Funny seeing this.
Took my girlfriend to the range, first time shooter.
Running Winchester Super X, and it was a nightmare. I assessed the problem that it was essentially short stroking and not feeding the next round.
I need to retest the gun, but I have 1000 rounds through it, and this...
You said the slide was way out of spec (the original one). It hurts to not have a gun like this in original form. What was wrong with the slide ? A good smith can get it back into spec.
$40 bucks to have sights removed and installed is a good deal.
There is a huge chance of marring the finish of the gun if you make it just a 5 minute job. Sometimes it could be very difficult to get sights off that have been on a gun for 13 years.
What type of gun also makes a difference.
Only issue is that most ranges do not let you shoot it (indoors).
The wear on the barrel is a concern. But here is my take. Let's say you have a $200 barrel. The cost difference is usually about $.10 a round. So, in shooting 2000 rounds of this ammo, you will have saved $200 bucks, enough to...