Hank Ellis

Yeah, I should have been clearer. Remington STS, Nitro 27, and Gun Clubs are all usuable as reloadable hulls and use the same data. Confirmed by two reloading sources. One of my sources also lumps the Rem Premier RXP in with the other three.FWIW: The red and grey HS Win AA are interchangeable as well as the older style Win AA. I use any of the four in whatever I'm loading at the moment. Locally we call mixed shot and reclaimed shot "gravel". Not a demeaning term, really. One hot shot sporting clays shooter I know uses 'gravel' for all his practice and uses new shot for when the scores count. Why? Cost control is the only reason. If I could get it cheap I'd use it for practice also.One of the elder statesman of Trap had me try a couple of his loads last practice session. 1oz at 1140fps. It barely locked the bolt back on my Beretta. Any lighter and it wouldn't have. I hadn't cleaned the action in a couple thousand rounds so that may have influenced that. Broke the birds just fine. My 1oz at 1200fps cycles my gun great even when dirty. Took a while for me to come around but I'm a firm believer in light loads for Trap and Skeet. Handicap, I'm still not convinced. What I'm using now, 1.125oz at 1145fps is doing the job at short yardage but I wonder how they will work at mid and long yardage. I'll worry about that when I get a few punches on the yard card. For 3-gun it's a whole different matter. As far as USPSA is concerned anything 20ga and above is good to go. For IPSC there's still the 480PF which means a 1oz load at 1100fps would make power. I wouldn't run anything that light. A slightly low or off center hit and the steel isn't going down. I'll stick with 1.125oz at 1145fps. Gives me some wiggle room. But then what do I know about 3-gun? I'm just getting started and haven't figured it all out yet.

No. Shotshell reloading is different from metallic reloading in several ways. One of which is that the components in the recipe are absolute, no substitutions. Go to the reloading data section of www.hodgdon.com and take a look at the list of hulls in the dropdown menu. That's pretty much it for reloadable hulls. The best of them all is Remington STS but not a whole lot of people shoot it in my area. So I go with second best, Winchester AA.You'll find here and there on the Internet people reloading the bulk packs. My gun, fingers, and eyes are worth a bunch more than what I'd save on hulls. Unless the data is published by a reloading components manufacturer, I don't use it. Have never bought a new hull. However I've shot a bunch of once fired hulls. 5 or 6 reloads before I get cracks at the crimp roll and folds that I can see daylight through.I'm a hull whore of worst kind. When the supply gets low I'll get to the range when it opens and clean up from yesterdays shoots. When I show up in the afternoon I clean up my trap and leave it cleaner than when I came. Always come home with a 5 gallon bucket load which is about 350 hulls. Check with the pullers. A lot of those young men sort out hulls and sell them off to make extra cash. It's just trash to most clays ranges.

I was wondering where you got lead for $22 a bag. Then I remembered that Gamaliel gives a break on shot orders of 1 ton or more. I couldn't get a group buy together so I just ordered what I needed. Yeah it hurts to write the $1500 check but I'm set up for the next 2 years. It goes against everything you think should happen. "If I throw the most pellets I can at the target, hopefully 3 of them will find the bird and break it." Don't work that way. In my case I found out by accident. Went to practice Trap singles. Was in a hurry and grabbed 4 boxes off the shelf and went out the door. Around box 3 I was noticing something different. The gun wasn't beating me up as much. Checked and found I had grabbed some odd, off-the-wall 1oz loads I picked up somewhere. Shot better than my average. Since then I've gone to 1oz loads for singles and dropped the charge on my handicap loads. My scores are going up. I believe it's due to the accumulative effects of recoil. Shoot lighter loads, don't get beat up, shoot better scores. RhGunguy: Here's a couple more things to ponder in making the decision to reload shotshells. Those 100 round bulk packs are typically 1.125oz at 1200 fps, 3 dram loads. Shoot 100 singles and 100 handicap at a registered shoot and toward the end you will feel the recoil beating you up. Back it down to at least 1.125oz at 1145 to knock the edge off the recoil. Additionally the shot used in those bulk packs is soft. I've seen pellets literally bounce off birds with that stuff. Pay the extra 50 cents a bag and use magnum shot. Another cool option when you reload is that you can play around with components to get the performance you want. Different wads do give different performance. Some open faster, some slower. Different powders can give different felt recoil also. As always, follow published load data. A simple primer switch can send a load overpressure.

