My most embarassing moment

[Shooter Grrl]

I've been having a hard time deciding whether to post this is or not, I mean, honestly - a grrl shouldn't tell all her secrets right

My only real hope is that this happened so long ago, and I was SO insignificant at the time, that Brian doesn't even remember it, and won't even after I tell it!!!

So there I am using my slick cool Taurus (with a glued on fake comp even) on a night right after the Ernie Hill Classic - so those stages were still set up.  I'll NEVER forget this "boat" stage - talk about some damn cool props, but I digress.

So in the middle of this stage, I suddenly find myself unable to hit anything - I mean really!  And of course I'm already severly intimidated cause Brian's got the clock and Robbie's got the clipboard... but I keep trying, and trying, and trying, and trying - and seriously can't hit anything.  Finally, Brian leaned over and told me "Your sight fell off, ya may wanna quit now!"  

DOH!!!!!  Talk about a brainless bimbo that cain't shoot )))))  I had no clue that there was no sight on the gun anymore!!!!!!!!!!

[Flexmoney]

can't.....stop..........laugh...ing...............

Brian on the clock and Robbie on the clipboard...ok, that got me a bit.  I might not notice anything either.

....but, this is the best part:  but I keep trying, and trying, and trying, and trying - and seriously can't hit anything.

no...wait, this is:  Finally, Brian leaned over and told me "Your sight fell off, ya may wanna quit now!"  

[SiG Lady]

Whoa... that IS serious! Seriously funny, that is.

I congratulate your guts for telling it!

MY embarrassing moment: I had a misfeed at last Monday's match and took a re-shoot of the stage in question (two targets, alternating).  So, while everyone stood in back of me, the RO re-timed me alone and I proceeded to fire all six into one target in rapid succession. He calmly sez, "You were supposed to alternate targets." Like, with everyone standing there behind me and everything!! Bless his heart, he let me reshoot the stage. I racked up a good score, by the way, on that one. A little Zen goes a long way.

[Jake Di Vita]

Practicing today with Limited40 and my Dad, trying to see who had the fastest draw. L40 hit like a .82, I respond with just under a .8. Trying to go a bit faster the next time, my hand is a little down on the grip, but I didn't concern myself with it. However, during the draw, my front sight happens to not clear the holder in front causing an amazing amount of torque as the gun comes out of my hand straight onto the ground. I'm an idiot for sharing this, just glad it didn't happen in a match. Good lesson.

[Steve Anderson]

TIS, Been there...in dry fire. Thats my cue to chiil a bit on the speed.

I don't have one as embarrassing as SG's, but I did draw my docter beretta (in front of Flex) and proceed to engage steel with the damn dot cover on...TWICE in one day. Hell, this was last week.

SA

[John Dunn]

Gunsite 250 class, 24 students, shooting the Dozier drill (five Pepper poppers, spaced close, all in a line at 10 yds- Draw and mow them down as fast as you can), up to this point I've posted the two or three fastest runs.  I laugh now to think 3.3 seconds was a good run, but it is the intro level course( this class is what gave me the IPSC bug).

I'm up for next run.  I'm thinking, "Front sight, press, move, don't wait for the steel to fall."  I'm all psyched up for a personal best when Steve Slawson, our instructor shouts out, "Gather around guys, you've got to watch this guy shoot!"  No pressure or anything, right?  My mantra now changes to,"You're gonna screw up with all these people watching!"  Bottom line is I needed a reload (8+1) to finish the drill in around 9 seconds.

To top it off Slawson (the bastard, I wish he wasn't such a nice guy) comes up and throttles me in front of the class.  I think he was trying to convey the fact that I had choked, in his subtle instructor way.

Anyway, this is what convinces me that I need to start shooting a few matches to see what I'm capable of when the pressures on.

And if you ever see STEVE SLAWSON from Colorado tank a stage, do me a favor and choke him:).

[jhgtyre]

Shooter Grrl,

That is some funny story!  Thanks for sharing it.  I can only imagine how mortified you must have been.  But then again, after some of the crap I have pulled I think I KNOW how you felt!

-jhgtyre

[benos]

Holy crap shooter girl! That's funny stuff. It must have been because it was so dark.

What's so funny is that your story totally captures the essence of why we shoot like crap (when we do).

And you know, I think I actually remember that. What year was it?

[Shooter Grrl]

Brian - repeat after me

"I DO NOT REMEMBER THIS INCIDENT"

I think it was '90 - but hell, i can barely remember yesterday!!!!

[Patrick Sweeney]

Gunsite 250 class, Tuesday morning.  The instructor tells us to "Unload and commence draw and dry fire drill" just as Jeff cruises up on his three wheeler.

I unload and holster, then just as I grab my gun I hear a loud "kaboom!" and dust swirls around me.  My first thought isn't "Did I shoot myself?" or "I hope I didn't hurt anyone." but "Oh God, in front of the Colonel!"  Well, it turns out it was the guy next to me.  Some dimbulb who had a Canadian carry permit (holy sj*t! in 1987!) and was so dangerous we assigned each other shifts to keep an eye on him.

