Jul/Aug - uspsa

THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE UNITED STATES PRACTICAL SHOOTING ASSOCIATION /' (PSC 

ULY/AUGUST 2002 

V lurn ber 4 

$3.00 

USPSA 

ONALS 

1 • :fq,...4; 

_A 

I. I 

A 

Michael Voigt, 

2002 Open 3-Gun, 

2002 Manual Rifle Champion 

n 

4 3 

,i6 Bennie cooley, Jr. 

11002 Limited 3-Gun Champion

7 A 13 F? E DON DO 

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Ti if Of FICA' JOL R Of fk II 1_ vim Si PRACIICAL SH0011 G ASsOC. l0 \ 

COVER STORY 

36 Fire In The Desert, Mark II. 

Largest ever 3-Gun Nationals comes to Las Vegas. 

Cover photo: Bennie Cooley, 2001 and 2002 Limited 3-Gun Champion, prepares 

for blast-off on Stage 12. Photo by Patrick Sweeney, 

FEATURE STORIES 

11 USPSA Junior Saves 

Mother's Life 

By Seth Nadel 

12 When Media Attacks! 

By Michael Bane 

16 2002 Space City 

Challenge 

By Roger Eckstine 

20 Now That's Keuhl! The 

Super .22 Conversion 

By Patrick Sweeney 

25 Honeymooning at 

Nationals? 

By Robin Taylor 

26 Safety Area: Judy 

Sunderlin, the 

orginal "Stats Babe" 

By Kim Welke 

27 Cheaper Rifle Target? 

by Seth Nadel 

30 USPSA's FIRST Area 

3-Gun Championship 

By Patrick Kelley 

COLUMNS 

Member's Mailbag 2 

Inside USPSA 3 

Inside NROI 4 

From The Editor 6 

Bulletin Board 7 

Focus on Juniors 8 

DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS 

Area 'I Bruce Gary area 1 @uspsa.org 

Area 2 Jake Kempton area2@uspsa.org 

Area 3 Arnie Christianson area3@uspsa.org 

Area 4 Kenneth Hicks area4@uspsa.org 

Area 5 Neil Keller area5@uspsa.org 

Area 6 Charles Bond area6@uspsa.org 

34 The Brass Queen, 

Vicky Harrison 

By Daryl Cross 

42 Shooters Praise Area 6 

Championship 

By James Taylor 

52 Beamhit's 190-Series 

Laser Trainer 


58 HK's USP Expert 

By Duane Thomas 

62 Uncle Mike's Kydex 

Holsters 

By Paul Scarlata 

65 Modified at Nationals 

By Patrick SweeneV 

66 IPSC On The CHEAP 

By Mark O'Shea 

71 Shotgun "Feed Tube" 


74 Starting From Scratch, 

Three Years Later 

By Seth Nadel 

Avery's Corner 72 

Neill On Reloading 48 

Custom Gun Talk 51 

Major Matches 75 

New Masters 75 

Advertisers' Index 80 

Area 7 Rob Boudrie area7@uspsa.org 

Area 8 George Jones area8@uspsa.org 

VP John Amidon vpuspsa@aol.com 

Pres. Mike Voigt president@uspsa.org 

EM Dave Thomas dave@uspsa.org 

Web Site - Username: dvc Password: divisions 

RO 

S off 

Vol. 19, No. 4, July/August 2002 

Publisher - USPSA/IPSC, INC. 

Board of Directors 

Charles Bond, Rob Boudrie, Arnie Christianson, 

Bruce Gary, Kenneth Hicks, 

George Jones, Neil Keller, Jake Kempton 

President 

Exec. Manager 

Vice President 

Mike Voigt 

Dave Thomas 

lohn Amidon 

Editorial Staff 

Editor 

Dave Thomas 

Asst. Editor Roger Maier 

Asst. Editor Robin Taylor 

kdvertising Barbara Gibbs 

Contributors USPSA MEMBERS 

Copyright C) 2002 The United States Practical 

Shooting Association/ IPSC, Inc. All 

rights reserved. Duplication of contents in 

full or part is prohibited unless prior authorization 

has been obtained by writing to 

USPSA/1PSC. 

FRONT SIGHT (ISSN 0889681x) is published 

bi-monthly for USPSA members by: 

USESNIPSC Inc., 702A Metcalf St., Sedro 

Woolley WA 98284. 

Annual Membership dues (U.S. and its possessions) 

$30, Foreign $40. $18 of dues goes 

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SIGHT. 

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WA, and additional mailing offices. 

POSTMASTER: Send change of address 

forms to: FRONT SIGHT PO Box 811, Sedro 

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Unless an advertisement in rhis publication 

contains a specific endorsemenr by USPSA, 

it has not been tested by, approved by or endorsed 

by USPSA. Therefore, if you purchase 

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FRONT SIGHT and the goods or services 

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its officers, agents or employees disclaim all 

liability for any consequential iniuries or 

damages. 

USPSA Office 

PO Box 811, Sedro Woolley WA 98284 

Phone (360) 855-2245 

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web page http://svww.uspsa.org 

e-mail 

officeOr uspsa.org 

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Office hours - 9 am to 5 pm Pacific 

July/August 2002 • FRONT SIGHT

MEMBERS' 

MAILBAG 

C011111 VS FRO 1 S THE \II MI [NH(' 

Front Sight welcomes comments 

from members, but because of space restrictions 

we cannot print all the letters 

we receive. To increase the chances of 

your letter being printed, keep your letters 

to no more than 350 word,s. Longer 

letters will be printed only if space allows. 

Unsigned letters will not be 

printed unless under extraordinary circumstances. 

About Shotshell Reloading 

I plan to reload shot shells for 3 gun 

events and was wondering about your 

pellet recommendations. What's the 

best high brass 2 3/4" combination? 

I'm starting with Winchester components 

(i.e. WSF powder and casings); 

however, I'm most interested on the 

current thinking relative to lead pellet 

size and steel knockdown ability. Although 

I'm starting with factory 1 1/4 

oz. No. 6's, should 1 move on to larger 

sizes or even 00? What's true tactical 

versus a practical recipe for the average 

shooter? 

Thanks for your thoughts and even 

a resource for lead shot if possible. 

Sincerely, 

2 

Krieger 

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the accuracy 

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$215 plus $15 OD srupping per gun 

Tom, 

I've taken the liberty of forwarding 

your letter on to Pat Kelley, his response 

appears below. 

Hello Tom. 

Robin Taylor, Assistant Editor 

Let me see if I can help with your 

questions. 

Modern shotgun hulls /70 longer 

need "High Brass" bases in order to 

handle high performance handloads. 

The high brass WAS necessary 

with the use of waxed paper hulls, but 

modern plastics have eliminated the 

need. 

Using that information gather a 

good quantity of Winchester AA target 

hulls or my favorite hull, the Rernington 

Nitro (a gold colored hull) and pick 

out a recipe from your load data manual. 

Be sure that you use the exact components 

listed in the manuals to make 

up your handloads for 3-gun. Shotshells 

are very picky that way. 

As to shot size, 6's seem to be a good 

all-around size for most matches. Find 

a load that will net you 1250 fps with 

1 118 ounces of shot. If you can put up 

with a little more recoil, 1 114 ounce 

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loads at that velocity are also fine. 

Buck of any size is not commonly 

used in USPSA tournaments. 

Knocking down steel is a matter of 

getting most of your shot pattern on the 

target. You are better off choking your 

shotgun down than to up your shot 

payload. In my shooting bag I carry factory 

Remington 1 118 oz. handicap target 

loads at 1235 fps and some handloads 

with 1 114 oz. # 4's at 1300 fps. 

I also carry cylinder, improved cylinder 

and modified chokes with me to put 

those loads on target. 

This allows me to pick and choose 

the right ammo and choke for the 

toughest shot on the course of fire. 

As far as lead shot availability goes 

try Graf and sons www.grafs.com or hit 

the USPSA web site under vendors. You 

will find what you need. 

Good luck and thanks for asking. 

Pat Kelley, 'TY-14401 

More Info On 3-Gun, Please? 

Each issue of Front Sight seems to 

be getting better. I like to see the technical 

articles and would like to see 

more about AR-15s and 2- and 3-gun 

matches. Information is a bit harder to 

find than say for the 1911. 

Some topics that come to mind: 

- building an AR-I5 for 3-gun: what 

you should know 

- replacing the AR-15 trigger 

- overview of current AR-15 

manufacturers 

- maybe Guy could write an article on reloading 

the 223? 

Keep up the good work! 

LETTERS continued on page 68. 

Keith de Solla, A-29281 

FRONT SIGHT • July/August 2002

1\sur 

HelTh everyone! 

2002 is shaping up to be a great 

competition year! 

The USPSA 3-Gun Nationals have 

just been completed and they were 

great! With more than 200 competitors, 

this was the largest USPSA 3-Gun 

Nationals to date. We encountered 

some new challenges and our staff has 

come up with several suggestions to 

deal with long gun safety, loading procedures, 

etc. The BOD will be looking 

at these suggestions to come up with 

some guidelines to help all USPSA 

clubs run safer and more efficient long 

gun matches. 

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We also held the first USPSA Manually 

Operated Rifle match during the 

3-Gun Nationals. I was overwhelmed 

at the response from our members. 

This was originally planneei as a small 

side match to gauge if there was interest. 

The side match filled in a matter of 

weeks of being announced! 

I want to say thank you to all of the 

staff and especially to 3-Gun National's 

Range Master Floyd Shoemaker 

and Pat "Mr. Make It Happen" 

Winslow for their tireless efforts to 

bring this match from concept to 

championship. 

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READ THIS NOTICE FIRST 

This publication is a service for USPSA members only. No advertised good or set-vice carries any endorsement 

or approval or rest-rating by or from USPSA. Certain advertisements may indicate that the advertised 

good or service is "legal for limited", or words to that effect, You should, before relying on that claim 

or purchasing the good or service, contact the advertiser directly and ascertain if this is so by asking to vivo. 

a copy of the "legal for limited" letter which concerns that particular product in which you are interested. 

Approval or disapproval by USPSA for limited category or for any other reason does not and shall not impl!, 

any testing or evaluation of the safety, reliability or any other attribute of the good or service advertised or 

sold, and is specifically not any warranty or guarantee, express or implied, as to the goods or services. 

Certain articles, whether written by USPSA employees, officers or directors, or others, may contain technical 

information about handloading ammunition, custom modifications to firearms, shooting techniques and 

related topics. This information reports only the specific tools, parn, modifications, components, conditions. 

circumstances, and techniques used by the reporting individual, but all of this information may not be included 

in the article. Furthermore, the reporting individual may have extensive and comprehensive training, 

education and experience in the sul*ct matter which is absolutely required to duplicate the results, but which 

may not be reported in the article. Accordingly, the user accepts any and all risks and responsibility from use 

of any of the information reported in this magazine. Since USPSA has no control over the use of any of the 

technical information about handloading ammunition, custom modifications to firearms, shooting techniques 

and related topics, it cannot accept any responsibility for any use of this information and specifically, USPSA, 

its officers, agents or employees disclaim any and all liability for any manner of damages, including but not 

limited ro, consequential or incidental damages. 

USPSA 

National Matches, 2oa 

—july 20-23 Factory Gun Nationals, 

PASA Park, Barry, M., (includes 

Limited-10, Production, and Revolver 

divisions). 

—Aug.24-29 Race Gun Nationals, 

Bend, Ore., (includes Limited, 

Open, and Modified divisions). 

ais and the program should be a good 

one. Look for it on their new shooting 

program. The coverage is targeted towards 

showing what wins. They filmed 

several top competitors shooting stages 

with a camera attached to a pair of earmuffs. 

This will show in real-time what 

it looks like to shoot a winning run. 

They also did quite a bit of audio taping 

to allow the viewers an inside peek 

at how courses are approached, what 

strategies/strengths are needed, etc. 

Preliminary airtime is in September; I 

will try to keep you posted as dates are 

solidified. 

ESPN will also be covering the Factory 

Nationals this July. We expect the 

same type of enthusiasm and great film 

work. This media coverage, along with 

some great print coverage will once 

again put USPSA into the public view. 

Michael Bane has done a great job 

helping to make the Factory Gun Nationals 

a success. With his help several 

writers will be attending the match, 

and we plan to see coverage in many 

different medias soon afterwards. 

Thanks Mike! 

Seize The Opportunity! 

Please be aware that the new shooters 

showing up to your clubs are excited 

and want to be a part of this exciting 

sport. The only exposure they 

have at that point may be a television 

show of a National Championship. Invite 

them to compete with a solid, 

INSIDE USPSA continued on page 50, 

July/August 2002 FRONT SIGHT 3

1\sIDE 

NROI 

By John Amidon, NROI DIRK-TOR 

■ puspsa@aot corn 

w. are well into the shooting 

season, the matches 

have been fun, and the 

staff has been outstanding. 

As I write this I'm just getting back 

from the Area 6, where we had a great 

time, the hospitality was outstanding, 

and the crew put on a great show. I got 

a chance to see some old friends and 

meet a few new ones. The greatest 

thing about this game is the camaraderie 

and the volunteers. 

While the season is well into shooting, 

the questions are still coming in 

just as fast. Here are a few of the latest: 

Grip Reduction in Production 

I have a competitor asking if a Robar-style 

grip reduction applied to a 

Glock 17 would be legal within Production. 

Essentially, this changes the Glock's 

"arched backstrap" profile to a "flat 

backstrap" profile, speaking in 1911 

terms. 

Is this a change to the grip, or is this 

an "external modification?" 

ANSWER 

Page 92 item 0 states: "slip on grip 

sock andJor skateboard tape is allowed. 

FOR SAL 

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40 cal Brass 1 penny each 

$100 minimum 

4-0 cal 180 gr JHP 

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STI and SV 

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20 Box minimum 

no other modifications to grips are allowed." 

Similarly, section h) states that 

"external modifications other than 

sights" are not allowed. 

So your answer is, it is both a 

change to the grip as well as an external 

modification, and by the rules, neither 

are allowed. 

The CZ-75 In Production 

I have a shooter wishing to use a 

CZ4OB in Production Division. It's ba- 

sically a CZ-75, only chambered in 

.40. I know that our hero needs to fire 

his first shot double action, but does 

the hammer need to start fully down (a 

la 8.1.2) or can he start from half-cock? 

I'm telling him it must be fully down, 

but either way I have a problem: 

Unfortunately, like the CZ-75, the 

CZ4OB doesn't have a decocker, so 

when the shooter steps into the shooting 

box, he has to lower the hammer 

using the trigger. Having your finger in 

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the trigger guard while "loading or reloading" 

is a DQ, right? What should 

we do? 

ANSWER 

Yes, All DA/SA pistols must start 

with the hammer down, and the CZ- 

75 is legal for use in Production. This 

is how IROA deals with it: 

"Under the supervision of a Range 

Officer, the competitor will use the 

weak hand to safely lower the hammer 

with the pistol pointing down range 

during the "load and make ready" pro 

cedure. A discharge during this procedure 

will be considered as unsafe gun 

handling and the competitor will b. 

disqualified. . . . 

". ..Following the "Load and make 

ready" command, the competitor 

would draw their pistol, insert a magazine 

and rack the slide, chambering a 

round. . . .The rest of the process to 

comply with the requirements of the 

Division takes place after loading and 

under the supervision of a Range Officer. 

A Disqualification is not appropriate." 

Heavy Dustcover Frame ln L-10 

lam signed up to attend the Factory 

gun Nationals this year. I do not have 

a reliable gun and am planning on buying 

a new one. My question is whether 

and STI or SV hi-cap pistol in 10mm 

caliber, with the heavy extended dust 

cover and slide, and fiber optic iron 

sights, would be legal for Limited 10? 

Appendix E doesn't really say it isn't. 

It refers to a list of "production" guns, 

but I don't know where that list exists. 

I also would like to use my Limcat holster. 

Is it a legal holster for Limited 10? 

Since I would be using hi-cap magazines 

for Limited 10, what would the 

penalty be if I accidentally loaded 11 


ounds in the magazine? A procedural, moved to Open class 

at Factory gun Nationals, or a DQ? Would this gun be legal 

for Limited division too? 

ANSWER 

Any gun meeting the requirements for Limited Division 

is legal in Limited 10 Division and vice versa. The description 

of the gun you provided appears to be legal with the accessories 

you indicate. The penalty for loading 11 in the 

magazine is covered by rule 6.2.6, and since there is no Open 

division at the Factory gun Nationals, you would be shooting 

for fun only. 

A foot note to the answer, I see very often the reference 

to class when talking about divisions, when they are really 

two separate identities. Class is the level of perfection that 

you reach compared to the best in the world. Divisions are 

predicated by the weapon you choose to compete with. 

Also, I might add, that the weapon you use may qualify for 

more divisions than the one you are shooting in. It is the 

competitor's choice. There is nothing that says that an eightshot 

revolver cannot compete in Limited 10 Division, as 

long as it meets that division's requirements. 

Glock 34's, 35's in USPSA Production 

Can the Clock 34 and 35 be used in the Production Division 

for USPSA matches using the US 

Divisions? The IPSC web page states that they cannot 

be used in the Production Division, but I know 

people that have fired in sanctioned shoots with a 

Glock 34 in the Production Division. I would like 

to clarify before I purchase a new pistol. 

ANSWER 

Was the RO correct to impose a reshoot for interference? 

Judging from what you've presented, I'd have to say no. 

Where was the interference? There should have been no 

reshoot. 

The competitor lost so much time that it didn't make up 

for the misses by listening to those in the gallery. 

The RO should have mentioned to all in the squad that 

with electronic hearing protection they were overheard. 

Their comments affected the shooter's behavior, and could 

have been considered coaching for which they could have 

received a procedural. 

Rule 8.6.2 does not allow for a reshoot, but it does allow 

a penalty for both the individual who coached, and for the 

competitor. I say, no fault, no foul as long as it was not deliberate. 

Well, that's it for this edition. Keep the questions coming. 

For each one you have, others may be asking the same 

thing. The rules will be up for change at the next World Assembly 

in South Africa at World Shoot XIII. Hopefully I will 

have some more information for you at that time. 

In the mean time, remember, shoot fast, shoot straight, 

but most important of all, SHOOT SAFE. °MI 

ANSWER 

This has been answered in previous Front Sight 

articles. Yes, the Glock 34/35 is legal in the US Production 

division. IPSC has a five-inch barrel length 

provision. We do not, but the gun must fit into the 

IPSC box, which the 34 and 35 do. 

Reshoot For Coaching? 

A competitor was shooting a stage and forgot 

to shoot a paper target. As he was standing there 

with the RO, the RO gave the command "If you 

are finished, Unload and Show Clear," and the 

competitor pulled the magazine out. At this time 

he and the RO overheard two other competitors in 

the galley remarking on how he forgot a target. 

The competitor then put the magazine back in, 

stepped back and over and engaged the target. The 

RO completed the unload and holster commands, 

then issued him a reshoot because of coaching/interference. 

Was the RO correct? 

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July/August 2002 • FRONT SIGHT 5

FROM THE 

R\ Dave Thomas, RECLTIVE 11ANAGER 

Jspsa.org 

USPSA Web Page Member's Area 

www.uspsa.org/members 

username: dvc 

password: divisions 

The Challenge of Three Guns 

The good news is that 3-Gun competition 

is growing like wildfire. 

The bad news is that 3-Gun competition 

is growing like wildfire. 

The growth in popularity of 3-Gun 

matches has been amazing. Over the 

past few weeks, I've attended and officiated 

both the Area 1 Northwest 3- 

Gun Championship and the USPSA 

National 3-Gun Championship. The 

experience has been an eye opener. 

The Area 1 Northwest 3-Gun was 

originally conceived as just a match, 

but quickly grew to become the first 

area-level 3-Gun championship. Despite 

getting a late start in planning, the 

match brought 101 competitors to the 

Central Oregon Shooting Sports Association 

range outside Bend, Oregon. 

(See the story on page 30.) 

In November 2000, the National 3- 

Gun championship drew 116 competitors 

to Las Vegas, an average attendance 

for that match. During the prize 

distribution, President Michael Voigt 

told the staff and competitors that the 

2001 event would determine the future 

of USPSA 3-Gun championships. 

He said that shooters must support the 

match or it would become a footnote 

in the history of the association. They 

listened, and the 2001 event drew 183. 

That was a record number, but the 

record didn't survive long. The 2002 

match, held May 3-5, again in Las Vegas, 

shattered the previous record with 

216 registrations. (See the story on 

page 36.) 

These two events served to illus- 

trate that the growth of USPSA 3-Gun 

competition is out-pacing the support 

systems. Consider the following 

specifics. 

Many match officials, experienced, 

world-class pistol range officers, find 

themselves out of their comfort zone in 

long-gun matches. Scoring and procedural 

situations arose for which we had 

no answers. Finding answers slowed 

the match and, in some cases, led to errors. 

For example, as the CRO on a 

shotgun stage, I made a scoring decision 

that was quite properly over 

turned by the range master. Fortunately, 

only three people were affected 

and they were required to re-shoot the 

stage. 

While most USPSA competitors 

learn to handle handguns at the club 

level, many arrived at these major 

matches never having competed with 

rifles or shotguns in a practical match. 

The gun handling reflected that lack of 

experience. Had the standards demanded 

of competitors at any pistol 

match been enforced at either of these 

events, many shooters would not have 

been allowed to finish. Please note that 

I am not suggesting that the conditions 

were unsafe, only unnerving for those 

of us accustomed to USPSA pistol 

matches. 

Range facilities, perfectly adequate 

for pistol matches, lack long-gun specific 

amenities necessary to deal with 

the demands of this kind of match. For 

example, the national championship 

did not provide sufficient gun racks to 

deal with the numbers present, a fact 

that exacerbated the above-mentioned 

gun-handling problems. (This is not to 

imply that gun racks are absolutely 

necessary to conduct 3-gun matches, 

but they do help.) 

The rules that govern our sport 

were developed for pistol events and 

are not adequate to deal with current 

3-gun competitions. There is significant 

demand for stages, procedures, 

and practices not envisioned by our 

rules and not previously attempted. 

Rule 6.1.3 states that a match "shall include 

only one type of firearm (e.g. 

handgun or shotgun etc.)," seeming to 

require that each firearm type be 

scored separately, resulting in three 

matches within a tournament. However, 

the demand for multi-gun stages 

has been so great that, for the first time, 

the 2002 national championship included 

them. Because EZWinScore 

was not designed to allow the practice, 

a considerable number of scoring difficulties 

resulted. 

For those of us who began our involvement 

with the sport prior to the 

late 1980's, these are familiar circumstances. 

USPSA long-gun competition 

is in a state of evolution similar to that 

era of practical pistol. The association 

is challenged to train range officers, 

provide clubs with the tools to deal 

with long-gun competition (such as 

gun handling techniques), arid to work 

toward a more fully developed rules 

body. It won't happen overnight, but 

we are not unaware of the need. We ask 

your patience and cooperation as we 

work to build solutions. 

Match Coverage, USPSA or 

Not? 

Front Sight is very much dependent 

FROM THE EDITOR continued on page 10. 

6 FRONT SIGHT • July/August 2002

N El 

113L I [TIN 

-) 

111111 111 11111 

MiNNUMMIE11111111111.1111111i 

INFOR \IATIO\ RERYONE SHOULD KNO11 

by Val Reule, L.SPSA Staff 

WELCOME NEVV CLUBS! 

Our family of clubs continues to 

grow, with the addition of the Guelph 

Rod & Gun Club of Oakville, Ontario, 

Canada; Gem County Rod & Gun 

Club of Meridian, Idaho; Louisville 

Practical Shooters Association of 

Louisville, Ky.; Honolulu Rhat-Rhat 

Boyz Gun Club of Honolulu, Hawaii; 

and DPMS Practical Shooting Club of 

Becker, Minn. We also want to welcome 

back the Cabinet Rifle & Pistol 

Association of Libby, Mont., and the 

Coulson City Practical Shooting Association 

of Billings, Mont. Good show, 

everyone! If you are in the vicinity of 

any of these clubs, give them a call, offer 

a helping hand, and go shoot with 

them. 

NEW SECTIONS 

A section is defined as two or more 

USPSA clubs banding together for mutual 

benefit and support. Nem,' sections 

may be made up either of new clubs or 

of already-established clubs in the same 

state or area. Often this is done because 

of geographic isolation, or because a 

section has grown too large for a single 

administrator. 

Clubs wishing to form a new section 

will start by sending a letter of request 

and a set of bylaws signed by the 

clubs' representatives to USPSA headquarters. 

(Sample section bylaws are 

available by calling the office.) After 

preliminary approval, the request is 

forwarded to the USPSA president for 

his approval. If a section coordinator 

has not been selected, the president can 

also appoint an interim SC until the 

new section can hold an election. 

This May saw the formation of two 

new sections, one in north-central 

Arkansas and the other in south 

Florida. Please welcome Arkansas 

North Section, consisting of North 

Arkansas Action Pistol Club and Twin 

Lakes Gun Club; and South Florida 

Section, with Palm Beach Pistol Club, 

Treasure Coast PSA, Naples Swamp 

Rompers, Fort Myers River Rats, 

South Florida Pistol Club, FOP #72 

and Pan American Pistol. 

STATEMENTS OF ACCURACY 

Along with the regular paperwork 

being submitted from the clubs, we are 

still getting the Statements of Accuracy, 

which we no longer need. If you are in 

charge of submitting classifier and 

match information for your club, 

please discard this form. It means less 

paperwork for the clubs — and less filing 

for us! 

PRICES ARE GOING UP 

I'm sure you've heard that your 

membership is going to cost more? 

Well, it's true. After ten years at the 

same rate, as of July 1 the annual membership 

went from $30 to $40. The 

newer three-year and five-year memberships 

will be going up as well, but 

not until January 2003, so now is the 

time to save yourself some money and 

renew to a three- or five-year membership, 

or convert to a Life membership! 

Clubs, there are new brochures 

available, with the new fee schedule. If 

you need a supply, all you have to do is 

ask. 

MAKIIVG PREDICTIONS 

"Hi! Can you tell me when the Web 

Site will be updated? When and where 

will the 2005 Nationals be held? Are 

they going to take our guns away at the 

Canadian border? When will the new 

Dipthong Whiz-bang be approved for 

Production Division?" 

Bovar 

We get calls and e-mails almost 

daily, asking questions for which we 

have no answers, or for which the answers 

would be merely speculation. 

Please don't ask our people to put their 

necks on the line trying to see into the 

future — after all, we are a "nonprophet" 

organization! 

TEN YEARS AGO 

Besides the articles on course design, 

the mental game and the ongoing 

Limited/Unlimited information found 

in the July/August issue of 1992, I can 

remember that summer as being hot, 

hot, hot in the office! The headquarters 

was still in the Mission Market 

building on State Street here in Sedro 

Woolley; it was cold in the winter, hot 

in the summer, and every time the rains 

fell, then-USPSA president Dave Stanford 

and his wife Marilyn, the office 

manager, had to drive in from their 

home and cover the computers — and 

put buckets out in strategic locations. I 

can remember working at my desk, listening 

to the plink of water hitting the 

bottom of a plastic pail and wondering 

if there were any leaks we hadn't 

found. No matter how many times the 

owner "fixed" the roof, we still got 

wet. 

AND NOW . . 

After our second move along the 

same street, we are comfortably established 

at 702 Metcalf, Suite A, and 

business is humming right along. Part 

of that business is welcoming visitors, 

such as Dave and Marilyn Stanford, 

who dropped in on us recently. Are you 

planning a trip to the beautiful Pacific 

Northwest? If you get up to our neck 

of the woods, come on by! We're not 

hard to find, and we can give you the 

nickel tour — for free! 


FOCUS 0\ 

juNioRs 

BY Bill Sahlberg, ik \ 1012 PROGRAM COORDI \ \ 1 I.; 

Juniors @uspsa.ors} 

USPSA Junior Member's Area 

www.uspsaluniors.org 

username: dvc 

password: juniors 

1 magine this; the year is now 2022, 

just 20 years from now. The U.S. 

government has once again decided 

to try to ban all firearm possession 

by law-abiding US citizens. 

There is no further need to protect 

yourself, to be able to hunt (since most 

states have banned hunting), and no 

more target shooting or competition 

shooting is necessary. Guns are just for 

criminals and only criminals want or 

have guns. My generation is now in our 

late 60s and 70s and have not hunted 

nor competed in any IPSC shooting 

competitions for some time. Most of 

our old friends and lifelong mates are 

dying off every day and we are slowly 

waiting for our turn. 

Our kids have families and careers 

of their own. Some of our kids are the 

same politicians who are trying to take 

away our Second Amendment rights. 

Our children are now the leaders, the 

consumers, and the safety advocates of 

our country. Did we take time to instill 

in them our values, or were we just too 

busy making a living and doing our 

own thing? 

In the 1990s we put our money and 

our time into fighting for our gun 

rights. We partnered with the NRA and 

made a great stand that barely allowed 

us the victory to maintain our gun 

rights and freedoms. We were proud to 

donate our money and our time for this 

worthy cause and we saw that it made 

a difference. 

But in 2022, will our children hold 

these same values? Will they choose to 

donate their money and time to fight 

like we did for their freedoms? Will 

they even care anymore or will they 

have the same fortitude to fight like we 

did to keep our freedoms? Who has 

helped instill these values in them? Our 

schools? Our society? Our government? 

You see, today's juniors are tomorrow's 

leaders. They will be making 

these critical decisions in a few short 

years that will affect both you and me. 

Juniors are OUR future. Take time 

with your kids and grandkids and teach 

them your core values. You already 

know that the daycares, schools, and 

government cannot do this. If you do 

not make time for the juniors of today, 

who will? 

