MetropolisLake

I have a 9mm Eagle on the way, so this made me giggety.

This is probably dead on, and if so, then it seems to me that it's all about SPEED. Nobody ever says that though. It's always, well it has a better trigger, well it's more accurate, well it's heavier so it recoils less. Well, yeah, sure. But does that really always matter in all situations? Seriously. If so... how did a newbie such as myself take a borrowed Glock 35 and consistently get higher scores than everybody else at his first USPSA meet last weekend? If you add all them up from every stage, I got a better score (not hit factor) than a master class shooter, an A class shooter, and a really good open division shooter, all rocking VERY expensive custom 2011’s. Only reason that happened is because what you said is true, I slowed down and aligned the sights well and pulled the trigger well. That doesn’t matter much when you’re slow though, and I was very slow comparatively, therefore placed near the bottom. I’m still pleased though, and based on this experience, I have a hard time believing that the inherent accuracy and trigger of a 2011 is uber-important in itself in terms of accuracy. If it was, those guys would have scored higher than a total newbie with a stock Glock shooting crappy Wal-Mart ammo. They didn’t. Combine the accuracy situation with speed though, probably a different story. Meaning, does a 2011 help you significantly when in sloppy dragster mode? Good chance it does. Does it help you go faster in the first place? Good chance it does. Is the accuracy alone going to help a ton? I dunno, I doubt it though.

I lost it when he started shooting the thing. Funny stuff. Love the video editing.

I feel right now that .40 caliber ammo is more readily available than 9mm. More expensive for sure but higher availability. I base this off of going in to my local Bass Pro and them having ZERO boxes of 9mm vs plenty to choose from in .40 caliber. Right now .40 is running about $70 more per box of 1000 than 9mm. I don't think that is too horribly bad. IMO. I think I am going with the .40. I just found one on a local gun site that has the competition upgrade from Springfield Armory at a helluva good deal. It will save me hundreds over what I was going to pay form Springer Precision. I made this same exact mistake, or at least choice, based on the same reason, so I figured I'd pipe up. Yes it's true, factory .40 ammo is much easier to find than factory 9mm. Problem is, nobody who is big into shooting sports uses that crap. You either end up reloading or you at least order from some of the big manufacturer's, and there 9mm is usually about as available as the .40.

Or you could just learn to hit everything in the alpha zone, then it doesn't matter.

I guess I always assumed that the vast majority of training involved learning how to shoot more accurately. But what do you do when you apparently and suddenly realize that you're "accurate enough" with USPSA type targets, in fact probably too accurate in terms of getting a good score, and are instead suffering greatly in the speed department? I was at the very top of the accuracy department in terms of hit points at a recent match, but near the bottom once speed was factored in for the hit factor. Problem is, I don't know where I'm slow. I even felt like I was going fast, too fast, to the point where my accuracy was sub-par. Apparently not. It's friggin weird. I don't know if I'm burning up time between targets, between reloads, between shots, not having a good stage plan, or what. I'm sure it's all of the above, and experience and a general training plan will help with all of the above, but what do you tackle first if you were going to specifically train to improve speed, if your accuracy is already acceptable? I don't know where to start, as this is turning out to be the exact opposite of what I expected. Not necessarily looking for a shortcut per se, but I am in fact wondering if there is any single very important training aspects that can offer quicker gains for overall score as it relates to the speed department than others. Which, I suppose is a shortcut, isn't it.

Sounds like what I started doing but we may not be talking about the same thing. I picked it up off the Seeklander video below. Notice the part where he's talking about the "big dumb muscles". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrCfHYdyhw0

I'm about to own both. Decided to settle with my Glock 35 and pimp it out, but happened to run across an almost new 9mm 2011 at a price that would really tick off most people here. Couldn't pass it up. That being said though... I'm expecting that the Glock with the 3.5# Edge trigger with the pre and over travel taken out is probably going to be nicer than the stock STI that's what, 4.5# and probably a tad bit mushy if it's like other stock 1911's. We shall see. Won't be getting a 2011 trigger job any time soon.

How does the registration work? Like TicketMaster where you refresh a page a thousand times until hopefully a registration page appears?

Be mindful of sweeping your other arm when you run. The only way it feels natural is to run with the pistol in your strong hand. It's very easy to sweep your other arm when you do that.

Want to hear something stupid? Watch the video below. I still suck but I felt the exact same way about my Glock 35, but then I embraced a different grip, based on the contents here. HUGE difference. I now want to throw my FNX-40 in the trash as I am much better with the glock.

