He also had problems with the rear sight. I’m not up to 500 rounds yet so I may have problems as well by the time I shoot that many rounds in my new gun.
Slightly off topic… I should soon have some microscope pictures from the gun barrel that died in April. The reason why it split is apparently quite unusual. Assuming I have permission I’ll share everything after I get the pictures.
It’s another STI. This time a DVC Limited. Again it’s chambered in .40 S&W.
I didn’t realize it but this gun was just introduced at Shot Show this year and they are hard to get. I was going to get another STI Eagle but I saw this on the STI website in mid March and called around trying to find one.I asked the local gun shop if they could get me a good deal on one and after calling their distributors and STI found they could not. Only authorized dealers can get them. There are only three dealers within 100 miles of me. One told me I could get delivery in September. Another told me delivery “by the end of the year”. Another dealer told me they were on sale if I ordered by the end of the month and I would get it “in April or May”. It would have been nice to just “go pick it up” but April or May was a lot better than September or the end of the year. And getting it below MSRP was a big bonus. I ordered the gun and then less than a month later the STI I purchased in 1997 and carried almost daily died.
Getting the gun was a big thrill and I checked the holster fit before I getting in my car. It fit both my competition holster and my IWB carry holster. It was a little tight in the carry holster but not a big deal. I loaded it up and it felt so good to have a STI on my hip again.
I had been carrying my Ruger P-89 in the Alien Gear IWB holster but after a few hours it was uncomfortable. And when I bent over to lift something the gun would pop most of the way out of the holster. I used to have Kramer holster for it but couldn’t find it.
I stopped off at the range before coming home. I shot factory ammo which I had known to be accurate in my old STI but it was a huge disappointment in this gun.
I bought a different brand in a different bullet weight and tried that. Still horrible.
I was about to give up and go home and decided to just empty the magazine. The last couple of rounds went about six or eight inches right of my point of aim on a target 21 feet away. Oh! I need to check something.
That happened with my first STI after a few hundred rounds when I first got it.
I put a 0.004 shim of plastic under the front sight and carefully tapped it into place just like I had done with my first STI.
I went to the range again today and the results were much better. I adjusted the sights for a 25 yard zero and tried it again at 7 yards.
This is five rounds, off hand, from 7 yards away with some of my Montana Gold handloads:
This is five rounds, off hand, from 25 yards:
Okay. That’s more like it! Most of the group dispersion is probably just my aging eyes in the relatively low light of the indoor range and the tremors in my hands and arms.
It’s been many years since I could get groups like that with my STI Eagle. I had been wondering if it was my aging fire control system or the gun. I’m pretty sure I can say it was the gun. The slide to frame fit on the Eagle was never very good. The gunsmith who assembled the kit had deliberately put it together with loose tolerances for reliable carry. After 40K rounds through it the tolerance probably increased enough to make the difference that I suspected were aging of the flesh rather than wear of the gun.
The first thing I did with the DVC Limited, assembled by STI, was check the slide to frame fit. I cannot detect any movement at all. It has to be on the order of 0.001” or less gap. Same with the barrel. No detectable motion when I try to wiggle it.
I’m very pleased now that the front sight is staying in place. I can’t wait for the next match.
Don’t get hung up on your gear. You need guns that are reliable and fit well, but that’s it. The next cool rail-mounted gadget will not make you a better shooter. Instead, take that money and buy more ammo for practice. The guy who has burned enough powder so he can hit the target fastest is the guy that will win the match, not the guy who dragged his gun through the gadget catalog.
…
If you practice with bad habits, you will shoot with bad habits. To learn correct technique, take a class from a professional. But if you don’t have the time and money for that, attend some local matches and learn from the top guys there.
Bryce M. Towsley July 8, 2013 9 Shooting Tips for Better Long-Range Accuracy [I can’t emphasis this enough. I started out shooting pistol matches with a Ruger P89. I took classes, practiced a couple times a week, and improved enough that I was occasionally winning the local USPSA matches.
On the Microsoft Gun Club email list other people were discussing which $1000 to $2000 gun would be best for the local pistol league match. I came in near the top in those leagues with my $300 Ruger. It wasn’t until I was certain the Ruger was “holding me back” and I had put 30K rounds through it that I decided to upgrade to a better pistol. I immediately saw about an improvement in my match results and dominated in the league matches.
