Fredlegentil

It's the beauty of hand-loading your own ammo. I can't tell you about the recipe because I only shoot 9 and 40 but once you have a load that achieve good accuracy and consistent results, you should stick with it and get an assortment of recoil springs to tune your gun to the loads. That way you will see an improvement in felt recoil as well as sight recovery. Below is a link to a video that explains it pretty well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3UVLm2GajI Enjoy!

As a side note, I did have to do a little bit of fitting to my PT. The diameter of the pin was .200 and the one in my pistol was .195. My pistol would not go into full battery at first. after taking it down to .195, no problems.

DAA Racers, best value IMHO.

Just upgraded yesterday and it was a direct fit for me as well

Good for you but I would personally only buy match ammo if I was to go to a major match. The extra expense doesn't seems necessary for local matches. I would still recommend to case gauge each round before going to the match.

Just got the Racemaster Magnetic and it is rock solid, pretty much like in the video.

The only thing with squadding with (much) better shooter is to leave your ego at home. It can be a humbling experience.

Just received the PT thumbrest and what a nice upgrade!

Just received mine and Oh Boy what an marvelous upgrade for your pistol! I will definitely drill the detent to keep it put.

No but you never know. One thing though is going subminor with bunny farts loads might cause you problems unless you tune your gun for them. Oh and you might encounter resilient pepper poppers ... Not worth the hassle in my opinion, just pick a load that should be in the 130ish PF if you don't have a chrono and stick with it. This way you train / compete with the same ammo.

Not legal for Production ... but let's be realistic ... unless you plan on going to level 2 or 3 matches, nobody should say anything

I always squad with better shooters, preferably GM, M and As, Limited or Production. I had the opportunity to squad with Todd Jarret and Chris Tilley recently ... better than watching videos!

Well I just ordered one .... down the rabbit hole as per post #2 ... lol

No it was at Fuquay Gun & Gold

Just got and Edge to replace my Glock .... only dry fired yet but man ... I can tell that this will make a difference in my game!!! Can't wait!

Thanks all! I shot the match with Chris Tilley in my squad yesterday and he was shooting a swwweeeettt Infinity lol My wife is very understanding but I don't think I can buy a new pistol before 2020 now lol How do you like the PT Thumbrest Tanfoglio1911?

Just wanted to share ! Went to my LGS today before a match to hang out and went home with an Edge! It's a Dawson CRP with a trigger job as far as I can tell (in comparison to the stock Edge they had in stock) This is my first 1911/2011 style pistol and will replace my current Glock 34. I paid $1,750 for it and it's got barely any wear at all. The barrel hood has no scratch whatsoever. Hope I got a decent deal. Now I need some more mags, a new holster and ammo to feed the baby! Exited

#13 for me also. I ran into problems using the stock and #15. I had to switch to a #4.5 firing pin spring to achieve a good lockup though.

I started with green and liked it but recently switched to red. As some have commented, green tends to be better in low light conditions while red seems better outdoors. At least that's my experience. Switching the rod takes 30 seconds a lighter and nail clippers so just try what works best for you Hope this helps

Hi Everyone, I recently started shooting and decided to start reloading right away. I currently shoot a stock glock 34 gen 4. After reading thousands of posts here and all over the internet I decided to try a few different bullets for my first loads. I got Bayou 124 RN and 147 FP as well as Xtreme 124 RN and 147 RN. I wanted to try both coated and plated bullets as well as 124 vs 147. I currently shoot exclusively Factory 115 RN. I got Federal 100 SPP as well as Titegroup (pretty much all I could find at my LGS), can't complain Now I have more than a few doubts in regards to the load data because I find conflicting information between my reloading books and the forums. Since this is my first time I do not want to blow myself up. I do not have a chrono yet and I will not participate in any match that requires to be chronographed. I'm just looking to make around minor PF for now and finetune later when the time comes. Based on the information I collected here is what I plan on doing. Brass: mixed range brass Primers: Federal 100 OAL: I need to load a few dummies with each bullet and do a plunk test but I plan on loading at 1.14 if possible. This is the OAL of my factory ammo and have no problem. For Xtremes I plan on starting with the low end of Jacketed load data. 124 RN: 3.8gr of Titegroup 147 RN: 3.2gr of Titegroup For the Bayous I plan on starting with Cast load data 124 RN: 3.4gr of Titegroup 147 RN: 2.5gr of Titegroup From what I gathered the plated loads for 124 and 147 as well as the 124 Bayou should be ok (at least safe for a starting point) but I have conflicting results for the Bayou 147 with loads around 3 / 3.2 gr when Lyman indicates a max load of 2.8... Could you guys please assist me in confirming that I'm in the right direction? Thanks for your help!

