PatJones Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Well crap. I hope you get better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermobollocks Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 Oh man, it looks like we have a non-terrible weekend coming up. With any luck Thursday or Friday I should be able to troubleshoot my trigger bar/striker block issues, and one way or the other I'll get to make some bulletholes Saturday, and maybe also Sunday. I would like to continue my progress in aggressive stage execution however I'm not entirely sure how my battered lungs are going to handle it. I was able to go to the gym without dying, but my performance was not very pleasant. Even though I consider myself "not sick," I have this lingering malaise from being a potato for a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermobollocks Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 I'm finally feeling completely unhampered by disease recovery, and able to get to the gym and do other responsible adult things unhindered. This weekend and last I had a series of fairly productive club matches.I've been shooting Limited minor with my production gun + high caps so I can work on more aggressive stage execution, and so far that has been productive. It also doesn't help that the frame I plan to use for 3-gun has been giving me trigger bar troubles that only live fire can troubleshoot. Oh well -- they're still pretty much the same gun. I am able to remember more complex stage plans, which I imagine comes from not being constrained by a reload plan. The Saturday before last, I made it out to Colorado Rifle Club for their monthly USPSA match. They put on an excellent event, however it's quite a drive from where I live, so during the summer I usually don't make it out that way. Stage 1 was slow going for me -- If I remember it well I wound up going to war on a small plate and eating a couple of no shoots. Stage 2, the classifier, was a hilarious trainwreck. I had a dodgy reload, and in the time after the reload, I kept shooting freestyle when I was supposed to be going strong hand only. I'd be mad if it weren't so funny. I even had pretty good hits and time... The third stage I was still shooting dirty as hell with 40 penalty points. Good plan, bad everything else. Stage 5 and 6 I was able to shoot cleanly and quickly, so at least that part came together. Stage 6 had a lot of turtles in odd arrangements, and a lot of shooters complained that it was a "memory" stage. I don't agree; it didn't have to be difficult unless the shooters wanted to make it difficult. There were enough landmarks going on for me to remember where I wanted to be, and it went very well. Sunday was Weld's monthly match, and that's another one I don't often visit because of the distance. I wound up getting 6/33 in Limited, roughly around some really talented people. I shot a bunch cleaner, and I think the only thing that I'd really change is the power factor forcing me to take more care to reach the A zone. The classifier I dropped 10 penalty points, but that's all right. They had a fun all-steel stage where you really had to be able to call your shots to keep from dilly-dallying. There were two shooting areas (one short, one far), and at least two targets were required from a respectable distance. I took the two required ones, then hauled butt. The forward shooting area had a couple of ports, which rewarded speedy pivot reloads. This last Saturday was the match I help work at Ben Lomond. I was able to come up with a fun stage with many options (but with reasonable breakdowns for the limited capacity people), so that's always my first priority. The first and second stages, I nailed, with no complaints other than a general idea of where certain inefficiencies (like table starts) lie. The third stage was a horrible barrel-filled monstrosity from our very own Cha-Lee, except it didn't have to break down as difficult as a lot of people thought. There was a long, skinny, horizontal shooting area and a forest of barrels obscuring a fairly wide, U shaped field of targets. Sometimes a stage like this can be memory hell, but with this one, some diligent crouching or a single slide step in each of two shooting positions made it very simple. My problem, though, was in hauling between the two widely spaced shooting positions, I forgot to put in the effort to stop, and danced out of the fault lines after my first shot. I didn't get the procedural though, which is excellent, but it was a bit of wasted enthusiasm that then sent the second half of my plan out the window. I didn't nail down the order I wanted once I slipped, and that probably cost me a bit. The third stage I earned a boatload of penalties thanks to all those white targets. My own stage was a little slow going -- I planned a very movement-centric plan, where I expected to be in certain places at certain moments, and I wound up not being able to do that quite as I would have liked. Remembering a few shooting positions might've helped, but I didn't have any major booboos. The last stage was a monster with paper targets from contact distance to like 30+ yards, and no-shoots. I still got second, but only because everyone else shot the white guys more than I did. Sunday was a dust-off-the-cobwebs club 3-gun match down at Raton, and some things I did well, others less so. I tanked the rifle stage that I should've handled handily because I didn't put together a dope sheet beforehand to match my glass. Point well taken. I also found a primer lodged behind my trigger from Friday's ammo testing session. Another point well taken. I was worried about my shotgunning so much that I forgot the very basics of how not to suck at rifle, which is a bad plan. I wound up getting a 95% on the pistol-only stage somehow -- probably all that USPSA. The pistol-only stage had some respectable ABC gongs up to about 50 yards, which weren't too tough as long as you don't freak out. I needed like one makeup shot, though, so that can always improve. From the ABC gongs, you had to haul into a canyon