Six Days Later....
Whew, a ton of miscellaneous stuff that's been on my mind the past week post Fallen Brethren. I've never been a golf aficionado, but the few times that I have played, I've always had that one shot that kept me wanting to try again, it could be seventeen and a half holes of pure awfulness, but one great shot was enough to do it. I'm always that way about shooting, especially a match, no matter how rough, or how much I can struggle, there are just a few moments where everything goes right, and it has me hungering for even more. At Fallen Brethren, those moments were couched into parts of stages, or just offered glimpses.
On Stage 6, I had an awful experience with the rifle which tanked my score for the stage, but I ran the shotgun really well, and I kept it up with the pistol, at least until I got to the clay target. On Stage 5 I was doing fairly well until I forgot my pistol. On Stage 8, I was not aggressive enough on the pistol, but I started out well on the rifle. I'm still convinced that if I'd had my shotgun broken in, I'd have rolled thru stages 3 and 4. Granted, I'm not talking rolling compared to the pro's, or even people who have done it for awhile, but I know I had it in me to do an awful lot better than I did. That's the thing that helps feed the competitive flame, that makes me want to get out on the range. We got home on Sunday evening, and I was tired, burnt out, I thought I'd want to take some time off, but by Monday afternoon I wanted to hit the range and start working to level out some of my issues, by Wednesday when I stopped in the Hayes Custom shop, I was wishing I was going off to 3-Gun Nation Nationals in Tulsa. Being honest, if I did not have a big work week planned with several corporate types in-town, I'd have packed my bag, and tried to get a slot and been on my way.
One of the other things that has me laughing at myself, is that I keep looking for Linda's shotgun. It was the one gun I was least interested to shoot when considering 3-Gun, and now it's my favorite gun that we own, and I feel that comfortable with it. The problem is, that at the bitter end of Day 2, one of my squad mates took off on the Kawasaki Razor that my gear was on. He and I went down to another stage to recover a gun that was forgotten by another competitor, and he was showing me how the Razor ran, and at one point hit it, stopped, and took off hard again. Unbeknownst to either of us, the shotgun popped out of the clamp, fell out of the buggy and into the road. We discovered it was gone later on when packing up and I asked where my gun was, and about that time an RO stopped an asked if were missing any gear. Mag tube snapped, stock scratched up, and barrel nicked up, my heart sank for the less than month old gun. There was a little anguish, but I know it was an accident, and the driver is a good dude, and is making it right. It's been 6 days since I've had it in my hands though, and I want to go to the range with 400 or 500 round of birdshot, and finish off the breaking in process. I want to go practice my loading and improve it. But alas, it's not around, and that is absolutely killing me!
Since I can't do what I want to do, I'm instead focusing on what I need to be doing because I'm obviously bitten by the 3-Gun bug, and I'm not going to be satisfied until I improve, and start to deliver the performance I know I'm capable of delivering. For me, that means spending time with the shotgun practicing loads. I'm ready to start working on my quad loads, and I figure I have three or four months to it squared away, with 15-20 minutes three or four days a week, I think I can show some significant improvement. I won't be world class, but I won't get killed on time either. I also need time with the shotgun, the term "cruiser ready" was not one I knew. With my pistol I'm comfortable with everything, but shotgun, I need to know what to do, no questions, not having to think, it's got to be second nature. Hell, I need to practice taking the safety off, as that's been something I have consistently not done.
I need time with AR, it's just not a platform I'm used to so I need a ton of time just handling the rifle, and getting to know it. Now that I've had a little time with the AR, I'm starting to understand why I have some of the struggles that I've had. I can eliminate some struggles with hardware changes, and I've had some chats with Aaron about my upcoming build in February. Eye relief has been an issue for me, so I'll probably use the Luth AR AMB stock I won at Fallen Brethren to help my cheek weld, and give me a little stock adjustment. I'm going to look into a slightly higher mount, and an optic that offers a little more in the way of eye relief. Steve's gun has a higher mount and I've had far less struggle with eye relief when I have borrowed his gun in the past. Once I've got the technical items where I want them, then it'll be time to practice "odd positions", doing things like getting my sights on top of the couch, on a chair, around from behind things, and learning what I can do to be comfortable, and when I should have different height magazines. The biggest thing will be getting a consistent cheek weld, each and every time, if I do that things will go much smoother. Then...and I know it seems like a lot, but then it'll be time to go out and really learn to shoot longer distances. The reality is I had 40-50 rounds tops a couple of weeks ago, and then the 3 stages at the match. I need to learn how to do it with consistent fundamentals. Time invested here I think will pay me back in spades.
Pistol will keep on going, I'm right on the edge of my "A" card in both Limited and Production, and I know that I can earn both of them in 2016. I know shooting Limited minor isn't going to help me with points, but the reality this year is that I've done far better shooting Alphas, and that needs to be a focus for Production. Since I really don't want to load .40, and I'm not a fan of shooting .40, Limited minor makes sense. I can load an awful lot more 9mm, and also get out and shoot more. For me, verifying my dry fire with live fire practice is critical, and that's exactly what I did not do this year. My pistol dry fire is easy enough, and I think three or four days a week for 20-30 minutes will get me where I need to be. Honestly though, once I stabilize a few things, I can tailor my dry fire to address areas that I'm struggling. Am I struggling with shotgun reloads? Let's work on that for a few weeks, or am I struggling with pistol transitions? Let's work on that for a few weeks and iron things out.
2016 I expect to be on the range a heck of a lot more than I was this year, I've got an actual plan for getting out there, and I know what I want to accomplish. After a big match I always feel extra fire to work, so I'm going to stagger my matches to keep that burning. This year there was a massive gap between the rained out Double Tap, and Area 4, that won't happen again. Tentatively, I'm looking at 8-11 Major Matches for 2016, the majority will probably be 3-Gun, with the remainder being the USPSA Major's in Texas. (Still on the list though are Area 5, Florida Open, and Gator Classic). It's a big schedule and that means a big investment, but I'm hooked!
Finally, give a listen to this: The 3-Gun Show podcast. Aaron Hayes is the guest, and to me it was a continuation of conversations that I've had with him in the past. He's got some great, and honest perspective, some amazing experiences this year, and some insight on cross training and how it helped him improve his game. Great example of why this is one of the guys I definitely pay attention when he talks shooting.
