[Saibot's Performance Journal]

Dry fire (4.7.14)

Tonight I started out with some draws and my standards stages which were much faster than they have been lately. Instead of hitting the dry fire books I thought I'd have some fun and just setup various stages that had me doing things like entering a shooting box at full speed and having to shoot some 10 yard USPSA targets or a plate rack. I integrated an El Prez into one stage then had to run forward 5 yards and engage 3 targets, perform a reload, then run 3 more yards and engage 3 more targets at a couple of yards. Various starting positions like having my palms on a wall and I had to move back and turn to get the first target. Shooting on the move and lots of reloads while running. I made it about 35 or 40 minutes and was too smoked to do any more! What a ton of fun dry fire can be. It was a nice break from the typical stuff I usually do.

[Saibot's Performance Journal]

Dry fire (4.6.14)

I spent an hour practicing tonight starting with my standards stages which, as expected were a little slower than usual. Practice time has been at a premium lately so I take what I can get, but my performance has certainly suffered. Not to worry though, I'm already improving and getting back to where I belong...and beyond! I spent some time just drawing and rediscovering the proper feel and being smooth. I moved to the Stoeger A drills and some Seeklander thrown in for good measure. I worked on the El Prez and target transitions for a while and called it good for the evening.

I'm starting to feel fast again and having some outrageously fast reloads.

[Saibot's Performance Journal]

Dry fire (4.4.14)

I had to get on the road so I only had about 30 minutes to practice. But I still managed to have a pretty good session despite the quick timeline. It really does help just to hold the gun and keep your index sharp everyday. Wish it could have been longer since I won't be able to dry fire this weekend.

[Saibot's Performance Journal]

Dry fire ( 3.31.14)

I thought I'd change gears a little bit and refocus on the basics a little bit tonight, so I spent about 1.25 hours dry firing starting with my "benchmark" stages just to see where I was performing cold. Man was I shocked to be struggling to get even close to my usual par times. I was coming in about 4 seconds over on once stage and my hits were marginal at best. I moved on to the next one with similar results. I notice my grip was a little loose so I started squeezing the grip with much more pressure as well as keeping the gun up (a problem that always seems to plague me) and my times fell back down to about where they should be. Dang strange! I went back to the first stage and did about normal times there, too.

After I warmed up a little I cracked open the Stoeger 15 minutes dry fire book and did the first 3 drills that really focus on marksmanship. I noticed that I've picked up some bad habits with my trigger pull and I hope these drills help tune me back up. I am really looking forward to some live fire practice soon so I can validate some of this stuff. I also really need to work on my splits and transitions, but I'm beat.

[Saibot's Performance Journal]

Match ( 3.29.14)

Well I try not to focus on the failures and what went wrong, but yesterday's IDPA match was a train wreck. It was the wettest match I've ever shot in, and that's saying something for Oregon! The wind was tearing targets off their stands and making some of the targets into moving targets! I got a -5 on a head that had moved out of the way! But then again, it was hard for everyone and the good shooters were still as consistent as ever, so I think I was just having a bad day. I just couldn't seem to connect with anything and my accuracy was waaaay off. For example, I'd line my sights up on a mini popper, break the shot, and miss. Rinse and repeat! I was even shooting slower than my match pace to really be sure I got all -0's and was still shooting poorly. So much so that I thought something was wrong with my gear, like I had knocked a sight out of alignment or neglecting to clean my gear was catching up with me. After the match I shot a few groups to see what was screwed up and figured out it was just me having a bad day. I put a magazine into the "0" on the head at 10 yards and another into the line on the neck at 15 yards without issue. So I don't know what's up. We all have bad days occasionally and I guess yesterday was mine. Plus the lack of practice hasn't helped. As much as I enjoy and get out of dry fire, there are some things you really HAVE to do in live fire, and my ratio is waaaay off. With the days getting longer and the weather getting better, I'm hoping to get in weekly practice session again.

So that's about enough time looking in the rearview mirror, moving on. After all, a bad day shooting is always better than not shooting at all!

[Saibot's Performance Journal]

Dry fire (3.27.14)

Back at it. I spent about an hour dry firing tonight, starting with my "benchmark" stages that have known par times. Those let me know how I'm doing when I start out cold like I would be doing at the first stage of a match. Sights were tracking pretty well for me tonight which was great. I've been at this long enough to know that when I'm having a bad night of dry fire not to get discouraged. Usually the next day's session is outstanding and that's what happened again tonight. I did the Stoeger A drills to get warmed up, threw in some Seeklander, then the Stoeger D drills and the Close, Far, Close drill. A little El Prez and some weak hand shooting with some shooting/reloading on the move to round things out for the night. Not a bad night's practice.

