drmweaver2

I have a dry eye issue also...both on windy days and due to allergies. One thing both my allergist and optometrist pointed out to me is that not all "eye drops" are for dry eyes. Some are for redness (ex., Visine Original). Some are merely diluted saline solution (ex., Liquid Tears). Contact solutions are useless for combatting dry eyes in my experience and their opinion - except in very general terms. Basically, they said it's no more useful than Liquid Tears/saline solution - mainly because it doesn't last very long. For dry eyes, I/You want some with a lubricant in it. For ex., Walmart's generic brand Equate Dry Eye Relief has 0.3% Glycerine and 1% Propylene Glycol. I won't recommend that, per se, but it does work for me. In addition, I always use "wrap around", over-glasses when shooting (over-glasses because I always wear prescription glasses). I have occasionally (really windy days) used actual goggles (think old motorcycle style with leather around the frame). I also find that wearing the wrong hat/cap can direct/funnel wind into the area between my eyeglasses and my eyes which certainly dries the eyes out quickly.

I've decided to move my diary over to the PF forums as this forum is sooooo competition-oriented (no insult intended there) and I am NOT competition-focused at all. The chance of me doing any serious competition work is slim and it just doesn't seem to fit my goals. I appreciate all the views and comments here. For those of you who've merely viewed this thread, I've noticed and appreciated that also. Thanks. FWIW, that link is https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?22233-A-different-kind-of-journey Edited to fix the link

Went back to the range today and shot both the 9mm and the 22LR. Fairly pleased overall with the results. Shot the SD9VE/9mm first. 3 mags. All 3 targets are on 8.5x11 inch paper. Other than the 1 flyer on the silhouette, this accurately represents my current skill level, I think - some trigger jerk/pushing but much more consistent than I have been. Switched to the M&P 22LR for the rest of the session. Trying to get rid of more Golden Bullets....when they worked, they were semi-accurate. When they didn't, I noticed my "flinch". Shot the left paper target first. Both sheets are on 8.5x11 inch paper. Pretty happy with the left target's results... not so much with the right. I was actually trying to "make 1 big hole" on 4 different circles... just didn't get anywhere near there. Had some muzzle wobble and visual focus issues. No excuses.. just didn't execute. Still, I left the range pretty happy with my shooting today, especially with the 9mm's results.

Decided to commemorate the 15th anniversary of 9-11 with a range day. Shot the .22LR again. Reasonable results, nothing spectacular nor horrible...even when pushed out to 40'...(the big center circle target). As usual, pulled/pushed shots left a bit & some low. Had some eye focus issues.. might be a dry-eye thing. I need to remember to bring my eye drops next time. Will have to try this with the 9mm soon. But at $0.21/round, I would shoot only half or a third of this - between 125 and 150 .22LR rounds ($0.072/round). I'd intended to shoot the bottom two rows of 1-inch dots in groups of 5 per dot from 10', but I ran out of time (had to get home to see the Saints football game). I'll do that next time I shoot this target for sure. The goal will be 5for5 in each dot. For comparison, the top two rows of 1_inch dots were shot from 15' and I rarely got hits in the dots period. I thought for sure I would, but it was not to be.

