Saturday, June 28, 2014

Steel Challenge Pistol Match 06/28/2014

Video from my first ever Steel Challenge pistol match at the ShooterReady.biz outdoor action pistol range in Canyon, TX (placed 6th out of 17 in centerfire handgun). This was four stages, with four runs per stage. I had a brain fart on the third stage, but it was still a lot of fun. :-)  I plan on attending these more often, but I will probably use my 9mm USPSA gun.  I should be able to transition to each target faster since there is so much less recoil with that gun.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Magwell installation for my USPSA gun

I decided to install a magwell on my EAA/Tanfoglio Witness Elite Match 9mm handgun that I use in USPSA Limited Division.  The gun is a great shooter with very little recoil, but my magazine reloads have been a little inconsistent due to the gun not having a magwell.  The magazine opening of the frame isn't even slightly beveled from the factory.  To my knowledge, Canyon Creek Custom is the only company making an aftermarket magwell for the Witness Match, and it is designed to be welded on which would require the frame to be hard chromed again.  The alternative to this is to use epoxy to permanently attach the magwell to the gun.  I've read in the EAA/Tanfoglio section of the Brian Enos's Forums that the magwell eventually gets a little loose after time and has to be removed and reattached with epoxy again, so I've been reluctant to go the epoxy route... but... might as well give it a try. 😃

UPDATE 2018: Apparently Canyon Creek no longer makes this magwell or any other Tanfoglio parts.  If I were to do this again, I would just modify a factory magwell or a Henning Group magwell to fit the Match frame and use epoxy to permanently attach it.

I spent a little bit of time fitting the new magwell to the frame of my gun, and blending the frame's magazine opening with the magwell.


I also cut some matching grooves on the inside of the magwell and on the outside of the frame that line up when the magwell is in place to give the epoxy a small pocket for a better hold (hopefully).


Once the epoxy had been applied and was cured, I modified the factory plastic grips (previously sanded smooth and stippled with a soldering gun) to fit the angle of the magwell by under cutting them from behind rather than just cutting them off short. I think the grips turned out really good with the magwell.


Unfortunately, after I got everything back together I realized that my brand new Shockbottle aluminum base pads don't fit with the magwell (rookie mistake). 😞  I took a belt sander to one of them to get it to fit up inside the magwell properly, but they are still too short to be useful with the magwell.  So, I picked up some new Henning Group aluminum extended base pads, which are not cheap but they will work with the magwell and will give me extra ammo capacity. I still had to modify the magwell by cutting a groove into it to clear the rear spine on the new base pads.  Oh well... just another slippery slope of modifications that require more modifications. 😏 My magazine reloads during dry fire practice are now lighting fast and buttery smooth, so it was definitely a modification worth doing.

As of 2017, the magwell is still holding strong, but I don't use the gun much anymore because I prefer to shoot my CZs in Production and Carry Optics at USPSA matches.  Here are some pics of the gun with some older modified Henning Group aluminum grips installed.


Sunday, June 8, 2014

IDPA Action Pistol Match 06/08/2014

Here's my hat cam video footage from today's IDPA action pistol match at Amarillo Rifle and Pistol Club (placed 3rd out of 7).  I recently installed a new Dawson Precision fiber optic front sight on my Springfield Armory Trophy Match 1911 in .45 ACP. The new front sight definitely helps with faster sight acquisition, especially on follow-up shots.

Sunday, June 1, 2014

USPSA Action Pistol Match 05/31/2014

My hat cam video of yesterday's USPSA action pistol match (placed 3rd out of 11).  I've upgraded a few things on my EAA/Tanfoglio Witness Elite Match: new sights (fiber optic front), new custom grips and grip tape on the front strap, and new aluminum magazine base pads. After reviewing the video, it appears that I am getting a little faster.  I guess all that dry fire practice is starting to pay off! :-)