What's really a scream is that one year later, I'm on the line at Gunsite in a 499, and we're practicing draw to kneeling head shots at 3 yards.  As the Colonel cruises up, I draw and kneel, and the gun goes off as I feel this incredible pain in my knee.  I whacked my knee against a rock, and the pain caused me to clutch and fire.  I hadn't shot myself, but the rock made my knee swell up so much I thought I was going to have to cut my jeans off at the end of the day.

Two lessons;

1)  Don't get distracted when handling guns

2)  The IDPA rule of no kneepads is dangerous.  If an SO wants to ding me for wearing them, he can politely listen to my Gunsite tale.

[gm iprod]

I also have stuffed kness and I have to be real careful when I go prone when I shoot Bianchi matches. The other thing is make sure you flash large alloy and plastic holster is not too far forward.

It hurts like nothing else and you can not aim straight.

[IPSC CHIK1]

2000 USPSA race gun nationals. my first. i find myself in the super squad. surrounded by all the women i have read about and who are my heroes.  big stage with movers, droppers, turners. i draw, blast down an activator popper, turn left to shoot a paper target throught a window, return to the doorway the popper was in, hit the lateral mover once and have my hi-cap mag drop out on the ground. the stage went SERIOUSLY downhill from there.

SharonAnne L2387

[Jack Suber]

How about this one - I go to the Summer Blast using a new Universal Shooting Academy holster.  I wanted a holster that would hold the pistol securely.  Well, it did.  I think it was stage 7 - you had to start with your hands on the handle of a hand truck.  I load and make ready, "get my mind together", and let the RO know I am ready.  Timer goes off and I try to draw.  The pistol did not come free and I pull so hard I almost spun myself around.  I try again - same result, I try one more time and damn near rip my pants off.  Turns out I locked the holster after I put the pistol back in.  I don't know why I just did it.  Needless to say, that stage didn't go to well.  After I unloaded and showed clear, I turned around and noticed the RO was in tears trying to control his laughter and the rest of my squad was practically rolling in the mud laughing.  I joined them once I saw the video tape.  I can say this - I haven't forgotten to unlock my holster since.  I also modified the locking knob on the holster to inlude a small lever that I can trip while I draw - if I forget to unlock the holter.  Later.

Jack

[Detlef]

Golden Gate 1996 (I think). Start the longest course (they're all long there anyway...), shoot a couple, go for the reload, NO MAG there!, go for next mag (did one come out?), NO MAG there, either! Look down to see what happened, entire (outer) gun belt gone! Back up about 6 y, retrieve belt with all mags, put it back on, continue... This seriously added time...

--Detlef

[Nightdriver]

Ok my first post here might as well be this one... saveral yars ago I was living inIowa and shooting a match and my Cmore sight goes blank. Did the first thing I could think of and that was to slap it on the side. Dot is on now, two more shots, no dot. rest of the stage goes like this. Bang bang, slap, bang bang, slap.

Got lots of attention during the aftermatch awards and BS sesion.

[Liota]

Ok my first post here might as well be this one... saveral yars ago I was living inIowa and shooting a match and my Cmore sight goes blank. Did the first thing I could think of and that was to slap it on the side. Dot is on now, two more shots, no dot. rest of the stage goes like this. Bang bang, slap, bang bang, slap.

Got lots of attention during the aftermatch awards and BS sesion.

Wow! Glad to hear someone else was having the same problem. Before I realized what was going on, it went something like this. Bang Bang "Where's my dot?" Bang "There it is!" Bang Bang "Where the heck is my dot?!!?" Bang "There it is!" Bang Bang "Where the @&%$! is my dot?"

Finally sent it back to C-More for repair.

Liota

[j1b]

Sabino Canyon match - in 94' Merle Edington and I are head to head, I've got him by a bit. I am positioned for a little redemtion after the Nationals.

We have a stage - three strings. Shoot the first string clean. Shoot the second string clean, draw on the final buzzer and notice dot is not there. I slap the gun, look - no dot - slap - look - slap - look to see if the dot is ON. It isn't. Calmly turn the scope on, and finish stage. Lose match to merle. Slap myself for being a dumbass.

Yes SG - I can relate.

JB

[Madmark]

My club has 2 "A"class open shooters who compete hard against each other. After they covered one stage in just over 12 seconds each, I shoot it in 22 seconds. Of course, one of the A shooters (the MD) is laughing at the speed of my transitions (that usually were above average for someone of my skill level ) He offers me the use of his short Benny Hill STI open gun, saying maybe losing some inches and weight, and a smaller scope might help. I miss once, blow my reload, but make that run in 16 seconds. Of course the MD is giving me a double ration of crap for not reloading before I entered the well house. (I was trying to not dump his mag in the loose sand! ) Strike it up to inexperience, he says, and "its the shooter, not the gun!"

