Brophy's Progress Journal

[Brophy-J]

Brophy's Progress Journal

 

Hello Everyone, My name is Jake and I have been shooting action pistol for about 5 mounts now. My goal is to reach master in USPSA, IDPA and Steel Challenge. After seeing many of may favorite shooters with range journal. I have decided that I would fallow suit and do the same. My hope is that this will be a place to not only document my growth but also seek guidance from my fellow shooters. Please feel free to post any advice you might have.

 

Currently I practice dry fire 100-200 times per night and live fire once per week.

 

The first four months of entries were made retroactively so please forgive any change in tone.

Edited December 4, 2017 by Brophy-J

[Brophy-J]

First 4 Months Summary

 

I started with a Walther Q5 and shot it in my first local IDPA match in July 2017. With one day of practice I did surprisingly well. My shooting was turtle slow but deadly accurate. I had the fewest points down of any shooter but one of the slowest raw times. I decide to start dryfire practice 1-2 nights a week.

 

August IDPA rolls around and I am mentally forcing myself to go faster. My raw time is better but at the cost of accuracy. Many more points down this match. I end up 2nd place.

 

I'm getting very motivated to practice and get better. Dry fire goes to five nights a week. I sign up for my first Tier 3 match, The NM State IDPA Match. I now have the goal of reaching Master.

 

I try my hand at the local steel challenge match and it goes surprisingly well. I manage to squeak out a 1st place finish, less than a second ahead of next highest. It's a nice confidence booster. I feel so much more comfortable with no movement and static targets.

 

September is here and the State match is approaching. I need a classifier so Mike is kind enough to do one for me. The day before, I set up my own mock classifier in hopes of preparing me for a chance at an expert card. I shoot most of it well but struggle with the far targets. Rough calculations say with a good run Im still 10 seconds slow of expert. I start the morning of the classifier with the game plan of going fast except for the far targets. Something happens mentally and I completely abandon the game plan. I shoot slow and safe. My classifier is clean as hell but very slow. Im solidly in SS.

 

Septembers Local match is good, I finish 3rd. I am unable to find a good balance of speed and accuracy, I am always too far to one of the extreme. The state match is a week away.

 

My dry fire regimin continues but i'm a bit worried about my ammo for State. Up to this point i've been using Tula. It runs fine and the accuracy is acceptable but any bit of moisture in the air causes a lot of friction in the magazine. I'm worried that a rain would bind up my mags. I decide to get a half case of speer lawmen 147gr. Forums say the heavier bullet  can have less felt recoil.

 

State Match. Holy Crap so many people. Not a great match for me. I had so many mistakes. The event is so long I was mentally and physically exhausted by the end. Honestly i was just happy i didn't get DQ’ed. I end up placing 6th of 12 ssp ss. I have some obvious weaknesses. Swingers and shooting while sitting are big holes in my game. I also lack the mental stamina for this type of match. A couple things to take away:

 

Register/sign in early if possible.

Try a bit of dry fire the morning of the match?

Get a cart and chair and a cooler with snacks.

Something to dry hands, rock climbing chalk?

 

State was a wakeup call, need to train harder. Problem though, Archery elk hunt soon. As soon a that's over dry fire goes to every night.

 

October local IDPA match, 3rd place. This match is slightly disheartening. Training didn't seem translate to the match. Need more practical field training?

 

October Steel Mach went very well. I was in some kind of good shooting grove. All of my shots seemed to land. I finished 2nd overall only 10sec behind an rimfire carbine with a red dot, the kicker? The Overall winner was my WIFE! She's not gonna let me forget this anytime soon. I need to start tracking par times.

 

I have decided to start recording my thoughts/training in a practice journal much like Hwansik Kim and many others do. I hope that it will be a good way to lean.

[Brophy-J]

November 4th, 2017 -Local IDPA

 

Local IDPA went great. My shooting is becoming more instinctual and natural. I am starting to get comfortable with partial sight pictures. Transitions are slightly better but still slow. This feels like the biggest payoff. I had one disaster of a stage with a 50 yard target. I was 26 pts down on that stage. I will need to develop an extreme long range shot sight picture at some point in the future. Even with the bad stage I finished 2nd with a very good raw time.

