MBaneACP

You know, Troy...I'd almost be willing to buy you a kilt if you'd wear it! I wouldn't put you on SHOOTING GALLERY, though. We have standards... Michael B PS: Going out for sushi tonight...will think of you...

Hi all! I can't congratulate Max (and B.J & K.C.) enough! What brilliant performances! Mickey Fowler, who was working color commentary with me, said that Max's performance on Five To Go was the single most spectacular stage he has ever seen in his years in the sport. As to what's next, I don't know. I have to present a plan to the OUTDOOR CHANNEL, as does Paul Erhardt at SIGARMS. Frankly, he and I had hoped that our "seed money" would jumpstart the industry into more support for the shooting sports, with the Steel Challenge as the crown jewel. We anticipated reaching $50K + for the contingency money, but that hasn't happened. Still, I like contingency money a lot, because I get a lot of publicity out of it. Paul and I had dinner after the match Saturday and hashed out ideas, but we still don't have a specific plan. My inclination is to refocus both SHOOTING GALLERY and a contingency prize on a production gun class for a couple of years, but I haven't discussed that with the Mikes or the top shooters — which both Paul and I would do before we make any decision. As always, I'm open to suggestions! Michael B

I've got three GUNSITE certificates, but that's NOT the reason I can't shoot in public...I'm training to be a cage fighter... Michael B (who hasn;t been around for awhile)

Baaaaaa Ram Ewe Baaaaaa Ram Ewe To your breed, your fleece your clan be true!" Michael B

I have 3 IditaSport human-powered ultramarathons in Alaska in February; climbed Denali in '95, a few other Big Mountains...far too muchy experience in subzero camps! 1) Water...huge issue...I carry my Camelback AGAINST MY SKIN if I'm looking at -20 or more temps. Also, get the latest insuated tube and consider wrapping it with pipe insulation. You've got to get use to blowimg back into the tube after you drink so you don't leave water int eh tube to freeze. 2) I made a "shoulder holster" for batteries under my arms...even lithiums have shortened life in extreme cold. You got to have about 3X the number you think you need and rotate them in or out. 3) Be aware that some older Gore-Tex shells can be compromised in extreme cold (-20 or lower) if you're moving and generating a lot of sweat, which can freeze between the layers of the fabric and you're basically screwed. It's happened to some of my stuff, which is why I vet EVERY SINGLE PIECE of cold weather gear close to home before I take it into the Wild. 4) There is NO SUCH THING as cotton! The modern layers are excellent, and they don't smell nearly as bad as the old one did! I like 200-level stretch fleece tights, vecuase they have a very wide temperature range, like 25 below to 30 above. 5) If it's really really cold, don't screw around...it can hurt you quick. 6) And DO Not UNDER ANY CONDITIONS lick your gun! Your tongue will get stuck, and we'll have to take a propane torch to it! Michael B

Sometimes when the camera is running, Bane can't hit the ground! Sometimes when the camera's NOT running, too... Michael b

Haven't bitched in a while, but I do think this one is valid... ...botched dental surgery end of last year led to complications, mostly really honest to goodness EXTREME pain, first quarter of this year...extreme pain triggers shingles attack on the nerve line of the right side of my face...which attacks my right eye...which triggers "secondary glaucoma"...which in turns trips off a fierce infection in my right...and very dominant..eye. So I've lost about 20-40% of the vision in my right eye in the last 90 days, and it's still in free fall. Prognosis is, "Who knows? You're in terra incognito here..." Great. What I really REALLY REALLY hate is there is not sufficient "causal information" to allow me to sue a couple of dental quacks into the friggin' Twilight Zone. Dammit, I accept that as you get older, stuff falls apart. I accept that some of the cool things have done have longterm physical consequences, such as my knees glowing at night. I'm cool with that. But I hate those SONS OF...well, you know...who by screwing up what is their day job have put me in a lot of pain, at the very least seriously damaged my dominant eye and my yet cost me the vision in that eye. Thanks for letting me blow off steam...I gotta go put more eyedrops in my eye... Michael B PS: Yes, it is expensive, and no, it is not covered under my self-employed medical policy, which pays only if I am injured in a buffalo stampede or contract the disease in question on a train west of the Mississippi River...

