Johann the Horrible

I just applied for a new job and all the people working there shoot. Yep you guessed it, if I get the job I will be the new Firearm instructor in a gunshop. I hope to hear later today that I am going back to the classroom.

Well im still a D but im at 45-48% usually with the classifers and I jsut started doing this 6 months ago. Do you think that midway or maybe Lyman could send me the "nut" I need for the die? I am certain that Lyman, or even your local gunshop would be able to supply the part. Hang in there, you are doing well, soon you will make C easy and then to the place where most people get stuck B.(or so I am told)

I myself shoot a Para-kit gun and I feel that the system is superior. If the gun is well built and you feed it halfway decent ammo it just runs and runs. I run BullM5 mags in my gun as they take more rounds but you have to change the mag-release to make it work. The guys shooting 40`s in my club get 20 rounds in a mag this way. In South Africa the Para frames are sought after and few top shooters go for the STI/SVI platform. If the guy is asking an acceptable price my advice is to go for it. There is a trad around here asking how many guys stuck to their Para guns and you would be surprised just how long there guns last. Mine started out as a 45 ans ten went to 38 Super Race gun. When Standard Division came in in went back to 45 and when my things come together I will get a 40 top end for it. The frame has done at least 1000K rounds in mostly 38Super. The last mod I did was to fit a heavy "full length" dustcover to the gun, you can do that as it gets silver soldered and the frame is metal. I am not saying that you have to do this, its just nice to have the option. For me it works very well. To have the gun re-chromed is not difficult, you just need to have it de-plated before it gets re-plated. That is something the plating shop doing the plating should be able to do.

The residue of the propellant should not harm your Boa, they seem to be pretty robust over here in Africa though your climate might make if more difficult for her. Most propellants, that I know of, is pretty harmless in any case. If I wonder about the heritage of propellant I just feed it to my plants, they seem to love it. My advice to all new reloaders is to get a "reloading"buddy help you get everything up and running. If you do not do that you can end up, like me, and spend 3 frustrating years getting your ammo right. If your gun /ammo is not working right your shooting goes nowhere and that is super frustrating. I was stuck in C for years and only after I took my whole reloading outfit to the range and getting it perfect did I make B, two months later. I had to take my stuff to the range as I live far out of town. Getting your ammo perfect must be your first priority and the easiest way to do that is to get a experienced reloader in there with you. BTW: I believe that you need the "nut" that holds the de-capping pin in the die. I wish you well, the dissolving of a marriage is always painful but I think you are doing the right thing. Practical Pistol is a good way of filling the void.

I heard this strong rumor that IPSC will soon also have a SS division. Suddenly SS frames are about as obtainable as golden hens teeth over here in South Africa.

Indeed sir, it makes a vast difference. I run a EGW square firingpin-stop with a very strong mainspring. I went to a softer recoil spring and honestly it feels like cheating. The gun feels more like a 9mmP than a 230gr, 45 on a 175PF. I went back to the Chronograph just to make sure that I still was at 175 factor. Obviously it is making a rather big difference to my shooting. Actually it would have made a bigger difference if I was not completely distracted by the gun shooting so "soft" that I completely forgot about my planned reload. I was running down the corridor thinking that I should have changed the springs long ago. Meanwhile I should have been doing a magazine change. My bubble burst big time when the gun went "click" on the last target. Dumb ass!!

I cannot remark on the price(I live in South Africa and $1=R7.55) but the Square Deal that I bought second hand is working perfectly. It is missing several parts and other parts are broken, it works. Some of the other guys in the club have 550`s and 650`s and one even a 1050 and these are fine machines indeed but I will not swap, especially for the 550. If you are just going to load handgun the SDB is, in my opinion, by far the best deal.(no pun intended)

I am considering asking my Doc to bring my sugar level way down with insulin and while its down whacking my with a load of chemo. I am considering it since the other stuff seems not to work after 4 months of heaving up my toenails. Do you think that this could work? I am sick and tired of having 3 week moths.

When I had to much problems with my rounds I just packed the whole bunch up and took it to the range. In less than 20 minutes I had my SDB running like a dream and my rounds making 175 factor. Over all length - who knows, propellant weight - who knows. Every thing, including the crimp was set up and chonographed and the setting locked or marked. Now I just load and shoot, trying to load more than I shoot. You get so many years of experience giving good advice on the range and even if the advice is not perfect, you immediately see that the ammo is not working. Just find a way to fix your press securely at the club and make sure that the "experience" gets there early enough, preferably with a chronograph. Once you have reached perfection, don't mess with it.

Lead bullets are smokey, affordable but smokey. I find that the position of the sun sometimes makes it worse. In IPSC they are now considering allowing competitors to chrono different ammo to make it easier to compensate for afternoon shooting by using plated/FMJ bullets when it suits you in a match.

We have a shooter at the club that we call Master Yoda(he has this cute hanging ears). He teaches taking the safe route around a stage, making sure of the Alphas. Few competitors take his advice until we realize the guy was national champion several times. He seldom wins a stage but ends up no lower that 3rd on every stage. At the end he just always seems to be the guy smiling at the camera with a piece of silverware in his grubby little paws. Currently he is as blind as a bat and approaching the Super Senior class but still gets his face in the paper more often than not.

