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ErikSS

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    Erik

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Looks for Range

Looks for Range (1/11)

  1. This was back when I first started dry firing and using a shot timer at the range. The point of the post was to share the techniques I used to break through to a new, seemingly unobtainable time (for me). Yes, my actual draw needed a lot of work. Anyhow, since then the times have converged. My best hands-at-sides draw to a sight picture in dry fire is now about 0.6 (to A zone at 7 yards), and my best draw to a shot at the range is 0.79 (with a A or C zone hit on a 5 yard target). I continue to find that the mental aspect is the most important. Try reading "With Winning in Mind" by Larry Bassham, a lot of good stuff in there. Steve Anderson's "Get to Work" book also touches on a lot of these things. Best to discover them for yourself, though, trying different things, rather than just take someone else's advice. That's where the real work is. Anyhow, thanks for commenting!
  2. I don't pretend that I have a real .7 draw. I can, however, get from beep to a sight picture in .7, when I relax and concentrate on the target. It takes work but yes, I can hit that in a dry fire session. My draw to an actual first shot at the range, at 10 yards and in the A zone, is currently 1.3.
  3. I have a variable delay on my timer so I never know when the beep is coming. The other important part for me was to really relax my arm. When you tense up, it's like you're preparing to jump the beep. I go WAY faster when my arm is relaxed.
  4. It's actually about not trying to hear the beep or react to the beep. The time it takes the ear to hear and brain to figure out the sound and then tell the arm to move was my problem. What I told myself a few times, and the repeated before each press of the timer, was that my arm would react to the beep WITHOUT me hearing it or directing the arm to move. "My arm is controlled by the beep" was what worked for me. Then, I focused my Mind on the target ONLY and did not listen for the beep. When it came, my arm moved "on its own". Of course, not really on its own, but I let my subconscious control that part. You really have to trust your subconscious and not "cheat" by listening for the beep with your conscious. The other thing that worked well was doing this eyes closed. It's another level of taking the conscious out of the picture.
  5. Thanks. Here in NJ, loading up my mag means 15 rounds, so it doesn't seem there's a big difference between production, limited, and limited 10 from that standpoint. The big difference for me at least is managing 40 vs 9mm recoil given that I currently shoot factory loads, the truth is after a session at the range 40 starts to feel normal anyhow. I did pick up some uspsa-specific ammo from universal ammo. I now see why people are reloading, there really is a big difference in shooting softer reloads vs factory. I also have an XD9 and with that I'm finding that the 147gr Federal ammo feels somewhere in between a reload and regular 124gr factory. So, I'll probably go with that for now, my 10 round XD9 with 147gr factory, and concentrate on hitting that target thingy in that A area thingy, really fast. Thanks all for the comments!
  6. I came up with a training technique today and was wondering if this is 'a thing' that people do, or is this something new. I've been having trouble getting my reaction time down. I started competing about 8 weeks ago at a few steel matches and started dry fire training about a month ago. My dry-fire draw to a real sight picture has been stuck at around a one second, which given my experience isn't too shabby. Today I took a few seconds before I pushed the timer button to tell myself out loud that "my arm's controlled by the beep", basically talking myself into believing that my brain didn't need to hear the beep, that my arm knew what to do without my brain getting involved. I told myself out loud that "my arm would hear the beep and immediately react." OK, my dry-fire draw went from 1.0, to .9, to .8, to .7 in about 30 minutes of practicing this way. I think it freed me up from having to concentrate on the beep, I could totally relax my arm, focus intently on the target in front of me, and then my arm just reacted using the muscle memory I've built up over the last month and moved immediately to the sound of the beeper. Well, obviously my ears/brain/nervous system was doing this. So, has anyone used a technique like this? Once my times started to come down I really tried to relax before the draw, imagining a wave of relaxation passing from my head, down through my arms and body, and after that I immediately hit 0.7. I'm not claiming AT ALL that I can now do a real 0.7 sec draw at the next classifier, or even at the range, but it was pretty cool being able to work the mental aspect to allow myself to go faster in dry fire than I thought possible. Give it a try!
  7. There was an article a few years ago compiled by Jeff Maass that chrono'd some factory ammo. http://www.k8nd.com/documents/hl40sw.pdf . PMC 165gr was chrono'd at 1026 for a 173 PF, but I take your point, I won't know until I test it in my gun. Problem is that I only have access to an indoor range, making setup a problem since I would need to put the chrono out a few yards into one of the lanes, and then there's the bit that I don't have a chrono yet. ;-) I suppose I could run the PMC and if it gets tested by the RO and comes up short then at least I know the PF out of my gun and I have to get scored minor for one match.
  8. Thanks again for all the replies. I think Limited-10 (I'm in NJ) is the way to go for me right now. I already did some basic trigger mods (ApexCompetition kit) on my M&P 40, so it's basically add a magwell and I'm good to go for now. I have a ways to go on skills before my ammunition will be the deciding factor in my performance or seriously holding me back, so though reloading is in my future, not right now. This is probably topic for another post, but any suggestions on factory ammo for a 40? I've used PMC 165gr which is 989 FPS out of a 4" barrel according to the manufacturer, out of my 5" barrel I expect I could squeak by on PF. I've also shot Winchester and Federal 165gr which are spec'd at 1050 fps (~175PF) , and a few factory 180gr loads which are all around 970 fps advertised ~175 PF. Again, thanks for all the good advice.
  9. Thanks for all the replies. My assumption is that since I'm new to USPSA then I should start in Production and work my way into more challenging divisions once I progress. If that's not the way to go then yeah, Limited 10 is the logical division for the gun I'm shooting.
  10. Given that the M&P Pro series comes from the factory in both 40 cal and 9mm, is using a 40->9mm conversion barrel legal in production, or no? I've read the rules a few times and looked at some threads here, but still not clear on this one. Is the fact that the gun is called an "M&P40 Pro" mean that it would not be legal to convert the barrel to 9mm in Production, and that I would end up in Limited, or is the fact that there's an "M&P9 Pro" available from the factory mean that it's a legal change. Thanks.
  11. I understand that production is all scored as minor regardless of caliber and power factor. I have an M&P40 Pro in 40 cal, bought it before I started shooting matches and now I'm wondering how big of a disadvantage this is in USPSA. I've shot some steel matches and one USPSA classifier which is yet to be posted, but from my scoresheet I'm probably a "C almost B" shooter based on the results. So, is it worth going to a 9mm? I know that it's possible to load minor PF in 40, but that means I need to get into reloading now, or purchase minor 40 ammo which is pretty pricey compared to what I'm currently shooting (Winchester WB 165Gr which is advertised as 1060 FPS or around 175PF out of a 4" barrel). I do have an XD9 Tactical 5" which I shoot pretty well, but the M&P is way more comfortable in my hand, and I would like to practice and compete with with a platform that I can stay with for a few years. Any thoughts? Stay with the 40? Move to 9mm? Thanks for the input!
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