fuzzysights

I will be moving to the Centralia/Chehalis area in April and I am curious what the pistol shooting opportunities in the local area? I have been on the USPSA website and found the clubs listed but I would like to know if there are any practice ranges closer to the Centralia area. Also, are there any steel shoots in the area? Thanks, Larry

Michelin are very good tires but I would really suggest buying them locally. The local tire dealer will be the one that you go to if you have a problem and if he sold you the tire he is much more likely to help you out. If you buy on the internet, like tire rack.com, you will not get the same assistance. Not to mention that if you want the local service business to stay in business they have to be able to make a profit, not just on the mounting and balancing but the sale as well. People forget that the local economy is largely supported off the sales tax revenues from business. Send your dollars out of your community and you end up with higher income taxes. Pay me now or pay me later!

Boz1911, what brand grips are those? I really like the look. The colors appear inverted in the diamonds. I don't know if that is just the photo or do they really look like that?

I think Braxton hit this one on the head. I had a similar problem with my 550 when I first got it. I had switched from larger primer to small and did not align the primer bar perfectly and was having flipped and crushed primers. I called Dillon and they walked me through it as well as sending me the updated style primer bar with the plastic strip to make it work smoother.

Why is it that everytime I take some extra days off to get things done around the house the weather turns crappy! Temps in the 20's and two different snows have made outside work out of the question. Being trapped in the house let's the wife find things for me to do! ARRRGGGGHHHH!!!

I like my assortment. S & W Chief's Special for a little snubnose Dan Wesson .357 complete pistol pack in case you change your mind about barrel length 625 Performance center with improved trigger and bobbed hammer .44 Mag single action with 10" barrel for hunting

I have put a bunch of stuff on Craigslist this week trying to clean up the house a bit. (don't worry, no guns were sold) People call up all enthusiastic and say they will be over at a certain time so you plan your schedule around them and they never show up or call to say they are late! GGRRRRRR!!!!

Our company uses Websense that blocks any site that has anything to do with weapons. You can ask for an exception but it has to be reviewed by the executive committee. Not worth it. Bypassing the IT guys is a bad thing! They do hold a grudge. It is immediate termination for us. I understand why. I am not about to risk my job in this economy for something that I can wait a few hours for. Our society has become so focused on instant gratification that we don't want to wait for anything anymore.

If the home building industry does not pick up you can expect to pay significantly more for pellets since they are mostly made from the sawdust from sawmills. Since lumber production is down so much right now there is not much "waste" sawdust available so the price will go up. Pellet stoves do require power. You might look at a small european designed wood stove that has considerable heat sink mass. Once you get them going they radiate for hours and use a small amount of wood. If you have access to firewood in your area you might compare the prices for wood vs pellets now. Many former loggers have turned to selling firewood in this down economy and the price of firewood has stabilized.

I don't know exactly what the net income is for a franchisee but I know that my sister's friend own one and they certainly seem to be doing well. One thing that no one can take away from Chick-Fil-A is their community involvement. Their corporate culture stresses involvement in the community. At my local store they support about every local school, athletic organization, scout troop and such that you can imagine. I ate lunch there today and was again amazed at how they can continually give out coupons and still make a profit. I am sure that their specialization in a somewhat limited menu has a lot to do with it.

My knickname used to be Larry the Lobster! If we went to the beach for the weekend people would follow me around with buckets of butter! The thin air here in the Denver area makes sunblock a must for me anymore. I do not care if I am a whitey anymore. I do not want to want to get skin cancer. I now wear a hat (ok, most of the time) to shade my nose and face. Not having many large trees is a definite drawback if you are sun sensitive.

Fastarget, I am not sure where you are in the Rocky Mt region but if you are in Denver you are welcome to check out my Para. I had a very good experience with their customer service department. Remember who was the first company to design and manufacture a double stack .45. I think that you find a lot of the negative comments come from people that do not own the product. You can not compare a stock P16 to a tricked out SxI gun that has been hand built with high end parts and cost about triple what the Para sells for.

