[Who wants to race me to A class?]

WOW! Andrew (beltjones) you have been Master for awhile? Great Job! When I originally saw this thread two years ago, I thought about joining and just never got it done.. I was a B at the time and it looked like fun! I recently turned Master and I have often thought about checkin in to see who was where! A lot of great movement from a lot of guys! Kuddos to all!

[Classifiers and 6/8 shot]

Hello USPSA Section Coordinators and Club Presidents,

Per direction from USPSA President, Phil Strader, I am sending this email. Please get this out to all Match Setup staff, directly.

With the division change to Revolver, allowing 8-shot Minor, going into play in February...USPSA needs to pull some of the classifiers (at least for the time being). See the list below. You are getting this ahead of any changes on the USPSA website.

Nobody wants to lose any classifiers...even for a little bit. However, if you take a look at the list, most will show a clear advantage when comparing an 8-shot gun to a 6-shot. Such is the nature of the beast.

Please don't run the classifiers on the list. All other classifiers on the USPSA Classification page should be current (over 60 classifiers to choose from in upcoming matches).

Here is the list of impacted classifiers. Again, please don't run these, as they are in the process of being removed from the website:

1302

1305

1307

1309

9941

9957

0303

0304

0308

0309

0601

0602

0604

0605

0902

0904

0908

0910

0913

DVC,

Kyle F.

USPSA Area 5 Director

Classification Committee Chair

Flex we shot 3 of these last week and they were turned in before Feb. are they going to count? Kent

I hope you are well!

[iMarksman Review]

I put together a short clip, I incorporated a few of Ben's 15 Minute Dryfire stages from his book.

Once I got it all set up and tweaked the sensitivity for the sensor camera, I was off. I set up a few stages and saved them to the list and got started. Once you either click or shot the stage name in the list list it shows the stag and then, shooter ready, stand by, BEEEEEP. Draw and fire.

Cyburg thanks for posting! I will chat with Andrey when he gets back from the Shot Show, but if I drag my trigger at all the program will read the hit at the place it leaves of as apposed to where I initially hit. Does your's do that?

Kent

[iMarksman Review]

I'm with Cyburg! I have had mine up and running for about two months and I love it! It or me has a few bugs but the repetitive high volume training with my SIRT/iMarksman setup is already showing its worth. I am a hair short of Master and I have been involved with this sport for four years as of today and I have seen so many shooters spend far more than $700 for for a new pistol or a head cam or any number of new things to improve. And they for the most part don't... If I told you you could reach two to three higher classifications for $1200 at the start of your journey (SIRT/iMarksman) would you take it?? Only you can answer that.. I received my SIRT a month after turning B and made A 9 months later. One year later I am sitting at 83.65% and very confident as a shooter.

I don't work for either company also.

[Does anyone use a dummy gun to dry practice for COMPETITION?]

I'm a huge fan of the SIRT and use it daily! Went from B to A in 9 months once I got mine. I run stages in my backyard on a daily basis also,.

[Is this a "BS" target?]

Bart, that was such a fun stage and it was so funny to see Zvi put one in the center of the stripe.... I hit the center stripe but caught enough of the brown to get my points! I figured it would be safe to aim at the stripe as where I am aiming is probably the safest place on the stage...haha. Kent

[SIRT pistol]

I am so stoked I can hardly stand it.. as I mentioned before, I received my SIRT Pro within a week or so of getting my B Class rating last March... As of last Sunday with two great classifiers in a row (91% & 83%) (and two very good match finishes in a row after being off for 2.5 months) ( I kept up my consistent practices and even gained on my competition) I made A a year faster than I had hoped and there is no way I could have done it without this practice tool! Before I purchased it, I admit I was a Dryfire Nut and it was helping without a doubt, but the SIRT takes it to a whole new level of training. I am continually amazed at the money people spend on other things in our sport, such as trigger jobs and such... the $money I spent on my SIRT was my far the smartest money I have spent on my improvement in the sport we love! When you spend time with this pistol you learn and see things you would never see with your live pistol because you can spend more time with your SIRT and it never lies to you and you can test out thoughts and ideas instantly!

If you are willing to put in the effort, then spend the money and you will be amazed as I was at the speed of improvement!

[SIRT pistol]

I started a new drill with my SIRT.

I'm using a metronome to work on transitions. Working on speed and efficiency.

The take-up laser helps a lot with reducing the excess motion.

I find I over-run the next target if I don't have my eyes on the next target before the gun. Usually a bobble of the take-up laser.

Link to the thread:

metronome training thread

I'm hoping you'll find it a good way to use your SIRTs.

DNH

Dave, thank you for your help on this! I am really enjoying this drill! It really gets the eyes to work efficiently OR you end up getting REALLY sloppy..

The sights for me start as a blur and then as I get into the drill they and the target become very clear! Great job and thanks again!

[SIRT pistol]

SeaTact,

So...when you miss you engage your brain and deconstruct what happened. I think this is good for fundamentals and I do it often. Especially at targets at the other end of the house.

Here's something to try and you need a SIRT. Dryfire just using sight picture just doesn't cut it...

As a speed exercise I have targets on the wall in my office arranged as different CoF. Some of them have non-threats in front of them. I get the metronome (iPhone app) going and I start doing 1-1-2-1-1 or 2-2-2 sequences at a set tempo. This does two things. It keeps me from rushing and also helps transition times by reducing the "lingering" on a target. Shoot and move on.

If I know I'm not rushing and I miss I know it was some variable, trigger, grip, timing of transition etc. Bad shots happen and I want to immediately shoot again instead of spending time deciding whether to do a makeup shot. It's like what you're doing by calling the shot but immediately shooting again instead of analyzing why.

It's that elusive upper level shooter thing. They know the shot was bad before the gun went off and they're already sending another.

I hope I described what I'm doing and trying to achieve.

DNH

Dave, which metronome app do you have?

[SIRT pistol]

I debated on shelling out the $$ for the SIRT PRO Model for several months. Finally decided to do it as I was bit by the competition bug. After shooting 20+ competitions straight every weekend, I decided more effective dry fire practice was needed. I bit the bullet and ordered the SIRT PRO and a 3 pack of mags. Started watching Mike's videos and instantly started to see my time improve dramatically at matches. I then started playing with the adjustments on the gun ( cranking up the trigger pull and break ) Then realized the gun was not functioning properly. Called customer service and spoke with Carolyn. She was extremely helpful and within one day she had a new gun in the mail to me along with return shipping for my original gun. The new gun showed up 2 days later and sent the old one back. What a great company to deal with! I was so impressed with the customer service especially the continued communication with Carolyn. She was the best. I am so glad I bought the SIRT and ended up winning my division today at our local IDPA match today. This really is a great product from a great company...

I have had similar experiences with them and I am with you! Great customer service, great company and great product...

PS... I am having great results as well!

[SIRT pistol]

Well said! I see shooters spending a lot of money on things to make them better shooters and I honestly doubt that they get the improvement they are looking for and I seriously doubt they get the quality practice that the SIRT offers... my transitions before I purchased the SIRT bordered between .45-.50 and now I am between .25-.32 with far better accuracy than ever before. From 7 yards i can consitantly hit 1 sec draw times with A hits, before i was happy with 1.35's. I can run 6 stages in my back yard in 15 minutes which is priceless. My movement is getting better and better as I constantly work on getting into and out of shooting positions with solid reloads, and I can get hundreds of quality trigger pulls in just a short amount of time. On live fire days, i can run through my drills with the SIRT before hand, or if im struggling with something live, i can pick up the SIRT and work through it. I almost never miss a day of practice because it is so accessible.... Best money I have ever spent on a sport..

Hey DR58, I tell you, your response gets me jacked up. Now if we can take your mind set of tracking gains, quantifying results, being accountable to yourself in results and hitting training, engaging in self diagnostics and not just throwing lead senselessly. Your cracking the code on getting high volume training in daily, carrying it over to the range. I would hazard a guess that you are hitting the range with self perceived deficiencies and working on those areas that require strengthening...

I am very partial to competitive shooting community because we get better and don't lean on BS like 'lets not use a shot timer', or the attitude of "that drill is not relevant because the sun and stars will be in a different location in a gun fight"…. or whatever. As I interface with other shooting communities I am shocked at 1) how little shooters actually train, 2) how reluctant shooters are to look in the ugly mirror and 3) the amount shooters in other venues want to pontificate and talk, debate, while they could have set up a drill and make strides in validating their points.

I don't want these words to be out of context, but my point is that you, DR58, are tracking results, getting gains, making self assessments/self-diagnostics and getting better,… we need to crack the code on this mentality across the board for the 52M handgun owners in the US. Not only is making gains accessible and simple, but heck, its fun! I think we get it as competitive shooters but shooters that choose not to compete for whatever reason seem to have great reluctance on accepting the tried and true concepts going back to miyamoto musashi, train, hardwire in motor neuron skills, build robust skills that produce high performance independent of mental, physical or environmental states. Granted competitive shooting is not the only thing to train, some appendix concealed carry, reloads from front pocket, threat discrimination/decision making with scenarios… we need to implement these training blocks in our personal practice (thankfully scenarios with proper safety protocol is quick and fun to set up!), but developing raw reliable speed and accuracy… that is a kick ass 1000 mile journey to be on!

Mike I LOVE it when you use big words... I agree 100% and I am so grateful you have gone down this path!

Signed soon to be an A shooter...

[SIRT pistol]

Mike,

Thanks for the drills!

I think you're adding to the value of SIRT rather than marketing when discussing drills and techniques on this forum. If you come out with a 1911 version the forum traffic might get out of control and that could be considered hype marketing.

On accountability: With no recoil, trigger mechanics aren't lost in muzzle rise. You have nowhere to hide. Just follow the bouncing ball, it will tell all.

Shooting is about what happens before the shot...

Shooting on the move:

I use the take up laser for the moving Anderson drills. Figure eights are my current focus. That takeup laser is instant feedback to my feet. I can test techniques and push limits. Laser on target tells me usable technique and speed. Then I make sure I maintain a good trigger press. It's bizarre how trigger press goes out the window when moving!

Honest Practice = Perfect Practice

Distance:

40+ yards isn't in every bay at the ranges I frequent so most of my longer range work is with the green laser. A streak of light tells a lot more than just a hole in a piece of paper anyway. Also this eliminates the bullcrap stories I tell myself about whether I hit something during dry fire. I admit to questioning the SIRT but mashing the trigger and aligning the sights tells me that the tool is good and it's operator error. It's a good reality check and I can get back to honest practice.

Auto response database

"Auto response database" is a useful term for me. I'd say that "database" describes the skills and techniques in general. Now it would be a matter of "migrating" that database into the subconscious to make it "auto response". Thanks!

The "auto response database" or subconscious skill set is of interest to me. I think these are valuable to both competitive and defensive shooters. Subconscious techniques kick in when we shoot cold or under stress. You're shooting from the subconscious skill set whether after waiting an hour to shoot a stage or being jumped by armed bad guys.

I try to be extra mindful of what I do when shooting cold. That is probably what I will do at the buzzer or under stress. I believe this also reveals what to focus on refining.

Self Diagnosis

Diagnosis to me means finding out why there is a the difference between what happened and what was desired. For me, shooting a gun is basically "aligning the gun with the target and making it go bang". If the intended target isn't hit then something wasn't aligned when it went bang. So, diagnosis starts there then I look at fundamentals...Okay, most of the time I usally blame the gun first.

Great stuff Mike!

DNH

Well said! I see shooters spending a lot of money on things to make them better shooters and I honestly doubt that they get the improvement they are looking for and I seriously doubt they get the quality practice that the SIRT offers... my transitions before I purchased the SIRT bordered between .45-.50 and now I am between .25-.32 with far better accuracy than ever before. From 7 yards i can consitantly hit 1 sec draw times with A hits, before i was happy with 1.35's. I can run 6 stages in my back yard in 15 minutes which is priceless. My movement is getting better and better as I constantly work on getting into and out of shooting positions with solid reloads, and I can get hundreds of quality trigger pulls in just a short amount of time. On live fire days, i can run through my drills with the SIRT before hand, or if im struggling with something live, i can pick up the SIRT and work through it. I almost never miss a day of practice because it is so accessible.... Best money I have ever spent on a sport..

[Transition Drill Part 1]

It took me quite a while to find this old post, so I started a thread with it to make it easier to find later...

And for a live-fire drill, next time you're at the range, try the following drill.

