daves_not_here

Okay, going to sell one of my guns to move from a 550 to a 650.

Yup, it is a leap of faith for the price. See my previous post about how the value isn't self evident. I did the math on a laser and a reset trigger for my glock. It was about the same price and I had to dicker with my competition gun for the reset trigger. I ended up with a green laser I can use in daylight at the range with a red takeup laser for looking at where I am pointing during my draw and for transitions. I cant' tell you how many inefficiencies that cleared up. Reloads and transitions are where you win a stage. Ask any master level shooter. The only regret is that I paid extra shipping to buy two extra magazines for practice. When you by one get a couple extra mags. I would've worn out real magazines by now the number of reloads I've done. The way I train when I attend a practice match is to look at scores and choose a stage to work on. Go back and shoot the stage with the SIRT. Learn what I did wrong, how to do it better, then run through it with live ammo once or twice. I can put a price on the ammo but not on the time saved. NEVER regretted the purchase. Mike is a good engineer and has made a good tool. I do hope the reputation of the SIRT pistol isn't hurt by the red laser only econo model. The green laser is worth it! DNH P.S. I have reduced targets in my office and I just shot 30+ rounds at over 10 targets in my room with a reload while writing and editing this post. Dry-fire drill with forum responses anyone?

The huge building of the front sight appears to be nothing. DNH

FATSO Don't underestimate your check pilot's insight. They're looking way deeper than your nerves. I think all of them think "In combat, will I be okay flying with this guy". The rest is not blowing test standards too badly to be unsafe. I had a check pilot in flight school that had the dubious honor to kick me out. It was an eval check ride to see if I should be set back or thrown out. I was honest and he recognized my weakness, I wasn't able to tell left from right, and he passed me. I was only 20 then and I will always remember him. Be safe, have fun, make a lot of noise. Both flying and shooting. You already know how to do it flying, it's the same when you shoot. Make it as easy as it's trying to be. Brian, You mean we actually have to WORK at this ZEN shooting stuff? Like the true reward is from actually WORKING at achieving something? Why can't I just buy a really cool gun get some "secrets" from a DVD and totally rock the field? But seriously... There are times when pursuing a goal I feel completely isolated. Instead of feeling alone the solitude becomes a welcome companion. The rounds I shoot are intimate and I can see the bullet holes appear in the target. Time does not exist. There is a clarity to all existence. This state is the reward I seek even though it is more ephemeral than the flight of the bullet. I know the value is greater than any trophy or check that I have ever known... I also know that the reward is found on the path reaching the goal not the pretty prize at the end. DNH P.S. I arrived in Mesa Arizona driving a 1972 VW van (type IV engine) in 1996. Ended up working for Boeing Helicopter and shooting small bore silhouette at Rio Salado. Perhaps our paths have crossed...

Next time, Im going to nail this in my head. Forget next time, don't wait to nail in your head...do it efficiently

+1 on Brian's book. When I have one of these "aha" moments I go back to his book. Reading the same words again means something more. You'll also find validation here. "Open and willing to learn" is a useful intention and will serve you well. DNH

If you want something that can assemble ammo get any dillon. They have great used prices if you decide to change models. It's a personal choice in the end and hopefully your next purchase will improve your spare time to enjoyment ratio. DNH

25 POUNDS and dropping! Two notches tighter on the gun belt. I still drink beer, eat chocolate and I'm not hungry. The only thing different is that I know how many calories are getting loaded. I really like the scanning and lookup features. The food database makes it so easy. DNH

