Blueridge

Competition tests your gun handling skills and your ability to deal with situations under some pressure. Being mentally prepared for self-defense situations is another matter entirely. The more comfortable you are with your gun handling skills, the more that you can focus on the defensive issues that you may face. Competitive shooting alone will not fully prepare for self defense situations, but the enhancement of your abilities with firearms will help with and aspect. You must mentally and physically train for the other aspects that are important to self defense. Knowing the laws pertaining to the use of force is an important one.

The length of course does not seem to make a difference to me. I never know how I am shooting that day until I engage the first stage. I just prepare the best that I can and go for it.

Still running through he ways that I could engage the stages. Maybe I'll figure out some good ideas before I am up at the match. The more auto shooters that finish behind me in the match, the more amused I will be. Looks to be a very fun match for sure. wheelgun limited 6 rules!!!

I shoot lead bullets almost exclusively and use Titegroup powder. It may cause a bit of smoke, but nothing excessive in my opinion. I have not had a problem with bad leading in my barrels either. The difference in cost between lead and jacketed bullets is a bit more than I am willing to pay right now. I am looking at loading some jacketed .45 Colt bullets, but have not done so yet because the bullets that I want (Montana Gold) are not in stock right now.

I was not trying to criticize anyone, as I like all the sports that I listed. People do not play any sport that is not fun for them.

One of the reasons that I shoot revolver in IDPA are the reload rules. I fire the revolver until empty, reload, and repeat as necessary. Shooting revolver I think has caused me to wonder why auto shooters have a problem with shooting to slide lock. It seems that many do not like the idea of not being able to drop magazines that have ammo left in them, but I cannot see why you would want to do that anyway. People only carry so many magazines for their autos, so dropping them only when they are expended makes sense to me. There will be times when you should retain your magazines, and times when you should not. Most auto shooters that I have seen are quite adept at reloading and going to slide lock then reloading would not present a problem. In the firearm training that I received it was taught that if you get a chance you reload with retention to get back to having a fully loaded handgun. Retaining the magazine that was in the handgun is in case you have to go back to it because you have no other ammo. The practice of shooting to slide lock was the norm, but it was left to the shooter how they wish to handle their reloads. Both methods or reloading were drilled, so that shooters could become acquainted with them. I am of the opinion that when you are participating in a sport you participate by the rules. Not every rule in a sport will please everyone, but those that participate are willing to abide by those rules. I personally compete in olympic style fencing, CAS, IDPA, USPSA, and several other sports. I have had numerous times in all of them where I did not like a particular rule, but I remain in the sport because overall I enjoy them all. I even went to the effort to become an official in three of the sports, so that I could understand the rules better.

I think that I will pick up 1K to try them out. I have been looking for some 55gr. FMJ to load for my Remington 7615P and it sounds like they would be a good choice. I am basically going to use them out to 100 maybe 150 yards. They appear to fit the bill, but time will tell.

Well my own curiosity got the better of me and I looked up all of the revolver competitors. The classifications are as follows: M Class: 1 A Class: 0 B Class: 4 C Class:3 D Class:3 U Class: 1 Pretty good spread of classes I think. (I looked through competitions in the region to get the member numbers and checked them on the USPSA website. Only two of the competitors that I could not verify, due to the competition that I found them listed on did not have their USPSA member numbers listed.)

The only method that I have used to estimate the velocity of a load I got from a Lee Reloading document. You have to have the information from a reloading manual to start with. You take the charge in grains that you want and devide that by the never exceed grains from the reloading information. Then you multiply that number by the velocity from the never exceed grain charge. That gives you an estimate based on the parameters that the reloading manual has (test barrel length, primer used, bullet weight, etc...). I use this method to estimate what grain charge that I want to try in order to achieve the velocity and/or power factor that I want. It has helped me determine a course of action when reloading and saved me some time by having to test fewer loads to get the result that I want.

When I think of rifle competition, I think of urban tactical situations. Shots beyond 100 yards are not generally something that you would normally run into. Beyond 100 yards shots would be more stationary rather than engaging and moving about. Understand I use a Remington 7615P (pump action, ghost ring sights) which is meant to be a LEO patrol rifle. With the rifle or ghost ring sights it is at it's best out to 100 yards unless you mount a scope on it, which it is drilled and tapped for if that is wanted. If I had a rifle with a red dot or scope, then I believe that my opinion might be different. The way that I see it matches should be fun for the majority of the participants. What might be fun for someone else might not be fun to me, but I would endeavour to do my best no matter.

There has been talk about the number of revolver shooters, but no mention on how the shooters are spread across the classes. I am curious to see where the majority of revolver shooters are class wise.

Hmmm......Twelve revolver competitors out of 120 total competitors. This should be interesting to say the least. I am torn wheather I would want to be in a majority revolver squad, as it would be interesting to watch such a number of revolver shooters ply their skills. On the other hand it might affect my focus when I step up to engage the stages, as I am used to deciding on how I will approach stages ignoring how other shooters handle it (being that I am usually the only revolver shooter in a squad). Time will tell.

Looking at the Hodgdon Reloading Guide it appears that .45 Schofield might be worth looking into. In my estimation the max load would make 171-184PF using Titegroup and 250gr LRNFP bullets. The guide shows a 5" barrel used to make the load data for .45 Schofield and I would lose between 75-125fps due to my 2 1/2" barrel of my Alaskan. It would require 0.5 grains less powder to reach the same power factor that I meet now. I see another set of reloading dies and .45 Schofield brass in my future. The recoil that I have with the 185PF .45 Colt loads that I have used in the past don't bother me shooting wise, but the heating of the cylinder got to be bothersome on medium and long courses. I am experimenting with different types of gloves to deal with the problem. Thanks for the idea and info Dave.

