Moltke's Range Diary

[Moltke]

13 March 2015

After sleeping in, I got a coffee from Starbucks and lit up a fresh maduro cigar on my drive out to the range. What a great way to start the day!

For those who don't know, Echo Valley Training Center is 2 hours from my house but since it was the first beautiful sunny day we've had in a while, I was excited to make the drive. Actually I like driving when 1) there's no traffic 2) country music's playing and 3) I have a cigar. Once I get to Echo I realize that I'm the only person on the grounds so after unloading my car, I start blasting the radio. Why not!

1) The rifle. I decided to start my practice with my rifle and first confirmed zero at 100 yards with my burner ammo, PMC 223. The 5rd group is 3 inches high and 1 inch to the right using the Vortex Razor JM-1's 200 yard crosshair. Is that correct? No, so I center the group on paper at 100 before I did anything else. Then I unloaded the gun and got the new parts. I had recently bought a low mass parts system in order to further reduce recoil from my rifle, but haven't tested it out because the gas system on my Colt CRP 18 Pro was stuck in the "fully open" position. My gunsmith disassembled the gas block for me and cleaned it so thankfully it was working again. I installed the JP Low Mass BCG and the lightest spring from the JP Silent Captured Spring kit (5 springs in all). Okay, time to "fine tune" the gun...

I started by turning the gas system all the way down, which if you're using the proprietary gas block from Bold Ideas you should know that it does not fully close the gas system as my bolt was still partially cycling (not enough to eject/extract the spent casing but it was still moving - unlike my Noveske switchblock). Anyway, I turned the gas all the way down, inserted a magazine with 1rd, chambered, fired, and as expected it didn't lock to the rear. So I turned the gas up a little and tried again. Nope. So I turned the gas up more and finally got it to lock to the rear. After finding the right adjustment to get the bolt locking to the rear, I decided that it didn't quite "feel right" because the buffer spring felt like it was bottoming out in the in buffer tube. So I swapped the lightest spring in the JP kit for the heaviest spring in the JP kit.

*** I don't claim to know what I'm doing with spring weights, buffer weights, amounts of gas, or reduced bolt carriers but the lightest spring felt like it was bottoming out and hammering the gun; and I know the heavier spring would prevent that and soak up more energy so that’s why I chose it. Currently the heavy spring is what's in the gun but I'm willing to adjust as needed if someone can explain to me why I should do this or that. Thinking about it abstractly makes me think that using the spring that comes closest to bottoming out but doesn't is the ideal setup by dispersing the energy over a longer distance (/time) however this is just my supposition.***

With the heaviest spring in the gun, now it didn't lock to the rear however with a quick gas adjustment, I found the sweet spot again. Even with a little more gas I couldn't tell the difference while shooting so ... good enough! Or so I thought... I chose to use PMC 223 because this was my slowest velocity ammunition and I figured that therefore it would be the right one to tune the gas system with. It turns out that my accurized match grade load Stillwood 69gr Steadfast is softer and wouldn't lock the bolt to the rear, so a few more gas adjustments had to be made. Currently the gas system sits at about 80% open with the heavy spring in the gun, and it locks to the rear with both the ammo's I'm going to use in competition.

Soon I will compare a stock CRP 18 Pro with Vortex scope shooting PMC 223 (setup exactly like my gun) to my gun with the low mass parts in order to see and feel the difference. With all other things being equal it should be easy to come to a conclusion about whether the $500 spent on this low mass stuff is really an upgrade or did I just get suckered into marketing?

2) The shotgun. While I was driving out to Echo Valley I stopped by two Walmarts and a Gander Mountain for some Remington Slugger's but found none! Actually only a 5rd box of the 1560 FPS load, and nothing else. Bummer. I like to keep slugs on hand and practice with them occasionally because slug shooting has been something that I'm not great at. In fact, that’s what I have a fully adjustable BOMAR style rear sight dovetailed into my Versamax's vent rib, with the thinnest front fiber that HiViz makes. I came out today with the intention of zeroing the gun for slugs using a Mod choke (tightest I run in 3 gun) at 50 yards and thankfully I had a few slugs to do it with.

Since I didn't know where I was going to hit at 50 yards, I did what I usually do and brought the target in close. Starting at 25 yards I shot a 3rd group and it was DFC on the bullseye. Okay, great!! So I moved it out to 50 yards.... And it was high by about 6 inches... wow. After adjusting my sights and bottoming them out in the dovetail I fired another 3rd group. This group was low so I split the difference of the previous adjustment and move it back up a few clicks. Another 3 rd group and I was generally centered but it was getting hard to tell with giant holes punched through the cardboard. (Thank god I shot rifle first or I never would have found those .223 sized holes!) Finally I moved the target out to 75 yards and fired my remaining few slugs and as expected they were everywhere - high, low, left, right, but they were all on paper at least.

