rtr Posted June 14, 2004 Share Posted June 14, 2004 I've been shooting production with a Glock 17 for a year or so seriously. Has all the stuff to make a good production gun (vanek trigger, dawson sights, etc.). Now I know its the indian and not the arrow. However, I shot some nice limited and open guns over the weekend (I don't own a single 1911), so in an effort to have more FUN and to improve I'm thinking of having a nice open gun built, theory being with a good 1911 trigger I'll miss less and I'll see more and learn more watching the little dot than iron sights. So am I wasting my money, or is there some merit here beyond just wanting a fancy new gun? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chriss Grube Posted June 14, 2004 Share Posted June 14, 2004 Search we were just over this in the last couple weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted June 14, 2004 Share Posted June 14, 2004 ...theory being with a good 1911 trigger I'll miss less... Will an Open gun inspire you to practice more? It really sounds like you have some basic, fundamental issues. There is no reason a decked-out G17 should ever miss the target. Nothing wrong with an Open gun. But, with a case or two of ammo, Brian's book, Steve Anderson's Dry-fire guide, and your keyboard...you'll have all the tools you need to become a great shooter. Just decide to be one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skywalker Posted June 14, 2004 Share Posted June 14, 2004 Just decide to be one. "...Of course he made it. He decided it." (quote from SA dryfiring book dedication) No truer words were ever spoken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Boit Posted June 14, 2004 Share Posted June 14, 2004 I'll second what guys said. Invest the amount of money you planned for the open gun in ammo and practice time. Get Brian's book, and you'll learn a lot from it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted June 14, 2004 Share Posted June 14, 2004 Open's fun, no doubt about it. Go that way because you want to, not as a way to fix something else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loves2Shoot Posted June 14, 2004 Share Posted June 14, 2004 Open's fun, no doubt about it. Go that way because you want to, not as a way to fix something else. Ditto. Trying to fix a problem with equiptment is pointless. Open is a blast and you will learn from it, but the fundamentals are the most important thing to master. You can master them with any gun that works and is acurate enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shooter Grrl Posted June 14, 2004 Share Posted June 14, 2004 Do you really need justification/vindication to buy an open gun? Just do it man, and have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
short_round Posted June 14, 2004 Share Posted June 14, 2004 in an effort to have more FUN Oh yeah ... it's fun! wanting a fancy new gun Is this not reason enough? Go that way because you want to, not as a way to fix something else." Definitely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ankeny Posted June 14, 2004 Share Posted June 14, 2004 I went to an Open gun for the fun factor and because my vision is getting old and tired. Fact is, open hit factors are insanely high and the division is very competitive. I suppose it's fun shooting the plate rack faster than your friends, rocking on steel, and so on. But as soon you shoot Open in a tournament level match against M and GM shooters a new world will open up to you. I love shooting my Open blaster, but fact is, I shoot better scores with my single stack and the best "cure" for my vision problems is a roll of tape, not a CMore mounted on top of a $2,500.00 Open blaster. I shoot Open because it's just so intense. If winning was all I cared about I would shoot a revolver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric nielsen Posted June 15, 2004 Share Posted June 15, 2004 If you can afford it do it. I find that dry-fire on mini-targets at home helps Open shooting much more than it helps Iron-site shooting. And that a "challenging" tournament is much more enjoyable [or at least less painful] with an Open gun. When course designers go crazy, you're more likely to survive with your dignity intact shooting Open. Assuming the Open gun is reliable... What Ron says about competitiveness is true. But all it takes is one Blake in your match to put most Limited shooters at 50%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted June 15, 2004 Share Posted June 15, 2004 rtr, I've got one of each: Open, Ltd & Production. I like the Open one best. Not for any other reason than what caspian28r said, it makes matches more fun because I tend to have fewer mikes and fewer no shoots. So to answer your orginal question - Yes, if you can afford it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasag93 Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 JUST DO IT, WHY SHOULD YOU HAVE TO JUSTIFY A NEW BLASTER. I did it and love it. They are faster, more accurate, and just plain FUNNER! Go for it. I still have the P16, SA1911 and G35, I just don't shoot them as much. TXAG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtr Posted June 16, 2004 Author Share Posted June 16, 2004 Fair points and good info all. Clearly I should strive to be a better shooter by practicing, not by buying new equipment. The real motivation for this question is the idea I have heard bounced around that Open is a good place for a shooter to learn, especially to learn to see better and see things that go wrong (ie a dot responds moves more than a frontsight so one can see trigger jerk etc. easier). The fact is that right now I only have so much time to practice and shoot matches I want to enjoy it all as much as possible, and learn as much as possible from it, is it likely open will maximize my fun and learning more than production? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSeevers Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 I think Open displays your flaws more directly and easily. So you can learn more, sooner. It is more fun but remember its easier for ALL your competition. Open has a lot of good shooters and the differences are smaller to win. Production is a very disiplined division. You must shoot A's and reload 3 or 4 more times than Open. Do what you want who cares what others say? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 rtr, What do YOU think you need to do to learn? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 Just as an FYI, Open is the hardest division (barring maybe Revolver) to do well in on classifiers-- so if you're all into moving up the classes, Open will probably take longer. I still think it's the most fun to be had on the range.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtr Posted June 16, 2004 Author Share Posted June 16, 2004 What do YOU think you need to do to learn? The things I need to improve most are trigger control and seeing my hits, calling my shots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Merricks Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 I like what TT has to say about this. Check it out here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtr Posted June 24, 2005 Author Share Posted June 24, 2005 To ressurect an old thread. I started shooting open last august ('04) and have shot it exclusively since then, shooting USPSA and weekly steel matches in the summer. It's been a lot of fun, I got classified as a C shooter (I'm a D class production shooter), however my two most recent classifiers are B class (a 63% and a 71%). At our weekly steel match last week I didn't have time to load ammo for the open gun so I grabbed my production Glock and some minor 9 ammo I had in the garage. I shot it MUCH better than I had before in steel matches, I could feel the trigger much better and see the sights much better, the result is I finished much closer to shooters who used to beat me like a red headed step-child. So I'm a believer that shooting open accelerates the learning curve, and of course it's a lot of fun. It has also motivated me to shoot more, so far I have around 5,000 rounds thru the open gun and am way more motivated to practice than I was with the G17, because it's so much more fun. I think shooting open has also allowed me to concentrate on shooting courses as fast and efficiently as possible, because I am confident I can make all the shots and rarely have to worry about reloading. Therefore I'm actually excited to shoot production again because I am more confident that I can make shots and navigate courses quickly. Bottom line I believe shooting open has improved my trigger control drastically and improved my overall shooting abilities as well. It is possible I'm just trying to justify the $3K I spent on my fancy open blaster and mags Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDave Posted June 24, 2005 Share Posted June 24, 2005 I'll bet that SA will have a word or two on this subject. Glad to see that things worked out for you. Keep at it. I think we sometimes forget that people are motivated to work by different factors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azone41 Posted June 24, 2005 Share Posted June 24, 2005 I LOVE OPEN I shoot my Limited gun only in Limited matches. Open is FUN. It might be even more fun if Dan ever gets me my new open gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now