Todd's Ramblings

[Todd7446]

I thought it was time to start a log as I go through this journey. I've always been a competitive person by nature. I've always enjoyed shooting. For a while, I've wanted to begin shooting both action pistol and 3-gun. So, what the heck, let's dive right into Open division, right?

I've had the pleasure of meeting some good folks during the Monday night league at Miamisburg this year. My work travel schedule, and schedule as Dad, have kept me from being as active as I'd like to be, but I know that isn't unique.

I'm terrible right now, and I can admit that. It only leaves me one direction to go! I've been fortunate to get some good advice from a couple people on here, and I'm sure they'll continue to let me know when I screw up, which is cool.

I can't say right now what my ultimate goals are. Right now they are to continue learning and improving. But to say that I have realistic expectations of achieving high classifications - I can't right now. I've got two girls in school who are very active (and I'm very involved), and work keeps me busy, too, which is good. And of course, I've got a great wife that I can't just ignore and focus all of my time on my activities.

That's it for now - feel free to offer advice or criticism - I'll take it all. I'm here to learn, improve, and hopefully make some friends.

[Todd7446]

Went out this weekend and got some good coaching from a couple of very talented shooters. I know that acquiring the dot on draw is my weak point, and it was highlighted. I also know I've got to be faster once I make the commitment to move from one shooting position to the next. Now if I can just get my worn out knees to agree with that.

[CB45]

Welcome! I wish you the best of luck attaining your goals.

Edited May 13, 2013 by CB45

[Chris iliff]

Hey I like your choice of platforms. I have been shooting Open almost exclusively since 2004 or so. In 10 seasons I've gotten to high A in classification. Hopefully low Master soon. Anyway, I did it with,........two daughters and a lot of involvement in their sports activities. I coached a lot, especially bball.

You can make the most of it with just a small commitment. Yeah, it might take awhile, but to me it was worth it.

Just wanted you to know that there are plenty of us that have gone through what you are, or will with family. We are here to help.

On another note. You have access to some amazing open shooters in Ohio. Chris Keen, Bill Seevers and Steve Anderson to name a few. Just picking at that knowledge base will cut years off your learning curve!!!!

[Todd7446]

Thanks guys.

Chris iliff - I've heard Bill Seevers and Steve Anderson's names, but haven't had the chance to meet them yet. I'm getting to know Chris Keen better.

[Chris iliff]

Chris Keen = SENSEI, he probably hates the monicker, but that's what I call him. You crack into the top 30 at Nationals and you are doing something right. Chris has been my number one mentor and go to uspsa advice guy for awhile.

Bill Seevers. = has forgot more about pulling the trigger than I will ever know. 20 + years of knowledge, enough said.

Steve Anderson = wrote the books on DRYFIRE. Literally,............ he wrote the books, go get them.

Yep, I envy you and your location. Lots of talent to watch and ask advice from.

[Todd7446]

When I bought the blaster, it had an Aimpoint R-1 on it. As a total noob, I thought that couldn't be bad, and would help me learn how to run the dot. I was slow... And it didn't help when the mounting screws loosened on the frame. So after some research, she's been sporting a C-More on a Quinn III mount. WOW, what a difference!!! I love the larger glass and the brighter (& larger) dot. I know it has helped my acquisition time quite a bit not only on draw, but on splits and transitions.

I've been working a lot on dry fire in the basement. Found a .pdf of 1/3 scale targets online, and printed off quite a few varieties. I'm not lightning speed by any stretch, but I am speeding up.

[Todd7446]

I'm looking forward to the monthly Miamisburg match this weekend. It will give me one more good opportunity to practice, and I've heard, get to try a couple different targets & scenarios than I ever have before. This will be my second match.

At Chris Keen's suggestion, I registered and made it in before registration closed. So, next Sunday I'll get to play in the bigs at the Ohio Buckeye Freedom Blast. I'm REALLY looking forward to this!

[Chris Keen]

Really glad to hear that you've signed up for the Ohio match. You will have allot of fun and learn. a great deal at the same time. Don't dog yourself if you make a mistake, focus on the positives and learn from your mistakes. Self image is everything in this sport!

Keep up the good work!

[Chris iliff]

Wow! Kudos to you on your training. I enjoy reading your log and particularly like the enthusiasm.

