WYgunner

What happens when Panda orders an end cut and doesn't get it...

Two things, 1) The drone sounds like a pissed off hornets' nest. 2) "The A-zone is the only zone." I would almost go as far to say that the top 1/3rd of the A-zone is the only zone. Granted, it isn't always available, but that is what we should be shooting at as often as possible. As I'm sure you have realized, it takes just a slightly different mental focus/attention to shoot for the A-zone and not just the target. I caught myself in the middle of a stage just shooting at an indiscernible portion of the target rather than the A-zone itself.

This last month has been pretty crazy. I had a lack-luster performance at the Great Plains sectional. The temperature was insane at about 97 degrees and 100% humidity. I found it difficult to get into a rhythm and my gun malfunctioned on three different occasions. Overall, I think the hosting club put on a great match, it was just not my day to shine. After working with one of my shooting cohorts, I think we got my gun 100%. He ended up rounding the transition from the feed ramp to the chamber and fixing a little firing pin boo boo (don't ask). The gun has been 100% since the Great Plains match. In other news, I bumped up into Master, so I am feeling pretty good about that. I think my new gun has been beneficial and my redesigned magwell has been a contributing factor to my success. I shot a match this weekend up in Idaho Springs and I had a pretty solid finish. I managed to stay within 5% of Ron Avery, which I think is a pretty respectable finish. Most of the stages were hozer festivals, but all in all, the match was a good time. For the most part, I shot steel really well and went one for one on every popper with the exception of one. This match made it apparent that I need to focus on shooting more A's instead of brown. On most of the stages, Ron beat me by accuracy and not time. I am headed to Area 3 this coming weekend, so I am preparing myself for the sauna. On the bright side, it will be in the sub 90's, so that is better than the high of 97 I experienced at the Great Plains match. Things I need to work on: 1) Once again, I am back to reassessing my draw as it seems to have become pretty rough when drawing out of my blade-tech set-up. The bottom line is that I need to get back into dry firing again. I went through some life transitions recently, but things are starting return to normal, so I should be able to get back into it. 2) I need to work on shooting at farther distances. My long distance accuracy has been lacking lately, so my goal is to spend some time shooting groups at 25yds.

The solution...

I spent the last four days working and shooting the Mile High Showdown and it was awesome. I helped set-up the match on Thursday, shot 12 stages on Friday and RO'ed competitors on Saturday and Sunday. It was great getting to see all of my close friends and fellow competitors. The weather was in the high 80's all weekend and it proved to be a real endurance test. Overall, I thought the match was very technical with many stages that required some intense stage planning. A few of the stages featured strange round counts per target and the overall match required a high level of mental focus. One of the stages was down-right evil and I witnessed multiple competitors have complete meltdowns. I think the most difficult part of the match was that the 12 stages were based off of 6 general designs (each stage was modified slightly and ran two different ways). Once you got locked into a plan, your mind would sometimes try and execute the plan for the opposite plan. For this match, I had to develop stage plans completely on my own and it was a much needed experience. As with many lower class shooters, I think I tend to rely on top shooters for stage plan validation. I have been fortunate to be able to shoot with some amazing shooters in my local area, but I think I have become too reliant upon having stage plans fed to me before matches. All in all, I think most of my plans were reasonable and I executed them fairly well with the exception of one stage in which I made the ultimate boo-boo and forgot a double-stack target. This resulted in two mikes and two FTE's. My only saving grace was that the stage required one shot per target. I came up with a plan that let me skip two shooting positions, but I ended up crowding myself in a corner which placed a double-stack target directly behind a barrel stack. After finishing the stage, I knew something was not right and sure enough, it wasn't. At this point, I was thoroughly pissed off, but I took some time to regain my composure and I consciously decided to give the rest of the match my best, even though I was sure I was out of the running for anything. Long story short, I am glad I made the decision I made because I managed to retain fourth overall in limited and win "A" class by a slim margin. This was a significant event as it reminded me that no matter how bad a stage goes, you can't give up. I think we can all admit that some matches can't be recovered, but I think all too often competitors bomb a stage and then just throw in the towel. It is sad to see others make one mistake and let it pollute the rest of their performance. Besides the shooting, I learned a tremendous amount from RO'ing the match. I ran into some unique scoring situations and I had a chance to run competitors with a wide variety of shooting styles. I found it to be quite challenging running shooters that I have never shot with before. A lot of people did things and went places that I would have never expected. I think overall, the experience has made me much more aware of my movement and gun handling. Overall, the weekend was awesome and I want to say thanks to the match sponsors: RH Firearms, Double Zero, Advocare and Rampart Tactical.

