rvb
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Posts posted by rvb
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Two IDPA matches in a row I've gotten procedural penalties for shooting targets out of order. I NEVER used to do that.
In either game you should have a plan that you've mentally rehearsed before you get to the line. Doing that, I've never had a problem with shooting them out of order. .. Now it may not be an order that I would have chosen based on what's fastest for me, but regardless the plan should be there before you walk to the line.
-rvb
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I recently got back into taping some match videos for analysis. I'm trying to pick them apart to find things to work on.
In addition to improving the shooting, I want to improve my ability to critic my shooting.
So let's do this a little differently. I have two videos from last week...
I'll describe what I see as problems. Let me know if you agree.... and what I may have missed.
In this stage, start w/ WH hand on door knob and SH relaxed. Door activates drop turner.
What problems do I see?
1) Had I shot the 3rd/4th target in the opposite order, I would have been in a better position to take off.
2) Took 4th target flat footed. Should have been starting to move.
3) started to lower the gun between the targets I took on the move and I should have kept it up.
The stage:
In this stage, start seated, back against chair, hands on knees.
What problems do I see?
1) Did not cleanly un-lock my ghost holster.
2) Funny footwork. Lots of little steps getting to the left wall. Perhaps because the gun wasn't coming out for me?
3) Missed into hard cover on the 2nd target. I let the cover distract my attention from the A-zone. The bullets went where my eyes and the dot said they would. Made them up.
4) poor job exiting the first shooting position
5) could have been moving more aggressive on the middle 3 targets. Had plenty of angle to see them but took them all from within a couple small steps.
The stage:
Thanks!!
-rvb
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Just do your own thing; people are pretty flaky....people are pretty lazy......and getting up and driving in a car with your guns that you don't know how to shoot to a place you've never been to shoot with people you don't know
AND THEN GETTING YOUR BUTT KICKED
can be kinda intimidating.
Agree completely.
If you can lead the horse to water but can't make him drink, then why waste your energy leading him? He'll find it if he's thirsty.
I tried and tried and tried to get people out. Even got a couple people to come out over the years. They all came ONCE. Whatever. If they want to shoot they know how to get a hold of me. One of my buddies is hooked after I got him started. But I think he had the thirst and would have found the water without me.
-rvb
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rvb
in Range Diary
5/24, shot open at Bend of the River.
Shot this match as if it was the upcoming Area 5 match... at about 95% of my limit with a goal to give nothing away to mistakes or penalties. I was penalty free and shot 95% of the points (and no D's!).
Classifier was 99-28 HillBillton Drill. 9A, 3C, 6.82s, hf = 8.3578. (should be around a 77%). More proof my stand-n-shoot skills are suffering. I botched the reload pretty bad then had to take two shots on one of the steel.
Had one stage with several steps of movement backwards after the buzzer and I decided to lock my holster, but didn't get it un-locked completely on the draw. One atomic wedgie and one second later I was back in the fight.....
A couple of match videos:
On this I had two extra shots. Shots 3 and 4 (the second target far left) went in the black. Poor transition. The bullets went where my eyes went, but my eyes were stuck looking at the hardcover and not the center of the A, so I had to make them up. Video shows poor job getting moving out of the first firing position...
No real comment on this one except I could have been smoother on the first array and again maybe a better job getting moving.
-rvb
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rvb
in Range Diary
Sunday 5/17 (yea I'm behind in my updates).... skipped match to practice and chrono.
400 rounds through the open gun and another 50 through the chrono (38 super and .45).
Funny how things are cyclical. Used to be I was strong on classifies and weak on field courses. Now I feel I'm more strong on field courses and need to work on my stand-n-shoot skills. So that's what I did. My draws suck. My reloads sucks. I had a target at 10 yds with a no-shoot bordering the Azone on each side. I couldn't hit it out of the holster under 1.1 to save my life. And reloads were in the 1.4-1.7 range. Damn, that's crap for a master.
My gun timing is finally where I want it. Even with a crappy draw I was still doing bill drills in ~1.9 and bill-R-bill drills in ~4.1. But that's relying totally on splits. I'd say I should be able to cut 0.3 off the draw and 0.5 off the reloads... and I shouldn't be focusing my practices on splits/transitions or gun timing any more.
I did do a personal best El Prez, 4.14s, down 4 points.... and I caught it on video....
