JAFO

I don't plan on traveling that far for a match in the near future, but is there a way to estimate velocity change vs altitude, or do you just have to chrono at the altitude at which you'll be shooting?

Well, I figured that I could shorten the OAL of my 4.3gr load as far down as 1.090", which is what Sierra used for their 4.4gr max load, and still be safe pressure-wise. Since I have no published data above 4.4gr regardless of OAL, I'd be in uncharted territory going over that with my OAL. Am I thinking correctly there?

G-ManBart's post on 2011 Goals got me thinking back on 2010 and what goals I had set for myself that I actually accomplished. First, I managed to find a class and get certified as an RO, something I'd been wanting to do for over a year. Aside from getting a better grasp on the rules, I think it has also helped me with stage design. The instructor was Troy McManus and he made the class interesting and educational with some good cajun humor thrown in. If you've considered becoming an RO, I'd highly recommend it. Another goal was to get out to some matches at other clubs. This had multiple benefits for me: more practice, meeting new people, exposure to steel challenge-type matches, and seeing how other people design torture - I mean "stages" (come on, a polish plate rack partially obscured by barrels?! I'd never even seen one before!). I found the steel matches are a good compliment to regular USPSA matches, as the hit-or-miss nature of them really makes you focus on accuracy. What did everyone else get to check off their "To Do" list in 2010?

Finish developing a good, accurate load for my 9mm. Finally make B in Production. Get to more matches (in pursuit of 2 above). Lose another 15 lbs.

Yeah, I sized a case, partially seated a bullet, and then chambered it. The rifling pushed the bullet back to 1.170", so I'm about .007-.009" shy of max OAL and they feed fine. But if I need to shorten the OAL to increase velocity and not have a negative impact on accuracy, so be it. I'd rather do that than push the grains up. I've not seen any published Titegroup loads that exceeded 4.4gr, but all were with shorter OALs than mine.

I'll make up some more 4.3gr loads and shoot them and the 4.1's over the chrono again. But this time I'll use a sandbag and a better target. The improvised rest I used before was shaky and I was shooting at a paper IPSC target with no specific aiming point. If the 4.3gr groups prove to be better than I thought, that would be great. But if not, I'll try shortening the OAL on the 4.1gr load and see what happens.

A friend of mine built my bench for me when i still lived in an apartment and had no space or tools to build one myself. "Overbuilt" may be an appropriate term. He used double-layered 3/4" plywood for the top and single-layer 3/4" plywood for the cabinets, which are mounted to a 2x4 frame. He used polyurethane to finish the top, and I think he told me it took twelve coats to get a smooth finish. It is heavy, and currently located on the second floor of the house. When my friend agreed to help me move in, he hadn't counted on that! Thankfully, the top comes off the frame.

OK, so my next question - is it safe to further seat a loaded round? I have 75 rounds left over from today's steel match (I did better than I was expecting ), and I'm wondering if I could just seat these to a few different shorter OALs. Or is this not a safe practice?

