Grunt
-
Posts
44 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Forums
Profiles
Events
Store
Posts posted by Grunt
-
-
I've become more aware lately, just how much desire opposes the resident joy in most everything.
Hi Sam,
I have little knowledge/understanding of Zen, so I was hoping you could help me understand this a bit better. First, I believe I understand what you are saying. In essence, desire can get in the way of just doing (perhaps that is incorrect on my part?) But if this is accurate, then is desire something we should avoid? Do we strive to remove desire from our lives? I spoke to a Buddhist one time and he eluded to desire being a bad thing. Maybe I misunderstood him. Anyway, just trying to understand if there is a larger context to this concept. Thanks!
Grunt
-
There's an old "trick" that has been used countless times to help new bullseye shooters understand the importance and benefit of looking at the front sight. At 50 yards, you would put up a normal full size target which is about 24" x 24" and is beige in color. In the center is a black bullseye that is 8" in diameter. But, instead of putting it up with the black facing the shooter, they would turn it around so that all you have is the massive 2'x 2' beige square. Most folks will balk at this idea at first because "how will you know where to aim?" Of course, you simply aim in the center of the big square. Much to most shooters surprise, they usually end up with higher scores during this drill. Its even more convincing when you turn target over and find all hits in the black. The point of the drill is to two-fold; one, looking at the front site with intense focus, and keeping the sights aligned will always produce better hits (assuming the shot broke cleanly.) Two, although it appears you have a lot of movement with the front sight, it is really not as bad as it appears. Focus on the front sight, keep the sights aligned, and break the shot clean. Try this at 50 yd (even 25 will do) with an IPSC target. And if you really like to experiment, try doing the same thing by looking at the target, the rear sight, and somewhere in between. Front sight focus will almost always "win" this experiment.
Caveat: as others mentioned, at closer distances you get away with less focus on the front sight, and at times only need to see it (peripherally) when shooting at very close ranges. As they say, see what you need to see to get the job done.
Grunt
-
Very cool. I was surprised to see Jim Cirillo (#15) on the list. That guy was a legend.
Grunt
-
Supposedly, one time someone watched Rich shoot himself and then commented, "Sure, it'll stop a bullet but you'll be in so much pain you won't be able to return fire." So, Rich added a shooting skill to perform after shooting himself to prove that you could return fire. That skill included a 4x8 sheet of plywood on two saw horses, with 5 bowling pins on the front edge. He'd shoot himself and then fire the next five at the pins, knocking each one off the table. People loved it, and a sport was born.
Can anyone confirm/refute that? I always wondered if it was just an urban legend.
Grunt
-
Some great advice on this one. If I can add one more idea that I learned from Arnt Myhre. When prepping for the Steel Challenge he used white paper plates and *not* steel. Yup, the kind you use at a picnic will do. We all get conditioned to listening for the hit on the steel, and after a while it is easy to get sloppy and use this as our indicator that we were (or were not) on target. Using paper plates gets us back to the real task which is to aim, but it still gives you the ability to setup a group of them that model a plate rack or a Steel Challenge stage. Shoot a run and focus on where your sights where when the shot broke. Then after each run, check each plate. This type of quick feedback will help reinforce what you need to see (with your sights) to ensure sufficient hits.
BTW, Arnt finished 2nd at the Steel Challenge that year. Give it a try.
Grunt
-
Think "Jingle Bells"
Grunt
Oops, just realized there is a "Humor" category. Admins, feel free to relocate there. Sorry!!
-
Still no one has answered my question. When you guys are shooting fast and you happen to have a dud, do you pull the pistol down from recoil subconsciously or do you have perfect follow through? Meaning the pistol remains motionless.
It is perfectly fine, even normal, to be pushing the gun back on target after the bang. This isn't so much controlling recoil as it is getting the gun back on target quickly. Now, if the gun is pushed *prior* to the bang, then that is obviously a bad thing and will result typically in low shots.
In other shooting disciplines (i.e. precision shooting) where the time limits are much more liberal, you tend not to see the push after the bang. Generally, there's no need for it. In fact, most shooters from this realm are completely perplexed when you try to explain to them the idea of pushing the gun back on target. Its just not something they do.
Grunt
-
Awesome, a trip down memory lane. What I think would be really interesting, is how these items morphed or changed as you developed beyond the early 80's. Did you abandon any of these items down the road? Or did some become so ingrained that they became automatic?
Grunt
-
Don't feel like the lone ranger regarding the wall. They are part of your development as a shooter. I lost count at how many I ran into, and then worked around one. Happens to everyone so expect it, and then commit yourself to figuring out how to get around/over it. More on this in a bit.
