Vlad

I hate that my boss of many years has began to loose touch with reality. This is a brilliant mind and real nice human but who was always a tad strange and now with age he has started to drift out of orbit and gentle nudges no longer bring him back on track. I hate that I find myself fighting with him more an more. I hate that he is getting slowly isolated by everyone in the organization. I really like the man but I fear that his mind is starting to slip. Vlad

I would assumed that if the author was heavilly biased the "facts" would also be in question. Not to mention that last I heard the guy used quite a bit of copyrighted material without permission and Fox declined to sue the guy just to show that they could but wouldnt. There is no doubt that Fox is a biased organization, but please show me a news group which isn't. Their editorials are surely biased towards the right but at least the report news they like and news they don't unlike other groups which only report the news that favors their side. What amuses me that people who scream about free speach are trying to silence a news group they do not like and smear it. You would think that people who love free speach so much would celebrate anyone willing to express themselves. Oh wait .. This is getting outside the forum rules, namely politics. Vlad

At ours the maintanace schedule is printed on the monthly calendar, mailed, emailed, and posted on the website, and on various club bulletin boards. Sometimes I still forget to check. We also have a 12h work requierment per member per year which can be satisfied by cleanup work, helping at matches, giving blood at the bi-anual drives and so on. You can also buy your way out for something like $15 per hour or so, all due at the end of the year with the yearly dues. Club runs like a charm and at a profit but we have about 500 members. Vlad

I got my new Rydons from Jim S (great service BTW) and today I had them on as sun glasses while driving and while they work great and cut glare and make the world look sharper, the lettering on the lower side of the left lens really bugged me, I kept on catching it in the corner of my eye. Any idea what would be a safe way to remove the logo without scratching the lens? Vlad

Currently I sit because of the angles involved and I use a folding chair. I have be considering for to get a strong mount and do it standing, but I noticed that my head would be hanging over the primer tube and that kinda gives me the willies. Don't you guys worry about having your face over a shotgun barrel? Vlad

The DQ controversy aside, I wonder about any shooter who chooses to come that close for the sake of a second or less. It is a safety issue, there should be no compromises. If there is doubt, there is no doubt. Safety shouldn't be one of those "I think I can make it" things. If you are not sure if you can make a hard shot at a far target and you risk it, thats one thing. Making a shot too close to the 180 is a far different issue. Last club match we had a stage of a type I hate, namely one long fault line parallel to the backstap and two sets of walls also parallel to the backstop with breaks at various spots and targets mixed in such that you can get easilly confused about which you have engaged from where and it becomes a game of count the targets. Anyway, the start position is facing uprange and most people shot it by draw/turn and engaging the first target at the far left, at maybe 150 degrees. No problem whatsoever but there is a tendancy to draw to early and I did. After the COF the RO informed me that I might have broken the 180 on the draw but he wasn't sure so he let it go. I was mortified and I second guessed myself for the rest of the match because not only did I not notice it but I didn't even think about the possibility that a tight angle draw and turn may result in a 180 problem. I am all for free style, but I would like to see a lot less stages with 180 traps. Maybe we should expect more from our shooters, but I would prefer is stage design limited the chances for error. Vlad

Not on any of 9 machines (mine, familly, friends, etc) that I have used those two little tools on. Its nice to get a little popup window letting you know that RealMedia or some other stuff is again trying to set itself up for boottime. As for msconfig, it is nice, but that control panel does a bit more. Thats just works for me. Vlad

Nik I have a stupid question: Did you defrag your disk lately? Also besides running anti-spy stuff you may want to take a look at what is running on your machine. Lots of software nowdays likes to add little startup applications which pile up and slow down your machine. Recently I cleaned up someones machine and they had 43 running programs they knew nothing about. Besides spyware stuff, a startup monitor is a must. This one works for me and warns me when something wants to add itself to my startup. And pick up the startup control panel which lets you clean stuff up after the fact. Just some things to try. Vlad

Hmm .. Little Lisa's Fish Slurry .... Hey shouldn't "Married with children" be under the "Movies you hate to admit you like" thread, or maybe a "Guilty Pleasures" thread? Vlad

BigDave, You are so right. I've quit myself a bit over a year ago and I couldn't agree with you more on almost every point. I too miss smoking, and yes it tastes good. To all those that think we are crazy when we say it tastes good, you may want to think about why people smoke foods. I also miss the smoking/thinking breaks at work were I could go outside and walk around a bit. I haven't found anything to replace that. Oddly, for all the non-smoking people that bitched to me about smoking, none of them really offered any support or recognition when I did quit, but I did get a lot of encourgment from fellow smokers. Where I disagree with you is the quiting method. The same thing doesn't work for everyone. In my case the patch provided the extra help I need it. My wife still smokes so for the whole process there were cigs on the table, in the house, and smoke in the air. I needed the extra help. What did work for me on a mental level was to keep on reminding myself why I am quiting. Every time I wanted a smoke I thought about the more then 2000 rounds of ammo worth of cash that I smoked every month. Every time I sat in front of my computer and noticed that pack my wife left on the desk, I thought about shooting that 1/2" group with my bolt gun and the breath control I need. You need to remind yourself why you are doing it. Congratulations and keep it up. I finally got to the point where I don't try to sniff the smoke from the cigs of others. That was a hard one, its kinda like being on Atkins and not sniffing that fresh baked bread. Vlad

