Bacon and Broccoli: next steps

[-JCN-]

 

The last journal was above. I wasn't really sure what my goals were and where the relationship with my student, V would go.

 

Turns out it has been the most enjoyable 6 months of my shooting hobby and no signs of it letting up.

 

This begins the next chapter. Revolver is dead on the vine.

 

JCN: CO/PCC paper GM. Little M field course skills. Solid M LO classifier skills.

V: Little A classifier and field course skills.

 

Goal: Improvement. Balance. Joy. Friendship.

[-JCN-]

Origin Stories:

 

I started USPSA in 2019 and made paper CO GM in 2021 and PCC GM in 2023.

 

I haven’t been good at field course things. 
 

So this year working with V, I’ve tried to make a well rounded skills curriculum for her that balances classifier and field course skills. 
 

She was C level when I started working with her, initial classification was B in Spring of 2024 and she recently just made A on a comprehensive spread of skills testing. 
 

 

I knew I wanted to get better at field course things and I’m kind of an efficiency junkie so I had a range put in on some property I have an hour away. 
 

I can leave movement practice up for training. 
 

It’s been beneficial for V’s training too.

 

Basically I work on the same stuff that V needs work on and I’ve improved. 
 

Funny how that works.

 

Some representative videos from the past six months. 
 

V:

 

 

 

Me:

 

 

(and the hits were good)

One of my hundo runs at a match. 
 

 

I’ve been working on my field course skills this year. It’s a work in progress. 
 

 

[-JCN-]

Optimizing Alien

 

V is using my old CO gear with a magwell cocked and locked in LO.

 

A friend brought it to her attention that makes her a sponsored shooter.  

 

We got a chuckle out of that.  
 

I’ve spent a lot of time and brain cells on optimizing the Alien for my ammo and cycling preferences. 
 

I had one of the original Aliens but never ran it until the 22 round magazines came out. 
 

My favorite combination of parts from some of my different models at home is a medium backstrap (off the USA 500) and medium side panels (off the LO). I also like the smaller magwell of the USA 500. 
 

The LO magwell also is too large for IDPA. 
 

I’ve been harassing Laugo USA about availability of the grip and backstraps. When my Laugo branded RTS2 bit it, I sent it back and asked again. 
 

They said it was coming soon. 
 

Got a Facebook notification that they finally were available. 
 

 

Now I can set up my spare Creators the way I want them. Or test it to run 9 major. 
 

I also have a threaded barrel Creator coming in the next few days. Going to experiment suppressed and / or compensated. 
 

I like experimenting. 
 

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Edited September 5 by -JCN-

[-JCN-]

This is one of my favorite interviews: Jay Beal on MSP

 

I learned a lot about how to train from this when I started training in earnest 2019.

 

 

From setting up practice stages to mixed dry / live, there are so many nuggets of efficiency here that I still use regularly.

 

 

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Edited September 5 by -JCN-

[-JCN-]

What's in it for me?

 

When I met V, she was looking for direction. She was already motivated and working hard. She had a good grip and good trigger press. That was nice as a coach because she had already demonstrated commitment and self-awareness.

 

At that time, I was kind of lacking direction and motivation in my training. I was still recovering from a nerve impingement that took about a year to resolve (my trigger finger was numb) and I'm getting older, so I didn't see the point of training USPSA for me.

 

I was dabbling in Steel Challenge and IDPA things for the year or two before we met.

 

I'll be 49 years old later this year, so I'm not a Spring Chicken. I know that my competition lifespan is limited and grinding hard for something that's fading out seemed like a waste of time.

 

That's where this relationship brought so much value. By designing drills and helping her learn, I'm also improving.

 

Field course training is way more enjoyable with a partner rather than running around by myself!

 

I have some additional training ideas for field course things that I'll get to try this and next week.

 

I try not to annoy the neighbors at my range with high volume drills... but I think that's something that we could really benefit from for field course improvement. Pounding entries and exits in different direction, setup targets. Pacing of shooting on the move, etc.

 

So I'm trying to put together a suppressed 22 trainer and perhaps a suppressed 9mm trainer. Logistically there are challenges with balance and equipment, so it's going to require some real testing to see what's viable.

 

 

 

[-JCN-]

Working some SHO:

 

My WHO was better than my SHO. Worked some ergos to try and bring them closer together. More

extension and forward weight is helping reduce wobble and improve recoil control. 
 

[-JCN-]

Trainer setup for movement testing:

 

The Kadet slide stops are rare. There’s an extra notch underneath for the fixed barrel locator. 
 

