boo radley

Well, I had to sh*t-can almost 400 rounds, but I have the problem solved. The shell-plate tension, the Lee sizing die and the FCD-die MUST exist in a Holy Trinity. Or else. Near as I can tell the root problem was that the Lee sizing die wasn't screwed down tight enough, although the stem pressed the bullet in to the correct OAL. This -- combined with a questionable setting for the FCD, and shell-plate tension, resulted in wildly varying OAL. *Worse*, I discovered I could easily cause set-back, in some of the shorter rounds, by simply pushing the round into the side of my bench with my thumb. Didn't take much effort at all, and enough rounds were like that, I ended up dumping a couple-hundred. <FUME> Reset everything exactly according to the specs, battled a couple other issues, like the bushing-arm adjustment (which isn't documented in the manual), but now I'm churning out perfect ammo. My OAL is 1.135 and variance is +/- 0.004, AFAICT. Man.

I actually think clean props, painted or stained in a uniform shade, are MORE attractive than the "Coney Island meets Arkansas Junkyard" approach. No disrespect to either. I like stages that look like they could belong on a golf-course. There's a club I've shot at a few times, "Ant Hill," near the coastof NC that's amazing. Not a cigarette butt, nor piece of old rusting brass, nor patch of bare dirt. Each bay is manicured Bermuda; looks great. Just sayin' is all...

No, but XP does -- and I have that installed on another laptop. Just opened it, and it looks like it will do what I need. Thx.

My digital camera records .AVI "movies." Prior to posting, it would be nice if I could delete the beginning and end of the clip, or otherwise just do some crude editing... Is there any freeware or shareware software available that would do this? For the Win2k platform. Thx

I absolutely agree. I would add the shooting opportunites should not only be equal, they should be meaningful, and they should test a variety of skills. What do you mean by "meaningful?"

Good points....N2IPSC, I'm actually loading .40 S&W... I do initially set the OAL with a single case in station 4, but tweak it once I'm under-way. As you say, it differs slightly, once cases are in every stations. I'll check the bullet diameter. The only other thing that's a little bit different than the way I normally load, is that I have belling from the powder die set to a bare minimum. I don't normally like a lot of bell at the case mouth, but this is almost to the point where the bullet barely sits by itself, before being sized.... I'll increase that, and see what happens, but who knows. Maybe the Lee sizing die just doesn't handle the MG profile well? Did fine with Zero, thoguh.

Very strange....I've had my 650 for a couple months, loading .40 Zero brand 180's JHP's, just perfectly. I converted to .45acp, loaded a thousand, then went back to.40, and had a couple problems -- broke the indexing ring, crushing primers, etc. -- but all is finally working again, smoothly.... This time I am loading Montana Gold 180 JHP's. My dies are Lee -- the 4-die set. However I'm starting to notice some unusual variance in OAL. Previously, I'd set it to 1.135" and have everything between 1.130-1.140, though most were dead on. Now, I'll set it to 1.135, and one will be 1.120, and the next 1.153, or something....What could be going on? The shell plate is tight -- tighter than I used to have it, in fact. I'm working the handle smoothly, and the bench configuration hasn't changed. Could the profile of the Montana Gold JHP be irregular, and not seating to the same distance? Thx

Just as an anecdote, there was a local match in my area a couple months ago that had a Texas Star on one stage, then TWO more on the next stage, protected by no-shoots. There were many new/inexperienced USPSA shooters at this match, and it made for a long day. They also aren't a lot of fun to keep setting up, after each shooter, especially if the spring that retains the plate is rusty, and it's cold. I kinda like 'em, but as a once-in-a-while deal. I'm not very good at them, yet, but getting better, and I can certainly agree with L2S that the advantage goes to those that have a chance to practice on them.

Shooting penalty-free, I hope! From the match application it looks like a buffet dinner is included Sat night, for the shooter? Is this also at the match hotel? Are there are any specific quirks to this match, or would y'all suggest just general Good Practices in terms of preparation? Thx - looking forward to this. Barely a month away, and no ($@*& air-travel required.

This sounds like a neat match, and I sent in my application today. What time does the shooting start on Saturday, however (trying to decide if I need to drive down Friday evening, or if I can do it on Saturday). Thx

Thx all -- so far I haven't keeled over, but I'm not sure I want to maintain the status quo, and will probably work on breathing when dry-firing, but otherwise not worry about it. I certainly don't want to have this floating around in my mind as a *conscious* thought/concern when shooting. It's just a bit weird. I noticed myself doing it dry-firing, too, in my garage. I'd move to a box, aim and squeeze and be focusing so hard at the small dry-fire targets, when I left to go to the next position, I'd take a huge gasp of air.... We're only talking a couple seconds at a time, but it does seem I'm in the minority.

Some fellow squad members pointed out to me, with great amusement, that I wasn't breathing when shooting an array. I had never really thought about it -- probably a hold-over from practicing shooting groups, when I'd try to keep as still as possible. Now I don't know whether I SHOULD think about it.

Remove the fail-safe rod, and loosen the single set screw on the L-shaped piece that keeps the powder measure from lifting off the collar, and remove both. The powder measure will now be able to lift off. Remove the lid, and carefully pour the power back into it's jug. Then, work the powder bar a few times by hand, and get rid of the rest of the powder. Put it back, empty, and run a case or two through it to make sure it's still empty.

