apoc4lypse

Is your club going to run all eight stages or fewer than 8? Will the stages be permanently set up or will you set up/tear down every match? If the latter, I'd go with a hanger hook style set with a wide H-shaped base. When I bought my practice set it was from shootingtargets7. With hanger hooks it's very easy to change the plates - not so much if you have hangers with the bolt/spring/nut configuration. Also, definitely spring for 3/8" thickness as 1/4" plates will get knocked off the hook as someone mentioned above, especially with .45 cal or PCC. Also, you may want to inquire about the measurement of where the slot is cut in relation to the edge of the plate. Ideally, this will be the same distance for the 12" and 10" plate (so they will stand at the same 5' height when used with an appropriately cut 2x4). The rectangles should have their slot cut an additional 6" lower, +/-2" so they will stand close to 5'6" when used with that same 2x4. It'll prevent you from needing specific 2x4's at a different length for your rectangular plates. Lastly, if you setting up each time, you may want to look for something that stacks well - both for storage and transport. H style bases will likely stack better than the X style ones in some of your links. Just make sure that the H style base is wide enough so that you don't get a lot of rocking when shot, or else you will need to stake them, which is a PITA.

Great info. But it does seem like the 2024 peak times might be off, at least for CO. In CO I am now classified for SC-102, SC-103, SC-105, and SC-106, which totals 43.5s under the 2024 peak times per your table, but it is calculating against 42.5s in the rankings.

Awesome data, thank you for your hard work! Also, it would be a nice feature to be able to plug in your SCSA number at the main page and bring up your rankings for each of your classified divisions, as opposed to searching them individually by division

Done that intentionally to see if it would work and got the same results as you. Even my PCC would only ignite them half the time.

Hi guys, I'm M in Open and mainly got there shooting a single stack 1911 with a frame mounted optic and short comp. I ended up selling the gun because it had issues particularly with the aluminum frame it was built on. I bought a Canik Rival to try and shoot Open and wasn't really impressed. So I guess I'm open (haha) to suggestions for what you would consider an ideal Open gun for SCSA. As a caveat, I don't shoot USPSA, so I'd rather this gun be light weight for fast transitions. I got to shoot a Staccato XC recently and was very impressed. It was a friend's gun so I didn't draw from holster, but was able to shoot it from low ready on S&H for a 1.62s string, which is similar to what I get on my VQ Black Mamba. I think the polymer grip reducing the weight along with the single port comp for regular 9mm loads makes it effective for SCSA, though perhaps it would not be competitive for USPSA Open as it isn't meant for major PF. Is there a better option out there? Budget is around the $4500 range as the XC is that price.

I ended up sending it back again for the fourth time, and they finally replaced it with another model of LW, as the one that I had was a limited run and isn't in production anymore. I got the replacement back today. Initially they wanted me to pay for the difference in price (the replacement was like $30 higher per their MSRP) but I wasn't having any of that and they relented and waived the upcharge. I'll be selling this one locally as Bass Pro has refused to accept a return on the gun, even though the replacement was brand new.

The other parts seem to be fitted well. I'm not sure what you mean about stopping on the frame and not the link - do you mean when the barrel is pushed back and rests on the frame rails?

Yeah they really did that. On some guns the slide lock goes in easy because of the contouring on the slide lock tab but for the Kimbers it's tough to insert without using a small punch or similar tool to depress the detent.

So I got the gun back after a little more than a month and they replaced the top half. Unfortunately while doing so they gouged out the frame at the bottom of the slide lock slot (see pics). Is that kind of damage normal wear and tear or should I angle for getting a replacement gun?

It's on its third trip back to Kimber. Hopefully they will replace the top half or give me a new gun. It still boggles me how the lead gunsmith thought that this was an acceptable way to repair one of their guns.

Yeah, I talked with the GM today and he said they would try to send it to Kimber again to see if they replace it with either a new gun or a new top half. Hopefully I'll get a new gun and just sell it.

So what's the difference between the lead gunsmith and the regular gunsmiths at Kimber? The lead gunsmith gets to use the DREMEL!!! It's hard to tell in the pic, but their answer to the lug peening issue was to add a 45* bevel on each lug. So now there is probably less than 50% of vertical engagement of the lugs in the locked position. Am I wrong in concluding this is a problem just waiting to spiral out of control? Needless to say I didn't accept the repair yet and hope to speak with the store manager about getting my money back. I have no faith in Kimber to repair anything at this point.