(You're going to see that I am never happy with my zero's and I'm always confirming / tweaking / adjusting / or otherwise practicing benchrest bullseye shooting with each gun. I really truly believe that knowing your zero on a pistol / shotgun / or rifle is the single most important aspect of accurate shooting, and that many people overlook it because 3 gun is an "action sport". When the targets are big enough or close enough then okay, you can be sloppy with your zero and still get the hits you need, but when the shooting gets hard understanding your zero really matters. I'm always looking to see if I can do it a little better, shoot a little tighter group, check how "on" my zero really is with each gun, and KNOW where my bullets are going downrange with each and every trigger pull.)

Edited March 16, 2015 by Moltke

[Moltke]

14 March 2015

After a successful day of shooting on Friday, I decided to go back out on Saturday to Echo Valley because I knew I wouldn't be able to find a place to shoot at Peacemaker with the USCA 2-Gun match & IDPA going on. I showed up in the pouring rain to Echo Valley and as I drove in the rain stopped, the clouds opened up, and for 5 hours I was shooting unopposed by weather. Perfect. Today's training was about fast action shooting with the pistol and shotgun since I haven't done it in so long. I wanted a drill that was low round count, high intensity, moderate accuracy, really pushed speed, something that would get me back banging away at things fast.

I decided to set up my auto poppers in the far corners of the bay, 2 in the left corner and 2 in the right, with a full size IPSC right in the center. I setup a barricade with fault lines on the left and right and started on the far left. 1 rd in the chamber of the shotgun at port arms, pistol hot and holstered, quad load 4 shells, shoot the left autos, move around the barricade minding my 180, and engage the 2nd pair of auto poppers as soon as I crossed the fault line. And I mean "as soon as" I crossed the fault line. Then drew the pistol and hammered the IPSC with 2rds as fast as possible. Very short but intense drill that required just enough footwork to make it difficult.

Since I'm currently borrowing a CZ Tactical Sport from Alma Cole (congrats on Team Sig buddy!), I had to get used to the pistol. So I wanted to shoot it hard and fast because shooting it accurately is easy. The sights look good, the trigger is light and short, but damn if that frame safety doesn't cut into my hand. Ignoring it as best I could I continued to shoot that CZ hard and fast all day, with different grips and techniques but it cut a nice hole in my hand. It is the more accurate, heavier, easier trigger gun of the two I'm currently borrowing but if I can't get it working for me then I'm going to put it down because I don't want this hole in my hand getting bigger. Currently I'm figuring out what I can do about that but this weekend I plan on shooting the crap out of the MP 9 Pro that I'm borrowing from Kevin McPhee as a comparison. What gun can I run faster? What gun is easier to make the hard shots with?

We shall see...

[Moltke]

20 March 2015

Today I drove out to Peacemaker in Glengary WV for some rifle shooting. My goal was to get my rifle zero as "perfect" as possible using match grade rifle ammo - Stillwood 69gr Steadfast. This ammo shot .75 MOA last year from my clean rifle with a 16x scope off a benchrest however with my 6x Vortex I only ever shot 1 MOA with it and that was the best of my groups. Usually I shoot a little looser groups because I'm doing something wrong like moving around, jerking the trigger, my eyes aren't seeing the target well enough, the gun is filthy f*#king dirty (always) but whatever the case may be I use Stillwood 69gr Steadfast for a bunch of reasons -

1) it meets my accuracy requirements (1 MOA or better)

2) it matches the JM-1 velocity very closely

3) it shoots soft, very noticeably soft

4) its priced really well at .50/rd direct from Stillwood

The fact that it matches my JM-1 reticle hash marks so closely is a huge bonus. The JM-1 reticle has a 200 yard crosshair with descending hash marks at 300, 400, 500 and 600. At 300 and 400 yards the Stillwood velocity is dead on, but then afterwards the bullet is just a little slow. This means the bullet is impacting just under the hash marks instead of exactly where they intersect. From 0-400 yards, every sight picture is dead center, and beyond 400 yards I use a "top of plate" hold. It’s a sloppy way to shoot long range but it's actually quite fast, predictable, and reliable. If you know your bullet is going to impact just below the hash mark but not so low you're going to be "off target" then by holding that hash mark at the top of the plate you're going to be "on target" somewhere - and a hit... is a hit. Unless there's a 2 MOA target past 400 yards, my Colt CRP-18 Pro rifle with Vortex Razor JM-1 reticle and Stillwood 69gr Steadfast makes long range easy..... and if there is a 2 MOA target past 400 yards then I'd say that target is pretty unreasonable because most shooters won't hit it on a good day from a benchrest - let alone on match day, on the clock, under pressure. That's something that belongs in DMR and Sniper matches but whatever...

