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About ihatepickles
- Birthday 05/25/1975
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Location
Louisville, KY, USA
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Real Name
Steve Smith
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ihatepickles's Achievements
Finally read the FAQs (3/11)
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Andy, sorry for the late post - I've been out of the scene for a couple of months. I appreciated your comments last fall when Georgia passed away. So sorry to read about this news. Pets are... our life long buddies. Be kind to yourself.
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I'm so sorry to hear about this, dogs are better people than most humans I've met. I'll never understand how they become such an important part of our lives but I'm happy to have such awesome furry friends.
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Alain Prost has no fans... Ayrton was the Man. Great film! He had lighting fast reflexes and a love of the sport.
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IDPA and USPSA are different games, and are not affiliated. IPSC and USPSA are different games, but they are affiliated. If' you're going to play IDPA, you can't use a double belt, or CR Speed pouches, or a DOH holster. If it's IDPA that you want to play, then the CZ75 Shadow T would be a better choice than the SP01 Shadow Target. IDPA states in their rules that your Stock Service Pistol can't be heavier than 39 oz with a magazine inserted. Getting a SP01 Shadow below 39 oz is a bit tough, whereas the CZ75 Shadow is good to go from Angus. Of course, you can run a CZ75 Shadow in USPSA as well. If you want to play both games (IDPA and USPSA), a CZ75 Shadow is the easiest way. If you're just running USPSA, then the SP01 Shadow has an edge (I believe). IDPA is strict about using a practical holster and mag pouches, if this is your game you'll end up running a standard belt, a belt holster and a double magazine pouch. USPSA has looser rules, allowing for a racier rig. Most USPSA shooters run a double belt, a belt or DOH holster, and some kind of angled race pouches. Man, I realize how complicated this all sounds to a new shooter. Stick with it. Read both the USPSA and IDPA rulebooks, especially the mission statements, that'll give you a better idea about this stuff. Perhaps put uspsa vs idpa into Google, and read through some articles already written. Generally, discussion of IDPA vs USPSA hurts feelings so it's frowned upon on the Enos forums unless everyone can play nice.
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Hey Monica, have you considered video taping your practice? I see in your match videos that you're lowering the gun a lot. Maybe if you saw yourself practicing it would help link your practice with your match performance. Just a thought.
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First, let me double check something. Do you truly mean IPSC? Or do you perhaps mean the USA rules, which is called USPSA. It matters for the answers you want. I'm going to assume you're asking about USPSA. For USPSA, I'd recommend the CZ Shadow SP01 Target. If you order this from Angus' shop, you'll have a great piece to start with. Order an extra slide stop and trigger return spring for your spare kit. This pistol will fire Winchester and Federal factory ammo without any problems. CCI/Speer and cheaper Russian/European ammo might give you problems. I'd buy either a CR Speed belt or a DAA belt. Both are double belts, with an inner and outer element. The main difference is the CR Speed is right at 1.5" in width whereas the DAA is 1.55" which makes all the components stay put a little better (but can be a pain in the butt to get all your accessories attached initially). I prefer the DAA belt. Both of these are for sale at http://www.shootersconnection.com/ If you have the money in your budget, get 10-12 mags. Your matches will run smoother with less frantic magazine loading. I like the 16 round Mecgar mags, and I'd buy them at http://gregcotellc.com/cart/ The Shadow SP01 comes from Angus with 3 of the 18 round CZ mags, which are good mags but pricy to buy enough for your Production rig. The 18 round CZ mags also need +10% magazine springs before the run right, mo' money mo' money. The Macgar 16 mags run great and are cheaper. I'm picky about this. Most people will say buy the CR Speed mag pouches. I like the Bladetech single comp pouches (available through Bladetech) but I'm really considering a switch to the pricy DAA Racemaster or DAA Racer pouches. CR Speed pouches are available at http://www.shootersconnection.com/ and I'd recommend 5 pouches for a Production shooter, you want the extra 5th magazine sometimes. You didn't ask about holsters. Everyone will say to buy a Bladetech Dropped and Offset (DOH) holster. I would tell you to buy a Comp-tac belt holster. It's much higher quality and the DOH isn't all it's cracked up to be. You can buy a Bladetech holster from Angus when you order the gun and get