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:

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.

Major Match Thoughts

Major Match Thoughts


Heading home from Ohio today, and talking to with Linda who had just shot her first major match, I realized a lot of things that I'd learned from when I shot my first major last year, and today. I also realized that most of what I learned had to do with approach to the match. No longer was I just showing up and shooting stages, I had an entire routine down in order to try to have the best performance possible. Granted I did not shoot the way I wanted to, but that's on me, and it's fixable, I put myself in a place where I could be successful.

It's almost impossible to explain to someone who has never done this, why on earth I would take a day off work, drive 6 plus hours each way, spend a couple of nights in a hotel, and 9.5 hours at a range, to shoot for 3.5 minutes. It sounds almost nuts right? People think it's easy to do, hell, last year I figured it would be easy, but shooting ten stages is not just a test of your shooting skills, it's a test of your mental and physical ability. Without being there, I don't think I can explain to someone what you are going thru.

The day before the match, we drove in, and spent close to 3 hours walking all the stages. We'd left the house about 5 am, and spend close to 7 hours driving, losing an hour headed east. The idea was to get a solid plan in place for each stage, make sure it make's sense. This is not a club match where you show up, and spend 5-10 minutes on a stage, here you walk it multiple times, from many angles. Where are your reloads? How many steps is it one way versus another way? Where are the sight traps? Are the certain places you need to look out for a procedural? A good match, and Ohio was a good match, presented a shooter with multiple ways to shoot a field course, leaving you to make the right decisions for yourself. When you've got a stage figured out, you walk it again, committing it to memory, and then use the match book to diagram your plan. There is a point where even if I see something "better", I keep to my plan, just because it's what I've committed to memory.

Post range it's off to dinner. Some folks stay out late, have a few beers, and then a few more beers. Nothing wrong with that, I did it in the past, but this year I've stayed away from it. If I'm investing time and money, I want to get a good night of sleep, and more importantly I want to get back to the hotel to spend at least 45 minutes on dry fire. If I saw ports, I want to practice coming out of them, I want to practice the draws I will need for the match, reloads, and of course my sight picture. I also spent about 30 minutes going over my plans, this time I was able to describe the stage, my plan, my target order, and where my reloads were going to take place. For me, when I'm on a stage, then I'm just going by memory, I don't have to "think", I can just shoot, and I am remembering my solution, and this allows me to go much faster.

I was up again at 5am on match morning, quick shower, and some more dry fire, white wall practice. I want to "train" my mind and my eyes to forget about everything else other than my front sight. 6am breakfast, and then to the range by 7:15, spend 45 minutes loading up magazines, doing a last walk-thru, and spending some time meeting squad mates, and saying "hello", to other shooters that I know. The adrenaline is really starting to get me keyed up, and I'm focused on what I'm going to do for the day.

A little after the shooter meeting at 8 am, we are on the first stage, getting score sheets ready to go, and now I'm focused on the job at hand. While I'm watching other people, I'm running my plan in my head. The first stage has been traditionally tough for me. When I'm calm, I keep my focus on my sights, when I'm keyed up I go fast, and lose my sights, so a part of me is trying to stay calm, stay focused. In between shooting, I'm out there pasting for 8-9 shooters, and walking back and forth up the gravel bays. I'm pulling a wagon from stage to stage with my bag, Linda's bag, a cooler, and Lauren's bag. This goes on all morning long, brief moments of shooting, followed by what could be mind-numbing work pasting. It's easy to get too up, too down, not pay attention to stages and so on and so on.

The sun beats down, and I'm drinking a bottle of water at least every other stage to stay hydrated, I've not done that in the past and paid a serious price in cramping for days afterwards. You find that even though you put suntan lotion on, you forgot to put it on the backs of your legs, or your arms. Lunch comes around, and most matches want to feed you some big BBQ style lunch, that if you ate you'd be sound asleep or even more tired, so I spend the day grazing on trail mix, granola, beef jerky, water, and an occasional Gatorade.  Try doing that, and keeping your focus all day long, from 8:20 in the morning when you take your first shot, until 5:52 when you take your last shot. Bring your best to each and every stage. It's not as easy as it seems.

Sure, you can show up and shoot, and that may work for some folks. I'm just not one of them. If I'm investing money and time, I need to do this to put myself in the best place to succeed. No, I'm not in place where Match Wins are even things I'm thinking of, but I want to bring my best game every single time I shoot. A year ago it was fun to go, spend the day shooting, and that was enough fun for me. Now my competitive juices are flowing, I want to do better.

