ArrDave

I heard on Friday they actually ran clocks and ipads to score. The match was advertised as staff reset and the price point reflected that- but that’s not what was delivered Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Eh not a perfect analogy it's more like a corvette vs. a car that has a corvette engine but not the suspension or tires to really keep it on the road. You can learn to drive it just as fast maybe but it'll be harder.

2017 GA State Section 11/4/17 Well - the match went OK as far as performance is concerned. Other than shooting in the dark on the last stage - that was lame. Into it - I was 17/77 in PRD @ 74.28 % Stage - 4 - first shooter of first stage - I need to work on running steel with confidence - I only shoot in doors and this hoses me on these stages. Off to a slow start but kept the wheels on. Stage 5 - initially duffed 2 head shots which lead to a standing reload - thank you reshoot fairy! un mounted my gun randomly - ned to work on programming a bit more - not happy with my transitions generally. Stage 6 - not sure of the good plan on this one but I set up too hard in those windows. Over ran a position, that's a theme for me. From my hat cam I appear to pull my head off the target before done engaging. sTAGE 7 - Running steel with confidence is an issue - and don't miss paper. This is fundamental marksmanship stuff - need to work some more on longer distance engagements. Distance change up. Stage 8 - I dropped a shot into hard cover (just barely) in the first position. I should have drawn to the side i was on as it was more natural to then open up toward down range and take the other position and leave to go down range rather than crossing up like I did. 2nd to last position left some meat on the bone with throttle control. last transition was a bit lackadaisical. Stage 9 - I liked the plan 2 other guys on my squad ran - engage right, reload, engage 4, reload, engage 3 in back left corner, 2 in the middle reload back to the final position then engage 5 static. The match winner ran my plan so clearly it's an execution thing. Again with the transitions - need to ID an acceptable sight picture faster. Stage 1 - slow on the steel array and then didn't get on the gas with the two easy paper arrays. first reload was slow because I threw the first magazine on the ground and had to grab a second one. Stage 2 - I should have started leaving on the second 2 targets and slowly advancing rather than posting up hard. the two hard cover targets I should have ate charlies on and kept my feet moving rather than rolling to a pause. Last position my transitions and splits were a little on the weak side. Stage 3 - Bad plan. should have made this 3 positions, should ahve paused at the second barrel stack and taken 2 steel poppers and 4 paper, then from the last position taken what was there in the window and added on the last paper which was visible from the window. That was the best way to shoot the stage - I didn't see it - nobody in my squad did. Match winner did. I kinda was checked out mentally on this stage to be honest - it had been a long day. Shot calling in the dark is difficult - I bit on 3 deltas on this stage... shouldn't have been an issue.

Thanks for the kind words Tyler. I've already begun the process looking beyond GA state. I've been drilling my draw/grip in an attempt to get my draw time down. I started gripping the gun differently - not necessarily harder just putting pressure in different areas in an attempt to stabilize the gun with bad trigger pulls (strong hand only) - then building it out. Then I'm working backwards on the draw with the micro drills with the gun to target, then hand to gun drills. In my first live fire session I can tell it's working- quicker first shot times and more consistent sight tracking on the dots. At least once per sheet I put 2 rounds through the same hole. I'm going to keep working on this - I think this is the easiest way to a little bit of speed and a lot of confidence. I had weird turblence in my sights at full extension - focusing on locking my wrist out in the holster and smoothly joining my support hand onto the gun as I present and smoothly settling into the sights. It's caused a different area in my forearm to get sore - but it seems to be validating itself in live fire.

Update - I now have 2 shadow 2s. Got that box firmly checked. I need to set them up with springs - but I'll do that after GA state section next weekend. I'm used to the 9# / 3.25# trigger at this point. New one has an even better trigger than the "old" one from a smoothness standpoint - but the pull weight is slightly higher - though really really close. In practice I'm invested in improving my classifier skills now. I'm buckling down with Skills and Drills and going to focus on turning up the classifier skills through the end of the year. I'm not overly worried about GA state - I'm going to double up on practice in the week leading up to it to get full confidence in my new "match" gun and get used to some recoil - but I know what the deal is. At NC I had a few penalties - I've been more intent on seeing since NC so I'm hopeful this will translate into better hits/ fewer makeups / fewer penalties. At the last monthly I shot the same points as the PRD winner. Lost time was due to makeups and a couple flubbed reloads. I've been working reloads and working vision so I'm confident it's going to go reasonably well. If I do 83% or better in PRD then I'll bump to M. My personal goal is going to be 85% - or more appropriately only 1 penalty (7-9 stages has been 3-4 average). At NC if I wiped out my penalties/huge time wasting errors I could have been 91%. Obviously it depends who shows up and how they shoot - but I think I'm good for at least 80% - Sevigny ain't coming - but if Sal Luna does - it'll probably be 80%. Goal is to finish up at M for the year - but really I'm reaching for GM. That'll be a stretch but I am happy to try. I need about a tenth off my draw, not sure on splits/transitions for the moment. I'm counting on a pretty good bonus here pretty soon which will net me a gun club membership. At that point training can hit high gear... I can't wait. Going to bite on at least 3 more matches with classifiers for the year.