Juniors are the future! 

JUNIOR VOLUNTEERS 

I have added five more volunteers 

since the last issue — thanks for your 

support. My goal is still to have a junior 

volunteer for every club so that all the 

junior information can be given by 

word of mouth instead of having to 

read it here every other month. 

I need all my current volunteers 

helping within their areas to promote 

both the junior Classifier (CM99-46) 

and the sales of the 2002 Junior Raffle 

tickets. 

On the Junior Classifier, ask your 

local clubs to run this classifier once 

this year at a regular match. The extra 

$5-per-shooter cost to send this in will 

help fund this year's Junior Programs 

and help support next year's programs 

too. Clubs that choose to run this 32- 

round, easy-to-set-up classifier 

(CM99-46) may need to charge members 

additional money for this worthy 

cause, but this is half the cost of a box 

of ammo, and it will aid and benefit future 

juniors. 

At the end of the year we will post 

your highest score on the Junior Website. 

This classifier can be shot multiple 

times, with the extra $5 going to benefit 

the Junior Program as well as improving 

your own classification. 

JUNIOR RAFFLE 

As to the Junior Raffle, have your 

clubs order raffle tickets from Staci at 

USPSA. These are sent out free, but will 

only be entered into the raffle if properly 

filled out and paid for. You can call 

her at (360) 855-2245 to order these, 

or e-mail staci@. uspsa.org . More prizes 

are coming in every day as I have a lot 

more industry support this year. 

Raffle tickets cost $10 each or three 

for $25. Clubs can order these and distribute 

them or you can call USPSA 

headquarters at (360) 855-2245 to buy 

tickets directly. 

The tickets will be up for sale until 

the end of the year, when we will hold 

our raffle drawing and post the winners' 

names and prizes won on the Junior 

Website. 

SHOOTERS CONNECTION 

Chuck Bradley, an IPSC GM and 

owner of Shooters Connection has 

joined in the support of the 2002 Junior 

Raffle and is donating some of the 

big "Shooters Tournament Series" 

shooting bags to the Junior Raffle. 

Shooters Connection is a factory 


direct distributor for all your favorite 

guns and shooting accessories, including 

C-More, Safariland, STI, SV and 

many more. Chuck has the best service 

with real professional advice. Visit 

their website at www.shootersconnection 

.com and tell him that you appreciate 

his support of the juniors. 

GENTRY CUSTOM 

David & Dennis Gentry are building 

a gun from the Caspian frame and 

slide that Gary Smith of Caspian has 

donated to the 2002 Junior Raffle. 

Gentry Custom has specialized in 

custom gunsmithing for more than 30 

years and produces many of the fine 

gun parts you find on your guns like 

Remington, Winchester, and Butler 

Creek products. Both David & Dennis 

are IPSC competitors in Montana 

where they both live and work. 

Gentry Custom has also donated a 

special edition of their Gentry Custom 

Ruger 10/22 with help from Butler 

Creek to this years Junior Raffle. Yo 

can visit their website at www.gentrycustom.com 

Please do not forget these generous 

supporters and SUPPORT THOSE 

WHO SUPPORT US. 

PAT KELLEY 

One non-industry Junior Raffle 

donor is USPSA member Pat Kelley 

(TY14401). Pat has donated a Ruger 

10/22 to this year's Junior Raffle. Pat is 

just a shooter who works for a living in 

the public water works division. Re- 

New Club Program Manual! 

USPSA just released a revision to 

the Club Program Manual, last updated 

by John Wells in 1993. 

The new version brings the CPM 

up to scratch on policy, and adds considerable 

new material, including a 

"new shooter orientation" handout 

for new shooters. 

All affiliated clubs will receive a 

fresh copy to go inside their existing 

binder. Clubs can purchase additional 

copies for $30 from the home office. 

cently, he has also written some awesome 

shotgun articles for the Front 

Sight. Pat wants to help juniors as he 

too knows they are our future! Thanks, 

Pat! 

NEW INDUSTRY JUNIOR SUP- 

PORTERS 

As I have stated above, our shooting 

industry- is really in support of our 

Junior Program. Below are some new 

supporters helping our juniors fill their 

needs for reloading components. 

STARLINE BRASS 

Lee at Starline Brass is shipping 500 

pieces of Starline Brass to juniors who 

have a need for brass. Their website is 

www.starlinebrass.com . E-mail me at 

juniors@ tispsa.org for details. 

MONTANA GOLD BULLETS 

Norm and Jolene, owners of Montana 

Gold bullets, are shipping bullets 

to needy juniors who make their requests 

known to me. These are designated 

for juniors whose parents are not 

financially able to afford these bullets 

otherwise. Their website is www.montanagoldbullers.com 

. Contact me at juniors@ 

uspsa.org for details on how to 

qualify for these bullets. 

RAMSHOT GUNPOWDERS 

Brenda Kneeland ot Western Powders, 

Inc., of Miles City, Mont., has donated 

both True Blue and Silhouette 

pistol powders to the Junior Program. 

Their website is www.ramshot.com . 

Please contact me on how to get some 

of these free gunpowders at juniors@ 

uspsa. org 

VIHTAVUORI OY 

Jeanie Bolda of Kaltron has donated 

some of VV's newest 3N38 to 

the Junior Program. See 

www.kaltron.com and scroll to VV 

powders. Again, contact me at juniors@ 

uspsa.org on how to acquire 

some of this new VV gunpowder. 

SPECIAL CLUB FUNDRAISERS 

Area 8 Director George Jones ran a 

special junior benefit match and is the 

first club to report to rne this year that 

they have raised funds ($100) for the 

2002 Junior Program. George and his 

club (Riverdale Practical Shooters Club 

in New Jersey) have my sincerest 

thanks and appreciation for all your efforts 

to benefit the Junior Program. 

1 challenge all the USPSA clubs out 

there to run a Junior Program benefit 

"fun match" this year. Last year, the 

folks in Nevada ran a match and if you 

didn't like your score you could have a 

"mulligan" stage for an additional $5 

fee that would also go to benefiting the 

juniors. Make your match a fun match 

with the goal of benefiting juniors over 

winning a trophy or prize. 

JUNIOR BENEFIT SHOOTING 

CLASSES 

Max Michel Jr. ran a series of short 

classes for juniors on May 25th & 26th 

in Roberta, Ga., at the Cool Springs 

Gun Club. His classes in Area 6 will really 

benefit the junior shooters in that 

area. Our thanks to Max for giving his 

valuable time to help juniors! 

For any of you shooters who would 

like to put this same type of class on for 

juniors or new shooters, you do not 

have to be a GM in order to teach or 

instruct gun handling and gun safety. 

Most of our 'C' class shooters are more 

proficient with firearms than many 

others who might charge $75 for the 

same class. 

New shooters need someone who is 

patient, who has the desire to disciple 

others with gun safety, the ability to 

teach IPSC rules / competition and 

have the time to spend training one on 

one. Each one of us should have one 

person that we like to spend time instructing 

and practicing with now. If 

not, you should find a friend who has 

shown an interest in shooting and take 

him/her out with you at your next 

practice session! 

Anyone who has this desire, please 

contact me and I can help you coordinate 

and organize your classes. Contact 

me at juniors@ uspsa.org 

FOCUS ON JUNIORS Continued on Page 57. 


FROM THE 

EDITOR continued from page 6. 

on the efforts of our members to write 

and submit stories. As I have previously 

stated in this column, we have neither 

the staff nor budget to cover most 

USPSA events ourselves. We are very 

grateful to those who invest the time 

and effort to help keep our members 

informed. 

In the past, USPSA has occasionally 

run stories about matches that were 

not conducted as USPSA events. It is 

frequently difficult for the casual observer, 

and in some cases the author of 

the articles, to recognize the difference. 

The targets are the same, the range 

commands are the same, and sometimes 

the match literature displays the 

USPSA logo 

However, despite using the USPSA 

developed infrastructure, sometimes 

the matches in question have not 

agreed to abide by USPSA standards of 

safety and fairness, obtained stage approval, 

or supported the association 

with activity fees. 

With few exceptions, Front Sight 

will no longer print match stories dealing 

with non-USPSA events. The exceptions 

will include, but not be limited 

to, events deemed of special historical 

or promotional interest, IPSC 

matches of specific interest (the world 

shoot, for example), and some charity 

events. It will be necessary to judge 

each of these exceptions on the basis of 

its own merits and the best interest of 

USPSA. 

We suggest that those intending to 

submit match articles to Front Sight 

check with the match organizers or the 

USPSA office before investing time and 

effort in a story we may not be able to 

print. 

In Memoriam 

USPSA member Phil Reed died Saturday, 

May II, in Exeter, New Hamp- 

shire, following a long illness. Phil cofounded 

Shooters.com in 1995, and 

was instrumental in building that firm 

to the preeminent web hosting business 

catering to the shooting industry in the 

world. 

His wife Bev, daughter Rebecca, 

grandson Matthew, and many friends 

in the shooting community survive 

Phil. 

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10 FRONT SIGHT • July,August 2002

USPSA Junior Shooter Saves 

Mom's Life 

BY SETH NADEL, CL-89 

There are those who constantly 

bleat that "children" must be 

kept ignorant of g-uns, particularly 

handguns. Those of us 

in USPSA know that guns are not a 

problem, but they can be a solution — 

and junior shooter (and R.0.) Austin 

Hines, from Concho, Ariz., is proof beyond 

question of that! 

Austin (A42737), dad Troy 

(TY421.53), and mom Gina (A44928) 

are all very active in the White Mountain 

Practical Shooters (WMPS) of 

Show Low, Ariz. The Hines' have all 

taken part in virtually every match 

WMPS has held, and Austin, age 13, 

has even bested his father on a few 

stages. 

On March 1, 2002, Gina, Austin, 

and his younger sister Shyann, were 

herding a 300 pound pig they had obtained 

for breeding into a pen. The pig 

suddenly turned on Gina, knocking 

her to the ground. It began to knock 

her around, biting her on the hand and 

face in a violent assault. Austin attempted 

to distract the beast with a 

baseball bat, which only seemed to enrage 

it further. Rightly fearing for his 

mother's life, and at her direction, 

Austin retrieved Gina's carry pistol 

from their truck. He fired several shots 

into the ground to try to scare the pig, 

with no result. 

Realizing that he had a difficult 

shooting problem, with the pig directly 

over his mother and biting her, Austin 

drew on his training and competitive 

match experience. He dropped low, 

obtained a safe angle, and shot the pig. 

Lieutenant John Bedway of the Conch° 

Valley Fire Department (also a 

USPSA member and a new CRO), 

transported Gina to the hospital. He 

stated that had Austin not been familiar 

with firearms, and how to safely use 

them, Gina would have suffered grievous 

or even fatal injuries from the attacking 

pig. 

Gina is recovering from her injuries, 

and providing frozen pork to 

many of their friends. She refers to 

Austin as "my hero." The local paper 

put this story on the front page, and 

Austin was recognized at the latest 

match of the White Mountain Practical 

Shooters. He certainly shows that 

training with firearms in a safe, controlled 

environment under USPSA 

rules helps prepare young shooters for 

the kinds of unexpected emergencies 

Photo by Sem Ndoe 

Austin Hines drew on his skills as a 

competitive shooter to kill a domestic 

pig that attacked his mother. The 

pig had knocked his mother to the 

ground, and was biting her about 

the face and neck. 

that can arise any time, any place. 

Now, can someone tell me again 

why young people should not be 

trained in the safe, effective use of 

firearms? 

Of Pigs & People 

While discussing this attack with a 

fellow club member who is also a 

Cowboy Action Shooter, he stated 

that the history of the West has several 

reports of people being attacked 

and killed by domestic pigs. In modern 

times there have also been reports 

of people attacked by pet pigs. 

They may not be very fast or fleet of 

foot, but once they knock you to the 

ground they have a significant weight 

and size advantage. The presence of 

a defensive firearm, and the skill to 

use it, may be needed even if the attacker 

is not human! 

Austin Hines in competitive form. 

Photo by Seth Nadel, 

JulyiAugust 2002 • FRONT SIGHT 11

BY MICHAEL BANE, TY-34671 

When Media Attacks! 

edia...can't live with 

'em...can't shoot èm...so 

what's a shooter to do? 

Seriously, in dealing with the media, 

we as shooters often find ourselves 

between the proverbial rock and the 

hard place. On the one hand, the media 

has at the very least been guilty of 

an outrageous level of bias against us; 

on the other hand, the media represent 

an unparalleled opportunity to publicize 

our sport to the largest number of 

people. 

The question is, how do we take 

advantage of the opportunity without 

shooting ourselves in the foot? 

For almost three years, I've had 

what has been called the worst job in 

the firearms industry—I'm the guy 

who deals with the national media on 

a daily bask. Through the National 

Shooting Sports Foundation's media 

education program, we've taught 

dozens of top journalists, including 

names you'd recognize, to shoot. 

There's already been a lot written 

about what we taught them, but let me 

turn the tables here and tell you what 

they taught us...and what you and your 

club absolutely need to know about 

dealing with the media. 

The biggest thing we have learned 

is that our problems with the media 

stem not so much from bias as from ignorance, 

and both sides have to share 

the blame. Journalism at the higher 

levels is an interesting and largely urban 

club; gun ownership and participation 

in the shooting sports is rarer 

than a subscription to the World 

Wrestling Federation magazine. Unfortunately, 

misinformation tends to get 

recycled. It's also a fact—and I speak as 

a life-long professional journalist my- 

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self—that journalists tend to go to people 

they know, their sources, for information. 

Our enemies took quick advantage 

of that fact and made sure they 

were known, visible, and in touch with 

journalists. We, on the other hand, 

tended to limit our contact with the 

world of media to fiery letters to the 

editor, which might have made us feel 

better, but was the media equivalent of 

throwing rocks at a thunderstorm. 

Ideally, how should you as a USPSA 

member or club representative deal 

with the media? Here are a handful of 

tips, every one taken from the "Real 

World" and learned the hard way. If 

you have more specific questions, e- 

mail me at MBaneACP0 aol.com , or 

contact NSSF (bbrassard0 nssforg) for 

more info. 

• Be prepared! You learned it in the 

scouts, and it's still true. Discuss with 

your club members what you might do 

if contacted about a story, focusing 

NOT on old wrongs perpetuated by 

the media, but on YOUR MESSAGE 

that you want to get across. Here are 

some of the thoughts I use when talking 

about USPSA shooting to the national 

media: 

) We shoot because it's fun and 

competitive. We are not training 

for insertion into Afghanistan or 

the coming collapse of the government. 

2) USPSA is the Indy racing circuit 

of competitive shooting; we are 

the Big League. 

3) Our sport is derived from -combat 

shooting." Big deal. Virtually 

all the sports in the Olympics have 

military or warfare roots. Football 

is simulated combat. So is chess. 

4) Our sport is wildly diverse, enjoyed 

by men and women of all 

races, all economic strata and numerous 

professions from doctor to 

mechanic to soccer mom. 

5) Our sport is international in 

scope, with more than 50 (I can 


never remember the real number!) 

countries actively involved. 

6) The cool thing about USPSAstyle 

shooting is that it offers three 

challenges—the necessity for planning, 

the ability to move quickly 

and efficiently from position to 

position, and the necessity of 

"shifting gears" to the fine precision 

movements of sighting and 

pulling the trigger. That combination 

of skills, interestingly enough, 

is very similar to rock climbing 

(route finding, using major muscle 

groups while performing fine 

precision movements). 

• Reach out! A contact from the 

media is an opportunity! Sure there's a 

risk, but there's also a risk in crossing 

the street every morning. The WORST 

thing you can do for both our own 

sport and the gun culture at large is to 

refuse a contact, because that single action 

reinforces EVERY negative stereotype 

about gun owners. I believe you 

should be contacting them (but that's 

another story!). 

Pboto by Rob Taylor 

Lisa Munson and Kim Stroud talk to the media at the 1997 Limited 

Nationals. 

• Be enthusiastic! The single 

biggest factor in the success of the 

NSSF Media Seminars is the overwhelming 

enthusiasm of our instructors 

(like Todd Jarrett, Lisa Munson, 

Kay Clark-Miculek, Jerry Miculek, 

Dave Thomas, Matt Burkett and others). 

Enthusiasm is very contagious. 

This is more than just one of those self- 

esteem homilies, by the way. The concept 

of mirroring, replicating behavior 

we observe in others, is apparently 

built into the operating systems of primates. 

Monkey see; monkey really do 

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Can be used with a Frame Mounted Scope 

AVAILABLE WITH ADJUSTABLE 

SIGHTS. SCOPE MOUNT OR BOTH 

The Conversion can be taken on/off any frame without losing "ZERO". The barrel locks onto the frame 

and the sights lock on the barrel. Go easily from center -tire to .22 and back again. 

Two types of sight ribs are available: An Adjustable Sight Rib 8, A Scope Mount Rib to which any 

Weaver Style Scope/Rings can be mounted. Both ribs are interchangeable and it you have both ribs, 

they can be switched in about one minute (no loss of zero). 

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• Show, not tell! This is one of the basic 

keys to all crisis communications. People 

always respond better when they're actually 

participating instead of being lectured 

to. This means, folks, you put 'ern 

on the range with a gun in their hands 

and let 'ern shoot! This means your BEST 

safety people must be involved, and 

everybody needs to be playing heads-up 

ball. Before you panic, a couple of 

months ago in Florida, we put 130 mystery 

novelists, 99 percent of which had 

never TOUCHED a gun, through eight 

firing points with eight different 

weapons in four-and-a-half hours, with 

total safety, and a good time was had by 

all. We did it by following the rules and 

procedures of the NROI and our own 

safety training. The WORST thing you 

can do is not let the media shoot because 

it's "too dangerous." Wow! What message 

have you just sent? 

• Leverage your people! When I was running 

for USPSA president, I traveled 

around the country and shot most of the 

Area matches. Everywhere I went, I met 

really interesting people with GREAT 

stories. Journalists LOVE great stories. 

That's why we became journalists in the 

first place. Journalists also like to "discover" 

great stories on their own, so I like 

to scatter my people with great stories 

around like...okay, for lack of a better 

word...bait. I might drop hints or point in 

a certain direction, but I want to make the 

journalists work a little, and stories are 

best told by the people who lived them. 

Remember, we're diverse; let's show that 

diversity. 

• Tell the truth! Raise your right hand 

and repeat after me: THOU SHALT 

NOT SPIN! Answer every question truthfully, 

but don't be afraid to say, "I don't 

know, but I can find out for you." This includes 

hard questions. I was asked in an 

interview right after Columbine how did 

I, as a shooter and a CCW holder, feel? I 

said that I wanted to throw up, but I was 

afraid I would start crying and couldn't 

stop. Which turned out to be how the interviewer 

herself felt. 

• If you get worst-cased, don't go it alone. 

Every so often, Dan Rather Junior shows 

up and wants to make his/her bones off 

you. Usually, you'll have a hint of this in 


Photo by Robin Taylor. 

Todd Jarrett and Shari Legate (of the Womens Shooting 

Sports Foundation) help fitness writer Terese Aconian 

with the finer points of shotgun shooting. 

advance (especially if you, say, hit the 

Internet and do some research on 

who's going to be interviewing you in 

advance, another basic survival skill in 

crisis communications). If you get that 

hint, immediately call USPSA World 

Command, or e-mail me, and we'll 

start prepping you in earnest. When 

IPSC took heat several 

years back over 

trying to get into 

the Olympics, I was 

among the people 

vvho prepped the 

IPSC guys for their 

interviews, almost 

all of which were 

hostile. Our guys 

never got hurt in a 

single one of those 

interviews. 

Okay, real quickly, 

ten things NOT to 

do: 

1) Condescend 

("We don't expect 

you journalists 

types to know anything...") 

2) Be sexist ("Well, little lady, this is 

the most powerful handgun 

made...") 

3) Be unsafe ("Whoops! Sorry I 

pointed the old blaster at your 

head...") 

4) Play cop ("So I said to the 

perp...") 

5) Lecture ("The Second Amendment 

clearly states that...") 

6) Be macho ("You don't understand 

how dangerous I really am...") 

7) Be a range nazi ("HALT! Stop before 

you kill us all!") 

8) Tell "war stories" ("So Tommy 

points his racegun at the guy's 

crotch and says...") 

9) Dis other shooting sports ("Those 

other guys, though, they're real 

wackos...") 

10) Air "dirty laundry" ("Everybody 

knows the president of USPSA is, 

well,...") 

Okay, get out there and media! 

Michael Bane spends most of his 

time tvatching Bulb, the Vampire Slayer 

and attempting to reassemble his H&R 

.32 Magnum snubbie. His novel ALL 

NIGHT RADIO is slated for small press 

release in mid-2003. The heroine of the 

book is...an IPSC shooter. 

••111 

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2002 

Space 

City 

Challenge 

BY ROGER ECKU 1\1 , 11-26057 

0 n the weekend of April 19- 

/1 the Bay Area Practical 

Shooters hosted the Tenth 

Annual Space City Challenge. 

ale site was the Pearland 

Sportsman Club (PSC) just 15 miles 

east of the Johnson Space Center directly 

south of Houston, Texas, a 

hotbed of USPSA action. PSC is a 

sprawling complex with enough room 

for seven stages to run comfortably, 

even with ongoing fire heard from the 

rifle, skeet and silhouette ranges 

nearby. The Space City Challenge typically 

draws competitors from across 

the Southwest. The 2002 match, featuring 

the musical theme of "Rock and 

Load," was special in that a Northeastern 

contingent led by J.J. "the Razor" 

Racaza and Athena Lee tried to steal 

top honors from Houston's best. In recent 

years the high overall title at Space 

City has been tossed back and forth between 

Grand Masters Rob Walsh and 

Adam Popplewell. What did it take to 

win this year's match? 

"There aren't that many different 

ways to shoot this year's match," declared 

Walsh. Referring specifically to 

Stage 7, "Disengage the Simulator," he 

added, "It might come down to who 

can shoot best on the move." 

Adam Popplewell edged out Rob 

for the stage win with a nearly identical 

point total but with a .42 secondquicker 

elapsed time. However, Stage 

7 was not to be the deciding factor. 

Stage 6, "The Boys Are Back In Town," 

asked shooters to find a confusing array 

of targets behind a series of vertical 

louvers that were stacked closely together 

and angled sharply. Besides trying 

to not engage the same paper twice, 

the wooden slats proved treacherous, 

deflecting even the fastest .38 Super 

bullet. Those who attempted to minimize 

movement stood back from the 

slats, but this proved disastrous for Rob 

Walsh. Four misses on this stage gave 

Adam Popplewell the margin of victory 

he needed to capture his second Space 

City Championship. Adam credited 

training on stages that represent the 

type of challenges one face at a championship 

match as the key to his success. 

Benny Hill, third GM and High 

Senior, was third on this stage followed 

by up and coming shooters Edwin Garcia 

(first A, 7th overall) and Shawn 

Montayne. Only gun trouble kept 

Montayne from a probable top 5 finish. 

Many shooters found the path to 

victory filled with detours. J.J. 

Racaza's bid to steal one of the jewels 

of Texas practical shooting ended at 

"The Simulator" with a miss and am- 

Photo by Roger Eckstine 

Flower Power. Adam Popplewell 

drove his Open gun through a 

maze of vintage rock-and-roll 

themes to win High Overall at the 

10th Annual Space City Challenge. 

munition trouble that left him seven 

seconds behind and almost 60 match 

points below the leaders. Despite winning 

two stages, those problems left the 

Razor fourth overall for the match. 

Also from the Philippines by way of 

New York, Athena Lee captured High 

Lady in Open division. Athena finished 

11th overall and has decided to move 

to Houston not only for the heat and 

humidity but for the increased opportunity 

to shoot. Specifically, she wants 

to ready herself for World Shoot competition. 

On the Limited side, many top 

shooters threw themselves at the 

courses of fire with abandon. This led 

to runs that either burned the stage 

down or burned the shooter. While 

many shooters had their moments of 

glory, David Weers' consistent shooting 

won the day — despite winning only 

two stages. Dick Burkhardt was spectacular, 

shooting a long slide .40 S&W 

built by Benny Hill, but he couldn't 

catch Weers. Weers' Limited victory 

comes on the heels of his overall win at 

the Make-A-Wish benefit match held in 

Waco, Texas, the month before. 

Joe Woolley avoided the crash-orburn 

theme in Limited, emerging as 

first Master in Limited while finishing 

no higher than third on any one stage. 

Being consistent also helped Robert 


Pichler, an Austrian emigre now living 

in San Antonio, win first A and 4th 

overall just behind Woolley. Trapr 

Swonson was fifth. Top lady shooter 

on the Limited side was Cherie Woolley, 

creating the SCC's first husbandand-wife 

team to finish in the trophies. 

With only one true speed shoot in 

the match booklet, the Space City 

Challenge was indeed a very athletic 

and physically demanding match. 

"Pressed Rat and Warthog," named for 

the hit by the '60s group Cream, featured 

ports at ground level. This challenged 

the shooter's physical condition 

and favored the more agile shooters. 

Foot speed was the key at "Hit Mc 

With Your Best Shot" but only if you 

could down the starting poppers from 

a draw with "...Your Best Shot." Even 

the fastest sprint to the tightly spaced 

array of targets in its cramped hallwa ■ 

would not do you much good without 

fast hits on the steel. Racaza had speed 

on both ends here, which helped him 

edge out Walsh on this stage. However, 

David Weers' time with a Limited gun 

was right with the top Open shooters. 

Overall the gap between Open and 

Limited was quite noticeable at this 

match. When comparing the stage winners 

in Open vs. Limited, hit factors 

were often two full points apart, or 

more! In fact, entrants in the Open Division 

lead Limited Division entries 75 

to 66 – a reverse of the national trend 

Photo by Roger Eckstine 

Brian Hoffner, a Houston Police Department tactical instructor and stage 

sponsor, shot a Wilson-barreled Glock 22 our of his handmade duty rig. 

(says USPSA). Ten shooters contested 

for the Limited 10 title, where Karl 

Rehn came out on top — despite being 

pressed by Michael Leck of Lecks's 

Guns, Houston PD SWAT's Mark 

Scales, and Brian Hoffner, an HPD 

training officer and proprietor of 

Hoffner's Training and Leather. Production 

class was disappointing in the 

number of entries but Keith Burnikel's 

win was deserved nonetheless. Texas 

continues to support the Revolver Di- 

vision and this year the list of seven 

wheelgunners was led by Kary Mark 

Harris despite a strong bid from David 

Gildon of Oklahoma and the Lion Star 

Shooting Team. In all, 160 shooters 

were in attendance. More were turned 

away because of a lack of space. Shooters 

keep coming back to the Space City 

Challenge for the one element that has 

been consistent throughout its 10-year 

run: the ability to offer the competitor 

the friendliness of a club match with a 

Tough Alloy Steel Targets Built to Last!! 

T1 Alloy Steel for standard velocity pistol, rim fire and center fire. 

T520 Alloy for Magnum Pistol, Center Fire Rifle, and Shotgun Slugs. 

STEEL SILHOUETTE TARGETS mounted on OFFICIAL PEPPER POPPER targets fall over 

spring loaded portable stands are excellent for when hit. Adjustable for use with different powered 

repetitive handgun practice. Shoot over and over loads. Offset hinge allows for accurate calibration and 

without resetting. See and hear your hits. Targets helps prevent wind from knocking over target. May 

ring like a bell when hit. Spray paint periodically also be used for shotgun practice with lead birdshot or 

to cover hits. Portable s-tands disassemble without buckshot loads. Sturdy portable base. 3/8" thick steel. 

tools. 3/8" thick steel. Reversible target surfsc,e. Reversible target surface for extra life. 

911 - Full Size 1PSC, T1, 17 3/4 x 29 1/2 559.00 925 - Full Popper, T I, 12 x 42 vobase $110,00 

912 - Half Size 'PSC, TI, 8 7/8 x 14 3/4 19.00 926 - Full Popper, T520, 12 X 42 whose 175.00 

915 - Full Size IPSC, T520, 17 3/4 x 29 1/2 132.00 927 - 2/3 Popper, II, 8 x 28 wfbase 95.00 

991 - Portable Stand 40.00 928 - 2/3 Popper, T520, 8 X 28 wbase 135.00 

Order by Phone 800-821-3475 

Charge to your MasterCard/Visa 

30 day terms to law enforcement agencies with PO 

15'.Discoinx on orders over S1000. 

55.00 Packaging charge on orders under S95 

UPS or freight charges FOB Rockford, Illinois 

CORPORATION 

Popper 

PO Box 898, Rockford, IL 61105 

Fax 815-964-0045 - Phone 800-821-3475 

web page: http://members.aol.comiArntzenRM 

Other sizes and shapes available. Call for catalog. 

Satisfaction guaranteed. Do not shoot steel targets from 

closer than 12 yards (High Pwr Rifle, 100 yds Min.) Slxxxer and 

aII spectator. mum vicar safety glasses in case of flying speller 

July ■ August 2002 • FRONT SIGHT 17

level of competition closer to a tournament-level 

event. Dedication to th( 

Space City Challenge is evident in 

strong support from members that step 

up to help with stage design, construction, 

and running the stages. Jim Nelson, 

a Grand Master shooter sinc( 

1992, who won the first two Challenges 

held in 1992 and '93, RO'd 

stage 5. 

"The first year we had 120 shooters 

and just a couple of vendor tables," he 

says. 

Since then match props have become 

more elaborate and the vendor 

area is nearly full, with onsite food service 

as well. Leck's Guns, Brazos Custom, 

Triangle Shooting Sports, Reloading 

Equipment Specialists, Ridgways, 

and Briley Manufacturing (which has 

supplied a first class pistol or rifle for 

the raffle each of the last three years) 

are just some of the returning sponsors. 

