BayouSlide

Another reason to like owls are their preferred menu: rats and mice. A few years back a rotten tree in a neighbor's yard harbored a sizable population of rats. Occasionally they'd decided to move uptown into our attic , so I'd keep a BB gun handy for when they visited our bird feeders. One night I was sneaking into position to neutralize a particularly big fella at the feeder. I took my shot from some bushes about 15 yards or so away, but missed. As the rat leapt, I "felt" something pass a foot or two over my head, a shadow and a little breeze but no absolutely sound. Seems like an owl had designs on that rat as well and all I did was blow his chances at dinner. Curtis

Just a couple of inches more at most: a fully grown adult will top out at around 8 inches and 6 oz. Before we got the binocs, I thought it might be a fledgling great horned owl. They have similar coloration but grow to nearly 2 feet high. I'd seen one in the Adirondacks where I grew up and saw one at night ten years or so back at night on a utility pole across the street from my home. The rescue lady said that a great horned owl at one week of age would be a big as this little guy The picture is from my wife's cell phone camera...I've been kidding her for not grabbing a real camera when she went the couple of blocks back to our house. Curtis

Walking in the neighborhood this morning with my wife and dog, I noticed a pair of agitated mockingbirds harassing what appeared to be a lump of Spanish moss on the lawn of a home. It didn't take long to realize this "lump" was an adult eastern screech owl. After going home for the binocs and a phone number, we kept an eye on the little guy from a distance, to keep from stressing it further, and waited for the arrival of a raptor rehab lady we knew. It soon hopped along the edge of the house onto the porch for some temporary relief from the marauding mockingbirds, who were eager to drive the raptor from their neck of the neighbor. Through the binoculars, it was apparently it suffered some sort of minor infection in its left eye. Soon he was safely ensconced in a carry cage and on its way to the "bird clinic" to treat an injured wing and its eye problem. Love wildlife, love to see it in our city residential neighborhood and particularly love the opportunity to give a fascinating fellow creature another shot at a healthy life. Curtis

As I understand it, the mouth of the cartridge rim butts up to the end of the chamber, thereby controlling how deep the round goes into the chamber...sort of an awkward way to describe it. Somebody brighter than me, please feel free to chime in Curtis EDITED: because I hate typos!

I use 13# IMSI springs in in my competition G34 and 17, but use the Wolff 21# round wire springs in my G20 (22#) and 29 (21#). The 19 and 27 stay with Glock OEM. Works for me. Sorta like the three bears: softer loads, hotter loads, and just right Curtis

Final report: I pulled the stock and replaced the A stock drop plate with the C drop plate. While at it, I pulled the recoil spring and degunked it and the recoil spring tube. Lightly lubed both with Slip2000 EGW. Runs the light Remington target loads without a hitch now, and with the C plate I no longer have to drop my head down to the stock for a good mount. Rather than adding a velcro side saddle, I bought a 9 round Mark Otto armband and it works great. I'm GTG. Can't wait for the next 3-gun match. A final thank you to all and hope future perusers of this topic get some good ideas if they find themselves in a similar quandary. Curtis

If you enjoy the variety but want to improve a little faster...on all of 'em...why not practice/compete with one exclusively for two or three months, then switch to the next in line. That way you can work with each of 'em enough to improve, but not be changing up so often that you spend a match getting accustomed to a "different" trigger feel or slight grip variations, etc.. Good techniques, no matter what the platform, are good techniques, and should carry over from one to the next. I appreciate your desire to exercise all your toys...no use having a safe full if you don't shoot 'em. Best of luck! EDITED: because I hate typos!

No experience with PD but Atlanta Arms & Ammo is good stuff. I used probably 10K rounds of Danny's 147 gr. 9mm loads before I began reloading. Good enough for Team Glock and the UAM guys so it was more than good enough for me. Accurate, reasonably priced, even the loads in once-fired brass were match quality.

I always try to resist the bold impulse...instead in any match I try to shoot right up to the edge of my proven abilities on every stage...and thereby possibly edge out somebody by .05 points the end of the match who went for the bold and crashed and burned on that one stage where they dialed it up to 11.

...and will put the lid on the ongoing argument on which caliber is big enough to smoke a bear. Curtis

The attachment system got the better of me for a moment, but I have triumphed...eventually...thanks to a resize in PhotoShop.

