boo radley

Not really a Crossfit q, per se, but how fast are y'all rowing 5k on the Concept2 machines? Our gym recently got these machines, and I like that workout as a change of pace from the treadmill, or lifting. It's taking me about 22:15.... I'm also not sure how the damper works. I set it between 7-8, usually. I'm guessing if you set it to '2' you'd have to pull more times for the same distance?

Not for 45acp. For other calibers a dedicated tool-head is almost mandatory, IMO, unless you're a masochist. For .45, why not just get a second power measure? Why tweak the other dies? Resizing die won't change. I'd be surprised if the crimping die needed adjustment, and I've followed HSMITH's advice, and set the seating die for factory ball, and left it alone for all other profiles. Works perfectly. Or, worst case -- so you have to adjust the seating die. No big deal, compared to buying a whole second set of dies, and another tool-head and powder measure. IMO only, though.

I would challenge you to prove your assertion. There are outliers, but if you look at any major match, the distribution is clear and statistically reflects classification. North's comments are pretty spot-on, IMO.

So then you think 10-round minor is an advantage in Single Stack?

Also don't caught up on the classes prior to 2008. The classes were based on your highest class other than open unless open was your only classification. Those are all great points, Matt, Flex and Alan, (although in the last case, the GM and M might likely be on top of Production, had they shot that instead. Maybe). It's really murky. The core problem is sample size. At the Florida Open, if I throw out the worst and best stage, and average the highest HFs for all the stages: SS: 6.6 Prod: 6.8 Limited: 7.9 L10: 5.6 But this is skewed by the Sevigny Effect. The *2nd* highest HF in Production averages to 5.9, whereas with Limited it goes from 7.9 to 7.6. There's no point in looking at the 2nd best SS shooter at this match, 'cause you go from Angus to a C-class shooter at under 50% (no disrespect intended!). There just aren't enough SS shooters at a match, to get solid data on major 8 vs. minor 10, and in any case, I'll bet it's not a giant difference unlike Production vs Ltd/Open. IM(very)HO anyway.

Fair enough, but: 2007 South Carolina Sectional. Averaged the top two hit factors for each stage: 4.35 9.54 6.83 7.05 6.46 7.66 7.19 4.415 PRODUCTION 3.585 9.34 6.25 6.7 6.195 7.3 6.78 4.455 SINGLE STACK In production, there were no GM shooters. In SingleStack, there was a GM (Seeklander) and a M shooter. Why isn't the advantage of major scoring destroying the Production shooters?

That's a good point about giving up 2 C's for the fat part of the target, Barry.... It's interesting to compare Production shooter's hit factors to those in SS. In theory, a single-stack minor shooter with working 10-round mags would be shooting the equivalent of Production hit-factors, no? The problem is, if you look at last year's matches, there's usually 1 'top' SS shooter, then a handful of B/C/D shooters, so it's tough to gauge. There aren't enough SS shooters in matches that aren't SS-only. At Area8, in most stages, it looks like the top SS shooter (GM Scott W.) had worse hit factors than a passle of the top Production shooters. What does that mean? I like the thought of 9mm in SS. Walk away from the brass, reasonable bullet prices w/out dicking with cast lead, low recoil, for those of us with tendinitis in the elbows...But I sure hate the math.

Has anyone ever shot a 6" Glock barrel in 9mm that was ported? I'm wondering how noticeable the effect is, and how flat it might shoot. Is it even noticeable with minor 9? Thx

Don't know how it works in Indiana, but I'd imagine the same most everywhere in US. 3 choices. Pay fine -- $175? Plus points on your record, which will translate into a nasty insurance hike; worse, if there's a second ticket in a certain amount of time. Fight it yourself. Very easy to say from the armchair. Guess what? Lawyers like to talk to other lawyers about law - not the public, unless they're getting paid. Are you willing to spend a day of vacation on this? A day, plus the court date? (And you might be one of the last cases called). Could be very expensive and still leave you with a guilty plea, and court costs and fine.... Pay a lawyer. A couple hundred bucks....it all goes away.

The spacers he's talking about look like the toothpick that comes with a Swiss Army knife. They're shims, really, designed for exactly this issue, and should have come with your pouches. However, you'll quickly lose them, if you DO use them. I ended up just using velcro on the outside of the belt loop, which mates with the velcro on the inner belt. Works fine, especially if you give each pouch a little push when you put the outer belt on. Does this make sense? The circumference of the inner part of the outer belt is all velcro, now.

