Ironequalizer

[IronEqualizer]

11-12-11

Dry fired 15 mins.

Worked on 6 reload 6 using IDPA gear. This went fairly well even though I have not picked up this gear in several months.

Live fired. IDPA match.

Bad match today. I think the failure to use the IDPA gear in any sort of practice, live fire or dry fire, really bit me today. I missed two reloads which cost me quite a bit of time, I did a speed reload which cost me a procedural penalty. I need to work practicing with this gear into dry fire at least once a week. SH/WH still needs lots of practice. I give up too many points unnecessarily on this. I found myself shooting out of my comfort zone a little, just trying to go too fast. I need to force myself to make sure I see what I need to see on each target. I think I may have pushed it too hard today as I was shooting with a Master USPSA shooter and felt I needed to go faster. We ended up finishing 1st and 2nd overall in the match with him beating me by 7 seconds.

Daily Shooting Wisdom from Leigh: You are a total shooting nerd.

[IronEqualizer]

11-13-11

Live fired. USPSA classifier match.

I shot in Limited, Production, and Single Stack today as I was not classified in any of those divisions.

Single Stack I had gun or ammo problems on every stage. Very frustrating. That gun hasn't been fired in years so what more could I expect. Whatever. I just wanted to get classified.

Production I had some ammo problems also. Light strikes. Again I do not shoot this gun so had no idea what to expect. I found out quickly that I need more finger on the trigger with a Glock to activate the trigger safety. That was different and I struggled with it on every stage.

Limited I thought I would do better on some stages but overall I am ok with my performance. I think I shot conservatively and ended up right where I guess I should be. A class. I thought I would do better on El Prez because of the smoking runs I had a few weeks ago. I hit 3 100%s in practice in a row. This was my first stage today and I think I may have held back as I knew I couldn't miss vs in practice where pushing it a miss can be acceptable. 3V again I held back as there are no shoots on each target and I really stayed away from them but got my A hits. Too slow though and this was my worst one today. Bang and Clang I hit the leading popper on the left twice and and thought I had them both so I had to transition back to it after shooting everything else. Still had a 3.26 on the time so without that last transtion it would have been a great run. Raw Deal and Mini Mart I have no real complaints on.

Limited

El Prez 78.1%

3V 68.3%

Bang and Clang 74.9%

Raw Deal 81.5%

Mini Mart 84.7%

Edited November 14, 2011 by IronEqualizer

[IronEqualizer]

11-14-11

Live fired. .22LR 300 rnds.

I did a lot of just informal plinking at the steel just working with the new tactical solutions upper and trying a few different things trying to get it to run better. After trying a few different things and analyzing the problem I switched to some different ammo I had and it finally started running. There were still a few miss-feeds but for the most part it is cured. I really have to watch my off hand thumb as it will ride the slide and with this set up it does not take much to cause a malfunction.

I ended up running some mini stages on the plates and learned a little about target engagement again. I am seeing things a little differently lately and learning different and better ways to engage targets for better times. I hope this starts to transition to matches soon. I still do not see the best or most efficient way to engage targets right away but I am recognizing this more often.

In the near future I am going to set up targets like in 3V with the no shoots below the A zone covering half of the scoring zone. I shot these too slow at the classifier match and need to gain confidence in engaging the targets more quickly.

[IronEqualizer]

11-15-11

Live fired 200 rnds. .22LR

Ran a mini stage of all steel and just messed around. The .22 upper is still giving me issues. I oiled the crap of it and it started working again so maybe now it's just dirty. There is probably around 1000 rounds on it and it hasn't been cleaned. I will also pick up some more .22 ammo tomorrow and check out the different bullet types that I think will run best in this gun. Federal and Remington are pretty much ruled out, as well as CCI. The Winchester Hyper Velocity seems to work the best so far.

[IronEqualizer]

11-17-11

Live fired 250 rnds. .22 LR

F’d around with the POS Tactical Solutions upper…..again. I am sick of wasting practice time on this F’ing thing. It still will not run well enough to do any decent drills. I am going to try a few more things to get this thing to work. I have tried every type of F’ing ammo out there and while some are better than others it still is too unreliable. I will mess around with the mags and see if that may be part of the problem. It feeds with only about 4 or 5 rnds in the mags…..sometimes. Last week it ran better than today after I gave it a good cleaning. WTF? Maybe once I get my other STI back it will run on that lower. I am about ready to sell the F’er, cut my losses and use the Ruger that runs 100% of the time.

