cjdaniel78

Thanks Steve. I actually sold the AR24. A co-worker loved it and made me a cash offer over what I bought it for. I've since bought a P-09. Finished the trigger tonight. Awaiting sights later this week.

Bad elaboration and wording on my part. When I wrote light, I was trying illustrate (poorly I might add) that recoil is not that critical until you are at the extreme of lightness, i.e.: XDS45, Kahr PM9, etc. Those guns are great to carry, but I would rather shoot a G34 than a PM9 any day of the week. I believe most would agree. By contrast the recoil differences between a Stock II and a G34 are minor compared to other parameters. You are correct, the way I worded it, it's not true.

Another vote for the P-09. I am transferring over to one now from a XD 9mm Tactical. It is a great gun, as is the P-07, which I have had for a while. To specifically answer your questions: (engage novel mode) DA/SA vs Striker will be a preference, but don't judge DA/SA on a stock trigger pull. Find someone that has a gun with a worked trigger before hanging your hat on striker fired. I made that mistake 7-8 years ago and wasted a lot of money on Glock's (which I don't shoot well) and XD's (which I like, just not for competition) because I was basing my DA/SA trigger experience on a bone stock Beretta 92 and a Taurus PT111 that I shot. The DA is only one shot and if the gun is setup correctly, the SA pull will always be crisper than a striker. I still like striker fired and my CCW is a S&W Shield (striker), but my competition guns are now DA/SA, all of them. I do have some 1911's and revolvers, but they are range toys. Weight - this is a personal thing. Some like a gun with more nose weight and some like less. Almost no one likes a lightweight gun. The P-09 is a decent weight for a polymer gun and I feel it is well distributed. Find someone with a really nose heavy steel gun and do some dry fire transitions, say 6 reload 6. Then try the same with a polymer gun. See what you find easier to stop and start with? Which is more stable with pulling the trigger? I find this to be a better comparison than muzzle flip and recoil impulse. Remember muzzle flip can be tweaked with recoil springs and hand loads, if you get into it that deep. For me, the biggest thing is accuracy potential. This is why I am walking away from an XD that I dropped lots of coin on. The XD is decently accurate, but the P-0X series are more so. Let me elaborate. At 15 yards I can get a 1.5 inch group free hand (sloooww fire), with my 1911, my P-07 (DA/SA) and any revolver with a good DA pull. With the XD the best I have ever done is 3.0 inches. Obviously 3 inches is well within the A zone (or -0 of an IDPA target) but when you start moving and varying target distances are introduced that accuracy difference has led to me asking myself "was that me or the gun" when I got a close C or -1. Could the XD be made more accurate? Sure, I spoke via email with TGO about it, but at some point you have to draw the line on where you stop spending money on something to make it competitive against other equipment that is better out of the box. That is a personal decision though, and if someone was in my shoes and chose to go forward with a hard fit custom barrel, I would completely understand, especially when one considers the untold hours spent dry fire loading the XD, mags, spare parts and is facing starting over. I am considering it a learning experience, but I wish someone had told me to be more selective 14 months ago. Ultimately, you need to find someone that has a few different gun types, setup for competition and go play with them. Don't go to Joe Bob's gun range and shoot a stock model that is likely gummed up and has never been tweaked. If you are serious about a decent pistol for SSP/Production, you need to experience what the potential is, not what the stock setup is. "We now return you to your regularly scheduled program."

No expert but if I don't partially close my left eye my hits get wild. Right handed, right eye dominate. Unclassifed but have been told B.

I did it in 1.97 during Ben Stoeger's class, once. I normally do 2.4, but I now know I can do a sub 2. I have a goal to be consistent sub 2. Of course I just upgraded guns so it feels like starting over. One second, highly unlikely.

Very nice!

This information is going to cost me money. I can feel it....

Let's see a pic of it together on the frame. I have a RO and I was thinking of doing a carry cut (ala' Wilson) on mine because I have access to a mill and limited skills. But for $160, I'd rather have serrations.

AR-24 update: (as if anyone cares) I only put 40 rounds through it before the sky opened up and it started pouring. I was on my lunch break I didn't want to get soaked so I stopped early. I did a real simple 10 round transition drill comparison with the XD and I was within 1.25 seconds of the XD, which is the gun I used at Ben Stoeger's Fundamentals Class 2 weeks ago, so I am really "current" with it. I suspect most of the time difference was inexperience with a DA pull (over 12 pounds!) and some of it was the fact the white dot fell out of the front sight 5 rounds in, so it was all black sights vs familiar fiber on the XD. With a little work, better trigger and better sights I should easily match the performance of the XD. The good: Forged frame, forged slide and forged barrel Amazing accuracy! Dovetail sights (the rear is small Witness, the front is slightly smaller than on my Springfield Range Officer so I can file fit one) Uses Witness parts for the trigger and recoil spring. Recoil was similar to my tweaked and lighter sprung XD. The AR-24 has a ridiculous recoil spring in it so some spring tweaking should make it a real flat shooter. The bad: The trigger sucks, over 12 lbs DA and 6-7 SA. But that will be fixed. The stock grips are supposed to be ergonomic and maybe they are for a gorilla. Actually they feel good just holding the gun and might be OK for one handed bullseye shooting, but the palm swell is huge and makes for crap grip with my hands. The stock grips are also slick. It was misting lightly and they quickly became slicker than ice with once they had a single drop of water on them. There mag opening is completely squared off at the bottom, so some internal flaring will be in order. Unknown: The mag release was slow to access, but I suspect it might have more to do with the large palm swell than the length of the actual release. What rear sight to use. I have plans for this gun and will try to track the improvements here.

