Frankly

I have a Lynx Tactical https://lynxdefense.com/shop/pistol-bags/lynx-defense-pistol-range-bag/ that seems a bit better constructed using heavier materials than the Midway type bags I've seen. But it has some annoyances like a stupid roll out cleaning mat that's useless. I also had a Shooter's Connection range bag but it was too large, you end up overloading it because you can... but they are well made and a good value. Truth be told if I didn't already have specific bags I'd like get a $20 canvas tool bag, tote bag, or school backpack. All the special pockets and doodads are BS, I put tools, ammo, cleaning, pro, etc. into large clear plastic Ziplocks and that works better than anything else. Being able to wash it once a year or two is pretty nice, why carry dirt around $$$$ guns?

After experimenting with a range of cheap top bifocals from SSP, I had Tactical RX make me a pair based on some Rudy frames that fit well and have good coverage. I use +2.0 readers for normal reading, computer, and close work and have good infinity vision, right eye dominant. So I did a larger (40% of the area) top area of my dominant eye with a lessor magnification of +1.75 so my pistol sights are in focus without doing any head gyrations. My left non-dominant eye is clear. My brain corrects and while the sights are crystal clear, infinity is better than with readers but not perfect. Also I can switch to scoped rifle and shotgun and look through the majority clear part of my dominant lens without making a conscious adjustment, everything is where it should be and I can shoot my long guns properly (the shotgun sight are far enough away to be sharp enough). The only downside is that I do have to contort my head to see anything close when working on guns or wanting to check the ammo I'm loading. I still keep a pair of cheap readers or bifocals in my range bag for that (and it's good to have a spare anyway). Nothing wrong with the cheap glasses but having quality frames that fit snug and wrap around a bit to provide more protection is nicer. If the glasses do not fit snug then get a Croakie eyeglass retainer with the rubber cinching bead and tighten them up so they aren't shifting on you when you're moving around.

That promo code still works... damn it!

Ha yeah I'm fairly new and would love to erase the first couple years.... now I know what I don't know.

I always cringe when watching Westerns and older cop shows at how they handle their guns... they'll pick up a gun and automatically put their finger on the trigger. Sweeping people is commonplace, especially with shoulder holsters. And when John Wayne twirls his Winchester.... I notice my 80-year old veteran Dad tends to do this to... and while he was never a master he grew up with guns on the farm. Yet I pretty much remind him every time to stick his finger out and keep it downrange. He's better but I think he was trained or grew up with his finger ready to go. Was this taught? After all I've never seen a War movie or documentary where the guys have their trigger finger extended... to me that didn't seem to come on until the 90s. Granted my Dad complains about "hair triggers" and I bet he finds anything under 6 lbs to be too light. For now I keep a careful eye on him, he still practices good common sense and won't grasp the gun until he's in position and ready to go but I suspect that if I didn't harp on him he'd still pick up a revolver and keep his finger on the trigger out of habit. What do you think? When did the extended digit become taught? Do other older Boomers/Greatest Generation shooters tend to do this or is the old man an outlier?

Or just keep things simple and affordable, like an Aero Precision built Wylde upper/lower, stock non-adjustable gas, normal BCG, maybe throw a JP captured spring buffer in and call it done until you can discern what you're doing. Build a $8-900 all-around nice rifle, throw a $350 Vortex Strike Eagle and $100 Aero mount... and be competitive, have fun without debt. Shoot that for your first dozen matches and then if you're stomping butts then you'll have a better idea of what you want for your situation since your choices will change once you actually shoot. Your new shooting buddies will influence you a lot, sometimes there are local manufacturers you want to support, etc. Saving that last pound and reducing the recoil 10% costs a lot more time and money. And trying to recoup your investment on resale is a joke, you won't. Then if 3G is just an occasional fun thing you'll still have a great all-around unfussy rifle to shoot that you haven't over invested in. And you'll probably get rid of the Colt once you shoot something nicer. A gun described above can pretty much do everything you need up, do home defense and hunt, etc. Heck even if you build out an expensive race gun you'll still want this for back up and general life. Armalite and some others are making sweet 3G rifles that aren't crazy expensive either. Do you really want to be the newbie that shows up with a $3000 rifle and finishes last? Cause it's all good but that happens more often than not. FWIW I'd spend more on the shotgun and pistol than the rifle in most cases, bigger rewards in performance and more versatile tools for the dollar. Dropping $2K on a Benelli M2 is actually more logical than a fancy AR.