Match Director Charlie Card may have 

to offer more courses of fire in the future 

just to accommodate the growing 

Photo by Dorothy Eckstine. 

Firing between the tight wooden slats on "The Boys Are Back In Town" was 

the biggest challenge to top shooters. Roger Eckstine makes his run above. 

list. The Space City Challenge began as 

a club match powered by the vision of 

a few talented and dedicated shooters. 

Today it is the senior partner of the 

Texas Triple Crown including the 

Texas Open, and Texas Limited Championships, 

and serves as a good example 

of what can grow from USPSA grass 

roots participation. 

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Montana Gold Bullet 

PO Box 9050 

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INFO: 406-755-2717/755-0766 

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e-mail: bullets@montanagoldbullet.com 

website httpMwww montanagoldbullet.com 

JACKETED BULLET PRICE LIST 

PREPAID PRICES TO CONTINENTAL 

UNITED STATES 

CMJ Complete Metal Jacket 

JHP Jacketed Hollow Point 

NJ lull Metal Jacket 

JFP Jacketed Flat Point 

CALIPER DESCRIPTION DIA. MOO CASE COUNT I CASE 3 CASES B CASES 

9,rr 1 /59r CMJ 355 51.00 •1.7^, 188.25 181.00 

9mm 115gr JHP .355 50.00 4000 184.10 177.00 ' li 'LC 

9mm 115gr FMJ 355 45.00 4000 175.00 188.00 163.00 

9mM 124gr CMJ .355 56.00 3750 185.25 176.00 172.80 

grnr, 124gr FMJ 355 52.00 3750 174.75 188.00 163.00 

9mm 124gr JHP .355 56.00 3750 182.00 175.00 170.00 

9mm 125gr SIG FMJ 355 53.00 3750 178.80 170.00 165.00 

9mm 147gr CMJ 355 88.00 3000 les.15 178.00 172.80 

.38 125gr FMJ .357 57.00 3750 188.25 181.00 175.60 

.38 1 25gr JHP .357 83.00 3750 194.50 187_00 181.50 

.38 1 25gr CMJ .357 86.00 3750 193.50 186.00 180.50 

.38 1 5Bgr CMJ .357 72.00 2950 196_60 189.00 1B3.35 

lomm/.40 cal. 155gr FMJ .400 67.00 3000 177.80 171.00 186.00 

10mm/.40 Cal 155qt JFIP NEW ITEM .400 73.00 3000 183.so 178.00 174.00 

10mm/.40 Cal. 185gr FMJ .400 67.00 2700 172.65 168.00 161.00 

10mm/.40 Cal. 165GR. JHP NEW ITEM .400 70.00 2700 178.00 172.00 167.00 

lOmm/.40 Cal. 11:113gr FMJ 400 73.00 2500 167.50 761.00 156.00 

10mm/.40 Cil. 180gr CMJ 400 77.00 2500 • 79.95 173.00 188.00 

10mm/.40 Cal. 180gr JHP 400 80.00 2500 183.00 176.00 171.00 

lam m/.40 Cal 200gr FMJ 400 78.00 2250 189.50 183.00 158.10 

.44 Cal. 240gr FP NEW ITEM 429 03001 88.00 1950 7 71.03 185.00 180.00 

.45 Cal. 185gr JHP .451 78.00 2330 164.30 158.00 154.00 

.45 Cal. 200gr JFP 451 77.00 2300 184.30 158.00 154.00 

.45 Cal. 230yr FMJ .451 19001 73.00 2000 151500 150.00 145.50 

.45 Cal. 230gr CMJ .451 1900) 77.00 2000 164.30 158.00 154.00 

.45 Cal. 230gr JHP .451 1900) 79.00 1900 187.50 161.00 156.00 

.45 Cal. 2509r. COLT/Cannelure .452 18501 81.00 1850 164.00 180.00 155.03 

.358 Super 125gr Super FMJFIN .358 58.00 3750 179.95 1 73.00 167.80 

358 Super 130gr Super FMJ .356 61.00 3500 181.00 174.00 169.00. 

Prices subject to change without notice..Residential 35.00 ADDITIONAL. 

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Sot/ ts tis Raw/emit 

xis Rig sx 

Speed, handling, and balance in one package 

Radically lightened. short slide for extreme speed 

Balances. points, and handles like a limited gun 

PopplehoIes drilled in barrel for flat shooting performance 

Poppleholes combined with Thunciercomp 2 create a tuned compensation system 

Tuned and balanced compensation system results in a flat. soft shooting gun 

Pressure is directed away from the shooter allowing better dot tracking 

Check out the website for more technical details on why this is the gun for you 

11.17rr 13, 

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0 0 0 

BCG Pro Series - Limited 

Tuned for ultra reliability 

Low total weight for fast transitions 

Reciprocating parts lightened for reduced recoil 

Configured to match your shooting style: 

Long/Short dust cover. Bull/Bushing barrel, 

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,23,11S01 

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Tuned for ultra reliability 

Extensive lightening cuts for quick transitions 

13-port compensator shoots flat and soft 

Offset scope mount for ejection clearance 

Designed from the bottom up for performance 

What is true custom work? 

[ Custom work is more than just letting you pick your options. All of my guns are designed from top to bottom with 

one thing in mind — to maximize fit and performance for each individual customer. I consult with you to learn what 

type of gun you need, what size your hands are, how well you control recoil, which set of options works best for you, 

and many other factors. Only after this consultation will we decide what your gun will look like — what it will weigh — 

how it will handle — how I will cut it to fit your hand. Our collaboration will ensure I build you a gun that lets you 

perform to the best of your ability — now and in the future. 

Brazos Custom Gunworks 

WWW.BRAZOSCUSTORCOM 

Bob Londrigan — Pistolsmith 

11348 FM 56 Morgan, TX 76671 Phone: 254-622-2245 

July August 2002 • FRONT SIGHT 19

etting closerange 

rifle 

practice for 3- 

Gun is one of 

the hardest things to do. 

Some will say 3-Gun itself 

is the hard part, what 

with the need for three 

complete firearms and 

their attendant gear, accessories, 

backups and 

goodies. But practicing 

the rifle is the hard part. 

If your club is set up for 

what we do, then getting 

practice time with handguns 

is easy. Practicing 

with the shotgun is almost 

as easy, as all you 

have to do is set up the 

poppers and falling plates 

and do your drills or stage 

practice. But rifle? 

If you thought some fast drills with 

the handgun got your barrel heated up, 

try a half-dozen practice El Presidentes 

with an AR. The ammo cost is nearly 

as quick to add up, even shooting sur- 

plus. Reloading the .223 is not too difficult, 

but it still ends up taking more 

time than handgun reloading. At our 

club, shooting the poppers with a rifle 

will get you billed for the welding repairs 

or their replacement. Just shoot- 

The Kuehl .22LR AR-15 

Conversion 

STORY AND PHOTOS BY PATRICK SWEENEY, CA-157 

ing a rifle on a handgun range will get 

you closely watched, and we're an 

IPSC-only club. Our "long" range goes 

out to 100 yards, and rifle stages at our 

3-Gun matches tend to be 75 to 100 

yard hosers. (Not much barrel-cooling 

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time to be found at our 3-Gun 

matches.) 

So, if you practice a little your 

scores suffer, if you practice a lot your 

wallet suffers. What to do? You could 

use a pistol-caliber carbine and reload 

or use ultra-cheap 9mm surplus, but 

cven 9mm adds up to either cost or 

time spent pulling a press handle. Or 

you could shoot rimfire. I know, I 

know, you've tried it (haven't we all?) 

and found the malfunctions, the poor 

accuracy and the nasty leading that has 

to be cleaned out before you can go 

back to .223 to be too much. So, get a 

.22 that doesn't have those problems, 

one that is set up just like your competition 

AR. Get a Kuehl Precision upper. 

Rick Kuehl is a Class 2 manufacturer 

who makes dedicated .22LR uppers 

for AR-15's. (He also makes select-fire 

ones for the lucky owners of 

M-16's, but that isn't our interest 

here.) Instead of the wrong twist and 

loose bore that a .22 centerfire barrel 

represents to a long rifle bullet, he 

builds uppers with proper barrel 

blanks. Instead of the chamber-shaped 

Mags that work! Among the 

Keuhl's strong points are a match-accurate 

barrel, and good mags (below). 

protrusion on the Atchisson conversion, 

his barrels have a proper match 

chamber, integral feed ramp and extractor 

slot. 

And the best part: He can build 

them to the specs you desire. Have it 

built all the way, or leave it bare bones 

so you can rebuild it the way you want, 

or just buy a barrel and conversion 

parts from him and have your gunsmith 

duplicate your .223 blaster. If 

you want a shorty for indoor practice, 

he can do it. A full-size upper for Service 

Rifle practice? A flat-top? A2? No 

problem. 

The upper Rick sent me is one of 

his intermediate handguard uppers. 

Rather than use the short handguards 

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of a Shorty, he uses handguards halfway between the length 

of the Shorty and the full size rifle. Since the rimfire doesn't 

have a gas system, the front sight can be where he (or you) 

wants it to be. The upper receiver on the loaner is a standard 

A2, complete with case deflector lump and forward assist. 

Uppers come pre- and post-ban, and while the flash 

hider looks correct, there isn't any flash on a rimfire to hide. 

And I'm not sure a compensator is needed to tame the recoil. 

The Kuehl upper is assembled just like any other AR 

upper, so if you want to tear it down and rebuild it to duplicate 

your match AR, you can. 

With a rimfire upper, you can practice on close targets, 

poppers and plates, and not worry about damage to the 

props, overheating your bore, and hammering your wallet. 

However, none of that matters if the upper doesn't deliver 

the goods. To that end, I put a few rounds downrange in the 

never-ending quest for knowledge, scientific inquiry, and 

good clean fun. To test the accuracy, I put the provided upper 

on my Eagle Arms lower with the Al Zitta trigger job. I 

bolted my Leupold 3.5-10 Vari-X III in place, and went off 

to the range with as much .22 long rifle ammo as I could get 

my hands on. The conversion upper has its own recoil 

spring, and doesn't rely on the spring and buffer in the lower 

receiver. As a result you can switch the upper from one 

lower to another, provided they fit. Not all uppers will fit 

all lowers, I'm sorry to say. Life is like that. I tried the Kuehl 

on two Colts, two Eagle Arms, a Pac West, an Essential Arms, 

two Olympic Arms and an American Spirit Arms lower, and 

it fit on all of them. Will it fit yours? Probably, but you'll 

have to try it to be sure. 

The Kuehl worked with all the ammo I had on hand, 

eight brands and types in all. They all worked the action one 

hundred percent. As for accuracy, it varied from the oneinch 

average that the Eley posted, to "only" 3 inches at 50 

Not A Centerfire Anymore. Note how the Keuhl 

mag protrudes up out of the magazine well, giving the 

tiny .221r an easier transition to the chamber. 

Unique bolt. Most of the Keuhl's action is contained 

within the bolt. The buffer/mainspring assembly in the 

stock is not uscd at all. 

yards for the Winchester Wildcat. 

What it doesn't do is lock open when empty. Not a problem. 

The magazines are single-stack rimfire magazines that 

have been spot-welded to a sheet metal box that fills the 

magazine well of an AR. They come in 10-shot and 30-shot 

versions, of which I was sent one each. Both worked flawlessly. 

You don't have to fiddle around with adapter blocks, 

just load the magazine and insert it as usual. And as typical 

proof that rimfire is cheap and fun, I ended up not taking 

any loaded ammo home with me. Eight hundred rounds of 

group testing, plinking and just having fun without a malfunction 

was not a bad afternoon at all. Just like when I was 

a kid, the length of that afternoon's shooting session depended 

on continued ammo supply. 

Once we have determined that it does indeed run as intended, 

and shoots better than most of us can, we come to 

the crux of the matter, cost. How much is more and cheaper 

practice worth to you? A basic Kuehl upper runs $425 to 

$499. Yes, compared to the cost of a standard conversion, 

at around $150 to $180, it seems like a lot. If you start 

adding mods to it, like a flat top upper, long barrel or a floating 

handguard, you'll add even more money. However, it is 

money you would have spent replacing a shot-out barrel or 

upgrading another upper anyway had you stuck with centerfire. 

As mentioned, we've all gone the standard conversion 

route and found it very much un-fun and sometimes a 

royal hassle. 

After reliability as a choice in old vs. new conversions, the 

next consideration is the cost of ammo. All .22 long rifle 

firearms have ammunition preferences. Some are a lot more 

touchy than others, but not all uses require the ultra-accurate 

stuff. The trick is finding ammo your upper tolerates on 

sale at one of the big box sporting goods stores. Find it, and 

vou can lay in a stash of rimfire ammo for about $15 to $20 

per thousand rounds. $200 gets you a whole lot of practice. 

Then, set aside a brick of the stuff your upper shoots best for 

match use. (Assuming you find a match use for it, and I'm 

sure you can.) Compared to surplus .223 at $189/M, or 

your time and reloading skills for reloading .223 at $90/M, 

you can pay for that rimfire upper in less than a year's practice. 

And since it is low-cost rimfire, sooner, since you'll be 


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doing a lot more practicing. 

If there is enough interest at your 

club, you could even start run-n-gun rimfire 

matches. Or rimfire falling plate 

matches. It may seem like an expensive 

way to go about getting a rimfire rifle to 

shoot matches with, but not really. If you 

already have an AR, you already have a 

trigger job on it, right? And if you don't, 

you will soon. The usual alternative? A 

Ruger 10/22, which is a nice rifle, but 

you'll end up plugging more into the 

Ruger to bring it up to speed than you 

would on a conversion upper for an AR. 

So, for those of us who already have an 

AR, getting a .22LR conversion upper 

makes sense. And for those of you trying 

to find some way to get the non-IPSC 

shooting members of your club interested 

in some kind of fast-paced shooting, 

then falling plates with a rimfire 

against the clock just might do it. (If it 

doesn't, check their pulse. They may 

have already expired and just don't know 

it.) Now if we could just get our club's 

9-pin plate racks plates to tip over to rimfires. 

-4‘ 

Why are regular conversions such a pain? 

You'd think slapping a regular conversion into your AR would be a simple 

thing, right? Sorry. The problem begins at the chamber. The .22LR doesn't 

come close to filling the .223 chamber. (If it did, it wouldn't be what it is, right?) 

So, the standard conversion uses a .223-shaped smoothbore extension that has 

a .22LR chamber in its rear. After the bullet is done sliding down the unrifled 

extension and does finally get to where the rifling is, it faces a double whammy. 

The nominal bore of a .22 centerfire is .224", while that of a .22 rimfire is supposed 

to be .221". As if the centerfire bore 

being .003" too large wasn't enough, the 

twist is wrong. The slowest common twist 

in .223 is one turn in 12 inches, condensed 

to read 1/12. Many match barrels, and some 

intended for heavier bullets, have twists of 

1/9 and 1/7. What is proper for a 40 grain 

rimfire bullet? 1/16. Yes, one rurn in sixteen 

inches. That soft little rimfire slug has to 

contend with an unguided start in life, then 

a loose and overly fast-twist barrel. Add to 

that any bore roughness that a jacketed centerfire 

bullet would shrug off. That roughness 

is too much for the swaged lead rimfire 

bullet to contend with. Is it any wonder accuracy 

is casual at best and bores get leaded 

up quickly? The only solution is to start 

over, and use a proper chamber and bore. 

The cost difference from even 

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w lien 'Tina and Robert Bagnato deciduti to tie 

the knot last year, they knew right away where 

they would honeymoon — the Nationals! 

Honeymoorung at Nattonais? 

The Bagnatos wish to thank Jim Shanahan at Advanced 

Performance Shooting for helping make their trip possible. 

The Bagnatos have been enthusiastic shooters for some 

time. In fact, Tina tells Front Sight that the pair recently 

moved to Arizona from New York, largely "because shooting 

is so friendly there." 

The Bagnato's entire wedding party (with a few exceptions) 

were planning to make the 2001 Back-to-Back match 

until the events of September 11 re-set everyone's calendar. 

For the Bagnatos, the tragedy struck terribly close to 

home. Until just before the match, Robert worked inside the 

World Trade Center. He and Tina had been at the Area 7 

match the week before. 

Following the attacks, the wedding party largely canceled 

out, but the Bagnatos decided to go for it. After checking 

on friends and relatives in New York City, "we drove up 

here from Arizona. There were just too many complications 

to risk flying," says an enthusiastic Tina. 

"We were afraid we wouldn't make it," Robert added, 

smiling rill the while. 

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July/August 2002 • FRONT SIGHT

Safety Area 

Judy Sunderlin, The Original "Stats Babe" 

Photo by Roger Maier. 

The Original Stats Babe, Judy Sunderlin 

running the show with Anita Augsberger 

at the 1994 Nationals. 

BY KIMBERLEY WELICE 

They call her a "Stats Babe" 

and she's darn proud of it. 

Judy Sunderlin is one of the 

originals from a long way 

back. In addition to acting as USPSA 

Board secretary for many years, she has 

also worked stats for countless 

matches, and devotes a great deal of 

her time, effort, and energy to the 

sport. I first had the pleasure of working 

with her at the 2001 3-Gun Nationals 

Championship in Las Vegas, 

Nev. It was my second year working 

stats and, while I really enjoyed my first 

year, my second year 

was a whole different 

experience altogether. 

The fun and 

enjoyment Jud ■ 

brings with her just 

flows out all over 

the place; it's impossible 

not to have a 

good time when 

she's on the stats 

crew, even when it's 

down to crunch 

time and stress levels 

are high. 

Judy and her husband, 

Bill, live in 

Gunnison, Colo., on 

the western slope of 

the beautiful Rocky 

Mountains. They've 

been married 34 

years, having just 

celebrated their anniversary the 

first of May. Even though she officially 

retired in March of last 

year, she shows no signs of slowing 

down. A life member of 

USPSA, Judy is also a certified 

chief range officer, works with her 

husband Bill in their small gun 

shop (SCI Shooting Supplies), 

schedules gun safety classes for 

new shooters, and has applied to 

become a "Refuse to be a Victim" instructor 

with the NRA. In addition, 

she's involved with "Body Wise," a 

home-based nutrition business in 

which she gives educational immune 

seminars. All that, and she still holds a 

"C" card in competition. 

When I first met you, I would 

never have taken you for a "pistol 

packin' stats babe." How did 

you get started in the sport? 

Bill is the one that got me started 

111161411 

Photo by Roger Maier. 

1996 staff. Anita Augsberger, John Amidon, and 

Judy Sunderlin pose for a photo in front of the stats 

shack in Fredericksburg, Va. 

shooting. We used to own a heavy 

equipment construction company in 

Montrose, Colo., several years ago. I 

was the office manager, receptionist, 

bookkeeper, payroll clerk, billing 

clerk, janitor, you name it, it was my 

job, plus I also did the same duties for 

two other companies that were in our 

building. Needless to say I was busy, as 

this was before computers were in, and 

everything had to be done by hand and 

calculator. This is where I got my speed 

on the ten-key. Since Bill would travel 

or be out of town a lot, I thought it 

would be wise to know how to use the 

guns we had in the house, so I started 

shooting by taking a safety class, probably 

just like most of us. 

Some time around 1982-1984, Bill 

became interested in shooting IPSC after 

talking to and shooting with Paul 

Miller. He started with a Colt 1911, 

which was chrome plated with gold 

trim — we came to call it his "Chrome 

STATS BABE continued on page 28. 


A Better 

(Cheaper) 

Rifle Target 

Used bulldozer "ripper teeth" easily 

withstand rifle fire, and are often available for 

free at your local heavy equipment dealer. The 

pock marks left on the right-hand tooth were 

created by .30-06 ARMOR PIERCING ammunition. 

5.56mm ball doesn't make a dent. 

STORY AND PHOTOS BY SETH NADEL, 

CL-89 

uSPSA rifle shooters are constantly 

searching for the perfect 

reactive rifle target. Despite 

the efforts of our best 

target makers, their products all have 

one negative factor — cost! No matter 

how reasonably priced, someone still 

has to come up with the long green to 

compensate the maker for his work 

and the expensive steel that he used as 

raw material. I have found what I think 

could be a near-perfect rifle target, in 

that: 

A. It is available in a variety of sizes 

nationwide. 

B. It is almost impervious to rifle 

rounds, and best of all, 

C. It is usually FREE. 

The item I found is called a "ripper 

tooth" in my part of the country. Ripper 

teeth are hardened steel guards that 

are placed over the teeth on backhoes, 

dozers, and other pieces of heavy 

equipment. In the smaller sizes they are 

the removable teeth themselves. When 

they wear out the teeth have no other 

use (until now) and most heavy equipment 

shops have a scrap pile out back, 

where a variety of sizes can be found. 

When I say hardened, I mean these 

suckers are HARD! I test-fired mine 

with a variety of rounds, starting with 

.224 55-grain ball, then 7.62 NATO 

ball, and finally some hot .30-06 ammunition. 

I even, with some trepida- 

tion (and safety precautions including 

hiding behind cover and wearing a 

kevlar helmet) fired on the teeth from 

50 yards with .30-06 armor piercing 

rounds. The result was a barely discernible 

pin mark on the surface from 

the tungsten carbide penetrator inside 

the bullet. I have since used my targets 

for more than a year, with a steady diet 

of .223, 7.62X39, .308, 8mm, and .30- 

06. The only damage to them is some 

light scarring of the surface from using 

.30-06 AP rounds. 

I use my targets two ways: hanging, 

or free standing. The hollow types of 

teeth come with holes drilled through 

them as the attachment points for their 

original use. I hang mine off a piece of 

chain, so they can swing freely when 

hit, yet will self-reset in a moment. 

[Hint: keep some extra chain and S- 

hooks around — it is amazing how of- 

Editor's Note: 

When we received Mr. Nadel's article, 

one of our staffers walked down 

to Loggers and Contractors Supply 

Co. here in Sedro Woolley and asked 

if they had any worn out 

ripper teeth. Sure enough, 

they had several, and gave 

us one out of their scrap 

bin. Nearly impervious to 

AR- l 5 fire, the teeth do 

represent a cost-effective 

way to practice with the destructive 

.223 cartridge. 

ten I miss the four-inch-wide target, 

but hit and cut the chain!) They are 

heavy enough that they do not swing in 

the wind, at least in the spring winds up 

to 60 MPH at my place. If you stand 

them on their wide end, they flop over 

nicely when hit, requiring a trip downrange 

for a reset. It is possible that if 

you were to mount one solidly, so it 

could not move, you could crater or 

even penetrate it, but that would do 

away with one of the best features — 

the hit indicator mode (falling or 

swinging around). 

The best part of these targets is the 

price — most heavy equipment shops 

consider them scrap, and will let you 

have them just for hauling them away! 

For the price, they are an outstanding 

practice rifle target — one of the best I 

have found yet! 

However, because these parts are 

worn, they have very few flat surfaces. 

USPSA encourages shooters to use 

great care when choosing and setting 

up the teeth in order to avoid ricochets. 

(Try suspending them from a 

steel bar running through 

the attachment hole, so 

that any ricochets and 

splatter will be directed 

down.) 

Do not use them at close 

ranges, and set them close 

to the backstop in order to 

contain edge hits. 


Clunker." Like many couples just starting 

out in shooting, we shared a gun, 

which sometimes proved to be interesting. 

I believe it was in 1988 when I 

got the neatest surprise on Christmas 

Day — my very own gun. It was a .45 

compensated Virgil Tripp special, and 

it was identical to Bill's, just a different 

serial number. This is one of the prettiest, 

and neatest guns I have ever 

owned, and it has such an emotional 

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value to me. 

I joined in May 

1987. At that time 

we were just starting 

the club in 

Gunnison – High 

Country Practical 

Shooters. We all 

had so much fun 

shooting and getting 

everything set 

up for the matches 

that it was like one 

big family. I really 

enjoyed being a 

part of the action 

and the camaraderie 

was fantastic. 

Speaking as a 

woman in this sport, do you 

think there are ways we can encourage 

growth in the number 

of female members? 

I really think %omen have a place in 

our sport. All of the women shooters 

Photo by Roger Maier 

1997 brass. Sunderlin has been an integral part of 

USPSA's national staff for years. Here John Amidon, 

Anita Augsberger, Judy Sunderlin, and Andy Holiar pose 

at the second nationals staged in Fredericksburg, Va. 

that I have had the privilege of meeting 

are great people, from all walks of life. 

I think that it would be neat to see 

some articles from women shooters, 

from the Top Lady shooters to the average 

women shooters. I think it would 

help bring more women into the shooting 

sports and show them that the organization 

is interested in seeing what 

they would like to see in the way of 

changes, or what some of their ideas 

for the organization would be. 

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What about the membership in 

general, have you any thoughts 

on what we can do to encourage 

growth on the whole? 

I hope that the organization can 

keep the membership growing; shooting 

is a much-needed sport in our society 

today. I think that the Production 

Division has accommodated the average 

person by making them feel they 

can participate, and that they can shoot 

the gun that they have at home. That 

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have a race gun to start entering competition. 

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You've worked a great number 

of matches, what motivates you 

to do so much? 

Most of my motivation to work fot 


the organization was the chance to 

meet new people and to work with 

great people, the camaraderie, the 

great feeling of being part of a team 

and being a team player. I guess my reward 

for the work I have contributed 

to the sport was seeing that the scores 

were done on time and accurate. One 

of the neatest things is to be waiting for 

the last score card, on the last day of 

the match, and have the results finished 

within five minutes after the last shot 

was fired. Another reward was receiving 

thanks from my fellow workers, 

from the shooters, from the staff at Nationals, 

and from the staff at the other 

shoots that I have worked. Just to receive 

a note on the scorecard is fun, 

some would say "Hl STATS," or we 

would get smiley faces. 

1989 was my first year to work registration 

and stats at the Nationals, and 

I had the privilege of working with 

Marilyn Stanford. I must say she is 

quite the lady. Marilyn taught me a lot, 

and it was always a fun time working 

with her. I can remember it would take 

us up to five hours to stuff the shooters 

packets; we would have the gals from 

PASA, shooters, and anyone else that 

we could "con" into helping us stuffing 

packets. When it was time for the 

shooters to register, what a RUSH!! ... 

Man, it seems liked you just opened the 

gates and all the shooters were coming 

in at once. Then after a couple of 

hours you'd get a lull and you could 

catch your breath! Whew! 

After Marilyn had changed occupations, 

President Andy Hollar and his 

lovely wife, Sarah, asked me if I would 

be in charge of registration and stats. 

So that is how my stats career really advanced, 

but I was so lucky to have such 

good training thanks to Marilyn and 

Dave. Andy and Sarah had to go 

through a lot of changes, as this is 

about the time we had two Nationals. 

They and the volunteers devoted a 

tremendous amount of time and energy 

to make everything work 

smoothly and have a successful match. 

Do you have a favorite match to 

speak of? 

I can't really say that I have a ta- 

vorite match, as each match has their 

own personality, so to speak, and memories. 

But the first time I went to Nationals 

in 1987, in Barry, Ill., it was 

awesome! They used to have a ladies 

match before Nationals, where you 

could win a slot to shoot the Nationals. 

The set-up crew would come up with 

some really neat courses of fire. One 

time we rode in the back of a pickup 

that had barricades in it, and we shot 

the targets as they came into view. 

That was wild. I can remember me being 

really nervous, and we got to shoot 

with the "Top Ladies." That was also 

the first time I had ever seen black Pepper 

poppers; at that time we were all 

shooting with iron sights. What a surprise! 

When you would go to shoot the 

poppers, your front sight would disap- 

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was so neat, you felt that you were in a 

shooters' mall! Needless to say, we had 

a ball. We got to meet Dave and Marilyn 

Stanford for the first time. What a 

great couple. We all had so much fun, 

we laughed a lot, and took tons of pictures; 

we were the one-hour photo's 

best customers. That particular year I 

did not get to shoot the Nationals, as I 

had missed by one place, but I got to 

shoot Nationals the next year, and it 

was a blast. I remember it was always 

an adventure to see what Chris Edwards 

would come up with for the Nationals. 

(Right, Bat Man?) 

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July/August 2002 • FRONT SIGHT 2 9

•of 

OP. 

Old D6riri 

1'4 

f_earrarici 

Photo of Melvin Gildow by Pat Kelley. 

USPSA's FIRST Area-Level 

3-Gun Championships 

AA 

BY PAT KELLEY, A-14401 

Oregon to Barry after the Sept. 11 attacks 

shut down air travel. That much 

pril 13th and 14th marked 

the next direction in USPSA time gave them plenty of time to talk, 

3-Gun competitions: the to share ideas, and to dream. Originally 

their plan called for a regional 3- 

rea-level 3-Gun championship. 

One hundred and one shooters Gun event, but once the ball got 

flocked to Bend, Ore., for this historic rolling, it grew like a snowball. People 

event, bringing with them perspectives were signing up right and left, until finally 

Area Director Bruce Gary con- 

on 3-gun competition from all over the 

West. Shooters from California to tacted the pair and asked, "Why don't 

Washington shared notes and built we make it the Area 1 3-Gun championships?" 

friendships as they enjoyed this unique 

trophy-only event. 

Background: 

The Area 1 3-Gun Championships 

blossomed from the minds of two 

weary travelers on the road home from 

the 2001 Back-to-Back Nationals. 

Mike McCarter and Tom Chambers 

opted to drive 36 hours from western 

Gary squared things with USPSA, 

and Chambers and McCarter found 

themselves in the fast lane to USPSA 

history. 

As it happens, launching this match 

was a lot easier said than done. What 

range in Oregon could host the match? 

