Greg Jones

I tend to stay on the sidelines of these types of discussions here as they often degrade into a shouting match rather than remaining a quality discussion of the points and counterpoints of the issues at hand. Since it has been suggested that the views posted here might be a representative sample of L10/SS shooters, I suppose that I'll break with my tradition and weigh in on the issue. To put my opinions in perspective, I shoot both IDPA and USPSA primarily with a .45 single stack. For the most part, I have shot L10 in USPSA until the last two matches of the year when I shot single stack. Frankly I am undecided at this point if I will primarily participate in L10 or SS next year. My decision will be made on 8-rounds vs. 10-rounds rather than any other PSSD rules. On the issue of the box, it has been suggested here that a SS already fits nicely in the IPSC box and also that the change to the new box takes us further away from the 1911 Society rules. My experience is that the length and depth of the 3 boxes mentioned is a non-issue for the vast majority of 1911 guns. The critical dimension is the height, and I understand that some SS shooters have had to trim magazine base pads to fit the IPSC box. The new PSSD division box has the same height (6") as the 1911 Society box, so I do see the new box taking us closer to 1911 Society rules. The new PSSD box makes sense for US gun clubs and shooters as many clubs already have the needed box. The same cannot be said for the IPSC or 1911 Society box. On the issue of the weight limit, this too should be a non-issue for the vast majority of 1911s that comply with the other PSSD rules. My full-size .45 1911 with a mag well and FLGR weighs 40.4 ounces, and I can see where a 9mm barrel might add an ounce or two more to the total. But if anyone has built a PSSD gun with an already illegal tungsten guide rod, don't be surprised when others are not sympathetic that your gun does not make the weight limit. On the holster issue, I believe all Blade-Tech DOH made in the past year or two have come with a removable hanger and two back pieces-one with a drop and one without drop. Given that, almost everyone who bought a DOH specifically for PSSD should already have a back piece that will make the holster legal. For those who have an older one-piece DOH, odds are that it wasn't bought specifically for PSSD so why would replacing it be an issue now that it is not legal? I find it amusing when many shooters (in all shooting sports) are willing to spend big $$ to upgrade equipment to gain a (perceived) competitive advantage, yet are put under a financial hardship when a rule change makes a $60 item illegal. My final thought is on the issue of the new rules making the PSSD an IDPA match. As mentioned earlier, I shoot both IDPA and USPSA and I have no problem distinguishing between the two disciplines. I value the differences between the two sports and enjoy both for what they are. Anyone that thinks that PSSD has become IDPA, or that USPSA cannot benefit from IDPA crossovers and the manufacturers that cater to IDPA/PSSD shooters are not looking at the big picture. Personally, I've seen at my local club how the two sports can compliment one another. We have IDPA crossovers shooting at the USPSA matches and USPSA crossovers shooting at the IDPA matches. Both divisions have benefited and are stronger because of it, but more importantly the shooters have fun doing it-no keyboards, just shooting! Thanks again Gary for all you have done to make the PSSD happen. I appreciate your hard work to further the growth of USPSA.

You see a few HK USPs in Production but the high bore axis makes it somewhat less manageable to shoot well in competition. The USP Expert is not on the approved list for Production, so you would have to compete in Limited or L10 with it.

I'd like to thank all the shooters that came out and shot with us yesterday and made this match a huge success. We had 30 shooters total from Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia and everyone I spoke with had a great time. We had a couple of issues with props and targets that was a learning experience for us, but otherwise the match appeared to run very smoothly. Match scores are posted here. The scores at the top were very tight until I got to the 30th, and final, score sheet belonging to fomeister. He put up some very impressive times for the match win. I wish I had been able to watch him shoot a stage or two. Edited to add that scores are now posted at the link above.

The stages are ready and I've e-mailed them to everyone on my distribution list, however the Web master does not have them posted to the Web site yet. Send me an e-mail to: practicalmutigun AT gmail.com and I'll send them to you. There are 5 stages, 53 rounds of bird shot and 12 slugs minimum. This will be a shotgun-only match. If you want to make a weekend of it, you could come on Saturday for the USPSA match and stay over for the shotgun match on Sunday. Hopefully next year if everything goes well the matches will be a pistol and shotgun multi-gun match with the emphasis still being on the shotgun. As far as the number of shooters, I really don't know what to expect yet. This time of year, the weather could have a big impact. The long range forecast is for mostly sunny and mid-50s for the entire weekend, so hopefully we will have a good turnout.

