knightkrawler00

Gary Stevens makes a good point. I've always used the safety area, it never crossed my mind to do it on the line.

The biggest advantage for me is the walk through. I was constantly worried about dropping the gun after doing so at the 2007 L10 nationals, so I was going through my dry runs in slow motion. Without the gun, I can dry run as fast as I want, which did decrease my stage times.

I recently moved and have the same dilemma. I went from half of a two car garage to a 5'X9' room with a water heater in it already. I was able to put together a 2'X3' bench next to the water heater and I'm in the process of building shelves to hold everything at this point. The RL550 is mounted on the end of the bench with a Rockchucker and powder measure on the long side of the bench. I can pull the RC and powder measure pretty quick and have the bench open for gun cleaning and fixing, the RL550 can stay where it is as it doesn't take up that much room. Going from am L-shaped bench that was 3' deep and over 6' long on each leg has been less painful than I thought, less room to gather random junk. I used 4"X4" fence posts for the legs, then screwed a piece of 3/4" plywood to the top, braced the legs with 2X4's, put 2X4's under the top around the perimiter then more 2X4's side by side under the rest of the bench top. I screwed it to the wall with 1/4"X5" wood screws into the studs. All done and reloading for under $70, including the hand saw.

Grilled last night with wind chills in the negatives!

I've got slight pressure on the frame forward of the take down lever with my support hand thumb. I tried to break the "habit" after reading BE's book, but never could. I finally gave up after noticing that my shooting wasn't showing an improvement either way, not even "trick of the day" short term improvement.

It's amazing all the stuff that goes into a range bag for "just in case" moments. I uses to lug all that stuff around to every stage, by the end of a match, I was beat. Started to take only what was needed for the stage in my bag. The gun, mags, and a little ammo, leaving everything else in the car. I even started to bag my gun after every stage, it was easier to do walk throughs at speed, and my back was thanking me after the last stage. I like the idea of a small bag to take to stages and a larger bag for the car that contains all the stuff we might need. To answer your question, Bill. I've got a pistol, lots of magazines, lots of ammo, spare parts that could be "easily" swapped at the range, hearing protection, eye protection, a timer, oil, rags, a couple of Clif bars, water and gatorade, tools and cleaning supplies, and at the end of the day there is a bunch of brass in there. I now go up to a stage with enough ammo for a few stages, magazines, and the pistol. I can go get my stuff in the car if I need it.

I work for a dealership with seven car lines, three shops, and about thirty technicians. We all work flat rate, which is where you get payed a certain time for a repair no matter how long it actually takes. As you can imagine, there are jobs that pay really well and jobs that aren't worth doing. But, you have to take the good with the bad as it generally balances out in the end. It used to be that everybody did used car inspections, which is a really good paying job. Then management decided to have two guys dedicated to doing the used cars. This should be a fairly low paying hourly job, where the vehicle is repaired by real techs after the inspection is performed. Or a flat rate job that is given to the guys that have been there forever and just can't turn good hours anymore on the retail side, as a bonus of some sorts. Not at my place. The job is flat rate, and the two guys are getting paid on the same scale as the rest of us, only they aren't good enough to make it as retail technicians. The system is being blatantly abused by one of the guys. He is performing repairs to cars that don't need to be done, and when something does need to be repaired he can't fix it right and it ends up with someone else fixing it. We have attempted to go to management, but they don't seem to care or want to deal with the problem since the guys look extremely good on paper with the amount of hours being turned. The problem is, the dealership is paying for those hours, unnecessary or not. I guess it doesn't matter that the "90 day account", for used cars repaired within 90 days of purchase, is empty for the first time ever. This is also the account that the salespeople get a bonus out of at the end of the year, too bad I won't be around to see "it" hit the fan when the salespeople don't get a bonus that is generally counted on as part of their salary. I'm packing up and moving as soon as my house sells, there is at least one other tech that is quitting, and most others have resumes out. To put it into perspective. I have over ten years of experience, a college degree in this area, an ASE Master certification, and I'm a lead technician. I'm also one class and eight tests away from a GM World Class certification, think Grand Master in USPSA. I will not make half the money these guys stand to make this year ! Wrapping it up. My employer has taken two guys that simply aren't good enough to make it in a real shop and given them the highest paying, by far, technician jobs in the dealership . And management's lack of action to repair the problem is driving good honest technicians out the door.

I just spent the weekend in Kalispell for a job interview that seemed to have gone really well. There's a good chance that I'll be moving there as soon as possible. Just wondering what to expect as far as USPSA matches are concerned. Thanks for the replies.

Had one in 9MM and one in 45ACP, threw them both away. I was having problems with tumbling in the 9MM, pulled some of the bullets and they were now undersized .002". Pulled some 45, same thing. I was using plated bullets at the time, FMJ's probably wouldn't have done the same thing. I went to the Redding Competition seating dye, much happier.

All of my best reloads I can remember seeing the magazine withess holes very clearly as the magazine slid home. It's possible that you are moving your head around too much, causing movement in your arms. This is why it's important to keep the gun up in front of your face, to minimize movement of every part of your body, not just your arms.

