I think Lomshek and Rich_Jenkins should petition USPSA HQ for a new PPS/Shield class -- apparently there is a form you can fill out to do that.
I think Lomshek and Rich_Jenkins should petition USPSA HQ for a new PPS/Shield class -- apparently there is a form you can fill out to do that.
Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.
Makes more sense than PCC. LOLOriginally Posted by GJM
Funny thing is I'm shooting in Limited because I've modified the grip and have the Apex trigger (externally visible).
Here is the form -- I saw it on another forum, in response to Rich asking a question there.
Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.
Answer I got on a couple forums was that with my PPS M2 I'd be in Limited 10, apparently. Also, I'd need to watch my draw did not result in my muzzle going more than 3' outside my feet due to cant.
Looking a bit more, I discovered that IPSC apparently shows the PPS in the 'production' gun list, which I thought was weird.
Anyway, I'll have to give this a try at my local club when back in FL this fall. It is great to see folks competing with normal everyday carry gear.
Lomshek, I'm haven't watched your videos yet, but I will go back and do that soon. One suggestion though, might be to shoot Limited-10 instead of Limited, so that the lower capacity magazines don't hurt score as bad.
Technical excellence supports tactical preparedness
Lord of the Food Court
http://www.gabewhitetraining.com
Honestly I should have done L10 but literally no one in our club shoots it as every state nearby has no mag restrictions and it never occurred to me. These being little Level 1 matches it really doesn't matter since I'm going to get stomped by most shooters anyway. We're in the southeastern part of the state (far from CO) and get shooters from AR, OK & MO too.
Lomshek,
Totally cool to see you doing your thing and using the gun you want to use in USPSA.
Some people at I were just talking about this at a speed steel match yesterday - I love how inclusive USPSA is of so many different guns and gear, even if there are self-imposed disadvantages. At least you can PLAY THE GAME if you want to. Using difficult gear is on us individually. That is really cool.
I very much enjoy seeing people besides myself addressing USPSA in an originalist, run-what-you-brung way. It's great to see a few people returning to that part of the USPSA roots.
I would bet that you will really improve your on-demand abilities with your Shield, just from using it in the taxing and robust environment of an open, public competition. I certainly have noticed that improvement for me with the G34! Looks to me like you are running that Shield well.
Man, I hope you got the dead trigger and doubling issue worked out...Eek dude, guns not firing when you did tell them to, or firing when you didn't tell them to (or more than you told them to) - all very scary.
Rich, I bet this is a lot like what USPSA is going to look like for you with the PPS!
Heh, I hear you there dude. Even if they made a Division tailored to me specifically (like maybe via the helpful form posted above...), I'm not sure I'd want to shoot it...I mean if it was me and two other people, I'd probably rather continue shooting Limited where there can be some real action.
Technical excellence supports tactical preparedness
Lord of the Food Court
http://www.gabewhitetraining.com
That is really what my goal was in doing this. My competitive background is in bicycle road racing where I was able to make some money as a Cat 2 doing everything up to Pro/Am races. A person can do all the interval sessions they want but adding in the stresses of competition and the unknowns you inevitably encounter and have to learn to deal with will push you far harder than you can push yourself. I can't go out and get into gun fights to gain experience and test my gear (not sure I'd want to make a hobby of that even if I could) so this is the best I get.
Pretty sure that's dealt with. I did some serious measuring and found the problems and corrected them. For those wondering here are the dimensions that caused the problem.
..........................................SEAR/STRIKER OVERLAP........................SEAR/STRIKER CLEARANCE WHEN FIRED..............................TRIGGER PULL
GUN.......................................WHEN COCKED..............................(gap between top of sear and bottom of striker)
Shield w/factory parts...................0.05"..................... ...........................................0.023". .................................................. ..............?
Shield w/Apex AEK.......................0.34"...................... ..........................................0.0145". .................................................. ..............4 lb 13 oz
Shield w/fixed Apex parts.............0.043".......................... .....................................0.0145"...... .................................................. .........6 lb
I hand fitted the Apex sear for more striker engagement and installed an Apex FSS sear spring to increase sear spring tension (the lady at Apex was very helpful). Between a faster resetting sear and more engagement I'm confident I fixed that. Since my fix I've put something over 600 rounds through it without any repeats.
I do still want to adjust the trigger bar loop so that the sear is more fully depressed when fired to get the sear further out of the way of the striker and eliminate any chance of the striker dragging across the sear causing a light strike. My brother in law has a M&P full size with the Apex FSS (I do too) and he's having light strikes that I think we've traced down to the striker dragging the sear as his clearance measures at just .0035" (my M&P FS with FSS that functions fine has .01" clearance).
My only concern reliability wise is the two failures to extract I've had in those 600'ish rounds. The gun cycles fine but ends up leaving an empty case partially in the chamber and tries to shove the next round into the ass of the empty. The extractor has a lot (too much I think) excess space between it and the breech face that allows the case head to bounce around front-to-back during extraction. I suspect this is to try and ensure reliable feeding so that the case rim can slip under the extractor easily.
You can see the amount of slop behind this HST round.
There is .039" of extra space behind a case rim. The HST rim measures .046" so you can almost fit another rim behind the rim. I understand not wanting to make it a press fit but that seems really sloppy.
Unless Apex comes out with a Shield FRE very quickly my goal is to get an extractor welded up and then fit it myself for reliable feeding and infallible extraction. The gun's extraction pattern reinforces my suspicion that the extractor is the weak link right now. When I fire it cases move out pretty briskly to the side but over a wide arc. When someone less experienced fires it the ejection pattern is all over the place.
Early on I had some issues from the recoil spring assembly binding up. S&W uses a goofy telescoping spring and the springs are pretty crudely finished with the ends looking like they were cut off with diagonal cutters. It's not able to be disassembled (I tried) so I douched mine in oil and fired it enough to self polish. That seems to have fixed the issue although I'd like to get a quality RSA. The only company that offers one has you using the main spring from the factory RSA which is too weak by itself (my opinion) and will cause battering problems long term.
I used to wrench at a shop for five years. I still do occasionally. Great job.
If you're not going to learn to use the front sight properly, don't bother with it. If pointing the gun, screaming "Ahhhhh!" and cranking on the trigger is all you can learn to do, work on doing that safely. -ToddG
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