Turtle

On behalf of everybody from Team Shooters Paradise I would like to thank everybody for a great match. It was disappointing to see the drop in turnout, because this is truly one of the best matches around. The staff were incredible and as always, Linda Chico and her stats crew were awesome. We finished up almost 2 hours early and the shooters didn't even have to tape or set steel! Put this one at the top of the priority list for next year's matches, you won't be disappointed! Jack, sorry I didn't get to talk to you, hopefully I'll see you at Area 6. Thanks again to all the RO's, you did a great job. You too Roger, it was nice to see you again.

Ray, That was definately interesting stuff, I would have to agree. It seems that it wouldn't apply to most IPSC shooters though. Most of the cases we use are not stretched out enough and our charges are not low enough to cause it. I think (as others have noted above) it happens with the longer (.38/.357) cases with ultra light loads. So go ahead production shooters, get as close to that 125pf as you want, no worries!

Zach, Yah, me too. We had one guy shooting, one guy (running the clipboard) scoring, and the last guy taping targets at all times. That was definately the smallest squad I ever shot on and the quickest I've got through a York match. Heck, I forgot to turn mine on, it's a good thing I had those black metal things up there to help.

Shot this on Easter Sunday, 45degrees, light drizzle. It stoppped spitting H2O long enough for us to unbag the targets which was a good thing. Managed a 6.26 sec run, down 6 points in Production. I snapped around real quick on the buzzer but seemed to be shooting in slow motion on the first 6 shots. I hit a decent reload and pushed a little bit on the 2nd 6 shots. I didn't ask to check the transition times but I think they were pretty quick. that was where I dropped the 3 C's. (I don't mean to be wordy, but someone recently asked that we share more than just the hit factors)

I'm all about fairness, rules, propper range commands, etc. and having said that I'll say this: The lesson that sticks with me most from the RO courses that I've taken (level 1 from Jay, level 2 from Perry) is that "the RO's main job is to safely assist the shooter through the course of fire". If a shooter assumes what looks like a wrong ready position, I think it's only right for the RO to assist him through the stage by repeating the correct start position. If my concentration was broken by an RO assisting me in that manner, then I would make sure that I had my stuff together next time so as not to force the next RO to do the same. Bottom line is, I agree with the general consensus that reiterating the correct start position is the lesser of the evils. Thanks for ROing and keep up the good work!

Arnie, Any idea when that will be? Thanks. Regards, Todd

I guess if I don't see you wearing them, then they didn't fit... I'm coming down with Ron and Mike. Phil will be home with Mom and new baby Colt. He should be back in the saddle again for the Area 6 at the end of the month. See you soon, Todd

Jack, I would have to agree, they do run larger than Nike. They run pretty true to size for American made footwear though, I think it's the Nike's that run small. I fit into an 11 1/2 most of the time (12 for Nike) and the Bates 11 1/2 fit just right. I hope that yours fit OK. Regards, Todd P.S. See you in SC on Friday.

I'm too skeered to try anything that thick (such as SG) so I use militech, kell lube, or whatever 100% synthetic lube I've got on hand. But I clean my pistol a little more often so the migration isn't much of an issue. I'll have to get up the courage to try some heavy duty stuff one of these days.

Sterling, IT'S GOING TO BE OK..... Hey, I got my plaque and big fat check for the point series yesterday. Did anybody else get theirs? The only problem is that the plaque says "2004 Point Series National Champion". Maybe it's prophetic.

Team Shooters Paradise will be there on Saturday, sans "The Skipper". He'll be home with Mamma and lil' Strader doing his new thing. Should be a great time, it was last year. Looking foward to seeing everybody there. Including you Erik, welcome aboard and congratulations on making GM!

