rvb
-
Posts
1,575 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Forums
Profiles
Events
Store
Posts posted by rvb
-
-
When I was starting out, you could borrow a maximum of 2 1/2 times your annual salary to purchase house if you had 20% down payment. Today the lenders are financing 100% + on homes with variable rate loans. People can barely afford the payments going in. Then the rate increases and the payment jumps up a couple of hundred a month and they can't make the payments. They can't sell the house to get out from under it because they owe more than it is worth.
As stated above, we don't hold people accountable for thier actions any longer. Next thing they will give this a new name and call it an illness and say people could not help themselves. Creditcardaholic or Homeaddict. Then the federal government can come up with some rehab program to bail them out. They need to put this on the congressional investigation calander after they get through with the steroid deal.
It's amazing how much $ they'll offer you... through ARMs, interest-only loans, etc.
I got my (humble) home 5 yrs ago at the age of 25 and the mortage guy acted like I was nuts cause I wanted what I could afford with a 30-yr fixed-rate loan. I didn't want my rate going up, I didn't want to worry about refi'ing in two years time, etc. Things -were- tight the first couple of years but now my salary has increased and life is good and I still don't have to worry about my monthy bill going up, even as rates rise from their "all time low" (you mean people didn't expect them to go up???). Regardless, if the government is going to help people out of their mortages, I want "help" too. Why should I not get handouts just because I was able to live w/in my means and took the time to read the fine print and understand how all the different loans worked? Where's my handout? Why do I feel I'm getting screwed again? Why are people who make less $ than me living in nicer houses and now getting federal assistance?
-rvb
-
I'm not sure John understood the question fully on the other website the way it was written. By his ruling if a gun doesn't fully decock it cannot be used in Production because 10.5.9 would make it a DQ to lower the hammer. I really don't think that was the intent of his ruling and it doesn't make any sense that it would conflict with IPSC (which it does) for the exact same rule.
I agree, plus there's those pesky Sig's where the hammer springs back from "fully down" all by themselves. If it was impossible for them to meet the required starting condition then they shouldn't be on the approved guns list
-rvb
-
rvb
in Range Diary
part 2 from tonights practice...
I had been mucking a little with the gun setup to make it as easy as possible to get the best dot tracking. My setup tonight:
8lb ismi recoil spring, wilson shock buff, egw firing pin stop w/ ~0.040" radius (also running the new 'spare' wilson extractor).
With my 140mm mag w/ the grams baseplate (need to get the mags #'d), i'd get occassional feed problems (3 in 300 rounds) esp when running really fast (0.11-0.13 splits). No other mag seemed to have the problem. It can occasionally be a little stiff to load and I think the follower might need a little trimming to slide in the body smoothly.
Tonight I shot the production gun for the first time since Oct. WOW has shooting the open gun really helped my front-sight tracking and shot calling. I tested some 147gr zero ball ammo I loaded for the virginia indoor match (idpa) where no jhp is allowed. Last time I loaded fmj I forgot to switch the insert in the dillon seat die and I had a lot of crookedly seated bullets that got stuck in the chamber. Over the weekend I loaded 1500 fmjs, and case guaged the stuff I loaded for the big match. Even the few rounds that failed the case gauge ran fine in my EII so I think I'm good to go for the match.
From my above post, I still have some work to do... The dot doesn't always just "settle" back down on target. But if tonight convinced me of anything it's that time and practice will get it where I want it.
-rvb
-
rvb
in Range Diary
I just walked in from the indoor range, and I have to put this down while it's fresh.
It was one of those practices where you wish you had 6 more hours and 1000 more rounds of ammo.
An epiphany. Discovery. Open and Aware.
Man I wish the range wasn't closed so I could grab more ammo and just keep instilling that good feeling, keep watching that dot, keep observing/discovering what I'm doing right.
I've been struggling to learn to tame this open gun, to eliminate the dot dip, to learn the timing. Tonight it all came together. Dot go up while I call the shot, and dot come down. repeat.
Observations...
