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Aaron's Range Diary


ncboiler

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Well I figure I will give this a shot as I don't have a place currently to keep track of my progress, only have what's in my head and sometimes things get lost and forgotten. And if I don't use it very ofter, at least you have a place to look at my avatar :roflol:

I started in USPSA seriously last year in Limited. Never really felt totally comfortable with that gun and the results showed that. You can see it big time in the videos posted in my signature. Fast forward to this past winter .... sold my Limited guns in favor of an Open gun. I feel a lot more comfortable with the Open gun, and it seems easier than the Limited game. The speed is so much faster, it just brings a smile to my face :) I never shot a Limited classifier over 60% but have shot a few in Open.

Saturday -- shot the local match at Circleville. Always a good match with challenging stages. I ended up 4th in Open out of 7 and 5th in the combined results. I feel like I had a solid match with good stage plans. I had 1 Mike on the day ... stage 1 on one of the swingers. I had trigger freeze one of the targets so that messed me all up. I did have 2 NS on the classifier and only ended up with a 38%. Lessons learned: relax the grip so I don't get trigger freeze.

Sunday -- shot the local match at McDonald, PA. I ended up first C and 6th out of 14 in Open.

Stage 3: 18 round stage with three shooting positions, three targets in each position. You can see from the video below, I need to get in and out of positions better. In addition you can hear the change in cadence in my shots in each position. Ended up 6th on this stage.

Stage 4: 26 round stage. Again 3 shooting positions. The stage had mini poppers so I felt like I should reload going to the center shooting position. Maybe I shouldn't have and just made sure I went 1 for 1 on the steel.

Stage 5: 28 round stage. Had a very good stage plan on this one. I saw something during the walk through that the rest of the squad didn't. Once they saw it, they all copied it LOL Six steel (two rows of 3). Was a little deliberate on the steel to make sure I went 1 for 1. Moved before the buzzer and was expecting the RO to stop me but he didn't so that cost me some time. Trigger freeze on the first target .. trying to press to hard to make up the false start.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WIDtb6XZtU&feature=player_detailpage"]Stage 5

Stage 1: 32 round stage. Felt comfortable with my stage plan but obviously got a little out of sorts in the last position. Took too many shots on the steel that cost me some time. Also had a NS, call it and made up the shot. Ended up 6th on this stage as well.

Stage 2: Classifier 09-03 Oh-No. Shot this is 59%.

Any and all comments are welcome. I've learned from other peoples topics, hopefully someone will learn something from mine.

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Shot a local indoor match on Saturday night. Used it to knock the rust off and test my ammo that I will be using at the OH Sectional match and the VA-MD Sectional matches. First stage felt really choppy but the remaining two stages were decent. Most important, ammo ran good and dot tracking wasn't different from the VV 3N38 loads that I had been shooting

Shot a local match at Rayners on Sunday. Third overall and 1st C in Open. 5th overall in the combined results. I had two stage wins so I was pleased with that. Shot a classifier that I hadn't see before 99-51 which required the first string to be shot prone. First time for that! LOL

Lessond learned: Don't leave the big stick in the range bag when you go to Make Ready. I should have had someone get it for me or backed off. I ended up running the gun dry and had to do a standing reload on stage 2. Cost me a couple of seconds easily. Glad I did it at a local match instead of a major.

Still need to have the visual patience to go 1 for 1 on steel. That will be key this coming weekend.

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Shot 2 majors this past weekend ... the OH Sectional and the VA-MD Sectional. Placed 1st C in Open at both matches. First class win ever at a major match. More thoughts to come later along with the videos.

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OH Sectional:

I was very pleased with the way I shot at the OH match last weekend and to end up 1st C in Open. I shot with a great group of guys which helped me stay relaxed the entire day. It was a long day due to the late start but that's OK, it happens.

Stage 1: Got off to a little rocky start. The battery on my C-More really needed to be replaced so it was very hard to see the dot with the angle of the sun. I am surprised that I hit the poppers on this stage actually. I had my only miss for the match on this stage ... the swinger on the right. Finished 24th on this stage.

Stage 2: A decent run. I got too close to the port on the far left of the stage to take the three targets. Also on the video I seem to pause for a second before heading to my next position. Definitely need to work on getting in and out of positions quicker. Finished 16th on this stage.

