RTJ

Thanks for the kind words about Todd. For the record - I was not implying that any malice was intended here. Perhaps I'm just over protective (And very proud!) Todd's Facebook page is: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Todd-Jarrett/301246729784 Safe shooting to you all, Rebecca

I thought I would take an opportunity to offer a little insight into Todd’s new venture. As you all now know, he has left his long-time position with Para. He is forming his own manufacturing company, Strike Force Mfg, where he will make and sell rifles, pistols, and parts. This has been a dream of his for a long time, and as an expert of the 1911 he has the knowledge to make superior and reliable guns and accessories. Over the years he has worked with many companies and individuals and has come to understand what customers really need and want. He is excited now to be able to use this experience to offer his own line of firearms and parts. It is my sincere hope that his fellow shooters will offer him support in his new endeavor. I have to admit that it is a disappointment to read comments that poke fun at someone who should have earned a little more respect after being a leading figure in our sport for so many years. The bottom line is Todd has proven to be an expert when it comes to firearms and it is his intention to share his expertise with you and offer you top-quality products. Please check out his new Facebook page and look for a new website and more information about Strike Force in the coming weeks. Feel free to contact him with any ideas you may have. Thank you for your support! Rebecca

Thanks to all of you for such kind comments! As fellow shooters, your kind and encouraging words mean more to me than anything published. I was certainly honored to earn high lady this year among such accomplished lady open shooters. As I posted in another thread, my biggest disappointment in the Front Sight article was that I felt it labeled my accomplishment (and Megan's right on my heels) as "no big deal" when there was such stiff competition among past national champions. Regardless, I'm excited about my accomplishment and thank all my fellow shooters, friends, and family for their support. Sincerely, Rebecca

I debated on replying to this, as I certainly do not want to give the impression of being "stuck up" over a magazine article. And as Megan said, I mean absolutely no disrespect to others who were in the article. They are great shooters and SHOULD get coverage. However I have to admit I was also disappointed at the lack of coverage for achieving high open lady, as well as Megan's performance right on my heels. The main reason being because we had such stiff competition - coming out on top amongst such skilled lady shooters was certainly the highlight of my shooting career. It was slightly embarrassing as the small mention in article made it seem (to me) as if it was "no big deal" when most of us know how many extremely talented lady open shooters there really were at that match. I do understand it is difficult to get good coverage, especially at a mud bowl. I did, however, give an interview and offered more comments on my match and my season (and thanks to Alan for offering pictures!). I am fully aware that I was not/am not that well known in USPSA and that is OK - after all, this is a hobby for me. However I guess it is as Flexmoney says, there are many who deserve to be recognized and are not. That is unfortunate. Regardless of what is or isn't written on paper, I am proud to now be in the company of open national champs such as Athena, Kay, Doni, Lisa, Julie... And I greatly appreciate the support of my fellow shooters, friends, and family who helped me get there. I think the last line of this article was the best part and meant the most to me - "The ones that overcame difficult conditions, digging victory out of the mud and rain to defeat the World’s best, they deserve to be called “National Champions." Respectfully, Rebecca

kgunz, I agree with you totally. The classifiers we shoot are often speed shoots, which require fast splits and due to the nature of upper body strength, men are typically better at this. My strengths lie in things like figuring out how to shoot a stage (which is part of the game), shooting on the move, and precision - where I don't have to have as fast of splits. As I said in my previous post, my personal desire has nothing to do with classification, but about shooting to the best of my ability. I think that's all anyone should strive for and I'm glad to hear that you and your wife agree! I do agree that much of the reason men dominate is the physiological differences. I don't mean that as a slight either, but it is true in the upper tier of men competitors. As we know there are plenty of guys that women regularly beat, but it's those top guys that have set the bar so high. All that being said, I am proud to be among the top lady shooters - after all I am a lady, and as Julie said, ladies and men are different for a reason! Thank goodness