 

I think you could probably drill out the wire spring on the barrel if you needed to replace it. 
 

Or… you could notch and cut a standard pin to fit. 

 

 

Dremels are handy. Sorry, I realized that I'm holding the pin upside down but you get the idea.
 

The brass LOK grips came today. 
 

 

 

 

 

It’s no longer nose heavy. If anything it’s a little rear heavy but it’ll work. 

 

 

.
 

 

 

 

Edited September 5 by -JCN-

[-JCN-]

So for example…

 

V’s current largest field course weakness is pulling off on exit for the second shot on a target. 
 

It’s one of those things that can be hard to tell at speed (especially when less experienced). Especially as it pertains to closer targets with streakier dot visuals. 
 

So I set up the trainer to help her get some augmented dry fire. 
 

I don’t know what my relative weaknesses are and I am not motivated to really figure that out. 
 

But when she works on exits, I work on exits… so I get better. 
 

As we keep leveling up her game part by part, I also wind up training those parts and leveling up. 
 

 

 

[-JCN-]

Course walking

 

I’m really trying to dedicate more time, effort and emotional bandwidth into learning and planning match execution. 
 

My relative classifier (match-pace) performances compared to some people who do really well on field courses leads me to believe that my mechanical skill isn’t my main weakness… it’s the application and execution of those skills. 
 

It’s the part of the game I wasn’t willing to commit the extra time to before. Showing up a day early for big matches. Burning brain cells and hyper focusing. It’s the same as my wife and I used to do for National autocross and I wanted something more mentally casual. 
 

Having a match buddy in V makes it less lame and less about myself, so the barrier is lowered and now I want to go and learn it. There’s more accountability and more of a shared purposes. We looped in a couple of local buddies too and it just feels really good to be part of a community helping each other get the best out of our performances. 
 

It really is about the people when it’s all said and done. 

[-JCN-]

Zzzzzzzzzzz…

 

I’m sleepy.

 

I was scheduled to be off next week so I was pacing myself at work like that. Today was the home stretch!

 

But a co-worker has a family emergency and is out next week. He was assigned an important role for our group. 
 

I volunteered to cover half the week and another co-worker will cover the other half.

 

So now instead of sitting down on a soft cushion, it’s a hard stool haha. 
 

I’m back into energy and emotional conservation mode again….
 

[-JCN-]

Alien #6

 

The guy at the LGS asked if it was #5… the other RO said “I think it’s #6.”

 

He said, “I think you have more than anyone else in the state.”

 

I joked that I probably have more than everyone else in the state. 
 

Then I said, “At least more rounds on them than everyone.”

 

 

 

The threaded barrel is pretty cool. Very low profile. 
 

Edited September 6 by -JCN-

[-JCN-]

Something like this:

 

 

I’ll play around with different baffle configurations. The Q erectors are nice and modular. The baffles without an external shell are really light. So not that nose heavy. 
 

It also could be potentially swapped out for an up port compensator if I tried to run Open Major… I’d have to check plunk testing to see if the OAL fits in the gun. 
 

 

It’s also interesting to learn what parts come on which guns. The Laugo website isn’t very descriptive. 

As best as I can tell:

Creator USA 500: small side panels, medium and large backstraps, very small and small magwells. 
 

Creator LO: medium side panels, large backstraps, XL magwell. 
 

Creator full kit: medium side panels, medium backstraps, small magwell. 
 

With the suppressor, will test different types of ammo, recoil springs and piston configurations. 
 

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Edited September 7 by -JCN-

[-JCN-]

 

 

[-JCN-]

Shot a match with V

 

She did decently, I felt tight and uncomfortable. 
 

I was third tier speed. Mental game was 7/10. I’m meh on field course things with inconsistent application of the appropriate mechanics to suit the engagements. 
 

I feel like I need to spend time on my range working on things. 
 

Hopefully with suppressed guns, I can be freer to pound away without annoying the neighbors. 
 

Had a great squad with great people. Even when I suck it up, I still want my friends to have the best days I can give them.

[-JCN-]

For V, getting her comfortable and trained with the sub-20 splits was the key to allowing her the next level of field course performance. 
 

At some point, footwork is split limited. 
 

I’m still making some efficiency and performance errors. My overall stage planning is getting reasonable, but I’m still not choosing the right mechanics from my tool bag at the right time. 
 

I really need some skills lab time in movement over classifiers. 
 

And I think I need to restructure my dry fire to possibly include some outdoor more aggressive movement. 
 

I’ll have to think about what field course components I’m weak in. 

