Barefoot Shooter

Thank you Rowdy.

I'm seriously mathematically challenged...so let me make sure... I shoot a local match in 100.89 secs 35 points down or 17.5 seconds 17.5/100.89 = .1735 or 17% of my score was from points down? Am I correct? I feel like I need another way to feel bad about my performance and this seems the ticket... Thanks for posting that. Edited, I keep match data in a Google Drive Spreadsheet, simple data entry. Formulas are mysterious and frightening... I have a column that has my raw time, another column that has my points down, what would the formula look like to get the correct % using these two cells? Edited once more: the time used in your example of 100 seconds, was total time, i.e. elapsed time + any time added from FTN, PE, NT, pts down?

In with 5.

No one knows, they will let us know when they feel like it.

After reading this thread, I decided to try some One Shot on my 9mm cases and see what happens with my "thunking" 550. Essentially it is gone. The down and upstroke are very smooth, much less effort, no more thunking. I'm sorry I have loaded so many rounds without using lube. No more, I sprayed the gallon bag and put the brass in for a shake. Worked like a charm.

Can you help me figure out which bearings you are referring to here? Thanks

I have a Gould & Goodrich I like.

+1 particularly the ones who don't tape, reset etc... Whine for special treatment and get downright pissy when they might get edged out on a particular stage by a squadmate.

No problems, I have shot close to 5k of them and ordered more.

Thanks for the reply, I ask because what I gather from the book is that the fluorescent light apparently can mess up the infra red reading, but I am not certain. Also apparently the reason for putting it in a box outdoors. Hoping someone can clarify.

I just got the M2 chrono and the IR set. I have read the book and watched the video and have a couple of questions. If I use it at an indoor range (there is fluorescent light) with the IR screens, do the screens have to be in a box? or will cardboard over the tops of them suffice? Same question if I were to use the IR screens outdoors, do I need a box or is cardboard sufficient? It seems that to avoid the vagaries of sun position and light conditions, using the IR outside would be more consistent, is this true? Thank you, it seems a bit overwhelming for a beginner.

Name recognition and middleman mark ups. They come off of the exact same assembly line. Lessee Wolf $15/1000 plus shipping & hazmat... Tula $20/1000 no shipping hazmat... I was told there would be no math....

4.2 grains Titegroup 1.135 OAL 124 grain Montana Gold CMJ Small pistol primer

Were they KCI or Kahn?

Thank you very much! I don't have the Sierra book, perhaps I should.

I have been loading 9mm for several years on my 550 and am about to set up my first 45 load, I'm a little lost and need some advice from the loading gurus... I have several powders to choose from including Titegroup, 231/HP-38, and Clays. I am not set on any of them. I have about 1000 of the Berry's 185 grain FP (.452) that someone gave me and I'd like to put them to use. I am baffled by the large variation in overall cartridge length. I'm looking for a starting load to work up and test the feeding in a couple of my 1911's. The closest data matches from my load manuals, all starting charges: Speer #14 45 TMJ, 185 grain SWC (page 969 of the manual) Tested COAL is 1.270 231 5.0 grains HP-38 4.9 grains (though I don't understand why a distinction is made b/w the two) Lyman 47th (page 416-417) 185 grain MCWC w/ an OAL of 1.135(?!?) 231 4.1 grains 185 grain Jacketed HP w/ OAL 1.175 231 4.4 grains HP-38 3.5 grains Clays 4.1 grains Hodgdon Online Data 180 GR. LFP (.452) Winchester 231 (&HP-38) OAL: 1.140" 5.0 grains 180 GR. LFP (.452) Hodgdon Titegroup OAL: 1.140" 4.2 grains 180 GR. LFP (.452) Hodgdon Clays OAL: 1.140" 3.8 grains 185 GR. HDY JSWC (.451) Winchester 231 (&HP-38) OAL: 1.135" 5.0 grains 185 GR. HDY JSWC (.451) Hodgdon Titegroup OAL: 1.135" 5.0 grains 185 GR. HDY JSWC (.451) Hodgdon Clays OAL: 1.135" 4.5 grains A search of this forum revealed a load for the Berry's 185 grain HBRN (not the FP) *each loaded to 1.250 Clays 5.4 grn 897 fps Titegroup 5.8 grn 895 fps Win 231 6.8 grn 897 fps Additionally found this post here in the forum..this may be a good starting point, doesn't state what type of pistol. berry 185 FP Clays powder 5.0 grains at 1.210 oal federal 150 mixed brass At this point I'm kinda lost, I'd appreciate any advice on this.

Sunday August 22, 2010 I went to the range today with no real plan in mind. It was crowded. I got the shot timer out to do some draw to first shot work but there were so many other shooters it was fairly useless. When I did get a shot in clean it was in the neighborhood of 1.7. I wasn't particularly trying to push it, just get a smooth draw and a decent picture at 7 yards. The more I rushed the more likely I was to slap the trigger. Maybe on a quiet range day I can do more without the hassle. I did some strong and weak hand shooting...I'm better with my weak hand. I have a definite tendency to jerk the trigger on strong hand. With a little more concentration it improved (as with most things) but I have to be careful of the tendency and do some dry work strong hand only. Weak hand I was pretty good, though I need work to be quicker. I did some dry work on an alternate draw on stages when you have to draw and go directly to weak hand, it will take time to be comfortable with that. So much so I have no intention of using it in a match anytime soon. I then did some work at 20 yards and had a pretty good day. There is clearly no excuse for me to be so bad at 20 yards in the classifier. I wasn't able to use a barricade and that may make some difference, but simply shooting at 20 yards shouldn't be the nightmare for me in the classifier that it has been.