I just got done putting some JB water weld on one of my magwells. The cape looks like it has more of a flat front which might be better for filling in the front. What did you use for the fill-in material?

Would you mind providing me with a measurement from the top of the magwell to the bottom of the trigger guard? Thanks

A lot has happened in the last month and I haven't had much time to post. I ended up getting a new job and it has been hectic figuring out all the logistics. I shot two fairly large matches and had some pretty good finishes. At the end of May, I shot in the 2015 Area 2 Steel Challenge Championship at Pueblo West. I ended up finishing 1st in limited and 2nd in limited rim fire. Overall, I had quite a few misses in limited and my time really wasn't all that fast (123.80 secs total), but it was good enough to get the job done. The year before at the Colorado State Steel Championship I put up a 115.55. In limited rim fire, I had some significant malfunctions which are rare for my Ruger MKIII. I think it was related to the rain and/or dirty mags. These malfunctions counted for score and occurred on showdown and outer limits. All in all they cost me about 8 seconds; coincidentally, I ended up taking second by around 9 secs. Even so, the match was a good time and I fully realized that all I have to do with my current transition speed is reduce misses. My draw could be faster, but as with most shooters, the majority of my time is attributed to misses. The following weekend I shot in the Rocky Mountain 300. This match is always fun and challenging as the round counts per stage are insane (60+). I felt a little rusty at this match and I decided to break in my new STI DVC limited gun. Overall the gun performed well, but I had one malfunction (failure to go into battery). I think the gun needed a little bit of a break in and it has been running pretty well since that match. I did notice that there is a slight milling imperfection on the breach face which may be the cause of the malfunction. I haven't decided what to do with this issue as I don't really want to send the gun back and wait. More to come The following are my stages: Stage 1 On the first stage, I feel like I executed my stage plan fairly well. I could have ran a little bit faster, but overall I shot in control. Watching the video, I notice that I could grip the gun harder, but I think a lot of this is because I don't have much leverage on the bottom of the gun with my support hand. I am working on some different magwell options to close the space between the trigger guard and the top of the magwell. I am hoping this will give me more of a mechanical advantage when shooting. I found out very quickly that if I don't grip my new gun hard enough, it will bump fire. Stage 2 On the second stage, I picked up a mike and shot the stage very hesitantly. Watching some of the GM's shoot, I realize that my split times/transitions could be much faster. I went and practiced a couple of days ago and tried to shoot as fast as possible. I found that I am capable to shoot much faster and still get my hits. As a result of shooting my Edge with accuracy problems, I feel like I have become somewhat hesitant in regards to calling my shots. I need to learn to trust my sights again and move on. Stage 3 On the third stage, I was shooting fairly well until I got to the door. In the door, I tried to chainsaw and ended up bump firing my gun again. I think this is related to my grip, but I may need to make some adjustments as it seems to be happening fairly often. After the bump fire, I got a little discombobulated and when I performed a mag change, I dropped the mag. I ended up catching it mid-air and recovering, but I continued to have mag change issues through the rest of the course of fire. Even so, I kept my composure and finished out the stage. Steel shooting went well and I was mostly one for one. I ended up with one mike on a long no-shoot target with a limited scoring area. I held high on the target to avoid the no-shoot and ended up shooting over the top of the head. Stage 4 When our squad arrived at the fourth stage, we encountered an absolute down-pour. I had to shoot the stage after it rained and I was very hesitant as I didn't want to slip. This is evident when I entered the second shooting position. I had an issue on my first mag change and I ended up shaking the mag out of the gun. I need to focus on pressing the button sooner when the gun is still vertical, but I also need to do some magwell contouring on my new gun. I shot the rest of the stage fairly well, but struggled with the last popper on the far left side. I picked a GM plan and it didn't coincide with my leaning ability. In hindsight, I should have just shot the poppers from the top of the stairs; lesson learned. If the position is barely attainable during my stage walk-through, I need to recognize that it has a low probability of being executed correctly during the COF. The good part of this stage is that I shot the majority of the steel one for one. Stage 5 Stage 5 was the best stage of the match and it ended up being my saving grace. Overall, I had roughly 10 misses, but I kept a good pace and followed my sight through the whole stage. My movement could have been faster, but I felt pretty good about my stage performance.

