Airic

[Airic]

Hello anyone.. . My name is Eric.

I figured I start one of these. I was thinking about doing it anyway....on blogger or myspace. What better place to do it then here?

Maybe I should start with a little history. I am from a small town in southwestern Oklahoma. I started my competition shooting "career" in 2000, at Indian Territories Practical Shooters in Duke, Ok. I met a couple guys, (Bill D. and Glenn M.) through a mutual friend. They convinced me I needed to come out and start shooting. I didnt have any equipment, I didnt even own a pistol. Bill D. supplied me with a Beretta 92, and all the fixins to start shooting.

Not long after that, I bought my first pistol. A Glock 22C. I changed out the barrel, added some sweet equipment and started shooting limited. Sometime in the summer of 2000, I got my first classification, D limited.

I shot every time there was a match. Glenn and Bill carried me to every match they drove to. OKC, matches in Texas, Area 4. I dont know how much money they spent to keep me shooting, but I truly appreciated it ( I was in college at the time, no job. No money = no shooting)

In the summer of 01, I moved away to Arizona. Phoenix. I then found Rio Salado. It was like I died and went to heaven. This was shooting. I spent a year in AZ, shot about 400-500 rounds a week, shot Area 2, and made A limited before I left.

I took a break for a couple years (college, beer, girls, army, beer, girl, married, baby....in that order). I am now back to a stable place where I can start shooting regularly again. I have found a great group of shooters in the DFW area, with matches going on all around me every week.

My main goal this year is to make master in production. I dont know how many big matches im gonna make this year, but I will be at the Double Tap.

That sounds like a nice start....now time to dryfire.

[joseywales]

Hi Eric, Glad you're here in the DFW area and back into shooting.

After seeing you shoot & move this weekend, I'd wager that Master in Production is headed your way before the June'07 update.

Now, get to your room & dryfire!

[Airic]

Hi Eric, Glad you're here in the DFW area and back into shooting.

After seeing you shoot & move this weekend, I'd wager that Master in Production is headed your way before the June'07 update.

Now, get to your room & dryfire!

Thank you for the kind words!

I did dryfire this morning for about an hour and a half. Steve Anderson's book is my guide. Ive set up my "workout" program for 7 days a week. There are a couple of the dry fire drills I do everyday (#1, #7 ect..) and then split the rest between 7 days. I dont have a timer, but I have the R U ready program on my computer which works well enough for what Im doing.

I worked on my vision a lot today. I made an earlier post that I did not remember seeing anything during my last match. Today I was making sure I was seeing all A's. I took time today to redo my par times on 1 through 18 since I havent dry fired in a while.

I am really fighting this "mode" I go into every time the buzzer goes off. It seems like I just go into hyperspeed whenever I hear it. I really tryed to slow myself down today and make sure I got all my hits, regardless of times. Im doing this because I want to see an improvement in my scoring at matchs. I would like to be shooting at least 90% of total match points possible (especially in production).

[Catfish]

well, hooking up with josey was a God send for you Eric. After seeing him shoot this weekend, you know his GM card in production is going to come, and come quickly.

Now it just becomes a matter of will.

See you at the range.

[Micah]

Eric,

Master in Production eh? Sounds like we have something in common.

See you at the top!

[Chris Keen]

The top ???

[Airic]

Had to go out of town for 4 days. Brought all my gear with me. I set up my targets in the room im staying in and dryfired last night. I was really happy with my vision last night, I was seeing what i wanted to see. I also think I found a new technique for the turning draw that might shave a couple tenths off.

Got about 40 mins of live fire today before the sun went down. Shot at 8" paper plates. Got some transitions in and some bill drills in. All in all it went pretty well.

Im facing a crossroads right now. I am trying to decide if I want to have a S&J open glock built, or spend the money on match fees and ammo (staying in production). I have always wanted to shoot open, but if i spring for the open project and the equip/reloading componets to go with it, I might not get to shoot any major matches this year.

On top of all that, I always kinda wanted to make master with the old iron sights before I switched to open. Just to reaffirm I had to skill to hang. But.....just......having ......a ......hard..... time...... resisting the open gun.

[dfwmiket]

I think you'd be happier shooting some major matches and just putting a little aside as you can allow for an Open gun project. I also would say don't necessarily limit yourself to a Glock Open gun...... you can pick up some really nice used guns at a good price.

-Mike

[Airic]

I think you'd be happier shooting some major matches and just putting a little aside as you can allow for an Open gun project. I also would say don't necessarily limit yourself to a Glock Open gun...... you can pick up some really nice used guns at a good price.

-Mike

I have actually seen a couple in the last month that were in my price range (used 2011 style), Im just afraid of used raceguns, I have watched so many 1911 based raceguns fail. My glock has never failed me. I put 50,000 rounds through a G22 in 2000 without cleaning it once, never a problem.

Plus, for asking price for one of those 1911 based guns, I could have my glock open gun, all the equipment and the reloading compenents for major 9.