Mike, Yup, racked up the trigger weight, I did that just after you posted your video a while back. It got me more "solid" on the trigger. I appreciate the videos and they have been valuable to me. Looks cold and wet where you shoot. I also sometimes set the trigger weight way down and work on transitions and sensitivity for the trigger take up. Now prepping the trigger on my real gun feels more like "riding the edge of reset" through groups of targets. Hard to explain, it's in the "smooth is fast" category. I guess you can sum up both methods as: drills for gross and fine motor control development under the heading of "trigger mechanics". It's similar to batting, where it's important to swing the bat with the speed and strength to send it over the wall but you must also have the control to hit the ball. Gotta have both. IT ISN'T SELF-EVIDENT HOW VALUABLE SIRT PISTOLS ARE TO SHOOTERS WITH LIMITED TIME I don't know how you could convey this without seeming like you're on a marketing campaign but I'm sure part-time shooters like me would be grateful. I feel like driving that marketing bandwagon a bit... I really wasn't sold on SIRT until I actually had one in my hands. It has made a noticeable improvement in my progression as a pistol shooter. I am keeping up with others who are putting many more rounds downrange than I am. I can undeniably say that it is because of the SIRT. It's always around and I do moving drills when I go from room to room for something. Keeping the gun up and coming around doorways has improved my shooting around cover. I can run through the refinement and repetition dry fire book without having to rack a slide. YAY! I know it's hard to actually define the difference between having to rack the slide or not but that feature alone is worth the price I remember getting really sloppy with dryfire without a laser. The nice green laser showing where the shot would've hit keeps me honest and it also shows whether I was slapping or jerking the trigger. My support hand only shooting improved. I jacked up the trigger weight and do figure eights and transitions WHO. Gross motor control for trigger finger, fine motor control for sight alignment. Transitions with the take up laser has got me to WARP SPEED with weak hand. A versatile training tool! a cat toy! blah blah, won class, blah blah blah made expert... the saga continues... I'll also thank you for my wife ; ) DNH

I've really connected with these comments. Thanks a lot! I feel justified in my desire to dissect my shooting during practice. I actually like becoming more efficient by obsessing about time and consistency. This has also reinforced that the correct way to approach a match is to "just shoot". Now I can truly enjoy the adrenaline rush at a match. Shootin' is just too much fun! Much obliged, DNH

I'm finding that rushing is the major reason why I blow stages. "Why am I rushing?" Is the question I am asking during practice and at matches. For me it seems to be the root of poor performance right now. I'm a mid-level shooter and feel that this may be the "wall" a lot of people spend years trying to get over. What is being said in my head when I'm rushing and what I know logically is true. Internal voices - Logical reality voices... "I'm going to push this stage just a little bit faster". - The only thing this proves is that pushing doesn't make me any faster That guy ripped through that section, I'll do the same thing. - I know shooting another person's match doesn't work. Boy that mover/turner/flasher moves fast I'd better get on it quicker than usual. - There is always time for transition or everyone else will be missing too. That activator popper/steel is calibrated really high, I'll make sure it's going down before transitioning and then try to catch up. - Take the time to make the solid hit then transition as usual. That was a sloppy draw, I've got to make up time. - That leads to pushing and bad mojo downstream from this point. It seems that running through a stage there should be a feeling of waiting which may be where the "slow is fast" saying comes from. Waiting for movers, waiting for the sights to get to the target, waiting for recoil recovery. This way you are ahead of the gun and remain in control. Does it feel like waiting for the rest of you? Should I cultivate this waiting feeling by having my eyes ahead of the gun? Is this the way forward to speed? DNH

Peasant, Did you try any suggestions? Any results or comments? I'm very interested in refining the fundamentals. "Fundamentals" is what I hear a lot from the top level shooters. It's like they've come full circle and have a deeper appreciation of the simple things. DNH

If you can swing the 550 then just do it. +1 on the 550. Undersized die would eliminate the rest of the hassles of getting a good batch of ammo quickly and cheaply from range brass. EGW undersized die I justified the aquisition by considering the value of my time and where I want to spend it. With wife and at the range. DNH

If there's a better excuse to get a new gun I haven't heard it! No doubt, fear or worry, slow is smooth with 100% confidence sounds like a good load recipe. The Tarheel 3 Gun shoot looks like a good match. I'm 30 minutes away in Raleigh. I'm putting it on my list. DNH

This part resonages with me. Focus on doing it right. I welcome not beating myself up as I count misses. Glad you posted this. A lot of jewels in there. DNH

