Brian Payne

I have a S&W 500 - awesome. So I got a Performance Center .460 to go with it. Don't know if either will be on the endangered species list in the future, but I sure like to shoot them. As an investment I would go with a Taurus Raging Bull 500 S&W only because they quit making them. Very few out there. My second choice would be the Saiga 12ga. Partly because I feel it will be outlawed in the future, and partly because I would like to have one set up for Open Class in 3-gun. Third choice would be a .50 BMG rifle of some sort.

I think the Glock is every bit as accurate as the XD. Some guns seem to be harder to shoot for some people. My son now refuses to shoot my Glock 34, can't hit worth a darn with it. He likes my Benny Hill 6" Fat Free, and he does actually hit much better and faster using that gun. It seems that the people that have trouble shooting the Glock will always shoot low and left. I am guessing getting used to the trigger is the problem.

The fastest I could do a reload of ten rounds from bolt lock was 8 seconds. I just couldn't hit anything with that gun.

DMAC I am glad you are liking the FN. I never trimmed the spring that came with the +1 extension, seems to still work fine. Make sure and keep the factory cap and spring in your bag for shoots that do not allow the ability to have more than eight in the tube. You can just switch it back to factory for those matches. Also, when the Nordic follower comes out pick one of those up. A "must have" for this weapon. I about wore the factory plastic follower out with reloading practice. I am assuming you already have the red piston in. As for dummy rounds, I almost hate to admit that I wrecked a box of them in the first week I had them. After a couple of hundred reloads the brass developed burrs and started causing problems. I now just use regular ammo. NOTE: I do not advise this because it is dangerous. Just don't let any rounds get racked into the chamber, and always keep the weapon pointed in a safe direction. As for the new handgun - do a search on this forum and you will get hours of reading material on all of the great gunsmiths at your disposal. I had Benny Hill build me a 6" Fat Free and really couldn't be happier. Do some looking around, even in the Classified section. Some very good deals can be had. Brian Payne

I have been reading your thread with great interest. I have raised three sons, and was lucky enough to be on stand with them when they were able to harvest their first deer. They have gone through the same emotions and questions that you have articulated in your thread. It is nice to re-live those time through the eyes of another new hunter. Because you feel your stand is better than the "funnel" stand, I am guessing you will gladly give it up for your nephew. You just seem that kind of person. But for another thought. The deer season is progressing and I am sure there are other hunters in your area that are growing impatient with stand sitting. If the "funnel" stand is indeed a funnel area, that is the place to sit this weekend. Other impatient hunters will be walking around this weekend "hunting" (scaring deer from their area to other areas) and some of those deer may travel through your funnel area. Which ever stand you hunt from - good luck to you and your nephew. Be safe.

Tyler, If you run off and get a good job where you can shoot year 'round, I want my Benelli back. Kurt - can't make it to Fort Benning, didn't get the applications in on time. Good luck.

I don't know if this is a legal thing to do or not, but I will give it a try. I am looking for information from avid hunters from the Colorado area. My brothers and I are looking at setting up an elk hunt for next fall. We are interested in cow tags only for now. Self guided hunts on public land or private ranches if the fees aren't too expensive. My oldest brother has been to Idaho on horseback hunts for years, we have been mule deer in Montana once a few years back. We have the equipment for camping etc.. Mainly looking for information on the best way to obtain tags for rifle hunting, and personal knowledge of good hunting areas that can be reached on foot or 4-whlr by guys in reasonably good physical condition. Thanks

More rules + less fun + less shooters = death of the sport. Just grab your guns and lett'er buck.

Denise and JJ. In the second post I explained why I use cinched mags. It is because I use cinched mags in my HK MP-5 entry gun, and my duty AR-15 in the squad. I have trained with them for years. I am not in favor of this rule even though it may not be a new one. I would like to just shoot as normal but I will admit that I feel the cinched mags offer me more confidence when shooting from prone at targets 600 yrds away. I never get to practice at that range until a shoot like yours comes along. I have been to the last three RM3G shoots and it is on my short list of "must attend" matches. Even with this rule in effect, I will still attend. The rest of the match you guys put on makes it well worth the while. Please don't send me cheese and crackers as I do not like whine (wine). Cheese curds and beer - now we are talkin'.

Benny, I just read this. Thoughts and Prayers from the Payne family to yours.

The rules don't appear to ban the practice of using the magazine as a rest. "Bi-pods, verticle foregrips that are rested on the ground or props, or mag pads/additions designed to enlarge the footprint of a single mag and rested on the ground or props". I still say two cinched mags should not be against the rules because you are not enlarging the footprint of a single magazine, you are just using two single magazines locked together. If you are not allowing two cinched mags, then technically anyone using any sort of base pads on their rifle mags (Arrendondo type) would be in violation because it would enlarge the footprint also. Again, a rule to combat a problem that really doesn't exist in my opinion. I was typing at the same time as Dan - he brings up a good point. If I used two Arrendondo or Ranger base pads, the footprint (touching the ground) of two of these would still be less than that of one standard magazine.

