lumpygravy

Edit - Deleted due to inadvertent double post. Is that like when your gun doubles?

Greetings from California. I watched Stages 1-4 (will return for the rest later) and have these observations; 1] I echo mudman's observation about your upper body on the releaod - it cants to the right. I think this might be caused by the position of you mag pouches. The more vertical positioned they are, the more straight up you have to draw them in order for them to release from the pouch. 2] Ditto on the "snap". I read somewhere (probably in BE's Fundamentals) that you should be able to touch your off hand to your chest before the gun releases from the holster (or very shortly thereafter. I use the same thinking in reverse when I practice my reloads. My off hand should be, at a minimum, on the mag before the empty leaves the magwell. Now you were using a single stack and that has it's own considerations that affect both points. For example, you may not have enough real estate on the belt to significantly angle the pouches and still have enough mags for long stages forcing a more vertical position to fit enough mags to accomodate the stage. Lastly, not an observation, but along the lines of dry fire practice in front of a mirror, why not video your dry fire practice? I'm willing to bet a little time in front of the camera practicing your draws and reloads will help identify all of the little areas that you might not be aware of during live fire or during a match. I plan to do as much (or more) video of my own dry fire vs. live fire. Side note: I shot a stage similar to #4 eons ago when I first started. I lost track of the targets and had a bazillion misses... How'd you do on that one?

I've spent a little time on the SVI Gunbuilder site working up a new limited gun and one of the nice things is that after you submit your initial design spec to the factory, you can message back and forth if you have questions or want to change something in the original spec. During my spec, the subject of the grip material came up and Brandon recommended aluminum for a carry gun (read: shot infrequently) and steel or stainless for a competition gun (read: shot a lot). Given that you're looking only for a grip, I'd say just call SVI, tell them about your situation and ask what they would recommend. I can't comment on the grip styles but my current spec is for the small/medium sized straight grip with skater tape. It's probably the most similar to my polymer STI grip which is sanded down and skater taped.

In the last two weeks, I've sent inquires to two separate vendors to their posted email address. One was an inquiry about new business and the other was an inquiry about future ordering (I had already ordered and received a previous order). Not a peep from either vendor. I'll not name them here as it wouldn't be appropriate and I'm still giving them the benefit of the doubt. However, I hate having to go shag them down to ask the same question twice. I'm trying my best to throw money their way, but apparently they just aren't willing to catch it. Rant over.

Greetings, I'm returning to the sport after a long hiatus and I hope to be seeing you at Richmond in the near future. If you're asking about your two points, I'd say that you were successful in accomplishing these if these were your objectives based on what I saw in the footage. While it can be difficult to see everything because of vision barriers (both human and stage props), I could not see that you broke our grip unnecessarily while moving between close points of fire. I'm a little guy so I'm naturally close to the ground yet unless forced to by the COF, I tend to stand relatively straight up when engaging targets. I think that one may have a reletively erect posture but if the knees are comfortably flexed (as opposed to locked - not that yours were) that one can begin the tranistions/movements quickly. The reason I like to be reletively erect is I feel feel less tension in my neck and shoulders. Please keep in mind that I haven't been shooting in over 10 years so all of this could be considered hogwash. Maybe the question to ask (that you've probably already answered) is did you shoot all of the points that you wanted on these stages (except stage 3 - with 5 mikes, you know you didn't on this one)? You provided mini self critiques along with each segment so if nothing else, you know some things that would be good to practice. I'll say one thing, the easy availability of having video for self analysis is one thing I wish I had 10+ years ago before I stopped shooting. It would have proven a valuable tool.

From woodworking - my other hobby: "I measured twice, cut once and it's still too short..."

Thanks Jake. Here's some backgound: "... to tear a healthy Achilles would usually require a stunningly horrific event." My favored position was setter. As such, I would have to sprint to a fairly specific designated position on the court from any one of six areas on the court. It was during the push off phase of sprinting to the setter's position that I ruptured the AT. It felt like a "pop" not unlike an ankle sprain except that after it happened, there was no way I could walk on it. "... I don't know what your current training program looks like" Being stuck in an office, I am diligent about walking the hills at lunch everyday. I ride a bicycle and walk the dog. That's about it for training. The hills are in San Francisco so they are of a grade that can actually be a challenge. As much as possible I emphasize pushing through the ankle area as I stride uphill - think a whole bunch of calf raises. When I ride, I try to emphasize keeping my ankles flexible and the up/pull return stroke. Additionally, I do simple balance exercises i.e. rudimentary gynastics scales (balancing on one foot). I will certainly view the link you provided. It seems I'm on the right track with jogging mixed with short moderate sprints. Thanks again.

Greetings PT forum. While away from this sport quite a number of years ago, I ruptured/tore my left achilles tendon playing volleyball. According to the ortho it was pretty nasty and I opted to have it surgically repaired. It has been a number of years since the surgery, the post surgery PT and I feel that it is about 85-90% of where it was prior to the injury. I returned to volleyball and played again (at the same level) for a year which was enough for me to say to myself that I didn't have anything left to prove and that I could quit without using the achilles tendon as an excuse. Now I'm returning to this sport and here are my questions: If you have experienced a similar injury what precautions/preparations did you take to: 1] protect the injury from reoccuring? and 2] accomodate the injured side so that you made smooth quick movements when you had to push off from that side? Like vball, many field courses require sprinting from point A to point B in different directions. Unlike vball, our sport has a lot of down time where one will inevitably cool down between actually shooting (and sprinting). I plan to get out to a park (or somewhere more open than my tiny backyard) and do some light jogging with some moderate sprints in the mix. If nothing else, I'll at least be able to gauge how hard I can push off my left side. Any other suggestions?

Easing back into the sport after almost 12 years... 11.10.10 - finished adjusting and fitting new rig; dry fire to refamiliarize my self with my limited gun 11.14.10 - light function fire at a local indoor range to verify purchased ammo works with limited gun; no malfunctions in about 150 rounds; will have to zero at outdoor range with better light 11.15.10 - dry fire exercises; refreshing the body on my natural point of aim; reloads with empty mags - need to find my dummy rounds for maore realistic mag weight insertion resistance That's all for now...

Well I didn't think I post again quite so soon, but after a little patient work with the needle files, my dry draws now result in a nice smooth release for my SA .45 single stack. Additional fitting notes: 1] I removed all of the sharp edges on the insert slide lock anywhere it contacted the channel of the insert. 2] The channel milled in the insert for the external activation lever was the cause of the "hang up" mentioned in my earlier post. The screw that constitutes the lever was rubbing on one side of the channel. 3] I don't think it was necessary, but I deburred the edges of the pressure plate where it contacted the insert slide lock. In a nutshell, I made sure that all of the moving pieces moved smoothly and now they do. Dry draw observations: 1] There in no perceptible audibile "click" when the gun is drawn or reholstered. I'm used to the click of the giant ball detent of my old Limcat. 2] I feel I have to draw/lift the gun up slightly higher (than with the Limcat) to achieve a full and clean release from the holster and the motion must be straight up. I think this will fade into the background with time and practice.

Many years ago shooting my first "big" match the extractor on my gun decides to crap out in the middle of the biggest stage. The stage ended on a sled that moved forward to a low port which meant going prone. By the time my single shot and I got there and finally finished, after "Unload and Show Clear" I asked the RO if I could stay there prone and cry. (What? There's no crying in shooting!) I've also had to quit a stage because of a squib.

Greetings, I'm returning to the sport after a 10-12 year hiatus. During that time off I got fat so I ordered up a new DA belt and RM holster with a 1911 insert. When I "retired" I was using a 1st gen Limcat (required positioning pin and hole in trigger guard) and before that all of the Safariland race holsters. Observations: 1] Nicely machined and reasonably well finished aluminum and delrin parts. There are some sharp edges on the insert and a little deburring would have been nice. There are some tooling marks, but to be honest, these areas and the areas that could be deburred are on the inside when the insert is mounted. 2] Most adjustments are easy to make. Adjusting the holster cant/swivel/tilt is not as easy unless someone helps because it is positioned using a ball/socket that is secured with two allen screws. 3] After wearing and dry drawing for awhile, I miss having a thigh pad. The end of the height adjustment arm digs into my leg. I've read somewhere, maybe here, that one can put a slight bend in the height adjustment arm and I'll give that a try. Notes specific to my gun/holster fit: My 1911 is an old Springfield Armory frame and the holster insert opening is a tight fit to the trigger guard. I measured the opening at .357 and my trigger guard at .365 so while I can jam the gun into the holster, it is with a considerable interferenece fit. (STIGuy - this may be the problem you're experiencing). I'm slowly filing a few thousandths from the sides of the opening so that it will better fit my SA trigger guard. I suspect that for a given model, DA manufactured the inserts to be on the minus side of the dimension to ensure that guns with narrower trigger guards would still fit. After all, one can file away a little delrin, but it's much harder to add it back. Also, while dry firing, I've had a number of draws hang up with the gun not releasing smoothly from the holster. I think it's the piece that fits the trigger guard but I have to eliminate the opeing interference first before I can really look at what may be the cause. I probably won't get to use it for live fire for awhile but I'll update this when I do.

Greetings to the Forum, After a better than ten year hiatus, I am making plans to return to the sport that I had once found to be truly enjoyable. This past weekend I visited a local match held at my home club and even though it was raining, all I saw was good people having fun despite the weather. I met a new shooter who was accumulating his classifiers as well as two of the "old guard" - guys that I had last seen over ten years ago. I could feel the excitment and energy of the new guy and the old guys actually remembered me and were truly welcoming and welcomed me back to the range. I remember my beginning and first reading Brian's book and all of the good information contained therein. This forum is an excellent extension using technology to further share great information for all from all. I am truly looking forward to learning the sport again. DVC jon ng L-2151