Robbie Wheaton Jr

Hey Randall. My app will be in the mail Friday morning. I'm looking forward to another great match. See ya.

Heard 3rd hand about one of the ATF meetings at the Shot Show concerning refinishing firearms and a new form that had to be filled out and sent to the ATF. or the receiver had to be stamped by the refinisher. Something about refinishing being manufacturing since the firearm was being altered. If anyone knows any information about this or a web link please post or PM me. Thanks

Two 9mm pros 6 barrels two different powders 147mg's ISMI 13lb spring = bullets tumbling @ 5yds and beyond. The PF is about 130ish. Bump up to 140ish and the tumbling goes away. 124's no issue. Is it a twist rate issue or what? I have never seen two pistols with multiple barrels all have the same problem with a particular bullet. OAL is 1.130ish. It's an interesting problem; but one I would like to see resolved.

Guys, you need to change the drop on the stock. Your shotty should have came with a set of spacers. You will need to change the shim which will drop the rear of the stock. Use the shim that is thicker on the top and thinner on the bottom. Your shotty should have either the flat shim or the shim with the fat side on the bottom now. You will be suprised how much your POI will change. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. Hope this helps.

Mike and I will be there. Waiting on the application.

Room at resort, check. Match entry fee mailed, check. Let the physical conditioning begin! I CAN'T WAIT!!!

Robbie, if he hasn't sent the gun back or is preparing to do so, email me the serial number of the gun and I can get him a replacement it under warranty. They haven't let me know yet if they want that barrel. He talked with a rep from Smith today and they are sending him a barrel. He shipped the broken one back to them. Thanks for the offer.

Much better pics than the ones I took at the shop. As you can see the barrel just broke off. It looks like the barrel had been cracked for some time and finally failed. The failure point was about a 1/2" into the rifling; which seemed to be a strange place for a barrel to fail. The interesting thing about the location where the barrel failed was it was right in the middle of the machined groove on the barrel. Why is this cut there in the first place? Ken, let us all know what Smiths answer is about this one.

Another vote here for the Wilson. Second would be the STI, and third would be the Brown. The Brown works great but if you have big hands you will end up having to do a lot of countouring to get it to fit your hand.

Nah. 1.150 oal with all the same headstamp once fired Win. brass with just enough Clays to make minor. Over pressure would not be an issue. If he had any concerns about pressure he would have changed loads. Even if the bullet had telescoped into the case enough to cause a huge pressure spike the case would have separated prior to the barrel breaking off just forward of the chamber especially since the case is not fully supported. There had to be a problem with the factory barrel prior to the failure. I also wonder if replacing the locking block was a factor in the failure. He shot about 250 rounds through the gun after replacing the block prior to the barrel failure. The accuracy did improve after he replaced the locking block but I wonder if it was a factor.

Backordered for over 2 months. Now the website shows they are discontinued.

It was the 9mm M&P L 5inch model. He replaced the locking block in the pistol last week because the gun would not shoot accurately; ie 4 to 5" at 25 yards. His load is Clays or Solo with 124's at 129 pf. He has never shot anything over a 130pf through the gun. He does all his loading on a 1050 with a low powder sensor. He is a M class shooter in several divisions. The RO said the round sounded just like his other poof loads! He said it looked like the barrel broke from the top down. Smoke poured out the ejection port like he had a case head separation which is why he stopped to check the chamber before proceeding. He has never had a case head seperation in 9mm but has had several in 40 due to worn out brass. The case had ejected during the firing cycle. There was no round stuck (ie SQUIB) in the barrel or chamber. I can't wait to see the barrel and take some pics of it. Still wondering at this point what happened, but it looks like the seam is a weak point in the design.

A friend of mine had the barrel split in half where the chamber and barrel meet. He was shooting a local USPSA match in Prod. division; about halfway through the stage he noticed a weird recoil and sound. He stopped and racked the slide back to check for a case head separation everything looked ok so he closed the slide. when he did the barrel fell out of the slide. the chamber and locking lugs were still in place and locked up with the slide and locking block. 129pf loads no issues there. He stuck a storm lake barrel in the gun and finished the match without any issues. Has anyone else had a problem with the barrel breaking off from the chamber? The barrel looked like it had a milled ring just forward of the chamber. The backup gun and barrel had the same ring just forward of the chamber. It looks like the chamber and barrel are two piece like the Springfield 1911 barrels. Does anyone know if the barrels are one or two piece. I will post some pics as soon as he brings them by the shop; both of the split barrel and the backup gun barrel.

Great how does the trigger feel? (Short and crisp, long and smooth, etc.) This is somewhat subjective, but it seems like you can change the feel based on the sear angle between the sear and the triger bar. Still waiting on the release of these sears. Smith sears are impossible to get right now, if anyone knows where to get some lmk. I would like to have a few extra. I am also looking for a few extra strikers. Thanks. Does anyone have any plans to do a lightweight striker yet?

If you just want one for the cool factor, then you shouold get one. Im pretty sure Leatham has one too. Al Zita(as you know) designed this thing years and years ago. He told me thay have made some recent product improvements to make small parts less easy to lose during field stripping, Of all the "other operating system ARs" this one has probably been around the longest. I think it has been carried by Olympic, Yankee Hill, and the new version by Para (but this is all from memory). I also think I read somewhere that the rifle has been field tested (as in SW Asia) The only reason I have not bought one of the piston guns, the ZM rifle, or a SIG 556 is if anything busts on my AR I can get virtually any part from the web and in almost all cases replace the parts myself (I havent staked a carrier key yet) But I think they are cool and you are going to pay the same money for any piston rifle made (or more) PS I have zero experience with the rifle I played with one for a while earlier in the year; mine was one of the last ones Al Zitta made before selling the rights to Para. It is very very soft shooting. The recoil impulse with the included brake pushes the impact point down about 3 inches at 50 yards. Reliability was 100% with mine. The recoil impulse is totally different from a gas impengment system; it almost feels like the rifle is pulled fwd when it is fired. Negatives were: the factory all steel stock is not comfortable at all, the trigger is the standard factory 2 stage, polymer handguard not comfortable ie very rough. Accuracy at distance was not what I expected for a rifle costing this much. Thats all i'll say about that. It is an interesting design, costly but innovative. From personal experience get just the upper and use your own lower. Get a mid or rifle length handguard and plan on sanding it. Mine is a 1 in 9 twist. Ask if other twist rates are available. Enjoy i!

Yes, the pre travel can be adjusted to the point that the trigger safety will no longer work. You will have to re-fit the trigger safety to the frame to function properly. From what I have found the trigger units are not drop in. Let me explain. You can drop them in and adjust them to factory tolerances. They feel a bit gritty when dry. A bit of polishing in the right places will fix this. The pre and overtravel are a pain to adjust, but no more than some other designs. The trigger safety will have to be re fitted if the trigger is set up for minimum pre and overtravel. Some connectors will not function without a bit of tuning. Plan to spend about 2 to 4 hours installing one of these depending on your level of experience as well as how nice you want the trigger to feel.

I hope everyone enjoys watching these vids as much as I did shooting for them. What a great match. The AMU guys and gals once again hit a homerun! Thanks to everyone that contributed to the match; stats, sponsors, and most importantly the AMU, because without them the match could not happen. Thank you all for your hard work.

I should have some vids and pics up Thursday evening from the RO's with more to come from squad 10 for everyone that couldn't make it to the match.