Set up 3 IPSC targets at 10 yards, about a yard a apart, edge to edge. Only hits in the A box count. On the buzzer draw and shoot one shot at each target - left to right, then repeat left to right, then repeat again left to right - for a total of 9 shots. Check your time, add a half second for each non-A, and note your score. You don't really care about your score that much, just remember it for later. Shoot a 6 - 10 strings, to establish an average score. While you're establishing your average - you're just shooting like you normally would. Don't try any new tricks or anything at all. In the end just know your average score for the drill.

As I was typing part 2, I thought of a way to keep it real. There won't be a part 2 until you go to the range and do part 1. Then PM me, and I'll reply with part 2.

be

Brian, would you send me part 2 again?

[Glocktrigger.com Vogel edition]

A ghost 3.5, Wolff competition spring set and polish job. Nuff said. The glock trigger is so easy. But if people don't want to, the name gives I credibility.

Agree and great to have you back

[Sevigny Competition Sight Set need help on G34]

Poor trigger control. that the reason we need to practice...

All of us with our sight pushed to the right. We've found our answer.

Phil, are we going to see you soon? Kent

[SIRT pistol]

Awesome Scott...

I tried to to take a mag apart a I couldn't get the plug out after taking the screws out. Do I just need to pry harder?

I had a slight issue with my pistol and called Bill at Next Level Training and WOW! They had a new pistol to me in three days along with a pre-paid postage and box to ship it back in.. That is how customer service should be!! I have shown my pistol to several of my shooting buddies at the last match and I thought it was so funny when one of them (An A shooter and the Production Match winner) said something along the lines of "I really tried hard to not like this thing but it's not working very well..

I practiced in my back yard today at 15 yards and the possibilities are endless as to what you can practice!!

Hope you enjoy Scott! Kent

[SIRT pistol]

I received my SIRT Pistol yesterday and I am THRILLED so far... Jeff Wood http://traintocarry.com/ is another one of those great vendors that take such good care of us shooters! He is a straight shootin guy who does what he says and is also offering a Virtual Shooting Range that I am excited to get when it arrives.

It offers IPSC and IDPA style moving targets that can be adjusted to distance.

Thank God for my tolerant wife who only smiles when I shoot anything/everything in the house with the SIRT. After a few squeezes of the trigger it is very easy to ignore the green laser dot unless you are way off target, then it becomes very obvious that you have miss sighted or yanked the trigger.

I am looking forward to my first full Dry-Fire regimen today..

http://traintocarry.com/

Did you order it from Next Level Training? I am just wondering what the current wait times are, I am the impatient type.

Patrick, i ordered it from Train To Carry and I did have to wait about 10 days as the one he had in stock had a defect. Jeff is a great guy and may have more in stock now. I think I paid $365 for the Red Slide Pro Model. I am more impressed every time I pull the trigger on it. This pistol always tells you the truth on your sight picture and trigger control

[SIRT pistol]

I received my SIRT Pistol yesterday and I am THRILLED so far... Jeff Wood http://traintocarry.com/ is another one of those great vendors that take such good care of us shooters! He is a straight shootin guy who does what he says and is also offering a Virtual Shooting Range that I am excited to get when it arrives.

It offers IPSC and IDPA style moving targets that can be adjusted to distance.

Thank God for my tolerant wife who only smiles when I shoot anything/everything in the house with the SIRT. After a few squeezes of the trigger it is very easy to ignore the green laser dot unless you are way off target, then it becomes very obvious that you have miss sighted or yanked the trigger.

I am looking forward to my first full Dry-Fire regimen today..

http://traintocarry.com/

[SIRT pistol]

Thank you for all your comments and feedback. I thought I should give a little bit of background on the SIRT Training Pistol.

Background:

I am Mike Hughes of NextLevel Traning and the idea of the SIRT Training Pistol first came after USPSA nationals in 2008, when I was talking with Rodney May and we were discussing training shooting on the move. Rodney told me about how he puts a laser on the rail of his Sig and a pressure switch behind the trigger. I tried this, but with a striker fired gun (not a double/single), it didn't work very well.

So, I bought an auto resetting Glockmeister trigger, took out the barrel and JB Welded a laser in the slide and soldered the red laser leads to the resetting trigger to make a switch. This turned out to be the first “proof of concept” SIRT. Initially this gun was just for training shooting on the move; however, over the following 3 or 4 months, I naturally started to use this gun for all my dry firing.

