The Gun Doesn't Matter

[SGT_Schultz]

2 hours ago, jt1207 said:

wow i just read through this thread--did he just say that he was done with uspsa and is now taking up golf? I've got a long way to go to get to his level of competitiveness.

Sounds like it

[SGT_Schultz]

On 4/20/2021 at 8:51 PM, CClassForLife said:

there's an unescapable appeal to getting good at something that I'm complete garbage at.

 

Sounds like you're ready to figure out how to make nuclear fusion self sustaining with an energy surplus.

 

Think of the challenge......

[Halen]

I'm onboard for your next steps on this journey @CClassForLife, looking forward to see where it takes you next.

[CClassForLife]

I'm back.

 

This will be a long post, but the short version is that I will become the best USPSA/IPSC left-handed shooter in the world as a stepping stone to becoming the best.

 

First, let's briefly talk about golf. A GCQuad launch monitor was in my shopping cart, but the purchase could wait till after Europe. While there, I joined my good friends at IPSC Malta and @Cliveb let me borrow his 2011. During one of the stages, I confidently and loudly proclaimed "watch how a GM shoots." Four mikes, one no-shoot, and a procedural later, the realization dawned on me that I have absolutely no idea how to shoot 2011s or Major. Oh well, shooting is behind me I thought. Upon returning, I decided to join some friends for some local fun and decided to bust out the PCC. Since golf was my main thing now, my stash of ammo was dangerously low. This led to me temporarily breaking down the net to make room for the ammo press. That was the last time I swung my golf club.

 

Fast forward two months, I made GM in PCC. Fast forward to present day, there are a few shooting experiments being ran in parallel.

1. Shooting PCC with laser as the only sighting system
2. Shooting Open Major with the trusty Glock 26
3. Precision 22LR with no bipod and treating it like USPSA
4. And most importantly, and the whole point of this update, shooting Open Major left-handed with the Staccato C2

A question kept coming up. If I were to place my mind in a similar body, how long would it take to get to the same skill level from scratch? Then I had the realization that I can test it right now. All that's needed is for me to switch sides. Sure, I have the knowledge and experience, but fine motor control matters. For example, I can write quite neatly with my right, but the letters that spawn from my left look more like slanted attempts at hieroglyphs. In terms of shooting, I shot one match on November 7th of 2020 with my left (APSC - Luft Hanz). I was 55.59% of the overall winner at nearly 50 seconds slower. Clearly, my movement did not carry over, and I'm not sure much of anything did. I think it's safe to say I am roughly C class all over again.

 

This time around, I wanted to document everything. But before we dive into details, let's get a bit philosophical. Think of the game of USPSA and visualize it as a forest. The forest contains fruit-bearing trees, each representing a different skill. Our goal in becoming better USPSA shooters is to collect as much fruit as possible. Everyone knows of the saying to get the lowest hanging fruit. But who really asks if the fruit that they're picking is actually from a tree that's part of the USPSA forest to begin with? I have a good idea which trees are the right trees - not only those that are relevant to USPSA but also those that bear the most fruit.

 

Next, let's go over goals. Personally, I think goals are meaningless because different people can have the same goals. It's not the goal that matters, but the identity that's required to achieve said goal. If I want to be a GM, then I must train like a GM. It's simple, but time and time again, people fail to adopt the identity required to get the job done. For example, I simply did not practice enough putting, swing mechanics, or chip shots to become a scratch golfer. However, I'm definitely putting in the effort to become the best shooter that I can possibly be. I set the goal to be as far away as possible so that I have the freedom to keep grinding towards it. To me, it doesn't demotivate me to not meet a goal of passion because it's the process that gives me fulfillment. That being said, my short term goal is the win the Texas State Open. By the end of 2022, I will be the best left-handed pistol and PCC shooter in the nation. In the past 12 days, I've spent 38 hours dry-firing (with two of those days driving a total of 2500 miles). A person who dryfires for 15 minutes a day, 4 days a week would take at least 38 weeks to see the progress I've made. It's not any natural special talent, it's hard work. Time to sleep, I'll update with what I've been working on in the next post.

[Nathanb]

Bro you’re wild. Lol

[Boomstick303]

On 1/11/2022 at 1:02 AM, CClassForLife said:

Then I had the realization that I can test it right now. All that's needed is for me to switch sides

 

My assumption is you are right eyed dominant?  If that is correct, how does your eye dominance play a role in the switch to your left hand?  How are you going to train in regards to eye dominance? 

