Tony's Bullseye Blog

The Value of Service

2012-02-10T09:47:00.000-05:00

Every so often I run into a company that just gives me the warm fuzzes.

Not so long ago I ordered some parts from EGW (Evolution Gun Works). I needed a new hammer, sear, pins, springs and some other small items for a newly acquired 1911. The pistol, a Springfield Range Officer, had most of its small parts manufactured by an MIM process. And I thought using good old fashion forged parts would be the way to go.

So, during the middle of December I placed my order and promptly got an email (within minutes) that the items requested were on back order. The email wasn’t an auto-generated form letter; someone actually took the time—right then and there—to inquire if I wanted to cancel my order or allow it to stand.

They then gave me an estimate on availability. Apparently they needed about 5 to 6 weeks to get everything in order. Without hesitation I instructed them to let the order stand. I figured a few weeks weren’t going to change anything, and I didn't really have immediate gratification on my mind.

I’ve used EGW parts in the past and thought they were of good quality.

Fast forward 6 weeks later: I noticed my order from EGW sitting serenely on my front porch. But to my surprise the box’s dimensions were about 14 inches by 10 inches by 10 inches. When I first looked at it I was taken back.

I immediately assumed someone sent me the wrong items. Let’s face it, a hammer, some pins and a few springs probably could have been sent in a small padded envelope.

With a mix of trepidation and being miffed at the prospect of immediately needing to return, God knows what, I opened the box. And to my surprise the first item to glare back at me was a massive pistol rug with strap handles and exterior mag pouches; of course it was privately labeled by EGW and crafted in their company’s classic blue motif.

Buried deep inside the rug were the items I had ordered and a packing slip. The gun rug was listed on the slip and its price was prominently listed as No Charge.

Wow! Now, that’s a surprise.

Even though the parts arrived about 5 days late from their estimate, it’s obvious someone over there at EGW actually cares. Not only about the quality of their products but how the customer perceives their performance.

I have to admit, it was a refreshing experience where the provider was prepared, communicated well, and wanted to leave me with the impression that they’ll go the extra mile. And they did all that without anyone ever asking.

Winter Practice for Leg Matches

2012-02-06T13:11:00.001-05:00

Amazing what my friend Bruce did with a little bit of encouragement. A Chambers’ ballgun, some pricey 230 grn match ammo, and an unseasonably warm winter afternoon before the Super Bowl; mix that with determination and you get a pile of Xs.

Sectional Surprise

2012-01-23T11:41:00.001-05:00

Sectional season has just started—apparently with a bang—with John Zurek scoring a new (but yet to be validated) national civilian record of 893-44x. The prior record was established by Larry Carter in 1994 with only one less X.

Those of you from the Southwest know John fairly well.

For the rest of us in other parts of the country, let me tell you John is possibly one of the most approachable, humble and likeable of any of the champions that you’d ever meet. And I’m told the guy gladly spends hours assisting new shooters at almost every opportunity.

I’ve known John for a few years. … Not well. … Shot with him a few times. … But on occasion he’s optimistically instructed me to dramatically raise the bar on myself; by intimating with an encouraging tone that it’s within me to do something special. Yes, he’s an upbeat and positive thinking man.

John’s not only a class act; he’s a nice guy too.

Congratulations, my friend!

2012 Desert (Classic) Midwinter Pistol Matches

2012-01-19T16:34:00.005-05:00

Just a heads up for those of you who live in the Southwest—or for that matter—the rest of ya who just happen to have some time on their hands: The Phoenix Rod and Gun Club is hosting their annual Desert Classic. Okay, it’s not called the “Classic” but the Midwinter Desert Pistol Matches. … I always thought it sounded a tad classier using the word classic.

I attended this match back in 2010 and thought it was a blast. The range is well maintained and the local shooters are extremely friendly. And where else could you shoot outdoors with a light jacket on at the end of February?

Although, I’d take along rain gear. February is generally their rainy season.

Our friend Motorcycle Dan dropped in last year, and if there’s any truth to his recollections, the folks in Phoenix do it up right.

Phoenix Rod & Gun is located at the base of South Mountain, where it’s a leisurely 20 minute drive from downtown (45 minutes if it’s during rush-hour).

International events start on February 14th and wrap up on the 16th. The Bullseye events start on Friday the 17th and finish on Sunday the 19th with Service Pistol Team Matches and an EIC Match.

If you’d like to know more about this match, use this link. Or email my friend Don Plante to register at: donpla@msn.com

Update: The Little Woman has given me the go-ahead to attend next year’s match; that’s a clear indication of how much I appreciate this event. And if you do decide to go, there’s plenty of others things to do in and around Phoenix.

Mirror Image Duo

2012-01-11T10:49:00.003-05:00

An old friend and sometime contributor to this blog, Joe Chambers, has the honor of having his work showcased in the current issue of American Handgunner magazine. Actually Joe’s handiwork is the cover story for their March/April edition.

The piece centers around two 1911 Commander stainless steel pistols, bookmarked right and left-handed. The lefty was constructed to be completely and truly opposite the other. That means everything, plunger tube, ejection port, extractor, mag release and anything else you can think of … has been crafted in a reverse mirror image.

Joey tells me the lefty shot a 50 yard group (keep in mind they’re stubby little Commanders) of 1.80” and the righty shot 1.55” out of a Ransom Rest. After studying the picture, clearly they were crafted and finished in a highly refined and elite manner.

Listed below are two links to the American Hangunner article. The first link is AH’s digital version, the latter is their HTML.

As we run up to the SHOT Show, I’m certain everyone’s going to want to see these things.

http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHMA12/?page=58

http://www.americanhandgunner.com/chambers-custom-2/

A New Year’s Aspiration

2012-01-09T09:50:00.001-05:00

Like many of you I lurk on the Bullseye-L too. There was a time not so long ago where I would participate with some degree of frequency; only wondering whether or not I had anything worth contributing.

And I’ll admit, for content, occasionally I get ideas there for the foundation of a blog post.

Near the end of 2011 on the BE-L, there were a lot of good discussions about our dwindling fraternity. Granted there were a lot of productive ideas that surfaced and others were even downright excellent, about how to attract newbies at the local level. Many of us should earnestly take their cue and productively work our neighborhood resources.

Unfortunately it’s a subject I’ve addressed several times before. I’m under the impression that we, the practitioners of our sport, generally can’t see the forest through the proverbially trees.

Bullseye has had a steady long-term decline. It’s been systemic, incremental and appears to have been drifting down the exit corridor for the past 20 to 25 years. And most recently over the past two and a half years (possibly due to the Great Recession) there’s been a rapid exodus of those who weren’t tenured. … I certainly wouldn’t call those who have recently left us as transient shooters—more than likely they simply weren’t that ingrained.

The 21st century is a much different place. Today, there’s all manner of shooting sports: Cowboy Action (with and without the horse-flesh), ISSF, IDPA, IPCS, Skeet, Trap, Sporting Clays, Muzzle Loading, Metallic Long Range Black Powder, Benchrest, Pins—and what the hey, I’ll even mention Action Airgun. Obviously there are numerous sporting opportunities today. And I shudder to think of all the people who might be siphoned off by participating in one of the reenactment disciplines such as WWII or Civil War. [I highly suggest taking a look at a few of the above links, then, compare it to this one.]

Rob Leatham On Gun Talk Television

My point is I don’t think we can turn the tide by simply prospecting in our local markets or clubs anymore. The loss has been too great, the erosion too deep.

Maybe you've noticed there’s now a flood of mainstream television shooting shows such as Extreme Marksmen or Top Shot, and a slew of others that are independently produced. In the recent past, most programming of this type had been limited to exhibition shooters or gun shop owners. Apparently there’s a new-found and compelling appetite by the general public for this type of entertainment.

I have several contacts at the History Channel (A&E) and two of their independent production companies (since I’m now considered a member of the media). It’s crystal clear to them there’s a huge viewing audience for shows that promote shooting in a positive light. And they also know they don’t have to be tied to traditional 'outdoor' cable channels.

Presently the common public views these activities as non-threatening, fun, competitive, and a reasonable pastime. A substantial number who watch these programs don’t shoot or even own guns, and many toy with the idea that it’s something they’d like to do.

During my lifetime I can’t recall another period in our culture when firearms and their related disciplines were so well regarded by the public. Today most urbanites refer to the Second Amendment as a right; rather than calling it a privilege as they traditionally would have in the not so distant past. The bottom line is there’s never been a better time to attract new bullseye shooters. This might also explain why there are so many people shooting today.

But they’re not shooting with us!

… And that’s something I’ve noticed.

The truth is we’re invisible. Almost no one knows we’re alive—and they certainly don’t know what we do.

I’ve been in casual social settings where someone asked me what my hobbies are, and I gladly told them. In response, their typical reply to me might be something like, “So, you do Olympic type shooting?”

Whether we know it or not we’re in a period of social transformation. Change like this is something everyone can count on. A lot of emotional effort has been spilled over the decline of Bullseye. And it’s been noted with the same old breathless, impulsive, often coarse and always knowing style that typifies the old hardcore elite: by demanding to do things the same old ways.

Einstein once remarked if you repeatedly performed an experiment identically and expected different results, it was an act of mental illness.

How do we turn the tide?

Money and marketing, that’s how.

If you took the time to look at a few of the websites listed above, it’ll come to you there’s tie-ins with marketing.

Brownells, Bianchi and Black Hills support CASS, both financially and with television marketing.

STI, S&W, Springfield Armory and Safariland provide assistance to the USPSA. And of course they are sponsors along with Midway USA when television programming is to be had.

At some point in the near future if we want to expand our ranks, or for that matter survive, we’ll have to design and implement a nationwide marketing plan to promote our own interests.

We need to create a centralized entity designed with purpose to be our advocate. It needs to be comprised of our own so it can rework new relationships with those that provide goods and services to us. And in doing so it could organize the financial capital and marketing skills necessary to foster a new era of rebirth for the Bullseye community.

Since we’re living in a modern age, we really don’t have much of an alternative.

So, does anyone out there have Larry Potterfield’s phone number?

Here’s a short list of potential sponsors: CCI, High Standard, Springfield Armory, Midway USA, Black Hills, Eley, Brownells, Lapua, Rock River Arms, Cheaper Than Dirt, Zero Bullets, Cabbot, Walther, OTIS Technology, Dillon Precision, Hornady and Kowa. And I’m certain a dozen more names could be added with the a little help from my friends.

Gyrojet Pistol

2012-01-01T08:57:00.001-05:00

Shades of James Bond!!

Every once in a while I’ll stumble across stuff. And I wouldn’t be surprised that a few of you are aware of this unique pistol displayed in the video below. I wasn’t, but it just looked so darn cool and outlandish to me.

Who knows, maybe this thing was birthed by misdirected government funding or someone who had way too much time on their hands.

It shoots in outer space and underwater. Practicality aside—it must have been a lot of fun putting it together.

Apparently the concept goes way back to the early 1930’s when inventor Clyde Farrell crafted a machine pistol based on the same concept. Supposedly the rounds were joined together in belt type fashion by drawn aluminum wire.

Oddly enough, the concept was even older than that. William Schermuly, a British seaman, political reformer and inventor, crafted one of the first modern rocket guns in the mid-20’s. His pistol design was intended for rescue operations rather than a defensive device.

The Gyrojet did see combat testing in Vietnam. To date I’ve found no evidence of anyone ever being harmed by one. Liberals would love this one; a pistol that’s been in use for more than 45 years, and its never hurt anyone. After the passage of the 1968 Gun Control Act the ATF attempted to have them banned as a destructive device.

Update on Degeneration (and a Hearty, Thank You)

2011-12-28T12:11:00.001-05:00

Last November, with a lot of reservation, I told the story of physical problems I encountered in a post titled Degeneration. Basically the piece was about how it affected my shooting.

Over the past three years, I rarely share personal things anymore. I’ve tried to maintain the blog as a resource for newbies. Although, at the time, I thought it was worth reporting on. I assumed that sooner or later all of us would be faced with a similar predicament.

Immediately after posting it I received lots of thoughtful emails. Each and every one was moving. The majority were sincerely laced with genuine advice both medical and mental—and others were written in a tone of authentic encouragement.

During my recovery I threw caution to the wind and started doing some pretty weird things. Over the course of several league matches I shot slow fire with my weak hand. I started off being ever so hopeful, by attempting to bump up my slow fire scores with my non-damaged limb.

Up until that point I was having a terrible time of it. I had limited mobility where it was nearly impossible to maintain any degree of strength or stability when using my right hand. So I temporally abandoned it and used my weak hand. And I changed eyes too (yes, I used the non-dominant one) and simply tried to force myself into sequentially applying the fundamentals.

The results weren’t all that bad! … Nor were they stellar. But they’re still far less rewarding score-wise compared to my old performances.

I feel fortunate that my pinched nerve appears to be returning to normal. I have no pain. Presently I can command my strong arm and grip to do things it used to. And my ability to have a reasonable wobble area appears to be within sight too.

Unfortunately my scores haven’t returned to their pre-injury levels. I’m certain all I have to do is be a little more dedicated with both my training and practice routines. And I have few doubts that at some point in the near future I’ll be back to my old self.

In some respects, I feel like I’m teaching myself how to shoot all over again.

But the whole process gave me several new insights, the first being a more respectful and intuitive understanding into the process of aging. I’ve known several ol’ timers over the years and simply marvel at their dedication to the sport. They simply know how to keep going and enjoy themselves immensely, regardless of the outcome.

And I’ll be the first to admit, I’ve become much more sensitive to those who are handicapped. They bear burdens, visible or hidden, that may or may never be cast off.

The bottom line is we all compete in an environment where we’re not equal: be it our skill, equipment, physical ability or training. All of us may have equal opportunities but our individually ingrained abilities and handicaps are anything but egalitarian.

As we start a New Year, allow me to express my gratitude.

No one achieves success without the help of others (and I’ve had a lot of help). I’m incredibly thankful of those who have assisted in rekindling my spirit. People with a strong sense of gratitude, love and appreciation don’t necessarily have more than others; they simply recognize and perceive more beauty in their lives.

As we approach 2012 and all the unknowns before us, I believe there is always—always—something to be thankful or grateful for.

Zins-Moody Clinic 2012

2011-12-19T09:29:00.001-05:00

If you ever wanted to go to one of these things. … Here’s your chance!

Click on the image for a larger view.

Aged to Perfection

2011-12-13T09:37:00.001-05:00

Six or seven years ago my boys were in their sophomore year of college. And I had time on my hands. That moment became a life datum, where I tried reevaluating myself as a father (read as: mid-life crisis).

After a few months elapsed, it dawned on me: I’d like to do something with some kind of shooting sport. But I didn’t have a clue as to which one to embrace.

It was easy to fondly remember the distant past when my dad and I would have little shooting competitions at deer camp. We’d spend hours inventing all kinds of dippy shooting setups, and then pretend we were exhibition shooters. Actually neither of us shot that well, but it did imprint very fond memories.

While internally debating which sport to accept, I stumbled onto John Dreyer’s The Encyclopedia of Bullseye Pistol website. After perusing numerous sites, John’s stood out because it had a cohesive look to it. It was obvious someone had taken the time to thoroughly review the basics, and as well, expand on the advanced.

In fact, John’s site initially became my first shooting mentor. I didn’t know anyone in the sport, didn’t know who to approach or where to go. … But it did give me the lifeline I needed to get started. In fact, I’ve met several other shooters who started out the exact same way.

John’s had a big impact on the sport through his site and it continues to this very day.

Over the years I’ve seen several experienced shooters lead newbies by the hand and drop them into John’s cyber-lap. It’s not only a place to get started but there’s tons of useful information for even the more advanced practitioner.

I know most of you have been there at one time or another. But if you haven’t been to John’s site lately, take a look. He’s been busy updating its content and refreshing the overall look. Heck, there are a lot of updated and new articles as well.

I just finished reading John’s well crafted article titled: Trouble Shooting and Preventing Malfunctions. And I learned a few things from it too.

1911

2011-12-09T14:50:00.000-05:00

Guest Post by Joe Chambers: Buyer Beware - Inspecting Used 1911s

2011-12-06T16:47:00.000-05:00

Several times a year people contact me and ask if I can point them in the right direction to find a used gun for BE shooting. This can be a very tricky road to travel.

Over the years there have been several great smiths, some good ones, and quite a few folks that should have probably never worked on a 1911. So what do you look for when trying to find an affordable used gun to either shoot out of the box or modify to shoot competition with?

A peened trigger bow = Evil trigger pull!

First of all, as a general rule, regardless of what it says on the side of the slide or in the magazine ad, a stock gun is not going to be competitive in the BE shooting world. I’ve tested many such guns just to see what they will do with the best match ammo. Typically they will hold somewhere around 4-6” at 50 yards. While you may not think that is too bad, consider that the top competitors are shooting guns that will hold less than 1.5” at the same distance for ten shots.

So, when looking at a used gun one of the most obvious things to check is the slide to frame fit. If you pick the gun up and it rattles like a box of bolts—that isn’t good. It doesn’t mean it can’t be fixed, with enough money and time anything can be fixed but it’s a bad sign.

If the slide to frame fit is reasonably tight what do you look for next?

A lopsided feed ramp that looks like its been stippled

Two areas that are constantly tampered with on used 1911’s are the frame ramp and the barrel throat, that little ramped area of the barrel before the actual chamber. If you lock the slide back and see that the ramp is rougher than a Nebraska corn cob, or that it has been worked on by Dremel Dan, walk away. At the same time, if you look at the throat and it looks like it goes too far into the chamber, which would over expose the round on the bottom—run away! This could be a seriously dangerous problem.

Also, while the slide is locked back, push the barrel to the rear. It should sit about .030” in front of the top of the frame ramp. If the barrel overhangs the frame ramp the gun simply will not feed and should be avoided.

The crown is another area to inspect. If you look at it carefully and it has nicks, dings, or is otherwise beat up, even in the slightest amount it’s going to cause accuracy problems.

Over throated barrel

The bottom barrel legs are another area that warrants inspection. Whether they have been cut too far to the rear, silver soldered or welded, or just plain overcut, these are issues that should be avoided at all costs, unless you plan on replacing the barrel right away.

A final issue of major concern is trigger work that has been improperly done. It seems that now days everyone fancies themselves a trigger-job-pro. The fact is, bad or incorrect trigger jobs can cause seriously dangerous issues and if you notice something irregular such as hammer follow if you drop the slide, put the gun down and walk away from the deal.

In closing I’ll give you the same advice I give those that call and e-mail me about used guns. If you want or need a used gun for competition do your research. Talk to top shooters and smiths. Try to find one built by a top smith. Get a general round count if you can. And if possible have it sent to a qualified smith to be looked over before the purchase. The shipping fees you pay may save you a lot of money and frustration in the end.

As always, if you’d like to reach Joe about this blog post his email address is: joe@chamberscustom.com

Happy Holidays

2011-12-04T20:20:00.000-05:00

My friends in Phoenix really know how to have fun during the holidays.

PHOENIX -- These aren't exactly the photos you took with Santa as a kid.

An Arizona gun club is offering a chance for children and their families to pose for photos with Santa while holding pistols and military-style rifles.

One image shows Santa in a wingback chair with a snowflake background, a Christmas tree behind him and flanked by an $80,000 machine gun and a tripod-mounted rifle... (read the rest here)

One Nameless Advocate

2011-11-22T13:52:00.000-05:00

Last August I reported on a gun theft that occurred during the national matches. My friend and longtime reader, Bill Treanor, was the victim of local fools who couldn’t get out of their own way.

It was a daytime burglary that occurred at a hotel that we both utilized during the matches. And I should mention, several other guests were apparently targeted as well. Although, Bill was the only one who was victimized.

Let’s face it Port Clinton isn’t exactly the crime capital of Ohio. But then again, in any community, there’s always someone around who emotionally dwells beyond the limits of common decency.

The missing items included a .22 Walther’s GSP, .32 GSP Expert, tuned 1911 and his gunbox with all the traditional miscellaneous stuff that we lug around in them.

Somehow all these items were recently found, four and a half months later, near a railroad bed tucked neatly in neighboring bushes.

Apparently, a real stand-up type stumbled upon them the other day and promptly called local authorities.

My guess is when the initial investigation got underway, the investigating officers touched on someone who was involved. Then after about three seconds of having a conversation with their inner monologue, decided it wasn’t worth the risk of having procession of stolen firearms.

When the guns were initially inspected by the police, a small pond of water was visible at the bottom of the box. They’ve been outside for a long time—maybe months. Look at the picture for yourself and you’ll notice some pretty nasty rust has set in.

With a little bit of luck (and maybe long term submersion in Kroil) these fine shootin’ irons may make future appearances at matches near the great Blue Ridge once again.

Cabot Guns & BZ

2011-11-16T09:26:00.001-05:00

This may, or may not, be news to all of you. But our friend Brian Zins has signed on with Cabot Guns as their spokesperson.

You can read about it here.

A little while back, I wrote a brief post about Cabot and their line of “post custom” 1911s. I’ll be the first to admit, they have an interesting business model and product line.

Degeneration

2011-11-08T16:00:00.003-05:00

For several reasons I rarely write about myself anymore. Mostly it’s due to my desire to use the blog as a tool to promote the sport and assist new shooters. My personal ramblings ended years ago.

Although, I figured it might be useful for others to share an ongoing life event.

Recently I had an issue or two with shooting. Unfortunately it appears to be age related. I’m certain it’s something other more mature shooters could readily appreciate.

About four weeks ago I pinched a nerve in my neck. It was one of those things that was just plain stupid, I simply woke up. That’s right, I got out of bed and had a fairly sharp pain in my lower neck. I thought it so insignificant that I’d never mention it to anyone.

After a few days the pain subsided, and I never gave the incident much thought until I tried to shoot a Wednesday night’s indoor league match.

Even though there was no longer any degree of discomfort, my ability to properly hold a pistol diminished to such a point that I felt dangerous with it. No matter how hard I tried, my pistol did little more than wobble erratically from my own target to adjacent ones. If I had to give my new handicap a name I’d call it a ‘neurological deficient.’ My right arm felt feeble, and when outstretched, my grip made the gun tremble dramatically.

I’m certain anyone watching the firing line would aptly label me as “looking weak.”

It was an embarrassing and humbling moment. At the conclusion of the slow fire match I boxed my gun and informed the RO that I was withdrawing.

Over the course of the next two weeks I deluded myself into thinking that when the pain disappeared, so too would my hold problem.

Well, it hasn’t played out that way.

No matter what I did at practice the results were no where near as good as when I first started shooting. After multiple attempts at well aimed shots, the results look like I had taken a Taurus Judge and laid down a heavy barrage of cover-fire with .410 shotgun shells.

After two weeks elapsed, my hold did tighten up a little (at least the ceiling and my neighbor’s target were safe from errant shots), it became a 6-ring spread. Like new shooters who are yet to be anointed, I attempted to snatch shots here and there as the sight tracked across the black. It devolved into a horrible struggle of me fighting severe and uncontrollable vacillations.

In the past few weeks I’ve visited my general practitioner, chiropractor, and physical therapist. And even gave serious thought about looking up an old Ketewa shaman that I know. … The shaman’s probably the least expensive and I wouldn’t be at all surprised the most effective.

But my basic observation is: I’ve matured.

I told one of my health providers about my shooting problem, and he labeled me an athlete. I don’t know about you, but I never thought of any of us as being athletes (and that includes golfers (trunk slammers) too), with the possible exception reserved for only a handful of those that perform at the highest levels.

I’m certain my dilemma is temporary. I’ll get over it. Although it does remind of some time I spent with Marlin Weaver near the end of his life.

Marlin was my friend, gunsmith, a nationally recognized bullseye shooter and past AMU armorer. He was a mid-70s cantankerous old sort but had a genuinely generous streak about him. Regardless how coarsely he’d deliver a message, there was always a caveat of a gift mixed within it. He was good at fixing pistol problems both tangible and mental.

He was one of those guys that did it all in our sport, and for a time, at a very high level.

During his final days he shot infrequently and I never quite understood why. On occasion I’d casually invite Marlin to a 2700 or Police-L match. And after my friendly offer to spend time together sank in, he’d remind me of his frustrations of no longer being able to perform.

