Charlestiller

I started with an Uncle Mikes competition belt and blade tech holster. Not the fanciest, but worked just fine for production. Oh, and I was using ghost mag pouches. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

These are the best pants. Not just the pockets, but the weight is amazing. And they have just a little bit of stretch to them, which is hard to find in a ripstop pant. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’ve had both and this is true. The ghosts are great for an economy option, but the DAA seem to be a bit better quality and the mounting setup is way better. I also ran both bullet out. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’m in the market for another 1911 for EDC. I want something in .45ACP. My budget is around $1200-$1400. In this price range is the SA TRP Operator pretty much the best option or is there a comparable option that I’m not thinking of? Seems like everything is just below it in the $800-$1000 range, or WAY out of my price range higher. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Or if you sell your car....or a kidney, Wilson Combat makes some really nice 9mm’s. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I like to run a drill where you start from retention or compressed ready (whatever you chose to call this position) and begin firing and fire between 3-5rds while transitioning from retention to full extension. This seemed to really help me with flinch. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

W231/HP38 or Titegroup. Both work very well for .45. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

TW25 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I know they aren’t the most aggressive, but I get the best purchase on my 1911’s with VZ Recon grips. They just seem to glue my hands to the pistol. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

A 1911 or 2011 in 9mm would work well for steel challenge. I’ve always been partial to the 1911 myself. There are lots of good 9mm 1911 offerings now. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The Dan Wesson’s work exceptionally well, but I’ve noticed that it all comes down to two things: 1) which bullets you use 2) which mags you use. Some guns are just more forgiving and will work with almost anything like the Dan Wesson’s. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The SA cut from Dawson work well on the operator pistols. I’ve got some on one of mine right now. No issues. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I work for a small city Police Department and a couple years ago we were carrying Glock 21 Gen4’s as our duty gun so the chief wanted a .45ACP backup gun. The shield was the best option at the time so that’s what we got. We carried them on our ankle for on duty carry and I have to admit that the grip was pretty hard on socks and pant legs. But the guns shot amazing. I will say that with really hot +P loss they are pretty uncomfortable to shoot. Almost surprisingly so. But they are as accurate and reliable and small as you could ask a .45ACP to be. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Welcome to the forum! Tell us about yourself!

Well, it’s hard to think of where to start. I have been interested in guns since I was a kids. I had a cousin that was a couple years older than me move in with us when I was about 13. He was from Virginia and came to live with us in South-Central Kentucky. We became best friends and bonded watching action movies and he shared his limited knowledge of guns and I became very interested. When I was 16yrs old I had a friend that took me to a gun store one town over so I could look at guns. While there I put a brand new Glock 23 on layaway. The plan was for my friend to come back and purchase the gun for me at a later date . Being the overly honest child that I was though, I couldn’t keep it from my dad so I shared with him my desire and interest in guns and told him about the gun I had on layaway. He was super cool about it and actually let me give home the rest of the money and he went and picked the gun up for me. It was the coolest thing I had ever owned. I was as cool as Tommy Lee Jones in U.S. Marshals, which was a strong connection for me because I have an uncle that is a U.S. Marshal and that is what me and my cousin wanted to be when we grew up. Well, since I was a teenager working at McDonald’s I didn’t have lots of money for things like ammo, so I saved up for “important” things....like a crimson trace laser grip! Man I was cool! I did lots of internet research and began heavily trading guns once I turned 21. I still didn’t have that much money so I could never afford more than one or two pistols at a time so I was trading almost weekly. During this whole time I never got into rifles. Pistols were all I was really interested in. When I turned 24 I got hired by my local Sheriff’s Office and went to the Police Academy at DOCJT here in Kentucky. At my specific department we were not issued firearms and instead had to purchase our own. So I went with what was the most popular choice for officers in my area and that was a Glock 22 gen4 with a TLR-1 and a Glock 27 gen3 as a backup gun. I was at the Sheriff's Office for approximately 5 years, and during that time I went through probably 5 or 6 different sidearms. Since we could carry anything we wanted I would switch pretty regularly just to keep things interesting. I was doing quite a bit of shooting by this point and had gained a pretty high level of proficiency. The training that I had received at DOCJT was actually quite good and gave me a really good foundation to build upon in my own practice and training. While I was at the Sheriff's Office I was afforded the opportunity to go to Firearms Instructor School, to become a KLEC certified firearms instructor for law enforcement. That was some of the best training I've had to this day. I went through that class while carrying a Smith & Wesson 1911 E-series with a TLR-1. I had the only non-Glock in the whole training class, except for one guy that had a Sig P229 in with a DAK trigger. Fast forward a few years and I have now switched to a local municipal agencey (City Police Department) and I head up their training and firearms program. I began to shoot so much that I needed to start reloading in order to keep up with my shooting demands. My wife got me a Hornady LnL AP press for father's day a few years ago and I started cranking out rounds just so I could go to the range on weekends or take some friends out shooting. Well this went on for a few years and I got to talking with one of the EMT's that works at our local EMS agency and he was talking about his cousin who was into competition shooting. So my friend and I started going over to his cousin's house and shooting with him some and he showed us what we needed to know and what base level gear to get in order to get started in USPSA. We started going to club matches in Wilmore, Kentucky and at the Rockcastle Shooting Center in Park City, Kentucky. We even went and shot at the Battle in the Bluegrass a few years ago when we started. The first gun that I took to a match was a Ruger SR9 that I had laying around because I just so happen to have a bunch of magazines for it and it was one of the only 9mm pistols that I owned at the time. My current department that I worked for issued us Glock 21's in .45ACP and I wanted to start USPSA in production so I wanted to do that with a 9mm and most of my guns where .45 because I liked to have caliber similarity with my work guns. Once I knew that I really liked competition shooting I ditched the SR9 and purchased a new Smith & Wesson M&P 9L. I purchased slightly better gear and started to really enjoy doing the local matches, but alas, life got in the way and I had to take a break from shooting USPSA for a couple years, which brings me to today. I haven't shot a competition since 2018 because of some life (kids, wife, moving houses, etc.) and this year I decided to get back into the game. That is why I'm starting this range diary. My thoughts and goals are a little different this time around. I am thinking about using only my carry guns or department issued guns for competition shooting. I know that I won't be as competitive, but my main goal is more about keeping my proficiency up than it is to climb in class ranking or competing with anyone. I'm going to be selling my Hornady LnL AP and getting a new Dillon this year I think. I want to invest in a case feeder and thought that if I'm going to sink any more money into reloading equipment then now is the time to switch to Dillon before I do that. Not sure which division I'll be shooting in when I start back, but my wife caught me watching USPSA videos on youtube yesterday and said that she would like to try that so now we are looking at maybe getting her trained up to shoot some competitions this year, and that opens up a whole new level of enjoyment for me in the shooting sports. I'm making this diary to keep track of my progress and changes and hopefully things I learn along the way. It should be entertaining if nothing else to see how this process unfolds. I'm not really looking for feedback, but I don't mind if anybody posts or comments on my diary or has any questions for me.

The answer is obviously not to cock the hammer before the first shot. [emoji2357]. This is the perfect problem to fix with dry fire practice. Lots and lots of single draw and trigger pull repetitions. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yep. This right here. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This can’t be real. There is no way anyone would seriously consider this. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’ve only shot their 9mm but it has all been great! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I would settle on a bullet and that will help determine the powder, OAL, etc. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Stoning on the primer system is an absolute must right out of the box! Once you get that squared away it’s really just small adjustments to get them to run smooth! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’ve loaded tons of .400 blue bullets after switching from a .401 (don’t remember the other brand). I remember that I did adjust my old recipe, but I had no distinguishable difference in accuracy out of my guns. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

On a compact grip does it tend to crowd the fingers between it and the trigger guard? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’ve never had any issue with coated bullets, but for such a small difference in price I switched to RMR FMJ bullets just to be safe. They are more accurate with my load recipe than what I could achieve with coated bullets. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk