Month: May 2011

Match Prep

On By Tom LindsayIn Bruce, Safety, Training, USPSA

I have a match to shoot this weekend, and it got me to thinking about my preparations. Since my goal in 2011 is to improve as many aspects of my competition as I can, I thought I would begin at the beginning.

Assuming I have done the work in practice, there is still a lot of things I do to get ready. Before now, I just did them, but now I have my checklist.

Since it’s already starting to get warm, I have been drinking water all day today, to get my body ready.

Here’s what I will do tonight:

> Detail strip my Glock 17 (Bruce) and inspect all parts

> Change the factory connector for the (-) connector. (Bruce does double duty as a home defense gun and my competition gun. I keep the factory trigger connector in for home defense, so the trigger pull matches my other Glocks. Changing the connector to a (-) connector lowers the trigger pull about a pound.)

> Brush out but don’t clean unless it is very dirty

> Clean the fiber optic front sight with water only

> Lubricate the gun, using grease on the rails and connector

> Re-assemble the gun and dry fire it and practice drawing. Fix any problems

> Check mags – for damage, springs, followers

> Check holster and mag pouches – make sure that everything is adjusted correctly

> Load all my magazines to 10 rounds

> Make up some sports drink in plastic bottles, and put one bottle in the freezer

> Check my hearing protection and eye protection

> Make sure I have a clean towel in my shooting bag

> Make sure my knee pads, hat, and spent shell bag are in my shooting bag

Finally, make sure I have directions to the range, since there are about half a dozen ranges in the Atlanta area with USPSA or GSSF matches.

Tomorrow is a Steel Challenge match at Creekside Firing Range. I will try to live tweet it at @FillYerHands, so “stay tuned.”

Georgia Scores 8 on the Brady Scorecard

On By Tom LindsayIn CCW

The Brady Campaign’s 2010 state gun law rankings are out, and my home state of Georgia scored an 8 out of a possible 100. The lower the score, the less restrictive the gun laws, so a zero would be the perfect place to live. I’m sure if they scored Kennesaw, where I live, we would get a lower score that 8.

You can see an interactive map here. The People’s Republic of California scored highest with 80.

Too bad even the Brady Campaign can’t answer just one question.

A Good Encounter

On By Tom LindsayIn Uncategorized1 Comment

My 14 year old son and I were at the movies last fall, standing in the lobby, waiting for our show. I can’t remember exactly how we got on the subject, but we got around to discussing full auto weapons. As the bill-paying adult of the group, I thought that maybe a rifle that shot 3 round bursts would be just as fun as full auto. My son then asked if a gun with 3 round bursts still fell under a Class 3 license.

I said I didn’t know, and as quick as that, out of the corner of my eye up walks a tall uniformed police officer, and said “Say what?”

“Excuse me?” I answered.

“My ears perked up when I heard ‘Class 3’.”

Having nothing to hide, I told him what we were talking about, and he cleared it up for us.

First, a “Class 3 license” refers to the dealer who sells automatic weapons. The owner doesn’t have to have such a license, but still has to go through a lot of paperwork. Yes, 3 round bursts require a Class 3 dealer license. Yes, the Acworth, Georgia, police department issues M4’s and he shoots his at least once a month. They practice out to 100 yards, but mostly closer than that. He said their use of the M4 in most cases would be as suppressing fire, in a hostage standoff or other situation. He didn’t really see the point of a civilian owning a full auto gun. It wasn’t from a Second Amendment point of view, it’s just that tactically it wouldn’t make sense.

Ah, but it would be a lot of fun.

“Well, yeah, there is that. I guess your specs are a little wider than mine.”

We chatted a little while longer, and my son even got involved. But after a while our movie was seating, and we said thanks, and went in.

More than the information we got about the NFA and the weapons of the local police, it was great to talk to him. For one thing, it was definitely a teachable moment for my son. We’ve talked about it many times since, and he has a very good view of the police.

Now, whenever we are at the movies, and that policeman is there, I make it a point to say hello. I suppose if I ever get that full auto, I’ll tell him about it. Maybe we’ll get an invite to come shoot.