Alan Adamson

After cleaning the *yellow* grit out of my guns everytime I shoot Silhouette, I stopped... besides I *much* more like the feel and dot track of RamShot True Blue in my 5" open guns (and found it just may become a favorite in a shorty I'm shooting). 7.85gr of true blue behind an MG 124 jph at 1.165 is better than AC, better than HS6, better than SP2 (yes I've got 25lbs of SP2 and like this load much better), better than Sil, etc... and yes I tried 115's with Sil as well (need to do that with HS6 too as it's becoming a rather well referenced load out of Shays guns). Alan

All, So a thread about Silhouette and it's potential reverse temp sensitivity got me thinking.. You all go by *weight* when you create a powder throw correct? However, what you really do when you set your throw on your powder measure is you set a *volume* which just happens to correspond to a specific weight, on that specific day when you set up the throw. And I'll bet you all keep powder in your powder dispensers when you aren't loading correct? Well, here's a little secret... All powders are *hygroscopic*, they absorb moisture, some faster than others, this has 2 effects. 1) it causes the weight to vary over time; it causes the size of the pellets or flakes to vary in density. Both of which effect the actual amount of powder you put in a case. I don't know how to fix the above however, and yes I do the same. One option, but it's a RPITA, is to always empty your powder measure after reloading sessions, put all the powder back into a sealed container and on each reloading session, re-adjust your measure to weight. However this still doesn't fix the *what* weight is the right weight given how much or little the powder has changed. I know all of this happens at a very small rate, and it will also vary with lots of powder, but it is something that you need to think about when you start to chase a velocity change, or all of a sudden weight change, etc. On a side note, I also suspect that loading on very humid days will effect velocity of bullets from those rounds when shot, but I don't have enough information to prove that theory.... Alan

Well, I'm not sure yet... I shot it again last night and actually, everything clicked. Was another indoor match, but I didn't notice the dim glass this time, I lost the dot one time and it took me forever to find it... I thought I had not turned it on, but as soon as I found it, I just rocked everything. Dot was perfect straight up and down and never left the glass. Still a bit of a learning curve for me however the jury is still out... Optimistic, but not quite convinced yet... NOTE, you may find me go back and forth for a bit in opinion... I'm going to shoot a full outdoor match this weekend... 7 stages with 1 classifier... That will tell me a bunch... I should be dry firing it a million times before that match to make sure I can pick up the dot, but I've got so much else to do, I'm not sure I'll get that part done... I will report progress... Oh and this was on that gun that you saw - which I never thought I'd really like.... ... Course JL fixed it up and so far knock on wood, it's ran with and without spacers, with 3 different loads and hasn't missed a tick.... .... it was however all screwed up when I had him look at it... ... Alan

Thanks Chris for posting that... It's just such a *good* stage for movement, accuracy, speed, etc... I like it the more I see it! .. Alan

go for it, why I posted it... In fact, we are going to adapt it to a 30 round version 12 center targets and 6 behind the barrels... I *really* like stages that *force* movement to shoot them fast. It's a good challenge and it makes you a better shooter... Especially the new guys! Alan

Yes and I've thought about that option

As noted spacing will need to be adjusted to resolve shoot thrus. As for target orientation, it happens all the time when a target can be seen from more than one location.

Yes I know but it still looked like a fun stage. And so we are going to shoot a comstock version at a local match this weekend . Thanks for the motivation

Adjustments made to original post

I doubt this one will ever be used as Virginia, but it would make sense to adjust as you mention if it is.

Yes I know about the string count issue, butt it doesn't say that has to be 6 and 6. So in this case it's 8 and 3, which still fits in the 12 limit. . Alan

Good feedback... I had a duh moment it appears.... I think I've resolved those issues and updated the original post... Alan

Well, what do you know... Sorry about that, it was an IP issue that is resolved now... worked on my local lan, but across the internet it did not... Picture is there now. Alan

see http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=139486&view=findpost&p=1568889 for my trials and tribulations ... Alan

I saw Chris Keen shoot a 30 round Virginia (technically not legal for anything more than level 1 match) stage, it *forced* movement and was actually a really fun looking stage. I struggled with how it was setup to not allow for shoot throughs and reshoots as a result. In the end, I decided to take a slightly different approach, and one that I believe would survive the rules if you want to shoot it as a standards stage. It will take some finesse during setup however to avoid shoot throughs, but I think with the fault line shaped as I have it, it will work. I've not set it up or shot it yet (may happen this weekend)... but I figured I'd share anyway... Start Position: Standing at wall, directly behind marks, facing downrange ‐ shoulders and hips square to wall, palms touching marks. Gun loaded and holstered as per rules 8.1.1 and 8.1.2. Stage Procedure: On signal, engage targets in keep out area A, as available from outside the fault lines. Engage targets behind barrels from within the shooting box B only. SCORING: Comstock, 22rds, 110pts TARGETS: 11 Metric, SCORING HITS: Best 2/paper START‐STOP: Audible – Last Shot Fired PENALTIES: Per current edition USPSA rule book *IF* done as a standards stage, Stage Procedure would be- String 1: On signal, engage targets from the Strong Hand side of the keep out area A with 1 round each only, perform mandatory reload and engage barrel targets from within the shooting box B with 1 round each STRONG HAND only. String 2: On signal, engage targets from the Weak Hand side of the keep out area A with 1 round each only, perform mandatory reload and engage barrel targets from within the shooting box B with 1 round each WEAK HAND only. Scoring would be - SCORING: Virginia, 22rds, 110pts TARGETS: 11 Metric, SCORING HITS: Best 2/paper START‐STOP: Audible – Last Shot Fired PENALTIES: Per current edition USPSA rule book That will live within the rules defined for Standards courses and also virginia count stages. (I believe)... Enjoy. Alan

As a quick follow up, it will *indeed* be a 2 gun match... something like 6 stages, probably 2 pistol only, 2 shotgun only and 2 combined 2 gun stages. It will be the 4th Saturday at the RBGC range, starting at 10am, signup at 9am. I unfortunately will be on a cruise ship, but Mark, Larry, a Karl, and gang will most likely put on a great match. It's the saturday after tgiving, so it should give everyone *something else* to do beside eat turkey and watch college football .... Course I'm sure there are some who think there *is nothing else to do* besides the above ... Alan

Rather than railroad an existing thread, I'll start a new one. NOTE, I've only shot it in a local match *ONE* time. However I already have some observations. a) the glass is tinted, I'm sure to stop glare or improve the reflection of the LED generated dot, but either way, in an indoor match I find the my eyes are constantly fighting for which is a better view... the one thru the aimpoint or the one that isn't thru the scope. It noticeable *dims* the image thru the scope... Again, this was at an indoor range shooting and indoor match. On Thursday of this week, I'll give you some perspective on outdoor use and if it's similar. Right now, this is rather annoying, but I'll stick with it a bit more Ok, I'm spoiled, that 27mm glass in the cmore is much easier to see your surrounding through than the 22mm glass in the H1. I haven't decided if this is a penalty or not yet however... I'd like to shoot it some more and perhaps back to back with my regular gun to see which *feels* better Not a rave review at the moment, and that *may* change, we'll just have to see.... Unfortunately, and I don't want to change things just yet on my regular open gun, I'm also shooting a new gun with this mount/scope, it's a 4.25 length open gun or as they say a true commander length open gun.... So it's really hard to judge the dot track vs. the 5" government slide that I usually shot.... Anyway, some perspective... more to share as I trudge along

who makes that CMore Mount ... I love it It's called a *barry* mount and you can search to find more info... Alan

As a quick follow up... these seem to be highly recommended for inside the safe storage.... The wool/fleece would also inhibit some of the melting/burning, etc... http://www.borestores.com/index.php Still curious what others do. Alan

Not a thread to debate which safe, etc.... but I'm curious...How do people store their Pistols in a safe to best protect them in the case of a fire. For example.... Do you store them loose? (not in any other type of case, cover, etc), Do you store them in the snap plastic boxes that you see so many guns come in? Or do you store them in some other form of cloth type case (gun rug, etc). Reason I ask... I've heard for fires with safes and for example, guns that were stored in the plastic/foam type cases, while not burned where a melted mess. Where as guns in gun rugs were better protected. Sure this will depend on the safe used, and again, I'm not wanting to debate that aspect... Just wondering what is the best protection, while in the safe for fire. Thanks, Alan

There are other gross differences between the Cheely mount and either the Quinn or the Cameron. Matt has his mount built out of 7075 aluminum whereas the others are a softer more machineable aluminum. I shot the QII for about 3 months and then when to one of Matts mounts, it greatly effected the dot movement - same load, same gun, due to the mount being *stiffer*.... Don't let anyone tell you that the mount doesn't *flex*, there are lots of video's that show exactly what happens. I will tell you this however. *unless* you plan on shooting iron and open back to back... I don't think I'm going to spend any more time with a 90 degree mount. There are 2 major things you have to account for. - The cmore hinge is placed at 90 degrees to it's hinge function - that function is NOT just for windage(height) adjustment, it's also to dampen the dot movement as the scope/mount flexes... when it's in its 90 degree position, it causes a *twisting* motion in the dot and you'll always end up with a little figure 8 motion to the dot track. - there is quite a bit of mass on the left side of the gun from the mount/scope, you get used to it, but it does block transitions from left to right. I've let numerous GM's look at my gun and they all noted that issue up front and also noted that they could *feel* the mass wanting to pivot the gun to the left. I'm sure this later is mostly mental as it presents a feeling of the gun being aligned more to the left, but if they can detect it, it's probably not a good thing for an open shooter to have to deal with The one disadvantage to the over the top mount is the offset, it's approx 1.5" and if you shoot a target that is oh say 2-5 yards away, and it has any kind of cover or NS protecting it, you'll have to account for that. I've now shot open for 1 year straight with a 90 and I'm done with it... I'm going to back to an over the top mount for the items listed above. I can notice the pattern in the dot track that is mount related and I notice that my splits lag when I make transitions into the scope as opposed to away from it. But Open is very *shooter unique* so pick your poison.... HOWEVER, do not think that option A vs. B is going to make you a better shooter.... it simply doesn't prove out with fact. Practice makes you a better shooter plain and simple... or should I say Practice with what you bought to the game, makes you a better shooter ... To help with my experience level... I started shooting open in the spring of 2010 as a C class limited shooter, I shot open all of 2010, until the fall when I made B class, I then switched to single stack as I was going to go to the single stack nationals this year, but work got in the way... I didn't shoot much open the first half of 2011, but I had however worked my way to 74.9% in open, but still as a B class.... in Sept, I picked back up the open gun full time and as luck would have it made A class 30 days later. My shooting experience is now to the point where I'm working on refinement skills in an effort to speed up and improve accuracy... Anyway, good luck with what you are looking for... I may have a few Cheely mounts for sale soon.... we'll see Alan

Yes, it's as low, maybe just a smidge higher than the 90 degree cmore... I'm about to shoot one and I've been shooting a Cheely mount for a year, so I'll let you know. Alan

did you use the manual and adjust the ramp and rod to push the brass into the shell plate far enough? I've had that ramp slip once and it caused what you are talking about... it's far easier to just look at the manual than to try to explain it here.... and make sure it's set for pistol and not rifle on the ramp. Alan

As Luke would say... "Use the search (force)".... There are tons of pictures, there are three (ok, maybe 4 types) - Matt Cheely - Quinn II - Barry If you don't want to go sideways, but still want low to the bore, the 4th is the MCG/or DAA mount for the Aimpoint H1 Alan

Further if you don't like the "one step to the gun" usage, then perhaps you should take it up with George Jones as that is how he teaches the interpretation of 2.4.2 and 10.5.12.