Leozinho

Someone mentioned Paleo being an unsustainable fad diet. I agree you could call it a fad because it has caught on very quickly, but I don't agree that it's unsustainable. I found it fairly easy to sustain, especially if you invoke the 90% compliance rule. I would imagine it's much easier than a calorie restrictive diet that often leaves you hungry. Another note – Lots of mention of Mark's Daily Apple or DA. Just so people know, that's Mark Sisson, and his book is The Primal Blueprint. It's a very accessible approach to a "caveman" way of eating and training. (I'm not completely onboard with his take on cholesterol and heart disease. Seems like a leap of faith to think that Mark Sisson has it all figured out and the thousands of cardiologists that prescribe statins are all deluded. Possible, but not convinced yet.)

I checked today and my local GNC still has the grippers for $20 for the set of 3.

When in doubt, start with the T (unless you are already into the iron game or you know you have a strong grip.) Even if you can't close it to start, it won't take long until you can. I was going to recommend the beginner set of GNC's Pro Performance Ultimate Grips (three grippers that would more or less replicate the CoC Guide, Trainer and #1.) They used to be $20 for all three, but seems the price is now $49. At that price, I'd go with the CoC grippers.

Spanky, I don't blame you for being unconvinced. I wouldn't necessarily believe a random guy on the internet either, which is why I hope you'll post your proposed plan to do 5x5 program with 6 days a week of CF on board.crossfit.com. I'll wager you won't get a single positive response to your plan. Folks there have experimented with CF for a while now and know what doesn't work. If you want to do metcons and get stronger, consider the programs that are specifically designed to mix metcons and strength, like CFFB (CF Football) or, to a lesser extent, a 5/3/1 program with its various conditioning plans. No use wasting time or beating up your body by repeating what others have already figured out doesn't work.

5x5 plus 5 to 6 days of CF per week will be too much. Recovery will suffer. (This depends partly on what you mean by CF too, since nowadays it can mean just about anything.)

I already ordered an Apex hard sear and another striker assembly from you this afternoon. (I did see the Pro sears you had for sale but decided to see what all the fuss was about with the Apex.) But I've got a feeling a trigger job from a true professional might be in my future anyway.

Thanks for the detailed response, Shaun. That is helpful.

Dead trigger AND doubling I have a new 9 Pro. The factory test fire was on 3/17/2011. Serial number starts with D. It has a silver striker and large sear plunger. I installed the Apex competition trigger and sear spring (I left the striker spring stock) and re-profiled the sear just enough to take most of the “hump” or “wave” off. It’s just over 90 degrees now, if that makes sense. I didn’t reduce the height of the sear; i.e. I didn't take any metal off the top of the sear. Keep in mind that this is a Pro sear, which may have a lower height than a stock sear. Not sure. I also polished the face of striker assembly where it engages the sear (just a polishing, no significant removal of metal). Trigger was 4.5 lbs after polishing/re-profiling sear and dropped to 2.6 lbs after installing the two lighter springs. I did all this before I fired it, which I know isn’t the way to do it. But it’s easier for me to get to my workbench than the range, and the urge to tinker was overpowering. Finally I test fired it, and I have the dreaded dead trigger every 5 rounds or so. More worrying, possibly, is that it doubled and then tripled on me as well. From doing a little reading, I suspect the weaker competition sear spring is causing the dead trigger. The theory, as I understand it, is that the weak spring is underpowered and lets the sear 'flutter' and if the timing is wrong, the sear will be in a down position and not catch and cock the striker assembly. Correct me if my understanding is wrong. The dead trigger issue is why S&W went with the larger diameter sear plunger. (Though some have documented Pro's with the larger sear plunger that had dead triggers, the larger sear plunger mostly fixed the problem, according to what I've read. So by adding a lighter sear spring, I more or less retrofitted a known problem.) So I’ll be going back to the stock sear spring. (Competition sear spring only reduced pull by .5 lb.) My question is if the doubling is related to the dead trigger issue. Or did I mess up the sear and cause this, and this is a separate issue has nothing to do with the dead trigger? Opinions? (I'm going back to a stock sear and striker assembly and will start over, which is kind of a shame because I was very happy with the feel of the trigger. But I want to know what I did wrong.) Thanks.