@kneelingatlas - don't tell my wife about the gas costs! I purposefully left em out of the equation . I will look into buying used, that is a good advice. As a rule of thumb, what kind of discount am I looking at buying used vs new? @motosapiens - I will definitely visit local clubs and meet folks before considering any gun purchase. What's the etiquette in regards to trying other people's gun? (regarding ammo cost especially).

@Hi-Power Jack - Thanks for condensing the post, it is spot on ! I'm still going back and forth between CZ and 1911 ... I guess like many, if budget allows I would end up with both lol - I will wait to attend a few matches first before making any purchase anyway. @trgt and BeerBaron - I mixed things up and didn't realize that the cr speed came as a system (outer + inner included) so I thought you had to purchase both separate. This makes more sens now and I will definitely go for the double belt versus the EDC, thanks for the advice! Thanks also for recommending the DAA racers, I was looking at those and like the versatility (bullet forward / bullet out). Since I'm new, this could give the opportunity to experiment and see what I like best!

Thanks for the Welcome! @YellowShooter - I'm still in HK until the end of the month, I live and work in Kennedy Town (too bad I'm leaving when the Metro is finally open here!)

Thanks for the answer! I will follow the advice and no more refer to my past life as a paintball player moving forward. I'm new to shooting and look forward to the new learning experience. I haven't shot or been to a match as of yet simply because I'm still in HK (flying back on March 1st) but I'm really looking forward to it!

