Warbird

Marco Polo Argali. Why? Because it's hard and not everyone has the physical fortitude to do it. And because they are just dang cool looking animals.

If you are hunter, practice shooting offhand, prone, kneeling or sitting indian style as we used to call it. Practice using the sling as leverage. If you hunt in any wide open country, and use them, practice shooting with shooting sticks. It may not seem like you would have to practice with those, but really you do have to become accustomed to using them. I take a few shots of each after sighting in my rifle good before heading out on a hunt. These things are especially important if you are using any large or magnum cartridge rifles hunting big game.

For me Bench is for sighting in scopes. I have no use for one, other than resting beside one after I am done practicing. I am not a bench rest competitive shooter and don't see tremendous value in sitting at one all day. I have seen people who sight their rifles in with them and then go hunting expecting to be able to shoot as well in any position as they do their bench. The go home empty handed most of the time. Practice as you will shoot.

Chicoms are my favs and the Poly is an outstanding rifle.

DT10 is Beretta's top of the line shotgun built for competition. A well made beauty. Will shoot a few hundred thousand rounds over a lifetime, no prob. I am suuming this is a sporting clays gun, unless it just has one barrel and a high rib? There is a shop in Chatt called I think Feather and Fly, or something similar, who deals in shotguns like this. There are tons of Beretta shooters and experts on showgunworld.com They are the go to place for sporting shotguns. You could likely find a buyer there fairly easy. Send me a pm with what you want for it and I will let a few people I know as well.

Nice first AR. BCM makes top notch stuff. I am pretty high on middies.

As has been has been said already the Yugos can be anywhere between poor and pretty good. $600 is IMO way out of line, if it is a standard gun. $350-400 would be more in line. And I disagree that there are no horrid AK's. Some of those made by IO, TNGUN were simply horrid. I am personally a Chicom whore. I think they are as close to the original Russian AK as you will find. Arsenal makes an excellent rifle. For some reason people look on Gunbroker and compare their fair or poorly done rifle to a reworked gun and think their's should be worth the same because there's is a Yugo or Saiga or what have you. Truth is many AK's are just not worth a lot. However most of them, even most of the poorer models can be made to be very good. If you could get that Yugo for a really good deal, like $350-400 buy it. Then send it off to Rifle Dynamics and get back as good an AK as one can buy with the features you want on it and have less in it that an Arsenal. And any Fullerized gun is worth the money invested as you can always sell to contractors, who drool over any Fullerized gun.

The MTAC has more spit and polish. It is nicer finished. It also has a padding on the backside. These are IWB holsters and I dont give two sh*** what they look like, I care what they wear like. The MTAC has a narrower stance and is slightly thicker. With some pants that might make a difference with a bigger bulge. The Crossbreed has a wider stance and is thinner conversely. This means there is more holster on your skin. Perhaps in the dead of summer this makes it hotter. The kydex of the MTAC is is thicker, but I have never known of either to break, though over the long haul both will. The MTAC kydex is easier to replace. I personally think the CBST clips are better, but don't really have a negative opinion of the MTAC clips. Neither move on me. The MTAC is not significantly better built. It is better finished out. I have worn both of mine in some terrible conditions and both are still going strong. Both are very versatile and highly adjustable. Both are very comfortable. OK I will speak a sacrilege that I never would have thought I would say 5 years ago: I find either one to be as comfortable, and easier to break in, as my beloved M Sparks and TT holsters. If you want to talk better built and refer it to the way it looks, neither of these holsters hold a candle to the Sparks, TT, Bullard, various other well made leather beauties. I personally like a leather backed kydex holster for IWB, but some really like the extremely thin nature of the kydex holsters similar to the Raven concealment.

Either will work great. I have both and don't notice any difference between the two in comfort or durability. To tell the truth I can wear either and at times pretty much forget I have it on. As to your original question, both. Have a decent OWB and a IWB. You will want both at different times for different things. The OWB doesn't have to be great, just good. I have a number of OWB holsters and mostly use a Done Hume Open Top or a Bladetech most of the time. In the future my Raven Concealment will replace them for OWB. There is a new vendor on here that makes kydex holsters as well that can be used OWB or IWB like the Raven. I plan to buy one of those.

Dy fire, dry fire, dry fire. And then dry fire some more with a dime on the front sight. You should easisly be able to pull the trigger and not have the coin fall off the sight. Unless you use an XS sight or something similar.

So it took you this long to figure out you have a screw loose. Everyone on this board already knew that.

