boo radley

What a great drill -- thx, DP for digging this back up. I've been playing with it a bit tonight, just dry-firing. 3.5 is no problem; 3.0 is iffy. One thing I notice, is I get screwed up on the 2nd and 3rd mags, because my hand shoots right for the No.1 mag position, then has to go searching....

Hiya Rick -- I'm happy to mail you the old spring, if you like, and you can see if it acts up in your gun. Just PM me your address.... The trigger is heavier without the 4lb striker spring, but still lighter than a stock G35, so I'm more or less happy with it.

Well, a new Wolff 4lb striker spring arrived today, so I headed out to Ye Olde Indoore Range and Gas Chamber, for some more testing. 100 rounds factory ammo: zero light strikes; 100 rounds of my reloads and one light-strikes. In my limited experience now, at least with the .40, this reduced-power striker spring is a maintenance item. It occurs to me, too, that when I figured on 4k rounds, or so, through the gun, I hadn't been counting dry-fire, and I can't think how many times I'll rack the slide--click--rack--click, etc., since I'm trying to dry-fire daily. I still think I'm going back to the stock spring, until I can play with primers/seating, and get 100% reliability for a couple hundred rounds. IMO, the reduced striker spring provides about 60%, or so, of the lightness in the trigger kit, so it's not a bad compromise.

Yup - me, too. I'll vote for the Mexican restaurant, but am happy wherever.

Out of curiosity, is it possible that the speed holsters forgive the less-than-perfect draw more readily? In other words, your *perfect* draw from a Kydex holster is just as fast as a perfect draw from an "ABC"-brand race holster? And being at the GM level your draw is typically a lot more perfect, and a lot more often, than that of the rest of us? But a draw that's *not* clean is going to be a lot more punishing with an enclosed holster, with the friction on the sides, grip issues, etc.? Dunno -- just thinking out loud....My CR-Speed holster for my Glock sure feels a LOT faster than the Bladetech, I have. 'Course I never practice with the latter, either.

It's a *good* thought, IMO, and one reason might be to have a working back-up (or at least part of a back-up). I have a G34 and when I bought a G35, I would take the upper off the G34, and stick the frame in my range bag at matches. Oh, I also bought a spare trigger housing/ejector pin, since the pin is slightly different -- one is bent, the other is straight. A couple weeks ago, I bought a G22 upper in like new shape, so I put that on my G34's frame, with the proper ejector, and now I have a *complete* back-up in .40S&W, for a moderate price. Just make sure all the frames are the latest generation (ie, 3-pin), buy the appropriate trigger housing/ejector (a cheap part), and you're all set.

I had the same thing happen to me, not so long ago -- what occurs is that during LAMR, if one's trigger finger is indexed along the side of the frame with enough pressure, in just the right position, it's possible to push the slide-stop pin inwards (or flush with the frame) when you rack the slide. The consequences of this are most interesting a few seconds later, when the 'beep' sounds. Only happened once, and a more experienced shooter quickly identified the issue. Don't know why the stupid pin isn't flush to begin with, on the opposite side of the pistol. <shrug>

In fact, I did - just got back. Between this issue, and the guide-rod business, I've probably shot 1500 rounds in the last two weeks. Factory ammo -- Winchester White Box "Value-Pak" stuff (I think 165gr field point): same problem with the reduced power string. Most don't ignite, and there's a dimple in the primer. At this point, all I can think of, is the spring has simply worn out: maybe a lot more quickly with .40S&W than 9mm? There's about 4k on the springs, about half full power factor+, and the other half around 160pf, or so. I reinstalled the gray OEM spring, and zero problems. I ordered some Wolff reduced-power striker springs ( not sure if this is what Ralph uses or not), but my suspicion is, they'll work just fine for a couple k rounds. We'll see. Truly, I think cmzneb is right -- what else can it be? As far as the channel liner, I appreciate the advice from you and Kevin not to reinstall it, and I do have some new ones coming. But it really didn't get damaged at all, by being pulled out with a 9mm bronze bore brush --per the tip in the gunsmithing section of "glock talk," I just stuck a bit of the brush in there, turned, and it popped right out. I used the end of a plastic ballpoint pen to reinsert. Anyway, just another data point.

Needle-nose pliers. Gentle tug. The front sight is plastic and staked in the oval hole with an expansion fit. <shrug> If you buy a Dawson front sight (and maybe others - dunno) it's secured with a screw and RED Loctite, and you get a special hex wrench for the job....

Too late! I'm working from home this afternoon, and couldn't resist trying a trick I saw in the gunsmithing section of "glock talk," in which you can remove the liner with a bore brush. So I did. It looks...ok. There's a little bit of wear on the inside, but nothing I'd consider excessive, or even really noticeable. Just looks like a plastic black tube....(@ $2 each I have a few on order, anyway). Rick, it seemed to go in easy enough. I hope there's not something to it I'm missing?? Dunno. Excellent question, and what I'll try next when I get around to the range again. I have not tried factory ammo with the reduced strength spring, lately. As I said originally, it *could* be not having the primers seated deeply enough, but I'm pretty careful about that, and used to needing a solid shove from the SDB. Stock spring -- no problems.

