Chuck Anderson

I can pretty much guarantee there won't be one at a USPSA match. But then I could be wrong.

I just can't believe the moderators took the whole forum off line so we couldn't post about the show real time like usual. I know we get a bit snarky sometimes but geez. I was really surprised at the groups they were getting on full auto with the BAR. Pretty impressive. And yep, much better guns this year. I want a 6 shot 40mm. Bad.

This is stupid. I don't always agree with Chuck, but he's dead on here and too much of a gentleman to truly put it into perspective. You're right, it is stupid that you don't always agree with me...oh wait, there is a period there. And how dare you call me a gentleman. You owe me a beer.

Lower your expectations, way, way down. There are very few full ride sponsorships out there. There are some product sponsorships and some cash sponsorships. Keep in mind that very few businesses sponsor matches from a purely altruistic position. Most are hoping to increse business in someway. This is even more true with shooter sponsorships. Unless the owner is a close personal friend, they are sponsoring you to help move product. How can you help the sponsor do that. Just going to your local matches once or twice a month is not going to be that great of an incentive for Glock. But it may work for the local gun shop. Will that local sponsor really care if you shoot a 3 gun match on the other side of the country? Companies that have a wider appeal will be more interested in a shooter that gets out of his neighborhood more often than one who never ventures more than 60 miles from home. Start small. If you go to the sponsor asking for $5000.00 a year for match expenses...well if you get it, tell me because I want to call them. I have several sponsors that I started out with getting a little bit of product from. A scope mount here and there, or a barrel when I really needed one. After a year or three promoting the product line, and testing it and suggesting improvements, or new ideas, I moved into the cash sponsorship level. Still not pulling down the Robbie bucks, but when you spend a crap load shooting, every little bit helps. Don't expect for the sponsorship to cover the cost of shooting. Very, very few shooters actually make a profit shooting and competing. The ones who do still have to supplement their income by training or other jobs. Finally think about what you really want from a sponsorship. There are many, one vocal National Champion included, who aren't interested in sponsorships. With sponsorship comes responsibility. It's not just a hobby, you are working for someone when you're shooting. Few will care if you win or not. Most are looking for the connections and sales you make. I know some B class shooters that are sponsored. They aren't going to win the match, but they can do a great job of representing their sponsor and getting him increased business. I also know several GM's that really suck as sponsored shooters. They either flip flop between sponsors regularly, trash talk what they are using, set a poor example of sportsmanship or in general just present a negative image for the products they represent.

Delta Point on a Warne RAMP mount.

Oh, drunk. I thought he was at the coffee bar drinking espresso's. Too much Starbucks up here I guess.

Nope, just removed the capacity limit.

Bummer. I can't shoot much at all this year because of work. Only one of the 3GN matches. Guess I'm out for 2013 as well.

Nordic Components is selling an 18" rifle gas barrel. Just built a rifle with one but haven't groupe I yet. Look great and I'm sure it will be awesome.

I think RM3G maybe, and I'm pretty sure he's won the Ironman several years ago.

So for the folks that said no. Let me ask you this. Do you think guys in the 1800's thought there were dozens of better different ways to shoot than what they were doing? How about the FBI in the 30's. Do you think they were teaching that retarded speed crouch saying, man I wish we could use two hands because we'd be so much better. As for gun technology. Look at where we've come in 100 years. Do you really think in a 100 more years we won't have something different? Some new technique? I'm not saying someone will come out with something in 2014 that will shake us to the foundations. But to think that after 150ish years of evolution that the progress of repeating firearms is over is kind of silly. TGO and Miculek don't sit around practicing the same stuff they did last week, year, decade. They work the fundamentals but they still try new things out. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. I very seriously doubt that what we're doing today will resemble what my kid is doing in 30 years.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. I'm so fat and lazy I get winded walking up a flight of stairs. And not even a real flight. I'm talking about the three steps to get into my house. And I've managed to do OK. All kidding aside, one word...Taran.

Can't speak for anyone else on the BOD. I voted against it because I don't think it was a good idea to make the change with less than two months before Nationals. It's in the new rule book we're working on. I think it's the right move but not at this time. And not without member input. I learned my lesson from the Production 3 lb trigger. Timing is indeed everything. My sense is that given that the open shooters are a smaller bunch they will be able to react to this perhaps more easy than if there was a rules change to tac optics. Speaking of the 3lb trigger, is that going to stay as is or do you think the BOD will put it back the way it was before? I was once an advocate of the 3 lb trigger in production when I was on the BOD until I got more feed back on that than any other issue over a 9 year period. Trigger pull went away a month ago by unanimous vote. Doug. It takes effect immediately.

Can't speak for anyone else on the BOD. I voted against it because I don't think it was a good idea to make the change with less than two months before Nationals. It's in the new rule book we're working on. I think it's the right move but not at this time. And not without member input. I learned my lesson from the Production 3 lb trigger.

