Pittbug

The 650 came in the mail yesterday, while I was the Pickaway skating rink match, but I got it set up last night. Just need primers, powder and adjustment of the powder bar and I'm good to go.

I bet everyone is still cleaning muddy magazines... More drying than cleaning but it wasn't that bad, it was a great slippery match and great to see Bob Vogel share in the ice and water. I'm wondering what the weather's going to be like in March... perhaps some crazy thunderstorms? When I got back home my 650 was waiting for me, so I got it mounted and adjusted. Just need to buy some primers, powder and calibrate the powder bar

Ok, magwell is fitted and ready to go, but man, I'd forgotten what a huge PITA a series 80 gun is to reassemble.

Hi Ken, yeah I know about the trimming, but the problem is the width, not the overall length of the grip. The width is supposed to be no more than 1 5/8", but the magwell is 1 3/4" wide. I haven't weighed it yet, but that may be another problem I have to address. I think a this point I'm going to have to just shoot the XD in CDP and the para in L10.

Sorry I should have a little clearer in my OP, both my guns are 45acp so I shoot them in CDP.

I currently have 2 guns: XD45 and a para P14. I like the XD, but the para is a much more accurate and consistent gun for me. I've used them both to shoot CDP. I just purchased a S&A full mag guide for the para but measured it last night and realized that it's too big for the IDPA box by 1/8" So I have some options: 1) Shoot the XD in IDPA and Para in USPSA 2) Return the mag guide and get another that fits the box 3) Get the mag guide milled down to fit 4) Give up IDPA and shoot USPSA 5) Forget the XD and get another 1911 for IDPA There are possibly more options... what would you do?

There's so much in that book that I'm going to have to read it a few more times and take notes. Since this sport is pretty much a solo sport, where you learn on your own, I didn't know where to begin. I now have a much better understanding of what and how I need to restructure certain things in my head.

Sounds like you both had a good time and shot well!

Can you be a little more specific? Do you want info on reloading for it? Stripping it? Cleaning it? Modifying it? Shooting it? ??

Thanks Duane, I'll give that a go.

Duane: Ok, I'll give it a try. Do you suggest adding the case lube during tumbling, or just prior to them going in the case feeder?

No case lube? No dial calipers? For shame. I've never used case lube on 45acp brass. I did forget to add the digital calipers.

I set up a reloading bench last night...

... case feeder, strong mount, aluminum roller handle, bullet tray, cover, powder check, spare parts kit, electronic scales, carbide dies, case gauge, primer flip tray and I also added a copy of "With Winning in Mind" - can't wait to read that!

If you're reloading with a progressive press, it will remove the old primer in the first station, so you can tumble with the old primers still intact. I use the dillon cv2001 tumbler with lyman walnut which is impregnated with rouge for 90 mins, then swap to 1/16th corn cob (from pet store) for 30 mins - they turn out very shiny and like new.

His reloads were pretty slow though....

Chris: Thx for the heads up on the Miamisburg classifiers, I'll have to put that on my calendar.

Like this? (about a minute in for the start of the teeter totter tricks) So two SOs are going to jump onto one end of the teeter totter to flip the texas star 30 feet into the air and we have to nail it before it hits the deck?

Look on the bright side, you actually went to the range.

It's so nice to figure stuff out. I've also often wondered if I should also switch to shooting with my left hand...

Yes, absolutely, I WILL get to that point. But since I'm fairly new to the game, I'm starting from the beginning and working things out. I'd never really practiced them before while paying so much attention to what I'd doing. That's what I was paying close attention to last night and it really helped. Previously I knew I had to do that, but I was so focussed on the position of the gun and looking at the mag opening, that I wasn't aware of my hand position on the mag. One last thing "It's strong hand, support hand, because there's nothing weak about what I do" --Scott Warren

Ok, the next thing I noticed and fixed tonight was that I wasn't paying enough attention to being aware of how I was gripping the fresh mag as I draw it from the pouch. I found that if I was looking at the magazine opening but shifted my mental focus to my support hand and how I was gripping the magazine, I was able to get even more consistent. I wonder what I'll "see" tomorrow night....

My reloads were always very inconsistent. I could never quite understand why I was so bad at them. I'm (well I used to be) quite sporty and coordinated at school, so I found it quite frustrating that I could never hit my reloads consistently. Because I can't reach the magazine release button without shifting my grip, I had always assumed that I was shifting my grip differently every time, placing the magazine opening in a slightly different position in my hand. After doing a few Burkett reloads, it suddenly dawned on me what I'd been doing wrong. After pressing the magazine release button, the magazine would start to eject and I'd relax my grip even before the fresh mag was anywhere near the opening. This meant that the butt of the grip was moving around in space when the fresh mag was being brought up to it. No wonder I couldn't be consistent with my reloads, I was giving myself a moving target. So now I press the mag release button and hold it down, concentrating on keeping the gun motionless. It's amazing how much easier it is to find the magazine opening and start the fresh mag going in when the grip isn't moving! I can't believe I've been making this silly mistake for so long, but on the flip side, I'm really happy that I've figured that out by myself.

1) Maintain a positive attitude 2) Improve my diet and exercise plan 3) Work hard, play hard 4) Achieve expert in CDP by the end of the year

Thanks for the info, yeah I'm sure I'll be able to shoot some classifiers before Sept.