So anyway, after about 100rds of Stillwood through a dirty gun with bad eyes and being out of practice, I was not happy with my performance... but I also wasn't surprised. My groups were 4 inches at 200 yards (2 MOA damnit!!) which is considerably larger than I'd like it to be, but it was centered. I verified that the 300 yard hash mark was hitting the smallest 300 yard steel plate, and then headed home. I need more time behind the rifle if I'm going to be ready for the matches I have coming up soon. With the snow melting I wasn't interested in fast action practice because the range was a mud hole but at least I came out and did what I needed to do for the day. I hope to have some more rifle practice between now and Tarheel in mid-April but the bigger problem is my lack of Stillwood 69gr Steadfast ammo. At .50/rd the price is right and the accuracy/reliability/velocity is great too but currently they're out of production. In the spring Stillwood is going to release a new 69gr load which I hope will have the same performance. If I can get 1 MOA shooting out to 600 yards off the shelf for .50/rd, then I'm never even going to consider rifle reloading. My time and money can be put elsewhere in 3 Gun to get me farther overall than chasing a 1/2 MOA load. Plus what if I achieved a 1/2 MOA load... Hooray that I can continue to make all the shots I can already make?

-------------------------

Prepping for majors in 2015... I don't want to hit the targets, or hit the targets quick, I want to hit the targets the quickest that I possibly can. I know I won't win my division but I'm going to take out all the guesswork from my zero so I can do my best.

Currently I'm prepping for the Bushmaster Tarheel 3-Gun in April and I know they're going to bring the long range shooting challenge. It's not about being able to hit the targets, or hitting the targets fast, its about hitting those targets "the fastest" that I am able. I know they're going to incorporate a variety of body positions and have shots out to 400 yards in whatever weather conditions are present, and I want to be ready for it. I want to walk up to every course of fire and think "okay, first round hits here too, I just need to do X, Y, Z". So now that I am comfortable with my zero I'm going to be shooting alot of positional rifle drills between now and Tarheel, then make sure to doublecheck my zero right before I drive down for the match. If anyone has any positional rifle drills in mind, let me know because otherwise its going to be VTAC 9-hole on a 100 yard MGM colt speed plate auto popper (6").

[Moltke]

21 March 2015

I broke this training day into 2 sessions: the morning was pistol/shotgun and the afternoon was pistol/rifle. Each gun was shot 250rds for each session totaling - 250 birdshot, 500 pistol, 250 rifle.

The pistol/shotgun drill that I used was the same low round count but high intensity speed shooting drill that I had done last time I was at the range. Very little movement but enough to make it worthwhile, targets are a medium accuracy requirement, and you're pushing hard on speed. I set the drill up by placing 2 auto poppers on the far back left of the bay and 2 on the far back right of the bay, with a large wall in the center about 10 yards off the berm. Starting with 1rd in the chamber of my shotgun at port arms, pistol holstered, I quad load 4 shells and shoot the two poppers on the left, then move around the barricade watching my 180 and shoot the two auto poppers on the right. On the far right and left of the large wall that I'm shooting around/behind, I have also laid fault lines to simulate leaving and entering a shooting area and I'm paying special attention to leave the first shooting area "while shooting" the last target on that side and enter the next shooting area "while shooting" the first target on the far side. I noticed during training that I was finding it very hard to come into position with the shotgun on target like I do with my pistol and when I try to blend it perfectly together, I end up missing the shot that I would otherwise have made if I had quickly stopped, got my sight picture, and pressed the trigger. Knowing that, its what I'm going to have to do in a match because I don't want to miss a shotgun target and be stuck reloading the gun with a messed up game plan mid-CoF.

