Night Shoot
Saturday night was an interesting experience for me. I headed out to Copperhead Creek for a night match that was put on by AR-15 Targets, and had one heck of a good time. 55 shooters divided into carbine, pistol light mounted, pistol light unmounted were signed up and ready to roll. STI gave away a gun, Heli-gunner gave away a night shoot ride, there was a night vision monocular given away, and there was a special stage that was a ton of fun. The special stage was with a suppressed full auto AR, shooters were given a helmet with a single night vision optic, and the gun had a laser mounted to it. See the laser thru the optic, shoot four steel targets at say 40-60 yards, then do a full auto mag dump on a close paper target. Having never seen the equipment much less shot it, I thought it was completely awesome!
The match itself had some good and bad for me. I finished 5th among 15 shooters who were shooting pistol mounted. I cost myself all my penalty points on one stage, with a serious error, and had that not happened, I would have finished 2nd in division. Short version is that I had just bought a Streamlight TLR-1 HL flashlight, put it on the gun, and did the barest minimum with it before heading to the range. On the 2nd stage I shot, which was a memory stage because there were multiple shoot thru's to no-shoot targets, so certain targets could only be taken from certain angles I made a mistake. I double hit the switch, and turned on strobe light mode, it took me half a second to figure out what I did, and make the decision to try to shoot anyhow. I'm sure a baller would have been fine, but I was thrown by the unexpected, and while I had a great raw time, I lost 20 seconds for hitting no shoot targets. The bottom line, which I know and just did not prepare for, is that you should always know you gear. I should have known the flashlight had a strobe mode, I should have known how to turn it on, and how to turn it off. Dumb preparation mistake for me.
My other mental mistake was on the final stage, I knew it took 20 rounds, and I knew I had 18 rounds in the magazine, my plan was to shoot the first two arrays, (6 targets) and then reload while getting into position for the final array. Inexplicably, I did not reload, and went dry on the last target, I should have taken a penalty, because I was dumbfounded, and wasted several seconds looking at my gun, then once I reloaded I had failure to feed, and had to drop the mag, put in another mag, and take my last two shots. In total, I had 20 seconds in between my final two targets. Just a dumb mental mistake on my part, and something I know better. I'm definitely frustrated because I'm better than that kind of a mistake, and when it happens I know what to do, and standing there with a dumb look on my face looking at my gun is not it.
So what went right? Well, I shot the match cleanly, I had no misses. Scoring with one "A" zone hit, or simply 2 on the paper makes it pretty easy, but being the first time I shot in the dark, I'll take that. No slow feet, I ran, I hustled, and I focused on getting into position with the gun ready to go as soon as I hit the spot, and I made sure I aggressively got out of positions. Eliminate the 2 mistakes that I was responsible for, and I would have finished 11th overall, and 2nd in my division. Instead 5th, and and 22nd overall. The layoff reared it's ugly head, but I'm definitely passionate about getting out there. It felt amazing to get out and shoot with confidence, my accuracy was, in reality, USPSA good, no "D" shots that I saw, and most often 2 closely grouped shots with a great shooting cadence.
I have not forgotten about Part 2 of my shooting offseason plan, I'm finishing up the entire plan, got some feedback from Les, and am looking to make the most of the 2015 season. I should have that done and posted by the end of the week.
Monday, December 8, 2014
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Even In Texas
Even In Texas
Getting used to an outdoor range has been a new experience. On Sunday the steel match was canceled at ARC, and it left me unable to go break in my shotgun. As excited as I was to go shoot it, mother nature had her own plans.
Mother nature dumped between 3.5" and 7" of rain in during the preceding 24 hours. What I found funny is that even with that forecast, someone said that it would be "unlikely" for the match to be cancelled. I would have said that it would be "unlikely" anyone would think the match would not be cancelled.
Apparently this is as bad as a "weather event" get's around here, and Sunday turned out to be in the upper 70's, with nothing but sunshine, and the water elsewhere was dried up in short order. Knowing my friends in Chicago were getting 2-3" of snow the next day, I'm that much happier with the choice that I made to move to Texas.
*All pictures came from the ALSPPC Facebook page, I did not take the pictures.
Getting used to an outdoor range has been a new experience. On Sunday the steel match was canceled at ARC, and it left me unable to go break in my shotgun. As excited as I was to go shoot it, mother nature had her own plans.
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| Austin Rifle Club |
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| Pistol Bays |
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| Call it a 4' Bench, that's deep water |
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| More Deep Water |
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| Those are trailers, so the trailer is almost entirely under water. |
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| A Parking Lot |
Mother nature dumped between 3.5" and 7" of rain in during the preceding 24 hours. What I found funny is that even with that forecast, someone said that it would be "unlikely" for the match to be cancelled. I would have said that it would be "unlikely" anyone would think the match would not be cancelled.
Apparently this is as bad as a "weather event" get's around here, and Sunday turned out to be in the upper 70's, with nothing but sunshine, and the water elsewhere was dried up in short order. Knowing my friends in Chicago were getting 2-3" of snow the next day, I'm that much happier with the choice that I made to move to Texas.
*All pictures came from the ALSPPC Facebook page, I did not take the pictures.
Friday, November 21, 2014
Beretta 1301 Competition Shotgun
Beretta 1301 Competition Shotgun
The last hardware phase of 3-Gun was picking out a shotgun for myself. I had a ton of people offer suggestions, I did a lot of looking around to find something that I wanted. Competition shotguns have such wide variety of prices that I had a hard time starting to look. I needed to know what I should be looking for, and what really mattered in matches. The other key point would be investment cost, I did not want to spend a couple thousand dollars on something without being committed to the sport. Being cheap has it's benefits, but sometimes it can cost you money. Buy something that is junk, you spend money getting it ready to go, and when you finally get to the point you want something better, you end up unable to to get your investment back out of the gun. So that's a fairly diverse group of things to satisfy.
Early on, it was obvious that Benelli, specifically the M2, was one of the most popular shotguns being run in 3-Gun. The Inertia driven system is very reliable, and it's light. Being light it's fast and easy to point but the downside is that it has the most recoil. It also had about a $1300 cost new, and did require a fair amount of work to be done to it, so my investment would be in the $1700 to $1800 area, which is just more than I wanted to spend on a first shotgun. As a side note, the Benelli Super Vinci came with a stellar recommendation from Jay Carillo, but it also was in the same price range, and I just could not quite bring myself to make that level of a commitment.
The other early pitch was the Mossberg JM930 Pro, and it was at the complete other end of the spectrum. Priced at about $600 it was where I felt comfortable, it had multiple people recommending it to me, so you'd think it would have been a serious contender for my dollars. As I started researching it, I found all sorts of issues of with loading, extracting, and from a reliability point of view it appeared to be a hot mess. I went to a match recently, and one squad had three people shooting the JM930 (of 12 shooters) and only one managed to finish the match. For each person telling me it was worth the price, I had at least one person saying to stay as far away as possible. No middle ground on this one scared me away.
The Stoeger M3000 was a very serious contender at the end. At $500 it was the cheapest of all the shotguns I looked at, it had the Inertia driven system that I liked about the Benelli M2, but it needed some serious work. I'm not comfortable taking the Dremmel out and opening up the loading port. I could save about $200 in professional work if I felt comfortable doing that on my own, but for now, that's something I had to build into the cost. Total investment would have been around $650-$700 to get it into match shape, and I could have invested another $150 or so in parts to make it a little nicer. Jesse Tischauser, who is an excellent 3-Gun shooter ran a fairly stripped down one this past season to show he could be competitive with it at the highest level. I walked away impressed, but I had a hard time getting any kind of reviews from people who had shot one locally. The consensus was that people did not know it, and thought the $500 price point was a "buyer beware" mark. Ultimately I did not go this route, and I could have missed the boat, only time will tell.
The Beretta 1301 Competition was actually an early preference. I liked the way it pointed, it was infinitely lighter than the Remington Versamax (which was never one I considered, it was so heavy I could not imagine running around all day with it, even with that mitigating recoil.) and it was slightly heavier than the Benelli M2. The 24" model was natural to point, had a great cheek weld, and felt very good in my hands. The list price was $1199, and I was seeing them online about $1000. It came with the oversized charging handle, and other 3-Gun ready features. All it needs is a +5 magazine extension and in theory it's good to go. In reality, I'd still have the loading port opened up a bit, but that's not essential, not right now at least.
I'd kind of put the Beretta on the back burner, and was looking for a Stoeger, when I saw Cabela's of all places had it on sale, and I happened to have a coupon for it as well. After doing some serious driving from one to another, I found the 24" that I was looking for, and make the commitment. For me, I got the function, features, and reliability that I was looking for. I don't have to make any serious modifications, and can pretty much go, and when I am ready to do some work, then I've got a platform that will be worthy of it.
The last hardware phase of 3-Gun was picking out a shotgun for myself. I had a ton of people offer suggestions, I did a lot of looking around to find something that I wanted. Competition shotguns have such wide variety of prices that I had a hard time starting to look. I needed to know what I should be looking for, and what really mattered in matches. The other key point would be investment cost, I did not want to spend a couple thousand dollars on something without being committed to the sport. Being cheap has it's benefits, but sometimes it can cost you money. Buy something that is junk, you spend money getting it ready to go, and when you finally get to the point you want something better, you end up unable to to get your investment back out of the gun. So that's a fairly diverse group of things to satisfy.
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| Beretta Supports Competition? Why not pistol as well? |
Early on, it was obvious that Benelli, specifically the M2, was one of the most popular shotguns being run in 3-Gun. The Inertia driven system is very reliable, and it's light. Being light it's fast and easy to point but the downside is that it has the most recoil. It also had about a $1300 cost new, and did require a fair amount of work to be done to it, so my investment would be in the $1700 to $1800 area, which is just more than I wanted to spend on a first shotgun. As a side note, the Benelli Super Vinci came with a stellar recommendation from Jay Carillo, but it also was in the same price range, and I just could not quite bring myself to make that level of a commitment.
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| This Italian Looks Pretty Nice |
The other early pitch was the Mossberg JM930 Pro, and it was at the complete other end of the spectrum. Priced at about $600 it was where I felt comfortable, it had multiple people recommending it to me, so you'd think it would have been a serious contender for my dollars. As I started researching it, I found all sorts of issues of with loading, extracting, and from a reliability point of view it appeared to be a hot mess. I went to a match recently, and one squad had three people shooting the JM930 (of 12 shooters) and only one managed to finish the match. For each person telling me it was worth the price, I had at least one person saying to stay as far away as possible. No middle ground on this one scared me away.
