boo radley

I voted "keep the same," because I'd hate to deny a certain few the joy of being able to get on their soap-box when newbies innocently ask, "....why is THIS called the 'Standard'?" <shrug> The Standard target is a fun and different challenge, on occasion -- I could care less how it came about, or why some countries use it and others don't.

Moss's conscience begins to bother him, and he returns to the desert to give the gut-shot Mexican water. (Remember how he pleaded for "agua?"). I think it was his (Moss's) way of making things "OK" for taking the money. Chills -- where did you pick up that Moss couldn't read? I didn't notice that. As far as with Woody -- I think he was teasing Moss about welding to underscore the point that Moss *had* the skills for honest work, and had no business abandoning them for greed.... Interesting question if Woody still would have killed Moss. I think so. I do not think Chigurh would have killed Carla Jean, however, had Moss sacrificed himself. Of course this makes her death scene all the more tragic, and you realize how truly evil Chigurh is, when he tells her -- "Hey! Your husband had a choice..." Something someone else pointed out -- the children/youth in the movie aren't inspiring, either. In two cases they provide the shirt off their back, literally, to someone in need, but only out of greed, and for money.

(Cute, Spook) My fault -- I misunderstood, and interpreted your response as indignation at the idea you and Flex might be somehow limited by this ruling. This rule IS for all pistols in Production, no? But with real more traditional double-action pistols, you'd only have to deal with ONE 5-lb pull, and the rest could be super-light. I have 3 Glocks and my favorite is a well-worn G35 that's probably around 2.5lbs, to a newish G17 that's about 3.5lbs with parts of a Sotelo kit in it. I'm happy to trade a slightly heavier (though it doesn't need to be) pull against having to 'learn' something like an SPO1, which I had, briefly. It's first pull *was* around 5lbs, by my estimate (it was an Angus'ized Shadow), but after that, man....like 1.5lbs? Amazing reset. Still, I didn't think it was enough of an advantage to put the work into overcoming the double-action 1st shot curve. But if the Glock had to remain at > 5lbs....Ouch. I know there are Sevigny's, etc., out there, perfectly capable of shooting with stock triggers, but I can't believe most of us mortals don't vastly prefer something a little better. (Incidentally, by chance at the SC Sectional, I was lucky enough to end up squadded with some heavyweights, and I remember Phil Strader commenting that, over the years, his preferences were moving to slightly heavier and heavier triggers in this Ltd guns).

Why do you and Flex find the original question so vexing? If there were a 5lb minimum trigger pull in USPSA Production, I'd think a Glock would be a hell of a lot less attractive for a new shooter, who's not already used to/invested in the platform. An out-of-the-box G17 is like a staple-gun.

