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I shot an 85 combat all last season with Cajun Gun Works hammer and sear, 13 lb hammer spring, 12 lb recoil spring, front sight from CZ Custom, and CZ Custom's thin AL grips wrapped completely in grip tape. I liked it alot and plan on sending it for the short reset kit. When I was able to use the 11.5 lb recoil spring I liked it even better, but for some reason I stopped getting good ignition. Someone told me that putting some flare on that magwell was not legal (even though there is flare on the magwell area of the Shadow.) If the short reset trigger is awesome I'll probably shoot it again this year.

How much did I pay for it? I never figured it out...$550 for the gun, $100 for the sights, couple of bucks for springs, $125 for the magwell, $165 for an open holster that works with it grind the polymer grips flat and put grip tape on it free...so I've got about $940 in it plus 3 21 round mags that are reloadable (and they really work well - thanks Henning!) Had I gone with the Limited, I'd have been in $100 for sights, $1,000 for the gun, $120 for the magwell, and $200 for a holster...so I'd have been in $1,420...the savings going with the Match are only about $450 I guess...and that gap narrows now that I have to pay a gunsmith to drill the frame for a *thumb rest [generic]*.

I'll buy the *thumb rest [generic]* and then price the work at a local gunsmith and then at one of the sources you mentioned...if I'm looking at hundreds of dollars, I may just move into a Tanfoglio Limited, which I think already has the holes drilled, and just use this Match as a backup for when I shoot Limited.

I guess I was thinking that adding a thumb rest maybe wouldn't be the kind of thing that would have to be done with extreme precision (like fitting a barrel or doing a 1911 trigger job would.) and I was figuring come spring everyone would have a thumb rest of their Limited gun...

I've got a Witness Match in .40 setup for Limited division shooting. As I understand it, thumb rests/gas pedals are now legal in the Limited division, so if possible, I'd like to get one on my Match. Anybody ever drill and tap a frame to accept a thumb rest or optic mount? Is it something that can done by an amateur/home gunsmith can do? I don't shoot Limited much, so the purpose of this gun is to be a relatively competitive budget gun...sending it off to a gunsmith doesn't fit with the budget nature of this gun.

This is what I'm using currently with practice ammo...I like it alot. Holds about 1,000 rounds of 9mm and it has two sides with a floppy divider so that you could, if you want, put 900 rounds in one side and 100 in the other (or all 1,000 in just one side.) It's $25 and looks like it'll last forever. Very easy to carry.

I shoot Production in USPSA (gun of choice right now is a Springfield XDM) and I just got an M&P Shield because I like the idea having an external safety for when I carry. Now you guys have me concerned about the external safety on my carry gun without having/using one on my competition gun. I'm too chicken shit to carry with a bullet in the chamber and no double action first pull or external safety. Maybe once I get more comfortable carrying every day I'll get an XDS so I'm on the same platform with no external safety.

Dave Sevigny in Combat Handgunner this (or last) month said that up close he hardly uses his sights. The definition of "hardly" is open for debate I guess. I won't do it (point-shoot) because I'm a newer shooter and I think it'll stunt my development if I'm practicing/competing locally shooting sloppy...I'm trying to develop the ability to shoot accurately, fast. And it seems to me that if you're using your sights you're always getting instant feedback on your index/presentation, so by using the sights, you're actually training your ability to point shoot...as opposed to point shooting and training neither the ability to see quickly or point shoot accurately.

No question about it - my loads aren't figured out and my grip is inconsistent. I'm just figuring that if something equipment-wise can be done to help, might as well do it. I am really working on the grip and loads, but it seems I'm not the fastest learner nor the most consistent guy - I was shooting a load with 4.5 grains of Unique under a 122 gr flat point one day and I felt like my front sight was back in the rear notch faster than I could physically move the trigger...then last night I felt like I was shooting a shotgun with the same load...I need to keep shooting and identify what the differences in the driver behind the gun between good and bad days so that I can try and eliminate the bad days.

Well it looks like I've got to get a Tungsten guide rod, then. Msfinlayson - my gun didn't come with a stock guide rod - is the stocker metal and do you know if it weighs 1 oz less than the production tungsten one? I was figuring that the stocker probably wasn't nearly as heavy as my Powder River steel one...and so I was thinking that maybe I'm already getting most of the benefits of a heavier guide rod by using the steel one.

