chemnut842

Well this sucks... I have been sick with a nasty cold since Wednesday and today isn’t looking much better. I was hoping I could make a “go” decision this morning but it just isn’t happening. I will try to call the MD this AM, if I can find a contact, and tell him to give my spot to a walk-in. Hope to find another match for next weekend,

I think my baseplates MAY get here on time, otherwise I will just play it by ear. At this stage, I’m not concerned of the prospect of shooting open - it is the same trigger time either way. I do have a shot timer, I just wasn’t using it this weekend. i would very much like to take a class as suggested, I have seen this suggested in a lot of threads and can see how it would be of great benefit. as to the suppressor - I either have to use it or I will need to look for another place to practice. There are just too many non-shooters and houses within earshot, and if I start causing people to complain - it may screw it up for others who like using the range on occasion. I can certainly do SOME things without the can, like drawing and shooting a shot or 2 on the timer. But anything more than slow fire or short strings - I would hesitate to push my luck. thank you for all the good feedback, and maybe I will see one or 2 of you on Saturday. I will be in squad 4, my name is Joe.

I just signed up for a match on Saturday. Southern Chester county, 6 stages. I signed up for carry optics, unclassified. Problem: my 509t came with 3 mags and after reviewing the rules for CO - the 2 factory 24 round mags are over legal length by a lot. Decisions: go shoot, load my mags to 21 rounds only (achievable with legal length base plates that I will never receive in time) and hope nobody says anything (isn’t this cheating? I don’t like cheaters, I don’t like dishonest ppl)... option 2: go buy some standard 17 round mags and stay honest(I will need them anyways for the extended basepads). Option 3: change division to open. I will likely do 2 or 3. I ordered Brian Enos’s Book and plan to get serious about making B class. I will digest the information in this book and work out a dry fire routine. After some reading I realize that people consider B class to be the “black belt” of pistol shooting - I want that, and I intend to earn that.

Background: I played USPSA for 2 seasons (5 years ago) and never advanced beyond C class. My gripes were too much waiting around and not much shooting (matches fill up really fast in my region, and as a result - full squads), but my biggest gripe was lack of practice opportunity within reasonable driving distance. All local ranges forbid any sort of rapid fire or drawing from holster. I practiced anyways, following the rules and focusing on grip technique. I would occasionally (half heartedly) dry fire practice at home and practice mag changes. now I have access to a small 40- yard private range. I almost always have the range to myself and common sense and courtesy are the rules. I don’t want to blow it by annoying others in the area, so I bought a suppressor (2 actually) and started practicing. After a lot of work and frustration that I won’t go into now, I finally worked up loads that are reliable(ish) and sufficiently quiet. This allows me to practice rapid fire, target transitions, etc.. in ways that I never could at other ranges and I am enjoying myself. I can’t really draw from a holster with the can attached... but life is all about compromise... Today’s intention: fire 20 round strings at a single target, ~ 12 yards away at a pace that allows me to shoot inside of A zone while focusing on trigger control and grip technique. Observations: a lot of bouncing around after each shot (mostly vertical and about 1/2 as much horizontal). I was not using a shot timer and I am shooting with a red dot, so it is painfully obvious how much the gun is bouncing around. Locking my elbows seems to exacerbate the oscillations compared to not locking my elbows. Most surprising however (and it probably should not be that surprising), is that I think the can is making the recovery time between shots take longer! After thinking about it - this makes some sense as the can equates to more mass, which is hanging off the end of the barrel, that I have to counteract through grip strength. Any slop in my grip technique is only going to be amplified by that swinging mass. On the other hand, I thought the extra mass would act as an inertial dampener to the recoil - and perhaps it is to some extent. Next range session I will fire a few shots with and without the can. I suspect that without the can, the dot will move more but recover faster. If this is the case, the can could turn out to be a great training aid - similar to running with weights on ones ankles, but perhaps that forecast is a tad optimistic...

I just tried a max load of CFE behind a 124 gr. plated xtreme. Out of my 509t with the can attached: avg 1181, es 37, sd 14, 9 shots. They almost cycled the gun - meaning that the cases ejected but the slide did not have enough momentum to strip the round from the mag and push it into the chamber. The bullets were stuck half way out of the mag and partially up the feed ramp. I am running the lighter spring that came with the 509t. I think power pistol could get me there but I will have to try that tomorrow. I am thinking there may be 2 competing forces here. light fast bullets should in theory get me more recoil to push the slide back, however it will also get me more gas slamming into the baffles of the can which will be pulling the barrel forward and potentially making it harder for the gun to get out of battery in the first place. Just a thought...

I like this idea a lot. In theory it should get me very similar recoil energy to what I described. I will try this. Sure it will be a bit louder, but it is way to get some quick information without a bunch of load development. My mind was stuck in subsonic land and I somehow failed to even consider supersonic loads... This is an issue I have been having - there isn't much published data for 165's in 9mm. The best I can do is look at burn rate charts, compare it to published data and make an educated guess at a starting point. I am not opposed to working outside of published load data, I have done it a lot in the past for various projects - I just know to do it safely, I need to measure my chamber pressures and I do not have access to the equipment to do this stuff at home and probably couldn't get away with doing it at work. When we develop off-the-books loads, we are kind of just playing chicken with ourselves by hoping we luck out and see some kind of over-pressure signs before we hit dangerous pressures. I guess that's just the name of the game... Thats pretty much what I thought. Based on the relative burn rates of vv n105 and H110 - I suspect I wouldn't even get enough powder in there to generate sufficient pressure for proper case expansion.

I tried posting this in a suppressor forum and got nothing but negative criticism and safety lectures so I am going to try again here. I know this looks like another post about 9mm major - but its not... I have an unboosted suppressor which weighs only 5oz. I bought it to practice for USPSA, mainly on my PCC. I have no issues running it on my PCC, or my .45's and .40's. However my 9mm's are a tough nut to crack. I really want to run it on my 509t because I plan to shoot in CO this season and that is the only gun I have set up for this. I practice at a private range but noise pollution is a concern - I really don't want to piss the people off who live within a mile radius of this range. The range is only a 10 minute drive from my house, the rules are "common sense rules" and I normally have the run of the place. The only other option that will allow me to practice at a pace grater than 1 shot per 2 seconds is an hour and some change each way, and club membership. So... I can not get the 509t to run with CFE and 147 gr bullets at a published max load (4.2 gr) - it still needs more recoil. That load will reset the trigger, but almost never eject a spent case. VV has a load posted for N105 and 165 gr extreme bullets, and they claim they can get over 1000 fps. I suspect this will produce enough recoil to run the gun, but I cant find N105 anywhere locally. Has anybody ever tried H110 with 165's in a 9mm luger? I am just looking for a load that will SAFELY push a 165 gr xtreme to 1000 fps. I would prefer it to be relatively clean so I don't gunk up my can too fast - but its not really that big of a deal... I would like to get information from people who have tried it, then when I have a few options - I will go powder shopping. All I have on hand right now is CFE, lilgun, H110 and an old bottle of power pistol. If after all this, I still cant get the recoil that I need, then I guess I will need to wait another 9 months and spend another 1k on a boosted can.... stupid NFA, all I want to do is practice for competition without disturbing the peace... Thanks all!