After one such invitation he stared me down and said, “Tone, you’ve no idea what its like—to know what you’ve done, where you’ve been. My mind still expects my body to shoot like it did 20 years ago. It’s frustrating as hell. And when I step up to the line, even today, I still expect that same level of performance from myself.”

His body was simply worn out.

Even though I understood him intellectually I never really knew how he felt. His physical demons stoked his obvious frustrations about performance; they appeared to always lie ahead of him, before every match.

I’m certain there’re plenty of a people out there who have caporal tunnel syndrome, damaged rotator cuff, arthritis, tendonitis or even a troublesome knee replacement. If you give any real thought to it the list could be almost endless.

At times, whether we like it or not, a person must embrace their limits.

Colt Officers Model Target & Match

2011-10-27T11:14:00.000-05:00

On occasion I like to dabble by researching what Bullseye was like back-in-the-day. Unfortunately, commentaries from the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s are hard to come by. Some exist but it’s generally limited to stats.

Guns are a different story, especially since there’s such a huge collectors market.

One well revered retro-bullseye gun is the Officers Model Target. It was Colt’s top-end pre-war target revolver, available in .22, .32 and .38 Special. They were built on Colt’s ‘E’ frame, the same as the Official Police model. This revolver made Colt’s reputation as The target gun prior to WW II. In the 20’s to the 40’s many if not most bullseye shooters used the Colt.

The Officers Model had a hand fitted and finished action, checkered trigger and backstrap, with an adjustable rear sight and an adjustable front sight.

Since the Officers Model was Colt’s premium target revolver, the gun received extensive polishing and action tuning, making a to-die-for single action trigger. Pre-war guns received Colt’s famous heat bluing (a thermal treatment not a chemical process).

I’ve never seen an old pre-war Officers up close, my only exposure to heat bluing is from viewing the screws and pins from vintage Colt Peacemakers. Their components remind me of the luster radiated by a black pearl. It’s an extremely beautiful but difficult finish to describe—and it’s expensive too.

The Officers Model Match was Colt’s post-war target gun. I’ve had the privilege of shooting several of these fine old pieces, and I must admit, they’re amazing. They were built on Colt’s ‘I’ frame. Post-war the ‘I’ frame was used for all their mid-frame revolvers like the Official Police, Trooper, and Python.

There were only slight differences between the ‘E’ and ‘I’ frames, in particular, the system of securing the cylinder into the frame.

Pre-war guns used a flanged screw and stud device to hold the cylinder in place. It’s a ‘figure 8’ arrangement on the right front frame. When the screw is backed out, the flange on the screw draws the cylinder retention stud up with it.

The post-war guns used a cap screw, spring, and stud arrangement. It’s a large screw on the front right side of the frame. The screw is actually a cap that retains the cylinder retention stud and spring.

The Officers Model Match had Colt’s new post-war target hammer, target grips, and Accro adjustable rear sight, which was a much higher quality match sight than the Target had. Shooters complained about the pre-war sight arrangement, by having to adjust both front and rear sights, as being too cumbersome.

It had a grooved trigger and grooved backstrap, unlike its predecessor’s checkering.

The post-war guns used a different bluing system, and received slightly less tuning and action polishing. Colt realized the vast amount of work done on pre-war guns was simply too expensive, and believed it unnecessary, since target matches were generally fired single action only.

The Colt Officers Match was the common centerfire gun for bullseye shooters. In the early days, one would a shoot a .22 with an Officers Match or Woodsman Match Target, a centerfire pistol, and a reworked government model .45. But the centerfire gun was usually a revolver, and for the winners, it was a .32 or .38 caliber Colt Officers Match (The Cheater Gun).

Some pre and post war guns were single action only. These were special ordered items and produced in extremely small numbers. They can’t be fired in double action. If the trigger is pulled in double action mode, the cylinder rotates but the hammer doesn’t cycle and the gun won’t fire.

And to complicate the issue further there was an Officers Model Special in the 1950’s. It had a straight bull barrel with a long front sight ramp and Coltmaster adjustable rear sight. [See illustration] These are the ones we might occasionally see during DR matches today.

Colt’s premier target revolver finally came under competitive pressure from Smith & Wesson’s K-38 in 1947, which was later renamed the Model 14 in 1957. The Masterpiece as it would eventually be called, slowly but methodically eroded Colt’s market share.

The Officers Model Match was discontinued, along with all ‘I’ frame revolvers in 1969 with the exception of the Python.

Colt Officers Match and Target revolvers can be readily purchased at various collector houses in the $850 to $1,400 range, assuming it’s in their most common configuration: .38 Special double action. For .32 caliber and single action only guns that are in better than 95% condition—well, the sky’s the limit for those things.

Which Way Do They Go?

2011-10-24T09:15:00.001-05:00

A friend of mine emailed me this diagram a few days ago. I thought it was incredibly useful.

Click to enlarge/download

I know what it’s like to be all juiced-up at a match, shooting Service or DR, and then trying to remember: Which way do they go? … Half the time, I typically get it wrong.

For some of you, this might be a fairly useful new accessory that can be applied to the lid of your box.

2011-10-22T07:23:00.000-05:00

I apologize for this video not being about Bullseye and as well for its poor image quality. Apparently it was taken with a cellphone camera.

God help us all, but it’s worth watching.

Handcraft Your Own Grips

2011-10-11T07:40:00.005-05:00

I’m always looking for something that’s related to Bullseye. And on a rare occasion one of the other disciplines’practitioners comes up with something really ginchy.

My friend Igor went through a process of building his own anatomical grips for his Feinwerkbau AW93. He started with a single block of walnut, a rasp and some other minor woodworking tools. And then viola: pretty sharp looking grips materialized.

Wow

2011-10-06T10:10:00.000-05:00

Every so often something happens, something very special and unique.

In a recent match my friend, Chuck Holt, worked a scorecard like no other. Chuck thanks for keeping the dream alive. ... And congratulations!

2011 NJ State Championship

2011-10-03T14:34:00.002-05:00

Every so often I’ll return to an old match with a discerning perspective. Sometimes I’ll ponder the sponsor’s managerial skills with a sharp eye, or reflect on the condition of the facilities. Then I’ll ponder to myself, was it really all that special last year—you know—from the way I remembered it?

In this instance, it was and is.

I’m referring to the NJ State Pistol Championship located at both Cherry Ridge in Highland Lakes, and Central Jersey Rifle & Pistol Club in Jackson, NJ. Of the many matches that I’ve attended this one is uniquely special; where the sponsors’ skill, attention to detail, and obvious sensitivity to the social aspect of bullseye has clearly been draped over this most esteemed of state matches.

Both venues were brought online last year as a way of expanding participation, and to make life more convenient for shooters at different ends of the Garden State. I’m certain it was also an element of consideration for the benefit of those who make their yearly pilgrimage from nearby states.

Ya know when you can get close to a 100 people to show up, year after year, somebody’s doing something right. In marketing lingo they call it ‘retention.’ The New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Association attracted shooters from as far away as OH, VT and NC.

Considering how draconian New Jersey treats their residents and anyone else who just happens to be there, with regards to their gun laws, I’m pleasantly amazed at how robust and enthusiastic their bullseye community is. These shooters seriously and productively promote the sport.

Congratulations to my friend HM Davy Lang, from Glen Rock, NJ for winning the overall aggregate. And during the process shot two clean slow fire targets to obtain a final score of 2645-136x. I believe this is Davy’s 14th time as NJ’s Resident Champion.

Gary Peterson of Levittown, NY shot a very respectable 2596-93x for the top Master spot.

Noted Bullseye humorist, Dan Pauley

Me, I took the top Expert place with a score of 2568-80x. I must admit it’s getting tougher as each year passes, as this was my third consecutive year to win the Expert title there. And wouldn’t ya know it, Motorcycle-Dan Pauley was snapping at my heels with a 2568-57x. It was not only thrilling but a pleasure to have such an old and good friend shoot almost shot for shot with me.

Mathias Whaley, a Coastie from Newport News, VA snagged the Sharpshooter’s brass ring by shooting 2523-66x. I’ll be surprised if he still has his SS card by end of next month with a score like that.

In the Marksman category Richard Samuel, a police officer from Bellport, NY posted a score of 2419-32x. I’m told Richard just started shooting bullseye this past June, with a brief stop this summer at the Small Arms Firing School.

And what was extremely surprising to me (although I’m certain not to his family), Blake Fleming won the Junior classification with a monster score of 2557-80x.

Another junior, one very dear to the hearts of NJ locals, Kimberly Hullings, claimed the High NJ Resident Junior and High Woman categories by scoring 2428-53x. This will be Kim’s last year as a junior shooter. She’s a sophomore at Ohio State University who interrupted her studies to shoot this match. Currently she’s taking advantage of a pistol shooting scholarship there.

OSU sophomore and NJ resident, Kimberly Hullings

I’d like to acknowledge Ed Glidden for managing their junior indoor pistol league at Old Bridge. And the same should be mentioned about my friend Mike Westock from Central Jersey Rifle and Pistol Club, by working with juniors interested in outdoor pistol. Both of these gentlemen do more than just run junior leagues; they provide guidance to young people about social skills (whether they know it or not) and adult responsibilities. Both men and a score of other people have made both the human and capital investments necessary to assure another generation of shooters will be immediately behind us.

Nine Juniors attended this match, many still in middle school. It was apparent they were instructed on how to be courteous, well-mannered and fun competitors. It really was a pleasure shooting with these fine young people.

This is a match where you can comfortably bring your son or daughter along. They’ll simply be exposed to good role models who happen to be peers. And compared to most other matches that I’ve been to, at least they’ll have someone their own age to talk with.

What more could you ask for: a great match to shoot, catered lunch and an all inclusive raffle too! … It was like a little piece of heaven.

And then there were pistols—pistols galore; one awarded to the match winner and each winner of their respective classification. I’m at a loss to think of anyone who didn’t walk away with at least something from this match.

In the past I’ve proudly suggested without hesitation, if you want a unique bullseye experience that’s truly top-shelf, this is the place. It’s a marquee event. Make room on your calendar for this most prestigious of matches next year.

Lastly, I’d like to extend a very special ‘thank you’ to Mary Badiak. Due to her Back Office support with the NJ State Pistol Championship, the match appeared to run oh so effortlessly. The reality is they never are.

You can read the scores from the NJ State Pistol Championship here.

Go For It

2011-09-29T10:25:00.002-05:00

I know my blog is intended for Bullseye but here’s a casual mention about two friends. One, John Zurek, from AZ whom we all know—and the other, Al Harding, a friend and fellow blogger from British Columbia.

Photo courtesy of Al Harding

Both gentlemen are currently participating in the ISSF Champion of Champions located at Fort Benning, GA this week. And both Olympic hopefuls are doing a tremendous job.

The results from Fort Benning can found here. And if you’d like to peruse Al’s shooting blog, here’s a link for that.

John’s getting a lot of traction. And Al appears to have snagged a spot on the Canadian Olympic Development Team.

John, Al, good luck and best wishes.

An explanation of how this event works can be found here.

Temporal Recollection

2011-09-26T14:26:00.000-05:00

Every so often I’ll run into the gunbox pictured below at various matches. It just seems to show up, unannounced. Back in the day it once belonged to our friend Craig “Doc” Mulvihill, who left us almost two years ago.

I don’t know who provides passage for this artifact but it mysteriously appears at matches. Some dedicated soul who clearly knew Doc as the generous and compassionate man that was, gives this item revered icon status.

If this gunbox could talk, I’m certain it could tell a story or two.

Doc was a retired Lt. Col. of the Air National Guard, a retired dentist, and an accomplished Master who competed with us for more than half his life. When he passed at age 73, many considered him a great human being, who worked tirelessly with the disabled during most of his working career.

Doc was more than a BE Master, he was a Master of life by being a true humanitarian.

I’m All Top Shot Out

2011-09-19T14:27:00.003-05:00

In prior posts, I’ve taken the liberty of promoting the History Channel’s Top Shot reality TV series. I thought ya’ll would find their programming entertaining, and for a while I did too. You have to admit when it was first introduced it was an unexpected surprise to cable audiences.

Ya know what, I’m running out of patients with Top Shot because its become boring.

If they approach me again, I’ll probably give them some space on my front page. But the truth of the matter is I simply can’t identify with any of their new competitors.

Like many of you I had visions of something else—something grand—maybe larger than life.

I’ve always thought promoting any type of shooting sport would be a worthwhile endeavor. There’s a lot of people out there who think guns are very scary things, especially urbanites. One must give History their due credit, they’ve demystified a lot of what the non-gun public thinks about people like us. And they’ve done an excellent job of scooping up good ambassadors from various shooting sports, even now.

Photo provided by Jason Harada of HI, one of last month’s t-shirt winners

I identified with most of their contestants during the two previous seasons, but I can’t seem to get my arms around their current lineup of shooters. Individual skill levels appear to be pretty good but not great like they used to be; the ultra-shooter types that were so prevalent during Season 1 and 2 seemed to have disappeared.

Who knows, maybe they’ve used up all the willing mega-masters? ... Let’s face it people who can perform like that are part of a very small and special fraternity.

Top Shot has devolved (or from a different perspective, may have possibly evolved) into heaving rocks or shooting cannons. Don’t get me wrong, I love cool toys too. But your basic dormitory reality show has its limits, where it confines the show’s producers to excessively rely on interpersonal tensions to maintain the audience’s concentration. I don't know about you, but it’s a form of viewer’s attention that’s quickly fleeting from me.

Heck, before ya know it their contestants might be weaving and bobbing their way through a Laser Tag obstacle course. Good heavens, how original would that be?

As you all well know the actual execution of any feat of marksmanship takes only a few moments. Which I’m sure burdens History with a lot of on-camera dead time. Dead time that has to be shaken and stirred into something entertaining.

What I’m attempting to say is, the talent’s lacking and the format with their related shooting setups is getting a little threadbare.

If you’re enjoying the 3rd season, good for you. And what the heck, I’ll still watch it from time to time too.

What I’m waiting for is Season 4, where filming is probably being wrapped up right now. There was a thunderous casting call from History for couples, like: spouses, siblings, parents and children, and even co-workers. Now, that might be something worth waiting for. ... And the dead time, that should be real interesting too.

The Top 8

2011-09-12T10:49:00.000-05:00

There’s an unfortunate truth where at some point most novice shooters become a vacuum, by attempting to suck up everything to perform a good shot. And then they start building an inventory of items they never wanted; items they’re better off not knowing.

Many, unfortunately, simply accept their handicaps and attempt to move forward with whatever They are, in tow.

Unless you recognize what’s holding you back, there’s little likelihood you’ll ever reach out for an appropriate solution to overcome these skill-wreckers. So, let’s take a quick look at eight of the most basic pistol shooting errors.

Holding Too Long: Generally it’s an error crafted by our conscious mind, whereby the shooter looks for perfection with minimization of their wobble. In doing so the shooter doesn’t initiate trigger pull until the sight picture looks perfect—and by then—its way too late.

Not Looking At The Sights: This only applies to open sights. Some in the past have referred to this as “looking at the target.” In an ideal world of open sight shooting you’d barely notice the target. Very good sight alignment trumps just about everything else, and to do that, it’s all about having slavish mental concentration only on the front post.

Poor Grip: The development of a good grip for most shooters is an ongoing work in progress. It’s safe to say, by gripping the gun differently, one can be assured of different printed results each and every time they fire. Most advanced shooters never take it for granted and there’s no level of perfection that’ll ever be attained at some future date. My own experience has been it takes years to master a well structured and repeatable grip.

Bad Stance: This is the foundation upon which your pistol must reside. It’s one of the very first things new shooters attempt to address, and then the very first they tend to forget. And an unsavory element of this decline is it eventually works its way into all matches. Every stance changes throughout the day and requires constant monitoring for adjustments.

Jerking and Heeling the Shot: Heeling is generally thought of as a subconscious induced movement to push, due to anticipating recoil. Jerking is generally considered jumping at an opportunity, and in the process, not moving the trigger straight back. Well, both are directly related in as such there’s the common element of anticipation. Either we’re anticipating recoil or a potential loss of the prefect sight picture.

Anticipation: Like the two items mentioned above, anticipation can cause a whole host of problems like flinching, inducing the yips, retarding natural recovery, decimating timing and just about every other conceivable breakdown you can think of. Anticipation is the big bad boogieman hiding in the closet. I once had a coach who said, “I’d wish they’d all throw away that Wheel of Misfortune, because every one of those problems is really caused by anticipation.”

Loss of Concentration: This is an extremely common problem. And I’m sure anyone who’s spent any amount of time on the line can attest to it. When we shoot matches, let’s face it, they were designed to be little marathons. And if you feel there’s a lapse in concentration: either force yourself back into the game or put the gun down. The process of teaching yourself to maintain a high level of attentiveness, takes both long hours of experience on the line during matches and the mental determination to put yourself back into the game in a microsecond.

Poor Follow Through: For years instructors used to tell their students to allow a surprise break. I don’t buy it. Your subconscious knows when that thing will go bang. Learn to follow through but don’t allow this to be confused with recovery. Shoot through the shot.

It’d be much easier—heck, nirvana—if we’d all have a clean slate, right? This reminds me of an experience I had with my much younger cousin Lisa some 15 years ago.

Late in the summer of ‘96 I had some time to kill and invited my 17 year old cousin to a range outing. I thought it would be fun for us to plink a few rounds. Hopefully it would be a leisurely way to pass a drowsy summertime day. Lisa had only limited exposure with her dad’s .22 rifle, but she never had an opportunity to ever shoot a pistol. At the time, she was thrilled by the prospect and became infused with giddy schoolgirl adrenaline.

I set up a sustained fire target at 25 yards and proceeded to give her some basic safety instructions. Then when it came time for live-fire, I swiftly gave her a rundown on what a person needs to do for a well placed shot. You know, hold it like this, squeeze the trigger like that, and concentrate on the front post—and yada, yada, yada, yada.

Wouldn’t ya know it, she cleaned the darn thing with her first 10 shots! And then she proceeded to do it again during a leisurely shot sustained fire string. … I was stunned.

It wouldn’t dawn on me for several years—that she was a blank slate. Lisa simply followed very basic instructions, and wasn’t infected or polluted by bad shooting habits.

Ah, wouldn’t all are lives be so much more fulfilled if we didn’t have chronic handicaps?

Looking Back

2011-09-06T08:53:00.000-05:00

My Friend John Buol, on his blog the Firearms Users Network, had a reflective moment about organized target shooting. And I think it’s worth reading. There’s a history to it that needs to be addressed.

Target Shooting

Posted: 05 Sep 2011 07:00 AM PDT

A note from a reader at American Gunsmith

On your Editorial note “Not Doing As They Say” I have notice in the last few years a change word definition in many so called in the know people. When I say I went “target shooting” it doesn’t mean the same thing it did 40 years ago. Today I must say “I went informal plinking”. So because of some strange method of change in the words. Most of us do not go to an organized “target shooting” event. We just go shooting and use targets.

I’m not sure when the word change happened. I must have been out target shooting or splitting wood or took a nap.

So if you know people who do surveys please let them know that most of us out here have not made the jump to “their” new definition of “target shooting”. I think it would help them in the survey business. [Read the rest here.]

Guest Post by Joe Chambers: Shots “Off Call” - Part 2; A Prime(r) Reason

2011-08-31T08:53:00.000-05:00

If there’s one thing Bullseye shooters the world round are known for its reloading. Not that we reload more than IPSC shooters, but generally speaking, we reload a lot! Not only do we reload a lot, we have so many load variations that it’s a bit difficult to keep track of them all.

Years ago, after getting involved in Bullseye, it was amazing to see how many different load combinations there were available. It seemed almost limitless. A person could go to a match with 25 shooters and there was a good possibility of having at least 15 different load variations shot on the line.

Some shooters like loads that are so soft it’s a miracle they break the paper at 50 yards. Some shooters might as well be shooting hardball in their wad guns. And yes, you know who you are! Then there’re the thousands of us in the middle shooting dozens of different powder, bullet, brass and primer combinations.

But, regardless of what recipe you may fancy, there’s a major reloading issue that can make or break whether you have inconsistent shots off call. That issue is primer seating depth.

It transpired when we were testing some new wad guns a few of years ago. During testing with the Ransom Rest, there were two newly built guns that would shoot great—most of the time. But, every so often there were shots 3-5” out of the group with the handloads we were using. It was very bothersome, not to mention time consuming and expensive on the ammo side.

The guns were checked and rechecked. The Ransom Rest was checked. Nothing seemed amiss. Finally, to omit a variable, some coveted Federal GMM 8421 was shot. The results were astounding. The groups returned to the normal sub 1.5” expected from the very beginning.

After evaluating the reloads, it was determined that the primers were not getting seated fully by the reloading press. They weren’t standing proud mind you, but were just flush. After hand seating a group of them they were shot and again, the groups returned to sub 1.5” with no fliers.

So, what happened?

Well, it seems that if primers are not seated fully into the case and resting between .003-.005” deep from the back of the brass it causes shots to be off call. As the firing pin comes forward to strike the round it now has to seat the primer first which appears to cause two things.

First, it disrupts the case in the chamber as it seats into the round. Any disruption of the case in the chamber at the time of firing will cause shots to be off call. Secondly, it causes inconsistent ignition of the powder due to the primer not firing in the same manner each time, which results in shots being off call.

In short, if you are experiencing shots off call with your reloads, you might want to check them and make sure your primers are fully seated into the primer pocket which will make them just slightly deeper than flush from the back of the case. And keep in mind, this has been seen as a problem with some factory ammo as well. So if you are going to a match it never hurts to check.

The Value of Drills

2011-08-22T09:56:00.004-05:00

Just the other day a friend of mine asked for some advice on how to overcome throwing his first shot during sustained fire. Apparently it was a nagging and reoccurring problem.

It was a casual moment and I didn’t think much of it at the time. I’m not a coach to new shooters and certainly don’t hold myself out as one. So I simply rolled off the standard but typical answer, “Try shooting some one shot drills.”

I also elaborated that it’s useful to avoid trying to make the shot absolutely perfect. It isn’t all that helpful and generally it screws things up. And I further elaborated, he might want to start pulling the trigger just as soon as the target starts to turn without visual confirmation of even seeing the bullseye.

Three days later I had a chance to watch him clean his first Timed Fire target during a league match. … Dennis was justifiably tickled pink; he had the courage to try something new and worked at it.

I was elated to see my friend accomplish a new skill set. And later, I and several others proudly signed his cleaned target.

The entire process reminded me that very few people actually do drills or train. Most seem to be lost in the wilderness by simply practicing.

During my time on the practice range I see so many of my peers who do very little to help elevate their abilities. I don’t know if they’re adrift, never sought guidance, stuck in a rut—or at the very least—play this game for a different reason than I do. Which I’m certain many do.

At 50 yards

New shooters who train and use drills force themselves up the food chain. They acquire confidence in their new abilities and have a better self image, not to mention they’re elevating their match scores in the process.

Training and drills are good things, right?

If you’re a novice shooter here are a few of the most basic drills to get you started aside from dry firing.

1) The Classic Blank Target Drill. This drill is all about trigger control. Place a full sized target backwards in the frame at fifty yards. You shouldn’t be able to see anything on its face; no bullseye or scoring rings. Then shoot 10 slow fire shots on it for a minimum group. Simply shoot at the center of the target. What the shooter needs to do is pretend they’re dry firing, but the gun’s LOADED. Every attempt should be made to make each and every release well executed.

This drill forces you to know what your actual spread is during slow fire. Over the course of several weeks, you’ll slowly start to see an improvement in group size. Don’t look through the scope during this drill, put it away. And if for some reason you can see a pattern while shooting, never start chasing holes. You want to walk up to the target to see your results.

Compare with a repair center

A shooter who can’t manage their group size will never do well during slow fire. As well, it forces the shooter not to chase their shots or use Kentucky-windage. It reinforces the process of good trigger control regardless what’s seen within the sight picture.

By the way, this drill is so dull and boring its mind numbing. But, it works.

2) The One Shot Drill. As mentioned above one shot drills work handily for anyone not getting their first shot off timely and accurately.

At the 25 yard line, simply set the target timer for a 2 seconds face. Your mission is to release one round into the 10-ring. It should be done leisurely but without hesitation. Be emotionally prepared on the firing line but don’t force anything.

Sounds simple enough, right? Just keep doing it until you can shoot 10 consecutive shots, one shot at a time, into the 10-ring. And if you can’t, just keep at it until you can.

Expect to fail. But once you mastered this drill not only will your sustained fire scores increase, so will your confidence while on the short line.

3) Shooting Thru the Donut Hole. Regardless whether you’re using a .22 or .45 this drill enhances your ability to quickly get up to speed on the short line.

Cutout the 10-ring from several sustained fire repair centers. Then place one on the backer at 25 yards with a corresponding hole. Yes, daylight should be seen through the target. Then go about and shoot a turning target set. Aim into the open area in either timed or rapid fire fashion.

Your goal is to try and avoid hitting the 9-ring.

Most novice shooters are quickly surprised to find out the vast majority of their shots fly right through that big gaping hole. And it does look like a big hole by simply viewing it from the firing line.

Many shooters using this drill discover their skill levels are much better than currently perceived. And it’s a confidence builder that easily translates to future matches.

Will there be an occasional failure? Sure. But the shooter’s attention should be placed on how well they performed with most shots. Shooters who use this drill sometimes get a unique epiphany. [I won’t ruin it for ya. You’ve got to find out for yourself.]

Here are some final thoughts.

One thing everybody notices about drills is—they’re excruciatingly dull. You don’t get a score, there’s generally no exhilaration from an unusually well placed shot, and there’s no real immediate feedback.

Ah, but they do help. They promote good fundamentals whether you like it or not.

If you want a full-blown drill list, download the USMC Pistol Team Workbook. It’s basically a singular path laid out for novice shooters, where it’s nothing more than one drill after the other.

Cabot Guns

2011-08-16T14:07:00.010-05:00

The manufacturing of 1911s is certainly a crowded place. And yet, when another player arrives it’s easy to become skeptical.

Last spring at the NRA’s annual convention in Pittsburg, Cabot Guns announced they will be the first to offer post-custom 1911s.

Okay, so what does “post-custom” mean?

Well, Cabot Guns and Penn United Technologies joined together and decided Western Pennsylvania would be the place to manufacture everything that makes up a 1911—from the ground up. That’s right, hammers, pins, struts, slides, frames, safeties, and just about every part with exception of grips and barrels are made onsite. Heck, they even claim to do their own metallurgy work for their forged blanks.

It appears Cabot made a conscious effort to take advantage of the most modern CNC and EDM techniques available. And those state of the art processes were brought to bear on 1911s with a level of manufacturing accuracy that would make most mechanical engineers weep.

On their website Cabot claims, “[There] is no other gun manufacturer in existence [that] can build what we build the way we build it and the proof is in our tolerances — we guarantee the fit between our frames and slides is exactly 0.001 inches or less. And we can provide documentation with your gun purchase to prove it.”

That’s one heck of a big claim! None the less, this just happens to bring us back to the term: post-custom.

In other words their guns are intended to exceed National Match Standards right out of the box.

Conceptually, Cabot intends to make their tolerances so incredibly accurate you no longer need a custom gunsmith to fit one up.

Unfortunately it’s a one size fits all model. So if you wanted a custom pistol with a one-of-a-kind feature or other embellishments—you’re out of luck. You’d have to accept one of their stock pistols and then have it modified.

But I have to admit if their quality claims are accurate, it would be titillating to look one of their guns over real well. Something I have yet had the opportunity to do.

From their current offering of four different 1911 configurations, none are crafted as a bullseye pistol. It appears their primary markets are IDPA, PPC and ISPC. But who knows what the future might bring?

And hold on to your hat, the base retail price for a 1911 Mil-Spec is $4,350.

Cabot Guns, video link: http://cabotgun.com/resources-2/videos/video-introducing-cabot-guns/

Thievery

2011-08-04T15:20:00.013-05:00

During my Camp Perry wrap up post I mentioned a gun theft that occurred at my hotel. I thought a follow up might be insightful.

Let’s take a step back. My friend and long time reader, Bill Treanor was a guest at the Best Western in Port Clinton. On Thursday of that week, Bill returned to his hotel room from that morning’s individual matches. Then he managed some of his gear from his car to his hotel room, and then returned to Camp Perry to shoot air pistol at the CMP’s indoor range.

A few hours later, upon his return at the hotel room, he noticed his gun box and three of his primary pistols that were in it, gone. His notebook computer that was placed on the same table next to his box, sat serenely alone.

The loss: a Walther GSP .22, Walther GSP Expert in .32 and a tuned 1911, not to mention the box and all the related stuff we normally place in them.

I’m certain Bill’s heart skipped a beat. Here he is, in another state, and had things many in our society consider to be scary or dangerous—just disappear.

After a phone call and some face to face interview time with the Port Clinton police, the local authorities swiftly moved into place. I’m told they were extremely professional and knew precisely where and how they wanted to proceed.

Hotel passkey histories revealed a lot of unexpected door accesses. (By the way, I’m not staying there again.) The primary suspects are current or former employees, or possibly, someone related to them.

None the less, those pistols are long gone.

A few people have expressed to me, why would anyone in their right mind want to steal specialty guns? They don’t exactly conform to the needs of local drug dealers, thugs, street punks, or anyone else who has illicit intentions. You can’t conceal them and .32 S&W Long rounds don’t sit on very many store shelves.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess, most rocket scientists (or at the very least, reasonably bright people) are already gainfully employed.

There’s a glimmer of hope. Recently Bill was contacted by the hotel’s insurance carrier and informed him they would cover 100% of the loss. An independent action by a third-party, which in of itself, was something that was never guaranteed.

Apparently someone at the insurance company manned-up. Or possibly didn’t think it was worth the time and expense to litigate, especially since the word ‘gun’ would obviously be applied to the claim.

Not to sound like an old lady but transporting guns is a weighty responsibility. And the laws in some states are vastly different than others. Know where they are at all times, be close by, and always have control over them. When it comes to guns, never avail yourself to the kindness of strangers by expecting them to have your best interests honored.

Top Shot Season 3

2011-07-27T12:50:00.011-05:00

Well, here we go again. The people at History have announced their airing of Season 3, and with it, another several weeks of precision shooting nirvana is about to arrive.

The reason I even bothered to post about Top Shot in the past was due to the participation of known Bullseye shooters—namely Tara Poremba and Brian Zins. None the less, it grows on ya. The new season is to air on August 9th 9/10c.

14 marksmen and two markswomen were carefully selected from thousands of applicants to participate in this season of Top Shot. The contestants include a national revolver champion, two homeland security agents (who also happen to be close friends), a former Navy SEAL, two cops, a nurse and several firearms instructors. Two of the contestants, a restaurant owner and Christian camp director, are self-taught.

Personally, I’m not fond of reality shows. But I’ll be the first to admit it’s great to have some form of narrow-casting directed specifically at people like us. You know, good clean entertainment and then things explode. What more could you ask for?

Let’s face it, it’s a lot of fun.

Hey, they tell me everything is coming off the shelf; they’ll be using Gatlin guns to rocks.

And while were at it, the very generous people at History have decided to sponsor a giveaway of logo items: The first four people who email me (b754020@aol.com) and tell me who the first person was to receive the title of Top Shot, will receive a logo History T-shirt.

Update: We have four winners! Now for those of you who have won (and you know who you are), don’t forget to email your vital statistics to me, quickly.

Disclosure: I was approached by the History Channel on an unsolicited basis, who openly asked to promote their television series. History provided a basic outline of the contestants, public Internet links, limited outlines about their unaired episodes, and the logo merchandise for the give away program. Prizes for the giveaway will be remitted directly from History or their contractor(s).

The Ever Decreasing Grip

2011-07-25T10:49:00.000-05:00

This might be an appropriate time to give one of my ginchy disclaimers: If you’re a well skilled Expert or other highly rated shooter, your time might be better spent elsewhere. I wouldn’t even remotely label myself a coach, Master (actually I’m an Expert) or an all around Zen thinking bullseye shaman. If anything I might best be described as a highly motivated practitioner of the sport who simply loves the game. These are my personal observations and it would be wise to seek out advice from multiple sources.

I can’t recall the number of times when a truly skilled shooter told me “it isn’t trigger control … it’s the grip.”

Even though the above statement might appear to be in conflict with conventional wisdom, I’m certain trigger control is just as important. None the less, the grip is the foundation for everything we do on the line. Recently I was questioned by a newbie about his apparent lack of general control throughout a sustained fire string with his .45.

During some range time I noticed he’d routinely start off well with his first two or three shots and then became degraded by jerking or heeling rounds, in equal amounts, near the end of the string. More importantly he didn’t have a consistent problem with either unique issue. His impression was that of not being able to hold anything better than the 8-ring, sometimes even worse, as time elapsed.

It appeared to me this shooter was loosening his grip--ever so slightly--as the string progressed. I’ve had it explained to me it's a common experience many new shooters tend to go through; especially those who manage their range time by overly concentrating on shooting .22s.

My sneaking suspicion was this novice overly concentrated on the process of trigger control, and eventually ignored just about everything else, especially his grip. In his own way he thought he was getting into the zone with the trigger (and maybe he was) but his scores simply fell apart.

Let’s face it, as a rule many of us give well intentioned advice to newbies. And we generally drill into most of their heads this game is all about trigger control. It’s not, all the fundamentals must work in concert.

Typical symptoms of this dilemma would be for the novice to have chicken finger or be behind the trigger. Whereby an unknowing breakdown in their grip becomes acutely obvious during the middle to end of a sustained fire string. They concentrate way too much on one single issue: their trigger control. Then the other fundamentals begin to fall apart.

Self-diagnosis is a difficult thing for a novice to pull off. And when they’re exhibiting any of the above trigger issues it becomes a little problematic. Why? They probably think an aggressive trigger pull is just the opposite of good trigger control.

What can be done?

The first item of business is self-awareness. I know we’re concerned about a good grip, but the novice must also come to the conclusion there’s something wrong with their current mindset, as it deals with pulling the trigger. There’s a huge drawback when shooters generate vast amounts of anxiety by hyper-managing their trigger pull, or for that matter, any of the other fundamentals.

When not done recklessly, being aggressive with the trigger is a good thing that produces consistent accurate results. Shooters like this need to return to dry firing on a blank wall with the intent of learning how to draw the trigger back much faster. Trying to baby it in the hopes for that perfect release isn’t doing them any good.

The other element has to do with recoil sensitivity. For the most part, even for novice shooters, they need to get over it. Recoil sensitivity has mostly to do with the shooter’s mental perception of the remaining time, not how much the pistol jumps around. This leads new shooters into believing substantial recoil forces them to take too much time to get back on target, then they start rushing shots.

Take note, the above insights need to really sink in before the novice can effectively utilize any new drills to overcome this affliction. Such drills should start with the shooter giving himself an affirmation by making an emotional commitment to maintain a consistent hold throughout and BEYOND the string.

The first drill would be to shoot on a 30 second timed fire target. In a practical sense, the shooter should be given all the time in the world so they don't feel rushed. Simply have the shooter shoot 5 well placed shots without any real time constraints. The shooter’s main concern should be to maintain good grip pressure throughout the string and little else. They shouldn’t be concerned about scores, just the performance of good sequential releases. And the process should be done leisurely but with confidence.

The second drill requires the use of an extended magazine. While still using a 30 second target face, employ a 12 round mag and instruct the shooter to shoot all 12 with what they perceive as a timed fire rhythm.

Many shooters consciously or unconsciously count the remaining number of rounds in the mag. The afflicted shooters will ever so slightly and progressively release his grip with the pistol on anticipating the end. Others simply feel pressed for time. These drills help them to get over both those problems. And they're forced to maintain a consistent grip until the slide locks back, no matter how long it takes.

A simple but helpful twist on this same drill is to have someone else secretly place different round counts (provided there's always more than 5) in different mags much like a ball and dummy drill. The novice will then have to adapt to different elapsed shooting times, and as well, be encouraged to concentrate on what’s necessary: By performing reasonably well but not perfectly, the beginning, middle and (the best part) the end of the string. The shooter should be encouraged to make each round and its recovery feel the same from start to finish.

Not caring or knowing when the end is, allows the shooter to simply concentrate on the necessary tasks that are required.

The third and final drill is actually slow fire. The shooter would be instructed to shoot slow fire, but with a twist. After the round leaves the barrel they are to force themselves to follow through, reacquire the sight picture and let the sights settle on the 10-ring while taking up the trigger’s slack; making themselves physically and emotionally prepared to immediately shoot another slow fire shot. ... Then they put the gun down. The shooter should be encouraged to do this all the time as part of their typical routine or shot plan.

Good recovery habits of any kind will promote a natural tendency on the part of the shooter to always be at-the-ready with the next round, even during sustained fire.

2011 Perry Recap

2011-07-19T15:04:00.024-05:00

Readers, as I cobble this post together it isn’t being crafted with my usual skill. I’m tired, sore, and have time honored Perry sun poising on my legs. I’ve been transmuted into little more than a worn out shell of an old shooter, who just happened to play in that great sandbox on the edge of Lake Erie last week.

The Nationals this year was blessed with great weather. With the exception of a single passing cloud, there wasn’t any real precipitation to speak of. All in all, the match’s legendary winds were quite calm. Since the weather was extremely friendly, for the life of me I can’t explain why the overall scores were so low. Having ideal conditions during the week, with the exception of extreme heat during Sunday’s CMP events, doesn’t seem to be an indicator as to why scores played out as they did.

For those of us who have made the pilgrimage, we know Perry is a very unforgiving place. There’s no cover, none whatsoever.

Although, there were some positive changes to that issue, and I want to extend a big ‘thank you’ to NRA Pistol Director, Tom Hughes. When I first arrived at Perry and looked over the ranges, someone took the initiative to place canopies along the Ready Line. They were placed adjacent to all the ranges with the exception of the Range 200. For those of us who have previously attended and know what it’s like to brave Perry’s open sun, having shade in the big wide-open looked like an oasis in the Sahara. It’s an incredibly useful new amenity that was widely appreciated.

I made it a point to reintroduce myself to Tom, and he expressed some concerns about this year’s turnout. About 620 shooters registered in advance. Like most things that swirl around our community the issue of declining participation brought about Tom’s intuitive reasoning for this dilemma, such as: the Great Recession, increased gas prices and “pistol shooting is the most difficult of all the shooting sports to master.”

Then we openly spoke about methods to recruit new shooters from the next generation.

This year I was fortunate enough to bring my son Alex with me. He’s in his mid-twenties (the type Tom Hughes is looking for) and this was his first time competing at Perry. I thought us ol timers complained a lot. I heard the classic but traditional lines, “I jerked it, I heeled it, I cross fired on that guy’s target, my legs hurt, and the heat’s killing me. … And where’s the beer?”

My basic take is it’s not a generational thing; it’s a timeless Darwinian shooter’s evolution. We’ve either all done it or said it. And I wouldn’t be surprised most of us, including a new generation of shooters, will continue to in the future.

Due to family circumstances, Ed Masaki has gracefully informed his many friends and customers that he would not attend this year’s Nationals or future ones as well. His absence this year was very obvious. So several months ago, Mary Goss solicited members from the old Bullseye-L to participate on a specialty team—as a tribute to Ed. She single handily organized and gave birth to Team Masaki.

Hopefully fielding a team was a fitting tribute to my friend, whom I believe to be one of the most gracious and generous individuals that I’ve ever met. It was a humbling experience to be one of the team members.

On a dark note, a shooter from Tennessee, Bill Treanor, was staying at the Best Western in Port Clinton. On Thursday someone with a pass key entered his hotel room and walked off with his gun box, and in it, were his three main target pistols.

I was staying there this past week as well.

Bill’s room was located on the ground floor and had exterior access. From what I could piece together, Bill left his hotel room, took most of his other guns and shooting supplies with him and proceeded to shoot air pistol at the CMP’s indoor range. On his return he noticed his notebook computer sitting alone on his table, but the gunbox that was beside it had vanished. It was a classic daytime burglary.

Another shooter two doors down from Bill had their exterior door lock pried out. Luckily for them that sleazy excuse for a dirtball apparently didn’t have the opportunity to walk off with anything else. Let’s face it, even at that, this shooter obviously felt violated and unsafe.

My guess is someone who was or had been employed there simply went from one door to the next, under the assumption there’d be guns in most of the rooms. Considering that the national championships have occurred in this little hamlet for over 100 years, it’s a deduction that didn’t require an Einstein.

The incident gave me the vision of a crack-head in Detroit’s inner-city holding up a liquor store with a Walther’s GSP; where the clerk didn’t take the moment seriously, because he thought the gun was a movie prop. Only Heaven knows where these guns will eventually windup.

I’ve always worried about the loss of my guns and their related potential liabilities. My routine for the past five years has been if I go somewhere, anywhere, they come along for the ride. I figure the worse that can happen is a traffic accident, and then I’ll do what I need to do with the local police.

Possibly one of the more unusual things that occurred at Perry was on Range 400 during the President’s 100 Match, where two shooters had a creepy range alibi. During their course of fire, a participant noticed something crawling around under his bench and promptly backed off while everyone else had their guns a blazin’.

An RO promptly interceded by reaching down to extract a 5 foot long snake. And then the shooter swiftly claimed and was awarded a range alibi. (Better him than me.)

Lastly, I’d like to congratulate John Zurek on his CMP trifecta wins: President’s 100, Anheuser Busch Trophy, and as well, being a member of the Arizona State Pistol Team where they became the national civilian team champions and were awarded the Oglethorpe Trophy. ... Oops, I almost forgot, John snagged the NRA’s Civilian Championship too!

If you’ve only ever shot a few ball matches in your career, you have no idea what level of performance John demanded from himself to pull all that off. John, your execution on Sunday was skillfully played—my hat’s off to you.

Gone Shooting

2011-07-08T13:19:00.000-05:00

Like many of my peers, I’ll be leaving for the National Matches soon. So as to give fair warning to all you other shooters staying home my blog will be silent for the next two weeks.

Hopefully on my return I’ll post a write-up about my experiences—or better yet—some worthwhile events that occurred at Camp Perry this year.

My apologies to all of you. … When I sit down at the keyboard and attempt to write about this annual event, I become tongue tied. In a sense, I don’t believe I’m sufficiently skilled to properly express what most of our other friends happily encounter there. In the past as I watched things play out, I’m reminded it’s the shared experience itself that humbles me. And it’s incredibly difficult to accurately depict the collective reverence and solemn adherence to tradition that so many fine people have attached to these matches.

Oh sure, in the past I’ve used worn out clichés such as: it’s a shooter’s theme park, a tailgate party 800 strong, and Perry’s Big Top Revival Meeting. Regardless how feeble or marginally accurate these descriptions are, it’s still an enlightening pilgrimage that one must experience firsthand to truly appreciate.

See ya’ll soon.

Guest Post by Joe Chambers: Shots “Off Call” - Part One

2011-07-06T09:29:00.001-05:00

Friends, over the past year I’ve tried very hard to expand the blog’s presence, and at the same time improve its content. Hopefully I haven’t meandered too far afield from its basic objective of promoting our sport and encouraging new shooters.

What it comes down to, nobody can do it all.

I’m pleased to announce that my good friend and custom pistolsmith Joe Chambers, has graciously consented to write several posts for us over the next year. The subjects will vary, but will mostly be centered on how target pistols work and how to keep them accurate.

I’m thrilled to have access to Joe’s insights and practical experience. Hopefully you will too.

Have you ever shot a string of 50 yard slow fire and had a shot “off call?” Chances are, if you’ve been shooting the BE game for any length of time, you have. Have you ever wondered just what it was that caused the errant shot? Perhaps you thought it was yourself. Your grip was off, stance was loose, shooting glasses crooked, or perhaps you should have had turkey instead of peanut butter on your sandwich with that mustard?

Of course some of these things may be an issue but the truth is there is a real possibility that it had nothing to do with you at all. In fact, I would wager to say, based on my experience, that in many cases it was directly related to either the gun or ammo. “What?!” you say. Yes, there are some seemingly minor things that can, do and will cause fliers on a regular basis with a 1911 style pistol. And one of these issues is what the first part of this series is regarding.

Very early during my training to become a professional pistolsmith one of the main things taught to me was the importance of tuning mags. The general public seems caught up regarding springs, weights, followers, design, color, base pads, and any combination thereof. I’ve heard people say that mag springs are only good for 2500 rounds or less, or that the rainbow swirl pattern on their base pads makes them shoot better. I’ve even heard people say they discard their mags after each season for new ones!

Boy, I’d like to be around when they toss them!

What many people seem to forget is that if the mag does not feed smoothly, consistently and without interruption every time the slide cycles then you will have shots “off call.” In order to achieve this, the mag needs to be modified and “tuned.”

Typically mag related “off call” shots occur when the third round of the mag is fired at the target. This is one of the main reasons to shoot tuned mags in your gun. If the mag has not been modified in a specific way so as to allow the follower to clear the internal parts during functioning (while still locking the slide back after the last round), the rounds will not feed in the same manner every time into the chamber. If the rounds do not feed into the chamber the same way each time, you can get those pesky fliers.

Of course, magazine tuning is only one part of the equation to allow the rounds to feed smoothly and consistently each time the slide cycles. But that conversation is best saved for another article. In the mean time I challenge you to keep track of those off call shots and determine what round they are happening on during cycling. If it is the third round, chances are it is a pretty easy fix that can up your score.

If you’d like to ask Joe any questions about the above post, feel free by using the 'Comments' link at the bottom of the page. Or if you’re so inclined, email him directly at joe@chamberscustom.com .

Review: Gunny Zins Ammo

2011-06-30T13:29:00.001-05:00

For those of you who are heading to Canton-McKinley or Camp Perry over the next several days, one thing will become fairly obvious: Our friend Brian Zins will be marketing his new ammo at both locations.

And as a sign of great conviction with his new product, I’m told, Brian will test fire your 1911 .45 ACP barrel out of a test fixture with his new ammo. (At publication time, Canton appears to be the only location currently willing to host such a demonstration.)

His intent is to let the ammo speak for itself.

Like many things that are Bullseye related, I was lucky to snag several hundred rounds before its release to the general public. I decided to review Brian’s new product with the clear intention of being critically discerning. And I personally wanted to see if it’s as good as it’s cracked up to be.

Normally I’d post some type of disclaimer, but a better approach might be to tell ya’ll how I went about evaluating this ammo. Keep in mind I don’t own a chemical or ballistic laboratory, and I’m not a mechanical engineer (even though I had access to one). I probably have the same items as you in the way of loading and quality control equipment. And the equipment that I did use was not laboratory rated devices but equipment that’s generally available to most home reloaders.

The bottom line is I’m not capable of doing anything you couldn’t do.

The round is manufactured with the legendary Nosler 185 grain JHP, a propriety blend of Vita Vouri powder (read as: we’ll never be able to replicate it), a Federal pistol primer and Starline brass.

Long before I even thought of test firing this ammo, it was obvious I’d need to investigate their individual components. So I randomly checked the dimensions of 200 rounds to see if there were any detrimental variances or failures with SAAMI specs by using a 6 inch Lyman dial caliper.

Yeah, I even dropped the same two hundred through a clean Dillon case gauge, just to be anal. And every single one flopped in and out.

The OAL came in at 1.200 inches and the actual trim length was at .897 inches (close to the high end of the SAAMI limits). The funny part, the OALs and the trim lengths never varied by any more than 1/2000th of an inch, maybe less. At this point the tolerances were so close it became obvious that I might be within the limits of repeatability with my own equipment. And I was suspicious that most of the variances detected were caused by me—by my human error.

Then I randomly selected and rapped out about 80 rounds, got my scale out, and checked the powder weights intending to find variances with the drops.

Surprisingly I didn’t find any variance using a PACT electronic scale. Let’s be honest, most electronic scales marketed to the home reloader are not the most accurate things. So, I pulled out an old but trustworthy Ohaus 1010 beam scale, feeling confident that I’d detect some amount of inconsistency between rounds. Granted it took an awful lot of time but the Ohaus, along with using a magnifying glass, didn’t detect a noticeable variance in powder weights.

The next step was a trip to the range. I scooped up my Competition Electronics ProChrono chronograph and wanted to see what kind of numbers it would produce.

After running 50 rounds over the sensors, a typical 10 shot average was 821 fps at 12 feet from the muzzle. One 10 round string generated a shocking standard deviation of 8 fps. So it’s safe to say, all those lead-puppies were running at extremely similar speeds.

