EmanP

How can you be behing cover if you are out in the open? Cover is defined as something that 'cover's' 50% of your upper torso. If you're out in the open, there is nothing to do that. The walls in the layout of the stage are the only things that can do that so that is why they are cover.

Because the rulebook states that if there is cover available, you must use it to reload. In that stage there is cover available to the left and to the right so that is where the reload must take place. Even if those targets weren't there at all, it is not behind cover and so you can not reload there. Has nothing to do with whether the targets were engaged or not. I wish the rulebook was better worded too, but it says what it says and we have to go with it. Welcome to IDPA.

Oh, and cover is defined in Appendix 3, that's what 3 is all about "More than 50% of the shooter’s upper torso must be behind cover while engaging threat targets and/or reloading. For low cover, one knee must be on the ground and for vertical cover such as a wall/barricade, 100% of the shooter’s legs and feet must be behind cover." The positions for cover are writen out in the stage descriptions.

Page 43 "Once behind cover, a competitor may move behind cover while reloading. If a competitor shoots to slide lock with targets still remaining to be engaged from a specific firing point, the competitor does NOT have to duck behind cover while reloading, if you are using cover adequately while firing it will also be adequate cover while reloading." From a specific firing point. That is, if the COF says that these targets must be engaged from a specific position, and that position is out in the open, then you would have to reload from that position. Granted, that also doesn't make sense but who are we to argue. It's just best not to question these things. It'll only lead to a headache. Page 44 "Reloads must be completed from cover, however this does not mean that a shooter must duck back completely behind cover to reload before reengaging targets from a stationary firing point."

Wouldn't be the first time in IDPA. But rules are rules and they make the game. Our job is to follow them as fast as we can.

And page 44. "All reloads must be executed from cover (if cover is available) and must be completed before leaving cover. A shooter is deemed loaded and may move from a position of cover ONLY when the fresh magazine is FULLY SEATED and the slide is fully forward or revolver cylinder is closed. Shooters may not move from one position of cover to another with an empty gun. Reloads must be completed from cover, however this does not mean that a shooter must duck back completely behind cover to reload before reengaging targets from a stationary firing point. The contestant may keep his eyes on his next “opponent” as long as he follows the definition of cover and does not expose too much of his body to the next threat target."

Read the rulebook guys, bottom of page 42. It's very specific and leaves no room for question. "NOTE: Reloads may only begin when the shooter is fully behind cover and will be deemed completed when the fresh magazine is seated and the slide is fully forward or the cylinder is closed. (See Appendix THREE – Cover)"

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you can only run it once in that division.

'Better' might not be a good word to use since it's completely subjective. That aside, the M&P would allow you to shoot in more divisions (SSP and ESP) than the XD would since it's not SSP legal. That aside, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the XD and it's a fine pistol just as is the M&P, it's just caught up in a mechanical technicalities debate that the BATF stuck on it when it was first introduced. There has been a big push to allow it into SSP or to revamp the divisions entirely. Shoot what you like.

Duane pretty much covered it. I sight in at 25 as well and confirm at 50 later. I also confirm zero with my carry loads and then hope that my reloads hit pretty close to the same. Otherwise I have to think about my load and it's POI during matches. Sometime those reloads are tailored to that specific gun to try to match them up closer.

Ya, what he said.

After I posted it I reread it for gramatical errors I may have missed. I was thinking that it sounded way to a## kissy and was trying to come up with some negative or something to sound not so praising and balance it out. That was the best I could do.

