Nuke8401

Lifer welding isn't really needed with the load port mods. Also, the lifer cutout can be handy if more than one shell comes out of the tube into the receiver. Without it you are stuck. David E.

I'm just guessing most opinions, mine included, are influenced much more by our preconceptions/personal experiences or lack thereof (ex: only GI trigger are reliable, JPs are the best since sliced bread) than any real data. It is what it is, I like the trigger I have now and unless it fails I think its the best. Before this trigger I thought my modified GI trigger was great and it served me well. Arguing about opinions, well, whatever trips your trigger! Unless you have boat loads of data to back your opinion up its just an opinion. It would be much easier to make choices if there was only data involved and no opinions. David E.

This really doesn’t matter much, in either case you will be loading the same number of shells after the buzzer. It doesn't matter if you shoot some first or load some first (since you are not moving). Now if you saved the hand motion and grabbed 7 vs. 5 it would matter. If you are loading 1 at a time, no difference. MarkCO has a good idea, because you would be taking the gun down from the shoulder and rolling it, loading as many shells each cycle would be faster than say load 2 load 2 shoot 4, load 2 load 2 shoot 4. So the 7+1 would have the advantage of load 2 load 2 load 2 shoot 6, repeat. In any case, since there is no movement, loading before shooting provides no advantage. When you are thinking speed, think economy of motion. Less hand movement to and from the table, less gun movement is better. The exception is possibly twins, which I hear is easier to learn and way fast, so you can overcome the extra movements involved. David E.

- The 18.5" no choke barrel should have no problem knocking down poppers or other steel at 12 yds. - If the long barreled setup holds the minimum number (5) for starting the stage, than having a higher capacity mag tube does not help as you will be hand loading the same number of shells after the buzzer. So if you are worried about knocking down the steel and the capacity is at least 4+1 you can stick with the longer barrel and choke. - I would learn weak hand, lay the shells in rows of 3 on the table, buzzer - shoot 4 (1 left in the gun), pick up 3 and load 3, shoot 3 and load 3 repeat. Keep it simple. This way your gun won’t run dry and loading 3 is easier than loading 4. - Since you have no shell holders I would make something for the board to keep the shells from moving while you pick them up or otherwise bump the board around. - concerning drilled holes in the board, grabbing 1 shell at a time and loading is slower than grabbing 3 and loading. Economy of motion, hand from table to gun and back. Good luck David E.

Well I think I've practiced enough to consider my weak hand reloads "full auto" requiring no thought. My thumb needs so time off before the next match. Plan to take a break until Saturday night before the match and do 10-20 8 shell runs. I've been doing some pistol dry fire also for the last week with my M+P. Going to shoot it tonight at the S&W IDPA match. I would like to switch from the G34 to the M+P.

It’s good to see 3 GUN moving forward as a sport but without some level of sponsorship for shooters the time off/travel/expense issues will limit participation to those with the means or significant full time sponsors. I wonder if in the future we will see single event sponsorship for big matches and the shoot-off. Giving the top 50 free plane tickets, hotel, and maybe ammo would make it much more doable for the average guy who shoots well enough to qualify. David E.

In general, the original quality of most film (even old stuff) is much better than Pre-HD television resolution. So what we used to see on TV was dumbed down. Most film was taken to be shown on the "big screen" so the original quality is way good enough for current HD. Improving faded color of older film is the big challenge and is more easily done these days with video software. I have it on DVR, haven't watched yet.

Terry, No matter what the outcome, which I think will be good, your communication with the IDPA shooters in this post has been more than I have seen from the IDPA organization since I started in 2003. Keep up the good work and THANK YOU, and all the other Tiger Team members!!!!!! David E.

Had mine done earlier this year, all good. My step father neglected to have one. Got Colon cancer, had a colostomy, surgery went great, spent a month in the hospital, almost died from an infection. I took 2 months off work to take care of him and my mother during and after his operation. I was essentially his nurse for a month and took care of all his “personal needs” including the daily care of his ostomy pouching system (also commonly called a bag). While not the end of the world, trust me you don’t want this. So the decision you make whether or not to have one may affect more than just yourself. This little uncomfortable event is a small price to pay compared to the potential alternative. And yes I had what I thought was a wicked bad dream while I was under. David E.

It looks like the Leupold part number (111249) on your box is correct for the Ballistci Fire Dot. The reticle picture you have is definity not the firedot. My link I would contact their customer service department: My link Hope this helps. My mother is from Germany, I visited their in 1970 as a child. David E.

I will have a plug before the next match. Still kicking myself for not reading the rules right before the PRO/AM match. The rules changed from the time I printed them (right after they were posted online) until the match started. SG capacity went from 9 max anytime to 9 max at the buzzer. Would have made a difference in the match. My fault won't happen again. Practiced again last night, maybe 40 minutes, load 8, load 8 empty gun start, load 2. Loading on the move, loading with eyes closed, loaded while watching TV. Plan to practice loading while running (If you can call it that) tonight.