Re: quantity vs. quality, its both. I think the metric that was passed onto me was to shoot 100 rounds for every one round you intend to shoot at a major match. For example, pick a major match that you'd really like to do well in; i.e. State, or Area, or the Nats. Let's assume the match you pick will require 200 rounds. That's 20,000 rounds you should shoot in preparation for that match (yes, this will take most of the season to expend.) I think the first time I adopted that metric I ended up shooting 150 rounds for every 1 (I started in January with the Nats in mind) which yielded 30,000 rounds of practice with my IPSC gun. Now, that said, once you hit a certain level of performance, you will likely back off of that metric a bit and will begin focusing on very specific tasks and then some routine maintenance. For me, the following year I shot only 16,000 rounds and actually improved my performance. So, its not a matter of only quantity. Which brings up the matter of quality.
You can't just launch bullets down range, or continue with the same practice methodology if it's not working. You will quickly realize that this is a troubleshooting process and it definitely requires some dedicated thought on your behalf. So, define the problem sufficiently, set a goal (with parameters), then make a plan. Sounds simple but is usually more difficult because we're typically frustrated when we hit these moments. Ditch the emotion and think through the problem. As someone else mentioned, try to determine what the M/GM shooters accomplish for particular drills and begin working toward these goals. Dissect each part of the drill (i.e. the draw, the mag change, the splits, etc.) and try to streamline each one. Obviously, you'll need a shot timer for this. And before I forget, seek formal instruction from a M/GM with a good reputation for *teaching* and not just shooting. Go into the class with specific things you'd like to improve upon. But don't be surprised if they elevate your entire game. I still think some of the most valuable things I learned from the "big boys" were training drills and methodology. Trust me, practice does not have to be complicated to result in improvement. I typically practiced with no more than three targets.
One last thing about practice that really helped me. I learned to put more attention on the first 50-100 rounds down range while I was still "cold." Since the matches are typically shot "cold" this helped me learn to be focused right out of the gate and not warm-up for 200 rounds and then gain a false sense of confidence about my capabilities based on the last 100 rounds of practice. Besides developing my focus, it also helped me make better decisions about difficult shots during a match because I knew exactly what I was capable of when I was cold. For example, I remember one year seeing an extremely fast swinger at 25 yards that gave about 0.4 seconds of exposure on each side of the swing. I knew that a slow split time for me (cold) was about 0.35. Knowing this, I was able to take both shots on one side of the swing which saved me a tremendous amount of time (others took one shot on one side, then waited until it swung to the other side to take the second shot.) When you train like this, have particular times and hits you intend to make and attempt to obtain those immediately once you start. Make yourself a little wager to increase the pressure a bit (i.e. no favorite snack, or TV show, or something important, for the day if you don't perform). Oddly, I found myself really enjoying these self-induced pressure situations which really took the potential boredom out of practice.
Good luck with the pursuit!!
Grunt
-
Great thread. At the risk of sounding preachy, I'd like to offer some perspective on the "I wish I got started earlier..." comments. As they say, life is about choices and each choice has pros and cons. I was fortunate enough to start early, and in a competitive nature, and I did fairly well. But being young with little income has its own challenges. Putting a lot of life on hold was a necessity in order to chase the game as hard as I did. I didn't date, had a POS for a car, ate a lot of PB&J, and could not afford much in the way of anything. Literally, there were times when I wasn't able to afford to travel to the next match unless I was able to sell a gun I had won the week early at another match. I'm sure if you look at TGO's or Brian's early years you will hear of similar circumstances. Pros and cons. In spite of many other things I missed out on, I don't regret that time in my life. Not one minute of it. But it did come at a price.
As to the question at hand, I'm not sure I'd change much, really. But I can point out a few things that I felt were beneficial to my "career" (if you could call it that.)
* Early on, spend time developing accuracy. If you can go to any match and KNOW that you can hit anything (even if its a slow shot) that is huge.
* Swallow the pride and spend time with a decent teacher. I attended classes taught by TGO and JB, and both were very beneficial to my development.
* Keep in mind that gear is just a means to an end and will only get you so far; don't get hooked on the technology, get hooked on shooting.
* If you are out there simply to have fun, good. Enjoy. But if you want more then that make a plan. You have strengths and weaknesses. Work on the weaknesses.
* Know yourself. You'd be amazed at what you will learn if you can determine your beliefs, fears, and desires. These will things guide us and our development.
Grunt
-
Man, I must be an old timer because I was originally taught the 6 o'clock hold by the Marine corps 40 or so years ago.
FWIW, 6 o'clock hold is still alive and kicking in the precision shooting games (i.e. bullseye.) In fact, a more common variation is the sub-6 hold where the bull is floating above the front sight with some white space in between. I believe Brian Zins (6-time National Champion), among other top bullsye shooters, use a sub-6. I recently switched to a sub-6 and have found it to be much more beneficial for indoor matches than a center hold. With the limited lighting, it is very easy to lose the front sight in the bull and seeing variance in alignment is problematic.
