TRNinTX

The Chevy 2500 HD with Duramax/Allison is the combo. My wife has a 2000 Chevy 2500, I got the HD in April. On our trip to the Florida Open I got 20 mpg and I can pull 16,000 lbs. Chevy's extended cabs and interior are comfortable and the ride is great. My oldest son, Kyle, found out last week that the only thing 4x4 will do is get you stuck where nobody can get you out. Took us a day and a half to get the truck out of 2 1/2 ft of snow. (Edited by TRNinVA at 3:21 pm on Feb. 27, 2003)

I have spent the last two days trying to dig out of the record snow storm. Finally got one truck out of the driveway today. Had to dig the 4WD tractor out twice trying to get hay to the horses. Tomorrow's job is to get the 1/2 mile of road clear so I can get to pavement, then think about getting the other two vehicles out. Living in the sticks has its negatives, but all will be forgotten when springtime comes and its a 100 yd walk to the range.

Phil's shop, Shooter's Paradise, is in Woodbridge, VA. He is selling a full line of firearms, holsters, ammo, CR Speed competition gear, and Dillon reloading eqpt and supplies. He has just finished a major investment in renovating the indooor range. New backstop, lights, tables at the lane positions, etc. Phil hopes to begin holding IPSC, IDPA and other shooting events on his range in the near future. He also offers beginner to advanced instruction. If you are in the area, stop by and give him some business.

My .02 is to get more families involved. My oldest son shot his first match three years ago at 17 after seeing coverage of Nationals on American Shooter . owns three guns and is now a B class Limited shooter. My youngest and I watched for about six months and could not stand it any longer. My youngest shot his first match at the NRA range at the age of 11, paid for his G34 out of his savings and is now A class in Production. We now travel , shoot matches, run matches, practice, dry fire and reload together. It has been one of the most rewarding things we have done as a family. USPSA has taught the boys responsiblity and given my wife and I the assurance that they have learned the best gun handling skills there are. As a club we are in the process of putting together a short video of area matches and club matches showing shooters of all abilities, from C and D class to GMs (Phil Strader shoots with us on a regular basis). We have recently had several new shooters that Phil recruited from a local PD and I am taking the video to area LE firearms instructors to try and generate interest. I know--cops with guns is scary!

Flex, You got it! The boys paid for their guns and any repairs, parts or mods that they want (gives them an investment in the sport). Dad pays for reloading supplies and match fees. USPSA has given us countless hours together over the last two years and some good ole interfamily competition. It has given the boys a level of maturity and lets them know their Mom and I trust them that I'm not sure any other sport allows. I can also be the proud Dad when they beat me and most other adults on the range(but I never quit trying to beat them). It's a long story on how we got started, we are going to try our best to make the Buckeye Blast(somehow work and finances always get in the way), and maybe we can tell tales over a beer.

I believe there is a different mindset in shooting L10 vs Lim. I shoot a box stock Springfield SS (thanks to Kyle, above) and I have watched many of the "downloaders" run their gun dry while shooting big field courses because they forget "the plan". That being said, I don't know that I will ever catch up to my boys, but through dry fire and practice, I have made great progress in my abilities. I can attest that it is great fun for a old fat guy with a skinny gun to beat a young skinny guy with a fat gun!

Quote: from EricW on 3:12 pm on Jan. 16, 2003 I'm rethinking the desirability of neighbors. The mountop hideout retreat is sounding better by the day... That's the very reason that four years ago we moved from the DC metro area to a small farm in the Shenandoah Valley. Nearest neighbor is 1/4 mi, we built our own range(an afternoon of practice or testing a new load requires a walk of only 100 yds), I can walk out in my BVD's and nobody's around, and being able to look a mountains out three sides of the house. The only bad thing is the 1 1/2 hr drive back to the city every day to be able to afford the place, but I'm working on that too!

Quote: from Flexmoney on 3:10 pm on Jan. 15, 2003 Phil, Who is this BJ Norris punk??? Whoops, wrong screen name. (Edited by TRNinVA at 9:02 pm on Jan. 17, 2003)

Everything is the same except you can make a speed load.

This is reviving an old post, however. IPSC G34 & I shot the IPSC match at the NRA HQ on Tuesday. TJ was there and said he shot a 3.78 El Prez 3 pts down last month in a match. That's smokin'! There was a stage on Tuesday that had left to right a bowling pin, static, drop turner, static, & bowling pin. You had to open a door to activate the drop turner and see the array. TJ opened the door, came in on the left bowling pin and went left to right and still got his hits on the DT. It was fun to watch.

I got a definitive reply from John Amidon yesterday by email that the XD is legal for USPSA Production.

I agree that within your division it doesn't matter, everyone is on a level playing fieild. However, the Powers to Be in USPSA must make that distinction if they are truly serious about divisions standing on their own. It was discouraging at FGN to see the higher places in Prod and Rev go to the prize table at #100 and above.

Flex, At one of our local matches this summer Rudi Waldinger, of FGN shoot off fame, brought his Open revolver and won the match! He is amazing to watch, nothing but A's.

My 13 yr old shoots a G34 in Production and can shoot with the GMs on speed shoots. He hasn't quite figured out the strategy part on field courses yet! At our last local match he had a .85 draw to A on one stage and at the Tri State a .95 draw from a sitting position. He dry fires every day and is now trying to save his money to build a plastic Open gun. Claims he wants to be the first to Jr GM shooting a Glock. I agree that its not the gun, but the dedication behind the triggger. Tiger Woods could beat 99% of the golfers with thier whiz bang, graphite shaft, extra long, no miss hit, $500/club golf clubs with an off the shelf set of clubs from K-Mart!

My sons and I drove up from VA and had a great time. The boys post here more than I as PK and IPSC G34. the only complaint we had was long wait around lunch time. I don't know if a squad took lunch early or not but our squad waited a good 1.5 hours after lunch break to shoot our next stage. Of course if everyone shot for a minute and a half on Tailgunner like I did then no wonder things backed up! Wish I had the chance to meet some of you, we were the squad with three Jrs., (my 13 and 19 yr olds and Brad Balsey), and then there were three older distinguished gentlemen. Definitely a tough match for L10 and Prod. Careful planning or quite a few standing reloads. Thanks to everyone involved for a great match.

Phil, I left 350-400 pieces of brass at the store today. Good Luck at WS Tim

Chris, I had a round hit the edge of the popper in front of the activator on that stage and knocked both poppers down. Things started moving before I was ready! You talk about a plan going out the window in a hurry.

Sincity, I know what you mean. I have been shooting for almost two years and I have passed two milestones in my opinion this summer. The first was when I was able to start calling shots on a regular basis (not all the time, but more often than not). However I had the same problem you are talking about. I was already to the next target or on my way to the next array when my mind caught up with my eyes. Just recently I have reached the point where a lot of the time I see a miss and can process that information fast enough to make it up without hesitation. That is way cool! In my case it was just shooting and shooting until my feeble mind could process all the information at once.