Went back to the range today... shot the 22 again from 20 feet. 100 rounds of Remington Golden Bullets because I am a masochist. I averaged 1 misfire or other malfunction every 3rd round. 2 rounds literally blew the casing bottom out and startled the hell out of me. Others were crimped and wouldn't chamber properly and still others wouldn't chamber more than 50% of the way due to some undetectable (by me at least) reason. I shot the last 50 rounds with Aguila Pistol Match rounds and had zero issues. I need to learn to just throw away the Golden Bullets... but I am cheap, they're paid for, and throwing stuff away after it's been paid for is against my "principles". Anyway, here's the target for the day... all were single shots from "low ready to press out" from 20' I'd have shot more, but, after shooting the top 2 with Golden Bullets and having all those issues, I was both tired and frustrated. In any case, Overall, I'm fairly pleased with the accuracy. Nothing spectacular, but definitely mostly in the red/gray. I think there are only a couple rounds in the black ring. As you can see from the markings on the target, I was planning to shoot another 100 rounds, 50 more from 20' and then finish up with 50 more from 30'.... FWIW, those "ovals" are 7.5" x 5.25" and the red areas are 3" x 2"... One "good thing" about the bad, horrible, terrible Golden Bullet malfunctions was that it showed me CLEARLY just how badly I'm flinching. I didn't think I was flinching with the .22 but I certainly am. This confuses me a bit as the SIRT pistol's laser doesn't move 1/64th of an inch on the wall when I press the trigger and it has a much more difficult trigger. The .22 has practically no recoil or noise, of course. So what am I flinching from when shooting it? Dunno.... Anyway, it's all good.

Went to the range today... Shot both the 9mm and the 22LR. Figured that I'd shoot at 30' since that was where things were "deteriorating". I was relatively pleased with the results. Started off shooting 9mm rounds at 2 different targets. Low ready to press out, shot within 2 secs. Target 1... The shots in the red were all sequential right at the start, then the results somewhat deteriorated from there. Target 2.... . Overall, semi-pleased. Flinching but also dealing with a serious scratch that hasn't completely healed on my strong hand between the thumb and the index finger. Affected the grip more mentally than physically... my grip was fairly tight through the recoil. No excuses, but something I was definitely aware of during recoil and causing more anticipation issue than normal. As noted above, my initial shots were good, in the red, but as the hand began to bother me, things went somewhat downhill. Target 3... .22LR Target 4... more .22LR As with the 9mm, I was bothered by the scratch more mentally than physically, but even with the .22LR's minimal recoil, it was a noticeable distraction. So, short day but actually walked away feeling better than the last time when I left with serious doubts... As noted on one 9mm target, I "lost" 6 rounds.. dunno why or where they hit (probably fliched/jerked and they went low left... totally unsure). But since so many rounds hit somewhere on the paper at 30', I'm gonna start shooting that distance more often. It can't hurt...if my confidence starts to drop, I can always bring the target back in.

I use blue painters tape also.

Labor Day fun - indoor range work. Hit a milestone today... shot my 3,000th .22 round. You might not be able to tell it from the results, but 3,000 seems a significant amount of shooting to me. I only wish I had better results to show for it. Shot 200 rounds with the .22LR. Overall, mixed results. Still not accurate at all past 20 feet. Not sure why things "fall apart", but past 20' they just do. Otoh, I'm fairly satisfied with 20' and in. Warmups From 20', start @ low ready, chest shot then head shot. Definitely not good results on 2nd shot/head shot. Might be rushing the drill overall. Finished up with this... Ended with the 30' target on the left. Totally dissatisfied with those results. Not sure what happened and that's not a good thing.. On the other hand, the fact that the range was open on the holiday was great. Made my day. At this point, I don't see any reason to go to another USPSA match yet where I'd expect to get worse results with the 9mm than I am currently getting with the .22. If I can't get more consistent results shooting the .22 at targets @ or past 30', it would almost definitely be a case of throwing money away. At $50-60 a pop/match, I think my money's better off being spent under more controlled circumstances; heck, I can shoot a minimum of 600_ .22 rounds for that money, possibly 1,200 if I can find a deal! Disappointing. Very disappointing.

