Nik Habicht

Chriss, Thanks for the heads up. I'm moving the following Tuesday, so I'll be lucky to get out of packing for 1/2 a day Saturday to shoot the Glock Match in Jackson. I'm still gonna try to come up for that match at the end of July, if I can swing it.

Jon, These aren't necessarily "how to" books but they are written either by gunsmiths or by IPSC shooters/gunwriters: Bill Wilson's two books on the 1911, available on his website at wilsoncombat.com; Layne Simpson's book on "The Custom 1911" or "The Custom Government Model," available either through an ad in Shooting Times Magazine or through Amazon.com or PaladinPress.com; Dave Lauck's two books on modifying the 1911 for combat or competition. I'd have exact titles but as we're moving in two weeks most of my books are already packed and buried in a stack of boxes. Wilsoncombat.com has a bunch of books listed in the specials/clearance section of their website at decent discounts, I'd check there first. Wilson's own books are listed under parts for pistols. Simpson's book would appear to be a comprehensive catalogue/evaluation of modifications possible on a 1911, one of the Wilson books was written in the same vein; Dave Lauck's focus is a bit narrower and more opinionated. If any of the more experienced shooters have read any of these books, maybe they can provide feedback as to how relevant they still are ---- I think they were all written a decade ago. Hope that garbled mess helps, I think I can get some sleep after we move. (I could of course sleep now, but then I wouldn't be able to shoot five matches this month......) (Edited by Nik Habicht at 6:37 pm on June 8, 2001)

Would that be a "Mike Voight is my President" bumpersticker?

Ron, I'm not trying to diminish your frustration here because we've all been down that path of poorly designed stages or even poorly designed matches. The following represents my 2 cents: It seems to me you have choices. You could choose not to shoot this match again ---- or you could just go next year and focus on having a good time. You could offer to help set up the match, work your way onto the crew off people running it, and try to effect change from within. Bottom Line, what it comes down to is this: On any given day you can win this match or you can finish in any other place. Where you finish is only partly dependent on you ---- It's also partly dependent on the other shooters. This year is over ---- you can't change what happened. Put it behind you, focus on the things you can control. Good Luck.

Pat, Once upon a time I shot an IDPA match that required me to push open a door and engage two charging targets. Well the construction was primitive, no one had a foot on the door frame, and no one yelled STOP when the door and frame went over ---- so I shot the stage. Afterwards the RO asks, Why didn't you ask for a restart? I didn't know if I permanently killed the door, I said, and I didn't want any unfair advantage over the other shooters. :-)

Duane, "Winners stick with what works while always reevaluating (consistency) " Guess I should have put the emphasis on "reevaluating." I totally got what you were saying ---- just wanted to expand on it a little. Ever wonder what Brian would say about our temperaments/personalities as he reads these posts?

Kyle, I'm 6'3" and weigh 375. So while all you guys are strapping on the plates (something that should be funny to see) how about no ports shorter that 5'10". That way I wouldn't have to bend my knees at all.......LOL

OK, so you're naturally a good speller, or you paid attention in school.....

Get ready to laugh at these times: Best performance on the fifteen yard head box bill drill: 9.87 seconds with four hits, two misses. But on the ten yard line I can hit 6 hits pretty regularly in under 8 seconds in the head. Regular body bill drills at seven yards I can do on demand with all A's in 4.25-4.50 seconds. I think next time I'm gonna just shoot all Bill Drills at ten yards ----- when I can hit the head box 6 times regularly I'll move back. This really is a great drill though ---- I think it's gonna help a lot on the small IPSC plates that I usually have to shoot at twice before hitting them with the third round. And here in the US all steel has to be at least 11 yards away. Thanks for the tip, Brian, ---- I would have never figured out to try this drill on my own.

I move that the word fair and the whole bastardization of the concept of fairness be eliminated from the english language and society as soon as possible. Fair should not mean equal in all respects. I'm PO'd enough right now that I could go on for hours.....

