DWA
BluesBear said:
All I can say is I hope that Dan Wesson doesn't decide to make a compact.
I have one of the new CZ/DW bobtail commanders on the bench right now that's been giving me fits all week.
They really need to work on their quality control.
What they need (or needed) to is look at a blueprint instead of a generic drawing.
The Bobtail...Unmodified GM configuration at the front of the #3 lug and front of the lower lug with a shortened bushing? Extended GM-type ejector instead of the Colt design? (Right side offset toward the breechface centerline)
Years ago, when I hit my first wall with the Detonics shorites...I came up with an interesting theory that seems to have been borne out over the years...At least the evidence seems to point to it.
For a recoil-operated system to function, there are 4 criteria:
1. The bullet has to be there.
2. The bullet has to be there for a long enough period of time.
3. There must be a sufficient vector of force between slide and bullet to overcome their resistance to acceleration.
4. The bullet has to move.
Go to #2 and think about it...then consider Kuhnhausen's "Balanced Thrust Vector" theory...which is wrong, by the way...and think about it while considering this one. >>If the bullet exits BEFORE the slide moves, the slide WON'T move.<<
When you cut the barrel back to three inches, you've lost 40% of the bullet's dwell time within the barrel. So along the same line, you can plug in the theory that I came up with: >If the bullet exits too early, the slide doesn't have time to get its full dose of momentum from the bullet...and short-cycles<
Note that short-cycling seems to make up the majority of complaints with the chopped variants. While this is partly due to the high recoil spring loads and rates, the bullet dwell time and the reduced slide mass are also heavy players. They have to be.
When considering slide mass, remember that....like springs...it works both ways. Yes. The slides are lighter and don't require as much push to get'em movin'...BUT...Applying Newton's thing about objects in motion tend to remain in motion would dictate that the less massive slide wouldn't conserve its momentum as efficiently as a 5-inch slide, especially against that gawdawful recoil spring.
I've found that...not in all cases, but often enough to feel that the theory is at least worthy of strong consideration...the pistols that choke on the 185-grain screamers loaded to +P levels will very often function perfectly with standard 230-grain ammo. AND...the ones that short-cycle on standard ammo will function with handloads stoked with 250-grain bullets at standard
or slightly below standard pressure levels.
I've had a couple of mathematicans try to disprove it with 2-page equations and formulae...but like a wise man once said: "When the theory doesn't agree with the evidence...Go with the evidence."
Yogi Berra said it better:
"In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice...they ain't."
. 
:banghead: 
