CSEMARTIN

5gal bucket in the corner? I was thinking of a funnel with a 3/4 inch hose run through the wall of the shop to the yard outside. Maybe hang a sheet in the corner for some privacy just in case you have guests over.

If it is a .45 ACP with a 9mm firing pin, watch out for breech face erosion. Les Baer has bent over backwards for me in the past when I've had issues with my gun. Just recently, he has started to get more politically active and has donated pistols to help promote concealed carry. I have nothing against STI. I've never owned one, but the last Sentry I handled wasn't in the same class as a Super Tac. It was a fine pistol, but it wasn't fit with the same level of detail as a Baer.

Baer.

For the life of me, I can't figure out how someone can set up a match and put a 100+ shooters in harms way. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm wrong about this. It would be a lot easier for me to say "my bad, I was wrong....sorry about that" and bow out of the debate. I wish I was wrong, and I wish someone could talk me through it so I could understand where I derailed. I would gladly offer my apologies, publicly, to everyone involved. Numerous people have expressed their concerns about this range, and several competitors refuse to shoot there. I just don't get it. What's it going to take? After my dialogue with the club President, it became perfectly clear that I was just being viewed as a fear mongerer. I was told I had a "doom and gloom attitude". And I was also told that since thousands of rounds were fired that day without incident, that was proof that the match was run safely. I let it go, and aside from a few discussions about it with two close friends, I haven't spoken of the incident that happened at this range last spring. Then today, this photo surfaced and it pissed me off once again.

Please take a look at the picture below which I pulled off of facebook and edited to protect the identities of the innocent. This is a club that I have been to in the past and have brought up safety concerns with the Match Director, numerous staff members and the club President and Vice-President. This picture was taken at their last scheduled match. My question is this.....what is the plywood for? Some background information: Beyond the plywood is a path which allows competitors to get to the bays at the back of the range. Is this plywood there as a vision barrier? and why? I have been to matches at this facility, and the limits of the 180 are pushed. I would think an AD at the wrong time would be a reasonable concern. There are other issues that have come up in the past with this particular club. This is just a concrete example. If you feel compelled to stake 4X4's in the ground and hang plywood, maybe it is time to get a tractor out there and move some dirt? Am I missing something? I would rather not say who the offending party is, so please don't ask me in a PM. Thank you.

This is the Atlanta Conservation Club in Indiana. From a financial point of view, it makes a lot of sense to me. You basically maximize the use of the berm down the middle. Plus, you won't have the issues I mentioned above. Arnold in St. Louis uses cement dividers between bays. It's basically a series of concrete legos that they stack up between the bays. The concrete companies there use the left over concrete from jobs and pour them into these "lego" style molds. Of course, you can't shoot into it, but it does have its advantages. The other issue you may run into is your country's regulations. Here in the states, starting a new range from scratch isn't that easy--especially if you are planning on an indoor range. Since money is no issue for you, you might consider looking into an outdoor system that uses a steel-framed and sloped backstop lined with chewed up rubber. They put in a series of baffles that prevent the rubber 'chips' from sliding down and you can harvest the lead and copper, sell it and offset your costs. From an environmental standpoint, you won't ever have to worry about cleaning up the soil. I'm not sure how much of a real issue it is, but I did do a fair amount of research on it last year. We do have EPA issues here. Check out http://www.supertrap.com for more information.

The problem with that design is the heat and noise. There is no shade or breeze and it gets crowded. The one club I've been to that employed this design had major water issues. I believe it was fixed 16,000 dollars later with some drainage tiles....not sure on the specifics. But that range is blistering hot in the summer. Great crew of guys running the match, but I hated shooting there.

You know, now that you mention it, I am constantly dropping the smallest part of whatever I'm working on. I wish I would have thought of this. Great idea...

