blaze190

I was shooting limited exclusively also and switched when they made the 141mm mag rule change in carry optics. I am classified in limited as B and Carry optics I'm also a B but with a few percent higher in carry optics. I was able to switch over to a dot very quickly and so far after a year now I haven't gone back to limited.

When I tried STI's in mine before installing the new mag catch mine did the same thing. Then I tried a known good mag catch from a friends STI and it fixed my problem. If you are hitting the mag well with the shorter mag base plate then you may have an issue with that too.

Yep I had some problem with my sps 40 out of the box. The mag catch was cheap and not catching right. I replaced mine with one from Dawson precision and never had another problem.

I had the same mag dropping issue in my sps 40. The problem with mine was a cheap mag catch. I replaced it with one from dawson precision and never had another problem with that issue.

Dawson precision makes a nice one

Yes all parts I've replaced on mine we're actually listed as STI parts and all of them fit very well or as intended.

14# for me on 40 minor load for Carry Optics.

I would say the STI would be the cheaper way to go as long as you are happy with it right out of the box. If you have to start changing things because of shooter preference or reliability issues it will be about the same out come.

Been running a 14# in mine now for 20000 plus rounds and no problems at all. I would like to actually go down to a 12# now that I'm shooting minor in carry optics

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QRZN7oTcOtEStmtGj75ZwtIHyte4mXrz/view?usp=drivesdk Here is link to a pic of mine in its current state now. Hope it works

Yep.....the mag catch on it had to be replaced right out of the box and then the ambi safety broke in 1st match. Everything else lasted until about the 5000 round mark then I started getting really bad hammer follow. A gun Smith buddy of mine took it apart and found out the hammer and sear engagement was just wore out. Then shortly after that the trigger bow broke and since that is the 1st part to assemble in gun basicly I went ahead and picked up a new grip so I could use a bigger mag well. Then in the next couple matches the extractor broke and while we were replacing it we found the ejector was way to loose on the mount and I replaced that to. At that point I went ahead and replaced the firing pin to just be sure. All the small parts are made from metal injection molding (MIM) and are no where near as tough as parts machined from billet or forgings so they wear quickly but are much cheaper to produce.

I've got one in 40 that I've put around 20,000 rounds through it so far. The frame, slide and barrel fit are really good but by 5000 rounds I had basicly replaced every small part in it. I also ended up replacing the grip on mine with a STI DVC grip so I could run a bigger mag well. They must save money on the price due to using all MIM parts on all their small parts.

I had trouble with a mag like this once before. All I could figure was I shoot a indoor single stage match once a week and I dropped a nearly full mag on the concrete floor so I could finish the rest of the stage with no worries of a mag change and after that mag change I had a problem with that particular mag. I compared it's width to my other mags and it had bulges right where the trigger bow slides back and was hitting the mag just as the trigger was trying to break. All I could do was get some fine sand paper and a flat surface and sand it down to get rid of the bulge until the trigger bow stopped making contact.

I have never even put a drop in the striker channel on mine and have never had any trouble at all with 20000 plus rounds through my XDM 5.25

Check and clean striker channel. No oil in it either. Oil will create a hydrolock situation and light strike every time.

I've been using the Ivue glasses now for a couple years and they have worked out great

Welcome, I'm from WNC to. There are plenty of USPSA matches close to us every weekend. Just shot one in Spartanburg SC this past weekend and planning on shooting one in Burnsville NC this coming Sat.

I have a SPS Pantera and have been shooting it for about a year now. The fitment of the slide, frame and barrel are great. The biggest problem I've had with mine are the MIM parts, by the time it racked up about 5000 rounds I've had to replace the mag catch, thumb safety and the trigger group. It is far more accurate then I can shoot but the factory supplied internal parts are not that durable. Now that I've got a few more rounds through it I finally decided I couldn't live with the smaller molded in mag well on the grip anymore so I've replaced it now with a STI type of grip and a Dawson ice magwell even though I had no real problems with the factory grip. I just wanted the bigger magwell.

I installed a gun smith fit barsto in my 5.25 40 and it decreased the group size at 15 yards by almost half.

I've got one of the old style blocks for my XDM 5.25 and one of the magnetic blocks for my SPS Pantera and I don't notice any real difference.

Factory 40 spring in a 5.25 is 18 pound. I'm running a 16 pound in mine now with no problems.

I've been using 5.6 grain of CFE lately with Extreme 180 grain hollow points loaded to a OAL of 1.140 in my XDM 5.25 and have had pretty good results. Last time I checked on the chrono it was about 172 power factor and grouped pretty decent.

On my loads I don't really notice anymore smoke then any other powder or bullets I've tried.

I just shot Hawkeye this past weekend. They always put on a good match. You also have Competitive shooters of statesville in statesville which I've heard is a good local match and there is a excellent match in Spartanburg SC every 1st and 4th Sat of the month.

I use a XD service in 40 as a back up gun in limited. It was the gun I started with in uspsa. I since upgraded to the XDM 5.25 in 40 for my regular competition gun. I figured if my 5.25 e ever goes down at a match and I've drove an hour or more to shoot I can at least keep shooting with the XD service even though my day won't turn out very well with it and it will at least feel similar to me.