Going Full Bore:

After showing this initial gun to a few key people who I respect greatly in the shooting community, I was hit with strong encouragement to try to take the pistol to the next level. We made a ton of improvements from the proof of concept including a powerful green shot laser, red laser trigger take up indicator, fully adjustable trigger, etc.

Really the key element I found, is to get a higher volume of training with higher feedback to insure quality of movement. For example, to get a higher volume of trigger pulls, on the range I shoot one set of an array of steel live fire and then do 4 to 5 sets drive fire with the SIRT Training Pistol. This regimen allows me to get a higher number of repetitions by working more on draws, reloads, presentations, target transitions and most of all… trigger control. Then I can integrate these skill sets with recoil management with my live fire pistol.

Trigger Control!

After a lot of use with the first SIRT and seeing a few hundred people with it, I found that there is a room for improvement there is on trigger mechanics for shooters across the board. The ugly mirror of a comet tail sweep of the green laser ruthlessly exposes when I am using bad trigger mechanics. Michael Bane, really nailed the analysis in his online audio show at http://www.downrange.tv/blog/?p=1474 at 42:36.

Anyhow, the whole reason we came up with the design, was to get more training.

The SIRT is just another tool in the toolbox. I don't think that a SIRT should displace live fire at all, but personally I felt I needed to get more reps just like a basket ball player always needs more freethrow practice.

Again I appreciate any comments and feedback. Feel free to give me a shout anytime at (360) 933-4640 Ext 204.

Hi Mike, I enjoyed you and quality representation of our sport on Top Shot!

I am about ready to pull the trigger on the purchase of the Sirt but I wanted to make sure that a G 34/35 version wasn't on the near horizon as that is what I shoot.

Any help appreciated! Kent

[Glock 35 ejection issues]

I'm pretty sure all my Glocks do this, and, as described, on an erratic basis.

I just wear a hat...

Kevin, it was good to see you Sunday! Kevin what front site height do you use on your 34/35? for your Warren Tactical rear? I just ordered the WT rear and I am hoping my .195 will work... Happy Thanksgiving!!

[Suggestions on which Timer to buy?]

I'll post this yet one more time.

Cliff notes version: pocket pro2.

Expedited version of the various problems with the various timers.

Speed Timer 3000 - With more competition, it's not relaly that cheap anymore. The review process nukes the data after one scroll trhough. In "hot" weather, the screens go black and you can't read them without icing down the timer. "Hot" means a sunny day over about 65 if someone leaves them remotely exposed to sun. If it is over 95, probably happens before the end of a match even if left in the shade. Also doesn't have very good features for practice. Oh, and the pocket clips break off. If not easily, inevitably.

Pact MK IV - pretty awesome. Also not actually made anymore. Biggest problem was not dealing well with being dropped due to their mass, and that the small dot matrix display is a bit of a pain under low light or for people without the best eyesight.

Pact MKIV XP - PIle of suck. IT has a multi-string buffer that as it gets full delays the "instant" beep. Use it at a real match, and halfway through the day, "instant" may mean 12 seconds after you press the button. Pact said this is not possible. I sat down and figured out how to reproduce it as well as how to reset it (which is buried like 6-8 steps deep in the menus). Explained it to PACT. They said that is not possible. Demonstrated it on 12 different units. PACT won't talk to me anymore. We essentially had to throw out $1200 of timers because they were ruining matches bad enough that we couldn't even give them to other match directors (they had suffered through them at said matches).

Pact club timer - UI is the worst UI for ANYTHING I have used in nearly forever. Setting up a par time stage with the manual in front of you is a supremely frustrating experience. In hot weather, not only does the screen go black, but before that it starts randomly failing to record shots. Very bad for a match. It is also just very awkward to hold and use.

CED7000 - nice and compact. The rechargeable battery is a double edge sword. Very nice when you remember to charge it, very painful when you don't. For a match you can get battery packs, but they are awkward at best, mean you have parts you have to not lose, and realistically you ahve to have someone carting them back and forth AND remembering to charge them. The menu system is nearly as complicated as the CED8000 without as much flexibility. In hot weather the display goes clear and you can't see the time without icing it down. Under optimum conditions, the 8 segment numeral are small and a bit of a PITA to read fast. Plus about half the units we have procures have a heavy "oil slick" rainbow effect to them.