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| Only 1 Choke Tube is Included |
The Stoeger M3000 was a very serious contender at the end. At $500 it was the cheapest of all the shotguns I looked at, it had the Inertia driven system that I liked about the Benelli M2, but it needed some serious work. I'm not comfortable taking the Dremmel out and opening up the loading port. I could save about $200 in professional work if I felt comfortable doing that on my own, but for now, that's something I had to build into the cost. Total investment would have been around $650-$700 to get it into match shape, and I could have invested another $150 or so in parts to make it a little nicer. Jesse Tischauser, who is an excellent 3-Gun shooter ran a fairly stripped down one this past season to show he could be competitive with it at the highest level. I walked away impressed, but I had a hard time getting any kind of reviews from people who had shot one locally. The consensus was that people did not know it, and thought the $500 price point was a "buyer beware" mark. Ultimately I did not go this route, and I could have missed the boat, only time will tell.
The Beretta 1301 Competition was actually an early preference. I liked the way it pointed, it was infinitely lighter than the Remington Versamax (which was never one I considered, it was so heavy I could not imagine running around all day with it, even with that mitigating recoil.) and it was slightly heavier than the Benelli M2. The 24" model was natural to point, had a great cheek weld, and felt very good in my hands. The list price was $1199, and I was seeing them online about $1000. It came with the oversized charging handle, and other 3-Gun ready features. All it needs is a +5 magazine extension and in theory it's good to go. In reality, I'd still have the loading port opened up a bit, but that's not essential, not right now at least.
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| From the Factory, Loading Port is Opened Up a Little |
I'd kind of put the Beretta on the back burner, and was looking for a Stoeger, when I saw Cabela's of all places had it on sale, and I happened to have a coupon for it as well. After doing some serious driving from one to another, I found the 24" that I was looking for, and make the commitment. For me, I got the function, features, and reliability that I was looking for. I don't have to make any serious modifications, and can pretty much go, and when I am ready to do some work, then I've got a platform that will be worthy of it.
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| Stock Oversized Charging Handle |
So now all the hardware is taken care of, and as I have found it's not a cheap sport. I still have to get the accessories I need, shotgun shell caddies, AR mag holders, a new modular belt, a new holster, as well as a jogging baby carriage (big wheels, not the little one) and add gun holders and so on to it to carry my gear between stages. I'm glad this part is over, now I can get the remaining gear taken care of, get some practice in, and see how much I enjoy this in 2015.
It's Not What You Know, It's Who You Know
It's Not What You Know, It's Who You Know
Today, again, I had a reminder of what a great group of friends I actually have. (and yes, this is a shooting thing) When I got into shooting, I saw a reasonably tight knit group of people in Illinois, it was a group of people that I not only got to know, but let into my life as well. It was not just shooting interests that we shared, but as I got to know them, the relationship's grew into almost a family affair. Holiday's, birthday's were all shared, and I knew that when I was headed to Texas, my life was going to be in store for some changes.
Before we left Illinois, Les introduced me to Tim, the man behind the Ben Stoeger Pro Shop, who also lives in the Austin area. Granted that was a little thing, but Tim is not only a good dude, he's turned into a good friend down here in Austin. Knowing someone before I even got down here made things a little less scary for the entire family. Tim invited us out to a match soon after we got here, and introduced me to a crew of good guys down here; Ryan, Roy, Ben, and a couple of others. I won't say it's just like Illinois, but it's not a bad start. Even if it did take me a few months for Ryan to call me Luke, and stop calling me Les Pepperoni.
So with me considering 3-Gun, I've been chatting with Jay Carillo, and he told me that locally there was a great gunsmith, someone he knew, that I should call, and talk to about getting work done on a shotgun, once I bought it. Today I called Hayes Custom Guns and spoke to Aaron. Conversation was not all that long, but I asked about getting work done to a shotgun I was considering, he gave me a price, he talked to me about matches around here, apparently this area is 3-Gun heaven with matches to be shot 3 weekends a month, and let me ask questions. He even said that if I wanted to hit a match, he'd loan me one of his shotguns to try, so I could shoot the match.
So again, I luck out, I'm going to have a chance to meet some more amazing people, and it's all because of the group of people I was lucky enough to know back in Illinois. I' m both thankful, and grateful for my friends. The competitive shooting community is one of the best, most open, and nicest groups of people I have ever been lucky enough to know. Putting it in perspective non-shooters, a shotgun ready for 3-Gun can run $1300 to $2200, how often do you see people volunteering to do something of that ilk for people they have talked to for perhaps 15 minutes? In fact, when I posted on Facebook I was interested in 3-Gun, I had 5 or 6 other people offer to loan me a shotgun.
I'm not saying that it's just about loaning a gun, or something like that. It's a community of great people, fun people, open, generous, caring and helpful. These people opened up, and let me be a part of the community, and for that I'm grateful. Even in Texas, I'm being helped by friends a thousand miles away, who know people of the same character here.
Today, again, I had a reminder of what a great group of friends I actually have. (and yes, this is a shooting thing) When I got into shooting, I saw a reasonably tight knit group of people in Illinois, it was a group of people that I not only got to know, but let into my life as well. It was not just shooting interests that we shared, but as I got to know them, the relationship's grew into almost a family affair. Holiday's, birthday's were all shared, and I knew that when I was headed to Texas, my life was going to be in store for some changes.
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| Kozy, Les, Terry, Emil, Myself, Tony, Lauren & Linda |
Before we left Illinois, Les introduced me to Tim, the man behind the Ben Stoeger Pro Shop, who also lives in the Austin area. Granted that was a little thing, but Tim is not only a good dude, he's turned into a good friend down here in Austin. Knowing someone before I even got down here made things a little less scary for the entire family. Tim invited us out to a match soon after we got here, and introduced me to a crew of good guys down here; Ryan, Roy, Ben, and a couple of others. I won't say it's just like Illinois, but it's not a bad start. Even if it did take me a few months for Ryan to call me Luke, and stop calling me Les Pepperoni.
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| Last IL Match, with Kozy, Les, Linda and myself |
So with me considering 3-Gun, I've been chatting with Jay Carillo, and he told me that locally there was a great gunsmith, someone he knew, that I should call, and talk to about getting work done on a shotgun, once I bought it. Today I called Hayes Custom Guns and spoke to Aaron. Conversation was not all that long, but I asked about getting work done to a shotgun I was considering, he gave me a price, he talked to me about matches around here, apparently this area is 3-Gun heaven with matches to be shot 3 weekends a month, and let me ask questions. He even said that if I wanted to hit a match, he'd loan me one of his shotguns to try, so I could shoot the match.
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| What a Crew! |
So again, I luck out, I'm going to have a chance to meet some more amazing people, and it's all because of the group of people I was lucky enough to know back in Illinois. I' m both thankful, and grateful for my friends. The competitive shooting community is one of the best, most open, and nicest groups of people I have ever been lucky enough to know. Putting it in perspective non-shooters, a shotgun ready for 3-Gun can run $1300 to $2200, how often do you see people volunteering to do something of that ilk for people they have talked to for perhaps 15 minutes? In fact, when I posted on Facebook I was interested in 3-Gun, I had 5 or 6 other people offer to loan me a shotgun.
I'm not saying that it's just about loaning a gun, or something like that. It's a community of great people, fun people, open, generous, caring and helpful. These people opened up, and let me be a part of the community, and for that I'm grateful. Even in Texas, I'm being helped by friends a thousand miles away, who know people of the same character here.
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
End of Season Evaluation & Practice Plans (Part 1)
End of Season Evaluation & Practice Plans
It's been 12 months since Les took me under his wing and told me that I could learn enough to earn my USPSA "B" card, and I actually managed to accomplish it in 5 months, from "D" to "B". There was an awful lot that happened this summer with the job change, and the move to Texas that interrupted my further plans, but the past few months I had the chance to get back on the range and shoot a few matches, and really assess where I am at, where I want to be, and what I'm going to need to start working on to get there.
What Went Well:
A year ago I had a hard time with draw and reload, and since January I have worked pretty hard on both those skills. Being honest, you'll draw in a match 5-6 times, so it's not the biggest or most important investment of my time, but I wanted to be consistent, and I'm definitely getting it there. I had in issue where on my draw I would lock my elbows, and my arms were straight out, this meant not much flexibility, and it was enough to earn me my "B" card, but it had to get addressed. I made a conscious effort to change that, and I'm starting to see progress, but it's not consistent, or natural. I still have to think about it, and if I don't think about it, I don't do it.
My reloads are fairly consistent, in the spring I had a very robotic motion that was not comfortable, I pulled in my strong hand elbow to my chest, and used that to cant the gun the way I wanted, and force myself to put the gun into my "work area" so I could watch the reload go in cleanly. I was able to get rid of that, and start to be natural in late spring, but the enforced absence really hurt, and I noticed this fall that my reloads were sloppy and inconsistent. Apparently this skill was a casualty of the idea that shooting skills are perishable. I had to return to my robotic motion in order to get my reloads under control, and I'm only now starting to return to a comfortable and consistent reload.
Perhaps the best part of the year is that I'm really focusing on my sights, not as consistently as I'd like, but better than I have in the past. With everything else going on, and everything I was trying to think about, I often forgot to see my sights. Finishes at the Buckeye Classic and Battle of the Bluegrass showed me that on some stages when I focused I was fine, but when I let something else bother me, I could be epic level bad. Highlights included a Top 10 Production finish on one stage, and a low light of 7 misses on one stage.
With less on my mind when I shoot, my mind is fairly clear, and now I just focus on the sights, and trust that the rest of what I want to do is taking care of itself, Practice and training are paying off. This is leading to better transitions, and more focus on stage plan. These days a miss does not "surprise" me, I know what I'm seeing, so I feel like I should know if I missed a target. This is progress. In the video, you'll see that my splits and transitions are solid, this is where I need to be, and I'm seeing more and more of this as the year has progressed.
My strength all year was stages that I could use what I practiced most. My draw, reload, and fundamental, speed shoot skills all worked fairly well for me, and if you look at my classifiers, you'll see strong finishes where I could use those skills.
