TRUBL

I suspect that you have one of the first 308's made. I had a problem with mine, which happens to be one of the first ones. The shells were just dribbling out and LOTS of jams. It seems the hole for the ejector was drilled a little too deep and they corrected that problem on the newer rifles. THe good news is, you can remove the plunger, put a correct length spacer in and then put the spring back in. I did that with mine and while I was at it, replaced the springs as well. I also purchased a new bolt assembly as well.....I believe they are like around $100 or so. And Dealer price is cheaper ofcourse. the new bolt and the one I rebuilt are about as 100% reliable as you can get. I believe if you talk with Dave up at DPMS he will give you the numbers you need to correct your problem. OH......definatly replace the extractor sring as well. Hope this helps!!!...........Tim

I've never been to a match were you've needed a sling except when you had to transition to a pistol, and you had to retain your rifle or shotgun. Otherwise, I've not used a sling in a match for actually shooting. You mileage may vary, however, I believe they can slow you down as you have to 'lock in' after the buzzer and not before. Also, not sure, but tactical division may not allow slings? (check the rules......I did'nt as I don't use one anyways) See y'all down there!!! Tim

Now, DPMS makes a very fine comp for the 308 as well as other stuff for your 308.......however, unless they made a change to it recently, I believe that the 308 comp they are offering is 1.25" Dia. This would put you into open class for USPSA and the RM3G match I believe. I am running a JP Tactical Comp on my DPMS LAR308 and I have no complaints what so ever. IF you order one from John, make sure you tell them it is for a 308 and that you want it to be neutral......no thrust port. Tim

try looking at the JP website at www.jprifles.com There should be some pics on there for sure. i had mentioned a 2x7 or a 3x9 scope......IF.....you go with the short range tactical sight. Otherwise, a great scope would be something in the 1.5x4 power range. I understand that Simmons pro diamond is a nice scope to look at, although I've looked thru one. Tim

Comp the barrel....about 2 to 3 back from the comp. Also........choate speed caddy's will work for 20ga if you glue popsicle sticks in the back to take up the room for the smaller dia.

Uhmmm......EA is long time outa business I believe and no....never was DPMS....two completley different animals. I have several DPMS rifles, lowers, uppers, etc. DPMS sponsors the USPSA, 3 gun......I would suggest that you support them as well. And when ya call them and order your lower.....tell them why you are buying it from them. Trust me, they will appreciate hearing that!!!

- Eliminate Open Class (opposition to this has been strong from moment we mentioned it). Keep it.....I do agree that we need an unlimited class....one thing that I personally know of that came out of this class recently is the use of small red dot scopes on top of ACOG's and scopes being used in the military. Open Class....can be and is a test bed for many things.....saving lives (well OUR boys lives) is a good thing - Eliminate Tactical-Iron Sub-Class (we only had 22 this year). I ran the original DPMS Tri-Gun Match and not totally understanding the SOF scoring system I ended up with a total of 3 divisions that year TI, TO and Open, there was no He-Man the first year. I guess in todays langauge that would mean TI, TO, Open and He-Man....with 4 prize tables. We just split up the prizes according to the number in each division. - Add Tactical/Iron Category (like lady's, military, senior, etc.) Would be a mute issue then - Allow any single optic in He-Man Class (the single most requested change request that we get from shooters). Personally, I think a good idea, but just my opinion....I shoot He-Man and my eyes are turning worse each year - Add He-Man/Iron Category sure....ok, I do think that breaking HE-MAN into 2 divisions would not be good...unless we had lots more shooting this (that coming fromt he stand point of a stand alone or SOF style of scoring). - Allow bi-bods on Tactical and He-Man rifles NO....in a way, we have so many different equipment rules and a lot of people that shoot this match and others. I would like to see the basic equipment rules for all the matches to be basically the same (IE...USPSA, DPMS, SSM3G, etc.) This way....people could always use the same equipment for any match. - Require power factor or bullet weight minimums for He-Man (140 grain rifle and 200 (or 230) grain pistol) I am a He-Man Light, only because the present rules allow for it. I would be happy to incorporate this rule. Power Factors IMHO are a joke. You will only catch the honest ones for the pistol. As far far as Rifle goes.....you need to make the bullet go a certain speed so that you do not to screw so much with your tajectory. IE....try shooting a 220 rifle round going 1000fps at targets from 50 to 300 yards sometime in a stage. Your Rifle ammo....for the most part NEEDS to be going something like 2650fps min. I do however believe some ball ammo is somewhat less than that. - Require handgun to be worn on all stages eh.....either way, I guess I would rather not (as it is a game) but won't complain if it is required, I will adapt. - Require slings on rifles sure.....does'nt mean I have to use it. And...if you have a stage that takes advantage of a sling.....I WILL USE IT - Eliminate shotgun barrel and magazine tube length restrictions (but retain 9 round max at start) yes.....actually though....put a 9 round max limit on tactical/HE-MAN shotguns. OR maybe as a bonus (IMHO ?) if you do have a 22" barrel and a mag tube that is 1" longer....no round restriction.....yes I can load up with 10....and that is why I said it, and yes it is kinda selfish

