AzShooter

I've been seeing the foot activator box for the past month and I like it. One more innovation that works and should be used. As long as it functions the same for every shooter and is easy for all the competitors to set up when it is their turn for range duty I think they add some more enjoyment to the stages.

Just got home from the SouthWest Regional hosted by the West End Gun Club. What a great match. As always the people running it did a superb job. Lunch was a great barbeque and while waiting for stats there was a snow cone machine available for everyone to cool off with. Jason Petitte (sp) captured the Limited honors, no surprise there, and Vic Pickett took home the gold for Open. Again. Anyone surprised to hear that? ( Although Pat Hogue was right on his tail) Stages included a lot of steel and paper with a good mix. Some droppers and a Texas Star and even a dueling tree. Different props that even had you shooting through a sheet of plastic covering targets. I like the variation. And I congratulate the designers on their innovations this year. But the best part was all the fantastic people there to compete. I hope they all enjoyed themselves as much as I did and I hope most will go to the IRC.

Start up a club and see if it grows. If you have 10 people the match will pay for itself, depending on how much the range charges you per shooter and the number of targets you use. It's cheaper to start with paper targets, that's why all the classifiers for ICORE are paper. Once you have the money get some steel or borrow some from your local club and go for it. There are now 19 clubs in the US. Pretty good growth the last two or three years.

Keith... I am a board member of ICORE and had a discussion Sunday with Dave Bellis, another board member about the memberships and cards. He assured me that Paul is doing all he can to get back on track. I know it's frustrating and all I can do is tell you that we are all concerned. Hopefully you will get your card soon. More important, make sure you are classified for the IRC. The two will be related if you are going to the IRC. If you have any questions that I can be of service to you with contact me at AzShooter@aol.com. I am also listed on the ICORE board page under Rules Coordinator. I suggested that we ask Paul to step down because of the personal problems he was having but I would rather stick with him, knowing what he has been doing for the organization since the board took over, He also knows the system better than anyone else who would have to take time to get up and running. This year at the annual meeting I think a few other people will be running for the position and who knows what will happen. It's one of the hardest jobs we have but I understand how important it is to know someone is paying attention to your concerns.

Great idea John if you can get someone to run it. Maybe on Sunday after the match and before the shootoffs since they take so much time to get going. I'm not that fast, especially considering the times I read here, but I'd sure like to see who's got the guts to back up their claims.

Apex Tactical has done work for me and I am more than satisfied with it. I heighly recommend Randy Lee. He did my 627 last year and I intend to give him my backup gun while at the South West Regional Championships. I tried playing with .38 Colt and .38 Smith $ Wesson charges a few years ago and put together quite a volume of load data. There were a few charges with Unique that would work for ICORE minor with no trouble but most other charges were at least 15 % over maximum charge listed in any loading manual. I don't like Unique because every once in a while a flake will get under the star and bind up the revolver. If there is no minor power factor there are some very accurate .38 Smith & Wesson loads available. I don't like taking chances so I now shoot .38 specials. This is just my opion but I don't think a comp will do much for you in a minor gun. They make a big difference in major loads. And then, once you have it built invest in Hearthco moon clips. You will be restricted to Federal or Remington brass but it's worth it. The clips hold the cartridges steady, there is no wabble, which works in the .45 but not quite as well in the .38 cases. Good luck.

Im having problems with the upper part of the hogue grips on my 625 catching my extracted rounds and hanging up though, not sure about how to fix it, its slowing my revo reloads down quite a bit. I cant switch to wood grips, I never have been able to hang onto wood ones. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Last year I bought a pair of wooden Hogue grips at the IRC and asked Pat Hogue about the problem with moons interfering with my reloads. He showed my how much to scallup away the grip and then to oil them so that the color came back to the original. With their rubber grips I aways take my dremel with a sanding wheel and burn away the rubber until it does not interfer with moons. Hogues fit my hands better than any other grips I've tried so even though I have to modify them a little they are well worth it.

