u/WadeRoberson

I know this isn’t a gear review sub, but I see a lot of people using or considering these for competition because of the huge window, so I thought I’d share my experience with them.

1. My first XL broke at ~7k rounds. The dot started blinking off during recoil. I opened the battery compartment, and a few pieces of the battery contacts fell out. I bought another one to avoid downtime while the first was being warrantied. They warrantied it without issue, and I got it back pretty quickly.
2. After ~4k rounds on the second XL, my zero suddenly shifted significantly. After closer inspection, I realized the glass was about to fall out of the housing. I sent it in for warranty and put the warranty replacement from the original XL back on the gun.
3. Today, after only 7 weeks and ~5k rounds, I experienced a third failure. Same issue as the first: the dot started turning off during recoil.

Reports of people having multiple failures and warranty claims with these are pretty common. My slide is milled for DPP, and I didn't want to be forced to use an adapter plate, but these things are completely unreliable. I guess I'll just get a plate and live with an unflatteringly high SRO...

I have about 20k rounds on my SP-01. I’m not sure how long it took to break the original slide stop once I started running an 11# recoil spring, but the second one (BNB bought from BSPS) broke after about 5k rounds (2 months).

The 11# spring is definitely a major contributing factor to how quickly I’m going through them. The gun is a bit snappier than OEM, but the return to zero / dot behavior is much better than with heavier spring weights. I’m running 124s at a PF in the low 130s.

Are there any aftermarket slide stops that tend to hold up longer? Are buffers worth looking into? Also curious what recoil spring weights other people are running.

A local GM told me I should get a camera for reviewing my stages and training. I was planning on getting an Insta360 GO 3S, but someone I know can get me 50% off Meta glasses. I'd be getting the Oakley Meta Vanguards since they have more coverage than the Ray-Bans and are impact-rated. They're actually what the GM I mentioned uses.

Any thoughts? What lens color would you recommend? I'm also thinking about getting Transitions. I sometimes find myself having to swap out my current sunglasses for a pair with clear lenses because they're​ too dark if clouds roll in.

PS I think Oakley metas look mega douchy, but they seem kind of ideal for this use case.

I'm not quite ready to buy yet, but I'm sure that my next competition gun will be a 2011. The research I've done so far keeps bringing me back to the MPA DS9 LOC V2 for shooting LO. The Atlas Artemis seems like another great (maybe the best?) option, but it's well outside my means. Hoping to spend under $4000. That may mean getting the LOC V2 used. Any other good options for LO in this price point (including used) that I'm overlooking? Performance matters to me more than things like finish.

I'm making this post to warn everyone about DEFCAD. I recently discovered that the Quokka-15 has been reposted to DEFCAD under a fake account using my full legal name. The post has hundreds of views and 18 downloads as I write this.

I have no idea if these files have been tampered with and I highly encourage you to only download them from the official release. I hate that we have to tiptoe around where files ARE hosted, but I think telling you where NOT ​to get them should be fine.

I highly discourage the use of DEFCAD. I personally believe that it's some kind of creepy honey-pot. Even if it isn't, there are better alternatives that don't require an account.

Another shady thing they did was manipulate the upload date to be earlier (May 7th) than the date of the actual release (May 18th). I guess to make the DEFCAD listing seem more legit than the official release?

I've reached out to DEFCAD and this was their response: "Thanks for reaching out. Please feel free to file a DMCA complaint @ the file's page through the report button." I told them this was not an acceptable resolution and they stopped responding. ​Using the report button on their website requires making an account btw.

I'd also like to mention that I reached out to the moderation team of this subreddit to see if making a post of this nature would violate community guidelines, but haven't received a response. I only reached out a couple days ago so maybe they just haven't seen it. Not sure. Either way, this felt like enough of a pressing matter to go ahead and make a post anyway.