Saturday, October 10, 2015
Monday, October 5, 2015
Lessons From Fallen Brethren 3-Gun
Lessons From Fallen Brethren 3-Gun
I honestly had some modest expectations for the match, I don't have a ton of shotgun or rifle experience, and if I had known in advance that there were going to be 170 people in my division, and you'd asked me, I'd have said that I'd like to finish in the 120-130 area, and still manage to beat 40-50 people. Possible? Maybe. That could have been an inflated notion of myself, in hindsight, had absolutely everything broken my way, maybe it would have been possible, but I know that with any type of match, not everything breaks your way, the idea is to limit your mistakes. Shooting challenges I can handle, that's the newness, the mental errors, those were the ones that I have some control over, and those were the ones I wanted to not have, and I sure made an epic one here. On to the lessons...
3-Gunners Can Really Shoot
In the USPSA community, I know that 3-Gunners don't command a ton of respect. I don't see ton's of 3-Gunners come to, and win matches, they shoot differently, they are not as fast, and they do silly things like shoot 9mm minor in a division (Limited) that has a massive benefit to shoot a major caliber bullet (40mm). The reality is that 3-Gunners can absolutely shoot the hell out three different guns, and while they are all guns, they all call for different skill sets. Long range rifle means you need to understand hold overs, positioning, and the right choice in magazines, don't even mention breathing, and perfect trigger control. Short range rifle seems to translate more to USPSA because speed, and transitions are hugely important, but you also need to understand how to aim, because close range targets mean something entirely different. Shotgun can largely be about loading, but how to aim when you have a single no-shoot on a plate rack, how to operate the gun properly when you have a malfunction. Pistol isn't always USPSA style pistol, it's long range shots, 30-50 yards that most USPSA shooters don't practice very much, or long shots on very small steel. Finally, stage planning requires so much more work, it's not just how and where to shoot certain targets, or where to reload, it's which targets must be engaged with which guns, where do you have choices, and it seems that the devilish plan of stage designers, at least at this match, is to get you running and moving, and get your heart rate up before you do some long range shooting, make your own body essentially work against you, or at the very least make you worry about it.
3-Gunners can shoot, and there are some great 3-Gunners who are GM shooters in USPSA, they definitely exist. Not that I ever thought 3-Gunners were awful, but I certainly have a healthy appreciation now for everything that they have to do in order to be successful.
Gear Matters
While I hate talking about forgetting my pistol, and there is no real excuse for it, the reality is that you have to keep track of a ton of things. Multiple pistol mags, AR mags and what bullets are in them, as well as shotgun. In USPSA I can check my belt and I've got everything, done, in 3-Gun I'm off staging a rifle or shotgun, and I have checking to do. I can see where it would be overwhelming, it really is a lot to keep track of. Forgetting my gun was a rookie competition shooter mistake, not someone who's spent a few years shooting any kind of competition, so that's embarrassing.
I had shotgun issues because I did not fully break the gun in. First thought was that it was dry, and it was, so I did not lube it up before the match, lesson learned. The lighter 1145 fps birdshot was not cycling, and truth is I did not follow the booklet and break the gun in for 500-1000 rounds of heavier birdshot and slugs. I had the light target loads from other matches, I just ran them. Once Aaron gave me the 1200 fps heavier shot, the gun cycled beautifully, so the gun issues? Those were my fault, I did not properly take care of my gear. So I have to hold myself responsible for costing myself two other stages at the match.
I had massive eye relief issues with the scope on the AR. It may have a little to do with the scope itself, but it definitely has more to do with my head positioning on the AR. Linda does not have the same issue, so it really is set-up perfectly for her, she gets her cheek welded to the stock in a natural position, and she is fine. For me, its uncomfortable and it turned into a struggle. When we eventually build an AR for me, I'm going to mount the scope a little higher and a little further forward, or use an adjustable rear stock so I can have a natural cheek weld. I fought the gear a little bit.
Taking Linda's old CZ was a bad choice. I took the gun because I wanted to shoot 9mm, and that's what the holster and mag pouches are for, but my point of aim with the Edge is to cover up the target with the front sight and pull the trigger. With the Edge, I put the top of the front sight just under what I want to hit, and I blew an early pistol stage because I could not hit steel plates standing on a 10' podium. If I had run thru a few hundred rounds at varying distance, and of varying size in advance, I'd have been fine, but a couple of mags was not enough. I knew the aim point was lower, but it was not seared into my head. On my next to last stage of the day, I rocked out an excellent pistol run on some mid-range pepper poppers, but that should have been a given for the match, again on me.
Long Range Rifle Is Hard
I may have had a false sense of security after doing fairly well on my first stage of the match between 320 and 411 yards. I had a run of 3-4 one shot, one hit before I ran into a run of misses, but I did not time out, and it was a massive improvement from last Saturday for me. Once I did that, I figured there was no long range rifle that I could not handle. I'm not saying excel at, I did not think I was going to kill it, I just thought I could handle it and get hits, and boy, did I learn a lot.
At 6 power, in addition to the eye relief issues, I found how much that reticle bounces around. You have to be damn near perfectly still to keep it from bouncing, it means breathing properly, it means good trigger control, pulling the trigger straight back and pinning it for a second. Making small adjustments.
All match long I struggled with shooting position, I tried rifle magazine on top of an overturned car, which had a unique set of issues for me, and the targets were only 180 yards down range. I got some hits, but trying to make finite adjustments caused me to skip over several targets. I tried to go back, but had eye relief issues, and then had no idea what I'd skipped and what I'd shot. I tried prone a couple of times, the first time the 30 round magazine with extended basepad was a great platform at the angle I was at. On Stage 9, I should have used the 40 round magazine with extended basepad, because of the angle, it would have helped with the eye relief issue I had, and been the right choice for me.
Stage 9 was the "signature" long range stage for the match, all steel plates, from 180 yards to 627 yards, a ton of hold overs to know, memorization on where all the plates are located, and I made two poor choices, but I did not know they were wrong until I was shooting. I mentioned basepad, but I would have been better off in front of the rock we had to be touching instead of off to the side, less overall movement, and better ability to stay on track of targets. I could have again tried to go behind the rock and rest the handguard up on the rock. The short version is that practice is key, shooting in strange positions is big. Sure, you need to know your holds, but you also need to know you gear, the way you are shooting, there is a lot there.
Absolutely Love Shotgun
I don't know what is so satisfying about it, but I absolutely love to shoot shotgun. I'd go shoot a shotgun only match in a heartbeat. With the rear sight I went from hating slugs to loving them, and I honestly feel comfortable with the shotgun. Okay, I need to practice and experience clays, I've only seen them once, and it'll be new and a challenge, but shotgun is tremendously fun. On the now infamous "I forgot my pistol" stage, I ran the shotgun slowly I think, I got hits, but when I was done, I wished that I'd pushed it to the limit. On stage 6, I screwed up shooting rifle from the car (and that was not long range, that was just a funky position) but I went into the stage wanting to rock shotgun and pistol. I knew I wanted to push my splits, and that's exactly what I did. I needed 2 make-up (which ran the gun dry, so I made sure of the last shot.) but I did push it, and I think I can do that, and faster in the future. I just need to practice it.
