[1st stage nervousness ...how to shrug it off?]

I guess until reading this, I didn't know so many people go through the same thing and in some way that kind of helps. I have found recently doing some dry fire at the table has helped a little.

[Is your carry platform same as competition platform?]

Shoot M&P 40 Pro 5" for Limited and 3-gun and M&P 9 for Production. Carry M&P40 FS.

[2011 or not...]

I come from the who cares camp. The only thing that's eating at me is, do each of those guns accept the same "clips"?

On a serious note, if they do accept the same type of magazine, wouldn't that make them the same type of pistol?

[picking up brass after every stage]

On a personal level, being at a match for 3-5 hours, I want to focus on shooting and not wearing myself out even further by worrying about and picking up brass, especially when it's 100+ degrees outside.

[Whats in your USPSA bag]

Found a half eaten pack of peanut butter crackers in the bottom if mine yesterday.

That's not as bad as finding a month old banana. Reached in one of the pockets and felt something that just wasn't right. If you do take a banana in your bag, eat it, don't save it for later.

[Whats in your USPSA bag]

I guess I don't have enough crap in my bag.

For a match:

Eyes

ears

mags

pistol

ammo

mag loader

fiber rods and lighter

hand warmers (if cold)

bag for brass

bannana

crackers

water.

If I need something else, I'll just borrow something from someone who has more crap than I do.

For range practice, it's a different story, I have an additional bag for that.

[how to stop blinking?]

My solution isn't very technical. I heard someone say once, "Why would you want to blink and not see where the shot went?" I thought that made sense. I really can't remember though if that was before or after I stopped blinking, but it was a little more intentional afterwards. I do catch myself blinking when shooting long range with my AR-15.

[Do master competitors point-shoot?]

I have wondered about this same thing. I'm not the most experienced shooters, not the least experienced either. I have found myself in the last few matches not focusing on my sights at targets in the 3-5 yard ranges, or at least I don't recall focusing on my sights, either way, I know I'm not "calling my shots" if I understand that term correctly. Either way, on those targets I've been getting mostly A's or mostly lucky, but still wonder if that's the proper way.

[picking up brass after every stage]

The majority of matches I have shot are the one at the range I'm a member of and two others out of state. No one has ever been assigned to pick up brass other than shotgun shells at the 3-gun matches and everything has always worked out fine. From my perspective, everything should be focused on keeping the match running smoothly so we can get home before it gets to be 110 degrees. Still we have a few who like to pick it up while everyone else is tearing down which I call being somewhat disrespectful. Let's keep the matches rolling and get it tore down, then worry about the brass.

[Favorite Movie for Best Fighting, and Shooting Scenes]

I always thought the house fight scene in Mr and Mrs. Smith was pretty funny.

I'll second Mr and Mrs Smith. Next one that comes to mind is Tombstone.

[Should bigger matches have Themes?]

I've never shot a match with a theme so I guess it wouldn't matter just as long as we have a match shoot. I just want to shoot.

[Pros and cons of moving to production from limited]

I'm in the same boat. I've shot about 4 USPSA matches and really liking it, 1 in Prod and 3 in Limited, Production was last weekend and I enjoyed it just as much as Limited. We have about the same number in each division. My Limited gun is just a bone stock M&P40. I shoot more 3gun, so I feel a beefed up Limited gun would work best for me all around. It's been driving me crazy looking for a really good reason to justify the purchase of a M&P40L or a G35, but then again, do we need a "really" good reason for another gun purchase?

[Nervous? Your body is just trying to help!]

I can probably count the number of matches that I have shot, and about the middle of last year I noticed I wasn't as nervous as when I first started, or even nervous at all. Until now, I thought that might be a good thing.

[Coming at you from OK]

I've been hearing about this Brian Enos for a while and thought I should stop by on my way through and see how he may benefit from my knowlege and background.

Yeah right, probably not a whole lot, if he hasn't learned to tie his shoes maybe...

I'm probably what some would call a casual 3-gun shooter (once a month) and a little bit of USPSA and a trip to the range for practice once a month and a bit of dry firing to make up for not being able to be at the range the rest of the time. I don't have a lot to offer, but a lot to learn.