Bill Schwab

Tom, I was trying to circumvent telling the story of Tripp mags, but you've backed me into a corner Tripp's original 10 rnd 40 mags were not up to par. He didn't make them long enough, so you had spring stack and they were a bear to seat with the slide forward. They also didn't like to drop out of the gun. I bought four of these. After discovering the problems I let Virgil know. He seemed already aware of the issues and said he was going to fix the design. Weeks go by and I receive two Tripp mags which have been redesigned. The new design is slightly (about 0.1") longer than the old ones and have a slightly different basepad design (the new design has a rib running down the front of the basepad). So here I am, newly built EGW 40, two good mags, and four bad ones and dying to shoot the new gun in matches. Tom, you may have noticed me constantly shifting the mags in my pouches, this was because I was loading 9 rounds in the bad mags (so they could seat properly) and therefore had to plan the 10 round mags to be in the right place at the right time. Problem with this was that the older mags don't drop like they should. Soooo, Tripp's new mags, which I am sure are the only ones you can now buy, are good...

They're great mags, I've been using them since they came out. They disassemle easily, so you can clean them at a match if you drop this in sand, and they're built like a tank, the spring is the thickest diameter mag spring I've ever seen used, and the follower design seems ultra rugged. HOWEVER, I do ocassionally have the slide fail to lock back with these mags, but I, as a rule, don't run the gun dry so it's not an issue. Let me know if you have any specific questions...

Tom, Glad to help, and yes it was an excellent squad, it's really amazing how much shooting enjoyment comes from the people we shoot with vice the shooting. I have to say again that I was stunned how much better you shoot that Glock than the STI Limited gun I watched you shoot last year. As for safety glasses for kids: just yesterday I ordered two pairs of S&W Mini-Magnums from safetyglasses.com I'll let you know what approx age boy they fit. Bill

I know this has been said before (I know by Steve Anderson), but I'm so excited I have to repeat it. After reading Sam Conway's book (mentioned in another thread) I decided to make my dry firing sessions a bit more intense by using the par time function on my Pact MKIV. I've been doing this for just over a week, just about every day, for an hour a day. I dry fire at a given par time for five reloads or draws, then reduce the time by 0.05 seconds, 5 more, repeat and repeat until I can't beat the time. Let me preface this by saying that I've been having difficulty reducing my reload times. Monthes ago I set a goal to reduce my reload times by 0.2-0.3 seconds before the end of this season. Last week when I started this par time dry firing I was a skeptic, but now in one week I've reduced my dry fire reloads by 0.15-0.2 seconds and I've learned exactly what my reloads need to feel like for it to be smokin'. I started last week bottoming out on my reloads at 1.35 seconds (obviously this includes reaction time), just now I was hitting 60% of the 1.2 second par times. My draw times are coming down too, it's so sweet trying something new and having instant results. All I can say if hallelujah, I have seen the light.

Steve, VERY Nice!!! A few questions: 1. Does that scope mount get in your way (on the left side) if you have to start a stage with the gun dry and load 'er up? 2. Did you modify the right side ambi safety, or did it come like that? Just curious. I have problems getting a safety on the right side that doesn't bug the crap out of me, I ride the gun super high on that side. Again, VERY nice.

A friend of mine turned me on to this. It's impressive software to say the least. It has a decent variety of full sized IPSC targets and you can size the target down to fit on a 8 1/2 X 11 OR you can size it down further by simulating a distance of your choice. Plus it has a bunch of other targets ranging from Olympic to silhouette to sight-in. You get it free for 14 days, then, if you want to keep it, it's $14.95. http://www.mcw-tech.com/TargetExpress/Default.asp

I hope so, my weak hand shooting is sloppy, LOL. I recently purchased an old Ernie Hill left hand holster for $20 with the intent of learning to shoot well with my left hand. I plan to shoot it in IDPA matches over the winter. Anyway, what's helped my weak hand shooting the most is shooting 10 shot slow fire groups at 25 yards weak hand. In fact I can now shoot better groups weak hand that I can strong hand. But my weak hand shooting goes to hell when I have to do it fast. I'm babbling, and adding to thread drift..... I recall Jack Barnes & Travis Tomasie shared some experiences regarding mastering weak hand a long time ago...

I started mousing with my left hand about a year and a half ago and I do not think it has helped my weak hand shooting at all. I mouse weak hand at work and strong hand at home.

I've seen this book advertised for a few monthes now in the Front Sight, but figured it wouldn't be what I expected and thus a waste of money. A few weekends ago I find myself at the Area 8 Championship and low and behold one of the vendors has a copy. This book is set up nice, very organized. The author goes through some basics on technique, but then gets in to real great detail on how to move (entering/exiting boxes, shooting on the move, opening doors, ports). He lays down a philosophy for how to organize your live fire sessions, and gives you a 6 week sample. The back of the book is an appendix of all the live fire drills he uses. I thought I had a good live fire training routine prior to reading this book, now I know otherwise. I think the drills and awesome descriptions of how to move will definetly help me improve faster. I wish I had this book three years ago when I started ipsic. The author uses a lot of Rob Leatham training technique. My only gripe with the book is that it didn't offer more advice/guidance on dry firing.

Nice seeing you again too Jon. Next time we should try squadding up together. Are you going to the VA-MD Section Match in October?

Yeah, and in MD they consider loaded mags to be a loaded gun even if the mags and gun are stored separately, so on the way home make sure you fully download all mags.

I'm with rhino, even though I can usually hit paper targets inside of 15 yards without the sights. If you dry fire enough you will gain a great index. I NEVER see anything like a ghostly image of the gun, maybe I should

Yeah, I know. I was thanking him for not shooting Lim-10 like he was signed to. I know he would have spanked me, I'm thankful he switched to Limited.

They definetly put on a good show, I wish I would have known earlier that they have that good of matches there. Phil, thanks for switching to Limited from Lim-10, .

WST rocks in a 45...

I've been playing with Goo and have had good results thus far. I am 30 and in decent physical condition. I was worried that the caffeine in Goo would make me squirrely, or more so than usual, because I have a very limited caffeine intake (green tea and some occassional chocolate), but it actually seems to help. As a side note, I was squadded at the Virginia Summer Blast with a big guy who was looking pretty bad by the last stage; I offered him a Goo, he took it and did really good on that last stage, he seemed VERY impressed by the Goo...it returned his energy and mental focus. It certainly may have had a placebo effect, but maybe not...

Looks like we're in for a great match Dave, I can't wait!!

I haven't seen this one before.... http://jvdynamics.com/nrg/multimedia.php

It was great meeting you too Jon. Was cool meeting TRN & IPSCG34 too. The Fredericksburg crew hosts some great matches, even their monthly matches are awesome. And those RO's worked their butts off, it was an oven out there.

That's good, there's a huge demand for EE's.

Eric, What type of engineering are you studying? Just curious...

WOW I didn't know who she was, so I did a google search and found this: http://www.geocities.com/joanseverance2/ Don't look through the gallery of pics if you have kids looking over your shoulder...

Sheldon, How well did it work?

I've fired over 20k rounds in the past two years through my crusty old SA 45 shooting Limited-10 and it has been my experience that the Wilson 10 rounders are THE best. BUT the only other 10 round mag I have tried in the Ed Brown, which are made by Metalform. The Brown's get unreliable after awhile and the replacement springs they sell for them suck. Conversely the Wilson's stay reliable, even with 10 year old springs. I did have the tab that prevents overinsertion break off of one Wilson mag body, but Wilson sent a new tube for free. My vote goes to Wilson.

I've been thinking alot about balance lately, not sure why, but I found these neat drills to improve your balance: http://www.bbhighway.com/talk/Coaching_Box..._foundation.asp