I think this video shows the problem I feel I'm having on the draw and reload. There is hesitation when the gun is on target before the first [and 7th] shots. I think it's showing a weakness in my index.... that I can get the gun close out of the holster (and from the reload), but I'm needing to refine that alignment before I can start shooting.
-rvb
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it happens. although 10k is pretty low on the newer designs. Did one "wing" of the block appear to have more wear than the other?
I recommend replacing the plunger at the same time (there are several generations of blocks and I believe the cam surfaces are different between some of them). Buy a second set to keep in the range bag to ward off evil spirits.
W/ NATO rounds, the life expectancy for the mil contracts is supposed to be somewhere around 20k, iirc.
-rvb
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rvb
in Range Diary
Lat night I did just 20 minutes of basic dryfire w/ the open rig. first in 3-4 weeks.
Surprisingly I hit a lot of my old pars.
USPSA put new classifications out today, looks like I'm now a 2-division Master.
OPEN Class: M Pct: 86.06 High Pct: 86.06
-rvb
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... allow local officials to arbitrarily decide who may exercise this core Second Amendment right.
If successful, I wonder if this same reasoning could then be applied to NFA's law-enforcement sign-off?
-rvb
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The appropriate and simplest thing would have been for the shooter to not react to the timer. The RO would then start over at "Are you ready."
8.3.4
-rvb
edit: mis-read and didn't realize it was the RO's phone. If I was the shooter and it was MY phone I would chuck it (I seldom have my cell on me; I hate the thing). I would not chuck the ROs phone nor would I be upset w/ the RO.
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rvb
in Range Diary
I shot Open at Angola, IN17, this weekend.
LOTS of SHO in this match.
3 of the 5 stages were 10-11 HF, very fast stages.
1st stage was 3 targets through a gap in a wall, then 4 on the left through a port that you had to pull a rope to open, and 4 on the right w/ a similar port. Didn't rehearse setting up on the right array well enough and had to "hunt" for the far right target (actually came back to it after shooting the middle two). That had to cost me time...
Classifier was 03-18, High standards. 15 As, 6Cs, 3Ds, in 15.00, hf = 7.000.
Had a poor transition to WH. My thumb rode the slide and gun didn't go into battery on the 3rd shot. I'd guess it cost me 2s minimum doing the WH malfunction clearing.
-rvb
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Thanks for all the funny stories. Guess in perspective to some of your incidents, mine wasn't that bad... yall had me rollin.
And you are all certainly right that "It's worth it!"
(but I reserve the right to complain about poop! haha)
-rvb
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Normally they aren't such a big deal, but this time it was easier to just give the kid a bath.
I even had to change MY clothes when it was all over with.
He's still on a heart/apnea monitor, and I had to change the leads and wires on that.
The room still smells!
What a mess!
Someday I'll get my revenge when I'm old and he's changing MY diapers!
-rvb
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Awards for class are just participation awards, imo. All my class awards are in a box in the basement. I only feel I have "bragging rights" for awards where I was at or near the top.
Those awards really mean something to me. And yea, I have very few of those awards...
(actually, since moving, all my awards are in a box in the basement...)
-rvb
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I use a 92G Elite II.
I do my own trigger work.
I even recently made production-Master with it.
I keep saying I'll switch platforms when it's the gun holding me back and not my abilities with the gun...... haven't switched yet.
I do not believe the "90-two" is on the approved production-gun list.
http://www.uspsa.org/rules/production_list.php
-rvb
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I tell people [especially non-shooters] it's much like playing golf.....
... golf has 9 to 18 "stages," however you have to complete each hole as fast as possible, the holes are often moving, and instead of a nice wide-open green the holes are in the middle of the woods with lots of stuff to get in the way of an accurate shot. Oh, and you don't start the holes with the clubs in your hands, you have to remove the club from the bag and make your first swing as quickly as possible at the buzzer. ... yea... just like golf.
-rvb
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extra socks.
I just always keep a pair of socks in my range bag. Sucks driving home with soggy feet.
-rvb
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The biggest issue is foot speed...
I'm no athlete by any means either, but I don't think foot speed is that big an issue in this game (though it doesn't hurt, and the more I move up the more I think it's becomming important... hence now part of my training and weight-loss goals).
