I've been shooting open division guns for about six months now. For those who aren't aware, the Open Division is the competitive division classified by the USPSA to allow the greatest range of handgun and sight modification. Handguns used in Open Division are the competitive shooting equivalent of a supped-up race car. These guns are custom built and often expensive, but if you're serious about shooting competitively, you should consider saving your cash.

Suffice to say, there's a whole lot about this sport I have left to learn and who knows, perhaps someday I'll be able to use my equipment to its full potential. I'm not holding my breath.

I got started in the Formula One of shooting sports with a Springfield Armory custom shop pistol based on a very early Tripp frame. It had a lot of rounds through it, so many in fact that the barrel looked like it had polygonal rifling.

Recently, however, Predator Tactical owner Matt Burkett offered me the chance to replace that worn-out open division gun with a Predator Tactical Wraith race gun (I guess you could also call it a pistol or handgun).

Burkett's a seven-time MGM IronMan Overall Champion, three-time World 3-Gun Champion, two-time European 3-Gun Champion and 2003 National IDPA ESP Champion. Bottom line, he is recognized around the globe as a world class shooter who's approaching legendary status. Predator Tactical is his brainchild, and he's building some of the best Open Division tools out there.

So, I thought, who am I to turn down an opportunity like that? The only downside was that I'd have to pick it up two days before a major match and have no time to do any load development, but what the Hell, right?

The Wraith in 9mm is built on an STI 2011 frame and features a chopped commander length slide with a 4 5/8-inch bull barrel threaded into a fairly compact compensator. Despite the added length of the compensator, it weighs less than a steel-framed Government model and points like a magic wand. All the usual refinements you'd expect from a mechanical device of this quality are present; Scheumann Ultimatch barrel, Dawson magwell, undercut and stippled grip frame, six-port compensator, Extreme Engineering fire control parts, Ed Brown beavertail, etc, etc, etc.

While visiting Predator Tactical's Tempe, Ariz., shop, I watched gunsmith Lynn Harrison (no relation) heat treat a custom made slide stop that would result in an ultra-tight lockup, then engineer Scott Towner used the part to hand fit the barrel locking lugs, a couple of thousandths at a time. Pronouncing it done, a C-More was bolted up to the proprietary 90 degree mount and the gun taken for its inaugural lap around Scottsdale gun club.

But enough of the technical details, it was time to find out how this high-class gun shoots. We'll take it to the range in my next post. For now, anybody have any questions or comments about Open Division or the custom guns like this one used in competition?

Click here for full article...