What Just Did Not Work:
This could be a long list, but I'm a "B" class shooter, and I'm trying to take steps, not race to Grandmaster. I see a lot of things that I can work to improve, but there are definitely a few things that really stood out for me in 2014.
As strong as I was on classifier, and speed shoot stages, I struggled on field courses. I attribute my struggle to a variety of things. I need work entering and leaving ports and shooting positions. I need to improve my reloads on the move, and I have absolutely terrible footwork, which goes into entering and leaving positions. As Terry has so aptly pointed out, I lack the sense of urgency on field courses, and I slow the heck down. I'll take a slow reload, or slowly get into a position, I'll fail to consistently hit a position with the gun up, and ready to break a shot as soon as I hit the position. These are all skills that are critical to my being consistent, and delivering a match long performance. The last addition to this amalgam of misfortune, is shooting on the move. I'm awful. I'm a position to position shooter, and I'm uncomfortable shooting on the move, and I realize how beneficial it would be if I could improve at this.
I ran Quad Standards (CM09-06) at a recent match, and I had never shot my gun at 40 yards. I looked pretty good, but I did not hit much. That leads me into a few other things that I struggled with, it was not just extreme distance, but little things like strong hand only or week hand only shooting that presented challenges for me. These were all things that Les touched on, and we worked briefly on, but they did not become staples of my practice routine. In the case of distance, Alpha range was really only about 23 yards from target to the back of the bay, but I never went to OnTarget, and took some time shooting my pistol at range, seeing what my hold should have been at a distance.
My mental focus has always been something Les and Kozy had me focus on. Never get too hard on yourself, don't let a miss or a bad stage cost you. This fall I noticed that with nobody to help prop me up, I had to do it for myself, and with Linda shooting every match, it was my job to keep her on the even keel. Maybe it was the responsibility of doing that, but it helped me with my own game. I can have a problem, have something not go my way, and I need to keep my focus. It's not where it should be, but I feel like in the fall there was measurable progress. In the spring I had bad stretches at major matches where I let one bad thing cascade into several bad stage. I think I'm further along, but I want to see it on a bigger stage before I can say that I'm where I want to be. This will be an ongoing challenge.
Finally, conditioning. Bluegrass and Ohio both tired me out, and I was spent by the end of the day. 10 plus stages, heat, and an all day event, and my ass was seriously dragging. Texas is a whole 'nother ball game, and with potentially 6 major's here next year, I can't afford to start to fade, and ultimately burn out before a major match, hell a club match for that matter, is over. This is not just a shooting thing, and we're going the right way, but shooting is a mental, and physically exhaustive experience, and I feel I can't focus on one and ignore the other.
2014 was a successful year. I moved from a 30% shooter, to a 71.28% shooter, that's progress. I developed a lot skills that I need to be successful, but it's obvious that I do still have a ways to go if I want to progress. I believe the key for 2015 is going to be a comprehensive practice plan that has me focusing on skills that need practice, rather than on "fun" drills, and includes a better diet, weight loss, and physical fitness regimen that allows me to achieve my goals. This really was my first full season shooting after some coaching, and trying to measure and improve my progress. Heck, October was the 2 year anniversary of my shooting a gun for the first time. The more I shoot, the less thinking I have to do, it become natural, and I become a product of my practice, that's why it's important for me to practice the right way, and hit the right things.
I'm working on putting my goals down on paper, and that will be the subject of my next blog. Knowing what I want to accomplish should help me come up with a better practice plan. I'm actually glad I decided to review the year, because it helped me see some current things I'd like to address.
It's been 12 months since Les took me under his wing and told me that I could learn enough to earn my USPSA "B" card, and I actually managed to accomplish it in 5 months, from "D" to "B". There was an awful lot that happened this summer with the job change, and the move to Texas that interrupted my further plans, but the past few months I had the chance to get back on the range and shoot a few matches, and really assess where I am at, where I want to be, and what I'm going to need to start working on to get there.
What Went Well:
A year ago I had a hard time with draw and reload, and since January I have worked pretty hard on both those skills. Being honest, you'll draw in a match 5-6 times, so it's not the biggest or most important investment of my time, but I wanted to be consistent, and I'm definitely getting it there. I had in issue where on my draw I would lock my elbows, and my arms were straight out, this meant not much flexibility, and it was enough to earn me my "B" card, but it had to get addressed. I made a conscious effort to change that, and I'm starting to see progress, but it's not consistent, or natural. I still have to think about it, and if I don't think about it, I don't do it.
My reloads are fairly consistent, in the spring I had a very robotic motion that was not comfortable, I pulled in my strong hand elbow to my chest, and used that to cant the gun the way I wanted, and force myself to put the gun into my "work area" so I could watch the reload go in cleanly. I was able to get rid of that, and start to be natural in late spring, but the enforced absence really hurt, and I noticed this fall that my reloads were sloppy and inconsistent. Apparently this skill was a casualty of the idea that shooting skills are perishable. I had to return to my robotic motion in order to get my reloads under control, and I'm only now starting to return to a comfortable and consistent reload.
Perhaps the best part of the year is that I'm really focusing on my sights, not as consistently as I'd like, but better than I have in the past. With everything else going on, and everything I was trying to think about, I often forgot to see my sights. Finishes at the Buckeye Classic and Battle of the Bluegrass showed me that on some stages when I focused I was fine, but when I let something else bother me, I could be epic level bad. Highlights included a Top 10 Production finish on one stage, and a low light of 7 misses on one stage.
With less on my mind when I shoot, my mind is fairly clear, and now I just focus on the sights, and trust that the rest of what I want to do is taking care of itself, Practice and training are paying off. This is leading to better transitions, and more focus on stage plan. These days a miss does not "surprise" me, I know what I'm seeing, so I feel like I should know if I missed a target. This is progress. In the video, you'll see that my splits and transitions are solid, this is where I need to be, and I'm seeing more and more of this as the year has progressed.
My strength all year was stages that I could use what I practiced most. My draw, reload, and fundamental, speed shoot skills all worked fairly well for me, and if you look at my classifiers, you'll see strong finishes where I could use those skills.
What Just Did Not Work:
This could be a long list, but I'm a "B" class shooter, and I'm trying to take steps, not race to Grandmaster. I see a lot of things that I can work to improve, but there are definitely a few things that really stood out for me in 2014.
As strong as I was on classifier, and speed shoot stages, I struggled on field courses. I attribute my struggle to a variety of things. I need work entering and leaving ports and shooting positions. I need to improve my reloads on the move, and I have absolutely terrible footwork, which goes into entering and leaving positions. As Terry has so aptly pointed out, I lack the sense of urgency on field courses, and I slow the heck down. I'll take a slow reload, or slowly get into a position, I'll fail to consistently hit a position with the gun up, and ready to break a shot as soon as I hit the position. These are all skills that are critical to my being consistent, and delivering a match long performance. The last addition to this amalgam of misfortune, is shooting on the move. I'm awful. I'm a position to position shooter, and I'm uncomfortable shooting on the move, and I realize how beneficial it would be if I could improve at this.
My mental focus has always been something Les and Kozy had me focus on. Never get too hard on yourself, don't let a miss or a bad stage cost you. This fall I noticed that with nobody to help prop me up, I had to do it for myself, and with Linda shooting every match, it was my job to keep her on the even keel. Maybe it was the responsibility of doing that, but it helped me with my own game. I can have a problem, have something not go my way, and I need to keep my focus. It's not where it should be, but I feel like in the fall there was measurable progress. In the spring I had bad stretches at major matches where I let one bad thing cascade into several bad stage. I think I'm further along, but I want to see it on a bigger stage before I can say that I'm where I want to be. This will be an ongoing challenge.
Wheels Fell Off When I had to re-shoot because targets not pasted
This led to 5 stages of meltdown
Finally, conditioning. Bluegrass and Ohio both tired me out, and I was spent by the end of the day. 10 plus stages, heat, and an all day event, and my ass was seriously dragging. Texas is a whole 'nother ball game, and with potentially 6 major's here next year, I can't afford to start to fade, and ultimately burn out before a major match, hell a club match for that matter, is over. This is not just a shooting thing, and we're going the right way, but shooting is a mental, and physically exhaustive experience, and I feel I can't focus on one and ignore the other.
Long day of RO'ing, the heat got to me.
Bad turn, bad reload, wrong attitude.
I'm working on putting my goals down on paper, and that will be the subject of my next blog. Knowing what I want to accomplish should help me come up with a better practice plan. I'm actually glad I decided to review the year, because it helped me see some current things I'd like to address.
Monday, November 17, 2014
Florida Open & Another Good Note
Florida Open & Another Good Note
I'm booked and set-up in Squad 6 for the Florida Open, shooting all-day on Friday. It's not the ideal set-up for me, I'd really like to shoot this challenging match over two days, but finishing on Sunday afternoon, and then racing to the airport to catch a flight home, and being back to work the following Monday just won't work.
On another really good note, my practice partner in Illinois, Dave, earned his "B" card at long last. It's a well deserved update for him, that suffered from some late submissions from matches that he shot this past spring and summer. Considering that a May match just got uploaded for him for the November update, I think that's almost a point of contention for clubs. Get scores uploaded and paid for immediately, there really is no excuse other than sheer laziness to not do it for months at a time. Dave, you worked hard, you earned it, congrats! Enjoy the win, and get ready to take the next steps, glad both of us achieved our goal!
Cheers!
I'm booked and set-up in Squad 6 for the Florida Open, shooting all-day on Friday. It's not the ideal set-up for me, I'd really like to shoot this challenging match over two days, but finishing on Sunday afternoon, and then racing to the airport to catch a flight home, and being back to work the following Monday just won't work.
On another really good note, my practice partner in Illinois, Dave, earned his "B" card at long last. It's a well deserved update for him, that suffered from some late submissions from matches that he shot this past spring and summer. Considering that a May match just got uploaded for him for the November update, I think that's almost a point of contention for clubs. Get scores uploaded and paid for immediately, there really is no excuse other than sheer laziness to not do it for months at a time. Dave, you worked hard, you earned it, congrats! Enjoy the win, and get ready to take the next steps, glad both of us achieved our goal!
Cheers!
2015 Major Schedule
2015 Major Schedule
I had a few people ask, and I shared this with Kozy and Les as we're planning on finding a few matches that we can shoot this coming season.
