Build your ideal USPSA Open Gun

3 gun isn't expensive. The cost is from travelling to the good matches![rofl]

you've hit on the one thing that's less tolerated than spending $$$$...time away from the family. Diff is that I don't so much mind spending the money but I DO miss the time away from the fam. can't wait until the boy is old enough to hit the range with me, a few years before that though, he's only turning 6 this summer...
 
I was joking on 3 gun not being pricey. On the serious side, no matter what division you choose, a balance has to be struck on the money/family issue. You might be happy with a different Production gun, when you figure that in.
 
I probably don't belong in this thread because you've got the 'cream of the crop' giving you advise and I'm nothing but a lowly D weekend warrior[rofl] but....... I got my limited SVI/Briley (.40) for a very decent price from the classifieds on another forum. Mags can also be had for decent prices. You just have to watch and be patient. It's gone back to SVI once for an owner related 'oopps' but other than that, Dan S has kept it running great for me and John S and Super have helped me out on the range numerous times. I'm a woman with not very great hand and upper body strength and rotator cuff issues in both arms [rolleyes] but I don't find the recoil on this gun unbearable as long as I concentrate on maintaining a good grip. I'll probably regret putting this here [hmmm] but I don't think the recoil looks too bad in this clip (peanut gallery - shut up!) This is with about a 175 power factor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnzU7tIeZCs&feature=related
 
When you like ice cream you want to try all the flavors, problem is there are no little freebie sample scoops in this sport..

Actually there is, Some of the "jerks" of Open div. have let shooters try guns for weeks even months. Hell, even 9x21 let me try one of his for a bit, before he found out I was an ass. You will find USPSA shooters are very generous
 
I probably don't belong in this thread because you've got the 'cream of the crop' giving you advise and I'm nothing but a lowly D weekend warrior[rofl]

Threads should be like match squads; all are welcome from U to GM and everyone in between! that's what I'm doing, watching and being patient, but it helps to know what you're see for sale and that's where these guys here have been helping a lot. Looks like you handle that .40 without issue, how much does it feel like the sights jump on a good shot? when I see a vid of myself shooting minor loads it looks fairly flat but the sights still take a bit to settle; possibly due to the recoil system on the HK. I'm going to try the glock in production this weekend and see if I notice a diff.

and since you showed me yours, I'll show ya mine...from my second ever match, the first Manville match this season. I managed to miss the popper which effed my reload plan, and then somehow only load 9 into a mag which would have caused an unexpected reload on the last two paper if I hadn't already messed up and spent an extra shot on the steel


Actually there is, Some of the "jerks" of Open div. have let shooters try guns for weeks even months. Hell, even 9x21 let me try one of his for a bit, before he found out I was an ass. You will find USPSA shooters are very generous

Everyone has been nothing but helpful so far in this sport. I try not to bug people at the wrong time at a match and mess up their mojo but I'm starting to meet more folk. I wouldn't expect anyone to lend a gun to someone they barely know, and I'd feel horrible if someone brought an extra setup to a match to let me use and I borked it up...but as I hit more matches and get more familiar with people I hope to get to at least spend a little time at a plate rack or empty bay to try things out after matches or at practices....hopefully before they get more familiar with me and decide they don't want to do that [shocked]
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You could use some help with the grip. Your left hand is too low. Getting your hand up higher and camed forward will definitely improve recoil control.



The only time you should not talk to a shooter is when they are the next shooter, shooting or just finished shooting.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Actually there is, Some of the "jerks" of Open div. have let shooters try guns for weeks even months. Hell, even 9x21 let me try one of his for a bit, before he found out I was an ass. You will find USPSA shooters are very generous

Definitely the truth here....
I shot Noidlights backup gun all last year after he got me hooked on open in January....
 
The only time you should not talk to a shooter is when they are the next shooter, shooting or just finished shooting.

Unless they are on Team Bacon... in which case they are constantly trying to get into each other's head to F them up.
 
Bostonbullit, I should be at Manville if nothing crazy happens at work that day. You are welcome to shoot my Millenium Custom full size for the match. I have plenty of ammo for it and the belt is all set up. Let me know if you're interested and I'll bring it to the match.
 