I would disagree. Hard cover (black) over a portion of a target has a very specific meaning in IDPA, and USPSA. Requiring shooters to place scoring hits in the black on some hard cover targets, and not others, would create a mess. One option that might be less confusing to the shooter would be to use a t-shirt on targets with body armor. Another option would be to make a stencil to identify body armor targets similar to how no-shoots are identified with exposed hands. Edited to add that locally I don't think that we have ever created a stage that mixed stationary body armor threat targets with non-body armor threat targets. There is no confusion as to which target gets what-all require 2/body, 1/head, swingers, drop turners, and steel scored normally.

This Failure Drill is not uncommon in IDPA matches around here, even appeared in the Ohio state match last year. I don't have a problem with it, although I do wish there was a better way to score the body hits. If none of the body hits have neutralized the target, then (2) -0 hits should not be worth more than (2) -1 hits, etc. I'm curious about the suggestions that there should be two separate targets to simulate the Failure Drill. What does this accomplish that having 1 target and a FTN for a head shot does not accomplish? If the shooter misses the shot on the head-only target, then he/she still gets a FTN. If the shooter also has (2) -3 shots on the body-only target, then he/she gets a FTN for that also. I can't see the reason to have the opportunity for (2) FTN penalties for what is intended to be a Failure Drill on a single target?

I've been using the 771s for my single stack mags for some time now and I'm very pleased with them. The only time I had an issue with the mags popping out is when I set the mags at an extreme angle. Even then, they would only come out when bending over to set steel, pick up brass, etc. I don't think I ever had one come loose during a stage. I would recommend replacing the stock tension screws with the Prairie control knobs. Brownell's has them here. Here is a picture of a 771 with an 10-round mag, a 771 with an 8-round mag, and a 773 with a HK USP double-stack mag.

If I recall correctly, the first SX2 Practical models came with 3" chambers and one gas piston. Later models, like the one I have, came with a 2 3/4" chamber and two gas pistons. The pistons that came with mine do have markings to indicate which is which, and the lighter piston also has a red ring at the bottom when looking into the piston. I expect that the pistons you are finding at Midway and Brownell's are not what you are looking for. You can download a PDF supplement to the manual which shows the two pistons and their markings here.

Thanks for the additional info Flex! Chris, glad to hear you have interest in the match and sorry you can't make it. I'm hoping that we'll have more shotgun matches at Circleville in 2007, so hopefully you'll get a chance to shoot with us. The match rules are now posted to the PCSI Web site, stages will be posted there one week prior to the match.

I used to shoot WW231 and tried some Clays a while back when WW321 was hard to get. I've gone through 10# of Clays now, most at 3.7 grains under a 230 grain Precision black bullet so I have shot somewhere around 19k-20k rounds of this load. The load made 173 PF over the chronograph at the Ohio Sectional match. With the Zero or Montana Gold bullets I have to bump the load to 3.9-4.0 grains to make the same velocities. I have no complaints about this combination as it has worked well for me. I did try Clays with a 200 grain bullet Precision bullet and while I could make PF, I've decided that Tightgroup may be a better choice with lighter bullets in .45.

The Pickaway County Sportsman, Inc. (PCSI) will be hosting a Practical Shotgun match on Sunday, November 5, 2006. Match set-up begins at 8:00 AM and volunteers are needed to help with the match. Shooter registration is at 9:00 AM and the match will begin at 10:00 AM. As this will be the first match of its type at PCSI, a detailed shooters meeting to cover equipment checks, match rules, and safety issues will begin at 9:45 AM. The cost to shoot the 1st run is $15.00 and ladies and juniors shoot for $5.00. The cost to re-shoot the match will be $5.00, except for the volunteers who help set-up the match will re-shoot once for free. We may re-shoot a 3rd time if time permits, there is enough interest, and we have enough shooters to assist with match teardown. The match format will be 4-5 stages run on Ranges 2-5. The targets will consist of a mix of steel, IDPA paper, bowling pins, and frangible targets (clays). Shooters should plan on a minimum of 75 rounds of birdshot and 25 rounds of slugs. Rules are finalized and will be posted on the PCSI Web site in the next day or two. Stages for the match will be posted to the PCSI Web site one week prior to the match. Greg Jones, Match Director PracticalMultiGun@gmail.com

If you can only shoot on Saturday, go to the Circleville match for sure. If you are also going to shoot on Sunday, there is a 2-gun shotgun/pistol match at Briar Rabbit at Zanesville. It's not a USPSA match-all steel with little movement and you can shoot the match with a handgun only.

