boo radley

John Amidon has approved them. Linda has them and hopes to have them posted by the end of the weekend. She has to clean up some of my amaturish Powerpoint creations, first... 8 Stages. Final round count is 223. 223/8...27.8 rounds per stage on average!! I thought a couple of the stages you had last year were *excellent*. Look forward to this one again.

Beautiful pistol, and very interesting article on your blog! Thx for sharing.

Thanks. I thought maybe somebody had posted a pic about where the best places to grind metal were (and what to avoid). Yep, I did: http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?...&hl=striker I've lightened strikers for two of my Glocks in exactly that manner -- the picture above. Be warned - a dremel with the thin cut-off wheel cuts through the striker material like butter. Lightening the striker has been the only way I've been able to avoid light strikes with Winchester primers and a lightened Wolff striker spring.

One thing I've noticed with at least one 'kit', and my own experiments, is that some trigger jobs end up with a trigger safety that works, unless you ride the reset. IOW, rack the slide, like LAMR, and it's fine. Ride the reset, take the finger out of the guard, and...you can still move the trigger back. Not sure how to feel about that.

Slight drift -- I'm still thinking about putting one of these on one of my Glocks for training, or maybe dicking around in open minor. A vendor at a gunshow had one, and i played around with it. The dot wasn't circular, but instead looked like a "comet," with a big sideways tail. Is this normal, or bad example? Does the 4MOA size bother any of y'all?

If you give out fewer slots you can make the discount more significant. That's why I proposed only those recognized at Area matches or the previous Nationals, should get the discount, along with the handful given to the sections. As far as non-members getting invitations....what can I say? In most cases the winners of the Steel Challenge (forgot that one), and IDPA, etc, will already *be* USPSA/IPSC members, and if not, what would an invitation hurt? Why not be ambassadors? The Masters is a PGA Tour event, right? Look at how it invites competitors... As I said, just a thought. The foreign/non-USPSA invitations aside, I still can't believe it's fun having to call a long list of C/D class L10 winners, etc., etc., and go through this convoluted process. Did you get a plaque at an Area match last year? Want to shoot the Nationals? You're going, and if you enter within a certain time period, you'll save $100.

Yup! On my very early Dan Wesson pre-CZ Patriot PTM-B. This gun was an amazing find. Forged frame, match barrel, 2lb trigger. It is the most accurate pistol I've ever owned. Point is, aluminum SV magwell, bought used off this forum. I kinda agree with Z that it doesn't do near what you'd think on sucking up a single-stack magazine, but it makes the grip feel great. What on earth did your gun way with a *steel* SV?? I can't imagine that making weight.

Can a 9mm barrel really just "drop-in?" I recall Joe D saying something along those lines....

Thinking out loud...what about: 6 month prior to the US Nationals, open a "preferred" enrollment window. You could enter during this time if: 1) You've been recognized at an Area match the previous year. 2) You've been recognized, and/or top 25 at the US Nationals the previous year. 3) You have been sponsored by your section's coordinator (give each SC a certain number of slots). This way a section can recognize a shooter who's really helped, w/out necessarily having won.... All of the above would be guaranteed entry and $100 off the match fee. The onus would be on the individual to enroll during this preferred period. Also, prior to this period: courtesy invitations would go out to: 1) World Champions from the previous match -- 'cause why not? Handgun shooting is a microscopic sport, and if someone has to leave jingoism and pettiness aside....why not us? 2) IDPA National winners for the different Divisions from the previous year. 3) SASS National winners. 4) Bianchi cup winners? Anyway - this would be a courtesy invitation with no match discount. 5 months prior to the Nationals, have "Open Enrollment." Handle whatever openings are left as usual; either first-come, first-served, or a lottery, and a waiting list. It's *got* to be a huge headache (and expense?) for USPSA staffers to wrestle with the current slot policy, and, if I understand it right, you can just show up and have a pretty certain chance of entering anyway....

