Frankly

It's a lot faster and easier to transition without the barrel.

Haha yeah you may cost me some money. They also own Kahles so I'll watch some reviews but that's the good stuff

I've had several Glocks (and other guns) and have bought several aftermarket triggers on BE forum recommendations. Are they better? a bit, but it's still a Glock trigger. I think swapping some of the inexpensive trigger parts makes a lot more sense than spending a $200 on it. If I had a chance to redo my Glock years I'd have left them as stock as possible other than the sights of course. All the after market stuff was "maybe" better but nothing made that much of a difference to me.

I'm not much of a trader but it seems with ammo prices doubling or worse, we should be able to invest in some kind of ammo futures. We all realized that ammo prices go up near elections and troubled times, seems like a no-brainer. On Ammoseek I see 9mm is about 3.5x the lowest prices of 2018-19. If you bought a pallet of it last year you'd be tripling your money if you sold it now.

What are the design advantages of the traditional JP forged upper and lower sets that is lacking on other quality alternatives? I know that buying a JP assures you of having a matching BCG, buffer and adjustable gas system that work well together but it's never been that hard to read the recommendations and a few threads on low mass carriers to see what other successful shooters have been using and simply ordering similar parts. You have to adjust the gas block anyway with any new rifle. The other thing is JP uses a quality barrel and installs it "tightly" using heat to expand the upper so it tightens as it cools. They probably lap the front of their receivers too. But beyond that, if the upper and lowers are in spec and all the parts are of good quality what makes it possible for them to shoot any better than any other $2000+ rifle? I definitely have several JP parts in my rifles but never saw where they necessarily made the very best of every possible individual components. Most everything they sell is going to be 9/10 but then again a matched Aero Precision Upper Lower can also be 9/10, be made in USA, and have a great warranty. Installed correctly neither set is going to wobble or have any issues but one will cost a heck of lot less. Sure a JP built rifle is going to be better than the newbie's first attempt. But after you've assembled a few ARs then you can build a match quality rifle pretty durn easy thanks to YouTube and, well, that it's easy. Start with a PSA level $500 build to work the kinks out then do better on the next one. Especially in today's climate you can probably make a nice profit lol.

Amazing stories! My less amazing story was at a 3G match shooting shotgun slugs at a 70 yard steel target. I was sitting another 35-30 yards from the shooter, at about a 20-degree offset but dang if I didn't feel a warm burning in my lap... and found the slug. I think it lobbed in, no power left, but quite a surprise too. Not sure what people did there afterwards but we've all seen closer slug targets, same situation.

I'm also out of room and lost.

Yeah and if you get into then you add another thing to your list and start getting competitive in that too!

Tennis with a player good enough to place balls on opposite sides of the court so you're forced to hustle but have to control yourself enough to make a good stroke. Seems like the closest analogy. Of course the hard thing about tennis is finding a good partner who is about the same level as you are, most either can't keep a volley going or get bored with your mediocreness.

My wife can confirm this.

No point of getting an 18" and planning to shoot longer ranges unless you get some decent glass too. Vortex Viper 1-6 or something in that range, not a Strike Beagle or cheapo scope because you spent it all on the rifle. You know the saying that the scope should be as expensive as the rifle? Well not quite but close.... Also you can do things like build with some Aero Precision parts and strategically add JP parts in order to hit your budget. Get a good barrel and trigger, the rest is all important too but there are plenty of solid, high quality, USA-made parts that are as good or even better than JP at competitive prices.

I think the issue with all day comfort is to take breaks, take the big muffs off but keep the plugs in when you can get off range. My big issue is with my clays gun and some scoped ARs, the muffs interfere with my cheek weld or the stock breaks the ear muff seal enough to let bad noise in. I've been trying to train myself to use a head position that alleviates this but sometimes it's unavoidable. Only been shooting frequently for past 7-8 years so my hearing loss is from car stereos and standing next to speakers at concerts, industrial machinery and general stupidity. Getting my first hearing aids on Tuesday. $4000 and I'm 60. What happens is you can still hear stuff fine but once there is background noise or poor sound quality you miss things. Lots of movies are muddled and have music behind the dialogue and that's really tough. Same with barroom and restaurant conversations with lots of bustling.

I bought one, it works, thin and not skin tight. On a lot of the wicking Tees the collars sag and look stupid the second time you wear them. It's one of those, you wear it to the gym on Monday when you don't give a $it. If you want an amazing shirt get a Kihu or similar wool T-shirt. You could wear those things for a month and it'd still be presentable. They fit snug, are great for Winter layering but also great for Summer. Hit the sales. A couple seasons ago Magpul made some wicking polo shirts out of some kind of polyester that wasn't too obnoxious or smelled funky. They were cut snugger than street wear but not bike racer tight so if you're a little "husky" you don't look worse than your peers. I think they were intended to be cop's/security uniform type stuff. I bought a bunch them on sale when they killed that product line. They work great, smooth and snug enough you can draw smoothly and nothing is flapping around... but also with a presentable collar and a little more forgiving of man cleavage. I'm so glad lyric tights never caught on in shooting.

