Proudprado

I shoot only for the medals.

I dry tumble. Then wash with tartaric acid and dish-washing soap in really hot water for about 20 minutes. Dry in the sun and reload.

I went to do a day-long course with a shooter on the SA national team. Loaded 500 .45 ACP and was ready for serious fun. I took the Glock 17 instead of the Glock 21. He had to give me some 200 rounds of ammo. Not as much fun as I expected.

Shoot first all the time. Then it doesn't bother you so much in the end .

I uploaded a video on how not to do it here.

I followed the instructions, got part two and incorporated the drills into my dry-fire set. After a week of dry-fire, I did the live-fire exercise again this morning. While I am still slow, I have seen a 20% improvement on my times. Well worth the effort, thank you Brian.

I went up to CDP expert yesterday. G21. 108 seconds.

88 F expected in Johannesburg today. Trying to keep the bloody dog out of the pool.

Classified as SS in CDP, ESP and SSP last week. It's going slowly, but it is moving in the right direction ... finally. I had an FTE on the strong-hand string in Stage 1, which cost be about 6 or 7 seconds. But I still made it .

Our options are rather limited down here and supplies of factory ammo is certainly not guaranteed. I have saved a lot of money.

No, the open book exam was online. The course was "live" at CDPC.

Thank you.

I just completed my SO course and got told that pulling back the hammer before the first shot, after the beep, is not on in SSP as it has to be double action. Is this true? I cannot find it in the rules.

I'm getting very close to having to make the same decision on my GS and I'm therefore having a nice cry with you . Someone once told me that the few days or weeks of pain after putting your dog down are nothing compared to the amount of joy you receive from them while they are with you.

Roscoe, so do you unload before he tells you to? I'm waiting for the SO to tell me before I unload.

I really don't know. I think the heat, the long day and finishing in the car had an effect on my mental stage, yes. I might have made the same mistake if I finished on any of the other stages too.

It’s the last run of a 7-stage club shoot in Pretoria. Thermometer is topping 90® yet again yesterday and I have to get into a very small car (Fiat) to shoot. Gun down on the floor of the car (as per COF) and then I fold in on myself to fit into the car. I get a muscle spasm just below my diaphragm … it happened the previous time I got into that car too, so this is not unexpected, but it makes me nervous. And my head/ear protection is bumping against the roof. At the buzzer, I pick up the G17 and put two in the body of each of the six targets around the car (arranged from 3 o’clock to 9). Reload on the last target and shoot one-in-the-head all the way back again. Obviously all of this happens from the inside of the car. After the last shot, as per instruction, I put the firearm on the bonnet, get out, show clear, slide forward and as I’m about to pull the trigger to put the hammer down, the SO shouts: “Stop!” She saw I did not take the magazine out … I had no idea. So I take out the magazine, go through the process and holster. If she did not intervene, the shot would have hit the ground, in a safe direction, about 3-5m from me. She assured me that she would have disqualified me if I fired the shot.

Not me shooting, but one of the stages on Saturday's course:

I shot my first league (sanctioned) match on Saturday. Eight stages for a total of around 150 shots (140 minimum). I got another hit on a non target and one PE. The PE was on the last stage of the day and I had lost my mind in the heat ... forgot which target was the one I had one shot on instead of two (limited Vickers), reloaded and put too many in the wrong target . It was damn hot in Pretoria yesterday ... at least 35° Celcius (95° Fahrenheit) and the shoot took almost seven hours. I'm glad I did not run out of water.

Thank you. I missed that.

Yes CD, sorry, bad choice of words. It was made in jest, I assure you.

I may have misunderstood what the PE was for.

Tac reload, magazine in my pocket, but live round on the ground after I racked it.

I had two very professional safety officers in my detail today and I learnt a lot. Things started to go wrong whn I killed two hostages on the first stage ... that had nothing to do with the SOs ... the hostages would not duck. I also got a PE for racking the slide after inserting a magazine on a tactical reload. That's 13 seconds down at the start ... I only got two points down on the targets themselves. I did not know the rule about racking. I knew you should not shoot the hostages. No problems on the second stage. Interesting (club shoot) one where you had to assemble your weapon after a field strip before you could shoot. No hassles on stage three either. The next PE came on stage four, where I failed to "tuck" the pistol (as instructed) while shooting with my weak hand. I actually shot better than I thought I would on this one ... I blame the dot torture drill. Last stage, last PE. "Cover" she shouted, but I had started shooting already. I must go on a diet and I must get decent hearing protection that allows me to listen to the SOs. But a fun morning once again. Bloody hostages.

Thank you ... the .22 (or any firearm for that matter) is a mission to license in South Africa. For the moment, I'll have to bite the bullet and practice with 9mm.