Loading is a whole 'nother animal, but I think I can do that too. That'll be a lot of dry fire practice, but I think I want to start working on quad loading. Understand that the grip has to be lower than I'd been trying in the past will help me control the shells, and I think with a week or so of practice, I'll at least feel comfortable. I know it won't be fast, that will take more time and more practice, but I think it's time to start that process.
Finally, I believe I can shoot on the move with the shotgun, but it's not something that I've tried in a match yet, and to me practice is validation of dry fire, and a club match is where you put that into effect. I wasn't quite ready to do try it out at a major match for the first time. Maybe I can do it, and maybe I can't, but that just tells me that I need to go out and practice it and find out. It's funny, shooting pistol on the move is something I struggled with, and I know I lose time there, I avoid it, but I'm shooting shotgun a month and I'm wanting to try it? I like that.
3-Gun Is Fun
Despite it all, and despite underwhelming my modest expectations, I had a great time. I think I could or would have hit my expectations if I did not make the mental mistakes. The shooting challenges I expected, and lets just say that I was not disappointed, I had a lot of 'em, and while I can gripe about 'em, I loved 'em, and those are things that I can work on. My goal before the match was to improve on each stage I shot, and I missed that mark too, especially with the bomb I dropped on Stage 9, but my pistol got better, and I really did run the pistol on Stage 8 very solidly, my shotgun was not perfect on Stage 6 (last stage I shot it) but it was better and faster. My rifle was inconsistent, but with each stage I tried to focus on splits and transitions on closer rifle, and on Stage 8, at least then I thought I understood the reticle and my holds. Stage 9 ate my lunch, and it was supposed to. I may have wanted to do better, but that will come with practice.
I'll be back for Fallen Brethren next year, and I will do better. I'm a competitor, so it was easy to see an awful lot of flaws I have, and how really inexperienced I am at this sport. While I had a ton of fun, I don't like the feeling that I performed poorly, and I know that being new, I was going to struggle. I love shooting, words can't describe it, and I won't be this "bad" again. I'll work to get better, I'll learn from practice and club matches, and I'll improve. No idea where it will go, but this is too much fun to not invest some time, effort, and energy into.
I honestly had some modest expectations for the match, I don't have a ton of shotgun or rifle experience, and if I had known in advance that there were going to be 170 people in my division, and you'd asked me, I'd have said that I'd like to finish in the 120-130 area, and still manage to beat 40-50 people. Possible? Maybe. That could have been an inflated notion of myself, in hindsight, had absolutely everything broken my way, maybe it would have been possible, but I know that with any type of match, not everything breaks your way, the idea is to limit your mistakes. Shooting challenges I can handle, that's the newness, the mental errors, those were the ones that I have some control over, and those were the ones I wanted to not have, and I sure made an epic one here. On to the lessons...
3-Gunners Can Really Shoot
In the USPSA community, I know that 3-Gunners don't command a ton of respect. I don't see ton's of 3-Gunners come to, and win matches, they shoot differently, they are not as fast, and they do silly things like shoot 9mm minor in a division (Limited) that has a massive benefit to shoot a major caliber bullet (40mm). The reality is that 3-Gunners can absolutely shoot the hell out three different guns, and while they are all guns, they all call for different skill sets. Long range rifle means you need to understand hold overs, positioning, and the right choice in magazines, don't even mention breathing, and perfect trigger control. Short range rifle seems to translate more to USPSA because speed, and transitions are hugely important, but you also need to understand how to aim, because close range targets mean something entirely different. Shotgun can largely be about loading, but how to aim when you have a single no-shoot on a plate rack, how to operate the gun properly when you have a malfunction. Pistol isn't always USPSA style pistol, it's long range shots, 30-50 yards that most USPSA shooters don't practice very much, or long shots on very small steel. Finally, stage planning requires so much more work, it's not just how and where to shoot certain targets, or where to reload, it's which targets must be engaged with which guns, where do you have choices, and it seems that the devilish plan of stage designers, at least at this match, is to get you running and moving, and get your heart rate up before you do some long range shooting, make your own body essentially work against you, or at the very least make you worry about it.
3-Gunners can shoot, and there are some great 3-Gunners who are GM shooters in USPSA, they definitely exist. Not that I ever thought 3-Gunners were awful, but I certainly have a healthy appreciation now for everything that they have to do in order to be successful.
Gear Matters
While I hate talking about forgetting my pistol, and there is no real excuse for it, the reality is that you have to keep track of a ton of things. Multiple pistol mags, AR mags and what bullets are in them, as well as shotgun. In USPSA I can check my belt and I've got everything, done, in 3-Gun I'm off staging a rifle or shotgun, and I have checking to do. I can see where it would be overwhelming, it really is a lot to keep track of. Forgetting my gun was a rookie competition shooter mistake, not someone who's spent a few years shooting any kind of competition, so that's embarrassing.
I had shotgun issues because I did not fully break the gun in. First thought was that it was dry, and it was, so I did not lube it up before the match, lesson learned. The lighter 1145 fps birdshot was not cycling, and truth is I did not follow the booklet and break the gun in for 500-1000 rounds of heavier birdshot and slugs. I had the light target loads from other matches, I just ran them. Once Aaron gave me the 1200 fps heavier shot, the gun cycled beautifully, so the gun issues? Those were my fault, I did not properly take care of my gear. So I have to hold myself responsible for costing myself two other stages at the match.
I had massive eye relief issues with the scope on the AR. It may have a little to do with the scope itself, but it definitely has more to do with my head positioning on the AR. Linda does not have the same issue, so it really is set-up perfectly for her, she gets her cheek welded to the stock in a natural position, and she is fine. For me, its uncomfortable and it turned into a struggle. When we eventually build an AR for me, I'm going to mount the scope a little higher and a little further forward, or use an adjustable rear stock so I can have a natural cheek weld. I fought the gear a little bit.
Taking Linda's old CZ was a bad choice. I took the gun because I wanted to shoot 9mm, and that's what the holster and mag pouches are for, but my point of aim with the Edge is to cover up the target with the front sight and pull the trigger. With the Edge, I put the top of the front sight just under what I want to hit, and I blew an early pistol stage because I could not hit steel plates standing on a 10' podium. If I had run thru a few hundred rounds at varying distance, and of varying size in advance, I'd have been fine, but a couple of mags was not enough. I knew the aim point was lower, but it was not seared into my head. On my next to last stage of the day, I rocked out an excellent pistol run on some mid-range pepper poppers, but that should have been a given for the match, again on me.
