Fourtrax's Range Report

[Chris iliff]

I shot 100 good rounds of practice tonight. A friend came over with his new .22 conversion for his Glock. I didn't want the practice to turn into a hose fest, so I suggested the near to far drill.

Drill. Plate at 25 yards, target diagonally blacked through A zone at 15 yards, open target at 3 yards. 5 rounds total.

Wow, it was great. I had some throw aways (if I didn't get 5 alphas) but it was 70 quality rounds of that plus 30 rounds on the Bill Drill. When I let my vision dictate I was in the high 3's. If not, high 4's. The time is what it is, not important per se. That was hard for me, but I got the hang of that. Time is not what I went down to the range to work on. I worked on TRIGGER and transitions. This drill is perfect for that purpose.

I had fun too!!

[Chris iliff]

Over the last couple months I've battled with how to train.

Things I know, no particular order:

1st, I am easily bored with dryfire.

2nd, I need more livefire

3rd, Seeklanders book is great, I would have put it together differently. It can be confusing flipping back and forth. He should have put page #'s next to the drills in the Phase charts, like page 92. I band sawed the spine off and 3 hole punched it and put it in a binder. Next I'm gonna buy some cheapy binders and break each phase down in its own binder. I'll have to make copies of drills as some phases use the same.

4th. I'm ready to spend the $, this one tore me up. It's expensive. Shooting 600+ rounds a week for 16 weeks of major anything. Yes you can sub a .22, but I want real trigger time on my major rounds. I feel this is the best approach.

5th is I need ownership, I need to feel like my training is mine. Not cookie cutter training. Training I come up with for my specific needs. I will OWN that.

In summation, I'm gonna sub Steogers 15 min dryfire into my training instead of Seeklanders, but do Seeklanders live fire module. I believe this will be the best for me. Not sure when I'll start formative live fire, don't have the rounds yet, but soon. 10,432 rounds in 16 weeks, yikes.

I like the round count, the only bothersome part is I feel everything I've learned about myself shooting shouldn't go unpracticed. So, I'll mix in drills that I feel will develop areas I know need work when I feel Seeklander's drills aren't specific enough. This goes with #5 above. Ownership.

Edited April 29, 2012 by Chris iliff

[Chris iliff]

20 min of dryfire.

Did Steogers 15 min of dryfire. Wow. Not even close to some of the prescribed times. 2 upper A reload 4 lower A I'm way off. Several others off too. I liked it. Gets right to the point and there were some things like that one mentioned, I've never done. The times for the drills are interesting, gives me something to work towards.

[Chris iliff]

30 min of dryfire.

Steogers 15 min plan is growing. I take my time and try to work on things a little more than 5 reps. It is exposing some flaws and these get extra time.

The month of May is killer for me $$ wise. It always has been. Taxes, plates, and some other stuff come to a head in this month. I haven't ordered my bullets yet, so I'm putting off starting my First phase in Seeklanders book. This is killing me. I really liked my 100 round practice a few days ago. It was organized and fun. Looking forward to my live fire summer.

[Chris iliff]

Beautiful day. I'm very grateful for all I have and can do. Just wanted to say that!

Got off work and went to DMV to renew my DL. Happy to report it went well, go figure. Must have been an off day for them.

Went to my brass guy and bought 1,000 pcs of Winchester. They are run through an automatic sizer and even though 9 is tapered, it sizes from the bottom up. This completely puts it back to factory specs up through midway. Throw it in the Dillon and they run like butter. I haven't had to Udie anything in over a year. Unfortunately, he upped the price to $40 a thousand. But it is once fired and as clean as it gets. I'll take it!!

Bought a case of MG 124 CMJ. This hurt.

Dryfire went good. Put shorts on and went outside to do it on a full size target at 10 yards. I did the 2 upper A, reload, 4 lower A drill. This, for some reason, is the most difficult one for me. I'm happy to report that I made some gains on it. Not much but some. I'd like to get it below 3 seconds. Right now, when I'm relaxed and smooth, I'm around 3.2- 3.3. Pretty crappy, it is what it is. I then did surrender and relaxed one shot draws to my plate rack. Spent 30 minutes dryfiring and being on my range. I did a lot of the dryfire controlled and methodical Good stuff!!

[Chris iliff]

Did not shoot a match this weekend.

I loaded 500 rounds today. I shot 100 in practice tonight.

I did 10 bill drills. I do them correct, 7 yards, surrender draw. Best clean was 2.22. Nice group. I pulled a 2.18, but it did not count with a C & D hit. I didn't do any warm up dryfire, probably should have.

Next I did near to far and far to near drill (described above). Never grooved it in. I continued with surrender draw as it is weak for me. My splits are .18 on the near target and about .25 on the partial at 15-18 yards. I was yanking the trigger too much tonight. Probably because I started with Bill Drills. I felt rushed and never got in the groove on the near to far drill so to speak. I love this drill. I did get some sub 4 second runs clean and that's good from surrender for me.

All in all it was a good practice.

[Chris iliff]

Dryfired tonight. Concentrated on surrender draws. Also did hands relaxed. Worked some reloads in as well. 25 minutes.

Really want my surrender draw better. I pulled a 1.17 first shot to a 3 yard target. That's not bad, I guess, but it needs some work. I am tallish, 6'4" and a little gangly. I bet that doesn't hurt Nils, lol. What one man can do, another man can do!

Gun in hand preps plan!!

[Chris iliff]

Dryfired tonight outside.

Beautiful weather by the way!

Did my near to far drill both ways. I like that I've done it live fire and now I have a really good idea of my dryfire time. I don't feel as rushed ( a problem with me and dryfire) and I can concentrate on the little things. Like, for instance, a pesky little dot wobble on the 25 yard plate. I ran it surrender and relaxed.

Next I did a little movement triangle drill on the plate rack, gun up, entries and exits. There is a lot to be learned watching SSN video on Britinusa's site. Not much movement at SSN so you can really see what the top guys are doing position to position. I found it really interesting.

I finished with the Bill drill. I feel like my surrender draw is coming along nicely. I'm actually quite pleased. I'm slowly making it a strength.

Matches are for shooting!

[Chris iliff]

Dryfired.

Surrender draws, didn't push, did most slow and methodical. My right shoulder is sore from last night doing them.

Triangle drill. I set up this with a twist. Starting at back point I moved to right point and shot plate rack, then to left point and shot plate rack, then back to right point except in the middle I put a barrel. Go around barrel like turning down a hallway about 3 yards to a box shoot plate rack. I really liked it and ran it both ways. My time was just under (barely) 13 seconds either way.

None of distances are far. I really got a workout, my legs are barking. Focused on gun up and keeping my grip. One run I broke my grip, just to see, and I did not make the par.

Edited May 9, 2012 by Chris iliff

[Chris iliff]

I was PM'd by a member about the training I've had. Thought I'd paste it here for everyone. Most of it i sought out the GM's involved and ASKED. Never know till you ask IMHO, good stuff.

Yes, my first course was with Matt Cheely. There were about 7-8 students. The course consisted of Movement entirely. Matt is a smooth moving GM and the idea for it came from squading with him at Area 5. I think it was $200. We covered all movement. Entries and Exits. Set ups etc. It was a one day class. I learned gun up, hustle. Plus, little things a GM can point out, like widening my stance a little would help me exit easier/ quicker. It all seems like common sense now, but sometimes you think you are doing stuff when in actuality you are not. GM's can be ego busters and that's a good thing. Don't know if Cheely does classes anymore, he's turned in to one hell of a gunsmith and that might consume his time.

Second class was with Manny Bragg. I think about $400. Hands down the nicest guy you'll meet. It was a class for more advanced shooters, high C- A/M. Very informative. Once again an EYE OPENER. My grip and trigger work needed drastic help ( still does sometimes LOL). Ran various drills until my hands hurt from shooting and reloading. I learned about training scars. I had several with my grip. Hands were correct, but my WH was doing nothing, just riding along. I also learned that everything I did besides the SHOOTING needed to be done QUICKER. We set up a scenario with some movement and when the shooting at a position was done Manny would be shouting MOVE, MOVE, MOVE! Now I can move good, but I wasn't moving at the PRECISE instant I'd call my last shot at a position, training scar. Add up all the LAST SHOTS at every position in a stage and you are talking about some significant time, 2-3 seconds over a stage. I can't say enough about Manny, ask around. Not only a top flight GM, a very good TEACHER and that might be the most important thing.

Third class was an idea of mine. I asked 2 Great GM's in Ohio if I could drive to them and shoot a match. The idea being that they'd attach a camera to my head and video me from a separate location also, so 2 video's of every stage. Also, I would be paying them to be able to pick their brains on stage breakdown. Believe me, I picked the heck out of those brains! Additionally, after the videos were done I had extensive "breakdown" conversations over the phone. These lasted a couple hours. This by far was the Funnest training I paid for and the least expensive. I think it was $70 bucks. I was processing so much info during the match that my performance kinda sucked that day, but it was worth every penny. The 2 GM's are Chris Keen ( several top 25's at Nationals) and Micah Barcelo who can set up a dryfire regimen that'll help anyone. Micah is a dryfire MONSTER!! Really preaches dryfire, swears by it, you get the picture. Both are on this forum and the training is called EIS, excellence in shooting. I'm not sure if they are still doing it, Micah is very busy with work, but it was hands down the best bang for my buck.

Fourth course is coming up soon. My idea. Chris Keen will drive to me. We will spend a Saturday at my house shooting various drills, portions of stages etc...and I will do my best to match his Hit Factor. He will do his best not to laugh. That's a joke, he will watch how I execute and then offer advice on how to execute better, slowly working my HF as close to his as we can. Next day we will shoot a local together and that will go much like my 3 rd course with him. This is going to cost me $200, his match fee of $20 and feeding him for 2 days. He is sleeping at my house, so I got out of the hotel fee, lol. I'm most excited about this opportunity. Chris Keen just shreds stages. I want that.

I am an A open shooter. I have picked my training for specific needs if you didn't notice. The first, third and fourth were basically my ideas and I ASKED. You got to find a GM. Check credentials, are they true GM's, or paper GM's. If you're new, you want to get the basics down first and a GM can get that for you. I got to A with training scars. This sucks as they are very hard to break once you have them. I still struggle with WH grip strength and need to remind myself to use it!! Train with the best EARLY and often, wish I had.

Now I'm at the level were all the little negatives add up and kill me. It is so important to train correctly early in development. I couldn't stress this enough. I'm the perfect example of why. I waited 4 years, training by myself or with friends that were no better and instilling the bad. Undoing this is killer frustrating.

I wish you the best, I've got fresh apple dumplings to eat so I'm out!! Good luck, PM anytime.

[Corey]

good stuff! What local match are you shooting with Keen?

[Chris Keen]

Warsaw I think.

[Corey]

Prolly this month when I'm not going to be there, haha.

[Chris Keen]

This sunday coming up.

[Chris iliff]

This sunday coming up.

Yep, 6 stages at Warsaw, this Sunday.

[Chris iliff]

Prolly this month when I'm not going to be there, haha.

And why?

[colt]

And why?

3 Gun

[Chris iliff]

Well at least he's shooting!! Dang kids.

[Chris iliff]

WOW!!! I just had a GREAT weekend!!!

I woke up Saturday very anxious. It was TRAINING day finally! I had Chris Keen coming to spend a day with me and Repete Briggs. This was going to be GM training from Mr. Keen with Repete and myself as students.

Keen is a great GM from Ohio. Repete is a Master from northern Indiana and I'm an "A". I knew I would be tested to my limits and pushed past my boundaries. I was right!!!

Chris is a very good instructor, very patient with questions, and offered multiple solutions/answers. As an example, we discussed when/how far, before you break your grip. This I learned for me is about seven steps. This might be different for different styles/body types. The process was for the shooter to know for them. I think Chris was around five steps. More than that, he broke grip and hauled, less than that he kept grip intact and "churned butter" as he called it.

The motion you make with your grip intact while hauling.

Most things are not hard and fast set in stone. The key is to know YOURSELF and your capabilities. Find out what your current skill set allows you to do effectively and do it. This takes effort on our part as shooters. Can I match a GM on splits/transitions/draw to first shots, no, of course not. I can only do what I have trained myself to do, no more, no less. Most of my battle is within myself. I suspect this is the case with most of us.

Chris thought that Repete and I were past the "work on fundamentals" point for the purposes of the class. We both have those things down for our level. Time would be better spent on more advanced drills. We all know fundamentals are very important and work should never stop in this department for shooters looking for the edge, but for this training we concentrated on the advanced aspects. I'm glad we did.

Our first drill was one I have already Dryfired. It is a great gun up drill with difficult shots on a plate machine at about 17 yards. Start in box, move to right at an angle and set up to shoot 2 plates, haul butt to the left 3-4 yards and set up to shoot 2 more plates, then back to the right halfway, around a barrel, moving downrange to a box and shoot the last 2 plates. It is a great drill that requires aggressive movement, gun up, and precise shots.

We spent time talking about the different aspects. I was all ears!! How do you move without breakin grip? Is it better to break grip? For me, no, at these distances. Are we low enough? Are we bobbing, coming in low, only to raise up while shooting? Are we moving aggressively? I learned a lot about myself and what I need to work on! Things a GM can notice and point out. This is invaluable. I always thought I was low enough, but I wasn't. Getting a little lower helped everything.

We didn't run any one drill very long. 5-6 times tops, then we'd change it up. I would have to write a book to cover all we did. Mostly a variation, so as not to get one drill burned in.

Chris brought a swinger and this pushed me to my skill limit. I should add that we did almost nothing at easy distances. This drill was a popper activator set directly under the plate machine, 2 plates above, and a partial and a full target off to the left side by side. The swinger was set up between the paper targets and activator. Drill was to see what you could get after the activator before the swinger appeared. It pushed me to my limits. I really had fun with this one. I had mikes on the partial half the time, really pushing my transition and splits. I was at the ragged edge of my skill set!! I did get some solid runs. I really like how the drill pushed me. It forced me out of my comfort zone.

We spent a lot of time breaking it down and talking. The key was a great draw and first shot! Not necessarily speed here, great grip and first shot go a long way on a drill like this. Next was getting the eyes moving and snapping that gun to specific target spots. My clean runs were relaxed and total vision.

We ended the day working extreme distances 40-50 yards on a 12" plate. Threw some partial in at 10 - 12 yards. I remember at this point I was wiped out and it was getting dark.

We had shot close to 500 rounds of excellent practice. I grilled some meat and we ate good and hit the beds about 11pm. It was going to be another day of shooting Warsaws match on Sunday.

This day had exceeded all my expectations. Being pushed out of my comfort zone during every drill and learning what I needed to learn to improve was great! I loved what we did, how we did it. I loved that it was focused, every aspect, on skills that are needed for betterment.

I can't say enough how important finding a great GM is to development. Chris Keen is a great GM. He is an excellent instructor and he is available!! If you are in Indiana and want some training PM me or Keen. He is agreeable to coming back to my house for additional instruction for Students. I'm centrally located in Peru. It would be using my range as a base so to speak. PM for details!!!

I'll write about today's match later, I'm burned out!!

[Corey]

Sounds awesome! I want to hear more about it next time I see you on the range. If we don't meet up soon, expect a PM from me, haha.

[Chris iliff]

Match at Warsaw.

Another great match at Warsaw!

First stage of the day required some long shots on poppers. Great! I burned this stage in, but apparently not good enough. I incorporated getting lower an moving aggressively and finished the stage within 3-4 seconds of Keen. I was happy with that until Gavin Ford pointed out some standing poppers! Geez I was thrown for a loop. Apparently I didn't shoot at them. Don't know how, as I can see me shooting them. One of those things I guess. I talked to Chris about it. He pointed out the fact that on my run throughs I never really DESIGNATED exactly when I'd shoot them. Just kinda air gunned at them moving. He was right and it's a tuff lesson to start the day.

Classifier was Can You Count. I trigger froze bad on both strings pushing for speed. . 7 seconds on first string. Second string was better at low 4 I think, but trigger freeze screwed me again, just not as bad. Key to this is the draw and reload and staying relaxed Keen ran both strings in under 3 seconds. A rough estimate put that run close to 94%.

Rest of the stages went to my ability and I was pleased. I am moving aggressive, but I could move more aggressive. I really watched Keen and Repete and it was apparent that the effort they use in movement is significant. You can see the determination in every step they take. This weekend I also learned that my splits need some work. I THINK in terms of fast and slow depending on target presentation. A partial at 15 yards and I'm thinking slow, close open target and I'm thinking fast. My hits are there so that's good. I just need to remove the speed focus and call the shots, not mentally tell myself a speed. I can give up several seconds on a stage full of no shoots and partials with this "speed mentality". I am perfectly capable of good splits on a partial.

Once again, I had a great weekend and learned a ton. I highly recommend GM training with Chris Keen. Just the best training experience I've had to date!!

Warsaw results

Keen 100%

Briggs 81.6% ( Repete was plagued with gun problems, or this would have been much higher)

Roberts 81.2%

Me. 80.5%

That's some close stuff 2-3. Good stuff.

Edited May 14, 2012 by Chris iliff

[Chris iliff]

What one man can do, so can another!

This has been reverberating in my head for 2 days! Watching Keen go sub 3 seconds each string on the "Can You Count" classifier was neat. I trashed it completely with trigger freeze and just made low 4's on the right side. I know, after talking it over, the draw and reload are key. Also staying relaxed. I don't get to talk to GM's, much less pick one's brain, so some of these classifiers just seem totally inflated to a guy that's NEVER shot one over 83%!

So, with this in my head, I grabbed 250 rounds and walked down the hill for practice.

First up the movement drill. I have a new best time of 9.84 going right first. Going left first produced a new best time of 9.21. I really like this drill. You see this type of movement in lots of stages. Gun up, aggressive movement with good shot calling is what I strove for. Very happy!!

Near to far drill. I love this one too. It's all about the vision for me, ha, ain't everything shooting? Anyways, I shredded my PB both ways on this thing. I know there is more to be gained though!! New best times near to far:

3.03 total time. 1.07draw, .17 split, .72 transition, .43 split, .64 transition.

Previously my far to near was faster, not anymore.

Far to near: 3.10 total time, 1.54 draw, .64 transition, .39 split, .36 transition and finally a .17 split.

I'm down both ways by a second! Fun stuff!!!!

Next up Bill Drill.

This has been a challenge for me. Surrender starts are not my favorite but they are getting better. I will record a 2.25 tonight. Draw was 1.43. No laughing, splits were respectable from .15 to .17.

Finally, I set up the right side of Can You Count. I just had to see if I could even come close to Keen! All my runs were under 3.50 seconds. I recorded my best out of the 4 I did.

Draw was 1.01 followed by splits of .16, .15, .16, & .15

Reload 1.16, followed by splits of .16, .16, .16, & .17

This got me to a 3.44 second run! Like I said, all 4 of my runs were under 3.50, this one was just the best! I was very happy.

Having a Mentor that knows what it takes is just great. Seeing what is possible is probably the best way for me to learn. Hearing it explained, calmly, rationally, step by step,....priceless. We all know this stuff. It's just great seeing it implemented and getting a break down on it.

The journey has begun!

[Coach]

Have you considered my League shoot at Warsaw on June 9th? Good practice on field courses and trigger time even if I don't give you any insight at all.

Edited May 16, 2012 by Coach

[Chris iliff]

even if I don't give you any insight at all.

That's bullcrap! You may not know it, but that's bullcrap! I watch and learn from several shooters and you'd be one of them!!!!

[Coach]

even if I don't give you any insight at all.

That's bullcrap! You may not know it, but that's bullcrap! I watch and learn from several shooters and you'd be one of them!!!!

I was just trying to point out that it is a good deal no matter what. I will have three stages that will be good practice. I think I know what two of them will be. One is memory and one is a standards. The other is undecided.