-Concentration: NONE. watch the dot, but not concentrate on it. Watch what's happening. Tell it where to stop with my eyes.
-Tension: NONE. Arms, shoulders, neck relaxed.
-Grip: A -little- firm (the ol' "gripping a hammer" explains it well)
-Grip2: A compromise in position, not reaching the thumb around as far as I was trying to lately, letting it sit a little more natural in the web (which caused a little more finger on the trigger, but it I wasn't pulling it). Really splitting hairs here, but the difference felt huge (more natural = less tense?).
-Elbows: A little lower than I was used to. Struggling to put a number to the angle... 45 degrees maybe? It felt as if while holding the gun in front of me I just let my elbows fall to a comfortable position.
200-300 rounds per week for about 3 months running timing drill after timing drill and it's starting to come together. There were maybe 10 shots where I found the old ways slipping in and found myself trying to control the recoil.... it was obvious when the dot went way the F off the lens, then all the way to the bottom of the lens, then back up. I just said to myself to relax and let the gun work, to watch the dot go up and down, and immediately I was back on track.
Lots of technical stuff to put on paper and will go over some work on the Beretta, but had to get this on "paper!"
-rvb
-
I've probably loaded 60k 147 jhp zeros w/ 3.35 TG (1.150" oal) over the last couple years since I started reloading. Great load. (132 pf from my Beretta). TG meters out of the dillon very consistantly, too. I've shot some of the VA guys loads w/ N310 and I do like it better, but not better enough to justify the extra powder cost and availability issues (TG is easy to find and cheap).
Some people complain TG is dirty, but with 147s it's such a fine sooty dirt that it never gums up the works (I have a Beretta I practice with that I haven't cleaned in 20k rounds). If you use it in a lower pressure load (like behind 115s) it seems to not burn fully and you get flaky dirty stuff.
I've never really tinkered with different loads for accuracy. This load can keep it inside the Azone at 50yds. I'm lazy and hate reloading so that was good enough for me... there's more important things in my game to spend the time/ammo improving...
Hope that helps.
-rvb
-
rvb
in Range Diary
Been about a week since my last post.
Dryfired about 4 of the last 6 days. Only used the timer on 1 night's practice. Focused on getting my A's, smoothness/efficiency of movement, did a lot of slow draws/reloads, and freestyle accuracy dryfire (focused on trigger control and followthrough). No major revelations this week except I am discovering on reloads I really see the mag starting in the mag well better, and I see the mag better lined up w/ the grip the more leaned over I have the gun. I'm probably at 75 degrees on a super smooth reload where the mag doesn't even hit the well. More importantly, I'm seeing things like that now... bigger awareness.
Ran timing drills at the indoor range this week.
Things I noticed: I did not notice any real difference with the egw firing pin stop. I got it fit with a new wilson extractor. I put about a 0.040" radius on the fps. Debating if I want to keep the egw fps and maybe open the radius to ~0.075 as suggested by hsmith or to back to stock. The stock is quite loose and I like my fit on the new fps, so I may just get a new standard fps and fit it better. New wilson extractor ran great, so I have a spare ready for this season. Asside from regular tensioning and chamfer/smoothing for feed smoothness, I had to take quite a bit off the stop pad. I -may- need to take another 1-2 thou off, I'll look at it this week. The wilson part has a considerably smaller hook than the sti part, but brownells didn't have sti extractors in stock.
What always seems to help my dot dip the most (outside of my grip tension) is adding a shock buf. However, w/ an 8lb recoil spring and buff I still have 2-3 of 100 that didn't feed, but only when I "overgripped" the gun.
Going to get some more powder ordered so I can quit being so stingy with the ammo on my timing drills. Always fighting tension... always overgripping. I can make the dot go up and come right back on target when I'm relaxed and focused on the target and keeping a loose grip. When I start consentrating on the dot, or when tension creeps in and I start adding grip pressure (when picking up speed) the dot starts its up-under-on track. Good news is I understand my problem. Good news is more shooting is the cure.