Bostonbullit, I should be at Manville if nothing crazy happens at work that day. You are welcome to shoot my Millenium Custom full size for the match. I have plenty of ammo for it and the belt is all set up. Let me know if you're interested and I'll bring it to the match.

Pusher.....
 
Support hand position definitely makes a difference. After trying to analyze why I was doing some of the things (bad) I was doing, I discovered that my left hand was causing a lot of my issues - position and amount of grip. I've been trying to ingrain in my muscle memory exactly what Super was talking about but it ain't easy - takes lots and lots of repetitions and I just don't practice dry or live, as much as I'd like or should, so when the adrenalin kicks in when the buzzer goes off, a lot of that goes right out the window. When I actually watch my front sight[rolleyes], it settles straight back down pretty quickly as long as I have a good grip.

What I've found to be a great learning tool is video. You have NO idea what you do until you watch yourself (and it's quite often painful) And then watch others to see how they do it. Super and Noid and Lugnut and Steve P and Dave P and John S and others can easily be found on Youtube. (Dan S seems to be a bit camera shy) Of course, watching them might make you want to cry[rofl]
 
Last edited:
If you want to shoot Limited, find a good used STI platform. Why F around, see any name shooters shooting Tanfoglio? (besides Henning & Superass?), I think not.
(We shot them back in the 90's also)
Or just go with with a CZ if you want to stay limited , low cost.
It is as close to a 1911 platform as you will get.

IF your going open, you have few ways,

1) look for a used Caspian, can be found cheaply $1200-2000, (older pistols from the era) limited by mag cap, but folks do make hi cap mags for them today..
John S, on this forum knows these
(I also shot them back in the day)
You may find a high round count STI platform if you are patient..

2) A mid range used $2000-3000, used high mileage "name brand" STI, SV pistol (yeah, I even found that superegos 5" Bedell, he made master with, he forgets..)

3) top shelf new , maybe used, have $4000 ready to go......

You need to shoot a few as a comparison, you can shoot quasi's millenium, you'll fall in love, unless you AD with it.(going from a USP or Glock to a real open gun without practice is pretty stupid!)
[kiss]
but compared to others (Brazos, Bedell, Cameron Custom),well, you'll just never know what you missing...[slap]

there a couple of "deals" on USPSA tonite! LIMCATS BIG TIME NAME!
The Dawson is an ok deal but, he (Dawson) has not sold them in a while so a high round count is likely..

http://www.uspsa.org/uspsa-classifieds.php?action=list&limit=25
 
Last edited:
If you want to shoot Limited, find a good used STI platform. Why F around, see any name shooters shooting Tanfoglio? (besides Henning & Superass?), I think not.

Superass.... that's hilarious!

BB- contrary to the other opinions... you need to learn iron sights. It a fundamental skill you need... even Superass is doing iron sights... as well as some others. Why? Because you can't be a good shooter without being able to shoot iron sights.

And although these fancy STIs are awesome guns- don't kid yourself- you can have some great fun with iron sights and plastic too. Nothing better than a nice plastic gun!
 
Superass.... that's hilarious!

BB- contrary to the other opinions... you need to learn iron sights. It a fundamental skill you need... even Superass is doing iron sights... as well as some others. Why? Because you can't be a good shooter without being able to shoot iron sights.

And although these fancy STIs are awesome guns- don't kid yourself- you can have some great fun with iron sights and plastic too. Nothing better than a nice plastic gun!

I have heard that some people actually do quite well with plastic guns.
 
Bostonbullit, I should be at Manville if nothing crazy happens at work that day. You are welcome to shoot my Millenium Custom full size for the match. I have plenty of ammo for it and the belt is all set up. Let me know if you're interested and I'll bring it to the match.

a more than generous offer noid, but there's no way I could go into a match with a rig I've never practiced with. If I were more familiar with the platform it would be a different story but 9x21 is right, trying to go from a USP to a match setup xx11 I'd more than likely blow my big toe off or something. If possible I'd be interested in firing a few rounds after the match though.

What I've found to be a great learning tool is video. You have NO idea what you do until you watch yourself (and it's quite often painful) And then watch others to see how they do it.

