Carlos

"black oxide" usually denotes manganeze-oxide based parkerizing. If that is what you are referring to, it will NOT have any effect whatsoever on stainless steel.

I received a partial bucket of MP-5'd cases from an LEO trainer buddy. Although they were once-fired, I got "scurred" of the lines & palpable ridges left by the chamber so I gave them away to a friend who shoots 9major out of his STI. He reported NO problems at all with these cases & all were loaded to major. I'd use such cases in the future without hesitation.

Apples to oranges. That Leupold has a HORRIBLE price on it. It costs at least $300 & you could buy TWO Weavers for that price! Plus, the Meopta is a better scope than the Leupold (if money is no object, that is). Midway often has the Weaver on sale for $129. The Armalite 1 pc mount is a good mounting solution.

Thanks Jim! Useful content - as usual. Here is a link to the Area 8 clubs section of the A8 web page, as mentioned in Jim's post: http://www.uspsa8.org/clubs.htm

Same here. But in 22 mag? No thanks, I don't need an expensive non-re loadable rimfire. Just think: w/ 30 round mags for your favorite .22 LR steel challenge guns, you could practice SIX runs without reloading (as long as you don't miss). Uninterupted focus on hits. And legal (for now). But the only 30 round mag for any 22 pistol is that weird new 10/22 pistol Ruger makes (not suitable for steel). As is, you have to stop to reload every other run with these 10 rounders.

Pretty sure that .40 is allowed for HeMan/Heavy Metal. & for 1911s, 'factory configuration" = whatever you want it to be. No way the rule could ba any other way. Not with 1911s.

Watch out for the MG 200 FPs - they have to be loaded short or they will hit the rifling in the 97b. Many folks feel the stock recoil spring is a little too light. Also, the wood grips - do not get them too wet while shooting in the rain. The insides are not coated/shelaked so the wood will absorb enough H2O to swell up & trap the mag in the gun.

. . . which the shooter is likely to win since the language of the rule is vague. I agree with Nik here. IMHO, a better approach is: issue a warning the first time a shooter uses their weak hand to hold open the flap/strap on their holster & sweeps their hand. Why? Because, the only shooters I have ever seen use such holsters are 1st timers to our sport. Many of them are LEO or Military, and some were actually trained & expected to do it that way. The situation could be turned into a learning experience, or it could be the last USPSA event they ever attend. Further, if you DQ the first time, you are potentially telling an experienced LEO or .mil soldier: "our fun sport knows more about gun handling than your academy/boot camp." Think how that will go over with them. 2nd occurance is always a DQ. Just for the record: I take this safety rule seriously. For example, I refuse to design stages with seated, holstered starts because I am so against sweeping the leg/foot with a loaded gun - even if it is not a DQ. My seated start stages always begin with the gun on a table or in a box (or once placed on the floor between the shooter's feet).

On one hand, the old 30 shot 22 magnum Grendel FAILED, as far as marketing goes, back when it was made. Obviously, Kel Tec are idiots and their gun will fail too, right? OTOH, many folks have realized that FN's 5.7 pistol (which is a huge sales success - and controversial) really only matches the balistics of the 22 Magnum from a handgun AND the exotic 5.7 requires the use of expensive centerfire ammo, though it does use a 20 round magazine. I guess people buy it for the mystique or maybe due to some movie or video game. Kel Tec's gun would appear to match the 5.7s performance with less expensive 22 magnum ammo. AND, just like the 5.7. it appears to use a slide made out of plastic, along with the plastic frame. Might not be such a bad idea this time around. Further, it is beyond my why almost all the makers of .22 handguns feel the NEED to limit mag capacity to only 10 rounds. WTH? 30 rounds of 22 would be fine by me. Personaly, I have no use for either a 5.7 or a Kel Tec since my shooting interest is in USPSA & IDPA mostly.

Be warned that the advice given by the NRA consultants is NOT compatible with uspsa or idpa safety rules . If you implement the NRA suggestions, it will be the end of uspsa , steel or idpa at your range.

Hi Noah! Greeting from ole' Area 8!! Congratss on landing the "Ms." - just remember those wise words from ole Sterling: " You don't really got 'em cornered 'til you get them to move in w/ ya!".

Nice machine work there! Impressive. 3 thoughts: 1) The standard AR-15 rear sight suffers from a slight "cant" or rotation; NRA Service Rifle guns (particularly White Oak Precision) address this issue with vertical guide pins to eliminate this movement. I cannot tell if your mount corrects for this movement (appears your mount functions similar to an A2 rear sight). 2) With 2 sets of protective "ears" (the mount and the sight housing), the sight picture seems a little "busy" to me -particularly if one had to resort to the iron back up sights. Would it be possible to eliminate the gap between the mount and the sides of the sight? 3) LaRue built his reputation by making his sight bases repeatable and QD. Adding that feature would be a big selling point to some folks. Again, nice work.

Mine too, sans holster wear (I don't dry-fire or shoot much anymore). I think the one in my avatar might be an airsoft copy. Not much to see really, its just a regular M&P 9mm (which, I believe, helps show newer folks that they do not need anything fancy to compete in USPSA or IDPA). Guns pictured are actually quite nice. Keep them coming.

