Port Transitions

[EricW]

[A drill I shameless bastardized from Saul Kirch's book.]

Place two targets spaced maybe 5 feet apart behind a ported wall. The goal is to have the targets set so that without sticking your gun through the port, only one A-zone is visible .

Stage:

Standing in front of the wall so that neither target is visible through any port, draw, and engage each target through each port on the wall.

What I needed to do to get on both targets without foot shuffling at each port was not what I thought it would be. This is a common problem for me at matches. I'm always gawking at targets through ports while shuffling around to try and see everything. I *think* I've got it worked out so that I can work my way through tight ports and hit most of the targets presented without needing to do the Mexican Hat dance while I'm there. (unless a target is planted right next to the wall.)

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I'm making walls on the cheap using 2x2's, corrugated plastic, and plywood for the corner braces. Total cost comes in at just under $25 per wall. The ports on the wall shown are 1'x1'. The corrugated plastic is extremely durable and weather resistant.

Edited March 30, 2006 by EricW

[EricW]

In the vain hope that a M/GM reads this and corrects me before I come to any ignert conclusions, here's what I done figured out:

I'm working the wall from left to right, just because I can see the left target in the left port and shoot it on the way in.

- Shoot left on the way into the wall.

- Nail the right target

- Crouch down for the middle port , set up with the gun at the rightmost portion of the port

- Take the right target

...and here's where I may be going off into the dingleberries...

- Lean over at about 30 to 45 degrees and take the left target (I realize that I'll have to alter my aiming point to do this)

- Do the same thing at the right (mid height) port, but taking the left target could also be done leaning over while on the exit and shave 1/2 to 3/4 of a second.

I haven't had a chance to do this live fire, but I'm liking the lean in dryfire. It's giving me a lot more flexiblility to work through tight ports without awkward foot movement, particularly while on the low port.

Thoughts? Opinions?

[Jake Di Vita]

I'd have to physically see the stage to really offer insight on it.

The thing I can recommend though is do whatever you need to do to make sure you keep your momentum moving through all the ports. The time saved here will come from fluid motion through the shooting positions.

[chp5]

Thread drift:

Eric - what's your backstop on that range? Is it the building in the background

Edited March 31, 2006 by chp5

[shred]

Were this the entire stage or last part of it, I'd also examine going from the left window to the right one, then the center-- trade some right-to-left movement for some up-n-down. As Jake says, it kinda depends on the setup and being there in person.

[Intel6]

Thread drift:

Eric - what's your backstop on that range? Is it the building in the background

I was wondering the same thing?

Neal in AZ

[LPatterson]

The angle in the first picture is deceptive as there is nothing but woods in the 2nd picture. How many acres do you have?

[EricW]

Jeezus guys. We're talking dryfire here. Read the second post doggone it! The key word was DRYFIRE! I had this setup in the shop, but moved it outside because it was easier to photograph. Nobody gives a rat's ass about seeing a gun outdoors around here anyway. Lot's of people have berms set up in their backyard - including the State Trooper 3 houses down.

Right now, I'm living in an area with damed few M/GM's, so I need all the tele-coaching I can get. I'm trying to fix the location issue and relocate nearer the big(er) dawgs, but until that happens, I'm going to be asking a lot of questions. I guess if it can't happen here, email it is...

So, give me a break, OK?

Edited March 31, 2006 by EricW

[chp5]

Jeezus guys. We're talking dryfire here. Read the second post doggone it! The key word was DRYFIRE! I had this setup in the shop, but moved it outside because it was easier to photograph. Nobody gives a rat's ass about seeing a gun outdoors around here anyway. Lot's of people have berms set up in their backyard - including the State Trooper 3 houses down.

Right now, I'm living in an area with damed few M/GM's, so I need all the tele-coaching I can get. I'm trying to fix the location issue and relocate nearer the big(er) dawgs, but until that happens, I'm going to be asking a lot of questions. I guess if it can't happen here, email it is...

So, give me a break, OK?

Sorry man. My bad

[mcoliver]

I'm no GM nor do I have any idea what a mexican hat dance is, but judging from your description, I'd probably be doing the same thing myself. Probably the most important thing is to keep the momentum going (what Jake said) and know/remember THAT position (body or feet, from the walk-through) where you can engage the target the quickest. So you don't "target-hunt".

There is an area we shoot back here that loves this sort of setup, up and down bobbing through ports and windows. Going through 4-5 long stages like this kills my legs. So I change my gameplan a bit. Whatever the motion that works my legs the least (like ending in a squat even if I have to taka a couple more steps to take both high windows/ports first), I do.

The tenths I shave off on each stage at the expense of tired legs, generally, doesn't pay off for me for the trailing stages I need to finish through the day.

That or I need to hit the gym. But, man, that's like,... extra work already?

[Clay1]

No m/gm here. I am also trying to work on ports and like your idea of dryfiring them. Haven't done much of that. From the start position I like to engage the target that has the least amount of movement before I can engage it. Get to the shooting seems appropriate. I am still at the point that I have to focus on how far from the port I engage the target. I use to crawl up on the port or almost put my gun through the port. These days I work on staying back from the port so the flow is left to right more than it is in a hole and then back out.

I'm short so many times I can take the lower ports with a simple squat. If I have to go lower than that I take the really low stuff last as well. It's that getting back up quickly that kills you. If I could shoot left to right with a squat, I might take it that way.

If entering the right hand port from the left the first target available would be the right most target and that is where I would most likely take it.

I wish my neighbors would let me dry fire outside with my gun and ports set up, but I am sure that the men in Blue would be here really, really fast that way.

I like how you think and thanks for posting the question, I will be listening closely.

Rick

[Flexmoney]

E,

Easy man. I didn't catch you "keyword" either. it didn't really stand out.

What did stand out was the shot up targets with the holes in them (picture is worth a k words).

Anyway...

In df, I'd suggest using the PAR time function of your timer and go at it a few different ways. And, for each way that "sounds good in your head"...make yourself come up with two other ways that are completely different.

[EricW]

Sorry if I seemed short earlier. I was heading out the door for our Friday group rifle practice and probably could have chosen better words. I do have to confess that I *am* just a bit tired of the difficulty in posting shooting topics on the shooting forum, without people getting their knickers in a knot over some triviality.

Short answer: No. I do not launch live rounds at my neighbors house.

Now back to the shooting....

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I had a couple of agendas setting up this drill.

1) battling the tendency to break my freestyle platform when faced with ports, barracades, etc.

2) Footwork

3) The sheer experience of really working my way through ports, which is something that just doesn't happen at local matches. The local clubs use netting for walls, which I don't feel really simulates the big match experience - which is frequently non-transparent walls.

Going into this, I did *not* expect that leaning around the port would be a successful strategy. What I discovered was that by setting up on the "far" side of the port, taking the far target, then leaning over to find the "near target, gave me a wide viewable area and kept my freestyle platform in tact - versus trying to keep a "level" freestyle platform. I worked the drill indoors, then reworked the drill outdoors last night just to make sure what I was experiencing was correct.

What I was really fishing for was if this approach to working my way through ports had unintended consequences, and there was something fundamental about it that I was missing. I'm trying to set up the more difficult port scenarios I've seen, so that the normal stuff will seem easy.

E

E,

Easy man. I didn't catch you "keyword" either. it didn't really stand out.

What did stand out was the shot up targets with the holes in them (picture is worth a k words).

Sorry Kyle,

When I took those pictures, never in my wildest imagination did I think anybody would think that was of anywhere I would discharge a rifle or a pistol. I live close to where I shoot, so those targets just make the round trip between range and shop without ever leaving the sticks.

E