Ode To The Ohio Sectional Match

Ode To The Ohio Sectional Match


The Ode To the Ohio Sectional

‘Twas a couple of nights before the Ohio Sectional, the Buckeye Blast…
Ammo is loaded, and ready to go
Magazines ready, the shine, they do glow
CZ’s are clean, and ready to rock.
Linda is nervous, her first major match, do not mock!
Visions of Alpha’s flit thru her head
Brimming with confidence, success is ahead.
A “C” card, the object of her pride.
Saying that, now I must hide.

Reading the stage brief’s, checking the match.
Charlies and delta's I am likely to snatch.
Terrors of Mike’s, and no shoots twist my mind.
Finishing the match, no DQ, my goal I am resigned.
Lessons from the grandmaster, execute them? Perhaps.
Best I can hope for? Just no collapse.

Wine has motivated me, its taste is so fine.
My writing sucks, the humor not even sublime.
If you are reading this, your have wasted your time.
My words are stupid, it’s almost a crime.

The drive is before us, the hours so long
Following Brad, and Chris, guess which is wearing a thong?
I think one will end by wearing it on his head.
It was his girlfriend who suggested it, this truth I dread.
The miles go by, the journey is far.
Which might finish within a police car?

The wine is all gone, the Honey Jack remains.
Time to be done, my words at an end, only if you have brains.

Happy Memorial Day, see you bastards in Ohio! Good luck!

WIILSHOOT Shutters The Doors

WIILSHOOT Shutters The Doors


Les made the announcement yesterday in a post that WIILSHOOT was closing its doors after an amazing 4 year run. Four years is a heck of a long time to run a blog, and build a community, and that's exactly what Les did. People who wanted to shoot in Northern Illinois or Southern Wisconsin had a place to go, and find out what clubs were active, when they shot, and read some entertaining articles, and be kept abreast of news that impacted both 2nd amendment, and shooting sports.

When I go to a local match, it's almost bizarre if I don't see someone there wearing a WILLSHOOT t-shirt, or was not in some manner impacted by the site. We are talking about hundreds of people being touched, accessing the site, knowing people, or being a part of the community that WILLSHOOT helped grow. With many people using Facebook, and other mediums, and with the burden of keeping the site going for so long, I suspect Les made the decision to finally shutter his baby. I can't offer enough compliments for someone who built a real community, and gave organization  and direction. There was not a paycheck in it, it was really a labor of love. Near the end, we had talked about my doing some work to help carry on what WIILSHOOT had become, and doing some writing for the website. I was never sure if my efforts were not what Les was looking for, or if he was having a hard time handing over some responsibility and giving me the keys to help. I never pressured, and the fact he was even considering it, well, he's a better man than me, because if I had built something I don't think I could have done the same. The bottom line is that the time was right, the community is built and moving, and Les deserves some time to pursue other things. Nobody has given more to a shooting community with less return than he has, pretty amazing guy. Not many people would invest that kind of time and effort to build a community, I'm really proud to call him a friend.

WIILSHOOT has always been important to me. It was my first website I found when searching to find info on shooting sports, it's where I found the IDPA club I started with, and the USPSA club I still enjoy shooting with. A couple of week ago, I touched on what putting the jersey on for the first time meant to me in a blog. Yesterday, when I saw that WIILSHOOT was shuttering it felt like a kick in the nuts. I can't say it totally surprised me, or took me by surprise, however seeing it, I was definitely in denial. As good as it felt for the first time to put on the jersey, it felt like "almost, but not quite", last night. I wanted to be able to give back in the same way as people had done for me. I'm not angry, I understand the reasons for it. Everything, I felt, that is good about shooting, the community, even about myself, my own growth, felt less. I know that's a thought that's unworthy of me, it smacks of selfishness, and I know that was wrong. It was perhaps the sharpest prod though, of how much it meant to me. While I knew it was important, it was only then I realized how much good it seemed to encompass in my mind. Ultimately, WIILSHOOT brought out the best in people. Whether the web site is there or not, that's a lesson I'll take with me, and it'll be a better lasting tribute to something that mattered to me than anything I can think of.

I'm still dealing with the work stress, and a possible move, and last night at the match, I admit that the thought I might be shooting my last MISS match crossed my mind a few times. I shot awful, but I took each stage for what it was, did not carry any bad stage with me, I obviously had a lot on my mind. A few friends commented that I seemed very quiet and distant, and I think that was a fair assessment.

I don't think I'll  pull the WIILSHOOT jersey out of the closet, and put it on again, at least not for awhile. I'll keep the memory of the one night I did wear it, and how good it felt to be a part of something as my memory. For that one night, I got to be a part of something that made me proud.  Part of the team for one night, but a part of a community forever.There are a lot of great pictures that Les has up on his last blog, amazing people, amazing friends. none of it would have been possible without WIILSHOOT. Even if the site coming down, the community, the family will live on. Personally I wish I could have done and contributed more, because the friends I made are ones that will last a lifetime. I feel guilty that I got more out than I could ever put back in.