The memberships have been slow getting out. The person in charge has moved and doesn't have access to a computer with telephone hookup. He updated memberships about two weeks ago I believe but we are trying to get him to get them faster. Mike and Kim's phone was disconnected for a while but is back operating. Since this is an all volunteer organizaation sometimes things happen that ICORE has no control over. I'm sure that if someone wants to take over the membership chair position and runs for it this year at the IRC they could probably have it.

A few years back we had a shooter with a Taurus that had been ported. Because of the ports he could not shoot in Limited so he blocked the ports with set screws. That was deamed legal and he was able to compete in Limited. If it's a V-comp the best thing to do would be to buy the one from Smith And Wesson that replaces the comp.' Are you planning on using it in ICORE or another of those funny shooting sports?

High primers are probably the worth thing that can happen to a shooter. It can be so bad as to lock up the cylinder, so yest, you want them seated below flush. It helps to have one brand of brass for the best accuracy.

I volunteer to work as a safty officer every week at one of our local ranges. It's a shame to see how many new people show up with brand new out of the box automatics that do not work from shot one. I wouldn't stake my life on one unless it had been worked over by a very competent gunsmith and then only after I've put an additional 500 rounds through it without a malfunction. That said, I haven't come across anyone that had a malfuntion with a revolver that didn't require pulling the trigger a second time. If it doesn't go Bang it's probably because they did some home gunsmithing and lightened the strain screw too much. Out of the box I count on a revolver to work all the time. The trigger pull may be a little harder than I like but I know it will work with any ammo I try. As for carry, it depends. I normally like my Model 10 4", .38 special. Soon it will be a 625 in .45 ACP. For a while I stopped carrying but last week my son was car jacked by two guys with semi autos. My first reaction is to give them the car but I also want to be able to keep my life.

The new boxes seem to be working just as well as the red boxes. I just went through 1000 and didn't have any missfires so I'm satisfied. Of course my trigger is kind of heavy at 4 1/2 pounds . An old gunsmith friend of mine told me that if you measure the hammer fall pressure with your trigger guage it should be at least 32 ounces with Federal to go off reliably. Winchesters take about 46 to 48 ounces. After I clean my revolver I always measure the hammer drop weight to be sure it's the same. I know, counting the number of turns on the strain screw would work just as well but I'm a stubborn old dog.

John those are some fast reloads. Congratulations. I'm not near that fast but let's put the targets at 10 yards and go A zone hit to A zone hit. If you break 2 seconds then I'll really be impressed. I'll put at least $20 down on in the hat and give you three tries. If you don't do it I get $20 from you O.K.? It's been real fun watching you improve over the years. Now you need to stop sandbagging and get into A class where you belong, or should that be Master? Those certainly aren't B clsss numbers.

Just took Rob's class yesterday. What a great day at the range. 10 of us shooting with TGO. This was a class on how to shoot steel and boy did we shoot. I ran at least 400 rounds through my revolver.... yes, doesn't matter what gun you bring Rob will definately teach you something. After the class we shot the Tuesday Night Steel match at Rio Salado as a group and I could see how much improvement everyone got. Trigger control was probably the most stressed idea of the class. It became easy to spot why you think you are dead center on the target but the bullet missed. Now, practice, practice and more practice... Thanks Rob and Kippi for a great class and lots of entertainment.

You asked about for the .38s. If I ever go back to using a 625 or 25 then I would use Ranch Products. Everyone has their own technique for loading and some may find that the loose moons are to their advantage. I like them tight.

Best brass for 7 shot or any full moon revolver is Federal or Remington Peters. Best moon clips are Hearthco bar none. The ranch product moons are sloppy and your cases will fall right out of them when you are trying to reload. Hearthco is tight, you need a pliers to put the last round in most times but they are thicker and will last forever ( unless someone steps on them ).