August 21, 2010 Local Match Day. A big crowd by our standards for the ordinary Saturday morning match. 29 total shooters. 9 ESP, 1 ESR, 19 SSP (2 EX, 5 SS, 12 MM). I'm not 100% sure this was entered correctly, though I can't remember a CDP shooter it is odd there wasn't one on the scoresheet. 2 squads and the match didn't finish up with scoring until around 1pm. Stages 1-3 were done by Brian Morris. Stages 4-6 by Joe Maddux. My squad started at stage 4. Stages 4-6 all had a similar target array. 2 setup as potential runners on the far left, then the plate rack with 5 more targets both over and under the rack. Stage 4 This stage started with rifle. The rifle was an S&W MP15 .22 AR style rifle. There were two, either open sights or a red dot. I chose to shoot with the red dot. On the buzzer you engaged the 5 paper targets behind the rack from cover with the rifle. Stowed the rifle and advanced to the barricade engaging at least one plate enroute. Then cleaning the plates from the barricade. You did not want to hit the plates with the rifle or you would have to make up the paper from the barricade with the pistol. I shot the rifle decently and knocked down one plate on the advance to the barricade. I finished in 25.37 raw (13th/29) with 3pts down, 1.5 secs in penalty (10th/29) for 26.87 on the stage (10th/29). I was decent on the plate rack and made no attempt to clean up paper after I put the rifle down. It was a decent start to the day I thought. Video of a shooter running the stage is here. Stage 5 Same target array with the two left sided runners now in play. On the buzzer, from the left side, draw and engage the advancing runners while advancing yourself, then move to the barricade, engaging targets if you wish, at the barricade the plate rack served as hard cover, some had to be shot down to engage the paper targets behind. I engaged the lower targets below the plate rack on the advance to the barricade. I finished the stage in 17.66 raw time (8th/29) with 18 points down, 9 seconds in penalty (16th/29) to finish in 26.66 (12th/29) for the stage. I didn't shoot the stage very well. I had a 5 down on one of the advancing runners and then a 6 down and 5 down on other targets, no failures. I thought I had shot much better than this and had no difficulty in dropping the necessary plates. I don't believe I shot the lower targets well on the advance after the runners. Stage 6 Same target array, same runners, same start position. On the buzzer the stage is the same except on reaching the barricade, all steel is in play and must be shot as well as the paper. I finished in 26.90 raw time (11th/29) with 8 pts down, 4 seconds in penalty (7th/29) to finish in 30.90 (10th/29) for the stage. I don't recall much of the stage except missing the last plate forcing a reload for one more shot. The S.O. said that cost me 4.7 seconds. A 22.20 raw time would have made this a really nice stage... Stage 1 Target array for stage one looked like this: However the right hand target was not in play. The stage was a retreating El Pres. On the draw turn and on the retreat engage each target with two limited. While continuing the retreat, tac load and engage with two again. Hard cover target on the left. I fumbled the reload on this stage, dropping the mag with rounds, I recovered it and continued. I finished in 14.27 raw (10th/29) with 6 points down 3 penalty (T3rd/29) for a total of 17.27 on the stage (4th/29). Even with the fumble my best stage of the day. I missed one of the hard cover shots for 5 down. Seems like the starting distance after the turn was about 10 yards, perhaps 7. Partial video of a shooter on the stage can be seen here. Shooting on the retreat seems to be one thing I can do decently. Stage 2 A nasty stage with the dreaded kneeling. Target array appeared as above in Stage 1 with the addition of these also along the back wall to the right. Overall the stage looked like this... On the buzzer you dropped a broom you were holding with both hands and advanced to the window shown above, kneeling at 15 yards, and engaged the left side targets (same from Stage 1 with the 4th target included, slicing the pie and on in the middle of the array which was the last target visible. Reload or tac load if necessary and advance to the stacked barrels shown. From around the left side engage the two pygmy targets which were behind the left sided barricade up front. There was a non threat between them, which necessitated a head shot on the top target. After engaging those two, advance to the close up stacked barrels to the left of the barricade and engage the final two targets around the right side of the barrel stack. There was also a non-threat on those two targets which I was blissfully unaware of until after my round and was taping targets later...it pays to look at all the targets.... A video of a shooter on this stage is here. He chose to engage the last two targets from the wood barricade rather than the barrels. I finished the stage in 34.11 (17th/29) with 16 points down 8 secs penalty (15th/29) for a total of 42.11 (13th/29) on the stage. My combined score was better than the components. I was zero down on the far left hard cover target from kneeling which I was very happy about. I had a 6 down in the left sided targets but my kneeling wasn't horrible. I chose to go right knee down, I may do that more. As stated above I was unaware of the NT on the last two, I simply turned the corner and hosed them as fast as I could. I didn't even notice then. I managed to avoid the NT however and go zero down on them. Overall I was fairly happy and surprised at the result on this stage. Stage 3 A seemingly simple stage, two targets, on shot stationary freestyle, then the other shot on the advance strong hand only. It looked like this: On the buzzer you engaged the right target (choice) with 6 shots freestyle, then performed a slide lock or tacload (choice) and then reached over to the panel with the weak hand and activated the runner, and engaged the left target with 6 shots strong hand only. The targets start with a lurch and it takes a second for them to settle. I finished the stage in 13.17 raw time (10th/29) with 13 pts down 6.5 secs penalty (17th/29) for a total of 19.67 for 15th/29 on the stage. I was 6 down and 7 down on the targets. I had one mike on the left, strong hand only target. So basically I shot the strong hand only advancing better than the 6 shots freestyle. The target started at 15 yards. For the day I finished 11th/29 in raw time, with 32 seconds in penalty (9th/29) for an overall of 8th/29 on the match. I had no procs, no FTN's, no NT's. Among SSP MM I was 2nd/7, though I was beaten by an unclassified SSP shooter, who happened to finish 7th/29 on the match. I also managed to finish ahead of 8 sharpshooters of various divisions. Not a bad day, though again some simple mistakes and I could have done better. At least an encouraging day.

