Rob D

Here's a link to my match video for those that wanted to see what the stages looked like:

Area 5 was embarrassing and one of the most frustrating experiences I've gone through in shooting. I shot 3 stages, and then came out to 122.5 pf at the chrono. I'm not sure if my chrono was off or the powder was reverse temp-sensitive as some have told me, but I'm doing everything I need to do to put the experience behind me, and I think I'm where I need to be mentally to take a big step forward with my game. I've had two very solid club match performances with my new load(3.6 gr of solo instead of 3.4), and I've really starting to get comfortable with my production gun again after practicing so much for limited earlier in the year. The Pro-Am is my next major match. My focuses right now and are on fast reloads, setting up well on every position, and calling shots. Unfortunately, the range I'm training at has absolutely no steel targets. I'll be able to get in a good practice session back home the day before the match, but there wont be much steel until then. I generally shoot steel very well, so I'm not worried, but I'd also like to be as prepared as possible for the match. I think I'm going to shoot the Illinois sectional in august too. Training focuses for the next two weeks: Setting up on arrays, especially in ports Reloads, reloads, reloads Shot Calling

Shot it clean in 4.99 today. HF comes out to 7.014. Production, B class.

That's interesting. I'm going to get some data from a 3rd chrono on a hot day to compare. Either way, I'm never going to a match with my load clocking below 135pf again. Lesson learned.

+1 Cheap chronos work great. Solo1000 on the other hand I found to be way to temp sensitive for me to keep screwing around with. Not sure exactly what conditions my dad chrono'd his rounds in, but mine were nearly identical to the match conditions. If anything, it was maybe 5-10 degrees warmer at the match, which should have caused increased pressures if anything, right? Maybe we just got unlucky and got two defective units somehow. My Dad just ordered a CED chrono, so I'll report back when he gets the chance to try some loads on that one. When using my Dad's chrono in the past, I've had some little variations due to the sun being in odd positions, but I didn't even think twice going into this match since the data I had from testing the load myself was identical to what my Dad got 900 miles away. We did have a lot of fun, and a big thanks to the guys who ran A5. The match was top notch. I'll most likely be coming back next year with some better ammo.

I had to switch powders after having a hard time finding titegroup, so to get ready for A5 my Dad and I worked up loads seperately in two different states, on two seperate "Shooting Chrony's." We both shoot 147gr J&K Bullets and were both using Solo 1000. Both of us got readings that ranged from 870-920fps while testing our loads at the range. I didn't worry about making PF at all because the load averaged around 132PF. The Chrono was our 4th stage friday morning. Our loads clocked from 810-845fps, averaging out to 122 power factor. In retrospect, betting the outcome of a match the we spent so much to shoot on a $79 chronograph was just plain stupid on our part. My Dad flew up from Oklahoma to shoot this match with me, so we were both pretty bummed about the results. I guess I need to invest in a more accurate chronograph, but I wanted to let people know what happened to us before they decide to save a few bucks.

You're probably already doing this, but I make a conscious effort to put the very center of the front sight on my point of aim when shooting past 25 yards or so. Instead of thinking of my front sight at a post, I think of the top of it as the horizontal line in a set of crosshairs, with the verticle line going up and down through the center of the sight.

LittleKahuna said this to me when I was asking about the same thing: "Shoot Smoke & Hope about 10,000 times." Shooting steel challenge matches has helped me immensley with transitions in USPSA.

I loved the original. Looks like they took the exact same plot and just replaced the actors with famous americans. I would imagine the remake is pretty hilarious as well.

Yeah, I had pretty much the same experience. One match, and I was hooked. When you grow up hunting and everyone is always telling you to take your time and conserve ammo, having someone say, "See how fast you can shoot all of this stuff" make for a pretty awesome time. You'll find out pretty quickly that the more practice you have reacting to the buzzer in matches, the less it screws up your plan. Match experience is really the only way I've found to improve that, "Oh Crap, what was my plan again?" effect. Great stuff! Keep your eyes and ears open, and keep practicing. You'll have an awesome time with the sport. You couldn't aske for a better group of people to shoot with, and the matches down there are fantastic. Hopefully I'll get to meet you at the Pro-Am in July. Good luck until then!

