Pin Shooter

Hi 10mm and Spook. Dave, the way I timed the 8 shots was after the first shot as you have suggested, leaving 7 splits. which brings the splits in at .15's and .16's. Don't forget that the 1.08 is a best ever, and not in a match. Dave, did you ever practise your fastest single tables, with a timer? If you did I would assume some of the best times that you achieved were in the very low 2's. Take out the reaction from the beep to the first shot, leaves you with the remaining 4 spilts, in just over a second, with pin loads and aimed shots. This is how I started thinking about reducing my splits. Hitting a pin is a lot harder for me than slapping minor factor shots onto a target, and the flinch factor reduces with the lighter recoil of the load. As much as I hate to admit it, I believe that I still flinch. One of the tools I use to reduce its effect, is the 8 shots as fast as possible. Remember, you don't need a sight picture, you are only focused on a close target, and the speed of those 8 shots. I am fully aware that should that stage show up at match, and I want all A's I would be in the mid - high 2's, allowing 1.2 - 1.4 for the draw and first shot, and then .25 splits for the remaining 7 shots. We had a stage similar to that, at the regionals a couple of years ago. From the beep, you had to run 20 yards to a door, which once opened presented 3 NRA targets at maybe 10 yards, and put 6 on each with a reload between each target. Several of the top shooters were watching the stage, and discussing the speed at which they had shot it. I try not to listen to match talk, but I am weak, and I was very concerned that I would not be able to match their speed. When the buzzer sounded all I wanted to do was smoke it, and when I got to the door, I attacked the target with great fury. When the smoke had cleared, I looked forwards to see where the hits had landed, and all but one were in the X ring. I don't know if the focus on speed, improved my accuaracy, or of the focus on accuracy increased my speed, but I have not been able to recreate that scenario in practise since. I am a big believer in some days you can and some days you cannot. I just wish the days that I can, I was somewhere that mattered. Regards Mark

Hello Spook, My name is Mark itzstein and I live in Australia. I mainly shoot Revolvers in all matches, and have spent the last few years refining all things that spin. I have read many of your posts, and have learnt a lot from these pages and my involvment with ICORE. I also am perplexed at what it takes to reduce the mechanical action of pulling / squeezing the trigger. One of the things that I have learnt is that pulling as fast as possible doesn't work for me. I get better results focusing on smoothness. I read the article about Jerry firing 8 shots in under a second, and all things being what they are, Jerry is a human like the rest of us. If he can do it, then it can be done. I start every practise session with a full cylinder on a target at 10yds as fast as I can shoot. My best result to date is 1.08 seconds for all 8 shots. Once I have fired the first string they always slow down to 1.15 /1.16/ 1.17. I can only assume that this is the result of finger fatigue. What I did notice was the more relaxed I was the quicker I was. ( I have reads Brians book 10 times and it is still sinking in ) I also have thoroughly tested the theory between K/L/N frames as feeling quicker with the smaller gun. It is only a feeling. I cannot in any way prove that the smaller frames are any quicker in my hands. Hope some of this may help your journey. Regards Mark P.S. I do actually think that Jerry is Super Human, and I am glad he sets the bar so high. It makes us reach higher.

Hello Alamo, Good to hear from you. It is amazing how many people you talk to on this forum, and don't realize who they are. Will you be going to the IRC? Regards Mark

Hey John, Good to see you finally got to the forum. I also noticed that you are looking for a 6.5" 627. Me too, let me know if you find 2 . I have already searched Australia, so don't bother looking over here. Look forward to seeing you at the IRC. Regards Mark

Hi all, Vic Pickett was using a SC .38/.357 at the Steel Challenge last year. It seemed to work very well for him on Steel. Too well in fact.......I guess I had better get one to add to the collection.... Mark

Thanks for the kind words guys. The match was very enjoyable, and like I said at presentation, it is a credit to the Bendigo Pistol club for running the match for the last 5 years. It is also encouraging that we will see a new club host next years regionals, in another state. This could possibly bring the values of ICORE shooting closer to others, that would not normally travel as far to shoot. Like 8 shooter said, it was great to see Ron and Rich make the trip, and hopefully others will follow their lead next year. Now I have to go home and cuddle my trophy........

