michael.flitcraft

Same reason I have a micrometer on my seating die. 2 different bullet shapes/heights with 2 different chamber depths. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This - mine has a wheel on it now, but all bets are off for repeatable movements. Looking to change that, since I have 2-4 different 9mm loads to develop and maintain. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Also interested in feedback. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The Dillon dies flare out at the bottom, vs minimal radius at the bottom where it meets the shell plate. Doesn't require the case to be perfectly aligned to enter the die, and is great for speed. Only way to correct this if it bothers you is to change brand of sizing die. I wouldn't trade the spring loaded decaping pin in 9mm for anything, as there are so many with 2 flash holes out there. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Life continues on a roller coaster. I've gotten dry fire in a little less than half of the time, and decided to make sure I don't miss out on the gym. It's been a source of sanity for me. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Life continues on a roller coaster. I've gotten dry fire in a little less than half of the time, and decided to make sure I don't miss out on the gym. It's been a source of sanity for me. I've had issues with squats as my hip flexors are normally very tight, and I bicycle everywhere which makes me even less flexible. This has resulted in me stopping short on reps/sets on squats to avoid injury. I tapped my sister in law who's a PT for advice, and have done the stretches every day for 1 minute straight per leg. I now have none of those issues. 06FEB17 Squat 45x5, 45x5, 95x5, 105x3, 135x2 -125x5, 125x2, stopped due to severe hip pain Bench 45x5, 45x5, 65x5, 65x3, 105x2, -130x5, 130x5, 130x5 Dead lift (switch grip) 135x3, 225x2, 265x5 08FEB17 Squat 45x5, 45x5, 60x5, 95x3, 125x2 150x5, 150x5, 150x5 - hip flexors hated me so much Overhead Press 45x5, 45x5, 55x5, 70x3, 85x2 100x3 (wobbly) 95x5, 95x5 - need to focus on hip drive Dead 95x5, 95x5, 140x3, 200x2 240x5 - switch grip Stretched hip flexors after workout 10FEB17 Stretch hip flexors before workout Forgot logbook, guessed on weights based off of this journal Squat 45x5, 45x5, 65x5, 100x3, 135x2 170x5, 170x5, 170x5 NO HIP FLEXOR LIMITATIONS Bench Press 45x5, 45x5, 65x5, 90x3, 115x2, 135x5, 135x5, 130x5 Deadlift (switch grip) 100x5, 100x5, 155x5, 225x2 265x5 Barbell curls 45x5, 55x5, 65x5, 75x5, 85x5 Lying tricep press 75x5, 75x5, 75x5 Worked on figuring out the power clean movement - not pretty, but understand the concept 11Feb17 Didn't plan on working out - went to pick up the brother in law and his flight was delayed by over an hour, hit up a gym 10 minutes away and worked out in pants/long sleeve shirt, kicked off shoes and worked in socks. Jotted things down as I went. Went in really pissed off at life. Left feeling normal. Bench 95x5, 115x5, 135x5, 140x3 Barbell curl 65x5, 75x5, 80x5 Squat 45x5, 85x5, 135x5, 150x5, 175x3 Overhead Press 45x5, 65x5, 75x5, 85x5, 100x3 Dumbbell curl - ran the rack, started at 40, ended at 5, 5 pound drops, reps to exhaustion each set Workout routine is changing up starting Monday, since my squats aren't being limited by my hip flexors nearly as much now and my deadlifts are about 100 pounds ahead of my squats. Looking forward to getting this week over with. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

