Nolan

The Jato story is most definately false. Myth Busters built a slightly more powerful version and could only get about 160 MPH. Somewhere I've seen the math done and it would take something like 3,000 ft/lbs thrust for 20 seconds (or more?) to break 300 with a Chevy Impala starting at 80 MPH.

Yup, at 50,000 miles on the way home from the 2002 Nationals. Not really sure what caused it other than a heavy right foot! Front pump, all the bands, clutches, valve body and converter were trashed.

Most of those have been debunked before EXCEPT I've seen the video of the guy trying to throw the cinder block through the liquor store window. I just wish there was an audio track so I could hear that Watermelon hitting cement sound!

Looks good to me. The beveled area is normal. Some guide rods are machined/cast/forged/etc.. with the bevel, others are ground later in a seperate operation like yours.

Dodge Different I guess. My Dodge Dakota transmission will shift into first gear regardless of speed. The old GM Turbo 400 would also downshift regardless of speed as I found out in High School Drivers Ed. The intructor had me do an emergency stop by using only the emergency brake and downshifting the auto transmission. What the instructor failed to note was I was doing 80 MPH! (Gotta love those '68 Old Cutlass) and being 14 years old I immediately went from drive to first without even hesitating at second. It was a long walk back to town. Manually upshifting in my Dodge sucks because if you floor it in first, then manually shift into second as you approach the red line the transmission freewheels for a bit while it first releases the reverse band then it will shift into second. I bounced it off the rev limiter the first time I did that. The trick is to pin the throttle to the floor and immediately shift into second gear. If you get the shifter moved before 2000 RPM it immediately releases the reverse band so you still get the benefit of the hard launch without the false neutral second gear shift. The transmission stays in first until the max. rpm shiftpoint as long as you don't let up on the throttle. If traction is lacking it's better to just leave it in Drive and get a little softer launch because only the first gear bands are engaged. Oops, I forgot wrong forum. I was just over on the Dakota R/T forums, my bad

There are some drawbacks to manually downshifting some auto transmissions. Do NOT use the downshift like a manual transmission for engine braking. In other words do not completely let off the throttle and pull the transmission down into a lower gear or dis-engage the overdrive while the vehicle is under load. This slips the bands and clutches in a manner they were not designed for. If you are going to downshift keep a steady throttle pressure until the transmission has shifted, THEN let off the throttle. This works the transmission the same way as the throttle kickdown. Also do NOT manually downshift most American automatic transmissions into first gear while the vehicle is moving. Many auto transmissions engage the reverse bands when manually shifted into first gear to increase the bands grip to reduce the chances of slippage under heavy pulling loads when starting from a stop in first gear. Banging the transmission into first may sound cool when it chirps the tires, but you're killing the transmission.

Alright! I'll dress up as "Buster"

Sorry, but the operative word is "covers'! That's like cheating on your significant other then going to confession for redemption. Do it enough times an you eventually wind up at the divorce lawyers instead of church. It's much better to do it right the first time and not have to cover your mistakes.

Big Thanks to Rob for all the behind the scenes work for USPSA and another Thanks to Vince for the link to his website standards which gave me a couple of nice pointers for improving up my amateur website.

The USPSA website has a Nationals Sponsors link but doesn't have any direct links for anyone wanting to be a sponsor. Also a link for Area sponsors would be nice.

A lot of their safety skills leave a lot to be desired, that's what makes the show so damn funny sometimes. Adam usually is the one that takes it on the chin or head like in the Cell phone Gas Station fire episode where he burnt off an eyebrow, most of the hair on one arm and singed most of the hair on his head. Been there, Done that!

I've used EcoTech cleaners from Finish Line Technologies. EcoTech They make several different types of citrus based solvents that work OK and have very little odor if that is your primary requirement. They aren't the best solvents, but work OK. It's available at most bike shops and a lot of sporting goods stores in aerosol or liquid concentrate form. Mostly I use it to clean my mags because it doesn't disolve my Gram's basepads like my main solvent. For my guns I use an aerosol alcohol based flux remover called ProClean by MicroCare Corp. ProClean It degreases as well as brake cleaners, but without the smell or fumes. It has a great little pistol grip dispenser with a built-in brush. The down side is price, but with the dispenser one can will clean many, many guns. Oil or rust preventative immediately after cleaning because there is NO oils left after cleaning. It's available in most electronics stores.