Just another thumbs up for Atlas and this thread, got their 2011 last Fall and just ordered the single stack. One per year haha I'm not that experienced and haven't seen many other expensive custom guns but in comparison to a $2700 STI you see the Titan has more than $1000-plus better parts and fitting. My gut tells me they're conservative and sturdy, I won't have to worry about the gun (just the stupid magazines). Also Adam does these great videos where he shares practical knowledge with everybody, not just those who buy his guns. He's a class act. If you're really into it build your own using the same good parts he does... but for mere mortals the Titans are bargains.

It's the 2212 you want

I'm not a top level shooter by any means but I went back to shooting my G19 for 3-gun because it feels faster and I shoot it pretty well even though I have large hands. If I were going for bullseyes I'd want a different gun but for running around and shooting quickly the G19 is plenty. I do have competition sights, TTI mag well, some extensions on my mags so they drop easier, etc. I have a couple of plain ones too. Best all around pistol for the money ever. Better to to spend money on sights, maybe the trigger, and practice ammo imho.

Sorry this is an unreadable thread but it also seems like the best place to post.... I have a 1301 but would like to get a 28" barrel for sporting clays and other games... will an A400 barrel work or any suggestions? Thanks { Never mind, unless I read something erroneous it looks like none of the other Beretta barrels will work on a 1301 without serious work. }

I wear a +2.0 for reading and have good distance vision (57 years old). After experimenting with lots of cheap Amazon top bifocals I had http://www.tacticalrx.com/ make me a pair of glasses with a clear left eye (non-dominant) and a +1.75 top bifocal on the dominant right eye. Now I don't have to drop or raise my chin to get front sight focus but I can fall into my long guns and look straight through the center of the clear portion of the lens to use scopes. The nice thing about Tactical RX was that they sent me 3 pairs of glasses that were in the size range to fit my face and I could choose the best fit and style (all the tacticool brands, Oakleys, Rudy, Spot, etc.). They also have you mark where your pupils are on the glasses. Next to having a custom shooting optometrist I think this was the best reasonable solution, about $230 said and done and I have nicely fitted safe glasses (and not cheap plastic junk). My brain compensated instantly but your milage may vary, I've always been a two eyes open shooter. I still don't see infinity targets perfectly while I am shooting but I have a better sense of awareness than just having blobs out past the front sight. The front sights look great and I can really concentrate on them better than ever. Works for me because of both eyes open and having a clearly dominant eye I think.

After using MSAs all Summer with the Gel cups I'm not thrilled considering their price. Probably best sound quality but that's bottom of my list of requirements, I either hear commands or I don't. They are well made but any gel cup is going to feel hotter I think. I also feel like double plugging anything major. Looking forward to cooler weather because the ear pro will feel better haha. Realistically some cheaper $40-$50 muffs that you can dispose of when they get nasty may be the smarter move.

The Nill grips I have interfere with speed loaders slightly - enough to mar the finish and consider knocking 1/16th' off - but moonclips clear just fine. But I just sold my revolver stuff as well as my 2011 and am now back to shooting 100% Tupperware so... this was a nice part of the forum to visit. Cheers!

I agree but after checking out how it works, the screw is not limiting the flex of the spring and when compressed the bend of the spring goes away from the screw so I can't see (or feel) any harm. But I talked to my local gunsmith about it and he'll modify the spring... but first I'm going to shoot it for a while as-is and see if there is anything else that needs adjustment. Still it is an odd place to put the screw when they know the spring is going to be close or inside the hole. We can't be the first to have noticed this or be concerned?

