The Fish

[mike cyrwus]

Okay! Okay! Congratulations, Derrick! Jezzus!!

never mind him; he's got a bad case of bassham-itis.

Good luck in the desert; Champ!

[Catfish]

thanks Mike and Brian...

150 rounds tune up practice tonight. Triple 6's, a couple of movement drills, one with ports one without and finished on Popplewell's drill. All in all, even though I still feel cruddy, I'm ready for New Mexico. Coupla good night's rest and I'll be ready to rock.

Bad news is I think I got my wife sick, in which case I'm a dead man.

I am the 2008 High Desert Classic Single Stack Champion.

[Catfish]

All things considered, I had a pretty good match. Finished 1st loser twice! 2nd ovl and 2nd A. I gave it all I had and that just wasn't enough. A week's worth of being sick didn't help, but I've got to find a way to overcome that kind of adversity because stress from work and the chance of allergies or being sick is going to be there regardless.

I think what was most important was that there wasn't anything at this match that hit me like "I can't do that!" That's not to say the stages weren't hard or challenging, because they were. The difference was I can tell my practice is paying off and I had the confidence that I could make the shots - even the tight ones - that were presented because I practice harder than that.

I really, really enjoyed myself, and that's what it's all about!!!

Next up is the Pro-Am, and I've got to find a way to get some steel work in!!

[Catfish]

Well, I planned to take a little break this week, but this is ridiculous!!

Went to shoot at Greenville today and assume MD responsibilities. We get out there, set up, and the heavens open up like you wouldn't believe as we were putting the final touches on the stages.

It really sucked, a lot of guys showed up to lend a hand and help and none of us got to shoot a single round.

Oh well. Guess there's always IDPA tomorrow....

[Catfish]

Shot IDPA Sunday at a small match on father's day - a fairly lackluster day for me, shot a LOT of good points, but was testing mags to see which ones were going to lock the slide back and which ones were not - and even though I fully intended to use the day as a test of sorts, I still got a little bit flustered due to some of the mags not working right....

Match turned out OK in the end, and it really emphasized how important shooting points is, especially in IDPA!!

Started CF again yesterday with the WOD. I've been more or less sick with a stupid summer cold since before the New Mexico match and this was the first week I've felt good enough to go to the gym. Pain is good.

Practice tonight at QC and shot the Ronin Drill - I can't believe it's been nearly forever since I last shot that drill - but I really enjoyed myself quite a bit. out of a possible 625 points, I scored 556 or 88.96%. Shot a LOT of good points again, but felt unecessarily rushed - the times seemed MUCH easier for me to hit than I remembered from the last time I shot this over a year ago. On those rushed shots I threw some goofy C's and some unfocused D's. I'm going to hit this drill more often as I think it's a very good judge of where you are in your shooting....

Looks like there will be plenty of shooting activity this weekend - double tap on Saturday, steel on Sunday morning and then IDPA Sunday night....

Getting some positive vibes about the ProAm, now I need to sit and evaluate what my goals for that match are going to be. I of course want to do well - but as this is a completely new venture for me I've no idea where I should realisitically set my goals. All in all, I want to go and have fun with my friends, and have a great day at the range at USSA. For now, the rest is just icing.

[Catfish]

Busy weekend of shooting - Wichita Falls Saturday, DPC steel Sunday morning and then DAPS IDPA Sunday night.

I went at least 2 for 3, won SS at WF and beat one of the local hotshots for the first time after getting tagged by him at the DTC and then last month at WF by a handful of percentage points I finally took a match from him this go 'round. Shot a solid USPSA match and then solid IDPA match (1st CDP and 1st ovl) with the exception of both matches having a hiccup with the gun on one stage each match - I had a round (lead on Saturday and fmj Sunday) that get stuck in the feed ramp kinda cockeyed; halfway in/halfway out not wanting to feed all the way in. Saturday the gun was filthy, my mags were coated with WF famous red dirt and I didn't case gauge my ammo. Sunday the gun was clean, different mags and still didn't case gauge my ammo, so perhaps I should start doing that more consistently, eh??

Steel match should be interesting on the scores as well, was shooting against another local hotshot and we seesawed back and forth winning stages... I think it will come down to a tortoise and hare scenario. I shot well and consistently across the board, while the other fella would have a stellar stage and then a not so good stage. So it'll be neat to see how it turns out once scores are posted.