Sunday August 15, 2010 Masters Notes 272.96 Raw Time 59 Pts down (low among SSP MM; better than 2/8 SSP SS) 0 Procedurals 0 NT’s 1 FTN Stage 9 (2nd half of the two part shoot house stage) was removed from match They did not run a chrono, all the ammo shipping for nothing. *Only 4 total SSP MM Shooters, which really puts a damper on my “good” from this match it seems. Due to the low number of comparable shooters, I started looking at ESP and CDP just to have something for comparison. I won 5 of 11 (Stages: 2, 3, 7, 8, 11) stages among the 4 SSP MM 2nd in 2 of 11 (Stages: 6, 10) 3rd in 3 of 11 (Stages: 1, 4, 5) Last in 1 of 11 stages (Stage 12-had a 10 & Failure brain fart) Beat the other 3 shooters in my squad, including 1 SS. We did not begin with the 1st Stage. My squad started on Stage 4 “What’s behind door #1” The order doesn’t match the C.O.F. downloaded. The C.O.F. can be found here. I ended up shooting first in my squad a lot. The Good Stage 2- “Mama told me not to play cards”. I won the stage (this was the 10th of 11 stages for my squad). My score also beat all (8) of the SSP Sharpshooters scores, 4 of 7 SSP Experts, 7 of 8 ESP MM, 10 of 10 ESP SS’s, 3 of 3 ESP Experts, 7 of 7 CDP MM, 6 of 6 CDP Sharpshooters, 3 of 4 CDP Experts. My 12.05 (11.05 raw, 2 pts down) score was 12th overall in the match. I was beaten on the stage by 3 CDP Masters, 1 CDP Expert, 1 ESP Master, 1 ESP MM, 2 SSP Masters, 3 SSP Experts. The winning sharpshooter was 12.07 which included 4 down. Stage Diagram here. Stage 3- “Running Hot” (car stage). I won the stage and my score beat 5 of 8 SSP Sharpshooters, 5/8 ESP MM, 2 ESP SS’s, 7 of 7 CDP MM, 1 CDP SS, 2 of 4 CDP Experts. Score was 22.18 raw with 2 pts down. The winning sharpshooter was 20.58 which included 2 down. Stage Diagram here. Stage 7- “Courier’s Job is Never Done” (Tx Star Stage). I won the stage with 41.45 raw and 0 pts down. The star held me up with I believe 3 or 4 extra shots. I lost time with a slow reload at P2. My score beat zero other SSP shooters of any class, beat 3 of 8 ESP MM. It beat all of the CDP MM and 1 CDP SS. This stage seemed to be a fairly bright line stage between the skills of MM shooters and SS shooters... the winning SSP MM time was 41.45, the winning SSP sharpshooter was 20.80. The slowest sharpshooter was 39.29. I think it would be worthwhile to analyze the skills needed in this stage. Stage diagram here. Stage 8- “Crack House Blues”. I won the stage with a 35.38 raw and 1 point down. The point down was on the 20 yard paper shot through the house from P1. The stage had been altered to eliminate the popper on the left and the movers that it activated. There was some mechanical problem with the pop up movers. Another stage that seemingly draws a bright line between marksman and sharpshooter. The winning sharpshooter time was 24.12 which included 5 down, the slowest sharpshooter was 34.24 which included 1 down. I’m sure my actual movement time is a major slowness factor. Stage diagram here. Stage 11- “Advance to Cover”. I won the stage with a 23.78 raw with 5 points down. This was a movement stage, that was altered somewhat from the diagram in the COF. The first 10 shots of the string were on the move to the last barricade, tac load across, hit the popper to activate the swinger and finish up. There were 8 targets plus the popper. I hit the popper on the first shot...always a plus with me and steel. The winning sharpshooter 19.90 which included 3 down. The slowest sharpshooter was 35.25 which included 8 down. Stage diagram here. The Bad Stage 1- “Biddle’s Dilemma”. The standards stage. I finished in 25.30 raw with 14 down which was 3rd of 4. The 4th shooter was so bad on this stage and the others, that I don’t think he was fairly classified as marksman and really shouldn’t even count. My targets were 7 down, 7 down and 0 down (middle target). I’m sure my draw/transition to weak hand was slow. I couldn’t check targets fast enough to see if any head shots were missed on the 2 targets. More evidence that I need to work on 1 hand shooting and draws. This was our next stage after the screw up on Stage 12. Stage diagram here. Stage 4- “What’s Behind Door #1” This was our first stage of the day in the rain. Of course I was the first shooter. I was just slow, this was not hard. Had I shot it later in the day I think I would have done much better. I finished in 5.52 raw time with 1 point down for 3rd of 4. The winning SSP MM was 4.26 with zero down. I feel like in hindsight I was just not ready to roll and shoot fast. I was thinking about everything else...rain, mud, dawdling S.O.’s on this Stage which wasn’t ready to go when we arrived. Stage Diagram here. Stage 5- “Back Yard Ambush” Our 2nd stage of the day, same bay, same S.O.’s same rain, same mud, now with movement. I finished in 35.68 raw time with 9 points down for 3rd of 4. I had 2 three-down targets in this stage. While I’m making excuses and rationalizing, I’ll go ahead and say that this was awkwardly designed at best. I don’t know where the 3-down targets were (I’m guessing the middle two from the window), the targets were bagged in the rain, sagging and I couldn’t move fast enough to beat the tapers. My reload was the picture of slowness as well. For purposes of notes, T4 was not visible until the window. It was horizontal and low to the ground. It was also unbagged and soggy. Stage diagram here. Stage 6- “Television Interruptus”. 