Brendan M

Ordered mags. 1 40 round, 2 30 round and 2 10 round for the range. Next question, I have narrowed scope choice to either Vortext Viper PTS 1-4x24 about $500 Vortex Strike Eagle 1-6x24 about $310 I know the Viper is considered better but don't understand the difference? Is it worth the extra $190?

Next question would be pistol rounds required? I may start with my CZ Compact then buy a dedicated pistol once funds allow. This means dealing with 14 round magazines. I still have the shot gun to buy as well. Will most likely cry once and get a Benelli. Work is busy but there is a limit to what my wife will support all at once. Plus she wants a new Glock for competition. I personally can't hit the broad side of a barn with a Glock, but she is great with one.

Search has failed to answer my questions so I figure this might be a helpful thread to start. 1. What AR-15 magazines will I want to cover any normal stage? My AR came with 1 steel 30 round magazine. 2. What is the value of a detachable scope mount like the La Rue?

Armalite and Double Star don't appear to currently be available through the big discounters.

What I want to research is how these two guns run straight out of the box? My skills, lack of training time and ammunition budget are far more limiting to my results then my equipment. So do either of these guns have an above or below average reputation straight out of the box? I just want a rifle that will run well consistently. The answer may be they are both fine and then I will make my decision on price and availability. Thanks for taking the time to give your input or experience.

After 5 years off shooting I moved back close to the range. When I shot before it was a simple CZ-75b in Production and for a steel match. I was happy. Then I made the mistake of wanting higher capacity for the steel and bought a Glock. Glocks and my big hands don't get along very well. Sold Glock. 5 years later I start to look around for another CZ-75 (9mm) and it appears the world has discovered what I already knew. Great gun. The problem is the Custom shops website is confusing and they don't return voice mails. So my question is: For USPSA Productions and a local steel match which CZ do I want to get? Why? From CZ: CZ 75 SP01 CZ 75 SP01 Tacitcal CZ SP01 Shadow Target From Custom Shop CZ 75 SP01 Shadow Custom 2014 BLACK 9mm CZ 75 SHADOW Custom 2014 Black 9mm CZ 75 SHADOW T SA/DA 9mm BLACK CUSTOM SHOP CZ 75 SHADOW CUSTOM 9mm BUILD ME We can skip the ACCU guns, I don't shoot well enough to justify the cost. Clearly we have a wide price range. I don't mind saving up a little longer to get one of the more expensive guns if it is money worth spending. Just want to be happy with my equipment and have fun. I will never pratice enough to be very good. I have too many other fun hobbies I like to do. Thanks for any clearification you can provided. I'm sure I'm not the only one who is confused.

Hi, I'm looking for a gunsmith on the Westside or near Ben Avery that can check out and confirm the zero on a M-1 Garand I'm going to be selling. I would use Accuracy Speaks but I live in Glendale by the stadium. A.S. is a long ways away these days. Thanks for any guidance.

Thanks for all the suggestion on what scope, but you really haven’t answered my question. What I was trying to ask was how big of a difference does it make if I have the perfect scope (call it scope 100%) or have the less then perfect scope (call it scope 75%)? Can you gain a big edge or give your self a big handicap by your choice of scope? For example, from my experience equipment dependability and shooter skill are the number 1 and 2 inputs affecting competitiveness. A GM with a tricked out open gun that won’t feed correctly can’t use his skill. I shot behind Rob Leatham one time and think he might be able to out shoot most of us with any gun that cycles correctly and basically shoots straight. His single stack times often beat all limited gun times shooting steel at a local match. He get 8 shots before reloading we get 20+, he kicks our asses. Shooter skill. Hopefully this clarifies my question some. Thanks Brendan P.S. Don’t worry about the wallet. When I want a new toy (excuse my, highly engineered competitive tool) enough I can always put in some overtime.