After shooting my shotgun I would transition to my pistol and shoot the same auto poppers (2 of which are skinny sammies) from behind the wall. As the targets arent' very far away, still hitting them quickly is difficult - especially those skinnies. The pistol I was borrowing today was Kevin McPhee's MP9 Pro decked out with a stainless barrel, tight sights, Dan Burwell triggerjob, Taran Tactical magazine extensions, extended magazine release button, and brass magwell. It's setup to be a very nice Limited / 3-Gun MP, and it shows. Shooting close up on IPSC cardboards it was apparent to me that I was able to run this MP9 just as fast as the CZ Tac Sport and with a better, higher, more crushing grip on the gun I was able to push myself to shoot both guns at around .15 splits. The noticeable difference in the shootability of the pistols showed itself on the smaller harder shots like those skinnies. The trigger pull on the CZ Tac Sport is just too good (i.e. shorter, lighter, easier) compared to the MP and my first round hit percentage was higher as a result. There is still a little takeup in the trigger before it breaks, some overtravel in the trigger after it breaks, the safety digs into the side of my hand pretty uncomfortably, and the magazines don't lock to the rear but I think it’s a more competitive gun for 3-Gun. If I can get the safety selector ground down by my gunsmith then I can make the rest work and I'll use this CZ until I get my 2011 (which I'm into week 13 of waiting on a 6-8 week estimate, yay).

Anyway, I burned up a good bit of ammo doing my short pistol/shotgun drill and by the time it was over I was exhausted. So I rested in my Jeep listening to the radio for 1/2 an hour. When I was ready, it was time to start the afternoon session.

I started by placing my auto poppers equally spaced out along the 60 yard line and setup my shooting positions at the 75 yard line. This gave me a 15 yard distance to the auto poppers from where I was going to shoot the pistol, and the way the range is set up from the 75 yard line I can shoot up the berm another 100 yards for various steel rifle targets scattered about. Instead of making a running scenario, I reorganized the course of fire to all be standing in one place but focused on body positions. I set up behind a VTAC barricade and would start by shooting the 4 auto poppers at 15 yards through a port, then transition to my rifle and shoot some 100 yard 12 inch steel targets freestyle standing unsupported. Each time I shot the drill I would pick a different VTAC port for the pistol which became uncomfortable quick and I didn't go all the way to the ground because I was already tired (and fat!). Shooting through the various ports made me realize that I need to work on port shooting and positional shooting because its something that feels foreign to me and I don't fall into it naturally. I want to approach a barricade / wall / port of some kind and quickly & naturally do whatever I have to do to get my hits then move out to the next thing. As it stands now, its far from natural and it's going to slow me down if I'm confronted by some uncomfortable shooting positions. Next time I go to the range I want to practice some VTAC 9-hole drills with each gun just to "break the ice" with this topic.

My freestyle standing unsupported rifle shooting at 100 yards went well. I could tell based on where the rounds were impacting that they were hitting a bit high (which is what the should be doing) and knowing that was leading me to naturally aim a little low (which I'm not sure is really a good thing). Once the rifle was in my hand, I was finding a quick "good enough" cheek weld and got my sights on target - however I wished that I had a battery in my optic for the red dot function!! I still haven't got a battery for the Vortex 1-6 and shooting 100 yards & closer is when that red dot capability really comes into play. Personally, I prefer NOT to see the dot while shooting at small targets far away because I don’t want anything distracting my eyes from the appropriate crosshairs, but for the speed shooting it's a must. I also played around with my scope magnification at 100 yards and with a good natural point of aim to bring the optic right to my eye and be 99% on target... I can't imagine shooting on anything less than full magnification. I figure the scope goes to 6x so why not use it right? Granted, I probably wouldn't be saying that if the scope went to 16x. Coming from being a long time Aimpoint shooter, having a nice magnified scope like the Vortex Razor is just pure cheating. I just wish it weren't so damn heavy.

Another good day of 3 Gun training, and already looking forward to the next.

[Moltke]

I'd also like to add on 21 March that I busted the stock loose on my Versamax and it still ran but once I noticed I stopped shooting it & even though I had just tuned my rifle for light loads in 53 degree weather, for some reason it was choking on those same loads in 64 degree weather. WTF

[Moltke]

Friday 27 March 2015

500rds pistol and 500rds shotgun. This Friday I brought a new friend who's a novice to shooting but has an interest in learning how to do it better and some natural athleticism. It's going to take some time for the techniques to become natural and for him to wrap his head around some of the concepts but if he sticks with it, I can tell he'll be very successful. With some people, you just "know" and since he has the right attitude I think he will go far.

Today's targets were two auto poppers in the left corner of the bay, two auto poppers in the right corner of the bay, and 4 torso steel targets of various size in the center. The autos in the corner were pistol accuracy targets for my friend, and the large steel in the center was pistol speed targets. 15 yards off those center steel I set up the usual barricade, and 7 yards off the auto poppers I set up a barrel on each side of the bay. Essentially creating 3 shooting positions for the drills we were going to shoot that day with a variety of difficulty for the targets.

1) Shotgun loading - Start with 1rd in the shotgun and quad 4 from the barricade, shoot 4 from the barricade, quad 4 on the move to the first barrel, shoot 4 from the first barrel, quad 4 moving to the second barrel, and shoot 4 from the second barrel. This drill was probably the best shotgun drill of the day which is why I put it first

2) Shotgun shooting - Start with a full gun, 8+1 and move across the all the steel targets at 10 yards quickly trying to hit the targets on the move. Moving at a comfortable pace IS NOT the goal. Move faster than you can keep up with the gun in order to develop the skill of shooting the shotgun on the move. This drill was probably the second best shotgun drill of the day which is why I put it second, and I learned alot about how I grip the gun / walk with the gun / see my sights / and why I miss because of this drill

3) Long range pistol - Start with a pistol loaded and holstered, from 25 yards draw and shoot a full size IPSC steel torso. Re-holster, take one step back, and do it again. Repeat until you're missing then assess why you're missing. What distance are you at? Where are your shots going? I was hitting at 75 yards so next time I do this I'm going to add in a 2 sec par time instead of make this a purely accuracy based exercise.

4) Precise pistol transitions - From the 15 yard barricade position, draw and shoot the auto poppers in the far left and right of the bay. Shooting a skinny sammy auto popper at 15 yards is reasonably difficult and you'll know right away if anything's wrong with your pistol shooting - either the gun isn't zeroed, or you didn't have a good sight picture, or you jerked the trigger. If you make your hit then it means you're doing it "right". For me its pretty much always trigger control.

***This was a long day and I don't usually do this variety of drills compressed into one training session but decided to because I had brought this friend with me, and I needed to expose him to a variety of things. Having only shot sporting clays with an O/U shotgun it was also a huge learning experience for him to be shooting a shotgun at stationary targets trying to "go fast". I'm hoping that he gets into the shooting sports starting with USPSA and eventually 3-Gun but we'll see.

[Moltke]

Saturday 28 March

I went back out to the range and it was 35 degrees with a 15 MPH wind which made it even worse. I started with an actual 3-Gun drill from the back of the bay, auto poppers set up 15 yards downrange from me and steel targets on the 100 yard hill. Start with the pistol and shoot 4rds on the auto poppers, then transition to the shotgun and 4rds on the auto poppers, then transition to the rifle and 4rds on steel on the hill. I was alternating between shooting the rifle freestyle and shooting off the barricade but after my first 250rds, I just left because it was too cold and I wasn't getting anything out of the training session other than a diminished ammo supply. At least the Sonic drive through and LFD cigar cheered me up on the way home!

*** I would like to say that in the cold weather my rifle was choking on PMC ammo which is some of the ammo that I used to tune the gun so I'm pretty not pleased by that. There is a little play in the adjustment knob of my Bold Ideas gas block so I plan to change it to a Seekins this week(end) after having Seekins recommended to me by several people over the Syrac. For the time being if I can't get out to the range and tune the Seekins gas block then I guess I'll just put my milspec parts back into the Colt CRP 18 Pro rifle and leave the JP Low Mass stuff at home for Tarheel because there is NO WAY that I'm going to take untested gear to a major 3-Gun championship. Whatever, I'll figure it out.

[alma]

Get the SLR Rifleworks Sentry 7 gas block. Better mechanism and a little window that allows you to clean without taking your rifle apart.

I have one from last year that I will be taking off my rifle that doesn't have a home yet. Just bought a new one for my new build.

- 100% Gas seal allows full cut off and prevents gas from fouling metering screw
- Complete disassembly is simple and take less than 10 seconds
- Metering screw and screw bore design allows repeatability and reliability only SLR has been able to deliver
- Single tool click to adjust gas metering
- 1095 Laser Cut Spring Steel leaf spring
- NO tiny springs to corrode, break or seize / NO tiny ball to seize or get lost
- USES STANDARD GAS TUBE

[Moltke]

Thanks for the tip

[Moltke]

31 March

Started a diet today, going primal or some variation thereof. It's pretty simple - meat, vegetables, fruits, and water is good. Stay away from processed foods, breads, sodas, etc. Starting weight is 290 lbs, let's see where this goes...

