vluc

I understand Mtrout as I was at that stage as tear down was occuring. Mtrout had left, and i ran the stage for a bit until some other folks came by to help out. As a new RO, I helped run a side match last month, and this was my first time on a large stage (and a really excellent one by the way). Some folks in question did a huge amount of complaining and, what i felt, was personal attack on Mtrout. Whether because of their age they can't run with him, or its just envy that a relatively young and new shooter is at the level he is at, i don't know. But these two guys...one in particular, just took exception to everything and anything that was said, especially trying to quote the rule book on an issue of shooting steel when the range had already made clear its stance due to bay size. For me, the match was excellent and I always thank the RO's. The nice part was that my first attempt (with some tweaking by one of our folks) at a COF was used as one of the stages. hehe...mine was the one forced you to go weak-handed...maybe we should hold it back and dust it off for the Tri State??? I was unable to stay late to tear down, and unfortuanelty my work keeps me out such that I don't have the ability to help set up. But I do volunteer to run stages, don't mind working my butt off (RO work is HARD!), and support this club as much as I can. it's been good to me and I want to return the favor. Breaking for lunch is no issue...these guys needed it as we had a large group of folks and the stages were not quickies. Had to think and plan, not just spray and pray. Mtrout, print out a schedule to post on the door so folks know when they come to register that there will be a break for lunch. Force them to squad up in advance so they can't complain about waiting, and F*&k them if they can't deal with it.

Ditto! Took mine in February with Perry Wilson. We had a roomful and I learned more in that two days that I could have just going out and shooting.

I had been closing my weak eye and using one eye to aim. Was doing okay, but then started noticing how many folks had the tape on their glasses. i gave it a try, worked nice, looked for the magic dot, saw what it was, and realized that the material was the same thing as the screen protectors for my palm pilot. So, took a penny, traced over the protector, cut it out and I have a dot! Used it in a recent match (IDPA) and came in 4th of 15 in SSP. Much better than I usually do. Used it in a steel shoot, also was able to aquire targets much faster and more confidently. So, i'll use it until I can get myself trained to not need it.

Good words of advice from all! Thanks, as that has had me scratchign my head. I, as a newbie, do put too much pressure on myself to excel at the classifier. Now, I want to try to just put it out of my mind and not worry about it. i think the cause is too much of wanting to move up before i may be ready!

I think flexmoney hit the nail on the head. When I started thinking of IDPA in that way (or was it thinking of production like IDPA)...can't remember, but I approach both the same way now, and saw a definate increase in my USPSA scores when I did.

I started using it a few weeks ago, and my pistols seem to cyccle better. I seem to acquire the next target a shade faster. This is both at indoor range practice and outdoor matches. I don't know whether its the SG or i'm getting a touch better, or the SG is giving me one less thing to "worry" about, but I've been quite pleased since switching to it.

Ouch...well, as we are relating... Shot my first bigger match last September - TriStates at East Huntingdon. One stage "Osama bin Loading" I think was the name....any rate, large number of targets visible only from certain angles through barricades (more a memory test than anything else). Had just returned from lunch, I was first or second on this stage, did the walk through...thought I was ready. As i usually load and check after the previous round, I did not check, so....get up to the stage, LAMR with my full "loading" magazine, remove it and slip the next mag on the belt in. Start the run, first 10 go off fine, reload, bang, bang, bang, click, click. Reload. bang, bang, bang, click...same for the remaining mags. Time was terrible, ended up finishing with the laoding mag, but what a disaster...and me a newbie to boot!

Makes sense to me as I see the same thing. Shot a SIG 226 last year in production (USPSA) and it and a 225 in IDPA. I notice that after dry fire practice - or at the indoor range where I also do DA only practice - that subsequent SA shots are a whole lot easier. While I have since switched to a Glock for USPSA, I still shoot the SIG's in IDPA and continue to practice the way you have described. Perception is reality!

Vince, thanks. My comment was directed more towards COF's than anything else. I cannot speak for how Nationals and other major tournaments are set up. I can speak at a local level where I find more that are really geared for limited and open shooters than production. Hopefully, as I advance and can design a cof that can be utilized, I will make it geared more to those of us who want to see quality cof rather than round counts. It is my opinion that production is at a disadvantage. From holster location to scoring and a a variety of other factors, I believe that. But I shoot anyway because - as I said, I shoot for myself not for someone else. I like the game enough to have become a certified RO, and recognize the only way to change and improve things is by getting involved, not by standing on the sidelines and kvetching.

We have two new shooters (a father and daughter) that have joined USPSA and shoot with us. Both shoot production, and both do the same thing - pull the hammer back on first shot. As they are new, the RO let them go but did tell them to work on and practice dry firing. The daughter just does not like the pull on the pistol she is using. I shoot/shot a SIG 226 in production and dry fired an awful lot to get to know the pistol. When the buzzer goes off, I do not even notice the DA...which is what I told them as well. And as we are already at a disadvantage shooting production to begin with, go ahead and throw one down range with that first shot...probably takes less time to pull the trigger than pull the hammer back , reacquire sight picture, etc. I'd say look at reducing the mainspring or other trigger work on it. Depending on how you position the pistol when drawing back the hammer, there is always the risk of breaking the 180..

