JasonC

I remind myself that good and bad are just labels we choose to assign to things. Therefore, there is nothing to bounce back from. Your results are your results. It is what it is. Let go of your expectations and just shoot.

Since you have already discussed this with your wife and she says that she supports you, try the following. Ask her to tell you to go shooting. Have her tell you this before every match until you stop feeling guilty. Perhaps you need permission to do something that is just for you.

Give your conscious mind something to think about, rather than allowing it to wander aimlessly. It can only think about one thing at a time. I focus on my breathing.

Sorry, I didn't actually answer the OP's question. Post deleted.

Something else to consider when discussing springs is manufacturing tolerances. The wire manufacturer has a set of tolerances, tensile, heat treat, wire diameter, etc. The spring manufacturer has his set of tolerances, mean coil diameter, rate, heat treating, length, etc. Tolerance "stacking" can lead to some interesting results. For example, the typical rate tolerance on an industrial spring is about 5%. So, that means a 15# recoil spring could have a rate between 15.75# and 14.25#. A 14# recoil spring could have a rate between 14.7# and 13.3#. Quite a bit of overlap between spring rates. Having zero overlap would require about a 4% or better rate tolerance. Specialty manufacturers that produce "high performance" springs can hold tighter rate tolerances, about 3% - 4%. But even at a 3% rate tolerance, a 15# spring could be as low as 14.55# and a 14# spring could be as high as 14.42#. No overlap, but who could tell the difference? In order to get into the 1% - 2% range, the manufacturer would need to test each spring individually and sort them. This is possible, but not practical. Recoil springs would cost a lot more than $8! So, what all this means is that if you are trying to decide bewteen a 15# spring and a 14# spring (or a 10# spring and a 9# spring for that matter) you are wasting your time. Even if you decide that one is better, you cannot consistently purchase this same rate spring. Find a rate that works, call it good enough and go shoot.

I would like to add what will NOT get you beyond B class...pulling the trigger faster. Look elsewhere. Take a class from a qualified instructor. He will be happy to show you where you can improve.

Action-reaction. Equal and opposite. The difference in perceived recoil is in the weight of the gun and in the recoil impulse. For example, a nice squishy limbsaver recoil pad does not reduce the recoil, it just spreads out the impulse over a longer period of time. Inertia or gas? During the match, you won't notice. Pick a gun that's reliable.

I used to work for a spring manufacturer and received similar questions on a regualr basis. The problem is in definitions. The customer knows what he wants, but lacks the correct words to describe it. That's when the engineers get all pissy-pants because, well, they are engineers and they speak a very specific language. Short answer to your question is: No, purchase the correct spring. Longer answer is : What you are looking for is the spring's rate, not its weight. Spring rate is typically stated in lbs/in or N/mm. It is the amount of force required to compress the spring a specific distance. Ie. a 100 lb/in spring requires 100 lb's of force to compress it one inch. A spring's rate is dependent on a number of things. One off them is coil count. Clipping coils off a spring increases its rate. However it also shortens its overall length. Springs are typically installed in a space that is shorter than its overall length. The spring must be compressed or preloaded in order to fit. By shortening the spring you are reducing the preload, so there is less initial force needed to compress the spring in its installed postion. So, when you cut a recoil spring, what you are feeling is less preload. This is deceiving because the spring actually has a higher rate, but because the change to the amount of preload is so much more dramatic, the spring feels like the rate has been reduced. There is probably also less total force required to fully cycle the slide, but I would have to do the calcs to be sure.

I think the difference between natural and technical is quite small. A natural has certain innate physical traits that enable them to do something a little better than everyone else. My friend's father was a voice and music instructor. I once asked him how much of a singer's talent was due to natural ability. He said about 5% natural and 95% practice. BUT, that extra 5% was the difference between a great singer and a diva. Bringing it back to shooting, I see several people at my club with what I consider natural ability. They are typically thinner, shorter and in good physical condition. I'm 6ft, 180lbs and in good physical condition. Yet there there is no way I will ever out run someone 5ft 8in and 150lbs. So I make up for it in technical ability. As long as my commitment to practice is greater than theirs, I can mitigate their natural talent advantage with technical skill.

Hope this helps. http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?...1&hl=JasonC My opinion on spending time and money finding the "best" load has not changed. In fact has gotten stronger. Find something that works and get to the practice.

I roll my left thumb over the top of the barrel and hold the gun with just my left hand. The balance point works out well and I have a very solid grip on the gun. Allows me to face my body 90deg to the bay with the gun in front of me, parallel to my chest, barrel clearly facing dwonrange.

My 1050 has about 150K rounds through it and on average I crush about 1 primer per thousand. Some things that worked for me: A solidly mounted machine. A smooth pull on the handle. Do not overtighten the nut at the top of the primer tube. Snug is fine. Make sure the plastic tip on the primer tube is in good condition and the tab is properly indexed. Polish the primer bar and the parts it rides against. Make sure the top of the pin that pushes the primer into the case is clean. Make sure the hole in the primer bar that the primer sits in is clean. The shell plate should be able to be turned easily by hand. Adjust the white primer station tab so that it is snug against the case but not tight. Adjust with the tool head down so that the shell plate is locked in place. After each loading session, blow out the shell plate area and primer bar area with compressed air. I have not found adding more swaging to help. Just do enough to remove the crimp. As for Berdan cases. I use Lee dies, so the decapping pin is held in the die with a compression nut. I don't bother to sort brass, so when I get the occasional Berdan case, it just pushes the pin out the top of the die. Have never broken or bent a pin.

Use the powder bar spacer as a template and cut out a shim from a sheet of paper. Place the shim on top of the spacer and reassemble. The plastic pin will hold the shim in place.

I used to roadrace motorcycles and was given the following advice from an instructor, "It's easy to hold your breath when your lungs are full, but tough to do when your lungs are empty. Every time you are on the brakes, exhale completely. If you force yourself to exhale, you can't help but inhale." I apply this to a field course by exhaling while I am "on the brakes" decelerating into a shooting position.

And based on personal experience... be sure the gun will function under "free recoil". Hold it away from your shoulder a few inches and make sure it still cycles properly. Mine worked fine until I had to shoot from an awkward position and couldn't get solidly behind the gun. An extra 1/4 turn out solved it.

I shoot groups. Lots of groups. And I do them at a cadence. Once sight picture and sight alignment are acceptable, I focus on trigger control. I put all my attention on pressing the trigger. I attempt to see and feel everything possible. As slowly as necessary to stay focused on the trigger. Once that is acceptable, I speed up the cadence until the groups fall apart. Then back up a bit and start the process over again at the new speed. It's not a "cure" but has helped me flinch/blink a lot less.

I am fortunate to have access to a lot of targetry. I have built very complex and very simple practice stages over the past couple of years. Lately, I find that I bring out three paper and two steel. Once in a while, a swinger. As stated earlier, you can cover a lot of shooting scenarios with this simple combination.

Referring back to your movement drill example. It sounds like you have made the drill too difficult. If, for example, you are target shooting, you would start at say, 7 yds and practice the fundamentals of shooting until you can shoot one ragged hole, then you would move the target out a little farther. At the slightly farther distance, you would naturally shoot a larger group, but with with practice, your group would tighten up and you would once again move the target out farther. I suggest you make your drill easier until you can execute it perfectly. It could be moving more slowly, or shooting at a closer target on the move, or not moving at all. Keep making it simpler until you can execute it perfectly, then build up from there. My interpretation of Flex's comment is that your desire has exceeded your ability. Thus the frustration. Back up a little and take a smaller step.

Yes, I see maintaining focus as a drill in itself. Being mentally/physically tired is a good reason to stop a practice session. Being frustrated is not. Practice is preparation for a match. If you lack discipline in practice, a bad stage will crush you in a match. As for technique: notice that you are frustrated, figure out why, then choose not to be. Work through it. Don't give up.

Thanks for the posts, I am also working through this. I have found that my biggest hurdle is not the willingness to push in practice but the willingness to look worse in the short term in order to improve over the long term. Ego, what a pita.

What I resist will persist. Temptation, avoidance, comparing, trying, limits, stopping, worry, judgement, wanting, etc. All various forms of resistance. Resistance to "what is". Resistance cannot be avoided, but I can recognize it and choose to think differently.

I prefer a short reset with a sharp "click". I do not notice the reset while shooting a stage, but I do notice when the reset is not there. I find shooting a gun with a mushy reset is distracting because it feels like I have short stroked the trigger. But I suppose that someone that has always shot a gun with a soft rest would find a sharp reset to be distracting. Eh, just shoot.

I've been using one of those V-shaped grip strengtheners purchased from the local sporting goods store. The increase in grip and forearm strength has noticably improved my one handed shooting.

There are neat ideas and there are good ideas. Neat ideas are rarely good ideas. Seems obvious, but I see lots of people obsessing about trivial details. For example, on an "unloaded gun on table start", they fuss with getting the gun in just the right spot, propped up on their magazine at just the right angle, standing in an awkward postion to start leaning towards the direction they will be moving, then when the buzzer goes off, they insert the mag but forget to rack the slide. Unless you are finishing in the top 10, all that nonsense really doesn't matter. Focus on the shooting.

Stating specific requirements would be difficult, but I think a generalization might be appropriate. I think that a B shooter is definitely a good shooter. They will have a good grasp of the shooting fundamentals and have demonstrated the ability to execute these skills under match conditions. After B, I think the skills become very specific to the IPSC game.