My wife was convinced Chigurh was in the *other* motel room, since both locks had been shot out. I disagreed, though. I think the Chigurh went into both rooms this time - his wasn't going to be tricked again, took the money and left. BTW, this scene was NOT in the book; otherwise the movie was almost 100% faithful to the novel. Here's a comment that I found on the web, and think I agree with it completely: " The scene is immediately preceded by a discussion with the local sheriff about Chigurh returning to the crime scene at the Eagle Hotel earlier. Bell has a gut feeling and lawman's instinct and fear that Chigurh went back to the hotel where Moss was killed. He approaches the door, sees the lock cylinder blown out, knows Chigurh has been/is there, and imagines him behind the door. It doesn't matter that Bell does not know what Chigurh looks like, this image in Bell's mind could not be conveyed on screen without invoking the image of Chigurh behind the door. Bell stands in front of the door frozen with fear and anticipation of what might lurk behind it, and wondering if he has the courage to proceed with the confrontation. He sees only his own reflection in the lock, but may imagine others. The film makes it clear that Chigurh is NOT in the room, as Bell swings the door wide open and it is flush with the side wall (no room for hiding). Chigurh has clearly been there and left, but NOT through the locked bathroom window. He left out the front door with the money and vanished. There is no elegy or selling of the sheriff's soul. There is no sequel. The story was completely told in this masterpiece, and nothing needs to be added. Chigurh lives on, but the Coens are not making a Halloween series with him as the serial killer. The subsequent final scenes are to give us perspective on Bell and what could be described as the "message" of the film. His world has changed for what he perceives is worse. It has, but bad [stuff] has happened to people through all of time. Not all is fair. Good people are not necessarily rewarded, and bad people are not necessarily punished. In fact, the opposite often is true. There is no sense of just accounting in life. Bell feels unable to continue to fight a war he cannot win, and the truth is that he and no one else ever could. We take what life gives us and hope that we are lucky enough to avoid the random tragedies that befall others. This is an existential drama that throws the usual Hollywood formulas in our faces. It is not made to uplift, but to provoke. I loved this film." I think the reflection of Chigurh, too, is important if you think back to when Bell and his deputy enter Moss's trailer. They just missed Chigurh, and Bell sits on the couch and stares at his reflection on the empty TV screen, thinking (presumably) about the killer who had been sitting in the same spot. Bell, this early in the film, doesn't yet understand what he's facing, and is still cracking jokes. At the motel room, he's now close enough to the evil to SEE (or imagine he sees) Chigurh's reflection. And this is the end for Bell. He's further destroyed when he visits his old crippled uncle, with feelings of guilt ("God must be disappointed in me...."), and is told, basically -- "tough sh*t. You don't know WHAT God thinks of you, and btw, there have always been evil men and actions in this country...." Still, I can see Alamo's point, too, that its possible to interpret the final dream as optimistic. Does it provide hope? Or is it merely a fantasy that Bell longs for, but then "he wakes up?" Of course I could be completely full of sh*t, too. It *is* interesting that it was set in 1980. Possibly because this was the starting era (more or less) of the true bad-asses involved in coke smuggling from Mexico -- a new wave of evil? Dunno. Good film.

Alamo -- I agree that the dream is important, but disagree a bit with your interpretation. Here's my take, which will probably come out like a bad, freshman English paper: ************ SPOILER BELOW ****************** SPOILER BELOW ********************* Sheriff Bell's dream is incredibly depressing, because it's a final recognition that he's NOT his father and grandfather, despite having followed in their career. His father journeys onward through the dark storm, courageously protecting fire (the symbolism here is pretty obvious), but with head down, and he ignores his son, who is no longer worthy. And Bell says, "And then I woke up." The Sheriff DID give up. The motel room incident with Chigurh shook him profoundly and shortly afterwards, he retired - he simply wasn't strong enough, and is nothing more than an impotent old man. We, the viewer, know perfectly well Chigurh could have easily killed the Sheriff, and the Bell realizes it, and we see the coin next to the grate. Used as as screwdriver? Yeah, but maybe Bell also won that toss....Fate has spared him this time. That's really the central message of the movie, IMO -- the randomness and cruelty of fate, and the vanity of any of us thinking we can affect these forces. (If there's *anything* uplifting in the story it's that at least Chigurh, too, is left crippled and damaged from the random accident after he kills Carla Jean -- he's not immune, either, from a cosmic joke). That's the truth that Bell wakes up from his dream to.

And that is maybe enough? I think they're going to be two kinds of people who see this movie -- those that enjoy the story of the pursuit, drug money, and a true psychopath, but are otherwise ambivalent about lack of resolution and "boring parts"....and those viewers who are disturbed by the ending, and want to understand it. For those viewers the film becomes incredibly more rich. I'd be interested, also, in AlamoShooter's interpretation -- I'm not sure there IS one we would all agree on. It's a profoundly bleak story, no doubt.

Not all standards are 50y, though, no? There's a local club that has one each match (usually), and I wish more did, but...they're sure slow as hell, for a stage.