-rvb
-
I just got one of these in last night from Brownells to try in my open gun (mostly stock Trubor). I've been really working on my grip and running a lot of timing drills to improve my recoil management (keep the dot from dipping under the target as it's coming back down). I wanted to fit a spare extractor and firing pin stop to keep in the range bag anyway so I thought I'd play around w/ one of these, as well as different spring and buffer combinations, to see if after weeks of working on "me" there's something mechanical that can aid me. Plus I thought I might feel more comfortable that should I try light, variable springs this will balance out the time before the barrel unlocks. We'll see if it does anything......
-
appears to have just been updated
-rvb
-
rvb
in Range Diary
Feeling a little frustrated...
200 rounds at the indoor range tonight.
Accuracy was good. A couple of 10-shot 3" groups at 20 yds (25? i dunno, they say 25 I think it looks more like 20) focusing on dot movement and not really looking the shot off, ~1-2sec splits.
ran some timing drills. Still getting dot dip. I can tell it'll take a while to get this subconscious. I can get the right grip strength and tension levels "on command" and get the dot to go up and settle back on target, but I have to remind myself to do it. I should be happy I'm "getting it" but "I want it now!" Even with the dot returning under the target and springing back up, I'm still able to do 0.17s or so at 10 yds and not feel rushed. Am I putting too much emphasis on the "perfect dot track?" Should I just .... shoot when the dot's THERE? No, I know I have to get the timing down and let speed come.
Did a little SHO/WHO from table draws (no holsters allowed) and I'm very happy with progress in my natural sho/who index and splits of 0.3s sho and 0.4s who at 10yds were controlled and in the A-zone.
-rvb
-
rvb
in Range Diary
One post for the last 3 days...
Sat: 90 minutes on the bike, 90 minutes dryfire.
Sun: 60 bike, 90 dryfire.
Mon: 60 bike, 60 dryfire.
The goal the last 3 days for me was to be relaxed driving the gun, free of bad tension*. Focused on As. Focused on wide transitions really snapping my eyes/focus and bring the gun on target. As came eaiser this weekend. Being more relaxed, especially in the shoulders really lets the gun settle smoother. I pulled out the prod gun for a few minutes to test my theory [above] on why I had lost my ability to snap my focus on the wide transitions. I let go of that fear of the dot not being in the lens when settling on the new target and sure enough the dot was there everytime, even doing eyes closed turn-indexing.
I ran the par timer some on Sat and the whole practice on Sunday. I was consistantly ahead of my previous baselines on Steve's drills. Amazing how you ran relax, take the focus off speed and put it on As, and actually be faster. Seems I've heard that somewhere before. Monday was no par timer, just slow mechanics repititions and trigger control.
Tuesday I'm taking the night off (V-day dinner w/ the wife).
Wed I'll be hitting the indoor range... more timing drills!
-rvb
* bad tension: tension that makes you slow, that makes As difficult, that makes the dot unpredictable, that puts a focus on speed.
good tension: muscles pre-"wound", ready to go into action. A desire to get to the shooting. Does not makes your muscles tired or hurt.
This is how I've been evaluating my tension levels the last couple weeks and names I've put to my performance. 'good tension' is needed as I found 'no' tension leeds to being snatchy with inconsitant results. and slower.
-
rvb
in Range Diary
Dryfire was a little light this week, a few minutes here and a few there. Mainly working on trigger control and being relaxed behind the gun.
Started building steel stands and helping Dave w/ his rustyass 1911.
Was bored this afternoon and looking at my classifiers and figured out if I can get >62.1% on my next classifier in open, I'll get into A.
Tonight I got a solid 60minutes of dryfire in on the open gun. No timer. Focused on relaxation. The timer introduces tension. Took note everytime I felt tension creeping into my shoulders. Did my best to mimic the looser grip that was getting me good up-down dot tracking last time I was at the range (no dot dip).
EVERYTHING is more smooth and consistent with relaxation. draws, reloads, transitions, exiting positions while reloading, etc.
Things I worked on tonight....