[-JCN-]

I thanked V for being a good partner. She’s very supportive and the field course journey is something we are doing together. I’m not very good at field courses, so we are learning together. 
 

Because we plan field course things together, her stage times are similar to mine. As her mechanics improve

her finishing position will continue to improve… she’s not limited by slowness in the stage plans if that makes sense. 

[-JCN-]

Parts to test and tune 

 

[-JCN-]

Testing different configurations 

 

[-JCN-]

So that’s interesting…

I put the large grips on and tried some manipulations. Felt good but when trying WHO, I felt a ridge…

 

 

The grips seem to be designed specifically for right handed shooters. 
 

The left side has a different contouring and ridges. 
 

I think I like it, but have to test. 
 

The large grips are nice like a Shadow 2 in that the top areas are just as thin as the frame so it doesn’t affect my reach to the mag catch. 

[-JCN-]

Okay, no bueno. 
 

I tried some indexes and the asymmetry of the large grips makes me want to index to the right. 
 

I like the way it fills my hand and feels more locked in like a palm swell. If I had just bought an Alien, I’d like those grips. 
 

But right now I have so many reps on the current setup, that’s what I’m going for. 
 

Also Laugo, really?

 

There are four different Creator magwells. 
 

 

LO (XL) upper left and the one upper right that came on the USA 500, the lower right that came with the USA 500 and standard on the Creator full kit and the IPSC one lower right that’s available for purchase. 
 

The upper right one fits in the IDPA CO box and is what I use for that. 

[-JCN-]

Squadding with good people. 
 

V and I have a regular squad of friends who are good shooters. Better at USPSA than I am. 
 

There are some key field course things I’m still not getting / doing. 
 

I haven’t quite figured out what that is yet. 
 

My classifier and stand and shoot skills are on par with my friends, but my field course performance pretty consistently lags behind. 
 

I’ll have to think about it some more. I have some hypotheses. 
 

I think it’s still probably a limitation of judgment and application. 
 

Probably a deficit in certain types of movement and athleticism as well. 
 

This off season, I might have to do some specific conditioning exercises. 

[-JCN-]

Was a frustrating day at work today.
 

I wasn’t sure that I’d have the bandwidth to go to my range and shoot but figured I’d try. 
 

I wound up listening to Matthew Perry’s biography while pulling weeds and grass for three hours. It was cathartic. 
 

It was engrossing to listen to his struggles and turmoil and I felt grateful for the loved ones in my life. 
 

So that gave me more mental bandwidth back and I built another stage. 
 

 

It has elements of “Greatest Night of Our Lives” but with an open wall in the middle that I can use for training other things. 
 

I also did some of the suppressor training and I think it’s going to be really useful for movement. 

 

 

 

[-JCN-]

Checked in with the farmer

 

 

 

They’re not the full length configuration. But they help. And neighbors being indoors cuts the dB by quite a bit too. 
 

I think we have a workable solution that doesn’t annoy them. 
 

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Edited September 11 by -JCN-

[-JCN-]

Helped my daughter sort beads

 

 

One of the things I like and encourage is “good enough” over perfectionism. 
 

When we ran out of space in a partition for a particular type of bead and I asked where I should put them, it was satisfying to see her come up with an acceptable alternate solution rather than freezing or melting down. 
 

That I think is a key functional skill even through adulthood. When to not get mired in perfection at the expense of getting the job done on time / budget. 
 

“Good enough is good enough.”

 

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Edited September 11 by -JCN-

[-JCN-]

Things to try:

 

From autocross, someone trying to get “faster” often would try and push everywhere and make more errors that delayed exits and wound up with cone penalties and slower times. 
 

Just trying to “go faster” without a specific plan usually does not have the desired result (in my experience). 
 

Usually to improve, we would have to pick one or two specific things to change. Like getting closer to the apex to get on the throttle a whiff earlier before the straight. 
 

Or getting earlier in the slalom so could push the exit speed. 
 

So I want to go faster but I have to be smart about it. 
 

Secondly, If someone was trying to protect a result rather than improve their skill, they’d give too much physical margin off the cones to “play it safe” and never get to the next level. 

 

I think that’s where I’m at currently and I need to give myself permission to miss. 
 

Skills lab is a perfect place to help develop some of that judgment and skill with less penalty. 

 

I think there are specific elements that I could and should work on in dry and live. 
 

But I might try a little less visual confirmation and give myself permission to miss a little more at practice matches. I very, very rarely miss and I think I’m probably overconfirming. 
 

Time to experiment and try some things. 
 

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Edited September 11 by -JCN-