Blast Masterson

https://www.alliantpowder.com/products/powder/extra_lite.aspx This is the cleanest burning, consistent in any temperature, Lite Load powder. I even use it in my pistol/rifle loads. You can get all kinds of problems when you load lite. Test a lot.

Well don't believe it Tyrel! If this Covid thing (and politicians like the VA Governor) goes away, anything is possible! I was on blood pressure meds (didn't work very well). Now I'm on nothing! I have the BP of a 22 yr old (but then my kidney came from a 22yr old)! My wife keeps telling me to keep my social distance from her now! I recommend you slow down more, you shoot way too fast as it is!

But to play devil's advocate, can you not still spread a bug without being sick yourself (based upon News Media opinion)? You touch something contaminated and pass it on to the steering wheel of your truck, and someone else drives your truck...? I neglected to discuss the testing thing yet, so... How much virus does it take to infect you? Answer: One. Why do we need to test? You can not kill a virus if your sick with it. Immunization is to prevent you from getting sick, or as sick. It will not kill the infection you currently have. If you have antibodies from Covid, how long is that good for? When will it become Covid 20? If you take the Covid test, you may be good at the time of the test, but you may have been infected before the test results comes back. What are we doing to combat Covid after you have it? Well all the old drugs we already have, which seem to be helpful for many to recover, is rejected by the powers that be! Would money and drug patents have something to do with this? Why does Covid kill you? Because you literally suffocate! Or, your in such bad shape, your about to die anyway. Covid blocks the ability of your red blood cells to carry O2 throughout your body. One analogy I heard what it's like a tractor trailer driving around in your blood stream without it's trailer. So what are we doing about that? I talked with my transplant Doctors about that they would do with me if I get Covid. They said they would saturate my O2 levels and hope it would give me time to recover. No one has discussed anything except immunization. Well that's great for those who haven't contracted Covid yet, but they are talking "years" here... I was talking with an Army buddy about this and got on the subject of our past NBC Training. Some agents attack the ability of your blood to carry O2. Atropine is the treatment we all carried. It slowed breathing rate, lowered heart rate, and promoted O2 absorption. Atropine is used during surgery to prevent the pneumonia effect of fluid in the lungs (same as how Covid effects your lungs). Hummmm... I have more questions than answers I receive... As you said; Thinking is a dangerous thing sometimes!!!

I had a kidney transplant 2 Jan 2020. I'm on immune suppressant drugs. I had a virus two weeks before my surgery and another virus for five weeks after. I was on meds that cost $150/day (after insurance). The first virus I got was after surgery on my arm access for a dialysis access. A volunteer "greeter" at the hospital coughed in my face when I walked in the front door! I took three steps back instinctively, and assumed signing 10 pages of stupid waivers. No hand sanitizer in sight! The second virus I got from my wife who got over it in 5 days (it took me five weeks)! So after being on dialysis for 14 months and transplanted 4 1/2 months ago (giving the highest consideration for germs and infections) , I have given considerable thought about this Covid 19 thing. I was wearing a mask and carrying hand sanitizer before it as cool! So here is my perspective... I like all your posts on this Cpt Bill, but this one the best! Doing what you said will do more for you than all the hand sanitizer everyone here has used this year! Our piss poor lifestyle will kill you! I was roaming the halls the morning after my transplant without any drugs other than Tylenol. I recovered faster than any of my medical staff had seen. I was on the range again for the next match after my surgery (I only missed one). Besides my failing kidneys (hereditary), I have no health issues. I maintain a 100 acre horse ranch in the hills of Tn., and I heat my house with wood (in my spare time). I hike several miles a day in the process. I quit drinking when I went on dialysis. And most importantly, I survived two virus attacks while being immune suppressed. I even shook hands with Rough Cut at the range when he had the flue! I rode to two matches with Let's Go when he told me he had a cold (he wore a bandana) and we left a window cracked. Now concerning my lack of Social Distancing, I didn't get sick from any of this range activity. Why? Because I didn't shake hands and pick my nose. My pard covered his mouth when needed. You know, the things we are all now doing (being ordered to do). How many of you stand down wind of a black powder shooter on purpose? The urban rulers have not talked about this, but if you don't want a deer to smell you, you stay down wind! Try staying up wind (for yourself) or cross wind and protect those your talking to. How bout that thought? Concerns about picking up brass?! My hands get covered in burnt gun powder at the range, I sure ain't gonna pick my nose or wipe my eyes! If we really think about it (and I have for good reasons), the perception of Covid 19 that is being projected upon us is about like radioactive fallout which none of us could survive. No, Covid can not bore through your skin like a gama-ray! You can't get it by tailgating the car in front of you on the interstate! As for picking up brass, the lead is a bigger concern than Covid! No one wears PPE when being a brass picker!? I believe some people (43% seems to be the number) need the crap scared out of them to change their lifestyle. If you rationally think about how a small unseen bug can travel around, you'd live in a bubble (and immediately die if your bubble sprung a leak). There is no way to avoid it! Worrying about it, being locked up at home, will suppress your immune system all by itself! But you can stop intentionally spreading it through lifestyle changes and that does not include banning outdoor activities. How many of you Cops have been to a residence that makes your skin crawl? Can you imagine how much we have been exposed to, and are still alive? This would be associated with the Herd Immunity thing some are talking about. A lot of us that play CAS are aged and are health compromised. We must protect ourselves. But the rest of us should do what we can to prevent exposing those who are compromised as well. That is what all this is about. Now you can't protect anyone if you don't know your a carrier, but locking ourselves away just in case is a death sentence in of itself. I didn't spend a year and a half sticking 15 gauge needles in my arm on dialysis to be locked away at home, away from distanced family. If the next virus takes me out, that is God's plan or the Law of Nature (however you look at it). I think I will keep my social distance from the outhouse at the range from now on though... BTW: My wife is a Registered Nurse and no, I don't make her live in the RV... Think for yourself, while it's still legal!

