Limited vs Open

Open can be a blast (literally and figuratively), but to answer your first question I don't think it will be a surprise to anyone that knows me to hear me say that I personally prefer Limited. I have had an Open gun for quite a while and seldom shoot it. Since you already have a Limited gun, here are a few of my personal thoughts on Open, for what its worth:

1. The dot is awesome...for the most part. It is very fast and to me the biggest advantage of Open. I have trouble finding it on occasion on the draw or when leaning out around a wall or in another awkward position, but generally I have no problems and I imagine the ones I have could be fixed with some practice and time behind the gun. I have considered a "sideways" mount for my C-more to lower it and make it easier to pick up since it would be closer to the height of the front sight of a Limited gun, but I just don't have that much desire to shoot Open right now. The only real downsides are the added complexity, although the C-mores in particular are quite durable, cost (a few hundred bucks for mount and dot over a Limited gun, and batteries from time to time), and bulk. I guess its more of a pain shooting in the rain and stuff, but I'm stretching here to find negatives. Rip across a target array with a dot and you won't be thinking of negatives. Then again, there is something about an electronic sight sitting up on top of a gun that doesn't look right to some people. I can hardly be called a traditionalist, but I do think an iron sighted handgun just looks better.

2. The comp... I have a love/hate feeling about comps. The recoil reduction is great, but the comp is just turning that recoil into noise and blast. I generally find myself blinking or flinching somewhere during a match or shooting session with the Open gun due to the noise/blast. Shooting without blinking is tough for me, and the addition of a comp doesn't help anything. Maybe with practice I could get beyond this, but the trouble is that sometimes it doesn't affect me for a while so I don't think it is a problem until it starts happening again. I considered doing away with the comp on my open gun which would definitely be unusual. It would be a disadvantage on some longer shots I think but might be worth it for me in the long run.

3. Capacity - 29-30 rounds (or more?) is a lot and more is better, right? Even the "little" sticks hold 22-24 or so. I don't know, though, I've always liked the balance of Limited. What I mean is, they have a lot of rounds, too, but there is a balance of having the resulting flexibility to shoot stages different ways around a reload, still needing to reload now and then, but yet not being ALL about the reload, i.e. revolver. Does that make any sense?

4. Caliber - 9mm major seems to be the most popular, but it limits you on load choice and really works the brass. At least the brass is cheap though. I think it is slightly more difficult to make the short rounds run reliably, but it can be done. The rimless supers (supercomp, 9X23, .38 TJ) all are expensive but generally pretty easy to make work.

All that being said, you should definitely shoot one and should have mentioned it yesterday. I am sure Bud and/or Tim would have let you put a couple rounds down range to see what you think. Open guns really vary from one to the other as far as how flat or soft they shoot, how they balance, etc, but if you can get an idea what they are like. I don't think many would argue that Open has every advantage for speed and performance and can push the envelope of what is possible.

Nice Open heater. Is it 9 or .38? I like the scope mount and would like to check it out sometime if you don't mind. As I mentioned above, I have been considering going to one of those. I also like that there are no "blow holes" in the barrel. You could always add them if you wanted to, but you may find that you like it how it is. Maybe not quite as flat but less noisy and less concussion, not to mention less powder to make major.