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AZonePrecision

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    Javen Lindsay

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  1. Thank you again for the replies... I believe that when you are saying shoot the stage like I've never shot it is implying going through EVERYTHING again, not just the time from the beep to last shot... I do a complete mental walk through, eyes closed, outside the shooting area moments before my turn, usually as they are wrapping up taping, scoring etc. for the shooter before me. this is part of "shooting the stage." I do the tactical breathing, something I've learned through other endeavors. Stepping into the shooting area, and timed to the cadence of the "shooter are you ready?" "Stand by" etc.. I breath purposely... That's all part of "shooting the stage"... For me I've realized that its not the seconds I'm in the arena, it's everything before it too... And afterwards, my reaction to my performance matters. That's where I fell apart. Reacted, and focused on what happened rather than starting over. I was in unfamiliar rhythms cause I missed that whole routine part of "shooting the stage"... One question though; you mention "conscious breaths" during the stage... I'm assuming you are referring to WHILE you are on the timer... I try to "slip into" the stage, not think much at all, and let movement and reaction take over... When I have a "conscious" thought during a stage, things tend to go south for a moment (or longer)... I guess anything is possible, but can I incorporate specific breathing moments into a stage consciously as "waypoints" the same as a reload or target? Or is just the conscious thought of breathing enough to maybe occupy my conscious mind to something non detrimental to my shooting and my subconscious will remain occupied reacting to the task at hand? Trying to wrap my head around this... I dig this forum! Thank you everyone for all the tidbits so far...
  2. First off thanks for the replies. I am familiar with what you all are saying; I was pretty decent at golf and had my routine. I have my "positive" memories I can draw on in, and negative ones that I try to push out of my mind. Like shooting free throws in basketball. Not having the library of those memories for this sport yet, I was surprised at how difficult it was to handle that situation. A number of things happened during the match that I had no idea could happen. I knew to expect the unexpected, but that still doesn't prepare you for how to handle it. And as you have all stated, no substitute for experience. Most of all, I should have realized from an incident on the previous stage, my fellow shooters fully understand what is going on, and I should not feel obligated to hurry up. And ultimately I think if I would have slowed down, my mind would've been clearer to better processes. In the long run, it wasn't about winning, or anything like that. My goal was to learn and do my best at every moment, facet and aspect of the stages. That's why this bothered me; I didn't accomplish that in this instance. Ultimately the experience will be more valuable than if I had handled it correctly because now I can always remind myself, "Remember that time you didn't slow down?! SLOW DOWN!!!" So I am taking that with me. I believe that the mindset of finding the positives in every incident is putting me on the right track to improvement.
  3. New to USPSA, less than a year. I was shooting on the third day of the Area1 Championships. Had learned a ton the previous two days and was implementing as much as I could into stage approach, routine, movement, etc. The second stage of the day I was watching a fellow squadmate when I heard my first "STOP!!!" by an RO. He had flipped the gun to load and turned to head to his shooting position breaking the 180. It definitely got my attention! It was unfortunate but we moved on. The next stage I was really looking forward to, had a fully realized plan that was a culmination of everything I had learned. Buzzer goes off, I slip into my run, put together a good start, halfway through I hear "STOP!!!" I am pointing down range, in mid string, and keeping the gun pointing down range turn my head to see WTF... Heart rate skyrockets through the roof. I dont want to be DQ'd in my first major!!! No idea whats wrong. One of the RO's says "your glasses are no longer covering your eyes". They had bounced up as I moved into another shooting position somehow. I unload, show clear, and they say I get a reshoot. I go to get ready, am almost ready when we decide to let another shooter go first. Afterwards I step back in on my turn, and still am not settled from the aforementioned "STOP!"... And bomb my run... Looking back, I was definitely a little shook up, I did not go through what I've established as my routine, and I let myself get rushed trying to get back out to shoot so we could all move on to the next stage. I've played lots of sports, reactionary as well as premeditated, and know of the importance of getting yourself back into it. What tips/ tactics/ methods do you guys use to get your head back in the game when something goes awry? Bad stage, similar incident, etc. USPSA is a game, and so it's the same, but different... Thanks in advance.
  4. Cool. The way I see it, if its safe and it works, then there you go!
  5. Joined USPSA just in time to shoot a classifier in April for Area 1. Went to Area 1, and within 5 minutes realized it was a great call to go. Just shoot your own game, be safe, and you'll learn more than you can imagine! Great people, class acts, and by the third day I had improved in how I approached every aspect of shooting a stage. Great experience.
  6. I have a Dillon 650 with Dillon dies. I'll break this out into two parts. CB is right, there is the "problem" and my "solution" to said problem. First, the "problem" aspect. I know the 9mm is a tapered case, and that the inside of the case dimensions once resized "taper inward" for lack of a better term, and are much more restrictive as the case goes from a tapered case to a straight walled case essentially after being passed through the decapper/ resizer die. What I was able to confirm after pulling a few bullets was the fact that the Xtreme plated bullets were getting slightly resized as they were being seated into the case. That was really the gist of the post above, (the problem) was that whether these particular bullets be of a softer lead alloy, or whatever, seating them into my brass after it had been resized was changing the dimensions of the bullet enough to cause issues with accuracy and tumbling if the bullet was propelled through the Glock barrel too quickly, by using a faster powder, versus a slower powder which seemed to give the bullet just enough time to take the rifling in the barrel, but still give me accuracy issues. They spec'd out post seating and pulling of the bullet at .354 or even less (depending on the brass itself), and going through the polygonal rifling (love it or hate it) at those narrowed dimensions with a faster initial charge seemed to just slide right through without taking the rifling. It has nothing to do with crimp; the problem was happening before the round ever reached the crimp stage. CB is correct in calling the process I am using to work with the Xtreme bullets a "work around"; my post was merely to point out what was happening to the bullets during the process. That is the "problem". And also why you would not have the same issue with a true jacketed bullet like a Montana Gold. As to the workaround, CB again is correct; that would not be the "problem", just how I corrected it, "my solution". I approach all my reloading carefully, and have been fortunate to have been doing this the last 20 years myself, and approached it as I do everything; very methodically. No reloading accidents or issues ever so far. It was initially not intended to be the "solution", merely an idea to see if what I suspected was true about the deformation of the bullet as it was being seated. However it worked so amazingly well that I kept doing it. Lee advertises the FCD as "post sizes the cartridge while it is crimped so every round will positively chamber freely with factory like dependability"... So I gave it a whirl. I know it sounds unorthodox, but from every angle it worked out, and gave me a bullet that once reloaded maintained a spec that worked to seal very well in every barrel with any rifling every time so far. It has a very light actual crimp, and has allowed me to continue to use less than top of the line bullets (honestly) with good results. As for how far I am resizing, it is enough to put tension on the bullet. The further I resize, the more reinforcement the case has to not expand to allow the bullet in, it deforms the bullet. (Again, probably soft lead or alloy). Just enough, the bullet expands the case just enough to allow it to seat without deforming the bullet, which puts good tension on the bullet. Of course I expect it to be met with some questions, and there may be a better setup out there that would not put oneself into a position where they have to think that much out of the box. Just simply using a better bullet is probably the easiest answer. However, where is the fun in that? The point of the initial post was to say where the problem lies, in the Xtreme bullet getting deformed to a smaller dimension by the case. Probably an undersized die, but that is where the problem lies.
  7. Ok, I have to jump in even though it sounds like you guys have it about figured out. I too was struggling with this with Xtreme (I live very close to them and can always get them, so…) If I used a faster powder, one that just spits the bullet through the barrel vs. a slower powder that just lets pressure build up behind while it has a chance to grab the rifling, I was getting tumbling, poor accuracy, etc. I was about to give up when I realized looking at a resized case that the resizer makes the 9mm case a straight walled case at that moment. Which means the case volume inside is no longer straight walled, but rather tapers in towards what would be the base of the bullet. So as the bullet was put through the seating die, it was being forced into that “tapered chamber”, effectively shrinking the bullet diameter. As the case was resized all the way down, it had enough “reinforcement” behind it at that smaller diameter that basically the bullet was losing the fight, and giving way to the case dimensions as it was being seated. So when using the faster powder, it would get shoved through before it had a chance to grab my G34’s rifling, and bam!! Keyholing, wild accuracy problems. I pulled the resizer way back, just enough to decap and add some tension to the bullet, however not so much tension that the bullet gave way to the case, but rather the other way around. The case was only narrow in one part so it stretched with bullet, and did not affect the diameter at the base (.356). Then I put in a Lee FCD at the last station, lightly crimped it and presto! Beautiful perfectly spec’d bullets that were accurate and had no 9mm “waist” look to them, and dropped into every 9mm barrel I could find. Since then I have had nothing but good results with any bullet from them, through all types of guns. The reason the MG and other true jacketed bullets have not had this problem is that the true copper jacket being thicker and more sturdy does not ever give way to the case trying to squeeze it into that now tapered case volume, it always stretches the case out. This has opened the door to many different loads and many different bullets, all with much better performance than I had had before.
  8. The only thing I can think of is that yes, they are buying into "hype", unfortunately... I would assume a JHP on a range behaves the same way it does "on the street", and likewise for the FMJ... The bullets don't know where they are! I guess if they have a range accident they figure there's a better likelihood of it being easier to "save" if its a pass through??? Of course if it continues to "pass through" would that be a lesser of two evils? I don't know really, it's early, just grabbing my coffee, maybe I'm not thinking out of the box enough. Never been to a range like that.
  9. Im sure theres a number of reasons people choose JHP over FMJ, but as for the accuracy issue, the... (Warning: I just realized I wrote all of this... Long answer:) The more mass you can have at the perimeter of a spinning object keeps the center of that object more stable and on a truer path. Same thing that makes a gyroscope stable; the mass of a spinning object forcing itself out from the center keeps the center stable as long as it spins appropriately. Also the more mass at the base of the object if its moving in a direction rather than spinning in place keeps the front end centered.. think rifle match ammo... there should be some good threads on that on other forums. A hollow point pistol round actually accomplishes both of these dynamics. Moves mass to the perimeter and base. That's why even though a hollow point may not be designed to expand, it should "balance" out of the barrel quicker, stabilizing quicker and staying on a truer path in relation to the direction your barrel was pointed the moment the bullet left the barrel. Takes less time to find its "center" basically, meaning its center is usually closer to the intended flight path... Vs a bullet that "wobbles" momentarily from more mass closer to the middle that may not perfectly centered and might be pointed slightly off the intended line at the moment of stabilizing. Slightly less long version: The barrel spins the bullet close to perfectly, but if the mass of the bullet is off center, "point" of the bullet not centered perfectly, it will have to find that center upon exiting the barrel. So the closer the mass to the perimeter, the quicker the stabilization, the less likely it is to be pointed off line at the moment of stabilization, the more consistent from shot to shot. The hollow point accomplishes this better. Also since the cavity contains no mass as its empty space, the center doesn't rely on where a "physical" tip of the bullet may be; rather it will spin more perfectly as it determines its own center, or axis, and is less influenced by imperfections in the bullet itself. It happens very quickly but it does happen. As I am new to posting in forums, I will work on in the future shortening the posts... Hope I didn't bore anyone...
  10. I use the Xtreme 147 gr in the .356 diameter bullet through my G34. I have tried it over a variety of powders, from Longshot to Clays. I have not used Unique, but hopefully I still may be able to add something worthwhile here. Just a couple things of note; I found the case resize and crimp to be very important with these bullets (Probably because they are plated, and "softer" than others; I have not tried other plated bullets, I imagine they are the same) If you use a FASTER POWDER and are really "squeezing" that bullet down into the resized case, they have tumbled when I try to push the round into the 920-950 fps territory through a stock Glock 34 barrel. I pulled one of these and found that pushing them down into the FULLY resized case was actually narrowing the diameter of the bullet. What I have been doing is a minimal resize on the case (just enough to deprime the case) and I have a Lee Factory Crimp die (set very light) on the last station of my 650XL. The rounds are turning out beautiful, shiny, and to spec; they all pass the barrel drop test in a variety of models and without that 9mm "waist" look to them. Found they were more accurate this way, (the projectile actually fitting in the barrel rather than skipping over that Glock rifling/ I pulled a couple and found the diameter of .356 staying consistent) and I can then use the faster powders. With slightly to more than slightly slower powders (WSF, Longshot) I did not encounter the tumbling issue at any time, I imagine the slower acceleration gave the round a chance to grab the Glock’s shallow rifling… That all being said, I have used -3.7 gr WSF at an COAL of 1.125” to a PF of about 129-130 (70-85 degrees) -3.6 gr Win 231 at 1.140” to a PF of about the same (that’s what they just chrono’d out to at the Area 1 matches, made and shot in mid 80’s temp) -3.2 gr Clays at 1.150” to about 126-128 (mid morning temps, that load was unsettling to shoot the first time, I built up to it but have not made more that the test rounds as of yet, will probably use the rest of the powder in my .45), -and interestingly enough, 4.0-4.1gr Longshot at a COAL of 1.115ish… PF of about 130-132. That one actually shot very accurately, but with a fair amount more recoil to it due to the slow burn rate. Sights tracked great however, and the rounds stacked on each other at good distances… All with CCI SPP, mostly Winchester brass It seems that Unique falls somewhere between WSF and 231 on Hodgdon’s Burn Rate Chart, but that is only one piece of the puzzle. Always try to find published load data, which I’m sure you know… Disclaimer time. All of these loads were careful and controlled experimenting on my part to try and understand the whole process better and find what I liked personally out of my gun. I built up to each and every one of them. The variances in COAL are due to safeguarding against pressure issues as well as discovering what was the most reliable/ accurate through my gun. Always start low and work up. Hope that at least some aspect of this novel was helpful! J
  11. Hello All, Pretty new to this forum and USPSA in general. Started shooting USPSA about 6-8 months ago. Just shot at the Area 1 Championships and am more hooked than ever. Took 21st in Production and 1st in C Class. Looking for helpful info here (of which there is PLENTY!) and saw this awesome thread, would like to join! # is A80531... Everyone needs a little motivation, this provides some for me! Thanks
  12. (For a right handed shooter) align front sight to the left of rear sight, literally pointing the gun left of target while in your shooting stance, grip, etc. PULL, repeat PULL it into alignment with the muscles in the back of your right fore arm. Holding that muscle tension, apply your finger to the trigger, and simply add pressure until it gives. That is the sensation of a correct straight to the rear trigger press. It will work for all guns; in dry fire the front sight should be more still than ever before. If you incorrectly "curl" your finger into the trigger, you'll lose that tension in the back of your right arm, and the sight will wobble, and go left... It's tough replicating any "sensation" outside of practice in real life, but practice it enough and it will incorporate itself...
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