I, too, saw the movie recently, and was a bit disappointed. "Sin City" really *was* ground-breaking, but the hyper-stylized treatment, here, left me wishing realistic characters and plot weren't so completely abandoned in favor of the outrageous. But it is spectacular and graphically imaginative. Part of the problem, too, is that Steven Pressley's superb "Gates of Fire" (if you haven't read it, you should) was fresh in memory, and the historical story is incredible enough, even with fictionalized treatment, it only needs so much embellishing. '300' might be derived from a comic book, but it didn't need to be. Obviously my thoughts and taste, only. As far as the pervasive homo-erotic themes...I guess one can find what one wants to look for, but this is true of NFL Football games, MMA fighting, etc., etc. Say, maybe we'll all just get, uh...our own popcorn.

I don't know, man...I looked at his website and his rates seem to be up there, but not outrageously so. At his place: $165 -> $375, depending on class size. On the road, what -- $1650 a day plus expenses, for up to 10 people? The FlOpen class does seem a lot higher, though. As another data point, I've taken two classes, with zero regrets. First was a two-day class from Frank Garcia when I first started. I was a bit bummed at how many other shooters were in the class -- like 8 or 9 -- but at that point we really didn't need a lot of dedicated one-on-one. After proving we weren't able to consistently shoot 5-second Bill Drills at 10 yards -- how much 'advanced movement technique' did we need? I think the course was like $350 at the time. Last summer I took a one-on-one class with Chris Tilley. I forget exactly what I paid, but I think about what I did for Frank. His rates are now WAY more expensive, however, looking at his website. Lots of options out there. I think it's still a buyer's market, so shop carefully.

Vluc, but is that really a problem? My observation only, but it seems shooters are either 'Production Shooters', in which case they know *exactly* what the deal is, or first-timers/very-new shooters that have been told to go shoot in Production, in which case, they might mistakenly have more than 10 in a magazine at the start, but it's not going to be "11" - it's going to be 17, or whatever the full capacity is.... Maybe some experienced shooters keep *two* barney mags in a BDU pocket, or something, but Jeez...there's a case of don't ask, don't tell. Man, I hate having to top-off at LAMR; it's so much easier and more fluid to just pull a mag from a hip-pocket -- done. BIG fan, here of using downloaded high-caps in Production...

Cheer-up. Instead the players could be corporate CEO's and paid millions just to *leave*, after committing crimes, and running the company into the ground. Personally, I hate that the NFL ever decided to create their "own network," and move games from the networks and "regular" cable channels like ESPN or TNT....

In my completely unqualified opinion, you have a couple options...What is the current (non-working) connection between your DirectTV STB and TV? S-video? If it's not, have you tried that input yet? Second, how many component video inputs do you have on your TV? If only one, you've got another issue -- how are you going to toggle between the DVD player and DirectTV? If two, make sure both work, per your test with the dvd player. The, assuming the S-video option isn't viable, you'd need to either a) find a different DirectTV STB with component output (I don't believe ONLY the HD STB's have this feature - you'll need to research), or , get something like a home theater receiver which has component video output (or DVI or HDMI) and use that for switching and up-converting the S-video signal from your current DirectTV STB.

Check around with your local Sears store. Some of them still stock older Sylvania ATSC tuners, or set-top boxes. I think I found mine for $79, or so....Plus eBay and a zillion other outlets. There's a flood of old DirectTV boxes that can be used as stand-alone ATSC tuners, as well, IIRC. I added a cheapo "silver sensor" VHF antenna, the equivalent of Ye Olde Rabbit Ears, and pull in most of the major networks Hi-Def signal that way, then have Dish TV basic package for the other stuff....I watch very little TV, regardless, but the quality of CBS NFL in HD is unreal.

Plus F------ ONE! My thumbs bless the day I learned this trick. Who knew? Previously, I did the:....poke retainer in...find corner of table/desk...poke the retainer in again, 'cause it popped out...shove a corner of the baseplate against the edge of the table with one hand, then use the other hand as a hammer to bang on the hand holding the mag...repeat again and again, as the retainer would pop back into place, or you didn't have just the right amount of baseplate on the table edge....when you did it right, the edge of the table would be nicked, the spring and retainer and baseplate would go flying, and a nice gouge would be removed from the knuckle of the thumb holding the magazine.

