I've only shot a few different matches here in Texas, some at the Austin Rifle Club, with the Austin Lone Star Practical Pistol Club, and once up in Temple at the Temple Gun Club. It's been an interesting experience, at Temple I shot a classifier at 40 yards, far longer than I am used to seeing in Illinois, and at ARC, I've seen stages that far more resembled what I am used to.
After a day of RO'ing, I was tired on my last stage.
This was one of my better finishes, and I felt like I left so much time on the table.
This is the way I want to shoot, plan, transitions, execution.
Good for 5th of 23 Production Shooters?
Linda's take on El Nuevo Presidente.
Just a few samples of what we've been experiencing here in Texas. Nothing that we should not be prepared for, but an awful lot of rust in our combined games so far. We suddenly realize how perishable a skill shooting is, and how much at our ability levels we need consistent practice sessions to build a higher and better foundation of skills.
Buckeye Blast (Part 2)
Squad started on Stage 4, so that's where I'll start.
Stage 4:
I had a pretty decent plan on this stage, and I came out with the idea of being fast. This was the first, and only magazine issue I had. I went to reload, and the bullet looked like it did not feed properly, and that cost me some time, I kept my cool and finished the stage with the right mindset. Hits were sub par, which was an ongoing theme, so I won't keep mentioning it.
Stage 5:
Again, a good plan on this stage. I made a key mistake, I had to take extra shots at the mover, and was trying to figure the count in my head as I was reloading out of the port position following the "mover" sequence. I blew right past a target without engaging it, and I realized I did it, but figured it was better to take the penalty than run back around and get it. Dumb mistake. Nice work though on getting the mover!
Stage 6:
As I post a Top 20 Production finish (60+ shooters) I had trigger freeze on the 5th shot of my 2nd string, and doing it while on a bouncy bridge was a challenge. Once that thing started moving, it was hard to stop, so this is slower than I did it at Alpha, but it was a degree or two harder.
Stage 7:
This was a fun hoser stage. My mistake here was getting lost. I got to the 5th target on the 2nd magazine, and could not remember if I needed to shoot it or reload, the correct answer was shoot it, and reload for the last target. I got the right answer but lost a second or so on that, and plinking the steel on the last angle and having to re-load cost me a little more time.
Stage 8:
Yes, I put one thru a no-shoot. I think I could have gone faster, you'll notice my cadence picked up as I went, and I don't think the last shot was a challenge, it was a smart plan for me, and I liked it. I'd run that the exact same way, I think, if I had to run it again right now.
Stage 9:
I had a mike, and believe it or not, it was on the close target, not the far one. I was about 1.2 seconds behind a limited shooter on our squad (Ralph Lopez) who I think is an excellent shooter. I can live with that since I had to reload and he did not. Do that one again, and I don't miss. Good plan, good cadence, I'll execute better next time.
Stage 10:
You had to reload after 2 paper targets, so my plan was draw to the 3rd target since it was fairly open, and I could execute that quickly, hit the 4th, and then the steel. Knock out the reload, hit the 3rd target, and then the close target, that was a tough shot, and I did not need all the extra shots, but took them when I saw I'd thrown my second shot just into the black at left.
Stage 1:
While I was having some struggles, this was my best stage of the day. As of this writing 9th in Production. Good hits, good plan, good execution, I left this stage feeling like I shot my best. There are some things I could do better going forward, I could have done the middle targets on the move faster, I had a miss on a popper on the right side, and took a 3rd shot on the last clamshell target that I did not need. I won't say it's nit picking, you should aspire to always do better, but I was satisfied this was the best I had in me when I shot it.
Stage 2:
The idea was that you would have to deposit the hand cuffs into the tray on the barrel before the last shot, most shooters just ran over and dumped them, I tried to save the step, and had them hooked around my pinky, and I shot with them. My miss on this stage was the first target, first shot, the handcuffs bothered my shot, and I knew it, thought I was low left or off, should have taken the make-up. The rest of it was reasonable.
Stage 3:
A train wreck is what this turned into. I had 7 misses on this stage alone, as many as I had in my last major match total. I still think I had a good plan. The difference between this stage and the other stages, is that I was thinking so much about "my marks" and where I had to be, and go to shoot, than I completely and totally lost my front sight. What made it worse is that I only realized it when I got to the "barn" ports and had to shoot steel, when I did that, I knew then that I'd never had a sight picture for the majority of the stage.
