PaulW Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Ok long story short I started shooting USPSA in 1997. My first six months I shot limited and then the open bug hit me. I mainly shot open up until a year, year and a half ago when I stopped shooting all together. I achieved a lot more than I imagined I would and I put the work it for it. Well I have made my return to shooting and wanted a new challenge. Thought about production but decided limited was it. Got the 1050 cranking out 40 S&W rounds and started doing some practice. This is where all those years of open show through. First I am having a heck of a time not looking over the gun at the target. Have been target focus for so many years this may take awhile to break. But the other thing I noticed is that the harder I grip and hold the gun the more and more control I have over it. In open I gripped it firm and just guided the gun around. The limited gun I can feel my forearms and hands just gripping the heck out of it. Doing a few bill drills I noticed if I just used my open grip (for lack of better term), the gun bounced all over the place. If I really held the gun strong I could keep them all in the a zone no problem. So all this leads me to a few questions for you limited guys; 1- grip strength on a scale of 1-10? 2 - sight setup (front & rear widths) 3 - any drills for sight focus? 4- recoil spring setup And my setup is a 5" gun with full dust cover full slide, arched mainspring, 110 front fiber optic front sight, 11 lb recoil spring with 2 shok buffs. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeg1005 Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 (edited) 1. Enough so that the gun doesn't bounce around, so the gun's recoil is striaght up and down, and to keep the front post as flat as possible. Its kinda hard to determine but if 1 being no hold, and 10 being white knuckles... I'd say I'm at about 5-6? I really don't grip the gun hard, just hold it and adjust grip strength if needed. Think driving a car, you adjust your grip based on what you feel in the wheel. You don't overgrip, but you still hold on. 2. My limited gun is a stock STI BoMar which I think is 0.115-0.120" and front post is 0.090". 3. Long distance steel. 4. 40sw limited and single stack guns, 12.5lb... but honestly I'd go as light as possible and still have the gun function. Mike. Edited December 31, 2012 by mikeg1005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Good to see you back again Paul! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulW Posted January 1, 2013 Author Share Posted January 1, 2013 Thanks Chris. The advice for long distance steal is good but I do fine usually. Today at 35 yards I was shooting the plate rack. But when that buzzer goes off it seems as though my sight focus reverts back to the open gun days. I need to re-read, for the I don't know how many times, Brian's book. Red or Green fiber? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caspian guy Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 (edited) Thanks Chris. The advice for long distance steal is good but I do fine usually. Today at 35 yards I was shooting the plate rack. But when that buzzer goes off it seems as though my sight focus reverts back to the open gun days. I need to re-read, for the I don't know how many times, Brian's book. Red or Green fiber? I have to use green when I shoot limited... (stops the see red dot on target, break the shot reflex from years of shooting open.) Edited January 1, 2013 by caspian guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Paul, I shot Limited for aprox. 3.5 years with an STI Edge and i tried the Fiber Optic front sight, but found that it tempted me to shoot exactly like you're describing ....... sloppy & with a target focus, instead of a sight focus. So I switched back to a standard black iron sight & found my accuracy was much improved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grapemeister Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Hi Paul, and I'm glad you're back at it. We met briefly several years ago at the Tittusville club match. It was only my 2nd or 3rd match, and my 1st time at Tittusville. Being new and coming to the Titusville match by myself, I was very nervous. You guided me as I was trying to back my truck in between a couple of Palm trees. You also took the time to introduce yourself, and ask about what class/division I was shooting in. You were a great example of how to welcome and put new nervous folks at ease. You played a big part in me having a very nice day, and a fun match. I will never forget that, and since then I go out of my way to treat new folks the same. Best Wishes, Chris Welch Gainesville, FL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulW Posted January 1, 2013 Author Share Posted January 1, 2013 Wow Chris I don't know what to say other than that you made the first day of the new year awesome, thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Guy Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Plan on shooting down at Malabar? Hope to see you there. Mario. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulW Posted January 2, 2013 Author Share Posted January 2, 2013 Yep...will be there, look forward to seeing you there Mario! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tptplayer Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Hey Paul- Good to see you back! Bill Henley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supermoto Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Thanks Chris. The advice for long distance steal is good but I do fine usually. Today at 35 yards I was shooting the plate rack. But when that buzzer goes off it seems as though my sight focus reverts back to the open gun days. I need to re-read, for the I don't know how many times, Brian's book. Red or Green fiber? I mainly shoot open, so when I do shoot irons, I keep the target focus, it works for me... give it a try Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toothguy Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 (edited) Thanks Chris. The advice for long distance steal is good but I do fine usually. Today at 35 yards I was shooting the plate rack. But when that buzzer goes off it seems as though my sight focus reverts back to the open gun days. I need to re-read, for the I don't know how many times, Brian's book. Red or Green fiber? Stay with the sights and let the sights tell the story. You already know the answer to your problem. Edited January 2, 2013 by toothguy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulW Posted January 2, 2013 Author Share Posted January 2, 2013 Haha...good catch. I guess I do but man trying to retrain your brain is ummmm, interesting to say the least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toothguy Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 For me it seems like when I shoot open for a while and go to iron sights, I have trouble with sight picture alignment issues. When I transition from iron sights to open I have trouble finding the dot. Focal planes, sight heights and focus is different. Work with a .22 for awhile it will all come back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulW Posted January 2, 2013 Author Share Posted January 2, 2013 Good idea on the 22 lr. Thanks guys..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amac Posted January 3, 2013 Share Posted January 3, 2013 Paul, I'm relatively new to the sport - about 1.5 years - and experience the same problem. I am constantly tempted to peek at my shot hit placement. As you already know, training / re-training the brain takes lots and lots and lots and lots of practice. I've paid people to tell me to shoot slow and focus! Keep it at sir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulW Posted January 4, 2013 Author Share Posted January 4, 2013 I think I have started to see what's happening and a fix. Will take some work but at least I have a goal. Doing some dry fire drills I noticed I was not bring the gun up high enough, so I would have to try and tuck my head to get the sights lined up. I think this has to do with the fact that a Cmore sits above the gun so high no my NPA is to low for a limited gun. When I focused on bringing the gun up it was like boom, that's it. Plus that helps a lot because moving the gun and tucking your head makes for an interesting bob and weave that is not very efficient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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