titandriver

Erik --- it's true, Steve Wong won Open. Pretty hotly contested down to 10th place. Yong Lee won Limited, Travis T won L-10, and Mike Boyd won Production. As for the RO's being disqualified from the match, apparently there is a rule (6.6.1, page 50, 14th edition) that says: "no competitor will compete for score on other than the scheduled date(s)". As I heard it, someone complained about the RO's shooting a week earlier and being included in the overall match. Whether prior approval was granted, I do not know. I can only imagine how I would have felt under the same circumstances, but I'm certain it would have been verbally expressed with a LOT more profanity than what I heard from the Area 1 RO's! A great bunch of very fair RO's who worked their asses off under extremely difficult conditions. My hat is off to you guys! Thanks!

Erik --- so why didn't you tell the guy what you really wanted to say? Seems to me that you wouldn't have gotten any lip from a grateful shooter. In the stage described by Doug everybody would have been close to breaking the 180 and could have received the same comment from the RO. Unless all the remaining stages have the same trap, what is the purpose of informing the shooter after the fact? Being an RO for many years, I have never given any lip to another RO who interjects the "close to 180" on a stage design like this, rather I gently chide him that *if* I allowed my muzzle to point rearwards *further* than 90 degrees from the median intercept of the backstop, then I deserve to be DQ'd; if I was close, well, so what? I would never ask any RO to compromise on safety, bad course design like this frequently puts the RO in the position of having to give the benefit of the doubt to the shooter in spite of what the RO believes is in fact a safety violation worthy of a DQ.

Doug --- good rant! Whenever I get the RO telling me "you got close to the 180 back there" I give 'em the same response: "if I broke the 180, DQ me, if I didn't break the 180 then I don't give a hoot how *close* I came"! Unless you are getting a re-shoot on that stage, why bother telling the shooter "how close he came" after the fact? Especially on such a poorly designed stage as the one you described.

T-man --- no Air Force for me, I wasn't smart enough to drive one of their Jeeps, let alone a plane! Besides, they don't let ya carry guns unless you're MP. The draft board ('68) took a quick peek & said: "looks like a rifle will fit those hands perfectly!" Turns out a pistol fits even better! I'm STILL shootin' lead bullets through my G-20, 250 rounds of Hoser 210 RN cast just last week. I make certain to keep the chamber clean so it goes fully into battery with the cast bullet round. I will run a couple of jacketed rounds through it once the accuracy drops off signifigantly, otherwise I never clean the barrel. I've found that all cast bullet loads (at major power factor) will leave some slight "streaking" in the bore, as long as the accuracy is good, I don't worry about it. As for the moniker, I drive a custom built Titan motorcycle, sold my Harleys & broke down & bought this custom sled --- it is awesome and FAST!!!!!! May bring it to Medford next month but I HATE those dumb-ass helmet laws!!

Tom --- man, you had me scramblin' to find my chrono book so I could see when I started shootin' it in matches! From the 6th of Jan.'99 to the 19th of Dec.'99. Right around 15,000 rounds, nothing but 200gr. Laser-Casts or Hoser's 210gr. RN. Load 'em as long as you can & still get 'em to work in your mag. I use it for a carry gun now and I had it with me (in the truck) at the state match. Wish I'd've shown it to you, it is one sad-lookin' puppy!!! I always wanted to try an after-market barrel in .40 S&W, even threatened to buy one once or twice, just never got around to it! Besides, the 10mm barrel still shoots great and I knew I was gonna dump it once I made GM. If I was gonna stick with it I would probably buy a .40 barrel. I'll tell ya this, the way you can hose, you need to get an SV/STI and see how much easier it can be for ya! You won't regret it!

Swede20 --- I asked John Amidon this exact same question when I was shooting my G-20 in Limited. His answer was, and I quote: "since the question is covered in bore size instead of caliber, I don't see a problem with it." I printed it out and carried it with me just in case someone, somewhere questioned the legality of shooting 40 S&W in my G-20. If you'd like to do the same, contact John at: VPUSPSA@aol.com and ask away; he may take a day or two to reply, but he will send you an answer.

Tom --- you are certainly correct about regional differences on set up. You jogged my memory and one thing I didn't do when giving the walk-through on my stage was to repeat my favorite phrase about the walls (or vision barriers): "they extend to the gates of Heaven and the bowels of Hell". It was covered by the MD on the first stage about how far they extended & I simply forgot to reiterate on my walk-through. I'm really sorry about that! In thinking about the dynamite stage, in reality, you were penalized multiple times for the same offense --- failing to put the sticks in the bucket. I realize why the penalties are so severe (per each shot fired) but I don't like it cuz it ain't got nothin' to do with shooting. See ya in Medford & Bend! Oh yeah, I measured the wall, it was four feet six inches tall. (Edited by titandriver at 9:08 am on May 30, 2002)

Flex --- no scoop here, I shot like a moron on a couple of stages! Ironically, I blew the first stage each day (1 & 8 I think). Happens when you do a lot of the planning, set up & working the match. I did manage to finish 3rd overall in Open. I hammered a few stages and a few stages hammered me back! Gonna do better in Reno this weekend. Well, I was until I heard JJ's comin', gotta get out my track shoes!