Steel used to just flat out kick my ass - I can tell all my work shooting steel matches has changed my attitude and now I enjoy shooting steel - shot another Texas Star at WF and cleaned it in 5 rounds - 2nd time in a row I've done that now and I'm pleased!

Looking forward to practice on Wednesday and likely taking the weekend off from shooting for a little summer break.

[Catfish]

Well, crud - scores came out for the steel match today and it ruined my hat trick for the weekend...

I won two stages, lost a 3rd by a whisker and got fairly well beaten up on the last two.

Ah, well, such is life!! I'm pleased though, that it was simply a case of being beaten by the better shooter that day than it was a case of me doing something stupid or shooting poorly. And if you've gotta get beat, that's the way I want it to happen.

[Catfish]

150 rounds practice today, 3 Leatham drills - struggled a little bit on the first one, which called for SH/WH shooting at about 15 yards or so. Would nail the 11 yard partial, but threw a mike on each run on the back targets either SH/WH.

Shot the other two drills well, I find that I'm breaking things down differently now, looking at the targets and their order differently... which is a positive I believe.

I'll definately be hitting the SH/WH drill again - I think I'm a little bit behind the curve with both and need some more work for sure.

[Catfish]

Lackluster local match today with my backup 1911 while the main gun gets a trigger job.

Gun, of course, felt different in my hand and that, coupled with a high, crushed primer that hung up and took forever to get cleared and I had a so/so day.

Taking a little bit of a summer break here in the middle of the season - first half of the season's big matches have come and gone and I've got 4 matches I'm really going to focus on coming up, starting in August:

Texas Limited

L10 Nats

North Texas Sectional

A4

So I'm due a little break after going at it hard all year; but that break is soon to come to an end and work is getting ready to start anew.

[carinab]

150 rounds practice today, 3 Leatham drills - struggled a little bit on the first one, which called for SH/WH shooting at about 15 yards or so. Would nail the 11 yard partial, but threw a mike on each run on the back targets either SH/WH.

Shot the other two drills well, I find that I'm breaking things down differently now, looking at the targets and their order differently... which is a positive I believe.

I'll definately be hitting the SH/WH drill again - I think I'm a little bit behind the curve with both and need some more work for sure.

SH/WH and accuracy at distance used to be the way to gain match points over the competition...not so much any more as you don't see it at many majors. However since it is scarce, if you can do it and it's called for in a match, you will gain ALOT of points. Hardly anyone practices it.

[Catfish]

So so Ronin's Drill today - was a little bit off today and not on all cylinders. Found out a third of the way through the drill, after the 35 yard shots that my sights were off and I was shooting a bit high. Adjusted the sights and still felt a little bit sluggish for the rest of the drill; just not quite right. Could tell I'd not fondled this pistol in over a week, while it was gitting a trigger job - which is really really nice.

Fixed everything after the Ronin Drill with a few of Leatham's all you can get drill, which got me settled in on the front sight, finally, and got me feeling more like I was one with the gun.

Used 10 round mags for the first time in the gun, getting ready for the Pro Am, and then a bit down the road, Nationals. Felt a little wierd, especially on the reloads, but nothing I can't get over with a little bit of work.

[Catfish]

Vacation's over.

Time to get back to work.

[Catfish]

Even though I only took a week off from holding the gun, damn my hands hurt today.

Shot a little IDPA match this morning, and other than being a little rusty and a little behind the curve on shooting while getting into position, I'm pleased with the effort today.

Hit several "Can you Count" drills and some triple 6's after the match helping to get on the sights; would have shot some more, but my hands were getting pretty toasted. I cut my weak hand index finger pretty bad on vacation, right where my finger tucks in under the trigger gaurd and I figured it was time to stop before it started bleeding again.

Looking forward to Tulsa next weekend, it's gonna be fun!!

[Catfish]

Nice little basic practice today - draw drill, all you can get, triple 6s and Poppelwell's drill.