Sorry for the semi-necro but I was finally able to shoot my classification in a full match, and using both of my guns too! I shot PCCO (96.05%) first then RFRO (98.4%) second. Prior to this I usually did it in reverse, but maybe there's something to shooting the slower gun first and the faster one after you're warmed up for that stage. I exceeded 100% on overall classifications by 2 seconds on RFRO, but I'm just .14s shy on PCCO. Daniel Mathias beat me to all 13 GMs but I'm going to try and beat him to all 13 100% GMs

The Armanov grips are great if you have big hands. They're ocassionally on sale on Amazon; I got a set of purple ones in large for $16.

I don't expect perfection from a budget gun but I do expect it to work after the 500 round break-in period, rather than becoming completely inoperable. Hopefully they send me a new one which I can return to the store for my money back.

Why do you remove the mount to clean? Is it just so you don't get solvent on the optic? I just put a plastic bag over it and rubber band it shut while cleaning to prevent that.

Kimber wants me to send it back again and this time it's going to the lead gunsmith. I'll keep you all apprised of the situation. If it comes back and it's still defective then yeah I'm going to push hard to get my money back.

I wouldn't sell it without disclosing the issues; I've been on the receiving end of that so I wouldn't wish that on anyone. But I think this gun is defective beyond reselling. When I got home, I pulled it out and the slide was frozen in the forward position. I had to tap it with a rubber mallet to break the lockup. While I can now rack it, it won't go into full battery by itself and freezes up again if it is pushed into battery. So there is definitely something wrong with the lock up. I emailed Kimber and unless they want to replace the whole top half I don't think this is a fixable problem. The slide lugs have a significant amount of material removed, to the point where I'm thinking maybe they were milled a little out of position and that's what's causing the barrel lugs to cut into them. Photo attached. You can see metal shavings on the barrel and slide lugs, and the large grooves cut into the slide lugs by the barrel. At this point I'm angling for a refund. I literally shot 25 rounds through it and the gun is now inoperable after coming back from repair.

I shot it this morning and if anything, it's worse. I had maybe two of five groups that were okay, and the last two were very large. I think I'll make one more attempt with Kimber CS and if they are unwilling to investigate it further I'll be selling it.

I don't mind building loads specific to each gun with different bullets and different powders; sorry if that wasn't clear. When I started loading for my Open gun I was using a mousefart Titegroup load and I thought that the slide action (using very light springs) was still too bouncy, which is why I swapped to a higher gas/faster load with stiffer springs to help tame the muzzle rise via the comp. But I haven't shot those types of loads side by side so I may need to revisit it. I'll give those 100gr Berry's a shot if I can find any locally.

I got it back today; kind of surprised how fast the turnaround was (around two weeks since I shipped it over). I did have to reinstall all the factory parts before sending the gun off but it was no biggie. According to Kimber, the following work was done: Barrel fit to slide as per factory specifications Replaced recoil spring and thumb safety Refinished barrel Chamber reamed and polished When I took it apart I still noticed that the slide lugs had raised/peened edges, but I'll shoot it as is to see if the stringing went away and hopefully those will just wear down properly over time.

I do believe the Brownells BRN-22 receivers are anodized so you should be good to go. I would get one but for whatever reason they don't do FFL transfers to Bass Pro where I get transfers for free, so I never sprung for one. Let us know how it runs for you.

On Ruger 10/22s I'd spring for an anodized receiver like on the satin stainless guns. The black painted receivers have a lot of overspray that can roughen up the bolt stroke. On the cheaper 10/22 I bought, I removed the overspray with acetone and polished the inside with sandpaper and it still wasn't 100% reliable even with the Kidd guide rod. On my T/CR with an anodized receiver, it was close to 100% even with the stock parts.

Does that load generate enough gas to run the comp on your Open gun? I've heard that you have to load to near major levels to benefit from the comp.

Do you have a preferred bullet weight or rule of thumb when it comes to reloading specifically for Steel Challenge? For the longest time I've always stuck with 124gr FMJs but recent experiments with 124gr HPs have gotten me better accuracy from my 1911s. So I'm wondering if there are any other bullet weights/profiles I should be exploring optimize my Steel Challenge performance. I'll be loading for Open (1911 w/shortened compensator), Production (Walther PDP 4"), and SS (Springfield RO or Kimber LW 5" 1911). Any suggestions would be welcome.