Out of curiosity -- what kind of interest level do you now have, after shooting a match, and the 7 month lay-off?

I voted 25, but my guess would be some number less than 50. Not because I don't think you can't shoot 100+ w/out a penalty, but it strikes me that at some point, a penalty has to be worth the gamble, and the nature of gambling is sometimes you lose?

Hopalong, I hear what you're saying, but that's a little bit TOO radical of a change. And then I'd have to start reading all the weird stuff in the Revolver group. I tried messing around with my G22 tonight, and a Bladtech belt holster. Felt like I was drawing out of my armpit; felt terrible. The hell of it is, too, I have two nice 1911's just collecting dust now that I started shooting a Glock -- a Kimber and Les Baer PII. Maybe this would be a good time to dust them out, and get 4 good L-10 classifiers, but then I might start liking a metal gun again, and....Bah. Funny how you suddenly have too *many* things to shoot. Thank god I've avoided 3-gun so far.

If the "T" stands for Tony, you shot pretty well!! 1st C in L10? Congrats I imagine 50 points of penalties stung a tad on the 2nd stage of the day. <grin> Which one did you overlook? The crossing shot from the left side of the shooting area? That target had me worried: I visualized the steel popper falling and "scaring" the hiding target, as a memory trick, and I guess it worked, because I saw it. For once I didn't fail to see a target in that match.

Nice site and pictures... I envy those of you that get to shoot this match again. I've still been thinking about the stages in my mind...the only one I would have done differently was the Bowling stage. Our squad started with that, and I wish I'd shot the paper as well as the steel from the box. One of those targets by the tires was pretty tight if you waited until the end... But I'm curious about the following: Soccer: any LTD shooters see any big advantage to advancing to the front of the shooting area? Baseball: IMO, this was a perfect IPSC stage with its subtleties....On our squad I *think* only DirtyPool and Aikidale took the steel through the dugout on the way to FIRST base. Those shots took some cojones, IMO. But did knocking them out there really pay a big dividend? Domino: I think this or Baseball was probably the hardest, and I have no idea how people ran it that fast. Bryan, on our squad, burned it down. But why did some people run *into* the house? Did that provide any advantage?

Hmm...Some very good comments, and I'll think about this for a while. I am starting to appreciate the value of points. Looking at the results of last week's Fl Open, the top Limited shooters had both time AND points. They were shooting ~150 out of 160 points on a stage. And quickly. I know that, but I'm still on the edge of REALLY knowing it, and I'm thinking Production and its minor scoring would push me over, where the pain threshold of not getting points is higher in the typical club match. And I guess I am thinking of it as a trick-of-the-day, as EERW suggests, where after shooting Production for a bit, I can come storming back in LTD, and the targets will seem huge and the magazines bottomless. The other positive, is that Production is very popular at some area matches, here, and it would give me a chance to compete against more shooters.... OTOH, I'm far from bored, and there's something to be said for not scattering my attention and focus...Thx all.

Partially correct. IPSC does not have restrictions on TYPE of holster. Placement should be the same as Standard. Behind the hipbone. As someone would have said... "whiz...rrrr...click...What kind of flavour would you like for your cookies?" I'm not trying to be pedantic, but when they say "hipbone," do they really mean the front arch of the pelvis? If I'm standing wearing jeans, say, could the holster/pouches be slightly in front of the seam?

There's one of those 4-classifier matches coming up in my area, and I'm tempted to try shooting Production for a while.....I read with great interest the thread about shooting Open to improve, but I don't have a dot-gun, and don't really want one. I'm thinking Production would be a good exercise in *really* making sure one gets the hits, and shoots accurately. The platform change wouldn't be a big deal, since I already am shooting a Glock.... Did those of you that have done/do this find it a worthwhile exercise? When you returned to Limited and/or L10, you improved? Thx

I think I've used all of the above, plus Custom Glock Racing...Excellent service from all. Sometimes I wish Glocks weren't so d*mn easy to work on.

TLS, you are too kind, and thank you. I'm 40 years old, started shooting IPSC almost exactly one year ago, and I sure love this sport, is all I know. I guess this is really my 2nd major; I shot the NC Sectional this past Fall. I've been practicing, since. In fact, I'm *not* down on myself in the least, and quite frankly am in grave danger of having my wife poke my swollen head. After a truly horrendous start, I'm incredibly pleased from that point on, I shot as well as I could for the rest of the match. That, I'm really proud of. As far as the other deal, I simply hope it gets changed for next year's match. I know the classification system is disliked by many, but I really like it, and think it's good for the sport.

Shred -- I can't visualize how turning to the *weak side* is faster. Assuming a right-handed shooter, isn't turning CLOCKWISE faster -- I would think that would be the same as saying turning to the "strong side." Or safer, for sure, since the holster/gun face the target during almost all of the turn, instead of vice-versa?

It was...the tangerines!! Seriously -- it was obvious, except for a stage or two, you weren't having the match you are clearly capable of, and I never saw you once lose your sense of humor, blame the weather/food/gun/RO's/stage/etc and/or become surly and discouraged. Although I think on the baseball stage, you could blame your friend on the other squad, for giving you a dot-gunner's stage plan. <grin>