Hamar

Unfortunately, I know where there is a blue anodized Firebird upper and lower set that may be for sale. Not cheap but may be for sale........................

Scored a 25, I guess thats not bad for being 45?

I took my family out to the Grand Canyon two years ago. We rented a car in Pheonix and drove up and overnighted in Williams. The next morning, they hold a Cowboy show with a shootout which was cool. Then we climbed aboard the train to the Canyon. It's a nice ride with great scenery. There is food and drink available on the train. Apon arriving at the Canyon, we took a guided tour and had a great time. Lots of intertesting tid bits of info. We also signed up for the sunset tour and we were very pleased with that. The tour guides now where to be for the best photo ops. We stayed overnight at the Canyon and did some sefl exploration and mild hiking the next day. Hopped the train for the ride back to Williams. The ride back is cool too. They satge a train robbery. Cowboys on horse back race up to the train and come through "robbing" folks and then the Marshall who happens to be onboard catches them. It was fun for the adults and fun for the two kids as well. I'd do it again.

My Daughter is 16 and we are in the process of getting her ready to shoot a USPSA match. She shoots her 9mm TZ75 pretty well, She understands the sight picture. Currently she has an issue with muzzle control (180 rule) and reloads. I bought two airsoft "45's" for us to practice with in the back yard. I think this will help her develop the confidence that is needed to safely shoot a match. I am not pushing her, I am allowing her to progress at her own rate. I dont shoot alot of matches anymore but when I do, she goes with me to watch and learn. I'm hoping to see enough improvement in her abilities that she can try a match early next spring. At that time, she will shoot her TZ75 in Limited / minor.

Dan, knowing the idiots up here in Massachusetts, she'd get voted in !!

I told my daughter she could not date until she was married.......... She also shoots very well.

I take my 15 yo daughter to practice with me and she shoots a TZ75 9mm. She is almost ready to start entering the local matches with me. I asked her if she wanted to shoot my single stack .45 but she likes the fit and feel plus the fact that she is so familiar with the TZ that she'd rather stick with that pistol. Now, that gives us only two places to play. Production or limited minor. My problem with shooting the TZ in production is the TZ does not have a decocker so she would have to learn to drop the hammer like on a single action revolver. I can see the chance of an AD is very real with her doing that. So I am going to have my local Gunsmith convert the TZ to single action only and have her shoot limited minor. So in some instances limited minor makes perfect sense.

Thank you for the good luck. I'm going to need it I think. I have to think somebody has some old Witness / P9 stuff hanging around their loading benches that they may want to get rid of...I just have to find them...LOL I'll post pics as I go........

J-Ho, I'm stuck in the crappy state of massachusetts. We have been subject to a list of "Approved Firearms" that we must work with. Unfortunately, none of the new TZ>CZ>EAA firearms are on that list....we caint buy em! Now, I was able to find this EAA Witess 9mm that was in this state prior to these stupid rules and therefore it is grandfathered in. I want to build an open blaster and seeing that its the small frame, here I sit. Now, many moons ago My open blaster was this same frame but chambered in 9x21 (which I shot way more rounds through at 183+ pf than I could ever count) Now that the PF requirement has dropped, I'll go with Major 9.

umm...No? They did not. Maybe I need to start looking now for another avenue in case plan has hit a wall....Thanks for the heads up!

Thanks for the reply. I ordered a longslide from EAA and one of their 6" Match barrels for now. if I find anything better along the way I'm not adverse to changing to the better product. I am trying to build this blaster on a budget. lets see what I end up with and for how much............

I am in the beginning stages of building a USPSA Witness 9mm major blaster. It currently has a 4.5" barrel. I want to increase this to 6" and am wondering if there are slides availabe and who may still produce a match grade barrel that I can thread and mount a comp to. Any advice you have for me would be greatly appreciated. I am set on 9mm major. Thank you in advance, Hamar!

Awesome. Keep me up to date and if you want my help and years of experience, I'd be more than happy to help you out.

Mike, would you like or do you need another to help you if you do run an IPSC practice? I'm sure I could help you out. Contact me and let me know. Hal

Yep..me again..LOL Here is the like to the whole thing.......... http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=33481

Yes, Small rifle primers. I'm loading to 1.175-1.180 I'm using a 180 fmj bullet.

Has anybody worked up a .40 major load (168-170 pf) using w231? I'm loading long and using large rifle primers. I have a large supply of 231 and would love to use that up before spending more cash.......

THanks for the kind words Joel. I remember that practice session and many others at the old Weymouth Sportsmans club working on your shooting skills. That was the good ole days for sure! I think I'll be down your way in 07 for Daytona Bike week. Maybe I could fit a match in there somewhere and shoot with you. It'll be like old times....

