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I'm still drooling at all the pictures, and all the Win in the topic. So many choices and so many possibilities.

Might you be in need of a friend to reload for? All I can say is I'm impressed.

good post, like the pictures. I still need to do this to mine, just lazy and haven't had an issue, like they say an ounce of prevention is worth a... ah, you know what I'm talking about.

Count me in.

I think I might of found that post, but it was so long I could only get to the part of cleaning the gun, lol. I'll have to read the rest of it, IF I can find it again.

I checked mine before my match on Sunday, and sure enough it had loosed up. I originally set it up so that when my holster and unloaded gun are inverted, it wouldn't fall out - the drop test (??). Tried it before the match and it was loose enough to slide out as soon as past horizontal. That's practice over six months and maybe six matches. I've added to the pre-match & maintenance routine, thx! Anything to help someone not go through the humiliation and I'll be honest, the fear that I felt looking down at my pistol and knowing what could of happened, I was more than happy to put my guns up for the rest of the day. I never did understand the Match DQ, but I'm glad it was there, cause I would of been a wreck if I tried to reshoot.

OK so in theory it works great but in its actual application there haven't been any real improvements, that's what I was looking for. I appreciate the answers, not sure how long the forcing cone is supposed to be or how short it needs to be to see a an improvement, and the 24" JM I Purchased doesn't need to be modified in a theoretical way, well, not until it probably almost worn out and I got nothing left to throw at it to keep performance up, and I doubt that day will ever come.

Looks pretty darn good there BobS, Looks well uniformed, almost as if it were the stock lifter. I do think this is something I want to get done.

I've opted for the SVI, I almost think it might have less fitting and blending needed as they pretty much make the same thing STI does ( I hate to say that, cause they may look similar, but there is a world of difference in fit and finish between the two).

Onagoth, by retention holster you mean something similar to the safariland ALS system, (not trying to plug a specific manufactuer just know of their equipment)?

I tried searching for the thread I read this in last week, So no apologies if duped. I am relatively naïve about shotgun barrels and there design, so it struck me as odd when I read some was trying to have the barrel tuned to reduce felt recoil, something about the forcing cone. I have since looked more closely at the side profile picture of the barrel and notice there is a noticeable reduction in the circumference of the barrel as the shot gets forced through the barrel. I see where the resizing of the barrel is, but how much material is there to remove so that you are lengthening the that forcing cone and able to increase the distance at which the shot is forced into a smaller path to exit the barrel? Is this actually a viable option in reducing recoil or just a gimmick? I can run rough calculations through my head and understand that there might be benefits, but reducing material on the barrel also has some drawbacks, anyone done this and noticed any fatigue in there barrels? They were also talking about polishing the chamber, and I completely agree with this as long as you don't take material away, or am I wrong in thinking that you still want a good seal around the shell as to not lose pressure, or is this a moot point with the shells being plastic and they will expand more when fired to keep the seal? Also, I think I understand what everyone means when talking about "Welding" the lifter, I sort of feel dumb even asking, but the only dumb question is a question not asked. Welding the lifter is adding material to the lifter so it doesn't have that forked tongue look to it, I like this, just doing some practice drills loading I jammed my thumb in there, good thing it wasn't under a clock, I might of hurt myself, lol. Also, opening the loading port if machine the material off the frame so as to give you a larger opening to throw rounds in the tube, I am guessing this is right. This ?? is primarily for the JM Pro owners out there, I have read that the breech lock pin is hollow and has a spring in there, making drilling and tapping a bit difficult, but would it not be easier to open the pass-through hole on the frame up a bit and tap the outside of the button to add a larger surface to the button, this kinda makes sense, if I had a machine to make a larger button I would attempt it. Appreciate any help you might be able to offer and look forward to any razzing I get for asking too many questions in one topic.

I feel your pain, mine happened on sat. and they were running a second match on Sunday, so I was scrambling to see if any of my spare 1911 safeties would work, but it rained really hard sat night so sun. match was canceled, not a good thing, but it saved me on some ammo, lol.

I was thinking of going with either the Wilson or the SVI, I don't use the Safety as a brace for me thumb, it might of been me lifting up on the safety trying to get it apart, but it was more than just snug in the pistol. I would agree from the looks of it, it's not the best quality, not sure if SS can be cast like a lot of other metals, but it was a pretty grainy break like cast alloys do at time. Looking for a bar stock machined part, that should last much longer, I think I would like a higher rise on the safety and the stock one seems to ride on the knuckle of my strong-hand thumb, haven't shot but 1k through it (maybe) and have yet to engage the safety on accident, but I'd rather it be a bit higher.

