barrysuperhawk

Update: In my personal quest for the perfect HM rifle, several of you have admonished me to go with the venerable M1A, so I did, I bought a Socom - not realizing that was the poorest of the choices because of the sights. So, I did what any responsible rifleman would do, I immedately traded it is on a 18" Scout. Now I have slightly better ballistics and MUCH better sights. Now I have 2 days to Zero, and 3 consecutive weekend club matches to see if this works. Nothing like Jumping into the deep end, [just don't hold it against me because I missed the first jump and landed in the kiddie pool...]

I put an 8 rounder on the 930...

Looks like they did not address the BDC reticle, which is what many want on the Pris. I think Dyno had a set of turrets made for his Pris, don't know if he uses them on the clock, but I think that would be a losing game. Leupold does have a suggestion form on their site, if enough people requested a BDC reticle maybe they would build it. The CM-R2 cut off at 600 yards would be great. My link David E. You are correct, and I did drop them a note requesting this, as well as replying to the email. In a practical sense though [ no pun intended] the aiming points for .223 and for .308 would be awfully close togeather for a 1x optic, until you get to 5-600 yards so being able to run a BSZ for most everything and then easily dial in a few clicks for those long range buggers might be the hot ticket...

Just to add fuel to the fire, I found out Leupold does do custom shop work on the prismatic [despite the website that says no] both on a custom reticle and turrets... That pretty well kills my main objection to most 1x optics, the lack of on the fly or internal range adjustment. My main complaint has been that no matter what range you zero at with a dot, you are stuck guessing hold over or under at other ranges, while with irons, you need to shoot 50y then 600, you shoot close then crank the sight up to 600 for the range... Other than that, the only other option I have seen is either an XPS 2-2 or a crossbow red dot and the crossbow dots are too big and spaced funky for this... I sent: > ---- Original Message ---- > > > Is it possible or going to be possible to get a Prismatic worked on > by the custom shop? Specifically, I am wanting a custom Bullet Drop > Reticle and M1 or CDS turrets. I got back: ------ Original Message ------ Received: Thu, 13 Oct 2011 08:30:54 AM CDT From: <product specialist@leupold.com> To: <barrysuperhawk> > Barry, > > You can have a CDS adjustment installed onto your scope and a dial calibrated for your ballistics. > The associated cost for this retrofit is $149.99 plus any applicable sales tax. > You will need to return your scope along with our ballistic information. > The following information is what will be needed to have your BDC dials calibrated: > 1) The caliber/cartridge that you are shooting. > 2) The make, style, weight and ballistic coefficient of the bullet that you are shooting. > 3) The average muzzle velocity, preferably chronographed as this is the most accurate data. > 4) The average altitude and temperature of where the rifle will used. > 5) At what distance the rifle will be zeroed? Example 100 or 200 yards. > 6) The mounted scope height from centerline of bore to the centerline of the scopes main tube. > Once your scope is received for this retrofit, you will be contacted for your credit card information. > Best Regards,

Yes, it's an alley: The ammo I am going to start with is South African, mostly because the rest of my rifles like it and I have a gob of it. If it shoots ok, I'm good, but if it does not, I have several other options in the 150-155 range as well as FGMM 168's. Most of my local hipower guys shoot 155's out to 200, so I know the round is accurate, and finding a load that works is part of the fun of buying a new rifle.

Ok, As was pointed out to me in a PM, I realize the Socom16 is about the least accurate of the M1A's but after looking at it, I have to believe the culprit has to be the sights. So, last night I caught a deal on a globe style front sight, so I ought to be able to deal with the sight height issues slightly easier. My plan is to try my [steady] hand at making my own insert if I cannot get one of the half dozen or so that are on the way to work. Theoretically the shorter barrel has to be a bit stiffer, especially without a FH or anything else hanging off the end, so other than losing 2" of velocity everything else should be the same. Assuming I can find a way to improve the sights, 4-500 yard shots should be, if not easy, at least do-able. Since I have a couple of club matches comming up really soon, logically it seems I should plan to zero and shoot 6 O'clock hold with a standard height sight post [until I have time to modify things] and I should be good to 200yards [the farthest likely target]. What I don't know is how low to hold. I will probably only have a chance to shoot this out to 100y, so does anyone have any suggestions on how low(high) I should try to be to be able to hit at 200 with M80 ball?

I got the 16" and Good lord that front sight is WIIIIIDDDDEEEE! I was searching around last night and found somewhere that explained the sight heights and IIRC said the front post off a Scout? would work, but I'll be darned if I can reproduce those search results and find it again now. Alright Mr, Kelly and Mr. Miller, you two got me started down this road, enlighten me...

So, y'all are going to laugh at me, guess what is about to follow me home after the appropriate waiting period.... I probably will still try to copy what Rob and Villamor use, because I am still intellectually convinced the AR platform has the most competitive potential, but in the meantime I am going to give the M1A a go... Now I have to go look for mags and a skinnier front sight. Can I just bolt on a NM skinny post and call it good? Geebus, y'all are a bad influence, I haven't even picked the rifle up and I am already thinking of ways to molest it...

