Akai V6: The Open Journey Has Begun

Akai V6: The Open Journey Has Begun



Today is the day that I've been waiting for, my new Akai V6 has arrived, and now I'm firmly on the path of shooting Open, and making good on what I want to accomplish. It's been a few months since I've done a blog, but my time has not been "wasted", nor have I forgotten about what I wanted to do. Up until now, all I've really been able to accomplish is the prequel type of work, but it's things that I needed to do in order to be prepared to work, and fortunately, those things are done, and I have my ducks in a row.

Early on I identified ammo as something that "could" hold me back. Running Open, I have to reload, I can't buy any factory ammo, and frankly reloading is something I considered a chore in the past. Buying a 1050 was supposed to make things easier, but so far what I've found is that it's not just made things easier, it's also reduced my "error" rate substantially. In the past it would not be uncommon for me to have 1-2 rounds per 100 that would not case gauge for a variety of reasons. In the last 500 rounds I've put thru the 1050, I had one round that did not case gauge, that's it. I need to go Chrono the the gun, but looking at 8.3 grains of HS-6 with an OAL of 1.140-1.149. Kozy says this should put me around a 170-173 Power Factor, which gives me enough room to safely make major. While Les was in town this past week he made a few relatively small adjustments for me, and I'll run another few thousand rounds by hand before I install the Mark 7, and go fully automated. Both Les and Kozy impressed upon me that I need to know and have the 1050 running at tip top form before I go automated. Since Kozy learned it the hard way, I've committed to learn from his mistake, and wait just a little bit longer. In the picture? That's 20,000 Precision Delta 124 grain JHP bullets ready to be loaded. There are 64 lbs of HS-6 Powder, and 30k CCI Primers as well, so I've done all the basic things that I need to in order to be prepared to start. The good news is that there isn't anything standing between myself and my goals than me. Now it's up to me to put the work in, and get it done.

Early impression is that Shay put together a real shooter for me. The gun shipped first to Kozy so he could run it for 750-1k rounds and make sure that it was in perfect condition, and his report to me early on was that it was astoundingly good. He did some little things, like add some blue loctite to the grip screws. Below is a slow motion video of Kozy shooting the gun.

As you'd expect, the gun looks amazing, but when I picked it up we put it on the trigger gauge and the pull is a mere 1 lb. 3 oz. which is by far the lightest trigger that I've ever had, combine that with a nice reset, and short take-up, and I'm pretty impressed. This is an open gun among open guns!

A good looking gun, and lot of conveniences though don't make me a better shooter, as I said earlier, it's all up to me. As soon as I got home I started my dry fire routine. In addition to basic things like draw's and reloads, I wanted to spend time working transitions and movement, because I expect the hardest thing for me to do is to not lose the dot. Early on I think losing the dot will be the most likely thing to cost me time in a match, and that's something that I can work on in dry fire.

Admitting that my times were better three years ago in Production, you need a starting point, and that's what I got today. I was consistently hitting a draw to first shot on an open target in 1.5 seconds, I was hitting 75% of the time at 1.4 seconds, and at 1.3 seconds I was about 50-60% successful. My issue was more getting a good grip. Grip is an adjustment on this gun for me, I have to adjust my support hand a little forward to hit the thumb rest, but it's a better feeling grip. Going forward I'm going to set my par at 1.3 and work to push at that level.

My reloads started out at about 1.8 seconds, and I got them down to 1.5 seconds on a consistent basis. I did not spend as much time on reloads as I did on the draw, simply because in Open I'm just not reloading as much as I did in Production or Single Stack, and I think reloading on the move will be a bigger deal for me. Don't get me wrong, I'll spend time on reloads before Cowtown, but had to make some choices today, and keeping my eye on the dot was a big deal.

Last thing I did was more about movement, and I did not put a part time on it. Draw to an obstructed target, break grip and run, turning to an open target, breaking grip and running to another position and shooting a piece of steel, and finally breaking grip and going back to a final spot and coming in hard on a final cardboard target. My goal was to get the gun up, and have the dot right where I expected it to be so I could get on the trigger as soon as possible, and get moving again. Mission accomplished here, at first the dot was higher than expected, but the last half dozen runs were absolutely perfect, and I felt comfortable getting the dot on the steel quickly. 

I know, things will change with live rounds, but to me this is a simple exercise I need just to get comfortable with basic gun handling with the Open gun. Where does this leave me? Well, live fire practice with Linda on Thursday afternoon, and I'll dry fire Thursday morning. I'll be dry firing every day thru next Saturday's match, as long as I've got the time, I'm aiming for at least one hour every day, but if something comes up, I'll take 30 minutes. There is a match at ARC on Sunday, which I'll shoot, it's due to storm on Saturday, so we'll see, if it's too messy I won't go, but we will play that by ear. Live fire and chrono on Tuesday, and then get the gun cleaned and ready, and get my ammo loaded for the weekend. In live fire, going to spend some time checking my hold over's, that'll be fairly big for me as well.

So, what's my goal for Cowtown? There are 41 Open shooters, and 11 in "C" class, plain and simple, I want to win "C" in open, but I'd settle for a Top 2 finish. There are 5 Open GM's, so I'm hoping to finish at 70% of the top score in open, which would mean a consistent match, and really a mid-upper "B" level performance. Is that setting the bar high? Yes, it probably is, and maybe that would be a better goal for Double Tap in just over a month, but I want to set a goal that is worth achieving. 

So here we go, now I'll have to start updating the blog more frequently, and I absolutely will be on dry fire, looking forward to a class mid-summer with Les to get me going. It's not just that I'm out of excuses, but that I'm actually excited as hell again to do all of this. Reloading might be work, but the rest of it is something I'm passionate about again. Time to let it rip!

2015 Major Schedule

2015 Major Schedule


I had a few people ask, and I shared this with Kozy and Les as we're planning on finding a few matches that we can shoot this coming season.

January-

February- Florida Open

March- WIIT or Alabama

April- 

May- Cowtown Classic 

June- Double Tap 

July-

August- 

September- Area 4 

October-

November- Space City

December-

Other interested in:

Texas Open- Late April

Oilfield Classic- March
Production Nationals- August

Gator Classic 

There are an awful lot of major matches here in Texas so I don't have go all over to shoot, in fact that's six major's right here in Texas in 2014. I'm going to try to hook up with friends at several matches, so this is all subject to change, although I expect to be booked for the Florida Open here in the next couple of days. 

