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kcobean

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Posts posted by kcobean

  1. is this a single occurrence or are you saying that since you've been dry firing regularly your match performance continues to get worse? Also, how long have you been dry firing 4+ days per week?

    It seems like every time I start a dry fire regimen, my match performance drops, so I stop. Yesterday was particularly bad. I had a lot of trouble hitting mini-poppers and plates at probably no more than 20-25 yards and I had at least 2 hard-cover Mikes.

    I've really been dry-firing consistently since the weeks leading up to the A8 Championship, so about 6 weeks I guess.

    A local GM gave me some good advice, which was to not stop, push through it. Treat it like a plateau. I guess time will tell.

    I was also very tired yesterday. I had gone and hauled a bunch of tile and stuff for a bathroom re-model on Saturday and was busy all day. Could just be coincidence I suppose.

  2. I've really been trying to be consistent about dry-firing 4+ times per week, for at least 30 minutes per session. I shot a match today and honestly it was probably the worst shooting I've done in a long time. I was having trouble with front sight acquisition and focus on the long field courses and I couldn't hit the distance steel to save my life. I don't know if there's a relationship between my increased dry fire regimen and my trouble today, but it was very frustrating.

    Anyone else experience this?

  3. As I always tell my son, you're ready to shoot the stage when you can stand here with your eyes closed and mentally shoot every shot, every target, make every movement, every reload in sequence without thought. We call this our "Mental Video Recorder" and it prevents having to think about whether you've shot a target or not, which will cost you seconds.

    In our walk-throughs, our goal is to walk the stage only the number of times required to mentally record our stage plan until we can replay it in our MVR. I only have to know how to execute a stage for a few minutes until that shooting is in the past. So I make that stage plan the thing in my mind until "range is clear".

    The practice of MVRing the stage, and then executing the plan I've recorded has, for the most part, eliminated having to wonder if I've shot a target or not even on complicated memory stages.

  4. My favorite zen question is: What is the sound of one hand clapping?

    My answer: The mind understanding itself.

    Our attitude toward the question is a big part of finding the answer.

    "Why can't I" becomes "What do I need to do?"

    If we recognize our attitude we get so much closer to understanding ourselves.

    Many people externalize their limitations, some go so far as to blame others, as if someone could prevent them from excellence. That doesn't seem possible to me.

    If it is, a change must be necessary.

    Learn to hit the target

    Learn to do everything else

    Hit the target

    In shooting, blaming others for one's lack of excellence is just denial. Circumstance seems to be a more palatable scape-goat, and is much easier for people to convince themselves of.

    For example:

    I have not achieved my shooting goals because I have no place to do live fire.

    or

    I have not achieved my shooting goals because I don't have the time to drive to the range frequently enough to have an effective live fire training regimen.

    These are two that I have said myself. But the reality is, I could join a "local" gun club with outdoor shooting bays that I could practice in, and I could choose to drive 90 minutes each way several times a week to get there.

    Sometimes, "understanding" means recognizing that "balance" will prevent "excellence". In fact, I'd say that's probably true most of the time.

    This probably belongs in a different thread, but it did relate to understanding.

  5. Better yet go full communist and have one production gun that everyone has to use. For example Glock 34. There is a stage gun on every stage, everyone has holster and mags that work for a Glock 34. But everyone has to use the stage gun so there is no advantage. Level playing field. For the greater good!

    Welcome Comrade! LOL

  6. Nope, I don't have the WSB gng4life. We had a stage at a local match that was very similar. Our weak-hand was tied to a tether that prevented its use for freestyle shooting and you had to step out of the FFZ to the rear to reload or risk a 180 violation. The WSB specified strong-hand only for all shots.

  7. Ok, so you're saying that in a course of fire that *could* be shot entirely freestyle, the WSB may not stipulate anything more than the final 6 shots as single-handed, but you can use props and such to force an entire stage to be strong or weak hand only? I guess in this case "stipulate" is a bit vague.

  8. Rule 1.1.5.4 says "Medium or Long courses of fire may stipulate the use of either strong hand or weak hand, provided that only one hand, either strong or weak, is specified for no more than the last 6 shots required."

    So here's a stage from the 2012 Area 3 Championships. Is this stage, which is 16 rounds, strong hand only with 8 shots, reload, 8 shots, a legal stage?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umE_ZpJsHp4&feature=youtu.be&t=3m51s

  9. I got my hands on 8 lbs of Ramshot comp and need to work up a Major PF load for .40 using 200 grain bullets. I'm using 3.9 grains of N320 currently (which I love) and based on which burn-rate chart you look at, Competition is similar. Does it sound safe to start at 3.6 grains and go up based on chrono results?

    I used it all the time for .40 w/200. No problem starting at 3.9. I believe I ended up at 4.2, but all barrels are different.

    Awesome. Thanks. What kind of bullets were you using out of curiosity?

