Dr. Phil

A year or so ago I bought a Rossi Model 92 in 44 mag. Stainless and brown... I had a peep rear and fiber optic front sight installed cause us old guys can't see, and I shoot a lot of lighter loads to plink with it. Turns out it's way fun on the plate racks! Full house loads make it a good 125 yd or so gun. Around here, the shots can be had much closer. Fun gun. I guess that's what it's all about?

Great job!!! What a loser... Now grab a pizza and a 2 litre to celebrate! Just kidding. Great job tho. Keep up the good work.

Do you use big tarps for your brass? Grass is not friendly for picking up brass, is it? I heard that some people reload it...

I cut .400 off a .357 case. FYI... I shoot 125gr plated bullets. I use 4.3 or 4.6 gr Win 231. Started taper crimping with a Lee 9mm die last winter. Plated bullets don't seem to enjoy roll crimps. Nice transition into the cylinder. 158s at about 4.3 Win 231 shoot nice, just a little more snap. The 125s are nice steel loads.

Hi. I have a 586 cut for moon clips. With the moons, I can reload (almost) as fast as my kid with his 1911. I race him man on man at things like "El Presidente" and can shoot right along with him. A few years ago after getting smoked at a steel match with 6 shots in the open class (dot sight) I had it converted to a 7 shot (moon clipped) and put the 6 shot cyl in my 686 house gun. I love those things! BTW, the 7 shot is faster to reload than the 6 shot. I also shoot shortened (.920) cases for a faster reload. Hope it helps. I doubt you will be sorry!

The ones used by the local (indoor) clubs are 1/4 or 3/8 steel plates at about a 45 degree angle with sand in the bottom (1 ft or so deep). They shoot mostly .22 and 38 waddys. Hope it helps...

I think for the area where the targets stand, dirt is fine. Grass is hard to care for unless you remove all the targets, etc. first. For the shooting lines, some sort of fine material is mandated to allow for brass, mags, etc. I believe I read somewhere that crushed Unicorn bones evolve into limestone...

The half-minus I mentioned earlier is crushed gravel mixed with stone dust to bind it. Brass lays on top... I've never actually shot into a bowl of Cheerios tho...

I would be very interested to learn of any surface that a bullet at an oblique angle won't skip off... Dirt? Hardly. Gravel? nope. Grass? No, and say "so long" to your brass... I've seen bullets skip off even things like hard-packed snow. If "best" surface for pistol bays is the search parameter, you will have to make some allowances... Of course, to this point I have not yet tried shaving cream or packing peanuts.... Just sayin'

Bingo! If you can shoot steel well, you have a built in leg up on most other shooters in your class/division. Many people simply lack the fundamentals of accuracy necessary to consistently go one for one on steel. Get there, and you will be able to bank of taking first or at least top three on any stage that is heavy on steel. Personally, I LOVE steel of all types and get very excited when I get to the match and see white steel all over the bays! So... are you saying that steel shooters are the most well rounded or most complete or most balanced shooters out there? Just wondering, but then again, I've wondered that myself from time to time... Who can do it all? LOL!

I also made cardboard plates for mine. I practice the timing and hitting the centers, doing about 5 or 6 runs before taping. After a few runs, I can easily see where my tendencies are. I think the timing thing is key... That and don't miss!

I take the handle off my old RCBS trimmer and replace it with a stud. I put a cordless drill on the stud, and trim away! Mine run just over .900. Something like .930 or thereabouts. That's just where I ended up in the experiment. Works nice. Good luck!

I found that if you shoot them @ 11:00, 1:00, 4:00, and 6:00, the last plate will index back toward 6:00. As Jack said: smooth.The star won't spin fast at all... Unless you miss!!

I ran into one of them at a steel match about 5 or 6 yrs ago. I shot it allright, then came home and built one. Took a long time to get the right hold/release system (I call them "triggers"). When I found the right formula, I built the next hated steel match nemisis: a polish plate rack. Mine is smaller, moves faster, and has 6, 6" plates. This year's match, there was a star behind a star. I built a 2nd on in the week after the match. We shoot them a lot at my Monday night fun shoots here at my house. The people that shoot them a lot don't fear them and, as said before, actually look forward to shooting them. Mine move a lot faster than the ones at the matches. We actually almost wait for the thing to index. My kid starts anywhere on the thing and chases down the targets. He's fast! The 1st has 6"x8" plates, and the 2nd has 6" round plates. This year, I'm putting one on an arm suspended from the top on a bearing. The swinging Texas Star! Awsome.