So there many ways to do the turn and draw, I am definitely not the fastest by any means. Things I would concentrate on: Group the actions: Do these 3 at the same time - head snap (eyes to target), starting the foot movement (whichever method you choose) and initial grip on the gun. As soon as your body/gun/muzzle is safely past the 180 draw, two hand grip, as you bring the gun up prep the trigger. I assume you are prepping the trigger now as part of your draw stroke? So that the instant you have an acceptable sight picture you can break the shot. As soon as you are in position to shoot an "A", trigger press. This will most likely be after your feet are in the final position in the beginning. Later you may be able to fire as you are settling into the final stance. I think in the beginning your foot movement will have less impact on your time than other factors. Once you have the other parts down you can experiment with foot movement and a timer to determine your fastest way. As others have said, eyes on the target as soon as possible, all else follows. David E.

I've run both the +5 and now +6 Nordic tubes. Mine wouldn't cycle with a full tube until I cut the spring to 12". Nordic says 10-16 inches. Needless to say the firmer/faster the hand cycle the better your chances are of chambering a round. If empty chamber/bolt open start is allowed you could dump one in the action and hit the bolt release. While initially this seems slow it should save loading a shell later. I did make the mistake of hitting the bolt release with the bolt forward once. Bad! David E.

Working shotgun reloads this past 3 day weekend. Thumb is raw meat. I researched the advantages of having more than 8+1. I changed from my +5 to a +6 tube (10+1 capacity) for outlaw matches that allow any capacity after the buzzer. Adding 2 immediately after the buzzer, if you must move before shooting, is a winner! Even on stages where you shoot imediately, haviing the ability to add 4 almost anytime is a big plus. Practiced adding 2 at the buzzer. Shotgun match in 6 days, goal is for reloads to be "full auto"!

Congrats on a big step. It’s when you have practiced enough to get all the gun handling, shooting, shot calling into this same place in your mind, which I call the “automatic box”, so that you can use the thinking part of your brain to concentrate on the stage design, reload points, and other things that take conscious thought such as moving your point of aim to a different location on partial or non-vertical targets. The more dry-fire type practice you do the more things you can put in the “automatic box”. Caution - It is much easier to get things into the automatic box (repeat something 1000 times) than to modify or remove them. It is important to learn/practice things “correctly” if there is such a thing. See Dave’s rule #1. Ben Stoeger’s dry fire program is free and posted on this forum, see link on my other post. Just in case you don’t know, he is the current/new USPSA Production Champion. If I were going to take pistol shooting advice, it would be from him. You can really make progress when you get all this “stuff” to happen without thought. The fun comes when your conscious mind turns into the “observer”, time slows and you literally watch and talk to yourself while shooting. David E.

Not sure what kind of abuse luggage takes these days but the 1971 American Tourister Commercial comes to mind. I do find it funny how particular people are about their guns until dump time. David E.

I have been using a Loadmaster for about 2 years. My 2 cents. -If your brass is perfect it works great. If you intend to use range brass then the priming system will give you trouble. I suspect this in no different on other machines until you get to the point of a machine that swages the primer pockets as part of the process (Dillon 1050?). -My current loading process for range brass with the Loadmaster is: 1. Clean, 2. De-prime/size on my Lee Classic Turret. 3. Use a primer pocket tool to remove any crimps and size all primer pockets (tool is chucked in a drill press and I run all the brass through). 4. Lube the cases, 5. Prime, charge, seat and FCD on the Loadmaster. -For brass that I have previously loaded: 1. Clean, 2. Lube, 3. perform all functions on the Loadmaster. Without lubing the cases the effort is significantly higher to full stroke the press. Since you are priming on the down stroke, anything less than a full stroke results in a high primer. Priming seems to be the critical step. I have about 2000 cases that I have run through the process and I use these for practice and reuse them. For matches where I will be losing the brass, I shoot Hornady Steel Match and just leave it. The thing about priming on the press is that you don't have a positive feel that the primer is either fully seated on crushed or somewhere in between. As I understand it some prefer the Lee Pro 1000 because it primes on the upstroke, like a classic turret, and you get a better feel when seating the primers. Maybe other presses deal with range brass better. David E.

SO by the letter of the law, I’m wrong. I choose to use the rule with common sense and interpret this to mean if you load your mags to 7 you can’t load to 8 later in the match. So all shooters, new or otherwise, shouldn't be allowed to shoot unless they have all the same capacity magazines. Great way to grow the sport. Following the thought process that because someone has extra capacity they might cheat, all magazines should be limited to division capacity. So no hi caps (>10) should be used in ESP/SSP. Concerning the hunting thing, totally different, in IDPA you have an SO watching you shoot and counting your shots. So some will say it’s not the SO’s job to count shots, his job is safety, if that were the case only safety related procedurals would be given. When hunting there is no SO/Warden to count your shots. Comparing the mag capacity issue in IDPA and Hunting is like comparing IDPA to USPSA. I looking forward to seeing all competitor’s magazines checked for consistent capacity as an equipment check at matches. David E.

It has nothing to do with "mag capacity"; it has to do with how many rounds you put in them. Ex; for CDP you could have a 7 and two 8 round mags. You would have to be 7+1 at the start and all other mags loaded to 7. Just don't want a new shooter to think all their mags have to be the same capacity. David E.

My 930 Turkey came with only the front FO. I installed Williams front and rear adjustable, ran that until speaking with Benny (the 930/every think gunsmith), he said for "our game" a single FO is best. So I went back to a single FO front, luckily it is close enough (a little high at 50yds, on at 100) to work without bending the barrel. My impression is that a single FO is faster since the majority of our targets don't require the precision of rifle sights. David E.

Still working on shotgun weak hand reloads, past 2 nights. Did some dry fire with the AR, what a pain. Two day into very light Crossfit workouts.

So Monica, there are a million tips out there; here is another one specifically for match performance. If you suffer from rapid heartbeat/heartbeat in your throat moments before you shoot, try some breathing exercises. I start mine when the shooter before me is shooting; deep breaths, 3 seconds to breath in, 3 seconds hold, 3 seconds to breath out, 3 seconds to hold, repeat (this is a pretty standard breath control exercise, I forget where I got it). It kind of gives the anxious part of your mind something to do while you are visualizing the stage before you shoot. We can't control our heart rate (most of us can't) but controlling breathing helps calm you overall and I think reduces the “throat heartbeat”. Since you dedicate time to dry fire; if you haven’t looked at Ben Stoeger’s dry fire program it’s a must for maximizing the value of dry fire.My link Like I said, just one of a million tips. David E. Be advised, see Dave's rule #1 below. I am probably not better than you ever want to be.

With that line of thinking there would be no forward progress. We would still be stuck on inventing the wheel. Sometimes a new outside look can result in significant improvement, take the Glock for example. Yes value should be placed on those with successful experience but if we never looked for new/different ways to do things we would be done-done. Jerry M is a great example of someone who is always changing, looking for different techniques/equipment to improve. Jack T, your are not the only one that has come to this conclusion. David E.

I joined so that I could shoot local USPSA Shotgun, rifle, and 3 gun matches. It is not uncommon for clubs to have the "you can shoot the first match without a membership but to shoot another one you must join" rule. So if you want to shoot these types USPSA matches it might be necessary. David E.

New Guys impression, take it for what its worth (which may be nothing which is what you paid for it). I just installed the Geissele Super Dynamic 3 gun trigger (about $200 from Midway with coupon). My starting point was a worked over stock trigger from the original LPK I installed when building the rifle about 1 ½ years ago. I had done several steps to modify the stock trigger. First mods included the 15 minute trigger job with only very light polishing of the sear/hammer contact surfaces, cut one leg off the hammer spring and bent the other. This resulted in a lighter trigger of about 4 ½ lbs, still a little “gritty”. While I don’t mind take-up at a reduced pull weight , the trigger had both pre-travel without resistance and then a long loaded pull of about 4 ½ lbs. I then installed a set screw in the grip threaded hole and adjusted the trigger’s pre-travel. This made the trigger MUCH better, I went conservative to prevent the possibility of AD and I also had to file the safety to get it to function with this set-up. After shooting it a few months, I decided to install the JP reduced power spring kit and at the same time cut off the hammer tail. My goal was reduce trigger pull and get a more robust set-up than the modified springs because of the cut/bent spring legs. So I finished out this season with this set-up with no issues and was able to get some pretty good groups with it and shoot 100-200 yd stages with success. As part of a set of equipment upgrades with reliability as the focus, I decided to upgraded the trigger, after much research I settled on the Geissele SD3G. Needless to say fit and finish are outstanding, installation was easy (no fitting or adjustment). My impression of the trigger is that while it is not much lighter (3 ¼ lbs), it is incredibly smooth/slick, no comparison to the stock trigger. The actual travel is a little longer than the stock adjusted trigger but the feel is awesome. Besides trigger feel, I think the biggest advantage of the Geissele SD3G is that the springs are stiff, much stiffer than the JP yellow springs. Even though I never had an issue with the modified/stock set-up; I think the reliability is much better with this set-up. The Geissele Hammer is a cut/reduced weight piece and I think combined with the stiff Hammer spring I will be assured to get good hard firing pin hits and, not that it matters, but a faster hammer cycle time. So if I had to do it all over again? I would buy the Geissele first. I have only shot it at a static range at 50,100,200 but I really like it. “Ball bearing” feel is a good description. I would guess many other aftermarket triggers are also good but the reliability benefit is something I hadn’t really considered. The biggest thing I’ve learned so far in 3 Gun is that not only must your equipment work 100%, but you shoot better when you are sure it is going to work 100%. My current set-up 16” Armalite upper, mid gas, Miculek Comp. Stag Lower, Geissele SD3G trigger, A1 stock. Leupold CQT with the CM-R2 reticle. David E.