Yup, it was an awesome class, very much well worth it. Some of us have been shooting for a long time together and needed a good kick in the pants to get us out of our stagnation. A few of us have had enough classes to number in the mid two digits and most all of us had extensive experience (1 M, 3 A's, 2 B class shooters) and we didn't need any more of the same that's offered everywhere else. We needed something completely different and that's exactly what we got. After a brief demo of our abilities via shooting a quick stage Ben set up, he already had a plan of what was needed and so we played it loose and when an issue was identified, he'd hit on it and focus on that for awhile. It was clear that Ben had a big bag of tricks in his hat and pulled out whatever was relavent as it was needed. It was cool how a simple straight forward stage could be used over and over by altering a few simple things to get the information needed for him to move to the next point. I've been stuck at my current level for awhile now and couldn't figure out how to get faster. I was and am too slow and the only thing that keeps me afloat is racking up points. Essentially, Ben was able to show me that I could shoot faster, much faster, and in some cases, much much faster, rather than pull myself back. I'm afraid to drop points so my shooting speed is dictated by that. Before whenever I'd start dropping points or getting sloppy, I'd reel it back or be told to tone it down. This was different. When I started to lose control, instead of telling me to take it down by 10% Ben would say good, that's the pace at which I need to shoot. That's the pace I need to keep and practice at. Instead of saying I was going too fast, he'd see it more in terms of I'm going fast enough to start really pushing it and pushing it is what I needed to do. He'd push and push and when I thought that I couldn't do it, I found that I was actually doing it a lot better than I thought I was capable of. And after drilling it for awhile, I found that I was actually comfortable at that pace and still getting most of my points. If I kept practicing what I was shown, I should be able to speed myself up significantly and still get my hits. Really, reading the words it seems rather simple and easy but it's not and fairly significant to me. Instead of speeding up and screwing up and looking at that negatively, I was suprised to hear Ben putting a positive note on it. Everytime I was dissapointed with myself, he would be saying 'YES' which at first confused me. I mean I screwed it up, I should be kicked and dragged out in the streets and flogged. But after awhile I started thinking of it in more positive terms and before I knew it I was encouraged when I didn't do as well as I thought I should have. It made me see that I could do it and everything I was doing right to even get to that point. It made me realize that there were only a few things that needed adjusting to get me the speed I needed. Instead of thinking that I was too slow which was self imposed, I found I could go fast if I just trusted myself to it. I'm not sure I'm doing a good job of trying to explain this, but he made me see that the difference between blazing fast and my version of slow it mainly in mindset and attitude. It wasn't in pulling the trigger or lining up the sights so much or trying to be fast. I could screw that up fast or slow. I could do all that already, I've just been doing it with a learned and trained attitutude that is restraining me. It wasn't like he told us anything that we didn't already know or showed us the secret two palm super fast reload technique. He didn't show us the right way to draw or shoot or anything, we already had those basics down and didn't need to wast time on it. He just made us show him what we could do over and over again and trimmed the fat off a little bit at a time. All this aside Ben has to be one of the hardest working guys in the training world. He put together stages like no ones business and at the end of the first day put up a whole match for day two. He would have been there until 1AM if he had to to get it done to, no joke. At a range he's never been to with a bunch of guys he's never met that have known each other long enough to goof around and talk smack to each other and smile doing it. No complaints from him, no grumbling, no 'we need to get finished up so that I can start putting together stages for you guys for tomorrow'. He was going to stay on that range until WE quit, not him and THEN he was going to do the work needed to put on a 7 stage match. I don't know about your clubs, but it takes a dozen or so people a whole day to put up a match around here. He was going to do it by himself!!! He was the first one there and the last one to leave and was always asking us for input. What do WE want to do, what do WE want to practice. It was obvious that this was OUR class, not his and that he was going to work like a mule to train us until we couldn't go anymore. He made James Brown look lazy. So was I satisfied with the class? Absolutely. Training wise, it's what I've been looking for a few years now but didn't know where to find it. Ben's a pretty cool dude too and that cat can shoot! "Sho'nuff!" He didn't even want to shoot much because he felt it would detract from our training. He was there for us to shoot, not him. But when we did make him demonstrate something, OMG! At first I didn't know how anyone could go that fast and hardly drop an points on demand, everytime. He never made any excuses, he never had to. He just exuded flat out skill and ability and wasn't even the slightest bit arragant. He was just another shooter, like any other guy you might meet at any match, quirks and all. That's one thing I didn't like about some of the other training I've had or people I've met, is this sense of self or a front that they put on. Ben was just himself and that's very refreashing to see in someone at the top of the shooting food chain. Truthfully, it's only a matter of time before he starts taking the title away from Dave S. I'd put down some money that he'll take it starting this year. So if you have a chance to have him come down and put on a class for you, you'd be wise to take him up on that. From a guy that's taken a lot of classes from a lot of people, this is not your everyday cookie cutter class unless you want it to be, he can do that too but his bag of tricks are deep and extensive. Take advantage of it while you can. It'll make you a better shooter. And by the way, his last name is pronounced St-ay-ger, not St-o-ger. Ben, thanks for coming out here and doing the class for us. Not only was it exactly what I needed, but it was cool meeting you too.

Don't know, I have an email out to the listed contact for a link to thier site or what their schedule is. I'll list it once I get some information back.

Dang it! That's the first place I looked and missed it on the bottom there. Thanks for pointing it out Vigilante, I'll send him an email.

I can't find anything on Google but I know there's a range in Yakima Wa that runs matchs. I was hoping to find thier website so that I can look up thier match schedule. Does anyone happen to know it's name, exact location or thier match schedule?

