Getting Back In Gear
I have not been myself lately, especially shooting. For the past month or more work has been ridiculously stressful. I'm not a 9-5 worker, my phone starts ringing around 4:30 or 5 in the morning, and it can keep ringing until 8 or so at night. I had a customer tell me the reason he uses my company is because of me, he knows that if he has a problem, I make it go away. I care.
Sometimes when you really care, and you get the sense co-workers don't, or when you can't get any kind of help to solve customer issues it gets rough. In my line of work, I'm the face of the company, I'm usually the only one a customer will ever see or deal with, if something goes wrong, it's on me, even if I'm not remotely responsible. Unfair? Sure, but that's the name of the game. Add that to some VP's calling me, my managing a big project that I had 3 days to handle, which normally would be a multi-month project. Add in the upcoming interview, and potential move away from where I've lived my entire life, I've had a lot going on. I've drifted, and the stress had me physically sick, I was throwing up blood.
Family is the most important thing to me, so when the stress hit, I retreated to spending time with Linda and Lauren, and just trying to relax. What got lost was some "me" time, doing things that I love. No, I'm not saying I don't love spending time with Linda and Lauren, I do, but there is a little bit of loss of identity, and when I walk away from something I love doing, I am aware that something is missing. I could have caught shit from Kozy and Les, and rightly so, because I saw myself having some bad habits, getting worse, and not performing at my peak. It made me back away a little more, just because I did not want to disappoint them, or waste their time.
Work is still work, but I'm learning to leave the stress behind, and just function the best I can, it's all I can do. It may be hard to detach myself a little bit, but the bottom line is that it makes me a happier person. Getting ready for the Ohio Sectional and then Area 5 is a big deal. There is a lot to do, load ammo, clean guns, magazines, and practice. Tonight I went up to practice with Kozy, and it was all there again. I had FUN. With all the stress, my practice, even a match almost felt like a chore, but tonight, I was me again. I relaxed, I kicked back, and had fun, and I just shot.
Oh, and did I shoot. We set up Wednesday's classifier, and were going to run it 3 times. The classifier is CM 09-02 Diamond Cutter. My first run was okay, but my second run was a 3.31 second run, with 36 points, 6 Alpha and 2 Charlie. That's a 10.88 Hit Factor run, or, an above 100% run! I got a hundo! Okay, why is this a big deal? Even in practice, I have never run a classifier above 76% of a perfect score, and in a match, I have never run a 75% (A Class) run. Here I am, a little rusty, not on the top of my game, and I ran the best classifier I've ever run. On my 3rd run, I clipped a no-shoot, but did it again in 3.31. My time is there, my hits? Well, I know I can do it. Someone might say it's more luck than skill, and I'd be hard pressed to argue. I'm a "B" shooter right now, maybe not even because I need to brush the rest of my rust off, and I'm not a GM shooter at all. However, turn and draw, no reload, no movement? It's set-up to be run exceptionally well.
Here's the point, it's in me, somewhere. There is a better shooter, one that I'll find consistently as I work at it. I will never, ever find it though if I always treat this as a job, or don't take joy from it. I really believe that tonight I found something I did not know I had in me simply because I had fun, I went out and shot, no stress, no worries, no pressure.
I'm proud that I did it, I'm glad I found it, and even happier that I found the fun that I'd been missing, I needed tonight, it makes me a happier person. I suspect that carries over to work, friends, everything, and I like it, I'm not going to let work suck that out of me anymore.
Showing posts with label Classifier. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Classifier. Show all posts
Monday, May 19, 2014
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Linda Earns Her C Card
Linda Earns Her C Card
Congrats!
She worked a lot harder this year, getting on some dry fire, and really starting to practice. She earned her "C" card on her 11th classifier. I know she thinks she "squeaked" in, but she really has shown amazing improvement over the past 5 months. I sound like a broken record, but the general consensus is that she'll be a far better shooter than I am, with a higher ceiling as long as she works at it. She's quick, she picks up lessons very fast. The only question now is the time commitment, and how badly she wants it.
One month after I earned my B, she get's her C, and in a lot less time....I do hear the footsteps behind me!
I'm pretty proud of her!
That little video shows the great "double thumbs up" reaction and support she gets from Kozy and Les when she finished a classifier run strong, and it also shows the reaction I get when I melt down. Interesting contrast I think!
Congrats!
She worked a lot harder this year, getting on some dry fire, and really starting to practice. She earned her "C" card on her 11th classifier. I know she thinks she "squeaked" in, but she really has shown amazing improvement over the past 5 months. I sound like a broken record, but the general consensus is that she'll be a far better shooter than I am, with a higher ceiling as long as she works at it. She's quick, she picks up lessons very fast. The only question now is the time commitment, and how badly she wants it.
One month after I earned my B, she get's her C, and in a lot less time....I do hear the footsteps behind me!
I'm pretty proud of her!
That little video shows the great "double thumbs up" reaction and support she gets from Kozy and Les when she finished a classifier run strong, and it also shows the reaction I get when I melt down. Interesting contrast I think!
Monday, March 24, 2014
Other Match Thoughts
Other Match Thoughts
Yesterday I was excited about reaching my goal, although I will not be satisfied until USPSA runs the numbers, and I see a B card with my name on it in the mail. Not to be out done, Linda really had a good match yesterday, I'm really impressed that her hard work is slowly starting to pay off. Coming in to the match, she was right about a 21%, but she cleaned up yesterday, and even with a little Practicscore inflation, she should be right around 38%, meaning she is getting close to earning her C card. With less practice, less matches, she's going to be where I was last November. In fact, last night she was trying to figure out ways to go out, and get a couple more classifiers in, so she can earn her card now, and it would be nice to get my B card at the same time she earns hers.
More concerned with shooting than video yesterday, we missed more than a few stages, but here are a couple of her runs, and I laugh saying this, but these were her two worst stages, wish I had managed to get the video for her 3 outstanding runs.
CM 99-48 Tight Squeeze
CM 99-46 Close Quarter Standards:
Pretty proud of her, and gotta make mention of her progress here as well! Here is what she is looking at right now:
49.19% (C Run) **
47.77% (C Run) **
45.51% (C Run) **
37.86% (D Run) **
21.49% (D Run) **
16.66% *
13.96% *
27.95%
* Denotes lowest 2 of current 8, do not count in the calculation
** Denotes shot yesterday, and are not official USPSA scores.
Her 8 round average would be about 38.29%
Kozy has one video of me from yesterday, which I'll get later on, here is my Tight Squeeze Video:
Yesterday I was excited about reaching my goal, although I will not be satisfied until USPSA runs the numbers, and I see a B card with my name on it in the mail. Not to be out done, Linda really had a good match yesterday, I'm really impressed that her hard work is slowly starting to pay off. Coming in to the match, she was right about a 21%, but she cleaned up yesterday, and even with a little Practicscore inflation, she should be right around 38%, meaning she is getting close to earning her C card. With less practice, less matches, she's going to be where I was last November. In fact, last night she was trying to figure out ways to go out, and get a couple more classifiers in, so she can earn her card now, and it would be nice to get my B card at the same time she earns hers.
More concerned with shooting than video yesterday, we missed more than a few stages, but here are a couple of her runs, and I laugh saying this, but these were her two worst stages, wish I had managed to get the video for her 3 outstanding runs.
CM 99-48 Tight Squeeze
CM 99-46 Close Quarter Standards:
Pretty proud of her, and gotta make mention of her progress here as well! Here is what she is looking at right now:
49.19% (C Run) **
47.77% (C Run) **
45.51% (C Run) **
37.86% (D Run) **
21.49% (D Run) **
16.66% *
13.96% *
27.95%
* Denotes lowest 2 of current 8, do not count in the calculation
** Denotes shot yesterday, and are not official USPSA scores.
Her 8 round average would be about 38.29%
Kozy has one video of me from yesterday, which I'll get later on, here is my Tight Squeeze Video:
This was actually my worst run of the day, I had a miss on the 2nd target, and I called it. I did not let the tuxedo target phase me, and I was fast. I was nearly a half second faster than any other Production shooter, and I was 4th fastest overall. Being honest, I actually saw my front sight, and other than trying to make sure I stayed away from the no-shoot, I felt this run was just the right speed. That's good confidence, but the bad part is that I over compensated by staying too far away from the meat of the A zone, and did not get the hits I wanted. Next time......
It was nice yesterday to savor the good match, but I got my dry fire practice in already today, and I'm already starting to work to become more competitive in my new class, and do it as fast as possible, and then beyond that towards taking the next step by the end of the year. 24 hour break was more than enough!
Sunday, March 23, 2014
B Card Incoming
B Card Incoming
I came, I saw, and I kicked some ass today. I knew what was on the line today, and I knew that I had just over 5 months of work invested into reaching this goal. I did not want to let down my friends, my family, or myself. I knew I had absolutely all of them pulling for me, so I admit I felt the pressure, but not in a bad way, I did not let things paralyze me, I rose to the occasion. Wednesday the 19th, I let a dumb mistake beat me, and I did let the pressure get to me, and it was me imposing a non-existent pressure that day. I could have imploded, but I did not.
Match Scores
Today I came in looking to shoot only 4 of the 6 classifiers that we were going to run, because that would keep my best scores still on my sheet. For a quick run down, here are the scores that I shot today:
Steely Speed VII: 4.85 Hit Factor (57.18%)
El Presidente: 7.349 Hit Factor (71.62%)
Tight Squeeze: 3.338 Hit Factor (33.95% Below Classification, will not count...whew....)
Madness: 5.8939 Hit Factor (67.27%)
So, when the next run is done in April, here are the last 8 classifiers that I will have, bottom will be the oldest, top the newest:
57.18**
71.62**
67.27**
45.25 *
72.27
57.45
71.62
42.92 *
* Denotes the lowest 2 in my current 8, so they will not count.
** Denotes Practiscore estimate, not an official USPSA number.
That equates to about a 66.24%.
Not only will I have my card, but I'll have earned it with a little room to spare. This won't be me just squeaking into "B" class. Even with a "Practicscore adjustment" I should be just fine. I'd also caught a little flack from a couple of people that I "gamed" the system, by throwing my bad classifiers, and zeroing them out. However, the 71.62, is from 2/5/14, and since then I have zeroed one classifier, so those are 7 of my last 8 classifiers, with the 42.92 from January. This was a non-gamed, true earned "B" card. Straight up, I did it!
I'll be proud to get my "B" card, and I know that I've done a good job with classifiers, and it was only this week that I really put together a full match. I still have a lot of rough edges to grind, and consistency to build. I'm going to have good matches, and I'll stumble at times, but I've got the foundation, and the confidence to build on where I am at. I'm at the bottom of the "B" heap, and I have plenty of hard work if I want to be competitive here (which I absolutely do). I'd like to push and get competitive by this summer, and look to earn my "A" card by the end of the year. The fastest jump in level I can make, I've done, it's easy to learn fundamentals, and the road is going to be a lot harder and slower, but I'm committed to doing it.
I owe huge thanks to a lot of people, and I'll save the big thanks for the day my card is in hand, but I'll touch a few people right now, today. Linda and Lauren who stood by me, encouraged me, and let me do it, even when it was time away from them. My training partner Dave, who pushed me hard, who stood by, and was a voice of reason and encouragement from day 1. I only wish I could have done as well by him as he has done by me. I hope he knows I'll always be his fan! Terry for really introducing a newbie to the sport, but also providing the swift kick in the ass that I need from time to time. From "Mah' biscuits are burning", to dubbing me "turtle" he's been an amazing friend. Yeah, he was a voice of reason and encouragement, and I know I'm better because I've shot in his squad and listened to his feedback all season. Kozy who has come over countless times to fix my press, or to cheer me up, or to give me a little "off the record" training, or perspective, plus he was the guy who came a running when I hit my head, to watch Lauren, and get me into an ambulance. His wise counsel, intensity, and drive are all things I admire, and could not have done without. Finally, the mentor, the Zen Master, Les. I don't know where to start, he started with a lump of poo for a shooter, and he taught me fundamentals, he put up with my bullshit. He did not give me too much flack when I switched from the PPQ to the CZ, even though I know that had to test his patience. Les gave me a lot of tools to improve, he did not just work on my shooting, he taught me, and worked into the mental game, and God knows, I had all sorts of stubborn issues there. The man is an amazing teacher, and a great friend.
With friends like that, people who I'd give the shirt off my back for, any of them, I hope that they know, and can celebrate this little win for themselves too, and know that not only I'm grateful, but that it would have been impossible without them.
No time to rest on the accomplishment, but I will enjoy it for today at least. Tomorrow I'll be back in the basement dry firing, Tuesday I'll be practicing at Alpha, and the march will go on.
-Honey Jack
I came, I saw, and I kicked some ass today. I knew what was on the line today, and I knew that I had just over 5 months of work invested into reaching this goal. I did not want to let down my friends, my family, or myself. I knew I had absolutely all of them pulling for me, so I admit I felt the pressure, but not in a bad way, I did not let things paralyze me, I rose to the occasion. Wednesday the 19th, I let a dumb mistake beat me, and I did let the pressure get to me, and it was me imposing a non-existent pressure that day. I could have imploded, but I did not.
 |
| Les Rewards Me With "My" Patch For the Effort! |
Match Scores
Today I came in looking to shoot only 4 of the 6 classifiers that we were going to run, because that would keep my best scores still on my sheet. For a quick run down, here are the scores that I shot today:
Steely Speed VII: 4.85 Hit Factor (57.18%)
El Presidente: 7.349 Hit Factor (71.62%)
Tight Squeeze: 3.338 Hit Factor (33.95% Below Classification, will not count...whew....)
Madness: 5.8939 Hit Factor (67.27%)
So, when the next run is done in April, here are the last 8 classifiers that I will have, bottom will be the oldest, top the newest:
57.18**
71.62**
67.27**
45.25 *
72.27
57.45
71.62
42.92 *
* Denotes the lowest 2 in my current 8, so they will not count.
