want2race

The Franken Open:

Not much to report. Well, other than my first open classifier will post as an 89% and my Ltd percentage is up to 83%. Getting pretty close. My classifiers have been steadily rising ever since I quite caring about them. I care, but I shoot the classifier just like any other stage. I used to shoot them hail mary style. That doesn't work. I built the open gun out of mostly spare parts. .40 caliber. Tube optic mounted very low. It's very easy to switch back and forth to Limited. I loaded up an Open specific load, 135gr over 7.4gr of Universal Clays. Should be good for 1275 fps and it works the comp MUCH better than my 180gr limited load that I was shooting. It's very fun to shoot. Here are some pics of some under-appreciated work. Did the work for a coworker who never even looked at it before throwing into his holster, then into the tool box. Undercut and hand checkered front strap. Blended and hand checkered MS housing, also rounded the butt. Opened up mag opening. Straightened all the jacked up lines on the frame from poor machining. Trigger job. Flushed and countersunk the slide stop pin. Hand serrated the raised rib on the slide 30 LPI (it was rough cast, not even machined from Colt). Cleaned up the beavertail safety install. Tightened the slide on the frame (was incredibly loose). Cut front dovetail for FO front sight. Blasted and parked for a non glare, matte finish.

I don't know why Aimpoint is only making a 4moa dot in the Micro. I finally shot my open gun project, with a Comp XD optic, in a match. We had some hard cover, head shots, mini poppers, swingers and a star. It was the first time I'd shot any open gun in a match. The tube optic was so easy to use. POA = POI. I have the tube mounted VERY close to the slide there is no need to hold over for closer targets. I loved it. Honestly, I didn't even notice the tube. Just watched the dot bounce. Close to the slide:

I did some work, for this guy, who had this gun, and an idea.... After I got done with it, the gun handled and balanced very well with the aluminum grip. It weighed 3oz different from the plastic grip, easily removable from somewhere else if total weight is a concern. The single undercut was a good place to start. I like only one undercut, nothing for the support hand. Otherwise my trigger finger hits the fingers from my weak hand. I've yet to hear negative comments from anybody that personally shot his pistol and aluminum grip. I'm just glad that STI is producing these. There is a TON of time in these grips, I think the price is representative of that. The STI is machined. The SVI is two cast pieces. Apples and Oranges. Both fruit, but different.

I have a Lawnboy with a Honda powerplant. Rear drive. The speed control is the best i've used. The handle pushes in. The further the handle is pushed in the faster it drives the wheels. All I have to do is walk. The faster I walk, the further the handle gets pushed in, the faster the mower drives. When I stop, I'm no longer pushing on the handle, the mower stops. I was sold when I saw their promo video on line. It's not as expensive as a Honda mower, but still has Honda power. 3 in one. I usually bag. Large bag that seperates easily. And I'm partial to Kawasaki green.

I like them with a backwards curve. May look funky, but feels and shoots great. I'm partial to the STI gunsmith blank in my comp cuns so I can shape them how I please.

Shot my .40 Open in a match for the first time sunday. Worked awesome. VERY FUN! Still shooting my 180gr Ltd load. 26 round mag worked great too. I mounted the Aimpoint nearly touching the slide so switching back and forth from open to limited is pretty easy. Since it's now match tested I refinished it (the top end). Slide racker is on left to avoid my high thumb knuckle, I made it out of an aluminum .50 caliber cleaning rod, fitted to the old Bomar dove tail. I'm cheap and it fit the theme of this project (low budget). I started with my old 5" top end with sloppy fit barrel. I installed a sleeve in the link that the slide stop pin slides through to tighten it up. Worked out well. Cut slide and bull barrel back .5", reduced and threaded barrel for cone comp. First attempt at an open project but I have a feeling it won't be my last. I'm going to test some 135gr Noslers just because I'm curious.

To get my Bolen follower to work in my 170 mag (.40 cal) I grooved it to hold the first round in place. The follower rolls over a little but since the first round stays put it works. My Bolen follower looks more like a stock SV on top. I cut the groove in it with my dremel. Just tested it last weekend. 26 rounds of .40, no failures. As for the tube, I did smooth the inside of the ribs a little. I grind them down on the inside and then polish.

