B585

I did not have a chrono readily available to use so I don't have that data on factory loads. Based on the felt recoil from factory loads I have shot, the recoil is more on factory Ammo 180 GN when comparing 180 GN with WST or 320 with enough powder to make major at 1.185/1.180 respectively. My CK also feels tight even after a few thousand rounds. I do love the accuracy of these guns. When testing accuracy, I always bench test. Using Zero bullets, at 29 yards according to the range finder in a 7 shot group, 5 were touching and the other 2 were .2" from the 5 touching. I blame the shooter on the two that weren't touching. With HSM, seven shots at the same distance I had under 1.5". Again, I bet with a better shot than myself, it would be smaller.

I reload and don't have any issues with any of my mags at 1.18 to 1.185. I can't verify why the MBX can even handle the factory loads, but since SV with TTI pads, springs, followers were purchased used and I haven't needed them to be perfect so I haven't replaced them or tuned them, I suspect that is the reason. No doubt, reloads is where it is at, but in a pinch it is nice to know good ole factory ammo will work.

My CK runs Magtech, S&B, and HSM (reman) just fine as long as I use MBX mags. I haven't tried any others. My SV mags probably need tuned and new springs because they tend stovepipe the last round before it is shot. Thus far, HSM has been the most accurate commercial in my CK (bench rested at 25 yards with 7 shot groups).

Is it still running problem free?

Due to the cold, there hasn't been a match within 3 hrs of me since November. This past weekend was my first match since then. I worked hard on the off-season and every aspect of my shooting has improved (but every aspect of my shooting still has a lot of room for improvement). I was actually able to practice before this match at rifle range. I could only shoot at targets 100 yards and beyond and I was actually hitting them once I got elevation correct. Feeling pretty good about myself, I went to the match...Guess what, I got to the match and completely blew it. I was trying to shoot way too fast for my abilities. While I was shooting, I knew I wasn't having visual patience and the proof was right there....2 mikes on the first stage. Still it took me 3 more stages to finally settle down and start making good shots (and even a couple those I called as a Charlie or Delta (and was right). Long story short, lesson learned. I will NOT make the same mistake again and I would bet you won't either. If it makes you feel any better, my mistakes were at a 4 stage all classifier match!!!!

Excellent question...this is biggest thing I have been working at in the off-season. So far, I still haven't developed the consistency I would like. Looking forward to the responses you get.

Although I can't help in answering your question OP, I have always been curious about this myself so I was glad to see you brought this topic up.

Congrats. Glad to see the hard work paid off

I assume you have been shooting with two eyes for many years now. Have you ever been able to get to the point where you could get rid of the tape? I just started trying to shoot both eyes open this year in the off-season. Now that I am over 40 and can't change focus as fast as when I was younger so I am finding the tape to be a significant disadvantage (because now both eyes are blurry at distance) although it definitely works and would be great if I was younger. I am just trying to figure out I should continue to try to teach my brain to switch eyes or go back to shooting with one eye.

Thank you for the tip on keeping the elbows out. I recently switched from a 9 to .40 and my support hand kept slipping after a few shots no matter how hard I gripped with support hand. I later figured out my strong hand grip wasn't enough. The other problem I was having was losing my index during transitions. I tried putting my elbows out slightly and my transitions have improved draumatically....I don't lose my index. I haven't made it to the range yet to verify this will also fix my slipping problem, but the gun feels so much more secure with the elbows out.

As a new shooter to pistols and action shooting (first contest was in August), I find in myself a lot of the same areas as you where I can use the most improvement. Due to the winter, half the ranges in my area are closed and with limited daylight hours combined with work and family, almost all of my practice over the last 1.5 months has been dry fire. I am making a sincere effort to not "cheat" on dry fire, but I haven't been able to verify that I am being "honest" on my dry fire drills. Are the times you listed in dry fire or live fire? How much difference do you see in dry vs. live fire?

Thank you. My game plan was always not to go to slide lock, but with 10 bullet limits, if I had to make up a shot/something went different than planned (I sometimes went to SL). The main reason I am going to Limited is because it seemed like every time I moved, I had to change mags. I get your point about how that shouldn't happen in Limited and I didn't realize you lose a round with the mag that has SL. Again thanks for the info.

How many matches have you competed in? I thought it only took 4 Classifiers to receive the initial classification?

IMO there are too many variables in each individual (vision in each eye, prescription, eye dominance, degree of eye dominance, etc). As you said, when stress is involved, you want to think as little as possible so you would probably better off to shoot the same way you always do. One thing that helped me with shooting weak hand and avoiding the flinch is really concentrating on trying to watch the front sight lift. When I first noticed my flinch with the weak hand, it seemed like the more I concentrated on trying to get an accurate shot, the worse the flinch would be. I didn't have much confidence in my weak hand shooting so I kept trying to get more and more perfect when it comes to sight alignment/picture. It doesn't help that I am not as steady with my weak hand as I am with my strong hand so I believe I was giving too much of my concentration on getting the sights EXACTLY where there need to be that seemed to make the flinch worse. As soon as I made it my focus (and basically my only goal) to watch the front sights lift during recoil, the flinch almost completely went away. I later saw a video on YouTube by Rob L. and he said something very similar that he teaches new shooters (that is using both hands but the point is the same). He had new shooters who were flinching close their eyes (so they are not aiming) when they shot and he said that usually makes the flinch disappear.