PT side of things, hit the limit for my grip strength sans aid today in deadlift, which is 265 pounds, next week will start doing alternating grip until I need to use wrist straps. I estimate this'll happen around 285 pounds. I'll be adding the power clean in next week, and didn't do any auxillary exercises this week mostly due to things happening in the morning that took away from gym time. I'm able to get my hands closer together on the bar for squat, which is letting me get the bar lower and onto a tighter back, feels much more solid and easier to press out of the hole. My elbows aren't popping with overhead press anymore, but my weak shoulders are letting me know with the trembles. I'm glad I'm doing these in a rack with the bars up, in case I mess up with the bar. Form can use a lot of improvement in overhead press, but I'm stoked that weights are going up and my elbows aren't popping. 30Jan17 Squat - 85x5. 95x3, 125x2 155x3, 155x5, 155x5 (added more rest between working sets) 2,975lbs Overhead Press -65x5, 90x3 90x5, 90x5, 90x5 1815lb Ran out of time for deadlift 01Feb17 Squat -90x5, 105x3, 130x2 3425lb 160x5, 160x5, 160x5 Bench Press -65x5, 90x3, 115x2 2515lb 130x5, 130x4, 130x4 (re-attempt next week same weight) Deadlift -160x3, 230x2, 265x3 1735lb -didn't make sets 03Feb17 Squat -95x5, 105x3, 135x2 3535lb 165x5, 165x5, 165x5 Overhead Press -60x5, 70x3, 75x2 2085lb 95x5, 95x5, 95x5 Deadlift -155x3, 230x2, 265x1 (grip gave, slick bar - alternating grip next week) 1190lb - didn't make sets Compared to last week, squat lbs moved is up 15%, overhead lb is up 31%, bench is up 4%, deadlift is holding even. Time to introduce the power clean me thinks.

I spent about 5 minutes working on getting a smooth reload monday through Thursday - today I'll be spending 5 minutes working the basics of double/single two handed and SHO/WHO, no timer, just sight picture confrimation. The reloads are getting smoother, and I've noticed indexing my elbow into my rib cage is eliminating some of the 'hunting for the magwell' that I've had. I need to be more consistent in how much I rotate the gun in my hand to angle the magwell towards the incoming magazine, and have enough rotation to see the inside of the magwell as well.

Worked on reloads today. No par times, just the motion of clearing the vest, and getting the mag in, slide closed, sight picture. No trigger work today. Hands are tired as the dickens from doing this for 20 minutes. Also took the time to put a line from a paint jerked in the middle only of the grip. Previously I've painted the whole inside of the magwell, but with a line I have a 'target' to aim at. Might change the color to a bright green or red of some sort later, but it helped. Also noticed the minuscule magwell of a p226 and the shape of the grips help a lot compared to the old beretta. I'm going to take a cue from dove and make weighted funny rounds to practice my reloads with - may as well make the mag actual weight and have the motions I'm working on be relevant vs empty, lightweight mag bodies. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yikes! Hope you're going to be able to do a civi surgeon :/. Is holding your arms out straight to the side/front a possibility to build some stamina without overdoing it? Can you do the squat machines, or is any shoulder pressure too much? Either way, great job on the weight loss, keep it up. Don't be afraid to look into a bicycle or used recumbent bicycle if that's easier on your Achilles. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

First up, my failures - I did no dry fire since I got back into town. Between school starting and other personal matters, my mind hasn't been thinking about this stuff until today. Take note, dryfire is just like working out - take a week or two off and reality slaps you when you get back. I did the "Find your Level" drill of the week today (27Jan17) : https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?24048-Week-201-Finding-Your-Level I cleaned level 1 twice, putting an extra shot (but still clean) on the second go. I couldn't move fast enough to meet par times, and my accuracy with the speed of that par time isn't there to matter. I realized this after 2 attempts at level 2 and didn't want to get bad practice in. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

PT side of things - I'm commuting by bike again now that school is in session, 5-17 miles a day depending on what's going on. I'm going to start putting the barbell weight in the numbers (previously it was just the plates). Makes it relevant. 23Jan17 Squat barx5, 55x5, 80x3, 110x2 -140x5, 140x5, 140x5 Bench barx5, 60x5, 80x3, 110x2, -120x5, 120x5, 120x5 Deadlift 145x4, 205x2 -245x5 Lying tricep press 55x3, 60x2 -70x5 25JAN17 Squat barx5, 55x5, 85x3, 115x2 -145x5, 145x5, 145x5 Overhead Press barx5, 55x3, 70x2 -85x5, 85x5, 85x5 Deadlift 150x3, 215x2 -255x5 Barbell curl barx5 -60x3, 65x4, 80x5 8 chest style dips 27JAN17 Squat barx5, 60x5, 90x3, 120x2 -150x5, 150x5, 150x5 Bench barx5, 60x5, 85x3, 110x2 -130x3, 125x5, 125x5 Deadlift 155x3, 225x2 -265x3 Lying tricep press 60x3, 65x2, 75x6 Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Well, never a dull moment. During vacation my wife decided to drop some serious news - so that put a huge damper on things and the drive back. I'm going to do the lazy thing and say I've been pre-occupied and dry-fire hasn't happened since we got back. Shot some pool at a local pub with a friend tonight and he brought up some things I hadn't thought of. And I really need to work on not being such a lone wolf, so to speak. Anyway, time at the gym. I had to remind myself to add 45 pounds for the bar to everything when I did math today: 18Jan17 Squat -20x5, 40x5, 60x5 80x5, 85x5, 90x5 1875lbs Bench -20x5, 30x5, 40x5 50x6, 60x5, 70x5, 75x5 1775lbs Deadlift -140x5 180x5 1600lbx Total-5250lbs 20Jan17 Squat -40x5, 60x5, 80x5 90x5, 90x5, 90x5 2250lbs, up 20% Overhead Press-20x5, 25x5, 30x5 35x5, 40x3, 35x5 845lbs, up 10.4% Deadlift -150x5 200x4 1550lbs, down 4% 4645lbs Aux. exercises: Barbell curl -20x5, 30x5, 35x5 Chest dips -8 Pullups -1