After way too many hours researching AR-15’s online I concluded to suck it up and pay up for a JP-15. I think my wallet is whimpering in the corner, refusing to come out right now. So the gun issue is solved. My question is how good of a scope do I need? Is there a major equipment advantage derived from the scope you use? The price ranges seem to be from $150-$1,000+. I live in AZ so I will be shooting western US 3-gun competitions I can reach by car. I like longer rifle courses in general. I’m 39, wear glasses and know my eyes aren’t what they use to be. What’s the verdict?

After hunting around the web the best price I've found is $1079-no sales tax- free shipping. My FFL charge $15 to receive. Benelli M2 Field 12 ga. 21' barrel black synthetic Anyone know of better? Should I hold out or is that about as good as it gets? Thanks Brendan

I recently started shooting a G34. I'm having a hard time figuring out what to do with my right thumb. I'm right handed and have fairly large hands. My thumb naturally comes to rest on the slide stop lever. After shooting my first match with the gun I couldn't understand why the slide lock wasn't working. Upon further investigation I figured out I was holding it down, hence no slide lock. So what do right handed, Glock shooters with large hands do with their right thumb? Pictures would be great! Thanks, Brendan

My first match, first or second stage I ever shot had a Texas Star at 15-20 yards (okay maybe it was only 10-15 yards but everything looked farther away back then) luckily I had bought a case (1000 rounds) of ammo and it was in the trunk of the car. If I had owned more magazines at the time I might have used a lot of it. My current practice is buy case of WWB at Wal-Mart (bitch about price going up again) shoot until 300 rounds left and repeat, seems to work well. I never run out.

I'm looking to improve the trigger on my new G34. I want it in the 3-3.5# range to keep it Production legal in USPSA if they go to the 3# rule that is being proposed. I would like to shorten the reset and take out extra travel if possible. What are my choices? Does anyone have experience with Custom Glock Racing trigger jobs? Thanks for your input, Brendan P.S. I’m not very skilled at working with very small parts. I have big hands and a long history of breaking small parts.

Don't over look the Glock 34. I just had my FFL fax the transfer papers to Topglock.com. I think the price will be $551.78 + $15 transfer fee by my FFL; free shipping and no sales tax. AZ sales tax is 8% so that saves $42 right there. I don't know if it is IDPA legal but it is good to go in the others. I'm going with the 9mm for cost reasons as well. In the steel match I shoot it will be a limited gun, 140mm mag rule in effect, +5 base pads brings it to a 23 round limited steel gun. If I can shoot straight enough some stages that required reloading with my 16 round CZ will get shot straight through. I can't wait. Why should the open gun folks get to have all the fun?

At a recent match I saw WWB .40 SW in the 100 round Value Pack. I didn’t realize it was sold this way so it started me rethinking my soon to be made Glock 34(9mm) purchase. Maybe I could go with a Glock 35(.40 SW), even though I don’t reload (and don’t want to start until I buy my new house maybe a year or more away)? So off to the nearest Wal-Mart I went to price WWB .40 SW; $19.98 + 8% sales tax per box. I’ll stick to the Glock 34 for my new steel gun. What was more interesting is WWB Value Pack 9mm was $14.56 + tax today 1/23/07. At a different Wal-Mart about 10 miles from the first one and about a block from my big gun club I bought 10 boxes of WWB Value Pack 9mm for $12.88 + tax on 1/3/07; a 13% price difference. The $12.88 price reflected an increase of about 10% from the old price at the same Wal-Mart. I asked and the guy at the store said prices had gone up across the board a couple of weeks earlier. So I have several questions. Have other people experienced ammo price increases? Have other people experienced this price fluctuation from store to store with Wal-Mart? If you know, what exactly do you pay for WWB Value Pack (100 rounds) 9mm without tax? Is there a cheaper way to get WWB Value Pack 9mm? (I’m will to buy a lot at one time to save money in the long run. I’m also willing to group purchase with other shooters in my area for a really big order to save money.) This could become a general nationwide price check/ammo purchasing discussion. If you’re interested in other calibers please speak up. I only own a 9mm so that’s what I know. Thanks for your input in advance. Brendan

I'm thinking about building a Glock 9mm for shooting steel. What is a good price for a G17 & G34? I live in AZ and face about 8% sales tax. My FFL only charges $15 per transfer so out of state usually save money. Thanks for your input.

