Pine Tree & Zombies
How’s that for a Sunday morning? Linda and I went out to Rockford to shoot the Pine Tree Pistol USPSA match, and
after it was over we hustled back to McHenry and Alpha Range
Our squad today started out on Stage 3, and I’ll attach the
video so you can see what I’m describing. In watching the video, I was not
terribly impressed with what I did, although I had some solid hits, and I
actually had a Production Division stage win, my first ever production stage win. When I can say I finished ahead of a Grandmaster shooter, you know it’s
more that they chumped it up, than it was me shooting exceptionally well. It's not a stage win against everyone, but considering where I was six months ago, I'll be proud of it, gotta take small victories and progress where I can. I had a good plan, and I left about 3 seconds on the table on the two back swingers,
you can see me waiting to “ambush” them, but I was fast enough, and accurate.
There was a mild dispute with the R.O. when we found one swinger had 6 holes in
it, meaning it had not been pasted, and he tried to give me two D’s. I was
pretty lit up because the D’s were large holes, and the shooter before me had
been scored with 2 D’s, and had taken 4 shots at the target, in addition, he
was shooting a .40 caliber, which meant his gun was making bigger holes. The
hit in the center of the A zone, and just off to the right, almost nicking the
A/C perforation were mine. I’d say it was clearly evident to anyone who was
looking at the target which holes were which, and I’d have taken a re-shoot if
I had to. This was a situation where it felt like at my “home” range, I’d have
gotten the call, but this was a 3 minute stoppage in shooting to discuss it.
Taint a stage win? Hell no, I can shoot better!
Stage 4 was my second stage, and I had some issues. It was a
fairly easy stage, but for some reason hitting the metal plates that were
attached to the baffle, was a struggle. Apparently I was hitting low, and from
a great start, I had a miserable second stage. Not much I can say, disappointed yes, did I climb back on the horse and shoot better the next few stages? Absolutely.
From Stage 4, we moved to stage 2, and then stage 1, and I
was disappointed with my runs on both. On Stage 2, I got my hits on the paper,
but I was slow and deliberate, and I struggled with the steel poppers that were
set-up high. I suspect I need to practice at that distance, but the combination
of the distance, and the height threw me, I struggled to find my front sights.
Stage 1 was the classifier, and I was good on the paper until the last shot,
where I saw my front sight was not aligned, and I hit the hard cover.
Everything else was solid, just slow. My Hit Factor of 2.6001 on Crackerjack is
a 32%, which makes me unhappy. It replaces a 23%, so that is good, but it also
is going to be on my classifier list for 7 more classifiers, so that’s kind of
a bummer. In an interesting turn around, the R.O. who had scoring issues on my
first stage thought he shot a baller classifier. However on one target he tried
to say he had a double (two shots same hole) and I loudly, and clearly told him
and the R.O. that he missed the target, and the hole was visible on the wood
next to it. He wanted his overlay measurement anyhow, and was convinced he had
the hit, on the other hand, I was pretty convinced the hole right next to the
target was his. No definite proof that he had the double, and he took the miss.
Life’s a bitch no? Normally I’d have kept my mouth shut, but when I feel
someone is trying to bend me over, then I’m going to be pretty vocal when he
missed. Shame his miss happened and spoiled a pretty solid classifier.
 |
| A Texas Star Target |
We closed on stage 5 and 6, actually shooting 6 first. I
shot it pretty well, but Kozy noticed that I’m doing okay getting into ports
and positions, but I’m slow to get out of them, not enough urgency. That’s
something I’ll have to work on going forward, but on hits alone, I felt pretty
good, and I had a solid run on the Texas Star. On stage 5, our last stage, I had
some issues. I hit one steel plate on the Star, but it did not fall off, then
on the video you can see that I hit a plate, and second went flying off. I
guess it evens out. I expected the R.O.
to call a range malfunction, I mean one shot two plates? I did lose count after that and ate some standing re-loads at the end. I won’t say inexcusable, but that
really was a rookie mistake. I’m better than that kind of mistake, and need to
eliminate it. I had some real clunkers, but I had a couple of runs that I was happy with. I'm going to take my cue from what Les said, and I'm going to forget about the bad stages, and get back out there and have fun next time. I'll practice hard, and get better. After all, this is fun stuff!
Linda had a learning experience today. She showed some
progress early on, and even if the scores did not show it, she felt pretty good
about how she was doing. There were some struggles on steel, but in all, the
first 4 stages we shot were fairly positive. I did ask for her permission to
talk about the last 2 stages, and she gave it. On Stage 5, she did the Texas
Star the hard way, starting at the bottom, and making it spin like crazy, but
she cleaned it. On Stage 6, she let her struggles with a long steel get in her
head, and it was a brutal stage for her. I've never seen her so distraught with
a stage. Kozy was nice enough to pull her aside, and tell her that he sees a
couple of little things that she can do, and that she is just “this” close to
breaking thru where she is at. Her attitude in the car on the way to Alpha
though was top notch, she admitted to being mad, and humiliated, but more than
anything, hungry. She said that she doesn't want to feel that way ever again,
and now she’s willing to commit to doing some work to improve it. For her
shooting went from a fun activity to something she wants to get better at. She’s
willing to look at her schedule and see about making some changes so she can
set aside some time at the range, and to practice. She isn't expecting to be a
GM tomorrow, but she wants to find a foundation and have some more fun. I’m
proud, and impressed, and devoutly hoping that like me, the fire is lit for
her, and this is the beginning of her obsession with the sport. She's a competitor too, so it just may be.
We hustled up to Alpha
Range
Two videos’, one of just Lauren, and one of the other kids,
Tony’s and Herb’s who got to shoot. Guns may get a bad reputation, but the truth is the sport can be enjoyed responsibly by many. I suspect some may see the video and think "irresponsible parents", or "reckless children." It is nothing of the sort, I'm proud my 7 year old daughter is intelligent enough, and responsible enough to do this safely. I'm also excited that she enjoys doing this nearly as much as I do.
This week, some dry fire on Monday, a MISS Match on
Wednesday, live fire with Dave on Saturday, and more dry fire. Off and running!
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