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Ironequalizer


IronEqualizer

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2-23-07

Dry fired 30mins. 6-reload-6

Live fired.

Set up 6 targets with 3 no-shoots in a stand and shoot stage. My accuracy high I had been on the past several days was not there. I shot pretty much as I normally do dropping a few points nothing terrible but nothing great either. I shot 200 rnds before I got it back. I shot another 50rnds and dropped very few points. It was just visual patience and trigger control. The times from the first 200 rnds were no different than the last 50 but on the last 50 I dropped very few points. I'm learning. I may be slow but I'm learning. I feel I came away from the session a better shooter. I had a problem and figured it out and fixed it. Soon there will be fewer problems.

(positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always see a perfect sight picture and shoot all targets zero down.

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2-24-07

Live Fired.

IDPA match.

I took the IDPA SO class at South River Gun Club near Atlanta then after the class the new SOs shot the stages of the match to be held the next day. It was not the best match I have ever had. I had a couple of silly mistakes like shooting a couple of targets 2 times instead of 3 times. Just not programming the stage. That was one of my fears of becoming an SO, that I would not be able to take the time to properly program the stage while trying to SO them. I had too many extra shots on other stages and the last stage I drilled a no-shoot then swung back for a make-up shot on the target it was over and hit the damn thing 2 more times both shots touching the first making a nice little 3 shot group on the non threat. Stupid. That had nothing to do with not programming, that was just not watching the damn sights. I guess as I gain experience as an SO I will be able to program the stages better. There was a lot going on today. Anyway it was a new shooting experience and I came away a better shooter by learning to SO and learning from my mistakes. We'll see how the scores come out in a few days.

(positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always see a perfect sight picture and shoot all targets zero down.

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2-25-06

Live fired.

IDPA match.

SO'd my first match today with my own squad. We shot the same stages I had shot the day before but today I did not shoot for an official score. I kept a score sheet for my personal benefit. Wow, SO'ing all day was tiresome. Damn, thanks to everyone who has ever SO'd me. I don't think I sat down once all day. This was definitely an experience. I had a squad of 8 with 4 totally new shooters. Was it nerve racking at times? YES!!! I know it was not that long ago that I was new to matches but I was not new to shooting. Everything went pretty well and I stayed pretty busy all day. I learned a lot today and one thing I had to be conscious of was counting rounds of the competitor to make sure they were legal. By the end of 7 stages that day I had definitely gained some confidence through experience and felt more comfortable as an SO. I kept my score sheets and will compare them to yesterdays scores when they come out.

(positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always see a perfect sight picture and shoot all targets zero down.

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2-26-07

I just got the scores from Saturdays match and I ended up 2nd in CDP, 4th overall, 12 total shooters in CDP, 37 shooters in the match. I had 2 stage wins and 1 of them was a standards stage where you had to shoot 6, RWR, shoot 6, RWR, shoot 6 on 3 targets. I won that stage by 4 secs. That damn RWR practice I have been doing paid off there. :)

My second set of scores I managed to cut about 2secs off the original times.

(positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always see a perfect sight picture and shoot all targets zero down.

Edited by IronEqualizer
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2-27-07

Live fired.

Set up some standards drills and ran through them with about 200rnds. I have to consciously keep telling myself to slow down and just make the shot. Why do I keep getting in a speed trap? When I master the skill of just shooting at the speed to get the hit instead of trying to see how fast I can shoot, I will get better. I have to find a way to get over this mental speed thing. Today when I slowed down, finally, I started getting better hits and the times were still fast. I have to find a way to convince myself that seeing a perfect sight picture and having that good trigger pull is not slower. Tomorrow I will try to get on the plate racks where you are forced to slow down and make the shot. You have to have a good sight picture and trigger control on the plates.

(positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always see a perfect sight picture and shoot all targets zero down.

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2-28-07

Live fired.

I started out on the plate rack and had some of the best runs I have ever had. I really concentrated on trigger control and watching that sight lift. I noticed on some runs I would get faster as I progressed across the plates bam....bam...bam..,bam,bam,bam. I shot about 150rnds on the rack.

