Erik S.

That piece of billet aluminum probably cost more than just buying the pre-made one from Dillon. And theirs is blue Not saying I don't like yours.

You stated that you didn't want to send the rifle to a gunsmith, so I would say "no" on the Howa since most of your mods down the road will need to be custom. With a Remy 700 or Savage, there are so many drop in parts out there that you would likely be able to do it yourself. Many people also get barrels and actions done to match their reloading standards, so I'd be careful there too. Alot of super tight chambers out there and barrel twists that may not fit your factory bullet selection. Also find out who did the muzzle brake install and what kind of base it's running. Some of those minor details can add (or subtract) hundreds!

Glad you liked that rifle! They are quality and shoot REALLY well out of the box.

ohhhh. That black stainless with those grips just look SEXY! For me it was between the Trophy Match and STI Trojan. Picked the Trojan and love it. That said, I know I wouldn't have regretted getting the Springfield. Alot of my friends have them and they are good pistols! I just don't like stainless that much. That black stainless, though, is

I don't know why but something bugs me about that kid... he's real good but he seems a bit cocky for someone so young. I have to agree with you, but I love country and want to see someone with his style succeed instead of the middle school, emo, skateboarder sound. The blonde girl (dont' know her name) that sang the country song on girls night was pretty good too. Not the best, but I voted for her because she sang a country song.

I'm sure they'll all get record deals. I was shocked the guy with the goofy glasses didn't make it, or at least get picked for the wildcard. Not really a fan of his, but he does have a good voice.

Scottie!!

I'll chime in here and recommend the STI Trojan 5.0. Great gun with a very nice slide to frame fit and barrel/bushing fit (which is one of the main differences between a stock and custom gun). Any 1911 is highly customizable so anything GOOD will work!!!! A side note....my stock STI trigger was VERY crisp, BUT it wiggled up and down like crazy!!!!! Don't know if you care. I made the decision to replace mine with an Infinity prior to even getting the gun.

Definitely too tense. Your weak hand thumb looks like it's going to bend backwards. Just loosen up a bit and I think you'll notice a big improvement. Find a grip where the gun returns naturally to sight picture.

Thank GOODNESS we don't have to deal with carrot top anymore. That guy (I think) is WEIRD!!!!

Good job on the classifier! Impressive! I always shoot slower in matches than I do in practice. I'm working on that as well...it's hard!

BIIIIIG +1 on Scott! He has an AMAZING voice. I got a little annoyed at him at first because he kept singing that SAME Josh Turner song. I thought it was his immaturity coming out and didn't know if he could perform when they threw some challenges at him. I thought he did an awesome job of mixing his "country style" voice with the music on group night and he's proving to have some natural talent. Hopefully they will continue to let the singers do their own thing. When they force them to be a TOTALLY all around singer, you get someone who's a little good at everything, not GREAT at one thing. At this point, if Scott were eliminated, he would still get picked up by a record label somewhere.

When I was in the process of choosing mine, i thought about creating a thread about this but didn't because I hadn't done searches and thought it must have been discussed many times. I guess I should have started something! Luckily, a friend of mine had some CR's that I was able to try on to determine what size to order. Glad you got some answers!

If sending to a gunsmith is out of the question, your stock selection is limited, however the Savage model I mentioned earlier should be seriously considered. If you want to go Remy 700, the model 700 Target Tactical (recently released) has a Bell and Carlson stock with adjustable cheekpiece. The Savage does NOT have an adj cheek piece. The 700 is way above your price limit, though and I wouldn't want that to take away from good optics. Good luck!

Nice! Definitely going to try that drill with friends this weekend.

SCARY!! Shouldn't that have been a "STOP!"?

Good job on the texas star! Thos are tougher than alot of people think. There was one at about 30yds 2 matches ago where I live and it KILLED me. Think I dumped a mag and a half at it (shooting single stack), lol. Sighted in my gun after that and when I met the star this past match, only missed the plates twice.

Hey now....

I shoot at the 8" steel plate at 25yds. When I hit it, I go home Only kidding. I usually shoot groups to finish off or do some slow, form-focused drills.

Haven't seen this link in this thread, but must admit I didn't read every post. GAP makes some good rifles. Depending on your cash, you could buy a 700 and ship it to GAP or just get their model so you never have to upgrade anything. I'm not the biggest fan of the A1 stock, but you can upgrade for under $100. http://www.gaprecision.com/ga-precision-2011-custom-rifles/ga-precision-base-custom-rifle.html

What you need: comparator (sinclair makes a good one) Case trimmer (Lyman makes a good one) Chamfer/deburring tool (sinclair makes a good one) primer pocket uniforming tool (Lyman) flash hole reamer (lyman) Good dies (especially seating die) (Redding makes good dies) calipers (Mitutoyo makes some good ones but any accurate ones will work) good brass (lapua makes good brass) good bullets (Sierra makes the matchking which has 2 popular weights for .308, 168 and 175, both good although 168's perform better in 24" barrel and 175's better in 26" barrels...just in MY experience) good powder (i use Hodgdon Varget, but BLC-2 works well) After that is up to you to follow how many times fired your brass is, keep it trimmed AFTER sizing....this is time consuming since it's an easy step to just size then throw powder and seat and basically takes the advantages of a Dillon out of the picture. I use single stage for match grade rifle and use the dillon ONLY for sizing and priming (2 separate steps). Take your time and measure every powder charge to the 0.1 grain. You'll be amazed at the quality of ammo you produce. I have not found a need to measure my case volumes, weights, and neck concentricity. I figure I started out with good brass and used the same tools on each case for brass prep. Some folks get this detailed but my rifle already shoots sub .5moa following the steps above and I'm not sure I could shoot much better...so I stopped there in the consideration of the added time to further perfect the rounds I turn out.

I shouldn't have opened this thread after telling myself I was going to stick to one division for a while.

I too, am guilty of not practicing enough weak hand shooting, but most of my weak hand practice is weak hand unsupported. This was pointed out to me at our last club match where weak hand freestyle was permitted. Since I practice mostly weak hand unsupported, I shot that portion as such, but made me realize I need to become proficient weak hand FREESTYLE as well. You're right, not a new technique breakthrough, but sometimes you just don't think of things. Now that I'm keeping a journal and tracking my progress, making sure I practice specifics is much easier. Good thread!

Well done! Seems like the variation in COAL would do more for pressues than your results indicate. That is based on discussions here about pressure issues when loading too short. Would be interested to read your results if you pushed the envelope a bit on the short COAL and see what happens to your velocities/pressures. We could then put some data to the theory. Then again, we're only talking about .001" increments so may not see a noticable difference with the comparatively vast variation in MV using mixed range brass. I'd say your SD is good considering!

Good idea on the longer screws...that IS a pain. I need to do that since I can't justify getting separate powder measures for each caliber. [thread hijack] Has anyone purchased extra powder bars that you keep adjusted for different calibers or is consistency an issue when changing them out? Seems like that would work. [/thread hijack]