THS

Not me. I would rather pay twice that than support Dicks.

One of the other details in the OP was that this was before the match- assuming the match begins at the Shooters Briefing. The host club could expel him in that case. If the club chose not to do that then it is over.

I shot Production 20 years ago and it was a good division. It was on the rise then, but Limited still had Strader, Seeklander, Sindelar and Francisco in local monthlies, with Jarrett a few times a year as well. I learned a bunch just watching while they shot! I could see sights then, haha, and the holster placement and 10 round limits made you look at stages differently. Those things made it distinctly different than Limited (minor) and although I saw some gaming I enjoyed the challenge. Like others I think putting a mag restriction- either length or capacity- and going back to behind the hip for CO and Prod would be smart. I don't care what holster or pouches you use, as long as it is behind the hip. In that scenario Prod is an iron sight behind the hip div, CO is the same with Optics, and LO is shooters choice for belt set up. 15 or 17 in a mag would cut down on all the reloads and complex planning, and be more fun too. VA State has 215 Registered- 101 are CO, and 9 Prod. That is telling!

Good. USPSA membership being a factor in getting a slot might get more people to actually join. Do, or could, non members get slots to the Nationals?

I'm back after a nearly 20 year layoff. I have been waitlisted twice out of three attempts to register already. I hear that there are limited slots available, and this seems to bear that out. So, is that part of the mix as well? Also, seems a little off that a USPSA member gets waitlisted for a USPSA match and non USPSA members are allowed to shoot.... The club doesn't care I'm sure, as that saves them the tiny activity fee- they don't charge less for non USPSA shooters so they are keeping the fee. Just one more variable in the mix.

You missed the part where Accuracy is no longer weighted in any sense of reality. I have shot lots of matches with 50 yard standards- I started in 1991. In that era you had Open (with a Tasco PDP) or limited and iron sights. A springfield P9 in 9x21 was cutting edge. Today any shot past 25 yards gets strange looks, and dots have changed what it takes to be "accurate" in a revolutionary way. May be different where you are, but I doubt it. As I put in my early post: CO and Production should have holsters and mags behind the Superior Iliac Crest, put some capacity limit or mag length in place, and eliminate the flashlights as steps to creating Divisions that are unique and present different challenges. Then pick your game and get after it. I think one of the reasons CO is popular is because you dont have to buy a reloader to be competitive as everyone is minor, and a 50 something ounce 9mm is about as flat as an open gun any way. Full disclosure- I'm shooting CO too- but at 60 my eyes dont focus on the front sight very well so to play the game (again) I went the dot route.

Who wrote factory length? None of the current crop of Tunsten infused, blah blah blah are "Carry" guns anyway. Production Optics would have been a better name. Of course I'm the guy who started in the late 80's and took 20 years off haha.

If I was king for a day this would be CO. 1, Holsters and mags back behind the Superior Illiac crest (the old production rule), except for Appendix IWB carry that requires a 1, a covering garment, and 2, ALL magazines carried IWB, and IN FRONT of the SIC. 2. Mags limited to factory capacity- Meaning you can add a pad ( up to .750" thick?) for insertion, but not to increase capacity. 3. No flashlights 4. Minor only Limited Optics would mirror Limited, and allow race holsters and mag pouches, 140mm mags, etc.

I'm back to USPSA after almost 20 years and things haven't changed much with respect to classification, except perhaps a few of the newer classifiers have some movement. That said- Attaining a certain level and keeping it is a goal. I looked at a lot of results in practiscore and most of the M's are not in the 85% of the winner's hit factor on a monthly basis. Moving up is a combination of a few things- First is mastering stationary gun handling- Draw, Reload, and transition type stuff. Next is Risk vs Reward. They throw out bad scores so why not go for broke on a few. (Heck, there are videos on YouTube about 'Grandbagging" where a guy shoots a WAY after the fact just to add time and invalidate his run.) Lastly, keeping the highest ones may artificially slant the number higher- shoot enough in 4 years, go for broke on some, and I think you could barely make Master. The "Floating" average of your last 10 lets say is a TERRIBLE idea! Skeet does this and there is always someone who dumps a match, drops a class, and then shoots way above their 'average.' I stared this game in 1990 and I cant move anywhere like I used to. I'll never run stages as fast as I used to. M on field courses isnt going to happen. I dont care who has what class- The overall result seems to winnow the wheat from the chaff.

I've was on lead monitoring for about 15 years (ending about 4 years ago.) The numbers you are posting are about the current level, which amounts to a snapshot in time. The more telling number is Zinc Protoporphryn (sp?) which is a better long term indicator. As lead is metabolized in the body the ZP is left and ends up in the bones. It takes quite a while to build or dissipate, so you can track exposure over time much more easily. ZP is a better indicator, as a spike could be transitory.

First- If this has been answered my apologies, but I couldn't find it. After a 20 year layoff I'm back to the USPSA game. I have a belt setup from a previous assignment that uses the QLS system- I have 6 holsters for it and have no issue with using ALS and GLS systems from Safariland. My holsters are either iron sight and light (no thanks) or for a small optic like an RMR, but I have the Leupold DPP on my CO setup and it is too wide for the holster. I have a Blade Tech DOH that my CO G17 fits, and I want to put a QLS fork on it so I can swap to that setup just for USPSA. Does anyone make an adapter plate that will allow me to go from a QLS fork to a BT DOH gun bucket? Thanks

Saw Jerry this week, and he's driving it, so I'd say it did not sell. Tom

Jason Jones, JLJ here, is a new GM with his G35. Not only that, he has about 28 months of USPSA shooting experience! He is the MAN.

What I hate? This day. It's too personal and painful for this venue, and no one else needs share the burden.

The beep here is just like the buzz of the CED 6000, which aint too bad. I've come to like the more sharp tone of the RU ready timers, they seem to have a definite start and stop to them while the CED 6000, 8000 and pocket pro seem to be more of a buzz than beep. Given a choice, I'd love the RU ready beep in the CED 8000 case. Tom

We got 8 of these for Test and Evaluation, and after a week I'm getting feedback. Almost everyone likes them, except for the fact the cover has to be open to hear the buzzer and have the shots recorded, which has made some wonder if that will cause us to break covers off. I really like the 10 string auto record feature. No more lost strings caused when someone hits the beeper before scoring has been confirmed! and no more slowdowns when I'n working drills either. Case in point. I shot El Prez on classics about 6 times yesterday. Then I took the timer to my truck and made notes on every string. I was able to look at what was faster from string 1 to string 6, and was able to look at exact transitions and splits from each run. It was nice to keep shooting and then compare which string felt faster to what actually was! I'll be able to try out the headphones and sensitivity later this week, as we are indoors and echoes have been bad there! I would like a much louder buzzer though! Tom

I have a tub of Chip McCormick's "Trigger Slick" which is a moly based grease that was required when we ran titanium triggers on our 1911 type guns in the early 90's. Without this stuff you would have the sear eat the hammer hooks in no time. I tried it with my glocks, but it is WAY messy, like any of the moly base products, and was only marginally smoother than SG. In the interest of keeping things simple, I use only SG on my Glocks now. The Trigger Slick is too thin for the slide rails, and the SG is WAY better there, so SG was the choice! I still keep the Trigger Slick for my Rem 700 triggers, 1911 sear\trigger wear points, and a few other things. I bought some Birchwood Casey Choke Tube Lube once as well, (I was a long way from my TS,) And I think they are almost the same in lubricant, but the base is different. Choke tube lube is a little thinner than TS, which has a vaseline type consistancy. Tom

I too lost a major recently. Of course, I can remember exactly where I lost points and time on each stage, and get to think about those things too. Try this for a list; Stage 1. Double clutch trigger while passing port. Have to stop and step back to fire the second shot. Costs me 2 seconds plus on a 10 second stage Stage 2. Grab gun too hard off table, dropping mag, from a G34 no less, and fire one shot before immediate action. Costs me 2 seconds on a 7-8 second stage Stage 3. Drill a NS...... Stage 4. HUGE field course, and I forget a popper that activates a drop out. Holler BACKING and slide step until I can get both. Costs me about 8-10 seconds.... Stage 5. Pretty good, except I wait for a forward falling popper to move before I leave a firing position..... time moves on Stage 6. Need a make up shot on an all steel speed shoot. 5 and change wins the stage.... Stage 7. Shoot too many shots one handed through a port......Duh, that's way slow.... end up 9 seconds behind stage winner's time Stage 8. Get prodecural for not pulling activator all the way with strong hand. Should have listened to stage walk through better...... Stage 9. Accept poor shots 'cause I want to go too fast and drop way too many C's. Stage 10. Shoot smoothly, for once..... Chrono..... Forget it is really cool now, and the temp makes a difference. Make 125.2 PF, yep, 125 point 2. Looking back, I never crashed and burned, shot 1 mike, 1 no shoot, 3 D's and got 1 procedural in a 215 plus shot match. That I'm pleased with too. I'll rant later about how this sport has become way too speed oriented.... Tom

Well, at 12 noon Eastern time I will end my active career as a US Marine. Retirement looks real nice from here, especially where I start a new position on Monday! 21 years and 4 months has been a long time, but I wouldn't trade the friendships for anything. I wont be able to surf here or post as much, and the computers are on a secure network at the new gig, but I still have the weekends to check things out at home. Thanks to all of you who participate in a civil and open manner in the discussions here; it reminds me of a sign I saw in an office recently. "If 2 of us have the exact same opinion, then one of us isn't needed!" Later, Tom