and engage 5 mini targets and 5 full size ones all down along a corridor, to end on a single mini target at about 10 yards distance. My shooting while moving on those wide-open targets, even at 10-ish yards, was just fine. I wouldn't do that if I had to hit A-zones though, but neutralization scoring allowed me to employ the aggression I'd been practicing. The shotgun stage felt like a disaster, but I evidently didn't screw up as much as I thought I did. I had a few places where I forgot where targets were, and I missed some aerials. Maybe IC instead of LM would have helped, and maybe not sucking at shotgun would help more. The good news is my 930 keeps on chugging, and I got some slug practice in Friday as well, which meant the 5 40-100 yard slug targets were cake. That stage I got about a 78% due to the wasted time I think. The third stage was strong/weak standards, and that one I had a hiccup where I wasn't 100% solid on what all the targets were. After the strong handed pistol portion I asked "hey is that clay a pistol target?" It was! So I got it strong hand in one shot, at like 15 yards. I'm okay with that. From there was some strong and weak shoulder rifle shooting, and I never do weak shoulder, so I had a buttload of makeups. Last was strong and weak shotgunning, which I was more comfortable with, and I think I handled well. We also had a Monday night USPSA match at the indoor range here, but I honestly don't remember what I did or how well I did it. I blame work. This next weekend I've finally gotten my butt into a level 1 RO class, so hopefully I'll learn more about how to run a good match and keep all our lovely competitors free from bulletholes. I may also be able to do some troubleshooting and chronographing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatJones Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 You in the class @ centennial? I'll be there if they hold it, I guess the instructor has been under the weather. Are you bringing a revolver to screw everyone up on their range commands? I'm undecided as to what gear I'm bringing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermobollocks Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 Damn it, I should. Screw it, I'll even clean my pink Racemaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatJones Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 You have a pink race master? Sweet. 45 or .38? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermobollocks Posted March 25, 2015 Author Share Posted March 25, 2015 (edited) It'd be .38, but it's a moot point since it just got postponed. That leaves Aurora tomorrow and practice Sunday. I've also been looking at my gun-related wishlist -- 1. Fix the trigger bar on my Limited frame 2. Get some Dawsons 3. Get some replacement mag + gut springs 4. Find my 17 pound recoil spring I have fixed 2-4 with money and I should be able to fix #1 on Sunday. Edited March 25, 2015 by thermobollocks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d_striker Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 That leaves Aurora tomorrow and practice Sunday. Do you have a time machine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatJones Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Well, I'll be at Aurora Saturday too. See you there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermobollocks Posted March 25, 2015 Author Share Posted March 25, 2015 (edited) That leaves Aurora tomorrow and practice Sunday. Do you have a time machine? I would prefer for Wednesday through Friday to not happen therefore I choose to believe tomorrow is Saturday Well, I'll be at Aurora Saturday too. See you there. Rocking the single stack? Edited March 25, 2015 by thermobollocks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatJones Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Yup. Single stack thru the Pueblo qualifier next month then back to the round gun thru the rocky mountain 300. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermobollocks Posted March 25, 2015 Author Share Posted March 25, 2015 I owe the Pueblo MD a throwback match, so it'll be the 92FS in leather. If work doesn't crap in my Cheerios I can load some Single Stack ammo... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermobollocks Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 I was able to get the Dawson front into my M&P, and for now I'm sticking with the .140 rear. The brightness makes a huge difference, and I definitely dig having more daylight around the front post to resolve a sight picture on 20 yard knockdowns. Sunday I was able to try out that setup on one of Cha-Lee's devious practice stages, although I stuck to Production instead of my 3-gun setup. It was a fairly harsh reminder that I can't dick around on my reloads, and that I need an exceptional amount of multitasking ability to shoot aggressively, remember my positions, and feed the gun. I also ran into my old problem of not being able to shoot aggressively at _all_ when I have only one or two makeups available rather than a bunch. I'm not entirely sure what to do about that other than ask the RO to slap me between the shoulderblades when he hits the buzzer. My brief adventure in limited major is probably winding down -- The way I shoot, I do not seem to gain much from the added power factor. Maybe a year from now that might change, but that's all right. I'm also getting ready to knock the dust bunnies off my Single Stack gun that I use for He-Man (and ditch its stupid night sights). I had a lot more fun than I remember shooting it in practice, even though tracking the sights was still like trying to watch toilet paper swirl around in the bowl. I also have some arts and crafts ahead of me getting together some magazine carriers -- the 4-up Bladetech is a pain in the butt, and I killed one of my Production ones. But I have a pretty sweet open-front adjustable retention model in mind. I only have to nail down the belt mount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermobollocks Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 