Smitty79 Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 (edited) I'm fairly new to USPSA. I've shot 2 classifiers around 40% and since then I'm trying to do more focused dry fire. Several people have suggested that I get an instructor. But I haven't found one locally (Portland OR). Here are some of my dry fire reload drills. Sight picture to sight picture par is 1.6 seconds. The gun is a CZ85 and has a terrible mag well opening. I am going to get an SP-01 next month. It has a better opening. As you will see, I'm not doing the typical speed reload in front of my face. My home range doesn't allow muzzles above the berm. As I am trying to mimic the reloads that Ben Stoeger does, I don't think it holds me up too much. Looking at it myself, it looks fine, though I need to figure out how to relax a bit. After the load, I am verifying that the mag seated. In all of these it did just fine. Edited December 23, 2014 by Smitty79 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimitz Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 couple of things .... from a macro perspective you look very calm ... too calm in fact .... I think you need to amp up the aggression a little which will help push you to be faster. As for specific technique you drop you gun down a fair distance. I keep my gun up fairly high, almost at eye level and bring the mag up to meet it. Its much easier to see the magwell that way. Your gun is so low I don't know how you get a good look at the magwell. You're fairly smooth but I think you can be faster if you push harder. Those reloads look like your comfortable match speed which would be ok except you are training which means you should be pushing your comfort zone all the time. Are you setting a par time on EVERY drill you do in dry fire? If not, you should ...hope this helps ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevadazielmeister Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Your reload looks really good. I can tell you have practiced quite a bit. Keep up the practice!! I would have to agree with Nimitz. Keep the gun higher, that way you do not waste any time looking down. I would also recommend some videos, either from Ben Stoeger or Saul Kirsch. They are both very knowledgable. Try to look up the Upper Nisqually Gun Club. I believe they have USPSA matches there. It is about a 2 hour drive from Portland. Something you might want to look into. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smitty79 Posted December 24, 2014 Author Share Posted December 24, 2014 Thanks folks. I go low because of the need to keep the muzzle below the berm. At my club, a muzzle above the berm is like breaking the 180. My club's biggest fear, other than someone getting shot on the property, is a round going off the property. I've tried it higher. But the way I have to bend my wrist, to keep the muzzle below the berm, is inconsistent and uncomfortable. I picked the level I bring the gun down to to allow me to point that I can leave my wrist near straight and still point the mag well at the mag pouch. I figure more practice and a gun with a better mag well opening will get me down near 1 sec some day. To Nimitz's comments on speed, I've cut my part time for this drill 0.3 seconds in the last 2 weeks. I've been thinking of dropping more. 1.4 sec here I come. 1.3 sec is Ben's intermediate for this drill. I have a par time for every one of my dry fire drills. Right now, they are all "stand and shoot" drills. My goal for the year is to be a solid B. I'd like to be top senior in a couple local matches while I am at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimitz Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Ok, not looking to get into a big furball discussion about sanctioned USPSA matches but since you mentioned it I have to ask ... are the matches you shoot at this club sanctioned USPSA matches? the reason I ask is that there is no such rule as "muzzle over the berm" in USPSA and a club cannot impose a local rule on a USPSA match without a specific approved exemption from USPSA HQ which I'm virtually certain your club does not have .... If you never plan to shoot a USPSA match outside your local club this won't matter but you are definitely handicapping yourself with that reload technique as compared to the rest of the country .... ok, enough ivory tower imperialism .... Ok, one more thing, unless the berms on your range are really low(?) you can still keep the gun fairly high and level without pointing the muzzle above the berm ... just a thought ... As for decreasing par time you should be decreasing it every session. Don't settle for whatever time you get. If you can do 10 reloads in a row fairly comfortably its time to drop the par time. I drop the par time from my previous dry fire session every time I dry fire. there is no such thing as fast enough. No matter how fast you are you can be faster. whatever my last par time was from my previous day of dry fire I start the session at .1 secs above that to do a few reps and then I get busy dropping the times. I used to drop .1 secs for every set. Now I drop .2 secs on every set to push even harder. Practice hard and compete easy ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smitty79 Posted December 24, 2014 Author Share Posted December 24, 2014 (edited) My club doesn't have USPSA matches. It is the best place for live fire training. The places I go for matches are a much longer drive. I know I'm giving up a little. If I ever think it's what I need to do to make GM, I'll join another club. You see 3 good reloads. I miss one in five right now. Edited December 24, 2014 by Smitty79 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CZinZA Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 I must agree with Nimitz.... If your gun is level and parallel to the ground at head height during the reload, it surely can't be aimed over the berm - because that's where it normally is when shooting. If you are sure to stay level you ought to be ok with the club rules Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smitty79 Posted December 24, 2014 Author Share Posted December 24, 2014 I must agree with Nimitz.... If your gun is level and parallel to the ground at head height during the reload, it surely can't be aimed over the berm - because that's where it normally is when shooting. If you are sure to stay level you ought to be ok with the club rules I tried this for a week or so and just couldn't do it smoothly and consistently. The drop down is very repeatable. Maybe I need to try it leaving my strong arm extended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smitty79 Posted December 25, 2014 Author Share Posted December 25, 2014 (edited) Moved to other post Edited December 25, 2014 by Smitty79 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waktasz Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 (edited) I think you could work a lot on handspeed, both getting to the new mag, and getting the gun into your "workspace" quicker so it's ready to accept the mag. Try splitting the reload up into two parts and just work on that first part for a couple of days. You should be slapping your hand down onto that mag. This is the only video I have of this camera angle so hopefully you can see what I mean. Edited January 6, 2015 by waktasz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smitty79 Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 I started doing reload drills where I stop before inserting the mag last week. I need to try the hand slapping. That should help. When I did the video above, I was running a 1.6 par time. Last Saturday, I went to a 1.2. I'm happy, but not satisfied with the progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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