38superman

Be careful out there Stinger. It would be a shame to survive Iraq and break your neck on the range. Welcome home. Tls

I recently ran comparison tests on N320, Titegroup and Clays for my 45 with 230 FMJ. After seeing the results, I went out and bought 8 lbs. of Titegroup. The Clays and Titegroup were close in overall performance but the slide cycle seemed very slow with the Clays. Titegroup was a little snappier on cycle time, had manageable recoil, and held a slight edge in accuracy. Nothing wrong with Clays but I suggest you do some load development of your own and discover what works best in your gun. NOTE: Clays takes up a lot less room in the 45 case than the powder you have been using. IIRC your press doesn't auto index. Take care not to drop a double charge. It won't be as easy to spot as a double charge of N320. Tony

+1 to what the others said. Spend the winter working on fitness. Indoors at the gym during the winter is sure to help your game. There's more to this sport than just shooting. I hope you haven't set your goals unrealistically high. Not many make master in their second year. Good luck with it. Just don't make the rest of us look too bad Tls

I went to see Flags of Our Fathers last night. It was Clint Eastwoods movie about the Marines and Navy corpsman that raised the U.S. flag over Iwo Jima. It was a moment in History that was witnessed by my grandfather, Herman "Yankee" Burns. He was a helmsman on a Navy landing craft and was landing Marines on the beach when the flag went up. Like most men who were there, he would never talk much about the war, at least not to us. I only found out about it because one of his Navy buddies would come to visit from time to time. They would break out a bottle of bourbon and talk to each other about the battle. I was a small child but I would always pull up a chair and listen. The theme of the movie was that the men that survived were brought back to the states and given the full hero treatment. The government put them out there as spokesmen to sell war bonds. They could never understand why anyone would call them heroic because they were just trying to survive. The horrors of what they saw and the grief over the men that were lost almost drove them insane. When the movie was over something special happened in the theater. The credits started to roll and everone left their seats and began to file toward the exits. Then the pictures of the actual men came on the screen with the names of the actor that played them. Everyone in the theater stopped in their tracks. While the pictures of those men were on the screen, not one person moved a muscle or spoke a word. It was an impromptu moment of silent respect. I don't think being a hero is about doing something heroic. It's just about being there and doing what has to be done. It's about men like "Yankee". He was almost 40 years old with a wife and three children when he got on a bus, put on a uniform and went off to do what his country asked him to do. He never knew he was a hero. I did. Tony L Shores Son of a son of a sailor

I have participated in the Point Series every year since I've been in USPSA. However, it will take some dramatic changes to get me back into it. My problem is that some of the matches don't participate even though they promote it on their application. I have seen matches that were listed as points series matches on the USPSA web sight, but did not participate. Some matches are in one year and out the next. How can you possibly plan your schedule around the Point Series when there's no way to know in advance which matches are in or out? I was in 7 majors this year and only 3 of them counted in the series. That made a pretty dramatic difference in the standings for me. Why bother? Tony

I think I might have been tempted to stand up and toss the chair off to the side in one motion rather than hop over it. I wonder how the RO would have reacted to launching his prop into the next bay?? Would that have been legal? Tony

I would probably go with the one that is the most reliable, my 40 cal SVI limited gun. .... or maybe the one that I shoot the best, again my SVI. .... or possibly the one that generally has the most loaded ammo on hand, you guessed it, SVI. .... or I could pick the most accurate, SVI. Decisions, decisions. Shoot your SVI! If you don't have one, cash in your life insurance and get one...... Hurry! Tls

This may be a silly question but are you using 40 S&W cases or 10mm with this load?

It's always a great accomplishment to win your class at nationals. Congratulations. A big attaboy to Ronnie Shores for taking second "B". You will never meet a nicer guy. It's good to see him do well and get some recognition. Those Georgia boys can shoot. Tony

My grips were painted by Jim Shannahan at Advanced Performance Shooting. Jim does a great job and I don't believe my problem has anything to do with the quality of the paint process. He uses automotive grade paint and puts on several coats of paint and clearcoat. He also modifies the profile of the trigger guard and textures the surface of the grip. After taking another look, it appears that the problem is that the factory STI trigger guard is a very tight fit inside the frame of the holster. When adding four or five coats of paint the build-up makes the trigger guard too big to fit in the slot. Force it in and out a few times as I did and you destroy the paint job. Once I sanded the paint off each side of the trigger guard the problem was solved. Since the color scheme I chose was black on top that fades to grey at the bottom. I could have saved myself some grief if I just had Jim paint the grip only and leave the trigger guard black. If any of you guys are using painted grips in a Ghost or other speed holster I would be curious to know how it went for you. Tony

Eric didn't shoot in last year's match, so he did not have an automatic slot. Kenny Here are a couple of more photos of the shooter service ladies, compliments of bpowe and DA45acp. [best Keanu Reeves Voice] Whoa! Helloooo ladies That settles it. I am moving to Open! Tony

I get roughly the same results as wlktheduk. 230 Precision Delta FMJ 4.5 Titegroup WW Cases CCI or WLP primer OAL 1.260 Yields about 725 fps from my 45 Edge. I know there are variances between guns but I can't imagine 175 power factor with 4.3 of Titegroup. Is it possible the plated bullet could account for this? I would check my scales carefully. You may be dropping more powder than you think you are. Tony P.S. I tried 4.0 of Clays but the slide cycle on my gun was slow and lazy. I think I could almost rack the slide by hand faster. Perhaps this could be resolved by changing out the mainspring/recoil spring. Seems like a lot of trouble for whatever benefit may lie in Clays over Titegroup.

