I'm a REAL shooter now!

[EricW]

DT,

Pretend you're shooting IDPA with no cover and reloads and you'll be just fine.  Accuracy is key.  There's really no way to game the stages, so just show up and shoot.  Do practice a lot with the tombstone style targets beforehand.  Knowing how to "cut" those targets on autopilot really helps the times at 25 yards.  

E

[Duane Thomas]

"Cut"?

[EricW]

[Can't make any damn sense mode ON]

At 25 yards, I can't see the rings, so I envision my front sight "cutting" the target in two.  There's just no room for error in elevation with the tombstone target, so it's a little "thing" I came up with.

E

[ErikW]

I just shot GSSF Sunday.

You can't bisect the target if your bullets shoot over the top of your front sight. With stock sights, POI behind the dot, it works out about right, maybe a little low. You really have to zero on a D-1 target at 25 yards.

If you're shooting StockMeister, you've got about .75 to 1 second per shot on paper to shoot a winning score. (Assuming you mow down the plate rack in about 3 seconds per run.) You've got a little less in Unlimited/Master, with sub-3 second plate runs.

In the other divisions, you've got 1-2 seconds per shot.

Each hit outside the main scoring ring adds 2 or 5 seconds. You can't afford any +5s. You can shoot a couple +2s if you are fast. I can run Glock M in the four-second range but not perfect, so I just take an extra second or two to avoid adding two or more seconds.

Six second runs on Glock M, seven second runs on 5 to Glock, and three second runs on the plates should give you a 45, which will win most matches. But when you start dropping shots, you're going to end up with 50 or 60 or more.

I just shot the same gun twice, about the same speed each run. Shooting Unlimited/Master, I dropped a few +2s over the whole course. Shooting StockMeister I blew it and shot multiple +5s on a single pass in Glock M. My two scores were 59, respectfully competitive, and 80, also-ran.

You must not drop shots outside the main scoring ring!

Oh yeah, no make-up shots allowed on paper. It's like Ultra-Virginia count. You make your shot count.

Meanwhile...

I'd like to see the scoring system changed to +1 and +3. I'd really like to see it changed back to hit factoring.

[EricW]

Erik,

I didn't mean "bisect" as much as I meant that there is a certain amount of target "dome" over my front sight I want to see when I release the shot.  I was very successful when I first started GSSF because I used the D-1's for all my practice.  After 6 months of IPSC, I couldn't hit the 10 ring on a D-1 to save my ass.  It was just a little lesson for me about how things need to be "automatic" on match day.

E

[ErikW]

Getting them in there on the D-1 is a bjtch for someone who's used to IPSC targets. You don't have the head/shoulders to use as a reference and you don't exactly know where you are vertically. It's hard to figure out how much "dome" you've got above your sight.

I found myself finding the scoring rings on most targets then bringing the sights to them, something I never do with USPSA shooting.

-----------------------

Meanwhile, further thoughts on GSSF shooting...

This may be a no-brainer for you Duane, but most shooters I saw don't have a clue and made things hard on themselves. Shoot everything in one direction and don't back the gun up. For example, don't shoot all the paper in Glock M then pick up a steel last. Don't shoot close targets first then far targets or vice-versa. Left to right or right to left, sort of like the Steel Challenge.

[shred]

My trick is to mentally 'fold' the top arc of the D-1 over to make a circle.  If I shoot at the bottom of that circle, I'm in the 0-ring.  Around here a score in the high 60's or low 70's will win Am-Civ, and anything under 100 usually wins cash.

[ErikW]

Am Civ? Roy, you cherry-picking sandbagger!

[shred]

Heh.. One more Glock to go before I make 'GlockMeister'.  

Almost made it last year, but got bit by a <gasp> jam.

(Edited by shred at 7:19 pm on Sep. 11, 2002)