Yes, Karl is the man! He is a shooter and knows what shooters are looking for in a good target. His customer service is top notch and he's also just a good guy. I highly recommend GT Targets. Regards, Todd

Ron, In my neck of the woods, your stage #1 would be very rare. That being the case, I'm sure most shooters in the area would enjoy it because it's "different". When "we" design stages we try to ask ourselves, " what skills are we testing or what can I learn from shooting this stage"? That being said, I would definately agree with the masses though, and find stage #2 more interesting/fun to shoot. Regards, Todd BTW, Skywalker, very nice stage diagram!

Matt, I talked to Staci at the (USPSA) office the other day and she said that they were waiting to get the plaques. Once they had them, they would send them out with the checks ASAP. She said they were waiting for a logo or design or something for the plaques. Regards, Todd

Hey Rudy fans, check the classifieds. I have a pair for sale.....Thanks.

You got it! That's how I won Master Class in Limited last year. Mike "Heatseeker" Seeklander went and made GM.

I just tried Clays for the first time the other day and no, I didn't just fall off the cabbage truck. I ran out of Titegroup and got my hands on a 14oz can of Clays to try for minor .40 (production). It seems to be giving some fairly consistent velocities and is cleaner than TG. I'm not crazy about the accuracy results though; a 5" (off hand, not benchrest) group at 25 yds is nothing to write home about and less than optimal. I would have to a agree that overall, TG is a better powder though, and it is indeed far more versatile and useful.

Yes, Frank did say that but I didn't catch on.....did anyone see any of their stuff at the table? Oh well, anyway...I guess I wasn't the only one who left with the feeling "what just happened here?!?" It was my first time at the match and it certainly was a great time. Good stages, good people, good weather, what else could you want? To shoot better you say, well you can't have everything. Great match, I highly recommend it to all, next year. Skipper, you're still THE MAN and at least you won the shoot off. This will be the year of the Skipper! (and Team Shooters Paradise)

I ordered my stuff last year, two weeks before the FGN's and Dave got it out to me right away. He delivered as promised and I had it in time for the Match. The only problem is that the holster is now going to be illegal for USPSA Production (speed cut is too low). Shoulda got the Sooper Hooper! I hope that I don't have the problems that you guys have had if I try to get a new one. We'll see....

I just ran out of my 2nd 8lb keg of TiteGroup and tried some other stuff that I had laying around. Believe it or not, the main difference to me is in the consistency. I really miss how consistent TG is. It's almost distracting to shoot a less consistent load because I can feel the difference when some lighter or hotter rounds are fired. BTW, similar to the previously stated data, my Limited load is 4.8gr with a 180jhp at 1.200"col primed with WSP. Regards, Todd Sterling, Did you get the check?

Fireant, I didn't read through all the posts in the above reference, but I believe that it's the sizing of the casewall (lots of surface area compared to the crimp) that actually HOLDS the bullet, not the crimp. I have (for about 15 short years) been using between .001-.002" of crimp which is just enough to help get rid of any feeding problems that may have otherwise reered thier ugly heads. To accomplish this I simply measure the case (with the bullet seated) slightly below the case mouth and right on the edge, just before the caliper slips off, to determine the actual amount of crimp. I could be off, but it's worked quite well for me. Just check to see what your size die is doing, it could be off dimentionally, I've seen that before. Also too much crimp can be bad ju-ju in auto pistols, as you're prbably aware. Among other things, it could actually cause the case to bulge out ever so slightly, where it should be contacting the bullet. Where's Guy when you need him any way...? Regards, Todd

I have to agree with Ron...don't give it to much thought. I have noticed that I do make micro adjustments prior to the first shot breaking, in order to ensure a perfect grip for the rest of the stage. Hence my somewhat slow first shot times. Whatever works...

I fired off an e-mail to the Governor, hopefully if enough of us do, it will have a desirable effect. Thanks for the heads up on the pending legislation.

Well, Jim is kinda sexy though...

Eric, I've been telling people about doing that for years and they look at me like.... It really does do the trick though! Regards, Todd See Skipper, I'm not crazy.