Hank Ellis

OK. Didn't make it past the match hotel. An alternate route home came up and took it instead. However, one of my crew went past there on his way in and said that Thib is without power. As stated above, the match is postponed. If anyone cares, here's a post about my drive home past NOLA.

Work in Houma, live in Baton Rouge. Had to pass by NOLA on the way home. Break out your maps to follow the rest of the story. One of our guys called the State Police and got a briefing on the route home for us. Helps to call at 1:00 in the morning. Basically our normal route is open unless you’re going to Florida. Cool. Left Houma at 0400 and went East on Hwy 90. At the Hwy 90 and LA 1 intersection there was sign stating that no traffic is permitted East of here with a major police roadblock. Getting to the roadblock the officer asked where I was going. "To Baton Rouge. Just getting off work. And I have a concealed carry permit." (Announcing your CCW is required in our state.) "Good! Past here you'll need it. All of us are packing." OK. The rules have just changed. After a quick check of my DL and CCW he sent me on my way down Hwy 90. Stopped in Boutte which is at the intersection of Hwy 90 and I-310 which had only one store open running a generator. Topped off with gas at $2.49 / gallon and went in for a coffee and a snack for the road. A trooper at the front door and a sheriff inside. Hmmm. Only one person allowed inside at a time. Talked to the clerk and apparently the locals were near riot and looting hence the precautions. Got my stuff and got the hell out of there. Got on I-310 and I was surprised at the amount of traffic. About every fifth vehicle was law enforcement or military. Cruised on in till I got to the I-310 / I-10 split. At the split you can go right and go to NOLA or go left and go to BTR. However if you tried to go right you would meet some of Louisiana's finest. Two of which had street sweepers at high ready. Hung the left and went on I-10 West. On I-10 West what I saw going East was the most awe-inspiring thing in my life. Every other vehicle was either law enforcement or military. The steady stream of heavy trucks hauling who knows what into the city. The mile long string of buses, nose to tail, to haul the Superdome residents to Houston parked on the right lane. The air ambulance parked at the weigh station with six buses to haul patients out of the hospitals that are running out of food, water, and electricity. And much more. When I got home, I grabbed a cigar and beer. Sat on the carport and just stared off for and hour or so. I'm stunned. There is no other word to describe it. I've spent the last week preparing to evac, doing the evac, and getting back to our field base. Once getting back to the field base we've been trying to get the oilfield back running again while our electricity goes on and off, cell service is out, long distance land line is inoperative, only reliable communication is the Internet, 18 hour days, and not knowing just how well our loved ones have faired. We also fear for several of our co-workers. They haven't checked in since the storm. It's a requirement with my workplace. Hurricane = 24/7 on call. Sorry for the digress. On looters. If you loot for shelter, food and water. It's survival. A basic instinct of any animal including human. I can understand it and to a point accept it and forgive for it. Loot for profit. You're a reactive target. Your choice, you accept the consequences.

I'm in Houma working which is about 40 miles south of Thibodaux. Since I have to pass through Thib on my way home, I'll pass by the match hotel tonight and see what the situation is. Expect report about this time tomorrow.

+1 what he said. An excellent resource for all things rimfire is www.rimfirecentral.com. Go to the 'Scopes, Rings, and Mounts' forum and be prepared to spend a lot of time going through the 5,000+ threads just on this subject. Friendly bunch there also.

Been talked about already. Here http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=24987 and here http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=21699. Not promising for the bottom feeders but I'm sure someone is going to try it even though there isn't any load data for it. I did pick up a jug to try for my 38SPL. We'll see how it works in a 2" S&W 642.

http://www.nutria.com

+1 Good stuff. Fast shipping. Will work with you on special orders such as 2000 of one headstamp. Use caution on eBay. Sure there are deals out there but every so often you get someones well used seconds with military and lower level quality thrown in. With that said, I do use eBay with a few brass vendors I've had good dealings with.

Now come on. A4 was warm but not 100+. 95 degree with equal humidity maybe. Anyhow, I've been using WST for a while but I'm switching to N320. At A4 I chronoed at 165.8 for 3 rounds. Good thing chrono was in the morning as an afternoon chrono probably would have made minor. Just a month earlier I tested at 172 on a 80 degree day. Somewhere around here is a post of mine where I did some testing and found that WST wasn't temp sensitive. I need to go back and edit that as WST is sensitive. Field experience has superceded my testing.

Doing some Major .45 and Minor .40 load development. The coating is the same as with the 'old' version. The design of the bullet is new. There is no lube groove and the base is concave. Both of whats in my stock are of the round nose flat point design. Weighed 30 of each bullet and plugged it into my chrono spreadsheet. Precision .40 185 RNFP: Lightest 187.1, Heaviest 188.3, Mean 187.8 Precision .45 230 RNFP: Lightest 228.4, Heaviest 230.0, Mean 229.6 The lightest bullet of each was an oddball. For the .40 the next lightest was 187.3 and there were a few of those. For the .45 the next lightest was 229.1. Work is still in progress. 4.2 of N320 behind the 230 .45 gave 694 fps for a 159 PF. You really don't want to know what 4.0 of N320 did with this combo. (OK, 650 fps for a 150 PF.) Haven't had a chance to chrono the Minor .40 loads yet. Once I make PF we'll see how accurate they are.

The number of landings will ALWAYS equal the number of takeoffs. The quality of the landing however is dependent on many variables. The variables at ground contact are: 1) The rate of descent. Near zero = good. Anything else = bad. 2) The lateral velocity. A little is OK. A lot is not. 3) The longitudinal velocity. Zero is acceptable for a helicopter. Less than acceptable for an airplane. 4) Longitudinal velocity in the correct direction for the craft. Landing backwards is not desireable in rotorcraft. Even less for an airplane. 5) Orientation of the craft. Tires or skids should contact first. Nose, tail, fuselage, wingtips, and / or rotorblades should not contact at all. 6) Makeup of landing surface. Concrete or asphalt is always a good bet. Water typically is not. The reverse is true for floatplanes.

HIGH FLIGHT Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth (1) And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings (2), Sunward I've climbed3, and joined the tumbling mirth (4) Of sun-split clouds (5) - and done a hundred things, You have not dreamed of (6) - wheeled and soared and swung (7) High in the sunlight silence (8). Hov'ring there (9), I've chased the shouting wing along (10), and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air (11). Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue (12) I've topped the windswept heights (13) with easy grace, Where never lark, or even eagle flew (14). And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod, The high untrespassed sanctity of space (15), Put out my hand, and touched the face of God (16). --John Gillespie Magee, Jr. FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION SUPPLEMENT 1. Flight crews must insure that all surly bonds have been slipped entirely before interacting with the traveling public, as any detectable trace of an onboard surly bond slip may be grounds for certificate action. 2. During periods of severe sky dancing, the "Fasten Seatbelt" sign must be continuously illuminated. 3. Use of Ace bandage-type support hose and similarly confining undergarments is strongly recommended for those who climb sunward often. 4. Joining the tumbling mirth is prohibited to pilots and flight attendants on duty if the mirth is taking place in the lavatory, as joining this action wholly constitutes "conduct unbecoming a flight crewmember." 5. Pilots must not exceed 30 degrees of bank while flying in clouds forecast to be sun-split, as doing so will result in flight attendant uniform splits as well. 6. Do not perform these hundred things in front of [a] FAA inspectors, flight supervisors, or [c] frequent flyers. 7. Wheeling, soaring, and swinging will not be accomplished simultaneously except by pilots in the flight simulator. 8. Be advised that sunlit silence will only occur only while transporting an entire flight of deaf-mutes. 9. "Hov'ring there" will constitute a highly reliable signal that a flight emergency is imminent. 10. Flight-attendant regulations state that although chasing of the Shouting Wind is allowed, chasing the shouting children is not. 11. Be forewarned that pilot craft-flinging is a leading cause of flight- attendant/passenger injury. 12. Should any crewmember or passenger experience delirium while in the burning blue, submit an irregularity report upon flight termination. 13. Windswept heights will be topped by a minimum of 1000 feet to prevent massive airsickness-bag use. 14. When larks or eagles are flying, flight attendants are encouraged upgrade the inflight meal service to include an additional fowl entree choice by procuring resultant engine ingested remnants. 15. Air Traffic Control (ATC) must issue all special releases for trodding the high untresspassed sanctity of space. 16. Federal Aviation Regulations state that no one may sacrifice aircraft cabin pressure to open windows/doors in order to touch God's face.