Used to shoot bowling pins up at the 12th Precinct club near Annapolis. The "old timers" on that club's BOD were so stuck in thier ways & anti handgun that they INSISTED that each shooter had to start with the gun POINTED at the first pin (Even low ready seemed too unsafe for them). Completely lame. To top it off, they then decided, all on their own, that even this format was unsafe. So they made up their own "test" consisting of building a "frame" around a pin table & covering it with trash bag plastic, then shooting a few pins to see if ANYTHING made a hole in the plastic. Then they shut down the match because, according to their "test" bullets must be leaving the property (they had more than 12 acres & never had a complaint. I am SO done with those sorts of attitudes. Sorry to hear there are still such folks populating the BODs of our local shooting clubs.

before the range burned down, we held an ICORE that was 5-round/BUG gun neutral & I shot my 340PD from a pocket holster (with 38s). I learned my pocket holster is damn slow on the draw. And snubbies are hard to shoot as accuratly or as fast as my race revolvers.

Could be, crazy as it sounds. The FN 5.7 uses a plastic slide w/ some metal in it (please - keep in mind the forum guidelines when commenting on the 5.7). Scale it up to a 9mm & make it locked breach - might work (or not).

Brassrat! (takes one to know one )

While the DQ is crystal clear, we need to understand why it still bothers some folks: the gun was unloaded & had just been verified as so. Thus, what happened could be seen as no more "dangerous" than a dropped gun outside the COF. One is a DQ while the other is not a DQ. Nevertheless, the lines for our rules have to be draw someplace, and I think they are well-placed right where they are in this area. Besides, the incident did invlove "gun handling" - which we require to be done safely. The most often "dropped gun" scenario I have seen outside the COF involved race holsters that were improperly locked & there were no hands near the gun when it fell. Good Q. OP. Regards, C.

Soon, I hope. A variety of competing manufacturers results in a win-win situation for shooters & USPSA as well as the manufacturers.

No argument with your reasoning. If anything, I agree most with Flex's comment about this being a huge can of worms. Problem with opposing the tri-top under S.S. rules would be that all the STI Commemorative USPSA single stack guns need to go away from USPSA competitions & USPSA would, honorably, have to refund that $14,000 which Dave Skinner donated to USPSA resulting from the sales of these guns. Seems that Pandora's box has been opened here. "The STI Commemorative USPSA single stack has a tri top... "

Hey Trapr, I'm doing fine - thanks for your concern. I've received more than a dozen inquires about my well-being since this all started - proof that our shooting community truly cares and takes care of it's own. Yesterday was a very dark day for Fort Hood and our Army as a whole. Please keep our dead, our injured, and their families in your prayers. Thank God for the young female Federal Police Officer who ended the shooting by charging into the SRP facility, facing evil head on, and stopping the threat. She was wounded but is in good condition - the shooter definitely got the worst of their exchange. Doug Johnson Doug: glad to hear you are OK. Agree 100% re: the civilian police officer who put an end to this atrocity. I hope she makes a rapid recovery. By all accounts, she is a true American hero. We could use more folks like her during these troubled times. Signed: the other Doug Johnson

Have not tried the "roller-bearing" upgrade to the dillon shell-plate; I wonder if that would help or hurt? I tend to crush the heck out of Federals intended for the 625; I have not set one off yet (though maybe I should wear eye and ear protection while loading??!? ).

Good answer. I agree. Let's look at some facts: 1) Fact is, some folks (Israelis, certain CCW holders) practice this. 2) Fact is, there is NOTHING unsafe about allowing a competitor to start with an unloaded gun. and 3) Fact is, I cannot imagine any competitive advantage to letting a shooter do this they think they need to at a local match. Why diminish the sport & run off a potential fee-paying shooter just because most of us (me included) always start with one in the chamber? Because the rules we play by in the sport of IDPA require that we start with a round in the chamber and the magazine loaded to division capacity. Now where did I put that beating a dead horse icon? If I understand Koski here, he was talking about a CLUB match. If I understand your response, you are saying that, at a local club match, you would tell a new shooter wanting to use this technique: "I don't care if it is safe to shoot that way. Rules are rules. Do it MY way or pack your stuff & go home." I guess we have to agree to disagree on this one. I don't think that is any way to treat a potential new competitor at a club match who wants to safely participate in IDPA, nor is it a way to grow the sport.

Fairly sure S&W discontinued theirs. Only the German guns remain. Thought James Bond had made the switch? (that surely helped sales). Don't see them very often 'round here (D.C. area) though they are out there. I shoot an M&P, a 75 or an old Glock these days.

Good answer. I agree. Let's look at some facts: 1) Fact is, some folks (Israelis, certain CCW holders) practice this. 2) Fact is, there is NOTHING unsafe about allowing a competitor to start with an unloaded gun. and 3) Fact is, I cannot imagine any competitive advantage to letting a shooter do this they think they need to at a local match. Why diminish the sport & run off a potential fee-paying shooter just because most of us (me included) always start with one in the chamber?