jmaass

Wait until I find my issues of the UKPSA magazine from the 90s. A little tougher...

I was inventorying my collection Front Sight Magazines, and thought this would make a nice Nationals Week diverson for those of us stuck at home. The cover of the July/August 1988 issue of Front Sight had photos of each of members of the 1988 US Nationals Teams. A scan of the cover is shown below, and a larger version can be seen at: Large Scan of Cover. So, from right to left, who is shown in each row?

I had a friend who was one of the folks who started USPSA matches in Central Ohio, and who had several guns by Russ Carniak, Marianne's father. I bought one of them from him, a neat Combat Elite switch-top .45ACP with two barrels, one compensated and one not. This was in the open-sight days, so it was a neat gun to have for USPSA matches back then. My freind would look forward to seeing Russ at Camp Perry each year, and then passed the word that Marianne was doing work, too, and when Russ passed on, she had taken over the business. I Googled, and I cannot find that she has her own web page, but the shop is apparently call "The Accurizer Shop". There is a web page of her work and photos of her guns at Michigan Gunslingers Web Site. Search for "Carniak", and click on the link at the end of the paragraph (sorry, can't link directly to it). Looks like some very nice work!

In my house cleanup, I found a box of stuff that belongs to Dave Stanford and should be returned to him. Can someone provide an email or snail-mail address for Dave? Thanks!

The VV reloading manual included temperature graphs. Mine is packed away somewhere, but I recall checking them out in past years.

I used to use a bowling pin load with 255gr LSWC using Universal Clays. It chronographed at up to 900 fps (power factor 230) in one gun, and 863 fps (power factor 220) in the other, and the bowling pins cowered. I shot it from a Clark Custom Heavy Recoil Master 1911 (with a 20-pound recoil spring), and from a S&W 625 with heavy underlug and compensator tricked out by Cylinder & Slide. Both guns were quite managable with the loads, and were very accurate. These loads were more than a little bit "heftier" than Duane's loads, and I won't be telling anyone what my specific load was. The bullets were S&S and D&J 255gr LSWC. lengths were 1.200". Universal Clays (**NOT** Clays!) seemed a perfect powder for heavy-bullet loads in .45ACP, and the very similar Unique has been used for that purpose for a long while.

Happy Birthday! Who are these shooters?

Although none for HS6 or Unique, there are several loads listed for 175 gr LSWC in the ".40 S&W IPSC Loads List" at: IPSC Loads Lists

The turnaround on mine in Delaware County (North of Columbus) was 12 days (including two weekends) in May. One of my friends had a 2-day turnaround from Franklin County (Columbus) about the same time!

I found that the electronic muffs made hearing the difference between a squib and a live round impossible. This is not something I want to happen when playing the RO role, nor when shooting!

Kyle: Condolences. I went through the loss of my Father last year. It's never easy.

Using case lube while loading pisol rounds makes an incredible difference in the ease and repeatability of reloading (thanks for the tip, BE!), but cleaning off the lube manually afterwards made progressive reloading far less productive. So, the subject of "tumbling" (usually meaning using a vibrating cleaner) on loaded pistol rounds comes up periodically. Many years ago, year 2000 or before IIRC, one of the participants on the old Unofficial USPSA Mailing List decided to test it systematically. I do not recall who it was, and I recall that the result were posted here at one point or another. A quick search here this morning did not find the posting of his results. This is from memory. He loaded one or two hundred pistol rounds, and put them in his Dillon vibrating cleaner with some media, keeping a control batch out of the "tumbler". He ran the test for three or four weeks (dont recall) 24x7, taking a test batch out at several-day intervals. So, he ended up with several test batches of loads, each loaded identically and "tumbled" for different perids of time. He then chronoed each batch. The results? 1) No "Pop!" in the vibrating cleaner during the cleaning period. None. 2) No discernable difference in the chrono data betweeen those never "tumbled" and those "tumbled" for three oe four weeks. Perhaps someone will recall who the origianl poster of the test was, and perhaps the actual data could be found and re-published here. The concensus in the discussion following this test was that throwing loaded pistol rounds in your vibrating cleaner for 30 minutes to clean off the case lube was not going to represent any risk, either immediate or upon firing. If you forgot them and let them "tumble" overnight, still no problem. Manufacturers throw batches of loaded ammo into cement mixers-sized cleaners to clean them. Even if a round in corncob or walnut media were to "go off" while "tumbling", the effect would negligable (Unless you "tumbled" the round glued inside a barrel). Most agree that the results (WRT detonation while cleaning) might change if using a real tumbler - like a rock-polishing type device that drops rounds within the cage. Likewise, rifle rounds using large extruded powder might be dangerous if done for more than 15 minutes. I cleaned case lube off of maybe ~40,000 pistol rounds, and never had any issues (except for getting walnut bits lodged in the JHP when I switched to them). If anyone else recalls the identity of the original experimentor, or has a better record of the details, please let us know!