[IronEqualizer]

11-18-11

Live fired 300 rnds. .45ACP

Worked on a few standards drills and ran a few all steel stages. I liked the format today as it broke down many different aspects of the game. I feel as though I really got a good variety of quality practice in today. I still am not seeing the most efficient way to break a stage down until after a few runs. I will figure out something different that saves me some time. I hope I am still improving on this as I do recognize it more and more now.

I have given up on the Tactical Solutions upper and will not run it again until I get my other STI back and see if it will work on that frame. After that if it still doesn't work I will sell it or find someone who works on them. I would like to be able to have it reliable enough to shoot steel matches with as well as get some decent practice out of it.

[IronEqualizer]

11-20-11

Live fired EAGC USPSA match.

I feel like I shot really slowly at this match. I am wondering why I feel like I really slow way down in a match. I don't recall any mental errors as far as forgetting to engage something or not hitting my spots. I just felt really slow.

Stage 1 was an up close and personal hoser stage but I felt like every split was around .25 when I know I can consistently pull .18 to .15 splits on close stuff. I also just feel like I am not pushing it to get from position to another.

Stage 2 was a large field course. I still felt like I was just not getting from position to position fast enough. When I focused on this in practice I would literally grunt pushing off as hard as I could and pushing myself to get from one spot to another.

Stage 3 was another large field course with a Texas star and a swinger. I remember dropping only 2 points on this stage and was happy with that. I did not struggle with the star maybe 1 or 2 extra on it. I think my time lost here was from position to position and just taking longer to actually shoot the targets.

Stage 4 was a medium course with 2 plate racks. There were also 4 paper engaged through a barrel surounded by no shoots. I was fairly happy with this one. I was a little slow on 1 reload. A reload that others shooting limited did not have to do. I can't wait to get the .40 so I can fit those extra 5 rounds in a mag. I had maybe 5 misses between the 2 plates. Unacceptable. That cost me a least 1.5 secs just by shooting more.

Stage 5 was a medium course with 2 paper and 12 us poppers. The poppers were engaged leaning around a wall on either side. I put a few rounds through the edge of the wall on the left side just not getting a far enough lean. Again too many extra shots on steel.

Stage 6 was the classifier. Table stakes. I dropped a round into a no shoot on the first target. It cut the line on the no shoot so it was barely in but in. Even so my run without hitting the no shoot would have only been about a 75%. It still takes me too long to shoot crap with no shoots or hard cover on them.

This gives me some areas to continue to focus on. I have video of 3 of the stages that I am gonna critique also.

Edited November 21, 2011 by IronEqualizer

[IronEqualizer]

11-23-11

Dry fired. 45 mins.

Worked on 6 reload 6 with hard cover targets for a bit then ran a little mini stage stepping into position engaging 2 close open targets then setting up on the hard cover target then a reload while leaving the position to engage 2 more open targets on the move.

I wanted to practice really hammering on the 2 open targets stepping into the shooting area but still seeing enough to know I was getting all A’s. There is no sense giving up points on close hoser targets, but also there is no need to waste time on them.

The last 15 minute session today I noticed that I was not moving as fast as I could getting into position. I was moving fast, but not going hard. I had more in me. More aggression to engage the targets, more aggression in getting into position.

I want to focus on this more in live fire. I compared some video of myself against an M shooter on the same stage and learned quite a bit. He engaged targets a little sooner coming into a position than I did. He had like 2 steps on me right away by doing this. The only other thing I noticed was the speed of his movement compared to mine. While I wasn’t walking I more or less was trotting instead of really running. Once we were in position I can say the speed was comparable. He just killed me everywhere else. That one video has been a great learning tool. I want to start videoing more and more so I can compare better shooters to myself and actually see where I lose time.

[IronEqualizer]

11-24-11

Dry fired 15 mins.

Live fired. 100 rnds .45ACP

Dry fire I ran a mini stage focusing on getting into and out of position as fast as possible. Just being agressive.