The real time killer isn't usually the running, it's the time it takes to set up on the target. Imagine a difficult target leaning hard around a barricade/wall after running 5 yds to the fault line.... then getting back out of that position quickly... those are the kinds of things you can dryfire and you don't need a lot of room to do it. Those are the kinds of things that eat up seconds on the clock.
-rvb
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rvb
in Range Diary
Friday 4/24: got to the indoor range to test out my new mags for my open gun. just 100 rounds. after convincing myself the mags worked I practiced some sho/who.
Sunday 4/26: Shot open division at Bend of the River club, MI08. This was a 5-stage special classifier match. It was the first I had shot my open gun (except friday's mag testing) in two months.
Looking at the #s, I think I'll get the bump to master. But it was ugly. Not the way I'd like to do it.
- Started the match on stage 4, big barricade II. had to make up a steel and a M/NS on the left side.
- Stage 5, long range standards, 40 yds. I had all my hits on string 1 in like 4 seconds and rocked it. Blew it on the kneeling and prone strings. Need to work on position shooting.... Also all my hits were higher than what I called, so I think my mikes went over the target. I didn't allow for the ballistics of the high-mounted scope and a 10-yd zero. There's a lot to think about with this open non-sense.....
- Stage 1, melody line, follower hung up in mag (not one of my new brazos mags). Cost me at least two seconds to clear. First jam in a long time on that gun. Would have been a smokin run...
- Stage 2, steeler stds, had a M on string one. That old bad habit I seem to have (only with my open gun for some odd reason) where I anticipate the reload and don't follow-through on the shot before the reload bit me. Called it about 4 inches off target in upper right. Even with the M it was still good enough to count (~72%) [and drag my % down].
- Stage 3, 3-V, rocked this one, although I would have liked more As. should be ~ 93% which should pull me into M (despite the 72% on 08-02). This stage must have a low HHF accross all divisions. I got my M card on this classifier in PD on this classifier with ~96%.
Stage Name A B C D M NS Time Total Points Hit Factor Stg Pts Place
1P 99-08 7 3 2 8.01 51 6.3670 60.0000 1
2P 08-02 11 8 1 12.72 77 6.0535 100.0000 1
3P 03-04 6 4 4 6.45 62 9.6124 70.0000 1
4P 06-02 8 3 4 1 1 10.56 48 4.5455 80.0000 1
5P 99-09 8 1 7 5 3 20.81 52 2.4988 120.0000 1
Definately came away from this match with a lot to work on. Definately need to work on position shooting. Need to work on following through on that last shot before a reload, need to re-learn my 38-super ballistics tables.
-rvb
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In your daily dryfire are you practicing field-course skills or are you just practicing stand-n-shoot skills?
In your dryfire, you can practice moving between positions, entering positions with vision barriers and walls, reloading between positions, shooting on the move, etc. etc
If you are not already, try to keep your dryfire routine as diverse as the shooting we do. Work up a sweat running between positions. Work on what aspect needs the most improvement... so instead of being static in your dryfire, work on movement drills.
Doing this I've always found my match % at major matches to align suprisingly close to my classification %.
-rvb
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Bubba Sanders, owner of Bullseye Supply LLC, in Brandon, Miss., said he has "a number of doctor clients whose financial advisers have told them to invest in ammunition. Beats the hell out of money markets and CDs. You can double your investment in ammunition in a year."
WTF, invest in ammunition ?? What are they seeing to come ??
I saw that article and to me that sounds like the same "financial advisers" who advised clients to buy tech stock at their peak in '01 and realstate at its peak in '07. Gee, invest when prices are high and inventory is low? Sounds backwards to the typical "buy low and sell high" concept. So they will assume the prices can't go anywhere but up?
So like tech stocks and housing, I'm waiting on the ammo bubble to burst. Typical political caveats asside, the "hoarders" and "investors" will eventually get their fill and the manufactures and retailers will regain inventory. I continue to buy from retailers with the integrity to continue to sell at their typical mark-up... all that means is I have to get in line and wait.
-rvb
The law of supply and demand only goes just so far. This market is obviously being driven by rational hazards. Putting politics aside as much as is possible, the supply of ammo and guns in this country is likely to NEVER return to it's pre Obama levels. By the way, I do not own any tin foil hats
Truly putting politics asside, I believe you have it backwards. I keep hearing that supply has increased as both gun and ammo manufactures have added shifts etc., so it's not the supply that is the problem. The supply just hasn't increased as much as the demand (or lagged the demand too long). My hypothosis above is that the level of demand will not be sustained. I hope that supply never returns to it's pre-O days considering supply is now greater and there are more shooters, etc. But once the demand drops, the supply will run high for a while to catch up and re-fill the inventory chain, then decline. Just my prediction ignoring the politics. Buy low sell high, not the other way around. Now is not the time to "invest" in ammo... that time was 18 months ago.
