Confession Time . . .

[Rufus The Bum]

I see no point in cheating. If you resort to cheating in this sport, your obviously in it for the wrong reasons. I have seen quite a few shooters shoot obvious minor and shoot a 175pf at the chrono.

I'm not necesarily guilty of cheating, but I have in the past, loaded ammo for a major match which was about 166-167 in MY chrono and load a few extra rounds at around 170 to give to the chrono. I suspect that is the norm in USPSA.

[L9X25]

Until a few years ago, the vast majority ammo chrono tested (at major matches)was chosen using the honor system. The chrono guy would walk up to a squad and hand each person a bag and ask that they place a sample of their ammo in it for the chrono. Some people had a bag of "chrono ammo" and a bag of "match ammo" and would obviously place the chrono ammo in the bag. Recently the MDs have started an "ambush" method of collection ammo ... they pick up your magazines from the floor (immediately after you have completed a stage) and remove ammo from them or walk up and ask to have some ammo from a specific magazine from your belt. I believe that this levels the playing field some and I am glad to see it.

Leo

[rhino]

I believe that this levels the playing field some and I am glad to see it.

Me too!

The example that comes to my mind first (for people who knowingly declare major) is a guy who used to shoot revolver at my club. He loaded his ammo in .357 cases, but it was incredibly obvious that it wasn't even close to major. Still, he declared major power factor at each club match. When we ran a chrono at the state match we hosted that year, mysteriously he chose to declare minor power factor.

In my first big match (the 1996 Michigan State match), I was shooting my brother's old faithful load of 5.8gr of WW231 under a 200gr LSWC in my para. It was a little on the chilly side that morning, and in my Para, it barely made 175PF, but it did make it. After that, we switched to 230gr bullets for my Para, although I have shot the 200gr load in other 1911s in which it made major more comfortably, even in the cold. Nowadays I shoot mostly factory/surplus stuff and the IMI I am currently shooting makes 190PF in my Kimber.

[Rufus The Bum]

The MDs have started an "ambush" method of collection ammo ... they pick up your magazines from the floor (immediately after you have completed a stage) and remove ammo from them or walk up and ask to have some ammo from a specific magazine from your belt.

I really like that idea and am all for it. But the logistics of ambushing EVERY competitor is the reason we still use the honor system. As long as someone is assumed to be playing fair, we can also assume he will try to cheat the system. Adults are just like kids, if they know they can get away with something, they will.

I like the 230's as well and can't really tell a difference between 165-175pf, so I just load them to about 170-173 and don't worry about the chrono.

[shred]

Well, they could always ambush something like 10% of the competitors and thus do a good job of keeping the rest honest. Is that still allowed in the new rules?

What annoys me is the honor-system of bullet weighing. Even at area matches I see this and I've seen people knowingly cheat on that.

Of course I declared my 121gr HAPs and shot a 164 PF at Space City last year. My fault, but annoying none the less

[Liota]

When I RO'ed at the TX State Limited, I told the squad that I needed eight rounds from the a certain magazine counting from the front of their belts. It worked well. Each match I pick a different magazine to collect from. If you were going to use that ammo to shoot my stage then it's good enough for chrono.

Liota