That definitely happens, but there are clubs that have no issues with props and still like to bend the rules. I shot a match about two months ago where I had to fire 12 rounds from a single prone positions. Since I shoot production, this made for a really annoying prone reload. The club has plenty props, the MD just wanted to shoot 12 rounds prone instead of 8. I just shoot the stage and go on. If I had time to be there early enough for setup, I would feel like I had the right to say something, but since I don't, I don't.

So now looking forward! I've shot two club matches in Wisconsin since I got here. The first was at Ripon gun club last weekend, and the second was at Schultz yesterday. I'm shooting my production gun again for the first time since january. It's nice to be back to what I know, although shooting limited made me envious of the simplified stage plans that come with 20rd mags. Shooting limited also made me aware of just how soft 9mm minor loads feel! When I went from .40 to 9mm it felt like I was shooting a pellet gun. I have Area 5 coming up June 10th-13th(Only two months to prepare). I'm going to shoot Production, and I'd really like to get a High B class trophy to go with my High C class from doubletap. Here's the training plan for the next two months: Dryfire Practice: 1: Moving Reloads: My reloads need some brushing up after having a magwell for 3 months. 2: Port Work: I need to practice setting up on arrays through ports instead of running to the port and setting up on the first target. 3: Movement: A5 will be all field courses, so I want to practice staying low, and moving smoothly from position to position 4: Awkward shooting positions: Time to get out my barricade. I need practice leaning left, right, and shooting under things. This all goes hand in hand with staying low Live Fire and Match Practice: 1: Accuracy: I need to put about 1000 rounds of practice ammo through my G34 to really dial in my accuracy. The trigger is different on my G35, and I need to get back to being used to the production gun. Group shooting is called for, and I really like the drill where you start at 10 yards and use a 4 second par time to draw and land 5 shots. If you get 5 alphas, back up 5 yards and try it again. This seems to really make me watch my sights when I get out past about 20 yards. 2: Stage Analysis: I may not have time to get to the range the day before A5(I hope I do), so I want to work on my stage analysis in practice. My airsoft gun would really help for this. I wish I had somebody that could set stages for me. I'll research techniques for practicing this too. So that's the plan! 6 focus areas in order of importance. I need to join a gunclub ASAP so I can start putting in practice sessions. Wish me luck, and if you have any helpful advice, please share. Thanks!

Lots has happened since I last posted. I got carried away preparing and training for DTC, and forgot to update my range diary. I Won high C Class in limited at the doubletap championship, and I managed to beat all the B class shooters too. This was by far my best major match performance yet. Before I go into what I'm working on and preparing for right now, I want to take the time to note a few of the things I noticed about this match that I want to continue and build upon. First - I didn't hurry. I shot clean shots, and I saw the sights every time. I usually have at least a small inclination to push myself for speed. At DTC, I just told myself, "Shoot as fast as you can see the sights," and the match went really well. I had excellent points for almost every stage. Most stages I only dropped a few charlie's, and only had a handful of deltas for the entire match. No Mikes, and no no-shoots. I'm going to remember this for all majors in the future Second - I had a much greater level of confidence about my stage plans because we came out and doped teh stages the day before the match. This made me MUCH more relaxed while shooting, and made my walkthroughs much less stressful. In the past, especially at big matches, it has been difficult for me to completely formulate a good stage plan on complicated stages with only the 5 minute walkthrough. The night before the match, I sat in the hotel bar drinking a beer and mentally rehearsing each stage over and over as I checked my notes in the match booklet. This is the way I want to spend the evening prior to every major match I shoot from now on. Third - I was familiar with the range, the weather, and knew what to expect. I came very prepared for this match. I can't think of anything that could have happened that would have thrown me off(but I'm sure there are plenty of possibilities).

I think you can handle that Brad. Just remember to constantly practice reinforce what you learned. It's easy to take a class, make a big step forward, and then spend the following months forgetting what you learned. Top 5 is no big deal. Looks like you just gotta beat my Dad, and he's old

I would pick a gun, and shoot it as much as you possibly can. In a year or two when you're cruising through the classes, you can start to think about the subtle nuances of gun choices and you'll have a MUCH greater base of information to draw upon. Not only will you know more about shooting in general, but you'll know a lot more about your own preferences. Like everybody else has said - pick on and practice, practice, practice. You may not understand which gun is really best for you until you have enough time behind the sights to know exactly WHY it's best for you. Enjoy the shooting around OK! Keep those guys in shape for me, especially my Dad.