I had a few people ask, and I shared this with Kozy and Les as we're planning on finding a few matches that we can shoot this coming season.
January-
February- Florida Open
March- WIIT or Alabama
April-
May- Cowtown Classic
June- Double Tap
July-
August-
September- Area 4
October-
November- Space City
December-
Other interested in:
Texas Open- Late April
Oilfield Classic- March
Production Nationals- August
Production Nationals- August
Gator Classic
There are an awful lot of major matches here in Texas so I don't have go all over to shoot, in fact that's six major's right here in Texas in 2014. I'm going to try to hook up with friends at several matches, so this is all subject to change, although I expect to be booked for the Florida Open here in the next couple of days.
I'm not sure where I am with 3-Gun major events, I understand I need 4 classifiers to shoot major matches, and I'm not sure where my commitment level is, or will be. There are several major's here in Texas, again all within a few hours of me, so I think it's possible I could shoot one in April just to see what it is all about, especially since I love Copperhead Creek, and then one late in the year depending on how much I enjoy it.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Club Officer? My Postmortem
Club Officer? My Postmortem
Back on October 4th, Tim Meyers gave me a real turd of a Birthday present. (Tim objects to the use of the word turd. In truth he took me to breakfast at Jack Allen's the next day, which was amazing. So take my usage with a grain of salt) Post match at Austin Rifle Club, he nominated me to be Secretary of Austin Lone Star Practical Pistol Club, in part because there were not a whole lot of people jumping at the job, and I'd like to think, in part, because he believed that I'd work hard to get the club going in the direction that it should be. I'm sure that was because he knew that Les was a stand up guy, but I hope it's also because in the short time he knew me, that he felt that way about me too. There were some raised eyebrows, because many in the club who were present for the vote did not know me, they saw me as someone who had just finished shooting his second match with the club, and beyond that, not a whole lot. It was an uncomfortable situation for me, and I probably should have declined, but I channeled my inner "Les Kismartoni", and decided that Les would have jumped in, and worked to make the club better, so if I wanted to pay Les back for all he's done to help me shoot, I figured I would give it my level best effort.
I'd heard a little bit about the state of the club from Tim prior to the election, and he was the outgoing Vice President, so I knew there was work to be done, but once I sat down with the other newly elected officers, I was terrified of what I saw, or more what I did not see. The club's "books" was a word document showing gross receipts, some expenses, and total cash. The heart of the issue was that for the last 5-6 years the club President and Treasurer were husband and wife, and there was no accounting ever done. There was a line item expense of "steel, $1900", although the club had purchased no new steel in the last few years, there were gun giveaways that the club believes the former president sold items he himself won at 3-Gun prize tables. In short, things were a mess, and they were made more so when the officers, using the last couple of matches as a benchmark came up with a revenue projection that was between $3000 and $6000 a year greater than the "books" showed.
Getting in cold, my instant concern was protecting myself, I wanted no liability for what was in the books, and filing a 2014 tax return, and signing it, when I myself did not believe or could not support the numbers given was pretty low on my priority list. Mind you, zero receipts were given, just a sheet of paper. Anyone reading feel comfortable taking that to the IRS? After consulting with the other officers, a few of us proceeded to explore what our options for the club actually were. The number one idea was to protect the club, and it's assets, as well as the officers. To that end, I spoke with a C.P.A., and an attorney. In both cases, the advice was that we needed to "nuke the club from orbit, just to be sure", and form a new entity the right way, with the assets of the old club donated.
Unfortunately, that was not a universal opinion among officers, one of whom wanted to find ways to fix the existing entity, he set the agenda, he sent out e-mails to members painting a rosy picture, and moved at a snail's pace, in essence this officer, who was not the president, was running the club at his pace, and with his inaction. About this time we realized we were going to have a problem with the range, that the Austin Rifle Club wanted to renegotiate the existing contract to be more favorable to them, that they wanted to take away a second Sunday a month we had and ran a steel match, and they wanted to run their own Steel Challenge match, using our equipment, at no charge.
I had two instant thoughts, I wanted us to present a united front, and meet with the ARC board, and find out exactly what changes they wanted, find out what price hike they were looking for, and if we had to form a new entity, would they be willing to work with the new entity on a contract, or were they really looking to absorb the club, the assets, and run the matches themselves. Unfortunately we never got around to do that in the first 30 days. My other thought was that we should explore other venues, we should find out who was capable of hosting the club, what they would charge, and so on. If a deal at ARC was that bad, we'd give ourselves options. We could go to the club with the best information for setting ourselves up for success in the future.
While all this was going on, our one officer who was dragging his feet, was busy wanting to set-up "Mail Chimp" so we could mass e-mail the club, and filling out "Trello" cards for everyone's jobs. The short version, in my mind, was that he was doing the mundane tasks that did little to address the serious issues that the club was facing. Again, it was my belief that he did not want to make any changes, that he thought things were fine, and did not see a need for change.
I had reached out to Les, and connected him with the new club President, Ben Gilman, so they could talk, and Les was able to explain to Ben how M.I.S.S. reorganized a few years ago, how it worked for them, and how we could do the same sorts of things here. Les invested some time, and even gave us the links for forms we'd have to file to become a 501c7 should we choose. Again, Les was coming to the rescue from 1,000 miles away. I'd hoped he and Ben would get along, they both wanted what was best for their respective clubs, and they work towards it.
After about four weeks though, I'd seen little action towards protecting ourselves as officers. No meeting was scheduled with ARC, we had not tracked down the missing paperwork from the old officers, and we had not started a re-organization. On my own, I consulted another attorney, this one who was also a C.P.A., who counseled me that it was critically important that we document our attempts to collect missing papers. The longer we did not try to collect, the greater the liability we as individuals were likely to have. With that in mind, I sat down, wrote a letter, mildly unpleasant, but I asked for the missing documents, tax returns, and receipts, both expense and gate receipts, and after having the club President read it, I sent the registered letter.
I sent the letter out to the rest of the officers, and shortly after that, got this partial response from one of the other officers:
"There is a great chance you just created more liability for all of us.This is a bull shit way to go about business especially given that you don't even come to our matches to help or at least get to know the members of the club that has been successfully holding matches since the 80's."
-Nameless Officer
He had a point, I did miss the October steel match, and the November USPSA match. In both cases, I made the choice to be a parent, and go to Lauren's soccer game. In both cases, I actually asked the Match Director if I was needed to help set-up, or run the event, and had I been needed, I'd have went. I was not aware I was required to ask this guy for permission.
To the other points, ALSPPC has not actually been holding matches since the 80's, ALSPPC was the result of another couple of clubs that were folding, merger. I've got a lot of respect for the club, but the club is not a collection of letters, it's the people behind it. The people who have done the work, come to the matches, they are the reason the club exists, and they honestly deserve the best. They don't deserve a club that has never filed a tax return, or is left open to accounting questions because of lax practices. They don't deserve a club that could face penalties because they never did those things, and the honest truth, is they deserve better than officers who don't acknowledge that. I don't know the members of the club? I respect the club, and the members, I can't say that someone who was not fighting for the club is in the same boat.
I spent the September match R.O.'ing a squad of 10 other people I did not know, I went to lunch with another 7-8 people in the past 30 days to learn more about the club, the people who make it up, and what people want to it. In September and October both, I took time the Friday before the match to go and set-up stages with a couple of other people. That's about 50% of the club that I was able to reach out to in the first 30 days of office. Never once did I question the commitment of other officers, especially captain nameless who was not there to set-up either. In short, I think I did everything that I could have done to work for the interests of the club, and I can sleep knowing that I did that.
The response from the nameless officer was honestly what I was afraid of when I took the job. I never should have thought that I could contribute unless I had been around longer, I could have just set-up, tore down, and shot matches. Those are all things that I can always do. I can't blame Mr. Nameless too much for his reaction, because I am the new guy, it's hard to build trust and respect in a short time with people you don't know at all. I believe that I did the right things, but oviously not for everyone. Now I feel like I let Les down, like I let Tim down, and like I let myself down. The bylaws of ALSPPC prohibit the election of officers who have not been members for at least 6 months, using that as the reason, I submitted my resignation. The truth is, I'm not looking for a fight, but with the serious issues the club does face, I'm honestly not comfortable being a part of an officer team that was not on the same page, and was not committed to the ideal of building the best foundation for club, no matter what.
The last thing I want to do is sound like a bitter bastard, in truth I'm glad to shoot. I spent my time at M.I.S.S. setting up and tearing down, and I was happy, I trusted where the officers had the club going. I do believe that you get out what you put in, but at this point, I'm going to shoot, I can't not help, but I'm definitely a lot more leery to get involved now beyond basic help. I apprenticed more with Terry as part of the "Goon Squad" than I did with Les on the political side, and the club doesn't need the friction. I'm not a politician, I speak plainly, I don't sugar coat things, and I don't have the sense to sometimes just keep my damn mouth shut. I had a couple of officers call me, angry that Mr. Nameless said what he said, and I appreciate it, they aren't responsible what comes out of his mouth.
So that's it, 30 odd days, I won't do this sort of thing again, and I'll find a different way to pay back what I saw the real classy people do for the sport. Those are the people I admire, and want to emulate, and make proud.
Back on October 4th, Tim Meyers gave me a real turd of a Birthday present. (Tim objects to the use of the word turd. In truth he took me to breakfast at Jack Allen's the next day, which was amazing. So take my usage with a grain of salt) Post match at Austin Rifle Club, he nominated me to be Secretary of Austin Lone Star Practical Pistol Club, in part because there were not a whole lot of people jumping at the job, and I'd like to think, in part, because he believed that I'd work hard to get the club going in the direction that it should be. I'm sure that was because he knew that Les was a stand up guy, but I hope it's also because in the short time he knew me, that he felt that way about me too. There were some raised eyebrows, because many in the club who were present for the vote did not know me, they saw me as someone who had just finished shooting his second match with the club, and beyond that, not a whole lot. It was an uncomfortable situation for me, and I probably should have declined, but I channeled my inner "Les Kismartoni", and decided that Les would have jumped in, and worked to make the club better, so if I wanted to pay Les back for all he's done to help me shoot, I figured I would give it my level best effort.