Engineers have a term for this called 'the law of diminishing returns'. At some point the additional weight of an aircraft engine for example no longer gives you the additional HP to make the addition worthwhile. They will push the money on both ends up until they cannot anymore. Those that support the sport, the fans, will tell them when enough is enough and that they have gone too far. NBA Basketball saw that to some extent I believe in recent years. I know because I just saw my father's Daytona 500 tickets that NASCAR has gotten the message to an extent. His tickets did not go up again this year, because NASCAR finally figured out they were losing money overall despite higher ticket prices due to far less tickets sold. You want to talk about getting hosed, try UT football and all of the other college teams we as taxpayers support. They have high ticket prices and are subsidized by our tax dollars. UT athletics might make money, one of the few in the country that do, but they still don't pay for all of athletics much less all of the university's costs. I don't live in Nashville, so the Titans cost me nothing at all. But UT does, and I'm not even a UT fan. And outside of UT in this state there isn't another college that makes enough to even cover the cost of their football team.

At the ranges she should be training at there won't be any significant difference. The Glock is more than accurate enough with any decent ammo. I shoot Wolf, WWB and most all other cheap ammo and can place shots pretty much where I want them. If you shot from 25 yards out you might notice the difference in match ammo. Defensive ammo will be about the same unless you use +p or +p+ ammo you would notice a sharper recoil. You should shoot some of your defensive ammo to ensure reliability in the gun. But in an emergency you wouldn't notice any difference even in the +P ammo. By the way I have met very few people who can shoot a Glock to its fullest accuracy capability so that shouldn't even be a factor you consider.

They are top notch. Ron Fielder is a protege of Jeff Cooper and still instructs at Gunsite as well.

The light LEM is in my opinion the best trigger H&K offers. It is easy to acclimate to and after the first shot it is nice and short. I hate the standard LEM trigger. The only thing I don't like about the P30 and the deal killer for me was the slide lock controls. With my high hold I have the tendency to have my thumb push down on the lever and keep the slide from locking back. I won't change my grip for a pistol. It is an accurate, durable, reliable pistol as all H&K's are. I carried a P7 for several years and an HK45c for a while as well. For carry one drawback to the P30 is the grip stippling is very aggressive. Some find to be too much aggressive for comfort. The only pistol I carry other than Glock is a 1911. The light LEM is the best option for a 1911 shooter who likes H&K.

What he said.

I appreciate the compliment. It is painful to be principled at times. I have had invites to shoot at the sporting clays complex in Sparta and had to decline. I have also had numerous invites to hunt deer in Illinois and I always decline. They have some nice deer there. I hunt in Missouri and Kansas instead. We took a 170 class 10 pt and a 12 pt in Kansas this year, so not a bad place to go anyway.

There is a highway off of one of the Paducah exits, seems like it is Hwy 60, which you can take over and meet up with I 57, go south for 12 miles then hit I55 N to STL. That way I avoid Illinois completely. I will not go through Illinois. I despise their gun laws and refuse to give them any of my money. I won't get gas there. Won't get caught there and have to stay in a hotel or have to buy a meal there. It does add about 40 minutes to the trip, but it is worth it to me, not to go through Illinois on my often trips to Missouri. It is a more enjoyable drive as well. Unlike the Illinois drive, it is hilly and more stops.

Fit is in some ways quite important in shooting a shotgun. A gun that doesn't point well for you will be hard to shoot well ever. In the beginning this is very important. It isn't as important after you are really really good. Unlike shooting pistols or rifles where you focus on the front sight, with clays you should never look at the bead at all. I used to think fit was everything until I shot with a guy who shot my shotgun, which he had never shot before, on a sporting clays course. He also never mounted the gun, shooting the gun cradled in his elbow joint with his arm tucked into his side. He shot a 90 on a moderately difficult course. Yes he is a pro and yes he did it to prove a point. We had had a debate on fit. Needless to say I won't debate him anymore. Anyway a good shotgun for skeet and sporting clays, won't be a good one for trap because of poa/poi. Buy a durable shotgun that will hold up to the punishment of 100 or more rounds at a time. The least expensive route to go for a durable shotgun is definitely a semi. The Remington 1100 or Beretta 390 series shotguns are very popular. The Beretta is a far better choice over the Benelli for the majority of people. I almost never see a Benelli on the clays course anymore. If you decide to go the O/U route then a decent quality durable shotgun will definitely set you back more. They are more expensive to build and cost more because of it, even a basic no frills sporting model. Few folks, me being an exception, like Beretta and Browning and find that either fit well. They are the two most popular brands. I would try several of each to see which fits. Most are very committed to either, but both are well made and you should decide based on what fits you better. Another option would be the Spanish made Lanber. They are the most sold shotgun in the clays crazy country of England. CDNN has some incredible deals on them right now and they are extremely well made. I wouldn't buy an O/U lesser in quality for clays than the Lanber. Ironically the Lanber is the favorite 2nd gun, or fun gun, for almost every Perazzi shooter I know. Never buy a cheap O/U. Some might make it a few rounds, but they simply won't take the long term abuse of clays. Also, buy a sporting model shotgun. Some of the hunting guns that are decent, such as the Red Label, are horrid clays guns. They will beat the hell out of you. Another note, buy a gun with choke tube capability. For beginners this is better. Most Pros used fixed choke guns, but they have several guns with different chokes and usually shoot courses with one gun and about 5 different loads, switching from one to the other based on preseatation. I personally shoot a Beretta 682 Gold E w/ 32" bbls. I have also shot th Beretta 686 White Onyx Sporting and it is one of the finest bargain O/U's made. If you call a nearly $2k shotgun a bargain gun. In comparison it is believe me. I would be glad to meet you at Big Springs one day and let you shoot a Beretta and Lanber if you like. Good luck