To put the above into perspective, I’ve observed other BE reloaders having a SD with their long line loads in the range of 27 to 46 fps—and I’ve seen much, much worse. Although, this is in line with what I produce on a Dillon progressive press. On a very good day, when I trickle out my own long line loads and weigh bullets for near identical weights, I might be able to wring out a 12 fps SD but 14 to 16 is a little more typical.

My final exercise was to affix a newly acquired Marvel wadgun in a mechanical rest with blank test targets at 50 yards.

I don’t profess to be an expert using these devices. But once I got the gun to settle into the inserts, the consistency in the round pattern was astounding. As you can see in the photo, my wadgun eventually produced a .84 inch ten shot group. Granted, Bob Marvel makes some of the spiffiest pistols on the planet, but to get results like this you’ve got to feed it the right diet.

And of course I shot it off-handed to get an idea about functionality. Considering how the profile of a 185 grn Nosler was designed, I never expected feeding problems. And I never had any.

Granted, it’s a very accurate round but considering that most of us make our own, why would someone purchase this product? … Its sheer accuracy, that’s why. It’s a points getter.

I wouldn’t hesitate buying this ammo and dedicating its use for the long line. Seriously, how many of us actually take the time to benchmark our guns with loads we craft, and then know how it’ll actually print way out to 50 yards?

Considering the current retail price for a 1000 round case, I highly doubt that anyone could directly purchase the same loose components for the same amount of money. And the embedded technical excellence appears to be far beyond my ability as a reloader to replicate.

It would appear that Brian’s new ammo has a lot a value attached to it.

If you’d like to know where you can get your hands on this ammo use the following link to Brian’s web page.
http://www.brianzins.com/

Disclaimer: This blog is completely non-monetized. I have not received in any form a consideration from any principal, individual or business entity that may have been referred to in this article; this would include but not be limited to such items as money, in-kind goods (with the exception of the items tested) and/or services, or for that matter any other type of preference. In other words, I don’t have any skin in the game.

52nd Iteration of the Interservice Pistol Championships

2011-06-17T11:08:00.000-05:00

SFC Jim Henderson wins the 2011 Interservice Individual Pistol Championship by posting a new record (and breaking his previous) with a final score of 3554-194x out of 3600.

Congratulations, Jim!

Man, that’s an awful lot of 10s.

Bullseye-L Update

2011-06-14T11:03:00.052-05:00

I was lucky enough to get an email from one of my readers about the current state of the clan formally known as, Members of the Bullseye-L.

Joe’s email, listed below, gives an excellent current summary as to where everyone is.

Subject: Bullseye L List
Date: 6/14/2011 2:24:11 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
From: jdxxxx@sbcglobal.net
To: b754020@aol.com

Tony,

I have been working on two sites for the Bullseye L List members to
reside. I as well feel this group cannot just wonder off into the
sunset. The vault of information within this group is priceless.

I have created a Google Group emailed based discussion venue much like
the previous Lava.net group.

That can be found here: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/
bullseye-l-list (170 members to date).

And posted to with this email address: bullseye-l-list@googlegroups.com

The archives (over 21600 topics) from the Lave.net list can be found
here: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/bullseye-l-archive.

I also created a Bullseye L List web based forum that can be found
here: http://bullseyepistol.forumotion.com/forum (389 members to date).

If you would like to share this information on your blog it would be
greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your help,

Joe Fobes

So, there you have it. The above email reflects pretty much the same information that I’ve been privy to. I’m certain that over time, one of these two venues will eventually become dominant.

Thanks Joe, for taking the initiative and doing all the heavy lifting.

Bullseye-List: The End

2011-06-10T09:34:00.009-05:00

I’m under the impression that many if not most of my readers are lurkers or occasional posters to the Bullseye-L. Late last night my son phoned and informed me of Paul Perrone’s decision to close one of the most notable and revered web based information lists, which services our sport. …The doors close on June 18th.

I can easily recall stumbling across the List some six years ago or so, long before I even purchased my first BE pistol. For the era it looked archaic, lumbering in its architecture—and for an outsider—resembled little more than a free-for-all.

Than again after only a few days of use, I found it extremely informative and endearingly egalitarian. In many respects it accurately mirrors the unselfish temperament of the List’s many fine contributors.

Actually, finding and then briefly monitoring the list was one of the catalysts that nudged me over the edge to embrace the sport.

For fifteen years Paul has given all of us a venue to share our ideas and experiences, promote the sport—and at times—a place to poke a little fun with one another. Over the years it became a convenient ‘ground zero’ for those of us who were geographically far apart.

Like most things of true value, I’ve gotten far more out of it than I’ve put in it.

As I write this piece, there’s some minor turmoil about where the list members should go on a collective basis. And I agree with the basic premise that they should maintain some type of cohesion. It would be a shame, a lot of tacit knowledge would be lost if there would be some kind of wholesale fragmentation of its members.

Over the next several days, I’ll try to monitor and report on the migration of our many friends. And provide you with some direction as to their whereabouts (for those of you who only occasionally monitor the List). Ya know, we wouldn’t want anyone left behind.

So, as we turn a page on Bullseye history a hearty ‘thank you’ to Paul, for all of his time and efforts in providing us a truly priceless resource.

Perry Check List

2011-06-06T15:25:00.000-05:00

Since the Nationals are right around the corner, my wife suggested I write a post about what items are truly necessary for one’s trip to Perry. Well, I’ve gone down this road before.

Quite a few individuals have also written about what to bring. And I don’t see the need to cover all that real estate again. So, for you First-Timers, listed below are a few helpful links from other experienced shooters that have expressed their opinions about what to expect and what to bring.

But, here’s my most basic list of needed items:

1. Guns: I’m not talking about your regular competitions guns but backup guns (if you have them). On more than one occasion I’ve had the need for one at Perry. In the past, before packing things up, I simply thought it added way too much stuff to that massive hoard I lugged there anyway. In prior years, I’ve kissed over 100 points goodbye due to my frivolous zeal to get out the door a little too quickly.

2. Cleaning Supplies: Don’t scrimp when deciding on what to bring with cleaning supplies. And a modest inventory of useful tools can be a lifesaver too. Sooner or later you’ll know what it’s like to shoot a match in a downpour. Only later wishing you had hex wrenches and screwdrivers to take the side plate off your drenched revolver. A small spray can of oil such as Ballistra is real handy for hosing your pistol down to assist in repelling rain water.

3. Rain Gear: As mentioned in the above paragraph, it rains there and there’s no cover on the firing line. They don’t stop matches due to inclement weather, only if it’s an unsafe situation. And it’s not uncommon to see people bring foul weather boots if the forecast is rainy for their week of shooting.

4. Bungee Cords or Tie Down Straps: The wind at Perry is legendary, and for many, it’s a different type of (ready on the trigger) shooting than most of us do at home. Since there’s nothing to block the wind, gun boxes have been known to take off on their own, leaving a debris field in the grass from their endless number of contents.

Immediately upon your arrival to the bench, strap your box down. And long before you arrive to the line, get rid of all the unnecessary junk in your box.

5. Cart: You’re not going to get much accomplished, or possibly you’ll be worked to death, if don’t bring some type of cart. Why? Because there’s only one set of turning targets, whereby you’ll be assigned to two different benches. And you’ve got to lug a total of nine backers with all your other stuff at the same time from the 50yd line bench to the 25yd.

6. Ammo: Use this link to determine the amount of ammo that you’ll need. But my basic observation is: most people don’t bring enough. Determine how much you’ll need by the events you plan on shooting, add some more for alibis—and while you’re at it—add some for practice and zero verification.

Don’t place yourself in the situation of having to make do or come up short. In years past, I’ve actually assembled rounds by the box that were intended and labeled for specific matches—and other boxes labeled for practice. So, I never felt as though I’d run out.

7. Brass Deflector: Even though most (but not all) shooters use brass catchers, those pesky .22 rounds seem to fly anywhere they want. And for the service matches—well—ballguns seem to throw brass into the most unexpected of places.

8.Sunscreen: You’ll be out in the open for hours-on-end, especially if you decide to shoot the team matches in the afternoon.

9. Batteries: Since I’ve made note of how open and uncovered Perry is, there’s a practical need to crank up the brightness on sights. Before going, place fresh ones in your sights and make certain you bring a few extra along as well.

10. Glass Wipes: Regardless if you use prescription glasses or simply safety glasses, sweat or rain will eventually distort your vision. Wipes are a quick and inexpensive way to restore good vision, in a snap, to your sight picture.

11. Cash and Credit Cards: Commercial Row is notorious for having one of the largest collections of all the best, or at the very least, really ginchy stuff this side of the Atlantic Ocean. And with the reemergence of the swap meet at Perry, there are deals to be had—provided you have the cash.

12. Don’t Go Alone: I remember going to Perry for the first time in 2007, and I went by myself. Lucky for me I paid real close attention to the advice that was offered by kindly and helpful strangers. But it would have been a lot less stressful had I traveled with someone who did it before. At the very least before the schedule heats-up on Tuesday, try hooking up with others attending that you know, to help steer you safely through the days’ events by avoiding any major calamities.

…And they’ll probably already know where all the good restaurants are too.

So there you have it, the most basic of items you’ll need. And if this is your inaugural journey: may your new adventure be far more than you had expected.

Justin Nystrom’s Insights: http://www.bullseyepistol.com/perryfaq.htm

NRA’s Checklist for Volunteers: http://www.nrahq.org/compete/vol-pdf/Back%20to%20Perry%20checklist.pdf

FAQs from NJ Pistol: http://www.njpistol.com/Camp_Perry_FAQ.asp

John Gemmill’s Insights: http://www.njpistol.com/What%20is%20Camp%20Perry.pdf

An Older Post on the Subject: http://tonybrong.blogspot.com/2007/07/hitch-hikers-guide-to-camp-perry.html

Blinders

2011-06-01T10:51:00.002-05:00

My friends at the Irish Olympic Target Shooting blog meandered through several different approaches on how to use and craft different types of blinders. It you use a blinder, there’s a few useful insights to be gained by reading their post.

We shoot with both eyes open, and so one eye sees the foresight directly and one sees it through the rear sight. Plus, on a competition firing line, there’s movement to either side from the other shooters. Neither of these is conducive to good shooting – so, we wear blinders on the non-aiming eye and also to block out the sides… (Read the rest here)

Update: For those who are interested, the content of the above post has been expanded and can be found here: http://10point9.ie/2011/06/01/more-blinder-work/

A Rambling Spring Range Report

2011-05-15T17:10:00.000-05:00

I haven’t written about myself in close to a year, but every so often, I’ll have a moment that’s all my own. Competitive shooting for me is like a work in progress; it’s never ending and always instructive. Sometimes I forget that—especially the instruction part.

About two weeks ago I shot my first outdoor match of the season and was handily taken to the woodshed. If there’s a list of all the things that could go wrong, apparently I made it an unconscious prerogative to embrace them all. It was as if things caromed wildly like a pinball caught between four double-bonus bumpers, and then I sensed things were about to get a little wiggy. Which they did.

I eventually cross fired on a slow fire target. And not much later, forgot to actually drop another four rounds on the paper throughout the day.

Looking back, the bottom line was: I was grossly unprepared.

Hey—other than that mess, I was actually shooting pretty well!

Over the winter I’ve almost exclusively used .22s and avoided using other larger caliber pistols. You know the ones, they sit serenely in one's gun safe only hoping (much like man’s best friend) their master would give them a modicum amount of attention. Unfortunately, they were ignored for several months.

About the same time I commissioned and received a new wadgun. And I’ve been experimenting with different loads for my center fire pistol as well. All the while giving these pistols little to no live-fire attention. I just expected them to leap off the shelf by themselves and shoot flawlessly by providing a stern measure of human mind-control. Yes, I felt compelled to master the long line and short by using the aggressive mental techniques of Goldfinger’s Oddjob: Do what you’re told, gun, or start squealing like a feral hog being disemboweled!

…The game’s mostly mental, isn’t it?

During my last match I relied way too much on my mental abilities to control the outcome. I ignored my equipment and treated the fundamentals like they were little more than a nuisance.

This post isn’t a “chicken or an egg” homily. All shooters need to maintain their basic skills regardless of their innate abilities or perceived shooting stature. … And, even if you own the snazziest stuff on the planet, that doesn’t mean you know how to effectively use them.

The experience forced me to recall one of my favorite quotes: “Spectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation.” – Robert Schuller

Sage Insights

2011-05-09T15:09:00.000-05:00

My friend John M. Boul, Jr was kind enough to gleam an insight or two about competitive shooting from Major General Julian Hatcher.

Regarding competition shooting, MG Hatcher, who was Double Distinguished (both rifle and pistol) commented on “conventional pistol shooting” in his book, TEXT BOOK OF PISTOLS AND REVOLVERS…(read the rest here)

Perfection (or One Hot Wadgun)

2011-05-05T08:30:00.001-05:00

Looky at what I ran into! Way cool, right?

Earlier this week an old friend who just happens to be a master pistolsmith, Joey Chambers, debuted this sensation of precision handiwork.

Hell, it turned my head with almost whiplash like attraction. It’s hard for me to believe this thing was crafted, way out, in the Blue River Valley of NE.

Granted the parts are top-shelf but it took the inspiration and methodical skill of a true master to pull off this work of art.

Many of us are guilty of wanting the best, most accurate and reliable of wadguns; only then to be toyed by Joey with his static wonderment of beauty. It somehow comes forth radiating its own sublime iconicity while maintaining exceptional mechanics. All of which is wrapped in a highly stylized finish.

And I simply love the stippling and MCP pattern cut on the front strap.

I feel honored to know such a fine craftsman as Joey. He’s clearly blazing a trail in both accuracy and style this ol’ bullseye shooter finds very appealing.

If you’d like to see this gun’s 50 yard test target (believe me you do), click here. And if you’d like to know more about Joey and his work, use this link.

2011 National Matches

2011-05-04T09:59:00.000-05:00

I like to encourage everyone to seriously consider attending the Nationals this year.

In the past I’ve described the venue at Camp Perry as a tailgate party 800 strong, and at other times, a theme park for BE shooters. However you describe it the Nationals are a very unique experience shared with many like minded people.

Obviously the principal that drives most participants is their desire to compete. But for those of you who have never attended this competition it’s a little different: It’s an Open. No qualification is required (except of course your entry fee).

Throughout the years I’ve heard many of my shooting companions brush off the notion of attending. Generally they’re under the impression they have be some type of super shooter to make it worth their while. The truth of the matter is only a handful of shooters have a real chance at the brass ring. The rest of us are there to be part of an event—an experience.

Like many who attend regularly, it becomes something of a pilgrimage.

The CMP and the NRA are well aware their missions, although slightly different, are structured around inclusiveness. Which is why the vast majority of attendees are rated Expert or below.

It’s difficult to adequately explain the experience unless you’ve been there. There’s an always present sense of camaraderie, an opportunity to become reacquainted with old friends—and let’s not forget—it’s one of the best places in North America to shop for BE equipment. And you get to shoot matches too, at least once a day, everyday, if not more.

Even though it’s only eight weeks away, there’s still time to request entry from the NRA and the CMP.

Hope to see ya there.

Eastern CMP Games Matches & Creedmoor Cup

2011-04-28T10:43:00.001-05:00

The Eastern CMP Games Matches will take place on 7-10 May and the Creedmoor Cup Matches take place on 11-15 May at Camp Butner, North Carolina. All interested shooters, whether new or experienced, recreation-oriented shooters or national championship contenders are invited to participate in these unique national level competitions.

Even though the matches are dominated by rifle shooters, the CMP has made a concerted effort to provide us pistol shooters with the following matches and accommodations:

• Special As-Issued Military Pistol Match
• CMP EIC Pistol Match
• 40-shot Pistol Match
• Service Pistol Clinic (free)
• Pistol Team Match

For answers to questions about the Eastern CMP Games contact the CMP at croguski@odcmp.com or call (888) 267-0796, extension 1114.

For answers to questions about the Creedmoor Cup contact Dennis DeMille, demille@creedmoorsports.com or call (800) 273-3366 Mon – Fri, 8am – 4pm Pacific Time.

http://www.odcmp.com/Competitions/EasternGames.htm

Gunny Zins Ammo

2011-04-19T15:47:00.000-05:00

Well, if you’re a Facebook friend of Brian Zins’, this isn’t going to be much of an announcement.

Recently the Gunny, during the course of an interview I did with him, told me about one of his new endeavors: Gunny Zins Ammo.

Unfortunately, I haven’t yet received the customary ~~300~~ 3000 rounds [that's right Brian, four digits] to give you any kind of independent test results. Which I’m well prepared to do. … Although, I’ve been assured his new product line will be comprised from the absolute best components and crafted to extreme standards. Brian’s bullets are intended to be the best match ammo money can buy.

At the same time, close attention will be given to the price schedule. I’ve been informed pricing will be extremely competitive relative to his other ammo manufacturing peers.

Product availability should be within the next two months. If you’re heading to Camp Perry this year, expect to see displays there as Brian launches his new product line.

Decaying Foundation?

2011-04-19T13:55:00.001-05:00

An often overlooked and rarely addressed technique is that of a shooter’s stance; easy to crumble, quickly to change—and whether we known it or not—a desirable foundation can swiftly morph into a loadstone. Ideally it’s the ongoing balance between both structure and decay.

Much like a well structured grip, one’s stance is the physical foundation supporting everything we do that’s productive on the line. And when it changes without notice, it’s generally not for the better. A shooter should be more concerned about managing the good one he’s already developed. Or better yet, think of it as managing one’s on-going stance erosion that eventually wears away throughout the total length of a traditional match.

During matches I’ve seen some of my peers make chalk outlines, sprinkle talcum powder over their shoes, use a grease pencil, Crayon or masking tape—to mark their initial feet locations. Generally they’ll make these floor notations under the mistaken assumption that once their natural point of aim has been established, it should never change. … But it always does.

If you’ve ever taken the opportunity to review an active firing line, it is not uncommon to notice shooters doing their classical natural point of aim routines: you know—closed eyes and all that before the first slow fire target faces. Many shooters work diligently ironing out all they can for their most comfortable and practical stance.

As time passes it’s easy to detect various shooters’ erosion (including vertical slumping and looking down the sights). You may even notice some stances becoming noticeably narrower and shallower to the firing line as time elapses. Eventually, some shooters become almost parallel to the firing line by the timed fire phase of the .45 match.

We’ve all got a shot plan, right? And part of it should instruct the shooter to rebuild his stance before every string of fire.

Over the years I’ve notice other shooters (and I’ve been guilty of this too) who take extreme care with building their proper stance at the beginning of a match. Only later, and not necessarily a lot later, watch them give it declining attention throughout the day as the quality of their stance and scores decay.

Let’s face it, in some respects shooting a 2700 is a lot like running a marathon.

Go and approach an International pistol shooter, then ask them to exceed 60 shots in a day. Most of those guys will think you’re just plain crazy. And as a group, they generally can’t conceive how we do what we do.

There’s a human toll when we perform and it’s a lot greater than even most of us recognize.

Rebuilding your stance as part of your shot plan should be a deliberate on-going process; just as methodical during the latter parts of a match as it is in the beginning.

If you ever have the opportunity watch any of the sport’s truly great shooters, you’ll notice almost all of them do stance management routines or NPA checks at least once for each target. Others do it even more often, as much as one before each string. Although, they generally don’t draw the process out, they’ve learned to get it done in an efficient and expeditious manner.

Shooters who routinely address their decay learn how to be quick about it. What they’re looking for is indicators of errors: errors that will impede them from comfortably completing their current performance.

Be deliberate with the first target, and then simply apply the same effort to the remainders. … I know, it ain’t easy, but it’s worth it.

An Interview with Brian Zins: On Becoming Distinguished - Part 2

2011-04-11T09:13:00.001-05:00

For those of you who’ve just stumbled in here on the blog’s front page, what’s listed below is a continuation of an interview I did with Brian Zins. If you’ve yet to read Part 1, I’d highly suggest you read the previous post first. You know, to simply keep those priceless concepts in their proper order.

Brian was extremely generous with all of us by sharing his time, insights and valuable experiences on the subject of becoming a Distinguished Pistol Shot.

Tony: This leads me into a question about grip. Do you use a different type of grip with a 1911 wadgun versus a 1911 ballgun?

Brian: No. The grip for my wadgun and my ballgun are the same. Obviously, there’s slightly more skin tension with a ballgun but that’s due to recoil management, to keep it from twisting in my hand.

There’re a few differences but not much anymore when I change from a 1911 to a M9. When I pickup a 9 MM I’m making some very moderate changes because of my hand size. I don’t get up into the beavertail, I have to manage an M9 a little different so I can keep my finger inline with the trigger.

Tony: From the perspective of a new shooter, what does it take for them to start acquiring leg points? … I guess that’s a pretty open-ended question, isn’t it?

Photo provided by Denise Scott Jackson

Brian: Outside of the training thing? … From the perspective of coming up through the Marine Corp—I always shot better, shooting with better shooters. Emotionally, you get this desire of trying to keep up.

You know, it’s pretty typical for new shooters to start looking for leg matches where’s there are only 10 to 15 shooters. Unfortunately, that’s pretty much the norm today.

Tony: Probably less if it’s a local club deal, 6 to 10?

Brian: Yeah, that’s true but it’s not a bad thing. The only time we thought poorly of anyone was when a Marine would go to the All Navy Matches (chuckle).

Tony: (Chuckle) Have you actually known guys to do that? Did they actually get points?

Brian: Yeah, some would go down to Dam Neck and whopped-up on the Navy guys (chuckle). Then you’d ask them, “Why are you abusing those poor guys?” … And they’d bring back the points too. There’d be only six Marines there and they would bring back all the medals.

Tony: Hey, when you were starting out, were there other shooters who got started on going towards, becoming distinguished, and thought it was too tough? I know when I shot my first match, I scored something like a 132—heck I even missed the target twice. Do you know guys who’ve done one, two or three matches, and then they’re done?

Brian: Yeah, most action shooters! (belly laugh)

Tony: (belly laugh)

Brian: I’ve seen a lot of people shy away from service pistol but still shoot the three-pistol stuff. As long as they’re shooting some type of Bullseye, that’s good.

You know, when a shooter pays for a good .22 and wadgun they’ve wrapped up a few dollars. And when someone suggests buying a good 1911 or Beretta ballgun, and then questions whether or not they can shoot it well and only use it a few times a year. … Well, money’s a legitimate concern.

But then again, shooting service pistol well is the pinnacle most dedicated shooters should try to obtain. There are certain things that real diehard bullseye shooters aspire to do. Those are the same people who want to become distinguished, make the President’s 100 or win a place on a civilian service team. They’re the real diehards.

Tony: I guess its perseverance that I’m asking about? How does someone know, who’s moderately skilled, when they’re turning the corner and are getting somewhere?

Brian: Most of my experience has been with the Corp. In that environment we’d train guys for months—months—before we’d send them to their first leg match.

But for the regular shooter, it’s simply seeing improvements in their scores. If they’re moving ahead with their scores, they should continue. There can be situations, at a local match, where some branch of the military might simply send someone out to get points. But even in that kind of situation, a shooter shouldn’t be dismayed from moving ahead.

Back-in-the-day in the Marine Corp, we didn’t do that—you know—send out ringers.

Tony: Brian, now that you’re a civilian it’s obvious you still pullin’ down CMP service pistol awards. You’re still competing and attending a lot of matches. Do you see or notice any common mistakes made by typical service pistol shooters, redundant ones, common mistakes?

Brian: Yeah, there’s a lot.

When you go to Perry for the CMP events, since squadding is random, you can be placed besides anyone—a novice or a national champion. Here are the big problems, the typical one’s I’ve seen.

I’m always surprised that so many shooters have never developed their stance. I see new shooters move around the line from one shot to the next, like it doesn’t even matter.

Of course there are lots of guys who’ve never developed their grip. You can see them changing their grip from shot to shot—and at times even in the middle of a sustained fire string! Believe me, that ain’t good.

And possibly the worse one is mental. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen new shooters, shoot their very first shot, and acted like it was the worst thing that ever happened to them. I’m guessing they expected a 10, got something else, and were ready to throw that darn pistol down range. I don’t even know if that shooter ever once shot a 10 in their entire life during slow fire, but they acted like someone stole their birthright. Those types of shooters—angry shooters—need to work on the mental part of their game.

Tony: Is this a matter of shooters lacking training?

Brian: Yeah! Or better put, proper training.

Brian and Jolan. Photo provided by Denise Scott Jackson

It’s not uncommon for me, someone who loves to teach, see so many people back home do little more than practice. You’ll see a typical shooter shoot one National Match Course after another—burning up, just burning up the brass. And in the process they’re not learning anything because they’re not training.

When Andy and I teach we stress training. Go out there with a goal, a purpose in mind. Before a shooter leaves the house they should know, ‘today I’m working on this … tomorrow I’m going to address that.’

Tony: I’m going to stop you for a moment. This is generally where most of my peers, people who write about this stuff, talk about the elusive “this” or “that” and we don’t get people to elaborate on them. … Ya know it’s like when instructors say, “Get a shooting diary and write stuff in it,” but then never instructs the student how to do it, what to put in there.

So, if a newbie is gonna take 50 or 100 rounds and goes to the range every week, what are the things he should be working on?

Brian: The thing's they must do to get started is the consistency of their grip and trigger control.

A shooter shouldn’t be working on everything—all the time.

That’s why we stress working on blank target drills. It’s one drill for one thing. Just work on one thing like where your shot’s are grouping. Put your scope away and shoot 10 shots down range and shoot for a group on a blank target. … Stay away from that bullseye and try to shoot [at 50 yards] a 9-ring group. You don’t need a target or a bullseye, it’s just a distraction. And when you can accomplish a 9-ring size group, then you’ll know you’ve gone somewhere.

Once you’ve taught yourself to keep a 9-ring group on that blank paper, heck, even an 8-ring group, you’re doing really well. Nowww you can shoot on a target. Just remember the focus still isn’t on that target—it has to remain on the front sight just like the blank paper drill, not down on the target.

Tony: I know you and Andy are big believers in one shot drills, two shot drills—so the shooter can have confidence in placing the first shot properly and timely.

Brian: Well yes, but only for sustained fire. I’m concerned about shooters being able to group well first [during slow fire], long before they learn to shoot fast. The one shot drills come later.

Every once in a while, when we do faster shooting at 25 yards, some people will get a good group and think that’ll translate to the 50 yard line. Then they’ll attempt to shoot sustained fire at 50 and it’s, “Whoa, wait a minute! It doesn’t work like that.”

I’ve even had Marines on the team do that. And they’ll say something like, “I shoot my timed fire real good.” So when they try to shoot slow fire, in sustained fashion, I have to remind them, “But you’re not shooting 10s and Xs yet during rapid fire either!”

Everyone’s always looking for lightning in a bottle—but you’re not going to find it. They’re looking for that magic pill that’ll make them a national champion. There is no one little thing. It simply takes a lot of training and a lot of practice.

And there’s also the process of visualization…

Tony: I’d like to interject something here. When I went after my badge, I became consumed by it. I started doing all kinds of things where I tried to mentally visualize things. At the time I was lucky to have the benefit of being instructed by you … Some things seemed to make sense but after a while I started gettin’ a little wiggy. I’d start off my mental process by imaging a good release, but then became compulsive about it. And I tried to train my mind, program myself, at bedtime the evening before a match. Is visualization really helpful?

Brian: Like you, I used to fall asleep shooting matches in my head. It’s like…

Tony: You’re not talking about starting with getting out of the car?

Brian: Oh no. Just on the line shooting. Not scoring, not playing around with stuff in my gun box—just shooting.

I wanted to influence my dreams. And to do that I went to bed thinking about seeing the sight picture, generating trigger pressure, the round being released, and then seeing the follow through. And I’d start it all over again. I’d do this over again and again until I fell asleep.

Only, maybe two times I actually remembered dreaming about shooting.

Tony: Do you think it got you anything?

Brian: Yes. I think it did a lot for me dealing with the stress of being there at a match. Even though I might have shot a lot at practice, I did it many more times when I was trying to fall asleep.

I did this all the time. I literally did this in my sleep.

If I shot a bad shot in a match, I didn’t get nervous about. If I shot a great string, I didn’t get anxious. The process simply became second nature to me.

Tony: To wrap things up, I’d like to ask one more question. During my time shooting you’ll eventually run into guys who’ve picked up some leg points here and there. But they’ve been in a process of doing it for three, eight or maybe ten years. Any advice for shooters like them?

Brian: They’re generally people who are self-taught, or were taught by people who think they know what they’re talking about. If they’ve already acquired leg points, they have the ability. They have the potential today to acquire leg points every time they go to a match.

There’s something they’re doing wrong that goes to their lack of consistency. Nine times out of ten, I bet it has something to do with their grip or trigger control. That and they probably haven’t developed or fine tuned their shot process; more than likely they’re just going through the motions.

Tony: When you say “fine tuned,” what do you mean by that?

Brian: Too many people say, “This is what I need to do for a good shot.” Well, when you’re shooting and you’re not getting good or well aimed shots off, something’s wrong. Shooters like this typically just go back to their old process and stick with it, even when the results are bad. They make the assumption they’re not applying their process properly.

Just because a shot process looks good on paper doesn’t mean it works in reality. A shot process needs to be refined over a period of time.

Photo provided by Denise Scott Jackson

Tony: So, when you talk about refining a shot process or shot plan, we’re talking about being critical at practice, not a match?

Brian: Oh no, you’ve got to do it during training. And it’s incredibly difficult to do it by yourself.

When I was in the Marines, we’d have other shooters inspect or audit a shooter while they went through their shot process. And at times, an observer would follow the shooter’s plan and tell them, “When you got to step six, you really didn’t do number six.” So there would be observation, feedback to the shooter, and then an attempt to do it multiple times until they accomplished that step properly.

At that point, they would be assisted with correcting what they did wrong with the execution, or something would be added to their shot process.

Just because it looks good on paper really doesn’t mean much of anything.

Tony: Brian, have I forgotten to ask anything that’s important, something I’ve missed?

Brian: I’ve seen guys that looked frustrated every time they pulled the trigger. You’ve paid to do this to yourself? … I can stay home and get frustrated by paying my bills. I certainly don’t need to pay someone else to make me feel frustrated.

If you’re not having any fun, you’re not going to get any better. Never! If you’re not enjoying yourself, even when you’re shooting bad—then go find another hobby. ... Just go out and have fun.

Okay, I’m going to make a shameless plug for one of Brian’s endeavors. He’s available, to operate one of his famous clinics at a club near you. All you have to do is email the guy at: brian.zins@gmail.com

I’ve had several people tell me how reluctant they were to contact such a notable figure. Take if from me—and I’ve known the guy for years—Brian’s a very down to earth person who happens to be extremely approachable.

So, now there are no excuses not to learn directly from the Gunny.

An Interview with Brian Zins: On Becoming Distinguished – Part 1

2011-04-05T09:11:00.002-05:00

Not so long ago a friend had suggested that I seek out interviews with well skilled and knowledgeable shooters. His spin on it was to set someone down and ask them how to accomplish a specific shooting goal or technique.

Actually, I thought it was a brilliant idea.

From the standpoint of a resource I figured I might as well pickup the phone and call the Big Dog, and reached out to my friend Brian Zins. Having his accomplishments universally known, and with decades of experience being a precision pistol instructor—well—if he can’t tell us what we need to know, we’re all in for a world of hurt.

Let me caution all of you about a few things. First off, if you’re a long term reader to this blog my humble apologies for all the little stupid grammar, spelling and punctuation errors that I generally make. I don’t have an editor. It’s simply par for the course for this dyslexic shooter (… and I’m not trying to be self-deprecating.)

More to the point, I asked Brian to do an interview where the reader could feel as though they were listening in on an open conversation. What’s listed below, warts and all, is a simple 35 minute chat with Brian about what it takes to become a Distinguished Pistol Shot.

Keep in mind, the content’s style is that of a conversation between two people. I attempted to aim for a high degree of fidelity with both our spoken words. And if you’ve ever watched a Robert Altman movie—well, you know what that can mean.

Due to its length, I’ve compartmentalized this interview into two separate posts.

Tony: Brian, thank you for taking the time to be interviewed. I’m going to ask a few questions but I’m a little fearful of this—because, you’re not typical.

Brian: I know I’m not.

Tony: There must have been a time when you said to yourself you wanted to do this, you know, go after the badge?

Photo provided by Denise Scott Jackson

Brian: The badge? Actually when I first started shooting I didn’t even know what the badge was.

I was brought on to shoot rifle with the FSSG Shooting Team in California, in ‘88. A guy asked me after watching me shoot service rifle, if I shot pistol, and I told him that I shot pistol a lot better. At the time I was the Top Gun at my MP school. He invited me to shoot a Division pistol match and simply told me, “I’ll come get ya when we’re ready.” So, at the time, I didn’t even know if he’d ever come back for me.

I was all ready to go and shoot this divisional thing but wasn’t even aware what a Distinguished Rifle Shot or Pistol Shot Badge was. So, that kind of thing happened later.

At this Division match, I picked up a bronze medal—then later got a silver medal at the Marine Corp Championship—and later over that summer, the Marine Corp Pistol Team temporally picked me up. The thought, the goal, of becoming distinguished didn’t even enter my mind at the time. But I wanted to become a permanent member of the team.

I wanted to be on the Corp’s Scarlet Pistol Team shooting for the Gold Cup. In order to do that, I had to become distinguished whether I wanted to or not. It was a stepping stone to a larger goal. My ultimate goal was to become a permanent team member and that forced you to go after the badge.

And you’ve got to keep this in perspective, all of these pistol matches are based on service guns.

Tony: So you were pretty well obliged to become distinguished to get on the team?

Brian: Absolutely.

One of the team’s goals was to make as many shooters distinguished as we could—and to bring the Gold Cup home. There was no emphasis on shooting .22s. If anything there was a lot of emphasis on shooting service guns during the CF and the .45 matches. So, once you went distinguished, you were allowed to stick around and you could shoot a nice centerfire gun. … I guess that was our incentive.

Tony: So how’d you accomplish that? Did you simply go to service matches to buildup leg points?

Brian: No. We shot everything. But the emphasis for the non-distinguished guys was for them to go and become distinguished. It wasn’t something we all wanted to do, by that I mean shooting hardball for five or six hours every day. We wanted to shoot all the others guns that shot good like the .22s and the wadguns.

But it was all part of the process. You had to become distinguished to become a permanent team member.

Tony: Did you have a plan? How did you attack it?

Brian: At the time, no I didn’t. Being on the team they already had a plan for you—and it’s the Marine Corp Pistol Team Handbook. That was our plan. They’d let us shoot some .22, some centerfire, but, the majority of our time was spent shooting service guns. It was all about the service gun.

Unless they thought you were in a position to break 2600, they wouldn’t allow any of us to shoot double wadcutter [for centerfire and .45 matches]. Even if we were to shoot in a registered match, and if you weren’t going to have a breakthrough, we’d be obligated to shoot the .45 stage with ballguns and ball ammo. Their plan was set in stone.

Tony: Okay, this kind of throws my pre-canned questions in the trash—which is fine. If you had to look at it from the perspective of a Sharpshooter, Marksman—or maybe even an entry level Expert, where do you think they should start—aside from the workbook? What are the skills they need to acquire?

Photo provided by History Channel/Pilgrim Films

Brian: The biggest thing a new shooter who is not a service team member is… There are two schools of thought. Do you need to shoot all three guns or just a .22 and a good shootin’ ballgun?

I think the .22’s are great for training, either open sights or dot. Actually a dot sight is great. That dot moves the same amount as your iron sights do, and what’s great about that is you might pickup on things you’d normally miss with opens sights.

There are a lot of ol’ timers out there that’ll say, “You need to go with open sights until you’re distinguished.” Ya know—there’s a benefit to shooting a dot on your .22.

When you’re shooting with open sights, you learn to accept the movement of the sights. With a dot, it’s easier to see minor movements, more so than with open sights. So, if you can hold that dot steady you know you can hold those open sights just as well.

Tony: So, the dot sight, as a tool, can teach a student more from the standpoint of detecting hold or aiming errors?

Brian: Sure. You can hold open sights up all day and they always look steady. You put a dot up and it’s like—WOW—it’s moving all over the place.

The dot isn’t moving anymore than those open sights were.

Tony: It’s the gun, it’s the gun, it’s the gun?

Brian: That’s right.

Tony: I remember when I went after my badge it was a two year ordeal. I got all wrapped up in the equipment for about a year. You had to make certain the equipment worked right and was extremely accurate. But after awhile I became devoid with shooting dots, and thought shooting open sights as this entirely different method of shooting. It felt foreign. Did you ever notice anything like that?

Brian: Um, no. I just really think it’s mentally different. You’re seeing something different, something different out there in front of you.

Tony: Yeah? Because what I’ve heard from other iron sight shooters is it’s the front post, it’s the front post, it’s the front post. … It’s still the front post as you’re doing trigger control. While pulling the trigger, I found myself—letting go with everything else mentally—because there I am just watching this stupid front post.

…When I’m using a dot sight, sometimes, I’d start seeing things like it’s in Panavison or something. I started to detect a lot of things, which goes to what you just mentioned, where you pickup on more errors.

Brian: Right! A lot of that happens. When I’m using a dot I’m looking at the target. I’m still concentrating on something small. I’m looking through the dot onto the target. I’m not seeing anything happening to my left or my right.

Tony: So, you have that type of focus—concentration—where everything’s tuned out?

Brian: Right! Everything around me is blank. It’s there, but I have no awareness of it.

All that goes back to my day’s of shooting open sights. Where all that concentration has got to be right there on that front sight, so I can see all those little imperfections. So I know that’s what I’m looking at.

And I’ve learned to carry that over to a dot—except, instead of looking at the front post I’m looking at the target.

Tony: When new shooters start shooting ball matches they generally have pretty poor scores. Why do you think that’s so? … You know, when shooters stop shooting their wadguns and transition to a ballgun.

Brian: Ya know that’s a pretty good question. I’ve seen guys who can shoot real well with a dot but not with irons. And I’ve seen it the other way around with some shooters doing well with irons and not dots.

Scott Park on the Army team took forever to shoot a dot good. He was a great iron sight shooter, and was a great ballgun shooter. But when you put a dot on his gun, he fell apart. The team even put a 4 power scope on his gun and everything.

Tony: Did it help?

Brian: Nope, not at all. I looked through that thing myself and it scared me. The crosshairs never left the bullseye—but man—it was drifting around all over the place. Way too much movement, because it’s magnified four times.

When we talk about the ability of some people to move from dots to open sights, it comes down to the individual, what they’re willing to accept. Some people see all that movement and get overwhelmed. While another shooter may simply put the dot on the target, start squeezing—and BANG—it’s a good shot.

Tony: I’ve seen this drill that you and Andy do during your clinics. Where your students hold the pistol and center it on a target, and then one of the two of you simply pulls the trigger for them. And it always turns out to be a good shot! I thought that was an interesting drill, if you want to call it that.

Brian: That, for beginning shooters is huge, because that’s not generally how their targets typically look when they shoot. Usually, they just put the dot in the middle of the black, say “I’m good,” then yaaank on the trigger.

Photo provided by Denise Scott Jackson

The insight the student should get is Andy or I aren’t reacting to what we see. We’re not looking at the target; we’re looking at the trigger so we don’t disturb the gun. We’re not reacting to anything; we just put steady pressure on the student’s trigger until the shot breaks. In most cases, at 25 yards, they can hold about half the size of the X-ring.

Most people when they see the dot in the black, jump on the trigger.

It’s no different with iron sights. When I went through the FBI’s Advanced Instructor Training Course, they relied heavily on that drill. I had to master the drill and learn how to manage students safely with it before I became certified.

Actually the FBI had a unique setup. They had a gun with a piston attached to the trigger and we were taught to manage the trigger pull through a remote cable.

Tony: Did you ever find a student who didn’t get an epiphany from that drill?

Brian: No! Not yet. They usually go, “Ohhh … that looks different.” It really hits home to them as to how critical trigger control really is.

Sometimes but not always, instead of us putting only our finger on the trigger, we’ll put our finger over the student’s—so they can feel that [trigger] pressure build and how slow it is. Generally you’ll get replies like, “That’s not anything like what I do!”

Note: Part 2 will be available in about 6 days.

Rapid Fire by Haidurov

2011-03-31T10:54:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago I showcased an old ~~video~~ film produced by the Soviet Union’s Ministry of Sports. It featured Professor Haidurov instructing shooters on the basics of pistol shooting. Well, back in the early 1980’s during the beginning of Glasnost, we were still referring to the Soviet Union as the Evil Empire.

None the less, during the Cold War, the competitive precision pistol scene was dominated by the Soviets for decades.

Granted the film’s format is about International rapid fire but many aspects of their sport translate to our’s.

As before, the monologue is spoken in Russian. Luckily English subtexts were recently inserted.

Season 3?

2011-03-30T14:28:00.000-05:00

I’m certain many of you are aware the History Channel has announced a third casting call for their Top Shot reality series. If not, the current casting is open to marksmen of all ages and disciplines (assuming you’re in good shape).

But there’s a twist. The producers would love to have couples audition such as: spouses, siblings, fathers and sons—heck—even co-workers will do. It’ll either be a bonding experience or the precursor for new long distance relationships.

Assuming you’ve got six weeks to spare (for filming), know how to shoot, and have a larger than life personality—History wants you! … Assuming you’ve taken the time to read their disclaimer.

Give them a ring at (818) 478-4570 and discuss the matter with them. Or at the very least, take a look at their casting announcement.

An Interview with Tara Poremba

2011-03-21T14:29:00.004-05:00

The History Channel’s Top Shot cable reality show has garnered an awful lot of interest. Not only among practitioners of precision shooting but the public at large. Actually, I think it’s a lot of fun.

I believe Pilgrim Films (the show’s producer) got the message: The public wanted less interpersonal intrigue and a greater display of shooting skills. Okay, it’s a reality show—and for the purpose of entertainment—it needs a little humanism, or the lack there of.

I don’t have any great insights about the show, but many of us have been encouraged by our family and friends to audition for the next season. For me, I highly doubt anyone wants to watch an old, overweight, bald guy running an obstacle course, dangerously flailing a loaded 1911 around, and then grabbing his chest while wheezing for his next life-giving breath of air.

Although, I do think the process—the process of getting on the show would be enlightening.

Well, this is when I picked up the phone and called someone with actual experience. I was lucky enough to chat with the lovely and charming Tara Poremba. Tara’s a prominent Bullseye shooter who was enrolled on the original cast during Season One, and knows what it takes to get on.

Tony: Tara, what made you apply for a spot on Top Shot?

Tara: I got emails from a few friends and they suggested I apply. They had seen some things here and there about the casting call.

Tony: So what did you do, just pick up the phone?

Tara: No. I sent them an email about my shooting background and a photo. Then after a few days a casting producer called me and did a phone interview. He requested that I do a video and he had some specific things that he wanted me to address in it.

That video was one of the hardest things that I’ve ever done. I had to speak about myself for five minutes. It had to be about me personally and my shooting accomplishments.

Tony: Five minutes! That must have felt like forever?

Tara: It does. It probably took me about four hours to get it done.

Tony: Can you give me an idea what was the total number of applicants?

Tara: We were told there were 5000 to 6000 applicants for the first season.

Tony: I’m assuming there must have been some additional steps to become a cast member?

Tara: After I sent in my video they called and told me they received it and had an interest.

Then they sent an email with documents; basically they were disclosures and waivers. There was a medical questionnaire that my doctor needed to fill out. And there was a notice about potential dates future cast members needed to be aware of.

There was nothing final at this point. This is when they informed me, at some point in the future, 50 potential cast members would be invited to CA to do a “final casting.”

Several days later I received an email that said, “Congratulations, you’re one of our 50 finalists.”

Tony: When you initially went out to CA, was that for a screen test? Or is that kind of an outdated retro term?

Tara: The final casting process started off with a shooting competition where we shot four different weapons.

The second day was a psychological test. You know, one of those four hour written things. And the following day was an interview with a psychologist to go over the test’s results.

The fourth day was a physical examination with lots of blood work.

And the final day was an on-camera interview with the executives of both History and Pilgrim. … It was a pretty intense week.

Actually before I went into the interview, one of the casting crew tried to calm me down. I was extremely nervous. He told me things like, “Tara, trust me, they love you. There’s nothing to worry about.”

The process is nerve racking. You walk into the interview alone. It’s like an interrogation room with a big spot light. And in the middle of the room is this big conference table with all these executives and one chair is set aside in the middle of the room for the contestant. Then they just start hammering questions at you. It was pretty overwhelming.

Tony: Is this when you found out you were chosen?

Tara: No. I didn’t find out until after I left LA.

Tony: At what point did the History people call and say, “It’s time to go?”

Tara: They called about ten days later. I had a conference call with one of Pilgrim’s producers and an executive from the History Channel, and they told me they wanted me to be on the show. I was floored, I couldn’t believe it.

Tony: I’ve heard some pretty strange stories about cast members being met at the airport, where they enter a blacked-out van—and then they’re gone? Almost like a Men in Black kind of thing?

Tara: Well, no one ever put blinders on me.

Tony: Do they do the blacked-out van thing?

Tara: Sort of. But not the way you describe it.

Before our arrival to LA, the producers gave us information about which shuttle buses we should take at the airport to get to the hotel. And when we arrived in the hotel lobby we were greeted by members of the producer’s staff.

Then there was a lot more paperwork. After that, the producers went through our personal belongings.

Anything that had a logo on it, your cell phone and any reading materials were taken away. Then they placed those items into storage. Anything they deem inappropriate is taken.

I’m a huge White Sox’s fan. I had a White Sox’s hat, tee-shirts and sweatshirt—all those things made it into storage.

The following day when we left LA, that’s when we got into the blacked-out vans. We drove for about 45 minutes to an hour to the set in Santa Clarita. During my time on the set I didn’t really know my exact location.

Tony: The set—was that a private residence?

Tara: Yes, it’s a private ranch. Actually they film a lot of things there. The television show Wipeout is shot there. And while we were there, Cameron Diaz was shooting some movie scenes. It’s a huge ranch.

Tony: The main house looked pretty up-class but at the same time a little sterile. I never got the impression there was much privacy there?

Tara: Privacy? Oh, absolutely not!

When we first walked in, there’s this overwhelming house that’s just breathtaking. It was beautiful but we had to share a lot of space with the other cast members and crew.

Tony: We all know there was a dark time on the set when your father became extremely ill. I’m certain that complicated things for the producers. What was that like dealing with the producers and leaving the show early?

Tara: The people from History and Pilgrim were well aware my dad was extremely ill. I was upfront about it in the early part of the casting process.

There were no phones on the set. Heck, there were no cell phones, TVs, computers, newspapers, magazines or any other forms of communication going in or out.

The producers worked out a way for my family to leave messages. But even that was very limited, and I wasn’t allowed to even reply. It was all one-way and at times it was even delayed by a few days. My family was only allowed to contact the producers, and at that, the information had to be only about my dad’s condition.

This whole process was unknown to the other contestants at the ranch—and I kept it that way. I didn’t want them to know I had a weakness and my mind was often in other places. The producers made a special exception for me and no one else, due to the circumstances.

When it came time to leave the producers were very understanding.

Actually, my dad passed away during my return flight home to Chicago.

Tony: I remember before the season’s end, there was this ground swell to draft Tara for a second season. It was one of those things that kind of went viral.

Tara: Yeah, there was a buzz about that. The producers called me and asked about my time on the show, and even inquired if I approved or liked the editing.

Independently they noticed a lot of public desire for me to return for the second season. They were upfront with me and said they thought it would die down in a few months. They even asked if I would be interested in doing a second season. Although, I suggested we talk about it when it got closer to filming, but they never called back.

Tony: Tara, your time there—do you think it was worthwhile?

Tara: I had a great time. It was a once in a lifetime experience. And the friendships I made during that experience are definitely friendships that will last a lifetime. It was an honor to compete amongst those guys.

CMP Rule Amendments

2011-03-18T15:07:00.000-05:00

The CMP has updated their rule book by amending their position on 1911 beavertail safety cuts.

The 2011 15th edition of the CMP Competition Rules is now available. The CMP is the national governing body for Service Rifle, Service Pistol and CMP Games shooting events, and the CMP Competition Rules is the official rulebook for these events.

The new rulebook is posted on the CMP’s website at: http://www.odcmp.com/Competitions/Rulebook.pdf.