I remember one time after doing quite a bit better than another league shooter he said something to the effect that it was the guns we were shooting that made the difference. He was shooting a compact Glock and I was shooting my STI Eagle. I offered to trade guns and reshoot the course of fire. He agreed. He did about the same as before and I did slightly worse. I still beat him by a significant margin.
The “meatware” is far more important than the hardware in almost all shooting matches. This is particularly important true in pistol matches.
It seems to me that the process of reading pressure signs in your brass and primers, as they tell us in the loading manuals, can be a bit ambiguous. In this instance however it was rather obvious.
Repeat any class June through August and get 30% off! Because once just isn’t enough.
Call Jenna at 888-958-0884 or email info@InSightsTraining.com to sign up. This offer does not include Tactical First Aid or Shooting Leagues and may not be combined with any other discounts. This is for repeat classes — you must have taken the class previously.
Visit InSightsTraining.com and find a class that fits your schedule. Stay safe and we’ll see you in class!
Maybe now is the time to go through one of the classes I took nearly 20 years ago. I’m thinking maybe Intensive Handgun Skills.
The Boomershoot 2015 fireball was very well done and impressive. Here are some of the details of the construction.
There were 15 seven-inch square targets, each containing 800 grams (about 1.8 pounds) of Boomerite arranged as shown below around a 50 pound bag of powdered sugar:
The target in the lower right with the two red dots was facing the audience and shooter. This is the initiating target which propagated the detonation to the rest of the targets.
In the picture below you see 19 gallons of the gasoline/diesel mixture in place on top of the explosives.
The job of the explosives is to lift the gasoline and mix it in the air. Usually we have a ratio of explosives to gasoline of about 1 pounds to 2 gallons up to 1 pound to 1 gallon. This time it is about 1.4 to 1.
In the picture above we have the people that designed and constructed the fireball (left to right: Mike, Matthew, Barron, and Ry) along with the road flares attached with rubber bands to rebar and wooden sticks. One or more of these flares ignited the fuel air mixture.
In Phil’s slow motion video below you will see the ignition start on the side opposite the shooter and propagate to the remainder of the fuel-air mixture.
In this frame capture from Ry’s video you can see the dust propelled into the air some distance from the explosion. I suspect this is from the shock wave traveling through the ground.
In the still picture of mine below you can see pieces of shredded milk jugs which have been propelled beyond the expanding “ball” of fuel and that most of the fuel has been ignited. The flares mounted on the rebar and sticks are entirely engulfed in the fireball.
The following pictures is one of the most interesting fireball photos I have ever seen. Usually it is mushroom shaped or even flattens out more than the picture above. But this ball of fire barely touches the ground and is a decent approximation of a sphere. I’m not sure what the white streamers coming out of the fire are. Perhaps pieces of burning milk jug or lumps of powdered sugar.
Here, a fraction of a second later, we have the ball of fire suspended in air on what is a probably a column of water vapor from the explosives:
Here, another fraction of a second later, we have the fuel still burning high up in the air and forming a smoke ring:
Watch Ry’s video and see the fire roll around in the sky. It’s amazing:
In the picture below, less than a minute after the explosion, we have Barron standing in the middle of the crater he created. But notice there is no fire on the ground. In years past there were patches of burning fuel on the ground. There was none this year. It all went up into the air.
Another thing, as pointed out by Ry this year and last (edited to add: Ry says the first time was 2011 or earlier), is that nearly all of the flares have been extinguished. Ry is the first person I know who has successfully extinguished road flares with gasoline.
Don’t try this at home. Come to Boomershoot 2016 instead.
First I used a punch and drove the slide stop out far enough to get a finishing nail partially under it so that it was exposed:
Then brother Doug used an air powered cutoff tool to cut the slide stop almost in two and then pried the slide stop out:
The slide then easily came off. I then used a hammer (and other tools) to tap on the barrel to remove it from the slide.
The end result is that I was able to discover the barrel split about three fourths of its length:
As I looked at this barrel I remembered something. That flat spot on the bottom of the barrel was not there when it came from the factory. That was machined by an STI gunsmith so that a Recoil Master would fit. This would have weakened the barrel.
Via email from InSights. Highly recommended. I’ve spent thousands on their training over the years. Both for me and my family.
