tackdr1ver

Well, I managed to make major with Titegroup. However all of the long loads I came up with fell short. I had to bump it down to a 1.135 OAL to push major reliably. The Big Brown truck just dropped off some N320 and I wanted to get some opinions on where I thought I should start: I plan on loading @ 1.200 OAL I plan on doing ten rounds of each: 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 5.0 My question is: do you think I am starting too low? I have seen a lot of variations in people's loads so I think 4.6 is a really safe starting point. But, my barrel seems to run a little on the slow side. Should I start higher or is the plan good???

TBCDoubletap: I can't really see anyone not liking Montana Gold's quality. They have always done really well out of all my guns and they come in at a very competitive price point. I agree with some of the other's at $100-ish/k it's not too hefty of an investment and if on the off chance you don't like them they will be excellent for practice. Try em out!

Terry, I shot this match too, you came out pretty good in the results. I saw you shoot stage 4 and you cleaned up on that texas star - good job there! As some of the others mentioned: You're dropping your hands a bit low on your reloads. Try and keep the gun up high through the whole stage. You seem to be a good accurate shot. I would suggest trying to find a stance where you're not dropping your head to the gun. Rather, bring the gun up to your eyes. This will help a lot, it will give you more range of motion and it will increase your peripheral vision. On that first array, it was shootable from two positions, you did what you could there. As far as the second and third array, if you kept your feet moving you could have shaved a few seconds off even if they were baby steps. Glad to see you're one of the many trying to elevate your game keep it going! -Greg

I thank you all for the replies and insight. Next time I will be better armed with torx bits! Me being impatient, started to grind a flat. That didn't work so I drilled it out and replaced it with the new one! I wish I had known about the torx bit from the start!

Brian, No, only one side is stripped. The other side is perfectly fine! Thanks, Greg

Thanks for the replies! I am not that much of a tool guy, I do have a dremel so the flat slot to use a flathead makes sense. What sort of attachment do you use to make the slot for the screw driver? Of course I do have a cordless drill, but I do not really have anything to fasten the gun to to drill it out. And drilling out kinda makes me nervous as I don't want to bungle up the bushing or the frame.. Kinda intimidated by this whole ordeal.. The last thing I want to do is make the problem worse. So I guess I just need to take the sanest approach..

Heya everyone, I just picked up a new to me 2011. And I was going to clean the grip and trigger bow etc and I noticed the two little screws that are above the trigger guard won't come out. Upon closer inspection, one side of the screws is stripped and my allen wrench wont get any bite the other side is completely fine. I ordered a new set of grip screws for it but the question is: How should I go about getting the stripped screw out to replace it?

I just shot this yesterday 5/7 and had my best run ever! A class w00t! 58 Pts 8.06 seconds 7.19 HF for what looks like a 77.3% Limited.

YES! Letting go is where it's at. There is a noticeable difference when you just simply do rather than, try to do. In the past, I have caught fleeting glimpses of this state of mind while shooting. The buzzer sounds and you go into action. Before you know it, it's over - it just happened. Today is a match day, i'm going with this objective in mind! You're the man, thanks!

Wow! Dude, you must had gremlins in your pockets. THAT is the most bizarre thing I have seen in a long time!

Why not upload it? I think it is an excellent opportunity to see how accidents happen and help many of us potentially avoid a similar situation. I look at is as a valuable learning tool, not a source of embarassment.

Well the past few days have certainly been interesting. More like an exercise in futility. I realize I said that I would be updating this diary more. But then it dawned on me, I am spending time dry and live firing and and it is more productive to be doing that than updating a diary. So now i'm not feeling so bad. I have been continuing my Dry fire routine and it seems to be going quite well. I am adjusting fairly well to the new system, still a few hitches. Over all the 2011, will be a good fit once everything normalizes. As far as physical/mental performance goes: Typical drills have been going very smooth and I am beginning to pick up these new sights extremely well. Safety manipulation and trigger control are as good as can be expected at this stage. Strong to weak still suffers horribly, lots more time and repetition needed in this arena. Mag changes are blazing fast, when I do my part that is. Also, mag changes are effortless on an empty mag. However........ A full mag is a different story. I got ahead of myself going for speed as this new huge magwell and ultra slick mags just want to make me fly through the mag change. I found out that I am under gripping the replacement mag and there is a severe weight difference between an empty and a full mag. Kinda sucks having mags popping out of your hands because you are grabbing it like a baby bird. Solution: created dummy rounds to simulate weight, unlearn what I have learned to do with empty mags. Gun: Making power factor with this has been a lesson in itself. There is no "one size fits all". I have had to go up in OAL, powder charge, down in all of the same and every where in between. This new gun simply does not like Titegroup so I ordered VV N320, we'll see how that does. I was able to get a formula where the gun would make major but it seems like I am on the fringe of max velocity with the load. This should all change soon. Mags: need springs replaced. I am having a couple issues which springs should fix. My coach is on this, i'm sure he'll steer me in the right direction. It would appear that I have been making steady progress and have not hit any plateaus. Definitely excited and motivated to keep marching on!

Sweet post man! Bookmarking this one. Thank you!

