TheChewycookie

Welcome to the forum, there's definitely a lot of people who can help with the setup of your 650 including this section of the forum: https://forums.brianenos.com/forum/78-dillon-precision-reloading-equipment/ Matt

An important part of dryfire is processing the simulated visual information that you need to complete whatever task. Clear sight picture tends to result in slower times, an acceptable sight picture helps to speed things up. Not everything is "clear front sight" because the bullet will simply impact wherever on the target that the gun was pointed. Dry = pushing to create faster and better results, live = testing if what you're doing in dry is working. It's a theory and experiment process. Matches ideally should be the execution portion. Going full bore looks cool for IG likes, but knowing what issues happen is the more important thing. If you didn't learn anything positive and negative from a full bore run, then you need to back things off a bit so that you're able process what can be improved. There's a limit to what the brain can process in a day, so stretch it across multiple days or maybe weeks.

Thanks for the kind words. Good luck and most importantly, HAVE FUN. @Reds_Dotand @CClassForLife are in your general area and are excellent sources to help you get a kickstart. @rowdyb is in the San Antonio area and another great source of info.

Thanks man. Reloads: I think about Rob Epifania's rubber band method. Snap to mag, have enough control getting the mag in the gun. Watch Travis Tomasie's reload vid from when he was in the AMU. If you follow closely it's different movements, but a very similar process.

ETRPC USPSA 1/29/22 https://practiscore.com/results/new/dbb0c3a2-a42e-4081-a47b-130de2bf9b35?q_individual=e362c4b8-0dbf-46d1-aa20-1981ce83ef00 Had an opportunity to compete against Dazhi as a start of the year benchmark of current skill and a month off from shooting. Ended up 2nd CO and 3rd combined: 84.4% and 84.87% respectively. Good things: Not panicking after some kind of slip, times are close to a top level shooter, stage plans mostly execute to original program Things to improve: Knowing when too much is too much (leans kill time), knowing when to pull back a bit for match score safety and pushing when it's definitely possible. Sights should be lined up with A zone and make sure to not move before finishing engagement of a target: shot a tux target with 2 in left side hardcover.

I'll piggyback off of @CClassForLife and simply say to not be afraid of missing, and understand from failures. Write down the good and bad things things you do for stage runs and drills so that you can see the frequency of your trends so that you can improve them.

I have a couple of initial questions before I offer something: What is your dream, and goals to get there? How frequently do you live fire? Both matches and practice.

It'll be another thing that just gets in the way of full spring movement and round capacity in the extension. That plate is really only there for retaining baseplates that don't use the base edges of the mag body like the Henning production basepads or OEM pads. Either dump it, give it to a friend that runs prod basepads, or hold onto them if you plan to play prod.

Oklahoma Section Championship 2021 Had a lot of fun in my first major match shooting production. Most of my misses were created due to shifting the gun off target before breaking and confirming the shot, or improper sight alignment (stand and shoot misses were above targets). Making locap raw time champ tells me I am moving at a competitive pace. I do want to work on smoothing out movements - a lot of my entrances to shooting positions were more jarring than I currently want.

I have a 17 gen 5 for CO, it stays fairly balanced with no weight added other than your mag extension of choice. I also plan to use it for IPSC matches in Production Optics. g34.5 might be your way to go if you plan to add a brass plug for a little extra weight. I feel an observable balance difference between my gen 4 and 5 with the weight slightly more forward on the gen 5. I don't notice a pointing difference between the two different guns. The frames are not interchangeable between 17/34 and 45. The 45 dust cover is shorter, creating an air gap if you used a standard or long slide. If you're in an LE role, you might be able to pickup a G47, which is a 45 frame with an extended 19 slide to 17 length.

Any particular reason to use not use non-electronic earpro like foamies combined with simple earmuffs?

CTASA GFDS Postal Match 10/24/21 Production: Locally 1st, currently 1st postal at time of log I had a lot of fun just simply switching out division for this match. I also wanted to see if there was any major limitation in a match using the OFM sights on my 34.5 (I will switch these out for some Dawson fibers soon) Good: Made sure to get hits on everything, moved almost if not as athletically as I could. Just simply had a good time and stayed really relaxed. Things to work on: A few gun manipulations could've been better by programming body position so that I don't fumble the reload, understanding close distance risk shots (no shoot headshots lined up with the bottom of the credit card A box and on 2 separate stage that are high value I cut A/NS) Thoughts on OFM Glock sights: Still very usable and I don't think the fat front blade is the limiting factor but instead the gigantic white dot. If they reduced the size to be more like a typical fiber optic 1mm size I think it could optimize it, reducing the amount of distraction to the front sight. I will be shooting this match again at the same club this Saturday 10/30, but with a G35 for limited major for fun and to see if I can claim that (I already know Tyler Meisenheimer is gonna hurt me in prod), then back to production before Oklahoma Sectional Championship on Oct 14. Local Results: https://practiscore.com/results/new/bbbeef3e-b3ff-493e-bd38-bbe95d2035fb?q_individual=mmShooter_3919951 Postal Results combined production: https://practiscore.com/results/new/147251?q_division=6

That feels like underselling their focused accomplishments by calling them exceptions. Look at someone like Rob Leatham. He's still winning Single Stack national championships despite being over 60, has double knee replacements, and is due for another set of bionic knees. Is he an exception? No, he is a focused and experienced person doing what he's capable of.

