Coming full circle

[gino_aki]

I'm pretty sure the guys in the "Single Stack Elitist Club" have a pretty good handle on this. I started shooting IPSC with one of those first Springfield Armory $200 "gunsmith kits" that worked it's way through a Gold Cup slide, then the original slide and a comp, etc, etc, etc. Point is I started with a single stack. Then came the Para(s) first in .45, then in .40 and the latest iterations in .38 Super Comp. And then the STI's in .40 and .38 Super. Got a couple of Zapperoli single stack open guns off of a buddy and several parts switching sessions later I now have a Delta Elite slide on the Zap bottom end that wasn't scoped. KKM .40 bull barrel (rats, not legal for SS), Tripp 10 rounders.

Laid off the matches while moving for about a month, decided to try the Zap .40 when I came back. My scores are up. I was shooting the 6 inch Para Ltd before that, albeit minor scoring (.38 Super Comp) but the Zap just feels so much better. I can hang on to the gun. It doesn't require shifting my grip to reload. Swings way easier, but still has enough "heft" that I don't feel uncomfortable with the recoil. I just feel more "relaxed" while shooting. And it's the "home defense" gun so it has a Trijicon front and maybe one of the last tritium Bo Mars. So far no glitches picking up the sights. 155 Precisions over the last of my WAP, but the SR 7625 loads are just as good and even softer shooting. The Hornady XTP's and Montana Golds go to the same point of aim which wasn't the case with either the Para's or STI's. If I do my part, the hits are there and grouped like they should be, not like one "A" in the bottom left corner and the other "A" in the top right.

Was just thinking of all those guns I built/tried...only to end up sort of back where I started. Wonder how much further along I'd be if I'd stuck with the SS platform in the first place. Been carving on the scoped Zap bottom end just to see how much metal I can take away in the quest for as ergonomic a grip for my hand as I can get. Was going to be another .38 cal gun but I have another .40 bald slide, may just put together another .40 Open SS. Sure make the reloading bench a lot less cluttered loading only one caliber and one load for two divisions.

Just sold the last STI (Open gun), will keep the Paras for sentimental reasons, but I think I'll be shooting the SS platform for now and the foreseeable future. Concentrate more on my shooting than on the equipment...which when you're a "fiddler" (as in I just GOTTA fiddle with things) like I am that's sort of a break-through. How come you gotta get old before you find out smart don't always equal wise?

[slip knot]

Been there, done that.