WYgunner's Shooting Log

[WYgunner]

After a couple years of surfing the Enos forum, I have finally decided to post. My goal for this log is to have a means of tracking my progress in the shooting sports and better record my thoughts and revelations. I have kept a hard copy journal for a couple years now, but I think posting to this forum will prove to be more beneficial as result of feedback from all of its awesome members.

A little bit about myself; I have always been fascinated with shooting. When I was younger, I owned pellet guns, BB guns, a shotgun, and a .22 rifle. I grew up in Wyoming and have always enjoyed shooting on public land, etc. I really became addicted to shooting in college when my parents bought me a Taurus 41 mag. After realizing that it was probably not the most practical choice for high volume shooting, I traded it for a Ruger GP100. My uncle eventually introduced me to reloading and I ended up going half on a progressive loader with my dad. About 50K rounds later, I bought a Springfield XD9 and was introduced to a local defensive shooting match. Just like everyone else on the forum, I was instantly hooked. I began to seek out other shooting competitions and started shooting steel challenge in 2010 and IDPA in 2011. I eventually found USPSA and shot my first match in October 2012. I quickly realized that it was a lot harder then it looked on YouTube. Fast forward to today and I am shooting matches on a weekly basis.

About a year ago, I moved to the Denver area and I have been very fortunate to have found a great community of shooters. I am currently competing in Limited with a 40 S&W 2011 RHF Frankenstein Edge. As of this moment, I am sitting on an "A" classification, but I feel like I am on the brink of moving up. I shot a good deal of majors this year including the Rocky Mountain 300, the Cowtown Classic, the Great Plains Sectional, the High Desert Classic, the Utah State Championship, the Rocky Mountain Regional Steel Challenge and the Colorado State Steel Challenge. I ended up with class wins at the HDC, RM300 and USC, I also managed to take second in limited a the RMRSC and first at the CSSC.

Overall, the year has been very successful, but I need to refocus and push my skill set to the next level. Joining this forum is part of that push. Thanks in advance for everyone's feedback and comments.

[CHA-LEE]

Good job dude, keep it up!!!

Edited November 16, 2014 by CHA-LEE

[frunkenstein]

Welcome Master N now i can read up on another up and coming shooter. See you at the range.

[WYgunner]

Thanks guys; I am officially one of the cool kids now...

This weekend was insanely cold. All the outdoor matches were cancelled, leaving indoor shooting as the only option. I was fortunate enough to be able to shoot at one of my hometown ranges with one of my long lost shooting buddies. We were the only two people on the range and we were allowed to shoot multiple targets across three lanes. I set up a modified el prez to practice transitions. One of the areas I really seem to lose time on is transitions. I have a habit of waiting for the front sight to return before starting my transition to next target. While I realize there are a couple different camps on "shot cadence," I intentionally attempted to equalize my splits and transitions in hopes that this would ingrain faster transitions. I successfully completed the task, but noticed that it was very difficult to track the front sight from the last shot on one target to the first shot on the next. My hits were marginal; I realize you can only shoot as fast as you can see, but I think this is one skill I am going to have to force for a while until and I can learn to see fast enough.

In addition to transitions, I worked on a a few reloads. Reloads and draws seem to be skills that fluctuate like the stock market. If I continually practice them, I seem to do well, but as soon as I move on to another skill they sort of drop off. Therefore, I am re-attacking these skills until I am happy with them again. For reloads, my focus is on keeping the gun high and pivoting on the trigger guard as I cant the gun. I am also working on "parking the gun" (as a famous shooting once said) and letting my support hand bring the mag to the gun rather then clapping the two together. I find that this method produces much quicker and consistent reloads while allowing me to get the sight back on target in a much more expedient fashion. My guess is that the two-handed clap originated from having to shift my strong hand to reach the mag button. A new extended mag button may be in order although I am weary about accidentally hitting it while shooting. I can definitely see how an extended square button would assist with activating the button sooner. In dry-fire I can execute a mag change in a about 1.2-1.3 seconds. I find that the biggest limiting factor is reforming the grip and reacquiring the sight after the reload. Once again, this may be a result of having to shift my hand to activate the mag release.

