Poppa Bear

We will throw in the occasional kneeling or prone position. Our big design tendency is to throw in the targets only available from one position, kind of a cross lane shot. Or, make the target available from 2 or 3 positions with enough NS, walls, and barricades in the way to make the shooter lose track of the targets. We see more than a few with 4 or even 6 holes because they forgot they had already engaged it. They are generally not difficult to make but it forces the shooter to plan what will be shot from where and stick to it. I have designed or help build more than a few where even I lose track of the targets. I count my way through 2,4,6,8.... reload, 2,4,6,8...., Why am I getting 24 shots when there are only 10 targets? Why am I getting 18 shots when there are 10 targets? Putting in hard cover targets makes it easier unless you make all of the targets identical. I should do that for our next match. :roflol:

Saul's video uses Silverlight. You might have to tweak your settings by uninstalling AG Interactive programs to get Silverlight to actually load being as AG Interactive uses the same dll as Silverlight. Look at the second to the bottom post here: http://forums.silverlight.net/forums/t/141649.aspx I should also add that you need to go to the Double Alpha Theater tab.

I shoot Lim and L-10 with a G35. I shoot Production with a G34. I just acquired a Springfield Loaded for Single Stack. When I go to the range for a match I bring 2 gun bags. One contains 9mm, .40, and .45 ammo plus Prod and SS holsters and mag pouches. The other has my G34, G35 and SA Loaded guns plus applicable Lim and L-10 gear. Upon arrival I decide what division I want to shoot. Usually it is based on who else wants to shoot what. I am one of many that brings multiple guns to the match just for that reason. Our last match was almost all SS. The next match might be mostly L-10 or Limited. We shoot what we want because we enjoy the competition amongst ourselves and have fun doing it. When it stops being fun it is time to take a break for a while.

When you bring the gun up into your shooting grip, where is your thumb? I have a Springfield Loaded. My thumb sits naturally on top of the safety. If I tried to place it under the safety I would easily put it on during recoil due to my grip being so high on the gun. To me it is a very pleasant gun to shoot. Very manageable recoil, quick to bring back on target. Admittedly I have never shot Factory ammo out of it. I have always shot hand-loads of about 165 to 175 PF. I would try shooting someone else's .45 or have them try shooting yours. If someone used to shooting a .45 says it is very stout it might be your ammo or your gun. If they try a couple of their own loads in it and they shoot very well then you know it is more of an ammunition problem. If they are also stout then it is more of a gun issue.

Rev is the lowest. After that it is an even mix. I shoot mostly Limited and Lim-10 but also compete in Production. I just acquired a S-A Single Stack so I am now shooting that occasionally. The two divisions with the most shooters are usually Production and SS. The deciding factor for me being who is shooting in each division. Limited, Lim-10, and SS all have good shooters, High C, B, and A. I like competing against those that can beat me. Production is mostly D's and some C's. I usually shoot Production and SS as a way to keep my stock shooting skills from getting to rusty. One gets spoiled with large mags feeding into large magwells, coming off a competition belt. Prod and SS do not allow speed holsters and require the mags to be behind the hip. Production does not allow magwells and my new SS does not have one (Yet) Our best shooter competes in L-10 using his SS .45 with 10 round mags. I told him I would be competing a lot more in L-10 with my Glock 35 downloaded to 10 just to try and kick his ass. I will not be able to drag him down to B, but he will drag me into A.

Admittedly I still have a ways to go myself, but what I have found can really make a difference is to RELAX. There is a sub-forum devoted to it called Zen. The more relaxed and in your zone you are the better you will be at hitting what you want. Part of getting into your zone is proper grip and stance. Your stance and grip will not be the same as mine, we are different people. Proper grip and stance in simple terms will have you gripping in a manner that is neutral and very stable, standing in such a way that you are neutral and VERY stable. Once you have achieved this stable platform you can start working on transitioning to multiple targets by teaching your body to bend, flex, twist and move your feet so that the upper body brings the gun around to the next target. It is also learning the ability to get back into that zone when you are forced out of it due to course design. It is impossible to remain in that zone while transitioning from shots at chest height to ones through a port 8" off the ground and then back to chest height again. With practice you will hopefully learn to get back into the zone naturally. Why is it so difficult to stay in this zone? Two words: PAIN and SURPRISE. Anything that causes you pain can throw you off, anything that surprises you can throw you off. You just need to learn how to blow it off and get back into the zone. Something we sometimes succeed at, but many more times fail at. Or as they also say "Easier said, than done".

We are having a level 1 class in April. Several of us are printing out the pages as pdf's and then placing them in a loose leaf binder to make it easier to take notes etc.