 

November 11th, 2017 - Local Steel Match

 

Another good match for me. My steel shooting is getting better. I am point shooting most close targets and my pickup shots are quite fast. I think the biggest time loss at this point is in transitions. I need to use my lower body and start torquing to the next target. I think I am guilty of following the sights to the next target. According to Ben Stoger, a shooter should locate the target then move the sights to meet that target. He gives an example of using the mouse to click something on his computer screen. You dont follow the pointer to what ever you are clicking on, you see what you want to click then you move the mouse to it and click it. Par times;

    Outer Limits    1 Brophy, Jakob PROD 29.91 7.46 - 8.41 - 7.68 - 7.29 - 7.48 -

    Showdown    1 Brophy, Jakob PROD 20.08 4.77 - 5.42 - 5.14 - 4.98 - 5.19 -

 

We also shot a side carbine match. My I did not have a real red dot for my PCC so i ended up using an airsoft toy, not the best idea. I did ok, but a light trigger and good dot would go a long way I think.

 

Got to record some of this match. Editing isn't great but its a start. I hope in the future I will be able to record more. Please take a look and let me know what I can work on.

 

 

November 12th, 2017    - ZD IDPA

 

First time going to the Zero Down IDPA. I had a good match, I feel like I can see some of my training coming through. With the exception of one stage I shot very cleanly. Bobbled a reload, my dry fire has been excluding reloads for the past week. I think it’s time to start including them again. There are some notable areas where tactical reloads would be an advantage. I think its something I should start working on.

 

November 17th, 2017 - Dry Fire Practice

 

In addition to the normal dryfire basics I decided to do a tactical reload practice session. Things were shaky at first but eventually got to an acceptable level. I plan to do more of this type of practice in the future. Nightly dry fire has been updated as follows.

 

10 draw and shoot slow

20 draw and shoot fast

20 transitions left to right

20 transitions right to left

10 slide lock reload

20 tac reload

20 draw/transition left/right right/left

 

November 18th, 2017 - Dry Fire Practice

 

Continuing to work on tactical reloads and progress is beginning to show. I feel that I am ready to incorporate them into a match. There is some issue where tac reloads have become my default mussel memory. For IDPA I want slide lock reloads to be default and tac reloads to be a conches decision. Nightly dryfire updated

 

10 draw and shoot slow

20 draw and shoot fast

20 transitions left to right

20 transitions right to left

20 slide lock reload

10 tac reload

20 draw/transition left/right right/left

 

November 24th, 2017 - Live Fire Practice

 

Got to plink with some family over the break. Not really true practice but got some trigger time at least. Missed two days of DF due to the holiday. New case of ammo should be here soon, damn I need to start reloading...

 

November 27th, 2017 - Dry Fire Practice

 

I am going to a family gathering Dec 2nd, the same day as local IDPA. I cant attend IDPA and be on time for the event so I am going to go to the the USPSA match as it is much closer to the event. I’ve updated DF to better prepare for USPSA.

 

10 draw and shoot slow

20 draw and shoot fast

20 transitions left to right

20 transitions right to left

30 speed reload

10 draw strong hand only

10 week hand only, low ready

20 draw/transition left/right right/left

Edited December 4, 2017 by Brophy-J

[Brophy-J]

Dec 1st 2017 - Live Fire Practice

 

Got a new batch of ammo and went to the range. Did not like my walther. Failure to fires every 2-8 shots. Hopefully this ammo will cycle in my PCC otherwise its worthless. I will need to make an emergency ammo run at walmart tonight to have something to shoot tomorrow.

 

Dec 2nd 2017 - Abq USPSA

 

Got 250 rounds of federal aluminum from walmart last night. Got to go to my first USPSA event in Abq. Setup was easy and stage 1 was good, but after that things went south. The failure to fire issues reappeared. The malfunctions were everywhere, and extremely disruptive. I tanked the remaining stages finishing 15th overall. I have taken apart the striker assembly and cleaned all of the gunk out, there was quite a bit. Gona go test it out tomorrow.