No, Doug wasn't referring to me. I've kept the shame of my cluelessness mostly to myself. But I'm one of the guys you were referring to that spent a stupid amount of money on a gun they didn't know how to work on. And I guess I'm kind of competetive. Took me a lot longer to figure out how to put it together again than it should have. Taking it apart is way too easy. Putting it back together, not so much. I thought I was cleaning it just fine but after 6 months I found a big old build up of crud at the very back of the piston chamber. Hadn't even noticed it. Cost me a lot at the CMMG match last year. Almost lost out at MGM when I hadn't figured out the recoil springs yet. If I hadn't DQ'd Doug at the A1MG match my mushroomed piston might have cost me that match as well. I don't spend a lot of time working on my guns. It was probably 10 years of Multigun before I every took an AR lower apart. And I only started building them 3 or so years ago after competing with them for 16 years. No gun is perfect. I just really, really like my R&R Saiga. When I do my part by feeding it properly and maintaining it I couldn't ask for a better gun.

This seems to be a major problem with new Saiga shooters. I talked to one Saiga shooter (a frequent poster here but I won't call him out) that didn't know there was a piston in the gas system. He started getting FTFs and was finally clued in by the gun's builder. It ran great after a good cleaning but hurt him at a big match. Another guy I shoot with asked me how to clean the piston without hurting the o-rings. O-rings, what o-rings? He had fired over 500 rounds out of his R&R Saiga without cleaning the gas system and had built up a solid mass of carbon on the puck that did kind of look like a pair of o-rings. For me, finding the right load and sticking with it was the trick. I always shoot 1oz AA Super Sport loads, they work every time. Operator error is the most common problem but that doesn't stop some people from badmouthing a product that is not actually defective. Doug Seriously? Someone who is in competative shooting and has that little knowledge of a gun they shoot and paid big money for???Thats pretty bad. Id hate to see what the rest of their kit looks like. Sorry to disappoint you Kent. Apparently I had better things to do than learn all about the Kalashnikov system before ever owning one. There is a learning curve, particularly with different firearms designs. I can't tell you the number of 2011 pattern guns I've seen malfunction that were due to poor maintanence. It's very, very normal. If you're an AR shooter and swap over to a Saiga, a gun that really doesn't have a decent manual anywhere and one that no one else in your club probably has yet, I'd bet even the best shooter is going to have some learning time. I'd also be willing to be that no matter how good the Akdal is, within 3 months of Jim shipping the first one, at least a couple people will be bitching that they suck. And it won't be Jim's fault it will be the nut behind the butt that didn't realize you need to clean that one little spot where the crud builds up. (I know about it but I'm not telling.)

I had issues with my gun when I first got it. I've found out through trial and error there was a major problem with it...me. This was basically my first AK pattern gun. It took awhile to figure out, what to clean, how often, where to lube, how much, what to feed it, what it likes and doesn't like. Just like every other competition gun I own. I'm sure Robbie could make it run everything, but it would kick like a mule and beat itself to death in a thousand rounds. Any time you fine tune something to get maximum performance you're giving up something else. Do I want a gun that runs every shell from 2 3/4 dram to 3 3/4 dram? Not really. I'd rather have it optimized for the load I want it to shoot. When I had the rails on my Bianchi pistol tightened I knew it would make the gun require more frequent cleanings and would be more sensitive. Samething with the Saiga, and I'm guessing the Akdal when they start popping up more frequently. There will be a learning curve to them. What works, what doesn't. I had the same issues listed above with outrunning the mag spring. Robbie figured it out right away once I bothered to ask him about it instead of just getting frustrated. I've also talked to people that bitch about the gun, not knowing a dang thing about it and not letting the smith have an opportunity to fix it. I talked to one guy who said it worked great until he cleaned it. After that malfunctioned like crazy. Turned out he didn't realize there were two positions on the gas regulator. Set it on the right one and he was back off and running. Taking a new platform, not knowing how to maintain it, and then blaming it or the smith is just dumb. I'm willing to be the same people who can't figure out the Saiga and have issues are the same people that will be complaining when they get their Akdal.

Unless Monday was a holiday, like say Memorial Day. My app is in the mail

Tony, there is an online meeting going on right now, till the 17th. One of the topics is the round count limit in Open. Should have an answer as soon as the meeting closes.

Grip tape if you want it. Otherwise you're good to go

Nope. But that's what I thought at first too.

No, apparently it maybe something that could possibly be brought up by the BoD of course just like a 3lbtrigger in production this would be without any input from the members and look how they great idea turned out. Just like this would turn out. If they do it in Limted, then they would have to go ahead in do it in Limted 10 and Single Stack, so why not while they are at it just get rid of major scoring all together, hell it will be cheaper for everyone. We can just make it all about capacity and get rid of power and accuracy all together. Huh? Sorry, not understanding you're post at all.

DL5 didn't work, but DLR did.

You'd still need to get it, as well as any gun change, approved by the RM. I don't see any reason why they wouldn't allow that.

Yeah, I watched it. Didn't really see anything or anyone I recognized though. Just some guy in one of those fancy shooting shirts. No one I know.