Paul B

I'm sorry to have a different take, but this was about 2.5 hours of my life that I will never get back.

According to the association of gun ranges the average is one every 2 years for each range. The reason is what you have already said. Only have to rent it and use it "once".

?? Didn't read my post?? Maybe I was not clear?

This is actually one of the most potentially dangerous rules in the rulebook. We fight battles about whether the RO should ever use anything but the officially approved range commands, but this allows an RO to actually yell something else (undefined) at a competitor during a course of fire not knowing how they will react. I suspect it will take an incident to change it. I've always come from the school that if they did it, they get it (DQ) if they didn't, they don't. That said, I have to confess that I actually had a few sphincter tightening episodes where I involuntarily yelled "muzzle" at a new shooter. I wasn't exercising the rule just self preservation. Apologized after the stage though and used the apology for some instruction. I would fully expect an experienced shooter to really be pissed at me for the distraction as I would be also. I have also had to physically correct a shooter with a rifle from bringing the muzzle around too far, but this was after the stage was done and the shooter just relaxed a little too much (just held out my hand and stopped the rifle from breaking the 180).

One of the "pleasures" of living near several rivers is that there are always gravel pits operating and many, many dump trucks everywhere. I have replaced at least 4 windshields. Thought for a while it was me following too closely, then I got them from trucks on the other side of the road. The additional pleasure is that all these trucks run retreads which come off regularly. If you hit a big piece it will cost a lot more than a windshield. Don't want to deprive anyone of a job, but would love to drop a dime on the trucks that haul gravel and are not covered.

Don't mean to sound paranoid, but you may also be the victim of something bigger at AMEX. Just yesterday, there was a headline that AMEX was actually paying some customers to cancel their accounts. Seems AMEX is taking a very conservative approach right now even with their best customers.

Best I have ever used and I type a lot including long reports, articles and books. http://www.deckkeyboards.com/ Expensive, but worth it.

I seem to remember that Daisy made a caseless .22 rifle at one time. In fact my brother still owns one. The rounds were actually set off with a jet of hot air that was made by the rifle in a conventional BB gun compression. Don't know if this is what you mean but it would certainly be an oddity although the ammo would be the most rare. It looked like a .22 bullet with a bit of greenish yellow plastic on the back.

I have always shared your fears. When we travel to an out of town match and want to spend some time doing other things we find a good local gun store (usually one that has matches) and pay them to store our guns. It always gives me piece of mind knowing that they have much better security than anyplace else I could store them and the guns are lost in a sea of other guns that would look more shiney to a thief. The gun shops we have used have been very cooperative and given us in and out services for local matches. Used this in Orlando a lot so we could play at the parks without worrying.

It seems the bigger they are the harder they are to deal with. I cancelled my account with Chase a long time ago when we tried to order some items and they stopped the purchase. I called them and they asked me all kinds of weird questions about did I live in New Jersey and were generally evasive. I asked to speak to a supervisor who after about 15 minutes admitted it was a false alarm. I never used the card after that. I don't think they really wanted to keep me as I always pay the total balance off each month. In the credit card industry this makes you known as a "deadbeat." Its interesting to me how these companies actually make commercials about how their fraud protection protects you when we all know our liability is very, very limited. The reason they have fraud protection is all for them. As if they weren't making enough money already. Ask me in person and I'll tell you how I really feel.

This is a good reminder to everyone. Take a look at Appendix E1 to see the right measurement procedure. Everyone should know that the measurement is from the top back of the mag lips to the back heel. Don't measure them diagonally or on the shortest length. I'm acutely aware of this because my para mags allow me to shoot 23 .40's and still be legal with Dawson pads.

I hate to say this, but Chuck it sounds like you have already made all the right points and correct arguments. This leaves the reason for the shutdown as motivated by the "we have met the enemy and it is us" syndrome. It just doesn't sound like there is any reasoning with the current board as constituted. Others have said change the board, but I have only seen a change of this magnitude occur once at a range in southern Indiana that we all know. I think it will be difficult here. This is specially shocking in that this club has over 2 square miles of land - any reasonable person could feel pretty safe with that kind of buffer at least for handguns. It may be best to allow a cooling off period before taking it up again - it's cold right now anyway and maybe some reasonable arguments would be given more credence after a short period of time. One other thought would be for the IPSC section to purchase it's own insurance policy for it's activities - that might let the board sleep better - but you never know.