I happen to practice at an IPSC frendly indoor range. Although the range doesn't run any matches, they are very tolerant of my double taps, Bill drills, multiple targets, and three position drills. I've asked and they have allowed the placement of a point-of-sale counter top display for the offering of brochures promoting IPSC. The problem is, I don't believe Sedro has anything available. At least nothing noted on the website. Is there anything like this available? The business card idea is great. I can visualize the front promoting USPSA National with local match info and contacts on the back. I've said it before and I'm going to reiterate it again, "IPSC is the best kept secret in shooting." I don't keep secrets worth a damn though. I make it a point to be an ambassador to the sport and hope to see my contacts at the range. To get an idea of where we are and where we need to go. Ever hear of skysurfing. You know, X-Games skydiving with a board strapped to your feet? At the 2004 US Nationals only four jumper / video teams entered. There are 34,000 skydivers in the US and skysurfing is considered a fringe event even by us. Yet, you know about it. There are a whole lot more handgunners out there that just need to know that there's a competition available than there is people who want to jump out of an airplane. References: http://www.omniskore.com/comp/2004/nats/index.htm http://www.uspa.org/

Gotta like a guy who takes pride in his craftsmanship. Wouldn't spread his name around too much though. I bet supply will not keep up with demand.

Called IMR Ballistics Lab. The tech stated that the burn rate is hard to pin down as it uses different technology to get the results desired. But if you had to pin him down it would be closest to IMR Green Dot. He also stated that testing with semi-auto arms has been very limited. Their testing with jacketed bullets revealed very poor results. The tech said, don't waste your time trying.

Works for Louisiana too. And here you get the chance to interact with the indigenous wildlife without going to the zoo. We've had nutria and muskrat just walk into the hanger and this week a 5 foot alligator wandered across the ramp and took a rest 20 feet from the hanger door. Yeah, we have an alligator guy's card in our Rolodex just in case we have to physically remove one. Gotta love it. OBTW: A rock bouncing off an alligators head make a rather hollow sound.

Pass your eyes around rimfirecentral.com. You'll find the Rem Thunderbolts have a bad reputation generally. Chrono results reveal a large SD for .22 ammo. If you're not itching for the last .05" smaller group, consider Federal Champion (formerally Lightning) part number 510, or Winchester Dynapoints. Dynapoints are only available at full stocking Winchester dealers and Wal-Mart. The thing to remember about .22 firearms is that each one is unique. You have to spend the time to try several different makes and models of ammunition to find what your gun likes.

The whole Miguez family was out for our Wed night practice last night. Blake - GM Limited, Steve - M Limited, and Ridge - B Open. Getting warmed up for A4 I assume.

To the new shooters out there who are still on the fence whether to go with cleats or not. Going through Matts DVD series, in Chapter 1 Safety, he mentions cleats as a item to get. Hmmm, a safety item rather than a performance item. One of my first matches I slipped a bit on a run-n-gun course. Tweaked my knee and hobbled around for a few days. Yup, safety item. Gotta get 'em. I went with the Land Sharks but go through the thread again and make a short list. With the short list at the store you can then match the shoe to the ground conditions you normally shoot in. I also keep a pair of beat up running shoes nearby if some demented stage designer puts up planks or plywood to run on. We tromp around on this stuff a lot at work. If the holes are large, a running shoe with large blocky deep 'cleats' will actually get stuck in the holes and take a bit of force to get out. Football cleats would probably be worse. Smoother soled running shoes would work here. Another kind of perforated steel has dimples and holes in the apex of the dimples. This stuff is very slick when wet and the dimples offer no traction. We paint ours with aircraft non-skid. Or just dump in some walnut tumbling media into whatever paint you're going to use. Be careful with expanded / perforated metal as a running surface. We've had a few injuries from guys just walking on it.