it quicker or wait 2 months for Bladetech to manufacture one. Or, you could buy the better holster from Comp-tac and get it in about a week. Just kidding kinda about the Bladetech stuff, it's OK... but the Comp-tac is nicer. There's other options out there too, I'm sure others will chime in with their favs. I'd recommend the Federal 124gr or 147 gr FMJ bulk pack stuff (it's labeled American Eagle). It's for sale at Cheaper Than Dirt and Natchez, amongst other Internet outlets. If you stick with the sport, you'll eventually give in and begin reloading. I think I worked it out once that the $1000 or so that a nice Dillon XL650 runs would equal about 4000 rounds of factory ammo. That's less than a year's shooting, so you break even pretty quick. Buy your Dillon through http://www.brianenos.com/ when you're ready. Lube it with Slide Glide (get a tub of Lite and Regular for cold/hot weather) grease, available at http://www.brianenos.com/ and while you're there, buy a copy of Brian's book "Pracitcal Shooting, Beyond Fundamentals". For a cleaning kit, the usual brass rod, 9mm jag, loop, bore brush, would be fine. I don't like oil that much, I use grease. I rarely ever clean my pistol. Maybe once or twice a year. I usually just add a bit of grease to the dirty pistol and shoot it. Cleaning is something I reserve mostly for the magazines that get dropped in the dirt and sand. I clean mags after every match generally, with an Arendondo magazine brush, available at Shooter's Connection.
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Yeah, I'm sufficiently scared of the first few months. I can sleep a bit more when I'm dead.
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Oh, and one thing I forgot to mention. Just made a bullet and primer order. I should be good on Federal primers for a good long while and at least most of the way through the summer with bullets. I'll use up all my Solo 1000 on the local club matches and use Titegroup for my major matches. I prefer the Solo 1000, but it's really touchy on temperature spikes. I don't want to mess with possibly going sub-minor at major matches. Titegroup is solid and is just a touch flippier and it's actually a bit more accurate for me. My current loads are a MG 124-JHP or a Zero 125-JHPC over 4.2 grains of Solo 1000 at 1.111" OAL or the same bullets and OAL with 4.0 grains of Titegroup. Both loads put me at 130 PF, it's just that the Solo 1000 load slows down as the Summer heat sets in, while the Titegroup load stays the same. If N320 was ever easily available, I'd probably just go that route. I'm just not willing to beg, borrow, or steal to find the latest cache of the stuff.
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I'm pretty lax with my range diary. I know it could be a better tool for me if I used it more often. I've been floundering a bit on my shooting goals. I've decided to refresh my efforts and get myself back on track. My 2012 season goals: Shoot at least two Level 3 three Level 2 matches in Production Stick with the XDM 5.25 CZ SP01 platform the entire season Put 10 hours of practice in per week, dry and live fire Drop 50 lbs of dead weight Earn my USPSA M card in Production I'm on track for the 3 level 2 matches, having shot the Battle in the Bluegrass last weekend. I was very mediocre in my shooting. I made up 29 shots. No misses, no penalties, but slow... I need more training time and I'm going to promise myself 7 hours of dryfire a week. I'll find the time somewhere. I'm also a member of a club now, so livefire is much easier, that will be the other 3 hours of training per week. I switched from the XDM to the CZ. The elbow pain was a showstopper and the heavier gun was the answer. I'm beginning to understand I may always be a Production shooter, due to the elbow pain issues that my job has caused. Production is awesome though, so no worries. The weight issue is going great. I'm down 35 lbs. Good eating, albeit a bit boring, is really helping. The hours a week spent in cardio is helping me as well. The USPSA Master classification is still realistic, but that's going to be the hardest thing to obtain. Possibly the most rewarding though. I'm resisting the kind of stand and shoot training though that it takes to earn better classifiers. I'd rather be winning stages than anything else. The M card is just a goal. Winning is why I want to compete. In personal news, I've got a new puppy coming home in few weeks. A little female yellow Lab to warm my heart and eat my shoes. I can't wait.
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Damn. I just saw the news Andy. My Georgia died last fall and it still tears me up when I dwell on it. I wish you and yours all the best.
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Any idea what caused the death jam?
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Had some unexpected visitors to the house last Sunday
ihatepickles replied to Chills1994's topic in The Gallery
Wow, those 3 are pretty mean looking. You better leave them with me for proper retraining! -
I have one of those. Oh really?