CED8000 - Very complicated menus. EXTREMELY flexible as a practice timer, way too complex for a match. Display does pretty well in the heat, and the huge numbers are good for the guys without good eyes. But the hinged design is a mess. The piezo element that makes the beep is right next to the microphone. This means you never really get your draw times in live fire because the first 6-8 entries are the very minute gaps in the beep tone. They are the only stock timer with headphones for dryfire (thats good), the headphones are non-standard, so if you lose them you are SOL (that's bad).

Pocket Pro - dead simple with a well behaved review. But the 8 segment display goes black in hot weather (most outdoor matches) and is hard to read in bad light (most indoor matches). It has basic par time functionality, but you can't set up more complex dryfire par time drills. When it is only about $10 cheaper than the pocket pro2, buying it makes little sense.

Pocket pro 2 - We still haven't abused them in the peak of summer yet, but the screen seems to be pretty immune to blacking out or going clear, and the Benosverse has given feedback to the effect that folks in the gulf states and the desert get through summer without that problem. They have enough features to be good for dry fire practice, and are "turn it on, press a button, read the time" simple for matches. The use 9 volt batteries, so no getting caught flat footed by someone forgetting to recharge them. The display has a bigger number mode for the older guys with bad eyes, and a backlight for indoor matches.

So, my #1 all around recommendation is the pocket pro2. It's what we are gradually migrating to for four distinct matches as our pact MKIV and speed timer 3000s crap out. Between t hose matches, we will essentially be throwing out 14 pact MK IV XP timers, 7 CED 7000 timers, and 8 pact club timers for having unacceptable problems.

My #2 would be a toss up between the CED 7000 and 8000. But purely form a dryfire/practice standpoint. It's really a battle between not buying batteries and a convenient form factor vs. not having your wife stab you in the face after the 8 millionth beep from the basement makes her snap.

As a bonus for competition electronics, not only did they spend more time answering questions before we actually purchased anything than the companies whose product we owned, they also got back to us quicker, and actually HAD ANSWERS to the questions we asked regarding the manufacturers specs regarding the display used in the timer. Nobody else could do that, even if they had a good attitude and tried.

PACT has simply become near impossible to reach and verges on hostile. The speed timer 3000 guy basically ahs the attitude of "i'm not interested in improving it, if you don't like it don't buy it, I know what problems it has".

Thank you for taking the time!!!! Kent

[Suggestions on which Timer to buy?]

I gotta go with the PACT timers, I have two at the moment, a MK IV and a MK IV XP. For training functions I think it is the best timer on the market.

d it

Pat, I know this is an old post but I am now shopping for a timer and if it (MK IV XP) chronos as well, this might be a good option.

Have you used it as a chrono and does it download the data to your pc as it claims? I would love to find a shot timer that I could download the days

practice strings for study as well. Thanks for any thoughts you might have! Kent

[Flex$]

Pretty good weekend. We shot an 8 stage Steel Challenge match on Saturday, and a hard (Rayner's) 6 stage USPSA match on Sunday (twice).

Steve Anderson said about one of the stages at Rayner's...."Can you think of a stage that you've shot...anywhere...that was harder than that??"

Heading out to the Nationals on Wednesday.

Packing up and doing gun/gear/ammo prep tonight. I'll hit the range again tomorrow to dirty up the gun and check for function/zero.

Have a good trip and an even better match Kyle

[Newbie Scoring Confusion]

A friend of mine who is also a USPSA shooter/accountant took some time out of his day to go over the match in question and it turns out I did finish in front of him in the overall Thank you everyone for the help on understanding our scoring system!

[Newbie Scoring Confusion]

Let me add one more easy to understand the math example. It is all hypothetical, of course. At our local match, with 5 stages, George won production by at total of 20 match points. Mark came in second, though he won 3 of the stages; however Mark zeroed the 100 point classifier stage which George won and received all 100 stage points.

When the divisions were combined, Shooter X smoked/won the classifier, his hit factor was 2X George's, therefore when combined George only got 50 Stage Points for the Classifier - Mark still got zero points, so the point differential for that one stage went from 100 points (production only analysis) to only 50 points when combined. This change was sufficient to reverse the standings between Mark and George in the combined analysis.

Mjl that is a great example and even makes some sense for a math idiot like me....

There IS a reason I shoot production... The math of 10's and 8's is all I can handle....

Thanks..