[WYgunner]

So, this week I dry-fired three different days, went to the range once and shot a match on Saturday. Overall, I think everything went pretty well. I worked strictly on draws and reloads during dry-fire sessions. I realize that this may not yield the greatest return, but at this point, it is something I think I need to further develop. During dry-fire I was easily hovering around the 1.1-1.2 sec range for standing reloads and about 1.1 sec for draws (hands at side). When I went to the indoor range to test my skills in live fire, I noticed an increase of about 0.1 - 0.2 for each skill. I think part of this is a result of having a bunch of random individuals constantly watching me trying to figure out what I was doing. Either way, it was a good way to simulate match pressure. Overall, my reloads are coming along and I am still focusing on the keeping the gun high and pivoting on the trigger guard axis.

The match this weekend went pretty well. I ended up finishing 1st in Limited and 2nd overall. Stages are as follows:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzsV6J91tS7NQ0i8VjccS-eONYjBeJqmf

1) On the first stage, I had a total time of 20.66 seconds and a HF of 6.78. I picked up one mike on the 5th target behind the barrier. I am pretty sure my second shot went slightly high and right over the top of the target. This miss further reiterates the fact that I need to work more on long shots with partially obscured targets. I felt like I switched gears enough to pick up the hit, but I think I incorrectly called my second shot. Also, I could have definitely shot the 3rd/front array of targets much more aggressively. At the very least, I could have chainsawed the hardcover targets and then slowed down for the triple stack no-shoots.

2) On the second stage, I timed two different stage plans and decided to run up to the front shooting boxes and chainsaw the targets, rather than stay back and shoot everything from the first shooting area. This decision resulted in a significant time advantage with a total time of 14.43 and a HF of 8.18. I felt like I shot the target arrays fairly aggressive and my goal was to keep a quick pace and make up any shots that were marginal. A fellow shooter pointed out that I took an unnecessary back step when I pushed off from the start position. I am going to experiment with staying low and setting my feet in various positions, so I can exit aggressively without first taking a back step.

3) I shot the classifier very timidly and ended up with a 74%. In the past, I have had issues with picking up the gun aggressively and accidentally dropping a magazine. I have since replaced the mag button spring, but I haven't become completely confident with the amount of force that I can apply without dropping the mag. This definitely shows in the video as it seems like an eternity passes by before I get the gun on target. Easy fix, I am going to work on table pick-ups this next week. Also, one disadvantage I have noticed is that with the new mag button spring, I occasionally have issues dropping mags and end up shaking them out of the gun. This results in a lot of wasted time, so I need to get this hammered out next week. I have a feeling I am just going to have to train pressing the button more deliberately to solve the problem.

4) Stage four went fairly well; I ended up with a stage win with a time of 7.84 and a 7.27 hit factor. I felt like I shot the first three targets fairly aggressively and moved into the port well. I chose to track the swinger and shoot it once per pass and this method paid off with some fairly good hits. Granted, some of this was probably luck on where the swinger ended up. I need to further develop my stage planning with swingers so that there is not any wasted time waiting for the target to appear.

5) The final stage was okay; I ended up with a time of 19.29 and a HF of 5.03, including a mike. I shot the steel very well through the first port, but I caught myself watching the poppers fall and it resulted in a small pause before moving to the next target. When I came into the next port, my left foot was slightly out of position and I ended up standing on the fault line to shoot the array. Additionally, I could have definitely exited faster, but it was somewhat difficult exiting the position and performing a reload while moving backwards. In the final port, I pulled a mike low and right into diagonal hardcover as a result of not aiming at the top 1/3 of the A-zone. Considering only the top of the A-zone as the target has been one of my focuses and I think it has definitely helped with accuracy. When my only focus is brown, I notice that my hits deteriorate.

Edited November 23, 2014 by WYgunner

[Glock26Toter]

Dude. Keep up the good work.

Sounds like you might have gotten what I was saying the other day about the reload. Most of the concentration and action is with your left hand so work on that left hand getting the mag out and to the "parking spot" THEN perform your reload. That helps a bunch with consistency in keeping the gun up.

Also, quit your belly aching about accidentally dropping a mag and get a mag release button the size of Texas. Don't worry... you'll learn after the first couple mags hit the dirt and soon be reloading lickity-split like.

