EricW Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 (edited) My other resolution this year was to overcome my tendency to freeze up on swingers. The only time I've been able to practice on swingers up until now was at matches. My old club had swingers, but they were only available during matches. My new club did not have a swinger target until very recently and even then - it's 70 miles away. So...I done made my own. It's the full-blown deal, all steel with a 22 lb counterweight and greased pillow block bearings. So there I was at Area 1 last year and was yakking with that hip cat Bonedaddio before I shot a stage. And he's telling me, "OK now shoot those targets and when see the swinger comes out from behind the barricade, go pick it up and come back." Yeah Sam, sure... I'm pretty sure Carina told me to do the same thing. I didn't listen to her either. (Which wasn't my smartest move. I mean, hey, Sam will just make fun of me and make me drink Chai tea, Carina...well...I just don't want to contemplate what Carina would do to me. ) I'd saw that damned swinger, and I sat there like I was 10 years old waiting for the bus with my Snoopy lunch box. The memories were so good, I did it twice! So, what I have set up in the shop right now is 3 targets and the swinger. The swinger is visible for 90 degrees of exposure. My goal is to be doing two things on stages with swingers (well, any stage for that matter): putting points on targets or transitioning to do so. To make things a little less predictable, I start with my back toward the targets, so that the swinger is in a random position at the start. The current drill is: turn, start laying down points, take the swinger when available, finish any points I missed, reload and do it all over again. I know this doesn't simulate a real stage, but the reload has become a great tension indicator. If I'm not relaxed, my mag flies into low-earth orbit. If I'm on, it's all net. Honestly, I don't know how I would ever master this without having the real deal to practice on. Shooting points, but maintaining enough awareness to leave a target to go nail the swinger and come back is something I have to do for real to be competent at. Next on the hit parade is tracking the swinger so I can compensate if my timing is off, but for today the goal of constantly laying down points is enough. What swinger drills do you do? Edited March 21, 2006 by EricW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 One drill I liked was to slap a strip of black tape across the 'neck' of a swinger and declare it two targets-- the 'head' and the rest of it (not IPSC legal, but whatever). Shoot both targets from 10 yards or so. Start with shooting it at either end of the swing and progress to shooting it in the middle of the swing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtr Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 I clicked on this thread because I thought it was about wife swapping Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 Anderson did the same thing to get good at swingers, he built a dry-fire swinger target. (probably a picture around here of it somewhere) - I tend to think of swingers as static targets. At any given moment time they are in one single location. Maybe think of it like taking a snap-shot of them or seeing them with a strobe-light effect. I don't think of them as not being there because they haven't been activated yet, I visualize them as being static, right at the moment in my plan that I am planning on shooting them. - I don't track them out of the corner of my eye...too much. (If I am, that probably means my plan is off.) I'd rather be completely into the current shot. I don't want to be "distracted from the shooting". (that is not entirely true, as I am aware of the target moving...I just don't want to rush the current activity and screw it up...I need to "trust" that the target will be where it is supposed to be.) - It is sooo much easier to NOT track the mover. Trap it. Know where it is going to be, wait for it at that spot. Use your front sight, as opposed to looking at the target (looking at the target might be the issue here, as you aren't seeing the front sight while looking at the target, so you might not feel comfortable letting the shot loose) - If you are going to trap it, pick a spot that (1) likely has the target slowing and/or changing direction...it is more static that way, (2) gives you enough "lead time" to see the target coming. If the target appears from the right side of a window and is going left, don't setup for it on the right side...you won't have much warning time. - If you do decide to track the target, then you might consider shooting Bill drills on it in practice. (possible save this for as a more advanced technique?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ankeny Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 I'd saw that damned swinger, and I sat there like I was 10 years old waiting for the bus with my Snoopy lunch box. The memories were so good, I did it twice! Gotta love the style points. When I first encountered swingers I was clueless. Most of the time I would chase the darned things back from whence they came and blow a couple of holes in a no-shoot or the prop that them cowardly bastids were hiding behind. Then I made three swingers for our club and I started to practice. The vast majority of the time I shoot the swingers at the bottom of the arc as they change directions. I soon learned there is all the time in the world to shoot the swinger at the bottom of the arc. I also learned how dangerous it is to chase the swinger as it goes through the upward part of the arc. As you know, it's pretty easy to hit the activator, put a couple of rounds on a paper target (or mow down a small steel garden) then transition to the swinger, if your timing is right. If not, you end up waiting (I hate that) or the shots are rushed. Where I really felt like the proverbial duck out of water was at Area One last year where they had the double swinger with hardcover and you had to shoot before the swingers were at the bottom of the arc. Having never practiced shooting a swinger at any spot other than the bottom of the arc, the gun automatically went to that spot. I slapped the trigger twice, heard the tink, tink, on the hardcover, went into driving gun with head up butt mode, and never looked back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carinab Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 I clicked on this thread because I thought it was about wife swapping Uhhhh...TMI dude...wrong forum...but doubly funny because of your sticky pants tag line! And Eric...I didn't know you loved snoopy too! How sweet! I don't have swingers to practice