Clay1

IDPA allows two mags on the belt besides the one in the gun for a total of 3. I then carry what is refered to as a "Barney mag" in my back pocket that is used at "load and make ready" to put one round in the chamber and then I load a 10 round mag. So four mag should get you by just fine. My G34 uses 17 round capacity mags that I only load to 10 rounds. I have 10 mags so that I don't have to reload between each and every stage. Note: Quit talking about it and get out this weekend somewhere and pull the trigger. It is the best way to learn. Go have fun and keep your finger off of the bang switch when you are not pointed at a target and you will have a grand time. Rick

Not that it was a monster but a buddy brings his Thompson out in 35 rem with some hot loads and I try it off of the bench. My elbows were resting on the bench and on the trigger pull my right arm goes numb. Damn strongest funny bone wack that I ever think I have had. No, I didn't drop the gun, but didn't shoot that thing again with my elbows on the bench either.

JP, did you see the link that I posted no matter what the Sportsman's Guide lists. As you see from examples it really does matter what gun and what barrel you fire the ammo out of. That's why they make chronys. An example" Out of my G34 the Blazer 115 get me an average of 1212 out of my barrel and makes about 140 PF. Out of a friends gun with the same barrel length but tighter chamber of a Bar-Sto barrel he gets closer to 1300 fps for a PF of close to 150. Same ammo, same barrel length. The way to tell is to chrony it out of your gun. Rick

It's 4 am and I am laughing my ass off! Nothing like those photos but I was at the range one day with the 7 mag and I was shooting about 70 rounds off of the bench doing some load development. The boy next to me had just bought a NEW 338 win mag for an Elk hunt and he was just afraid of the thing and couldn't put two rounds on paper for life or money. He finally asked me if I would shoot it and sight it in for him. I shot really pretty clover leaf groups with his rifle. Then suggested that maybe he might do better with his tried and true ole' '06 that he was use to for the hunt. He never fired that rifle after I sighted it in and I would bet a weeks pay that any elk in his sights was fairly safe standing broadside in the open at 100 yards with that man behind that trigger. Common problem with "have to get the new rifle for the hunt" and can't controll it. I would love to touch one of these fire breathers off - just to say that I did it. Dropping that rifle is a sin though.

You can upgrade your current gun's trigger easily enough if you would like a better trigger on it. Here is a link for your consideration: http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?...topic=25729&hl= On the 9 vs the 40. I'm cheap by nature and I just bought 2000 rounds of 115 grain 9mm Blazer ammo for $209 delivered from Natchez to my door. At these prices I don't reload 9mm and just focus on shooting. Consider what you pay for 40 ammo you can justify the new gun with ammo savings right? Wrong - you'll just shoot more for the same money and get better faster. I second the G17 or a G34 for gun games. Keep your 40 for the serious stuff when you need something just a little smaller. If you can conceal a full size 1911 you can conceal a G34 no matter what anyone says. Rick

Have to post this, Ralph - the kit manufacturer, sent me an email after he saw my initial response to the kit installation. He offered a full refund or would answer any questions that I might have had and offered some initial advice about the set up of the kit. Since I edited my initial post and didn't just do a different post all he saw on the email notification was that I wasn't totally satisfied. I just want to say that Ralph stands behind his product and it was nice hearing from him to try and resolve a problem without me having to call him first. Stand up guy, Ralph is. Anyhow, I told him that after about 100 dry firings I edited my orginal post and am a happy camper now. The only real problem that I still have is that I have a second G34 that now needs to be upgraded as well. Rick

Yes, the parts were highly polished, but the connector did have a few marks in it. Sad, but that is how the Glock parts are these days. You wouldn't want to remove all of the metal that would need to be removed to get all of the tooling marks out. Still the parts were polished nicely. Anyone know what the weight or the specs are on the trigger bar spring vs the stock one? For instance instead of the 18 pound recoil spring (at least I think the stock one was 18 pounds) I use the 13 ISMI. The reduced striker spring is 4#, but what is the trigger bar spring? Thanks. Rick

Here is a link to the factory specs: http://www.cci-ammunition.com/default.asp?menu=1&s1=4&s2=9 The spec on the 40 cal 180 is 985. Rick

Received my trigger kit in the mail moments ago. The parts are all nice and highly polished. I installed them and the weight of the trigger went down 1/4 over my current set up in the first 20 or so trigger breaks. I was somewhat disappointed in these early findings. Before it broke at 2.75 pounds now the trigger breaks at 2.5 pounds. My gun had the .25 cent trigger job done - polishing and a wolf reduced striker spring added. The trigger bar drilling and the lighter plunger button and the heavier trigger spring added up to 1/4 pound in my G34 during initial testing. After another 100 dry fire trigger breaks with the gun the trigger did lighten up. I lubricated the plunger which I don't normally do given that it is connected to the striker channel, but Ralph recomended it and it did help. The trigger is now breaking at 2 pounds and 2 oz. I expect it to wear in just a little more and can say that it will most likely go to 2 pounds straight up. I do feel the slightest hint of roughness before the trigger breaks but again I think that it will wear in nicely. I guess that I have to remember than the other trigger job has 8000 rounds through it and it is smooth, just a little heavier than I wanted. Rick NOTE: I had to edit this post since my initial findings and the results after 100 dry firings were different. I'm a happy camper now.

