between 45/9/40 and 223) and my bacon was saved on no less then 2 separate occasions by the powder check die. Too close for comfort? you bet. Definitely glad with my choice.

I got an STI Nov 2012, and I am planning to move to open Jan 2013. I love limited, but the call of the dark side is proving to be too strong!

Sorry to necro this thread, I was just working on some dry fire stationary reloads, and i was wondering if it is recommended to reload "high" (pull the gun straight towards your face at eye level on the same plane as if you were sighting the gun on the target and reload or lower face level) or "low" pull the gun down slightly, (upper chest) and meet the magazine halfway to cut down the on the travel time?

Id say get an aftermarket lone wolf barrel - you dont have to worry about glocked brass - you can shoot lead (way cheaper) - option to thread if you want to get a supressor - ... profit?

Sweet!! I'm quitting my day job

I was having a discussion with my folks last night at dinner and we started talking on the topic of competitive shooting. They asked whether it is possible to make enough money through sponsorships and prize winnings to make a living wage. I had always assumed that as you get better in the game, you may get sponsorships allowing you to shoot for free or free guns, but that most people still retain a main job. Do the current upper echelon shooters also run gunstores/gun smiths/shooting schools as their main income generation or is it possible to make enough cash shooting competitions, and through sponsorships?

No offense, but you must not shoot a large amount of ammo each month. If you are this worried about safety it might be best to purchase factory loaded 9mm ammo. The amount of time invested will not offset the cost you save by reloading. I agree. Agree as well, however a 5th powder check station and auto-indexing goes a long way in preventing these types of situations

SRP out of stock

To piggy back on this, NatchesSS has WST in 1 LB kegs in stock I also just ordered 5K Winchester SRP 5k WInchester SPP

To piggy back on this, I just ordered a crap ton of 1 pounders WST from natchezss. They also have SPP and SRP winchester for sale. 38 per K limit 5K

I have 8" plates but how can I use them to train if they don't move:)? Also, which way is better, chasing them or ambushing them? True, stationary 8" plates can not duplicate the action. However, getting used to shooting at an 8" round plate at various distances, will tell you what kind of sight picture and trigger control you will need to get hits. Also if you can arrange them in the star pattern, you will get the feel of moving your gun in a similar fashion. If you watch the GM's shoot the star, it looks like its standing still. I think I saw a youtube vid with a 2.3 second star. Its only when we really mess up do we get the fun swinging "o crap" moment. I agree. I think there is something to be said about being able to get your gun into "ambush position" quickly. If possible I will swing a fraction ahead of the swinging plate so it looks like chasing, but it actually is ambushing. Another thing to think about OP, is steel requires more of your time. There are no points for missing a steel plate, whereas you can get some for hitting a C or D on a paper target. With that said, I had to give myself permission to slow down and hit the steel. Once I found out how much time I required to get the hits, then I started speeding up the process.

Definitely This is very true! My STI took a dump on me last month and was in the shop, and I ended up shooting 2 USPSA matches with a production G17. Holy crap mikes, delta's and charlies do not go far in production (or any division for that matter, but especially production). I shot the IDPA on the third Saturday and forced myself to slow down and see the sights, and finally had my zen moment!

I was gonna say, the OP has pretty quick splits, but needs to work on speeding the transitions. Are you looking for holes? Trust your eyes.

Are you an ambusher or a chaser? Pick a system and train on it! do you have access to 8" steel plates? Without the actual star mechanism, it will be difficult to replicate the star but if you have 8" plates you can arrange them in a similar fashion to work on your transitions and figure out how much trigger control you need to hit them.

Howdy all! I've purchased an STI eagle last November and have been shooting USPSA/IDPA since that time, and have been really enjoying the heck out of it. Over the last few months I have been stepping up my game, by getting on a dry fire and live fire shooting schedule and structuring my practices more to work on specific areas. I have won the last 2 IDPA matches at my local club, however I have been having trouble with managing hit factor and power factor. I love shooting USPSA major, it allows me to run as fast as I can and shoot quickly but with a greater margin of error for C's shots. I shot my last IDPA match the way I shoot USPSA matches... run as fast as I can etc. I managed to do well but I also went 20 points down. I think I am rapidly approaching the point where I can shoot the match quickly but the points down are killing me to the point where I can't rely on my speed to win it. Do you guys find yourselves shooting more IDPA more slowly then USPSA? I do not want to get in the habit of looking for my shots after I fire them. Also, given that there is no bonus for shooting major vs minor, do any of the top IDPA competitors shoot with .40 S&W vs 9mm? I suppose I could also make some minor loads for IDPA, but I think shooting 9mm might be the best option.