Chris Rhines

If you're going to go full-auto, then belt-fed is the way to do it... - Chris

I'm in Maryland, and I fit Glock barrels, among other things. I'm expensive, but right. Says so on my business cards. Shoot me an email. - Chris cjrhines@comcast.net

I have a total of twelve magazines for my G35, four have Dawson +5 extensions. Not enough, but I haven't run across any really hot deals on Glock mags lately. For a typical match, I usually keep two 20-round magazines on me, plus one in the gun. - Chris

I used to have a problem with my weak hand coming off the gun. Relaxing the arms and shoulders helps. Leaning forward a little bit more helps. What really did the trick was when I started "camming" by support hand into the grip during the draw, like Matt Burkett does in his video series. - Chris

While Maker's Mark is very good indeed, it has not a patch on Noah's Mill 15yr., the finest small-batch bourbon I've ever tasted. Really smoky at first, then a carmel and brown sugar aftertaste that just goes on forever. - Chris

Good on 'em. - Chris

Sure. Just keep a tub of your favorite redi-mix epoxy putty around for when you go to far and put a hole in the pistol grip. I went so far as to do a high-cut trigger guard on one of mine. Looks great, except for the brownish Acraglas patch... Nope, don't think so. The reciever is a bit too wide. I don't know of any other anti-walk pins that would fit, but it should be pretty easy to fabricate a set if you have access to an electric drill and a triangular file. Or a lathe. Mine has a 16" upper with no comp and a full-weight carrier, and it functions fine.- Chris

Zak - How were the batteries in the SN-4? I checked one out on the first day of the 2005 SHOT Show, and it was bright enough to be slightly distracting. I looked at the same one on day 3 or 4, and it was very dim. Turned out that it had been left on for several days and the battery was shot. - Chris

Any leads on where to get one? I lost my Avail concert T-shirt, so I need something new to wear through the airport... - Chris

8+1 in the gun. 8 in the sidesaddle. 2x6 in the Speed Strippers. I can only hold three shells at once, so I stick a little rubber woobie in-between shells #3 and 4. - Chris

I'll be there, air-dropping business cards and hanging out at the U.S. Optics booth. - Chris

Kind of on topic - is there any good reason not to put a Vanek trigger in a carry Glock? - Chris

Not so much. I use offset iron sights mounted to my float tube, though, and I like that setup much better. - Chris

Hah-hah! I think I found the problem! I pulled out my magazie catch and discovered that it was considerably worn down, almost like it had been used with steel-bodied magazines. I built it up with J-B Weld and ground it down smooth, reinstalled it, and now my magazine feed lips sit about twenty thou higher than before. We'll see how that works - the range is snowed in today, but my .40 action proving dummies seem to feed well. - Chris

I charge around $65 to install and contour a shotgun pad. Cutting the stock is on the house. OTOH, if I had paid $60 and got back a pad that was improperly fitted, I would go back to the shop and raise holy hell. Fitting a recoil pad is not hard - if you're charging money for it, there is NO excuse to be letting crap work out the door. - Chris

Mmmmm. All my favorites. - Chris

Ah-hah. That is something - the stage I had the most trouble with was a strong-hand only stage. Major loads. 180s at 950fps. I'll order some ISMI mag springs and try swapping out the recoil spring. Thanks. - Chris

An interesting little problem has surfaced with my otherwise much-loved Glock 35. I've had a few failure-to-feed malfunctions, in which the bullet nose contacts the bottom edge of the feed ramp and hangs up. A good smack on the butt of the magazine usually clears it, but still... A couple things to mention: - My 15-round and 20-round magazines are all Glock 33 mags, with .357 Sig followers. The followers appear identical except for the stamps, and the magazines are dimensionally identical as best I can measure. However, with the factory Glock 35 10-round mags, I don't have any problems. - I've had the problem both with my stock Glock guide rod assembly, and my aftermarket Glockmeister steel guide rod (captive, 16# ISMI spring.) Any guesses? Anything else I should check? Thanks, Chris

Nice work, Tom! - Chris

More than a little. I have one of those RCBS electronic trigger scales, and the trigger weight measurement on my Glock varies by almost 12 ounces. My finger sure can't tell the difference...- Chris

Okay, here comes the report. The Glockmeister triger reset assembly is a standard Glock factory trigger assembly that has been modified in several ways. - The sear face has been ground off of the cruciform arm, so as not to engage the striker. - There's a large 'bent' coil spring in place of the standard trigger spring. This spring is connected to the cruciform so that it pushes the trigger forward. - There's a big relief cut behind the connector, which allows the connector to flex out of the way of the trigger bar. Also, the safety cut in the trigger assembly has been modified so that the cruciform can only move straight back - not downward like in a standard Glock. - There's no ejector - the Glockmeister trigger reset kit cannot be used to fire a real cartridge. How it works: the trigger safety works as normal. The bent trigger spring provides weight for the first stage (as well as the reset.) As the trigger bar moves back, the bar contacts the connector, but cannot move downwards because of the modified safety slot cut. Instead, the trigger bar presses back on the connector, which flexes enough for the trigger bar to slip past - this provides the second-stage break. How well it works: Installation is a cinch - if you can field-strip your Glock, you can install this part. I dropped it into my Glock 35, which has a $5.00 polish-and-spring trigger job by Yours Truly. From the factory, the Glockmeister trigger reset kit was quite heavy (7.5# on my scale) and crisp - very much like the old NY#1 spring/3.5# connector combo. I played with the trigger as is for a while, and while I found it useful, I wanted something more like my 4# modified trigger. I ended up pulling out the connector and grinding a U-shaped notch in it about 3/8" down from the engagement lip - this allows it to bend more easily. I polished everything up, smeared it with Slide-Glide, and Presto Changeo! 4.5# trigger. I can still tell the difference from my real trigger (the feel is not exactly the same) but it is much closer. One change I would like to see - a colored trigger. I put an orange paint spot on each side of my trigger, so I won't mistakenly take my Glock to a match with the wrong trigger installed. All in all, this was $65 well spent. Being able to reset the trigger without recocking the gun...well, I've found it very useful in my dry-fire regimen. Buy one. - Chris

Tightloop - I've really only been listening to jazz for about a year, but that's plenty of time to learn to despise Norah Jones... - Chris

Seems like there's an easy way to eliminate sandbagging in awards by class: If a shooter shoots (say) 10% over his classification, he forfeits any shot at the prize table. There are probably a million things wrong with this idea, but it's late and I'm tired...I'm sure that I'll think of some tomorrow. - Chris

Dream Theater - saw them live at the 9:30 in DC, incredible doesn't begin to describe it. The only band I'll drive more than an hour to see. Shadow Gallery - like Dream Theater but heavier, and kind of political. Tyranny is as good a rock opera as ever has been recorded. Tiles Fates Warning Under The Sun Rush The Wallflowers Rainer Maria Michael Hedges Phil Keaagy Apocalyptica Bjorn Lynne Fluke Autechre Nate Tarrant St. Germain Bill Evans Trio Dave Brubeck - Chris

Six-round strings put the kibosh on most of the really nice Euro-bullseye guns, unless you want to play around with custom-built magazines. Also, forward-mounted magazines are really going to screw with your reloads. Too bad, 'cause a Pardini SP with a low-mount Doctersight and compensator would be just the ticket. I'd use a Smith and Wesson Model 41 with a compensated Falcon Machining barrel (no topstrap), extended mag release, orthopedic grips by Null or Randall Fung, and some trigger work. Drop on a low-mounted Doctersight and you'd be good to go. - Chris