Yes Keith...you are so good with that 629 I would use it....if ONLY to show all us that you are THE He Man of the division

Keith...now with the 308 and shooting down hill. you will need to take your 300 yard zero and go 15 clicks higher, infact, in your case 25 clicks. Also, you will be better off using the 110 grain ammo in the higher cross winds. I've found you don't need to waste money on the hornady crap.....pulled 30 cal carbine bullets will do just fine. Now for the short range, house clearing courses....full boat 220 grain loads will do the trick. This info along with using the 3.5" mag loads for your pump, that I had mentioned earlier to you will be THE ticket for this match.....I'm only trying to help you out as this is your first time coming to Raton and I want it to be as pleasant as possible for you, as well as a giving you a competative edge over ANYONE else shooting the HE-MAN class. NOW.....the DISCLAIMER!!!....this secret match info is for Keith only and no one else shooting HE-MAN should use this info, only Keith. Infact...you are not Keith,....forget you ever read this......you didn't see anything.

I'll be there...shooting HE-MAN Staying on the range in my motorhome I should have my bike in tow....if it works out I will be there thursday in the AM See ya there!!

Oooooh I might be there....shooting He-Man. Yeah...there should be a law, colorblind people could only use scopes, but then I would have no excuses for my poor preformance.

Being colorblind flouresant orange.....can be good at best or really really bad to see for me....depending on the sun. Now, this year I did buy a set of rose colored glasses for sporting clays to help me pick out the orange birds better.....so that may help me to see the orange steel plates better (but, then again, depending on the sun...it may or may not help). Just to give you an idea from my side of it......when I was golfing (years ago) and used red or orange tees.....I could never find them after I tee'd off.

Michael, I've used white targets up against black landscape fabric at bigger matches in the past and this seemed to be the best for iron sight users. It did not matter as to the time of day (sunrise to sundown), cloudy or sunny. Now....I would say that the same can be had about a black target up against a white background as well.....I just found it easier to get the lands scape fabric in black. I would not be opposed to black on white....but it will probably be more difficult to achieve. The main thing is being able to have a "crisp" difference between the target and back ground. HOWEVER.....there is a drawback any time you use a cloth back ground. No one will be able to see their misses as the bullets impact the dirt around the target, but if targets are set in the grass.....it probably would not matter anyway. The iron sight shooters have to KNOW how there weapon is shooting and the scope users would have to do the same. I am a colorblind shooter and going with black and white is going to be the absolute best combination either way for me, and I also believe it will give the best resolution to all shooters thru out the day and from day to day.

choreograph.......get it to the point where it is 'natural' or you do not have to think about where you have to relaod....and don't miss!! Or all bets are off And you get to do all this in the 5 minutes of walk thru....no pressure

Think of your rifle as a pistol for a moment..... You want mags to drop free....and for it to be one handed (always) You take that shot, press the release as you are going for another mag.....where is it really may not be of much importance. The ready mag is closest as is two mags together. But we do fast mag changes with pistol and the mags on our belts too. Where is your finger for a pistol mag reload.....and where should it be for the rifle reload?.....same place you say? Yes!! NOW......where your index finger points is where the mag will go. Try that with your ready mag or 2 mags together....not really comfortable to try to get your index finger on the front of the mag....is it? Do you tip your pistol? So should you tip your rifle? You can.....and still keep it on your shoulder. What it really boils down to is we all practice our pistol reloads....or atleast, do a lot of them through out the course of a season....but how much time do we spend on rifle reloads? (don't get me started on shotgun). One this I would say is to try is this.....slow down your pistol reload for minute and try to mimick that (well similar, but a little different) with your rifle. You may find that loading off the belt is faster? Maybe not....but it would give you a good starting point. The arredondo mag well.....is good to use as well.....now I do hear that on some AR's it makes the mags stick as it is too tightly clamped on the mag well.....it can be fitted with a little imagination though. One other thing to think about with the ready mag or 2 mags taped together......it does add weight to your rifle and the trend is going towards lighter rifles AND...lastly....the really good news is that except for some local matches.....your larger matches do not do rifle (or shotgun) standards (yes...some do, but most do not). Which is why a lot of people really have not talked to much about or praticed a lot with reload for rifle. So a speed reload is NOT a big time saver....but hey....if every second counts.....I'm all for cutting them down.

