Sean Gaines Posted February 12, 2007 Share Posted February 12, 2007 [sunday, shot the Infinity IMPACT match in Monaville, TX. SV is sponsoring this match, now - after the match, they had a shoot-off (winner takes the kitty - iron sights and Open) - forum member Sean Gaines took the iron sight pot ($90, he told me?) and, well, I'll let you guess who won the Open pot... They also raffled off 4 $1000 gift certificates towards purchase of a new Infinity pistol and a couple of 25% CED products certificates, too. 3 forum members took home the $1K GCs... Yes the shoot off win was $90, and I also won 1 of the 4 $1,000 gift certificate raffle from infinity also. Thats a pretty awsome day for a club match. Yes it was a good day for me also, But it was an eye oppening experience shooting with Chris, he made us all look like amateurs out there. His speed in which he shot the targets on the move. How fast he was able to shoot getting into positions. He pretty much does everything we know we should do, but for some reason we don't do it. PK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted February 20, 2007 Author Share Posted February 20, 2007 Ok, a little update action from the FL Open... first, the celebration: I won the Open shootoff, and took 2nd Master at 8th overall finish. Shootoffs are fun!! I don't often get that kind of adrenaline, these days The downside - I found several things I need to work on, primary among them is staying engaged through the whole match. On 7 stages, I had major lapses of focus, resulting in lost time on one, and lost time and a miss each on 6 others. I've gotten into a habit of what amounts to rushing, and not finishing the shot I'm firing before heading on to the next thing (see my previous post above ), and it bit me here, too. The stages at the FL Open are rather intolerant of that sort of slip. Sure, there aren't any no-shoots, and very little in the way of hardcover.... but long shots on "Classic" targets are an easy way to throw away points, and they're not exactly hard to miss, either.... Many people felt like they didn't have such a hot match, and yet they finished pretty well - I can be counted amongst them. After doing the shoulda/coulda/woulda thing, if I'd hit Cs instead of Ms, it would have made a 100 point and 3 place difference in my finish Why even ask that question? Cause it highlights for me what parts of my game are weak, and what I might gain by correcting them. This is a pretty big glaring hole, right now. The interesting thing about it, though, is that I feel like I've taken a step up the speed ladder during my break - I just need to learn to focus the speed again (which has been typical for me every time I climb another rung up the ladder). So, good stuff is on the way.... I got really discouraged during the match, at one point, and I had to work hard to keep anything resembling a positive attitude. Its not like I was making huge huge errors, but I was making significant errors that had a major effect on my ability to score. Laughing about it helped a bunch, and having Sharyn there to kick me in the ass a little bit didn't hurt, either Its good to have friends on the range. Should have some pictures up soon, too.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calamity Jane Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Bravo! Well done Dave! Winning a shoot off....that's cool. Keep up the most excellent work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted February 26, 2007 Author Share Posted February 26, 2007 Did a practice session at the range yesterday, and shot a Steel Challenge format match today. Yesterday, I did 400 rounds - I couldn't get into the bay I wanted to use, and then realized I'd forgotten my log book at the house (d'oh), so I didn't even have instructions for the standards exercise I shoot a lot.... hrrrrmmmmm.... So, I shot a bunch of Vice Pres at 35, 25, and 15 yards on Classics, then realized I'd developed a habit of over gripping the right hand - strangely, the gun was still recoil straight up and down, but it was dipping low, and then back up... So, the last hundred rounds were spent on timing drills, and I got my grip sorted back out... Won the steel match today - first time ever for that. Roy (shred) and I traded good and bad stages - I only had a half second margin on the win, so it was a close match (4 SC stages, plus a fun stage). Extra shots suck.... Steel isn't my strongest format, but maybe I'm starting to get the hang of it a bit.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted March 13, 2007 Author Share Posted March 13, 2007 Let's see.. what's happened since the last update. Shot our club match a week and a half ago. I felt like I shot reasonably well on all but two stages, but it still wasn't enough to pick up even one stage win. I was just off the pace.... setting up the match surely doesn't have anything to do with it... The next day, I did some work with a new (to our sport) shooter, helping get his gear sorted, and get some basics down. I shot about 150 rounds, demonstrating drills, waiting for him to load mags, etc. I learned a bit out of it, though - many of the things I take for granted (gear position, etc) are really a large part of my technique and affect my ability to draw and reload consistently, track the gun, shoot quickly, etc. You ignore the basics at your own expense. Through simple change of holster position, a little work on grip and stance, reaction time, and then a little motivation, we took .7 seconds off his draw to a 12" plate at 10 yards (from 2.3 to 1.6). I don't know - but that seems a pretty vast improvement, to me... That really turned on a light about how much technique does matter, though its only a means to and end..... Very little in the way of practice last week - I have too much going on in my life, and I'm not properly prioritizing shooting in the midst of several other things. The shooting has been suffering. I'm taking steps to resolve that by putting extra effort into finishing some of the other items more quickly, and getting at least 15 minutes of dryfire in per day. Sunday, shot the Impact Infinity match in Monaville. I went into the match intent on shooting clean - I've been giving points away in the form of penalties, lately, and you can't score like that. I threw a miss on a timed fire standards (first shot right over the left shoulder) - but no penalty there. I had a miss on a disappearing turner that I mistimed - quick little booger - again, no penalty. In each case, I simply gave away 5 points, instead. I made errors, indexing to the wrong targets, lack of focus on steel plates costing time, etc - all of them ended up being time errors, though. I won two stages - and the match. It took me by surprise, at first, because I felt like I'd shot relatively slowly, being very deliberate about calling shots, and making up shots I was unsure of... But it was that very diligence that paid off for me. I shot the whole match clean (making 8 stages in a row w/ no penalties, now...). Another realization I came to was that my reloads have improved greatly since last year. I even got a round of applause for the reload in the standards - on video, it looks pretty sharp - it was one of those where the timing worked perfectly, and from my perspective the new mag was going in just as the old mag cleared the gun. They're not TT/TJ fast, at this point, but they're in the range where I'd consider them acceptable - I'll maintain current work to keep them up to speed, and focus on other areas. Reloads have, in the past, been a sticking point for me - and it appears that all of my work in that regard has paid off. DRY FIRE WORKS Sunday was the last match I get to shoot before DoubleTap. I'll be shooting on the super squad on Friday, and then working the match over the weekend as the RO on stage 4. I'm looking forward to shooting the match in Open this year. I'll be the only loud gun on the squad - but I figure if I can keep up with Dave, Manny, and Taran, I won't be unhappy How to work out for the match? You guessed it - dry fire!!! Work on the basics, and also shoot some dry fire field courses throughout the house. In closing.... Its like me to shoot smooth and clean. I reload the gun effortlessly. I am calm and confident in my abilities. I am a Grand Master. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.J. Norris Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 In closing.... Its like me to shoot smooth and clean. I reload the gun effortlessly. I am calm and confident in my abilities. I am a Grand Master. Awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlamoShooter Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 Thanks for the help Sunday Your stage plan was -spot on- Your check is in the mail I drove 165 miles one way to get to the match, every thing about the match was well worth it. Realy good stages with several ways to shoot most of them, I think that you plan was the best way to shoot each one. Best of luck at DT Jamie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfish Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 Excellent! See you at the DTC. I'll be out on recon on Friday - maybe I'll be able to catch you on some film for the world to see.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted March 13, 2007 Author Share Posted March 13, 2007 Between you and Brian, Derrick, I'm finally reading Musashi, as well... Good good stuff.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtypool40 Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 great stuff Dave.... you're getting me all motivated again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brazos SC Shooter Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 Good luck at DT. You mentioned your reloads looking good on film. We would like to see the videos. Please post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted March 13, 2007 Author Share Posted March 13, 2007 I would love to... Windows Movie Maker is giving me total fits right now, and I don't have time to sit down and beat it into submission Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfish Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 Between you and Brian, Derrick, I'm finally reading Musashi, as well... Good good stuff.... cool! A lot of his writing is spot on for our game. Substitute "cutting" or "sword" for shooting and gun and there you have it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted March 28, 2007 Author Share Posted March 28, 2007 Ok, post-DTC writeup... had time to catch up on other things and get my thoughts together... What is it about Murphy, that he only shows his cowardly face at big events? If there were ever anyone who "needed killin'", as they say here in TX, well.... I shot on Friday, squadded with Dave Sevigny and Manny Bragg for the 2nd year in a row. Alan Tag (Production HOA) and David Elderton were also on our squad. Nice group of guys to shoot with - Dave and Manny are a lot of fun (and consummate professionals, I might add), and its a no nonsense, "let's get to the shooting" kind of experience. We had a 5 man squad - which was interesting, as you didn't have a whole lot of down time (although we bumped up against the squad in front of us a lot, so we could sit and chat while we waited). I don't have much in the way of video to review, yet, at this point - the three stages Catfish posted are really about all I've got. However, DJPolo was filming our squad for a future CompetitionDVD release, and has promised to send me the tapes once he gets them sucked into the computer, so I can review and such. After watching some of their releases, its exciting to be included on that next one - good stuff, highly recommended. The DVD of last year's DTC is super sweet. So, from memory - the highs and lows, and the lessons learned.... I arrived wearing just a TechWear Burkett Video shirt, and a light rain jacket over it, and rapidly decided that I didn't need the jacket. The weather was just perfect. I toyed with changing into shorts at lunch, but never did it - better, I've found, to be slightly warm than cool, as my muscles stay more loose and supple. I went most of the morning shooting what amounted to a solid, if not stellar match. I was mostly keeping pace with Manny and Dave - slightly slower in spots, namely due to small tuning issues with movement, etc. That really wasn't a bad place to be - I was shooting my game, knowing that I wasn't in direct competition with those guys, but I was able to use them as a gauge. Dave made a comment that if I continued to run with them, I'd finish top 3 - he wasn't wrong. My shooting on the move was a very strong point for me in this match. I'm not yet able to cover as much ground as I'd like, but I still got the scoot on and shot good points (down a handful across all the movement targets - there were a bunch). I shot 5 Deltas for the match, and had 1 Mike. 321 scoring rounds for the match = 1605 possible points. I shot 1529 points - 95%. I had 3 penalties - the miss, a no-shoot that I clipped on 9, and a procedural for putting the clothes on the ground on 12, resulting in 93% of possible points, total. Not bad - it wouldn't hurt to be better, but... I wasn't wild, that's for sure... Stage 2 was a good solid stage. I had a good plan, and executed it. Stage 3 had you starting lying on a "bed", next to a dummy, with your arm under the dummy's head. The key here is just to get to the shooting - you already know how to get out of bed. Just do it. Gun was on a table - get the gun, shoot two, and head through a door. There was a target to the right inside the door that you had to pin up on a position to get to - you want to get to that spot quickly, since you can't take that target from anywhere else. I shot the hard right target first, as I moved in, and took the pin target 2nd, and then the two in front of the door as I moved past. Manny had the trick plan - hammer one through the door, then take the hard right and pin up, and get the last one in front of the door on the way by - he was shooting the whole time. I had a hesitation as I came to the first port, as I attempted to reload in the wrong spot - cost a few tenths. Got my head back together and finished up strong. Stage 4 (the stage I RO'ed through the weekend) went well. Couple of extra shots on the steel - no... point shooting don't work at 20 yards. Must see dot on target. Must see dot on target. With an Open gun, the way to do this stage was to shoot the 3 up front, take the steel through the port, and reload to a big stick. The remaining targets could be shot as a big array from right to left as you moved up to the window - if done well, it was one big, smooth engagement. I did well - though not as snappy as some of the top dogs... movement speed while shooting, etc... adds up quick... Stage 5 - tricky little stage - 4 arrays of 4 targets, set up so you had to get into an awkward lean to the left to get to two of the targets in each array. The southpaws loved this one, I'm sure All the targets are at arm's length. On the third array, you end up with your wrists broken some to the right to get to the center of the A-zone around the no-shoot when you shoot the inside targets. In hind sight, I shot this wrong. I shot low left, high left, high right, low right. The way to do it was low left, low right, high right, high left - this allowed you to shoot one each of the left targets on the way in, and on the way out. The last array could be shot my way and allow you to take two on the way in... Lost some time due to that. Stage 6 - the teeter totter.... I had a bobble here. I actually shot two misses on the inside, left target. My 2nd shot on the target hit the stick on the wall, and the makeup I made went left - I hadn't settled and was already moving out. It was a lean to get to that target, and a quick stage. Need to be settled. The teeter totter itself was cool once you figured it out - stay ultra low to keep your CoG low, and the thing banging down on the other side won't affect you - your knees act as shock absorbers and keep your upper body smooth.... Stage 7 - you started this stage by grabbing your gun out of the freezer of an over/under fridge, and then you take out Vern Troyer (Mini-Me), who's apparently hiding in your fridge, stealing your beer... ??? The Round Rock PD guys tell me that they've never had to take a guy out hiding in a fridge, but... I guess there's a first for anything??? Anyhow... another run and gun on the move model. Shot it pretty well. I had a little bit of a tricky start, trying to get the gun out from what amounted to head level (when in the shooting crouch). Shot on the move well here, too. I saw a lot of people do screwy stuff at the end of this stage - if you had enough ammo, you could set up and shoot all the targets at the end from right to left in one big array... Stage 8 - tricky footwork in the hallway - being in position was critical - a lot of right to left to right to left across ports. You picked your gun up off a table, hammered three targets, then proceeded through one door, hit the ports, then a last door to take out the final two targets. With an Open gun, you could reload to a big stick as you crossed to the first door, which is what I did. Some minor hesitations in the ports.... otherwise, reasonable run. Looking back at my score sheet, I had an error, here - the RO added the "C" column wrong, and must not have added the "A" column... I got an extra point on this stage Stage 9 - the gun starts on a table, which you flip up to expose three targets. Flipping the table also activates a clap-trap target on each side of the stage. They were two quick to think about trying to get both, so you had to take head shots on a partial head shot target for one of them. I shot it OK, but ended up spending a little extra time finding the targets on the table. Unfortunately, I didn't settle up well on the last target - the head shots - I shot Alpha, miss (over the top), and then yanked the trigger on the makeup shot, clipping the border of the no-shoot. Then, in extremely unprofessional fashion, I let loose some choice words, venting at my stupidity and carelessness. Its ironic that I'd just gotten done being interviewed by Chet about why we were planning on taking that target last... I need to keep in mind that, especially when shooting with the big dogs, folks pay attention to Tourette's outbreaks... and they might catch them on tape, too.... Apologies to all who were present. That wasn't cool of me... Stage 10 - start in a really awkward position. Poor BJ... I had poor shot calling on the last steel, and stood there and looked at it for a moment... oh, yeah, we're shooting, here, aren't we??? Get to it!!!! The next targets were protected by no-shoots, and had some left-right port action. Reload and scoot hard. I went right to left, because I felt like I could get out of the right position more easily (not as much of a lean), and it seemed to work out well. Stage 11 - ah, the Spider Monkey. Until Glen Higdon shot his reshoot on this one (two different REFs, I'm told by Kurt Gruber), I had the fast time!! I'll take that I shot a D, here - just pulled off the 2nd target a little early. The trick to this one?? Just shoot the damn plates. Stage 12 - well, watch the video that Catfish posted in the Gallery thread... Stage 1 - I mentally wallowed on Stage 12 for a little bit, and then got past it in a big hurry. I went on to shoot Stage 1 well. Stage 1 was almost like Stage 2 - 4 targets blocked by barrels on the move hard past them. The trick on this one was that you could make engagement at the end easier if you got deep into the low target, and then indexed hard along the walls to the first target in the last array. LESSONS.... - stop being so fricking cheap and shoot new or lightly used brass at big matches - clear jams quickly, but with care.... - settle in to difficult or tricky targets, and be certain of what you're shooting - work on shoot on the move ground speed - work on fundamentals (always) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brazos SC Shooter Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 Congrats on your performance. The videos are very cool. Me and the family will likely make a trip back to Austin summer to visit the family. Hopefully I can time it so that I can shoot with Mike and Bryan again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtypool40 Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 (edited) Great job Dave, congrats. Good, positive self critique. Edited March 28, 2007 by dirtypool40 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted March 28, 2007 Author Share Posted March 28, 2007 Me and the family will likely make a trip back to Austin summer to visit the family. Hopefully I can time it so that I can shoot with Mike and Bryan again. Definitely don't shoot with that Dave Re guy... he's a jerk... Hope you can make it - first Saturday is the IPSC match, for us... If not, let me know, and we'll drag you to one of the other local matches. Impact, on the 2nd Sunday, out near Hempstead, is a superb match, as well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJPoLo Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 Excellent journal entry, Dave. I'm looking forward to you contributing play-by-play commentary with me on the upcoming DVD of this match. -Chet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted March 28, 2007 Author Share Posted March 28, 2007 I'm looking forward to you contributing play-by-play commentary with me on the upcoming DVD of this match. Should be fun... I'll help in any way I can, my man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted April 2, 2007 Author Share Posted April 2, 2007 I assisted Matt Burkett in teaching a class this weekend. That was an interesting switch of roles... I remembered/learned quite a bit about teaching the stuff we do - which of course also reinforces the stuff I already know... Doing some demos for the class, I managed my first sub-.8 reload - a .78 (with hits...). That reload work is paying off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zhunter Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 Doing some demos for the class, I managed my first sub-.8 reload - a .78 (with hits...). That reload work is paying off That is INSANELY FAST Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Knight Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 I assisted Matt Burkett in teaching a class this weekend. That was an interesting switch of roles... I remembered/learned quite a bit about teaching the stuff we do - which of course also reinforces the stuff I already know... Doing some demos for the class, I managed my first sub-.8 reload - a .78 (with hits...). That reload work is paying off Holy Super Speedy Reloads Batman!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calamity Jane Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 Doing some demos for the class, I managed my first sub-.8 reload - a .78 (with hits...). That reload work is paying off That is INSANELY FAST +1 I'm going to start calling you "The Breeze" (Lynyrd Skynyrd) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfish Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 We need to see video of that Xre!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Interceptor Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 Good job at the DTC Dave, it was a good time shooting on your squad. I look forward to next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now