Shadow 2, got mine!

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I broke the 1,000 rnd mark today.  Four range sessions and two USPSA matches. 

We had light showers at the match today so I figured this was as good a time as any to clean the gun.  Other than the initial cleaning to remove the factory grease I just kept adding oil everytime I shot it. 

Upon close inspection, everything is wearing in just fine and ticking over like a handmade clock.  Even the shock buff (decided to leave it in to see how long it lasts) shows only minor indentation where the back of the recoil rod tunnel is hitting it.  I can?t believe the buff still looks like it did when the gun was new. 

I also measured my trigger pulls:  DA right at 7 lbs, SA is 2.5 lbs.  This is 1/2 lb lower in DA (average of 5 pulls) and 1/4 lb lower in SA mode.  This is with no internal polishing.  When doing slow precise firing I am noticing that the SA is more of a roll than a crisp break.  Debating if the CGW or CZC comp hammer will give me more of a distinct wall, but to be honest I don?t notice it at match speed.  I?ll probably leave it alone for now unless I succumb to the itch to find out. 

After shooting 8? plates at 25 yds and mini popppers at 35 I did order a Dawson .100?W x .240?T fiber optic front sight.  The stock front sight is probably fine for 90% of the shots I see at matches, but a little narrower front sight is what all my other guns have and I can tell a difference in matches.  Plus I like how Dawson counterbores the front of the fiber optic pocket so you get a nice crisp outline as opposed to the flat face on the OEM.

As far as match performance, I?m finishing about where I normally finish compared to other guys I shoot with regularly despite dropping down to a low-cap division.  Unfortunately theres not a lot of Prod heat at my local matches, but I?m shooting a few majors later this spring/summer so will see where I end up.  I have to say, shooting Carry Optics for a while helped me with shooting on the move and I?m bringing that back to my iron sight shooting. 

Maybe it?s the new gun-itis, but I?m enjoying the heck out shooting this gun, dry firing like a mad man, and enjoying shooting Production division again. 

[nick779]

Subbing to this thread.

Im about 90% sure im buying a Shadow in the next few months (with the occasional voice saying a G34 is a better move for my natural pointing/recoil control)

Im really just bouncing between a stock with springs or buy once cry once and getting a Cajun built one.

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I guess I haven?t really kept up with this thread... suffice to say, I?ve been shooting it pretty steady.  Usually a match every weekend, with a practice session mid-week (work and weather permitting).  And dry-fire, a lot of dry fire. 

Only other thing I?ve changed about the pistol was adding a pair of Lok Bogies grips.  Two reasons, the aluminums were a little slick (Bogies are definitely NOT slick), and the other reason is during winter months the metal grips are cold!  Only complaint with the texturing of the Bogies is needing to build up more caluses on my strong hand finger tips.  I grip the gun pretty hard with my support hand, and that pressure crushes my strong hand finger tips into the grips, leaving Bogie indentations. 

[2morechains]

Subbing to this thread.

Im about 90% sure im buying a Shadow in the next few months (with the occasional voice saying a G34 is a better move for my natural pointing/recoil control)

Im really just bouncing between a stock with springs or buy once cry once and getting a Cajun built one.

You could just get the Shadow 2, do the spring swaps and shoot it for a while to see if you need any additional tuning work.  And later, if you do, sending it off to CGW for them to do their magic is always an option.  Plus you?d spread the cost out some and probably be about where you?d be total cost-wise. 

If you?re on the fence between a Glock 34 and Shadow 2, try shooting them side by side.  I do own a G34, and for me there?s no comparison.  I can run the trigger much faster, track the sight better, and am more accurate with the Shadow 2. 

[nick779]

Subbing to this thread.

Im about 90% sure im buying a Shadow in the next few months (with the occasional voice saying a G34 is a better move for my natural pointing/recoil control)

Im really just bouncing between a stock with springs or buy once cry once and getting a Cajun built one.

You could just get the Shadow 2, do the spring swaps and shoot it for a while to see if you need any additional tuning work.  And later, if you do, sending it off to CGW for them to do their magic is always an option.  Plus you?d spread the cost out some and probably be about where you?d be total cost-wise. 

If you?re on the fence between a Glock 34 and Shadow 2, try shooting them side by side.  I do own a G34, and for me there?s no comparison.  I can run the trigger much faster, track the sight better, and am more accurate with the Shadow 2.

Didnt get a chance to shoot them side by side, however I got to fondle both at a local match. The G34 had a Johnny Glock trigger job and a few other mods, and the S2 was stock. (Got to shoot a .40 TSO though.)

The 34 felt ok, the trigger was comparable to my HBI P10C. The S2/TSO just felt like they were in a league of their own and my hand just molded right into the grip exactly how I wanted it to. They were heavy, but it just felt like it would be more enjoyable to shoot and train with in the long run.

One thing that I definitely will need to practice is hammer drops. I tried it on the S2 with my thumb and promptly let it slip. Unloaded, stock hammer spring.

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I use the ?thumb roll? technique as opposed to the ?pinch method? to lower the hammer.  Placing the thumb between hammer and slide and rolling it out of the way as the hammer comes down seems less disaster prone than pinching the hammer and possibly having it slip between your fingers if sweaty or wet.   

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Long overdue update:

My Shadow 2’s slide is current stripped, wrapped in bubble wrap and in the hands of FedEx on its way to get milled for a red dot optic and slide lightening for USPSA Carry Optics division.  My optic, a Trijicon SRO 2.5 MOA just arrived.  I also have a 5MOA coming, but no ETA on when it is supposed to be shipped. I’ve been reading online that the 5MOAs aren’t shipping until later in July.