I just started and have my own land, so to get used to it, I'd just grab a gun and take off running. I'd pick knots on the side of trees and whatnot to dry fire at, mostly to gauge how winded I was and see how that affected stability. I'd run about a mile and dry fire at something every so often, and some days would sprint more, as much as my back would let me at least. Pistol is easy, but heavier rifles suck due to balance and needing upper body strength. Worst part about pistol is watching your 180, as it's easier to run if you can flip the pistol sideways, but if you will get a DQ if you did that, you have to point it forward, but then you can't twist your upper body as much, throwing your stride off. Of course when I finally got on a course, I didn't run at all due to being so overwhelmed. Whenever I figured I'd have a chance to run, I'd have to use that opportunity to reload a shotgun, or unsling a rifle, which turned into a brisk walk while I was doing these things.

I use the WRS as well, not alot of experience but from what I've seen I really like it. With the hood down it's just a normal holster, otherwise you can lock it in and it ain't going nowhere.

Careful using mild steel. I've been told by an overseas pro that it has the potential to basically ricochet right back at you. Plus every time you shoot it, it can bend plus rip the welds out of the steel a little. That's why AR500 is used. I'm a trailer dealer and have access to lots of mild steel scraps for free but I was very skeptical about shooting the stuff and ordered from MGM instead.

I hear that the white Rustoleum marking paint in the upside down cans works best.

http://shop.blade-tech.com/bladetech-proseries-competition-single-pouch-c-38_54_59.html#.Ut2q_PTnbsM Was thinking about those, supposed to be $40 but are on amazon for $26. Will that work for 3-gun or are the angled versions dumb for running around? It would be for Glock 35 mags with +5 base pads.

Just food for thought... at last week's SHOT show shoot-off, Jesse here posted a video of Bryan Ray having a killer pistol run against Ravin Perry, had multiple poppers falling at the same time like dominoes, it was a beautiful thing. He's only running a Glock 34 with nothing but a stipple job, sights, and a drop-in trigger, yet bumping heads with guys like Burkett with his Predator Tactical rig that can be configured to be over $5,000. It's hard to be convinced that a 2011 is necessary when you see that happen. I was honestly about to buy one but, and although I still suck, I improved quite a bit pretty quickly with my G35. Finally decided that once I wring all I can out of it I'll upgrade, but until then, it's obvious that my Glock can shoot better than I can, so what's the point.

I have both, except its not the JP buffer. I have their flatwound CS spring. Had a carbine buffer but it felt harsh. I put a spikes t2 buffer in and it was much better, very reliable. However I put a captured spring in and it feels tons better than the previous setup. The only thing I don't like is that charging it isn't quite as powerful, which I'm sure runs better but it doesn't inspire confidence in terms of reliability. Also I had my first double feed shortly after installing it. Probably coincidence but who knows.

Yeah that's what sucks. Once you're done, there ain't no going back.

Assuming this is true, I just have a hard time purposely paying good money, knowing I'll get a harsher gun out of it. I have carpal tunnel due to being a programmer and coming off of a full sized 1911 to a 25 ounce Glock shooting factory .40, I can tell that it is already much harsher, or violent as it was stated. I can definitely feel the bad/uncomfortable vibrations tons more. If anything I want to make this aspect better, not worse. I get conflicting opinions and statements about it, but it seems that the guys who have shot both overwhelmingly say that lightening it makes it worse in this department.

I think the fear of a DQ is what is driving this mentality, not just when dumping, but also when holstering, then you have to take it off safety when drawing. I'm sure training would take care of it for the most part. Just curious though, in terms of dumping it, realistically speaking have you ever seen anybody get a DQ then proclaim "but I put the safety on!!!"?

Factory .40 out of a 5+" barrel is violent enough already. I care not to make it worse.

I'm getting it stippled so that messes me up anyway. Our local IDPA club is more like IDPA'ish and they let you shoot regardless so I'm not too worried about that. Mainly concerned with reliability and not breaking anything, such as due to a slide coming back at my face too fast.

That would be the idea but I've always seen it done on 9mm's or if somebody is reloading .40's. I haven't been entirely sure that it's the best idea for factory .40.

This is part of what we are running in to. I don't know that for sure. Used to, we farmed everything. We grew alot of popcorn in the early 90's. After that, the EPA and whatnot stepped in. Basically we can't farm hillsides or anything around drainage ditches or creeks. Well, we have alot of hillsides, drainage ditches, and creeks, plus alot of standing timber. So even though there is alot of seemingly wide open space, much of it is not farmable due to EPA regulations, it's several patches. For the past 20+ years it's all been in the conservation resource program. Basically we get paid to grow tall fescue and mow it a certain way at certain times of the year in order to attract wildlife. So basically I have a crap ton of deer and quail but not a lot of income. Basically 450 acres worth of stuff as shown below but not alot of huge flat wide open fields that are uninterrupted by anything including ditches and hillsides. This is 4 out of about 20 fields/areas. Second pic is exactly 250 yards long just to visualize the scale.