Have you started a special practice routine for the IRC? Does preparing for a big match change the way you practice? What do you think is the best practice session? Do you set up a stage and run through it, like Standards or do you break it down into smaller stages and practice ? What do you consider a good practice session? How many rounds? Do you set goals? Did you learn anything today? Simple questions but how often do you go to the range and just blow off a few hundred rounds and then you find out that you haven't improved at all. Now that the Sectionals and the IRC are coming up I hope most of you have a chance to get out and shoot with your friends at the various venues. Fortunately the weather is now perfect and the match schedule is full here. Tuesday night steel matches, Thursday either steel or paper depending on where you want to go, every Sunday there is a match. I have found that the best way to shoot these matches is to go out to learn something special and not care how I do. Winning isn't everything. Each time I try to work on something I expect to lose. Either I push myself to make that first shot as fast as possible or I am working on my grip style or amount of tention, concentrating on the target (fly on the target), or just going balls to the walls. Some things work and others don't so I like to experiment and see what I can. I don't always get a chance to go to the range and just set up targets to practice on.

Funny how you don't see many Colts on the firing line. Knew one local guy that could shoot his Python faster than anyone I've ever seen. I think he also won the Steel Challenge once in Revo Division. Mike Henry is his name.... gone on to better things and we don't see him shooting anymore but I'll always remember his speed.

Changing to a heavier rebound spring will definately increase your trigger pull. There is a ballance point that you have to be very carefule to approach with tuning the parts and then getting the springs to the right weights. For a quick job order a Vic Picket Spring Kit. He has a mainspring and two rebound springs in the kit. A heavy spring for Winchester and other primers and a nice light spring for Federals which take less pressure to fire. Vic's spring kit should give you a 6 pound trigger pull.

Years ago I had all of this written down. Can't remember the exact numbers but between .38s at 125 PF and .357s at 175 PF, ( It was a long time ago) my splits would be about .15 slower in the .357 loads.

IPSC sure has changed it revolver formats over the years. We used to be able to shoot whatever we brought, scope, bull barrells, comps, but at least they were all 6 shooters. Today there are a lot of people shooting 8 shot guns and they are more than welcome to use them in IPSC providing they reload after 6 rounds. I like this idea because it keeps the playing field somewhat even. Now, you are never going to please everyone because the guy with the 8 shot will say he has two more in there so he can make up shots but my feeling is at least you will always be learning to reload. ( From the times I've read on hear on revolver reloads it seems like a lot of people have been practicing} So, If you had your choice, what revolver would you use, a trusted 625 or derivative with .45 for major, a .38 and push it or just shoot minor, a .38 super? I know for now there is no division for unlimited revolvers but perhaps in the future if there is more participation this too could happen.

I like my CR. One of the things I did was to put a nylon screw in the butt plug, mussel plug to help stabilize the gun

Brian: Thanks for this thread. I finally changed the way I've been reloading my revolver by changing what I was looking at. Memory already has me opening the clylinder, pushing out the old clip and moving the gun close to my body. Now I look directly at the moon clip I'm going to use and bring it right into one of the charge holes.... I haven't fumbled a reload all morning trying this. It's all in looking at something a different way huh?

John, you are right, Vic's trigger was done with the original hammer. Unbelievable hun, but you did a super job on yours as well. I was so impressed last month. Now maybe you will just go into A class before the IRC so I have a chance.

Last year at the Southwest Regional Championships for ICORE I ran across Randy Lee as he was talking about his new trigger job. Randy owns APEX Tactical in Los Osos, Ca. The trigger on his 627 was about 4 1/4 pounds. The smoothest I have ever felt and he had no missfires during the entire match. So, I gave Randy my 627 for him to do his magic. Mine came back at just under 5 pounds. He said he could have gone lower but I had done some gunsmithing myself and champhered the cylinders too much for him to be able to go lower. Still, the best trigger I ever got. Price was $200. At the IRC Randy let me know that a new hammer was going to be available and that would cut the trigger pull down even more. Vic Picket was fortunate enough to get his action done with the new hammer and WOW. Under 4 pounds and I've never seen Vic have a missfire with it. Price has gone up a bit because of the additional work but for a 3 pound plus double action trigger I think it's well worth it. What would you spend on a trigger job? ( A light trigger won't make you a Master Class shooter, but it sure does help make your accuracy go up)