Avezorak, Slowly Improving...

[Avezorak]

Well I guess its about time I gave this a try. I have been shooting since May of 2009. I shoot 1 to 3 matches per month and try to do live fire practice once a week and dryfire 30 minutes or so 2 or 3 times a week.

I thought I had hit a plateau a couple months ago, but then I guess I made it over the hump or something because my last few club matches have been pretty good.

My goal for next year is to go to a few more majors, and try to get some professional instruction to get me on the right path. I spoke with Dave Re over the weekend and am going to try to take one of his classes this fall.

Anyway I am open to any suggestions you may have and thanks for reading...

[Avezorak]

I shot my 1st Major on Saturday the 25th. I shot production division at the North Texas Sectional at Double Tap Ranch.

I shot with a great group of guys and had a blast ( Thanks Team Bubber). The mud really threw me off balance and I couldnt get my timing right. I either went too fast and slid in the mud past where I wanted to be or expected to slide and didnt and came up short.

I had 3 Mikes and a FTE on my very first stage ( the hell-o-port stage). Then 1 mike on my second stage. Other than that, my points were decent but my times suffered.

I came on 5th C and 20th out of 24 in Production. I had hoped to do a little better but thats how it goes.

I hope to start videoing my matches so maybe I can get some feedback. In the meantime Ill just keep talking.

[Avezorak]

I shot with the Brazosland Pistoleros on Sunday the 26th. I thought I would be too tired after driving in from Wichita Falls (6 hours) the night before, but I woke up feeling pretty good, so I went. Im glad I did.

Other than the pleasure of shooting with a great bunch of guys. I shot as well as I ever have. Sore legs and all!

Everything flowed really well. I shot Limited with my XDM 40 and factory ammo to make major. I couldnt even feel the extra recoil.

Out of 34 shooters, I came in 8th on two stages, 13th on one ( 2 Mikes and a noshoot ) and 5th on the classifier. I shot Melody Line for 63% in Limited. I came in 7th over all and 3rd out of 17 in Limited.

Im really going to work on my reloads as that is one thing I can see needs work. I also think Limited is going to be my game next year...

[RangerTrace]

It sounds like you are getting quite a bit of live fire practice (including club matches) and your dry fire is probably more than average.

I would be happy with your performance at your first major match in less than perfect conditions. I DQ'd at the DTC in 2009, about 6 rounds into my first stage. So, you're already heads and shoulders above what I did.

Keep up the good work

[Avezorak]

Thanks Trace! I really think Im at a point where I cant see what I need to work on. Im afraid some of my practice may be wasted on doing things improperly but hopefully Ill get that fixed soon. It was good to see you and Congrats on doing so well in that nasty slop!! Come shoot with us in Buffalo sometime...

[LocknLoad]

Keep up the great work! It sounds like you are progressing just fine. I am new to this myself, and I have plenty of issues, but steady progress. Keep at it, and you will be running with the big boys in no time!

David S.

[Avezorak]

Well I shot my club match yesterday. I was shooting Limited Minor with my XDM .40. Did pretty good overall only had 3 mikes, 2 of which were on 21 yd headshot targets. Came in 4th overall. 3rd limited. Had a few hiccups with my gun not going fully into battery. I think I need to replace my recoil spring. Anyway as always it was a fun match and Im looking fowrard to shooting the Generation 300 match next weekend. Will update after that. Oh and I shot a 49% on Front Sight. I was pleased with that for my skill set and Lim minor....

[Avezorak]

The Generation 300 match was a lot of fun. 50 rounds per stage is a lot!! I guess I did ok. I managed to have at least 1 Mike on each stage, I just got sloppy partway through, I guess. My times were ok and lots of Alphas but Ive got to slow down and make ALL my hits if Im gonna play the minor game. Still my hits are much better than they were 6 months ago.

I havent seen the results yet from yesterdays match but Im pretty sure I won D class Limited. I got the medallion and Im pretty sure thats what he said but he was a little hard to understand:) The highlight of the day for me was the shootoff with poppers. Somehow or another I managed to win Limited against some really good shooters.

All in all a good match. I will shoot 1 or 2 more matches this year with my XDM before sending it off to have some improvements. I guess Im going to shoot my Single Stack while its off and try to bump my SS classification on up to high C. I did make C in L10 with the last update and should make C in Limited with next months.

[Avezorak]

Good lord, the wind was BLOWING today! It was all we could do to keep the barrels and barricades from blowing away.

Had a pretty good match shooting with the Pistoleros, we canceled our local match this month, Anyway we had some really cool stages today. I did WAY better on the field courses with lots of movement than I did on the classifier. I totally bombed Tight Squeeze.

Had a little trouble keeping up with my front sight. I shot way faster than I should have on a couple stages but it seemed to work out. I havent picked up my pistol in a month, no dryfire or live fire. Just couldnt seem to get in the groove...