John, You have always been kind to me. I thank you for your opinion on my current ability. I havent forgotten the first time I won a match outright. It was up at Wilson Hill in New Hampshire. The match was over and you caught up to me in the lobby of the club, Stretched out you right hand, Told me you wanted to be the first one to congratulate me on winning the match and told me you didnt mind loosing a match to a shooter like me. It meant alot to me then and what you have written here means alot to me now. I do think I have a long way to go though..... As for shooting you open shorty, I'd love to give it a try. Thank you! I'll be shooting Bass River in April and then I go on vacation to the Grand Canyon with the Family. I'll miss the first Manville match of the season. I'll take a rain check on the offer though. It would probably be the May Manville match.

John, I am seriously considering the possible return to Open. If only like Dan says, for the indoor season only. I dont know, Its going to take alot more time and commitment to get up there and run with the big boys again. Heck, right now, I'd be happy if I could just string one complete match together. If I did that I could give the top 4 or 5 spots at our local matches a run.

I dont have a problem with the questions Jon, Heck, I'd have questions too becuse it looks too wierd. I just wanted folks to understand what was going on. I dont feel like I was placed on the spot at all. I've been back now for one year and I'm starting to think about building an Open gun again. I even may start to practice some and maybe do a bit of dry firing. I just cant allow myself to get as deep as I had back then.

Hi Guys, Yes, looks like I am at the top of the A class in open. Let me explain whats going on so you guys can understand whats happening there. First a little background: As one of you said, I joined way back in 1989. I was newly married and my wife worked nights and weekends. This gave me a ton of "me" time. I was introduced to this game and the very first shooter I ever saw shoot a stage was GM Mark Mazzotta. I was hooked and could not believe that somebody could shoot like that. I made it my mission to get to that level. My first year I spent watching and video taping all the great shooters, TGO, Enos, Barnhart and Mazzotta. I would spend hours at night studying their reloads, footwork, small details like not sticking the gun into a window or port, I heard Robbie once say he was a lazy shooter, he eliminates every movement that doesnt help him shoot. I adopted that principal and went to work. I hear alot of shooters say how much they shoot in practice, well, I would shoot 1000 rounds a week, sometimes more. One shot draws, Target transitions, you name it, I practiced it. Along with the live fire, I also dry fired at home between 2-2.5 hours a night. That also included reloads using full magazines of dummy rounds so the weight would be the same as match day. I shot a match at least once a week, sometimes two or three. I made Master class in 1992. 1992 was also the year I retired from the sport. We started a family and my wife was afraid of all the lead and powder in the house (she's in the medical field). I agreed to stop plus I was starting to get burned out. We agreed that when it was time, I could start shooting again. I didnt even shoot one shot in 13 years. In 2003 I had a very bad mountain bike accident ( fell 12 feet at 28 mph and landed on my shoulder. I was 6-1 265lbs at the time) I shattered my shoulder into 15 pieces. Two surgeries later, and 1 year of rehab my range of motion and usage of the left arm is about 50%. I can hardly hold and shoot my Para weak handed. I cannot at all shoot prone because my left arm doesnt move that far. I returned to the sport after Dans S. came to work for the same company I work for. I shot in L10. My match results of course were not even close to what I was doing in '92. I was shooting high C and low B scores as you can see by my classifier results. Seeing what my limitations were after a year, I requested and was granted a classification of B class in L10. Because of the rules, I could no longer hold an M rating in open ( you can only be classified one class below your highest) so my open class was dropped to A. I will tell you this though. I am not going to let my shoulder get in my way. I will continue to shoot and try my best and hopefully move back up to maybe A class. I hope you guys didnt mind the long reply but I wanted you folks to know why things are the way they are. DVC

That was a great article written by Russ James. Just a couple weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to be squadded with three people that were in that article. Russ and Debbie James and Mark Mazzotta. Russ and Debbie hadnt shot not only a match but any shooting at all in 13 years. Mark Mazzotta won the match, Russ and Debbie also showed their abilities hadnt rusted up too bad finishing in the upper half of the results.

Wow, thats a pretty nice offer there SinistralRifleman, To shell out that kind of dough just out of kindness is what our sport is all about. When should he be looking for your donated goods to arrive? LOL..........just pulling your leg.

If you want to remove the black anodize, I know two good ways. Get yourself a can of heavy duty easy off oven cleaner, a plastic tub, safety goggles, an old tooth brush and dishwasher gloves. Spray the easy off on the part and let it soak for a bit. You'll start to see the color coming off in the resulting "suds". Start scrubbing with the toothbrush at this point. You'll have to continue spraying the easy off on. The part will endup kind of a black color but that will polish off. Or, you can mix up a weak solution of hot water and drain lye. same as the easy off method but be careful not to get it in your eyes or exposed skin. Do both of these methods outdoors. You would be smart to wear a mask too. I've used both methods with success.