38superman

When I was growing up I was involved in several competitive sports. Not the least of which was football. Played the game from eight years old up through high school. One of the values that was instilled in me by my parents, teachers and coaches was the concept of fair play and sportsmanship. "Its important to be a good loser and even more important to be a good winner" I was told. Be gracious and humble in victory, thank your opponent for a good match and wish him better luck next time. In defeat, offer sincere congratulations to your opponent and respect the skill and effort that allowed him to prevail. These are the things I was taught but I was also taught to play to win. It is an insult to your competition to give them anything but your best effort. Has that now become politically incorrect? It has come to my attention that some kids are being told that "You are not here to try to beat anybody". You are here to have a good time and do your best. Is that the right message or the wrong message? Am I there to have a good time, ... you bet. Will I play to win?..... Absolutely. If that is wrong you'll have to forgive me. It's just a flaw in my upbringing. Tls

I suspect you are having the same experience I had when I tried to use my P18 in a 1911 Blade-Tech holster. The problem is not that the Para is too wide. If you measure the slide and dust cover and trigger guard with a dial caliper it is very close to the same size as my Springfield 1911. My problem was the indention in the holter that snaps to the inside of the trigger guard. This is the retention mechanism that holds the gun in place. The para has a relatively sharp edge on the inside of the trigger guard. This caused the trigger guard to bite into the holster and hang up on the draw. The problem was rather severe and persisted even when I backed off the tension screw as much as was possible. The trigger guard actually shaved some of the material off the inside of the holster. You could resolve the problem by beveling the sharp edge which I did not want to try at home given the tools I have. A gunsmith or competent machinist could do it. Rather that go that route I decided to get the P18 its own holster. The one I chose was a kydex Safariland which works great. Tls

You guys are amatuers. You attach the star to an aircraft engine and start it up (idle speed only, we don't want the plates to fly off and get launched into space). The plates will be painted three different colors. At the start signal you will toss a pair of painted dice into a box. Any color that comes up on the dice is a no shoot. Colored flood lights will change the colors of the plates as they move. The shooter will face up range and shoot over his weak side shoulder using a mirror to aim. Tls

I have no quarrel with the Texas Star as long as it is positioned such that I can see the whole thing. I recently shot a stage where it was behind a barricade and only two plates were visible at a time. To make it more interesting, the star was activated by a popper and was already spinning when engaged. It makes me wonder what is next. Do we put it completely behind a barricade and just cut a few holes in the plywood? I don't mind any stage that challenges my shooting skill. However, I think there comes a point where it's not my skill being tested, it's my luck. Tls

Okay Hop, Since you have your crystal ball out why stop with the Space City Challenge. Give me your predictions for Area 6 as well. Tls

While I do shoot a 40 in limited I don't think a 45 is out of the question. I like the 45 as it is more forgiving to reload. The reason being that it operates at about half the chamber pressure of a 40 S&W. This gives me more of a comfort level (margin for error) especially when loading the faster powders that soften recoil. IMHO, the mag capacity is really the only disadvantage. I own a Para P14 which will hold 16 with a Dawson base pad. Some shooters claim it is possible to get more. I also own an STI Edge in 45 which holds 15 with Dawson +1 pads. Beven Grams claims 16 in his tuned mags in a 2011. Giving up a few rounds to the 40 gunners may cause you to make a extra mag change in a long field course. However, that depends of the course of fire. If there are mandatory reloads or the COF allows for reloading on the move, the mag capacity is less of a factor. Tls

Yes they do, it is listed as a "McCormick" Neal in AZ Thats interesting but I'm betting this "McCormick SVI/STI" insert is for a single stack 1911 and not a 2011. I doubt it, since the only frame made by all three is the doublestack. What would lead you to think that it's for a singlestack? Why?, because they explicitly list it as "1911/STI/SVI". I am speculating here. I don't know this for a fact and I am not familiar with McCormick frames. That having been said, I do know that both STI & SVI make single stack 1911's. I think it unlikely that any part that adapts the grip of a 1911 to a ransom rest would work on a wide body gun. Especially a wide body gun with a mag well.

Okay, I just couldn't resist trying this so I set it up yesterday. Only made one run but ended up with 7 alpha 8 bravo and dropped 6 an inch or two low in the neck area of the target. The low shots coming at the longer ranges. Just confirms what I already suspected. I have a tendency to shoot a little low beyond 25 yds. I really had to work at slowing myself down. I ripped the first 3 off like I was racing the timer. Some habits are hard to break. I really like this exercise. I think I will make it part of my practice routine. Tls

Yes they do, it is listed as a "McCormick" Neal in AZ Thats interesting but I'm betting this "McCormick SVI/STI" insert is for a single stack 1911 and not a 2011.

I have thought seriously about buying a Ransom rest by I wonder how it would work with guns that have mag wells. Doesn't the grip of the gun get clamped into the rest? I don't see how that could work on a race gun. Tls

This is a common flaw in this make and model. Mine does the same thing and still doesn't work after sending it back for repair. They gave me that same BS about trying a new battery etc. There is a thread on the forum entitled "Pact poor customer Service, poor response" in the non-Dillon reloading equipment forum. You should read it. It's infuriating that they are still telling their customers that they are "100 percent tested" and it's not a known glitch when they have the same issue reported to them over and over. If you like, look the product up on Midwayusa.com and check the customer reviews. There are numerous reports of the same issues. There's no way they aren't aware of it. Edited: Please note that my experience with this issue was limited to the Pro XP model with the built in printer. I cannot speak to any issues with other models. Tls

