Revolver? Die on the vine?

[-JCN-]

Breakfast at our usual cafe

 

 

Then the plan is to go to my range and set up a movement classifier, some Airsoft for my daughter if she’s feeling it and I’ll work some irons to see if classifiers are viable or a total waste without more train up time. 
 

It’s going into off season and I usually like to do alternate skills things but I could focus on just LO. Will see. 
 

Got this message from one of the students today:

 

 

Note that he doesn’t really consider my time, feelings or what I would get out of the relationship. It’s just launching into what he wants. 
 

He’s a nice guy, but he’s already disqualified himself from an ongoing coaching relationship by demonstrating that his perspective is just about what he can get. 
 

My billing cost at work is $10 / minute for perspective. 

 

I’m fine with donating time / value sometimes. But there’s a limit if I’m not getting benefit.  

 

As contrast, these were V’s comments:

 

 

She appreciates the relationship and she understands the value. 
 

Which is why it’s a great relationship for me. She’s always looking to add value for me. It’s so rare and it’s worth a lot to me. 
 

So while it’d be $210k in training fees if she was obnoxious… it’s $100k+ in training benefit for me and $100k+ in friendship and emotional support value. 
 

It’s a net positive for me. 
 

 

.

Edited September 2 by -JCN-

[-JCN-]

Actually. 
 

It’s like $50k of training benefit to me and priceless for the friendship and support. 

[-JCN-]

Testing iron vision

 

First step is to test if I can execute with vision. I don’t need centerfire for that. 
 

 

It’s quiet enough that even on setting #9 I wasn’t picking up all the shots! That’s pretty freaking quiet. 

 

 

Without the weight of centerfire ammo and base pads, the balance of the gun is more nose heavy. Add even the light suppressor and it feels like an empty Glock.
 

So ordered these:

 

 

I chose the solid ones at 9 oz to try and get closer to faithful balance. 

 

[-JCN-]

Viable or not?

 

So 22LR vision

 

Went okay. 

 

Rusty but with some flashes of okay….
 

 

[-JCN-]

Big fail…

 

I ran the 25 yard string for Six in Six with irons and I couldn’t see s#!t hahaha. 
 

It just reminds me that irons are hard and harder as my eyes get worse with age. 
 

So back to dots…

[-JCN-]

I think I have a plan. 
 

Philosophically, I have a little bit of a hard time with a surrogate goal. 
 

So Open M is kind of weird because some classifiers aren’t proportional because of major / minor. 
 

I am confident I could make LO GM gaming with my current skills. I hundo’d a movement classifier at a match and I shot my last classifier match at match pace and logged some more GM scores. 
 

I want to compete as an LO M though. 
 

But I also want to keep improving. 
 

But I can’t NOT game because it’s a GAME. 
 

I thought about it and I think I have come up with a plan. 
 

I want a challenging goal. I want a goal that temporally matches up with V’s goals. 
 

It has to be a pure goal and freedom to game preferably without people seeing me as a sketchy douchebag. 

 

V’s goal is M. She’s B+/A- I think at this point. 
 

She’ll be A by Spring. 
 

But M takes a lot of work and it could be another year. Or less. Or more. 
 

So that’s my time frame of how much work I need / want to train for. 
 

So my one year classifier goal is: Open minor GM. 

 

I have no idea if that’s even possible. 
 

But why not try? There’s literally nothing to lose and it’ll help me improve my LO skills. 
 

.

Edited September 1 by -JCN-

[-JCN-]

Shot a classifier match with some friends. 
 

V and I shot like poop. It was ugly. Definitely not our best showing. 
 

Logged a couple Open M scores. Shot it at match pace. Haven’t been dry firing and it showed. 
 

V is now comfortable in her sub-20 doubles which is key to unlocking rhe next step. I don’t think you can make consistent A class scores without the ability to single oscillation split. 
 

Even shooting trashy, she still was able to make A class with a little margin. 
 

 

She couldn’t have done that a month ago. 
 

The growth continues. 
 

She was able to exceed her goals. We have been working together 11 months now. She’s only been working USPSA < 5 months. 
 

She will work towards LO M next year and I’ll see how close I can get to Open minor GM. 
 

.

Edited September 2 by -JCN-

[-JCN-]

I also ordered the threading service on the old style Kadet I have.  It has weighted magazines and can be shot with a traditional grip (without thumb rest and frame drilled mounted optic). 
 

I dovetail mounted a plate and optic on the old style Kadet. 
 

 

I envision it as a suppressed movement trainer. Like augmented dry fire. 

[-JCN-]

Sending this off
 

 

Old style Kadet kit. 
 

Some benefits to me: only cutout reciprocates, not the whole slide. 
 

So as opposed to the new style aluminum slide that reciprocates. 
 