I'm not sure where I am with 3-Gun major events, I understand I need 4 classifiers to shoot major matches, and I'm not sure where my commitment level is, or will be. There are several major's here in Texas, again all within a few hours of me, so I think it's possible I could shoot one in April just to see what it is all about, especially since I love Copperhead Creek, and then one late in the year depending on how much I enjoy it.

Club Officer? My Postmortem

Club Officer? My Postmortem


Back on October 4th, Tim Meyers gave me a real turd of a Birthday present. (Tim objects to the use of the word turd. In truth he took me to breakfast at Jack Allen's the next day, which was amazing. So take my usage with a grain of salt) Post match at Austin Rifle Club, he nominated me to be Secretary of Austin Lone Star Practical Pistol Club, in part because there were not a whole lot of people jumping at the job, and I'd like to think, in part, because he believed that I'd work hard to get the club going in the direction that it should be. I'm sure that was because he knew that Les was a stand up guy, but I hope it's also because in the short time he knew me, that he felt that way about me too. There were some raised eyebrows, because many in the club who were present for the vote did not know me, they saw me as someone who had just finished shooting his second match with the club, and beyond that, not a whole lot. It was an uncomfortable situation for me, and I probably should have declined, but I channeled my inner "Les Kismartoni", and decided that Les would have jumped in, and worked to make the club better, so if I wanted to pay Les back for all he's done to help me shoot, I figured I would give it my level best effort.


I'd heard a little bit about the state of the club from Tim prior to the election, and he was the outgoing Vice President,  so I knew there was work to be done, but once I sat down with the other newly elected officers, I was terrified of what I saw, or more what I did not see. The club's "books" was a word document showing gross receipts, some expenses, and total cash. The heart of the issue was that for the last 5-6 years the club President and Treasurer were husband and wife, and there was no accounting ever done. There was a line item expense of "steel, $1900", although the club had purchased no new steel in the last few years, there were gun giveaways that the club believes the former president sold items he himself won at 3-Gun prize tables. In short, things were a mess, and they were made more so when the officers, using the last couple of matches as a benchmark came up with a revenue projection that was between $3000 and $6000 a year greater than the "books" showed.

Getting in cold, my instant concern was protecting myself, I wanted no liability for what was in the books, and filing a 2014 tax return, and signing it, when I myself did not believe or could not support the numbers given was pretty low on my priority list. Mind you, zero receipts were given, just a sheet of paper. Anyone reading feel comfortable taking that to the IRS? After consulting with the other officers, a few of us proceeded to explore what our options for the club actually were. The number one idea was to protect the club, and it's assets, as well as the officers. To that end, I spoke with a C.P.A., and an attorney. In both cases, the advice was that we needed to "nuke the club from orbit, just to be sure", and form a new entity the right way, with the assets of the old club donated.

Unfortunately, that was not a universal opinion among officers, one of whom wanted to find ways to fix the existing entity, he set the agenda, he sent out e-mails to members painting a rosy picture, and moved at a snail's pace, in essence this officer, who was not the president, was running the club at his pace, and with his inaction. About this time we realized we were going to have a problem with the range, that the Austin Rifle Club wanted to renegotiate the existing contract to be more favorable to them, that they wanted to take away a second Sunday a month we had and ran a steel match, and they wanted to run their own Steel Challenge match, using our equipment, at no charge.

I had two instant thoughts, I wanted us to present a united front, and meet with the ARC board, and find out exactly what changes they wanted, find out what price hike they were looking for, and if we had to form a new entity, would they be willing to work with the new entity on a contract, or were they really looking to absorb the club, the assets, and run the matches themselves. Unfortunately we never got around to do that in the first 30 days. My other thought was that we should explore other venues, we should find out who was capable of hosting the club, what they would charge, and so on. If a deal at ARC was that bad, we'd give ourselves options. We could go to the club with the best information for setting ourselves up for success in the future.

While all this was going on, our one officer who was dragging his feet, was busy wanting to set-up "Mail Chimp" so we could mass e-mail the club, and filling out "Trello" cards for everyone's jobs. The short version, in my mind, was that he was doing the mundane tasks that did little to address the serious issues that the club was facing. Again, it was my belief that he did not want to make any changes, that he thought things were fine, and did not see a need for change.

I had reached out to Les, and connected him with the new club President, Ben Gilman, so they could talk, and Les was able to explain to Ben how M.I.S.S. reorganized a few years ago, how it worked for them, and how we could do the same sorts of things here. Les invested some time, and even gave us the links for forms we'd have to file to become a 501c7 should we choose. Again, Les was coming to the rescue from 1,000 miles away. I'd hoped he and Ben would get along, they both wanted what was best for their respective clubs, and they work towards it.

After about four weeks though, I'd seen little action towards protecting ourselves as officers. No meeting was scheduled with ARC, we had not tracked down the missing paperwork from the old officers, and we had not started a re-organization. On my own, I consulted another attorney, this one who was also a C.P.A., who counseled me that it was critically important that we document our attempts to collect missing papers. The longer we did not try to collect, the greater the liability we as individuals were likely to have. With that in mind, I sat down, wrote a letter, mildly unpleasant, but I asked for the missing documents, tax returns, and receipts, both expense and gate receipts, and after having the club President read it, I sent the registered letter.

I sent the letter out to the rest of the officers, and shortly after that, got this partial response from one of the other officers:

"There is a great chance you just created more liability for all of us.This is a bull shit way to go about business especially given that you don't even come to our matches to help or at least get to know the members of the club that has been successfully holding matches since the 80's."



-Nameless Officer

He had a point, I did miss the October steel match, and the November USPSA match. In both cases, I made the choice to be a parent, and go to Lauren's soccer game. In both cases, I actually asked the Match Director if I was needed to help set-up, or run the event, and had I been needed, I'd have went. I was not aware I was required to ask this guy for permission.

To the other points, ALSPPC has not actually been holding matches since the 80's, ALSPPC was the result of another couple of clubs that were folding, merger. I've got a lot of respect for the club, but the club is not a collection of letters, it's the people behind it. The people who have done the work, come to the matches, they are the reason the club exists, and they honestly deserve the best. They don't deserve a club that has never filed a tax return, or is left open to accounting questions because of lax practices. They don't deserve a club that could face penalties because they never did those things, and the honest truth, is they deserve better than officers who don't acknowledge that. I don't know the members of the club? I respect the club, and the members, I can't say that someone who was not fighting for the club is in the same boat.

