MBaneACP

Hi all; Any of you know where I might find a new/used wood stock set for a Remington 1100 20-gauge (the serial number ends in "X," so I think it'll take the 12-gauge furniture) for a sane price? My Sweetie has gotten interested in clays shooting, and I've got an old 20-g 1100 around that i used to use on bowling pins back in the day, but it has a ratty old Choate set-up on it (not to mention a 10-shot brazed together tube!). I thought I might be able to fix it up for her... Michael B

Nik...you're absolutely right...it's all workflow "contruction." Generally, digital video workflow involves either hard drives in the field or moving video from proprietary cards to portable hard drives. We can go straight from the hard drives (or cards) into the editing system. Then the raw video has to be transfered to an archiving medium we have to store. The big fear among videographers is a hard drive crash in the field...to me, that's much less of an issue because I'm a computer geeky guy and I understand "redundant." I think once Marshal Halloway and I hammer out an efficient workflow for the Internet, the broadcast guys will follow. Video news crews have been using a digital workflow for years. And when we come up with questions, I will ask....THANKS! Okay...enough thread drift! My Sweetie threatens to hit me every time I say "Flash video platform" or any combination thereof! Michael B

Nope...OC asked me to create "Discovery/ESPN" level shows, then gave me the budget to get a Discovery/ESPN level crew (a lot of money, BTW). The guys I'm using now, Hatch TV (http://www.hatchtv.com/) did the Tour de France for VERSUS, the Eco-Challenge for Discovery, the "Monster Sharks" series for Spike, the Discovery broadcast from Everest Base Camp, etc. I love the look their videographers and editors bring to the show! It's amazing the difference an A-level videographer can bring to a show... We still film HD on Panasonic Varicams, essentially big gun studio cams that we've pioneered using in the field (we've been written up in the pro video mags for our "ground-breaking" work). In the next year, we're going to move to a pure digital workflow...something we'll be beta-testing on DRTV first (probably at the USPSA National)...gonna be scary at first...digital files have a way of going bye-bye...we're looking at the Sony pro-sumer cameras that record to digital and tape as a transitional product. Plus — and I'm really excited about this — there are finally some POV "lipstick" cams that are good enough for our HD workflow. We have one (and we used it extensively at the U.S. National SWAT Championships we filmed last week), and I have another one on order. You can even get them with a specially machined rail mount for guns! Michael B

Well heck, I'm almost scared to post anywhere! I think I've established a new world record for being thrown off forums. Sigh... Anyhow, thanks for the kind words on SG. Just finished putting together the next season's line up...look for more 3-gun and carbine stuff. Also refocused COWBOYS on guns and shooting and am launching 3rd series as well. Michael B PS: Knife show with Mike Janich pulled BIG numbers...go figure!

I'm sorry for your loss. I believe animals have in many ways a deeper knowledge than us, and they know when their time is at hand. You did a hard thing by being there, but it was a right thing, too. Michael B

FWIW, I organized the action shooter event at the Olympic Center referenced by B.J. back when I worked with NSSF. I conceived and "midwifed" the Kimber deal with USA Shooting. I've also brokered the relationship between Outdoor Channel and the Olympic team and have offered to go to Beijing on my own dime to cover the Olympic shooting events for my website. I feel like I have done my part to support Olympic shooting, but I've only scratched the surface. I would love for Olympic shooting to be the "centerpiece" of the shooting sports because it's something we can use to reach out to the non-shooting public. But like B.J., I feel very strongly that the pistol sports get the short shrift in the Springs. I was told off the record that the feeling is the worldwide Olympic organizing is "moving away" from the handgun sports, so putting a big push on the handgun sports is "foolish." I pointed out at that time that the biggest potential support for the Olympics was us, the regular handgun competitors, and our sponsors...which has certainly proven to be the case. I believe we have some of the most talented Olympic pistol shooters in the world, and they deserve our unconditional support. If any of you have any ideas that I might be able to facilitate, I'm open to suggestions. I will be speaking at the Shooting Sports Summit in the Springs next month (along with Dave Thomas and Paul Erhardt from USPSA and reps from most of the other sports). If you've got ideas, i will present them. Michael NON-COMMERCIAL B.

