Outbreak

I got mine new, unfired, but second hand, for $85. I've shot two matches with it so far, using Federal M855 for one, and Hornady Steel Match 55gr for the other. I ran it almost dry on one stage. No failures of any kind. I did keep two PMag 30's ready just in case, but didn't have to touch them. Going prone on a rooftop was a little awkward, but using my offset irons was just as easy as my PMags.

I have heard CMC works well.

Try regular old 1911 mags. My Wilson's work great in .45 and 10mm. Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk 2

I put my cleaning supplies together myself, instead of buying a kit. I've never found a kit that has everything I want, and so it usually has a bunch of stuff I don't want. I use boresnakes for all my guns from .22/5.56 all the way up to 12ga. I haven't used a cleaning rod in a long time. MPro-7 for cleaning solution. Hoppes Elite is pretty much the same thing. I use either blue shop rags, old t-shirts, or patches for cleaning. Cheap set of steel or plastic dental picks. q-tips are useful for tight spaces. I shove one through my extractor channel.

I made my own a while back, but they didn't look half as good as those. I only have a heat gun and some mechanic's gloves and mold by hand. The gloves give enough feel but keep the hot kydex from burning my hands. I found I could tweak certain areas locally, and never had the problem of too much retention because of a press or vacuum system. Of course, like I said, yours look way more professional than mine did, so it's quite possible you're doing it right and I'm not.

I don't have that kind of money. The only way I have a backup gun is to shoot in a backup division, and then only for pistol. I could jump into production pretty easily. I can't afford a backup Limited gun. I have a few AR's, but the others aren't even close to set up for multigun, and I have one other shotgun, but it never comes out from under the bed.

I have two, LaRue's. One with an Aimpoint and one for my Nikon. I never noticed a shift with the Aimpoint, but with a 4MOA dot, I'm not gonna notice a 1MOA shift. It's on my .300BLK SBR now, so it's a short range application anyway. I noticed the problem on my 3G rifle with the Nikon. Part of it may be that I did a real quick zero with cheap ammo, then changed cheap ammo. This last time I did a real zero with Hornady Steel Match, and it's a 1MOA gun again. I have a few weeks before the next match, so I think I'll remove and replace then go check zero again with the good ammo. Removing the upper for storage is an interesting idea, too. I never really thought about that. I'll see if I can make the puzzle pieces fit that way.

I pay $35/k for local range-pickup .40 brass. I figure I pay a little for the convenience of buying locally. I try to pick up my own brass, but you never get it all.

I use California 6-round caddies, but I got them used. I also have some 4-round Choates that I never got a chance to use before I grabbed the 6-rounders. If you want them, shoot me a PM and I'll see if I can find them. If I still have them, they're brand new in bag.

I just finished filling my Surefire 60 with .223 Steel Match, and filling one of those mags isn't easy. Once I empty it, I'll be happy to try loading Remington 220SMKs. I've got about 120 of them laying around. Shouldn't be a problem since the case diameter is the same, and they seem short in my PMags.

Whoa! Didn't mean to start a fight. I'm not a LaRue cult guy (I have an AAC mount and can on that same rifle; I've been told that is a faux pas), but I haven't found a product of theirs that I didn't like (I have two mounts and a handfull of Dillos. The Dillo Dust is pretty good, too), and they sure as hell know how to run a range day. What I'm taking from this is some will hold zero perfectly, and others won't. No big deal. I gotta experiment with mine a bit, because I've definitely induced some error, myself. I'll tighten up the throw levers, and try to re-organize my safe puzzle so I Don't have to pull the scope on this rifle. That can be a project for tomorrow.

