jkrispies

The thing that stands out to me: take bigger steps. In the first video, look at how many steps you took moving from the starting box to the left most shooting position-- there were probably three or four baby steps, where two big ones could have cut your movement time in half. In the second video, you looked much better in this regard. The third video you looked good when you were running the longer distances, but could have done better over the shorter jaunts. In the fourth video you looked good, all things considered the array. In the fourth video (maybe the others, too, but I noticed it more in the 4th), watch your body during the draw: you draw the gun and then adjust your body to the first target. That's two movements (1 = draw, 2 = twisting body) where one should have been employed. Extra movement = extra time. Were you ordered to face a certain direction at the buzzer? If not, adjust your stance, so that you can draw directly to the first target with as little body adjustment as possible. fyi, Even if your natural point of aim is on a different target than the first one you're shooting at, you can already have your body twisted prior to the buzzer. Okay, now I'm confusing myself with this bad explanation... Here's an example. If you're familiar with the steel challenge, there's a stage called 5 to Go. In that stage, there's five pieces of steel spread a fair distance apart so you have to twist your body from far left on T1 to far right on T5. For this stage, I'll position my body so that my natural point of aim is on T3 (in the middle, where the most difficult shots are), but then I'll twist my body to T1 so that when the buzzer sounds, I can draw directly to T1 without having to move my body at, just my arms-- because I've already positioned myself properly prior to the buzzer. I hope I'm making sense...

This is exactly what happens if you use a timer in dry fire you tend to rush things. I use dry fire to polish my technique and live fire to push myself. BK Actually, I don't usually use the timer-- I just busted it out for the video as a point of reference for the viewers. I only time myself about once every 2-3 weeks to guage improvements. My problem is that I don't have anybody around to practice with to say, "Hey, dummy-- your hand's in the wrong spot and you know better!!!" I'm definitely going to work on this and maybe post some more videos in the future. This is an invaluable resource.

Okay-- I snuck a peak on my boss' computer. I see exactly what you guys are talking about. This is a perfect example of how the video helps out, because I know exactly how I'm supposed to grip the gun and even show new shooters how to do it properly, but when I'm rushing on the draw and reload it all goes to poop. Now that I see what I'm doing and have you guys to point it out, I know what to work on!

Right, I thought they rotated both directions. Are the 773's able to rotate forward? Also, I'm really interested to look at the video (I'm at work and can't access youtube from here) to look at that grip, and especially to compare it before and after the reload.

Thanks for the comments, especially with the eyes. That's one of those things where I know that I need to do it, but then when the buzzer goes off I don't pull it off 100% of the time. Do you think I'd still be legal with one mag forward of the belt loop? If so, I'll gladly do that! In fact, I was thinking of the 771's more for the rear pouches since I have to twist a bit to get to the rearmost two right now.

I noticed that too when I was watching the video. Looks weird, huh? Nope, brass extraction is never a problem.

This is actually one of the reasons my mag change is slow-- I'm a lefty. I previously was releasing the mag with my trigger finger, which worked fine until I started to get faster. My fast mag changes with the left index finger on button was causing two problems: 1) I have to really tweak the gun around in my hand to get my finger onto the mag release with enough force to drop it 100% of the time, which means that the gun has to be readjusted in my hand to a proper grip when I'm done, and that slows things down; and 2) doing all that shifting around to get on the button was causing me to rotate the gun to the point that by the time I had the button released, the mags were failing to fall free probably 15% of the time due to the grip angle, and then everything came to a grinding hault because I had to then manually pull/shake the mag out. My fix (at least on static reloads) has been to now drop the mag by pushing the button with the index finger of my support hand, which is dropping the mags free 100% of the time. The bad news, as you point out, is that it lingers my support hand longer on the gun, which keeps me from getting to the mags. On the flip side, I still do it the old way when I'm reloading on the run as the movement of the gun seems to get the magazine out okay during those times. Do folks think it would significantly help my reload speed if I try to go back to the old way and try to make that work reliably? NOTE: Edit for spelllllling

Here’s me checking my ego at the door. Go for it, gentlemen! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHZLkW4BtRo This is my first attempt at videoing myself at all much less for outside critique, so I’m keeping it simple with a standard dry fire exercise: among other things, I know that my draw needs to be faster, and so does my reload. I invite all comments/criticisms, but that’s my focus in this activity. Questions that I have: 1. Am I as slow responding to the buzzer as I think I am? Any suggestions on how to improve my reaction time? 2. How does the gun look presenting to the 1st target? Sometimes I find myself arcing it up slightly or searching for that front sight too much… 3. What are people seeing on the reloads? (fyi, I’m planning to purchase some Safariland 771’s pretty soon, as I think having the mags angled slightly will help with extraction) Thanks! J MISCELLANEOUS INFO Equipment: Single Stack gun and rig (all mags are fully loaded with unprimed dummies) Array: Three IPSC cardboard targets 7 yards out and spaced 6 feet apart Course of fire: Draw, two shots on each target, reload, two shots on each target Par: 5 seconds (it sounds like I’m coming in slightly under… say 4.8ish) Shot Calling: Two of the runs were straight A’s, but on one (I think the 2nd run) I fumbled the mag insertion slightly and ended up pushing a C each on T1 and T2 before regaining my wits by T3