Dry fire and football... they do and don't mix! Started out watching the 7:30am football game played in Ireland of all places. Halftime break allowed for 10 mins of Wall drills. Had some wobble that wasn't there last time I did this drill (a couple days ago). Post-game allowed for a couple hours break and thus dry-firing before the next game. Did 25 reps each of micro-draw sections - garb the pistol, holster to low ready, low ready to press out, reholster. Got into another game...at halftime went back and did 25 reps of low-ready to single shots on 2 inch target circles from 4 yards. No par time used... didn't want to "harsh my buzz"/get frustrated and not enjoy the football... yeah, I know, priorities, priorities. Finally am sitting watching the LSU-Wisconsin game...just past halftime during which I got in 25 more low-ready to single shots on a 1/6th scale silhouette with a 2 inch circle in the chest A zone followed by another single shot on a similar target 6 inches to the right from 4 yards. Again, no par time used. Concentrated on accuracy while giving myself a mental par time to beat" of 2 secs after getting the front sight on the silhouette. LSU is playing like a bunch of 3rd graders, so I'm frustrated...and it is affecting my dry-fire!!! Geaux Tigers....c'mon guys...eww ken due et!!! Edited...added below stuff Okay, so LSU lost. Bummer.. big time bummer. Dry-fired 25 reps of "double taps" on a 2 inch target circle at 15 feet (all but with my back against a wall!) with a vengeance. No par time used... but went as fast as I could and used LASR software to judge accuracy. 65% hits first shot, 45% second shot. Slowed down slightly for 25 more double tap reps... maybe 90% of the previous speed. Same target and distance. LASR software reported little real increase in accuracy - 72% first shot, 54% second shot. Time for more beer... wait, I haven't had even one yet... yeah, more beer definitely needed. End of dry-fire for the day.

Thanks.

What email address is that?

Actually, I have a half-fingered bicycling glove that I have tried during dry-fire in my house. It provides additional "grip width" because of the pad on the heel of the palm area and additional "grip length" due to the pad on the thumb joint "pad" area. Consequently, it gives quite a positive and comfortable grip for my hand with my SD9VE. I also tried it at an indoor range for a bit - until I noticed the strange looks I was getting...so about 32 rounds(2 mags) worth., Seemed to work fine there also. But, for competition, well.. I wonder how an RO or MD would view things...

My pistol doesn't have swappable backstraps standard and the rules say I can't use anything to build up and/or change the actual shape of the grip, right? But if it DID have swappable backstraps, I could change the grip... So, does that mean I can or can't use a padded glove to accomplish the same thing - essentially a longer and wider grip?

Had to get in some range time today as the weekend is for football! and Monday being Labor Day, not sure if the range will be open or not. So, took out the .22LR again. Shot 150 rounds. Used new (for me) targets just for variety. All but the last pic/target were single shots at 15', from the low ready to press out. Again, front sight pic was my concentration... wanted to try to get 'em all in the circles/dots. Not particularly great results, but not horrible. Sorry about the focus... but it's "viewable". If you want to "Track my progress through the session", I shot top left then top right on the left target first, then bottom left followed by bottom right. Then I shot some smaller black dots before moving to the right sheet where I shot top left then top right, bottom left then bottom right. The circles are 2.5" circles. These were each shot within 3 secs from starting at low ready. Switched to this target just for a change.. still shooting at 15', single shots starting from low ready within 2 secs. Edited to note annotation error.... these are 2" circles... not 2.5".. Some evidence of muzzle/sight wobble and I recognized it a lot as it was happening. Should have backed out of the shot a couple times. Some out-of-focus (both front sight and target) shots taken... not a good thing to do. Finished up with this... from 10'... Edited to note annotation error.... these are 2" circles... not 2.5".. Single shots from low read firing almost immediately after front sight arrived at center of circle. I had a premature shot, the top left one. I had my finger on the trigger too soon and did not intend to shoot that shot. Don't quite know what happened on the low left flyer just below it. The other low left shot was almost called; that is, I knew it was going to be outside the circle but not how far outside. Otherwise, a pretty decent grouping.... Overall, felt pretty fair about the results. Has some lower back pain issues (chronic, on-going issue for 35 years) as well as a right deltoid issue. My hands aren't tensing up as much as before, which is good. I'm definitely feeling that the dry-fire low-ready press outs and draw from holster work is showing results... nothing M/GM level for sure, but I can look back at my earliest targets and see progress.