If I have any questions it is usually "I'm missing a mag. Anyone pick it up?" Usually one of the people taping holds it out cause they grabbed it on their way forward to tape. Otherwise it is generally an expletive under my breath as I see the hard cover hit I did not call, or the 3 scoring hits because I called a miss that was not there. Oh, and do not get me started on tagging a No Shoot and taking the extra shot to make up the miss only to tag the NS again.

Having read this thread I will say this, I currently use a Lee Classic Turret. I am a tinkerer so I spent some time getting everything set up just right and I can easily crank out 100+ rounds an hour without any problems. Because I only shoot about 4 to 500 rounds a month this works well for me. If or more likely when I start to shoot 600 to 1,000+ rounds a month I will likely pick up a 650. WHY?? Because everything is a trade off. I do not need a 650 or a 1050 just to load 400 rounds a month. When I start shooting 800 a month I will have to much time invested in reloading on a LCT. Time that could be spent at the range shooting. Until I reach that stage though I will continue to use my LCT. Will I ever get rid of the LCT? No it is probably one of the best presses out there for low volume reloading, especially if you want to make each step as exacting as possible without having to change out dies for each step.

A club I used to belong to shot IDPA, USPSA, and Steel Challenge on alternating weeks. Matches were all shot according to the disciplines rules. After some consideration the club voted and decided to affiliate with IDPA and hold sanctioned IDPA matches. This was before SS became its own division and Production was still fairly new. The club could really only afford to affiliate with one organization, and put its efforts towards one discipline. After this club closed several of us got together after finding a new range we could shoot at and knowing that the new indoor range would be opening soon. Some had more of a USPSA background, and some of us just wanted to shoot. So we decided to affiliate with USPSA and have now spent the last two years building up the clubs membership and coffers. We made the decision up front what discipline we were going to shoot so that we could plan and build our props according to the USPSA classifiers, and rules. If someone were to start an IDPA club and use the same ranges many of us would shoot their game but not be heavily involved in the club management due to our current involvement with USPSA stage planning, design, and the administration needed to run the club we already started.

Three powders that should work for you if you plan to shoot both 9mm and .45 are WSF,HS-6,and True Blue. They are not real fast nor are they real slow. They meter well, fill the case enough to make a double charge easy to notice. The problem with trying to load for both using the same powder is that .45 likes a faster powder than 9mm does, and it is virtually impossible to find the optimal load configuration using the same powder. Don't get me wrong, it is easy to find a powder that functions decently in both. It is just that that powder will not be the best for both cartridges. I use True Blue to load my 9's and .40's, and WST for my .45 loads. When the 4 lbs of True Blue that I have left starts to get down there I will likely experiment with some other powders. I will eventually find a good powder just for 9mm, have a second powder just for .40's and will likely stick with WST for my .45 loads. I can do this easily because I have separate heads for all three calibers complete with powder measures so I do not have to worry about emptying the hoppers when I change cartridges. A good chronograph can really come in handy as you experiment with loads and powders. You might find that powder A, with primer B, and bullet C with an OAL of 1.xxx works great in your .45, while powder A with primer B does not care what what the bullet is or what the OAL is for your 9mm. It just will not shoot accurately until you start to push it too max pressures. Experiment with OAL. My .45 with black bullets has a max OAL of 1.210. Longer than that and the bullet hits the rifling. When loaded with FMJ I can load out to 1.275. Because the Moly bullets are shorter I can get the same velocity with a smaller charge, than other shooters who are able to load out to say 1.265 OAL on their Moly bullets.

But what is a miss? The points are the same whether it is hitting hard cover or an out and out miss of the target entirely. Our matches are generally determined by who missed the least, although some are determined by taking that extra shot because you knew you missed or hit the hard cover only to see 3 Alphas because the bullet hit right at the HC line.

Sort your brass by headstamp. If it is LC then get a good primer reamer and process all your brass first. I have a 16" AR and a 24" AR I have a 400 fps difference on the same load. As long as you leave things factory original you should not have a problem with hot loads. I changed over to a low profile port so I could put on a full length tube. It was not adjustable and I started to rip case heads off because it was allowing more gas into the tube than the factory front sight did. Put on an adjustable port and the problem disappeared. I make my own case lube by mixing lanolin oil with denatured alcohol in a small spray bottle. I lay them out on an aluminum cooking sheet and roll them back and forth after I spray them. Never had a problem with stuck cases. I size everything first, trim second and then tumble a second time to clean everything off. I give all cases a quick visual to make sure no media is stuck in the flash hole. I then load like normal except I do not use a sizing die now being as I already sized them.

fairly new to the game but my understanding is that SS was derived from L10 with many shooters buying or making 10 round SS mags just to be competitive. Many others did not want to buy 10 round mags just to be competitive, so the SS division was formed to give all the .45 shooters a home of their own. Being derived from the L10 division it made sense for the initial HHF to be based off L10. With all the new classifiers that are out now I would guess that the SS HHF is now based solely on SS equipment and rules.