Kinda hard for me to offer much of a critcism given the angle of the video, but I'm curious to hear what some of the wiser folks might say. I guess my advice would be to pick some standard dryfire drills such as a draw/6 shots/reload/6 shots and set the camera on a stationary bipod at a semi-closeup so the guys can really analyze your technique, and then do it three or four or five times. One of my goals was to set up the camera and do that sometime this week, but I'm too lazy so far... Oh, yeah-- and ditch the hat.

You ever see the movie "A Christmas Story"? Ralphie and I started shooting at about the same age, and I didn't start thinking about it until now. I'm 36. What we're talking about here falls well within the "fine tuning" category. If you're a new shooter, you're on the right path: the 3 most important things (other than safety) I believe for a new shooter to be aware of are a comfortable stance such as the isosceles, a grip that offers proper trigger control, and keeping your eyes open through the shot. Get those down first and the speed can be built upon them.

The way I see it, there's really two sets of "winners" at any match, whether it's a club match or a world match: Comparative rankings against the High Over All Winner, and then the winners in each Division. I put the most faith in the Division break down, as that establishes a level playing field, but then it's also pretty darn cool to do the internal monologue of, "I shot Production and I still beat three guys shooting Open-- WOO-HOO!!!" It's irrelevant to voice this internal monologue, though-- how ridiculous would it be to say that you can shoot your Production rig as well as an Open rig because you beat those three guys while ignoring the other ten Open shooters that left you in their dust. Keep things relative, and all shall remain sane. At the risk of trivializing classes (I really don't mean to-- anybody who hits M or GM has earned bragging rights!), they should be used as a means of establishing perspective with regards to skill levels, but not much more. For instance, let's create an example that you might see at a local match. Let's say a guy is ranked as a C class shooter in CDP, and he has a really great day, plus the local M class shooter in CDP has some equipment failures or whatever, so the C class shooter beats him. Now, is the M class shooter really going to claim that he's a winner of that match because he was the highest placing master in CDP on that day??? C'mon... To answer the original post, I think it's perfectly right and just to say that you're the "Champion of X Division" if you were the top dog on that list, but only one guy can call himself "The" champion, and that's High Over All.

Not to sell. (I'm not giving legal advice here because I'm not 100% certain, but I think that as an out-of-state citizen coming from a state that allows them, you can bring them into the state temporarily for sporting purposes.) In Cali you can only buy/sell handguns that are on a state approved list. I believe that the only STI-ish gun on that list is the Bar-Sto BS40.

So I do my morning dryfire today using 4 static strings that I have known pars for. My goal today: Deep breath on "standby" and consciously let it out through the string of fire (each running 5 shots, 2-3 seconds long total). Now, I'll be d@mned if I wasn't able to take .1 seconds off two of the strings and .2 off another one. The 4th and final string I shot didn't change enough to note, but it's also the hardest one. Admittedly, I don't know if this is due to the breathing technique, the fact that I've improved since the last time I officially measured myself two weeks ago, or if this is just a Trick of the Day, but... I normally measure my pars in the middle of the day on the weekend rather than at 5am when I'm still half-asleep (I'm usually .1-.2 slower at this time of the morning), so I think it is significant. One thing I'm noticing is that as the practice session progresses, I feel like I'm getting faster on the buzzer (this is when I started nailing the string where I gained .2)... possibly because the continuous deep breathing is oxygenating my blood more, thus improving my reaction time??? EDIT TO ADD: I also have to say (now that I'm thinking about it) that I'm absolutely less tense in the back of my shoulders after the strings of fire. Since the only thing I've changed is the breathing, the lowering tension is due to the breathing technique, period. For that reason alone, I'm now making a modification with this in mind!!!!!

The tension issue is my only real concern in posting the question-- a few seconds of holding your breath on a full set of lungs (I tend to fill them up before I start pulling the trigger) isn't going to hurt much, methinks, regarding oxygen deprivation. But yet, I have to admit that I'm not satisfied with the amount of tension I'm feeling in my body after a string of fire. I'm really starting to question if this might be a contributing factor for me.

The other day, my wife watched me doing some dry fires, and she made the comment that I hold my breath while I'm firing and that I need to breathe more. I pretty much blew off the comment since I figured holding my breath for five seconds or so shouldn't be a detriment. After all, I've ingrained into myself "breath control" as a segment of my trigger control to assist with accuracy. But then I keep thinking about it... Breath control is really more of a bullseye or rifle shooting technique, which this sport ain't. Plus, with the running we do, could it be more of an overall benefit to continue the flow of every bit of nutrients to the muscles rather than squeezing out that bit more accuracy than I really need for our shooting distances? And then there's the ever-present specter of tensionthat I'm trying to avoid... and holding your breath is a form of tension. Realistically, am I helping or hurting myself? I guess my question is, should I be thinking about breathing through a string of fire on top of everything else? What's your guys' take on it?