Finish FIVE TO GO? I may post the 150 pages or so I've written just to force me back to work... I like the sex stuff... mb

Yesterday I signed off on the edited version of "Intro to USPSA" with the Schrader/Seeklander GM show...it's pretty good and I think puts the sport in an excellent light. I can't wait to see which gun forum refers to me as which "miserable [FILL-IN-THE-BLANK] whore!" when this one runs! BTW, USPSA Exec-Dir Dave Thomas is just cute as a fuzzy little bunny in this episode! We're tiptoeing around the whole issue of Web distribution...regular SG clips are now available on the OUTDOOR CHANNEL's big broadband site, http://www.outdoorchannel.com/tv/index.aspx. We're negotiating putting early episodes of SG and COWBOYS, or parts of early episodes — especially the ones shot early on in standard definition — on my big DOWN RANGE site (http://www.downrange.tv/), but it's new scary turf for media companies. Am really looking forward to the Single Stacks...not so much the shooting as catching up iwth a lot of people I haven't seen in a while... Michael B

Are you kidding? I started shooting IPSC with a percussion revolver... mb

...has been running for a few weeks now. Numbers are good and I've very pleased with the quality of the new production crew, Hatch TV out of Evergreen, CO. Tried very hard to balance out competition/self-defense/eye candy/how-to...however, it's always a bitch. You can see the Season 8 line-up here: http://www.downrange.tv/shootinggallery/season8.htm We've also done a drastic expansion of my big Internet site, DOWN RANGE TV (http://www.downrange.tv/). We're going to start experimenting with intensive event coverage...my partner Marshal Halloway is going to do a test run on a cowboy match, which I'm going to follow up with intensive Internet coverage of the Single Stack Classic/USPSA Single Stack Nationals in April. I'm pretty excited about this way of covering events...television "real estate" is inherently limited, and ultimately we are all slaves to our numbers (which, as I have said before, auger against competition coverage and in favor of self-defense stuff). This season, I made a big push to get away from "contractor casual" attire, and I've been poking fun at the trend (which, okay, I helped start!) on both my blog (http://michaelbane.blogspot.com/) and on my weekly podcasts (http://www.downrange.tv/radio/47.htm). I've also poked fun at the "torture test" mentality...many of you saw the Todd Jarrett 1000-round "World Record" video on DOWN RANGE, where I suggested that the proper "torture test" for a gun didn't have anything to do with concrete mix, rubber mallets or Crisco, but rather with shooting the gun. I would ask that you understand that many of the top shooters have relationships with various and sundry other programming and/or sponsors that work with other programs...some of the shooters I've seen suggested for SHOOTING GALLERY here on the BE forums have been offered opportunities to be on the show and have declined...in some cases repeatedly. SG, COWBOYS and DRTV continue to be the ONLY firearms media out there that don't insist on either personal or event exclusivity; we are also the only firearms media that talks about hardware and events not directly tied to ou sponsors. Yeah, I have sponsors and I like them A WHOLE LOT, but regardless of what one might think (or read on some of the more...er...imaginative forums) I do not whore. Never have; never will. I try to get out and shoot competitively still, but it's darned hard. Time, time, time. I plan to shoot the Single Stack (on Friday in the Decrepit Old Guy Squad) and the cowboy Wild Bunch match — 1911s, trench guns and major caliber lever guns...how can you beat that? — before End of Trail in June. I was just asked whether I had nerve enough to shoot on camera against other gun media in a 3-gun match this summer...I said, "HA!" I'll wear a Hawaiian shirt, I promise... I just came back from a week at GUNSITE trying to get used to my slightly fogged right eye...the result of a particularly vicious bout of shingles last year. Sucks to get old! Ironically, I've gone back to shooting out of a classic Weaver stance after decades of isosceles because it brings the rear sight a tiny bit closer to my dominate — and now flawed — right eye, which seems to make a difference. Hope this updates you all on what I'm doing...my virtual door is always open! Best, Michael B

