Eversquire

Tumble

2011-12-18T20:54:00.001-06:00

11/6/11 Swan Creek

2011-11-06T17:20:00.001-06:00

Subwoofer wiring

2011-10-14T21:12:00.002-05:00

Here are a couple of photos from the spare tire subwoofer on my 2003 Protege5.

5.56 vs 22 LR

2011-09-26T18:31:00.000-05:00

Rear ended

2011-09-10T09:27:00.003-05:00

Couple of quarter panel pics. I can't see any damage.

Spare parts

2011-01-27T21:21:00.001-06:00

Top rifle assembled from traded/spare parts and a few bought ones. Dedicated 22 LR upper, CMMG 16" barrel and Spikes Tactical conversion kit.

Orange County Choppers National Guard bike

2010-09-18T08:18:00.010-05:00

Group therapy

2010-08-15T15:14:00.000-05:00

It's me pushing the trigger. All shot at 10 yards.

Cheap barrel vs. match barrel

2010-07-13T19:54:00.006-05:00

I have a Glock 17 and have three barrels for it. Lately I have been shooting lead bullets from a cheap barrel I bought years back. My loads have been smoky and I've gotten a fair bit of leading even though I'm using good hard cast bullets. I have the feeling that the loads should be more accurate. I say "should" because I could always be the problem.

I decided to push a sample 147 gr lead bullet through each of my barrels and see how each looked. The cheap barrel bullet is in the middle, match on the left and stock on the right. The cheap barrel seemed not to grip the bullet except for the lands of the rifling. It was easier to push this one through than either of the other barrels. I measured the land depth and came up with .352" on the cheap barrel. The match barrel measured .339" with a longer bearing surface. Apparently SAAMI specs are .346" groove measurement, so the match barrel is tight (as it should be) and the cheap barrel is loose (which it should not be).

The match barrel is now in the gun but I doubt it will stay as is. It's a KKM threaded barrel for use with a comp. I don't want to run the comp in IDPA or USPSA so I'm left with an extended threaded barrel. This is also not legal in IDPA and probably not legal in USPSA. I'll need to swap it out with another good barrel or cut it to stock length. We'll see...

Sunset

2010-07-06T09:05:00.000-05:00

Birmingham trip

2010-06-04T19:44:00.003-05:00

The lower I won at the Steel City Carbine Championship.

The LCP that followed me home.

Banana and raspberry.

Modern Ballistics in WINE

2010-04-16T17:56:00.004-05:00

I have been using Modern Ballistics for a while. I'm not a power user by any means but it's a good program that fits my needs. I like the fact that it will run from a USB drive and will also run in Linux under WINE.

The first screen capture shows a 25 yard zero using iron sights on an AR-15. The far zero is 365 yards. In between 25 and 365 yards, the bullet rises quite a bit. The second is a 200 yard zero with a near zero of 52.5 yards.

WESCOG cheap laser dryfire trainer

2010-04-14T20:16:00.010-05:00

I've been thinking about Crimson Trace laser grips and really like the idea that it can help with dryfire practice. When the trigger breaks the dot should not move.

Of course the CT grips are a bit costly. I had also thought about one of the boresight laser devices. A lot cheaper but still around $40.

I remembered that I had a cheap laser pointer pen that I paid ~$3 for. I also have some fairly strong magnets that I had scrounged and figured it would be very simple to make a laser practice device out of the stuff I had on hand that I could stick on the side of my slide or other ferrous part of the gun.

As is the laser is a little too easy to move so adding a couple of magnets would help stabilize it. Of course, a couple of rubber bands would eliminate the magnets but would not be as convenient.

This is not meant to be an aiming device. It's not a laser sight. The dot will be somewhat offset from your sights (like CT grips) but you should be able to note the dot position and see if it moves when the trigger breaks.

Nothing special here, just documenting a quick implementation of this idea. All suggestions for improvement are welcome.

Cheap pen with built in laser pointer

Minus the pen part

Here's the dot

Add a couple scrounged magnets

Tape magnets in place

Stuck on the side of the slide, see the dot?

