Graham Smith

I don't know anything about this company, but I did run across them last night while looking to see who is making right hand charging uppers. http://eisenacharms.com/

It's worth noting that while there are several left charging upper designs out there, the number of companies making right side charging (reciprocating) uppers seems to have dwindled. One of the more popular was the LAR but Lancer fell off the face of the earth. Not sure who the leader is now, if there is one.

I thought I mentioned this, but I guess I wasn't clear... I don't have an iPhone.

It probably would work most of the time, but you need really good anti-reflective coatings if you are going to have direct sunlight ahead or behind you. Even an expensive optic can have trouble sometimes if the light angle is just right (or wrong). Try adjusting the dot forward or back on your rifle. If you can adjust the height, do that too. The position of the optic relative to your eye can sometimes make all the difference.

I really only have one active client left and spend maybe 5-10 hrs a week working on my computer, including a lot of remote access. Email is the primary mode of communications with phone calls on occasion. So, most of the time, I don't need anything at all. BUT, we occasionally have marathon sessions where the phone calls fly and I may be writing code while talking on the phone filling in the gaps in my understanding of the issues. For that, I've been using a BlueAnt Q2 which does remarkably well, but having something hanging on my ear can be really annoying too. This month is going to be "one of THOSE months" where a lot is going on. Two major changes and preparation for another on the horizon. I'd just as soon spend a bit of money now on a decent headset that I can wear for several hours at a time.

That's not a very expensive optic and the glass and coatings on the lenses aren't very good. One of the things that distinguishes an expensive red dot from a cheap one is the quality of the glass and the coatings.

If you are only shooting 100yd, then consider this... You are most likely to only shoot at two powers - min and max. Not much reason to fool around going to a mid range power. If the upper end of your range is 6x, then you may be at too high a power for 100yd because your FOV may be too restricted. Depends a lot on your targets. For 100yd, you might be better off with some kind or red dot by itself or with a flip out magnifier. Again, depends on the targets and on your shooting style.

In order: --I was wrong about the Bose 25. After rereading a review, they do have a mic. But they are still primarily expensive stereo headphones for Apple products. Not what I need. --Blue Parrot is a brand I was just reading about. Looking for headsets for truckers is proving to be a good option since they mostly need what I am looking for. The less expensive Blue Parrot looks good for me since I don't need the heavy duty noise canceling. --The Sony DR-BT looks decent, but it's also mainly a stereo headset with a mic. Thanks.

Those are stereo headphones, not what I am looking for.

1.5 inch at 200yd is about 0.75 MOA which is pretty decent, given that you are new to that rifle and group size depends a lot on the shooter. The rifle is a really decent starter rifle and does quite well with 175gr and 178gr HPBT and AMAX bullets. The 168's are OK for practice and up to about 600yd shooting. If you are looking to get started reloading, then read some of the past threads on long gun loading and keep it as simple as possible to start with. If that's Federal brass, then you are only going to get a couple loads out of it before it starts giving you problems. The scope is OK to start with, but you will outgrow it fairly quickly. Used price on that rifle without scope and stuff is about $700 so $1200 for the kit is OK, but not staggeringly great. I wouldn't change a single thing right now except to possibly get a cheek pad, like a Tac-Ops - gives your head a bit better a position.

I tried one of the Gibbz uppers and looked at another brand a friend had and I've shot a couple rifles with reciprocating handles, like the SCAR. Here's what my take is on this: I'm not a big fan of the reciprocating handle but I can live with it. What I really dislike is having any kind of handle on the left side. It's just awkward for me. I didn't expect it to be an issue because I have no particular problems with a regular AR15 charging handle, but it is. It's really personal preference.

Now that I have downsized my business to a sole proprietorship, I'm just using my cellphone for communications. Works well except when I need type while talking. I've tried using the built in speaker in the phone and don't like it very much. It works but so does a tin can and string. I have a little Bluetooth ear thing, but ear things and I don't get along well (they never fit). What I really want is a proper headset like I used to have for my regular telephone. One option is a good plug in speaker phone, but I can't see spending that much when a headset will do just as well. I've looked at a few Bluetooth models, and they are all things that hang from the ear, which I know will fall off of me. Besides which, wired is cheaper and will work just as well for me. The first thing I looked at is Plantronics and they have an entire page full of headsets. So I figure someone here has probably had experience with this and can make a suggestion. What I'm looking for is a comfortable over-the-head set with a boom mike and a 3.5mm plug. Mono is just fine. Suggestions? Note: I have read some places that the 3.5mm jack on most cell phones is for listening only, not two way. I can't see anything in specific about that. So if anyone has any experience with this, let me know. Addendum: If there's an advantage to Bluetooth for this that I am overlooking, I'd like to hear.

A leader in the "Whirled Peas" movement no doubt.

I believe that rifle has a long action so you can load the VLD's and they should do fairly well. But as I noted earlier, the barrel life of the 6.5 Norma really sucks. For a hunting rifle that's OK and serious F-class shooters are prepared to replace the barrel every year, but for most of us that's not such a great deal.

The EzWinScore software will actually produce an overall score sheet, some clubs post it, some don't. There is a web site that shows the same information for matches posted to USPSA. Can't recall the URL right now. http://combinedresults.info/

Wagons are nice, BUT... The title and original post were about essentials... I can get all the essentials into a Gearslinger. Haven't we kind of lost track of the question?

It may be working for you and I've certainly done the same thing. But it's not like a real trigger, there's no resistance at all. For some people, part of dry firing is feeling the trigger break and then resetting it. That's extremely difficult to practice in a dry fire situation without having to manually cycle the slide each time. It all comes down to what you are trying to accomplish and, in this case, the OP is talking about both a resettable trigger and a laser.

That won't allow the trigger to actually function as it does in a real gun. It just moves freely. Not the same thing at all.

Price aside, if you search for backpack, you will find a ton of suggestions.

If you look through past messages, you will see this has been discussed fairly often. Rudy is a very popular brand and they have both multi-lens kits and photochromic lenses. The photochromic are more expensive, but you can usually get by with a single lens. Just do a search on Rudy and you will find a bunch of threads talking about shooting glasses.

It's really hard to simulate the trigger pull of a real gun. I have yet to hear anyone say they had a device that would allow their Glock to repeatedly dry fire and that felt realistic. Doesn't mean there isn't something out there, mind you.

While I have not tried this particular system, I have tried some trigger reset devices (which are replacement triggers) and they don't feel anything like the trigger in my gun. As to the laser, I do have a SIRT and while the trigger also feels a great deal different, it still works as a training device. Plus there are other similar laser devices and targets that seem to do well in the market place. As to this particular system, I'm not a fan of Magill. He's too much into marketing for my tastes and leaves me with the feeling that he will sell anything to make a buck.

I don't want to sound pedantic here but I'm getting really tired of seeing this because it's something of an urban myth and detracts from an understanding of how guns are designed. There are a lot of guns that have a chamber that is slightly undersized at the base to allow a smoother feed of rounds from the magazines. And that brass will reload without extra steps or special dies and run in a lot of guns just fine. However, some designs have a tighter chamber and need brass that's been sized a bit further down. I could easily say that the problem is not the brass but the tight chambers on some peoples guns. But I won't because tighter chambers are common on some guns, particularly competition guns. For example, KKM barrels for Glocks have a tighter chamber than the factory barrel. Part of reloading is to know just what you need to do for the ammo to work in your gun. I would have thought by now, with all the discussion on this topic, that anyone with a gun that has a tight chamber, like the .40 Gold Team, would already be using either using a 'U' die or something similar. Or buying brass that's been roll sized.

FWIW, this question comes up from time to time here and the answers are all pretty much the same as you see here. Many people have only tried one app and like it so that's what they recommend. Others like a particular app for a particular reason. Some are better for some kinds of shooting than others are. If all you want is basic ballistics information for a standard load and don't care about G1 vs G7 or spin drift or any of the stuff that starts getting handy for custom loads and 1000+yd shooting, then most of the calculators will work. If the details really matter, then you need to look at the features very closely.

You can sometimes rent these fairly cheap. Clears out the whole neighborhood! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflatable_castle