Dry-fire day. Definitely not as much fun as live firing. Concentrated on draw micro-drills..initial grab, initial grip, press out movement, gaining front sight picture, reholstering for about 10 minutes. 10 reps of the Wall drill - holding front sight picture still and then single trigger pull with no muzzle/sight picture movement. If it moved, I repeated the rep. LASR/SIRT dry-fire work: 10 reps of slow, deliberate draw and single shot @ 2 inch bullseye from 5 yards. No par time used. 25 reps of draw and "double-tap" at 3x5 card target from 5 yards. Focused on gaining a proper grip and decent(not perfect) sight picture for 1st shot. LASR software showed I missed the 1st shot once and the 2nd 3 times while beating a 4.5 sec par time. 10 reps "at half speed" on that 180 degree turn in the El Presidente drill. Still not comfortable with my turn. Two methods seem popular according to an Internet search and depend on the direction one turns. Since I'm right-handed and wear my holster on the right side, I'm most comfortable with stepping back with my right foot & turning right. I guess the issue is how much of a backward step I should take and how far across the centerline of my body that step should be. Need to work on this more, much more.

Yep, yep,yep... went to the range today to shoot the SD9VE. Flinch city! The trigger seemed to pull easily, but flinching/anticipation is still evident. These were all shot from 20'. As can be seen, I was left as usual and, with the exception of a couple shots on #4, was definitely jerking in anticipation. These were all low ready to press out single shots; once the sights were "gained", no more than 2 secs to pull the trigger. Moved the target out to 30' and fired slowly and quite deliberately. Not awful, but not great. Still low and left. Logically, I don't think I should feel too badly about this considering this is my best result at 30' ever, but I'm definitely not satisfied. I want them all in the 10 zone or red center, dang it. Switched to the M&P .22LR firing Aguila SE/HV's. No mechanicals so I was pretty relaxed mentally - that is something that I have issues with (my mental 'calm' being lost when the pistol doesn't do what it's supposed to). All shot at 15' starting at low ready then pressing out and taking a shingle shot. This is an 8.5 x 11" target sheet. Hits are all around the "x"/POI in each area so little evidence of flinching/trigger jerk. I'm pretty satisfied with this. As mentioned above, I get tense in the upper chest and shoulders and deliberately took a minute or so between each 9mm mag to try to "shake it out". Less of an issue with the .22LR but still noticeably "not completely relaxed" at the low ready start position. I've got to overcome this anticipation and trigger jerk issue with the SD9VE. It's messing with both my results and head. I don't remember having any such issue with rifles "back in teh day". And the bit of 1911 shooting I did then was mostly in the 8-10 area @ 25' then also, if I remember correctly. Sigh... only time will tell, I guess. Plan for tomorrow, more dry-fire with the SIRT.

Can't see the video Edit.. Nevermind.. it downloaded rather than just starting to play... Yep, funny.. but, like you said... good concentration by your son!

