38superman

Now I know you are too much the gentleman to either brag or make excuses so in the interest of maintaining the honor of TSS, IDPA and the USPSA I gotta ask, did you kill as many of them as they killed of you? I could not tell.... Every exercise ened with me face down in handcuffs with some burly cop's knee in my back..... Knee in your back? Merlin,..... I can't believe you let them take you alive. Tls

At long last we have a ruling from the highest court. The 2nd amendment means what it says. The right to bear arms is a right bestowed on individual citizens. The court has restored my faith and hope for the future. LET FREEDOM RING. "It is so ordered". Tls

I am left handed and find that using my trigger finger to drop the mags works very well for me. The big advantage is that I can drop mags without shifting my grip on the gun. I have owned pistols such as an XD-9 with an ambi mag release and still chose to drop the mag just as I do on a 1911/2011. There is a bit of a problem though. I couldn't begin to use a mag button. A button would be too close to my trigger finger and I would be dropping mags by accident. Even without the button I still occasionally drop a mag when I didn't mean to. This doesn't happen often but can occur in situations that rattle the gun and shooter such as going prone. Even so, I am so used to engaging the mag release with my trigger finger that I couldn't imagine doing it any other way. Tony

She's a beauty. If you think you like that baby now, just wait. Shoot it for a few years and see how you feel about it. I own many fine handguns and I'm very fond of them all. Some I shoot regularly and others are safe queens. However, If I could only keep one, it would be my SVI. I love that gun. It has served me well. Tony

It's a pretty long trip from where I live, but I hope to be there for your inaugural match. Keep us posted. Tony

Now wait a minute. Whatever happened to: "I know I want for sure is the ability to manual focus up to about 6 inches." Anyway, sounds like a good choice. Tls

Brian, Since you don't want to spend a bunch of money, I'd say go with a point & shoot camera. There are many quality cameras to choose from. Stick to Nikon, Canon, or Sony and it will be hard to go wrong. These cameras will focus pretty close and have built in flash units. Since you primarily want web quality pics, resolution even in a low end camera should be sufficient. If you must have a manual focus you are probably going to have to go with an SLR. It would be hard to find an camera with removable lenses that can focus that close on the cheap. Sounds like you would need to have a macro focusing lens. In that case D40 or D80 Nikon with a 60mm macro is just the ticket. Tony

I'm not quite sure what your question is getting at. Are you trying to pick an entry division? Are you trying to pick a gun and can only afford one? Since you set the guidelines, I will give you a simple answer. If I had to pick between the two divisions, it would be Single Stack. I like 1911's. It's that simple. Now that we got that out of the way, let's get outside the box. If you can only afford one gun and you want to come out to play, consider this: With a .40 cal Glock or XD or M&P you could play in 3 different divisions. Fully loaded magazines let the gun run in Limited at major power factor. Load down the magazines to 10 rounds with major ammo and your good for Limited 10 Both these options give you much more freedom for gun and magazine placement. Load 10 rounds of minor ammo and you can play in Production. Fully loaded with hot ammo, and presto, ... carry gun. That's 3 USPSA divisions plus carry. That's flexibility..... on the cheap. Tony

My reaction to the title of this thread "6.5 Grendel Dies" was similar to yours Dale. I thought, "someone killed the 6.5 Grendel"? I've heard of the cartridge but don't know much about it. I thought the 6.8 SPC was the future of the assault rifle. I've long felt the military needed a heavier slug. The trick is to get more energy without sacrificing the advantages of weight and capacity the .223 brings. A cartridge such as the 6.8 SPC that works in an AR-15 action would seem to make sense. It seems that there are now other contenders in the alternate cartridge arena. I've seen rifles in the market place for the SPC but have yet to see one chambered for the Grendel. As for the dies, I'd spend the extra money and go with the Redding. I have Redding dies that have produced untold thousands of rounds year after year. The extra money for the Redding amortized over a gazillion rounds comes to.... where's my calculator? Tls

Last night on the evening news, I saw sandbagging operations going on in Quincy. I wonder if PASA Park is at risk for flooding? It's really not far at all from the river. Anyone know? Tony

Outstanding. I love positive publicity. We need all the help we can get to grow the sport. Tls

I have a Dillon 650 for high volume competition pistol ammo. RCBS Rockchucker single stage for precision rifle ammo. Thinking seriously about a 1050 or 2nd 650 to cut down on tooling changes for different calibers. Tony

I don't want to come across as being bitter toward UPS but,.... In my experience you can expect them to disavow the insurance anyway. A few years back, I used UPS to ship a computer monitor. It was taken to a retail shipper called "Mail Boxes Etc." This is the company chain that later was bought out by UPS and became the "UPS Store". The monitor was insured for $800 dollars (replacement value) and was packaged for shipment by the retail store. It was double boxed and double insulated with bubble wrap and Styrofoam. In spite of every precaution possible, the monitor casing of the monitor was virtually destroyed in shipment. UPS first started out by simply denying the claim. They stated that it was not properly packaged. This was done without any investigation on their part. I can only assume this is the default position. The store owner who packaged it (and was trained by them in proper packaging) took exception. After much correspondence and wrangling, the best we could do was get them to pay $57 for parts to repair the monitor housing. That's a far cry from the insured value of $800 that I paid for. If I'd packed it myself, I wouldn't have stood a prayer of collecting anything. The shipping insurance is by UPS, not a third party. It is a profit center for them. Based on previous experience, if I ever have to make a claim, I expect a fight. Tony

