shakman

The red piston will do you just fine. The newer pistons that FN is shipping with their new SLPs are super-finicky. I have a buddy that picked one up that came with the newer versions, and his wouldn't function for crap without buying the super-expensive heavy loads. Once he picked up the Browning Gold piston, all was well.

Yup, they come apart the same way as any other bull-barrel 2011. If you can find one for a decent price, they're worth every penny. I wouldn't say you're getting ahead of yourself unless your just barely getting started in competitions. They're an expensive pill to swallow if you're a new shooter.

Slick-side upper (no FA), 18" medium contour rifle-length fluted barrel, adjustable gas-block (or low-profile gas-piston like AA XLP), low-mass BCG, BCM Gunfighter Mod2 handle, std bbl threading, Samson Evolution 15" handguard. ...and you were right the first time....it's TacOps. It will ALWAYS be TacOps.

On a Sight Tracker gun, the barrel has a rib across the top that rides inside a slot milled into the top of the slide. The front sight is then attached to this rib. When you pull the trigger, the slide moves back and forth, but your front sight does not. This makes it much easier to keep track of the front sight as it is only moving up and down instead of up/down/back/front. On 9mm guns, it's not as much of a big deal as they don't have much recoil. On .40 guns, especially ones that are shooting major-rated loads, you get some considerable muzzle flip. When the sight is only moving in one plane, it's easier to track and get back on-target for the next shot. Make sense? There's some good pictures in a classified ad that show the sight-tracker barrel. You can see the barrel removed from the slide and the cut made in the slide to accommodate the barrel rib. http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=210896&hl=

If you sell the Titegroup, PM me.

The S3G trigger is nice, but make sure you SERIOUSLY practice with it before hitting a match. They're very different from your stock milspec trigger for pre-travel and reset. If you're not careful, it's very easy to have an ND which might send you home for the day. Once you get used to it, you'll love it. Trust me (I have 3 of them.) Enjoy!

Unfortunately, it seems more like it's all about the game now, not the practical side of shooting. It's not really my cup-of-tea. Don't get me wrong....I like a fast stage with lots of movement and fast target transitions. On the other hand, there are matches out there that do take a more "practical" side to the sport and introduce slings, barricaded shooting and things of that nature that appeases the other side of the fence (which is where I am.) I'm thinking specifically about Fallen Brethren, Superstition Mystery Mountain, and Rocky Mountain. But yeah, I see your point.

Midway had them last time I checked (last week.)

I can't imagine that the slung rifle will be loaded in any way. I've not been to a match yet that required slings for a stage or 2 where the rifle was in any condition other than TOTALLY empty. That being said, the sling does introduce another level of complexity not regularly experienced in the 3-gun world. Yes, they're a PITA where 3-gun is concerned, but it's like everything else in this sport. Practice, practice, practice.

I put 4.1gr of HP38 underneath 180gr Montana Gold bullets for my Edge, and it's a perfect 3-gun round. I've only run into a couple stages during matches where I wish I had 2-3 more rounds in the magazine to stave off a reload, but those are the exceptions rather than the rule. Additionally, I've seen stages where people shooting 9mm at a less-than-calibrated popper won't be able to knock it over where a .40 will just about every time.

I accidentally bought a box of these my last trip to Academy (a box got mixed in with the Super Sporting Clay.) My M2 hung up about every 3rd shot with these. There's just not enough push in them to cycle the action reliably.

Nice! Heavy on the rifle side. I knew I liked you for a reason, Kurt.

Thanks Razz. Good info to know. I'm OK with doing slight modifications to the holster as long as it doesn't negatively affect retention. I had to do several small things to my ALS to get it to work with the 2011.

On some guns like the STI/SVI, the dimension from where the chamber stops and the rifling starts is a bit longer. People load them longer so close that distance so the bullet engages the barrel rifling sooner for better accuracy. Setting the bullet "tall" also reduces the pressure inside the case and gives slower muzzle velocity as a result. I know on my STI, I can set the bullets at around 1.16 COAL and the rounds will still fit/feed properly. If I try to use those same rounds in my M&P, they won't chamber. The KKM barrel in my M&P is pretty much set at slightly larger than 1.125 COAL.

If your stock barrel has choke tubes, you're good. If not, then you should probably consider either getting it threaded (if that's even possible) or get a new barrel. It's frustrating trying to knock over (or watch attempts at knocking over) steel plates at a distance with a fixed choke. Been there, done that, not fun.

AW, cool. I'll go ahead and grab the IP hanger either way since it'll work with my ALS and probably anything else I throw at it.

I'm considering giving one of these holsters a try for 3-gun. However, I'd like to know if the hood will close over the gun when the hammer is down or if there is a modification the folks at G-Code need to make. I know some of y'all out there are using this holster, and I'd like to hear your thoughts on it for use with an STI 2011.

+1 on steel targets. I just sold off my "regular" poppers and picked up some of the MGM auto-poppers. What a time saver those are! They provide all the training benefits of falling steel targets without the need to walk downrange to reset them. Static C-Zone steel or swinging gongs also provide the same benefits.

I put one in mine just recently, and I'm not having any issues at all. Even if you do have issues (which you won't), Dave will get you fixed up.

Already on the calendar.

This thread just recently started is specifically for .40, but it should be applicable to pretty much any pistol caliber. -> http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=203068&hl=

I'm currently loading 4.1gr of HP38 over a Federal SPM primer under Montana Gold 180gr CMJ bullets. It's butter-smooth in both my Edge and my M&P and I've not seen any ill-effects thusfar. If you've got them, then run with them.

Personally, I wouldn't have accepted that work. A machinist who takes pride in his work should/would take the time and polish out the machining marks like those. For $3400, I would expect nothing less. Look at it this way. If this gun had been sitting on a shelf in a gun shop, would you buy it in this condition for the price they were asking?

The Stoeger M3000 has been getting lots of positive press lately and has a very attractive price point. You could probably do whatever you need/want to it and stay within your budget.

I had that problem with my Spikes gas block. One setting was not enough, and the next "click" was too much on my SBR. Unfortunately, there was no real way around it, so I just dealt with it. It was still getting less gas than a non-adjustable block, so I chalked it up to a win anyway. I'm hoping that the Adams Arms XLP block that I have on order will be just the ticket. It certainly was on 2 other rifles I have.