I then switched to a stand and shoot set up of 4 targets from 5 to 15yds with various designs of hard cover on them. I started out on this and quickly realized that 3 of them would have to be head shots. My first run I had misses everywhere. After that I told myself I had to do everything right to get those damn head shots no matter how long it took. The next several runs were all perfect runs and I actually started looking for a way to make it more challenging.

I changed out the hard cover targets for regular ones to see if the accuracy mindset I was in would carry over to open targets. Hell yeah.....it's a friggin head game. All I had to do was tell myself to not see how fast I could shoot the targets but see how accurately I could shoot the targets fast. (if that makes sense) I dropped a max of 2 points between the 4 targets and 90% of the runs were either zero or 1 down. The times were good not smoking fast but fast and either way that was as fast as I could shoot the targets accurately so who cares. It's all in how you approach the shooting. I have got to be able to recreate this mindset on demand.

(positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always see a perfect sight picture and shoot all targets zero down.

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3-1-07

Dry fired 30 mins.

I worked on plate drills today. I was very happy with reloads today. Most were smooth and fast. I missed very little today. That is a good feeling and a confidence booster. My problem area today was getting my support hand on the gun correctly every time. I seem to have to wiggle it around a lot and that is why my first shots will have hesitation or even misses. I had not really paid that much attention to it before because I could get the shot off pretty quick but I think if I work this out the first shot will not only be quicker but more accurate. I think I may try slamming my support hand into the bottom of the trigger guard harder to kinda give me a better reference point. I have to work this out in dry fire soon.

(positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always see a perfect sight picture and shoot all targets zero down.

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3-2-07

Live fired.

I set up 4 targets again in a stand and shoot stage array. Distances from 5 to 15yds. Accuracy was looking good again today and I think accuracy is all a mindset. I can shoot fast and I can shoot accurately but putting them together is just having the mindset of not pulling the trigger until you see what you need to see to make the shot. Waiting on that is not slow. Mentally it seems slow but the clock says otherwise. There is just a mind barrier of racing against the clock that you have to get over. I just hope I can stay in this zone.

I also practiced some strong hand stuff and this is definitley a weakness for me. I just can't figure out what I am doing wrong. Since I see a good sight picture it must be trigger control. Sometime between me looking at the sights aligned and pulling the trigger something goes wrong. I am always pulling the shots to the left....far left.....barely on the target or miss left....so I must be yanking the trigger. I think I will do a little group shooting and maybe practice this on the plates until I know what a proper trigger pull feels like. I am sure once you learn this it will have to be constantly practiced or it will be quickly lost.

(positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always see a perfect sight picture and shoot all targets zero down.

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3-2-07

" I think accuracy is all a mindset. I can shoot fast and I can shoot accurately but putting them together is just having the mindset of not pulling the trigger until you see what you need to see to make the shot. Waiting on that is not slow. Mentally it seems slow but the clock says otherwise. There is just a mind barrier of racing against the clock that you have to get over. I just hope I can stay in this zone."

I think this is what I have to try to convince myself of. It is exactly my problem once the match timer goes off.

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3-3-07

Live fired 2 sessions. 250rnds each.

Workday at the club so I arrived early and set up a 6 target stand and shoot array. Accuracy came in after a few runs but I need it to be there on demand. I think I figured out I my strong hand problem. I started canting the gun a little more and accuracy improved dramatically. It improved enough for me to say WOW outloud. I guess maybe the additional cant helped my sight picture or put me in a more stable platform...I don't know but it improved a lot.

2nd session after workday was over with, I spent another 250rnds working on the plate rack. Just running straight plates at 10 and 20yds.

(positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always see a perfect sight picture and shoot all targets zero down.

Edited by IronEqualizer
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3-2-07

" I think accuracy is all a mindset. I can shoot fast and I can shoot accurately but putting them together is just having the mindset of not pulling the trigger until you see what you need to see to make the shot. Waiting on that is not slow. Mentally it seems slow but the clock says otherwise. There is just a mind barrier of racing against the clock that you have to get over. I just hope I can stay in this zone."