Anyway I wound up 5th of 27 overall which isnt bad I guess. Its the last match with my XDM before I send it off for refinishing. Then Im back to production for a while in the spring. Until then Im gonna shoot my Springfield .45 in SS. That should be fun.

Oh yea Im gonna shoot a GSSF match in a couple weeks in San Antonio. Not sure how thats gonna work since me and Glocks dont really love each other but should be fun anyway.

Made C in Limited last week and hope to get my C in SS before I jump back in the production pool and get serious!

[Avezorak]

I had an awesome chance to take a training class last Saturday with a bunch of great guys and a great instructor, Alex Szakacs of Team SV.

I had really been needing to get some instruction, I knew there were a few things I was doing wrong and costing me time. Turns out I was only doing a couple things RIGHT! I wish I had taken a class soon after I started competing. Now I have to unlearn all my bad habits. Oh well, Im on the right track now.

Didnt really have a match last Sunday at LCGC. Lots of guys were out sick or had emergencies pop up. Had a few new shooters so we basicly had a new shooter briefing with a couple simple stages to show them what its all about.

Tomorrow is the ALSPPC match in Austin. I will be there weather permiting. Looks like it will be cold and clear. Ready to do some shooting. I hate the off season!

[RangerTrace]

Keep up the good work

[Avezorak]

Shot Saturday in Waco. Those guys put on a really great match. Didnt do any good. Im shooting my single stack and it didnt like the ammo I loaded for it. I did ok on the classifier ( the only stahe w/o a jam) but finished around 36 or 37 of 43 overall.

Shot my club match at LCGC Sunday. Same story. I thought I had weeded out the bad rounds but no such luck. My bullet order should be in soon and I will get some ammo loaded that will run.

Even with all the problems, I still really enjoyed shooting this weekend. The weather was perfect andthe company was good.

[Avezorak]

Havent shot in a few weeks. I went to the Pistoleros match at the Fayette Gun Club this morning. Ive got my XDM put back together with the new sights and magwell. I really like this combo. Im working on my new major load right now and havent got it sighted in just how I want it yet. I did really well on the first 2 stages which were a field course and the classifier (59.85% on Fluffys Revenge!!!). I came in 2nd place on each of those. The wheels kinda fell off on the last 2 courses. There were a lot of tight shots and no shoots and I found several of them. I wound up coming in 9th overall, even with the zero on one stage. Looking forward to shooting the next couple weekends in preparation for Space City Challenge.

Edited March 27, 2011 by Avezorak

[Avezorak]

Well the Steel Challenge match in Waco on Sunday was a lot of fun. I didnt have time to finish zeroing my XDM before the match and it really showed. Those 10" plates are pretty hard to hit. Between the 1st and 3rd stages I was able to get the sights dialed in pretty close so at least I can blame my gun for the rest of my screw ups on other stages.

Shooting steel challenge is a lot different than USPSA. ANY miss hurts you a lot. It was an eye opening experience. Cant wait to shoot SC again.

Anyway, I finished loading all my ammo for Space City and finish sighting in Monday morning. No excuses now. Its all on me. Really looking forward to shooting this weekend. I will update after SCC scores are posted, good or bad.

[RangerTrace]

Well the Steel Challenge match in Waco on Sunday was a lot of fun. I didnt have time to finish zeroing my XDM before the match and it really showed. Those 10" plates are pretty hard to hit. Between the 1st and 3rd stages I was able to get the sights dialed in pretty close so at least I can blame my gun for the rest of my screw ups on other stages.

Shooting steel challenge is a lot different than USPSA. ANY miss hurts you a lot. It was an eye opening experience. Cant wait to shoot SC again.

Anyway, I finished loading all my ammo for Space City and finish sighting in Monday morning. No excuses now. Its all on me. Really looking forward to shooting this weekend. I will update after SCC scores are posted, good or bad.

Good thing you got her sighted in because this looks like an aiming match for sure!! We'll have a great time brother. Hope to see you there

[Avezorak]

I will be there Friday thru Sunday so I will probably see ya. Youre not kidding about the aiming part, lots of HC and no shoots. See ya there!

[Avezorak]

Well The Space City Challenge is over and done. I am sunburned like crazy and tired as hell but I wish I could do it all again this weekend!

My buddy Andrew and I shot Friday and RO'ed Stage 4 on Saturday and Sunday. Thanks again to Jack, Tracy, Landis, Roman and all the other Texas South Section guys for making this match happen. We had a blast getting to meet all the squads that came thru our stage over the weekend. Look forward to doing it again next year.

My squad started on stage 2 Friday morning. I got off to a great start. I ran it quickly and cleanly. Stage 2 I finished 16th out of 55 Lim shooters. 1st C

Stage 3 started ok, but 2 mikes and a little footwork trouble slowed me down. I ended up 42nd of 55 Limited on Stage 3. I didnt get it on video either.

