Smitty4313

Cabela's has always been a bit higher than BP, and Sportsman's Warehouse. At least here in Colorado.

Yep, I run them as is, right out of the bag. 9 round capacity. Smitty

Hey gang! I run the Wilson 47D's. Buy em, unbag em, load em, and shoot em. No tuning or tweaks. They run great! Smitty

Super! Thanks Gents! Smitty

Howdy Gang! Getting ready to get my soon to be 14 year old daughter into USPSA. I was wondering if there is a minimum age she has to be, or if she has to belong to a junior shooter's program. I didn't see anything in the rulebook about ages, so I thought I'd ask the experts! Thanks everyone! Smitty

I'm 46, and I'll be shooting my first match here pretty soon. I've been interested in doing USPSA for a while, and now I'm just going to jump in and see how it goes. As others have said, "how old do you feel"? I've always felt young for my age. I have no physical ailments that will give me any problems, and I stay in pretty good shape by riding my bike between 80 and 100 miles a week. With the OP being 51, I don't think there is really an age where you should question what's what. Bottom line should be-are you having fun? Are you learning new things? Are you improving? If the answers are toward the yes end of the scale, keep doing what you're doing. You're fulfilling everything you set out to do. Just my .02 Smitty

Yes, I'm so proud. She's a new shooter, but she seems to be "a natural" at it. Things come easy to her. She's only shot my Glock on one occasion, but it looked as though she's been shooting it for years. Now she wants to try out my Single Stack gun, and my Limited rig. I know this may cost a sizable chunk of money, but, I'll do it in a heartbeat because good, quality time with my daughter is priceless to me! Thanks everyone! Smitty

Ya know what I like? When my 13 year old daughter comes to me and says "Dad, can I start shooting USPSA with you?" Damn near brought me to tears!! Smitty

Hey Gang Another headstamp to look for and avoid is GFL. I have no idea what brand loads this brass, but, inside the case, AFTER firing there is some kind of sticky goo in there, which causes dry tumbler media to get clogged up in there. This may not be a problem for you dudes that are using the ultra-sonic cleaners. But, it sucks with a traditional dry media tumbler. Just my .02 Smitty

Remember about 7 years ago when it snowed like 18" every Friday for like 5 weeks? I never shoveled so much snow in my life! Smitty

+1 for the aluminum framed Commander. Very comfortable for all day carry. Smitty

My competition guns are 5 inchers. But my EDC gun is a Lightweight Commander. If you're proficient with the 1911 operation pattern, stick with it. With muscle memory being what it is, if something happens, your brain will go into auto-pilot. If it knows a 1911, that's what you should have in your hand when the situational stress kicks in. Just my .02 Smitty

In addition to what the others have said, an ambi-safety on a 2011 needs to be put together in reverse order. Right side into the frame first, then the left side. These good dudes here taught me that. Smitty

Hey Gents! Got it all figured out and fit up. Turns out my biggest point of hang up was the bottom of the barrel. I just didn't whittle it down far enough. Once I started knocking that down, lug engagement got better and better, and the slide moved further and further out until I got full lockup. I always had the barrel bathed in blue sharpie, but with the surfaces being polished out really smooth, nothing ever wore off to give me any bind spot indicators. I thought I was in the clear. Now, everything does what it's supposed to, and she locks up nice and tight. No gaps, no high spots, and full slide travel. Thank you all!! Smitty

PM sent on the 1911 forum Jedi. Thanks! Smitty

Gents, I posted this in 1911 Pistols rather than here. I don't know how to move the thread from there to here. Please read, PLEASE HELP! Thank you! Smitty

