Catfish Posted April 16, 2008 Author Share Posted April 16, 2008 Practice today, about 300 rounds or so. Worked on "someone's" new drill - I'll be damned if I remember where on the forum I read it - of 5 rounds into a 3x5 index card, starting at 5ish yards and backing up till you couldn't get 5 on the card. Got back to about 35-40 yards and ran out of room, but was getting close to my limit anyway. Draw drills - at 10 yards got to consistent 1.08's, A zone hits from SS gear. I'll take it. Finished up with a flurry of extended bill drills, working the front sight and getting the timing of the gun. Had one mag left and shot headshots at 15 and all was good in the world till my hammer followed on one round. ' Gads, I fix one problem with the trigger - which turned out to be a metal flake - either a jacket, piece of lead or moly or maybe even brass that got wedged between the trigger and the frame - and now the hammer's starting to follow. Unlike last year, where I would have ignored it and hoped it didn't happen again, I took it for a sign that things are getting worn out, spring wise, and changed out my trigger group to a spare, pre-fit set I had for just such an occasion. Guess we'll find out in practice tomorrow and again on Thursday and then next week before SS Nats if I was holding my mouth right when I swapped out parts. I can't wait for nationals, not just the opportunity to compete, but for the opportunity I have to learn from some of the greatest shooters in our sport. The video camera will be in operation and I really plan to go in there, shoot my game, and then break it all down on film after the match and let the chips fall where they may. Doesn't really get any better than that!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike cyrwus Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 (edited) Hey buddy; Ill tape you if you tape me.. Edited April 16, 2008 by mike cyrwus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfish Posted April 16, 2008 Author Share Posted April 16, 2008 I'm sure we can work somethin' out, Mike! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfish Posted April 21, 2008 Author Share Posted April 21, 2008 After several days of some serious stress, looks like I've got at least half my gun problems fixed. Middle of this week, not just my main gun, but backup gun went down. Trigger's died on both of 'em. Forum member BrianH stepped in and got #1 gun up and running, and after shooting it at the steel match today it ran 100%, so I'm back in the game. Loading ammo, winding down exercise and starting to pack for the big show. It's time to kick ass and chew bubblegum, and I'm fresh outta gum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfish Posted April 22, 2008 Author Share Posted April 22, 2008 OK, things seem to be lining up; the stars aligning or something like that... Gun #1 working fine. Check. Reloading press working fine. Check. Last hard workout before nats. Check. Loaded up 400 rounds of practice ammo to get downrange the day before nationals. Check. Let's get it on! :popcorn1: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan W Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 Just aim and repeat Good luck and have a blast! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfish Posted April 22, 2008 Author Share Posted April 22, 2008 Thanks Chief! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfish Posted April 26, 2008 Author Share Posted April 26, 2008 well, that was a pretty serious ass whipping! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfish Posted April 29, 2008 Author Share Posted April 29, 2008 Moving on I've had a few days to consider my dismal performance at SS Nats. Among other things, I went into the match with zip, zero, nada expectations or goals. And I shot like it. This was a quicksand match for me, and I felt like I was carrying around 30 pounds of mud on my boots the whole match. Fortunately, it's an easy fix. While I've toyed with shooting without expectations, I don't think it's working for me. So, back to the Lanny mind-set. Each match I attend will have goals! Each practice session I shoot will have goals! Duh. I never really should have stopped setting those, but the experiment, as negative as it was, can be learned from. In addition, while I have been practicing more than I ever have, my practice has been too easy, on wide open targets. DP's partials are going to get thrown in the mix, as are longer range and harder shots. Lesson learned. Went to the range today after the WOD and started to break in the new 1911. Had a couple failures to feed at first until the gun got lubed up and then it ran flawless for the rest of the session of about 200 rounds. Goal today was to just get aquainted with the new pistol, and I worked on group shooting from 25-40 yards. Finished up with some triple 6's, best run with just one C hit. Pleased with the new pistol and happy to start moving forward to the next challenge, the Texas Open.