TreblePlink

OK. Thanks guys. Now to review the G02 syntax ...

I'm not an experienced gunsmith, but have dabbled quite a bit with my own 1911s. I have an old 1984 Springfield GI model 1911, and after shooting guns with the high-ride grip safety, the standard grip just doesn't make it. I have a Bridgeport size CNC mill, and it appears I can fit an Ed Brown memory groove grip safety by just centering on the pin hole and cutting a 0.250" radius arc for about 180 degrees? Maybe a .250 endmill turning 2500, cutting .020 depth at a time? Is it this simple or am I missing something?

A friend of mine had the same thing happen at an important match. His policy now for mags that have touched the ground is to completely disassemble, run the brush through, inspect, and reassemble. He does sometimes lose the plunger or spring in the process, so he keeps spare Dawson mag parts on hand. He also does this at local matches.

For Limited division with my .40 STI Edge, I use the Precision 185 (actually 186 on my scale) with 4.6 g VV 320. OAL = 1.180" I tried the 170 grain version - but my groups were noticeably larger than the 185s. This 320/185 combination yields about 173 pf, and little smoke - no where near as much smoke as lead, slightly more than the 180 Zero JHP.

Aside from comfort and the Decibel noise reduction specification, one important unspecified function that has not been mentioned is gain recovery time. The inexpensive Peltors have almost zero recovery time (they actually use clipping - not gain reduction) - for instance when you shoot close steel, the electronic amplification is fully recovered in time for you to hear the "tink." When shooting is going on in adjacent bays, you can still hear between shots enough to carry on a conversation. SOME muffs stay muted way too long for this to be possible. The designers evidently never thought it would be an issue. I would be interested in knowing what other brands / models have zero gain recovery time.

If I could make a wish for open gun technology, how about a Laser sight, that instead of producing 2 milliwatts (2/1000ths of a watt) output, would run a full watt of visible laser, activated from slight trigger press, that would easily be visible in bright daylight at 50 yards? And it would be low profile, mounted to the slide. Battery life might be a bit of an issue, but ...

Having worked in academia for a long time, I've seen the typical wide range of attitudes, and there seem to be some clear trends. It's always dangerous to generalize, but geographically, the Northeast seems most phobic. Moreover, I think attitude has more to do with urban versus rural / semi-rural upbringing. Rural folks often associate guns with hobbies, sport, and defense. Urbanites, who frequently have no any actual experience with guns whatsoever, too often seem hardwired to equate guns with gangs and violence period. In their mind anybody who likes guns must occupy the lower rung of the social ladder. And finally there are some (otherwise) very intelligent people who are extremely anti-gun - and firmly believe their convictions to be completely beyond question. Quite rational in many ways but not in others. On the other hand, I've met people who start out anti-gun, but over time, seeing that gun owners can be intelligent, responsible and quite reasonable, come around to at least a more moderate view. Although I do not now work in an environment where openly being pro-gun can result in informal (or even formal) sanctions, I cannot condemn the unfortunate who do, and choose to be discrete. There really are workplaces where being open about it can hurt or even destroy your career.

Yeah. I mentioned that I shoot competitively. "Oh, so you shoot rifle?" No, pistol. "Oh ... " I detected an element of concern in his voice. Since that time he's been careful not to ruffle me. He must believe I'm on the edge and it would be really risky to upset me. Jeez.

Agreed. One procedural.

Rotary "tumblers" do work, but are generally slow. Possibly quieter. With a vibratory machine, 4 hours usually does it. I would not BUY a rotary tumbler for brass - but if you already have one ... Below is a link to a complete kit for $99. http://www.battenfeldtechnologies.com/frankford-arsenal/catalog.asp?family=case-tumbler-kits

Ray, Did you get my pm ( message ) ?

We have one from Bowling Green KY going, and I posted the notice on ORPCI.org to remind more local folks of this opportunity. I should also say that I personally took the Gary Stevens RO level one class three years ago, and can attest to what a good instructor he is. But beware: to avoid the ruler slap, don't get divisions and classes mixed up!

I will be there this Saturday - I just posted the stage diagrams on our ORPCI.org website - 8 stages + tailgate swapmeet. See ya there!

How about holding it top to bottom at the halfway point in a Kurt vise, and running an end mill across it. Last pass take just a wee bit off for a smooth finish. Brass is pretty machinable.

I'm looking for a slightly larger vibratory "tumbler" than the big Dillon or similar - there are many that are used commercially - they look the same but are heavy duty with the size scaled up - and cost $1-4K - a bit pricey. Here is one that is sort of an intermediate size - 18 inches tall - for about $200 - anybody used one? http://cgi.ebay.com/HD-VIBRATORY-FINISHER-TUMBLER-WET-DRY-18-LB-CAPACITY-/390204781592?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5ada047418

Forgetting targets used to be my biggest weakness, but now I'm pretty much past that problem - during the walk through I mentally separate the targets into two groups: obvious and hidden (or likely to be bypassed.) Then I put more emphasis on visualizing the "hidden" targets - if I remember those, the rest will be easy. When I'm hearing "Standby", I thinking about my first move, but also the "hidden" targets. I have observed a good open shooter (also a lawyer, probably lives and dies by notetaking)arrive at the match early, determine target shooting order for every stage, make very exacting notes on the stage layout sheets, and memorize those notes. For me, all the paper handling distracted from my visualization too much.

On my limited experimentation with the timer - two boxes 15 feet apart, the variation (noise) was more significant than any trend I could spot. So at least for me, I can't tell that one is faster than another.

This preference seems very mixed. I've trained with both Matt Burkett, and also with Max and Travis, and they teach opposite methods of box entry. Interesting because in almost all other respects their methods were almost exactly the same. I think what matters most is whichever you are most comfortable with - try both. I have personally decided that stepping in with the outside foot seems best.

It seems to me that the common thread of this topic is that paper credentials do not make a seasoned official, very much like having a degree without experience. Evaluating a prospective RO or CRO for a responsible position in a match should always include looking at actual experience. Seems like installing a gatekeeper just for class entrance could easily retard an enthusiastic RO's ambition and motivation. In my humble opinion, what is needed is a general purpose RO / CRO one-day refresher course focused on the more common difficult issues, and one that reviews recent interpretations not found in the blue book. And / Or this course could be edited and published in written form each year. I would find that very helpful.

Photos and Scores are now posted on our website. http://www.orpci.org/ See ya next year!

If you are putting ballscrews on it, the next evolutionary step is stepper motors - then build up a cheapie controller ( ~ $1K ), add Mach software ( $200) and you have a 3 -axis CNC. I did this with a similar size mill, learned CNC, and never looked back. CNC lets you do things that are virtually impossible with a manual mill (like cutting a round hole or pocket with a smaller endmill). The CNCzone forum has lots of detail on this kind of thing.

Here is our club's mini-course for those new to USPSA: http://orpci.org/content/ipsc_intro.htm

It was a great class - poor weather, but I still got re-motivated to practice more. I can clearly see the specific areas I need to work on, and it is obvious that if I can improve a bit in those areas it will help me a bunch in a match. The only thing is, almost all of the excellent trainers assume that you can dryfire six times a week, and live fire almost that frequent. Many of us simply cannot devote that much to the sport on a consistent basis - but our goals fall short of GM in a year too. I'd be happy moving up one click (to A land) in one or two years. I hope it's possible to do that with one monthly match and weekly live fire. We'll see.

The stage diagrams have been updated on our website - a side match stage has also been posted: Main Page

Some shooters will take a loaded sight picture, presumably because they forgot to do it prior. This is legal per USPSA rules, but seems to drive some ROs nuts.