This morning we headed out to Pine Tree to get a warm-up match in before I head to Kentucky next weekend for Battle In The Bluegrass. I shot on Wednesday at MISS as Limited 10, and I did the same thing today, same rules, but out of Production just to insure that I stay where I think I am, and earn my "B" card this month. We rolled up with Kozy and Les, and somehow we did not get put in the same squad together, so there was no safety blanket. It was a good experience to not have a crutch to lean on, but being honest it was a real challenge today.
The struggle today was that we had 2 R.O.'s in our squad, and Linda and I were the only two people who knew how to work the Kindle to keep score. That meant I ran or scored every single run today, I never got to just watch a run, or get my bearings straight. I pretty much ran/scored/pasted and then had to jump to the line to shoot, which was a bear. We had 3 re-shoots on Stage 5 because people were not pasting, including one absolute tool, Steve L., who walked down the range with a tape gun, and did not tape a single target, but when asked said "I got 'em." After the third re-shoot in a row, I handed him a roll of pasters and told him that since the gun was too complicated, just take "one of these, and cover the holes after I score the target." I get that he was up there with his wife and father-in-law, but dude was completely useless, and not just useless, a real hindrance for everyone else. We had to work harder because of him. Linda and I for several stages had to carry pasters with us, and I would call out the scores, she would record, and then we were the only people to be pasting. Short version, I really don't want to shoot with that guy again, while I kept polite, and kept asking people to help and paste, it was a very frustrating experience.
MATCH SCORES
Luke Stage 1 String 1:
Luke Stage 1 String 2:
First string was just fine, second string I missed the re-load, and ended up throwing a couple of mikes. This was actually the last stage we shot for the day, and I was happy to be done, but I realized, and you'll see on the 2nd target in String 2, I pulled the trigger before I was back to the target. Inexcusable error.
Luke Stage 2:
I'll be honest, I was not looking forward to this stage. A low squat, and a very high steel, but I ran it clean much to my own surprise, and I attribute that to my going a little slower, and being sure of my sights, plus I made an effort to squat low so I could get the good sight picture. I sure won't complain about this stage.
Luke Stage 3:
This was the first stage of the morning for us, and I had someone on my case because originally I was supposed to shoot earlier, but since I had to R.O. I pushed myself down, because John was loading his mags for the next stage. The shooter who got bumped threw a shit fit at me and kept it going all thru the stage on how he should get a re-shoot because he was not ready, and instead of preparing, he had been sweeping brass. It's times like that I want to look at someone and say "hey, even if you had time, I still think you'd blow it," but you can't do that. So I took it and apologized.
My own issues stemmed from a lack of accuracy, I threw a mike, and I missed steel, I just never got on the front sight myself.
Luke Stage 4:
So, before my run, I was scoring and setting up the star every single time. Second stage of the day, and I had an inkling of what a lazy bastard Steve L. was, because he grabbed a second broom and was going to "help" sweep brass, two people paste, and same two people (R.O. and scorer set-up the star.) Okay, enough venom! What went wrong? I'm an idiot! I missed my first shot, and inexplicably I moved down, and started shooting at the bottom of the star. If you start at the top you minimize movement, in my case I made the damn thing go faster and faster. To my credit, and you hear me exclaim when I shot it, I stuck with it, and finished it. Kozy mentioned I should have taken a mike on the last steel and kept moving, he's right, and in hindsight, I learned something. From there, the rest of my transitions were not bad, I took another mike when I broke a shot early on the last array though. My other improvement from The WIIT, is that I kept my gun out of the tube, and did not crowd myself in. Hey, it isn't much, but I can be positive about that.
Luke Stage 5:
Hands down my best stage of the day. I was 3.6 second behind Les, and I'm going to attribute it to a few things. I did not shoot on the move which cost me a second or two. I'm sure Les was faster getting down to the 2nd position than I was, and if you notice, after the second port, I almost slowed down an extreme amount before taking the last target. I'm not saying I was slow, my point is that I transitioned like a boss. You can see the results of working on this a week ago with Les. I'm much more confident that close.
Summary:
Not a fabulous match, but there were some real positives, Stage 5 alone was a win, Stage 2 was my best effort in a long time with an uncomfortable shooting position, and to a small plate with a high elevation. I was not on my front sights so I did suffer some mikes that I should not have. It's amazing, 6 months ago I expected to have mikes every match, now it surprises me, and I'm better able to call them when I do, I can see a moving sight, or something else. Now I just need to bear down on that front sight and get moving.
Battle in the Bluegrass is next weekend, so I'm going to get at least one day of live fire, may have to chrono some rounds because I did not make minor power factor on Wednesday. I'll check the powder drop, and it's not a big deal, it was very close, but considering the expense of a major match, I'm going to insure that I'm good to go. Going to hammer some fundamentals in dry fire this week, and make sure that my draw, and my reload are in tip top shape. I'm probably not comfortable enough to go 100% shooting on the move, and I'll probably go position to position. I know Dave is going to read this, but I'll say it, I'm going down to Bluegrass with every intention of shooting my best major, and winning first place in C class. It'll be my last match there, and when I jump to B, I'll be bottom of the heap, so if I'm going to bring a "finish" home, it starts next weekend. I'll put in the work, and while I'm realistic about my ability, I'm going down with confidence.
As far as Captain No-Help, the truth is, I was annoyed, not mad, and I'm glad I kept my cool. More than anything, I really appreciate the people I normally shoot with. The fact that they contribute, help, and that we all pull together makes for a fabulous shooting experience. Today it was just about the shooting, and I miss the camaraderie.
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