Everyone gets everything he wants. I wanted a mission, and for my sins, they gave me one.

[Halen]

"Everyone gets everything he wants. I wanted a mission, and for my sins, they gave me one. Brought it up to me like room service. It was a real choice mission, and when it was over, I never wanted another."

 

Not sure why that quote came to mind as I am starting this journey, but it simply resonates. The genesis of this idea to shoot competitively began many years ago and something I didn't act on for a variety of reasons. Life as a series of "missions" sometimes allows us to make excuses for not doing/trying things, taking that step into the unknown. Well, it was time to step into the void and this past December I made the decision that this is a mission I'd accept.

 

It had candidly been years since I had taken a gun to the range and saying I needed to knock off some rust would be putting it nicely. To compound this new mission, I was coming off of a pretty serious injury from the week of Thanksgiving (2022). I had two significant fractures in my right wrist and had just come out of a cast at the end of December. My right knee was also banged up which added to the fun.

 

As a part of the journey I discovered this place and begin devouring many of the journals, of course I was also consuming hours of matches delivered via YouTube. This combo drove me throughout December as I was moving my way to rehabbing the wrist and knee in January.

 

With rehab underway I was making plans to attend my first match back in January. I hit the range two weeks after getting the cast off and my wrist let me know that it was not happy. Thanks to the lack of cooperation I had to withdraw from my first several matches. The mission's brakes had been pressed and I had to endure rehab for another month.

 

Rolling into February I felt that is was time to give it a go and I signed up for a local match held on 02/19/2022. As I prepared for this match I was hitting the range to acquaint myself with my newly acquired Glock 34.5. Let's just say everything was a work in progress.

 

Match day arrived and I rolled into the gun range with a great deal of anticipation. My goals were simply: be safe, take it slow, and have fun. This was also guidance given to me from @CClassForLife and @Reds_Dot, which was very much appreciated.

 

I accomplished the match goals I'd laid out which is a small victory as I set out on this mission. Attached are my results. Starting from the bottom means there is only room for improvement.

 

Match Lessons Learned

• Dry fire practice is critical
• Proper grip matters
• Don't introduce unnecessary variables on match day

 

1st Year Goals

• Place top 10 in local matches by end of season
• Achieve B class rating

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 20, 2022 by Halen

[ChuckS]

"Never get out of the boat"... 

 

Good luck with your journey!

[shred]

Good on ya!

 

While I think it's a very worthwhile target, Top 10 at a local match can be as much dependent on who shows up as much as how well you shoot (especially APSC matches where there can be quite a bit of local heat and the difficulty level a bit higher than many).

 

Consider 'shoot a match clean with no misses' as an intermediate goal (although very few people managed it yesterday, including me, with the exception of one particularly hard stage most every other target was entirely doable)

 

 

[GrumpyOne]

2 hours ago, ChuckS said:

"Never get out of the boat"... 

 

Good luck with your journey!

Nah..."Charlie don't surf!"

[Halen]

21 hours ago, ChuckS said:

"Never get out of the boat"... 

 

Good luck with your journey!

 

Unless you were goin' all the way... Kurtz got off the boat.

 

Much appreciated, it's going to be one hell of a journey.

 

19 hours ago, shred said:

Good on ya!

 

While I think it's a very worthwhile target, Top 10 at a local match can be as much dependent on who shows up as much as how well you shoot (especially APSC matches where there can be quite a bit of local heat and the difficulty level a bit higher than many).

 

Consider 'shoot a match clean with no misses' as an intermediate goal (although very few people managed it yesterday, including me, with the exception of one particularly hard stage most every other target was entirely doable)

 

 

 

Thank you and I appreciate the advice, good things to keep in mind when goal setting.

 

19 hours ago, GrumpyOne said:

Nah..."Charlie don't surf!"

 

"You can either surf, or you can fight!"

[Reds_Dot]

I will share a few of my thoughts from your first match:

 

• Your gun handling (draws, reloads, other manipulations), for the most part, were good for a first timer.
• You did the hard part and came out. I see you had some physical injuries keeping you from getting started but often ego can be a real killer when it comes to motivation to come shoot.
• You have the right attitude. You can only get better from here. 
• If you are training with @CClassForLife listen to him and follow what he shows you. He can do a great job short-cutting the learning curve. 
• You asked good questions at this match. Keep asking questions.
• You already nailed it. Work on your grip and fundamentals (draws/transitions/reloads) and you will hit your B-class goal much sooner than you think.
• I agree with @shred (Roy). Your placement at matches is mostly out of your control. Focus on goals driven towards improvement. Clean (no penalty) match, 1 for 1 on all steel, etc to start. 

It was nice to meet you and I look forward to squadding/shooting with you again. 

[Halen]

It was nice to meet you as well @Reds_Dot, I appreciate all that you did for me during the match. Thank you for also adding your thoughts on my first match as well, very insightful and things for me to continue to improve. Looking forward to squadding/shooting with you as well.