Matt Griffin

I've killed ammo with WD40, I don't think it is debunked, but it apparently isn't universal across all primers/situations. However, throw away the brass. I suppose that since the direction of thrust is pointed down through the case, the primer won't rocket out backwards at full force, but it isn't worth the risk. If one takes off pointed towards you, I'm pretty sure they'll zip right through any safety glasses you're wearing. Of course, I base that on a story I heard about a guy trying to make dummy jewelry rounds and lodging a primer into his arm by trying to fire it with a hammer. May be an urban legend. H.

Maybe it's just the Beretta followers that are cheap, then. I'd still spend the extra 10$ on factory steel. H.

They're junk. I bought two for a Beretta 96, the follower was some kind of soft plastic, and the little bit that is supposed to push the slide stop up was completely chewed through in about twenty mags. I use one for my Barney bullet right now, and nothing else. H.

From what you've written, I'd say go with the Beretta. They have triggers that need some learning, and I'd say that is the cause of the larger groups. You should practice (with safety foremost, of course) pre-loading the trigger, as they tend to be heavy. I make this recommendation because it sounds like you are flinching on the .45, which is going to be a serious pain when you lock up on a small steel and burn a magazine below it. (something I've seen often and done occasionally.) Start with the Vertec, and when you feel like moving up, shoot several hundred rounds through the .45 until you are bored with it. That always seems to cure my flinch for a while. H.

One thing I've found about my 96 vs. my 92fs, the breach face is considerably rougher, and I was having stoppages on the last round in a magazine, the case head was sticking on the breach face and not sliding up under the extractor. A good thorough cleaning and then polishing it with a light metal polish on the bottom half of the face seems to have corrected this. I also love my fiber optic sight, it's the first one I've used and acquisition is much, much faster. H.

Well, maybe 1/3 of the time, but if you put in the hours you'd be surprised what can be done at longer distances with a pistol. It's a completely different game than IPSC, needless to say. Not to mention that when you get lucky and hit the pigeon on the first shot, you look like a superstar. Something else that was fun down at Knob Creek was trying to hit a rock out at 300 yards, or however long the main range is. It usually took 4-5 shots to get the range, but you can keep the bullets falling within a few feet. H.

Hey, there's your problem, you're shooting 9mm out of a .40! Anyway, I've put a Dawson Precision fiber optic on my 96 Elite II, I like it quite a bit. I also have a local gunsmith willing to drill and cut front sights for 35$, perhaps you can find a similar deal. Just to annoy you, I used to hit clay pigeons at 50 yards with mine from a bench, about half the time. H.

I align the sights along the dominat eye sight line with BOTH eyes focused on the target. You get a "split" image of the gun, one off to the right side and one straight down the sights. The sights are in soft focus, unless you change the lense power in the right eye so you can sharpen the sight image and also have a sharp target image in the left eye with eye musles at relaxed (distance) focus.If you actually focus both eyes on the front sight, parallax will give a double image of the target and also a double image of the rear sight. Thanks for the clarification, that's what I have always done naturally, but especially since I started shooting precision air pistol, the constant "sights must be in focus!" made me doubt what seemed correct. H. Yeah, I am frequently reminded that it is the wrong way to shoot. But, I shoot much better with two eyes than the one-eyed squint method looking at the front sight. You definitely have to see the sights, and you must give them total "brain focus" when you align them, but you don't necessarily have to focus your eyes onto the sights to do this. One trick I would recommend to understand "brain focus" when sighting: Focus both eyes on a spot on the wall 50 feet away. maintain "eye muscle focus" on that point. Now, raise your left hand up directly in front of your left eye. Now, yue see the wall clearly and a fuzzy image of the hand at the same time. Just using mind awareness (don't shift eye focus) you can focus in on either the hand or the spot on the wall. As you focus awareness on the hand, it actually seems to become more solid (denser). It's an illusion, of course, because your brain is just becoming more aware of it. When the "ghost" sight image is in your sight line and you are seeing it as well as the sharp target image, you can shift brain focus back to the sights without changing eye focus at all. I know exactly what you are talking about. Even though my eye focus never leaves the target, I'll lose track of it while I'm "watching" my sight picture. I don't think squinting would be a good route for me to go, I don't even notice the other image, it's so far off to the side. H.

