X-Treme Bullets Texas 3-Gun Championship (Day 3)

X-Treme Bullets Texas 3-Gun Championship (Day 3)



Before I get into anything at all of my match, huge thanks the the MD's (Kurt Gruber, Aaron Hayes, and Brian White) for organizing and running this match. It was amazingly smooth, fun stages, and a great atmosphere. The RO teams were awesome, and were augmented by the Corps of Cadets from Texas A&M who handled resetting duties, leaving competitors free to just shoot. The time it took for them to drum up $140k+ of items for the prize table, to create stages that flowed well, to build stages, and do absolutely everything to make the match of success. Massive investment of time, and it is appreciated.


I'd hoped that my match would go out on a high note, but instead I think I went out with a whimper. I won't get into all the things, but I know what I feel I should be better on right now, and I have a list of things that I'm going to have to practice if I want to be successful next month at the 3-Gun Nation Regional match back out in Marble Falls.

May as well get down to the nitty gritty......


Stage 8:

Pistol started out fine, slug's started out fine, but I again dumped a birdshot and got off my count and plan as a result. I had some uncharacteristic misses here, and I'm not quite sure why, that's the kind of knockdown plate stage that I feel like I own normally. Then the rifle...ahhh, the rifle. I could not see thru the scope very well, and had to adjust on the A-Frame. I ended up passing on one steel target and taking the miss just just so I would not time out. What concerns me, is that I'm not sure where I was hitting when I was shooting at it. Targets were 139 and 207, so not overly far either.









Stage 9:

I made a bad decision here. I'd planned on using a skeet choke for a wide spread, but I let a couple of people in the squad talk me into using the IC choke which would have allowed me to take the clay's down range near the barrel from the start box. That however was never my plan, and considering that I planned on going down range anyhow, I should have stuck with the skeet choke. In fact I do believe that the gentlemen who won the stage (he was on my squad) used the same plan I had, and the skeet choke. Not saying I'd have done that, but I had a plan that was not suited to my set-up, and to top it off, first time I've shot at flying clays like that. Time for me to add that to my practice sessions.










Summary:


I'm not going to sugar coat it, it was not a very good match for me, I fought gear issues, mental issues, and some sight issues, and honestly I'm responsible for the first two. I should have taken the time and effort to know how to zero my rifle without help before the match, and do the same with the pistol, which would have prevented me from shooting so low the first day.  Mentally, sure I made some mistakes, and some of them I'll improve on just with experience, and that's okay.

Sights, well, my rifle is a struggle, and I really want to like shooting it, but I think I have my biggest and quickest gains to make in the sport by actually gaining some semblance of rifle skills, and improving my accuracy. If I do that, my scores will go up quite a bit. Still a ton of practice to get competitive, and pistol and shotgun need work too, but not even close to the same level as my rifle.

While I'm disappointed, I also had a great time with an awesome squad, and I'm looking forward to the next match, and coming back here in 2017, and showing some serious improvement.

X-Treme Bullets Texas 3-Gun Championship (Day 2)

X-Treme Bullets Texas 3-Gun Championship (Day 2)




I'm never ceased to be amazed by the shooting community, 3-Gunners specifically today. I'm in another great squad, some excellent shooters like Nate Staskiewicz, Jay Carillo, Mark Roth, and Joe Pitha, but some other guys who are here because they love it. Unfortunately, the only 5 of us who are left to continue on to day 3, are the 4 I mentioned, and myself. The reason I'm again impressed though, is that this morning when I arrived, I ran into Dillen Easley in the parking lot, and told him about the magazine issues I was having. He reached into his bag and handed me 5 magazines, told me to go ahead and run them, and just return them to him at the end of match. I know that might sound like a small thing to people who don't shoot, but at about $125 a magazine, that's $600 of magazines he trusted to someone he doesn't know that well, and who was not even on his squad. In addition, I mentioned that my pistol was shooting low (part of the reason I'd struggled on the first day with it.) He lent me his Real Avid 1911 Pistol Tool which is what I needed to get in, and adjust my rear sight. I took it over to the pistol bay and made the adjustment I needed, and after a few clicks, moved my group up about the 2" it was shooting low. It made a world of difference today. Short version? Pay it forward, help the next guy out, because this community really pulls together. That's not something you see all that often.