Well, never a dull moment. During vacation my wife decided to drop some serious news - so that put a huge damper on things and the drive back. I'm going to do the lazy thing and say I've been pre-occupied and dry-fire hasn't happened since we got back. Shot some pool at a local pub with a friend tonight and he brought up some things I hadn't thought of. And I really need to work on not being such a lone wolf, so to speak. Anyway, time at the gym. I had to remind myself to add 45 pounds for the bar to everything when I did math today: 18Jan17 Squat -20x5, 40x5, 60x5 80x5, 85x5, 90x5 1875lbs Bench -20x5, 30x5, 40x5 50x6, 60x5, 70x5, 75x5 1775lbs Deadlift -140x5 180x5 1600lbx Total-5250lbs 20Jan17 Squat -40x5, 60x5, 80x5 90x5, 90x5, 90x5 2250lbs, up 20% Overhead Press-20x5, 25x5, 30x5 35x5, 40x3, 35x5 845lbs, up 10.4% Deadlift -150x5 200x4 1550lbs, down 4% 4645lbs Aux. exercises: Barbell curl -20x5, 30x5, 35x5 Chest dips -8 Pullups -1

We're headed out of town on vacation tomorrow, and with some family issues that hit over the past few weeks, this stuff has taken 5th fiddle. My mother-in-law has gone back to the hospital with a diagnosis of a chronic nerve disease and isn't expected to fully recover, and my wife's estranged cousin has reared his head for the first time in years (detoxing off heroin in another cousin's basement). So, the gym and dryfire have taken a few steps back. For the 10/11/12 on dryfire, I've done 10 wall drills 2 handed/SHO/WHO double and single action, and then 20 press-outs 2 handed, 20 press-outs SHO and called it good enough to keep the dust from accumulating too much. For the gym I've done stupid quick sessions on an overhead press machine, bench machine, and curl, warm up till i can only do 5 sets, do 3 of those, then work down 15 pounds at a time to nothing without a break. Not worth bothering to record the weights since they can vary so much, and it isn't representative of the effort I'm putting out. Headed to South Carolina tomorrow, back on Tuesday, with every intention to do nothing related to this journal. Time to relax for a moment. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

We're headed out of town on vacation tomorrow, and with some family issues that hit over the past few weeks, this stuff has taken 5th fiddle. My mother-in-law has gone back to the hospital with a diagnosis of a chronic nerve disease and isn't expected to fully recover, and my wife's estranged cousin has reared his head for the first time in years (detoxing off heroin in another cousin's basement). So, the gym and dryfire have taken a few steps back. For the 10/11/12 on dryfire, I've done 10 wall drills 2 handed/SHO/WHO double and single action, and then 20 press-outs 2 handed, 20 press-outs SHO and called it good enough to keep the dust from accumulating too much. For the gym I've done stupid quick sessions on an overhead press machine, bench machine, and curl, warm up till i can only do 5 sets, do 3 of those, then work down 15 pounds at a time to nothing without a break. Not worth bothering to record the weights since they can vary so much, and it isn't representative of the effort I'm putting out. Headed to South Carolina tomorrow, back on Tuesday, with every intention to do nothing related to this journal. Time to relax for a moment. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