I'm left hand and shoot a standard AR left handed. t only requires familiarity. My AR has a brass deflector. I wear a hat and a shemagh and never have problems with brass. It is just something you get used to using and it means I can pick up any AR and know how to shoot it with no problems. IMO the AK is easier for a lefty to use naturally because of the placement of the charging handle, but righties seem to adapted well to using them.

I guess it depends on where you live and the needs you might have for such a gun. Personally I used to live on a fairly large spread of land. I worked on the land doing whatever might need to be done. I always kept a gun in my truck, or actually any one of four Willy's Jeeps. There are also times when traveling that i carry a rifle in my truck.

It isn't muscle memory you need to worry so much about. It is proficiency. In the heat of an urgent situation your skills will diminish to the level of which you have proficiency. In other words you might draw all of the time from one place in practice, but you carry a gun in several places. You might be proficient in one place, but few are in several places. If you carry in several places you better be. And of course you must be proficient in the entire process including the act of shooting and doing so very well. Your shooting in a situation will diminish to the level of your worst day by half. Proficiency includes the necessity to do all possible to practice to a necessary level under stress. If you really have no proficiency with any part of this, then you are going to be fumbling and you are going to in big trouble and you will likely not have the odds on your side. And this doesn't even touch on mindset. This doesn't really broach the physical effects of adrenaline and what the ramifications will be during that period of time to you motor skills, vision, hearing etc. The more I train and train others and train with others the more convinced I am that very few are really prepared for terrible situations to happen to them, even cops. There is no replacement for good training and the resulting development of proficiency through practice following training. Continued training. Those who are well trained and practice is as a serious craft and responsibility fare far, far better in gun fights than those who do not. And even then there is some luck involved. So I would rather be skilled and hope for some luck than be unskilled and hope and pray for a miracle or extreme luck. I really wish the training and tactics section of TGO was the most heavily posted section of the site.

The reasons I don't care for the mini don't have a lot to do with the reliability. I will say this, if Pat Rogers said he has never had a mini make it through one of his classes, I would not think for a minute he lied about it. Now if you asked him more he might suggest reasons for it. He does have his preferences, but is not a whore for any product he doesn't believe in, or closed minded to others preferences. I cannot speak to the reliability part of the mini in a course. I have never shot one in a course, nor seen one used in a class I have been involved with. But, I know people have used them in classes. Being left handed I actually find the AK easier to use in certain ways than the AR. I went away from the AR for several years. I really disliked the fixed carry handle, on my Colts back then. I went back to them because they are greatly improved now IMO with the flat tops. In fact I really enjoy shooting them now. I have only shot, but have no real experience pushing a newer mini hard.

Sorry Jamie, I tend to edit after seeing a post in its final form. Suffice it to say I prefer the AR platform for training as it is easy to shoot and reload. I am a big believer in training and becoming proficient with the rifle(s) you like and prefer to own. So if the choice is Mini 14, have at it. All of my minis are older. I don't care so much for the trigger after a lot of shooting, even after reworking. It isn't crazy bad though. They aren't as easy to reload either. Then again neither is the AK. They are a great truck gun and for a few years even after selling my AR's I kept the minis. I bought more AR's and that is what I use now. As I said though I really like the AK and probably keep an AK in the truck or ready to rock for defense more than I do the AR. One of my AK's is at Rifle Dynamics at this moment getting a rework and my next class will be shot with that AK at least 50% of the time.

I have a couple of mini 14's and like them a lot. They are good rifles for use on the farm or ranch. Based on my experiences with running them until they get good and very hot, I agree with Mike on running them in a carbine class. See if someone responds who has actually run one in a carbine class or under those conditions and see what their experience has been. I think there are several reasons I would not run mine in a class. Don't dismiss the AAR reports from those who train people for a living. They see just about everything and you can usually find how well a particular gun runs by reading AAR's. If that is what you are set on buying, get one and run it. See how it goes for you. I have seen guys run their Thompsons in carbine classes. Some were glad they made their selections, some were not. Bottom line, if you are set on having a Mini 14, then get it and train with it. Become proficient with it. It doesn't matter if it would be my pick or anyone else's for that matter. Know how to use it and use it well. If it does or doesn't make it through a class then you have learned something about it. Of the major designs the AR is probably the easiest to shoot, reload, clear and do so for a couple of long shooting days. That said I will run and AK in a carbine class for the heck of it. It is slower, but I want the proficiency with the platform. It isn't a competition.