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feederic

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Posts posted by feederic

  1. I'm starting to learn to always pack water and snacks - this weekend I did not expect it to (a) be warm and (B) have the match go until 3pm. By the last stage I my belly rumbles were drowning out the timer! Stay hydrated and I'm sure it'll help you get through the day!

    Water, snacks, and sunscreen will definitely be making their way into my range bag. This event had just about tripled in participant size since I first started. It had easily doubled since the last time I was there. Normally we are out by 10am, but this one ran well past noon.

  2. Fourth Stage

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9DcOAcABBg&feature=youtu.be

    Fifth Stage

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73oQO6VIx5k&feature=youtu.be

    Notes: At this point, the heat had taken its toll on me and I was quite drained. The weather was warmer than I expected and I got sunburned all over. I couldn't find a drinking fountain either until halfway through the match. I did shoot quite crappily.

    Overall: Not a bad starting point for me. Draws felt comfortable, most of my reloads were decent, accuracy went up and down. I will be on a regular fitness routine now to drop weight and build up more endurance.

  3. Fun Steel Shoot 4/7/2012

    I always like going to this match. The atmosphere is really relaxed and friendly, and is a great learning atmosphere. The match fee is much cheaper than local USPSA type matches too, and it falls on a non-match weekend. Since I can't practice movement a whole lot at local ranges, this is the place where I usually try new things out.

    First Stage

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAS8Dvbnd68&feature=youtu.be

    Notes: I was taking my sweet time just trying to calm my nerves after Thursday's match. I also needed to slow down a bit to not lose my front sight in the black plates while taking my sight picture. This was my first match where I had to move in over a year.

    Second Stage

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtgUhTyaDNc&feature=youtu.be

    Notes: I had several FTF while shooting weak hand, due to weak grip strength.

  4. I shot another fun steel match on Saturday, and decided to pay extra to shoot it twice. The extra fee was for another gun, but they let me shoot my primary gun a second go around.

    Three good things happened.

    1) I finally calmed my nerves down, and had almost zero anxiety shooting.

    2) My draws have sped up considerably from last Thursday.

    3) The stages were all medium range, and I had a tremendous amount of misses on the first stage. I slowed down and was able to get very consistent hits on the second stage, and was able to speed up in later stages.

    For the not so good:

    The saying goes to shoot no faster than you practice (perfect practice at that!), but I seem to shoot much better in practice than in matches. In football, we called a person that does this a "Practice Superstar". Basically in practice they look great, but when adrenaline and real competition are added they are somewhat worthless. I feel like a practice superstar right now.

    Also, I felt tremendously beat up today. I shot 10 stages overall, and only 4 moving. The last two stages I was exhausted and shot like crap. At my age I should feel great and be able to run that whole circuit again. I need to accept that along with a desk job I need to make time towards physical fitness just to maintain healthiness.

    I had one stage were a mag didn't quite come out of the gun on a reload, and I didn't notice until I almost rammed the new mag into the mag in place. For some reason I decided my best move was to throw my fresh mag into the field, and burst into laughter while getting the old mag out for a new reload.

  5. Rapid Breathing

    Brings in more oxygen and rids the body of waste products that cause fatigue. Take deep breaths to get your breathing under control and relax to stay in the zone.

    Increased Heart Rate

    Speeds up the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the brain and muscles!

    I had these two do a number on me last night!

    Sweaty Palms and Pits

    Sweating ensures the body, muscles, and internal organs remain at their optimal temperature right from the start of the mission.

    This one is everyday life for me :blush:

    Digestive Clearing (PPP)

    Relieving oneself empties the digestive system so that energy used for digestion can be redirected elsewhere, and lightens the load on your body! The 3 P's: Pee, Poop, and Puke! Your body clears out your digestive tract so it doesn't slow you down during the mission. Get the lead out!

    I sure hope this never happens to me at a match!

  6. I shot a fun steel match last night. It was probably my first match in well over a year, and third match in a couple years. I had some tremendous anxiety though my first stage, my pulse was well over 160BPM. I managed a decent time but had two misses overall in the three strings I shot. The second stage was somewhat worse, with an additional two misses. I finally pulled things together on the last two strings of my third stage, no misses and a decent time also.