Full Match Video:
I summarized the match in Part 1, so I won't do it again. I'll simply say that what I need to fix, is fixable. The match results won't be pretty because of how badly the few things that went wrong truly went wrong. The train is not off the tracks, I'll continue to work, and get it back on track, because I learned so much from this match that I want it to matter. Area 5 is in a few weeks, and even with everything else going on, I'm going to get out there, hammer the practice, and do my best to put it together, and leave Area 5 saying that I put forth my best effort.
Bonus Match Coverage:
Linda Stage 7
As a super bonus, here is Linda's match video for her first major. I know she is not happy either, but she should be. She learned what a whole match day is all about, and how it's more than just shooting. She's as hungry for success as I am, and a competitor in her own right, I know she'll work because she wants to be at her best as well. I'm super proud of her, and love her like crazy! I really enjoyed being able to share the match experience with her!
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!
Linda Conquers The Texas Star
We trekked up to Pine Tree Pistol Club this morning for a match, and we more or less kept from Linda that she would have to shoot the Texas Star, oh, did I mention that it was not wide open, and that she had to shoot it from in a tube? Yeah, good thing I did not mention that to her either, but as Brad, Kozy, and Les all made sure to let me know, she kicked my ass on the stage. I inexplicably shot the bottom first and suffered, she shot it smart. She get's a well done!
Yes, she zeroed that one like a pro! Who is the gamer now? Somehow, I missed the video on stage 2, I know why, and that's a whole 'nother story for my blog.
Linda Stage 3:
Linda Stage 4: (She Conquers the Texas Star!)
Linda Stage 5:
It was an up and down match, and she found things she needs to work on, stage plan, reload, but most important something that I still struggle with as well, keeping her composure on a stage when something does not go according to plan. It cost her some standing reloads, but on the whole it was not a bad match for her, and she should find plenty of confidence in what she did on the star!
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.
CZ Circle Complete
Linda got her CZ SP-01 back from Automatic Accuracy today, and she is pretty happy with the work that they did. I won't say we saved a ton of money buying the stock SP-01 and getting work done on it, it was a few hundred cheaper than the Shadow, but a few hundred here, and a few hundred there, and we're talking real money, no? Yes, savings are good!
So what are the big differences? The Shadow trigger is hands down better, it's crisp, the short trigger reset makes a huge difference, it's a longer reset with the SP-01, and a little mushy, but the double action pull might even be lighter than my already broken in Shadow pull is, and that's a feat in and of itself. I assumed it was simply salesmanship when they told me that they loved how the trigger came out. They were not kidding.
For both Linda and I, no excuses, GM caliber guns and equipment, we'll go as far as we are willing to put work in to succeed. I was happy to dry fire again today, and it was nice that Linda had her own gun to do some work with as well. Friday is some live fire, more classifier work for me, but Linda is going to work her own ball and dummy drills, and see where she is with her flinch, and hopefully she'll have it under control.
Short blog for today, I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves again. Linda's SP-01 with the red aluminum grips, my SP-01 Shadow, and the green P-01. Remarkable how we are fully in the CZ camp now. I suspect that since I had an early blog about my choice to shoot Walther, I'll have to update, and do a blog in the future about why we are choosing to shoot CZ, and why we'll be there for an awful long time.
Random Shots
So, Linda got to shoot her new SP-01 today, and the results were not exactly what she wanted. However there is more to a match than just results, and in seeing her shoot, she really struggled her first stage or two before starting to see some more positive results in her last 2 stages, in fact her last stage she did pretty well on, she shot the steel cleanly, she ran, and she finally looked comfortable with her new gun. While she had rented an SP-01, she had limited time with her own gun. Thursday she ran dry fire with me for about 45 minutes, and she put 50 rounds down range on Friday night before we set up for the match.
She does have a few issues, including a glaring flinch. On her first stage, it's possible she shot the floor a few feet in front of the steel she was aiming at, and she was flinching pretty bad early on. On the last stage, her first shot you can see another massive flinch on her double action pull, and a second flinch right after that. However, by that point, she recovered to run a really nice stage, that could have been a few seconds faster if she had not taken an extra shot on her final target. I sense some Ball and Dummy Drill's incoming because she really needs to break this habit. The reality is that she's had this flinch for awhile, and she did not want to do the drill, because she hated it. She hated seeing the flinch, but did not correct it. Personally, I think the excellent trigger on the XDM helped mask that flaw to some extent, but the more challenging double action pull of the CZ magnified this issue. The good news is that she really saw it today, and says she'll commit to working the problem out.
Linda left the range saying that she absolutely loves the CZ, like me, she thinks the weight, recoil management, and accuracy of the gun is just amazing. (Wait until she get's some work done on it...) It's good thing though that she feels that way, because she just ran out of excuses. She's got GM level gear, and an investment in gear that says she is serious, and wants to compete. There are no limits placed on her progress by her gear, it's all about her, her practice, and what she does now.
Linda Video:
Here is some video of Terry getting cooking today, he shot a pretty damn good match, and as usual gamed the heck out of the second stage. Kudos to him.
Linda Goes CZ
Linda made her decision today, she went CZ SP-01. She decided that she did not want to spend what I spent on the Shadow, but she likes the platform, the frame, and it's easier to shoot. She'll be able to customize the gun, and her trigger will turn out to be very good, it just cant have the Short Reset Trigger System, so it'll be very good, not quite excellent.
She's going to switch out grips and sights, and then shoot it for awhile, but eventually she'll get a race trigger job, extended firing pin, extended mag release and a smaller safety. I think the upcoming vote is what color grips she'll actually decide on.
I think she made a great choice, and it means no new handguns for us in 2014, unless she decides she wants something for CCW. Otherwise, we're going to go with what we have, these guns can be Grand Master guns (Then again, so was her Glock 34, and her XDM 5.25"), so now it's 100% all about how we practice.
Who's the little kid in the upper right?
Okay, she did not want me to use this picture, but what the heck, that's an actual smile, not a fake one. I'm just happy to see her really happy for the first time with something. I love her, glad she made her decision, and I'd have supported whatever decision she made. I'm really glad she is finally done switching. There is not a better gun out there for Production Division.
Friday night we had dinner at Jameson's Charhouse to
celebrate Emil's 70th Birthday, and I think a good time was had by all. Kozy
was going up toAlphathe
next morning to get some practice in, and he suggested that Emil, Linda and I
all go up there with him, and he would do some coaching and practicing. First
of all, I'll say how much I appreciate that he did that. Kozy is working hard
to earn his GM card, and when he takes three entry level shooters up to
practice, he loses a session of practice of his own, and ends up teaching his
dad, Linda, and I. It's a sacrifice, and I eat up the coaching, anything helps.
We started working the same classifier
that we ran on Wednesday night, and I started off with a nice run, 4.98 down 4
points (had steel issues), with a 2.17 turn and draw. We cycled thru a few
times, and my biggest issue is still the turn and draw, I'd been working at 1.9
in practice, but the long shot to the small steel is not easy. I felt better
about my ability to get hits when I just slowed down a hair and focused on the
center of the target, not just when I saw cardboard.
Linda started off around 5.62, and then
got down to a 5.32, with a 1.84 turn and draw. Kozy hit the nail on the head,
and told her that it won't be long before she is beating me, she's quick. We
focused on her hands on her grip, and came to the conclusion that there is
nothing wrong with her gun, the double feeds are just a result of her riding
the slide of the gun. It's good to know the gun is fine, and her riding the
slide is something she can fix, it's a dry fire and practice issue. The other
part where it showed was her inconsistent hits, she was dragging across a
target, and making some of the same mistakes I was making a few months ago.
She's really showing major progress though, she shoots less, practices less,
and is where I was just a few months ago? Good for her.
Go Linda!
After practice, Linda and I took Lauren to
a Birthday party, and then ran up to On
Target so Linda could try a couple of things. So here's the deal with
her. When we started, (and how naive does this sound?) we thought we would get
just one gun, and we could share it to shoot matches! I don't know if that was
innocence, or me just trying to get the foot in the door to the sport. It was
obvious quite early she needed to get something of her own, and she ended up
with a Walther P99. She picked it because it was there, and last February guns
were hard to find, and we could keep some cost down simply by being able to
share magazines. She actually controlled that gun really well, but it was not
the most “friendly” trigger for her to learn on. Terry and Les shot her
straight, and told her to “get rid of it”. She borrowed a Glock 17 this summer,
and liked it, and I had a “free” gun coming from winning a raffle at the IL
State IDPA Match. She got a lot of well intentioned advice that she should skip
that, and get a Glock 34 instead. So, without shooting one, she agreed, and I
went thru a process to get that “free”. She shot it for a match, and, well
there were a few issues there. With the money from selling the P99, I had
bought, and got some work done on a Springfield
XDM 5.25” Competition model, and I shot it in one match, and gave her the
option of taking it. I had intended on eventually replacing the Walther with it
at some time in the future, but since the work was already done, why not?
