rmfield

Sierra offers some very good material on exterior ballistics here. It is also in the back pages of their reloading manual. I would also recommend Handloading for Competition by Glen Zediker.

I've had a number of DPMS barrels in various sizes and lengths and they have all shot very well. I'm particularly fond of their DCM barrels and have my third one on order.

I'm slow to comment on the match as I took a swing though the Grand Canyon and Indian Country on the way home. In any case, it was a great match! Certainly the best run SMM3G since its inception. No significant delays on any of the stages. Loved the roller coaster. Agree with Trapr on the flipper clays - go back to time bonuses (or get rid of them). I would definately prefer to see some longer shotgun stages - i.e. minimum 20 rounds. Great bunch of ROs and staff. Thank-you all.

In the brief history of our sport, Tactical Class shotgun has always been about loading - i.e. how fast you can grab shotgun shells off your person and shove them into your shotgun. While shooting quickly is a necessary skill, it is secondary to loading as we all shoot faster than we can load. Shooting accurately is probably more important than shooting quickly as it can reduce the amount of reloading that you have to do. Even if you can shoot your shotgun very fast, you won't compete unless you have mastered loading. If we were to allow magazine fed shotguns into Tactical Class at this point, we would be making a fundamental change to our game. Regardless of how fast the best in this game can reload with their thumbs, they will certainly be able to reload faster with magazines. What is currently the single most important skill in the Tactical Class shotgun game would dissappear into history. My point here is that this is an important decision and that it should not be made without carefully considering where we want our sport to go. There is certainly a place for magazine fed shotguns in Open Class, and for now at least, I think that is where they should reside.

Very cool. I can't wait to try it.

Detachable magazine fed shotguns in tactical class is ridiculous. I can't imagine what logic could be behind this decision. The point about not having more than 9 rounds in the gun at any time is strange too. As it stands, such a rule does not apply to tube fed shotguns. In the prior 2-3 SMM3Gs, the 9 round limitation has only applied to the shotgun at the start, but more were allowed after the buzzer.

The aluminum charging handles are succeptable to bending especially when they are equipped with one of the various tactical latches - due to the assymetric force. A few years back, I had one bend in the middle of a SMM3G stage due to my over-aggressive use of a tactical latch and it turned the rifle into a single-shot. I got rid of the tactical latch and haven't had any problems since. My advise would be to get a steel charging handle if you are going to install a tactical latch - otherwise, the aluminum should work fine.

I think this is going to be challenging for the NRA. I'm sure the anti-gun groups monitor their website pretty closely. Any comment about Zumbo is likely to tip off the enemy that there is "descension in the ranks" and they could use it against us. I know that the NRA is aware of this, but it will be interesting to see how they respond.

Here's the original text: Assault Rifles For Hunters? As I write this, I'm hunting coyotes in southeastern Wyoming with Eddie Stevenson, PR Manager for Remington Arms, Greg Dennison, who is senior research engineer for Remington, and several writers. We're testing Remington's brand new .17 cal Spitfire bullet on coyotes. I must be living in a vacuum. The guides on our hunt tell me that the use of AR and AK rifles have a rapidly growing following among hunters, especially prairie dog hunters. I had no clue. Only once in my life have I ever seen anyone using one of these firearms. I call them "assault" rifles, which may upset some people. Excuse me, maybe I'm a traditionalist, but I see no place for these weapons among our hunting fraternity. I'll go so far as to call them "terrorist" rifles. They tell me that some companies are producing assault rifles that are "tackdrivers." Sorry, folks, in my humble opinion, these things have no place in hunting. We don't need to be lumped into the group of people who terrorize the world with them, which is an obvious concern. I've always been comfortable with the statement that hunters don't use assault rifles. We've always been proud of our "sporting firearms." This really has me concerned. As hunters, we don't need the image of walking around the woods carrying one of these weapons. To most of the public, an assault rifle is a terrifying thing. Let's divorce ourselves from them. I say game departments should ban them from the praries and woods.

Based on an earlier e-mail exchange with Barbara, I believe that most of the squad will be back again this year, but I don't know definitively. There may have been some more additions after the lottery. Hopefully, we can focus a little more on shooting and a little less on defending ourselves from the elements this year. In any case, it will be great to see you on this side of the pond again. Cheers!

I'll take a shot at this. Thinking outloud... Lets use rifle as the example. If you double 97, that equals 194. Thats 20 more than 174. I think this means there are 20 steel rifle targets. To test that, subtract the 20 steel targets from 97 and that gives you 77. If 77 is the number of paper targets and you shoot twice at them, thats 154 rounds. Add 20 steel targets and thats 174! So, I think the "Single shots" is the number of rounds you will use if you shoot once at all targets, paper and steel. "Double shots" is the number of rounds you will use if you shoot once at the steel targets and twice at the paper targets.

I just noticed a rules update on the SMM3G website dated 12/29/06. Most of the changes pertain to HM.

I've got nothing against Bushmaster, but DPMS certainly puts out more products that cater to our game and the quality is as good or better (I think better). On top of that they put lots of their dollars into 3-gun. Whats not to like about these guys?

I've found that my Benellis prefer the Federal and Winchester reduced recoil slugs with a slight edge to the Federals. I generally use a LM choke.

For matches with targets beyond 250 yards, I like to shoot a 20" barrel because it gives me good velocity and flat trajectory with the heavier bullets (77 gr SMKs). I like the heavier bullets for less wind drift. For shorter ranges, I often shoot a 16" gun with 52 or 55 grain bullets. IMHO, If you don't plan to shoot heavy bullets, then the barrel length is just a matter of personal preference. What is important is that you can keep your groups under 1 moa or so, know your zeros, and find (and practice) what shooting positions work for you.