** Denotes Practiscore estimate, not an official USPSA number.
That equates to about a 66.24%.
Not only will I have my card, but I'll have earned it with a little room to spare. This won't be me just squeaking into "B" class. Even with a "Practicscore adjustment" I should be just fine. I'd also caught a little flack from a couple of people that I "gamed" the system, by throwing my bad classifiers, and zeroing them out. However, the 71.62, is from 2/5/14, and since then I have zeroed one classifier, so those are 7 of my last 8 classifiers, with the 42.92 from January. This was a non-gamed, true earned "B" card. Straight up, I did it!
I'll be proud to get my "B" card, and I know that I've done a good job with classifiers, and it was only this week that I really put together a full match. I still have a lot of rough edges to grind, and consistency to build. I'm going to have good matches, and I'll stumble at times, but I've got the foundation, and the confidence to build on where I am at. I'm at the bottom of the "B" heap, and I have plenty of hard work if I want to be competitive here (which I absolutely do). I'd like to push and get competitive by this summer, and look to earn my "A" card by the end of the year. The fastest jump in level I can make, I've done, it's easy to learn fundamentals, and the road is going to be a lot harder and slower, but I'm committed to doing it.
I owe huge thanks to a lot of people, and I'll save the big thanks for the day my card is in hand, but I'll touch a few people right now, today. Linda and Lauren who stood by me, encouraged me, and let me do it, even when it was time away from them. My training partner Dave, who pushed me hard, who stood by, and was a voice of reason and encouragement from day 1. I only wish I could have done as well by him as he has done by me. I hope he knows I'll always be his fan! Terry for really introducing a newbie to the sport, but also providing the swift kick in the ass that I need from time to time. From "Mah' biscuits are burning", to dubbing me "turtle" he's been an amazing friend. Yeah, he was a voice of reason and encouragement, and I know I'm better because I've shot in his squad and listened to his feedback all season. Kozy who has come over countless times to fix my press, or to cheer me up, or to give me a little "off the record" training, or perspective, plus he was the guy who came a running when I hit my head, to watch Lauren, and get me into an ambulance. His wise counsel, intensity, and drive are all things I admire, and could not have done without. Finally, the mentor, the Zen Master, Les. I don't know where to start, he started with a lump of poo for a shooter, and he taught me fundamentals, he put up with my bullshit. He did not give me too much flack when I switched from the PPQ to the CZ, even though I know that had to test his patience. Les gave me a lot of tools to improve, he did not just work on my shooting, he taught me, and worked into the mental game, and God knows, I had all sorts of stubborn issues there. The man is an amazing teacher, and a great friend.
With friends like that, people who I'd give the shirt off my back for, any of them, I hope that they know, and can celebrate this little win for themselves too, and know that not only I'm grateful, but that it would have been impossible without them.
No time to rest on the accomplishment, but I will enjoy it for today at least. Tomorrow I'll be back in the basement dry firing, Tuesday I'll be practicing at Alpha, and the march will go on.
 |
| Tonight we relax |
-Honey Jack
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Get It Done Eve
Get It Done Eve
Tomorrow is the big day for me, it's the MISS Classifier match. Six great classifiers in one day, time for me to earn my "B" card. Doing the math, I will shoot 4 of the 6 classifiers, so I don't start to drop 70's, and maybe 2-3 will count. I could earn my "B" card with a three runs of 53%. That's 3 runs that are 7% lower than the 60% I need for my card. That means a couple of things, it means I've done a good job of earning some higher classifiers to give myself some breathing room, and it means that I can just shoot. No pressure, no stress, just go and get it done. I'm not looking to squeak by, let's do it right.
Today we went to Alpha, and it was a big crew doing some shooting for four hours. Kozy was up there already working, so he shot at the beginning, Les was up for a hour plus, Linda, Dave, Herb and even Tom Palmer and his wife worked into the session. I had hoped to see all 6 classifiers, but we only shot 4, two of which I suspect I will not even shoot tomorrow, so I'll have to shoot two completely cold. Sure, that could intimidate me a bit, but earning my "B" card to me, means that I should be able to deliver a solid classifier without practice. I should be able to trust my skills and ability to deliver.
Here were my El Pres runs:
5 Alpha
6 Charlie
1 Delta
44 Points
1.82 Draw
2.17 Reload
7.50 Total Time
5.87 Hit Factor
57% (C Run)
9 Alpha
3 Charlie
54 Points
1.76 Draw
1.93 Reload
7.35 Total Time
7.35 Hit Factor
71.6% (B Run)
6 Alpha
5 Charlie
1 Delta
46 Points
1.94 Draw
1.90 Reload
7.13 Total Time
6.45 Hit Factor
62.9% (B Run)
All of those are going to be acceptable, but I know what I can do. They key, as always, will be no misses, no deltas, all Alpha's, and Charlies. My draw is fast enough, my reload is fast enough, and I shoot fast enough, so just see my front sight, get hits, and kick some ass.
My Steely Speed VII runs were not what I expected. Last time I did this, I had a 61%, that has since fallen off my record, so I know I can hit the 5.89 second time I need, but I only did it one time today in seven runs. All runs had at least one miss, and no run was worse than a 55%. To me, this means that I really need to be fundamentally sound, and not lose that front sight, acceptable sight picture is not good enough. Linda actually had some outstanding runs on this classifier, consistently lowering her times to where she shot a couple of "B" level runs, and six of her seven runs were above her "C" mark. She's going to do just fine with this one.
So, here are the classifiers, and the mark's that I need for tomorrow:
(All scoring assumes 90% of possible points)
El Presidente (60% 6.156 Hit Factor in 8.77 Seconds)
Steely Speed VII (60% 5.09 Hit Factor in 5.89 Seconds)
Close Quarter Standards (60% 5.72 Hit Factor in 18.89 Seconds) ***
High Standards (60% 4.79 Hit Factor in 22.55 Seconds) ***
Tight Squeeze (60% 5.90 Hit Factor in 9.15 Seconds)
Madness (60% 5.26 Hit Factor in 11.98 Seconds)
For that those that don't know, Hit Factor is simply points shot divided by time. Alphas are worth 5 points, Bravo 3 points, Charlie 3 points, and Delta 1 Point. A Mike is -10, and a no shoot is -10. That's the Production "Minor" scoring.
So, tonight? I'm going to do my dry fire routine of about 45 minutes, load some ammo, and enjoy the night with the family. I'm not going to over pressure myself, or work myself into a tizzy, if I get too tight, then I'll shoot poorly. I'm going to relax, and trust that all the practice and work I've done in the past 5 months will pay off tomorrow. Dry fire tonight is going to just keep me sharp.
I will get up early tomorrow, and do 30 minutes of dry fire before we leave for the match, and that's just going to focus on my front sight. I keep an eye on that tomorrow, I'm going to reach this goal of a "B" card. It's funny though, Kozy posted something on Facebook the other day, it was a picture that said "Work hard so one day your mentor's become your rivals." I was watching Les today, and I want to be that good. I'm not saying I'll ever be a rival, or that I'll be able to commit to the work it would take to reach that level, but this "B" card is just a step, it's not a destination. I love this sport, I'm glad I'm able to do it and compete, and that my friends and family support me. One step at a time, and tomorrow I'm going to get one goal completed, and then enjoy it for a little bit, before I jump back onto the treadmill, and set some goals worth working even harder for.
Tomorrow is the big day for me, it's the MISS Classifier match. Six great classifiers in one day, time for me to earn my "B" card. Doing the math, I will shoot 4 of the 6 classifiers, so I don't start to drop 70's, and maybe 2-3 will count. I could earn my "B" card with a three runs of 53%. That's 3 runs that are 7% lower than the 60% I need for my card. That means a couple of things, it means I've done a good job of earning some higher classifiers to give myself some breathing room, and it means that I can just shoot. No pressure, no stress, just go and get it done. I'm not looking to squeak by, let's do it right.
Today we went to Alpha, and it was a big crew doing some shooting for four hours. Kozy was up there already working, so he shot at the beginning, Les was up for a hour plus, Linda, Dave, Herb and even Tom Palmer and his wife worked into the session. I had hoped to see all 6 classifiers, but we only shot 4, two of which I suspect I will not even shoot tomorrow, so I'll have to shoot two completely cold. Sure, that could intimidate me a bit, but earning my "B" card to me, means that I should be able to deliver a solid classifier without practice. I should be able to trust my skills and ability to deliver.
Here were my El Pres runs:
5 Alpha
6 Charlie
1 Delta
44 Points
1.82 Draw
2.17 Reload
7.50 Total Time
5.87 Hit Factor
57% (C Run)
9 Alpha
3 Charlie
54 Points
1.76 Draw
1.93 Reload
7.35 Total Time
7.35 Hit Factor
71.6% (B Run)
6 Alpha
5 Charlie
1 Delta
46 Points
1.94 Draw
1.90 Reload
7.13 Total Time
6.45 Hit Factor
62.9% (B Run)
All of those are going to be acceptable, but I know what I can do. They key, as always, will be no misses, no deltas, all Alpha's, and Charlies. My draw is fast enough, my reload is fast enough, and I shoot fast enough, so just see my front sight, get hits, and kick some ass.
My Steely Speed VII runs were not what I expected. Last time I did this, I had a 61%, that has since fallen off my record, so I know I can hit the 5.89 second time I need, but I only did it one time today in seven runs. All runs had at least one miss, and no run was worse than a 55%. To me, this means that I really need to be fundamentally sound, and not lose that front sight, acceptable sight picture is not good enough. Linda actually had some outstanding runs on this classifier, consistently lowering her times to where she shot a couple of "B" level runs, and six of her seven runs were above her "C" mark. She's going to do just fine with this one.
So, here are the classifiers, and the mark's that I need for tomorrow:
(All scoring assumes 90% of possible points)
El Presidente (60% 6.156 Hit Factor in 8.77 Seconds)
Steely Speed VII (60% 5.09 Hit Factor in 5.89 Seconds)
Close Quarter Standards (60% 5.72 Hit Factor in 18.89 Seconds) ***
High Standards (60% 4.79 Hit Factor in 22.55 Seconds) ***
Tight Squeeze (60% 5.90 Hit Factor in 9.15 Seconds)
Madness (60% 5.26 Hit Factor in 11.98 Seconds)
For that those that don't know, Hit Factor is simply points shot divided by time. Alphas are worth 5 points, Bravo 3 points, Charlie 3 points, and Delta 1 Point. A Mike is -10, and a no shoot is -10. That's the Production "Minor" scoring.
So, tonight? I'm going to do my dry fire routine of about 45 minutes, load some ammo, and enjoy the night with the family. I'm not going to over pressure myself, or work myself into a tizzy, if I get too tight, then I'll shoot poorly. I'm going to relax, and trust that all the practice and work I've done in the past 5 months will pay off tomorrow. Dry fire tonight is going to just keep me sharp.
I will get up early tomorrow, and do 30 minutes of dry fire before we leave for the match, and that's just going to focus on my front sight. I keep an eye on that tomorrow, I'm going to reach this goal of a "B" card. It's funny though, Kozy posted something on Facebook the other day, it was a picture that said "Work hard so one day your mentor's become your rivals." I was watching Les today, and I want to be that good. I'm not saying I'll ever be a rival, or that I'll be able to commit to the work it would take to reach that level, but this "B" card is just a step, it's not a destination. I love this sport, I'm glad I'm able to do it and compete, and that my friends and family support me. One step at a time, and tomorrow I'm going to get one goal completed, and then enjoy it for a little bit, before I jump back onto the treadmill, and set some goals worth working even harder for.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Tuesday Practice
Tuesday Practice
It's also my 100th blog, which I'm happy to say I've enjoyed writing! So, Dave and I worked on the same two classifiers as we did last Friday, we had to make tonight quick, so we focused on the standard El Presidente, and the classifier we will see on Wednesday, Too Close for Comfort. The idea this time is that we really need to nail both of these.
CM 13-06 Too Close for Comfort
4 Alpha
4 Bravo
2 Charlie
38 Points
1.95 Draw
1.75 Reload
8.73 Total Time
4.35 Hit Factor
52.5% (C Run)
4 Alpha
1 Bravo
4 Charlie
1 Mike
30 Points
1.89 Draw
2.06 Reload
7.95 Total Time
3.77 Hit Factor
45.5% (C Run)
5 Alpha
2 Bravo
3 Charlie
40 Points
1.95 Draw
2.30 Reload
8.68 Total Time
4.60 Hit Factor
55.5% (C Run)
8 Alpha
1 Bravo
1 Charlie
46 Points
1.54 Draw
1.67 Reload
7.60 Total Time
6.05 Hit Factor
72.97% (B Run)
5 Alpha
2 Bravo
2 Charlie
1 Delta
38 Points
1.86 Draw
2.27 Reload
8.35 Total Time
4.55 Hit Factor
54.9% (C Run)
7 Alpha
2 Bravo
1 Charlie
44 Points
1.78 Draw
1.89 Reload
8.05 Total Time
5.46 Hit Factor
65.86% (B Run)
El Presidente CM 99-11
7 Alpha
4 Charlie
1 Mike
42 Points
2.03 Draw
1.82 Reload
7.44 Total Time
5.64 Hit Factor
54.96% (C Run)
4 Alpha
6 Charlie
2 Delta
40 Points
1.88 Draw
1.87 Reload
7.51 Total Time
5.32 Hit Factor
51.85% (C Run)
9 Alpha
3 Charlie
54 Points
2.30 Draw
1.89 Reload
7.92 Total Time
6.81 Hit Factor
66.4% (B Run)
7 Alpha
5 Charlie
50 Points
1.84 Draw
2.03 Reload
7.26 Total Time
6.88 Hit Factor
67.1% (B Run)
Analysis
I'm showing some progress, but I really do need to do better. The botched and slow reload has definitely cost me a few times, but I'm feeling that my turn and draw should be in the 1.8 range for El Pres comfortably, and my reload should be 1.6 to 1.8 every single time. If I am missing then it's on me, I'm not looking something in, my next to last El Pres run, I did not see the front sight at all, and I ran it in 7.92, with a 2.30 draw, that that down .3 seconds, and a 7.62 looks respectable. I've got the match tomorrow and Too Close For Comfort, and then the last class with Les on Saturday, followed by two hours of range work with Dave and Linda, and then it's show time.
While I like my chances to get it done, I want to shoot my best, I don't want to shoot worrying about where I am, I want to go all out, and give each classifier my best. Looking forward to this!
It's also my 100th blog, which I'm happy to say I've enjoyed writing! So, Dave and I worked on the same two classifiers as we did last Friday, we had to make tonight quick, so we focused on the standard El Presidente, and the classifier we will see on Wednesday, Too Close for Comfort. The idea this time is that we really need to nail both of these.
CM 13-06 Too Close for Comfort
4 Alpha
4 Bravo
2 Charlie
38 Points
1.95 Draw
1.75 Reload
8.73 Total Time
4.35 Hit Factor
52.5% (C Run)
4 Alpha
1 Bravo
4 Charlie
1 Mike
30 Points
1.89 Draw
2.06 Reload
7.95 Total Time
3.77 Hit Factor
45.5% (C Run)
5 Alpha
2 Bravo
3 Charlie
40 Points
1.95 Draw
2.30 Reload
8.68 Total Time
4.60 Hit Factor
55.5% (C Run)
8 Alpha
1 Bravo
1 Charlie
46 Points
1.54 Draw
1.67 Reload
7.60 Total Time
6.05 Hit Factor
72.97% (B Run)
5 Alpha
2 Bravo
2 Charlie
1 Delta
38 Points
1.86 Draw
2.27 Reload
8.35 Total Time
4.55 Hit Factor
54.9% (C Run)
7 Alpha
2 Bravo
1 Charlie
44 Points
1.78 Draw
1.89 Reload
8.05 Total Time
5.46 Hit Factor
65.86% (B Run)
El Presidente CM 99-11
7 Alpha
4 Charlie
1 Mike
42 Points
2.03 Draw
1.82 Reload
7.44 Total Time
5.64 Hit Factor
54.96% (C Run)
4 Alpha
6 Charlie
2 Delta
40 Points
1.88 Draw
1.87 Reload
7.51 Total Time
5.32 Hit Factor
51.85% (C Run)
9 Alpha
3 Charlie
54 Points
2.30 Draw
1.89 Reload
7.92 Total Time
6.81 Hit Factor
66.4% (B Run)
7 Alpha
5 Charlie
50 Points
1.84 Draw
2.03 Reload
7.26 Total Time
6.88 Hit Factor
67.1% (B Run)
Analysis
I'm showing some progress, but I really do need to do better. The botched and slow reload has definitely cost me a few times, but I'm feeling that my turn and draw should be in the 1.8 range for El Pres comfortably, and my reload should be 1.6 to 1.8 every single time. If I am missing then it's on me, I'm not looking something in, my next to last El Pres run, I did not see the front sight at all, and I ran it in 7.92, with a 2.30 draw, that that down .3 seconds, and a 7.62 looks respectable. I've got the match tomorrow and Too Close For Comfort, and then the last class with Les on Saturday, followed by two hours of range work with Dave and Linda, and then it's show time.
While I like my chances to get it done, I want to shoot my best, I don't want to shoot worrying about where I am, I want to go all out, and give each classifier my best. Looking forward to this!
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Friday Practice
Friday Practice
With the game on the line, Dave and I decided we're going to work on Classifiers thru the 22nd, and then after that, we'll go back to standard practice sessions trying to break down certain parts of our game, and focusing all our work to improve those parts. Short term, working these classifiers will help us improve our scores, and give us some direction for dry fire. One week only!
We started off with CM 13-06 Too Close for Comfort which is a 10 round, 50 point stage, which will be run on Thursday. We did two runs each at "accurate speed", two runs "hair on fire", and finally "match speed".
Accurate
7 Alpha
2 Bravo
1 Charlie
44 Points
1.97 Draw
2.32 Reload
10.78 Total Time
4.08 Hit Factor
49.2% (C Run)
7 Alpha
2 Bravo
1 Charlie
44 Points
1.67 Draw
2.07 Reload
8.94 Total Time
4.92 Hit Factor
59.3% (C Run)
Hair On Fire
10 Alpha
2 Bravo
44 Points
1.44 Draw
2.05 Reload
7.61 Total Time
5.78 Hit Factor
69.7% (B Run)
5 Alpha
1 Bravo
2 Charlie
2 Mike
24 Points
1.66 Draw
? Reload
6.81 Total Time
3.52 Hit Factor
42.4% (C Run)
Match Speed
5 Alpha
2 Bravo
3 Charlie
35 Points
1.55 Draw
1.94 Reload
8.06 Total Time
4.34 Hit Factor
52.4% (C Run)
5 Alpha
1 Bravo
4 Charlie
35 Points
1.55 Draw
2.05 Reload
8.64 Total time
4.05 Hit Factor
48.8% (C Run)
Everyone's favorite, El Presidente was the second one we worked. It is of course a 12 round round, 60 point stage. Run the same way.
Accurate
7 Alpha
3 Charlie
2 Delta
47 Points
1.79 Draw
2.06 Reload
8.38 Total Time
5.61 Hit Factor
54.7% (C Run)
11 Alpha
1 Charlie
58 Points
2.09 Draw
2.18 Reload
10.98 Total Time
5.28 Hit Factor
51.5% (C Run)
Hair on Fire
1 Alpha
5 Charlie
3 Delta
3 Mike
8 Points
1.61 Draw
1.65 Reload
5.66 Total Time
1.41 Hit Factor
13.7% (D Run)
3 Alpha
6 Charlie
3 Delta
36 Points
1.69 Draw
1.59 Reload
6.09 Total Time
5.91 Hit Factor
57.6% (C Run)
Match Speed
8 Alpha
4 Charlie
52 Points
1.99 Draw
1.85 Reload
7.43 Total Time
7.00 Hit Factor
68.2% (B Run)
7 Alpha
5 Charlie
50 Points
2.02 Draw
2.00 Reload
8.45 Total Time
5.92 Hit Factor
57.7% (C Run)
Linda came up in time to run the El Presidente section with us, so here are her results:
Accurate
6 Alpha
2 Bravo
2 Charlie
1 Delta
1 Mike
38 Points
2.58 Draw
3.46 Reload
10.25 Total Time
3.71 Hit Factor
36.2% (D Run)
8 Alpha
3 Charlie
1 Mike
44 Points
2.46 Draw
3.59 Reload
13.33 Total Time
3.30 Hit Factor
32.1% (D Run)
Hair on Fire
5 Alpha
3 Charlie
4 Delta
38 Points
1.74 Draw
2.45 Reload
7.60 Total Time
5.00 Hit Factor
48.7% (C Run)
3 Alpha
5 Charlie
2 Delta
2 Mike
22 Points
1.73 Draw
2.02 Reload
6.87 Total Time
3.20 Hit Factor
31.2% (D Run)
Match Speed
9 Alpha
3 Charlie
54 Points
2.54 Draw
3.37 Reload
10.95 Total Time
4.93 Hit Factor
48% (C Run)
4 Alpha
5 Charlie
2 Delta
1 Mike
32 Points
2.63 Draw
2.36 Reload
10.62 Total Time
3.01 Hit Factor
29.3% (D Run)
Analysis
If it is not one thing, it's something else for sure. Friday, I was having problems with my trigger, I was not letting go of the trigger back to the reset, and I'd try to pull, and obviously nothing was happening. Not sure why I picked up that habit, because it was a frequent occurrence. I suspect it's a dry fire pick-up, where I don't release the trigger all the way out so I don't have every shot double action. I'll have to take a look at this, because it really was an issue.
My hair on fire runs on El Pres were better, I think, than the scoring. For one of the first times that I've moved from the PPQ to the CZ, I've really been able to just cut loose. Prior to tonight, my best times ever were with the PPQ, and around a 6.36, and I had rarely, if ever gone below 7 seconds with the CZ. A 5.66 and a 6.09 was a major improvement, and to be honest, I saw my sights. No, not perfectly, as my score indicates, but I did see them, and I was too lenient with an "acceptable" sight picture. I'm more than a few months off from running sub six second El Presidente's, but I believe that goal is reachable.
Accuracy still can be better, but reloads and draw's for the most part were more than acceptable. I'm going to aggressively dry fire this week, and put myself in the best position possible to get this done in 7 days time.
With the game on the line, Dave and I decided we're going to work on Classifiers thru the 22nd, and then after that, we'll go back to standard practice sessions trying to break down certain parts of our game, and focusing all our work to improve those parts. Short term, working these classifiers will help us improve our scores, and give us some direction for dry fire. One week only!
We started off with CM 13-06 Too Close for Comfort which is a 10 round, 50 point stage, which will be run on Thursday. We did two runs each at "accurate speed", two runs "hair on fire", and finally "match speed".
Accurate
7 Alpha
2 Bravo
1 Charlie
44 Points
1.97 Draw
2.32 Reload
10.78 Total Time
4.08 Hit Factor
49.2% (C Run)
7 Alpha
2 Bravo
1 Charlie
44 Points
1.67 Draw
2.07 Reload
8.94 Total Time
4.92 Hit Factor
59.3% (C Run)
Hair On Fire
10 Alpha
2 Bravo
44 Points
1.44 Draw
2.05 Reload
7.61 Total Time
5.78 Hit Factor
69.7% (B Run)
5 Alpha
1 Bravo
2 Charlie
2 Mike
24 Points
1.66 Draw
? Reload
6.81 Total Time
3.52 Hit Factor
42.4% (C Run)
Match Speed
5 Alpha
2 Bravo
3 Charlie
35 Points
1.55 Draw
1.94 Reload
8.06 Total Time
4.34 Hit Factor
52.4% (C Run)
5 Alpha
1 Bravo
4 Charlie
35 Points
1.55 Draw
2.05 Reload
8.64 Total time
4.05 Hit Factor
48.8% (C Run)
Everyone's favorite, El Presidente was the second one we worked. It is of course a 12 round round, 60 point stage. Run the same way.
Accurate
7 Alpha
3 Charlie
2 Delta
47 Points
1.79 Draw
2.06 Reload
8.38 Total Time
5.61 Hit Factor
54.7% (C Run)
11 Alpha
1 Charlie
58 Points
2.09 Draw
2.18 Reload
10.98 Total Time
5.28 Hit Factor
51.5% (C Run)
Hair on Fire
1 Alpha
5 Charlie
3 Delta
3 Mike
8 Points
1.61 Draw
1.65 Reload
5.66 Total Time
1.41 Hit Factor
13.7% (D Run)
3 Alpha
6 Charlie
3 Delta
36 Points
1.69 Draw
1.59 Reload
6.09 Total Time
5.91 Hit Factor
57.6% (C Run)
Match Speed
8 Alpha
4 Charlie
52 Points
1.99 Draw
1.85 Reload
7.43 Total Time
7.00 Hit Factor
68.2% (B Run)
7 Alpha
5 Charlie
50 Points
2.02 Draw
2.00 Reload
8.45 Total Time
5.92 Hit Factor
57.7% (C Run)
Linda came up in time to run the El Presidente section with us, so here are her results:
Accurate
6 Alpha
2 Bravo
2 Charlie
1 Delta
1 Mike
38 Points
2.58 Draw
3.46 Reload
10.25 Total Time
3.71 Hit Factor
36.2% (D Run)
8 Alpha
3 Charlie
1 Mike
44 Points
2.46 Draw
3.59 Reload
13.33 Total Time
3.30 Hit Factor
32.1% (D Run)
Hair on Fire
5 Alpha
3 Charlie
4 Delta
38 Points
1.74 Draw
2.45 Reload
7.60 Total Time
5.00 Hit Factor
48.7% (C Run)
3 Alpha
5 Charlie
2 Delta
2 Mike
22 Points
1.73 Draw
2.02 Reload
6.87 Total Time
3.20 Hit Factor
31.2% (D Run)
Match Speed
9 Alpha
3 Charlie
54 Points
2.54 Draw
3.37 Reload
10.95 Total Time
4.93 Hit Factor
48% (C Run)
4 Alpha
5 Charlie
2 Delta
1 Mike
32 Points
2.63 Draw
2.36 Reload
10.62 Total Time
3.01 Hit Factor
29.3% (D Run)
Analysis
If it is not one thing, it's something else for sure. Friday, I was having problems with my trigger, I was not letting go of the trigger back to the reset, and I'd try to pull, and obviously nothing was happening. Not sure why I picked up that habit, because it was a frequent occurrence. I suspect it's a dry fire pick-up, where I don't release the trigger all the way out so I don't have every shot double action. I'll have to take a look at this, because it really was an issue.
My hair on fire runs on El Pres were better, I think, than the scoring. For one of the first times that I've moved from the PPQ to the CZ, I've really been able to just cut loose. Prior to tonight, my best times ever were with the PPQ, and around a 6.36, and I had rarely, if ever gone below 7 seconds with the CZ. A 5.66 and a 6.09 was a major improvement, and to be honest, I saw my sights. No, not perfectly, as my score indicates, but I did see them, and I was too lenient with an "acceptable" sight picture. I'm more than a few months off from running sub six second El Presidente's, but I believe that goal is reachable.
Accuracy still can be better, but reloads and draw's for the most part were more than acceptable. I'm going to aggressively dry fire this week, and put myself in the best position possible to get this done in 7 days time.