I spent the September match R.O.'ing a squad of 10 other people I did not know, I went to lunch with another 7-8 people in the past 30 days to learn more about the club, the people who make it up, and what people want to it. In September and October both, I took time the Friday before the match to go and set-up stages with a couple of other people. That's about 50% of the club that I was able to reach out to in the first 30 days of office. Never once did I question the commitment of other officers, especially captain nameless who was not there to set-up either. In short, I think I did everything that I could have done to work for the interests of the club, and I can sleep knowing that I did that.

The response from the nameless officer was honestly what I was afraid of when I took the job. I never should have thought that I could contribute unless I had been around longer, I could have just set-up, tore down, and shot matches. Those are all things that I can always do. I can't blame Mr. Nameless too much for his reaction, because I am the new guy, it's hard to build trust and respect in a short time with people you don't know at all. I believe that I did the right things, but oviously not for everyone. Now I feel like I let Les down, like I let Tim down, and like I let myself down. The bylaws of ALSPPC prohibit the election of officers who have not been members for at least 6 months, using that as the reason, I submitted my resignation. The truth is, I'm not looking for a fight, but with the serious issues the club does face, I'm honestly not comfortable being a part of an officer team that was not on the same page, and was not committed to the ideal of building the best foundation for club, no matter what.

The last thing I want to do is sound like a bitter bastard, in truth I'm glad to shoot. I spent my time at M.I.S.S. setting up and tearing down, and I was happy, I trusted where the officers had the club going. I do believe that you get out what you put in, but at this point, I'm going to shoot, I can't not help, but I'm definitely a lot more leery to get involved now beyond basic help. I apprenticed more with Terry as part of the "Goon Squad" than I did with Les on the political side, and the club doesn't need the friction. I'm not a politician, I speak plainly, I don't sugar coat things, and I don't have the sense to sometimes just keep my damn mouth shut. I had a couple of officers call me, angry that Mr. Nameless said what he said, and I appreciate it, they aren't responsible what comes out of his mouth.

So that's it, 30 odd days, I won't do this sort of thing again, and I'll find a different way to pay back what I saw the real classy people do for the sport. Those are the people I admire, and want to emulate, and make proud.

Some Texas Match Video

Match Film:


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.

Back On The Range

Back On The Range


It's been 5 long months since I've sat down to write a blog, and despite the wait, it feels good to get back and do some writing. There were quite a few changes in life since then, the biggest of which that we have completed a move down to Round Rock, Texas, just a few miles north east of Austin. It was quite the adventure getting down here, getting out stuff, and slowly getting settled, but now we're at the point where we have settled into life in Texas.


The great group of friends we made in Illinois is still involved in our lives, we still talk, and we're going to stay in touch, and visit, these were not mere casual acquaintances, but rather life long friends. We've started making friends down here, and again, I owe Les a huge debt for introducing me to Tim Meyers when we were in the last stages of packing up in Illinois. The truth is the place may have changed, but guys like Ben G., Ryan B., and Tim are making us all feel very much at home here. It's amazing how a the shooting community, be it Illinois or Texas, can be filled with such a great group of people.

As a result of the move, we have not put in the time getting ready to shoot USPSA, and it's also why I put my blog on hiatus. It was not that my desire to progress was gone, but rather that I felt I had responsibilities as a husband and a father that superseded my desire to get out and shoot. The press is set-up, it's ready to roll, a dry fire practice course is set-up in the reloading room, and truthfully, it's time. My "A" card is as close as can be, I can nail it with 1-2 more good classifiers. Despite my card being close, I'm not happy where I'm at, because I think my card and my performance are in two different places. Short version, I have good classifier, and "standards" skills, I draw, reload, shoot quickly, and transition well, but on field courses I've really struggled. I'm not running, I'm not making quick decisions, and I'm not bringing accuracy with me when I do. That's a long way to go, but it also helps me decide things that I need to work on for the 2015 season.

The biggest change is that I'm planning on dipping my toe into 3-Gun in 2015. I've had some interest in 3-Gun for awhile, but I never really thought I'd be exploring it this soon. I have not achieved my goals in USPSA, and I'm not quitting, I'm still going to focus on not just earning my "A" card, but on performing at that level on a consistent basis. Gearing up for 3-Gun is not a cheap proposition, so step one is starting to get together the gear, with an eye towards starting to shoot it in Spring '15. Between now and then I'm going to work my USPSA, practice with the rifle, and eventually learning how to load a shotgun.

It's going to be a good winter, with a lot of shooting related activities to engage in. I'm going to get back to investing some time every week to pumping out a blog or two, so this is perhaps the first of the "next" series of blogs.

2013 In Review

Year in Review

I suppose everyone who writes a blog like this is almost required to do a year in review type of post, although I'm not sure that I have enough material, heck, I'm more interested in getting to the MISS match on January 1st, and anyone who knows me, knows that I just don't give a damn about the holiday at all. It's been a good year though, made a lot of friends, had some seriously fun adventures with said friends, I really got hooked on my new hobby, and began to really work thru the up's and the downs. I've spent prior blogs thanking all those people, so I'm not going to do it all over again, you folks know who you are.

To start the year, I was shooting a P30L, and I hated it, and I had no real idea why, I liked the way it felt, but I did not like anything else about it.

My H&K P30L (First Gun)

By February, I was looking for something else, and I found the PPQ, which I broke out in March and started to shoot, and other than a 2 match dalliance with the XDM, I stuck with it, thru good and bad, and this is the gun that I actually learned with. No coincidence at all that I started to get serious about the sport at about the same time that I found the PPQ. Before that I was a casual, once a month shooter, with the PPQ, my desire elevated, and by April I was shooting as often as I could.

Walther PPQ

By the end of the year, I'd made the change wholeheartedly over to CZ, and assuming this guy does not blow me off (not responding after agreeing to a deal, is getting me angry) the PPQ will be gone from my inventory forever. Someday there could be an M2 PPQ in the safe, but no time soon, as even though I like it, I don't have a reason to have one. (Yes, I'm still in the "I need a reason" to own something)

CZ SP-01 Shadow

It's been a great year, filled with good people, and good times. I suspect 2014 will hold more of the same. I've got some early season shooting goals, like winning Production C at the WIIT. Okay, I know that's not a huge thing, but it'd be progress for me, and I could live with Dave beating me, but otherwise, it's time to put some of these tools that Les has given us on display, and shoot well. I'd like to get my B card as soon as possible, and put up a strong showing at each Level 2 and Level 3 match I go to this year. I'm going to be happy to take my R.O. class in a few weeks. I'll be thrilled to see Linda and Lauren both shoot more, and enjoy.

