CZ Circle Complete

CZ Circle Complete


Linda got her CZ SP-01 back from Automatic Accuracy today, and she is pretty happy with the work that they did. I won't say we saved a ton of money buying the stock SP-01 and getting work done on it, it was a few hundred cheaper than the Shadow, but a few hundred here, and a few hundred there, and we're talking real money, no? Yes, savings are good!

So what are the big differences? The Shadow trigger is hands down better, it's crisp, the short trigger reset makes a huge difference, it's a longer reset with the SP-01, and a little mushy, but the double action pull might even be lighter than my already broken in Shadow pull is, and that's a feat in and of itself. I assumed it was simply salesmanship when they told me that they loved how the trigger came out. They were not kidding.

For both Linda and I, no excuses, GM caliber guns and equipment, we'll go as far as we are willing to put work in to succeed. I was happy to dry fire again today, and it was nice that Linda had her own gun to do some work with as well. Friday is some live fire, more classifier work for me, but Linda is going to work her own ball and dummy drills, and see where she is with her flinch, and hopefully she'll have it under control.

Short blog for today, I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves again. Linda's SP-01 with the red aluminum grips, my SP-01 Shadow, and the green P-01. Remarkable how we are fully in the CZ camp now. I suspect that since I had an early blog about my choice to shoot Walther, I'll have to update, and do a blog in the future about why we are choosing to shoot CZ, and why we'll be there for an awful long time.

Good times!

Matt Mink Class Upcoming

Matt Mink Class Upcoming

I'd always planned on taking a couple of classes with other instructors in 2014, once I had completed the "Plan B" training with Les. Hearing different voices is a good thing, I may hear something from someone else that sticks, and they may watch my a little differently. I'd had an idea of attending a joint Matt Mink and Ben Stoeger class down in Springfield Illinois in March, but the class had filled up. I contacted Matt, and set-up a class, up here at Alpha Range May 3rd and 4th. Herb, Mr. Alpha Range, was willing to set aside the weekend for the class, and I appreciate his making this happen.

We've got a good agenda planned, one day with heavy skills and drills work, a second day with a MISS Match in the morning where Matt will coach us as we shoot the stages, and then we'll watch him shoot at the end of the squad, this should be beneficial for many of us. We'll close out the day with a review, and a plan for the individual shooters with items to focus on and work on. Should be about 1,000 rounds per student, which is some serious shooting! Thanks to Les for coming up with an agenda, and being willing to schedule a full MISS match, not just a mini-practice match. Both Herb and Les absolutely rock!

Matt Mink is a good guy, who not only runs Automatic Accuracy where I purchased my Shadow, my P-01, and where Linda sent her SP-01 in for work on Monday, he is also an amazingly accomplished shooter, who does not receive nearly the attention he deserves for his accomplishments:

Matt Mink Bio

Matt started his shooting career at the age of 5, plinking cans with his Grandfather in the yard with a .22 rifle. The interest in firearms was always there, but it wasn't until he started competing in the late 90's that a new hobby was born.  As Matt grew into a better shooter, CZ-USA took notice and enlisted his talents as one of their top tier competition shooters in 2004. He started for CZ-USA with a CZ 75B and now favors the CZ 75 SP-01 Custom/Shadow for USPSA and the Dan Wesson PM 7/PM 9 for IDPA competitions.  As a shooter, Matt is entirely self taught and is now known as one of the top IDPA, and top USPSA Production shooters in the US with a strong focus on accuracy and fundamentals.

Accomplishments

• World Shoot XVI 2011 Greece - Production 3rd overall & member of 1st Place US Mens Production Team.
• World Shoot XV 2008 Bali - Production 2nd overall & member of 1st Place US Mens Production Team.
• 2011 US IPSC  Nationals - US Production National Champion
• 2009 US IPSC Nationals - US Production National Champion
• 2006 IDPA Nationals  - CDP National Champion
• 2006 Area 6 Champion - Production Champion
• 6 Time Area 4 Production Champion
• Numerous State, Section, and Regional Wins

Obviously Matt is an exceptionally accomplished shooter, and I look forward to the opportunity to train with him for a couple of days and see if I can take learn, and help improve my game further. He'll be the 2nd Grand Master shooter I'll have a chance to study from.

Class slots are $325, with a maximum of 14 students. Interested folks can register here.

I'm hoping to take a second class at the end of the season, to give me a list of things that I can work on headed into the winter season. Most folks up this way have taken a class with Ben Stoeger, and there is a Bob Vogel class this is local this year, but the cost is pretty steep, and he is trying to balance tactical and competition. That one sold out pretty quick because Bob is big name shooter, but for my dollar, the Matt Mink class is right for me at this time.

CZ SP-01 Shadow Initial Impressions

CZ Initial Impressions


I'm not really sure where to start, other than my initial impression is that I'm not sure I want to shoot anything other than a CZ ever again. Sure, I know that's crazy talk, but I'm utterly blown away by just about everything with the CZ SP-01 Shadow. First of all, huge props to Matt Mink and his crew at Automatic Accuracy for custom building me not just a gun, but a work of art. At one point I had an order in with CZ Custom, but in order for them to install the STRS, they wanted to ship me the gun, have me ship it back, and then install. I understand that it has to do with an agreement they have with CZ-USA, but as a customer, if I'm willing to pay the money, I want what I want, and I don't want to have to pay three times for shipping.

The AA Sales Manager, Mark McArthur is one patient guy, and we spent a lot of time on the phone, me asking questions, him patiently answering them. If anyone was considering a CZ, I'd steer them hard to Automatic Accuracy, simply because they built a gun for me, just the way I wanted. I picked out which specific trigger style I wanted, the size of the safety, and grips. It should surprise nobody that this gun fits my hand perfectly. At the same time I was ordering, both Terry and Les had orders in (Les for 3 guns), and I know we tried the AA patience, but those guys were amazing. The adventures in getting it done are blog worthy, but they are one of those things that I'm going to keep private between the three of us (and Kozy) and we'll share a laugh or two.


Coming from a 4" light, striker fired, polymer gun, there are no words for me to describe my time with the CZ. My first hundred or so rounds shocked me. The PPQ has some muzzle flip, and I need to grip to really take charge of the recoil. The CZ's extra weight manages that to an extreme, and the gun has no muzzle flip, and seemingly no recoil, the slide simply cycles back and forth, enabling me to keep my eyes on the sight, and get off rapid shots, with accuracy. In slow fire, the PPQ can put some great groups together, but the further away from the target, the slower I have to go, to keep a sight picture, and get hits. I did runs of 10 round head shots from 15 and 20 yards with the CZ, and I had 1" to 2" groups, as fast as I could pull the trigger.

Single targets are one thing, but in this sport, it's transitions. I ran a couple of El Pres with Kozy, and my times were slower than with the PPQ, and I'm going to attribute that to a couple of things, mostly a slow draw to first shot, and reload. In a reload drill I'm faster, but doing El Pres, I tried to do what comes naturally, which is find the release on the paddle, CZ is button. My groups were tighter, than with the PPQ, and I did have one miss, and we'll get to that next. The CZ being heavier forced me to drive the gun to targets, which is a benefit.

This is what the SRTS is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbYQlTrhAc0

Striker fire guns like the PPQ are great, because each and every trigger pull is the same. The CZ is a Double/Single Action, so it has a long, and harder first pull. The CZ has about a 6.5 lb first pull right now, but it's the length that is a challenge. It's definitely harder for me to keep the sights from moving on this pull, so first shots are going to be an issue, that's where I had my miss on El Pres. By contrast the PPQ has about a 5.5 lb pull each and every time I pull it. The guys at AA tell me that once I get the gun broken in, that first pull should get down in the range of just under 6 lbs. The single action pull is about 2.5 lbs right now, and once it's broken in, should get just a touch under 2lbs.

There's no doubt in my mind the potential in with this gun, and it does not come with a "B" card in the case. I'm going to have some serious adjustments to make to learn the pull, build the muscle memory on the reload, and on the draw, but the actual act of shooting is infinitely easier. Les made the comment that good gear supports good habits, and will help, never has that been made so clear to me. My SP-01 Shadow is set-up for competitive shooting, there is no doubt about that. It's not set-up to be carried, or as a home defense gun, it's purely for sport, and in that role, it will excel.

I'd like to shoot like Matt Mink

I think everyone who knows me knows that I love my Walthers. One of my first blogs was about why I choose to shoot Walther. Right now I am feeling some disgust with how I shot my PPQ last night, and I know it's not the gun's fault, it's strictly mine, but if someone made me an offer for my PPQ, I'd sell it outright, and go buy a CZ-P01 from Mink and company to replace the PPQ. It's similar sized, but has the same manual of arms that my SP-01 Shadow has.

I really want this guy

No gun is going to make me a B, or better shooter, only hard work, and practice is going to do that. This gun however I think makes it easier on me. I spent a bundle on it, and right now I think it's worth every penny. Once I have my skills together, I'll be a more competitive shooter.

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