Fourtrax's Range Report

[Chris iliff]

Two posts later and I'm thinking a winter plan will be a 100 project.

I have been thinking that I have always attained exactly what I went after. I always set my sights on the next class and that is exactly what I attained. I was thinking that it's telling that "we get what we set as the goal, and not much more". For me, I wanted Master and I worked for "just" Master. I made it, 86% and change. I was happy with it and my goal on classifiers during this period was "just shoot above 85%". I wonder what would have happened 6 years ago if my goal was to make GM instead of B class. I guess what I'm saying is I kinda short changed myself, maybe.

What I find really powerful is I have never shot a GM classifier. Not once. That's because it has NEVER been a goal. For me it's powerful because it proves my premise, which is: I will only shoot to the level I set as a goal.

So now, I'm thinking that I'm gonna set my goal on drills as 100%.

First up, CM 06-06 Golden Bullet Standards. Last ran at ACC in July of 2011, 75% and change. I plan on running this over 100%. This is actually an awesome classifier with 2 strings, freestyle then reload going SH, same thing again, reload WH.

I'm gonna run this SOB dry, wet, live, dead, close, far and every which way. This is going to be a 100% run live before I'm through with it. Maybe in a match, maybe here at home, either way, I'm gonna record a 100%.

So now I have one goal moving forward. Shit, what have I done?

Edited October 29, 2013 by Chris iliff

[Chris iliff]

I dry fired last night.

I dry fired tonight.

I can't think of a time when I last dry fired two days in a row. Yikes.

So what did I accomplish? Well, if my hundred project was DRYFIRE based, I could cross this one off (CM06-06).

But, it's not!!!

I've got all kinds of bobble after my reload when I transfer to WH. I'm also smashing the trigger SH and WH only. I can fix this.

Felt good getting the gun in the hand, especially my own gun.

[Chris iliff]

Wow! 3 nights in a row and the gun was in my hand. I had a nice little range session of 100 rounds. I worked on my 100 project and I like what I'm doing. My SH string was great, not perfect, but in the ballpark. I fell apart on the WH string. If I could duplicate my strong hand points and time it would have been a 99% run.

My hits on the WH string were terrible, but I think this is a product of me rushing because my reload and transfer is glacial. I'm trying to make up for that time and frankly I know better. The reload and transfer is killing me. Well over two seconds. I think my technique is good, it's just rough and needs polished.

I do believe that as I work through drills the skills will start to build. There are some real doozy classifiers that are going to be fun.

I should have done this years ago.

[smith52]

Just a reminder Porter County has their last match of the season Sunday. Be a good time to give that freshly overhauled open gun a workout.

Bob

[Chris iliff]

I shot it at Wildcat two weekends ago, it ran perfect. But Yes, it is in the works to go. I think Chad and Kurt are gonna go. Repete is gonna shoot it also. Hope the weather gets better.

Edited November 1, 2013 by Chris iliff

[smith52]

Right now Sunday's forecast is looking great, keeping my fingers crossed.

[Chris iliff]

Shot Porter, very happy, placed 3rd over all. For no more than I've shot, again I'm good with it. I managed a stage win on my second stage. Very tough competition with Repete and Chad being there and getting a stage win puts a smile on my face.

I shot two stages with a terrible grip and my slide racker took a chunk out of my thumb. This of course is just a product of not shooting that much and not getting the gun in my hand.

Broke some of my own cardinal rules which cost me a bunch of time, like shooting a partial on the move at glacial speed, when I could have saved a couple seconds easily just by waiting and shooting it closer almost static. On another note, but kinda the same, I had several mental snafu's on target engagement. Adding this up over 3 of the stages I can account for most of the time differences and some points.

All in all, I walk away knowing that mostly I beat myself, but also, when I perform up to my ability, I am hard to beat.

Edited November 3, 2013 by Chris iliff

[Chris iliff]

Didn't think it would happen, but I'm getting another match in this season. I went back and counted, tomorrow will be match #11 for the year. Silvercreek is a drive, but it's a premiere local with a bigger match flavor. I've wanted to shoot it for 2 seasons, now I get my chance.

I had the gun on twice today and managed some good DRYFIRE. I started my 100 project and CM 13-05 is up first. I hit this in DRYFIRE fairly easy for 100%. Tomorrow we will see how my live fire stacks up.

Also noticed some mental snafu's last weekend so I commenced the "5 simple rules for ultimate performance" plan. I worked on my 5 rules this past week and today I put them on an index card. I'll use them tomorrow.

Edited November 10, 2013 by Chris iliff

[Chris iliff]

Whew what a day! Shot Silvercreek yesterday. Up at 4:30 am driving by 5am, didn't get back home until 7:30 PM. Long, long, loooooooong day. Spent with great great greaaaaaaaaaat friends.

My 11th match of the season went better than I expected, but not much. Five awesome stages with lots of options plus CM 13-05, so six stages total.

I watched Chad shoot the first stage (stage 3) better than I have ever seen him shoot. Frankly, it seemed like the culmination of all his hard work on display for everyone to witness. It really was nice, smoking my time by 3 seconds + or - and hitting 28 out of 31 A's in 15.40 seconds. Contrasting that with the GM that came in second on that stage at 16.13 with 25 A's and a couple D's.

I got off to a bumpy start, but worked my way into the match by settling down and following my "5 simple rules for ultimate performance". I had some good discussions with Chad and Jake Martens about stage break downs and formulated some better ideas as a result. Chad doesn't have near the experience, but he brings an acute engineers mind to the equation. Stage breakdown is quickly becoming one more tool in his tool box.

Jake is pure common sense and the epitome of the KISS principle. Very refreshing to remember when you find yourself over analyzing stages.

I had some ups and downs during the match but generally I got better with each stage. Starting with a 6 place finish, then a 5, 3, 3, 1, and finishing with my worst, a 9th place.

Not making excuses, but after the 5th stage we had to wait for a whole squad before we could move to the last stage. I definitely left "match mode" during that time. Sooo, I just didn't get back into the game and did about the most bone headed thing I've ever done. At make ready I didn't load a round. AaaaaaarrrrrrhhhhhhgggggggGggGg!!!!!!!! Cost me a minimum of 2 or 3 sec, probably more like 4 or 5. Of course after that it was a disjointed discombobulated mess that I barely survived, lol. I broke my make ready routine, duh.

I did manage one more goal and that was my first match win against Bill Seevers. He is an awesome Master shooter and I'll have to work hard if I want to make that happen more often.

[BSeevers]

Whew what a day! Shot Silvercreek yesterday. Up at 4:30 am driving by 5am, didn't get back home until 7:30 PM. Long, long, loooooooong day. Spent with great great greaaaaaaaaaat friends.

My 11th match of the season went better than I expected, but not much. Five awesome stages with lots of options plus CM 13-05, so six stages total.

I watched Chad shoot the first stage (stage 3) better than I have ever seen him shoot. Frankly, it seemed like the culmination of all his hard work on display for everyone to witness. It really was nice, smoking my time by 3 seconds + or - and hitting 28 out of 31 A's in 15.40 seconds. Contrasting that with the GM that came in second on that stage at 16.13 with 25 A's and a couple D's.

I got off to a bumpy start, but worked my way into the match by settling down and following my "5 simple rules for ultimate performance". I had some good discussions with Chad and Jake Martens about stage break downs and formulated some better ideas as a result. Chad doesn't have near the experience, but he brings an acute engineers mind to the equation. Stage breakdown is quickly becoming one more tool in his tool box.

Jake is pure common sense and the epitome of the KISS principle. Very refreshing to remember when you find yourself over analyzing stages.

I had some ups and downs during the match but generally I got better with each stage. Starting with a 6 place finish, then a 5, 3, 3, 1, and finishing with my worst, a 9th place.

Not making excuses, but after the 5th stage we had to wait for a whole squad before we could move to the last stage. I definitely left "match mode" during that time. Sooo, I just didn't get back into the game and did about the most bone headed thing I've ever done. At make ready I didn't load a round. AaaaaaarrrrrrhhhhhhgggggggGggGg!!!!!!!! Cost me a minimum of 2 or 3 sec, probably more like 4 or 5. Of course after that it was a disjointed discombobulated mess that I barely survived, lol. I broke my make ready routine, duh.

I did manage one more goal and that was my first match win against Bill Seevers. He is an awesome Master shooter and I'll have to work hard if I want to make that happen more often.

Great job Chris. I didn't know that was a goal for you or I woulda made it happen sooner haha

I hate to say this but it did happen, but my scope broke and I actually point shot 15 or so rds to finish a stage. It was pretty funny as I had snake eyes on some targets, all D's. I spent the rest of the match borrowing and shooting different guns to have some fun.

Keep me in your "sights" though.

[TrukSnave]

You Ohio guys sure have a lot of problems with your cmores. Last month a dead battery, yesterday Mandy's dot was faint and yours broke!. I am getting my open gun this week. I sure hope I don't have that much trouble with them

[Chris iliff]

Whew what a day! Shot Silvercreek yesterday. Up at 4:30 am driving by 5am, didn't get back home until 7:30 PM. Long, long, loooooooong day. Spent with great great greaaaaaaaaaat friends.

My 11th match of the season went better than I expected, but not much. Five awesome stages with lots of options plus CM 13-05, so six stages total.

I watched Chad shoot the first stage (stage 3) better than I have ever seen him shoot. Frankly, it seemed like the culmination of all his hard work on display for everyone to witness. It really was nice, smoking my time by 3 seconds + or - and hitting 28 out of 31 A's in 15.40 seconds. Contrasting that with the GM that came in second on that stage at 16.13 with 25 A's and a couple D's.

I got off to a bumpy start, but worked my way into the match by settling down and following my "5 simple rules for ultimate performance". I had some good discussions with Chad and Jake Martens about stage break downs and formulated some better ideas as a result. Chad doesn't have near the experience, but he brings an acute engineers mind to the equation. Stage breakdown is quickly becoming one more tool in his tool box.

Jake is pure common sense and the epitome of the KISS principle. Very refreshing to remember when you find yourself over analyzing stages.

I had some ups and downs during the match but generally I got better with each stage. Starting with a 6 place finish, then a 5, 3, 3, 1, and finishing with my worst, a 9th place.

Not making excuses, but after the 5th stage we had to wait for a whole squad before we could move to the last stage. I definitely left "match mode" during that time. Sooo, I just didn't get back into the game and did about the most bone headed thing I've ever done. At make ready I didn't load a round. AaaaaaarrrrrrhhhhhhgggggggGggGg!!!!!!!! Cost me a minimum of 2 or 3 sec, probably more like 4 or 5. Of course after that it was a disjointed discombobulated mess that I barely survived, lol. I broke my make ready routine, duh.

I did manage one more goal and that was my first match win against Bill Seevers. He is an awesome Master shooter and I'll have to work hard if I want to make that happen more often.

Great job Chris. I didn't know that was a goal for you or I woulda made it happen sooner haha

I hate to say this but it did happen, but my scope broke and I actually point shot 15 or so rds to finish a stage. It was pretty funny as I had snake eyes on some targets, all D's. I spent the rest of the match borrowing and shooting different guns to have some fun.

Keep me in your "sights" though.

Thanks Bill, I'm not quite up at your level yet consistently, I have flashes though (classifier). Your scope problems gave me the edge yesterday and that's a hollow victory to say the least. I am pretty much done for the year and I'll resume my quest next season. I honestly thought I'd get Max Bedwell first, that damn guy eluded both of us yesterday.

[Chris iliff]

TrukSnave's New Open Gun by AllenM

Let's start with some gun porn first.......

Nice huh, you know you are drooling and want to shoot it........

Well lucky me I got to do just that today at ACC. Let me try to put some words on this build. Professional, tight, accurate, flat shooting, sexy, jealous, .... Wait, the last one describes me not the gun.

This thing not only looks badass, it shoots badass. Very tight tolerances all around including the lock up. Everyone brought some ammo and except for some badly GLOCKED brass this thing just ate everything. I did everything I could at the trigger and with my grip to get the gun to hiccup and it wouldn't do it with any ammo I brought.

We sighted it in and I am by no means any type of bullseye shooter and managed some great groups off hand. If CB45 is around, I like to let him put the finishing touches on a sight in. He just shoots better groups than me, so I take advantage when I can. TrukSnave (Kurt) agreed and we watched Chad dial it in to a paster size group off hand at exactly 17 yards. Geez, off a rest this thing is gonna do 1 hole. Just an amazing gun.

The big thing to me was getting to shoot a steel grip. I really wanted some comparison against the standard STI 2011 grip I've shot for 10 years. We played with recoil springs starting with a 10 and worked our way down to an 8. It just shot more amazing with each change. I shot a ragged hole at almost Bill Drill pace from 10 yards. I hate Kurt's guts, it's simply not fair.

This gun shoots equal, or just a tad better than mine, and I'm running a Brazos ThunderComp 2 barrel and 2 popple holes. Cheely's comp, coupled with AllenM's gunsmithing, is one hell of a combo. The dot never left the glass once we switched to a 9lb recoil spring, at an 8lb, it's just amazing.

I really liked how the steel grip shifted the feeing of balance. This thing felt centered in my grip, solidly in my hand. My gun, JuJu, which AllenM fitted a new slide to about a month ago, feels a little more forward in the hand? It's hard to describe, but suffice to say I'm now a steel grip fan.

I dont know AllenM's gunsmithing plans, but if possible, he will build my next Open Blaster.

Overall impression and opinion........

AWESOME

[TrukSnave]

I had my thumb on the slide and it didn't go into battery on one shot! I need to cut that damn thing off!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qzQRfX0ZPk

[Chris iliff]

Well, I made a goal that I had in mind for next summer a little early, shot my first 100% classifier.

13-05 Tick Tock.

This was a stage win for me at my last match. I really loved my run, saw everything and dropped one point. Shooting like this is happening more often and I almost want to say "at will", but won't. Lol.

Haven't been doing anything yet as far as practice. Still want to do my 100 project, guess I can wipe this one off the list, hell yeah!!!

[Chris iliff]

Some nice things have happened recently.

First, after 10 years of biting my tongue on anything tactical or defense oriented Concerning guns, I got involved in a thread on INGO and met some cool people. Today they came over and we shot on my range in the freezing cold and had a good time. They wanted to see how/what a competition shooter practices. I had CB45 come up and we practiced and it was fun, cold as hell, but fun.

Second, I got a text from Rob Simmons the other day telling me he had a present for me! Today I received my present, a free copy of Ben Stoeger's new book. It is my understanding that Ben wanted Chad and I to each get a copy and he knew Rob could arrange it.

How frickin' cool is that? Awesome!!

So far, I've read the Roman Numeral pages..................Good Stuff

It's funny that at the 9 year mark (last year) I finally evolved enough to understand what Ben grasped quickly and early on in his quest to greatness. It's also telling that CB45 (Chad) understood these simple concepts very early also and has used them to bolt to the top of Indiana's shooters in short order.

I ain't telling because that's in the book and you will have to buy it. And so far, I'm just talking about the Roman numeral section, I can't wait to read and learn more.

[Chris iliff]

Ben Stoeger's new book is very good.

I don't know what else to say, it is VERY GOOD.

In typical Ben fashion, it's not walking the same path that others have taken. It explodes some training myths. It's also very straight forward. I've got some other "training" type books that are also good, but IMHO, Ben's is better. A lot better.

I don't need an ass ton of $$ to make this happen. I don't have a complicated manual that I need to cut the spline off and re organize.

Ben has written what we all have been wanting. A Drop the Zen, nuts and bolts, easy to read, easy to comprehend, get better stuff that worked for him and will work for anyone willing to do the time.

Like most shooters, I'll always hold Brian Enos' book as the gold standard of shooting tomes.

But, to be fair, Ben's book is something different. It is the second volume we have all been waiting to read. It is the nuts and bolts of shooting and exactly what you need to do, and practice, in order to get better.

It's awesome!

[Chris iliff]

Before I post I like to re read my last couple. Geez, that's a nut hugger post above about Stoeger's book, but I stand by it, it really is a good book and should be on everyone list if they want to get better.

It's been awhile since I've posted and I haven't touched a gun. But, I just finished working the Indiana SS/PROD/REV match at Warsaw and it was a good weekend. I didn't shoot the match, but I had fun nonetheless.

I got to watch some really good shooters and watching good shooters is always a learning experience. I picked up some good things watching some of the GM's and I'm glad I worked this match. The crew at Warsaw has been, and is, top notch. Looking over all the stages, I felt Bob Ferguson and everyone involved did an excellent job.

I am not sure when I'll shoot my next match, but the shooting schedule for this summer will be light again. I'd like to work some on my 100 project and maybe redefine how I move through a stage. I think that will have to be all I will be able to accomplish.

[smith52]

Chris, it was good to see you. Thanks for working the match, hope to see you on the range again soon.

[Ben Stoeger]

Nice to meet you yesterday!

[Chris iliff]

Hey guys thanks.

Bob, it will be another season of less shooting. But, I aim to shoot Warsaw every month so I'll hopefully see you there.

Ben, thank you for driving down and shooting. I am glad that we got introduced. Thanks for the good example you set resetting and pasting! When the national champ is doing it, RO's never have to remind anyone. Kudos and good luck this year!

Edited April 1, 2014 by Chris iliff

[Chris iliff]

I haven't done any gun handling or practice over the winter. Through last summer and over the winter I ballooned up to 270 pounds fresh out of the shower. I gave up processed food for lent (no I'm not Catholic) and have dropped just over 25 pounds. Right now I'm at 245 and lent is almost over. I plan on riding the bike to work and being more active by cutting and splitting wood for next winter. It's a good plan and I've cut 3 loads of wood, stacking each load in an 8 ft truck bed and then split and stacked all that to season out over the summer. Funny thing is, I don't even have a wood burner yet!

I missed last weekends match at Warsaw, but hopefully I'll get to start shooting in May.

I get to work a USPSA booth at the annual NRA convention in two weeks, plus a friend is coming to town and I'll be at the convention all weekend. So, I'll miss Atlanta's match too. I should be ready to go in May and hopefully I'll be a little more fit by then also.

At some point soon I'll strap on the open rig and get tuned up. I have some ideas, including my 100 project, and I'm looking forward to a little shooting.

[Chris iliff]

I forgot to post on the 16th of April that it has been 1 full year and I am still tobacco free!!

I worked the NRA convention this weekend, it was awesome. The highlight was when 3-4 of some of the best shooters in the sport were standing around bullshitting at our USPSA booth. Hearing stories about USPSA back in the day was great! It was pretty cool to actually be talking and yaking it up with these men and women, some being National champs. Good stuff, we have a great sport with awesome people.

Edited April 26, 2014 by Chris iliff

[smith52]

Chris, was good to see you this weekend. Hope to see you on the range soon.

[Chris iliff]

Dryfired