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FTDMFR

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Posts posted by FTDMFR

    Faster Transitions in Cover

    in IDPA Shooting

    Posted · Edited by FTDMFR

    I'm still working through this stuff myself, but here are my thoughts:

    • If you can shoot an entire array comfortably without moving your feet, then it's fastest to lean.
    • If there's an array where it's impossible to shoot every target without moving your feet, then plan that ahead of time in your walkthrough, so you can move your feet as fast as you can without any hesitation when the time comes. It's a HUGE time waster when you think you can take a shot while leaning, and then you figure out mid-stream that you're going to have to move your feet after all.
    • It helps to do some experimentation to see how large an angle you can comfortably sweep from cover. I found that when shooting around cover on my weak side, I can't lean very far and still remain stable, so I end up having to move my feet a lot sooner than when I'm shooting strong side.

    FTDMFR's Range Journal

    in Range Diary

    Posted · Edited by FTDMFR

    MONDAY 10/26/15

    I've been super lazy about updating this, so here's a quick recap:

    2015 West Coast IDPA Championship

    • 1st person video, 3rd person video
    • Placed 2nd SSP, 4th Overall
    • Went into the match with the goal of moving more explosively than I did at IDPA Worlds, and it seemed to work out.
    • Had some aggressive stage plans that worked out.
    • Was within striking distance of SSP DC, but I gave it away by shooting a bunch of no-shoots (not to take anything away from the guy who won DC).
    • I'm still working on trusting my match mode. I went into a couple of stages with the mindset of shooting fast, and it hurt me pretty bad.
    • I went super gamer on a stage and took the stage win!

    2015 Lone Star IDPA Championship

    • Placed 4th SSP, 13th Overall
    • Fairly happy with my movement speed at this match.
    • Did not do a great job at planning/visualizing a couple of stages and paid for it.
    • Overall, not a great match performance for me. But it was still a really fun match.

    Ben Stoeger Class

    • Took a two-day private class. Day one was Fundamentals, day two was Skills and Drills.
    • Really great class. There were only four students, so I got a ton of trigger time (1300 rounds) and individual coaching.
    • Takeaways:
      • I've been practicing trigger control wrong for an entire year! I've been practicing riding the reset, when I should be practicing pulling through the entire trigger press. Ben thinks that's why I might be shooting low when shooting at speed. Kind of a bummer, but at least I know how to correct it.
      • Trigger mechanics aside, my accuracy can be spotty. It's good when I'm doing my part, but I tend to lose discipline when trying to move through a stage at 100% speed. I will work on being more visually patient, in ALL conditions.
      • The class really helped my position exit / entry. In live fire, I will start focusing more on movement and less on stand-and-shoot skills.
      • I was advised to rework my reload technique, particularly the angle I hold the gun when I'm inserting the mag. I'll start practicing this daily.
      • I need to remember to run when it's time to run. I'm pretty fast on my feet when I want to be, so I just need to practice turning it on, especially while reloading.

    -------------

    Since I'm starting to get burned out a little bit, I've decided to take a break until the new year. Not a complete break, but I'll scale it down a ton. I want to shift focus towards physical conditioning for the next couple of months.

    For dry fire, I'm going to reduce it down to maintenance, plus reworking some fundamental techniques:

    • Trigger press: Practicing pulling through the entire trigger break, against a variety of target distances, partials, etc.
    • Reloads: Holding the gun at a different angle. Reloading while moving at full speed, in all directions.

    For live fire, I'm going to work on accuracy, mostly at the static indoor range, to verify my new trigger press technique.

    • Dot drills: Goal - 36/36 at 7 yards
    • Pairs on partials

    I'll also scale back club matches to maybe one every two weeks.

    I'm hoping that after taking a couple of months off, I'll be ready to jump back into it in January, with 100% focus, and 20 lbs lighter.

    ---------------

    GOALS FOR 2016

    • IDPA ESP MA, CCP MA by 12/31/16.
    • USPSA Production GM by 7/1/16.
      • This one sounds pretty crazy, but someone I trust convinced me that it's attainable, so that's the goal.

