tiradi

Not using reloads...using WWB, S&B for the time being until I convert my 550 from .50AE to 9mm. Yesterday ordered 2 Apex extractors and hopefully will be done with it! Polished the chamber and took a little off the bottom edges of the extractor. Passive function check successful...Going to a match this morning for a live test! Thanks for the input! (Yeah, I'm one of those idiots that changes something on my gun and then shoots a match!...Nobody ever accused me of being intelligent!) ~Tom

I'm having a heck of a time keeping my 9L running without an ftf. It looks to me like the sharp lower edges of the (factory) extractor are biting into the cartridge rim and/or relief and keeping the cartridge about halfway into battery. A couple palm taps on the rear of the slide will usually rectify the problem (sometimes more is required!)but it hurts when it happens 3-4 times in a stage...it's a game ender. I jumped out of CDP with a custom STI to SSP with a 9L with an Apex trigger (btw, anyone who competes with M&P's knows how sweet the Apex package is!) and am enjoying the gun and the caliber after years of refusing to give up the 4-5! Anyway, am I on the right track with identifying this particular feed problem? I'm thinking of "melting" all lower edges of the extractor hook and any edge that may come into contact with the case, rim or otherwise. Thanks, in advance for any assistance! Tom

B- I have to trust my shooting more. In my last local IDPA match I was down 8 points total. Shooting much better than I have in recent months. I was calling my shots and on one target (the last one in a particular stage) I saw one hole in the -0 and the "-0" so I fired another round thinking I got a Mike but couldn't imagine how. After the shot I got a slightly different angled look at the "-0" and saw backstop thru it. At least 1-1.5 seconds added for not trusting what I "knew" I had delivered. With my "hi-bi's" shooting glasses I CAN'T see the holes so I HAVE to trust my call. Maybe I should go back to using them with my new-found techniques and see how they work for me now... This is not a trivial problem for me...I feel I'll be able to "break through" a wall, of sorts, if I can eliminate this visual dilemma. Dave- I like your take on this and it sounds like a practical and cost effective remedy and may crisp up the target a bit more than my "hi-bi's" while still being able to focus on the front sight. Kevin- Good advice...There seems to be a bunch of 'em (web sites). Feel kind of stupid not thinking of that myself! I spend most of my day in front of a computer! A few look like they may offer some good deals. Anyone have any experience with any of these suppliers? Gray- Yup...That's what I have to work harder doing. I keep telling new shooters to "let the gun shoot"...maybe I should listen to what I say and "let MYSELF shoot"! Going to revisit the "hi-bi's"...

First of all thanks for the heads-up on the Burkett DVD's. Got them over the weekend and found a bunch of useful tips...One more thing, if you please... Given the vision that a "mature" fellow such as myself has been cursed with...nearsighted with astigmatism...Ive tried several iterations of optometric conventions...my standard prescription with graduated bifocals; just my reading glasses; and even went as far as having amber lensed shooting glasses made up with my mid-range bifocal placed in the upper/inner portion of each lens so I could have a crisp sight picture without craning my neck backward in order to see my sights. Recently I've even competed without any glasses at all. Nothing seems to work a effeciently as I feel I need especially since I was advised, if given the choice of front sight focus or target focus, in IDPA, I should opt for target. I've always fought to keep the front sight in focus and that worked quite well in PPC and bull's eye type shooting but this is different...have to pick up the sights fast and also have to hit the -0. Anyone here with a similar dilemma or solution that worked for them? Thanks for any and all input.

Funny...THe next thread..."Speed, where does it come from?" has a lot of what I'm asking myself in it. Between the DVD's, all your help and those in the next thread I should be able to get better footing on my "need for speed"!

Thanks a bunch for the input...I just ordered 1-5 of Matt's DVD's and am looking forward to absorbing them! I have taken a few basic and advanced tactical courses and just recently Scott Warren's IDPA course. Some good exercises and philosophies garnered there! And I do shoot with some excellent shooters. I shot Master Class in PPC for a couple years with a 4" Python, went to a 6" 686PP and kept getting scores just under GM. Took on a GM mentor, he watched me shoot...made a few suggestions about grip... I heard the angels sing and shortly thereafter made GM. Looking for the same sort of enlightenment when it comes to speed. In PPC I know how much time I have and can use ALL of it. That doesn't play at all in the IDPA game...I can hit ANYTHING given enough time! Getting faster and got bumped up a class in the last IDPA state match entered...Just looking for that, "A-HAH!...(click!)"<<<- (lightbulb going on!) when it comes to getting back on target rapidly and calling the shot...Thanks again!

Any opinions for which video/DVD give the most useful tips/techniques for accelerating shooting speed? My scores (IDPA) are great but speed is somewhat of a hurdle. Throughout my shooting "history" there have been several "enlightenments" that clicked and gave me almost instant understanding as to what I had to do to improve whatever I was working on at that time. You know, front sight focus, high thumb aggressive grip, etc. But getting that second, third...consecutive shots...Several techniques and excercises (including just getting enough "trigger time") have helped but I haven't found that one element that turned the lights on for me. Brian's book as well as others and courses I've attended have helped a bunch but I feel there's a hump I need to get over to get to the next level...and having a bit of trouble doing it. Any suggestions? Thanks.