This is trully a horific tale. I often considered myself cursed when it comes equipment. Just the other day I was having some issues with my L10 gun and I took my production rig to the range for some practice. After a couple of rounds I managed to break my CZ to the point that the trigger no longer activated the trigger. Somedays the whole world seems to be against you. In your case, there seems to be a cabal of gremlins following you around, with the financial backing of the Illuminati. Sorry about your troubles. Maybe try a Glock? I don't have one myself but I heard that these new fangled plastic (PLASTIC?!?!?!?) guns keep on going and going and ... Vlad

And a couple of years ago "Great googly moogly" was all over TV as used in a Snickers commercial with the "hungry" ground keeper mispelling the teams name on the end-zone. Don't you love popular culture trivia? Vlad

Nik, congratualations! I have some inkling of what it feels like as I have gone through the same not that long ago. This is what I wrote about it, shortly afterwards, partially for others to understand but mostly for myself to remember. Interestingly we both had at least one emotion in common, that of not feeling different yet somehow feeling that something important has transpired. Again, good luck and welcome! Vlad

That is a laudable goal, but perhaps if we are concerned about the future generations, we should concentrate on making sure that they can own firearms and use them in real life practical situations. I'm sure that folks wanting to shoot practical games 20 years from now will be able to figure out what that means to them and for that matter to look at history and see what we where doing. I'm assuming that they will be smart enough to figure it out. It might be presumtious of us to assume that we know what will be practical 20 years from now, when it is evident what what was so 20 years ago is no longer true today. People have pointed out that holdsters where not in use at the begining of IPSC and perhaps 20 years from now implanted laser will be the norm, though I sure hope not. We should let the future take care of itself and not sacrifice the present for it. Personally my guess is that IPSC will be outlawed in most places long before then. I really hope that I am wrong. My apologies, you are correct. It is indeed unfair for me to assume that I know what you think of some divisions. However it also seems unfair to me that we argue what is practical in target presentation and which kinds of movers are practical and which aren't when the most basic piece of equipment used in this sport has evolved so far past any pretense of practicality. It seems to me that if one really wants to start correcting IPSC towards the practical end of the spectrum we should start arguing if the Open division should exist. Clearly no one want to do that so I maintain that the only practical aspect left in IPSC is the testing of skills with practical applications. Towards that end we should strive to find the targets and presentation which best test and train those skills. This is not to say that we should strive for practicality but we must admit that it is unlikely that we will return to what the game was years ago. Again, my apologies for not being clear. My temper is running a bit hight because of a combination of comments made by a number of people recently. You just happened to catch most of it because of your "belonging" comment which is what I really objected to. However browsing this single thread will allow you to see exactly what I am talking about, the sarcastic attitude and low opinions which some forum members have of those outside a community of elders. And let me repeat that I make no generalizations, as many many of the sports elders are amazing folk who do not hesitate to help and welcome all comers. I also should make clear that I use the term elders loosly, age having not that much to do with it. vlad

I know I own more then one gun. Maybe he does too, Though if he doesn't I have to give that man points for something. He either shot the gun at point blank with no sight picture or he took the time to turn on his dot and if he did the second he must be getting his pants specially made to fit his big brass ones in there and not ring like a church bell when he walks Vlad

Vince, no matter if I disagree with you, I always said that I do admire the work and effort all of you put into this sport. I can appreciate the cooking without liking the soup. Beside, that last post of yours showed that you have a real sense of humor. Shred, an STI can be a fine defesive gun, but was it this or this? Vlad