I think this is what I have to try to convince myself of. It is exactly my problem once the match timer goes off.

I think in the end we all beat ourselves. I need to re-read my copy of thinking practical shooting and get me a copy of Lanny Bassham's with winning in mind. Maybe that will help me overcome some of the mental aspects of the game.

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3-4-07

Live fired.

USPSA match. 5 stage match 4 classifiers. The first stage was a shoot house stage and I think I did pretty well on it. The 4 classifiers I pretty much screwed them up pretty well. This will be my first official USPSA classification as I only have 1 on record to date. I can pretty much say I'll be coming in as a D class shooter. There was only 1 classifier that I did not have a miss or hit a no shoot on and that was can you count. I had a 5.05 on the first string which is 5-reload-5. On the second string I had a 3.89 5-reload-5. The reload was spot on and that string was at the top of my game. Two other classifiers the strong and weak hand crap friggin killed me. I have got to practice this. The last classifier was from behind a Bianchi barricade and when I reloaded and went to the left side that is when I screwed that one up. Well at least now I know what I really need to practice. It was still better than being at work though. :)

(positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always see a perfect sight picture and shoot all targets zero down.

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3-5-07

Dry fired. 30mins.

Worked on basic classifier drills. 10yd index, 6-reload-6, el prez. Reloads were smooth and on my index drills I started really slamming my support hand into the bottom of the trigger guard so I get a more positive and consistant grip with my support hand. Hitting that right every time makes everything go so much smoother since you don't have to adjust your grip coming up or God forbid on the way to the second target after you screwed the first one by not having a good grip. It's time for me to re-read Brian's book and Saul's book so I will be taking them to work with me in case I get an opportunity to read them. At least that's one way to get paid to shoot. :)

(positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always see a perfect sight picture and shoot all targets zero down.

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3-6-07

Live fired. 250rnds

I worked on the plate rack today just running straight plates. I started re-reading Brian's book last night so today I was just trying to have an open mind and be aware of what was going on with the gun. My observations were on my misses I saw that I was pulling the gun toward the next plate before I broke the shot. (no follow through) I also saw plates falling as I was on the way to the next plate and never heard a ding. I hope that means I was shooting with my eyes and not my ears. My times were the fastest I have ever had and I had a personal best of 4.29. I usually run around the upper 5s to low 6s. Today I had at least 10 runs below 5. I also had more clean runs than I usually have (hence the better times). After about 150rnds I tried to change my mindset of seeing how fast I could shoot the plates to just shoot the plates without missing and see how fast it was. Taking my time or what seemed like I was taking my time I had several clean runs all below 5secs. This is the mindset I need to recall every time shoot. Just watch the sights and let them set the pace. This is what I did not do at Sundays match when I blew all the classifiers. I wanted speed and with that desire accuracy suffered. I need to want accuracy and the speed will be there if I just let it happen.

(positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always see a perfect sight picture and shoot all targets zero down.

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3-8-07

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!! :wub:

Dry Fired 30mins.

Worked on plated drills. Plate index, straight plates, plate loads. Everything went pretty well today. Reloads are getting faster. I was beating my current par time on the plate load drill. Since I was beating the par I thought I would try something so I started doing my plate load drills with a RWR at my current dropping the mag par time. It took a dozen or so tries but I met par with a RWR. Now I know the speed is in me and I WILL bring it out. That smoking A$$ RWR is gonna pay off for me when it counts. I will not be afraid to do it and I will use it when everyone else is having to go to slidelock.

Live Fired. 250rnds.

Worked on the plate racks just running straight plates. New PB of 4.21. This came when all I was trying to do was watch the sight rise. I am half way through re-reading Brian's book and my live fire has been all about awareness. I just try to see things that I have been missing. I have noticed a difference the past 2 weeks as I miss the plates a lot less. I am trying to keep the mindset of just seeing what I need to see to get the hit, no matter how long it takes. Well with that attitude it's taking less and less time.

(positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always see a perfect sight picture and shoot all targets zero down.

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3-9-07

Live Fired.

Set up 2 stages and ran through each one 3 times today. I filmed them so I could go back and take a look and what I am doing/not doing. What I saw that I am really not pleased with is setting up in a new position. When I come to a hault from forward movement it seems I am leaning way back when I start firing then I have to move all of my weight and the energy from recoil forward to get moving again. The 2nd stage was a table draw and I need to practice that some more. When I get it everything is fine but I am not consistant in hitting it. Standing RWRs have been going great but the ones I did in live fire today were not terrible but I would have liked to gotten them done in less steps. I will try to run through these two stages again tomorrow.

(positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always see a perfect sight picture and shoot all targets zero down.

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3-10-07

Live Fired.

Shot the 2 stages that I had set up yesterday again. I shot each one 4 times. On the third run of the 1st stage I changed my desire for speed to accuracy. On the next 2 runs my times were from 1 sec to less than a sec slower than the first 2 runs but on the 8 targets I went from dropping around 6 to 8 points to dropping 2 to 0 points. I think just having the desire to shoot more accurate is giving me the needed visual patience that I have been lacking. The same concept worked on the 2nd stage when I ran it.

I finished my practice session by working on going prone and shooting at 50yds. I tried the 50yd thing about 4 times without any great success. I was hitting the target but that's about all I can say. I moved to 35yds and tried that about 10 times. On about the 3rd string I had an eye opener moment when I realized that I could use the target stand upright as a reference point in helping me aim. I also had the target sideways and I realized that I could also use the head as an aiming reference point. I went from dropping 8 or more points in 4 shots to dropping 2 or 3 points. Trigger control is a must. I am very pleased with my performance and I will not fear these shots in a match. I also learned I have to pull my shooting glasses close into my face before going prone or I end up looking half of the way though them and half of the way over them which is not a good thing.

I am very happy with todays performance as I believe I learned something with each shot sent downrange today.

(positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always shoot with visual patience and shoot all targets zero down.

Edited by IronEqualizer
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3-11-07

Live Fired. 100rnds.

After reading a recent thread I thought I might test a new load and see if there was any difference between shooting 230gr and 200gr bullets. I had always heard 230gr would feel softer and 200gr would be sharper recoil. I set up 3 targets at 10yds and starting from low ready tested my split times with the different loads. The results....my splits with the 230gr bullets were equal to and faster than with the 200gr bullets every time. The one big noticeable difference was in the size of the grease ring left on the target. Same size bullets sized .452 but comparing the grease rings the 230gr LRN looked like a .40cal hole compared to the 200gr SWC. It was not a perceived difference the grease ring was actually smaller. Noticeably smaller. Guess I'll just have to make sure I don't put any on the lines.

(positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always shoot with visual patience and shoot all targets zero down.

Edited by IronEqualizer
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3-12-07

Dry Fired. 30mins.

Worked on standard classifier drills. Speed was just not there today so I tried to just focus on being smooth. My arm and back muscles are really sore from running a friggin chain saw several hours this weekend. Note to self.....do not cut trees a few days before a big match. :(

(positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always shoot with visual patience and shoot all targets zero down.

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3-13-07

Live Fired. 250rnds

Worked on the plate rack today. Straight plates, plate transitions, and strong hand only. New PB of 4.08 on straight plates beat my previous of 4.21. I actually had plenty of runs that beat the 4.21. Several were around 4.11-4.15 range. I was just trying to watch the sight rise throughout the session and shoot with visual patience. I hope the improvement on my PB means that my vision is getting quicker. Strong hand still needs lots of work and I may try to devote 50rnds to each session strong and weak hand alternating between the two every other session.

(positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always shoot with visual patience and shoot all targets zero down.