Follow this thread, http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?...st&p=667326. It gives all the rules, regs, and procedures for shipping ammunition. The airlines allow 5kg (11lb) of ammunition per person to be carried as checked baggage. Do check with the airline rules of carriage to make sure the particular airline doesn't have some strange rule.

This goes way beyond anything I've ever encountered. Obviously this isn't the shooters first match. He should have known the rules and followed them. His local club isn't enforcing the rules which is a major bad on them. Getting tossed to Open is very justified here.

Good questiion. I don't have an answer.I don't see the problem in L-10 where capacity is in the division name. Production is where it crops up. It's always the shooter who tries USPSA competition for the first time and doesn't do IDPA. Poor guy is freaking already with everything on his plate. Drawing, don't break the safety rules, running, don't break the safety rules, gunning, don't break the safety rules, mag changing, don't break the safety rules. The 10 round rule can get lost in all that. Our clubs have a new shooter briefing prior to the match. New competition shooters and new shooters to the range are given a briefing on the safety rules of USPSA, safety rules unique to that range, and the basics of what to expect in the course of fire. I'm guessing here would be a good time to mention mag capacity of the various divisions. It's not a big problem really. Maybe I see it 2 or 3 times a year. Most of the new shooters have done their homework and read the rulebook.

I look at it a bit differently. If I can reload for the price of the El-Cheapo Wally World bulk packs. Cool, I'm in. What I get in return is closer to premium target loads such as Winchester AA which I'm seeing for as much as $8 a box. Just try to find 1 ounce loads. You have to do some digging to find it. If I win the lottery then I'll order premium target shells by the pallet load. In the meantime I'll roll my own. FYI to rhgunguy: Noblesport primers are a direct replacement for Winchester primers. As far as I know it's the only primer you can interchange.Lead is going up. Just got my bulk shipment in a couple months ago. Shot was $25 a bag then, now it's $26. The biggest cost factor in shotshell reloading is the shot. I bought enough components to do 10,000 rounds and got a break on shipping, like free, and the HazMat charge, like none. Buy now to hadge against price increases. JD45: Who is your supplier? Mine is Gamaliel Shooting Supply.

Using the calculator mentioned above my loads are: Trap Singles: Winchester AA hull (red or gray) Claybuster 8100 (Rem TGT-12 clone) Noblesport primer Hodgdon Clays 19.2 gr 1.0 oz #8 $3.41 a box Handicap: Winchester AA hull (red or gray) Claybuster 3118A (Rem Fig-8 clone) Cheddite primer Hodgdon International Clays 17.5 gr 1.125 oz #7 1/2 $3.58 a box Hulls cost me nothing as I can pick them up by the bucketfull for the price of bending over. The MEC Grabber is a good choice. It was my first shotshell loader and only upgraded to the 9000G because I got one at a steal.

Had one recently that claimed Production. Noticed that he fired 12 before the reload, 8 round array with 4 extra shots at the steel. After the stage I mentioned the 10 round rule in Production. He asked what could he do as he wanted to run full mags. Hmmm. See if stats will change you to Limited. Off he went. Few minutes later he came back. Stats changed his division to Limited running minor loads. Local match. New shooter. Again, no harm, no foul. He'll be back. I think what LPatterson was getting at is someone who's been shooting some other division for a while giving Prod/L-10 at try. In that case they should know better. Off to Open to 'ya.

I keep an eye on the new guys in Production and L-10. Many don't know the rules as well as they should. If I find they are loading past 10 rounds I let them know of the rule. Not one has given me a bit of static. Nudged the new guy out of the ditch and back on the road. Didn't rub his nose in it. No harm, no foul. Job done. But ... You only get one warning. Happens again and certainly by the time you get classified, 6.2.5.1.