I'd heard a little bit about the state of the club from Tim prior to the election, and he was the outgoing Vice President, so I knew there was work to be done, but once I sat down with the other newly elected officers, I was terrified of what I saw, or more what I did not see. The club's "books" was a word document showing gross receipts, some expenses, and total cash. The heart of the issue was that for the last 5-6 years the club President and Treasurer were husband and wife, and there was no accounting ever done. There was a line item expense of "steel, $1900", although the club had purchased no new steel in the last few years, there were gun giveaways that the club believes the former president sold items he himself won at 3-Gun prize tables. In short, things were a mess, and they were made more so when the officers, using the last couple of matches as a benchmark came up with a revenue projection that was between $3000 and $6000 a year greater than the "books" showed.
Getting in cold, my instant concern was protecting myself, I wanted no liability for what was in the books, and filing a 2014 tax return, and signing it, when I myself did not believe or could not support the numbers given was pretty low on my priority list. Mind you, zero receipts were given, just a sheet of paper. Anyone reading feel comfortable taking that to the IRS? After consulting with the other officers, a few of us proceeded to explore what our options for the club actually were. The number one idea was to protect the club, and it's assets, as well as the officers. To that end, I spoke with a C.P.A., and an attorney. In both cases, the advice was that we needed to "nuke the club from orbit, just to be sure", and form a new entity the right way, with the assets of the old club donated.
Unfortunately, that was not a universal opinion among officers, one of whom wanted to find ways to fix the existing entity, he set the agenda, he sent out e-mails to members painting a rosy picture, and moved at a snail's pace, in essence this officer, who was not the president, was running the club at his pace, and with his inaction. About this time we realized we were going to have a problem with the range, that the Austin Rifle Club wanted to renegotiate the existing contract to be more favorable to them, that they wanted to take away a second Sunday a month we had and ran a steel match, and they wanted to run their own Steel Challenge match, using our equipment, at no charge.
I had two instant thoughts, I wanted us to present a united front, and meet with the ARC board, and find out exactly what changes they wanted, find out what price hike they were looking for, and if we had to form a new entity, would they be willing to work with the new entity on a contract, or were they really looking to absorb the club, the assets, and run the matches themselves. Unfortunately we never got around to do that in the first 30 days. My other thought was that we should explore other venues, we should find out who was capable of hosting the club, what they would charge, and so on. If a deal at ARC was that bad, we'd give ourselves options. We could go to the club with the best information for setting ourselves up for success in the future.
While all this was going on, our one officer who was dragging his feet, was busy wanting to set-up "Mail Chimp" so we could mass e-mail the club, and filling out "Trello" cards for everyone's jobs. The short version, in my mind, was that he was doing the mundane tasks that did little to address the serious issues that the club was facing. Again, it was my belief that he did not want to make any changes, that he thought things were fine, and did not see a need for change.
I had reached out to Les, and connected him with the new club President, Ben Gilman, so they could talk, and Les was able to explain to Ben how M.I.S.S. reorganized a few years ago, how it worked for them, and how we could do the same sorts of things here. Les invested some time, and even gave us the links for forms we'd have to file to become a 501c7 should we choose. Again, Les was coming to the rescue from 1,000 miles away. I'd hoped he and Ben would get along, they both wanted what was best for their respective clubs, and they work towards it.
After about four weeks though, I'd seen little action towards protecting ourselves as officers. No meeting was scheduled with ARC, we had not tracked down the missing paperwork from the old officers, and we had not started a re-organization. On my own, I consulted another attorney, this one who was also a C.P.A., who counseled me that it was critically important that we document our attempts to collect missing papers. The longer we did not try to collect, the greater the liability we as individuals were likely to have. With that in mind, I sat down, wrote a letter, mildly unpleasant, but I asked for the missing documents, tax returns, and receipts, both expense and gate receipts, and after having the club President read it, I sent the registered letter.
I sent the letter out to the rest of the officers, and shortly after that, got this partial response from one of the other officers:
"There is a great chance you just created more liability for all of us.This is a bull shit way to go about business especially given that you don't even come to our matches to help or at least get to know the members of the club that has been successfully holding matches since the 80's."
-Nameless Officer
He had a point, I did miss the October steel match, and the November USPSA match. In both cases, I made the choice to be a parent, and go to Lauren's soccer game. In both cases, I actually asked the Match Director if I was needed to help set-up, or run the event, and had I been needed, I'd have went. I was not aware I was required to ask this guy for permission.
To the other points, ALSPPC has not actually been holding matches since the 80's, ALSPPC was the result of another couple of clubs that were folding, merger. I've got a lot of respect for the club, but the club is not a collection of letters, it's the people behind it. The people who have done the work, come to the matches, they are the reason the club exists, and they honestly deserve the best. They don't deserve a club that has never filed a tax return, or is left open to accounting questions because of lax practices. They don't deserve a club that could face penalties because they never did those things, and the honest truth, is they deserve better than officers who don't acknowledge that. I don't know the members of the club? I respect the club, and the members, I can't say that someone who was not fighting for the club is in the same boat.
I spent the September match R.O.'ing a squad of 10 other people I did not know, I went to lunch with another 7-8 people in the past 30 days to learn more about the club, the people who make it up, and what people want to it. In September and October both, I took time the Friday before the match to go and set-up stages with a couple of other people. That's about 50% of the club that I was able to reach out to in the first 30 days of office. Never once did I question the commitment of other officers, especially captain nameless who was not there to set-up either. In short, I think I did everything that I could have done to work for the interests of the club, and I can sleep knowing that I did that.
The response from the nameless officer was honestly what I was afraid of when I took the job. I never should have thought that I could contribute unless I had been around longer, I could have just set-up, tore down, and shot matches. Those are all things that I can always do. I can't blame Mr. Nameless too much for his reaction, because I am the new guy, it's hard to build trust and respect in a short time with people you don't know at all. I believe that I did the right things, but oviously not for everyone. Now I feel like I let Les down, like I let Tim down, and like I let myself down. The bylaws of ALSPPC prohibit the election of officers who have not been members for at least 6 months, using that as the reason, I submitted my resignation. The truth is, I'm not looking for a fight, but with the serious issues the club does face, I'm honestly not comfortable being a part of an officer team that was not on the same page, and was not committed to the ideal of building the best foundation for club, no matter what.
The last thing I want to do is sound like a bitter bastard, in truth I'm glad to shoot. I spent my time at M.I.S.S. setting up and tearing down, and I was happy, I trusted where the officers had the club going. I do believe that you get out what you put in, but at this point, I'm going to shoot, I can't not help, but I'm definitely a lot more leery to get involved now beyond basic help. I apprenticed more with Terry as part of the "Goon Squad" than I did with Les on the political side, and the club doesn't need the friction. I'm not a politician, I speak plainly, I don't sugar coat things, and I don't have the sense to sometimes just keep my damn mouth shut. I had a couple of officers call me, angry that Mr. Nameless said what he said, and I appreciate it, they aren't responsible what comes out of his mouth.
So that's it, 30 odd days, I won't do this sort of thing again, and I'll find a different way to pay back what I saw the real classy people do for the sport. Those are the people I admire, and want to emulate, and make proud.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
The Bacon Maker
The Bacon Maker
Maybe I made a mistake when gearing up for 3-Gun. I probably should have looked at getting a shotgun first, because spending time shooting, reloading, and practicing with a shotgun seems to be the key in that sport, and more time would have been beneficial for me. Instead of going down that road, I ended up buying an AR first. First of all, AR's are cool, shooting them are fun, and I thought that Linda would really enjoy the AR, making my transition to 3-Gun that much easier. Before I jumped in to it, I wanted to go shoot an AR, something I had never done. I asked Tim Meyers if he had an AR, and his answer was something to the effect that he's a Texan, and an American, and therefore, "of course I have a few." With an overt challenge like that, how on earth could I not take up the call?
After shooting his AR, and really enjoying it, I decided to start looking around for an AR, I also spoke with some friends like Jay Carillo who suggested I wait for a new Armalite offering arriving in November. I ended up looking at big brands, building my own, before ultimately settling on a local "boutique" shop, Underground Tactical, who would work with me to build something that fit what I wanted to do, and would be distinctly mine. What they came up with was simply a work of art in my mind.
What they did for me was build a fabulous AR, cerakoted in Burnt Bronze, with an 18" barrel which should play very well for what I'm looking to do. It's well balanced, light, and being honest, I love the custom engravings on it that really say "Luke's Gun."
Optic was a big question for me, especially after talking to a few people who were suggesting a Vortex Razer VR6, or a similar Swarovski, both of which were in the $1200-$1600 price range, or nearly as much as the AR itself. Knowing that hitting what I'm aiming at, especially in the 300-600 yard range, it was going to be very important for me to not skimp on the optic, and that's when how expensive getting set-up for 3-Gun was going to be really hit home. After a local 3-Gun match, I saw a local ad, with someone who had picked up the Leupold VX6 1-6 Optic (list price $1199) and was looking to sell it. I made an offer, and we had a deal. It's not quite as good as the other two, but it's at the bare minimum I felt I needed, and it was significantly cheaper. Maybe down the road I change it, but for what I want to do, I think this made sense. Looking at it this way, essentially I can spend the difference on a couple thousand rounds of practice ammo, and that's going to be crucial for me right now.
After picking up my gun at the end of last week I took it out this past weekend to get the gun sighted in. Instead of Austin Rifle Club, I went out to Copperhead Creek to watch a little of the 3-Gun Nation match, and then head to the rifle range to get it done. The guys at Underground Tactical only made one mistake in set-up, they tightened up my mount too tight on the upper ring, and after a couple of shots the optic was bouncing around like crazy. Thankfully another shooter with a tool kit had what I needed, and I loosened up the upper ring, and was able to tighten the lower until it was completely stable.
The top group was my first effort at 100 yards, and after that three shot group, I made an adjustment on the optic, and put together the 2nd group, all in the bulls eye area. I can absolutely live with that kind of group, and I think it's smooth sailing ahead. The rifle, much like my CZ is more accurate as a gun than I am as a shooter. That's something I can live with.
Oh, and the trigger......I thought my CZ trigger was good, but my rifle trigger just smokes it. It's utterly amazing. It's short, crisp, with no take-up, and it was lightening fast to get on. This rifle is an absolute joy to shoot, and I can't wait to spend more time on the range with it. While I wait for 3-Gun, I may look at some tactical matches where I can shoot carbine and pistol.
