Darryl Means

How do you force yourself to dry fire.... take the gun out, look at it, and think about everything you need to work on/improve. After a few seconds the gun should be in your hand. Another way, look at a video of you shooting. That definitely makes me wanna pick up the gun and practice.

We shall see what the schedule looks like... I'm on duty next week so I don't know the plan yet. But I did plan to make it over there for either IDPA or some USPSA match this month. I have something I need to try out also. ;-) I have been pretty busy. I haven't shot my guns since the July match. :-(

I'm a little rusty but I like what some ppl said on here. Dummy in the mag help with gravity, reload while moving [after you get the standing reload down, which it looks like you do - but then again how can you miss an opening that big... ;-)], and a shot timer. I used to do that all the time, even at 0300. lol When it came match time I never thought about my reload. It was all about getting back to target. BTW, how's the Open Gun working for you? I shall be back shooting ESP and Production with the trusty XD. ;-)

I may be missing something but it looks to me that, when you get to that side of the barricade you break that first shot. And I'm still jealous about your conversion. I wish they would come out with an XD one now.

OOoppps. Wrong post... :sticks foot in mouth:

Lots of dryfire and practice.

Can you do this while making it look like you fell (tactical roll)?

Thanks Ben. I've got a long way to go but I do feel like some things are starting to make sense. :-) Scott, though it was a simple bit of advice... I appreciate it. (slow down and focus on solid hits - run your own game) I just saw the results for the IDPA match I shot last weekend and I won my first overall match. Beat a total of 16 ppl but 4 EXPs in there as well. I really had a great weekend. I still have a lot to work on but I'm happy with the results that I had.

Yeah, I accidently shot him 2x. My only No Shoot of the day. And I had one mike. I hit the guy in the A zone but unfortunately it was in the black section. Not too bad I think... but not great. BTW, I just saw the results and I finished 7th out of 14 in Production and shot a 66.03%. Was beat out by a GM, A, B, C, B, and C type shooters.

Steve, I never thought about going right first at the T. But when I mapped out the 6 targets in between I decided that if I went right first I would possibly break 180 so I went left first. By doing that I would come back right and then go left again for the reload which would make my reload easier as I turn left to head backwards while keeping the muzzle down range. I really didn't want to get DQ'd my first match. Some ppl did it differently before me but I just felt like it was better, safer, quicker for me to run it a little different. Thats all. :-) And I know... I wish I would've gotten my safety check sooner. As for reloading in the open... watch one of these next videos where I lost focus again and skipped my reload and ran into slide lock. AND WHAT DID I DO... because of IDPA, go behind cover for it. And then slide lock also messed up my round count which is obvious. As I mentioned before I need to keep my focus. Matt, I will work on pushing it sooner. :-) I also will clean the gun to make sure that they fall out freely and not sluggish (even when mag is empty). Albert, it was nice to finally officially meet you. I've shot with you before. I don't remember where but I know I have. Like we discussed you were shooting a SP-01 that time. I've got some tough things to work on... I just got Brian's book over the weekend and starting to read it is pointing out some things also. Especially awareness and focus. On some stages you can see confidence in the shots, ammo, "plan", etc. as evident by the smoothness of the CoF. Then others I show a lack of confidence as evident by extra shots, 2nd guessing, longer transitions, etc. Though, I do believe overall things are coming together but I still have a list of things to work on. :-) BTW: I have two more videos... <--- this CoF, I started thinking in the first port and skipped my reload and never regained focus. Though I only shot 3 C's (the rest A's) it wasn't smooth like I had planned. Thank you guys for your compliments and criticism. In order to move forward, I need the insight. :-) And thank you Matt for running the match(es) and for getting my safety check done on relatively short notice.

So this weekend I decided to try some things different... I wanted to shoot 2x. So on Saturday I shot IDPA at the Marksmen in Puyallup and then that day I shot my safety check for USPSA. Today I shot the IPSC match also. I'll post the results when I get them but I feel like I did pretty well (IDPA). My goal this weekend was to slow down and focus on better hits. Not on speed really but accuracy. I only have a few videos from my first USPSA match but the treat is... they're hatcams. I shot a decent match (USPSA) but I had a few problems with ammo as you'll notice and I started thinking during the course of fire instead of just shooting the plan I made and trusting my site. I had a great weekend and next weekend will be better! I'll have pictures from that also. BTW, fell free to criticize guys. I have a lot of room for improvement. One for sure is my reloads (rounds). Another being reloading on the move. One more being concentration (not thinking, just shooting).

Doing the points dropped 101 (50.5 seconds) from my score of 246, I get 195.5. Now divide that by 246 and I get a ratio of .0794. Doing the other one... 170 shots by 246, my ratio goes down to .0691. Damn, I've got a lot to work on. Scott/Matt... I wish I could've seen you guys shoot. You guys breezed through this. Especially you Scott. Next time.

That's good info Matt. I didn't know that. Thanks.

It's a quarter on the slide... I think I was told a penny on the front sight. BTW, does anyone have this Tomasie clip?

Scott, once again congrats on the ESP and match win. Matt, I don't know if I said this before but congrats on the SSP Division win. Very nice. :-) Lee, won ESP MA and it was nice to meet you and your wife, Holly. I had a very fun squad. I had a blast at my first big match.

+1, he's a cool dude. Am I reading this correctly... Stoeger won!?

This should be mentioned when telling people to dryfire. lol

Ooo, TY! ???

Ooo, TY!

+1

Looking at the pictures again... I really like those miniature targets. I may have to look into those. Though having those all over the house would drive the fiance crazy. But she'll have to remember its all about progression and accomplishment.

Thanks for the video Micah. And thanks to Mrs. Barcelo also. I like the setup. It makes my picking articles (books, lights, pictures, water bottles, a few targets, etc.) in the house look childish. lol :-) One thing I really need to do is use a box for the reload drills as I have to bend all the way over and I'm sure falling to the floor puts more stress on the mags then needed for practice. Also, I never thought about squares, though I do run around the condo while dryfiring working on transitions and using walls as cover. Very nice setup and I can see how that has helped your progression.

Thank you Pharaoh for you help.

I understand that. And of course when I dryfire I should work on my weakness such as weak hand sight picture and cover but I'm still curious to see how other people do it. Not to copy but out of sheer curiousity. What Micah does to improve his "game" may not work for me but being interested in improving my own skill, he may have a drill that I never thought of or give me an idea for how I can make my sessions more in depth.

It's been at least an hour every day (save match days) for 13 months. I was dryfiring before hand, but haphazardly and without goal setting or a regiment. When I have an opportunity to come back and dryfire more later on in the day, I specifically work reloads, long transitions, and awkward props and starting positions. We participate in one of the few sports that can be practiced successfully at home, and I have taken full advantage of that. Congrats on making Master Micah. Can we see a "short video clip" of you dryfiring? I'm interested to see how other people practice. (other than draws and reloads)