FWIW, spent a week at GUNSITE with the 9mm M&P (no mag drop safety)...no malfs of any kind...quick out of a Blade-tech holster. Like this gun a lot and will probably give it a try in Production. Michael B

Randy whined piteously about being on teevee, but finally caved. That .44 with the ti cylinder he built me is major fun to shoot! I have never been issued a formal invitation to any USPSA event with the exception of the Area 6s, which Charles Bond graciously invited me and crew to last year. Look for more revolver stuff coming up... Michael B

Alright alright already...I'm back and "temporally challenged!" Correct date is 5 May 2007...my birthday, by the way. I will be 28 years old...or maybe 32...46? 51? LOL! Right now we're figuring on open sign-up, with about a 100 shooter cap. We want to keep it small enough to make sure it runs well. Right now our focus is on hammering out targets and scoring system. We want to be able to offer the targets as a reasonably priced package to clubs (probably through Cabela's). For example. on the rifle-only stage, we're looking at five banks of five steel "prairie dog" knockdowns...shooters will have 25 rounds of ammo and a fixed time limit to engage banks of targets from 25-75 yards. On the 2-gun stages, we're looking at custom wire racks to hold clay targets on some of the pistol segments. Dave Arnold is tinkering together the national organization. It'll be a low-cost annual membership with newsletter, discounts, etc. What we hope to do is have enough funding to give complete target sets to enough clubs to get the quarterly/regional matches off the ground, probably in conjucntion with other large matches. We're also working on links to the other large youth rifle competition operations, including the NSSF Scholastic Rifle Program, the 4-H competitions and the Boy Scouts. LOTS of industry interest and pledged support, which we hope to translate into an excellent prize structure! Arnold and I will have stage designs for the 5 core stages by end of next month. We shoudl have a website up by the end of the year, with a formal anouncement of the match and organization at SHOT. I'll try to be more prompt in getting back to the list! If I'm MIA too long, email me through TOC, mbane@outdoorchannel.com.

Thanks all...it was an experiment, and to my thinking it didn't work. The shows, however, pulled good numbers and good anecdotal response, and the experience did change the way we covered the Steel Challenge in 2006, which is a good thing! As much as I might think it otherwise, not everything I think of works out. The hardest thing to remember about competition — and I came to television as a committed competitor — is that what serves the competitor and what serves the competitive market doesn't necessarily work for the general viewer. So from my standpoint as a producer, I have to balance 15,000 competitors to 985,000 general viewers. My challenge is to figure out how to *display* competition shooting to an audience that, to a large degree, isn't interested. So we try things, and, hopefully, some of them work. To me, some very positive things came out of the match. I got to spend some time with Phil Strader, who I only knew off this list and who turned out to be one of the 3 nicest guys in the world. — I wish him the best in his endeavors and am more than willing to help him in any way I can. Randi Rogers ended up with a full sponsorship from Glock. Roger Sherman and Max Michel keep doing all sorts of stuff for the U.S. military media to raise the visibility of shooting, and Jerry Miculek, the consumate gentleman, got to buy dinner. A lot of what we learned is being rolled into the Ruger Rimfire Challenge, with the first championship match scheduled for 5 May in Morro Bay, CA, and into some of our other events. Again, my thanks for all your support! Michael B

...a .22 two-gun match, now scheduled for 5 May 2006 at the Hogue Range in Morro Bay, CA. This is the new .22 2-gun national competition we've tinkered together with Ken Jorgensen at Ruger, Dave Arnold, me. Lisa Farrell and the guys at the Hogue Range. Ideally, we're looking at 4 regional matches in 2006-2007, with the championships in Morro Bay and featured on SHOOTING GALLERY. We're basically working on 5 "core" stages...one rifle only, one handgun only and three mixed. No holsters — everything staged off tables or benches; custom targets from Action Targets; 4 "classes" — Open (anything goes!), Limited (no glass/no muzzle brakes-comps), "Mechanical" (bolt, lever or pump rifle/DA revolver, aka, the Patrick Sweeney class) and "Cowboy," 2 single action revolvers and a cowboy lever gun...competitors in Cowboy Class must wear a cowboy hat; if they don't have one, one will be provided for them). We'll be filming the May 5 match for SG (hey, it's my friggin' birthday!), and hopefully we'll have a VERY nice prize table! More info from TLAA* Lisa Farrell as to when entry forms wil be available. (*The Lovely and Acerbic) PS: This match will have a WHINERS WILL BE EXECUTED disclaimer!!! I swear to god, we're not joking this time! Michael B