It's an STI, kind of thinking I will go back to a single sided. I don't rest my thumb on it when I shoot, but it does take some force to get out, is it supposed to be really tight when they are put together?

Has this ever happened to anyone before? I'm pretty new to the 2011, but I have taken this pistol apart a few times, the safety had to be squeezed together with your figures to get it together, but taking it apart was a bit different, took a flathead screwdriver to pop the safety apart and this is what I ended up with.

There are some lessons that you learn as you shoot and watch other and there are some you learn the hard way, for instance, these nice Kydex holsters tend to loosen up over time as they break in I'm told. Well I only learned that after feeling a heavy object bounce off my leg and when I looked down there was this shiny yet dirty pistol facing down range, I'm just happy the safety stayed put and all that was hurt was my pride and a $40 lesson. There are at least a 1000 topics about this I'm sure, but I dropped the ball and didn't do the homework I should, I'm glad it worked out the way it did and no one was hurt, been in the shooting sports for 25 years and this is a first for me, not that I haven't seen it done before, but when you get complacent you tend to overlook the tiny things, and plastic holsters are new to me as I'm from CAS so disaster averted but lesson learned.

Looking at this, I think I might be ashamed to post any pics of my gear, but now I have ideas of what I need (ok ok, WANT) so that I can play cath up to the Joneses, lol.

I hear you, Still need more for the ever changing stages and I'm starting to think USPSA will be fun, so more mag holders, can you have too many mag holders or mags?

Eh, trigger broke when I did the unthinkable and put the wrong torque on it with a screwdriver. But I like the new trigger much better.

That is exactly where it was, took the slide off and placed the GR in the dust cover tried to move it in the pattern it travels while cycling the pistol and noticed it was catching at the upper portions of the relief area for the barrel link, was not catching on the barrel link, as I did this with no slide or barrel, took a medium Norton stone and slowly sanded some material off and repeated several times until it didn't bind in any of the frame areas ( I did not attempt to file or sand on the frame). Was pretty close after I reassembled the pistol, and repeated this process until it has a nice smooth cycling action. Appreciate the help and those that offered advice, it was what I needed to get this resolved.

Sharpie is a great idea, thank you. Never knew there might be some fitting to the plug, it does appear to sit properly, there is no movement of anything when it's in the rearward most travel. Will check fitment and update as follows.

Hello everyone, hopefully someone can help me with this. I have a relatively new STI Edge .40 I purchased through Brazos Gunworks, one of his HP Edges. After shooting it some (roughly 300 rounds) I have determined I don't care for the feel of the STI Recoil Master, and opted for SVI SS Guide Rod, wasn't sure what weights to get, so I got a couple 14-16, these might be a bit high for the 40s&w but let's go with this anyways. I installed the new guide rod and just cycling the pistol with my hands it has the feel I'm looking for, but it will hang up on something inside on the slides most rearward travel, and it will hold it there. no mag in and the mag release isn't the culprit. A slight tap with the palm of my hand moves the slide forward just like it should, it feels as if there is a slight binding on something inside, this didn't happen with the Recoil Master, so I am guessing it has something to do with the new guide rod, reverse plug or the springs. I ordered these off SVI's website and being the edge is a 5" model I order government length springs. Any help would be much appreciated.

I agree 100%. I was getting bored with shooting, and started to learn some trick shots(splitting playing card, coins, etc). I can remember the first match I went to I saw the number of cars, and was emabarrassed how poorly I might do so I backed out. A month later I wentand actually shot. Now I go all the time. Serisous addiction. If I had known 3 years ago what I know now, my gun safe would look completely different on the inside. Of course I wouldnt have bought that mid-life set of golf clubs either(what was I thinking). I am already trying to figure out how to get more matches in next year... Maybe I can convince my wife that gun ranges are great for family vacation. Somehow my dad got my mom on the bad wagon when I was like 8 y/o and we had a great time at all the annual matches we could attend, and it was great to hang out with the family on the weekends before I was allowed to start competing at 9-10. Granted that was like 25 years ago, but I wouldn't want it any other way looking back, just wish I stuck with the competition after I got my DL. But once bitten I don't care who you are, you will come back. On a side note, if the wife doesn't go for the family thing, maybe it's time to look for a new Wife? j/k

Is this a problem with all Edge's? I just got mine a couple of weeks ago from Brazos Gunworks, been shot a few times, no problems, other than stripping it down and breaking the trigger (planned on replacing that anyways, just not right away) darned plastic things, lol. Not sure if I really like the Recoil Master or not, it does feel food on heavier bullets, but seems a bit weak for hotter lighter factory rounds.

My offer still stands any firearm you are unsatisfied with I will swallow my pride and take off your hands... WOW, all I can say is WOW, great work and now I know I need to win the $$ prize.