To go back to Cha-Lee's question I think a big reason behind the higher new shooter turnout for IPDA is the big rise in concealed carry permits, especially in CO. IPDA is often tossed out as a great way to practice, "the way things will really happen" if you need to use that new gun you just bought. I have never been to an IPDA event so I can not comment on the differences. I got exposed to USPSA by joining the local gun club and seeing the events listed on the calendar. I went to one match to watch and thought it looked like a great excuse for shooting a lot of rounds. I attended the next available safety class and got hooked.

The American way is a free trade economy. It relies on our integrity to determine if we want to support companies that actually design, produce, and stand behind their products or look for the cheap short term solution. Having the government regulate protection is a bit of a scary thought for many of us as it would come down to the integrity of the politicians to do "the right thing" for the American public and not the right thing for their personal interests. Who believes that has a happy ending? The company I work for has 34 known knockoffs of our product. The truly scary thing is when someone purchases the knockoff, almost always on eBay, and thinks that they got a screaming deal on a genuine item. The funniest is when they need a service part and find out that there are no parts in the US and the parts from the genuine brand name don't fit because the Chinese cut corners at every opportunity. I am not going to say "buy American" but do "buy genuine." When a company supports a sport like ours they deserve the simple respect of directing our money back back at them.

At age 45. I wish I had know about it sooner! I joined the local gun club and found it on the schedule.

Intellectual property rights are a huge issue right now. China does not recognize US patents so none of those claims can be made against Chinese knockoff companies. Patents have two basic sets of rules (to oversimplify a bit) Concept patent which is good for 7 years which gives you an exclusive on a "new" design concept. Design patent then gives you royalty basis for 7 more years on legimate copies. The Chinese companies can stand to hurt a lot of companies if we support their r & d cost of just buying something and reverse engineering it within months and being on the market. How do you think products get advanced intellectually? It takes years of r & d in most cases that must be recaptured in the cost of goods. Buy Chinese and we will end up being stagnant in development because no major company will want to spend the time on r & d. Support the innovators and those that support our industry!!!!!! (ouch! Does this have to go under rants? LOL)

Fobus also makes inexpensive kydex magazine pouches for the XD

I am sure your wife also enjoyed it when you told her she had given you the insight! My wife can't figure out why I enjoy shooting shooting so much. I try to explain that it is a mental escape because when you are shooting nothing else exists. I think I might see the edge of the zone sometimes, but then I overthink it.

It does give you some reassurance when people do good things! I recently had a flat tire coming down the mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park. I had our corporate VP with me showing him what mountains really look like (he is Australian) and we were both dressed in shirt and ties. I finally found a flat enough spot to pull off and before I could get the spare tire out from under the front seats (who dreamed up that spot!) two tourists had the car jacked up and the tire off! It was like a NASCAR pit stop! I barely got dirty and could not give them anything for their trouble. Just two really nice guys from Michigan doing a good deed!

It may be old school but it sure brings back memories!

Try this, take one of the rounds that failed to chamber and head back to the reloader. Dial in about .002 more crimp and try to chamber the same round. I bet that with just a bit more crimp your rounds chamber flawlessly in your XD. I learned that same lesson the hard way on my XD40 when I first started reloading.

all great advice. It does have to cost that much to begin with. Uncle Mikes and Fobus products are very inexpensive and reliable. Ammunition is the biggest cost now with high price of components.

It is definitely a matter of preference. For me the XD has a more natural point of aim. With the newer Glocks your hand either fits the finger grooves or doesn't. I am definitely in the second class and that makes it very tough to shoot quickly and accurately if your fingers are always fighting for position. I love my XD!

Bang,Bang Bang,Bang Bang,Bang Bang,Bang Click....WTF? The slide is back? So much for counting, change the mag idiot!

ok, this one dates me a bit. I was adjusting the points (pre-electronic ignition) on my friends $50 Pontiac one night when we had been drinking. They would wear really fast and when the car started running rough you just slid the window in the distributor cap up and adjusted them until it smoothed out. I now know why the professional tool for this has an insulated handle. I used a standard allen wrench. Let me tell one true fact in life, the zipper in jeans makes a great conductor to the fender! Ouch! We are in a townhouse parking lot about 11PM when this happens. I am screaming and dropping my pants. Short hairs are smoking and there is a general numbness in parts dear to me. My buddies are now laughing their asses off and lights are coming on in many windows. Not something I hope to ever relive.