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MISS again, where I learn that, yes, magazines can be seated with TOO much force. Luckily it was on the first stage, which I traditionally need to be a non-classifier so I can warm up. I'm pretty sure by the time the classification routine was run in February, I had my C class. There was some issues with one of the clubs uploading their scores on time, so it was much delayed and I was extremely relieved when it went through.

February was a good month. My humble lil' Witness Limited saw some new toys in the form of Henning's wonderful stuff. A new sight, new trigger, new guts with all new springs, and some fine tuning to get her where she spits fire on demand! By now most of the regulars know me as "the guy with the steel plate in his head." You see, the camera attaches via magnets! I feel that this is where I started noticing a marked speed improvement, even when I wasn't pushing myself for speed. While my transitions still need work, it was reassuring to start placing in the top few spots when I made clean runs. I felt good on this one. It was one of those days where I just felt like I was in the zone. When someone jokingly calls you a "showoff," you can't help but smile. Specifically, I remember going through the stages this day and reflecting on what I experienced in my first few shoots. I was thinking, "WOW, that guy is freaking quick!" Now, it was me being the quick one, with the other fresh out of the class guys commenting on it. I still had a ways to go in the grand scheme of things, but looking back I never thought I'd be that guy that moved through the stages well enough to look like I really knew what I was doing. I still maintain that I don't actually know what I'm doing, but when told otherwise, it's hard to argue.

With the new year comes new resolutions or something. I think that's what they say. I've never been one to believe in that kinda thing, but deep down I'm pretty sure I subconsciously told myself that I am going to become a USPSA machine this year. So far I'd say I'm on track. January brought a slow move back into shooting after a two month hiatus. Of course, at Maxon's, January is always the low-light match. This time there was a shotgun and a texas star, ON THE SAME STAGE, IN THE DARK! In McHenry, I finally had a REALLY clean (for me) classifier. I believe it netted me my first above 60%.

MISS again, October 21st 2010 With a string of bad classifiers, I was convinced that if I was able to put forward some solid and consistent performances, that not only would C class be an easy target for me, but I would be able to get into B with a little work. Unfortunately, November and December were extremely difficult months to do anything aside from work (working for a package delivery company around the holidays is beyond brutal), so there is a solid two month gap where I did nothing but dream about shooting.

Oak Park Sportsmen's Club, October 10th 2010 Maxon's Combat Shoot, October 11th 2010

October of 2010 was when I realized that I could really actually start pushing this whole USPSA thing, legitimately hardcore. I found myself introduced to Pine Tree Pistol Club and the McHenry IPSC Shooting Society in addition to the clubs that I already attend. It was possible to attend a match almost EVERY single Sunday when they were all running. Unfortunately, since it was October, the outdoor ones were actually winding down, but I had a solid gameplan for 2011. Since I had started out with a few less than stellar classifiers, I am pretty sure I had my D class in Limited at this point. Pine Tree Pistol Club, October 3rd 2010 McHenry IPSC Shooting Society (MISS), October 7th 2010

September had come and gone like any other month. A few small upgrades were put on my gun, but the biggest note was that my feed issues had been greatly reduced. Since I don't (yet) reload, I've got to buy my .40 long loads online. Atlanta Arms and Ammo came highly recommended, and aside from some nagging magazine issues, pretty much fixed said feed issues. Back to Maxon's for the local combat shoot. This is where everything starts picking up steam for me. I am beginning to put together the skills I have learned, I am getting very comfortable with my gun, and my brain is just thinking in terms of move'n'shoot. At NISA again. So while the ammo itself isn't a concern to me anymore, me properly seating my magazines becomes the issue of the day. So much wasted time and so many passed opportunities due to my mag either FALLING OUT or being partway seated.

The only, and I do mean ONLY thing I would look back for paintball would be pump matches. Other than that, you're spot on. I am so glad I'm done with paintball. The guys that shoot USPSA with me? They agree completely. The guys that still shoot paintball? "Awww c'mon man it's so much fun it is like shooting." I laugh and shake my head, because until I can get them to come out and shoot a real gun, there's nothing I can do to convince them otherwise.