Edited January 5, 2007 by Airic

[Chris Keen]

If you're afraid of used race guns, you should be afraid of used Glocks too.

Every shooter at every match you shoot this year, will be shooting a used gun. And if they work for them, why wouldnt they work for you ?

[Catfish]

what good would having a cool open gun be if you couldn't put it to the test??

I'd say save up for the gun and shoot as many matches as you can and gain as much experience as you can shooting matches.

[Airic]

If you're afraid of used race guns, you should be afraid of used Glocks too.

Every shooter at every match you shoot this year, will be shooting a used gun. And if they work for them, why wouldnt they work for you ?

The glock that I would have built into a race gun is my current production gun. It has about 1500 rounds through it. I bought it new, and im the only one to ever touch it. If it had any problems after being built into open, im sure I could talk to S&J customs, I have heard great things about thier customer service.

[Airic]

Gonna take a little break for 2 days (tonight and tomm). My buddie is having a couple poker games tonight and tomm night, havent played poker in a while.

Next week is my department's firearms qualification. If I shoot well, I will get on the 2 man pistol team fielded by the department. In the summer the team gets a 40 hour paid week on the range (as much ammo as you can shoot) to practice before the state police pistol championship. The pressure is on because my dept. has won the match a lot, and they expect a win.

I want to win it. I want my name and picture up on the wall of fame.

[Airic]

My lack of entries into this log reflects the lack of time I have had to practice in the last week. I have been doing a lot of traveling and working. I have been able to do some dry fire, but nothing like I want to do everyday.

I made my decision about building an open gun earlier this week. My production G17 is now at SJC being built into a major 9. In about 10 weeks, i'll be shooting open. All of my equipment and reloading components will be in next week. I'm hoping to have at least a week to work with the gun before the double tap.

Before I was worried that if I built this gun, I wouldnt be able to shoot very much this year. That problem solved itself (promotion at work). Now the only thing that will limit my attendance to any major matches around my area is getting the time off work and getting the "go" from the boss (Wife for all you unmarried ppl).

I feel good about this decision, I have always wanted to shoot open. Until the gun is finished all I have to shoot in competition is my duty G22, so I think i'll probably use club matches I shoot in the next couple weeks to fine tune my mechanics and accuarcy (kinda like extra practice)

[Catfish]

coolness. Can't wait to see the new blaster.

[Airic]

Went through my #2 workout today. Anderson's plate rack drills. I use 2 in. circles at 3 yards (all the room I have).

Im still working on relaxing after the beep. I am totally relaxed before the beep, but once I hear it, I catch myself trying to hurry. I think that is contributing to the wobble of my front sight as I settle in on the target. Im gonna start preloading the trigger while working on draws, I used to be able to break the shot as my sights hit the target. Now I feel im getting lazy when I work on drill #1 and Im not pressing the trigger.

My burkett reloads are coming along. My current par time is .7 sec in a production rig. I once held a .5 sec par time for a couple weeks, but its slipped with lack of practice. I noticed something while working through the reloads today, I was looking through the magwell. I was not concentrating on the magwell, but looking straight through it. Thinking about putting a tiny red dot on my magwell for something to catch my attention. Might be the trick of the day.

[Airic]

Worked on core classifier skills today. Felt nice and relaxed, although I was interrupted a couple times by my 5yr old. Im finding it hard to get a full practice in the last couple weeks w/o getting an interruption from the 5yr old, wife or the 4 month old baby. Dont they know I'm trying to work here!! jk

Gonna change up how im practicing from now on. Im not gonna follow Anderson's repetition recommendations so closely. After speaking with Catfish about tai chi reloads, I figured why not incorporate that into every drill. Now I do 10 slow motion repetitions of each drill, then I do 10 at half speed then 10 more at full speed. Im not going to use the par times every day now, Im just gonna let the beep go off on random loop, seems like i get more reps in that way. Today I did all reps, then set the timer for my current par time for that drill, and gave myself one chance to beat it.

I saw a immediate improvement in my draws using this method. That little wobble of the front sight as im settling in on the target disappeared. I felt more smooth and more relaxed after doing the slow motion practice. I didnt miss one full speed reload today, I think I can credit that to the slow motion work also.

Thanks to Catfish for sharing his idea to me, it allowed me to adapt it and improve.

[Catfish]

Glad that worked for you!

I find that my training routine is seasonal. This time of year, with 3 months till the first big match, is time to build up a base. As match time comes in closer, then speed becomes more of a concern; I'll still use the slow mo stuff, but more as a warm up and then cool down. Now, the slo mo stuff is almost all I do....

Perfect weekend for dry fire - too nasty to do anything else.

Hope to see you at the range soon.

