Nick Weidhaas

(1) piece mounts are generally considered stronger and more stable. Custom police and military sniper rifles generally use Badgr. Ordanance or Night Force rings and bases. They are not cheap, but of the best quality. Regarding mounting your scope, you want to mount the scope as low as you can so the front objective just clears the barrel. If your not using an adjustable comb stock, you will then need to build up the comb so that you can achieve a proper cheek weld (same every time) and so that your eye is perfectly aligned behind the scope with the proper eye relief. The issue is to be comfortable behind the rifle. You don't want to have to lift your head off the stock to get a sight picture. Set up scope and rifle the right way the first time and you will be much happier. Nick-

What I didn't see in your post was that you are putting it on a .223 target rifle. If this is a semi-auto AR15 type rifle, I would really consider the 40mm objective as they work much better on AR's, IMHO. The other problem with a scope that is mounted high (because of large front objective) is that it puts strain on your neck as it puts your neck in an uncomfortable position. This can cause cramps and/or effect your focus on the target. It is important to be comfortable when shooting and to be able to achieve the same cheek weld every time you get into the scope. Nick-

A 40mm or 50mm objective will treat you equally as well. The 50mm allows more light transmition and a larger field of view. The down side to the 50mm objective is that it forces you to mount it higher so you can clear the front objective off the barrel. This is not an issue if you are using a stock with an adjustable comb. If your using a fixed comb, you may want to consider a 40mm objective as it is easier to maintain a proper cheek weld with the scope mounted lower. Another option is to build up the stock with foam or a similar material to achieve the proper cheek weld and eye alignment behind the scope. What you don't want to do is have the scope so high you don't have a proper cheek weld and your head is kinda floating as you raise it off the stock to align your eye behind the scope. Hope this helps. Nick

PhilD, Really nice looking guns. I will definetly add Bennie to my list of smith who I will have build a gun for me. Thanks for posting the pics. If they shoot as good as they look, you are a lucky man. Nick-

Thanks for all the feedback. I would like to get Benny a pistol to work on in the future, but for now I'm going to try another smith. Dave Berryhill (probably never heard of him) is starting up a pistolsmith shop. He is retired law enforcement and as I am an LEO I wanted to give a retired brother in blue some work. I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks again, Nick-

Thanks for the feedback Shred. Nick-

I'm interested in sending a Les Baer PII to Bennie Hill at Triangle Shooting Sports to have it turned into a competition pistiol for Limited, IDPA, etc. Does anyone have any experience with his work that they could share. Thanks, Nick-

Tightloop, I've been considering the Briley World Open, which I believe is held in Houston. I generally shoot the Caribbean Cup in FL in Feb/Mar., (Great tournament by the way), so I can't make the Briley in the spring. It would have to be one or the other for me. I'm in MA and FL is a nice place to go and get away from the snow that time of year. I shot yesterday in 20 deg. weather. COLD..... Are you going to the World FITASC in July? This will be my 1st world tournament. Looking forward to it. Those B&P F2's really crush targets don't they? 7.5's for everyting? I've been considering that. One less thing to think about. If you talk to Mike Dotson at B&P, tell him I said hi. He is a good guy. Shoot well, Nick-

A big thank you to everyone who responded. I think it will be the JP CTR-02 with an 18" LW bbl and BC comp. I'm going to get the TOS (Tactical Operating System) in lieu of the LMOS (Low Mass Operating System). I guess JP is offering a special on this rifle right now @ $1995, which is $200 off the normal price. Thanks again, Nick-

