Stuart's journey to Supersistion Mountain

[stuart1336]

I'm going to the USA to shoot 3 gun. My friend Mike Darby goes every year and I have managed to get him to let me tag along. Time to get serious about training and I thought what better way than a public training diary here.

Here in the UK we are a little limited in the guns we can use but we get by. My main sport is practical shotgun, standard auto, with a Benelli M2. I shoot practical rifle and steel challenge with a Nordic Ruger .22. I have just bought a new AR .22 with a Tactical Innovations lower and Nordic upper. Its very nice but I have to wait until my license is changed before I can take it home. I have bought the new AR as it will take a .223 upper (singe shot only in UK) and is the closest thing I can get to what I will use in America. The Ruger is a nice gun but I have also found for competitions over here that on drills it cant compete against an AR.

I also use several airsoft guns for practice and have a TM 4.3, TM 5.1 custom and a Classic Army M15A2.

I have been shooting PSG for about 18 months but only had a gun of my own since January. Ten years ago I was in the Police and did a couple of courses with Glock 17 and MP5 but I was never operational with them so my live fire pistol experience is next to nothing. I do have a 1911 based long barreled pistol in .22 and when my post count is high enough I will put some pictures up so everyone stateside can have a good laugh at what we have to use over here.

My training over the last six months has been building. I'm starting to get into the top ten at shotgun competitions. I also put in some good training for a steel challenge match a week ago and came 1st. I put this down to extensive use of the airsoft M15 combined with par timing from Mike Seeklanders book. I am also a student of Lanny Bassham and recently my competition results have soared as I get to grips with the mental game. I am also very lucky to shoot with Mike Darby who is in my opinion the best practical shooter in the UK and I also get to go to the best shotgun range in the country once a week. The owner there, Steve Pike, has also taken me under his wing.

Over the next week I will finalise my plan for training and post it up here. In the mean time I will just post the training I am doing.

[stuart1336]

Thursday 25th October

Live fire at Shield Ranges

I went to the range to shoot .22 and 12g live fire. Mike came to the range and lent me his AR with Maeopta 1-4 sight. I have one of these sights on order but its a few weeks away from delivery. Mike gave ma a brief on last years Superstition 3 Gun and explained that I need to work on distance rifle and working from a braced position. In the UK most of our rifle work is up close (30 yards or less) and normally off hand.

I went to the practice range which is set in bays. I set up two targets at 5m and then at 25m set up some orange circle targets ranging in size from a tennis ball to a quarter. I then started with airsoft pistol holstered, engaged the two targets at 5m put the pistol down and engaged the distance targets from 4 different positions. One off hand, two braced and the last prone.

I didnt time anything I was just practicing position and movement in and out of the bays. I found that its a long time since I have done anything accurate prone and I need more work at it. Mike also told me about putting the pistol down and being careful of the safety to avoid DQ. He told me his pistol in America has a very hard spring and it is easier to put it down on its right side than clear it.

I quite enjoyed the prone work but need to get some more time in testing and adjusting my position and mono podding.

I then went onto the shotgun range and ran a stage that was already set up there with 22 targets. i have been trying out the FSL12 load 4 system and wanted to test it live. Since starting PSG I have always used the weak hand method but I have never achieved very good times. The FSL worked really well for me.

[stuart1336]

Friday 26th Oct

Airsoft Pistol on BAM steel targets at work., two 10 minute sessions. Not timed just concentrating on getting a good sight picture on the open sights. Open sights are not something I have used for 10 years. I was also using my TM 5.1 for the first time. I had it made up with a heavy weight outer barrel and its the closest thing I can get to the STI that I will be using.

[stuart1336]

Saturday 27th Oct

Today I practiced shotgun loading. Whilst sharing a cup of tea at the range on Thursday my friend suggested that I try loading blindfolded. He explained that if I couldn't see I would rely more on my sense of touch and this would be heightened. I would also have to think more about how my arms and hands move. The goal being that you load on a stage whilst looking at the targets not the gun.

I loaded 60 from FSL12 load four weak hand and 48 weak hand from caddies. To my amazement it works and I will incorporate this in my training for next few weeks.

[stuart1336]

Saturday 27th Night

Not a lot of time today but managed to grab two ten minute sessions of dry fire with an airsoft pistol. I got some IPSC targets last week in full size and 1/3 size so put them up on the garage door. traced out the A zone as at a mini rifle comp I lost points because I was not familiar with it. I also had a target from the shield that I have reduced in size on a photocopier (now A6 was A3) that were already up there.

The pistol is open sights and I am trying to relearn using them two eyes open. Worked hard on my sight picture then moved on to transitions. Snapping the eyes to the target first then bringing the focus back to the foresight.

I found that 10 minutes of this is enough to make my eyes hurt. Finished up with the rifle practicing transitions on the hips.

Didn't time anything as just working form.