Here it is stuck on the side of the gun

Self improvement

2010-03-17T14:31:00.000-05:00

Spikes AR-15 - 22 LR conversion kit revisited

2010-03-02T19:48:00.002-06:00

It seems I've found the right combination for the 22 kit to run. I've gotten an unnotched hammer to run in one of my lowers and polished the face and rounded area that contacts the bolt. I also polished the underside of the bolt that contacts the hammer. I also put some JB Bore paste on the bearing surfaces of the bolt and bolt carrier and worked in to smooth in those areas. After a careful cleaning, I decided it would do to try at our local steel match.

Running Winchester 555 bulked pack HPs, I did not keep track of the malfunctions but the kit seemed to wear in. I had a few malfunctions in the first couple of stages but then it ran fine. I did have an ignition failure in one of the latter stages but I think this was a cartridge issue and not one with the gun or kit.

The rifle and conversion kit ran well enough for me to take 3rd overall at the match behind a a steel expert running a custom Ruger MK-III with a red dot and an excellent rifle shooter, also running an AR-15 with a 22 conversion kit, albeit with a red dot to my iron sights. In my defence, I was 3/100 of a second behind the other rifle shooter in 2nd place in overall time.

Shooting minor PF

2009-10-12T15:07:00.002-05:00

I shot this moving target last on a stage and fired a number of shots. I did not think I was hitting the "shoot" target so I shifted back a bit and (of course) hit the "no-shoot" target.

In USPSA, there's a you get less points for shooting minor power factor than you would shooting major power factor. However there is no difference when shooting a "A", a miss or a no-shoot...

Another lesson learned ... the hard way

2009-09-24T20:27:00.003-05:00

It's been a week now since I decided to examine the feed ramps on the new AR-15 barrel vs. the old upper receiver. I had put the barrel on in a rush and had not thought to examine this during the installation. It was a simple matter to pull the gun out of the safe, unload it, visually verify the empty chamber, lock the bolt to the rear and take a look.

Looks like the barrel has M-4 feed ramps but not the receiver. Not a big deal since the tips of the bullets that clear the receiver won't snag on the feed ramps. Hmmm, let's look a little closer and reach up through the mag well with my index finger so feel the transition.

WHAM!!!

Ow!!! &)^^(*^%$$*)__)_^%%!!!! Ok, damage assessment, blood.... Great... @$$# that hurts! Wash the tip of the finger off in the sink. More blood... Wonderful... Kind of looks like the nail is torn... This is gonna hurt for a while... Some antiseptic, several bandaids and some duct tape and the end of the finger is bound up and I get to reflect on what happened.

Lesson learned, do NOT expect the bolt to stay back if you happen to hit the bolt release. If you want to take a good look at the rear of the barrel, do yourself a favor and take the upper off the gun and remove the bolt. You can see what your doing much easier especially if the bolt does not slam shut.

The laceration at the tip of my finger is healing. The fingernail has about a 1/4" square that was knocked loose. The entire fingertip is sore. Kind of like hitting your finger with a hammer. With the claw end...

Don't do it...

I'll spare you the pictures.

New barrel for an old AR

2009-09-14T13:04:00.004-05:00

The old barrel removed from the gun with the shaved front sight base and gas tube

New barrel profile

The whole package complete with toes

Couple more photos from the match

2009-09-13T18:43:00.004-05:00

Rob on shotgun stage 1

Rob on shotgun stage 2

Mark entering the maze

Mark on shotgun stage 1

USPSA Match 9/12/09

2009-09-13T10:55:00.004-05:00

Wanda and I shot the Rocket City Practical Shooters club match yesterday. She is still shooting the Advantage Arms 22 LR conversion kit on my Glock 17 frame. This left me shooting my Glock 19. I had a pretty good day with the pistol, coming in 5th overall. Wanda had a number stoppages with the conversion kit but cleared them all without getting frustrated.

Wanda shooting the table stage with Fluffy

Yes, she got to keep Fluffy

The shotgun side match did not go so well for me. I had swapped out my 21" barrel with the bored out gas ports for a 26" stock barrel. Consequently the gun did not cycle unless I had it FIRMLY against my shoulder.

Stage one required reloads staged on three barrels, Virginia count; IE fixed number of shots. I ended up with a reshoot when I dropped one of my shells into the open cap of one of the barrels.

Stage two, I got THE jam on my 1100. I failed to seat a shell all the way into the mag tube and it sprang back part way onto the lifter. With help from the RO, I was able to get it pushed back into the mag tube on the clock and finish the stage. 20 some odd seconds of shooting with 3 minutes of jam clearing...

Stage three went well except for the miss on a slug target.

Overall it was a great day and lot of fun.

Me in the shotgun side match

Labor Day Range trip

2009-09-07T18:27:00.007-05:00

I was finally able to bring the whole family to the range. The kids all got to shoot 22's.

Wesley

Emma

Wanda

Mom got into the fun too.

Even I got to shoot.

A good day. :)

IDPA DMG Match

2009-06-20T20:43:00.000-05:00

I shot the local IDPA Defensive MultiGun match today. It was a typical Alabama June day, mid-90s with enough humidity for fish. It was a lot of fun with 5 challenging stages.

I shot an Romanian WASR AR variant that I had picked up cheap before the current rush, a Remington 870 police trade-in and my Glock 17. I was a little worried about reloads with the AK and the ability to hit at medium ranges. Turns out I did not have to do any reloads and the AK shot well at ~70 yards, the longest shots in the match.

The most challenging rifle stage included 5 clay pigeons placed at ~70 yards. Hits were called by the range officer and I think I got a freebie but the other four were solid. I finished 4th on the stage, the stage winner was 3.1 seconds faster.

If you have any interest in 3 gun competition and own a medium caliber pistol, repeating shotgun and rifle, go ahead and give it a try. If you like it, you'll find out what gear you want and can buy or modify as needed.

Brocks Gap Tactical Carbine Match

2009-06-05T12:21:00.000-05:00

I had the privilege of shooting the Brocks Gap Tactical Carbine match last Sunday. It was an excellent match due to the all the hard work by David Tapp and Randall Webb and their wonderful work staff. Each course of fire was challenging and fun. It was a warm day, the first one for me this year, but there was water available at each stage and plenty of encouragement to stay "hydrated". It was my first venture shooting tactical irons and i like it a lot. I had a hard time with the long range stage (Stage 4) but was able to hit all the targets before the 3 minute time limit (less than 3 seconds left even). I fared better on the other stages and was able to score a 7th place finish in Tac Irons against very talented competition.

The camaraderie was great, the prize table rich and a lot of fun. If you can make it to one of their quarterly matches, do so, but don't miss the next annual match.

Spikes Conversion kit follow up

2009-05-24T17:08:00.001-05:00

Second range trip with the Spikes kit. Still had the same issues where the fired case was getting caught between the bolt and the chamber or between the bolt assembly and the charging handle.

I was able to test it in two other AR-15s and had the same malfunctions in each so the problem seems to lie with the kit, rather than the rifle. I also tried several different types of ammo and had the same results.

Per the Spikes thread on AR15.com, this seems to indicate too strong of a recoil spring. I'll try trimming it down on the next trip to see if it helps.

I did notice when I went back to shooting 5.56 that I was more acutely aware of the blast and the buffer and spring working. I was hesitating between shots trying to figure it out, kind of like a trigger freeze. I'll need to work on the transition between the 22 LR and 5.56 in order to get the best value from the conversion kit.

Postscript:
I cleaned the unit up and used a cratex cone in a Dremel to polish out the feed ramp and polish the chamfer around the chamber opening. I then used a tight fitting patch and some JB Bore Polish to polish out the chamber itself and the barrel extension past the chamber. I clipped 1/4" off the recoil spring and lightly oiled the spring, guide rod, and spring channel on the bolt.

The Federal Champion rounds drop right in with a little "clunk". The Remington Golden Bullet HPs whcih did not chamber before, now drop in but a bit tightly. I'll give them another try to see if they will actually run now. If so, I hope to see better accuracy as the Remington bullets are a bit oversized.

