DarksideCZ Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 (edited) I Have a tendency that once the buzzer goes off I run on mostly instincts and muscle memory. Last match on my last stage my stage plan went out the window fairly early and I reloaded early leaving me short 2 rounds for the last target. Somehow as I was moving toward the last target I instinctively reloaded and shot the last target. After I unloaded , clear, holster, I realized what I did and that I must have been counting shots Subconsciously. This was all in a 36 round 20 second stage. Typically I count shots during my walk through and plan my reloads. Then I try to only remember where the mag changes go instead of consciously counting shots. Anyone else ever catch themselves Subconsciously count shots? Edited April 30, 2016 by DarksideCZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hi-Power Jack Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 I always counted shots back in the 70's when I shot SS ... Very difficult to count shots with my 29 round mags in my TruBor ... :bow: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarksideCZ Posted April 30, 2016 Author Share Posted April 30, 2016 I shoot limited major I load 20 in my mags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowdyb Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 Production here. I plan where my reloads are and know if I'm 1-1 on thing how many should be left in the gun at each point. Almost always it's 8-10 shots. Sometimes 6. So I do not consciously count them but try to have an awareness of how many I have to "play with" at each array. And I can only arrive at a new array with 0 rounds, empty gun. 1 round, no mag but one chambered. 10 rounds, sllide lock reload or hopefully 11 with a successful speed reload. That's what I really care most about, am I arriving at the new place with the right amount. Should things go off plan I don't hesitate to do an unplanned mag change to get me back on plan for the very next array. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhett45acp Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 Something in me counts shots. I conscientiously don't think I do. To prove it, just watch me shoot limited instead of SS minor. I will throw more half loaded mags on the ground the first couple of stages. I really think our subconscious does a lot more than we "think". Another reverse example is one of my best shooting buddies is left handed. He has a G34 with the mag release reversed for left hand. I can shoot his gun and I just look at it, remind myself of the mag release and it really does not stop me. It's as if the mind records - this is what you have to do - now do it. So I have no definitive answers to your question. I can definitively say after walk through and breaking a stage down, I am not counting shots. Something just tells me, enough, you need more rounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smitty79 Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 I don't count shots, I count deviations from the plan. I count make up shots. I know for each reload, I know how many spares I have. If I go over, I do an extra reload to get back on plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pskys2 Posted May 1, 2016 Share Posted May 1, 2016 If I'm counting shots, or doing anything consciously, I am slower than needed. But if we let our sub-conscious do the work, we react quicker and at times it seems that we just feel a problem and the solution. Maybe that is what is meant by "the force" or zen or mojo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diddomatic Posted May 16, 2016 Share Posted May 16, 2016 When I shoot production i do. When I shoot open or limited I just reload in the middle of the stage somewhere. If I make that big of a mistake that I use 15+ extra rounds then I deserve what I get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S&W686 Posted May 16, 2016 Share Posted May 16, 2016 When I plan a stage I know were I am going to make my mag change. It saves me a lot of time off the clock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodyAxon Posted May 16, 2016 Share Posted May 16, 2016 I plan my reloads so that I don't have to. If I'm shooting a position that has 10 rounds with steel or other targets where I may make makeup shots I'm aware of the fact that I only have one to burn and I'm going to have to do a standing reload if I shoot more than one extra. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audioman Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 I try but seems like I lose count. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultimo-Hombre Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 This really seems to be division dependent. At one end of the spectrum is my buddy shooting single stack. Two make up shots at any given position frags his plan. I know he is acutely aware of round count. At the other end is me shooting open. I just don't care. Any course longer than 26 rounds gets a reload. Of course going one for one is best, a stage with more than 3 or 4 make ups is a loser, but 57 rounds with just one reload means I expend zero Bandwidth on counting. i have mad respect for low cap guys that do it well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