While I must admit I have never had any issues with holsters, now suddenly that has changed. I recently had Jim Shannahan paint a grip for my Edge. Jim did a beautiful job and I had the grip installed a couple of weeks ago. Today was my first day shooting the gun from a holster and my new grip went from shiney and new to chewed up in a matter of a few minutes. My holster is an Ultimate Ghost that I have been using for several years. Apparently the numerous coats of paint and stippling on the front of the trigger guard was sufficient to make the gun a poor fit for the holster. The gun didn't want to seat easily into the holster and when it did slip into place it refused to lock up. The gun dragged badly coming out of the holster and the paint chipped on both sides of the trigger guard. Once started, it all the paint on the trigger guard began to flake off quickly. So much for the shiney new grip. Tony

I'm using the powder Bob Londrigan recommended for my Pro Sx. I am using 10.4 grains of N105 behind a Zero 125 JHP (.356) I haven't tried any other powders yet but will probably stick with this load. It makes about 167 Power factor, burns clean, pressures are not excessive and the accuracy is phenomenal. Tony

One would hope that our troops are already well trained before they get there. Oh well, I'm sure Jim will just make them better. Tls

Tman_33_99 Please refer to my last post on the other thread. My local club has an answer to this problem that may offer you a solution as well. Tony

I suppose that we are lucky to have a local club that seems to have resolved this issue. North Tennesse Practical Shooters runs a monthy club match on Saturday and Sunday. They usually run two matches on each day. This allows you to choose the day you want to compete. The flexibility makes it possible for more shooters to come out and compete. It also allows you to enter each match in a different division. If you wanted to go out on both days you could shoot, in four diffierent divisions. The number of reentries put a lot of shooters into every division keeping the competition interesting. Pretty Cool, Huh? Tony

Perhaps, a good way to start that conversation would be: "Hey... what division are you shooting in?" Tls

+1 I am as heavily invested in L10 as anyone but I see no reason to be overly concerned at this point. If any division has enough support among the rank and file members the BOD is not going to ignore that. If it doesn't have enough support they can't ignore that either. I trust the people we elected to look at the big picture, weight the options and come up with reasonable solutions. We've repeatedly let them know how we feel. Now lets allow them do their job. Tls

C'mon David, I suspect there aren't many matches that you don't attend if you really want to. As for hating the "Whos Going" threads, blame the wheel gunners. There is one of these on the Revolver forum for every match . Tls

This year alone, I traveled to major matches from South Florida to Michigan to Pasa Park. With travel, lodging, entry fees, etc, I'm guessing conservatively around $7,000. I burned about 8000 rounds of ammo this year so tack on another $2000. That doesn't take into account the two guns I bought in the last 9 months (add $4,500) I can't even guess at the money spent on parts, gunsmithing fees, clothing, magazines, reloading tools, holsters, shooting glasses, the wagon I bought to haul my gear, etc. etc. I typically spend at least $15,000 a year to participate in this sport and I am no where near the highest level. Not to mention the hours and hours I spent in the gym trying to keep my 54-year-old body in good enough shape to race through a course of fire without having a stroke. This is not a team sport. It is very much an individual sport and what we accomplish (regardless of gender) depends on individual drive, determination and talent. It also depends on a willingness to absorb the cost and bear that burden alone. I don't know how far I will go in IPSC, only time will tell. However, when I reach the pinnacle of my shooting career, I will have the satisfaction of knowing I got there by my own effort and my own wallet. Tony

Team "Victoria's Secret"? That's a sponsor that would make the prize table more interesting. Tony

Hey, we have to wear them--you don't!!! We therefore have the right to call them whatever the hell we want. YOU, on the other hand, are required to respect them. They can: --Make fitting clothing properly a really tough, frustrating job. --Make laying on one's stomach comfortably all but impossible. --Make running and jumping sometimes painful and stupid. --Make fools of us by sometimes being mismatched in size (not uncommon). --And frequently KILL us with all-too-frequently-occurring breast cancer. They're sort-of a hassle sometimes, you see.... Sorry for the hassle Siggy, but my world just wouldn't be the same without them If yours are too heavy I will volunteer to hold them for you. No sacrifice too great to help out a fellow shooter. Tls

I highly recommend that you don't call them poppers, targets or anything shooting related in a school environment. Such things tend to make administrators swoon. Tell them you have started a thriving student business making 8" circular steel paperweights. Tls

I have always been intrigued by the accuracy of the classification system. My overall score in Area and National matches is usually within one or two percent of my current classification. The system works well and reflects a shooter's ability fairly accurately when used as intended. My only problem is when Joe Blow hasn't filed a classifier since Ronald Reagan was president. He shows up at a major match (not level III where a good performance might get him bumped up), signs up for C class then wins it with an A or Master class score. He picks up the prizes and trophies and you don't see him again until he repeats this scenario next year. This needs to be addressed. Isn't it time we put a requirement of (x) classifers shot within the last (x) months or you shoot unclassifed until you do. Tls