s2000red

Welcome from upstate SC. What part of the state are you from?

Not sure what caliber you are loading but could it be crimped primer pockets. Vibration could be another issue that could cause this is if the loader is not securely mounted to a sturdy surface. Good luck.

I shoot 125gr blue bullets through several open guns. As others have said, accuracy is not equal to JHP but it is good enough for our sport. My guns shoot a group of blues about 1" bigger than a group of JHPs. They do leave a little build-up in the comp but running a full mag of JHPs through the gun tends to blow most of that away.

My daughter is right handed but left eye dominant. She has only shot optics and shoots with both eyes open. What I noticed is that she simply puts the gun in front of her dominant eye. She stands facing the targets like normal but when she draws, the gun comes up in front of her left eye. One thing that will be different with optics is where you focus. Don't focus on the dot like you would the front sight. Focus more on the target and let the dot appear there.

Same here Brian. Much, much faster. Thank you.

How have you found the hardness of the Fiocchis? Similar to the S&Bs? Thanks

First, great job on introducing your son to shooting and teaching him gun safety. I shoot with my 10 year old daughter. I started her with a .22 pistol in steel challenge matches almost 3 years ago. She just started shooting a 9mm this summer and shot her first USPSA match a couple of months ago. I agree with Jack, stick with the .22 for now. Wait until his hands have grown big enough to control the 9mm. My daughters hands are just now getting to the size that the heel of her hand is on the back of the gun. Notice in the video that your son's hands are not quite there on the 22/45. It only takes one embarrassing DQ for it to ruin it for him for a long time. The other thing is to make it fun. We practice with reactive targets a lot. We also have little competitions to see who can shoot the best smiley face on a target, etc. We always go get ice cream or something similar after matches or practice.

Tandemkross Mark III magazine bumbers. I am sure there are others but these guys have them along with other accessories.

Ck867, I apologize but I lied to you. I got home and looked at it and the adaptor plate sticks up slightly above the level of the top of the slide, about 0.09". The adaptor plate measures 0.150" in thickness, so this is how much higher it would sit versus a Romeo 1. Sorry for the wrong information.

I'm probably 50 pounds overweight, so I can't move at GM speed. Approaching 50 years old is not helping either. Like Sarge said we all have limitations. Don't let your mental self convince your physical self that you can't do something. Don't tell yourself, I can't do that because of this disability. Try to find a solution. Sometimes you can and sometimes you can not. Just make the best with what you have. Look for improvements in the things you can control: your draw, transitions, and reloads. Also, to use a Steve Anderson term, think about shooting sooner. You may not be able to run fast but you can have your gun up and ready to shoot immediately as a target appears around a barricade. I shot in a steel challenge match with a man in a wheelchair. On smoke and hope he had to shoot two targets one handed because of the wide transitions and his inability to turn that far. His scores and mine were neck and neck all day. I was shooting open and he was shooting a Glock 19. He wasn't letting his limitations slow him down. Honestly, don't worry about the other shooters. At the end of the day, if you are having fun, that is all that matters.

I have a RTS2 with Springer adaptor plate on mine. The adaptor plate fills the gap the rear sight left and the top of the plate is flush with the top of the slide. The optic then sits on top of that. So it basically sits the thickness of the adaptor plate higher than the Romeo 1 would. I can measure tonight but if I had to guess the adaptor plate is 1/8" tall/thick.

I used to have a 650 with a case feeder years ago. I had zero problems out of it. I timed myself once to see what kind of speed I could get out of it. I loaded over 900 rounds of .40 in one hour. That was with me looking inside every case to check for powder. I also had all of my primer tubes full before, so I did not have to stop for that. For the 550 now, I don't know that it really sped me up any. It may have sped me up 10%????? I don't shoot nearly the amount I used to, so I really just take my time.

Greg, I have one on my 550b. I have used it for about 6 months. To answer you question it does work well. Is it perfect, no. At times a case will not slide all the way into station1 and it gets crushed. Most of the time this happens, a case has a burr on the rim. The spent primer catch system is different from the original setup and it drops a few more on the floor. With all that said, I do like it and am glad I have it. If you are looking for something you can bolt on and never touch again, don't buy it. But if you don't mind spending a little time with it to tweak it, and can accept a crushed case once in a while, go for it.