Stage 3: A good stage for me. I had a miss on one of the poppers on the right which kinda messed up my timing but I still got through the stage with a good time. Shooting on the move is something I will need to work on going forward. Finished 11th on this stage

Stage 4: The memory stage. This was a 'survival' stage for me ... I just wanted to get through it without any misses. I have to give a ton of thanks to Chris for pointing out how to shoot the stage. Thank to him, I finished 10th on the stage.

Stage 5: Another solid run with a 12th place finish on the stage. Again, I have to get in and out of position better.

Stage 6: The short little hosefest. Again, not moving and shooting hurt me on this stage Finished 21st on this stage.

Stage 7: The classifier stage that ended up not being a classifier. My run would have been about 67%. 13th place finish on this stage.

Stage 8: The stage with all the movers activated by one stomp plate. Had a very good run going until I got a failure to feed after my 2 shots on the swinger. The jam caused me to not to be able to get any shots off at the drop turner. Lucky those were NPM's. Even with the jam, still ended up 13th on the stage.

Stage 9: A quick speed stage. I decided to draw and take the 3 targets in the middle before moving to the end. In hindsight I think it might of been faster to go to the end and then engage the targets. 17th on the stage.

And now the video .... Comments welcome if you see something you want to share:

Edited by ncboiler
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VA-MD Sectional:

Overall a solid match, nothing special, just a steady. Only had 1 Mike for the entire match. Consistent shooting is key in these major matches. Ended up 1st C in Open and 27th overall in Open. 66% of Todd Jarrett.

Stage 1: A memory type stage, not as confusing as the stage in the OH match but it took a little figuring out and I had to go first on this stage. Over ran 2 targets and had to slam on the brakes. That definitely cost me some time but overall I ended up 27th on the stage.

Stage 2: My first stage of the day. Very deliberate through this stage and it shows. I remember looking for holes in the target a couple of times. Ended up 25th on the stage.

Stage 3: Felt like a pretty decent stage for me. Just need to be more consistent in gun presentation so the dot is "there" every time. Finished 30th on the stage

Stage 4: Over ran another position and had to back up to take the first piece of steel. Also I didn't need the extra shot at the end. These two mistakes definitely cost me some time. Ended up 37th on the stage.

Stage 5: This stage wasn't pretty and kinda went sideways right after the buzzer went off. You can see the misstep after the first 2 targets, that caused me to have to get my balance for the next set of targets .. definitely wasted time. I over ran yet another position after my reload and had to back up to take a target. Ended up 35th on the stage.

Stage 6: A short course but had some long shots on steel poppers. You can't see the 2 on the far right but I'm guessing they were 35-40 yards. I had to take an extra shot on one of them and that threw off my timing and I had a miss on the swinger. The swinger was too slow to wait for it so I just went to the next position to shoot the paper and texas star. Ended up 37th on the stage.

Stage 7: Another OK run. Looking back I probably would shoot it different if given the opportunity. I just didn't hit my marks like I needed to and therefore had quite a few shuffle steps to get into a couple of the positions. Ended up 28th on the stage.

Stage 8: A decent run here. I decided to hold the door with my foot due to watching others barely get the shots off before the door closed or even have the door hit them in the arms. Ended up 23rd on the stage.

Stage 9: A retreat stage. I lost my balance standing up trying to shoot the swinger on the right. Felt I made a good recovery on the remaining targets in the stage and ended up 23rd.

And now the video .... Comments welcome if you see something you want to share:

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And now the video .... Comments welcome if you see something you want to share:

Hi Aaron.

Try to eliminate extra shooting positions. Even (perhaps especially) within what seems like one position. For example, Stage 1 at the Ohio, you had 4 positions for the 4 targets at the opening window. I came in on the right target in that position (since I was opening the window with my left hand). I took that paper as I setup and stepped onto the platform. Then, my setup was such that I could engage the remaining targets without having to shift positions.

I usually suggest not getting sucked into windows/ports...but, sometimes that is the way to go (vs. shifting...shifting sucks time).

Why did your gun jam? If you are going to be traveling to majors, be sure to gauge and box all your ammo. Once boxed, check primers.

Good job. :)

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Thanks Kyle. I see what you mean about shifting. I was trying to stay off the platform for whatever reason but what you said makes a lot more sense.

The jam was one of my 140 mags and it was a nose dive. I had not used that mag all day but for that stage I put it in the #1 position on my belt. My mistake ... I put it in the bag for the rest of our trip and the gun ran perfectly at the VA-MD match. It will get a thorough testing before going back into rotation.