KB38S, I made no assumptions, and he IS classified in at least one other division...... So the fact that TGO isn't a newbie is EXACTLY why he should be classed one below his highest, and NO LOWER, EVER. Classes are supposed to keep equal skill sets working against equal skill sets for comparison purposes, and in the context of the original post my statement is a fair comparison. The shooter was not any more unclassified than I am. Maybe this is too personal for me. When I was the OIC of the USMC Rifle Team I would get 20 or so shooters for the summer season. Most of them had been training daily for up to 4 months, and all had been through a selection process that selects the top 10 percent after 4 weeks, and then the top 10% of that group 4 weeks later. We would shoot our first NRA event of the year and I entered all on my unclassed shooters as Masters. They have the skills and experience and have no business taking awards from marksmen, sharpshooters and experts. Nothing burned my butt more that watching a military shooter win the junior awards at the nationals in the 97 time frame! This guy was 20 years old, serving on a full time shooting team, and entered as a junior. What a joke and insult to those in their teens struggling to find time to shoot and train on the weekends. Maybe USPSA should make it policy you can't enter in any class more than 1 below your highest no matter if you have 4 on file in a particular division or not. I know it's a small thing, but the devil's in the details! Tom

Although it happens, It should be as the books says now, "You can't be more than one class lower than your highest classification." Lynn goes to a shoot in with a revolver, I'm putting him in A, as his highest class is M, limited. Just because Rob doesn't have 4 classifiers on record doesn't make him true unclassified newbie! Just my thoughts! Tom

I disagree. Hoser Heaven is a test of patience, and avoiding the disaster factor. Let's break it down for a limited shooter like me. String 1 is 6 shots freestyle. All A's for 90% of the B and better shooters I know. Strong hand, shoot all A's, and forget about the number of shots. Most B's are getting 5 shots, maybe 6, all A's. Support hand, Shoot 3 A's, then whatever you can in the time left, a C maybe? 14 A's and a C is 74 points, a solid 80 plus percent. For the A class and up shooters you should be shooting 6 A's in both Freestyle and Strong hand. Then the game is to shoot the support hand without a disaster, meaning No Shoot. 21 points on that string adds up to a 90% run, that is 3 A's and 2 C's, minimum. Sounds easy, executing it isnt though. I also like Merles and LR Stds. I come from a bullseye background, and the simple fact is that many USPSA shooters have traded accuracy for speed in training and skills! As a result, any shot over 25 yards intimidates many of them, and the B!tch factor goes way up. WAY OFF TOPIC. Does Sedro have HF's for the CM's using Classics yet? That will be a neat comparison!

Ron, Looks like ALL timed fire stages are based solely on percentage of max points available, regardless of division, which makes little to no sense. MAYBE there have been a few perfect scores on Tuff Enough Stds, but I doubt it given the amount of A zone covered on some of the targets. I wonder what the real top 10 in production on that one are. I'm betting it aint clean either! Tom

Mike, Tom Deters has more time on his hands of late, so you might be able to get him to work this a little. MAtter of fact, I think he's going to write a book. Of course you'll have to pry him away from a Palma gun for a while during this time of the year. Tom

Maybe I'm drifting this a little, but here goes anyway. I see my sight for nearly all of it's movement, from lift to return, most of the time. Trouble is, was, that it never lifts the same arc every time, so I'm thinking I got some serious issues. Well, I end up in a day long class with TGO, and in the morning session I Rob ask a question about this exact thing: Aren't I supposed to have the same movement everytime? He has me shoot grooups on the head of an FBI QIT target quickly, fast, and FASTER. Then he asks what I saw and I explained the sight lifted to the upper left, upper right, straight up, and some I had no clue where it went to. I felt like I was driving it back to the center each and every shot, and some were a long way from what I'd have liked to see. He looks at my target and said "with groups like those, you are seeing enough!" They were pretty good, too. Later I asked him a little more and he explained, then demo's, that what matters was not that I had sight lift in varying directions throughout a Bill Drill, but that I could see the sight at the top of the recoil impulse, and then steer it back into the notch to an acceptable level as the shot fires. BOOM. An enlightening moment. "The important part is seeing the sight as it returns into the rear notch, AS THE GUN IS READY TO FIRE." Yep, that is what I need to see to be accurate and reasonably fast. Watching the sight the whole cycle would be nice, but I no longer worry about variations in arc of movement, nor seeing the entire arc for that matter. I want to see the moment the shot fires and then as the sight returns. Those are the minimum, for me at least. Of course I could be all wrong too........ Tom