USPSA

Area 5 Damage report

Posted on by Caleb

Literally, this is a report of damage done at Area 5. I’ll have a match report tomorrow, but these are a couple of funny pictures that I snapped at the match.

First picture is from where I caught a jacket fragment from a .38 Super that did a nice bank-shot off a steel plate in to my calf.

The second photo is a lot worse – somehow this car’s rear window caught a large enough fragment to punch through the glass. Talk about a one in a million ricochet. I feel bad for the owners of this car, I’ve never seen anything like that happen before. Plus, as an insurance agent, I feel really bad – it sucks having a claim like that!

revolvers/USPSA

The Plan for Area 5

Posted on by Caleb

I’m glad I shot a USPSA major earlier this year before Area 5. It gave me a good idea of how to plan for a stage and what will and won’t work for me. So with those lessons in mind, here’s my plan for Area 5: “stop thinking so much and just shoot”. I have a problem with over-thinking courses of fire, and I usually do my best when I just shoot it in a way that feels “right”. So that’s the plan, just chill out, shoot and reload when I need to and let the rest happen.

Comp-Tac

Thanks Comp-Tac

Posted on by Caleb

I have to give Comp-Tac props today, as yesterday I was trying to order the holsters and mag pouches for The Quest for Master Class on their website and having some problems.  A quick email to tech support was answered within a couple of hours which had excellent and friendly instructions on how to get the gear I needed ordered.

Speaking of gear, I ordered the Comp-Tac Deluxe Pro Competition Kit which comes with a Kydex reinforced gun belt, Speed paddle holster, and Comp-Tac twin mag pouch.  You can get the holster and mag pouches in black, or if you’re like me and want to “make a statement” on the range, you can also get them in fire engine red.  Based on previous holster selections, guess which color I chose?  In addition to that, I also ordered a CTAC holster which will be used to carry the Ruger SR9c.

The CTAC is a tuckable IWB holster that’s designed to give you maximum retention and concealability while still allowing for a fast presentation from concealment.  The CTAC has the all kydex body which I tend to prefer over the leather/kydex hybrid of the MTAC holster.  I wear undershirts all the time anyway, so it’s not that big a deal – plus I tend to sweat during the summer and I don’t trust leather to deal with my seat the way I trust kydex.

I bought and paid for these holsters with my own cash – the idea is that while I’ll be reviewing the SR9c, I’m also going to be reviewing the carry and concealment system that I’m using with the gun.  The holsters should arrive in about 2 weeks, which will be right in time to get them out to the range for the start of the Quest for Master Class and to do some shooting!

Uncategorized

Girls, guns, and games

Posted on by Caleb

So there is a new video game out (which is apparently pretty bad in terms of gameplay) where the whole idea is that you’re a woman who is tired of those nasty ol’ men making lewd comments at you, so you’re going to finally get some revenge in the form of tasty, tasty murder.  Think Grand Theft Auto but reverse it so the whole goal is killing hookers, except instead of hookers it’s men on the subway/street/whatever.

I have talked in the past about the Call of Duty effect – the ability of video games to attract the interest of potential shooters.  A kid playing Call of Duty or Red Dead Redemption might think “hey, guns are cool, maybe I could try shooting a real gun”.  I believe that we should still embrace those kids and try to fold them in to the shooting culture.  Believe me, if you like Call of Duty, you’ll like IDPA.

But this game, the “Hey Baby Game” is kind of the opposite of that.  Now I’m not outraged about a game where the central premise is “to murder men”, in fact I’m not even outraged at all.  I’m more disappointed than anything.  Not as a shooter, because this really doesn’t have an impact on the shooting culture, but rather as a former hardcore and now casual gamer.  I’m disappointed that someone spent time and money creating this game, because exactly to whom are they going to market this?  If I was a female gamer, I’d be pissed – this game is basically pandering to you, saying “oh you must be sooooo tired of all those nasty, nasty men out there, let’s go kill them.”  It never occurs that maybe female gamers are perfectly happy with Halo or Mario Kart or whatever kids are playing these days.

As a male gamer, I’m just kind of rolling my eyes in exasperation.  Every couple of years, some idiot gets an idea like this.  They make a controversial game about murdering hookers/men/priests/deer/etc and the media gets all bent out of whack for a couple of weeks and you see stories about how video games make people violent (which are sometimes repeated by gun owners, but that’s another article) and then the furor dies down and the crappy game doesn’t sell, because it was a crappy game.

Maybe someday people will realize that gamers don’t want to buy cheesy games with lame graphics and no challenge, but then again I highly doubt that.  Until then, I’ll continue to bear the double stigma of a gamer and a gun owner!

gun control

Why gun bans are pointless

Posted on by Caleb

Two different posts from The Firearms Blog aptly illustrate why a total ban on firearms, aside from being immoral and impractical, would also do nothing to stop people from having guns.

First is part 5 in a series on a man in Africa that has custom fabricated many parts for his Mossberg 500 shotgun, including sights and home made slug ammo.

The second thing, and almost more impressive in my opinion is the youtube video embedded below.   Some kid built a functioning sniper rifle entirely out of Lego bricks.

The rifle uses a rubber band and pulley system to propel a small Lego brick after cycling the bolt by hand. This is actually very impressive, because I mean it’s a friggin’ Lego gun!

But what this really says to me is that this is why you will never eliminate guns from the world. As long as people have machine shops, metal, and their ingenuity then you will never be able to completely eliminate firearms – some people are smart enough and skilled enough to make them.

ICORE

Up and coming star

Posted on by Caleb

Cheaper than Dirt has an interview with “Millisecond” Molly from Team S&W. Molly is a sponsored shooter on Team S&W at the age of 13, and what that means for us is that we’re going to be seeing her name at the top of leaderboards and match score sheets for a very long time to come.  Shooting a revolver out of Southern California, she’s already won several ICORE titles, Steel Challenge titles, and if she ever gets a semi-automatic pistol in her hands, watch out!

IDPA/USPSA

Revolver gear

Posted on by Caleb

Email from a reader: Caleb, what gear to do you use when you’re shooting IDPA and USPSA with a revolver?

I actually use the same gear across both games – since I’m primarily an IDPA shooter and generally only shoot USPSA to help me get better at IDPA, I use my IDPA gear when shooting USPSA.

The gun of course when I’m shooting revolver division is my S&W 625 with a Hi-Viz fiber optic front sight and Bowen Rough Country rear sights.

For a gunbelt, I use a Blackhawk Instructor belt that’s given me good service for the last two years of heavy use in competition shooting; in fact in the two years since I got it from Blackhawk as part of a swagbag the velcro is still holding strong.

My holster is a Blade-Tech Belt holster – nothing special, but it holds the gun well while still giving a pretty rapid draw.  I’ve been timing my draws over the years, and on my fastest day drawing to open paper, I can get that draw down in the 1 second range to an “A” hit.

Moonclip holders are from California Competition Works, and while for an IDPA match I only need three, for a USPSA match I’m usually running 7 or 8 moonclip holders across the belt.

The most important thing about competition gear is that it needs to be reliable.  Lots of people tend to think that if their gun is reliable they’re good to go; but they don’t look at the entirety of their carry or competition system.  That’s why people will spend $600 on a carry gun and then buy some crappy nylon holster from Uncle Bob’s or something.  If you’re carrying a gun to defend your life or to play a game, take the extra time and make sure your gear is as good as the gun you’re carrying.

I like this rig so much that I even use it in ICORE competition, although I do download the .45 a bit since I don’t need to make major for an ICORE match.

FTC: With the exception of the belt from Blackhawk, I bought everything I’m endorsing here with my own cash.

Ruger

Sig Academy hosts Ruger Rimfire Regionals

Posted on by Caleb

How’s that for alliteration before 10am?  Here’s the press release from Sig:

The world renowned SIG SAUER Academy, located in Epping, New Hampshire, will be hosting the New England Regional Ruger Rimfire Series for pistol and rifle on June 19, 2010 at their state-of-the-art facility. Slots are limited for both the Open and Limited Divisions. Plenty of prizes will be awarded by random drawings and will include both Ruger and SIG SAUER rimfire rifles and pistols. This family oriented event is a great opportunity to introduce new shooters to the sport. The SIG SAUER Academy Instructors will be on hand providing guidance and safety instruction throughout the day at the newest and largest official Steel Challenge range in New England.

The Open Division allows any firearm with scopes, optical sights or compensators. The Limited Division is for any firearm with iron sights (fiber optic inserts are allowed.) For competitors that will not be bringing their own firearms, the SIG SAUER Academy will have .22LR pistols and rifles available on loan and .22LR ammo will be available for sale. Eye and ear protection will also be provided for everyone by the SIG SAUER Academy. The fun starts at 8:00 a.m. with registration and a safety briefing followed by a full day of competition. Each class will shoot 150 rounds.

The match fee for the Ruger Rimfire Series event is $30 per shooter if registered in advance of June 12th and $40 at the door on the day of the event. Juniors, under the age of 18, when accompanied by an adult competitor, shoot for free. The match fee includes both pistol and rifle matches.

The New England Regional Ruger Rimfire Series competition is an event for the entire family at the SIG SAUER Academy, a firearms training facility known worldwide for training military, law enforcement, government agencies and responsible citizens. The 150+ acre facility is situated at 233 Exeter Road, Epping, New Hampshire. For more information on the Ruger Rimfire Series contact the SIG SAUER Academy at 603-679-2003 or email Jeff Creamer at[email protected]

The Ruger Rimfire Challenge itself is an all steel, all rimfire match sanctioned by Ruger which is a great gateway sport to promote the shooting sports.  As the number 1 maker of rimfire handguns and rifles in America, Ruger has a vested interest in promoting action rimfire shooting.