Slightly off topic, but the best luck I have had with optic mounting on a FAL has been with a Tapco mount with the internal plates epoxied in and the screws replaced with socket head RC bolts. The scope is then mounted so low that I had to grind down the mount to get it to fit, but it's barely above the sight plane. that lets me get down with a proper cheek weld... The main reason I looked at the scout was that in 3gun you are quire often in and out of ports, barrels and going around walls, and with the short barrel and the short comp/FH it seemed pretty handy. But then I run my FAL with no muzzle device at all, so I essentially have a carbine already. You guys are killing me, here I thought I was past wanting a M1A... Dangit.

Kevin, It works... I have done it with my XTR. Good to see you this weekend. Kyle Another user just IM'd me and told me that on the Trijicon 4MOA MRD, stacking 2 2016 batteries is in the manual as an acceptable way to increase brightness... can someone confirm this?

I have been running a standard 6 round Scattergun technologies side saddle on my 590 for years, but I put a 3 gun gear velcro and elastic jobbie on my 930SPX and I am getting spoiled by the extra rounds. Unfortunately, it looks like if I want a longer sidesaddle on my 590 I an going to have to manufacture a new backing plate to velcro it to. Anyone have a better way to attach more rounds to the gun or a suggestion on how to attach a longer sidesaddle?

FAL and 590... Heavy METAL!!!

The *is* inspiring. Rob runs a Noveske which means AR10 uppers and Armalite mags, though, right? Both of my guns are DPMS pattern and take Pmags, and I have a ton of them, so unless Mr Kelly talks me into a M1A... As a side note, I bought a Bushmaster .308 when they first came out [the FAL mag version] and I tried really hard to like it, but in the end I spent as much time fumbling with it as shooting it, so I traded it. I think RRA might have improved the design a tad, but I have heard they are still finekey with mags. the LAST thing I want is to go with a rifle that I have to work out jams...

If my mind was made up, I wouldn't have asked the question. Viscerally I love my FAL, and it is the rifle I would keep if I had only one. I also agree that M1A's can be supremely accurate, especially shooting high power, but I can't fail to notice that M1A's are about as popular in HM as FAL's. My only experince with a M1A was a 3 rifle comparison between a HK a M1A and a FAL and they shot hardest to softest in that order. I could get behind a Socom 16 if it was competitive, but I have never seen anyone actually using one at a match. Oh, and my FAL is ugly, not even a DSA, it's a Century build on a Hesse Reciever that has had the bulk of it's small parts replaced. I have had it for a while and I am afraid to drop a gauge in it because I have shot it ALOT. One of my quandries is do I spend the $$ on rebarreling it and take the chance on it not working or put the $$ toward a more productive project...

I agree it is the indian, not the arrow, after all I have done very well over the years with a FAL, after all. M1A's are beautiful rifles, but I never fell in love with them. Part of my success with the FAL is familiarity, I have shot more rounds out of my FAL than I have out of all of my AR pattern rifles put togeather, and that counts for a lot. I have even considered either throwing a bunch of cash at my current FAL or starting over with a new DSA, but then I realize I am in peril of becoming "that guy", the Elevator operator, the wooden wheel maker, the steam engine mechanic. The M1A is a beautiful rifle, but my personal tastes tend to run closer to the Socom [but without that funky rail crap] but then I am back to a shorter sight radius and an unfamiliar platform. It seems ALOT of the HM guys are running AR pattern .308's, and doing better with them than I do with my experienced FAL, so unless I am willing to admit I am no good at this game, there seemes to be improvement available in the hardware department. I can hold my own with my singlestack and my 590 against most anyone, typically where my scores go to hell is my rifle. But when I shoot high-power, I am consistantly 450+ and I earned my rifleman patch with everything I brought, so I know I can shoot a rifle. So, this brings me back to an AR pattern rifle that is more well thought out than my current abortive attempts..