[igolfat8]

If you have a Smart Phone look at the ap "My Fitness Pal". It really raises your awareness of what you eat and how many calories you consume and burn on a daily basis. I've only been using it a short time but really like it so far.

[Moltke]

Thanks I'll look into it.

[Moltke]

Right now I'm eating a salad thinking about a philly cheesesteak. FML

[alma]

I second the recommendation for that app. It's really enlightening (i.e. depressing) how bad some of the food I regularly eat actually is. I have two family members who both lost a lot of weight used that and app to bring awareness to food choices. For just weight loss that (correct diet) will get you way further than moderate exercise. The first day I downloaded it I took a client to lunch at Uno and went over my daily cap in one meal. I need to get back on it again as that made me too sad to continue on.

[Moltke]

No training or competing this past weekend. Very sad. However I did go to a Bluegrass / Newgrass concert which was awesome!

[Moltke]

Friday 10 April

A non-range day, I used this as a prep day for the 3-Gun group practice I was hosting on 11 April (tomorrow) & follow-on multigun night fire.

However I did go to Sharpshooters in Lorton VA where I had my proprietary Colt / Bold Ideas gas block switched for a Seekins because I think the original was not working properly and having already sent it back to the company once, had it completely disassembled and cleaned by my gunsmith once, ... well third time's a charm. It got trashed and replaced with a Seekins.

Keeping the JP low mass stuff in the gun, I went out on their 25 yard indoor range and tuned the gas until the bolt was locking to the rear with my PMC & Stillwood ammo's - which is what I plan to shoot at Tarheel on 16 & 17 April.

[Moltke]

Saturday 11 April - 1st 3Gun Group Practice & Night Fire

Today was not a practice session like I usually have practice sessions (alone), today was a group 3-Gun practice session to prep for the Tarheel championship and we rented out Echo Valley as a group to get the most out of it. For some of the guys who came they were new to 3-Gun and it was a great learning experience. I started range prep at 10am, and we started practice at 12 noon.

1) The first thing we did was accuracy. Every shooter lined up in front of a steel target appropriate to their firearm, and one by one we took turns taking one shot at it, either making a hit or missing. All of this was freestyle unsupported standing on-line with one another in a tactical bay, using the gunshot of the man next to you as a start buzzer. Rifle started from the low ready, was shouldered, one shot at 100 yard 12 inch steel plate and then reset. Shotgun started at high port, was shouldered, one shot at a 75 yard full size IPSC steel and then reset. Pistol started holstered, was drawn, one shot at a 25 yard Colt Speed Plate auto popper and then reset. After everyone had a chance to go at least once per gun for as many rounds as they wanted we moved on to the next thing. It should be noted that there was no "par time" for each shot, this was about accuracy and making every hit.

2) The next thing we did was stand and blast speed shooting. In front of each shooter was now an array specific to the gun they were going to use and the goal was to hit all the targets as fast as possible, and run the gun as fast as possible. They way I put it to them was to say "run the gun out of control and try to see the sights for every shot a couple times then back it down and find your speed limit to get all your hits". This part was very good because some people were new to 3-Gun but others were shooting so fast they missed and found that speed limit I was talking about where they're shooting fast but seeing their sights for every shot. Rifle had 3 cardboard IPSC targets at 25 yards, Shotgun had 6 steel targets at 10 yards, and Pistol had 2 steel targets and 3 cardboard IPSC targets at 10 yards. Accuracy requirements on paper was 2rds on each, and steel was get a hit. Speed speed speed.

3) After the speed shooting was done, we incorporated some movement with some box to box drills. Starting on the left with the pistol, we set up some easy targets so people could learn/practice shooting the targets while exiting the shooting area and then shooting the next targets while entering the next shooting area. This kind of efficiency changed my game in USPSA drastically and I'm hoping that it does the same thing in 3-Gun to some degree. After doing it with the pistol, we also did it with the shotgun on auto poppers and with the rifle on IPSC cardboards. The focus here was speed and movement efficiency. Looking back on how these drills went, I didn't miss with the pistol at all but I did miss with the shotgun and rifle probably because my natural point of aim with those guns is not as highly developed. That says to me that I need to get used to doing more with the rifle and shotgun if I'm going to advance.