Results of actual matches can be found at www.lagator.org. Just click on any club at the left and follow through the individual stages and the overall results. Many other clubs post their results on the web also. Note to moderators: The question of scoring IPSC / USPSA comes up often. Would it be possible to fine tune this post and make it a sticky? Ideally I'd love to have a hard copy stuffed in the range bag so when a new shooter asks "Hows this IPSC stuff scored?", I can hand him a copy then answer the questions. One thing I do wish our web results would have is the calculated stage points. It would be nice to know what the round count for the stage was.

Find out whether the competitor is shooting Minor Power Factor or Major Power Factor. A hits = 5 pts. B and C hits = 4 pts for Major, 3 pts for Minor. D hits = 2 pts for Major, 1 pt for Minor. Or as I prefer to do it, B or C is -1 for Major, -2 for Minor. D is -3 for Major, -4 for Minor. Lets assume that Shooter 'A' doing El Prez got all 12 A's in 10.00 seconds. 12 A's X 5 pts = 60 pts. Score / Time = Hit Factor. 60 / 10.00 = 6.000 HF. Shooter 'B' walks up and does the Prez with 8 A's, 3 C's, and 1 D in 10.00 seconds. In Major he dropped 3 points for the C hits and another 3 for the D hit. 54 pts / 10.00 = 5.400 HF Shooter 'C' saunters up shooting Minor and shoots the exact same hits and time as shooter 'B'. Scoring Minor he drops 6 points for the C hits and 4 points for the D hit. 50 / 10.00 = 5.000 HF Shooter 'D' ambles to the line and hits 11 A's but misses his last shot, again in 10.00 seconds. He's scored 55 pts for the hits on the paper. He gave away the 5 pts for the miss. Since he had a miss he incurred a penalty of 10 pts for the miss. 55 - 10 = 45. 45 / 10.00 = 4.500 HF. Shooter 'E' lumbers his way to the box and is having a very bad day. He gets 8 A's, 3 C's, a miss, and he happened to step out of the box during the COF and fired two shots. In Major he dropped 3 pts for the C hits and the 5 for the miss. 60 - 8 = 52. 10 pt penalty for the miss. 52 - 10 = 42. Stepping out of the box got him a procedural penalty for each shot fired for another 20 pts. 42 - 20 = 22. 22 / 10.00 = 2.200 HF. Shooter 'F' struts up and when the buzzer goes off he rips a perfect all A run in 7.500 seconds. 60 / 7.500 = 8.000 HF Now lets figure stage points. Shooter 'F' won this stage with the highest HF. He gets 100% of the stage ponts. Everyone else gets a percentage of stage points based on their HF. That is if a the high HF is 8.000 and you get a 4.000 HF then you will be awarded 50% of the stage points. A stage result may look like this. Stage: 1 EL PREZ Place Name Class Division Pts Pen Time Hit Fact Stg % 1 SHOOTER F A Limited 10 60 0 7.50 8.0000 100.00% 2 SHOOTER A C Limited 10 60 0 10.00 6.0000 75.00% 3 SHOOTER B U Limited 10 54 0 10.00 5.4000 67.50% 4 SHOOTER C C Limited 10 50 0 10.00 5.0000 62.50% 5 SHOOTER D D Limited 10 55 10 10.00 4.5000 56.25% 6 SHOOTER E B Limited 10 52 30 10.00 2.2000 27.50% Clear as mud?

Don't forget the BE.com gathering. Friday. 8:00 PM. Match hotel at the pool. BYOB and BYOChair. Squad 21, C class L-10.

Do you have any First Responder training? Bloodborne pathogen training? If not, don't play doctor. The training is readily available and only takes one day. CPR and AED training is included. Excellent if anyone plays in any action sports that may involve injury. The one I have at work and would do 95% of I want it to do is available from Zee Medical here.. The only thing I would add for the shooting sports is additional 4x4 gauze pads or even better (no snickering) Kotex pads or equivalent. Some items do have a shelf life. Saline, and burn pads for example. With this in mind I'd stay away from 'surplus' first aid kits. You don't know what your getting.

