Derek Wallace

Awesome match! Thanks to everyone who worked to make it possible.

So.. Back on the horse after my very short performance at Miami Rifle and Pistol Club last Sunday. Gearing up for the Indiana Sectional on the 11th has got me excited. I am going to be out of town for the Circleville match so it looks like it will only be practice rounds between now and then. Being back into local matches and having my 3rd major looming is definitely making it easier to invest time into practice. Last night my dad and I did a dry fires session with Steve Anderson and it was pretty awesome. Steve was full of tips, observations, and was quick to point out some things I should focus on. He also had some ideas to help improve my mental game which should prove helpful. I am really excited to put this into practice and highly recommend these session for anyone who is close enough to drive and see Steve.

I agree with wide45. You need more data points.

I have had a good experience with the ETMs. The lips flare out a bit with use but a quick squeeze with a pair pliers every now and then keeps that in line.

So I forgot the camera again this weekend! Oh well, I knocked a lot of rust off last week during practice. Stage 4 is always tough at Rayner's and anyone who saw the windmill thing from last month or this past weekend should understand how easy it was to pick up a no-shoot there. CMCalc is giving my a high 70s for "Two Times" and it looks like I am continuing my march to A class. Also, my brother came out to shoot which had me really excited. Hopefully he can continue to make it to matches. During the re-shoot, I shot limited for the first time. Wow, it is a ton of fun! I actually got so excited that I didn't need to reload that I skipped a target at one point. My focus is going to remain on single stack for most of this year. That being said the limited rig is going to get some practice use and possibly some time at local matches.

Its been quite awhile since my last post so I figure its time for an update. I finally got to shoot a match again last Saturday at PCSI and the rust was thick. Things just felt a bit sloppy and I felt like a spent a lot of time waiting on the sights/gun to be where it needed. Nothing like shooting a match that doesn't feel crisp to get you motivated for some practice. I also took my first crack at running a squad on Saturday and lets just say that I need some practice there as well! Knowing that I am back into the rhythm of shooting weekly matches has really helped me on the daily practice front. Even on the days this week where the schedule has been a bit tight I have made the effort to pick the gun up for at least a few minutes. Hopefully I can keep this up. I figure that even if I only get 5 minutes in it is better than skipping it all together and getting out of the habit. Headed out to Rayner's on Sunday which is always a fun place to shoot(Who doesn't like steel!). The re-shoot is going to give me a chance to play with limited and I think my brother might make the trip with us which would be awesome!

Been picking the dry fire back up lately, it is fun to have Mike's book and some new things to try out. Switching it up definitely makes being consistent easier. I also got out to the range on Saturday for some live fire and it was HOT. Calling shots has been a real focus for me and although I feel like I am making progress I still haven't had that "click" moment so many people seem to have. I am thinking I might try some limited out later this year, probably at Rayner's when I have the chance to shoot an entire match twice. Importing in single stack is still my primary focus. The exciting news is that I will be able to make all three of my local matches this month and because the month ended on a Saturday they are three weeks in a row!! Four matches and a practice weekend before the Indiana match. It is time to get serious.

Steve, I've have thought about doing this with a you a few times and I think my dad and I might be interested sometime in the near future. I have had my eyes on making it through B class and I have been way to busy for shooting the past 2-3 weeks. I need to make up for lost time! What times do these sessions usually take place and what is the cost? Thanks, Derek

Dry fire has been few and far between lately. I was in two weddings the last two weeks and took some time away from practice for the festivities. Last night I got down to PCSI to do some live fire drills from Mike Seeklander's book. The session felt really productive and structured. My static reloads are not nearly as fast as I thought they were and I feel like I might be torquing my body adding a bunch of extra movement. Closely documenting my drills has also helped me establish some "all A" pars, max speeds (where I start to throw Cs), and out of control (when I threw a D and realized I was moving way to fast). I was really amazed at how quickly these sessions can be run and I think I might try to make the trip weekly. I have a trip to Michigan this weekend, but after that I am back to local matches on a weekly basis for the majority of the season! I am all squaded up for the Indiana match, and I will most likely be attending the Michigan and Indiana single stack matches.

I shoot the same gun and have the same problem in the same spot. Now I just have a nice callus in that spot. Shoot more and it will go away

Braxton, thank you for the heads up. I have considered getting after market followers to throw in these anyway. As a quick update I did get the mags in the mail today. They are in way better shape than I expected. The mail came while I was home for lunch so I threw the basepads on without any sanding or adjustments to the followers. 20 rounds went in pretty easy with my UPLULA. Obviously the 9-5 has prevented me from running full mags through them but they seat really easily and the slide cycles pretty easily on a full back. So my initial advice would be that if you are short on mags, and want to run a 40 cal limited set up, buy some of these!

Try clearing your cache.

Yes like that but without the DQ for the finger in the trigger guard. Movies

I called in and they told me all of the pictures were taken at their facility from their stock so I am going to grab some. Once I get the mags built up and have a chance to run them in the gun I will post some feedback if anyone else wants to pick some up. Thanks a ton for the help Kyle. I think I saw an old post where you modified the followers (the one with the awesome MS Paint diagrams in it). Is that how I should sand them out?

Welcome to the world of having so much more than a phone. Seriously, I would say calls represent about 10% of my call phone usage.

Happy hour tonight and a wedding tomorrow means a break from the dry fire grind. I think I am going to be able to get down to PCSI Sunday for some live fire. Still have some 230gr loads left so I am going to run some of Seeklander's drills with the 200gr and 230gr bullets. Hopefully I can get some results on which bullets are better for me. Dropping the bullet weight to 200 has me thinking that going from 15# down to 14# on the recoil spring might be a good idea too. Any thoughts?

Kyle it is actually CDNN. I'll admit being greedy I didn't want to post it here and have them sell out. I just called and they told me they had like 500 so I think we can all get some. http://www.cdnninvestments.com/gl224015lefa1.html

Let me preface my advise by saying this is my first season shooting single stack. I think most of the time you will be dropping those extra rounds anyway. With 8 shots from a single position being the max all you have to do is not miss! That being said steel heavy arrays can mess you up pretty bad when you have to clean them. There are also some stages where you may be able to engage targets in a different order with more rounds.

Thanks for the reply. I have some Dawson base pads on order from Shooters Connection, hopefully that combination works just as well. I am assuming those were re-loadable for you?

So I am looking for some Glock magazines to run in a limited rig and I have been reading about them quite a bit. Based on what I have read the old style magazines that either have or will accept the #5 follows are the best bet for getting 20. I got to looking around and I have found some used LE Glock 22 magazines. My logic is that since I am going to change the guts on these it doesn't really matter that they are used. The mags have the squared cut out on the back of the feed lips so they appear to be drop-free. At a glance I think this is the right way to go, and since they are only 13 bucks I could go ahead and get new followers and still spend less than new mags. I do want to reference the experts and make sure I am not making a mistake. Also, I have a few questions: Are these the type of mags that will accept a #5 or Arredondo follower? Am I correct in thinking that they are drop free because of the squared back? Are the older style mags really easier to get 20 into? Any advice is welcome. Also if I am being a complete fool and should just grab some new mags please let me know. Thanks in advance.

If it feels good shoot it? The general shape on 1911 frames is going to be pretty similar. There are some things that will vary, like front strap checking, under cut trigger guards, the shape and fit of the beaver tail, etc. There is also some really easy changes you can make like grips and the main spring housing. A piece of advise that you probably will see repeated is to try and find a fried who will let you try some things out. There is also a lot to be said for just going to the store and holding a few different guns.

Very nice work.

The slow motion POV video behind the M&P may be the most informative post I have ever seen about shot calling. This is an area in which I currently struggle. I know very well what shot calling is, but after SEEING it like that I cannot wait to get behind a gun for practice this weekend. Hopefully my eyes and mind will sync up with the sights now that they know what to watch for! Awesome stuff.

Practice was short tonight but I have started to take some more recent baselines of my times on very specific fundamental skills. Thinks like draws, transitions, reloads, getting the gun on target entering a position, etc. Since I let my dad borrow Steve's book I have really gotten away form this and I think it was bad for my progress. My mind had shifted towards a "big picture" approach. Obviously I am not going to ignore the big picture but I think at this point there is a lot for me to gain by becoming fluid and efficient in all of the pieces before I try to put the puzzle together. Whittling time off of these small drills should provide some solid metrics to measure progress. The second half of the night was spend reloading. I am working up some 200g loads (vs 230g) loads for my single stack gun. Not really sure how I am going to like the lighter faster load, but I am not going to be able to make any matches until Pickaway next month so I have some time to try new things. Should be able to get to the range on Sunday to take some chrony readings and shoot some groups. I will probably run some drills to see how they feel as well.

My app is in the mail. Can't wait!