DoubleL

Wow. A huge list of due process just hit doodie. It's compiled neatly and nicely. Even with a proper title. Video evidence of this volume is staggering when seen in list form.

When I do my part, I can throw together a decent run some times!

Sharp looking pistol, bet it shoots really nice!

I've thought about clipping the corners off my SP01 Shadow rear sight, it was honestly just easier to remove that janky BT DOH. Is the SP01 Tac rear sight identical except for clipped corners?

This is one of the many reasons why I ditched my DOH bracket and started using the BladeTech holster attached straight to the belt bracket. Maybe you can't live without it but the first time I swapped the holster I knew I'd never regret it. I sure don't miss the scratches.

Every time I go out to practice I set up my targets and just jump right in. No warm ups or whatever, no mulligans. I usually use a first drill that is easy to track like bill drill or variation of the transition drill. I sort of made it a point to make myself shoot great cold on the first time. It's hard! One or two times doing it well and I found that my confidence really got a boost. I agree with PE. Kelley above, now I relish the first stage jitters! I can't wait to feel the gun jump! You know what it's going to do, you know where your mags are, prep and walk the stage like always and just poke holes in A zones! Like many of the concepts behind shooting pistol well... I say it's all in your head.

First and only setup. BladeTech with the DOH removed, 5 Ghost pouches plus a magnet on first pouch for the +1 mag when needed, all on a CR belt. Not a single problem from the pistol, the belt, the holster or pouches. I was aiming for "buy once cry once" and I feel confident I hit my mark The only real mod I did was to stick Velcro to the inner side of the pouch mounts. I've got the older style quick release type ghost mounts and it really sturdied up the whole belt. That and ditching the DOH, that thing and I just did not play nice.

You have a very good squad..... Really? It's not like this at your local matches? I could see at a level 2 or maybe a special match of some kind it being more of a every man for himself type deal but dang man a local regular ole weekend match and nobody in your squad would help the new guy??? That just isn't right. See something like a sneaky 180 trap area and just let the FNG run in and ace a DQ?!?! Dick move if you ask me... Bummer for you if that's the way you've seen clubs operate. The better and more experienced shooters in both clubs I frequent are always willing to help.

Sounds like you are off to a good start. Just be safe and have fun, in that order. Another one to look out for is retreating a few steps and then to your right, say around a corner to the last array. Super super easy to sweep your left arm if you let the pistol sag down at all. Just like the reload you described, it's just as easy to commit other offenses too, just keep your head straight and always remember that when in doubt ask a more seasoned shooter! It's helped me once or twice for sure, it goes hand in hand with letting your squad know you are a new guy. The whole squad will look out for stuff, at least that's the way the clubs I shoot at operate. Nobody wants to see a shooter get a DQ.

Reason #4 I think 20 rounds of 9mm is fun as hell, no matter what anyone wants to call it. Minor. Major. Bah whatever. Do what you're supposed to do and don't make mistakes.... Doesn't really matter what you shoot then!

At least you are aware of what you need to work on that's a leg up on the competition already. I forgot to add what helped along with the dry fire drills for me at least, very very focused and short live fire sessions. I'm fairly sure my live fire routine is what curtailed the pause in my draw stroke at that final stage of prepping the trigger. I'm talking maybe 75 rounds max, two draw drills, very focused. It's worth noting that I've found more results through strengthening my mental visualization and overall mental preparation than anything else. Again though, each person is different and what may work for some is bad for others. My buddies laugh when I say that I visualize a perfect slo-mo draw probably 200 times a day! Before sleep I see perfect sights. Sounds goofy I know but when I don't have time for dry or live fire well you just have to make do! Experiment and find what makes you learn the best fastest easiest way.

A strong grip does help! Emjei- The drill I mentioned is from Steve's book. All of his draw drills are to a sight picture only, no trigger break. It didn't make sense to me at first, but after trying it I've realized that the actual shot is the quickest part of the whole draw. It's all the other stuff I am trying to get my times down on it's sort of a mind trick too I think, makes you focus on SEEING rather than squeezing. Doing drills like that to a sight picture only helped immensely with my draw. I can't fully explain why, but it works for me. YMMV!

For myself, doing Steve Anderson's draw drills really helped. Mark your times and stick to it. Draw to a perfectly aligned sight picture with a fully prepped trigger, do not break the trigger though. Everyone is different though, maybe just pulling straight through would work better for you. Messing around one day with a friends Vaquero really opened my eyes to what it takes to hit stuff with a full pull The whole not breaking the shot part really was hard to get in my allotted base par times. It was a real eye opener, and I learned how long it REALLY takes me to go from holstered to ready to break a shot. But sure as can be, with practice my base times started to fall. I'm still well within the beginners times but improvement is nice, especially on match day. Try some drills, mark your times and don't cheat to beat the buzzer. Let the time be what it is and train to shorten the times simple right?

