AustinMike
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Posts posted by AustinMike
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Nitrile gloves from Harbor Freight - I wear them when handling dirty brass and while reloading. They're a good thing and cheap, usually around $7 for 100 gloves on sale.
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How is she planning on carrying? Women have the advantage of the purse as a carry option, which allows a bigger gun to be carried easier. So, maybe instead of looking for a small gun, look for a gun that fits her hands and that she can control under recoil rather than letting size be the primary guide. If she still wants a small gun, you could also suggest that right she qualify with a heavy semi-auto, like a 92F, then carry a revolver. She could borrow a gun or possibly rent from the range. With the right grips and 38sp ammo, J-frames are a darn good carry option and simple for the casual shooter to deal with.
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Ross, I'm convinced it was the bullets (Precision Delta 180 JHP.) General Chang (Sheldon) and I went over the gun carefully and didn't find any thing wrong, but did some polishing of the feed ramp, extractor bottom, and breech face just in case. What we did find were some pretty big swings in OAL in my rounds. I had started loading out of a new shipment and only checked the OAL on a couple rounds. OAL was varying from about 1.130" to 1.141", setting the seater to 1.135"! There could have been longer extremes, but that's what we measured. Could have been long rounds dragging on the mag or snagging on the chamber entrance. Upon close visual inspection there were definitely variations in the bullet shape (broader flat points, varying ogive, etc.) This was all in the same boxes/lots. Not real good quality control there! I knocked my charge down from 6.2 to 6.0 (Power Pistol) and seated the bullets deeper. The variation is still there, but the rounds don't exceed 1.135" 99% of the time. I have been chamber checking every round now and setting aside any that don't fall easily out of the chamber (LWD barrel, so it is tight.) I've been through a couple of club matches and Double Tap now with no issues. Knock on wood, I think there was the problem. If Double Tap didn't make it happen, I think I'm good. I'll be ordering from Montana Gold next time around.
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I picked up a used 1100 for $300 and added a Choate tube and easy loader. Runs just fine with good ammo. Can't see the need to spend more at this point.
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Way to go, ya'll!!!!
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I thought it was a great idea to have a bigger one on my limited gun. Being able to drop that mag faster seemed like a good idea. It works so well I now can drop a mag without even thinking of it. As in I don't even think of dropping a mag in the middle of a stage and it happens anyway! YMMV.
+1. My Glocks all have standard releases now. YMMV, but practice overcame the difficulty in hitting the standard release for me. Sucks to have premature ejectulation, especially when all your friends are watching!
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Eric, sorry to hear this! Damn, what an awful situation! Hope you and Zuzu are OK! Definitely get yourself checked out too! Geez, that's scary! I never want to be in that situation. I know I'd come unglued on the attacking animal and with my heart I could end up worse than my pet. Lucy sends Zuzu best wishes for a speedy recovery. She's been doing well, got her stitches and drainage tube out earlier this week and the vet said she is recovering like a puppy (she's 6.) Her spirits are high and she gets more active with each passing day, but not back to 100% yet. We hate to make her wear an Elizabethan collar so she's got on a dog shirt from Halloween and some Ace bandaging to keep her from picking at the wounds. I think she's come to enjoy the extra attention. That reminds me...I need to run the last few vet bills over to psycho dog's owner.
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Pearls Before Swine is pretty funny this week!
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Ross, I should be at ALSPPC Saturday. I'm still trying to get caught up with work and school after being gone all last weekend, but that's my home club so I'll try my darndest to be there for setup and all.
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Ross, you looked very smooth and had great hits out there. You made it real easy on the score keepers! Darn fine performance and congrats on the trophy! You really seemed to be able to get your head in the game and focus. That's something I struggle with (yeah, I'm the idiot who dropped the dummy in front of the wall
!) I could tell you've been working with Dave by your stage rehearsals and it looks like it's paying off.Gear-wise, it sounds like you have it figured out from talking to you. I don't like less than a 15# spring in .40 myself. I sometimes run stock and honestly can't tell that much difference, but the slide on my G24 is heavier. I had issues with mags too when I was using springs that let me cram 20 rounds in. I ditched them and run the extra power springs that I buy from Dawson. Only 19 rounds, but my mags all run fine now. Chamber check all your ammo with the barrel, even with factory ammo. Yes, even with a Glock. Ask me how I know!
Nice shooting with you, hope to see you on the range again soon!
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They shoot well (assuming they fit your hands).
Simple mechanism that is easy for most people to work with (i.e. no professional gunsmithing needed.)
Parts are cheap and abundant.