I don't know much, and am qualified to comment on even less. However. In my experience I'm discovering that the good thing about Glocks is that they're easy to work on, and the bad thing about Glocks is that they're easy to work on, and there's no end to the money one can piss away in dribbles, on parts and accessories you can install yourself.... That said, here is my short list of things I've tried on my two Glocks (well, 3, really, since I just bought a G22 upper) -- a G34 and G35, which have the same frame as the G17. Things I couldn't imagine doing without: a) Sights. Easy DIY-install, but you'll need a way of drifting the rear-sight in with a hammer and punch. I like the Dawson FO front/Heine plain rear. b ) Eric W's "TruGrip" grip tape. Things I really like, but have had minor issues with (very possibly user error, so YMMV). a ) RSotelo's Trigger Kit. Have two of them; they're amazing. They're drop-in in that you don't have to fit/file/cut anything, and simply replace existing parts. On the G17 you'll also need a 3.5-lb connector, too. There are other excellent kits out there, but this is the only one I've tried. b ) Tungsten guide rod and reduced spring -- nothing you'd need, I don't think, with 9mm. Things I bought and resold -- simply didn't seem worth it to me. a ) KKM barrel (bought two, still have the 9mm but sold the .40S&W). Super nice barrel, and looks gorgeous, but the tighter-than-OEM chamber can getcha' if you reload, and in the G35 I didn't notice a lot of difference in accuracy. That said, it seems to have helped the accuracy in my G34 (9mm). b ) THE magwell. Heavy sucker. Didn't like how it affected the balance. I'm still tempted by the Dawson Ice magwell, however, though so far I'm resisting. Anyway -- my $.02.

Mod's: I moved this to a new thread, if you don't mind... Thanks, Bugs, Ian, & all: I guess it's conceivable that the channel liner has become damaged. I saw a thread on the Glock forum about removing it with a bore brush w/out damaging it, but I might get a couple anyway, as a maintenance item, per your suggestion. Since this set-up *was* working, I have to figure out what changed: 1) Wear and tear on something over time (maybe). My G35 was bought new at the end of this past August, and probably has 4-5k on her...Not a lot. 2) Ammo -- new batch of primers. Is it possible some runs are "harder"? 3) Ammo -- new press (Xl650). I tend to discount this, since it seems the primers are seated a LOT more consistently than with my last press - an SDB. Same bullets. Same primer brand. Weird. Does work with the gray OEM spring, however.

If you scroll through this thread: Thread it has a ballistics calculator that you can play with....

Shadow -- I don't know Jon Smith, but I sent him an email saying I appreciated the work he and his team do setting up these matches, and that I hope they don't change things, except to...well, maybe make things a *bit* quicker, although in all fairness I don't think he expected 80+ shooters.... You know I was looking at the results on the USPSA website (btw, good job, Jon M!), and while granted Chris Tilley or another GM like Kert Gaskill might be tough to knock out of the '1' spot, I don't see it being inconceivable at all, that someone with enough practice could place 2nd or 3rd in some division, and win $ at some point; especially in L10 or Production. Steve

Glad to hear you had a great experience. I'll be going down to attend Frank's class next Thursday/Friday. Any advice you can give before I attend the class? How many rounds did you end up shooting each day? Hi Syme71 -- We shot about 800 rounds each day, for the two days. Frank had said bring "2500", and I brought about 2300, and ended up giving away lots of boxes of 9mm to fellow students, since I flew.... Only advice I can really give is to bring lots of magazines and a mag loader, depending. If your grip is funky, correct it now -- it wasn't fun going through the whole class with a grip that felt odd. Have fun!

I agree....ate at some interesting spots during the class I took in Frostproof, and my impression was that there are some gems in the area, but they require local knowledge. It was interesting, too, how Bud, Bud-Light in bottles and Bud, Bud-Light on draft was *4* different kinds of beer. There's a certain logic to that, I guess... Brundoggie: are you still going to try to hit a match prior to the Open, in this area? Give a shout-out.

Hmm...I hear ya' Blackbird. The thing is, I have a couple thousand rounds loaded already with WSP primers, and they've worked fine in the past.... The suggestion to check the channel liner is an interesting one.

Has anyone else had a problem with light primer strikes, and reloads with Winchester small pistol primers? I'm not complaining -- easy enough to replace the reduced-strength spring with the OEM one -- but I started getting a rash of light strikes. Since this hadn't occured earlier, I'm wondering if I have a batch of particularly hard primers, or they weren't quite seated deeply enough? I've cleaned that channel that the striker assembly fits in....