Spikes Tactical 22 conversion kit

2009-05-18T19:04:00.000-05:00

I just got in my Spike's Tactical 22 conversion kit today. I headed out to the range this afternoon to give it a bit of a workout. It ran pretty well on Federal Champion 40 grain solids. I shot 75 rounds with two different magazines and had around 5-6 failures to eject. I believe this is likely to be a break in problem. I'll feel better once I've run a couple hundred rounds through it.

I had some Remington 36 grain hollow points which are not recommended as they are oversized. These were no exception. They would not chamber without repeatedly pulling and releasing the bolt, essentially hammering the round into the chamber. I got two to chamber and fire but decided life was too short to continue with them.

I have the rifle sighted in at 34 years to approximate a 300 yard zero with my 55 grain loads. I set up a target there to check the 22 LR accuracy and was not terribly impressed. I fired around 25 rounds and got a group around 3-4 inches in diameter. I'll have to measure it and see what it really was.

I'd like to get a dedicated 22 LR upper but for right now, the conversion kit seems to be a better investment, ~$245 delivered with two magazines vs. $630 plus shipping for the upper.

Iron sights

2009-05-14T20:47:00.000-05:00

I've gotten iron sights on my Sabre Defence rifle in the past few weeks. I wanted the longest sight radius I could get and the barrel diameter at the end made this a challenge, .728 stepped to .705

Chuck Haynes in New Market bored out a .625 ID sight base to match the barrel and installed set screw on the bottom to anchor it in place. It works very well with the DPMS removable rear I picked up from Shannon Thrasher at Athens Guns.

Range trip

2009-03-22T21:12:00.000-05:00

I popped over to the range today. Adjusted the sights on the AR-15 I shot yesterday. Confirmed the zero on one of my AKMs. Showboated a bit and plinked at one of the 100 yard posts with my Glock 26. Took about 20 shots but I got a hit.

Chronographed the 223 ammo I have been loading, not quite as hot as M193 but I think it will do. 3012 FPS for my stuff, 3131 FPS for Federal XM193.

Chronographed Barnaul FMJ and Wolf JHPs in the AKM, very consistent, 6 FPS difference between the two loads.

I've been shooting irons on the AR for a little while now and am shooting nose to charging handle. Found out that putting my head this far forward is a bit problematic with the AKM. Seems the button that releases the dust cover is harder than my shooting glasses. They are quite scratched now... :P

If I'm going to shoot an AKM often I need a longer stock...

Ponzi scheme

2009-03-15T15:37:00.000-05:00

Does anyone else find it strange the Madoff is going away for the same sort of scheme that Social Security is based on?

I remember Jocelyn Elders, Surgeon General during the Clinton years, stating we need to spend more on AIDS research rather than heart disease because "these are the people who will be paying my social security." She undertstood that her money was not going to be there for her.

Trick shots

2009-03-09T19:34:00.000-05:00

I shot these on Saturday. Around 10 yards, one with my Glock 19 and the other three with my Glock 17.

No I didn't hit them each with one shot. It took more than I kept count of...

It is not as hard as it might seem. Basically since the card is smaller than the bullet, your target area is the size of your bullet. With the card vertical, you only have to get your windage right.

Not to say it's easy. It's more a test of determination. It's really easy to see when you push the trigger as well.

Stimulus

2009-02-16T12:35:00.000-06:00

For better or worse, the stimulus bill has passed and will be signed into law by the President tomorrow. I have heard people comment that they do not want to see it work as it is a big government bill and others comment that they want it to work because we need it to work.

Regardless of the bill's effect, we will see more like it. If it shows signs of working, then we will be told this is the right track and we should do more. If there are no signs that it is working, we will be told that not enough was done and we should do more.

Either way expect more stimuli...

Good is not always exciting

2009-02-03T08:48:00.000-06:00

Watching my daughter's basketball last night was exciting. Both teams played well and the game went into overtime. The other team ended up winning by 6 but it was a great game. Our girls did not play their best game but it was great fun watching.