I think it's still smarter to run 5 in USPSA for more stability for the first mag you grab. At '21 CO nats a woman in my squad was running DAA bullets out magnets for all 3 of her spare CZ mags loaded to 23 rounds and stayed static to her belt. I still have yet to find a magnet strong enough to hold OEM Glock mags in a static spot, extended and production length fully loaded. Most magnets are rated for 100-150# pull force which has proven to work very well for bare metal mags. I'll probably buy some fishing magnets rated for 200, 245, and 300 to test on OEM Glock mags.

2021 Carry Optics Nationals 70.68% of JJ 127th place General run down of each day Day 1: Super nervous and probably sleep deprived as this was my first ever multi-day major match. Shot scared and much slower that I usually do. Figured I just get my hits but after a few stages of "just getting hits" I got a little over confident on a low port and had a M on a open paper through a low port that cost me a decent amount of points. Regrouped and just finished the day like I started, nervous and scared. Day 2: Went to warm-up bay (more on this after day 3 as I have strong opinions now about this). Fixed 2 handed grip as I realized I had more muzzle flip than normal. Also worked on SHO and WHO+reload. Got the grip confidence I wanted, but I knew my main weakness for the day would be pre-ignition push. After a few stages of getting warm, I got a bit over confident and got knocked into place by Shannon's 1/2 IPSC swingers on stage 17. Dropping the 20# ammo can on stage 18 also got into my head a bit after burning a large amount of time on it. Benefit to day 2 was getting pre-stage coaching from JJ as some of his alumni (who are also local friends) were in my squad and section C was the stages he would finish on. It also served as his prototype plans for the final day, but I took away what I could currently get away with, and what will sting me on day 3. Day 3: I previously compared scores between a M-class friend/rival and I on the squad and realized it was mathematically improbable that I would overtake him in the standings. So I just decided to shoot the stages for fun after I heavily screwed up the first stage of the day. Second stage of the day even though it was a high value stage was decided to be an experiment stage to figure out what was wrong, I couldn't think of it in the 30 minutes between the last shot on the previous stage, and my turn to shoot. Ended up finding out that my shoulders were overtensed which I was able to figure out. Problems got ironed out by my last stage of the match and executed everything I wanted leading into a contingency that involved extra needed shots on a swinger. Moral of my story is to go into every match relaxed and just have fun with it. Training prior to Nationals: I don't have a set schedule or necessarily a focus on what should happen. I did have things I wanted to work on, but they were things that I would repeatedly work on in the past. I plan on randomizing my training in the future and increasing live fire practices by decreasing the local matches I go to. I'll probably be using Casey Reed's TrueCoach system throughout the 2022 early and active seasons (I plan on shooting production in the spring and CO in the summer and fall) Nutrition: I ate like garbage prior to nationals, resulting in passing bad stools in Talladega. Need way more focus on veggies and meats. I did have nuts and beef jerky as snacks on the range, will supplement with fruits such as bananas and grapes going forward to have that small boost of sugar energy prior to each stage run. Previous experience made me realize that caffeine, especially those in energy gels, will not work with me and give practically Parkinson's shakes. Mental state each day: Could feel a gradual degradation each day that was strong. Any negative thoughts would weigh me down and positive ones didn't lift me up unless it was the only thing I thought of after each stage. I also had somewhat of a bad attitude days 1, 3, and the night before driving back from Talladega to Dallas as I found out my roommate snores and needs "relaxing" noises at full blast. I couldn't sleep and going forward will be significantly more discerning of friends I room with for major matches. Logistical things/issues I noticed: Issues with doubled up stages - people always got held up at those bays. Issues with stages: if ROs say that they need help preventing a stage from being tossed, call the RM to address the issue because it's unfair to shooters who get inconsistent presentations (stage 15 had 2 double disappearing drop turners that wouldn't always present at exactly the same times which is unfair to all competitors for competitor EQUALITY, I'm willing to bet that the section RM will try to keep the stage, but in reality a lot of competitors day 1 had unfair results with the stage). That stage also resulted in one of my squad mates getting 4M on 2 disappearing targets because he activated them last, this I believe is something that needs to be addressed in the WSB to reduce the amount of penalties instead of telling the competitor that they're dumb for not remembering/reading all the rules associated with disappearing targets. Stage props that are carried: this may be controversial, but a typical man carrying a 20# ammo can is significantly different than a typical woman, forget trying to win categories but women also count as part of the overall scoring. Warm-up/demo bay: The warm up bay could not be used until 9AM, first shots fired are immediately at 9AM, which makes it unfair to the morning squads. CMP range doesn't allow shots fired until 9AM so either push back the AM start time by at least 30 minutes, or don't allow a warm-up/sight-in bay at all, demo bay be damned for shooters to try "demoing" guns. Shooting in the PM: If you're reading this you're probably aware that some competitors were shooting after dark; I'm willing to bet that those shots were fired outside of the range's times of allowed active shooting times and being forced to shoot when it's dark out is unfair and should've been granted a reshoot in a daylight condition that isn't close to dusk.