Long Range Rifle Is Hard
I may have had a false sense of security after doing fairly well on my first stage of the match between 320 and 411 yards. I had a run of 3-4 one shot, one hit before I ran into a run of misses, but I did not time out, and it was a massive improvement from last Saturday for me. Once I did that, I figured there was no long range rifle that I could not handle. I'm not saying excel at, I did not think I was going to kill it, I just thought I could handle it and get hits, and boy, did I learn a lot.
At 6 power, in addition to the eye relief issues, I found how much that reticle bounces around. You have to be damn near perfectly still to keep it from bouncing, it means breathing properly, it means good trigger control, pulling the trigger straight back and pinning it for a second. Making small adjustments.
All match long I struggled with shooting position, I tried rifle magazine on top of an overturned car, which had a unique set of issues for me, and the targets were only 180 yards down range. I got some hits, but trying to make finite adjustments caused me to skip over several targets. I tried to go back, but had eye relief issues, and then had no idea what I'd skipped and what I'd shot. I tried prone a couple of times, the first time the 30 round magazine with extended basepad was a great platform at the angle I was at. On Stage 9, I should have used the 40 round magazine with extended basepad, because of the angle, it would have helped with the eye relief issue I had, and been the right choice for me.
Stage 9 was the "signature" long range stage for the match, all steel plates, from 180 yards to 627 yards, a ton of hold overs to know, memorization on where all the plates are located, and I made two poor choices, but I did not know they were wrong until I was shooting. I mentioned basepad, but I would have been better off in front of the rock we had to be touching instead of off to the side, less overall movement, and better ability to stay on track of targets. I could have again tried to go behind the rock and rest the handguard up on the rock. The short version is that practice is key, shooting in strange positions is big. Sure, you need to know your holds, but you also need to know you gear, the way you are shooting, there is a lot there.
Absolutely Love Shotgun
I don't know what is so satisfying about it, but I absolutely love to shoot shotgun. I'd go shoot a shotgun only match in a heartbeat. With the rear sight I went from hating slugs to loving them, and I honestly feel comfortable with the shotgun. Okay, I need to practice and experience clays, I've only seen them once, and it'll be new and a challenge, but shotgun is tremendously fun. On the now infamous "I forgot my pistol" stage, I ran the shotgun slowly I think, I got hits, but when I was done, I wished that I'd pushed it to the limit. On stage 6, I screwed up shooting rifle from the car (and that was not long range, that was just a funky position) but I went into the stage wanting to rock shotgun and pistol. I knew I wanted to push my splits, and that's exactly what I did. I needed 2 make-up (which ran the gun dry, so I made sure of the last shot.) but I did push it, and I think I can do that, and faster in the future. I just need to practice it.
Loading is a whole 'nother animal, but I think I can do that too. That'll be a lot of dry fire practice, but I think I want to start working on quad loading. Understand that the grip has to be lower than I'd been trying in the past will help me control the shells, and I think with a week or so of practice, I'll at least feel comfortable. I know it won't be fast, that will take more time and more practice, but I think it's time to start that process.
Finally, I believe I can shoot on the move with the shotgun, but it's not something that I've tried in a match yet, and to me practice is validation of dry fire, and a club match is where you put that into effect. I wasn't quite ready to do try it out at a major match for the first time. Maybe I can do it, and maybe I can't, but that just tells me that I need to go out and practice it and find out. It's funny, shooting pistol on the move is something I struggled with, and I know I lose time there, I avoid it, but I'm shooting shotgun a month and I'm wanting to try it? I like that.
3-Gun Is Fun
Despite it all, and despite underwhelming my modest expectations, I had a great time. I think I could or would have hit my expectations if I did not make the mental mistakes. The shooting challenges I expected, and lets just say that I was not disappointed, I had a lot of 'em, and while I can gripe about 'em, I loved 'em, and those are things that I can work on. My goal before the match was to improve on each stage I shot, and I missed that mark too, especially with the bomb I dropped on Stage 9, but my pistol got better, and I really did run the pistol on Stage 8 very solidly, my shotgun was not perfect on Stage 6 (last stage I shot it) but it was better and faster. My rifle was inconsistent, but with each stage I tried to focus on splits and transitions on closer rifle, and on Stage 8, at least then I thought I understood the reticle and my holds. Stage 9 ate my lunch, and it was supposed to. I may have wanted to do better, but that will come with practice.
I'll be back for Fallen Brethren next year, and I will do better. I'm a competitor, so it was easy to see an awful lot of flaws I have, and how really inexperienced I am at this sport. While I had a ton of fun, I don't like the feeling that I performed poorly, and I know that being new, I was going to struggle. I love shooting, words can't describe it, and I won't be this "bad" again. I'll work to get better, I'll learn from practice and club matches, and I'll improve. No idea where it will go, but this is too much fun to not invest some time, effort, and energy into.
Fallen Brethren 3-Gun Match Review Day 3 & Final Thoughts
Fallen Brethren 3-Gun Match Review Day 3 & Final Thoughts
I may or may not have drowned my sorrows in a shot of Jameson, some Shiner Bock, and 3 shots of Merlot, which I realize is a wine and to be sipped and savored, but that would not have taken the sting out of my day quick enough. It would not have been an unreasonable expectation that post dinner I was going to pass out and complete a crash and burn on the final day, on the last 2 stages that were longer range, including the signature long range stage that the match puts on.
I had other plans though, and I stayed up until 1am doing homework, plugging all my data into Strelok, memorizing my stage plans, and my holds for the longer range rifle. I walked Stage 8 a few hundred times in my head, and I did the same thing for Stage 9. No matter how Day 2 finished, I wanted Day 3 to be my best day.
All results are just my division (Tac Ops)
Fallen Brethren Match Results
Stage 8:
This was another stage I had all mapped out. From the start position you shot the two steel plates on the left, then ran to a big rock, and shot another two plates, that was easy, it got hard from there for me. Add in a 6th gong to the left of the power line, roughly inline with the other 5 gongs, and I had 8 shots between 175 yards and 191 yards. All fairly doable. My plan was to go left to right, prone, and then up the right hand side, at 217, 246, 249 yards (all similar holds), then the 345 plate to the right of the line on the picture, and then left to the 3 plates at 350, 355, and 410 on the left of the paper. I'd come back to the plate at 440 and finish on the one that was 627 yards off. The reason I share the plan, is because I did not do it at all. I changed at the last minute when trying to explain to the 2 RO's who were acting as spotters because most shooters were going from left to right, and I was doing the opposite to keep similar holds together longer.
