theWacoKid

Not the first.

They do tend to scrub the markings. Most of these dots all come from the same place that's why they're so similar. The v5 board in the RTS2 is finally an entirely new construction with improvements, added complexity, and still yet to be long term tested so we'll see.

That's basically the exact same board you'll find in an RTS2 V4 and earlier. The chip is an ATtiny13A. The are multiple failure points that crop up over time and the battery contacts are rarely it. Yes, unfortunately, it's all electronics you'd expect to find in a cheap child's toy.

Doubled.

I know a few guys that use this strategy. Honestly, it tends to get you into your backup at a match more than using the heavily tested beater gun you always shoot. In theory, I agree, it sounds great.

You know the beauty about that benchmark though? You tend to know its validity intrinsically. Exactly by way of the items you stated above. Can you really say that about any other benchmark?

Recoil spring, firing pin spring, and main spring *might* get changed when the gun gets an entirely new top end.

No, the lowest possible chamber pressure is not the goal and lower pressure does not equal lower recoil. I'm saying that, in general, more gas volume at a given pf improves a compensated gun. Just in general. A lot of the ways of doing this, thanks to physics, means peak pressure has to be lower because total area under the pressure curve must be the same for a given bullet and muzzle velocity which is what we're trying to keep fixed. You can't have more driving energy and less recoil, it doesn't work like that. For a given muzzle velocity, the bullet will always contribute the same amount of total recoil momentum to the gun and the peak pressure is irrelevant to that. So you're looking for a target muzzle velocity with sufficient gas volume. I say sufficient and not max, because at some point it will become counterproductive since gas also contributes to recoil. Pressure doesn't really come in to the equation other than being a byproduct of achieving this.

The bigger case doesn't provide gas volume, the size of your powder charge does. More case volume means larger charge for a given pf and ability to use some of the slowest powders. Larger cases equate to lower peak pressure for the same pf. If you wanted high pressure, 9 major and its smaller case with a slightly lower charge for the same pf would be the way to go. Contrary to popular opinion, compensators do not work best at 175-180 pf. Compensators work at all pf and improve with gas volume, not pf. The higher the pf the more gas will be there, but there is a larger recoil impulse to offset. Ideally, a lot of gas with minimal recoil to offset from the ejected bullet and gas is ideal. There's a reason a lot of us load major to sub 170, it's better all around. Popple holes exhaust gasses sooner, but therefore generate thrust for a longer period of time. It's a different feel, some like it, some don't. I do. Open gun setups are as varied as humans, there is no consensus.

The extreme brass that is actually brass and not "FM" head stamped with the internal step is good. However, it is thick walled and will set off powder alarms. I had a whole batch of the stuff new and since it has reduced case volume I kept it together and loaded it with a slightly reduced charge. Works great but yes it is a little different. When a random one rolls by in my mixed brass I'll often notice it because the powder looks high. Worth a couple pf.

38 Super Comp can be run at those 9x23 pressures in our guns. But pressure isn't what you want anyway so it's irrelevant. Volume relative to muzzle velocity is the key item. There's good reason 38 Super Comp and 9 major dominate open division. At the same time 9x23 works just fine, as it's basically a less popular version of 38 Super for our purposes. It seems you have your mind made up and are hunting for agreement, don't waste your time, just start shooting 9x23 and get going.

Sometimes mags hit the frame and sometimes they're too big front to back for the grip. Before enlarging mag catch I reshape the mag until it fits properly and clears everything. If you enlarge the mag catch hole the mag will sit lower which may be needed but once done, no going back.

The only issue with 9x23 is it doesn't stack as well as straight walled cases in the magazine. Not a deal breaker it works fine. You sound very similar to most who jump into this. Scared of 9 major and interested in safe book loads for major. Eventually we all realize it's very unnecessary. 9 major with slow powders is still safer than a lot of fast powder minor loads and fast powder 40 major loads. I've seen more production and limited gun catastrophic failures than 9 major. It's pretty well figured out at this point and the slow powders are more forgiving. There are 38 Super book loads that make major and even some 9x21 loads you can reproduce in 9x19. If your fear drives you to 9x23 brass that's fine, but eventually you'll realize on your own it's unnecessary.

