Hi-Power Jack

My local club had a dozen shooters I recognized from about 12 years ago, when I got started. Shot with most of them for 8-9 years, and then I took a three year break. Just came back to couple matches, and they're ALL gone. I was shocked. No idea where they went. Suspected we'd have lost a few, but never suspected they'd ALL be gone. ????

Sub-$200.

Sounds like you are about to embark on a very ambitious journey which will take a lot of effort and dry fire. Wish you well, but not sure you can set a goal to be "in the top 3 of 20 shooters on May 26". That will depend on who else shows up that day, and whether you make a single bad mistake or have an equipment failure. I'd start with the goal of obtaining your M classification by year's end. To do that, I'd get a copy of several of Ben Stoeger's excellent books. Once you've digested them, and can do the exercises, I also recommend that you take either his 2-day or 4-day course - If anyone can get you from C to M in a few months, it's Ben. I'd hold off on next year's goals until you achieve this year's goal. I'll be watching the big match results, looking for your name. Hope you make it - good luck.

Exactly the same amount you crimp your 9mm Minor. Around 0.378", or so. Once you've set your crimp for 9mm, you're good to go, Major or Minor.

Our local range mandates that all shots must hit the berm - not too low, and not too high. For USPSA matches, where we do shoot "into the deck", we dig a hole, and have a mini-berm behind each target that is low. Tires can be a problem with retaining water (mosquito breeding and ricochets). But, dirt seems to work pretty well.

Sounds logical to me. Maybe a little push in matches, but much more push in practice.

Loading 2,000 rounds / month (70 rounds / day) doesn't require even the 750, much less than an 1100. Even a 550 is enough. But, there are advantages to the 750 / 1100, as mentioned above. If you have the $$$$, no disadvantage. An alternative : right now (don't know about the future) you can buy 9mm and .223 for some very nice, low prices. Another alternative : Get a SDB for $450 dedicated to the 9mm and a 550 or two dedicated to the .223 (different dies in the two 550's). No breaking them down and switching calibers. Even with a 1100, you'll be breaking down the 1100 into two different sets of dies for the .223 alone, if you think it's worth your time to process brass. Just some random thoughts and alternatives for you to consider. A last question for you : Using a 750 or 1100 is more complex than running a single stage press. Are you mechanically inclined (I'm not - so I'm staying with my SDB) ? Loading only 70/rounds / day - you really can't go wrong with whatever choice you make. Good luck with it, and have fun.

Looks like Volquartsen has two kits for the Mark IV - one is $152 and the other is $181. Not sure what the difference is ? Anyone have any experience with these two triggers ? Both are supposed to provide a 2.25 lb trigger.

I'm thinking of getting a flat trigger for my .22/45 Lite, since I have flat triggers in my 9mm's. Any disadvantage to the flat trigger ?

It would be rare, in my experience, to get the same velocity with the same load that someone else got. They may have been using a shorter barrel, or their barrel may be "slower" than yours. I'm actually surprised you got the same velocity in your two guns. The load should be safe, but if you don't want a PF of 144, you can certainly cut back on the load and get it down closer to 130 or so. Up to you ...

I shot Limited Minor for my first year. I really enjoyed it, and improved - those were my two objectives. So, I was successful with both my objectives. It's not a huge problem - if you feel you want to shoot Limited Major - all you have to do is buy a .40 caliber pistol, and you're all set. Not worth it ? Then stay with the 9mm and enjoy the heck out of it.

When I started shooting IPSC (yes, back in the late 80's, it was IPSC) I started with a BHP and an in the waist holster. Shot that for at least a year. Now, my Cheely 9mm Major Open gun won't fit in my waistband. Not sure if it's because of my expanding waist ???

Pardon if this is a silly question, but will a stock Rem 700 be accurate enough at 1,000 yards to warrant a $2,000 scope ?

What price range are you looking in ? How far is "long range shooting" ? A nice 4-12x should do most of what you want.

I sent STI photos mid-February of crack, and it took a month, but they finally did replace the part. It's worth a shot to send them photos and see what they say.

Sounds like there's no safety problem here, just a comfort level. I would bet that with a month's practice, you will feel more comfortable with the 1.5 lb trigger, especially if you get more hits, faster.

There are varying degrees of difficulty with remembering the COF. One of our local clubs is a real bear - seems like they LOVE "memory COF's" - had one a decade ago, that I never figured it out, and I spent an hour on it the day before I shot it. That was my first year of shooting OPEN. Others are really easy . especially if there are no or few sight barricades, or my one time to the Nat'ls, they used orange fencing material, so you could see all the targets from everywhere. That was very easy to keep track of where everyting was. But, as everyone above said, when you're first starting out - everything is more difficult and becomes easier with practice. Good luck with it - you'll get it in time

Glad everything is okay. Strange way to end our lives, isn't it ? Never thought the 20's would end with a whimper. I also hope this is all over soon, but I doubt it - have a feeling this is going to last another year or two - by which time I'll be old.

Sounds like a perfect trigger for competitions where you start with gun in hand at the lowered position. Are you competing with the gun in the holster to start ?

Face masks if you get close to other people Distancing - more than 6 feet apart Opened only from 9:00 - 5:00, IFF we had enough RO's. No RO, not open. And the code to the lock was changed - only very few RO's had the new code. Before the Virus, all members had code to get in the gate, and they checked themselves in - sign in sheet in a trailer. At check in, the shooter now shows his badge and the RO (one of at least two RO's on duty) records the shooter's name, number, bay, time in and time out - no one touches anything that was just touched by another person. And, the checkin table is outside - RO's were wearing N95 masks. After two months closed, I would have bet the Farm that Monday would be overwhelmed with cars parked out the driveway. Neither Monday nor Tuesday were very busy. Had about two dozen shooters on Tuesday (my day to be one of the RO's). Mostly in the a.m. as it got up to 90 F in the p.m. We had a list of all the ranges, and kept track if someone was on a range - tried, successfully, to keep track of which ranges were filled and empty. If ranges got crowded, the plan was to keep additional shooters in their cars until a range opened up - so far, no need . Maybe the weekend. Had only one shooter "lost his cool" with the new procedure - he didn't want to comply so he said he was going home. Everyone else was thoroughly happy with the new regs, and quite a few "thank you's" for us being out there checking them in. The first two days worked very well - of course, all competitions were cancelled months ago. See what happens, might have to make modifications with more experience. One concern is having one of those very windy days we get down here on occasion - this outdoor arrangement may not be satisfactory for heavy winds.

Did they mention how to get more than 18 rounds in the mag ?

Where ?

Beer is for breakfast. When I'm reloading, or doing any serious shooting, I drink Bourbon.

Have you measured the diameter of the XTreme plated bullets ? As Aedavis said in 2005, the problem was the worn sizing die - and you do have 30,000 rounds on your sizing die. Or, it could be undersized bullets.

Thanks, Steve. Haven't heard from you in a while. Everything okay ?