I wear an Aker B22 daily. It's 1.25", so it fits well in my suit pants (1.5" tends to be a tight squeeze through the belt loops) and doesn't look like a gun belt. It has a polymer insert and is very stiff. Relatively cheap at $50. However, the outer finish quickly wore out wherever my gear rides, leaving roughed out leather. For this reason I can't recommend it and will be replacing it with something else.

If ya'll are looking for someone local, ask around and see if Todd Kennedy is still in Brunswick. He might be persuaded to give lessons. I don't have his contact info, though.

I watched the undercard on Facebook. And had it not been for the new deal with Fox, the fights would have been $50 plus on PPV. FOX/UFC wanted the single fight to have airtime to tell the 'stories' behind the fighters. Last night wasn't for the hardcore fight fans, but rather for casual viewers that FOX/UFC is trying to reach. Not a great fight, but that's how it goes.

A lot of what we do is relevant to the street, and certainly some isn't. But speed is a tactic, and I don't think the tactical guys put enough emphasis on it. I know people that have been to multiple classes with the top names, and they are slow and not getting faster and would finish near butt neckid last in a USPSA match. Some of those guys that train with the tactical instructors still have pretty weak grips, no concept of calling shots or watching sights lift, etc. The lack of emphasis on speed is starting to change, with more tactical trainers using shot timers and publishing shooting standards with par times. I don't think many did that five years ago. Some openly talk about the value of competing (Pat McNamara, as one example), and they certainly didn't talk about competing as much five years ago. I believe this is thanks to the USPSA types that some groups brought in as instructors. That's about all I can say without getting away from the purpose of this forum. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I tell people to learn marksmanship from shooting USPSA and an USPSA-focused instructor and go to a tactical guy (that uses force on force, rather than mag dumps from 7 yards) for self defense. Unfortunately not many do both well, although there are exceptions. (I'm a 'tactical' guy first and got into USPSA to improve my shooting. It's pushed me further than I would have pushed myself on my own and I learned more from shooting USPSA than I did from my military or LEO firearm instructors. Your mileage may vary.)

Sitting is bad for your health, and not because you might miss a double charge. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/stand-up-while-you-read-this/ Your chair is your enemy. It doesnt matter if you go running every morning, or youre a regular at the gym. If you spend most of the rest of the day sitting in your car, your office chair, on your sofa at home you are putting yourself at increased risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, a variety of cancers and an early death. In other words, irrespective of whether you exercise vigorously, sitting for long periods is bad for you. That, at least, is the conclusion of several recent studies. Indeed, if you consider only healthy people who exercise regularly, those who sit the most during the rest of the day have larger waists and worse profiles of blood pressure and blood sugar than those who sit less. Among people who sit in front of the television for more than three hours each day, those who exercise are as fat as those who dont: sitting a lot appears to offset some of the benefits of jogging a lot.

You are right that instruction out of the gate will be money well spent. I'd caution that if you go looking for an instructor focused on beginners you may be directed to the NRA/Concealed Carry type. That's probably not the person you want. I´d say as a beginner, though, you don´t have to travel across the country to shoot with the National or World Champion. See if you can find a local M or GM that's willing to work with you. He'll get you started with sound fundamentals and it will be a while before you outgrow him (if ever.)

I remember reading that, too. Generally, although some don't really keep the gun within the 2" rule and need to be shimmed (flat washer or two). I know the M&P model definitely exceeds the 2" without modification. R, http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=104121&st=0&p=1242481&hl=bladetech%20washer&fromsearch=1entry1242481 G-manbart provides good advice, so it's worth measuring once you get one.

And I was just reading a thread about how it was hard to load a 9mm with a double charge (without it being apparent.) What would a double charge of 4.5gr of TG look like in the case? Overflowing or nearly? I ask as a soon-to-be new reloader, and I might pick a powder partially based on it being high-volume and therefore harder to double charge without noticing it. Glad your boy was not injured.

