JFlowers

9x23, Are you rotating the targets edgewise or face-up? The windmill at Area 6 rotated the targets face-up, ie the target came toward the shooter rather than rotating perpendicular to the shooter. Either way is a challenge.... The only problem I saw at Area 6 is when the targets were coming towards you shoot thrus were possible, I think. By the overlap I am assuming you need to overlap the bottoms of the targets at the center hub due to height restriction. I would think you would want a steel no-shoot protecting the center hub anyway to keep it from being shot and destroyed. I can't find anything at the moment that would make it not legal! So go for it! James

Man, lets see if I can dig down deep into the swamp I can memory.... Seems that they slide to a world that is being overrun by the CroMags, humans from a dimension where the CroMagons evolved and Homo Sapiens never took over... and they have controllable Slide technology. They pick up the new girl .. female soldier, has sometype of asthama problem due to the pollution or lack of on her Earth ... as they leave that world just as its destoryed. Artoru has died somewhere along this time frame. Reme and Wade (the little brunette) get separated from the gang and slide back to Earth Prime. The rest get back to Earth Prime about 3 months later. Bad News, the CroMags have invaded Earth Prime. They rescue Reme from a CroMag re-education center and find that Wade has been sent back to CroMag Prime as "prime breeding material".... Now, I may have crossed a plot line or two, but I think that basically it. Its sort of like trying to remember the plot line from a season of Sanford and Son! James

Several of the local matches in the Charlotte area have a simple method to increase worker participation..... you show up early and setup a stage and you shoot for free. Nothing madantory, no hostages, only a reward for the volunteer efforts of those who are willing to help. Yes, its usually the same 10 or so people setting up stages at all the matches, but it keeps the match directors from having to do it all.

A marine squad was driving North out of Basra when they came upon an Iraqi soldier badly injured and unconscious. Nearby, on the opposite side of the road, was an American Marine in a similar but less serious state. The Marine was conscious and alert. As first aid was given to both men, the Marine was asked what had happened. The Marine reported, "I was heavily armed and moving north along the highway and coming south was a heavily armed Iraqi soldier." Seeing each other we both took cover. "What happened then?" the corpsman asked. "I yelled to him that Saddam Hussein was a miserable tyrant, and he yelled back... 'Tom Daschle, Ted Kennedy, Bill and Hillary Clinton are miserable power-grabbing liars'. " "We were standing there shaking hands when a truck hit us."

Paul, Your right... sort of. Its actually the week of July 27th. The exact dates are July 30 and 31st.

It got moved to July 27th due to LON's coverage of the Lance Armstrong show, I mean Tour de France.

Guess that means the government can be described as lots of foreplay and very little action?

JMD, Sound Flip! Be Flip! After over a decade of marriage, I can take a little flippancy, sarcasm, even a bit of spite. Thanks for the information about starting positions and all. Those differences in the way we play the game is part of what I am looking for. That and issues that are easily "overlooked" when reading (and comparing) the rules. I would just hate to travel all that way and then "Opps! Gotcha!" Can anyone tell me where the Costa Rica range is located? The Tropical Cup website has no information (probably took the info down after the match) and the site that seems to be the host range is all in Spanish. James

Thanks for all the recommendations! For those from the US, what is the process concerning handguns? My understanding (flawed it may be) is that you have to fill out a Form 4405(?) which basically states that the gun is yours prior to leaving so that you just return home with it rather than "import" it. Then the host country end is taken care of via the instructions given as part of the match info, which often seems to include some type of check-in/check-out process for each day of the match. Is that about all? What else does a USPSA shooter have to think about when going international? 1) Magazines.... Its 126mm for Standard/Modified, but still 140/170mm for OPEN? 2) Ammo.... IPSC has a 121gr minimum compared to USPSA's 112gr? Anything else? pwalker, thanks for the invite to Thailand. But if I could make it, it would not be until fall of 2005. 2004 is out of the picture $$$$-wise at this point. Costa Rica... beaches for the wife... shooting for me.... sounds like a plan to be made!

I am looking for suggestions on an international (non-US) match to attend in 2005. Since I am an fairly average shooter, I am looking more for the fun and experience than worrying about competition. So, I am asking all the international and experienced members of the board for suggestions on which matches to look at. I need a fun match for me in a setting the wife will enjoy. Also one that is highly affordable. Thanks for all the help!

What are you doing trying to shoot that new fangled smokeless stuff in those wee pocket pistols for? A true Cowboy shoots the black and sooty in 45s! I will pool some of my SASS friends this evening and get back to you with their recipes. Anytime you come down into the Carolina, let me know and we can set you up to shoot like a real Cowboy!

If no one points out my mistakes to myself and the RO, how can I ever learn from them?

Did Space Ship One make the required second flight?

For major multi-gun matches would loading and unloading tables like SASS uses keep the flow of competitors going? A competitor preloads their rifle under the eye of stage staff member 1. When called to the line, they bring the rifle and stage it. They LAMR under the RO's watch. When they finish the rifle part of a stage and place their rifle in the Flexmoney's Rhino Rifle Rhecepticle, they then draw their pistol and charge forward. Stage staff 2 checks the rifle's safety, picks of the rifle and walks it to a table facing the side berm. After the RO clears the competitor's handgun, the competitor walks over to the table, clears the rifle under the supervision of Stage staff 2. The flow is uninterupted..... the only drawbacks are now the RO's authority has been distributed and the need for a larger stage staff.