After finding out that HS-6 isn't the best powder for a non-comped Production gun, I switched to Titegroup. I decided to go about developing this load a little more thoroughly than the last one (which was - does it feed, cycle, and not blow up? Good. ) Thanks to Santa, I got a ProChrono Digital and spent some time today testing some loads. I loaded 3.9, 4.1, and 4.3 gr of Titegroup and I shot the last of my old HS-6 load for comparison. All shots were made resting my hands on a box on top of a range bag (best I could improvise) with the target about 15 yards out. The group sizes would, hopefully, be smaller if shot from a sandbag, but I'm hoping they'll serve well enough to compare the loads to each other. I got the following results. Temp: 65 oF (and, yes, it is actually January 1st here ) Sky: Clear Distance from muzzle to first screen: ~15' Gun: Sig P226, 4.4" factory barrel Primer: Fed #100 Small Pistol Bullet: 124gr Zero FMJ (Avg wt of 10 bullets pulled from the same box was 124.7gr. I used this weight for the PF calculation.) COL: 1.161" Mixed range brass All strings were made up of 20 shots Load 1 (6.7gr HS-6): HI: 1147 / LO: 1082 / AV: 1120 / ES: 65 / Sd: 13 / Power Factor: 139 / Group size: 5.2" (and off to the left ) Load 2 (3.9gr Titegroup): HI: 1018 / LO: 981 / AV: 998 / ES: 37 / Sd: 10 / Power Factor: 124 / Group size: 3.1" Load 3 (4.1gr Titegroup): HI: 1058 / LO: 1026 / AV: 1045 / ES: 32 / Sd: 8 / Power Factor: 130 / Group Size: 3.5" Load 4 (4.3gr Titegroup): HI: 1092 / LO: 1058 / AV: 1070 / ES: 34 / Sd: 8 / Power Factor: 133 / Group Size: 4.7" Looking at this, it would seem that the 4.1gr load is the best of those tested. The 3.9gr load doesn't make Minor, and the group size on the 4.3gr load was over an inch larger (I did throw out one outlier from each group). My concern is that a PF of 130 isn't much cushion . I've never shot a match where there was a chrono, but if I do, I'd like to have the confidence that my loads will be OK. The max load I found in my manuals was 4.4gr @ 1150fps (Sierra), significantly faster than my 4.3gr load. I realize that loads run different in any gun, but the Sierra OAL was also 1.090", which is much shorter than my 1.161". If I reduce the COL of my 4.1gr load, will the increase in pressure give me an increase in velocity as well? Thanks!

Sigs aren't that modular, unfortunately. The locking block needs to match the barrel, and I think the 220 block may be thinner than the 226 block and not fit correctly into the 226 frame. Come to think of it, the 226 frame rails may be too wide for the 220 slide as well. I don't have both of mine in front of me to confirm.

If you don't want to send the slide to Dawson, you could try asking them how they measure their front sights for the heights published on their site, then measure your front sight the same way and find the one that matches. If you can't find one that matches, you may have to replace the front and rear sights to get a matched set, such as a Dawson FO front and a Warren Tactical rear. But even then, I've heard of Warren rears sometimes requiring some filing to get the POA to match the POI.

I can't believe this thread is still going. I asked something back on page 3 that was never addressed and it still puzzles me:

App D4, 21.6 states that you may replace the trigger with one that is OEM on another approved model (emphasis added): 21.6 Exchange of minor EXTERNAL components Sights, firing pins, firing pin retainers, extractors and ejectors MAY be replaced with OEM or aftermarket parts. Any other components which are externally visible may ONLY be replaced with OEM parts which are offered on the specific model of gun or another approved gun from the same manufacturer except as specifically clarified below. Examples of external components which may only be replaced with OEM parts include (but are not limited to): magazine releases, slide stops, thumb safeties and triggers. Special Notes/Clarifications: • Barrels are considered “external parts” and are subject to specific restrictions in 21.4 and associated rulings. • A factory/OEM magazine release which extends only the length of the magazine release may be used. A magazine release which provides larger surface area (paddles, buttons) may only be used if it is an OEM part available on an approved model of gun. • Externally-visible parts from “custom shop” guns will only be considered “OEM parts” if the customshop gun is on the NROI list of approved Production guns.

I did, actually. Thanks for pointing that out, although I'm currently at a loss as to what else you'd use other than barriers or fault lines of some sort. A trench would work, I suppose.

In your situation, you said the target was 30' away from the shooter, but he ran to within 8'. The rule gives an exemption if there is a target within 10' of the shooter (by definition it would have to be paper, not steel). Sorry, I should have said "engaging a paper target within 10'". In the OP's case, he said the target was ~13' away but the shot was very near 10'.

Now that I've stopped coughing on my soda... Merlin, may I please quote you on that? My signature line needs more humor. We have one or two folks who can go overboard with their language, usually when they are having a bad match. Instead of being cathartic, however, it kinda seems to increase their frustration.

Dwight, please don't take offense to this, as it's just a concerned suggestion, but you may want to put that printout on a wall with something solid behind it (ie, brick exterior, chimney, etc). In the unlikely event that you should have an AD while dryfiring at a window, there's very little to stop it.

