round count?

[Xarmyguy77]

I cant seem to keep track of round count during the longer stages. What do you guys do to keep track for reload points? I'm a production shooter. Guessing I should have a set reload point as part of my stage plan? But what if I drop shots? Any suggestions welcome

[Bunchies95]

I cant seem to keep track of round count during the longer stages. What do you guys do to keep track for reload points? I'm a production shooter. Guessing I should have a set reload point as part of my stage plan? But what if I drop shots? Any suggestions welcome

ALWAYS have your reload points planned out in advance. A good rule of thumb for production is if you are moving, you should be reloading. This will not work for every stage, especially if the course has arrays of 4 or 5 shots where it is advantageous to not reload between positions.

If you find youself getting off plan, reload at the very next point that you had planned on. Do this even if you are dumping a nearly full mag. It is better to get back onto a plan rather than try and make up a new one on the fly.

I find that when I make plans for 10 or 11 rounds before a reload, I am concentrating more on not missing. Either my time suffers or I do miss so I generally try for arrays of 8.

[remoandiris]

How about you reload whenever you move between target arrays.

[bikerburgess]

Plan your reloads in advance, make your plan based on your skill level and confidence in the shots required, like if you have trouble with Texas stars don't make a plan that requires you to shoot one in only 5 shots. Its better to do more planned reloads than to go to slide lock unexpectedly and do a standing reload. Don't worry about dropping mags with rounds in them sometimes the best plan may be to shoot 1 target then change mags on the move to the next array.

Mike

[Poppa Bear]

I shoot Limited and I look at targets and positions and count as I do the walk-through. I look to reload at around 12 to 16 rounds. Once I find a good spot to reload I walk it mentally a few more times and then start planning the rest of the stage. For production I would try to limit myself to no more than 8 rounds before I reloaded.

One of the better ways to run a stage is to break it up into shorter pieces. Lock in a plan for part A, then Part B, then..... It is easier to memorize small chunks than it is to memorize the entire stage as one unit.

[sdm74]

If I just shot 6 to 8 shots, and I am moving to another spot where I need to shoot 6 to 8 shots, I am reloading

[Xarmyguy77]

Thanks for the advice guys! I shot 92% of the match points on Sunday at a local 7 stage match.

One stage though I had to hit a popper 3x before it actually fell! I'm accurate enough but hiccups like that throw me off.

I'm only a "C" now but am aiming to make "B" by end of year.

[h4444]

Thanks for the advice guys! I shot 92% of the match points on Sunday at a local 7 stage match.

One stage though I had to hit a popper 3x before it actually fell! I'm accurate enough but hiccups like that throw me off.

I'm only a "C" now but am aiming to make "B" by end of year.

Good luck you'll get there. Consistently shoot clean matches like that and the speed will come, you'll make B in no time. Ask plenty questions and watch video,,,,there's plenty on here and digital video cameras are pretty cheap now, wanna improve fast, nothing will show your your errors/weaknesses faster than watching yourself shoot a few stages. Video is a great teacher for me. I'll shoot a match, find a couple areas to focus on, focus on those then re-assess after the next match till I'm happy then the process repeats.

[Xarmyguy77]

Thanks for the advice guys! I shot 92% of the match points on Sunday at a local 7 stage match.

One stage though I had to hit a popper 3x before it actually fell! I'm accurate enough but hiccups like that throw me off.

I'm only a "C" now but am aiming to make "B" by end of year.

Good luck you'll get there. Consistently shoot clean matches like that and the speed will come, you'll make B in no time. Ask plenty questions and watch video,,,,there's plenty on here and digital video cameras are pretty cheap now, wanna improve fast, nothing will show your your errors/weaknesses faster than watching yourself shoot a few stages. Video is a great teacher for me. I'll shoot a match, find a couple areas to focus on, focus on those then re-assess after the next match till I'm happy then the process repeats.

Thanks! My match goal was all alphas but shooting over 90% is a huge breakthrough for me! I do shoot lots of video. Range sessions, airsoft in my yard and all my matches. This has been one of the biggest helps to my training!

[Skydiver]

One stage though I had to hit a popper 3x before it actually fell! I'm accurate enough but hiccups like that throw me off.

If you are confident that you hit the popper the first (or second) time, stop shooting at it an move on. After you are done shooting the stage, challenge the popper calibration under Appendix C1 in the rule book. At worse you get a miss, but you saved yourself time. At best, you get a reshoot.

Edited June 28, 2012 by Skydiver

[Blueridge]

Unlike those that I have seen post above (at least best I can tell), they compete with an auto and I happen to use a revolver. My perspective is a bit different than the others I think. When I approach a stage the first thing that I do is determine the rounds required. Now this sounds like what anyone would do, but there is a small difference when using a revolver in competition. Only having 6 rounds before having to reload means the arrays often determine when reloads HAVE to be made. Reloading for convienience does not often occur for me. I have 6 speedloaders at my disposal after I do my initial make ready for a stage. That means there are 42 (or 36 on unloaded starts) rounds to handle whatever the stage requires. What I am getting at is that reloading just because you can is not the best idea always if it causes you to make "additional" shots commonly during a match. I am not saying that you don't do makeup shots for poor hits, but I have seen a fair number of auto shooters that fire 3 shots at 1/4 to 1/2 of the targets in every stage of a match and have 90% be "A" hits. This tells me that they are wasting quite a bit of time taking shots that they commonly don't need. I would implore you not to fall into that trap. If you are confident in your first 2 shots, then move on to the next target. I generally take my 2 shots on paper and move on, and live with what shots that I made. I am pretty accurate with my revolver, so I don't often regret that decision.

How this has anything to do with your initial question is that making reloads because you can likely means that you are carrying many more magazines than you need. This can lead to a mindset of taking more shots than necessary, simply because you have the ammunition available. Don't fall into that trap, because always time is a factor. Making more reloads than necessary also adds to your time. If the accuracy is there don't do anything that unecessarily hurts your time.

Edited June 28, 2012 by Blueridge