As a lady shooter that has been around for a while now, two thoughts came to mind when I read these threads. The First: "This is not worth responding to". The second is: I agree with Athena (congrats world champ!) and some others that the classification system we have is not a true gauge. It should be based on Nationals/major match scores. And if you look, there are only a handful of guys that consistently shoot in the top 5% year after year. Personally, the classifiers we shoot don't cater to my strengths and I don't think they cater to most women's strengths. I do believe that the greater upper body strength of men is a large factor as to why they are often more successful than women at matches. Classifiers tend to be speed shoots without much or any movement and frankly, I don't think that is a fair test of overall shooting ability. That and I do believe there is a lot of corruption of classifiers being shot over and over at the local level, just to achieve that paper GM status. My personal desire has nothing to do with my classification - it is to go to matches and shoot to the best of my ability. I'm not sure who honestly thinks that the top lady shooters are not shooting "high enough" percentages or are "mediocre" competitors. I know that I had to work extremely hard to not only beat the other top ladies at the Nationals this year, but also the other 80% of the people I shot against, most of who were men. 2nd and 3rd A class in open was won by ladies. I certainly did not see my performance as sub-par and certainly did not do it for any other reward than shooting to the best of my ability against world class competitors - men and women. And as someone else also pointed out, just the sheer ratio of men to women helps to explain why more women aren't at the top of the page. I don't know of any sport in the world that does not have separate divisions/competitions for women and men. There is a reason that women golfers aren't competing against Tiger Woods. There is a reason that there is a handicap in bowling. People (men or women) do have different abilities and I believe that's why USPSA has a classification system in the first place...regardless of the flaws I may see in that system. If you take away the plaque for high lady, take it away for all divisions and classes and see what result it will have. Lastly, I think it's unfortunate that folks are criticizing women for not doing better when we should be encouraging any and all women to get involved and stay involved in the shooting sports. Now more than ever. Rebecca Jones

Yes I have gotten to see some, thanks. See you in a couple days! Rebecca

When someone stands in the foreground, near the camera, it brightens up the whole view. I wonder if she could place something out there (or a butt, ha) to brighten it up. Thanks Sharyn. It was fun to get a shout out from my guy and to get to watch him shoot Rebecca

Thanks, Dad and thanks everyone! Rebecca

I thought it was pretty cool, I was wondering what you TJ did with the gun from the 1000 "test" to the target being shot, it shows those were rounds 5000k+ what happened during the 4000k rounds we didn't see? Just one more quick clarification. Todd shot 1000 rounds through the gun for other shows on DownRangeTV, cleaned it and then did the 1000 round torture test. After this, 5 of us shot the remaining 3000+ rounds that day before he shot that group...we put a little gun butter on it somewhere in the middle of those 3000 rounds but that was it. The gun never missed a beat in 5K rounds with only one cleaning after 1K. We couldn't believe the accuracy was still there after all of that. Pretty cool!

Speaking for someone who was present at this torture test, I can tell you that it definitely wasn't "pointless". I think it was a perfect way to show the reliability and functionality of this Para 1911. Yes, of course it was somewhat for fun and laughs, however it was not as simple as it looked - shooting 1000 rounds in just over 10 minutes was not only a huge strain on the gun, but also on the operator. But the gun made it with Zero malfunctions...wow. And as for the missed reloads... I don't care who you are, 37 degree windy weather and roughly 125 reloads, you're going to miss a few...big deal. Since nothing like this had been done before, we didn't know that 3 mag loaders and 24 mags couldn't keep up with Todd' finger Obviously his loads must have been pretty good overall.. I know I am biased, but I certainly was impressed to see someone be able to make a firearm function under that type of stress and see that gun hold up and still be so accurate. Check out the attached target shot with that gun post-torture test. I am quite proud of Todd and Para-USA and the others involved in this test. Overall, it was a fun and informative test of the gun...that's what the goal was. Michael & crew did a great job. Rebecca

Hey guys, I'm having a lot of problems with Todd's web hosting service. His e-mail and website are up and down... I'm sorry for the inconvenience! I'm working on it though... Rebecca That addresses bounces with a permanent failure.

Thanks very much Angel, Rebecca

Thank you! Take care, Rebecca