D to M in however long it takes

[Rivr_runnr]

Let me set the stage. I am a 42 year old banker with a wife and 8 year old boy. We live in Central Missouri where we have a lot of fun distractions with life on the lake and a genuine love for family and all things outdoors. I began shooting a little in 2008 when a friend took me to a three gun at CMMG. I was hooked. I have since gotten my 71 year old father involved and instead of tournament bass fishing as we did for 20 years, we are competing in USPSA and 3 gun. Both my Dad and I would love to bring my son along slowly into the shooting sports and have introduced him with somewhat good success. We belong to a very active IDPA/USPSA range that is roughly an hour drive from us, but have access to land 5 minutes from our houses that we can shoot on as well as access to to the county's shooting range within 15 miles. I am healthy with no problems and weigh 185lbs. I have a natural athletic ability and can move pretty quickly, though am no speedster. I love to compete in 3 gun competitions and really have come to enjoy USPSA matches at our range. I shoot IDPA for the practice and to spend time with my dad, but it does not turn my crank quite as fast as USPSA/ 3gun. I have a Limited Springfield XDM 9mm that was custom built for me by Dennis Reece with Springfield Armory (basically their competition trigger) FO sights, Canyon Creek magwell and extended release and mags. I have a frankenstein 223 comprised of CMMG lower, JP trigger group, Firebird upper with a lot of JP and it absolutely rocks. I shoot an FN SLP shotgun. I practice very little, no dry fire, no practice reloads, no shotgun loading drills to speak of. I have a Manny airsoft glock and just picked up an SR22 "for my son". so I have the tools needed to practice, but have yet to develop a practice routine that I have stuck to. That is one of the things I would love to pick up here. I am currently in training with a USPSA GM with my father and another member of our club. He is taking us through the 3 gun game step by step and it has greatly improved my accuracy and speed; we are about halfway through with our 6 month training regimen. I recently shot my first USPSA classifier and should be getting a "C" card in the mail soon. Most of the scores were in that 57%-59% nationally, so the jump to "B" is tantallizingly close. Ultimately I have set my sights on the rank of "M" and need help and advice on getting there. I will shoot the Midwest 3 gun Challenge in late May and am trying to peak for that event. In 2009 I finished 84th of 118 in TO and my goal is to finish in the top half this year. I will also shoot the Ozarks 3 Gun Challenge again this year. Last year I finished 38th of 65 in TO at this event and would love to make it to the top half this year as this is my home match.

Thanks for the opportunity, let the journey begin

[AlamoShooter]

I am only starting my 21st year of competition shooting, and I am still making notes of what I need to learn. the sooner you learn to train for skill over class the better you will be.

It is easy to say class does not mater when you are near the top, But it does not mater,

19 years ago Brian Enos inscribed in my book "Stick With It & Stay Sharp" I have thanked him more than once for that advice

Edited March 30, 2010 by AlamoShooter

[CHA-LEE]

I could write a long reply with a ton of specific's but in the end it really comes down to this simple formula "Motivation + Solid Execution during Practice = Increased Performance". If you want to get better do whatever it takes to motivate yourself to get better. When you do work on getting better force yourself to execute whatever you are training solidly. If you stick to these two fundamentals it will be VERY hard for you to not get better. How long it takes to get better is simple. The more you pour into the motivation and solid execution buckets the more increased performance comes out the other end. If you are already working on a training program with a GM then it sounds like you have the solid execution part covered, at least for defining what it is. So it really sounds like you only need to work on the Motivation part.

[Rivr_runnr]

I am only starting my 21st year of competition shooting, and I am still making notes of what I need to learn. the sooner you learn to train for skill over class the better you will be.

It is easy to say class does not mater when you are near the top, But it does not mater,

19 years ago Brian Enos inscribed in my book "Stick With It & Stay Sharp" I have thanked him more than once for that advice

That is a great point. I am less concerned about the actual classification as I am using it as a ruler to measure my progress, but posting "I want to finish 1st" might have seemed short sighted.

[Jesse Tischauser]

The pistol ladder is a little steeper climb that the 3 gun ladder in my opinion.

My take on how to get better for pistol is practice a lot and get some good instruction ASAP. I also recommend reading every book and seeing every video that the top shooters have put out there. The more you know the faster you can start training the right way. After you know what you need to do you just need to put in the 10,000 hours it takes to be world class (for explanation on the 10,000 hours rule read this book Outliers, The Story of Success).

From a 3 gun standpoint I think you can be a better competitor faster because the game of 3 gun requires much more and that means that the other competitors have to train that much more too. For instance you almost never hear a 3 gun shooter say that everything went right on a stage. There is so much going on with weapons transitions, shooting positions, moving targets, various reloads, etc. I think you can break into the top 1/2 simply by eliminating most of the mistakes that we all make. That is why I said you can become a better competitor fairly easily. Now to become a better shooter you must do the time.

For the rifle you have to get out and shoot from all the different positions you can think of and do so at every distance from 0-500 yards. You need to know that rifle, how to reload it, and where its shoots for a lot of different scenario's. Most guys will never know half of what their rifle can do.

The shotgun is relatively easy to shoot. It makes a big pattern and we shoot small targets. The hard part is reloading that damn thing. I think that if you work on your reloads for 40 hours before the FNH match you will be better than half of the competitors on the stages that require the use of the shotgun. Most guys don't mess with reloading practice because its the least fun and the hardest thing to do.

I don;t know if I said anything that you didn't;t already know. There is no secret to be the best but the best do have some secrets. You just got to get out and practice more than the next guy.

Edited April 1, 2010 by jtischauser

[shooterbenedetto]

Dont loose your drive for shooting. Get a proffesional

lesson and go from there. Practice,practice and always

push yourself. In big tournament shoot it like practice

to see where it will lead you.I say dont worry about

your classification and let big tournaments classify you.

Lots of shooters gets sucked into the classifiers which

I think its just paper classification and not classified

as a field shooter!

Edited April 3, 2010 by shooterbenedetto

[Rivr_runnr]

Last night 50 push ups 50 sit ups, I was wiped out went to bed w/o doing last set

Tonight 100p/u, 100 s/u, 50 dips.

Trying to research a dry fire routine. Having trouble finding a simple one.

[Chris Keen]

Last night 50 push ups 50 sit ups, I was wiped out went to bed w/o doing last set

Tonight 100p/u, 100 s/u, 50 dips.

Trying to research a dry fire routine. Having trouble finding a simple one.

Try one of Steve Andersons books on dryfire training. Steve keeps it simple, but also very detailed. Very effective training.

Refinement & Repetition, Dry Fire Drills for Dramatic Improvement

Download Five Sample Pages (PDF)

Edited April 8, 2010 by Chris Keen

[Micah]

Chris mentioned the bible of dryfire drills. Here are two more sources for getting your dryfire training started:

22 Dryfire Drills by me

Ben Stoeger's 15 minute dryfire program

[Rivr_runnr]

Thanks guys, those links are terrific. I found I have a program already that I can print replica miniature targets, so having the video and references is a huge help. Thanks for helping me get this program started; that is what makes this forum so great!

[Rivr_runnr]

The pistol ladder is a little steeper climb that the 3 gun ladder in my opinion.

My take on how to get better for pistol is practice a lot and get some good instruction ASAP. I also recommend reading every book and seeing every video that the top shooters have put out there. The more you know the faster you can start training the right way. After you know what you need to do you just need to put in the 10,000 hours it takes to be world class (for explanation on the 10,000 hours rule read this book Outliers, The Story of Success).

From a 3 gun standpoint I think you can be a better competitor faster because the game of 3 gun requires much more and that means that the other competitors have to train that much more too. For instance you almost never hear a 3 gun shooter say that everything went right on a stage. There is so much going on with weapons transitions, shooting positions, moving targets, various reloads, etc. I think you can break into the top 1/2 simply by eliminating most of the mistakes that we all make. That is why I said you can become a better competitor fairly easily. Now to become a better shooter you must do the time.

For the rifle you have to get out and shoot from all the different positions you can think of and do so at every distance from 0-500 yards. You need to know that rifle, how to reload it, and where its shoots for a lot of different scenario's. Most guys will never know half of what their rifle can do.

The shotgun is relatively easy to shoot. It makes a big pattern and we shoot small targets. The hard part is reloading that damn thing. I think that if you work on your reloads for 40 hours before the FNH match you will be better than half of the competitors on the stages that require the use of the shotgun. Most guys don't mess with reloading practice because its the least fun and the hardest thing to do.

I don;t know if I said anything that you didn't;t already know. There is no secret to be the best but the best do have some secrets. You just got to get out and practice more than the next guy.

Jesse I have re-read this post several times. Thanks for your thoughts...Good common sense. I hope to run into you in Columbia!

[Rivr_runnr]

April 12 100 P/U, 100 S/U

Looking for time to set up indoor dryfire range. Where does all the time go? Oh yes, I forgot...1.5 hours at the batting cage with my sons batting coach...make dinner b/c my wife had surgery and cant walk, get bath in for both...clean dirty guns form the last range session, 11PM pass out.

[Jesse Tischauser]

I am in my busy season at work right now. My goal is to handle at least one of my 3 guns for 10 minutes per day to keep fresh. Dry fire, mag changes, target transition or whatever you can find the time for.

Your thread is motivating me practice more. Thanks!

[Rivr_runnr]

4/13 100 s/u; 100 p/u

[Rivr_runnr]

I am in my busy season at work right now. My goal is to handle at least one of my 3 guns for 10 minutes per day to keep fresh. Dry fire, mag changes, target transition or whatever you can find the time for.

Your thread is motivating me practice more. Thanks!

Solid advice Jessie. Thanks again for your encouragement. I am struggling with weak hand shotgun reload stripping 4. Are you doing a strong hand or weak hand? i am actually faster off the carrier strong, and faster off the belt weak.

[Jesse Tischauser]

Keep practicing both strong hand off the carrier/arm band and weakhand off the belt until the FMH match. Since the match is so close time wise go with what works when the match rolls around. The weakhand reload takes some repitition but it's worth the work. I load everything weakhand off my belt. For practice try tKing your spring out of your tube. It makes it a lit easier to get the finger work down with no resistance.

[Rivr_runnr]

Keep practicing both strong hand off the carrier/arm band and weakhand off the belt until the FMH match. Since the match is so close time wise go with what works when the match rolls around. The weakhand reload takes some repitition but it's worth the work. I load everything weakhand off my belt. For practice try tKing your spring out of your tube. It makes it a lit easier to get the finger work down with no resistance.

Another good tip...Thanks!

[Rivr_runnr]

Finally set up the dry fire range in the cave. Worked for 1 hour on dry fire and mag changes: stationary and moving. Focused on the front sight/target transition, straight pull on the trigger without interrupting the sight picture and when I reload, to reload, not think about getting to the next target. When I focused on reloading, it was natural and smooth. When I got into a hurry to get to the next target, it was messy.

[Rivr_runnr]

Practiced airsoft single shot draws against a par timer. Started out with 2 seconds which was way too slow and ended up with 1.6 seconds. Shot 50 rounds at 1.6 seconds and lost twice.

PU/SU/ Dips: 50/50/20

Too tired to do last set.

Got my new 1-4 Burris XTR mounted on the Firebird.

[Rivr_runnr]

I totally suck loading the shotgun. I thought I was OK, but have tried to convert to weak hand and after a concentrated 45 minutes of dummy round loading practice tonight, I am totally screwed up. I cant tell which way I am going to go and I have about a month till my big shoot. Looks like I have a lot of work to do. My main problem is fumbling with the shells during the attempt to load one of them. I am grabbing 4 off the belt at a time. Loading the singles off the carrier is faster weak, loading off the belt is faster strong

[Corey]

I haven't done much with shotgun loads yet, mainly just pistol work for now, but when loading the shotgun (or any gun for that matter) remember the old saying/cliche: slow is smooth, smooth is fast. I'm not sure how hard you are trying to rush things ( maybe try to get some video of yourself doing load-something i need to do myself). The goal you should have to to miss a single round, take them one at a time, deliberately. get the index point the same every time. consistency is your friend. once you are at the point where the round(or pistol mag or whatever your loading) is finding the right spot each and every time, it will flow and speed will come. As Ive learned with shooting and it applies to reloading too: get your hits, speed will come....

[Rivr_runnr]

4-29 30 minutes airsoft 1 shot par timer drills; 30 minutes loading the shotgun

[Jesse Tischauser]

Jeff,

I shot some video of my shotgun relaod practice. I know I am not the fastest guy out there but I ain't too bad either. Watch the video and let me know if you have any questions.

JTischauser on YouTube

Edited May 1, 2010 by jtischauser

[DyNo!]

Jeff,

I shot some video of my shotgun relaod practice. I know I am not the fastest guy out there but I ain't too bad either. Watch the video and let me know if you have any questions.

JTischauser on YouTube

Nice reloading!

[Rivr_runnr]

Jeff,

I shot some video of my shotgun relaod practice. I know I am not the fastest guy out there but I ain't too bad either. Watch the video and let me know if you have any questions.

JTischauser on YouTube

Jesse, that is some nice reloading!

In the past you have advised that I practice some without the spring in (ithink?). It looks like you are getting those shells in there very easily...if the spring is in in this video, what is the key to getting the shell into the chamber so easily for you?