Carmoney

Dan, Dan, Dan....... It doesn't matter if the Oregon match shows up or not, since they're only going to use your best two state/sectional matches in the calculation. And you have two 100% scores listed--your fine performance against world-class competition in Iowa, and your fine performance against absolutely nobody in NorCal! Remember the formula is: (Nationals X 4) + (best area match X 2) + (sum of best 2 state/sectionals) + (best "other tournament"). Wait a minute......you're just messing with me, aren't you?? Ah hell, even people down in Rammer, TN can figure this stuff out. (By the way, speaking of "WTF"s, my win at the MN Sectional isn't posted either, for reasons I do not understand....)

The point series race in Revo is far from over, boys. Dan can make up a lot of ground if he shoots well at Area 2--particularly since the best area match is doubled in the calculations. I think I have one more "other tournament" match to bolster up my mediocre Florida Open score (shot way back when I was still a "beginner"!)--that's the Shoot for Life charity match here in Iowa next weekend--at that point I will be maxed out for the year. We'll have to see if that's enough! Mike

Yep, I agree all the way.....very good match! Catfish, nice talking with you at the barbeque. Good to see lots of friends this weekend! Mike

NOTE TO HOPALONG: You were not "avoided like the plague" for bringing along your Benny Blaster. No, you were avoided like the plague because of what must've happened to poor Cliff in the hilljack room at Area 5....

Nemo-- All excellent news!! Glad we were all collectively able to help out. Mike

I've been playing with these 10-shot speedloaders for a couple months now, and they're everything I hoped they would be! No speedloader for a 10-shot .22 is going to be all that incredibly fast, but I have to believe these are as fast as anything that's ever been devised for the 10-shot 617.

(By the way, we were all in agreement that it just didn't seem quite right to see Hopalong with a limited gun on his belt......but also that it was definitely better than not seeing him at all.)

Thanks guys! It was a well-run and fun match, with mostly high round count stages in arrays of eight shots, quite a few head shots and plenty of hardcover. We definitely had no "scrubs" shooting the wheel at this match--everybody there was competent and experienced. It was great meeting Bubber for the first time (tell you what, he's pretty dang impressive with those custom Comp-III speedloaders!), and we enjoyed seeing Dan, Gil, and Ken, as always. It would have been nice to have a few more revos at the match, though....

We always heard that one of the perennial pinsetters at Second Chance had become a full-fledged "side event" in her own right (i.e. you could shoot as many runs as you wanted, as long as you paid the entry fee up front). By the time I first saw her up there, the bloom was definitely off the rose. In the later years of Second Chance, the climate of the match shifted somewhat from the stag party scene to more of a family-friendly event. The "social opportunities" of the traditional Second Chance experience were still present, but they became decidedly more confusing and tricky to negotiate, as more of the pinsetting jobs were held by the daughters of other shooters. And these daughters were nearly always (1) considerably more attractive than the Central Lake locals, and (2) slightly underage....

Whew. Sorry I sorta tossed you to the wolves there, Ken. At least we know what to expect, I guess. Sure sounds like it might remove a lot of stress from Mike Herman's life if the Fall Classic would take advantage of USPSA's excellent online squadding system!

268!! (unofficially)

The twin moonclip holders TK sells are made by Blade-Tech. They work just fine, but you do need to tune them a bit so they have the correct release tension. Takes only a couple minutes with a hairdryer. I have several of these for my 646.

Ken, if you could go ahead and make contact with those guys, that would be great....Sam and I would definitely like to be part of the revolver squad! (I think maybe Hopalong put in some sort of a squadding request, but not sure what he told them.)

Dave, good point on the moonclips....actually, my 625 moons are a complete mixture, I'm really not brand-loyal on that item. Robopup, I knew I was forgetting something when describing my kit....the Ed Brown latch. I never wanted it when I was transferring my gun to the weak hand, but now that I've adopted the Spook/Dan reload, keeping the gun in my strong hand the whole time, I've found the Ed Brown latch to be a must-have.

mcb, read down through this sub-forum and all your questions will be answered very thoroughly! A quick summary of my own personal choices: CR Speed holster, shoot-the-moon style holders of various vintage, moonclips from TKCustom.com, EGW/SDM fiber-optic front sight, Millett rear sight (plain black), rubber Hogues, way-bobbed hammer spur and DA-only action job at about 5.25 pounds and smooth, mixed brass, Federal primers, and lots of nice cheap smoky lead bullets! welcome to our roundgun world! Mike