I think most of us can agree that adding directional forces to a part of the gun that isn't where the hands typically go (side or front of trigger guard, the "index point" where the support thumb goes, etc.) will cause a deviation of where the bullet impacts on/off target. If you have the steadiest hands in the world while pulling a trigger then by all means add that pressure. I don't have the steadiest hands, I don't know if I have a small fraction of co-sympathetic movement between both hands. What I do know is that I am currently unable to get through a local match without severe strain in my left forearm using a traditional or more Vogel-style canted grip. I had to look for an alternative option that would allow me to get through a full day of shooting (such as a 12 stage field course ridden level 2 or 3). I am using this grip due to 1) genetics - my brother also cannot shoot a full day without similar strain in the forearm with a traditional grip, and 2) I had a sprain in my left forearm when I was really young causing some inflexibility in the muscles and tendon in there. I'm working with what I have available to me. The grip also feels more natural to me because I was a trombone player throughout middle and high school. Below is the trombone I was using given by a family friend; it dates to about the 60s-70s and if you have to ask I graduated high school 2013.

Made most things click before nationals. Just need to be more aware of body positioning, posture, and not get ahead of myself in short courses. After nats - quiet time in production at the Oklahoma sectional

You should be fine with any 38 Super die. 38SC has a case OAL of 0.893, and regular 38 super is listed between 0.893-0.898. The advantage to an undersizing die is to hold the bullet better in the body of the case to prevent bullet setback, especially with 9 major. I don't see as much of an issue with 38S/SC due to lower pressures generated at major PF within the cartridge.

Area 4 2021: Didn't mentally collapse during stage runs. Didn't have the best stage plans but I execute to what I had in mind. Early on had recoil anticipation errors that would force my 2nd shots on target low. Fixed that by the 3rd stage in. Shot calling also needs improvement as evidenced by 35 yard open and no-shoot partials. Started to see what I was missing by using my lunch and also time after the match to watch the super squad. Also learned how painful it can be to not be in the right mindset and shoot an Area match in one full day. NTXO 2021: Didn't realize until midway that I was fluctuating between slow and getting hits, and hosing everything as fast as I can. Cleaning things up this weekend to find a better middle point and improve target sequencing. I have one more local match before my first (of any) Carry Optics Nationals to use to focus on that balance and stage execution. I'm gonna use it to just be in the silence.

The cool thing is that you made it through a major match practically intoxicated, and you now have that major match pressure with the top heat there to kinda demonstrate what can happen at the upper level.

I'm of the opinion that the extra weight really serves more as a distraction. There's a lot to be gained more by simply experimenting how placement and pressures of your grip strengthens or weakens recoil control. As a reference I typically shoot a stock g17 in CO.

For what it's worth, I made a video a while back for adding weight to the front of the gun using a GlockStore pure tungsten guide rod and a LOK brass flashlight on a G35 in 40. Take what you think happens and evaluate if you think it's worth it, maybe try it for yourself. I've since returned the light back to the owner and settled on just the tungsten guide rod.

CTASA 9/19 Giant moments of failure. Was ready to go for the March and somehow that energy just died right when I got there. Couldn't focus, couldn't get good hits, didn't hydrate adequately the day before and during. I also woke up multiple times early morning creating a lack of good sleep. I don’t remember the last time I had REM sleep. I've been having a poor sleeping schedule due to a lack of good exercise and worse sleep due to diet. This is something I intend to improve through CO nationals and beyond as I have continously gained weight through pandemic and I need to get out of these bad habits. The cool thing was that I did make raw time champ. Need to dial things back in and sleep better before A4 this weekend and NTXO next weekend.

Video from 9/11 at XMG. Things felt good, just need to be more focused in the A zone more.

August 2021 updates: started to really process down what fundamental issues I have been having got to self prove this at a GSSF match by shooting a little more cleanly with inly 2 points down. I could accept less X-ring hits as long as I got my points. Video below of the indoor COF so you can see how boring it is. "Simple. Not easy" Sepetember 2021: again hammering down on fundamentals and making sure those become and stay solid. I want to focus on stage execution. I have been noticing that as long as I nail the positions I want and how to place myself in those areas I am capable of freely shooting all targets in the array how I want to without as much of the stress of time. I'll post my sepetember matches here sometime, just need to clip the vids together. A concept I am keeping in mind and working on is "Calmed Urgency"