Stage 4:

I'll start with the bad, I had issues inserting the magazine into the rifle, and that's the 2nd time this match it happened (it happened a 3rd later) but considering how much time I'm losing on the clock, I need to get this addressed and find out exactly why this is happening. Got my hits, struggled a bit with it, and it's obvious to me that getting more time with the rifle will help me, but if I want to improve in 3-Gun, this will be the single largest thing I can do to get better.

When I started with the shotgun, I again forgot to take the safety off, again, something I've done a few times, and it indicates to me that I just need practice, and more repetitions. I also had an issue where I forgot my stage plan and went the wrong way after I grounded the pistol, oh man....

I did however run the shotgun like a boss, I had a remarkable amount of doubles on the double Texas Star, I ran the pistol well, transitioned well, and had great hits. First signs of life in the past 2 days that things could start to go my way, and suddenly, with running magazines, I feel like I'm going to be automatic with my pistol again, I love building that confidence.










Stage 5:

Sometimes things just come together. and for me, this stage was my highlight of the day, even though it was not "perfect". I nailed the pistol, got all my hits, total confidence on the mini-IPSC targets. Sighting in the gun to hit where I expect it to hit was huge for me. I handled the pistol pretty damn well I thought, then I got to the rifle, had a couple of make-up shots, but it was not awful. After the 2nd miss on the longer steel (139 yards) I took a breath, re-focused and got the last 2. Going forward I hope I just keep going and "get it", but did what I needed to do. Closing with shotgun should have been good, but my one mistake caused me some big problems. For some reason after the slugs, I planned to re-load, but I ended up shooting the first knock down plate. After loading, that left me one round less than I planned, and sure enough, I ran it cleanly, but came up one round short. Once that happened, I went to reload, closed the bolt, remembered the match saver, went back to reload, and overall cost myself over 10 seconds. Dumb mistake, that won't happen again, and I will practice reloading using the match saver, that's what it's there for, and I hesitate using it because I'm slow with it, and I have not practiced it.













Stage 6:

The long range stage of the day, and the match, and I blew it....again. I struggled on the slugs, not sure why I did not hit, and that's the worst part. Got the close in pistol and rifle, but had issues with the clay's that were thrown. Don't start me on the long range either. I managed to take shot at all but one of the 400's. Again, rifle bites me in the ass, and it's going to take me a lot of rounds to do this, even prone, and gun braced, I felt like I had a hard time keeping steady. Yes, the wind did not help (another shooter told me aimed left of every plate), but honestly that's not the reason I struggled, it'll take time...that's all..













Stage 7:

Whew, not the way I wanted to end my day. We can start with the fact that could not properly sling my rifle, that hurt and cost me time. (Guess that's something else that I need to practice too.) Pistol had more make-up shots than I'd like, it was late, I was tired, and that's a bummer. Loading the shotgun from a bucket was not a lot of fun. Then we get to rifle, I was bound and determined to nail this, and I just could not get a rhythm going. I switched to two power one set of targets too soon, my plan was to switch after the big tree you can see. Why did that cost me? I entirely forgot to shoot at the last array, and had to absorb another 90 seconds in penalty for that.

There is a lot going on in 3-Gun, but that's kind of an excuse, I just did not have the stage plan firmly in my head, I let myself get frazzled by slinging the rifle wrong, and I let things go downhill. This stage was no harder than Stage 5, and I blew it.








Summary:

It was great to see Linda and Lauren come out to the range. I loved their Korked Baseball shirts, with their motivational message. Apparently the APD Marksmanship page liked it as well, because they took pictures of Linda and Lauren for their Facebook page, and wanted to talk to them. Besides being able to share some of the highs (Stage 5) and lows (6 and 7) with them, it was nice to hear Linda want to ask the RO's to go shoot a little at the end of a couple of stages. I think she realizes that she can do this, it's just a matter of going out there and doing it, along with committing to some practice. She does that she'll end up doing pretty well.