To everyone who has been around in 2013, and been a friend, or listened to me ramble, or shared an adventure, I thank you for helping to make it a great year!

Just Because Brass Photo's Are Cool

MISS Match 11/20/13 Recap

Match Recap


I'm not going to go into detail on the way I shot. We pretty much covered the highlights, and low lights from Wednesday. The DQ was the worst part of the night, that I had a flinch early sucked, and that I shot slow as can be. When I was doing it, I felt like I was going faster, but watching the video, I was slow. The last blog covered that, flinch is now gone, I'm comfortable with my 9mm again, and I turned in some blazing practice. I'm excited to get practicing again, and I want to take my practice attitude, to the match. A club match should not be about pressure, it's about validating what I'm doing in practice, so I need to shoot with the same relaxed feeling I had in practice, and not like I'm terrified that I might miss something. Believe, trust, get to where I can call my shot.

Amici gave me a piece of advice, he told me to think about the DQ until I'm ready to throw up, and keep that with me, so it won't happen again. He's got a good point, we know what I attribute this DQ to, and exactly what I'm going to do to make sure that does not happen ever again. Sure, I'm embarrassed I did it, and I'm glad nobody got hurt, and I'm pissed I put people in a spot the could have gotten hurt. I'll chew on, and do the right thing going forward.


On to some video:

My two plus a hair stages:

Here is Emil running thru the match and doing pretty darn well:

Here is Kozy going out and tearing things up as usual:

Last but not least, here is Les. I'm glad I got the video for his match, and especially his classifier run, which should give him his bump up to GM which he richly deserves. Nobody I know works harder, cares more, and gives back to the sport as a whole than Les. I'm lucky to call him a friend, and proud to call him my teacher. A guy who shoots this well? I gotta make him proud come March!

Thanks guys!

Class Bump!

Class Bump!

Got an e-mail late last night (or around 2am, one or other other) from Terry with a screenshot letting me know that USPSA had run their classification, and I had finally earned my “C” card. It is not particularly high at 41.68%, but that’s still a 12% bump from last month, meaning that I’ve been shooting better of late, and that’s a sign of progress. I don’t feel that the card means I’m suddenly a better shooter, it just means I’m moving in the right direction.

Les has been telling me to relax, and not worry about class, enjoy the shooting, focus on my fundamentals, and the class will come. That’s been a hard pill to swallow, especially when I was so close. The fact that now I can shoot a bad (sub 35%) classifier and it does not matter, it’s automatically tossed out does help me relax. I realize that the last few weeks I’ve been shooting cautiously, to not “lose” a “C” card, as opposed to just being relaxed and shooting my best. It’s easier now for that attitude to change. Now I can go out there, and just shoot. Forget all that other stuff, and just focus on getting hits, my transitions, and everything that I’ve practiced. I’d like to think that going forward my classifier scores are going to see some serious improvement because my practice habits will lead to better fundamental skills come match time.

Some good discussions this week with both Kozy and Les about staying focused, the mental aspects of the game and so on. It’s hard for me to accept the idea of just shooting to shoot. I don’t think I always display the outward intensity of Kozy, but I don’t know that I’m that much less intense about improving my game. It matters to me. I know there is no magic elixir, and I’m not trying to shoot a perfect match, I accept I make mistakes, and I need practice. I am however trying to practice hard, get the most from it so when I get to a match, I can focus on my sights, and leave the other stuff behind, make it muscle memory. I know sometimes being passionate can be a problem, and I really don’t let one bad stage carry over to the next, and I really do leave a bad match behind me after I shoot it. Shit happens. Best thing I can do though is learn from it, and move on. The mental aspect shares a lot of similarities to football but there are subtle differences, and that’s something that I guess I’ll have to look at down the road. Now is for seeing my sights, and knowing how to transition. Simple, but the foundation I need.

While I’m happy to have reached “C”, and need another almost 20% to reach “B”, Les is in a place that one day I hope to reach. He’s the #1 Production Class Master Shooter in USPSA, and I’m alternately thrilled and bummed for him. Had his score from Nationals not factored in, he’d have earned his GM card, and I know that’s a personal goal of his. I’m sure that it’s not far off, I just wish it would have been now. That’s some rarefied air, and I hope someday to hit my own goals, whatever they turn out to be.

Dry fire tonight, and then live fire practice on Friday, then class with Les again on Saturday and lesson number 2 beings!

Setting Up The Week

Setting Up The Week

It’s Monday, and that means it’s time to set-up the week as far as scheduling, and so some review on what I got done last week. I was able to validate the week of dry fire in both the match, which I was not happy with, and in the Friday practice session.

5" Walther PPQ Available 2014

After four days of dry fire, 30 minutes each day, I've watched my par times go down. On Sunday, I ran my “medium” 5 minute set at 2.20 seconds, and had no issue with the par times, move then time to 2.00 second and had no issues up close, and kept it the same when I went even further back, the longer sight, and transition was no real issue for me.  Earlier in the week, the further back I set-up, I was more concerned with a slow transition, but now I’m finding the target easily, and I’m breaking the shot as I get to targets. I’m not lying to myself, not every run is perfect, there are some where I know I’m breaking a shot off, or over reaching a target, but it’s getting more and more consistent. One of the keys for me, the further back I go is movement from my hips. I had always kept my hips stationary, but with just my arms moving, I had more bounce in the sights, and struggled to find targets, making me have slower transitions. With my hips moving between targets, my whole body is helping the movement, and I can stay on the sights the whole way. I do notice that after about ½ of a 15 minute session, my shoulders start getting sore, and I can feel the work I am putting in. I’m drilling this relentlessly, and as hard as I possibly can. A week ago, I would not have thought it all possible, but I’m starting to feel the beginnings of this being natural movement, not having to think about it. I know I’m way off from that being the case, but this is probably the best fundamental form I have demonstrated, and bits and pieces are starting to become muscle memory. Another 10,000 repetitions and maybe it will be.