WIDE transitions. Put targets 120-150 degrees apart. Snapped the head and the eyes. I used to be good at that but the last match I felt my eyes were tracking the gun, and I wonder how long I've been doing it. Perhaps because I was worried about loosing the dot in the lense where with irons there's a better reference for getting back on target? Really wanted to snap my focus, but get the dot to land/settle in the A smoothly. Also worked on reloading while stepping out of a shooting position.
Been dieting/exercising for 3.5 weeks now and I've lost my first 10 lb.
-rvb
eta: Changed my sig line. "Happy learned how to putt, Uh-oh!" from Happy Gilmore. Been spending a lot of "daydream" time thinking about past matches/stages (why I missed shots and where I wasted time) and trying to ID my weaknesses. Happy turned his weakness into his strength and it won him the gold jacket.
-Snapping focus ahead of the gun on wide transitions.
-Calling shot on the last shot in a position before sprinting out.
-Consistent dot tracking.
-too tense
-being smoother when shooting on the move, less choppy with less "stopped" motion when engaging targets
-many more
-rvb
-
I recently got some AR500 plates from here: http://www.handgunsports.com/
I got two 8" circles and an ipsc A-zone-sized target.
I'm just now building stands so I havent' shot at them yet to give any real reports, but thought I'd pass along the option.
-
Thanks guys.
I had looked online before I went out so I'd know what I was looking for... just hoping to find it local and quick.
I need other stuff from brownells so I'll get it from there.
Thanks!
Will post results in a couple weeks.
-rvb
-
125gr jhp here... with 8.7 gr 4756.
173-174pf from a 5" trubor barrel w/ no barrel ports.
Not what you were looking for, but it's "or something close."
-
ok... where to get kroil?
I looked at lowes and an auto shop.
need to be ordered?
Thanks!
-rvb
-
You need to get the stuff that will come off when you fire it out of that bore before you shoot it, or it could go bad. The barrel actually expands and contracts with the pressure of firing, that will loosen the debris that is in the barrel. I would soak it in Kroil for a couple days, wear out a couple bore brushes, and repeat at least one more time. It looks BAD right now, but the rust swells up and when you get it all out the bore might not be as bad as it looks. Skip the JB until you get the rust out and then don't get too frisky with the JB, it isn't going to help much if at all. Get the loose crap out and see what it looks like/
I'll keep scrubbing at it. I've been soaking the bore w/ liquid wrench and scrubbing which is helping. I'll try some kroil and keep at it. I'll leave it up to the owner if he wants me to try bead blasting or a barrel swap or anything.
Thanks, everyone, for all the tips!!!
-rvb
-
Just remember that the British used a different cartridge than the .45ACP. It was something like a .455 Webley and had a small rim. The cartridges are similar but not identical. Please make very sure that you use the correct cartridge as you just might have a huge problem with head-spacing and accuracy. The british cartridge was even lower powered than the ACP. I bought one of these British contract barrels a while ago not knowing about the difference and it simply did not work. The most obvious difference is in the magazines.
I'm pretty sure it was stamped .45ACP but I'll double check.
Thanks,
-rvb
-
BTW, I got a better picture....
clicky:
-rvb
-
and show us PICS of the firearm
Jim
+1
I have a K98 Mauser from WWII that the bore looks as grey as pot metal and there is hardly any
distinction between the lands and grooves. It still shoots a 6" group at 100 with really bad ammo...
Scrubed the bore even with flitz, no change...
Now we know where your user name came from!
The flitz thing reminded me I have some JB around here I use for lapping compound... might give that a try, too.
-rvb
-
A quick pass with a bead blaster will get it out ...but stay off the remaining blueing on the outside of the barrel.
The percentage of original finish (blueing) has a large impact on the value.
The rust is most likely the result of corrosive ammo and no cleaning..followed by long term storage, very common in old military guns
Jim
excellent advice! media recommendation?
Yea, I've been REAL careful of the finish. So far so good, even pulling the plunger tube (with the detents frozen in there, I couldn't do Kuhnhausen's wire pull trick and had to be real careful w/ the vise grips. Kinda nerve racking. Was real careful w/ the ball cutter taking out the crimp too).