It's just like how adjusters don't care that you may wear all the protective gear as much as the fact that you ride a motorcycle. In their eyes, you would have an increased risk, in this case higher risk of fire and/or explosion because you have enough primers and powder that you felt you needed one of those. Now, if you stored that cabinet in a buried concrete bunker in the backyard, OK.

Do you have access to another loading manual to see if you can find a load for FMJ? Hodgdon has some load data online for free (http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp), but they only list a 115gr FMJ load for WST powder. Sometimes you can find manuals at used book stores, assuming you're not using a brand new powder.

I empty my mags at the end of every match, take everything home and put the range bag in my reloading room (ie, den). Because I shoot a carbon slide 226, I wipe the gun down with a silicone cloth and put it in the safe. Prior to every match, I field strip, clean, and lube the gun (grease & oil). At least once a year, or whenever the trigger starts to feel gritty, I'll detail strip the gun down to the frame and clean everything real pretty-like. How often I disassemble the mags depends on what the range surface was like at the last match. Sometimes the dirt down here can be so powdery, it's like dropping your mags in flour.

Wow. Hypotheticals are fun and all, but... OK, in Case 1, they are misses because the shooter was engaging a paper target. In Case 2, it's an illegal stage if there's no fault line or barricade to indicate the safe line for the shooter. If the shooting box is the safe line (and the Stage instructions state shots must be from within the box), it's a DQ for 10.5.17. Since the shooter's entire body is well within 23 feet, it doesn't matter where you measure from. Since 10.5.17 specifically states you measure from the closest point in contact with the ground, there may be an issue if the shooter jumped when he/she fired, but I would be tempted to call that unsafe gunhandling since there's no reason for the shooter to be jumping and shooting mid-air. In Case 3, they're misses, same as Case 1.

In a medium or long course, your draw time won't matter nearly as much as your transitions, reloads, movement, etc. Draw your gun at the pace at which you feel safe doing it. In time, you will feel more confident about it and your speed will increase. You may also want to try unloaded draw practice at home to build your confidence. Put on your gear, triple check that your gun is unloaded and there's no ammo in the room, and practice drawing to a "target" of your choosing (a dot on a piece of paper, an old cardboard target, a lamp, etc). You can practice reloads the same way.

I shoot a Sig because I like the weight of the metal frame, but hammer-fired DA/SA guns are definitely in the minority where I am as well. Most people like the Glock/XD/M&P for the consistent trigger pulls. My first DA shot is often an A while the second SA shot is sometimes a C (that's another problem), so I don't see it as a major handicap. Then again, I haven't climbed above C class yet, either (see previous other problem).

The math doesn't support it. You are looking at a straight, or nearly straight, if fault line is involved, line from impact to foot, right? Now, my hands are ~ 20 inches forward of my torso -- and in my worst stance my left foot is maybe 8 inches forward of my torso. So you draw a right triangle from impact point to the hands, down to the ground and back to the impact point, and I'll submit that due to the change in height -- 4.5 feet at minimum for a standing shooter? -- the distance to the foot will virtually always be shorter. Respectfully, I think the math does support it. Let's say kevin's hands are, as he said, 20" forward of his body. Let's also estimate that his hands in the firing position are ~12" lower than his overall height of 5'8", or ~4'8" off the ground. If he's standing with his feet 10' from a hypothetical POI on the ground, and you drop a vertical line from his outstretched hands to the ground, it would contact the ground 8'4" (100") from the POI, and would be 4'8" (56") long. Making a right triangle with that: A^2 + B^2 = C^2 100"^2 + 56"^2 = C^2 C = 114.6" from his hands to the POI So roughly 6" less than the 120" from his feet to the POI, unless my math is wrong. However, you're very unlikely to have been in a fully outstretched firing stance if you hit the ground 10' in front of you, right? More than likely the trigger was pulled before you got to full extention and you have the problem others have mentioned of approximating the hand position after Stop, ULSC. Marking the position of the feet would seem more reproducible. As far as the fault line goes for the OP, I still maintain that I'd use the toes. The fault line shouldn't really matter. If this happened well inside a large shooting box, you'll have to estimate where the feet were with no convenient visible reference, anyway. Why handle it differently because there's a fault line there?

You'd be trading the effects of a fire for those of a flood, but I suppose it's the lesser of two nightmares.