Wim

Sorry, yep you are right. Rourke shoots a converted Ruger blackhawk if I recall.

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?I...festyle&Topic=0 Check it out for yourself. The guy who plays so many of the roles that glorify a guy who carries a gun. I don't suppose you need to be honest to yourself anymore if you are paid enough money. I suspect there are quite a few actors out there who fall foul of my rules in this regard. Maybe I should be thankful that he is honest enough to say it - if not honest enough to take roles accordingly; but I'm not. I probably need to think this through, because I don't suppose I can say that every movie badguy must be a bad person and live up to that, or he isn't true to himself either. THey are only characters after all. But it still doens't sit well with me. I never was a Bond fan, so not watching his movie really won't bother me. Maybe we should have a list of pro / anti gun actors somewhere....

From Harley Davidson and The Malboro Man: Harley: You know, that gun costs about two dollars every time you fire it. That's two bucks a bullet. Malboro: Well how many'd I hit? Harley: You spent twelve dollars and didn't hit a goddamn thing. I nailed one and it cost about four and a quarter. I got this from some website, but can't remeber which was Harley and which Malboro: Where'd they go? Right there and they're spendin' a fortune. Harley: That one's for you. How'd it feel? Malboro: Best twelve bucks I ever spent.

Not a comment on relaibility. From Redding's website: "Nickel plated cases are often associated with die scratching problems. Small particles of the hard nickel plating may be present from trimming and/or deburring operations and can find their way inside the dies." OK, so we don't really trim or debur our pistol brass, but I avoid it where I can just in case and I have noticed that scratches can leave a really sharp edge on nickel cases (and I have seen nickel peel, but not recently).

Sorry - should have added that it's not near 1000 an hour, but you need to decide how fast you need to be. Once you get a feel for when you've stopped cutting and you get a rhythm going you get fairly quick (but like I said I don't think I will ever do 1000 per hour!)

I don't have experinece with all of the above, but picked up a LE Wilson a few days ago and have used it once on about 50 cases (http://lewilson.com/). It works with a case holder which holds the case sort of like your chamber. I bought it with a power driver. The lengths are very repeatable and with a cr@ppy power screwdriver with a bit of wobble lengths were within a range of one thou. I almost couldn't believe it. I picked mine up via mail order from Lock Stock and Barrel (lockstock.com). Great service, good price. I would check it out.

Brownell's product is probably little different from what Ed suggests. You can call them, or post a question in the tech section. They will reply. As I understood it the package contained various grits (I'm starting to think it was pads) and you would test e.g. under the grip or whatever to match the matte finish. I would contact them beofre trying something else.

Brownells used to sell something - I don't recall if it was like steelwool or like a brillopad (I think you call it a Choreboy?) but take a look there. You could basically match the matte finish on a stainless recvolver by using the appropriate "coarseness / grit" (or whatever you want to call it) and maintaing the direction of the original polishing. I've polished a stainless revolver before and going to the range with something that looks like a bathtap is not something I'll do again if I can avoid it!

Without wanting to bring bad luck on myself, I would like to congratulate you for ending your first session with your chrono free of bullet holes and in one piece....

Thanks for the replies. I should probably have started a poll, but anyhow, still getting the views that I would like to see - and more detailed than with a poll. anyone out there try the SSK designs?

I "RTFP" (read the fifth post" ) Are hunting related questions ok here anyway? Feel free to remove it if not. So questions for you handgun hunting nuts. Favourite .357 bullet for game say to 120lbs? - I've always figured something that expands is better in .357 because of the smaller diameter to start with. I use 180gr XTP's which can do 1300fps easy from my 6" FA, so my view may have been different if I could only get like 1100fps.... Favourite cast design for .44 Mag for game of say up to 400lbs? LBT WFN/WLN, what about the NEI SSK (JD Jones designs?), others?

I skateboard tape on the frame. I didn't know where to get the grip inserts in SA (to fill the gaps in the frame where the trigger bar runs), so I cut the top part off the grips - just enough to go just slightly below the gaps that the grips fill. I sanded the grips really, really thin and smoothed the corners where I cut the grips down to nothing. I also sanded off all of the checkering so that the tap[e would stick. These "grip inserts" work with just the top grip screw. It works great and the extra width is next to nothing - it's also less of an issue at the top of the grip with my thumb (now) on the safety and my trigger finder away from the frame anyway. The tape adheres easily and is wrinkle free and smooth.

What's in The Book (and The Forum) is the only way that I will be able to transition to shooting fast - from slow paper punching and plinking for 20 years! There is so much more to action shooting sports than I had ever realised before getting here - and reading The Book. and there's a much wider application of the contents than a cursory read suggests....