My 96 Elite II easily holds a couple of inches at 25 yards, and I can throw shots offhand through a piece of notebook paper at 50 yards all day long. I'd say you've got a dirty or flawed barrel, or something else inherently broken. H.

What are my options if I work on Saturday and Sunday morning? I can take some time off, but it would be helpful to have an idea of when it would be in advance of asking. Thanks, H.

I align the sights along the dominat eye sight line with BOTH eyes focused on the target. You get a "split" image of the gun, one off to the right side and one straight down the sights. The sights are in soft focus, unless you change the lense power in the right eye so you can sharpen the sight image and also have a sharp target image in the left eye with eye musles at relaxed (distance) focus.If you actually focus both eyes on the front sight, parallax will give a double image of the target and also a double image of the rear sight. Thanks for the clarification, that's what I have always done naturally, but especially since I started shooting precision air pistol, the constant "sights must be in focus!" made me doubt what seemed correct. H.

Ok, just to be clear on the eye focus thing: You're not supposed to actually focus on the front sight with both eyes, correct? You're actually soft-focusing on the target, and PAYING ATTENTION to the front sight image, which is split in parallax because you are not focusing on it. Is this correct? It seems to be the right thing to do, but Brian clearly says that the order of sharpness is front sight, rear sight, target. I take this to mean that he is soft-focusing from the target far enough back so that his actual point of focus lies closer to him than the target, which would lead to the sharpness levels he indicates. However, I don't think it is proper that you unfocus enough to throw the target into split-image, correct? H.

There's really nothing special to do with an airsoft pistol to help flinching, except shoot a lot. Since it has no recoil, you'll be training your brain and hands not to flinch when you pull the trigger. It's also an excellent tool to work on only pulling the trigger far enough to fire, rather than pinning it to the guard. I have a GBB pistol that racks the slide each shot, and with a firm grip, the sights don't even move, except front to back. Dryfire will also train your brain and hands not to move while shooting. The important thing is to dryfire/airsoft fire about 20/1 versus live ammo. H.

I just started shooting again, and thus I just started reading again. We have a fun match in an indoor range (think 20 rounds, left to right) and I was absolutely appalled by my performance. I shot another 200 rounds trying to work it out, which went something like this: 1-30 I'm looking at the target, not the sights 30-50 I'm flinching 50-100 I'm choking the gun 100-150 buh? 150-200 Aha. So I got myself back to where I was. Now I realize that where I was wasn't much to be excited about. Anyway, I then read the threads on grip, and realized that for my entire life, and even my casual futzing around in competition, I've been shooting by (wrong) instinct well enough that I didn't realize I was doing it all wrong. I also recently got an airsoft pistol for basement practice, and once I eased up on the grip, applied the weak hand, and took pressure off of my thumbs, my shooting speed literally doubled. I had been choking my finger muscles my entire life. So, thanks. We'll see how well it translates at state. H.

Yikes! I've been drafted! But seriously, didn't I specify that I was lazy? I know that Hidden Hills is getting a little sick of the USPSA matches, so they wouldn't be keen on adding another. Silver Creek might be a good place, as far as I know they only have something on the first Saturday and Sunday, and the fourth Saturday. Ok, I'll pass it back to you guys and gals; what's a starter kit to hold an IDPA event? H.

Thanks for all the info, guys, but I was hoping to find something less than an hour away. (I guess I'm a lazy shooter.) Let this be a call to arms: Louisville needs IDPA representation! We've already got 4 USPSA clubs. H.

We have a plethora of USPSA clubs/matches, but I haven't been able to find an IDPA match. How will I know if I like it if I can't even try it? If anyone knows of a match at knob creek/Hidden Hills/Silver Creek, please post here. H.

Also, shoot a thousand rounds of .22 out of a pistol. You can train yourself to do anything, and since the .22 doesn't generate any "blinking triggers", you'll train yourself to pull a trigger without flinching/blinking. H.

Hey folks, This was my first tournament, and I just happened to be in the squad with David, AND the shooter who scored the 7sec. on stage 7. For what it is worth, it was an RO error, when he took off running for the last three targets behind the barrels, the RO couldn't keep up, and the timer did not record the last shots. Twist of fate. I hope David is recovering. H.