This was only my 3rd Open, so please weigh my comments accordingly. I thought, as always, the stages were terrific. I would just assume see ten 29-32 round field courses again, instead of the four smaller courses, but GA and Alabama were interesting. WV and Va....well, they were better than that one stage a couple years ago, where you tossed a die with red, white and blue sides. But for sure, in general they were challenging, imaginative, and presented options. What moverfive said above. Great job! The 1/2 day format was nice, but I guess I'm one of the few that didn't mind the other format that much, either. No real complaints -- I suspect any down-tic is a function of the economy. This is a very expensive match. The prize format seemed fair this year, and it was nice having a chance to win a gun, though I'd be happy to shoot for $100 and no prizes. Maybe, since the entry fee *is* $200, or $228 with an XXL shirt, some small but nice goody could be thrown in each shooter's match bag; coupon for a free lunch, or a T-shirt, or something. I did get a Montana Gold sampler of 4 bullets. Oh, one other minor quibble -- the plate-rack area got jammed *quickly*. About noon on Saturday, there were about 12-15 people queued up, and just one guy running it. Probably nicer to restrict people to 1 magazine, if there's a wait, then allow a shooter to shoot 100+ rounds for $5... Very smooth match. I liked, too, how fast the results went up on his webpage. Steve

Enjoyed it too, Glyn! Great squad, and nice putting names to the faces I didn't know -- XDNiner, FireAnt, Kenny...The squad was certainly the highlight of the match, for me. I don't think I'll ever drive again. 10 hours alone in the truck on Sunday, on I-95 was pretty miserable; especially having shot poorly for two days straight. Oh - thinking back - that 1/2 format was interesting. Very little waiting. Nice!

Hmm...motel has wireless....Cab33 -- you're right -- there aren't any speedshoots in the way I'd think of 'em. But your range report sux. Starting Saturday PM/Sunday AM. Walked the stages this afternoon, got to meet XRe, and a host of other Enos forum members. I'm on a terrific squad that included nhglyn, Jack Suber and his young 'un, and a bunch of top-shelf NC open gunners. I only really studied stages 8,9,10,11 & 12...I'm reminded of the two previous Open's I've shot. The field courses all have long steel ( stage 8 starts you with 4 plates and two paper at ~25m), and targets if you forget, you won't see again. Lots of poppers and targets right at that 'iffy' distance to shoot at the move, for those that ain't M's or above. Zero no-shoots, and zero painted hard-cover, which I guess is a trademark of these matches? Stages 10 and 11 are interesting. You shoot them back to back, and they're 16 rounds each. Both stages consists of targets behind a wall, with two ports. In front of each wall is a wide shooting box divided into 3 sections parallel to the wall. Deal is, you must shoot at least one shot from each section, and shooting and having a foot in different sections is a procedural. Looks like a great match!

Any eyes-on reports yet? What are the speed-shoots like? Etc.

I had some health-care spending account $ left over, so I saw an Audiologist in the area (Au.D.)...Well, worth it, regardless to get a hearing test. Anyway, while there I was fitted for some custom plugs -- called the Westone "Aguanot", I believe -- originally designed for ear protection while swimming. It took about 2 weeks to get them, and cost $75 not counting the hearing test and consult. They're pretty awesome. Without electronic muffs on top, you can barely hear sh*t. It wasn't trivial getting fitted, and she made sure the molds were perfect. Just a thought -- might want to call around and see what an Audiologist would charge ya'.

So if you have 'visual patience,' why need to 'call the shot'? Assuming you're not aiming in the center of a no-shoot, and sights are true, if you keep the sights aligned throughout the shot, and follow-through you can't possibly miss. I'm in Spook's camp, that there's some kind of weird continuum, in which visual patience morphs into shot calling.

Which, for me, raises the question: How do you know that what you saw is real, or what you wanted to see? This is where I start to glaze over. I have trouble understanding the dynamics and terminology. After 3 years of this, while I have plenty of mike's, I'm starting not to be surprised by them, when the targets are scored. Something wasn't right when I pulled the trigger, but I did so anyway, and I can even feel a little subconcious 'bobble' when that happens. I guess this is "calling the shot (but not doing anything about it) and having problems with visual patience?" I have trouble understanding where the visual patience line ends, and calling the shot starts.

Because you ordered a pizza. How can tell the stage is level? The drummer drools out of both corners of his mouth How do you shut a guitar player up???? You --> Heh, reminds me of that Todd Barry routine, in which he says he likes watching the Grammy's because you never know what you'll see. Like back when, when Guns'nRoses played in conjunction with a full orchestra. "And look at this! The first chair violin has to use sheet music, but Slash doesn't need to!!" Here's my favorite one: Teenage kid pesters his folks for music lessons. He wants to play the bass, and, for his birthday, they arrange for him to be taught. After his first lesson, over dinner his parents ask how it went. "Pretty good -- I learned the 4 strings, how to tune, and we started the A major scale." The next week comes, and again he has a lesson. 3rd week, and the father his surprised to see his son at home. The father ask, "Don't you have a bass guitar lesson tonight? Why are you home?" "Nah," says the kid. "I got a gig."

Because you ordered a pizza.

I don't think it's easy, anywhere. If someone says, "yeah, I need to practice, first, " you'll never see them. For some folks...it just clicks, I guess. It's a pleasure to see at a local, non-sanctioned idpa/practical shooting-like match, someone really get the bug, and find out they can do this on a much larger scale. My two pennies -- if you're not shooting at a range, you're not going to just up and join USPSA. If you belong to a club that has USPSA (or IDPA), you're going to know about it, and it's not for you. It's the small local ranges, that aren't offering any 'officially sanctioned' matches that are the breeding ground for new members. Perhaps they could receive flyers or posters. Maybe USPSA could subsidize a couple hundred dollars for a GM/M-class shooter to give a free class or demo at these locations? Dunno. There's a local MD, who often posts here, who runs a top-level match. I wondered why he'd shoot a small, local state match, unaffiliated with any organization, as the match date coincided with another USPSA match. He explained only by doing so, could he help get this place attracted by the idea of becoming affiliated.... Major digression. A very *small* Provisional Division, however. There are some like Catfish, from comments in another thread, that don't care if they're the *only* shooter in SS, because they're happy to measure against Open or LTD shooters. But otherwise, some guts have been sucked from L10, none too strong a creature to begin with. It will be interesting to see if it survives. I've completely changed my mind, however, and think SS is probably more attractive to shooters not already shooting USPSA. The gear and 8-round magazines make sense, and next to Production, it's probably the easiest Division to explain.

I guess at some level the part that disturbs me a tad, is *some* Glock shooters won't reflect and consider the issue might be with *them*, and that charging S_I pistols can't provide a quantifiable advantage has a lot less to do with logic and a lot more to do with personality, taste and spending habits. It's like taking a vacation, and having a co-worker point out that HE saved HIS vacation days and got paid for them, or went to XYZ place, instead, and saved $$$, or worked during his vacation, and was paid time & 1/2, or.... The bottom line is that you aren't going to handle and shoot a 2011, if you're a Glock shooter (and I *am* one, though not necessarily a good one), and not think -- 'Wow, nice gun!' So there's obviously some difference, and why be amazed or annoyed that most folks are willing to pay for that difference? "Put the difference in ammo and/or a class, and see how much better shooter you become." Well, play this game? sport? for a couple years, and you'll have spent enough in components, Dillon press, travel, match fees, lessons, gear, more gear, different gear, to make any initial price difference between a G35 Ltd rig, and STI rig, trivial. In fact, if you want to really drag out the spotlight, the costs of this game are pretty horrifying, given the 'reward,' which is mostly self-indulgent -- it's fun to shoot, and it's more fun to shoot matches. Hard to justify ANY of this, much less worry about G24 vs. SVI custom 6". And finally -- if you *are* a shooter, with whatever platform, you're at least putting fire though steel, and using the damn gun often, and if that can't justify something nice....Think how many dickheads are out there fondling once-fired safe-queens with greedy fingers, saying things like, "Oh, I wouldn't trust my life to anything BUT Ed Brown," etc. Bah.

Hmm...not sure I agree with that, IMHO. I think those *working* to get better always concern themselves with equipment choices, and maintenance. I think those concerned with equipment choices and maintenance, are *not* always working to improve. One thing about S*I -- you won't spend cycles gloating or being concerned with beating other shooters with cheaper pistols. Nor will you wonder how much better you might shoot with a Glock. Bouncing between the platforms is *not* a recipe for success, IMO, though some can do it. I wish long ago I'd heeded Merlin's advice to "pick one, and don't look back."

Got a bunch of new Wilson 47DE mags, and wonder what's the best way to number them. I'm not a bit anal about my gear, provided it's functional, but would like the job to look *somewhat* decent. With STI/Glock mags it's easy enough to put stick-on numbers or letters on the basepads, but there's not enough room on a single-stack mag, nor do I want to risk having paint or a loose letter jam up in the magwell.... Thinking about a small 'dice dots' numbering on the back of the pads, maybe drilling a depression and filling with paint?

That I believe... You may be right, but I am amazed how loathe dealers are to touch any kind of trade-in, at least in my limited experience.

How popular is, will be, SS at the clubs you shoot at? And does that matter to you?