Update - I've bought 2 of the urban gray shadow 2's now - they both came with the extra set of safeties but neither came with a test target. WTH CZ?

MD had his computer crash so they ended up having to recreate all the stages. That's what I'm told, anyways.

It will be much like a 3 gun match or recycled club stages. I hope desperately I'm proven wrong.

10/14/17 - Cherokee Gun Club match 83.86% (or something) - 4/17 in PRD. First match with a Shadow 2 using a trash holster (good one on order) - haven't swapped springs yet. Getting the excuses on the table - I have a gun I've only shot with for 3 practice sessions and 2 weeks in dry fire. On top of that I hurt the palm of my strong hand at the base of my thumb. I've had to stay advil'd up pretty strong until today to tolerate any sort of practice / shooting. My holster is straight trash - Ghost Thunder - it's not made for an S2... it's just not. Sight channel sucks - scrapings still come off the sight channel even after 2 weeks of dry fire - and the S2's weight causes a pretty stout amount of flex on the hanger - was an issue with the SP01 - but not to this level. All that said I was about 84% of a GM which has been typical for me recently - so even with a "new" gun and being hurt - things went well. Excited to settle in with the new gun and see what's possible. The match went reasonably well with the following observations - I need to come out harder for my first stage - I leave some speed on the table on my first stage - this has been an issue in two matches now. - Classifiers I need to practice a little more - I've been shooting at speed of vision for match mode for so long - I'm not pushing the speed you need to score well on classifiers - and for all the good it did me - botched DA on pucker factor for a mike and and threw a HC mike on Down the Middle. Pace was somewhat lethargic so even if those runs were clean they would have only been enough for like 80-83%'s. - I need to practice loads running full tilt - leaving some meat on the bone there. This is tough since I usually DF in my garage and I don't have enough space to really open up the speed. My 1-3 step loads are looking OK. - Makeups on steel cost me. stage 7 - the star forced a standing reload for 1 shot to immediately perform a mandatory reload and engage the second array. They both went well and my time didn't hurt that bad. - Stage 6 I had a make up on one plate - I whiffed on the activator popper in the first position - but the timing ended up working out better the way I ended up shooting it - the swinger ended up taking an Alpha/Delta - which is OK. - I had a NS on stage 1 for getting on the trigger too quick - saw it in my sights and made it up pretty quickly in second to last position - but that cost time as did the make up at the popper in the second position. Accuracy was good on this stage - I probably could have shaved a second from my time if not for those 2 makeups - which was HUGE on that stage. - Glad I practice SHO/WHO every practice session - paid dividends on the standards when everyone whiffed something awful and stacked up penalties. Thoughts on SHadow 2 - damnit - should have gotten one sooner. This thing is amazing. now I need another one... so if anyone wants to buy a Shadow 1 let me know. The shadow 2 recoils appreciably less - the sights settle down faster.

Here's my prediction - there will be one arbitrary standards stage then a bunch of 32 round field courses and a carnival stage. Here are my predictions Stage 1 will be a shoot house - there will probably be a hidden target - meaning you engage it in only one location and the sight lines will be. It will likely be start in a box outside the shooting area, advance into a shooting area where there will be an array on the left of the house and a right of the house. There will be 4-5 targets in the house and a target on each side you have to shoot from within the house out of the windows. The last position will be shooting out the back door for a few targets. It will be really straightforward. Stage 2 will be a large free form stage where there will be a huge shooting area and because of vision barriers a lot of options - you'll see several different viable plans here and the divisions will tackle them appreciably differently Stage 3-8 will be straight forward long courses with one stage with a very tricky gimmick - like a memory stage, or reloads from barrels or something like that. Stage 9 will be a carnival stage with some kind of arbitrary WSB rule thrown in like SHO or WHO after mandatory reload. Stage 10 will be the standards stage which is over the top on marksmanship. There will be a decent amount of steel - probably using a plate rack on one stage.

DONT get the Ghost shadow 2 holster... has one from forever ago while my RHT Is being made and holy cow I hate this thing Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Mine is still pretty new- I have two buddies who have had them since the beginning and after 6months of use- no issues . Given my track record with the shadow I don’t expect issues Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Recoil on a Shadow 2 has a more similar characteristic to the Glock because it sits lower than other CZs and the grip is longer front to back so it feels like a contoured glock frame at the base of your palm. The contour up at the grip tang is different than the glock or the STi and you will want your thumb to rest on the safety- and that looks different on CZs than other platforms due to slide in frame construction. Shadow 2s muzzle climb is comparable to a glock now- but you don’t have to work at it as hard to hold it on target than you do with polymer guns. I started competing with Glocks for a year or so, spent a year on 1911s and nearly 2 years on a Shadow now and am just coming up to speed with the Shadow 2 now. I can say unemotionally the Shadow 2 is the finest 9mm I have shot- passing a tuned Tanfo even. It’s really heavy so you will have to learn to swing it around but it tracks so consistently in recoil you’ll have a hard time not liking it. The one criticism is the stock grips are kind of trash- you might be OK because it will feel like a Glock with a spiky front/ backstrap but if you put the palmswell bogies grips from LOK grips it becomes the most ergonomic handgun I have held. The trigger return Spring will go about 12 k rounds- so swap it at 10k. 86 the shock buffs it comes with right out of the bag unless you want to stay on top of another part you will need to change every so often. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I recently bought an Urban Gray S2 - the price was approx $50 lower than the best price I've seen on a black. I hadn't seen an UG stateside yet so that triggered my impulse buy.