It really does no harm to leave it other than the well documented color stain to the hopper. I ususally don't bother to empty mine except when changing powders. If left long enough, some powder will stick to the sides of the hopper. Some powders are worse about this than others. In extreme cases you may need a brush or some other sort of tool to scrape the powder off the sides of the hopper before using a different powder. This is nothing more than a nuisance. The powder measure will still function just fine. Tls

I recently took the Recoilmaster out of my Edge and replaced it with a tungsten guide rod and 16# recoil spring. I did this to get more weight at the muzzle and because I thought I needed a little heavier recoil spring than the Recoilmaster. The factory setup seemed to function o.k. during slow fire off the bench. However when doing drills the slide had a tendency to freeze up and not want to close. A gentle push with the thumb on the back of the slide would get it to close. So I'm thinking a little stronger recoil spring is in order. So I get the tungsten rod and 16# spring in the gun and all seems well. The slide cycles freely by hand. I go to the range and on the 4th round fired the gun bound up so bad that I had a really tough time getting it apart. What going on here? Tls

Can you be more specific? What is the nature of the damage? What bullet? How much flare on the case mouth? Tls

Pardon my ignorance but what is to keep the BATF from declaring the shotgun a "Destructive Device" and banning importation just as it did with the USAS 12? Just because the asault weapons ban has gone away, has nothing to do with whether a firearms is classifed as a DD under the NFA. Am I wrong? Tls

I started in IPSC with a 645 in Lim 10 division. I actually did pretty well with it and would probably still be shooting it except for the 8 round magazine handicap. The Smith autos are relatively accurate, cheap and although the DA pull takes a little getting used to, the SA trigger is excellent. After a couple of years in IPSC it would be interesting to go back to it just to see how I could do with it. Tls

It sounds like you're coming unhinged because your attention is drifting back and forth between the gun and the target. Try keeping your focus on the front sight. Pick the spot where you want to pick up the mover, set your sight picture and double tap as the mover passes onto your front sight. Works for me. Tls

Self Employed Mechanical Engineer I mostly work in the automotive industry designing the conveyors and machinery required to build cars. T

Shot my first "A" score on a classifier last month. Now if I can just get 5 more to go with it. Tls

Took my Edge to the range this weekend to chrono some ammo. I'm still looking for the right load to race with. I had Precision Delta 230 FMJ RN loaded with Clays, Titegroup and N320. I had 50 rounds of each starting with loads 10% below max and working up. It was a warm day with temperature at 83 deg. I started with the Viht loads and discovered that the accuracy was right around 2 3/4". Velocity was about as expected with major power factor coming at 5.0 grains. I noticed that the extreme spread was, well.... extreme. Ten shots with each load produced a variance from about 50 to 70 fps. I was a little disappointed with the groups but chalked it up to eyes that aren't what they used to be and a factory trigger that is much too heavy for my taste. I moved on to the Clays and I understand why it has many fans. The recoil was soft, and the average group size was better, going around 2 1/2". There were some excellent groups sprinkled in among the 10 targets. Major power factor emerged at 3.9 grains which also produced a group under 3/4". This might be the load I was looking for except that the cycle time with this powder seemed really long and lazy. The gun functioned fine, but don't know if I could get used to that. I started shooting the Titegroup loads and soon discovered they don't call it Titegroup for nothing. The accuracy was just over 2" on average and almost every group had 3 or 4 rounds through one ragged hole. The slide cycle was snappy but recoil was reasonably soft and quite managable. 4.5 grains produced best accuracy but barely made major. 4.6 gets it done with an acceptable margin. All three powders seemed to burn pretty clean. However, until something better comes along it looks like Titegroup for me. I'm wondering how well it meters through a 650 powder measure. Anyone want to clue me in on that? Tls

No "standardized" stage is going to be set up perfectly. I recently shot a classifier that had a barricade that was supposed to be centered but was off center from the target array by at least a foot, maybe two. There is no way to have absolute accuracy is the stage setups. If I shoot a classifier in the rain and mud with bad footing and the wind blowing the targets around, is that the same as the guy that shoots the same course in perfect conditions? Just my humble opinion but it sound like splitting hairs. Tls

What you describe as a "scoop" draw sounds very much like the way I have always done it. From a Ghost holster with hands at side I slide my fingers up just behind the holster. Just as the fingers touch the grip I wrap the web of my hand around the back strap. Once the gun clears the holster, I release the safety with my thumb as the gun comes up into the two hand grip. All this in one smooth motion. I have never had a problem with this and have never come close to losing my grip on the gun. I do this because it is what has always felt natural to me. I used to blow the grip a bit from time to time but that really doesn't happen any more. I can't imagine starting with hands at side and bring your hand up above the gun, reversing direction to drive down onto the back strap and reversing direction again to draw the gun. Am I missing something? Tls

Thanks Dan, but unless you are left handed that wouldn't work. I didn't know CR Speed made a competition holster for revolver. I will have to check that out. I was looking at the one that Safariland sells. Also thinking about a Blade Tech Doh. Tony

Wow, you wheel gunners are relentless. Hoppy has already been lobbying hard to get me into the Miss Classic with the new blaster. I havn't yet mastered what I'm shooting now. Maybe I should have kept this quiet To answer your question, I will probably give it a whirl at some point just for grins and giggles. Lots of work to do before I'm ready to race with it. Maybe I should shoot it once or twice first? What did I get myself into? Tls

Other than nationals, it is one of the biggest matches of the year. Slots are limited to the first 350 to sign up. IIRC there were 12 stages last year. It was a good mix of field courses and speed shoots. It's a well run, well organized match. It fills up quickly and draws some of the best shooters in the country each year. If you want to go I recommend you get your application in right away. You won't regret it. Tls