    This usually happens when I shoot a match after a long layoff, and I can typically take advantage of the adrenaline by sprinting around like a madman. This match was stationary though and I had no real means of dumping my adrenaline other than breathing techniques which worked for my last two strings.

    Update: Scores went up. My second stage dropped me quite a bit in the standings, but I was about middle of the pack overall. My last stage I was 4th overall out of 27. It was the only stage I was calm enough to shoot. Dang nerves! Anxiety is part of the game though...and I have another match Saturday to help get over it. I'm not sure why I'm so nervous about doing something so fun to me.

  7. 2. For me, it's a lot easier to do at the end of the session when the gun is dirty and cycling slower. :blush: When it becomes "too easy" for me to track my sights, it's a clue that it's time to clean the gun.

    Maybe that was the case for me. A few months ago I had trouble not blinking when the gun went off, now I can stare through the firing cycle and see the slide move back and forth as well as the front sight. Funny how that works.

  8. I don't think you will ever get over that initial shock of trail running, unless you incorporate additional training to prime you for it.

    Trail running is so high impact compared to cycling and very different from regular asphalt running.

    I would focus on recovery techniques, not just diet. Proper warm-up, cooldown, dynamic stretching prior and static stretching post workout. If you are not familiar with ART and a foam roller, I would suggest researching some. Contrast showers, although brutal, speed up the recovery from soreness quite a bit for me too. Remember, just because you still feel sore does not mean you have not recovered. I found while in a champion wrestling program that junk food impacts performance and recovery DRASTICALLY.

    Plyometric training year 'round will help prime the muscles and joints too.

  9. Last night I was working extensively on sight tracking and tightening my follow up shots (as I do every Tuesday night). I backed the target out to 25 yards for some end of training accuracy work when I noticed the funniest thing. I started noticing I could visually see the slide return to battery for its last 2" of travel or so. At first I was noticing a shadow under the back of my slide that would appear and disappear, with a little more focus I could use peripheral vision to track the sights and notice the gun traveling back into battery.

    Anybody else have this happen to them?

  10. Although I am trying to adhere to the Seeklander program, the truth of the matter is lack of training facilities here Kommiefornia. Drawing from a holster, faster than 1 shot per second, multiple targets, and moving are all shunned at my local ranges. Most BLM land is off-limits for shooting also.

    I have taken a select few drills that I believe I can maximize my time with at the range, and plan on dry firing / using an airsoft gun for the other movement drills. This may not be optimal, but I need to make do with what I have. There is a tiny BLM spot I can make it out to a couple times a month also, as long as I get there early before the crowd does. Here I can have some more intense training, but if I am lucky I can make it out there once a month.

    I've also been experimenting with recoil springs quite a bit, more out of curiosity than anything. When my new pistol arrived I stuck what I thought was a 10lb spring in on accident, which is actually a 12 lb spring. The pistol felt violent and uncontrollable. I eventually put a 14lb and then a 16lb spring in there and things settled down quite a bit. After a few thousand rounds with a 16lb spring and a shot timer my split times during practice sessions started hitting a floor. I wasn't sure what I could do to drop them, aside from lightening the slide and building up my already herculean strength (former powerlifter, college football...).

    I've read many threads where both a heavy and heavily sprung gun is preferred for newer shooters, and lighter guns that are lighter sprung for more advanced. I began thinking that putting a heavier spring in my lightened pistol was probably equivalent to shooting a heavy pistol, so I began dropping the poundage again. I started the session with a 14lb spring, running the same drills that I have been running for months. The gun definitely had a different feel to it. The interesting thing was my split times dropped about .04 seconds across the board from the previous week. Nothing huge, but notable considering my times seemed stalled. Every drill noticed this effect too. I grabbed and installed my 12 lb recoil spring and ran the drills again after taking a mandatory break instituted by the range I go to. Up front the gun seemed more lively, in a good way. I ran the drills again and saw a drop of about .08 seconds across the board. My split times dropped a consistent .08-.12 seconds, and the gun felt much faster than I was (as I perceived it).