I've got an XDM 5.25" 9mm and I do struggle a little bit with recoil control (coming from an all metal gun platform.) I see Canyon Creek offers a production ready gun with a tungsten guide rod, asked about it, and I can see now that it is smaller than their beefier tungsten rod and therefore weighs less. The difference in weight between the non-production guide rod and the production guide rod is only 1 oz (4.1 vs. 3.1 oz) and the difference between the guide rod I've got in my gun now and the production tungsten guide rod is only 1.2 oz (1.9 vs 3.1 oz.) 1.2 oz doesn't seem like a big deal that would make recoil any easier to handle...but then again, there's only a 1 oz difference between the production and non-production guide rods so maybe 1 oz does make a noticeable difference. Anybody shot an XDM's with steel and CC's production tungsten rods that can tell me if there were a noticeable difference? If there is, I'm in...

Anybody know if conversion top ends will be available for the Stock II? I'm gonna get one, just don't know if I'll get a .40 or a 9mm (for USPSA Production.) I've got plenty of competition ready 9mm's, so I lean toward .40 on this one...but if I knew I would be able to get a 9mm conversion in case I don't like shooting .40 in Production, that makes my decision much easier (and keeps me from procrastinating the purchase.)

I've got a couple of shooting books (Brian's, Stoeger's, Seeklander's, and Anderson's) and I don't see a heavy focus on technique (which is good for those books - that isn't their aim.) Are there any books/videos that are heavy on technique? For example, in Stoeger's book he mentions (in a drill description) that reloads are all about angles of the magwell and fresh mag - I'd like to read more about something like that so that as I'm working my drills and trying to find improvements that knock tenths off of my times I have some suggestions of techniques to try.

Wish these would just get in stock already...

Anybody have any thoughts on where to get a good deal on quality static steel target stands? Looking for the ones that use a 2x4 in the middle of the stand...no place local makes/has them, so I figured I'd ask here to see what you guys might be using. I see some sites selling them and they're in the $50 range each plus $30 shipping for two... I have stands for IPSC full size paper targets...but as it gets colder, the easier I make setup/shooting the more likely I am to actually get out and do it...figure this would save me from having to paste targets.

Is it the weight of the 2011 that makes the dot not move (as much?) Or is it that the compensators for the Glocks aren't as good as the ones available for the 2011's? Or loads aren't available for the Glock because of the required shorter OAL? Or something else?

Thank you for that reply. Sounds like the answer is yes, a Glock can shoot flat to where the red dot pretty much stays on target through recoil and whether you actually achieve that comes down to the compensator and the loads used (I assume that if I bought an Open Glock from Carver Customs that he'd have a suggestion for a load.) I had always figured that a Glock was going to be too light to shoot as flat as a 2011...when I started to hear from people what I took to mean that it has alot more to do with the compensator, that led to me wanting to ask an Open Glock shooter directly whether they could get their dot to stay on target. So I guess maybe accuracy and the trigger would be the only other two possibilities for why an Open Glock might not be quite as capable as an Open 2011.

The other day I shot a 2011 open gun with a frame mounted c-more - seemed to me that, even though the ammo was major, the red dot hardly moved. I know nothing about open guns and what causes an open gun to shoot flat or not. Muzzle weight is a big factor with iron sight guns...people tell me the comp on an open gun is the big factor. Is the red dot on the open glocks you guys are shooting staying on target in between shots? Seems to me that if one shooter is shooting a gun that shoots real flat and the other isn't, the latter guy would be at a real big disadvantage.

Does CZ Custom sell 11.5 lb springs? I don't see them on their website... As far as the reduced firing pin spring, I've had two of them sort of wear out to where they weren't reliably popping the firing pin out of back of the gun. I was thinking of cutting coils off of the stocker to try and get the same effect - is it REALLY not safe to cut coils from the stocker?

I concur...I've not felt triggers done by CZ Custom or any of the other folks that specialize in CZ's, but mine with CGW parts feels REAL good.

Did that start it's life as a Match?

Anybody know exactly which model he shot in Production? Stock II or III?

How are the grips? Are they aggressive? I've got skate tape on my grip right now but I'd like something that looks a little better but with similar grip benefits...

Anybody have any updates on when the Stock 3's are going to be available here in the US?

Would you have to send the whole gun to CZ Custom to have this modification done, or could you just send the bottom end (and would it make any difference...thinking that if you just send the lower half it won't have to go through FFL's and cost an arm and a leg to send.) Seems like a must have modification...