The Gun Doesn't Matter

[CClassForLife]

3 minutes ago, rowdyb said:

Shooting against top names at locals is nothing like shooting against them at Nats if you're trying to compare yourself. Very often they're doing things at locals that are not for score optimization. It is good to have data and track your progress, but an N=1 is a small sample size. Compare your performance to theirs at Area and Nat matches to get a truer standing.

 

I do agree that where you currently shoot you are around a lot of great shooters and can see what "good" really is. And that Jon is helping you is good. Carry Optics is very big where you're goign to be moving to, so hopefully you can continue an upward trend.

Absolutely, it's an estimation at best. I just noted Nils because he's a big name in the shooting world. My first major match will be the North Texas Open, and I hope it will be spicy.

 

11 minutes ago, rowdyb said:

I was 22nd overall at 2018 Optics nats as a part time CO shooter, so I actually agree with you that it is possible.

In that case, I'm going for top 10 .

[waktasz]

Your stance, footwork, recoil control etc looks pretty certainly higher than low C class, so what explains your 40% classification ? 

[CClassForLife]

Just now, waktasz said:

Your stance, footwork, recoil control etc looks pretty certainly higher than low C class, so what explains your 40% classification ? 

I started shooting CO in May. My first 4 classifiers were heavy on the no shoots and I was still experimenting with my grip. My 5th was too high too be counted. My 6th is pending. 

[waktasz]

Gotcha. You can request your 5th one to count. 

You must have a very different personality than me because to purposely handicap myself like that would be infuriating...although having a built in excuse is nice.

[Sniperboy]

Good luck on your progress...  I like your state of mind, and also your choice in colours!  More yellow please! : )

 

I am curious, for your G26 CO pistol do you just use a Glock 17 magazine with 140mm basepad?

 

 

Edited July 21, 2020 by Sniperboy

[CClassForLife]

1 hour ago, waktasz said:

Gotcha. You can request your 5th one to count. 

You must have a very different personality than me because to purposely handicap myself like that would be infuriating...although having a built in excuse is nice.

There is no handicap. It just has a steeper learning curve. I honestly think it has the advantage given enough practice due to its maneuverability. It's partly the reason why I'm sticking to this journey to see if my hunch is correct.

 

4 minutes ago, Sniperboy said:

Good luck on your progress...  I like your state of mind, and also your choice in colours!  More yellow please! : )

 

I am curious, for G26 CO pistol do you use a Glock 17 magazine with 140mm basepad?

G19X mag (same as G17) with +5 Taran basepads.

[risingsun]

4 hours ago, waktasz said:

Your stance, footwork, recoil control etc looks pretty certainly higher than low C class, so what explains your 40% classification ? 

 

I agree! Saw the video. Dang .... I shoot worse than that with my G19 MOS. I'd say keep calm and keep shooting G26! 

[waktasz]

51 minutes ago, CClassForLife said:

There is no handicap. It just has a steeper learning curve. I honestly think it has the advantage given enough practice due to its maneuverability. It's partly the reason why I'm sticking to this journey to see if my hunch is correct.

 

 

 

Now I just think you're crazy

[CClassForLife]

Had some great fun this weekend working on raw, nearly reckless speed. As long as my gun was pointed safely towards the targets, I was pulling the trigger. I experimented with one handed leans, falling out of bounds, jumping out of bounds, and just pure time. Towards the end of this hilarity, I started seeing the dot. I will be shooting 90%+ points at this speed in 2 months time.

 

As of now, enjoy some failures and subsequent lessons:

When shooting one handed, I need to straighten out my wrist when turning the gun 90 degrees. Ask the last target I engaged from 5ft away how I Miked it twice.

 

First time shooting Cooper Tunnels. Shooting on the move while ducking is interesting. Need to work on relaxing the trigger hand during hoser arrays.

 

This is how you get two foot faults. Sick steel shots though...

 

I debated whether or not to bring a spare mag this stage. A pointless debate where one answer is always the correct one. From this video, you'll know what I think from here on out.

 

I'm going to continue with this experimentation for a few more weeks. It looks like I'm goofing around, but I'm definitely trying to get uncomfortable. It's easier for me to pick out errors in visualization, decision making, movement, and overall stage execution. By repeatedly attempting this pace, I will naturally have to adapt to processing at this pace. Nearly there.

 

SWPL - 8D 11M (78% pts)

PRG - 6D 4M (87% pts) 

NRG - 13D 2M (80% pts)

 

Edited July 27, 2020 by CClassForLife
Added practiscore links to emphasize time and garbage points =)

[bimmer1980]

Love this s#!t!

 

I would be afraid to shoot my support hand´s thumb, as it´s longer than the gun

 

 

[CClassForLife]

Had my first double charge. Luckily, I wasn't hurt. Mag catch and extractor were the only two things lost or destroyed. Funnily enough, my backup gun was my G34 w/ SRO. It was the first time shooting an entire match with a full sized gun this year.

