Steve Anderson

I have been assigned bay 2, and given 32 rounds on paper. You'll need some snow to cool your barrels...

There really is no limit to what can be done with dry fire. If you can fire an accurate shot on demand, you can work on everything else at home for free. Then, range time is for putting it all together instead of trying to figure it out. Also, when it becomes normal to handle the gun every day, that brings an amazing confidence. Keep it up!

Unless the matches you go to use computers for targets, you might consider dry firing on actual targets. It's more realistic. Just kidding, (sorta)

Yeah, that works pretty good.

Yes yes yes! Burn in the movie and then just call every shot! Then you can look at the results AFTER the match and see what needs work. It'll either be speed or accuracy. Or both. Just be sure to train one at a time.

When I designed those drills, I pulled the trigger on every one. Then I realized I was dropping the hammer to beat the par time. So I stopped doing that. Rush the acceptable sight picture, not the trigger pull. You've got many more drills in which to pull the trigger to your heart's content.

Shoot, have fun, and ask lots of questions. You have lots of time to make these decisions... You could say that production's extra reloads teach "something" or you could say that limited's "freedom" teaches something. Both are true. You'll learn eventually that once you can hit the targets, USPSA is not so much a shooting match as an efficiency test... Hang out here. Use the SEARCH function. A lot. Squad with the very best shooters you can and PAY ATTENTION to what they do. And have fun.

"That's fair but I'm not one who believes that just because you put in a lot of work you will be great at something." Why not? And i'm genuinely curious, not trying to be argumentative... "I know someone who typically shots 400 rds at a time when he practices but he's not getting any better" I see that all the time. Talking to these types reveals the answer immediately. I believe you MUST learn something from every round you shoot in live fire practice. What if you made that a rule, or at least a goal: To learn something from every round... "Why, well I believe it's because he doesn't have a structured training program, he's just slinging lead down range." In one example I can think of, the shooter may be slinging lead to satisfy the requirement to practice without doing the kind of serious self analysis that's required to really get better. Why? Perhaps because It's hard on the ego and not a lot of fun. But it is fun to get better...

Maybe I'm reading to much into it, but I have a major issue with the term "Buy-back." (Those who know me well may find that hilarious and ironic for a different reason. ) But doesn't that term imply that the guns belonged in the hands of gov't or law enforcement originally and they are just getting them back where they belong? And aren't these a bunch of unlicensed dealers performing illegal transactions? (Let alone a bunch of Darwin's second stringers all hanging around the same place with guns of dubious quality...) Just thinking out loud...

I tried some armscor supercomp equivalent brass years ago and a bunch of them cracked after 2 or 3 firings. That may or may not be relevant to this, but I went straight back to starline, which always get lost before they wear out.

Esther, Chris is absolutely right. You must always see the magwell. Every single time. That's one reason I don't recommend practicing a full reload outside of another drill that requires it, especially for newbs. When you're warmed up and hot you could do it blindfolded, sure. But that's not a repeatable skill, reliable under every circumstance. But I'm more interested in this: "I look around sometimes and see so many people who don't gobble or sabotage themselves. It's tempting for me to think, "They should be the ones who dream of being artists and GMs, not me" Hey Esther, I have come to believe that everyone on this planet has major issues and spends most of their life scared to death of something. (or a bunch of somethings that turn into an everything) Most won't admit, even fewer have the courage to discuss it... let alone post it on a public forum for a bunch of strangers to read. But sometimes it feels better to get it out there... kind of a letting go. And by the way, how do you know "they" don't gobble or sabotage themselves? It's easy to assume everyone else's life is perfect compared to yours, but that's just not true... And a shooting tip: Think more about the weak hand. She is frequently a limiting factor.

Brian, Maybe. Depends on the day. I have noticed that (like dry fire) the days that I have no expectations are the better days. Today was like that... went from snowy roads to lost dogs to marriage advice. All tied back (kinda sorta) to shooting. Glad you're enjoying them... SA

I use Tempo by "Blue Ape" for the Iphone. Handy for all sorts of stuff, primarily for forcing transition speed. Lemme know if you have questions about it.

Looking forward to seeing you guys... I just reorganized the class a little and you'll love it!

Visualization was a major turning point for me. The mind doesn't know the difference between something real and something vividly imagined, so if we visualize a stage thoroughly and properly, it's as if we've already shot it. Now that we know what to do and how to do it, we just have to call the shot. This will happen at our current level of subconscious skill. It will likely feel slow. I think the two most important skills for any shooter who thinks of themselves as struggling are visualization and shot calling. You'll be so far ahead of your peers locally that they will think it's magic. Throw in a serious dry fire program (backed up with live fire confirmation) and they'll think you're a God. It can be very hard to "let go" of the visualized stage right before shooting, but that's a big part of it... You have to give navigation over to the subcon. This is very scary the first few times you do it.

"At some point it becomes a little mash of skill, experience and confidence. You can overcome a small lack of one of these items if you have an overabundance of the others." That sounds like a different version of Bassham's 3 circles. The word "small" is pretty important there too, it seems. Skill, experience and zero confidence couldn't be much better than experience, confidence and zero skill. Great stuff Rob. Thanks for taking the time.

Dry fire works. And, some structure helps with those that find it boring. I've been doing the same drills for years and I always learn something... (If I'm paying attention.)

506, I really appreciate that, and congrats! The podcasts are really fun to do, and I'm glad you enjoy them! My goal is to take shooting more and less seriously at the same time. How's that for a dichotomy?

There's a new T-shirt and a great price on the CR Speed Versa Pouch Mag pouches available now in the AndersonShooting.com store: http://shop.andersonshooting.com/Other-Products/ We have a few holsters available and will have belts soon... If you're needing anything CR Speed soon please let me know and we'll get it for you at a great price. Thanks, SA

There's a new T-shirt and a great price on the CR Speed Versa Pouch Mag pouches available now in the AndersonShooting.com store: http://shop.andersonshooting.com/Other-Products/ We have a few holsters available and will have belts soon... If you're needing anything CR Speed soon please let me know and we'll get it for you at a great price. Thanks, SA

We'll get Uncle Bill back on real soon...

It's also never too early to do post-match analysis to get a plan for strengths and weaknesses. If anything scared you or gave you trouble at a match, practice that and make it a strength.

Make sure to get some paper in there...steel is pass/fail, paper is not.

I feel compelled to study compulsive behavior now. See ya in 5 years.

"if you just watch it happen(your shooting), it will feel slow but it will be your personal best." This "feeling slow" is what keeps shooters out of "the zone." You must forget about the perception of time, you just can't measure it accurately yourself.