Actually the screw does contact the mainspring but I'm inexperienced enough not to know why that is a bad thing? Or what to do about it?

Still need the cylinder release but otherwise I'm good... action job, DA-only, bobbed hammer, Nill grip, Dawson fiber optic front, lawyer lock plugged.

FWIW I looked at pretty much everything and decided to buy proper offset sights.

I have a nice pair of straight Magpul Pro BUIS sights, looking for a pair of good quality 45-degree rails so I can use these as offset sights with a scoped rifle. However most of the 45 rails I see advertised look kind of large and clunky, also worried that the no-name offshore stuff will be slightly wobbly... is there a decent "tight" and trim 45 rail suited for this sort of thing? Of course if they cost $50 each ($100) I'm better off simply buying a set of dedicated offset sights.

Just getting into revolvers and wondering how people have theirs set-up? Finding a holster seems a bit mysterious, all the Kydek holster makes I know about don't list N-frames. I think I want a basic Kydex drop offset with a TekLok but you're welcome to tell me about something better. I know I need a fiber optic front sight, not sure which are best? I like the Dawsons I've had on pistols. Probably a need a lighter trigger spring and cylinder release, recommendations? Are these kitchen table gunsmithing or do I need a pro? I suspect that moonclips all vary... is there an overall good all arounder? And preference for a belt holder? Do most people stack two clips per pin with two pins? Anything else? I know grips all vary and not to get one with a finger rest that could get in the way of the moonclip. I have a Nills coming because I always liked the similar old Rinks I had on air pistols. I don't really compete, once in a while, mainly I just want to shoot at a competent level and learn the ins and outs of wheel guns. Thanks

I'm new to revolvers and looking for an experienced, competition orientated gunsmith to work with. Nothing exotic, I just rather pay a few bucks and getRright the first time. I'm in Upstate NY so closer is better. Thanks

I've been off and on in the ski industry for many years, perhaps the demographics are similar ~ disposable income, traditionally caucasian. And I wonder if anyone who isn't a caucasian can point to any instance of actual racial discrimination at a shooting range, ski area, or related service? In our lifetimes at least. Not that there aren't some cold stares and stiff shoulders amongst some if, say, you have the "wrong" type of gun... like when you try to shoot fancy clays with plastic shotgun. Or put your ski boots on the wrong foot. But that's attributed to some people simply being grumpy jerks. When I was a kid I used to have a truck with NY plates and a head of curly black hair so when I stopped in a Nebraska farm town for a beer some giant drunken blonde farm kids took to teasing me about being a NYer (I grew up on a farm 350 miles from NYC but no matter). If I pressed it then it might have gotten ugly, 5 against 1. But you smile and extract yourself from a sketchy situation as smoothly as possible. That's life. Most of the jerks I know are equal opportunity ones and awful to their own kind just as well if not more so. But my experience has been that 95-99% of people are pretty fair minded and nice. Maybe there is still some residue fear and racism in a few but isn't the best counter to that is to represent yourself well and be friendly, win people over by showing them you're a decent person yourself? Seems like the best revenge. I don't think anyone likes to patronized or treated special because of some physical characteristic they can't control.

FWIW I have XL-XXL hands and always assumed that I needed the large beavertail backstraps on Glocks. But after a couple years I finally tried shooting a Gen 4 without any add-on backstrap and found it was easier to grip and control. There is more to the grip than simply volume.

MSA

Jeff has worked on two of my guns, spot on!

Nah you can unload just as fast, you simply put your finger into the "U" shaped area and press. What the higher walls around the edge of the button do is prevent accidentally jamming the gun should you bump the button. This is my second 1301, on the first I jammed it up several times like this. Admittedly I'm not the most coordinated flutist on the range but it seemed like a good idea for my HD gun.