A thus comes the laws that hold the parent responsible ... Not an accident... Doesn't matter if it's your kid or mine... If it's not your kids fault, than it must fall on you I guess.

Never too young to learn "Consequences of your actions"... Hopefully he will learn this during his "Time Out". Records are sealed. So it doesn't effect the rest of his life. Pushing someone is assault. There was "Intent". Any death as a result of an illegal act is on you. An "Accident" is when your riding your bike, loose control and hit someone who dies as a result (unless you were in your Dad's liquor cabinet before hand). But that was back in my day. Today, you just turn them loose with the rest of the illegals...

I agree with what you said. I never looked at it that way before but, if a shooter can do it, there are advantages to practice other ways: First is that many stages are written subconsciously favoring traditional style shooters. ie. sometimes you shoot a five shot sequence with one pistol and repeat with the other the same way (even with the same hand). As I said, I shoot the Nevada Sweep by Dbl cocking (as it can be a crossover nightmare). Traditional is a "run in the park"! I started shooting CAS as a Dbl Duelist because I wanted to improve my weak hand performance, not just hit the target better and faster. My law enforcement qualification required shooting and loading with both hands and I wanted to do better, knowing my limitations. Therefor the plan was "Practice"! Now I shoot GF, but I can choose Dbl Duelist on any stage I elect to. I also have the option to single or double cock dependent on the stage sequence. I had an AV Fistula Graft put in my left arm to hook up to a dialysis machine, so for a couple matches I shot Sgl Duelist. One time I had to shoot Josey Wales. Not as fast, but I got to shoot. Options... Another consideration; how many shooters can actually compete with the top traditional shooters in a big match? Just look at the match standing based on category. Shooting Silver Senior GF gives me a smaller population to shoot against (with a goal to focus no) when there is no physical way for me to go up against the top 5 traditional shooters at this point of my life. If the shooters goal is to challenge the Top 5, shoot 1,000 rounds a month, do one thing, and do it fast... But if you show up to a match like Iron Cowboy, you will find there is nothing Traditional about it and is a good dose of reality concerning your shooting ability (but everyone loves it)! Just different goals and perspectives we all have sometimes... BTW: I can not shoot Traditional at all, so I'll never be competition to any Traditional Shooter! I can shoot Outlaw better than Traditional! As you said, We are all wired differently! However I do practice Traditional sometimes, just to refresh my memory of what I can't and shouldn't attempt at a match!

OMG, not SASS too! Let's just change the Shooters Handbook. You have to wear ear protection. You have to wear eye protection. Let's add that you must wear a bandanna over your face and be done with it!? Maybe we should add condoms to the list while we're at it... Oh yea, brass pickers can't pick up brass by hand either... Yea, Yea I'm just being bad. But I had a kidney transplant on New Years day this year (I'm on handfuls of Immunosuppressant drugs) and I have been to four matches so far this year w/o issue. I did catch the crud from my wife at home however... I guess a large minority of us old farts are in the high risk group! I can see that the after match festivities could be something to avoid, except at Wartrace, Tn. where Whisky Haze brings plenty of alcohol based viral suppressant medicine and hands it out to everyone, complements from his friend Jack D.