Instead I started on the left, tried to go up and then right, and every hold I had written on my left forearm was wrong. This is almost in line with forgetting a gun in terms of rookie mistake. Don't let someone change your plan for you, I could have explained it more clearly but I took an easy out, and it helped cost me. If I can get the video, you'll see I went prone to the right of the rock, and it was not an ideal spot, I used a 30 round mag with baseplate, and it was too low, I should have used a 40 round mag with baseplate. Prone, I should have went to the front of the rock, and many shooters used the rock as a rest, and shot off it, either one would have worked better.
My choices left me with massive eye relief issues, wrong holds, and too much moving, which meant I again missed shooting at plates, it also left the RO's confused, because I heard one tell me that I needed to alert them if I was moving on, I know I had a hit not counted because of that, but again, that's my responsibility to know, they are doing their job.
The one thing I did not want to do was take misses at less than 200 yards, I could handle longer misses, but all my mistakes played into it. I took 200 seconds in penalty, and 170.54 seconds, putting me in 167th place of 169 on the stage. What's worse, is I think I could have hit the 4 between 345 and 410, in fact I had done it at that range on my very first stage. The winning time on the stage was 80 seconds, what is remarkable is that nobody was within 25 seconds of that time, talk about amazing long range shooting.
I was disappointed by my showing on the stage, but the reality is that I had shot long range rifle exactly one time before this match, and I struggled with it. Setting aside that if it was my AR, I'd have done a few things differently to have it better suit me (this is Linda's AR) this was hard. I should not have thought that I'd kill this stage, it was a great learning experience, and it gave me a chance to see, and understand things that I will need to practice going forward.
Final Thoughts:
I'm lucky that I got the squad that I did, a couple of 3-Gun Pro level shooters, including 3 of the Top 20 Tac Ops shooters in the match and 5 of the top 50 in the match meant I got a chance to see how some really good shooters approach the match, and the individual stages. I got some great tips, some solid coaching, and a foundation that if I want to get really involved in the sport, will get me off on the right foot. I don't think that there is any doubt any more that I'll spend some significant time in 3-Gun going forward.
Sure I did not get better on every stage, and I did not finish where I wanted, I took some lumps, but I'll come back a hell of a lot stronger for it. Linda made the comment that I should not have gone because it was just too much, but honestly I'm glad I went. I got the full experience, and if anything it sucked me in even deeper. This isn't easy, and there is so much to the sport. The top guys are just plain amazing, and I don't expect to ever be that good, but I'd like to push and improve, and do even better. I'll be back for Fallen Brethren next year, and it won't get the best of me again. I'll always be able to "thank" the match, and the facility for helping get me hooked on the sport.
I may or may not have drowned my sorrows in a shot of Jameson, some Shiner Bock, and 3 shots of Merlot, which I realize is a wine and to be sipped and savored, but that would not have taken the sting out of my day quick enough. It would not have been an unreasonable expectation that post dinner I was going to pass out and complete a crash and burn on the final day, on the last 2 stages that were longer range, including the signature long range stage that the match puts on.
I had other plans though, and I stayed up until 1am doing homework, plugging all my data into Strelok, memorizing my stage plans, and my holds for the longer range rifle. I walked Stage 8 a few hundred times in my head, and I did the same thing for Stage 9. No matter how Day 2 finished, I wanted Day 3 to be my best day.
All results are just my division (Tac Ops)
Fallen Brethren Match Results
Stage 8:
(First the video from a squad mate who had the 4th best time on the stage.)
(Now my video so you can see how much better he was in various places.)
On my match book, I had written down how many steps between position, I had everything written down, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do. 22 steel pepper poppers, call them 12-25 yards, I ran those fairly solidly, nothing great, but nothing bad. I could do it faster going forward. I was pretty decent on pistol. What got to me, is the final array, I was so pleased I lost some focus on the reload and lost some time there, but it was a high match point for me, next time I'll keep shooting and savor the good feeling afterwards.
Back to a prone shooting position, I was ready this time, 30 round magazine with basepad was fine, I knew my holds and I cleaned 5 targets on the left hand side. Of course there were 7 targets on the left, and I had missed the ones at 135 yards and 150 yards. I had to pop up from the optic and look and visually spot what I had missed, and then try to find them, and that was another eye relief issue trying to get back on the scope. The longer ones (175 yards, 220 yards, 230 yards, 265 yards, and 280 yards) I visually identified and just went to the right holds, that was a good learning experience. I moved to the right of the power lines, and easily nailed the 227 yard and 196 yard, but I could not spot the 156 thru the scope and had to visually find it, and acquire it again via the scope.
My time was 137.49 clean. Which was 132nd place. Most of that I think was spent on the rifle, and I'll have to see, but I'm sure I could have run pistol faster. Same theme, give me that 6" Hayes Custom gun, and let me get used to it, and I'm sure I can shave some time there. The biggest gain though will be simply practicing long range rifle. Top time was a ridiculous 53.80 seconds.
Stage 9:
This was another stage I had all mapped out. From the start position you shot the two steel plates on the left, then ran to a big rock, and shot another two plates, that was easy, it got hard from there for me. Add in a 6th gong to the left of the power line, roughly inline with the other 5 gongs, and I had 8 shots between 175 yards and 191 yards. All fairly doable. My plan was to go left to right, prone, and then up the right hand side, at 217, 246, 249 yards (all similar holds), then the 345 plate to the right of the line on the picture, and then left to the 3 plates at 350, 355, and 410 on the left of the paper. I'd come back to the plate at 440 and finish on the one that was 627 yards off. The reason I share the plan, is because I did not do it at all. I changed at the last minute when trying to explain to the 2 RO's who were acting as spotters because most shooters were going from left to right, and I was doing the opposite to keep similar holds together longer.
Instead I started on the left, tried to go up and then right, and every hold I had written on my left forearm was wrong. This is almost in line with forgetting a gun in terms of rookie mistake. Don't let someone change your plan for you, I could have explained it more clearly but I took an easy out, and it helped cost me. If I can get the video, you'll see I went prone to the right of the rock, and it was not an ideal spot, I used a 30 round mag with baseplate, and it was too low, I should have used a 40 round mag with baseplate. Prone, I should have went to the front of the rock, and many shooters used the rock as a rest, and shot off it, either one would have worked better.