Hey gang! I'm in the middle of my 2011 Limited build, and I ran into a BIG snag. Everything has been going pretty well, so far I've only had to yell for help once with how to get the ambi-safety into the right side of the frame. Slide/frame fit-up is done, all the frame internals are fit and installed, grip safety and stainless MSH are all done, slide assembly is complete-minus sights. My BIG problem is the barrel fit-up. I've done several 1911 barrels before, but, they were the easier drop in stuff like the Brown, and the Kart E-Z fit. This bull sized beast has put about 10 thousand gray hairs on my scalp! It's an STI Bull, ramped .40. Came with a bead blasted finish, but after all the stoning, filing and sanding, it looks like a freshly machined jobbie. I like to rely on all the info I get here, and other places to learn. I'm old school, I like to fit this stuff up by hand. I don't own any fancy jigs, inserts, or cutters. Here is a rundown of what's been done. All outer surfaces have been covered in blue sharpie and run through the slide to find all the bind points. It was tight in the slide under the bore, and at the Bull ramp swell on the top. To gently knock those down I used a fine file, and then 400 grit emery strips to get the file marks out. Same for the top of the barrel hood where it bound and dragged across the bottom part of the slide during the cycle check. I have trimmed the hood down, until I can actually see the first lug recess just ahead if the forward edge of the hood. By measurement comparison, its about 15 thou shorter than the hood on my factory Colt. Being a professional tig welder for a living, I'm not too worried if I have to weld it up to close the gap. That may not even be an issue. As the barrel sits right now, there are no bind points, but, the lugs just don't seem to want to engage all the way-lug engagement is extremely shallow. I'm not sure if there is still too much on the bottom part of the barrel that it may be interfering with lock-up. I can rock the barrel a little from the hood to the muzzle. The BIG problem is this-when the slide/barrel is put onto the frame, it cycles just fine, with the shallow lug engagement, until I attempt to go to full lock-up. As the slide travels down the rails, it gets to about 175 thou from full lock-up, and it goes FULL STOP! No binding anywhere, no scraping anywhere, nothing. It's like there is a wall in there, and it just will not go any further. Now then, prior to attempting the barrel/slide/frame fit-up, I put a #4 link into the barrel. There is no binding on the travel of the slide stop pin, when its done out of the frame, in the frame, I can't tell. I haven't done anything with the lower part of the barrel/link area yet, because I cant get the slide to close all the way, or the lugs to seat any deeper. I'm at a loss to know how to get this ironed out, and am pleading for your help! Thanks Gents! Smitty

Cool, thanks guys! Smitty

Coolio! Thanks Donny! Smitty

Hey Gang! I'm putting together a new Limited gun, and I need some guidance from the STI experts here. I've built 1911's before, but this is my first 2011. I took delivery of my frame lastnight. And, a couple things came up right off the bat. 1). After putting the barrel into the ramped cut in the frame, I noticed that the dust cover is at least a quarter inch past the muzzle of the barrel. The barrel is a 5" bull, and the dust cover is a full length, wide. Does STI leave the dust cover long so it can be trimmed down to meet the slide length? Seems that way, but I thought I would be sure, and ask. 2). How in the world does an ambi safety go into the frame on the right side? The arm of the safety that goes under the grip panel on a 1911 frame has to go into the slot milled into the 2011 frame. But, the pin end has to go through the hole in the frame for the grip safety, AND have the arm slide into the slot at the same time. No can do. Am I missing something? The ambi safety that I'm using is a Wilson. Thanks for the help guys! Smitty

Hey Gang, is anybody using 10mm in IDPA? I was having a chat with a local gunsmith here, and he was saying there probably isn't too much 10mm being shot, too much gun. Any thoughts? Thanks Smitty

I'll throw in another vote for 231. I've found the same thing as several of you have mentioned here-231 burns much cleaner when the pressures are on the higher end. I've been using 231/HP38 for about 25 years now, and both will do just about anything the newer stuff will, and they're much easier to find than N320, cheaper too. Just my .02 Smitty

Try all of them, long, medium, short, flat, whatever. See what works for YOU, and what you're most comfortable with. Smitty

I've run accurate #5 in my 40's for a while. Good stuff. Meters like sugar through just about any measure out there. As far as Alliant goes, Bullseye, Unique, and Power Pistol are all good for the 40. Smitty

Hey Gang! Don't look past the versatility of Winchester 231 either. Very good choice for ALOT of different calibers. Very consistent, and meters like sugar. Just my .02. Smitty