Yes.....looking at PF.....there would no advantage over .223 in USPSA as you'd have to atleast use 40 grain bullets. I did not find anything on min caliber for rifle, but it appears to be a mute point. Although....I sure liek to see that 32 grain bullet at the chrony acheive almost 5000fps!! (think people would stand back and hand the pieces of what left of your AR back to you?) And IMGA....states .223 or larger.....so it doesn't even get out of the gate there. Oh well......another wild hair brain idea shot in the butt Now if I could only have smaller fingers to load 20 gauge effectively.......and the gear. (oops...another thread, sorry) LOL

LOL Chris....nice one....nice dig? Practice is like cheating.... I do practice by the way......and if you roll your own.....what is substantially more expensive? Personally, I think for USPSA there my not be any advantage as you would need to use 40 grain and can do that with .223 presently But.....for IMGA......where there is no major/minor.....it may be a huge advantage, you could build a rifle with 'zero' recoil I would bet. Similar but not quite the same......in He Man....I use 110 grain Hornady (yes, roll my own) and tested. at 25 yards.....with this load....A-C sone hits in 1/3 less time compared to 150 grain bullets making major. Now is this substantial?.....possibly, it is more exspensive than buying ball ammo...yes.....is it gaming? yes.....Are you buying time? yes. I say my talent is about as sharp as a dull kniife......but I can say that (you shouldn't say that about me if you don't know me....so apology accepted....LOL). I assure you I do practice (sometimes) but I will strive to use the best equipment out there so that when I do compete....there is only one place to put the blame....somewhere between the trigger and the ground.

Here is an interesting question (or 2) A. Is the .204 Ruger legal for USPSA 3 gun......I believe it can make minor...correct? B. Is the .204 Ruger legal for tactical 3 Gun? AND....finally if so.....Has anyone used it yet???? Yes.....always the gamer when you have no talent....you gotta have some edge, even if it is as dull as a butter knife Tim

If your molded plugs are not working for you one of 2 things could be wrong......either you have out grown them (ears grow till you die) or they were not made well to begin with. I have 2 sets of them one set, the older set....are not as quit as my new ones that I had made for me last summer at Nationals. The older set is 5 years old. For me....(and hearing protection is SOOOOOO personal).....the molded ones work best, and YMMV. So you get to try all sorts of them to find the best one that works for you.

Yes, if for some reason you feel that you have messed up the disconnector that came in the kit....you can use the one that originally came with your rifle. You may have to grind some mat'l off (and maybe more than you did off the JP disconnector that came in the kit) the front of the nose on your stock disconnector (please sneak up on it though!!!). The ones that come with the kit are prepped at JP so that typically only a little stoning should be required....BUT.....you mile mileage may vary as there is quite a range of tolerance between the hammer and trigger holes in the lowers from various makers. Add to that, the safety hole and the tolerances can be all over the board. I just put one in a Cav Arms Receiver (that I won at the 2004 RM3G)...and it seemed to go in very well. I typically grind the sides of triggers and hammers as part of the fitting process as needed....good point!! As this can hang up the trigger return for sure!!! If you choose not to grind/stone the nose of the disconnector....your take up will probably need to increase for the sake of reset. You can typically drop a JP trigger in with no screws and it will work....you just have a lightened trigger with lots of creep and over travel. (the sear geometry is different than Mil spec so there is less camming of the hammer) The disconnector spring should not be too light as then it will tend to "ride" the hammer hook. (actually rotate backwards some) I would recommend that you do not grid on the hammer hook.....it is easier and less expensive to replace the disconnecter than to replace the hammer (especially the speed hammer) AND...if you need to replace the hammer...you may have to reset your take up and over travel too. ONE MORE THING.....the JP kit can actually be made easier to install with the use of the adjustable safety (no more fitting the trigger to the safety.....yippie!!!). This alone, can almost make the kit drop in.

