grapemeister

Fingernail clippers work great for a nice precision cut. Don't make the ends too small or your fiber will come out after a number of shots, usually in the middle of shooting a stage.

Very late with this post in honor of Jimmie. He was the first to welcome me to the Wednesday night pin shooters in Micanopy, FL. Running late one night trying to improve and practice my accuracy at the range I did not know the range was closed. Jimmie was early as usual for the weekly pin shoot and he welcomed me to stay and shoot with the group. At the time I knew nothing of any kind of competition shooting, let alone what USPSA or IPSC was. The group welcomed me like I was family. Good times that I miss very much. Jimmie and his burnt fires at Sonny's barbecue. Thankyou Jimmie for the good times and all you taught me.

I'm so jealous. Other than a slide mounted Fast Fire on a .22 years ago, I don't have much experience with slide mounted red dots. How do you go about zeroing? Point of aim/point of impact at 25 yards maybe? This is definitely on my Christmas list for next year!

I think you will do well. I'm sure you're wise enough to realize there is no magic pill, and it takes a lot of thoughtful dedicated practice Being only a mediocre B class that hasn't fired a shot in three or four months and not shot a match since early last year, I really don't feel comfortable posting on topics like this but I've been around a while and learned a lot. I've been exactly where you are at, and have had the same questions. I know how frustrating it can get. I hope somehow that sharing my experiences will help others.

Edit to add: Can you shoot a plate on a plate rack and hit it consistently at 25 yards? I'm sure the answer is yes. That's all your doing in this drill. The only thing different is transitioning from plate to plate at speed. Keep practicing shooting the single plate, or dot in this case. One plate or dot at a time, that's all you can do. Edit to add, again: I hope you understand that I completely understand what you are talking about, but I'm probably not doing the best job of articulating my thoughts. I should be able to explain myself better and offer better suggestions. We are all dealing with same problem or continuing to explore and find better ways to allow us to shoot fast and accurately. Perhaps someone else will chime in with better suggestions.

I understand what your saying. But, this is a good drill for what your wanting. Actually, that is the purpose of the drill. What I was trying to say before is that if you're really having a problem with one element, then allow yourself the time to practice just that one element without adding in the pressure of the other elements. In this case, when working on accuracy at speed, then don't worry about speed so much. Sure, snap the eyes and move the gun fast, prep the trigger as needed, see what you need to see, but don't worry about pulling the trigger fast. And vise versa when in speed mode. You'll get the benefits practicing all three ways. Speed, accuracy and the normal way or match mode, in other words. Keep in mind that your grip, stance, and tension in your shoulders and arms does not change. All that stays the same, no matter what mode you are shooting in. For now, I wouldn't think about pulling the trigger any faster, even when going at normal speed.

Five seconds is a goal, and not necessarily what you should be doing right now. Actually, you're probably doing more harm than good by putting that expectation on yourself. I'm no grandmaster but it's been my experience that doing drills with a combination of no par time, and with par times yields better results for me. Start out with something that is doable or barely doable, practice that a lot and then work your way down on the time. Of course, you're always pushing the envelope because if you only do what is comfortable, you'll never improve. Believe me, I've been there many times when I never thought I would improve, but I kept at it. One day I hit it, the next day almost or not at all. It's inconsistent but I keep working at it and then I hit it every time and it is the norm. And, practicing speed without so much focus on accuracy will help you see what is possible. In other words, do some reps where your primary focus is snapping your eyes and moving the gun as fast as possible without having to worry about misses. Don't always practice like that, but make it part of your dry fire practice routine. I think you'll see what a difference it makes.

Doesn't the Mod 2 need to be approved by USPSA?

Watching your videos brought back some fond memories. I shot the SEPSA and SAPSA matches for about 6 years, and built stages for SEPSA for about 5 years. I'm taking a long break from shooting, and haven't shot a match at either club since January or February. Don't really miss the shooting so much as I do the people. There is a lot of experienced shooters at both matches. Try to squad up with Bruce Wallace, if you can. He's a master production shooter and truly a grandmaster at planning a stage. You are doing freaking awesome for just starting out in USPSA. You'll certainly make C class, but probably B class within a short period of time. The only advice I have to offer...forget the BS about shooing slower or faster. Shoot as fast as you can shoot A's, hall butt when not shooting, and keep the gun up and ready to shoot. Who knows when I'll get back to shooting at SEPSA and SAPSA, but I hope to meet you some day.

Troy confirmed via e-mail today that overlays can still be used for measuring holster distance, as stated in the NROI ruling. On a personal note, I hope the two inch rule does not change. In my opinion, not only is an overlay quick and easy to use, but it also allows for a little wiggle room or variance, and gives the shooter less reason to argue that an RO did not measure correctly when trying to use a ruler, or tape measure. I don't know how often it happens with other RO's but I know that on at least several occasions an argument was avoided when I explained to a shooter with an illegal holster distance that the overlay is actually over two inches wide and actually worked to the shooters benefit.

I should have my head examined but I actually enjoy doing the research. Looking at the board minutes now...what fun reading!

So confusing. This announcement seems to say one thing, but the official ruling says another and has stayed the same. What or who are we to believe. Anyhow, thanks for the information. It appears that I stand corrected.

I understand what you are saying but I don't think the board or DNROI is looking at it the same way, and I agree with them. Of course, I'm just assuming, but I know I'm right.

The way I look at it, the two inch rule hasn't changed. It's just been ruled on that we can use an overlay to measure the distance. Of course, RO's have been using overlays to measure the distance for years, and probably long before I joined USPSA in 2010. And, of course, we know overlays are just a little bit wider than two inches. I could be wrong, but I don't think the two year rule or clause applies in this case since it was just a ruling on using a measuring device, and in the same ruling nothing changed as far different equipment being allowed or not allowed, and the penalty, or lack there of, didn't change. Did the board vote the ruling up or down, I don't know, but apparently after the 7 day review it was allowed to go into effect, so its assumed the board approved it.

Thanks