I do the same thing, but I'm not saving any time as I'm re-cocking as I'm shooting the other pistol and there is no time savings there. For me, it's just uncomfortable and I try not to do it. I find if I start the way I'm going to shoot the stage, it is easier to get the rhythm and cadence going right off the start. Less to think about. When I draw with the Dbl cock, my brain thinks I'm supposed to Dbl shoot and slows me down to resolve the issue.

It is virtually impossible to shoot both pistols at the exact same time. But I watched my Pard blow two state matches (sequentially) due to spotters who couldn't keep up. They and the timer can not distinguish between shots. He went back to shooting duelist for a year, but is back as a gunfighter now. I always try to be doing two things at the same time. Like everyone else, I have two hands and they each need to not be waiting on the other hand to finish what it's doing to continue. When you pull the trigger your cocking the other hammer. Shooters get too wrapped up on crossover. Gunfighter should be smooooth to be fast. How much time between dbl cocking vs. time between sequential cocking shots is the only point where time can be made up (and it's not much). Yes, with practice it can be done, but how many years does that take? You need to keep both pistols moving. Dbl cocking is a bunch of stop and start (or speed-up vs. slow down), which adds up the time. If you stop and start in sequential shooting, you'll tend to crossover. I only shoot one stage Dbl Cock throughout, that is the Nevada Sweep where there is a lot of crossover potential. The rest, I change between Dbl Cock and Sequential and back again w/o thinking about it on the same stage at times. With split pistol stages, around here most of the time we stick the shotgun and/or rifle in between pistols. I don't know how many times I've seen a shooter pull an empty gun or fire a spent case on the next to last shot. Now that is a lot of wasted time... I recommend shooting the left gun on left target, right on right Duelist till your good at knowing when to not cock your next gun. As Long Hunter says, practice what your not good at... I have an unsubstantiated phobia of shooting my weak hand first (actually do better on the first shot with weak hand). Something I keep working on. Not shooting sequential because of potential crossover is not as big of a deal than all the other potentials. Dryfire at home and monthly matches where you can slow things down on a timer will get you to where you want to be. It's just hard to get off your race horse when the timer is behind you. But if you don't do it, you won't improve with time. JMHO

How do the shells stay in the gun when pointed up and down range? My previous SXS used to close when I entered the stage area and pointed the gun more vertical because others we in front/down range of me entering the stage. If someone stages a closed SG, they must open it. If there is a shell in there, keep going to the unloading table with a well earned SDQ.

This is the only advantage IMHO.

Spitflier - on a side note, I am new to CAS also and after putting over 2,000 rounds threw my new guns, my opinion is that your guns must operate properly for you and your capabilities. You don't need a Corvette to drive to church... Tuning a gun shaves thousands of a second off your time. Missing the target costs you 5 sec. Transition between guns on a stage saves 'seconds' off your time. You must make 1,000 modifications to your guns to save 1 sec off your time. See where I'm going with this? Concentrate on the important things. Try out as many guns as you can to see what you 'need' to be competitive at your level. I bought SASS Rugers because they come with a hammer that fits me. I changed the springs myself. I bought a CAS 1873 because the stock is already modified. The short stroke will help anyone. With a few adjustments, it was smooth operating for a starting shooter. I bought a used shotgun that someone had modified and I spent countless hours (lots of Dollars if you can't do your own work, which few of us can do) to make it run right. For me, the shotgun was not so important and I knew what I was getting into; barrel separation, lock timing, double discharge problem, improper stock finish, bent firing pins, etc. SO , consider your purchases carefully. A larger investment up front may provide a smoother ride. There is nothing worse than going to the line with a gun your not sure about... New vs. Used: if you find a good deal on used, buy the time you need to really go fast you will be ready for a high end gun (if the used one lasts). Then you'll have a 'backup' when things go South with your main guns and have to take a trip to the Smith.

I bought one last year. It did need work. I spent about 4 hours on the original parts and it is as slick as any worked gun I have tried. Only added part was a stainless mag spring because the original springs rust out in no time here in the Southeast. And some leather work on the comb and lever. As someone said, it's about 70% ready. More like 90% if you have some tools and do some reading on line on tuning springs. I would like to change the lever safety spring from leaf to coil spring. Can't get the leaf spring light enough w/o making it too weak and break.