    I know the gun finishes its recoil cycle faster than I can perceive, but altering springs seems to notably change how I perceive the time in between shots I need to take before firing the next round off. It might all be in my head, and if it is I'll take it. With a 16 lb recoil spring I felt like I was waiting for the gun to finish, with a 14 lb I could comfortably track the sights, with a 12 lb I could still track the sights but it felt like the gun was pushing me into a stress zone making me better. In a way it reminds me of downhill sprint training or "overspeed" training. Sprint down a slope that will force your top speed to be greater than normal because of gravity assist, and train the muscles to fire faster. Only in the case of recoil springs, I am training my perception and acuity to fire faster. Not too much, just enough to promote positive gains.

    As a final note, there are two matches I will be shooting in this week. I finally feel comfortable enough to go back out and shoot after my long layoff.

  11. Been shooting so much I haven't had time to post (I know, this is getting old)! I practiced all night Friday, then shot a match Saturday, then shot *another* match today!

    Fortunately I already typed up my self-critique and posted videos on my blog here for today's match. In summary, I shot five classifiers, three of which should theoretically inch me up through C class. I'm currently a smidge under 45%, and those three were 50%, 48%, and 61%. I don't want to talk about the other two. Blech!

    I also placed 3rd overall among 29 shooters in Production, AND had a stage win! I was pretty excited about that.

    I'll recap the Saturday match after I've had some sleep!

    Your drive is very motivational. I need to get myself out and shoot some actual matches instead of training all the time.

    How often do those classifier matches come around for you?

  12. Okay everyone!!! I need your suggestions!!! I am going to edit some videos tonight and compile some of my better stages and I want to put it to music. What song(s) should I use?

    GAHH I was just thinking of a bunch of songs last night that would be great for this. Of course they all escape me right now...

  13. reptoid and everyone else,

    I think I found the problem with a little help from my gunsmith.

    The resizing die in my Dillion 450B was not deep enough, so the cases were not getting full lenght sized.

    After I reset the die and using a case gauge, low and behold, it works now.

    Drop in and out of case gauge, and also the barrel.

    I really feel kind of dumb, but looks like problem solved.

    Thanks for all the great input.

    Mike

    Glad you got it figured out. I was pretty stumped! I had a hunch it was your ammo, which is why I asked about ball ammo working perfectly fine.

  14. I went out last night armed with some ISPC targets, my newly coated gun, my new range timer, and the Seeklander book. I put down about 260 rounds after sighting my gun in. I must say it is nice to have the right training tools to guide you along and show you were you stand for any given string. My timer is a CED 7000, I was able to soften the beep and also adjust the mic sensitivity to not pick up other shooters.

    I was under the impression that my timer stored a complete log of all strings fired, and maybe it does I just haven't figured it out. I did not record the strings, and might train with a friend so we can alternate timing/recording and actual shooting. The drills in the Seeklander book are great for skill building, and also are quite the confidence booster. Its nice watching groups tighten up and time come down and these drills.

    The only numbers I remember off the top of my head are a .8-1.0 second first shot from low ready with about .3-.4 second splits. My transitions from targets were in the .3-.8 range also. I need to get a notebook to record this! I am pretty excited, I feel like I am on the right track with reliable equipment. I shot right around 90% alphas overall for the day with no misses or deltas. I was also using 2/3rd scale targets.

  15. Looks good!

    I am thinking about sending my Trojan into CCR for his CPII finish which is some variant of a nickle boron once I am sure it is a keeper (and I get the bluing all scratched up.)

    I have something similar on my Glock 19 and it makes it a lot nicer to clean.

    Do you have a link for CCR? I can never quite google it, if it exists.

    Eh they say it will run with out lube.. I ran my Glock 19 without lube once just to see what would happen.

    Not so much. It ran I think a mag and started having issues. It however does not need much at all, and is super easy to clean just a wipe down really.

    Lube that thing up anyway, no reason not to.

    Good to note.

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