Chances are it’s not your sights but if you are like me it helps to prove these things to myself. Practice firing groups from bench and sandbags to confirm gun is zeroed. If you are still hitting the same spot in tight groups have another good shooter try it out. If the second shooter shoots the same groups in the same spot as you then think about sights. When I did this exercise I confirmed gun is fine, I’m the problem. As I’m still working on it I’ll not offer any advise on fixing it once you eliminate the gun as an issue.

Want to give you a couple of things to think about. I shoot a CZ75 in production and love it. My gun club has lots of rental guns and I shot both the Glock and XD before I purchased the CZ. Like you I have fairly large (wide) hands. I found my hands fit on the CZ best. I have never gripped an STI Edge so I’m not sure how much space it has. Remember the goal is a gun that compliments your shooting. All the parts you need for a CZ/EAA are out there. I will warn you that CZ gunsmiths are few and far between in the U.S. The best have long waits. I shoot a 120+ person Steel match and get to see lots of equipment. It seems often top line equipment is a reflection of a persons income and net worth as apposed to shooting ability. Don’t get me wrong. I love high quality equipment and think it adds to the appeal factor of the sport. I would much rather shoot with top line equipment if money was no object, but sadly it is. There is definitely a feeling of satisfaction when I outshoot those with lots of money in their guns with my stock CZ. Never blindly follow the masses because they “must” know what is best. Do your own research.

First question, why does a quality 1911 cost in excess of $1,000 when I can buy an all steel CZ 75b for $500 or less? Second question, what are my choices for a quality, affordable 1911 in .40 S&W? I already sent an email to STI telling them I wanted a Spartan in .40. I think they will end up offering one but not for awhile. I wanted to shoot the Western State Single Stack Classic but I would need a single stack and don’t want a .45 ACP because I don’t want to deal with reloading multiple calibers when the time comes. Holster and magazine pouches are reasonable thanks to Uncle Mike’s but $1000 for the gun is not something I want to rush a decision on.

Standard rear notch width on a Heinie rear sight is .125. We can widen the rear notch to your specification for an additional $25.00. The standard wider widths are .140 or .156. For shooting USPSA and Steel are the standard or wider sights preferred? I'm assuming standard is more accurate, wider is faster. Do I have that correct? Thanks for explaining.

I would like to enter the 2007 USPSA Nationals in Tulsa, OK. I would be entering in Production Division. I read over the "slotting system" but it didn't really explain what you should do to try to get a slot. It appears I would have to pursue a slot under "Clubs and Sections". How do I do that? I hope to be a C or B class shooter by then. I have no illusions that I'll be competitive. It just sounds like a great experience even if I do finish deep in a 300+ person pack.

Pulled out gun and mags for cleaning, feed ramp was filthy. I guess in all the fun I’ve been having shooting Steel and USPSA I lost track of how many rounds have been fired sense last cleaning. I cleaned everything thoroughly, my Steel match was cancelled tonight but I’m willing to bet I don’t have any problems with the clean gun. If I do I'll report back. Thanks to those who took time to respond.

One issue I don’t hear anyone talking about is how hard some of the stages are for new shooters. The low round count, short range stages are no problem but the longer range higher shot count can be impossible without the right equipment (not running out of ammo). Current divisions are all based around equipment. I think equipment is not a good way to set rules for brand new shooters. If a novice division or class is not the answer, what is? I see lots of post from experienced shooter about what the new shooter should do. I would humbly suggest you talk to some new shooters. Ask what their experiences were. Ask what would have been helpful. A great question is how many shooters come out only once?