Chuck, having shot at this range and gone through this with another club, a viable and slightly less expensive alternative might be to re-position the pits so the shooting is away from the area that is a problem. Some dirt movement could put most all pits facing in one direction. Or have matches with only pits used on one side of the valley (the safe side) for now. We had to do that and the board bought it. Hope this helps.

Proshow has pretty much the same cast, but the facility is much better. wider aisles and easier parking right off I-71. If the two are the same weekend, though, it may detract from both.

Ah....you sure about that Yep, bay was gravel over mud with a high berm. Bullet bounced off the ground nicked the top of the berm and came back down. This is a very common occurrence with low shots - geometry is a bitch.

Most pistol rounds will come down within 650 yards of a backstop (regardless of what they say the max range is). This is even shorter if they have hit anything at all - even a glancing blow. Rifle is a different story - specially if over the berm. 2 out of 3 clubs I belong to had rounds get off the range. One was a shot into the ground from a .45 that bounced over the berm and came almost straight down about 200 yards behind the backstop so slow that the neighbor saw it coming down in his field. Usually the heavier pistol bullets will do this more than the faster light ones which if they hit anything tend to break apart. Since the berms were very high this did not result in a problem, but we became acutely aware of low targets. The other club is still virtually shut down because of rifle rounds which got out. The berms were just too low. They are talking about baffles for pistol and concrete shooting tubes for the rifle. By the way there are only 2 kinds of ranges those that have had a round get out and those that will - it all depends on what is behind the backstop.

That is the same thing that happened to me. I could not get in a word edgewise so I eventually just said cancel. Sounds like they calls are going to the same place. Hope they get the message.

Callled today to cancel my account at AT&T (Citibank actually runs the AT&T card). When I told them why I wanted to cancel the card the guy on the other end started arguing with me about their policy and how it was only apllicable to illegal gun purchases. I disagreed and told him to just cancel the account. He then went into a lecture about responsible firearms purchasing which he knew because "he was in the military." I was calm and just asked to cancel the account. In any case another 1 less customer of Citibank and a new NRA card holder. By the way, after I explained to him my reasons he found an internal bulletin which gave them talking points. At least they know about it.

I've always thought someone should market dog crap as glue or loctite. After all have you ever tried to get it off your shoe or anything else after it is dry?????

This is insidious. I just looked at my AT&T credit card. I am a charter member and noticed a Citi logo. Have already written them to find out if they are Citibank and if so will cancel. Wanted to write so I can start a paper trail. I know that a written response, if I get one, will cost them a minimum of $200 just to process. We'll see.

I started out with a .40 para bushing barrel and liked it. I changed to a bull barrel and liked it even more. It really doesn't slow transitions unless you keep adding muzzle weight like a heavy dustcover S_I. Cycle times can be adjusted by the slide and springs. In a para with a steel frame the bull barrel has a great balancing effect.

Ok, to get back on the hate track. A pair of earplugs fitted at a match $50. Modular electronics adjustable for pitch - mass produced for all us baby boomers - maybe $200. An audiologist to do it - $100 an hour - most are not MD's. Even with $100 for profit the rest is rip off and the cachet of a "custom hearing aid." These things may be the worst scam since over the counter diet pills. I'll bet as this we age and there is more of a demand the price will go way way down. Till then I'll say politely "would you please repeat that."

Had some problems reading some of the Office 2007 docx's till I downloaded the Microsoft patch that lets older office programs (2000 on) open up the new docx. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word/HA100444731033.aspx

Got 100% reliability from my para with grams followers and Dawson pads. Used stock para springs - the old type for 18 + 1. Replaced the springs annually. Would not want to reload with 18 but it will start off that way and does not jam. Same set up for the .40 will give 22 in the mag + 1 and it works from the start would only reload with 21 in the mag.

I've always felt better with more rounds - it takes away one of the things on the mental checklist. When I shot a .45 para I always hd 18+1 to start with Dawson or Grams pads and when I went to .40 I start with 22+1 the same way.