[Saibot's Performance Journal]

Man it's been a while since I've gotten to update this. My schedule has been murder on my shooting and being seriously ill for a couple of weeks hasn't helped. Not that I haven't had any dry fire practice since my last update, there have been a few sessions as well as some matches, but I've been less disciplined than usual about logging my activity. Anyway, no more excuses, back at it as my energy levels permit.

Match (3.8.14)

Shot pretty well considering I pretty much slept between stages.

I just focused on calling every shot and kept it simple. I think I wound up taking 1st in B class Production.

Match (3.22.14)

Felt like I wasn't going to be able to finish the match but pounded enough caffeine to stay awake. I made a ton of mistakes and the lack of practice/dry fire really caught up with me and I did pretty poorly and lost to a lot of good shooters I generally edge out.

Dry fire (3.26.14)

First dry fire session in a while. Pretty sluggish and missed a ton of reloads. Holy cow these skills perish quickly! I was able to get about an hour of practice in although I really need much more to get caught up. My dominant eye's vision is still pretty bad/blurry so I'm praying it gets back to where it should be since I don't think I could switch eyes.

Meh...

Still, at the end of the day, this stuff is still so much fun and I can't wait until the next match! I think I'll hit up an IDPA match this weekend if everything works out.

[Saibot's Performance Journal]

Dry fire (1.2.14)

Kind of the same ole same ole thing. Benchies, warm up with the Stoeger A drills, hit the Stoeger C drills, shooting on the move, a little dash of Seeklander and lots of extras thrown in for good measure. It took about 1.25 hours to complete all of it but I was pretty smoked at the end and my reloads started to get pretty inconsistent. The sights and my eyes weren't really speaking tonight, so...

[Saibot's Performance Journal]

Dry fire (3.1.14)

I spent close to two hours dry firing tonight showing a friend my routine. Starting with my "benchmark" stages, then warm up with the Stoeger A drills with all of my modifications and extras. Then the Stoeger B drills, shooting on the move, and finally ending on the "benchmark" stages to see how much our times improved after getting dialed in with the other drills. Lots of fun and a great evening reloading and dry firing with a good friend.

[Saibot's Performance Journal]

Dry fire (2.25.14)

I started out tonight just drawing from hands at side at about 5 yards, to the center of the A in the upper A zone. Started off at 70% and refined my alignment and turned up the speed until I was pulling the gun as fast as I could. It was very cool that I was able to draw at 110% and still get a perfect sight alignment in the center of the A zone. I'm not sure if it was because I started this way before I even did my benchmark stages, but the sights tracked amazingly well tonight, perfect A's in my drills without loss of speed (or at lease very marginally considering the speed I was going). I loosely did the Stoeger A drills and added a bunch of variations in along the way. Tons of draws and reloads, about half while moving. Worked on my 6 reload 6 and the El Prez. Did a little shooting on the move and ran out of steam. Great session tonight and I think I found a little nuance to my draw where I move sharp but light from hands at side to getting my fingers in contact and wrapping the grip, then explode up and out. It's hard to explain, but that's the best I can do when I'm really describing a feeling more than a technique.

[Saibot's Performance Journal]

Dry fire (2.24.14)

Woohoo! The garage is mine again...mostly. The bulk of it is gone and I can pretty much do my drills again. I spent about 1.25 hours trying to get back on my game. My schedule has been pretty packed so I haven't gotten a chance to do much practice. I didn't event get to shoot any matches this weekend which was a big disappointment. Anyway, started off with my "benchmark" stages as usual to gauge where I'm at cold and I was not surprisingly running a little slow. Then on to the Stoeger A and F drills with some of the Seeklander drills added to the mix where relevant. Did some shooting on the move and just worked out some kinks with my draws and reloads trying to fend off the decay of skills. Finished up with the benchmark stages to see where I was and was just around the par times. Good session. I also was pretty excited to see the results that were finally posted for the 3 Gun match I shot recently where I took 2nd overall and first in Tacops! Such a good feeling to see your hard work paying off.