For me, it's about what I should have expected, and being honest I really ran Stage 5 pretty well, and that gives me some confidence that I can repeat that in other stages, and other matches, as long as I'm willing to put in some work. I shot things clean, the guns ran great, it's just a matter of consistently putting it together, and that will come in time.

I'm definitely more enthusiastic than I was on Friday night, and I realize that with patience and practice I'll get better. Damn, I really had a great time today!

X-Treme Bullets Texas 3-Gun Championship (Day 1)

X-Treme Bullets Texas 3-Gun Championship (Day 1)



The lesson I learned today, is that I need to know how to do things for myself. If you are not 100% sure of your gear, or depend on someone else to help, you will pay the price. I had been shooting a little high with the AR, and yesterday when I went to walk stages, I headed to the range early with some folks, and asked one of the to zero my rifle to make sure that my being high was not "user error". At 50 yards he was about an inch high and to the right, he handed me back the rifle and told me that as long as I knew my holds, I'd be fine. Maybe I'm wrong, but if I'm using the Strelok App it assumes that my rifle is zeroed dead center, so no way for me to know my holds if the rifle is not properly zeroed. If I'm wrong, hope someone let's me know....

That's an inauspicious start to the day, but my issues on my first stage were entirely my own fault, and I don't believe had anything to do with the way my rifle was zeroed.

Stage 10:

A fairly straight forward type of stage, but I went down on the wrong place on the platform, and could not hit the 2 long steel. I was able to hit the 3 steel at about 130 yards, but had my typical "fish eye" problems, meaning my face was not in the right place on the stock, and I never saw or shot the 2 longer steel at 307 yards. Huge penalty (20 seconds each) for not hitting them, plus penalty for not engaging them.

In addition, the targets were so tight, some nearly on top of each other, with perhaps 5% of an "A" zone showing, I dug myself a hole and took some misses. Again, my fault on the rifle, something that I can't let happen tomorrow when I go out to 400 yards. Tonight I'm going to spend another 20 minutes or so in dry fire making sure I get proper cheek weld, and can see.

Don't watch this video if you are faint of heart, you'll see some serious stuggle.






Stage 1:

I was excited about this stage, I thought it promised to get my match going. That said, I was nervous about the rifle, because the first 5 targets were mini-IPSC targets, I had 2 misses on one, and only 1 hit on a second target, and things were not going well. I expected to do well on the slugs, but I'll be honest, I blew it, I did not line up my sights like I did in practice and I paid the price.

The first pistol target was a hard shot, it was a head shot at about 20 yards with no shoot all around it. I put the first shot into a no-shoot before getting it, and my pistol is shooting about an inch lower than I'm used to. Again, on me, but I tried to adjust it, and I think the Black Nitride locked the adjustment up, so that's another thing that has to go back to Hayes Custom Gun and be looked then.

The biggest issue was that either the gun was struggling with 124 grain factory ammo, or I was having mag issues, or both. I suspect the 124 grain factory was the bigger issue and that's why I was going single shot. In addition, the guy who was helping tune the mags, I'm not sure he knew what to take off (I definitely did not) and mags were going salt shaker, and not feeding. With an all pistol stage ahead, this was a disaster waiting to happen.







Stage 2:

Pistol! Something I know, and like. These were tough shots, one side was 4" steel plates at about 20 yards, the other side was 4"x 10" high plates. I knew the gun was shooting low for my normal sight picture, so I was prepared to adapt, and while I did not do great, I was happier with this part than anything else to date in the match. While loading mags, we noticed that all mags were salt shaker, so we tried to fix 2, and then I borrowed 2 from another shooter. I ran his mags first with the Fiocchi 115 grain ammo, and had no feed or eject issues, which felt really good. When I got down to the end though, I had to go to my mags, and the first one went salt shaker, and I had to drop it, and I ended up running out of ammo before I was done.

Bottom line, I took way too many make-up shots, small steel at that distance is no joke, and it's something I can, and will practice going forward.








Stage 3:

Finally something kind of went my way. To start with, I nailed both flying clays, which made me feel good, but I left a clay on the wheel rather than drop in my match saver or reload and get it. Probably not a good decision on my part, but I'd rather say the bad decision was missing 3 times before that, and I know why I missed. There were 2 longer arms on the wheel, and I kept my shotgun in place to ambush as they clays came by, but that meant that I would miss a long one, and if I were to move it, I'd miss the next, which I did. Gotta say, prime reason to keep up with the cardio and working out, right there, the rifle run!


Other than that, got all my hits on the stage, again a ton of make ups on the steel, especially on the plate rack. I was shooting low again, and what I need to do is adjust the rear sight, if I do that then I don't have do anything else, so not having the gear set-up right is really killing me.









Summary:


After I shot Stage 1, I was ready to go home I as so down, and no matter how much I was telling myself that it was okay, and I just needed to shoot, it was hard to buy into that. Stage 3 started, and stage 4 built some confidence. After Stage 4, I hit the zero range, and zeroed the rifle at 50 yards, so tomorrow for the long range I'll stand a chance of getting my hits. It's a hard lesson to know that your gear is not right, and I'm not sure if I'm going to have to borrow pistol mags for the rest of the match, or if Hayes has some inventory of MBX, and I'd buy a couple.

Great squad, fun to be shooting 3-Gun, finally, with Jay Carillo. He's the guy who tried talking me into 3-Gun from about the time that I started shooting USPSA, it may have taken a few years, but now I'm doing it.


Tomorrow I'll bring my best, some fun and interesting stages, I really want to nail my shotgun work, and do far better on the long range rifle. I'm intimidated because I've had more failure at it than success, but I can do this. I will do this. I'd like to believe that tomorrow is the day I'll start to get better at this.

2016 Gear

2016 Gear


I'm not a sponsored shooter, and I don't have people knocking down my door wanting to hand me free items to use them, and make the product look good. I've spent time trying, and picking out gear that is reliable, functional, and does exactly what I need it to do. Shooting is not a cheap sport to participate in, its not the gun that is costly, no matter how big that number is, it ends up being one of the lower costs when you start to compare it to ammo, match fee, travel expense, and extra training if that's what you end up doing. I know that there were plenty of cheaper options out there for gear, but not wanting to repeat a beginning shooting mistake, and buy a ton of different guns, and waste a ton of money finding something, this time I decided to "buy once, cry once." Spend the money on something that works for me, and that I won't be looking to replace anytime in the near future.




USPSA:

This year I'm going to be running in the Single Stack Division, I took some time to look at several different options, but decided to run the Dan Wesson Pointman Nine. Dan Wesson (Owned by CZ) has a rep for building a great gun, it's not a custom gun, but it's about as close as you are going to get with a production made gun.

Dan Wesson PM-9

The Single Stack design keeps me with a similar platform to the 2011, so I have some commonality with my 3-Gun pistol. Hayes Custom gun did a tune-up, and trigger job, I added the Dawson magwell, VZ grips, and changed out to a .90 Dawson front fiber sight. The plan is to run Wilson Combat 10 round mag's, but I've had some early issues with them, while I believe I have a solution in place, I need to test it on a couple of magazines. This is one amazing handgun, smooth, flat shooting, and a minimal recoil, it's an Alpha machine, and if I ever get myself together, I'll be able to show that.

I'm still going to run my Ghost 360 Mag Pouch w/1911 Insert in order to keep using my old Production rig. With the addition of a Bladetech holster to the BSPS BOSS Holster my rig is set, and ready to go.


3-Gun Gear:

Pistol

Hayes Custom Gun 6" Sight tracker

The "Alpha" Pistol in my safe these days, is a brand new, Hayes Custom Gun 6" Sight Tracker that just came home. The order was originally going to be for a .40 Limited Gun, but when I got into 3-Gun last year, I decided to switch the order to a 9mm, which allowed me to reload only one caliber. It would have meant shooting Limited Minor in USPSA, and that's why I made the call to shoot this season in the Single Stack Division.

