Need help deciding to go to open, or not.

[Sumtoc]

I shot the occasional local pistol match with a Glock 35 over the last 15 years, spent most of my time and $$ on High Power and Long Range rifle. Decided to refocus on pistol as my vision is getting worse. Those rifle games are almost exclusively iron sights, if you think vision is a problem with iron sight pistols try aperture sights at 600 and 1K yds...

Anyway, I recently had to make the Limited/Production vs Open choice and chose Open. Couple of personal observations, some already mentioned in posts above:

- They are not called race guns just because they are fast, they are also very finicky just like most good race cars. After shooting a Glock for so long with zero failures (really, it never choked once), you can imagine the shock/frustration when I spent 3 months getting my open gun to run reliably. You can avoid that by buying a very expensive gun from one of the top names you see on these forums, but if you buy a used gun like I did you have to be prepared to either spend time fixing it or hand it over to someone who can. You might get lucky, but I wasn't.

- But as that little adventure now seems over I do know a lot more about my gun, how it ticks, how to analyze problems and fix them than I would have otherwise, so its not all bad.

- Finally shot 2 matches over one weekend recently, total of 16 stages. No gun problems and have to say it was the most fun I have had shooting anything in a long time. It makes me smile just thinking about it. I can't overstate what a gas it is to shoot stages with an open gun. (As long as it runs..... my very first match was a disaster with several gun failures on every stage. That sucked mightily.....)

- When researching this I read many posts where people would say that shooting an open gun would make you a better shooter with irons. I really didn't understand (or even believe) that then but after shooting some irons for fun I can already see that it is true. With the open gun you simply have more mental bandwidth available to work on the other aspects of good technique, those elements improve and your improvements carry over into shooting with irons.

- I am shooting 38 Super and may go to Super Comp later. But after losing a bunch of that (pretty damn expensive) 38 Super brass at those 2 matches I can see the logic behind the 9 major option. For now I just want to focus on the shooting and work on improving.

- I did replace the regular standard/high optic mount with a Quinn II and believe that will help me move back and forth between the dot and irons more easily. Also helps avoid possible ejection problems.

All in all I think it's a great choice. Besides, you can always shoot the other divisons later. More guns in the safe!

[Neomet]

Go Open. I like it because it is a hoot and I shoot for the fun of the sport. I have seen people have issues with Open guns. Then again I have an Ed Cameron gun that has over 6K rounds on it and other than an initial problem due to a firing pin being too soft from the manufacturer have not had one single issue that is gun related. I'm not only touting Ed's work, just pointing out that there are builders out there who consistently build reliable Open guns.

[Torogi]

coming from the republic of kalipornia, i wish it is that easy to decide to go open. either wait for a year for SVI to build you a gun, or wait for someone to retire their gun, or probably has a new toy to replace the old one (this is for 2011 route), though i've seen other makes in open. just saying.

to OP, go for it. ill envy you

[RayFromHouston]

I love shooting my 38 Super.... I just with I shot it more.......

[Aglifter]

OK, so I'm faced w. a few different options.

A) A member's offered to sell me his SVI - it has an integral compensator, and its in 38 super, w. an unknown round count (2nd owner), but its reasonable. This is probably the most practical choice - not as "pimpy" as what I wanted to order, but it looks functional.

Try to see if I can get the new Czechmate - I like the ergonomics of the CZs. Presumably, it'd be in 9 Major.

C) Get an S&J custom Glock, probably on a CCF stainless frame, in 9 major. I carry Glocks, and intend to continue to shoot them in IDPA, etc... Not sure about the reliability.

D) Get an STI built by one of the various builders.

E) Wait 12 to 14 months, pay 5K for an SVI built how I want.

F) Buy an EAA Gold Match gun, and having it tuned, etc - no idea about the reliability. Looking at the Tangfolio forum, it seems like they are almost completely rebuilt to be reliable.

I figure D and E, and maybe A are the most reliable choices...

Edited April 30, 2010 by Aglifter

[Torogi]

Since you carry Glock and use 'em on IDPA, why dont you try going for ©? i dont know how long the wait is but it will be cheaper to convert since you have a Glock already. or probably just cheaper in general.

[usmc1974]

Open is a blast, gun is fast,loud and holds a lot of bullets but, I get tired of chasing super brass all day.

[drodriguez]

I shoot production and just bought an open gun.. should help with speed for production

[ROY NEAL]

Aglifter,

Be very careful............the Federal Government Employee is offering to share the secret of the Open Gun Cookie Bag. G-man Bart is a bad, bad, man. (but a pretty darn nice guy actually). Isn't it against the law to get people addicted to substances such as the smell of lots of burned powder, loud noises and all alpha's on every stage?

He is such a bad influence on our new club members-allways willing to put an open gun in anyone's hands for a run on a stage. Don't let him near you unless you want the same thing to happen to you. You have all been warned............or just informed.

Best of luck to you in your transition to a new division.

Regards,

Roy

[AlamoShooter]

The SS guys are so Jelly Oss of us open guys they have to make fun of us.

I think it is a .."Little Mag" syn-drone

SOB #1 strikes again

JF

Edited May 6, 2010 by AlamoShooter

[CocoBolo]

Since you are not reloading don't know much about open guns, why not just ease into open with an inexpensive gun that you can get ammo for at WaLmART. http://www.gunsamerica.com/939935659/Guns/Pistols/STI-Pistols/STI_STEELMASTER.htm STI, NEW, great price. Two guys on my shooting team shoot these and they are insanely fast and to my suprise they make the A's they need to and finish at the top both B class one ready to bust over to A. These little guns shoot well and they are light and easy to drive.

After 2 years in open I know exaclty what I want in a gun, when I started I didn't have a clue, and actually sold better guns than I kept.

I've been watching for a used steel master for a year, they are scarcer than chicken lips. I did find one but it went for $3500 with 4 tuned mags and a holster.

[usmc1974]

Aglifter,

Be very careful............the Federal Government Employee is offering to share the secret of the Open Gun Cookie Bag. G-man Bart is a bad, bad, man. (but a pretty darn nice guy actually). Isn't it against the law to get people addicted to substances such as the smell of lots of burned powder, loud noises and all alpha's on every stage?

He is such a bad influence on our new club members-allways willing to put an open gun in anyone's hands for a run on a stage. Don't let him near you unless you want the same thing to happen to you. You have all been warned............or just informed.

Best of luck to you in your transition to a new division.

Regards,

Roy

Well, I was with ya right to the all alpha's on every stage part.