Nimitz Posted June 2, 2015 Author Share Posted June 2, 2015 well it's the start of week 7 with no shooting ... my restarting of my surrender draw dryfire program is going well. last night i went on the par timer for the first time and by the end of the seesion I was easily beating the .6 par time for getting the gun out of the holster and bringing it up to the point where i would begin to build my grip from a surrender start ... on Wed my hard half cast comes off and will be replaced with a neopreme wrap to provide basic stability while i continue my therapy. I also find out if I can begin wrist strengthing exercises or need to wait another week ... my monthly SC match is this Saturday so I'm not too hopeful about getting the green light to shoot it. I might be alowed to try a little shooting on Fri after we finish setup since there will be no match pressure I can jsut shoot a few rounds and stop .... I also managed to fix my Press despite being a one-armed cripple .... I Had to replace the entire station one case feed assembly which requires installing that horizontal spring screw pin assembly .... i managed to come up with a simple 'trick' to install it in seconds although I assume this is well known by most ... just not me ... on a fun note, my new S&W 41 arrives at my FFL tomorrow ... I picked up a C-more from another Forum member last week and my Allchin comp should be here shortly as well ... now as soon as the next batch of EWK Arms bully Steel Challenge barrels for the 41 come in I'll be able to start shooting it ... of course it will also have to be sent to Jason at Extreme Shooters for my custom paint job. I'm pretty sure that since this gun is blued and has no stainless on it I will probably be painting the entire gun .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZackJones Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Why the switch from the Buckmark to the S&W 41? Hope you get some good news from the doc this week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimitz Posted June 2, 2015 Author Share Posted June 2, 2015 (edited) couple of reasons .... 1) the gun is heavier (42 oz empty) which I actually like. I find that it is a lot easier to over swing being aggressive with the light 22 which is something that doesn't happen with my STI. 2) I was told by one of the Super squad folks I've shot with that the TacSol barrels tend to need to be replaced after about 25,000 rds (they had to replace 2 of them), 3) in order to clean the gun I have to take the C-more off & re-zero it every time & 3) the trigger on the 41 is much better than the Buckmark .... I also got permission to spend my bonus this past month on a new gun so why not .... My wife also keeps talking about shooting SC & she likes the feel of the Buckmark so that will become her gun if she gets involved. Lastly, I'm at a point where the concept of a backup gun actually makes sense. I used to not understand why guys went through all the trouble and expense of a backup gun .... now that I'm competitive to win when I show up to a match I get it .... I still don't need a backup STI for open yet but that day is coming .... Edited June 2, 2015 by Nimitz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZackJones Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 Sounds like good reasons. Good luck with it and post up some photos once you get it all decked out. I've found a gunsmith that's going to put a c-more mount on one of my Para's so I'll have the makings of my open gun. I won't do any serious shooting with it until after the NSSF World Shoot and my SC State match. Both of which are in October. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimitz Posted June 3, 2015 Author Share Posted June 3, 2015 (edited) yeah, it will be a little while since I have to wait for the barrel to be made but something to look forward to .... so I saw my hand surgeon today and the cast is off, now replaced my a neoprene wrap ... which is just a reminder that the wrist is not completely healed and to be careful with it ... the cartilage takes 3 months to heal which is mid July which is when the wrap can come off as well .... I've been cleared to begin shooting the 22 again but no 9mm until its completly healed - 6 more weeks ... I'll be able to do some limited dryfire before then but I'll need to be careful and not get too crazy with it too early. since the PA State Championship is not until 25 Sept I'm going to assume I'll be able to shoot both open anf rimfire. Once the deadline for getting a refund gets close I'll make a final assessment of whether shooting open will be feasible .... at least I won't have to worry about ammo once I start shooting open again as I can make a boatload of ammo in 6 weeks ... now that I can start training again one thing has popped up I hadn't considered ... I'm pretty sure I should not be picking up those 40lb 18"x24" plates used on Outer Limits, Speed Option, Showdown& Accelerator which means I'll need to be creative to shoot those ... what I'd probably do is take a bunch of the USPSA paper targets I have and cut them into those shapes ... I have plenty of white pasters I can use. My other option is to just live fire on Roundabout, 5 To Go & Pendulum for a few weeks until my wrist/arm is strong enough to lift those plates .... after we're finished with match setup this Friday afternoon I'll get my first live fire in and see how I feel about shooting the match on Saturday ... Edited June 3, 2015 by Nimitz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimitz Posted June 7, 2015 Author Share Posted June 7, 2015 (edited) well, although my doc has cleared me to start shooting 22 my wrist is giving me some different feedback. Started some limited dryfire last week and found there is still some not so minor pain when i try to form my weak hand grip, not to mention that after 7 weeks in a cast I have maybe 30% of my normal grip strength. One of things I have really just taken for granted