Thanks for the post scott. I shot the Area 6 3 gun match two years ago. They had one stage that had steel and paper as well. The stage was set up as such that I spent 2 hours in the hotel room deciding how I wanted to shoot it (got eyes on the day prior to shooting). The plan I came up with was a good one. The ammo in the carriers was mixed. Some of my carriers had two field, two slugs due to where the steel was to be engaged. I totally botched it up since it was the first time I had ever used the carriers and I loaded the ammo in reverse order from what I needed. I kept the ammo straight going into the gun, but my time was horrible. The guy I went with also used my plan and SMOKED the stage. The point? Steel and paper mixed stages exist and I think they're fun and challenging.

I don't mind. A smoking run on this would be in the 45 second range, from unloaded.

If we had any open class shooters I would have recomended empty gun, loaded mags. Mags or speed loaders are not part of the gun until attached or used.

Stage description. The "DQ" was added as a club safety (popper safety) measure. This_sucks.pdf

I had a blast shooting it. I spent a couple days coming up with a challenging stage that required movement, slugs and reloading. Our shotgun stages were fun, but we have small bays so it's difficult to come up with something other than 12 round hosers. For me, reloading the gun is part of the fun of shooting a shotgun stage. It adds a ton of stress on me and that's why I do this anyway. I understand the point about separating those that can load fast vs. those that can't. Should that come into play in stage design? We don't do that on pistol stages do we? With 20 rounds, I should have started gun loaded. Oh well. I have the PDF if you want to see it.

20 round shotgun stage with 4 slugs, unloaded start. PITA or OK? Would you skip it?

