rvb

holy crap, what a bad rule change. I'll stop at the hardware store this week and add a tape measure to my range bag. Maybe EGW can sell an official measuring stick. What if both ends of the wall at the supports are 6' but it's 5'6" in the middle, or the wall is crooked and crosses the 5'9" line somewhere in the middle? Do I have to throw out a stage w/ a wall that starts at 5'10" but settles 2" into the mud, or gets a couple inches of stone tossed under? Can I get a stage tossed I don't like by stepping on the supports and sinking it into the mud? either as built, or to infinity... I don't care, but don't make me measure! And if you are going to make me measure, be clear about it. -rvb

I used to think L10 was the obsolete division, just hanging on due to those couple of high-cap ban states.... but since SS and production are usually so close in the results... and it seems production rules are un-enforceable and now we are starting to allow external competition bits, maybe L10, SS, and Prod should merge into one low-cap division. 8/maj or 10/min option for all. Has to fit in the box, no comps, no optics. Who cares If it's a glock or 1911 or 2011. Sounds kinda fun. Grab a gun and go race. Mod all you want with whatever gun you want. no more handwringing over equipment rules. would be differentiated from Limited due to the box and capacity. -rvb

awesome! looks like fun! now you just need a shhhhhhhh thing on the end -rvb

I no longer do the grip pressure portion, I've found "try to squeeze out oil" to be about the right amount of pressure on any gun, but it wouldn't hurt for you to do a few times to see what works for your and your gun. and often I'm lazy and only use 1 target and only paste anything out of the A, but I'm to the point I can tell what's going on by the sights and rely less on the paper feedback... -rvb

I just have a watch w/ a second hand or stop watch and get the pace in my head, then use a timer to see that I was consistent (each split was w/in a couple hundredths, not rushing, etc). When learning to shoot the open gun, I went through thousands of rounds on this drill alone... it was a huge help! I suspect you'll feel totally out of control at first on the faster strings. That's ok. Shoot that metronome cadence any and learn to control that recoil. timing drills are a little different from match shooting in that you want to be a metronome, pull the trigger whether you're ready or not, but you're learning to get the gun back in alignment faster. In a match, you want to wait to pull that trigger until you are happy the sight picture is 'good enough.' I suspect you are shooting the match like a timing drill, pulling the trigger at a pace you think is appropriate, whether the sights are telling you to or not... A hint on learning to control the gun and get the FS back on target, it's more visual than muscular. call that shot and drive the FS back into the notch with your vision! Over analysis is a killer! -rvb

Timing drills are one of my favorites. I wonder if it's truly a trigger control issue when you are shooting 'match speeds' or it isn't a timing / visual patience thing. If you are open to everything happening, timing drills can teach you a lot about controlling the recoil so the sight returns on target and calling the shot and seeing everything that's happening in recoil. At first, as you get to the faster portions and you try to maintain those metronome .5 and .25 splits, you'll find yourself breaking the shot with the sight not where you wanted it (or maybe not even seeing the sight at all!). I suspect that's what's happening on match day. Live fire 2x / week is not as helpful as dryfire 4-5x per week. Give up one of those live fire practices and spend the time in dryfire. Will result in more improvement with less total time / cost involved (assuming you have to drive some distance to a range, setup, etc, and the range isn't in your backyard). -rvb

on making A class, you'll get there. How much are you dryfiring? Classifiers are all about gun handling. consistent draws, not missing reloads, and an index that gets you on target ready to shoot ASAP. 30 minutes / day over winter, you'll nail it in the spring. Another hard thing about classifiers is getting the expectations and results out of your mind as you shoot. If you go to the line thinking "I need a x.xx draw and I have to nail the reload and I need a xx%" you'll crash/burn. you can't shoot with your mind on the results. It's just another stage. maximize your HF based on what the sights are doing, and be relaxed. Easy to say/read, not easy to do. Tension kills classifier scores. on the major matches, you seem to be moving up. You were only a few % behind me at the 400. Don't put too much emphasis on where you place or your %. how many folks are ahead of you all depends on who shows up to shoot. just shoot your match. trigger control at speed... have you done the drills I've been suggesting? the timing drills? the bill drills? the Garcia dot drills and dot torture? have you been logging the results? Are you improving? Are you logging practice drills at all? I don't see much here anyway... have you seen improvements? record these things. try to beat your old times. when you go to the range do you have a plan of what you want to work on? As for the Dillon mine has ~150,000.... I've never torn it all the way down. I took the top of the ram apart once. Otherwise I just clean the primer system every so often, occasionally put a little oil on the ram and linkages, and crank out bullets! Finish the yr, take Nov/Dec off. Then get on a dryfire schedule sometime in Jan/Feb and get that A card in '17! -rvb

