Joe L Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Starting shooting in March of 2011, had rotater cuff surgery in July on the left shoulder, and on the right shoulder in late November, Nov 29 to be exact. IDPA classified as Marksman in CDP and ESP, have only shot 4 matches, all local, two while injured. Shot first time today after right shoulder surgery. Right arm in sling, left arm weak, but OK for single hand shooting of P226 22 slide. Shot 200 rounds weak hand only at 10 yards, got most in 3" groups, but it is like starting over learning to shoot. Pushing shots 2" to right due to uneducated inexperienced trigger finger. Overall, though, not too bad. Shot one 1" group from a rest so there is hope. This is fun. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frunkenstein Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Congrats on getting back too it. I too am recovering from my second hip replacement this year. I plan to start shooting this week, first with my CCW and then with my competition pistol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe L Posted December 8, 2011 Author Share Posted December 8, 2011 Snow cleared today, 50F, calm, sunny, shot 180 rounds with the 22 on P226, most at 25 yards from a forearm rest, weak hand only. Was able to get 60% in a 3" target, all the rest in a 6" group. My left index finger is getting educated. I'm starting to feel comfortable shooting single hand weak hand. This is definitely going to help my recovery. Right shoulder is still a little sore from surgery one week ago, but not bad at all. Shots at 15 yards, standing, all good, in a 3" group. I'll be happy when I can do this at 25 yards. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe L Posted December 10, 2011 Author Share Posted December 10, 2011 Congrats on getting back too it. I too am recovering from my second hip replacement this year. I plan to start shooting this week, first with my CCW and then with my competition pistol. So, how'd it go shooting this week? I hope it went well. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe L Posted December 10, 2011 Author Share Posted December 10, 2011 Was able to shoot 300 rounds on Thursday and 200 today, weather 40F and winds out of north. Today shot exclusively from a rest at 30 yards. By the end of the session, I was getting 90% of the shots on a 3" target single hand left. This is a good improvement for the week. Goal for next week is to get 100% on a 3" target at least 1/2 the time. I am confident I can do that. Then back to standing, no rest at 15 and 25 yards. Eventually 3" groups at 25 yards, standing. Will volunteer at local IDPA match on Saturday, probably scorekeeping, since I can't really do anything physical. Certainly can't shoot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe L Posted December 10, 2011 Author Share Posted December 10, 2011 Saturday, monthly club match IDPA, 34F, windy, overcast. I showed up and was scorekeeper, non-shooter, on my squad. It was good experience, and I got to watch everyone else very closely. Other people get more nervous than I do!! And some definitely don't shoot as well. The weak hand only/ strong hand only stages really hurt some shooters' scores. I confirmed what I already knew--shooting single hand, both sides, is necessary if you are going to shoot IDPA. Got major points with the MD for showing up just to volunteer, although I wasn't any help setting up or breaking down the stages. Overall a great experience. Also got my classifier card signed off for CDP and ESP. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe L Posted December 16, 2011 Author Share Posted December 16, 2011 Out of town on work since Sunday, got to shoot 270 rounds with the 22 slide on P226 on Thursday afternoon. 200 rounds from 30 yards on a rest, weak hand only. Left hand trigger finger working fairly well, can't see sight very well unless left arm is fully extended. Shot OK. Will go back Friday afternoon and shoot 5 round series instead of 15, check results, try not to burn in any bad habits by shooting too much before checking. Good to shoot after 3 days off. Even in cold and wind. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe L Posted December 17, 2011 Author Share Posted December 17, 2011 (edited) Good range session today, 200 rounds of 22 followed by 80 of 9mm. Of the 22 rounds, 100 was from a rest at 30 yards, then standing, single hand, weak side only, of course, since right arm is still in a sling. Was able to cure the high right groupings by stronger grip and higher grip, in other words, better recoil control. Left arm is still weak so really had to try to get a "normal" strength grip on the pistol. With the limp grip, the muzzle would come up and to the right before the bullet left the barrel, I think. Trigger control was not the problem. Shot a lot of rounds, free hand today, instead of just from a rest. Results were very encouraging. Enough so that I got out the 9mm guns. First, 20 rounds with the X-5. Pistol is just too heavy for me to hold right now. Put it up and got out the P226 alloy frame with 9mm Bar-Sto barrel. This one I could handle. Shot 60 rounds from 10 yards to 30 yards. Felt great, shot it OK for weak hand, but it will be a while before I can shoot 3" groups from 25 yards. Right now, more like 6". But I survived 80 rounds and the left arm was not whipped. I needed this confidence builder. Today was a great day with good results for me. Will stay with 5 shots, stop and check targets, mark shots, then another 5 rounds. I can't hold the gun steady enough long enough to shoot 15 rounds between rest periods anyway. 