Chuck Anderson

I'm normally a stick to a platform kind or guy. This year's been a bit different though. Since the middle of May I've shot 21 different guns in major competitions, from Saiga/Browning/Benelli shotguns, .22, .223 and .308 rifles, different sights, Glock/STI/SV/Ruger/Smith semi autos and even an ICORE match with a 625 thrown in for good measure. My performance has dropped a good chunk at some of these matches. Some is just unfamiliarity with the gun. The Benelli really burned me at Nationals because I could hit anything with slugs. One of the .22's just chose to not run at all. In general the basics are all the same, line the sights up and pull the trigger back. Where you lose time is the instinctive presentation and manipulation of the gun if the controls are significantly dissimilar.

Sorry Tom, you're a bit off on this one. 2.1.2 and 2.1.4 cover construction of the stage, not competitor actions. If the club sets up the course to not allow the shooter to shoot at the side berms, maybe covering the wall or berm in no shoots, but the competitor still shoots there, there is no DQ. I mean intentionally, not an AD while loading or moving, just a plain shot. While the course design should take these angles into account, there is no rule allowing for a penalty if the shooter doesn't. Some clubs try to enforce this by saying a shot into the sideberm is a DQ. There is nothing to support that absent something else occurring. As far as the local rules go, I hate to say it but I'd rather have fewer clubs abiding by the rules than more clubs doing what they want. This is a topic that has come up several times in my area. There are some clubs that have legitimate desires to restrict shooter actions. Unfortunately I can't support some of the solutions they want to use. In this case, I don't really see anything that goes against the rules to do group bagging/unbagging. I think it's a rather silly way to go about business but I don't know that it isn't allowed either. The question I would ask is what they would do if you just tried walking around with your gun holstered. Would they DQ you for something? Or would they just ask you to leave the range and not come back. As far as USPSA needing clubs more than clubs need USPSA. There are a lot of intangible benefits clubs get from USPSA that go beyond money. Most clubs I know have active shooters that provide a great deal of service to the host club, new props, targets, maintanence, enthusiastic support, publicity from media... Even beyond this we provide a basis for many ranges to justify their existence. In some jurisdictions a club with no LE and no Competitions occurring is viewed unfavorably. TDZ. If you think clubs are just going to do what we say because we say it...well good luck with that. Every good USPSA club requires someone to be in contact with the host club. Explaining what we do, why we do it and why the rules need to be followed. There are reasons for all the rules. Explain why they should be followed. If we take the "stick your head in the sand" or "take my ball and go home" approach we will be short clubs to shoot at.

I really don't understand why everyone wants so much magnification on a 3 Gun optic. I run a 1-3 or 1-4 and have never had any issues. Target ID is not an issue for us. If it's a target that's supposed to be visible to the Iron shooters a 3x scope should be plenty. If you have to identify your target at 400 yards as friend, or foe, armed or not, then I wouldn't mind having a 1-8.

Argument worked fine for me. I've run a can on my work AR for about 4 years now.

Trigger depending on how it is set, mine was about 1.5 lbs., and compensator. Use a flash hider or can instead of the Cooley comp, use a decent weight trigger and the rest you can add crap too it till it's tactical. A three gun rifle can make an excellent base for a tactical gun but there needs to be some stuff added on that isn't there for most 3 gun competitors. White light and slings being the two biggies.

My 3-Gun rifle: JP CTR-02 Competition Rifle, with free-floated forend, 1.5 lb trigger, Magpul UBR stock, 18" shiny pretty barrel, 1-3 or 4 power optic and compensator My Tactical rifle: (i.e. the one I carry when I point it at people instead or paper) Noveske SBR registered lower, Magpul CTR stock, 5 lb trigger, Larue Tactical upper with 12.5" dull not shiny barrel, LT free float quad rail tube, SureFire M300A light, Grip Pod, Aimpoint M4 and the really important part if I need to actually dump someone with it, SureFire suppressor. I used to run a Leupold CQ/T on both my Tactical and Competition rifles. Now that my assignment has changed I run the 1x optic instead. My tactical rifle is heavier than my competition rifle due to the Grip Pod, light and suppressor. The Grip Pod comes in very handy when watching a house for hours on end, the light is an absolute necessity on any tactical rifle and the suppressor is just there because my wife thinks I already ignore her now, if I was deaf it would be much worse.

Well, yeah. GSSF is a very accuracy intensive sport. When you figure in the extra sight radius (it's closer to 7/8" by the way 4.49 vs. 5.32) and the stock - connector, it's resaonable to say that they are Competition class guns. That's why there is a Competition class, specifically for those guns, along with other ultra competetive guns like the G23C, to compete.