But IMO, center hold is the only way to go for IPSC/IDPA shooting games, indoors or out.
Grunt
-
Thanks again for the input. I do appreciate the help!
Just an update, I sent an email to TopGlock.com and explained my situation. Here's their reply:
The front sight you have is defective, we''ve seen a few of the Ameriglo frontsights having that problem lately. We are getting with Ameriglo to see about
fixing that problem. I''m going to send you another set with a return mailer,
just take the front sight from the good set and return the package with the bad
front sight inside and we''ll send it back to Ameriglo. Your USPS delivery
confirmation number for it will be ################
Jason Robinson
TGSCOM, Inc. "Where the Second Amendment Comes First"
Thank you for contacting us."
Let me be the first to say that TopGlock customer service ROCKS!!!
Grunt
-
Thanks folks. HSMITH, when you say:
...I was able to hand turn the bolt all the way down until the sight was snug on the slide.What amount of resistance did you experience? Again, I can see plainly that there are only a couple of threads in the post, and then nothing. So, just wondering if this is "normal" and if having to apply a bit of pressure to get the bolt to sink home. Thanks!
Grunt
-
Just got my Ameriglo sights. The rear went in with a bit of "kinetic influence." No problems there. But the front sight has me puzzled. It appears that there are only enough threads to get the hex screw started. Is it safe to assume that once I start cranking that the rest will self-tap and eventually snug up? Wasn't sure if they failed to completely thread this and didn't want to muck it up.
Also, I noticed that the post is a bit sloppy and I'm concerned that it's going to twist left/right even after the screw is threaded tight.
Lastly, Should I consider Locktite on this?
Thanks!!
Grunt
-
Of course Glocks never break!
No, seriously, what would you recommend that I keep in my shooting bag "just in case." Specifically, I'm thinking about the more common breakages (e.g. recoil spring assembly, trigger spring.) Any thoughts? Thanks! BTW, I have a G-19.
Grunt
-
Holy Hell he not only shoot the best ever but won his division with my 35.
Don't get me wrong, I love Glocks. But this sounds like "trick of the day" syndrome to me. Make a change and all of sudden everything is new, uncomplicated, and vivid. Funny how it works.
Grunt
-
Thanks for the input!
-
I think your best option is the Heinie Race-cut Slant Pro from CGR.
Thanks! What do you mean by "Race-cut?" I couldn't find anything on Heinie's site regarding this (but did find the Slant Pros.) Also, I'm assuming you're recommending the Straight Eight configuration?
Also, anyone else having troubles pulling up gunracing.com? Looks like they may be down.
Grunt
-
Greetings! Wow, this place has grown since the last time I visited!
Anyway, I'm about to purchase a G19 for use in Production class and as a carry gun. My intention is keep it more-or-less stock. About the only two things I'd like to do is 1) put some grip tape on it and 2) install better fixed sights.
I'm leaning toward Agrip tape since I plan to carry with an IWB holster (grit tape seems like it would rub too much against my shirt/skin). But, I'm open to alternatives too.
As for sights, I'm leaning toward (but not committed to) tritium because I plan to carry. I've shot tritium sights at night and they do work quite well. That said, during day-light I HATE how fat the front sight looks. This really tends to slow me down when trying to hit smaller targets at distance (B-zone, plates, etc.) I do realize that you need this real estate in order to get the tritium insert into the sight, but I'm wondering if there are some models that are thinner than others.
Supposedly, the AmeriGlo Operator front sights are thinner than most but it's hard to know without playing with them. And I love the looks of the WTS and it sounds like they intend to make a tritium version. But, will they? Again, I'm open to suggestions, tritium or otherwise.
Thank you!
Grunt
Constant comparison during the match
in Mental Conditioning
Posted
Early on, I learned not to compare times/scores as this would influence my thoughts/behavior/performance during the remaining portion of the match. I learned to focus only on my game and remind myself that doing so was truly the only important thing. However, as I progressed I found myself shooting with the Super Squad and frankly, you can't avoid hearing their scores and times (the RO's announce them to everyone!!) So, I had to adapt and look at this information in a different light; i.e. "Wow, he had a good run" or "Ouch, that's gonna leave a mark." I tried to observe these things objectively, and remember that they had nothing to do with my performance (past or future.) I also learned that many of the big boys would often take big risks at times and sometimes it would pay off, and sometimes it would not. So, you just couldn't put too much stock in their times/scores as this may not be an accurate way to gauge things. Still later on, I learned to enjoy the comparing of times/scores with them and take their good natured ribbing or complements if/when they came. Bottom line: know yourself and do the needful to accomplish your goals. At the same time, don't be afraid to grow beyond those "needs" by questioning your motivations/fears/desires.
Grunt