Carmoney

I thought this was an excellent match--and I've been a lot of matches. The stages were really well-designed and everything was run very smoothly and professionally from start to finish. Thanks to everybody who made it happen!

The fact that you're even asking the question means that you're a good guy who's trying to do the right thing, and I commend you for that.

I don't think you should get involved with the kid at all, unless you're going to actually marry the mom. There are already way too many kids out there who have deep emotional scars from attaching to a mother's boyfriend who is around for a few years and then moves on and is gone forever. Kids deserve better than being serially abandoned like that. Or so it seems to me.

Nice to hear stuff like this. I am fortunate to own a number of nice high-end 1911s, but I have a lot of respect for the Armscor and Metroarms products, and I enjoy shooting mine regularly. It's great to have options at a modest price range that still work well.

Hold the phone, Bro--you don't know that it's stolen, you only know it's running a little late! Seriously, you could wind up with a big hassle if you call the cops on this. I'll bet you $20 it shows up.

You might need to order direct from Zero, or find somebody who has an account with them.

I've shipped a zillion guns through USPS, and never lost a single one. However, I have had a couple that took way longer than I ever expected to be delivered. I'd say give it some time. Fedex and UPS are the only other option, but now you're talking $80-100 instead of $15-20.

What you want are the Zero 150-gr. .356" jacketed bullets. (If you can find them!)

If the budget is an issue, locate an old 9-shot High Standard Sentinel. I shot one for years in steel matches before I got my 617. They are actually very good guns, and you can find them around $200-250., sometimes less.

Extended slide stops are trouble. Go back to the stock part and use your left thumb to drop the slide.

Jake, I like seeing those single stacks with the 2-tone applied correctly, with the frames chromed and the slides blue! (The other way around just never looks right to me.)

Sorry to hear that, Corey. Hang in there.

Congratulations Pat!

So are they prizes or hand-outs?

How would you screw a headless screw all the way down?!?

Lots of guys do this, but I just got back from a match where I was squadded with a high-level wheelgunner who thinks the strain screw is supposed to be used for "adjusting to suit at any time." Here's the sound it made on the next couple stages: BANG-click-BANG-BANG-click-BANG-click-BANG-click-click-BANG. I believe in screwing strain screws down hard.

I wouldn't sweat it too much. It should work just fine. Maybe look at it this winter.

You can fine-tune it by simply bending your mainspring a little. In your case, bend the mainspring to take out just a little bit of its arch, i.e. make it just a little straighter. Bend just a tiny bit, then test-fire. Repeat until you have 100% reliability with your match ammo.

Not sure where all this other info is coming from, but generally when you send a pistol off to be hard-chromed, they plate everything but the actual bore. I have always viewed this as a benefit. I don't think the original poster needs to worry about the plater messing up his 4-lb "carry" trigger job.

Flip the cylinder open as you toss the gun into the air with your left hand. If you do it right the moonclip will fall out on its own. The left hand then moves to the belt and picks up the reload. Catch the gun with the right hand on the way down, put in the fresh moonclip and close cylinder, and you're back in action.

With the announcement of Dave Thomas' pending retirement, the BOD will be hiring a new Executive Director for USPSA. Since this person will be running the day-to-day operations of the organization, it strikes me that it is really critical that the right person be hired. I'm curious to know how the vetting process will work, and what kind of background checks will be employed (criminal, financial, medical, etc.) to ensure we don't wind up with a problem down the road. Will the BOD announce finalists for the position? Will the membership be asked for feedback? Will a committee be appointed? What are the real credentials and experience the organization is looking for?

I shoot Single Stacks quite a bit in competition, and have never found any reason to switch from my Uncle Mike's kydex belt holster that I bought for $17 at Sportsman's Warehouse years ago. If you haven't tried one, check it out--if nothing else, it's a cheap spare.

Yes. I agree.

To address the original question: In my opinion--having personal experience as a parent of a junior shooter who is now a young adult shooter--IPSC/USPSA shooting is not an appropriate activity for children under the age of 11 or 12. I know plenty of young shooters with sufficient match experience and judgment to RO at 16-18. By the the time my son was 16 he already had far more major match experience than most of the people participating in this thread! However, I do think 11 is too young to RO.

Having everybody sign waivers is all fine and good, but it is certainly not the ultimate solution that you suggest, lawboy. In most jurisdictions, minors are not considered competent to enter into a contract--so the waivers are essentially meaningless for junior shooters. Sure, parents can sign the waiver along with their child, but lacking review by a guardian ad litem and a court order, those parental signatures generally don't mean squat. Then we have the next problem: In most jurisdictions, an adult shooter might be able to sign away his own right to sue, but that waiver would not have any binding impact on other potential plaintiffs who would have the right to sue for loss of consortium--namely spouses and children. Heck in some jurisdictions, including here in Iowa, even adult children have consortium rights. In order to address this exposure, some waivers also have an indemnification provision included--unfortunately, these are generally not enforced by the courts. And finally: Liability waivers are sometimes held to be unenforceable by the courts for various reasons, including (1) lack of proper execution, (2) duress, mistake, or any number of other general contractual defenses, and (3) when the situation is extreme enough that it rises to the level of gross negligence. Liability waivers are better than nothing. Either way, everybody (and I'm talking club entities and individual shooters) should make sure there is plenty of insurance in place, and be able to show strict adherence to all of USPSA and NROI's policies and safety rules.