38superman

What are you loading with N110? Back in the day, I used H110 and WW296 for magnum handgun loads. At that time Blue Dot or 2400 was a viable substitute. Tony

I really can't see using N310 in a 38 Super. It's just way too fast. I don't have the facts to back this up, but I suspect you couldn't begin to make major without dangerously high pressures. You might be able to make it work for minor power factor but I'm sure there are more suitable powders around. The best advice I can give: Forget about it. Tls

I saw this when it aired a few weeks back on "Boston Legal". Laughed so hard I almost soiled my underwear. My wife got me started watching the show and it is the largest collection of disfunctional, outrageous individuals ever to populate a law firm. It is so outlandish you can't help but be entertained by it. Sadly it is just more hollyweird liberal brainwashing of the masses. These days the message is blatant. They don't even bother to be subtle about it. The "right wing" conservative Denny Crane is portrayed by William Shatner a.k.a. Captain Kirk. He is portrayed as a slightly demented, womanizing, throw back. They just can't get around presenting a patriotic guy that likes guns as irrelevant and barely in touch with reality. Tls

Thanks for the info. I recently bought a 9mm Springer and still need mags for it. I've had pretty good luck with the Wilson Combat mags in my 45's. Maybe I will give them a try in the 9mm. Sounds promising. Tls

One gun, three calibers. Big deal. If you really want to impress me, make everything ambi and give me a left handed version. Tls

Wow, I'm really disappointed I couldn't make this match. Projectile vomiting,.. pickled pork stomach,... shaved eyebrows? The Indiana boys know how to party. Tls

I have recently noticed pistol shooters opening ports with the muzzle. I don't know if I really like that strategy. It may save a few milliseconds but I just can't bring myself to do it. My raceguns see enough wear and tear without turning them into battering rams. I can't help but wonder if you don't run the risk of pushing the gun out of battery and creating a misfire. It seems to me that using a gun in this fashion invites a bullet hole through the port and a shooter going home with an AD. Tls

That's easy enough. In 38 Super where I was using N105, I now use 4756. In 40 S&W where I was using N320 I now use Titegroup. Tls

I normally shoot a 230 gr round nose over Titegroup. However, I am moving away from RN in my .45's and going to solid base bullets. In the future I will be using Zero 230 HP's or MG 200. I need to do more testing to see which one performs best in each of my guns. I really like the Montana Gold 200 gr bullet. It is very accurate in preliminary testing. I like the way it punches a big clean hole in the targets. They are really easy to see (and to score). Tony

If you're cutting back on your match schedule this is not the place to do it. Tennessee is a Must. Every time I have been there is has been great and I'll definitely be back again this year. Just as a side note, I noticed it is not listed in the match schedule on the USPSA web site. I wonder why? I suspect Hop will be issuing a challenge to wheel gunners to attend. You wheelie guys will have to go some to beat the Mississippi Classic. I've never seen so many round guns at a match in my life. They seemed to be everywhere. Tony DVC

I like Shooting USA and tend to watch it more than the others. Obviously, I prefer the segments on competition shooting. The segments I don't care for are the trick shot artists. I'm sure it takes a lot of skill to perform these "circus stunts" with a gun or a bow, but I just don't relate to it. Based on the previous posts, it sounds like I need to pay more attention to "Shooting Gallery". Tony

Dan, If you really think that some of your fellow officers are staying away from matches because they might be "shown up", why not try to get a few together and run your own squad? I hope none of those "old fat guys" are making your buddies uncomfortable by gloating. IPSC is a highly specialized skill set and takes time to learn. We need to grow our membership. Making newbies feel inadequate isn't the way to do it, no matter what they do for a living. Just as a side note: I once walked out of a restaurant with some friends just a police officer was making an arrest. As we walked into the parking lot I saw an officer with gun drawn about 20 yds away and the suspect about 10 yds away. The suspect was directly between us and the officer. We were all in the line of fire. I was practically looking down the muzzle. I remember thinking, If this guy shoots were all in trouble and instictively put myself between the gun and my wife. The perpetrator surrendered without incident and I found out later the guy had just robbed a convenience store at gun point. I hope that officer is not one of those that needs a lot more practice. Tony