Live fire I focused on the same aspects. Just being agressive moving from position to position. This went ok but I found the more agressive I was in my movement the less I focused on the sights. I need to find the balance of getting there fast, but slow the shooting down to the correct speed once I am there.

[IronEqualizer]

11-25-11

Dry fired 15 mins.

Worked a little mini stage stepping in on 3 close open targets making sure I dropped no points while going full speed on them, transitioned to an array of 2 6" mini poppers and 3 1/4 size partial paper targets at 10 yds, then a reload shooting 2 paper on the move to the final position of 3 open paper behind a barrier.

I was pleased that I was not pulling off on the last mini popper before leaving that position and trying to get to the reload. It seems that I knew I had to see a really refined sight picture and knew that I had to have a clean pull of the trigger since it was a difficult target. When leaving a position on an easier target there is more of a temptation to get going to the next position before fully executing that last shot.

I will be focusing more on presenting the gun from a high, in my face location as if I were running to a new postition. There is more of this type of presentation than any other in a match. I will use this as my start position vs drawing every time. I will also focus on getting the gun higher in live fire while moving and focus on really driving the gun and driving it out to the first target when coming into a new position.

Edited November 26, 2011 by IronEqualizer

[IronEqualizer]

11-27-11

Dry fired 15 mins.

Worked on presenting the gun after moving into position. Really driving the gun onto the target.

Live fired 200rnds. .22LR

I was looking at my limited gun laying on the bench and noticed the bluing worn off where my trigger finger touches the side of the frame while moving and reloading. I flipped it over and noticed the bluing worn where my strong side thumb sits on the safety and the slide ever so slightly rubs against my thumb. Well it hit me that I may be causing all the F'ing malfunctions with the tactical solutions upper. I put the conversion back on my gun and consciously kept my thumb off the slide and ran 200 rnds through it with virtually no malfunctions. I am a dumbass. I hope this has really solved the problem and a few more outings will let me know for sure.

[IronEqualizer]

11-28-11

Dry fired 15 mins.

Still working on moving and then presenting the gun to an array. Some of this feels really awkward and I am sure the reason is because I suck at it. I have always tried to move at a pace to enter smoothly and this has kept me from really getting to the next position. So I will be focusing on getting there faster, and getting the gun on target with better timing.

[IronEqualizer]

11-29-11

Dry Fired 30 mins.

Worked on moving into position forward, right and left. This felt a little better than yesterday but still not great. It's hard to tell if you are really doing it right. I may need to start doing some video so I or someone else can review it. It was quite a work out doing mini sprints either way.

[IronEqualizer]

11-30-11

Dry fired 15 mins.

Worked on the movement drills again this morning. I am still not sure I am doing these as efficiently as I need to but it feels a little better each time. These are the drills that I always avoided in dry fire. They take the most physical effort but now it is really biting me. Each match I get beat because other shooters move better than I do and break the stage down a little better than I do. There are times when actual shooting skill differences come into play but not so much as movement between positions and stage breakdown. I have been stagnant for over 2 years in A class. Some due to taking a break but also some because I was focused on the wrong things. Once I became decent I just continued to focus on the things I was getting better at and never practiced things I sucked at. I hope to be able to get some range time tomorrow with a local M and focus on movement so he can help me figure out where I am losing the most time. We plan on running some drills using video so I can go back and compare our runs back to back.

Edited December 2, 2011 by IronEqualizer

[IronEqualizer]

12-1-11

Live fired 200 rnds. 45acp

Ran a few different stages today, each around 16 rnds. Picked up a few pointers from my M practice partner on movement. A lot has to do with just getting the timing down. Not engaging targets too early coming in which slows you down and not waiting until you are all the way into position. From what I understand the perfect timing is when coming into a position with multilple target when not all are visible engage the first one with just enough time while still moving into position so that when you break the second shot the next target in the area has just become visible. This way you are not too early and not too late. Other things is I am still just not being as agressive moving with the gun as I could be. I keep the gun floated out in front of me and really do not use the pump from my gun arm to run with. I pump my off hand arm but just kinda keep the gun hand hovering in front of me instead of using both arms to run with. I will work on this in dry fire.

For the most part the shooting we are at the same speed but he moves well. Very quick. I had a few runs that I beat him on and stayed close on many runs. About a second to two seconds off the pace. Some of his runs were blistering fast though that I could not touch.