[WYgunner]

I will definitely work on "reloading without reloading" as I believe you phrased it. Keeping my strong hand still/parked has definitely improved the quality of my reloads. As for the mag button, we will see...

[WYgunner]

This past week was Thanksgiving; I had a nice break from work and managed to practice a few days in addition to shooting a match on Sunday night. On Monday and Tuesday I did some dry-fire practice consisting of draws, reloads and table pick-ups. My draws are coming along and I am consistently right around 1.00 from both hands at sides and surrender. The biggest limiting factor for my draws in managing to find my front sight once the gun is in front of my face. I find that I lose about two tenths of a second searching for the sight. Reloads have been going fairly well ever since I moved my focus to keeping the gun parked and controlling the load with my weak hand. I am also becoming fairly comfortable with table pick-ups now that I realize my mag isn't going to pop out the gun every time I try to pick it up my gun.

On Sunday I shot an indoor match at the club that I am also a board member for. The match went fairly rough; I found it difficult to get in the right mindset as I was mainly focused on set-up. The match breakdown is as follows:

1) Stage one consisted of one large rear shooting area with two smaller areas further down the range near walls. On the buzzer, I drew my gun and stepped into position and began to engage targets. I quickly realized that I had chosen poor shooting positions and ended up shuffling my feat multiple times trying to acquire targets. I ended up with two mikes and a fairly slow time.

2) Stage two was the classifier CM 03-02 "Six Chickens." I came out of the blocks with a quick draw, but proceed to pick up two mikes on the far right target. My guess is that I didn't transitioning far enough past the no-shoot to the final target. My total time was around 9.55 with a total of 40 penalty points. I felt like I shot the targets fairly aggressively in controlled manner, but failed to aim in the correct location on the final target. When I shoot the classifier again, I will focus on specific points of aim and ensure I have the visual patience to correctly place my shots.

3) The third stage was a short stage adjacent to the classifier. Up until this point, the match was turning into a complete train wreck, so I decided to focus on a single simple task. The stage was set up in a manner in which you had to go blind into every position, so I decided to find visual cues on the walls and ensure that I hit every one. This method worked extremely well and I ended up taking second overall and winning limited for the stage. I found that the visual markers completely eliminated having to hunt for targets once I got into each position.

4) The final stage was a stage that I designed consisting of a giant horseshoe wall surrounding a plate rack and bunch of different targets obscured by no-shoots. I felt like I had a solid stage plan and shot the plate rack fairly well, but I ended up forgetting a target and had to return to a previous position to engage it. On top of all of this, I ended up with two mikes on a hard cover target. On the bright side, I ended up picking a good stage plan as my time was still fairly fast, even with the missed position.

Overall, with the exception of what I learned in regards to visual markers, I am going to forget that I even shot this match....

Yesterday, I shot an indoor pin match and I redeemed myself by winning. The last time I shot a pin match was two years ago, so I had to reacquaint myself with rules of the sport. The club I shoot at uses a handicapped format; unfortunately for me, one of my friends runs the match, so any type of handicap was completely denied . On the first run, I was a little out of my element and was caught off guard with the start command and the reloading protocol (off a table). I ended up blazing through the first 5 pins in about 3 seconds only to sail 3 rounds past the final pin. I shot to a "click," reloaded and looked up to see my competitors last pin fall off the table. This loss immediately moved me to the loser's bracket. At this point, I checked my ego and got my game face on. I came up with a plan that I would engage all the pins on the table and reload regardless of how many rounds I had left. This prevented me from shooting the gun empty (no slide lock) and was very effective. I proceeded to work my way back through the loser's bracket until I reached the final competitor from the winner's bracket. I ended up beating him twice in a row, winning the match. I think a major contributing factor was my ability to load off a table in a fairly expedient manner. I found that my reloads were almost a null point when it came to interrupting my shooting rhythm.

While pin shooting is a fairly simple game, it does require a good balance between speed and accuracy. I found that it was fairly easy to miss if I didn't focus intently on my front sight. Overall, it was a fun Tuesday night event and I will be participating in more events like this in the future.

[CHA-LEE]

Sunday quitter...............