 

And boy oh boy does having a larger gun make it so much easier. After taking a stage to get used to the gun, I started winning nearly every stage going at a casual, comfortable pace. Based off of the two matches I shot that day, there's about an 8-10% performance difference that I have to make up with the G26 relative to the G34. Note that I've probably shot only 5 or so rounds this year on the G34 to zero the dot.

 

I think much of the performance difference stems from the confidence in the reload, which for me, influences the confidence in my indexing. I compared the 4-aces drill between my 26 and 19 and there's a definite difference in average times and best times. My bests are 2.05/1.83 with averages of 2.30/2.05 with the 26 and 19 respectively. This means that there's roughly a 10% boost in having a slightly longer grip for me on this drill, which seems to translate to match performance as well. So what does this mean? 

• I need to work on my 26 reloads a lot. A grip cant that's off by only a few degrees means a fumbled reload. Keep the damn gun upright, once it passes 15 degrees, it's too much.
• Confidence in my training. I was testing out a Holosun 507c for a stage before the gun blew up and was shooting an abnormal number of Charlies. The new reticle added a novel element that toyed with my grip timing. I think I was reacting to the edges of the reticle which sent my second shot far too low. Ignore the dot.

 

On a side note, I will stumble into A class (81.45%) on the next update.

 

Match results:

LDF

NRG

[CClassForLife]

 

Double charge on last shot. The choppiness in my shooting was me getting used to the Holosun 507C.

 

 

Shooting a G34. There was a set of steel poppers about 20 yards out that could be taken on the move with the first movement. I planned a contingency in case I missed which was making up the steel in the final shooting position (the position where others decided to shoot it). This stage was the highest overall HF by 5%. I think this was a good lesson in programming a stage plan that contains a nondeterministic moment. Basically, visualize and program two paths. Execute one and transition seamlessly to the next if needed.

[Tango]

Just saw this thread. I actually believe you will reach your goals, and I like that you don't care about those who try to look down upon you or try to pull rank. Why you are still C class is a mystery to me, but you shoot like some M's I know around here. You have the age and body type that will allow you to compete at the top level, and you are working hard. You just seem a little crazy, but in a good way

 

Of course the gun matters, and you know that. However, it makes sense to me to try to make at least M with a crappy gun to really hammer the fundamentals, and then switch to a proper competition gun when you are serious about your competition results. 

 

On my end, after shooting USPSA for a little over a year and recently making M in CO, I am questioning my goals and life choices because I don't see myself making much more progress unless I invest a huge time into this and actually get back in shape.

Edited August 12, 2020 by Tango

[CClassForLife]

13 hours ago, Tango said:

However, it makes sense to me to try to make at least M with a crappy gun to really hammer the fundamentals...

Those are fightin' words 

 

Also, just got bumped to A class as of the last update. If I hundo the next one, then I'll be joining you in M class.

 

Shooting aside, your health comes first. Every aspect of your life gets better with better health. I hope you see that your potential is way higher than you think it is. Just gotta go get it.

[Tictacticaltimmy]

I respect your attitute! Lots of haters in this thread, glad to see you are shaking them off. vision and willpower can make the unreasonable into reality.

 

Will check back in a year and see where you are at...

[CClassForLife]

I'm obsessed with shooting. Moved to Austin and shot a match the next day. Didn't even unpack yet.

 

Haven't been dry firing all week, but I'm experimenting with just thinking about shooting. Instead of physically practicing the fundamentals, I'm visualizing them and trying to get as much detail as possible. How the dot dances, the way my grip relaxes, pressure in the thighs when shooting on the move, seeing poppers fall, the list goes on. Guess it worked out because I hundo'd the classifier and will get bumped to M on the next update.

 

So what's next? I'll be trying my first all classifier match in two weeks. Getting GM is a real possibility, but I won't look at the classifiers beforehand. Wherever the scores land will be what I get. My main attention will be shooting on the move. If I can get a private bay, then I'll keep shooting at 25 yard A-zone steel until I can double tap it running sideways. The future of CO is only getting faster. I don't want to get left behind.

[CClassForLife]

Luckily, I moved to a city that has an excellent outdoor training facility. Shout out to Texas Shooting Academy. I learned something subtle that will provide significant gains.

 

When shooting on the move, it is better to shoot when all my weight is loaded on one foot only.  This means I break the shot before my leading foot lands or I break the shot after my trailing foot leaves the ground. I used to get low and crab walk, shooting whenever I perceived the sights to be stable enough. However, the shot will land exactly where I see the dot as long as I only have one foot on the ground. Essentially, I'm floating in that instance and my upper body is independent of my lower. The moment a second foot touches, the independence is broken as weight shifts to the landing foot.

 

On a fun note, I enjoy shooting Open Minor with my CO setup. I think that's going to be my division for club matches going forward.