-rvb
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Bubba Sanders, owner of Bullseye Supply LLC, in Brandon, Miss., said he has "a number of doctor clients whose financial advisers have told them to invest in ammunition. Beats the hell out of money markets and CDs. You can double your investment in ammunition in a year."
WTF, invest in ammunition ?? What are they seeing to come ??
I saw that article and to me that sounds like the same "financial advisers" who advised clients to buy tech stock at their peak in '01 and realstate at its peak in '07. Gee, invest when prices are high and inventory is low? Sounds backwards to the typical "buy low and sell high" concept. So they will assume the prices can't go anywhere but up?
So like tech stocks and housing, I'm waiting on the ammo bubble to burst. Typical political caveats asside, the "hoarders" and "investors" will eventually get their fill and the manufactures and retailers will regain inventory. I continue to buy from retailers with the integrity to continue to sell at their typical mark-up... all that means is I have to get in line and wait.
-rvb
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"When I'm done shooting this stage, I'll be able to tell who's watching me shoot... they'll be the ones laughing..."
-rvb
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rvb
in Range Diary
Not a lot to report on.
Shot a local match at Angola on 4/5. Shot production. Shot 90.3% of available points. 1-for-1 on all steel.
1st stage I had a mike, SHO, VA-count. It was a goofy setup where the first string was two shots on target, 2nd string was one shot on target. I think I started to take a 2nd shot on a target and realized it and started to transition just as the shot was breaking.
My SHO/WHO gun control and accuracy is improving.
Felt reloads were smooth but lazy (slow). Wish I had video'd so I could see if it they really were or just felt that way.
Classifier was 99-13, Quicky II. 7.7849 hf (should be 89%). 19 A, 1 B, 4 C in 14.13 s.
Making the switch back to open for a while, at least through Area 5 (or until I run out of WSR primers).
Limited dryfire this week. Just a few draws to make sure I could still index the rig half-ways decent. Trying to give my shoulder a rest which has been bothering me lately. Worked on trigger control.
-rvb
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When using a case guage, check your brass with it AFTER sizing BEFORE you load it, and the finished rounds. You don't have to guage every case before loading, just take a sampling. But I do suggest guaging every loaded round. I recomend using the Dillon guage, it has a go/no go indicator on each end of the guage, one for the head spacing (which is taken off the shoulder to the bottom of the case), and the other for the neck length on the top of the guage. its pretty sweet.
Good info! I had picked up the Dillon check to check ammo but was unaware (and too embarrassed to ask) about those nicely machined slots on the top and bottom of the gauge. I was using it like my 9mm gauge and not aware of the go-no go aspect for the additional parameters.
http://www.dillonhelp.com/manuals/english/...al-May-2007.pdf
See pages 7-8.
I use both a dillon and LE Wilson gauge... got both due to one being on back-order so got the other while I waited...
middle of the headspace steps on the dillon did not pass the wilson, so I set my die up to pass both gauges, fwiw.
-rvb
Awards for class are just participation awards, imo. 
I'm gong to compete for the first time
in Introduce Yourself
Posted
And not having ever participated, how will you know you are practicing the right things or the right way? Perhaps a better use of your ammo and budget would be to participate? It takes a lot more effort to un-learn bad habits than to learn correct habits.
Practice enough that you feel SAFE handling your firearm (can draw safely and reload safely and can keep your finger off the trigger when not making it go bang), then go play. Don't try to perform out of your comfort zone when you start (so you stay safe). You'll progress much faster than trying to get good never having shot a match.
I'm sure your approach is appealing because no one wants to look like they don't know what they are doing in front of others. But we were all new once. I always tell people that no-one remembers your scores when you show up to your first match, that's not part of the first impression... but the impression you leave with your attitude and level of safety will stick with you. So show up with a smile and a willingness to help (paste, tear down, etc), tell the ROs you are new so they can walk you through things, and have fun.
Budget part of your "stockpile" to a few matches, imo.
-rvb