Bret Heidkamp

If you plan on shooting long range, Schmidt and Bender is my favorite, but is $$$+. IOR Valdada is another great choice, much clearer than Leupold, and they have good reticle designs. I had that before the S&B. It isn't much more than a Leupy. Here is the kicker: If you want to use mil dots (actually, you don't want DOTS, you want 1/2 mil LINES. Dots are best for ranging people and big objects and cover too much for me. Lines are better for small holds on steel or misc tactical match targets) you must have the scope set in centimeter clicks unless you are a math wizard. 10 centimeter clicks = 1 mil. Thus, whatever you see in the reticle you are clicking the same unit values. Going from MOA to Mil is tough. Want proof? How many clicks in MOA is 1 mil at 864 yards? C'mon, the timer is running. Give up? OK, how many clicks is it in centimeters? You got it, 10. I will never own a MOA clicker on a tacticle scope again. Finish this process off by switching your rangefinder to meters and you are rockin'. Everything is in the same scale. Also, get a reticle in the first focal plane, so the mils are constantly mils at any magnification. If you get a second plane reticle (99% of Leupys, there is a new 10x model announced last year that is 1st plane) you will have one power setting where the mils are really mils (same for MOA reticles). Hint: On the IOR 24x although the reticle is 2nd plane, it is designed to be true mil at 12x and that makes it exactly "2 x mil" at 24x - pretty cool ! Handy, too.

I have to say the RO staff was great. Even on the last day, they were super. I don't remember running into any attitudes, and the match ran smooth from that perspective. I can't imagine RO-ing for 4 days straight.

You want to check out the new BlackHawk speed clips. I know they come in a 3", but I don't know if they have a size small enough for a belt width. They are the HEAT for anything molle, though.

Got an email a few hours ago... Brownell's has completed a purchase of Sinclair International. New website is brownells-sinclair.com With this, Brownells has made one step further to being the juggernaut of firearms parts. Here is the press release: Posted on: 6/26/2007 Brownells, the World's Largest Supplier of Firearms Accessories and Gunsmithing Tools, is extremely pleased and proud to announce the acquisition of Sinclair International, Inc. Sinclair International is one of the most respected manufacturers and suppliers of high quality reloading tools and shooting accessories in the world. Sinclair International, located in Indiana, is in its 22nd year and provides products to customers around the world. Brownells, operating out of Iowa, is in its 68th year and also supplies customers world-wide. The joining of these two highly-respected companies brings to the firearms world the top-quality selection of the very best products, the exceptional personal customer service and the absolute guarantee of customer satisfaction their customers expect. "It was a very natural decision," said Frank Brownell, President of Brownells, "for us to join with another very successful, highly regarded company with the same values, the same care and concern for their customers and the same quality and service standards we hold dear." Bill Gravatt, president of Sinclair remarked that, "With Brownells Sinclair will continue providing the very best products available, and will strengthen our product line for shooters of all disciplines. I’m extremely excited about the future for both companies." Sinclair International will function as a separate entity of Brownells, and Bill Gravatt, will continue as the President of Sinclair International. The focus of Sinclair International will continue to be on providing high-quality products to their customers along with exceptional, personal customer service. For more information, please contact Larry Weeks at (641) 623-5401 Dept. #PDM or larryw@brownells.com or Bill Gravatt at (260) 493-1858 or billg@sinclairintl.com.

Actually I could swear KC ran forward and shot it in 11 secs, and I know I then watched Todd shoot it straight up in 12 secs. I remember being amazed at how fast KC can move. He's like a darn gazelle. I also remember being amazed at how fast the time was by shooting it without running up, given how precise the long shots needed to be. We had another M on our squad shoot it in 12 also without running, he finished 7th on that stage! So, running was not necessarily a huge speed advantage, just a lot of fun to hose. Our squad was shooting with pretty mixed results at this time, so several of us were "I don't care anymore, I just want to smoke some targets!" and took out our frustrations on this stage.

This was my first stage of the match; what was the deal with it? Did others find a trick to it? (looking at my time relative to others, Im sure they did) Draw, shoot the plate, shoot T1 on the way to the middle aisle. run up middle aisle, shooting T6-T9 as you get closer and continue angle shots into T11, T10, T12 as you come to a screeching halt in front of T6. Then finish up on angle shots at T5-T2. Took me high 13's but I had a slow makeup shot on T3 after I noted a miss. So, likely would be low 13's for me. Could have gone faster on the run and my reaction to downing the plate P1.

You know, the other thing I noticed at this year's match were the plaques awarded. I admit I haven't attended a nationals in a few years, but we used to have really cool leaded crystal trophies - which I always thought separated them from the norm. I was bummed to see the basic wooden plaques awarded at this match. I didn't win one this year, but I have two old crystal ones that I've saved from past Nationals, and will keep forever because they look different. I just think a Nationals trophy should look unique (other than what is written on it). The prize table also was leaner than I remember. Anybody else note these things?

I didn't realize that 50 people had zeroed it, yikes! I agree the stage was hokey. I actually taped my "button finger" because I was worried about ripping my fingernail backwards on the stupid ledge around the button. (The button was recessed, like one of those industrial machine buttons) I think they should have said to shoot the stage strong hand only. That prop added nothing interesting to the stage in my opinion.

I got a tidbit I just remembered - Henning told me he didn't go prone on stage 12, he knelt !! He's taller than I am by 2", and apparently qualified as a Barnum & Bailey contortionist. I think my back would slip a disc if I tried that.