    -1 Points down = 1 second?

    in IDPA Shooting

    Posted

    I don't think this will change much. For a typical IDPA stage, such little raw time is spent on actual shooting. Most of the raw time is spent on draws, movement, reloads, and transitions, which aren't affected (much) by the new scoring. The guys that win are winning in large part because they are way faster at all the non-shooting stuff than everyone else.

    The spread in match total will increase between the top and the bottom, but since people really only care about rank, that doesn't really matter. For the most part, people won't be moving up or down by whole classes.

    Guys at the top who call their shots won't need to change their game much. They're already shooting nearly all -0s as fast as they can. Vogel won't need to change a thing,since he's already the fastest AND the most accurate.

    The guys who sprint through stages shooting nothing but hopers will be hurt pretty bad, but I think those guys are pretty rare.

    The guys who shoot slowly and deliberately and end up -0 to -10 for an entire match will not be helped much by the new scoring, since they're usually slow at everything else.

    Some guys will try to adapt by scoring all their targets on paper and taking makeups as necessary, but they'll spend so much time staring at targets that it will be a wash.

    For guys who can call their shots but are not super accurate, it might now be worth it to immediately make up -1 hits, but they'll still lose to the guys who don't need to take make up shots in the first place.

    What it WILL do is, for any given two shooters of about the same skill level, give a bigger edge to the more accurate of the two. That's it. Small shifts in rankings WITHIN a given skill level, not major shifts BETWEEN skill levels.

    Personally, I'm all for it. If I want to hose, there are plenty of other sports/matches around me where I can do that. If all the shooting sports were the same, then what would be the point of having different sports?

    When your plan goes to $hit

    in Rifle & Shotgun - Technique

    Posted

    I would pretty much put it like this, you need to fix the problem right after it occurs, so if you miss a shot and have to make it up, then load one shell in right away and you are right back on your original plan immediately. if it happens again on the same stage, just repeat the procedure. The fact of it is you made a small mistake and the goal is to keep the mistake as small as possible. After it happens keeping the error As small as possible is all you can.

    I know absolutely nothing about shotgun, but when I'm shooting USPSA Production and I unexpectedly need to do a standing reload, I'll still perform all other reloads according to my original plan, even if I only had to shoot one round after the standing reload.

    Time at the range has gone from fun to frustration

    in Mental Conditioning

    Posted

    I know there are already several posts out there like this, but as in those, I wanted to create my own.

    I have been shooting competitively in USPSA for @ 5 years. I just achieved a M classification, but feel I have been shooting well below my ability recently.

    I feel part of it is I do not have as much time to train as I had in the past or as most of the better shooters in my class. Knowing that, I have developed a defeatist attitude that I will never be as competitive as I was in the lower classes.

    Part of that problem is I am super competitive, and strive to be the best at whatever I do. Good performance trumps everything for me. When my best is 35th overall and 11th in my class at a major match, I feel like a failure

    I don't want to continue throwing money at this sport and being away from home every weekend and coming away stressed and depressed. I have fun hanging out at the range with everyone but have gotten to the point of hating that I actually have to shoot

    Opinions here. Should I just switch divisions (of course there lies the not enough time thing training to be competitive in new division), take a break, or just walk away and do something else?

    Please keep in mind my fun level is based on performance (sad I know but it is what it is). If I go to the range just to shoot and hang out with "the gang", I'd rather go plink or just stop by the match to say hi and not shoot

    I'd say you're basing your fun on results, not on performance. There's a huge difference between the two.

    Read "With Winning in Mind." It will help.

    Check out the new primer tube holder from unique

    in Dillon Precision Reloading Equipment

    Posted

    I use this one from Inline Fabrication. Mounted to my casefeeder with a single self-tapping screw. Holds 12 tubes. Either end is held in the slots. I put cotter pins down for full & pins up for empty. $9

    http://inlinefabrication.com/collections/press-accessories/products/primer-tube-rack

    IMG_6598_large.JPG?v=1396769400

    I have this one too, but the bench-mounted version.