Sometimes a blind pig finds an acorn...

Will, The gun and how it is set up can definitely make a difference. I have noticed that with a super tuned trigger, I can get a way with poor trigger fundamentals that would cause a problem with a stock trigger. The equipment can definitely be a crutch if you haven't taken time to develop the basics. Occasionally I will shoot a bone stock Glock to work on trigger presses. Believe it or not, I think I can actually shoot better groups with guns that have long trigger pulls because it allows my mind to focus on the complete travel rather than just a quick break. Even so, at high speeds, my race guns always prevail for accuracy as I can get away with a lot more. In my current situation, I ended up getting a new limited gun and it confirmed my suspicion that something is wrong with my Edge. The rear sight on my edge is completely jacked over to the right whereas on my new gun, the rear sight just has a slight right bias.

I will get to filing! Thanks everyone.

All, Thanks for the great ideas. Out of all the suggestions, I think I am going to try the Brazos big mouth as it looks like it was designed to accommodate smaller hands. I looked for the Harris magwell, but couldn't find any information on it.

Nice finish at the RM300 buddy!

As the title states, I am looking for the tallest magwell possible to reduce the distance from the top of the magwell to the bottom of the trigger guard. I have done a lot of searching and can't seem to find what I am looking for. I currently use Dawson Ice magwells, but I still have about a 1/2 inch space between the top of the front of the magwell and my support hand. Depending on what everyone suggests, I may end up using JB WaterWeld to fill in the space. Thanks in advance

Sandbagger - There is plenty of travel after the break, but I might need to adjust it more to prevent travel/inertia after the trigger pull. Steve - As far as I can tell, there is no contact with the trigger bow that is resulting in an ill effect Pitt - I think you are completely right about the amount of pressure. I am pretty sure I have been mashing the crap out of it. Dry-firing is definitely contributing to the wear as well. It is difficult for me to consider pressure and speed as two different variables in regards to trigger pull. I think I naturally want to smash the trigger when shooting fast, but I an completely see where you are coming from on this.

I believe so; I thought this was more of a preference. I guess if it has more room to travel after the break it could increase wear?

Thanks buddy, I am going to take a look at work ergos. I could definitely make some changes to assist with the issue. Also, I think I am going to stick with physical therapy before I try acupuncture. If I get to that point, I will let you know and go to your dude. Hopefully it isn't Trung?

Welcome to the forum. I was born and raised in the Cheyenne area. Ecouspsa.com is your best resource for competition in the area. You will have to drive around two hours, but there are lots of matches to choose from. Also, check out Northern Colorado Rod and Gun club if you are looking for a stepping stone to USPSA. They host defensive matches and steel challenge.

I performed a quick search, but I didn't find anything on this matter. I have two Dawson mag releases and both have grooves that have been cut into them by the over-travel stop. On one of my guns, this has caused some very erratic shots when the trigger breaks. Has anyone else experienced this?