Of course, watching them play their best can be a bit boring. You kind of feel sorry for the other team when your team is dominating the game. There is no tension, no drama, no real excitement...

Mistakes are dramatic. Good performance is fluid, graceful and seemingly easy. Smoothness and efficiency of motion is the key.

WTFB/WTFM

2009-01-26T12:22:00.000-06:00

RTFB or RTFM has been a popular and accurate response to many user questions. As I develop new processes or go back to old ones, I have to remember what I did last time to get this or that thing to work. In order to be able to RTFB, someone has to WTFB. Guess in this instance, that would be me.

Not a good blogger

2009-01-25T22:15:00.000-06:00

Six months between posts will not win any contests.

Stuff I learned since the last post:

Cherish your family. I lost my Mom the day before Thanksgiving and miss her terribly.
Make time for the important things. I've tried to be more active with my kids. I've given up several shooting matches for basketball games and Boy Scouts.
People are good. I knew this before but appreciate it more. I try to remember this when something upsets me. Empathy can be very calming.
It's better to be busy than be bored.
It's better to take time to do something right than to rush through and do it wrong.
True friends love you even when they don't agree with you on everything.
You don't make true friends by disagreeing with them on everything however. :)
It's better to be a good loser than a bad winner.
Children will learn from who ever will teach them. Make sure you approve of the teacher and the lesson.
Cheer for accomplishments, even your opponent's, don't cheer an opponent's mistakes.
There is good in every situation. It may be like grasping at straws but it's better than despair.

Not a lot of really new thoughts but I have realized a new appreciation for them.

First match win - Glock 26

2008-07-23T20:09:00.000-05:00

Turns out I won the match by 2.74 seconds. I shot 6 stages with just 3 points down.

I love my 26. Now I just have to learn to shoot its big brothers.

Glock 26 - The open BUG?

2008-07-22T21:51:00.000-05:00

Shot my second CCW/BUG match within a month tonight with my Glock 26. Since I am normally shooting a Glock 17 or 19, there is little to no change shooting the 26. The first match was a USPSA side match that I lost by less than half a percentage point. I had an extra shot on one stage and the resulting 10 point penalty kept me from winning the match.

Tonight was an IDPA BUG (back up gun) match. I had one of the two Glocks there, both 26s. There was a fellow there shooing a Colt Pocket Pistol in 32 ACP that I think won this one but I don't believe I was far behind.

Simply put, the Glock 26 is probably the best shooting gun that fits into the BUG category if you shoot Glocks normally. The manual of arms is exactly the same and the guns reloads at superhuman speed compared to a J-frame revolver. I suppose a case could be made for a Glock 27 with light loads, but you could run into spring issues.

I am glad to see the number of slim and small 9mms coming out such as the Kahrs, Taurus's, Kel-Tecs, Para Carry 9, and the Springfield EMP but it's hard to find a full or mid size version of these for regular competition. The Glock 26 has the same trigger reach and grip circumference as any of the standard frame Glocks. The sights are easy to see and are where you expect them. It is so familiar for someone like me who has been shooting Glocks for 20 years, that it feels like cheating.

The same Glock 26 goes into a pocket holster I made and is the gun I carry when I don't carry a belt gun. It feels really good knowing that my pocket gun can deliver if I ever need it in an emergency.

Pollen

2008-04-09T14:11:00.001-05:00

Spring is in the air. And on the car. Piling up against the curbs. Just a few more weeks until we say goodbye to the allergies of spring and hello to the mosquito bites of summer.

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T21:34:00.000-06:00

Hope 2007 is starting well for one and all.

Since my last post 4 months ago, I've moved into a new home. Roughly twice the space for roughly twice the monthly expense. Buying instead of renting though!

The Emmys

2006-08-27T22:23:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I don't watch West Wing... I'm guilty of cheering for my favorites... I just can't see how Alan Alda deserves an Emmy more than Denis Leary. I identify with Leary's Tommy Gavin character and hope to live up to the good he does without getting into the sh*t of his personal life.

Denis, you were robbed.

The ultimate gun free zone

2006-08-09T17:49:00.000-05:00

The idea of a gun free zone has appealed to many big government types for years. The idea that without guns, violence would be reduced to a point that the residents would no longer need fear it. The places labeled as gun free zones have never really been tested as people could ignore the regulation. (Columbine is a gun free zone for example.) So how can you tell if a gun free zone would work? Washington DC is a place where gun ownership is all but outlawed but the availability of guns on the street means it's really not a "gun free" zone. New York City is another example of this. Schools and other institutions are simply to easy to access to create a true "gun free"zone. (Of course, no place is truly "gun free" if the police retain their firearms, but that's another discussion.) People come and go in these areas everyday requiring impractical methods to insure guns don't make it in. Also the boundaries of the zone are not rigidly controlled, so while a gun might not get into the building, it might enter the "zone".

So in order to create a true "gun free zone", you would need to set up an area which had extremely controlled access. No one could just come and go when they wanted as this would hinder the security measures. The area itself would have to be physically secure and monitored to prevent a security breach. Kind of sounds like a prison...

Prisons are the best examples of gun free zones we have in our society and no one wants to live there. Somehow the lack of firearms (and other weapons) behind bars does not stop crime. The weak are still preyed upon by the strong. The indications are that there is more victimization behind bars than outside. The lack of guns and the high concentration of criminals in prisons refutes the arguments that guns are responsible for crime.

So if you want to live in a truly gun free zone, there's probably one near by.

Hiatus

2006-08-01T23:36:00.000-05:00

It's amazing what does not get done when you're busy. The wife and I are working towards buying a house. I've not been that interested in the blog thing as a result.

Shot an IDPA match tonight. Sight pictures are a must. Without them, you (I) miss. I dropped 5 shots on a single stage. It bites but better at a local match than elsewhere.

IDPA Match

2006-04-18T22:42:00.000-05:00

I shot with the TTG group at Larry's tonight. We had four courses of fire and a reasonable turnout.
First course was a simulated home invasion. Shooter was sitting in a chair facing uprange, leaned back with hands behind head and ankles crossed. On buzzer, shooter moved to a barrel, ~10 feet behind and retreived unloaded handgun and ammo, stowed spare ammo and loaded. There was a barricade ~10 from the barrel. Three hostiles on each side and one non-threat each side. Three rounds were required on each hostile, pieing from cover.
I shot this one slow (32.46 RAW) with total 6 points down. I did a tac-reload when I should have run the gun to slidelock and had a failure to battery.

Second course was a simulated robbery in public and started with the shooter facing the right side wall of the range with hands against the wall. There was a plastic flopper ~3 feet to the left. On the buzzer, shooter had to hit the flopper with strong hand and then draw from concealment. Engage four hostile targets downrange with a non-threat in front while moving to left to cover. On the left of the cover point, there were two more hostiles with a non-threat in between to be engaged with 3 rounds each, pieing the cover.
I shot this one fast... Too fast. (16.18 RAW) with 21 points down. One miss on #3 of the first 4 hostiles counted for 5 of these points.

Third course was a simulated store robbery and shooter started facing uprange with concealment. On buzzer shooter turns and engages 4 hostile targets while advancing to counter with three rounds each. There is a non-threat between two hostiles.
I shot this one a little more reasonable but went for headshots. (16.02) with 5 points down. I dropped the mag when I reloaded which cost a little time. If I had shot for center mass hits, I might have cleaned the stage. Some of the "head" shots dropped into the upper chest costing me 2 down on 2 targets each and 1 down on another.

Fourth course was walking the dog. Shooter facing uprange with dog leash in strong hand. On buzzer, advance to cover on right while shooting a hostile 6 times. Pieing past the cover on right side, engage 2 hostiles (one with non-threat) with three rounds each.
I shot this one pretty well but felt very flatfooted at the beginning of the stage. I shot once or twice on T1 and had to remember to keep moving and shooting. T2 got center of mass hits and T3 with the non-threat got headshots. (11.94 RAW) 6 points down (5 T1 and 1 on T2)

All totalled I shot a 96.60 which was good for 6th of 12 in SSP.

I think I've been treating these IDPA stages as "burner" stages. The courses are short and the ranges are pretty short. I want to slow down however long it takes to see the sights instead of indexing and just get the hits. Oh, well, there's another match in two weeks...

Catch up

2006-02-21T09:23:00.000-06:00

This is the time of the year when everything seems to go dormant.

The few things I have done since last posting include:

Coming in third at the last IDPA club match I went to.

Installing Tru-Glo TFO sites on my Glock 19. (Which helped with the IDPA match.)

Chronographing my reloads. The 9mm loads were just a tad over 1000 FPS with a 125 grain bullet out of my Glock 19.

Adjusting the load up just a bit to make sure it makes Minor 100% of the time.

Semi-dry fire practice

2006-01-10T22:18:00.000-06:00

Turns out my new timer will not pick up the sound of my Glock dryfiring. No real surprise there but it makes getting real times on things like draws pretty difficult. I know I could set up a par time to beat but wanted to see where I am first. Well, I had a handful of primed 9mm cases which were just sitting around so I pressed them into use. The timer picked up the primer pop without any trouble. I practiced draws from concealment as I knew I was hitting around 1.11-1.20 drawing without concealment. A hands relaxed draw on a target about 15 feet away and about 12 inches square was around 1.5-1.6 consistantly with some draws going as low as 1.31 seconds. Turn and draws from surrender (El Prez start) were in the 1.65 range. Speed rocking I was able to post a 1.02 run with 1.05 being about standard. Unfortunately I could not confirm an index. I tried one "head shot" scenario with about a 3" circle at 15 or so feet, 1.85 seconds.

These were pretty handy drills but I can't truly trust the results without live fire to confirm the hits or lack thereof.

More shooting stuff from the weekend

2006-01-08T21:21:00.000-06:00

Saturday, my buddy and I went out to set up the shotgun side match stage(s) for the USPSA match today. We spent a couple of hours clearing out an unused bay at South East Firearms Training Center AKA Jeff's backyard. We ended up with a nice little speed course with two clay targets and ten steel plates. We then ran it though a few times with 9mm Winchester white box ammo to calibrate the plates. (No we didn't shoot the clays with the 9mm.) Then we tinkered around doing horrendous turn and draws (essentially the first shot of an El Presidente stage) on the one "A" zone sized plate.

After wandering back up to Jeff's house and helping dispose of the (several days old) deer doe that turned up out by the pond, we let him convince us to run through a pistol course he had set up a couple weeks back as a training tool. Since Jeff is a GM class shooter, it would have been rude for us to turn him down, so we reluctantly agreed. (Yeah, right...) Tony's first run at the course took 20+ seconds. By the time we had run it through with Jeff pointing out errors and improvement areas, Tony hit 13 seconds and change and I had run a 10+ second run with a open gun and 29+1 in the gun. (Ok, the multiple misses and hits on the no-shoot targets caused that 10 second run to dim a bit, umm, lot.) Jeff, however, posted a 9.89 first run and hit 9.29 with mostly A's and a couple of C's. Him = GM, us = nowhere close.

We convinced him to wander down and critique the shotgun stage, which involved a Benelli and bag of shotshells. We all ran it to offer up objective opinions, us around 16-18 seconds, Jeff ~13.

Back to the house to prep for Sunday's match. I loaded ~60 rounds of 40 S&W for Tony, 140 rounds of 9 minor and 100 rounds of 9 major for myself. Mounted the skyscreens for the timer/chronograph. Charged the batteries for the camcorders, packed the shotguns, shells, etc, etc.

This morning. Have to be out early as the club president was striken with some flu bug and did not get out to set up courses yesterday. Get back out to Jeff's around 8:30 and help set up for the match. It's a special classifier match and I do not have classifications in Limited 10 and Open yet so I am running them both back to back. I have my Glock 17 set up the a compensated barrel and slide mounted red dot sight and my plain vanilla Glock 19. I'm using the same holster and mag carriers for each but have to swap ammo. It was a bit hectic but I manage to shoot all stages twice. The more I shoot the open gun, the better I seem to shoot the limited/production gun by comparison. I will probably beat myself on match points with the L10 runs over the Open runs.