When I tried mounting a dovetail optic to

the aluminum new style slide, the dovetail didn’t hold up and the gun was less reliable with the extra reciprocating weight (same issue with the Airsoft guns). 
 

So my workaround was drilling and tapping and using a frame mounted optic. 
 

 

That works pretty well for Steel Challenge and I think is pretty decent overall. 
 

I have a threaded barrel for it too. 
 

But with the old style Kadet kit, it’s a steel slide (and dovetail) with only a small cutout that reciprocates. 
 

Hand position on the frame will be more similar to a stock CZ. 
 

I’m not sure how much it matters, but I like options. 

 

 

[-JCN-]

I’m fired up. 
 

I think making GM is too easy.
 

Because it can be gamed pretty hard. 
 

There are people who literally have had 50+ classifiers thrown out in order to span 6 that suit their skill set in order to make GM. 
 

There are rumors of people in years past of shooting the same classifier again and again until they luck into a high classifier. 
 

I think almost any M under the right gaming conditions could make GM. 
 

But the difference is in consistency and reproducibility. 
 

I use classifiers as objective training drills for a diverse set of skills. I don’t want to just luck into a classification anymore. 
 

One of the things I don’t like about “Hundos” is that you lose the resolution past the 100%. It’s binary in that regard. 

Moving the curve down to Open minor M allows me to log things above LO hundo. 
 

I really may never make Open minor GM. V may never make LO M and that’s okay. It’s more about the process than the classification. 
 

V and I have a terminology for classification. 
 

Within a class, she coined the terms “little B and big B” to represent B- and B+. 
 

She had been shooting like a little A and shot classifiers that reflected that. Even on a bad day. 
 

 

She didn’t “make A class,” she IS a “little a.”

 

If I shoot a whole classifier match at match pace and all my scores are M, then I’m probably solid M. 
 

I’d say I’m little M in Open minor and that motivates me. 
 

 

.

Edited September 3 by -JCN-

[-JCN-]

MOAR MOVEMENT!

 

I’m a little all over the place today. Kind of restless. Happy that V made her stretch goal for the year with margin to spare. 
 

Days are getting shorter and the season is winding down here. 
 

Our region has really scaled back on USPSA in general with all the BOD shenanigans and previously strong clubs are withering away both from volunteers abstaining and new shooters not being inspired. 
 

These things ebb and flow. 
 

V had the good idea of shelving some of our stand and shoot classifier work until the Winter when we are stuck inside so I’m brainstorming some movement work. 
 

I also asked her to kick me in the head the next time I try competing in irons. 
 

 

 

.
 

 

Edited September 3 by -JCN-

[-JCN-]

SRO tool 

 

I had some of the metal ones, but don’t know where they are. 
 

 

But in the modern era, this is way cheaper. 
 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/226140191107?_nkw=sro&itmmeta=01J6X344EZJ7Q7R4D86VWQ9VAS&hash=item34a7017983:g:G0UAAOSwG0VmKcYE

 

 

Tested them and they’re robust enough to get some torque on and off the cap. 
 

Much better than the flimsy factory one. 
 

 

[-JCN-]

FIRST SEASON SUMMARY FOR V:

 

USPSA competition started Spring 2024.

Initial classification B.

Designed and implemented a comprehensive curriculum of practice and improvement for a well-rounded game.

 

4.5 months of work from B to A class.

 

 

The important thing is that we did it with a comprehensive curriculum. We didn't just work to pick classifiers that highlighted her strengths, we worked to make her have no (relative) weaknesses.

 

Check out the classifier types that counted in her classification:

 

That to me is a key part of what we did. We didn't just run classifiers over and over again "to make" a classification. We used classifier data to help confirm a well rounded skill set.

 

This journal is kind of unique in that it's part coaching journal. Most of the journals here that go on to GM (or high level shooting) are people who started at B level and kept working. Often it's uncharted territory and there are missteps and foibles along the way. 

 

Here, I have the experience of having been there (at least to a certain level) and the desire to help others get there expediently.

 

So far, it's going according to plan.

 

For people who haven't been following from the beginning here's a brief recap of where she was before we met:

 

2023: She started shooting Girl and a Gun classes. Dry firing with help of YouTube videos. Then some local IDPA. At the end of the season we met and started working together in October on fundamentals and IDPA type things.

 

2024: Over Winter, more IDPA type things and then moving on to USPSA type things. Working index, reloads and splits. Spring did initial classification (B-class) and started working field course skills and course planning and execution. Continued with this in earnest and by late Summer, made A-class with a well-rounded skill set. Match performance is still lagging a little (which is expected) as her mechanics continue to improve and the score hurts with misses... but letting the mechanics catch up rather than dumbing down the stage plans is important to keep progressing (IMO).

 

Next Steps:

More of the same, refine and elevate. Higher expectations of reproducibility and fidelity....

 

 

[-JCN-]

The next phase of the journal is here: