Less Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 I've kept a paper diary since about 2010 when I first got "serious" about shooting/competition... I've followed along reading some of the really awesome greats here, but never felt brave enough to post my own skeletons. Anyway, I've made it a goal to head to the 2013 Bianchi Cup, assuming the world doesn't end by then, to see what I can do. I've identified the month of June as time to refine my loads, gear, and order some supplemental targets, etc. Additionally, I've got a few former Bianchi shooters in the area that I'll bribe for some insights and info. Figure July will see me working on trying to establish a baseline of where I'm at, then developing a training plan to try to root out my weaknesses/inconsistencies. Some background on me: I'm an action shooter (M-Production, SSP, ESP) that also likes bullseye, PPC, etc. I've had some formalized LEO-type training, but have found that just doing it is usually a better way to learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Less Posted June 11, 2012 Author Share Posted June 11, 2012 Saturday Took the opportunity to pickup 150,000 primers on Saturday from a wholesaler that we've been working with in the area. Luckily nobody bumped me as I made may way through the various drop off points! While at the pickup site, one of my Bianchi hookups was there and I picked his brain about it for a while - he was at the first 3 events - back when it was won by guys shooting longslide .45's! He said the other guy would have more insight, but that he def. want to be there when we hung out so he could at least hear what had changed since then. Cleaned up my office a bit; I took the past ~month off of shooting and managed to revamp my reloading room/home office. And loaded 300 rds for Sunday's match. Sunday Rolled out to Oak Park Sportsmen's Club to shoot a local match in prep for A5. Started off sloppy with bad sight picture, but it started to settle back in and I managed to shoot a 92% on CM 03-05 "Paper Poppers", which was pretty cool! The day got hot and I started losing focus by the end of the match - just really wanted to get home and get out of the heat. Sunday Night-Monday I've got tomorrow off heading out to help setup the A5 match with a couple of buddies. After setup, I might hit the range to practice for a little bit. Goal Progress Have Nosler 135gr .40's and found a local supplier! Have Powder and Primers for LoadDev D2 & D1 targets have been ordered! Managed to settle on Monday Nights and Saturday practice sessions. After A5 settles down, I'll be spending about 2 weeks shooting groups with my .22 while I get on that load development. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Less Posted June 12, 2012 Author Share Posted June 12, 2012 Monday Setting up for Area 5 was a lot of work though it was a blast! My buddy Kozy and I decided to skip the range session and get back towards home since we were both pretty tired - my knee (arthritis) has been bugging me a lot. Standing in pea gravel for a few hours REALLY didn't help. Got home, got cleaned up and cooked dinner for the wife. Dry fired a bit with the SIRT gun, practicing counter, err, table starts, which, apparently we'll see a bunch of at A5. After dinner I iced my knee (COLD!) for a while while the wife played guitar. Today Got some killer sleep and woke up early to dry fire for 10 minutes while I brewed up some coffee... Tonight we hit Costco to grab some grub for the weekend (burgers, buns, etc) and I'll load up match ammo using my "go-to" recipe: 165 gr Precision Delta, CCI SPP, 5.7gr Power Pistol. I'll probably get a few draws/transition exercises in with the SIRT tonight before hitting the hay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Less Posted June 14, 2012 Author Share Posted June 14, 2012 Tuesday Night, 6/12/2012 Didn't get a chance to load ammo - that costco trip took a little longer than I wanted it. Dry fired with the SIRT gun for a while. I like that thing. Just worked on draw, mag changes, etc for ~15 minutes before I wound down for the night and hit the hay. Wednesday Night, 6/13/2012 Loaded 500 rounds of my pet load. (I love that 1050!), then worked on dry fire: movement, transitions, table starts and mag changes for about an hour. Had some fun with weak hand shotgun reloads, then I managed to stub my thumb on the edge of the lifter! The cops came over to my deceased neighbor's house: her son is a shitbird felon and it seems that some of his hoodlum friends