4) Finally, I wanted to do shooting on the move but Sheldon suggested we move right to barricade positions and it was the right decision. For those who have never shot in a variety of supported barricade positions it can be slow and awkward to find something stable however in a match you don't want to be slow and awkward. So we made sure to go over the most common barricade positions such as supported standing, reverse kneeling, squatting, and prone. Then we began shooting VTAC 9-hole drills at a 100 yard full size IPSC. As expected the skinny guys who had never done it before took to it quickly and my fat ass could barely waddle around the barricade quickly enough to do it in 60 seconds even though I've run the drill 100 times before. But hey thats why I'm on a diet now, got to lose the belly if I'm going to advance.

We packed up our gear, laid out 2 courses of fire for the night shoot, and went into town for dinner. Applebee's sucked for anyone who cares, not doing that again.

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Night Fire

For anyone who has never shot at night you should realize that you're going to see alot MORE than you think you're going to see. Most people think that they're going to see less because its dark but really when the first gunshots are going off, for anyone who's behind the sights you're probably going to see all the stuff that you never noticed during the day. Muzzle flash... kinda bright. Smoke, lots of smoke coming from your gun and if you're a reloader then its gong to be worse probably. Sparks. You're going to see sparks from your muzzle, from your chamber, from steel targets being impacted, some rocks being hit. Lots of cool stuff. While you're watching all this go on, don't forget you have a gun in your hand and you're shooting.

After handing out some glowsticks and loading up a couple magazines we first went to the low bay for night firey goodness. Instructions were to shoot this one however you wanted, most people had brought out their defensive carbines (non-gamer guns) for the night stuff and therefore chose to shoot it like it was real. Lights on only while shooting, flash to see where you're going, move in the dark as much as possible, shoot from cover, reload from cover. This is how I planned to shoot it, and how I shot it, and after doing so I had some pointers to myself. I haven't done a night fire in a couple years and I used the flashlight way too much for my own comfort. Since its a pistol light on my Colt Commando LE6933 11.5" rifle that I hardly ever use anymore, I bumped it on and off a few times accidentally.

I also had a 2nd course of fire setup in the 360 degree shooting bay but not going into detail other than to say it was fun. Some good things came out of this practice session and therefore I'm going to hold another one on 9 May for anyone who's interested in coming. 3-Gun during the day and pistol/carbine blastery at night.

[Moltke]

Forgot to update this for a while, I'll start with I've lost 10 pounds so I'm down to 280 and hovering right there. Looking forward to the 270's

[Moltke]

Saturday 02 May

Otherwise I won my first match shooting USPSA Limited at Peacemaker on 02 May https://practiscore.com/results.php?uuid=905C92F8-1AC1-4B01-9CBB-CFB8DEAE722C&page=matchLTD(thank god no good shooters showed up). I say that because I was fast and moved well however I shot poor points. I have not been able to "call shots" with this borrowed CZ because I think that my natural point of aim is not optimized for it and I'm stuck on Glock. Don't know what to do about that other than shoot it more and hope for the best. Next time I go to the range I'm going to actually practice some shot calling as its own task.

[Moltke]

Saturday 09 May

I hosted another practice day at Echo Valley for my regional training group which was hot and exhausting, however very productive - Starting with rifles prone at 100 yards to confirm zero, then some pistol accuracy & shot calling on IPSC cardboards, then running through a multigun course of fire that forced lots of movement, gun transitions and wide swinging transitions... Like I said, exhausting but where else are you going to live fire nearly 180 degree transitions other than outside? In an attempt to prep for the USCA 2-Gun Nationals at the end of May we had our rifles slung and I found out something very telling about my ELS belt. When moving fast over long distances it sucks becuase stuff is bouncing around and when slinging a rifle the ELS attachments are not ideal. As a result of that I will not be using it for the USCA Nationals and will resort back to tactical stuff ITW Fastmags. After a short break we all did some 300 yard shooting with various levels of success and I'm very happy with my rifle & ammo choices. At 300 yards I was tagging 4 inch hangers reliably once I adjusted my elevation so that my 1st mil hold is dead on at 300 yards, giving a 200 yard zero with the center crosshair and this 13.5 inch barrel. Velocity was 2540 FPS with a 69gr SMK, and the hold for the 1st mil is verified true.

Lastly I'd like to give a special thank you to Paul Duquette who supplied and built for us a portable 3 Gun Nation barricade, 4 shooting boxes, and a Bianchi barricade since last month's event. The time, effort and money is greatly appreciated.

[Moltke]

Friday 15 May

I brought an aspiring 3-gunner out to Echo Valley and after zeroing his rifle prone at 100 yards, I spent the rest of the day beating him up with all kinds of 3-Gun drills. By the end of the day and a couple hundred rounds later through each guns we identified his stengths, weaknesses, and found his speed limits. He's not by any means going to win, but he's ready to compete in his first match. Now let's get back out to the range Eric West 3-Gunner.

Edited May 26, 2015 by Moltke

[Moltke]

Saturday 16 May

Shot a local 3-Gun match at Peacemaker National Training Center in Glengary WV which is my home club, and did well except for two things. 1) Got excited and slapped the trigger too much while prone at 300+ yard targets resulting in a disgusting mess of misses and penalties... and 2) got rained out at the end of the day with only 2-3 shooters left to finish. It went from a light sprinke to torrential downpour in about 10 seconds, coming in sideways and the water was also pretty cold! The match got called about 10 minutes into the rain once they checked radar and realized that it was going to go all night. Otherwise it's great to shoot with friends like Frank & Jason who offer colorful commentary throughout the day.

[Moltke]

Friday 22 May

I went to Peacemaker with Jason & Josh, and sat on a bench for hours getting our zero's perfect. I have always sucked at shooting groups but the new batch of Stillwood 69gr Steadfast #69D worked pretty well shooting 1 MOA with a 6x scope. I'm sure with a higher power scope those groups would shrink very quickly, and plan to also test that the first chance I get. After getting my Swaro dialed in perfect, I mounted my old Prismatic and got it grouping on paper at 100 yards, centered and left for Echo Valley.

Once at echo we put some fresh paint on auto poppers - skinnies and colt speed plates at 200 & 300, then started banging away. The first thing I did was get my Prismatic zeroed for 300 yards (a zero scheme I have not run using the Prismatic before). Shooting center on a 6 inch steel square at 300 yards is good enough for me however I have no idea what the groups are at that distance. Regardless, I know the hold and I'm getting hits at 300 yards on a 6 inch target... That doesn't happen accidentally so I'll just hope for the best.

Then we chrono'd our match ammo's and got the average velocity to dope with. I'm considering shooting my Prismatic at the USCA 2-Gun championship since there's so few people in the "No Magnification" division.

Edited May 26, 2015 by Moltke

[Moltke]

Monday 25 May

I went to Bill's farm today and started with some 200 yard prone rifle to check my Prismatic holds at distances closer than 300 yards. Since the bullet is rapidly rising in order to arc at 300 yards, I figured I'd have to aim low at 100 and 200 which is exactly the case. The gun is shooting 4-6 inches low at 100 and 200, so every shot that is in close will be a 6 o'clock hold on the steel.

I also tried shooting my mangled stippled carry G19 & old tactical belt gear instead of my ELS belt, because I think the ELS belt will get in the way & if I'm going to switch to the "No Magnification" division then I can't use a CZ with 140mm mags. So once I go out and test the 400 & 500 yards on Thursday as my final prep for USCA, I'll decide which division to shoot / which guns to use / which gear to wear / etc.

[Moltke]

Thursday 28 May

I went to Echo Valley Training Center to prep for the USCA 2-Gun National Championship. Not knowing what to expect or what division to shoot I brought my Glock 19, 1x rifle, and 1-6x rifle. I confirmed zero on them ALL (including the pistol) because I wanted to be sure each was going to hit exactly where I expected. Then I set out to practice what I thought was going to be the hardest shots of the match.

A new friend of mine joined me at the range and I think the practice session that we had was beneficial to both of us! 25 yard pistol shooting on the move, 50 yard pistol stationary, and 500 yard prone rifle. When just practicing the hardest shots around, it really makes you focus on NOT MISSING. I also did some 25 yard draw to a plate rack just to get used to drawing a Glock again, and it was second nature. The gun jumped in my hand and was on target so fast it was like I had been shooting one all year instead of the CZ.

Interestingly my 1-6x rifle which is a Swaro mounted on a 13" Armalite was not doped correctly and I didn't want to spent the time trying to figure it out, because that would have meant 1) rechrono 2) run the calc 3) verify on paper 4) take the farthest shots possible to confirm. Since I didn't have a chrono and couldn't do all that stuff I wasn't going to bring my new setup which wasn't completely figured out, tested and verified, to a national championship.

***Now that being said, I did do exactly that with the pistol I ended up using***

So I decided that I was going to use my 1x rifle and shoot in the Irons division because I was hitting exactly where I wanted at 50, 100, 200, 300, my dope was true for all those distances AND then I was also making consistent easy 500 yard hits on a B/C steel. Since it was ready to go, we went. There was just no time to figure out the 1-6x rifle because USCA was the next day.

Edited June 1, 2015 by Moltke