Going forward, considering how much fun it was to shoot this gun, I'm going to get an NFA Trust done, and then build a suppressed SBR. Do I need a short barrel rifle, or a suppressed rifle? Hell no, but I'm in Texas, and I can have one, so yes, I absolutely want one! In addition, I'm hoping that Linda will get interested enough to want to give it a whirl as well. I'm not sure she'll ever love shotgun, but I think she'd really enjoy the AR.
Maybe I made a mistake when gearing up for 3-Gun. I probably should have looked at getting a shotgun first, because spending time shooting, reloading, and practicing with a shotgun seems to be the key in that sport, and more time would have been beneficial for me. Instead of going down that road, I ended up buying an AR first. First of all, AR's are cool, shooting them are fun, and I thought that Linda would really enjoy the AR, making my transition to 3-Gun that much easier. Before I jumped in to it, I wanted to go shoot an AR, something I had never done. I asked Tim Meyers if he had an AR, and his answer was something to the effect that he's a Texan, and an American, and therefore, "of course I have a few." With an overt challenge like that, how on earth could I not take up the call?
After shooting his AR, and really enjoying it, I decided to start looking around for an AR, I also spoke with some friends like Jay Carillo who suggested I wait for a new Armalite offering arriving in November. I ended up looking at big brands, building my own, before ultimately settling on a local "boutique" shop, Underground Tactical, who would work with me to build something that fit what I wanted to do, and would be distinctly mine. What they came up with was simply a work of art in my mind.
What they did for me was build a fabulous AR, cerakoted in Burnt Bronze, with an 18" barrel which should play very well for what I'm looking to do. It's well balanced, light, and being honest, I love the custom engravings on it that really say "Luke's Gun."
Optic was a big question for me, especially after talking to a few people who were suggesting a Vortex Razer VR6, or a similar Swarovski, both of which were in the $1200-$1600 price range, or nearly as much as the AR itself. Knowing that hitting what I'm aiming at, especially in the 300-600 yard range, it was going to be very important for me to not skimp on the optic, and that's when how expensive getting set-up for 3-Gun was going to be really hit home. After a local 3-Gun match, I saw a local ad, with someone who had picked up the Leupold VX6 1-6 Optic (list price $1199) and was looking to sell it. I made an offer, and we had a deal. It's not quite as good as the other two, but it's at the bare minimum I felt I needed, and it was significantly cheaper. Maybe down the road I change it, but for what I want to do, I think this made sense. Looking at it this way, essentially I can spend the difference on a couple thousand rounds of practice ammo, and that's going to be crucial for me right now.
After picking up my gun at the end of last week I took it out this past weekend to get the gun sighted in. Instead of Austin Rifle Club, I went out to Copperhead Creek to watch a little of the 3-Gun Nation match, and then head to the rifle range to get it done. The guys at Underground Tactical only made one mistake in set-up, they tightened up my mount too tight on the upper ring, and after a couple of shots the optic was bouncing around like crazy. Thankfully another shooter with a tool kit had what I needed, and I loosened up the upper ring, and was able to tighten the lower until it was completely stable.
The top group was my first effort at 100 yards, and after that three shot group, I made an adjustment on the optic, and put together the 2nd group, all in the bulls eye area. I can absolutely live with that kind of group, and I think it's smooth sailing ahead. The rifle, much like my CZ is more accurate as a gun than I am as a shooter. That's something I can live with.
Oh, and the trigger......I thought my CZ trigger was good, but my rifle trigger just smokes it. It's utterly amazing. It's short, crisp, with no take-up, and it was lightening fast to get on. This rifle is an absolute joy to shoot, and I can't wait to spend more time on the range with it. While I wait for 3-Gun, I may look at some tactical matches where I can shoot carbine and pistol.
Going forward, considering how much fun it was to shoot this gun, I'm going to get an NFA Trust done, and then build a suppressed SBR. Do I need a short barrel rifle, or a suppressed rifle? Hell no, but I'm in Texas, and I can have one, so yes, I absolutely want one! In addition, I'm hoping that Linda will get interested enough to want to give it a whirl as well. I'm not sure she'll ever love shotgun, but I think she'd really enjoy the AR.
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Some Texas Match Video
Match Film:
I've only shot a few different matches here in Texas, some at the Austin Rifle Club, with the Austin Lone Star Practical Pistol Club, and once up in Temple at the Temple Gun Club. It's been an interesting experience, at Temple I shot a classifier at 40 yards, far longer than I am used to seeing in Illinois, and at ARC, I've seen stages that far more resembled what I am used to.
I've only shot a few different matches here in Texas, some at the Austin Rifle Club, with the Austin Lone Star Practical Pistol Club, and once up in Temple at the Temple Gun Club. It's been an interesting experience, at Temple I shot a classifier at 40 yards, far longer than I am used to seeing in Illinois, and at ARC, I've seen stages that far more resembled what I am used to.
After a day of RO'ing, I was tired on my last stage.
This was one of my better finishes, and I felt like I left so much time on the table.
This is the way I want to shoot, plan, transitions, execution.
Good for 5th of 23 Production Shooters?
Linda's take on El Nuevo Presidente.
Just a few samples of what we've been experiencing here in Texas. Nothing that we should not be prepared for, but an awful lot of rust in our combined games so far. We suddenly realize how perishable a skill shooting is, and how much at our ability levels we need consistent practice sessions to build a higher and better foundation of skills.
Back On The Range
Back On The Range
It's been 5 long months since I've sat down to write a blog, and despite the wait, it feels good to get back and do some writing. There were quite a few changes in life since then, the biggest of which that we have completed a move down to Round Rock, Texas, just a few miles north east of Austin. It was quite the adventure getting down here, getting out stuff, and slowly getting settled, but now we're at the point where we have settled into life in Texas.
The great group of friends we made in Illinois is still involved in our lives, we still talk, and we're going to stay in touch, and visit, these were not mere casual acquaintances, but rather life long friends. We've started making friends down here, and again, I owe Les a huge debt for introducing me to Tim Meyers when we were in the last stages of packing up in Illinois. The truth is the place may have changed, but guys like Ben G., Ryan B., and Tim are making us all feel very much at home here. It's amazing how a the shooting community, be it Illinois or Texas, can be filled with such a great group of people.
As a result of the move, we have not put in the time getting ready to shoot USPSA, and it's also why I put my blog on hiatus. It was not that my desire to progress was gone, but rather that I felt I had responsibilities as a husband and a father that superseded my desire to get out and shoot. The press is set-up, it's ready to roll, a dry fire practice course is set-up in the reloading room, and truthfully, it's time. My "A" card is as close as can be, I can nail it with 1-2 more good classifiers. Despite my card being close, I'm not happy where I'm at, because I think my card and my performance are in two different places. Short version, I have good classifier, and "standards" skills, I draw, reload, shoot quickly, and transition well, but on field courses I've really struggled. I'm not running, I'm not making quick decisions, and I'm not bringing accuracy with me when I do. That's a long way to go, but it also helps me decide things that I need to work on for the 2015 season.
The biggest change is that I'm planning on dipping my toe into 3-Gun in 2015. I've had some interest in 3-Gun for awhile, but I never really thought I'd be exploring it this soon. I have not achieved my goals in USPSA, and I'm not quitting, I'm still going to focus on not just earning my "A" card, but on performing at that level on a consistent basis. Gearing up for 3-Gun is not a cheap proposition, so step one is starting to get together the gear, with an eye towards starting to shoot it in Spring '15. Between now and then I'm going to work my USPSA, practice with the rifle, and eventually learning how to load a shotgun.
It's going to be a good winter, with a lot of shooting related activities to engage in. I'm going to get back to investing some time every week to pumping out a blog or two, so this is perhaps the first of the "next" series of blogs.
It's been 5 long months since I've sat down to write a blog, and despite the wait, it feels good to get back and do some writing. There were quite a few changes in life since then, the biggest of which that we have completed a move down to Round Rock, Texas, just a few miles north east of Austin. It was quite the adventure getting down here, getting out stuff, and slowly getting settled, but now we're at the point where we have settled into life in Texas.
The great group of friends we made in Illinois is still involved in our lives, we still talk, and we're going to stay in touch, and visit, these were not mere casual acquaintances, but rather life long friends. We've started making friends down here, and again, I owe Les a huge debt for introducing me to Tim Meyers when we were in the last stages of packing up in Illinois. The truth is the place may have changed, but guys like Ben G., Ryan B., and Tim are making us all feel very much at home here. It's amazing how a the shooting community, be it Illinois or Texas, can be filled with such a great group of people.
As a result of the move, we have not put in the time getting ready to shoot USPSA, and it's also why I put my blog on hiatus. It was not that my desire to progress was gone, but rather that I felt I had responsibilities as a husband and a father that superseded my desire to get out and shoot. The press is set-up, it's ready to roll, a dry fire practice course is set-up in the reloading room, and truthfully, it's time. My "A" card is as close as can be, I can nail it with 1-2 more good classifiers. Despite my card being close, I'm not happy where I'm at, because I think my card and my performance are in two different places. Short version, I have good classifier, and "standards" skills, I draw, reload, shoot quickly, and transition well, but on field courses I've really struggled. I'm not running, I'm not making quick decisions, and I'm not bringing accuracy with me when I do. That's a long way to go, but it also helps me decide things that I need to work on for the 2015 season.
The biggest change is that I'm planning on dipping my toe into 3-Gun in 2015. I've had some interest in 3-Gun for awhile, but I never really thought I'd be exploring it this soon. I have not achieved my goals in USPSA, and I'm not quitting, I'm still going to focus on not just earning my "A" card, but on performing at that level on a consistent basis. Gearing up for 3-Gun is not a cheap proposition, so step one is starting to get together the gear, with an eye towards starting to shoot it in Spring '15. Between now and then I'm going to work my USPSA, practice with the rifle, and eventually learning how to load a shotgun.
It's going to be a good winter, with a lot of shooting related activities to engage in. I'm going to get back to investing some time every week to pumping out a blog or two, so this is perhaps the first of the "next" series of blogs.
Monday, June 16, 2014
I Guess....
I Guess.....
Winning is better than losing, and I did say I wanted to win some plaque's this summer, but 3rd place C in Production is about as satisfying as shooting IDPA, where they give prizes to people to make them feel good just for showing up.
I'm bummed.
In full move mode, so once we get down to Austin and settled, I'm going to have to really start working hard again. I'm not ashamed, of it, I always want to do the best I can, but.....