HCG 6"

Personally I think it's some of Ben Hayes finest work, he told me it's the best looking 6" that he has done. Phoenix Trinity frame and aluminum aggressive grip. Ben sandblasted the grip just a little bit for me to remove a bit of texture, but left it with the perfect grip for me. The trigger breaks at a very crisp 1.6 lbs, it has minimal reset and almost no over-travel, it's flat shooting, ridiculous accurate, and is very easy to shoot at the small steel, long range plate racks, and far steel that you see in 3-Gun. This gun was worth every penny, and will be the pride of my collection for a very long time.

It's going to run a lot of this brass!

HCG 6" Sight Tracker & Dan Wesson PM-9

Rifle:

HCG 18" Custom AR

Once again, I went to Hayes Custom Gun for my AR. Last fall they were the choice when Linda got her AR. I found out pretty quick that AR's are not quite "one size fit's all". I realize that I could have put in a lot of time in practice with Linda's AR, but I had some significant issues with eye relief, and I had a very hard time getting a consistent cheek weld. In short, I lost confidence with the AR in very short order, post Fallen Brethren, and this year I decided that I wanted to run something that fit me. My stock is a Luth AR MBA-1 which gave me a little extra cheek height, and a little longer stock, which has helped me with my eye relief issue. In addition, I'm getting a consistent cheek weld, every single time. The stock is tan, because that's the stock that I won at Fallen Brethren, I may cerakote it down the road, but right now it's a reminder that 3-Gun Prize tables do have some decent prizes, and even someone who did not shoot a good match can win something worthwhile.

On top of my AR I'm running a Vortex Razor HD Gen 2 1-6x24 w/JM Reticle, I looked at both the Leupold VX-6, and the Swarovski Z6i as possibilites. The Leupold had the same old eye relief issues I'd experienced in the past, and the Swaro is a great scope, but it was nearly twice as much as the Vortex. Better? Yes, but I can't quantify it, and for my dollar, the Vortex, and it's amazing eye relief were a great fit for me.

I'm most nervous about rifle in 3-Gun, but this week I've developed some confidence in my AR. Now it's going to be a matter of learning the dope, and my hold overs. Since this is my AR, and I have all season to get used to it, I expect that by October I'll be able to have a much better grasp, and not have to write distances and holds on my arm for long range stages!


Shotgun:

HCG Benelli M2

As you may have guessed, I went back to Hayes Custom Gun for this 24" Benelli M2 with 12 round Nordic extended mag, using Carlson chokes. Aaron is member of Team Benelli so with him doing the work, and essentially teaching me shotgun, you would not expect anything else. The reality is, that we looked at other options, but the ease of operation, and reliability of the Benelli made it worth the investment. The last thing I wanted was to spend $300 on a match entry,plus hotel, food, travel and ammo for a match, and have a shotgun that did not run, which eliminated a couple right off the bat.

This is actually Linda's shotgun, which she is graciously sharing with me. Since the shotgun seems to fit both of us, I did not see a reason to go out and get a second one at this time. Doing the customization, and loading port work is not cheap, and again, did we really need a duplicate? I'd consider a 26" gun with a 14 round tube in the future, in part because I could use that better shooting clay's and dove hunting, which are things several work customers are interested in.

We did have a rear sight installed, and I think it was a very wise decision, the gun shoots slugs like lasers, and I have a ton of confidence in the gun. I'm going to have to spend a lot more time with it, and work on things like loading bird and buck together as needed, but being honest, I love shotgun, and I love the Benelli.

I'm using Invictus Practical Rack 12 caddies. Actually, I've got a couple of the Rack 12, 4 8Q caddies, and 4 4Q caddies. They aren't all mine, they are split evenly with Linda. I tried Taccom caddies, and found them to have so much retention that it was nearly impossible to grab shells consistently. I know a lot of folks like them, but they just were not for me. I borrowed a set of Carbon Arms caddies, and really liked them, but again, just a hair more retention that I wanted, and it was hard for me to get clean grabs. Invictus have solid retention, and make for a very easy and consistent grab that makes a lot of sense for me, who is just learning to quad load.