Mags are still probably the least expensive out there.
Lots of sight options.
Factory rebuilds and police trade-ins can be had for $350ish (although the rebuilt 9mm guns are a little hard to find at the moment.)
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I tried the Sotelo kit in my 2nd gen G17 and G22. Nice pull and break, but the reset was so weak that the trigger safety lever wouldn't kick out far enough to engage sometimes. I also had problems with one of the trigger safeties hitting the frame on the pull in my G22 sometimes, creating a "trigger jam." I ended up returning the kits. Rafael was very cool about it and even sent me some different striker springs to try. Just couldn't make it work to my satisfaction, so he let me return them. I don't know if this was just because my guns are really old or what. I now try to keep the triggers as close to stock as possible - some polishing mainly, but I do like the LWD connector. I currently run a Wolff reduced striker spring, but I bought some stock Glock springs to experiment with clipping coils when I get a chance. Then again, I may end up just using unmodified stock striker springs. Not to take anything away from guys like Sotelo and Vanek, they both make fine products as evidenced by many happy shooters. But a trigger job won't compensate for bad trigger pulling (been there!) The Glock trigger mechanism is such a delicate balance of opposing spring tension that I'm not sure the benefits of major modifications are worth the potential side effects such as light strikes, questionable safeties and so on. I've chosen to keep it simple and just practice. Maybe it's that my guns, which are almost all retired police guns, just don't like those race parts!
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Squad 22, fastest tapers on the range! Great shootin' with ya'll!
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PS -Here's AustinMike gaming a start position:
Damn those clear lenses!
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Overcast days are best for chronoing. I use the sky screens even with clouds, just to be sure. If the sun is out, I've found it's best to do it when it's high in the sky, but not directly over the chrony. If it's early morning or later in the day, try to position the chrony so that the sun is on the side, not either end, to help ensure light is getting to the sensors evenly. I use no-shoot targets in place of the screens sometimes if I'm getting weird readings and that usually helps. If not, make a circle with salt around the chrony and shake a chicken leg at it from each of the 4 corners.
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Weed whackers suck! Damn I hate dealing with those things. My current one is one of the 4-stroke Troy Bilts that takes the conversion attachments. I've tried a bunch of differ manual and self-feed heads, never been happy with with any of 'em. That reminds me...the damn thing was leaking gas last time I used it. Guess I'll have to figure that out before I fire it up this season. I really loathe yard work. My wife loves riding around on the riding lawn tractor I bought a year or so ago. I'm stuck with the trimming/edging duties though.
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Thanks for the kind words, ya'll. Lucy says thanks for thinking of her. She seems to like laying on the futon in my office looking out the window while she recovers. She's not panting much anymore, so the pain killers must be working. She's wagging her tail again. Standing up and walking obviously hurts her. Man, it was hard not to have her run and greet me when I came home today.
Here's wishing for a speedy recovery. We'll have some games of fetch to catch up on!
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My wife was walking our two toy poodles the other day and a big black lab ran up from behind and latched onto our smallest dog, Lucy. My wife did her best to beat the dog off and people in the neighborhood came to help. She didn't hurt and our other dog wasn't touched, but Lucy was cut up bad. Thankfully the damn lab didn't get a good shake on her, so her neck didn't break. A neighbor took them home and my wife rushed Lucy to the pet hospital. No organ damage that they can tell, no broken bones, but bad bruising and many punctures and cuts. They shaved her down and she has stiches everywhere. One big gash has a drainage tube hanging out.
Lucy is my little buddy and I can't even begin to describe how worried and angry I am. We've got several people in the neighborhood with large dogs that get out a lot, including pit bulls. Thank God it wasn't a pit that got her! I've told my wife time and time again to carry a gun or at least bear grade pepper spray when she walks the dogs. Maybe this will convince her. I always pack for this reason and there is no way in hell I would have let this bastard harm my little ones.
She knew where the dog came from and I had no idea what to do, call animal control, a lawyer... While Lucy was in recovery I decided to just go to the house. They seemed like nice people, of course said the dog has never done anything like this before, etc. They said they would pay all of Lucy's medical expenses (damn right!) I already collected a check for the emergency hospital and said I'd be back for payment for follow up visits and anything else she needs. I'm not a malicious person and have no time or desire to sue or anything. Do I just leave it at that? Assuming Lucy recovers completely and everything is paid for? I'm also concerned that the dog will get out again. It won't be attacking my dogs on my watch again, but what if it attacks a child? They have two kids and a couple other small dogs and cats and claim this dog has never done this before.