SINGLE STACKS DO IT AGAIN. I just got the unofficial combined results from the IN SSvsProd match. Glad Tony was able to pull it off. I wasn't able to pull it all together for the overall. Top 50. If anyone wants the whole list I have it. Indiana Single Stack/Production Match Match Date: 3/29/2009 Combined divisions - These are NOT official results. Place Name USPSA Class Division PF Lady Mil Law For Age Points Stg % 1 Hawkins, Tony L2485 M Single Stack Major N N N N 748.4398 100.00% 2 Vogel, Robert A49056 GM Production Minor N N N N 729.1295 97.42% 3 Hopkins, Shaun A56938 A Single Stack Major N N N N 672.0401 89.79% 4 Brammer, Ryan TY56060 M Production Minor N N N N 636.7415 85.08% 5 Martens, Jacob A52987 B Single Stack Major N N N N 624.1794 83.40% 6 Seipp, Eric TY37816 A Single Stack Major N N N N 608.1842 81.26% 7 Zamberlan, Ryan FY57378 U Production Minor N N N N 593.8120 79.34% 8 Land, Chris A40669 A Production Minor N N N N 592.8812 79.22% 9 Baugh, Jerrod TY58712 C Production Minor N N N N 569.7422 76.12% 10 Estill, Corey A57351 A Single Stack Major N N N N 561.9898 75.09% 11 Roberts, Matt A59795 C Production Minor N N N N 556.0844 74.30% 12 Briggs II, Pete A57071 U Single Stack Major N N N N 555.8291 74.27% 13 Panzl, Greg TY59278 B Production Minor N N N N 553.6234 73.97% 14 Bjork, N Chuck TY58119 B Production Minor N N N N 550.1337 73.50% 15 Sweeney, Matt A54212 C Single Stack Major N N N N Junior 547.9803 73.22% 16 Sorah, Adrian A61481 B Production Minor N N N N 546.7284 73.05% 17 Bedwell, Max A26597 M Single Stack Major N N N N Super Senior 546.5968 73.03% 18 Soonpaa, Mark A43095 U Production Minor N N N N 545.7285 72.92% 19 Kranz, Jeremy A46562 C Production Minor N N N N 539.0256 72.02% 20 Seipp, Kyle TY48748 B Single Stack Major N N N N Junior 535.3267 71.53% 21 Boller, Steve TY30761 U Single Stack Major N N N N 526.6476 70.37% 22 Meuller, James A63299 B Production Minor N N N N 526.4890 70.34% 23 Cottrill, Joshua A59708 C Production Minor N N N N 523.3618 69.93% 24 Gailey, Thomas A40964 A Single Stack Major N N N N 521.9440 69.74% 25 Higgins, Kevin TY45633 U Single Stack Major N N N N 521.1707 69.63% 26 Bies, Nick TY59489 B Production Minor N N N N 515.2900 68.85% 27 Ball, David TY43169 C Production Minor N N N N 514.3671 68.73% 28 Gaither, Charles " TY51926 C Single Stack Major N N N N 510.7965 68.25% 29 Jawor, John (Jack) A36120 U Single Stack Major N N N N 510.5964 68.22% 30 Penley, Brian U Single Stack Major N N N N 508.1501 67.89% 31 Blackwell, John A52087 U Single Stack Major N N N N 506.8900 67.73% 32 Roberts, Brent A52090 C Production Minor N N N N 504.6288 67.42% 33 Perez, Roland TY53293 B Production Minor N N N N 503.6714 67.30% 34 Adair, Nathan A59780 C Production Minor N N N N 500.1959 66.83% 35 MacAslan, Chris TY5293 U Single Stack Major N N N N 499.5678 66.75% 36 Sweeney, Steve A53404 B Single Stack Major N N N N 496.8016 66.38% 37 Shei, Chun-Yu A58873 C Production Minor N N N N 491.3434 65.65% 38 Harris, Ted TY27866 A Production Minor N N N N Senior 486.6682 65.02% 39 Carter, Daniel TY56482 B Production Minor N N N N 484.8985 64.79% 40 Laughlin, Mitch A61569 B Production Minor N N N N 481.4434 64.33% 41 Bright, Aron A51967 B Production Minor N N N N 478.2480 63.90% 42 Newgent, Brad TY57589 B Production Minor N N N N 456.1083 60.94% 43 Wolford, Chris A63190 U Production Minor N N N N 454.1589 60.68% 44 Dawson, J Paul TY49344 C Production Minor N N N N Junior 448.3698 59.91% 45 Pederson, David TY48043 U Single Stack Major N N N N 448.1268 59.87% 46 Brannan, Stephen Pen U Production Minor N N N N 431.6360 57.67% 47 BRANTLEY, THOMAS A60145 B Production Minor N N N N 430.7074 57.55% 48 Parr, Steven A51249 U Single Stack Major N N N N 426.4129 56.97% 49 Elzinga, Mike A50174 U Production Minor N N N N 422.9733 56.51% 50 TRYON, TOM A60566 D Single Stack Major N N N N 422.0441 56.39%

Indiana SS vs Prod match! I heard, unofficially, that Slabsides won...AGAIN! http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?...st&p=948693

...and the winners would be....?

This is for anyone else who may be interested in finding a viable alternative (to the Nova) for Heavy Metal. I shopped for a pump for months. I wanted a 21-22 inch barrel and wanted it to be as cheap as possible. I don't like how stock 870 actions lock up (pull back on pump, pull trigger, action does NOT open). Same with Mossy's. True, the Scattergun Tech guns open upon firing, but they're not cheap. I thought if I could find a Nova cheap enough I'd just cut and rethread the barrel. Couldn't find one cheap enough. I kept getting stories about $250 Nova's but I couldn't find any. Researched the 1300 speed pump. Hmm. Even heard that if you shoot it without your hand on the pump, the action will open. Fellow 3 gunners say that Nova's reload the fastest, but I was willing to give the 1300 a shot (because I'm cheap). Started the search for a Winchester Black Shadow (has a 22" VR barrel). Auctions kept going over $290. Every gun I'd find listed for a good price, was already SPF. I finally found a lightly used Turkey model with a 22" VR barrel on GB. Bad pic, not much info on auction. Price was right, $225 shipped. Condition: As expected, it was a bit rough. Action was REALLY rough, and dry. Light surface rust, but no etching of metal after it was cleaned. Dead spider in chamber. Tore it down and cleaned it. Cleaned up VERY nice. There are few "tree marks" on the receiver but nothing major. While apart I dehorned the loading area a bit. I added a +4 Choate tube and it's nearly flush with the muzzle. Added a Hi-Viz FO front sight. Test fired with 00 Buck, 1oz slugs, my HD load: 2 3/4 #4 Turkey load and Federal 100 round pack #8 shot. I LOVE this thing! So smooth and so fast. And yes, if you shoot it one handed the action will open, the empty will eject and the next round will release onto the lifter. Nice. I can't wait to actually shoot it in a match.