With no match this week, and a legitimate concern about my front sight on the .22, I’m not sure what I’m going to be able to do for live fire, as the plan was to shoot on Tuesday night. That’s going to require Dawson to have, and overnight a sight out to me. I’ll go up with Dave to the range and run him if we need to stick with that, but I’ll also need to get up there later in the week. Depending on what Dawson says, I’ll have to ask about re-scheduling.

Accu Shadow (Not Production Legal)

Monday-Dry Fire

Tuesday- Live Fire Practice

Wednesday-Dry Fire

Thursday-Dry Fire

Friday- 15 minute strong hand, weak hand dry fire

Saturday- Off

I'll also be getting my registration for Battle In The Bluegrass V in April '14 in the mail. Still working out the details, but it looks like a trip to St. Augustine the week before that is likely for the Area 6 Championship, which will be my first major match of the '14 season. 

This week, I’ll be keeping a loose eye out on the USPSA website. Classification percentage will be run sometime between the 12^th and the 15^th; with the 11^th being the last date that scores can be entered. Still not sure about what will make it, will my two latest match scores make it or no since they were shot in November? I hope I get my C Card, but if I don’t no worries. I know everyone says it’s not about the paper, it’s about your ability, but in this case, that little piece of paper is a small validation of practice, and encouragement. I can do this

Why I Don't Shoot IDPA

Why I Don’t Shoot IDPA Anymore

My opinion of IDPA came up this week a couple of times in a few different places, so I guess there is no real reason for me to keep it to myself anymore. The last thing I want to do is offend friends, though, and what I’m about to say is really just my point of view, I respect people wanting to get trigger time shooting IDPA, it just is not for me. I also realize that my point of view is shaped by my own experiences, and don’t represent IDPA across the U.S. so mileage may vary. Giving credit where credit is due, IDPA is how I got started with shooting sports.

I’ll start with the simplest one. To me, IDPA is as much or more a social club than it is a shooting club. I see people getting together to shoot, there is not a ton of competition, and my experience in watching a couple of weeks ago, is that I saw very little improvement from many shooters. I saw a policeman come in with his duty gear and his Kevlar vest. More power to him. People enjoyed the shooting, had a great time, but from my untrained eye, I saw very few people who seemed to have practiced since the last time I shot with them. I understand wanting to get out of the house, go have some fun, and hang out with friends, but if I’m going to invest my time, I want more than just going to the range to pull the trigger a few times. USPSA is competitive, more so than IDPA. When I was regularly attending Skills & Drills class, the attendees were mostly USPSA shooters. Mind you, I don't want this to sound like arrogance, but USPSA to me, is a more challenging and competition driven event.

The rule book is my next major offender. I took the time to read some of the IDPA rule book, both the old version and the new version that went into effect 10/1/13, and I’m convinced that the rule book was written to be confusing, and to allow Safety Officers as much leeway as possible. A few months ago I posted on Facebook, asking about the XDM with the Powder River Precision Trigger kit, asking what division I would be allowed to shoot the gun in. At first, the IDPA’ers jumped in telling me that it was always ESP, and I pointed out the changes in the new rule book that determine that the XDM has moved into SSP. I think that was tough for them to swallow, as they had their minds made up, based on the XDM being a longtime ESP gun. The topic of the PRP Trigger Kit was another moment that had me laughing. The IDPA’ers jumped in stating that it’s an internal modification therefore it has to be ESP again. They told me, correctly, that the only modifications that can be made are to items you can get on a factory gun. I then pointed out to them, that the PRP kit is an OEM part, and in theory, you can get a factory gun with those exact parts in it. In their minds, too bad, OEM or not, factory available or not, it’s ESP. So basically, I could go to a match and shoot it SSP as long as the Match Director agrees that it should be SSP, but I could go to a Major Match, and if the Match Director disagrees, be DQ’d for shooting out of division. This is a joke. Rules that don’t make sense and a governing body that won’t make a ruling for a popular gun and modification.  Hate saying it IDPA’ers, but your own rule book pretty much says if I can get it from the factory, then it’s SSP legal, so PRP kit has a pretty valid argument as being SSP legal.  I did hear from a couple of other MD’s, who had split opinions, one who I highly respect told me that he’d call it ESP, and gave me his reasons, and another that I respect told me he’d call it SSP.

                                                                       Russian IDPA?

There was another recent situation, which does not bear getting into, where a few local shooters traveled to a match, and the MD changed a SO call from a procedural to a Failure to Do Right, and announced it to the shooter not at the stage, but later on. It was a bad call, and it was handled poorly, but again, the IDPA Rule book is written to be unclear.

Anyone who shoots competitively has heard the phrase “It’s just a Club Match”, as a reason, or excuse to bend the rules. It may be common, but I find it far more common in IDPA than in USPSA. I've seen more illegal stages in IDPA than you would believe. There are some pretty firm rules regarding distance, amount of no shoot targets per regular targets, and rounds per stage. I think it’s a common occurrence for IDPA locally to disregard the rules they don’t like, and justify it saying “Our members like it, it’s fun, so it’s okay.” I totally understand doing things to have fun, but I’d respond with a fairly simple question: If your sport has to bend the rules in order to have fun, what the hell are you doing shooting it? Aren't you admitting that the rules as written are not fun enough?

Call it an Outlaw match, make your own rules, do whatever, but if I’m paying my money, and I go to a USPSA match in Florida, I expect the same USPSA rules to be enforced that my local club does. A club match should be a representation of the sport every single match, with no exceptions, and I don’t often see that as an issue with USPSA. It feels like a better structure, and that’s having shot at 5 semi-local clubs in 3 different states.

IDPA has its place, and I hope everyone who shoots it enjoys it. I’d remind any local member who reads this and is offended, that I was one of the guys there who helped move all your gear, in fact I was one of the few who did it, as there was not a lot of IDPA member help. (When our USPSA Club moved, there was a surfeit of help.) I helped because I think there are good people who shoot IDPA, and I like them, and whether or not I shoot it, I’d like to see it succeed. I’d recommend IDPA for people who are not sure if they want to get involved in a shooting sport, but want to try a match, but I’d also tell them that the minute they want to get competitive and improve their own skills, they really should make the jump to USPSA.

I hope the club, and the sport itself succeeds. They've got a bad rule book, but good people, so that’s at least something to start with. To me though, the only comparison that I can reasonably draw, is that IDPA is like a sandlot kids baseball game, and USPSA is the more organized, and professional sport, where you really do have to invest some time beyond a match in order to compete.  Enough said.

