Search found 385 matches for Ed Hall

Cleaning during the season

I never intentionally placed any oil into the barrels or onto the ammo in those days, unless I needed to, to complete a match due to malfunctions.

Cleaning during the season

chiz1180 wrote:Ed,

A bit of a side note, how would you define "heavily competing"?

"Back in the day. . ."

I was shooting up to around 30 2700s in a season.

But back then my schedule was roughly:

Monday - other stuff
Tuesday - 90 round .22 league at lunch
Wednesday - 90 round .22 league at lunch and 180 (.22/.45) league in evening
Thursday - 90 round .22 league at lunch
Friday - other stuff and gun cleaning
Saturday - 2700, or .22/CF of 2700 (for two-day competitions), or  180 (.22/.45) league in morning
Sunday - 2700 or .45/SP of 2700 (for two-day competitions)
Most of the two-day matches also included fired team matches.
Some of the weekends had 2700s on both Saturday and Sunday at different venues.

Those were "the good old days. . ."

Cleaning during the season

When I was heavily competing, all my guns were detail cleaned and lubed the night before every weekend competition and my .45 wad gun barrel was scrubbed between Center Fire and .45 matches.  More in depth cleaning was done, if time permitted.  No cleaning was done during the week for leagues.

45 ACP case trimming for Bullseye shooting

You may like to review this post from the past and note item 8:

https://www.bullseyeforum.net/t6542-sorting-cases#52594

Clean a Target... Show us!

Congrats!  Very Nice!  Thanks for posting.

Clean a Target... Show us!

Very Nice!  Thanks for posting!

Clean a Target... Show us!

Nice targets!  Thanks for sharing!

Hammerli Combi Tool

Properly fit screwdrivers would be easier to use, too.  In addition, the second stage screwdriver could be shaped as a spanner, so the inner (Allen) adjustment could be left alone.  I believe the multi-tool was just a handy single device to catch the slot type adjustments and the rear sight screw and blade.  Note that the rear sight screwdriver should have a small handle, so you don't over-torque it.  I use the sight adjustment screwdriver from S&W, myself.

Hammerli Combi Tool

Not noted and difficult to see in the image, is that the bottom of the slot in #4 of the picture is tapered to a sharper edge.  This slot is used for changing the rear sight blade, by pressing it from right to left and lifting it out of the sight.  The blade has a serrated right end for the tool to grasp.

Recoil buffers and snow

inthebeech wrote:
Did you take your pistol to an exorcist?  I know it wasn't funny at the time.  It is now.

I performed the ritual myself - haven't used a buffer since.  Now, as demonstrated, it makes for a good story.

Clean a Target... Show us!

cobbwebb wrote:First cleaned target after 16 months of shooting .22 Bullseye

Excellent!  Can I suggest adding a photocopy of it to your gunbox in a conspicuous place?

Recoil buffers and snow

The wrong material (that some are made from) can also cause issues.*  Users commonly just push the stop down by thumb, rather than by slide.

* Issues always turn up in the most inopportune moments:

I tried a buffer for a while on a Service Pistol.  It ran fine until Perry, at which time it started disintegrating during one of the SP matches.  Picture this:
I was shooting sustained fire.

- I fire a round and the slide stays open.
- I start to lower the gun and raise my off-hand for an alibi.
- The slide now closes.
- I raise the gun and shoot the next round.
- Repeat until out of ammo.

Magazine accuracy?

Yes.  The reasons for different printing at the target are different tensions from stripping the round as it's taken into the chamber.  Everything from spring tension to round tipping, through lip dragging will affect how the slide closes.  Most shooters will never notice, but higher levels take everything into account.  State Championships are often won/lost by a point or an X.

Walther cp-2 air pistol

If you have lots of money, you can try Earl's Repair Service, Inc.*

My suggestion is to get the sizes from the above site and buy Nitrile o-rings from other places, as Dave suggests.

* My personal experience was contacting Earl's and asking about a set of seals for my CP-2.  Their response was that each seal was $10.00.  I consider $10 for one o-ring to be a bit much.

Best Laser Training System

SteveT wrote:Without question the BEST is SCATT. The only other system I've used is a Mantis, which is good, but you get a lot more information from the SCATT. Is it worth several hundred more dollars? that is up to you.

I guess really the best system is the one you can afford that get's you to practice more than just dry firing.

Noptel might just argue that initial point.(smile)

I use and coached with Rika, as well.

I haven't spent any time with any of them in the last few years, but there are several threads with pros and cons.  I'm not sure about the others, but Rika used to have the download available, so you could look at all the features while you tried the program on your computer.  Other than Mantis, I don't know about phone/tablet use for any.  They are pricey, except for the Mantis, but you have to evaluate what you can afford.

Now, the note I always like to provide.  The best use for the electronic trainers is to learn how to better "SEE" your shot process with your eyes through your sighting system.  Watching your shot process and learning to see it as it unfolds and then comparing it with the electronic version can do that.  After I learned that point, the only real advantage of the trainer was in aggregate reviewing.

Indoor & Outdoor POI Change With .22

Rodger Barthlow wrote:Shot a 900 indoor .22 match yesterday and had my 208 shooting 4" low and to the left.
I had to re-zero during the slow fire portion. Don't understand why the POI changed after I had verified the zero the day before on my out side 25yd range.
Same ammo used for the match as was the day before sighting in the 208 off a rest at 25yds.
Why would it change ?

My emphasis. . .


In order for a "gun system" to produce consistent results, the whole system must be consistent.  In the case of pistol shooting the shooter's body is that system.  There are many forces at work in the suspension of the pistol that all provide a moment of force on the gun that affects the bullet path.  It is hard to completely duplicate the forces when you are changing a major component.

Dry Fire Methods

AC Baker wrote:

Ed Hall wrote:Along with the physical part of dry firing, remember to add in the mental rehearsal (visualization) and also remember to do the mental part in separate sessions.

Ed, can you explain what you mean by mental rehearsal?

It helps your shooting if you tell your subconscious what you desire.  A mental rehearsal is going over in your mind what the perfect application looks and feels like.  After such a visualization, you conduct your dry fire shot and compare the rehearsal to the dry fire.

You should also do this for live fire, but when competing you should not be doing any evaluation geared to changing anything at that competition.

As you learn more about your dry fire (and live), your visualization will also advance.  At some point you should move toward the capability of rehearsing an entire event, but this should be left for a little bit later.


An anecdote:

In my early years of shooting I had the good fortune to hear some words of wisdom from Joe White, one of the past greats who was featured in the original Pistol Shooter's Teasury.  One time at the league:

Me: Wow! I just did as you suggested and it worked great.  I visualized five tens and then I fired a string of five tens.
Joe: Good, you're almost there.
Me: Almost?!?
Joe; Now visualize the five tens while you shoot them.

Dry Fire Methods

Along with the physical part of dry firing, remember to add in the mental rehearsal (visualization) and also remember to do the mental part in separate sessions.

S&W 41 Dry Firing

Ok, I bow to Ed-plastic screw thingys or snap caps-its not that difficult anyway.  Still interested in the block of
gel for the 41.

The woman at Ruger is probably correct for the larger crowd that doesn't take the gun apart or dry fire, but for this crowd, that dry fires several times a day and cleans our guns after every live session, we might want to keep track of the state of the pins.  (everyone here meets that, right?)

Of note, I peened a small bit of one end of my cross pin just a touch, so it wouldn't fall out easily.  I broke at least one firing pin.  (I'm kind of thinking two.)  I was doing a lot of dry firing!

S&W 41 Dry Firing

L. Boscoe wrote:

Hvacguy76 wrote:Is is safe to dryfire my S&W 41 without a snap cap?

Only 22 I know of that is safe is most Rugers, who have a special mechanism to keep the firing pin off the
face of the chamber, according to the woman I spoke to at Ruger.  41's you can use drywall plastic screw insert,
or snap caps.

However, I've seen two troubles with Ruger's firing pin setup over the years:

1. The cross pin is so loose, it will fall out when putting the bolt back into the receiver if tipped at all. If unnoticed the firing pin WILL damage the chamber mouth.

2.  The hole for the pin can allow for cracks and eventually break the pin allowing the front portion to reach the chamber mouth.

USAMU's Franken Hammerlis

My original Ruger had a rear sight that would move varying distances up and down due to unequal ridges in the elevation screw.  I took a fine scribe and made witness marks on the side of the sight so I could see the movement and be able to judge whether it was indeed moving as I wished.

Bo-Mar Accuracy Tuner

I have a wad gun with a tuner and if it isn't pretty clean under the tuner at the barrel contact, it starts stringing vertically and occasionally locks the slide tight during dry firing.

USAMU's Franken Hammerlis

As long as your machining process includes the correct thread timing and extractor cut*, swapping barrels isn't that big a deal.

* I had a gunsmith friend pull and replace the barrel on my 208s when I sent it to be relined.  It isn't 100% set, but it's nearly that and the gunsmith that did the reline, cut the extractor slot a little wide so it would function even if a little out of time.

next step on improving?

JHHolliday wrote:Ed would dry fire training with lines as you recommend improve hold over time? 

One reads that once stance and natural point of aim has been worked out that hold (wobble, etc) is more or less innate and not really trainable.  But beside minimizing trigger disturbance can hold be improved and is it worth working on?

The hold/wobble is determined by many physical factors and you will notice it changes from day to day, but trying to minimize it can be effective through exercise and diet.  In the case of diet, let's visit caffeine fo a moment. It is a stimulant and it is addictive.  The best approach is to maintain a steady level.  But, you should also study its effects on you.

As to physical exercise, holding drills train muscles and can minimize wobble for most people.  Even those with a physical disorder can benefit from holding drills.  No one ever eliminates the natural arc, but it can be lessened through drills.

Note that there are different elements to the movements.  We can see them, if we try.  There is a movement from the wrist, which is usually the fastest of the elements.  This can be trained pretty much away for most people and is the most distracting.  There is a slow movement from the shoulder that will move the hold around on the target,  This is less of a problem and can be minimized through stance.  And, there is a movement from the body.  This also can be minimized through stance.  This last element is usually a front to back movement in reference to your feet.  The last two movements cause more trouble in trying to "fix" them.

All of these elements can be minimized and they should be studied, documented and worked on in training.  But, part of that training should include recognizing the normal arc and accepting it without corrections.  Allowing the normal arc and aborting an abnormal arc can help with slow fire scores.

next step on improving?

cobbwebb wrote:I spent a lot of time when I first started just holding my (empty) pistol up at arms length one handed and holding on a point on the opposite wall for increasing lengths of time.
It seemed to help build up shoulder strength. For me, the strength to hold up for sustained fire was a totally different ability than the the ability to hold a minimum arc of movement. That took a long time to develop and the minimum arc varies from day to day.

I suggest using lines (horizontal, vertical and both) rather than a point or bull for holding drills.  If you practice holding on a bull you can learn how to hold on the target without operating the trigger.  If you do use a bull for holding, make sure the hold is after a dry fire operation.

Some have had luck with holding up plastic milk/water containers with varying amounts of product.  But, don't overdo any of this.  A full gallon of water/milk is over 8 pounds.