Ok, since the 3 gun season is winding down, and there are only a couple of big ones left this year, neither of which I can go to, it's time to think about next years rifle. Some of you who know me know I am all about Heavy Metal / He-Man class, and I have had my moments where I have actually done well, however, with my FAL, hits past 2-300 yards are largely luck, not mechanical accuracy. The FAL is like an AK it always goes bang no matter wheather I haven't cleaned it in years or not.. This year, I tried something different, with a DPMS AP4 in .308 and then a Bushmaster .308 ORC, with less than stellar results. Some of my problems were self induced [my ill-advised decision to jump on the 1x optic bandwagon stands out] but another component to my issues was that neither of my "replacements" were any better suited to long range shooting than my FAL. Both guns have 16" barrels and flashiders rather than any type of comp. I am given to understand 16 is a tad to short for optimum performange, that 18" or longer would be better, ballistically, but I think 20" would be too much.. The DPMS is a workable gun, but it has a horrible trigger and a short sight radius. I also dislike the FF tube on it. The Busmaster has a fairly good trigger, but I have struggled with Optics, first trying a 4MOA Vortex Strikefire [great optic, until you realize what a 4 minute dot subtends to at 4-500 yards vs the size of the targets]. The second try was an Eotech XPS which went better, but wasn't any easier past 200 than the Vortex, since the 1 moa dot tends to bloom when you turn it up enough to see it in daylight so you lose the pinpoint 1moa..] Sooo, I am not even sure I want to continue with the 1x optics because they haven't worked out so well for me so far. Now, I have been kicking around the build/buy/trade options but I am kindof on the fence as to my direction. The easiest thing might be to clamp a set of sights on the Bushmaster and give it a try, but then, taking the easy route so far has resulted in a year's worth of terrible performances, so I am open to suggestions. So, heavy metal guys, post up pictures, specs and opinions about what works and what does not. Please be specific, what you use, what your dream gun would be, what works, what does not, whatever, let me know.

I suspect you won't, so the question would be if you are brave enough to try it and take a chance at having to send your scope back to leoupold and lie about how it got buggered. As a secondary point, I tried this with a Cmore STS and the brightness was a bit more, but it appears the regulation on the Cmore is alot tighter [it's pretty bright already] I wish I could find some 2011 batteries.... ;-)

SHHHHH that motel is secret, after the GF informed me that the match motel did not meet her standards, that was the quietest one I could find... WTF is a mini unimog, and where do I get one?

Disclaimer: I am a choke free shotgunner, none of my shotguns have any choke in them. Why isn't a C-lect choke more popular in 3 gun? Lately I have been witness to 3 separate discussions about what choke to use on a given stage, and the discussion was rather spirited on two of those occasions. Given the variety of stages we face, it would seem that a choke with no removable parts that needs no tools to adjust might be of particular utility, especially to the poor guy trying to use a quarter... I used to have an old Mossy 500 with one of those. So, why not?

Ok, er, well, I can take it apart and wipe it off, but could you be a tad more specific on what I need to do? I would hate to bugger something up because I *thought* I knew what I was doing. How does the ring come off, and what am I wirebrushing?

Ok, I got the $%#$ thing apart. anyone care to characterize how tight the piston is supposed to be? I damn near had to tap mine out with a punch, and I DID have to use a small mallet to reinstall it. The youtube vid I found on disassembly: it didn't look like his piston is nearly that tight. I oiled the crap out of it and re-assembled, but the tightness has me worried. I can't function fire it until tomorrow...

Ok, Answers: The hammer is dropping when I pull the trigger, but the firing pin isn't hitting the primer. Toward the middle of the video I tried a couple of times to pull the bolt back just enough to reset the hammer but not enough to eject the live round. Then, too it just clicked. I will look at that. Not disagreeing, but wouldn't the bolt not being in battery prevent the hammer from dropping? Does this gun have that feature? Dirty is a possibility, I typically run it dripping wet so it doesent get filthy like a dry gun would, but there is some crud.. The shellcarrier is velcro-ed on [3-gun gear], no tension or pins used. Ok, I guess I need to dig up a schematic or a video showing me what things are supposed to look like when I get it apart. Anyone have any suggestions or favorites? [Yeah, I know, google.... but I was hoping not to have to sit through 57 videos that don't end up showing me what I need...

Ok, here's the video, such as it is.

Good looking firearms you have there, all of you. I am convinced the slide ride is the way to go, but I am thinking the CMore trait of being able to swap batteries without unbolting anything is a very nice option to have. However if this is like any of my other pursuits, I will end up with 3-4 different ones before I am done...

Ok, just got back from a 3 gun match, and my hertofore trusty 930 SPX has let me down. Here's what happens: In the beginning, I start out with a round in the chamber, on safe, tube full. First round goes bang, the SG cycles, the spent shell ejects, the fresh shell is loaded into the chamber and all seems normal. Upon pulling the trigger the second time, "CLICK", and nothing happens. Immediate action drill clears the unfired round and loads the next one from the tube. The [third] round goes bang, the SG cycles, the spent shell ejects, the fresh shell is loaded into the chamber and all seems normal. Upon pulling the trigger the Fourth time, "CLICK", and nothing happens. Immediate action drill clears the unfired round and loads the next one from the tube. This continues til the end of the stage, every other round not firing, in a clearly repeatable pattern. Toward the end I was single loading, and while doing this, I realized that when I hand cycled the action, the round fired, but when the round was loaded automatically, when the hammer dropped, it made a click, but did not go off. The "clicks" seem identical to dryfire clicks. NONE of the recovered live rounds have even the slightest hint of a Firing pin dimple on the primer. I have video that I will post up later [it's converting now] in case that helps, and my plan is to disassemble it and try to find something broken later tonight, but if anyone has ever heard of or experienced this, please chime in, I have never seen anything like this and I am at a loss.