is exactly how my weak hand grip is formed, namely how much I have to bend the wrist backwards. This is unfortuantely a much bigger deal right now then I expected. even though I have basically full range of motion back the sutures used in the surgery only come in 2 types: those which dissolve in 3 weeks and those which take 5 months. The repair on my wrist requires 3 months to fully heal so guess which ones they used? The reason this is important is that anytime I move my wrist the tendons which wrap around the ulner bone are right over the repair site and become aggrevated by the sutures, causing pain .... nothing can be done about this until the sutures dissolve ... in 3 more months .... Not to succume to a little debilitating pain I decided to bring my gun to yesterday's match and try and shoot 1 string of each of the 6 stages. with just 3 squads I just waited until stages were vacant and then setup and shot without a timer. I actually went through about 60-70 rds in total, shooting more then one string on a couple of stages. And while I'm not ready to shoot a full up 150-200 rd match yet the wrist didn't feel too bad. It certainly wasn't pain free but not enough to get me distrcated from shooting. So what I think I might do is continue some limited dryfire, maybe only 10-15 mins/day and then try livefire once a week and see how it feels ... On the equipment side I picked up my new 41 on Thurs .. forget how much fun getting a new blaster can be, particularily when you can't shoot ....also finally managed to find the same airsoft thumbrest that I have on my Buckmark for installation on the gun ... didn't bookmark the last site and after finally finding it they don't carry it anymore and thought I was screwed ...but since I currently have nothing better to do with my time I went on a mega marathon search and finally found it. Also found a slide racker that just requires drilling & tapping a small hole in the side of the slide. i also got a thumbrest for my STI which doesn't have any holes predrilled in it and is made out of what looks like Kydex. I really like my current adjustable thrumbret from DAA except for one thing. I have to mount it so far back that it covers the slide release lever which means I have to remove it every time I want to take off the silde .. a real PITA. With this new thumbrest I'm hoping to have a little more flexibility in where I mount it since I can custom locate the holes. Also, I should be able to take a dremel to it and easily remove a small amount of material if it ends up slightly covering the slide stop ... at least that's the theory anyway .... Tomorrow we are supposed to start adding strength training to my PT regiment ... can't wait, even more pain to add to the daily healing routine ... thank god for ice packs .... Edited June 7, 2015 by Nimitz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimitz Posted June 12, 2015 Author Share Posted June 12, 2015 just returned from my physical therapy appointment where we started to include strength training for my wrist. Initial measurements showed 98 lbs for my strong hand & 46 lbs for my weak hand. Guess I shouldn't be that surprised at those numbers given I've not been able to do anything for 8 weeks. Although I get to cut back on my range of motion exercises to 2x/day vice 4 since I've got back almost 100% of pre-surgical range of motion, I've added 2x/day strength training so not much has changed ..... A couple of days ago I began some very limited dryfire 5-10 mins/day and next week I'll be going out to shoot probably just one day. based on how things feel I'll slowly ramp back to my normal 3x/week. I'm also on the hunt for a CNC machinist who can make me a slide racker for my BuckerMark & SW41. I've got a design but need to find someone who can manufacture ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZackJones Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 I'm also on the hunt for a CNC machinist who can make me a slide racker for my BuckerMark & SW41. I've got a design but need to find someone who can manufacture ... Billy Striplin is your man. I'll send you contact info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToddKS Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Glad to hear that things are continuing to heal. Hopefully you will be back to full form sooner rather than later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimitz Posted June 18, 2015 Author Share Posted June 18, 2015 great, thx! Yeah, I get a little stronger every day it's just too slow for me ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimitz Posted June 18, 2015 Author Share Posted June 18, 2015 managed to get to the range today for what I'll consider my first training session since my wrist surgery 8 weeks ago. I only brought 100rds with me since I was really testing out my wrist more than anything else ... I decided to start off the session with a straightforward cold match run for score on Roundabout .... shot it in 2.39 secs. My match normal times prior to surgery were 2.05-2.10 so not a big surprise there, particularly since I was more focused on my wrist than shooting ... Ended up running about 15-18 reps of the stage and even managed a 1.81 sec clean run. had several runs in the mid 1.8s but they were all only 4/5. First shot times were averaging right around .55 secs with a best of .44 secs which is about where I left off. Overall I was pretty happy with the session as my wrist did not bother me at all. there is still some pain/soreness in my weak hand thumb from something I did when in the cast but that's healing as well. I'm probably going to stick with just once a week of live fire for the next week couple of weeks as the surgery takes 3 months to fully heal and I'm only starting week 9. I'll also slowly start to build up the dryfire time as the wrist & thumb allow ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimitz Posted June 22, 2015 Author Share Posted June 22, 2015 got