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Gun adjustment time


Eric1231

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Not as long as you would think.  Biggest thing for me was getting used to the safety.  As far as getting used to the grip angle change that didn't take long for me.  That said I switched at the end of the season.  My timing wasn't intentional but it worked out well.  As easy as I found it I wouldn't want to do it right before a major match.

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I'm working with a new shooter who's going through nearly the same transition, XDm to 1911.  As Edge40 said, the safety is the most difficult to get used to it seems.  Practicing slow-motion draws at first seems to have remedied that problem, but it's taken nearly a month to get used to taking the safety off after the gun is indexed down range.  Natural instinct seems to be to take it off immediately upon getting a firing grip with the strong hand, even before it clears the holster........BIG NO NO!

Also, activating it again before holstering takes some getting used to as well.  Practice, practice and practice some more with dry fire will get you through it, but making the switch just before a big match, mid season or not, isn't a good idea IMO.

 

Alan~^~

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As Edge40 said, the safety is the most difficult to get used to it seems.  Practicing slow-motion draws at first seems to have remedied that problem, but it's taken nearly a month to get used to taking the safety off after the gun is indexed down range.  Natural instinct seems to be to take it off immediately upon getting a firing grip with the strong hand, even before it clears the holster........BIG NO NO!


I switch back and forth between my XDm for Limited and a 1911 for Single Stack and find that since I "flag" my strong hand thumb when my support hand is off the gun means that I'm not tempted to deactivate the safety prematurely. The flagged thumb comes down during extension, naturally swiping the safety off.

The grip angle between the two platforms was incredibly minimal, at least for me. Not sure about the 2011 grip, though, as I don't have one at the moment.

I flag the thumb the same, regardless of which gun I'm shooting (for highest possible grip on the XDm and for running the safety on the 1911).

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

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The biggest issue I had going from an M&P to a 2011 was prepping the trigger. there is so little over travel compared to the M&P I had a couple of deltas from early shots until I dry fired enough to get used to it. 

Didn't take long maybe a month. 

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On 1/7/2017 at 9:13 PM, Alan550 said:

...

Also, activating it again before holstering takes some getting used to as well. 

That was the easiest part for me as the only time the safety goes on is when I am loading the barney round. Load a round in the chamber, flip the safety on with the support hand, release the mag and put in the new mag. Now, I can see it being an issue with IPSC matches where external safety must be applied during movement if one is not practiced enough to activate the thumb safety almost by instinct while moving.

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Dryfire will help a lot but it really depends on how often you are actually going to be able to shoot the gun before those big matches.  The recoil impulse and sight reset will be different enough to mess you up.

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9 hours ago, tanks said:

That was the easiest part for me as the only time the safety goes on is when I am loading the barney round. Load a round in the chamber, flip the safety on with the support hand, release the mag and put in the new mag. Now, I can see it being an issue with IPSC matches where external safety must be applied during movement if one is not practiced enough to activate the thumb safety almost by instinct while moving.

you don't have to activate the safety during movement in ipsc or uspsa. that would be a big hassle. you do have to take your finger off the trigger though (unless you're shooting on the move).

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16 hours ago, BeerBaron said:

you don't have to activate the safety during movement in ipsc or uspsa. that would be a big hassle. you do have to take your finger off the trigger though (unless you're shooting on the move).

Nope, you are wrong in regards to IPSC as I had stated.  Section 8.5.1 states:

Quote

8.5.1 Except when the competitor is actually aiming or shooting at targets, all movement must be accomplished with the fingers visibly outside the trigger guard and the external safety should be applied. The firearm must be pointed in a safe direction.

 

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5 hours ago, tanks said:

Nope, you are wrong in regards to IPSC as I had stated.  Section 8.5.1 states:

 

no, should still means should. not must or shall. it's a recommendation not a requirement. notice how that sentence says things like "finger MUST be outside trigger guard", "gun MUST be pointed in safe direction". then it says "external safety SHOULD be applied". In many IPSC matches I can't think of anyone I've ever seen activate an external safety other than at LAMR before they slot it into the holster... same as uspsa. :)

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12 minutes ago, Dr Mitch said:

It is more difficult to adjust to the short, light trigger than anything else.  ADs will happen.  Doesn't take a huge amount of time to adjust to any of it.

I'm guessing this is because anyone starting with guns that have heavy triggers "learn" to shoot with the finger riding the trigger much of the time.  The light-trigger guns teach us all to really pay attention to the trigger finger and "separate" it from the rest of our strong-hand grip, and not to ride it or stage it until actually shooting. 

It's like when the cops went from revolvers to Glocks.  After years of walking around with their finger on the trigger, which seemed "safe" at the time, the same pressure on the striker trigger set it off.  After practice, they learned.  Bet the same would happen if they had to transition from glock to a 2-1/4# competition 1911 trigger. 

Same for all of us.  Dry fire, practice, dry fire some more.  It'll come. 

Edited by teros135
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  • 4 weeks later...

I've switched between a few guns.  It usually doesn't take that long, but give yourself some time before a major to where you feel confident you are switched over.  You may be fully physically adapted and ready, but if you are close to a big match you will have a question in your head that will mess with your sub-conscious and cause some doubt.

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