need help with new limited gun build

[Aircooled6racer]

Hello: I have some 5" guns I built and some 6" pistols as well. I go back and forth at what I like. My new 6" has a bull barrel and light slide. My other 6" is a bushing barrel with a light slide. My 5" limited pistol has a short dust cover and standard weight slide with a bushing barrel. I want to install a bull barrel in it to try. When I look at all the different classifiers and matches I have shot. The 6" bushing barrel gun has given me the best scores. It feels different than the 5" pistols but the results don't lie. Right now I am playing with bullets weights again and front sight widths. One 6" pistol has a 0.110" wide front sight and the other has a 0.090". The bullet weights are 180 and 165 grain. I would suggest trying a lightened slide 6" pistol against a STI Edge. The 6" will be my choice Thanks, Eric

[smokshwn]

And I do agree that practice is whats going to matter in the long run, but I dont have time to put 50K rounds down range before i commission the build.

That was actually my point. Given what you indicated as your skill level and time in the sport, you will be well served by either pistol setup.

At the point that you get many more rounds and training under your belt you will have a much better understanding of the characteristics that you want in a gun. The training being the key to finding out what works or does not work for YOU, rather than what works for others.

[Corey]

And I do agree that practice is whats going to matter in the long run, but I dont have time to put 50K rounds down range before i commission the build.

That was actually my point. Given what you indicated as your skill level and time in the sport, you will be well served by either pistol setup.

At the point that you get many more rounds and training under your belt you will have a much better understanding of the characteristics that you want in a gun. The training being the key to finding out what works or does not work for YOU, rather than what works for others.

valid point. I think i can probably learn to run either fairly well. just dont want to spend the money on a gun to find out i like/need a different configuration.

[bulm540]

6 inch will be my choice. I had Benny Hill build me one without even trying one and I did not regret my decision. I can track the sights better. My SV LDC is gathering dust in the safe. Runs like a scalded ape.

[bulm540]

6 inch will be my choice. I had Benny Hill build me one without even trying one and I did not regret my decision. I can track the sights better. My SV LDC is gathering dust in the safe. Runs like a scalded ape.

[Wild Gene]

Corey,

Side note here. I have succesfully competed in several shooting disciplines, and honestly, I don't think I have ever seen anyone not change guns a time or two. I burned through three sets of revolvers, four lever action rifles, and two shotguns in cowboy action, two sporting clays shotguns, three trap guns, a skeet gun before I got to a point where I felt good, and now a pistol or two with USPSA.

I just really think that the two most important things I have learned are that 1) no matter what I shot, the more I shot, the better I became, 2) sooner or later, I will want to try something else.

In this game, I have gone from Glock to STI Edge and am waiting for a custom 6" build. I am keeping all three, but as an over 40 shooter, my eyes are not what they used to be. I am going for the six in the custom for my aging eyes.

Good Shootin,

[bubba]

I have identical (as close as you can make them) 5" and 6" guns in both 40 and 9mm. Built by the same gunsmith, Benny Hill, and with the same components with only the front sight width being slightly different to allow for the extra length and still present the same sight picture.

If it were not for the fact I shoot IDPA as well as USPSA the 5" guns would have a new owner.......

For me, at my skill level and whatever other intangibles figure into the equation, the 6" is superior in all regards.

No minuses and many pluses for the 6" gun............ For me.

My .02 = Buy a gun and start shooting.

I have two 5 inch sti guns my primary is a edge that gary at gans guns removed a lot of material from the slide with an 11lb spring. my back up is a sti anniversary model (same as the legend )I love my edge. I have shot 6 in guns and see no constant advantage as most uspsa targets are close. Nobody can tell what will work best for you but you so good luck and hope you find what you're looking for.

[oak hill]

Though I have shot 6 inch guns, I only own 5 inch guns (currently). You guys are making a pretty strong case for the 6 that just might get me sucked in......

[Sean Gaines]

really the only disadvantage of a six inch is that you can't shoot internationally, or you can't shoot it in IDPA. you can make a six inch just as light as a 5" gun, but gain in the sight radius with that extra inch. It also makes the gun easier to track and read the sights.

[Seth]

really the only disadvantage of a six inch is that you can't shoot internationally, or you can't shoot it in IDPA.

Good news! That's an excuse to buy two!

[mpeltier]

I dont shoot International or IDPA, two years ago I built my first 6" and have not shot my 5" scince. There is nothing the 6" does that will hold you back. I think it would be the rare shooter who would build a 6" and wish he built a 5". If that were the case the gun was probably not set-up right for the shooter.

[Corey]

I dont have many plans to shoot anything internationally or IDPA for the time being. main plans will be for USPSA Limited (and maybe 3gun if its legal there? not sure)

[Corey]

this poll is waaaay closer than I was expeting. i figured there'd be a swing one way or the other

(maybe this means i should just pick one and run with it huh? )

[steel1212]

this poll is waaaay closer than I was expeting. i figured there'd be a swing one way or the other

(maybe this means i should just pick one and run with it huh? )

There now its not even Granted I would go with the 5" bushing but that's just me.

[mpeltier]

Corey,

Go back thru and re-read what all the posters have said, you may see it is not as close as you may think. There have been a lot of votes for the 5" from those that have not actually competed and shot extensively with a 6" Limited gun. Every single poster with solid experiance with both have recomended a 6" gun. That, in my opinion, reflects more relevance than the vote count. I hate polls for this very reason. (I.E. You will get a bunch of voters who feel that cause they have a 5" it has to be the best thing going...right??? and they vote 5" with little to no experiance with a 6").

Good luck with whatever you choose, and practice well and often with it.

[splashdown]

So.... I can make major a little more easily, I can shoot the same speed and I can more easily make more difficult shots. Where's the downside? I will make A shortly and am more confident than ever with the bigger gun.

That sums up my opinion exactly.

I had two 5" sight trackers, had a 6" top end built for one of them and eventually traded the other for a second 6".

[818-DVC]

I read similar pollls. Last week the 5" was clearly the winner.. Get a gun n shoot it. Learn what you like & dislike about it. I own both but they both require a different load and springing to feel similar. I'm on the newer side of the newer side of the sport and seen a lot of gimmicky stuff out there to provide to equipment racers. I'm stuck in it now. I own 2 5" guns, and a 6". My next build is a 5" long dustcover sight tracker style gun. My eyes are good and I'm not great with recoil or follow up shots, so I bought the 6" gun in hopes of the better sight recovery and lighter recoil with the longer barrel. I was wrong. Perhaps I'm just not ready to shoot a superight 6" gun yet. I shot an SV sight tracker that had A LOT of rounds through it and it felt so good, I have to have one. My guns feel almost obsolete now.

I think the better you get, the more you find what you like or dislike.