Reds_Dot

It's gonna sound like a beating a dead horse but get some video of this happening. If possible, have the camera facing you so we can see your head/eyes and hands while you shoot the transitions. I suspect what is happening is that your predictive shooting (shooting twice seeing one sight picture) is slower than you realize. Even in predictive shooting you don't shift your focus off the current target until the second shot is fired then you move your eyes/head. If you're moving your eyes/head before the second shot happens your body will twist in the same direction Your head is going, even slightly. Thus you'll "drag" your second shot into the delta or even a mike. I would need to see video of a transition where that happens on paper but the video should be where I can see your face and arms at the same time. Good luck.

Well, this has been super informative. I appreciate the pics and explanations from everyone.@dansedgli Thanks for the further info. @perttime I'm not sure how big it is. My gunsmith asked if I wanted a big or small magwell. I wasn't sure so he said I should go big. See the attached pic to see the size from the bottom. I am tempted at this point to just get a "Standard" gun made before IPSC nats. Gives me an excuse to get a backup gun for limited and now I don't have to worry about making my Edge fit the Standard box.

Appreciated. I read the division rules and then had a bunch of questions. Hence me ending up here. That's a simple and brilliant idea and I'm ashamed I didn't think of that. Good to know that 18'ish rounds is to be expected. Not sure which I have. My grip is SVI but the upper is an old STI Edge with Dawson sights. See the attached pic. I didn't say my 140mms would fit. I gathered they wouldn't. It's reasonable consideration. I am already gonna need to spend $60-100 on a new magwell, and another ~$450 on legal mags.... Noted on the angled basepads. I'm not sure what sort of sights I have aside from them being Dawsons. I think @Schutzenmeister has a valid point. If I'm gonna spend the $$$ I might as well get an IPSC box. Thanks for the responses everyone. This has already been more informative than 2 hours of forum and Google searches.

I am interested in shooting Standard Divsion for US IPSC Nationals but there is a vaccuum of information. I did searches here on Enos (anf Google in general) and get nothing but lots of threads about "standard capacity magazines". Here are my questions: I have a 2011 that is set up for Limited Major. I think the big SVI magwell is too big for "the box". Does anyone know if there are SVI magwells that fit in the IPSC box? If so, can you point me to them? SVI seems to only sell the big magwells. I have 140mm magazines which are, as much as I can gather, too big. Are 126mm magazines the correct size? If so, do I get flat or angled basepads? For standard divsion what capacities are people getting with major, .40? I get 20-21 depending on the mag/follower in Limited. Thanks in advance for the help!

I am far from a statistician, scientist, or neurologist. So here is the humble observation I have after actually trying this technique. I actually worked reloads because I ditched my magwell and went back to the factory "magwell". I did as prescribed. I focused for 300 reps of reloads (VERY DIFFICULT to focus for that long BTW). To be fair I did change it up a bit for my sanity. I did 100 static reloads. Then 200 reloads alternating one step left or right. I focused on reloading at my target speed (~0.9s). I'd say I hit my reloads 40% of the time. The rest were wonky going in or just plain missed reloads. I parked the reloads after that. The next four days I worked on other things in dryfire while PURPOSELY skipping reloads. I went back to reloads on the fifth day. I decided a test was in order. So I did 100 reloads. 30 static. The remaining 60 alternating left and right. I landed about 40% of my reloads like before. It wasn't much different. Except one thing. While doing the original 300 reloads it was difficult to focus solely on that but I managed and when I had a missed reload I tried to diagnose what the issue was and rectify it. Now this time with the 100 reps even when I was missing the issue that caused the miss was VERY apparent to me. Whereas before I was taking an educated guess. Most of my misses came in the first 50 or so reps and after that I was sinking them much more consistently and +/- 0.1s of my target speed. After that I went back to more "traditional" training when I saw the issue I slowed down to figure put the correct motion/index/position then went right back to speed. It cleaned up my reloads very quickly. So, maybe my less educated brain learned how to pay attention to the reloads more effectively versus just sorting out how to reload better. I dunno. This is also a sample size of one, thus completely anecdotal.

Just what I found on Amazon. You can just do a search for Tungsten putty and weights for soapbox derby. It will pop up with tons of sources. I managed to get ~4oz into the grip. The putty isn't exact but it's more than the guiderode so it balances nicely.

The G22.5 isn't optimal for rolling with a plastic gun in Limited. The shorter barrel and polygonal rifling makes getting to powerfactor a bit of a balancing act. Mods I added: - Dawson sights - Glockstore pure tungsten guiderod w/17# spring - Tungsten weights and putty (for soapbox derby cars) in the grip That's it. It shoots pretty well. It returns well and the extra weight helps settle out the iron sights a bit better. I don't get any muzzle dip (dolphining). Stock Gen5 triggers are pretty good so no need to mess with that. I ran a Dawson Ice magwell for a bit but it was actually slowing down mt reloads because it was harder to get my support hand back on the grip well. So I ditched it. https://youtube.com/shorts/wQTvAGCgx_c?feature=share

It's been better. The change of pace has been nice. I am happy rolling in Limited so far. It's also been good to focus on the other reason I enjoy the crap outta the sport: the friends. I'm 100% sure speed mode is gonna bring out the giggles too. I enjoy it so much. It's like setting myself free and it does a great job magnifying smaller issues that need to be fixed.

Wow, I am behind my monthly schedule. Well kinda of going back to my old format of post: tl;dr is at the end just before the videos. Dragon's Cup: Having fun and feeling the heat So, I had a goal of "Having Fun" at Dragon's Cup. I did but after the long day the heat got to me. So I will address each on it's own part. Having Fun: That was accomplished in spades. I had a great time and a fun squad. I got to spend time talking to two of the local Limited Guys that are the real heat in TX for Limited. That was helpful and they are fund folks to chat with. I was able to laugh, trade stories, and catch up with old friends. It was great. I also made major powerfactor, which was a concern at the time. All-in-all it was a good social event. I also shot terribly. I'm not going to go back and look at the exact stats but I pretty much had a penalty (mike, NS, foot fault, etc) on every stage. I wasn't focused on the shooting and I wasn't really seeing a clear sight picture the whole day. Some would attribute that to the heat but I am used to heat and I did a great job hydrating the whole day. I will address other heat-related issues later down. I wasn't upset at my performance at the match and it didn't dull my mood at all. I knew the sight picture thing was happening and my stage visualizations were basically nonexistent as I was more focused on video'ing other shooters on the squad and jack-jawing with folks. So, all-in-all I did what I wanted. I had a fun low pressure match. The Heat: As for the heat that was a slightly different story. In my 20's I lived in Las Vegas and I was used to working outside on cars all day. 115f temps? No Problem. I, however, am not in my 20s anymore. I was doing okay with the heat until about the 10th stage of the day. At that point it just hit and all I wanted to do was go back to the hotel and shower. There is a difference between dehydration, heat stroke, and heat exhaustion. I was in the very early stages of heat exhaustion. That can happen even if you are hydrated. I was not alone. A couple of the guys on my squad were in the same boat. There is now a general consensus that we are gonna shoot Dragon's Cup on a two-day squad amongst us. To help minimize the heat related stress. Michigan Sectional: Good friends, temp acclimation, and a way forward Good Friends: So the whole reason behind going to the MI Sectional was to shoot a match with my good friend Alex "Manny" Mansfield of Manny Talks Shooting. Along with the great pair of Tony and Jackie Salis of the Laugh-n-Load podcast. They brought along some folks from the Chicagoland area who were all awesome and such good folks. I got to meet a fellow friend of the Manny Talks Shooting show Joey from Wisconsin. The whole squad was amazing. Good people. Tons of fun and good shooters. Manny and I did a review of the match if you want to watch that I will put the vid below the match videos. I definitely made some new shooting friends and got to hang with some known ones. Temperature Acclimation: Since I talked about the heat I will talk about relative heat. It was interesting to see everyone exhausted and even making comments about how humid/warm it was during the match. To be perfectly honest, it didn't phase me at all. I still had two or three stages worth of energy left. I felt great. That time in the Texas heat paid off. A Way Forward: This match, despite my score, went VERY well for me. I was able to visualize the stages well and see my sights on targets clearly at speed. I executed all of my stage plans how I visualized them. It was exactly what I wanted to accomplish. The advantage of doing all of that is that the mistakes or shortcomings I had were all related to things I needed to train. The match is an excellent starting point for my training focus for the next few months. I have one primary deficiency and that is getting an acceptable sight picture on tougher targets. Visual patience, acceptable sight picture, experience, whatever you want to call it I need to work on getting that good sight picture without slowing down. That means speed mode training. Which has me excited since I enjoy speed mode shooting. More shooting on the move as I have found myself being much more positional on stages and standing still on intermediate targets I SHOULD be moving on. The other thing I will need to work is my agility on stages. I have set-up time with a personal trainer to help me get my weight down, get me back to lifting weights (I enjoy that) and help me improve my agility. I'm not going to be 100% improved in three months but I should be making progress in that area. So, all in all it's been good and I am looking forward to shooting and training. tl;dr: I had fun at Dragon's Cup. My match performance suffered a bit. Being hot sucks. MI Sectional was a fun time with friends. I did well and now a have a good training plan going forward. Dragon's Cup 2.0 Vid: Michigan Sectional Championship 2022: Me and Manny talking about the MI Sectional Match:

Do I get to come over and try that?

Glad to hear you survived finals and you grabbed some work. Sounds like you are heading a good direction. Carry Optics is THE most popular division in USPSA right now. I think for good reason too. I am gonna echo @Johnny_Chimpo and tell you to get the slide milled and I will also strongly suggest an SRO. I don't have any particular place you should go for the milling in mind though. The dovetail mount WILL BREAK. They all do. Plus that sits the optic super high on the gun. Get it milled and run that way. 100% worth it. If you want to be able to swap to irons then I think CZ custom does a plate system that allows you to mount a rear iron sight.

Well, I crawled back into an old mental pattern this weekend and it was due to a couple of things. I caught part of it and @CClassForLife poked me and pointed out the other behavior. This is a mindset / emotional state post so if you're here for other stuff skip to the bottom for a fun match video. The pattern is a negative self-image and negative emotional state which is tied to expectations of performance and failing to meet those expectations. So, I found myself getting upset and being on a negative spiral on a stage that was prompted by going to battle with a popper that had a gangster lean to it. I had an expectation (note the "expectation" versus just a plan) that I should perform the stage in a certain way. Clearly, that didn't happen. Because of that this negative attitude and poor self-image that I am trying to re-wire popped back up. It all came down to the expectation (goal or outcome based target) of performance. I managed to vent and get over myself but me venting is another problem which I will get to later. The negative self talk was an issue. While it helps to calm me down to vent the negative emotions I feel; it doesn't take my mind away from that negative space. That is an issue that on self reflection was problematic as well. I need to bring my mental state back to a more neutral position. This is actually equally applicable when a stage goes well. It's great to feel good but emotional states much past neutral in either direction can cause issues with performance by distracting your process to perform. So, @CClassForLife gave me an idea which I will *attempt* to employ at Dragon's Cup this coming weekend. Wait until you see the outcome to evaluate performance. See BOTH the positives and negatives. In that stage that I went to war with the popper at the end I proceeded to hit a mini-popper activator, swing 150° shoot a double stack of targets then swing back 180° to a swinger on its first pass out and put A/C on that. All of that and I was upset and focused on the popper at the end. So, it wasn't a bad stage and I did a whole lot right. I'm not gonna suddenly change how I do things but I can work to change them NOW. I have a real chance at Dragon's Cup to have a good time and work on that part of my game. I am certainly going to stage plan. I am certainly going to try my best. I am going to change what defines "success" is to seeing the result of my stage in it's entirety. Nothing about good or bad. Just recognize the result and evaluate it. I'm sure that emotions will come into play but the goal minimize them. That leads me to my next issue and the point that was explained to me in a way that took some serious self-reflection to internalize and accept. No one is perfect but some are better than others when it comes to interpersonal interactions. I'm not a s#!tty guy but I have a temper which can flare (at myself; I've NEVER gone off on another person, EVER) and a negative side which doesn't leave people with the best impression of me as a person. So, I want to improve that. That means recognizing my behavior from another's perspective and acting accordingly. Assuming I can accomplish a more neutral (not assigning emotional response; easier said than done) evaluation of the stage then I can also be conscious of how others are seeing how I act then respond accordingly. i.e. No mag yeets; no negative venting. Neutral to positive interactions with the squad and ROs. in the end; I want to enjoy the experience (Dragon's Cup is shaping up to be a blast) and remember the even for the fun I had. I think this stuff can help with that. Okay, you've made it this far through my gobbledygook. Here is a fun match video with me learning how to use an FPV camera.

You're gonna have to let me shoot it at some point. I am curious what those are like. I got to mess with Blanton's at his house but I never got to shoot it.

Thank you. It's nice to be back and having legit fun doing it.

Well I jumped into my first major match shooting Limited Major. It was literally my third ever match shooting the G22 in competition. THe Texas State Open Championship seemed like the best place to find any bugs and work them out. It turned out to be a "bad" result and GREAT match for me. The bad: My first stage of the match was stage 6. I shot it pretty well. I left a mike on a tux target but it was pretty quick and the rest of the hits were good. So, not the best stage ever but FAR from a match killer. However, one of the other guys on the squad prematurely pasted a target. So, re-shoot. On the reshoot it all went pear-shaped. I edge-hit an activator and I called a good hit so I left the position. by the time I got to the third position where I was supposed to take the swinger it wasn't moving. I thought it was a range-prop malfunction. The RO didn't stop me and I was confused. Then I saw it. The popper was standing with a hit on the left edge of the scoring zone at the 9 o'clock. So much time had passed I just shrugged and called for calibration. Which, of course, I lost. So I got a mike on steel then three more 2M FTSAs for the swinger and two remaining targets. So 7 mikes and three penalties later I had a zero'd stage. That was all of the "bad" for the match. In the match video I included the first run that went pretty well. After that started my day the rest of it was awesome. I wasn't perfect and I had a more than a few places I can work on but that is a good thing. This match did a great job revealing those issues so now I can go work on them and get better: I'm still hesitating on fast draws and "blind" transitions (transitions and entries past opaque objects like barrels and solid walls). My entries into lateral and backwards moving positions need work. I lost a bunch of time on footwork alone. The last thing I need to work on is sight "confidence" with steel. I only seemed to miss steel that I was worried about and when I was anxious about the steel I over-confirmed my shots like crazy. Meanwhile in the same match I center punch an activator mini-popper on the move at 15 yards without thinking about it. That being said so much good stuff happened. I was fast on my splits. I routinely had tight groups and good hits on 0.15-0.17 splits in match shooting major PF. My grip was solid the whole day. I forgot I was shooting major ammo at all. My hits were INCREDIBLE. I shot 91% of points INCLUDING the zero'd stage. My A:C ratio was 200:38 which is way better than the 3:1 ratio I was looking for. That means I can pick up a bit more time on target engagements as well. I finished 5th out of 38 Limited shooters in the match. I actually had two stage wins for the day. One was on an unloaded table start (I guess all those unloaded starts at locals helped? ) and the other was the mega win: Stage 7. Stage 7 was the very next stage after I zero'd stage 6. It had 15-20 yard mini poppers and a 15 yards tux swinger. I went 1 for 1 on steel and grabbed 2A on the tux swinger and won the stage. It was awesome. Such a huge mental win for me. I was able to be a bit mad at the last stage then just carry on with the next. I have struggled with that for a long time and to be able to do that at a major match was such vindication. So, all-in-all it was a great experience hanging with friends, seeing folks I haven't seen in a while, and sending some rounds downrange. I have Dragon's Cup in a few weeks then Michigan Sectional after that. I don't expect to have any drastic improvements to my shooting for those matches but the only measure of my performance will be at Area 4. Until then it's all practice and and fun experience. Here is the match video:

It is but I am going up to shoot with Alex (Manny Talks Shooting) and Tony and Jacki Salis from the Laugh-n-Load podcast. It should be a hoot of a squad. Looking forward to the fun. 100% agree. You're new so you just need to worry about you. MI Sectional will be a major match but it should be a laid-back version. Plus you'll get a "both feet in" perspective on the sport for yourself.

Oh yeah! I'm shooting the MI Sectional! You should go. It should be a fun match. It would be cool to meet in person too.

Welcome Corey! I am excited to see how your brain goes over and learns this sport. Different minds will learn differently and often through new perspectives. That is good information for anyone who is a student of the game. Also +10 points for the Clarkson reference. Don't worry. 99% of folks start out slow. The fact you have a bit of caution is good to start. Your initial speed will come with comfort in gun handling (not to be mistaken with carelessness). After that you can focus on adding urgency to negotiation of stages and really hit the gas on stages. Accuracy at speed is a training issue. Stoger's book on live and dryfire practice is a good resource to help develop that skill. Yup. Depending on where you live that can be easier or harder to do. Ask around at your next match. Those folks will be able to provide guidance and opinions on your options. If you aren't happy with the X5, ditch it. You aren't gaining any skill or wisdom shooting a gun you aren't happy with. If you like the S2 shoot the S2. Sell the X5 and use the $ to buy ammo and/or spare parts for the S2. You'll much happier. GX may say they are on a 2 month delay but it's probably longer. You can get a decent holster for the Shadow 2 from any competition holster company. If you are set on the GX get a Comp-Tac or BladeTech for now then swap over to the GX when it arrives. Good. That means you're doing it right. If your hands are tiring you are doing it right. I don't know that you need to be dryfiring 30+ mins a day but that is up to you. I suggest having a specific goal for that dryfire that day. i.e. Run a simulated Blake Drill in under 4 seconds, 5 times in a row, clearly seeing the sight picture. Once you have accomplished that task you're done dry-firing for the day. Pick an new drill the next day and do that again. Once you shoot more matches you'll start to get a feel for your weak areas and you can target your dryfire to those areas to continuously improve your shooting. I am going through something similar right now. I just came off a 4.5 year stint shooting red-dots exclusively and I am swapping to irons to shoot in Limited this year. I think target focused is the way to go even with iron sights just like you described. You can check out my range diary starting here (Reds_Dots Range Diary) for more info on what I am discovering. Yeah you are on the right track for sure. Just like Charlie says you need to add urgency to what you are doing. It sounds like you have a pretty good grasp on things going forward. Just remember: not all advice on the range is good advice. Take it with a grain of salt and decide for yourself if it works. I am looking forward to reading this range log in the future.

Dumb trick that helped me with keeping a more "athletic stance" and keeping my knees over my toes: Stick out your butt. Like "throwin' it back at the club" as the kids would say. You want to move your chest over your toes. For me it's easier to initiate that with an anterior pelvic tilt (sticking my butt out) but then keeping my back straight which shifts my weight over my mid-sole/toes. Right now, you tend to bend your knees and "sit down" like you are doing a good dead-lift (which is a VERY good thing for your back if you are doing dead-lifts) but it puts your weight all on your heels which means it's harder to push from position to position.

I did. Read my March 2nd post. I have been told this before but seeing as I haven't said more than about 20 words to Tim Herron let alone taken his class I have no clue if that is true or not.

Well four matches later I feel quite vindicated making the gun switch. I picked up a G22 Gen5. The Glock was 100% the right call and it has allowed me to jump right into velocitization(speed mode). Lesson learned: Stick to what you know. Removing the extra complexity of learning a separate platform has allowed me to see deficiency in my stage negotiation techniques. There are items I want to work on heavily focused on "awkward" movements. I bleed time not being able to set-up and engage as fast as I would like. To my surprise recoil hasn't been that much of a hindrance. To be fair I can't split the .40 quite as fast as the 9 but we are talking 0.13s compared to 0.17s in a match. 4 one-hundreths of a second is an acceptable max split differential. Any pace slower than that I can shoot at the same clip. My rear-sight "bracket" method works very well for determining the level of refined sight picture needed. However, my Charlie ratio is a bit too high. I am running about a 2:1 A to C ratio. The top guys run closer to a 3:1 ratio. I will eventually need to look into refining sight pictures after I get more comfortable at speed. Not gonna slow down. I am gonna catch my vision up. That tension bug has grabbed me on my first shot off my draw. My consistent match draw time of 0.80s (CO) has dropped back to 1.10s (Lim-Maj) times. It doesn't seem like much but a couple of courses that have fast engagements (and classifiers) and I have given up as much as 2 seconds at local matches to that failing. For the next little bit I will focus on pushing the stress of the first draw away from my arms/shoulders/back and keep it in my hands. Both in live and dryfire. That should clear up the issues. I have noticed mid-stage tension creeps in and my shots go high. The front sight climbs a bit out of the notch and I sail rounds high. Training plan: Work on inducing stress in live-fire mini-stages (fast partials, steel at distance, etc) and give myself only one opportunity to create the stress then look to recognize the muscle tension as well as seeing the front post climbing as it's happening. Then work to eliminate the reaction. Wide focus versus narrow for fast arrays and "easier" targets. I will continue to work using a wider field of view to attack an array of targets in both live and dryfire to see if I can make effective use of the technique which leaves me with a "loose" visual focus over a grouped array. Now comes the fun part. Match videos! River City Shootout 2022: APSC April 2022:

I have previously been told not to discuss this particular topic on these forums. Also, this range diary is meant to document my training journey not discuss rule sets of particular sports. I would be more than happy to share my thoughts on the whole thing with you over a DM though.

Two that come to mind are the MagPul and Empire Katana for G19s. Agreed on the carry gun. 100% I roll my Gen5 G19 carry without a magwell. Honestly that magwell flair they put on the Gen5s helps. I was a bit surprised. I disagree you need the weight unless you are running a Limited Major set-up and that is mostly to abate some muzzle rise to allow for faster pairs. I run a stock G17.5 that is milled for an SRO in CO. Shoots fast and flat. Case in point: https://www.instagram.com/p/CJGoprzg_Bp/?utm_medium=copy_link Though I have managed to get my Lim-Major G22.5 up to 40oz which helps keep my splits in the mid teens and under control. (Pic attached)

Dawson is fine for competition. I wouldn't recommend it for carry. There are a ton of carry magwells on the market for the Gen5 G19. Lightweight and smaller printing. More reasonable for carry. I have Gen4s and Gen5s and I far prefer the Gen5s. Though I miss the finger grooves on the 4s. The factory magwell flare seems a bit silly bit it makes a huge difference for reloads. I have large hands (L/XL Gloves) and I don't have an issue with finger over-hang on my G19.5 which is my go-to daily carry gun in a AIWB rig.

It was bulged. No "If". I don't use patches. Definitely a carbon peppering inside the barrel at the bulge point. Coated bullets its entire life. Well, I'm not sure what caused the phantom squib but all the evidence points at that. I called Glock and sent them the barrel. They confirmed it was bulged. $125 later they sent me a new barrel. So, I am back in business.