WAPWAP....the only thing I agree with you is the that the 19grains (max) of the spent powder being hurled thru the barrel at say 1200FPS.....does not amount to much force.....however, the part of the equation that you are missing is the force of the the gas (also going at 1200fps) hitting and pushing up against a baffle. It is not the spent powder hitting against the baffle that is reducing the recoil (ok, maybe the 1/4 lpb of force or so)....more so, it is the gas acting on that surface....literally pushing the gun forward....well, helping to counteract the recoil. Think of it this way.....the baffle is a sail on a ship......the wind pushes against the sail to make the ship move. The more wind you have, the force is acting on the sail. We will never convince you on this forum I suspect, but your theroy is lacking the most important piece of data.....wind force up against the baffle, you've never even mentioned it, infact, with the way you have explained it....a sailing could not move by wind force alone....think about that one.....I think that the only way to prove it to you is to have shoot one......and we will know we are right, you are wrong, by the look on your face when you shoot one.

WHOOOOAAAAA...........Somebody better tell Browning, Weatherby, Parrazzi and a few other Trap gun manufacturers that porting doesn't work....as they still port their trap guns and Sporting clays guns to reduce fatige and muzzsle for for doubles shooting. I have an XT trap and an XS special that came ported right from the factory....actualy, the fact of the matter is that more o/u guns are coming out ported than 10 years ago right from the factory. Wapwap.....I think you will have to shoot a JP open shotgun before you make that statement. There are not many out there that will shoot much softer than one them.....there are some out there, but not many, and a lot less in 3 gun shooting. Actually.....I would almost tend to agree that porting (not comps) would be tactically sound on a shotgun and not be limited to open class as it does keep the muzzle from flipping off target. (just I just start a new thread....or drift?)

Funny thing here, after seeing the picture and all of the thumb safety & talking about MIM vs machined form billet.....I too had to replace a safety that failed. It was an STI I have (the only one I have....as I shoot SVI).....the thumb safety failed. It got bent, and now falls out VERY easy. Whether it breaks or bends....who cares, it failed. I did replace with some safety I had laying around here from my 'box' of 1911 parts. I believe it is of all things.....a die cast part. True story, just replaced it a couple days ago. Personally, I think the guy who owned the gun before me had no idea how to dissassemble/assemble his pistol and tried to force the safety in and bent it.....which is how most safety's end up failing anyway, trying to force it in, not knowing the gun has to be cocked. Does this mean STI parts are junk?....nah. Infact I'll bet you if I sent the gun in, it would be replaced for free and with a part made the same way as the original. And that part would possibly the life of the gun. But, heck I have the stuff here and the know how.....so I saved a lot of time doing it myself with what I had. And, I suspect the part I put in will last the life of the gun as well. Take care guys......I can't beat a dead horse anymore....we are all type 1 personallities and we have our opinions, we'll tell you what it is whether you want to hear it or not

I am pretty sure the colts, kimber, para and S&W are cast.......may be wrong, but I have really good sources on this type info. Infact....I am 100% sure on Colts and Para's. BUT.....all frames can crack, can't they? Irishlad, you are correct.....what is the frequency of breakage. That is what really counts here as all parts that move are prone to breakage. I know that having a part break gives the owner a 100% feeling of breakage....but it is the over all useage that counts. I wish I could say all guns are 100% and never fail......but the reality is that 5% return rate is actually outstanding for any manufacturer......and 2% is almost unheard of, although there are a few that are even better than that......and using MIM parts too. I've seen junk parts made from the MIM process.....way too soft or the otehr extreme, way too brittle. The selection of mat'ls and heat treating (ok....and a good MIM manufacturer) is paramount when designing these parts.

I think you all would be surprised at which parts you buy are die cast, MIM or actually made from a billet or forging. Kinda like the guy that would not buy a Japanesse car, but every appliance in his house is made over there. Keep in mind, that in the case of like your safety nothing is 100%....there is always a reject. However, I suspect that part is die cast, not MIM. Oh yes....the frame on a Kimber and S&W 1911's are cast (and in the same plant...imagine that, eh?)...by the way....incase you didn't know that.....so are Para's and colt's. Springfields are Forged as are Norinco's (that's a hard one to swallow). STI & SVI ofcourse are machine from bar stock. How many front ends and slides of 1911's have you seen fly off from the link hole forward because of the casting and the pounding it takes from the force of the slide slamming forward? food for thought....ofcourse, I say this and shoot SVI Do a search for MIM......lots of good info on the net and it will probably put your hearts at ease on the process and the strength of parts compared to others.