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Cutting It Close
Cutting It Close
Just about 30 days until the conclusion of "Plan B", and I'm sitting on the cusp of where I want to be. The magic mark is to be at 60%, and with the March numbers run, I am currently at 59.15%. This month I was 6% percentage points away from having the 60% mark, and I can look back at a few things that cost me, a misfire during a classifier, a bad reload, hell the list could go on for quite awhile. Guess what? None of those things really matter. Could have, would have, bottom line, did not get it done, and that's okay. I've gotten better about accepting things. I can't change it, so it's okay, all I can do going forward is continue to improve my overall game. As I sit and write today, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that next month at this time, I'll be celebrating having earned my "B" card.
I'd like to say that it does not get any closer than where I am at, but the truth is, I did not make the Top 20 C Class Production shooters, so evidently you can get quite a bit closer than I did.
The math going forward is going to be pretty simple. I have 5 classifiers that I can shoot before I drop the 71% run, and I need to add a minimum of 6% points to what I have. I will drop off the 61.4%, but after that, I drop a 48%, 17%, 32%, and 43%. If I shoot a 61.4%, and a 54% I'm in. I can shoot a 61, a 48, and a 49 and I'm in. There are a lot of ways to get this done, and frankly the odds right now are in my favor as long as I keep up the hard work.
Today was the "math" day, now I'm going to put it behind me, and put my focus back on where it needs to be, my shooting. There are 8 certain classifiers, possibly 9 before my card gets run again. I have a match on the 19th, an all classifier MISS match on the 23rd (6 classifiers), and a MISS match on April 2nd. So opportunities will be plenty. Two 60's out of 8 has me there. Again, math behind me, focus on shooting.
Dave and I are going to run some El Presidente and Speedy Steel VII on Friday because we believe they could be a part of an upcoming match, and we're going to focus on fundamentals during our practice next Tuesday. We have a class with Les on the 22nd, and I have the range booked for a couple of hours after that for any last minute practice for the 23rd, and then it's on.
I'm going to continue to work my reload, and my turn and draw in dry fire, and I'm printing slightly bigger paper targets to use on the wall, and I'm going to insure that my transitions are going to the high center of the A zone, instead of low A. Move my groups up, and break shots in the "A" zone, not just the cardboard.
I'll be damned, basic fundamental skills, and the tools to help improve myself. Start adding things like shooting on the move which we just got into, and this should be a very fun summer, I'll enjoy the opportunities to continue to put all the skills together, improve my consistency, and up my game.
Just about 30 days until the conclusion of "Plan B", and I'm sitting on the cusp of where I want to be. The magic mark is to be at 60%, and with the March numbers run, I am currently at 59.15%. This month I was 6% percentage points away from having the 60% mark, and I can look back at a few things that cost me, a misfire during a classifier, a bad reload, hell the list could go on for quite awhile. Guess what? None of those things really matter. Could have, would have, bottom line, did not get it done, and that's okay. I've gotten better about accepting things. I can't change it, so it's okay, all I can do going forward is continue to improve my overall game. As I sit and write today, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that next month at this time, I'll be celebrating having earned my "B" card.
 |
| You'll have to click to enlarge this. |
I'd like to say that it does not get any closer than where I am at, but the truth is, I did not make the Top 20 C Class Production shooters, so evidently you can get quite a bit closer than I did.
The math going forward is going to be pretty simple. I have 5 classifiers that I can shoot before I drop the 71% run, and I need to add a minimum of 6% points to what I have. I will drop off the 61.4%, but after that, I drop a 48%, 17%, 32%, and 43%. If I shoot a 61.4%, and a 54% I'm in. I can shoot a 61, a 48, and a 49 and I'm in. There are a lot of ways to get this done, and frankly the odds right now are in my favor as long as I keep up the hard work.
Today was the "math" day, now I'm going to put it behind me, and put my focus back on where it needs to be, my shooting. There are 8 certain classifiers, possibly 9 before my card gets run again. I have a match on the 19th, an all classifier MISS match on the 23rd (6 classifiers), and a MISS match on April 2nd. So opportunities will be plenty. Two 60's out of 8 has me there. Again, math behind me, focus on shooting.
Dave and I are going to run some El Presidente and Speedy Steel VII on Friday because we believe they could be a part of an upcoming match, and we're going to focus on fundamentals during our practice next Tuesday. We have a class with Les on the 22nd, and I have the range booked for a couple of hours after that for any last minute practice for the 23rd, and then it's on.
I'm going to continue to work my reload, and my turn and draw in dry fire, and I'm printing slightly bigger paper targets to use on the wall, and I'm going to insure that my transitions are going to the high center of the A zone, instead of low A. Move my groups up, and break shots in the "A" zone, not just the cardboard.
I'll be damned, basic fundamental skills, and the tools to help improve myself. Start adding things like shooting on the move which we just got into, and this should be a very fun summer, I'll enjoy the opportunities to continue to put all the skills together, improve my consistency, and up my game.
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Take Your Choice
Take Your Choice
So, getting down to the wire, Dave and I decided tonight to work exclusively on the classifier tomorrow, CM 99-12 Take Your Choice. The good news, is we had a bigger barricade, about 4' instead of 2', so tomorrow things should go better, and that's good because we did not have the night we needed to have. A classifier at 40' is not your standard classifier, but I'm glad, I've done well on the classifiers up close, but if I am going to say I earned my B card, then I want to prove that I can put up a score from a distance as well as on the up close classifiers. The plan tonight was to run it nine times, this was a Kozy suggestion for El Presidente that made sense. We were going to run it three times for accuracy, slow as we wanted, three times as fast as we could go, and three times as if it was for real. Here are my results:
CM 99-12
Slow Run
15.13 Total Time
1.97 1st Shot
2.69 Reload
8 Alpha
3 Charlie
1 Delta
3.30 Hit Factor
40.68% (C Run)
14.52 Total Time
1.91 1st shot
3.11 Reload
3 Alpha
9 Charlie
2.89 Hit Factor
35.63% (D Run)
11.87 Total Time
1.62 1st Shot
2.77 Reload
6 Alpha
3 Charlie
2 Delta
1 Mike
3.03 Hit Factor
37.35 (D Run)
Hair on Fire
8.66 Total Time
2.57 1st Shot
2.28 Reload
2 Alpha
5 Charlie
4 Delta
1 Mike
1 No Shoot
1.62 Hit Factor
19.9% (D Run)
7.91 Total Time
1.67 1st Shot
1.97 Reload
2 Alpha
4 Charlie
5 Delta
1 Mike
2.78 Hit Factor
34.37% (D Run)
8.51 Total Time
1.99 1st Shot
2.43 Reload
2 Alpha
4 Charlie
5 Delta
1 Mike
1 No Shoot
1.41 Hit Factor
17.38% (D Run)
Money Round
10.76 Total Time
2.10 1st Shot
2.70 Reload
5 Alpha
4 Charlie
2 Delta
1 Mike
3.16 Hit Factor
38.96% (D Run)
9.41 Total Time
5 Alpha
6 Charlie
1 Delta
4.68 Hit Factor
57.69 (C Run)
9.44 Total Time
7 Alpha
3 Charlie
2 Delta
4.66 Hit Factor
57.45 (C Run)
Review Time
Okay, a correctly sized barricade is going to do wonders for making this easier, but my concern is I need to flat out eliminate Delta's, and cut way back on the Charlies. Near the end, I realized that most of my shots were low, and my point of aim was the center or lower half of the target, that just won't work. The last 2 runs I made a conscious effort to get my point of aim up higher, and that was an improvement, not where it needs to be, but better. I've always had a problem breaking a shot when I saw cardboard, not the middle of the target, and at 40' if I aim at the bottom of the "A" zone, then I'm going to not have good hits. I also need to tighten up my sight picture, in this case, go a little slower, and get closer to a "perfect" sight picture, opposed to an "acceptable" sight picture. Acceptable plays better at close range.
Putting this classifier in perspective, if I shoot 50 of the 60 possible points, which means 7 Alpha and 5 Charlie, and do it in 10 seconds, for a hit factor of 5.0, I'll have a hit factor of 61.6. This means that Accuracy matters, quite a bit. My last couple of times are fast enough, I just need to tighten up my hits just a little bit, and honestly, I think the correct size barricade will help a ton, less lean, easier on my sights. Doing the math even more, you'll notice that on my "hair on fire" runs, two of my three reloads were sub three seconds, on the money round, I was in the 2.7 range twice. I really think if I can keep it at a 2.20 reload, I'll be better off, and I did have that on my second run, so it's not just possible, it's a reality.
My shooting cadence is fine, my draw to first shot is acceptable, and even hair on fire it was excellent. I know where I need to be for this, and even though I did not get it tonight, I'm going to do my dry fire tomorrow, insure that my reload and draw are where they need to be, and practice for 20 minutes on the proper sight picture, using the shoulders as my point of aim. Frankly, if I just get my hits I should be absolutely fine tomorrow, and I'll be extremely disappointed if I don't earn a good enough classifier. I'm looking essentially for a Hit Factor of above 5.0.
So, getting down to the wire, Dave and I decided tonight to work exclusively on the classifier tomorrow, CM 99-12 Take Your Choice. The good news, is we had a bigger barricade, about 4' instead of 2', so tomorrow things should go better, and that's good because we did not have the night we needed to have. A classifier at 40' is not your standard classifier, but I'm glad, I've done well on the classifiers up close, but if I am going to say I earned my B card, then I want to prove that I can put up a score from a distance as well as on the up close classifiers. The plan tonight was to run it nine times, this was a Kozy suggestion for El Presidente that made sense. We were going to run it three times for accuracy, slow as we wanted, three times as fast as we could go, and three times as if it was for real. Here are my results:
CM 99-12
Slow Run
15.13 Total Time
1.97 1st Shot
2.69 Reload
8 Alpha
3 Charlie
1 Delta
3.30 Hit Factor
40.68% (C Run)
14.52 Total Time
1.91 1st shot
3.11 Reload
3 Alpha
9 Charlie
2.89 Hit Factor
35.63% (D Run)
11.87 Total Time
1.62 1st Shot
2.77 Reload
6 Alpha
3 Charlie
2 Delta
1 Mike
3.03 Hit Factor
37.35 (D Run)
Hair on Fire
8.66 Total Time
2.57 1st Shot
2.28 Reload
2 Alpha
5 Charlie
4 Delta
1 Mike
1 No Shoot
1.62 Hit Factor
19.9% (D Run)
7.91 Total Time
1.67 1st Shot
1.97 Reload
2 Alpha
4 Charlie
5 Delta
1 Mike
2.78 Hit Factor
34.37% (D Run)
8.51 Total Time
1.99 1st Shot
2.43 Reload
2 Alpha
4 Charlie
5 Delta
1 Mike
1 No Shoot
1.41 Hit Factor
17.38% (D Run)
Money Round
10.76 Total Time
2.10 1st Shot
2.70 Reload
5 Alpha
4 Charlie
2 Delta
1 Mike
3.16 Hit Factor
38.96% (D Run)
9.41 Total Time
5 Alpha
6 Charlie
1 Delta
4.68 Hit Factor
57.69 (C Run)
9.44 Total Time
7 Alpha
3 Charlie
2 Delta
4.66 Hit Factor
57.45 (C Run)
Review Time
Okay, a correctly sized barricade is going to do wonders for making this easier, but my concern is I need to flat out eliminate Delta's, and cut way back on the Charlies. Near the end, I realized that most of my shots were low, and my point of aim was the center or lower half of the target, that just won't work. The last 2 runs I made a conscious effort to get my point of aim up higher, and that was an improvement, not where it needs to be, but better. I've always had a problem breaking a shot when I saw cardboard, not the middle of the target, and at 40' if I aim at the bottom of the "A" zone, then I'm going to not have good hits. I also need to tighten up my sight picture, in this case, go a little slower, and get closer to a "perfect" sight picture, opposed to an "acceptable" sight picture. Acceptable plays better at close range.
Putting this classifier in perspective, if I shoot 50 of the 60 possible points, which means 7 Alpha and 5 Charlie, and do it in 10 seconds, for a hit factor of 5.0, I'll have a hit factor of 61.6. This means that Accuracy matters, quite a bit. My last couple of times are fast enough, I just need to tighten up my hits just a little bit, and honestly, I think the correct size barricade will help a ton, less lean, easier on my sights. Doing the math even more, you'll notice that on my "hair on fire" runs, two of my three reloads were sub three seconds, on the money round, I was in the 2.7 range twice. I really think if I can keep it at a 2.20 reload, I'll be better off, and I did have that on my second run, so it's not just possible, it's a reality.
My shooting cadence is fine, my draw to first shot is acceptable, and even hair on fire it was excellent. I know where I need to be for this, and even though I did not get it tonight, I'm going to do my dry fire tomorrow, insure that my reload and draw are where they need to be, and practice for 20 minutes on the proper sight picture, using the shoulders as my point of aim. Frankly, if I just get my hits I should be absolutely fine tomorrow, and I'll be extremely disappointed if I don't earn a good enough classifier. I'm looking essentially for a Hit Factor of above 5.0.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Keep Working
Keep Working
There are just some practices where nothing is quite perfect. We started out tonight working on long shots, both from ports, and open to a port, with everything at a partially covered targets. I'll be honest, I did pretty damn well at a distance, I got good hits, and was reasonably fast, I clipped a no-shoot on about my 5th run, and if you add in my runs in class on Saturday I've been very good, and very accurate, when I focus on my front sight. Eighteen yard shots just don't intimidate me. We ran a couple of "Bill Drill's" from that distance, and my draw to first shot was 1.8 seconds, and it was an Alpha. We made it hard, the only clear part of the target was the Alpha, and I went at the narrowest part, and put my shots right where I wanted them to be, rapidly.
