A Magazine Limiting Solution for Residents of Oppressive States
As I begin to think through the details of using my new GT9 in NRA Action Pistol events, I realized that the magazine capacity limitation imposed by my home state of Colorado was a significant obstacle for me. Since Colorado imposes a 15 round limit on magazine capacity, it would seem that the only solution I would have for my Pardini GT9 would be to buy 10 round magazines. Within the context of NRA Action Pistol competition, this would equate to needing 8 magazines, so I would be purchasing 6 more magazines, in addition to the two provided with the gun, for over $600. I was not excited about that prospect.
What I really needed was a magazine for my GT9 that would hold 13 to 15 rounds. This would allow me to participate in NRA Action Pistol competitions with just 4 magazines total. (The reason this is so, is because an individual NRA Action Pistol event typically involves shooting 48 shots. There are 4 stages per event so each stage is 12 shots. If your magazines hold at least 12 cartridges you can get by with 1 magazine per stage and 4 magazines total for the event; if your magazine capacity is anything less than twelve, you will use 2 magazines per stage and 8 magazines total for the event.)
Now Pardini makes a 17 round magazine for the GT9, but Colorado legislators in their infinite wisdom have declared this dangerous and illegal, so what to do? Fortunately, there is a way to limit the capacity of this 17 round magazine so that it is legal in my state and yet will still meet my Action Pistol requirement of a13 to 15 round magazine. And thank you to Alexander and Vladimir of Pardini USA for being willing to work with me on this.
The solution I applied is described below.
There are companies like Magblocks (magazineblocks.com) that make magazine limiter kits for various handgun magazines. Although their inventory of handgun magazine solutions is impressive, Pardini is not a common handgun, so they don’t make a magazine limiter specifically for Pardini magazines. I did happen to have several of these limiters for my Springfield XDM, which I found I could fairly easily adapt for the Pardini 17 round magazine and limit it to a “Colorado compliant” 14 rounds.
XDM 15 round limiter
The base of the limiter doesn’t fit within the recess on the
underside of the follower, so adjustments (via dremmeling )
are required.
After dremmeling each end of the
limiter base and rounding the corners, it fits into the recessed base of the Pardini magazine
follower (left side picture). The very top section of the limiter also had to be cut away to
achieve 14 round capacity (original limiter is on the left in the second picture and modified
length limiter is on the right)
The base of the limiter can be glued to the recessed
area of the follower for a permanent solution. This picture shows the follower / limiter
piece installed on the magazine spring and ready to be reinstalled within the magazine
body. The reassembled magazine is now capable of holding only 14 rounds.
B O’Boyle
Since the muscles responsible for isometric activities do not participate in dynamic exercises, we cannot expect to train them while performing a typical workout. How do we train them? The biggest advantage of isometric training is increasing the hand and forearm strength for pistol grip. However, it is important to train with both hands (regardless of your shooting hand) in order to keep the harmony of your body. Isometric exercises work only for a very limited angle, and only at the angle you train. So if you train at 90 degree angle, you are not gaining power for the position at 45 degrees. That is why you have to exercise at multiple positions. In my practice, training at fifteen degree intervals is proven to give the best results (Figure 1). To achieve improvement in all participating muscles, it is important to exercise in all four directions UP-DOWN (Figure 2), LEFT-RIGHT.
There is no exact science to the organization of the drills. The general consensus is for one to three groups of five short attempts at any of the desired angles and directions. The length of the attempts is usually five to 10 seconds with maximal strength. Don’t forget to take a 15 to 30 second break between the attempts and rotate the right and left hand after each group. Three to five minutes breaks between the different directions are recommended.
SCREWS RG: Unscrew any of the three screws to adjust trigger position.
SCREW RG: Unscrew to adjust trigger position.