Had mine a couple of years ago...asked the doctor to turn the television screen so I could see it...was more interesting than any episode of "Friends" I ever saw... Michael B

I liked it, but my Sweetie got queasy, too... Strange... mIchael B

It was Big Fun...as TJ said to me later, "Michael, you've asked me to do some pretty weird shooting events over the years, but this ranks right on up there!" The Para amazed me...we just kept loading magazine after magazine all day long, and it kept on running and running. We did squirt some Gun Butter on it once...smoked up real nice! DOWN RANGE is on its way to becoming the biggest firearms video site on the Internet...we're past 300,000 individual ISPs a month...this month, with the World Record, we'll do half a million. We have a feature set up so you can upload match videos, which the cowboys have been taking big time advantage of, and which has made their sponsors very happy. I've talked to USPSA about publicizing this feature. This year we'll be officially "out of beta" and heavily publicizing the site, so if you've got video feel free to post it on DOWN RANGE. Doesn't matter if you've posted it before on YouTube — we actually post the DOWN RANGE videos on YouTube as well...we keep meaning to set up our own YouTube channel, but what can I say, it's on the list... My idea is that we have a lot of viewers to the site (and to SHOOTING GALLERY and COWBOYS) who know nothing about competition shooting, so the more we can show them what we do, the better. We're going to do a FULL COURT PRESS for DOWN RANGE (and hopefully SHOOTING GALLERY) at the Single Stack Classic/USPSA Single Stack Nationals this year. Heck, after watching Todd's performance, I may have to get one of those SSPs to shoot (I shoot through on Friday, BTW, in the D.O.G. — Decrepit Old Guys — Squad). Our goal is to have a million monthly viewers by the end of 2008, and we're on track to hit that. We're going to set up an official DOWN RANGE 1000 ROUND CHALLENGE event early next year...single stack 1911, .45 ACP, 10 round max magazine, out-of-the-box gun with no event-specific modifications...we'll get the rules hammered out soon. We're going to beef up our gun giveaways in 2008 (so far we've given away a Bruce Gray Custom 1911 and a beautiful Ruger/Tactical Solutions/Leupold custom 10/22); we're giving away TODD'S PARA SSP that he set the record with at the SHOT SHOW Para booth, and, of course, you do not have to be present to win. Our regular entry deal is that if you sign up for the DOWN RANGE Forms and post once, making you an official member, we'll enter your name TWICE in every drawing we do. If there's something we need to be doing on DOWN RANGE, let me know...my door is always open to you guys... Michael B

Hey...it was big fun flying around in a helicopter shooting, too! I like that "reverse leading." New episodes of SG should be on in the next couple of weeks. Visit my big video site, DOWN RANGE Television (www.downrange.tv) and we'll have a big splash for the new SG season. BTW, I have shooting tips from Todd J. coming up on DOWN RANGE, as well an interview with Todd on my podcast, which goes up on Wednesday. Next week on DOWN RANGE, the TODD-STER sets an ALL NEW WORLD RECORD! You guys are going to love this! Really! We had a BLAST filming this stuff (and we're giving away the gun on-line!). RE: Visiting gun factories, those shows pull excellent numbers...it's a hard thing to balance between experienced shooters and viewers who are new to the game. In general, competition shows are not particularly popular, which I just HATE since that's where I come from. The Michael Janich knife show mentioned above was one of our most viewed and, based on response, most popular SG episodes. We've got some good USPSA and IDPA stuff in the new SG season, plus more AR shows and the obligatory eye candy. THANKS for watching...lemme know what you want and I'll do my best!!! DOWN RANGE gives me a lot of latitude... Michael B