We moved and did a little draw to first shot from 10 yards to an obstructed target, and then to an open target, and the focus was on working the trigger on the way out. This was a good exercise since I work the trigger religiously in dry fire, but fail to do it in live fire. At home, I've had my par time down to 1.2 seconds, and am able to make it about 60% of the time, tonight in live fire I was 1.6 to 1.8 on the obstructed target, which is nuts since I was standing eight yards further back, and about doing it in the same time. On the unobstructed I was running 1.32 to 1.5 seconds, again, I know I can be faster, and the key is working the trigger. Dave has this down pretty well, and was around 1.29 on draw to first shot.
To close our our work, we ran a couple of El Presidente, just to see where we are, and I've gotta say, I was very disappointed with my results. As I've done before, I'll list out what Linda, Dave, and I ran it in, but I need to get back on my horse and get this done, by now I should have no trouble with this classifier.
For a reference, here is Ben Stoeger shooting an El Presidente. Granted, I'm not Ben, this should give you an idea of how fast it can be done.
Dave
Run 1
7.97 Seconds
1.72 Turn and Draw
2.00 Reload
6 Alpha
4 Charlie
2 Delta
44 Points
5.52 Hit Factor
53.79% (C Run)
Run 2
8.28 Seconds
1.93 Turn and Draw
2.26 Reload
7 Alpha
4 Charlie
1 Delta
48 Points
5.80 Hit Factor
56.52% (C Run)
Linda
Run 1
8.91 Seconds
1.91 Turn and Draw
2.23 Reload
3 Alpha
6 Charlie
2 Delta
1 Mike
30 Points
3.37 Hit Factor
32.84% (D Run)
Run 2
11.29 Seconds
2.54 Turn and Draw
2.29 Reload
8 Alpha
3 Charlie
1 Delta
50 Points
4.43 Hit Factor
43.17% (C Run)
Luke
Run 1
8.99 Seconds
2.04 Turn and Draw
2.46 Reload
7 Alpha
4 Charlie
1 Delta
48 Points
5.34 Hit Factor
52.0% (C Run)
Run 2
7.77 Seconds
2.05 Turn and Draw
1.96 Reload
4 Alpha
7 Charlie
1 Delta
42 Points
5.41 Hit Factor
52.72% (C Run)
(Bobbled the mag release, and had to wait, this should have been a faster reload)
Analysis
The short version is that there is a lot to work on. My turn and draw is down, but my dry fire is around 1.7 seconds, so I've got .3 tenths of a second I can shave off, my reload par time in practice is 1.3 seconds, so that's .6 tenths of a second I can shave. That's almost a full second from my second run, and had I shot it a full second faster, I'd have had my 60% run. However, it's not speed that is killing me, it's the accuracy and the points down. I cant afford to have less than 52 points on this stage. If I had 52 points on my second stage, I'd have had a 6.69 Hit Factor, and a 65% run. So, what I really need to do, is keep moving down the times on things that I can control, the draw and the reload. Then I can afford to keep my same shooting pace, or even slow down a hair to insure good hits.
Another thing I realized is that at a distance I focused on where the sights are lined up on the target, when I'm close I don't pay as much attention, so I really need to make sure that my bright front sight is the middle of the target, just not over cardboard. It's a little thing, but it's a lack of attention and focus. I need to be consistent with these details.
El Presidente is not an easy drill, it seems easy, but it's unforgiving if you don't shoot Alpha's, and being honest with myself, I was not focusing on the center of the target. We've been doing accuracy shooting, but we have given away speed to get hits, hell, take enough time anyone can shoot Alpha's all day long from just about any distance. I need to get back to doing it at speed. More time on reloads, and draw in dry fire, and honestly some live fire reload practice would not hurt either.
I'm also going to work on my transitions, and cadence again. I almost feel like we are doing too many things, and we're leaving some key skills behind a bit. If I'm going to earn my card, I'm going to have to execute this classifier for sure, and the skills I use on this classifier, will apply to anything else I likely run. Part of me felt like I should have walked in and aced this classifier, and here I am not doing that. It was a Five Finger Death Punch in the gut, and made me want to get back working harder. I should be owning this classifier by now, and when I live fire next, I'm going to do just that.
Once we finished up, Lauren did a little shooting herself, she cranked out her M&P 15-22, her M&P 22, and I let her take and shoot my CZ for the first time, hey, a little 9mm never hurts, right? Or, in this case, the 9mm was just a little too much. She had a blast, as usual! Here she goes:
There are just some practices where nothing is quite perfect. We started out tonight working on long shots, both from ports, and open to a port, with everything at a partially covered targets. I'll be honest, I did pretty damn well at a distance, I got good hits, and was reasonably fast, I clipped a no-shoot on about my 5th run, and if you add in my runs in class on Saturday I've been very good, and very accurate, when I focus on my front sight. Eighteen yard shots just don't intimidate me. We ran a couple of "Bill Drill's" from that distance, and my draw to first shot was 1.8 seconds, and it was an Alpha. We made it hard, the only clear part of the target was the Alpha, and I went at the narrowest part, and put my shots right where I wanted them to be, rapidly.
We moved and did a little draw to first shot from 10 yards to an obstructed target, and then to an open target, and the focus was on working the trigger on the way out. This was a good exercise since I work the trigger religiously in dry fire, but fail to do it in live fire. At home, I've had my par time down to 1.2 seconds, and am able to make it about 60% of the time, tonight in live fire I was 1.6 to 1.8 on the obstructed target, which is nuts since I was standing eight yards further back, and about doing it in the same time. On the unobstructed I was running 1.32 to 1.5 seconds, again, I know I can be faster, and the key is working the trigger. Dave has this down pretty well, and was around 1.29 on draw to first shot.
To close our our work, we ran a couple of El Presidente, just to see where we are, and I've gotta say, I was very disappointed with my results. As I've done before, I'll list out what Linda, Dave, and I ran it in, but I need to get back on my horse and get this done, by now I should have no trouble with this classifier.
For a reference, here is Ben Stoeger shooting an El Presidente. Granted, I'm not Ben, this should give you an idea of how fast it can be done.
Dave
Run 1
7.97 Seconds
1.72 Turn and Draw
2.00 Reload
6 Alpha
4 Charlie
2 Delta
44 Points
5.52 Hit Factor
53.79% (C Run)
Run 2
8.28 Seconds
1.93 Turn and Draw
2.26 Reload
7 Alpha
4 Charlie
1 Delta
48 Points
5.80 Hit Factor
56.52% (C Run)
Linda
Run 1
8.91 Seconds
1.91 Turn and Draw
2.23 Reload
3 Alpha
6 Charlie
2 Delta
1 Mike
30 Points
3.37 Hit Factor
32.84% (D Run)
Run 2
11.29 Seconds
2.54 Turn and Draw
2.29 Reload
8 Alpha
3 Charlie
1 Delta
50 Points
4.43 Hit Factor
43.17% (C Run)
Luke
Run 1
8.99 Seconds
2.04 Turn and Draw
2.46 Reload
7 Alpha
4 Charlie
1 Delta
48 Points
5.34 Hit Factor
52.0% (C Run)
Run 2
7.77 Seconds
2.05 Turn and Draw
1.96 Reload
4 Alpha
7 Charlie
1 Delta
42 Points
5.41 Hit Factor
52.72% (C Run)
(Bobbled the mag release, and had to wait, this should have been a faster reload)
Analysis
The short version is that there is a lot to work on. My turn and draw is down, but my dry fire is around 1.7 seconds, so I've got .3 tenths of a second I can shave off, my reload par time in practice is 1.3 seconds, so that's .6 tenths of a second I can shave. That's almost a full second from my second run, and had I shot it a full second faster, I'd have had my 60% run. However, it's not speed that is killing me, it's the accuracy and the points down. I cant afford to have less than 52 points on this stage. If I had 52 points on my second stage, I'd have had a 6.69 Hit Factor, and a 65% run. So, what I really need to do, is keep moving down the times on things that I can control, the draw and the reload. Then I can afford to keep my same shooting pace, or even slow down a hair to insure good hits.
Another thing I realized is that at a distance I focused on where the sights are lined up on the target, when I'm close I don't pay as much attention, so I really need to make sure that my bright front sight is the middle of the target, just not over cardboard. It's a little thing, but it's a lack of attention and focus. I need to be consistent with these details.
El Presidente is not an easy drill, it seems easy, but it's unforgiving if you don't shoot Alpha's, and being honest with myself, I was not focusing on the center of the target. We've been doing accuracy shooting, but we have given away speed to get hits, hell, take enough time anyone can shoot Alpha's all day long from just about any distance. I need to get back to doing it at speed. More time on reloads, and draw in dry fire, and honestly some live fire reload practice would not hurt either.
I'm also going to work on my transitions, and cadence again. I almost feel like we are doing too many things, and we're leaving some key skills behind a bit. If I'm going to earn my card, I'm going to have to execute this classifier for sure, and the skills I use on this classifier, will apply to anything else I likely run. Part of me felt like I should have walked in and aced this classifier, and here I am not doing that. It was a Five Finger Death Punch in the gut, and made me want to get back working harder. I should be owning this classifier by now, and when I live fire next, I'm going to do just that.
Once we finished up, Lauren did a little shooting herself, she cranked out her M&P 15-22, her M&P 22, and I let her take and shoot my CZ for the first time, hey, a little 9mm never hurts, right? Or, in this case, the 9mm was just a little too much. She had a blast, as usual! Here she goes:
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Melody Line Practice
Melody Line Practice
Ten days since my last live fire, and just a few days of practice since my burn out, so I dropped in at Alpha Range this morning to get a little work done on CM99-08 Melody Line in advance of tonight's match. Knowing that I could earn my "B" card with two classifiers above a 68% means I really need to get this one right tonight, and coming off burn out, without a full week of dry fire is not a good start. So, let's get right into the meat of the morning.
Melody Line is a 12 shot, 60 point, Virginia Count Stage
Run 1:
8 Alpha
3 Charlie
1 Mike
44 Points
9.03 Time
2.12 First Shot
2.24 Reload
4.873 Hit Factor
60.471% (B Class Run)
Run 2:
8 Alpha
3 Charlie
1 Delta
50 Points
9.62 Time
2.13 First Shot
2.38 Reload
5.1975 Hit Factor
64.497% (B Class Run)
Run 3:
5 Alpha
6 Charlie
1 Mike
38 Points
8.53 time
1.89 Draw
1.95 Reload
4.454 Hit Factor
55.2710% (C Class Run)
Run 4:
9 Alpha
3 Charlie
54 Points
9.06 Total Time
2.01 First Shot
2.36 Reload
5.960 Hit Factor
73.959% (Target B Class Run)
Run 5:
10 Alpha
2 Charlie
56 Points
8.46 Total Time
2.19 First Shot
2.08 Reload
6.619 Hit Factor
82.137% (A Class Run)
So, to summarize, get my hits, get my 60%. My turn and draw and reload were generally crappy, so I'm going to spend 40 minutes or so before I go to the match tonight just drying firing my draw, and getting my reload back to par. The sad thing, is that my reload practice par time is 1.40 seconds, and I was hitting it 90%+, and was going to set it down to 1.30 right when I was getting burnt out. This means, that I could easily shave off half a second on both my draw and reload.
Tonight, I'm just going to relax, I know what to do, how to do it, and I'm just going to enjoy it. My only "C" run this morning had a mike, and more charlies than alphas, so it proves getting hits matters. Hopefully I'll have some good video tomorrow.
Ten days since my last live fire, and just a few days of practice since my burn out, so I dropped in at Alpha Range this morning to get a little work done on CM99-08 Melody Line in advance of tonight's match. Knowing that I could earn my "B" card with two classifiers above a 68% means I really need to get this one right tonight, and coming off burn out, without a full week of dry fire is not a good start. So, let's get right into the meat of the morning.
Melody Line is a 12 shot, 60 point, Virginia Count Stage
Run 1:
8 Alpha
3 Charlie
1 Mike
44 Points
9.03 Time
2.12 First Shot
2.24 Reload
4.873 Hit Factor
60.471% (B Class Run)
Run 2:
8 Alpha
3 Charlie
1 Delta
50 Points
9.62 Time
2.13 First Shot
2.38 Reload
5.1975 Hit Factor
64.497% (B Class Run)
Run 3:
5 Alpha
6 Charlie
1 Mike
38 Points
8.53 time
1.89 Draw
1.95 Reload
4.454 Hit Factor
55.2710% (C Class Run)
Run 4:
9 Alpha
3 Charlie
54 Points
9.06 Total Time
2.01 First Shot
2.36 Reload
5.960 Hit Factor
73.959% (Target B Class Run)
Run 5:
10 Alpha
2 Charlie
56 Points
8.46 Total Time
2.19 First Shot
2.08 Reload
6.619 Hit Factor
82.137% (A Class Run)
So, to summarize, get my hits, get my 60%. My turn and draw and reload were generally crappy, so I'm going to spend 40 minutes or so before I go to the match tonight just drying firing my draw, and getting my reload back to par. The sad thing, is that my reload practice par time is 1.40 seconds, and I was hitting it 90%+, and was going to set it down to 1.30 right when I was getting burnt out. This means, that I could easily shave off half a second on both my draw and reload.
Tonight, I'm just going to relax, I know what to do, how to do it, and I'm just going to enjoy it. My only "C" run this morning had a mike, and more charlies than alphas, so it proves getting hits matters. Hopefully I'll have some good video tomorrow.
Thursday, February 6, 2014
MISS Match 2/5
MISS Match 2/5
This is a pretty busy span of shooting for me. Four matches and a class in 12 days, with another class on day 14, toss in some live fire practice as well, and I have a lot of ammo going down range. Add dry fire, and there has not been a day where I am not doing something to improve.
This is the home stretch, including last night, I make it 9 possible classifier's until the completion of "Plan B". There have been times where I was getting discouraged, and felt like there was no way I could make it, or that we should just start buying Les ammo, but with 9 runs to go, this really has become do or die time, where each classifier matters. I need 6 runs of 60% or better. This is not an unreasonable expectation, although I hear the classifier for this weekend is El Strong And Weak Pres which is not going to be something I'm comfortable doing, and is going to be something I'll struggle with. That does not give me a warm and fuzzy feeling.