You don't mean index, you mean setting up your Nature Point of Aim (NPA)? NPA being where your body would naturally align. I take it you are etting your NPA on 3, then bending the knees to set your index on 1 to draw? Anyway...it sounds like you are on the right path. Let us know how it goes. Yes, that's what I meant. I was just testing to see if you could interpret what I meant to say vs. what I actually said. My wife does that to me all the time. Good job!

After reading for two pages, I'm glad somebody brought this factor up, or it would have been me! If I do a perfect reload pulling from Mag pouch 1 and the distance is more than 3 steps, I'm certainly going to lose time compared to no reload, but I doubt that it will be the deciding factor in the match after my other screw-ups are taken into account! On the other hand, if I'm twisting myself into a pretzle trying to search for mag pouch #4 (I shoot single stack) which is way the heck in the small of my back, it doesn't matter how many steps I'm taking-- my rhythm is probably going to be knocked out of whack not only for the reload but also for the run.

Here's for reviving an old thread!!! For those who shoot it 1-2-3-4-Stop, on what plate do you index? Indexing on 1 seems to stretch me into a pretzel by the time I get to the stop plate, so I tried indexing on 4 because that's the hardest shot to make, but that didn't exactly help my draw to 1, so now I'm indexing on 3 and drawing to 1, which is my trick of the day for now... and who is on 1st again??? Anyway, I'm just curious how others are handling this. Thanks, J

Are you doing dry fire practice at home? (If not, you should be!) Don't limit yourself to thinking that dryfire has to be done standing in one spot: practice transitioning from one box to another while executing a reload, and other things of this nature. If you've worked hard to develop your accuracy, build upon it rather than assuming that you have to give it up.

Since I only shoot with iron sights, I don't have any excuse, but... I wonder if this problem is exacerbated by folks who shoot open guns with dot sights, and then switch back and forth to iron sights on their limiteds, etc.? Maybe building a good habit with one platform creates a bad habit with another platform? Just wondering outloud.

+1 I shot a match last weekend, and after a run on a plate rack that I almost cleaned, I realized that I'd done as well as I had off a fair amount of luck. About 50% of the time I was concentrating on the plates rather than the front sight when I pulled the trigger and it cost me when I had to go back and reshoot the misses that should have been hits. The good news is that I had enough self-awareness to analyze my mistake, and now I'm taking actions to correct it.

Chris, do all of what they said! Regading speed, just concentrate on technique. The marines have a saying that is totally true: "Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast." The speed will happen over time. Having said that... once you've mastered the sighting, grip, stance, etc., incorporate some reloading drills into your practices. At the D/C levels, you can pick up a lot of time with a quality reload.

Shoot what you own. I'd recommend the 1911 (because I'm a Single Stack snob, but also because it's probably cheaper and easier to find magazines, holsters, etc., for it), but if you're more comfortable with the Sigma then you should go with that. Ammo's cheaper for the Sigma as well. For the 1911, you'll need a minimum of 5 magazines with belt pouches; I'd actually recommend a 6th mag that you can use to top off your chamber prior to the start and then swap in a full mag so you'll have 9 in the gun. Slip the light mag into your weak side pants pocket so that it's available on that side if you need to do a weak hand mag change. If you have to purchase new magazines, I'd strongly suggest Wilson 47DE models. Brian sells them in his store. +1 on the Uncle Mike's for a cheap kydex holster as an improvement over the nylon, BUT be warned that you can kiss your pretty finish on the RIA goodbye the first time you stick it in a kydex holster. My Kimber was the prettiest gun I'd ever seen when I picked it up in the gunstore, but it now looks like it's been through a war or two!!! Of course, if you buy your guns for pretty, this probably isn't the most ideal pastime for ya...

I went back and checked some of my load data. 4.6gr of TiteGroup behind a 230gr Plated Round Nose (and on top of Winchester primers) was giving me a 173.9 average power factor and only a 6.2 standard deviation. The lowest PF I measured was171.8. I didn't test it a ton since I was making them for a buddy, but I was consistently hitting rocks at 60 yards shooting off hand through the chronometer. NICE LOAD!!!!

John, it will help your speed if you focus on the target and swing your sights (or raise the sights if on the draw) to the point you're looking at and then shift your focus immediately to the front sight when the gun gets there. If you try to follow the sights to the next target, you'll either overswing or end up blindly searching for the A-zone. You already do this technique of snapping your vision and following it, and you don't realize it. When you are going to write something with a pencil, you don't look at the pencil, pick it up and follow the tip with your eyes until you find the spot on the paper and start writing, correct? Instead, you look at the spot on the paper, grab the pencil, and bring the tip of the pencil to the target spot on the paper where your eyes are locked... and then focus on the tip of the pencil! Get it?