trodrig

Which gun were you looking at getting? It looks like Brazos has what's called the "High Performance Package" for the Edge and Trubore (maybe others as well, but these were the two I just quickly saw on the website). Thomas

Up to this point shooting IPSC and Steel I haven't done a great deal of actual focused 'practice'. Starting this year I'm working to change that. I haven't shot much since before Thanksgiving due to hunting season . Now I'm back to it! I'm focusing on Open division, shooting an STI Trubore. 1.11.09: First day of live fire practice. Started with slow fire freestyle accuracy shooting at 10, 15, and 20 yards with two 5-shot groups at each distance. I've never shot slow fire accuracy groups with my open gun and this was a bit of an eye opener. But, I have a good baseline now to track improvement. Group sizes of the total 10 shots at each distance were 1.6", 2.1", and 3.8" respectively. Next I worked on shot calling exercises #6 and #7 from Saul Kirsch's book. I shot these drills at 15 yards. I found this quite difficult. I started getting a little more consistent a little later in the day. I need to work more on seeing the dot. When I would draw and fire the first shot, it felt as though I were looking through the sight and to the target while not completely focusing on the dot. As a result, I would instantly see the hole in the target but wasn't completely aware of where the dot lifted. Any comments on how to approach the shot calling exercises would be greatly appreciated! I ended the day with some more slow fire shots watching the dot's path as intently as I could during recoil. I noticed that depending on the tension in my hands the dot behaves differently...duh! I need to work on obtaining the grip that I need to see the dot track straight up and down. Goals for next live fire session: Improve accuracy, work on calling 2 shots on 1 target, work on drawing to various distances. Thomas

Thanks guys! I'll load up a handful and see how they compare. The 2 new powders I'm working up with are just barely making major with the Winchesters so I'm not really pushing the envelope here. Thomas

Man, I'm definitely on the lower end of the curve at about 3800. Very little focused practice for me. Hopefully I can change that this year! Thomas

So, I went into a local gun shop over the weekend and was lucky enough to find that they had 10k Federal Small Rifle primers in stock! I've used Winchester small rifle exclusively in 38SC up to this point but they seem to be unavailable ANYWHERE so I snatched up the Federals before I run out! I was wondering by how much I should back off the powder charge and work back up when changing primer brands. In general, do ya'll back the charge weight off maybe 5% or 10% and work back up? Thanks! Thomas

Nice vids as always Kevin! Wish I could've made it to that match but hopefully I'll see ya'll at Alpha Mike later this month! Thomas

Just yesterday I fired a few test loads with MG 115's and N350. I've still got some work to do though because at 7.6gr I'm still not at major PF. Based on yesterdays results, I'll most likely need about 8 to 8.2 grains. This is in a 5" Trubore. The dot seems to track straighter than the Longshot load I've been using but, at only about 158 PF, it's still too early to make any real comparisons. It does seem to be MUCH cleaner than Longshot though. Thomas

I'm very sorry to hear about your loss Dave. Take care. Thomas

My wife totally went overboard for Christmas and bought me an RF100 primer filler! Looks like they've made a change because this one has a little dial on the control box to adjust the vibration speed. There's a little note in the literature that came with it indicating that they've redesigned the control box to incorporate this. Also, you can tap the blue button to turn the motor on/off. Evidently this wasn't the case before? It says in the note that you can upgrade to the new control box if you have an older unit. But, I guess if you already have an external dimmer to accomplish the same thing, why pay the extra cost? The thing seems to work great! I haven't done any volume yet, but, with the dial set to the slowest speed I watched and didn't see any primers flip as they entered the tube. Hopefully they've got it fixed! Now I just need to find someplace that's got small rifle primers in stock as I'm down to my last 2k!! Thomas

Can't wait to shoot this one again!! Thomas

Damn perfect storm here. I was running low on everything for loading super comp at the beginning of October. I was planning on a massive buy from Powder Valley but then everything went into the toilet. All sorts of expenses started, and continue, to pile up. From a fiscal perspective, I won't be able to stock up until after New Years. HOPEFULLY the stocks will be back up at the various vendors by then! I've got enough components for open to last me maybe 2 matches. Then I've got a 50 cal. ammo can full of loaded 45 so I might switch to single stack for awhile. If I deplete all that and they're still not stocked up....I might have to borrow my daughter's recurve bow!! Thomas

Mike, I'm very sorry to hear about your loss! Your family will be in my thoughts and prayers. Thomas

I love coffee made in the french press. I typically buy my beans at the local grocery store. They've got a lot of different blends french roast, etc. Peets is some awesome coffee too for mail order! I like the Major Dickenson blend.... Thomas

Prayers to you from our family as well Benny! Thomas

In my opinion, the Lyman manual is a pretty good place to start. Thomas

Congrats!! Thomas

You won't be disappointed with the bullet feeder! Thomas

You'll definitely want to be up around 1.25" with the SWC's. Thomas

Congratulations Dave! Thomas

Congratulations on the new pup! I own two American Brittanys myself. I'm pretty sure the French Britts are similar in that they are VERY soft dogs. You don't want to put too much pressure on them especially when young. The book I started with was called "Point!" by James B. Spencer. In there he starts with "Puppy Training", which begins at about 7 to 12 weeks of age, and goes all the way through steadying and honoring. Another great resource is brittanys.com. Lots of training tips, forum, etc. As far as exposing them to game early, I believe that is an excellent thing to do, IF you make sure that the pup won't catch it. If the dog thinks he can catch the game on his own, he won't want to point at it. The trick is to make him understand that he cannot catch it on his own and must point at it so that YOU can bring it down to earth for him to go pick up! So, by all means introduce him to pigeons, wing on a string, etc. but make sure it's in a controlled environment where he can't catch'em. Slow flying pen raised birds are especially easy for a hard charging puppy to catch on the ground. Good luck and post some pics of the pup!! Thomas

Prayers sent from Austin,TX too! Thomas

I agree that it looks like the chute is leaning over a bit. You might need to compress the chute slightly so that it doesn't rattle against the frame of the press or get crushed under the case ram. Or it may just need to be bent over towards the back of the press. Thomas

Congrats Jamie!! Thomas

Nice coverage! Really good to see some positive shooting reports in the mainstream media! Thomas

Good luck everyone!! Thomas