3rd stage of the day. I shot this stage in 32.88 raw plus 4 down to finish 2nd of 4. I put this in “bad” because it was really a lost opportunity. I got the mag stowed first and then gun loaded second as I had discussed with instructor. It helped, the three other shooters in my squad fumbled and bumbled around. I hit the steel on the first shot and then tossed one at T2 before the mover, came back with another on T2. I was 2 down on T1 and T2. At the window I was 0 down on the 3 middle targets. At P4 I was 2 down on T6 and T7 (1 each). I did run to P5 for a look back at the mover, but it was bagged and impossible to tell what it looked like. I fired no shot from P5. I was 2.5 seconds behind the stage winner in SSP MM. I should have gone faster, the shots were not hard. The winner had 10 down. My score only beat 1 of 8 SSP sharpshooters and was 12 seconds slower than the SSP sharpshooter winner. Stage diagram here. Stage 10- “Late Night Ambush”. I shot this stage in 7.63 raw plus 4 down to finish 2nd of 4. I again was shooting first. This again is a lost opportunity. This was not a difficult stage. I had some concern about the slick ground moving backwards and was probably worried too much about it. The first target (mover) was 3 down... I actually had more time to shoot it and it easily should have been a zero down. The real indecision I had was in engaging the right hand target last. I hesitated on it as to whether I could continue to retreat and just shoot it or if I had to step left to get behind cover. That cost some time as well, I ended up stepping behind the barrel. There were just no excuses for this, I should have been around 5.50 seconds for the stage. Stage diagram here. The Ugly Stage 12- “Making a Withdrawal”. I brain farted big time on this stage and it cost me dearly. The stage remained as diagramed on the COF. T7 and T8 were indeed visible from the right side of the barricade, thus you only had to go to the right side and not the left and right. My raw time was 32.11 raw with 17 points down. 45.61 total. This included a 10 & failure on T8 the bottom of the two left rear targets behind the barrels. On the stage I chose to start on the right T2 target. 1-2-1 advancing. The mud was particularly bad on this stage. I was 1 down on those two, the one being on the first shot. I got to the right side of the barricade and engaged the paper with a zero and 1 down. Hit the steel on the first shot which activated the mover. I had watched the mover and moving non threat before, it never moved the same way twice and it often moved with the non threat blocking the shot on certain passes out behind the wall. It in fact came out obstructed on my first look, so I went and put two on the top target on the left side (T7-2 down on the target) and back to the mover engaged once, waited finished the mover and inexplicably put two more into the T7 target rather than the lower T8 target, then put the last two on T9. Thus I completely failed to engage T8....thus 10 and a failure. The ten and a failure cost me 10 seconds. I was blissfully unaware of what I had done until the targets were scored and I looked at T8. It is all the more frustrating because I didn’t shoot that poorly on the stage. If I had not lost the 10 seconds on that target, I would have been 2nd on the stage and finished 2nd instead of 3rd among SSP marksman. I’m sure I could have moved faster, but there was lost waiting time on the swinger and the final T9 target couldn’t be engaged until all of T6, T7 and T8 had been engaged. Stage diagram here. Final thoughts. 1. Get over the rain and mud, it shouldn’t have mattered. The fogged glasses and water running down them bothered me. 2. I have some issue that costs me big in most every match, sometimes it compounds and bad day, others it ruins a good day. There is no way around it, I should have been looking about points down in the mid to low 40’s for this match. 3. Need to do some movement reloads in dry practice. 4. Flying to matches isn’t the way to go. Had I driven I would have had boots (better traction), rain gear, clear glasses, normal ammo, change of clothes, and no hassle in the Birmingham airport at 6 a.m. with the TSA morons 5. I have so much to do, progress seems non-existent sometimes. 6. Time to change the slide release lever to one made for a Model 17. I rode the lever all day, so I wasn’t getting slide lock, I clicked on an empty chamber at least 3 times needing to reload and obviously the reloads were slowed.