For me, Saturday dry fire practice was only 15 minutes since it was going to be an “off” day, but I wanted to get some more work, and keep the feeling I got from my Friday live fire session. I had some nice runs, and wanted to drill that home.

Sunday is a full 30 minute session, doing the exact same rotation of drills as I have been doing, with a focus on the front sight, and picking up some speed. Note the gear check for practice going forward. I'm doing anything I can to help!

Practice Runs

Practice Runs

I know the adage is that “Practice makes perfect,” and we've all heard that from the time that we were little kids. The bigger question then, is why don’t more people expend some energy on practice to improve? I appreciate that it’s a time commitment, I really do, but if you want to improve at something, then you need to commit to doing just that. Your words and heart may want to improve, and say the right things, but unless you commit to doing the right things, you simply don't progress.

I mentioned a few blogs ago how this fall I was seeing people I thought were good shooters last year, and now I realize that they are not anywhere near as good as I thought that they were. Some of these folks I've seen in Skills and Drills classes, and last Wednesday at the MISS match, I asked a friend, another instructor (not Les!) a pretty simple question: “How do you feel teaching some of these people month after month, and having them make the same mistakes they have for the past year?” He gave me a tight grin, and made a good point, a teacher can teach, but it’s up to the student to put in the work to learn it. If the only time you practice something is at a class, it’s going to be a long and slow struggle to learn something. Sure, I’d agreed to be taught by Les, and to put in the time, but that remark hammered home what is happening. Unless I do my part, then I’m not going to magically get better. It’s up to me.

Yesterday I broke my 30 minute session into two 15 minute groups, one in the morning and one in the evening. Right now I’m focusing on a sight picture, and on keeping my sight picture across three targets, meaning target, and two transitions. I started out in the morning with a 2.8 second par time from low ready and did that for 5 minutes. Putting this in perspective, you could do 20 of these repetitions in a minute at 3 seconds each, but figure I was doing 15 repetitions per minute, that’s 75 repetitions per 5 minute period. The next 5 minutes I moved closer to the targets and lowered my par time down to 2.2 seconds, and worked that. Lower par time but closer was easy enough. For the last 5 minutes I moved further back and kept the 2.2 second par time and worked it from a distance. I admit, the first few runs were not ideal, but I was able to get, and keep it there. Now it’s not just sight picture, but I’m learning the cadence I need to pull the trigger at to hit those par times. So, in those 15 minutes, I probably ran the drill about 225 times, which is far more than I’d ever do in live fire. As I was doing the drill, I had to be honest with myself, and I’d ask if the sights were moving as I was pulling the trigger. This made me work to keep a smooth trigger pull to not disturb the sights; I was surprised how often my trigger pull was causing a sight to move. In order to hit the par time, I also had to start taking up the trigger while I was coming up, so just as I saw the A zone, I could break the shot. Same with the transitions, after the second shot, start the take-up to the break, so when I get to the second target, my shot was ready to break.

In the evening I repeated my exercise from the morning, and actually went for an extra ten minutes. Linda came down to practice as well, and she started out just getting a good sight picture and transitions, not even pulling the trigger, just seeing what she needed to see. While I closed with what I did in the morning, she worked it as well, and slower, but she found out how much she was moving the gun to pull the trigger, and how much she needs to work on that as well. I’m glad she did it, and she has a few other fundamental things she needs to work on, but thankfully Kozy offered to help her out for an hour or so on Friday. It won’t fix everything, but if she practices what she is being shown, and does it consistently, she’ll see some progress. For me, with Day 1 complete, I have now done over 500 repetitions, and am gradually seeing some improvement. I’m seeing sights, my pull is much smoother, with less sight disturbance, I’m moving quicker, and I’m moving more hips than just arms, which is making it smoother and easier. I knocked off my Tuesday morning session early, and will practice again on Tuesday afternoon or evening to complete the cycle.

Why does this keep popping up?

Yesterday I also started loading 124 grain Bayou Bullets. I switched over because they are cheaper, and for less money I get 500 extra rounds. For purposes of this project, I think it’s smart to shoot as affordable as possible. I’d consider going back to the 147 grain for the next summer’s Major Match season. However that's something that does not bear consideration until next spring. No more loading a week in advance either, I’ll take a little time and load up 300-400 rounds a day and keep a ready stock of about 2,000 rounds. This will keep me well ahead of the game, and with a little effort now, I can focus on practice, not on having to do something in order to practice.

I also came up with a list of 13 Major Matches that I want to shoot next year. I realize that I won’t get all of them, and that probably half of them make for a reasonably aggressive plan. I picked those majors because  some are close, or are ones I’d like to make a vacation out of. There is a major match in Florida in St. Augustine, and I love the town, and it’s not all that far from Orlando, so could the family go down, I shoot the match in a day, and take them to Disney for a few days? Just maybe that would work.  I would feel guilty spending the time away, and money on myself to attend all the matches, so I want to find cost efficient, as well as some places I’d like to show Linda and Lauren. Heck, match in Mesa Arizona at the end of the year, and I’d love to show them my old Arizona State stomping grounds! I sent the list to Kozy and Les to see what they have on the agenda, and I’d like to shoot a few majors with them this year. I know them, I learn by watching them, but I also don’t want to be the “tag along” who slows them down. I understand how they have to be focused, and the last thing I want to do is get in the way. I do however want to shoot at least one major where I am not with them. It’s nice to meet new people, but observing people that I don’t see shoot all the time is beneficial to my learning, and for myself, I want to approach a match with no support, come up with my own stage plans, and apply everything that I've learned. When I have that sense of independence, then maybe I’ll have something more that I can contribute.

Here is what I am looking at:

4/3 Area 6

4/11 Battle In The Bluegrass

May Buckeye Freedom Blast

June Area 5

June Double Tap?

July Indiana Sectional

August Area 3

August Michigan Sectional

August Illinois Sectional

September Wisconsin Sectional

September Area 4

October Production Nationals

November Area 2 (Only if in AZ)

Practice tonight, MISS match tomorrow!

Family Sunday Fun Day

Pine Tree & Zombies

How’s that for a Sunday morning? Linda and I went out to Rockford to shoot the Pine Tree Pistol USPSA match, and after it was over we hustled back to McHenry and Alpha Range so Lauren could shoot with her friends, and shoot some zombies. No matter how you shoot, there is a lot of fun to be had just by being out there.