-rvb
-
Thanks Jim!
btw, did you click on the pictures to make them bigger?
They still don't show much, I know.
I've worked on cleaning it out for two days now. I've really improved it, soaking/brushing/repeat. But there is still some I cannot get out.
-rvb
-
A good friend recently acquired a Colt 1911A1 marked US Govt and "Released British Govt 1952." It belonged to a friend of his who had been overseas a lot back in the day. The gun has been neglected for probably several decades. Rust was everywhere internally although the finish has held up really well. The slide looks great as does the frame for the most part, but corrosion had piled in making it difficult to remove the mag release and the safety and slide stop plungers were frozen in the plunger tube to the point that I broke two punches trying to get the plungers out and finally had to give and remove the tube. So that's no big deal, I can put in a new tube and plungers/spring easy enough and I think I'll have the gun back in good shape for him. All lugs look good, mechanically I think it's good to go.
The only thing I'm worried about is there is a fair amount of corrosion in the barrel. I tried taking a couple pictures with my point-n-shoot dig camera. If it were mine and it wasn't a collector piece, I'd load some low powered ammo and go see what it'd do... since it belongs to my bud and not something I want to risk damaging, can you give me an idea if I should tell him it's safe to fire?
The rifling is plenty evident, and the bore looks better towards the muzzle.
Here are the best pictures I could do....
... pic 1 removed, pretty useless
edited to add another picture:
Thanks!
-rvb
-
It's in MD now, too (again). HB 517.
http://mlis.state.md.us/2008rs/subjects/guns.htm
serial #s on ammo, 5c tax, buyer registration, no reloading or buying out of state, etc. The works.
-rvb
-
rvb
in Range Diary
It was a good night at the indoor range. It was not crowded. Put 300 rounds through the open gun.
30 rounds of 25 yd group shooting, freestyle. Groups were about 3"-4", which made me happy as I wasn't really focused on "looking the shot off" for best accuracy but focused on being relaxed and getting good dot tracking (no dot dip) while still working the trigger as if I was trying to get good splits. Taking the tension of of my grip/shoulders really helped and the dot was going up and back down right on target. Still could settle a little smoother and more straight up and down but definitely making improvements (like at 25 yds it would settle on the A/C line vs on the "A", I'm getting nit-picky). Since I'm working with a slightly adjusted grip position, I'm happy so far.
Starting with accuracy really helped me be relaxed to shoot some timing drills, so I did just that. I caught dot dip sneaking in a couple times, so I'd stop the drill, get rid of the tension, and try again.
I also got in some sho/who work.
trigger finger placement: Moving the trigger farther out more to the tip of the finger (1/8" or so adjustment) is paying off huge!! Accuracy came easier, I felt I was following through easier, speed was about the same. After the timing drills I pulled the target up to 3 yds and hosed at it (6 to 10 rounds w/ 0.13 splits being the norm) just to watch the dot. MUCH improved tracking. felt a little slow than usual with the trigger finger position (never saw a single 0.11 and only a couple 0.12s) but the groups were better.
It was a good practice, one where you hate it when you run out of ammo and time.
put 45 minutes in on the bike.
loved re-reading the "wanna b speedy" threads.
-rvb
eta: weak hand... found some of the biggest improvements when specifically relaxing the support hand and putting even more "cam" into the wrist.
Manually lower hammer in Production
in USPSA/IPSC Rules
Posted · Edited by rvb
Hi SA,
I was going for sarcasm / devil's advocate (and I happen to like Sigs). From a CZ guy's perspective, why doesn't the Sig have an advantage if they can start from "half cocked"? I've actually done some trigger mods to the Sigs that allow some rediculously awesome triggers (like 4lb DA) but CAN rest at "full cocked" (All safety features work, decocker works, just no "second strike" ability). So would that become an illegal mod to the guys using my triggers?
I think the rule -could- be very simple like "as positioned by the decocker or fully down if no decocker exists." Perhaps we are all way over complicating it here? [most likely].
-rvb