Went shooting for the first time yesterday since the laser wallowed around the eyeballs. Shot 4 rounds of Trap. Didn't do as well as I normally do. First bird out of the house was smoked. Yup, can still do it. After 4 boxes I didn't hit my average. Made stupid mistakes. I've been told that there will be an adjustment period while the brain adjusts to the new information input. I think it's because I haven't shot Trap in a month. Shot a 50 bird Sporting Clays course just for the hell of it. Sucked like I always do but there was something different. On the shots that was going away I nailed. Those that were coming toward me or from overhead I mostly missed. I've been told that my depth perception will be off a bit in the beginning. Maybe that's it, maybe I just suck. Anyhow, good to burn gunpowder again. Ready for a USPSA match Sunday if the weather holds. Friday - Two week checkup - Found out the doc is married with kids. Sorry guys. Can't hook you up. Acuity check. Right 20/25-, left 20/30- in distance. 20/30 near vision. Doc was very happy with the progress. Considering that I was 20/40 just 10 days ago, good progress. Considering I was right 20/200, left 20/300 before the procedure, major improvement. Right is doing pretty well, the left has a bit of astigmatism that is driving me nuts. Comparing the last check to this check I've made progress on the astigmatism front. Doc is saying I'm well on track to 20/20 or better when it's done. Part of the post op exam is to correct what you have to as good as you can get with the standard machine to get your glasses. "Which is better? 1 or 3? 2 or 4?" I got to just under 20/20 in distance and 20/20 in reading. Pretty cool to see stuff I've never seen before. Night vision is back. Not great but good enough to drive and get around. I can identify a target if the SHTF. Couldn't do that a week ago. The residual astigmatism is what is holding that back. One little tidbit. Night vision bad? Turn on the dome light of your car. The extra light constricts the pupil and objects will be clearer. Tried it, it works. I'm a patient guy, but I want it now. That's the worst part of ASA. It's a slow process of healing. Doc said that over the next 3 weeks the vision will slowly improve. Once I'm off the steroid eye drops then the final fine tune will happen. Give it 6 weeks from now. My current gig at work involves a lot of computer work. What is strange is that the vision changes throughout the day. The morning is darn good. By lunch it's OK. By the end of the 12 hour day it's a struggle to see anything clearly. Perfectly normal according to the doc. Give it a few weeks. Next checkup is in a month. If anything extraordinary happens, you'll see it here. More to come.....

I disagree. Being discretely armed has certain advantages. Open carry is an option. Just not a good option in some instances.In my state open carry is allowed. Do I do it. No. Even in good times it freaks out the masses in suburban and urban areas and law enforement has flat told me that you're just asking for a disturbing the peace citation. Toss in the total societal breakdown of Katrina and you're just screaming for an encounter. And it won't be a good one. Concealed is the only way to go. And the Safepacker may just be the ticket. On a different tack I'm wondering what medical packs are available and get the advice from medics who have been there and done that. I'm my case if we had been injured it would have been hours before EMS would have showed up. I've had some medical training but have not put it to use fortunately. What works, what doesn't, what is needed, what doesn't? Calling USCBigDawg.

I musta missed something. What ruling on the XD40? http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?...st&p=960539---------------------------------------------------- Staying on topic. ExtremeShot, what have you got in the safe that could be used for competition? Shooting factory 9mm ammo in Production isn't a big holdback. I know of 2 B class Production guys that don't reload and shoot CCI Blazer by the case. Granted you have a buddy who loaned you primers but I'd still work up a Plan B.

My godson installs AV for a living. Some of it really high end stuff. Like the $20,000 worth of electronics at one residence. For me his recommendation was Samsung LN46A540. Doesn't have all the internet connectivity and ge-gaw stuff that I won't use. Money is in the screen. 1080p, good contrast ratio, fast response time. Samsung 500 series is the bottom he recommended. If you could spring it go take a look at the 600 series. Don't waste your time on 720p or a contrast ratio of less than 20,000:1 unless it's a small unit for kitchen use where it's on for background noise more than anything. He also recomends staying away from plasma. Life of the tube is short and it will burn in. In his eyes LCD is the only way to go at the affordable level. DLP is great but you're going to pay for it. In addition to the panel he said "You just hafta get two channels in the ceiling, voice channel and subwoofer." Yeah sure go for it. Can't take it with me. Once we got the whole system going he drug out "The Matrix" on DVD and went to scene 29, Lobby Shooting Spree. It's one of his tests to make sure all is working as it should. Once I heard the brass hitting the floor to the right and behind me, I was hooked.

