Rob Boudrie

Bad people, like bad wines, do not improve with age.

Offers are extended on-line via your classification page. If you are a foreign or very new member who signed up without a member number, you need to go to www.uspsa.org/waitlist and enter the transaction ID# presented when you signed up to check your status. It is your responsibility to check your status, as slot offers will remain open for only 3 days at which point they are withdrawn and the next person on the list gets an offer.

There are no technical obstacles to this approach. The current policy is set by USPSA Headquarters, however, the board could change it to a lottery. If you prefer that approach, let your area director know. If we ever switch to a lottery, it would allow for group entries so that a group of shooting buddies could sign up an all get sequential waitlist numbers.

Mathematically speaking, it's absolutely true and I have no problem saying it with a straight face. While there was no "crash" of the system, I did notice some times when it hung up for brief periods under the heavy load. It is quite possible that individual experiences varied - but that was due to random factors, not systematic preferences. If these periods of intense load caused some people to get later slots than they otherwise would, but the system did not in any way discriminate against anyone on a non-random basis, it means everyone had the same change. Since everyone is subject to the same random chance of an event happening, that is, in fact, an equal "chance". It's similar to when you buy a lottery ticket - the fact that your ticket did not come up the winner did not mean that your ticket did not have the same chance as everyone else's.

The time on the server is now 11:12:43 and we have 198 people on the Open/Production list and 152 on the Ltd/Ltd10/Revolver list. Everything seems to be running smoothly. I'll enable on-line payment tomorrow. It's probably an issue of CPU power rather than bandwidth, since we aren't transmitting a lot of graphics when we process waitlist requests. USPSA rents a dedicated server that has more than enough horsepower throughout the year, but can get a bit slow when the waitlist floodgates open. I can't justify recommending that USPSA rent a bigger machine just for this one 10 minute span - especially when the most fundamental goal is met - every member has an equal shot at the waiting list.

I had a dang-near identical situation at the last nationals in PASA. I skipped a target (oops), and started to back up to avoid the two Mikes. I had to back up through a single with door, and saw the RO with his back to the wall to the right of the door. If I had been backed up, I would have earned a DQ. When told "If you are done, gun clear hammer down, holster" I replied "I was unable to complete the course of fire because backing up in the freefire zone would have placed you down range of the muzzle.". The CRO (George Jones) was consulted and ordered the reshoot - I didn't even have to suffer the indignity of asking for it . George is not known for making mistakes, and I believe this was the correct call. A shooter faced with this sort of situation should immediately inform the RO he was unable to complete the course of fire due to RO position to avoid creating the impression it's being offered as a creative after the fact argument rather than an accurate indication as to why the shooter stopped at that point in the course of fire.

Criticism is welcome, especially when it's about a problem we are already working on addressing USPSA has engaged the services of a professional graphics and web designer to work with myself and USPSA staff on an overhaul of the USPSA web site. When it's done, we'll have a completely new look, but will preserve all essential functionality (classification lookup, membership renewals, match schedule, match results, USPSA store, nroi ruling database,etc.). The underlying structure will make more of the content database driven, so that USPSA staff will be able to update content on a regular basis without editing the HTML. Looking at the Steel Challenge: We already have the system to post SC results in place. Once we have a reasonable database of results, we'll put a "statistics and standings" system in place so competitors can see how they rank against competitors throughout the US. All existing scores submitted with SCSA member numbers will "count" towards the standings, so affiliated clubs will be getting something for their money - but, it will be much more obvious once we have the statistics system in place. A bit of background.... Dave Thomas summoned several members of the USPSA staff, Paul Erhardt, Bruce Gary, myself and the web design consultant to Sedro last year to kick off the planning for this new project. Dave spends USPSA money *very* carefully, so the mere fact that he did this underscores exactly how important he considers this project.

All, or almost all, of the Las Vegas hotels have WiFi, but there's an interesting price inversion. In most cities, you get free wifi in the hotel and have to pay for it at the airport. WIFi is free at the Las Vegas airport, but the going rate in the Las Vegas hotels is in the $12-$15 per day range. As has been observed, use of the internet is considered similar to theft since it isn't gambling (the same reason all Las Vegas hotels close their pool at about 6PM).

I disagree. In times of unrest, the authorities sometimes take a dim view of armed non-LEOs and disarm regardless of the law (look at what happened in New Orleans, or in Seattle when they outlawed non-LEO possession of gas masks). Being discretely armed has certain advantages.

On it's side, no. On the muzzle from less than 2 feet elevation, yes (I did not see the report, but I trust the person who provided me with the info to have done so accurately). It's unlikely someone will be able tell, with certainty, that impact occurred flat on the side when dropping the gun in a field situation.