It is never a good idea to choose a powder based on what you happen to have on hand. Choose a powder based on what works. That is best judged by determining what others are using successfully in the same caliber with the same bullet. Anything else is A Bad Idea. N310 is too fast. Find something mid-range in the pistol powders. The advise from vetts1911 (above) is sound.

You are holding the trigger down in the later case.

Disassemble the pistol in question, and then use the barrel chamber to check you ammo to make sure the it drops in and out cleanly. Mark K So I am only looking for how cleanly it slides in? ...and back out.

Don't forget to also check the function of cartridges of the selected OAL in your magazines before you load them!

My old .40 S&W IPSC Loads List (available at IPSC Loads Lists) includes many loads for 200gr lead bullets, with powders ranging from N320 & WST (at the fast end) through N350 & WW571 (at the slow end). These are loads reported by active USPSA/IPSC shooters, and should give some "real world" suggestions as to where people found their "sweet spot".

It tells the lemmings where to shoot from, and leaves those shooters with "live brains" a chance to solve the problem in the most efficient manner.

Gary: I was looking forward to hearing what you had to say this weekend at Circleville, but my employer has determined that I will be unable to attend. Sorry to miss you after all this time! Just sayin'...

You can find a large number of 9x21 loads on my IPSC Loads List. It includes steel loads and 9x21 loads loaded to the short OALs. IPSC Loads Lists

My 9mm practice brass has been reloaded up to 5 times so far with my current load (171PF) without any signs of problems. I do inspect any cases I pick up at the range and cull out anything that looks badly worn. I also cull cases that feel tight in my sizer die (not a U-die). I will use this brass for monthly matches where I don't pick it up. I always use once fired brass for major matches. I shot 9x21 at 175 Major for many years (115gr / ~1550 fps). My brass was usually good for 7 or 8 uses before I relegated it to my scrap pile. The indicator of problem was never split cases or work-hardening, it was when the primers became too easy to insert into the primer pockets. I started with 2000 new 9x21 cases, and used those exclusively, keeping track of how many loadings (so I had a large Tupperware bin of cases with "N" firings, and another of cases with "N+1" firings. At the point when I experienced more than two of these per hundred loaded rounds, I declared that batch of brass "retired", and started with another 2000 cases. There were not that many local 9x21 shooters (one other I can recall shooting at ranges where I shot), and I marked my brass to try to minimize the chance that I got anyone else's brass at a match or range.

I started naming my handguns when I received my first custom-built gun. I would note the name when recording chrono data for new loads, and when keeping maintenance records. I kept up the habit until I went inactive several years ago, but at one time or another had the following: "Bullwinkle" Clark Heavy Recoil-Master .45ACP, with big "nostril-like" compensator. "Rocky" Old Russ Carniak built switch-top .45ACP, with compensated and non-compensated barrels. "Dudley Do-Rite" First Matt McLearn built 9x21 Open Caspian. (Don't tell Matt!) "Sweet Nell" Second Matt McLearn built 9x21 Open Caspian. "Boris" Para P16 Limited .40 S&W gun, lightly customized by Shawn Herman. "Natasha" S&W 625 .45ACP Bowling Pin Gun, tricked-out by Cylinder & Slide Shop. Of these, only Dudley and Nell remain in my posession. I wish I still had Boris and Natasha, which were great guns. I may start to re-cycle names for my new .40 EMP ("Bullwinkle II") and 9mm EMP ("Rocky II") carry guns. Will anyone else admit that they have assigned pet names to their guns?

I read that the LEO had recently returned from duty in Iraq. I wonder if he had a difficult time transitioning back to civilian law enforcement after his duties there?

Matt McLearn built my two 9x21 Open guns, long before M2I, before SIG, back when he was working in Claremore OK. After a long period of no new guns, I am about to send him my Springfield EMP in .40 S&W to tune up to serve as my carry gun.

I had a rocky start switching over to cleats from tennis shoes. I had purchased a pair of Nike soccer cleats, with pretty aggressive spikes. I admit to not having practiced in them before I went to a nearby USPSA match (Lima OH) with them. My first stage, I was running to a box to engage the last set of targets, and discovered that cleats can make your feet stop moving abruptly! I hit my mark a bit ahead of where I wanted to stop, the feet stopped, and the body/gun did not. I must have looked like a tree falling in the forest! Kept it pointed downrange, didn't drop the gun, got my hits, but took a bit of ribbing. For the rest of that match I was cautiously tip-toeing through the courses in my new shoes. They are still hanging in my closet, unused, ten years later. I tried a few different shoes and boots before I settled on the excellent Adidas GSG-9 boots as a good choice for all the surfaces we encounter at matches. I see that they now have a "2nd generation" version, the GSG-9-2. We can get caught up in things that can move us up on the list of finishers. The "purists" think that this will be by shooting skill alone, but the little things that make us move better, hold up in the heat better, or even "feel better" help to drive scores up, too!