[CClassForLife]

1 minute ago, Boomstick303 said:

 

My assumption is you are right eyed dominant?  If that is correct, how does your eye dominance play a role in the switch to your left hand?  How are you going to train in regards to eye dominance? 

 

Since 12/31/2021, I've tracked 44 hours of dryfire. I would say it took me 10 or so hours to be able to consistently get the dot in the window using my left eye when static. Another 15 or so to be able to consistently track it while moving around as fast as I can.

 

Now, I have no eye preference. Whatever side the gun is on is what eye I use.

[Reds_Dot]

24 minutes ago, CClassForLife said:

 

Since 12/31/2021, I've tracked 44 hours of dryfire. I would say it took me 10 or so hours to be able to consistently get the dot in the window using my left eye when static. Another 15 or so to be able to consistently track it while moving around as fast as I can.

 

Now, I have no eye preference. Whatever side the gun is on is what eye I use.

I have seriously considered trying to train exactly that. I can get my right eye to pick-up the sights. (Left-handed/left-eye dominant). It would be beneficial because I wouldn't have to compromise my grip (tilting gun/breaking wrist/odd hand position/etc....) to shoot weak-hand. 

[CClassForLife]

6 minutes ago, Reds_Dot said:

I have seriously considered trying to train exactly that. I can get my right eye to pick-up the sights. (Left-handed/left-eye dominant). It would be beneficial because I wouldn't have to compromise my grip (tilting gun/breaking wrist/odd hand position/etc....) to shoot weak-hand. 

 

Try it. It's not that much effort in the grand scheme of things.

[Boomstick303]

2 hours ago, CClassForLife said:

Now, I have no eye preference. Whatever side the gun is on is what eye I use.

 

Nice!!

[dee loo]

Thank you so much for sharing your training experiences and I'm glad you're shooting again.  I've been following all your posts and youtube videos and getting so many nuggets (My brain is constantly going hhhhhhmmmmm).   Appreciate it.

[Boomstick303]

On 1/11/2022 at 1:02 AM, CClassForLife said:

Shooting PCC with laser as the only sighting system

 

What laser do you intend to use to engage targets on bright sunny days past 12 yds.?

Edited January 14, 2022 by Boomstick303

[CClassForLife]

34 minutes ago, Boomstick303 said:

 

What laser do you intend to use to engage targets on bright sunny days past 12 yds.?

 

The Perst-4M is visible at 25+ yards in bright sunlight. Since it's Russian, it goes beyond the 5mW civilian limit. It's at least 18mW and the newest version has a 40mW turbo mode. The only issue is that if my index isn't on point and there's a grass backstop, there's no way I'm finding the green laser haha.

 

However, this experiment has to be put on hold as I've been waiting for 2+ months for my laser to pass customs and the unit my friend let me borrow had the green laser die. I bought a Holosun AEMS to build my left eye indexing in the meantime.

[Intheshaw1]

Interested to see your progress. I actually believe an NRA article talked about switching to training a non dominant hand to reinvigorate your learning.

 

I actually shot with a guy who made that change due to a medical issue. He was definitely slower to start but by the end of the season was nearly back to where he was.

[UpYoursPal]

On 1/13/2022 at 10:47 AM, CClassForLife said:

 

Since 12/31/2021, I've tracked 44 hours of dryfire.

DAMN!  That is a LOT of practice.  How do you structure that during the day?  Do you do it all in one big chunk or several smaller sessions?

[CClassForLife]

On 1/19/2022 at 11:56 AM, UpYoursPal said:

DAMN!  That is a LOT of practice.  How do you structure that during the day?  Do you do it all in one big chunk or several smaller sessions?

 

I record the time during a self reflection period at the end of the day. The time reflects when I'm actually handling a firearm. I don't have a set practice schedule and it just naturally happens to occupy every free moment. Sometimes I might dryfire for literally 2-3 hours at a time. Other days might just be the steady accumulation of 5 min bursts.

 

This week's been pretty rough though as I think I just got over covid and a strain in my right hand.

Edited January 21, 2022 by CClassForLife

[CClassForLife]

Pretty much recovered from last week's sickness, so back to the dryfire. I'm still in the "getting familiar with the gun" phase so my consistency with fine motor control has a lot of room to improve. The primary focus here is establishing a proper grip for that first shot index. I have my timer set to a random 2-5s interval.