Winning is better than losing, and I did say I wanted to win some plaque's this summer, but 3rd place C in Production is about as satisfying as shooting IDPA, where they give prizes to people to make them feel good just for showing up.
I'm bummed.
In full move mode, so once we get down to Austin and settled, I'm going to have to really start working hard again. I'm not ashamed, of it, I always want to do the best I can, but.....
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Oak Park 6/8
Oak Park 6/8/14
Linda's match, 27th of 41 Production Shooters
And my match....8th of 41 Production Shooters
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Buckeye Blast (Part 2)
Buckeye Blast (Part 2)
Squad started on Stage 4, so that's where I'll start.
Stage 4:
I had a pretty decent plan on this stage, and I came out with the idea of being fast. This was the first, and only magazine issue I had. I went to reload, and the bullet looked like it did not feed properly, and that cost me some time, I kept my cool and finished the stage with the right mindset. Hits were sub par, which was an ongoing theme, so I won't keep mentioning it.
Stage 5:
Again, a good plan on this stage. I made a key mistake, I had to take extra shots at the mover, and was trying to figure the count in my head as I was reloading out of the port position following the "mover" sequence. I blew right past a target without engaging it, and I realized I did it, but figured it was better to take the penalty than run back around and get it. Dumb mistake. Nice work though on getting the mover!
Stage 6:
As I post a Top 20 Production finish (60+ shooters) I had trigger freeze on the 5th shot of my 2nd string, and doing it while on a bouncy bridge was a challenge. Once that thing started moving, it was hard to stop, so this is slower than I did it at Alpha, but it was a degree or two harder.
Stage 7:
This was a fun hoser stage. My mistake here was getting lost. I got to the 5th target on the 2nd magazine, and could not remember if I needed to shoot it or reload, the correct answer was shoot it, and reload for the last target. I got the right answer but lost a second or so on that, and plinking the steel on the last angle and having to re-load cost me a little more time.
Stage 8:
Yes, I put one thru a no-shoot. I think I could have gone faster, you'll notice my cadence picked up as I went, and I don't think the last shot was a challenge, it was a smart plan for me, and I liked it. I'd run that the exact same way, I think, if I had to run it again right now.
Stage 9:
I had a mike, and believe it or not, it was on the close target, not the far one. I was about 1.2 seconds behind a limited shooter on our squad (Ralph Lopez) who I think is an excellent shooter. I can live with that since I had to reload and he did not. Do that one again, and I don't miss. Good plan, good cadence, I'll execute better next time.
Stage 10:
You had to reload after 2 paper targets, so my plan was draw to the 3rd target since it was fairly open, and I could execute that quickly, hit the 4th, and then the steel. Knock out the reload, hit the 3rd target, and then the close target, that was a tough shot, and I did not need all the extra shots, but took them when I saw I'd thrown my second shot just into the black at left.
Stage 1:
While I was having some struggles, this was my best stage of the day. As of this writing 9th in Production. Good hits, good plan, good execution, I left this stage feeling like I shot my best. There are some things I could do better going forward, I could have done the middle targets on the move faster, I had a miss on a popper on the right side, and took a 3rd shot on the last clamshell target that I did not need. I won't say it's nit picking, you should aspire to always do better, but I was satisfied this was the best I had in me when I shot it.
Stage 2:
The idea was that you would have to deposit the hand cuffs into the tray on the barrel before the last shot, most shooters just ran over and dumped them, I tried to save the step, and had them hooked around my pinky, and I shot with them. My miss on this stage was the first target, first shot, the handcuffs bothered my shot, and I knew it, thought I was low left or off, should have taken the make-up. The rest of it was reasonable.
Stage 3:
A train wreck is what this turned into. I had 7 misses on this stage alone, as many as I had in my last major match total. I still think I had a good plan. The difference between this stage and the other stages, is that I was thinking so much about "my marks" and where I had to be, and go to shoot, than I completely and totally lost my front sight. What made it worse is that I only realized it when I got to the "barn" ports and had to shoot steel, when I did that, I knew then that I'd never had a sight picture for the majority of the stage.
Full Match Video:
I summarized the match in Part 1, so I won't do it again. I'll simply say that what I need to fix, is fixable. The match results won't be pretty because of how badly the few things that went wrong truly went wrong. The train is not off the tracks, I'll continue to work, and get it back on track, because I learned so much from this match that I want it to matter. Area 5 is in a few weeks, and even with everything else going on, I'm going to get out there, hammer the practice, and do my best to put it together, and leave Area 5 saying that I put forth my best effort.
Bonus Match Coverage:
As a super bonus, here is Linda's match video for her first major. I know she is not happy either, but she should be. She learned what a whole match day is all about, and how it's more than just shooting. She's as hungry for success as I am, and a competitor in her own right, I know she'll work because she wants to be at her best as well. I'm super proud of her, and love her like crazy! I really enjoyed being able to share the match experience with her!
Squad started on Stage 4, so that's where I'll start.
Stage 4:
I had a pretty decent plan on this stage, and I came out with the idea of being fast. This was the first, and only magazine issue I had. I went to reload, and the bullet looked like it did not feed properly, and that cost me some time, I kept my cool and finished the stage with the right mindset. Hits were sub par, which was an ongoing theme, so I won't keep mentioning it.
Stage 5:
Again, a good plan on this stage. I made a key mistake, I had to take extra shots at the mover, and was trying to figure the count in my head as I was reloading out of the port position following the "mover" sequence. I blew right past a target without engaging it, and I realized I did it, but figured it was better to take the penalty than run back around and get it. Dumb mistake. Nice work though on getting the mover!
Stage 6:
As I post a Top 20 Production finish (60+ shooters) I had trigger freeze on the 5th shot of my 2nd string, and doing it while on a bouncy bridge was a challenge. Once that thing started moving, it was hard to stop, so this is slower than I did it at Alpha, but it was a degree or two harder.
Stage 7:
This was a fun hoser stage. My mistake here was getting lost. I got to the 5th target on the 2nd magazine, and could not remember if I needed to shoot it or reload, the correct answer was shoot it, and reload for the last target. I got the right answer but lost a second or so on that, and plinking the steel on the last angle and having to re-load cost me a little more time.
Stage 8:
Yes, I put one thru a no-shoot. I think I could have gone faster, you'll notice my cadence picked up as I went, and I don't think the last shot was a challenge, it was a smart plan for me, and I liked it. I'd run that the exact same way, I think, if I had to run it again right now.
Stage 9:
I had a mike, and believe it or not, it was on the close target, not the far one. I was about 1.2 seconds behind a limited shooter on our squad (Ralph Lopez) who I think is an excellent shooter. I can live with that since I had to reload and he did not. Do that one again, and I don't miss. Good plan, good cadence, I'll execute better next time.
Stage 10:
You had to reload after 2 paper targets, so my plan was draw to the 3rd target since it was fairly open, and I could execute that quickly, hit the 4th, and then the steel. Knock out the reload, hit the 3rd target, and then the close target, that was a tough shot, and I did not need all the extra shots, but took them when I saw I'd thrown my second shot just into the black at left.
Stage 1:
While I was having some struggles, this was my best stage of the day. As of this writing 9th in Production. Good hits, good plan, good execution, I left this stage feeling like I shot my best. There are some things I could do better going forward, I could have done the middle targets on the move faster, I had a miss on a popper on the right side, and took a 3rd shot on the last clamshell target that I did not need. I won't say it's nit picking, you should aspire to always do better, but I was satisfied this was the best I had in me when I shot it.
Stage 2:
The idea was that you would have to deposit the hand cuffs into the tray on the barrel before the last shot, most shooters just ran over and dumped them, I tried to save the step, and had them hooked around my pinky, and I shot with them. My miss on this stage was the first target, first shot, the handcuffs bothered my shot, and I knew it, thought I was low left or off, should have taken the make-up. The rest of it was reasonable.
Stage 3:
A train wreck is what this turned into. I had 7 misses on this stage alone, as many as I had in my last major match total. I still think I had a good plan. The difference between this stage and the other stages, is that I was thinking so much about "my marks" and where I had to be, and go to shoot, than I completely and totally lost my front sight. What made it worse is that I only realized it when I got to the "barn" ports and had to shoot steel, when I did that, I knew then that I'd never had a sight picture for the majority of the stage.
Full Match Video:
I summarized the match in Part 1, so I won't do it again. I'll simply say that what I need to fix, is fixable. The match results won't be pretty because of how badly the few things that went wrong truly went wrong. The train is not off the tracks, I'll continue to work, and get it back on track, because I learned so much from this match that I want it to matter. Area 5 is in a few weeks, and even with everything else going on, I'm going to get out there, hammer the practice, and do my best to put it together, and leave Area 5 saying that I put forth my best effort.
Bonus Match Coverage:
 |
| Linda Stage 7 |
As a super bonus, here is Linda's match video for her first major. I know she is not happy either, but she should be. She learned what a whole match day is all about, and how it's more than just shooting. She's as hungry for success as I am, and a competitor in her own right, I know she'll work because she wants to be at her best as well. I'm super proud of her, and love her like crazy! I really enjoyed being able to share the match experience with her!
Buckeye Blast May 24th (Part 1)
The Buckeye Blast (Part 1)
Huge kudos go out to the Pickaway County Sportsmen's Club who put on the Ohio Sectional this year, they did a fabulous job. The stages were fun, the R.O.'s were excellent, and I had a fabulous time. The drive may have been close to 7 hours each way, but it was absolutely worth it. This was Linda's first Level Two (Major) match that she was going to shoot, so I was equally excited to go and support her. She's come with me to one in the past, and she's shot the club matches, but she was excited for her first all day match.
Before I get to the actual shooting part of the match, despite saying on Thursday that I had no intention of strapping on the WIILSHOOT jersey on for the match, I thought about it long and hard, and on Friday night, I made the decision to jersey up. I made it not because I wanted to wear a jersey, but because of all the things that I said on Thursday night. I decided that even if WIILSHOOT was "disbanded", all the good that it did, and stood for, I'd stand for on Saturday. I know that probably sounds a little hokey, but it was my way of taking the community with me, and in a way, still standing for everything the name carried. I admit I heard it from a couple of people with the "Hey, you just get on the team, and they close it down!" or "Hey, that's so last week, WIILSHOOT is gone." I get it, I do, but I still think it was the right thing to do. Whether I put on the jersey again or not, I know it's in me, and that part of me will be at every match I shoot.
