DHTampa

Kevin, You guys are the best! Donn

Awesome gun, great cuts on the slide. So what did it run you after buying the parts and all of his labor? Donn

Ran pretty much the same load through an STI GM and got 171 PF, consistently.

Pat, What's with the open gun Avatar? You go to the dark side (come out of the closet)? Donn

Joker is my SOB name. I'm #17 in the club. Where were you? You could have been in the club also.

Good point on the chance of breakage. All the more reason to stick to AK's, if they are Iraqi proof, even Charles will have a hard time breaking one!

Jim, Got a packet inbound from Sedro Wooley. They are on board! I'll send pics and keep everybody updated. Charles, Hernando Challenge 09 - bent sight AK's and cigarettes on Stage 1.

With a Smile like that ...YOUR IN.... Mr SOB #17 I Dub you "Joker Face" AKA "The JOKER" Let us know how we are to address you Finally, I'm in a club worthy of my snobbishness! You can call me 17, but it'll have to be Mr. Joker Face to all non-SOB members.

Surely this picture will get me in the club! No mere P/L/R/L10 shooter could look this cool at the nationals and still shoot so poorly.

Neomet is a poet: "The second is that shooting to me is an experience not solely gauged (thankfully) by where I place in the results. There is something intrinsically satisfying about operating a custom or semi custom pistol that goes beyond its usefulness as a tool. I love the way that a slide operates on a custom gun, I have a deep appreciation for the craftsmanship that goes into building a precision instrument, of the dedication required to hand fit parts and to create something that is aesthetically pleasing at the same time." Custom guns are functional art. Production guns are tools. I own several of each. I enjoy shooting them both but can't say it any better than Neomet about the joys of shooting the custom stuff.

Disclaimer: There is no punchline to this story, but I thought y'all would appreciate it. My boss goes to a meeting with the local Iraqi Army generals who work in our area. Through the course of the meeting it comes up that one of the Iraqi Brigadiers is a crack shot with an AK74. The story goes that he can shoot a cigarette in half from 25 meters. My boss, knowing that I'm a dedicated shooter from having me take off every weekend for the 3 months prior to our deployment to shoot in local and regional matches, and not to be outdone by the Iraqis, offers me up as a challenger. Of course all of this is done without my knowledge. When he gets back from the meeting with the Iraqis my boss excitedly interrupts a meeting I was running to tell me that I was to be the entertainment at lunch on Monday and that I needed to practice shooting cigarettes. By now the story was that my competition, Brigadier General Abdullah, could shoot a cigarette in half with an AK47, any AK47, at 100m, in fact somebody had seen him do it with an AK47 with a bent front sight post...this was too good to be true, I couldn't wait until Monday. Monday comes and we venture across Baghdad to BG A's compound. He and his crew are waiting for us and after the introductions and some small talk we venture over to his range for the fun. Turns out its an AK74 not an AK47, and the front sight is bent. He takes out a cigarette, puts it into an empty AK shell, paces off 17m, thankfully not 100, and puts it on the ground. We go back to the firing line, BG A gets down to a kneeling, unsupported position, takes aim, Crack, he misses. A pause, Crack, a puff of dust and the cigarette is down. He and his boys scurry down to confirm that it was actually shot and not just knocked over. They all roar with pleasure, cut in half right at the filter, 2 shots. I'm impressed. Now its my turn. Same drill, 17m, kneeling, unsupported. I've never shot an AK74 before, plenty of AK47's, but not the smaller calibered version. It has a collapsible stock so the cheeck to stock weld is awkward. The front sight is bent, top edge points to 11 o'clock. And the trigger...I start to apply pressure and, Crack...holy crap that was soft, low and to the right. The cigarette is down but only because I kicked up the dirt. One of the Jundi's (Iraqi soldiers) resets the cigarette. Now that I know the trigger I take a little more time...Crack, still low, cig is down but not cut in half. Reset the cig. Crack, puff of dust, cigarette is down, Jundi and BG A run up to check and...another roar of pleasure, 3 shots. We do the same drill again with my M4, military issue lower with a LaRue Stealth Upper we are testing for our Designated Marksmen. Takes me 3 shots, BG A does it in 1. The guy is good with a long gun. We do it with pistols. He takes 3 with his Bulgarian something or other that looks kindof like a Sig/HK hybrid. Took me like 6 probably more but I lost count since BG A was roaring with laughter after my third shot. So the guy is good against cigarettes. But now it's my turn. My PSD had brought some IPSC targets we train with and my shot timer. We set up 3 IPSCs at 10 meters. I showed BG A and the crowd the scoring zones and we wrote in the point values. I showed him the shot timer and how it worked. I talked him through a modified El Presedente, this one facing down range since the concept of muzzle awareness and range safety is foreign to the Iraqis. He didn't quite understand so I showed him. Now this is with a BlackHawk Serpa, auto-lock, belt holster, standard issue Berreta 9mm and BlackHawk nylon talon flex mag pouches, nothing sexy and I haven't shot production in years so don't laugh too much. I did it in 11 and some change with 46 points the first time and a low 9 and 51 points the second time. He did it with no holster, started with gun at side in his hand, and no mag change. His best out of 3 was 12 seconds and 41 points. So I had regained my honor. And he was impressed. We wrapped things up and went back for a much less entertaining meeting with my boss and discussed the important issues at hand. Before we left I gave BG A some IPSC targets and he promised to practice. I said that I would get some cigarettes and practice as well. What we all took from it was that if we are ever attacked by cigarettes we want BG A around. Epilogue: BG A's boss heard about our competition and now wants a piece of me. He was on the Iraqi Olympic small-bore team in the late 70's. He wants to shoot at matches...I can't wait. Donn

What do you think the round count was? Donn

Infantry Officer, US Army, 17 1/2 years which means: pack-mule, assassin, manager of violence, invader, liberator, man-hunter, occupier, nation builder and full-time adult supervisior for our nations finest. Currently Deputy Commander, 4th Brigade, 10th MTN DIV (L), FOB Loyalty. "Forged For War!"

I'd pay the money for the training. The harder part for me would be to get the time. Money spent on training with an M or GM who is a solid teacher as well as good shooter, which according to numerous accounts Eric G. is, is never wasted. I've been taught by Jerry Barnhart, Manny Bragg and Shannon Smith and they were all first class instructors (good people as well). Shannon was the best for me because at the time he was close and had the most flexible schedule. He also provided written feedback to each of his students that was specific to their strengths and weaknesses. The beauty of paying for a course is that it is focused training. You leave the cell phone at home, tell the boss you are leaving the country and don't do anything but work on getting better. We all try to do that on our own but it's not the same. The other part of training with a pro is that you don't know what you don't know, especially about your own shortcomings, and a critical eye can always improve your game. But I digress...

First Gator but not my last. Looking forward to the next one I'll be able to make, maybe 2009. Great people, super range and fantastic match. Thanks to all who made it happen and thanks to the PineyWoods guys who brought me along for a fun time. Donn

Doc, Had a blast at the Monster Match in FL last weekend and got my blood up for the Gator Classic. The boys in Leesville can't say enough good things about it. Really looking forward to a fun weekend. Donn

Drove 16 hours to shoot this match. Will drive further in the future if necessary now that I know what a great match it is. 1/2 the price of other big matches. Twice the shooting. Ten times the fun. Great stages. Pet Cemetary rocked. Yeah Smitty, I know, 59! Wish all matches were like this. Thanks to the whole crew for a wonderful weekend. See y'all in 2009. Donn

Steve, Once again, fabulous work! This should be the USPSA/IDPA standard. I talked this up with our Section Coordinator Smitty and will send him the link and your name so we can try to get something like this in FL. Thanks again. Donn

Thanks Genghis, I'll put them on the growing schedule and see if I can't make that far on one of those weekends. Appreciate the help. Donn

Dynaflex

Thanks for the info guys. Didn't see Pinewoods on the Area 4 site but it popped up on the state search, duh on me! I'll be busy with the move/work in August but will start scouting the ranges in September. Local is good but 2 hours is manageable if it keeps me shooting every weekend. Appreciate the help. Donn

I got the NM front sight, rubber butt pad and a NM guide rod from Springfield. If you send them your factory trigger group they will work on it and get it to 3.5 - 4 lbs. for around $35. A lot cheaper than the $300+ white feather trigger group. Terry Bowers will hook you up: terryb@springfield-armory.com. I also put the adustable gas plug in, probably over doing it, but once I got it tweaked it runs great, and reduced the recoil. I have a hard time with it out past 200 (indian not the arrow) but a buddy I shoot with who's much better nails 10" plates with it out to around 250m with ease.

I put a NM front sight on my SOCOM II. Helped out a lot on the long range stuff. The fat tritium front sight it came with made it worthless beyond 75 yards on any target smaller than an elephant. Are you planning on doing anything with the trigger, recoil spring guide rod or gas plug? Great platform and SA gives great customer support if you want work done on it. Donn

Moving to Leesville, LA next month. Haven't found any clubs closer than 3-4 hours on the USPSA website. Does anybody know of anything closer? Thanks. Donn

Great tool. Got one to strengthen a wrist with Kienbock's Disease, a dead bone (lunate). Used mine till it broke. Lost the string but you can start it by running it along a hard smooth surfac (I don't recommend the dinning room table). I used to carry it while spending QT with my wife in the mall. Walked around and switched hands and grips on a regular basis. Kept it going for 20 minutes straight once at full torque. Definitely helped my grip. Donn