Genghis

A very high level of excitement/aggression/even anger should work well for activities that require a high amount of strength and a lower amount of precision motor control and analysis, but at least for me it's counterproductive in shooting.

I have the opposite reaction. If I step up to a stage with the adrenaline pumping, it all goes to hell in a handbasket. I might forget my plan, get Mikes, miss reloads, or even get FTE's. Experience has helped take some of the edge off, but I still have to make a conscious effort to relax. I think every person has an optimal amount of alertness where he performs best. Too excited, and you are jittery and make mistakes. Too relaxed, and you can be sluggish and passive.

Flex - Call me at (903) 592-7566 or e-mail me at genghis@healylaw.com. I practice law in Texas and have given a number of CLE presentations on subjects like this. Sean

Later he has that gun and raises it when someone comes to the door, but it's the girlfriend. The gun looked like it had a magwell and a single port comp.

I have 1/3 scale IDPA and USPSA targets, in .PDF and .JPG format. I have printed them out on 8 1/2 by 11 paper and used them for practice with Airsoft guns. You will have to attach them to something like a plain piece of cardboard, but they work just fine. I'll e-mail them to you if you like.

Last winter I was out of town for a convention, and I decided to hit a local match on the way back. I left the hotel a little late on Sunday morning, and risked my life to get to the match through freezing rain. When I got there the gate was locked. Apparently they cancelled because of weather, and I guess I missed the e-mail.

So this was a bad guy who works hard at bettering himself.

Probably true. But I'd like to hear a cool explanation that fits into the plot somehow, like his departed Dad the geneticist was also a world-class shooter. Then have the clairvoyant Hero flash back to the heroic last stand where Dad takes out all the bad guys except one with his trusty S_I . . .

In Heroes this week, Mohinder was a little on edge, and when someone came to his door he pulled a gun before realizing it was a friend. The gun was a stainless 1911 Open gun. I couldn't tell exactly what it was, but it looked like it had a one-port comp, magwell, and extended baseplate. Makes you wonder why they chose that gun.

A friend of mine moved from Texas to Boston a few years ago. He applied to get a cat from the local shelter. He had to go thru a background check and three interviews. They checked his references. He finally lost his temper during the third interview and told the woman how he felt about the process. He did not get the cat.

Or use the method from the old game Car Wars, and have divisions based on cost - $250 division (also known as Saturday Night Special), $500, up to Unlimited. Sean

I shoot both IDPA and USPSA. I think of IDPA scoring as your time on a stage plus 1/2 second for each point dropped. USPSA scoring is points scored per second.

Every time I look into my 14-mo old daughter's eyes, she reminds me of how perfect and innocent she is. I literally cannot imagine the pure evil that would allow someone to do this. There is no punishment severe enough to fit this crime. This is something that makes you want to cry when you hear about it.

Merlin, I figured you more for something like this.

In Standoff this week, the bad guy runs out of the bank he's just robbed, gets surprised by a cop, spins, and busts off three rounds from his revo with JM-like speed and puissance. I replayed it on the DVR, and it looked like the hammer only went back twice. I think they just dubbed the sound of another shot in!

If you're going to issue a NS penalty for shooting the backside of a legit target, then logically you have to award points for shooting the good guy in the back. But this won't be a problem if the stage design states whether each target is a shoot or no-shoot. If the rule in USPSA is "You can do it unless they tell you not to," then this should apply to this situation, too. The USPSA rules don't seem to clearly prohibit engaging targets from the back, so . . .

Some random thoughts: I pay a lot more attention to how I finish overall, rather than how I shoot against my class (C in Limited and Open). No doubt the most fair system would give the prizes to the top overall shooters. But . . . This is a business, and letting the rank and file shooters have some goodies helps grow the sport. You'd have a hard time bringing in newbies if they had to pay high entry fees that just went to buy nicer toys for the GM's. Our sport is unique in that Joe Six Pack gets to compete side-by-side with Michael Jordan. Shooting in a squad with a GM is an incredible experience, but the guys with day jobs need some encouragement. And maybe they deserve to get something from their entry fees. Also, the percent cutoffs are completely arbitrary. Some shooter that finishes in the middle of the pack in C class now might be the class winner if B class started at 50%. Sandbaggers play it like it's a limbo contest instead of a high jump, but I can't believe you can get far in this sport if all you care about is prizes. All I need is a little encouragement from time to time, something to show I'm getting better. I try hard to do well on classifiers, even though it'll line me up against tougher competition. Moving up in class means I'm getting better. Beating higher classed shooters means I'm getting better. Getting prizes is nice, but if that's what I'm after, it'd be easier on the ego and wallet to just go buy them. I'll still go to every match I can make, no matter how you hand out the goodies. The sport is about the journey of improvement. The rest is just window dressing.

Congrats, Harmon! I know how much work that is. Does this mean we'll start seeing you at matches again?

I had a bad experience buying a Jeep Grand Cherokee a few years back. The salesman and sales manager pulled out all the stops to try to milk extra money from me (rust proofing, new car smell, etc.). They also added a $50 document fee in FIVE TIMES after I flat out refused to pay it and threatened to walk out. The last time was in what they sent to the bank, which forced them to redraw the papers to correct the amount. I got a customer satisfaction survey from Chrysler, which I completed and returned. I found out that negative feedback regarding the dealer sent to the manufacturer can get the dealer in trouble.

Wow! Superb explanations. I haven't reloaded .40 or 9, but doesn't the .40 have less empty space in the casing than other calibers with some powder/bullet combinations? That would help explain why a small variation in powder charge can produce a huge change in pressure.

From holster, one target at 7 yards or so: Draw, fire 1 into the A zone, reload, fire another into the A zone. Good practice drawing and reloading. You'll need a timer to gauge your progress. If you don't yet have a timer, you can slow fire and work on technique.

I just went thru IDPA SO school, so this is a timely question for me. This is a very good topic, because it encompasses two questions: 1) Are the IDPA rules good? 2) Is there any harm in deviating from the rules? There are a number of flaws in the IDPA rules. To pick a few: 1) Not being able to reload while moving to cover is not very "tactical." 2) The tactical priority/tactical sequence rules can get really confusing. 3) The equipment rules are arbitrary and unnecessarily complicated. SO's and MD's at local matches have in my experience bent over backwards to keep things fair and fun. This includes answering many of my stupid questions about what can and can't be done, and relaxing rules at times. I think this is a good thing. The best solution would be to fix the rules then adhere to them. If that isn't going to happen, then ignoring the worst rules is an acceptable solution.

I shoot both. I have seen the USPSA vs. IDPA rivalry online, but I have never, ever heard it in person.

Somebody fire up the 550 and work up a Major load for this bad boy!

Worked fine on my HP desktop running XP Media Center.