Another option is just a set of 2x4s mounted on-edge down a table with carpet padding in between. Erik stated that his stage at the 3GN had a table with lathing strips screwed to it and some competitors where not real careful about making sure their long gun was grounded between/parallel with the strips. a pair of 2x4s gives you a 4 inch deep trough to put the long gun in and the walls provide additional muzzle control. 2x6s or even 2x8s could be used if 2x4s where found to be too shallow to control rifles with large box magazines. The ideas using large cardboard tubes is great for shotguns, but could be troublesome for rifles, though cutting a large slot in the aft half of the bottom of the tube would allow space for the pistol grip and magazine and force the muzzle even further into control. My only concern with a 55 gallon blue barrel on its side would be the amount of slop it allows, but that could be addressed fairly easily. Two barrels end to end with the far end covered in our favorite orange mesh would make a nice safe home for a long gun. As to the "abandoning" of a hot gun rule, the change would be easy. Add "except as dictated by the stage description." to the rule. Then a hot gun can be staged away from the competitor and the stage description could specify how a competitor abandons their long gun (in the barrel, down the tube, on the table between the 2x6s, etc) or pistol, and the situations the rule is really intended to address (imho) are still covered. James

JFD, Sorry I never made it to your match, it falls on the same day as the Statesville, NC match which I regularly shoot (if you ran the one I am assuming you ran). Sad that means two of the three matches on the I-85 corridor in SC are gone. Please come shoot Spartanburg, its a great match... well attended, fun stages, nice crowd. A lot of the crowd is out of Charlotte which might explain why they did not attend your match. I have never made it down to Columbia for that match as the Rowan County Wildlife Club in Salisbury, NC started their club back up and I have been supporting it, but I have shot the Toys For Tots Match at Columbia and it was a load of fun in the cold. Donnie and the guys are great. I know exactly the problem you speak of, but you might have tried the solution most of the western NC clubs favor. You come in, setup a stage, turn in the paperwork and shoot for free or at least a reduced fare. Still seems to be the same guys setting up stages, but at least they don't mind since they get a tangible benefit for their labor. Hope to see you in Spartanburg on July 3rd. James

Harmongreer, I have just started playing with a 357 SIG Open gun, not because it was my first choice but I picked it up to play with at a steal of a price. The biggest problem with 357 SIG for Open is round count. The best I can do is 20 in my 140mm magazine. But personally, thats okay with me, since I am used to making mag changes in L10 anyway. But in the end, I will probably convert the slide back to iron sights and set the gun up as a .40 Limited and buy a new 9mm Open. If you are looking to buy, go 38 or 9mm.

I don't see why this would violate either legal or competitive magazine restrictions. Lets say with the device full the shotgun has 27 rounds in tubes.... thats 3 in the original tube + 6 in each of 4 rotary tubes*. Since only 1 tube is inline with the magazine, magazine capacity is only 3 + 6 = 9. Thats within both legal and competitive restrictions. The other 3 tubes are a speed loading device, which is legal under OPEN rules. See, its all a matter of perspective and presentation! * Since I have never seen the device and I don't read Italian, some assumptions have been made about the configuration of the device. Reality may be different from my assumptions!

Vince, Never mind, I found my own answer in the rules. USPSA Rule Book; 14th edition 2001 11.2: Access - <snip> " ... protests arising from a disqualification for a safety infraction will only be accepted to determine whether or not an infraction as described by the range officer was in fact unsafe. The commission of the infraction may not be protested.

Vince, Okay, never having had any experience with an Arbitration Committe here .... Why is the RO's statement of fact considered indisputable? I am not in any way insinuating that the RO's would lie or distort facts, but they can be wrong. Just as a court must weigh all the evidence including the police officer's testimony, why can an Arbitration Committe not weigh other evidence and rule that there were facts, events, angles, etc the RO was not aware of, in view of, etc and that while the RO made the best call they could, based on other evidence it was not the right one? Or can they?

With the creation of the Transportation Security Administration, 14CFR 108 was done away with and replaced with 49CFR 1540 Carriage of Weapons, Explosives, and Incendiaries By Individuals (see here http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-...1.3.7.7.2.10.6). However, I do not think the text was changed, basically the part was just re-numbered. The relevant portion is 49CFR 1540.111 © (2) (iv) which reads "(iv) The container in which it is carried is locked, and only the passenger retains the key or combination." To me this all seems to be a direct contridiction between the TSA pronouncement that all luggage must be unlocked, or locked with their locks (to which they have a master key) and 49CFR 1540.11 © (2) (iv).

Hey it gets worse ..... try shipping a pre-1898 gun. By US Law, its not classed as a firearm but as an antique and requires no FFL to handle. Now make UPS or FedEx understand that!

Chaz, If you live in the Charlotte area, Matthews Police Supply carries Zero. Also, Larry Brown (who shoots Salisbury, Statesville, Spartanburg, etc) reps Montana Gold. James

Dave, Could the answer be in lack of facilities or lack of equipment. For example, the range closet to me does not have NRA Action or USPSA because their firing line is a single very wide berm. They can host SASS cause those matches can be run where there is no need to move downrange. Having only seen NRA Action on TV, I would think the equipment needed would be fairly pricey. You need the mover and the turners. Unlike USPSA where you can have fast turners and slow turners, these have specific speeds. Just some thoughts....

606 takes... plus I wonder how many experiments and tries of individual portions?