Ha haaa, twice in a row at this particular club my optic took a dump. The first time was because I didn't have the mount tightened, and this time something's gone all rattly on the inside, producing a big black blob across the center of the reticle. I get to print off a return form for Burris and draw a big ol' angry face at their flagship product dying less than 1000 rounds/10 dump buckets in, then go zero the MTAC sometime. Or just buy one of those new "advanced" PA dots and shoot Limited. Tomorrow is a local USPSA match. Since I've got the ammo for it and I need to unscrew myself for He-Man at the end of May anyway, I'm going to shoot Single Stack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatJones Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 See you tomorrow with the skinny gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermobollocks Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 That was weeeird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatJones Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 What was weird? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermobollocks Posted April 6, 2015 Author Share Posted April 6, 2015 The skinny gun. I had a very hard time because it turns out this nasty ammo's smoke is the same color as the dots on my sights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatJones Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Get some Dawson sights on there and you'll be happier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermobollocks Posted April 21, 2015 Author Share Posted April 21, 2015 Hmm, what have I been doing lately? We had a couple of local matches that didn't get weathered out over the past couple weeks. First, in the Single Stack department, I am trying to up my general familiarity of the gun so I don't have to remember as hard the steps to do what I need to do. Doing that means that I don't lose my gains in the stage planning/execution department. So far in USPSA I've succeeded in that regard. I need to continue improving so that I will be useful at Raton, since that venue has a way of making you forget how to shoot well. I've also brought my .22 rifles out to a couple of Wednesday night Steel Challenge matches, which are a lot of fun. I hit a 2.22 on the plate rack, just by pressing the trigger when the dot goes on the plate. Funny how the simplest plans work the best I'm coming for DocMedic! In the past few 3-gun matches, my AR continues to poop itself and roll around in it. This time, it was my shiny XTRII hotness, which has turned into a maraca. I get to send it to Burris and hope they take care of it. On top of that I got some wicked FTRBs that may be gas tube related, so I'll have to fiddle with that. The good news is the FAL/MTAC combo proves reliable, if not particularly soft, light, or pleasant smelling, and I managed to win heavy scope division in Sunday's club 3-gun match, which is small, but nifty. I also remembered that even if the illumination isn't day-bright, it helps for contrast against targets in the shadows, so I should probably bring batteries for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermobollocks Posted May 18, 2015 Author Share Posted May 18, 2015 The month of May is very busy for me. In addition to making sure I remember how to shoot a 1911 and trying to figure out why my lightweight AR died, I have three major matches. They're relatively local, and I'm staff on two of them. The most recent was co-exprs very own Shooters Source Shotgun Challenge last weekend, which went very well. Despite my lack of regimented practice, I did manage to improve since last year. I was looking forward to seeing how I compare against the same high pump division scores -- last year I was 70% of Jansen Jones, now I'm 77%. This match I accomplished a few things, namely screwing up fewer times and less severely than I'm used to. My ammo management and shotgun stage planning has also improved, and I was able to use an IC choke to put everything down as opposed to mod, but I would still like to work on shooting on the move. Stage 1 was a fairly unique combination of static plates and thrown clays: 8 were on automated throwers with a timing sequence. The first 4 came 3 seconds apart, then you had a 6 second pause, and then the second 4 came 3 seconds apart. A perfect score was possible if the shooter could down all of the plates while keeping the gun fed between aerials, but that's an extremely tall order in the limited-capacity divisions. I had a super awesome plan to use my old school weak hand carriers to feed singles in between clays, then I completely forgot about it and just started scanning the sky for birds. Stages 2 and 3 kind of ran together -- I don't remember which was which. I think 3 involved a decrepit old pickup you had to sit in, a Texas star, and a spinner. I brought out the 1300 fps 1-1/8 oz sporting clay ammo so I could be sure to spin it, and that helped a tiny bit. It wasn't necessary, but it helped with my confidence and I was no worse for the wear on recoil control. Moving around with a 11 round mag tube was TOUGH, as was keeping it fed and remembering where I was. My clumsiness and lack of aggression earned me a 53%. If I remember which one was 2, it had a single long shooting area with two pedals at each end, which activated overhead thrown clays. I did all right with them, but foot activators always make me feel so clumsy when I have to stomp on a thing, then get back into a decent position to bust them. The spots in between were straightforward: Feed the gun, knock down some plates, feed the gun, and do a clay spinner. 4 was a gully/assault stage, except it had 3 shooting areas instead of a single path. This was also the stage that I worked for the main match, and it had an extremely tight muzzle restriction due to the angle of the path and the access roads/trap houses. But, it had to be tight otherwise people get shot in the face. The clay kickers were no big deal, and I was able to effectively take down targets while the kickers were activating, and also not miss the clays. The stage rewarded foot speed, so once I reloaded the number of shells I wanted, I had to haul ass to the next shooting area. That stage I got a 77: More aggressive movement while reloading may have helped, as well as raw pump mechanics. 