Thank you, Eric. I did call. It wasn't quite that easy for me, but after threatening to quit, and by God, I *was* ready to quit -- it annoys the HELL out of me that there are different pricing tiers, special codes, etc, -- I got that rate for a year, as well. Seems that people who have been loyal subscribers for 3+ years should be the FIRST to get a special rate. But this is true of cable, satellite, etc., etc., etc...<fume> All's well that ends well, however. Facing reloading w/out being able to pump out Deep Tracks from the computer, was a frightening thought.

+1 for sure. He also has a wonderful, dry sense of humor...I remember hearing a show around Christmas in which he said something like...."As a courtesy to our British listeners, when I say the words 'color' or 'honor', I'll be spelling it with the extra letter; with a 'u' in the word...."

You can most certainly install and blend an S&A magwell yourself. Do a google search for "Blindhogg". I followed his web instructions, and DID use a Dremel on my Les Baer, along with files and different grit paper, and was extremely happy with the results. I can post some pictures later. That said, ordinarily, you shouldn't allow me near a screwdriver, and I don't play a gunsmith on television nor in person. The cool thing is, you smear the entire mess with some 'Cold Blue' and...it looks like a gun again.

That is an excellent interview. I have no idea why he's not participating in Bali, but regardless, the questions and answers were extremely well oriented towards the sport. I have never heard of 'Recoil Magazine.'

Thx all -- some great advice here. In restrospect, I'm pretty unhappy with the way the visit went. I don't even *have* my Rx - it was shunted to the practice's store. I'm going to try to get it. It might be too late to cancel the order, but I think I need to find an optometrist who will take some time with me.

OK -- I tried this last night, and loaded a quick 200 rounds. Worked great, and every single 40 round passed what's my new case gauge -- a Lone Wolf 24 barrel. <grin> Again, I stand amazed at what the Lee sizing does and what the Dillon doesn't. Great idea, HSMITH! Mark K -- failsafe rod works, as normal. You just swivel the powder measure on the die to the point of least resistance before screwing it tight. IOW, when loading, instead of the powder bar coming towards/away from you, as it would in #2, it's now at an angle.

Same here. The Lee 4-die set includes the FCD. It is all I ever needed in 40 (all my ammo passes the Dillon case gauge). Yup. For me, replacing the Lee die with a Dillon was a mistake. Actually, reading this thread, I might try something HSMITH suggested. Leave the Dillon in #1 ( it doesn't crush cases, and I like the depriming pin better), but move the powder drop to #3, and put the Lee sizing die minus the decap pin in #2. Hmmm.....

Hmm....searched but didn't really see anything. I did find this thread from Eric with some photos, of testing he did with 9mm mags ---> 9mm follower thread Looks like if I cut down the feet a bit, I might be able to get a 20+1 mag. I bought a bunch of $10 mags from CDNN so I have some parts to spare....

It occurs to me that I remember some of the buildings at the Green Gables housing semi-permanent guests, or otherwise acting as very affordable housing for seasonal workers and the like. They were off the side; away from the main guest rooms. Perhaps they've changed their policy, thus creating those vacancies.

I know there are some you can buy, but wondered if anyone had luck just cutting down the bottom of say a #5 follower? If so, any pictures you could share, or tips? I'm thinking it would need to be a fair amount shaved, because 19 rounds in an older mag with the Dawson pad has *some* room to grow, but...not much more. Thx

Well, there's a limit to the accountability I want to assume. It's not nice; it's not horrible. For the $ it's decent enough. I suppose one could stay in a much, much nicer motel in Orlando, but have commensurate cost and driving distance. IMO, I don't think you're going to be amazed by how many nice hotels and motels there are in that area of the Florida, regardless. It's pretty rural. For the record, I'm not staying there, but only because I'm flying into Punta Gorda, and will be south of the range to start with. On another note -- 2 extra stages? Terrific! Will they still be in the same bays? I'm hoping y'all will still have the plate-rack area up, to shoot a mag for $1....