Just make sure you get the 5-7 misses out of the way before someone asks you to repeat it.......LOL

There are both Range Lawyers and Range Nazis in the IDPA game already. I figure it's just human nature, some people are in the game just to win and others are rigid interpreters of the rules. I play all these games to learn something and to have some fun; I figure on any given day I could beat anyone else in the world or they could beat me. I'm sure if we of Team Ancient were to shoot against the best shooters in the world every day of the year, occasionally one of us mere mortals would wind up in first place because all of the gods had a frain bade on the same day. But I'm also sure that I'd learn something new everyday and that I'd have brain fade most days. As far as the rigid ROs and Match Directors are concerned ---- I think they have to be rigid if it's a safety violation. On the other hand if the shooters makes a mistake and then tries to correct the mistake (i.e. leaving a shooting position before engaging all targets and then backpedaling <safely> into it to shoot the last target or targets) I wouldn't assess a procedural because I figure that correcting the mistake has already cost the shooter enough time and they are not getting an unfair advantage. If people would just take two seconds to step back and look at these situations objectively and without ego we'd all be much better off. Thanks for letting me rant, for some reason I had to get that off my chest.

Winners stick with what works while always reevaluating (consistency) while losers try every new fad or gadget to come along while proclaiming that this is THE THING that will change their life or performance. Winners hang in there even when the going is difficult ---- losers abandon ship at the first sign of a storm.

Duane, 4 letters, 1 b, 3e, three e are 75% of beee. And you thought Brian couldn't spell. He's probably the only guy on the forum who figured out how to use spell check......LOL

Paul, Last October I shot an IDPA classifier. The Classifier consists of three thirty round stages. On the first two stages I was totally in sync with the gun --- faster than I ever had been before and very accurate to boot. I dropped just 12 points on those first 60 rounds. (Of course I fell apart on the last stage). For a long time I thought that that was one of my magical perfect runs ---- something which is rare, fleeting, and cannot be improved upon. Well, I've improved since and it's changed my thinking. I continue to shoot because every couple of months I'll shoot a stage or two where I am so tuned into the gun that it seems like an extension of myself. My subconscious takes over my brain and the hits appear on paper or steel as if by magic. To me that implies perfection, if we define perfection as a performance that could not be improved upon at the time it occurred.

Ron, Couldn't have done it without your help; Brian, I was going to order another book anyway and send you a donation on top of it, you get to decide when it arrives how you want to disburse the $. I'd just be grateful for an autograph.

Having used both a 17 and a 34 I think the 34 is the way to go for two reasons: Longer sight radius and different balance. Because the 17 and 34 slides weigh the same (Glock cut a lightening oval in the top of the 34 slide so that both guns could use the same recoil springs) the 34 feels slightly lighter on the muzzle end. I find that I can transition between targets faster and am less likely to overshoot the A zone with a 34. You also get the 3.5 lb. connector, extended slide release and extended mag release already on the gun. Let us know how it works out/ what you decide to go with.

Brian, Rob Leatham, 1983, 75%. Figure 12 stages, he missed three...... Nik. (That was a swag.....)

Duane, I'm gonna try that 8 lb. trigger in one of my guns --- at least in practice. A glock 17 came with the 8 lb. connector installed and I yanked it out before I even shot the gun. So far my favorite on a match gun is the 3.5 lb connector with a coil trigger spring and a Wolff reduced power striker spring in the slide. Makes for a really light smooth pull ---- and since I learned how to shoot with a Glock I've never known another pull.

Bill, I don't know where USANA is. I'll be shooting the match at Central Jersey on the second Sunday of June and the match at Old Bridge on the fourth Sunday. Thanks for the tips on ammo. I'll have to check that site out.

Pat, Since Glocks are perfect right from the factory, the problem will most likely stay away until you touch one again......LOL

Bugs, My preference runs to Meprolights on the Glock. 5 of my six guns wear those, the last one wears a set of Ashley Express sights. There could be a little more light showing around the front sight for my outdoor shooting tastes ---- but most of my shooting occurs indoors. I've shot IDPA with that set-up for the past year and the tritiums really came into their own on the two flashlight stages at the IDPA Winter Nationals. I also like the fact that the experience of looking at those sights in practice and in competition will carry over to my house gun (A Glock 34 with meprolights, a 5 lb trigger and sure-fire flashlight) if I should ever need it.

Pat, I had a Glock 19 double regularly after a new trigger and trigger bar were installed ----- the splits were great but it wouldn't do it consistently. My gunsmith traced the problem to a bent trigger bar and the distributor is arranging for its exchange. Other than that one instance, I've had no problems of any kind with a Glock that weren't operator induced. Nik.

Chriss, How would one register for something like Topton? If I'm not slaving away at work I might be interested. As far as PA is concerned ---- it would have been nice, but we're closing on a house in Trenton in the next couple of weeks. Thanks again for the advice.

Pat, A convertible? Aren't you a little young for a midlife crisis? LOL