After lunch and everyone else was gone, I came back by and tested the chronograph function which seemed to work exceptionally well. It confirmed my minor loads are indeed making minor at least.

Home from the ER

2006-01-06T23:08:00.000-06:00

As I suspected my daughter's tests did not show anything abnormal. The one thing the doctor did note was sinusitis, which she inherited from me. This got her an anti-biotic prescription to clear it up. She is scheduled to get an EEG done on the 19th to further check for signs of seizure related illnesses. Otherwise, things are pretty much back to normal.

ER

2006-01-06T15:36:00.001-06:00

Well, it's never fun being in the ER but things could be worse.

My oldest daughter fainted at school today and her doctor thought it best to go to the ER for tests. She seems to be fine now, no nausea or headache, etc. The staff has been very friendly and helpful. She's had an EKG and CT scan as well as having blood drawn. We're waiting for the blood work now. Should be another 45 minutes or so. As I suspected nothing abnormal has shown up. Usually when these things happen, there is no smoking gun per se. So we'll hang out watching cartoons until the tests are back.

Such fun...

Shooting stuff

2006-01-06T15:36:00.000-06:00

I got my timer in Tuesday but have not had time to take it out to the range yet. The manual did not make it to me and I had an IDPA match Tuesday evening, so I did not get to play it it much then.

I've run some par times and have begun assessing where I am for a few tasks. I have concentrated on mag changes and I'm pretty consistant at 1.5 seconds. It takes about twice that for a reload with retention. I need to get a bar set up for the chronograph skyscreens. I tried temporarily taping them to a table and shooting across with an airsoft gun but my interior lights don't work well with the skyscreens. I only got one reading which was about the velocity I expected. It should work much better in sunlight.

The IDPA match was a good thing for me. I have been shooting USPSA for a while and this has really improved my speed. I put the fastest time on the speed stage. Unfortunately I dropped a point so another shooter bested the stage with .17 slower time but no points down. Since he won the match I felt pretty good about that stage result. I bobbled one stage due to a problem with my ammo. One case needed to have been retired as the primer pocket had gotten loose. This is one of the problems of using range brass for reloading. Needless to say I tossed it ASAP.

It was good shooting with the TTG group again. I like shooting both sports, IDPA and USPSA, as both emphasize fast accurate shooting but both also encourage different methods of shooting a stage. IDPA tends to force the shooter to do it the "right" way, at least according to IDPA conventions. USPSA allows the shooter to solve the stage as he or she chooses. As a result, I find I do things in IDPA that I normally would not practice, while I tend to run closer to full out in USPSA. I figure the combination of skills will give me more choices if I have to use my guns in a non-sporting situation.

Doldrums

2005-12-29T11:30:00.000-06:00

At least I think that is the correct spelling. Not a lot going on at work except for the obligatory last minute emergencies for year end. Luckily these are few and far between.

I made a deal with a shooting buddy of mine to trade a shotgun I don't need for a Pact Pro timer I want. Should get that in early next week. New toys are the best toysm :)

2005-12-28T11:49:00.000-06:00

Like usual I'm the last to know...

Kim DuToit is back on the air... web... net... whatever.

Last minute shopping

2005-12-22T08:28:00.000-06:00

You'd think that there would be more than three cash registers running at a Super Walmart, wouldn't you?

Well, there are the self checkout lines that I normally use, but this time I need a price override and anyway there are long lines on them too....

Stuff to do

2005-12-21T19:52:00.000-06:00

It's time for packing and holiday travel. I need to get as much done tonight as I'll be at work tomorrow and travelling tomorrow night.

Pack comfortable clothes with at least one set of dress clothes.
Pack gear for Saturday's shooting jaunt
Decide if I should pack the PC. (My folks don't have a DVD burner.)
Last minute gift buying