With plans for 150 shooters and nine 

stages, plus a side shoot for each gun, a 

range that big just wasn't available. 

The COSSA (Central Oregon Shooting 

Sports Association) range was available, 

but it only had a couple of bays. 

Sure, it had plenty of acreage for the rifle 

events, but six pistol bays and some 

open ground does not a major range 

make! As the dream grew, a plan 

started to take shape. 

Within a few months of their return, 

and with a lot of help from a 

small group of hard-core volunteers, 

the COSSA range was transformed. 

Ninety days before the Area 1 3-Gun 

Championships were to be held, the 

ground was cut, ripped, and piled high 

to turn six bays into 20! This range, 

still under construction, will host the 

USPSA Race Gun Nationals this fall. If 

the first 90 days of 2002 are any indication, 

we will have an excellent new 


venue for the traveling Nationals very 

soon! 

Match Day 

With representatives from the 

USPSA home office looking on, Mc- 

Carter, Chambers, and their crew 

showed a legion of shooters why three 

guns are bet-ter than one. Nine squads 

battled nine stages (three for each gun) 

and all that Mother Nature and Tom 

Chambers (who designed all the stages) 

could throw at them. While Tom did a 

good job, Mrs. Nature really made her 

presence known. Saturday gave us 

cool temperatures (around 40 degrees), 

mild winds (blovving sand), sunshine 

breaks, and a 90-minute rain 

squall. Despite what turned into a twohour 

rain delay on Saturday, the match 

still ran close to schedule. Sunday 

looked better as we left the hotel the 

next morning. Bright sunshine and 

beautiful blue skies greeted us that 

morning, only to find 20 to 40 mile per 

hour winds slashing across the range! 

Poppers fell constantly, props blew 

over – what a challenge for shooters 

and match crew alike! For those few at- 

Photo by Pat Kelley. 

Double - dot. 3-Gun Nationals 

Range Master Floyd Shoemaker 

drills some close targets 

using his double-scoped AR. 

tempting the long-range rifle stage, this 

did not bode well! 

The longest rifle shots appeared on 

rifle stage #1, "Oh say can you see?" 

where four self-resetting US poppers 

(painted green, arrgh!) were set at a 

reasonable 235 yards. Each popper 

had to be engaged twice. That 235 

yards was reasonable until you fac- 

tored in blowing dust and bullet-deflecting 

winds — then things get interesting! 

More than a few shooters with 

iron sights gave up after the second 

magazine had emptied with some of 

those GREEN poppers still unscathed. 

I hated those green poppers! I hit them 

all, but the green was very tough to see 

over iron sights. 

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Photo by Robin Taylor. 

CHARGE! Steve Hall 

rushes the barricade, 

shotgun at the ready. 

Design-w Ise, the match stages were 

straightforward, with no shooter traps 

or overly difficult shots (at least not in 

windless conditions). A number of 

swingers added flavor to the rifle, pistol 

and shotgun stages, and the rifle 

stages in particular showed a lot of 

near-to-far variety, thanks to the generous 

use of that self-resetting steel. 

With all pistol divisions represented, 

it was neat to see competitors 

solve the various shooting problems 

according to their choice of equipment. 

Six, 7, 8 or 10 rounds, DA, SA, 

DAO, or Saf-Action, everyone got a 

chance to see how their gun, gear and 

ability would stack up in comparison 

to others. 

Shotgunners were expected to be 

able to reload fast and make use of 

their sights. Two of the three shotgun 

stages put a premium on your reloading 

skills while the nine-shot all-slug 

stage slowed shooters down enough 

that a reload would not be needed. A 

buzz circulated about a possible DQ 

hazard on that stage ("We're Solid!") 

but it turned out to be little more than 

shooter error. Still, when our squad 

(No. 2) came up to the stage, competitors 

were shooting over a barricade 

wall in order not to shoot a target 

through a port provided. This was to 

avoid the possibility of hanging up on 

the side of the port in the haste to get 

down range. A couple of 

shooters in our squad 

shaved a number of seconds 

off the fast time using 

the port provided 

without coming close to 

any unsafe condition. 

On the Open side of the 

match, the battle for the 

3 -Gun aggregate came 

down to Joe Desimone 

and Adam Sahlberg. 

What a great story here! 

Joe, a long time USPSA 

shooter (he qualifies as a 

senior) with a list of major 

match credits and a real 

penchant for 3-gunning, 

was expected to place 

well if not win. Joe's accomplishments 

are numerous, 

and reputation formidable. 

Just in the 3-gun world, Joe has placed 

placed 3rd, 4th, and 5th at National 

matches ranging as far back as the 1991 

3-Gun Nationals in Marysville, Wash. 

Joe is always a threat to win the 

overall at any match he enters. 

He frequently wins stages and 

gives all comers a run for their 

money. 

Adam, on the other hand, is 

still considered a junior by USPSA 

standards. He may be only 18 but 

he is a card-carrying Open Master 

with plenty of major match experience. 

His youthful exuberance 

and natural skill at arms seem to 

carry him to Top Junior finishes 

match after match without the 

benefit of much practice. Why no 

practice? He's too busy. Adam 

will both graduate high school 

and receive his AA degree from 

Spokane Falls Community College 

in June. 

Was this a battle of "old age 

and treachery overcoming youth 

and skill?" Hardly. Both competitors 

are highly skilled and 

know the tricks of the trade. Joe 

may have an edge with his considerable 

match experience but 

Adam plays just as hard capitalizing 

on his own creative approach 

to solving stages. 

When the final scores were tallied, 

Joe Desimone, edged out Adam 

Sahlberg by less than two percentage 

points! Congratulations to Joe on winning 

the first ever Area 1 3-Gun Championship. 

For the Limited match, the high 

wind situation on stage 1 caused big 

problems for some of the shooters — 

and I count myself among them. My 

good friends Jim Wail, David Neth and 

I compared our mistakes and misfortunes 

throughout the day and were 

prepared to chalk this one up to experience. 

Heck, Jim Sullivan had rne by 

40 percentage points on rifle stage #1 

and I was in second place! Well, the 

large lady had not yet sung, and as it 

turned out, I won the Limited match title. 

Jim and David were close behind at 

98.1 percent and 94 percent respectively. 

It was a great match for a first 

effort and I will be at the second annual 

match. I hope you will be there 

too. 

"vt 

Photo supplied by Pat Kelley 

Limited match winner Patrick Kelley drove 

a Glock 35 on the way to victory. 


• •2 0 • V 

SHOTGUNS 

Patrick E. Kelley 

CI 

k 

,st Limited Overall 

1st Limited Shotgun 

lst Place, Shotgun Stage 1, 

1st Place, Shotgun Stage 2, 

a ' 

'411i4ro 

.4Nr". 

uipy 

Jim Wall 

2nd Limited Overall 

2nd Limited Shotgun 

2nd Plate, Shotgun Stage 1 

3rd Place , Shotgun Stage 2 

2nd Place, Shotgun Stage 3 

Thir 

e Overall 

2nd Place, Shotgun Stage 2 

The fastest limited Division Shooters at the 2002 Area 1 3-Gun 

(hampionship were all shooting the fastest-cycling shotgun in 

the world — The Winchester Super X2 Practical. 

BF.7 

SA:n. - 

The Guns That Work."' 

WINCIff5Tfli' 

RIFLES AND SHOTGUNS 

IhrintheAv a regoshind hadenvi &Timed Iran ain Corp:xi:Mon

Queen 

Photo courtesy of Vicky Harrison 

of brass, 

Vicky Harrison shows 

off her stock in trade: once-fired casing. 

HOHRII 

(- 

D The 

BY DARYL CROSS, TY-19474 

o you ever think about the 

brass you leave lying 

around, or what to do 

with the mountains of it 

you have stored in your basement or 

Brass 

garage? Have you ever wondered 

about the industry that provides us 

with these little things that help our 

guns go boom? 

Queen 

Please let me introduce to you thc 

quintessential Southern Belle of 

brass, Vicki Harrison. Her story of 

success in an industry run almost totally by men has Liral,%n a fair amount 

of attention from business gazettes. Vicky has been written up in the Memphis 

Business Journal, the Tennessee Economics Development Guide, and 

in Arms and the Woman. 

Cif 

Vicky got her start working for her brother, Dennis Anderson of Anderson 

Munitions Incorporated (AMI). AMI was making police training 

ammunition in the mid 1980s, and was purchasing vast amounts of used 

brass from police departments and agencies all over the United States, including 

the FBI. Anderson quickly became a source for others in the loading 

industry for brass, but AMI's law enforcement customers had far more 

brass to sell than the commercial reloaders really wanted to buy. As a result, 

AMI quickly accumulated a vast surplus of brass. Vicky was employed 

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y Anderson Munitions for several 

years and realized an opportunity to 

start her own company, working 

closely with AMI to supply shooters 

and commercial loaders at large with 

this surplus brass. 

Since Vicki is truly a southern belle, 

it seemed only natural to call her company 

"Southern Belle Brass." By leveraging 

that massive surplus, it did not 

take long before Vicky was buried in 

brass customers. As her business grew, 

Southern Belle needed more brass than 

AM! could supply, so it began buying 

and selling used brass by the pound. 

Got a few thousand extra .45 cases? 

Vicky buys them, sorts them, and resells 

them where they're needed. Want 

to trade out that small mountain of 

9mm you have for .40's? Give Vicky a 

call. 

When she wasn't traveling to 

matches to swap brass or sell ammo for 

AMI, Harrison began using what little 

spare time she had to attend computer 

classes at the local college. She developed 

a web page using those skills, and 

soon had an active e-commerce site to 

support her sales. 

Customers began asking for things 

other than brass, and Vicky used that 

demand as an opportunity to expand 

her business into other areas, particularly 

on the internet. 

"My customers taught me what to 

do," she says. 

Customers would ask if she took 

various credit cards, if she had a web 

site, if she carried a particular product, 

had catalogs, etc. These questions led 

her to include these things in her business. 

Now as well as loading components, 

Vicky sells such specialized 

things as her 24-inch "Flip Up" brass 

mower. The brass collector keeps you 

off your hands and knees because you 

push it like a mower, picking up brass 

very quickly and depositing the brass 

into a hopper. It is a wonderful piece of 

equipment for any range to have for 

rapid clean up. 

"Everybody's calling it the Brass 

Buggy," she laughs. 

Once Vicky's business had grown 

to serve customers throughout the 

United States, it just seemed natural to 

Vicky to go abroad. When she heard of 

a Swedish company that needed casings 

Vicky sought help from the Tennessee 

Small Business Development 

Center in Memphis. Their International 

Trade Center was a tremendous 

help, she says, for doing business in 

other countries. Today Harrison sells 

brass to customers in Thailand, Germany, 

and Venezuela, and that Swedish 

customer is of great value to her today. 

While her trade in brass involves 

commercial loaders and large metropolitan 

police agencies, much of her 

business still revolves around buying 

and selling brass from shooters like you 

and me, a few pounds at a time. I have 

used brass that far exceeds my needs, 

and I would venture to say that a lot of 

you probably do too. If you would like 

to convert that old stuff into something 

you can use, I would suggest contacting 

Vicky. I have used A.MI's ammunition 

for competition and will use it this year 

at the PPC Nationals in Jackson, Miss. 

Among PPC shooters, their product 

has an excellent reputation for accuracy. 

It is so uniform and consistent 

that AMI ammunition has been used to 

set several national records. (The PPC 

course has accuracy challenges comparable 

to the Bianchi Cup. Champions 

must pierce the soup-can sized x-ring 

at CO yards.) 

Corrections, Omissions, Goofs 

By Romig TAYLOR, 

TY49724, USPSA STAll 

Photo courtesy of Vicky Hamson 

Expansion plans. Harrison has 

expanded her product line to include 

reloading components, and 

range accessories like Southern 

Belle's new "Brass Buggy." 

You can contact Vicky at Southern 

Belle Brass, P.O. Box 2165, Cordova, 

TN 38088. Phone (901) 774-9800, fax 

(901) 947-1924 and order line (800) 

478-3160. Her web site is www.southernbelle.com 

and her e-mail is 

Vicky@southernbellebrass.com . You 

will not be disappointed. For Anderson 

Munitions, contact Dennis Anderson 

at P.O. Box 2050, Cordova, TN 38088. 

Phone (901) 947-1520. His web site is 

www.andersonmunitions.com and his 

e-mail is email @ andersonmun 

itions.com . 

21101 Todd Rums 

"N 

Wrong Name 

In our last issue, the photo 

of Jennifer Reed shooting a 

Glock at the Tri-State Championships 

was mis-identified 

by the authors as being Teresa 

Kelley. 

The organizers of the Tri- 

State wish to apologize, and 

offer a "free pass" to any of 

their club shoots the next time 

either Ms. Kelly, or Ms. Reed 

are in the neighborhood. To 

claim it, contact Dave Fries at 

hammercj@stargate.net . 


• 

o 

CLI C- 

Fire The Desert, 

. Mk. II - 

v. 

/41 i44111k.2,4400 

2 :59a.m., room 3322 of Arizona 

Charlie's, Friday May 3. I'm 

fast asleep, with visions of 

snake-eye A hits dancing 

through my dreams. At 3:01a.m., I 

awake, screaming my head off. No, I 

didn't just drill a no-shoot because the 

ham-handed baggage handlers 

knocked my sights awry, I have a pain 

in my back. Amend that, I have a stabbing, 

red-hot icepick-like pain in my 

back. One hour later, (it took me that 

long to try to take a hot shower, fail, 

The 2002 USPSA 

3-Gun Nationals 

)10 tND PHOTO!' RY PATRICK SWEENEY, CA-157 • 

- 

and get dressed) I'm in the hallway, 

where Mike Gibson immediately 

wants to know "What's up?" He's 

packing to get to the range, but offers 

to take me to the ER. I decline, partly 

because neither of us knows where it is, 

and partly because I'm stubborn and 

can take a taxi. 

4:49a.m., the ER of University 

Medical Center, stall #2. The thrashing, 

flailing and contortions I'm 

demonstrating (along with the muffled 

screams) finally warrants the attention 

111111tru 

4 - 

0., • 

of a real medical doctor. He spends 3.5 

seconds pressing my back while asking 

"Doesithurthere?, doesithurthere?, 

doesithurthere?" before rolling me 

back and proclaiming the two dreaded 

words: "kidney stone." During the 

next two hours, I have various samples 

talcen, get trundled to the CT machine 

for a scan, and have 10 milligrams of 

morphine injected. (The morphine did 

nothing for the pain, by the way.) 

While I wait for the test results, I try to 

ignore the fact that for me, the match 

is over. 

3 - Gun Open Champion Michael Voigt. 

7:22a.m., I'm sent out, prescriptions 

in hand. The CT scan failed to 

disclose the location of the stone. 

The pain has faded to a mere approximation 

of having a target stapled to 

my back. I get my collection of drugs 

at the pharmacy across the street, get 

a taxi and head back to the hotel. On 

the way I read the warning labels. 

Two of the three say: "Warning! May 

cause drowsiness. Do not drive or 

operate machinery while taking this 

medication." Great, the only one I 

can take is the muscle relaxant. That 

and aspirin will be my steady companions 

for the next few days. By 

36 


Left: 3-Gun Standard Champion 

Bennie Cooley with brass and dust 

flying on Stage 12. Yes, the targets 

were as close as the angle would 

seem to indicate. 

Right: Ralph Arredondo, with his 

tricked-out Remington. Besides 

being four different colors, it has 

the most agressive speedloader 

hooks I've ever seen 

9:30 the morphine has worn ott 

enough that I can drive, so I gather m ■ 

cameras (when did they get so heavy?) 

and head for the range. I spend my 

first day of the match watching all the 

lucky people, and wondering if I'll get 

to shoot at all. What I found on my arrival 

was a large turnout for a 3-Gun 

match, the largest for a USPSA 3-Gun 

Nationals. The match was full, with 

209 competitors, and they all seemed 

to be having lots of fun. 

The history of the 3-Gun Nationals 

is not one of unrestrained growth. The 

first one I attended in 1995 (where I 

did quite well, thank you) only had 59 

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July August 2002 • FRONT SIGHT 

37

competitors. In the years since, the attendance 

has fluctuated, up to 147 in 

1998, and back down to only 116 in 

2000. Then in 2001, 3-Gun shooting 

took off. The 2001 Nationals had 183 

shooters. The news of the 2002 Nationals 

had applications surging in. The 

match filled well before shooting commenced 

on May 3rd, to where USPSA 

was actually turning shooters away! 

Two hundred nine competitors participated 

this year, making this if not the 

largest, then one of the largest 3-gun 

events ever held. 

Why the sudden interest? My theory 

is that it simply took this long for 

enough shooters to get 

all the gear (you need 

large amounts of it for 

3-gun) and for local 

clubs to hold enough 

3-gun matches for 

shooters to get the experience 

needed before 

reaching the critical 

mass to catch the 

popular interest. 

The range layout of 

any club in the southwest 

is the same: dry 

and dusty. At the 

Desert Sportsman's Rifle 

and Pistol Club, just 

west of Las Vegas (and 

the city is getting closer 

all the time) most of 

the handgun shooting 

bays are in one long 

line on the east side of 

the club, pointing at an 

angle over the backs ot 

the long range bays, 

facing southwest. Ten 

of the 12 stages were 

placed in those bays. 

The courses came in 

for a great deal of discussion 

by the competitors, 

as they featured 

many tiny shooting 

ports. Some of 

those ports were quite 

low. The subject of 

course design that 

brought out the largest 

amount of discussion 

National Title 

Open 3-Gun National Champion 

Limited 3-Gun National Champion 

Handgun: Open - High overall 

Handgun: Open - 2nd overall 

Victor 

Michael Voigt 

Bennie Cooley 

Jerry Miculek 

Michael Voigt 

Handgun: Limited - High overall Robert Woods 

Handgun: Limited - 2nd overall Taran Butler 

Handgun: Limited-10 - High overall 

Shotgun: Open - High Overall 

Shotgun: Open - 2nd Overall 

Shotgun: Limited - High Overall 

Shotgun: Limited - 2nd Overall 

Rifle: Open - High Overall 

Rifle: Open - 2nd Overall 

Rifle: Limited - High Overall 

Rifle: Limited - 2nd Overall 

COMBO: Open - High Overall 

COMBO: Open - 2nd Overall 

COMBO: Limited - High Overall 

COMBO: Limited - 2nd Overall 

were the number of shots that required 

competitors to brush very close to or 

right up to the 180 degree plane. By 

my count, there were 58 shots that you 

had to fire with your gun past 150 or 

160 degrees. Some put you right up to 

175 degrees. As you can imagine, there 

were a bunch of DQ's. 

One stage in particular was No. 11, 

"Varmints in the Garden II," a shotgun 

stage. You started facing downrange, 

with four slugs loaded up first. After 

hitting (or not) the four paper targets, 

you had to take off directly to your left. 

Right-handed shooters had to make 

sure their muzzle stayed pointed 

Selected Overall Results, USPSA 3-Gun Nationals 

1st Lady - Open 

2nd Lady - Open 

1st Lady - Limited 

2nd Lady - Limited 

1st LAW - Open 

2nd LAW - Open 

1 st LAW - Limited 

2nd LAW - Limited 

1st Military - Open 

2nd Military - Open 

1st Military - Limited 

2nd Military - Limited 

Michael Voigt 

Jake Kempton 

Bennie Cooley 

Kelly Neal 

Tony Holmes 

Jerry Miculek 

Bennie Cooley 

Kelly Neal 

Michael Voigt 

Bruce Piatt 

Bennie Cooley 

Taran Butler 

Deborah Cheek 

Nancy Huspek 

Vicki Carlton 

Cheryl Current 

Bruce Piatt 

Robert Kamensky 

Bennie Cooley 

Kelly Neal 

Klaus Staneck 

Kevin Lamb 

John Meehan 

Barry Williams 

1st Junior - Open 

2nd Junior - Open 

1st Junior - Limited 

2nd Junior - Limited 

1st Senior - Open 

2nd Senior - Open 

1st Senior - Limited 

2nd Senior - Limited 

downrange. After traveling 20 feet or 

so, you made a hard right turn, and 

while traveling straight downrange you 

shot at the eight steel and clay birds 

placed against the right-hand berm. 

Right-handed shooters were now 

walking to their left, while firing at 170 

degrees to the plane. At the end of the 

lane you ran forward and made a hard 

left, now firing at eight steel placed 

against the left berm, again 170 degrees 

to the plane. Part of the problem 

was reloading while moving to the 

right. It was no problem to• Ralph 

Arredondo, who has a set of speedloader 

hooks on his shotgun you have 

to see to believe. He can stuff four 

1st Super Senior - Open 

2nd Super Senior - Open 

1 st Super Senior - Limited 

2nd Super Senior - Limited 

1st M-class Aggregate - Open 

2nd M-class Aggregate - Open 

1st A-class Aggregate - Open 

2nd A-class Aggregate - Open 

1st B class Aggregate - Open 

2nd B-class Aggregate - Open 

1st C-class Aggregate - Open 

2nd C-class Aggregate - Open 

1st D-class Aggregate - Open 

2nd D-class Aggregate - Open 

1st M-class Aggregate - Limited 

2nd M-class Aggregate - Limited 

1st A-class Aggregate - Limited 

2nd A-class Aggregate - Limited 

1st B-class Aggregate - Limited 

2nd B-class Aggregate - Limited 

1st C-class Aggregate - Limited 

2nd C-class Aggregate - Limited 

1st 0-class Aggregate - Limited 

2nd 0-class Aggregate - Limited 

Joe Bridgman 

Adam Sahlberg 

Levi Erler 

Matt Milkovich 

Benny Hill 

Joe Desimone 

Rod Current 

Mike Eggen 

Lyman Warkins 

Dave Antonini 

Frank Cook 

Roscoe Livingston 

Tony Holmes 

Ron Filho 

Dave Bridgman 

Larry Wood 

Jimmy Holdsworth 

Wayne Holloway 

Sam Garda 

Ben Crabtree, Sr. 

Brian Butcher 

Steve Douglass 

Kelly Neal 

Robert Woods 

David Neth 

Kerry Dernatos 

Bill Parmelee 

Mark Buchanan 

Mike Eggen 

Gary Fems 

Craig Underdown 

Len Falkenthal 

MANUAL Rifle: Open - High Overa II Michael Voigt 

MANUAL Rifle: Open - 2nd Overal I Eric Ronning 


more rounds into his shotgun without 

having to turn it over! To no one's surprise, 

four shooters DQ'd on that stage 

alone for breaking the plane. 

Another controversial design and 

procedural call was on stage 7, "Bring 

the Black Tape," an all-rifle stage. The 

props were instantly recognizable, rwo 

sidewalls with a center dished in, with 

small ports and narrow slots. The RO 

informed everyone that the "no retreat" 

rule would be enforced. That is, 

once you've engaged targets at a further 

shooting position, you couldn't 

back up to re-engage targets from a 

closer position. For stage #7, the right 

and left walls were defined as one parallel 

shooting position. That meant if 

you went forward to the slots, you 

couldn't back up to the other side wall. 

You had to fire right-left-center, or leftright-center. 

One shooter in my squad 

was stopped when he forget, shot the 

left wall ports, then the center, and 

tried to go to the right wall. He had 

misses and FTE penalties applied to his 

score for the targets on the right, essentially 

zeroing his stage score. 

The mixup apparently was caused 

by another stage that is a classic USPSA 

stage. With four walls, a door, and 

windows, stage 4, "Spring House 

Cleaning," was instantly recognizable. 

Once you entered the "building," if 

you tried to go back to a previous 

shooting location you'd crash right 

into the RO who was racing along behind 

you. Somehow the "no-retreat" 

rule for that stage got applied to all the 

stages. 

Another point of discussion were 

the lane markers. Some of the stages 

were quite long, like stage 1, "Will 

Michael Remember," at 75 yards long, 

and stage 12, "Gully Whacker," at almost 

100 yards long. Trying to mark 

the shooting lanes with 2x4's laid on 

the ground would have required 

enough lumber to frame a small house. 

The shooting lanes were delineated by 

yellow rope strung along rebar hammered 

into the ground. The rope was 

a foot or so off the ground. On stage 1 

1 saw Bruce Piatt trip on the rope but 

recover and continue. On stage 12, 

one competitor tripped and dropped 

Dusty shuffle. On Stage #11, 

"Varmints in the Garden," the 

shooter is indeed moving straight 

away from the camera while 

shooting directly to the right. He 

didn't brush any closer to the 180 

than most of the rest of us. 

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40 FRONT SIGHT • May/June 2002

You might think from the preceding that we almost had 

a mutiny, but not so. There were lots of happy shooters, and 

lots of bullets being sent merrily downrange. 

Scoring on the run. Jake Kempton isn't halfway 

through Stage 12, and the RO is already scoring his hits. 

This time-saving measure kept the match from running 

VERY late. 

her rifle, and was DQ'd as a result. On stage 12, Bruce didn't 

trip, and shot the course so fast I wouldn't have believed 

it if I hadn't been sitting there trying to get the camera focused 

on him. He traveled the nearly 100 yards and fired 

40 rounds in 47.72 seconds! There were only 11 other 

shooters in the whole field who did it in the 50's, and everyone 

else was 60 seconds or longer. 

One stage I liked, even though I didn't do so well on it 

(yes, I did get around to shooting) was stage 3, "Lose if you 

miss one." It was a combo shotgun/handgun stage. Downrange 

of each end of the "car" were five poppers hiding five 

falling plates. You had to drop all the poppers with your 

shotgun, then draw and load your handgun and knock over 

the plates. Since you couldn't see all the steel from one location, 

you had to shuttle back to the start in order to get 

everything. Yee-ha! The noise, the smoke, the dust, the pile 

of empty shotgun hulls! I'm definitely going to be duplicating 

this one at one of our club 3-gun matches. However, the 

light and dust showed the difference equipment can make. 

Mike Voigt, shooting in Open, did it in 21.87 seconds. In 

Open there were 14 runs under 30 seconds. In Limited, 

Taran Butler did it in 25.23, but he was one of only two 

shooters who did it under 30. Since that range faced the setting 

sun, those who shot it late in the afternoon were at a decided 

disadvantage, compounded by the fact that none of 

the steel was painted any color but primer gray. 

A curious stage was No. 8, "Junkyard Clutter." The first 

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SHOOTERS PRAISE, 

AREA 6 

CHAMPIONSHIP: 

SOUTHEAST PRACTICAL 

SHOOTING ASSOCIATION 

DOES IT AGAIN. 

STORY AND PHOTOS BY fAMES D. TAYLOR, TY-401S3 

TRAPPED AGAIN 

-Jim, we need to know if you could . . ." Wes and 

Janie Herrick cornered me at our South F,ast Practical 

Shooters Association monthly club match. 

I had enough projects to keep me off the streets and 

out of trouble, but their wide grins and aluminum 

baseball bats appealed to my generous nature. "Okay, 

I'll write up the Area Six Championship again." 

"Great! Same deal as last time." Wes smiled. 

lanie sighed, "I just know you'll invent something to 

make our match look good." 

I shrugged. "Well, creative writing is my business." 

Junior Terror. Bron 

son Collins works the 

angle on Stage 6. 

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"List year we had the results posted 30 minutes 

after the last score sheet arrived. This year we're 

trying for 15 minutes." Statistical goddess Linda 

Chico strapped her assistants Julie Holling and 

Henry Swartout III into their ergonomic chairs. 

Their bank of computers, displays, keyboards and 

printers dominated the match headquarters at the 

Gateway Rifle and Pistol Club in Jacksonville, Fla. 

Trying to get her best camera angle, I asked, 

"How big is the Area Six Championship?" 

She grinned and counted on her fingers. "We 

have 305 shooters. Each shooter has nine score 

sheets with nine entries per sheet. Over three days 

we'll make and check 24,705 entries. That's maybe 

a hundred thousand keystrokes. 'We've already 

printed a couple of thousand pages preparing each 

competitor's paperwork." 

Seeing Cathy Cooey and Nancy Wells arrive 

with piles of score sheets, I decided to escape before 

Linda put me to work. 

When I turned, SEPSA treasurer Janie Herrick, lifted 

me by my collar and smiled; "And don't forget to tell 

how I write checks for more than $20,000 in prizes 

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"Thanks for taking that job." I grinned. "I saw you 

going nuts after the last match." 

Before I could escape, Nancy Wells added; "Don't 

forget to mention the hundred-plus door prizes our 


sponsors contributed." 

Cheryl Lambert hung on my arm. 

"We'll be giving them out tonight at the 

banquet. Your chances are better than 

the Florida lottery." 

EASY AND HARD WAYS TO 

SHOOT AN ALPHA 

"Challenging, educational and 

fun," said Park Service policeman 

Morris Bray as he pointed to "Tight 

Squeeze Standards" sponsored by 

Frank Garcia's Universal Shooting 

Academy. 

As I surveyed the eight IPSC and 10 

no-shoot targets lined up against the 

backstop, I had to agree. I asked "How 

did you shoot it?" 

"You can aim for the head and get 

alphas the hard way, or you can hit between 

the no-shoots. I shot low. Much 

easier that way." 

I squinted. "We've got some high 

quality shooters here. I don't see many 

patches on the no-shoots." 

"They are good, they have to be." 

Morris pointed to the shooter poised 

like a ballet dancer on one leg. "Especially 

when you have to lean around a 

barricade to get the last targets in each 

string." 

SLIDING, SPINNING AND FLIP- 

PING 

While the range oificers 

reset the targets 

on "Mr. Hanky's 

Everything Moves," I 

snagged Larry Weber of 

Deland Fla., and asked 

"How did you like 

Mike Fordyce's propeller?" 