With me it goes a bit deeper. Due to the recent NROI rulings in Production my XD-40 would be illegal. So I called my gunsmith and got a legal XD-9 on the way. Wanted to go 9mm anyway as the 40 minor road had played itself out. Meanwhile what to do with the XD-40 and a boatload of 40 minor ammo? Shoot L-10. Once the 40 minor ammo is gone then step up to 40 major. While I'm playing around in L-10 it's giving me time to fully develop the 9mm load for Production and get a good handle on how the new Production gun is going to play. Been finding and shooting factory ammo to break it in. Got enough on the shelf to get me through at least 3 matches. Meanwhile there's the old Springfield 1911 that I started USPSA with that I haven't shot in 2 years. Used to play in L-10 but now that Single Stack is around the choice is obvious. Get a holster, mag pouch and drag the old girl to the dance again. Got another boatload of ammo loaded for the .45 and enough LPP to get me through the year. And I still try to get air gunning in twice a month. Air guns are ruthless in showing any flaws in the basics.

I've been using ViceVersa Pro from TGRMN Software, http://www.tgrmn.com/?from=vvpro2, sent to a external hard drive via USB. Like this one a lot. Try the free 30 day trial and if you like it, buy it. $60.

Had a discussion around the pot belly stove yesterday at my local reloading shop. We're all USPSA shooters and even though they work at the shop, they can't get primers either. Some are coming in but they are limiting to 1,000 per customer till the pipeline fills. So what to do? What's in your safe? Out of small pistol primers but have large primers? Got a 1911? Shoot SS or L-10. Out of large pistol primers but have small primers? Got a tupperware 9mm? Shoot Production. Out of everything? Be creative. There has to be something in the safe you can buy factory ammo for and still compete. Factory ammo is starting to show up on the shelves. Not in great quantities but it's there if you look. Borrow the holster and mag pouches to tide you over. Does this shortage put a kink in your plans? Does it suck? Yes. But just because you can't do exactly what you want doesn't mean you shouldn't do it at all. Do you have a adult precision air rifle and pistol in the safe? No? Why? Those two guns will teach you much if you allow them to teach you. Same with quality rimfire rifles, pistols, and conversion units for centerfire guns. There's your practice trigger time saving the centerfire ammo for the matches.

Not sure the how and why but when the SHTF in Katrina/Rita and Gustave/Ike but cell service never went away. Forget voice and internet connectivity but text messaging still worked.After Katrina when several cell towers were either blown over or flooded in the New Orleans area there were a few days when there was no coverage. But the cell companies brought in temporary towers to get the coverage back up. I understand that they bring in temporary towers at major sporting and music events to supplement the existing towers. So nothing new there. Internet is another guaranteed service if you can get a land line going. Don't forget that the Internet was designed by DARPA so that when the Reds dropped the big one there still would be a way for computers to network. Granted satellite is the way to go for guaranteed voice communications. Proabaly could get Internet on a limited basis with satellite also but the price point isn't where I'm willing to spend my money. We use both the Panasonic Toughbook and the Dell Toughbook at work. Panasonic hands down is the winner. User friendly. Any available port you could want. Even the cave men on the crew can't tear it up. I've personally used it in driving rain more than once and it never gave any problems. Before going to the Toughbooks we were destroying 3 laptops a year. The Panasonic we have has been in use for over 2 years. The Dell isn't as user friendly and it's missing a serial port which is a must have for us to interface with the aircraft. The workaround is a USB to serial adapter which works whenever it feels like it. We haven't had it long enough to see just how tough it is.

Last November I was deposed on a union member that was terminated for theft. Only reason I was there was because I was the one who took over the account after he did and found the misappropiation of funds. Hated it. Union lawyers. Company lawyers. Mediator in the middle. Rather had gone to an autopsy. At least I would have learned something.

