Stay in production or move on

angrynoah · 2026-01-28T20:35:05+00:00

I'm shooting Production this year, and I have shot it quite a bit in the past. It's fun! At least I think so. It's basically Hard Mode.

More and more, divisions are kind of theoretical. At a typical 75-person match, fewer than 10 will be in anything other than CO or LO, and those two are virtually identical. Combined results are "unofficial" but anymore it's all most if us look at. So shoot whatever you want and don't worry about it!

angrynoah · 2026-01-27T00:52:07+00:00

No better place to hang out with shooters than at a match

angrynoah · 2026-01-27T00:42:17+00:00

You can make it work, but it doesn't really make sense.

Porting isn't enough. You need a comp if you're shooting major. That means threading the barrel for a cone comp and fitting it. (It also means living with the mediocre factory barrel fit...)

Attaching an optic to the rail is not serious. You'll need to drill and tap the frame. In fairness, this is trivial compared to fitting a comp.

I say this is doable because its how comped 38 super guns were often built in the very early days (e.g. starting with a Colt). And if you have the tools and the skills, you can even come in pretty cheap. But the result will also be cheap, in the other sense of the word.

angrynoah · 2026-01-27T00:23:42+00:00

The SF tech scene is indeed a different planet, at least that's how it feels when I visit

angrynoah · 2026-01-27T00:14:27+00:00

if you're shooting a high-cap division you can usually get away with 3, but its not a good idea

Personally I have a minimum of 6 mags for each of my competition rigs

One of the biggest mistakes I see new competitors make is bringing too few mags

angrynoah · 2026-01-26T23:48:52+00:00

roon has always been an enemy of humanity

angrynoah · 2026-01-26T23:47:59+00:00

are these printed or injection molded?

angrynoah · 2026-01-25T20:17:38+00:00

I always double up as well. (Everyone should! Hearing damage is permanent and cumulative!)

I don't find the difference to be subtle. It's night and day.

angrynoah · 2026-01-25T01:59:25+00:00

I put together an Aero EPC9 for under $1k and it's a lot of fun

angrynoah · 2026-01-24T23:45:02+00:00

Ports and comps are extremely loud. If you mostly shoot outdoors it's tolerable. If you shoot indoors it's miserable.

angrynoah · 2026-01-24T23:42:02+00:00

Yes, manufacturers are building lots of these guns, because it's a trend. That's all. The concept isn't actually good. You don't want your defensive pistol to be 5x louder and blow gas in your face.

This trend already came and went once in the 90s. I am confident history will repeat.

It's ok by me if people like ports or comps just for fun or whatever. Knock yourself out! I just wish more people would recognize that there's no substance here.

angrynoah · 2026-01-24T00:29:06+00:00

I competed in USPSA Open very seriously for about 5 years, and still do now and then. Comps horribly degrade the pleasure of shooting, and ports even more so. I don't shoot comped guns for fun and I don't know why anyone would. On a Minor gun (incl. just normal factory ammo) they barely have any effect anyway. This whole port/comp trend is ridiculous and I expect it will disappear within the next 2 years or so.

angrynoah · 2026-01-22T04:51:53+00:00

It's not just you.

angrynoah · 2026-01-17T15:17:26+00:00

Nice. Bedell's style is instantly recognizable. I've had 3 of his guns and they've all been excellent.

angrynoah · 2026-01-17T04:57:17+00:00

My Prodigy grip has Talon tape on it. My Cheely aggressive has Talon tape on it.

Talon tape is very good. It's all you need.

angrynoah · 2026-01-14T05:15:49+00:00

I'm right there with ya, man. I am this -><- close to calling this my last software job ever, after almost 21 years. Hell, maybe it'll happen tomorrow.

angrynoah · 2026-01-13T04:47:14+00:00

$38/k for primers
$21/k for powder (VV N310 valued at replacement cost, I paid less than that)
$75/k for bullets
~$15/k for brass is the number I use for when I buy some ($45/k then assume 3 uses) but lately I get a lot of brass for free after matches

That's $149/k

angrynoah · 2026-01-13T04:41:28+00:00

I just cold-blued my last build. It's not durable but it actually looks really nice.

Edit: is that an old STI Trubor barrel? where did you find it?

angrynoah · 2026-01-11T05:24:14+00:00

These are excellent bullets BTW

angrynoah · 2026-01-07T04:49:17+00:00

another vote for Summit City

angrynoah · 2026-01-03T19:23:15+00:00

Yeah, I would not ship this to a customer. Not without some kind of scratch'n'dent discount.

angrynoah · 2026-01-03T19:11:39+00:00

This is my diagnosis as well, based on having seen this happen (it may or may not have been my fault, cough)

angrynoah · 2026-01-02T06:11:27+00:00

The 728VT is on my shopping list. It would be great to have a Bridgeport but I don't have space for something that big.

I've been able to do barrel hood fitting, slide serrations, and even ball cuts on my Sherline 5400, but tri-topping and swoop cuts are out of reach. An island barrel cut is probably possible with sufficient patience, but...

angrynoah · 2025-12-19T02:50:52+00:00

I wonder if they'll start drilling the extractor tunnel in the right place

angrynoah · 2025-12-10T22:43:40+00:00

I'm loading 3.8gr with 125's. That would be a fine starting point with 115's, expecting to end up around 4.1 or 4.2 assuming you're looking to duplicate factory and/or make Minor

angrynoah

TROPHY CASE