Larry looked back at 

the pair of spinning targets, 

the horizontal 

sliding one, and two 

flip-up disappearing 

ones arranged in eightshot 

arrays. 

"I'm an A-class shooter 

and go to a match ever\ 

• 

weekend, but this 

stage has everything 

I ever 

feared in a competition." 

I said, "STI International 

sponsored 

this stage. 

They want to 

showcase their 

handguns." 

Larry asked, 

"Who dreamed 

up this one?" 

"Thank the 

SEPSA design 

team. We shoot 

stuff like this 

every club 

match." 

Movin' Ron Taylor puts 

the hammer down. 

Larry checked 

his score sheet 

and groaned, 

"Well, it made an honest man out of 

me." 

INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGE 

As I wandered up to "Window 

Shopping," sponsored by C-More Systems, 

I realized virtually the entire 

squad was wearing the distinctive 

green-and-yellow jersey of the Jamaican 

team. 

"We're shooting competitions in 

Florida to prepare for the international 

match in Johannesburg, South Africa, 

this fall," said Ronald Brown as he 

watched his teammate Peter Hibbert 

maneuver through 10 IPSC and four 

Pepper popper targets hidden behind a 

wall and several barrels. 

I scribbled notes while talking. 

"Looks like a good place to do it." 

"Great practice. On this stage every 

target makes you lean, stoop or twist," 

said Brown. 

While I took the Jamaican team pho- 

Take Aim! Author James Taylor takes on "Tight Squeeze Standards," one of the hallmark 

stages of the match. 


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The Fordyce propeller. Tipping over an activator 

sent two IPSC targets windmilling around 

steel hard cover. You could hear shooters struggling 

with the hard cover as you walked by: 

"Bang, Bang, BONG, Bang, BONG, Bang!" 

tograph, teammate John Lee added, 

"Grtat match. You have to think and 

plan." 

PIRATES OF THE CARRIBBEAN- 

THE REAL GAME 

"Having fun yet?'. 

I watched Tom Stidham of Custer, 

Wash., reel away from "Clear the 

Decks, Swabbies." 

Jack Norris Practical Shooting Supplies 

sponsored the 30-round stage 

built on a ship mockup. Targets ranging 

from 2 to 25 yards kept the shooter 

moving and stopping. 

Tom swayed like he just finished a 

sea voyage. "Sure did. Excellent match. 

First rate stages like this challenge 

you." 

"The Area Six Championship looks 

better than the nationals. I'm disappointed 

I couldn't shoot this time." 

Photogenic Rhonda Stidham pointed 

to the braces on her arm and knee that 

sidelined her from the Area 6 Championship. 

"You missed a good one." By my reckoning, 

Tom and Rhonda made the 

longest trip to reach Jacksonville. 

DECEPTIVELY 

SIMPLE 

"You'd be amazed at the 

number of good shooters 

who didn't clean this 

stage." CRO Barry Summerlin 

said of the combined 

"Portal Plates" and 

"Back To The Wall" stages 

sponsored by Glock. 

"I'm not surprised. A plate 

rack can challenge anybody." 

I set up my tripod 

and remote control camera 

to do dynamic action shots 

on Sunday morning. Early 

morning sun diffused 

through the clouds gave 

the perfect light photographers 

love. 

Vaughn Horne of the Border 

Patrol passed me as he 

prepared to be the first 

shooter. "You have to get concealed 

targets from around a barricade, then 

stoop to get the plates. This is great 

training for difficult situations." 

A NEW ANGLE 

"How did you like it?" I recognized 

Charles Whidden coming off the firing 

line at Angle of the Dangle. Advanced 

Performance Shooting and Sprinco 

USA sponsored brain boggling Stage 7 

to make life interesting. 

"Excellent shoot. Great stages." 

Chuck pointed to his companion. "Lee 

Siira and I come here every year to prepare 

for the 3-Gun competition in Las 

Vegas." 

Lee pointed to the black wall concealing 

10 IPSC and four poppers. 

"Clever design. You can never see all of 

the targets at once. Each shot takes another 

move." 

"Still shooting cowboy?" I recognized 

Charles as Charlie Redneck, one 

of several crossover shooters at the 

match. 

"Sure do. I shoot cowboy for fun 

and IPSC for competition." Charlie 

studied me. "What's your alias? 

AREA 6 MATCH WINNERS 

Max Michel, Open 

Phil Strader, Jr., Limited 

Michael Fordyce, Limited-10 

A.J. McCartney, Production 

Richard Timberlake, Revolver 

AREA 6 DIVISION STATISTICS 

Open — 101 

Limited — 146 

Limited-10 — 29 

Revolver - 7 

"Ivan Inaccurate. I always live up 

to it in IPSC." 

FAST SHOOTING 

"Three point eight five seconds." 

Joseph Hart, a South Miami Beach policeman, 

pointed to the side match 

shooter preparing to better a good 

record. 

"Almost three times faster that what 

I can do." I watched the RO reset the 

plate rack. Bar-Sto Barrels, Briley, 

Brownell's, Montana Gold Bullets and 

Starline Brass sponsored the speed contest. 

Joseph shook his head. "IPSC 

shooters do with a pistol what most 

people can't do with a machine gun." 

I figured the South Miami Beach 

policeman knew his business and 

asked, "How long have you been competing?" 

"About 15 years, but I see IPSC getting 

more competitive than it was 10 years 

ago. We're showing what can be done 

with a handgun." 

"That's what I noticed when I hung 

around with the super squads. Those 

guy practice every day. I never saw so 

many magazines cleaned between 

stages in my life." 

Joseph nodded. "They don't leave 

anything to chance. That's how they 

get into the Master class." 

GOING TOO WELL 

"I'm bored." Ray Lambert steered 

the electric cart along the shady lane to 

the back two stages. His languor raised 


Data center. With tens of thousands of scores to enter, the stats shed was 

a busy place. Linda Chico, Judy HoIling, and Henry Swartout III were maneuvering 

to enlist my help, so my camera and I beat a hasty retreat. 

my curiosity', so I asked; "What's the problem?" 

"Just look at it. Perfect weather." Ray pointed to the 

bright overcast sky. "Everything is on schedule. No arbitrations 

or range malfunctions. I don't feel needed." 

I commiserated, "It takes all the fun out of the job." 

"Wes and Janie do a super job of direction 

and administration. Sixty-five 

people donated their time." Ray stopped 

at Stage 8 and looked at me. "And you 

know what else?" 

"What?" 

Ray smiled. "A million dollars could 

never buy what our dedicated people do 

for free." 

BALLISTIC BISTRO 

-We shoot every day and compete in 

10 to 15 big matches likes this between 

March and October." Max Michel of the 

Army Marksmanship Team from Fort 

Benning, Ga., watched teammate Julie 

Goloski sitting at the table studying the 

menu. 

"It seems to pay off." I watched 

Goloski leap up from the table and blast 

her way through Schuemann Barrel,: 

Stage 8, "Make Mine to Go!" 

This field course simulated a day 

where your favorite restaurant takes a 

terrorist attack. Following Wyatt Earp's 

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advice, I took my time in a hurry. Maybe 

I should have run like everybody else. I'll 

have to try that next time. 

STREET FIGHTER 

"Vs. es Herrick cares about the shooter. 

There's something for the best, but nothing 

a beginner can't handle." Kert Gaskill 

of the Strayer-Voig-t Team pointed dovvn 

the hundred foot blue corridor. 

"He convinced Wayne Bergquist Custom 

Pistols to sponsor Alley Cat." I counted 

16 IPSC targets spaced along a hundredfoot 

alley with five ports. 

Noticing my match official yellow shirt 

and notepad, Julie Ragno pulled me 

aside. "I just wanted to tell you, the range 

officers are great. We had perfect 

weather. This was a great match." 

WARNING 

To capture the Area 6 Championship spirit, I took some liberties 

with places and actual conversations. Unfortunately, I 

could not include everybody I interviewed. Thanks for your 

comments and help. 

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mint 

July/August 2002 • FRONT SIGHT 

47

VILL 0\ 

RE LOADIN 

Gl11 OM, RELOADI \ G EVERT- 

„ Adoor om 

with 3-Gun shooting becoming 

more popular, it 

may be of interest to 

look at loading for a 

semi-auto rifle. Essentially, the steps of 

reloading for a semi-auto do not 

change, but there are some added considerations 

that come into play. 

Most load data is geared to bolt actions. 

All they need to be concerned 

with is the chamber pressure. However, 

most semi-autos are gas operated, 

so we must also be concerned with gas 

port pressure. 

The military style semi-auto rifles 

are of most concern. They have unregulated 

gas systems versus the regulated 

systems seen in commercial rifles 

such as the Browning BAR or Remington 

7600. The regulated systems allow 

more latitude in gas port pressure for 

they bleed off a quantity of gas and 

stop. By various means, these systems 

close off from the barrel after a quantity 

of gas has been diverted. The unregulated 

systems seen in military guns 

such as the AR's, M I 's, and 

M14/M1Ns use a direct gas impingement 

—as long as there is pressure in the 

barrel, gas is acting on the mechanism. 

This is why the age old caution 

about what powders to use in Garands. 

Powders such as IMR 4895 and 4064 

(medium rifle powders) work well in 

Garands. Slower burning powders, 

such as IMR 4350 and 4831, give too 

Guy has been reloading for 29 

years, including a stretch as a commercial 

reloader. He began practical 

pistol competition in 1977. He works 

as a Technical Service Coordinator for 

the Sporting Equipment Division of 

Blount, Inc., which includes CCI, 

Speer, RCBS, Outers, Weaver, and 

Ramline. As part of Technical Services, 

Guy handles questions and 

problems relating to SED products. 

high a pressure at the gas port, risking 

damage to the operating rod. The AR's 

are not as critical since the gas tube is 

self-venting once the bolt carrier begin, 

to move. 

Another important considerati,,H 

TAO" 

sTE 

coo 

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in a semi-auto versus a bolt action is the 

force needed to chamber a round. In a 

bolt action you have your entire arm 

working on the bolt handle to force the 

cartridge into the chamber, plus the 

camming action of the bolt lugs. This 

can be a tremendous amount of force. 

The semi-auto has only the spring 

pushing the bolt. This spring is much 

weaker than the force you can apply in 

a bolt action, so anything that prevents 

the cartridge from chambering easily 

can cause a malfunction. 

To eliminate potential problems 

here, full-length resizing is a must. Bolt 

guns may get away with neck sizing, 

thanks to the force that can be applied 

to chamber the round. However, if the 

shoulder is not pushed back slightly 

(say 0.005"), the effort to chamber the 

round is increased, regardless of the 

gun. 

Some shooters have found they 

need even more sizing than a standard 

full-length sizing die will provide. A 

"small base" die re-sizes the case further 

down the body of the casing. 

They do work the brass more, but that 

is a small price for improved reliability. 

When reloading for rifles, case 

length and case neck thickness are 

much more important than they are 

with a pistol. The higher pressures 

found in rifle cartridges tends to flow 

the brass forward while pushing the 

bullet through the bore. This can increase 

the length of the casing in only 

one or two firings, depending on the 

cartridge. The normal trim length is 

0.010" below maximum. If the case 

grows too long, it causes problems by 

hitting the end of the chamber and entering 

the throat area. In a bolt gun this 

round may still chamber (and fire at elevated 

pressures), but in a semi, the 

spring may not push the cartridge forward 

sufficiently to allow the gun to go 

in battery. We really don't want the 

gun to go in battery with a long casing, 

but we also don't want to clear malfunctions 

caused by our oversize reloads. 

As the case grows in length, the 

neck thickness can also increase. This is 

not as easily seen, nor is it as easy to 

correct as with trimming. Eventually, 

the case neck can become so thick that 

the loaded round will not fit the chamber 

neck, and cause a range of malfunctions 

ranging from failures-tochamber, 

to over-pressure caused by 

impaired bullet release. Thick case 

necks must either be reamed (removing 

inside-diameter material) or turned 

(removing outside-diameter material). 

Turning is preferred, giving a more uniform 

neck thickness. Reaming may 

leave the neck thickness variable, 

though that is still better than too 

thick. 

Many bolt action shooters, and 

some high power shooters using semiautomatics, 

will seat the bullet long to 

be closer to the rifling, imitating the 

benchrest shooters. This does not promote 

best functioning in a semi. Assuming 

the ammunition will still fit in 

the magazine, in some cases the bullet 

may contact the rifling, and, as with 

case length and neck thickness, cause 

problems with functioning or pressure. 

Conventional wisdom says the bullet 

must be crimped for use in semi-autos. 

In a word — maybe. The point of 

a crimp is to ensure the bullet does not 

move under the conditions and handling 

it is subjected to. Military and 

commercial ammunition is commonly 

crimped simply because the military 

wants ammunition that will survive 

anything — and they may subject it to 

many adversities never seen by commercial 

ammunition. Commercial ammunition 

is built to be rugged because 

the factory does not know what the 

user will subject the ammunition to. 

For your own use, applying a crimp 

may not be needed. We will not be subjecting 

the ammunition to extreme 

conditions, but we must ensure the bullet 

stays put. Generally, the severest 

handling this ammo will experience is 

the trip from the magazine to the 

chamber. This happens very quickly 

and will normally be the greatest force 

applied to the cartridge other than firing. 

I advise people to test to see if they 

need a crimp. Load, say, five rounds, 

including one with no crimp. Measure 

the uncrimped one for length and be 

certain you can differentiate between 

tip damage and bullet movement. Fire 

each of the other four, having the test 

round feed into the chamber each time. 

This requires some juggling of taking 

the round out after each shot and repositioning 

it in the magazine, but it is a 

test, so it does not have to be done often. 

Once the other four rounds have 

been fired, re-measure the cartridge to 

determine if the bullet has moved. If it 

has, you may need to crimp. You may 

also be able to use a slightly smaller expander 

ball to allow the case to grip the 

bullet tighter. If you can detect no 

movement of the bullet, there is little 

need to crimp. You may want to experiment 

with a crimp anyway to see 

how it affects accuracy — sometimes it 

helps. 

I've talked about the utility of a cartridge 

gauge in the past with respect to 

handgun ammunition. It applies 

equally well to rifle. Dillon in particular 

makes cartridge gauges for the most 

popular rifle cartridges. These gauges 

are normally a bit tighter than a standard 

chamber, so if the cartridge drops 

into the gauge fully, there should be no 

problem when chambering. The gaup 

will also show if there is a length problem 

as well as show if the cartridge conforms 

to normal headspace. Overall, 

these gauges are good tools for helping 

ensure reliable performance. 

Semi-autos are much harder on 

cases than bolt guns for obvious reasons. 

However, some guns are much 

worse than others. Most people will 

not try to reload cases coming out of an 

H&K, for instance. These guns almost 

shoot two projectiles, the bullet and 

the casing. Even in mild-mannered 

guns, the rim may be bent, or there 

may be deep dings in the case mouth or 

body that could lead to a case failure. 

Case inspection is important. 

Military guns also have unrestrained 

firing pins. This means the firing 

pin is free to move around during 

cycling of the action. If you extract an 

unfired round, one having been fed 

into the chamber from firing a previous 

round, it will almost always have a 

slight dimple in the primer from the 

firing pin. This means we do not want 

Continued on next page. 


Neill on 

INSIDE 

RELOADING continued from previous page. USPSA continued from page 9. 

a primer that is too sensitive. Military 

spec primers are not as sensitive 

as commercial primers. Military 

spec primers are also magnum level 

primers. This is to allow use in the 

widest variation of ambient conditions. 

Many, many rounds have been 

loaded using commercial primers 

and fired in semi-autos, but there is 

a slightly greater risk of a slamfire 

than if military spec primers are 

used. 

Primer seating remains important, 

both for reliability and safety. 

The primer must be completely 

seated, so that the anvil legs are 

against the bottom of the primer 

pocket for best and most reliable 

performance. The most common 

cause of misfires are primers that are 

not completely seated. High 

primers, besides potentially misfiring, 

may also expose the risk of a 

slam fire. This sounds contradic- 

tory, but the slamfire in this instance 

is not from the firing pin hitting it, 

but from the entire boltface. 

Details are important. Take care 

of them and the ammunition will 

perform well. To summarize, 

Be picky about your cases — inspect 

them: 

-rejec-t bent rim 

-reject or trim cases too long 

-reject or correct thick neck walls 

-full-length resize — perhaps using 

a "small base" sizing die 

-use powders matched to the 

gun's action 

-gauge all cartridges during final 

inspection 

Shooting is much more fun than 

fighting the gun or ammunition. Be 

certain you keep having fun by taking 

care of the details before they 

cause problems. 

-t 

friendly "coach" for the first few times and 

we should have another long-term member. 

Provide these new shooters with a list of 

benefits that USPSA offers. Tell them about 

Front Sight magazine, the classification system, 

discounts from several USPSA-oriented 

manufacturers, USPSA member discounts 

from Hertz and other non-shooting companies, 

Section, State and Area matches, National 

Championships, NROI training seminars, 

a set of rules that governs all matches 

in the country, training manuals and other 

print resources from the home office, being 

part of a worldwide organization, a BOD 

and office staff that are involved in the sport. 

Tell them how we want to see USPSA grow 

and prosper for years to come. 

We are trying hard to bring new shooters 

to your clubs; please help us keep them for 

the long term by signing them up in USPSA 

and getting them involved in the whole organization. 

See you on the range! 

SPEED ON STEEL 

IS HERE TO STAY, DROUGHT TO YOU VY 

THE FOUNDERS OF THE STEEL CHALLENOE 

WANTED!!! 

MEMBERS and CLUBS to join the newly 

founded SCSA. We are also accepting bids 

for NATIONAL, REGIONAL and STATE 

CHAMPIONSHIP Tournaments. 

Joining includes MEMBERSHIP CARD, 

HAT, COURSE and RULE BOOK, list 

of clubs and a SUBSCRIPTION to the 

periodical 'SPEED' . Also included are 

DRAWINGS for PRIZES, INDUSTRY 

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CHALL 

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or INFORMATION contact: 

www.isishootists.com 

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Mike Fichman 

B. 818 897-5965 

H. 661 255-9156 

Mike Dalton 818 892-2188 

FAX 661 251-9076 


C U STO 

G u N TALK - 

By Dave Dawson, DAWSON PRECIS-10'. 

info@damonprecision.com 

Pay Attention lf The Blue's A Little 

Worn 

A new shooter walks up to a crowd; 

it's his second match in as many 

months. The crowd is talking to each 

other about something but the new guy 

could care less what the subject is. He 

hopes to get the crowd to notice his 

beautiful hi-tech blaster. Admiration 

should soon follow! He saunters in 

closer, waits a minute or so, but nobody 

notices. They are tallcing to this 

older guy, patting him on the back like 

his wife just had a baby. It's obvious 

that without coaxing this crowd isn't 

going to notice his beauty of a pistola. 

Just then the new guy notices the 

older guy's gun, hanging in a wellworn 

holster. It doesn't look like much 

at a glance — almost dull hard chrome 

or nickel — but when he looks closer 

he sees what had to be the ugliest gun 

in the world. Obviously well-used, 

even the rust was worn smooth, with 

bluing still left in parts that would be 

impossible for a holster or human hand 

to touch. The front strap was checkered, 

although it looked to be filled in 

with something. 

Curious, the new guy butts right 

into the conversation, "What did you 

use to fill in your checkered front 

strap?" Older guy replies with one 

word, "Skin," and continues his conversation 

with the rest of the crowd 

through muffled laughter. 

The new guy is now embarrassed, 

and still nobody has noticed his new 

pistol. Desperate times calls for desperate 

deeds so he interrupts once 

more. "I know where you can get your 

pistol reblued. They finished mine and 

did a great job." He then points to the 

masterpiece in his holster. Finally 

everybody is looking at his pistola, yet 

nobody seems impressed. Then some- 

one in the crowd speaks up. "Hey kid, 

this gun and this gentleman just won 

the State Championship," pointing at 

the older man. "And if you gave him 

your beautiful new pistol it would look 

like this in two weeks," again pointing 

this time to the Champ's pistol. "Practice 

and pretry don't mix. So kid, pay 

attention if the blue is a little worn." 

Hard-learned lessons are usually 

the ones remembered and that guy in 

the crowd was right. By the way, I wore 

that blue off the gun in two weeks. 

Now I often look past the finish to see 

the real treasures in life! Three I found 

in Texas. Although the blue's a little 

worn on them, their stories are classics. 

I won't say how old these people are, 

but they all qualify for the super senior 

category in USPSA. 

Marisa Hogan 

A wonderful lady, Marissa has no 

problem telling you what's on her 

mind and has a heart as big as Texas. 

She evidently wasn't getting to shoot 

enough, so she bought all the steel to 

run a steel challenge match. She now 

runs one every month. Just don't bring 

major loads — she might beat you up. 

Her skills are not only in shooting. 

She's quite an artist so she's called 

upon to paint cool stuff at some bigger 

matches in Texas. Also a worldrenowned 

horsewoman, she was a 

household name in dressage. She really 

does know how to make a horse 

dance. 

Bob Jung 

Here's a quiet man who has a story 

to tell. Involved in the invasion of 

Normandy Beach, Bob has lived quite 

a life. He's a real cowboy. He rode 

horses because he had to. That's how 

it was done, in the saddle from sun up 

to sun down. He brings his ‘‘ork ethics 

to the local club in Waco, Texas. He's 

there daily, fixing everything from 

props to the tractor, and when the 

work's done, Bob shoots. Practice 

makes perfect and he is no slouch. The 

man can hang with the best. There's a 

rivalry that somehow got started between 

Bob and Marisa. Okay, maybe I 

was involved. I know it didn't take 

much to get it started. Marisa's pretty 

competitive as you all know. 

The Colonel 

Last, but not least is the Colonel - 

Colonel Bill Blankenship (Ret). He 

wrote the book on field artillery for the 

United States Army - literally. He's 

knowledgeable about everything from 

handguns to cannons, and can tell you 

how far your bullet drops in 50 yards 

without firing a shot, or how much velocity 

it lost from the muzzle in the 10 

feet it took to get to the chronograph. 

I will tell you he sees things in black 

and white. Right is right, and wrong is 

wrong. The thing that bugs me is he's 

usually right. I've been in Texas for 

nine or 10 years, and I haven't been to 

many matches where he wasn't scoring 

or doing something to help. He also 

loves to shoot! If you happen to R.O. 

him you'll notice scoring is pretty easy. 

If the hits aren't touching they're 

pretty close together. Look, I am not 

saying he is cheap, but I think he does 

it to save on pasters. The man is accurate. 

These are people that I have had 

the pieasure of shooting, picking on, 

and enjoying over the past decade. 

Every one has a life story that interests 

me. They also motivate me with their 

"never quit" attitude. I hope you too 

can find the true treasures in life. Remember, 

pay attention if the "blue's a 

little worn." 


Beamhit's 190 system. 

ESP 

Electronic 

Making dry-firing fun 

STORY AND Pli() I OS BY ROBIN TAYLOR, 

when I first ran across the 

Beamhit 190 at the 2001 

SHOT Show, I knew immediately 

it had potential. 

Here, in a gun-case-sized box, was 

a complete laser training system. 

Designed to be hooked up to your 

PC via a USB port, the Beamhit system 

records hits, offers timing, and looks 

really cool hooked up to a laptop. As I 

continued to walk the floor, I found 

more training systems like it. I saw a 

competing model from BANG Corp 

(using a full-size IDPA target!), an allin-one 

system built into a dummy 

biathlon rifle, a third system intended 

for rifle ranges. Every few aisles it 

seemed I would trip over another laser. 

The 190 seemed like the best-developed 

and most apropos to our 

sport, so I presented my card and asked 

for a T&E sample. The wstem I re- 

-imealg”mmemir-- 

ittqw, 

Shooters c•WPA'M 

Protection 

• Quality all-in-the-ear electronic hearing protectors 

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protecting your 

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• Amplifies Sound - hear other hunters; &Inc, & clamp 

4. Does not "over-amplify" sounds such as shells rattling and 

leaves crunching. 

• Twin Noise Detectors keep 

speech detection normal as 

possible while softening sudden, 

loud noises. 

Ci\I I "111 

1 

USPSA STAFF, TY-19724 

ceived came complete with 

software, the briefcase Hit 

Detection Device, and the 

large, rather awkward 

LT100 laser emitter. 

While I wasn't thrilled 

with the emitter, I was fascinated 

by the Hit Detection 

Device (HDD). The HDD 

consists of a webcam built 

into the floor of that spiffy 

briefcase, with a reflective 

target built into the "lid." 

The webcam watches the reflective 

screen, sending back 

real-time images of what it 

looks like. The marksmanship 

training software monitors 

the real-time image and records 

the location of laser "hits" when they 

appear on the screen. The software 

maps the "hit" onto an image of the 

Electronic Shooters Protection 

15290 Gadsden Ct. • Brighton, CO 80603 

800-767-7791 • 303-659-8844 • Fax 303-659-8668 

www.espamerica.com • e-mail: esp@usa.net 

6 

All in one system. For practicing a draw-andshoot, 

an LT500-equipped Beamhit 190 is hard 

to beat. 

target on your PC's screen, keys a 

"bang" sound and scores the hit based 

on the rings on the target. It's pretty 

slick. 

Unfortunately, the software installation 

isn't so slick. I originally installed 

the software on a Gateway Windows 

2000 machine, and ended up 

spending several hours talking to customer 

service before the system would 

work. They were extremely friendly, 

but I really had better things to do with 

my time. When I installed it on a 

brand-new Dell Windows XP system, I 

ran into still more problems, and found 

myself back on the phone with customer 

service. A new version of thesoftware 

soon appeared, and after still 

another call to customer service (Microsoft's 

fault this time) we were up 

and running again. 

Using The System 

Practicing the one-shot draw (the 

signature exercise of IPSC competition) 

is where this system comes into its 

own. The 100 system can give you a series 

of start and stop beeps, separated 

by enough time to re-cock and re-holster 

your pistol. I tried doing this with 

the LT100 emitter installed, but it's just 

too big for anything but bullseye prac- 


tice. It hangs up on your leather, can't 

be used with concealment gear, and 

shows up in your vision when you 

present the gun — not cool. I was able 

to make it work by using a shorterbarreled 

version of my normal competition 

revolver, but that was a disappointment 

also. The laser emitters 

in these systems "listen" for the shock 

of the hammer striking the firing pin. 

In a double-action revolver, there are a 

lot of metal parts bashing into one another 

when you shoot quickly. As a result, 

I'd get one hit when the cylinder 

snapped into place, one hit when I 

fired the shot, and another hit when I 

released the trigger. Again, not cool. 

In the meanwhile, I'd asked 

Beamhit to send me their LT500 emitter, 

the flush-fitting unit that I'd seen 

on a demo gun at the show. It took a 

few months, but eventually the LT.500 

appeared in my inbox. 

This is a different animal. Instead of 

the large 3-by-2-inch protuberance 

used by the LT100, the LT500 fits almost 

entirely within the barrel. Only a 

small plastic end cap protrudes from 

the muzzle, allowing the shooter to 

practice one-shot draws, and even 

shot-to-shot reloads with true doubleaction-only 

guns. 

The LT500 pushed right into ni) 

pistols, and delivered a 

single flash of light each 

time the striker fell — assuming 

I had the tension 

on the cap set correctly. 

If it was too tight, or too 

loose, I wouldn't get any 

flashes at all. This eventually 

turned into a sec- 

From kludgy to cool. The 

LT100 emitter (top, both photos) 

is inexpensive, but it's fairly 

limiting. The Beam hit system 

really isn't useful for an IPSC 

shooter until you upgrade to the 

LT500 emitter (bottom, both 

photos). 

Two -Time IPSC World Champion Ted Bonnet Shoots 

PRECISION BULLETS 

What are you waiting for? 

THE DIFFERENCE IS... 

The Black Bullet was developed in 1990 

to use as a practice round in indoor 

ranges where smoke contaminated with 

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harmful gases would be emitted at the 

point of firing or at impact. The black bullet 

accomplished this and much more. 

The coating developed by Precision 

Bullets can withstand temperatures of up 

to 2700 degrees. which means that the 

bullet will not melt in any barrel or emit 

excessive smoke. The bullets are cast 

from certified 6/2 lead alloy, then put 

through a dry lube process encasing 

them in Precision's unique coating and 

sized to exact specifications. 

ond phone call to Beamhit, and a second 

emitter. The sleeve on the LT500 

they sent me was defective, but after 

THAT go-round, the final system fell 

into line. 

By IPSC standards, the system is 

fairly slow to respond, and a trifle 

vague because of it. At speed the flash 

of the dot is actually a slash, but 

the scoring was accurate 

enough to be useful on the oneshot 

draw. 

For the price (suggested retail is 

$299 with the LT100 emitter, 

$529 with the LT500), it's an 

expensive toy, but it does make 

dry-fire practice a lot more enjoyable. 

Don't bother buying a 

system with the LT190 emitter 

for IPSC, but if you can find a 

reasonably-priced LT500, it 

just might be worth it. 

For more information, contact 

Beamhit LLC at 10220 Old 

Columbia Road, Columbia, 

MD 21046. Phone: (410) 309- 

.1500. 

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VVeb Site: www.precisionbullets.com Email: bullet@tvec.net 

July'August 2002 • FRONT SIGHT

STATS 

BABE continued from page 29. 

Any favorites come to mind as a 

staff member? 

In 1990 I was invited to work in 

stats at the World Shoot in Adelaide, 

Australia. This was a lot of fun, and I 

have a lot of wonderful memories. It 

was a great experience to work with 

Nick Alexakos, Dave Arnold, and all 

the other staff members. It was so 

much fun to hear the Australians talk, 

loved their accent. This sport has been 

a way for Bill and I to travel and participate 

in the same sport together. We 

have been to places that we probably 

would have never visited if it were not 

for shooting. We have met people we 

would have never met and who are 

now good friends. 

