Nik Habicht

Shot this one last night during a four classifier match. Production, Glock 34, Blade-Tech, unclassified, in Limited I'm (barely) a C shooter. First Run is from 10 yards, engage three targets with two rounds each, reload, engage T1-T3 with two rounds each again. Time was 11.64. String two is from seven yards, engage T1-T3 with two rounds each strong hand only. Time was 5.98, I had trouble finding the front sight for the first shot. Final string is from five yards, weak hand, two rounds each. Time was 5.51; total time was 23.13 seconds. I shot 15 As, 6 Cs, and 3 Ds (all on the left target) for a total of 96 points. I actually found the weakhand string the easiest to acquire the sights for, I seem to have more trouble with that on the indoor range. I fumbled the reload on the first string.

I shot this one last night during a four classifier match. Production, Glock 34, Blade-Tech, unclassified. (Just made C Limited) I played it conservatively, drew to the left open target, transitioned to the other open targets and then threw a quick shot at the right target with hardcover. Posted a total of 20 points; had one no-shoot negate half of that total. This classifier was a surprise substitution or I might have benefitted from wiser counsel on this thread. It was also my first stage of the night ---- not pretty.

Shot this one last night for a production classifier. Glock 34, Blade-Tech Holster. Indexed on the first target, indexed my way across, reloaded and shot back from right to left, reloaded, and took a flash sight picture on the first target, then rode that index all the way across. 15.82 seconds, 76 points, 13 As, 3 Cs, 2 Ds.

I would think that anyone's worst nightmare in a fight would be a guy with tactical training and experience who is also a GM level shooter......

Eric, Sounds like I could drink your coffee..... And I'm a coffee snob!

Quote: from Shooter Grrl on 5:29 pm on Dec. 21, 2001 "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." Wow - I'm impressed a dude knew this one. According to the DH, this is a chick move :-) The D must stand for dumb, in this case. How can anyone call a swashbuckling fairytale kids movie a chick flick? It transported me back to my childhood........ once my better half convinced me to see it earlier this year. Oh, wait, I remember now, I used to call it a chick flick until I actually saw it.......

....On the way out the door, I remembered my gunbelt....... (Thanks to Eric for the inspiration for this part of the story, LOL )

WWJWD? What Would John Wayne Do? He'd be proud of Ron.....

Some tactical trainers recommend IPSC/IDPA matches for practice as long as the students shoot the course tactically, shout instructions at the targets, use cover etc. I'm thinking that in a 35 round 20 some target field course you'd really get hoarse...... And how do you deal with plates? Do you yell at them too? I know I have a habit of yelling at steel that refuses to fall over.....

....the timer is about to go off and I must......

Quote: from bonedaddy on 12:24 am on Dec. 20, 2001 Kyle, if you're thinking road kill....Hmmmm.... I haven't had a good roast possum in about 20 years. Served on it's back on a bed of cornbread dressing with a little crab apple in it's mouth. Sam, Kyle, John, Do you know the difference between zoos in the North and zoos in the South? Zoos in the South add recipes to the signs describing the animals you're looking at.......

Ron, Almost a year ago, I shot the IDPA Winter Nationals as a Marksman in Stock Service Pistol. I finished 12th out of 18 competitors in that class/division. In February I'll be going back as a Marksman in Enhanced Service Pistol. I've shot three classifiers since last year, in the best one I missed moving up to sharpshooter by less than 2 seconds, in the most recent I'm about 12 seconds away. I haven't practiced seriously since we moved in June, I'm gearing up to start after the holidays though. If I improve as I did last year, getting ready for this match, I should be shooting in the middle of the SS pack while competing as a Marksman. (I had to lock into Class and Division when I mailed my application) All right, that was a longwinded start. If you want to compete in L10, shoot whatever classifiers you can in L10, and just shoot the matches in whatever class you happen to be in when the match rolls around. At any given time there are always gonna be shooters in C class who are already blowing into A class, and there are gonna be shooters who are regressing into D. Ultimately I think you are leaning toward competing in Limited. If so, just shoot Limited classifiers and let the scores dictate where you shoot. We know you to be a man of integrity and I think it's admirable that you sweat being a better shooter that your current classification in L10 shows you to be, but just go shoot!

A longtime Colt 9 mm shooter told me to stick to either Colt or Metalform mags as they were the only reliable ones. Metalforms proved easier to find and considerably cheaper; by coincidence they were also what Springfield shipped with their 9mm. (I'm assuming we're talking about a 1911, not the new rebadged HS2000?) Metalform, http://www.metalformmagazines.com Classic Pistol, http://www.classicpistol.com makes colored basepads. My 8 magazines have been 100% reliable since I got the gun in January.