[WYgunner]

After an excessive amount of time not posting, I have come to the conclusion that I need to shorten my posts. I feel like the long narrative format is too time extensive. From this point on, I am going to try and limit the content so it doesn't turn into a chore.

Over the winter, I have been shooting periodically, but I have been taking some time off. Most of the stuff I have been doing is plinking, pin-shooting and target shooting. I found that I needed a little break and it has been nice.

I am currently considering buying a new limited gun; after discussing it with a friend, the STI DVC limited gun looks like a good choice for the money.

I have also switched from the double-alpha race master holster to the blade-tech/stoeger BOSS set-up. In my testing, I have found that there is almost no reduction in "realistic" draw speed.

[CHA-LEE]

Post up some pic's of your new blaster when you get it.

[wmetzler01]

After an excessive amount of time not posting, I have come to the conclusion that I need to shorten my posts. I feel like the long narrative format is too time extensive. From this point on, I am going to try and limit the content so it doesn't turn into a chore.

Over the winter, I have been shooting periodically, but I have been taking some time off. Most of the stuff I have been doing is plinking, pin-shooting and target shooting. I found that I needed a little break and it has been nice.

I am currently considering buying a new limited gun; after discussing it with a friend, the STI DVC limited gun looks like a good choice for the money.

I have also switched from the double-alpha race master holster to the blade-tech/stoeger BOSS set-up. In my testing, I have found that there is almost no reduction in "realistic" draw speed.

Most go from a blade tech to a double alpha, can you elaborate more on why you moved from the double alpha race master to the blade tech?

Thanks! Will

[WYgunner]

Will,

I made this change for a few different reasons. In my experience I found that the Double Alpha product is well made, but it is a "wearable" item. Specifically, the locking block eventually wears out. Within the holster, the locking block slides up and down every time you holster and draw; this mechanism is 99% plastic. As you can surmise, it has a shorter lifespan in comparison to metal (not to imply that metal is more appropriate as a result of lubricity properties). Because the track and the block are both plastic, any type of grit inside the holster accelerates wear and develops a track in the plastic which equates to friction. My holster has developed enough wear to be noticeable during the draw. I tried sanding the piece with ultra-fine sandpaper and applying armor-all. This temporarily solved the problem, but the issues returned very quickly.

Additionally, the main retention spring has lost all tension. One would think that this would create a situation where the gun has no retention, but it is actually the opposite; When the spring loses tension, it results in the gun dragging out of the holster. My holster got to the point where I tried to draw and almost dropped the gun. I ended up catching it mid-air, but it was a close call.

With that being said, Double Alpha does not claim that these items will last forever. We both know that regular maintenance is required for equipment to function flawlessly. No one should expect a spring to last indefinitely. Additionally, Saul is absolutely awesome when it comes to customer satisfaction and replacement parts.

In order to get my holster up to snuff, I have to replace the locking block. Additionally, Double Alpha came out with a new bracket (w/leg pad) and a magnetic feature. I would like to upgrade and by adding these features, I might as well buy a new holster.

I already had a blade-tech holster and the Stoeger "BOSS" attachment was only $50; I figured that I might as well try it. Additionally, I liked the idea that there are less moving parts and drag can be reduced to almost nothing as you can literally allow your gun to rattle around in the holster. By all intense purposes, my practical draw times didn't suffer at all. Granted, my draw is not lightening fast at around 1.1 secs. Using the Blade-Tech/Stoeger rig, I can effectively get the gun out in around 0.07 secs. Most of my time inefficiencies occur from extension to sight acquisition.

Ultimately, I wanted to remove an item in my rig that required maintenance and uncertainty because we both know that limited rigs have enough variables as is. With that being said, I may eventually move back to the platform, but I just feel like trying something different for a while.

Thanks,

Nick

[wmetzler01]

Solid explanation! Less moving parts is usually more reliable. Even better, no loss of draw performance.

Best of luck and looking forward to your future updates!

Will

[frunkenstein]

Did you make Master yet?

[Glock26Toter]

Good to have you back! Interesting write up about the holster. I've seen the need to maintain my DAA, but for sure a labor of love. I can't imagine anything else. That said, I NEVER discount what someone says about a different way to do something. Your worse case scenario is trying the other holster convinces you that DAA is better. Best case, the new holster helps you get to Master... or beyond. See you at the next match bro... we missed you.