I've been thinking about the difference between EXPECTATIONS and OUTCOMES... Expectations drive you towards a goal and are never static. Striving for a goal is positive. Improve on present performance, this creates forward motion towards goal. Getting hung up on outcomes like past performance keeps you in the same place. Avoiding the mistakes or recreating the successes from the past is futile and never ending. There will always be more opportunities to screw up and new mistakes to overcome. The effort is infinite, there is no reachable goal. “Staring at a bullet hole won’t make it closer to down zero”… When I hear that voice in my head "not again!" this tells me that I've tripped up on an outcome. That's when I know I need to let go. It's simply letting go but it is difficult. I think it's natural to go back forth between being motivated by expectations and tripping up on how we just did. How do you get untripped? What do you look for to check if you're tripping on outcomes? What did you do that really helped? DNH P.S. This post was motivated by the book The Trance of Scarcity Stop Holding Your Breath and Start Living Your Life

It was those pellets and BB's of my youth that really got the fundamentals down for me. It also cemented my life-long pursuit of shooting sports. I guess it was the experimentation of hitting something. Trying something until it worked. Rejoycing with every hit and not getting wrapped around all the misses. Why then, when we are older and more serious, do we forget those days of being intimate with a pellet gun and being able to hit anything? If I could only shoot my pistol like I could my Sheridan Silver Streak... I'd have ten times more fun shooting and do a lot better. There might be some value in taking the Silver Streak mindset to shooting. DNH

+1 on the EGW undersized die. EGW die I get two or three out of a hundred cases that I have to reject after sizing. If one binds more than the others I don't seat the primer and do a gage check. It usually passes but sometimes there's a bulge that doesn't get resized and I toss that case. If a round doesn't pass a gage check I do a barrel drop check and if it fits I use it for practice. If it doesn't feed or eject right I've get some malfunction practice. I believe this approach saves me time by incorporating quality checks while reloading and using out-of-spec reloads during practice when malfunctions can provide beneficial training. DNH

It's your parents fault. It looks like you have your priorities straight with safety at the top. It sounds like you're aware of the probablity of a mistake that would compromise safety and dial it back just a little. I don't think anyone should get beat up over this, your parents or yourself. Regardless of whether it's a mental block it sounds like you're working on the right things and not going out of control. That will translate in better matches. I still have a little voice in my head telling me to be careful. It's mostly because I don't want to get sent home early from a DQ earned by being unsafe. It's been a couple months since your first point. How are things going? Do you still feel it's affecting your speed? DNH

I am beginning to understand this too. Things are getting simpler and simpler. This is making focusing easier and matches funner. One thing I'm trying to balance is finding a way to focus while still being sociable with the "noise" of the: debating not "legal" stages, other folks complaning, and similar. Maybe I should have my earplugs in all the time... DNH

My wife and I love this app. 14 pounds for me so far. I haven't been this lean since I got married. Soon I'll be back to my high school weight Scanning the food and having it calculate everything for you is great! I'm not hungry and like knowing how much is enough. Maybe it's not related but I made expert last weekend. DNH

Glock-itis = low and left. It was common for me in the beginning. I was taught, when shooting a glock, to use the tip of the finger pad gives me the best straight back trigger press (the first third or quarter of the pad). It's a long pull by design. Give it a try. If things start going low and left again mentally check your finger placement. I also held off on any trigger modifications until I could shoot the stock setup straight. I spent the money on lessons which helped more than any trigger job could. Have fun, DNH

The weekend weather has been great here in NC! Low 70s slightly overcast and breezy. Hope you're out making glorious noise rather than stuck at work in front of a computer! DNH

Thanks, hopefully it won't take skinned knees, hand and loss of blood to learn more from Brian's book! I set the desire aside and the outcome happened. I didn't get the outcome, it happened. However, I am not foolish and will claim the classification and accept the challenge to shoot at the appropriate level. If they only allowed kneepads in IDPA... I can see the "tactically correct" stage description now...you're on your way back from the skatepark and... DNH