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mudman

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Everything posted by mudman

  1. STI makes an aluminium grip too. I haven't tried one but I imagine it would require less fitting than a 3rd party option. http://www.stiguns.com/grips/
  2. Nice post, Jshuberg. This made a world of difference for me. Just observe the front sight as it travels up and down. Make it your intention to hit the target, and the shot will fire when the sights are properly aligned.
  3. Reading that made me stop in my tracks. And it applies to so much more than shooting. Thanks, BE!
  4. When I was first starting out, I used to put a paster on the center of the A zone (on a turtle target, it's just above the letter "A") to use as an aiming point. You can also outline the A zone on the target with a marker, which will help your mind/eyes figure out where the A zone is in relation to the entire target. As you progress, you'll want to train yourself to aim at a specific spot on the target - not just "the A zone". Where that spot is depends on the target. If you've got a full open target, then your point of aim should be the center of the A zone. If the A zone is partially covered (by no-shoots or hard cover), then you want to aim for the center of the available portion of the A zone. If it's a tight partial target with a no-shoot on one side, I tend to nudge my point of aim further away from the no-shoot. It's better to hit a C than a NS.
  5. Have you tried closing (or squinting) your non-dominant eye? It's not 100% necessary to shoot with both eyes open.
  6. After you call your shot, focus on snapping the left hand down to grab a fresh mag from your belt and back up to insert it in the gun. The left hand has the most distance to travel, so its course of movement takes up the most time. Try to have the fresh mag up near the magwell so you can insert it the moment the old one drops free. You could also try holding the gun up a bit higher. If you bring the gun up to your eyes, you can keep your focus in the same general plane as your target. If your gun is down in the middle of your chest, you need to take your eyes off the target, look down to reload, then look up again to re-aquire the target - which is inefficient. If you check out the famous YouTube video of Travis Thomasie's lightning mag change, he moves the gun up a bit to reload, which allows him to keep his eyes on the target - then he just has to pull his focus closer for the mag change, then back out to the sights - no up-down eye/head movement at all... Hope that helps. Good luck and keep at it!
  7. Thank you for sharing your experience, Brian. You have a gift for making the profound sound simple! This stuff is fascinating... mudman
  8. From an article about the “stopped clock illusion” and how our attention influences the perception of time: “Rapid eye movements create a break in information, which needs to be covered up. Always keen to hide its tracks, the brain fills in this gap with whatever comes after the break. Normally this subterfuge is undetectable, but if you happen to move your eyes to something that is moving with precise regularity – like a clock – you will spot this pause in the form of an extra long “second”… It doesn't have to be an eye movement that generates the stopped clock – all that appears to be important is that you shift your attention. (Although moving our eyes is the most obvious way we shift our attention, I'm guessing that the “inner eye” has gaps in processing in the same way our outer eyes do, and these are what cause the stopped clock illusion.)… These, and other illusions show that something as basic as the experience of time passing is constructed by our brains – and that this is based on what we experience and what seems the most likely explanation for those experiences, rather than some reliable internal signal. Like with everything else, what we experience is our brain's best guess about the world…” Full article is here: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120827-how-to-make-time-stand-still The article got me thinking about how the perception of time seems to change when shooting a stage “in the zone” – those runs where you don’t consciously have to do anything, and even though they feel slow they’re fast on the clock. I’m not nearly smart enough to begin to tie the two together, but I suspect the pieces fit together somehow. Hopefully this will trigger something in the more intelligent folks here.
  9. You're very welcome. I think you've got the right idea. The proper technique will help you achieve consistency and eliminate wasted motion (i.e. speed). Every now and then you should push yourself to see if you can execute the proper technique more quickly, but working on "speed" by itself is an illusion. We're looking for the highest points in the least amount of time. If you can't get the points the speed means nothing. Good luck and keep at it!
  10. You're absolutely on the right track. You want to train yourself to the point that wherever you look, you find the sights superimposed (and perfectly aligned). Lots of good info here: http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5230 Good luck and keep at it!
  11. I run a 0.125" Brazos Lightning Rod front sight and Dawson Precision FO rear sight. To be honest, I never notice the FO rods in the rear sight when I'm shooting - but it looks pretty spiffy in the holster.
  12. Dammit Jim - I'm a shooter, not a doctor! Unfortunately I don't know the medical terms for all the parts of my wrist... But this article might provide some useful insight. Hope it helps. http://www.personaldefensenetwork.com/articles/handguns/maximizing-the-combat-grip/ Good luck and keep at it!
  13. I use foam earplugs and a set of Sordin muffs with the gel cups. Can't hear anything (except for the beep) - even with the electronics turned up. I usually take the muffs off and pull out an earplug if I need to have a conversation. I shoot on an indoor range, so double-plugging is a necessity (especially when the open shooters are blasting away).
  14. +1 for tape and hard work... Having said that, it seems a lot of folks do just fine shooting with one eye squinted or closed. Don't let it hold you back. There's a thread (just a few lines down) titled "Is learning to shoot with both eyes open necessary?" Lots of good info there. Good luck and keep at it!
  15. Looking good! IMHO, I'd say transitions are your "low-hanging fruit" right now. I think cutting down the time from target to target will give you more of a benefit than working on shooting on the move right now. On close targets, it's possible to get your transition times about the same as your splits. Again - see what you need to see to make the shot. You can get away with a lot less refinement on close targets. Good luck and keep at it!
  16. There will always be a ghost, but you can train yourself to focus on the "correct" set of sights and ignore the other. Maybe it's more difficult because both your eyes are equally strong, so you're seeing both sets of sights equally well.
  17. Lots of good info here: http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=110420 Good luck and keep at it! PS - Unless you're really, really talented, you're probably going to need more than 250 rounds....
  18. mudman

