Esther

fireman - Thanks for the input! 1) I've tried several of the suggestions on this thread and am sticking with the flip for now (as I mentioned earlier, it helps if I focus on slamming my weak hand to the mag pouch, but I still fumble the mag release sometimes...). Shannon Smith is one of the best shooters in the world, but his best way of performing reloads may not be the best or most efficient way for me. My friend who is a Master level shooter has been helping me with my reloads, and he does this motion where he presses forward with his thumb while curving his other fingers around the back of the gun. Well that does not work for me at all. That's why I Googled videos of different top shooters performing reloads to see how they eject their mags. 2) I think I sort of "knew" that SA had two books, but only realized that both existed (in that I should own and read them both) when you said that. Just ordered; thanks! 3) Awesome for you! Sending PM re: training and results. :-)

Haha yeah. With us, the bottom line for any decision is: "How will this help in a home invasion?"

Does anyone else convert purchases into ammo? My girl friend who is a corporate lawyer regularly buys Prada handbags and shoes, and I always think, Holy shit that is a lot of factory reload 9s!

Thanks everyone. Jon, the belt and mag pouches you loaned me are helping me so much, thanks! And yes, will make it out to Richmond soon. BSeevers - good! Pick on me as relentlessly as possible. I got a timer for Christmas and used the par feature for the first time four nights ago; that was when I realized how slow my mag changes were and posted here asking for help! Just got Steve's book and am starting to go through the drills! ddpenn - thanks for the tip on Max Michel's video, will check that out.

BSeevers - you should pick on me even though I am a "dudette," otherwise I will never get good! I realize my trigger press is absurdly slow and am working on it! I want to make M/GM and have to start somewhere. When I get really good it will make a better story how slow I was at the start. So it sounds like I should focus on smooth form, do tons of reps, and allow the speed to come as I become more familiar with the movement? I did more reloads last night and found that if I focused on getting my support hand down to my mag pouch as quickly as possible, I had less trouble hitting the mag release. Eventually I want it to become all one programmed sequence in my brain (i.e., "Change mag!"), but right now I need to consciously learn the motions. Thanks so much for all the suggestions. Y'all are so helpful! :-)

Kevin - going to try to make it this Saturday!

Thanks for the replies, guys! Mike, I tried hitting it with my left thumb and it doesn't seem to work for me... though that was a good idea and I'll give it some more tries. Chris - bringing my elbow in does seem to make it easier to shift my grip on the gun. Working on shifting my gun in my hand over and over without doing an actual mag change is also a good idea. Kevin, thanks for the suggestion, but I can't reach the mag release with the third finger of my gun hand at all.

Hi, I'm just starting to work on my reloads and have been practicing them slow and smooth just looking the spare mag into the well. I also do them with my eyes closed and can - if I do them slowly - feel my hands' relation to each other in space and slide the mag in, though sometimes it catches a bit. I'm about two and a half weeks into working on mag changes and have a couple questions: 1) I can't reach the mag release button on my CZ without changing my grip. I've tried several techniques of adjusting my hand position, and the one that seems to work best (or at least feels most natural) is what Shannon Smith does, which is to flip the gun in his hand so that his thumb lands on the mag release. The problem is, I am WAY too slow in hitting the mag release and I don't always hit it right the first time. (When this happens, I follow through and hit it again since in competition, I can't start over when I screw up, but I'd really like to avoid it happening in the first place.) Any ideas? 2) I practiced mag changes with a par timer for the first time yesterday and am super slow. I can do a consistent mag change and target transition in 2.5 sec (don't laugh!), 2.9 if I'm pulling the trigger as well. (I am also too slow in pulling the trigger once I have an acceptable sight picture, but that is another post..). When I do slow, smooth reloads I feel like my body is sensing its relation to itself, and I can "feel" my hands meeting along the same line, the same angle. But when I try to speed up I totally lose that sense and am just trying to jam the mag into the well as fast as I can. I know that the top guys can do reloads in well under a second -- my question is, do I get to that point by gradually speeding up my smooth and slow reloads and only doing some where I go so fast that I "lose" my body sense? Will it gradually become second nature for me to execute a reload at top speed without feeling like I am rushing or not confident of my body orientation? I'm aware of Burkett reloads and think that may help me to be much faster in grabbing a spare mag and bringing my hand up to the mag well. So I'll try that tomorrow. Thanks so much! This forum is awesome.

Thanks for the replies, guys! Kevin - that's a very good point about not conditioning myself to aim at a specific point in the A zone that might be covered by hardcover or a no shoot in actual competition. And yes I definitely plan to visit the Richmond range soon!

I'm new to IPSC and thus far have only shot at PPC targets. Does anyone have suggestions for how to train myself to index on the A zone of an IPSC target? (Did you draw a mark on the part of the A zone that you were aiming to hit, or just aim at the center of a regular IPSC target?) Thanks!

Thanks, guys!

I'm just getting started competing in IPSC. Could any of you CZ shooters recommend a good holster, belt and mag pouch setup? I shoot a CZ 75B 9mm. Not sure if this makes a difference, but I'm female. Thanks! :-)

Thanks for all the helpful tips! I really appreciate them! Jon - wait, are we even allowed to shoot mags with more than 10 rounds for Limited in California? I would have thought that there is essentially no difference between Limited and Limited 10 in our state. I normally shoot at Reed's Indoor Range in Sunnyvale. I've been eying IPSC ever since shooting my first round several months ago (it looks like so much fun!), and Richmond and Chabot seem to be the closest ranges that offer competitions in the Bay Area.

Wow you guys are awesome! Thanks for the fast replies! So follow-up question: If I shoot best with the CZ but have trouble managing even one good shot using DA (I'm a lady and haven't that much grip strength), would you recommend starting in Limited or Limited 10 instead of Production? What are the advantages/disadvantages of beginning in each? Thanks again for helping a total newb!

Thanks! Is that because IPSC has a general rule that ALL DA/SA guns must be fired DA first? And, can I modify my CZ in such a way or get an SA only version that is still Production legal?

I'm a new shooter looking to compete with a 9mm CZ 75B in Production. Can I start with the gun cocked and locked (hammer back, manual safety on)? I met an experienced IPSC shooter who told me that I would need to fire the first shoot in DA mode. That surprises me because the CZ has no decocker lever, so firing a first shot in DA would be not only annoying but unsafe. If he's right, then can I get my CZ modified to SA only (or buy a SA-only competition version) that is Production legal? Thanks!!