I've run across a few post lately that I find inappropriate. We can't talk about tactics on this gun / shooting board but I see rape and slave talk all too often. I'm far from a prude, I just think that the BE board isn't the place. One guys opinion that's all. Maybe I need to lighten up, but some things I just don't find funny. Off my soap box for the day - promise. Rick

I shoot a Glock, but does anyone with a 1911 / 2011 engage the safety when going from one box to another or from one port to another? I would find that surprising if someone does engage the safety within the COF after the buzzer goes off and before they finish the string. Is that what 8.5 is speaking to?

Happy Birthday Pat!

You could shoot it in Limited minor - nothing says that you can't. Especially with the mag extension that is my best bet.

Stressfire is the first half (the shooting half) of LFI I. This one is taught by David Maglio assisted by firearms training associates Certified LFI staff Instructors. www.firearmstrng.com is there web site out of Fond du Lac, Wis. Ayoob teaches the second half of LFI I at this location: the "judicious use of deadly force". I have it up for sale for $250 for the $350 course. If I sell it, I will buy ammo, if I don't sell it I will go the class and see what happens. Either way it won't be a bad thing. Again, it was better to pick this from the prize table than a hat. Rick

This is the reason that if anyone wants to shoot over my chrono to test something out, I pull the trigger. It's not worth it to let someone else screw up your equipment. I don't have a problem testing their gun / ammo combo for them, but this way no one is to blame except me. Keeps things simple. Rick

Nice looking blaster. Rich does wonderful work. Am still surprised what he can do with the triggers. I've seen them easily under 2 pounds and they are sweet. Rick

I'm shooting better than I ever have, probably close to the peak in my training. I went to a state match this past weekend and shot my worst match of the year. I beat myself, before the first shot was fired. Still have a lot to learn.

Thanks for the nice review Steve. Sounds like a nice addition to the library. Rick

TriggerT, I should have known that you knew who I was talking about. He had a solid run and that XD of his did him proud. Not exactly like going to nationals like some people I know, but we had a fun day. Thanks for the board name Tim. Rick

I won a certificate to attend a two day Stressfire class. I'm not all that familiar with the class and wanted to hear your opinions on the class. Bluntly, I would much prefer a class with Max or Matt Burkett or someone more specifically oriented to gun games. I'm asking because if you think it is worthwhile I will keep and go to the class otherwise it might end up on ebay and I buy ammo with the money. Thanks, Rick

Here is a plug for my bud Ben. Our own Ben Stoeger wins high overall at the Wisconsin State IDPA match. He not only won in his class, but won high overall. Ben did it in style with about a 20 point lead over his next closest master class competitor. Sorry, I don't remember the exact numbers Ben, but one hell of a great job. Congrats! Darryl Dougherty, sorry don't know your web name here, won ESP. I shot with Darryl and he did a very nice job today. On my own shooting - that's another story. Excuses, excuses but let's just say that you do revert to your level or training. I haven't shot an IDPA match since I shot the classifier on April 12th. One example of my skill level is that the COF said to engage each target with one round while retreating, reload behind the barricade and then engage each target with one body shot and one head shot. My version of the 18 round COF was to double tap each target on the way back reload in the open USPSA style and then double tap the body again from behind the barricade. So no head shots at all and fired 24 rounds on the 18 round course of fire. That's just one example of numerous brain fades of the day. Hats off to those that can and do shoot both games well. Ben and Darryl you guys really shot well today! Back to USPSA for me next weekend

Good luck man, it's always a pain when equipment lets you down. Might be a good time to buy one of the smaller timers as a back up. I love my MK IV but do wish it was a little smaller, but features like the comstock button and the chrony would make me make the same buying decision if I had to do it all over again. Rick

Flex, I see that you respect TDean and his opinion and he obviously knows what he is talking about by his demonstration of his skills. You go on to say what you have done to your trigger. Airplanes or not you still modified your trigger as do most seeking performance enhancement. Very few in the game play with a stock trigger. It's not all about no work and just trying to buy the next level of performance because that is never going to fly. If think that you are right in that more benefit might be realized by learning things like good trigger control to begin with and movement from box to box or other fundamental issues of the game than the benefit of a spiffed up trigger, but it is part of the package not the whole package. TDean, thanks for your input on the matter. Your point is well taken in that I do see some that work these triggers to an unsafe level. Most of the people that have shot at many matches have all heard of stories of triggers doubling etc (not just specific to Glocks by the way). Learning proper technique is where the majority of the gains are to be made. Rick

I called Pact because my MKIV was recording two shots indoors because of echos. They said that there is an internal adjustment, but recomended that I take a piece of foam ear plug and put it over he speaker hole while shooting indoors so that I don't have to take it apart and readjust it when I go outside. Now having said that there is an internal adjustment, I have a feeling that is not your issue. Call Pact and ask them what's up. Here's a link with a number: http://www.pact.com/ Rick

First press was a dillion Progressive. I think that some that recomend a single stage are those that have never had anything but a single stage and are jealeous that you are starting off with such a nice press instead of putting your time in on a less efficient press then buy a nicer one. The progressive is where you want to end up so start there to begin with. As RTR mentioned, get the video. Also buy a good reloading manual and read it before you start. When I say manual, I'm not talking about a manufacturers paphlet that they give away for free, but a real - hardback book with tons of data. Sierra, Speer and Hornady come to mind at first and have wonderful sections with great info that is useful. Good luck and if you have a specific question post here and someone will give you a hand. Get that machine out of the box! Rick