Matt in TN

And I'm a little embarrassed to admit, I just won a pair of red, white, and blue Rudy Project glasses at a charity auction. I've heard for years how awesome these things are, but I might have to get a pair of these to make sure my wardrobe matches:

Outstanding! Gotta keep these whippersnappers in line somehow - I'm going to have to chase the wife out of the house so I can sneak some kydex in her oven again. Or do I lose old man points if my 1911 holster is not leather? And you guys are far too kind for not calling me out on posting a two shot "group". I just couldn't bring myself to shoot a 3rd after that. ;-)

I won't really know until match day of course, but I think I fixed the 870 today. I replaced the extractor, spring, and plunger and it's running fine now. And since I pulled the barrel to work on it, I checked my slug zero once I got it good and hot. Look closely - that's two shots at 50yds from kneeling. Giggity.

And if I can get a holster made for it by then, I'll be bringing the mighty 1911. Alan can say "I told you so", and everyone else can make fun of me for being 100 years behind the times. ;-)

In!

Thanks for all the hard work, guys! Good times, but I thought pump shotguns were supposed to just work all the time?!?! I'm about to switch back to the little 18.5"...

Wait - 150 rifle? What on earth do you have planned???

I finally get to make one again! Who else is going Heavy?!?!?

We do have it pretty good right now with AR triggers, don't we? You can tell the young spoiled kids how you used to have to work with a 2-stage surplus trigger (the horror!!!). And they won't even know what that is. ;-)

Only because you pointed it out - I'm stuck in DC and have to miss this one! As long as you're not shooting PCC with Ryan... What new toy do you have that is so great you'll forsake the mighty 30 cal???

Save the date: The 2018 3G4V Run N Gun, Presented by Rockcastle Shooting Center, will be on March 17th and 18th in 2018. We will tentatively offer a 5k on the 17th and a 10k on the 18th, but we have a lot of details yet to work out before we confirm that. You can sign up for either, or both - Registration will be about 90 days prior to match date again. Work won't really start on this for another 6 months or so, so don't ask TOO many questions yet. But start training...

Looks like a good turnout - Ryan shot PCC?!?!? And nobody shot Heavy?!?!? Man - I miss one match and the whole place falls apart. ;-(

Range Address 1862 Sixteenth Model RdManchester TN 37355Take the right fork at the gunsmith office

Even better - today's match at Manchester is a "2-gun", so it's rifle and pistol only. Registration is at 11:00am, so you've got a few hours to get your gear together and get down there: Middle TN Shooters Club will be hosting a rifle/pistol match on Sunday, April 2nd. We will have 5 stages. Longest rifle shot around 220 yards. Round count will be around 150 for rifle and 100 for pistol but bring more if you plan to miss alot. Divisions will be Open, limited, tac optics, heavy, and pcc. Check in at the range between 11:00 and noon, new shooters please get there early for a new shooters briefing. Anyone that can be there early and help with set up is welcome. New safe shooters are always welcome. Match fee is $25 for non members and $20 for MTSC members. I can be reached with any questions at sumocrp@aol.com

This. Show up at the next 3-gun match with your pump and have some fun. If you're as stubborn as me, you'll still have your pump many years later - and still be having as much fun as can be. And if you decide you want a semi-auto, there will be a hundred different people at each match more than happy to lend you their shotgun so you can try them all before you buy to see what fits you best.

All the pics my wife took are at https://www.flickr.com/photos/lisastennett/page1 Feel free to use them however you'd like, but please give Lisa Stennett a photo credit if you do.

Great perspective on the barbed wire crawl, and not a bad technique for getting under and keeping your gear clean!

Some stats from the match: The fastest runner finished in 53 minutes and carried 10% of his bodyweight. The average competitor (overall) carried 13% of their bodyweight. The lightest weight carried was 6% of the runner's bodyweight, and the Mule carried SIXTY-FRIGGEN-TWO percent of his. The competitors shooting 308 and larger averaged 13% of their bodyweight as well, so that pretty much kills everybody's excuses on BOTH sides of that argument! And the females on average carried 14% of their bodyweight, so they made us men look like a bunch of, well, sissies. And the pic below has the breakdown of gear and caliber shot:

I have a ton of pictures and video yet to go through, and it's going to take some time. But in the meantime, for all those people who wondered "how on earth did the Mule get under the barbed wire with his 142 lb pack?!?!":

It was great to meet you, and thank you for coming and toughing it out! "Horrible" is relative though - I promise you someone was watching you shoot or looking at your scores and saying "I wish I could do that". Stay at it, brother!

Another detail I've said before but probably haven't repeated enough: EYE AND EAR PROTECTION IS MANDATORY for the shooting stages. Yes, running in glasses and earpro sucks. Sorry. There are too many steel targets with ricochet chances, and we're shooting in a cave (?!?!?), so you've got to have them. The RO's won't let you shoot without them, and you'll zero the stage. Either figure out a way to wear them for the entire course, or put them on before you get to the shooting stages and take them off when you're done and back running (which will take up time). 3G4V will be selling ear and eye protection at the Lodge if you forget yours. You can support the vets and get your required equipment all at the same time.

I'm sending emails to all competitors tonight with match details, but in the spirit of "there's no such thing as over-communication" here's what you really need to know: Registration opens at 6:30am on Saturday morning and closes at 7:30am. You will sign a waiver, pay your $50 match fee, randomly draw your start time, and perform your "no gear" weigh-in if willing. IF YOU ARE NOT REGISTERED BY 7:30AM YOU WILL LOSE YOUR SLOT. I have several people staying at the Lodge and showing up Saturday morning in the hopes that someone cancels at the last minute. I will give them your slot at 7:30am if you are not there. At 7:30am we'll have a Shooters' Meeting, and then you are free to relax/sleep/eat/dryfire/stress until your run time. Please show up to the start line at least fifteen minutes before your scheduled run time. We'll do the "full gear" weigh-in, and then release you to begin at precisely your assigned time. If you are not there at your scheduled run time and ready to go, you could lose your slot and have to wait until we can work you in at our leisure. We might just make you do burpees until then. I also just learned that I have a limit to how many emails I can send every half-hour, so this might take awhile. I apologize if anyone gets multiple emails while I figure all this out! Below is the most current Course Map (course is the red line). Be sure to read over the Match Details and full Course of fire in the "About" section of the Facebook Event page, or in your email. See you soon!

Staff t-shirts are in! Big thanks to Eddie Gunks at http://www.bulletguy.com/ for sponsoring the shirts, and to my daughter https://www.facebook.com/penpaperink1/ for doing all the design work!

Received the prizes from 300 Below today: 5 certificates for either a free rifle or shotgun cryo treatment, or two free pistol cryo treatments, and a few great cleaning mats! Their cryo fixed a wandering zero issue on my FAL years ago. Check them out at www.300below.com and be sure to thank them for sponsoring this match! And NO, MY FAL IS NOT PART OF THE PRIZE TABLE!!!