beltjones

Scenario: Competitor has a bullet lodged in the rifling, but just barely. He racks the slide a few times but the rounds won't chamber because they are hitting the bullet that's in the rifling. The RO stops the competitor who unloads and shows clear. As he's clearing the gun the RO sees the bullet fall out of the chamber onto the ground. Is it a squib (no-reshoot) because there actually was a bullet in the rifling at the time of the word "stop," or is it a reshoot because there wouldn't be a round in the barrel upon inspection? This really happened at a match this past weekend, and I was the RO. In a completely related note I have a much deeper respect for what ROs and the NROI as a whole have to put up with.

I suppose one would have to go back to what the BOD meant by "contour." If they meant you couldn't swap to a bull barrel or add a barrel sleeve then I would think re-crowning a barrel might be ok. But if they meant the barrels have to be exactly the same (with an obvious exception for unavoidable manufacturing tolerances) then I would say a crowned barrel is prohibited. However, it's also true that trying to read into the "intent" of the rule is problematic at best. I suppose one could say that taking a tool to a barrel is prohibited, but then many aftermarket "gunsmith fit" barrels would be illegal. Also, if an aftermarket barrel has a different crown than OEM it's not like they mined the metal out of the dirt and it was in that shape. The manufacturer had to use a tool to create that crown, so why would it matter if a non-OEM manufacturer does the crowning job or a gunsmith?

Can you crown a barrel for Production? For the sake of the discussion, let's say the length of the barrel has not been changed, and it is within 0.1" of the OEM barrel. Based on a strict reading of Appendix D4, 21.1 and Appendix D4, 21.3, I would say no. A crowned barrel seems like an external modification, and it wouldn't have the same contour as the OEM barrel. However, most aftermarket barrels I've seen have different crowns than OEM. I've personally handled Glock barrels from KKM, Storm Lake, and Lone Wolf and all had a slightly different crown from OEM. Isn't that a different contour? And what about the fit of many aftermarket barrels? If the barrel hood needs to be cut back to make the barrel fit, isn't that also an external modification? If even a KKM drop-in barrel has a tighter lock-up than OEM, isn't that evidence that the barrel isn't the same contour as OEM? On the one hand it seems like you couldn't crown a barrel for Production division, but the reasons that you couldn't crown one should also render illegal many popular aftermarket barrels. What's the real answer? P.S. I emailed John Amidon about this issue and his answer was interesting, but not particularly helpful. I'll post what he wrote a little later.

This was my first match to RO, and man what a great experience it was. Our stage (stage 4) was challenging, but I learned a great deal watching all levels of shooters negotiate it. If anyone has any feedback for me or the other ROs on that stage I would love it if you would PM me. From a shooter's perspective, the stages presented a lot of variety in terms of shooting challenges and of course the facility is exellent. Thanks again to Steve Speer, Ken Cobb, Brian Ehrler, Larry Zoppi, Dorothy Goodwin, Yancy Goodwin, the stage set-up crew, and everyone else who worked this match.

You want advice on how to marry one of the top shooters?

Wait, is this the Merle of "Merle's Standards?"

I think the longest wait time in the industry is 5 years for some custom 1911 builder who makes bullseye guns in heirloom quality finish with nothing but a file and some dykem. Next longest is Brass Monkey Performance for a piece of nylon webbing with some velcro sewed to it. Next longest is SVI for a fully custom pistol built to your exact specifications using the best materials and manufacturing technology available. The difference is the gunsmith and SVI will return your calls and emails...

USPSABOX.jpg This is a CZ75SA/TS combo sitting on an envelope that measures 229x153 mm. If you look straight down on it, it looks like it will just fit. The From the USPSA store - "The USPSA Inspection Box will make it easy to see if a gun conforms to the Maximum Size Specifications for both the Production and Single Stack Divisions (see 2008 USPSA rulebook, Appendices D4/D5). The dimensions of the box are 227.01mm x 152.40mm x 41.28mm (8 15/16" x 6" x 1 5/8")." It needs a magazine.

I think it's exactly right. -#20 in the world in L10.

Looking forward to it!

Read the message on the login box, and it TELLS you what username and password to use. OMG. The embarrassment.

How does one log into that forum? I have no idea what username and password it is prompting.

What is the difference between the last stage and the finals?

Any decision on what the replacement would be? Yes. It's a Taurus PT92.

Everyone always wants to shred the Constitution when it suits their own purposes, and they don't even see the irony. "I see him as a terrorist, and he should be treated accordingly." lol. How about this - if you want people to respect the 2nd Amendment, how about you respect the 5th? But yeah, I'm thrilled they caught the guy, and I hope the subsequent investigation prior to his trial uncovers others before they have a chance to act.

Thanks for putting on 20 years of Space City matches. You guys managed to put together some fun stages, despite the limitations of the range. Thanks again for all the hard work of the staff and the ROs - I had a great time!

You can apply whatever value to the classification system you think is appropriate. All this is is just a theoretical discussion of how to make a part of our sport better than it is now. As for the "not the class they believe they should be yet"... If I had it my way I wouldn't ever have left A class. Well the classification system is not supposed to predict how you will score at Nationals. In other words, if you are at 93%, that doesn't mean you are predicted to finish at 93% of the winner. If you think it should do this, then I think the first thing is to build some predictive modeling into how the HHFs are quantified depending on who is coming to nationals. Alternatively, everyone's percentages could be adjusted in real time (like the stock market) depending on who registered. "Stoeger just registered - knock everyone down 8%." ... "Hold the phone! Grauffel is in! Knock everyone down another 10%!" Serious question. Why does it need to be improved? I can see coming up with a better way of using statistics to calculate HHFs, but other than that what needs to be done in terms of calculating percentages that isn't done now?

Honestly, I don't get the hubbub about one's classification. When I look at major match scores I don't care who took home 1st M. I only look at overall standings. I get MDs wanting to award placement within the classes. That makes perfect sense. What doesn't make sense to me is anyone complaining that the system is flawed because they aren't yet the class they believe they should be. Maybe the system is flawed, maybe the shooter is flawed, maybe it's just bad luck. Who cares? BTW, if anyone thinks they are underclassed they are free to petition for a bump from the BOD. Otherwise, what is the benefit of being one class rather than another? If you're not sandbagging to get a better prize (obviously this is not the case here), then is it just about fancy titles?

Donovan shoots 2 - 3 classifier matches per year (with about 6 classifiers per classifier match), so it's not that.

Can we at least THREATEN that there will be a chrono? lol.

I trust my reloads more than factory ammo, and I too load on a 550B. It took me a while to get there, but I can say with certainty that I've had fewer ammo related malfunctions with my reloads than with factory ammo. But yeah, in my experience the KKM was more accurate with both factory ammo and reloads.

A KKM barrel took my old Glock 34 from about a 4" gun at 25 yards (which most would say is good enough) to a 2" gun. It was faster than stock, too, and I never had reliability issues with it. I think most of the people who say an aftermarket barrel isn't worth it haven't tried one. Personally, after sights I think it's the best money you can spend to improve a stock Glock.

I believe I mentioned you in the original post. My question is why isn't it more popular? Is there something wrong with it?

I was going to ask in another thread what you use, because it looks really smokey to me in your videos. Interesting...

True, but tons of people use loads that are not on the published list. And plenty of people use Solo 1K, which appears to be faster than AA2, and make PF safely.