I've shot this match a couple times -- and it kicks my *($#W* every time. I'm a long, long way from having a chance at the prize money, but it seems that paying the top 3 places -- regardless of USPSA class -- in each division provided "n" number of shooters, is a fair way to do things. And there's a random drawing anyway, for those sticking around.... I hope the complainers don't screw this match up for those of us that are civilians. That said, if you're also collecting general feedback, Shadow, I would say first -- consistently excellent job on the stages and setup, and second -- are the stages almost *too* elaborate,sometimes, given the number of new shooters? The most recent match I shot there had one Texas Star on one stage, and the next stage had TWO more.

Heh -- I feel your pain. Only DQ I've ever had was from more or less the same thing: new CR-Speed holster, this past Fall, and one stage required running to a door and opening it...The thing that still irks me a tad, is the RO suggested strongly not drawing until through the door, since some folks had been close to crossing themselves....I wouldn't have crossed myself, and would have been just fine, drawing and running, but I wanted to be agreeable. Tis my nature. I didn't lock the holster. I took off running. The third step, and I noticed the pistol float out, onto the ground. Leaves an impression. Ever since, I've been super conscious of it.

Nothing pretty, but it's effective, and the total cost was under $20. I like it because it's an example of how someone with minimal carpentry skills can still create a solid foundation for a press. I bought a used desk at a state surplus store for $5, covered it with a sheet of heavy plywood, and screwed the back-edge to a 2x4 screwed into the wall-studs. I bought a nice piece of hardwood for an edge treatment, and to provide a lip for runaway primers, or spilled cleaning fluid. While at the hardware store, I also picked up a small piece of pegboard. At some point, I'll stain or paint the top and sides, but too busy reloading. This bench is very solid once screwed into the wall, and most of the time I have about 80-100lbs in cartridges or components on the top, as well.

Sometimes I wonder that I'm allowed NEAR guns. Got an S&A magwell/MSH, used, in the mail to put on my Kimber Custom II. Figured it wouldn't be that difficult to install; there are nice photo detail-strip instructions out there on the web, and besides - it looked like all I had to do was punch out the pin, slide the old one off, and put the new one on. Good Sat. AM project. An hour later I've stripped everything except the upper, and find myself wrestling with a curiously difficult magazine catch, and puzzling over the sear and leaf spring relationship. Another hour goes by, in which I assemble/disassemble the f*ing gun 4 times, completely before it occurs to me to ACTUALLY LOOK at the original MSH, and notice there's something inside I have to transfer to the new MSH. Guess the big round hole wasn't just to hold the hammer strut. I cautiously poke on the pin that appears to be retaining the spring-loaded something, and the pin slides out of the first hole, and twists up the plastic Kimber MSH. I figure it's ruined anyway, and the easiest way to remove the pin, is to free it by using a knife, with my thumb held lightly over large round hole, to retain the spring-loaded something. That worked mostly amazing well, to free the pin, anyway. It's so free, I doubt I will ever see it again, although I've spent the last 40 minutes crawling around on the cold, dirty floor of my garage, in search. And a minute taking this picture -- why does Kimber use such a plastic POS anyway, for this part?? If it had been metal, The pin would have slid cleanly out, and I wouldn't have been tempted to use a knife for this job.

The part that bothers me isn't the groove at the end, but the roughness before it, where the plating appears worn through....I hadn't known or thought about oiling or greasing the guide rod, and since the ISMI spring has coils that are pretty squared (thx, Eric, for correct term) I can see it catching just enough to drag the slide. That's still my hypothesis, anyhow. Tonight I chucked the guide rod in my cordless drill, put that in a vise, and used a strip of velcro to hold the trigger on. First I sanded it with 400grit paper, then 600grit. I didn't remove much, if anything, but it's certainly smooth now. I'll try shooting it this weekend. All that said, I bought a used G22 upper, and that arrived recently. I stuck it on the frame of my other Glock, a G34, after taking some pliers and carefully bending the ejector straight (have replacement parts on order). I've got to admit, even with the plastic stock guide rod, and factory (17-lb?) spring, and match PF ammo, and stock trigger, I shot some of my best Bill Drill splits ever, so who knows....I'm leaning very hard towards thinking guide-rod weight, and spring weight, and funky Glock trigger-jobs matter so much less than I thought they did, especially if there's ANY sacrifice in reliablity.

Tls -- man that's some serious precision in group size measurement. In all seriousness, how do you explain the hump in the middle?

My impression was FrontMan was kidding? I struggle with both aming AND trigger control, depending....The root of the struggle comes from the same cause: lack of patience. It's interesting -- in a Garcia class I took, he swore *both* trigger control and sights (aming) could never be subconscious, but it seems my mind either feels the trigger or sees the sight picture, but not both, concurrently.