Not my most embarrassing moment, but the next few were golden:

The MD asks to shoot the next stage with my gun. It was a short 18 round stage with a plate at the end. A 20 was the largest mag I had, and he declined to change mags after chambering the first round, because "your POS Para is too heavy already, and a real man doesn't need 21 rounds on a 18 round stage." And then something about we would switch guns, and "he would tank me anyway, because it's the shooter, not the gun." (I hear that from a lot of people until they shoot my gun!) So he draws from muscle memory, and the gun doesn't point where his would. He runs through the first set of targets like a "D" class shooter, then has a stovepipe. Realizing he is in trouble, he rapidly opens the slide, turns the gun on the side, and slaps the top end to dislodge the empty. Next set of targets he is racing through, trying to salvage the run, but he is printing c's, d's, and mikes...... Geting to the plate, he fires frantically, and everyone sees he's shooting low. He runs dry without hitting the plate, and hands me back my gun in disgust. Everyone is busy congradulating him on a super run (hehe) while I face downrange and turn off my dot......... but I realize, there is no dot! Quietly I bag my gun without saying a word, as the MD makes his excuses! My turn to shoot, I shot an ultra clean stage, absolutely annihalating the MD, on what would become the last stage I shot with his gun, EVER!

Come to find out, oxidation in the battery compartment of my Aimpoint 5000 was causing an intermittent dot, and when he slapped the stovepipe free, it killed the dot completely. I didn't suffer as much harrasment from the MD after that day

Welcome to the forums, Nightdriver!

[TDean]

Sabino Canyon match - in 94'

Jack, was this at the Tucson Rod & Gun Club?

I had no idea there had ever been IPSC matches there!

That was the first place I ever shot a gun back in '77 (7 years old)

[j1b]

Yep

Sabino finally started an IPSC club. They shot there for a while before residents shut the whole damn place down. Just found out that the gentleman who got IPSC started there passed away from cancer - so the whole deal is pretty bad.

Great folks though!

JB

[bgary]

Last year's Crazy Croc match... on the "jungle run" stage.

having a good run, bang-bang, bang-bang, bang-CLICK!

Click?

This is a gun that *never* malfs, so I had to think for a second about what to do. Go into the tap-rack-bang maneuver.

Did the tap. Did the rack. Slide flies off the front of the gun and lands in the dirt.

Hmmm. Not sure what to do. Look at the RO. He looks at me. I say... "hey, the part with the serial number is still in my hand, so it doesn't count as a "dropped gun", does it? He starts laughing.

"Unload and show clear" was an interesting process to work through. And, yes, there was a round

Turns out that halfway through the stage, the slide stop decided to jump out the side of my gun and run away to hide in the bushes.

Bruce

[Jamie McG]

I remeber my first 3-gun, it was a shootgun stage and I had to borrow a friends Benelli, I had a butt stock band on my arm for extra rounds and a few in my single stack mag pouches just in case, buzzer goes off and I'm on my way, first reload I grab my exceutive 2 flashlight that is also on my belt and try to load it in the gun, after a second relizing its not a shell I throw it down(really hard) and get a shell that will actually do me some good. LIfes little lessons I no longer keep my light on my belt.

Jamie

[reneet]

How about using the holding onto the slide at rear serrations with weak hand while making a "run" at the grip with the strong hand to clear a stuck round thereby launching the gun down range on concrete floor?

True story. Happened to me with my Taurus PT-99 at local indoor range. I had been shooting less than 6 months. Had no clue what to do from that point. The RO went down range, recovered my pistol, cleared the jam, handed the gun back to me. I stood there wondering what I should do next. I asked the RO what I should do. He said to finish the COF. This was OBVIOUSLY not an official USPSA match.

I won my class and won enough cash to take a couple of my shooting buddies out to lunch that day.

[rhino]

I wish most of my embarassments had happened in my first match or two, but I continue to make them.

A tried to load a 12ga shell into the magwell of my AR during a 3-gun match a few years ago. I was wearing a belt of shells across my belly above my regular belt where my AR mags were. On my first reload, I grabbed the first thing my hand hit . . .

It's funny how long you will stare at something, unable to figure out why it won't work.

Then the big "Duh!" finally hits.

[MattBurkett]

All right so I had a classic this year at the MGM IronMan. This is an incredible match if you have an opportunity to go to it, GO.

A few unique parts of the competition:

You will use a minimum of three guns on all stages sometimes up to five.

Coaching, loading assistance, loaning of guns etc... is fully allowed.

THANK GOD!

So on stage 3 the longest stage of the match I am rocking! Whack all 10 with the sniper rifle! WOO happy about that! Transition to the AR and fly threw the different parts with that including the two story tower climb. At which point, I unload the rifle, sling it and start climbing down. This is when I realize I don't have a handgun. "Can someone grab my pistol!!!! Its over on the table there in the black bag! TURN THE DOT ON!!!"

Yes this is on film. No I don't want it to ever happen again.