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:cheers:Aaron you shot one heck of a good match at Ohio. You got me by one place overall and your video looks great. Keep up the work and you will be well on your way to the next class. If there would have been one more GM in Open, I think they would have bumped you to "B"!!!

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:cheers:Aaron you shot one heck of a good match at Ohio. You got me by one place overall and your video looks great. Keep up the work and you will be well on your way to the next class. If there would have been one more GM in Open, I think they would have bumped you to "B"!!!

Thanks!

The VA-MD Sectional match just may do that bump, it will be close. LOL

Edited by ncboiler
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And now the video .... Comments welcome if you see something you want to share:

Hi Aaron.

Try to eliminate extra shooting positions. Even (perhaps especially) within what seems like one position. For example, Stage 1 at the Ohio, you had 4 positions for the 4 targets at the opening window. I came in on the right target in that position (since I was opening the window with my left hand). I took that paper as I setup and stepped onto the platform. Then, my setup was such that I could engage the remaining targets without having to shift positions.

I usually suggest not getting sucked into windows/ports...but, sometimes that is the way to go (vs. shifting...shifting sucks time).

I said the same exact thing to Micah last night, after watching his video. He said he didn't want to get "sucked in" and he didn't want to step on the platform, but when I asked "why" he said "I dont know it just felt weird". My stage plan involved actually stepping up on the platform, and going in through the window, so I could make it all 1 position like Kyle said. I saw waaaaaay to many people make that 3 or 4 positions, adding valuable setup time.

Edited by Chris Keen
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  • 2 weeks later...

Shot two local matches this weekend ... Saturday at Circleville and Sunday at Pardoe in Western PA.

Circleville: Another good match by the crew there. Definitely worth the 2.5 hour drive month after month. I had high expectations (too high!!) coming into this match even though I had not shot in two weeks and only picked up my gun to dry fire for 10 minutes the night before. Anyway, missed a bunch of shots on steel for the day. Probably 10-12 misses on steel but I'll confirm that once I get the videos. Got down on myself early for misses on the steel and it impacted me the rest of the day. Like my signature line says, "have the visual patience to aim" ... I didn't have that Saturday.

Another area that I noticed by looking at the stats .... I shot 76 A's (63%), 40 C's (33%) , and 5 D's(4%). Chris Keen had 15 less B/C's and 2 less D's. So not only does he shoot much faster but was a lot more accurate. Again, I'll go back to patience.

Bottom line: 7th out of 14 in Open and 8th out of 47 overall.

PS: I hope everyone enjoyed stage 5, if you didn't it's SLM'sSEV's fault :roflol:

Pardoe: The results are not posted on this match but I felt a lot more comfortable during the match and had fun. I actually had the patience during the match and it showed. Went 1 for 1 on all 25 pieces of steel for the whole match ... one stage had 20 pieces alone of various sizes and shapes. Stage 2 had 5 poppers that I just remember putting the dot on the steel and pulling the trigger, didn't wait to see it start to move or listen for the ding, I was on to the next popper. Did that 5x in a row and never had a doubt that they all were laying on the ground when I was finished with the stage. Cool feeling.

Shot the classifier in 76.6% if I have the numbers right in CmCalc. 99-08 Melody Line. If it holds, it will be my first classifier in the the 70's and depending on when it gets entered will more than likely push me into B class.

Edited by ncboiler
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  • 2 weeks later...

Thought I would catch up on posting a couple of videos.

First video is from the Circleville match back on June 4th. I have to post the bad with the good right?? I counted 12-14 misses on steel for the 5 stage match. This really got under my skin as the match went on. I definitely would have shot stage 2 different if given another chance ... should have waited to take the 3 poppers and the popper that activated the swinger.

Next is from McDonald, PA match.

Finished 11th out of 23 at this match. Ran my 140 mags with 13 coil springs for most of this match to test my mags. Made a couple of extra reloads that I normally wouldn't make. On the positive side, I shot the classifier in 67% with a make up shot that wasn't actually need but I called it as a miss. Anyway, getting in and out of shooting positions definitely needs more work.

Other items: Been more diligent with my dry fire practice from Steve Anderson's book. Definitely can feel the speed of my draw picking up. Still have to work on my index to make sure the dot is where it needs to be on every draw.

Getting the new Dillon 650 set up to load 9 major. Working thru some minor issues but I think I'm finally good to go now. Going to test out Silhouette and 121's for a couple of matches.