Pretty solid match at FtW, shooting Limited. Squeaked out HOA against a couple solid PCC shooters. Yesterday was how I should have shot the IN400. Sometimes we have to prove things to ourselves that we already know... I shot the IN 400 pretty conservative, about 85% of ability, and shot ~95% of the points. Yesterday I pushed 95%+, trying to hang with the PCC crowd (and prove to myself I could be more aggressive), and I still shot 95% of the points. I had one penalty, an edged NS (still got the A behind it). Speed/accuracy don't necessarily have to have a direct inverse relationship. I 'know' this, but had to prove it to myself [again]. If I'd have shot the in400 like I did yesterday's club match, Id have closed that gap w/ the leaders considerably... not that I'd have closed that full 60s gap, but maybe cut 20s or more over the 14 field courses... classifier was 08-03, Six. Shot 7.8431HF, only good for ~77%. A/C on both paper. Sucked on the steel. 1st shot was low/left, second hit the front mini, 3rd also hit the front mini, then 4th hit the big popper. -rvb

"NO" on a rule change to allow vid evidence. "YES" on a rule change to get rid of the subjective "significant" wording. Either one per shot or one per occurrence. My preference is per shot. -rvb

2016 Indiana 400 is done. worked it again. Always a lot of fun shooting/working with some great folks. I shot Limited, my first major in that division. Finished: 37/252 Overall, 11/92 in Limited, 6/16 Limited Masters https://practiscore.com/results/new/25435 I shot fairly conservative. Dialed back to 8 or 9... given my lack of real practice or matches lately, my goal was to grind away and not make big mistakes. I accomplished that pretty successfully, only 2 penalties (1 NS on stage 2 and 1 M on stage 7). I burned-in and executed stage plans better than I have in a long time. Shot the entire 15 stages in one day, that was pretty grueling. I was feeling it on the last couple stages. It was my last stage I edged the NS. I shot over 95% of the points. Over the course of the match, I beat the Limited champ by ~70 points, but lost by a combined 60 seconds. Definitely a lesson there. I shot it like a production shooter, chasing too many As. I watched some old vids of myself shooting open, I need to get some of that aggressiveness back and use major PF to my advantage. Video of all 15 stages: And for anyone wondering, I did not win a gun this year. Thanks for the cool knife, Jake! -rvb

Feel like it's midnight the night before an exam, and I'm just starting to study... #toolittletoolate #IN400 thrsday worked entry/setup into positions friday worked gun handling... Draws, Bill drills, 2R2, groups, etc. today went crazy on partials i at least feel better mentally than I did going into that last club match. -rvb

what a train wreck... shot Limited at ACC today. Only two decent stages were the classifier and short course. I couldn't do anything right. Lots of mental mistakes and just bad shooting. Classified was 13-06 Too Close for Comfort. Happy w/ my shooting on it, but still only an ~80%. Shot it in 5.58s, 45 pts (5A, 1B, 4C), 8.0645 HF. Good 1s draw, 1.4s reload. Don't know I could have done much better other than to really pushed the draw/reload and shaved a few tenths. My First stage "Why Not" was a 34 round course. I stuttered at the far end, apparently not having the plan very well burnt in. Had a M into hardcover. Had it been a major I'd have asked for an overlay to get the A, it was that close, but I shouldn't have put it in the black. I was 5 seconds off the pace. Also shot too slow on the partials. My Second stage was probably my best field course, but I was still off pace by 3 seconds. I wasn't looking at the correct target before the buzzer, and drew to the wrong one, had to adjust. One of the targets wasn't pasted and that drew my attention and slowed me down a bit. I didn't do as good a job as I thought burning the simple plan in. 3rd Stage, "push forward" was a total disaster. Got a wretched grip. Didn't call a miss on a popper that was the last thing shot before leaving a position. Cost myself 5 seconds getting back into position. couldn't hit steel for anything. Cost another 5 seconds at the end on make up shots and a plan that fell off the rails, so 10 seconds off pace total. started off strong on my last field course, "stolen," but the wheels fell off on the last 3rd. Added an unplanned reload, which screwed up my timing moving between positions (was reloading when I should have been shooting on the move). ended up out of the box and had to step back in. Only shot 92% of the points on the match. It's been a couple months since I shot pistol in a match, and have been putting in no dryfire or live fire practice, and it shows! I have a LOT of work to do before the IN match, technically and mentally... -rvb

timing drills. bill drills. practice shot calling slow fire. mag dumps into the berm. learn to really track that FS.

Awesome, thanks. Good,luck at A5!

So are you not going to be at FW this weekend? Do I need to find someone for registration?

