Rob Boudrie

We have had this issue for a LONG time, just in a different form: Consider the following: Shooter "A" and "B" enter a match. Shooter "A"'s gun has a tight bore and is nice and fast. Shooter "B" has a very old gun and a slightly loose bore with a distinctly lower velocity. Both are shooting identical loads which will chrono at 167 out of "A"s gun and 163 out of "B"s gun. The match uses a "house gun" to chrono and grants a pass if the ammo makes major (giving a second chance with the shooter's gun if the ammo does not make power factor). Shooter A and B both make major in the "house gun." The two cases are very similar - in both the "match ammo" and "house gun" case, the ammo made major out of a gun other than the shooters and that was used as a basis for confirmation of the declared power factor. Interestingly, we never heard complaints about the "house gun" concept.

Even if available (I would provide that info if asked when I am running a match, though it is not part of the published results), the information will not provide the information you seek. The "verification" measurement used to confirm the competitor is indeed using match ammo is a straight average of 3 rounds. A shooter whose first 3 chrono rounds measure 163 might, for example, make 165 on the "best 3 of 8" measurement allowed under the full chrono procedure.

All competitors have identical choices and options available.

Actually, Precision Delta has already changed loads for USPSA. Their existing 40 S&W load does not make major (they started to call it "minor" until some people were expecting this to mean "just over 125" - it's really more like 155 or so, so that designation has been dropped). The 40S&W long load is a SxI/Para length load specifically for USPSA, and has yet another powder charge since you need more powder to make major with the larger case volume. We received three batches of test ammo from PD before Michael Voigt gave final approval. As is traditional with reloading, we started low and worked up - using the powder charge of the standard 40S&W PD load as a starting point. Initial test loads were done by the PD research staff on a low volume manual machine in their ballistics lab, and two new powder dies for their production line were subsequently ordered at a cost to PD of several hundered $$ each. Guns and barrels vary widely in bullet velocity - I have three 40 S&W's of the same manufacturer - two are nearly new, and one has a well used, but still very accurate, barrel. The spread between the old barrel and the two new ones is close to 10pf - with anyone's ammo, not just PD. We tried to strike a reasonable balance with something that will generally make major on an "average of 3" (remember, best 3 or 8 generally gives a bit higher reading), not produce a load which was "185 in most guns, but will come in a a bit over 165 in some very worn or loose barrels". Although PD is very helpful, I'm not going to ask them to keep having new powder drop plates made at whim. Since the program requires official match ammo be chronographed (to verify it is indeed the same ammo as sold), I am going to see if I can get chrono records from this year's nationals to get an idea of the measurements from a wide sample.

Yes, but do they require use of seniority rather than merit for layoffs, and require documented reasons to fire you? Those of us in the private sector still deal with employment at will, and the total irrelevancy of seniority in layoff selections.

If there were no possibility of the match ammo rule allowing ammo to score at a level above it's measured power factor, the rule wouldn't really do anything. The World Body took the lead on this issue, and the World version of the Match ammo rule appears on page 15 of the 2006 World rulebook. I spoke to Michael Voigt about the deliberations regarding this rule at the world level, and they decided that it was a tradeoff between the need to make ammo available "on site" and perfect enforcement of meeting the power factor. Yes, it is possible for someone to come in a bit under major or minor and still be counted in one of those divisions. No, it's not really possible to "game the system" unless you blatantly cheat (a cheat on the same level as manipulating the selection of rounds in the regular chrono process to give the RO hotter rounds than you are shooting in the match). The need to maintain control over the ammo is the reason that you need to pick up your ammo at the match to get the "certified" status. I expect USPSA will refine the rules if we find that people are taking steps to subvert the intent of the match ammo rule (for example, shooting a back-bored gun with 1" of rifling). My guess is that competitors will still prefer to shoot their own loads when possible, but will use the USPSA Match Ammo program (or similar service when offered internationally) when the aggravagation of getting their own rounds to the match is less than the aggravagation of using a factory load. I really doubt that anyone will be buying this ammo "since it might factor a bit below 125 or 165 in their gun".

The question here is about the size limit and that clase has a H+W+L limit of 71", which is above the limit of 62" - the real question to ask is "are there any high qualify rifle+shotgun cases which come in within the 62" limit"

One of the local members in Area 7 built a Lancair IV - look for tail number N4SX on the Lancair gallery at www.lancair.net/builders3.html. His email is on that page if you want to contact him for his thoughts on your project. Whatever you set for a budget, plan on spending more. Much more . We made a really nice safe table out of the packing crate which lasted a couple of years until the state police bulldozers moved it when they were looking under our berms.

This bickering sounds like what you hear from martial artists (generally at the less than expert skill level). It generally consists of "my art is so superior that a bnlacnk belt in your style is not match for a green belt in my style." Of course, if the person saying this is a green belt they will invariable decline the offer for a few rounds of full contact sparing with the black belt in the "lesser style."

Did I mention this was a shotgun slug stage?

My bad. I forgot that New Orleans is, or at least was, a major voodoo center in addition to being in a flood plain.

When I hear the term "memory stage" I think of one where there are many different targets you can see from multiple locations, but you can only see some of the targets from each shooting location. Consider a stage with a huge shooting box, 12 shoot targets, and no position from which you can see more than 4 shoot targets. Such a course of fire becomes a "memory stage" because you have to follow a plan to engage each target with the required number of shots; not waste time re-engaging targets; and not omitting any. In the real world, you don't have to deal with the concept of hostiles which you leave standing because you shot them a bit earlier in the gunfight. Such stages are fun and a challange, but they tend to measure something other than pure shooting skill.

I have designed a stage for an upcoming match, but can give it one of two "flavors". In each case, the shooting required is identical - the only difference is the stage title and some of the decorative props (if we get that fancy). The stage is set in a wally world discount store. The choices are : Night of the living dead - zombies always seem to converge on shopping malls Floodwaters - need I say more here? One is a carnival type stage with no basis in reality; the other is particularly relevant to today's world. Since both offer the same shooting, the only issue is one of presentation. I'm interested in seeing what people think.

Brian made me a forum admin (access to the Admin as well as Mod control panels), so that means I'm not eligbile. Let's keep the M.O.M. honor as a reward for the best contibution to the content of discussions on the forum, not administrative service (hosting, moderating, configuration management, etc.). Besides, I already know that my work was appreciated.

I likt it when the following scenario plays out: A co worker approaches, looks carefully to make sure that no one will overhear the conversation, and starts out with "I have a non-work question you may be able to help me with." Whenever that happens, I just *know* the next question is going to be "how do I get a gun license in this state?"

Better wording would have been "not major." When we originally tested the existng Precisionj Delta 40 S&W load, it did not make major, so Precision Delta added a "major" load. The "minor 40" load is not one designed to squad in just over the 125pf.

Dog chips are great. My little buddy got out once without his clothes on, so there would be no way other than the chip that could identify him if he were arrested and had to be bailed out. Fortunately, he came back on his own but I was definitely less worried knowing that the dogcatcher would be able to figure out who he was and where his home was even without the collar. I paid about $35 for the chip w/installation when I took him for his rabies shot, and another $14 or so to register the contact information. I had the vet demo the scanner on a subsequent visit - they hold a box which looks vauely like a Fluke multimeter over the dog and his serial number pops up.

When we did initial testing of the 40, we has 165+ in all but one gun which was low (we tested about 6 different guns). The policy was needed since it's not reasonable to load ammo to be 100% certain it's major in the very slowest gun out there. Also, remember that a 162 power factor average of 3 rounds is not the same as the best 3 of 8 using match procedures. (We used a straight average, not "best 3 of 8", in our testing). I have samples of the production run of standard length and long, and will test them when we get a warm spell here in the People's Republic of Massachusetts. Precision Delta reloads are generally made with once fired brass (I think the get it form polcie ranges), however, they use the term "used brass" since they do not get a pedigree with the used brass they acquire. They also offer a new brass option but it co$ts. The used brass is cleaned and roll sized before the loading process. Keep the comments comming.

How would you feel about mandating the removal of doors, windows, tables, and anything else which gives the impression of a "scenario" and replacing these with abstract skills testing exercised which do not resemble real life gunfighting encounters?

I've heard a couple of good reviews from people who tried out samples - the conclusion was "reliable and accurate, feels like my normal load, a bit dirty". What were your experiences? If you have accuracy issues, it would be interesting to compare some loads you make with their bullets to the factory loading, as well as your current favorite load.

Excellent, but... The image is 1024x683. Is there any chance you could provide a set at the most common desktop resolutions (1024x768, 1280x1024 an d800x600 for some really old club computers)? If so, and if you grant permission, I'll add these to www.uspsa.org and start a wallpaper library. Rob

Actually, it was not a "press release" but a publication of the NSSF for it's members, and it was prepared by the NSSF staff, not USPSA. USPSA cooperated with the NSSF on the creation of the survey questions, however, the actual document was an NSSF undertaking.

You need advance permission to cross state lines. Transport within the state of federally regisered machine guns does not require advance BATF permission, but may be subject to various state restrictions.

Although it may ahave been omitted on some applications, Single Stack will be recognized at the 2006 Area 7 Championship.

If you want to see the results of the survey, visit www.uspsa.org/nssf/industry_intelligence_reports.pdf The Industry Intelligence Reports is a publication of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, inc. www.nssf.org