20% Off Selected Classes for the Whole Family
Limited time to sign up — April 29 – May 1, phone orders only:
Handgun Fundamentals: $180 only for the next 3 days Get better with your semi-auto and get tuned up for GDH! May 2, WCA Bellevue
General Defensive Handgun: $360 only for the next 3 days Get the information, skills, and mindset to carry and use a handgun for self defense. May 9-10 WCA Bellevue June 13-14 WCA Bellevue June 20-21 WCA Everett
Glock Maintenance: $72 only for the next 3 days Keep your firearm in fight-winning condition. May 12, WCA Bellevue
Unarmed Self Defense II: $320 only for the next 3 days Build on your USD skills and gain fight-winning techniques against single and multiple attackers. May 30-31, WCA Everett
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Pepper Spray Seminar: $72 only for the next 3 days Easy to use, easy to carry, legal to have with you nearly everywhere. June 9, WCA Bellevue
Kids Safety School I and II: $60 only for the next 3 days Through games, drills, and discussions, your children will learn how to recognize potential dangers and get to safety. May 30, Redmond
Limited Time 20% Off Flash Sale — Train and Save! Call the office and talk to Jenna to register: 888-958-0884.
Barb L. April 24, 2015 [This was the first time she had shot a .22 rifle. It was also the first time she shot a scoped, suppressed rifle. And the first time she had shot a rifle from a “bench”. It made it much easier than kneeling and standing like her first rifle experience.—Joe]
Barb’s nephew Jeff wanted to learn to shoot so Barb reserved the training bay at the local indoor range and I brought a bunch of guns and ammo.
I started him out with the safety rules, then grip, stance, sight alignment, trigger prep, squeeze, follow through, and finally dry fire. Once he had that all working pretty good he shot a .22 scoped rifle with a suppresser. Then it was the Ruger 22/45 while sitting, then while standing.
My lead and I went to lunch with three representatives from a vendor today. One had spent many years in law enforcement and the other two really enjoy hunting. At lunch we spent a lot of time talking about the outdoors, shooting, hiking, hunting, and climbing mountains.
While returning from lunch and walking through the parking garage:
Vendor Rep: Nice Kydex holster for your flashlight. I suppose <company name> has a policy against fully loaded magazines to put in the slot next to it.
Joe: They just might.
Vendor Rep: But it’s the only holster you have for the flashlight, right?
As I posted earlier my participation in a USPSA match today was cut short by catastrophic equipment failure. Even having only completed three and zeroing three stages I still didn’t come in dead last:
MRCPS April Uspsa 4/19/2015
Match Results – Combined
Place
Name
Member #
Class
Division
PF
Lady
Mil
Law
For
Match Pts
Match %
1
Helterline, Nick
A24193
G
OPEN
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
745.4775
100.000 %
2
Ramberg, Tim
TY70622
M
OPEN
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
704.8636
94.552 %
3
Pries, Scott
A57006
G
LTD
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
650.9987
87.326 %
4
Kettels, Tom
L465
M
OPEN
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
649.7426
87.158 %
5
Hoang, Vinh
TY55787
M
LTD
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
612.2319
82.126 %
6
Wiley, John
A68387
B
LTD
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
607.1873
81.449 %
7
Hong, Andrew
A83199
M
LTD
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
599.8781
80.469 %
8
Tan, Loke
TY66526
M
OPEN
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
598.7592
80.319 %
9
Loo, Bob
L1770
A
OPEN
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
594.1050
79.695 %
10
Lee, Yong
FY41528
G
PROD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
580.5697
77.879 %
11
Kim, Hwansik
A86278
A
PROD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
539.6461
72.389 %
12
Eap, Sorida
TY76563
B
OPEN
MAJOR
Y
N
N
N
532.4589
71.425 %
13
Albero, Joseph
FY37033
C
OPEN
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
529.1346
70.979 %
14
LeRoux, Scott
L3253
M
LTD
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
525.3467
70.471 %
15
Tag, Alan
A51215
G
PROD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
522.1622
70.044 %
16
Shoemaker, Floyd
L2396
M
OPEN
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
511.6337
68.632 %
17
Wood, Bruce
TY47022
A
OPEN
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
507.5291
68.081 %
18
Huang, Jemy
TY71576
B
LTD
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
491.8023
65.971 %
19
Cotie, Paul
A76039
M
LTD
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
490.3199
65.773 %
20
Dong, James
FY22573
B
OPEN
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
484.1667
64.947 %
21
Roberts, Kevin
A66808
B
LTD
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
