Carmoney

I agree 100%. What you described is definitely not Randy's work product. Sounds like everything is set to go now, though. I think you're going to really enjoy it, Chuck!

Even Juniors!? lol Don't drink any Coors Light with Cliff, CJT--you want to be as clear-headed as possible when it's time to negotiate the best deal for your hair.

Uh, you guys might want to be a little careful here showing off your powder supply.....many municipalities and states have laws (not just "recommendations"!) that limit the quantities of powder that may be stored in a private residence, and in some jurisdictions violations constitute a felony.

The USPSA stages are all done and debugged, all we will need to do Saturday morning is hang targets and we'll be ready to roll. Final round count is 205 over 8 stages each day. The stages range from 16 to 32 rounds. No strong/weak hand stuff, no classifiers, no standards, and no Texas Star (but plenty of static steel). Plenty of movement, lots of walls, and the usual mixture of "Osceola hoser" close stuff ranging out to several tougher longer shots on steel (nothing horrific, though), and everything in between. Plus we thought up some interesting twists that should be fun for everyone. I think you guys are going to really enjoy this match! I had a couple last-minute cancellations, so if anybody wants to shoot this thing, drop me a line ASAP.

From the sound of it, I'll probably find myself in the minority on this one, but I don't like using grease as a general firearm lubricant, period. I am a big believer in using synthetic motor oil (Mobil 1, for example) for just about every application involving my guns--it does a great job of lubricating and minimizing wear on the bearing surfaces, it keeps the gun running even when the temperatures are too cold for any grease (and most other types of oil), and it stays put really well.

That's Dr. Dremel to you.

I never cease to be amazed where Hopalong turns up. And where he doesn't. Hop must've thought it would be easy pickens out there. I'm glad James showed him otherwise!

I've said this before, but I think it's worth repeating: As a revolver shooter, I'm looking to find ways to utilize my six rounds as efficiently as possible, and sometimes that means I will be taking a target from an angle that would never be considered by a shooter in any other division. This also means I will sometimes be forced to go all the way to 179 degrees to complete the stage according to my plan. I do not want to hear "MUZZLE" yelled at me. I will say this--the experienced national-level ROs do know the difference between strategically using the full 180 and crazy gun-handling It's the newer, local-yokel ROs that are sometimes conscripted and quickly trained to help at sectionals and area matches that seem to be the problem. I've also noticed that ROs with a heavy background in IDPA tend to yell "MUZZLE" and "FINGER" nearly constantly, because it's encouraged in that rulebook. My view is that if my muzzle breaks the 180 or my finger is in the trigger guard when I'm moving or reloading, go ahead and DQ my ass like you're supposed to. Otherwise, keep quiet and out of sight until I'm done with the stage.

Dave and I were college roommates. Or maybe it was Nationals roommates. I can't remember for sure, it was all a blur. Happy Birthday, Dave!

Most of the time, when you attempt to make a stage 6-round neutral, you leave the shooter only one way to shoot the thing. You see this in ICORE field courses quite a bit, even at the IRC pretty much everybody shoots nearly every stage the same way. As glockwerkes mentions, one key to good stage design is to have a variety of solutions for any given stage--hence the term "freestyle." But this is much tougher to achieve than it would first appear. Good luck! We're building up our big Iowa match this weekend, and will be facing the same challenges.

Keep in mind the IDPA vest only looks completely correct with the '70s porn star mustache to go with it.

C'mon now, FFL, you know those IDPA shooters keep their foil on their heads.

I'm still waiting for you to show up for the 2007 Summer Blast!

The late '80s were not good years at the S&W factory. Sometimes when I take the sideplate off a gun from that era, I just look in there and think, "Where do I even begin?"

If you're shooting a 230-gr. bullet now, you should be able to safely leave it alone. If you ever switch to a lighter bullet, it should move the point of impact lower, which would require you to move the rear sight up to dial it in and you have plenty of adjustment in that direction.

I tried the Jerry grips, but didn't care for them. They weren't too bad with steel loads, but with major P.F. stuff they would make my thumb joint hurt. I keep the gun in my strong hand and reload with my weak hand, so I don't particularly want slippery grips. I run the plain ol' rubber Hogues on everything.

Here I am, Buck! You can PM me here on the forum, or email me at carmoney4@aol.com.

I've seen plenty that were obviously bent. But Warren's post should be a reminder that it is not necessary to take the extractor assembly apart, unless it's time to install an endshake bearing, and that only happens a couple times during the gun's competition lifetime. You do not need to take them apart for routine cleaning--just blast them with brake cleaner and lightly relubricate. Every time I see somebody posting about the Wessinger extractor rod removal tool (total waste of money, by the way--a simple drill chuck is faster and easier, and everybody already has one), I cringe once again. Carelessly cranking them apart and back together is undoubtedly one of the primary reasons for so many rods being bent in the first place.

Together, an extractor rod and center pin cost about $15. Usually the center pin isn't bent, so normally it's only $8 to simply replace the extractor rod with a brand new part that hasn't been smacked on. Life's too short to straighten extractor rods, although it's good to know how in case you need to fix one in the field. One other point to make--they don't need fixed if you don't bend them in the first place. I can never quite figure out how some people manage to bend these--unless they are handled really abusively, they stay straight pretty much indefinitely. I suppose it's the same kind of folks who can't close a cylinder without briskly slapping it shut. I can think of one particular friend that makes me cringe every time he looks at one of my wheelguns because he invariably snaps it open and slams it shut several times, much harder than necessary.

B class my ass. We will have none of that class bullcrap at this match. Everybody shoots heads-up except the juniors.

Over the years I got pretty good at straightening extractor rods by eyeballing them and smacking them with a babbitt or hammer handle. But that method is always going to be inconsistent, and awhile back I quit dicking around trying to straighten them. Brownells is only an hour down the road, the parts are cheap, and it's so much easier just to replace bent rods and center pins with nice, new, straight, perfect parts.

Greg, I responded to your PM. Short answer--yes. Info is here: http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=78136

I can think of several examples of revolver part names that have developed widespread use despite never being sanctioned by the manufacturer. The purists will always make sure to remind everyone those aren't "grips"--they're "stocks." And that's not a "frame-mounted firing pin" on your 25-2 for heaven's sake--it's a "hammer nose." Says so right there on the factory parts list--see??? I suspect the same thing happens in virtually every field of endeavor, every technical area of study, and every profession. And there's always going to be some pedantic little prick around (like the S&W armorer's instructor you mentioned) who derives much more pleasure from issuing corrections than he does communicating the information that really matters.

Well, I went through the whole minor phase, first in Revo division (where there is no capacity advantage, just a milder recoil impluse)--and then again in Single Stack division (which gave me 2 more rounds per mag). Been there, done that. Bottom line--for USPSA shooting in any division including Single Stack, if you don't suffer from any serious infirmity that makes it painful to shoot full loads, major is always the way to go. When you fully explore the nuances of the USPSA scoring system, you can't avoid the fact that the (theoretically) slightly faster times you might shoot because of the milder minor loads are just not enough to offset the points penalty created by being scored minor. I occasionally shoot my 646 with minor loads just for a change of pace, or to deliberately place a slight handicap on myself for whatever reason. But I don't kid myself into thinking minor is a serious option for serious matches.

Any slots open for the Limited match? I got a Girlfriend permission slip!!!!! Shawn, YES! You're in--send me your entry.