Bravo Les, not that Bob Marley is exactly my idea of a great philosopher, but something he said comes to mind when I think of how much WILLSHOOT meant, to so many people.

"The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity, and the ability to affect those around him positively"

-Bob Marley

Consider my life impacted in so many ways for the positive ever since I found WIILSHOOT, and was introduced to the community. A website means that much? I don't know, but I know the community behind it sure does, the architect who was responsible did a pretty fantastic job.

My One and Only Night as Part of the Team

I may not have been able to enjoy it for as long as others, but the year and half plus I got to know, and become a part of the community impacted me more than any simple words can describe. Thank you Les for building it, and thank you everyone for your own contributions. You've all been a part of something truly special.

Cheers

Getting Back In Gear

Getting Back In Gear


I have not been myself lately, especially shooting. For the past month or more work has been ridiculously stressful. I'm not a 9-5 worker, my phone starts ringing around 4:30 or 5 in the morning, and it can keep ringing until 8 or so at night. I had a customer tell me the reason he uses my company is because of me, he knows that if he has a problem, I make it go away. I care.

Sometimes when you really care, and you get the sense co-workers don't, or when you can't get any kind of help to solve customer issues it gets rough. In my line of work, I'm the face of the company, I'm usually the only one a customer will ever see or deal with, if something goes wrong, it's on me, even if I'm not remotely responsible. Unfair? Sure, but that's the name of the game. Add that to some VP's calling me, my managing a big project that I had 3 days to handle, which normally would be a multi-month project. Add in the upcoming interview, and potential move away from where I've lived my entire life, I've had a lot going on. I've drifted, and the stress had me physically sick, I was throwing up blood.

Family is the most important thing to me, so when the stress hit, I retreated to spending time with Linda and Lauren, and just trying to relax. What got lost was some "me" time, doing things that I love. No, I'm not saying I don't love spending time with Linda and Lauren, I do, but there is a little bit of loss of identity, and when I walk away from something I love doing, I am aware that something is missing. I could have caught shit from Kozy and Les, and rightly so, because I saw myself having some bad habits, getting worse, and not performing at my peak. It made me back away a little more, just because I did not want to disappoint them, or waste their time.

Work is still work, but I'm learning to leave the stress behind, and just function the best I can, it's all I can do. It may be hard to detach myself a little bit, but the bottom line is that it makes me a happier person. Getting ready for the Ohio Sectional and then Area 5 is a big deal. There is a lot to do, load ammo, clean guns, magazines, and practice. Tonight I went up to practice with Kozy, and it was all there again. I had FUN. With all the stress, my practice, even a match almost felt like a chore, but tonight, I was me again. I relaxed, I kicked back, and had fun, and I just shot.

Oh, and did I shoot. We set up Wednesday's classifier, and were going to run it 3 times. The classifier is CM 09-02 Diamond Cutter. My first run was okay, but my second run was a 3.31 second run, with 36 points, 6 Alpha and 2 Charlie. That's a 10.88 Hit Factor run, or, an above 100% run! I got a hundo! Okay, why is this a big deal? Even in practice, I have never run a classifier above 76% of a perfect score, and in a match, I have never run a 75% (A Class) run. Here I am, a little rusty, not on the top of my game, and I ran the best classifier I've ever run. On my 3rd run, I clipped a no-shoot, but did it again in 3.31. My time is there, my hits? Well, I know I can do it. Someone might say it's more luck than skill, and I'd be hard pressed to argue. I'm a "B" shooter right now, maybe not even because I need to brush the rest of my rust off, and I'm not a GM shooter at all. However, turn and draw, no reload, no movement? It's set-up to be run exceptionally well.

Here's the point, it's in me, somewhere. There is a better shooter, one that I'll find consistently as I work at it. I will never, ever find it though if I always treat this as a job, or don't take joy from it. I really believe that tonight I found something I did not know I had in me simply because I had fun, I went out and shot, no stress, no worries, no pressure.

I'm proud that I did it, I'm glad I found it, and even happier that I found the fun that I'd been missing, I needed tonight, it makes me a happier person. I suspect that carries over to work, friends, everything, and I like it, I'm not going to let work suck that out of me anymore.

Linda Earns Her C Card

Linda Earns Her C Card

Congrats!

