boo radley

With Winchester primers, I've given up on using a primer tray, since I discovered a trick: Winchester primers come in a flat tray. If you put something like a plastic CD case over the tray, and flip it, all the primers are neatly aligned in rows, but upside down. Cover the CD case with a hard-cover, cloth-bound book (may take some fooling with), and you can flip everything again, and now the primers are again lined up in neat rows, but right-side up, and perfectly spaced on the book cover. The material also provides enough resistance the primers don't slide about, when picking them up.

Sounds perfect, imo. I load Oregon Trail Laser-Cast 200 SWC's to exactly that same length, per their instructions. I notice just a dime's thickness or less of shoulder above the case.

Tightloop and Ron -- not being contentious, but truly curious why y'all are opposed to the classfication system? At the higher levels, you guys are man-on-man anyway, no? I'm new at this, but really find it fun, and like having a yard-stick to measure progress, and the enjoy competing against relative peers. I understand your example of pro golf, but understand, too, how many of us play (or have played) the game, and never given any kind of serious consideration to wasting money on Q-School, or other tournaments. And, amateur golf has a handicap system. I guess I just don't see the negative aspects to the system; otoh, I don't run a club, or have to hassle with paperwork, etc., so I'm sure there's something I'm missing?

As I shoot my G35 and G34 more and more, my damn grip is changing, and I'm climbing higher and higher on the pistol. I've seen a couple comments about replacing the extended slide-stop with a regular one, and I'll probably go that route, since I'm now starting to bump it from time to time.... But what I wonder about, is the weak hand thumb. Do you let it point forward, out in space? Or touch the frame just under the slide? (When I do this the "knuckle" of my thumb is about even with the take-down lever).

Yup, that was the one....Fireant, if you go here: http://www.sirwaltergunclub.com/match/index.htm you can see everything broken down by division, class, etc. That was up Sunday evening, in fact -- the folks at Sir Walter do a pretty amazing job... What did you think? It was my first major match, and I ended up reasonably happy. I had no idea what to expect in terms of difficulty, and as I walked around the stages Sunday AM, I thought, "Wow -- I can shoot this stuff...." My confidence was pretty high, too, coming off a 2-day course from Frank Garcia, and I'm not terribly displeased with middle-of-pack results. Had 4 mikes total, along with the FTE, but 0 no-shoots; I'm beginning to make some baby-steps. The %#*(@ target I missed was on the Matrix Revolutions stage, in that array with the swinger/turner thing activated by stepping on the plate. I got so engrossed with that, I completely didn't plan for, nor see, the cardboard target close left. <sigh> I also didn't much like going prone for "Fish in a Barrel." But I had a lot of fun, and can't wait next year to shoot some larger matches. Steve

Is this true? Or do there have to be a certain number of GM's shooting the same Division?

I have now shot over 2k rounds out of my G35 using Zero 180gr JHP's loaded to 1.142 over 4.2 (practice) to 4.5gr of VV320. 4.5grs from the factory barrel makes 171PF. Just another data point -- I find this a fairly soft-shooting load, even at major, and have no desire to do any more experimentation, except to see how low I could go for a minor loading, and still maintain accuracy.

*Thx* all -- this is helpful stuff. I searched on "match points" and not "stage points", initially.... Let me see if have this right: I made a major mistake on one stage: in the walk-thru I completely ignored one target; I noticed it but didn't plan for it. Naturally when I shot the stage itself, it was invisible. So for this 160pt stage: Winner: GM Open 149 0 24.55 6.0692 Me: C Limited 10 136 30 45.37 2.3363 If my math is correct, that's....61.59 stage points? Now, if I had *seen* the %*@^() target, and it was easy and close and add 1 second, and I assume two A's (10pts?) 146 0 46.37 3.1486 for 83 stage points. So if I add the difference (approx 21.5 points) to my total match points...wow. I would have climbed two places. Maybe I'm happier not playing this "what-if" game in retrospect!