I can't say I know its necessary, but I like the idea of a separate crimper. I have been trying to stick with Hornady dies as much as possible, but in the case of crimping, I am not aware of any other manufacturers that offer a separate crimper. For all of you who use seater/crimper, except the Hornady dies which I believe are more of a rolled crimp, have the tapered crimps/seaters worked well for you?

That's a h#ll of a lot of Improvement compared to your first match. Congrats and I am glad to see your hard work paid off.

Nerves can be good or bad depending on you respond to them. As a newbie where each match you are in means everything, I would try to keep in mind that you can't control the competition, what you can control is you. If you are seeing consistent improvement in yourself, you are on the right path and where you place (top 50% or not) doesn't really mean that much at this point. I completely understand your how much it means to ya and the dedication. My hands have a bunch of blisters and cuts from all of the dry fire I have been doing. Pretty much any free time I have I am reading or practicing this. Two weeks ago I shot bad (for me) and had some close calls go my way. I placed good for me but wasn't happy. I practiced even harder for this weeks match trying to make my weaknesses strengths....this weekend was a h#ll of a lot better. I actually placed worse this weekend but that was because of the competition and not me...I will take a worse placing any day as long as I am improving.

WHS. I never had that issue with mine, but I was talking to a guy in my squad after a match this weekend and when he first bought the gun, it had the same problem. He did some light polishing on the feed ramp and the problem was solved. Now he has several thousand rounds down the pipe without any problems.

I have enjoyed following this thread as a fellow newbie to USPSA. Coming from a precision shooting background, I have found that I have a lot of the same areas I can improve, questions about what to work on. If you get any of the matches stages filmed,be sure and post them.

Another very happy Apex customer here. My accuracy from my factory barrel was aweful (PC 5"). Got the Apex barrel and everything changed....this barrel appears to be more accurate than me. I have several sub 2" groups of 5 to 10 shot groups with Dawson sights ranging 22 to 31 yards. I suspect the groups would be even better with someone more skilled behind the trigger. I have ~2300-2700 rounds of factory ammo and have NEVER had a malfunction. I also have the internal Apex trigger upgrades (only what is legal to stay in Production Class). If it wasn't for Apex, I would have sold this gun. I can't thank Randy enough because I love the ergos of M&P and now I have the accuracy and reliability to match. As far as fitting the barrel, mine took very little and I never had fit a barrel before and didn't have any trouble so its not too tough. Watch videos and just go slow.

Double post

Cycloplegic retractions tend to over-plus or under-minus which will leave you to some degree blurry at distance if you are prescribed more plus/less minus than you can handle (key is handle). Many people can't completely relax their accommodation all the way which is what the cyclo drops do (well relax most of ithe accommodation) depending on which drop is used.. The 2 diopters of difference in your Rx complicates things too...with glasses, 2 different images (due to difference in prescription) sizes are going to your brain and that makes it more difficult to fuse them into one. Contact lenses eliminates most of the difference in image size but they can't correct the esotropia. Have you ever tried contacts? If so, we're you able fuse (no double vision or suppression)? Your true eye dominance never changes, but the eye you prefer to use will based on which eye gives you the clearest vision with the least accommodation and diplopia. Based on your refractive error without glasses, it makes perfect sense that your "dominant" eye changes depending on the distance you are looking... If you accommodate, you're right eye will see better than your left eye at distance up to 0.75 D but the right will have to do a lot of accommodating to make things clear which will tire your eyes quicker as well as make the esotropia worse (actually you can't accommodate in only one so both eyes will always accommodating the same amount at any given time) so when you look at things close enough, the left eye will take over. Hopefully understanding that will help you solve your problem. Are you shooting with any refractive correction (even if it is without prism)? If not, are you aligning the dot to the right eye?

You never said your refractive error. It sounds as if you have been thoroughly evaluated so I assume you have probably had a cycloplegic refraction at some point and if you are hyperopic, that has been COMPLETELY corrected. As I am sure you are aware, as you accommodate, your eyes turn in so the more plus (if you are hyperopic) or less minus (if you are myopic) in your prescription you can handle, the smaller the esotropia will be. Without knowing the specifics, have you ever tried using a small over-the-counter (0.75 D) reading glass and looking far away through them. It depends on your refractive error and ACA ratio, but they may help with the esotropia although it probably will blur you at distance (again, it depends on your refractive error). Translucent tape and Fresnel Prisms (which are already somewhat translucent to begin with) are a good choices because they will still allow you to have peripheral vision but avoid the double vision. Another option would be clear safety goggles over your prism glasses. Whichever method you chose (assuming that can't fix your refractive error), I would bet if you spend some time aligning the sights while not being at the range (just consciously trying to maintain fusion), you could see some improvement since you do have some stereopsis and the ability to align the eyes at times. Vision training can't fix all of your problems and is definitely much less effective at 38 compared to a child, but training your brain/eyes to do a specific task (such as shooting with a red dot and maintaining fusion) may be possible if you work at it. That is why I would try not to even worry about shooting at first so that you can concentrate on one thing.....seeing what you need to see. If you can consistently get the correct sight picture, then introduce dry fire and shooting. One other thing to keep in mind.....Adam Brown passed all of Seal Team 6 requirements (including CQC) AFTER losing his dominant eye and much of the function of his dominant hand so quick shooting can be done with just one eye.

What's your age? Is your refractive error fully corrected? Do you know exactly how much of an esotrope you are? What exactly are you trying to accomplish....shooting with both eyes open all the time with a red dot on a pistol?