I shot the S2 in Production all winter and spring, culminating in a not-so-stellar performance at Area 1.  I was working the match, so rolling up and doing a 30 sec walk-thru then shooting is not usually the best recipe to doing well. 

Not sure on round count, I suspect 5K-ish thru the gun with zero hiccups or any malfunctions that I can recall. 

At one point this spring I did spend some time shooting the S2 with and without the buffer.  I ran a series of drills on the clock and compared my hit factors.  The results weren’t conclusive enough either way, and I certainly couldn’t feel any difference in the recoil one way or the other even at speed.  Given that the original buffer still looks brand new, I decided to leave it in there especially since I run a 10 lb recoil spring with my 132-ish PF powder puff ammo. 

But after 6-ish months shooting Prod, I’ve got the yearn to go back to a high cap division.  My plan all along was 1) get the Shadow 2, 2) shoot it in Prod for at least 4 months to see if I liked it, 3) and if I did, get it milled for Carry Optics and keep shooting the S2 in that division. 

So I’m basically on step 3.  Part of the decisions were which optic to go with and which company to do the slide milling.  Choosing the optic was the harder question.  Back in April I was on the cusp of buying a Leupold DPP (actually I was going to buy two), but then lo and behold Trijicon announced the release of the SRO.  That was intriguing b/c I already have an RMR on a P10C. What impressed me about the RMR was its durability.  The blue tint doesn’t bother me, nor does the very slight magnification, however for a serious comp gun, the small-ish window was a bit of handicap.  A steady dry fire regime helps, but shooting a DPP side by side with my RMR, I could see more and track the dot better during recoil in the larger window. 

Advantage to the RMR was its reputation for durability, and certainly I didn’t have any issues with mine after 5-6K rounds on the P10C. Plus, if I stuck with Trijicon I would have my RMR as a back-up optic if my primary one died during a match.  Long story short, I pre-ordered the 5MOA SRO, and waited patiently for them to be shipped in June as advertised.  June rolls around and only the 2.5’s are being shipped... that’s when my resolve crumbled and I jumped on a 2.5 when it became available.  I figured I can always try both MOAs out and keep the one I like and sell the other.  Or just keep both. 

Hopefully in 4-6 weeks I’ll have the Shadow 2 back from milling and will be running it in Carry Optics.  In the meantime, I’ll either shoot CO with my P10C or Limited with my 2011. 

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My 5MOA SRO arrived, TTI +4 extensions w/ Grams followers are ordered, so just waiting on my slide to come home.  I opted to go with Fire 4 Effect with their new RDOMS mounting system for the RMR/SRO.  I’m coming up on 4 weeks so expect it ought to be shipping once they get it black-nitrided.  Very eager to see the finished product. The pics F4E posted of the RDOMS are pretty cool, and the SRO is mounted super low into the slide.

In the meantime, I completely disassembled the frame and gave everything a good cleaning and inspection.  While it was apart I also polished the mainspring strut, undersides of the sear cage, and contact points on the trigger bar.  Not having the slide I couldn’t do a real function test or gauge the trigger pull, but I should know soon enough. 

Question for you guys that have swapped hammers and sear, how much difference did that make?  I’m happy with how smooth my DA pull is, but the SA feels more like a rolling break than a wall.  Would changing hammer and sear (or just hammer) improve the SA any?  Last time I checked my SA was 2.25 lbs, and I’m fine with the weight just looking to see if i can make it crisper.  TIA


 

[Czechmark]

Please post pix when everything comes together!

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My slide is done!  It has been weighed, measured, shot, and not found wanting! 

Of course the truth of the matter I had to go out of town for work in mid-Aug and I was gone until recently.  F4E shipped my finished slide two days after I left, so it sat in a box on the counter for over 3 weeks.  Needless to say, the morning after I got home I re-assembled the slide, installed the optic, and was at the range sighting in and function testing.  My TTI +4 extensions were also waiting for me when I got home, so installed them on 17-rnd Mecgar mags, gauged them in the USPSA mag gauge (they fit), and everything got weighed.  Total weight with empty mag is 44.1 oz so I have some wiggle room.  Stock steel guide rod still installed, but using thin Lok grips instead of the factory AL grips.

F4E did a really nice job with the milling and re-finishing.  The pocket for the optic is pretty deep, not as deep as some places do, but deep enough that they also had to mill a little off the top of the slide so the SRO’s hood would clear.  I sent F4E a stripped slide, but they sent my slide back with a new extractor, spring, and pin installed (so now I have a spare). The black nitride job they did and laser engraving came out nice.  The extra serrations on the top of the slide are functional for use as cocking serrations, albeit sharp.  I would recommend F4E based on their work.  Plus it looks badass. 

I put my front sight back on (.240”T) but I found having such a tall front sight was distracting in the optic window, even without the fiber optic, so replaced it with a .175”T one that I had in my CZ parts kit.  I may take a file/dremel to it and grind it flush with the top of the slide... we’ll see. I’ve seen some blanks offered by PM and CGW that I may opt for in the future if my ghetto blank doesn’t work out. 

Shooting impressions:  Being re-united with the Shadow 2 was like coming home to an old friend, but the addition of the SRO takes it to a whole new level.  I sighted in @ 25 yds off a rest, then spent the rest of the session running drills and figuring out my holds at varying distances including upper A-zone @ 25 yds.  I don’t think I ever lost the dot during recoil, even doing Bill Drills going as fast as I can work the trigger.  The field of view is an improvement over the RMR, and I’m pretty happy with the 5MOA dot size on the SRO.  USPSA match this weekend, so we’ll see how it does under match conditions.