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 Thursday at 11:35 AM 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.

 

 

.

Edited Thursday at 11:38 AM 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 Thursday at 09:21 PM 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 Friday at 11:38 PM 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. 
 

.

Edited Saturday at 01:55 AM 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.