Hey...it was big fun flying around in a helicopter shooting, too! I like that "reverse leading." New episodes of SG should be on in the next couple of weeks. Visit my big video site, DOWN RANGE Television (www.downrange.tv) and we'll have a big splash for the new SG season. BTW, I have shooting tips from Todd J. coming up on DOWN RANGE, as well an interview with Todd on my podcast, which goes up on Wednesday. Next week on DOWN RANGE, the TODD-STER sets an ALL NEW WORLD RECORD! You guys are going to love this! Really! We had a BLAST filming this stuff (and we're giving away the gun on-line!). RE: Visiting gun factories, those shows pull excellent numbers...it's a hard thing to balance between experienced shooters and viewers who are new to the game. In general, competition shows are not particularly popular, which I just HATE since that's where I come from. The Michael Janich knife show mentioned above was one of our most viewed and, based on response, most popular SG episodes. We've got some good USPSA and IDPA stuff in the new SG season, plus more AR shows and the obligatory eye candy. THANKS for watching...lemme know what you want and I'll do my best!!! DOWN RANGE gives me a lot of latitude... Michael B

Hey...it was big fun flying around in a helicopter shooting, too! I like that "reverse leading." New episodes of SG should be on in the next couple of weeks. Visit my big video site, DOWN RANGE Television (www.downrange.tv) and we'll have a big splash for the new SG season. BTW, I have shooting tips from Todd J. coming up on DOWN RANGE, as well an interview with Todd on my podcast, which goes up on Wednesday. Next week on DOWN RANGE, the TODD-STER sets an ALL NEW WORLD RECORD! You guys are going to love this! Really! We had a BLAST filming this stuff (and we're giving away the gun on-line!). RE: Visiting gun factories, those shows pull excellent numbers...it's a hard thing to balance between experienced shooters and viewers who are new to the game. In general, competition shows are not particularly popular, which I just HATE since that's where I come from. The Michael Janich knife show mentioned above was one of our most viewed and, based on response, most popular SG episodes. We've got some good USPSA and IDPA stuff in the new SG season, plus more AR shows and the obligatory eye candy. THANKS for watching...lemme know what you want and I'll do my best!!! DOWN RANGE gives me a lot of latitude... Michael B

Shred...what discussion forum? This isn;t a rebuttal...really! Just popping my head up to say my on-line "door" has alwasy been and is open. I was unhappy enough with my former production team at the end of last year that I fired them. New shows being edited now...including an intruduction to USPSA shooting with Mike Seeklander and Phil Strader...am filming with Todd up at Blackwater next week... Head back down... Michael B

Thank you, Nyle, for all the conversations over all the years, and thank you for sharing your genius. You saw so much more clearly than we did. Carol & Rob...my prayers are with you. Michael Bane

Duane; .40 "Practicals" came from the factory without the mag disconnect. I shot a Novak .40 Practical in ESP for a couple of years... Michael B

Dave pretty much invented NROI...I know because I was in his first "crash test dummy" class back in Florida When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth. Good heavens...we were SOOOOOOOOO young! Michael B

Vang Comp 870...close as I've got to Thor's hammer! Michael B

My Wilson Master Grade .45 ACP built from the remnants of my ancient, battered Accu-Comp Bill built for me back in the day ...it's 100%. Michael B

I just finished Steve's newest book, THE 47TH SAMURAI...Steve was gracious enough to send me a signed advanced copy. Here's the Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/47th-Samurai-Bob-Swa...l/dp/0743238095 It took a week or so to read it because it was SO DAMN GOOD! Earl Swagger samurai's up, so to speak, and darned if Steve doesn't make it work. I'm trying to get our schedules synchronized so I can do a special interview with Steve on my podcast in the next couple of weeks. I'll keep you posted! Michael B

Wayne put an "answer" on my GUNSITE S&W 1911, and considering I have girly-man hands and a high grip, it is just wonderful. I do wonder what would be the final ruling for IDPA and USPSA/SS...as some of you may remember, I got my butt handed to me after filming an IDPA Nationals a few years back when I mentioned that most of the 1911s I saw had disabled grip safeties. I'd like to have my competiton 1911s fitted with the Novak fix. Michael B

I met him when I was editing a beer magazine, and he was a great drinking pal... I'll lift ne for him today! Michael B