George

If you have or can get ahold of a Hi8 camcorder with FireWire connectivity it would be a snap to get that footage into iMovie by using the VTR control and import functions in iMovie. Heck, buying one off eBay night even be cheaper than a transfer service.

If you are already running OS 10 at least Tiger (10.4) there is pretty nothing much that won't work on a new Intel Mac. It is unbelievably easy to move forward into a new Mac machine nowadays if you have upgraded to Tiger already. Apples Migration Assistant allows you to plug the old computer into the new one with a firewire cable and it automatically moves everything from the old machine into the new machine. All you data moves into the new versions of Apples apps (Mail, iTunes,iPhoto, Address Book etc...) and fully installs all your old 3rd party applications ready to go along with moving all of your user data across. It's amazingly simple to move to a new Mac nowadays and be back up and running in just a couple hours after you get the new machine. If you are still in OS10.3 or earlier you would need to do all the updates through the OS versions first to get to Tiger, not too tough, but you need the update discs. If you are still in OS9, you are basically SOL and almost nothing in the way of old apps will come forward. Those old G3 and G4 towers can still do work. I have two G3 PowerMacs (Blue & White) that are heavily hot-rodded (big video cards, full boat of RAM, large HD and processor upgrades) that do DVD burning, audio editing and act as scanning and photo workstations. I also have 3 working G4 Powermacs ranging from 500Mhz to 1.4Ghz and all are running Leopard and handle most of my day-to-day needs at home and work. Heck, my portable is a beater 15" Aluminum PowerBook G4 that I have had since 2003. Let me know when you decide to step up to a new machine and I can give you a few tips to make the process a lot easier.

933mhz here. State of the art 2002. Hear ya' still have a pristine PowerBook G4, 1.4Ghz processor, 2GB SDRAM, 128MB video card, 7200 RPM HD upgrade and it barely plays low data rate 720P. State of the art in late 2005, paperweight a year later when the Intel machines arrived :-(

Longest shots I ever faced in a match with my AR were 450ish yards at the MGM IronMan. No problemo with my 4x TA-01. Guy on my squad cleaned them with Irons and 55gr PMC. Another guy with a 1st Gen CQT cleaned em set at 2x. Agreed with the rest, rather stay with something I have gotten to know well than keep changing my setup chasing the next equipment holy grail. IMHO, once you have a JP trigger in your AR, a reliable sight system you know and a good zero on it, you are always better off shooting more than you are continuing to futz with your shjt

Look on ebay or amazon, should be able to find a VHS / DVD combo VCR for under 75 bux, maybe even under 50 bux. Transferring them is a snap this way, just pop in the tape, insert a blank DVD disc, press a few buttons and wait till it's done. Repeat as needed. One issue is if the tapes are commercially made with copy protection. If so, these VHS/DVD combos will honor the copy protection code on the VHS tape and not make a dub for you. Not sure if they would have used copy protection encoding on those tapes. Most commercial movie titles will have copy protection depending on when they were made. Also, understand that even after converting to DVD those VHS transfers are NOT going to look as good as that movie DVD you get from NetFlix will on your big flatscreen. It's still VHS quality

Unless your computer is fairly new and has a fast processor (typically need a core duo or better), plenty of RAM and a good video card you won't be able to play 1080P video without glitching/stopping. Even 720P requires a fairly modern system. My 5 year old midrange IBM ThinkPad will barely play really low data rate 720P and won't touch 1080P at all. None of my older Mac PowerBook G4's will play 1080P even though they are the most powerful ones that were ever made with tons of ram and 128MB video cards. Nothing short of the newer Intel Macs, or at the very least a dual processor G5 tower with a powerful video card will play this stuff. In other words, these new-fangled HD camcorders need new-fangled computers to work and if you don't have one you are SOL

The JP A2 style front sight or the Armalite A2 style front sight would both be good choices fitted on the clamp-on sight block from JP. The JP one-piece clamp-on in the link above is also a good choice but does have the drawback of not being easily removable if you want to put optics on it once in a while. Loosening it up and rotating it would be a loser because you would have to re-establish adjustment every time you do that. BTW, the JP clamp-on sight "base" is just that, a sight mounting block only, not a gas block (as pictured above on my rifle).

