IHAVEGAS

At some point in the past it was determined that any magazine release I really liked would get me killed in a real gun fight. Under current rules I can't find a reason why the magazine release shown below, or a CZ extended magazine released filed down a little bit so it doesn't gouge me near the base of the thumb would be illegal. Both the extended release and the release with tab shown are factory parts that come standard on the sp01 shadow (extended) or the sp01 Shadow orange (tab). So. Am I missing a regulation somewhere? I think that the ground down extended as well as the tab should be esp and ssp legal. For ssp the rules say you can't make a visible change, but they also say you can change sights and grips and substitute oem parts that are supplied on a different gun under specific circumstances so I'm not sure about that , particularly if I grind down an extended release. .

I don't think that the cost and weight of 2 magazines is a thing, at least if it is I have never heard mention of it. Not needing to worry about magazine and spring maintenance is something I've enjoyed after coming from limited. Agree that some like shooting major and others do not.

Maybe. You are going to lose the few weirdos like myself who love lo cap minor because of the additional accuracy, stage planning and reloading requirements involved. I suspect there are not enough of us to matter. What I don't see is why higher cap would attract anyone away from CO or pcc or major scoring or whatever.

9mm only . So far, it appears that using that plate with the old style Dillion 2 speed case feeder cuts down on jams and upside down cases as well as increases feed rate enough to run the case feeder at what should be 5,000 cases per hour with the Dillon switch on high. At 6,000 cases per hour the Dillon could almost but not quite keep up. With the old shell plate I don't think it could have kept up at 4,000 cases per hour and I had the sizer running at 3000. Reloading with the switch on slow speed I haven't done much of yet, but what little I have done suggests fewer jams or upside down cases.

You are correct. Shooting steel and IDPA and close USPSA, all with friends, is a better value, to me, than shooting strictly USPSA. To the hypothetical, in that situation I would go with IDPA, simply because there is more shooter activity per round including increased accuracy emphasis. Also in that 50 round scenario I would be looking to pick up a revolver for the same reason. Stages could be designed differently to give you more reward per shot & etc, but with your hypothetical and the stages I see for both match types I would choose differently than I do with current typical round counts.

For me it is, but I may be the exception. If I shoot both sports and steel challenge (select matches based on distance to local matches) I save a lot on gas and travel time and the idpa matches are typically 50 rounds or so lower in round count which saves a bit more. When gas was 50% less and primers were 35/1000 and etc then I didn't so much mind the cost of being strictly USPSA focused.

Glad that worked in your case. I have done it on a 625 and a 929, in my case the screws were still tight but the spring loaded point that contacts the crane worked a divot into the crane big enough to pass through. I suspect that geometry also tends to push the spring loaded point up out of the divot.

You would know better than I. I'd like to put my hands on one of those screws if I can pm you with details or whatever. If I decide not to use it I am sure I can make a friend happy by gifting it.

Hmm. There is something here that I do not understand, not terribly unusual. Regardless, a $20.00 fix without the Pia factor is HUGE. I wonder if there is a patent possibility.

Interesting. I used just a screw filed to a point and fitting it was a major Pia , too little - too little - oops start over. You can feel some slop if you wiggle the crane with what I ended up calling good enough but it works well so far. Your way I assume is a shorter screw + a piece of bar stock with one end ground to a point? Sounds like the smarter & easier route.

Don't have the data, have read and heard that clubs dropping affiliation and running outlaw matches is a thing.

As I understand it, it is when you deliberately limit your audience so you don't get as much information as you could otherwise or when you search for an hour to answer a question rather than just asking and getting up to date info. I may have it wrong though.

I don’t understand the comment. IDPA was a 10 round maximum game in all pistol divisions before their last rule change (2022?) and they are still 10 or fewer in all but pcc and ssp.

There is a lot of reading to be done on 929 quality control issues and poor/slow warranty service. Haven't paid attention to the other recent production models. The crane retention design on modern smith's is fragile and a particular worry for weak hand reloads. I agree about the old s & w guns and have a couple that I will never let go of.

Agreed, but that comes naturally after you have learned enough to proceed with a gun purchase & etc. Regardless, thought this was interesting and didn't know about it until today, apparently the M2's have been recently significantly modified. https://www.gunsamerica.com/digest/hunt365-benellis-changes-montefeltro-m2-lupo-firearms-shot-show-2023/

+1 Worst case I have seen was at a major. To get the match in (weather delays, sometimes the md doesn't have many options. ) walk throughs were reduced to 3 minutes, there is no fun in banging elbows with 12 people for three minutes & hoping that you will be able to remember your plan well.

I would agree if you had said match instead of stage. I have never known people to be unhappy because a match had one stage that was very challenging, unless it was a memory stage. A lot of folks (I'm one) feel like the very challenging memory stages are more work than play.

Can anyone expand on that? I shoot production at about 130pf with range pick up brass, much of it shot through open guns at USPSA matches. I have found several split cases after shooting and tossed them in the scrap pile but have never detected any indication that the case splitting made any difference to accuracy or reliability. Now I load till they spilt and just don't worry about it. What happens bad when a brass case splits in an open gun?

It seems like you may very well be right based on forums & such. I don't know how well the forums tend to represent the average shooter though.

I never understood this way of thinking. I actually have more fun because I routinely squad with a revolver GM & an open GM and a good pcc shooter and a good ss shooter. It is interesting to see how different guns/shooters run the stages. Myself & the wheel gunner & the ss shooter never think of ourselves as having a bad match because we can't keep up with rifles or guns that have all of the special needs gadgets or greater round capacity. We also don't have an issue knowing whether or not we shot a good match. I would see the standing reload as a good opportunity to use a practiced skill. My way of thinking is no better than anyone else's, no umbrage intended, perhaps it is an age related thing.

My Ruger as delivered had a timing issue that scarred the slot on one or two cylinders and would occasionally cause the cylinder to bind up. Ruger fixed that by replacing the pawl, the gun would no longer lock up but whatever caused the two cylinders to be engaged differently (star or cylinder slot geometry tolerance?) was not fixed. After running the Ruger against my 929 my thought process ended with. 1. The smith is more fragile. 2. I can shoot the smith better (trigger). 3. No one anywhere seems able to get the Ruger trigger close to a well tuned 929 4. I still prefer a gun I can buy parts for or my revolver smith can buy parts for, advantage 929. 5. I prefer working with Ruger on warranty issues, much more responsive than s and w. 6. My personal opinion is that Ruger may be pushing the limits of their design and manufacturing tolerances by chasing that 8th shot. I kept the smith. The deciding factor was just that I end up with a better match score due to the trigger.

Thank you! My AA plate arrived yesterday but I wanted to share your modification with a couple friends. Seems like a valuable tweek for anyone with the oem Dillon plate.

Ordered one yesterday If you didn't mind sometime it would be interesting to see a picture of the beveled Dillon plate that worked out well.

I'm surprised to see folks leaving the comps on. I could not detect any benefit but perhaps that has to do with me shooting heavier bullets at around 130 pf.

I went to coated 358's because coated 356's would lead the barrel up. If your 929 starts shooting knuckle balls after 100 rounds or so into a clean barrel that is a strong clue. +1