Every time I watch Myth Busters I wonder if Adam is Erik Warren's long lost brother? Not only is there the physical resemblance in appearance, speech and attitude, they both like blowing stuff up or melting it to the ground. We need to invite these Bay Area boys to an IPSC match! What are some good IPSC myths that need investigation? Is the IPSC El Presidente better than the IDPA El Prez? Are 1911's better than Glocks? Can modern shooters actually hit the targets? Oh sorry I forgot we've already got American HandDumber! I love the show, but I do have mixed feelings about the show's name Myth Busters. Nolan sMyth

Hmm? That would describe a perfect double if the scoring borders of the 2 outside targets overlapped the A zone perforations of the center target!

I used to pour the excess powder into an old half pound 748(?) can that was strapped to a 1/8th scale toy Indy car. Point down the driveway and light Cannon fuse. Great fun until my brother pulled into the driveway in his brand new pickup just AFTER I lit the fuse. If I'd had a video camera running I could have made some money on Funniest Home Videos just for the expression on his face! Fortunately it was a small amount of excess powder and it burnt out about one second after it wedged under his truck. The old metal powder can I used was a small diameter round can with a nice funnel shaped top. I think it was a 748 can. Anyway I strapped it to the roll bar and rear wing of the toy car with the nozzle, er top of the can pointing slightly upwards so the rocket blast would hold it on the ground. I think the most powder I ever put in filled less than 1/4 of the can. Standard disclaimers apply, I'm not a rocket scientest, heck I can't even spell it, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express once.

My guess would be......... "OUCH!"

Have a Happy RamaHanuKwanzMas and a PC Winter Holiday! Courtsey of Glenn Beck A PC Winter Holiday Just kidding! I hope everybody has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Nude Year, er New Year! Nolan

Charlie's shop is GunTriks and the URL is GunTriks Here's a good shot of his mini-14 and the mag release Mini-14

Hey now, I kinda like Saddam's new look! I think it gives him that rugged outdoorsy look. Well that and the bugs and twigs in his hair!

Jackson was freed on $3 million bail and given back his passport. The Judge's reasoning "It's not like he's going to have plastic surgery and dissappear!" Actually I think one more skin bleaching and his color will be "CLEAR"

Yeah I think it's all the MTBE pollution in the air!

Thanks Julien. I checked the grip fit and the front screw just slips right in. So that probably isn't my problem. On second inspection the mag catches are both STI, not SVI as I originally thought. As per the STI advertising they are "Non-beveled for no over-insertions" The bottom edge of the mag catch is very square. I noticed that one mag catch is actually slightly peened where the bottom edge of the mag body cut is hitting. I think it's time to break out the Dremel tool and make the bottom of the mag catch look like the one on the SVI website or just do the right thing and buy a new SVI mag catch to go with the new grip.

I'm with Vlad on this one. Gather up all the War Widows, Kurdish Widows, Political Widows, give each one a box cutter and turn them loose on Saddam. The Death of a Thousand Cuts. I think this would be very appropriate considering that the Telegraph is reporting that Mohammed Atta was in Baghdad on July 1, 2001 for a 3 day "work programme" Telegraph

Sorry to state the obvious but that's one of the primary causes of relapses and/or progression to pnuemonia. No, not shooting, but over exertion before full recovery. The old "I can tough it out" "Gotta go to work, hack, hack, hack!" "It ain't that bad, hack, hack, hack, hack!" "Hack, call, hack, 911, hack, wheeze!"

The set of grips in photo #2 are the set I modified by expoxying on a set of Navidrex grip panels to increase the grip diameter. All of the grips are broken at the rear of the mag catch hole. There is a 'shelf' inside that forms the bottom of the trigger bow slot in the grip. When the grip breaks the 'shelf' drags on the bottom of the trigger bow causing a very inconsistant trigger pull. The mag catch can slightly rotate up and down causing feed problems. That's not a mold line, it's the edge of the crack and this has happened on both my Limited gun and my Open gun. Both guns have un-modified SVI mag catches. I guess I'll replace both the grip and the mag catch and see what happens. Here's a shot of the trigger bow slot.