I was just going to start my own thread on my hatred of a certain hybrid from a company that I won't mention, but this looks like the place for it. Right now I'm working on a two year old hybrid truck to replace the high voltage cables, rotor, and stator. The cables melted, amazing the truck didn't burn down, due to being overloaded by the "electric machine". No kidding, that's what the rotor and stator are referred to as in the diagnostics published by the manufacturer. The rotor and stator are sandwiched in between the engine and transmission, so the transmssion has to come out. Since we, the technicians, will never have to work on these half-a$$ed POS's it's nearly impossible to get the transmission out without spending more money than I will make on the job to buy special tools. Not to mention that I will in no way get paid for all of my time in the job, I love flat rate too. Actually, what really makes me mad is the fact that the truck actually gets less mpg than it's non hybrid twin. That's right, less mileage due to carrying around the extra weight of the "battery pack", the "electric machine", and all the other assorted BS it needs to run. The only thing this truck does as far as hybrid is concerned is shut the engine down at stops, then start automatically when you let off the brake. It will only stay shut off for a maximum of two minutes so the "battery pack" stays charged, and won't shut off at all if the A/C is on. Oh yeah, it doesn't help propel the vehicle either. I've been putting "battery pack" in apprentices because it's just three 12 volt batteries wired in series, come on. What we have is a more expensive truck, that gets worse mileage, and has an incredibly expensive starter/alternator. Oh wait, the manufacturer does get a huge fuel credit for producing a "hybrid" and the customer can plug in 110 volt appliances in the bed. Who cares that you can buy trucks from other manufacturers that have invertor's installed and wired to the bed from the factory, or that repair bills will be huge when the thing goes out of warranty, it says hybrid on the damn thing so it must help the environment, right? And in the next few months we're going to see a 300volt, 500amp hybrid truck. Great, touch the wrong thing and it kills me. What thing, I don't know because there is only one place to get training, it's across the country, and there's no way my dealership is going to send 20 technicians across the country for the class. Don't get me started on how ethanol uses as much fossil fuels to create as it saves in the vehicle, or how engines can't be built to really enjoy the benifits of ethanol unless it is running 100% ethanol. My 17 year old Honda gets over 40mpg, runs on 100% gasoline, and has 269,000 miles on it. When they can beat that, maybe I'll change my mind. Then I'll probably touch the wrong gizmo and it won't matter anyway.

I measured mine at 1 1/8" from the inside of the outer belt. Oh well, I like the Bladetech's better anyway.

I feel your pain. Made it to #10 B class L10 earlier this year, broke my hand, then had three in the low 60's go in when I could finally shoot again. Now I'm down to 70% and won't be able to shoot but a few matches over the next few months.

A baby seal walks into a club.

Whatever you do, don't stop shooting matches. Here comes my ongoing saga. I'm hesitant to post this, but I believe this is the proper time and place to get it out there as I believe it will help. Got up at 5:00 am Sunday after the L10 Nats, hungover, drove the five hours back home because I was so excited to see my wife. Got home, she was napping, hopped in bed so happy that I got to hold her. That's when she hit me with the "D" word. I was absolutely devastated. She left because I spent too much time with the shooting. I offered to stop the shooting 100%, no go. We split our stuff, she moved out, and I moped around beating myself up for being a bad husband. Shot a local match a few weeks later, it was the match of a lifetime. I got to finally forget about her for a few hours and spend time with other people that I liked. That's when I started to see that it wasn't all my fault, she had her problems too. A few weeks go by and every day is getting better. I go and shoot Area 1, not that I even wanted to, I just knew I would regret it if I didn't. Again, the match of a lifetime. I went with the goal of calling all of my shots and leaving the divorce bs behind for three days and it worked, I had a great time and walked away with the L10 Championship. Monday when I got home, I stumbled upon some evidence of her and one of my best friends. Rock bottom again. Confronted the friend on Friday, talked all night. There was nothing going on between them. Had a wonderful day yesterday, I was finally ready to start moving on. Happened upon a great deal on a washer and dryer and a new lamp. Got some yard work done and loaded some ammo. It was the first time since she left that my heart rate was down to normal and I didn't feel like puking. Had a great meal that evening, I've lost 20 pounds since she left and when you start out at 168 pounds, that's a big deal. Went out and had a couple of drinks with the friend, then got a phone call. It was the ex's brother, letting me know that something did happen between the two. Went back to the friends place and he told me everything. He convinced my wife to leave me, had an affair with her, then wouldn't break up with his girlfriend to be with her. It took everything I had to keep from burying him in the desert. I made sure that he knew that his girlfriend was going to find out from him last night, or from me today. I laid in bed all night, no sleep. Finally fell asleep long enough to have a horrible dream. I got up and got ready for a local match. Another great match. Not as good as the last two, but I shot great. I kept my mind off of things, I kept focused on the shooting. I got to spend a few hours with people that I like, that don't know what is going on, and that aren't acting strange around me. It was wonderful. The shooting is what is keeping me sane. My family is sure helping, but without the shooting, I don't know where I would be. I'm starting to see that I wasn't a horrible husband, she made it sound that way to justify her actions to herself and all our friends. I am going to be better off, I'm learning who my true friends are, and I am becoming part of my family again. It hurts and it's embarrassing, but I'm starting to see that I will move on with much stronger friendships and much closer ties to my family. I hope that this didn't come across as, "it could be worse", that was not my intention. I just hope that you will be able to take something from this that will help you in your own situation. Stay busy, keep up the shooting, and do your best to just totally forget about her at every opportunity.