Until Bob comes along, I can tell you what he talks about on his "World Class Pistol Skills" instructional. I hoped he would, but he doesn't mention why he cants the gun when shooting freestyle. Nor does he talk about placing pressure on the frame with his thumbs. He does say that he "torques" both of his hands inward to make the shooting platform more stable. He does say he cants the gun slightly inward shooting WHO, which he says is probably a result of trying to get the sights in front of his dominant eye. He stresses getting the weak hand very high on the gun, and puts it more forward than most people. The index finger of his week hand rests on the bottom on the trigger guard, and it's his middle finger of his left hand that rests/pinches in that groove between the right middle finger and the trigger guard. He also talks at length about the importance of hand strength. (Good dvd, by the way, though many here that have been studying the game for a long time may find it a little basic. You can stream all of the production company's DVDs for a whole month for $18. They have a lot of tactical and IDPA-specific titles. Vogel's instructional was the most relevant to me. )

Fernando, Can you tell us who's coming out next? I subscribed for a month ($18) and certainly have gotten my money´s worth, but probably won't renew unless you have some new ones coming out. I come from a tactical background, so all the titles from the ex-mil guys don't add much value for me. I don't pretend to know your target market or pretend to tell you what to produce, but I would like to see more titles from action pistol instructors. (I realize there are probably 15 'tactical' gun forums bigger than Benos, so maybe it's wise to do more tactical titles.) (I also don't shoot IDPA, so I can't get into all the IDPA-focused titles. I think you have IDPA specific techniques pretty well covered.)

Any GM's or M's in the area teaching or interested in teaching private or semi-private classes? Thanks.

Well, that's your primary option now, but when the 9L was still out it was about $75 cheaper than the Pro. Since most people in USPSA were still added their own sights and Apex kits even on the Pros (essentially, replacing the very parts that you just paid extra for), it was considered a better idea to just save the money and get the 9L. Not that there's an option for the 9L now, but the Pro might be a better deal than the OP thinks. I bought the Pro because I couldn't get LE pricing on the 9L. (I wanted to save money by buying a 9L and changing the sights and doing a trigger job myself.) While the Apex hard sear may be straight up better than the PRO sear, I've found with just a little bit of work my trigger is coming along nicely using the Pro sear. I've got the Apex competition spring kit ready to drop in, and already modified the striker block and sear. At this point don't see the need to buy the full Apex competition enhancement kit if you are trying to keep costs down. (I've handled an M&P with Apex parts before, but not side-by-side with mine. So I reserve the right to change my mind. ) Just like everyone else, I do find the front sight on the Pro to be thicker than I like.

I guess I'm the same way. I've shot first a Beretta in duty and competition and the Sig on duty for so long that the light pre-travel doesn't seem that bad. However, I'm trying to take out the pre-travel just to see what all the fuss is about. I'm also not sure about the lack of the positive reset either. I don't think I'll notice when really cranking shots.

I want to stay legal for Production. Apparently there's talk of S&W selling guns with the Apex FSS as an option, which would make it a legal modification (as I understand it.) But for now it's not an option. Thanks though.

This would be helpful, except S&W forgot to include one of those handy allen wrenches that makes adjusting overtravel easy on the M&P. (Like STI does for it's 2011s)

Did anyone take pictures of his trigger jobs?? Especially set screw or other ways reduce pre-travel and overtravel? I've seen Dan Burwell's tutorial (many thanks) and will be using that, but I'd also like to play around with set screws, bending the trigger bar, and maybe some sort of overtravel stop. I've seen Cha-Lee's pictures (Thanks) but I can't find any others. I'm wondering if anyone else took pictures of their work and would mind posting them. I bought a 9 Pro a couple months ago that I haven't shot yet (it's been a busy summer) and since the rain is going to keep me indoors this weekend I thought I'd finally tackle the trigger. I picked up a couple of stock sears to modify and play around with, so no worries about ruining that sweet Pro sear (This is a joke. The Pro maxes out my cheap 4.5lb RCBS trigger gauge. I reckon the weight is around 5 lbs out of the box. As many have said, buy the 9L, do your own trigger work, and put your preferred front sight on and you'll come out ahead.) Thanks.

Doesn't matter to me if he stays or leaves. Honestly, sticking around to paste targets and reset steel isn't a huge gesture nor a sign of great sportsmanship as far as I'm concerned. (However, whenever someone talks about his DQ on this forum, he usually points out that he stuck around to help the squad.) It's hardly like volunteering at the local homeless shelter. Instead, I think people that do stay do so to show everyone that they aren't sore about being DQ'd, but it's not a noble gesture. In the most practical sense, staying has a pretty poor return to the squad on the DQ'd shooter's time investment. ( How much faster did the match go because the DQ'd shooter stayed and pasted? Probably not much.) For that entirely practical reason, if DQ'ed I say go home without shame and without being judged by everyone else.