Holsters, holsters, holsters.... Got in my new holster, a Safariland one that really fits the SD9VE well. Turns out it also fits the SIRT and the M&P .22LR. Should be the way to go, right? Um, hold that thought. I should have looked much more carefully at the BladeLokTeklok drop and offset holster setup I already had. It seems, after messing with the Safariland, that I jumped the gun (pun intended) and threw away some money on the Safariland. After closely comparing the two, I figured out how to make the BladeLok holster work nearly perfectly with all 3 handguns... I definitely should have tried more things (like increasing 2 screws' lengths) before spending money again because I like the drop&offset the BladeLok combo gives me that the Safariland doesn't (without dropping even more money on it); AND there's no release lever I need to press. Sigh. Oh well, selling the Safariland holster eBay may await me! Started with the Wall drill...started with 10 reps of single trigger pulls @ 1 every 15 secs, then 10 reps of 2x trigger pulls every 15 secs, finished up with 5x sets of 3 trigger pulls in 10 secs. Worked on slow micro-aspects of the draw to press out movements for about 10 minutes. No trigger pull, just aiming at a 2 inch bull from 5 yards. Dry-fired today using the LASR/SIRT combo, of course. (distance constrained by the size of the room) Started off with 10 reps of draw and single shot @ 2 inch bullseye from 5 yards. Slow, sight-focused and concentrated on forming a proper grip. No par time used. Did 25 reps of draw to left target, single shot, switch to right target, single shot, recover from 5 yards. Focused on accuracy, gaining & maintaining a proper grip fast, and firm, accurate trigger pull. Always made the very generous par time - 6 secs - with only 2 C's on a 1/4 scaled silhouette target. Did 25 Bill drills from the draw. Focused on good hits, fast and consistent grip and gaining a sight picture. No work against par time though I set the timer at 10 secs just for grins. Was feeling over-confident and very masochistic so I did 10 reps "at speed" on the El Presidente drill - that apparently is what the Classifier I DQ'd on was named. That 180 degree turn without sweeping the pistol at anything I shouldn't is a killer. I found myself actually having to delay the draw because of body balance and control issues.Obviously body balance and muzzle control have to be mastered before trying this at speed again... so I slowed to snail speed and tried working out how to make the turn in balance and under control without even drawing. Made some progress, but didn't feel confident enough to want to mess up that confidence with bad draws. So I left it at that. I'm considering going to the range tomorrow and shooting just the SD9VE. Of course, that's just today's feeling...things could change on the fly and I might just repeat today's work.

Thanks for the comment. I did consider the Laserlyte system before deciding to go with the SIRT/LASR combo though it was a more expensive option. The LASR software lets you use practically anything you designate as a target. Then a webcam detects the SIRT(or any laser light)'s shot and the software interpolates or determines "where" the shot hits and if it "scores". It also has Par time, called targets (similar to what yours does) and even simultaneous 2-shooter gun competition possibilities. So, since I've got my money invested already, the Laserlyte targets, not being compatible with the LASR software, are not useful for me. Good luck with it though. I do a lot of low ready to press out/index work so as to not get sloppy trying to outdraw a timer. Otoh, I just received my new holster and will start doing more draw from holster work from now on. But I'm still focusing on obtaining a decent front sight picture and forming a proper grip as or before the pistol nears my arm's max extension point. Since I'm left eye dominant but right handed, this has been something I've had to deal with from the beginning and it was awkward at first. The pistol "crosses" the centerline of my body slightly and I'm still shooting right-eye closed most of the time. But the results are kinda speaking for themselves.... dry-fire certainly has made a difference. The thing I have really noticed as far as my trigger jerk/trigger control is that I have to consciously separate the tension in my trigger finger from any in my other fingers in order to "pull smoothly" without jerking. Also, being consistent with where I place my finger pad on the trigger itself makes a big difference. Finally, I've done a LOT of just pulling the SIRT pistol trigger and watching the laser on the wall... If it moves (a dash), I've jerked the trigger . If it doesn't (a dot), then I'm cool. Quite a bit of this trigger work has been done while sitting watching TV and browsing the Net. I've begun to do a bit of weak hand trigger work this way too - one eye on whatever, the other on the SIRT's light on the wall. If you haven't started your own journal, may I suggest doing so. It takes a commitment, acts as motivation to not cheat and skip practice and it holds you (or at least ME) honest as far as results go. Good luck and thanks again for reading.

If it's Monday, it must be live-fire day. And it was. Greased the slide and all rub points on the pistol before heading to the range. Crossed fingers after buying a new-for-me type of ammo - Winchester Super X Hyper Velocity, Hollow Point, Copper Plated (40gr, 1435 fps muzzle velocity). I was hoping that this would cause the slide to slam back and the recoil spring would slam it forward lessening the failures to feed I've been experiencing lately. Sigh. No such luck though I did like the rounds when they fired' they were accurate. Won't be buying them again. I'm probably going to be sticking with Aguila SE/SV or SE/HV from now on. They seem to have the lowest percentage of FTF's for me. And I'm going to be greasing the slide rather than just oiling it from now on. So, I shot a total of 175 rounds. Still left of my intended POA but no longer low left. I guess my trigger pull is more deliberate, which is a good thing. Area #4 appears a bit scattershot in retrospect, but it didn't feel different than the other areas when I shot it. Got a higher percentage of rounds fired in the orange areas than ever before. Overall, I am more pleased with today's results than any trip to the range. More dry-fire tomorrow as the range is closed on Tuesdays. More GripMaster work and more trigger work with the SIRT pistol (that seems to be at least as beneficial as the GripMaster work.).

Bicycling is my workout method. 20 miles even in Louisiana's heat and humidity is more than enough pain and discomfort to make a difference for me. Otoh, cutting out soda's, candy and about half the bread I used to eat has probably been just as important in getting me about 40 pounds lighter than I was a year and a half ago. YMMV

Dry-fired yesterday and today. Otherwise, a slow weekend. Most of the 100 dry-firing reps were low-ready-to-press out, single shot then move laterally to a target offset about 20 degrees either right or left. No real par time set for the entire rep, concentrated on gaining/maintaining the front sight picture and pulling the trigger within 2 secs after gaining the sight picture. 2 secs may be slow for most people; it doesn't bother me because, right now, I'm focusing on technique and valuing trigger control more than speed. Just to do something different, each day I also did 25 WHO low ready-to-press out reps. Definitely had front sight issues... sight/muzzle wobble prevented meeting my 2 sec trigger pull goal. Got in 300 GripMaster squeezes both days. My forearms ache a bit. For some reason, my right deltoid muscle is also "semi-wrecked"/aching. Planning to do some live shooting tomorrow. Gonna super clean and grease my M&P .22LR tonight instead of using oil to lube the contact points on the slide. Hopefully, this will alleviate the feed problems I had last time out.

I'd like to say this was a good dry-fire day or even better a good live fire day. It was neither. Actually went to the range with someone and they provided me with 50 9mm rounds just for the pleasure of my company. I brought along my M&P 22LR because I knew that shooting just 50 rounds would leave me feeling empty. Go figure. Started with the 9mm/SD9VE and it went like yesterday - low left for the most part. I'm still flinching/anticipating and that's affecting my trigger control and the results. Shrug. They were free rounds... no need to bore you with pics of my lousy results. Switched over to the .22 pistol and shot a few bullseye targets to warm up. Unfortunately, I kept running into failure to feed problems. I switched ammo and still had the same issue. I cleaned the weapon on range hoping that fixed the problem. Then I tried a new drill I made with 8x11 paper - 3 1/10scale USPSA silhouette targets taped next to each other on a backer board run out to 15'. I was going to simulate (from the low ready as range won't allow draw from holster) shooting 2 body, 1 head, reload, switch targets x3. Same failure to feed issue plagued me and I didn't finish the drill without stoppage even once. After 50-75 rounds, I packed it up and just watched/helped my buddy shoot (can we all say "loading b**ch?). All in all, not much was accomplished as I was having about 50% failures and had to perform malfunction drills almost every time I squeezed the trigger. That got into my head and my scatter-shot target results showed it. No groups that were identifiable and the rounds were literally all over the target. Very disappointing day. Just finished cleaning the pistol and inspecting it closely but found nothing obviously wrong with it. (Neither did my friend while we were at the range.) I posted a picture showing a mark just below the firing chamber over on the S&W forums asking if anyone thought that was indicative of a problem, No responses yet. I guess this weekend will be a dry-fire only weekend.

Went out to the indoor range again today. Yes, I shot the 22LR again... did also shoot 3 magazines of 9mm through my SD9VE... Was trying to focus on my inconsistent grip more than just single shooting bullseye style. 1. Started off, for some odd reason, cold shooting at 30'..top left target. Most shots were low right (surprise!) and then I moved the target in to 15'. Much better control for the next mag in top left. 2. Shot 2 mags at top right @ 15'. I think the control was better but the spread doesn;t seem to show that. 3. Lower left was next. Good group. 15' shots. 4. Lower right was next. Okay, but some hig left-whaaaaaat? Who's shooting at my target? Mistake - was holding my breath...not pausing the breath.... 5. Center target area last. BAck to 30'. Mediocre results. Loose shots left- Not unexpected.... maybe that was the problem.. not expecting enough? But some decent shots right on target...Good for confidence building. Next 2 targets are on 8.5 x 11" paper... Scaled down version of my favorite target shot @ 15' 1. Top left. Left, of course. Trigger issues. 2. Top right. Good group. Took my time. 3. Bottom 2 targets. Low ready to press out, exhale, single shot, repeat. Mmeh. 4. Center target. Low ready to press out, exhale, single shot, repeat. Vertical stringing? First time for that for me. Finished up with a variation of the above target. Top 2 targets... 2 mags @ each from 5 yards. Low ready to press out - shoot within 2 secs. A fair bit of "black"! A few flyers on the left target, none on the right. Bottom 2 targets. 2 mags from 10 feet. 1st mag - Low ready to press out, shoot left target, shoot right target, repeat. 2nd mag - Low ready to press out, shoot right target, shoot left target, repeat. Pretty happy with this drill... need to move it back to 10 or 15' next time. That was 150 rounds. Issues today: 1. Still having an inconsistent grip especially with the weak/support hand. I need to force myself to press the heels of my hands together and not rely solely on my fingers for the grip. 2. Dunno why I had a case of dry eye while shooting which messed up my ability to focus clearly. That resulted in a few "hope and pray" shots which produced both good and bad results. 3. Really noticed the difference in trigger pulls when shooting my last 3 mags with the SD9VE/9mm. I hit what I was aiming for (no pic) but there was some anticipation/trigger push that was evident. I might have to adjust where I put my finger on the trigger when shooting the SD9VE compared to where it is with the 22LR pistol. Positives: 1. Overall, I am pretty certain my dry fire with the LASR/SIRT combo has helped as shown in the last 2 targets. I'm getting "a" sight picture faste. Even if it's not perfect. It's good enough to hit the black even on the 2nd shot/after transitioning to another target. That's boosting my confidence a fair bit. I'm not particularly fast, but I'm seeing improvement. 2. I'm gaining confidence which may or may not be evident in the results. I no longer doubt I'm gonna hit relatively close to where I'm aiming and I'm feeling like I'm almost calling most of my shots...at least today. 3. Shooting target pairs is fun. It may not be much movement/change in angle, but it is requiring a completely new sight picture and not "throwing shots away" is a confidence builder. (I'm so easily encouraged, eh?) I'm probably going to do more of this, maybe doing something similar to 2 left, 1 right... or 2 left, 1 center, 1 right... see what happens. Will also probably be moving this back to at least 15' from now on. (Goal is to hit all black at 50' on both left and right targets when shooting this kind of "pair".) 4. I think part of the benefit of the SIRT pistol is that it has a much tougher trigger pull than either the M&P 22LR or the SD9VE. Between dry firing it and the GripMaster work I've been doing, my hand doesn't feel tired after a shooting session like it used to. I also think that it can help me isolate the trigger finger from the other fingers...IF I concentrate on it... Will have to work on that.

Back in the day, I ran a few golf tournaments (company/corporate employee only, private golf club members only, general public amateur and even a public pro-am), so this is as much from that perspective as it is from a tournament participant's... Since it's not directly shooting match-related, feel free to ignore it all. Big prizes: definitely have to go out at an awards ceremony. Period. No explanation needed. I don't think I've ever been involved in sending a big prize to anyone after the event. They either attend the awards ceremony or they didn't get the prize... including money. Especially if there was big money corporate sponsorship involved. Participation trophies: well, seemed like about 60% wanted to finish their round and leave without waiting for a ceremony when the "golfer" didn't win. My preference was to have trophies available on site, that day and we could usually find an engraver to work on site for a reasonable fee. His speed and accuracy made all the difference each time. We only sent trophies to people if special arrangements were made beforehand and rarely for simple participation trophies. That policy was stated on the event entry form or event packet everyone had access to (via mail, pickup at registration or off the web). Prize tables: again, participation prizes tables for things other than stuff like t-shirts, engraved tees, etc., usually weren't "open for business" until 15 minutes after the last round was completed (after the last golfer finished the final hole of his last regular round [not a playoff situation]). We got grief over this at times, especially for people trying to catch flights out. But, it did encourage non-"big winners" to stick around for the awards ceremony. This allowed those who were just out for fun, not real contenders to feel we weren't holding them hostage while also recognizing that it was somewhat disrespectful to those who finished first but weren't "big" winners to have to stick around. Shrug. you do what you do.. it's your tournament and their privilege to play in it. "Trinket" prize tables set up by corporate sponsors usually made things easier for event staff. The earlier registration closed, the more likely there was going to be enough for everyone, especially as far as the "popular" items were concerned. "Day of event" big raffle prizes were always given out at the awards ceremony, always. Saving one big raffle prize for a "you showed up and participated, you're in the unannounced raffle" seemed to increase the attendance at the awards ceremony... especially if we gave out that big raffle prize just before the "big winner" prizes. Most people liked the "surprise raffle" and didn't seem to mind "having to stay". At least I never heard any serious complaints made to event staff (but there'll always be some b**ching by someone no matter what. Heck, I even heard of someone bitching that they didn't get a big "presentation style check" when the raffle was just for $50 [not at a golf event though]). Prizes for those who "placed" but weren't "big" winners could be picked up 15-30 minutes before the big awards ceremony in most cases. I personally didn't have too much of an isue with this as a golfer myself, but as "event staff" I caught flack over it multiple times. Again, you do what you feel is right.. it's your tournament and their privilege to play in it. As a golf participant myself, what I expected was cold water at each hole (other beverages at some big events), snacks and sandwich availability at the clubhouse (some events also had food stations out on the course itself and others had a roving snack cart with participation chits to pay for the snack/food funded through their entrance fee [ex., a Milky Way was 1 paper ticket, a Coke - 2 paper tickets...like you see at a carnival for rides),.. Participation prizes shouldn't always be just first-come, first-served regardless of the item [for ex., you could "pre-order" your shirt or T-shirt so that you got the proper size and they didn't over-order smalls!)... Being the last one to complete the scheduled number of holes and finding that the participation prize table was stripped nearly bare has left people feeling less than appreciated. Obviously , there HAS to be enough event staff for everything - including first aid (both routine and emergency), event maintenance issues, and communication from "out on course" to back in the clubhouse was expected to be top-notch as cell phones became more and more prevalent. Live stats? As a competitor, live stats were important to me in golf; in shooting, not so much but I'm a beginner, not a "great" shooter so I don't expect to win. Otoh, with the advent of cell phones/texting, live scores should be communicated back to the clubhouse ASAP if not "live". In the case of a shooting range, it might be possible to set up a live camera feed for each stage, but we never did anything like that on the golf course...simply too much for us logistically due to the distances involved. And as a participant, I wasn't interested in watching others live on camera... This is somewhat different for me with shooting. Unfortunately, I still haven't seen a "great" video of any shooter on any stage.. a few good ones, yes. But no great ones. Finally, for what it's worth, staff attitude is everything. A rain out or event catastrophe always seemed less of a big deal if the event staff appears to go above and beyond (and sometimes it WILL BE just appearance) whether I was a participant or event staff myself. Having event staff easily identifiable and making their presence known counts for a lot as far as the impression of being organized goes. Whether it is a similar outfit (ex., khakis and a specific event shirt, just an event staff ball cap or a lanyard with a Staff ID, knowing who is running the event and who is not always makes a difference to me. Just my 2 cents. Good luck.