I wanted to expand on what Flexmoney is saying in another post. I’m a brand new shooter. I’ve owned handguns in the past but didn’t at the time I got interested. So I was starting from scratch. I put in a lot of research into equipment, what class I would shoot and so on. It was all very confusing and somewhat intimidating. I was worried about spending money on the wrong stuff (it’s called buyers remorse; it’s a very powerful behavior finance issue which can prevent people from making buy decisions). I would love a Novice Division. Have an approved equipment list with the goal to keep cost to a minimum, reduce possible equipment advantages, purchasing mistakes and maximize fun. I name specific products because it’s what I’m familiar with. I’m not recommending only these products get used. The more different suppliers we have the better. Guns Holsters Magazine Pouches Belt Magazines Rules: Minimum power factor for Major: Not applicable Minor power factor: 125 Minimum bullet weight: No Minimum bullet caliber: 9mm Minimum bullet caliber for Major: Not applicable Minimum trigger pull: No Maximum barrel length: 5.5” Maximum magazine length: Yes must be sold with stock gun, may not extend past magazine well. No modifications allowed. Maximum ammunition capacity: May not be modified above amount from manufacture. Holsters, Mag Pouches: From approved list, no modifications. Rule 5.2.3.1 applies: No Optical/electronic sights: No Ports permitted: No Maximum weight: Yes, 2 ounces over factory specified Special conditions: 1. Single-action-only handguns could be on approved list. Safety on for first shot. 2. Double-action handguns, first shot must be double-action. 3. Allowed modifications same as Production class. In keeping with the idea of maximizing fun I would suggest a different rating system then the traditional U, C, B, A, M, GM for the Novices Division only. I would suggest simply NC, NB, and NA. Everyone gets a passing grade automatically, remember this is about fun. Bottom 0 to <60% = NC, 60% to <85% = NB, 85% and above = NA. This would act as a feeder system for other Divisions. If you want to move to Master or Grand Master level you have to get out of Novice Division. It makes sense, what’s a Novice Grand Master? One of the places I got in trouble was the holster, magazine pouches, magazine and belt set up. Here are the problems I encountered (all of which I’m in the process of fixing with new equipment) Belt: I was using a 1.25 inch regular leather belt. While it was okay it became clear that the extra stiff 5.11 type belts were much better. This is very important for safe one hand draws. In the few matches I’ve been to I’ve seen several new shooters with poor belts really struggle with draws. While I haven’t been around long enough to know I intuitively believe the draw is a higher risk activity. I bought a good stiff belt but it is 1.5 inches wide so I have to change the loops on my holster and magazine pouches. More money, more delay until I truly have a good setup. Holsters: Should be bought to go with belt. I would encourage the use of the cheap Uncle Mike’s type Kydex belt holsters without extra retention system. They are cheap, safe, and easy to draw from; needs to fit belt width. Magazine Pouches: Need 4 and they need to fit belt width. Magazines: Have 5. Most guns are sold with 2, needs to bring 3 extra. Teach everyone about companies like Mec-Gar. This is important because I showed up to one of my first matches with two magazines only to face a 28 shot stage including a Texas Star. I didn’t do it right and loaded my magazines to full capacity in Production and still only had 32 shots. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to finish the stage, one more thing to worry about to take away from the fun. It would have been much better and more fun if I had 5 16 round magazines to try to actually finish the stage. This is what would it cost to get the right equipment from scratch, new (Glock example): Glock 17 459.00 5.11 Trainer Belt 30.00 Uncle Mike’s Holster (Belt Style) 20.00 Uncle Mike’s Double Mag Case (Belt Style) x2 42.00 Glock 17 after market 17 round mags x3 60.00 Total 611.00 What a great starting point in the sport. Think about it. If you know who this should go to at the USPSA forward it. The people I have met in shooting so far have been by far the friendliest of any activity I have ever ventured into. This sport should be growing fast. A Novice Division would help.

Well, I guess that about clears that up. Guess I’ll need a few more magazines or learn to shoot better quick!