He'll be there Paul. He's been looking forward to it for a long time.

If anyone does see him, ask him what blows his skirt up......He will know what it means. For the rest of you who don't know him, it is no surprise to see him in the top 20. He is an amazing revolver shooter, and a great bloke as well. Mark

Randy, Perhaps you and Dave should start making stars....... As for thr price, I would rather pay more for something once, than less for something more..... Regards Mark P.S. I was only joking about paying more. Keep em cheap.....

Randy, and all....... I am with you guys all the way. I have been feeling very disenchanted with Smith and Wesson over the last couple of years. I have several Performance Centre revolvers, the latest bieng a 627 .38 Super that was brought in for the Australian market, after our law changes. The Australian distributor, had not offered them or any other Performance Centre guns prior to that. The ones that were built for our small market, were riddled with imperfections, and yes, if asked I can cite many examples. My own came with a split star. ( Thats right, came with a split star ) In defense of our agent, this was replaced, only to break a week before the Steel Challenge. While in CA, I tried repeatedly to contact the Smith customer Service section, regarding a replacement. No response. I am slowly starting to go to the dark side. At least Semi Auto parts are readily available from dozens of suppliers. It seems to me that if your Smith is broke, then your are straight out of luck, because even if they have spares, there is no one there to send them to you. If I seem a little jipped, it is because I am. The only way I can take that gun to our regionals next month, is because, one of the ICORE guys at Steel Challenge, had one and gave it to me. It seems more and more that it is the revolver shooters that you can depend on rather than the big Revolver manufacturer. Mark

Add one more from Australia.....Hilton at valencia is nice.... See you there 10mm Dave.. Regards Mark

Hi all.... today I paid over $6.00 a gallon here in Australia. The way I look at it, it's still chepar than buying water here. We pay anywhere up to $5.00 for a liter of water. Now if anyone is thinking about selling thier tired old gas guzzling Camaro or Chevelle, they should drop me a line. I will gladly go broke keeping gas up to it. Mark

Really mix it up and make it a single six, with .22 magnum.....

Doug, Ryan, Ray and I will definitely be at the steel challenge this year. I haven't missed one since that first trip to the States in 2000. I love shooting over there as there are so many more competitors to challenge you, and stretch your skill levels against. Socially the matches produce the nicest people that you will ever meet, and normally the weather is great too. See you in September Mark

John, Some people are so unkind.....The improvement from 2003 -2004 has been quite remarkable though. Lets see how 2005 goes, and then if you start shooting A class scores, we'll have to come up with some new nicknames for you. Mark.... P.S. I tried the 3 yard trick, and drastically reduced my reload times..Consistent 1.7's Far and Near will be the next problem......

John, Is your nickname "Sandy "..... Mark

Hey Doug, Nice shirt...I am glad that you wear it. I have almost worn the PSA shirt out, but am hoping to catch up with Team Lookenbill at the Blue Mountain classic. Are you going to the IRC this year? We lost loads of money on the airfares, due to date change, but we decided to come anyway. Hope to see you at one of those matches. take it easy, and better leave some of that slimfast for me. Mark

Hi John, These times that you and Vic got, what type of guns were you using. I have been trying some of these exercises here at my club, and was very impressed with my El Pres times, but with an 8 shot, cannot consistently reload shot to shot in under 2 seconds. Teach me OB1

Hi Guys, I can appreciate the wonderful job that Smith and Wesson do in supporting our chosen sport, and I also understand that these changes were made with the greater good in mind, however, it is very unfortunate for those of us who have booked and paid for International Flights and Motels, made work and travel arrangements, and now struggle to get there at all. Don't get me wrong, I will move mounatins to be there, but it will add considerable dollars to an already expensive match. Gee I hope I don't get DQed now. Mark

I agree, revolvers probably won't be applicable for the "Team Challenge". This will leave both of us in a quandry. $2000 a piece to shoot a match that won't be on.

I would hope that the additional Smith and wesson match is a good one, as 2 of us have already paid for flights out of Australia.