Yup, this -- and Tony's point, too -- is the real root cause of the evil. My brass is badly 'Glocked.' I *was* using a Lee 4-die set, and the sizing die, even unmodified, took care of the bulge almost entirely. There were two problems, though -- first, I would crush cases at station 1, which slowed down reloading, and second, the press didn't operate as smoothly. I replaced the sizing die with a Dillon, figuring I'd case-gauge match ammo anyway, and the Dillon die fixed both problems. However, it doesn't resize for sh*t, quite frankly, if you've got Glock'd brass, and 1 out of 10, or more, are failing the case gauge. I'm going to go back to the Lee die. But forgetting all the above, my point to LW was that if a round passes the Dillon gauge (and every other .40 barrel I have), you'd think it would pass the LW barrel, and it doesn't. I'll go ahead and use the barrel as a gauge for a hundred rounds, or so, and make sure there are no other problems -- if it groups well, I'll probably get the chamber opened a tad. OTOH, if I'm not otherwise happy with the accuracy or find the G24 feel too 'funky', I'll get another barrel or put this project aside for a bit.

For true. Some rounds that will drop freely into the Dillon gauge won't drop into the LW barrel. In order of some barrels I have (had), it's Factory G35 (eats most anything), STI, KKM G22, Dillon gauge, and now, this LW G24. I don't know why it's so freakin' tight. My sloppy G35 is amazingly accurate off bags, so go figure. I'll try another test -- not that I have any questions -- and just see how it shoots with 100 rounds, or so, with the barrel as a gauge, then decide what to do. Howard, thank you, btw! Very kind of you. I don't know any local smiths, and...well, I'm starting to think while the sandpaper might work, the votes are pretty stacked against. Thanks all, for the solid advice.

I'm playing around with a Lone Wolf Glock barrel. It's significantly tighter than the stock barrel, and even tighter than my Dillon case-gauge. That strikes me as *too* tight. I shot LW a note, and got a nice reply back explaining 'Glock'd brass, and full-length resizing, etc., issues which I understand, but again -- if a round chambers easily in a case gauge, that ought to be good enough imo. I don't want to use the barrel as a gauge, for no other reason than sometimes it's a mild PITA, and now I'd have to first gauge with the barrel, then gauge the rejects ('cause they're still likely to fit the STI) with the Dillon, etc. Anyway, long story longer: I don't have any fancy tools, but have done amazing damage with sandpaper. In all seriousness -- could I open this chamber up a bit with 600grit wrapped on a dowel, or something? Thx

Exactly my point. So what is it that differentiates a semi-custom from a true custom? Probably -- with a true custom -- a cheaper frame and parts, final cost being equal. Again, *IMO-only*, the 1911 world, with a number of quality semi-custom shops, is a bit different from the 2011 world.

I've noticed my front sight focus beginning to deteriorate over the last 2.5-3 years, which is as long as I've been shooting. I'm 42. My eyes are generally pretty good, but I have some astigmatism in my right (dominate) eye and this causes the front sight to flare or otherwise be not as crisp as I'd like. I've got some money left in my health-care savings account, so I decided to get a custom Rx to make the front sight as sharp as possible. I'm not sure the visit was a success, and I'm more confused than ever -- the upshot is, I have a very expensive pair of plastic 'safety' style glasses coming with a bifocal insert for my right eye. I'm really not sure about the bifocal business, but the eye doc (during the rushed 5 minutes he gave me) insisted I'd want them because otherwise I'd have "depth perception issues." He sent me to the practice's eye-glass store, and the woman there said she'd fitted lots of skeet shooters, etc., and what I was getting was perfect. At this point, I'm not even sure if they're inverted or not, and wondering if I shouldn't cancel the order, try to get the Rx for the near correction, and just go somewhere else and get a pair of glasses with single correction in the right eye? Thx!!