Carlos

Indoor steel is no problem. We shot steel for years at the old Shooters Paradise match in Woodbridge, VA with very few problems. True - if you put it right under a light, you will shoot out bulbs. But a simple solution is either re-position it, or simply put it on the floor and place an old table over it to catch any fragments that go vertical. BTW, most of the fragments travel 90 degrees to the face of the steel (provided the steel is in good condition). Most indoor ranges have overhead angled steel baffles that can withstand fragments.

Dunno much - a picture would help of course - but, I understand that shotguns were fairly common on the battlefields of the civil war - particularly in the hands of southerners. Apparently, they used anything and everything they could get their hands on back then. Although "flintlocks" would have been fairly obsolete by the time of the war, I am sure more than a few of them were still used when they could not obtain cap-lock rifles.

Blueing is a tricky and toxic art (not to mention very costly to start up). If you must reblue, I agree - contract it out. A much easier and more reliable alternative is Black, manganese oxide parkerizing (NOT zinc - which is grey).

When scrap metal prices went up over the past few months, I know of buckets that were sold to scrap yards (despite my best efforts). Primers went into training ammo shipped to Afganistan and Iraq.

The X-5 series guns have been out for several years now. They retailed for over $2400 new when they debuted (though Gunbroker price was usually much lower). Single action-only X-5 guns had AMAZING triggers - as good as any STI. They even came with a factory dual spring set up - sort of like a STI Recoil Master - and a mag well. IIRC, magazine capacity for Limited was an issue and no one made 140mm base pads at first. Dunno about current status. Sig 1911 GSR is as good as any other 1911 SS IMHO (though lets not go there). I am sure Max could win with one of the Sig production guns - his skills are certainly up to the task and I doubt the gun would hold him back. Only drawback I see for Max is: no Sig product for revolver division?

. Nik.. what's the main difference here? If you're carrying a good bit of spare tire around your middle --- you had a little more leeway under the old rules, as the measurement was from the inside of the grip to the shooter's torso, which was often closer than the inside of the belt, by a skosh..... Some of us have more than a "skosh" around the middle after the holidays Nic! (as you know, light beer is not too popular in Bavaria & its out right banned in the in-law's house).

From your experience, would you agree that E3 is probably best suited to "short" loaded .40 S&W ?? i.e. - .40 loaded shorter than 1.160" for use in guns OTHER THAN the popular STI/SV/Large Framed 75s (like the Tanfoglio)??

Wow - 155s and a comped .45 - that is a blast from the past! As far as getting the comp to work with the low pressures generated by .45, that will be tricky. Luckily, you can use anything from the very fastest powder out there (Solo 1000, V V N310 and Clays) all the way to the slowest (N350, N105). To get the pressures up, I would think that a fast burning powder would be appropriate. BUT, to generate enough gas volume for the comp, wouldn't a slower powder be in order? I only played around with National 152s and a friends comped Caspian SS .45 - I never shot it in competition. I'll leave the secrets to others to reveal (since I don't know the secret).

I hear that one, I can rust a gun quicker than almost anyone out there Makes sense since blueing is a form of rust. Any rust-removing product (such as Navel Jelly or Jasco Prep and Prime) will strip blueing. Main ingredient tends to be phosphoric acid IIRC. I just blast the blueing off in prep for parkerizing, since the acid tended to just make a mess of things.

I do not even live in the state anymore, but frankly, California still pisses me off with this sort of crap - even going so far as to de-certify a number of purely competition-oriented handguns made by major supporters of USPSA and IDPA (read it for yourself - I have no further comment on this nonesense): http://caag.state.ca.us/firearms/forms/pdf/removed.pdf

Are you using a very short COAL from a loading book - such as 1.100" ?? If so, it is far too short. Why? Because, 1) most guns feed better with longer loaded ammo (75s are an exception). Try measuing the OAL of WWB factory ammo - no one complains about it not feeding. 2) longer OAL means lower pressure. 3) lower pressure on brass means it lasts longer 4) lower pressure on gun means it lasts longer too. 5) lower pressure provides a wider safety margin of you run accross a weak piece of brass 6) longer OAL provides greater safety margin in the event of a set-back Yes - I realize that the books all list these ridiculously short OALs. The books are wrong.

There you have the advice - from the best. IF you later decide for some reason that you'd rather shoot the G34 over the 686, then V V publishes a 147 grn 9mm load at 1200 FPS - which is about as effective of a pin load as you will find for PUBLISHED 9mm 147 grn loads. Powder is 3N38. Use the recommended OAL. Use a heavy spring. Still, shot placement will be critical for a decent run. And MikeOne recently reported that recoil from this load is rather stiff.