[Airic]

Shot my dryfire #1 this morning. (btw if you want to see my dryfire routines, click in my sig)

I felt nice and relaxed at the start of my session, but I had to fight some tension mid way through. I started to slip back into "hoser" mode when I was doing some of the full speed reps. *Gotta remember, smooth is fast.....then make my body believe it*

I noticed a couple things today that I havent done since I first made A class and was live firing every week:

1. I was calling shots on targets mid-transition.

example: fired 2 shots and in mid transition to next target I say to myself in my mind "that was 2 C's, this run doesnt count." Crazy that you can think a sentence that long, that fast.

2. I was driving the front sight into the A zone.

On a couple sight pictures today I came up in the C zone, I sat back and watched as I automatically corrected myself into the A zone. Almost like looking up, seeing a dog in the road and swerving into the other lane.

I also noticed that I shoot 3 target arrays more smooth and relaxed from right to left, than left to right. It was a lot faster for me (im left handed, but I have no idea which way should be faster for me). Gonna work more on left to right so one is so much stronger than the other.

Now time for some breakfast....

[Airic]

Dry fire #2 this morning. Working on strong and weak hand drills.

I felt a little tension in my shoulders while I was working through my drills this morning. Especially my left shoulder (gun arm). I stretched before I dryfired, but I just seemed tight. I think It was because I stayed up too late watching movies with the wife, was up till 4am watching superman returns and some comedy stuff.

Couple things I noticed today:

1. My weak hand draw is almost as quick as my strong hand draw.

Maybe a .10 difference right now. (But i'm also ambidextrous, so that helps)

2. When shooting with my weak hand, Im more smooth shooting right to left than left to right.

At first my reloads were sucking this morning. I was getting kinda upset about it. Then I took a break, came back and everything worked itself out. Ive been watching my reloads closely lately because I think I may have too much gun movement. Watched travis's video to see how much movement he has. I have about the same amount of forward/backward movement and tilt as he does. I just got a really small hole to hit. (production Glock)

El pres was very smooth today. I felt great relaxation and I think I broke a new dryfire time record today for myself. (didnt have the timer on par for the run)

[Catfish]

Keep it up Eric!

[Airic]

Dryfire #3 today. Plate drills.

Im using 2" circles at 9 feet. They are pretty challenging targets. I'd like to take some to the range and try to do speed drills on these little things at that close of range, might be fun.

Very good practice today. Only one interruption. Wife and 5yr old was gone, baby was asleep...felt good.

Couple things I noticed today:

1. My surrender draw is freaking fast

I dare to say that it is faster than my normal draw. I dont like surrender more than regular draw, and I practice it less. During the draw my body is completley still, only thing that moves is my arms. Every time I come up, the sights are aligned perfectly on the A and there is no movement at all. I tested how fast I was getting an acceptable A sight picture (acceptable = sights in A, no movement), I broke the .5 sec mark.

2. My reloads are getting faster.

Had some great, relaxed reloads today. Tested par times on these too. At one point I started doing a full reload instead of Burkett's, had the timer set to .6 par time. I noticed that I was getting the mag halfway into the gun when the buzzer went off.

3. On turning draws, im not snapping my head to the target everytime.

Need to get that burned in. Its so much faster and smoother. When Im not doing it, my head is kinda just riding my body as it turns.

I was supposed to live fire today, was really looking forward to it. Damn snow ruined that for me.

[Rocket35]

Glad to see your still hard at it Eric. Your training program is looking good!

[Airic]

Ok so tonight was an experimentation night. I have not dryfired in a couple days due to work and other obligations, so I played around a little bit.

Next week I am going to order all my race gun equipment for the new open gun that is being built. I was thinking tonight while I was at work, why not shoot in limited with my G22 and all the race gun equipiment, get that muscle memory worked in before the open gun gets here. And I could start working my dryfire practice with the race equipment also, just to get an early start.

So to get to the point, I took my production gear out tonight and fashioned a "race rig" out of it. I took my Uncle Mikes production holster and Blackhawk mag pouches and attached it to my old belt system. I like the Blackhawk mag pouches a lot, they have a flat metal spring inside them that makes the mag jump into your hand when you grab it.

I started working through some drills with the new rig and noticed my reloads were feeling really good. I decided to video them with my cell phone camera (its all I have right now) and post it so you guys could tell me what you think.

So take a look at the video and gimme some comments ------->Reload

*Note* The first noise you hear is the snap from my trigger pull, I use that as a "start signal". Also, the quality of the video is terrible I know, its a cell phone.

Edited January 20, 2007 by Airic

[ihatepickles]

Ah, yes... a lefty. OK, first switch everything around to the correct hand...

The reload looks smooth, you leave the heater out front which is good, but your weak hand didn't get back into a real firing position. You just kind of gave up on the last little bit of the effort. Your arms are very rigid and tense, you don't appear relaxed - gumby up a little, the wheels fall off when you're tense and miss the reload.

Don't forget to work on movement and reloads, standing reloads are good for diagnostics but they are a small part of the actual course of fire. Overall, nice work. I need to get me a camera.