bbbean

If you have to ask, it isn't worth it. There are so many options on a 1911 that until you have a good handle on what you want, it's going to be hard to justify the cost of a semi-custom or custom gun. But once you've run a 1911 long enough to develop some preferences, the price of a full custom build seems cheap! FWIW, I've run stock 1911s, tweaked stock guns, semi-custom, and full custom builds. Far and away my favorite guns were full custom builds by a gunsmith who thinks the way I do and stock guns reworked by a good smith. Semi-custom guns are nice, but they'll never match a gun you ordered to spec or built to your preferences. Best bet is to buy a used race gun that's already been tweaked, shoot it for a year or so to figure out what you like about it, then build one that suits you exactly. BB

That is a problem, but it's one that easily avoidable if the match staff takes the time to monitor battery condition and backup/sync regularly. Of course, there are lots of things that can go wrong and require a reshoot. At Area 5 the year before, someone from another squad decided to "help" and pasted a target of mine before it was scored. The reshoot took me from a 20 second run with 90% alphas to a 30 second run with a mike and 4 deltas. No scoring system is perfect. BB

The same way you'd score him on paper if he left mid-match.

There's still time...

I agree, and I have given a reshoot for RO interference when a shooter moved unexpectedly on a stage and had to pull a shot because I was in the wrong position. BB

I see all the stage diagrams except stage 3. What's the classifier?

I have Morgan Freeman working on it right now, but for $50 I will call and leave you a voicemail....

Can I get that in audiobook format?

Welcome to the club. How are you going to spend all that MD pay? BB

What did Brian have to say when you called him about this? You DID contact him privately and give him the opportunity to correct the problem, right? I'd hate to think your first reaction to getting something in 5 days instead of 3 days would be to publicly complain and bad mouth the guy who makes this very forum available to all of us free of charge.

I've never received a "per target" copy of my score at any level II or level III match (including the Nats and the Gnats). If you walk the targets with the scoring RO, you've had the opportunity to verify/dispute any particular target. BB

With one notable exception the MDs who've used Practiscore swear by it and say it saves time and trouble. But rather than rely on conjecture, why not download the free app to one of your devices and play with it a while? Use it with paper backups for a match or two. All it'll cost you is a little time to try it. I see a lot of conjecture about possible problems from people who haven't used it the program or who haven't used it long enough to get comfortable with it, but not that many complaints from people who've used it for 2 or 3 matches. Give it a try.

This will change in time, as more CRO/ROs get experience using Practiscore. BB

The key word there is STAFF. We don't really have a staff. Our staff is mainly comprised of whoever shows up to shoot. And that's part of what concerns me. It seems to me that for this to work, there has to be at least one person who will be in charge of scoring. Well, for a lot of Level I clubs, there is only one person - the MD - who is in charge of everything. They'll have some folks that will show up to help on match day but ultimately the MD does almost everything. Sure, the electronic scoring will help when it comes time to compile the scores, but you still have to deal with getting all the registration and squadding into the devices and then all the training and handholding needed get people using them properly - and not having a Flobot type accident if they don't like them. Take it from a level I combo MD/RO/Shooter/Stats/Web guy - Practiscore makes my life 100% easier on match day than scoring with paper. The first time we used Practiscore, I did registration myself (on the iPhone at the range) and spent 5 minutes showing the most tech savvy person in each squad how to use Practiscore. Added 20 minutes to my prematch routine, but eliminated 2 hours from my post match routine. The second time we used Practiscore, I asked the previous Practiscore users to show someone else how to use Practiscore. By the third match, I had shooters showing up with Practiscore loaded on their own phones and volunteering to score. At this point, each squad has 4 or 5 people who have run the device, and we could make that more if we needed to. I asked another RO to take over registration and squadding, which still takes approximately 15 minutes before the match (approximately the same amount of time it took to get everyone on paper and handle squadding manually, and less time than it used to take me to match scoresheets to EZWS registration)). That's a pretty justifiable tradeoff for all the time it saves later in the day, increased accuracy, and the ability to let people know how they've done within minutes of the end of the match. BB

Your muzzle can't break the 180. Beyond that, the timing is up to you. Personally, my hand goes on the gun as I begin to turn, and the gun begins to come out of the holster when I cross the 180. By the time I get turned all the way around, both hands are on the gun and I'm beginning to extend towards the target. BB

I'm hoping that will be a feature in the next version. BB

We've been using Practiscore since March, and absolutely would not go back to paper. Scoring is easier, the number of errors per match is dramatically reduced, results are available immediately after the match, and the MD/stats guy can review results and post to the web in less time than it takes Buffalo Wild Wings to bring an order of traditional wings with wild sauce. There is a very slight learning curve on the front end, but frankly, many users never get past the learning curve on paper. If you make an error in Practiscore, it is immediately apparent and can be fixed while shooter, and RO are still standing on stage. Errors on paper frequently don't get discovered until hours after the match when no target is available for review, no RO is available for review, and no shooter is available to confirm. Granted, if accuracy, convenience, and quick results aren't priorities for your club, then Practiscore can't keep up with paper. But I can't think of a reason in the world it shouldn't be the de facto standard for match scoring. BB

If you need more than 8 rounds to get through a run, you weren't having a good stage to begin with.

It's worth noting that Jerry Miculek runs a 10+ lb trigger in a DAO revolver, so a 2 lb trigger isn't essential for competition. It's nice, and it's what I use, but if you're convinced that you need 3.5 lbs on your carry gun why not just compete with 3.5 lbs? Same gun, same trigger, same grip, same everything will make you a better competitor and increase your odds if you have to use your gun for self defense. FWIW, my own legal advisors have assured me that the prosecutor will be MUCH more interested in why and under what circumstances I shot someone than in what the trigger pull was. One attorney even advised me to keep my race gun under the bed so that he can tell a prosecutor I was using the gun I'm trained on, nationally ranked on, and am annually running tens of thousands of rounds through without incident. YMMV.

Makes perfect sense. Who'd want to inconvenience a few of the local guys who shoot every week for 80-100 of the world's best revolver shooters, a national championship, and international attention?

A friend of mine is a narc, so he let me borrow his portable evidence scale. It said my gun weighed 47 lbs and had a street value of $71 million. Seriously, I bought a postal scale (under $30) and confirmed its accuracy by weighing a few objects on other scales. That process, and maintaining a 1 oz+ buffer between my gun and 43 oz has been more than sufficient to keep me in my desired division.

If you shoot Friday, it'll let me know where I'm finishing, at least within 2-3%! BB

I don't agree with your stance... Because you mischaracterized my position.

We don't need another range command. It's all we can do to get ROs to use the proper range commands as is.

If I shoot Saturday, I can go home, enjoy several of my favorite adult beverages, and look forward to a lazy morning drinking coffee with my wife and my pup the next day. That plan doesn't work nearly so well for Sunday matches.