Once again, things are rather hazy for me. At some point after my first NISA shoot, I managed to drag two friends into the rabbit hole with me. At some point after that, we all agreed that getting our matches on video was a good idea. At some point after that, we grabbed a V.I.O. POV 1.5. What better way to improve than to view what you did after you did it, and to give everyone else the opportunity to see what you see, mistakes and all? To date, if I have shot a match, it has been recorded with my handy dandy little hatcam. Successes, losses, slick moves, poorly executed plans, wonderfully run classifiers, and mistakes aplenty have all been showcased for the world to see. Picture quality could be better, but it does what we need it to and asks for more. The condition of my Witness at this point is unknown to me as well. Again, being the tinkerer, I quickly began swapping parts out with replacements from Henning. I know for sure I have put Henning's grips and magwell on my gun, possibly a new guide rod as well. This month saw the introduction of the Oak Park Sportsmen's Club as a regular monthly event. This is when I found out that these guns really don't like running with production length ammo out of 10mm magazines. Feed issues up the wazoo, and the beginning of the "if classifier; then jam" stage in my shooting career.

After shooting in a few for fun matches, I started looking with some friends for some other events that were being held nearby. A few of the guys at the local combat shoots recommended that I make the trip out to the Northern Illinois Shooters' Association. It was a while before I ended up going to one, and before I did I fell in love. My knowledge of guns and pistols had been growing ever since I got my own, and by April 2010 it felt like it was time to add another to the family. I had previously had the chance to hold an EAA Witness Elite Match. If my Sig felt awesome in my hands, this thing was amazing. Every time I went to the range, I'd ask to hold one. Every time, I'd have to back away slowly otherwise I'd end up doing something that I would regret. By this point, I was armed with a better understanding of the rules of USPSA, and was looking to shoot something in Limited. Checking EAA's website introduced me to the Witness Limited. I thought it looked awesome, but I was afraid I would never see one in person unless I ordered it myself. Guess what I saw in the glass case next time I went to the range? Yeah. It came home with me three days later. July 25th, 2010 The first set of stages I was able to shoot with my new gun, at a new club. This was the point at which I realized that I was done for. THIS was my hobby now. Everything else gets a back seat, because this just feels right. Of course, I was still an uncoordinated sloth out there on the field, a proverbial newborn to the scene, but it was starting to come together. Sense was being formed where there was none before. This was something I could do. I'm unsure of my score breakdown, but I'm pretty sure I did alright, third place out of six in Limited, mostly C and B class shooters.

Like I said, I have a LOT of catching up to do, and I'll try to get in as much as I can in the next few days. Feedback and tips are absolutely welcome, but remember that most of these have come and gone and I've (hopefully mostly) learned what I needed to learn from the earlier ones. March 8th, 2010 Still shooting my P226, with a few simple stages under my belt, it is obvious I'm the new shooter at the range. Everyone was helpful and happy to see new faces though, so it wasn't a bad thing being the new guy. I can't say I remember a whole lot about this stage. It was simple mozambique drills on a few targets, and I do specifically remember that I missed one of my first shots and had to retake it. At the local matches, they score everyone as Limited since it is just for practice and fun. That said, I ended up in 21st place out of 43 shooters for this stage. Thirteen Alphas and two Bravos in a hair under twenty seconds.