Match Scores
Stage 1 Holdup:
I started off pretty cold, 3 misses, low points, and kind of slow. In watching the video, I'm seeing some occasional flinch, and I think that is starting to become a problem for me, so I'll have to address that again in practice. It's strange how it comes and goes, but the only thing to do is deal with it. The stage build did not go quite as planned, as I ran past the 2nd position into the 3rd position and was able to clean the 2nd position targets. In general, I think I just had issues seeing my front sights.
Stage 2 Do The Math:
Another poor run, 4 mikes, and you can see some flinch, and very slow plan. At this point I was really struggling to see my front sight. No excuses, but I picked up my front sight much better at Pine Tree, the range there seems brighter than at Alpha. Since I've picked up my front sight at Alpha before, I know I can do it, but I probably need more prep time before the match. This was the first time I had to run people as an R.O. before I shot. I had a lot going on in my head when I ran.
Stage 3: CM 06-03 Can You Count:
With everything that had gone on earlier, I could have completely cracked, and shot this poorly. That's been my history. To me, it was obvious that I did not clear my head between the first two stages, and I was still judging myself, and not keeping clear to just shoot the second stage. I've been begging to run this classifier for a couple of months, so this was my big chance. Les made the comment that "If you want your B card, you don't want to run this." I'm not sure what convinced him to go with this stage, but I suspect Terry had something to do with it. At the short distance, it's all about a fast draw, fast reload, and fast shots, all while being 100% accurate. I got the accurate part down, 20 shots, 20 Alpha. My speed 9.36 seconds was just good enough, and my hit factor of 10.68 according to Classifer Calc is good enough for about a 64%, or "B" run! Challenge conquered! This stage was 4th in Production, and 7th Overall. What the video does not show, is that I almost DQ'd on the stage, between strings, I started to holster with the hammer down, and the RO stopped me, and I de-cocked. Had he not stopped me, instant DQ. Lesson here is safety is the most important thing, and even though I'm shooting, my head was not in the "right" place. That one won't happen ever again.
Stage 4: One Way Or The Other
This ended up being my best longer course of the night. Slower than I would have liked, some extra shots, but no mikes, and no flinches. This is how I should be running more often than not, and the idea is not to make those mistakes in early stages again. After I shot, I grabbed the timer, and ran the rest of the squad to get some more experience on the R.O. side of the game. This is actually the way I'd like to R.O., after I shoot.
Summary:
I think my continued early struggles simply means I need to prep better at home before the match. Get in my 30-40 minutes of dry fire before I leave for the match, get my head wrapped around my sights, know what I'm looking at, and go from there. This is not something new for me, and one of the things that has had me saying that I need to shoot a complete match, and start off well. After The WIIT, I know I am capable of doing just that, but I also know what I did before I left to shoot, and the dry fire practice I put in, so when I got there, I knew exactly what I wanted to see.
I can feel the rounding off of my game I need to do, clean up just a couple of little things and it'll help both my overall accuracy and speed. I need to keep working, no off days for right now, and matches are not practice. This means Sunday will be a match, and 30 minutes of dry fire later in the day. I've got two 60% classifier's on the books, and that does not include the lost 82% run from The WIIT. Problem is one will fall off, so I need to start stringing together more of these. This goal of hitting "B" by the April USPSA classification run is very possible, but now it's entirely up to me.
Challenge accepted.
Full Match Video:
This is a pretty busy span of shooting for me. Four matches and a class in 12 days, with another class on day 14, toss in some live fire practice as well, and I have a lot of ammo going down range. Add dry fire, and there has not been a day where I am not doing something to improve.
This is the home stretch, including last night, I make it 9 possible classifier's until the completion of "Plan B". There have been times where I was getting discouraged, and felt like there was no way I could make it, or that we should just start buying Les ammo, but with 9 runs to go, this really has become do or die time, where each classifier matters. I need 6 runs of 60% or better. This is not an unreasonable expectation, although I hear the classifier for this weekend is El Strong And Weak Pres which is not going to be something I'm comfortable doing, and is going to be something I'll struggle with. That does not give me a warm and fuzzy feeling.
Match Scores
Stage 1 Holdup:
I started off pretty cold, 3 misses, low points, and kind of slow. In watching the video, I'm seeing some occasional flinch, and I think that is starting to become a problem for me, so I'll have to address that again in practice. It's strange how it comes and goes, but the only thing to do is deal with it. The stage build did not go quite as planned, as I ran past the 2nd position into the 3rd position and was able to clean the 2nd position targets. In general, I think I just had issues seeing my front sights.
Stage 2 Do The Math:
Another poor run, 4 mikes, and you can see some flinch, and very slow plan. At this point I was really struggling to see my front sight. No excuses, but I picked up my front sight much better at Pine Tree, the range there seems brighter than at Alpha. Since I've picked up my front sight at Alpha before, I know I can do it, but I probably need more prep time before the match. This was the first time I had to run people as an R.O. before I shot. I had a lot going on in my head when I ran.
Stage 3: CM 06-03 Can You Count:
With everything that had gone on earlier, I could have completely cracked, and shot this poorly. That's been my history. To me, it was obvious that I did not clear my head between the first two stages, and I was still judging myself, and not keeping clear to just shoot the second stage. I've been begging to run this classifier for a couple of months, so this was my big chance. Les made the comment that "If you want your B card, you don't want to run this." I'm not sure what convinced him to go with this stage, but I suspect Terry had something to do with it. At the short distance, it's all about a fast draw, fast reload, and fast shots, all while being 100% accurate. I got the accurate part down, 20 shots, 20 Alpha. My speed 9.36 seconds was just good enough, and my hit factor of 10.68 according to Classifer Calc is good enough for about a 64%, or "B" run! Challenge conquered! This stage was 4th in Production, and 7th Overall. What the video does not show, is that I almost DQ'd on the stage, between strings, I started to holster with the hammer down, and the RO stopped me, and I de-cocked. Had he not stopped me, instant DQ. Lesson here is safety is the most important thing, and even though I'm shooting, my head was not in the "right" place. That one won't happen ever again.
Stage 4: One Way Or The Other
This ended up being my best longer course of the night. Slower than I would have liked, some extra shots, but no mikes, and no flinches. This is how I should be running more often than not, and the idea is not to make those mistakes in early stages again. After I shot, I grabbed the timer, and ran the rest of the squad to get some more experience on the R.O. side of the game. This is actually the way I'd like to R.O., after I shoot.
Summary:
I think my continued early struggles simply means I need to prep better at home before the match. Get in my 30-40 minutes of dry fire before I leave for the match, get my head wrapped around my sights, know what I'm looking at, and go from there. This is not something new for me, and one of the things that has had me saying that I need to shoot a complete match, and start off well. After The WIIT, I know I am capable of doing just that, but I also know what I did before I left to shoot, and the dry fire practice I put in, so when I got there, I knew exactly what I wanted to see.
I can feel the rounding off of my game I need to do, clean up just a couple of little things and it'll help both my overall accuracy and speed. I need to keep working, no off days for right now, and matches are not practice. This means Sunday will be a match, and 30 minutes of dry fire later in the day. I've got two 60% classifier's on the books, and that does not include the lost 82% run from The WIIT. Problem is one will fall off, so I need to start stringing together more of these. This goal of hitting "B" by the April USPSA classification run is very possible, but now it's entirely up to me.
Challenge accepted.
Full Match Video:
Monday, February 3, 2014
My WIIT Re-Cap
My WIIT Re-Cap
The Screaming Amateur squad started out shooting stages five, six, seven and eight on Sunday morning at 11am, with stages one thru four Sunday afternoon. I was extremely bummed that Lauren had strep throat and as a result Linda was not going to be able to shoot. She had been looking forward to this match for a long time, and she'd been practicing 30-40 minutes a day at home for the last few weeks, just to get herself ready to go. It was a "bigger" match, and really her first of that kind. There is a MISS match next Sunday (Wednesday as well) that she'll shoot, and it won't be quite the same, but she'll be back out there.
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Final Scores
Production Scores By Class
Video's will go up in match order, 1-8 instead of the order that I shot them, so this means, last four stages first.
Stage 1 Kriss Kross:
Jumping into this stage (yeah...obligatory reference...) This is one we spent prep-time on Saturday while working the match, and originally I planned on starting off going the other direction and saving a reload. However, once we got out there, I decided to do it the way I did, and reload coming across. That was actually going backward, but the reload going right kept the gun downrange never near the 180, and it's more comfortable reloading moving right. It was almost a bobble, as I did not seat the mag, thankfully it was a long crossing, and I could tap and get my grip again before I hit the 3rd position. I was pleased with the up-range paper, headed into my first position downrange, I actually forgot the order I wanted to engage the targets, and my hesitation showed. It took me time to re-orient myself, and get thru the position, after the reload, I had the final position in the order that I wanted, and other than a misfire due to a high primer, I ran it the way I wanted. There was obviously some lost time here, and confidence in my end stage plan was lacking. I did however get good hits.
Stage 2 Double Barrel:
This was a stage that I RO'd all day on Saturday, so I knew the times I wanted, I knew how to run it, and guess what? I made a mistake. My plan was to take a step back, and shoot the 4 steel thru the first 2 barrels, I wanted to make sure I did not get sucked into the barrels. I had to take an extra shot or two thru the first barrels, so I dropped and reloaded as I was moving into the 3rd position, with just paper left, I knew I'd have enough for all 4 paper targets. It was a good decision since I did it on the move, even though I moved more than I had to, this is where I started to get sucked into the ports, and then when I ran to the last two positions I got stuck in the ports, exactly as I did not want to do. Probably my worst hits on any stage.
Stage 3 CM 13-5 Tick-Tock (Former Classifier)
Probably my best overall stage of the day. I bested all my practice times, and ran it in 9.19 seconds, and you see me have a trigger freeze after the 7th shot on the first string. In other words, I probably could have done it a hair faster. I also had excellent hits on this stage, and my hit factor was 7.84, which would have been 83% run if this was still a classifier, and assuming the high hit factor was 9.5. In other words, a high "A" run. Ran this the way I practiced it.
Stage 4 Massage Room:
Okay, I'll start by saying that the stage itself was just plain stupid, starting laying down, hands by your sides on a massage table? Really? This turned into my worst stage of the day, and I hated ending on it. I started off rolling to my left, and I tore up the left side, I was accurate, and fast, I went to the right position, with a good reload, and was again quick, but I did have what I believe was my only miss of the match on a paper that came up, it was Alpha, and Mike. Coming back to anchor down behind the table was tough, and a very uncomfortable position. I had a hard time with the steel, and you've seen lately, that's something I've eaten up. What could have been a great closing stage, ended up with a struggle on steel. I'm just not used to shooting from a crouch. Evidently something I will need to work on, shooting more around barriers, getting low, and so on.
Stage 5: Monopolized
This was the first stage of the day for me, and again required some pre-planning so I would not draw until I was safe from a 180 call, and then going backwards again. If you watch, you'll see I was hesitant and slow coming out of the first position to hit an angle target in the middle. After I was downrange at the 3rd position, I turned to run across the range, and realized that I'd missed 2 targets, and hesitated, had my support hand off the gun, and had to double clutch to hit the target. Never should have had my support hand off. I cruised into the last position and did what I had to do. Overall it came out okay, I was halfway decent even on my squad, and it had me thinking positive and confident going into the rest of the match. It's also a huge improvement from a shooter who has always struggled to get warm, and usually has had issues on my first stage.
Stage 6 Don't Open, Zombies!:
Again, a stage I had RO'd on Saturday, so I should have had my stuff together. I started on the door, popped it quick, and started shooting, but I missed the 2nd target twice, realized I could not even see my front sight, and had to re-acquire my sight picture, and start again. I did it, got my 2 Alpha's, and took off to the last position where I did what I had to do. This was not a very good stage for me, but if I had let the mistake get to me, I never would have re-focused, and I did have all Alpha's after that. One of those that in the past I'd have let spiral into the toilet, instead it was just not great.
Stage 7 Margaritaville:
It's obvious to see a quick mistake that I had, at the sound of the buzzer, I looked up, and did not watch the gun into my hand, and I missed my grip. That's a focus issue, I know better. My hits were alphas on the paper, but I shot low on the elevated steel plates. Thanks to Jay Carillo for pointing that out, higher elevations have been an issue, and honestly I'm not sure what I need to do to hit them more effectively. It was only one make-up, but this is something that I can improve. Not a bad job at all on this stage, not quite as fast as I'd have liked, but I can live with my work here.
Stage 8 Surrounded:
I got lucky here. For the first time since I've been shooting, a re-shoot saved me, usually a re-shoot is the devil, and is even worse than the first time. My first run was slow, I hit a no-shoot and called it, but I lucked out that an activator was not set-up, and I could not shoot it, so I was granted a re-shoot, right at the bitter end. My second run thru things was actually very solid. I had a good cadence at my first position, with Alpha hits, the second position, the sound of falling steel is great, but I did slow down with an elevated cardboard target. The reload coming back to the door was not all that quick, I did not show urgency getting to the mag, or getting it back in the gun. I think I was preparing to open the door towards me. My third position went the way I wanted, paper, the activator, the small steel plate, and coming back to finish on the mover. You can see how the mover not working on my first run saved me...and on my last 2 shots.
Full Match:
Summary:
Third place in "C" class (10 Production C shooters were registered), 71st overall and 55% of the match winner. This is major league progress, and I can confidently say that this is the best match that I've ever shot, start to finish. I got hits, good hits for the most part, only 1 miss, I did not touch a no-shoot all day long (at least not that counted!). I had good reloads, good stage plans, I drew well, and I shot safe. I'm not underselling, I'm very happy with that sort of progress.