Hi Everyone, Warning !!! Long thread !!! This is my first post (just introduced myself earlier). My name is Frederic, I'm French, 35 and I'm moving back to the US after just over 2 years in Hong Kong for work. I'm a permanent resident (my wife is American) so even though I can't get a CCW I can still legally buy firearms and practice the sport. Just a little background, not that is it remotely related but I played semi-pro paintball in Europe for over a decade and won several titles. I quit playing in 2007 because of a back injury shortly before relocating to the US. I was also a French Federation Certified Referee. I miss the shooting sport, training and competition. This is just to emphasize that even though I never trained with firearms, nor owned one I have experience with shooting sports and more importantly safety and I believe this will help in the sport. Moving back to the US I would like to start competing in Steel Challenge, USPSA and IDPA matches depending on what is available around me but I might settle on USPSA. For now I will be in Raleigh, NC but I might end up somewhere else. Here is my gear selection list (I know people say to wait and see what others are using but I believe I make educated decisions). So far I only purchased the Eye and Earpro: Eyepro: I got a good deal on ESS ICE. Not only do they look good (IMO), but they are milspec (I believed that ANSI rating only would not be enough in case of a catastrophic event). I'm also wearing glasses for high astigmatism and I got the RX inset to go with them. Earpro: Originaly I wanted Peltor tactical sport but settled on Peltor tactical 100 after seeing a review on Youtube by Mrgungear and the price was great on Amazon ($60). I wanted electronic earmuffs from the get go and for the price I believe these were much better than the Howard Leigh ($50). Belt / pouches / holster: I will probably get a CR Speed EDC belt. It is a bit cheaper that the inner and outer system and more polyvalent since I haven't settled on a discipline yet. I know I will have to thread the holster and pouches and that is the only downside I can see. The cost is reasonable ($40 vs $90 for an I/O system). Pouches, I was thinking of going for the CR Speed doubles since it seems easier to thread. Holster will probably be Bladetech. Gun and Caliber: I'm a big fan of the 1911 platform. I originally thought I would shoot USPSA Production / IDPA SSP (since production first feels like at natural starting point for beginner but I believe this couldn't be farther from the truth and misleading). I'm not a fan of polymer guns, I really like CZ 75 pistols (SP-01) but the limited availability made me reconsider that option. Also, I do not feel like manually lowering the hammer is a safe idea. Shooting a 1911, I think I will go with 45 ACP. The cost factor between 9mm in production and 45 for SS / CDP is a consideration (more on that later). I might as well do it in native caliber for reliability reasons and power factor (I know the latest shouldn't be a concern for a beginner). I intend to start handloading from the get go and from what I gather, given the history, size and lower pressure involved with the caliber, this is a great place to start. I know the ammo cost will be more that 9mm or 40 S&W but I would only shoot 9mm in production and I can't shoot production with a 1911. 40 S&W seems like a good middle ground to have both the ability for minor and major as well as playing in other divisions (limited) but 1911 in 40 doesn't seem to be readily available and I believe the choice would be reduced to RIA to stay under $1,000. I also feel like major PF with 40 is being fairly close to max load so I do not feel very comfortable with that. Being budget conscious (under $1,000) my choice would be between STI Spartan V, SA RO and RIA Rock. After some research I will probably choose a SA Range Officer in 45 ACP. Your input would be greatly appreciated. For those who played paintball (in the old days ...), I owned several Automags and Autocockers so tuning and timing a gun and tinkering is no foreign matter to me. I watched several AGI videos on YT and ordered the 2 Walt Kuleck books to get acquainted with the platform (even if I end up with a different platform I think these would still be cool books) I quickly compiled ammo cost and forecast to shoot about 6,000 rounds a year equivalent to an average of 2 or 3 local matches per month and no training (more on that later). Ideally I would like to stay under a $150 / month budget for ammo and entry fees. Ammo cost breakdown (rough estimates would be as below) Purchase from Freedom Ammo (just a starting point, I do not care for any vendor) Reman 9mm – 21c / round - $1,260 per year - $105 per month Reman 40 S&W – 23c / round - $1,380 per year - $115 per month Reman 45 ACP – 30c / round - $1,800 per year - $150 per month It is evident that 45 ACP is much more expensive than 9mm however, reloading gives me the following figures Buy 1000 cases of once fired brass from East Coast Arsenal, reuse brass 5 times and load bayou coated bullets 9mm – 17c first round / 14c thereafter - $885 per year - $74 per month 40 S&W – 19c first round / 16c thereafter - $1,005 per year - $84 per month 45 ACP – 23c first round / 17c thereafter - $1,095 per year - $91 per month This shows that I could reload 45 ACP for cheaper than factory reman 9mm. Granted there is an initial investment for the reloading equipment but the savings (especially in 45) offset the cost well under 2 years). I think I'm also a bit on the conservative side for the reload cost and might be able to shave of a couple cents per round. The monthly cost spread between 9mm and 45 ACP is also less than $20 so even though shooting 45 is more expensive, it is not crazy more expensive. Of course, these figures would change if I was to shoot 15,000 rounds or more a year haha. In regards of training, again, paintball being my background, I'm familiar with "dry" firing and training drills. In paintball I would do dry fire drills pretty much every day at home, I would also do 2 drill training sessions (3 hours each) a week with Reball (a reusable "paintball" which would probably be the equivalent to train with airsoft for practical shooting I guess). This was the bulk of our training, the rest of the time (weekends) would be actually competing in local, national and international events (planning can quickly get busy!)> The local events became the actual live fire training (we would place in top 3 almost every time and win at least 50% of those events). At the peak of my career I would play in tournaments almost every weekend of the season and shoot about 100,000 paintballs a year (almost for free, thanks to my sponsors!). So my thought process with this sport is to do dry fire as much as possible and possibly train with airsoft to help keeping the cost of ammo down. I would reserve the live fire for local matches. I will be taking the NRA basic pistol course as well as the basic metallic cartridge reloading course. I will also spend time at the range before attending my first match to feel confident with my ability to be safe for me and around others! This is it for now! Thanks to those who took the time to read this long post and for your answers and advice! Any input will be greatly appreciated!