I shot my first major match this past weekend, and was looking at the results and seeing where I could improve. The results are broken down into: By stage -- I understand this, and see how hit factors are calculated By class & overall -- here there are two values: 'Match Points' and 'Percent', where the top shooter in the Division gets 100%, and everyone else gets a percentage of that... But what are Match Points? How are they calculated? I'd like to play around with adjusting my points/times on a stage and seeing what difference they would have made on the overall Match Points, but am unsure how. Thx

<edit> -- I think all that long-winded junk below really means, "Are you experiencing burn out of the 'another Monday morning in the office' variety? Or is it the other kind -- the goals, rewards, effort, thing." Once you decide which, then you can decide how to cure. </edit> I think this is a pretty fascinating subject. While I'm new enough to practical shooting, I'm anything BUT burnt out, in other pursuits in life I've certainly experienced it, and found it fatal in some cases, to the enterprise. IM(very)HO, the root of burn-out is a disconnect between effort and reward. Maybe I'm stating the obvious. Not being "fun" anymore isn't always sufficient for burn-out. I also think there are two different sorts of "burn out." I suspect most of us have periods -- maybe even most of the time -- in which our jobs aren't fun, but we literally can't afford to be burnt-out, or when we are, we take vacations, etc. We put up with the effort, because of the reward. My suspicion is that when most pro shooters, golfers, atheletes, etc, talk about burn-out they're on the same page as those of us heading into work on the daily commute.... What I'm less certain of is how burning-out along the way to the career or goal is addressed. I guess one has to be *convinced* that there will be a ultimate reward, and for most of us there won't be -- at least not a reward we find precious eough, and deep down inside, our subconcious has made the decision for us, and that disconnect breeds unhappiness and DOES make shooting "no longer fun." OTOH, if the reward continues to be something that can be appreciated and embraced -- different story. Shooting's fun. Can't wait to get out, and try to whip so-and-so, or see some friends from another state, or -- whatever. I can empathize with you on one level -- my wife could care less about shooting, and none of my friends are involved in the sport, so at some levels it *is* a solitary pursuit, and that's a burden that shouldn't be minimized. It's a lot more fun to shoot and practice and compete against/with friends. That alone may be enough reward to prevent burn-out. Otherwise, I guess you have to find something else, and if that isn't sufficient, take a break. When you return, maybe THEN you'll find, or at least see clearly, a reward that makes the effort insubstantial. My ramblings only. I'd love to hear from some of the GM's what inspired them to keep shooting when at times the effort required to practice must have seemed incredibly discouraging....

I just got back late last night from a 2-day course with Frank Garcia at his range in Frostproof. Excellent, excellent stuff -- at least for me. I don't have a basis for comparison because this was my first "formal" instruction, and I've only been shooting IPSC since the Spring of this year.

Appropos of nothing, now that I'm shooting a G35 in L10, one of the things I really like is loading with the high-cap mag holding 11. This way, I go to the starting line with 4 x 10 round mags in my belt, and the 15-round mag in my pocket, or hand, which, at LAMR, I use -- done. No shuffling mags around in the belt, no feeder mag, no Barney bullet to mess with....It's more convenient than I would have supposed.

Fine, fine comments Paladin. If I could rename the title of this thread, I would now ask, "But...how to shoot *in control*?" Some things are getting better. Others aren't. I would like to get to the point where I have enough confidence and experience to know that I can shoot within a consistent comfort zone and be content with the results, and -- if I challenge that comfort zone, be rewarded, or hurt, but at least understand the risk. Right now, I'm thrashing between being amazed (rarely), and some truly terrible stages. I think back to when I played golf seriously and well, which is about the best parallel I can draw in my mind, and there was a clear point at which I *enjoyed* the first tee, and a crowd of folks around it, because I had the confidence to know I could step up, and drive the ball cleanly and in control. I hope to get to that point in practical shooting. I'm still intimidated by some stages, get rattled horribly by mikes and no-shoots, shoot out of control, and am unhappy reconciling my true current level of ability with where my ego imagines my ability.

Hmm....I'd have to want something pretty badly to do business like that. First, getting a money order is a slight hassle, and second, racing to the post office to beat mythical competition, would also be annoying. Finally if my money order didn't get there first, I have to wait for it to be returned, then -- because it might have your name on the certified funds, have to hassle with redepositing it. Perhaps, if the item is expensive, and/or highly marketable, you might want to ask for a deposit via PayPal? I have something of a different view in general towards this subject, however. Having bought and sold many, many hundreds of things over the 'net, the ability to cheaply advertise in front of hundreds/thousands/millions? of people still amazes me. The rare welcher or dead-beat is a pain, but insignificant by comparison, IMO. *Most* folks, in my experience, do the right thing.

Some good information, here! I feel a lot better, now, about "Glock Finger," or "Knuckle." I could care less about the callous, but was concerned I had some unorthodox grip not in harmony with Glock Perfection... I might mess with shaping the trigger safety's profile a tad. Razor blade and sand-paper? I think, too, I'll lose the magwell. For sure the gun is more..."bouncy" without it, but this doesn't bother me, and my impression is that it returns to target a little more quickly. I do like the tungsten guide rod, however.