Quote: from Ron Ankeny on 12:01 am on Dec. 20, 2001 I are a school teacher and I don't see no humor in none of this. Someone's going to the Principal's office...... who's it gonna be?

Quote: from benos on 6:30 pm on Dec. 19, 2001[ Be sure to buy Brian Enos? book on be.com! Be sure to buy Brian Enos' book on be.com! While this is the preferred way, there is nothing wrong with "Be sure to buy Brian Enos's book on be.com" either....... unless my college english and journalism professors were wrong......

And don't even get me started on two, too, to, 2......

That's funny stuff, guys!!

Jack, If you've got the time, my printer's got the paper. I'm getting ready to start practicing for the IDPA Winter Nationals. (S&W, Springfield MA, 2/28-3/2/02) Any info sure couldn't hurt my practice sessions. Thanks in advance!

Duane, Make sure you carry a pin everywhere you go this week in case you encounter narrow doorways or confined spaces...... Seriously though, good job. And here I thought that I was the only fascinated by various "qualifiers" to see if I could pass too....

Erik, There's another option. You could do the much dreaded tactical reload/reload with retention and just pocket the empty mag. While I agree with all of the criticisms leveled at the reloads in IDPA, everyone has to play by the same rules. It doesn't matter to me whether I'm shoopting USPSA, GSSF, IDPA, or Steel matches, I'm happy to shoot the course however it was designed. I may think that some (or sometimes a lot) of the course design is boneheaded, but a tac reload in the middle of a match is still more fun than many other things I could be doing in my spare time....

SG: We're glad you're back and hopefully healthy! Did you have fun?

Chriss, that was meant to be tongue in cheek! I liked it enough that I'll keep shooting steel; I think I can learn a lot from it. It's pointing out new weaknesses in my shooting.....

Brian, Good Advice (as always .) Reflecting some more, I think it was a concurrence of first time jitters, wanting to do well from the get go, not enough long range practice lately, and some apprehension when I saw how small a ten inch plate looks at 20 yards. The last two stages went better because I stopped thinking and caring about how I was doing. I just figured all was lost; that I wasn't having any fun and should try to have some fun. I thought about how to shoot the last two stages, but once I stepped into the box I just focused on the first target I wanted to hit and let my mind go blank. I can't hit that state of mind on demand yet; but I'm always amazed at what our bodies can accomplish when we get our conscious mind out of the way. Did that last sentence make sense? I'm trying to get to a place in the start box where I just shut my thought processes off and react to the buzzer, in much the same way that my body reacts to avoid a car accident before my thoughts can really catch up to the fact I'm in danger. I'm getting better at finding that place though; it used to be elusive and random, now I can generally find it for a couple of stages during each match.

Shot my first steel match today. Started off kind of slow, on "Fade Away," missed the ten inch plate at 20 yards on the fourth run, picked up some speed on the last run. Second stage, plate rack at 20 yards. Didn't have a single run where I knocked down all five plates. Next Stage, 4 12x12 plates arranged in a diamond shape around a ten inch stop plate in the center at 20 yards. Maxxed out at 20 seconds on every run. By now I'm beating myself up pretty good. (It's Chriss' fault, I know he jinxed me ) Stage 4: Two 18x12 Plates at fifteen yards, then take two steps forward into a second shooting box and shoot three 12 inch plates at ten yards, they're about seven yards apart. I shoot it clean and slow on the first run, I pick up speed on every run after that, by the fifth run I shoot it in 8 seconds. Last Stage: Speed option, Four 12x18 Plates at 7-9 yards with a ten inch bonus plate (good for a two second time reduction) between Plates three and four. I set up facing the ten inch plate even though I've decided that today I'm not capable of hitting it fast enough to try it. The RO suggests that I should just crank a round in its direction anyway, after all my muzzle has to pass right over it. I focus my eyes on the center of the first plate on the left. Beep, I hit my index, the gun fires, then I see the front sight lifting out of the notch, I'm moving as I hear the clang, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat. I've done it, I even hit the ten inch bonus plate. The next four runs go much the same way, on the fifth run, I miss the bonus plate, shoot and miss it again, shoot a third round and hit it and finally ding the stop plate. Time on the timer: 3.87 seconds. We spool the timer back, my transition between the third plate and hitting the bonus plate is 1.09 with three rounds fired. It's a good way to end this match ----- I've learned what I really need to work on, and it appears that my speed efforts on the close stuff are paying off. Now the trick is gonna be to learn how to consistently hit any given target in just the amount of time required, no more and no less. Steel's a totally different challenge, I can't wait for next month's match to get here.

Enjoy it while it lasts.......... pretty soon you'll earn the bump! Way to go. (Edited by Nik Habicht at 6:39 pm on Dec. 16, 2001)