I have shot the Ohio State 3 times and it is a blast. You are going to have a good time and learn a lot. Listen to Sensei Keen!

The Indiana State is another awesome match. In fact I think the Ohio and Indiana State matches rival most Area matches. They really are that good. Both continually break attendance records if that tells you anything, lol.

Can't wait to meet and shoot with you. Keep up your training with Sensei.

See you on the range!!!

[Todd7446]

Thanks Chris & Chris (err Sensei ). No worries about my self image at this point. I don't have sky high expectations of my performance, so I shouldn't be disappointed! On top of that, I just got a Contour cam, so I'll be able to relive the high (and low) points over and over.

Chris I - I was looking at the Indiana match, too. I may sign up for that if I could do it on Friday only. Family vacation begins on Saturday so I have to be home and ready for the road by late Friday night. I see it is in Riley this year, so that would be a bit of a homecoming for me. I spent four years in Terre Haute at Rose-Hulman. Nothing like the smell of the Wabash in the summertime. I'm looking forward to seeing you on the range, too.

[Todd7446]

Well, Sunday at Miamisburg was good experience. Only one real low point, but I got it out of the way quickly. Stage one had three paper targets, mandatory reload, 6 plates, mandatory reload, 6 plate dueling tree, engage the arrays in any order. I planned to go paper, plates, tree. Timer sounds, I turn (facing uprange start), draw, acquire, squeeze, Pffft. Squib. This is the second one I've had. I obviously need to do a better job reloading, but I'm not real sure how I've had two sneak by (Hornady LNL AP).

From the video, I learned that I have a flying thumb problem on my strong hand. I lost the dot twice and lost count once, (tripled one target and ran dry). Transitions were reasonable for my skill level - even shot and reloaded on the move on one stage. Overall, I'm VERY happy that I went with the C-more and horizontal mount.

Now on to loading a batch of ammo this week and getting ready for Ohio match!

[Todd7446]

What a day at the 2013 Ohio Buckeye Freedom Blast! Entering this as only my third match, I had appropriate expectations - don't do anything stupid, don't screw up badly. I exceeded them. Finished up 49th out of 68 registered in Open as the highest D class shooter. Only 9 Deltas, 1 Mike, and 2 No Shoots for the whole match. Even got 1 Charlie (and a cloud of dust from a 2nd shot) on the mover on Stage 9. Never shot from a shaky bridge before, and never shot a Texas Star before. Cleared the Texas Star from the shaky bridge in 8 shots, swung left, and went 5 for 5 on the plates - very pleased with that.

Made a few rookie mistakes (ran dry once and wasted precious seconds reloading instead of taking a Mike since it was my last shot), and realize that I really need to get my slide racker mounted (very hard to quickly rack slide with C-More in a Quinn III mount), but didn't do anything stupid. Definitely need to work on speed, but know that will come with more practice. I can feel that my dry fire has been helping quite a bit, too.

A big shout of congratulations to Chris Keen for winning Open. Great shooter and teacher! Congrats also to Monica Taliani for High Female in Open - also a great shooter and teacher. Thanks to Sarge and crew for putting on a heck of an event.

[Chris Keen]

Glad to hear you had a good time! Sounds like your shooting is improving! Keep up the dry-fire and associated practice. If I'm looking at the scores correctly looks like you won 1st place D Class. There just might be a plaque headed your way in the near future! Congrats!!!

[monicataliani]

Thanks buddy!!!!!! I was really impressed at #1 you shooting the match although you had some reservations and #2 your performance. Nicely done! You should be proud!

[Todd7446]

Chris - Thanks. That's the way I read the scoring breakdown, too.

Monica - Thanks - I've never really been afraid to just go for it. You were right - I would have been very disappointed if I didn't enter and give it a run. Great time - already looking forward to (and setting goals for) next year's edition!

[Todd7446]

The scaled-down targets and poppers in my basement have been virtually shredded and virtually pasted with many, many pasters. My time to draw, acquire, and break the shot into the A-zone from ~15' into a 1/3 scale target has consistently improved, but has recently plateaued. Developing the muscle memory to get my weak hand into just the right grip position seems to be the biggest problem right now. Dot acquisition since moving to the C-more from the Aimpoint that was on the gun when I got it is MUCH improved!