Agreed. Have both and the Alpha X is my favorite. Seems more sturdy and as the others have said, easier to adjust.

I agree with Hi-Power Jack. Go ahead and get him a centerfire. My daughter is 10 and has shot a 22/45 in steel challenge for about 2 years. Recently I let her shoot a carry optics and an open gun. She is hooked now. Doesn't even want to talk about shooting the 22 anymore. We have set her up with a Sig P320 X5.

Assuming these are 12V. What power supply are you guys using?

My daughter shoots steel challenge with me. She is now 10 but started when she was 9. She shoots a Ruger MkIII 22/45 lite. The pistol fits her hands pretty well. One issue she originally had was not having the strength to rack the slide. I put a Tandemkross charging handle on it and it helped her a lot. Whatever way you go, my suggestion is to make it fun for him. When she first started I would staple small balloons to cardboard targets and let her shoot those. She liked that and also shooting clay pigeons that I placed on the berm. We usually go eat lunch or get a special treat (slurpee or ice cream) after matches and practice.

I tried shooting the same open gun in USPSA (major) and SC (minor). The aggravating point was the change in point of impact between the minor and major loads. The minor load shot about 3 -4 inches to the left of the major load. Also, I would change recoil springs for each load: 9# recoil spring for major and a 7# for minor. I would have to make a special trip to the range to re-sight it in before the two different matches. I finally just bought an identical gun and set it up for minor loads only.

Brownells cotton tipped applicators

Like Sarge and davsco, I like my race masters. I still have two of the magnetic ones. BUT, I like the alpha-x better. It just feels a little more solid and secure.

Don't feel bad teddy. I joined almost 13 years ago and ...well you see my post count.

My daughter shoots steel challenge with a 22/45 lite with a cmore. She is 10 and started when she was 9. In fact we are shooting in the US Steel Nationals tomorrow. Like you said focus on safety and gun handling. Aside from that, just encourage him and praise him; keep it fun. We usually have a contest at practice to see who can shoot the best smiley face on a piece of steel. Early on I would place clay pigeons in the berm and let her shoot at those. She liked seeing them bust when she hit them. Keep in mind that they get bored quickly. My daughter carries and iPad with her and plays on it between stages. She likes to paint the steel between shooters so I let her do that to keep her involved. I would just focus on safety and having fun. Try to do something special associated with it. We usually go to her favorite restaurant for lunch after the local matches.

Well, just to follow up. After I changed the cmore, I started getting horizontal stringing on the target. Checked the grip and mount screws and all were tight. Looking closer I noticed a place on the front of the comp where it had been hit. I then noticed that the comp was really close to the slide. Not having feeler gauges with me, I used a lottery ticket. On my two other open guns, I could close the slide with the ticket between the slide and comp and the ticket would slide out easily. On the dropped gun it would clamp down on the ticket and tear it if I pulled. I decided to take the comp off. Surprisingly, as I was removing the two set screws on the comp, the comp was already loose. I think the gun hit on the comp and pushed it and maybe the threads back some. Long story short, i removed .005" off of the rear of the comp and reinstalled it. Lottery ticket now would slide out like other two guns. I took it to the range on Tuesday and was able to shoot approx. 2" groups at 25 yards. Put locktite on comp and set screws. Everything seems okay for now. Thanks for all the ideas.

Great ideas. I think I may swap the mount from another gun. That would allow me to rule out the mount; or not. I did try three different loads (match, practice, and steel challenge) and they all shot the same. So I think I can rule out the load. What kind of clearance should I have between the comp and slide? I am not sure its not touching (need to get feeler gauges from my Dad).

As the title states, I dropped my open gun. It was in a gun bag/rug, but it fell about four feet and landed upside down on the concrete floor. Took it to the range and could not keep bullets on an IPSC target at 25 yards. Shoot five and only have three on the target. And they would be six inches apart. Thinking it was just the cmore, I replaced it with one from another gun. Took it back to the range today to see if that fixed it. Nope. But it did shoot better. At 25 yards from a bag rest, all the bullets are the same height but will string out across the target about 6 to 8 inches left to right. I don't see any comp strikes and none of the bullets are tumbling. Before I send it off for repairs, do you guys know of anything else I can check? Thanks, Jerry