[Saibot's Performance Journal]

Dry fire (2.20.14)

Just a quick session that went about 45 minutes. Benchies, Stoeger's, Seeklanders, and out. I can barely move in my garage from all of the stuff we're storing until the weekend.

[Saibot's Performance Journal]

Dry fire (2.17.14)

Burned an hour dry firing, starting with the "benchies." For some reason I was a couple seconds off my cold par times which was strange. It felt nice and fast but the timer doesn't lie. In fact I keep checking the time to see if I had set it wrong! Nope, just slow. Worked on my draw/index for while, getting my "snap" back. Worked on a couple Stoeger drills with some Seeklander thrown in for good measure. I created a new drill where I had to draw to small upper A zones, reload, move and shoot three targets, reload, hit three more on the move, reload, and work my way back to the beginning doing the same thing. One little thing I noticed that was VERY interesting is when you enter a position with your gun up you're going to have some bobble as you slow/stop. I started indexing in the opposite direction of my bobble and let it take my sights on to the target and break the shot. I'll have to see what I can do with it...

There was a little 6 reload 6, and some El Prez in there as well.

[Saibot's Performance Journal]

Dry fire (2.16.14)

I was able to get in a solid hour or so of dry fire today where I started, as usual, with my benchmark stages. I was a little slow cold which is probably to be expected since I haven't been in town lately and couldn't practice. I worked on draws and reloads and tried to get my snap going with them. Draws back to near where they should be and was really getting some fast reloads. I warmed up with the Stoeger A drills and some of my old favorite Seeklander drills. Then some shooting on the move, 6 reload 6, El Prez, and another round of my benchmark stages which were about 3 seconds quicker once I was warmed up.

[Saibot's Performance Journal]

Match (2.15.14)

I made it to a local 3Gun match today and boy was it wet. It occurred to me that there really isn't such a thing as bad weather, just bad gear. My rain gear performed perfectly and the match went great. I had one minor glitch loading the shotgun on the last stage where I was trying to load with the bolt back and couldn't figure out why the lifter wouldn't go up. As you can tell, I'm new to the shotgun and never practice anything with it. It only comes out to shoot a once in a blue moon 3Gun match so I don't expect a lot from my performance with it. But being just shooting, I align the sights, don't disturb them as I break the shot and, at least on static targets, I never miss. Stars just lay down for the SLP as well. My two big challenges with the shotgun are clays and loading the bugger quickly. I need to actually practice that!

I'm also somewhat timid when it comes to 3Gun for some reason. I'm pretty hard charging with an AR or a pistol, but throw in a shotgun and I slow way down. But luckily my accuracy has been a strong point for me so even though I'm moving a little slower, I don't need to make up any shots and that seems to win out, at least in 3Gun.

The pistol was really working for me today and really punished the steel. All of the dry fire is really paying off and I just seem to hit everything I point my G34 at, including all of those little knockdowns. I tell you, it's truly satisfying to see all of the hard work paying off. Looking forward to seeing the results!

[Saibot's Performance Journal]

Dry fire (2.11.14)

I missed yesterday since I was just too sick to stay awake. But feeling a bit better today, I was back at it. I spent about an hour dry firing and really focusing on reloads. I still did my "benchmark" stages which are still a little slow going right now, but I did manage to get some of the fastest (and consistent) reloads to date. Did the Stoeger A and B drills as well.

[Saibot's Performance Journal]

Dry fire (2.9.14)

It warmed up a little today and I cleared a path of stuff we're collecting for an auction (that is blocking my dry fire area in the garage). I've been a weenie and have been avoiding the freezing temperatures in there and haven't been practicing. But I couldn't NOT do it tonight so I hit it for 30 minutes before I ran out of time. There certainly was a noticeable decay in my performance and my times, but it started returning as I got warmed up. I'm hoping that I'll be back where I left off in a couple of days. I did my benchmarks stages quite a few times and lots of draws (to A zone, upper A zone, while moving around the clock) and lots of reloads. A little shooting on the move, too.

[Saibot's Performance Journal]

Sniper Match (2.8.14)

My buddy and I battled our way out to the range for the winter PR Sniper match which, true to it's name, had plenty of bad weather to throw at us. The match directors put on a heck of a good match which was fun but very challenging. The scores aren't out yet but looking forward to see the high hit percentage. I shot very solidly (for me) and lots of first round hits which help your score. The last stage for me was the "Dog House" which could have gone better but my hands were so numb and useless I couldn't turn my turrets anymore. I got my rifle back in it's bag but had to get help getting it zipped back up since I just couldn't get my fingers to listen to my brain and squeeze together. Pretty strange sensation! It was great to see how I and my gear held up in less than ideal conditions. In fact, the gear did better than I did except my Rite In The Rain pens froze.