471.5292
63.252 %
22
Olka, Chris
TY54513
B
SS
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
470.0700
63.056 %
23
Nevins, Chris
FY75900
A
PROD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
460.1006
61.719 %
24
Plotnikov, Emanuel
L3050
M
PROD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
456.4464
61.229 %
25
Munson, Lisa
A8382
A
SS
MAJOR
Y
N
N
N
454.2216
60.930 %
26
Galanti, Mike
TY13332
A
LTD
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
446.7189
59.924 %
27
Miller, Tavis
TY71173
A
PROD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
441.2201
59.186 %
28
Roessel, Steven
A44141
A
OPEN
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
439.5921
58.968 %
29
Stockwell, Nicholas
A89438
C
LTD
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
432.0450
57.955 %
30
Leone, Larry
L3001
A
LTD
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
426.6662
57.234 %
31
Noel, Brian
A29646
G
REV
MINOR
N
N
N
N
418.1377
56.090 %
32
McNees, Don
A88218
B
LTD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
415.6461
55.756 %
33
Farrow, Dave
B49
B
PROD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
410.6384
55.084 %
34
Baleros, Rae
A83018
B
LTD
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
406.8212
54.572 %
35
Mouille, Scott
TY68271
B
LTD
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
402.2876
53.964 %
36
Saslawsky, Mike
TY56783
C
LTD
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
391.1727
52.473 %
37
James, Jason
TY75331
B
PROD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
382.9065
51.364 %
38
Erickson, Aaron
TY84885
U
SS
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
374.4335
50.227 %
39
Domingo, Noel
A85786
C
LTD
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
372.3201
49.944 %
40
Galind, Edward
A61323
C
LTD
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
371.2768
49.804 %
41
Brosas, Albert
A54960
B
LTD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
369.2145
49.527 %
42
Vanlandingham, Greg
A90645
U
PROD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
360.9470
48.418 %
43
Chiou, Roger
TY71834
U
LTD
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
359.3018
48.198 %
44
Roessel, Gary
A2757
B
LTD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
358.9575
48.151 %
45
Slaughter, Rustin
A90627
U
LTD
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
354.3652
47.535 %
46
Tomasie, Squire
L1145
A
PROD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
349.1555
46.836 %
47
Wall, Gary
TY41939
B
LTD
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
348.2757
46.718 %
48
Allen, Craig
TY71465
B
PROD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
337.3902
45.258 %
49
Breitkreutz, Gale
TY82582
D
OPEN
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
336.3473
45.118 %
50
Hodges, Palmer
A80680
C
PROD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
336.2436
45.104 %
51
Straathof, Greg
A89323
U
PROD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
331.6126
44.483 %
52
Pajarillo, Mario
A25659
U
PROD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
328.3804
44.050 %
53
Tsang, Keith
A71578
B
LTD
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
323.8689
43.444 %
54
Hodges, Justin
A80693
C
PROD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
323.3540
43.375 %
55
Harris, Brad
A54628
A
LTD
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
322.6308
43.278 %
56
Sherman, Tod
TY37515
C
LTD
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
314.2959
42.160 %
57
Boffey, David
PENDING
U
PROD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
309.3078
41.491 %
58
Mackley, Matt
PENDING
U
PROD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
307.4944
41.248 %
59
Mortell, Jeff
A86651
C
PROD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
307.4439
41.241 %
60
Dussault, Kyle
A90234
U
REV
MINOR
N
N
N
N
304.4598
40.841 %
61
Shatto, Rollie
TY18977
C
LTD
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
301.6599
40.465 %
62
Clark, Dean
A85321
C
LTD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
295.1779
39.596 %
63
Harding, Matt
A87093
C
PROD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
291.0945
39.048 %
64
Millican, Arthur
L3892
U
OPEN
MINOR
N
N
N
N
286.3976
38.418 %
65
Tablang, Nelson
A86966
U
PROD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
278.4613
37.353 %
66
Soraparu, Heather
TY86040
C
PROD
MINOR
Y
N
N
N
278.0775
37.302 %
67
Smith, Alex
TY78406
C
SS
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
276.6623
37.112 %
68
Westrich, Chaun
A78506
C
REV
MINOR
N
N
N
N
271.8651
36.469 %
69
Paczosa, Dan 2(SS)
A87261
U
SS
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
271.1708
36.375 %
70
Kellet, Steve
TY37763
C
SS
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
270.8322
36.330 %
71
Paczosa, Conner 1(PROD)
A87261
U
PROD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
262.0480
35.152 %
72