The video shows things that can be improved, focus, ports, cadence, and the best part is that those things are identifiable, and can be improved with practice. I'm proud of the improvement, but not content with where I'm at, there is still drive, hunger, and lot of desire to improve. This was the coming out party that I was hoping to have. Thank you to absolutely everyone who has helped and supported me in trying to reach my goal, thanks also to the phenomenal squad of shooters I spent the day with, Les, Terry, Kozy, Jay, Rob, both Tony's, Brad, Luis and Mikhail, Linda and Emil were definitely missed.
As a special treat, here is the match video from "C" class winner, and sandbagger extraordinaire Terry:
He gave a whole new meaning to "Make Ready" on the massage stage, costing Les and I a case of beer.
The Screaming Amateur squad started out shooting stages five, six, seven and eight on Sunday morning at 11am, with stages one thru four Sunday afternoon. I was extremely bummed that Lauren had strep throat and as a result Linda was not going to be able to shoot. She had been looking forward to this match for a long time, and she'd been practicing 30-40 minutes a day at home for the last few weeks, just to get herself ready to go. It was a "bigger" match, and really her first of that kind. There is a MISS match next Sunday (Wednesday as well) that she'll shoot, and it won't be quite the same, but she'll be back out there.
Final Scores
Production Scores By Class
Video's will go up in match order, 1-8 instead of the order that I shot them, so this means, last four stages first.
Stage 1 Kriss Kross:
Jumping into this stage (yeah...obligatory reference...) This is one we spent prep-time on Saturday while working the match, and originally I planned on starting off going the other direction and saving a reload. However, once we got out there, I decided to do it the way I did, and reload coming across. That was actually going backward, but the reload going right kept the gun downrange never near the 180, and it's more comfortable reloading moving right. It was almost a bobble, as I did not seat the mag, thankfully it was a long crossing, and I could tap and get my grip again before I hit the 3rd position. I was pleased with the up-range paper, headed into my first position downrange, I actually forgot the order I wanted to engage the targets, and my hesitation showed. It took me time to re-orient myself, and get thru the position, after the reload, I had the final position in the order that I wanted, and other than a misfire due to a high primer, I ran it the way I wanted. There was obviously some lost time here, and confidence in my end stage plan was lacking. I did however get good hits.
Stage 2 Double Barrel:
This was a stage that I RO'd all day on Saturday, so I knew the times I wanted, I knew how to run it, and guess what? I made a mistake. My plan was to take a step back, and shoot the 4 steel thru the first 2 barrels, I wanted to make sure I did not get sucked into the barrels. I had to take an extra shot or two thru the first barrels, so I dropped and reloaded as I was moving into the 3rd position, with just paper left, I knew I'd have enough for all 4 paper targets. It was a good decision since I did it on the move, even though I moved more than I had to, this is where I started to get sucked into the ports, and then when I ran to the last two positions I got stuck in the ports, exactly as I did not want to do. Probably my worst hits on any stage.
Stage 3 CM 13-5 Tick-Tock (Former Classifier)
Probably my best overall stage of the day. I bested all my practice times, and ran it in 9.19 seconds, and you see me have a trigger freeze after the 7th shot on the first string. In other words, I probably could have done it a hair faster. I also had excellent hits on this stage, and my hit factor was 7.84, which would have been 83% run if this was still a classifier, and assuming the high hit factor was 9.5. In other words, a high "A" run. Ran this the way I practiced it.
Stage 4 Massage Room:
Okay, I'll start by saying that the stage itself was just plain stupid, starting laying down, hands by your sides on a massage table? Really? This turned into my worst stage of the day, and I hated ending on it. I started off rolling to my left, and I tore up the left side, I was accurate, and fast, I went to the right position, with a good reload, and was again quick, but I did have what I believe was my only miss of the match on a paper that came up, it was Alpha, and Mike. Coming back to anchor down behind the table was tough, and a very uncomfortable position. I had a hard time with the steel, and you've seen lately, that's something I've eaten up. What could have been a great closing stage, ended up with a struggle on steel. I'm just not used to shooting from a crouch. Evidently something I will need to work on, shooting more around barriers, getting low, and so on.
Stage 5: Monopolized
This was the first stage of the day for me, and again required some pre-planning so I would not draw until I was safe from a 180 call, and then going backwards again. If you watch, you'll see I was hesitant and slow coming out of the first position to hit an angle target in the middle. After I was downrange at the 3rd position, I turned to run across the range, and realized that I'd missed 2 targets, and hesitated, had my support hand off the gun, and had to double clutch to hit the target. Never should have had my support hand off. I cruised into the last position and did what I had to do. Overall it came out okay, I was halfway decent even on my squad, and it had me thinking positive and confident going into the rest of the match. It's also a huge improvement from a shooter who has always struggled to get warm, and usually has had issues on my first stage.
Stage 6 Don't Open, Zombies!:
Again, a stage I had RO'd on Saturday, so I should have had my stuff together. I started on the door, popped it quick, and started shooting, but I missed the 2nd target twice, realized I could not even see my front sight, and had to re-acquire my sight picture, and start again. I did it, got my 2 Alpha's, and took off to the last position where I did what I had to do. This was not a very good stage for me, but if I had let the mistake get to me, I never would have re-focused, and I did have all Alpha's after that. One of those that in the past I'd have let spiral into the toilet, instead it was just not great.
Stage 7 Margaritaville:
It's obvious to see a quick mistake that I had, at the sound of the buzzer, I looked up, and did not watch the gun into my hand, and I missed my grip. That's a focus issue, I know better. My hits were alphas on the paper, but I shot low on the elevated steel plates. Thanks to Jay Carillo for pointing that out, higher elevations have been an issue, and honestly I'm not sure what I need to do to hit them more effectively. It was only one make-up, but this is something that I can improve. Not a bad job at all on this stage, not quite as fast as I'd have liked, but I can live with my work here.
Stage 8 Surrounded:
I got lucky here. For the first time since I've been shooting, a re-shoot saved me, usually a re-shoot is the devil, and is even worse than the first time. My first run was slow, I hit a no-shoot and called it, but I lucked out that an activator was not set-up, and I could not shoot it, so I was granted a re-shoot, right at the bitter end. My second run thru things was actually very solid. I had a good cadence at my first position, with Alpha hits, the second position, the sound of falling steel is great, but I did slow down with an elevated cardboard target. The reload coming back to the door was not all that quick, I did not show urgency getting to the mag, or getting it back in the gun. I think I was preparing to open the door towards me. My third position went the way I wanted, paper, the activator, the small steel plate, and coming back to finish on the mover. You can see how the mover not working on my first run saved me...and on my last 2 shots.
Full Match:
Summary:
Third place in "C" class (10 Production C shooters were registered), 71st overall and 55% of the match winner. This is major league progress, and I can confidently say that this is the best match that I've ever shot, start to finish. I got hits, good hits for the most part, only 1 miss, I did not touch a no-shoot all day long (at least not that counted!). I had good reloads, good stage plans, I drew well, and I shot safe. I'm not underselling, I'm very happy with that sort of progress.
The video shows things that can be improved, focus, ports, cadence, and the best part is that those things are identifiable, and can be improved with practice. I'm proud of the improvement, but not content with where I'm at, there is still drive, hunger, and lot of desire to improve. This was the coming out party that I was hoping to have. Thank you to absolutely everyone who has helped and supported me in trying to reach my goal, thanks also to the phenomenal squad of shooters I spent the day with, Les, Terry, Kozy, Jay, Rob, both Tony's, Brad, Luis and Mikhail, Linda and Emil were definitely missed.
As a special treat, here is the match video from "C" class winner, and sandbagger extraordinaire Terry:
He gave a whole new meaning to "Make Ready" on the massage stage, costing Les and I a case of beer.
Friday, January 31, 2014
Last WIIT Practice
Last WIIT Practice
Five am start to head out and work the match, so by the time this posts, I'll have been going for awhile, and just getting ready to R.O. the first squad. Hit Alpha for a last practice session with Dave, Linda and Lauren tonight. Linda got her first shots with her re-worked gun and is quite happy, Lauren shot her .22 rifle for a bit, and tore up a zombie rabbit.
Okay, classifier. In November a 9.5 HF was about 100%, someone with a 9.63 got 106%. I'm not sure if that has been modified, but it tells me this should be a very good classifier to make up some ground. Assuming 72 of 80 points (3 Alphas, and 1 Charlie per target, 12 and 4 respectively) we need hit factors over 5.9 to get a 60%. On to the numbers
Dave:
Run 1
4 Alpha
3 Bravo
5 Charlie
2 Delta
2 Mike
1 No-Shoot
36 Points
9.88 Seconds
3.17 to first shot
2.16 reload
3.64 Hit Factor
37% of 9.65 High Hit Factor "D" run.
Run 2
10 Alpha
2 Charlie
3 Delta
1 Mike
59 Points
10.27 Seconds
3.45 to first shot
1.88 reload
5.74 Hit Factor
59% of 9.65 High Hit Factor "High C" run"
Run 3
12 Alpha
4 Charlie
72 Points
12.58 Seconds
3.07 to first shot
1.93 reload
5.72 Hit Factor
59% of 9.65 High Hit Factor "High C run"
Linda:
Run 1
9 Alpha
6 Charlie
1 Delta
1 No-Shoot
54 Points
14.08 Seconds
3.73 to first shot
2.44 reload
3.83 Hit Factor
39% of 9.65 High Hit Factor, "D" run.
Run 2
10 Alpha
5 Charlie
1 Delta
66 Points
15.27 Seconds
3.85 to first shot
3.68 reload
4.32 Hit Factor
44% of 9.65 High Hit Factor, "C" run.
Run 3
7 Alpha
8 Charlie
1 Delta
60 Points
13.28 Seconds
4.15 to first shot
2.75 reload
4.52 Hit Factor
46% of 9.65 High Hit Factor, "C" run.
Luke:
Run 1
13 Alpha
3 Charlie
74 Points
9.93 Seconds
3.63 to first shot
1.96 reload
7.45 Hit Factor
77% of 9.65 High Hit Factor "A" run.
Run 2
9 Alpha
4 Charlie
2 Delta
1 Mike
1 No Shoot
49 Points
9.57 Seconds
3.53 to first shot
2.10 reload
5.12 Hit Factor
53% of 9.65 High Hit Factor, "C" run
Run 3
13 Alpha
3 Charlie
74 Points
9.64 Seconds
3.19 to first shot
2.38 reload.
7.67 Hit Factor
79% of 9.65 High Hit Factor, "A" run
Seeing the runs, I'm having a hard time believing that the High Hit Factor is really 9.5, and that it won't be adjusted, but as long as it is not adjusted in the next two weeks, good to go. This is a definite speed stage, but where accuracy is going to play a factor. I notice my last run I had my worst reload, if shave off .40 seconds to my best reload, I'd have had a hit factor of 8, and then an 82% run.
This is doable. My problem is that I'll be working the WIIT tomorrow, so I won't have the extra time I want to dry fire, and get some practice in. I really want to work down my first shot to 3 seconds, and keep the reload under 2 seconds, both of which I think are possible.
Hell of a lot of fun tonight, good math, lookin' forward to doing this one for real in a couple of days.
Five am start to head out and work the match, so by the time this posts, I'll have been going for awhile, and just getting ready to R.O. the first squad. Hit Alpha for a last practice session with Dave, Linda and Lauren tonight. Linda got her first shots with her re-worked gun and is quite happy, Lauren shot her .22 rifle for a bit, and tore up a zombie rabbit.
Okay, classifier. In November a 9.5 HF was about 100%, someone with a 9.63 got 106%. I'm not sure if that has been modified, but it tells me this should be a very good classifier to make up some ground. Assuming 72 of 80 points (3 Alphas, and 1 Charlie per target, 12 and 4 respectively) we need hit factors over 5.9 to get a 60%. On to the numbers
 |
| A WIIT Stage from Set-up today |
Dave:
Run 1
4 Alpha
3 Bravo
5 Charlie
2 Delta
2 Mike
1 No-Shoot
36 Points
9.88 Seconds
3.17 to first shot
2.16 reload
3.64 Hit Factor
37% of 9.65 High Hit Factor "D" run.
Run 2
10 Alpha
2 Charlie
3 Delta
1 Mike
59 Points
10.27 Seconds
3.45 to first shot
1.88 reload
5.74 Hit Factor
59% of 9.65 High Hit Factor "High C" run"
Run 3
12 Alpha
4 Charlie
72 Points
12.58 Seconds
3.07 to first shot
1.93 reload
5.72 Hit Factor
59% of 9.65 High Hit Factor "High C run"
Linda:
Run 1
9 Alpha
6 Charlie
1 Delta
1 No-Shoot
54 Points
14.08 Seconds
3.73 to first shot
2.44 reload
3.83 Hit Factor
39% of 9.65 High Hit Factor, "D" run.
Run 2
10 Alpha
5 Charlie
1 Delta
66 Points
15.27 Seconds
3.85 to first shot
3.68 reload
4.32 Hit Factor
44% of 9.65 High Hit Factor, "C" run.
Run 3
7 Alpha
8 Charlie
1 Delta
60 Points
13.28 Seconds
4.15 to first shot
2.75 reload
4.52 Hit Factor
46% of 9.65 High Hit Factor, "C" run.
Luke:
Run 1
13 Alpha
3 Charlie
74 Points
9.93 Seconds
3.63 to first shot
1.96 reload
7.45 Hit Factor
77% of 9.65 High Hit Factor "A" run.
Run 2
9 Alpha
4 Charlie
2 Delta
1 Mike
1 No Shoot
49 Points
9.57 Seconds
3.53 to first shot
2.10 reload
5.12 Hit Factor
53% of 9.65 High Hit Factor, "C" run
Run 3
13 Alpha
3 Charlie
74 Points
9.64 Seconds
3.19 to first shot
2.38 reload.