I really need to get more video, it drives me nuts getting home from the match and trying to do a recap but not knowing what I was actually doing. I have such a bad short term memory that I usually have to hope Diana was at the match so I can match up my score sheet to her videos to put my score together with each stage! I've toyed with the idea of bring my tall tripod and video camera and just setting it up off to the side, or asking another shooter to shoot the vid for me; maybe I'll bring it along this Sunday and see if I can come home with some video to study. I was running a helmet-cam setup 12yrs ago for mountain bike videos, before it was as easy as clicking the order button on a website and having a self contained one sent to your house...maybe it's time to put together a new one. I saw a guy use an awesome one on ShootingUSA that showed you exactly what he saw in his sight picture as he fired, but it looked way too bulky and obtrusive to wear during a match.
 
Helmet cams are fun to watch, but they provide very little info to learn from. It is much better to have someone film you, make sure the film far enough to get your feet. Just ask someone in your squad to video you
 
I use the Kodak Zi8 mini recorder and a lot of people use the Flip. Very small and easy to carry around. Just like most folks will give you their gun to shoot - most folks are happy to video you if you ask.
 
If you want to shoot Limited, find a good used STI platform. Why F around, see any name shooters shooting Tanfoglio? (besides Henning & Superass?), I think not.

I eventually want to try all Divisions, and my current roster of handguns covers Production, Limited/Limited 10, and Revolver. Not ideal in all categories but at this stage of the game it's not like I'm competing with the big boys for a spot on the national stage. Eventually (soon?) I'll have to decide what to focus on and work on just that, set some goals, stuff like that. I'll always be keeping an eye out for good deals across the division spectrum because I'm a CHEAP SOB and that's the only way I can carry on all the different expensive hobbies I like (bicycles, shooting, photography, woodworking, ...). The complicating factor is of course my state of residence, which won't be changing anytime soon....I wish we could focus all political efforts on that damn AG rule, if that went away life would be easier. Then the AWB, which has almost no chance of going anywhere....


Superass.... that's hilarious!

BB- contrary to the other opinions... you need to learn iron sights. It a fundamental skill you need... even Superass is doing iron sights... as well as some others. Why? Because you can't be a good shooter without being able to shoot iron sights.

And although these fancy STIs are awesome guns- don't kid yourself- you can have some great fun with iron sights and plastic too. Nothing better than a nice plastic gun!

no doubt. I have no intention of dropping iron sight shooting, and I've already been having all kinds of fun shooting my USP in matches. I've actually always disliked anything but irons in my rifle shooting, only recently going to a scope. I have no dislike of the plastic guns and I'm sure once my tighten up my game on the technique end of things I won't have the control issues I sometimes have now, but I'm looking to try out as many different setups as possible to see whats out there. this isn't anything new for me, at any given time I'll have 4 bikes, two cameras, a half dozen guns of different types, two cars....variety is good! unfortunately it also means less funds to dedicate to any of those specific hobbies...
 
I use the Kodak Zi8 mini recorder and a lot of people use the Flip. Very small and easy to carry around. Just like most folks will give you their gun to shoot - most folks are happy to video you if you ask.

Ooooo, thanks for reminding me, my company gave those out as xmas gifts year before last and mine is still sitting around somewhere! I think I need to grab a memory card for it but it would be easier to carry around than my regular little camcorder....
 
Ladies and Gentlemen....and Supermoto...I now present for your viewing displeasure the slowest run with the fastest gun ever to grace the youtubes. A public thanks to Mr 9x21 for giving me the 5min crash course in 1911 operation and then turning me loose on the most complicated stage of the match (after the match was over of course) to see how it felt. and how did it feel? awesome of course. I was a bit worried that the 2011s would have too wide a grip body for my hands but after shooting a couple in the past week I find them to be quite comfortable. I did manage to loose the dot at the last shooting position, I hit the paper, missed then hit the popper, got the other paper and when I came back for the swinger the damn dot was gone. I found it just as the thing went behind the other target and had to wait for it to come back out. My match run with the USP on the same course was actually faster by a few seconds and that's with a draw and two reloads, go figure...

oh, and breaking out the case with all the different blasters afterwards was all at once helpful and cruel [shocked][laugh]. funny how 4 guns that can look almost the same can feel so different....exactly the kind of object lesson I needed...

[video=youtube_share;PbrqWrCStQA]http://youtu.be/PbrqWrCStQA[/video]
 
Back
Top Bottom