Why Stats? 

At first I thought I was more of a behind-the-picture 

sort of person, as I 

was a little timid. This is hard to believe, 

but at our first club matches we 

had to figure the scores by hand, using 

calculators. There would be four or 

more of us punching numbers like 

crazy. And since I have always liked 

working with numbers was right in 

the middle of things. I guess that is 

where I got my first start in stats. 1987 

is when I helped Kerry Miller with stats 

at the Northwest Area Championships, 

and we were using computers. Boy, 

that was neat; we thought we were on 

top of the world. 

How did the name "Stats babe" 

come about? 

My friend, Dan Kyler, from Colorado 

Springs would draft my best 

friend Anita Augsburger and I into doing 

the stats for the Mile High Showdown 

and/or the Colorado State 

Championship Match, which is in the 

Eastern Section of Colorado. That is 

where Anita and I got the name — 

"STATS BABES." The name has stuck 

with us ever since then, and has carried 

over to wherever I do stats. It is kind of 

neat to hear someone from across the 

room or from across the range yell out 

"Hi Stats Babe!" It makes it all the 

more fun. 

Now, you also served as the 

USPSA board secretary for 

New Range Officers 

as of April 202 

many years; what was that experience 

like? 

I had a great time being the secretary 

to the board of directors. I really 

enjoyed having the experience of seeing 

how much time the president, 

BRAY, EUGENE E. TY-43263 CRO KERR, JEFFREY L A-46865 RO 

BRECKENRIDGE, STEVEN TY-40112 CRO KLINE. JEFF A-38674 RO 

DEGUIRE, MICHAEL A. TY-31727 CRO KODGLER, RONALD A-43156 RD 

DRUMMOND, DANNY A-36397 CRO KUPCZYNSKI, MARIAN A-45036 RO 

DRUMMOND, DAVID TY-35294 CRO LEVINE, DR. TED TY-28666 RO 

EITEL, JIM A-31351 CRO LUCCHETTI, VINCE A-45480 RO 

FORDYCE, MICHAEL A. A-40497 CRO MAATTA, THOMAS M. A-44753 RO 

HAMMOND, MAC A-42104 CRO MANCE, THOMAS TY-42983 RO 

KOHLER, DANIELLE M. TY-11134 CRO MCELHANEY JAMES J. A-44804 RO 

KOSIBA, THOMAS A-45043 CRO MCHENRY, NENETTE TY-43420 RO 

KRAMER, DENNIS A. A-41554 CRO MCMINN, NORM FY-42881 RO 

LAYSON, CARLOS W TY-5635 CRO MEARS, GERALD C. A-45709 RO 

LEONARD, JR., VIRGIL L. TY-31497 CRO MEIER, PAUL D TY-45683 RO 

MATOS, EMMA A-40940 CRO MEINERT, JOHN TY-43837 RO 

PARRISH, ALLAN TY-39899 CRO MESSING, JIM TY-42155 RO 

PERRIN, GARY TY-37666 CRO MESSING, ZANA R. A-46166 RO 

REDMOND II. THOMAS E. A-42300 CRO MILLER, LARRY TY 43445 RO 

SITTON, BRAD A-43579 CRO MINER, DOUGLAS TY-41230 RO 

SMITH, CLYDE A-23807 CRO MONEYPENNY STEVEN A-42937 RO 

STRUDEL, BILL L-399 CRO MORTON, JASON 0 A-45217 RO 

SUMMERLIN, BARRY R TY-41120 CRO MUSTONEN, OANIEL A-45960 RO 

TUTTLE, TERRY L. TY-39600 CRO NEVILLE, ANDY TY-44113 RO 

URBANICK, BARRY A-36160 CRO NIELSEN, EDWARD D. A 18876 RO 

WALTZER, BOB TY-39126 CRO NOW., LARRY W TY-43273 RO 

WEEKS, DANIEL L TY-39504 CRO NORTON, AL A-46370 RO 

WEEKS, SYLVIA M A-42486 CRO O'SHEA, MARK TY-16718 RO 

WESTERFIELD, JR , EDDIE A-39695 CRO OTTO, MARK A L-1930 RO 

ASHLEY, RANOY TY-46268 RO PARAOISI, JOE A 32531 RO 

ASHLEY, SYLVIA A TY-47018 RD PEGODA, HOLLIS RAY A-43403 RO 

AWE, JEFFREY TY-42765 RO PENDLEY, LORI ANN A 43897 RO 

BECKER, JUDITH K. A-24004 RO PENKALA, STANLEY J. TY-44158 RO 

BELL, BOB TY-44301 RO PERMUKA, JOHN D TY-40610 RO 

BLAIR, KIRK TY-40405 RO POTTER, JAMES D. TY-44995 RO 

BOLZ, BRADLY S. TY 29788 RO PURVIS TERRY TY-4088 RO 

CLOSE, DAN E TY-28080 RO REJDA, RORY S A-46226 RO 

CONNOLLY, ANTHONY P. "BUD" 1.2450 RO RHEA, DENNIS FY-42809 RO 

COOKSTON, WAYNE A-45413 RO RILEY. KATIE SCARLET A-43966 RO 

CORTEZ, PABLO A-45882 RO ROUBINEK, GARY W FY-40277 RO 

DAUDE, PATRICIA A-46061 RO RUMBERGER, EDWARD A-45586 RO 

DE BOER, DEBORA J A-43785 RO SANCHEZ, JORGE E A-47015 RO 

DRAKE. BARBARA TY-32582 RO SHOTKOSKI, THOMAS L. A-46003 RO 

FOELS, MICHAEL S TY-44304 RO SPANGLER, ROBERT T. FY-39579 RO 

FOREMAN, JR., ROBERT A. A-46335 RO STROUP, JOHN S. A-46408 RO 

FRAGALE, DEAN J TY-35670 RO TEMPLE. GENE TY-44099 RO 

FUENTES, MARIO A-32502 RO TORREMORO, IRVING R A-42318 RO 

GOBER. BRETT TY-37327 RO TREEN, LARRY A-45412 RO 

GORGES, RICHARD TY-42909 RO TRUITT, CLIFFORD L. TY-37898 RO 

GRINDSTAFF, 0OUGLAS W A-29171 RO WAKAL, LIOTA P TY-42580 RO 

GUMP, JOSEPH A. A-45222 RO WALDEN. DENNIS C. A-43331 RO 

HARCHA, COREY M A.44968 RO WARBLE, WILLIAM TY-43093 RO 

HARRISON. LANCE C. A-46532 RD WARREN. DAVID TY-40917 RO 

HARTMAN, JR , JOHN J TY-42479 RD WELTE, DANNY L. A-43415 RO 

HELGESEN. BRENEN A-46734 RO WELTE. MITCHEL L. TY 39681 HU 

HUBBARD, CURTIS LEE A-24978 RO WELTE, TIMOTHY TY-39746 RO 

HUTSENPILLER, MARK M. A-43199 RO WHITMORE, JEFFREY A-46758 RO 

IGLESIAS, MARCOS A-45677 RO WOODS, CHARLES K. A-45872 RO 

JANCZAK, MICHAEL S TY-22959 RO 

54 FRONT S}GHT • July/August 2002

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STATS 

_ . _ _ 

BABE continued from previous page. 

Andy Holiar, his lovely wife Sarah, and 

each director devoted to the organization 

to get things done. This includes 

Dave Thomas, the executive manager, 

and the office staff; they are all tremendous 

worker bees. The Vice President 

John Amidon and his cute wife Maggie, 

they both are great to know, and 

John was also so neat to work with at 

the meetings or on the ranges. All of 

the board members would welcome 

me as a team player, which was a great 

feeling. 

Is there anything else you'd like 

to add? 

One thing I want to do is take this 

opportunity to thank my husband, Bill, 

for all of his support. He was always 

there to encourage me to go be a part 

of the action. It was great to be able to 

come home and be able to share my experiences 

with my best friend. As most 

of you know, Bill is a Gunnison County 

Deputy Sheriff, and he loves his "cop 

pills," miniature chocolate donuts, but 

don't tell him I told you, okay? 

Some comments from Area I Director, 

Bruce Gary: 

I tirst met Judy at the Area 1 match 

in Reno in 1998. I had thought I was 

fairly good at doing stats, but I was nervous 

at the idea of working with the famous 

"Stats Babes" I'd read about in 

Front Sight. When the weekend was 

over, I found that I had learned more 

in that three days about doing "big 

match" stats than I would have thought 

possible. And, along the way, I had 

gained a new friend, too. 

From Judy, I have learned a new 

(and very efficient) way to enter and 

verify scores that she and her fellow 

"Nationals Stats Babe," Anita Augsberger 

invented. I've learned how 

small things can be huge time-savers 

when entering and verifying several 

thousand scores over a multi-day 

match. I've learned that human fingers 

on a computer keypad really CAN 

move faster than the eye can see. 

And most important, I've learned 

that the three most essential things to 

have in any stat shack are laughter, purple 

pens, and chocolate. Fortunately, 

Judy always brings plenty of all three 

wherever she goes. 

I've had the privilege of working 

with Judy a number of times since that 

first Area 1 match, and count those 

times among my all-time favorite days 

on the range. Beyond being an amazing 

match asset, she is simply a delight 

to be around — even when she brings 

that grumpy old husband of hers. (Hi, 

Bill!) 

I'm truly hoping that I'll have the 

opportunity to work with Judy again at 

the Race Gun Nationals this fall. I tend 

to believe that Judy is the most important 

thing I can bring to a stat-shack. 

Somehow, things just go better (and are 

a LOT more fun) when she is there. 

c 

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10( ,,(Y\ 

JUNIORS continued from page 9. 

JUNIOR CAMP 

June 25 -29 saw the latest Junior 

Camp convene at the Miculek's home 

and shooting range in Princeton, La. 

I am hoping that some of these juniors 

will send short stories about their 

experiences in to Front Sight, highlighting 

this week-long IPSC training 

camp. 

JUNIOR CLASSIFIEDS 

Since my last article four new companies 

have started donating brandnevv 

reloading components to needy 

juniors. 

Members, please consider donating 

your old gear that is lying on the shelf 

collecting dust. Juniors can use this old 

stuff and put new life into this old gear. 

We need timers, range bags, holsters, 

magazine pouches, small belts, and old 

reloading presses. Please post your old 

equipment on this site where a needy 

r / 

1 

N 

T 

E 

G 

R 

A 

T 

E 

D 

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AR15 Competition 

Hammer 8, Trigger 

Spring Set 

junior can put it to good use. 

Chrome silicon reduced power springs. 

Gives you a better. more consistent trigger 

pull. Fits stock and aftermarket one 

and two stage triggers. 

$14.95 

AR15 Magazine 

Springs 

M Wound from aero space spec chrome silicon 

S wire. Heat treated, shot peened & stress 

relieved for maximum performance. 

MIXI 30 & 40 rd springs designed for use 

with Green milspec follower. 

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20 rd $ 8.75 

30 rd $ 10.25 

40 rd $ 12.75 

• 

July/August 2002 • F9ONT SIGHT 

P.O. Box 204 

JUMOR WEBSITE 

A special thanks to Jeff Kline, the 

junior webmaster, who keeps this site 

maintained and is constantly adding 

new features. Check us out at 

wvvvv.uspsa-juniors.org and look at the 

finks to new sponsors of the Junior 

Programs. Remember to support those 

who support us! 

This site also has my previous Junior 

Columns, Postal Match scores, 

photographs, other junior's websites, a 

guest book, chat room, and a place for 

new juniors to register. 

Get in the habit of checking this site 

out often, there is free gear added regularly 

and be sure to post any of your 

old gun gear that you no longer use. 

Remember, if each one of us will 

just introduce one person this year to 

USPSA our membership will double. 

Fax: 765-565-7143 

Growth comes from you and me, not 

the few who are hired to maintain our 

member services. 

Shoot safely, shoot accurately, and 

shoot fast. When you practice, take a 

junior with you! 

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HK'S USP 

EXPERT 

Stealth Gun for 

Limited -10? 

Photo courtesy f HK USA 

Heckler Koch's USP Expert is essentially 

a USP modified to be more 

appropriate for practical shooting. 

RI, Di.Am Tiumits, A-38099 

irecentl tested one of Heckler & 

Koch's USP Expert pistols. I was 

fortunate while writing this article 

to have the opportunity to inter- 

\ Le \%. Bruce Gray, probably the top HK 

jockey in the world. Bruce is a USPSA 

Grand Master in both Open and Limited, 

and the action pistol specialist for 

Team HK (other team members specialize 

in IDPA). 

On Bruce's recommendation ordered 

my sample USP Expert as a .40 

since he feels the .40 is the superior 

choice for USPSA shooting. For one 

thing the .45 USP Expert- is not available 

with a Jet Funnel (more about 

which later) as an option. Trust me, 

you want a Jet Funnel. 

The USP Expert .40 is essentially a 

long-slide version of HK's basic Uni- 

Master Gunsmith Ciene Shuey will teach you 

pistol building techniques that only a gunsmith 

with his level of experience could know. 

Find out why his guns perform when others fail. 

Slide fit • lapping • installing barrels • fining links • tuning extractors & ejectors • installing extended 

safeties • beavertails • mag releases • slide stops • triggers • disconnectors • hammers • fitting sears 

• installing sights • fitting the gun to your hand • specialized tooling • getting match accuracy svith 

combat reliability - a whole lot more! We also included a complete step-by-step trigger job with 

microscopic views. In short, everything you need to know to build beautifri & reliable 1911s. 

For even more details go to: www.americangunsmith.com 

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instruction that will provide you the knowledge you need to work on and build 

incredible 1911s - for only S179 (S12s/h) 

versal Self-Loading Pistol design. (The 

USP Expert .45 is built on a larger 

frarne.) The USP-E's barrel is 5.2" long 

versus 4.25" for a standard USP .40. 

HK offers their USPs in 10 different 

trigger/safety combinations. My test 

USP-E came out of the gray nylon zippered 

case as what HK calls a Variant I 

("selective double action" allowing either 

a cocked and locked SA or hammer 

down DA first shot, with a threeposition 

safety lever up is "Safe," level 

is "Fire," all the way down decocks the 

gun). The safety levers are ambidextrous. 

It SHOULD have come as a Variant 

9, i.e. no decocking feature. On a Variant 

9, the safety lever won't depress 

past the level position, but it comes 

supplied with a replacement "detent 

plate" to switch the gun over to Variant 

1 should you so desire. Unfortunately 

my gun just came Variant 1 with no detent 

plate in the case. The Variant 9 allows 

shooters using the "1PSC grip" to 

ride the safety lever without accidentally 

depressing the decocking lever in 

recoil. This never happened to me during 

testing, but it could be important 

for some people. 

The gun should also come supplied 

with a fitted replacement hammer 

shorter than the stock HK USP part, allowing 

the gun to fit into an IPSC Standard 

division box with the hammer 

cocked. There wasn't one of those in 

the case, either. (People who think gunwriters 

get specially selected guns, take 

note.) 

The USP-E's double action trigger 

pull? How shall 1 describe this horror? 


Photo by Nyle Loatham. 

Bruce Gray unloads on a target at the 2001 Area 2 

championships. Bruce heads the IPSC efforts for the 

HK team in the United States. 

It's bad. It's gritty. It breaks at 10 

pounds even according to my NRA 

weight set. 

While 10 pounds of double-action 

is decent in and of itself, the trigger pull 

weight feels like it varies along the 

length of the trigger stroke, causing a 

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tubes 

really weird "stop 

and start" quality' as 

you cycle all the way 

through. The DA 

trigger pulls on most 

standard HK USPs 

I've handled are better 

than this. Fortunately, 

this is a gun 

meant for competition, 

and will generally 

start cocked and 

locked, so the sub-par 

DA pull doesn't really 

matter to me. It's just, 

how shall I say, aesthetically 

offensive. A 

custom pistolsmith 

could probably do 

wonders with it. 

Switch to single action and things 

get immensely better. Almost as if to 

make up for its embarrassing doubleaction 

trigger, the USP-E has a really 

nice single-action pull. When I say 

"nice single-action pull," let's keep that 

in perspective. This is not a 1911. 

There's approximately 1/4" of smooth, 

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almost effortless take-up. This is much 

less than on, say, a Glock, and in any 

event can be dealt with as the gun is being 

presented toward the target, no big 

deal. The trigger breaks at four pounds 

even. The USP Expert has a built-in 

overall stop; there's only about V32" 

of trigger movement after sear release. 

Now for the bad news, such as it is. 

To fire the next shot you have to let the 

trigger out all the way to its forward 

position, the full quarter-inch, before it 

resets, and then take up the slack again 

for every shot. This is immensely 

longer than the reset distance on a 

1911, and somewhat longer than a 

Glock. However, if you "trigger slap" 

- and some of the best IPSC shooters on 

earth do - your index finger comes so 

far forward during reset it totally 

leaves the trigger anyway, with either 

1911 or HK. 

The trigger is probably the biggest 

objection 1911-trained IPSC shooters 

have to this gun. However, there are 

things that can be done at the custom 

level to get rid of about half of the trig- 

HI-CAP BASE PADS 

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• Springs & Followers available 

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23 for 9mm 

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ger reset distance. Bruce Gray's personal USP Expert has 

that, and breaks cleanly at 2-1/2 pounds. As it comes stock, 

it's really not too shabby if you're not a spoiled "trigger 

queen" like me! 

The magazine release "buttons" are actually ambidextrous 

"paddles" that press downward to operate. Bruce Gray 

has retrofitted an early production HK USP mag release that 

is considerably larger than what currently comes stock on 

the guns. It's just another little trick he's learned to get the 

most out of the USP Expert. 

Awesome lVlag Well 

The Jet Funnel is what MAKES the gun. This is one big 

ACCURACY CHART 

FACTORY LOAD 

5-SHOT GROUP 

Winchester 155-gr. FMJ Match TC 1-1/4 inches 

Federal 165-gr. Hydra Shok JHP 1-1/2 

Black Hills 180-gr. JHP (Reloads) 1-9/16 


Remington 180-gr. Golden Saber-BJHP 1-13/16 

Remington 180-gr. JHP 1-13/16 

Hornady 180-gr. XTP-JHP 1-7/8 

Hornady 155-gr. XTP-JHP 2-1/8 


Federal 155-gr. "Hi-Shok" JHP 3-3/16 

Black Hills 180-gr. JHP (New) 3-3/4 

mag funnel, folks. When doing speed reloads it's like a powerful 

electromagnet just sucks mags up the mag well. Unfortunately 

standard 10-round HK mags won't work with the 

Jet Funnel, nor will standard pre-ban HK high caps. Only actual 

dedicated .40 Expert magazines, which hold 16 rounds 

and are available strictly to law enforcement, will work 

without modification. 

To solve this problem you have two options. Option one 

is to take either standard pre-ban USP .40 high caps or 10- 

round HK USP Expert mags and modify the baseplates to 

work with it. Option rwo is to take STI .40 high cap magazines 

and add a cutout on the front of the magazine to engage 

the HK mag catch. Bruce says it's a pretty straightforward 

procedure (you can see one protruding from his 

gun on the cover of the March/April issue of Front Sight). 

The STI .40 mags hold 18 rounds; you can play with 

springs and followers and baseplates if you want to fit 19 

rounds, but you lose reliability. Bruce just loads 18. 

I realize most people firing the USP Expert in 

USPSA/IPSC matches will be using handloads, but I was 

curious to see how it would perform with factory ammo. 

Accordingly I tested the gun with a reasonably diverse assortment 

of 11 different .40 S&W loads ranging from 

155 to 180 grains (see table below). 

I began with short-range accuracy work. When first getting 

grooved-in on a new gun I like to set up 1" bull'seyes 

at 5 yards and see if, from a standing unsupported 

New Colliers! 

wog& 

This Single Action recoil operated semiautomatic 

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most potent, light weight (25 oz), corrosion 

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rounds of ammunition in a butt tlush 

dual stack magazine only 120mm long, this unit is equally suited for IDPA 

competition, USPSA Limited 10 competition, and Concealed Carry comfort.' 

Comes with 3.9" barrel. Grips are same width as a standard 1911. 

Available in: 9x19, 9x21, .38Super, .357SIG, .40S&W, and .45ACP 

Leather holsters in stock for all STI models. 

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19- 

www.stiguns.com 

email: sales@stiguns.com 

The CUSTOM SHOP is now open 

. See welisite for details. 

BO FRONT SIGHT • July/August 2002

Photo courtesy of HK USA 

The Jet Funnel is a very desirable 

option available only on the .40 

SErW USP Expert. 

stance, I can put five slow-fire shots 

through one hole. Any decent gun 

should be able to do this, with a bit of 

familiarity on the piece. 

By the time I was done it was indeed 

putting five shots through one 

ragged hole. Both the Hornady 180- 

gr. XTP-JHP and Winchester 155-gr. 

FMJ Match TC gave me tiny punctures 

measuring 3/8" center-to-center. 

Lengthening the distance to 50 feet 

and firing from the bench, the gun 

proved quite accurate with favored 

loads. The best five-shot group came 

with Winchester 155-gr. FMJ Match 

TCs at 1-1/4", with the best three flying 

into 1/2". In second place, though 

not by much, were the Federal 165-gr. 

Hydra Shoks at 1-1/2" overall, also 

1/2" for the best three. Next came the 

Black Hills (strangely enough, in both 

short and longer range testing, the reloaded 

ammo proved more accurate 

than the exact same load in brand-new 

casings) at 1-9/16" for five shots, best 

three into a minuscule 1/4" cloverleaf. 

Firing impressions? 

-the adjustable sights, made for HK 

by OEM supplier Mec-Gar, are fairly 

bad in me ùmble opinion, and seem 

out of place on a gun of such high quality. 

The rear sight notch is WAY too 

tight for the fat front blade, a conces- 

sion to European bull's-eye shooting. 

Were this my gun, installing a narrower 

front sight or trimming the existing 

unit would be at the top of my list of 

things to do. Even after bottoming out 

the adjustable rear sight, point of impact 

was still a bit high at 50 feet with 

most loads. Let's make that front sight 

higher as well as narrower while we're 

at it. 

Reliability-wise, the gun covered itself 

with glory. Functionality was 100 

percent with all loads fired. During 

that same range session I also tested a 

compact custom 1911 that didn't want 

to work much at all. The difference 

was striking. 

Frankly, when 1 first handled this 

gun it seemed like a bit of a rattletrap. 

The bank vault fit of a nicely customized 

1911 is noticeably absent. 

When you shake the USP Expert it 

sounds like a box of loose parts. However, 

the gun's accuracy and reliability 

belie that "rattletrap" impression. Even 

with the factory barrel the gun shot 

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well, hut Bruce Gray has a Bar-Sto fitted 

to one of his guns, and it shoots 

great. 

According to Bruce, retail price on 

the USP Expert should be around 

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legal for USPSA Limited and 

Limited-10 divisions. 

Personally I think the gun's greatest 

future is in Limited. That's where it 

starts getting interesting, especially if 

you go the Bruce Gray/STI route. The 

gun costs a good deal less than custom 

high-cap 19Ils, works perfectly out of 

the box (not something you can say 

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this could be a sneaky gamer's 

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Quick enough? Butch Simpson rolls into 

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By PAuL SCAIUATA, A-22693 

PHOTOS BY: BUTCH SIMPSON 

et's face it, we live in a 

plastic 

world. Just look 

around you. I'd be willing 

to bet there are few 

things in your immediate vicinity 

that don't include plastics in 

their construction. And even 

though it continues to draw 

moans of despair from the traditionalists 

among us, the use of 

high tech plastics in firearms 

and gun-related equipment is 

growing by leaps and bounds. 

High tech plastics possess intrinsic 

features that make them a natural 

for firearms and shooting 

equipment. Besides being lightweight, 

their resistance to moisture, 

lubricants, solvents, salts, 

and perspiration put such materials as 

wood, steel, and leather to shame. 

They stand up very well to abuse and 

neglect, require next to no maintenance 

and - did I say? - are quite inexpensive. 

Now I like leather holsters. They 

are attractive, comfortable and, with 

proper care, capable of serving for a 

long time. BUT...in the last few years a 

few things have happened that have 

caused me to gravitate towards holsters 

made from synthetic materials. 

First of all, my home 

state of North Carolina 

passed a "Shall Issue" law 

allowing licensed civilians 

to carry concealed 

weapons. Second, I have 

become more involved in 

practical pistol shooting. 

rri 

Tr' 

For eight months of the 

year our North Carolina 

weather is warm. For six 

of those months it is hu- The Uncle Mike's kydex 

mid and hot! When carry- mag pouch. 

ing on a daily basis, heat and perspiration 

have an adverse effect on leather 

holsters. What is needed is a holster 

made from a material that will maintain 

its form, hold a handgun securely, 

and hold it in place. 

I like practical pistol shooting and 

when possible I attend at least three 

matches a month. In the last two years 

USPSA has inaugurated Limited 10 and 

Production divisions, each with different 

rules as to the type of pistol, magazines, 

holsters and mag pouches that 

can be used. In addition, IDPA rules are 

just as strict regarding handguns and 

ancillary equipment. When I decided 

to compete in all of these disciplines I 

ran into a small problem: money! 

Competition holsters, belts and mag 

pouches can be quite expensive and the 

thought of having to provide a number 

of different rigs did not improve my attitude. 

What I needed was to be able to 

change my holsters and other gear 

around so as to be "legal" (and competitive) 

in the different divisions, but 

at a price that would still allow me to 

purchase ammunition. 

Last year Michael's of Oregon announced 

several new additions to their 

Uncle Mike's line, the Kydex Belt Holster, 

Kydex Paddle Holster and Kydex 

Mag Cases. Kydex, the tong time 

choice of concealment 

holster makers, is generally 

heat formed and 

shaped from sheet stock. 

Holsters produced in this 

manner are labor inten- 

sive, and therefore somewhat 

costly. Michael's of 

Oregon uses a new injection 

molding method to 

produce high quality, economically 

priced Kydex 

holsters that exactly fit 

the contours of the pistol, 


handgun retention 

and draw 

effort can be 

adjusted to individual 

preferences. 

Two screws, four holes. By removing the screws that 

hold the holster body to the padddle, the shooter can select 

any of three muzzle positions, butt-forward, vertical, or 

muzzle-forward. 

providing a level of detailing and quality 

unmatched by other methods. Costs 

are kept under control by using a standard 

holster body to which two different 

carrying devices can be attached. 

These holsters feature dual tension 

screws on their rear edge so that the 

The Paddle 

Holster features 

a wide, 

curved paddle 

(also made of 

Kydex) that is 

attached to the 

back of the holster 

by means 

of two screws. 

On the inside 

of the paddle is 

a "hook" that 

secures the 

holster in 

place. This device 

is double-ended and adjustable to 

any of four positions to accommodate 

a wide range of pants and skirt belts. In 

addition, the paddle may be adjusted 

for a butt-forward, vertical, or muzzleforward 

carry angle. When properly 

Side view. The new Uncle Mike's 

rigs have the sight tunnel cut away, 

allowing the gun a little more freedom 

of movement during the last 

part of the draw. 

adjusted, the Paddle Holster is held 

high on the belt and close to the body, 

providing easy access, a smooth, snagfree 

presentation, complete conceal- 

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July August 2002 • FRONT SIGHT 

63

Access. According to Scarlata the 

Uncle Mike's belt holster holds the 

gun out away frorn the far enough 

for a rapid draw. 

64 

ment, and comfort. 

The Belt Holster's belt loop bracket 

is attached at the top to the two screws 

mentioned above in addition to being 

secured at the bottom to the dual tension 

screws, providing a very secure 

mounting system. The bracket has two 

sets of belt loops, the outer for belts 

1.75" or less in width while the inner 

handles thicker belts or those wider 

than 1.75". 

A Double Kydex Mag Case is available 

in either belt loop or paddle configurations. 

Uncle Mike's does, or 

plans to, offer their Kydex holsters and 

mag cases for the following handguns: 

1911 types with up to 5" barrels; 

9mm/.40 S&W Glocks; Beretta Model 

92/96; S&W 5900 and 4000 series; 

SIG 220 and 226. 

Uncle Mike's recently sent me samples 

of their Belt and Paddle Holsters 

for 1911 and Glock 17/22 pistols to 

evaluate. I wore the Glock Paddle Holster 

daily for several weeks, after judicious 

adjustment of the tension screws 

allowed me to use it with both the G22 

.00.01/111b14., 

ICK/I1 Precision 

ungs en arrels 

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"The finest in competition proven 1911 barrels" 

26 Affonso Dr. #101- Carson City, Nv 89706 

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www.kkmprecision.com Email: kevin(eikkmprecision.com 

and (shorter) Glock 19 that are my preferred 

CCW pistols. It has proven comfortable 

and provided complete concealment 

with no "signature," even under 

a lightweight vest. I have also 

found it perfectly suited for use with 

my Giock 22 when I compete in IDPA 

matches. 

While the belt holsters would also 

be suitable for IDPA, I found them to 

be an excellent - and economical - 

choice for USPSAs Limited, Limited 

10 and Production divisions. Thanks 

to the dual belt loop bracket I was able 

to wear thern on either a Safariland 

competition inner/outer belt system or 

on my regular trouser belt. With either 

belt, the pistol rode at an angle away 

from the body that allowed fast access 

and rapid presentations. Because of 

their open bottom design, the one holster 

proved adaptable to the Glock 35 

I shoot in Limited and Limited 10, and 

my Glock 17 Production pistol. 