In other news I got an email from Rob Leatham about my XD accuracy. It was extremely detailed and frankly awesome he took the time to send it. I'll continue to shoot the XD and make the AR-24 a summer side project to transfer over too later in the year or next season.

Pics. The firing pin looks like the Henning for a large frame, but I have never seen a small frame Tanfo pin, so that means nothing.

The original reason in that post was trigger spring/CZ trigger job. I actually bought the AR-24 today. It is really well made. It is the cheaper model without checkering, but it mimics large frame Tanfoglio in every way but the mags, which are small frame Tanfoglio. Basically it seems, with my limited and developing knowledge, to be a post-2005 small frame Tanfoglio with different shaped slide. It was $299 so worst case scenerio it becomes a learning platform without risking destroying some that cost 2 or 3 times more. I need to learn the picture posting bit...

Perfect! Now to find one. Then I'll whip you with spring questions

Atlas - Do you use the factory rear or a replacement, maybe something like Hennings, except for the older style cut?.

Snooze and lose. Went by the store and it was gone. But I did play with a P-09 and a CZ 75 Omega. The P-09 felt whippy during transitions, if that makes sense. Felt like my XD, why bother. I liked the feel of the CZ Omega except for the trigger guard. I really hate the trigger guards that is rounded on the bottom. So... I want an all steel, small frame Witness. Couple of the on GB, but prices seem high. There was an Armalite AR-24, but I really prefer front cocking serrations. Atlas- Ever used the LPA adustable rear sights? http://www.lpasights.com/en/products?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=144&category_id=43&manufacturer_id=25&vmcchk=1

Atlas - it does have the plug. It is black if I remember. I will likely be asking you some questions. I think I will buy the old Witness now and get a P-09 later, because guns.

Three? My P-07 only came with two. By the way, I have watched your P-09 videos multiple times. Are you still running them or have you switched to a Beretta? I guess the consensus is no Stock 1 and move on from the XD.

Thank you KneelingAtlas. I was hoping you would respond! What about the lack of extended firing pin that works with the FPB? I don't want to have a light strike machine because I reduced the hammer spring weight.

Looking for some advice. I currently shoot a XD 9mm Tactical in Production and it is a decent gun and I like the grip and can reload decently, but I have gotten to the point I can out shoot its accuracy potential – in slow fire. With my bone stock .45ACP Range Officer stock and my CZ P07 9mm with light trigger polishing only I can hold 1.5 inches at 20 yards standing, freehand (CZ shot DA mode for first round). The XD only holds about 3.5-4 inches with the same ammo; I have tired different loads to no avail. I took the Ben Stoeger class last week and mentioned I was thinking of changing to DA/SA and he recommended doing it sooner and not later if I was going to do so I could develop the DA skill while also moving up. I am still unclassified in USPSA but Ben put me as a solid B Class. So now to my dilemma. Option 1 – order a Bar-Sto (or KKM) barrel for the XD, either drop in or hard fit. This is the cheapest solution as I have mags and spare parts for the XD but I still think I would ultimately move to DA/SA at some point.Option 2 – Sell the XD and buy a CZ P-09. I have a holster but would need mags (they're expensive), some CGW parts to make it gooder and Dawson sights. The XD would offset the actual gun, but it is still about 150 more than option 1.Option 3 – a local gun store has a older small frame Tanfo for sale, the one with fine forward cocking serrations. I can probably get it for $400 OTD with one mag. I would need holster, mags, and probably a LPA rear sight. The trigger is surprisingly smooth and shouldn’t take much to get really good. I love the weight, like the looks and love the grip, but I am concerned by the lack of parts, specifically an extended firing pin.Nuclear Option – Order a new Stock 1. The local gun shop can get me one for $860 + tax. Obviously this is most expensive option. Love this plan on paper, hate the idea of dropping $1100 to get setup with mags, holster and parts.I have analysis paralysis. Help. Maybe I should sell it all and go head long into single stack major....

I'm sure you'll learn something. Even if I can't apply everything immediately, I'll still have the guidance to draw from as I grow.

Aubrey, Texas

Thanks Ben. I'll try to email you this weekend.

Thanks. I am willing to put in the effort, I want to get a read on the areas I will see the most improvement though. I can pull a .7 dry fire draw and my reloads are pretty good. But movement and setup - I suck. My transitions "feel" fast, but lots of improvement available there. I'll see if Ben has an outline to help with notes. Now to load up lots of ammo; on a single stage press. In fact, I was about to order a progressive but a class with Ben less than 30 minutes from my house won't happen again soon, and they're still making presses.

I signed up for the Fundamentals class on May 12-13, immediately followed by the Skills and Drills class on May 14. I am now thinking that doing the classes back to back may be too much to take in and remember. I am new to USPSA shooting, but not new to guns. I have shot some IDPA and some outlaw matches as well as dry fire religiously. Am I over thinking or should I take some time after the Fundamentals class to digest the info before moving on? Has anyone taken both classes? Back to back? Thanks.

I've modified several leather S&W K Frame holsters for use with the Ruger Service Six pistols. Make sure the Service Six is oiled. It will get wet. Soak the leather holster in warm water for a couple of minutes. Remove from water and shake off excess water. Insert the Service Six into the moist holster. Using blunt instruments (fingers, erasers, tongue depressors, dowel rods, etc) "mold" the holster to the gun. Continue to mold for 15-20 minutes, at which point the holster should hold it's new form. Allow to dry 8-10 hours with the gun in the holster. Use saddle conditioner and polish. Enjoy. This presumes you don't mind leather. For kydex? A K Frame holster and a heat gun would be your best bet. C. J. Daniel