5 rounds at a time will also allow detection of problems early and possibly prevent repeating incorrect technique. Joe Edited December 17, 2011 by Joe L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe L Posted December 18, 2011 Author Share Posted December 18, 2011 An excellent training session this morning. 45F, cloudy, calm. 240 rounds 22LR through the P226-22. Decided to concentrate on standing, weak hand only shots today. Started with 1" targets at 10 yards, then 2" at 15 yards, finally 15 rounds at 3" from 25 yards and 15 rounds at 3" from 30 yards from a rest. So over 200 rounds free standing, weak hand only, for the first time since surgery. First time I was confident enough to shoot free hand! Left arm is still weak and the arm muscles were very tired by the end of the 2 hour range session. Shot 5 shots at a time, then go look and mark the shots, then five more, repeat. Tried a different stance this time. Tried more of a bullseye style stance, with the right leg behind the left at about a 45 degree angle. Kept sling hand close to chest. Tried breathing slowly and shooting on exhale. Also tried to wrap left thumb around gun tighter and with knuckle up against the tail of the gun. Tighter grip seemed to eliminate the high right groupings. Still have to be very conscious of the grip strength and trigger pull, but at least I didn't reinforce any errors today. Shooting 5 shot groups give me some time to rest the weak arm and to think about what I need to do differently on the next sequence. 15 round magazines are great and I have two. Shot only Federal AutoMatch today. Still have 700 rounds of CCI MiniMags to shoot. The gun starts having failures to eject when the chamber gets dirty. The gun needs a good cleaning and oiling. Rem Oil is too thin for the rails, go back to CLP. Too cold for Slide Glide Lite. Maybe TW25B will work. Overall, what I have to say about session today is that I need to continue with 80% of shooting done free hand and 20% or less off a rest. I can shoot 3" groups off a rest at 30 yards, that is good enough for now, weak hand only. What I need to do is keep practicing and improving until I can shoot 3" groups at 25 yards weak hand only standing. Gonna take another 1000 rounds, but, if today is any indication, I can do it. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe L Posted December 19, 2011 Author Share Posted December 19, 2011 Got a chance to go back to the range this afternoon, this time I shot only the P226-9mm Bar-sto gun. Decided to shoot standing weak hand only at 10, 15, and 25 yards. Shot 150 rounds, got off to a shaky start, but settled down, got grip right, worked the trigger correctly, and could call most of the shots. Couldn't hold the gun on the center of the target very well, left arm still too weak, but I'm getting there. Had several 5 shot sequences where I was able to get 4 out of 5 on a 3" target at 15 yards. Still can't quite do all five, but will get there. Did well enough to try 25 yards and was able to shoot a 6" group standing. Before I quit, was able to get a 4" group from a rest at 30 yards, weak hand only. It will take some more work, but I am confident now that I will be able to shoot 3" groups from 15 yards and maybe 4" at 25, eventually, at least on a calm, not too cold, day. This is fun. It's always good to get to shoot the 9mm instead of just the 22. This was a good session with my friend who was trying to improve his weak hand only skills as well. He has a little more work to do as he hasn't had the opportunity to put a lot of rounds down range with a 22 like I have. Over 700 rounds for the week, even though I was out of town for 3 days. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frunkenstein Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Joe I finally made it out the range and resighted my pistol with the new front sight on wednesday. Then went out to HPPS this past Sat. and shot with one of my regular clubs, I had what I would call very eventfull days. I helped with some minor setup and watched signup so I could fill in if needed in the future. My stages were full of misses and my speed was quite lacking . But considering I'm not yet 5 weeks out of Hip replacement I feel real good. I did not have any Hip or leg pain,but my back was tired and my feet were howling loud. I did have my best classifier ever so thats a real improvement and shooting with Glenn Higdon ( a real good grand master) he was able to point out some real things that I need to improve as my speed and condition come up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe L Posted December 19, 2011 Author Share Posted December 19, 2011 Joe I finally made it out the range and resighted my pistol with the new front sight on wednesday. Then went out to HPPS this past Sat. and shot with one of my regular clubs, I had what I would call very eventfull days. I helped with some minor setup and watched signup so I could fill in if needed in the future. My stages were full of misses and my speed was quite lacking . But considering I'm not yet 5 weeks out of Hip replacement I feel real good. I did not have any Hip or leg pain,but my back was tired and my feet were howling loud. I did have my best classifier ever so thats a real improvement and shooting with Glenn Higdon ( a real good grand master) he was able to point out some real things that I need to improve as my speed and condition come up. That's great!! Congratulations. Now we both know how good it feels just to get out and be able to shoot your normal gun while recovering. I can't tell you how happy I was with being able to hit a 3" target at 15 yards (occasionally) yesterday, weak hand only, standing, with my normal IDPA gun (P226-9mm). Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe L Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 120 rounds with the 22 followed by 60 with the P226-9mm Bar-Sto today with a friend. Good day, built on what I learned on Sunday with the 9. Still have the occasional flyer to the right when I rush the trigger with the left hand only standing trigger action. Education is not complete! Never is. Shot 10/15/25 yard groups. Still can't shoot more than 5 shot groups without the left arm getting weary with the 9. The 22 won't cycle reliably with Federal Auto Match unless it is cleaned and light oil used. Also, only 10 rounds in the SIGPower magazines instead of 15. Spring pressure is too much drag on the slide at 15. This is a 30F weather problem only, 15 rounds OK with a dirty gun at 60F. Just need to keep working at it. At least today I didn't have any problems with the transition to the 9mm from the 22. I think it is because I have some recent experience with the 9 and the recoil is no longer a surprise, instead it is expected and welcomed. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe L Posted December 23, 2011 Author Share Posted December 23, 2011 Office is closed today, so was able to go to the range at 8:30am, cloudy, wind out of the north 10-15 mph, 29F, felt very cool to me, not enough clothes. Only shot P226-22LR, 90 rounds, 30 yards, rest, weak hand only, of course. Today I shot CCI Mini-mags to get a little more oomph for the slide. 15 rounds per magazine, worked perfectly today. Did not clean the gun before or after shooting. Good results after adjusting rear sight 2 clicks up, 6 oclock hold on 3" splatter target. As long as I did the breathing correctly and steady release of the trigger, good group, as shown below. I gave up after an hour and went back home. Very happy with weak hand trigger control today. Can't wait to try free hand shooting on Saturday or Monday. Will take Christmas day off. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe L Posted December 23, 2011 Author Share Posted December 23, 2011 (edited) I just examined the 22 conversion slide after the range session above. This gun was filthy but still running fine, believe it or not. It's snowing here now, by the way. I cleaned it anyway. LOL. (I think around 700 rounds since last cleaning.) Joe Edited December 24, 2011 by Joe L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe L Posted December 24, 2011 Author Share Posted December 24, 2011 (edited) Saturday--went to the range in spite of snow, 29F, overcast. Shot 120 rounds with the 22 then 15 with the 9mm. Wet, damp, poor conditions. Groups not quite as good as on Friday. Did not have a clean 15 out of 15 on 3" from 30 yards with a rest. On average 60% of shots in the 3". All weak hand only from a rest at 30 yards. Limitation is partly eye sight--can't see the 3" clear enough to generate identical sight alignment from one shot to the next. Trigger control is good-very few fliers. May try shooting only the 9mm tomorrow or Monday. Need to be able to get same group size with 9mm as with 22. Edit late Saturday night, Christmas Eve. I re-read sections of Brian's book. I am starting to understand a little more what he was talking about as far as the relationship of the trigger movement as a response to sight picture. I worked hard at seeing the sights lined up properly with the fuzzy 3" target. The gun went off a few times when I had it right. At least a few times, the gun went off while aiming, not after aiming. I will work on this more Sunday and Monday. Joe Edited December 25, 2011 by Joe L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe L Posted December 26, 2011 Author Share Posted December 26, 2011 Christmas Day--Range visit with my son and his brother-in-law for just some fun targets at 15 and 30 yards. No 22 today. Started with the P226-9mm Bar-Sto and then decided to try the X-5. Was able to hold and shoot the X-5 Ok weak hand only, left hand. 100 rounds total with the 9's. On the way out, stopped at the silhouette range and decided to try the 1911 at the 50 yard steel pigs. Knocked down 4 pigs with 8 shots, weak hand only, standing, no rest! Very happy to have done this. First time I've had the nerve to try hitting the pigs weak hand only, much less with the 45. A good day with some quality range time with my son, finished off with a good round on the pigs! I'm happy. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe L Posted December 27, 2011 Author Share Posted December 27, 2011 Went to the range today just to shoot some. Had to share a bay with some people that were not very careful with their tons of hardware. Couldn't really concentrate. It was fun, just not much "training". 100 rounds 22, 100 rounds 9mm. Both shoulders a little sore. Christmas nearly did me in. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe L Posted December 29, 2011 Author Share Posted December 29, 2011 No shooting on Tuesday, travel day. Went out this morning 12-28-11 and shot the 22 at 30 yards, half rest, half weak hand only, standing. Today I tried to shoot both eyes open with good success. I think I can train myself to ignore the weak eye. This was done even shooting left handed with dominant right eye. I did not have much difficulty focusing on the sights and lining up the shots with the right eye, standing or from a rest. About 165 rounds, slow. A good day under difficult conditions, weather and road wise. Will continue tomorrow, several days available for range sessions this week. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe L Posted December 31, 2011 Author Share Posted December 31, 2011 (edited) Friday, 12-30-11. Still away from my normal shooting range. Still shooting only the 22. Shot at 30 yards today from a soft rest, weak hand only, bright sun made shooting with both eyes open difficult. Added sun shade to keep glare off the sights. Only 130 rounds. Groups not good today, arms sore from fighting the ice and mud. Will take Saturday off and hit it hard on Sunday. Edited December 31, 2011 by Joe L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Nesbitt Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 Joe, are you getting therapy for your shoulders? My brother has shoulder surgery and is getting therapy to help regain his strength. Have you tried drawing from a left handed holster and doing some IDPA type shots? Good luck with your journey. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe L Posted January 1, 2012 Author Share Posted January 1, 2012 Joe, are you getting therapy for your shoulders? My brother has shoulder surgery and is getting therapy to help regain his strength. Have you tried drawing from a left handed holster and doing some IDPA type shots? Good luck with your journey. Bill Bill--Yes, therapy with stretch bands of varying strengths, left shoulder is getting stronger and recovery so far has been excellent. The right shoulder never hurt very bad after surgery and I have benefitted from knowing what to expect from the first one. Putting on a seat belt and tying my shoes one handed are tougher than anything at the shooting range. I don't have a left handed holster and shouldn't really need to draw weak handed once the right shoulder is rehabilitated so, no, no draw drills. Now that I have the strength to handle the 9mm gun left handed, I am going to start multiple targets and distances with a timer shooting weak hand only. That will be fun, now that I know I can hit a target! See update below for today. Thanks for the note. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe L Posted January 2, 2012 Author Share Posted January 2, 2012 (edited) 1-1-12 New Year's Day Excellent range session this morning! Decided not to shoot the 22 at all. Went right to the P226-9-Bar-Sto gun and slow shot (paper) 7" plates at 20 and 30 yards. Was able to get in 100 rounds with the alloy gun and another 25 with the X-5. The X-5 is still a little too heavy for WHO shooting with the left arm in rehab. But the 32 oz standard P226 was fine. I also tried chap stick on the left lens, just enough to allow me to shoot both eyes open in bright sunlight with no trouble at all, right eye. I will continue with this method until the brain learns to concentrate on the right eye view of the sights. Here is what I am proud of, considering my current status... I know this isn't a good group, but I was able to get 5 shots out of 5 on a 7" plate at 30 yards, WHO, no rest or support, standing today, first time since learning to shoot left hand. This is a milestone for me. All it took was 1000 rounds of 22 and a few nights of dry fire practice. The limitation has always been the strength of the left hand. I got overly ambitious after the good result with the standard P226 and decided to try the X-5. First 10 rounds were excellent at 20 yards, but I tired out soon after that and could not match the 30 yard group from the standard gun. Strong hand, two-hand grip before surgery, I could shoot 3" groups standing with the X-5 and 4" groups with the P226. WHO, left arm just can't support the heavier X-5 gun steady enough to allow good groups yet at 30 yards. But I think that weakness will go away by February. Joe Edited January 2, 2012 by Joe L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe L Posted January 3, 2012 Author Share Posted January 3, 2012 Monday 1-2-12, went to the range after driving 5 hours, shot the P226-9mm-Bar-Sto only, 100 rounds, 30 rounds at 15 yards to get my eyes and fingers in the groove, used chap stick on the left lens, worked great, both eyes open. Shooting at 7" plates again, 70 rounds at 25 yards, was able to get several 4 out of 5 shot series on the plate but could not get a 5 out of 5. However, several 4 out of 5, so overall better than Sunday. No problem holding the gun, the left arm is getting stronger. A good day. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe L Posted January 6, 2012 Author Share Posted January 6, 2012 (edited) What a day!!! Left office early and went to local range, 60F, calm, sunny. Shot the X-5 first WHO, SA, standing, 15 and 25 yards, slow groups. Difference is this time my left arm/shoulder was NOT sore and was rested. Makes a lot of difference! I was able to get nearly all shots on 7" plate at 25 yards. I stopped at 20 rounds, but had 18 hits and 2 just off. No fliers. (Note in photo below is not correct.) Was 100% at 15 yards. 50 rounds total. Tried to duplicate the results with the P226-9-Bar-Sto but couldn't. 15 out of 20 at 25 yards, but 9/10 at 15, etc. I can't hold the lighter gun as steady as the X-5, plus left arm was getting a little tired after 50 rounds with the heavy gun. I finally feel like I have learned how to shoot weak hand only, standing. Essentially NO bad shots today out of 100 rounds. First time I've been able to say that since starting left hand only shooting. All of today's session done both eyes open, with a little chap stick on left lens. No vision related problems at all. Joe Edited January 6, 2012 by Joe L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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