A few things; I shot a steel match today. As typical steel matches go, some stages went well and some went bad. It's very hard to get over the idea that going fast will equal a good performance. I am still waiting for the final scores, but I had some fairly solid runs on outer limits, smoke and hope, speed option and accelerator. On the other four stages, I picked up a lot of misses, especially on pendulum. The small target, second from the right, particularly gave me some problems. I ended up with a miss on almost every string. The funny thing about steel is that everyone thinks that pure speed wins. This couldn't be further from the truth; Of course you have to strive to shoot quickly, but the most accurate shooter almost always wins. At my current level, I know that if I can shoot a clean match, I am very difficult to beat. I always get caught up with going fast, but at the end of the day, clean runs equal fast times. Many shooters are capable of putting up fast times on one or two strings, but very few can put up solid times on all five strings. While steel can be monotonous at times, I think it helps develop accuracy and it really forces me to focus on my front sight. In other news, I bought a new limited gun. I ended up getting the highly demanded DVC Limited. I had one on back order with Brazos and was told that the wait could be up to a year. Just when I was about to give up on the DVC and get another Edge, a buddy of mine called and told me that he received one in his shop unexpectedly. I bought it and am now in the process of changing everything to my specifications. First, the trigger is better than a stock Edge trigger, but it still needs work. I am planning on replacing the hammer and sear with EGW components and having a trigger job done. Second, the grip will be replaced with a standard STI grip and I will put in the tried and true Dawson magazine release. The DVC features a reduced/textured grip, but it isn't quite what I'm looking for. Overall, I really like the milling on the gun and I think it will be a very suitable blaster when it has been fully modified. My current limited gun is experiencing some major accuracy issues. It all started when I discovered that my front sight was loose. I had another set up sights, so I replaced the front sight and put on a fixed rear that my buddy sold me. With the deeper/wider rear sight and a .180 tall by .100 wide Dawson front sight, I thought I would be good to go. To my surprise, I found that I was hitting about 4 inches left and 4 inches low at 10 yards. I proceeded to drift the rear sight and it was extremely far right before I could get the windage on point. As for the elevation, I still wasn't close. In order to get the gun to hit at point of aim, I would have to just about cut the front sight in half. This got me thinking; I am starting to think that the low left issues are related to trigger pull. First, my slide release is completely destroyed; The over-travel screw has dug a significant hole in it. This is causing a very strange trigger break when the screw slips into the hole. Second, I think the long flat trigger may be a mistake. When I put the joint of my finger on the trigger, my groups somewhat improve which doesn't make a whole lot of sense according to normal triggering conventions. Before I change the trigger, I am going to see if a new magazine button, with a properly adjusted over-travel screw, will solve the problem. I was hoping to wait until my new Dawson magazine release arrived, but I am going to pull the release out of my 9mm in the meantime. Unfortunately, I think the tendonitis in my wrist has returned. I battled with this last year and it had pretty much disappeared over the winter. I get pain on the tendon right below my thumb on my left wrist. I am pretty sure the pain is coming from overuse of the tendon as a result of canting my wrist for recoil control. I started noticing the problem a few days ago, but after today it feels like it is fully inflamed. I haven't been exercising a whole lot lately and I think this has contributed to this issue. My plan is to get back into exercising regularly in hopes that strengthening my arms with help with problem. Between my limited gun issues and the tendonitis, I think I am going to have to miss tomorrow's USPSA match at AGC...

We will see if the 180s solve the timing issue...

Did you check your slide? Mine has a horizontal crack on each side under the lettering . Sorry, I couldn't resist; I am glad it is not broken.

Funny story; I was on a wait-list for a DVC Limited 40 and was told that it might be up to a year before I received it. Apparently, I was so far down the list that the representative wasn't even sure how many people were in front of me. Because I need a back-up gun for this year's shooting season, I decided that I was going to buy another Edge and modify it. Out of the clear blue sky, I received a text from a friend telling me that I would never guess what he received at his store/range. Sure enough, they received a DVC 40. I bought it yesterday and I am now a proud owner...

Don't cross over to the dark side Cy!

Cy, I put down a deposit for a DVC limited only to hear that it may be a year wait. I am now considering buying another edge and then hacking it up. If you want to shoot open in this lifetime, you might consider going a different route.