ShootfastRunfaster

October would be a great match, but BRM3G and Fallen Brethren 3 Gun Challenge are already slated for October and they will be big draws. It would make it a little too tight for me and many others. I love the enduro idea of the match though. November maybe?

A friend of mine did that very thing just the other day, with this handguard (I think): http://www.midwayusa.com/product/1413336321/dpms-free-float-tube-handguard-ar-15-carbon-fiber-black BBQ grill paint works great for finishing the gas block once you're done hacking on it. I did the very same thing on one of my early builds. One word of caution if you want to use the DPMS carbon fiber tube. It comes with a replacement barrel nut and the carbon fiber tube glues onto the nut after you install it. Since you are covering up your carbine length gas system with the longer tube, it will be a one time deal as you will not have any way of removing the gas tube. You can drill a small hole in the tube to access the gas tube roll pin, but it is a PITA that way. I overcame it by drilling and tapping the barrel nut and using 4 screws to hold the tube to the barrel nut. I used large headed 8-32 and they have a lot of surface to hold onto the carbon tube. No glue is used and I can pull the tube off of the nut whenever I want to.

Good choice. I have the same setup for my Tac30. I run the top of the center dot as my 100 yard zero. That clears up any problems I have with obscuring small targets.

I'll be at the SHOT Show, but I'm guessing that I'll still have to wonder for a bit.

1.5 will make for an easier to use setup. The 1.93 was made so an optic would clear a LAM mounted 12 o'clock on a RIS type system. You don't need the drawbacks associated with the additional height.

Texas Multigun Championship thread. Patrick Kelley posted one that is buried into the rib on his M2.

Switching out an upper reciever is not that difficult if you have some mechanical know how and the proper tools. You will need a fixture to secure your upper receiver and a wrench that is designed to fit the barrel nut. A hammer and a punch to remove the gas tube roll pin will round out your required tools. I have pulled and assembled uppers without the upper receiver fixture, but you risk damaging the upper because it is not supported correctly. If you want to get into 3-gunning, invest in a quality upper assembly and a trigger for your current lower. I would go with an 18" with a rifle or mid length gas system and a good free float handguard. There are several makers that have quality setups that would cost only a little more that you would have to spend to convert your current upper. I started my foray into competitive 3-gun shooting with a little M4 clone. It served me well and I learned a few things that pointed me in the right direction when it came time for me to upgrade. Go shoot what you have for a couple of matches and then make an informed decision.

Does anyone know what the 3 Gun Nation tour will be for 2012? There are no updates on the website.

Great looking setup. Not to be a party pooper or anything, but I don't think the Remington rifle sights are a go for WWII division. 6.5.3 WWII Shotgun b. Electronic, optical and rifle-style sights are prohibited I am currently signed up for heavy optic, but WWII is sounding like more fun each day.

You are opening up the floodgates with that question. I shoot a Noveske SPR 18", but we all like different things. A friend of mine picked up a LaRue Predatar 18" for under $1500 and I think that is the best monetary deal going right now for a high quality rifle. Beware though, the handguard is a proprietary version of the one on the OBR and OBR Lite. It is the only one that will go on the rifle. Good thing that it is already good to go. You can get several good guns for under $1200. Buy quality the 1st time resist the urge to hang a bunch of unnecessary gucci junk all over it. Buy lots of quality ammo and learn to shoot it slick before you start adding to it.

Trace, As far as ballistic information on .223 goes I don't have any particular books in mind. 1760yds is correct on Litz's book being the most informative on long range shooting. A buddy of mine has used the data and information to work his data and he now gets hits on 4 ft square steel at 1700 yards with a little ol' .300 WinMag. I find that impressive since he is getting hits at ranges that were once only a dream with a .300 WinMag. If you want easy to read and very thorough information on what your bullet will do, I suggest the Nightforce EXBAL program. You can put in all of the data that you want (atmospheric, wind, etc.) and it will spit out the numbers. I use it after I find out my true muzzle velocity and it usually will get me within 1 MOA at any distance. If you want to get the hits regardless of distance, get good quality ammo (something that shoots under 2 inches at 100 yds) and practice the fundamentals. Work your range drills to where you can get into a position and get stable very quickly without any lag time. Know you holds so you can get hits quickly. This goes for irons or scopes. Dialing elevation on your scope for every distance will burn up too much time and you can get lost in the revolutions. Once you have decided on the distance that you are going to have your rifle zeroed, head out and work in 50 yard increments. When I run iron sights, I use a 300 yard zero. This allows me to hold 6 o'clock on targets out to 240 yds or so. If it is at 300 yds I hold right on it and at 400 yds I have to hold approximately 15" high to hit a B/C plate in the center. If I have to go out to 500 yds, I dial up and hold dead on. With a scope I try to use one that has a BDC reticle or a verticle stadia with 1 mil lines. The scope companies are usually pretty close when it comes to the BDC's, but you still have to shoot at those distances to know if your load will really match up. Your Vortex Viper PST is a more than suitable scope for any 3 gun course that I have been on. Just know that the holds you use when you are at 4x are going to be different on powers 1 thru 3.9X. Shooting in wind is another thing. You can make yourself bleed from the ears by thinking about it too much. There are some very good and easy to use wind formulas out there, but there is no substitute for going out and shooting in windy conditions. Find out how much you have to hold and write it in a data book so you can reference it later. I am by no means a rifle guru and the one time that I shot with you in a USPSA match I was way to slow and far too accurate (too much time taken to get that alpha instead of taking the charlie). I have been shooting 3 gun for a little while and my rifle is really what carries me. Kuan

Any updates on the divisions having enough competitors to make it? I am signed up for Tac Iron, but the sign up sounds a little too light for the division to make. I have a Heavy Tac (and Heavy Metal) setup also and need to know which one I need to load for. We are down to 15 days and counting, so any info would help.