5 was another corridor-style stage, and I definitely didn't keep the gun fed or advance as aggressively as others. At the very end of it, it also had a couple of foot-activated throwers that came directly at the position, which I'm not used to shooting. I have a tough time leading the target if the barrel is obscuring it. 6, if I remember correctly, was a T-shaped shooting area that would allow you to shoot certain slug targets/static clay arrays through certain ports, or allow you to shoot underneath a few of the walls. My plan was to find the position where I could see everything and simply hose stuff down, then finish it off with slugs, but I miscalculated how deep into the position I needed to go and fumbled around scraping my ass in the dirt like a dog. Ass scraping is only good for 64%. 7 was HARD. There was a large U shaped shooting area with a large off-limit zone in the middle. Coming up with a plan was challenging, and executing it was even more challenging. I think my lack of expectations actually helped me. I figured I was going to eat a hot fart sandwich, so I might as well just remember my plan and shoot the targets. The right side had 4 clays, a spinner, and 2 popper-activated clay kickers, and the middle of the no-go zone had a plate rack. The left shooting area had 3 more clays then two slug swingers on a stomp plate. I successfully advanced down the right shooting area, downed the 4 clays and plate rack, loaded up with my Sporting Clays ammo, turned the spinner with Mod (it was about 15 to 20y away from where I was, since I was hanging back), then hauled ass to the left side of the course, all the way around the U. I selected about the least efficient carry method possible. I had it behind my back in my pumping arm, which made running kind of awkward, but I made it. My plan was to change hands and run with the thing in front of me like a spear. I managed to hit 85% with this course. 8 and 9 I kind of mix up -- 1 had a breaching door with a clay target as the "opener," and another side of the area littered with barrels, but you had to start downrange. My plan was to remember the 3 spots to stand in the barrel cluster, down the plates, then crank through the 5 static clays on the right side, then the door, then stack up with slugs and take the 6-ish slug targets, including a clamshell that would give you about a second worth of engagement time on a wide-open turtle target, or however you like against the requisite 25% of A-zone. I chose the latter and it worked. The other stage had a sort of scalloped looking arrangement of knockdown plates and kickers, then a couple of swinging slug targets at the end. On 8 I hit 67%, but on 9 I hit 92%, which makes me happy. Stage 10 had some long-range slugs, then a fairly wide open area with an assortment of knockdowns and kickers. I would love to have seen more than 3 80 yard slug plates in the match, but that's probably diving into "evil bastard" territory for most shooters. I managed 79% on that one, and I imagine I have a bunch to make up in the 'move while reloading' skill. Next weekend I will be shooting the level 2 steel challenge match in Pueblo with iron sight revolver, which knocks off one of my goals for the year, then getting some last minute long range practice with the FAL at the Pueblo tactical rifle match. After that, He-Man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d_striker Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 (edited) Did you see you're #1 in A-class revolver? Although, I hear that there are only about 120 shooters that shoot Revolver in USPSA. Just kidding, nice work. http://www.uspsa.org/top20.php Edited June 13, 2015 by d_striker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thermobollocks Posted June 13, 2015 Author Share Posted June 13, 2015 Heheh, thanks. That 84% keeps staring at me, when I do finally hit the round gun in earnest again I need to be Johnny on-the-spot. Until then, I still get to play with the autoloaders. The Steel Challenge match was more to fulfill a wishlist item/finally shoot that particular match worth a damn. I skipped last year and the year before that DNF'd. This time I was 2nd revo out of something like 6, at 96% of Alan from Machine Gun Tours. It was close -- probably the difference between being on the spot and not on my Steel game. He-Man was fun as always. This year was a bit odd because almost all (if not all) of the pistol starts were unloaded. This messed with me pretty thoroughly since it already sucks counting to 10 without having to screw around with slide lock reloads. I'm not fond of this arrangement -- it's already incumbent upon me to select and maintain a holster so I don't drop my gun, but whatever. This time I made my goal of doing better than last year (about median rather than bottom 10%), even though something in my rifle took a poop. My accuracy took a massive dive even after I tightened down my optics mount, so I should make sure I have that sorted out. Just kidding, I get to mothball the .308 for another 10 months and then try to figure out how to put together an AR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d_striker Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 You need to bust out the M&P and start getting ready for Mile High. I'll probably hit the steel match again next wednesday to get ready for all of the plates you guys are going to put up at Mile High. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocMedic Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 (edited) Offer still stands, you're more then welcome to use my G2 next year, no reason to fight a weapon system that is just not accurate. Edited June 19, 2015 by DocMedic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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