Air hoses go on tools just like a reload. Fingers always off the trigger unless actually engaging the bolt or nut. I have a hard time keeping my finger on the trigger the whole time, I tend to "burp" the air tools. If I'm really moving, trying to get a job done quick, I move like I do on a stage. I find that when my mind starts to wander and I get in the "zone", the job gets done much quicker and is usually done better than when I'm not in a hurry. Just like burning down a stage.

I hope so. I've got to have some proof that SWAT shot me when I'm telling the story years down the road.

Sorry it took so long. I finally figured it out. This is what happens when you get hit with a simunition fired from an M16 inches away through a light shirt.

Hey, I got one a lot like that. Thank god for technicalities .

Well, I can't get the pictures to come up. I'll keep working on it. I finally got a red x. What's the easiest way to get a picture up on here?

Well, I'm back. Had a great time, got shot a lot, but I got to shoot back. Fired 13 rounds, had 11 hits on target. There were five scenarios played out, I was a shooter in the first and last. First scenario had me as a single hostage taker. It was a shots fired entry, I fired a couple of rounds and the team came on in. Those were my only two misses, if you can call them that. Two rounds on two guys out the window as they came up the side of the bus. Then two rounds on the first two guys in the bus. Took a few rounds to the shoulder and one to the leg. If it was real, flashbangs would have been going off and I probably wouldn't have had the chance to take the shots out the window. Last scenario had four hostage takers. Entry initiated by the team as there were injured hostages. I "shot" the first hostage in the front stairwell and he dropped in their way, this was preplanned by the hostage and I. I put two rounds in the first guy I saw, then three on the first guy coming up the stairs. That guy put three rounds into my left arm from a little too close and that hurt enough that I dropped the gun and sat down. Check out the pictures. I was amazed at how well I saw the sights in the first scenario, crisp and clear just like they should have been. I also had a failure to fire and had the gun tapped and racked before I really thought about it. I used cover effectively and kept my head about me the whole time. Who say's that IPSC and USPSA create bad habits that will kill you in a gunfight? I'm calling B.S. on that one.

I don't want to be mean to them my first time out. I want to get invited back for another play date . After all, this is a USPSA shooters dream to go up against an entry team and see whose skills win out. I know that I'll be overwhelmed by manpower, but we'll see how many I can take with me. Oh yeah. Does anybody think it would be a bad idea to use the fire extinguisher as they come in the door? Will I have to personally clean all of their gear?

Why the legs? If I'm supposed to play a part, then that's what I will do. If I'm left to my own imagination, it's going to get very strange . I've got batting gloves for my hands. I can run the gun with either hand, and they will protect against a round getting under the skin. I work on cars for a living and my hands take a beating everyday, so I'm hoping that will counter the light weight gloves. A spare set of socks for, well, you know, will be with me. I'll also be wearing a vest. I asked, nobody said no, and if I were really hijacking a bus I'd be wearing it.

I'm not sure exactly how the day is going to go down. It could be a bunch of entries, or a drawn out negotiations. Either way, I'm looking forward to throwing them for a loop with every opportunity. Bought some new gloves last night, got the clothes, we'll have face masks and neck shields, I think I'm set. As far as safety goes, everyone is checked three times before going in to make sure that nobody has a live weapon or ammunition. No flashbangs and no beating up the role players. I'm thinking that I'll have to somehow stay clear of the rather large windows that run the whole length of the bus and make them come inside. There are two doors on the bus, but I can shut down the middle one mechanicaly from the inside, not sure about the front door. With 15 hostages, I can pretty much surround myself the entire time and make their job as difficult as possible. How about some ideas for demands? If I get to make some demands, it might as well be absurd. 100 ponds of jelly beans sorted by color, a swimming pool filled with blue jello, etc... I'm taking a camera, so hopefully I will have time for some pictures. I'll post them if I get any.

I get to go and play a hostage taker on a bus for a SWAT team scenario this Saturday. One of the guys that I shoot with is a local cop and SWAT team member and he got me in. We will be using simunitions, so I get to shoot back. I'm not sure if this is going to be a negatiations and intelligence gathering deal with an entry at the end, or a few entries to see how well different options work. I know that I will get 15-20 hostages, so I will have some bargaining power, or at the least some good shields . I can't wait, this will be the first time I've got to play with simunitions. Hopefully I will be getting to do some more of this role playing in the future.