CLW- FITASC is the best shotgun game there is, IMHO. Regarding my thoughts on gear. I approach FITASC the same as sporting. That is I don't use a different gun, loads or chokes for FITASC than I do for sporting. I settled on the gear I use through trial and error (and a lot of $$). I can tell you confidence in your gear/equipment is critical. Confidence in your gear often translates to confidence in yourself. If you step into the box and you are second guessing your equipment, your all done. You have to use what you have confidence in and not what I, the guy who won the Nationals this year, or your buddy uses. It is a individual thing. For example, I shoot a Krieghoff K-80 w/32" bbls. I love this gun. It feels good in my hands and I get that warm fuzzy feeling when I'm shooting it. Other people pick it up and say it's nose heavy, or it weighs a ton, or it doesn't break birds any better than their Browning. Well guess what, I like it and that is what matters. If your Browning 425 or Beretta AL391 or Perazzi do it for you, that is what you should shoot. Regarding chokes and loads. I've run the spectrum here also. I've owned just about every choke on the market and the Rhino ported chokes are what I've settled on. When I practice, I put in a pair of LM Rhino chokes. In competition, I use Cyl. .000, LM .015, IM .025 (Be sure to measure your inside barrel diameter before ordering chokes. This is the only way to make sure your ordering the right constriction). I've patterned and shot these chokes at targets and I like the way they break targets with the loads I shoot. Basically I use an open choke for close targets or targets showing belly, LM for most targets in the 25-40 yrd range and IM for longer targets or targets showing only dome or are on edge at 40 yrds plus. Close, medium and far. It simplifies things for me. I shoot 1oz. 8's and 7.5's. I prefer faster loads (my favorite shell is the B&P F2). They chrono out of my gun at about 1280 and are very consistent. They also pattern better then any load I have tested. However recently, I developed a shoulder problem (unrelated to shooting) and have had to back down to a 7/8 and 1oz loads at 1200fps. I'm currently shooting Fiocchi shells. They pattern very well and are really clean burning (I hate dirty powder). I've found that if I put the gun in the right place, a quality 1oz. load will do everything a 11/8oz load will do. I've tried 11/4oz and I hate the recoil. I don't think the recoil is worth the extra pellets. Especially when I will shoot 800 rnds in the course of a big tournament. I believe the heavy recoil can take a toll on the body over a big tournament. I find I can keep my focus much better shooting softer shells. Again, this works for me and is what I'm confident with. The next guy may like to have every shot size, every choke, and a different gun for each game he shoots. If that works for him, great. Have at it. As long as we are all having a good time and crushing targets, life is good. Take care, Nick-

Thanks for the feedback. Anyone running JP's LW 18" bbl with a BC comp? If I buy a JP rifle, I've been cleared to use it at work as well as compete in 3 gun. The 18" bbl., would work better for entry and not much longer than the 16" bbls we run on our M4's now. Thanks again, Nick

Hello, If you are shooting a JP AR could you let me know how you like it and your experience with the company. I'm considering one of their new CTR rifle or their level 1 tactical rifle. There is about a $300 difference between the two rifles. I'm new to 3 gun and JP's products. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks, Nick-

Tightloop- Thanks for the warm welcome. Hope you have a great New Year. Nick-

TommyC- I'm not a pro-shooter, but I've been around a little while. I'm a NSCA AA Class shooter and I shot for Kleen-Bore, Inc. on the Sportsman's Team Challenge Circut. I tell you that only to let you know where I'm coming from. When I started shooting SC and other shotgun games I focused on equipment. I took some lessons, but focused on eqipment instead of technique. I went through a "bunch" of guns and boxes of custom chokes for every gun. One day I sold everything, bought one gun, had it fitted, and didn't look back. This approach took me from "B" class to "AA" in two years. My advice to you and anyone starting out in a shotgun game is to find a good coach to help you with the basics. That coach should check your shotgun to make sure it fits pretty close (more precise gun fit is only necessary when you have developed a good mount) and the gun is shooting where you are looking. The next thing I recommend is you now stick with this gun and learn to shoot it. Don't change guns every other week, thinking the new gun will mean better scores. As far as chokes go, I've patterned and tested just about every custom choke out there with all the best shells. I can sincerely tell you that you DO NOT need a lot of chokes. Don't get caught up in this mess. When shooting any game, you can only concentrate on one thing at a time. In the shotgun game your focus (100%) needs to be on the target. If you are thinking about other things (do I have the right choke, right size shot, how is my score), you are not focusing on the target. I find that if you can cut down on the "extra" thoughts and stream line your shooting gear, you can give the targets the focus they need. Confidence in your ability and gear is the key. I would recommend you have someone measure the inside bbl. diameter of your shotgun and then put in a choke that is .015 tighter (Light Mod) than your bore and forget about everything else. This choke will generally crush any SC target you will see. Yes you will be a little tight on the closer targets. Just focus hard and when you hit the target you will smoke it. This is good positive mental feedback and you will know your are hitting the target with the center of your pattern. Andy Duffy won a National Sporting Clays Championship shooting nothing but LM. As you become more experienced and when you start shooting tournaments, you can get yourself a few more chokes (if you think you need to). I shoot three chokes in competition (I shoot an O/U). Cylinder, LM, and IM. (Close, Medium, Far). These chokes measure .000, .015, and .025 on my bore. This works for me and my gun. You may want to do something different. I have several friends who are Master and AA shooters who shoot nothing but .020 (Mod). Find out what works for you. Stick with it and don't forget to have fun. All to often we get caught up in an equipment race. Put your money into shells, lessons, and practice targets. You will go much further, be less frustrated and have more fun. Good luck and I hope this helped. Nick-

TommyC- If you enjoyed Sporting, you have to try FITASC. The targets are generally more difficult and very challenging. Best shotgun game I have ever shot. That said, if you need to bust every target...you may not want to shoot FITASC. It can be a humbling game for new and experienced shooter alike. Good luck in your shooting. Nick-