Hmm....I've been shooting this G35 for a couple weeks now, and have noticed a couple things, and would appreciate the voices of experience and wisdom. About 1 time out of 5, the first shot will be "sticky" because of the trigger safety. I tend to use just the tip of my finger on the trigger, and sometimes I don't apply enough pressure straight back -- it's at an angle. I can fix this with practice, I guess, though it feels unnatural to put more finger on it, but I wondered if contouring the safety might help, too? I have the following "mods" -- THE magwell, tungsten guide rod, Heine/Dawson sights, RS trigger kit, and Tru-Grip. The only two I'm not so certain about are the magwell and TruGrip. The magwell is very heavy, and it seems to make the muzzle flip more, and I'm not sure I notice that much difference in recoil. It also really limits the space for the weak-hand. Normal, or is this something you get used to? As for the Tru-Grip, man, it REALLY grips. So much so, that if I don't quite grab the pistol it's a little bit difficult to shift the grip. OTOH, once I have a proper grip, I'm locked in nicely...This might be something I appreciate more, once I'm more used to the Glock? I'm also finding the grip in general to be pretty different. I've worn a blister, now callous just in front of the knuckle on the side of my strong-hand middle finger, from the trigger guard. I've put a lot more rounds through the 1911 w/out having a single point of friction like that -- I guess it's just Glock? Thx. Just trying to get a feel for what's "normal," and what's personal choice and technique.

Man, I think that's a great idea. My $.02 from a newish shooter: the classification system, if nothing else, if *fun*. Way fun. I'd have to wait *3 years* for classifiers I shoot under SS to become meaningful? If this issue could be fixed, I would certainly shoot it instead of L-10, at least at certain clubs that are heavy into single-stack shooters to begin with.

Too much of that dryfire business.... As a new shooter, I hear what you and Paladin are saying about education and misinformation, but I have to go with answer, a) ego. I can't think of a single match I've shot, in which ego hasn't kicked visual patience in the ass, and been responsible for rushing, misses, penalties, etc. I've even been practicing at an indoor range, and let it change the way I was shooting because of someone next to me. How healthy is that?? There is no basis in logic for this problem -- who the hell am I going to beat; I'm a lowly C-shooter. When I relax, and really start seeing the sights on the target -- I have a good stage. Someday I'll learn that lesson. Weird how shooting brings this out - I'm not this way, otherwise.

Hey, we've been in a "State of Emergency" officially since *Saturday*. I think it's the only thing Governor Mike Easley knows how to do...

RTR -- I think you ask an awesome question, or at least it sure resonates with me. Had a miserable match, this past Saturday. For weeks prior, I did no live-fire, but tons (for me) of dry-fire, really pushing myself with par times, and some silly drills that I do. Sunday, I went to the range, and brought the timer, and timed some Bill Drills @15y. First one, thought I saw what I needed, and was shocked to check the target and see only *two* A's. I had to throttle way back (or take more time getting a sight picture) to get all A's. I *absolutely* believe the dry-fire practice created a huge disconnect between seeing what I thought I needed, and what I really needed. I'm sure more experienced shooters are able to resolve the difference between dry-fire and live-fire, but for now, I'm going to take a new approach: start dry-firing with no timer, or against par times that aren't a bit edgy, holding the sights on the "A" for an eternity.

400 rounds loaded tonight -- zero issues, after sanding the tip as you suggested. Many thanks!! I did do a search on PMC brass, and wish I hadn't. But I'm loading long and soft, and if the brass truly is only once-fired....

I think it does, but I haven't shot her *without* the magwell, so my opinion is uninspired. I'm not too sure of the physics of the whole thing; I mean it's a pretty heavy chunk of weight on the bottom of the grip, and if the recoil lifts the barrel, maybe it makes it worse? Dunno.

Thx all -- I knew there was smoe kind of tool, but didn't know the name of it. "Easy Out." I'll pick one(set?) up; will be a useful thing to have, I reckon.

Eh -- on the Versa-Hanger of my CR-Speed holster, one of the small hex screws has become stripped. ResComp sent me (via registered mail!!) replacement screws, so that's cool, but I need to get the old one out. Putting a dab of super-glue in the hole, with the allen wrench, didn't work. I'm a bit leery of drilling....Tips much appreciated.

I started loading .40S&W lately, with brand-new dies (thx HG!), and am having something occur that never happened with .45 nor 9mm: about 1 out of 20 cases won't get deprimed at the first stage. AFAIK, this stage isn't adjustable, right? I'm using once-fired, cleaned brass -- this seems to almost always happen with "PMC" brass, but this might be a coincidence, since most of the brass *is* PMC. Tx