Agree. Of those that do carry with a FLGR, most don't use one made of tungsten. Much more brittle and subject to failure than a common steel guide rod.

As an added note, everyone please consider sending an e-mail to the PCSI Club President thanking the club for hosting the match and telling the President how much you enjoyed the match. Many club members that do not shoot the match or read this forum also worked to make it enjoyable and they should get some thanks also. This will also help to ensure that the club is responsive to hosting such great matches in the future.

Congratulations to Kyle, all the staff, and to all the shooters that made this a great match! I know that a great deal of work and planning went into just getting this match scheduled-thanks to everyone that made it possible.

It depends on what you will be competing in. What is best, and legal, for one game will not necessarily be the best, or legal, for another game. The CR Speed belt is very popular for USPSA while the Wilderness belt is very popular in IDPA. As a side note, the two-piece belts like the CR Speed have a matching outer/inner belt. You do not wear the outer belt over your regular belt.

We really got hammered here in Columbus. Last year my deck caught on fire during the sectional, this year the hail was so deep on the deck I could not open my back door. The flood in the street is due to all the ice and hail backing up the storm drains. Pretty nasty storm... A couple more-my yard was nicely landscaped earlier today.

The only additional, minor difference that I can think of is that the 550 did not have the primer track bearing. The primer slide rides directly on the 550's frame. Both the 550 and the 550b have removable tool heads.

The specific part in the 2005 rule book about the centerline of the body reads: "NOTE: The seam on the side of a shooter’s pants may or may not indicate where the centerline of a shooter’s body is located. For IDPA purposes, the centerline of the body originates in the center of the armpit and goes straight down." Just because your gear is behind the pants seam does not necessarily mean that it's legal. Likewise, having your gear slightly ahead of the pants seam doesn't necessarily make it illegal. However, as most SOs are not willing to hold a straight edge under your armpit to check actual centerline, the pants seam is usually used to determine centerline.

Lengthening the forcing cone can reduce the felt recoil (slows the impulse) and also usually results in less deformed shot for better patterns. As 5Shot mentioned, it's pretty much impossible to do on a chrome lined barrel. Some gunsmiths will also charge more for installing choke tubes in a chromed barrel. I've had the forcing cone lengthened on all my standard barrels and think it's worth the money, however I wouldn't sweat it if I had a chrome barrel and couldn't have it done.

You know. I've heard that same statement at sanctioned matches on stages that were clearly contrary to the rules. And not just from the SO but from two AC's at the match. It's a bogus statement and is usually used as an excuse for a poorly designed COF. Just sayin'. +1 The rule book even addresses this specifically on page 51: "One of the most commonly heard statements about poor course design is 'Well, it is the same for everyone'... Claiming that it will be the same for everyone is a lame way of rationalizing a poor stage or course of fire." I don't know if the National stages were poorly designed or not-I wasn't there. However, I agree 100% that just because a stage is the same for everyone, doesn't make it right.

The rules have been in effect for nearly 18 months now-don't know how "new" they would be to someone shooting at the Nationals (which used the same rules in 2005).

I don't know if this will be of any benefit to other SX2 shooters, but I've wanted a carrier release bar for my SX2 ever since I bought it. I never have seen one specifically for the SX2, so I bought the Arredondo bar for the Benelli and adapted it to the SX2. I had to enlarge the recessed hole on the inside of the bar slightly to fit the larger button release on the SX2 and I also sanded about 1/16" off to make it a little thinner, but that wasn't necessary to make it work. I also drilled and tapped the stock button to take an 8-40 screw as the supplied 4-40 screw looked a little anemic. The bar is upside down from how it would be mounted on a Benelli, but I don't see where that will affect its use. I haven't tried it on the range yet, but so far is seems to work great.

I had one of those and it does clip on to the crimp die above the locking nut. I never was real pleased with mine as it was always needing adjustment or falling off.

Can't buy or have within the city limits-same applies for any gun that doesn't fit the Columbus AWB criteria. In Ohio I can legally buy 20+ capacity mags and/or an open gun, or an AR from a dealer outside the city limits but to stay legal I would have to keep them outside the city limits.