Dry fire is good, and I can feel it helping me to improve, but I feel the need to put some lead downrange, too. Looking forward to some training tomorrow. Also got hooked on the Ohio match, so, what the heck - I'm registered to shoot the Western PA Sectional and Indiana state matches, too!! Never imagined that I'd jump into traveling this much so soon.

[Todd7446]

It's been a long time since I've put anything up. I'm getting more disciplined about dry fire training, but still can improve a lot here. I've shot a couple of club matches in the past month. So far I've shot two majors and have won my class (D-Open) in both of them. That's an addicting way to start!

The rather long process complete, I'm now a member at my local club. Went out to practice last night for a couple hours. SHO/WHO is still a weak area of mine, so I'll keep working it. Ran a lot of sprint - load from table - engage T1 - mag change on the move - engage T2 drills last night. Getting much more comfortable with moving mag changes. Felt like I lost 3 gallons of fluid in the heat!

Looking forward to shooting the Indiana Section Championship this Thursday. They were kind enough to let me shoot with staff since I'm heading out of town on family vacation this weekend (thanks Jake, Aron, & SuddenDeath). Can I go three for three in majors? Yes, I can, and yes I will! Got to have the right attitude!

[Todd7446]

Should have followed up sooner, but with vacation and returning to the busy-ness of work, I haven't had the chance. Yes, I went 3-for-3 at Majors in D-Open. I know, not that impressive of a class to many people, but I'm pleased with it for my first year. Also really stoked because I got my first plaque for D-Open winner from Western PA Sectional.

I suspect (if classifiers are uploaded and counted from Western PA) that my "career" in D-Open will be coming to an end real soon. I believe I'll be moving on to C-Open this month, right before the Michigan Sectional. So, having really caught the bug, and looking for one more good showing before moving into a much more competitive class, I'm heading to the Area 8 match this Friday. Looking forward to shooting my first really big match.

I've also come to the realization through lots of dry fire and my time on the range that my current optic mount and thumb rest may be causing me problems. I've got pretty large hands and find that I keep jamming my thumb into the bottom of (and into the adjustment slot on) my Quinn III horizontal mount. I believe it is causing me to approach the grip more tentatively than I should resulting in poor hand position, grip, and slowed dot acquisition. I like the horizontal mount for its closeness to the bore, but after reading more and more on here about how little of an impact an upright mount really has on POA/POI at our distances, I'm switching to a Cheely upright mount and a secondary thumb rest. I've tried the thumb rest on the frame by itself, and must say, it feels like it allows me to establish a grip much more naturally. I'm not worrying about banging, pinching, squeezing my thumb into place.

[Todd7446]

Received my Cheely upright mount on Thursday afternoon and installed it right away. Went to the range, sighted it in, and double-checked the screws for tightness. Drove to the Area 8 match and checked into hotel @ 10:45. Grabbed a sandwich and dry-fired until midnight. Got up Friday morning, registered as a walk-in shot the match on Friday all-day squad. We got shut down for rain for ~1:15, but it was a fun match. Several opportunities for DQ's, but luckily I didn't fall prey to any.

The good news: I won D-Open at Area 8!

The rest of the story: there was only one competitor in D-Open. However, there were 13 C-Open shooters and I finished in front of 8 of them, so I'm in decent shape for my soon expected transition to C class.

Enjoyed meeting several new people and building on some friendships. Always enjoy the chance to stoke my competitive fire, too! The upright mount feels much more natural to me. I'm finding that I can index my weak hand in place with it and the new "thumb rest" much easier. I think further practice will help me get that much better. On to the Michigan Sectional this weekend!!!

[Todd7446]

Well, it's official. Got my card and see that stats have rolled: I'm now C-class Open. I realize that I'm not up "where the air is rare" like some of my friends, but after only 5 months of competitive shooting, I'm fairly pleased. Everyone starts somewhere!

[Todd7446]

Michigan Sectional last weekend was a blast. The upright mount feels A LOT more natural, although I still hunted for the dot a couple of times. I know, more practice will cure that. Great squad. Had a lot of fun with Peter, Jose, Chris, Carmen, Roy, Carl, Chris, and Svetlana.

Just heard from Bill Chunn and saw the update: stats have re-ran for the match, and I'm now classified in C instead of D. Pretty darn excited because after the re-run, I finished 3rd in C-Open.

[CB45]

Congrats! It sounds like you are putting in the work and seeing the results.