Tuesday August 10, 2010 Met with the instructor for about an hour and went over the course of fire for Saturday. Several helpful hints particularly in dealing with the lock box stage to start and the prone shooting stage. Also talked a lot about reloads and the best locations. We went over the options that some stages presented. There weren't too many stages that looked bad, though the shoot house stages were unclear on paper. Ammo arrived intact, so I should be good to go.

Sunday August 8, 2010 Went to the range for some live fire. Worked on 20 yards, started with an IDPA target clipped on, but it fell off after 5-6 shots and the range was too busy to go down range to get it. I improvised a light 0 down zone on a silhouette target. I used a ball point pen so that it wasn't glaringly obvious where it was similar to the IDPA target in location. I shot about 50-60 rounds at 20 yards. I heeled several into what would be the head and neck area of an IDPA target, but had very few that were jerked. If anything my shots tended to be high, I had a lot of good hits, it is hard to believe that I shot such a mess yesterday. I tried to make sure that my sight alignment was not low and that if anything I had a little bit more front sight above the notch. Concentrated on a good press and some surprise in the break. There is no reason for me to be as bad as I was yesterday. There are a couple of 20 yards steel shots next weekend that could make for a long day, if I cannot focus. I also did some strong and weak hand only. Strong hand I was tending to too much inboard cant on the shots and jerked the first few left. Reducing the cant helped and with focus I can make the shots. My second shots required extra focus and will. Weak hand they were all pretty good, no big problems, just need to focus. Talked with the instructor some and we will go over the course of fire this week and try to plot some rough ideas knowing there are likely to be changes before the real thing. Did about 10 minutes of dry fire before bed, worked on draws through trigger prep on a blank wall. Also did some through trigger press. Did a few runs of advancing while maintaining a good sight picture trying to minimize bounce. Then did a few transitions between targets, including some wide enough that I needed to bring the pistol in a bit while transitioning to push out again. I forgot to do one hand draws and one hand draws transitioning to weak hand, there will be some in Stage #1 of the match this weekend. By bed time the quad was pretty loose.

