Reshoot Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 I finished turning my Limited gun into an open gun last August. I did so, on a budget, simply because I am no longer able to shoot with iron sights. And, I did so knowing an XDm with a slide mounted red dot will not take me all that far. My goal is to "stay in the game" and have fun. I have set my 2013 goal . . . to shoot (not just qualify) in B Class, by December 31st. Considering my gear, and my age, I'm thinking it's going to be a big challenge. Toward that end, I am dry firing 3 to 5 times a week. Starting in February, I plan to live fire twice per week. http://www.youtube.com/user/dbone43758 Any critique, and helpful suggestions, will be most appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris iliff Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 Those first 12 drills in Anderson's first book will easily get you that B card. Good luck on your goals, you can do it!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reshoot Posted January 15, 2013 Author Share Posted January 15, 2013 (edited) Those first 12 drills in Anderson's first book will easily get you that B card. Good luck on your goals, you can do it!!! Indeed! My dry fire is based on Steve's great book I did come up with my own reload drill. 10 dummy rounds in the gun and a mag full of dummy rounds on my belt. And, a padded table to keep the mags from hitting the floor. Edited January 15, 2013 by Reshoot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reshoot Posted January 15, 2013 Author Share Posted January 15, 2013 (edited) Inconsistant? Need more practice? Or, does everyone miss the mark when trying to do five in a row? Edited January 15, 2013 by Reshoot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reshoot Posted January 16, 2013 Author Share Posted January 16, 2013 (edited) Whew, struggling this morning! Slept in an hour and a half too. Those two loads of firewood I hauled in, and stacked, yesterday have my butt dragging a wee bit. But, this is dry fire day and as Mr. Anderson says; "practice even when you don't want to". I normally do 5 drills but today is was just 4. I always start out with drills 1 and 7, and today added 11 and 12. To my surprise, I was able to trim .2 off 6 Reload Strong (drill 11)! But, by the time I got to 6 Relaod Weak I struggled. At least I stuck to my guns, and am dry firing every other day! I have penciled in live fire for Saturday, but have not decided on the drills I will do. Hey, this is Ohio . . . don't dare schedule in ink . . . could be snowing by Saturday! Edited January 16, 2013 by Reshoot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reshoot Posted January 19, 2013 Author Share Posted January 19, 2013 Added weight to the barbell, and dumbbells this morning . . . whew! I have been on-again-off-again, when it comes to working out, ever since retiring two years ago. But back in early December, when I decided to shoot for B Class / Open, I knew physical fitness would be a huge factor. Besides, I am 10 ~ 15 pounds overweight even now. I have to believe that means I have added a bit of muscle mass since mid-December. I ask my shooting partner, and son-in-law, to be brutally honest with me last fall. I ask him what he believed is my biggest weakness. He replied; "your hits are very good but, you move slow". I bet he wanted to add a comment about my age being a factor, as I'm sure it is. But, he refrained. He really helped me last year, to master moving and shooting . . . something I literally could not do. . . AND score alphas. Good dry fire session yesterday, and southeast Ohio is supposed to see temperatures in the fourty's this afternoon. I don't look for very good times, on the live fire drills, but hey there is a lot of work to be done and it will be a good session. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reshoot Posted January 22, 2013 Author Share Posted January 22, 2013 (edited) Spring arrives when?! The only type of practice a get, in this kind of weather, is dry fire. Edited January 22, 2013 by Reshoot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reshoot Posted January 22, 2013 Author Share Posted January 22, 2013 This morning's dry fire session was an exceptional one! My reloads were very smooth and fast, making great par times on other drills that involved a reload. But, remembering the mistake I made when I first got Steve's book, only one par time improvement was recorded. Found out the hard way, in late 2011, you do not reduce a par time just because you have an exceptional session. I now require myself to do 10 drills with no mistakes, CLEARLY beating the peep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reshoot Posted January 24, 2013 Author Share Posted January 24, 2013 Had to get out . . . had to pull a trigger! 31 degrees, sunny, ground snow covered and 5 mph wind in my face. Three shots, from rest, to confirm zero. Then, five 3 shot groups at 21 yards. Best was just over 3.5". The rest . . . worser. Note to self; need to work on that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reshoot Posted January 28, 2013 Author Share Posted January 28, 2013 (edited) This morning's dry fire . . . The usual Drill 1, and my modified Drill 7, to start out. Then, I spent an extensive amount of time on 26 and 27, walking the triangle and walking the square. Wow Bone, you do not practice moving sideways and shooting nearly enough! I am going to do these two drills weekly, from now on. Edited January 28, 2013 by Reshoot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reshoot Posted January 29, 2013 Author Share Posted January 29, 2013 (edited) This is my "tool". Scott Springer built this, two years ago, as a full blown Limited gun. I installed a Pistol Gear barrel, Springer 3-port comp, Springer sight mount, Burris Fastfire II, Pistol Gear mag well and a slide racker I made myself. I run a 14# spring, with 2 coils cut off. Edited January 29, 2013 by Reshoot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reshoot Posted February 4, 2013 Author Share Posted February 4, 2013 Finished today's dry fire with El Prez (drill 10). Shaving .1 seconds off my old time, I cleanly and consistantly did 10 reps at 7.9 seconds. That is down from 9.2, last August when I started with my open gun. Not bad for a 64 year old senior. I am convienced the daily physical workouts have helped! I have yet to miss a day, since the year began. Upper body one day, legs and abs the next. My weight isn't changing much . . . 2 ~ 3 pounds but, the waist line is definately shrinking . . . oh yeah! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reshoot Posted February 8, 2013 Author Share Posted February 8, 2013 Kept my promise, to myself. Did drills 26 & 27 five days ago, and hit them again today. Must keep the weekly moving and shooting drills near the top of my to-do list! HUGE improvement in my simulated hits / shot calling. Serious live fire withdrawl has set in. Boy, oh boy . . . . spring arrives when?