She worked a lot harder this year, getting on some dry fire, and really starting to practice. She earned her "C" card on her 11th classifier. I know she thinks she "squeaked" in, but she really has shown amazing improvement over the past 5 months. I sound like a broken record, but the general consensus is that she'll be a far better shooter than I am, with a higher ceiling as long as she works at it. She's quick, she picks up lessons very fast. The only question now is the time commitment, and how badly she wants it.

One month after I earned my B, she get's her C, and in a lot less time....I do hear the footsteps behind me!

I'm pretty proud of her!

That little video shows the great "double thumbs up" reaction and support she gets from Kozy and Les when she finished a classifier run strong, and it also shows the reaction I get when I melt down. Interesting contrast I think!

MISS 5/7/14

MISS 5/7/14

I had a really rough weekend, with minimal practice for a couple of weeks. My mind has been on work which has been high pressure of late, with a lot of people up top suddenly paying attention to me. I've also been exploring a job switch that would require our family to move to Texas, but that's a whole 'nother story. I needed Wednesday night to get back on my game, and just go have fun. On Sunday I about went postal on someone, and I was at a low point where shooting was not fun.

Kozy, Myself, Les, Kerry Dean

For this match I got to put on the team colors for the first time, and wear my WIILSHOOT jersey. I know it's just a shirt, but it means more than that to me. It's being a part of something bigger than just yourself, it's part of what makes me a better person at the range, because suddenly I care about the impression I give off to people, because it reflects on the team. I spent a good part of the night helping new shooters, encouraging them, making suggestions, making them feel as welcome as people made me feel when I started. The jersey means something, and it was even a little more bittersweet knowing that I was putting on the jersey for the first time, and there is possibility I'll be pulled off to Texas in the near future. Just when I'm a part of something bigger, and really being a better person, not just a better shooter.....

Match started out not so hot. I ran the first stage in a reasonably fast time, but I took two extra shots that I did not need to take. When I'm on my game, I'm confident enough to "call my shot" at least enough to not get in trouble. Here, my make-up shots were completely not needed, and probably added at least .5 seconds to my time. I finished this stage 3rd in Production, but I have better in me.

Stage 2 I had a Mike, and inexplicably I reloaded to take 2 extra shots, which added 7.2 seconds to my time. I finished 7th in Production, but if I had not done the reload for those make-up shots, I'd have been sitting 3rd in Production again.

Stage 3 I ran solidly, time was good, I had a good plan, and I executed it pretty darn well, no complaints.

The last stage was the classifier, and on Sunday I ran it "Full Retard", which was a mistake, especially without the practice. I wanted redemption, and came pretty close to getting it. I needed a 7.85 second run to have another 75% run, and I ran it in 7.99 seconds, for just over a 70% run. I also took 3 make-up shots at 6 steel. Had I focused, and kept my stuff together, I'd have been there easily. Shooting is a perishable skill, practice it or lose it, especially where I'm at, I need the repetitions to keep my skill, not just improve.

Team mates, Friends

Overall I finished 3rd of 12 Production shooters, and 9th of 28, but it really should have been better. It felt good after the disaster on the weekend, but it's good to be critical, and slowly get back to work, and start preparing for the Ohio Sectional in late May, and Area 5 in mid-June, which I suspect might be the last 2 major's for me until the fall, especially if a move is in store.

Having the classifier thrown out on the weekend, and then being able to shoot it again on Wednesday had Linda back out there, and she had a couple of gun issues, but rolled thru about a 47% classifier run, which should earn her the C card she has been working towards. She has a ways to go on her cadence, and adding speed, but she is so effortless, she draws quickly, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind she's going to be a better shooter than I am, sooner rather than later.

Some Match Video

Some Match Video

I had a rough match, some magazine issues, some ammo issues, this was day 2 of the Matt Mink class, the class itself deserves a through review which I'll do soon. I picked up a few very solid things to help my game, but the stress of work, and lack of hard practice really shows. I need to get back on my game. You'll see on the last stage I blew a classifier trying to shoot "full retard", my frustration got the better of me. Practice or lack thereof shows. 

Linda shoots the same match, and she had some issues as well, but it looked like a solid classifier run, although it was thrown out for not being set-up as per the classifier.

He's Matt Mink, 5 division USPSA Grand Master shooter, gunsmith, and all around baller guy. He'd spent all year shooting single stack to get ready for Single Stack Nationals, and the day before this match was the first day this season he shot production. By afternoon he was on fire, it took him less than 2 days to make a transition that would take most people months. 

Matt actually finished 3rd at the match behind Kozy and Les. It goes to show what a competitive club we have, but by end of the day on Sunday, when he was closer to on his game, I suspect the results would have been far different.