tackdr1ver

M card I'm coming for you. Biatch.

Hey y'all, I am wondering if anyone knows of any classifier matches coming up in the near future around the SC/NC border area? I have a buddy who just joined USPSA and is looking to get a few more scores in order to get classified. Thanks! tack

You're dropping your head too, try and keep your head upright. Bring the gun up to your line of sight, don't drop your head to the sights. Try and draw to where only your arms are moving, no other part of your body should move unless you're stepping out from the start position. Bend your knees, rotate from the knees/hips not your shoulders/arms. Your upper body position should change very little whether you're shooting right, left or, center. Once you get the gun up in your line of sight, press out towards the target. Get a good extension but don't lock your elbows on either arm.

I totally agree, the IDPA classifier really isn't the most well thought out system for classification. In my experience people either under qualify or over qualify and substantially so. Especially with the real quick shooters who push the envelope, the wheels come off and an MA or EX run ends up in SS. I have also seen instances where guys shoot very deliberately end up in EX class and typically finish in MM places most matches. It's bizarre indeed!

The slide stop is engaging the follower. You will need to grind both the followers and the inner surface of the slide stop to stop it from doing that. I just recently within the past two weeks had to do that very same thing! Brazos website has an excellent how to!

Grind on your slide stop and see if it fixes it!

Hey man, you're HUMAN take it easy on yourself. You had a moment, you realized what had happened and you stopped yourself. That's admirable. You weren't unsafe, you didn't act like a child throwing a tantrum. Thumbs up, head up man, there's always next match!

Well thank you all for your help! I am happy to report that I finally made it. It was running around a 945 FPS avg this morning for a 170.9 PF This was at 5.3GR of N320 The loads were pretty nice shooting and felt pretty good. Accuracy was spot on! I may bump it up a .1 to get around a 173-175--ish Pf.

Thanks Paul! I am heading out shortly to train with my coach, I am hoping that the latest formula will get there. I just have a slow barrel I guess, I'll get there one of these days!

My bad. Yes, I am using MG 180 CMJ's with FED NO #100 SPP and mixed brass. Today I chronod again, 5.1 gr of VVN320 got me to 860-ish I am hoping 5.3 @ 1.180 will make it. The 1.180 length really cycled well in the gun which was nice. My biggest fear has been going to such a large charge. I am unexperienced in N320 and wasn't sure if I went to such a high charge that I would be asking for problems..

Table pickups are somewhat important too. I have yet to go to a Major where they did not have at least one table start. The thing is: the table start is the same for everyone, so you should still classify just as you would have if you drew from a holster..

In my opinion, it all depends on where you shoot. Some clubs i shoot at tend to force you to engage at least one target from the starting position. Others will throw in some movement before your first array. Basically I think some Match Directors default to certain things either because of preference or habit. Fortunately in this neck of the woods we tend to see best of both worlds. I practice my draws every dry fire session, just to be safe

The thing is, if I can't get the 180's to go fast enough without using gobs of powder, I may have to go to a 200gr bullet. Keep your fingers crossed!

Loading for a 5'' SVI infinity. I started at 1.200 as that is what Brandon Strayer suggested when I spoke to him about the gun. The problem is: I wasn't getting anywhere close to major at that OAL. The Highest I went was 1.200 OAL Fed #100 over 5.1gr VVn320 and I was only pushing 820-ish FPS. It's like this barrel has a speed brake in it, kinda weird. I have cooked up some 1.180 loads starting at 4.7, hopefully they will get there! I did get to major at a 1.135 OAL but I didn't get 100% reliability at that length, had a few small hiccups so I would like to avoid going that short. It is nice to get powder dropped off at your home, the outrageous Hazmat fees are a bummer though!

Anyone Bueler?

There is NOTHING "real-world" about IDPA, it is a game. And if you are ever unlucky enough to get in a gun fight, the last thing you'll be thinking about is how high your muzzle is if you get the chance to reload.

Still working up a better load for the new SVi. It's been challenging to get it just right and i feel that I am finally on the cusp of being there. Dry fire practice has been real neat lately. I have been practicing working at Tai Chi speeds just trying to be as fluent and silky as possible. I hope this will lead to huge gains in efficiency. I realize that I have not updated this diary much, that's probably a good thing. It means I am spending more time doing meaningful things rather than talking about them! Over the past weekend, I attended two USPSA matches. Palmetto Gun Club was last Saturday's match. Over all, I had an OK match. Placed 4th in limited and 7th over all. I did have a couple of issues where the wheels came off. On stage 4, which was a two position stage consisting of two paper targets to be engaged from box A then on to box B to clean up a texas star. Box A was decent time wise and hit wise. My entry to box B was sloppy and my shooting was sloppy on the star. I took way too many shots trying to go too fast and ended up costing myself an extra 5 seconds or so. Stage 3 was going very well until I had a gun issue. My last round of the mag decided to stand upright resulting in a stovepipe of sorts. This cost me a few seconds to get the malfunction cleared and get back to the shooting. Stage two, the classifier was going well until the last string until I decided to yank off two mikes weak hand only. Major frustration as I had been practicing getting my weak hand hits earlier that week. Coastal Shooters was Sunday's match. All in all, I shot sloppy match picking up 5 penalties over the day. I was able to take HOA despite this but, there is no excuse for the piss poor hitches in that match. I even blew by a whole target! Otherwise, my hits on the day were very solid and my times were quite fast. The thing I am most proud of: I finally shot my first A class classifier! Things are finally starting to come together. I have to thank my coach for putting me on the right path. Still have a long way to go!