09JAN2017 Did live fire today to mostly try and figure out what configuration of a P226 works best for me. This was limited to 15 rounds per configuration back to back. Of note this is the first time in a LONG time I've shot with gloves on a pistol, and found it beneficial if anything. Gloves were thin with suede grips and stretchy fabric over the back of the hand and fingers. Upfront difference that has a huge impact:The trainer has original sig sights with the dots painted over in black to mimic my carry's black/black Defoor sights. The alternative would be to leave the front dot on the trainer white, as preferred, but would skew things even more. I noticed while shooting that I could still clearly make out the dot without thinking on the trainer and 'drive the dot' easily, while the carry was defaulted to the top of the sight blade picture (it's really drive the dot - but has no dot). I picked up the trainer's front sight much quicker every time, and am probably going to put a front fiber or night sight on my carry (preferred sight picture anyway). Variables shot today: old school grips/4 piece mainspring G10 grips/4 piece mainspring G10 grips/4 piece mainspring G10 grips/3 piece mainspring (plastic seat) Grip observations - I performed better with the slightly smaller G10 grips. This is in direct conflict of what I preferred by feel and dry fire, which is the old 2-piece grips (they feel more akin to a 1911 with 'fat' grip panels, as the rear is more pointed). The 2 piece groups were round in generic size, while the G10's were more flattened. Will re-try this by putting G10's on the trainer and originals on the carry to eliminate sights as the reason for the disparity. Other comparisons involved only 1 pistol for this reason. Mainspring observations - I prefer the feel of the 4 piece mainspring. It seems to provide a quick 'camming' action to it and deliver a surprise DA break without any effort. Initial effort is higher with the old school, and likely has a higher trigger pull due to the longer spring (more friction against the hammer strut) than a comparable spring on the newer system. It's also a pain in the butt to replace the spring on, but the spring should last longer due to each coil doing less work. The 3 piece (new) main style with the plastic seat has a more linear DA trigger pull, and is a bit smoother as well. I did not try the new spring with old grips, as that requires grinding and I didn't do it before going to the range. G10 grips w/ 4 piece provided a fair amount tighter group than new grips and new hammer spring setup, but wasn't a fair comparison. The plaster I was using fell off mid-test for the new spring, and I just used the 'point' as my target as a bullet had landed there already. Difference was vertical stringing with the new one, vs. circular on the old mainspring, carry gun with Defoor sights. Width was a little less with the new style mainspring than the old Conclusions - all future testing will involve one pistol to avoid sights impacting the results. Mainspring style has much less of an impact in performance than feel during dryfire, although 4 piece was a little easier to get 20 yard headshots from concealment. New style mainspring wasn't far behind, but has benefits of less friction/lower pull weight by about a pound, and is much easier to replace/maintain. G10 grips have a market performance in group size regarding height, but may have induced a horizontal stringing either due to hand interface, different sights, or just me. Will verify g10 vs old school grips next time doing live fire. Had 1 failure to lock back with the trainer (old grips, full size slide stop). Have the small P224 slide lock on the carry for this reason. Noticed that with trying for a more aggressive support-hand position/grip strength that I'm moving the decocking lever a bit with the original one, might move back to the P224 one for this reason. Trainer: 60 rounds live fire, 1 op-induced failure to lock back Carry: 451 rounds, 1 ammo-caused stoppage Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks for the input - I put my support thumb more forward than usual, and while my support index landed in the same spot, it didn't move. Thanks for the hint and a focal point of future work! I'll try to keep working on isolating the trigger finger, with and without objects in my hand. I did my 'grip in the air and noticed a miniscule amount of movement in my other 3 fingers, and some in the thumb. This was amplified if I opened up my hand some more. I'm weary of COC, but I think I'll start using a tennis ball randomly in addition to my usual weight lifting.

Dryfire consisted mostly of rapid trigger manipulations. Noticed for the first time in my life that my right thumb has a sympathetic 'down' motion when I operate the trigger, especially in double action. I worked for about 25 minutes on keeping my thumb from moving after noticing this to no avail, everything from loosely gripped to death crush. If I can't isolate this digit, I'm okay with that - it's a repeatable motion that can be worked around. I worked a LOT on gripping with my support hand vs. strong hand as well. I've been favoring the strong hand grip for most of my shooting life, and am trying to change that. One thing I need to figure out is how to keep my left index finger from creeping up on my right hand while I work the trigger. My left index slides up into the pocket between my right index/middle finger, pushing up on the trigger finger after a few reps. This is something I'm not willing to accept and will be working to find a solution for. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