The Bad
I was not all that happy with the way I performed at the match, and suggested that in a Facebook post, and I had a wise friend tell me that I should be more positive. That I've come a long way, and I should not be comparing myself to Les and Kozy, because everyone who is better than me, has been where I am now. Nobody started out great, they earned it with practice and hard work. Sage advice. I'm still not happy with how I shot, and I'll start with the bad stuff, and not because it's a horrible, but because it's done and over, and once it's out there it's done. There really was some good stuff, and I'd rather spend some time on those items.
I had an accuracy issue. I had 19 misses, say that slowly, 19 misses. Granted 7 of them were on the last stage where I had a complete meltdown, but that's an unacceptable number, and I'm better than that. Putting it in perspective, the last 2 big matches I shot (The WIIT & Bluegrass), I did not have that many total, heck, I did not have that many if you added 10 to my actual total. I never had my front sight the entire match. 17 Delta, 19 Mike, I'm more accurate than that. The good news? That's fixable. I need to get back to some fundamentals, grip, front sight, shooting groups, and dry fire. This is a short term blip, as long as I put in the work to fix it.
I had an ammo issue, too much crimp. Guess what? That's fixable as well. It's a fairly short list of things that I think were bad. Well, I almost went sub-minor, but that's tied, I think, to the crimp issue. Easy enough to fix. Sure, these were all day issues, but in the scheme of things, they really cost me, but I can fix them with just some work.
The Good?
Let's start with stage planning. Usually I have a Les or a Kozy around to help me with some stage planning, but here I did not have any help. I liked my stage plans, they were simple, efficient, and I was able to easily commit them to memory and execute them. At Bluegrass when something did not go my way, I let it get away from me, and I forgot my plan. Here, I was able to stay right on my game. The 2nd stage I blew by one target (2 Mike and FTE), and that's on my head, but overall, I'm happy with the plan I put in place. First time I had to do it, and because I had to focus, it worked.
I did have a couple of solid stages, one which as I write had me 13th of 64 scored Production shooters. I was one of the top B Shooters, and about 68% of the top score. That's the level I want to be shooting at, and where I think I can perform if I can make a few corrections. Another stage was Top 20, and I had a trigger freeze. Both of those stages I felt like I left just about everything I had on the table. I want the consistency to say that more often. Another goal which will take some time, but it's within reach.
My reloads were solid, I never missed one, or had to look back, I kept my eye on the reload every time, and while fundamentally I'd like to get them back out and higher, I won't complain too much. My draws were fine, my grip on the draw was better, and as a result I found my sights easily, rather than getting the gun up, and not being able to see my front sight.
Speed. I'm not going to compare myself to the GM's, who were a lot faster than me, but within my class I was solid, The top B shooter was in around 192 seconds, second place was at 213, I came in at 216 seconds. Obviously the difference was accuracy. I'm not saying I need to slow down and be more accurate, what I need to do is be more accurate at the speed I went. If you watch the video, there is time to be made up in movement, but speed in and of itself was fine. I won't say "dial it back a hair", but even if I did go that route, I'm okay.
Mental toughness. This has been the bane of my existence, and it failed me completely at Bluegrass. Here however, I'm going to give myself four stars. There were some very trying moments and stages, but I never once carried a low from one stage to the next. In my head I shot 10 matches, I brought my best each and every time, and I did not let it get me down. I was a battler all day long. The only time it came close was on the very last stage (7 mikes) and I got mad that I ended on such a sour note, but that's why I finally got mad. I actually was in the midst of an upswing in the afternoon. I kept it together, and I'm proud.
The other reason I kept my cool, was that without Les or Kozy, I assumed a little of that role. I kept my eye on my "charges", and I helped Emil and Dave make a couple of stage plan changes, I noticed that Linda was shooting low, and I helped her re-find her sight picture. I talked Dave into staying, twice, once when he got bumped to Open for having a non-factory mag release, and when he had to shoot last on the last stage, and was frustrated. I was the kind word, the motivator, I was what I had leaned on in other matches, but this time I found some of those things in myself. I came a long way, and I overcame some all-day issues to ring in my best stages near the end, I kept battling and fighting, and I hope I let a few other people borrow on some of that for themselves.
So sure, I'm not happy with the end results, but those are some little issues that are fixed with more hard work. There are so many more positive lessons from this experience than bad, so even if I did not shoot my best, I came away with a lot, and all things that I can apply going forward. I'd be a chump if all I did is focus on the bad. My disappointment is really just that I know I'm better than this, work will take me back there, and I'll be that much closer to putting it all together.
Huge kudos go out to the Pickaway County Sportsmen's Club who put on the Ohio Sectional this year, they did a fabulous job. The stages were fun, the R.O.'s were excellent, and I had a fabulous time. The drive may have been close to 7 hours each way, but it was absolutely worth it. This was Linda's first Level Two (Major) match that she was going to shoot, so I was equally excited to go and support her. She's come with me to one in the past, and she's shot the club matches, but she was excited for her first all day match.
Before I get to the actual shooting part of the match, despite saying on Thursday that I had no intention of strapping on the WIILSHOOT jersey on for the match, I thought about it long and hard, and on Friday night, I made the decision to jersey up. I made it not because I wanted to wear a jersey, but because of all the things that I said on Thursday night. I decided that even if WIILSHOOT was "disbanded", all the good that it did, and stood for, I'd stand for on Saturday. I know that probably sounds a little hokey, but it was my way of taking the community with me, and in a way, still standing for everything the name carried. I admit I heard it from a couple of people with the "Hey, you just get on the team, and they close it down!" or "Hey, that's so last week, WIILSHOOT is gone." I get it, I do, but I still think it was the right thing to do. Whether I put on the jersey again or not, I know it's in me, and that part of me will be at every match I shoot.
The Bad
I was not all that happy with the way I performed at the match, and suggested that in a Facebook post, and I had a wise friend tell me that I should be more positive. That I've come a long way, and I should not be comparing myself to Les and Kozy, because everyone who is better than me, has been where I am now. Nobody started out great, they earned it with practice and hard work. Sage advice. I'm still not happy with how I shot, and I'll start with the bad stuff, and not because it's a horrible, but because it's done and over, and once it's out there it's done. There really was some good stuff, and I'd rather spend some time on those items.
I had an accuracy issue. I had 19 misses, say that slowly, 19 misses. Granted 7 of them were on the last stage where I had a complete meltdown, but that's an unacceptable number, and I'm better than that. Putting it in perspective, the last 2 big matches I shot (The WIIT & Bluegrass), I did not have that many total, heck, I did not have that many if you added 10 to my actual total. I never had my front sight the entire match. 17 Delta, 19 Mike, I'm more accurate than that. The good news? That's fixable. I need to get back to some fundamentals, grip, front sight, shooting groups, and dry fire. This is a short term blip, as long as I put in the work to fix it.
I had an ammo issue, too much crimp. Guess what? That's fixable as well. It's a fairly short list of things that I think were bad. Well, I almost went sub-minor, but that's tied, I think, to the crimp issue. Easy enough to fix. Sure, these were all day issues, but in the scheme of things, they really cost me, but I can fix them with just some work.
The Good?
Let's start with stage planning. Usually I have a Les or a Kozy around to help me with some stage planning, but here I did not have any help. I liked my stage plans, they were simple, efficient, and I was able to easily commit them to memory and execute them. At Bluegrass when something did not go my way, I let it get away from me, and I forgot my plan. Here, I was able to stay right on my game. The 2nd stage I blew by one target (2 Mike and FTE), and that's on my head, but overall, I'm happy with the plan I put in place. First time I had to do it, and because I had to focus, it worked.
I did have a couple of solid stages, one which as I write had me 13th of 64 scored Production shooters. I was one of the top B Shooters, and about 68% of the top score. That's the level I want to be shooting at, and where I think I can perform if I can make a few corrections. Another stage was Top 20, and I had a trigger freeze. Both of those stages I felt like I left just about everything I had on the table. I want the consistency to say that more often. Another goal which will take some time, but it's within reach.
My reloads were solid, I never missed one, or had to look back, I kept my eye on the reload every time, and while fundamentally I'd like to get them back out and higher, I won't complain too much. My draws were fine, my grip on the draw was better, and as a result I found my sights easily, rather than getting the gun up, and not being able to see my front sight.
Speed. I'm not going to compare myself to the GM's, who were a lot faster than me, but within my class I was solid, The top B shooter was in around 192 seconds, second place was at 213, I came in at 216 seconds. Obviously the difference was accuracy. I'm not saying I need to slow down and be more accurate, what I need to do is be more accurate at the speed I went. If you watch the video, there is time to be made up in movement, but speed in and of itself was fine. I won't say "dial it back a hair", but even if I did go that route, I'm okay.
Mental toughness. This has been the bane of my existence, and it failed me completely at Bluegrass. Here however, I'm going to give myself four stars. There were some very trying moments and stages, but I never once carried a low from one stage to the next. In my head I shot 10 matches, I brought my best each and every time, and I did not let it get me down. I was a battler all day long. The only time it came close was on the very last stage (7 mikes) and I got mad that I ended on such a sour note, but that's why I finally got mad. I actually was in the midst of an upswing in the afternoon. I kept it together, and I'm proud.
The other reason I kept my cool, was that without Les or Kozy, I assumed a little of that role. I kept my eye on my "charges", and I helped Emil and Dave make a couple of stage plan changes, I noticed that Linda was shooting low, and I helped her re-find her sight picture. I talked Dave into staying, twice, once when he got bumped to Open for having a non-factory mag release, and when he had to shoot last on the last stage, and was frustrated. I was the kind word, the motivator, I was what I had leaned on in other matches, but this time I found some of those things in myself. I came a long way, and I overcame some all-day issues to ring in my best stages near the end, I kept battling and fighting, and I hope I let a few other people borrow on some of that for themselves.
So sure, I'm not happy with the end results, but those are some little issues that are fixed with more hard work. There are so many more positive lessons from this experience than bad, so even if I did not shoot my best, I came away with a lot, and all things that I can apply going forward. I'd be a chump if all I did is focus on the bad. My disappointment is really just that I know I'm better than this, work will take me back there, and I'll be that much closer to putting it all together.
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