 

 

At this speed, my index is within a 1.5" circle at 7 yards. So far, mounting the rifle seems pretty decent. I can autopilot at sub 0.7s. I can move on to reloads and basic movements now.

 

 

 

Practicing the scoop draw, but having issues consistently flicking the safety. Consistent average is 0.75-0.90s. Probably at least 5,000 more reps to reach autopilot mode. Turning my left wrist to be parallel to the gun aids in consistency. Cone of accuracy is roughly 3" at 7 yards, lots of work to do here. I need to make sure that the grip is 100% after the draw, so this will be the bulk of my effort. Reloads and random transition work will be thrown in for variety.

 

 

[CClassForLife]

 

Practiscore Match Link

 

67A 44C 10D 6M 1NS

67.00s

 

75% of points

1.10 Alpha to Non-alpha Ratio

Stage time splits:

1. +1.02s
2. +1.36s
3. +0.22s
4. -1.30s (from next fastest time who skipped a target) or -4.30 (from other stage plan)
5. -0.61s
6. -1.99s or -0.39s (Reed's last shot is likely a timer malfunction which added more than 4 seconds to his time)

 

Notes:

• First shot is getting decent, I'm hitting the steel going at a slightly faster than comfortable pace. I'm estimating that I could have ran this 7-8 seconds faster with my right at the same urgency. If so, then I have at least a 10-12% deficit to make up with my left.
• I need to work on my shooting grip. There are constant tweaks that need to be made in order for the gun to work properly in my hand. A few days ago, I was dropping mags inadvertently with transitions due to too much pressure with my left middle finger (Staccato C2 is left side mag release only and I use a lightened mag catch spring). Also, the left thumb needs to be curled further back on the thumb safety to give room for the support hand thumb to clear the ejection port. Unfortunately, these realizations only happen during live fire so I find myself adjusting grip day of.
• Hard right leans need work. I'm currently a statue where it's faster to transfer the right hand to shoot the position.
• Propeller hat gives an extra speed boost due to Bernoulli's principle. I'm thinking at least a 10% HF increase.

 

 

[Reds_Dot]

4 hours ago, CClassForLife said:

 

• I need to work on my shooting grip. There are constant tweaks that need to be made in order for the gun to work properly in my hand. A few days ago, I was dropping mags inadvertently with transitions due to too much pressure with my left middle finger (Staccato C2 is left side mag release only and I use a lightened mag catch spring). Also, the left thumb needs to be curled further back on the thumb safety to give room for the support hand thumb to clear the ejection port. Unfortunately, these realizations only happen during live fire so I find myself adjusting grip day of.

 

• Propeller hat gives an extra speed boost due to Bernoulli's principle. I'm thinking at least a 10% HF increase.

 

 

First bullet point: Welcome to my world. 

 

Second bullet point: I am writing to NROI now to get propeller beanies banned. 

[CClassForLife]

4 hours ago, Reds_Dot said:

First bullet point: Welcome to my world. 

 

Second bullet point: I am writing to NROI now to get propeller beanies banned. 

 

The hat is necessary to make up for the left hand disadvantage. However, they're only allowed in Open 

[SuperKing]

Have you already started to or tested shooting Major out of the Staccato?

[CClassForLife]

44 minutes ago, SuperKing said:

Have you already started to or tested shooting Major out of the Staccato?

Yeah, but my grip isn't refined enough to control it. Last time I tried, the recoil was peeling the skin off my right hand palm. Also, I was probably getting 45 degrees of muzzle rise which is hilarious from ~180 PF.

Edited March 7, 2022 by CClassForLife

[SuperKing]

On 3/7/2022 at 4:26 PM, CClassForLife said:

Yeah, but my grip isn't refined enough to control it. Last time I tried, the recoil was peeling the skin off my right hand palm. Also, I was probably getting 45 degrees of muzzle rise which is hilarious from ~180 PF.

Damn, too bad beanie doesn't provide +5 grip.

[CClassForLife]

11 minutes ago, SuperKing said:

Damn, too bad beanie doesn't provide +5 grip.

 

Hmmm, but the glove might...

 

Thanks for the idea, gonna test it.

[SuperKing]

6 minutes ago, CClassForLife said:

 

Hmmm, but the glove might...

 

Thanks for the idea, gonna test it.

Huh. Have you tried grip enhancers or chalk? I remember wondering about that when I first saw your first Open Major video and not seeing chalk on your hands like I would have expected.