Today was a range day I've been looking forward to for a long time. I took my first-born to the range for the first time. He'll be 8 in August. We used a 10/22 with a cheapo red dot and a cut down stock (still a little long, but didn't want him to outgrow it too fast). Started off loading 1 at a time, then worked up to 3 in the mag. He followed directions well, and was very accurate. We switched to a zombie wolf target he picked out, and he was calling out where he was going to hit (like an eye, only a 3/4" target). Didn't go through a lot of rounds, but he had fun! and so did I! -rvb This was the first round he ever fired!

Next match is this Sunday!

Timing drills: http://ingunowners.com/forums/tactics-training/81378-matt-burketts-timing-drills.html

Timing drills. dot drills. Bill drills (more than 6rounds). Accelerator. Come to FWRR tomorrow, we may just do some of these -rvb

fed primers + 15lb 1911 mainspring... -rvb

your last couple posts sounds like you are too focused on speed. "I don't need to go slower", "my speed is where it should be" etc focus on hits. Stop Missing! Decide to get your hits before your next match. take that tiny mental pause during those times when it's necessary, eg calling a shot before you leave a position or settle the sights when you enter a position before breaking the shot. A miss is roughly equal to 2-3s, depending on HF. You can afford to take the time needed to settle the gun and to call the shot. "Slow down" doesn't have to mean "move slow" or even "trigger slow." You need to slow down around the shot. You may think you need to speed up your vision, but IF you are transitioning your eyes off target before calling the shot, or breaking the shot before seeing an acceptable sight picture, then you are moving faster than you can shoot. That's not a problem of speeding up the vision, that's a problem of not looking. I would wager you are breaking shots w/o having seen an acceptable sight picture and are leaving targets wo seeing the sight lift. It will "FEEL" like all that waiting on an acceptable sight picture and watching your sights lift takes a long time, but it won't even show on the timer. You might even see faster times as uncertainty about your shots is replaced w/ confident hits. Just my 2c after watching you shoot some and your posts. so "slow down," but keep moving and shooting fast! -rvb

Been a while, but been shooting very little, and when I have it's been distracted and dismal.... Yesterday I finally put together what felt to be a solid match, and it felt great. 1st was a technical change. I finally ditched the stock sights on my Limited glock and put on some TTIs. The notch/post width is just about perfect. I never liked the .135 rear width of the Sevigny's on my production gun. on tight shots it felt hard to ensure the sight was where it should be due to too much daylight around it. The .125 rear on the TTIs felt great. I went 1/1 on steel all day, and it seemed effortless. Shot 94.5% of points (one Mike on a tight partial, called it as I was leaving a position and opted not to back up for a make up). I may pony up the coin to swap out the production glock sights.... that 0.010" made that much difference... 2nd was a mentality change. I decided I was going to make sure I did walkthroughs on every stage, spend a little more time visualizing my plans and a little less time on the timer. I executed all 6 stages as planned and that hasn't happened in a looong time! It is a lot more FUN when you're not frustrated due to major mistakes. Classifier was Bang & Clang, 99-62. I felt good w/ my run on this. 3.51, down 1. But the HHF is stupid high on this one, so that's good for ~67%. haha. HHF is 12.2, so it needs to be run clean in 2.45? I may set this one up in practice. Lick Ricky Bobby, I feel I need to get my speed back... Next match is the IN Section, so I need to start practicing / dryfiring.... No video this time... -rvb

Next match this Sunday May 15th, 3rd Sunday. Hope to see you there! -rvb

Fort Wayne's April USPSA match is this Sunday, April 17 This is a classifier match, with 6 classifier stages. Registration Begins: 9:00 A.M. *New-shooters meeting: 9:30 A.M. Shooters Meeting: 9:45 A.M. Match Begins: 10:00 A.M. *New-shooters meeting prior to the match: If you are new to uspsa, we'll give you a quick introduction into the basics of the game (safety, range commands, scoring). Registration Fee: $20 (General entry) $15 (FWRR member) $0 (setup crew) Juniors shoot free with paid adult If you wish to shoot two guns, you can. We'll run everyone through with their first gun, then folks wanting to shoot a second division can do so. The cost for the second division is $15 ($10 for FWRR members and setup crew). The Fort Wayne Rifle and Revolver (FWRR) gun club is located north of Harlan, IN, just off 37. 15715 Rupert Rd Grabill, IN 46741 41.234010/-84.888246 Maps and directions can be found at Fort Wayne Rifle & Revolver Gun Club... www.fwrr.us "Like" us on facebook, at www.facebook.com/fwuspsa Questions? Email me at ftw_uspsa@yahoo.com or PM me here. Hope to see you there! -rvb

Scores are posted: http://www.uspsa.org/uspsa-display-match-results-detail.php?indx=16908 https://practiscore.com/results/17624 thanks to the setup crew and everyone who helped clean up after the match. And thanks to everyone who came out! It was a fun match and a great day for shooting! see you next month! -rvb