From that perspective, why not just save $1500 and get a G35/G34 with a magwell for ESP IDPA? Good point. I sold a Glock 34 to my nephew a month or so ago and have been kicking myself ever since I did. It had a nice set of Dawson F/O's and a Vanek Grandmaster trigger kit. I shot it alot better than I do the Les Baer. I've read where the downloaded 35 shoots easier than the 34. That would also eliminate my switching platform issues. The GLOCK is a gun I just hate to love. Perfect! I'm going to steal that, and couldn't agree more. I freakin' stay AWAKE at night, tortured by differences in platforms and being unable to just commit to one.... I thought about using an Eagle, or equivalent, myself -- there's a pretty active IDPA community in the area, that I sometimes dabble in, but I ended up saying 'screw it,' and just shooting Glocks when I shoot IDPA, rather than deal with the hassles of two-timing a Limited gun. Some of the disadvantages: New mags. Figure at least 3 (126mm) STI magazines that are only good for IDPA, so there's $180+ right there. Slide-stop. I cut mine down so the slide doesn't lock back. For IDPA, I would want this to lock back. Need for new mag holders, new holster....Yeah a DOH could do double-duty, but it's a huge PITA unscrewing the attachment. Etc. Need to swap springs and guide rods around depending on what you're shooting -- .40 minor in IDPA or major in IPSC. Size -- IDPA'ers ADORE 'The Box', and using it for a start position seems a favorite trick in big matches. There's "it fits," and "it fits easily." I dunno...I came to my own conclusion that *if* one was already comfortable with a G* or XD, or something....There's not a hell of a lot of advantage in ESP to shooting an STI.

From that perspective, why not just save $1500 and get a G35/G34 with a magwell for ESP IDPA?

My PII with a FLGR and steel S&A magwell and CMC power8 mag runs 43.3oz on a postal scale.

Yeah....did that yesterday morning, sitting on the deck. I just used 3 paper bags for .45, .40 and 9, and two plastic bags for 38 superish stuff, and trash -- anything that's not any of the preceding. I pour a bunch of mixed brass into an old serving tray then pick out the .45, then the 9mm, then dump whatever's left into the .40 bag, discarding trash along the way. Sounds like what you do, more or less. I wish there were a faster way, but it's efficient enough to limit wanting to spend any money on a different solution. I also hate that you can look at a tray of .40 brass for 10 minutes, poking and shaking and STILL find 9mm cases when you're reloading.

Nice calculator -- My minor .40 runs about $7/50 with components purchased in bulk: 8lb Tightgroup $115 2500 MG 180gr $275 5000 WSP primers $105 brass...free, more or less, from scrounging. Ouch. But ~3.7gr of TG behind a 180gr JHP is an awful nice minor load for a Glock 35.

Out of curiosity, are you drawing this out of a race-holster?

+1 on Vanek great guy and great product www.botach.com for magazines about every six months they put new Glock mags on sale for $13.99 ea Added these links which are more glock-specific.... www.arotek.com (general, though limited, glock stuff) www.topglock.com (general glock stuff) www.customglockracing.com ( glock stuff more aimed at competition) www.glockjockey.com (high-end custom stuff, including pistols) BTW, Natchez (www.natchezss.com) is running a special on used G22 LE mags @ 11.99, and new high-caps for $14.99 ea. if you buy 3 or more....

I can't decide whether those are the ugliest Glocks I've seen, or so functional they're beautiful.

Blug. Thx, Matt. Was hoping it would be drop-in, or there would be some part to extend the existing trigger....

I searched, and got even more confused.... I have a short, flat trigger as seen in the picture in this thread: http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?...4&hl=caylor I guess it's an STI? I don't really have a way of telling....I'm coming to the conclusion that it's too short for my liking, and I would prefer something "medium." Can I just buy a trigger from STI and have it drop right in? Or is some fitting required. Thx