[Zincwarrior]

Where are you shooting USPSA matches? Note, APSC is still shut down but when they open up again, there are typically multiple Ms and GMs at their matches. 

[CClassForLife]

10 minutes ago, Zincwarrior said:

Where are you shooting USPSA matches? Note, APSC is still shut down but when they open up again, there are typically multiple Ms and GMs at their matches. 

CAPS, RCSC, Alpha Mike, Area59, the Range at Austin, and wherever there's USPSA heat.

[Zincwarrior]

My you are a traveling man.  Temple also normally holds matches once a month or so. APSC holds two matches a month and a steel challenge at end of month also.  You've shot with Wade and Brian I imagine.

Edited August 27, 2020 by Zincwarrior

[CClassForLife]

10 minutes ago, Zincwarrior said:

My you are a traveling man.  Temple also normally holds matches once a month or so. You've shot with Wade and Brian I imagine.

Yeah, shot with them. Trained with Brian a bit yesterday. Good folk all around.

[CClassForLife]

After the next classification update, I'll be at 91.28%, which means I'm two 95% runs or three 91% runs from GM. As long as I run into more classifiers, I'll get that extra letter by the end of the year. I've realized I'm relatively garbage with stand-and-shoot drills but above average once movement is thrown in. I'm debating if I should improve this weakness as it doesn't seem to affect my match performance. In other words, am I training to improve match performance or to improve classifier skills?

 

Anyway, another important thing I learned is to shoot before my dot gets to where I want it to be. My hits were frequently alpha-charlies with the 2nd shot going low. I've come to understand that if I see the dot go back to center, the muzzle will be pointed at 6 o'clock by the time I react and pull the trigger. The adjustment on this observation is very subtle, but how I approach it could have detrimental effects. I really need to understand the oscillation of my gun and whether the 6 o'clock shots are exacerbated by my hands pulling down. I do not want to get into the situation of "timing" the shots as that starts making me more gun dependent. I'll be working on relaxing my grip and letting the gun do its thing.

[parabat]

Awesome read, keep it up, i'm cheering for you

[CClassForLife]

Had another classifier match last Sunday and thought I missed GM by 0.07 seconds (current percentage is 94.9455). Fortunately, there's a classifier that was unpaid that pushes my average to 96.0323. So assuming that the club eventually pays their match fee, I'll be GM in CO (boosting Production to M as well). First subgoal is unofficially completed. Attached is a chart of my CO classifier progress. Interestingly, I was a C class as long of a period as I was M.

 

 

As for shooting experiments, I've been trying to understand the red dot. Since the SRO is parallax-free, it can be turned 90 degrees and the point of impact will still be where the dot is. I used to try and maintain the gun as upright as possible during hard leans and low ports. Now, I know that the gun orientation doesn't matter. Also, I started taping my optic with blue painter's tape to eliminate the false dot from oncoming sunlight. It also has the benefit of warning me if my eyes aren't target focused (the target disappears to blue if both eyes start to focus on the dot).

 

From now on, I'll be shooting Open with the CO rig for all matches that aren't Nationals. I like when there's something to chase. Plus, the Open class percentages are surprisingly accurate to overall placement at Nationals as long as classifiers are shot as if in a match situation. So, if I end up having a classification percentage of, say, 70% in Open, then I'll probably be around 70% of whoever wins nats. This will be a good guideline for the long journey ahead. The G26 is doing its job, just gotta make sure I'm doing mine.

[Tango]

15 hours ago, CClassForLife said:

Had another classifier match last Sunday and thought I missed GM by 0.07 seconds (current percentage is 94.9455). Fortunately, there's a classifier that was unpaid that pushes my average to 96.0323. So assuming that the club eventually pays their match fee, I'll be GM in CO (boosting Production to M as well). First subgoal is unofficially completed. Attached is a chart of my CO classifier progress. Interestingly, I was a C class as long of a period as I was M.

 

 

As for shooting experiments, I've been trying to understand the red dot. Since the SRO is parallax-free, it can be turned 90 degrees and the point of impact will still be where the dot is. I used to try and maintain the gun as upright as possible during hard leans and low ports. Now, I know that the gun orientation doesn't matter. Also, I started taping my optic with blue painter's tape to eliminate the false dot from oncoming sunlight. It also has the benefit of warning me if my eyes aren't target focused (the target disappears to blue if both eyes start to focus on the dot).

 

From now on, I'll be shooting Open with the CO rig for all matches that aren't Nationals. I like when there's something to chase. Plus, the Open class percentages are surprisingly accurate to overall placement at Nationals as long as classifiers are shot as if in a match situation. So, if I end up having a classification percentage of, say, 70% in Open, then I'll probably be around 70% of whoever wins nats. This will be a good guideline for the long journey ahead. The G26 is doing its job, just gotta make sure I'm doing mine.

Congrats! 

Q: Why do you shoot?