unless you're super patient - I would skip the short reset kit - working on the decocker sear cage is pretty challenging so I'm told. Ultimately - the comp hammer would be one upgrade - I haven't messed with a decocker model. then an extended firing pin, reduced FP spring, and an 11.5 mainspring. That should put you right at your budget - get a floating trigger pin if you're shooting USPSA - the trigger return spring is a maintenance item.

No - it feels like the mag catch isn't clearing the magazine and getting caught right on the edge. Then I took it to the range at lunch for some practice and it dropped every magazine (16, 17, and 18 rounders) 100% - that absolutely wasn't the case this AM.

I just came from the range practicing with my Shadow 2 - first time out I only used 17 rounders - which were 100% - but the next time out I used 16 rounders - which were far from 100%. I left the gun/mags with my buddy/gunsmith so they're not on hand at the moment - but we did notice that the feed lips and the front of the mag tubes are appreciably different on the 16 rounders to the 17 rounders that it shipped with. the 18 rounders didn't have an issue either and were 100% as well. The 16 rounders every once in a while would have a round pop off and be loose in the gun and not feed. Pull the mag - the round would fall out of the grip - re load it into the magazine and go again and ti was fine. I can think of 3 - could be some of all 1- breaking the edge a little further on the slide. That bit that we had to do on the shadows initially - it appears to have a slight bevel as is 2- I just need to get some stronger mag springs 3- Adjust feed lips on my 16's. Anyone else have issues with 16 rounders on their shadow 2s?

It’s like a 1 in 25 occurrence but with MG16 and OEM 17 the mag drop won’t let go, I can feel it making contact in the gun on the magazines- where do I need to polish to make this issue go away? EDIT: it’s a much more regular occurrence than I thought, when the gun is straight up and down it’s not an issue as much- like square range stuff- in dryfire just now with the gun on an angle it’s more common than not Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The extra safeties are in the box... why is the UG less costly than the black ones? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The Urban Grays have a much lower price point- I remember seeing something about them not coming with the extended safeties- is that right? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Alright alright analysis. For me - the theme of the day is make up shots and faster reloads. The match went OK. I had only 1 mike that I didn't see and make up on my sights. I saw pretty much everything happen. So, lets dive in. Stage 9 - 2 mikes on steel, probably nearly 1.5s in make up shots there. Stage 1 - had a hard time getting on the gas settling in. A bit of a blooper of wasted time of not reloading when I wanted to. Stage 2 - issues with make ups. All the makeup shots were warranted. Slow reload entering the 3rd position Trying to exit the 4th position I had fits on hard cover mikes. Stage 3 - leisurely draw and could have done a little better on points - but a decent run for me. Stage 4 - This stage went pretty well - on a nuanced level probably not going so deep into the second to last position could have let me reload on the way to the 2 targets I rolled by and saved a near standing reload at he end of the stage. Stage 5 - This went pretty well, I was conservative and my mike came from my first shot in my WHO string attempting to prep the trigger, sights weren't totally lined up and cranked one of ther the left shoulder of the target as a result. Stage 6 - I should have included the large popper visile from the left port into the first position - it would have given me flexibility in the last steel array and saved a standing reload for me. I threw a mike on one of the tuxedo targets in the middle port - it was pretty close to wherei it looked good on my sights. 2 makeups on steel. Stage 7 - Drew to a hit on a no shoot - whoops - so I saw that happen and made it up. Last position on the bridge I yanked a shot actually off the big popper but catching the mini< I had no respect for the target and had 2 make ups on the big popper. Stage 8 - Drew to a mike on the popper - don't mike. Good points, decent time for a makeup. All in all - I need to execute better. it's good I'm seeing the mess ups, but it'd be better if I didn't mess up. I'm going to re-visit the palmswell grips to see if they help me get a better grip.

Match Video from the Carolina Classic - commentary to follow.

Got to the range for a quick 275 round practice - gun zero is confirmed - managed to shoot my best group I've ever shot - 1 3/8" at 15 yards for 5 shots. Spent a lot of time on the dots. I'm about as ready as I can be. Good times.

tag because I really like the new 2.0 and I want to follow this. I may pick one up eventually.

So got 2 tune up practices in this week (mon / tuesday). My grip is feeling good - really consistent. I have one more live fire day planned - tomorrow to finish my polishing up for the match. Dry practice is going well, then I leave saturday AM to go to Salisbury NC for the Carolina Classic.