Tom --- I'm only runnin' to try to get ahead of the fast young guns like yourself! There was never any doubt when you were shooting, it was just one continuous "brrrrrrrrrrrrp", slight pause to the next shooting position then another "brrrrrrrp"!! It was great meeting you, keep that glock goin' full auto! I "only" had 120 penalty points, guess I won't be doin' as much runnin' next year! Probably won't work it either, at least not as much. Thanks for coming, hope your wife enjoyed the Boise area.

Flex is right on the money -- well designed, well run stages will keep 'em coming back. Unless your giving away substantial prizes at your local matches, bad course design and unfairly run stages tend to minimize the repeat "customers". We are vying for peoples "entertainment dollars" and unless you provide a quality product, no amount of inducements will keep 'em attending the matches, especially those who must travel any distance.

TDean --- I'm just the ramrod, the guy that's the MD ain't shootin' so he can monitor (and perhaps critique?) the weak hand victims, errrr shooters, at those stages.

Ain't got no drills but if you find some good ones, pass 'em on. And fast! I think I'm gonna be shootin' that same match!

http://isps.home.mindspring.com

TDean --- sent an e-mail with state match info to your profile address, it bounced! Contact me at: rocketman@rmci.net Rich

I'm guessin' right around 100, fifty of 'em from out-of-state already signed up! Gonna be a fun one, you really should try to make it. I've got a couple of cool stages that'll let you run supersonic & think at the same time! Great fun!

TDean --- since that's my home club & I'm the Idaho section coordinator, I'm guessin' I'll be there! See ya???

I think I've got ya beat Ron! 1999, Area 1 ; one of the stages had a bucket that you had to "deposit" a large vinyl bank bag into before you engaged the targets. As I neared the bucket with the bag I tossed it into the bucket. Unforunately, it went behind the back edge of the bucket and fell out of sight. Not seeing it fall behind the bucket I thought it had gone into the bucket and I completed the stage, only to have the RO say: "21 procedurals, one for each shot without the bag in the bucket"! Didn't matter really, I broke the 180 two stages later and earned a DQ for my efforts!

I'm located at the cosmically accepted *exact* center of the Universe, to wit: the NW1/4NW1/4 of Section 3, Township 2 South, Range 2 West of the Boise Meridian, Owyhee County, Idaho. Claims to the contrary are simply the work of Sataan himself!

Ron, I have no idea how close you are to the Denver-area clubs, but you should see if you can meet up with Ara Malajian when he heads down there and hitch a ride with him. I'm certain there are a bunch of guys down there that would let you try out their Open guns; worth a "shot"!

Spidey --- Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Sorry dude, didn't realize that the G.A.S. gang was so prop poor and shooter rich. I can only guess what you do for no-shoots ...... yikes!!!!!

Kevin --- here's what works for me on my 650, I load for a 38 Super with the Lee sizing die, so give it a try. My two problems were the case insertion (not always deep enough into the shell plate and the very last primer flipping on edge as it entered the rotary primer disc & stopping the works) I backed the two screws holding the entire primer housing out three quarters of a turn. Bingo, the cases insert fully everytime and no more flipped primers! Don't know why it works, it just does! Give it a try & see what happens.

GM --- I think he was bitten by a radioactive spider and it gave him some kind of "superpower". Oops that was Spiderman. Don't know what Bret's story is then or how he can run up those walls in the rain. Hell, I can't figure out how to run up 'em in the sunshine! Do tell fair-haired one, how DO you do it?

Flex --- gawd I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I just checked my slot and it says "this slot is null and void if passed on to anyone without prior approval from USPSA". Travis is one of the finest people you will ever hope to meet and I can't imagine USPSA standing in his way of offering you one of his slots, but stranger things have happened!

DB --- thanks for posting his answer, especially for question #2. I was not aware that "props that hold it up" was not part of the hardcover. Guessin' I'll be printing that one off & carrying it in my rulebook --- just in case!

Flex --- your S.C. should have gotten an activity report for the entire year (2001) about 6weeks or so ago, detailing each clubs mission count and activity credits. Ask if you can see it or get a copy; it should explain why only three slots were issued to your section. As for the number of USPSA members in your state, there are probably a good number who never shoot a match, so raw numbers won't tell you much.