  10. Yeah, the polymer guns like shorter OALs (around spec, which is 1.135). My STI loves longer OAL...I'm loading 200 grain Bayous or Blue Bullets to 1.185 and it cycles like butter. When I tried to shoot some of my XDm ammo at 1.13, it was very "clunky". Conversely, the 1.18 OAL rounds won't even fit in my XDm mags.

    If you like the 2011 platform and can't load those Lee bullets any longer, you will probably want to consider a longer bullet. And even then, if it's a standard conical wad-cutter profile, it may still give you feed problems. The round nose bullets are sweet.

  11. Per Appendix D4 Item 21.6, this would not be Production Legal:

    "Any other components which are externally visible may ONLY be replaced with OFM parts which are offered on the specific model of gun or another approved gun from the same manufacturer except as specifically clarified below. Examples of external components which may only be replaced with OFM parts include (but are not limited to): magazine releases, slide stops, thumb safeties and triggers."

    OFM = Original Firearm Manufacturer.

    Sure is a purdy lookin' trigger though.

    Our clarifications from NROI have all said that as long as it matches the factory part, you can use it. This matches the factory part.

    Well, I stand corrected then. :)

    That sure makes an RO's job hard though, doesn't it?

    That ruling was under John, I have a message in to Troy to verify that he will rule the same way. There is no real way for a RO to know who made the part if they are identical, and that was the logic used in the past. The XD 45 part is metal, so we really are just offering a metal part because SA won't sell them.

    Makes perfect sense. I can't see Troy ruling the other way (or why he'd revisit the previous ruling in the first place).

  12. Absence of ego, a teachable mind, and unfiltered observation.

    Barring these, constant exposure to a concept or idea. At some point, understanding seeps past ego and presumption and an epiphay occurs. It makes you wonder how much faster we could learn if we could approached it with the innocence of a child.

  13. Per Appendix D4 Item 21.6, this would not be Production Legal:

    "Any other components which are externally visible may ONLY be replaced with OFM parts which are offered on the specific model of gun or another approved gun from the same manufacturer except as specifically clarified below. Examples of external components which may only be replaced with OFM parts include (but are not limited to): magazine releases, slide stops, thumb safeties and triggers."

    OFM = Original Firearm Manufacturer.

    Sure is a purdy lookin' trigger though.

    Our clarifications from NROI have all said that as long as it matches the factory part, you can use it. This matches the factory part.

    Well, I stand corrected then. :)

    That sure makes an RO's job hard though, doesn't it?

  14. This is why I use the powder-check die in station 3 on my Dillon XL650. I've already had one nasty hand injury, I sure as hell don't need another.

    Green, really glad your came out of this ok, and I hope SA is able to get you back up and running.

  15. Per Appendix D4 Item 21.6, this would not be Production Legal:

    "Any other components which are externally visible may ONLY be replaced with OFM parts which are offered on the specific model of gun or another approved gun from the same manufacturer except as specifically clarified below. Examples of external components which may only be replaced with OFM parts include (but are not limited to): magazine releases, slide stops, thumb safeties and triggers."

    OFM = Original Firearm Manufacturer.

    Sure is a purdy lookin' trigger though.

  16. Coincidently, without ever reading this thread prior to this morning, I just found and installed a quality right sided mag release button. I had an XDM that introduced my hand to the concept but I never really practiced it enough. It felt uncomfortable and strained my trigger finger to hit the button.

    I recently picked up an STI Trojan and I hate the mag release because I have small hands. I ordered a lighter spring for the stiff mag release but I still have to shift the gun too much for my liking to do a mag change. Lucky for me, the location of the right sided mag release button is PERfect for my trigger finger to reach it without shifting the grip at all from a very firm grip. Bottom line is that we all do things that "work" for us. No 2 GM's are alike. They all do something different. So who cares what the upper echelon shooters are doing with the mag buttons. I sincerely doubt that how you hit the mag release button is stopping you from that M or GM classification.

    I'm a lefty who's been running an XDm for a few years now with an extended mag release on the right side of the gun. I recently picked up a 2011 and it's quite the adjustment to have to release the mag with my left index finger. Fortunately, my mag release spring is light enough that it's not a problem, but it's gonna take some retraining to get used to it. I'm not aware of a right-side conversion out there for the 2011. I'd probably buy one if there was.

  17. As I read the quote in the OP, I thought to myself "understanding". There is much we can do or not do, there is quiet mind, there is focus, seeing, and on and on, but unless you understand what any of it means, then it is lost.

    Here's a perfect example: I shot with an area director once, and he said "much of this sport is about conservation of movement". I nodded my head and said "yup", but it wasn't for a year or two that I really understood the wisdom in that statement. Another example is the phrase "press the trigger". There is a lot of wisdom in the choice of the word "press" versus all of the other possible verbs that could be used. It's still something I am trying to implement without thought, but there is much to be understood about that phrase, I believe.

    Understanding - it is the catalyst that makes knowledge valuable.

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