I have video of today I will go back and study as I have time.

My limited gun was finished yesterday but I am still waiting on the mags to be done. It should not be much longer and I can't wait to start with this different platform.

Edited December 3, 2011 by IronEqualizer

[IronEqualizer]

12-2-11

Dry fired 30 mins.

Movement drills for 15 mins, entering forward, left and right.

Mini stage for 15 mins.

I want to really focus on the timing of entries and using my gun side arm to help with agressive movement instead of leaving the gun floating out front.

[IronEqualizer]

12-3-11

Dry fired 30 mins.

Movement drills. Working on timing. It is really hard to tell if I am actually getting any better. I ran a little 2 position mini stage and got a par time set then worked from there but it is still hard to tell. All I can do is my best to get the timing right coming in on a target so that I am just breaking the second shot when the next target appears. That and really being agressive moving. Using both arms to get momentum going.

[IronEqualizer]

12-4-11

Dry fired 30 mins.

Movement. I finally pumped my gun side arm to get some momentum this morning. I am still working on timing also, but I picked up several tenths on my par time by using both arms to get going instead of just my off side arm pumping and my gun hand stationary in front of me. Everything with my movement is still all a conscious effort. I think I finally noticed some improvement with it though. I can't wait to get on the range and run a few drills.

[IronEqualizer]

12-5-11

Dry fired 30 mins.

Movement. If nothing else I am getting better at running. Sometimes I feel like I do the drill perfectly and other times I know my timing is off. The running part seems to be getting better. I still have to consciously do the arm pump thing and it doesn't always work out. I have been focusing on just being more agressive in movement also. Making sure I am pushing off as hard as I can and really digging in when running. Doing this while still getting the timing right while coming into position while engaging a target is an art form. The M's and GM's really have it down. If nothing else, if I ever make it higher than A class I will know I worked for it. They don't give away M cards.

[IronEqualizer]

12-6-11

Dry fired 30 mins.

Movement drills. Movement felt really good today. When I initially started one of the drills I have been doing I had a par of 4.5 secs. Today I was beating my new par of 3.8 secs. I hope this transfers to match day soon.

[IronEqualizer]

12-7-11

Dry fired 30 mins.

Movement drills. Same drill but with hard cover and no shoots on targets. Practice hard. I actually ended up doing the drill with the same par time on several runs. I will set this same thing up again and keep at it until the hard cover and no shoots add no more time for me.

I did struggle the last half of the practice session. I was stepping in and drawing to a close target with a no shoot on it, after the first array I did a reload and then ran to the last position. I missed so many draws stepping in and fumbled several reloads. I think I will start on this drill tomorrow when I am fresh instead of after I have been running around for 15 mins. I seemed to be really tense for most of this drill.

I filmed quite a bit of the dry fire this morning and I seem to be really pumping my arms while running now. This has really picked up my speed some. I hope this is a subconscious action come match day.

[IronEqualizer]

12-8-11

Dry fired 30 mins.

0430 sucks. I pushed through not wanting to get up to dry fire before work this morning. Movement drills again. I need to change some things up. I worked on the drill I struggled with yesterday as my first drill today, and all went well. 15 mins in though, and I felt like draw, shoot, run, blah, blah, blah. I was really bored with the drills. I need a new challenge or figure out a way to work in a little more movement in the limited garage space.

[IronEqualizer]

12-9-11

Dry fired 15 mins.

Worked a little with the IDPA gear since there is a match tomorrow. I told myself after my last poor performance in IDPA that I would spend at least 1 day a week practicing with this gear. I have not done that. I have focused my practice on other aspects. Being a well rounded shooter is tough. There are just so many things to learn and so many different aspects of the sports to stay on top of.

[IronEqualizer]

12-10-11

Live fired. EAGC IDPA match.

Not an error free day of shooting but not terrible. I still need to work on some drawing and reloading with a concealment garment if I plan to shoot any state matches next year.

[IronEqualizer]

12-12-11

Dry fired 15 mins.

Worked on movement. Blah day. I just could not get into it. I am bored with these drills and need some new focus but have not come up with anything yet. I need to work with the IDPA gear but really have no desire to do that either.