    I'm sure the UniqueTek one works well, but I wouldn't have the bench space for it.

    frankford arsenal wet tumbler?

    in non-Dillon Reloading Equipment

    Posted

    My FA wet tumbler arrived yesterday, so I am reading up on this stuff. I am not going to deprime before tumbling. I don't really care about the inside, but should I?

    I just want the outside to look like new.

    I do have the pins, and will be fine using them, but do they get stuck inside?

    The outsides will look new even without using the pins.

    I used to decap first and tumble with the pins, but once I started shooting 1000 a week during the busy season, I decided it was just too much work.

    My ammo with dirty case interiors and primer pockets shoots just fine.

    Dealing with trash talkers

    in Mental Conditioning

    Posted · Edited by FTDMFR

    Since you're shooting better than him, next time he starts up just turn to him with a smile of sheer joy on your face and tell him, "Your tears are delicious." After that if he makes any further attempts, just slowly close your eyes in pleasure and and make "MMMmmmmmm" sounds. Maybe throw in a whispered "Yummy" to drive it home.

    He'll look for more cooperative victims or lose his cool and get himself ejected.

    This is pretty much my exact inner dialogue whenever this happens.

    650 sticking on 9mm

    in Dillon Precision Reloading Equipment

    Posted · Edited by FTDMFR

    I believe stainless pin wet tumbling is the cause of the sticking on the powder funnel / expander, as someone mentioned earlier. Carbon build-up helps lubricate the inside of the brass and when it's removed, the brass will stick on the powder funnel.

    Mine did the exact same thing. I had vertical streaks of brass all over my expanding die that I'd have to sand off every few thousand rounds.

    I started wet tumbling without the pins, and the problem went away. And the outsides of the cases are pretty much as clean as with the pins.

    Dealing with trash talkers

    in Mental Conditioning

    Posted · Edited by FTDMFR

    If this has happened more than once with different people you're probably an unlikeable person.

    If it's the same guy; f*#k his mom. Take video. Share with your squad mates.

    It's the same guy. It's happened a couple of times now. It started out as light-hearted shit tests, but it's morphed into deliberately trying to f*#k with my head (confirmed to me by his shooting buddies). Last time, it was at an out-of-town sanctioned match.

    It's not distracting to the point where he actually beats me, but I'd say I've let it affect my overall placement.

    I'm definitely going to avoid squadding with him in the future. If it happens again, I'll have some not-so-kind words with him.

    Dealing with trash talkers

    in Mental Conditioning

    Posted · Edited by FTDMFR

    How do you guys deal with someone on your squad talking trash, not in a screwing around kind of way, but with genuine malice, trying to screw up your shooting? Like saying shit to you as you LAMR. Assuming you're stuck on a squad with them.

    My current approach is to ignore them and shoot how I shoot, but sometimes I do let it affect my performance.

    I've considered going full-on a_-hole mode and throwing it back x10, which would probably be fun, but it might also affect my performance.

    What do you guys do?

    Shooting too fast

    in Miscellaneous BEginners

    Posted · Edited by FTDMFR

    My advice: NEVER try to rush at the match. Just watch your sights and call your shots.

    If you want to get faster, work on it in practice, not on match day.

    Also, I've come to the conclusion that going slower is rarely the right answer. Usually you'll get better results by paying more attention, which will often end up being faster than what you were doing before (although it might FEEL slower).

    Wet tumbling recipes

    in General Reloading

    Posted · Edited by FTDMFR

    Here's my process:

    • No pins
    • 15# of 9mm brass (around 1800 cases), not deprimed
    • Water to the top of the brass
    • 15 squirts of Dawn
    • 15 9mm cases full of Lemishine
    • Cold water
    • 30 minute tumble
    • Cold water rinse
    • 10 minute soak in a bucket, hot water to the top of the brass, 15 9mm cases of Lemishine (helps keep brass from tarnishing for a long time)
    • Drain (no rinse) and towel dry
    • 1 hour in the food dehydrator

    I used to do the whole shebang with pins and decapped brass, but I ain't got time for that.

    Also, having dirty case interiors really does help the brass not stick to the powder die. I used to think it was an old wives' tale, but now I'm a believer.

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