I have a Nikon M223 in a LaRue SPR-M4 mount on my AR. As I'm sure many of you can sympathize, my safe is a jigsaw puzzle, and the spot that rifle fits in won't accomodate the scope. I picked the LaRue mount for that very reason. The reason I ask is that I've had this setup for almost a year. I don't have much experience and zero training with rifle shooting, so I figured I just sucked at shooting, and thus sucked at zeroing. I proved that idea wrong zeroing last week, and shot really well (for me) today. The only difference I can see is the rifle never made it back into the safe between zero and match, so the scope never came off between zero and match. So is LaRue's Guarantee of "outstanding return to zero" really true? Am I hosing myself just QD'ing my scope?

I'm a procrastinator. Been one for years. I have lots of practice in putting "it" off. Last weekend I shot a pistol club match on Saturday. The gun ran fine, zero failures. Had another club match on Sunday. That match had a shotgun and rifle side-match. So I decided it was time for the semi-annual cleaning. The pistol was fine, or so I thought (next paragraph). The shotgun didn't make it onto the schedule, so it stayed dirty. The rifle was problematic. I'm still new to 3G, so I shoot what I got. What I got is a franken AR I built myself. Stag upper kit with DD Lite 7.0 rail. As I'm cleaning, I notice the rail is loose. I check the bolts and they're tight. The barrel nut is loose. SHIT! I gotta remove 6 bolts on the rail, remove the gas block, tighten the barrel nut, re-install everything. Now I've essentially pulled my barrel. No time to re-zero between 10pm and 9am. I used 59 of 60 in a Surefire mag on a 24 round stage. So I reassemble the pistol with no issues. It's an STI Edge with a trigger job. It's been shooting great for almost a year. Go to the first stage on Sunday and waste a whole 20rd mag on two stars at 10 yards. RO told me I was hitting low the whole time. I haven't had that much trouble on a couple stars since I started USPSA with a Sig 226 Elite. I'm never cleaning that gun again. So I'm going to the club 3G match at Double Tap Ranch tomorrow. Rifle is zeroed as of Thursday. Pistol is good as of Tuesday. Shotgun is.... SHIT! I know the front fiber-optic sight is loose. I tighten it every match, but it always ends up sideways halfway through the stage. So tonight I decide it needs some Loctite. Pull the fiber, start removing the screw... and it's gone. No chance in hell of finding it on the garage floor. No chance of finding one between 10PM and 7AM. Loctite anyway, hope it holds. I've got more examples of why procrastination is bad, but these are all within the last 10 days or so. Moral of the stories is, PREP YOUR SHIT PRIOR TO THE NIGHT BEFORE!

I shot a match at a new club. I was working out of town and found a match to go to. I had never been there, never shot with these people, didn't know anyone. Tons of fun! On our second-to-last stage, a shooter got DQ'd for breaking 180. He rounded a left hand corner to get to the last shooting position, which shot from right to left across the whole bay. He over rotated and the RO stopped him. He left. This fresh in our minds, we go to the last stage. One of the first-timers hauling ass down a hallway decides to strong hand a target on the right side as he runs by. STOP! Blatant violation of the 180. He was a really good sport about it and even hung around to help break down at the end of the day. A few shooters later, it's my turn. I had told myself I'd move slow past the first target on the right, and keep both hands on the gun to make sure I didn't break 180. Then came the beep. Cleaned all the targets in the front and went tearing ass down the hallway. I should've asked what my splits were because I shot that first one on the right moving pretty fast. As I came off the target I was expecting to hear the RO yelling, but I didn't. Finished the stage, it got scored and finally the RO quietly pulls me aside and tells me I hit about 179.9 degrees. Lesson learned. Slow the hell down, especially when another shooter JUST got DQ'd for going too fast.

Thanks for the replies. I know most of what we do is preference only. One shooter can't get by without a certain accessory while another considers it a hinderance. I'm just getting into 3G after a few years of USPSA. I'm picky about pistol triggers, and my Limited gun has a tiny reset and almost no slack. I like it that way. I can tell the difference between a crappy AR trigger and a less crappy one, but I don't have much experience with aftermarket ones. Sounds like I need to shoot my buddy's Geissele 3G trigger again and see if I like the two-stage. The first time I was focused on his ACOG and the Gemtech on the end. Didn't remember the trigger.

