SSlav

How about longer screws?

One thing I would not do is use heat on a blade-tech holster. If Vlad's other suggestions do not work out, I would ship it back to them for a replacement.

At one point I was able to purchase permanently modified P-Mags that started as 30 rounders. Then tubes were cut down and floor plate groves cut in a new position. The springs was also cut down. These mags fit 15 rounds exactly, run 100% and have the advantage of being fully disassemble-able for cleaning. I bought 5 of these originally. Wanted to buy some more but I did not save the link and now can't find the vendor who sells them. Which is a shame because from what I am seeing available now, these were by far the best executed reduced capacity mags. I could probably replicate the work with a table saw, but that of course entails bringing 30 rounders into the state to begin with.

Its Tachyon-XC. They have since come up with a smaller version.

I used to play a lot of strategy table games - lots of Axis and Allies, Starfleet Battles was a great board game but I do not think I could bring myself to re-learn the phone book sized rules. Hard to believe I used to remember them in their entirety. Along the same line were miniature games - Warhammer 40K, Warhammer Fantasy Battles, Battleship Gothic, Warhammer Epic, Battletech. Robot Rally was a really fun strategy board game to play. Later on I played a lot of Poker (Hold'em). These days I mostly play "Manage IT team on multiple projects with conflicting priorities" or "Fix leaky shower stall" and who can ever forget "Drive your son to hockey." - I play a whole lot of that one these days.

Its purely coincidental!

Its fire engine red.

Well thats tough luck. This is interwebs. What you ask for and what you get are seldom the same.

It is red damn you!

I like rifle length handguards. It is not so much the question of aesthetics but rather being able to grip the gun way forward with the support arm being straight. It allows for quicker transition and faster follow-up shots. Slav

Gun magazines specifically are absolutely useless as a source of reliable information. Those glossy rags are entirely in the pocket of the industry and are primarily focused on figuring out a way to spin any turd into the next greatest thing since the invention of gunpowder.

Well I certainly understand the looking cool aspect. But with a budget of $800 for the build, if you add something that looks cool but offers no function you are likely sacrificing something else that has function rather than cool. Lets do some math. Here is what you must have (meaning no way not to spend at least this much): Upper/Lower Receivers ~= $200 (minimum) Barrel ~= $230 Bolt Group ~= $150 Gas Block ~= $30 Minor Parts ~= $150 (upper kit, lower kit, gas tube, charging handle buffr & Spring etc...) And you are now at $760 Toss in shipping and handling and you are probably very close to your $800 limit. Now you need to add compensator, handguards and a stock And lets not forget the optic. Just about any option that is worth spending money on will run a couple hundred at least. If you are spending less than that you are likely throwing money away on junk that will have to be replaced with something quality later on.

Then why would you want a bull barrel? Do you feel like you need a workout and like to support extra weight - especially forward of the receiver? Or perhaps you want to spend a little extra cash? I would (and have) go with Bravo Company mid length 16* barrel. Term SHTF always makes me laugh. Exactly what "S" do you expect to "H" what "F"? In any situation if you have a firearm - any firearm - you are better off than with a baseball bat or a tire iron. And here is a hint - fancy stock or quad rails do not make the rifle any more reliable. ACE Skeleton Stock is light, relatively inexpensive, has nice foam cushion for a comfortable cheek weld in all temperatures. Nordic Tactical Compensator works, is inexpensive and has the same diameter as the barrel so once pinned or soldered to the barrel will still allow you to remove the gas block in case you want to change handguards or gas block or rebarrel your ar without having to cut metal. I would go with free float tube. You can get a plain one for about $100. If you have your heart set on quad rails I would go with Yankee Hill rifle length It is light and at $135 a bargain compared with other name brands that will run you up to twice as much. You would need a low profile gas block because rifle length handguards would go over the gas block on a mid length gas system. There are many options there. I would not spend money on an adjustable gas block. Anyway that is my opinion. I am sure you will get others.

What are do you want to use this rifle for?

A hit in the scoring ring from a minor load is supposed to bring them down every time. On my stage (Pit 7) there was steel blocking one of the poppers. You could have been dinging off the steel plate. If you shoot them low or you clip the edge you can also fail to take down the popper. If you know you hit it in the scoring ring and it did not go down, you can opt to leave it standing, finish the stage and then ask for calibration. This way if it fails to go down with the calibration shot you would get a reshoot. If on the other hand it does go down, you would eat a mike but would still get the points for the rest of the stage. Whatever you do, finish shooting the stage. Do not stop shooting because you think that popper is not properly calibrated.

Funny, I prefer to shoot alone. Lets me focus on the practice.

I would readily give you a guided tour, but working out the time might be a bit tough especially this week. As an alternative I can propose that you can visit the outdoor range this Saturday since they are holding an event and the gate will be open. Bring eye and ear protection and you can look around. You can do the same next Friday at the indoor range. If that does not work for you for some reason, PM me and we can try to work out some mutually acceptable time.

What a great idea! Another cool option to handing out the actual applications is to host them in PDF format on a website. This way you do not have to take on the expense of running off copies or running out. Slav

That was exactly my experience. The instructor spent a lot of time on safety and some time on sight alignment and trigger pull. Which is fine as far as it goes. As I recall the stance that he taught was weaver, which I have no complaints about since isosceles was perhaps 10 years old at most at that time. I did not expect to become an IPSC Grandmaster (I did not even know what IPSC was or even that it existed). All I wanted was to produce decent groups on a 7 yard target. Nor did I assume that I would be able to do it overnight. What the course left me with though was a lot of good info on safe gun handling and some theory In retrospect one thing that could have improved the course 1000% would have been just a couple of simple dry fire drills to turn the theory into technique. I did not mean to imply that the NRA instructors are bad or that the program is bad. However within the context of the question asked - whether .40 S&W is a good round for a beginner - I feel that NRA Basic Pistol will not provide adequate instruction for recoil management of any caliber starting with .3XX or higher - or rather any cartridge that actually has recoil. Actually I am not forgetting how difficult shooting is. In fact quite the opposite. I remember exactly how difficult and frustrating it was. Frustrating enough that I gave up on pistols for over a decade. It was not my intention to bash NRA instructors. If it was perceived as such I need to clarify exactly what I meant to say. And its the following: In my professional life (IT) I frequently come up across various "certified" professionals - "Microsoft Certified", "Oracle Certified", "JAVA Certified", "Web 3.0 certified" etc..etc..etc.. I have never found any of these certifications to be even slightly indicative of the professionalism and skill level of the individuals bearing them. To the point where I now choose to completely disregard these certifications when selecting a candidate for a job. IMHO "NRA certified" is no different. Just because someone is "NRA certified" does not identify them as a good or a bad instructor. So when I said something like "When I say proper instruction I do not mean 'NRA certified'." I did not mean - "Avoid NRA certified instructors". I meant - Do not base your instructor selection on the fact that someone is "NRA certified". Sorry about any misunderstanding. Slav

The round count seems a bit low. I understand that they set up one stage and you can run it multiple times. But does one fee cover multiple runs or do you have to pay for each run?

When I first started shooting a pistol it was on my own and then with the help of an "NRA certified" instructor. That ended up with me tossing the damn thing in the back of the closet and forgetting about it for about 12 years. That handgun was a Glock-19 in 9mm. And it was not until I started shooting USPSA and getting tips from guys like Vlad, raz-0, BrianB and others that are not on this forum, that I actually learned how to shoot a handgun somewhat effectively. Getting the right instruction IMHO is a lot more important than picking the "right" caliber. And when I say proper instruction, I do not mean "NRA certified". Because no offence to anyone who is "NRA certified" but that certification does not mean a whole of a lot in terms of the ability to teach someone how to shoot a pistol well.

I did not mean to imply that I am the one posting the scores or making the corrections. I simply noticed that they were up. You should address all scoring issues to Jim Norman. Slav

Preliminary scores are up. Check them and make sure you are listed in the correct division with a correct power factor.

I think if: 1. This is limited to club members only. 2. Some experienced shooters/ROs are there to make sure that safety rules are being ahered to. It should be alright.