Hi Mike. Nice link. If BB is more your thing check out www.t-mag.com - there are quite a few of Charles Poliquin's principles / articles there worth a look. But a bit of "in your face" type of image for the site as a whole. There is also an article by Poliquin on achieving max bench press somewhere. It is under the search function. Anyone else out there paying the price now for a gym membership, a big ego and a small brain in their early 20's??

Thanks for all of the input and the suggestions / invitations. I'm certainly visiting with the "wrong guys" (good friends but probably not right to visit the US with a gun nut!). I'm getting so many ideas and suggestions that I'm not sure what to choose - and I'm goingto have to do that! firming up things next few days and will try to choose what and where... Thanks. Keep 'em coming.... Wim

Thanks Ray. It sounds awesome (in the true meaning and not "surfer" sense of the word!). Note to self: Take plenty film. Take as much as you think you need - then take 1/2 more again! We are trying to firm things up a little more this week. We unfortunately won't make the west coast, Nevada or (if I've got my bearings right) the Pacific NW. I'll drop a note about where we see ourselves going and when after this week's deliberations. You've got me interested in trying to make it to a match - I'd be one of the few guys here who shot one in the US - despite being a newbie and all! Thanks for the reply. Wim

The food should be fine Much better than Europe. Eating is one of the loves of my life!! Thanks for the reply. Any ideas of what to see are great and might determine where we run for aircraft when we find the driving just TOOOOO much.

Ditto most of that. Also left hand over the top of the slide if all else fails - i.e. not gripping the slide between forefinger and thumb when racking it. Your dad should get a better grip between a few fingers on the left hand - particularly the ring finger and the heel of the palm. And then ditto hold slide and push frame. But be aware that some may have safety issues around that grip atop the slide. I am not too worried as long as the hand is clear of the ejection port.

Thanks Ray. The gunshow idea is a great one. I'd love that and had no idea how to find out about them; Shotgun News it is. I found the website. I haven't been shooting IPSC too long and I prefer not to embarras myself away from home . If I can make some decent progress in the interim I'll think about it - even hanging out at a match may be cool. If I get close to that I'll try to find out about it in The Forum closer to the time. We are really looking forward to it. I'm going with friends from another city that I really haven't seen in a long time, so it will be good to catch up for hours in the car too! Thanks. Wim

Thank you all for the contributions. I'll see how close I can get with the domestic powders. Looking forward to the next one! Wim

"You stay away from me, you hear? " and to think we were going to invite you to come with us to the weekly Bison races! http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=20375 Thanks for the comments. Wim

Ditto Redding for rifle (superb!!) - and the profile crimp dies if you shoot revolver, particularly heavy recoilers. The competition seating die is also pretty nifty for revolver (probably pistol too, but I've only used them in a single stage for .357 and .44 mags).

I'm in the US in a month or so and hope that you guys and gals can help. I could have put this under "Things I like" in fact, I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve! 1. Any ideas of some really cool gunshops to visit - with location please. We are driving around quite a bit so I should be able to stop off at a few, but the route is a bit sketchy at this time (the guys coming over with me aren't my shooting buddies but will need to endure my addiciton for a bit!!) 2. Where is the best place to stop to buy 1911 and Glock stuff - mainly small components, recoil springs, Heinies etc. (not barrells, frames, slides and stuff like that) - over the counter? Otherwise I will mail mail order to a hotel or something. 3. Assuming I order from Brownell's, do they have the right ISMI recoil springs yet? There was a story that quite a bit of there stock of those was suspect. 4. Any places that I really absolutely MUST see whilst I'm there? (Won't get to the West Coast). 5. Best beer to drink in the US 6. Cars not to hire! 7. What side of the road do you guys drive on? 8. Do you have Macdonalds and Burger King there? 9. Have any of you met my friend Willie, he lives in the US in a city? Seriously, input on 1-6 would be great. Next trip gun buddies only Thanks.

Just make sure if you shoot plated or jackets after lead that they aren't maxed loads as the lead fouling will likely increase the pressure. I have used an ADCO EZ-Brite cloth before with pretty good results, but I was leery to do so regularly because I figured that it must be abrasive, although it is one of the recommended uses. (http://www.adcosales.com/ezbrite.html) Does anyone have an opinion on those? I've also used Iosso bore cleaner (http://www.iosso.com/metal.htm) Which Sinclair recommends for removing carbon build up in rifles, so I figure it's pretty safe - but is surely mildly abrasive too? Thanks for any input on those. Wim