Whats the difference? You have to claim out of state purchases at the end of the year anyway?

During the Great Depression, there was a man who walked into a bar one day. He went up to the bartender and said, "Bartender, I'd like to buy the house a round of drinks." The bartender said, "That's fine, but we're in the middle of the Depression, so I'll need to see some money first." The guy pulled out a huge wad of bills and set them on the bar. The bartender can't believe what he's seeing. "Where did you get all that money?" asked the bartender. "I'm a professional gambler," replied the man. The bartender said, "There's no such thing! I mean, your odds are fifty-fifty at best, right?" "Well, I only bet on sure things," said the guy. "Like what?" asked the bartender. "Well, for example, I'll bet you fifty dollars that I can bite my right eye," he said. The bartender thought about it. "Okay," he said. So, the guy pulled out his false right eye and bit it. "Aw, you screwed me," said the bartender, and paid the guy his $50. "I'll give you another chance. I'll bet you another fifty dollars that I can bite my left eye," said the stranger. The bartender thought again and said, "Well, I know you're not blind, I mean, I watched you walk in here. I'll take that bet." So, the guy pulled out his false teeth and bit his left eye. "Aw, you screwed me again!" protested the bartender. "That's how I win so much money, bartender. I'll just take a bottle of your best scotch in lieu of the fifty dollars," said the man. With that, the guy went to the back room and spent the better part of the night playing cards with some of the locals. After many hours of drinking and card playing, he stumbled up to the bar. Drunk as a skunk, he said, "Bartender, I'll give you one last chance. I'll bet you five hundred dollars that I can stand on this bar on one foot and piss into that whiskey bottle on that shelf behind you without spilling a drop." The bartender once again pondered the bet. The guy couldn't even stand up straight on two feet, much less one. "Okay, you're on," he said. The guy climbed up on the bar, stood on one leg, and began pissing all over the place. He hit the bar, the bartender, himself, but not a drop made it into the whiskey bottle. The bartender was ecstatic. Laughing, the bartender said, "Hey pal, you owe me five hundred dollars!" The guy climbed down off the bar and said, "That's okay. I just bet each of the guys in the card room a thousand bucks each that I could piss all over you and the bar and still make you laugh!"

thanks for your input. Does BE himself offer classes? Anytime! As far as Brian teaching, I do not know. Shoot him a PM and ask, the worst he can say is no! Good luck!

Every time I look at the title of this diary I can hear the song. Anyway, uneventful day. Dry fired and practiced a bit. Got some decent vids uploading. It is painful uploading the vids, it takes an hour per vid to upload but only a minute to watch them. Not much to say other than my reloads are getting slicker than snot and my draws with the new gun are getting better. The transition seems to be going well thus far.

I don't have any issues with people taking another look, getting set etc. You encounter all types in this sport, some people take longer to get ready than others. While I agree that sometimes it can be annoying when a shooter wants to take 3 years to get ready, I don't have much room to talk. Sometimes it takes me 6 or 7 looks before I can figure out how to shoot a stage(if I ever get it figured out). I try and have a plan together before I get to the line, then it's just hit play, run program time. Also there have been times when I have had a stage somewhat figured out and something will happen or someone will say something and my concentration goes right out the window. Then it's definitely time to take another look. It's tough being mentally challenged!

Bob, Thank you very much for the tip! I looked at your website and figured out what I needed to do and it's working perfectly now! Much appreciated! Greg

Thanks Brazos! That's it! I can see where the follower is getting wedged against the slide stop. But, the slide stop has already been altered and ground down(prolly not enough). How far should I take it down?

I believe it's 5 mins per the rule book. Although I could be mistaken.

Ok here's a strange one: I am experiencing an issue with my mags I have 5 tuned brazos mags with grams followers. Here's my issue, I noticed in dry fire that if I rack the slide over an unloaded mag, the mag sticks and won't drop free. I have taken the guts out and tried it and they all drop free so it must be an issue with the Grams followers. Have any of you experienced this? If so, what did you do to fix it? I do not plan to run the gun dry in competition but if I do, I don't want to have to pry the mag out to reload. Your help is greatly appreciated!

Also, I don't think that was a flinch. I think it was recoil management. If it was flinch, you'd never be hitting the steel.

Your form looks really good, your body posture and shooting grip seems right on the money. Perhaps you could get a bit more aggressive and bend your knees a bit more. But you look really stiff and tense, try loosening up a bit. Keep the form, just don't be so rigid. Think Bruce Lee's 3'' power punch. Your draws are so/so. Some of the time they have a ton of extra movement/body dip and some are better. Work on cutting out all wasted movement on the draw whether it be head, feet, body etc. At one point you had a draw where you took almost two steps before your hand even made it to the gun. Reloads: You have a ton of hitches here. As Torogi said, you're moving your head. Also, you need to get the gun up higher and keep it up higher throughout the mag change. Another thing is: you're initiating your mag changes way late, try to get to the mag quicker and seat it quicker. Look the mag into the gun. Also, try and avoid throwing extra body movement in on the reloads too, I saw a mag change which looked like you shuffled feet while completing it. Avoid standing reloads if possible. Good luck man!