It's a little bit of a haul for you, but Tac Pro Shooting Center in Mingus has no ammo limitations other than NO TRACER. You can shoot to your heart's content on the 100/200 yard range. You can shoot at 300, 400, and 500 yards on the 1000 KD range only if you are a member. http://www.tacproshootingcenter.com/

I believe that you have it right when you say iron sights only. 6.2.1 describes the allowances on tactical class rifle (in automotive terms, think chassis, not windshield). 8.3.1 states the description for the class (we usually call it a division). Tactical Class Iron Sighted Rifle (read class, not equipment description) allows the use of a rifle that meets tactical class specs, but you can only shoot it with iron sights. No 1x optic. Either way I am signed up for Tactical Class Iron Sighted Rifle, so there are at least 3 of us.

No problems with them in over 3 years of dumping in a barrel during grounding on both an .223 and .308 AR . I modified it slightly by drilling and tapping the side of the housing and the folding tower itself. I secure it in the upright position with a 10-32 tpi screw. The screw will also remove all the wobble that you get from the tower portion. Simply take the screw out to fold it back down. The center pivot pin is about a 10 in size and it has proved itself to be strong enough. I also red loctite the screws and use the green wicking grade under the clamping surfaces to keep it from turning. I haven't had any problems with barrel heat defeating the loctite.

I don't have any experience with their 22 lr products, but I do have one of their M4 style uppers in .223. The fit and finish are on line with other quality manufacturers and it has been flawless in operation.

I have shot in a few night matches where both rifle and pistol were used, and having it weapon mounted was an obvious advantage. I found that a relatively inexpensive light like the Streamlight TLR-1 clamped onto a small rail section at 10 o'clock on the rifle forend was the best. I operate the light with my support hand thumb. This allows me to add it only when I need to. The rocker-type switch on the end allows you to turn it on and not have to worry about applying pressure to a tape switch. You can also put the light on your handgun too if it has a rail and your holster will accomodate it. I usually go with a handheld light when using the handgun as I don't like pulling apart my working gear to just to use the holster. You can also go a little cheaper by putting a Streamlight PolyTac light in a 1 inch weaver ring and put that on a piece of rail. That whole combo will run you less than 50 dollars and it even has a momentary / click-on tailcap so you can hit it and run. Hope this helps.

Like JJ said, tear it down and give it a good cleaning. Try a box or 2 of different ammo also. I used to shoot Remington Heavy Dove exclusively in my 870 for 10 years +, but then I got hold of a couple of cases that would hang up and give tough extraction every other shot. I also found another batch that had extremely hard primers in them that caused fail to fire in the M2 on several occasions (TX Multigun 2011 was one such occasion and it caused me to drop from the top 10 by 1 spot.). Sometimes you can end up with a bad lot of ammo that looks fine from the outside. I made the switch to Remington STS and Win AA and they run great in all of my shotguns.

Sounds like the next step is to get happy with a file and take a little off the end of the welded lifter. I have mine back to about 1/8th of an inch clearance from the back of the shell in the mag tube.

Additional details would help. Is the shell angled up or is it lined up straight with the chamber?. Pictures would be even better. Which ammo are you trying to run?

Weld it to prevent painful and embarrassing moments. I watched a buddy of mine trash a 25+ shot shotgun stage when the band-aid that he kept on his thumb hitch-hiked its way into the mag tube and bound up the shells. It turned his M2 into a single shot.

If it is for the M1A it will not. Even the kydex pouches for Knight / DPMS pattern guns are a tight fit when you use P-MAGS.

I followed in the steps of a lot of great heavy shooters like Patrick and shot an M1A for years at RM3G. It is still probably my favorite rifle to shoot there, but I have been dabbling around with AR pattern 308's at a few of the matches. I have finally settled on the Noveske N6 with a 16" bbl. DSG Arms has helped me with this rifle and with the proper comp it shoots with less recoil than my M1A. It is a lot easier to scope for heavy optics than my beloved M1A too. I will be sticking with irons, but I can scope it for heavy tac class like at the TX MG Championship.

Another reason to drive to Raton again. I'll be there to try and redeem myself after my ammo issues (self inflicted) at RM3G this year.

I am now the owner of 2 nightforce scopes. One of them being from the prize table at RM3G (Thanks Denise!). Through personal experience I have found only one other brand that allows improved light transmission, and that is Schmidt and Bender. The Nightforce 1-4 is super clear, but the reticle choices are so-so. The mil-dot and npr reticles are very fine and hard to pick up when moving. The FC-2 is o.k., but there is no vertical stadia to assist with holdover for long shots. The FC-2 does have a post at the bottom, but that is 10 minutes from the dot. I like the look of the new velocity reticles that they offer, but they start in the 2.5-10 scopes and are not listed for the 1-4. The Leupold M2 is good, but I prefer a true 1x mag for close targets. The CMR 2 reticle is a big improvement over the SPR reticle, but it is still a 1.5-5 scope. Until the VX-6 shows up on the market, I will stay clear of the 1.5-5. I have no experience with the TR-24, but a buddy of mine is evaluating one at a DM course this weekend and will give me some good feedback. I currently run a Burris TAC 30 for Tac Optics, but with me that may change with the wind. Like Alamo Shooter said, try out all of the scopes that you can beg or borrow.