When I recently went to a Manny Bragg class I had 2600 rounds of ammo and two race guns in my vehicle. (Along with my carry gun). While driving I wondered if I might end up on the 6 o'clock news. I could picture being in handcuffs, surrounded by guys with "BATF" and "FBI" written on their jackets. I can hear it now. "Heavily armed gun nut apprehended on I-65". Public now safe. You can go back to watching reruns of "Friends". As for the attitude Jason is facing, I have noted that there are many LEO's that play this game. Some are outstanding, others are average. I don't know how their hobby is received by others in their departments, but I'm betting there is a lot of skepticism and even ridicule. Probably has to do with big egos. I couldn't count the number of officers that come out to play and never come back. It's a pity. I have long said that IPSC is only a game and not tactical training. However, I can't help but believe that all that shooting and gun handling wouldn't give them an edge in a tough spot. Tony

Saturday I went to a local club match at Central Alabama Practical Shooters. Their club matches feature 4 pistol stages and 2 rifle stages. I bought a JP last year with the intent of taking up 3-gun, but haven't gotten around to it yet. This seemed like a great opportunity to drag the rifle out and give it a go. I felt clumsy and awkward since I didn't know what I was doing. It was strange being a newbie all over again after 4 years of USPSA. However, the JP did it's job and when the results were posted I didn't do so bad. Finished in the middle of the pack (8th of 16). This format is a nice change of pace and I really liked it. I will definitely be back for more. Tony

You're right Nik, I did leave out some other costs. I added the third vehicle to my insurance, and by raising my deductable from $250 to $500 the net increase was only about $200 / year. The car has a 100,000 mi warranty so the only maintenance should be incedentals such as oil change. etc. I'd have to change the oil anyway if I was putting those miles on my truck so I don't think that's really an increase. When you weigh all the considerations, I still think it makes sense. Besides, somebody has to conserve gas for those guys in the F350's that blow by me on the interstate doing 90 mph. Tls Oh, just one other thought. When it comes to paying tax dollars to farmers for subsidies, I'd rather do that than spend those tax dollars (billions) to send soldiers to defend oil fields in Kuwait. Just my $.02

A new car may not make sense for a lot of folks but for me it did. I have to do a lot of travel and last year I put 25,000 miles on my truck. On days I am not traveling I am commuting locally. I own a Ford Expedition. I make good use of it and need a large vehicle from time to time for people and cargo. I'm not going to sell it and take a beating. However, it doesn't make sense to drive it daily when I don't need the space. The financial side works out like this. Since most of my driving is on the road I will use hwy mileage for my calculations. The truck gets about 19 mpg, the Focus about 35. 25000mi / 20 mpg = roughly 1315 gal x $3.70 = $4,868 year fuel cost. 25000mi / 35 mpg = roughly 714 gal x 3.70 = $2643 year fuel cost. The fuel savings is $2225 / year. The car payment is $3600 / year. The net result is I get a new car that costs me an extra $1,375 year. Thats a new car for $114 month. Exxon subsidizes the rest. This is calculated at current prices, if gas goes higher the savings goes higher. Once the car is paid for I can sell it and recoup all my money. I also get to do the world a favor by not burning an extra 600 gals of fuel every year. Eat your heart out, OPEC. Tls

Georgia. No question about it. The weather is warm enought to shoot year round. If you live in the Atlanta area you can shoot somewhere nearby every weekend. There is at least one indoor club that shoots one night (Wednesday I think) every week. There are quite a few shooters in the Georgia section so the level of competition is quite high. Furthermore, the laws in Georgia are gun friendly relative to most other states. Maybe that's why there are so many clubs. You can definately burn a lot of powder in the Peach state. Tony