There was a "Roman Shower" stage at Double Tap Championships '11. Start with hands on x's hot an cold water faucets, looking at the x shower head. At the start signal, open shower door, retrieve gun and start mag from table and engage targets. All reloads from barrels, no ammo on belt. I never thought about it as simulating "naked" but you pervs just gave me images that no amount of beer will erase.

I know a couple things about AR's, having built all three of mine, so I'm a little embarrassed that I need to ask this. What is a two-stage trigger, and why do I need one for 3g? As I understand it, the first stage is essentially taking up the slack and the second stage is more positive (heavier?) but with less travel and a cleaner break. I guess my question is why slack is good in a rifle trigger when we try to eliminate as much unnecessary movement in a pistol trigger as possible? Another is does the second stage make the reset longer? Explanations on how they work inside are welcome, too. I like this stuff, just don't know much about upgraded triggers in AR's. This is one way to learn.

I'm far from the most experienced Dillon loader around here, but I've pumped out a few thousand rounds in .40 and 9mm. I was a complete progressive noob when I got back from a long TDY (with a very nice travel voucher) and walked into the gun shop with a shopping list. Walked out with a full 650 setup in 3 calibers. I read the book, set it up, and haven't had a single problem that I can't blame on myself yet. No offense, but if your press broke, it's either a warranty issue or you're doing it wrong.

I use a lighted magnifying glass on articulating arms that I got at Harbor Freight. It works beautifully on my bench, since it's not just a reloading bench, it's a workbench that has a few presses bolted to it. For reloading, it's just a nice bright light that illuminates the whole press. For gun cleaning or smithing, I have illumination AND magnification. It can reach almost my whole 8-foot bench.

It's funny, really. He got rid of the Edge to stick with Open. He's got three Open guns now. He's good to them. Takes care of them, cleans them between every match. He did all this with my Edge, too. And meticulous cleaning was on the list of "must do's." Last match I shot with him at, I told him I hadn't cleaned the gun in over 2 months, and with the lube I use, it hadn't failed yet. He acted like I was abusing his child, even offered to take it home and clean it for me.

I shoot an STI Edge and load my .40 pretty long for it. The reason started loading long is that's what the guy I bought it from told me to do, and assured me it wouldn't run unless I loaded to "as long as you can fit in the mag" OAL. I've debunked almost all of the previous owner's "you must do this or the gun stops" claims. That gun is a trooper. I've shot plenty of factory through it, even mixed my loads and factory loads in the same mag. The only issue I've had with feeding is chambering the first round. Sometimes a factory round will hang up on the feed ramp. Other than that, they run fine. Despite the flawed reasoning for doing it in the first place, I'm too lazy to change the Dillon right now. One day, I might want to load .40 for another (non competition) gun, and bring it back to factory spec. Right now, it ain't broke, so I'm not fixing it.

This is how we do it at our weekly indoor match. The popper has 3-4" thick rubber duct-taped to the front. Just have to calibrate it AFTER the rubber is on. Every few weeks we gotta replace the duct tape. I don't know how often they change the actual rubber part. I do know I get more ricochet from the traps than that popper.

I have the shell sorter. It does not separate 9mm from .380. Works great for .45-.40-9 though.

I have everything close in the back. On my Limited rig, I've got mag pouches at 9, 10, and 11 o'clock, holster at 2. The inner closes in back because if I close it in the front, there's a gap in contact near the closure, and I feel like I don't get enough velcro contact between the inner/outer. In the back, it can stack 6 layers high and not stick for 6 inches for all I care because there's no weight being supported back there.

I have a growing stack of S&B .380s. They prime just fine in my 650. The problem is I don't load .380. I just suck at sorting it out of my 9mm.