Of course your mileage may vary and everyone goes at their own speed. But for me.... From the time I walk in the room. Fill the powder hopper. Verify the charge. Fill the primer pickup tubes. Change CDs in the radio. Lube the cases. Fill the bullet tray. Fill the case bin. Answer the wifes question. Fill the primer feed. Start reloading. Verify OAL and crimp after a few rounds. Change CDs again. Verify charge every 200 rounds (100 for match). Fiddle with the primer slide every couple hundred rounds. Refill the primer pickup tubes at 400 rounds. Answer another of the wifes questions. Put the reloaded ammo away. Empty the powder hopper. Empty the spent primer cup. Put the powder and bullets away. Clean the press of debris. Turn off the radio. Answer another of the wifes questions. And walk out of the room. About 3 hours for 800 rounds on a Dillon 550B. Never broke it down but 400 / hr is realistic for actual press running time. Setup and teardown is another hour. I don't try to set speed records. Just using time as efficiently as possible.

Oh yes they (the airlines and the TSA) will. I've made several pre and post 9/11 trips with my skydiving rig. As long as it fits in a standard carry on case, it's good to go. Put your hook knife in checked bags however. Be prepared for a visual inspection as all that metal along with the Cypres electronics tends to raise interest. My last trip to PHX to make a few jumps at Eloy I ended up doing an improptu training session with the on duty TSA supervisor and a couple others. The Cypres was their main interest. How does it work? What cuts the loop? How do you turn it on and off? Gut feeling was they really didn't know about these units and wanted to learn more. The supervisor stated that he read about them in training but has never seen one. A rare positive experience with the TSA. :A Cypres is a electronic box the size of a pack of smokes with two cables exiting out of the box. One goes to a closing loop cutter. The other is the contol head. It's purpose is to initiate deployment of the reserve canopy when you get to a preset altitude. Strictly a safety backup.: TSA policy on parachutes. Fear of flying? No. Disgusted with the whole process of commercial aviation? YES!

No argument here. Gotta argue with you here. Depends on what your doing. A two tank a day schedule going 100+ will get you more bottom time than air. Doing five tanks a day going 60+ will get you more bottom time than air. Less than 60 and I haven't found a 'what if' profile where Nitrox provides any benefit. Doing two tanks a day to 60 on Nitrox will net you nearly nothing in bottom time. On the third and later tanks to shallower depths is when you notice the increase in bottom time. Nitrogen narcosis can happen at shallower depths. Doing a dive in Cozumel I was drifting along this trench near the wall. Instead of craning my neck to look at the stuff on the right I turned my body 90 degrees to the right so I could have the scenery pass by. Gee, look at the pretty fish. Gee, look at the pretty coral. Lalalala. WHAM! I got punched in the shoulder by my wife/buddy and she pointed 'gauges'. Hell! Where did 20 minutes and 1500 PSI go. Man, I was narced. Depth was only 70 to 80 ft. Narcosis is weird and at this time unpredictable. Never had an episode like that before or since. Now according to DAN, something all divers go through is decompression stress. We intake nitrogen, we gotta get rid of it. Our bodies do stress in decompression to rid ourselves of nitrogen. If we intake less nitrogen, less stress will result in getting rid of it. Result, on Nitrox on a two tank day, you will feel less fatigued than on air. However, if you use Nitrox to get five tanks a day, you will be flat tuckered out. Part of it is decompression stress, part of it spending 4 hours underwater swimming. It's not the increased O2, it's the decreased N2. Yup, Nitrox ain't cheap. But I'll spend the bucks where there's any benefit. Cost / benifit ratio ways very much in favor of Nitrox. As long as you don't exceed 36% Nitrox, you can use your box-stock regulator without an informal O2 cleaning. Tanks should always have an informal O2 cleaning if they are used for Nitrox.