Edited by ncboiler
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After not shooting a match in 2 weeks, I was finally able to get out on Sunday. It would be a good test as I have been pretty diligent in my dry fire practice and I was anxious to see if it was paying off ..... short answer -- I think it is :cheers:

The match at Wayne County this month was 5 classifiers and 3 32 round field courses.

06-10 Steely Speed VII 48.9% -- First stage of the day and the 2nd time I have shot this classifier in a month. Both times it was my first stage of the day. Missed on the second piece of steel. Would like to shoot it after I was warmed up someday LOL

03-08 Madness 64.6% -- Second stage of the day and shot all Alphas! Probably a little more careful on this one after the first stage but it was smooth and the reload was good.

06-01 Big Barricade 44.4% -- Crappy index off the draw to the right hand target. Pulled off on the 2nd shot to try to speed up my transition to the second target.

09-12 Any Given Sunday 56.1% -- Had one of my two D's for the entire match on this classifier. Wonder if it would have been better to try to lean around the barricade to get to the far left target rather than transition from one side to the other??

08-03 Six 65.0% -- Nice clean run here. Turn and draw dry fire practice paying off. Still need to continue to work on it to shave some more time.

Field courses -- ended up with a 1st and two 2nd place finishes ... about 1.5 sec behind a M shooter on each of the stages. I know that time was lost between target transitions. Felt better during this match, just need to continue to improve.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Circleville match this past Saturday, in the rain. Ended up 4th out of 11 in Open. I shot a pretty solid match overall. I lost a lot of points on the classifier as my WHO string was awful. I know it is something that I need to work on.

Changed ammo to 121g IFP's and Silhouette. Seems to work nice so I'm going to shoot these the rest of the year.

Started the day on stage 3. Those damn pesky plates did me in on this stage. Way too many shots on the steel. Need more patience on those smaller plates in the future.

Stage 4 was a move and shoot 31 round field course that I ended up winning. I didn't have the fastest time but I had good points and the second fastest time. I have struggled with shooting on the move but it all fell into place on this stage.

Stage 5 had 10 pieces of steel and I only had to take 1 extra shot on the small poppers. Ended up second on this stage.

Stage 1 was the classifier. I had my only miss of the day on this stage. Ended up about 38% so not very good.

Stage 2 was a good stage to end on. Ended up 3rd on this stage. Got off to a slow start on the stage with no getting the dot exactly where I wanted on the draw. Called my shots on the two swingers which was pretty cool.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Shot the McDonald, PA match last Sunday and finished 5th out of 18 in open. No videos for the match. Got off to a slow start on the first two stages which were 8 rounds and a 6 round classifier (09-07 It's not Brain Surgery). After that I had 3 solid runs on the field courses. Only two Deltas for the match (out of 96 rounds).

Been slacking off on my dry firing for the last week due to other personal issues. Probably within a day of putting all that behind me and moving on. Change is good.

Manny Bragg class is next week so I still have some ammo to load for that but I'm really excited about the class. Perfect timing before a couple of matches. Report/thoughts to follow.

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  • 1 month later...

WOW, it's been almost 2 months since I last posted something here .... so much has happened since then.

I should be in Vegas now for Open Nationals but I had to cancel that trip due to changing jobs and I didn't feel comfortable taking so much time off after just starting. Obviously shooting is something I do for fun and without the job there is no shooting. There is always next year, right?!?!

Anyway, probably only one to two more outdoor pistol matches this year to run a few rounds thru the new open gun. I am going to shoot tactical rifle matches for the rest of the fall. I shoot USPSA for FUN and it some people have made it not fun. I will not be shooting with those people any longer and will not waste anymore energy on that.

Catching up on match summaries .... I shot the Indiana Section Championship at the end of July. This was my first major as a B Open shooter and I ended up 3rd B. The heat was brutal but I shot consistent all day but had 2 misses. Below are the videos .. I could have picked up the speed in certain areas and need to have more patience on steel. I did wipe out on stage 2 but kept the gun pointed in the right direction and my finger off the trigger. Popped right back up and kept on shooting :surprise:

Stage 2 (the fall):

At the Area 8 match I finished 5th B in Open. I was really rusty after only shooting one local match between the IN Sectional and A8. Day 1 was a struggle with one M and 2 gun malfs. Day 2 was much better but I already had dug a big hole on the lower point value stages. Only 1 M for the match.

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