Temple Gun Club 4-20-15

Temple Gun Club 4-20-15


Day 2 of the weekend adventure was supposed to be a better match for me, I was ready to roll, I had a decent night of sleep, and I thought I was prepared. There were big storms the night before, and the skies were grey when we rolled out, despite some standing water and mud early on the day turned out great, even if my shooting did not. Second day of shooting with Les and Linda was great, felt like old times all over again. My overall match was not what I wanted, and again there are things that I can clean up with practice, but the mental errors and dumb, D class mistakes I made are what left me feeling upset with my performance.



TGC 4-20-15 Results


Video in the order I shot them, not the match order.


Stage 4: The Saloon






I finished 11th of 13th in Limited, but my time was actually 1.7 seconds faster than anyone in Limited. What got me was 70 points of penalties. In the port I did not see my sights on the far targets, and that's a result of not getting lower and keeping my head at gun level. I also threw one into a no-shoot on the left hand side because I broke the shot while dragging. These are the kinds of stages that I usually do well at, limited movement, and I can get into a cadence with no hunting for targets. It was disappointing to shoot this poorly to start the day.






Stage 5: Hillbilton Drill CM 99-28





I had a 7.38 Hit Factor, good enough for a 75.7% run (another A class run), I was 2nd place in Limited, and I had the 2nd faster time despite the slow draw, almost missed reload, and single steel make up. I'm not griping at any of those things, my point is that I left some time on the table that I can clean up, when I was done I thought it was a 55% run, but only dropping a single charlie really made it work. I can do this stuff, and on a stand and deliver stages like Stage 4, this is the performance that I kind of expect. I think with practice I can drop another second, (which still would not have "won" the stage) but it's in me. This was good for 11th overall among the 43 shooters there.


Stage 6: Stage 6





12th place in Limited, with the 3rd best Limited time. What went wrong? Rookie mistake. I had a plan in mind, and I'm going to post the video of Les, because my plan looked a lot like it. I was more movement, but would have put me in better position to get clean shots, and easier shots. I took tougher shots, had poor hits, took 70 penalty points, and one target I engaged twice, and I left one target un-engaged. This is the "D" class mistake, I saw some Open shooters run it this way, and I made a last second decision to try it that way, and it cost me big. I should be so beyond that kind of mistake, some of it I attribute again to my overestimating my abilities. The "safe" Les plan, actually won Production, and was faster than most production shooters. Even if I added 3 seconds, and eliminated the 70 points in penalty, I'd have been far better off.

How Les did it:




He had more movement, but it was a smart plan that kept him getting points and not having to take longer or harder shots. His splits and transitions are lightening fast, not that I was trying to equal that, but longer and harder shots lead to slower splits and transitions, something I did not think about.





Stage 1: Chaos





4th Place in Limited, 4 seconds off the top time. What cost me a place was a mike on the first target. If you notice, I load the mag, and start to shoot without racking the gun, it almost left me out of position, but having to go back and rack made me rush that first shot, and I put it into hard cover. One shot per target is different to me, but it was a fun stage, and I know I lost some time on the long targets, I was very happy with my hitting the long steel. Fundamentally other than the reason for the mike, I don't have complaints about this stage, I was satisfied. Sure, I see things to clean up, but this was solid.



Stage 2: Junk Yard





9th in Limited, 30 penalty points and about 17 seconds slower than I should have been. (And I still had the 6th best Limited time......that says more about the other shooters than me.) So, I lined up that popper in the first position, took forever to take the shot, and if you'll notice, I left without hitting it. Not entirely sure what happened. Before the Texas Star my hits were outstanding, mostly all Alpha, but when I struggled on the star it changed the stage, and I unraveled. Besides not being accurate on the star, I took a plate out of order that caused the star to be out of balance and swing like crazy super fast, so I figured I would take a mike on one steel, keep going, and save time. I killed it from there though by dropping my magazine on the reload, and having to pick it up because it was my last mag, and then putting two shots into hard cover. I think mentally I was roughed up, and unfortunately I let it get the best of me.




Stage 3: Cactus Jack






6th place in Limited,  3rd fastest time (.2 behind the 2nd fastest time) and 4 seconds behind the best time.  What got me? 20 points in penalties. First position, there is a small steel plate that you can clearly seen, I saw it in walk thru, I was had it in my plan, and I out and out forgot it when the buzzed went off. I left that plate standing, but I was fine thru position 2, the reload and into position 3. I took another mike on the 2nd target into the final position, Les, Roy, and everyone else told me I never stopped the gun, and swept right past the far target because I was in a hurry to get to the steel and the other outside targets I was finishing on. Short version, did not see my sights.




Summary:


As has been the norm, I can't string together a whole match, I have some really good highs, usually on the stages that let me focus on gun handling, but I struggle on the field courses. I'm still not reloading from the front mag pouch consistently, and it's time to either move it back, or commit to fixing it via dry fire. Mentally, I honestly think I have a tendency to over think, when I have a "shoot by the numbers" mentality, that I must do A, B, C, D in order I lose my focus when something goes wrong. When I'm at my best, I feel like I let my instincts take over, and I just focus on the sight. I'm not sure how to bring that to every stage, but I think I lack confidence in many skills, and deservedly so. When I can become more consistent with my dry fire, then I'll see more consistency in matches, I have to think about certain things, I'll be able to shoot.


It feels like I have a long way to go, but I honestly believe that 30 days of dry fire, and weekly live fire practice and I'll be able to smooth out a lot of rough edges. If I haven't, I suspect it will be because I did not put in the work needed to make it happen. Up to me!