True - they even made a brief business venture out of selling 180 grain cast lead .357/38 bullets (re-sized for 9mm) and they were using really fast powder too (IIRC). Talk about soft shooting! Business folded after Bob went back to school & Moneypenny devoted all his time to practicing & moving up in the ranks. Would be nice to see 160s offered by Precision, Zero and PD. Don't think the demand is there though.

Agree - that seems like a lot of powder. Is something going on with the latest batches of Solo 1000??? A friend bought a brand new 1lb can and had great difficulty getting it to meet minor w/ 147s after adding more and more powder. Odd. Did newer batches get weaker? Damn...

Have not tried .357 with Solo 1000, but it works for Major .45, Major 40 and Minor 9mm.

Redbull + vodka = evil concoction! (gotta confess I likes a little evil once in 'while)

JP rifles believes its more than hearsay about the LWRC bolt being a lot better. Believe all bolts up to now were made of 8000-series steel; the new LWRC is made of something stronger than that. Time will tell.

Some clarification & a few facts here: 1) As to "why" the NRA is doing this, Denise wrote on page 1 of this thread: "One of the biggest goals for the NRA is to be able to represent and in some ways speak for "black gun" shooters for the possible issues with guns and legislation. JJ and I were at the meeting . . ." 2) As to why some of us might just be surprised at this turn of events, ShaunH wrote: You are not wrong. FACT: the NRA has long hosted NRA "Police Pistol Competition" (PPC). Civilians are barred from participating. PPC uses an NRA target that looks like this (but again, civilians are not allowed to shoot at this target): In contrast, NRA hosts NRA Action Pistol that is open to us civilians. The target that us civilians are allowed to shoot at looks like this: Many shooting ranges make use of NRA "range consultants" who suggest model safety rules. One rule that is OFTEN adopted at the NRA's suggestion is: "No torso-shaped or human silhouette targets allowed" So, it is more than a little surprising that the NRA seems to have made such a dramatic about-face in welcoming the various 3gun/multigun shoots out there (all of which use either USPSA or IDPA torso shaped targets). Everyone: this is a valuable discussion for all involved. Let's keep it civil so the thread does not get closed.

Good point. Agreed! Some great things about Appleseed: -very pro-junior. In all the reviews I have seen, there are many juniors participating with their parents. -accomplishes its goals on any 25 yard range; this is a big plus because makes the same course of fire possible almost anywhere. -more flexible on the types of rifles used; generally, you can shoot what ever rifle you own without regard to caliber or sighting device. -CBR

I think that they are sincere in their efforts to preserve our shooting heritage and gun ownership rights (recently affirmed under the 2nd Amendment in D.C. v. Heller). Their goals tend to mirror those of the old tax-payer funded DCM/CMP program: all civilians should learn and maintain skills as riflemen. BUT, like those programs, the course of fire appears to be limited to NRA-style 3 or 4 position slow-fire shooting. That is not a criticism, just an observation.

We used to do indoor 3gun, and it was often done in low light. Our indoor range was limited by a 25 yard max range. BUT, at that time, the max distance for most weapons-mounted lights was not much more than 25 yards (yes I do realize there are better and better flashlights coming out every day). Sure - many AR's are accurate out to 350 yards - but what good is that if your light only really illuminates well to 25 yards? Movement was a problem for the RO. Imagine a competitor releases the light button during the reload: YOU have no idea where the muzzle is pointed or where the shooter's trigger finger is. Even with the weapon light on, its difficult to see the trigger finger - which is why we went with "low light" instead of "no light". Better yet - try to limit movement as much as possible.

Would *love* to be a part of it. Didn't know about it until it was over. WHOA - THAT CHANGES THINGS. USPSA snubbed? Sure sounds like they were completely left out of this meeting. Considering who the parties involved are, this was clearly intentional on the part of the NRA. Question now is: WHY? This WAS starting to look like something good.

Same here. Lent it to some friends. Came back perforated. Still works though.

Agree - not as much of a cost saver as they once were. If you do switch, I have never had any tumbling problems with the long 147 grn TMJs from any maker. TMJ'd 147s are great. I did see tumbling issues with a .45 ACP TMJ from a former company, and some folks report tumbling bullet issues with 40 cal TMJs. MOST tumbling issues you read about here on be.com are associated with really fast powder - like TG or N310/320 & TMJs.

Wolff brand springs (the +10% type) are available. Better still, we have a resident expert on the type of 75 you own: a Tanfoglio .45 ACP. Your gun in .45 is of the "large frame" that all current competition Tanfoglios use. Henning Walgren (our expert) can advise you on what it will take to make that .45 run 100%. Welcome aboard!