Saturday August 7, 2010 Local match day. Pretty good crowd today, 17 shooters, several new first timers. 7 ESP shooters (1 EX, 1 SS, 4, MM, 1 NV), 1 ESR SS, 8 SSP shooters (1 SS, 3 MM, 4 NV), 1 CDP shooter (SS). Morris set up 1-3, Dedrick 3-6. AC had been repaired the bays were much more comfortable today. Only one target shooter there today. For the day I had zero procedurals, zero NT's but 2 FTN's. 22 yard shooting today did me in. My quad was still a mess from the classifier on Wednesday and there was some kneeling in Stage 2, which was extremely painful and the quad is howling again now. I need to get it in decent shape for next weekend in Birmingham. Forgot both stills and video today of the stages. Dedrick's stages 4-6 were a lot of fun, moving and shooting, I'm much better at than standing still at this point. I rode the slide lock all day, slowing reloads, often clicking on an empty chamber. Made need to consider switching the release out. Also, caught myself not using the slide release and doing the overhand on reloads... Stage 1 First stage was a seated shooting stage. Starting on the left side of the bay on a barstool facing the left wall. On buzzer rotate right, remaining on the stool, draw and engage three targets with 3 shots each. Ranges were from approx, 3 yards to 10 yards. I started off well, finishing in 13.53 (10th/17), with zero down (T1st/17) to finish 5th/17 on the stage. Problem is slowness here...at this point I don't feel like I'm excruciatingly slow, but obviously I am. The fastest on the stage was 8.72 w/ 2 down (A.J.) I guess I need to try hammer pairs on shots like the closest target. Stage 2 This stage was a bad one for me. It started at 22 yards at a bianchi barricade. On the buzzer draw and fire 6 shots around the barricade at a single target, which had a non-threat in front of it, the top of the head of the non-threat was just below the zero down ring on the target. Then advance to the 15 yard mark behind low cover and engage 3 targets on the right and 3 targets on the left with two shots each from kneeling. I knew I needed to shoot bullseye from 22 yards, and try to go slow with each sight picture and trigger, and felt good about it at the end of the stage. The knees and the bad quad were a problem on the kneeling as expected. Switching sides on the kneel was painful despite the cushion. I didn't feel too bad about these shots however at the end. I should have. I finished in 40.77 (14th/17) with 22 points down and 2 FTN's. The 22 yard target was not the FTN. I shot 6 down on it. The big problems were kneeling and they were not long shots, just cannot fight through the discomfort. Stage 3 Same array as above, except that there is an added target on the far right at the back, no non-threat. Just 2 targets at 22 yards with the non-threat. Start from the barricade. 6 shots on the right target, tac-load, 6 shots on the other target from the other side of the barricade. I drew and fired on the right target with no non threat and felt good about it. On the left target with the reload, I was very conscious of the non-threat and took extra time. It showed. I finished in 40.77 (14th/17) with 21 down (10.50- 9th/17) for 12th/17 overall on stage. My first right sided target was horrible, 2 mike's and 7 other points down for 17 points down. The non threat target was 4 down. Simply no explanation for the horrible right side, my trigger control just has to be awful. It was a really disappointing stage. I need more dryfire on a simulated distant target and a plain wall. Stages 2 and 3 really ruined the day. Stage 4 A new array of more moving and shooting, I was glad to be rid of 22 yards and standing still. The 4th stage looked like this... On Stage 4 at the buzzer you draw and retreat from the runner, engaging it twice with 2 shots. Then move across the middle gap engaging the back 3 targets while on the move to the barricade at the 2nd wall. From that position slice the pie on the 3 targets on the right, with the NT. One of the targets was a horizontal near the floor. The NT obscured a good chunk of one of the targets, I decided enough so to take head shots. Then advance down the wall to the corner and shoot back across at 2 targets which are near to where the runner started. The runner shots require a little delay to allow the target to settle back down from the motion of the target carrier, to insure good shots. I finished in 30.49 (12th/17) with 3.50 in penalty (5th/17) worst target was 2 down. It was probably my best stage on the day. I shoot a lot better moving than I do standing still. Stage 5 Stage 5 was the same basic array, eliminating the runner and adding two stationary targets in the left sided alley. Walls stayed in the same place, but no advancing down the right alley. You started along the left wall at about 15 yards, with a target at the back of the alley and a target about 4 yards up from that. On the buzzer, draw and engage the 2 targets on the advance, you then had the option of going to the barricade at the end of the wall and slicing the pie on the targets in the middle alley or shooting them on the move going across, then slice the pie at the 2nd barricade on the targets in the right alley. NT was still in place in the right alley. I decided to shoot the middle alley on the move. On the buzzer I did not try to cover ground advancing before shots, I did the movement worked on in practice, and when the shots were done then ran forward to the barricade and started across, engaging the middle alley on the move. I finished in 22.27 (8th/17) with 5.50 in penalty (10th/17) for 6th/17 overall on stage. I would note that one of the target shooters engaged the middle alley from the barricade and still finished faster than me. I'm just horribly slow at everything. I had a 5 down on 1 target, it as not one of the ones in the middle alley shot on the move. Stage 6 This was on the same basic array as Stage 5. You began in the right alley, half way up, on the buzzer you draw and engage the 3 targets, the left hand target was 2 body 1 head, 2 each on the other 2, all shots while on the retreat. NT was in the same position. At the barricade you then sliced the pie, the left target was 2 body 1 head, 2 shots each on the other two. then cross, the middle alley and engage the two targets in the left alley 2 shots each. I finished in 30.77 (10th/17) with .50, 1 down, in penalty (1st/17) for 9th overall on the stage. So the best accuracy I'm capable of gets me 9th out of 17. I was pleased with the accuracy obviously, the head shots caused problems in one classifier last week and I nailed them all here. The middle alley head shot was at about 10 yards. A fairly disappointing day, a NV ESP shooter finished higher than me and an SSP MM as well that I shouldn't lose to. One week until the Masters in Birmingham. It's clear my trigger sucks for distance shots, it's clear I'm horribly slow I guess in everything from shots to movement to gun handling. I shoot decently on the move. Goals for the week: 1) Some 20 yard live fire 2) Blank wall dry fire and target dry fire 3) Go over stages w/ instructor at lesson 4) Some strong and weak hand only live and dry. 5) Rest the quad, perhaps some stretching. 6) Hydrate at the end of the week. 7) Study the COF Ammo has been shipped ahead, it is still in transit due for delivery on Tuesday-shows on time with UPS tracking. Ordered some more Gookinade hopefully it will get here in time. I have flown with my CCW stuff many times, never with match type stuff, should be interesting trying to pack a range bag and all of the junk with it. It would be quite a bag to have the airlines lose or steal...