In which case it would be *very* unlikely for them to have governmentally recognized common carrier status. You may be right about that Rob. It could be common carrier regulation that prevents the retailer from shipping guns. When I made the comment about UPS policy vs. government regs, I wasn't talking about retail stores. I was referring to being forced to use "next day" shipping when I take it to their main terminal. As far as I know, the government couldn't care less if my package goes next day or 2nd day or ground. "Next day" is UPS policy. In fairness to UPS, there may be reasons for this that I'm not privy to. That said, I have questioned UPS personnel many times and one answer is that they want an adult signature. The other reason they give is that they want the gun to go through their system as quickly as possible. This is to minimize the chance of employee theft. My response? If a signature is an issue, they could require a signature without dictating next day shipping. Theft? So you as a corporation are unwilling to bond your employees, do background checks or whatever is necessary to mimimize the risk to items in your care. Instead you want specific customers (gun owners) to subsidize your security at their expense by using your highest cost shipping option. This on top of the cost of insurance. I may have to deal with it but I don't have to like it. Tls

The UPS retail stores will not ship firearms. I always take them directly to the terminal. If you do so you should not get any static. However, I often take the guns to a retail store to have them packaged and made ready for shipment. The aggravating thing is that the firearm has to go "next day". This has nothing to do with government regulations. As far as I can see it is only UPS policy. They want an adult signature and next day shipping guarantees that. At least that's how it was explained to me. I think they just want to get deeper into my pocket. I suppose you could just declare it as machinery or parts to get around this but I never do. I've never tried Fedex so I don't know how they work with firearms. If any UPS employee tells you they don't ship firearms, they are idiots. They ship many thousands of them every day. How do they think the guns get from the manufacturer to the gun shops in the first place? Carrier Pidgeon? Armored Car perhaps? Tony

I think I deserve special treatment. It is like me to get special treatment. I like it when people treat me special. (Lanny quit that!!!! You'll get me in trouble....) PM my favorite mod? I'm supposed to have a favorite moderator? Who knew? If I pick the right one can I then get special treatment too? There are plenty of polictical threads I've been dying to start. Tls

Rebuttals are not allowed in "What I Hate" so please don't take this as argumentative. I'm not sure who or what makes you feel that some members are behaving badly. From my point of view, the discourse on this forum is mostly friendly and cordial. The moderators stay on top of things, sometimes a little over zealously in my humble opinion, but generally do a good job. There are many controversial issues within practical shooting and a lot of shooters are passionate in their viewpoints. I've seen some spirited disagreements from time to time, but nothing that was allowed to get too far out of line. We can agree to disagree without the personal attacks and flaming that mark so many other forums. A great many of the members here are people I know and shoot with regularly. There are many more I haven't met, but have done business with. I have sent thousands of dollars in secured funds to members across the country. I did this in good faith and have always received the goods. That would seem to indicate that most members here abide by a code of honor. If not, I wouldn't hang around. Respectfully. Tony

I load 8.5 gr behind a Zero 125 jhp in my ProSx shorty. I makes about 166 PF. This seems to be the sweet spot in my gun as faster loads tend to produce more dot movement. Tls

Oops, Double post. But it's worth saying twice. Go Mom Go. Tls

You GO girl. Show 'em how it's done. I love motivated people Tls

I routinely travel to local matches that require up to 1 1/2 hrs. each way. I have no problem with going to club matches up to a 100 mi. radius. Fortunately I have 2 or 3 clubs within that range. I might be willing to go up to 150 miles if I didn't have better options, but not more than once a month. As for what constitutes a "good" match, they are all pretty much the same. Typically, 5 or 6 stages with a classifier. I particularly like the format at the Central Alabama club which has 4 pistol and 2 rifle stages each month. I also like the way North Tenn. Practical Shooters runs a match on both Sat. and Sun. with a second gun match both days. It makes it easier to attend if I have two days to choose from. I also like the option to shoot in multiple divisions. Tony

That's a load of bull. Most competition loads for the 38 Super run at relatively high pressure. The cases probably won't last as long as a low pressure round like a .45 However, any load that would render a case unusable after one firing is way too hot. Most, shooters that reload the super are comfortable with at least 5 or 6 firings before retiring the cases. That said, I don't even think of picking up brass at a major match. Most of them are lost brass matches anyway. At club matches I may go back and pick it up but often don't in spite of the expense. There's no time while the squad is shooting. Later, if my back hurts from being on my feet all day and I am tired and hot, I may decide to sacrifice the brass and go find a cold beer. When I practice it's usually a lot of stand and shoot drills. The brass is pretty much in a given area and easy to find. Then I definitely pick them up. Shoot them until the cases won't pass the same inspection criteria that you would apply to any other caliber. Tony

You have chosen wisely. T

+1 3N38 could probably produce some really hot self defense loads. I suspect you would likely have to load it short to get the pressure up. Otherwise, lots of unburned powder and massive muzzle flash. If you want to load 200gr in a .40, N340 works great. IIRC, I was loading MG 200 with 5.5 gr and 1.175 OAL. This produced a reasonably soft, accurate load with the power factor about where you want it (in my gun). I changed to N320 when I decided to go down to a 180 gr bullet. I like the 200's but you really feel the extra weight when you're lugging several hundred in your range bag. Tony

Yes, I would generally take that as a complement too. Watch the show and tell me if you think it's just more propaganda. I'll be expecting a full report. Tls