Kory

There are a couple places where I shoot steel that have their own club level classifications, no relation whatsoever to USPSA classifications; where a national B shooter is a local GM. They just base it on who wins and/or places well at their matches.

Started a new job this week, the coffee here sucks. Action will need to be taken. The last job had GREAT coffee, I didn't drink any before I got to work it was so good that it was better to wait for the good stuff for free. One of those things that you don't really appreciate until it's taken away.

If you are thinking of building your own system, also checkout http://www.sagetv.com/ lots of functionality, but you have to be computer competant

I priced out the rebuild at the machine shop I used to work at, my prices it would have been about $700 to redo the short block. Replacing: one piston (smacked head, probubly cracked ring lands), one con rod, and the crank(wasted), plus rings, gaskets, rod and main bearings and a quick cylinder hone. I instead bought a low milage junkyard motor for $600 complete. It's now in the car and running good, lets hope it stays running good. It isn't one of the cool RWD turbo Buicks, it's a lousy 97 LeSabre with the 3800 series-2 V-6.

Driving across the desert from the colorado river back home on a holiday weekend, I think I hear a knock, knock, knock coming from the motor. Yep, definately knocking. Thinking that sounds an awful lot like a spun rod bearing, I hoped for something easier and cheaper, I rarely get what I hope for. It got worse, and I got towed the last 30 miles home. Next day I pulled the V-6 out of the Buick, tore it down, and yep I spun the #5 rod bearing. Sometimes I hate being right. If only I didn't hate working on cars so much, especially on my cars, even moreso when I need to work on them. argh

Yes, I bring a spare gun and leave it in the car. I shoot a cheap gun, a CZ, so this is economical. I have needed it more than once, the two most memorable were: I broke a slide stop at a steel match, glad I had one I could borrow from the spare gun. I broke a rear sight, so I just swapped top ends and used the #1 frame with the #2 slide to finish the match. They are nearly identical, but not completely, and I really do favor the #1 gun. If I ever build that open gun, I doubt I'll be able to have a second one built too.

The official way of determining a spring's weight is to compress it 20% and also to 80%, then average those two weights, then divide that by the distance you compressed the spring. The number is often given in pounds/inch I think those numbers are relative to coil bind length(100% compression), your actual working length being the most important. ie: you cut your mainspring and the DA is less. The poundage of the spring actually INCREASED by cutting coils, but the force it exerts at it's installed working length is less. Gun springs must fall under a differnt rating system. Otherwise it would take 30+ pounds of force to rack the slide. Anyhow, direct measurement of them can only help.

Steel match this morning, shooting OK and then out of nowhere I just couldn't hit anything. I wasted half a mag missing badly, bouncing shots off the ground in front of the target, focusing hard on the front sight and target and missing like I never have before. Then I realized the rear sight had snapped off halfway through the array of targets. I guess I wasn't all that aware, to have not noticed a broken off rear, I was only alerted to it by 10 shots in a row that missed easy targets which made me think something is not right and stop shooting to investigate. That is a whole different problem. This fear was the reason I switched from an adjustable rear to a fixed. Adjustable rears have a roll pin, screw, and other little parts to break, even though mine never did break. Damned fixed sight just snapped in two, no smacking it on anything and it didn't even get to stay on the CZ long enough to get the black worn off the corners. At least I had a backup pistol to finish up.

I lkie the TX*, unless somebody does something evil like uses it as a noshoot in front of an array of paper.

My home converted (to SA only)75B has a nicer trigger than my factory SA only CZ. I gave them both the same basic trigger job. Maybe it's becasue the convert pistol has 25K more rounds through it and it's just smoother out better. out of the box, untouched, the SA is superior. The frame on the SA has a nicer beavertail and the ambi safety, reason enough in my book to pick it over the regular 75

I finally aquired a production legal holster for my CZ-75, a Cen-Dex storm. It came free with a new CZ-75SA .40 I traded my only (never shoot it) glock for. Anyhow, it's way too grippy on the gun. When I draw, I end up damn near giving myself a wedgie. I removed the tension screw completely, and that helped some. It's still really slow and I can hear the velcro on my CR speed belt trying to come apart as I draw. What's the trick to these things? Some heat and bending it to get it better? Armor-all to slick it up?

Feb and Mar 2003 The bottom pic of the three above.

Matt, I remember you mentioned that you put a tungsten guide rod in your CZ-75SA .40 Where did you get it, I want one for mine.

I have noticed the trend. If I am squadded with GM's, my scores go to hell. If I shoot with C and B class shooters, I do much better. I think watching the fast shooters makes me think that I need to speed up, and my hits go to hell. If I am with average shooters, I run my own pace and do much better.

I am having a hard time transitioning from steel to paper. I have been shooting steel for a couple of years, doing OK. I have shot maybe half a dozen USPSA matches, all in the last two months. I pretty much suck at IPSC. Lots of poor hits mainly. I think I am willing to accept a poor sight picture, knowing that if I miss I can get the makeup shot on steel. That hasn't worked so well on paper. I have been using the same gun / holster / mags for both.

I'm in the same position currently, it sucks.

Yes, it certainly can be done. A gentleman I shoot with did it to his CZ 75. He has a mill in his garage. He did say that the cut got into the firing pin block channel a bit, and he ended up pinning the plunger in the up position permanently. I took the easy route and bought the sights Angus sells, they're nice and easy.

When a bird is that rare, it must be pretty difficult to find a mate.

I used a 115 because that is what I have always shot. I have never even tried a 124 or a 147 bullet in factory ammo or somebody else's reloads. Like I said, I am new to reloading. I was happy to shave a few bucks off the ammo cost, and that all of my reloads worked great. Now I want to know what I should be trying instead of that load.

I had been shooting Blasers for a couple of years until I finally took the opportunity to reload using a friend's 1050. After looking at what I normally shoot, and the suggested loads, he said I ought to run 4.6 of VV n320. We did the same OAL, 1.157" but the bullets we used are .587" long. I did, and I like the feel and accuracy. He tells me "you like hot loads" based on my use of Blaser 115's which chronos at ~1166 out of my CZ-75B. I told him if I could replicate that I would be happy. It works, it's less snappy than the Blasers, but folks tell me it's pretty hot for production or steel. I am getting ready to run another 2000 rounds through his 1050, anything I ought to know before I replicate that load again? New bulets are Zero 115's and .553" long.

In the front. I overlap both the inner and outer up front. That makes the front of the belt thicker, making it appear as if my gut doesn't hang over my belt. I wear my holster and pouches on my sides.

I've been forced to shoot limited minor because I only have a CR Speed. What's the hot production class holster for a CZ-75 ?

It's a picture of the carpet after a dog that's missing a leg scratches his backside.

I wonder how much of the fuel savings come from the mere addition of a controlled vacuum leak. That would lean it out some, reducing booster signal at the venturis and thus draw less gas from a carb. I am a skeptic. Having a new vacuum leak sucking air through a platinum containing solution in what amounts to a bong under the hood, I just don't think it would be all that effective. How much platinum can it really be adding, an still generate a cost savings? Platinum is kinda spendy.

The stoichiometry of gas compared to alcohol is a huge difference. Alcohol runs nearly twice as rich a mixture. Gas blended with ethanol will require a richer A/F ratio, so milage will decrease with that gas. Your vehicle's CPU will make the adjustement and dump more fuel, and you'll notice it. If it has over 80K miles, the O2 sensor may be worth replacing. What is it a 454SS chevy pickup?