Our squad today started out on Stage 3, and I’ll attach the video so you can see what I’m describing. In watching the video, I was not terribly impressed with what I did, although I had some solid hits, and I actually had a Production Division stage win, my first ever production stage win. When I can say I finished ahead of a Grandmaster shooter, you know it’s more that they chumped it up, than it was me shooting exceptionally well. It's not a stage win against everyone, but considering where I was six months ago, I'll be proud of it, gotta take small victories and progress where I can. I had a good plan, and I left about 3 seconds on the table on the two back swingers, you can see me waiting to “ambush” them, but I was fast enough, and accurate. There was a mild dispute with the R.O. when we found one swinger had 6 holes in it, meaning it had not been pasted, and he tried to give me two D’s. I was pretty lit up because the D’s were large holes, and the shooter before me had been scored with 2 D’s, and had taken 4 shots at the target, in addition, he was shooting a .40 caliber, which meant his gun was making bigger holes. The hit in the center of the A zone, and just off to the right, almost nicking the A/C perforation were mine. I’d say it was clearly evident to anyone who was looking at the target which holes were which, and I’d have taken a re-shoot if I had to. This was a situation where it felt like at my “home” range, I’d have gotten the call, but this was a 3 minute stoppage in shooting to discuss it. Taint a stage win? Hell no, I can shoot better!

Stage 4 was my second stage, and I had some issues. It was a fairly easy stage, but for some reason hitting the metal plates that were attached to the baffle, was a struggle. Apparently I was hitting low, and from a great start, I had a miserable second stage. Not much I can say, disappointed yes, did I climb back on the horse and shoot better the next few stages? Absolutely.

From Stage 4, we moved to stage 2, and then stage 1, and I was disappointed with my runs on both. On Stage 2, I got my hits on the paper, but I was slow and deliberate, and I struggled with the steel poppers that were set-up high. I suspect I need to practice at that distance, but the combination of the distance, and the height threw me, I struggled to find my front sights. Stage 1 was the classifier, and I was good on the paper until the last shot, where I saw my front sight was not aligned, and I hit the hard cover. Everything else was solid, just slow. My Hit Factor of 2.6001 on Crackerjack is a 32%, which makes me unhappy. It replaces a 23%, so that is good, but it also is going to be on my classifier list for 7 more classifiers, so that’s kind of a bummer. In an interesting turn around, the R.O. who had scoring issues on my first stage thought he shot a baller classifier. However on one target he tried to say he had a double (two shots same hole) and I loudly, and clearly told him and the R.O. that he missed the target, and the hole was visible on the wood next to it. He wanted his overlay measurement anyhow, and was convinced he had the hit, on the other hand, I was pretty convinced the hole right next to the target was his. No definite proof that he had the double, and he took the miss. Life’s a bitch no? Normally I’d have kept my mouth shut, but when I feel someone is trying to bend me over, then I’m going to be pretty vocal when he missed. Shame his miss happened and spoiled a pretty solid classifier.

A Texas Star Target

We closed on stage 5 and 6, actually shooting 6 first. I shot it pretty well, but Kozy noticed that I’m doing okay getting into ports and positions, but I’m slow to get out of them, not enough urgency. That’s something I’ll have to work on going forward, but on hits alone, I felt pretty good, and I had a solid run on the Texas Star. On stage 5, our last stage, I had some issues. I hit one steel plate on the Star, but it did not fall off, then on the video you can see that I hit a plate, and second went flying off. I guess it evens out.  I expected the R.O. to call a range malfunction, I mean one shot two plates? I did lose count after that and ate some standing re-loads at the end. I won’t say inexcusable, but that really was a rookie mistake. I’m better than that kind of mistake, and need to eliminate it. I had some real clunkers, but I had a couple of runs that I was happy with. I'm going to take my cue from what Les said, and I'm going to forget about the bad stages, and get back out there and have fun next time. I'll practice hard, and get better. After all, this is fun stuff!

Linda had a learning experience today. She showed some progress early on, and even if the scores did not show it, she felt pretty good about how she was doing. There were some struggles on steel, but in all, the first 4 stages we shot were fairly positive. I did ask for her permission to talk about the last 2 stages, and she gave it. On Stage 5, she did the Texas Star the hard way, starting at the bottom, and making it spin like crazy, but she cleaned it. On Stage 6, she let her struggles with a long steel get in her head, and it was a brutal stage for her. I've never seen her so distraught with a stage. Kozy was nice enough to pull her aside, and tell her that he sees a couple of little things that she can do, and that she is just “this” close to breaking thru where she is at. Her attitude in the car on the way to Alpha though was top notch, she admitted to being mad, and humiliated, but more than anything, hungry. She said that she doesn't want to feel that way ever again, and now she’s willing to commit to doing some work to improve it. For her shooting went from a fun activity to something she wants to get better at. She’s willing to look at her schedule and see about making some changes so she can set aside some time at the range, and to practice. She isn't expecting to be a GM tomorrow, but she wants to find a foundation and have some more fun. I’m proud, and impressed, and devoutly hoping that like me, the fire is lit for her, and this is the beginning of her obsession with the sport. She's a competitor too, so it just may be.

We hustled up to Alpha Range after the match, so Lauren could shoot a Zombie Match, or at least a version of one, just so the kids could get out and shoot. Massive huge thanks to Tony A, for making it happen. He had a simple stage set-up, a bench rest and a ton of guns for the kids to shoot. He’s spent the better part of the morning running the kids of members, and by the time we got there, he had a great system. Lauren got to shoot a rifle, a scoped pistol, “her” .22, and her new favorite, an AR style .22.  Huge thanks to Herb for not only hosting it at Alpha, but for having his kids up there to shoot as well.

Two videos’, one of just Lauren, and one of the other kids, Tony’s and Herb’s who got to shoot. Guns may get a bad reputation, but the truth is the sport can be enjoyed responsibly by many. I suspect some may see the video and think "irresponsible parents", or "reckless children." It is nothing of the sort, I'm proud my 7 year old daughter is intelligent enough, and responsible enough to do this safely. I'm also excited that she enjoys doing this nearly as much as I do.

This week, some dry fire on Monday, a MISS Match on Wednesday, live fire with Dave on Saturday, and more dry fire. Off and running!

