Dissident Arms 3-Gun 11/22/15
The last time I picked up a gun was actually the Fallen Brethren match nearly a month and a half ago. Real life intruded on hobbies, and I really needed a little break. Despite my best intentions, my interest had waned a bit. It's not that I was losing interest in shooting, it's just that everything else was more important, and I suppose there are times in life when that's okay. The truth is that I actually did not even want to head out to the match, I had very low expectations, because I know that without work, you don't do well at all, and again, one of the first times I approached a match just feeling that it was okay to shoot, and have fun. Having Les in town, and willing to go shoot a 3-Gun match was enough to get it started, and sometimes that's all you need.
Stage 3:
No video, but this was an interesting stage. There were steel gongs I had to take with a pistol at 75 yards, 90 yards, and 100 yards. I took all three, but it took me too many shots with the 3rd target, and as a result I did not come close to finishing the shotgun portion, and that hurt because I thought that I'd have a pretty good run on the shotgun. Les smoked the pistol, and looked really good on this stage.
Stage 4:
Again no video, and this was some long range rifle, with short rifle while running, to a 3rd position for more long range rifle. Targets ran from 100 yards to 360 yards on the longer range, and there was some fairly significant wind. I was absolutely awful on this stage. It was not so much the hold overs, but it was everything else. I was pulling the trigger like I would my pistol, and I was moving the sights all over the place. I was not breathing, and in short, if there was a list of things I could do wrong, I pretty much nailed them all. I again timed out and I took a ton of penalties because I did not come close to engaging all the targets, and that includes most of the short portion. Heading into the next stage, even with low expectations, I felt like not only was I cooked, but I was wasting my time. On a side note, Les absolutely crushed it, it was an awful lot of fun watching him run the rifle.
Stage 5:
The shotgun jungle run was a savior for me. Here's the deal, I know I need to run faster, I know I need to load faster, and I know I need to shoot faster. Know what though? I loved it, and I did not miss a single target until the last slug target, which I shot over, and I know I aimed wrong. This stage got me mentally to the idea that I was having fun. Screw some of the results, we shoot because it's fun, and I had a blast, I was in the game again! Also, I really love shooting the shotgun, and this stage made me want to go practice, I want to get better, and that helped, just a little ignite the desire and passion for getting out there to shoot.
Stage 6:
Pistol jungle run, I shot last on this stage, after leading off stage 5, so I had a pretty good plan in place, I knew what I wanted to do, I knew where my shooting positions were supposed to be. (Yet somehow I missed a single target at the end.) I'm not unhappy with the stage, I finished it, and did not time out, and I saw quite a few people time out. The downside is that I saw exactly how far I've let my pistol skills slip. I'm slow, I'm not transitioning or splitting very well, so I need a lot of work, and that work is more than dry fire, it's a real commitment to once a week live fire shooting. That said, again, I had fun, enjoyed it, and can't complain too much.
Stage 1:
Suddenly I was having fun again. I found something I'd been missing, and I was joking, having fun, and felt a little bit of confidence. While I understood that my skills have slipped, I was comfortable with the idea that having fun is the name of the game, and that I was going to put forth a solid effort. The last two stages were 3-Gun Nation classifier stages, so they were bay stages, with some shorter range shooting, and very simple.
This stage was a meltdown, first position I was to shoot standing, I had to reload and take a knee in the second page, and the final position was supposed to be prone. What got me, was that I wanted to go down on my left knee, so I could support my elbow on my knee. I probably did not need to do that, and of course I forgot the reload. Once that happened, and I knew it, the wheels came off the bus, and I made things worse.
Something I learned from it, is that in USPSA now, I rarely let the wheels fall off the bus and totally train wreck. Sure, it can happen, but if something goes wrong, I'm more apt to keep on going, shoot thru it, and fight my way to the finish, I'll let the anger or frustration out after the shooting is over. I think I do that because I'm more confident that I can do. Here, I'm not comfortable with the rifle yet, and when I was trying to reload and insert the magazine, I was actually hitting the mag release at the same time. It just shows me that I'm not confident, and to get confident, I need to put some serious rounds thru the rifle, and really learn what I'm doing.
Stage 2:
Considering the train wreck, I was determined to come back and finish strong. Being honest, I'm pretty proud of this stage. I needed to take two shots with the rifle at three targets, but I took an extra at each one, just to insure hits, turns out that I did not need to do that. I started slow on the shotgun, but I picked it up, and the reality is that I can run at the faster pace, I'm confident in that. When I slowed for the last two shots, I actually thought I had a miss, but I did not. Let me finish breaking in the gun, and get back to the 1145 fps birdshot, and I'll run the gun harder and faster. Pistol worked for me, slower than I would have liked, but one make-up? I can live with that.
This stage had me excited, feeling good, and feeling like I not only had fun, but I can do this, I can put all the skills together, I just need to put in some work, and it's there.
Summary:
Three stages I had fun with, and did reasonably well at, one I had fun with, but did not do well with, and a couple of train wrecks? Well, it was a a good time, and it was fun, and considering the lack of trigger time I have had in the past 30 days, I can't complain. Hell, I finished with a stage that I was even proud of shooting. Best I've felt walking away from a match in awhile, sure, I know I can do better, but I brought the best that I had in me, and that's not a bad thing.
Even the stages I did not do well on, I learned something from each of them, I can see where I need practice, where my skill is not up to my own standard, and I can see what I did well. I've got to do some reloading, and get a stock of 9mm loaded, but come mid-December, I'll be ready to start getting back and practicing. A little bit of fire has been lit, and I'm going to put myself in a position to have no excuses while getting ready for the 2016 season. Do or do not, there is no try, if I don't pick up the pace in 2016, then I need to adjust my expectations to meet my level of effort.