Wednesday August 4, 2010 Lesson Day. As planned I was going to shoot a classifier and work on the classifier in the lesson today. I shot it twice and we worked on some specific issues related to the classifier itself. After a long day yesterday in the car, I felt like crap all day today and it was about 170 degrees today. Despite this, lesson today went forward. I started on the classifier itself, cold first thing...and promptly lost my mind. On the head shot strings of Stage 1 I immediately lost the ability to hit a simple head shot and jerked the trigger horribly....it was a nightmare. I immediately felt like a lot of hard work had gone down the toilet. I wouldn't make novice at that pace. I had 4 misses on Stage 1 (8 hits, 9 hits, 9 hits), and all were head shots. I was also down a total of 30 points or 15 seconds total. I was slow as usual, but also horrible on the trigger as well. Strings 1-3, draw and fire 2 body-1 head, were 3.51, 3.35 & 3.71 respectively. I was 52.90 total for the stage. After the first three strings, I took a moment to try and calm down and move past the crappy start. I knew I was capable of a simple head shot. I couldn't really do worse and relaxed and went on to stage 2. I would also note that I didn't try to push the speed any, I wanted to be lower on points down...so much for that. Stage 2 is I guess considered the easiest part, the two movement strings forward and backwards I did well enough on, though my movement was clunky...I'm clunky however. The El Pres string was 15.79, with few down. The strong hand string was 7.78. For the stage I had 8 points down and 41.86 total. It was better feeling than Stage 1 and I had managed to settle down a little. Stage 3 was fairly horrendous. I jerked many shots low left. My reloads were decent enough per the instructor. My positioning around the barricade was terrible, leaving me in uncomfortable leans around the barricade, off balance and wobbly stances. I ended up leaning backwards in firing positions around the barricade. On T1 (left) I had 10 hits, on T2 (middle) I had 9 hits and on T3 I had 8 hits... so three mike's for the stage. I had a total of 40 points down on the stage (20 seconds) for a total of 81.91. On the kneeling drills from 15 yards I expected the worst with my knees and got it. I know the pain impacted my shots. I need some kind of pad on the bony protrusions bellow my patella, there is simply no comfortable kneeling position for me, it all hurts. On the last target (far left) in slicing the pie from kneeling, it would help if I would reposition my outside knee so I am not so off balance, but pain enters in here. I may try this thing the next time with some 5.11 pants with the pad inserted in the knee, they would be legal and might help a little. Better fitness in general would help this stage immensely. In total my score was 175.95, or Marksman, I had the needed classification for my upcoming trip, but was really disappointed. Scoresheet is here. Following completion (and without scoring) we worked at the barricade on positioning. Leaning into the shot instead of backwards as I lean out around the barricade. Making sure I'm the right distance from cover to start, and shifting my feet if necessary. I did manage to start looking at the targets instead of into the barricade. Better leg strength is a must, losing weight is a must. The forward lean and keeping the inside foot down helped a lot in creating a stable shooting platform. My upper body tension and contorsion was huge on these shots. We started the classifier again, this time in reverse order. Starting with Stage 3, I felt better about the shots from the barricade but I shouldn't have. I had the same 40 points down and same 4 mikes. This time I had 10 hits on left, 8 hits on middle and 9 hits on right. The kneeling shots from 15 yards were even more painful now on the knees sore from the first go around. My string times were lower, I took more time, no better result. The stage was 84.38 compared to 81.19...I did worse if that was possible. Even the shots that weren't jerked were low and I need to make sure my sight picture is high enough on the target and not mentally shooting at the "middle" of the target which is the bottom of the 0 down. Advancing up to Stage 1 at this point (hardest first, next hardest then easiest). I was mentally prepared and was going to shoot much better on this stage or quit the game all together. It was nice to see what some focus could do. I took the extra split second on shots and got them. I had no mike's, hit all the head shots and was 8 points down on the Stage. The total score was 45.36 compared to 52.90 before, gaining 7.50 seconds. Strings 1-3 were 4.27, 3.81 & 4.08. I was some degree slower on most of the strings in Stage 1 but made up for it by shooting 22 less points down or 11 seconds. You can't miss fast enough, I believe it. I could at least leave the range knowing I could hit a head shot at 7 yards. We then moved back to Stage 2 to finish. My string times here were all faster, and I was faster on the Stage by 3.3 seconds. I shot the same 8 points down for 38.47 total compared to 41.86. No mikes and I think I moved a little better after some dry work on it between classifiers. The El Pres this time was 14.50. In total my score was 168.21, or Marksman. I felt like this was a more true indicator of my level after not having the melt down on Stage 1. My points down were the same on Stages 2 and 3 and similar times. It is obvious where I need work (everywhere) but some more than others. This is about 16 seconds from Sharpshooter. 10 of those seconds should be made up in Stage 3...say 20 points down instead of 40. I should also be able to cut some points down from 8 on Stage 1, There is a second or two there. So SS is not out of the question, that is a somewhat encouraging thought. Scoresheet is here. I need to spend time at 20 yards. Following the 2nd classifier we did some static work with no barricade at 20 yards. Instructor had me reposition the trigger finger again. This time, deciding that I was indeed too far in, causing some of the lefts. I will now go back to dry fire practice attempting to center the placement a little more. I need to work on leg strength, flexibility and general fitness, it's obvious, I know it, but it is difficult. I need to get in steady dry work, that has really slacked in the last couple of weeks. I will need to make time. About 200 rounds today, should put the Model 34 at around 1400-1450 total. <Sigh>

Tuesday August 3, 2010 Been traveling since Sunday...extremely tired today after 13 hour drive yesterday...but have lesson with classifier or classifier practice today...hope I can see straight by then. Update later...