The horizontal bed can be cut down. I got the tip from Schuemann to lower the bed to allow room for the carbon that builds up there. Without a gap the barrel will raise up as carbon builds up and wear the radial lugs. Just another technique I guess. I had a gun that had the VIS cut a bit too far back. The barrel was contacting the inside of the frame rails before the VIS. It wasn't too bad, but after a little relieving to allow the barrel to cam down a bit more it was GTG. I'm curious if there is any space between the frame rails and barrel when it is sitting on the horizontal bed.

Bingo. The link is only supposed to serve one purpose: camming the barrel down. Swapping for a longer link on a missfit barrel is unfortunately common. There are a few ways to fix the situation. Tig weld metal back onto the feet and recut. Fit a new barrel. Lastly, you can sleeve the center of the slide stop pin and recut the feet on the larger diameter sleeve. I too bought a custom gun built by a reputable builder only to be vastly disappointed. That gun was the reason I started building them myself so I'm actually thankful. Anyway, the sleeve does work, I converted said gun into an open gun and "fixed" the barrel lock up.

CDP gun: The more times I try to fit my 1911 into the box, the better it fits. The rear sight digs into the wood and scrapes it away. I've trimmed the mag bases just enough but it's still a wee snug. ESP gun: I can nearly put it in the box in all directions. I shoot my actual carry gun, a trimmed down 2011.

If they still have a monthly match I guess they'll have some out-of-towners! I'm hoping for some sweet news too, I don't have any other match plans in October except for the Battle in Blue Grass here in LEX.

Yep, that pretty well sucks for us early planners. Is there something at the club we can still shoot over Labor day weekend? We'll be there in september. Our applications were sent off a while ago.

I do shoot my carry gun in IDPA, about 75% of the time. Commander/Officer length STI in .40. I carry Gold Dots and although there is a difference in recoil I don't mind switching back and forth. I've been shooting a minor .40 load for ESP, but I'm going to switch back to major PF to more closely replicate my carry ammo.

I tested (and showed off) my .40 open project a little today. I was even able to compare it side by side with a fellow shooters 9major. Now the 9major had a C-more and mine has an Aimpoint mounted low (almost touches the flat top slide), but besides optics I wanted to compare recoil. Before today, and besides the gun I built, I've never shot an open gun before so this was a treat. I didn't shoot it too much but MAN was that thing LOUD. Holy crap, the concussion off the front of the 9major gun was immense! I've been around them before at matches but I didn't think shooting one would be so abrasive. Because the dot to bore heights were very different, this may not have been the best comparison though. However, it did reveal some interesting things. One. The dot travel was very similar. I like the Aimpoint better. Two. I HATE the concussion off of 9 Major guns! It was really distracting, and I was double plugged. It was harsh on the hand but I expected that. I was shooting my standard .40 major load of 180gr Zero over 5.1gr of U.C. Not the ideal open load. However, is there a point of diminishing returns with faster/hotter loads to work the comp versus the effectiveness of the comp? In other words, if the load is soft and flat in a limited gun wouldn't it be even softer, flatter in an open gun? I'm still going to order some Nosler 150's to test, but I REALLY like that my open gun (top end) doesn't punch me in the face when I shoot it. Some pics: I swapped to a blue Aimpoint with a 10moa dot since these pics. 9 pound spring works with both major and minor loads. The overcut barrel lug fix is going well. Write up to follow.