out this morning for a limited (150 rd) livefire session on Roundabout. Began with a cold match run to baseline where I'm at. Times were as follows: run 1) 2.26 secs; 2) 3.23 secs, 3) 2.28 secs, 4)2.79 secs, 5) 2.39 secs for a stage time of 9.72 secs. Shot a few more reps in accuracy mode & then switched to speed mode training. Went 5/5 on 4 reps @ 2.16, 2.12, 2.00 & 2.08 secs and several more sub 2 sec runs (192, 1.95, 1.87, 1.85 & 1.79 secs). Did some first-shot reps with times of .61 - .54 secs. these reps include shooting the 2nd plate as well to keep me honest in making a good transition after shooting the 1st plate. Finished the session with a couple of 5/5 runs. When analyzing my first shot & transition times it's pretty clear where I need to focus my training for this stage .... even with only a .64 sec first shot I can manage to shoot a sub 2 sec run. A 1.92 sec run broke down to: .64 first shot & then transitions of: .29, .48, .25 & .26. A 1.79 sec run had a .5 sec first shot & transitions of: .2, .46, .26, .29. In dry fire I've been pushing first shot par times of .5 secs & even .4 secs by being super aggressive off the buzzer & this is clearly where my biggest gains can come in the near term. One equipment issue that caused me a little trouble today was that even with the dot turned all the way up it was not very bright and extremely difficult to see the last 15 mins of training. last night during dry fire the dot looked just fine but that was of course indoors. I've heard people say that the 3v batteries don't seem to last or be as bright & recommended using 2 357s in series so I may have to try that. It was a little disappointed to not be able to get full value out of today's session because of an equipment issue ... I'm icing down the wrist after every training session but it's definitely still sore so I need to be careful not to ramp up to a full weekly schedule just yet .... I'll probably won't live fire again this week & continue to dry fire every other day & then next week go to 2x/week live as long as the wrist feels good. On the MD side I got my first Nook in and got it Rooted without too much trouble. I also created an on-line registration form on Practiscore for our Jul match but mistakenly selected the "pay when you register' option & when I went to edit it these fields don't appear so currently I can't figure out how to fix the form. Also need to figure out the 'on-line squadding" thing as I didn't see a way to do that ... lot's to learn here ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToddKS Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 I went with the 2 357 size in my CMore. Dot seems brighter and the 357 are readily available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GunBugBit Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 I started competing at 56 and I'm not telling myself I can't do any given thing, including make it to GM. I don't know what class I'll make it to and that's part of the fun. I'm going to try hard and enjoy the journey. I don't think 56 is very old at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimitz Posted June 22, 2015 Author Share Posted June 22, 2015 As anyone who reads any of my posts know, I'm not a big believer in the whole " he's got a lot of natural talent & that why he's a great shooter" thing. At similar ages we all have about the same physical abilities, & the differences are not anywhere near able to account for why some become great & others don't. The difference is simply 'how bad do you want it? Are you prepared to make what Lanny Bassham calls 'life changing' goals to achieve what you want? If you're not, then you have little chance to make it ... nothing wrong with that but the 'talent excuse' doesn't cut it. I'm less than 2.5% away from making GM in RFPO Steel Challenge with this being my 2nd year of full-time shooting this discipline & only a couple of months of full-time training focus on it. If it were not for my wrist surgery in April I'm pretty sure I'd have already made it & will still make it by the end of the year with open division of Steel Challenge next & then back to USPSA Production. Forget age, I picked up a gun for the first time 3 years ago at 52 ..... it's only your desire that matters ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZackJones Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 (edited) I went with the 2 357 size in my CMore. Dot seems brighter and the 357 are readily available. I'll have to remember that the next time I order some batteries for the C-More. I have 6 of the other batteries on hand now so I'll be good for a little while. Edited June 22, 2015 by ZackJones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robco Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 I started competing at 56 and I'm not telling myself I can't do any given thing, including make it to GM. I don't know what class I'll make it to and that's part of the fun. I'm going to try hard and enjoy the journey. I don't think 56 is very old at all. I started at 52, (March 2011) not in particularly good physical condition having not exercised for 15 years. But I am active, and do physical work on my ranch. Made M class in two years. Made a lot of progress in my game in the last year, but hit a wall. Finally figured out it was my poor stamina. Not that I could not run through a stage, but my mental and visual faculties definitely fade during a long shooting day at a match. Finally figured this out last month at the Oregon State championship, and started walking/jogging the next morning. In less than a week, the effects were amazing. The next weekend, I shot the Idaho Sectional, and it was a very long and hot day of shooting, and I never sagged a bit. I could have gone for many more stages! This was black and white difference and it only took me 6 days of my 3 miles a day walk/run to change it. I have only missed 4 or 5 days since I started a month ago, and most of those were match days. And not once, in the last 5 matches, have I been tired or saggy or mentally dull. SO, the point is, I finally hit a point at 56 when I could no longer coast on my good looks without doing PT work. I am sure this is very individualistic, and different for everyone. But the point remains, valid for all I believe. Chronological age does NOT have to equal our fitness age. A fit 70 year old can be MUCH "younger" than a 45 year old couch potato. And remember, being out of breath or energy is NOT the only adverse impact and effect in our sport - cognitive and visual degradation comes FIRST! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GunBugBit Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 (edited) I hear you on the stamina. After a full work day, my mental sharpness, which is needed to shoot my best (true of all of us I'm sure), along with physical steam, are fading by the 3rd stage or so. So I do exercise. Nothing extreme but I go to the gym a couple of times a week. I'm fortunate to have good access to exercise facilities. It helps. Edited June 23, 2015 by GunBugBit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimitz Posted June 29, 2015 Author Share Posted June 29, 2015 going on week 10 of my wrist surgery recovery .... while my wrist feels better every day the secondary problem I developed with my weak hand thumb still has not completely healed .... therefore I've decided to stop training all together for a week or soo to see if I can finally put it behind me .... I was planning to shoot this month's SC match on Sat but now I'm not so sure. I haven't done any live fire training other then one session ... very furstrating ... I have, however, been putting some of my new found free time to good use trying to get everything related to doing electronic scoring squared away ... I've got all the NOOKS I'll be using loaded with Practiscore & got a couple of matches listed for on-line registartion & squadding. I still plan to only run 1 squad with electronic scoring this month & then go full-up paperless starting in August. I've also learned a few things that I didn't know about SC matches like starting cone height & allowable finger starting position for rimfire .... guess I really should sit down and really read thru the rules in detail .... I still have a couple of small stage range activities to do .... I need to adjust the height of the stop plate on Smoke & Hope which is still too high and check Accelerator as well. I also need to make 3 4'x4' shooting boxes for Outer Limits since the reg ones are only 3'x3' and that's all we currently have but we won't be shooting OL until Aug so I have a little time to do that. Then I need to test out all the various procedures related to electronic scoring ... create a match, upload on-line registered shooters, squadding, syncing all NOOKs & my IPad at match start + throughout the match, etc, etc. Also need to write a set of foolproof instructions for how to score using NOOKS to include with each squad box. Once I get back to full-time training again I'll never find the time to do everything so I need to get all this squared away now ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZackJones Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 Scoring with NST's is easy stuff. Go ahead and score everyone that way instead of just one squad. Setup a dummy match at home and go through the scoring/sync process. I've had guys/gals that have never used PractiScore start using it after having them watch me score one shooter. If you run into any issues ping me. I'll provide some long distance tech support for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimitz Posted July 1, 2015 Author Share Posted July 1, 2015 will do. It's actually more a matter of not having everyone loaded since there's been no public announcement yet that we were doing this. I've had a few people register on-line but the vast majority won't for this match which means I'd have to try & get everyone loaded as they show up. Because it's 4th of July we may not have a huge turnout so I might still be able to do it. I'd love to not have to ever do paper scoring again starting Saturday! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimitz Posted July 2, 2015 Author Share Posted July 2, 2015 saw my PT for the last time today ... the wrist is doing really well .... too bad that ain't my issue any more .... can hardly wait to see what my Dr says about my thumb .... did a final grip strength check and my left hand was at a 76 lb ave for 3 measurements, up from 46 lbs 2 weeks ago and my right was at 107 lbs, roughly where it was before I stopped training 11 weeks ago .... Also decided that shooting the match Saturday is not a smart thing either so I'll just be playing non-shooting MD for the day .... joy .... assuming I get my Practiscore issues worked out at least I can just focus on making the electronic scoring work for the match Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToddKS Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 How did the scoring work out for your match? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimitz Posted July 8, 2015 Author Share Posted July 8, 2015 without a hitch ... mostly due to all the time I spent talking with Zack the couple of days prior .... . We were able to get everyone who registered 'day-of' in my IPad before start time so I just handed 1 Nook to each squad. Since I wasn't shooting I had lots of time to wander around and play around with syncing throughout the match. By the time I left the range I had 95% of the scores pulled and within 2 hrs the scores were uploaded to Practiscore & SCSA .... can't imagine ever doing paper again ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZackJones Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Another satisfied customer. You gotta love it . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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