So since eveyrone is jumping on Gryff because he's a rebel, what happens when you're down to your last 29 rounds? Or you only brought so much and had to have 2 reshoots and only have 14 rounds left for that day and come to the line with only that much on you? Are you saying that you should automatically get a PE because you were unlucky enough to have to reshoot 2 stages or didn't have any more ammunition? So what if Gryff just removed that 3rd magazine from his belt line? All of a sudden he's legal? But if he puts it on he gets a PE? Seriously, rules are rules and of course they should always be followed, but let's think about things for a minute.

Couldn't find it in the search. Anyone know what vest Dave Sevigney wears? It looks very thin and uninhibiting.

I stow it as close to my reload as possable either in a pocket or on the waist to help keep the time down. The less my hand moves, the faster the reload.

I don't use a shooting vest or a vest for shooting. I've tried and they always make me feel like such a gamer since IDPA is the ONLY time I would ever wear one. I mean doesn't it go against the whole idea of IDPA, wear and shoot what you carry?, and make a mockery of the game if I would normally never actualy wear it like the spirit of the sport suggests? Should that not earn me a FTDR if I did? I wear my normal street clothes whether it's a fleece, jacket or shirt. Sometimes when it's hot I just use the tshirt.

Not advantageous at all. You get distracted, can't focus, don't have the time to mentally or physically prepare yourself, get tired out faster and to a greater degree.... The list goes on and on. There are some advantages but they fade quickly.

Yup, been shooting a 9mm 226 for the last few years in IDPA as well as USPSA with some action work by GrayGuns. I have several friends that shoot 226's as well. I've seen others shooting everything else too at our club (Renton, WA); 228's, 229's, 239's and 220's. I'm actually going to start shooting a 225 in IDPA just to make it more challenging (single stack with less rounds, heavier trigger [less leverage between the trigger bar and trigger], shorter sight radius, harder reloads, harder to get to the reloads, more recoil, harder to draw, etc). Last year I tried shooting matches from under multiple garmets (jacket over a sweater) with gloves on and strong hand only. Gotta do something to keep pushing it. All in all I think we have about 8-10 dedicated Sig shooters at our matches (about 10%).

5:21 our time, leaving in an hour to make the drive and shoot all day Friday. If it wasn't on the way to our vacation in MOAB, I'm afraid I'd be skipping it. Looking forward to tomorrow!

My appologies for the late response, I've been away for the last 5 days and finally had a chance to sit down. First and foremost I agree with TJ that Max's response seems out of character from what we saw spending two days with him. We are all only human and respond as such, sometime good, sometimes not so good. Of course this extends to myself as well and it seems my ammo remark, although factual, came across very harshly. Even though my intent wasn't meant as a hurtful blow against any individual, intentions aren't always everything and the outcome sometimes has a different result. I failed in trying to express that I felt it would be more productive to be behind the trigger running drills and pushing limits to the breaking point and then refining that. Instead it came out as a pointed attack and for that, I sincerely appologize. I would remove it but the forum software doesn't allow me to do that. Max, you're right, I didn't give you much if any time for a response. Truthfully, I wasn't expecting one, didn't anticipate an offer of attending another class or as some suggested, a refund. Class was done and it never crossed my mind, so I guess that's why I didn't wait. We contracted you to come out and perform a service and you did. We both fullfilled our obligations. Obviously you felt you performed to your satisfaction and I had my own veiws as were expressed earlier and as in tradition with many individuals elsewhere when it comes to firearm classes as well as other things, I posted an AAR for the class. I wasn't doing it to spite anyone, mearly to help educate others. After the class, I did still recommend it to someone else as I felt that they would have a lot to take away from it. I guess I've come to learn that a one size fits all cookie cutter class that will accomidate a wide range of shooters from D-GM is not something that I think I would put a lot of value into in the future for myself. It seemed to me when a 'Custom Course' was meantioned and a Custom Training Program would be provided after the class, I took that to mean that a custom course was designed for us and it was not just the given name of the class or drills document; the same or identical one that has been given to other students from years past. I also did not mean to criticize anyone when I said it would be more comfortable for the lecture portion, the first portion, to be done indoors. It was mearly a suggestion for any future students since that is something that can be anticipated and since the idea of an AAR is to improve for the next go around, I thought it was relavent. In our case, we had a building although I'm not sure if we could have actually used it or not. I was troubled to just learn though that TJ and I were targeted as closed minded problem children with better than thou attitudes and judged before we even put our equipment on. Whether it was because I stood with arms folded, TJ asked for brutal honesty or simply because we expressed concern long before the class, we would have appreciated a fair chance. All this aside, my earlier opinions and recollection of events still stands true. As is often the case when remembering things, different people have diffierent memories of what happened. Although I might not make many people happy with it, I tried to make mine as factual and accurate as possible. I'm sure there were things going on that I wasn't witness to, so I can only speak from my own perspective.

What's the best major airport to fly into if coming in from the coast? Thinking about it.