The link is already up on the main and member site. The direct address is www.uspsa.org/waitlist

The USPSA results server is available for loan to any Area Championship provided it is not needed for a USPSA event at the time of your match (we use the same hardware as a portable web server at the NRA and Shot shows). The only two conditions are that the request has to be approved by your Area Director; you have to pay for shipping it to you (about $25) and ship it back reasonably soon after your match is over. This is the same system that was used to display results at the 2008 Nationals in Tulsa. You'll need a few computers (old ones will do) with network connectivity (wireless or hard wired) and a web browser (no software is installed on the systems you use for results display - it's all controlled via the web browser). The kit consists of a headless web server and wireless router. You'll need to supply your own network cables if you use hard wired connections. The kit supports 3 hard wired connections - add your own network switch if you want more. The entire kit fits in a Pelican 1450 case. ps: If anyone wants the software and is familiar with setting up a Linux server and configuring MySQL, Apache, Named and DHCP I'll be glad to give it to you - but I don't have the time to provide phone or email support for Linux system administration issues.

Yes, but you will need to renew your membership to shoot the nationals unless you are a member of another IPSC region. Instructions are at www.uspsa.org. Use the member number "NONE" and WRITE DOWN THE TRANSACTION NUMBER THE SYSTEM ASSIGNS TO YOU

I like the NRA's approach to carry of guns at their annual show :

I guess the definition of optimism is asking "which primer should I use" in today's market

HS6 is the same powder as the discontinued WW540 (HS7 is the same as the discontinued WW570). These powders are made by St. Marks powder and resold by Hodgdon. HS6 is a pretty decent powder for 38 Super, but useless for 40S&W.

Nope. If you don't have a member number, use 'none' - and write down the transaction number assigned to you. The waitlist page will have a box you can enter this number on to check your status, pay the waitlist fee, and pay the slot fee when your number comes up.

May 17 2300UTC-04 (ie, 11:00 PM Eastern Time on Sunday May 17)

It definitely sounds like firing pin inertia - no need for hammer follow to have occurred. It doesn't take much of a whack to set off a traditional design 1911 if you drop it onto a hard surface. Most of the folks who tell you it "can't happen", "requires a drop from a great height" or "can't happen unless it hits the ground muzzle first" are basing their conclusion on what they want the result to be, not rigorous lab testing (which tends to show results to the contrary). I consider a 1911 without a firing pin block safety to be unacceptable as a carry gun for this reason - but they're great for matches and recreational shooting.

You generally need to have a Hazmat shipping contract with the common carrier. Unlike ORM-D, you can't just take the package to the UPS depot, declare it, and ship it. One person in the chemical business I shot with told me the UPS hazmat contract was absolutely terrible from a shipper's point of view as it obligated the shipper (not UPS) to pay all cost of any hazmat incident or cleanup regardless of fault. It's interesting that someone selling a house for what they can get isn't doing anything wrong, but someone doing the same with primers is ripping people off . It may be bad business to engage in opportunistic pricing if you have regular customers (the local gun ship I frequent refuses to gouge on scarce items, since the customers have a tendency to remember how they are treated), but someone who has no interest in repeat business or a reputation as a low cost supplier is accomplishing nothing other than giving money away if they sell product below market.

I wonder how many of these folks have hazmat shipping contracts with UPS or whatever firm they are using. You can't just walk in to a UPS depot and ship "hazmat" - you have to sign a fairly involved contract which includes, among other things, an agreement to pay all cleanup costs of a hazmat spill regardless of fault.

The answer was probably "park".

Unlikely. Precision Delta makes their own bullets, and recently added a 9mm JHP to their product line. They are also a Winchester distributor, so I would be surprised if they used Hornady XTPs in their loads. They are good people to deal with. If you have any tricky issues, call them and ask for Patricia. I was just speaking to the owner of the largest volume shop in MA, and he tells me he has had to institute a 2 box limit on ammo just so he can be sure he isn't caught short trying to sell guns without ammo.

I've never figured out why for just about everything other than guns (TV's, cameras, etc.) you get the best prices by going to the largest volume big box store supplier, but firearms are an exception. If you look for guns, not only does the big box store have a smaller selection but you will generally see higher prices. The local "big name" sporting goods chain recently excluded firearms from any price matching because people were bringing in fliers from the small independents looking for a match. So, in keeping with the theme - I hate big box store pricing on firearms.

Ah, no. If it was a legit lottery/raffle they would have followed up by certified mail. Notice they did not say "they are calling to tell you that you won".