Saturday July 31, 2010 Local match day. Only 10 shooters due to a local rifle match that drew some people away. 4 ESP shooters (1 SS, 3 MM); 6 SSP shooters (1 EX, 4 MM, 1 UN). W.G. only target shooter there today. Stages 1-3 setup by Joe and 4-6 setup by Murphy. For the day I had one procedural, no non-threats, no FTN's. Again for the day didn't have a particularly strong focus in the match. I rode the slide lock today, causing the gun to lock open on empty, slowing my reloads. I was S.O. for a few shooters on each stage. The stages were simple. 1 bianchi barricade on each. Range wasn't as hot as it could have been. I was supposed to run video on my stages, but forgot on most of them, though I have video on a few. Took no stills today. I finished 7th/10 in elapsed time and tied for 2nd/10 in penalty for 4th/10 overall on the match. I was supposed to shoot video on the stages but forgot on most of them. Stages 1-3 target array looked like this and stage 1 was as follows: Stage 1 On the buzzer draw and engage on the retreat to the barricade, reload and then come out from cover in any direction and finish. Shots were 7-10 yards. I chose to engage the two targets on the right side with the non-threat first, while the non-threat was closer. I shot the stage accurately, though slow as usual. No non-threat hit. I finished the stage in 16:53 (7th/10) with 6 secs in penalty (7th/10), (3 down and 3 procedural) for a finish of 7th/10 on the stage. The procedural was remarkably stupid, leaving the barricade after reload before chambering the round. A complete brain fart I cannot ever recall doing that before. Target shooter was 15.69 and 2 secs in penalty finishing 3rd overall. Stage 2 Same target array, same barricade position. The stage was a strong and weak hand stage. Start position was at the barricade. On the draw, engage the right side 3, strong hand and then tac-load and engage the left three around the left side, weak hand. I finished the stage in 20.54 (5th/10) with 5:50 secs in penalty (6th/10) for 4th/10 overall on the stage. There were no issues on the stage, the reload was ok. I tried to assume a proper one-handed stance on the strong side and believe I did on the weak side as well. On the 1st target (far right) I had a 5 down on the target, 1 zero down and a mike. On the far left target I had a 3 down. Target shooter was 27.67 with 5:50 in penalty for 9th/10 on the stage. Stage 3 Same target array-but only using the 2 targets on the right with the non-threat in place, barricade moved back to 18 yards. On this stage I was telling myself to think bullseye and focus on good trigger and sights and forget the timer. The stage required 6 shots on 1 target and 6 shots on the other, the non-threat is between the two. I tried to make sure on this stage that I started in the position where I could see the target and not actually hidden behind the cover. I finished the stage in 23.95 (9th/10) with 4.0 secs in penalty (3rd/10) for 9th/10 overall on stage. Disappointed in the result here. I had 5 down on 1 target and 3 down on the other, yet was slow as Christmas. In this case I was so slow the accuracy didn't matter much. Target shooter finished in 18.18 6th/10 and 7.50 7th/10 for 7th overall on the stage. Need to discuss this on next lesson and try to find a better balance... I have posted video of this stage on youtube which is in all of its horror.Stages 4-6..similar target array with 2 non-threats instead of 1. Stage 4 On this stage, we started in the middle of the stage at maybe 7 yards, barricade behind you. On the buzzer you drew and and fired while retreating to the barricade, at the barricade, reload and then slice the pie from cover on the remainder. There was no specified order of targets. I chose to engage the targets on the right with the non-threat, while they were closer, then the rest. I also thought about engaging the targets on the left with the non-threat, leaving the middle for last. However in actuality I shot the middle targets 2nd and finished from the barricade on the left side targets. I hit no non-threats on the stage and was pleased with that. I finished in 14.52 (6th/10) with 1.50 secs in penalty (T4th/10) for 3rd/10 overall on the stage. Forgot video on this one too. My best stage of the day, again shot well moving backwards and fairly quickly. Target shooter finished in 13:45 (4th/10) with 6.50 in penalty 7th/10 for 6th/10 on the stage. Stage 5 Same targets, same barricade. We started on the left wall and shot on the move to cover, staying behind cover to finish up up after reload. I had no issues on the stage. I probably covered too much ground in moving, and perhaps was crowding the barricade a little after the reload. I finished in 19.10 (10th/10) with 2 secs in penalty (T3rd/10) for 7th/10 overall on stage. I cannot figure out why I was so so so slow on this stage. I will post the video on YouTube, , but haven't looked at it yet and really don't want to. On second thought I have no looked at the video, the major problems were: riding the slide release delaying the reload, then at the barricade, taking extra and painfully slow extra shots. I was zero down on every target except one and had 4-down on that. The extra shots are painful to look at. I would make a rough guess that it added 3 seconds to my time. Need to let the instructor look at the video and get his thoughts. Everything I do looks so slow, it's awful to look at.Stage 6 Same targets, barricade moved over slightly closer to right hand wall. Starting back at the 18-20 yard line, draw and fire on the advance. I tried to avoid my previous thinking and temptation of taking big strides quickly to close the distance before shooting. I was planning to draw and move smoothly and begin the shots. I again was riding the slide lock, causing a delay starting the reload. I think I also took another unnecessary extra shot at the end. Video of this one is on Youtube . I finished in 16.44 (5th/10) with 3.50 secs in penalty (7th/10) for 6th/10 overall on stage. I was pleased with the accuracy shooting on the advance, which hasn't been my best. One target was 4-down, the rest were on 1 down targets. TS finished in 15.65 (4th/10) with 3 secs in penalty (4th/10) finishing 3rd/10 overall. I finished first among the SSP MM shooters and behind the EX shooter. I finished ahead of 2 of the 4 ESP MM shooters. This was a fairly small group of shooters and several shooters were not there that are stronger shooters in ESP and SSP, but I'm still pleased to finish 4th/10 and beat the other SSP MM shooters. If I could have the procedural back I would have finished with 19.50 in penalty for 2nd alone behind the EX level shooter with 15.50. For fun and my own learning experience I think I will plan to focus on shooting faster next Saturday and see what kind of elapsed time I can get and see how bad the accuracy deteriorates.