Dogma, I'm one. Shoot production, also shoot IDPA. I shoot because I like to, to develop better skills and abilities. Not my intention to get into those classes. That being said, I never thought I would get the shooting bug this bad, though. What started as an expansion of shooting - got very tired of standing at the indoor range punching holes in paper - has developed into a hobby and passion of sorts for me. Still not as good as I want to be (yet), but I can shoot a lot as my toys are quite affordable, they are (to me) more realistic and geared to what I want to use them for, and I don't really give a flying flip if other shooters make fun of me or not. I just ignore them - the joys of having good muffs! I get some of that "IDPA weinie" stuff, but I still like to shoot it. And since I shoot for me, and not them...

I believe that there is a formula for size and distance on this thread: http://www.brianenos.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard...=8&topic=27 (Edited by vluc at 4:54 pm on April 26, 2002)

wow...great replies...keep 'em coming! A follow-up. I plan to test all of them again outside, as my first test was indoors. i needed to know what they were doing and access to an outdoor range is limited and I did not want to wait. What's been the experience on differences for those that have done both indoor and outdoor chrono of loads? I have this little voice telling me that outdoors is going to be higher than the indoors due to temerature differences and that I should/may be fine with that current load. Some discrepancies may have arisen as I do find that the dillon will dump a slightly larger charge into the next case if there is a pause or lull in my reloading routine. Each lot of rounds had the same cases. When I say I mix, it's not that they are all in a bag and I just pull randomly. I load all Win, or all fc or all whatever, so these three pistols were all using the same brand of cases, all made in the same run on the same date. (Edited by vluc at 7:54 am on April 23, 2002)

bseevers, here is some additional data. Glock 34 string 1 - spread 34 fps, Standard deviation 10.14 string 2 - spread 18, SD 6.32 SIG 226 string 1 - ES 31, SD 9.75 string 2 - ES 27, SD 9.38 SIG 225 string 1 - ES 45, SD 16.4 string 2 - ES 18, SD 6.55

Thanks bseevers. I will get the SD info and post it from my record sheets. Interesting to hear that the shooting chrony appears 25 fps slower. If that is the case, then the load does not need changed at all as it would bump up to a PF of 130. I really do not want to go too much to the max (conservative though it may be) as I did do a few loads awhile back and did not like the sharpness of the recoil at 4.4 as compared to the 4.2. As for the brass. While I use several brands, I'm anal in that I do sort it and load them seperate so i have a run of one, a run of another, and document that on my boxes. (Edited by vluc at 5:39 pm on April 22, 2002)

flexmoney, I'm using Winchester primers and 124 grain FMJ, round nose Montana Golds. Cases are a mixed lot - Winchester, Federal, PMC, PMP... I really like this load and the bullets. Nice shooting and quite accurate...nothing like confidence in the load you make!

Which is the best way to go to increase velocity (and power factor) - decreasing the OAL or increasing the charge? I have a load of 9mms that test out like this: 9mm, 124 grain Montana Gold, 4.2 grains Titegroup at 1.16 oal chronographed indoors with a shooting chrony and chrony indoor light fixtures. Each pistol had two strings of 10 shots fired. Shoot, set down pistol, record score, shoot... Glock 34 1113 fps PF 138 Sig 226 1028 fps, PF 127 SIG 225 1022 fps, PF 126 I shoot both USPSA and IDPA. The Glock does not concern me as I have room to spare above that 125 PF. But I use the SIG's in IDPA and that's a touch too tight. I like loading long...it is very reliable in its feeding and the loads shoot excellent...very little deviation in the strings. So...do I wait and chrono outdoors to see what the difference is or begin to adjust the loads? If I adjust the loads, do I go to the maximum charge Hodgdon lists (4.4 at 1.09)? Their data indicates I can get 1126 out of a 4" barrel, but with the OAL set at 1.09, not the 1.16 I really like. So, as the topic states...do I address the OAL or the charge? Any and all help is appreciated.

ditto! We have a new father/daughter combo that has joined our area, and she is a trooper...does not get down or quit when it isn't happening for her, and is eager to learn and asks questions - and dad is incredibly supportive. A refreshing breeze compared to some!

detlef, well put! I'm only at about the 5-7k a year shooting, and it probably will become a pain! Haven't aggravated the UPS drivers yet, though I do imagine they wonder what all this stuff is that is coming to my house...probably put me on a watch list! I've just been reloading a short time and already find there is no way out except to go cold turkey, but to have to shoot factory rounds again....

I bought my Dillon specifically to do 9mm first, and will branch out to 40 and 45 later. My costs are 3.70 for a box of 50, I buy bullets in lots of 4K, powder will soon come in kegs, and the primers are a deal. I make the rounds I like with the pep I want and that my pistols like, and take a great deal of satisfaction in the end product. Brass I have coming out the wazoo since I have been a brass monkey since before I started reloading...I bought the Dillon while I had 6k brass in coffee cans. Do I save money? No, but once I've shot 4,760 rounds or so, it has paid for my Dillon...and its half paid now! As for time, yes, mine is valuable, but there is also something to say for that quiet time doing reloading. And, I shoot an awful lot more than I did before and am seeing improvement, and that's the name of the game.

My thanks to all of you...took the information to heart and have been walking around heel/toe versus "walking". Feels good, but will have to see how it plays at next weeks match!

As Ron mentioned in the need for speed thread about shooting on the move, I have a question on technique. As a newbie I know that I should do it, but finding that good technique is not there. I can't seem to find a rhythym...do I shoot off of the left foot each time it touches down, or the right, or do I fire each time a foot touches down? Or do I let the COF dictate which is used?

Like many of you, I started it to get more range time. IPSC first, then IDPA. Two different pistols to play with. I like both for different reasons and play both for different reasons. LOL...most of the folks I play with play both as well!