My choices left me with massive eye relief issues, wrong holds, and too much moving, which meant I again missed shooting at plates, it also left the RO's confused, because I heard one tell me that I needed to alert them if I was moving on, I know I had a hit not counted because of that, but again, that's my responsibility to know, they are doing their job.
The one thing I did not want to do was take misses at less than 200 yards, I could handle longer misses, but all my mistakes played into it. I took 200 seconds in penalty, and 170.54 seconds, putting me in 167th place of 169 on the stage. What's worse, is I think I could have hit the 4 between 345 and 410, in fact I had done it at that range on my very first stage. The winning time on the stage was 80 seconds, what is remarkable is that nobody was within 25 seconds of that time, talk about amazing long range shooting.
I was disappointed by my showing on the stage, but the reality is that I had shot long range rifle exactly one time before this match, and I struggled with it. Setting aside that if it was my AR, I'd have done a few things differently to have it better suit me (this is Linda's AR) this was hard. I should not have thought that I'd kill this stage, it was a great learning experience, and it gave me a chance to see, and understand things that I will need to practice going forward.
Final Thoughts:
I'm lucky that I got the squad that I did, a couple of 3-Gun Pro level shooters, including 3 of the Top 20 Tac Ops shooters in the match and 5 of the top 50 in the match meant I got a chance to see how some really good shooters approach the match, and the individual stages. I got some great tips, some solid coaching, and a foundation that if I want to get really involved in the sport, will get me off on the right foot. I don't think that there is any doubt any more that I'll spend some significant time in 3-Gun going forward.
Sure I did not get better on every stage, and I did not finish where I wanted, I took some lumps, but I'll come back a hell of a lot stronger for it. Linda made the comment that I should not have gone because it was just too much, but honestly I'm glad I went. I got the full experience, and if anything it sucked me in even deeper. This isn't easy, and there is so much to the sport. The top guys are just plain amazing, and I don't expect to ever be that good, but I'd like to push and improve, and do even better. I'll be back for Fallen Brethren next year, and it won't get the best of me again. I'll always be able to "thank" the match, and the facility for helping get me hooked on the sport.
Fallen Brethren 3-Gun Match Review Day 2
Fallen Brethren 3-Gun Match Review Day 2
After day one dinner at Go Go Gumbo (which is no kidding some of the best Gumbo I've ever had in my life) we headed off to clean our guns. Everything was covered with a layer of grit, and dirt, making it imperative that all guns get cleaned every single day. It was a good experience because Aaron taught me how and what I need to clean on the shotgun, and Steve did the same on the AR. Now I know what I need to take apart, how to take it apart, and what tools I should have on hand.
Day two meant we started shooting at 9:15, instead of 8am. Someone (not me!) was busy playing app games, and we did not leave until 8:30, which meant we arrived at about 9am (after stopping for someone's breakfast, and my drinks). The first squad was done, and we were at walk thru, and I had unloaded mags, I was the 2nd shooter and I felt my tension go thru the roof. Not the way to start the day!
All placement based on my division, Tac Ops.
Fallen Brethren Scores
Stage 4
This more or less begins and ends with "I forgot my gun", which is going to be a laugh for everyone for quite awhile. It got funny for me come that night, after several drinks, and it really is comedy gold now. At the time, it had me in an epic meltdown. So what went right? I'm not unhappy with rifle across the creek, I had a couple make-up shots, once when I thought I forgot a target, but I knew where I wanted to be, and was okay. The short targets still freak me out a bit because I have to aim at the top edge of them because the scope sits that much higher than the barrel. Across the creek there was a 3rd target with a no-shoot, and I put 2 on the paper, 1 in the no-shoot, it's the hold at the top of the target that I need to get used to.
After day one dinner at Go Go Gumbo (which is no kidding some of the best Gumbo I've ever had in my life) we headed off to clean our guns. Everything was covered with a layer of grit, and dirt, making it imperative that all guns get cleaned every single day. It was a good experience because Aaron taught me how and what I need to clean on the shotgun, and Steve did the same on the AR. Now I know what I need to take apart, how to take it apart, and what tools I should have on hand.
Day two meant we started shooting at 9:15, instead of 8am. Someone (not me!) was busy playing app games, and we did not leave until 8:30, which meant we arrived at about 9am (after stopping for someone's breakfast, and my drinks). The first squad was done, and we were at walk thru, and I had unloaded mags, I was the 2nd shooter and I felt my tension go thru the roof. Not the way to start the day!
All placement based on my division, Tac Ops.
Fallen Brethren Scores
Stage 4
Missing walk thru (and it was a change from this stage description.) was not good. The paper targets were gone, but we were instructed that we had to shoot all the steel once, then reload, and re-engage the steel with the pistol a 2nd time before grounding the pistol, and moving up to the rifle line. The pistol targets varied, from 10-12 yards, to 50 yards across a dry wash. I absolutely train wrecked the first go around, and could not hit the long steel, had mags only partially loaded. When I was done the first time (done shooting, I was mentally done before I got to the line) I ran to the forward charge line to shoot rifle, and the RO asked if I knew I was supposed to re-engage the pistol steel. He stopped me, looked at his watch, and gave me a gift. He told me that we started a couple minutes early, and I missed walk thru so they let me re-shoot. That was a gift from heaven, that I will never get again.
I loaded mags, calmed down, got centered, and as the last shooter went back out and received my gift. For perhaps the first time in my history a re-shoot went my way. I ran the pistol steel twice, jumped up to the rifle, and nailed it. Unfortunately, no video as far as I know.
I did however manage my best stage finish of the match. 123.76 clean, and 110th place overall. Give me that 6" Hayes Custom pistol, and I honestly think 85-100 seconds is something I could have done, and that would have put me 70-100 area. No complaints though, I got a gift and made the most of it.
Stage 5:
This more or less begins and ends with "I forgot my gun", which is going to be a laugh for everyone for quite awhile. It got funny for me come that night, after several drinks, and it really is comedy gold now. At the time, it had me in an epic meltdown. So what went right? I'm not unhappy with rifle across the creek, I had a couple make-up shots, once when I thought I forgot a target, but I knew where I wanted to be, and was okay. The short targets still freak me out a bit because I have to aim at the top edge of them because the scope sits that much higher than the barrel. Across the creek there was a 3rd target with a no-shoot, and I put 2 on the paper, 1 in the no-shoot, it's the hold at the top of the target that I need to get used to.
I forgot to take the safety off the shotgun, and I need to practice my loading. This was the first stage with the heavier birdshot, and the shotgun ran like a champ. Slightly more recoil than the 1145's I had, but not bad at all. I felt like I was shooting slow to get all my hits, and the video confirms that, I can definitely run it harder and faster.