This was, to me, the hardest Nationals I have shot. I thought it was tighter than normal, meaning tighter setups and narrower windows to take targets. If you were 6" off in your footwork, you could easily be hunting for a target. Interestingly, after the initial frustration wore off, the difficulty was actually good. Looking back on it, I remember most of the Nationals not being this way at all. I think this difficulty level really makes us better shooters. Great match, great location. Our squad found the most "flow" on the last day at stage #1, Bunker Bust. That stage just had a great feel to it. We took the entire back section (all poppers and paper) from the rear port. I would call the most herky-jerky stage as #6, Roundhouse Redoubt. It didn't have a real elegant shooting solution, and the barricade openings were fairly narrow compared to the widely set target arrays. Then the clamshells at this match were decently quick - doable, but very fast. Stage #7 had a clamshell activated by sweeping the RFP off the table, which covered up T8 except for 1/2 of the head. When was the last time you practiced a 1/2 head shot? So of course I put two in the target before it shut. Two lovely alphas in the body, the lower of which was in the black by 1" ! The "Blockheads" stage was close targets, and they were only the heads, not the head + shoulder area shown in the drawing. Stage 12, the only stage with prone shooting, had a rear fault line. We saw one shooter on our squad get a foot fault, and I know of one other. The odd thing is, they are both on the shorter end of the squad height-wise, and the tallest guys (myself and one other) didn't fault. Weird! Stage 16, Dark Palace... there were two ways to shoot this: straight up the way it looks or just draw and take the plate, hit T1 on the way and run up to the end of the middle alley taking T6-9 while running up the alley. Then hose everything else from the end of the alley. Angled shots, but really close. I did it that way just because I wanted to have more fun shooting 22 rounds all in one massive hose-fest. Well, without getting into the oddities of each stage that's about it until next year. There were 5 DQ's but I don't know what happened. There were some weird 180 issues where the stages were set at an angle to the side berms but had hallways, etc. that created visual illusions (the baseball stage #2 comes to mind here) which may have contributed. I ended up 26th overall out of 227 shooters, with 5 of my stages in the top 16. Post your nationals story... what was the funniest moment you saw? Worst stage? Best stage? Most penalties?

I just realized that I am shooter # 333 and on squad #3 at the Open Nationals. What does this mean?? Shooter 222 isn't on squad 2, nor 111 on squad 1, not even 444 on squad 4. WHAT ARE THE ODDS!! Anybody know anything about numerology?

Not to mention stand and shoots, and just about all classifiers, tend to only test one particular skill. They are very focused and very unforgiving of any bobbles. Field courses let you bobble (relatively speaking) and still have a respectable run. For me, the pressure seems higher on classifiers and for years I've blown them terribly. This year I'm trying hard to overcome that by working more on my stand and shoot skills.

Sad to say I remember reading an article in the newspaper years ago about an incident where some teenagers tossed an "old junky bowling ball" out of their car window on the interstate. The bowling ball went through the windshield of another car and killed the driver, who was on his honeymoon with his new wife. That story ranks among the saddest I've ever read, I'm glad history didn't repeat itself in your instance. Sorry to post something so dreary!

FYI the Dillon or Wilson gauges are generally tighter than most chamber jobs. Just got done with a chamber job - per my gunsmith the factory "short chamber" was .018" out of concentricity. Yikes.

+1 on the One-Shot. Also, once fired or more fired. I remember one of the top GM's once posted about a piece of new brass that caused a jam at the Nats. Turns out it was missing the flash hole. The only way you know it goes bang is to fire it first.

If you absolutely must do something to it, make it a 243 Ackley. That is a great cartridge. That normally will help make the barrel last longer, but I wouldn't bother with doing anything to a factory barrel. Make it your goal to shoot it out, then play with a custom job. That's my .02

First classifier of this season. 5.76 down 5. The last classifier I have on record dates back to 2005...forgot I didn't shoot pistol last summer !!

<a href="http://www.arredondoaccessories.com/category.cfm?cid=1001,2013&PID=fc25l4900rdqps&GID=INS" target="_blank">You mean these? </a> That's them ! I use the one in the back of the image in my STI mags, only the 140's. The 170 works as-is, mostly because the pad doesn't add as much at +1. Must not make as much of a gap.

The part about the follower getting stuck: there is another part that should be in there from Ralph. It has two "fingers" on it and sits in the basepad. I don't know what he calls it, but I have to use them with my Dawson pads or the followers will stick.

Make sure your seating stem fits the bullet. This happens when, for instance, you use the SWC end of the seater in a Dillon die on a RN bullet. This will often cause a jam in a tight chambered gun - so I would fix ASAP.

I know but, what's the story these days? Half the time if you try to start that way, the RO will tell you to relax. The other half of the time, you get away with it. I guess that's racing.

I know this is a really old thread, but I'm just now watching these videos for the first time. Is Chris T. on stage 15 using an illegal start position?

Link to video is dead - aarrrggghhhh....

Most new shooters don't know to move their eyes to the next target first, and rotate eyes/pistol/shoulders all in one piece, keeping the sights lined up.

+1 for single point slings on a combat course (like the ITRC short course) or in the sandbox - other than that, realize they will let your AR smack you in the chin if you transition from standing to kneeling without holding the weapon (such as being forced to use a pistol) Most of the contractors view needing to use a pistol as a major F-up, so that statement doesn't apply. Other than that, 2-point slings are the heat if you want shooting support, never 3-point (too slow, too hard to deploy, too hard to get out of)