Well my physician wife (with undergrad chemistry degree) confirmed that almost any popular wipe is going to bond the metals and remove them from surfaces so even the grocery store Clorox wipes will do fine. The answer was close to home. Funny my lead level five years into serious shooting was 9 but I don't reload or handle lead dust to any great degree. I think 20 is when your primary care doc will start to say something about it, like stop licking paint chips. We all know to keep kids with developing nervous systems away from lead, especially dust from steel targets. I am starting to wear gloves and I note that some shooters are wearing their Covid masks not for Covid but to lessen the crap they breath in from shooting. I probably should but I am so sick of these things after this year....

Anyone have an account with one of the MSDS data services? I rather not get subscribed to 20 industrial newsletter emails

I've been trying to minimize my lead exposure and have bought D-Lead "pre-moistened cleaning towelettes" meant for shooting and paying a premium price. Then I noticed these Klean-Strip D-Lead Wipes for 1/3 the price in a paint store. They look, feel and smell identical but there is no real product information on either products' labeling. I don't think this stuff is regulated or inspected by third parties (no Good Housekeeping seals or government stuff on the label). Anyone know what the main chemicals used are and if my hunch is correct, these are probably very similar if not the same products with jacked up prices for shooters? Now that I'm used to cleaning everything 50x a day due to Covid I figure keeping the wipes in my range bag and cleaning up before contaminating my car and home is a good idea. Of course that'd mean I'd have to clean my car and home LOL. I know Lead Abatement is a large sub-industry for some contractors but never learned much about the details.

Just a bystander and infrequent competitor but IMHO the largest hinderance to participation in shooting sports isn't expense, ranges, volunteerism, etc. but the overwhelming preponderance of rules and their petty enforcers. Why don't we simply shoot for our personal competitions and if some guy wants to spend $10k on a gun in order to beat somebody with a Glock then let him. The complexity of the rulebooks makes this poor engineer's head spin. I just want to shoot with friendly people in a safe manner and get better at it.

I've had my new Hyperion out several times after owning a Titan. I like the lighter swing weight and it feels like it's just as accurate but I have a lot of confirmation bias working here and I'm not going to promise it's absolutely better in every aspect but it's a really good pistol. I also went from a Springfield 1911 to an Atlas, no Sti phase in between like most people so I can't say how much better it is than a $2000 gun in practice. Nor have I shot Infinities or other expensive 2011s. My impression is the fit and finish is further improved over 3-4 years ago (I've owned four Atlas guns now, visited the shop, definitely a fan boy). Not that the older guns were bad whatsoever but this latest one is more perfect, lol. And frankly the Titan was pretty damn beefy, this feels more balanced and refined. Only downside is it's been hot and humid, I sweat a lot and the Cheely grips are slipperier than the old spikey PTs. Most people complain about the PTs (they even catch lint and abrade your shirts) but I sweat enough that I may resort to some climbers chalk or resin that I can add to improve my grip on the nastiest days. On the other hand, in normal weather it may be easier to adjust your grip while gripped if you know what I mean, slight tweaks should be easier than the PT that locks you in. Also if I thought I could use a red dot with my age-related astigmatism I'd just get the Athena, which is usable with iron sights or dots but otherwise the same (I think). Until a manufacturer develops a prism pistol sight I'm not going to use a fuzzy $$$ red dot. Again, I'm a casual shooter and infrequent competitor and I simply like nice gear and can afford it. But I'm really happy with this Hyperion and thinking about ordering a custom gun from them next.

10m air pistol is worse than BenchRest Sniper's Hide is 90% BS and none too subtle advertising for their friends. Best thing is to go to a match or a class, hands on will impart 100x the knowledge 100x faster and save you money too. What I find about a lot of niche forums is that you get a lot of peer pressure to buy and even when you are trying not to, it worms its way in and all the sudden your practical $1000 scope becomes a $3000 scope because it really must be $2000 better. Frankly for technique and gunsmithing YouTube is the king, hope they don't censor guns.

CK will have nice resale value when you buy your JP

I wear them most of the time from the minute I get out of bed until I'm going back to bed. I've bought dozens of different brands and compressions and kept the best fitting ones in various weights that I can tailor for my activity. Skiing gets the thin, high compression ones so I get a nice tight boot fit for control versus some thicker, less compressive ones for everyday wear in Winter. I have RA and retain fluid in my legs, the socks help control it and allow me to be more active. I'm large, semi active, weekend warrior, and 60, perfect specimen Thankfully it calms down in Summer and I can wear short socks with athletic shoes but for most of the year I keep things tight. Anything tight with moderate compression is going to help your athletic performance. Track athletes wear entire compressive suits, lots of other sports as well. What do you think the NFL players are wearing under their jerseys?

I have nice ones from Brownells but I don't see them listed anymore. Did a little snooping and a company called Traditions sells something that looks similar.

I like the brand and have owned several good ones but never tried the Hanson profile because I thought it'd be heavy, I tend to look at weight first but I'm probably wrong.

That's what they do in NY, so I hear.

It just means you can't buy it configured with the magazine capacity the Good Lord intended it to have.