Chills1994

That means I would have to get a 1050.

My hearing is still good enough that I can hear a cracked or split case when it is in the media separator. It has a tin-ey sound to it. When I am sure I have enough of whatever media out of the cases, I will take the outer lid off the separator. Then take off the top perforated “clam shell”. Then just rock the bottom part back and forth and listen for that “tin can” like sound. Then pluck out the offending case.

E3 is another powder I have NOT heard much about lately either. The SL900 does crank them out really fast. So I had to practice some restraint the other night and only cranked out about 30 shells. I got my first 650 back before 2008. Then I got my second 650 when Dillon announced the 750. So my learning curve was probably way shorter with the SL900 than other people who have only used Mec’s or a P/W’s.

Yesterday, I was doing a search for “SL900” over at the trapshooter’s forum. One of the threads I found, somebody had contacted Ponsness Warren to ask about automating an SL900. Supposedly, their response was “Yeah, sure, send me your machine and we’ll see if we can get it to work.” The guy commenting in that thread said P/W never would quote him a price. So he never sent them his SL900 .

No Red Dot in this price list.

I splurged. I bought a Dillon SL900. It is light years ahead of my Mec 9000GN. The hull feeder + the tip out wad guide means your right hand can stay on the roller handle the whole time. I had to make a few minor tweaks here and there, but I am anxious to try out my first 25 shells that came off the SL900. Once the “test drive” goes okay later this week, then I can really start cranking ‘em out.

Are there any say “already in the popular lexicon” exemptions to trademark law? For example: ”I just replaced my formica (see the little “f”?) countertops with Corian counters.” (see the upper case C?) Formica (with a large F) was/is actually a brand name of laminate countertop material. Example #2: ”Hey, I’m headed to the concession stand during intermission. Do you want a coke?” ””Yeah, can you get me a Dr. Pepper?” Wasn’t it either Guns & Ammo magazine or Handguns magazine which tried to get a trademark on the word “racegun” in the mid-1990’s? How did that work out for them? Wasn’t it about 15 years ago that somebody was trying to push their copyright or trademark on the song “Happy Birthday”? Let me guess…they were really successful with that campaign, and are now diving into their royalty payments like Scrooge McDuck???

I know it is NOT exactly an oranges to oranges comparison, put here is USPSA’s revenue vs. the Amateur Trapshooting Association’s revenue: What the shotgunners pay to shoot all the various “matches” at the ATA’s Grand, I have no idea. I also have no idea how much of the Grand in July/August is “subsidized” by regular shooters shooting registered birds in say April.

I SO’ed the 2007 IDPA Nationals (near Allentown, PA). Then I RO’ed the 2008 Single Stack Nat’s at PASA Park, IL. I got way more schwag and free clothes/uniforms from the IDPA nat’s than anything I got from USPSA. In fact, there was a hotel room SNAFU at the 2008 SS Nat’s. Nobody wanted to do anything to fix the situation until somebody higher up on the food chain overheard me on the phone giving driving directions to my girlfriend to come pick me up (after the RO only day of shooting in the mud and rain before the regular competitors got to shoot the match….not in the rain.) And then on the last day for the RO only schwag and gun drawings, my name and my carpool buddy’s name were intentionally left “out of the hat” because I raised a stink about the hotel room situation. That was the last time I SO’ed/RO’ed a Nat’s level event.

There is an old saying….it tries to make a joke about the current level or status of anything: ”I used to be apathetic. Now, I just don’t care any more.”

I wouldn’t know. The last match I ever shot was on April 22, 2012 . Yeah, you read that correctly. So over the past 12 years, only things like this latest dust up and that +2 fiasco have popped up on my radar.

I get it, man! I really do. Nobody wants to leave a match feeling like they got screwed over. Not to go all “ Million Dollar Baby” on you, but the first rule is “to protect yourself at all times.” (You will be at some match with complete strangers and you have zero knowledge about their proficiency or lack thereof with firearms and safety.) Like I said, as a potential CYA maneuver, you can always email the MD ahead of time and ask “What is your process for handling X, Y, or Z?” And of course, that can include asking what to do if you dispute one of the RO’s calls. How thick was the USPSA rulebook about what? 8 to 12 years ago? That didn’t stop an unscrupulous RO from +2’ing shooters he didn’t like. And how long did that go on for before he finally got caught? And to put an even finer point on things, you can have all he rules in the world and a 1 inch thick rulebook. That still “ ain’t “ gonna force people to be honorable and to have integrity, and to do the right thing. I really don’t see these local club matches being much more than a “league” or a “league night”. Much like bowling, or men’s softball, or a trap league. It is supposed to be fun…. With friends, camaraderie, and like minded people. Nobody here is asking anybody else to sacrifice their integrity for anything. A Denali, a $15 particle board plaque/trophy, or just simply bragging rights.

When I first became an MD, it was at a new IL DNR range. At first, the majority of the shooters were from another now defunct club. So, at first, we did things their way which was to have dedicated RO’s stay at their stages. This one particular RO was a retired Illinois State Police trooper. One of the shooters in my squad was the Missouri section coordinator. He had also been a CRO at various nationals. He got done shooting this stage, and this ISP trooper RO was scoring his targets….”Alpha-Charlie!” “Wait? Would you pull your overlays out for that?” The trooper’s answer was a very stern “NO!” The was the last match where RO’s stayed at their stages. After that, I went with open squadding . People could squad with whomever, and anybody could be the “ timer stand”. A few months later when I was at my assistant MD’s house punching scores into EZWinScore, I brought up that incident. My AMD goes, “Oh, yeah! I remember that. That trooper guy was laughing and bragging to me how he screwed over the Missouri section coordinator.” My point being shenanigans can and will happen….regardless if the rules are just one page long or make up a book a half inch thick.

On another forum I am on, there have been a flurry of USPSA related or match shooting threads and polls. One of the questions asked in one thread was “What to do with shooters who won’t help paste targets and reset the stage?” My answer to that is as long as somebody steps up as MD or as Co-MD and puts it into words either via email or on the club website at the start of the season that it is expected of everyone to help paste and reset and the consequences are X, Y, or Z, then, IMO, that would be the best course of action. Listing other expectations would be good too. EDIT: like don’t break the 180, or that’s a DQ. Sssssoooo….conversely, such communication can go both directions. A potential new shooter can email the MD way before the match and ask some question like “What happens if I clearly hit a full size pepper popper and it fails to fall? Is that considered a range equipment malfunction? Do I get to start that stage over?” If the MD ignores that email and never replies OR the answer is deemed inadequate by this potential new shooter, then he can always vote with his pocketbook by going elsewhere to some other match. We are all supposed to be adults….with guns. This stuff doesn’t have to be that complicated. EDIT: if you’all could point me in the direction of these local outlaw club matches where it would seem a brand new Denali is on the line to get this wrapped up about outlaw matches’s rules (or lack thereof)….yyyyeeeaahhhh, that would be great. Thanks!

OMG! How dare these guys NOT pay any fees or per capita taxes to the NBA!? Shame on them!