I think that a good time will be had by all. Maybe people seeing that many revolver shooters at the match will draw some more to try the division. I am almost (but not quite ) Tempted to bring out my S&W 625-8 for the match. I just have too much fun shooting my Ruger Alaskan. I am not even going to worry about the overall revolver standings, and shoot the best I can that day. I would enjoy finishing ahead of as many auto shooters my performance that day allows.

WOW!!!!! This might be the first time that I have been on a squad that has a majority of revolver shooters. I won't know what to do with myself.

I have not considered shooting .45 Schoefield with my Ruger Alaskan. I am not sure, having not looking at the reloading charts, to see if I could make major with that size case. I'll look at it when I return home and get the chance to puruse that information. Thanks for the idea.

Well look for the guy shooting the Ruger Alaskan loaded with .45 Colt and that will be me. I'll shoot mediocre enough to make the rest of you guys look good. It will be fun to have a good sized group of revolver shooters at a match. See Y'all there.

Me, I am a glutton for punishment. I use a Ruger Alaskan ( the one with the 2 1/2" barrel and made for .454 Casull/.45 Colt [Did I mention that it weighs 42 ounces?]) shooting .45 Colt. Reloading to make major was a challenge in itself (most reloading charts base their .45 Colt results from using a 7" barrel), hence the glutton for punishment part. The look on people's faces when they see me step up with that revolver are priceless. I usually shoot with a group where I am the only revolver shooter (open and limited shooters mainly), and I joke that they can kick back and take a nap while I shoot. I don't consider myself slow, but compared to the speed that the open and limited guys shoot I take my time. I have never had to ask for a calibration check on any steel poppers, as I use 250gr LRNFP bullets that when last sent across the chrono at the last state match came back at 185PF (remember that I only have a 2 1/2" barrel ). I have reduced the powder load now, so I should be closer to 170PF now. One of the things that revolver shooters using moonclips like is getting their brass back even during "lost brass" matches. I use speedloaders myself, but due to the fact that pretty much no one else shoots .45 Colt I have been allowed to retrieve my brass at almost every "lost brass" match that I have participated in. Basically I have much more fun shooting revolver.

Glad that you could make it back to the sport. I hope that it is more fun for you than you remember.

How many times over do you use the brass? I intend to shoot 500 to 800 rounds a week. Well I have reloaded some of the .45 Colt brass about 5 times (just started reloading about 1 1/2 ago) and have not seen any case splitting yet. I expect to get about 10 reloadings in at least. I have been fortunate to be allowed to recover my brass at even some "lost brass" matches. Since I shoot .45 Colt (and no one else I have met does at IDPA or USPSA) RO's and SO's have let me recover it.

I myself reload .45 Colt and it cost me approximately $6-$8 dollars per 50 rounds (250gr lead, Winchester Primers, Hodgdon Titegroup Powder), opposed to $31 for Magtech of the same caliber and style for example. I compete in Cowboy Action Shooting, IDPA, Steel Challenge, and USPSA using that one caliber. I started into shooting sports buying Magtech ammunition and keeping the brass for reloading and have over 2000 brass cases. Minus the cost of buying brass the cost of reloading decreased greatly. I also reload .454 Casull, .460 S&W, and .223 Remington. In my experience it is worth reloading. I have 5 powders that I use regularly, with Titegroup and Trail Boss being for my .45 Colt. For .454 Casull and .460 S&W I use H110 powder. Then for my .223 Remington I use Benchmark and Winchester 748 powders. I use a single stage press at the moment, so it takes me longer to reload than it will you with the progressive press. I enjoy the act or reloading and find it relaxing. I also have more confidence in my loads being what I need them to be, as I also chronograph what I load. Getting what you want, how you want it, and cheaper per the same number of rounds manufacturer ammunition is all good to me.

Well my local store had all of the Winchester primers except large rifle magnum, which I need for reloading 460 S&W. I ehappened to be in Myrtle Beach SC last weekend and went to Bas Pro Shops Outdoor World, where I got the remnants of the last bow they had out for sale (600 primers). They may have had more in the stock room, but I did not ask, as I was happy to get the ones that I got. Powder has not been a problem for me, but I use Hodgdon/IMR and Winchester powders.

Before I became a competitor in shooting sports, I was (and still am) a competitive fencer. I have competed local, state, nationally, and internationally in the sport of fencing. I found out that I get nervous about how I am going to do before the first bout against an opponent. After the first bout my nervousness goes away, no matter how it went. I get a feel for how I am feeling and can focus better the rest of the tournament. The suggestions that others gave are helpful, but for me it all comes down to getting that first stage out of the way. It is about finding your comfort zone where you can harness your energy towards your goal. I can practice every chance I get, but it never matches how I feel at a match. As long as I know that it is not a match I don't get the nerves that come to me at one.

I appreciate the response that I have gotten so far, and the first question has been answered well. The second question is how may rounds (on average) do people expend over the minimum required. People have given examples of re-shoots causing expenditure of ammunition beyond the required, but little has been said about extra shots taken for other reasons (such as extra shots for long range targets). I compete with a revolver, and avoid extra shots in effort to keep reloads to a minimum. If I know that a course requires 21 rounds, and I will have to reload 24 rounds anyway I will make use of "extra" 3 rounds if I feel the need. On the other hand if a course of fire requires 18 rounds (for example), then I will not reload to make up shots.

I generally wear eye protection and latex gloves when reloading, but I have never worn hearing protection. Now that I think about it I might start wearing earplugs while reloading, as it will cut down on auditory distractions as well as offer protection.