When we started shooting, Linda had rented an XDM, but a 4.5”, and
really liked the gun, so she more or less “assumed” the XDM from me. So come to today, and the truth is, she’s
never had something that she really picked, something that was what she wanted.
When she did try to pick the Glock 17, she got “overruled” by all of us who
wanted to help get her something really built for competition. Being completely
honest, she could have earned her A card, hell, gone beyond that with any of
the guns I mentioned, what’s stopping her is her own self-confidence, and faith
to put the pedal to the floor and really go. That’s something that Terry said,
that I happen to agree with. It’s not offensive in the least, I was in that
spot myself this summer, I was afraid to get up and go, I was so conscious of
being “safe” that I was afraid to run, to shoot fast, all that stuff. Her gun
is not holding her back, she is holding herself back.
The best wisdom is for her to HTFU and keep her gun, and get
better with it, I know it, she knows it, but I also understand her wanting to
try a few things, and for once pick and own something that she really wants. Way
back when, I wanted to try a steel gun, but since we were “sharing” (that’s
laughable isn’t it now?) and she hated it, I had to give up on the idea. So,
she’s been hearing me sing the praises of the CZ, so the idea of going to On Target
was for her to try a few stock CZ’s, and compare them with her gun. She started
with a stock 75B, and was not very impressed. It’s heavier than the XDM, and
lighter than my gun, and she rode the slide, and did not feel that much better
than her gun. At this point she was a little disappointed.
CZ 75B
She took out her XDM, and put 15 rounds thru it, and had some okay
groups, and some that went high and left. She was trying to focus on not riding
the slide, and on keeping her front sight in place.
While she did that, I exchanged the 75B for a stock SP-01 (my gun,
but with a firing pin block, and no custom work.) She put 30 rounds thru it,
and she really liked it. She had no problem keeping the hits in the “A” zone,
and she was able to do it fairly rapidly. She was not a fan of the long double
action pull, but she was amazed how the gun handled recoil, and how easy it was
for her to keep her eye on the sight and shoot rapidly.
CZ SP-01
Then I had her take her XDM out again, and try to repeat what she
accomplished with the SP-01. Same issue, it was harder to shoot quickly, and
her hits were inconsistent.
Springfield XDM
Finally I gave her my custom CZ SP-01 Shadow, and let her put 30
rounds downrange with it. Her 2 double action pulls led to bad shots, but her
grouping was outstanding. She totally understood what I mean that the gun makes
you look better than you are, it’s easy to shoot, forget the other stuff, and
just focus in on that front sight.
CZ Shadow
There is a local shop that has an SP-01 at a very reasonable
price, but to get it, she’d have to sell her XDM, and she’d want work done on
that SP-01. It would be an excellent gun, not as good as the Shadow, but
reasonably close for several hundred dollars less than what I paid. (Hey, worst case, it ends up a back-up gun for me, and we all know that's coming soon anyhow.) She’s got
some choices to make, changing guns can be an excuse or a cop out for lack of
success, especially since her gun now is more than capable of being a GM
caliber gun. The reason I see an exception, is simply that she’s never gotten
anything that she really wanted, or picked on her own, and that’s wrong too.
She should have gotten what she wanted, so she could own her progress. Get an
SP-01 and work on it? Get on the list and order her own Shadow? Stick with the
XDM, grind it out, and get better before making a change? I’m not sure what she’ll
do, but those are three legitimate possibilities, and I’ll support whichever
choice she makes. 100% up to her. Does she just say "this is it" with any of them? We'll see.
In 2013, USPSA saw it's first ever female Grand Master shooter, Jessie Duff:
Jessie Duff
IPSC also had it's first ever woman match winner of a level 4 match, the Far East Asia Championships, Maria Gushchina
I know sometimes people think that shooting and USPSA are for the guys, but the truth is there are women out there who can shoot, it's good to see them achieve some notoriety in the sport. I'm not saying that Linda will shoot with 'em, but who knows, maybe she will. At the very least, and sooner than she thinks, she'll be beating me on a regular basis.
I'm pretty proud of her, and I hope she sticks with the work, and can accomplish her own goals.
