Hello, new 3 gunner checking in

[multigunner]

Hi! Joining the forums as both a new user and a new(ish) competitor. I've jumped right into 3 gun, with two major matches and a couple locals under my belt. Not setting the world on fire but making solid progress. First major (Blue Ridge) most stages were top-of-the-bottom-third, while the second (Fort Benning) was more like the 50th percentile when I wasn't experiencing rifle issues Anyway, lots of time and money committed to the sport since I started this summer, and like lots of beginners I have a lot of theories and ideas. We'll see how many play out! Glad to be here!

Edited December 23, 2015 by multigunner

[Hi-Power Jack]

Welcome aboard.

What equipment are you running?

Reloading, yet?

[armydad]

Welcome to the forums and the sport!

[BlueSpaderInfantryman]

Welcome to the Forums.

[LilBunniFuFu]

Welcome. Good for hitting Fort benning as your second match. Most of the guys in my area have said they will add it to their list of must shoot matches.

[multigunner]

Welcome aboard.

What equipment are you running?

Reloading, yet?

Thanks all for the warm welcome. For equipment, I'm using the following:

1. Shotshell carriers: Taccom Duelin Dueces. Not terribly excited about these since they are flat and don't really contour around the belt, and they have not proven to be the most durable when getting thrown in and out of the truck on the belt. That second part you could say is on me, but I also hate gear you have to baby.

2. Holster: Blade Tech WRS Level II. Being that I started at the Blue Ridge match, the extra retention sounded like a good idea when it was recommended to me. Can confirm, good idea.

3. Mag holders: Started with Blade Tech Pro Series with the adjustable cant, but quickly decided that these suck due to them not holding angle despite ample use of loctite and elbow grease. Now using the plain straight-up-and-down CR Speed.

4. Belt: Not exciting, CR Speed but using the Arredondo belt keeper which is really well designed and works great.

5. Pistol: Started out with an STI Edge 5.0 in 9mm. For a variety of reasons, I am pretty disappointed with this pistol. Don't get me wrong, it's accurate and the trigger is amazing, but the magazines are absolutely terrible and I didn't feel like dumping money down the hole to get the thing to be as reliable as it should be out of the box. At my stage in the game, it's my skills and not the hardware that's holding me back. So the frustratingly-unreliable STI hangs out in the safe while I roll with a Glock 34. I really like that pistol. A lot. It's got the adjustable ZEV trigger, Dawson sights and mag well, and a ZEV barrel. It will shoot better than I can, and I also don't have to worry about dumping it with the safety off.

6. Rifle: It's a franken-AR. CMMG lower, Geissele SD-3G trigger, JP upper, JP LMOS, Noveske barrel, MI handguard, and a Swarovski z6i up on top. Had an issue with it at the Benning match, but that was because I believed the internet hype about the stupid rubber extractor donut device. Made the extractor too stiff for the colder temps. New JP bolt and it was back running flawlessly.

7. Shotgun: If I could only choose one of the 3 to keep, this would be it. Probably my favorite gun that I own (other than those I got as a kid), and that's saying something. It's a Winchester SX3 Compact, the one with the shorter-than-normal walnut stock that comes with shims to get it to length. I'm short statured, so the stock shims let me get the thing right where I wanted it, now it fits like my Citori. It's running the FN SLP barrel (not the one with the weaver mount, the one with the flip-up rear sight and fiber up front), and I had everything welded, dremeled, and tweaked by C-Rums. Epoxied some pushbutton sling swivel mounts right into the side of the forearm and stock so the thing lays flat on my back like the AR does, and I can swap slings back and forth between them. I get a lot of comments on this one too, as it seems to be fairly rare to show up rocking walnut instead of synthetic.

So that's the equipment rundown. Not reloading as of now, might consider doing so for performance reasons but calculated the payback on a good loader and it wasn't fast enough to make me want to take time away from other things.

Thanks again, looking forward to getting to know everyone!

Edited December 23, 2015 by multigunner

[LilBunniFuFu]

What exactly is wrong with the STI mags? What internals and basepad are you using. Have you tried borrowing mags from some one else with the same issues?

[Hi-Power Jack]

Shouldn't be a problem with mags. I use STI mags - love them.

[multigunner]

Well, maybe my disdain is misplaced when I say "STI". Stock base pads and internals I might have an occasional issue. The TTI ones that I'm running though, FTF last round almost every time plus a lot of double feeds. This is with all the recommended internals that TTI sells. Oh, and it pretty much happens regardless of which of the 9 mags I have them on is in the gun at the time. I was on the verge of trying other base pads, or sending them off to a mag tuner, but then I happened to shoot a hopped up G34, and that was that.

There are so many things I like about the Glock, such as the grip angle and overall feel, the aforementioned lack of manual safety to forget when dumping, and the utter reliability of the thing. The Glock mags have ZEV-branded TTI pads on them and they run flawlessly.

I'm not selling the STI, as I do think there might be a day when it would make the difference for me. In the meantime, I just really like that Glock.

P.S. Fellow Hi-Power fan here! How I wish the high-cap mec-gars fit in the USPSA gauge, before my mentor (probably wisely) talked me out of it I was *this close* to taking one to my first match!

Edited December 24, 2015 by multigunner

[Hi-Power Jack]

I started out shooting the BHP in Limited - big disadvantage, of course,

but I was just "having fun" so I didn't care. Great gun - but not great

for Limited, any more.

[Jesse Tischauser]

Welcome to the party. Have you tried to put a plastic or rubber spacer behind your BladeTech pro series mag pouches? I had issues with them loosening up and self adjusting prior to doing that.

[Sarge]

Welcome to the forums!

[TaranTactical]

Well, maybe my disdain is misplaced when I say "STI". Stock base pads and internals I might have an occasional issue. The TTI ones that I'm running though, FTF last round almost every time plus a lot of double feeds. This is with all the recommended internals that TTI sells. Oh, and it pretty much happens regardless of which of the 9 mags I have them on is in the gun at the time. I was on the verge of trying other base pads, or sending them off to a mag tuner, but then I happened to shoot a hopped up G34, and that was that.

There are so many things I like about the Glock, such as the grip angle and overall feel, the aforementioned lack of manual safety to forget when dumping, and the utter reliability of the thing. The Glock mags have ZEV-branded TTI pads on them and they run flawlessly.

I'm not selling the STI, as I do think there might be a day when it would make the difference for me. In the meantime, I just really like that Glock.

P.S. Fellow Hi-Power fan here! How I wish the high-cap mec-gars fit in the USPSA gauge, before my mentor (probably wisely) talked me out of it I was *this close* to taking one to my first match!

Hmm, which magazines are these?