The rifles are verified for zero and then the knobs zeroed out. I took a look at all of them after the match and they were all set for zero still. I zeroed them before the championship as did Tommy Thacker. They were all smacking within an inch of the center of the plate. I know in my three runs during the shootoff I used the same rifle each time (the one in Idaho). The first two times I managed to get my hits reasonably quickly. The third time I got buck fever and was shooting when the reticle was anywhere but on the plate. When the shot broke when the reticle was on the plate, the plate went down. When I pulled the trigger between plates, or off in space somewhere, the plate stayed up. I did hear a couple guys talking after the Championship that the rifles were hitting low. I think this likely had more to do with triggers than scopes. There just isn't a lot of difference in the zero on an optic shooter to shooter, not like irons at least. As far as the malfunctions, the rule is fairly simple. If the malfunction changes the course of the shootoff it's a reshoot. If it doesn't, it's not. Basically if you're rifle takes a dump and the other guy is already knocking over the stop plate, no reshoot. If you guys are reasonably close it's a reshoot. This is a commercial enterprise that FNH in particular has dropped a ton of money on. It's not meant to be a showcase for whatever gun you already own, it's meant to highlight the products of the sponsors, like FNH, Leupold, and SureFire in particular. FNH is going to do everything they can to make sure the guns run the best they can. Each one was cleaned and test fired ahead of time, each one was fed top quality ammo (Federal Gold Medal in the Rifle and Shotgun). Each one was sighted in by two guys who are reasonably capable on a rifle. Is this the best possible shootoff scenario? Nope. Is it as fair and consistent as possible for everyone involved? I think so.

Sorry Trapper, your logic is a bit flawed on this one. It's not considered a separate sighting device. All it does is add magnification, like the other variable powered scopes that are already allowed in that division. The Limited RDS rules specifically state, both in Ozark and USPSA that it's only allowed to have a 1x optic. Throwing a magnifier behind will not be allowed. Tac ops allow you to have one optic sighting system, you're choice of magnification. If you want to throw a Premier Reticles 5-25 on the rifle, go for it.

Nope, Scott was right. It was supposed to be 4 Tac Ops, 2 Open, 2 Lim, 1 HM Tac and 1 HM Lim. When HM Lim went away they re-did the math and gave the 5 spot to Tac Ops based on the numbers. Those 5 spots in Tac ops were gone by the time they hit number 7 in the overalls.

Blade Tech has a model with a hood style thumbstrap, kind of like the Safariland 6004 tactical holsters, except it's spring loaded. Mines going back next week because the strap won't reliably spring forward, and even when it does it hangs up on the rear sight. But it is an option.

Robbie Johnson Burton Thompson Rob Romero And I'm hoping Chuck Anderson There is going to be some very stiff competition for the 4 wild card slots in TS. Not sure about the other Divisions.

Chuck if you are running AAs the Fiocchi is not going to be "better" but it does run well and is often cheaper than the AAs. For those of you buying Win AAs and especially if you are doing so mail order, I think they still have a rebate program. I was referring to Fiocchi for the slugs. The AA's worked awesome and I'll keep using them. The slugs and buck just need to be sorted out.

Sounds OK to me.

It's not arbitrary. The M4 is not a battle rifle. It's not chambered in a sufficient cartridge to be considered a battle rifle. The M4 is an assault rifle. Which would be my pick for a zombie rifle. Gotta make lots of headshots anyway. If I had to pick a battle rifle, it would be a .308 AR, probably an LMT. At least there is some parts interchangability.

I've been running it since Ironman. I just spent yesterday in the garage modifying most of the rest of my gear to work with it. There are a couple things to consider. The belt is a little wider than the CR Speed/Double Alpha belts, maybe a 1/4 inch. CR Speed pouches will not fit on it. I normally ran CR Speed mag pouches, Blade Tech AR pouches and holster and Cal Comp works and Progressive Machine SG racks. The Blade Tech stuff was very simple to add. Either just used their existing screw holes or drilled some new ones. The Cal Comp works was similar, went down to the hardware store, bought some screw backers and added them. The Progressive Machine stuff required drilling new holes and tapping them to work with the ELS forks. About 5 minutes work per rack. The holster I needed to switch to a different belt hanger, also Blade Tech, just one of the newer adjustable ones. I'm going to switch over to the Safariland holsters as well, they just didn't get here in time. I think the ALS holster will be perfect for Multigun. As for the belt itself. Safariland finally swapped the velcro, it's now the same as every other big belt out there with the fuzzy velcro on the inner belt so you don't stick to the car seat. The belt is not as stiff as the CR Speed stuff, but is definitely stiffer than previous Safariland stuff and seems to hold up a lot of ammo well. I'm not very keen on the Pin system for holding the belt closed. I ended up zip tieing it closed at the Ironman to keep it closed. Since then I just use one of the CR Speed fold over velcro pieces to keep it closed. Works great. The forks and plates work very well. I haven't had any issues with breakage. They look like they are gonna hold up. It's also awsome being able to take off or move all of my stuff whenever I want. Prone stages, all the SG stuff comes off or moves to the back. If I need a bunch of SG I can throw another rack on very easily. I really like the stuff. Enough that I'm completely swapping over to Safariland. And I've always been a Blade Tech guy.

