sargenv

I figure this is where one of those headlamp flashlights would work good. I have a 7 led unit that mounts right up there on the melon Vince

Actually, there is or was an aftermarket case feeder for the 550. I saw one the other evening at a friend's house. I don't know the cost or any other details other than he got it out of the "Front Sight" Magazine. It also makes it obvious that you didn't index the press as it tries to place a second case on the shell plate. Vince

The thing is yes, 4756 IS a shotshell powder but then so is clays... (did you ever wonder which "clays" they were thinking about?) Almost all of the powders that we burn for pistol have some correllation to shotshell powders. The bullseye, red dot, green dot, select, unique, herco, blue dot, and 2400 powders are all utilized in some way for shotgun gauges from 10 gauge down to the .410 as are the Hodgdon line of clays, Univ clays, International clays, titegroup, titewad, HS6, HS7 and H110 in some capacity. In the IMR line there is 700x, 800x, PB, 7625 and 4756. I'm sure you could use some of the VITT powders as shotshell powders as well as some of the Accurate arms powders. You'd probably get good results with the VITT powders though it would be pricey.. (imagine using 18-33 grains of powder per shell of that stuff at $20+ a pound). When you read the data manuals, they say in there that you SHOULD back down 5-10% of your powder charge and work back up when changing LOTS of the same powder. This comes mostly from Rifle powders and inconsistencies, but it applies as well to the higher pressure pistols that all of us shoot here. I tend to buy all of my powder in a minimum can size of 4-8 pounds unless I'm working up a load. Fortunately, I load shotshells as well and if I buy a larger can of powder that I turn out not to like in my pistol(s) I can then turn around, and find data for my shotshells and burn it up there. I've had powder given to me by people who wanted to try something only to find they couldn't use it/didn't like it and I turned around and made a small run of shotshell loads that worked for me. That's the way I see it anyway.... Vince

I actually did some research about this (data obtained from Ballistic Products) and in their research (pressure transducers, special equipment, et al) it was determined that a roll crimp actually creates less pressure on a given load than fold crimps do. Therefore you can put more powder in the load, gaining more velocity, and still maintaining a reasonable pressure. I have done some 1 ounce round ball loading with various components, but figured S&B slugs at $1.75/5 was the way to go since they are cheaper and do a good job. When I was doing the roll crimp loading, I was actually loading steel shot for waterfowl hunting and got pretty good results. however I found a different hull/load combination that gives just as good results, so I stopped using the roll crimp method. Vince

Hey, It turns out that it was a tad off center and not completely riding right.. and um, I don't know which sear it was, I didn't buy the parts and didn't put it together.. I have a local smith doing the work for me that I trust. He didn't put the original one in though. He had this handy dandy little jig thing that allowed you to see the lockup of the sear and hammer.. what looked smooth with the naked eye looked all craggy up close. It might have been an EGW, but I can't remember.. I'll have it back to me by Sat evening.. He was going to either user a Cylinder and Slide or an SVI sear. Now that's service I've been shooting my Para regularly for about 2 years, probably nowhere near as much as you though Erik. Vince

So I was doing my best to practiice last evening when I do a draw and fire on a bill drill and it goes BANG, and...... nothing more... I pull the trigger a couple more times... nothing.. I go to unload it, drop the mag, clear the chamber.. try to click.. nothing.. hammer is still back. What the hell? I call over my bud Paul and he manipulates the safety a bit while trying to drop the hammer, and finally the hammer falls.. and now when I rack the slide, the hammer follows the slide... oh man, this is not good.. Later my other friend pulls it apart and he says "That's not supposed to look like that". He gets it completely apart and he tells me "Yep, sear broke, you need a new one". I guess the best thing about this is that it didn't break at the Area 1 - 3 gun match.. Off to the smith.... Still, argh!!! Vince

I was under the impression that 3 stages were MOR and the remaining 12 were the actual 3-gun. I wonder how or if they are doing a multi-gun MOR stage? Or are we doing 13 stages and the MOR is now only 2 stages? I guess we'll find out eventually... Vince

In my case, when I started shooting a long while ago, I never knew why I had so much trouble with range and trying to hit things at shotgun distances. Before IPSC shooting, and all my other disciplines, I was first and foremost a duck hunter using a scattergun. As I got older and was then able to start shooting on a range, I picked up trap and skeet. I finally figured out I was left eye dominant, but right handed, so instead of relearning to shoot left handed, I instead trained my right eye to be the dominant of the two. When I lined up for my shot at Skeet, I'd look down the rib with both eyes, shut my left eye, get my alignement, then open my left eye and proceed to make the shot. Over the years, I've changed my eye dominance or learned how to work around it. I naturally keep both eyes open regardless of the firearm or sighting system. I tried the left eye closed when shooting a rifle or handgun, but I found that after a bit of time, I was straining way too much, just like other people report. The tape method never really worked for me as my aiming ability went into the toilet. I think that the close one eye, get aignment, then open the eye can eventually train you to just use the eye you want to use. It just takes a very long time to do it. Anyway, that's how I worked around being left eye dominant but right handed. I find that even at long ranges, I use both eyes open, but just take more time getting aligned before taking the shot. Sometimes I get lucky, but most times I simply miss if I rush things.

Ok, well that answered my question, and quick too. What a great place I'll make sure to be there.. Vince PS... so who's going?