Invictus owner, Kevin Pratt also came thru for me. Getting ready for X-Treme, I did not have a chest rig, and I would need it because there is a 48 round stage in the match. He did not have inventory, for a chest rig, and the second Rack 12, but he communicated his expected "in stock" date for parts, let me know that they came in, rushed me to the front of the list, and shipped my order on a Saturday. That is going absolutely above and beyond in terms of customer service.


Ammo:

Pistol, I'm running my own reloads, which right now is 3.8 grains of Bullseye (until it's gone and I switch to Titegroup) with Xtreme 124 grain JHP plated bullets. This gave me about a 128 PF out of the Dan Wesson, and I still need to chrono with the HCG 6". Accuracy has been solid, but more testing is needed.


Rifle. 55 grain PMC brass is going to be the standard match ammo that I'll run. It doesn't take advantage of the 1:7 barrel twist, but it's been consistent, it's reasonably cheap, and I've got a few thousand rounds of it. For long range stages, I'm running Fiocchi Exacta 77 grain ammo with Sierra Match King Bullets. That ammo ran great last year, and I fully expect the same results again this year.

Shotgun I'm running Fiocchi Low Recoil (1145 FPS) slugs which have performed exceptionally well even at longer distances. For now I'm going to finish up some Remmington Gun club birdshot (1200 FPS) that I bought while breaking in the gun. The gun runs it very well, and it's not low recoil, but it's very manageable. I am sitting on several cases of Winchester Light Target Load (1145 FPS) which I anticipate being able to run once the Gun Club ammo is gone, and the gun is fully broken in.


Summary:

HCG Custom Benelli M2 and AR

HCG 6" Sight Tracker and Dan Wesson PM-9

The gear far exceeds my ability. I could probably achieve similar results with a Glock, a JM 930 Shotgun, and a Bushmaster AR. With all that said, it's top notch gear that will make my life easier, and if I will never question the reliability. Huge things that mattered to me, so that peace of mind is worth something to me. It's a bit of a quality of life issue, with my gear all set, now I can focus on ammo, practice, and other things.

Really looking forward to the 2016 season!

Sunday Funday

Sunday Funday

Headed out to Copperhead Creek today to get some work with the AR and with my shotgun. While I spent time getting the new AR dialed in on some longer range targets last weekend, this weekend I wanted to do some work in the tactical bays. 100 yards and in, making sure it was hitting where I was aiming, as well as doing some very short range work focusing on speed and transitions. Sub 7 yards, from a low ready, two shots, transition to a second target about 3' away, and 2 more shots. The goal was all 4 shots, good hits in sub 1.4 seconds. I think my best runs had me between 1.17 to 1.27, I had a few slower runs (1.37-1.48) where I had better hits on the second target. Just having to get 2 on paper though means the speed was better, and this was really about me knowing how to pull the trigger fast on short targets.

Great Shot With the Brass Flying

Things went well, I need to remember that at 100 yards I need to aim a little higher, and that will matter for smaller steel, but once again, felt good to run some rounds, know that the gun is running right, and is ready for next weekend.

Linda Tries My Rifle

We did not bring Linda's rifle with, so she took a crack at it with my AR. While I suffer with her gun feeling too short for me, and my having inconsistent cheek weld, leading to issues with her scope, she found that my AR is not "one size fits all". She found my AR to be heavier, she was not a fan of the Luth AR stock, because it made the gun too long (we did not adjust it for her, we left it where it was set right for me.) Although she did like my scope, she did notice how much clearer and sharper the glass is on the Razor compared to her Strike Eagle.

Blue Skies & Reloads

When I started on quad loading last weekend, my first few times were around 12 seconds to go from shoulder, reload 8, and get the gun shouldered and trigger pulled for next round. As I spent time working at it, I found that the key for me to start shaving time was a consistent grip on the shells. If I get them out of the caddy cleanly, then I had far less issue with the load. Within a fairly short amount of time I had my reloads down to about 8.2 seconds, which made me fairly happy, knowing that I pulled off almost 4 seconds. I asked the question to a couple of pro's, and the answer I got was that I should be able to load 8 in 4-5 seconds if I want to be competitive. That's pretty big, so I can see I have more work ahead of me, but from here on in, I'm going to try to start dropping a second or so every couple of weeks, until I can get into the 4-6 area, staying consistent. 