[Saibot's Performance Journal]

Dry fire (2.3.14)

I spent 1.5 hours dry firing with my standard benchmark drills which have crept down to about where they are now (cold). Then did the Stoeger A and B drills with lots of extras thrown in for good measure. Then lots of shooting on the move then finally back to the benchmark drills which I really set ablaze. I knocked about 3 seconds off of one and a couple off of the other which is just screaming fast for me. I think it comes down to breaking my cadence and getting my body moving sooner and shooting sooner. Always satisfying to hit those kinds of times!

[Saibot's Performance Journal]

Match (2.2.14)

I really wanted to get some shooting in and my friend just so happened to be going to a speed steel match so I tagged along. I don't normally shoot speed steel but since I've been having some issues with hitting steel lately I figured I would go and get some practice. I didn't notice anyone else's shooting or cadence, I just shot my own match. I just worked on calling my shots and seeing my sights and things went well. "Nightmare" was tough but everything else went well and I just kept shooting better at the day went on. What a good day it was! The targets just seemed to lay down for me. Looking forward to seeing the results! It seems that all of the dry fire practice is paying off.

[Saibot's Performance Journal]

Dry fire (1.28.14)

I had a really good 1.5 hour dry fire session tonight where I started out with my "benchmark" stages, then did the Stoeger A drills to get warmed up. I did a bunch of drills where I had to run to a shooting box and engage the upper A zone with two shots on an USPSA target at 10 yards. I really wanted to see what footwork method got me stable and on the upper A zone the fastest and work on getting into the box and shooting as fast as possible. I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing, but I couldn't really tell any advantage one way or the other. Then I practiced shooting on the move...a lot of shooting on the move. It's probably 35 - 40 degrees in the garage and I'm sweating in a tee-shirt. It was a really good session!

[Saibot's Performance Journal]

Match (and a little dry fire - 1.25.14)

I got up a little early so I could get a few minutes of dry fire in before today's match and worked on my draw, reloads, and some transitions. Maybe 10 minutes? I haven't fired a round since the 11th, last match, and the recoil was a bit foreign, so I just took it nice and easy, didn't push too hard, and just focuses on calling my shots. It took a couple of stages before my sights started tracking for me and I think it was a prudent strategy for today. I did better on the steel than I have been doing but still not going 1 for 1 on it yet. I got did manage to get 70% on the classifier which was nice and took second in B class Production. Pretty happy about that! I have to say, I'm shooting much more consistently than I ever have and only made one mistake, got a mike on a 25 yard head shot. I called it right on the left edge, but no dice. Only one hole.

[Saibot's Performance Journal]

Dry fire (1.21.14)

I don't know what all of this "15 minutes of dry fire a day" stuff is all about. Every time I try to do a quick 15 minute session I always wind up spending an hour out there. Well, anyway, I'm back in town and back at it. I was ecstatic that I did really darn well tonight despite taking a few days off from practice. I guess some of this stuff is starting to sink in at some sub-conscience level and building in some consistency. My "benchmark" stages cold times were really wicked fast. I was just snapping to every position and moving well (thanks Alieve!). Worked on draws and reloads, Stoeger A and D drills, and shooting on the move. Always a good time.

[Saibot's Performance Journal]

Dry fire (1.16.14)

Spent an hour doing my dry fire stages, then the Stoeger A and C drills. Some shooting on the move and more dry fire stages. Whew! Fast and furious practice session.

[Saibot's Performance Journal]

Dry fire (1.15.14)

Although I finished alright at last weekend's USPSA match, my accuracy wasn't up to where is should be. It think it's partly because of lack of live fire and due in some part to operating in speed mode lately. So I took a couple nights off to reset and hit it tonight without a timer. I really just focused on moving as fast as I could, then taking my time, getting a good strong focus on my front sight, then giving really good shots. Not using a timer really took the pressure off me so I could just focus on being accurate. I spent about 1.25 hours like this doing all sorts of drills, and working on my movement. I brought the speed up a tic, now for the accuracy.