7.67 Hit Factor
79% of 9.65 High Hit Factor, "A" run
 |
| Monopoly Stage Got Emil |
Seeing the runs, I'm having a hard time believing that the High Hit Factor is really 9.5, and that it won't be adjusted, but as long as it is not adjusted in the next two weeks, good to go. This is a definite speed stage, but where accuracy is going to play a factor. I notice my last run I had my worst reload, if shave off .40 seconds to my best reload, I'd have had a hit factor of 8, and then an 82% run.
This is doable. My problem is that I'll be working the WIIT tomorrow, so I won't have the extra time I want to dry fire, and get some practice in. I really want to work down my first shot to 3 seconds, and keep the reload under 2 seconds, both of which I think are possible.
Hell of a lot of fun tonight, good math, lookin' forward to doing this one for real in a couple of days.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
CM 13-05 Tick Tock Practice
Classifier Practice
Tick Tock is the name, and it's the classifier for the WIIT. Tonight I accidentally forgot my belt at home, so it limited in what I was actually able to do while practicing. My goal was to set up CM13-05, Tick Tock, and get some baseline runs in on it. Find out what I am capable of doing on it, so I know how to structure my practice for it this week. This classifier is a table start, which means gun is unloaded on the table, along with 2 magazines. When the buzzer beeps, I grab the gun, slam the mag home, rack the gun, and fire 2 shots at each of four targets, reload, and repeat the shooting.
WIIT Matchbook
I ran it 6 times, and here are the results:
Stage is 16 rounds, 80 points.
Run 1:
9.12 Seconds Total
3.40 Second to First Shot
1.79 Seconds to Reload
7 Alpha, 2 Bravo, 6 Charlie, One Delta, One Mike.
56 Points
6.14 Hit Factor
I pushed myself to go as fast as I could, my splits and transitions were good, but I had way too many charlies, and the delta and mike are inexcusable at this distance.
Run 2:
9.49 Seconds Total
3.24 Second to First Shot
1.85 Seconds to Reload
10 Alpha, 1 Bravo, 3 Charlie, 2 Delta
64 Points
6.74 Hit Factor
Still not happy with the 2 Deltas, but the first shot was good, and the reload was acceptable.
Run 3:
9.87 Seconds Total
3.56 Seconds to First Shot
2.40 Seconds to Reload
14 Alpha, 2 Charlie
76 Points
7.70 Hit Factor
This was my overall best run of the day, I felt like I saw my front sights better than the first two runs, but I wasted a lot of time on the first shot and reload. This is the shooting cadence I want, with an improved first shot and reload.
Run 4:
10.28 Seconds Total
3.58 Seconds to First Shot
2.19 Seconds to Reload
13 Alpha 3 Charlie
74 Points
7.20 Hit Factor
I had trigger freeze after the first shot, I went all the way out and could not find the trigger, coming back, it was a bizarre feeling, but something I repeated in the next two runs as well.
Run 5:
10.70 Seconds Total
3.38 Seconds to First Shot
2.43 Seconds to Reload
12 Alpha, 2 Charlie, 1 Delta
70 Points
6.54 Hit Factor
Trigger freeze again after the first shot, slow first shot, slow reload, and again a delta.
Run 6:
10.90 Seconds Total
3.73 Seconds to First Shot
2.30 Seconds to Reload
15 Alpha, 1 Charlie
78 Points
7.16 Hit Factor
Same trigger freeze, but I have an idea on what I'm going to do to fix it, and painfully slow first shot and reload, but again, I had good hits, and the points kept my Hit Factor over 7.
The catch with with classifier is that it is a new classifier, so there is no data on a high Hit Factor. If I don't know what a 100% run is, I'm not sure where I need to be in order to get my 60% or greater. I thought, and Les thought it was in the neighborhood of 10.5, and I called Kozy and he thought it was 9.5. Analyzing this, if it truly is a 9.5, a Hit Factor of above 7 should give me somewhere above a 71%, but if it is 10.5, we are talking it'll be in the 60th percentile. While I believe Kozy, I'm also going to set my par time, and practice as if 10.5 is the high hit factor, and I need an appropriate time.
Practice:
I find it strange that the more I ran it, the slower I ran it. My effective split/transition was about .21/.39, any faster and my hits really suffered. I think I need to set my par time to 3 seconds to first shot, and 1.8 seconds on the reload. I never was that quick getting to the first shot, but I think I can, and the 1.8 is a time I beat on my first reload, but I kept getting slower. If I can shave off .7 on my draw from my last time, and .5 from my reload, I can have a slow shooting cadence, and still cut 1.2 seconds from that time. If I were to run it in 9.7 seconds with the same points my hit factor jumps to just over 8.
Setting and practicing some par times for the table start and reload is going to happen, and I'm also not going to go all the way out to constant double action pulls in my dry fire, I'm going to spend some time not releasing the trigger all the way, so I don't get used to running the trigger all the way out, and I start to adjust to how short the single action pull of my gun really is.
Advantage one of "Plan B" as put together by Les. Even if I don't have a high hit factor, I can take some baseline live fire times, and help build par times to practice, and improve this score. If I did not understand the scoring, then I'd have no idea what, or how to practice. This is just another small piece of appreciation for what I'm learning, and how just a gift of that little piece of knowledge can go a long way.
I closed out practice with some group shooting, one shot into a target, and then try to put the next shot thru the very same hole. I ended up with some excellent groups, so again, I realize that I have an accurate gun, it's easy to shoot, and I can shoot accurately when I focus in on that front sight, something I just don't do enough. To get my groups, I could not look beyond my sight to the target, I had to keep my eye on nothing but the sight, and essentially call my shot.
I can do this shit, not just on steel, on paper. It's a matter of staying on that front sight, and not rushing. Focus! I can own this shit. My own pacing, and my own mental mistakes are my biggest problems. I can shoot, I can shoot quick enough, I can shoot accurately enough, I can draw well enough, transition, and reload too. Stop rushing, stop being in a hurry.
Tick Tock is the name, and it's the classifier for the WIIT. Tonight I accidentally forgot my belt at home, so it limited in what I was actually able to do while practicing. My goal was to set up CM13-05, Tick Tock, and get some baseline runs in on it. Find out what I am capable of doing on it, so I know how to structure my practice for it this week. This classifier is a table start, which means gun is unloaded on the table, along with 2 magazines. When the buzzer beeps, I grab the gun, slam the mag home, rack the gun, and fire 2 shots at each of four targets, reload, and repeat the shooting.
WIIT Matchbook
I ran it 6 times, and here are the results:
Stage is 16 rounds, 80 points.
Run 1:
9.12 Seconds Total
3.40 Second to First Shot
1.79 Seconds to Reload
7 Alpha, 2 Bravo, 6 Charlie, One Delta, One Mike.
56 Points
6.14 Hit Factor
I pushed myself to go as fast as I could, my splits and transitions were good, but I had way too many charlies, and the delta and mike are inexcusable at this distance.
Run 2:
9.49 Seconds Total
3.24 Second to First Shot
1.85 Seconds to Reload
10 Alpha, 1 Bravo, 3 Charlie, 2 Delta
64 Points
6.74 Hit Factor
Still not happy with the 2 Deltas, but the first shot was good, and the reload was acceptable.
Run 3:
9.87 Seconds Total
3.56 Seconds to First Shot
2.40 Seconds to Reload
14 Alpha, 2 Charlie
76 Points
7.70 Hit Factor
This was my overall best run of the day, I felt like I saw my front sights better than the first two runs, but I wasted a lot of time on the first shot and reload. This is the shooting cadence I want, with an improved first shot and reload.
Run 4:
10.28 Seconds Total
3.58 Seconds to First Shot
2.19 Seconds to Reload
13 Alpha 3 Charlie
74 Points
7.20 Hit Factor
I had trigger freeze after the first shot, I went all the way out and could not find the trigger, coming back, it was a bizarre feeling, but something I repeated in the next two runs as well.
Run 5:
10.70 Seconds Total
3.38 Seconds to First Shot
2.43 Seconds to Reload
12 Alpha, 2 Charlie, 1 Delta
70 Points
6.54 Hit Factor
Trigger freeze again after the first shot, slow first shot, slow reload, and again a delta.
Run 6:
10.90 Seconds Total
3.73 Seconds to First Shot
2.30 Seconds to Reload
15 Alpha, 1 Charlie
78 Points
7.16 Hit Factor
Same trigger freeze, but I have an idea on what I'm going to do to fix it, and painfully slow first shot and reload, but again, I had good hits, and the points kept my Hit Factor over 7.
The catch with with classifier is that it is a new classifier, so there is no data on a high Hit Factor. If I don't know what a 100% run is, I'm not sure where I need to be in order to get my 60% or greater. I thought, and Les thought it was in the neighborhood of 10.5, and I called Kozy and he thought it was 9.5. Analyzing this, if it truly is a 9.5, a Hit Factor of above 7 should give me somewhere above a 71%, but if it is 10.5, we are talking it'll be in the 60th percentile. While I believe Kozy, I'm also going to set my par time, and practice as if 10.5 is the high hit factor, and I need an appropriate time.
Practice:
I find it strange that the more I ran it, the slower I ran it. My effective split/transition was about .21/.39, any faster and my hits really suffered. I think I need to set my par time to 3 seconds to first shot, and 1.8 seconds on the reload. I never was that quick getting to the first shot, but I think I can, and the 1.8 is a time I beat on my first reload, but I kept getting slower. If I can shave off .7 on my draw from my last time, and .5 from my reload, I can have a slow shooting cadence, and still cut 1.2 seconds from that time. If I were to run it in 9.7 seconds with the same points my hit factor jumps to just over 8.
Setting and practicing some par times for the table start and reload is going to happen, and I'm also not going to go all the way out to constant double action pulls in my dry fire, I'm going to spend some time not releasing the trigger all the way, so I don't get used to running the trigger all the way out, and I start to adjust to how short the single action pull of my gun really is.
Advantage one of "Plan B" as put together by Les. Even if I don't have a high hit factor, I can take some baseline live fire times, and help build par times to practice, and improve this score. If I did not understand the scoring, then I'd have no idea what, or how to practice. This is just another small piece of appreciation for what I'm learning, and how just a gift of that little piece of knowledge can go a long way.
I closed out practice with some group shooting, one shot into a target, and then try to put the next shot thru the very same hole. I ended up with some excellent groups, so again, I realize that I have an accurate gun, it's easy to shoot, and I can shoot accurately when I focus in on that front sight, something I just don't do enough. To get my groups, I could not look beyond my sight to the target, I had to keep my eye on nothing but the sight, and essentially call my shot.
I can do this shit, not just on steel, on paper. It's a matter of staying on that front sight, and not rushing. Focus! I can own this shit. My own pacing, and my own mental mistakes are my biggest problems. I can shoot, I can shoot quick enough, I can shoot accurately enough, I can draw well enough, transition, and reload too. Stop rushing, stop being in a hurry.
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Happy New Year
Happy New Year
So, 4.5 inches of snow, snow all day long, and a match tonight. Not exactly how I planned on starting the new year, but it is what it is. CM 06-05 Fluffy's Revenge 2 is the classifier, and I need a 5.13 second run to get my desired Hit Factor of 7.014 or better. If this was stand and draw, I would kick this classifier's ass, for one stage at least, I would be a Golden God. Fuckin' turn and draw. Thankfully, I've got 6 more hours until the match prep starts, and I'm going to use a chunk practicing my turn and draw, like I have the past few days. Hey, you didn't think I would not practice that, did ya?
It's cold, it's snowy, and I'm still trying to shake this cold that has hung on for a few weeks, plus, my extended vacation ends today, and it's back to work tomorrow. No bueno.
Happy New Year, and see you after the match!
So, 4.5 inches of snow, snow all day long, and a match tonight. Not exactly how I planned on starting the new year, but it is what it is. CM 06-05 Fluffy's Revenge 2 is the classifier, and I need a 5.13 second run to get my desired Hit Factor of 7.014 or better. If this was stand and draw, I would kick this classifier's ass, for one stage at least, I would be a Golden God. Fuckin' turn and draw. Thankfully, I've got 6 more hours until the match prep starts, and I'm going to use a chunk practicing my turn and draw, like I have the past few days. Hey, you didn't think I would not practice that, did ya?
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| Practice |
Happy New Year, and see you after the match!
Monday, November 18, 2013
Pirate Reloads
Pirates and Reload Practice
I have no idea what the hell pirates have to do with
shooting, but sometimes you have a picture that you want to use in a blog, so
you have to stretch. We’ll get to that in just a minute.
Screw the flinch. I’m not worried about this. I’m practicing
the right way, I’m doing the right thing, and come Wednesday night, it’s not
going to be an issue. When I let it get into my head, I made things worse, I
thought about it more. That’s a mark of not being confident, I’m practicing
right, I’m just going to go and shoot on Wednesday. I’m not going to focus on
it, or over think it, I’m going to shoot.
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| Just Stay On That Front Sight, Okay, not these sights..yet...I mean my sights! |
So, I got a piece of good news, we are prepping for
classifier CM 13-04. The assumption is that the high hit factor is 10.5. For me
to run a 60% classifier, I have 12.70 seconds for both strings, when you
subtract time for two draws and a reload, I will have 6.70 seconds. This means
I’m looking for a .40 split, which is something I can accomplish. Again, the
work that we put in over the past couple of weeks on cadence, has drilled into
my head that I can shoot follow-up shots between .25 and .33 right now, which
means I will have the time to make a 60% run, I just need to demonstrate accuracy
to make it happen. Conveniently, that’s the other part of what we’ve been
doing. I’m going into this classifier confident that I have the ability to do
this, if I simply execute what I already execute while in practice. Good
feeling.
As part of this though, we’re going to add a little re-load
to our drills for the next couple of days, and I’m thrilled to add a little
something different to my practice. That said, the direction is coming from a
pirate….
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| Les, this is just how he dresses to class. |
Is that inspirational or what?
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