 

Dec 3rd, 2017 - Live Fire Practice

 

Issue is still there and it happens with 6 different types of ammo. Insanely frustrated right now! Gonna call walther tomorrow, doubt i'll have my gun back in time for this weekends matches. WHAT DO I DO?!?!

[AlphaCharis]

4 hours ago, Brophy-J said:

A couple things to take away:

 

Something to dry hands, rock climbing chalk?

 

 

I've been using "Dry Hands" and really liking it.  I use it in dryfire as well as shooting.  You don't need much, and it doesn't make your hands super white or sticky, but gives you a nice texture on your hands for gripping the gun.  I've also tried Pro-Grip, Liquid Grip, and Grrrrip as well.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Products-2-Ounce-Ultimate-Gripping-Solution/dp/B01BE5SK6U/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1512439501&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=dry+hands&psc=1

[Brophy-J]

Hello Alpha, Its funny you suggest that. I ended up buying that exact product. It works very well.

[saibot]

Did you get your gun running again? Is it going all the way into battery?

[Brophy-J]

Recoil spring/rod arrive Friday. If that doesn't fix my issues its off to Walther.

[saibot]

38 minutes ago, Brophy-J said:

Recoil spring/rod arrive Friday. If that doesn't fix my issues its off to Walther.

Hope that does it for ya!

If you do have to send it in, let them know you need it back for a match. They told me that they really try to cater to the competitive shooters.

[saibot]

Did the new recoil assembly fix your issue?

[Brophy-J]

No, sending it back to Walther today.

 

Had to shoot Saturday with my VP9. Good gun, just not what I practice with. Dident feel like going to Sundays match.

[Brophy-J]

Fun side note the vp9 and q5 RSA's look to be interchangeable.

Edited December 11, 2017 by Brophy-J
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[saibot]

6 hours ago, Brophy-J said:

No, sending it back to Walther today.

 

Had to shoot Saturday with my VP9. Good gun, just not what I practice with. Dident feel like going to Sundays match.

Well that’s a bummer!

I hope it goes well for you and they turn it around quickly. I’m really curious to hear what it winds up being. 

Please report back!!

[saibot]

6 hours ago, Brophy-J said:

Fun side note the vp9 and q5 RSA's look to be interchangeable.

That’s very interesting!

Any other RSAs that we should consider?

[saibot]

Any updates on your Q5?

[Brophy-J]

Back from break, and the Q5 is back from Walther. Got it back Dec 21, so 10 days total. Looks like they replaced the whole trigger assembly? Ether way, its working fine now.

 

Dryfire has resumed, with a strong emphasis on transitions. Its difficult to see any progress in this area yet but ill stick with it for now.

 

Got to shoot a fun 3gun match over the break. Pistol shooting was sloppy on the first stage but tightened up near the end. Overall I'm happy with my performance. I have some footage, ill try and get it uploaded today or tomorrow.

 

IDPA is this weekend, Ill begin to incorporate drawing from concealment and slide lock reloads into training.

[saibot]

4 hours ago, Brophy-J said:

Back from break, and the Q5 is back from Walther. Got it back Dec 21, so 10 days total. Looks like they replaced the whole trigger assembly? Ether way, its working fine now.

 

Dryfire has resumed, with a strong emphasis on transitions. Its difficult to see any progress in this area yet but ill stick with it for now.

 

Got to shoot a fun 3gun match over the break. Pistol shooting was sloppy on the first stage but tightened up near the end. Overall I'm happy with my performance. I have some footage, ill try and get it uploaded today or tomorrow.

 

IDPA is this weekend, Ill begin to incorporate drawing from concealment and slide lock reloads into training.

Great to hear that they turned it around so quickly! Did the invoice mention what broke?

 

[Brophy-J]

Hello All, Ive got some  3 gun footage. Please take a look an let me know if you see anything I could improve on. I'm mostly focusing on pistol for the moment but I wont turn down any advice on rifle or shotgun. Stage ones pistol shooting was a bit sloppy but otherwise I feel good about the match. I dident get to record stage five, which was a shot, pistol only course similar to outer limits.