A shooting buddy passed this along, which goes down as both smile of the day and perhaps the ultimate prize table addition for an ICORE match. EDITED: due to initial attachment DQ

Your problem is a real puzzler...and I was intending to post that I'm extremely eager to see if you find the solution. One question, though. I just noticed you are from Connecticut. Are you using 10 round Glock mags by any chance. I bought six of 'em a couple of years ago from Pharaoh Bender. I only use 'em for practice and I use them a lot. In a nutshell, I and many others feel they simply are more prone to malfunction issues than the normal high capacity Glock mags. They can create the same sort of problems you're having. When those issues appear, I change out the mag springs with OEM. The 10 rounders seem very sensitive to recoil spring sack: I change mine out every year. They are also sensitive as they wear, it appears at least to me, to the type of follower as far as function problems. I have a mix of older and new followers and mine now function OK 98% of the time with fresher springs. I NEVER have issues with the hi-caps, which I download to 10 (or 11) and use only for matches. Good luck and keep us posted. Curtis

Well I didn't, and I'm glad. It was a narrow escape. Thanks for all the advice and ideas, guys. Just to update y'all. I picked up the M1 Super 90 Field with 24 in. vent rib barrel from my FFL this Thursday. This H&K era shotgun looked very lightly used and well cared for: at least it had two light nicks on the stock so I won't feed bad once I inevitably start to beat it up. . As soon as I pulled it out of the box I stripped it down to check it out and give it a thorough clean and lube. Love the simple, bulletproof internals. It went back together with the addition of a Nordic +5 and a Limbsaver Speed Mount pad (#10400). Out to the range and it ran flawlessly with my chosen loads, Remington Heavy Dove 7 1/2s and Remington Reduced Recoil slugs. Due to some new rule changes at the sheriff's range (new sheriff, new rules ), I could only run it at 25 yards on the shared rifle range rather than have the easy setup of multiple targets on the pistol area the way we used to. No more popper arrays to play with, either :angry: . But offhand from the first rounds I was able to group slugs much tighter than my old 870. I could get the gun to choke with Remington light target loads, but I expected that, and gave me practice in malfunction drills with the foreign (to me) carrier and bolt release controls. Love dumping nine rounds without pumping the forend...next time I'll remember some tape for my newly-christened Benelli thumb. Sweet handling and light. A little odd getting used to sighting slugs with a midbead and front optic. It has the A stock drop plate and I'm thinking it might sight a little better for me with the C...I'm going to compare it with the mount on my 870 this afternoon: that gun's dimensions have always worked well for me. So I've finally tasted the kooaid...er, Chianti . Thanks to a broken tactical handle on the 1100 I originally ordered, I got the chance to change my mind and I absolutely LOVE this M1.

I just got my new-to-me M1 Super 90 Field this week. Right out of the box I added the +5 Nordic and a Limbsaver Speed Mount Pad and was good to go. No experience with the DMW product but the Nordic is really topnotch: nicely designed, perfect feed and fit. YMMV.

I'm going. I only live 1 3/4 hrs away, but to avoid getting up so early this year, I'm taking my motorhome to a campground on the lake near Morgan City for the weekend so I only have a half hour commute. That way my wife and dog get a beach vacation sunnin' while I'm gunnin'. Hoping to squad with Hank Ellis so we can continue the "Battle of Mid-C Production Shooters" from where we left off last year Curtis

My $.02, in order of importance 1- change sights. The chunky stock sights are not your friend. I like Dawsons or Warren Sevigny in that order on my competition guns, Heinie's on my other Glocks. I like the fiber optic fronts. 2- TruGrip...so you can hold on to that sucka. 3- Charlie Vanek Production legal drop-in trigger. Sweeeet. You can stop now and spend money on ammo, gas and match fees. If you swing that way and reload, you'll probably want to go to a stainless guide rod and softer springs for softer loads.

How old/how many rounds on the recoil spring? Swap it out as, based on what you're stating, it is the most likely culprit IMO.

Same here down in Bayou country.

For some Production may be a waystation, but for many of us, it's a way of life. Count me in a diehard Production shooter who intends to stay. It's really nice to pick up a $500 Glock and know that $250 later, that gun is a "full race Production gun" and you didn't need a smith to get there. All the rest of your focus can go to the shooting. All the extra money can be spent on other toys for the occasional 3-gun match...I forgot, we need all that money now for reloading components or gas to get to the range Curtis

Ken, would you happen to have a contact name and number for their 3-gun matches? I'd like to try going to one. Gordo Great minds think alike, but you post faster than me I was thinking the same thing. Curtis

All Titegroup, all 147 gr. Zero JHP, all the time. Economical, available and accurate...who could ask for more.

Sounds like fun, Hank. I'd join you on the drive up to Shreveport but my daughter would probably not forgive me if I missed her wedding, which she scheduled for that weekend so as not to conflict with the Gator Classic a couple of weeks later.

Well guys, I'm the new owner a used Benelli M1 Super 90 Field: http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=103846222 Really appreciate all the great advice from everyone, and especially Trapr for all the PMs full of info. Thanks y'all Curtis

In general, as a rule of thumb, any visible mods in USPSA Production that aren't specifically permitted are prohibited. I would be extremely surprised if what is essentially a baseplate mod of this type would be permitted under current Production rules.