I found that the biggest issue I had was that the third round I'd try to load (first round on the 2nd set) was one where I would continually short stroke the load, and would lose the round because I was already thinking about going back to my belt to make the next grab. That's a matter of practice and consistency, but I'll definitely have to beat that.

Linda Works Shotgun

The Fiocchi low recoil (1145 FPS) slugs run great out of my gun, straight as can be, it was like shooting a laser. It took me a few round to understand my hold, and how the sight should look at 80+ yards, but the gun actually shot great "groups" and is incredibly consistent. I know some folks say the 26" is better for slugs, but that's almost hard to believe considering how good my 24" really is. 

Linda tried out some of the "old" Federal slugs we had stocked up on, (1600 FPS and 1300 FPS) and it took her about one round of each to hate them, and realize that she wanted nothing to do with them. For her, those slugs were everything that she hates about the shotgun, but when she made the switch to the Fiocchi, she had control, and found that shooting slugs was not a big deal, and she absolutely could handle it.

A Good Day

I still need to do some pistol work with the new 6" and change the spring, and I need to go out and shoot a round or two of clay's this week, because that will be something new for me, but I feel more comfortable than I did a few weeks ago, and I'm starting to really enjoy these guns. The more time I spend with them, the better I think I'll be, and even a little work goes a long way, if I stay consistently working, I think we'll see some steady (even if it's slow) progress, and that's exactly what I'm looking for this season.

It's been 8 days since I decided to get back on the horse, and get going again. Here's the list of what I've done:

Range Visits: 

• Long Range Rifle/AR Sight-In
• USPSA Match (Shot Single Stack)
• Tactical Bay (Shotgun Slugs/AR Bay Practice)

Dry Fire Practice:

• 3 Pistol Practice (20 minutes each) Transition, reload, white wall sight picture
• 2 Shotgun Reloading Sessions (15 minutes each) 
• 1 AR session, determining which mag's work for me prone. (15 minutes) 

General:

• 3 Recumbent Bike sessions 20-30 minutes each 5-7 miles each.
• 2 20-Minute workout's on the Bowflex

I know I can't keep this pace up, and I know that I can't suddenly develop skill overnight, but I want maximum prep before the X-treme Bullets 3-Gun match next weekend. It's not just being safe, it's being comfortable. No illusions on how I will do, but I'd like to feel competent for this match, and I know that in 6 months I'll be in a far better place than I am today. One step at a time, and I'll start to find a rhythm that works for me. 

Some of the most fun I've had in a long time. I wonder if I was letting things eat me up, because other than some 3-Gun, I just did not have the same great time shooting last year that I had before that. I attribute some of that to feeling like it was work, and the desire to perform at a higher level, with not making the commitment to achieve those goals. Can't have one without the other, but now that I accept my skill level, and I'm starting to take positive steps? I'm having fun again, and I'll get there...

APSC Special Classifier Match 4-2-16

APSC Special Classifier Match 4-2-16



First USPSA match in 6 months, the last one I shot was Oilfield Classic in September of last year, and this was the first time for me to break out the Dan Wesson PM-9 and compete in the Single Stack division. With very little committed practice until this past week, I did not have high expectations, and for once, I was okay with that. The basic goal was to just get classified, but it was also to get back into the swing of things in terms of basic match skills. I needed to hear the buzzer, feel a little bit of pressure, and get used to the 1911. Call this part of what started this week, a test of where I'm at, what I've lost, and what I need to work on.

I had issues for 4 of the 6 stages with the Wilson Combat ETM magazines, as in they would not strip the top round, so most times, I'd get one round off before the gun would not return to battery. Big league struggle that about had me wanting to pitch the gun, the mags, or myself into the berm. Officer W. Moore hooked me up with a couple of Dawson Precision Mag's with Tripp Followers, and all of a sudden, everything ran fine. Because the big thing for me was to get classed, I paid an extra $10 ($5 per stage) and re-shot 2 stages, just so I could have a "number" get sent in to USPSA. Not a practice I endorse generally for any reason, but right or wrong, I justified it this time.