If the competitor did engage the target at some stage(and not in contravention of the WSB) IMHO there can not be a penalty. Penalty for what? The competitor could engage all the targets and after he finished walk over to the activator and step in it 5 minutes later. Remember that the time stops at the last shot.

The sub MOA factory bolt gun is fairly common now, indeed expected, even from the bargain brands. That sir, is I believe the answer. The rifle guys get the accurate rifles, because the make a fuss if they do not get it. Us, on the other hand, get the hind tit and is just to glad to be still allowed a handgun that we shut-up and spend money on getting the product to to what it should out of the box. Would you accept a car that does not run? Of course not, but we do accept handguns that cannot hit the side of a barn, from the inside.

Our condolences go to you and he family.

It is common knowledge in South Africa that the crime statistics is wildly inaccurate. Only the minister of Law and Order himself is allowed to release crime statistics and the function to retrieve the statistics on Police computers has been removed so that Police personnel cannot retrieve it any longer, not even on their own stations. While the minister is indicating that Housebreaking is in rapid decline the short term insurance industry reports that claims for housebreaking is increasing hand over fist. This happens in a country where all cabinet members are also communists. It seems that Big brother believes that he should protect us from panic by putting the truth is the "correct" perspective".

A well known and loved shooter, Dr Paul Mouton was murdered during this week on a shooting range in Gauteng, South Africa. He apparently left his pistol on the firing point and went forward to check his target when persons unknown shot him 4 times in the back. His grandson arrived at the scene shortly afterwards and tried to save his grandfathers life but to no avail. The only missing item is Dr Mouton's custom Colt pistol. It is believed that his attackers entered the range by climbing over the perimeter fence. The whole shooting community in South Africa is shocked. Our loss is enormous. Personally I am speechless. I spent some time with Dr Mouton a few weeks back and, as always he was the perfect gentleman, kindly and thoughtful. Always ready to help a fellow shooter with deed and advice. I will remember him for his humbleness. My condolences to the family. One of our greatest sons has fallen!

IMHO, ask a lot of questions. Some shooters will advise you to buy expensive stuff, ignore that for now. You need loads of ammo and trigger time now, not nice toys. Imprint this into your memory - you cannot buy a solution, ever. Rather get ammo and practice, practice, practice. ( If I took my own advice I would have been a A shooter, at the least and not a B or bottom feeder). Expect to have civilians beat you in the beginning. That is why so many LEO`s shoot once and never again. Expect it, there is no dishonor in having your butt kicked by a civilian that has been participating in this sport since the 1960`s. He knows all the shortcuts there is and probably shoots about 1000 rounds per month in practice and competition. (DO the math 576000 rounds since 1960 to the end of this year. He should be marvelous at the sport)You will get better and and start overtaking people, just not right away. USPSA/IPSC/IPDPA is a brilliant way of honing the warriors edge. As a LEO you WILL sooner or later need that sharp edge. It is nice if your sport one day saves our life. Johann Buys Captain(Retired) SAPS

Personally once is not enough for me. I need to practice something until I get it right and then at the next session reinforce the previous session. That way the problems goes away and stays away.

If you absolutely have to carry a 9mmP, I would look for something that has been designed for 9mmP. I carry a 45ACP built on a old Para frame if for some reason my snubby 357 seems inappropriate. If you go in harms way for a living your system needs to be absolutely 100%. 99.999999999% is not good enough.

In my experience light strikes normal comes from proud primers. To add a safety margin I installed a stronger mainspring(1911 type) to hit the primers harder. It hits so hard that it seats the primer(if that is the problem) and ignites it - always. Now I had a couple of dead primers, no way to test for them now is there.

I use BullM5 mags in my Para, mainly because I can get more rounds into it. All change I made for this was to replace the mag-release with one that Franco over at RESCOMP makes. If I do go to 40 it will be on my Para frame.

As said before in this tread, now we can all "see" clearly why photographs and video in not allowed as evidence.

Do not think about it twice, you need to reload. This way you can spend the same amount of money on ammo and shoot twice as much. Also you can tailor your loads to your gun. Why shoot something that works in most guns if you can shoot something designed for your own gun. Also, and it has been said here before, reloading is almost as much fun as shooting. In your shoes I would get a Square Deal though - as long as you are just going to load for handguns.

Had my gun at the holster maker since Saturday night. Now I cannot even dry-fire. Damn, I am missing my gun. On Saturday we are shooting another Level 1, I seriously cannot wait. Saturday after that is the Aquila Tactical - IPSC but no speed holsters. This gives me another opportunity to get some silwer on the piano. Really I should not wish my life away like this.

A rear sight should never come loose. I would get it to a gunsmith to see why and then sort it out. I know of one person that has constant problems with rear sights coming loose but that is because he uses 255gr RN`s in his 45 and no amount of advice can convince him that it is knackering his gun and the loose rear sight is just a symptom and not the problem.