04 Jan 17 1.75 mile run with the misses in the AM. Afternoon went to the gym, with goals of adding 10 pounds to all exercises. -Squat barx5, 25x5, 50x5, 75x5, 90x5, 95x3, 100x2 -Overhead press 15x5, 20x5, 25x5 30x5, 35x5, 35x4 -Deadlift 120x5 170x5 Deadlift isn't pushing it at all now. I'm doing my best to avoid greed and play this smart like the turtle vs. the hare. I'm going to dial back to adding 5 pounds to squat and overhead. Flexibility is finally getting where I need it for the squat, although I do need more work on my drive. Getting out of the hole isn't horrible, but once the tops of my thighs get a bit past horizontal that's where it really becomes difficult. I'm okay with these lower weights, as previously I wasn't getting full range of motion and had very piss poor form. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Spent more time working on the draw, with the above focus in mind. Changed to a bit thinner belt, seems to have solved the "there goes the holster" dilemma, but I'll always have that until I get some loops. Worked from a 1.5 down to 1 second par time for draw-to-fire, got sloppy and 25% or so success at 1%. A little more than 50/50 at 1.25 without a lot of errors. Did slow-fire trigger manipulation, free style. Did .35 par time for firing after being at the ready, single action and double action, 10 reps each. Had some bobbles at first in single action, then it was easy. Double action is a killer for this one. Did lots, and lots of reloads. I would eject the mag, catch, go to the mag carrier, and just repeat, with minimal downtime. Stopped when my hands were sore. Finding the 'sweet spot' to put the gun for smoother reloads. Still a long ways from getting smooth reloads, but they're improving each time. I'm working on making a set schedule of drills for the next month, with a re-assess and press every month thereafter. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Watching tonight's vids I'm seeing a trend with bowling after I get my support hand on the pistol. I'll do more reload work tomorrow - have to make Les's Beretta magwell a standard, not an exception. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Per yesterday's post, worked on drawing from concealment. Feeling much more comfortable with the grip, but I really, really need to figure out why the holster is coming out with the gun occasionally. Loops will be ordered to fix this permanently, but for now I need to find a belt that works better with the holster. Started off by hitting the gym at 0445. No cardio warmup today either, warmed up by stretching and verifying I'm getting the best feet position for the squat that I can. Squat -Warmup, barx5, 20x5, 50x7, 60x5 90x5, 85x5, 90x5 Bench press -Warmup, barx5, 30x5, 35x5, 40x5 70x5, 70x5, 70x5 Deadlift -Warmup 110x5 160x5 Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Finished the workday early since it started at 0300, took a nap, did errands, etc., then sat down in the study to do some work. Measured the Defoor sights on one P226 vs. the 8/8 factory ones on the other, and they're identical save that the Defoor rear is a bit longer and give .25" extra sight radius, the machining on the planes the eye sees are different, and the front sight is .025" thinner. Notch, sight heights, etc., are the same. I'm finding that I work much quicker with a dot of some sort up front, and will probably look at getting a Dawson fiber optic front at some point. Until then paint works great. Printed some 1/4 and 1/8 scale IDPA targets and measured out the ranging for the room to make life easier later on for doing simulated distance work. I can get out to 36 yards right now in this room, and it's nice knowing that distance is longer than any match target distance. Did some Burkett reloads, no time, just working on mechanics. Worked on draw from concealment, per Luke's razzing. Started with a 2.0 par time and worked down to a 1.25 par time, which is about the limit for me right now. I really, really need to get a new mag carrier. And soft loops for this holster, it came out with the gun again tonight. The belt might be too thick for the clip, but it's still a concern. 2 sec par time 1.75 sec par time 1.5 sec par time 1.25 sec par time Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Did some time today working on draw and reload components. Went for the par times listed in Stoegers book, except for the reloads - I'm not there yet. Discovered that I really truely need a hardware upgrade for my mag carriers (using a hand me down fobus pos). I also need to change out the clip on my holster for belt loops, as the George came out with the pistol. Clips are below - things were very rushed and failed big time several times. That's okay - things fall apart under time pressure and reveal what needs work. Draw micro drill 1 Draw microdrill 2 Draw drill failure Draw drill Reload work, Burkett load Reload work with empty magwell Reload drill Videos don't lie - needs work. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk