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KyroWebs

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Posts posted by KyroWebs

  1. No match the last 2 weeks, but once the system updated I made A in Limited 10, and ended up about a half a percentage short in Limited. I had to take a few days off of dryfire last weekend as I was out of town, but I plan to hit it pretty hard over the next few weeks in preparation for A5.

  2. Excuse me for my noobish poll, but was wondering what everyone thought about running dryfire drills that utilize more than one skill per repetition vs. working a single skill?

    I was looking through my dryfire routine and realized that the majority of my drills incorporate multiple skills per repetition. (EX: Draw-2 shots on 4 targets-reload-2 shots on 4 targets)

    When I first started shooting USPSA, I worked with a local guy and he always preached that you should only work on one skill at a time. Typical drills would be draw with 1 shot, shoot-reload-shoot, shoot-move to another box-engage 2nd target with 1 shot, etc... These were mostly live fire drills, so I just assumed that working a single skill was a way to conserve ammo.

    I can see where working on a single skill would be beneficial, but there is sooooo much more to our sport than just draws and reloads. I was just wondering what everyone else thinks, and how everyone tailors their own specific routine. (Steve and Brian, I would LOVE your opinions!) :)

  3. Got the results from Sunday's match. Ended up 1/12 limited and 2/12 limited 10. I'm going to be real close to making A class in both divisions. I'll find out next week when the update rolls out. It's funny.......I've been trying to make A for 2 years now, and suddenly it seems like when I switch divisions and go into a match with zero expectations that it will likely happen. It makes me wonder. Would I have shot the same if I decided to try and make A in production?

    I've read a lot of things about how people finally moved up when they "stopped caring" about classification, but this is my first taste of it(I hope) :)

  4. I try to get a friend at the same match and volunteer to video them in return if they video me. As a way to say thanks, I edit all the boring stuff out and put it on my youtube channel with a private link and send it to them. In the end, we both benefit from being able to critique ourselves.

    But like Carlos said, don't let it be a distraction from shooting. I've shot in several matches where I just leave the camera in the bag and forget about videoing that day.

  5. I like to use the grip cream stuff. Especially when it gets hot and humid. Many department stores sell it advertised as tennis grip or something along those lines. Never tried a rosin bag.

  6. Shot in a special classifier match today and although I am only one week into my dryfire routine, I think it is helping. I shot through twice, to earn a classification in Lim and Lim10. I felt great all day. I dropped more points than I would have liked, but the speed was there and everything felt smooth. I was consistent from stage to stage. I had a few minor hiccups with reloads, but nothing that killed me. Most of my runs were high 60% to low 70%, with 3 above 80%. Before today, I've only had 1 score above 80%(shot a few weeks ago) :goof:

    I am very pleased with my performance.

  7. After 3 years in the sport, I've decided that I'm stuck in B class unless I get serious and commit to making myself better. My goal is to use this diary no less than once week to record my thoughts and observations on my journey to awesomeness. I've dryfired in the past, but nothing consistent, and definitely nothing structured.....until now.

    Today was officially day 3 of my dryfire routine, and I'm slowly finding out what works and what doesn't. Today I typed up a structured routine to follow, though it is not set in stone. I set up 4 targets at various distances in the "man cave" and tried it out. I set up my video camera just for fun and here's what I learned:

    1. Oddly, as a RH shooter, I seem to be a bit faster and have smoother reloads on the move when going from my right to left(short distance 1-3 steps). It "feels" much more comfortable for me to go left to right during a reload, but the difference on video is pretty clear :surprise:

    2. What feels like a "decent" reload, really doesn't look that good on video(especially in slo-motion). I seem to have the angle of the magazine compared to the gun off just enough that it doesn't slide right in. At speed it isn't that noticeable, but I can definitely see it when I slow it down.

    3. Not sure if I should do this or not, but I have been drawing the gun without a magazine and reloading to a full mag for weight purposes(dummy rounds of course). This is mostly because I don't want to drop my mags on the cement floor. Unfortunately, I have a tendency to tilt the gun before the magazine drops in a match, so I think I may be reinforcing a bad habit. It's makes my routine sooooo much faster to start with an empty mag, and I have been trying to consciously keep the gun vertical while I press (and hold) the mag release during a reload, but I think I should dedicate 1-2 days/week to start my drills with an empty mag.

    That's it for today....

  8. No problem. I'm just glad you weren't hurt. :) I have never had a KB, but a couple years ago I was loading up a mag when I found a pretty severe stress mark on the web of the case. It kind of shook me up as I wondered how I missed it during sorting, reloading, and last inspection :surprise: Needless to say I'm quite a bit more thorough on my inspection now!

    Do a quick Google image search for "split case reloading" and "case head separation" and you'll get a good idea of what to look for.

  9. It's hard to tell, but the primer looks fine to me. Your load data sounds reasonable too. Looks like it might have just been a weak case. It's a good idea to inspect all your brass (not just range pick-ups) before loading. Look for cracks/stress marks anywhere on the case....especially the base where your case ruptured. Brass is relatively cheap, so if you have anything that looks questionable toss it! You were lucky there was minimal damage. :surprise:

    I throw all FC, Fed NT, and A-Merc regardless of what they look like.

  10. Awesome post. I'll add one thing (for very new shooters). Reload before you run the gun dry! If you have to move from one port to the other, reload if you need to. A while back there was a discussion of what separates each division and the biggest thing I have seen to separate D from C (and sometimes B ) shooters was just planning reloads (as long as the shooter had the basic fundamentals down).

  11. That's one aggressive chamfer Mitch :surprise: Don't want to steal a thread, but how much can you take off safely??

    I bought a 6.5" 610 because I already loaded .40, but I'm in the same boat as you Chris. Reloads seem to make or break my runs, and while they are getting smoother, I still have an occasional hang-up. Even though I've always believed it's the Indian and not the arrow......I still think maybe it would have been smarter in the long run to go with a 5" 625.

  12. Plyo days were my worst enemy....especially at first! After a few weeks everything gets a bit easier. My only gripe is the ~90 min/day requirement. It's not so bad at first, but it quickly started to get old (for me at least) Good luck with it

  13. Title says it.....how many stages do you typically see at your local matches?

    So what's the angle on this info? :ph34r:

    < 180° hopefully. :cheers:

    LOL, I think you know what's going through my head Jesse :cheers: You're just going to have to wait until it's my turn to MD later this year! Now all I need is cooperating weather and dry bays.

  14. I'm going to talk about what I like to call the "F&*# it" moment, and how it's helped me over the years (in all sorts of competition).

    Every stage I've ever tanked, I have been "pressing" to some extent or another. It is by far and away the most common in the first stage or two of a match. I came up with a lot of "answers" (excuses?) in the beginning-- still a little sleepy, it was still cold before the sun had really warmed things up, I was rusty and needed to get the feel of the gun, etc. All of that changed when I shot a few local matches and turned in some of my best performances on the opening stages-- which coincidently were some of the most difficult.

    It hit me then that this really wasn't anything new for me. City/District/State swim meets, District/State/Regional/Sectional/National baseball games, or any competitive atmosphere to which I assigned excessive importance (hot girls in the stands, people I wanted to impress watching, friends on the rival team, etc.)-- I was commonly prone to screwing up early on and then coming on strong.

    So I quickly realized that for me, it truly was a mental matter-- but not one of low intensity or lack of preparation/visualization. In fact, it was quite the opposite.

    I look back to some of those matches/games/meets and realize that at one point in time or another, I (quite literally in many cases) just said, "F&*# it"-- and things started to turn around. The match is tanked-- whatever, let's just have fun. I'm blowing this Major on the first two stages-- whatever, I paid my money and these stages are awesome, let's go out and enjoy ourselves. Invariably, my best performances have come out of those moments-- or in the rare instances where I wasn't pressing to begin with.

    One of the last seasons I played baseball at a highly competitive level, I saw in one of the younger guys on my team the same things that had been hampering me. He was pressing, he would screw up, and he would press even harder and get frustrated. Unlike me, he was never able to recover. I dropped some of my "F&*# it" knowledge on him; he began to turn things around. Over 5 years later, I saw him again in a social setting; he told me that my advice was the most helpful that he'd ever received, and that carrying that over to similar situations had really helped him out. Not only was he performing better, but he was enjoying himself more as well. That meant a lot to me-- and I'm kind of sad to say that I forgot my own advice at some point in time along my own path...

    It's not a matter of "not really caring" about your performance; trust me, that's a physical impossibility for me. :blush: The key is to be as relaxed as possible, without apprehension or tension, and the confidence to know that you can perform to your expected level on demand and without question, if you'll just let yourself run that way. I identified the factors which put me into that "pressing mindset", and it boiled down to performing well in the eyes of others in most cases. What I realized is that the expectations were MINE, and not theirs-- I've got no one to really impress during a match but myself, and I'm my own biggest critic more often than not! The issue was one of my own making, and the notion that it was exacerbated by other people who might be watching was nothing but an illusion.

    The "F&*# it" solution is not the true answer; you're better off to start out relaxed and confident. However, it does seem to be a great stepping stone into understanding that feeling. As Brian and spanky have suggested already, just go out and shoot your next match. Get your plan, visualize it and lock it in-- and then just go have fun with it. See if it doesn't make a difference in your performance!

    Great post. It seems like whenever I shoot to "have fun" I do much better then when I "try" to shoot a good match. "F&*# it" Just go out and shoot. :cheers:

  15. Why stay home and not shoot because you "might" get bumped up a class before the next major? It's not like the prize table for High C (in any division) is a shiny new Ferrari! Get out and shoot all the matches you want before the upcoming majors and let the cards fall.

    And if the next upcoming match happens to be a classifier match with 6 classifier stages, do you go on and shoot it?

    I would despite some of the advice given in this forum about never letting your class go up in classifier match. I never really understood the logic behind that advise.

    Maybe I haven't been around long enough..... I've never heard that :unsure: What's the reasoning behind it?!?

  16. The guide rod is legal as long as you still make weight with it installed.

    As far as the pre-travel, there is not a lot you can do to get rid of it and remain Production legal(AFAIK...someone might be able to correct me though). Once you learn to ride the reset it won't bother you.

    For the springs, try swapping out the RP striker spring for the regular strength. I wasn't happy with my trigger pull when I installed the spring kit, and changing out the striker spring gave me a much more positive reset(but it will add a slight bit of weight to the pull).

    Lone Wolf makes a trigger over-travel housing, but I have not tried it.

  17. Like another poster said, spend 10 minutes at the safe area if they'll allow it.

    I shot at Silver Creek in IN this weekend, and I spent a solid 5-10 minutes practicing draw, target transition, and dry fire next to the safe area tables just prior to the match with plenty of people beside me doing the exact same thing. That's the only thing you can do that close to a match. The only thing you can't practice at the safe area is reloads, of course. Spend the time the night before or wake up early to work on all of that at home.

    Such a simple recommendation, but why haven't I thought of doing this? :blink: My worst stage of the match is always the first. When I gun-up at the safe area I typically take 4-5 draws and that's it, I'm off to help finish setup, etc.. I'm going to try this before my next match and see what happens!

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