have been breaking in to steal stuff, use it as a crashpad and do dope. Ugly stuff. The cops were there checking it out. I worry about them coming over and trying to steal my shit. Hope they catch those jerks. Thursday, 6/14/2012 Feeling pretty awesome! While work was nothing but a string of meetings, I managed to finish 3 quarter-long projects today! A lot of mental stress off my shoulders (we're down a few headcount at work too...). Which really clears the way for Area 5. I'll be dry firing for a while while I grill a steak, then will check out Prometheus. Tomorrow AM, my teammate Kozy and I are going to head to A5 to walk the stages. We'll head back then rollout early on Saturday. Saturday night, we're hanging out at another teammate's place in Rochelle, ~45 minutes to A5. (That Costco run was imperitive to get the and the burgers!) Finish shooting on Sunday, then relaxate for the night. Whatever the outcome, I'm just glad that I'm outta my mental funk (it happens every Spring), that work is becoming better, that summer is here, that my buddies are good people, my wife is hot, and I'm an American. Goal Progress Action Pistolero wrote me back and told me that there is a range in Brookston, IN (~3 hours). I've found a place to practice some Bianchi stuff once I get my load dialed in! I've got a case of Coronoa in the fridge! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Less Posted June 18, 2012 Author Share Posted June 18, 2012 Area 5 was a tough match - a lot of partials, no shoots, and plenty of far targets. In short, I really liked it! I'm a pretty good shot, and used that to my advantage - though I felt like I was movin at a glacial pace. My performance wasn't without a few performance errors, gun jams (odd failure to feed issues), etc, but at the end of the day, I was good for a solid 77% run off of Ben's win, and good for 8th place. I was ~12% behind Alex Gutt, who I'm usually trailing by about 12%... Since he's gotten good, I know I've made progress too. Tonight I pickup a new gun safe, then start trying to figure out why the Glock is messing up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Stoeger Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Video? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Less Posted June 18, 2012 Author Share Posted June 18, 2012 I chilled out last night... Will get it posted sometime this week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Less Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 Alright: got that video posted. I know I messed up a lot, but in spite of myself, I had a GREAT time! (Sure beat being in the office!) If you have something to add, go for it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooDa8YZFzvo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Less Posted June 20, 2012 Author Share Posted June 20, 2012 Monday, 6/18/2012 I bought my teammate's old Liberty Safe, then helped him move his new, larger, safe in... Happy that I have a safe again. My deceased neighbors' hoodlum son got pinched for robbing some folks down the street. Feel better that I've got things under lock-and-key now. Tuesday Night, 6/17/2012 Rolled out to the range to work on some group shooting and test out my first batch of 135gr loads: 5.7gr of Power Pistol, CCI SPP, and Nosler 135gr Hollow point. Felt soft, but POA/POI was high at 25 yards. I'll have to bump my powder charges a bit to get the bullet "flatter". Additionally, will have to ball and dummy drill myself - noticed a bit of a flinch. Worked on ~200 rds of .22 practice too. Last but not least, diagnosed Kozy's failure to eject issue, which really hurt him at A5. The open gun he's running is only setup to handle 38 super brass. Not 38 super comp or TJ brass. Interesting to note that. Goal Progress Started first load tests Tried out the GLockTrigger's Vogel model - didn't like it. Tried a Vanek Trigger and DID like it! Will be dry firing for a few days - this weekend I'll be doing the NRA Personal Protection inside the home class, then next weekend the "Outside the home class". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Stoeger Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Area 5 video looks pretty good. You are getting a LOT better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris iliff Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 I love the target at the end of the vid, that is clearly 2 nice alphas!! Video looked great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Less Posted June 21, 2012 Author Share Posted June 21, 2012 Thanks guys! I know I've got a lot to work on and that my goal for 2013 Bianchi Cup will probably slow my USPSA progress down a bit, but I'm having a great time! Wednesday Night, 6/20/2012 Hot in Chicago again - love this weather! Frisbee'd the dogs for a while, then walked into town and met the wife for dinner and had a few Zombie Dusts - good stuff! Earlier, I took apart my ELS belt system in order to adjust spacing/pouch orientation - Love this belt system! - and since I had everything apart, I decided to just mount one ELS plate and work on some weak hand shotgun reloads for about an hour... Finding that wrist motion is key in smoothly loading the shells... Magazine Issue Update I've narrowed it down a bit to my undersized brass - I think the feedlips are a bit too wide for .416" sized brass. Cleaned my EGW u-die. (I'm following Cha-Lee's process for loading .40.) but also decided to order a new Dillon .40 die. I'll have a buddy smooth out the insides... I know the Dillon die resizes to .418" vs .416" for the U-die. Will see if this solves the issue... Sights I really like AmeriGlo fixed sights - with the .180" rear! - so I decided to order some for the SIRT gun and for the new G35 I'll order next month. Good stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Less Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 Thursday Night, 6/21/2012 Finished putting my ELS belt back together - now have the closure behind me, making more room for shotgun caddies, etc. Worked on some draw, reloads, then did a lot of shotgun reloads to test placement of ELS plates. Converted my 550 back to small primers and set it up for loading the 135's gr's. They were a bit long before, so I knocked 'em back to 1.130". Mailman delivered my buddy Mik3's sights, but not mine... More Bianchi targets showed up! Friday Night, 6/22/2012 The wife didn't want to kick out anywhere, se we ordered a pizza, hung out and she helped me hang up some stuff in the reloading room/office - I shot a perfect 100 in Bullseye, so I had it framed! Today - Saturday, 6/23/2012 Cleaning around the house, but will load up some 135's and do some load testing later today while the wife is out riding the New Glarus, WI trail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Less Posted June 25, 2012 Author Share Posted June 25, 2012 Saturday Night, 6/23/2012 Wife decided to bike fo-evah biking on Saturday with our buddy/my teammate, Mik3, so I cleaned the house, got the mail, walked the dogs, and dry fired. Lo-and-behold, when I got the mail, mailman dropped off a UniqeTek micrometer powder bar! I read, then reread the instructions, then assembled it. Figured after drying (you need to superglue it together, essentially...) I'd be ready to install it and work up some loads tomorrow! After that, I decided to kick out and visit my teammate Kozy's place to see his new Akai racegun. Nice gear with a crazy light trigger! My hands were a bit big for it, though... While there, I was screwing around with some weak hand shotgun reloads (he's got a Mossy 590 too), and then started doing some reloads with his older STI. Man those magwells make it easy as pie to reload! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiwmoHjAIHA While I was there, Kozy's dad came back from a fishing tournament - man, they're just as bad as competitive shooters! - and gave me 2 HUGE bags of salmon filets fresh from Lake Michigan! I decided to skip shooting to plank-grill one of those suckas! Chipotle pepper crumble, some agave, butter, and a bunch of cilantro. When the wife and Mik3 got home, fishzilla was just about ready to come off the grill! A few San Lucas' rounded out the fiesta and soon it was too late to worry about shooting... Sunday, 6/24/2012 Attended an NRA Personal Protection Inside the Home instructor course. The course was a rehash of a lot of stuff already out there - good to hear it again, but, well, my primary motivation is to get the NRA Self-Defense Instructor cert. Got home in time to load up a spread of several loads of 135's. 6.2, 6.5, 6.8, 7.0 - that micrometer powder bar is awesome! Hit the range to practice on some of the new Bianchi targets - the 7.0 load is POA/POI accurate at 25 yards! Wow! 25 shots were ALL IN the black! Going to try some Bullseye loads since the Power Pistol is a bit blasty Monday, 6/25/2012 Smoking some fish, doing to dry fire... Enjoying a cool summer night! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Less Posted June 26, 2012 Author Share Posted June 26, 2012 YES! Sights are in! Love these AmeriGlo's - See so much with that large rear opening! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twodownzero Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Ha, you need a range diary like I need another hole in my head. 3 years and I'm still in the same place, and you're kicking ass! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Less Posted June 27, 2012 Author Share Posted June 27, 2012 (edited) Well I dunno bout kicking ass - I AM having fun though! Tuesday night, 6/36/2012 Started shooting Bianchi drills from the practical event at 10 & 15 yards. Have plenty of time to hit the X-ring. My weak hand shooting was absolute crap though - need to really get on that. Worked a modified version of USPSA classifier "Tight Squeeze", except we left the far target wide open. Things were pretty good, had some solid ~6 second runs. Will need to practice this a bit more as it truly adds some difficulty with the shots that you take. Kozy had some issues with his new open gun - looks like it is setup to run 38 super only. 38 SuperComp rattles on the extractor and doesn't eject reliably. Additionally, looks like his gun to too lightly sprung to fee the 38 super cases reliably... Frustrating to see a guy go through all of this - it is already hard enough just learning how to run the open guns... Goal Updates/Modifications 1. Starting to identify technical issues in Bianchi Course of fire. 2. Starting to develop a load - look for a different powder. Bullseye (have a ton of it!), maybe Vit 340? Edited June 27, 2012 by Less Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Less Posted June 29, 2012 Author Share Posted June 29, 2012 What a great week: Things are really warming up in Chicago! That smoked fish I made has been amazing for breakfast every morning... Wednesday, 6/27/2012 Dry fired a fair bit it, working the surrender draw since that is used for almost every draw in Bianchi cup. Was watching the Shannon Smith vid about surrender draws and some of those concepts certainly helped. About 1/2 my practice session was spent with weak hand. I find that my trigger press is really upsetting the sights, I need to visualize a "rolling break" in order to break the shot cleanly. This is coming along great! Ran a calibration curve for Bullseye power with the UniqueTek micrometer bar - loving this thing! - wrote a review about is yesterday. Thursday Night, 6/28/2012 My teammate Mik3 and I rolled out to McHenry IDPA to shoot the monthly match - the guys that make up the club are some funny dudes and we put on some great stages! Had one stage where you had to wear scratched up goggles: you've been pepper-sprayed!, then shoot tac-Sequence on a two targets and deal with a charging target. Saw a lot of folks drop shots on this stages since they didn't have good "gun awareness" (it was impossible to see ANY sights...) - good think Brian's book talk a bit about this... Weekend Gotta load those bullseye cartridges tonight - see if I can't get a chrono out and see how things are progressing. Will most likely do some more load testing on Saturday before rolling out to the zoo! Finishing another NRA course, Personal Protection Outside the Home, on Sunday morning, then hanging out with family doing some pre-4th of July celebrating! Stay safe, ya'll! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Stoeger Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Had one stage where you had to wear scratched up goggles: you've been pepper-sprayed!, then shoot tac-Sequence on a two targets and deal with a charging target. You really need to get pepper-sprayed. It is so much more fun than wearing scratched up goggles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Less Posted June 29, 2012 Author Share Posted June 29, 2012 Had one stage where you had to wear scratched up goggles: you've been pepper-sprayed!, then shoot tac-Sequence on a two targets and deal with a charging target. You really need to get pepper-sprayed. It is so much more fun than wearing scratched up goggles. I've been pepper sprayed. And tasered - I was able to walk a few steps when I was tasered, before I fell down. Did not like! When I was pepper sprayed I got really upset and knocked the guy holding the punching bag over. Giant with hotsauce == s*!t just got real! It looked like this: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Less Posted July 3, 2012 Author Share Posted July 3, 2012 (edited) JULY! It is like an inferno here