 

[Brophy-J]

Jan 8, 2018 - Weekend Recap

 

Shot IDPA this Saturday, unlike most of the country, the weather hear has been beautiful. Didn't get any video of the match. Overall my shooting was good but once again I completely bungled the warmup. This is becoming a reoccurring issue with me. I need to find a way to warmup before the match and say in that mindset throughout the stage setup.

 

In this case the warmup was a draw and shoot 6 limited (Virginia count) at about 10 yards. My first shot broke way to early , about a foot under the target. Of the other 5 shots only 2 were in the down zero, the three others were down 1 for a total of +8. Raw time was 4.36.

 

https://practiscore.com/results/html/564624ab-0fed-4147-9ab6-79b46240f9ff?page=overall-combined

 

The other stages went well, no complaints there.

 

[Brophy-J]

Ive began to dabble into reloading. Under the guidance of my kind neighbor I produced my first 250 rounds. Straight wall pistol cases are not to bad on a dillon square, so I think this is definitely something I will pursue further. Hopefully it will supplement shooting costs a bit. Ive got a good deal of range brass saved up, maybe 6000 pieces. From the research ive done, this is what Ive decided to try next.

 

125gr Blue Bullets RN

TiteGroup

CCI 500's

Range brass

 

Please feel free add suggestions.

[saibot]

On 1/8/2018 at 7:38 AM, Brophy-J said:

Hello All, Ive got some  3 gun footage. Please take a look an let me know if you see anything I could improve on. I'm mostly focusing on pistol for the moment but I wont turn down any advice on rifle or shotgun. Stage ones pistol shooting was a bit sloppy but otherwise I feel good about the match. I dident get to record stage five, which was a shot, pistol only course similar to outer limits.

 

Wow, you range puts on a good match! 

You're rifle shooting looks good to me. On the pistol front, I'd suggest a couple of things. I like to keep my hands just barely about my shoulders and close together with my right hand just above my shoulder, and my left hand pretty much in front of my face. Then it's a strait shot down to the pistol. No need to have them up in the air so far from your gun.

You might also try to get your gun up in front of your face during reloads.Really focus on keeping it at the sameish level as your shoot it. Then you can look the mag in, and there is much less wasted movement which is efficient/fast. The shooting looks pretty good otherwise. 

I did notice that you would run to a position, stop, then get your gun up and shoot. Try having the gun on target before enter the box so that the instant you step into the box you're breaking the shot. You'd be amazed at how much time you'll save just doing that, especially on the big field courses you guys have. You seem to already have the hustle down, just start decelerating a few steps before the box and get that gun up.

Looking good!

[saibot]

7 hours ago, Brophy-J said:

Ive began to dabble into reloading. Under the guidance of my kind neighbor I produced my first 250 rounds. Straight wall pistol cases are not to bad on a dillon square, so I think this is definitely something I will pursue further. Hopefully it will supplement shooting costs a bit. Ive got a good deal of range brass saved up, maybe 6000 pieces. From the research ive done, this is what Ive decided to try next.

 

125gr Blue Bullets RN

TiteGroup

CCI 500's

Range brass

 

Please feel free add suggestions.

For your Walther Q5, I'd seat the bullet pretty short, probably 1.10 to be sure you don't have any feeding issues. They have a short chamber. They also have a fast barrel, so you'll probably make power factor with some margin with 3.6 grains of TG. 

I use pretty much the same load but with SNS's.

If you have access to a chrono test them out to be sure, but that should be fine.

[saibot]

I know I suggested working on your movement into (and out of) position(s). This video is pretty good at explaining some of the techniques. Hope it's useful for ya.

 

[Brophy-J]

Thanks a bunch saibot. Ive been working on my surrender position starts but it doesn't looks like it translated into the match yet. Ive been trying to imitate Jerry Miculek.

 

https://youtu.be/QucT2B9b9gE?t=97

 

This looks very close to what your describing. I think I just need more repetitions in practice.

 

 

I agree I need to work on my movement. Its one of those things that's a bit difficult to practice during dry fire. I can probably make a few boxes out of PVC and practice box to box movement. 

[Brophy-J]

I have Ben Stoegers, Dry Fire Reloaded with some scaled down dry fire targets on the way. That should spice training up a bit. 

Edited January 10, 2018 by Brophy-J
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