on at all. They still give me fits if I don't get a chance to see where they apex before it's my turn to shoot. I may have to break down and buy one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted March 21, 2006 Author Share Posted March 21, 2006 OK, 500+ rounds and a hailstorm later... Right now, today, the trick for me on swingers is to not outsmart myself. If the swinger isn't available, I can go take points somewhere else, but getting greedy is a loser. I need to be at the "sweet spot" just *before* the swinger arrives. Then I have time to take a solid pair either 2-Alpha or Alpha-Charlie. Trying to gauge it so that the gun and the swinger arrive at the sweet spot simultaneously is a loser for the E-class shooter. And yeah, I can probably waste 3/4 of a second "waiting" for the swinger to arrive, but the reward is solid points and *not* having to stick around for another pass. And Ron's point about the mover at A-1 is another reason why I put this setup together. That swinger just sucked with irons. Then to add insult to injury, I watched Bruce Gary saunter out of the stats shack, gear up and breeze right through it. I think he 4-alpha'd it or real close to it. What's funny about all this is that it all comes back to fundamentals. New challenges create more pressure to execute the basics well - and create the opportunity to allow yourself to feel rushed and ignore the basics at your peril. 100 rounds into it, I realized that I was overgripping with my strong hand and over driving the gun on transitions. And for some weird reason my Bomars were set really low. Got all that fixed, or mostly fixed, and then I could go back to focusing on the problem at hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted March 21, 2006 Author Share Posted March 21, 2006 And Eric...I didn't know you loved snoopy too! Man, when I was a kid, Snoopy was *the* deal, especially Snoopy and the Red Baron. But, in those days, my dad flew airshows where there were real Nieuports & Fokker Triplanes swooping around, so that had just a little something to do with it. The airport restaurant had a real Lewis machine gun hanging on the wall...until some turd ripped it off. I don't have swingers to practice on at all. They still give me fits if I don't get a chance to see where they apex before it's my turn to shoot. I may have to break down and buy one. I built mine out of scrap steel for under $75. The only issue was the time it took to cut all the steel. All I have is a 1920ish power hacksaw, so cutting the heavy stuff took FOREVER. I'll post some pics of what I cobbled together. The pro target makers will laugh, but I actually like what I came up with. The weight's easily detachable - which makes it really easy to horse around. I also think I made a better trigger than anything else I've seen so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwmagnus Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 (edited) This is still a challenge I haven't tackled yet. Well lets just say I still count on luck. Basically I've tried to trap it close to the bottom of the arc but sometimes I find myself tracking it. My last swinger challenge went down in flames. Why did I track it right up to the no shoot for a double tap, at 20 yards no less? I too need to build a swinger to get good at this and it's on the short list of To Do's. EricW I'd like to see those pics. Edited March 22, 2006 by rwmagnus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyin40 Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 I think I had problems with swingers for about 3 weeks last yr. I shot with Flex and SA quite a bit and found out how to nail them everytime. For me I shoot the activator, 1 or 2 paper targets(all based on where the swinger will show up) then catch the swinger at the end of the first movement, at the pause before it heads back the other way. This has worked for me everytime that I have been able to time the swinger right after the activator. If I can't time it I usually activate it early and come back to it depending on the course. One other thing is that I wasn't afraid to have a mike on a swinger when I was learning how to shoot them. I didn't have access to a swinger except at matches so I had to figure out how to shoot them at the matches. Theres a club here in Ohio that allows you to shoot through as many times as you want from 8am-5pm. This is where I learned how to shoot them. The club has activators about 10-15yds and they like to put small poppers out at 15-25yds. I learned the timing on those stages. Shoot the activator, shoot the small popper then come back and nail the swinger at the end of the first swing. Gives you some confidence on them to nail a small popper then come back and hit the swinger. To me they are just another target. I don't even look at them as swingers now. Flyin40 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMITH Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 Flyin40, where is this club in OH that lets you shoot all day and do you have to be a member? Business has me in Cinci on or about the 2nd of May, and live fire practice is something I desperately need....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyin40 Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 (edited) Flyin40, where is this club in OH that lets you shoot all day and do you have to be a member?Business has me in Cinci on or about the 2nd of May, and live fire practice is something I desperately need....... Rayners THey usually have the match on the 3rd Sunday of the Month but due to Easter its cancelled. Its the 5th Sunday of the Month which is April 30th, 2 days before your due in Cinci. Just a note on the stages. His stages will test your ability, small poppers at 35yds, double drop turners that are super quick. Noone got 4 hits on paper on the drop turners including the GM's. No you don't have to be a member. The match is a Cancer Benefit match. Flyin40 Edited April 4, 2006 by Flyin40 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cjblackmon Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 One thing that has really helped me get over shooting swingers was Saul Kirsch's book "Perfect Practice". It has swinger drills and gives you a good explanation on how to engage it. The exercises show you an easy way to shoot it and then progresses to shooting it from behind no shoots and through windows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin Orr Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 I clicked on this thread because I thought it was about wife swapping Swapping? No problem from my end but I will have to look at your's first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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