I've seen the Match listed on the USPSA web site, but I can't find any other information about it. I'd like to attend and I've already made plans to go, but I don't know anything else about it. Does anyone else have any info about it like match fee, schedule, how many stages, etc? Thanks! Vince

Actually, some of the advice he gave would work well for production shooters who choose to use DAO guns. Preloading the trigger in between shots, that kind of thing. He did mention how he gets tuned up for specific guns between matches where he either shoots his open wheelgun or open blaster. Everyone there was using a wheelgun that used some kind of moonclip.. except me.. I had to drop back to my backup 686 with speedloaders on Sat due to running out of ammo for my 610. All in all I had a great time and learned quite a bit..

My Question is... Where can you find the thermal paper for one of these lil printers? I bought mine about a year back and well, I have no idea where to get the thermal paper for it. I asked a friend and he said "That's like asking for 5 1/4" floppy disks, I have no idea!". Vince

Hey, I just mounted a Redfield Optic on my Browning Gold. It is similar to one of the older Aimpoint dot-tube sights. I found it on I think Sportsmens Guide or one of the various shooting catalogs for $100. It was so inexpensive I bought 2, just in case. I mounted it on the Gold with a B-square Weaver base that mounts to the vent rib forward of the receiver so it is mounted on the barrel and not on the action. I've shot it with slugs and shot and actually did ok shooting clay targets (not skeet or trap yet though) that were thrown as a reaction target when steel dropped and it worked just fine. The mounting point will probably have to be changed as it is taking some getting used to with the speed loaders. I'll probably mount it further forward of the action, but all in all, I'm happy with it. I couldn't beat the price of the optics. I've seen the same optics recently in Sportsmens guide for $40 more ($140). The dot gets pretty bright but I don't remember the MOA rating on it. Anyway, that's what I use Vince

Hmmm.... That's kind of funny... Out of the box my 3" Gold hunter shot anything I fed it. From the lightest 7/8 ounce target load at 1200 fps (18 red dot, silver wad, win primer, AA cases) all the way up to the high velocity steel loads I like to make (1500 fps, 1 1/8 ounce of 2's or BB's). It shoots everything and shot everything right from the start. I've since added the extended mag tube to it, and all the things that go with an open gun (except a ported barrel for now) and it still functions like a dream. Though I am concerned about the 9 rounds in the mag holding the bolt open, I figure when I load it full, I just help it to close by smacking it with my hand, and then it doesn't have any more hiccups. Usually when it starts feeding rounds funny and jamming, it has about 1000 rounds through it and is starting to get gunked up inside (ie in need of a cleaning). It also tends to get dirty faster when using hunting loads (all that unburned powder). But from the start, I never had any issue with it. I do notice that if I'm practicing loading it and am hand cycling the action, the last round from the tube hangs up, but if I hit the bolt close button, it loads just fine. I have not had this problem when actually shooting it though. It seems to load every round from the magazine just fine. It's always been really good to me so long as I take care of it and make sure it is relatively clean. Vince

Well, I managed to adapt a Rem 1100 Bracket onto my Gold. While I'm not 100% on my reloads using it, if I do my part, I load 4 rounds the way you're supposed to and when you drop the TEK loader out of the way it loads one round for you and you can either continue to fire or load one more tube. I didn't have pins for it but found that a 2" #8-32 machine screw and nut works just fine as the pins. I've put about 200 rounds through the gun. It seems to work like a charm. I found that the machine screw was a tad undersized (about 7 to 8 thousanths) but so far I've not seen that it makes any difference. Vince

I'ma newbie to the whole 3-gun game, but if I'm going to start, I may as well jump in with both feet.. SMM3G - AZ 3 gun Nats - NV (So I've been told) and then anything else I can find locally... As yet, my rifle hasn't been built and is on order for the first one, but what the heck.. I plan to shoot open since everything I have so far is a hodge-podge. Maybe after I place near the lower end of the stack, I'll reconsider. For now it'll work.. Vince

I shoot a 610 classic with the 6.5" full underlug barrel with major loads in it. Sometimes I shoot 40's loaded to major, other times I shoot the full size 10 mm's, depends on whay I have on hand. Even with full power loads, I seem to do ok with it and gat a fair # of A's, I just don't get all that great times with it (need to work on those reloads). Counting rounds comes in handy too since I normally shoot a hi-cap limited gun. (I only have 6 rounds, I only have 6 rounds!). Vince

The Browniong Gold is also a gas action. I know because I have one. The Winchester X2 is essentially the same gun as the Gold, just under the Winchester name. They also sell magazine extensions for the Gold if you have one already (Like me). The thing I like about the Gold, and I have the Hunter model in 3", is that I've had really good luck shooting anything as light as 7/8 of an ounce of target loads up to the heaviest 3" magnum stuff. Realize that the lighter loads are great for practice as they don't beat on you quite as much. They are equally effective at hitting the clay targets but I've not used them on Steel or Pins. This would be the equivalent to a hot 20 gauge 7/8 ounce load. And with the lighter shot charge, they can be hot-rodded to 1400 fps or so with not quite as much recoil as that factory 3 1/4 - 1 ounce load. I would imagine that the X2 would do the same as the Browning, but I'm not sure about the 1100 or Benelli. The only time I've had my Browning jam on me has been when I've fired several cases of different loads through it for months on end without a cleaning. This would be on the order of maybe 1500 rounds or so. The powders in question would be Blue Dot, Herco, PB, Red Dot and Titewad. Blue Dot and Herco are particularly dirty. If you clean your shotgun after every match, there should be no problems with reliability. My experience with Shotguns is: I've been shooting several makes (mostly Browning and Remington) for about 22 years and reloading for shotguns in steel and lead shot for 15 years. I'm new to IPSC and ICORE, but I have just as much fun.