Try Duluth Trading. i wear their vests in the Real World! Michael B

Santa Fe, hands down... The Shed...God's own red chili... Maria's...chili rellenos to die for...they literally wrote the book on margaritas... Might want to also hit Orlando's in Taos, too... Michael B

Bruce Gray occasioanlly runs competition classes at at the SIGARMS Academy in Exeter. You can check the SIG Forum for dates and times. Michael B

Learned my lesson. Won't do it again. A sponsor offered me a boxload of money to do a 2007 version, and I told him I would rather use a nailgun on Mr. Weasel. mb

I had nothing to do with the decision to no longer do the shoot-off, although I fully understand it. We NEVER cover shoot-offs, because we feel it confuses the viewer. With any filmed competition, what you try to do is give the viewers an emotional attachment to the competitors, sort of a vested interest in who wins. In practical shooting, the shoot-off isn't really a shoot-off in the sense that it's typically used in sports; rather, it's a whole new match that uses the main match as a selection criteria. So who's the "winner" — the person who wins the main match or the person who wins the "shoot-off" match? Television sports doesn't do ambiguity very well...that's why the person at the head of the field in a NASCAR race is declared the one and only winner and the two SuperBowl teams don't get together at the end of the 4th quarter for a field-goal kicking contest. I suspect that as in most other sports, if shooting wants to grow the matches will bifurcate into television matches and non-television matches. Of course, I don't actually know half of what I claim to! Michael B

...and boy, is that ever true! SO while rummaging through my gun safe, I came across a broken 657 .41 Magnum that was given to me AND a 3-inch .44 Magnum barrel. HMMMMMMMMM...I hate .41...don't like it and don't load for it. I LOVE .44 Magnum.... 3-inch .44 Magnum with ti cylinder from Mr. Randy Lee... Cool little blaster, I think...what thinks the forum?????? Michael B

It's posted on my blog: http://michaelbane.blogspot.com/2006/07/po...-pondering.html Rock on, and see you in lovely Piru! Michael B

Guy, brother; Denise & I have been through this...it is hard, but believe me, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Faith, Michael B

Mark Self...what a humiliating confession! ...uh...so did I... Michael B PS: My pal Paul Erhardt at SIG may be getting premiere tickets, sinch SIG ponied up a 551 buzz gun for Colin Farrell...take me take me!

Got an email from Hamilton Bowen that he is finishing up the work on a competition version of his "Rough Country" S&W sights. At my suggestion, he's going to send some of the prototypes to Randy Lee for his opinion...pray that Randy doesn't also see Hamiton's price list! Michael B

As an option that will work on most new S&Ws without altering the front sight, take a look at Hamilton Bowen's "Rough Country" rear sights (http://www.bowenclassicarms.com/shop/default.asp?action=_top&category=10). I have a set on a custom .44 Special he built for me, and I'm planning on putting them on all my S&Ws, assuming I hit the lottery...gives me a Bomar-esque sight picture. Michael B

On the TWO WHOLE STAGES I was able to get in while we were filming the International Revovler Championships last weekend in California, I used a 629 Classic Randy Lee built for me. The gun is fitted with a 329 titanium cylinder cut for moon clips. I used essentially cowboy reloads in .44 Special...206-gr flat point lead bullets over Trail Boss powder at something like 150 power factor, graciously loaded for me by Dave Wilson. THE GUN WAS LIKE RUNNING A STAPLER! I wasn't flying, but I had only one "B" hit out of the two stages. The original plan was to use Black Hills .44 Russian ammo, since it's almost as stubby as a .45 ACP. However, whatever powder they use burns dirty as heck...a couple of cylinders-full and it was enough to gum up the extractor star! The moons were cut by Dave Hearth at HEARTHCO and they absolutely worked like gangbusters with the .44 Special brass. All in all, a great gun (with a spectacular trigger pull)...I mean, it's not going to eclipse the 625s and the race .357s & .38 Supers, but it is a world-class field gun that you can indeed race with. Had to pry it out of people's hands, since EVERYONE wanted to shoot the thing! Michael B PS: Will have a full story and pixs on the SHOOTING GALLERY site when Randy ships the gun back to me.

Something with frightening recoil... Michael B