I had a 4" cement platform poured for my Bridgeport and love having the machine up a little higher. Plus, this served as a leveling pad. The other thing I would like to do is run air hoses so I can "plug" into an air source without having to cart around my small compressor or run the air hose long distances. I think that a bathroom is a great idea. At the very least, a sink and a urinal. I did get a refrigerator and wished I had done that sooner. The other thing a buddy did for me when he wired my shop was to have a 2-3 foot extension cord that drops down from the ceiling above one of my benches. He also suggested I have each of the plug ins on my outlets run to separate breakers. If one pops, I can just plug it in the outlet above or below it and keep working. I live in the outskirts of town. Because of that, we have frequent power outages so I'm looking into getting a generator. I bought a surface grinder, but I have mixed feelings about having it in the same area as my lathe and mill. If I were going to build a shop, I would have a separate room for a blast cabinet and surface grinder with decent ventilation. I put shop lights everywhere and don't regret the extra effort or expense. I still need more outlets and wish I had put more in. With all the chips flying everywhere, and since my home shop is in the basement, I'm thinking about putting down one of the sticky mats in front of the door out of my shop. I also want to get my safe up off the floor just in case I get water down there. So far so good, but still could happen. If I were building a shop on the ground level and away from the house, I would put in a steel door and dead bolt it. My shop is heated and air conditioned, obviously, since it is in the house. With machines, I am very particular about humidity control. My wife and I are having a humidifier installed on our geothermal unit for the winter. It gets really dry down there. In the summer, I run a dehumidifier. One of the other issues that has come up is the weight of all the tooling I have purchased. I picked up several gorilla racks from Sam's Club that will hold 300#'s per shelf (if my memory is correct). The other thing I did was I picked up a two Craftsman Tool Chests that I keep my files, stones, etc. in so I can literally roll my tool chest over to whatever bench I'm working on.

The first time I used my 1050 was memorable. I love it! Congrats on the new addition to your bench.

The x-axis is back from Heidenhain and working properly. Now, it's time to install it and get to work.

Stop it, with your freakish mind control.

#14 gets my vote. Now scroll back up and see which one that was.

Nope. My actions do not misrepresent my stated beliefs.

This is why I'm not an RO. I don't want the liability. When all hell breaks loose after an accident, everybody is going to get blamed and sued. That must leave you lots of time to paste and reset steel. Sperman, I will respect your opinion....even if you won't respect mine. The same goes for you too JT.

I'd like to know what she and Sajak were doing before the show.

Me too. However, I think the reason people don't get that worried about it is because they haven't thought about it (perhaps a reason this thread was started), and most people have never been on the receiving end of an attorney. For $200 dollars a year, I was able to take out a rider policy on my homeowners policy for one million dollars in personal liability coverage.

This is why I'm not an RO. I don't want the liability. When all hell breaks loose after an accident, everybody is going to get blamed and sued.

I came across this yesterday and thougth I would share it: http://jackweigand.com/EBF1911.html Aside from the cost, do you guys see any disadvantage(s)?

If I'm the shooter and I hear "stop", I'm going to stop with no questions asked. If the RO/CRO won't back me up on that decision, we're going to have a discussion about it and it's not likely to be a pleasant one. As the shooter that has just heard "stop", I may have no idea who said it, or more importantly, why that individual yelled "stop". At the very least, I think the competitor can make an argument that he/she was interfered with. If I'm the RO or CRO, and I hear someone yell "stop", I'm going to stop the shooter and sort it out with a cold gun in their holster. One time, I yelled stop as a spectator because there was a person down range pasting targets as the SO (at an IDPA match) gave the stand bye command. My opinion...error on the side of caution. If a spectator really is yelling "stop" to help their buddy after he/she hits a no-shoot, I think they'll become a spectator permanently. I really don't see this as a legitimate concern. As the competitor, I don't ever want to have to answer the question [in court] "why didn't you stop when you heard someone yell 'stop'?". Answering that question, "well....the RO didn't yell stop so I kept going and that's when _______ happened."

This may be more up your alley then: http://www.americangunsmith.com/view.php?id=191

That makes me cringe. when people sweep the ranges I leave for sure.. It makes me cringe too.

Gene Shuey series and Wilson Combat series.

Cool slide cuts.

That's what I was thinking Matt. I just called USAA and took out a million in coverage.