wmiller45

Well, if the person wants to shoot somewhere other than their home state/country where others are NOT restricted (like a regional or national competition), it would be more difficult to be competitive. Besides, I would like nothing better than to pitch the fat-body high caps in favor of my old single stack 38 Super. But then that's just me.

I guess it would be 'B'. I used to care about my classification, and winning, but I told myself when I started shooting again that I would do it to have a good time with (usually) a great bunch of folks. It's fun to watch the younger flat-bellies going at warp speed, and I love the challange of the various stages.

It was a great deal of fun, once my trigger finger got used to full-auto mode. Lotsa targets, many up close and personal. The one big problem I had was the wind/dust. Many targets were close (distance wise) and near the ground such that when blasting away a huge cloud of dust would actually envelop the shooter! About the 3rd or 4th stage, my gun started malfunctioning... It was full of grit. Cleaned it and managed to finish the match. Great fun! I've just moved to Chandler, AZ and once I get a reloader set up, I will try the monthly matches both here and Rio. 'Course not having shot since this match, I'll have to re-learn how to hold the gun again. I hate getting old... Bill Miller (Edited by wmiller45 at 10:16 pm on Feb. 5, 2003)

This was my first match at Rio since the '91 Ernie Hill. The biggest change I noticed was all the running! 'Course someone only 2 years from Senior WOULD notice that eh? Having only shot for 4 months, after a 10 year layoff, I was very happy with my 55th overall. Only crashed and burned on one stage, and stage #10 was my best/highest finish?!?! Next time I'll have a classification... (Edited by wmiller45 at 8:45 am on Nov. 12, 2002)

Just got an email today saying that the match is full, with a large waiting list, and a offer to refund your match fee if you can't make the match. Boy am I glad I sent my entry in early! Question: I only have three classifiers as of right now, so I will not have a classification for the match. Do they still throw unclassifieds into A class? Bill M.

Hey! No need to jump the fence to open, I like being in a small(er) group. The last time I shot the Area 2 it was still called the Ernie Hill. I would imagine things have changed considerably since then. Bill M

Ah...looks like the Scott grip on my SV. Not exactly pretty, but it works REAL good.

Ah...looks like the lists posted at the match weren't the finals? I got moved/bumped(?) on these pages. No biggie. Still got my plaque.

Hey Mark, What squad? I was in #1. We (Pima Pistol) managed first limited overal, first A limited, second A overal, first A open, first C, first Senior, and a couple of others I can't remember. I ended up first A open, second A overall. All in all a good time was had by everyone, or so it seemed. That pig tasted real good too. I will put this one on my calendar for next year.

tightloop-- Yea, but it's a non-linear scale. In your twenties and thirties, a year or two/three/four didn't seem to make that much of a difference. On the downhill slide to the big Five-oh, things change from month-to-month. Yes, I know we have a bunch of folks here that are older....but I don't wanna hear it! ;)

Hey thanks everyone! Now I know how I'll score them when I'm a RO at the local match. (Edited by wmiller45 at 2:42 pm on Aug. 5, 2002)

Oops, that should read: a bullet's passage will leave a slightly smaller hole. Especially a round nose. So, therefore, the bullet may have touched the line, folded it over, and left it intact. Is that what happened here? However, upon inspection, the perf was straight, not folded over into the bullet hole. This was really hard for everyone to call. Took them almost 4 min. to do so. They definately didn't 'give the nod' to the shooter.

Hey Vince, Thanks for replying. This was the first 'big' match that this club put on. Not that that makes a difference, but maybe? There was actually cardboard still intact on the OUTSIDE of the perf. Really. But the ruling was that because there was a 'burn mark' on/just over the perf (the paper folded over as the bullet passed through as they usually do, putting a mark over the perf without breaking it) it was scored as a hit on the hostage. He didn't use (nor did anyone else) an overlay. I read 9.5.5, and I consider it vague for the following reason: A bullet's passage through cardboard will not cut clean. Especially a round nose. And the typical hole left is larger than the bullet's diameter, if only slightly. There is a portion of the cardboard that is folded over, not cut/displaced by the bullet's passage and this is what has the mark. So....if a bullet folds enough cardboard to include the perf, but not touch or break it, how is that scored? It is not explicitly stated in the rule 9.5.5 I know, we're talking tenths of inches here, but I simply would like a definitive answer here for future purposes. Thanks. (Edited by wmiller45 at 12:48 pm on Aug. 5, 2002)

When I used to shoot a Para, one of the first things I did was to get a S&A mag release. My reasoning was that if I had my trigger finger doing the mag release, it wasn't in the trigger guard, I didn't have to shift my hand to hit a standard release (read: Much Faster), and I didn't need one of those fat, easy-to-accidently-release mag buttons. Now if I could just change my new SV over....