The ASA procedure has a vastly different healing profile than Lasik. The first few days is rough from a vision standpoint. Let me be clear, there has been no pain. Just the ups and downs can be disconcerning if you're not informed about it. Eye dryness hasn't been an issue. Couple drops first thing this morning. Another at 2:00. Did another at 5:00 after working in the yard. Probably will do another before bed. No light sensativity. Night vision is starting to come back. Yeah, I'm well within the expected progress. For example on the 1 day followup anything 20/100 or better is acceptable. I was 20/50. Tuesday: 5 day followup. Time to get those dirty contacts out. If you've worn contacts you know what I'm talking about. There appears to be a haze over everything. Mine started gunking up Sunday. Called the doc on Monday just to make sure all was OK. Yup, normal. Continue on. Met the local doc who is doing my followups. All I can say is that she is easy on the eyes. If I say more the wife will put me in the doghouse for life. A quick acuity check. The bandage contacts were removed. Then another acuity check. 20/40+ in both eyes for distance. Meaning solid 20/40 but missed one character on 20/30 at distance. 20/15 at 18" reading level. As she was inspecting with the slit lamp she was going 'wow he does good work'. Apparently the eye structure is perfect. I'm well ahead of schedule. 20/15 is still a high probability. Still have a bit of astigmatism. Watching it but no one seems concerned. Doc told me she had a patient that had the same procedure get her bandage contacts out today. Her vision was 20/60 and the doc was cool with that. Advised that now that the contacts are out the cornea is going to reshape itself again and your vision will get slightly worse over the next few hours. (Not again!) Should be fine by the morning. As I'm typing this I'm probably at the 20/30 level reading and 20/60 for distance. My next appointment is in 10 days. During this time is when the greatest amount of healing will occur. Total healing will take about a month. I'm told the fighter pilots they do are grounded for 3 months so that they will have all they can get before getting behind the stick again. Although I've been cleared to go shooting but I'm going to wait another week. No use in trying when the cameras can't consistently focus. However I'm going to get a bit of dryfire in just to see what adjustments I'm going to have to make. I've heard that there are bumps on the top of the slide. I wonder what they do. More to come.....

Joel, Could you (or anyone else, actually, the more the merrier) recommend which armorized electronics in all those areas you think are the best? Duane, you could take this one and do several articles.Old school phone that you can plug in the wall that doesn't use electricity should be in every home. Something that willl work when the power is out. I had one but it didn't do any good since the tree cut the phone line. If push comes to shove, how about some MacGyver tips on how to patch a old school phone to the bare wires sticking out of the ground? There's got to be something out there to do that. After Katrina and Gustave you found out real quick that voice cell service is an impossibility. However text messaging still works. Slow sometimes but the message will get through. Rugged cell phones is a must. Wife dropped hers' enough the smart chip died. Good thing we each had a phone. I was always worried about mine as I worked in the rain for 4 days with mine in my pocket. The S&W 642 was in the other pocket. Dynamo powered TV and radio. Had one of those windup radios but it fell apart in short order. Haven't found a suitable replacement yet. And yes TV is a near necessity. Being able to catch the public service announcements and weather with the graphics was a great help. I had a 13" that I ran off the generator. OK but I'm not into burning that precious gasoline when it isn't absolutely necessary. Any articles on alternative power communications devices would be a help. ------------------------------------- Another thought. Items to break your way out of the house if the structure collapes. We were lucky and didn't have to hack our way out of the structure but it could have just as easily happened. Give me something to hack through the studs, drywall, insulation, and outerwalls if I had to. FWIW: Those with an IQ above a gerbil in New Orleans keep a fire axe in the attic. When the flood waters come and you have to escape to the attic, you need the axe to cut through the roof. ------------------------------------- Back to the 642 in the pocket. Once things calmed down a week or so later I took a look at that J frame. Couldn't believe the gunk that had built up on it. Probably would have worked but probably isn't good enough. Open carry is an option but all the flying wood chips from the chain saw probably would have fouled anything in an open holster. Hindsight says a Wilderness Tactical Safepacker on a belt would have been a better choice. Do a test with one stock and another treated with Scotchgard or some other waterproofing agent under a lawn sprinkler for 24 hours. Which one is dryer? Pros and cons of pocket vs open carry and the gear required in a very wet and dirty environment would be an interesting read. The more I think about it the Safepacker would be the SHTF holster. Open carry but no so open that it would freak out the citizens and police. Passes muster for concealed carry. Shields the firearm from water, debris, and impacts. {Note to self: Get one for the J frame and full size XD} Geez. I sound like one of those survivalist freaks. I'm not. I'm an old Boy Scout who grew up during the Cold War who is prepared. After two big hurricanes in the last 5 years I'm finding out what works, what doesn't, what is important, and what isn't.