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3-14-07

Live Fired. 150rnds

Full size targets at 10 and 15yds. I was just trying to focus on having the awareness I have been having on the plates. I was having a difficult time seeing as much as I do when shooting plates. I think it has to do with shooting multiple shots on the papar versus one shot on steel. I did switch to shooting only one shot on the paper and that really seemed to help in my shot calling. Something that is concerning me right now is my split times. Anything under .30 - .28 and I really can't see two separate sight pictures. At .30 splits I see both sight pictures and always hit the center of the target. If I speed my splits up I feel like I am basically hammering the shots. Now that I think about it I know that I can hit splits of .18 -.20 and I see the first sight picture and I HAVE to be seeing something on the second shot. My vision just needs to be able to keep up with the faster splits. Maybe I will try shooting some bill drills and see if that helps. It really pisses me off knowing that I can shoot faster than I can see and that should not be possible. I will try to break free of this in the near future.

(positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always shoot with visual patience and shoot all targets zero down.

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3-15-07

Dry Fired. 45mins. 1-30min session, 1-15min session

Worked on draw index, drawing from IDPA concealment garment. For some friggin reason I found it necessary to try different holster positions today. I tried canting it to the rear and then tried dropping it down lower and ended up right back where it was. Something just did not feel right on those first draws and like a real DA I blame it on equipment. Once I got all that sorted out I worked on 6-reload-6 drill with the garment on. I was trying to focus on having more visual patience. I find myself breaking the shots with an acceptable sight picture sometimes instead of all the way in the A zone. I will definitely focus on keeping everything more precise from now on now that I realized what I was doing. I think this has been affecting my live fire. I finished with reloads, RWRs, and RWRs on the move.

(positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always shoot with visual patience and shoot all targets zero down.

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3-16-07

Live Fired. 150 rnds.

I set up 2 targets at 10yds and starting aimed at one target I would swing to the other fire two shots and just tried to call 2 shots. I was pretty successful at this as I saw the sight watched it rise and fall back and broke the next shot. Splits .30. That is as fast as I can call my shots. Any faster and I am not seeing what I need to see. So screw the split times and I will just call my shots no matter how long it takes. Trying to do anything else would just be a speed trap.

I finished the session with about 50rnds with a turn and draw 2 on each target. I did not paste between strings and the difference between the targets absolutely amazed me. The target I was turning and drawing on looked as though it had been shot with a shotgun. The other target that I transitioned to did not have a single hit outside of zero down. I learned another of my weaknesses from this. Overall as the Pharoah says I did leave the session a better shooter than when I began.

(positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always shoot with visual patience and shoot all targets zero down.

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3-17-07

Dry fired 15mins.

Reload drills.

Live Fired.

IDPA Match.

6 stages....most felt really good today. I feel accuracy was better than it has been in a match in a while but speed was still there also. I shot with visual patience today. I feel I flew through the targets that I could fly through and shot targets at distance and with no shoots around them with visual patience and waited till I saw what I needed to see to make the shots. It feels good to have a good match and I will carry this feeling and experience as long as I can. I have no idea about the scores but at this point it doesn't matter because I know I shot as well as I could today with visual patience and very few mental errors.

(positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always shoot with visual patience and shoot all targets zero down.

Edited by IronEqualizer
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3-19-07

Live Fired. 200rnds.

Worked on straight plates today. Today was a very good day. I experienced so many different kinds of feelings today it was unbelievable. I had a new personal best at 3.82 and that run before I looked at the timer I thought to myself the gun felt like it was floating. A few runs later I hit a 3.77 and I clearly remember thinking damn I wish the gun would hurry up and get over here. My eyes were definitely seeing everything I needed to and I was patiently waiting for my body to catch up. I repeated that feeling again with a 3.72 run. I ended the session with a 3.60 which is now my PB. I just watched everything happening when the gun cleared the holster. I had no thoughts going on. When I saw the gun come onto the first plate I broke the shot and just watched and pulled the trigger everytime I saw the sights on the plates. It was almost like I was watching someone else shoot using my body. The feeling is way cool where everything is just happening. It is hard to describe these feelings unless you have experienced them and know what I am trying to say. I hope this was a breakthrough day and I will be able to repeat this type of seeing and feeling in subsequent sessions.

(positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always shoot with visual patience and shoot all targets zero down.

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