Retro Soviet Training

2011-03-10T14:49:00.005-05:00

Recently I ran into this Soviet era instructional movie, produced with the assistance of Professor Efim Haidurov, titled Pistol Shooting Basics. Since it was crafted in 1983, for the life of me, I don’t understand why they made this thing in black and white. It looks older than it really is.

None the less, even though this movie-short is about International pistol it can be a useful training aid for beginning BE shooters. Luckily it has English subtitles.

I’ve been told several times (without any real supporting evidence) American Bullseye was the principal foundation for International pistol events during the first few modern Olympic Games. And as such, I like to believe our sport has a more pure history with faithful traditions.

Professor Haidurov pretty much dominated the entire Soviet pistol landscape for close to 25 years. He designed and created most of the Soviet Union’s post-war precision pistols—be it free, standard and even revolvers—used exclusively by them during their height of competitive success. He almost single-handedly trained their nation’s pistol teams with a zeal that hasn’t been seen since the collapse of the empire.

He taught, trained, competed, engineered, and at times even managed a lathe, to do whatever was required to bring success to the Motherland. The ol’ boy did it all.

Haidurov pretty much micromanaged everything during his tenure; and in return, walked away with most of the major awards from that era. Plainly, the guy really had his act together.

Guest Post by Dan Pauley: The Desert Classic – Part 3: Conclusion

2011-03-02T16:17:00.001-05:00

I have to admit when I originally asked Dan to report on the Desert Classic there was an ulterior motive. I wanted someone who’s a real shooter (but not a High Master), someone that might be labeled as ‘progressing in the sport.’ And that person also needed to have an unbiased perspective about the concept of what’s ‘fun.’ So, I approached Dan. It seemed like a very natural fit.

During Dan’s well spent time in Phoenix he’s captured an experience; an experience I hope many of you will avail yourselves to in the near future. If not the Desert Classic, maybe Canton’s Regional, if not that, The Lobster Match in Maine.

There’s a lot more to Bullseye that just rackin’ up the points. And if you have been paying close attention to Dan’s notes, there is much more.

Below is the final post of Dan’s trilogy.

Friday is .22 day. I managed to get in my air pistol match early on, and then later shot the .22 match. The weather is beautiful here. I'm guessing there will be a price to pay for all of this come July and August, but for visiting in February, I'm okay with that.

There was a bit of a For Sale table set up at the match. A Kart .22 conversion got my attention. Shot it in the slow fire match and did an acceptable job with it. Then I used a Marvel for the rest of the match. Ended up with an 844, not my best but near my average. John Zurich shot an 895: That was one 8 and three 9's for the whole match! I was impressed. And I got to sign his 100-10X sustained fire target.

Saturday during the CF match I used my RRA wadgun. It’s a good stable and reliable platform. 2nd relay started off well enough. About 3 minutes into the first slow fire target, a storm front came through with major blowing winds. It took out several targets among other things not bolted down.

A cease fire and range alibi was called during this wind induced calamity. All the targets were replaced and then slow fire restarted. Once the initial weather front moved through, temps dropped with winds diminishing over time. I managed to eek out an 817.

After Saturday’s match, it was off to the fairgrounds for a gun show. Man do they know how to have a gun show in AZ, lots and lots of everything. Huge! Probably a good thing I'm not an AZ resident or I’d need standing appointments with the local loan officer.

On Sunday, final match day, the championship fired their 45 match. Shot well enough but really below my average, although I wasn't there to win the prize. Unfortunately the weather turned cold. I finally broke down and got out my new rain suit, and then managed to shoot the EIC and DR matches. Again, I was way off my average but enjoyed it even better.

Sunday night I packed and got ready for the return flight back to Columbus. Packed all the pistols in the double rifle case, and stowed everything else in my trusty travel bag. Got up at a mind numbing 3:00 AM and then headed out for the airport. Unlike the Ohio check-in process, it went off without a hitch. Pat and I ate breakfast in the airport lounge and caught up on some of our long overdue e-mails.

During our final approach to Columbus, Ohio—the first thing I noticed as we broke through the clouds was the ground. NO SNOW, Yippee! It looked like there was a light rain. We manage to get all our belongings at the airport and caught a ride home. Then dropped my neighbor Pat at his house as the weather quickly turned to a freezing rain. 30 minutes later it started snowing hard. By morning we had 4” of fresh snow over a crunchy base of ice.

Why do I live this far north? There’s got to be another match somewhere, somewhere, in the Deep South.

Guest Post by Dan Pauley: The Desert Classic - Part 2: Being There

2011-02-20T16:02:00.002-05:00

Dan’s Arizona journey continues. Having the good sense that God gave him; Dan not only shot freepistol and ball, but managed to enjoy the sights that Phoenix has to offer.

Listed below is Dan’s second post about the Desert Midwinter Pistol Championships. And if you were with him, you’d be having the time of your life too.

On Wednesday awake at 4 AM but didn't start moving until 5 AM or so. Adjusting to the time change. I ain't gonna say my roommate snores (since it may well be a lingering echo of my own snoring) but it is nice to have ear plugs handy.

Did the International stuff today. .22 is fun but my freepistol scores are awful. I think I need to practice it more. Standard pistol is always fun. Rapid fire is fun but frustrating, 4 seconds is not a lot of time. Wandered around Phoenix looking for a place to get target .22 ammo. Did find some Fiochi and got some supplies for the week. Made a list of things I wanted but forgot to bring with me. And I can't find my camera, Hmmmm. Hope it wasn't snatched from the car or left on the range.

The following day was a near perfect for shooting. Light wind, perfect temp and was International Center Fire day! And I shot the GP100 Ruger. Nice gun for such things. I wasn’t quite sure of sight adjustments but now have it figured out.

After the CF match was a 900 service pistol match. I shot first relay and did acceptable. I'm way off my average (most likely due to poor discipline in dry fire).

Loaned my ballgun out to one of the fellows from Puerto Rico. I was giving serious thought to attending their match in PR but wanted to wait until I was REALLY sick of the winter.

After the service match I tried my hand at rapid fire pistol. Good stuff this rapid fire, 8 seconds easy, 6 seconds still pretty easy but no time to dress up your shot. 4 seconds, Oh come on! Who thought this was a good idea.

My first several runs I managed only 4 shots on the paper. By the last two runs I was able to actually get 5 shots off. Amazingly enough one run actually had all 5 on paper. I can easily see where that sort of competition could get very addicting.

For this match in particular it was one of my goals to figure out how each gun is sighted in. Know from fully down, how many clicks up from base to different sight pictures and distance. I need to get this info for each one of my pistols.

Visited the Dillon factory and store tonight. With all the money I've spent there thought it only fair I got the 50-cent tour. I had a couple of minor parts break on my Dillon and they were quick to get me free replacements. Pulled the handle on a 1050 (very bad idea) and noticed how wonderfully smooth it was. Now all I have to do is wear out my 650 and I could justify getting the big boy.

Ate dinner at a Thai place in old Scottsdale. Wandered the shops to try and walk off the Phad Thai. Managed to find some trinkets for my sweetie. If you are thinking of coming to AZ for the match make this a must do one evening. Several good places to eat and lots of art galleries and leather shops.

After a second search of the rental car, found the camera. It had fallen to the floor then meandered under the driver’s seat. Downloaded a bunch of pictures to Facebook. Yeah, winter is best when spent in AZ.

Met several people at the match today. I guess many read the Bullseye-L and it is good to put a face to a name. Today I won a Dillon calendar in a drawing. Wooo Hoooo! It has motorcycles and GUNz. Mmmmmmm.

Stephen Price made up low primer rod holders for Dillon 650 owners. He gave me one and while very simple, looks like it would be wonderful little tool. Don't know if he plans to sell them but happy to have mine.

Guest Post by Dan Pauley: The Desert Classic - Part I: Getting There

2011-02-18T11:30:00.003-05:00

About three weeks ago I asked my good friend and well known bullseye humorist Motorcycle-Dan Pauley, to write a few guests posts about the Desert Midwinter Pistol Championships in Phoenix. I wanted desperately to attend again but due to family obligations it wasn’t gonna happen. And in my desperate fit of jealousy, I asked Dan to create a few posts for the blog.

The Midwinter Desert Classic (as I like to call it) has got to be The greatest match of the Far West.

So, without further distraction—and in his own words—Dan gives us Part I of his firsthand observations of what it’s like to participant in this prestigious match.

Ohio Winters are getting tougher every year. This year even my “Fat pants” fit a little tight. I was officially sick to death of snow and cold. Been very much looking forward to this trip. My neighbor Pat and I are cashing in some frequent flyer miles to attend the Desert Midwinter match in Phoenix.

Naturally the week before I leave Ohio, February’s in all its glory, sub zero temps and ice covered roads. During the week that I'm gone, record high temps. Go figure.

There were two of us traveling so decided to get a locking double rifle case to carry all the pistols. Security check-in lady at United has a different set of rules than those posted on their UA website. She did not know of TSA regulations. The UA site has very little info but does refer you to the TSA regs. According to her computer screen there was a 2 gun limit, but the limit could be waived if carried in a “custom” case. She said, “That isn't a custom case, it's a rifle case.” They were not sure of their own rules. I printed them from the website but they have different rules at the counter. I looked at it with awe and said, “By golly I think you could fit a rifle in my Custom pistol case.” She wasn't sure what the rules were but was positive I was breaking them.

Dan Pauley and Pat Fribley

After giving me the “why do you need all those firearms” lecture, several managers and TSA allowed me to pass. All this worked out nice and allowed us to carry our range boxes to the match. Next time I'm thinking of finding a used golf club hard case? They may be sturdier and doesn’t look like a gun case. Less likely a snatch and grab for a set of golf clubs.

As for my shooting, I'm not in this game to win the Cadillac. My scores were about average for me. I like doing the International stuff but not particularly good at it. Using sub-6 hold is working out well, gives me a clear view of the sights.

I attended the monthly match at Oak Harbor, OH just before leaving to get a baseline idea of how to sight in my pistols for 50 yds. Not sure about 50 meters? As it turns out the difference is very little when using sub-6 hold. .22 rimfires was the worst, from my 50 ft sub-6 zero, for 50 yds 2 clicks down was good for 50 yds. Odd thing was from that position, had to go up 6 clicks for sub-6 at 25 yds. I need to sort out all my pistol iron sights with some process. Know how many turns/clicks up from base to a particular distance and sight picture.

We shipped our ammo ahead, as you can only take 11 pounds of ammo on the plane. What we shipped for the match was some 48 pounds of ammo. My issue was procrastination. With work and family issues I lost track of time and didn't ship until the Friday before the match. Bad idea. We paid over $250 to ship ammo. OUCH. At that price it’s well worth looking into other options. Buying reloads from someone at the match or even new match ammo might be a better use of your funds. Granted if we were not pressed for time it would only have been a portion of that but still, almost 50 pounds of ammo isn't going to be cheap.

In getting ready for the trip, my packing list helped. I know I forget things when traveling so have a list of things to verify on business travel. I modified it for the vacation but many of the same items were needed. I'm lucky to have a very tolerant spouse on packing and airport drop off. She let me run around like a lost puppy going up and down the stairs way more times than needed. Not only tolerant of me this lady got me a book as a travel gift.

The book, After You Shoot by Alan Korwin is highly recommended. As a responsible CCW citizen, probably a good plan to know what is up after the fact, a life changing event to be sure. I would like to have a say in what happens after the fact. Legal rights don't have to make sense, I need a lawyer to speak first. If you are a CCW holder I would consider this book a MUST READ.

Several people helped me to be able to attend the match but Ed Skinner stands out. He agreed to receive our ammo. Most of the ammo made it somewhat intact. Lost a couple ammo box containers but otherwise in good condition.

Their club’s Weekly 900 match was Tuesday evening. I wanted to find and check in to the hotel. Find the range and know the route to/from. Once there, the chance to shoot a practice was too good to pass up. This was to be a CF match but they allowed us to shoot, What ever. I shot the .22 as I have more ammo than needed. So basically I shot a women’s sport pistol match. I didn't shoot particularly well but did learn a bunch. By the end, the 2 hour time difference and an early rise 5 am in Ohio, made for a LONG day.

Back at the hotel by 10 and hit the shower then was asleep before fully landing on the pillow.

Aborting a Slow Fire Shot

2011-02-14T14:40:00.004-05:00

From anyone’s humble beginnings in this or any other sport, knowing when to hit the reset button becomes an extremely important skill. Aborting, restarting, resetting or any other label you’d like to use has tremendous potential to change the outcome to our scores.

I abort shots all the time: Slow fire, timed fire and even rapid fire shots, when ‘things’ just don’t seem right.

When we go about our regular routine for slow fire, many of us have a shot plan. And as we follow the plan—since we’re human—sooner or later some little thing isn’t going to play-out the way we had intended. Many of my past instructors have labeled these cues as ‘detecting an indicator:’ an indicator of something not good.

I’ve seen shot plans with as little as four steps and as many as twenty-five. The number and types of steps really isn’t all that important, just so long as your plan tells you how to go about and shoot a 10.

Detecting negative indicators of errors is extremely important. Possibly more important than having a well crafted shot plan. So let’s take a step back and look at the problem many new shooters have with not aborting, or by not having adequate frequency in the number of times to make it useful.

Most new entrants to the sport are generally instructed to go about developing a routine. We learn how to do step one, then progress to number two, and so on until the round has finally been released. And during this drawn out process, we’re encouraged to apply all kinds of substantial mental energy to each and every step along the way until their combined unique completion is properly replicated.

Therein lays the rub.

There’s nothing wrong with being physically and mentally dedicated to each step. Heck, it’s a requirement that can’t ever be cast off. Unfortunately, for many shooters they loose track of what they’re there to accomplish—and at times—simply apply brute force or act like they need to be mental monoliths. In other words: they force their way through their shot plan.

During the shot process we need to be ever vigilant during each step to detect an evil indicator. So what’s an indicator? It’s when we notice anything that may impede or negatively affect any single step of the shot process.

As an example, when we begin the process such as building our stance, attention to detail would be the traditional method in its proper execution. But what we’re generally forgetful about is the little things that don’t feel or look right with the sight picture, as our visual feedback. … If anything doesn’t feel or look right, it’s time to abort that step and start building it again.

The same could be said about the other steps such as the sight picture, the feel of your grip, the initial trigger pressure needed to steady the gun or any other step or process that compromises your shot plan. Being cognizant of any little error, failure or non-friendly feeling needs to be addressed and repaired before a shooter proceeds to the next step.

For truly novice shooters this start, stop, start again procedure can be extremely frustrating. I’ve been though this dilemma on more than one occasion and when you start rebuilding a single process for the third, (or God love ya) the fourth time … a shooter can be tempted into releasing a very poor shot; feeling as though there’s nothing left in them.

There will be times when that one buggered-up step feels like it’ll never turnout right. And a shooter will be tempted out of sheer frustration, in a sense, to throw it away to simply get on with the next one.

In extreme situations like this, I generally put the gun down, unload it, insert an empty chamber indicator—and walk away from the line. I kind of give myself a little ‘time out.’ After a little emotional reflection, I’ll start all over again from the very beginning.

I’ll admit overcoming a progressive error can be one of the greatest challenges a precision shooter may ever face.

Every well skilled High Master that has ever stood on the line knows the difference between themselves and the rest of the field; it’s their ability to detect very minute but potentially dangerous indicators of error.

For the Marksman and Sharpshooter, be aware—very aware. Don’t be fearful of giving up on a shot that you’re not committed to. As times passes, it becomes easier to abort and it won’t feel as awkward as you might think.

The Wall

2011-02-11T16:39:00.000-05:00

This ARST video is a useful description of how to properly execute a blank wall dry fire drill.

A little care and attention is required for it to be converted to an off-handed bullseye style drill. Clearly in its presented form, it’s great for DR.

A Vanishing Heritage?

2011-02-07T17:28:00.002-05:00

There’s a local story that’s unfolding during this bleak wintry season. And in the grand scheme of things it could have far reaching effects for most competitive shooters throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

A recently filed lawsuit in rural Mifflin County might have a distressing effect on most, if not all of our state’s sportsmen’s clubs.

In the middle part of last year, my friends from the Lewistown Pistol Club arrived one morning to unexpectedly find their club’s access gate blocked by several tons of crushed stone. Apparently a new homeowner, who recently purchased a nearby but existing property, arbitrarily decided his neighbors didn’t deserve their 50-odd year old road access or right-of-way.

Since that ill-fated day it’s been little more than a skunk spraying contest. From the best that I can cobble together, their new neighbors could care less about the club’s commitment to local law enforcement, its member’s charitable service or the other obvious benefits enjoyed by the community-at-large. The plaintiff simply sees shooting ranges as a nuisance to be dealt with.

Apparently, the plaintiff’s suit intends to land lock the property and starve the club’s members permanently from any access, at anytime, to their land or its improvements.

The new homeowner’s property that’s in question was constructed many decades after the club was established. And I find it extremely difficult to believe he wasn’t aware the pistol club wasn’t right next door; especially since he has to drive in front of it daily for his morning commute. It appears that everything was well out in the open long before he decided to purchase the property.

This isn’t an uncommon situation for most clubs located in the Midwest—and certainly almost all of them east of the Alleghany Mountains. After the great building booms of the 1970’s, 80’s and again in the 90’s, almost all clubs have become landlocked by residential or commercial development. And the net effect is they’re not building any new ones.

Due to intensive land use, today’s sportsmen clubs have truly become a finite resource.

Many unaffiliated residents view clubs as an eyesore leftover from a bygone era. By having a congested real estate market in the East and for the very same reasons they’re disliked, they’ve become a valued resource for local governments. In this era of government budget crises most local municipalities have nowhere else to turn; multimillion dollar bond offerings to construct municipal/police gun ranges don’t appear to be in their immediate future.

Thankfully the club is open for business with a full and complete shooting schedule while they sort thru their legal issues. The challenges they face could have long lasting effects for not only the Lewistown Pistol Club, but for almost all of the clubs throughout the Commonwealth.

I have many fond memories from shooting at the Lewistown Pistol Club. One of my very first outdoor matches was shot there. It’s also the traditional location for our state service pistol championship and a venue for a very prestigious Police-L match.

Unless we support and defend these small but very important institutions, there’ll come a time when we’ll look back and in disbelief ask the question: What happened?

If you’d like to learn more about this dilemma or provide some assistance, LPC has reworked their website with a Paypal link. A modest contribution would go a long way to ensuring an entire region’s shooting heritage isn’t lost.

https://sites.google.com/a/lewistownpistolclub.com/home/

Haidurov’s Legacy

2011-02-03T19:29:00.004-05:00

I ran into these photos a few days ago.

Sometime back, I wrote a few posts about the Feinwerkbau AW93. It’s a legendary pistol that’s becoming popular with Bullseye and ISSF shooters here in the States.

Way back-in-the-day, in the early 60’s, Russian pistol designer Professor Efim (Yefim) Haidurov designed the original XP-64 and XP-70 sport pistols, forerunners to the AW93. Unfortunately there really isn’t a lot of information available about Haidurov; he simply labored during the height of the Cold War.

Unlike their American counterparts, few if any Russian designers received outward public acknowledgement for their work. It was a time when Soviet shooting teams were expected to produce international prestige: a finger in the eye, have you—to the bourgeois West. Whereby the accolades generated by their collective performance—designers and athletes alike—were delivered to and for the benefit of their united proletariat and motherland. (How’s that for 50’s retro Commie speak?)

The top picture is that of a XP-64, and the 70 is the lower. Amazing how little the basic design has changed in over 50 years. Later design improvements were labeled the HR-86 and XP-86.

Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, there are no reference books about Professor Haidurov’s work or how it progressed. I find that a little amazing considering he not only crafted this lineage of sport pistols, but as well fathered the TOZ-35 free pistol.

The XP’s were little more than prototypes only issued to Soviet pistol team members. These guns were never for sale to Soviet shooting clubs, or God forbid export. Although the XP-70’s performance was well noticed and received during the 1970 World Cup.

When IZH (Baikal) finally got their hands on the HR-86, they started to produce the KhR30 (or HR30), which eventually morphed into the much less expensive to produce Russian rough-neck IZH35. Some have referred to the IZH35 as a somewhat dumbed down version of the KhR30, due to their reworking of the trigger group in an attempt to reduce the total parts' count.

Several design changes later, seasoned with a little industrial back-door intrigue, Feinwerkbau then took a shot at Haidurov’s basic HR-30 design and brought us the AW93.

The Value of Instruction

2011-02-02T09:59:00.002-05:00

My friend John Buol has written an interesting post about the US Army Reserve Small Arms Training Team and how it morphed into the Small Arms Readiness Group. The need for skilled instructors became ever apparent.

Parrots or Professors: Training Military Marksmanship Instructors

The original two dozen or so shooter-instructors that comprised the United States Army Reserve Small Arms Training Team (SATT) through the early parts of 2000 were a unique crowd.

Despite the tiny unit size SATT housed nearly every President Hundred recipient currently serving in the USAR and the bulk of the USAR shooting team. In addition to competitive events SATT provided marksmanship assistance on request throughout the force... (read the rest here)

Kaliforina

2011-01-19T14:30:00.001-05:00

My friends at Cheaper Than Dirt have posted on their blog, The Shooter’s Log, about the temporary injunction against California’s AB 962.

In a dramatic ruling giving gun owners a win in an National Rifle Association / California Rifle and Pistol (CRPA) Foundation lawsuit, this morning Fresno Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Hamilton ruled that AB 962, the hotly contested statute that would have banned mail order ammunition sales and required all purchases of so called “handgun ammunition” to be registered, was unconstitutionally vague…

Read the rest here.

Top Shot Season 2

2011-01-17T15:42:00.001-05:00

By this time, unless you live in a cave, I’m certain you’ve heard the History Channel’s Top Shot lineup of new shooters has been announced. And of course, our very own Brian Zins has been selected to compete.

Congratulations, my friend!

None the less, the extremely unique path of any faithful and dedicated practitioner is littered with numerous pitfalls. Second-guessing, distractions or just about anything else can blindside anyone who isn’t a true master of their discipline. I feel dubious calling Brian a High Master, because he’s in a league all his own. Although, from the standpoint of entertainment, I’m certain he’ll exceed all of our expectations.

After the first episode airs (Feb 8), I’ll have a special guest give us some insights about the show and its production.

Chappia's Rhino, Again

2011-01-07T11:42:00.007-05:00

Here’s an update. A few weeks ago I wrote a post about Chappia’s new Rhino, low bore-line revolver; wondering whether or not it was going to be a revolutionary firearm that could be used for bullseye. The impetus of that post was initiated from a conversation I had with a very good friend. He was extremely impressed with its design and assumed these changes would establish new benchmarks during sustained fire revolver shooting.

Well, low and behold, my friend Bruce who instigated this original conversation decided to take me to lunch the other day. With a little time to kill he asked if we could drive over to my club and squeeze off a few rounds, with a fresh-off-the-boat imported Rhino .357 Magnum, loaded with .38 Special rounds.

What an eye opener that was!

Let’s take a step back. The Rhino appeared at last year’s Shot Show followed by a lot of interest. Most, if not almost all of their inventory have arrived stateside as snubby models. And the one that I shot was a snubby too. Although, I’ve been informed that 5 and 6 inch target models will soon appear.

I have to admit a few of my friends have looked at the Rhino and called it—ugly—butt ugly—fugly—and “...not a good ugly.”

When I first handled it, there appeared to be natural pointablility—to an extreme. Simply pointing the gun in an offhand firing position stunned me. Due to its slightly raked grip angle and low center of gravity, this pistol is extremely easy—almost without effort—to align its sights.

I shot the Rhino single and double action. In either case the perceived recoil appeared to be a lot less; where the gun easily, almost by itself, returned to its original sight alignment after each round. Not once did I ever feel the need to muscle this thing around or finesse it to realign the sights.

During slow fire there were a few drawbacks. The gun doesn’t have a conventional trigger; it has a cocking lever that looks like a hammer. So, during SA shooting you pull back on its faux hammer and it never comes to a clean stop. After the hammer ever so slightly attains its cocking pressure, a small amount of free rearward movement is detected; giving the shooter acknowledgement the gun is cocked.

Out of habit, from shooting Smiths and Colts, when I cocked the hammer I expected it to come to a hard stop. It never did. And it made me feel a little uneasy. The very first time I cocked it I wondered whether or not it would simply fly forward and discharge the round (... thankfully that never happened). None the less, if I had a chance to actually practice with it, I’m certain it wouldn’t take the two of us very long to get acquainted.

When I fired it in DA sustained fashion, I noticed the snubby had about a 7 pound trigger pull. Granted it’s a little stiff, but I was informed the factory was crafting target pistols that have a DA trigger weight closer to 4 pounds. And the new target models will have larger cocking levers for those of us who want to shoot SA sustained fire.

And I’m certain you noticed from the video this gun didn’t move a whole lot. What I gleamed out of the experience is, this pistol is a useful new shooting concept. Even though it was originally designed for the home defense and concealed carry markets, I can see its potential as a precision platform.

It’ll be watching to see how Chappia manages their other pistols based on this new frame in the coming months.

*Video graciously provided by Bruce Smith.

Chronographs

2011-01-01T11:04:00.001-05:00

Over the recent holiday I was fortunate enough to get a few new toys for my reloading bench. And as such, during our traditional holiday cleanup, I decided it was time to address my reloading area as well. Unfortunately, it’s been a long time since its last reorganization. It looked like a real rat’s nest.

While rummaging through various inventories of bullets, brass, tools, gun parts and other equipment, I also came upon a somewhat dusty chronograph. Ya know a chronograph is a pretty handy device, that’ll assist with load development and helps validate one’s quality control.

It’s funny how some of the most useful of things can be so easily forgotten.

None the less, however careful we are when we reload, we have no way to load rounds that’ll give us an absolute uniform performance from one round to the next. And if our rounds were to be almost perfectly uniform—the very finest produced—any good recording instrument would document them as having different velocities.

Firing a large test lot would produce an average of the total number of rounds fired closer to what we might call our ‘average velocity.’ That theoretical velocity, which may never once present itself during any single round, is supposed to split all the variations down the middle. All of those real fired rounds will simply hover around this elusive but never attained average.

If we compare each actual velocity to the calculated average velocity, we get the deviation of each shot from the average velocity. And if we add all these deviations and then divide by the number of rounds that we've fired, we get the mean deviation. For the most part, all by itself, ain’t a whole lotta help.

Then we multiply each deviation by itself (for example, let’s say 25 ft/sec times 25 ft/sec) and add the products of these squared deviations, divide by the number of rounds that we've fired, and get a number that's called the variance of these deviations. The square root of this variance (just push the appropriate button on a cheap pocket calculator) is what mathematicians refer to as standard deviation. And it's generally regarded as the best way to compare results that vary such as, group sizes and velocity spreads by comparing relative consistencies. (Now don’t get all wiggy on me. Most modern chorographs contain software that will calculate various deviations including minimum, maximum and standard.)

Obviously, the tighter the SD, the more consistent the rounds are within the lot. In theory, we should be working towards a very narrow SD, as much as possible, but only to a point. From a practical perspective there does come a point of diminishing returns.

I’ve seen Federal .45 ACP match ball ammo chronoed out as having a SD of only 6 ft/sec. Whereby, if I’m not careful I can grind out a lot of ball ammo from my progressive press that will have a huge spread of about 68 ft/sec. My better lots, when I massage everything, come in around 10-12 ft/sec.

After reviewing some of your reloading handwork this may be an excellent time to question your techniques or procedures. Do you weigh bullets for the long line? Have you ever tried trickling charges and compared them to rounds produced by your progressive press? Heck, I’ve even met guy’s who’ve claimed they weigh their long line cases to determine their potential ‘water volume.’ There are a lot of things a reloader can do to tighten up their quality control and a chronograph is a pivotal tool.

By their very nature chronographs are in the line of fire when they’re used. They’re placed down range, and sooner or later, someone will eventually shoot the flippin thing. … I know I have. Aside from being careful, here are a few things to make their operation more predictable and consistent.

Most industry standards (for pistol) require the chronograph to be either 10 or 15 feet from the muzzle. For good equipment performance, an accurate distance should be measured and replicated each and every time it’s used. That distance should be measured from the muzzle to the center of the chronograph (between the two sensors).

Visible light and heat exits the muzzle of all firearms along with the bullet. If the first chronograph sensor is overwhelmed with light flash or heat bloom, the velocity readings may be incorrect or produce an error. This can be particularly bothersome with subsonic ammunition.

Should you have a persistent problem with this dilemma, acquire another tripod and attach a 2 ft square piece of wallboard or cardboard target backer with a 4 inch hole in its center, placed in front of the first sensor. Then adjust the hole for appropriate bullet passage. The bulk of the muzzle flash will be diverted by the board. Simply make certain the board can never come into contact with the chronograph.

Muzzle Flash*

They all need light. The chronograph measures velocity by sensing a bullet's shadow as it passes over each sensor. The vast majority of problems with conventional chronographs correlate to poor lighting conditions. In short, if you can’t see your shadow on the ground the chronograph isn’t going to see the bullet’s. In very low light situations you may be able to remove the sky screens to increase the volume of light. The screens are designed to reduce glare to the sensors so they’re not overwhelmed on bright sunny days.

Shooting parallel with the sensors is critical. If the sun is low near the horizon and you’re shooting north or south, there may be insufficient light entering the sensors. Look to see if there’s ample light entering the top of the chrono. One trick is to rotate the tripod’s head towards the sun to allow more light to enter the sensors and to place the bullet’s shadow directly over them. It might look dorky but it works.

Another common problem is reflected surface light. There are times when excessive light can be reflected up from the ground and actually illuminate the bullet as it passes over the sensors. The bullet’s shadow is either eliminated or greatly reduced where the sensor can’t pickup on its passage.

What can cause this at the range? Well, new or freshly cleaned concrete can reflect a lot of light. Light colored gravel can play havoc with these things; yeah, one club that I’m a member of did this for some reason … all the way to the 50 yard line. And the worst is snow. A simple remedy is to get some black garbage bags and lay them below and several feet beyond the tripod’s footprint.

And possibly the most common problem that’s also the most difficult to detect is simply movement. A slight breeze, moderate muzzle blast or just about anything else that might move the chronograph during the recording phase will give the user erroneous readings.

When a chronograph changes its angle relative to the parallel movement of the bullet, a timing error occurs. Maintaining parallel of both the projectile and the unit is incredibly important for accurate readings. And a unit that ever so slightly bobs in the breeze will never give a consistent reading. It usually comes down to the tripod.

If you own Ol’ Shaky, buy a better one. And if you still have this problem with a better quality tripod consider weighing it down from the center post. A sand bag or a water filled milk jug should provide adequate anchorage.

Chronographs are great devices that should be used far more often than just for the betterment of load development. Routine verification of reloading product is a much more productive use of this pretty nifty tool.

Possibly a better description of how to calculate SD: http://hubpages.com/hub/stddev

On-line SD calculator: http://hubpages.com/hub/stddev

*Photo provided through the courtesy of the Ruger Forum.

2011 New Year

2010-12-24T08:53:00.000-05:00

Well, for the past several years I’ve made it something of a tradition to have my first post of the New Year deal with safety.

Thankfully, bullseye shooters are a fairly anal bunch when it comes to safety, especially when we’re at the range. But that in itself may at times foster complacency. And when we don’t think, all kinds of things can go haywire.

Webster’s Dictionary defines complacency as, “self-satisfaction especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies.”

Retrieved from a ceiling

We, as humans, are creatures of habit. We’re uncomfortable with change and we like some predictability in our lives. It’s in our nature and that’s all well and good but it can lead to problems, especially for safety. Complacency lulls us into a false sense of security. If we’ve never been hurt by something we tend to assume after a while, whatever it is, will never hurt us.

Even the most skilled of us can have a monetary lapse of judgment. The result of such thoughtlessness can have irreversible consequences.

Last year I chronicled a story about Darwin Teague, who shot himself in the leg while installing a grip safety on a 1911A1. In 2008 I recalled an incident about some poor dude who was engrossed with sighting in his deer rifle. … The images in both posts were shocking. Heck, I even wrote firsthand how one reckless parent at a plinking range almost let his own child shoot himself in the chest.

Failures with gun safety happen throughout a vast spectrum of events.

Traditional practitioners of our sport may refer to our competitive process as a form of ‘vertical integration.’ Most of us simply do it all. Such as load development, reloading, some smithing, live or dry fire practice, and of course we eventually migrate to matches. None the less, each one of these pursuits has its own unique risks to us and others that might be nearby.

Deadly and violent things can happen in a split-second, whereby the carnage may be permanent or irreversible. I’ve seen things, unsettling things. And I’m certain you have too.

Being a competitive pistol shooter one can easily go through several hundred thousand rounds in their shooting career. And because of that, sooner or later your number will come up. … Don’t delude yourself that it ain’t never gonna happen to you.

At some point in the future your pistol will go BANG when you didn’t want it to.

Good gun handling and safety practices actually take this reality into account. If we do what’s traditionally required of us, and a negligent or accidental discharge does occur, there shouldn’t be any harm or problems inflicted on others.

In this coming New Year let us progress and flourish with our precision skills, have a lot of fun with our friends, cherish our shooting heritage, but most of all be very skilled and deliberate with gun safety.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_safety

Rule #1: All guns are always loaded.

Desert Classic

2010-12-06T12:05:00.002-05:00

I know, I know … I’m supposed to be on hiatus over the holidays. But I thought this might be useful for a few of you. Especially those of you who have the luxury of some free time during the winter months.

My friends at the Phoenix Rod and Gun Club know how to do it up right. During the months of January and February, this venue has various outdoor shooting events; at a time when the rest of us have to worry about their indoor range’s failing heating units.

Midwinter is an excellent time of the year to shoot outdoors in southern Arizona. It’s not hot, actually it’s at the height of the local bullseye season, where it’s still dry with only occasional precipitation.

Of course Phoenix RG is home to the well known Desert Midwinter Pistol Championships. … I like to refer to it as the “Desert Classic,” because it’s one of my Top 10 favorite matches here in the States. I shot in this event last February and had the time of my life.

The sponsor’s have organized International matches from February 16th through the 19th. And then, in the middle of the week the bullseye component starts off with a 900 point service pistol match. The BE portion has a little calendar overlap that starts on the 17th and runs through the 20th. So, if you’re inclined, you could shoot both and have five consecutive days of precision pistol matches.

From my firsthand experience, the local community is like most everywhere we go. They’re friendly, helpful and extremely good competitors.

Match brochure for Bullseye.

Match brochure for International.

Holiday Hiatus

2010-11-29T12:02:00.001-05:00

Fellow bullseye shooters, be advised that I will be absent over the next six weeks. Generally, I try and post on a weekly basis—and as such—it places something of a demand on me. Due to family, job and holiday obligations this blog will come to a standstill for the next few weeks.

Expect new posts in the early part of January.

Although, this might be a good time to remind my readers about my blog’s basic mission: to assist novice members of our sport. If by chance you’re a well skilled Expert (or God love ya, have a higher rating), your time would be better spent elsewhere. The contents within are something of a recap of my experiences, advice given to me by other creditable and skilled sources, or simply my occasional haranguing about the sport.

Most of the posts have been very personal, and at times, they’re recaps of events that have been enlightening for me and I thought would be useful to share with others.

…I’m very much aware how difficult it is to get started in the sport. And unfortunately, I’ve seen firsthand far too many newbies give up because they received little if any constructive encouragement.

In the meantime if you’re a new reader, consider pursuing the Resource Links and Topic Labels on the far right side of the main page. There’s a lot of stuff there, enough for various shooters with diverse skill levels.

In fact, when I initially started to post, the thought never crossed my mind anyone would find this blog worthwhile. If you go to some of my earliest posts they’re almost childlike. I wasn’t concerned about form, grammar, style, being informative, or for that matter entertaining (I was just banging ‘em out). I originally used the blog as my personal electronic shooting notebook. At the time, I was more concerned about not losing personal insights due to my very poor and dyslectic memory.

Finally, I’d like to wish you all a great and happy holiday season. And remember to enjoy the people in your life; they’re only around because they want to share your daily experiences, with you.

Rhino: The Future of DR?

2010-11-23T19:35:00.001-05:00

Just the other day, a friend of mine asked me about the new Rhino revolvers and inquired about their potential lack of compliance with NRA DR rules. It’s a factory produced revolver, and as such, should conform.

At the time I didn’t remember it. Although, after Googling for it, I briefly remembered seeing it mentioned by various blogers in the early part of this year.

By reviewing the photo below, I’ll be the first to admit its design is striking, maybe even wicked looking; where some of my blogosphere comrades have even referred to it as having a metro-sexual look. I don’t know about that, but it’s certainly unique looking.

Chappia Firearms Group (Armi Chiappa, pronounced KEE-opp-a) of Azzano Mella, Italy teamed up with Antonio Cudazzo and Emilio Ghisoni, who labored on this concept for about two years before applying for a patent.

Strangely enough, it looks and functions much like a Mateba. It appears the Rhino is, at least visually, a cousin to this ‘somewhat’ known automatic revolver. Sadly, the Mateba went out of production when its Italian manufacturer filed for bankruptcy in 2005.

None the less, the basic benefit of both guns appears to be their vastly lower bore-line.

Competitive shooters have shied away from revolvers due to their inherent high bore-line, where the effects of recoil become exaggerated. For the better part of sixty years most major target pistol manufacturers, especially those located in Europe, have concentrated on building and redesigning semi-autos with a never ending quest of lowering the bore-line.

The Rhino accomplishes this by having the gun fire from the lower cylinder (6 o’clock). By that process, the barrel is located at or slightly below the web of the shooter’s hand. The intent is for the shooter to get a gentle push into their palm during recoil, and the frame’s rotation is minimized too. The designers’ goal from a recoil standpoint was to provide the shooter with an easier and much shorter time to reacquire the sight picture during sustained fire.

It looks attractive. I’m told it’s very solid even though it does sport an aluminum frame. But there have been some concerns about its DA trigger pull being a bit stiff. The cocking lever (it’s not a hammer, or maybe it’s a faux hammer) atop cocks the internal mechanism by linkage to shoot in SA mode. And if someone wanted a smith to massage the gun, I doubt there could be much accomplished to enhance the trigger’s pull, due to the use of wire springs being used internally.

Currently the gun’s availability is somewhat limited here in the States. Should this design platform catch on, the price point may even decline a little. Apparently Chappia produces most of them as a snub nose for the concealed carry market, where the snubby commands a price tag of about $800.

Additional commentary:

http://world.guns.ru/handguns/hg228-e.htm

http://thetruthaboutguns.com/2010/08/robert-farago/chiappa-rhino-will-dominate-pistol-competition/

http://johnjacobh.wordpress.com/2010/01/05/rhino-medusa-the-perfect-21st-century-revolver/

http://chiappafirearms.com/product/729

The Great (Gun) Recession That Lies Ahead

2010-11-19T10:43:00.001-05:00

In a recent blog post, my friend Hobie talked about the floor traffic in his gun shop:

We've seen a noticeable drop in sales. At least one major distributor has been shipping lots less product in the last 3-4 months. Prices should be coming down, but perhaps ammo prices won't decline given that the Chinese economy is already winding up faster than ours.

...We actually stood around some today, something that has never happened this time of year in the 3 years I've been working in the shop.

Well friends, now that we’ve come full circle has the bubble finally popped with Obama’s gun-ban-scare?

Recently I stopped by a local friend’s gun store, to pickup a pistol, and I received similar words from him too. He regaled a few instances, where some of his recent customers simply came back and asked him to repurchase their recent gun acquisitions. One such individual purchased four new handguns from him over the past two years and arrived with the entire inventory in hand; acting like he operated a pawn shop instead of a retail gun store. And he even recalled a potential transaction with one humble person who had purchased ammo and then tried to return a half consumed box of the stuff.

Smith & Wesson Holding Co. 01/01/10 to 11/16/10

My retailer-friend’s take on all this is it’s simply a reflection of today’s economy.

Is it the current state of the economy or Obama’s gun-ban-scare bubble pop, or possibly a little of both?

Even mainstream news sources have noticed the abrupt decline in gun sales and their related items. Business Week, The Wall Street Journal, Daily Finance and even the ultra far-left Huffington Post have had articles addressing the market’s surprising and unexpected drop in retail sales since this past Spring and Summer.

This past July when I was at Camp Perry, I was thoroughly surprised with the huge availability of primers and other components at Commercial Row. If I remember correctly, in 2009, if one wanted components at outrageous prices you had to stand in a very long line on the first day simply to get scalped. Why? Because everyone anticipated entire inventories on the row would be depleted by 4:00 PM.

Today, legitimate business people advertise on the Bullseye-L offering bargain basement pricing for CCI large pistol primers. They’re here, they’re there, and they’re stacking up everywhere.

In April of ’09 and again in December I posted my forecast that this situation would play out, much like it did, during the end of the Clinton gun ban. For the better part of the past two years, general gun buyers have acted like they were obese food critics, trapped overnight in a posh four star restaurant. After much public hording, guns, ammo, components and all the other stuff that makes guns go Bang would slide right off the price chart and became down right cheap. [The two posts mentioned above are worthwhile to review and explains how we arrived here with current gun and ammo pricing. Amazing what can happen in only one year.]

All bubbles, whether they’re Dot.com stocks, your neighbor’s house or the value of one’s 401(k) plan, have something in common: They’ve all had a retrenchment in their values that few would ever believe just a few short years ago. … All bubbles eventually pop but they’re never tidy events.

To quote Jim Morrison: “This is the end.” As such, it may also be the end for some manufacturers too.

And if you haven’t been to a gun show lately expect to see lots of inventory marked down, with fewer and fewer dealer tables around.

Over the next three to four years we should see extremely soft gun and ammunition pricing that we’ll probably tell—with gleeful joy—our grandchildren about. Think of it this way, there may be new opportunities to acquire equipment and components on an inflation adjusted basis similar to that of the 1950’s, in the not so distant future.

2010 Capital 1800

2010-11-15T11:40:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I attended and worked a local 1800 match located at my home club in Harrisburg, PA aptly named the Capital 1800.

This event is a gem of a match, that for some reason, has been somewhat overlooked by the local BE community. And it’s got a lot going for it. It spans two days with morning and afternoon relays where just about anyone could easily fit it into their weekend. The range is extremely modern, well lit, has more than adequate ventilation (with preheated air I might add) and has the added benefit of being located near the confluence of three major highways.

The sponsor has been trying to make this event into a classic retro match, where it’s a little unique by modern benchmarks. They award Blackinton medals for all who place in their respective categories and classes.

I enjoy 1800s. Unlike most shooting we do indoors, it’s generally done with only a .22. I don’t know about you but being overly dependant with a rimfire pistol kind of makes me handicapped by the end of the season. Having the added benefit of using a centerfire gun keeps a marksman up to speed with all their equipment. So, when the outdoor season does roll around I don’t feel unaccustomed with my larger caliber pistols.

Your host calling the line

Besides, the matches are a little shorter and you don’t have to invest an entire day in it. You arrive, you shoot, and there’s still time for your spouse or family. Your commitment is little more than a morning or an afternoon.

Since the sponsoring club, Harrisburg Hunters and Anglers, has made a substantial commitment in expanding this match’s future participation, put this one on your calendar for next year.

Links for: match results, and brochure.

Electronic Scales Part II

2010-11-04T13:59:00.000-05:00

Read this disclaimer before proceeding: The information provided herein is intended only for entertainment. I can’t be looking over your shoulder when you shoot or make ammunition. So get this straight: I, my agents, assigns, or anyone else that I might even remotely know ASSUME NO LIABILITY or RESPONSIBILITY WHATSOEVER. You’re completely on your own. It is incumbent upon you to be or become knowledgeable about the necessary safety requirements for this pastime.

Electronic scales tell you what the charge weight is. A beam scale tells you what the charge weight is, provided you’ve done this by way of happenstance and set the scale to the appropriate but unknown random weight. Unless you’re willing to mess around moving the hanging counter weights there’s no good way of knowing how far off you are from the set weight. Therein lays the beauty of an electronic scale.

I can recall the many times I’ve thrown all my charges with a beam scale to only just reach the last one and see its weight move.

With an electronic scale I am able to sort through my bullets and brass quickly and use the ones that fall into the same weight range. True you can do this with a beam scale but you’ll probably give up due to the mind deadening frustration caused by the extreme amount of time it takes.

The following are some common, and some not so common, uses for electronic scales.

Determine the Mean:

If you’ve ever tried to weigh out an entire lot of bullets—say 500—by using a beam scale, it feels like an act of futility. For those of you who weigh and sort their components for their long line loads, an electronic scale is a godsend.

Actually, if you don’t want to be bothered by working out a standard deviation calculation, the home reloader can easily craft a bell curve chart from their weighed cast bullets with little more than a piece of masking tape and their scale.

Randomly weigh a sampling of 35 to 40 bullets for every lot of 500, to determine their typical average and extreme weights. Then place a 3 foot piece of masking tape across your bench with a mark for their average weight in the center, and two other marks 1 & ½ feet in both directions from the center for both low and high extremes.

With tape applied to your bench, make additional evenly spaced increment lines on the tape noted in 1 or ½gn amounts. Then take the next 20 minutes and simply weigh the remaining bullets with your scale.

After each one is weighed, place it against the tape vertically above the corresponding weight mark. When you’ve weighed the entire lot, your layout of bullets will emulate a bell curve.

With such a chart you’ll learn a few things.

Let’s assume we’ll be checking a traditional bullseye bullet like a .452” 200gn LSWC. The first thing you’ll notice is very few of your 200gn hard cast bullets will weigh in at 200gn. Expect 200gn to be near the upper limit of the weight range. By my experience they could range from 190 to 205gns, with the mean generally weighing in at around 196 to 198gns. When weighing various lots you’ll discover the mean weight will change, from lot to lot, even from the same caster.

This will give you the opportunity to select a group of bullets to be culled solely for the long line; where their near identical weights will assist you in minimizing the potential of vertical stringing. [If you’d like to read about the importance of minimizing component deviations for increased bullet accuracy, take a look at the two photos near the bottom of this old post.]

The remainders of the original lot can then be identified for a separate batch destined for the short line or practice rounds.

If you’re inclined to keep most of the remaining rounds for the short line, return them randomly to their storage box; so that when you’re reloading you don’t consistently and sequentially reload by bullet weight. If not, you’ll be producing hotter rounds at one end of the course and lighter loads at the other. You want short line loads to be fired by random bullet weights.

Sort by a Known Amount:

Electronic scales also have a ‘tare’ feature which is a pretty nifty function. It may be labeled as ‘zero,’ because when you hit the tare/zero button, the weight in and including the pan is zeroed out. Then you can measure differences between like items.

If you were sorting bullets by weight all you'd have to do is find one that weighs what you wanted, then hit the zero button. From here on out the reading is going to display a plus or minus difference from the standard weight.

Another helpful use of the tare function is when we're adjusting the powder measure on a progressive loader. It's difficult to try to drop a charge in the scale pan, but all you have to do is tare out the weight of an empty case and use it to catch the charge. Since the weight of the case has been zeroed out, the reading is going to be just the weight of the powder.

Detecting Squibs and Double Charges:

By using the same method of reworking the tare setting, it’s easy to find suspected double charged or squib rounds. Simply sample several known good rounds and set the tare with this established round, and then start weighing for suspected problem rounds.

When you find that little culprit, keep in mind there will always be some moderate variations in weights even with properly finished rounds. Not all of your brass, bullets and primers will have uniform weights. But if you notice something on the order of +/-2grns or more in weight deviation, you’ve identified a potential problem.

Although the above works great for .45ACP rounds, I should point out much smaller rounds like 9mm or 32 S&W Long can’t be safely tested in such a manner. Due to their small size and light charge, the amount of deviation in the brass’ weight may be more than the typical charge weight for these diminutive rounds.

Uniform Case Volume:

For those of you who use the same head-stamps, weighing cases is another way of ensuring that your brass is uniform. It’s not the only way and certainly shouldn't be the only way to separate them but it has its role. If everything about the case is the same (uniform thickness, de-burred flash holes, primer pockets reamed, trimmed to overall length), then the weight being within +/- 0.2gn will have what is commonly referred to as ‘uniform water capacity.’ Uniformity between cases is a key to the absolute best accuracy you can expect.

Average Thrown Charge:

Regardless if you use a progressive reloader or a standalone powder measure, finding the average powder throw is extremely important. We all know there’s always some minor deviation from one throw to the next. It’s all too common for a home reloader to test one, two or three drops from their measure, and then declare it set. Only later to find out their average powder drops were slightly high or low. At the very least, to obtain a reasonable level of consistency, how’s a reloader supposed to know their measure’s average drop?

With an electronic sale it’s a snap to find an average drop. After feeling somewhat confident your powder measure is dropping the appropriate load, simply take 10 consecutive drops and place them into the pan to determine its cumulative weight. Then divide by 10 for the average.

If you’ve accepted the traditional +/-0.10grn deviation for a 45 ACP round, your average drop should be right on the money. Even if you’re only off by a single .10th, it’s time to adjust the meter and make another 10 drops.

Continue doing this until they average out to your desired charge weight. Then you can be safely assured of having reasonably consistent loads from one end of your lot to the other.

Electronic Scales Part I

2010-10-26T10:22:00.003-05:00

I’ve used and owned several different electronic scales over the years, and without a doubt, they’re pretty handy little devices. They can save you time, provide a reasonable level of accuracy, and do other things a beam scale can’t. But they’re not the end-all to be-all.

During my first two years of reloading I struggled with a cheap mechanical scale. Only later buying an expensive beam scale; even though it provided some added measure of convenience, it too had some limitations relative to speed.

It’s not uncommon for the newbie, who buys their first electronic scale, to expect it to do wonders simply because it’s an electronic device. Over the past thirty years or so our society has been programmed to believe electronic devices are more than what they really are. There’s nothing in this world that’s flawless.

So with simple caution, here are a few things to do or consider when using your newly acquired electronic scale.

Location:

I’m certain most of you are well aware not to place any scale, electronic or otherwise, on a loading bench or table top that isn’t rock solid. If not, all the vibrations that one can imagine will eventually make its way to the device. Having a reasonably level and solid base helps, but not using your press at the same time is fairly critical.

As an alternative, consider a separate place for all of your scales. Generally a shelf that’s wall mounted can be considered a safe location since the scale will be isolated from work vibrations being emanated from your bench. And if you happen to locate your reloading equipment in the basement, consider a wall that’s a foundation wall; aside from a truck backing into your home, your scale will rarely encounter any work induced or mechanical vibrations.

Some additional guidelines for a good site should include considering the potential for drafts from heating and cooling systems. Drafts generally play havoc with a scale’s ability to maintain zero. And if you just happen to have a major appliance nearby, turn it off.

Warm-up:

All electronic scales require a certain amount of time to pass for them to maintain a stable temperate. Generally thirty minutes will do it. But if you’re in a hurry, expect that poor thing’s readings to drift until it becomes temperature stabilized.

I have a friend who claims he never turns his off, just for the reason mentioned above. Me, if I’m planning on doing some reloading in the evening I’ll make it a point to turn it on just prior to dinner, and by the time I’m done, it’s waiting for me ready to go.

Calibration:

Only after a scale has been temperature stabilized it will be capable of being properly calibrated. Read your instructions and don’t deviate from them. There have been many a yahoo who were in too much of a hurry and improperly calibrated their scales to the wrong setting because it was cold, or they didn’t following the procedures properly.

I know what it’s like firsthand. Some time ago I mishandled my scale’s calibration and it resulted in producing several hundred rounds that were grossly under charged. Then I pondered what to do with all 400 of them; while staring at my kinetic bullet puller, limply grasped in my right hand. … That lot of bullets currently resides in the county’s landfill.

Consider recalibrating your scale if there’s been a change in temperature, the unit’s been moved, its been unused for several days or if its been subjected to a hard force.

Most manufacturers claim their scale should be recalibrated before every reloading session. They make these assertions because of two good reasons: experience and avoidance of the next class action law suit. And it’s sound judgment to use the check weights frequently.

The check weights should be treated as though they were made of platinum. Please don’t ever drop them or allow surface dirt or body oils to buildup on them. … And if you need separate check weights for verification, they’re readably available from most reloading suppliers.

Static Electricity and Magnetic Fields:

During dry winter months, even the occasional static discharge can dramatically alter the unit’s zero. Be aware of charging yourself with static electricity when walking across carpets or wearing wool, which may induce a buildup just prior to operating the scale. Try to make it a point of grounding yourself before handling the scale.

Florescent lighting can and generally does produce some noticeable amounts of interfering electromagnetic radiation as do other electronic items such as portable radios or phones. Items such as these have been know to change the zero, make them drift over time—or worse yet—induce vacillating readings.

The heart of it all, a load cell

Consider checking for interference by allowing the scale to warm-up in a darkened room, and with the use of a flashlight, turn the suspected items on and off including overhead lighting in an attempt to detect any changes to the scale’s readings. You’ll quickly know when things aren’t playing out right.

Here’s Some Things Not to Do:

Unless you’ve reached out and paid big bucks for a true medical or scientific grade scale, the vast majority of them will not have a fast enough response time to accurately trickle a charge. A few can but they must be operated under extremely ideal conditions. Leave the task of trickling to a high quality beam scale.

If you’d like to speed up the process, dump a preliminary charge that’s ½ a grain short with your electronic scale, and then transfer it to a beam scale for the final trickle.

There are several small scales offered by PACT, Hornady and RCBS that use 9 volt batteries as their power source. The manufacturers’ intent was to bring to market a product that could be used at the range for load development. The only drawback is when the battery becomes low, the voltage is reduced and in the process, the zero will change due to reduced power without notice. If not careful you could unexpectedly craft hundred or thousands of under or over charged rounds. If your scale is currently running on a 9 volt setup, consider buying the optional transformer unit and use it as its only power source.

Be careful with the load cell, they’re twitchy little things. If your scale is rated to 750 grains (or whatever the amount is) for its maximum reading, remember that’s all it can physically handle including the pan. Many a load cell has been ruined by overloading them. And never drop items into the pan; that’s a recipe for disaster.

About three years ago while I was cleaning my reloading area, one thing led to another and wouldn’t you know it, I accidentally dropped my scale into my left hand. Initially I had this huge sigh of relief, where I gleefully thanked the reloading gods for their divine intervention by not allowing my scale to come into contact with the shop’s concrete floor. … Then, I turned it on. The load cell was ruined by its modest but abrupt 5 inch drop into my fleshy palm.

In my next post about electronic scales I’ll outline a few things you can do with them, that’ll either speed things up or increase your ammunication’s overall quality.

A Look Back (Because It’s Out of Sight, Out of Mind)

2010-10-18T09:34:00.001-05:00

Not long ago during a recent practice secession, a friend of mine was down right mournful about his scores. What struck me as odd was his incessant droning about his limited skill after shooting one target after the other. When I glanced at his handy-work, the word ‘astounding’ actually came to mind. I was genuinely impressed. But he clearly wasn’t terribly happy.

Initially I couldn’t pickup on the cause of his frustration. All of his targets appeared to be at, or at other times well above, his current ranking.

After a few minutes passed, I was the unintended beneficiary of some more haranguing. So I cautiously asked in a gentle tone, “What do you expect, Bob?”

It came without notice like a thief in the night. A torrent of words tainted by anxiety in an unsteady flow of awareness, frantically searching for thoughts. Having little rhyme or reason with his line of consciousness I guessed at his basic desire: Why am I not further along?

Bob had placed considerable expectations on himself, perhaps too great. He equated that by having applied the right amount of time, money and effort—it should match the results he expected. Then he continued by comparing himself to other better scoring shooters.

Geeze freakin Louise, I knew exactly how he felt. At an earlier time, I was in his shoes. He felt defeated, was tired of going nowhere, and had no sense of being able to obtain any future progress. Worse yet, he compared himself to his peers whom he assumed applied just as much or perhaps less effort than he did.

After asking a few more questions, it was revealed that Bob essentially did one thing right and one thing wrong.

First thing he did right was he had a goal. Bob identified with other shooters, most of whom he would classify as his peers, where many entered the sport about the same time. Some progressed and others didn’t. But he identified with the ones he thought were successful and actually picked one person to compete directly against.

Now I’ve been to this dance floor more than once myself from both perspectives, as an initiator and a target.

I know what it’s like, and there’s nothing wrong with identifying with someone else’s success, and then say to yourself, “I’m going after him.” …Well, I’ve never actually ‘gone after’ anyone, but I have gone after their attained skill level. It makes the whole process seem a little more concrete rather than abstract. What it actually comes down to is respect for someone else’s accomplishments. Desire, by itself, isn’t enough.

Then again, I’ve been on the receiving end, by being someone’s living target-goal. The process works its way up through the ranks (Marksman, Sharpshooter, Expert), as it should. Believe me, you’ll know when it happens to you. It’ll be at the conclusion of a match and someone you’ve never met will introduce themselves, and then during idle banter, will tell you what you’re standard or average stats have been over the past six months—in each event. It can be either a little unsettling or flattering depending on your point of view.

The thing Bob did wrong was he fell into a trap. He had a performance goal but not a road map to get there, which is all too familiar with most developing shooters. He assumed that by using brute mental force and routine practice he’d arrive at his desired destination, someday.

There are some things he did well but one thing was grossly overlooked, and perhaps it would be the most productive, such as: a shooting notebook or journal. He needed to do more than just determine what he wants to achieve, that’s just a starting point. He needs to learn how to analyze himself.

A shooter should routinely go back and review the course of fire of their recent matches and practice, and then identify and inventory the errors they made.

Let’s just theoretically imagine a developing shooter wanted as a goal, say 195, during the timed fire match. So ask the question, where and how did I give up the required points in the past? … And the answer’s not, I need to shoot better.

Are you too slow in getting the first shot off during sustained fire?

Is your minimum wobble area wider than the 10-ring at 25 yards?

Do you routinely score badly by having errant shots, through heeling or jerking?

Do you get unreasonable amounts of anxiety during a string and release shots before your best recovery sets in?

Any part of the shooting process can and should be methodically broken down, like the above. A shooter needs to judiciously question their actual performance (without being emotionally negative) and benchmark their current skill level. They need to figure out how much they threw away, and then go through the process of searching for solutions, to overcome their now known and quantified errors.

And it may not be limited just to you. Have you been wondering lately about the dimensional integrity of your 1911’s bushing? Equipment issues could be about all kinds of things like ammo, shooting glasses, anatomical grips or who knows what.

In a nutshell, a shooter needs to learn how to train. And the first strep in that process is to be able to, in a detached manner, pick apart your errors and write them down. Only then will you have enough clarity of thought to craft a plan that incorporates the appropriate drills, mechanical fixes or other solutions that’ll see you on your way.

Practice is an excellent pastime, but it does little more than keep you from backsliding.

By the way, it’s alright to approach other highly experienced shooters for their input. Though their advice may not always work, it just might give you a different perspective, another potential avenue to go down.

_________________________________

The USMC Team Workbook is possibly the greatest collection of drills assembled within its 158 pages.

And Lanny Bassham has a few words on the subject as well.

2010 New Jersey State Pistol Championship

2010-10-07T16:11:00.011-05:00

I’ve routinely reported on this match over the past three years—and I must admit—I’m never disappointed when I arrive there. In my modest opinion, if you were only capable of attending one match in a year, this is it.

From its unpretentious beginnings with only 6 competitors back in 1998, the NJ State Pistol Championship has morphed into 5 relays shot at 2 different locations with 114 participants. The match drew competitors from 9 adjacent states with some coming from as far away as CT and NC.

Traditionally this match has been held at Central Jersey Rifle and Pistol Club in Jackson, NJ, and continues to do so even today. But with the addition of another venue at Cherry Ridge, in Highlands Lake, the championship has expanded their capacity for more lines and enhanced the convenience factor to members of our shooting community.

I’ve been told that HM Dave Lang spent long hours and many a late night over the course of the last three months readying the range at Cherry Ridge. The range facilities along with the turning target system hadn’t seen a match in nearly 7 years and needed extensive refurbishing. Apparently long and late evenings were tacked onto Davy’s daily work schedule, many of which were illuminated by a single flashlight.

When I write about matches it’s easy to get tongue-tied, or worse yet, become clueless with the going’s on of its operation, especially when it’s so well run; at this event things went very smoothly, people enjoyed themselves, comradery was easily noticed—and best of all—the sport was well represented.

For me, it’s about a two and half hour drive from home. As a day trip, I’ll have to admit, it’s a little much. Up at 4:00 AM, stop for breakfast, pay tolls on two different turnpikes, arrive at the match, shoot … and then back in the car to return home by about 10:30 PM. Yeah, it’s a long day. A very long day, but well worth it.

This year not only did my longtime shooting partner John join me, but so too did my son Alex.

Alex used to shoot bullseye in college, mostly by participating in an indoor league located in Erie, PA. This was his first attempt at shooting outdoors on full sized targets, instead of those dinky B2 and B3 things, and was amiably labeled a Tyro (a class he won I might add). He made it a point to drive in from Ohio and spend the weekend shooting with his old-man.

When I report on matches generally I’ll make note of the weather. Considering that it spanned several days, it would be unfair of me to gravitate only on the day that I participated. From a planning perspective, the state association made an excellent choice of early autumn. Over its two weekends, temperatures were moderate, generally in the 60’s. Having only a light mist of rain at the end of the final day during the rapid fire phase. It’s clearly a better choice than July or August when we’re all forced to wilt in +90 degree weather.

The local bullseye community and the match’s sponsors have taken to heart their mission in recruiting new shooters. And whether they know it or not, this match is used as a tool to positively reinforce newly anointed juniors.

Mike Westock (a double distinguished Master) and a handful of other dedicated shooters have been blazing a path developing new juniors in the sport of bullseye. Actually, I think there’s a story in all of this by itself; Mike’s been training and promoting junior shooters for several years and it’s one of the few modern success stories that our sport has.

With cheshire grin Mike Westock, and my son Alex

A friend of mine refers to this as the “New Jersey Connection.”

To place this in perspective, the Garden State is one of the few places in the US where the legislature treats their citizenry as though the only legitimate use of firearms should rest solely with law enforcement. Considering how draconian their laws are, they still have an unusually large and vibrant bullseye community. So, when some middle-aged guy offers to teach your child how to shoot and compete with a pistol—believe me—that individual must have one heck of a track record with creditability.

It was heartening see Mike’s shooting prodigies, most of whom weren’t even old enough to drive, take great delight in competing shoulder-to-shoulder with the ol’ guys. Even though a few might be middle-schoolers, they’ve clearly been groomed to be gracious, well mannered and friendly competitors. ... And they know how to shoot too.

By my estimation Mike’s minting a whole pile of future Masters.

Serious thought and great sponsorship support were extended to the awards. The match winner and winners of their respective class have a choice of a Springfield XD, Mil-Spec 1911 or GI 1911. Firing participants of the DR and EIC matches won, through random drawing, their choice of Springfields as well. And lucky junior Michael Soklaski, won the Free Pass to Camp Perry award by another drawing intended solely for juniors.

Matches like this don’t simply happen. It takes dedication*, careful planning, and a lot of effort applied to the smallest of details to make an event like this come together. The match’s sponsors should be extremely proud of themselves with their end product by crafting such a successful, well attended and down right fun match.

Had you attended, the sheer volume of shooters would have smartly invoked an image of what bullseye used to be back in its golden age.

If you have never attended this match, put this one on your ‘must do’ list for next year.

-----------------------------

Links for preliminary match results: Grand Aggregate, EIC and DR

NJ Pistol

*The dedication and effort provided by the principals has been a little overlooked in the past. When things go this smoothly and runs like a Swiss watch, I truly feel remiss in not acknowledging their obvious sweat equity. And it’s a little difficult to craft everyone’s accomplishments into a piece that’s designed to be informative to a broad audience.

So, here’s a brief list of the principals, although not complete, who tangibly supported the 2010 NJ State Pistol Championship: Dave Lang, John Gemmill, Ed Glidden, Tim Busse, Mike Westock, James Grimes, Alex Tsapp, George Kiefer, Ray Badiak, Mary Badiak (the glue that holds it all togather) , Kevin Ball, Rick Mingeram, Al Kutyla and numerous other individuals from the CJ Bullseye League.

K-38 Masterpiece

2010-09-26T08:39:00.001-05:00

I haven’t done a gun post in about a year and thought it’s about time to mention a gun that I proudly own and use for Distinguished Revolver matches.

During the final year of the 19th century Smith & Wesson introduced an attractive new double action revolver, and with it, a new cartridge. The new revolver was the first of the basic Smith & Wesson double action revolvers of today and was catalogued as the .38 Military and Police.

The .38 Special Military & Police never became much of a military sidearm, especially after the .38’s poor man-stopping performance during the war with Spain, but it eventually became The police duty weapon for decades. The Smith & Wesson Military and Police, and as well, the Colt Police Positive became the standard police service revolvers of the day.

Law enforcement sidearm, detective's favorite and outdoorsman's mighty six-gun, could the .38 Special fill any other slots in the shooting world? Yes, and did with the coming of the K-Frame .38 Special target revolvers of the 1940’s. Some of the most accurate revolvers ever built bear the name Smith & Wesson K-38 Masterpiece.

Special features were plentiful on the new K-38. It incorporated S&W’s new short-throw hammer and the trigger featured an adjustment for over-travel. The barrel was topped by a flat serrated rib, in order to provide a level non-glare sight plane. The grip frame also had vertical serrations on both the front and backstrap. S&W originally brought the gun out with a 6” barrel and eventually issued one in the late 1950’s in 8 & 3/8” as well.

In the late 1940’s, S&W was given an opportunity to hybridize their Target Masterpiece at the request of the FBI. The Bureau wanted a sidearm just as accurate as a target model for their field agents but at the same time wanted something more practical. Smith reduced the barrel length to 4” and replaced the Patridge front post to a ‘quick-draw’ ramped Baughman style so it wouldn’t snag inside a holster. The process birthed the Combat Masterpiece (later being called the Model 15), it was eventually embraced by most law enforcement agencies throughout the US.

S&W made their target platform available in .22 LR, 32 S&W and .38 Special, which made up the legendary Target Masterpiece series (and to make matters a little more interesting there were also heavy lugged barrels installed on them during the 1990’s).

In 1957 S&W changed their model names from letters to numbers and the K-22, K-38 and K-32 were respectively retitled the Model 17, 14 and 16.

S&W made a conscious effort to design and market match quality revolvers exclusively for bulleye shooters during this period. In fact, the era immediately following WWII up until the late 60’s could best be described as the ‘golden age’ of Bullseye. Quite a few men returned from WWII and the Korean Conflict, and thought fondly of using their learned war-time skills by shooting in competitive pistol and rifle matches.

I’ve spoken to a few old timers and many remember the ‘old days’ when everyone used revolvers on the line. Its been recently pointed out to me that NRA range commands were changed to accommodate the increased use of autoloaders during the late 1950’s. Apparently, there was a time when refires or alibis were not allowed due to, fail to feed or fail to eject, because up until that point just about everyone used revolvers and their wasn’t a practical need to address those issues in the rules.

By providing match grade pistols in .22 LR, .32 S&W and .38 Special, S&W competed directly with Colt for dollars from BE shooters.

In like fashion Colt had its .22 and .38 Special, Officers Model Special and their legendary .22 caliber Woodsman Match Target. And at the same time, the arena for .45’s appeared to have be dominated by Colt’s Gold Cup. Although S&W did for some time make the 1950 Target (an N-Frame forerunner of the Model 26), a .45 ACP target revolver.

Even today, vintage K-38’s or Model 14’s are highly prized by bullseye shooters for their obvious use in DR matches because they’re extremely accurate out to the long line. Unlike many of the other typical guns we use today from Europe or for that matter 1911’s, which were originally designed for or to do something else, such as ISSF or intended as a battlefield platform.

In fact, with the return of revolver matches such as the Harry Reeves Memorial Match and Distinguished Revolver, it’s safe to say, matches like these have revitalized the use of revolvers in our sport; where such matches were originally designed around guns like the K-38/Model 14. It’s obvious, S&W uniquely crafted the Masterpiece series just for Conventional Pistol.

Recently, S&W has released the Model 14 again as a limited classic model with a MSRP of $1,027. I’m certain if you took your time you’ll notice the street value as being a lot lower, something around $850.

Should you decide to search for an original that’s in excellent condition, say about 95% or better, it would be fair to guess that acquiring one would be a lot cheaper. Not to mention you could own an arm that embodied S&W’s historically recognized old-school craftsmanship.

As mentioned previously, I own and shoot a Model 14-2 made in the early 60’s. That said, it has a pinned barrel and it’s generally thought they were made during a time when the overall fit and finish were much better, and fewer cost cutting improvements had been implemented at Smith.

In single action, its trigger has an incredibly clean let-off without any noticeable backlash. So, a surprise break is easily attained.

When I purchased it three years ago it looked almost as thought it was NIB … without the original box. Not a blemish, nor a drag line and the ejector rod was just as dark as the frame. And even the bluing on the edges looked factory fresh, or should I say, it appeared as though it was a cream puff.

On its initial arrival, the thought ran through my mind to elevate this beauty to safe queen status. But then again I bought it to snag DR points.

Community Service

2010-09-21T11:07:00.000-05:00

Have you ever given any thoughts to, giving back?

Most who participate in our sport want to compete. It’s part of our nature and it’s one of the things that collectively makes Bullseye such a great pastime. Like most of you, I feel that I’m an enthused practitioner of the game (where my wife will gladly attest that I’m probably a little too enthusiastic).

Sooner or later, for all of us to have some fun someone else has to do all the work to make things happen. Recently, I worked a local match as a line officer, and was pleasantly surprised at the number of people who went out of their way to thank me for “making things possible.”

For years, I took for granted all these nearby local matches would simply be there—forever, and then I’d casually arrive and shoot them. I still do and it’s marvelous fun. But for a match to be brought to fruition somebody’s got to roll up their sleeves.

Give some consideration to occasionally assisting at one of your local matches. It could be located at your club—or what the hey—maybe at a nearby club where you’ve frequented as a competitor over the past few years. And if you live someplace that’s way out, like on the prairie, consider doing it at Camp Perry.

All in all, it makes the load easier and a lot more bearable from the sponsor’s perspective. Much like anything in life if a sponsor feels used and unappreciated, futility will eventually set in.

In a sense it might be one element to help explain why the number of BE matches have declined over the years. We all can’t be consumers, all the time.

I’ve learned that service is more than helping others. It’s about being able to immerse yourself in the culture of the service and its people. In this way you get a better grasp of the shooting community and how you’re a part of it—and in doing so—take pride in what you do.

Remember, a fragrance clings to the hand that gives the rose.

http://www.nrahq.org/compete/volunteer.asp

http://www.nrahq.org/compete/vol-pdf/CPerryVolInfoBrochure.pdf

http://www.facebook.com/nra.volunteer

Is the CMP at Risk?

2010-09-14T11:10:00.003-05:00

Whilst on vacation, the Obama administration blocked the reimportation of about 800,000 M1 rifles, of which, a substantial portion of about 700,000 were destined to be sent to the CMP from South Korea. This occurred at about the same time the Administration encouraged special interest tree-hugger type groups to petition the EPA into regulating lead bullets.

Apparently, South Korean officials were told (by US officials) that importation of such items would lead to numerous gun accidents here in the States. During the Clinton years, an action like this was little more than code for a meltdown.

Why am I concerned about 65 to 70 year old battlefield implements?

The CMP has been a consistent benchmark and bastion of support for little over a century for us and our sport. They sponsor numerous pistol and rifle events and do it with extreme cost effectiveness. Without their support I don’t know if there would be national matches? Well, there certainly wouldn’t be anything going on at Camp Perry anymore, that’s a given.

The CMP’s largest method of revenue is from selling surplus guns and ammo. Guess where all that stuff comes from? … It’s repatriated hardware from places like South Korea and Greece.

As current domestic inventories of M1s dwindle, so to will their ability to financially SUBSIDIZE their various shooting events, coaching clinics, recordkeeping duties, issued awards and other endeavors which we take for granted and enjoy. The CMP could quickly erode into a shadow of its current self.

Today, for the modest fee of $10, anyone, who is a United States citizen can participate in an EIC match. Its inexpensive fun that can lead any potential wannabe who is driven enough to obtain their prestigious Distinguished Pistol Badge.

I’m not a big believer in conspiracy theories but the White House has their fingerprints all over this one.