Then I tripped, fell, and realized I did not have my pistol. Not much more I can say.
I was at 61.44 when disaster fell, and took 125 seconds in penalty which put me at 162nd place. My honest feeling is that I would have run the stage between 80-90 seconds, which would have put me between 70th and 100th place. Wishing doesn't do me a bit of good, but that's where I believe I should have been. Overall winning time was 48 seconds, which really goes to show how good some of these guys are.
Stage 6:
My first ever stage across two bays, and it was a lesson in an uncomfortable rifle shooting position. The steel poppers could not have been more than 80-100 yards, but I had a hard time getting my reticle on the steel. I was pushing the mag into the dashboard, and it made it tough for me to lower the gun, which in turn made it harder for me to get down and so on. I struggled to get thru it, and I came away appreciating advice Aaron gave me to practice looking thru the reticle thru odd positions. on the couch, a chair, anything at all.
My goal with shotgun was to just run it hard. With a 12 round tube, the tip I got was to shoot the 3 poppers, load 6, then clean everything, it left me 2 rounds extra, which it turns out I needed. I wanted to really push and get splits, and honestly I'm happy, the gun rose on the small plate miss, and I was off over the top on the plate miss. I was worried about hitting the no shoot plate, so I aimed to the left of the one plate, and got the hit, but went up and over, instead of just over on the other. Again, I absolutely believe I can run the shotgun.
There were 15 shots for the pistol side (all the targets before I got to the dump barrel had to be engaged with shotgun, all after the barrel had to be engaged with pistol.) Dillen Easley, one of the Pro Shooters on my squad saw me preparing, and asked how man rounds I had in the CZ mag, and I replied "18", and he asked me where I was planning on reloading. I responded with "I'm not, I've got plenty to run this." I know it probably sounded like over confidence considering everything I'd been thru, but I knew I had it. Turns out I was almost right, which means I was absolutely wrong. I needed one make up on all the other shots, and I bet on the fact I could hit "A" zones or head shots as needed to save some rounds to use on the clay.
The clay ate me up, I knew it was a 10 second penalty, so I reloaded took a few and stopped, I never should have done that. Shooting a clay was hard, I admit it, it should not have been, but I let it eat me up. I had 3 shots to get it done, and I didn't. That said, give me the Hayes Custom Pistol, let me run it regularly and I'll eat that up.
124.88 plus 20 seconds in penalty put me 163rd place. I got 10 seconds for the clay, and 10 for hitting the no-shoot on the rifle side. Amazing stage because I struggled on rifle, but walked away feeling okay about both shotgun and pistol. Sometimes when I struggle, I still need to see some positives, and there were some here, even if rifle was rough.
Stage 7:
It sure looked cool to start, but I had a time out here.
It started out okay, I needed a make-up or two on the 6 or 7 steel that I shot from the barricade at 110 yards. I did not want to sprint down to the overturned car because I learned on Friday how important it is to keep your breathing consistent, and heart rate as low as possible when shooting longer range rifle. I figured that any extra time running there would be saved if I got there and was able to focus. On the short paper, I was mindful of where I had to aim, in reality since I ran over to them, I could have about indexed the barrel to them and shot, instead I slowed and stopped. That cost me, and I knew it when I did it.
Before I shot, Aaron gave me a piece of advice, he told me to go prone. The overturned car was great for a left handed shooter because he could lean on it and better brace the gun. I tried to get my elbow on it, and rest it on the mag, and that was a mistake. I started out okay on the 200 yard to 160 yard steel, but at one point the mag caught when I tried to make a small turn, and I lost about 4 targets. My first question to the RO was how many I missed. It's not that I thought I knew better, I just felt uncomfortable going prone.
Once I stopped on the rifle, I jumped to pistol, cleaned the first plate rack, and left one standing with struggles on the second. I knew I was racing the par time at that point, and kept shooting faster. Dumb, dumb, and even more dumb. I've shot enough pistol matches to know I was not focused on my front sight.
The 180 time out, and 50 seconds of penalty hurt. It put me in 156th place for the stage.
It was a long day for me, and it was hard to deal with some of the struggle. I can handle a struggle with long range, or something like that, but the mental mistakes are tough, because I'm not a new shooter, and I made some real rookie mistakes.
Topping it all off, there was an issue where Linda's shotgun came out of the 4-Wheeler it was clamped into, and it was returned to me in several pieces. It can be fixed, it's all good, but that just made for a real long day.
Merlot shots....not a good idea. FYI.
Fallen Brethren 3-Gun Match Review Day 1
Fallen Brethren 3-Gun Match Review Day 1
If no video exists for your stages that were half-way decent, did they really happen?
Seriously though, what a great way to learn about 3-Gun. Set aside the fact that I made a ton of mistakes, and found out how hard 3-Gun can really be, I did have a great time. That's largely because the people I went with spent time coaching me, and giving me some knowledge that I can apply going forward. I've seen a 3-Gun guy come to shoot USPSA where the USPSA shooters gave him a hard time, and let me say that nobody deserved a hard time for being bad than me, but everyone here was supportive. What an absolutely awesome squad of shooters who showed patience, and at least waited until dinner to give me a hard time for forgetting my gun on one stage.
In order of my shooting them....
(All placement and times are based on my division, Tac Ops)
Fallen Brethren Scores
Stage 10:
There is no video for this stage, and the little shotgun plates were not there, in addition there were 7 slug targets. Basically run to the barrels, shoot the slug targets (I was one for one, and then 2nd on the left was a steel plate, not a "C" zone. When done, dump the shotgun, and go to a barricade (not shown). The three steel plates to the right were down a hill at 31, 130 and 320 yards. I took one extra at the 320, and cut across shooting the 4 paper as I went before going prone at the "cone" for 6 long steel gongs. I went right to left 363, 392 and 350 yards respectfully, and I had a make up on the first one, but hit the next 2 with the first shot. I know it shocked everyone, (myself included) and I approached the back three, 397, 411, and 380 yards respectfully, and that's where I had some make-up's, but I was pretty happy. Considering the long range struggles I had less than a week earlier, the first time I ever tried it, no complaints.
I finished in 159.31 seconds zero points down, 106th place among the 169 shooters. Winning time was around 66 seconds, for my very first major long range stage, no complaints at all.