Welcome to the forums Brad! Living in Edmond, you're in the perfect place for matches. I'm jealous. Definitely go out and shoot the OKC Gun Club USPSA match. It's by far the best club match I've ever attended, and there are always plenty of guys out there to give pointers.

It's not BBQ or Steak, but my favorite restaurant is in Edmond a couple miles from the hotels mentioned above. Check out Ted's Cafe Escondido. It's an awesome tex-mex place.

Get a quality grip stippling job. Good stippling+progrip and the gun will lock right in. I have the Crock-skin finish from Mike Cyrwus over at Accurate Iron. It blows any grip tape product I've ever used right out of the water.

Trugrip is great stuff. It's definitely the best grip tape product that I've used, but when you get sick of changing it out and want something permanent, get a quality stippling job and you wont regret it. I fretted over the decision for a long time because I was worried about it being irreversible. After getting the stippling, I never want to use grip tape again.

I just ordered a second tub for the CM-500 and it was 19.95. On a side note, I can't believe I called there 800 number and an actual person answered the phone. I love Dillon.

I can say that as far as technology and software goes, the palm scoring app is about as easy as it gets. I know that Lee sent out demo software to everyone who was using them before A4 so RO's could learn how to use the program on their PC before ever getting to the match. I had never used a palm before, but I picked it up and had no problems whatsoever after using the demo. I would say that as long as your RO's aren't technologically challenged, the human factor won't be much problem.

Ok, I think most guys who have used them will agree. Here's my .02(From the RO and shooter perspective only, never done stats) Electronic Scoring - Good Waiting and relying on Infra-red printers to get printouts - Bad IR is outdated unless you want to change the volume on your TV. Most mobile devices released in the last 2-3 years don't even have IR ports. It requires the devices to be very close together, have a clean line of sight between the transmitting and receiving ports, and it's slow as molasses even when it's working perfectly. The Palm/IR combo is probably better than paper, but not by a whole heck of a lot. I would really like to see a scoring app developed for Blackberry, Iphone, Android, Windows Mobile, or any of the other modern platforms that could take advantage of a better connectivity method than Infra-red. THAT would give the reliability and accuracy of electronic scoring AND would get rid of all the headaches people are complaining about. Edited to Add*** I think an RO with pen and paper could probably scratch down a second copy of a scoresheet on most stages faster than the palms can transmit to the printers even when they're working(40-50 seconds?). That should say something in itself.

The props were AWESOME. Everything worked smoothly too. My squad didn't have a single re-shoot from stage failure. My compliments to everyone who helped build the stages and put them together. I can't wait to see the scores. I shot friday and, from what I could tell when I left, I had a pretty good match going.

I really liked the palms. Sure, they have their issues, but they save a ton of work on the back end. I got to use them when I RO'd at Area 4, and besides the printer failing to read the palm every now and then, they worked great. No paper to blow around, no score sheets to have to hand in and keep track of. I love them, and I think moving to palm's is taking the sport in the right direction(towards the 21st century) I think they main problem with the palms is that they use IR instead of a newer transfer method. If they ran on Bluetooth, or even WiFi, the RO scoring could be transmitting the scores to the printer from down range instead of having to walk back up range, set down the palm, and wait for it to print. This would be ideal, and will hopefully happen sometime way down the road when the technology gets cheaper. I remember asking Lee about bluetooth at A4, and he mentioned that, at this point, switching to anything besides IR would be ridiculously expensive in addition to the significant amount of dough he has already put into the palm system. I like the Palms. I'm all for letting technology do as much of the work as we can. Of course there are some drawbacks, but I think they're a step in the right direction and have the potential to work really well as long as shooters and RO's do their parts.

I think I had more fun today than I have ever had shooting a match. Great stages, awesome RO's and lots of sunshine. Thanks to everyone who was involved.