10 years ago I had my house broken into and all 19 guns stolen. Along with my badge, bullet proof vest, duty belt, duty weapon. The guy is in prison but not one gun has been located. (If anyone has ever purchased a used Winchester Model 88 in .308 caliber (lever action), take good care of it for me, I am missing two of them). Swore to my wife I would buy a safe before ever buying another gun. Made the mistake of taking cash to the gun stores to purchase a safe. 21 guns later, still no safe. Seems every time I went into the store to get the safe, I always found something I "really needed" in the gun department. The wife finally bought me one for Christmas. Best present I have ever had.

I was watching the comments on the other thread with interest. My common practice is to always have two mags clamped together. That is where my reload comes from. My duty MP-5 entry weapon has two mags clamped together. The AR in the squad also has two mags clamped together. My AR for 3-gun has two mags clamped together. Just seemed natural. "One is none, two is one" type of thinking. All clamped mags are level at the bottom, sometimes comes in handy when going prone, sometimes causes problems if the ground is not level. I am not really seeing where it would be that much of an advantage going prone with two mags clamped vs just using one mag. I vote it is a bad rule to try to eliminate a non-existant problem. But on the same train of thought. The rules of a match generally do not dictate whether I will attend or not, the fun factor does. RM3G is an awesome match and will always be on my list of "Must attend" matches. If I need to learn to do reloads from my back pocket or mag pouches for that match, I will do so. I would just rather keep doing what I have been doing.

I live four miles from where I hunt. I hunt with my three sons and it is a time of year we all look forward too. I put up a hunting tent with a wood stove so we can sleep in moderate comfort (even though my bed is only four miles away). We woke up one opening morning with the temp at -7 degrees. Forcast for this weekend is 20 degree lows. My sons and I agree, this is not about the hunt, it is all about the time spent together. Amazing how some of the most simple things in life can be worth so much. Good luck to any fellow hunters. Be safe.

You think a large dog is bad. I have a paint mare (horse) that is horrible! I swear, you can see her stomach shrink as she lets loose a blast that lasts about 30 seconds. I envy the feeling she must get from it though.

I would highly recommend contacting Nordic Components for extra add on parts. - Get the +1 extention. Nice to have the option of putting nine in the tube rather than the factory eight. You can always remove the extention for matches that limit you to maximum of eight in the tube. - Extended bolt release. Good to have a smith install if you don't have the proper tools. Makes slide lock reloads easier and faster. - Extended charging handle. Nice to have but not really needed. Looks really cool. - New follower. They are just starting to make a follower for this weapon. Very nice and really needed if you practice reloading a lot. I wore my factory plastic follower down in one season of reloading practice. I took out my dreaded dremel and polished up some areas and ground down some others. Might be a good idea for a gunsmith to handle this if you are not comfortable. The things I did was open the loading port up in the area facing the muzzle. It allowed me to not have to shove the shells in quite so far before hitting the shell catch. I also smoothed up the area where the shell goes into the magazine because there were some sharp areas there. I did not grind down the edges of the loading port very much because the shell lifter is already hanging down below the edges, all I did was gring the side that faces the left shoulder as you are holding the shotgun. I load weak hand with the shotgun held at the shoulder. This made for a little easier loading. Final note, make sure you are using the red gas piston for shooting the shells we use in 3-gun. My instructions said the light piston was already installed in the gun, but it was the heavy one. As for the sight. I left it as it is and it seems to work very well. I didn't switch from the Benelli because of reliability issues, recoild issues, or the cool factor. It was more of a "feel" thing. This shotgun feels just right, making for more confidence in my shooting ability. Good luck with your shotgun.

Make sure and use the "red" gas piston for the lighter 3-gun loads. My manual said the weapon already had the light piston in but it had the heavy "black" piston in.

I'm like Kurt. Not going due to surgery recovery. Not able to shoot yet but was still able to RO a little,

That is what I do. Look down the "trough" and put the front fiber optic right in the middle. Fast and works.

I have the cantilever one w/flip down rifle sight. I left the cantilever on mine.

Prizes awarded by division placing. Seperate prize tables for all divisions. If you want less prize tables, have less divisions.

Found my problem. Just prior to having these weird malfunctions I had installed the Nordic Component +1 extention, but left the factory mag spring in place. Once I put in the longer supplied spring from Nordic all has been well. Apparently the shells were not being released with enough vigor to keep things running smoothly. So once again, pilot error rears its ugly head.

The match was a blast. Finally got to see a rattle snake, that was cool. The long range rifle was a treat for someone who never gets a chance to shoot beyond 250 yrds. The targets used at the 500 and 600 yrds range were some sort of a strobe target. Strobes went off when you got a hit. That had to be the coolest target I have ever shot. I am hoping they don't try to make the targets or shots anymore difficult than what they had this year. They were difficult shots, but shots that most people could make if they followed basic marksmanship principles and knew their rifle zero ahead of time. My favorite stages were the "surprise" stage at stage #8, then #1 the long range rifle, then stage #2 the shotgun stage. All the other stages were great stages also, I just liked these because they offered things I had never seen before. The people at the NRA Whittington Center, the RO's, match staff, and even the people you run into at the town of "Raton" really help make this a "must attend match" for me. The best thing about the match being moved a month earlier for next year, is that I only have to wait for eleven months for the match to come back around again.

Thank you for the help.

Question for the people that know the Whittington Center better than I do. If I arrive on Tues., is there an accessable range that could be used for checking my rifle with yardage out to 500 yrds. or so? In years past I have checked my zero at the 200 yrd sight-in range but would like to go longer if possible. Thanks