Nope, I've never had that problem with the 1/2 dozen Aimpoints I've had, on pistols and rifles. No magnification I've ever been able to see. You might want to have someone else take a look and see. It might be your glasses, or it might be a bum scope.

Nope, I was squadded with Iain Harrison. Even my wife caught the screwed up name after watching Top Shot.

I ran Win AA's and they were awesome at the Ironman. Federal Red Recoil Slug and Buck sucked though. Robbie recommended the Fiocchi stuff, I just didn't have enough time to get any.

I wanna know what machinegun we get to play with

The below message is posted on the USSA website. I had the privledge to know Tom both as an employer and as a friend. He had a unique vision for USSA and did a tremendous job not only with the range, but the training staff and support for USPSA and all the shooting sports. I'm just stunned. He will be missed. It is with a heavy heart and deep sadness that I must announce today the death of Mr. Tom Fee, owner and president of the USSA. The originator of this dream that we all call USSA, Tom was a man with a keen and driven vision of what he would design, fund, and construct for our future USSA family. A heart as large as this academy itself, Tom promised to provide a state of the art training facility for our military, law enforcement, and civilian defense training where real-life lessons would not only be practiced, but would become the common theme of each day. No stone un-turned, No innovation refused, No cost too large. TOM DELIVERED!! Your current facility that we all enjoy and love daily is the continuation of all that Tom Fee envisioned providing to you. Tom is gone, but his dream is larger, the vision is constant, and our determination is unbreakable. The USSA, forever under the watchful eye of "Tommy", will continue to succeed and flourish for many years to come and will never compromise our relentless commitment to the USSA family that rests deep within our core ethos: That's right pal, TO ALWAYS WIN THE FIGHT Tommy you will be missed In honor of Mr. Tom Fee and in respect to his wonderful wife Bridget and their 5 daughters, the USSA will recognize a day of mourning and will be closed for business Wednesday Sept 1, 2010. We will re-open tomorrow Sept 2, 2010, ready, willing and determined to provide our USSA family the quality of service, training, and camaraderie that you have grown accustomed to during the past 5 years. I thank all of you in advance for your patience and understanding during these difficult and challenging times and would ask that you keep the entire Fee family in your thoughts and prayers at a time when they will need them most. I look forward to seeing you all down range soon Semper Fi B.K.Delauter CEO USSA

I wouldn't use this as a resource for that rifle. The best comp for a .223 competition rifle is not going to be a good pick for a .300 Win Mag, even with the appropriate hole through the center. Gas volumes are different and for a bolt gun you will probably be looking for different performance attributes than someone running a semi auto race gun.

Cool. I'll see you there.

Yep, factory springs only except in Unlimited. And no problem at GSSF with the ammo. They used to have a rule where you would get a reshoot if you had a malfunction and you're shooting factory ammo. They did away with the factory part now though. Hard cast should be fine.

Nope, I new what I was saying with this 34. Since the grip is stippled and the gun is modified, he can't use it in Competition class. Unlimited is the only Division he can use it in. As far as the 17, as a new shooter you'll be most competetive in Amatuer Civilian or Guardian, followed by Competition. Both of these split the amatuers from the masters. In Masterstock and Unlimited you'll compete heads up against the masters. When I was starting I always shot as many divisions as I could enter. I'd start each stage with the guns I figured I had the least chance of winning with and basically practice each stage. By the time I got to the Divisons I figured I could do well in I'd already had a couple practice runs to get the timing/accuracy down. If it was me, I'd leave the 34 home and just take the 17. Shoot an Amatuer Civ or Guard, Comp, and at least MS, if not MS and Unl. Start with Unl,MS, Comp and Am. Civ last. It's kind of expensive but it gives the best final results. GSSF also awards a number of prizes randomly. So even if you don't win MS or Unl outright you could still pay for the entry with a random prize. The other advantage to entering multiple guns is to get a bit more shooting in. Most USPSA competitors get bored with GSSF. 3 stages and a 110 rounds for a whole day just doesn't seem all that much fun. I shoot 5 divisions when I go. 15 stages, and 500ish rounds in about an hour, now that's fun. Thought about going to Richmond, but that was one of two weekends off I've had from shooting since the middle of May and I figured it would be best if I put in a little face time around the house so my wife and kid remember what I look like.