Carmoney

Elliot and Annette are on the squadding system.

So is anybody checking the mail at the Keens' place? The online squadding thing hasn't been updated in quite awhile.

Chris, I know we've talked about this already, but a couple additional thoughts: 1. If you're not planning to load and shoot major loads on a regular basis, using .38 Long Colt brass offers no advantage over .38 Short Colt brass. If anybody sees another reason to run Long Colt brass, I'd be interested to hear it. Very few of us have a need or desire to compete with major loads in a 627. 2. I'm going to disagree with 357454's suggestion to use "regular" Hearthco moonclips with Starline brass. The only reason I pay the money for Hearthcos is the tight fit, which absolutely does enhance reloading speed with the 8-shooters. Other brands of moonclips will bind if the rounds fit too tight, but Hearthco moons are machined to the exact dimension and work best when the rounds are tight enough that you need a moonsetting tool to load the clips.

He looks young right up until the hat comes off.

Hadn't heard that one since Hee-Haw went off the air. You remember, the show that glorified the hilljack lifestyle and made it appear all wholesome and friendly-like? Cliff knows better.

Hmmmmm......birthday listed in his profile as "unknown" yet somehow the forum knows it's Sam A.'s birthday? Strange. Y'all will be happy to know that (as of yesterday) Sam is tentatively planning to attend the Memphis match! Happy Birthday!

Bobby, I think if you had been involved in competitive handgun shooting back in the "golden era," you would understand what we're talking about. Back 20 years ago, I was at shooting matches where shoot-off side match winners could pick up $2,000 to $5,000 (even got one of those myself once upon a time!), where they had great big cases covered with gun prizes including HK rifles and engraved S&W N-frames, where you could win a Mercedes, a motorcycle, or an all-expenses paid trip to Vegas--stuff like that. The big sponsors sent teams of shooters in full uniform (Jerry M. even had to wear a pair of S&W athletic shoes, which I think he found slightly embarrassing), and this was back when being sponsored meant a lot more than being given a discount on purchases and a colorful shirt to wear. If the numbers show that USPSA is growing, that's great news. But this thread is about pro shooters, and currently there are only a tiny handful of pro shooters who can truly live off the income from their winnings and sponsorships. We may have just as many big matches today if you're counting up all the area and sectional matches listed on the website. But none of those matches are truly "big" compared to what we used to have. We came fairly close to becoming a semi-mainstream spectator sport back then. We had Jeep and Anheuser-Busch and a couple other real sponsors sniffing around us pretty seriously for awhile back in the early '90s. There's nothing like that going on now....unfortunately. On the bright side, I am very encouraged by the recent effort by several shooters and clubs to bring this game to the attention of the local news media. These news clips with the "local shooter heading to national championship" stories might be the harbinger of a new upswing of mainstream interest in the stuff we do. Let's hope!

Happy Birthday, Steve!

Gotcha. I'll take care of it.

Dave, better save two seats for me at dinner......Sam Carmoney is coming out of (teenager) retirement and will be flying to Memphis with me to shoot the Challenge!

(self-edited)

There are lots of "bastard stepchildren" handgun makes and models that are never going to be competitive in any of the USPSA (or IDPA, or Bianchi, or whatever) divisions. They can't keep creating or modifying divisions to cover everything. Seriously now, a revolver is not a production gun in the sense that was envisioned when that division was created, and it's certainly not a single-stack 1911. (L-10 shouldn't even exist if you ask me, but that's a whole 'nother discussion for another time and place.) Furthermore, we have a Revolver division with equipment rules that were specifically drafted to reflect the preferences of the vast majority of revolver shooters who were polled on this very forum! Here's the good news: An 8-shot revolver is a great gun for ICORE and steel matches!

Don't forget to credit the binge gambling and lack of sleep, Cliff. That one night you went to bed early nearly cost you the match!

I'm in -- save me a seat!

Got me wondering, I ran Jerry's scores as shooting Major instead of Minor. He would have been 20th instead of 38th. Funny, that sounds awfully similar to Carmoney's placement in the Single Stack Nationals year before last. As I recall, he said it was fun shooting Minor but he'll probably never do it again. Yeah, if I remember right I would have finished 31st instead of 40th. I think it's very likely that Jerry would have finished higher than 20th place at the Production Nats if he had been shooting a "regular" autoloader Production gun instead of his 8-shot wheelgun. But who knows.

And that is sort of my point. We do have our own division in USPSA, and we need to work to keep it healthy and growing. You can go back and refigure Jerry's results from Production Nats and pretend he was scored major. I haven't bothered to calculate it, but my guess is he would move up a few spots in the results, and that's about it. No way in the world he would have beaten all the autos--not even close. I talked to Jerry during the Production match, and he said, "I'm just playin' around." A revolver is not going to be competitive in Production or L-10, except perhaps at local matches where the competition in those divisions is really weak. For a fun change of pace once in awhile--sure. If you can't stir up local interest in Revo division and need some competition to keep things interesting--no problem. But just like Jerry said, it's only playin' around. Or so it seems to me.

Bob Perdue is the "Mad Genius of Revolver Division."

OK, Duane, I think this is a clear sign that the gunwriting community has officially run out of topics.

Check mailed--plane ticket booked. I'm officially in!

I would agree with this also, at least in terms of those matches that offer "fields of eight shot arrays." In a well-designed match, where the arrays are not necessarily easily divided by eight, I think the 6-round major and 8-round minor would be much closer to parity with one another. Keep in mind that despite many predictions to the contrary, the 8-round .40/45 single-stacks generally dominate over the 10-round 9mm/.38Supers. Major scoring makes a significant difference, particularly at the higher levels of competition.

Now that makes perfect sense to me.

We have talked about that concept here quite a bit. But when we were given the opportunity to re-vamp the rules for USPSA Revolver division, the enthusiasts on this forum were asked what they preferred, and a very strong majority voted to stick with 6 rounds and iron sights. It's hard to argue with the numbers. I personally think it would be interesting to allow 8 rounds scored minor to compete against 6 rounds scored major. However, I'm not really sure it would increase the number of USPSA Revo participants all that much. Are there really all that many additional people out there who would shoot USPSA on an ongoing basis if you allowed the 8-shooters to run 'em full? I don't think so. If they're up to the ultimate challenge of competing in USPSA matches with a wheel, they're probably already doing so.

Guys, we have Revolver division! Let's keep the focus on increasing our ranks in Revolver instead of watering things down by fooling around in Production or L-10 just for kicks.

I agree wholeheartedly with Chuck on this. It's hard to imagine anything more important than protecting our nation's precious gynocological resources, and these guys put themselves on the front line every day.

OK boys, I'm in! I'm taking my voucher to the ticket counter and booking my flight tomorrow. See y'all in Tennessee!!