MISS Match 10/30/13

Miss Match 10/30/13

One bad stage can’t really spoil my night, although it definitely went a long way towards spoiling my overall score. I won’t say mission accomplished on hitting the 60% I wanted on the classifier, but I did make some progress. Tonight I shot about 82% of the points after penalty, and I’m looking to get that number to about 90%, so my accuracy took a hit tonight.

Running thru my 4 stages, with video to follow, I felt my first stage was fairly strong. I ran the steel cleanly, I was deliberate and slow but I got my hits. The swinger I took two delta on, and I know I should have done better, I wanted to get moving, and settled for less than perfect hits. Last array I had one more delta, and that was a bummer, better hits would have made the score look prettier, but overall I was pretty satisfied. What Les has been preaching about being accurate, is something I understand better after this stage. 6th in production, and my time was 5th in production, not a bad run, but I'm feeling like I am seeing things I'm leaving on the table, and that's good and bad. Bad I left it, good that I know it's there and I'm going to work at getting it.

Stage two was a longer stage, with more points and I finished 11^th in Production. I had a decent plan, but was just slow coming across, no sense of urgency, and I question my choice to work outside in. A lot of things I could have done better, but on both this stage and the next, I wanted to reload in the open, and not have to do it in a condensed area where I seem to have a harder time.

Stage three was a disaster for me. I finished 15^th in production, and this is the stage that really dragged down my score, so many points left on the table here. To begin with, I changed my plan to something I thought would be more efficient, and while I executed the first two array’s the way I wanted, I got caught deeper than I wanted going into the third array. Yes, that was me swearing as I came across to the 4^th array and hit the no-shoot. Not only did I hit the no-shoot, but I did not take the make-up, so I was left with a mike and a no shoot, not smart. I was extremely frustrated after this stage, and the idea of hitting a no shoot was now in my head, which would make me conscious of it into the next stage. I tried to get it out of my head before then, but it did not completely happen.

The last stage was the classifier, and I wanted a sub 12 second run, meaning both strings needed to be 6 seconds or less, with solid hits. My 6^th place in production run was more based on not having any penalties and not hitting the no-shoot than anything. I was not fast, I was deliberate, and I just wanted everything on paper. Mission accomplished, but I know I can do that faster. My hit factor of 4.6476 according to classifier-calc is about a 48% run, which will replace a 10% in my classification. I can’t complain too much, its progress.

My overall finish was 13^th in production, and that’s pretty hard to do with 3 of 4 stages that are higher than that. What it does prove is that one bad high point stage can impact your night. I won’t gripe, I won’t complain, I know I shot better than my overall, and I know there was a ton of room to improve. I’m one step closer to my C card, especially if Les uploaded the re-shoot from last match and I get the 59%. I'll take one step at a time especially before we get into the serious practice and training.

Plan B goes into effect on Saturday, so practice begins and I for one can’t wait. With two more matches in the next seven days, I've got a chance to get out of D, get started with working, and really focus on what is ahead.

Re-Stating The Goal

Re-Stating Goals

One of the things that I always feel is important is keeping my goals in mind when I’m working on something. It’s easy to get wrapped up or sidetracked, but I need to focus to achieve my aims as far as shooting. I’ve got friends and co-workers who are not into shooting who just don’t understand the level of commitment that you need to have to excel in the sport. They think that shooting is simply a matter of pulling a trigger and the bullet will hit the center of the target, easy as can be. Putting it in perspective, current IPSC champ, and 2013 USPSA Production Champion, Eric Grauffel, shoots over 150,000 rounds a year. Think about what kind of a commitment that means, we are talking 12,500 rounds a month. Over the next 5 months, I’m anticipating shooting about 1,000 rounds a month in practice and match. Serious competitors will often shoot more. Natural talent, and hand eye coordination will get you someplace, but no matter who you are, you need to practice. It’s time consuming, it can get expensive, and it requires a commitment to consistently getting work in. Not many people just pick up a gun and can shoot, or shoot USPSA well.

Eric Grauffel

Les has not laid out the entirety of “Plan B”, but it’s going to require three sessions a week of dry fire, for 30 minutes each time. There will be a bi-weekly range session of class, using no more than 150-200 rounds of ammo. There will be a weekly practice session for Dave and I of about 2 hours, and that same 150-200 rounds of ammo. There will also be 4-5 boxes of .22 work thru the 5 months, or another 2,000 to 2,500 rounds in total.  In addition there will be 2-3 matches to shoot most months. I’m just not going to sleep walk thru this, and wake up a “B” shooter by March. I’m going to need to dedicate myself to the practice, and the education, and make it happen.

As part of the process, I’m going to set down with Les, and talk about some milestones, progress marks that I want to achieve over the next 5 months, so that I know I’m absorbing the material, but that I’m demonstrating the progress as well. It’s hard to have a goal without having a way to measure how you are doing.

While I’ve been adamant that B is a starting point for me, rather than an ending, I need to be clear about what B means to me. I think that a B Card will mean that I possess fundamental skills, the ability to be accurate, focus on my front sights, draw and reload comfortably, transition, shoot at a cadence, and more often than not, call my shots. The thing that I can’t quantify is that I expect that in learning those things, I’ll also have given myself the tools to better assess my performance, and see things that I can work on and improve. As an example, if I get my B card with a 1.2 second draw, will I then have the ability to see, and further work that number downwards? I expect that I will be able to do just that. In short, I want to be improving skills, rather than developing skills.

Ben Stoeger

I do have some longer term goals, I’d like to earn my A card by the end of 2014, and in the process shoot several major matches, and earn a plaque or two with good finishes. I want to show improvement all summer long. I would like to shoot my first USPSA Nationals event, as much for the experience, but also to watch, learn and test myself at that level. I have no illusions; but I need to get that level of experience. Beyond that, I’d like to work towards my Master card in the spring/summer of 2015, and then see if I can push myself to a GM card.

Lofty goals, short and long, but knowing that I have them, gives me an ending, now I need to get thru Plan B, develop my skills, and then start coming up with intermediate measuring sticks so I can stay on a path to achieve what I am setting out to do. To some it may sound crazy to be talking of earning a GM card, when I’m currently a 29.9% D shooter, but those are long term goals. Step one begins on Saturday, and that’s my focus, I’ll come back and take a look at these in March, and see if I’m on path.

It’s time to get to work.