We found the 1911 belt holster 

proved just as adaptable, with my 

friend Butch using.it with his singlestack 

Colt while I paired it up with high 

capacity Para-Ordnance P16-.40 pistol. 

The Dual Mag Cases allowed us to 

carry spare magazines in a very comfortable 

behind-the-hip position where 

they allowed fast acquisition for 

smooth reloads. In fact, two mag cases 

could be worn in complete comfort. 

We found Uncle Mike's new Kydex 

Holsters to be quality items. If you are 

looking for a rugged, practical, comfortable 

holster for concealed carry, the 

Kydex Paddle would get my vote. For 

those of you thinking about trying your 

hand in the various practical pistol disciplines, 

the Kydex Belt Holster would 

allow you to give it a try without the 

high price tag usually associated with 

competition-style rigs. Afterwards you 

will not only be able to brag to your 

buddies about your shooting abilities, 

but you can impress them with your 

economic acumen. 

For further information: 

Michael's of Oregon - PO Box 1690, 

Oregon City, OR 97045. 


BY PATRICK SWEENEY, CA-/57 

m odified. That's just an International 

category, right? 

Something weird that 

shooters with lots of consonants 

in their names shoot at foreign 

matches, right? Wrong. As a Level III 

match, the US Nationals recognized 

Modified as an equipment division last 

year, and will once again in 2002. It's certainly 

a division shot in the United States, 

and a fun one, at that. 

What is it? It's a place for an Open 

gun with some restrictions. It has to be 

.40 or larger to declare Major. It has to 

fit the IPSC box, and do so with a magazine 

in place. Other than that, do what 

you want to. Comps? Sure, but the gun 

has to fit the box. Ditto optics. To fit the 

optics, shooters tilt the gun in the box, 

meaning a bobbed muzzle. Magazines 

end up with 16 or 17 rounds in them, so 

reloading in a stage is something you'll 

have to do. (Remember the old days? 

No? Then relate to Limited 10.) Oh, and 

one more thing. The holster, gun and 

magazines have to be on or in back of the 

hip line. That means no farther forward 

than the point of the hip. With the right 

holster, that's no big deal. 

How many people shoot Modified? Here in the United 

States, not many. The real question is how many Modified 

shooters made it to Barry last year? Five of us. (At WSXII 

in Cebu, 75 of us shot Modified.) In many ways, shooting 

Modified is like the good old days of shooting, where you 

had to plan reloads and leave yourself a suitable margin. For 

me, with 16-shot magazines (being corrected even as I type 

this), I planned on reloading eight or nine times, plus the 

mandated three in the standards stages. Compare this to 

Open shooters who might have to reload once outside of the 

standards. 

The 2001 Modified winner was John Flentz, a Limited 

GM out of Norco, Calif. John shot an SV Infinity .40 built 

by Arron Harris that he had just shot in the Limited Nationals. 

One of the details of the International rules is that 

a gun that meets all the rules in Standard (Limited to US 

shooters) can't be used as a Modified gun. 

John solved that problem: "I installed a slide stopmounted 

thumb rest, which is allowed in Open but not Standard. 

That put my gun into Modified. It seems a strange 

thing to do, but those are the rules." The holster and mag 

pouch rule caused a little concern for John. "On the reloads 

for the Standards, I wasn't sure I'd get back to where the 

mags are, being used to the first reload next to the belt 

buckle." 

act it 

Photo by Patrick Sweeney 

Curious inventions. Modified Division raceguns balance performance 

with size. They share the caliber restriction of Limited, but adopt the optics 

and compensators allowed in Open (to the degree that the size of the components 

will allow). If you like "carry comp" style guns, consider Modified. 

Second was Paul Hendrix out of Virginia, shooting his 

Para-Ordnance, which he also used in the Limited Nationals, 

but shooting in Limited 10. Like John, Paul shot the 

Open because he could. "The chance to shoot 40 stages in 

a week was not something I wanted to pass up. When I 

found I could use my Limited gun in Modified, I signed right 

up." Paul was in my squad, and I got to see again how sometimes 

a minor difference in equipment can make a big difference. 

His Para mags would hold 17 rounds, but my untuned 

STI tubes only held 16. On more than one stage we 

had to go with very different tactics because of the oneround 

difference. 

What if you want to shoot Modified in 2002? First find 

a match that will be recognizing the category. With such light 

participation in the United States, you may have to do some 

looking. (The editors at Front Sight tell me the U.S. "Race 

Gun" Nationals will recognize Modified in 2002. However, 

that depends on adequate participation.) Once you find a 

match, setting your gun up is pretty easy. Move your holster 

and mag pouches back, get some 126mm magazines, and 

add a thumbrest to your Limited gun like John did. If you 

want more, you can build or have built a Modified gun. Infinity 

does it, and I'm sure a whole bunch of gunsmiths 

could, too. 

If you do, we'll see you in Bend this August! 

July/August 2002 • FRONT SiGHT 65

R ecently I read an article about 

guns for our sport which contained 

the statement that it 

akes $1000 to get started 

shooting IPSC. I have long disagreed 

with that, so I sat down to tally up how 

much I have in setups for some of my 

competition guns. Herein are three 

cases that I believe debunk that theory. 

The first case is my Glock. At a gun 

show last fall I acquired a used Glock 

Model 21 in mint condition for $475. 

It came with two fully lined drop-free 

10-round magazines. Ar the same 

show an accessories dealer sold me 

three more of the identical magazines 

and a Fobus paddle holster for $75, for 

a grand total of $550. Because I have 

more gear and guns than any reasonable 

person (at least that is what friends 

say) I already own a couple of double 

stack magazine holders, but let's say I 

had to buy them. Dillon sells Uncle 

Mike's brand for $19.95 each. Two 

will cost $39.98 + 8.99 shipping; 

round it off to $48 and we are at $598 

and ready to go. Any old 1-1/2" belt 

lying around will do. 

The Glock 21 is their large-frame 

- MN* 

4."1 

jb I 

C 0 i77 

.45, and normally sells for a 

fair bit more than a standard 

9mm or .40. If I'd been in 

the market for one, I'm certain 

I could have purchased 

a standard-frame gun for 

that price, or even less. 

Glock 17/22 holsters and 

mags would certainly be easier 

to find, and the .40 

Glocks in particular are 

competitive in every division 

save Open and Revolver. 

The second case is my Charles Daly 

1911 in .45 ACP caliber. This was acquired 

very recently as a result of buying 

a Mech-Tech carbine unit. My Colt 

Double Eagle only works as a single 

shot with the Mech-Tech so I went 

looking for a true 1911. I found the 

Charles Daly .45 at a gun show for 

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STORY AND PHOTOS BY MARK O'SHEA, TY1 6 718 

$340. It came with two eight-round 

magazines. Now I have been shooting 

Limited and Limited-10 for a number 

of years, so there are a plethora of 8- 

and 10-round 1911-style magazines in 

my gear. However, for the purpose of 

this piece, let's say I had to buy those 

magazines today. At any gun show one 

can find top quality 10-round magazines 

for $18. Four of them will cost 

$72. Now the expense is $412 for the 

gun and magazines. Adding a pair of 

Uncle Mike's single stack magazine 

pouches and a Kydex holster through 

the Dillon catalog will cost $69, and 

we have $481. Again, any belt will do. 

By the way, the Daly comes stock 

with an ambidextrous safety and an extended 

slide stop. In the interests of 

competitiveness, I added a magazine 

well of the S&A type for $24. So the 

total for this gun is $505. The S&A 

magwell can be installed by anyone 

who can use a screwdriver. 

Both of these guns shoot to the 

point of aim at 25 yards with my standard 

.45 ACP IPSC load: a 200-grain 

bullet at 900 fps. With four 10-round 

magazines a shooter will be able to 

compete at any match except maybe 

the Crazy Croc. 

The third case is my 9mm CZ85, 

another used gun which I found for 

sale on consignment at a local gun 

shop. Currently my grandson is using 

this gun to shoot Limited 10, but the 


Charles Daly 1911 package, 

used = $505 

gun could just as easily be used in Production 

division. The CZ85 comes 

with an ambidextrous safety and the 

first shot can be fired DA. The gun cost 

$325. 

Four additional magazines from 

Cheaper than Dirt cost $70 with shipping. 

The double-stack magholders 

from Dillon work with the CZ magazines 

as well, so let's say they have to be 

acquired as well because you're a new 

shooter. If we buy the same Uncle 

Mike's gear as the 1911, but for the 

CZ, we have an additional $69 for a 

grand total of $464. For those of you 

who look into it, the SIG holster will 

work with the CZ, but there are also a 

P LaYlettkin"gitW 

number of other holsters 

available at reasonable 

prices. 

If you don't reload, then 

this last gun is especially 

appealing since many catalog 

order houses like Dillon, 

Cabella's and 

Cheaper than Dirt all sell 

surplus 9mm ammo 

cheap. It costs around 

$115/1000. Before I was set up 

to reload 9mm I bought a case of surplus 

Russian 9mm and it shot great out 

of this gun. This is my favorite gun for 

NRA Action Pistol, if I can get my 

grandson to let go of it long enough. 

How do the guns do in competition? 

Doug Koenig won the World 

Shoot with a full-race CZ-style Tanfoglio. 

Angus Hobdell placed second in 

Production at the USPSA nationals in 

each of the last two years with a CZ. 

The NTI has been won with a Glock 

21, and shooters like Armando Valdes 

and David Sevigny do very well with 

similar .40 caliber Glocics. 

One c.an easily add accessories to all 

three kits and run the bill up to $1000, 

but that is not the point. Here are 

three examples of great guns one can 

start with and stay with for years to 

come. The first gun complete and 

ready to play cost $598, the second 

$505, and the third $464. All cost a lot 

less than $1000. With these guns you 

can be competitive and have lots of 

fun. If you don't reload, use the savings 

for ammo, or better yet, get 

started reloading. I found a used Dillon 

Square Deal B on eBay for $175, 

but that's a subject for another article. 

cpstablished 

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MEMBERS 

MAILBAG continued from page 2. 

Keith, 

This time I think I can claim we're a 

little bit ahead of the curve! Front Sight 

touched on building an AR for Limited 

just recently, and Guy Neill's column 

in this issue addresses reloading for militry 

rifles. Also, I've been corresponding 

with Bennie Cooley, Jr. about continuing 

to supply Front Sight with rifle articles. 

With any luck he'll take up the 

challenge! 

Robin Taylor. Assistant Editor 

High-Performance Glock 9mm 

Dear Robin. 

Shared your last issues with articles 

on Glock pistols and modifications 

with several shooters. Wish you could 

continue with more how-to on Glocks. 

Also I'm interested in WHICH powders 

your staff are experimenting with 

to make 165 pf with 9mm. We don't 

want to go that hot but would like to 

venture above 125pf safely. 

Thanks, 

Phil, 

Phil Cowan, A -23186 

While the exact results of Michael 

Voigt's pressure tests are not available 

to the public, Mr. Voigt did share with 

me some suggestions for high-performance 

9mm Luger loads. While not all 

of these powders can approach the 16S 

power factor range, they all performed 

well on the upper end of the power 

scale. Specifically, he pointed towards 

SP2, 3N38, N105, and even N3S0. 

HOWEVER, as Guy Neill pointed 

out, 9mm Luger is very sensitive to 

overall length. Use great care when developing 

high-performance 9mm Luger 

loads. A small error in overall length or 

charge weight can dramatically change 

the pressures generated. 


Loves Homebuilt Raceguns 

Sir, 

It would be nice to see a page or 

Photo by Mario Mendez. 

Super-Mario's project. More than the gunsmithing, our staff was impressed 

with the photographs sent to us by Mr. rvienciez (see ierter above). 

Even our hard-boiled staff photographer Roger Maier gave him high marks. 

two on guns built by our shooters in Canada. 

the Front Sight. I'm enclosing a few 

pictures of my Para P-12 .45. I use this 

Entering on a fishing trip we were 

weapon in Limited-10, where I am an 

asked at the border "Do you have any 

old C shooter (61 years old). I don't 

guns?" Fair question, we answered 

think I'm ready for golf yet. 

truthfully, "No." This was followed by 

"Do you have any guns at home?" We 

My Para is pretty, and it shoots answered "We do not have any guns 

great. We like pretty guns down here in with us." This was followed by "What 

Florida. There is a match every week- kind of guns do you own?" We again 

end statevvide, and when I enter the answered "We do not have any guns 

shooter's box, the gun gets noticed. with us." This was followed by "How 

Not bad for an old man, like Bill Wylee many guns do you own?" We anused 

to say. swered "We do not have any guns with 

Just call me Super Mario. 

DVC, 

Mario R. Mendez 

Beware Canadian Customs? 

Robin, 

I read Al Voth's report on the Canadian 

Open. AI made comments about 

the lack of participants from the 

United States. He made it seem like it 

was no big deal to come to Canada 

with a gun. I can tell you first hand 

about my experience entering without 

a gun and as a result I am not willing to 

take chances by bringing a gun into 

us." All of us were getting a little hostile 

by now, and the inspector gave us a 

slip of paper and sent us to be 

searched. He told us selection for the 

search was strictly random. 

I am not willing to risk going into 

Canada with a gun, even one that is 

properly documented. 

Mark, 

Mark O'Shea, TY16718 

Yours is the second letter we had discussing 

gun regulations in Canada visa-vis 

Al Voth's article (the first was too 

rude to be printed). It inay interest you 

to know that foreign competitors coming 

into the United States are now re- 


quired to receive an ATF "Form 6" import 

permit prior to approaching the 

border. Form 6 is normally used for importing 

articles of war for sale within 

the United States, and must be submitted 

60 days in advance. Unless the foreign 

gun °tuner can submit an invitation 

to a specific event with their name 

on it, or submit a hunting license with 

supporting documentation" along 

with their Form 6, they're locked out. 

Several would-be competitors at the 3- 

Gun nationals ran afoul of this post- 

9111 reintetpretat ion of an old regulation 

and lost hundreds of dollars on airline 

tickets and hotels. 

I've been most impressed by individuals 

(most notably Chris Rumbold, 

a Canadian bowling pin shooter in my 

area) who volunteer to endure the bureaucratic 

hurdles mounted by our government. 

Robin Taylor. Assistant Editor 

About Getting a Browning Gold 

Dear Front Sight, 

In one of the latest issues of Front 

Sight, a letter writer was anguishing 

over obtaining an action shooting version 

of the Browning Gold shotgun. I 

would suggest contacting Briley (briley.com) 

as their website has several 

items of interest to the subject project. 

Tom Doolev, 1 -C20 

Fix Bad 3-Gun Gun Handling! 

Dear Editor. 

It is 3-gun time again and lots ot little 

black holes are showing at matche., 

unfortunately' they are not just on targets, 

but on the muzzles of rifles and 

shotguns. 

I love picking up a different gun 

and trying new challenges, and thank 

you to the great people who go to all 

the work of designing, organizing, and 

officiating these matches, but we have 

a gun handling problem. I thought 

maybe it was in my little part of the 

world here in Montana, but I have seen 

and heard of much poor handling at 


major 3-gun matches with experienced 

and otherwise safe shooters. We would 

never think of picking up a pistol and 

showing our buddy our new front sight 

if we were not in the safety area or at 

the line, but I have seen plenty of it 

with long guns. 

Now complaining is not my goal, I 

have some ideas: Here in Missoula at 

Big Sky Practical Shooters, Paul Minor, 

our club president, insists that ALL 

long guns be cased upon arrival at the 

range and are brought to the line and 

only then uncased. After the shooter 

finishes, a squad member brings the 

case to the shooter and the gun is recased. 

We also do not allow scoring behind 

the shooter. Many 3-gun stages 

are pretty slow clears, but if a shooter 

decides he missed something and starts 

backing up you can have trouble. A 

"spectator" line (I have seen marking 

tape used) can also help control the 

shooting area. Course design could 

also help improve 3-gun safety. Let's 

Pantera Gun & Reloading Center 

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The 'New" Arredondo Holster 

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get rid of the targets very close to the 

180. With diagonal stage design and an 

unfamiliar gun it is easy- for the shooter 

to get disoriented. 

It appears that 3-gun is gaining in 

popularity, so now is the time to unify 

our safety procedures like we have 

with pistol. I am certain there are 

many other good ideas out there, let's 

hear them. 

Nate, 

Nate Martin A37009 

Thanks for your letter. Robert Spangler 

asked me a similar question at the 

Area 1 3-gun. He asked: "Why don't we 

use empty chamber flags like they do at 

high-power matches?" 

I don't know the answer, but it 

sounds like something the 3-gun community 

should discuss. 

Thanks again, 


69

3-GLN 

NATIONALS continued from page 41. 

ing at 175 degrees to the plane. You then had to run to the 

other side of the range, and through one port fire the other 

22 rounds the stage required. With partial targets and hard 

cover all over the place, and firing from one location, you'd 

think someone shooting a major-caliber rifle wouldn't have 

a chance. (There were four shooters using major-caliber rifles, 

by the way.) Well, don't tell that to Kelly Neal. Using 

an FN chambered in .260 Remington with a modified Jakenator 

comp (talk about exotica!) he shot the stage a second 

and a half faster than Bennie Cooley, who seems to own the 

3-Gun Limited title. Fast indeed, as there were only two 

Open shooters who posted faster times on that stage. 

As far as equipment was concerned, you didn't have to 

go far to find extraordinary gear. Yes, most of the rifles were 

AR's, but they weren't all basic black. There were some Mini 

14's, and I swear I caught a glimpse of an FN-FMC, but I 

may have been hallucinating from the heat and my back. For 

shotguns, the field seemed evenly divided between Remingtons, 

either 1100's or 11-87's, and all the various iterations 

of the Benelli system. On stage #1, I managed to eavesdrop 

on a conversation/argument over the relative merits of the 

Russian and Chinese shotguns that feed from box magazines. 

The consensus seemed to be that the Russians were 

better, but the Chinese shotguns could be made to work if 

you knew a gunsmith who was also a blacksmith. (They tend 

to be a bit rough, apparently.) 

Everyone was digging into their gear for shotgun shells 

loaded with #4's, to take down the steel being propped up 

by the wind coming off the ridgeline. As for rifle ammo, 

those who felt the need used various match or match-quality 

reloads. The shooting didn't require anything better than 

surplus-ammo accuracy to turn in a good score. Indeed, of 

the 104 rifle shots, only two were over 100 yards, a point 

that had a few shooters grumbling. The handgun shooting 

required a minimum of 93 rounds, and for shotgun you 

needed 64 shot and 26 slug rounds. When our club started 

shooting 3-Gun back in 1983, we kept it strictly separated. 

At the Nationals, and apparently even my home club when 

I wasn't looking, they combined stages. Two stages required 

a combination of guns, No. 3 with shotgun and handgun, 

and No. 12 with rifle and handgun. I heard of one DQ 

where the competitor's rifle butt whacked their handgun 

hard enough to knock it out of the holster. Be warned, and 

test your gear! 

To make things more interesting, USPSA held a Manual 

Rifle side match as an adjunct to the 3-Gun Nationals. By 

manual rifle, most everyone assumed bolt action. Not so for 

Jake Kempton, who used an AR-15 with the gas system disabled, 

turning it into a straight-pull bolt gun. The best description 

of the Manual Rifle match would be an NRA High 

Power match shot on falling steel, using Comstock scoring. 

MR-1, "Don't get discouraged," was the toughest. With a 

plate at each of 200, 300, 400 and 500 yards, you had to hit 

Bolt-AR? Jake Kempton's straight-pull AR-15 came in 

for much attention. Especially once we saw his 5-shot 

magazines for 80 grain match bullets in .2231 

each one once, then go to the next shooting mat and repeat 

for a total of 12 hits. If we do this again in the future, I'm 

for sure going to get dialed in for the various ranges. (I was 

only zeroed at 300 and 600.) MR-2, "From the mind of 

Mike G" called for knocking down 10 plates at 300 and then 

hitting two "flash" gongs at 400. The most fun was MR3, 

"Lemon Drops." Due to last-minute equipment and range 

problems, it was changed from the book description to become 

the simplest, and the most fun: six 10-inch plates at 

600 yards. Procedure: Take them down as fast as possible. 

A note for whoever does the 2003 3-Gun Nationals; include 

this one and you'll have people lined up to shoot it. 

As for me, I spent the first day taking photographs, and 

then jammed the whole match and Manual Rifle side match 

into the day and a half left. (I hadn't flown all the way to 

Las Vegas just to walk around and shoot film!) On more 

than one stage I had to hand my rifle or shotgun to the RO 

when I was done, but I finished, and finished upright and 

ambulatory. And I'm already planning for the changes I'm 

going to implement to my gear for next year. As the level of 

interest in 3-Gun matches grows, even if they slot 300 people 

for the 2003 match it will fill up early, so I'm going to be 

ready to enter as soon as I can. You should be, t00. 

Custom Remington 700's (bottom) in .308 were the 

norm at the Manual Rifle match. But the 6.5-08 AWI 

sported by the President was much admired. 

70 FRONT SiGHT • July/August 2002

Avast! It's a "Feed Tube!" 

c•FORY AND PHOTOS BY ROBIN TAYLOR, USPSA STAFF, TY-19724 

with 3-Gun matches popping 

up all over the 

country, the famous ingenuity 

of IPSC competitors 

is finding a new focus. New techniques, 

new firearms (particularly 

,hotguns), and new ways of carrying 

ammunition are popping up everywhere. 

A better "think tank" for innovation 

does not exist. 

Joe De Simone is a charter member 

of the gearhead fraternity within IPSC. 

Always on the cutting edge of technology, 

he's been there since the switch 

from .45's to .38 Super, and has stuck 

with Open Division throughout. Gary 

Roessel hails from the opposite extreme, 

being a tactically minded 

shooter that espouses the merits of 

high-cap Limited guns. Like many 

shooters across the United States, this 

pair has been working hard at the shotgun 

aspects of 3-Gun shooting. Their 

efforts have hatched a breakthrough 

concept, something I call a "feed tube." 

The system hasn't been perfected yet, 

but the concept behind it demands a 

second look. 

The major challenge in Limited 

shotgun is hand-loading shotgun cartridges. 

Where and how you carry 

those cartridges plays a pivotal role in 

your ability to speed-load them. 

Typically, shooters will load their 

first six off a sidesaddle mounted to the 

receiver, then go to some combination 

of a forward-mounted sidesaddle, 2- 

pak, forearm board, buttstock carrier, 

or shoulder or torso-mounted bandoleer 

(or in some cases all of the 

above!). The rub is in the constantly 

moving "next shell." As the shooter 

loads and shoots, he must keep track of 

where his next shell is, and finds himself 

searching through two or three 

empty carriers if he forgets. Becoming 

smooth and efficient at loading the 10 

to 20 shells mounted on the gun involves 

a lot of practice. You've got to be 

smooth at loading from all the involved 

carriers and positions — plus 


maintain the mental discipline 

to remember 

where to look. 

DeSimone and Roessel 

were contemplating 

the moving shell problem 

on the way home 

from a match, and postulated 

how they needed a 

system to present a shell 

in the same place every 

time. As the conversation 

developed, a concept 

began to take shape. 

"Gary and I brainstormed 

it, then we both 

went home and built different 

interpretations," 

says DeSimone. 

The resulting feed tube designs 

hold as many as 12 rounds, presenting 

each shell in the same place, inches 

from the loading port. 

The feed tube acts as a second magazine 

mounted 

outside the handguard. 

DeSimone's 

interpretation 

hangs suspended 

below the forend 

on two small rods. 

The more tactically-minded 

Roessel 

has his tube 

bolted and 

clamped directly to 

the side of the gun; 

only his is gravity 

fed in an effort to 

get more capacity 

(a major downside 

when loading from 

awkward positions). 

Joe DeSimone with his feed tube-equipped Remington 

1100. 

the merits of their system. There was 

no fishing for the next shell, and DeSimone 

in particular could load the gun 

without looking at it. (Interestingly, 

DeSimone made reference to the tenets 

of jujitsu as part of his reason for want- 

FEED TUBE continued on page73. 

Watching DeSimone's 

and Roessel's 

hands flashing 

from tube to loading 

port in a neat Gary Roessel's "ugly" 1100. Note the position of the feed 

little circle showed tube, the shaved Tac Star sidesaddle, and rifle sights. 

7 1

By Ron Avery 

psaronl@aol corn 

Mental Training and Peak Performance 

Skills Part 2 

In my last column, I delineated various 

aspects of mental training that are 

essential to your development as a 

competitor. This column offers specific 

guidelines on how to best achieve 

results. 

Over the last two decades or so, 

have created new doctrine, training 

concepts, and hundreds of drills and 

exercises to improve student performance 

in both tactical and competitive 

environments. 

As part of this doctrine, I explored 

the cycle of shooting, peak performance 

principles, mental processing 

skills, and other key areas concerning 

high level shooting skills under duress. 

Let's take a brief look at some core 

concepts that will help you understand 

how you do things and how to train 

more effectively. 

Kinesthetic and Visual Skills 

Most people are visually oriented 

when it comes to shooting. They pay 

little attention to how they bring the 

gun up on target and focus on getting 

sights aligned quickly after they come 

up to eye level. Indeed, I have seen 

people make much ado about "speeding 

up visual skills" by practicing getting 

sight alignment rapidly after bringing 

the gun up to the target. 

Trouble is, you could acquire sight 

alignment much more rapidly by practicing 

bringing the gun up with the 

sights/dot already aligned for your eye 

as part of the draw. Training these gunhandling 

skills uses a sense that most 

people pay little attention to: Kinesthetic 

Awareness. 

Ahhh! You say, "That is muscle 

memory!" Not quite. Muscle memory, 

or the process of developing a "motor 

reflex," uses kinesthetic awareness 

along with visual processing to provide 

the critical feedback necessary to develop 

the movement correctly. However, 

kinesthetic awareness goes far beyond 

simple muscle memory, teaching 

us a whole new way of operating. 

Kinesthesia is the sense of position, 

tension, movement etc. of parts of the 

body as perceived through nerve end 

organs in muscles, tendons and joints. 

Kinesthetic Awareness is the sense of 

awareness in the brain of the movement, 

tensioning or position of the 

body or body parts. (Schmidt, Motor 

Learning and Performance, 1991) Developing 

your kinesthetic awareness 

will result in far greater levels of awareness, 

relaxation and skill in high speed 

competitive or tactical shooting. 

I can well remember my earlier 

competitive years when I used to shoot 

using a great deal of muscle tension. I 

remember Brian Enos chuckling at me 

and calling me the "tension monster." 

Yet, at that time, I really had no sense 

of how much tension, both mentally 

and physically, I was operating under. 

Here is the progression of skill development 

for shooting. 

1. Control - of the gun and of balance, 

awareness of center and 

mental focus and discipline. 

2. Relaxation and isolation of tension 

- learning to relax those portions 

of the body that are not 

needed for movement or control. 

3. Precision - of movement and tension, 

learning to ingrain precise 

movement patterns and skills that 

will stand up under duress. 

4. Speed - increasing the speed at 

which we function, without sacrificing 

control, relaxation and precision. 

Avery's 

Corner 

Integrating kinesthetic awareness 

with this skills progression will result in 

faster learning and higher skill levels. 

Exercise 1: Here is an exercise that 

you can try at the range. Get into your 

shooting stance and shoot your gun for 

six shots with approximately 1/2 sec. between 

shots. Take your finger off the 

trigger, close your eyes and feel how 

much tension you have in your body. 

Pay particular attention to the abdominal 

and diaphragm area. 

Now, go through your body and try 

to relax your entire body as much as 

you can without falling down. Starting 

with your feet and working up, first 

tense and then relax each muscle 

group. 

Next, take a deep breath and relax 

your whole body down onto your 

skeleton. You should have a feeling of 

sinking into your position. Now, only 

squeeze your fingers and set some light 

to moderate downward tension with 

your wrists and forearms. Lean your 

body into the gun so that the balance is 

towards the balls of the feet. Shoot six 

more shots with the same timing. Keep 

the area around the solar plexus relaxed 

while you shoot. 

You should feel and see a noticeable 

difference in how the gun is tracking 

on the target. As you go faster, the tendency 

is to use more tension in the 

body to hold the gun and the position. 

You should learn to isolate this tension, 

using the hands, wrists and forearms 

combined with proper awareness of a 

forward center of gravity to control the 

gun, keeping the rest of the body as relaxed 

as possible. This is not a simple 

process but is the true path to develop 

a high level of skill. A high level of fine 

motor coordination of the body is dependent 

on being able to relax as much 

as possible while executing the skills. 


Exercise 2: Here is an exercise that 

will increase your speed of visual acquisition 

of the sights on target and 

from target to target. 

Point your finger at an object. Now, 

without changing the orientation of 

your hand, lower your hand back to 

your natural handclap position where 

your hands would come together when 

you clap. Keeping your finger level 

with where you were looking, bring 

your finger back up and stick the end 

of the finger straight into the object 

you are looking at. 

Now, put your gun in your hands 

and bring your gun up to the target and 

properly align the sights. Without 

changing the orientation of your hands 

or wrists, slowly lower the gun to your 

"natural handclap" position where you 

would normally clap your hands together. 

Keep your trigger finger, which is 

alongside the frame, level with where 

you are looking. Bring the gun back up, 

using your kinesthetic awareness to 

feel the slide coming up level with 

where you are looking. 

Start doing this at different levels: 

knee high, waist high, head high; each 

time, bringing the gun up level with 

where you are looking. 

In both of these exercises, you are 

developing kinesthetic awareness of 

the attitude of the gun as you are lifting 

it to eye level. This allows your 

brain to recognize a properly aligned 

gun prior to it getting to the visual 

field. Your vision will confirm the 

alignment, which should be close to 

perfect when it got there. 

Now try doing this from the holster. 

Now do it with eyes closed. Now, 

move the gun from target to target, 

feeling it staying level for your eyes as 

you move it. See it pause on each target 

and confirm sight alignment before 

you move on. As you move the gun, 

monitor the tension in your solar 

plexus and midsection and try to keep 

that area relaxed as you move. 

The concept here is that the body 

points and the eyes verify. Kinesthetic 

and visual skills work together for 

maximum efficiency. Pay attention to 

what is happening in your body as you 

are executing your skills. 

Obviously this is just a preliminary 

discussion of training for skills improvement. 

There is a whole range of 

training that I do to prepare students to 

maximize their performance in the environments 

they operate in, both tacti- 

FEED 

TUBE continued from page 71. 

ing the shell carrier closer to his body.) 

The downside to the system appears 

in weight and fragility. DeSimone's 

suspended tube has some obvious 

problems with fragility, but Roessel's 

system is protected and supported 

by the barrel and magazine (see photos). 

DeSimone has nearly perfected 

the shell stops — a major improvement 

over Roessel's friction system, so together 

the pair may soon develop a 

truly marketable design. Feed tubeequipped 

shotguns are heavy and slow 

from target to target, but the reloading 

speed bonus seems to make up for a lot 

of that. 

How heavy? You be the judge. On 

DeSimone's Open Division Remington 

1100, between the magazine (10), the 

feed tube (11), a sidesaddle (6), a 

forend side-saddle (5), and the round 

in the chamber (1), a shooter can leave 

the line with 33 rounds on the gun. 

Roessel's Remington 1100 feels less 

ambitious, but don't be fooled. It was 

built to suit a different drummer. It's 

smaller, lighter, and quicker, but carries 

the same 33 rounds. It sports a shorter 

cal and competitive, with whatever 

weapon systems they will be using. Scientific 

training methods allow one to 

maximize his or her training and take 

it to an entirely new level. 

Next time, we will explore the 

shooting cycle and how to use visual 

and kinesthetic skills together! 

-11 

barrel with Limited-legal magazine (8), 

a specially shaved-down Tac-Star 

sidesaddle (6), a second such sidesaddle 

on the butt (6), his gravity-fed feed 

tube (12). Add the round in the chamber 

(1) and you get a total of 33. 

Like the ugly pistols mentioned in 

Dave Dawson's column on page 51, 

Roessel's gun won't win any gunsmith 

guild awards. It's an ugly, Parkerized, 

3-inch 1100 that looks like it fell off a 

truck. Once you pick it up, you start 

noticing the oversize safety, the fiber 

optic rifle sights, the shaved sidesaddles 

(that allow shells to peel out sideways), 

the screw-in chokes, the 

hogged-out magazine tube opening. . . 

After having a chance to play with it for 

a short time, a whole lot of beauty 

started shining through. 

Will their innovation change the 

world of practical shotgunning? Who 

knows, it's not finished yet. I'm not expert 

enough to evaluate the extra 

weight out on the barrel, but I do know 

their system will force shooters to rethink 

how ammo carriers should work. 

6.91 

CIOSe-up of 

DeSimone's 

version. The 

space between 

the feed tube 

and the forend 

provides space 

for your hand. 

It's a little awkward, 

but it 

works. 


Starting From Scratch, 

Three Years Later 

F 

BY SETH NADEL, CL-89 

our years ago, my wife and I 

moved to the White Mountains 

of northern Arizona. 

They held everything we 

., anted — great people, wide-open 

spaces, wonderful climate. The only 

thing missing was a USPSA club. So, as 

reported here several years ago, we 

started a club from scratch. We had no 

host club, no infrastructure, no known 

USPSA members. What we did have 

was desire, experience, and a plan. The 

desire came from shooting my first 

practical (then called combat) match in 

1971 and having been an active competitor 

and range officer ever since. 

The experience came from RO'ing at 

six nationals and three World Shoots, 

and shooting at innumerable clubs in, 

and out of, the Unites States. My wife 

is a CRO, while I reached the rank of 

RM in 1984. I have also held every 

board position in one of the several 

clubs where I have been a member. 

The plan called for advertising at 

local gun shops and the local Elks gun 

show, followed by an organizing meeting. 

The plan worked, and we gained 

enough members and USPSA members 

to start the White Mountain Practical 

Shooters (WMPS). On Oct. 28, 1999 

we had our first match. With the assistance 

of a former USPSA member who 

re-upped, and a GUNSITE graduate, 

we conducted a brief safety orientation 

www.acc-u-rail.com 

Doug Jones 

2271 Star Court 

Bldg. 4 

Rochester Hills MI 

"309 

(248) 852-6490 

and a few simple stages. For a place to 

shoot we used a barrow pit on National 

Forest land. We carried our targets, 

stands, and our two crude props 

in our 4-by-6 utility trailer. With the 

backing of our local gun shop, 

Hunter's Paradise, we had some seed 

money to get started. 

"For a place to shoot we used 

a barrow pit on National Forest 

land. We carried our targets, 

stands, and our two 

crude props in our 4-by-6 utility 

trailer" 

Time passed and our club grew. We 

went from one match a month to two, 

and as interest grew, donations started 

to come in. Our largest donation to 

date was the shooter who gave the club 

a 20-by 8-foot utility trailer. A local 

welder made up more target stands of 

us, one of the shooters who works in 

wood made up some barricades, and 

membership and attendance grew. We 

were given a 4-by-6-by-4-foot box, 

which went on the trailer for target 

storage, and I got my shed back! 

After one year as a club, we hosted 

a range officer seminar, graduating 16 

new RO's. With the training came a 

real increase in the quality of officiating 

at our matches. As the officials became 

more professional and comfortable, 

the shooters became more relaxed 

and there was a general increase 

in the quality, of our shooting, with a 

corresponding decrease in the number 

of penalties issued per match. We have, 

from the first day, emphasized safety. 

As a result, there have been very few 

DQ's in our history. 

With increased attendance some 

money came in, and the club bought 

timers, clipboards, a water cooler, and 

all the bits and pieces that make the 

matches happen. In a calculated move, 

my wife and I stepped down as secretary 

and president to get others involved 

on the administration side of 

the club. We have also been working 

with other club members, helping 

them become match directors. Our 

goal is to ensure that this club continues 

by introducing other members into 

all phases of the club operations. 

We still shoot on National Forest 

land, which means we do not charge 

for our matches, but we do accept donations 

(it is illegal to charge for use of 

Federal land). The net result is we usually 

collect more money than entry fees 

would have been — we are still getting 

donations. In fact one of our members 

has developed and built a "pop up and 

down" target system, and his latest creation 

is a gravity operated lateral moving 

target. His current project is a 

"clamshell" target. He so enjoys 1PSC 

shooting that his back yard is turning 

into "Target Systems Are Us!" 

Our membership, in a town of 

about 10,000 year-round residents, is 

around 50. Average match attendance 

is about 30, including a few new shooters 

as well as the regulars. We continue 

to grow, although with any club there 

are a few dropouts every year. We 

hauled our gear to a new range in the 

next county and ran a demo match for 

a club that had never seen USPSA 

shooting. Our success has led them to 

organize their own USPSA club, and 

they have invited us to run a third 

match every month at their facility! 

This is one of the benefits of working 

out of a trailer — we have a USPSA 

"road show!" 

Our club has gained a bit of a reputation 

as a friendly, outgoing bunch, 

with a relaxed attitude toward competition. 

Our group includes those shooting 

carry guns, those preparing for ma- 

Three Years Later, Continued on Page 76 


1. Area 1 Championship 

Medford, Ore., July 11-13, 2002 

Contact: Martie McCormick 

martie.mccormick (aseabury.com 

2. 2002 Aware Invitational 

Morrisville, Vt., July 11-14, 2002 

Contact: Gary Spooner (802) 333-4505. 

P.O. Box 283, West Fairlee, VT, 05083. 

speedravalley.net 

3. USPSA "Factory Gun" Nationals (L- 

10/Production/Revolver) 

Barry, Ill., July 20-23, 2002 

Contact: Ray Hirst, Match Director 

rhirstg gardnerdenver.com 

For Slot information call: (360) 855-2245 

4. "6-gun Challenge" 

Barry, 111., July 20-23, 2002 

Contact: Dick Metcalf, pasa 1(q pasapark.com 

. 2002 Challenge, P.O. Box 22, 

Barry, IL 62312 

5. Area 7/N.Y. State Championship 

Chenango Bridge, N.Y., Aug. 1-4, 2002 

Contact: Debi DeBoer (607) 648-9015 

nyschampionship@cs.com 

www.pronetisp.net/—jkosta/squaredeal.ht 

ml 

6. "Christmas in August" 

6th Annual Columbia Cascade Section 

Championship 

Sherwood, Ore., Aug. 3_4, 2002 

Contact: Everett Mastrich (503) 691- 

4325 

emastrich@airefco.com 

also: Jan at janner146gattbi.com 


Aug. 23-25, 2002, Columbia, Mo. 

Contact: Emanuel Bragg, Match Director 

(660) 665-3171 eb(kprotechco.com 

Priority Squadding Open to USPSA Nationals 

Competitors 

8. USPSA "Race Gun" Nationals 

(Open/Limited/Modified) 

Aug. 24-29, 2002, Bend, Ore. 

Contact: Everett Mastrich, Jr., Match Director 

emastrichEr airefco.com 

For Slot information call: (360) 855-2245 

9, Area 8 Limited/Open Championship 

Topton, Pa, Sept. 6-8, 2002 

Contact: Tina Miller (miller1002@ entermail.net) 

or Dave Miller (kilr318Ckenter.net 

). Alternately, contact George 

Jones, a8matchEr pollardfamily.net 

10. Texas State Limited Championships 

Breckenridge, Tex., Sept. 13-15, 2002 

Contact: Jimmy Mitchell (254) 559-1551 

mitch5gkroo.com 

11. Tennessee Hills Tactical 3-Gun 

Woodbury, Tenn., Sept. 14-15, 2002 

Contact: Curtis McMahon 

(615) 387 3225 

http://www.tdpc.org/schedule.htm 

12. Michigan State Championship 

Utica, Mich., Sept. 14-15, 2002 

Contact: Jim Duvall, Match Director 

(586) 771-1715 

mistatematch@,aol.corn 

http://d-s-c.org/statematch02 

13. Tri-State Charnpionships 

East Huntingdon Sportsmen's Association 

Scottsdale, Pa., Sept. 20-22, 2002 

Contact: Ron Rodgers (724) 832-0498, 

(412) 858-1657 

trodgers@stargate.net 

www.geocities.com/ehpsa 

14. Tennessee Section Championship 

Memphis, Tenn., Sept. 27-29, 2002 

Contact: Raymond McDonell, (901) 867- 

9944 mmcdoneErbellsouth.net or Lynn 

Jones, P.O. Box 1600 Memphis, TN 

38101 www.memphis-ssa.com 

15. Missouri State Championships 2002 

Rolla, Mo., Oct. 4, 5, tic 6, 2002 

Contacts: Bob Delp, (573) 364-1159 

bdelp@rollnet.org 

Central Ozarks Practical Shooters, Inc.. 

P.O. Box 814, Rolla, MO 65402-0814 

http://www.rollanet.org/—bdelp/cops 

16. 2002 Mississippi Classic 

Jackson, Miss., Oct. 11-13, 2002 

Contacts: Greg McDade (601) 366-8486 

Mac3house@aol.com P.O. Box 13592, 

Jackson, MS, 39236-3592 

http://www.magnoliaRPC.com 

17. Illinois Sectional Championship 

Springfield, Ill., Nov. 2, 2002 

MAJOR 

MATCH EIS.M 

Contact: J. Griffin, (217) 483-6378 

2alpharwarpnet.net 


Mesa, Ariz, Nov. 8-10, 2002 

Contact: Jake Kempton, 2jake_k 

home.com (480) 373-9499 days, (480) 

986-3363 evenings. 

New Masters 

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A15110 

New Limited Grand Masters 

Golentieski, Dun 

Kempton, Jake 

L2039 

L700 

New Limited Masters 

Azpurua, Rodrigo 

Benton, John 

Bruner, Shepard 

Campbell, Kelly 

Dean, Thomas V 

Diaz, Sandra 

Hunter, John 

Newquist, Doug 

Ovaert, Lee 

Paine. Greg 

A40400 

A5700 

A42289 

A31589 

A44698 

TY34040 

TY23756 

A9917 

A23850 

TY16471 

New Limited 10 Grand 

Masters 

Poppiewell, Adam 

Seale, R. Wayne 

TY3B584 

A31769 

New Limited 10 Masters 

Bedwell, Max W. 

Boyd, Michael E 

Bradley, Charles E 

Flentz, John C 

Hawkins, Tony W. 

Hendricks, Steven 

Kempton. Jake 

Tyler, Keith P 

Valdes, Armando 

A26597 

A11012 

TY25460 

A23552 

FY23221 

A21819 

L700 

A27785 

TY1659 

New Production Masters 

Boyd. Michael E. 

Bradley, Charles E 

Mccartney, Jr., Angus Jay 

Valdes, Armando 

A11012 

TY25460 

A16020 

TY/659 


' 

THREE YEARS 

LATER continued from page 74. 

jor matches, some shooters with a different 

gun at every match, experiments 

trying differing techniques. In fact, we 

see the full range of shooters. Some of 

our members have competed in major 

matches, while others have RO'd at the 

nationals. We draw shooters from the 

Phoenix area (about a four-hour drive), 

and have regular shooters from New 

Mexico who drive 123 miles one way 

to shoot with us! We even have an in- 

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ternational member from Japan who 

flew over to stay and shoot with us (he 

did well, too)! 

There are just a few elements that I 

believe contribute strongly to our success. 

First, everyone is welcome, and 

made to feel welcome from the first 

time they show up. They are greeted, 

offered eye and ear protection, and 

what we are doing is explained to 

them. They are given back copies of 

Front Sight, as well as other "starter" 

information about IPSC/USPSA shooting. 

They are invited to shoot, regardless 

of their handgun caliber, as long as 

they are safe, for fun. Our more experienced 

shooters take them in hand and 

guide them through the courses. 

We do not give anything away to 

the match winner — not at the match, 

not at the end of the year, not ever. In 

fact, when Hunter's Paradise donated 

some gift certificates, they were given 

away in a random drawing. This way 

the majority of shooters do not feel 

they are supporting the same few 

shooters who win almost every match. 

We have far more D and C shooters, 

and they, not the match winners, are 

the backbone of the club. This also allows 

us to keep our suggested donations 

very low, so the average guy or gal 

can afford to shoot with us. 

After many years as wage slaves, we 

realize that weekends are precious time 

to be divided between family, honeydos, 

socializing, and relaxing. Our 

matches are designed to start on time at 

9 a.m., and are usually over by 1 p.m. 

Those with work or special family 

obligations are encouraged to "line 

jump" to the front of the line, so they 

can "shoot and scoot." Those who 

want may stay and shoot more, until 

we all adjourn for lunch. This helps 

keep folks coming back. 

Our club welcomes all classes of 

handguns, but the focus has been on 

Limited and Production divisions. 

Many of our shooters shoot what they 

carry, and with no prize table they can 

focus on their defensive skills, accuracy, 

and speed, or whatever else appeals 

to them. We have several shoot- 

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OCTOBER 12 & 13, 2002 

RAAHAUGES RANGE NORCO, CA 

The Oldest Name In American Firearms 

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sr-sr WNW, 

AMMUNITION 

"ALL REACTIVE STEEL 

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5 Stages 100+ Rounds 

We Provide XD Guns & PMC Ammo 

10 XD PRIZE GUNS 

Plus many other goodies 

Only 250 slots available 

Detailed Match Booklet & 

Entry Form Available Now 

Call or Write or Fax 

Ron Jung 

3163 Cherrydale Drive 

Diamond Bar, CA 91765 

909-594-1525 Fax 909-444-9886 


ers competing with their cut-down .45 

pocket rockets, as well as some police 

officers with their duty gear. Our intention 

is to have a big tent, with room 

for lots of different shooters with differing 

goals, centered on the concept 

of FUN. 

This theme of FUN is the central 

concept of our club — if it is fun, let's do 

it. If it's not fun, we don't. We still 

shoot an occasional standards course, 

as well as the long run-and-gun, shoot- 

èm-as-you-see-èm field courses. We 

just had an introductory rifle and shotgun 

match, which was very well received. 

Have we made some mistakes 

along the way? You bet! Are we learning 

at every match how to fine-tune 

our activities? Yes, sir! Are we having 

FUN? Come out to the White Mountains 

of Arizona and find out just how 

much fun you can have shooting IPSC. 

The White Mountain Practical Shooters 

are still going, and still growing. 

recision 

Proud Sponsor of rho 

Cactus Leaguo 

Arizona 400 

Championship 

11111.6106T/SUNDRY 

MOR16& 17, 2002 

WHERE: 

Ben Avery Shooting Facility. 

Exit 223 

(Carefree Hwy & in 

Phoenix. Arizona 

WHEN: 

Registration 7:00 am. 

I'd-pre-register. 

Be ready fo shoot 

by 8:00am 

ENTRY FEE: 

$125.00, limited to 

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Make checks payable to Cactus Match League and 

mati voth registration forrn to. 

Terry Allison. 8455 East Mulberry. Scottsdale, 

Arizona 85251 • E -mail address 

POLO SHIRTS - Advance Sales ONLY 

S25 00 IM. L XL. )C

2002 AREA 8 RACE GUN CHAMPIONSHIP 

OPEN & LIMITED 

Topton, PA September 6, 7, 8, 2002 

Half-day format - 9 Stages - 200 +/- Rounds 

Cash Awards, Plaques, and Donated Prize Table for Division/Class 

Match Fee: $95 ($105 after 8-15) 17-yr and under: $45 

Plaques for Category 

More info: www.usshooters.com/area8 

Open El Limited Class PF Lady 0 Sr 0 Super Sr 0 Jr 0 Mil 0 Law 0 

SQUAD TIMES (Number 1st & 2nd Choices) Friday AM___ PM__ Sat AM 

PM__ Sun AM__ 

MATCH SHIRT (One included - extras $16 - 2/3XL $18) # of each: M___ L___ XL 2XL___ 3XL___ 

Contact me, I am interested in working the match (includes incentives) Phone 

Name USPSA # 

Address 

City State Zip Phone 

Total enclosed: $ 

E-Mail 

Email ___ No Thanks ____ 

(Send squad requests together) MD: kilr318@enter.net or 610-970-5266 Registration: miller1002@entermail.net 

Make check to "Tina Miller/Area 8". Send to: Tina Miller, 2654 Romig Rd, Gilbertsville, PA 19525-9685 

2002 Michigan State Championship 

September 14 & 15 

Detroit Sportsmen's Congress 

8 Stages + Chrono - 200+Rounds $100 before 08115 - $125 after 

Name: USPSA# Class:___ 

Address: 

City: 

Stala_ Zip: Email: 

Range Location: 49800 Dequindre. Utica, MI, 48317 Dillon 650 Press Raffle - 1 each day 

1 Day Shoot Sat Sun ( ROs shoot Friday only ) 1 ticket included with entry fee 

T-Shirt and Lunch included in match fee. 

Extra tickets - $10 each 

T-Shirt Size: S M L _ 

XL XXL XXXL Extra Shirts(@$15) 

Division: Open Limited United 10 Production Revolver 

Mai Min_ Lady_ Law_ Mil Jr. Sr. SuperSr. 

100°/0 Payback after expenses + Plaques 

r,lim No refunds after 09/01 

Make checks payable to Jar-nes Duvall 

Send squad requests in same envelope 

to M ichigan State M atch 

27799 Fountain Avenue 

RDseville, MI 48066 

For Match lodging or RV access 

Check our website at 

http://d - s - c.orgistatematch02 

Email: MiStateMatch@aol.com 

Match Director: Jirn Duvall 

(586) 771-1715 


2002 Tennessee Section IPSC Championship 

Sept. 27-29, 2002 

(Note: This is 1-day match. Choose the day you want to shoot.) 

Name: 

Phone Number: 

Address: City: State: Zip: 

Email address: Choose your shoot day: Saturday or Sunda ■ 

USPSA #: USPSA Classification: G M A 

Which division are you going to shoot? Open Limited Limited 10 Production Revolver 

Major or Minor? Are you a? Senior Super Senior Junior Lady Law Enforcement Military 

Do you have a Squad request? 

sq uad requests should be mailed in together if at all po ssible. Enter early to ensure that the requests are honored. 

The match hotel is the Country Inn and Suites 

8489 Highway 64, Memphis TN. 38133. 

For reservation and information can 901- 381- 0085. 

We have arranged a rate of $57.99 per night. 

-Just ask for the "USPSA MATCH RATE". 

Attach your check and mail it to: 

Attn: Lynn Jones 

Tennessee Section Championship 

P. O. Box 1600 

Memphis TN 38101 For more information: www.memphis-ssa.com 

The match fee is $100 ($125 after Sept. 10, 2001). 

No refunds after Sept. 24, 2002 

Juniors shoot for 1/2 price if shooting with a parent. 

RO match fee is $25 or FREE if you work for 3 days. 

Contact info: Raymond McDonell 901-867-9944 

e-mail mmcdonecabellsouth.net 

Match Fee $100.00 ($125.00 after 9/10/02) 

T-Shirt $ 18.00 S M XL XXL 

T-Shin $ 22.00 XXXL 

Total $ Enclosed 

A USPSA 

TOURNAMENT 

MATCH 

UNITED STATES 

TICAL §1-1, 

' ..G 

2002 NEW YORK STATE CHAMPIONSHIP 

* * AND 2002 AREA 7 CHAMPIONSHIP ** 

AUGUST 1 - 4, 2002 

A STRAYER VOIGT INFINITY FIREARMS TOURNAMENT SERIES EVENT 

HOSTED BY: SQUARE DEAL SPORTSMEN PRACTICAL SHOOTERS 

LOCATED AT SQUARE DEAL RANGE FACILITY-RT 26, 2 MILES NORTH OF MAINE, NY 

NYSC is the Prize Match - AREA 7 is the Trophy Match 

8 CHALLENGING AND FUN STAGES / 185 PLUS ROUNDS / ONE-HALF DAY SQUADS 

LIMITED TO TIIL i its I 300 SHOOTERS - NO REFUNDS AFTER JL LY 15, 2002 

ALL Competitors register for both events with ONE entry fee 

SELECT 1 AND 2"d CHOICE SHOOT TIMES: Group Squads must mail them all together: US FUNDS only! Make checks payable to: 

AM SQUADS SHOOT @ 8:00 PM SQUADS SHOOT @ 1:00 Square Deal Sportsmen Inc. and mail to: 

FRIDAY AM: FRIDAY PM: SQUAD SIZE New York State / Area 7 Championships 

SATURDAY AM: SATURDAY PM: LIMITED TO P.O. Box 464 

SUNDAY AM: SUNDAY PM: 7 SHOOTERS Chenango Bridge, NY 13745-0464 

NAME __ 

ADDRESS 

MATCH FEE: 

ONE T-SHIRT 

EXTRA T- SHIRTS 

CITY _ 

STATE _ ZIP 

SIZE: (CIRCLE) S 

$ 120.00 

$ 13.00 

$ 15.00 EACH 

M L XL XXL 

PHONE 

Results posted to www.uspsa.org 

Circle for results sent U.S. Mail $3.00 per 

USPSA # 

CLASS 

Questions: 5:00 PM - 11:00 PM call 

Jon Whitmore: 607-648-6018 

CIRCLE ALL THAT APPLY: OPEN LIMITED LIMITED 10 

e-mall: NYSChanipionship*cs.com 

PRODUCTION REVOLVER ** MAJOR MINOR•* 

Registration and Squad Info. 

LADY SENIOR SUPER SENIOR JUNIOR LAW MILITARY 

7:00PM - 10:00PM call 

**** Juniors MUST contact us for eligibility rules *' Debi DeBoer: 607-64S-9015 

Your E-Mail Address: 

e-mai1: NYSC'hampionshipriiss.com 

Volunteer RO's and CRO's receive significant match discount and Match info: Square Deal Web Site 

3HOULD compete on Thursday. Contact us if you are interested! www.pronetisp.net!--jkosta:squaredeal.html 


Advertisers Index 

2002 Mississippi Classi 77 ISMI 57 

Alco Target Company 29 J.P Enterprises 31 

American Gunsmithing Institute 58 KKM 64 

Ammo Direct 66 Marvel Products 14 

Area 8 Race Gun Championships 78 Metro Industrial Finishing 76 

Arntzen Corporation 17 Michigan State Championship 78 

Bob Krieger Inc. 2 Mississippi Classic 77 

Brazos Custom Gunworks 19 Montana Gold 18 

Cactus League Arizona 400 77 New York State Championships 79 

Carter's Compensator Spray 10 Pantera Gun Er Reloading Center 69 

Caspian Arms 63 Perry R +D 12 

Chip McCormick 23 Precision Bullets 53 

Civilian Marksmanship Program 44 Redding Reloading 61 

Clark Custom, Inc 13 Rescomp 41 

Craig Ltd. 28 Roze Distribution 56 

Dawson Precision 67 S.W.A.T. Magazine 48 

Dawson Precision 41 Safariland 34 

Electronic Shooters Protection 52 Shooter's Connection 14 

Evolution Gun Works 21 Shooters.com 25 

Firing Line 4 Sierra Bullets 10 

Grams Engineering 59 Southern Belle Brass 42 

Hertz 5 Speed Shooters International 55 

Hogue Inc 37 Springfield Armory 76 

Starline Brass 24 

Steel Challenge Shooting Association . 50 

STI International 60 

Strayer-Voigt 45 

Tactical Shooting Technology 15 

Target Barn 47 

Target Taper 3 

Taylor Freelance 62 

Tennessee Section Championship . 79 

Texas State Limited Championship 80 

Universal Shooting Academy 39 

Winchester 33 

Zero Bullets 20 

PHICTItk SHOOTING 

2002 USPSA TEXAS STATE LIMITED CHAMPIONSHIP 

2002 

TEXAS STATE 

D CHAMPIONSIT1P 

Sept. 

13, 14 & 15 

Match at Ridgerunners Gun Club, Breckenridge TX 

UNITED STATE'S 

•Aac1TCat 

.5[44,11.• 

10 Stages • 250+ Rounds • Limit: first 250 App. 

Match Fee: $115.00 by Sept. 1 / $140.00 After Sept. 1 / No refunds after Sept.1 

Texas State Limited Championship Trophy 

AN‘ ads By Class • High Lady • Bill Jordan High Rev. Trophy • High Law • High Jr. • High Sr. 

All Competitors Will Visit Prize Table by Over All Match Placement 

Contact: Artie or Jimmy Mitchell. Phone: 254-559-1551. Fax: 254-559-8546. mitch5@kroo.com / Make Check To: 

Texas State Limited 2002 • Mail Entry form to: P.O. Box. 169 Breckenridge, TX 76424 / Squad together - Send together 

Name USPSA # 

Address State Zip 

City Phone # E-Mail 

Circle Applicable: Major Minor / Lady Law Rev. Jr. Sr. / Class: GM M A BCDU 

Pre order Pocket Polo Shirts $22.00 ea. Size: S M L XL XXL XXXL Quantity: 


"The Pocket Pro is the fastest way to see 

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Check out the advanced features of the 

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• Small Size. 

• Everyday Low Price of $129.95 

• Ergonomic design-Start button on side so right 

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Displays time to 199.99 for long Cowtnry Action stages. 

• Clothes Pin type belt cUp for easy on/off. 

Ncrw with adjustable sensitivity for light Cowboy Action loads. 

111 Review, Split time, Par time standard. 

• Switch selectable instant/random delayed start. 

• Official Timer for 2000 Winter Range and End of 

Trail CA:nivboy matches. 

40b AM is, La' 

' ' -39/ 

NEW! 

PROCHRONO DIGITAL 

The new ProChrono Digital is easy to use and features a 

shooting area nearly twice as large as any comparably priced 

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of each individual shot. With the optional Digital remote, you can 

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CDP (Custom Defense Package) pistols are built in 

the Kimber Custom Shop. They include features found 

only on custom-made defense pistols like carry bevel 

treatment, checkered front strap and Meprolight' 

Tritium night sights. The full size Custom COP and the 

Vitra CDP with three-inch barrel are pictured. Ali four CDP 

models are chambered in .45 ACP. 

Kimber. Carry the best. 

Kimber® is the world's largest manufacturer 

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in the powerful .45 ACP cartridge, the 1911 

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Kimber pistols are made in our state-ofthe-art 

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processes that combine 

to hold tolerances up to 

three times tighter than 

the competition. 

. 1, Kimber pistols have a host of custom features 

others find too difficult to manufacture or 

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Each Kimber has a one-piece match grade 

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lowered and flared ejection port and 

The new Ultra Ten has a 

three-inch buil barrel. polymer frame, 

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beavertail grip safety. Slides and barrels 

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For complete information on Kimber rifles and pistols please send $2 to Kimber, Dept. 742, One Lawton Street, Yonkers, NY 10705, 

call (800) 880-2418, or visit www.kimberamerica.com 

Information and specifications presented are for information only and subject to change wrthout notice. Firearm safety es every gun owner's responsibility. Use and store all firearms safely. Use the included cable lock 

a' r ,es When Or is not in use. Teach everyone in your home, especially children. proper firearm safety. 'timber firearms should only be purchased and used in full compliance worth all laws: national. state and local. 

All suggesbons for use in this advertisement. or in any kimber lrterature. must be taken within the context of these laws. Copynght 2001, Kerber Mfg, Inc,

Jul/Aug - uspsa

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