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reshoot Posted February 13, 2013 Author Share Posted February 13, 2013 FINALLY, a good day for live fire. Yesterday was beautiful . . . of course it is gone today. I am always . . . umm . . . surprised? . . . at how quickly I get rusty. Sure glad it comes back fairly quick! Started out shooting groups and focusing on trigger control. Buy the end of my session I was getting 5" groups at 30 yards. I know this will close up as I get into the season. Must live fire 3 times per week, as soon as the stinking weather warms up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reshoot Posted February 18, 2013 Author Share Posted February 18, 2013 First match of the year, yesterday. Man, what a challenge . . . 24 degrees and a bit of wind. I dressed appropriately and my feet/body stayed warm but, the fingers were a different story. Between pasting targets, loading mags and shooting, the finger tips stayed numb, except when in gloves with hand warmers. But, that is not the worst part. My gun did not want to run in that temperature. I had to rack the slide many times, during the match. I knew, last fall, the recoil spring (12#) was just barely light enough. I ordered 8#, 9# and 10# springs this morning. As far as my hits are concerned, I was pleased with most, considering the condition of my fingers. There was an occasional charlie, I think three delta's and one mike for the match. My speed, or rather the lack thereof, sucked. There agian, I believe the conditions were a huge factor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reshoot Posted February 25, 2013 Author Share Posted February 25, 2013 Been down and out for a few days. The olde back copped an attitude on me. Pushing a little too hard, with the wood splitting and daily workouts, I reckon. Eased back into dry fire, with a one hour session, and 60 rounds of live fire. The live fire consisted of shooting on the move, which was . . . umm . . . unimpressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reshoot Posted March 2, 2013 Author Share Posted March 2, 2013 I am now missing the mark (magwell) on my reloads, for some reason. Maybe I am positioning, or posturing, myself differently because of my back issue. At any rate, I spent 1 hour working on the fundimentals, this morning. I am confident all we be good as my back heals up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reshoot Posted March 18, 2013 Author Share Posted March 18, 2013 Rayners Range monthly match, yesterday - 3/17/13. Stage 4 . . . . double alpha on every single target. Stage 2 . . . . one charlie and the remainder were alphas. Although I did have 4 deltas in the match, everything was "on paper". All that practice is paying off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reshoot Posted March 21, 2013 Author Share Posted March 21, 2013 I am more than a little frustrated, with the weather! Take today, for example, 32 degrees and wind at 10 ~ 15. I kicked it up a notch, last week, with dry fire 6 days a week. But, without live fire I really don't believe my practice is beneficial. Is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangeJunkie Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 Absolutely is, you can get everything besides recoil with dryfire. You can add movement, hone your technique, transitions etc with them. Live fire is extremely important obviously but one can do a lot with dryfire as well. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reshoot Posted March 22, 2013 Author Share Posted March 22, 2013 Yeah, good points. Thanx! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reshoot Posted March 25, 2013 Author Share Posted March 25, 2013 Wow, snow on the ground again! But, not before a good live fire session on Saturday. Reflecting back on the March 17th match, all the mikes I had were on plates and poppers so, I spent the afternoon on just those. But first, a head shot group of five where I discovered she was 1.5" to the left and about an inch low. Fixed that and moved on to the steel. No speed at all . . . back to the fundamentals . . . shot calling and watching the dot settle back on the popper. By the end of the session I was calling ever shot. Yeah, good day at the range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reshoot Posted April 1, 2013 Author Share Posted April 1, 2013 Huston . . . we have a problem. During my last match (March 17th)I had what appeared to be a light strike. Happened just once. However, during live fire practice over the weekend, I had several rounds fail to go off, in my open gun. So, I came in and replaced the striker spring. No change. Came back in and grabbed my factory-stock XDm, loaded those rounds (that failed to go off in my open gun) and commenced firing. Only two thirds of them fired. What the . . . . I went through my CCI primers and found a box of 100, with a different lot number. I plan to load those up and see how they run. It is a little concerning, as all my remaining primers (7,000 ~ 8,000) are the same lot number as those not going off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leas327 Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 If you have a hand primer try reseating 20 or 30 rounds with it and see if they will function. Your press might not be seating the primers deep enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sleepswithdogs Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 (edited) Huston . . . we have a problem. During my last match (March 17th)I had what appeared to be a light strike. Happened just once. However, during live fire practice over the weekend, I had several rounds fail to go off, in my open gun. So, I came in and replaced the striker spring. No change. Came back in and grabbed my factory-stock XDm, loaded those rounds (that failed to go off in my open gun) and commenced firing. Only two thirds of them fired. What the . . . . I went through my CCI primers and found a box of 100, with a different lot number. I plan to load those up and see how they run. It is a little concerning, as all my remaining primers (7,000 ~ 8,000) are the same lot number as those not going off. Good suggestion to check the seating depth of your primers. I had some problems with primers seated too deep resulting in light strikes. Also have seen this in one box of factory ammo.As far as your back problem, I have found Tiger Balm Red or Ultra able to do amazing things in reducing back pain, as well as pain in muscles and joints. tar Edited April 2, 2013 by Sleepswithdogs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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