HuskySig

I thought the P in IDPA stood for practice. mattk

Steve, I wouldn't say that I'm stuck in B class having only been promoted at the recalculation in June. I was stuck in C class for too long! My goal is to make A class by November when most of the matches around here shut down for the winter months. As far as my practice goes. From February to May I was getting to the range to do live fire one or two times per week. As you know, most months I get to three local USPSA matches and one local IDPA match. From about mid-May until about now, I've been pretty busy with school, research, playing match director, and other hobbies. I've now got some a couple of nights free that I'll be able to get back out to the range for more regular practices. I think my match performance has suffered due to a lack of live fire practice the past six to eight weeks. I dry fire religiously. Hardly a day goes by that I don't dry fire at home. I use full size IPSC and IDPA targets as well as 1/3rd scale IPSC and IDPA targets. I only pull out the IDPA targets the week before a match to help me remember where the scoring zone is. mattk

On the first target of Stage 1. I drew and engaged it while moving towards it and the fault line. First shot was a solid A and I knew I pulled the second shot. If the video were higher quality you would see my head still watching that target as I moved to the position between the two walls. The problem was I was already commited to going downrange and couldn't/didn't stop my momentum. On the third target of Stage 3 I had a Delta-Mike. Both were a complete surprise to me when scored. This tells me that I was pushing too hard and not seeing enough of what I needed to be seeing. The other Mike was on Stage 5. I slipped while entering the second box which caused me slow down and refocus once I restabilized. The first target I engaged from that position was a target half hidden by a no-shoot at about nine yards. I got two Alpha on it. The second target I engaged from the second box was hardcover except for the vertical A zone strip, it was at about six yards. I'm pretty sure I rushed the second shot in an effort to get running. There was a shot about an inch into the hardcover, again it was a surprise when scored. I do a lot of group shooting in the offseason, mostly with a .22LR pistol. Earlier in the season I was going to an indoor range with a couple of friends and all I would do was shoot groups at 10 yards. I haven't done that in a least two months and it's starting to show. I do start and end each of my practice sessions with a six round group at 10 yards. I have done the box drill as shown on the Matt Burkett dvds. Though neither of the ranges I belong to have enough space, or quantity of boxes to setup nine at a time. Currently I'm B class. Sitting at 65%. I have made some interesting discoveries about my shooting doing the box drills going left to right and right to left. I learned that I have a hard time entering boxes from right to left. From my days as a soccer player, I am left foot dominant. So when going left to right, I use my left foot as my "Brake" foot. When going right to left, my right foot doesn't like to brake. It feels really awkward, but I just need to practice it more to get familiar doing it. You're absolutely right. I do need to slow down and watch my sights. The guy running the timer in Stage 4 is one of them! Check your mailbox. Thanks! mattk

That's a brilliant thought. I've heard countless times that when shooting minor it's all about getting good hits. I never stopped to think about what the numbers truely mean. I've taken several classes from a now retired GM shooter who says the more shooting you can do while moving towards the final location the better off you will be. I realize that at this point in my shooting career, I don't have the skills to reliably hit all A's on partial hardcover and no-shoot covered targets much past 10-12 yards while moving. If a target is wide open and I need to get from one place to another I will shoot it on the move. Stage 1: 11A, 1B, 7C, 2D. 81 points out of 105. Stage 2: 16A, 6C. 98 points out of 110. Stage 3: 16A, 1B, 8C, 1D, 1M. 108 points out of 135. Stage 4: 11A, 4C. 67 points out of 75. Stage 5: 5A, 6C, 1D. 44 points out of 60. Stage 6: 13A, 4C, 1M. 77 points out of 90. Stage 7: 12A, 1C, 1D. 64 points out of 70. Too many dropped points... mattk

More reload practice for me then. Thanks for your thoughts! mattk

By taxing, do you mean that they are requiring too much effort? Or that I'm expending too much extra effort and motion to complete them? Thanks for the help! mattk

I brought my digital camera to the USPSA match last weekend and had people take video of me on the stages. After watching them all a few times, I've picked out a few things that I need to correct. Stage 1: I engaged the first target while moving towards it. I knew I pulled the second shot (D hit), but had already moved passed the target. I didn't start the reload after the drop turner and the swinger soon enough into moving positions. Stage 2: Light mainspring + cheap ammo = light primer strike I've got 4000 rounds plus of match ammo, I'm not sure why I'm not using it? Stage 3: I got a Delta-Mike on the third target I engaged. Pushing too hard. Then while moving to the last position, I didn't go far enough to the left. I ended up with a bad shooting position trying to engage three pepper poppers, requiring five shots. Stage 4: Three shots at a steel plate is two too many. Why did I stick my hands into the port? Stage 5: Nuevo El Presidente classifier. I shot it way too slowly. If I'm going to improve in classification I need to start pushing. This one isn't going to count against me. Stage 6: I slipped entering the second box which threw me off a little bit. I think this might account for a Mike I got on a partial hardcover target. Stage 7: I didn't post the video because you don't see anything but me. Long range standards type course. Four paper targets, two pepper poppers and four US poppers all at about 30 yards. I won this stage for Production. I had two Mikes for the day which cost me the win in Production. Because of them I got second overall out of 14 shooters. The weather sucked, but the stages were challenging and fun.

And I'm disappointed to have been out of town. mattk

It's a standard 9mm DA/SA P226 with an anchor emblem on the slide and a special serial number. What's to be approved? mattk

I shoot a Sig P226 Navy in Production. I had Bruce Gray do his competition and reliablilty work to it. The trigger reset is about 60-70% shorter than it was originally from the factory. I installed a Dawson Precision fiber optic front sight and I removed the vertical white bar on the factory rear sight. I have TruGrip on the grip panels, and I put skateboard tape on the front strap and under the trigger guard. mattk

More work? What's the fun in that? Perhaps I'll just stick with my original strategy of picking classifiers that are less frequently used in the section and not worry about the high hit factors. mattk

My appologies Flexmoney. I spent an hour or so using the search function and didn't come up with anything. I'll try again. mattk

I've read through several of the threads in the "Classifier Scores" section and have seen a few people mention there are particular classifiers that are shot infrequently and have reasonable HHFs. I am hoping we could compile a list of these classifiers that don't require heroic feats just to score a 90%. I'll go first with two that I've shot recently. CM 06-01 Big Barricade CM 99-61 Sit Or Get Off The Shot Thanks for the help! mattk

Craigar, Check out some of the results from a few of the other clubs in the section. You will see that at Renton Production had the most shooters in February and March and was only a few shooters away from having the most in April. Nearly the same numbers can be seen at Puyallup from February to April, January's results are skewed because a lot of the regular shooters are still bundled up inside! Marysville follows with what you've experienced at Shelton, lots of Limited shooters. Looking at the results from Shelton is rather odd, the matches are considerably smaller than Puyallup, Renton, and Marysville. It's hard for Seattle, Bellevue area guys to get over there. If you want to play in a more Production populated game, you need to cross the Sound! mattk