masters panel discussion

First topic message reminder :

hi, i enjoyed the video's on the masters , very informative and i am now using some of the suggestions. such as blank wall dry firing. area aiming shooting ant blank target. all very helpful! thank you so much for putting it all together for us. but being a equipment junkie, I must ask! what guns do you guys use? cost being no object. i am currently using a bob marvel 22 conversion on a rock island 45 frame. and a Clark 45 with  a kart national match barrel and bushing. currently shooting marksman, but have stepped up my practice time and dry firing thanks to you guys, so what are you using, and when you changed to your current equipment did you see a difference? Thanks for the info! Vin C.

Marvel 22lr and Clark should be plenty good and get you to master. Older Clark guns like Giles and Madore were excellent and Jim Clark Sr. did a hell of a trigger job. 

I would make a little investment in 1) making sure the barrel is not shot out, some of those old guns could have high round counts. A kart barrel could go 30,000 rounds using JHP and +100,000 rounds using lead.2) I would advise against going #2.2 on the Marvel trigger. Keep it around #3 so you do not transfer bad habits which are unnoticeable in 22lr to 45acp. 

When I started you could not do 22lr only matches. Do Matches 22lr only your learning curve will be better. If I were starting today, I would not shoot 45acp until I was shooting 750 / 900. 

Irons are great to learn on and some guns like a M90 or Pardini have such good sights you do not need a dot. Marvel Irons are not bad either. One caveat, if you are shooting outdoor matches shooting irons at the long line adds a layer of complexity. Light conditions influence the sight picture and it is much harder to hold the nine ring with irons than with a dot. 

I would get a good trigger job on that lower using good parts. The MIM parts on the Rock Island are no good and the frame needs to be fully prepped, meaning the trigger channels needs to be stoned as well as areas where the hammer and sear sit. You will need to get a Grieder trigger, a great sear I recommend Extreme Engineering Ultra Low Mass Sear, Their NM Disco and they have a broad section of hammers. Out of the box there stuff is pretty good there sears are almost radiused (rolled). If budget allows get a Rock River MSH 20 LPI with a #19 main spring. A great trigger will take you to master level scores and allow you to develop. 

When all is said and done this the equipment focus on process and not scores .

You are right on the money on almost everything rich! all but open sight shooting, i have glaucoma in right eye, have been shooting with dot sight for past two years. I agree that i would have been better to start with open sights but at this stage not so much. you got all the right stuff as per equipment though its as if you were with me when i set up the guns! Clark has a kart NM barrel and bushing, yes trigger is great! i use 185 gr zero semi wads, the marvel 22 has extreme engineering ignition parts frame was prepped, trigger is great! only mystery is that i will get hammer follow maybe once every thirty or so rounds? cant figure that out. checked the dico, trigger set screw and changed marvel recoil spring. much better but not completely gone. also should note i was a long time PPC shooter, so i am used to 45s. but now age is coming up on me as i just turned a young 74. anyway thanks for all the help and advice. as i said your spot on my friend!

OK, Conversions will do that, a roll trigger can fix hammer follow if the sear is not won too much.  The sear may be positive or tilted forward  at super light pull under #3 and it could follow. If the trigger is super short then that is the issue. While one answer is setting the trigger to #3.5 or better that may be paper overring a problem. I always do my triggers light and then bump up the weight if they are safe at #2.2. Personally once you get used to it a trigger mirroring your pull on the 45acp is not a bad idea shoot conversions a little heavy. 

Try adjusting the overtravel sometimes not enough over travel can mess with the disco not every 1911 frame is perfect and the hole alignment between the sear and the hammer can change how the sear mates with the hammer. If you have zero over travel and it still does it then you need to cut ears on the trigger bow to make the trigger a tiny bit longer. 

Do only on thing at a time.

If neither work and the sear has not had a trigger job already I can do a radius sear for you and that should fix the problem. I have a sear I just took off my RO that is done already but was on its 3rd trigger job but might be good for your 22lr. It was a sear I used on a 22lr it is radiused and might work for you. 

I see you are in NJ I can take a look, IM me.

CR10X wrote:Well, as for the "cost of .22 theses days" concept, I would think that someone that didn't have any .22 stocked up or having to find some would have even more of problem getting primers and bullets for reloading these days.  If someone didn't foresee the need to stock up on one side (.22), they probably didn't (or haven't stocked up on the other side (.45).  And I'd probably part with with my .22 stock for someone that needs it rather than primers at this point.

If cost and availability are a problem right now, then just dry fire the hell out of your gun until it breaks and get an air pistol too!  And the prices of some air guns is going through the roof as well.  Have you seen what a FWB 65 is going for on ebay now?   

CR

+1 0n Air Pistol, the first think Dave Lange did when I was starting was have me shoot an air gun , they really teach you about trigger control.