At this point for myself it is ALL bout saving money.......$3.79 foreign oil gas or $4.66 "flex" gas.....Like I said, this was her first tank and a lesson well learned....Up until couple months ago you could not find a station that offered it, the Shell station is the only one on our side of town that has it......I never imagined it would cut the milage by 30% Gonna park the truck, let her start driving the work car Hyundai Sonota and I will just have to SLUM it in the vette....28 Hwy 21 around town......but then I can also get 14 around town too. Good idea. I own a Ford Expedition EL. It gets decent gas mileage for a large SUV (just over 20 mpg on the highway). I really need a large vehicle from time to time but just can't afford to use it to commute to work anymore. I just parked it and use it when I need it. A couple of weeks ago I bought a new Ford Focus (36 on the hwy). It is an excellent vehicle and I really do like it. I figure the money I save on gas will offset most of the payment. It's as if Exxon-Mobil is paying for the car. I'd rather put the money in a car and have something to show for it than just give the cash to OPEC. Tony

+1 The "flex fuel" is E85 Ethanol. It doesn't produce the same mileage as gasoline and probably isn't cheaper to use. However, we have to start getting serious about moving away from oil dependence. Brazil uses E85 in all their vehicles and is now energy independent. They import no oil. Worldwide demand is going to keep pushing prices higher and eventually demand will outstrip supply. Better to run E85 than run out of gasoline. I don't look forward to seeing gas shortages and mile long lines at the filling station. If you think it can't happen, you weren't around in 1972 during the Arab oil embargo. Tony

I have been loading on a 650 for a couple of years and have never double charged a case. I have produced one squib. That scares me as much as a double charge. When it happened, there was no noise other than the click of the hammer falling. I thought I had a failure to feed so I racked the slide and kept going. The only thing that saved me was that the bullet didn't travel far enough down the bore to allow another cartridge to chamber. The gun didn't quite go into battery. I have a powder check device on the loader that's supposed to alert me when a case has too much or not enough powder. In spite of this, I found a way to omit the powder in one of the many thousands of rounds I have pumped out of the 650. Since then, I bought a small inspection mirror with a telescoping handle. I took a hose clamp and clamped to the back of the 650 frame. The mirror is round and about the size of a quarter. It has a swivel built into the handle and I can set it to look down into the case as I'm working. That way I can visually verify that there is powder in the case as I'm placing the bullet. I find this especially comforting when using powders like Titegroup. Without the mirror I can't see the powder at all while loading. A normal charge doesn't even fill half the case in a .40 or 45. Nothing is fool proof but this adds another layer of defense against the dreaded zero/double charge. Tony

Try Action Shooting Supply. They sponsored the Mississippi Classic this past weekend and had some at the vendor table. Tony

John, I really enjoyed the match. Everyone involved did a good job. I hope to be back next year as a match sponsor. Tony

I'm working this morning in Nashville. Going to bug out early afternoon and hit the road. I still don't figure to make it to the hotel until late..... long drive. Next year, could we have the Miss. Classic in Birmingham? Tony

Mike, I think you would like Huntsville. It's not a major city like Atlanta or New Orleans but it's the largest city in North Alabama. I'm guessing population somewhere aroung 150,000. Because of the military and aerospace industries it is very modern and high tech city. It has all the amenities that you would expect to find in any major city with exception of professional sports. I live in Albertville which is about 40 miles south. If you like water sports like fishing, boating, water skiing etc. Guntersville Lake is a short drive away. As for shooting, Huntsville has a USPSA club called Rocket City Shooters. There are various other clubs in north Alabama and central Tennessee depending on how far you want to drive for a club match. The winters are mild enough that you can shoot year round. Come on down. If you want to come and spend a weekend, you can stay with me and I'll be happy to show you around. We'll teach you how to say Y'all and eat BBQ. Tony

Way to go Dan. Welcome to the jungle. Tony