Nothing is set in stone. But in general: 1) Compensated guns tend to end up best using bullets on the lighter end of the spectrum. For .355" open bullets most tend to settle on 115's, 121's, or 124's. 2) Slower powders perform better, are safer pushing ammo to major, and are less sensitive to loading variances (powder drop, overcharge, OAL, etc.). 3) 9x23 is an awesome choice, however, .38 Super Comp is slightly cheaper and straight walled which is why you see very few 9x23 guns compared to .38 Super Comp. 4) I'm partial to 121's and 124's. Spent plenty of time with 115's and they're not terrible. 5) This is all personal preference, but I would encourage you to stick with powders much slower than Autocomp, it's terrible. I also think the beloved 3N38 sucks.

The simple answer to the question in your subject is yes, without question. The entire level of skill continues to move upward and that includes the entire field. It's pretty crazy that as soon as one person does something that seemed unattainable, immediately many others are able to do it as well. That drives the progression of the sport. Like konkapot stated above, if you want to move up you have to first improve constantly just to keep up with the overall improvements of everyone else and then you've got to improve even more than that to get ahead.

I'm with moto on this one. And, yes, only the overall division win actually matters. That's the win, not the shooter. All the shooters competing matter, but the GM, M, A, B, C, D, and U classifications and class wins do not actually matter. It just doesn't mean anything concrete. The shooters matter, as they are the sport, but the classifications don't because it's just an imperfect side show some people have fun with. So have fun with it as it is. No matter how many corrections are made to it it will never be perfect and the belly aching will never stop. This is proven fact. When the match is over, you know how you did irrespective of class finish and you know the skill level of the people shooting around you. If you're worried about prize table or contingency play the classification game and cleverly select your matches. If you're worried about improving and pushing yourself, shoot the match and forget about others.

Actually, the shielded safeties are the cheapest option. The best option is the legit shield, but the cost of that is higher considering the work to properly install.

That's not the spirit of USPSA and would completely ruin the game so you'll have to find it elsewhere. Physical activity and challenges included in a stage are one thing but an obstacle course is over the line. Let 3gun keep the dumb activities to themselves.

Move the weight up for higher frequency and down for lower frequency. Changing the weight will not do almost nothing as long as the current weight is many times greater than the weight of the paper target, target sticks, and shaft. Gravity controls how the bobber accelerates and that behavior is independent of the size of the weight, but how it becomes angular motion is greatly affected by the distance of the weight from the pivot.

The game has evolved over time and will continue to do so. At this point the focus in USPSA tends to favor the quantity of shooting over some of the other aspects. However, I've still shot plenty stages this year with long runs, low ports, prone shooting, technical setups, long/difficult targets, cooper tunnels, balance beams, etc. It just depends on what matches you go to and who sets up your local matches. The word practical in USPSA is mostly legacy and reflects how the game originated at that point in time. Today it has evolved into a true game focused on testing the ability of a human to plan and execute a task using a handgun. The practical still lives in the base of the skills: safe/controlled gun handling, quick gun manipulation, marksmanship, accuracy at speed. So the practical ability to handle and shoot a firearm does come out of the pursuit of shooting USPSA but beyond that it is a game of elevating skill where the stages provide a problem to solve as a test and not anything "practical".

From what I see Zeros are not 2 cents cheaper than mg's, they are MORE expensive. No mg doesn't make a 147 jhp but they have a nice flat point cmj. I shoot mostly jhp 124's and generally by retail pricing the zeros are over 10 cents, mg's under 10 cents, and pd's 9 cents. I don't believe you're saving money with zeros, you're actually spending more.

Units matter. On another note I've never seen Zeros cheaper than the jhp's I shoot. Including a big group buy where I was quoted a bulk price that didn't beat the base price from mg or pd.

.02 cents is $0.0002. That's saving 20 cents per thousand bullets. Not sure that'd be a factor in my decision making process.

Haven't seen a 4g pass on a new SV big stick yet. In fact, I had to massage mine with 3g pads to get them to fit and even then it's still tight.

You've already gotten the "there are many things that can cause this problem" so I'll skip that part. Depending on where the slide is loose, you can squeeze it in a vice and tighten it up laterally. A last resort type solution. I will second another option given above and that is to fit up an oversized (0.203") slide stop. A loose slide is irrelevant if the gun locks up tight and consistent.