Stage 4 was a strong stage for me but after running it 2 days I know I could have done much better had I planned it a little better. Only one extra shot on the Polish plate rack, guess its cuz Im Polish Finished 18th OA 1st C Limited

Stage 5 is what ruined my match. My execution was good, my movement was good except the last target in the hallway, I should have stepped up sooner. I had 6, yes, 6 mikes on those damn 35yd Classics. I feel like this was the difference in 2nd or 3rd C and where I actually ended up. Oh well. 49th OA 13th C Limited.

Stage 6 was so-so. I forgot the poppers were forward falling and hammered them pretty good. That cost me a couple seconds. I got all my hits on the paper targets but wasnt very fast. Need to work on planning better for stages like that. 29th OA 8th C

Stage 7 was the classifier. Can You Count. I shot it at 62.92% according to CM Calc. Felt really good. 17th OA 2nd C Limited

Stage 8 was without a doubt the highlight of my match. Plate rack and Pepper popper freestyle, then reload and plate rack weekhand. I had only 1 extra shot freestyle and no extras weakhand. 14.47 seconds. 6th OA 1st C. Im really proud of that one.

Stage 1 was my last stage of the day and I was tired. I shot the 8 targets SHO with the bag in my left hand. It worked pretty well and all fell apart when it took me 14 seconds to clean the 2nd plate rack. Still dont know what happened on that last plate. Oh well. 44th OA 12th or 13th C???

In the end I wound up 34th out of 55 Limited shooters and 8th C Limited. I did shoot 51.05% of Paul Clark who is the most badass Limited shooter Ive ever had the chance to watch. Not the result I was hoping for but I achieved my goal of shooting at least half of the top Limited shooter.

It was a great match and I now know of several things I need to work on. Until next time...

[Avezorak]

Well Ive been pretty busy but I did get to shoot a couple matches recently. I went to Longview on the 3rd Sat of April. Not much to talk about there. My rear sight on my XDM came apart midway through the match. Bad experience.....

Anyway it took me forever to get the sight rebuild kit from Dawson, so my club match at LCGC snuck up on my with my XDM still broke down. I decided to shoot my Single Stack.

Now back in February, I shot 2 or 3 matches with my SS and I couldnt get it to feed because of ammo problems. I chamber checked all my ammo before the match on Sunday and got in a little bit of dryfire and mag change practice.

I managed to win Single Stack and come in middle of the pack overall. I even won one stage overall against several Limited and Open shooters in the B-C range. All in all a pretty good match.

So I just finished cleaning my XDM after putting it back together and sighting it in. Im off to Waco in the morning to shoot at CTRP. Ill be sticking with my XDM until after Area 4. After that I might have to play around with my new Open gun. We shall see........

[RangerTrace]

Good luck tomorrow Brother...I have to attend my niece's college graduation party.

[Avezorak]

Thanks buddy. Have fun!

[OpenDot]

Good luck man!!

[Avezorak]

Good luck man!!

Thanks! Same to you!

[Avezorak]

Ok I just got done with the Waco match. All in all Im happy with my performance. I had a couple hiccups but I did better than normal on a couple stages. I will have video up on my Youtube page by tomorrow.

I discovered today how much better I do with moving within the stage when I do several walkthrus and have a firm plan. This is something I havent been doing, mostly because Im busy with other match duties. I really worked on remembering my plan and I feel like it paid off.

We started on stage 3, it had 3 mini poppers and a paper on left, 2 mini poppers and 3 paper in the middle thru a port and 3 mini poppers and 2 paper on left, 1 of which was a flipper. I had 4 misses on steel but I didnt loose much time making them up. Felt pretty good about this one.

Stage 4 was a spread out field course, start facing up range turn and Shoot 1 mini popper which starts a spinner with 2 paper and one more paper, move down take 4 paper, move down take 2 or 3 mini poppers and 3 paper then 4 paper thru port, one of which is a swinger. This stage is where I really saw the benefit of planning my footwork.

Stage 5 was the classifier, Raw Deal. 3 mikes ruined this one for me. I didnt zero it but wasnt far from it. I got a poor grip when I drew and a worse one after the mag change.

Stage 1 was really cool. 2 paper on left, 2 on right, 2 on left, 3 on right, reload, 1 open on far left, 4 low behind barrels across the backstop. Once again I burned the plan into my mind and it paid off.

Stage 2 was pretty cool. 2 hardcover on left, lean and squat to get 3 more, popper on right to activate max trap and 2 more paper, reload 3 thru port, move to slot in wall to get popper, 2 open paper and bear trap. I threw 1 mike on the first target on left, made it up with another shot in the hardcover touching the first mike lol and the 2 mikes on one target thru the 2nd port.

I should be back to shooting nothing but the XDM from here to Area 4. Im gonna mix up Limited and L10 but not change anything but the amount of bullets in mags.

[OpenDot]

Right on brotha!!!

[Avezorak]

Ok here are stages 1, 2 and 4 from the Waco match on Saturday. It was a lot of fun. I wound up 2nd C Limited and 7th of 12 Limited. I know there is a lot that needs work, but if anyone wants to chime in with advice feel free. Thanks!

Edited May 24, 2011 by Avezorak