lately! While I really don't mind the heat, it was nice to get a weekend of respite... Saturday, 6/30/2012 Ended up putting in a few hours at work... Then had errands to run with the wife. Sunday, 7/1/2012 Had an NRA class - Personal Protection Outside the Home. Class was ok. I think it has some good material, but it is probably a little too late from a person looking to CCW. There are probably several other, better basic pistol classes a person can take. Several teammates went out to shoot matches - Pine Tree, IL and North Porter, IN - many did well! Monday, 7/2/2012 Getting ready to churn out some of my pet loads on the 1050. Need to load for Ben's class! Have to pickup some Titegroup for my buddy Mik3, get some brass processed and load some test loads with Bullseye... Going to be a longish night! Edited July 3, 2012 by Less Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Less Posted July 4, 2012 Author Share Posted July 4, 2012 Monday Night, 7/2/2012 After walking the dogs and picking up Titegroup, there was only enough time to take the wife out for Sushi... With all the heat, I had a case of the stupids and decided to crash right away... Tuesday Night, 7/3/2012 Got some brass to process and loading to-do! First I'm going to tear down the 1050 and give her a cleaning... Plan to load about 4000 rounds tonight... Happy 4th, everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Less Posted July 7, 2012 Author Share Posted July 7, 2012 Wednesday, 7/4/2012 Reloaded a lot! Cleaning the press, especially the primer slider, really helped a ton! Got all my ammo for Ben's class loaded! Loaded a bunch of 135gr over Bullseye loads too - still have yet to make it to the range to check POA/POI issues. Dry fired a lot, grilled, and spent an otherwise lovely day at home! Thursday, 7/5/2012 Work is heating up, then spent the night in Chicago heading to the Art Institute. We saw the Roy Lichtenstein exhibit, which was pretty awesome! Got home late (I ride the train), so didn't dry fire. Friday, 7/6/2012 My teammate, Mik3, has a new Fulcrum trigger for his G34. Get a chance to check it out! Still evaluating some lighter triggers that'll help precision shooting (I like my stock triggers, really...) Hitting our favorite dive for garlic wings and watching the Tour De France! I don't know much about biking, but I love France, wings, and beer! Weekend Plans Planning on hitting a 3-gun match this weekend! Should be fun: it is over at Pete Milionis' new digs, "The Hollow" Will probably load a bit more - maybe test those Bullseye loads out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Less Posted July 9, 2012 Author Share Posted July 9, 2012 Saturday, 7/7/2012 Didn't get a chance to head out to do load testing - it was another scorcher here in Chi-Town and the indoor range was probably more like an oven than a range... While out cruising around in the Jeep, the wife and I rolled by Cabela's and I managed to snag another minty-fresh slant grip High Standard Supermatic! I'm a total .22 junkie! Now, I've just got to sell the military grip model that I was using for gallery match practice... Anyone interested!? Also picked up some Blue Dot - some reloading manuals were saying that it produces some blasty, but accurate loads... Merits some investigation... Sunday, 7/8/2012 Rolled out to a 3-gun match at Pete Millionis' place, "The Hollow" in Mt Carroll. A really scenic drive down along the Rock river - was surprised that it only took about 2 hours to get there. I did get a ticket on the way back, though... Going a little fast in a little town - oh well, at least my contribution to the annual police banquet will be put to good use. Match was good - I shot using my FAL (.308) and Iron sights. Since I'm not much of a rifle guy, I was a bit slow getting my hits, but I did alright. Ran a pump 12-gauge Mossberg 590 and that ran great! Practicing those weak hand reloads these past few weeks was a useful skill... My teammate, Jason Carillo, took some great footage! Tonight, 7/9/2012 Heading out to test those loads, shoot some groups and just get a little trigger time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Less Posted July 10, 2012 Author Share Posted July 10, 2012 Monday, July 9th, 2012 Headed out and evaluated groups/chrono... Check it out here! Tonight, July 10th, 2012 Heading out to Cabela's to pick up my High Standard! Dry fire and grilling are in the works too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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