my00wrx1 Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 I don't count shots, I count deviations from the plan. I count make up shots. I know for each reload, I know how many spares I have. If I go over, I do an extra reload to get back on plan. I am limited to 10 round mags and this works for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianKr Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 Still new to the game, but I try to stay on plan and not count. :-) I have other things on my mind. If the plan changes I'm screwed and I ad lib. Maybe that'll change as I get experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GunBugBit Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Counting my shots is now one of the background tasks my brain does during a stage. I haven't run dry by surprise for a a couple dozen matches now. The last time I remember being surprised by shooting to empty, I noticed it quickly and was right on top of the slide-drop reload. My brain said something to me like "you took some extra shots on those poppers so you might be about to run dry" so when it happened, I wasn't that surprised. At that moment I knew I hadn't been counting, and made up my mind to be more precise in my awareness of shot count. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crobber Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 I have found that I don't necessarily count shots, but I do know when my plan has gone to crap and making adjustments as best I can. One stage on my last match started with a star, my plan included one reload, but that was based on only having two extra shots for the star. I took 3 or so (who knows, wasn't counting), reloaded on the way to my next array and still hit my reload where I had planned it anyways. I carry 4 mags on me in limited just for reasons like that. Unplanned reloads either due to poor shooting or malfunctions, with the poor shooting being the more likely of the two... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balwolley Posted May 25, 2016 Share Posted May 25, 2016 On my open gun,( old small frame Tanfoglio without a slide stop) I have 1, 16 round and 3, 22 rounders... The 16 drops from the gun perfect every time for a mag change where the 22's don't always ... So I usually Load the 16 and a Barney .. On the first mag I didn't realize it until I watched the video, that I actually reloaded to shoot 1 piece of steel before moving to next array... By doing that I didn't drop the hammer on an empty chamber (no slide stop) and it kept me from having to rack the slide ... I still wonder what made me reload... Weird ... So I think there had to be something going on in my tiny mind that was keeping track.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edge40 Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 I don't and I feel I feel I really need to start. I count during my walk through to plan for a mag change but when I'm shooting I don't. I actually completely missed a target at a recent match because I wasn't counting my shots. I didn't even see it on my walkthrough. You wanna talk about sloppy. If I was counting I would have realized I missed something. Going to start working on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IHAVEGAS Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 That is how I break down a stage, 6 + 2 moving - reload - 8 at this window - reload - etc. With memory stages in particular I need to count shots or targets while shooting else I can go past a target. Seems like when you are running the stage you sort of feel the right number of shots sometimes and are aware on the number others, probably related to how fast the stage is. That is a barely B class guy with a production gun though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RecoilJunkie Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 I plan my reloads and know how many makeups I have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teros135 Posted June 6, 2016 Share Posted June 6, 2016 I plan my reloads and know how many makeups I have. dI do too, but the beep erases my memory (Stage plan? What stage plan?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dajarrel Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 When shooting revolver, (or production/single stack) always remember; If you're moving, reload. Yeah, you will put unfired rounds on the ground but you reach the next array with a fully loaded gun and minimize standing reloads. There are always exceptions but I have found this to work well for me when I shoot revolver!! fwiw dj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IHAVEGAS Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 6 hours ago, dajarrel said: When shooting revolver, (or production/single stack) always remember; If you're moving, reload. Yeah, you will put unfired rounds on the ground but you reach the next array with a fully loaded gun and minimize standing reloads. There are always exceptions but I have found this to work well for me when I shoot revolver!! fwiw dj Don't like that for production or single stack minor, but it is an interesting notion for revolver. In USPSA math it seems like 10+1 = 2*8 as far as number of reloads is concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtturn Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 I count shots in walkthrough, and plan my reloads accordingly. If you're actively, literally counting shots as you pull the trigger, you're thinking. Thinking costs time. Time costs hit factor. Hit factor costs stage points. Stage points cost match points. Match points cost matches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NTH Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 I always said I'm gonna count but when the timer goes off all good plans are laid to waste..lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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