drysideshooter

We live on acreage in the country. Deer, coyotes, bobcats, badgers, an occasional elk, are typical on a daily basis. We shoot quite a few coyotes on our property. With the right type of system and coverage they aren't a problem.

Don't overlook the importance of avoiding surprises when you can. I live on acreage, and we have enough camera's that nobody gets close to our home without us knowing it. We have various protocols set up with the alarm, so that even during the day, if someone comes on our property, we know it. In the middle of the night, we will be awakened in time to be able to prepare a bit. For those that can, having systems in place to give you a bit of advanced warning gives you much more time to deploy the right weapons and not be in a "just heard a noise" panic.

Overlap the timbers at the corners. For example, first row left timber butts into the full width back timber. The next left timber is full length and goes past the butt joint below it. Drill through each row of timbers into the timber below it and drive 5/8 rebar pins into the holes. At the corners, use longer rebar pins that go through at least 3 timbers. You will need a bit extension.

What Hammer002 said about practice not translating to an actual match is very true. Have you shot in an actual match yet? It's much different when you have an RO holding the timer and your fellow competitors are watching. Practice is somewhat like a football team's offense practicing without the defense being on the field. It's a lot easier to execute everything well without added pressure. After a day of practice it's easy to remember your fastest time for each stage. Practice is the place to perfect draws, transitions, and figure out the best order for you to shoot the targets. Practicing with a timer is an important way to measure improvements or assess different techniques. Quite a few folks practice like Max Michelle, but come match day their times are somewhat slower.

I currently have 3 RFPO set ups. One is a Volquartsen Scorpion 4.5", one is a Volquartsen target frame with a Pac-Lite 4.5" with Volquartsen bolt, and one is a Ruger MK III frame with upgraded trigger with a fluted Pac-Lite 4.5" with Ruger bolt. All 3 have Cmore railways. The Scorpion was not reliable at first. It would run with a Ruger bolt, but not the bolt that came with it. Customer service from Volquartsen was great. They sent me another bolt and it's been reliable ever since as long as I run the bolt somewhat wet. My favorite, by a small margin over the Scorpion, is the Volquartsen target frame with the Pac-Lite. It's lighter than the Scorpion and extremely reliable. The Mark III frame with Pac-Lite is also very reliable. The suggestion to try as many different guns as you can is a good one. Certain grip angles and ergonomics work better for some shooters.

I did a couple more rounds of testing with the chrono today as it was more cloudy and ideal. 4.9 is still right at 1,100fps consistently. Here is a question for those of you with a GMR and the pinned-welded comp. What have you found to be the best way to remove carbon from the crown? The crown has a fair distance of threaded comp in front of it, so it's a bit tough to get right to. I'm thinking something like hanging the upper with the end of the barrel/ comp soaking in a container of solvent, and then plastic dental type picks to remove any more stubborn deposits? Has anyone tried D-Zolve 339? It's designed to remove carbon deposits in engines, but the manufacturer also lists firearms. From what I can tell it's only available in 5 gallon pails or 55 gallon drums. A magazine article said it really dissolved and softened firearm carbon.

The 4.9 was a surprise to me as well. I started at 4.2 and was only a bit over 900fps. 1x fired federal brass, CCI SPP #500. Also with the 14.5" with pinned/welded comp. Have you chronoed your load? -

For several years my most used powder for 9mm and 38SC has been WSF. For open guns with comps I shot quite a bit of WAC, but still prefer WSF. I've used it for minor steel loads as well as +P higher PF loads. I just worked up a load for a 9mm PCC and am happy with WSF for that as well. It's a versatile powder and pretty clean. I've never noticed an abnormal amount of flash. It also meters well.

I finally had a chance to work up a load for my new GMR-15. I have a lot of MG 124CMJ's and WSF on hand, so thought I would start there. I ended up at 4.9 grains of WSF, loaded to 1.120" OAL. I'm getting a consistent 1,100fps. I'm happy enough with it to use that load to get some rounds through the gun. One of the things I enjoy about having a range at home is the ease of working up loads. I left a target and chrono set up and slowly worked up to the 4.9. It was a little more WSF than I was anticipating based on WSF loads I've used in handguns. I think I may switch to MG JHP's once I run through my remaining CMJ's. It sounds like quite a few of you have had good success with JHP's? I really like the GMR-15 so far. I currently have the standard short stroke SCS with 5 steel. I think I will order a couple of the tungsten weights to experiment with. Shooting a USPSA target at 20 yards yesterday it was easy to get 2 A zone hits as quick as I could pull the trigger, but I think I may be able to tame the muzzle rise a bit further. Will be fun to try anyway.

I just received my GMR-15. I mounted a Cmore railway on it, and had a tactical riser on hand. I tried it both ways and preferred it with the riser. If you are looking for a better cheek weld due to your optic, you may consider raising your optic. It doesn't take much to make a real difference.

Scooter said it well. Think of it like a rifle scope. Do the lines that make up the crosshair move? Of course they do. Is it enough that you will notice it? Not unless you have some really special vision.

I did notice it was much easier after the first time. With the tool I made it's pretty easy now.

RaylanGivens, do you leave the tabs on the mag bodies or cut them off? Now that I've made a tool that makes removing the standard Glock +2 basepads easier I'm not as concerned about extensions. If one hits the dirt I can open it up and clean it pretty easily.

I already have some Magpul 21 round mags for classifiers, and just ordered a 3 pack of the 27's. My thought was to have some extra 33's just in case one did hit the dirt for some reason (won't use them in classifiers except for the reload. I have always had extra mags for my open guns. I didn't like how hard the 33 round +2 Glock basepads are to get off. This morning I spent some time with my mill and lathe and made a tool that makes removing them easy, and hardned it. I heard too many stories of folks bending the Glock tool. I experimented with how long the shaft of the tool should be to push the retainer plate and make prying the base over easy. Once I found what seemed like a good length I turned a tool with a tapered shoulder that makes inserting it to the right depth easy. Depress the plate to the shoulder on the tool, pry the base and it comes off pretty easily. No need to compress by the tabs on the mag body like I was doing before. Made it out of D2 tool steel and hardened and quenched it. I have been corresponding with Robin from Taylor Freelance. My son and I shoot at quite a few of the same matches he and Team Gotta do, and talk with him quite a bit. I mentioned how well the retention system on the Goliath worked and asked if they thought about using that same system on a smaller extension. He said a +10 is in the works. With the new tool, I won't hesitate to open up a 33 and clean it and put it back together at a match if it hits the dirt. I've been doing that with my 2011 mags for years, but they're easy to open up.

Thanks Boomstick303. Another thought I had was just getting more 33 round magazines. They are less expensive than the extensions. I don't anticipate the 33's hitting the ground often, but if one does it would be easy to just use a different mag. I don't mind disassembling the 33's for cleaning at home. With a small vice grip welding c clamp with the pivoting feet to compress the body it's not horrible to take one apart. I would prefer to not do it in the field in case something went flying. I may just get a couple more 33's instead of adding extensions.