kevin c

Your boss is also smart. You just made yourself easier to manage by giving him a guarantee you'll be getting full duty out of the machines. No, not just the blue ones. Being the only employee and the one who does 99% of the work has its benefits. That's a neat looking shop, but I'm 180 degrees away from the mechanically adept like you and jmorris. What do you do there (besides reload ammo ;^D)

The cheapest is a factory original, straight from Glock, for free. If there is a GSSF match close to you, you can sign up to RO. GSSF will give you a gift for your time with your choice of a free entry to the match, or one of various Glock items, including their knives and magazines. Only one at a time, it's true, but free is free. ;^D

I use Bolle Vigilantes for my eye pro. Not as sexy or as much the in thing as Rudy Project, but I hardly care about that. On sale now at OpticsPlanet, where $76 bucks will get you one pair with four sets of different polycarbonate lenses. You can also get a clip in frame for prescription lenses that snaps in right behind the regular lenses.

Hit the local Code of the West GS last weekend. The big vendors had primers at very good prices ($108.95 plus local sales tax per 5K sleeve for Winchester). There was even some TiteGroup and N320, though both were steep (38 bucks a pound for the Viht and only a little less for the Hodgdon). Some folks even had .22, no limit (again expensive). So, not good, but not as bad as before (at least out this way).

Love mine. Very long lead time after ordering though. I had forgotten about the order I put in 7 or 8 months before when the owner called me out of the blue at the end of the year to say it and the dies were done and did I still want it. Made for a very nice Christmas present ;^D.

LGS today had 36 gr MiniMags, ~$12/100, limit 500 at one of the major vendors (Miwall). Other vendors had no limit on Winchester standard velocity fare, at prices averaging 10 cents a round. Primers were available (Winchester, all varieties at $110/5K plus local tax), and that rarest of birds, Vihtavouri N320, was spotted in 16 oz plumage, along with its Australian cousin, the one pound Titegroup. Not cheap, except the primers, but availability is now somewhat better than absolutely horrid. While not back to normal, at least the natural order of things is no longer bass akwards, in that, for the first time in quite a while, prices have shifted enough that it is again cheaper for me to shoot .22 than it is to load and shoot centerfire for practice.

+1 +2, at least with the main powder I use (N320) which is an extruded short granular powder. Literally good to the last full drop, and then empty on a partial. Really fine ball powders and flaked powders like Hodgdon Clays, though, might be different because of the density and geometry; at least for me, even with a full measure with these powders there's some variation.

I do this, pretty much, using isopropyl or ethyl alcohol in a pump spray. The stickiness happens with the Hornady One Shot I've used in the past and am using again for the moment. If I use silicone spray (ZEP PAR) I don't have any stickiness, and just leave it on.

Dammit, Brian, it's three weeks to the nationals and my G34's are giving me fits. Now I have this horrible image of Ah-nald grinning at me with blood running down his face, saying, "Jah, jah! Dat vas a gut one! Do eet again!"... :^D

Thanks, guys.

Missed that. Thanks, Barry.

Match Hotel and registration - anybody know? For those who have gone before - is staying in downtown St George too far to the range? Any idea on shipping ammo if I'm not staying in a hotel? TIA, Kevin

any info on where to ship ammo?

As far as setting the die to remove flare but not leave a crimp mark on the bullet, it's worh noting that brass thickness varies a bit from brand to brand, so that at any given setting the die will force the case mouth into the bullet more or less with more or less case wall thickness. You will probably get the most consistent results using single headstamp brass, but hardly anybody I know is quite so OC (except mebbe yours truly ;^D). If you use mixed HS brass, you will have to put up with some variation, which may or may not be enough to affect load performance.

Had the same thing happen to me last year. It happened about two months before the Nationals. I took a three to four week break from shooting (needed to any way - I could barely walk the first week) and did a gradual return to full activity. I managed to get through the Nationals and cannot attribute my sucky performance to the leg (though I'd like to...;^D). Late 50's here, age wise. If you're younger, you've a good chance of healing faster. But understand this: when it first feels OK, it still isn't. No pain does not equate with complete healing, and, especially after an activity break, does not mean anything close to normal strength. Come back gradually - don't go from zero to 100 % effort overnight, not unless you want to reinjure it. Stretching and warming up, I am told by the ortho people I know, is essential, especially the warming up part.

New shooters, I agree, it's good to go over what happened in a sympathetic way. I'd like them to come back and compete (safely), and that often won't happen if they're first impression of competiton is an unmitigatedly negative one. "Saving the shooter"? If he's new I think I'd do it, but wouild take the time to explain what almost happened and that such a pass is not routinely given. An experienced competitor should know better, though. I've seen myself and read here about too many RO/competitor miscommunications leading to DQ's for gun handling before the "Make ready" command to be taken aback if they ask to make ready before I've said anything, or even afterwards (I don't think I mumble, but apparently I do).

I've only been swiped once, but I only travel by air to matches a couple times a year. It happened on my way back from Hawaii where I shot a couple local matches while on vacation on Maui. No issues. Given the horror stories I've read, my routine before both flying out and back to matches is to empty my range bag carry on onto the floor, taking out everything including the bottom reinforcng mat, and dumping out and then repacking each small container or bag that was inside, and then repacking each back into the range bag. It suits my OC tendencies and keeps me out of trouble. The checked stuff, though, with the guns and ammo, I follow the guidelines, and if I have dirty laundry and shoes from the match, I don't worry about it.

Love my SDB. With preloaded primer tubes, i can do 450 rounds/hr easily and up to 600 if I push it. I case roll my brass so the fact that non proprietary dies are a no-go is not an issue. But I may start reloading rifle at some point, the the SDB simply won't do that. For a significantly higher production rate (which I think means not only paying extra for a 650 by itself, but substantially more moolah for a case and or bullet feeder), for anything needing aftermarket dies, and for rifle, the SDB is not the press to get.

At our recent sectional I had to DQ a competitor who took three steps with the gun up, both hands on and with finger on the trigger while moving to a shooting position. He was no where close to being able to shoot the targets, even though they were partiall visible through the mesh walls bracketing the port. Unfortunate, but there was really no other call to make. Same stage my ARO called a one eighty warning. The competitor, both high ranking and highly competitive, was distracted and did not do well on the stage. Unfortunate. The competitor claimed RO interference, saying the ARO was too far down range (he knew he could not challenge the safety warning), but was overruled by the RM (who is pretty up there in NROI), who pointed out that the RO has to offer a reshoot for interference, the competitor cannot demand it. I think judicious use of safety warnings have to be allowed. I don't buy "I know what I'm doing out there, and I'm am not breaking the 180, so don't warn me about what I am not doing", because nobody I know, from rank beginner to top GM, wants to break safety rules, but we all have and will do it. Also, I personally appreciate knowing if I am skirting too close (I have been warned, on and off the stage, more than once), and would rather get a warning than be disqualified from a match that I spent time and money, and some times a lot of both, to go to. I also remind myself: breaking the 180 with a loaded gun does not put me at risk, it is putting my friends, the range and the sport at risk.

Check out this pinned thread over in the gallery for more bench ideas: http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5485

There's another headstamp besides the IMT that has that internal belt - Ammoload. I can't help but think that such cases will have different ballistics, both internal and external, with a recipe that assumes normal interior case volume. When I run across these cases (I check the HS of every piece of brass I process). they get set aside. When I get to a substantial #, I will shoot them up after working up a load.

SDB, the only press I've ever loaded on. 12 preloaded primer tubes (which usually takes me 15 minutes or so to load, mebbe 10 if I use the VibraPrime with the primer brands that feed well through it. Major match ammo, where I seat the primer, rotate the case without advancing and reseat to ensure a good deep seating - 300 rounds an hour. Practice and club match ammo, where I skip the step above - 500 rounds an hour. I've gone as fast as 600 an hour, but it was just to see if I could do it, and it was not worth the effort. I will load until I run out of primers or until my concentration flags - an hour to an hour and a half.

I don't know the specific area, but might suggest checking out the VRBO (Vacation Rentals By Owner) website. These are usually single family homes and condos available for short term rentals from a couple of days up to a couple of months where you stay, cook for yourselves, and use the home as your base of operations for exploring what the area has to offer. Tends to be a lot more laid back and less expensive than staying in a commercial outfit. Cooking your own food acommodates special diets or preferences, and saves a ton of cash. The drawbacks are the hassle of shopping for and cooking your own food, taking care of your own creature comforts, and the lack of the resort/spa experience, if that is important to you or your wife. I've done this a lot for big away matches and vacations, both in the US and abroad.

What, Sarge, you aren't mental? );^D (But, for sure, Anderson's books will give you plenty to work on).

Burkett's DVD's are very good on the basics, with good drills For the next step, if you're the type that really likes understanding not just the what, but also the why, Saul Kirsch of Double Alpha Academy has some excellent DVD's: 3GMs #1 and #2, and Master Class #1 and #2. He also has very good training books. Nothing compares to Beyond Fundamentals. It's timeless. You get more out of it each time you read it (my first copy is falling apart, the second is well thumbed). For the psychological aspect of the game, Bassham's "With Winning in Mind", Kirsch's "Thinking Practical Shooting", and Enos' "Beyond Fundamentals" for the Zen of it.