Gross, Brad
A89754
U
PROD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
250.8192
33.645 %
73
Crow, Don
A85736
U
PROD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
237.3173
31.834 %
74
Adam, Brandi
A73942
C
LTD
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
232.1828
31.146 %
75
Fenlin, Jim
A77726
D
SS
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
212.6674
28.528 %
76
Jensen, John
TY87846
U
PROD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
211.2494
28.337 %
77
Parisi, Jesse
PENDING
U
LTD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
195.8696
26.274 %
78
Hansen, Susan
A89501
U
PROD
MINOR
Y
N
N
N
179.5240
24.082 %
79
Grover, Jason
A86456
U
PROD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
177.4217
23.800 %
80
Russell, Jim
F79157
D
PROD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
176.7931
23.715 %
81
Huffman, Joe
TY29386
B
OPEN
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
147.4298
19.777 %
82
Rowe, Mark
A67862
D
SS
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
132.3297
17.751 %
83
Bregante, Carlos
TY4508
C
LTD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
122.8851
16.484 %
84
Tolentino, Ronald
A90654
U
PROD
MINOR
N
N
N
N
113.1315
15.176 %
85
(DQ) Soltesz, Bob
PENDING
U
SS
MAJOR
N
N
N
N
0.0000
0.000 %
For some reason they have me listed as being in Open class instead of Limited. I sent them email asking that they correct the error.
They had a very “interesting” stage where you ran about 15 yards to the first five paper targets then ran about another 15 yards to some more paper targets and around the corner there was a Texas Star and three poppers 31 yards away:
A Texas Star is challenging under most any circumstances but 31 yards is almost obscene. Without going to Idaho I don’t have access to a place where I can shoot targets at 31 yards. This was evident in my performance. It took me several shots to discover I needed to hold at the top edge of the plates to hit them. Many people left some and at least one person left all of the plates as misses.
This was another “interesting” stage. The start position was facing up range with your hands on the X’s:
It was very awkward. And the taller you were the more difficult it was.
Robb Allen almost immediately asked the obvious question, “Your own loads or factory?” And of course the answer was they were rounds I had loaded myself. In many situations this would be the end of the story. The shooter had a squib (a round with no or insufficient powder) which resulted in a bullet stuck in the barrel and the next round set off the automatic self-destruct sequence of events. Another way it could have happened was a round got double charged or the wrong powder was used. In any case it is relatively easy and frequent that handloaders blow up their guns through their own carelessness.
But as Ry pointed out the head of the shell casing is still there which probably means there wasn’t an over pressure event involved. I was able to hammer the gun open far enough for the shell casing to drop out and confirmed Ry’s suspicion:
This is a perfectly normal looking piece of brass. Even the primer looks normal so there was no overpressure event involved. I tried putting it in the case gauge and it would only go in about halfway. The chamber of barrel is now, of course, large than spec and the brass expanded just a bit more than normal even though it can’t be seen with the naked eye.
I tried for quite a bit to get the gun open in the hopes that I could remove the barrel but I wasn’t able to get it open any beyond this:
You can’t see it in the photograph but the feed ramp also split.
I finally just closed it up:
I don’t know what the root cause was. I wonder if it wasn’t a timing issue which caused some abnormal stress because I had a broken link with this barrel once before.
Something that is interesting to me is that I had the lugs break on the original STI barrel after about 20,000 rounds and this barrel failed after almost exactly the same number of rounds. I have known the gun was living on borrowed time for nearly six years now so I can’t really complain a lot.
I’m not going to try to get the gun repaired. As Barb, essentially, and Gay_Cynic said, I used the gun up.
Update: I should have said that the shot sounded and felt almost normal to me. The recoil cycle wasn’t quite right but there wasn’t a greater than normal impulse or BOOM!
Ry and I went to a Steel Challenge match today. I shot with a centerfire pistol and he shot a .22 Pistol.
I came in fourth out of 30 people which is significantly better than the seventh out of 36 last time with this group. I felt really good about almost all of my shooting this time. Well… except after stage 4 where I had no problems and it confounded almost everyone else in our squad and Taylor said she wasn’t going to hang out me with anymore. I completed it in 19 seconds flat and it took her over 49 seconds.