Cliveb

I had a P226 SL - could never get used to it and sold it off and was happy to see the back of it. Soured me to SIGs - until I tried a P226 legion of one of my range students - the difference is remarkable. A completely different animal. If you like the P226 platform, absolutely go for the Legion model.

Pretty damn good result - I'm sure that with your approach you'll improve further and will soon be snapping at the heels of the big boys - looking forward to reading about your first major match podium place. Hopefully, next year you'll be able to pop over again - and we'll see whether you deserve that GM card

Last year my front sight went all fuzzy (am now 44). Set up my inserts for distance with my left eye and front sight with my right - took gun along to ophthalmologist and we fannied about until it was nice and crisp. The difference between the eyes isn't that huge, so I never felt dizzy. It's only noticeable when I shut my left eye - then longer distances are a bit out of whack, but my brain seems to cope. I also recently tried it out with contact lenses - works even better without the extra layer of sighted lenses. I use Pilla shooting glasses - very pricey, but very clear lenses. In due course, I'll have to shift to a red dot...time waits for no man...

I've got 8 plus one for the "round in the chamber" (standard division). At big matches, it's nice to not have to stress too much to clean/refill mags between stages.

Don't like travelling at all - a bit of a stick in the mud However, when you live on an island 19 miles by 9, you are pretty much guaranteed to gets lots of travelling done .... I used to have to travel a fair amount for work (circa once a month). These days, the only thing I travel for is 3 to 4 big IPSC matches every year, and that's more than enough, thank you very much.

"Slow" is somewhat relative (only somewhat - you can actually be too slow..lol) - Hit Factor is more important. You may feel that you ran a stage slowly, but your Hit Factor might say otherwise. Make sure that you are correctly identifying the issue.

The accelerator drill is excellent - I modify it slightly by setting up a mini popper as the far target (propped up so it doesn't fall) - and also try to get 2 hits on it to make sure my recoil control is good. Run it both near to far (decelerating) as well as far to near (accelerating)- you'll find both situations in matches. Push as fast as you can while getting your hits and use a shot timer to analyse your split times on the near/medium /far targets (another reason why I shoot 2 shots on the mini popper). Dedicate a whole training session just to this drill (if necessary, more) - and then run it regularly going forward to maintain the "gear-changing" skills.

What's all this reading nonsense? We can't all be IT geeks you know!

Oh come on! The fun factor of a nice 2011 can't be ignored (when it runs, which as you know from shooting with mine, is not all that often)

I eagerly await his verdict Thanks for the help, gents.

.308 is the calibre he has - so that's not going to change. From what he said, the targets are pretty small (at least at that range) - so individually, trickle-fed powder is advisable?

Asking for a friend who wants to load 308 on his 550b (out to 1000metres). Is the Dillon powder dropper accurate enough for what he wants, or should he go for a separate trickle feeder for his powder throws. I'm no long range expert, but am leaning to the latter for consistency. Any input would be appreciated. Clive

Ran out of magtehcs (which were fine) and switched to winchester - only loaded about 10 tubes up till now (in 1 sitting) but didn't have a single flipped primer and I can't say that it's slowing down due to gunk buildup yet. Before switching to Win I had given it a thourough cleaning and "pledged" it. No complaints at this stage.

Yep - the context of gun use is slightly different, and our respective situations are clearer. Over here, the vast majority of gun owners just target shoot/plink off a table. No holster use, movement etc - so they wouldn't be really ready to just strap on a holster and play. Also, our weekly training sessions are usually divided into a couple of hours of drills for the serious types, followed by a couple of hours of stages - which is the equivalent of a non-official L1 match. This gives them a pretty good feel of the game. Then there's the fact that we are a small number of more experienced shooters who have our work cut out on match day - running stages, RO-ing, dismantling/setting up new stages (only 2 shooting bays available), in addition to wanting to enjoy the match and shoot well - so we won't be giving first timer briefings etc - they can get that every week.

My suggestion is found in the line exactly following the one you quoted - They start by attending some of our weekly training sessions - no pressure of scores, just learning the ropes. It's not compulsory, but we find that it gives better long term results than going to a match with unrealistic expectations, probably DQ'ing and giving it all up. Of course, if someone wants to just turn up at a match, he/she is free to do so, but if they do something silly under pressure, it's off to the dairy queen - which is a pity.

There are various options open to you in this situation. The simplest is to place them in the appropriate division. As a newb, they will probably come last or close to it, be they in open or in production You could then explain that their gun is better suited for another division, with the appropriate adjustments (such as magazines, position of kit on belt etc). I'm also a bit nonplussed at the concept of people who never tried IPSC/USPSA just turning up at a match, be it a Level 1 or otherwise. Over here, to overcome this, we have weekly practice sessions - and noobs do turn up for these with all sorts of weird and wonderful rigs - we are more than happy to let them join in, show them the ropes and advise on equipment adaptations, keeping these as sensible as possible so as not t break the bank. By the time they get to shoot a match, L1 or otherwise, their kit is expected to be division legal. The safety aspects are adhered to religiously - zero debate about that stuff.

This vid is excellent:

Good advice here. As others have said, missing a target is not a DQ, but this particular range construction may have made it unsafe. The best approach is a "please explain what I did wrong so I don't do it again". It's an attitude officials like to see in a shooter. As for shooting again, d'oh...of course you'll carry on!

If you intend automating, then I think that the 1100 or the EVO is the route to follow. In light of cost differences, the 1100 will probably give you the fastest ROI.

OK, OK, I'll admit it..tac vests and assorted bulls#!t are way beyond the pale No probs with the poor guys shooting with what they happen to have though. Thing is, the "tactical tosser" types are anything but poor - so sniggering is allowed...

Fair enough

That failure rate is on the high side. I've run about 3.5K magtech and didn't have a single upside down primer (after dialling things in) - you might need to get the tension on the screws just right. Too tight and it fills too slowly, too loose and you might get an upside down primer.

No way I'd ever smirk at what's on a new guy's belt. I never, ever tell them that their gun is crap - at the end of the day, at their level of skill, it's pretty irrelevant. In due course, they see what others run, start asking, and then start spending

Have you been dropping the slide on an empty chamber? This might cause excessive wear on the sear. You are probably onto something regarding the badly drilled hole for the hammer pin - my old edge has this in the sear pin holes and it does cause accelerated wear - I just have to keep a very close eye on sear function.

Until now I've been running magtech - after giving the "pledge treatment" to the machine, it fills up a tube very quickly...but Magtech have run out. Next I'll be trying Fiocchi (which apparently have no issues) and Winchester - in the case of the latter, I'll give this treatment a try - my loaded rounds never last more than 1 month in stock anyway. Will report back in due course.