When college ended, so did my journey, as well as my hard-vetted interest, into paintball. No more sponsors helping to pay for the paint, no more dorm buddies to bum spare parts off of, no more being the "it" team at all the big events. That plane had come and gone, for the most part. I say for the most part since I'd still occasionally bust out my Phantom and go throw some paint with my coworkers and old friends. Was it fun? Sure. Was it the same. Not by a long and curving shot out of a Tippmann Flatline. The thing is, I was ready. Ready for something bigger. Ready for something better. I just didn't know it. Sure enough, while cleaning some of my paintball gear, my old man pops an intriguing question. "You ever thought about shooting a real gun?" he said with this inflection in his voice that could only mean that he knew exactly what kind of rabbit hole he was opening. All I could stammer out was a pathetic "No?" as it dawned on me: why hadn't I thought about this? It's only the next logical step, right? And besides, that sounds awesome! Now, I regress. I should mention a few things about my father. He and five of his buddies were 'Nam draft dodgers. And by that, I mean they all avoided the draft by joining the Marines. Yeah. They all went in, I want to say around '66 or '67, and miraculously, they all made it out alive. I got all the good ones. ".45 is a man stopper, I seen guys get shot by 9mm and it's like nothing happened to them..." "Isn't that [AR-15] like the M16? Damn Mattel toys, I wouldn't trust my life to one of them hunks of [redacted]. The M14 saved my life so many times, best battle rifle there ever was." With me not knowing any better, I assume the guy knows his stuff through and through. He shows me a couple of things that he has had stowed away for more than a few years, things that my mother would never have allowed were she still with us. A Colt 1911 with a mfg date of 1973 that he bought when he got out of the service; a Remington Rand 1911 with a manufacture date of 1943 that he says he was able to claim as a war trophy after prying it out of a dead Vietnamese soldier's hands; and a trunk full of miscellaneous parts. While the old man is still triumphantly trumpeting the terrific traits of the M14, it dawns on me. I'm looking at a big ol' bucket o' M14 parts. How exactly he was able to accomplish this is still something that I cannot piece together, and it is something that he simply doesn't remember. Regardless, a phone call to Fulton was followed by a six month wait before we got our hands on the completed heirloom. During that wait, we went and got our FOID cards (boo Illinois) and tinkered with the two 1911s. I've always been a tinkerer. The kid that took apart mom and dad's brand new VCR to see where the magic tv elves lived? Yeah, that was me. Needless to say, the guns were made known to me with explicit ease. I had never even shot an actual gun before, but I was already well aware of Cooper's Four Rules. I knew how to hold the pistol and how to aim it and how to squeeze the trigger. I knew how to hold the rifle and how the sling should help me steady it while standing up. I knew this was going to be easy and awesome. I knew that I thought I knew. In October of 2008 we finally got to go out and shoot the damn things, and while it was as fun as one could hope for, it sure was not pretty. .45 as a first handgun? I flinched for years when shooting. 200 rounds of 7.52x51 for a first rifle? I'm pretty sure my shoulder is still sore from that day. Sure, the paper came away with fewer holes than we had bullets, but the seed was planted. Saying that I was hooked was an understatement. I was already fiending for more. I picked up my Sig Sauer P226 9mm Stainless Elite in February of 2009. It was awesome. Shooting came naturally with it, it felt like a glove made for me. While I still had some of the bad habits I had picked up from shooting the .45, I felt like I was getting better. I knew something wasn't right, however, when a scant two months later I was already getting bored of punching holes in paper at the local range. Satisfied with the giant hole I had put on the bullseye, a flyer caught my eye on the way out of the range on weekend afternoon. "COMBAT SHOOT! Take your shooting to the next level!" Combat what? There's another level? After exchanging some emails with the match director, I show up to watch their last match of the season. Immediately, I'm hooked. Again. I didn't know I could be hooked on something that I was already sure I was hooked on, but shooting has been surprise after surprise for me. By May I am taking an intro to competative shooting class held by the guys that run these local combat shoots. The class was great, good info, decent starter practice, and best of all, extremely welcoming to newcomers. It's all a wash to me at this point. I was overwhelmed with info about what was what. Classifications? IDPA? Divisions? USPSA? IPSC? Production? This, you could say, is where my diary begins. A little over a year ago...

I can vouch for Atlanta Arms and Ammo. Their 40 long reloads run wonderfully through my Limited. I was having all kinds of issues with factory loads and the switch to AAA's long loads was a huge help. Danny is a great guy and easy to work with. I'm currently on my third case of 40L and would highly recommend it, but make sure you're having problems with factory loads first!

Not sure how much more I can do to it without going completely custom! Absoluely loving the long straight trigger, too.

I've been looking at the flat trigger lately, and I was planning on picking one up soon, but now you've got me wondering. What difference would one notice between the current one and the new longer one? I just want to find out if I'm better off waiting or if I should pull the trigger on the current one. Pun intended. Thanks!