Ironequalizer

[IronEqualizer]

1-4-07

Dry fired 30 min.

Live fired.

Shot a couple of groups both hands, strong hand only and weak hand only to start. Next ran Burkett's vol 7 drill 8 barricade movement. Things noticed were my stutter steps coming into a position. Need to work on my foot timing entering a box. Also seems like I fired 2 then it took me a while to get going. I am wondering now if maybe I was sticking the gun past the barricade and could have moved back in the box a little to avoid having to pull the gun back before moving. (I will check that) Boxes and barricades were 10yds apart and 1 steel 10yds out in front of each barricade. Steel size 8X19.

Next I ran through Burkett's #9 steel on the move, boxes 10yds apart, steel 8X19 at 10yds out. Next time I will move the plate to 15yds because this drill was not that difficult with the size plates I have. Maybe I could have gone faster but I was at a good steady pace and feel any faster I would have been bouncing around way too much.

Tomorrows dry fire will consist of exiting barricades and entering boxes. I WILL improve these techniques. (positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always see a perfect sight picture and shoot all A's.

[IronEqualizer]

Vacation in for:

2007 Mississippi Classic

SC idpa state

[IronEqualizer]

1-5-07

Dry fired.

No live fire (rain)

Working on movement today. I made 2 barricades from a big cardboard box. I cut them 2' by 5'5" tall and rigged them to stand up. I put my 2 3'X3' pvc boxes in front of them and it worked great. The boxes were 21' apart running from my great room to my kitchen, and targets were at 25' in front of each one. I actually cut .5secs off my first times in about 30mins. Hmmm...imagine that practicing and getting better. My footwork is getting better entering and having the gun up coming across the barricade into the second position and being ready as soon as the target was in view improved my time. I started doing reloads between positions and when my empty mag was still in the box I left....I know that is a good thing me likes when that happens. On the downside missed reloads, blood trails and bandaids are becoming part of my dryfire routine. OUCH! Other than that one everything went good and I feel it was a very productive session. (positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always see a perfect sight picture and shoot all A's.

Edited January 6, 2007 by IronEqualizer

[IronEqualizer]

1-6-07

Dry fired 15min working on barricade movement.

Live fired. Shot groups, both hands, strong hand, weak hand. Practiced draws on 7" plates at 10yds. Running around 1.20 - 1.15. This was one of my faster days on draws. Index seems to have improved and I will keep working it in dry fire. My friend and I worked Burkett's drills steel on the move and barricade movement. Boxes spaced 10yds, plates 8X19 at 10 yds. I improved my times from a couple of days ago significantly. Just a little bit of movement practice in dry fire really made a difference on the range. My times dropped by .5secs on the barricade movement and that is a big confidence booster knowing that that is only one position of movement. Transfer that to a stage and it could really make a big difference. I also increased my footwork speed on the steel on the move. That was kinda just having the confidence to just move faster as well as someone telling me to go faster and get to the next box. Thanks Brad. I will continue to work on more movement stuff during live fire and dry fire. Yet another good practice session today and when things go good you really wanna keep practicing. (positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always see a perfect sight picture and shoot all A's.

[IronEqualizer]

1-7-07

Dry fired about 15mins working on barricade movement and then did some box to box movement just working on footwork. Dayum.......pant.....pant.....Pharoah Bender you did that crap for 40mins????..........you the man.

[IronEqualizer]

1-8-07

Dry fired 1hr and 15min. 1 1hr session and 1 15min session.

Set up a Saul Kirsch cross I made from 1/2" pvc pipe and practiced gun transitions from port to port. Shooting 2-2-2, reload 2-2-2 from another port standing. Next did the same drill only with lower ports that you have to squat to shoot from. (I really liked practicing the squatting reloads because that is something new.) Next I set up a stage throughout the house with 14 full size targets and 3 cardboard poppers. I ran through it probably a dozen times with the first time 17.7X and after some practice had it down to the low 15's with the best being 14.5X. It's amazing how getting a stage really programmed and having no hesitation on any target can really shave the time. (and of course having 4 smooth reloads) My goal is to keep setting these up and have the first run as good as the subsequent runs. Last thing I did was practiced loading from every mag pouch for about 15mins. Good session today with new things learned. Motivation is high. (positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always see a perfect sight picture and shoot all A's.

[IronEqualizer]

1-9-07

Dry fired 30mins working on plate drills.

Live fired. Worked on draws on the plate rack (7" plates) at 15yds. around 1.3X pretty consistantly with some in the 1.2X's.

Next worked on 3 - 8"X19" plates at 10yds shooting 2-2-2 then 1-1-1 just trying to learn to call shots. Draws were running under a second averaging .97. Really relaxing and just observing is something I need to work on. The days when it happens are great but recalling how you reached that state of mind and just started seeing everything is hard to do.

Lastly I ran a few Bill Drills on the 8X19 plates at 10yds. Could not count a couple of runs because of misses but the others were 2.60, 2.67, 2.50 and 2.55.

Next live fire session I will try to focus on relaxing, shooting at a slow pace then just let my vision and awareness level speed everything up instead of trying to force it.

(positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always see a perfect sight picture and shoot all A's.

[IronEqualizer]

1-10-07

Dry fired 1hr. 2 - 30min sessions.

Working plate drills. First session was mostly on moving reloads. I did half of them as tac loads. It is critical for me to watch the mag into my pocket then my eyes are right there to watch the fresh one all the way into the magwell.

Second session I mainly worked on strong/weak hand drills and was very surprised to really smoke my par times today. It feels good holding the gun on the last target waiting for your par time beep. Great sessions today. Everything is really smoothing out. My index is really coming back to me after slacking off in Nov. so much. Guess that's where my tenth on the draw went. Now time to pick it up some more so I have tenths to spare.

(positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always see a perfect sight picture and shoot all A's.

[IronEqualizer]

1-11-07

Dry fired 30mins.

Worked a few draws to warm up then started doing the El Prez and continued on that drill for the full 30 mins. My turns are so much better now and I can definitely see me being below a 4sec par time on this in the near future. I am currently at 4.1 and I know for a fact that I smoked that a few times today. Remember drive the gun into the center of each target. When my focus goes hard into the center the sights will be there, pull back to the front sight, crank a couple off and repeat. Snapping the head and finding the center of that first target is what I need to enhance. In the future I will practice just my turning index for a while. Good session today, no live fire, worked on some target stands and props.

[IronEqualizer]

1-12-07

Live fired.

Worked on draws with a friend today. 10yd draws on 8X19 plate. Draw slowed down a little from the other day but still hovering around the 1sec mark. Practiced draws to a 7" plate and those were around 1.0X-1.15. We started to run the Bianchi plate event but since I could not hit more than 3 plates at 10yds at a time we scratched the idea and just generally practiced on the plates. I tried slowing down to get the shots but that didn't friggin work. I now realize that it was my follow through. When I moved back to 15yds and 25yds I did much better than at 10yds. I knew at those distances I had to see the sight lift and took that for granted at 10yds. DUH....See it for every shot. I'm kicking myself now and I hope I have learned this lesson that no matter what the distance the same fundamentals apply. At least something was learned and that is why we were practicing.

Last drill we ran was a draw,1,reload,1 drill on the 8X19 plate at 10yds. My reload to the 2nd shot was 1.61-1.63 pretty consistantly. I will run this drill again in the near future or maybe a 2,reload,2 drill because I need to continue to improve on my shots following a reload.

Edited January 13, 2007 by IronEqualizer

[IronEqualizer]

1-14-07

Dry fired.

1hr off and on. Nothing but reloads.

[IronEqualizer]

1-15-07

Dry fired. 30mins

Working on movement, box to box, barricade shooting, port shooting.

Something interesting happened on one run during dry fire. I was shooting from 3 positions reloading between positions. I was behind the barricade and hit the timer and while waiting on the buzzer I thought to myself I need to practice a few tac-loads before this weekends IDPA match. Well when the buzzer went off I drew, shot 2, took off and grabbed the mag on the way out of the magwell. What the hell? I wasn't practicing tac loads yet. That really proved to me that what Saul Kirsch says has lots and lots of merit. Like not saying things like "don't miss the popper" before the buzzer because then you subconsciously vision a miss on the popper. The last thing I thought before the buzzer went off was tac loads. Think positive and be all there to do the task at hand. Good session with a good learning experience.

[Airic]

I havent had a chance to read saul's book yet. Im gonna order it next month, along with Steve Anderson's new book.

Thats an interesting thought though. Ive been telling myself that I need to get into a better pre-stage routine. Might have to try that out.

[IronEqualizer]

I havent had a chance to read saul's book yet. Im gonna order it next month, along with Steve Anderson's new book.

Thats an interesting thought though. Ive been telling myself that I need to get into a better pre-stage routine. Might have to try that out.

You'll really enjoy Saul's book and I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of Steve's new book.

I like your dry fire schedule. You can't get there without a plan. Saul's book has an excellent section on planning practices also.

[IronEqualizer]

1-16-07

Dry Fired 30mins.

Worked on 10yd index and strong and weak index. Did some turning draws and 6-reload-6 drill. Not real smooth or fast today. Really wasn't into it. Maybe tomorrow. I did have a first today though. During a transfer from strong to weak after the draw I proceeded to launch my gun across my living room. Guess it goes without saying I need to work on that some more. At least it was during dry fire and not loaded and at least it had a nice cushy rug to land on. Not a good feeling either way though.

[IronEqualizer]

1-17-07

Dry fired 2hrs off and on.

Worked on box to box movement, barricade shooting, port shooting, strong/weak index, moving reloads, moving tac loads, and head shot drills.

Box entering has really improved but still needs some subconscious programming.

Barricade shooting has definitely improved as I am more ready to shoot coming into a barricade now.

Port shooting I practiced from standing, squatting and kneeling reloading from each height.

Kneeling I am faster going left to right as I am leaning away from mags when transferring to the right which allows me to get the proper grip on the mag while kneeling.

Strong/weak index. This is improving and I did not drop my gun today which is a good thing.

Moving reloads are looking good. I am getting them done quick before I am hardly out of the box.

Moving tac loads are an ace in the hole on some stages of IDPA. If you have confidence that you can do these then you do not have to shoot to slidelock, reload, require a sight picture and continue. You are at full capacity before you get to the position and can blaze away. I will continue to practice these regularly.

Head shot drills are kick a** for calling shots. I learned a lot from these today and I think emphasis on this drill will help me to make those auto pilot make up shots without thinking. Just have to do the make shots on bad calls in dry fire and it will become automatic. I liked this today.

Excellent practice today. I put a lot of time in to make up for yesterday. Some days I feel I could practice all day with just a few breaks every now and then. Motivation is still high and I WILL be a Master class shooter!

[IronEqualizer]

1-18-07

Dry fired 30mins.

Worked on nothing but El Prez. I was trying the new turn Micah had mentioned with stepping through with the left and pivoting on the right foot. I really liked this, as he said you are in a much more stable platform from the beginning instead of trying to adjust your feet during the reload as I had been doing. It felt slower to me and seemed as if it was taking me more time to get my gun on the first target but I was constantly meeting and beating my current par time. So I guess maybe the feeling of everything being more controlled felt slow. I feel as if I was getting better sight pictures (more stable) this way because like I said you never have to move your feet again after the turn. Thanks for the tip Micah and now I can't wait to try this in live fire. See you at the top!

[IronEqualizer]

1-19-07

Dry fired 30mins.

Live fired.

Set up a small field course in live fire with 4 positions, 3 barricades, 5 targets. First barricade 8ft wall, second multiple ports, last bianchi barricade. Runs pretty much stayed within a second of each other from first to last run and starting from both the right and left. What did change was the accuracy. Some runs were acceptable and some just plain sucked. (speed trap) I have to relax and just let the shooting happen. When I do everything is smooth, I don't feel like I'm rushing but the times and scores are great. I think maybe I was trying to damn hard to be quick today.

Dry fire was after live fire and I set up 3 different courses throughout the house. (wife kids out of town) I improved from the first run on each one substantially. I want the first to be just about as quick as the last. I end up shaving as much as 4 seconds from the initial run. I hope by continuing to set these up it will help me to pick out the little things and let them become natural. Feet positioning, target locations, height, etc.

(positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always see a perfect sight picture and shoot all A's.

[IronEqualizer]

1-20-07

Live fire.

IDPA match. Well this performance definitely did not mirror that of last month. I made some errors which if you want to win you can't have. I did not dwell on them which is a good thing. 1 hit on a non threat, 1 miss, 1 procedural error, and to top it off 1 malfunction. I shot my friggin gun all month, since the last match without cleaning it, over a 1000 rnds, and not one f'ing malfunction, I clean it, and the MF jams during a match. WTF. Grand total of these F'ups, roughly 15secs. Hey but other than that everything went great. Had a couple of good stages and the last stage I felt I was back at last months match. Stage 6 felt good, smooth, fast and accurate. So now to figure out what to take away from todays match. The miss was on a 35yd target. I think that is a little beyond IDPA rules but hell everyone had to shoot it and I missed 1. I have never shot passed 25yds in practice. The hit on a non threat??? (visual patience) broke the shot on the way to the shoot target. My tac load practice paid off. I was able to use it to reload on the move and got back some of the time I lost on the procedural on that stage. Now I'll just have to wait on the scores. Maybe everyone else screwed up too. yeah right. It's only a stepping stone on the way to Master.

[Micah]

I made some errors which if you want to win you can't have. I did not dwell on them which is a good thing.

Good going on staying focused. During the match, when errors are made, I am fine, it's after the match...and then later when the results are posted that I still get all pissed.

[IronEqualizer]

1-22-07

Dry fired 30mins.

Worked on plate drills using 6 cardboard mini poppers. I did some focusing on the pause at the magwell and it really is not any slower. A lot of times I don't actually pause I kinda just slow down as it reaches the magwell and then slam it in. That conscious thought of slowing down gives me time to see the magwell more clearly. I also noticed today that makeup shots on called misses are happening faster and without as much thought. I can't wait till that starts transfering to live fire. Still no match results yet. (positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always see a perfect sight picture and shoot all A's.

[IronEqualizer]

I just received the results from Saturdays IDPA match and there's something to be said for keeping on keeping on. As bad of a day as I thought I was having I did not give up and I ended up finishing 2nd in CDP, getting beat by only .21secs. I won 3 out of 5 stages in CDP and finished 4th overall in the match. 43 shooters. I was kicking myself for the procedural and the hit on a non threat but I did not dwell on them which allowed me to finish the other stages decently. The Master class shooter who beat me by .21secs also had 1 procedural and 1 hit on a non threat. You just never know. 2nd.....by .21 friggin secs....but I can't be happier that I kept my head in the game.

(positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always see a perfect sight picture and shoot all A's.

Edited January 23, 2007 by IronEqualizer

[IronEqualizer]

1-23-07

Dry fired 45mins.

Worked on head shot drills. Nothing seemed smooth today. I kept missing my grip and when I didn't miss my grip I would miss the reload. I cut the timer off and starting doing 1/2 speed stuff and that went ok. Tried to go to about 3/4 speed and the same thing with missing the grip and reloads. I did not get fustrated today.....I was more confused as to why I could not speed up. I guess my focus was elsewhere???? Oh well I know to keep on keeping on. Tomorrow will be better. It's just a stepping stone.

Edited January 23, 2007 by IronEqualizer

[IronEqualizer]

1-24-07

Dry fired 30mins.

Working on classifier skills.

Live fired.

Set up IDPA classifier. I will be shooting this for the first time for actual classification in a couple of weeks. I am still scoring expert and actually improved by 3secs. When I shoot it for real I am really gonna concentrate on getting all my points and taking my time. I do not want to go into my first major match over classified. In the next few weeks I am gonna concentrate my live fire practice around the skills involved in this classifier. I am happy with my speed but not with my points down. I need to practice at 20yds and although I did fairly well strong/weak hand I am not comfortable with these skills yet. I basically want roughly a slower time with better points. (positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always see a perfect sight picture and shoot all A's.

[IronEqualizer]

1-25-07

Dry fired 1hr. 2-30min sessions.

Worked on barricade shooting, tac loads, strong/weak hand drills.

Barricade shooting I noticed I was keeping the leg on the side I am shooting from too straight. Bending the knee a lot more on the side I am shooting from allows me to keep my body straighter, hence the gun will be straighter. Keeping the leg upright I was leaning way too much.

My tac loads are getting smoother and faster and I am really gaining confidence in this ability. Most vision barrier walls are 8ft in length and being able to tac load quickly in that distance saves that dreaded slide lock reload. Especially when courses are designed to make you reload for 1 or 2 last shots.

Strong/weak hand my strong hand sight pictures are getting faster and better. Weak hand I am having trouble getting the gun canted just right to allow me to pick up the sight quickly. Once I find the sights and confirm alignment the next two targets are no problem. It's just that initial index sight picture I am having trouble with. Also it is definitley imperative to practice these drills with a full mag because it definitley feels different. I worked on these drills about 15mins non-stop and my arms feel like spaghetti. Just proof as to how little I do these drills. That will change.

(positive thought) I am a Master class shooter, I am smooth, I always see a perfect sight picture and shoot all A's.