Wow, this conversation was going on in the mid-80s when I started. Still going eh? I love it when someone who has an advantage (running speed, accuracy, whatever) wants stages with this in it, because it gives them an edge. I agree with Brian, no I'm not sucking up, about the 'old days', and what constituted a good stage. Then came, "Oh, we have to have movement to cancel out the advantage of the fast shooters, we have to have more targets to cancel out the accurate shooters, we have to have small ports to cancel out the advantage of the scope guns, we have to have....". You get the idea. We have a very accurate, pretty fast limited shooter who gets real upset (whines?) if every target is not covered with no-shoots and hardcover. Could this be because he can't compete with the open guners that can shoot faster than he can? If so, why are his panties all wadded in a knot? He is shooting Limited, we're shooting Open. We're competing in different classes no? No. He wants to win the match. A good friend is of the opinion that wind sprints are a good thing (he's one of these youngster, flat-belly types who runs real fast, shoots real fast, and has lousy hits). I suggested he get his .22 rifle and skis and go compete in the biathalon (sp?). Good thing we're friends, because I think he wanted to take a swing at me....hehe. There is no point to my 'opinion' here, other than I don't believe we'll ever get everyone to agree on anything. It would be nice however, if the people responsible for stage design would figure out how to achieve more of a balance of speed (shooting speed, not the size of your thighs), accuracy, and power. And leave some decisions of where, what, and how to engage to the shooters themselves. I thought the addition of all these divisions was to allow more shooters to enjoy this competition without having to spend the money for these gawd-awful race guns, not to emasculate the match such that someone with a 7-round .45 can win. I don't see the GTA (or B, or C) class car racers whine about how they can't win the overall race against the Prototypes.

Ok, first off, I'm not whining here, just looking for some clarification on the rules so I know what to look for in the future. At a recent match, I had a hit that nicked a no-shoot on the edge of the target. It didn't break the perf, but if you got real close, there was a dark mark(?) that was right on the perf. It looked like a lead mark, but I'm shooting FMJs? Anyway, the judgement was (it took four people) that because it left a mark on the area of the perf, it was a hostage hit. Now a memory is a terrible thing to loose, but I thought I remembered from the 'old days', that a bullet strike had to actually break the perf to be counted? Was this changed in the rules? Thanks.

Well, I think you guys are lucky. I shoot right handed because my right eye is my master eye, but I'm left handed. I have to practice strong hand only shooting, at further distances than those typically found for weak hand shooting. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that my strong hand shooting is what kept me out of master class back in the early 90s. You should see the eyebrows raise when I shoot 'weak' hand though. Almost comical.

Hey Brian, Thanks, hopefully I stay a while longer this time. I just need to ignore the whiners and wanna-be's... LOL Yes, I lost my classification. I was told that they didn't start 'archiving' scores until 96 or so to stop some of the more gamey sorts from dropping out for a year or two to loose their classification and start over. When I quit, I was a high A at 84.8%. Looks like I'm tad slower now as well as older...

Erik-- I doubt it. I think this belt is fatter than the Safariland. Addendum: I just used my new CR rig at a match yesterday. Worked real good. Especially on the stage where I had to sprint to a door and get inside before I could draw. Mucho better than my old 008....

With a brand new (to me) gun, and two local shoots under my belt, I went to this NE Arizona match yesterday in St. Johns. 6 stages, about 115 rnds. About 97 or 98 shooters, of which only 18 were open class (yea! less competition the better!) I had one really questionable hostage nick, and a blatant Mike, but other than that I shot better than I thought I would, especially given the length of time I have been away from this stuff. Now we didn't have any GMs there, and only 4 or 5 Ms, but I managed to stay in the top 10 on all of the stages, even when I screwed up. To my utter surprise, I ended up 4th in open, and first A! (7th overall) However, for the awards, they used overal match placement, and gave me second A. I got pushed down by one of our local (Tucson) limited shooters who is one of the best in our local club. Overall rankings? When did this start? Anyway, I thought I did really well, especially given that I was only 2.8 match points behind one of our local M shooters who usually wins our matches at home. I shot a 84.5% overall, but I'm not worried about that because when I shoot the Desert Classic later this year there will be plenty of GMs there to dish out the Humble Pie, and keep my arse down in A class where I belong. I'm really glad that during sign-in I had the lady move me from Unclassified to A. I would have felt really bad for the other legitimate unclassified shooters. All in all I had a boatload of fun, which is why I went in the first place. (Edited by wmiller45 at 9:19 pm on Aug. 4, 2002)

Never had a comp crack, and I've had stainless, carbon, aluminum, and titanium ones. As stated, if any sharp corners are left, stress risers can be the result, from the shock of the gas impulse. Now if the sides of the comp are too thin, or the chambers were not cut with a ball end mill, then maybe it's a bad design. Then there the suggestion that it could have been a bad piece of metal. What is the general shape of the chambers? How thick is the septum between chambers? How thick are the sides of the chambers? This info might help.

Just got my CR rig the other day. Man, has this stuff changed since I quit 10 years ago! Comparing this belt to a Safariland is a no brainer. Much more rigid. That and I REALLY like the fact that they put the soft part of the velcro on the inner belt. Now I can get out of my car at the range without having to push myself away from the seat with my hands... Bill M. You call this a holster? (Edited by wmiller45 at 7:43 am on July 31, 2002)

Hehe....Brian, you're showing your age. I remember the exact same issues, but the 155s made those old single-chamber comps work better! (Edited by wmiller45 at 8:21 pm on July 30, 2002)

Thanks Brian, that's the one I didn't remember properly. Senility is a terrible thing, but hey, I don't remember any of it so that's ok. I stand corrected (I think). A friend of mine remembers that day, and is adament about my being just under 1 second. Whatever. I think the fastest time was in in the .8-.9 range? I don't think anyone broke .8, but then what do I know?

I find all of my magazines with the palm of my hand, grasping it with my index finger down the length of the mag. Fortunately for me, my strong/smart hand (left) is the one doing the reload. My weak hand only provides a trigger finger, and positions the gun under my master eye (right).