Moderators, this post may be considered marginally on topic. If any of you have a problem with it, I understand. However some things have been said in this thread which need an answer from some people outside the "old guard" You know, I have a real problem with that. I just reread the USPSA bylaws and I have a real hard time finding any mention of the sport belonging to anyone. So I went and read the IPSC constitution and I found no mention of it either. In fact, I noticed that to be IPSC affiliated the applicant body needs to be "democratically constituted" (5.3 of the IPSC constitution). That tells me that this not supposed to some form of tribal organization with the elders making up the rules as they go along. I'm sorry the the good Col. has decided to retire from the sport, but that was his right. If 90% of the tenis players in the world decided that tenis is played on the a trampoline and the ball is a ripe pumpkin, then so it is, regardless of the old time players think. That is what a democracy means, and it sucks when minority means you. How can anyone take that position and yet not cringe at the Open division? IPSC has grown into a sport that allows weapons that have NO PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS, weapons which in fact would get you killed while you fiddle with your dot, weapons which are so modified and so built as to serve no other purpose, but we have rules about the angles of the targets. The power factor keeps on being droped with major power factors now almost at the level of hot 9mm defence loads. Yet we have an argument about the most unpredictable target out there and people complain that it is not practical. Anyone who thinks that IPSC image of "practical" shooting needs to be upheld needs to talk to those people who do not shoot IPSC and view those who do as silly gamers. That image of "practical" is long gone. At best IPSC can argue that it stresses practical skills but stationary targets and rules that limit penalties when hitting bystanders would not really help that argument much. I know I am a new one in this game, but so far I have met two types of senior IPSC shooters. I have been fortunate to first meet a the type that freelly share their knowledge and who welcome new shooters. And then I (electronically) met those who tell new shooters to shut up, those who think that the sport belongs to them or others like them, those who think that they know best for the rest of the shooters and damn their opinions, those who have never shot a match in the largest region but still think they know what the folks there want. Tell me which of those two groups are closer to the spirit of the sport? I may not always agree the Col Cooper, but one has to admire his grace. When the current patriarchs allowed the game to change outside his parameters he didn't force his opinions upon them. I am a conservative and I do not like change for the sake of change. But that doesn't mean that anything which is not as it was 30 years ago is somehow evil. IPSC needs to evolve or it will be extinct. Vlad

Please name one group of folks that use weapons for a living that use handguns with red dots. You think those are practical but inverted targets are not. I know .... We should be able to find some folks that actually do this for a living and ask them. Some of the folks that shoot at my club are currently getting their fannies shot at in a dry and sandy place. Maybe we can ask them when (God willing) they come back. If you want to be practical you can't just decide what sounds good to you, you just have to ask the folks that do it for a living. That being said, if you want to shoot at targets that don't shoot back, don't move, and don't look like a human and call it practical then by all means that sounds like fun in its own right. But it doesn't mean it is practical. Heck, neither is the Texas Star but it does test (and train) a skill we otherwise would not be practicing. No other target that I have shot or seen (in my limited experience) has been as unpredictable. And I may not know that much about what is "practical" where you live but I am pretty sure that any armed confrontation will be anything but predictable. I have a hard time hitting a Texas Star, but I still like it. I'm curious though, have you ever shot one? I honestly don't know how popular they are outside the US. Vlad Edited to add: Hey Jim, we need to drag ours out next month. I don't think we shot a stage with a star in the last few months. Whats up with that?

My main bitch is that they stoped giving teh Bond girls cool names. Hell, I know it is politically incorrect but so is blowing up everything in sight and running with tanks through towns. Bring back the cool names! Vlad

Tightgroup works just fine. Vlad

I'm not really worried. There are two factors which I have yet to look into. The first is that 4.2 grains in a .45 is a low pressure load and it might not be consistent at that pressure, when compared with 9mm or .40. The other more likely possibility is that my testing was inconsistent. I kept on stoping to note chrono readings on a pad and changing my position, though trying to reproduce it the same relation to the chrono but I'm sure that could make a differece. Next time, I'll just sit still and just read the chrono and see if I am getting more consistent results. I like the load anyway so even if the spread is that large I can live with it. Vlad

I also use TG in 9mm and .45. I just chrono'ed some .45 loads (4.2 under 230) and my SD was about 15, with the max spread about 70fps. That seemed quite a bit to me. I actually like the load and it makes 173 on the average with 168 on the lowest shot, but I guess the Dillon messure has some issues with a a charge that small? Vlad

Home Machine: Athalon 2.0G 512RAM, on a Shuttle MB, with all kinds of doodads attached to it. Last I checked I had 8 USB devices attached to it. Old GF3 video card driving a 17inch Dell Flat screen. For me CPU speed becomes uninteresting for a home machine when it passes 2G. For me the various accessories are more usefull the horsepower for a home machine. I can watch cable, download large files really fast, check my Email, transfer pictures from 8 different types of media cards, print a document, fax another, burn a CD, upload music to my Rio, all at the same time. Work Machine: Intel 2.4G 1Gig RAM, Dual head ATI 9800 video card and the two flat screens (Sun 17"). Mostly used as an X server in top of Win2k to chat with the miriad of Solaris boxes that I actually work on. New Laptop: My pride and joy: Micron X3000, 2G Centrino, 1GB RAM, 14.5" Screen, 40Gb drive, ATI 9700 Mobility 128MB, CDR/CD-RW/DVD, built in wireless, smart media, fingerprint scanner integrated with the BIOS and the OS, Li-Ion battery, and perhaps even a pear tree. Vlad

I can not vouche for these guys but they have a good rep on the 1911 forum: www.hqbrass.com $35/1000 shipped. Vlad

Sixgun is right. The Leatherman Wave is the stuff. I use mine everyday from taking apart computers, to fixing my lawnmower, and yes on the range. Handle one and you will see why a lot of people swear by it. Vlad