[WYgunner]

Did you make Master yet?

Not quite; I am sitting at a 81.67%.

[WYgunner]

Good to have you back! Interesting write up about the holster. I've seen the need to maintain my DAA, but for sure a labor of love. I can't imagine anything else. That said, I NEVER discount what someone says about a different way to do something. Your worse case scenario is trying the other holster convinces you that DAA is better. Best case, the new holster helps you get to Master... or beyond. See you at the next match bro... we missed you.

Thanks buddy; I will be back in full force here shortly.

[WYgunner]

This weekend I shot two matches. The first match was at CRC and was a bit of a "knock the rust off" type of event. I did fairly well, but I noticed that my tempo was a bit slower as I have not shot a match in over a month. Even so, I managed to take second to a well established GM at around 87% Things I learned:

1) Carefully choose how to enter into positions when running in beast mode. I planned to stand on the fault line on one stage but this quickly turned to shooting out of bounds. Entering positions lower may also help slow down my momentum

2) Keep practicing one-handed shooting/transitions. I have worked to integrate this into my dry fire and it didn't feel quite as foreign during the classifier which required one-handed shooting.

3) My steel shooting tempo needs to slow down just a fraction to ensure one shot, one hit.

The second match went quite well and I ended up winning limited. All of the stages felt fairly solid with the exception of an all steel stage. I think my performance on this stage could have been improved with a better stage plan (less risk) and a more controlled tempo. I felt like I wanted to beast mode the stage and it didn't work out in my favor. One of the biggest things I learned during the match was that when I am running, I tend to inhibit reloads by obscuring my magazine. During one stage I intentionally kept my torso up and the mag change was much easier. Also, I noticed that I am hesitant to run quickly in fear that I might drop a mag. This has to be resolved asap because I think my running speed is one of my competitive advantages. I am thinking that Safariland mag pouches might be the ticket. Finally, I think it is time to replace my current shoes because I slipped, yet again, while running. This seems to be happening frequently and I believe it is because the nubs on my Solomons are very worn. I really like the shoes, but I think the longevity is somewhat poor.

Stages are as follows:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzsV6J91tS7MKoT25F91sDMTjL7QEksdC

[Glock26Toter]

I think you are well on your way to making Master. I saw some great shooting. Your review looks very objective and if you work on those areas you identified you'll improve quite a bit. Nice work man!

[WYgunner]

Practiced yesterday; worked on the following:

1) Set-up transitions from easy blaster targets to 8 inch steel swingers. Worked on aggressively blasting paper and then smoothly transitioning to the small steel. Visual patience is key as it was tough to stop on the plate and hit it with one shot will transitioning aggressively. The best draw was around 1.06; I am considering going back to the scoop draw as I am losing at least .10 from the additional downward motion.

2) Worked on turn and draws. The best I could get was 1.16 sec to the first shot. I noticed that if I pre-load my pivot foot it makes the turn much easier and faster. Focused on snapping my head to acquire the target sooner. This is one area I noticed that the blade-tech holster provides more resistance than the race master. I have to focus on pulling the gun straight up, otherwise it results in a binding/dragging type of draw/

3) Shot all arrays strong and weak hand. This is going to be a regular occurrence; every time I shoot, I will at least shoot one mag with both strong and weak hand.

[Glock26Toter]

I say go back to the "scoop" draw. I always put it in quotes because I also feel there's no such thing as a scoop draw. It's just elimination of the downward movement. If you pick up a beer, do you reach around and grab it from it's far side? So why lift your hand any higher than needed to get your thumb around the grip?