Stage One:
Into everyone's life a little rain must fall. The paper targets were not there but the table was actually a platform to shoot from, call it 10' high, so the 22 steel gongs were all at a downward angle, and I struggled with the pistol. My issue again was point of aim because I'm so used to the Edge, I forgot that Linda's CZ has a different point of aim than mine. This was rough. Rifle was not quite as easy as I thought, there were three long C zone targets at 270, 250, and 253 yards, as well as twelve steel gongs. I got charged with 35 seconds in penalty, and honestly I'd dispute that. There were two pistol targets I know I did not shoot, and the RO did not call a hit on the 250 yard rifle target, I think she was looking at the 253 that was next to it, and I'd already hit. I don't know that it matters, but since I was not 100% sure, I took it and moved on, which is the right call.
I was 164th at 170 with 35 seconds of penalty, winning time was just under 50 seconds, which is impressive.
Stage 2:
This was one of two stages I was really looking forward too after we walked stages on Thursday. It was time to break out the shotgun and go kick some ass. Have I mentioned how much I like to shoot shotgun? My plan was to shoot the first 3 steel plates, reload 4, and then shoot up to a cactus, before reloading 4. I'd shoot until there was a single plate left, load 4 slugs, then shoot the last plate with birdshot, and clean the 3 slug targets. Oil your shotgun.....
No guarantee that if I'd oiled it, I'd have been fine, but as we found out a day later, my M2 was having trouble cycling the light (1145 fps) loads. It was fine in practice, but I had not completed the break-in period (500-100 rounds). I ran 1200 fps the next day and was fine. Thus the world was deprived of my sheer artistry with the shotgun (did I mention that I really love the shotgun, even if I'm still learning it?) and I had to eat 180 seconds of penalty. I was bummed, and the shotgun jamming because I did not properly break it in, killed me.
Side note, I could have just slammed the bolt forward, but I did not know that, and I love that Steve "coughed" it loudly, and you can hear it on the video, which made the RO turn around. Unfortunately I was so focused on trying to figure it out, I missed that "coaching". It could have been a penalty for him for doing it, but I love that my squad cared enough to want to help me. Good guys.
168th place at 312 seconds after penalty, winner did it in just under 36 seconds. I would not have come close to that, but I'd have shaved an awful lot of time.
Stage 3:
If no video exists for your stages that were half-way decent, did they really happen?
Seriously though, what a great way to learn about 3-Gun. Set aside the fact that I made a ton of mistakes, and found out how hard 3-Gun can really be, I did have a great time. That's largely because the people I went with spent time coaching me, and giving me some knowledge that I can apply going forward. I've seen a 3-Gun guy come to shoot USPSA where the USPSA shooters gave him a hard time, and let me say that nobody deserved a hard time for being bad than me, but everyone here was supportive. What an absolutely awesome squad of shooters who showed patience, and at least waited until dinner to give me a hard time for forgetting my gun on one stage.
In order of my shooting them....
(All placement and times are based on my division, Tac Ops)
Fallen Brethren Scores
Stage 10:
There is no video for this stage, and the little shotgun plates were not there, in addition there were 7 slug targets. Basically run to the barrels, shoot the slug targets (I was one for one, and then 2nd on the left was a steel plate, not a "C" zone. When done, dump the shotgun, and go to a barricade (not shown). The three steel plates to the right were down a hill at 31, 130 and 320 yards. I took one extra at the 320, and cut across shooting the 4 paper as I went before going prone at the "cone" for 6 long steel gongs. I went right to left 363, 392 and 350 yards respectfully, and I had a make up on the first one, but hit the next 2 with the first shot. I know it shocked everyone, (myself included) and I approached the back three, 397, 411, and 380 yards respectfully, and that's where I had some make-up's, but I was pretty happy. Considering the long range struggles I had less than a week earlier, the first time I ever tried it, no complaints.
I finished in 159.31 seconds zero points down, 106th place among the 169 shooters. Winning time was around 66 seconds, for my very first major long range stage, no complaints at all.
Stage One:
Into everyone's life a little rain must fall. The paper targets were not there but the table was actually a platform to shoot from, call it 10' high, so the 22 steel gongs were all at a downward angle, and I struggled with the pistol. My issue again was point of aim because I'm so used to the Edge, I forgot that Linda's CZ has a different point of aim than mine. This was rough. Rifle was not quite as easy as I thought, there were three long C zone targets at 270, 250, and 253 yards, as well as twelve steel gongs. I got charged with 35 seconds in penalty, and honestly I'd dispute that. There were two pistol targets I know I did not shoot, and the RO did not call a hit on the 250 yard rifle target, I think she was looking at the 253 that was next to it, and I'd already hit. I don't know that it matters, but since I was not 100% sure, I took it and moved on, which is the right call.
I was 164th at 170 with 35 seconds of penalty, winning time was just under 50 seconds, which is impressive.
Stage 2:
This was one of two stages I was really looking forward too after we walked stages on Thursday. It was time to break out the shotgun and go kick some ass. Have I mentioned how much I like to shoot shotgun? My plan was to shoot the first 3 steel plates, reload 4, and then shoot up to a cactus, before reloading 4. I'd shoot until there was a single plate left, load 4 slugs, then shoot the last plate with birdshot, and clean the 3 slug targets. Oil your shotgun.....
No guarantee that if I'd oiled it, I'd have been fine, but as we found out a day later, my M2 was having trouble cycling the light (1145 fps) loads. It was fine in practice, but I had not completed the break-in period (500-100 rounds). I ran 1200 fps the next day and was fine. Thus the world was deprived of my sheer artistry with the shotgun (did I mention that I really love the shotgun, even if I'm still learning it?) and I had to eat 180 seconds of penalty. I was bummed, and the shotgun jamming because I did not properly break it in, killed me.
Side note, I could have just slammed the bolt forward, but I did not know that, and I love that Steve "coughed" it loudly, and you can hear it on the video, which made the RO turn around. Unfortunately I was so focused on trying to figure it out, I missed that "coaching". It could have been a penalty for him for doing it, but I love that my squad cared enough to want to help me. Good guys.
168th place at 312 seconds after penalty, winner did it in just under 36 seconds. I would not have come close to that, but I'd have shaved an awful lot of time.
Stage 3:
This was the other stage I was really looking forward to. Twenty five shotgun targets! We'd thought the issue with gun on Stage 3 was simply that it was not oiled, so we oiled it, and were off to the races, but the real issue (not cycling) caught me again.
I finished in 147th place with a time of 136.82, and 10 seconds of penalty for a slug miss, and I admit, I knew it. I rushed the shot because I wanted to leave the first position. Winning time was around 40 seconds, and my goal was to run it in 90-105 seconds which would have had me around 90-110. I think I could do that, but it'll take some loading practice and shooting on the move time. I could have picked up the pace for sure.
That was the end of Day 1.
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