    Which Hi-capa

    I have a TM Hi-capa 5.1 that fits perfectly in a CR Speed WSMII (and also in a Double Alpha race master)
  19. I use a Tokyo Marui Hi Cap. I replaced the plastic slide with a metal "STI EDGE" slide, and also switched to an all-metal bull barrel for some extra weight. Western Arms also makes a licensed SVI copy, although they're harder to come by (and more expensive).
  20. I think all the advice about dry fire and airsoft practice is spot-on. However, there are still lots of things you can practice at your range - even though it's not particularly IPSC-friendly: Accuracy: Although some people avoid it, I actually like group shooting. If you can learn to put the bullet where you want it to go, you'll have a head start on a lot of folks. Shot calling: This is a big one. You want to be able to know - at the instant the gun goes off - where that bullet is going. Search for "shot calling" and you'll find tons of info. Presentation: Start from high ready. At the beep, punch the gun out and shoot the target. This will help with your draw (it's basically the 2nd half of your draw stroke), and just acquiring targets in general. Strong hand only / Weak hand only: I find that SHO/WHO scares a lot of people. Spend some time on it and build up your confidence - you'll have a secret weapon when it comes up in a match. Transitions: Even if you only have one target, you can still work on transitions. Start with the gun aimed at an imaginary target off to the side. At the beep, transition to the real target and shoot. You can also tape a few smaller targets on an IPSC paper target (I like playing cards and beer coasters). Three cards, side-by-side, gives you an array to practice El Prez / Vice Prez. Put up nine cards in a 3x3 square, and you can practice transitions in all directions. Table starts: Practice both loaded and unloaded (gun and mags on table) starts. If they'll let you, you can also try unloaded-gun-on-table, mag-from-pouch. Recoil control: If they'll let you rapid fire, you can work on Bill Drills (6 shots, as fast as you can, into the A zone). Start from high ready if they won't let you draw from the holster. Reloads: Although it's probably better to work on the mechanics in dry fire, it never hurts to get in some live fire practice. Start with the gun pointed at the target. At the beep, reload then shoot the target. Hope that gives you an idea of some things you can work on. Good luck and keep at it!
  21. For me, this was a mental issue - fear of putting extra holes in myself when moving/drawing at full speed. If you have one, try practicing "live fire" with an airsoft gun. As long as you've got good eye protection, you can't (seriously) hurt yourself - so it's a good way to learn to move at speed with something that still spits projectiles out the barrel. After practicing with my airsoft for a while, I realized that if I didn't shoot myself with a bb I probably wasn't going to shoot myself when I switched back to my real gun.
  22. Lots of really good points here. I think Juan's suggestion about intentionally misaligning the sights (just to see where the round goes) is important. You need to know how much sight misalignment you can "get away with" at any given distance and still hit the A (-0) zone. In addition to drifting the front sight to the extreme right and left of the rear notch, you can also experiment with vertical misalignment too - try a few rounds with the bottom of the front sight at the top of the rear notch, and vice versa. I think the thing that helped me most in learning how to call shots was (groan) group shooting. I remember an interview with BE on (I think) one of Matt Burkett's videos where he talks about all the things that go into making one perfect shot - a shot that goes exactly where you want it to. Our host explains it far better than I ever could, but when you're shooting for accuracy, you need to be very aware of all the little movements in the front sight, and the relationship between your grip, trigger pull and the movement of the sights. I spent a lot of time just shooting 5-round groups, taking all the time I needed to make each perfect shot. Start at 5 meters, and work on getting those groups as small as possible (5 rounds in one hole, if you can do it) - then move the target back 5 meters and work at it again. Keep going until you run out of room at the range. By the time you're shooting 2-3 inch groups at 25 meters, you'll know what it feels like to release a perfect shot. And when it doesn't feel "right", you'll know that you need to take a make-up shot. Unfortunately I couldn't figure out any short cuts to get to that point, but it was definitely worth the time and effort invested. A lot of people define shot calling as knowing where the bullet is going as soon as the gun goes off. For me, the trick to making faster make-up shots was knowing when the bullet wasn't going where I wanted it to go, and training myself to take another shot as soon as the sights were back on target. I think I'm getting a bit long-winded, but I hope that helps. Good luck and keep at it!
  23. One thing that helped me was focusing only on the transitions. Set up your targets like you usually do, but instead of shooting two shots per target, just shoot one per target then transition to the other. This way you're isolating the transitions and you don't have to think about the splits. When you get comfortable going back and forth between two targets, add another one. Practice shooting all three targets (one shot each) left to right, then right to left, then back again. You can also vary the distance/height of the targets to mix things up a bit. Keep dialing up the speed until you start missing the A zone, then take it down a notch until you're getting consistent A zone hits again. When you start to feel comfortable at your new faster speed, bump it up a notch again. I got stuck at .4 - .5 sec transitions for a long time, and this drill helped me to get that down to the .2 range. Hope it works for you. Good luck and keep at it!
  24. Some more food for thought: http://www.brianenos.com/pages/words.html#accuracy You might find the part under "The Problem" to be useful. Good luck and keep at it!
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