[CHA-LEE]

Video your practice draws in live fire and see where the majority of the wasted time is. Watching you shoot matches your hand speed to the gun and getting it out of the holster and mounted is not what is wasting time. There are many times where you get the gun fully mounted in front of your face within .70 - .80 but then you delay the break of the shot by .20 - .30. Usually that delay in shooting comes from looking or focusing on the wrong thing DURING the draw. As soon as the gun is about 60% - 70% mounted you can start to look for the front sight. If you start looking for the front sight early you will be focused on it before the gun is fully mounted and you will be able to confirm the sight picture and break the shot as soon as the gun is fully mounted. If you are seeing the sights before the gun is fully mounted, then the delay could be in actually gripping the gun hard AFTER it is fully mounted. Get a hard grip on the gun by the time it is 80%+ mounted during the draw stroke. Doing that will allow you to manage the recoil properly as soon as the gun is fully mounted. This is a very common mistake that people make in dry fire. They grip the gun in dry fire WAY softer than they do in live fire. This results in "Rock Star" dry fire draws, but live fire draws that are .20 - .30 slower because you now have to conscious decide to grip the gun hard in live fire after the draw is done. If you make a new rule to always grip the gun hard any time its pointed at a target, live or dry, then this will fix that issue.

You may be donating .05 - .10 in time by coming over the top verses doing a "Scoop" draw, but if you are donating 2 to 3 times that amount of time at the end of the draw who cares? Work on the low hanging fruit first. Getting the gun out of the holster in .10 or less faster isn't your low hanging fruit.

[WYgunner]

I definitely think that the my lost time is coming from acquiring the sight once the gun is on target. I have watched videos of myself and the gun is out fairly quickly, but the shot occurs about 0.3 secs later as Panda mentioned. I switched to the "scoop" draw two different times and found that while it was slightly quicker out of the holster, the shots were not breaking any sooner as I was always trying to adjust my grip. Occasionally, if I missed the draw, I ended up with the patented side grip. The answer may be to eliminate any additional motion over the top and minimize it to just enough to form my grip like Toter was mentioning. I am going to try and force myself to look for the sight sooner rather than staring at the target. I also need to clean up my weak hand as I form my grip because I miss the proper grip on occasion. I need to focus on ninji chopping the trigger guard immediately when the gun comes out of the holster.

Yesterday I practiced again and worked on steel transitions. i set up three steel targets and focused on using my legs to accelerate from target to target. With steel I notice that I still have to pause for just a moment longer to call a hit. I started the drill by drawing to a 12" piece of steel at 13 yards, then transitioning 10 feet to an 8" plate on the left, then back to the center plate and finishing with a transition to another 8" plate on the right. The fastest I could accomplish this drill was 3.06 secs. I ran the drill with both strong and week hand and noticed that I really tend to swing my arms when shooting one handed. Consciously using my legs will take some practice to make it feel natural with strong and weak hand.

[WYgunner]

Went out and ran some drills with a friend yesterday. We set up a drill that consisted of a close paper w/no shoot, long steel shot, and another close paper. The objective of the drill was to draw and blast two alphas, transition to the long steel, move to the next position, shoot two alphas immediately upon entering and then finish on the long steel. This drill proved to be fairly challenging as it was somewhat difficult to to go from ultra blast mode to hitting a tough steel shot. The best sequence (2 paper shots/1 steel) I achieved at the first position was 1.80. with a a 1.06 draw. The best overall time was around 4.80 if I recall correctly.

I noticed that stepping into the second position and immediately shooting could be very choppy at times. The spread of alphas was very large and random. I was able to mitigate the choppiness by entering the position lower and bearing down on my grip. It also helped to soften my steps while shooting. I noticed one thing that was difficult to prevent was standing up to shoot the last steel shot. This definitely added around .30 to the overall time. This is definitely something to work on.

I worked on picking up my sight sooner as Panda recommended and it worked well at times. It is definitely worth experimenting with looking at the ground/midpoint during the draw to aid in the focal transition from far to near.

Reloads from the first position to the next were rough in the beginning. Once I deliberately starting "looking" them into the gun, my times improved. I have come to the realization that I never actually "look" my loads into the gun during matches. I thought I did, but I am pretty sure I am starting at targets/white space during the process. It was interesting because staring at the gun felt incredibly slow, but it ended up being much faster in the long run.

As I promised, I finished the session by shooting with my strong and weak hands. I am correctly anchoring my unused hand and blading my stance. One thing that I noticed is that I have been doing fairly well with using my hips to transition while shooting freestyle, but as soon as I start shooting one handed, it turns into an arm movement. I worked on using my hips and found that this can be especially helpful during one handed shooting as the transitions are much smoother and purposeful.