No amazing runs, in fact most runs were generally "C" class, I took more time than I needed to get hits, and I can see where my transitions have slipped.

Overall stats:

33 Alpha
2 Bravo
16 Charlie
4 Delta
9 Mike

Those numbers are  definitely skewed by the stages where I took mikes because I could not complete the course of fire because of gun issues, and going forward I know the 33/16 ratio of Alpha/Charlie is something that has to improve, but again, this is the starting place, it will only get better from here as I get back into the practice groove.

Bang & Clang: 7.025 HF
Fluffy's Revenge 2: 6.46 HF
Fast n Furious: 4.58 HF
Melody Line: 3.92 HF
Six Chickens: 3.54 HF
Golden Bullet Standards: 0.05 HF (7 Mikes because I could not finish the stage)

Melody Line:



Here's the thing, when the gun ran well, it shoots remarkably flat. The more I shoot with it, the more confidence I'll build. Absolutely love the gun, and now it's just a matter of getting the magazines set-up properly and it should be smooth sailing ahead.

I'll be classed "C" when it's all said and done, and honestly that reflects where I'm at right now. I'm not fixated on earning my "B" or "A" or anything right now. As I practice, I'll improve all the fundamental skills, and with that, the classification will improve on it's own. I'm not going to dwell on disappointment on how I shot, or how much rust is on my game, I can't change the past, but now I've got a point where I can start working.



Linda's Match

Linda is in the same boat I'm in. Little practice, and no matches since last September, plus she ran my new Hayes Custom 6" gun today so she could get classified in Limited since she plans on shooting that division from now on. For me, with the 1911, at least I'm familiar with the platform, so it's not a huge change, but she has never tried the platform, so it was all new to her, and with less than a week with the gun, and only a couple of dry fire sessions, she had an awful lot more to learn.

I think right now, today was more about running the gun, getting used to the platform, and just getting classified while she waits for Hayes Custom to build her gun. That said, her gun will be a 5", not a 6", and have a different grip, so she will have even more changes in store for her, but, again, gotta start somewhere, and start to rebuild lost skills. Bottom line, she had fun being out there again today, and the results will improve as she learns the platform.

Linda's Stats:

35 Alpha
4 Bravo
15 Charlie
4 Delta
6 Mike (4 the result of not being able to finish a stage with the ammo/spring issue)


Bang & Clang: 4.36 HF
Fluffy's Revenge 2: 5.03 HF
Fast'n Furious: 1.33 HF (We found the new gun needed a different spring, would not run reloads)
Melody Line: 3.48 HF (Best Finish 10/18 Division 29th of 50)
Six Chickens: 0.00 HF (4 Mikes....)
Golden Bullet Standards: 2.09 HF

She had one "C" class run, and the other's high "D's", again, not great, but she walked away feeling better than expected after her hiatus. Same deal as me, she will be classed, and she has a place to start, and get back into the game this spring and summer.

Six Chickens:






Fluffy's Revenge:





Bang & Clang:




This was her first run of the day, first live rounds from the gun, having only run a single mag thru my .40 2011 Edge last spring. So this was all new for her, and honestly I thought I might not get my gun back from her, while she loved it, she admits that she will prefer the 5" she has coming for her own than the 6". I get it, but we'll see if she feels once she shoots 100 yard steel in a 3-Gun match!

Summary:

About what you would expect from having taken extended time off. Skills are perishable, and there is no reason to cry about it. It was fun to get out and shoot, and it did rekindle some love of the sport, it also gave me some purpose to my practice. I'm anxious to get back to practice, and I'll keep a running update of it via blog this year, partly as a visual display that I'm doing exactly what I committed to doing.

In any case.....Xtreme Bullet's 3-Gun match next Friday/Saturday/Sunday out at Marble Falls, so the next week will be dedicated to getting some shotgun and rifle practice in, while swapping out springs on the 2011 so I can run my reloads. Again, no huge, and high hopes for the match, I want to complete it, and that will be Step 1 for 2016 3-Gun.

Let's revisit this in October when my major season wraps up, and we can see exactly how far I have come, and how committed I have stayed.