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfish Posted May 1, 2008 Author Share Posted May 1, 2008 Nice little practice session yesterday after work. 200 rounds, worked on target transitions, triple 6s and some draws and reloads on steel. Felt good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfish Posted May 4, 2008 Author Share Posted May 4, 2008 Sloppy match at Johnson county today. First match with new 1911. Threw LOTS of D's today; I am attributing that to the fairly heavy-ish recoil spring from the factory pushing the gun down on the 2nd shot - swapped out to a lighter spring which I expect should fix the problem. Wasn't feeling the groove till the 3rd stage, which felt pretty good. 4 shooting positions spread out over the bay with lots of movement between. Reloads were a little slowish, but once I got the mag in the gun, movement was good and cadence was pretty good. All good hits save one D shot on the way out of position to a reload. A touch more visual patience and it would have been just fine. Another practice tomorrow, and then on Wednesday, then on to the TX Open, which I shall dominate. (Thanks Chief for the new description! ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfish Posted May 5, 2008 Author Share Posted May 5, 2008 Good practice today at the range. 200 rounds. Draws, reloads, Triple 6's and movement thrown in. You know, the basics. Shot the 2nd portion of the practice on the partials and I really liked the challenge they presented and the focus they required. Good stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfish Posted May 7, 2008 Author Share Posted May 7, 2008 Low key practice today, mostly on steel. Really really working my draw speed. At 10-12 yards on a 10" plate I was fastest at about 1.12, pushed a bunch of draws in the low 1s and sub 1s but nothing was connecting at that speed. My draw has been sitting at about 1.2-1.3 in a comfort zone at that distance and that's not gonna cut it so I was deliberately cranking up the speed. Looks like I cut about .05-.08 off the draw as I hit some 1.15s that felt God awful slow. Hit some bill drills on steel, and then worked transitions on steel - big plates to small plates and vice versa. Another 200 rounds downrange, getting me closer to the goal of SS domination. Broke down and bought a file today, and a new polishing nub for my dremel. Took the rough edges off the mag well and I suspect my reloads will improve dramatically. Why in the world STI would leave ridges like that in the mag well is absolutely beyond me. But they're gone now! Oh yes - figured out why I was throwing so many D's at this weekend's match - rear sight was way way way low. A coupla screws on the rear sight and all's good now. Between that and changing out to a lighter recoil spring, the gun tracks more like I want and isn't pushing down so hard on the return of the slide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfish Posted May 8, 2008 Author Share Posted May 8, 2008 Nice little practice session tonight. 150 rounds. Draw drill, All you can get, and some box to box work. Finished with Sam Wadcutter's drill. Still have some work to do on the mag well, the back end of it is still catching the mags. But, I have dremel, hear me roar! Good tune up for the TX Open, now I've got to clean the gun, finish up the mag well, and make some match ammo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfish Posted May 12, 2008 Author Share Posted May 12, 2008 TX Open report.... I really enjoyed this match. In fact, my attitude was a total 180 from what it was at the SS Nats. My mental state was really good; largely in part thanks to Bryan W's help. Rather than a quest for perfection, I had the attitude that mistakes are OK. And man did I have a lot! However, instead of letting the mikes and no shoots bog down my match, I just kept at it. I pushed at this match, and as a result, the first several stages I was off by *that* much. The mikes I threw were all on the last target of an array, or in case of one on the last target before a US popper hiding behind a donut. in other words, getting in a hurry and not being patient on the sight. I was feeling a little bit tired and drank a bottle of 5 hour energy, which I like. It's a good pick me up without feeling buzzed. That is, for the 1st bottle. I took one bottle before the match started, and then after lunch was feeling a bit slowish so drank another 1/2 bottle. Well, that was no the smartest thing I've ever done in the world. Got to the last stage of the day, stage 1, which had 8 classic targets in 3 arrays. The two far set of arrays were totally covered up with no shoots. At the make ready command, I took a sight picture and felt like Gene Wilder in Blazing Saddles. "But I shoot with this hand!" The front sight was bouncing all over everything and I knew it was gonna be bad. And it was. I think I got as close to zeroing a stage as possible without actually zeroing a stage. Well, needless to say, I won't be jacking myself up like that in the future. Got up Sunday morning and knew I had to put 3 solid stages together. Shot the first stage, Melody Line pretty conservatively. I've ripped through that one in the past and tossed a bunch of mikes. I also knew that I was now hunting for as many points as I could - and put a decent, conservative points grab together. Next stage had a TX star on it, which in the past has been a big PIA for me. Pulled the first two shots on the top piece of steel and flashed back to my pre game talk of "don't get in a hurry on the star and start throwing rounds downrange. And then proceded to clean the star and the remaining plate on the ground shot for shot without having to go to slide lock. And as has been the tendency in the past, after the hard part of a stage I relax - but on this stage I kept my focus to the end and shot a decent stage with all my hits and no penalties. Last stage went well also, on the clamshell target, I knew I was gonna have to go for head shots as I needed a reload after the steel to avoid a flat footed reload. Again, cleaned the stage with no penalties. So, the match started pretty rough, but I fought through it and overcame some obstacles that have plauged me in the past. I think it's a good tune up for the High Desert Classic in a month! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfish Posted May 19, 2008 Author Share Posted May 19, 2008 IDPA today. First time I've really touched a gun all week. I plan to take little breaks during the season and this week, after Texas Open, was one of them. And it showed today. Little rusty! Focus wasn't really all there either - spent a lot of time running the timer or working with some of the newer shooters - new to IDPA that is; and explaining to them the difference between the two games. Shot the 9mm 1911 and it started acting up again, thought we'd fixed all that - anyone know what causes stovepipes - with a live round and the bullet end sticking straight up? Between that, and not extracting a spent case all the way so that the empty case gets lodged between the breechface and the barrel. I suspect it's largely magazine issues, that there's something going on with the mags I'm using but I'm not entirely sure either. If the gun keeps acting up then I'll likely wind up shooting the STI Lawman at the ProAm with 10 round mags and not mess with a finicky gun.... Hung around and practiced after the match, ran through the IDPA classifier as a drill and then did some draw drills, triple 6's and some vice prez's - all on partial classic targets. Didn't really bring enough food to the range for an all day session and wound up calling it as my energy levels started to fade about 5:30.... I am the 2008 High Desert Classic Single Stack Champion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfish Posted May 22, 2008 Author Share Posted May 22, 2008 Really good practice session today. Out of 4 drills run several times each, I had one bad string where I forgot how to pull the trigger and tanked a round into a NS. Other than that, I only threw one D and a handful of C's out of about 150-175 rounds. Great confidence builder, especially on the longer range and covered up targets. I am the 2008 High Desert Classic Single Stack Champion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfish Posted May 25, 2008 Author Share Posted May 25, 2008 Another confidence building match today. Things that used to just kill me are now becoming a place for me to put time on my opponents; like small steel or shooting on the move getting in/out of position. Was seeing the sights well and calling my shots. First really really hot/humid day of the year, and damn it was hot!! I am the 2008 High Desert Classic Single Stack Champion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfish Posted May 25, 2008 Author Share Posted May 25, 2008 (edited) Stage in the cave today!! Edited May 25, 2008 by Catfish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Capizzo Posted May 25, 2008 Share Posted May 25, 2008 "The URL contained a malformed video ID." Whats this mean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfish Posted May 25, 2008 Author Share Posted May 25, 2008 Guess I typed something wrong! Fixed now, thanks Al! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfish Posted May 26, 2008 Author Share Posted May 26, 2008 Steel match at DPC yesterday morning with the .22 Open gun. Ran out of .45 bullets. Had a pretty decent match, and LOTS of fun. IDPA last night with the 9mm 1911 - short of one mag that no worky on the first stage, gun ran fine. Set up the match with as long and tight/covered up shots as possible and I can really see where practice has been paying off. Going to be a busy week so I'm really going to have to ratchet down my practice time and stick to it so I'm ready for the NM match in two weekends. On a side note, sitting at 8 on the waiting list for L10 nats looks like I'm pretty much a shoe in to get a slot so I'll start shooting some L10 at some point, probably after TX Limited.... I am the 2008 High Desert Classic Single Stack Champion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfish Posted May 29, 2008 Author Share Posted May 29, 2008 Good practice today. Draw drill, All you can get, the "Popell" drill, and a port drill. Proably 150-175 rounds total, and very productive. Another confidence inspiring session, I feel that in the last couple months I have really made some leaps in what I'm seeing. I am the 2008 High Desert Classic Single Stack Champion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfish Posted June 4, 2008 Author Share Posted June 4, 2008 Had another good practice on Sunday at DPC. 200 rounds. Worked on draws, transitions, bill drills, and the same Leatham transition drill from last Wednesday. Targets either partials or steel. Everything flowed pretty well except I've come down with a ()()&*(#$)&(#$)&*(@#$_()*@$#%_)(#$ COLD. I feel like sheeee-it. Hopefully this piece of ____ cold will be done with me by this weekend's festivities. Cold or not, I am the 2008 High Desert Classic Single Stack Champion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianH Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Okay! Okay! Congratulations, Derrick! Jezzus!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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