Nice shootin'! I think it would be cool if more people added their own 50 yard groups of 6 to this thread. Oh, 'Regular Shadow' only of course. I'm going for a quick practice session tomorrow AM. I'll see if I can set up a 50. I'm not sure if I can get a group as nice looking as that, but I'll try

Quite frankly, the classifier stages simply aren't as fun to shoot as other stages. (Copied from above) This is sort of where I thought this would head to. I had a short convo with a very good open shooter at one of the two local clubs available in my area, several other shooters in line to register that morning all agreed on the topic of classifiers. The classifiers available don't really translate to the sport as it is actually played. A shooter can rip on a 6 stage classifier day and get his butt handed to him by C level shooters the next weekend. I find it amazing how different the classifiers are from the actual stages we shoot.

For me, dry fire provided the best way to correct what I call "the Kilroy". Be honest and don't let yourself peek over the pistol while doing dry fire. I stacked items that I should be looking at so as to almost not give my brain the time needed to look at the stupid target taped to the wall! Like first the sights then the magwell then the sights and run the timer. You'll know right away if you're cheating! So far, everything I've tried in dry fire has just about directly implanted itself into my live shooting so be careful what you practice! No cheating to beat the beep!! Some really good advice in the thread. I'm about to start the 10foot movement drills and begin putting more focus into footwork and efficiency. Most really good shooters I watch use the efficiency in their movement to reap huge gains in hit factor.

Propeller or polish plate rack is my favorite. Stars are fun too. Lately I have really been enjoying all the moving paper though. Have to agree with above though, the drop turners are super awesome IF they are timed right to really give shooters an option as far as engagement order when mixed in an array. I've found that when our MD sets them up he makes it a point to sort of give about three ways to hit it. Easy medium and hard! Each with it's own pros and cons based on your skill level. Good for you on looking for new props too. A little research will make a lot of shooters happy. On a side note, my newest thing I really enjoyed was man on man bonus stage with two new plate racks our club recently acquired. Man on man race to a crossover knock down popper with a mandatory reload in between the rack and popper... Totally bonus for fun and everyone really had a blast doing it. Big plus 1 for two matching racks!!

Level I match lil buni. I'm pretty sure there was a minimum amount. But I also thought there was a max amount also right? And that amount has just recently been changed?

Interesting points from all. And I too am sure that every club has a few of "those guys". That's not my main concern with this post though. I'm really more interested in how many clubs out there include classifiers more regularly now. And what about the classifiers being required? Anybody have an opinion on that?

Something came up the other day while talking about classifiers. The question was why do some local matches have classifier stages and others don't? I understand that in the past all classification updates were done by hand, which sounds absolutely insane to me, but now I hear USPSA is transferring to a more modern system for keeping record of classifications and scores. This sounds like a very good thing to me, I believe the difficultly in updating is what lead to a cap being placed on how many scores a club could turn in per shooter. Now I believe this cap is part of history correct? No limit now on how many scores per shooter over a year right? Now this is just my opinion, but I am curious as to how many agree or disagree and why. I believe that all level I matches should be required to have one classifier stage per match at all times in order to actual be called a USPSA match. I believe that if the match uses USPSA scoring and divisions and classes and rules.. What really separates an outlaw match from the real deal? Turning in official scores that's what. I think that the more often a shooters ability is ranked against everyone else's the more accurate the overall rating system gets. Wouldn't you love to see those sandbaggers out there have to tank a stage every match? Again this is just my honest opinion. Want to shoot USPSA matches? Want to use USPSA rules, divisions and classes? Then turn in official scores. What do you shooters out there think?

Nothing but hate for it. Stupid desert wind at 30mph blowing grit so bad it hurts when it hits you. Trashed the stage we tried to start on about 12 times super classifier match cancelled. Huge bummer. Stupid wind. I hate you.

I've seen two CZ75B's both black and two or three Phantoms but NEVER have I seen an SP01 Shadow and I would literally fall over if I ever spot the mythical Czechmate in any of my LGS's, that would be almost as unlikely as spotting a 40P, or a Unicorn! You will be old and grey by the time you spot one in a regular ole gun shop around my area. Building a poor mans czechmate would be cool but if all you really want is the finished product, you might be happier just buying one.

What? No stars in IPSC? Pray this is blasphemy. I have zero knowledge of IPSC rules and I may just be showing it right now. What would lead a shooting organization to leave out one of the absolute most fun targets to shoot at? I built a star just because the fun factor is off the charts. If true, IPSC just lost a few points with me, no stars is like a match without 'no shoots'. A big +++1 to Nimitz! The PPR is what it's all about! I can think of no better reason to practice and dry fire than the PPR. Clearing that one is a real confidence booster the first few times. You also learn REALLY fast what works and what doesn't as far as visual focus

Steel is the best, so fun. Wipe a plate rack clean, you get immediate gratification. Nothing more disappointing, or boring in my opinion, than too much paper. I want Texas stars and propeller plate racks and falling steel and poppers big and small and any other evil steel target the MD can come up with. A target big or small, far or near, steel or paper, doesn't really matter any ways, you still have to put a hit on all of them. If paper seems easy because it's "bigger" you're probably just fooling yourself shooting at brown. The A zone is tiny!

I just waited almost two months for my RangePack Pro. Showed up yesterday and I loaded it all up. The bag is big but so nice to be able to see and get to all my stuff. Very nice It sure doesn't seem like it will sag. I'm thinking of storing it hanging up by the shoulder straps, maybe take some weight off the bottom compartment for all the hours it spends just sitting.