Patrick, When I initially saw the title of your rant, I thought you were going to be peeved about the use of the word "female" as a technical term in the context of electrical connectors or plumbing fixtures! Mike

I thought I would note that my son and I just shot the USPSA Illinois Sectional match this past weekend, and we had several experienced IDPA guys on our squad who were shooting their very first USPSA match. We all got along great, and had no problem discussing the differences in style between the two games in a positive and constructive manner. It was a very nice example of how cross-over participation should work! Mike

Cuz, I won an AP&W certificate at the USPSA Nationals (which means they truly support our game), and sent down a custom 1911 for a hard-chrome job. One of the guys called to talk over my project, and was very pleasant to deal with. The gun arrived back home at least a week ahead of schedule, and I think it looks phenomenally good. Even more important, they took the time to get everything back together correctly and cleaned up, and it functions as perfectly after the chrome as it did before. I'm very pleased with my experience with AP&W. Mike

Thanks Tony, we enjoyed it thoroughly, and congratulations on your strong victory in Production division. Very interesting to shoot a match where Production had the largest number of participants, and by a fairly high margin! In retrospect, Sam and I sorta wished we had shot our bottom-feeders so we could mix it up with other competitors--still, we had a great time.

If anybody has printed results but doesn't have the capability to post them here, if you can fax them to me, I can scan and pu them up for everyone to see! (PM me for the fax number.) Thanks, Mike

OK, now in order to be fair, I think I should give the original question the serious and thoughtful response it deserves: Dan, a fiber optic sight requires a little different set-up in order to ensure that your revolver hits to the correct POA/POI. I've developed a method which I believe will help simplify the process so that you can get back to your intensive pre-match dry-fire regimen. Start by printing off the following special F/O sight-in chart: Tape the special F/O sight-in chart to a flat vertical surface (such as a wall). Now put the revolver securely in a vise and orient the vise so that the flaming red ball is located directly on the red star on the chart as you're looking down the sights with your dominant eye. Now, close your dominant eye and hold it tightly shut. Extremely important!--Do not move your head from this point on. Use a second vise if necessary. Using a sight adjustment tool (such as a screwdriver), adjust your rear sight so that the top blade edge of the sight (not the flaming red ball, the actual blade edge) comes to rest in the bear's mouth, using your non-dominant eye. When done correctly, it will look like a flaming red apple in the bear's mouth. Now, take your 625 to the range and enjoy your new fiber optic sight picture. Remember not to adjust the sights without using the vise and special sight-in chart as described above. Take good care and see you in Rolla, Mike

Sam, I hear an excuse being set up.....I can almost hear it now (one week into the future): "Yeah man, I would have done way better in Rolla except I just put that fiber optic on my 625 and my aim point's way off now and you know what?--it was just exactly like Bill said on the forum, it was like a big flaming red fireball was blocking my view, it was just like looking into a sunlamp, otherwise I know I would have really kicked Carmoney's ass, hell you've seen him, you know how slow he shoots...." Mike

Les Baer barrels are carbon steel (not stainless), and made by Kart. I won a Les Baer barrel last year at the Steel Challenge (and there were quite a few to be won), so I know for a fact the company supports that particular disclipline. Mike

Phil, I know....when I wear an auto in a race holster I feel like a dedicated bowhunter who's just been caught spotlightin' deer with an AK-47. Mike

Massad Ayoob is the father of the 625. I'm proud to have had a tiny role in it myself. There were a handful of us shooting our 25-2s on the New England scene back around 1987 (I lived in Nashua NH at the time). This is when .45 ACP reigned surpreme for all things competitive shooting. We thought it would be a great idea to have a .45 ACP wheelgun on the market again, but figured it would never happen. But Mas approached S&W through Tommy Campbell, and by God he got it done. Unfortunately, the first "Model of 1988" 625s had problems. Mas heard they didn't have any full-moon-clips at the factory, and they didn't even know about the chamber problems until the run was complete. (Ranch Products was the only moonclip manufacturer at the time). They fixed it with the 625-3, and the rest is history. Mike P.S. By the way, Jerry Miculek's late father-in-law Jim Clark suggested the Model of 1955 (later the 25-2) to S&W, so I guess you could call him the grandfather of the 625....