saibot Posted November 10, 2013 Author Share Posted November 10, 2013 Match (11.9.13) I made it out to Albany to shoot the USPSA match out there. It was a ton of fun and we had a really good squad. Unfortunately we started on the classifier stage and I ran the first on pretty conservatively which turned out to be a good thing since the two (yep...two) reshoots were much faster but had barricade hits. Even so, this one should take me to B class, but we'll see. The dry fire seems to be helping out but I'm still moving too slow and not shooting the instant I'm in position. My reloads were nothing like what I'm capable of which is a little strange. Like my mind keeps running the old "reload program." But overall I'm pretty happy with how I did at the match and didn't make any big mistakes. My hits on steel were better than they usually are as well as my shots while leaning around a wall. And although not A's, all of my shots were hits on the swingers and drop turners. Getting there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saibot Posted November 12, 2013 Author Share Posted November 12, 2013 Dry fire (11.11.13) I spent about 45 minutes in total tonight working on my draw and running drills. My friend had me look at my backstrap while mounting the gun and I wound up using a different starting position and using my middle finger to begin my index, having it slide up my holster and "flinging" my thumb round the backstrap. My draw is usually around 1.2 seconds on a good day but we got it down to .90 in dry fire so I'm excited to see where I can take it. If I can keep it near that consistently in live fire that's going to be a big step for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saibot Posted November 13, 2013 Author Share Posted November 13, 2013 Dry fire (11.12.13) I did about an hour and a half of dry fire tonight and felt dang fast. My cold "benchmark stages" were going better than my warmed up times, I think due to my new draw. My 2 on 3, reload, 2 on 3 drill is typically done just under 5 seconds and I got it down to 4 seconds flat before getting tired and needing to bump up a little. Smoking fast for me! Did the Ben Stoeger Plate rack drill and his shooting on the move easy and found some smooth ways to move while shooting. Left to right is much faster than right to left for some reason, but still not too bad. Finished up with a couple of dry fire stages that were smoking fast, but I started missing a lot of reloads since I'm really beat. Ahh, progress! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saibot Posted November 16, 2013 Author Share Posted November 16, 2013 Dry fire (11.15.13) I spent about 1.5 hours dry firing tonight getting ready for a 3 Gun Nation classifier match tomorrow. I haven't touched an AR in a month or so and I think it's probably been 4 - 5 months since I touched the SLP. I thought I'd better practice my shotgun loading since I sucked at it when I practiced it more regularly, so... We'll see how it goes. I did work on the pistol most of the time and not getting to practice for a couple of days (flying for work, no pistol) really shows. I can't believe how fast pistol skill decay. Trying to hit my normal par times had me missing the targets way too much. Must...call...shots... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saibot Posted November 17, 2013 Author Share Posted November 17, 2013 BTW, I posted about the vision exercises on my blog and put all of OAK's posts/picture into a PDF that might be easier to read/save. A Second Look At Vision Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saibot Posted November 17, 2013 Author Share Posted November 17, 2013 Match (11.16.13) Yesterday's multigun match was a 3 Gun Nation classifier match at our local club. As luck would have it, I just received my 3GN card in the mail the day before so I was ready to get my classification out of the way. I arrived a little early to check my rifle's zero since it's been a while since it's be used as well as check out the zero of my G34's new taller front sight. After a little adjustment to both they were good to go. The match started off well and although rusty on the long guns, everything went pretty well and I didn't miss a shot the entire day with with either of them. I called every shot and took my time and got my hits. On the pistol I was moving faster than I can shoot and wasn't call my shots at all. Not surprising considering my dry fire to live fire ratio right now. Still, not a disaster. I had one FTN which is a 5 second penalty and didn't go one for one on some smaller pepper poppers, which is probably a second per. I've really been working on having the gun up and ready to break the shot the instant I enter the position/box and looking at the video of the match I'm doing much better than I used to do. I did notice that it does take me forever to get started though. I need to get mounted and start shooting much sooner than I'm doing. I can shave off seconds per stage fixing that. Now, the worst part; I DQ'd on the last stage. I was almost too embarrassed to even post about it, but I'm pretty transparent about my shooting so here it is. It was the perfect storm. I changed around some gear for this match and moved my holster from my super stiff AA belt to an older floppier CR Speed belt that allowed it to move more latterly. As you all might remember, the Glock I'm shooting and all of it's accessories are new. I had put grip tape on it's grip and the side of it's frame initially but wound up removing it. The tension of the holster was initially set with the grip tape on it and I never thought to readjust it once the tape was removed causing it to be a little looser than it should be. So on the last stage I started off with the rifle, tabled it and exploded toward the shotgun. Looking at the video in slo-mo you can see the combination of the way I moved with the flop of the holster drove the pistol up about half way out of the holster. When I decelerated in the next box to pick up the shotgun I snapped 90 degrees and that was the final bit if inertia it needed to come out and fall to the ground. The RO stopped me the instant it came out and handled the entire situation perfectly. And that fast, my day was over and my DQ was issued. I was (am) mortified and couldn't get out of there fast enough. When it comes to safety I'm a real stickler and here I am dropping a gun. It's quite a blow to my ego to be honest. I'm just glad the Glock is designed well and should never be able to go off from being dropped. Now out to the garage to triple check and test all of my equipment... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saibot Posted November 18, 2013 Author Share Posted November 18, 2013 Dry fire (11.17.13) Tonight was one of those weird nights where you're just not on. My draw felt hidious and the sights weren't lining up. I was missing reloads, etc. So I just slowed it down and worked on my draw and reloads. My draw just wasn't there tonight. I need to refine it a bit more, but I figured out in the past, nights like this, it's best to just stop. I think you do more damage than good when you press on when you're off. So I just cleaned up my workbench, pulled the stack of dud bullets that have been piling up, and got the 1050 running again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saibot Posted November 19, 2013 Author Share Posted November 19, 2013 Dry fire (11.18.13) I'm glad I hung it up early last night, like I thought, better to give it a break some times. Tonight I worked on the basics for almost an hour. Just draws and reloads, draws and reloads, draws and reloads. Ran through my "benchmark" stages with probably the best times ever. I think it's do to my index being spot on after all of the draw practice. Just coming up on the precise spot you're looking without trying to correct things during a draw and after every reload really adds up quickly. Practiced shooting on the move a little and called it a night. Great night of dry fire! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saibot Posted November 20, 2013 Author Share Posted November 20, 2013 Dry fire (11.19.13) Building on last night's successes I spent an hour dry firing starting with my draws. I really wanted to get my draws fast and with the perfect index like I had last night but it just wasn't as good as it was last night. Funny how I vary in performance each day. I did a lot of reloading and noticed that I don't consistently get the index grip on the magazine that I need which is probably why, in part, my reloads aren't 100%. I also noticed that I need to decelerate a little bit sooner so I have a chance to fix my alignment, otherwise I just slam the mag into the magwell. Ran a couple of stages, some transition drills and the Stoeger A drills. Finished up with some shooting on the move before my wrist started to bug me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emjei Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 (edited) I have a question and I know I can probably find an answer in a search area but since I'm following your journal maybe you can answer me correctly what you mean by indexing the gun? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2 Edited November 20, 2013 by emjei Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saibot Posted November 20, 2013 Author Share Posted November 20, 2013 I have a question and I know I can probably find an answer in a search area but since I'm following your journal maybe you can answer me correctly what you mean by indexing the gun? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2 Sure thing! When I mention indexing in this context I'm referring to looking at a spot on the target that I want to hit, then drawing to that exact point. It's a beautiful thing when it's working properly and the front sight just appears in that precise spot, ready for the shot to break without any correction. It's also very fast since I can break the shot the instant I extend my draw rather than extending, correcting, then firing. I hope I'm explaining that well, but that's what I'm talking about when I mention index. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emjei Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 Perfect answer....thanks !!!! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saibot Posted November 21, 2013 Author Share Posted November 21, 2013 Dry fire (11.20.13) The draw refinement continues. Did close to 2 billion (slight exaggeration) draws, starting really slow and speeding up to the edge of my control zone. I really want to the sights to just always be there when I draw. Worked a little on reloads and then ran some scorching times on my "benchmark" stages. Worked on transitions and mostly covered targets. A little El Prez action then a little shooting on the move for good measure. Called it a little early to work on the 1050 which I think I have running again. Looking forward to my class with OragamiAK this weekend! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emjei Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Still shooting with Glock ?? You miss the MP ?? Im the other way around Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saibot Posted November 22, 2013 Author Share Posted November 22, 2013 Still shooting with Glock ?? You miss the MP ?? Im the other way around Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2 I REALLY like my M&P Pro. I think in a lot of ways it's a superior pistol. I think you can do more to it and still keep it reliable then you can the Glock. I like just about everything better about the M&P except how it sits in my hand. I could never get it to consistently index for me and have a harder time hitting the mag release than the Glock. But the ergonomics of my hand the Gen 4 G34 are so much better for me that I cannot imagine going back to the M&P. In fact, I'm just about to put it up for sale in the forums. Saving up for an Open gun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emjei Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 Still shooting with Glock ?? You miss the MP ?? Im the other way around Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2 I REALLY like my M&P Pro. I think in a lot of ways it's a superior pistol. I think you can do more to it and still keep it reliable then you can the Glock. I like just about everything better about the M&P except how it sits in my hand. I could never get it to consistently index for me and have a harder time hitting the mag release than the Glock. But the ergonomics of my hand the Gen 4 G34 are so much better for me that I cannot imagine going back to the M&P. In fact, I'm just about to put it up for sale in the forums. Saving up for an Open gun! Agree 100% ...... I shoot low with the PRO I get a better natural point of aim with the G17 . But my PRO is better looking specially by being two tone.....lol Back to the journal !!!! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrigamiAK Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 I have a question and I know I can probably find an answer in a search area but since I'm following your journal maybe you can answer me correctly what you mean by indexing the gun? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2 Sure thing! When I mention indexing in this context I'm referring to looking at a spot on the target that I want to hit, then drawing to that exact point. It's a beautiful thing when it's working properly and the front sight just appears in that precise spot, ready for the shot to break without any correction. It's also very fast since I can break the shot the instant I extend my draw rather than extending, correcting, then firing. I hope I'm explaining that well, but that's what I'm talking about when I mention index. I love index! A developed index ability is, to me, the essential core of the gun being like an extension of your hand. Dry fire (11.20.13) The draw refinement continues. Did close to 2 billion (slight exaggeration) draws, starting really slow and speeding up to the edge of my control zone. I really want to the sights to just always be there when I draw. Worked a little on reloads and then ran some scorching times on my "benchmark" stages. Worked on transitions and mostly covered targets. A little El Prez action then a little shooting on the move for good measure. Called it a little early to work on the 1050 which I think I have running again. Looking forward to my class with OragamiAK this weekend! From my elbows to yours, take it easy enough to skip the tendinitis... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saibot Posted November 24, 2013 Author Share Posted November 24, 2013 Good advice, OAK! I actually took two days off to let them settle down so I could shoot all weekend with you! Great class today, BTW. Shooting with both eyes open really makes a big difference with me. I wish I didn't need the tape on my glasses, but baby steps. I could really see my sights tracking on almost every shot today. The transition drills were the only time I was having a hard time tracking the sights and it showed. I was getting shots outside of the A zone on the side closest to the other target. Gripping the heck out of the gun really helped, too. I really had a great day of "seeing." Looking forward to tomorrow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saibot Posted November 25, 2013 Author Share Posted November 25, 2013 Gabe's Class Day 2 (11.24.13) Wow! Another great day of training with Gabe. Pretty much a day devoted to shooting on the move which was a very weak point for me and by the end of today I was reliably running and hitting things along the way, sometimes even shooting with one hand. And shooting with both eyes open is the bee's knees. I can't believe it took me so long to get started, but the tape on the glasses was a great way to kick start that process. Two full days of it was a great plan to "convert." I did a quick draw after clearing my G34 to put it in the safe and noticed that I was front sight focused and "shooting" with both eyes WITHOUT the tape! Thanks, Gabe! I'll get an AAR up soon as I get a little time to hammer it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emjei Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 Any videos of that training ??? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saibot Posted November 25, 2013 Author Share Posted November 25, 2013 Any videos of that training ??? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2 I did take quite a bit of video and will be getting some of it up as soon as I have a chance to encode and post it somewhere. I'll leave you with these two, not from me, but really funny of Gabe doing the Miami Vice shootout video. Original PACT Timer video Gabe: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saibot Posted November 26, 2013 Author Share Posted November 26, 2013 Dry fire (11.25.13) I spent about 45 minutes dry firing tonight but wanted to take it easy and not over exert my wrist/elbow since I was really feeling sore today. I wanted to work on an issue Gabe noticed in class where I extend out on my draw and get a bobble at the end. I tried to decelerate the push out but found it's harder to do than you think. I also noticed that I was shutting an eye so I busted out the glasses and tape and got back to work with both eyes open. I ran my "benchmark" stages and really just worked on draws and reloads. I did some transition drills and a little shooting on the move and wrapped up early so I could sort some brass and get my gear back in order from this weekend. I'm toying with shooting an IDPA match this weekend but we'll see. Not my favorite of the shooting sports and I don't practice drawing from concealment. But shooting is always better than not shooting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrigamiAK Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 Thanks for all the kind words. I look forward to reading your AAR and any positive and negative comments. You did an excellent job in class. The effort you have been putting into dry fire was clearly evident. There was something I read in Practical Shooting: Beyond Fundamentals that I think speaks to the vibration/hard stop at the end of the draw. Having an idea, an intention, of 'floating the gun' in the last few inches of the draw may help bring it to a smoother stop. Even just having an intention or desire of smoothly stopping the gun might let your body give you what you want, even without specific and conscious muscular effort. It's worth a try. You could also modify the intention of 'seeing the sights on target' to 'seeing the sights smoothly gliding to a stop on target.' Might be another way of doing the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saibot Posted November 27, 2013 Author Share Posted November 27, 2013 Dry fire (11.26.13) Good advice as usual, Gabe. I spent some time working on my draw and trying to "float" it out there to prevent the bobble at full extension. During the many reps tonight I found that If I pull the gun strait out of the holster, or at least thought of it like that, it set me up for a much smoother draw. I really worked on not moving anything that didn't need to move and as with many things in shooting, the perception of time is flat out wrong. Being relaxed and stress free keeps things efficient and the time doesn't lie. Just watch Matt Burkett's draw. It is super smooth and fast, while looking slow. I also worked on my reloads a while and realized that I don't need to roll the pistol towards the magazine so much and more often than not the mags went in like butter. I then worked on my transitions, shooting on the move, and one of the Ben Stoeger dry fire drills. I noticed that the last time I did it my par time was 3.2 seconds and it was 2.6 tonight. Progress! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saibot Posted November 27, 2013 Author Share Posted November 27, 2013 For those who were interested in the class I attended with OrigamiAK (Gabe White), here is a little write up I did after taking the class last weekend. http://www.recoilsports.com/2013/11/defensive-handgun-with-gabriel-white-aar/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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