Dammit, I'm supposed to be shooting Double Tap this weekend and I don't know if I can do it! I'm so pissed, tired, and I've cried my eyes out the past couple days. I just want Lucy back the way she was. I hate that this happened, I hate that she is in so much pain she can barely stand up, and I hate irresponsible SOB's that don't keep their crazy f**kin' animals locked the hell up!!!!
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I shot a match last weekend that had plate racks on two stages. Smoked the first (field course), but blew a speed shoot. I wasn't sure what went wrong, but thinking back, I bet I was focused on the plates and not the front sight. I try to watch the good production shooters when I'm shooting that division. Avoid the temptation to watch and then then try to shoot like a good open shooter! It does seem really slow getting a good iron sight picture, at least at first. It's starting to click for me and it's getting faster. You HAVE to see the front sight aligned in the rear notch and see it rise from there. If you don't, you probably missed! Sometimes just shooting into the berm or running Bill drills and focusing on nothing but seeing the front sight move is good for you.
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Geez... If they can't ban guns, I guess if CA's gun hating politicians figure they can make it more difficult, if not impossible, for people to get ammo.
"Gun control? We need bullet control! I think every bullet should cost 5,000 dollars", Chris Rock.
Not far from reality?
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I had a couple of 1911 buffs harassing me yesterday. Some of the statements, my responses.
"That's way too much Tupperware for me!" Yes, it is a lot of plastic, but they shoot well for me.
"You need a 1911!" I already have one.
"How come you're not shooting it?" Two reasons. First, as I look at my classifier scores, I'm doing better with Glock at the moment. Second, .45 bullets are just two damn expensive right now!
"Glock just isn't an American gun!" Mine says Smyrna, Georgia on it.
"That plastic frame isn't going to last like steel." It's tough enough. How about I let you run over my gun with your truck if you put your 1911 next to it?
"If you're shooting competition, your should be using a 1911, they're more accurate." Would you like to test that theory on a scope sight-in target at 25 yards?
And that was a wrap.
There's always going to be some ball-busting going on at the range. I don't mind, like PB said, it's part of the game and it's human nature. Ford vs. Chevy...whatever. I used to hate Glocks until I shot one in competition and found that once I got used to the trigger that for some reason I do well with them. They work for me, but I'll be seen on the range with a 1911 from time to time. It's not an either-or thing for me. I like 'em both! Glock has its strengths for me. Since I'm not very mechanically inclined, I do appreciate the simplicity of Glocks in that I can work on them myself to tune triggers and what-not. Simple gun for a simple mind, I guess! 1911 goes to a gunsmith when I need something and I could have bought a Glock or two for the money I've spent tweaking the thing!
I do love my 1911 though. Everybody should own at least one. Get a Glock too, if it fits your paw - it doesn't work for everybody. -
I'm guessing with the targets you got dinged with "dimensional" weight. Once a package reaches a certain girth, the shipping companies add weight to account for the package taking up more room in their truck. I order stuff from Midway, usually sale things. Their shipping can be high. If you search for "free freight" on their site, you'll see some items that they do use the USPS flat rate boxes before. I've sent emails to them before about their high shipping costs on bullets and got a prompt response back from Mr. Potterfield. I was told that are experimenting with the flat rate shipping on a few items. I encouraged them to do more of that and advertise it and they just might get more business from the competition crowd. Drop them a line, be the squeaky wheel. Someone is reading the emails there.
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The even nicer thing is that the wife has been nagging me to order my 1050 (Christmas/birthday present) and I just haven't gotten around to it.
I wish my wife would nag me to buy something shooting related! If she said to go buy a 1050, I'd be diving for the phone before changed her mind!
It's about time to send my 550 into Dillon for refurbishing. I think I've worn some pins/bushings out. Have to stop and beat one of 'em back in every couple hundred rounds.
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Cool! Glad someone out here was able to take advantage of it! I'd have grabbed one myself, but I've decided to move to Production and just don't need any more .40s!
!) I could tell you've been working with Dave by your stage rehearsals and it looks like it's paying off.
Here's wishing for a speedy recovery. We'll have some games of fetch to catch up on!
Dog attack
in What I Hate
Posted
Got some pepper spray for my wife to carry now. It might not have helped in her situation because the dog had hold of ours before she knew what was happening and it was windy that day, risking spraying herself and our dogs. I'm looking around for a good walking/whuppin' stick for either of us to carry. I've got my carry gun as a last resort, although it may not be prudent to fire it in the neighborhood unless the animal is trying to tear me apart and the stick isn't cutting it.