Welcome to The Enosverse! I see you're in Wilmington, there is a great USPSA match on the 3rd Sunday close to you at AntHill Range in the southport/oak isle area. They also have Steel Challenge (2nd Sunday) matches and IDPA(4th Sunday). There is also another uspsa match in Georgetown SC on the 1st Sunday of each month. Hope to see you on the range sometime!

BB, I agree the class system is useful for tracking one's progress, and as mentioned previously, I don't have any quibble with recognizing high class shooters, but I do think it's counterproductive (and insulting to shooters who try their best to move up) to give valuable prizes to those shooters because the class is such an arbitrary distinction. Really, how much pleasure could I take in being high D or high C when I know there guys in the next class up that are better shooters and who simply are being punished for being luckky, or practicing more, or making 1 or 2 fewer misses on their last couple classifiers. They're only the high shooter in that class because they really belong in the next class up but just lucked out in not getting bumped up there yet. I'd rather see a system that recognized high shooters in class, raffled off valuable prizes, and best of all offered some incentive for reaching higher classifications. I don't know what form those incentives could take, maybe somehow improving chances for acceptance into major matches that sell out or something. I think if there are no valuable prizes for high shooters in class, some sandbagging will still occur, but no one will really care. This discussion wouldn't need to happen because there wouldn't be any chance of a M in one division shooting A and getting valuable prizes in another division. But... whatever.... I recognize that my view is in the minority. I've been making the same arguments for years in other sports. In those sports I have managed to achieve and compete in the higher classes. I at least feel consistent that my opinion hasn't changed even tho I'm in the lowest classes of shooting. I'm still more interested in improving my skill and moving up through c, b and as far as I can get than I am in 'winning' my class of other people who weren't good enough to classify higher. I am one of those people who are proud when they place in a lower division. I have been working very hard to improve and it doesn't come all that easily to me. Each good match, each shot fired is a personal victory and keeps the wheels greased. While I am not M material today, someday I will be! There's no shame in being proud of a D, C, B or A class win at a major at all! Each person is on a journey, having little moments like wins along the way are a good thing! I have been shooting for two years now and I have been stuck in C 90% of that time because I never really practiced right or did what was necessary to elevate my game. It came to the point where I wanted more, got a coach and started practicing regularly and now, I finally shot my first A class classifier and it feels pretty damned good to know that my hard work is paying off and I am going somewhere. The thing is: no matter where you are classed, no matter who you shoot against it shouldn't matter. If you go out and do your best and work really hard you'll find victory in every match whether you get a trophy/prize or not!

I seriously doubt that this would be an effective way of judging the class of a shooter. You run into many problems trying to tie classifications from one division to the next. It certainly would not be an accurate representation across the board. For example: You take shooter A who is a Limited shooter and has always been a limited shooter. While he may do fantastic in limited circles with less reloads, speedier times, and less accurate shots, he would do poorly in production. In production that same guy will not be used to making so many reloads, he will also not be hunting for as many points as if he was shooting limited. Also this shooter will probably break down a stage like a limited shooter would, therefore it probably would not be optimal for production. Take shooter B who is a production shooter and make him shoot limited. The guy who always shoots production will default to his usual way of stage breakdown and most likely be slower as a result. Also, this shooter will probably hunt down points more diligently vs the limited guy shooting for 90% this will also slow him vs. the rest of the pack as a result. Shooter C is a single stack guy who only thinks in sixes, he shoots a more conservative game than shooter A or shooter B because you have to make rounds count more in single stack. Throw him in production or limited/lim 10 and you're going to see a whole different shooter. Shooter D is a speed demon open shooter with two big sticks, put him in Lim 10 and watch the meltdown. Take any one of the shooters and then throw them into Revo, the wheels come off completely and you then see smoke coming out of that shooters ears, brains are scrambled and the shooter feels like it's his first time picking up a gun. Now don't get me wrong, a solid shooter in any class will have the skills to cross over at any point to another division. But you can not expect an optimal performance indicative of their true capabilities within that division until they have spent time in that division. A shooter basically needs time and practice to get their game where it is optimal in any given division.

Well, at 1.200 I could not make major going up to 5.1gr of N320. By my calculations, it would take 5.7gr to make it. My question is: is it safe to go that high with N320? Or should I back off to either 1.190 or 1.180 and try from there? I would prefer to keep them as long as possible, just unsure of where I should go from here..

Shooting with both eyes open is one of the hardest things to do. When I first started I was shooting out of one eye and it was killing my time and movement. A buddy noticed this and suggested I try keeping both eyes open, it was a great suggestion. The next several matches I tried to shoot with both eyes open but most of the time I would revert to one eye. After forcing myself to do it over and over again it got a little easier, two years later it is much much easier. I still get the ghost double at times(although it is rare) but I have learned to trust my judgement and just shoot. This is a difficult thing, stick with it and you'll get there! Hard work pays off and if you really want to elevate your game, you'll need to have both eyes open 99% of the time to do so!

Three of the local matches I attend charge $15 the fourth charges $20 but they use the additional $5 to feed everyone after the match. Its really quite nice to tear down and have a warm bowl of chili on a cold day! They have had some pretty darn good spreads! I should add that all matches have at least 5 stages with the exception of one. One match has 4 stages typically but that will soon change once the club finds bigger accommodations .

One could easily interpret your "bumped up the chain" statement as saying that HQ can overrule a clubs own safety rules. No, but IDPA could dissolve the clubs ability to run IDPA matches if it's not adhering to the rules of IDPA. In any sport from Baseball to Hockey, the home team doesn't get to choose the rules.

I am just wondering what you all do to keep your 2011 mags in prime form. How do you clean and lube them and keep them feeding/dropping like they should? I just made the switch from a G35 and am curious how tuned in to the mags I need to be? Thanks!