Yes

The only thing I can add to Kurt's/Trapr's recipe for a well setup iron-sight AR is to take a look at the clamp-on rail block JP makes. On a 20"er you could put it all the way out to the muzzle brake and it will add several inches to your sight radius. This is a good thing in almost every aspect. You just need more elevation control for LD on the rear sight, ifn'ya wanna crank the knobs that is, me; I like hold-overs/unders too and don't mess with the knobs except to make sure they are where they are supposed to be. Here is my favorite Limited rifle using that extended sight radius setup (Yeah, I use the JP Globe and a post/circle insert and yeah, it has drawbacks, but you learn to cope, yes you do, LOL). I have beaten it pretty mercilessly for quite a few years now and the clamp-on block and JP globe have taken the lickin' and kept on tickin' so far. The co-witnessed OKO is how I leave it in the safe, it comes off for matches, although I am thinking of leaving it on for matches now that the new USPSA MG rules say it's OK. Irons are just plain way more fun than optics, not as easy either

It can be very helpful IF you shoot past 300 yards very much. If you only shoot to about 300 once in a while it can be handy now and then. If you don't shoot much past 200-250 yards, it's just a buncha' extra crap in the sight picture That said, I love having it there just cause it's cool to have it there, and I use it often enuff to justify it in my own mind LOL

Get this book by Glen Zediker Handloading For Competition Read it through more than once, think about what you are trying to do and how far you are willing to go and then, and only then should you start buying tools at Sinclair International

The reports I have heard are that no trimming will be needed for the .357 SIG

The Drift HD camcorder is a very good system too. It is from the same Mfgr. as the Contour system is. It is however just a tad pricier than the Contour 1080P. Drift HD170

JP, installed by JP or Benny Hill

I have had good results mounting the Contour on standard earmuffs using the flat surface mount and adhesive pads it comes with.

Fore and aft, LOL

Always roll my own when I use SMK 69 or 77. Same with 55gr for big matches but have been using Wolff for CQ and my 55gr reloads for 100-200 yard stuff at club level matches last few years. Including some processed 1x brass component cost for 69-77 SMK tipped fodder is gonna be about 30 to 32 cents a round. You already have the brass, you are looking at under 25 cents a round. You can wind up paying anywhere from 50 cents to a buck a round for commercial match grade heavy SMK tipped .223 ammo nowadays. I remember when I thought the Federal stuff with SMK77 on it was too expensive at $385 per thousand. I just saw some on sale for $1000 per thousand!

I am not familiar with the Blue Force but love my V-Tac slings. Didn't know there was a padded version available, oh well, looks like I am gonna' have a new V-Tac sling real soon

Here are some video clips from two higher end HD point of view cam-corders we are dealers for. http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=119193

If I'm shooting a scope, fluorescent orange please, backer is optional. If I am shooting iron sights, I still like orange as long as there is contrast against the background. Otherwise give me black against white. I am also in the 4 moa target size club with Trapr

A heavy, creepy trigger can cause a flyer now and then too. If you have a nice, crisp breaking trigger that isn't stagey as you take up the slack then ignore this.

Congratulations to Chris S. on his win. He edged Keith G. by under 2%. These two guys really messed up the scoring curve. The 1st open shooter barely got into the top 5 in combined division results. Results have been uploaded to the USPSA website and can be viewed at the following link. 2010 BARC Results I will post combined division results (stage & overall) within the next couple of days. Thanks again to all our sponsors, my hardworking match crew and last but not least, to all the competitors who came out and made this an excellent match :-) BTW. the 2011 BARC is tentatively scheduled for the last weekend in August.

Thanks, even though it was a lot of hard work, I am very pleased that it provided a good match for everyone. BTW, combined division results will get posted at the BARC website later this week.

+1 to Kelly's take on this

This sport is pretty much gun racing. Depends on whether your interests are in Formula One (Open) or Stock/Modified (Limited/Tactical) style racing as to how far you may feel the need to tweak the gear for course A front line competition dedicated firearm with every good tweak available can be a very, very reliable one too IF you have it sorted out well and know/respect the maintenance schedule that is required for that specific vehicle. But, if I ever needed a mad moment rifle, you can bet it would be the stocker A2 carbine with the conservatively set JP trigger that I would be grabbin' outa' the safe, end of story.