It is called designing a stage with No Shoots arranged just right. Now you have to watch your angles or you will snag the NS. The rest of the squad calls you nasty names (In a friendly way) because they HATE having to make tight shots. Then you are the only one in the squad that hits the NS.

My first walk-through I just count shots. If I come up short of the stage briefing then I find what I missed. Now I start planning my reloads if needed, (20 rd LIM) I try to never go over 16 rounds before I reload unless the COF is 18 to 20 rounds. I will still miss the occasional one, usually because the COF has targets side by side and visible from 2 out of 3 locations. I find it better to find which targets are hidden from each location and what makes it different enough that I can easily pick it out at high speed while it is visible. If possible I get behind the targets. This is usually accomplished by getting to the range before the match has officially started. Now I can see from the targets POV where it is visible from. This past week we shot a 10 target slots COF where you could start anywhere inside the shooting area. Most people started in the front left and moved across. I started about 4 feet back and by taking a moderate step to the right opened up two more targets, another step two more targets, final step the last three targets and never had any doubt if I had engaged them or not because ALL other targets were hidden by hard cover. Not wasting time deciding if I had already engaged it or not saved me over two seconds.

I use blue if I do not see a need to disassemble again. I use Purple and Green for jobs where I might need to take it apart at some point. Neither require heat because they are designed to prevent screws from loosening due to vibration etc. If you want it you need to go to Professional auto parts stores rather than the hardware store.

Club affiliation is not so much the actual range as much as it is the people. The club I belong to uses two different ranges. There is also talk about making up a group who will do a bit of traveling during the spring, summer and fall seasons to participate/help at other clubs ranges. So if you can set it up so that one core group handles setup at one range and another core group handles setup at another range I do not see a problem with that.

It could be flagged with an A. The flagging will kick the classifier out to be hand verified. If all scores are well above average then there will be a question of the classifier being set up wrong. If MOST scores are within the appropriate range for the shooters, then the decision is that the classifier was set up right and you just had a great run. Once verified it will be a valid score. Congrats!! :cheers:

I have never quit, but I have seen several stop because they ran out of bullets. One was because he forgot to top off all of his mags after the previous COF. Went to slide lock with a couple of targets left. RELOAD, bang bang, RELOAD, Bang, RELOAD ???? Last mag was totally empty. 3 Mags, 3 shots

4.3.1.6 Unlike Poppers, metal plates are not subject to calibration or calibration challenges. If a scoring metal plate has been hit but fails to fall or overturn, the Range Officer shall declare range equipment failure and order the competitor to reshoot the course of fire, after the faulty plate has been rectified. Should have had a reshoot due to REF.

I use the 185's in my G35. They shoot pretty well but their downside like all Moly bullets is the smoke factor. If someone did not know what you were shooting they would think your powder is very dirty. It has only created a problem for me once. We shot a COF that required using a port at ground level. With no breeze, I was shooting through a smoke screen which obscured the targets.

Do you have an idea of which way you were moving when the RO called "Muzzle"? If you are right handed and moving towards your right, the muzzle has a tendency to point down range during a reload. If you are moving towards the left you have a tendency to point the muzzle UP range during a reload if you do not make a conscious effort to keep it down range by twisting your body, arm, gun etc.

Another good press is the Lee Classic Turret (4 hole). It also uses removable tool heads. The 4 positions rotate through one at a time. I have one with heads set up for 9mm, .40, and .223 which are my high use rounds. I also have a Rock Chucker that I use for low volume PRECISION loads where everything has to be exactly the same because I am looking for 1/2 MOA rifle rounds. This winter I will likely pick up a Dillon 550 just to load my .40's. The Dillon's make 4 operations with one pull of the handle and work great once the dies are properly set. The Lee Classic Turret makes one operation per pull of the handle and then rotates to the next die. It takes 4 pulls to produce one round and also works great once everything is set. It is slower than the Dillon but much faster than a single stage press like the Rock Chucker. It really comes down to are you looking to load 100 rounds a month, 1,000 rounds a month, or 10,000 rounds a month.

Being a revolver, and having a gap between the cylinder and the barrel, you have room for some of the gasses to escape. The gun probably did feel much like it normally would but I bet the flash coming out of the cylinder gap was huge.