On my home range I graded for drainage, and on the surface I use a product called "half-minus". It is smaller than pea gravel (1/2" or smaller), and is mixed with stone dust. Once it gets wet it hardens almost like concrete, is easy for brass collecting, and won't cut with running water. It's probably available if you have local quarries in your area. Hope it helps...

I started both my sons around age 6... red dot sights on a Ruger Mk2. Plate racks at about 10 yd, lots of supervision. About the same time, started with .22 rifles. Learned the positions, etc. Always were very safe handlers, and the younger one (now 18) is a great steel shooter! He moved up to a 1911 9mm about age 12 or so and loves the sport. Start young, teach safety, have fun!

As stated, heavy slow bullets. I shoot them right in the AMF insignia or the crown on the other side. That will drive them straight back. Shoot slowly enough to hit everything perfect. You can't miss fast enough to win... Best advice: Have fun! Probably won't win at your 1st try. Have a ball! That's what it's all about. If you win a few bucks, great. Buy more ammo!!

Roll crimp was only a problem with un-cannalured plated bullets, if that helps any. With the cannalure, they worked great!

Hi, all. I use 38 special cases which I shorten to .900. I used to use 38/357 dies which I shortened about .300. The sizing die works (basically) off the bottom. The powder/case bell die and the seating die work off the top, and therefore are too long to work on the shortened brass. I have since switched (I've been shooting this combo for about 6 yrs.) to a 9mm taper crimp die. I shoot 4.3 gr. Win. 231 and use either 125 RN or 158HP bullets. The taper crimp die is much kinder to the plated bullets I get with no crimp groove. BTW, those dies still work fine for .357 loads with simple adjustment. Turns out you don't need those extra .300 on the bottom! Who would have thunk it?

I never could figure out how the gun knows when I drive through the gate to a match! Seems like that's always where the trouble flares up... Beyond that, I would never try a new gun out at a match, much less one that the gunsmith just handed me. Guess he didn't function test it either? Maybe that's just me, but, as has been said, it sometimes takes a lot of trial and error before finding the "sweet spot"". Good luck with it...

I extended the mag release on my Buckmark with a 4 x 40 tap, a 1/4" screw and a 1/4 thick x 3/8 dia. cold rolled steel button. Countersink the button below the surface and screw it on! (with a little blue locktite) I use the stick on anti skid stuff from a Glock kit. My base pads are 1/2" rubber ground to the shape of the bases (I use the shape of the larger ones, not the skinny stock base). I superglue them on. They last forever, and, if they fail, glue them again... I also drilled the rear of the slide (left side) and used a 3/4" x 10/24 screw (allen head) with a bushing made out of a 5/8" piece or 1/4" brake line for a slide racker. Paint it matte black. The slide release I removed and brazed an extention / widener and used more of the anti skid stick on stuff. Kinda race-gunnish now. I made an identical set for a friend's wedding gift last fall. You can buy parts at Numrich or Brownells if you don't want to use the originals. I used the originals. Now it's a custom gun!

CRAP! Read the 1st post, ran out to my range and wasted 200 rounds of CCI Mini Mags! Then I find out it's bowling pins! Just crap! Guess I don't have to post my times...

The best way I found to get rid of the walnut media dust is to throw the walnut away and use corn cob! I add a product called Flitz. Works great on the polished stainless on my guns too. 2 or 3 drops on a rag, polish and buff with a dry rag. Beautiful. I put 20 or so drops in the new media once. Cleans and slicks the casings. Works for me...

The O.P. wondered how to practice for the Texas star... I have had good success with stapling 5 paper plates to the backstop in the star pattern to work on the timing aspect. That seems to be the hardest thing to master. You can use 5" plates for a real fun time. If you shoot the star quickley enough it won't move too fast. (I shoot 11:00, 1:00, 4:00, 6:00, and the last as it comes back.) The other thing I did was to build 2 of them. I had one I built about 5 yrs ago, and the 2nd this year, a little updated model. Mine move faster than those we shoot at matches, so that helps. The 2nd one has 6" plates. Practicing on the paper plates is a lot faster rep wise (no reset) and seems to help. IMHO of course...

I shot @ old bridge a few years ago. The club is terrible to find. It sits down a long dirt road off the main drag... I had to get directions from the local Five-o and they didn't seem worried about me being there to shoot. One said something about the number of people that day looking for the club. I won't shoot there again either! Come to Pa. we're on your map!