Sunday: Morning billboard check got me about what I had early afternoon Friday. Flew home. Wife drove and I'm glad. Definitely shouldn't be behind the wheel. Needed to do something so mowed the grass. Checked the posts on this forum (21 pages). Needed some readers but was able to make it out without too much trouble. Monday: Woke up. Opened my eyes. Wow. What happened? I can see stuff. Not where I want but way better than any time since the procedure. I'm doing this post without readers and not straining a bit. Probably could drive if I had to but I'll stay home. Checked the lawn to see if it looks like it was done by a blind guy yesterday. Missed a couple spots but not bad. Finished up the yard and putzed around the house. Tomorrow is a trip to my local doc for the 5 day followup and to get the bandage contacts removed. More to come.....

Saturday: The billboard ckeck showed a blob. By the afternoon it was a mass of color. By the evening I was a basketcase. I could not function. By far the worst eyesight I've ever experienced. Don't freak. Trust the doc. Take a Darvacet and get some sleep. Don't plan on doing anything as you won't be able to. Plan ahead and have someone with you to assist. You won't be able to read anything. Don't even think about driving. Stay home. If in a hotel, order room service. The wife and I went out for dinner and that was a bad move. Night vision was non-existent. I wasn't in pain. Just couldn't see squat.

Friday: One day followup. 20/50 in both eyes which is well within normal limits. I was cautioned that my vision will get worse over the next two days with Saturday being the worst. The reason is that the cornea is growing cells under the bandage contact lens and that will change the prescription. Sure enough. Throughout the day my vision was steadily getting worse. Not to the point I couldn't function but a bit disconcerning. The whohoos during the procedure? Apparently I had a mild case of basement membrane dystrophy. I had no symptoms so I was broadsided by it. Something I inherited. Should have chosen my parents better. Anyhow severe cases can be seen with routine exams. In my case it could only have been found during the procedure. The corrective procedure? ASA. So correcting my vision fixed that also. With what they saw during the procedure and where I'm at now, I've got a better than 50/50 chance of 20/15. But I've still got a ways to go to know for sure.

I'm back and since I can type this post I'm not blind. Thursday: Walked in and filled out a few more forms. Met Doc Cunningham who is the front man for the clinic and did my screening and pre-op. Mapped out my eyeballs twice more with the ultra-sound machine to make sure nothing has shifted since the screening. The tolerances are 2 microns and if there was a difference between the screening and the two mappings then the procedure is off. The old measure twice cut once thing. A quick look in the eyeballs with the slit lamp found no problems. So far so good. Time to meet Doc Dell. Dell came in. Asked two questions and turned to the assistant and gave an order for the Valium. He went through the charts jotting notes for the procedure. Finally he told me that due to my cornea being a bit thin that Lasik would not be an appropiate procedure. That, my lifestyle, and the degree of astigmatism points to ASA. Any questions? Nope. Got the Valium and was sent to a room to chill for a while. Every couple minutes the assistant came in to apply eye drops. Probably to deaden the eye. 20 minutes later it's showtime. Ushered in and laid on the table. Lots of talk back and forth verifying the laser settings. A device was inserted to prop open the eyelids. A ring shaped device went over the cornea and a solution was wiped over it. Then the outer layer of the cornea was removed. The ring device was removed. Stare into the blinking light. The laser started doing it's thing. I was coached the whole way and it was over in 20 seconds. Contact lens bandage was applied. The eyelid prop was removed. Then the same for the other eye. Somewhere in this I'm hearing whohoos and "YES!". You guys watching an LSU game while zapping my eyeballs? I'll find out later. In, out, done in 5 minutes. Zero pain. I mean none. Worst part was pressure from the ring gizmo and I was more startled than anything else. Didn't know that was coming. Walked out of the room and it's time to go to the hotel. Total time at the office was 90 minutes. Valium kicked in and slept for 3 hours. Woke up and looked at a billboard down the street. Could see that without my glasses as well as I could with my glasses before the procedure. Well it's a start.