Felt pretty good, did a lot of teaching today but was still able to put some decent runs together, popped a more or less cold sub 2 second bill drill on the close triple 6 at 1.97, clean. First time I've ever got under 2 seconds on that drill, and to do it coldish (I had shot one at about 2.16, then did the 2nd and 3rd stage of the triple 6 and was going to call it and move on and let the guys get to the next drill. I mentioned to one of them that I've been trying to break 2 seconds, and they're like, hell, go ahead and do it again, no sense in you not getting some good work in too. So I just walked up and busted out the 1.97, which felt slow....)

Anyway, nice little practice, about 135-150 rounds and a good prep for the ProAm this weekend.

[HoMiE]

What's Poppelwell's Drill?

[Catfish]

Adam showed us or told us (don't remember which!) this:

two in your face paper targets, separated by about a yard.

A piece of steel (the smaller the harder, of course) in between the two paper targets, but about 18-20 yards downrange.

What I do is require two on each paper, one on the steel, reload and repeat. Find which way of the several ways to shoot this drill is faster.

It's an excellent drill for switching sight focus from practically no focus on the front sight at the close targets to a HARD focus on the steel, and then back and forth over the course of the drill.

[HoMiE]

Gotcha, thanks.

[Catfish]

Anytime - it's a quick drill that I usually finish on as it's easy to set up/tear down. I will use a small pepper popper downrange set not to fall, or a piece of non falling steel so I don't have to walk downrange in between strings.

[Catfish]

Those pesky little things called lessons....

Crikey.

I completely miscalculated before the Pro Am how much ammo I would need. I figured I'd be in good shape if I just brought 150-175 rounds..... The Friday before the match I started some mental match and realized I was really hosed.

Figured I'd go ahead and shoot my Limited gun, which I haven't shot in nearly a year, but I had plenty of ammo. Working the slide, the hammer followed. And then I remembered why I hadhn't shot it in awhile (mental note to self, fix that).

My buddies Sgt Svi and theGirl told me to just use Dave's 9mm 1911 and Rhonda's 9mm ammo that she loaded for the match as she had plenty, so that's what we did.

Needless to say, shooting a gun that I was not familiar with, with ammo that I wasn't familiar with was not really conducive to my best match performance.

No one to blame but my own damn self for being a math retard.

I still had a fantastic time at the match and looking at the video - when the gun and ammo combo was running, I did a LOT of things really well that a year ago would not have been possible.

[Catfish]

Nice little local match today. Gun and gear worked just fine. Felt pretty good today shooting wise, and it's time to start gearing it up for TX Limited and L10 Nats.

Can't wait!!

[Mick]

When I practice at DPC I usually set up some arrays that have overlapping targets (ala JCSS) with steel plates in somewhere to break up the hoser mentality. I seems to make me watch the front sight more......come join me.

[Catfish]

Thanks Mick - just say the word!

I like shooting the partials a LOT! Since I've ramped up the difficulty level in my practice sessions I've noticed how much more confidence I have on difficult targets at the matches...

What's the old saying - the more you sweat in practice the less you suffer in a match???

[Catfish]

Seems like forever since I've picked up a gun at a match and this weekend got to shoot yesterday and then again today.

USPSA in Waco yesterday - 3 very solid stages, and finished 2nd ovl on one stage that had me reloading 3 times vs the fat guns either not reloading at all or once for the Limited guys - felt pretty good about that one!!

Muddled my way through one stage thanks to not putting enough mental effort into prep work before hand, frankly just got kinda lazy.

Tanked the hell out of the classifier, went hero or zero, and well, zeroed it pretty much. At least it won't hurt my classification.

Ended up like 6th ovl, the first gun that was something other than a fat gun.

IDPA today, and shot a great USPSA match. A bit too aggressive and had borderline control for IDPA land. Way too many points down to be competitive in IDPA and came in 2nd CDP and 2nd ovl for the match.

Busted my arse on the 2nd stage of the day, blazing too hard into the final position; planted my left foot and my body just kept on going to the left. Fired the last shot on the last target as my right foot came up off the ground and then hit the ground pretty good on my left side. Kept the gun perfectly flat and into the berm with my finger out of the trigger the whole time, so it wasn't as ugly as it could have been, just a tad embarrasing, and on top of that, didn't even earn any style points.

Hopefully I can find some bullets so I can get plenty of practice this week - if it works out, I'd like to get in at least 3 practice sessions before I head out to the TX Limited on Friday afternoon....

[revchuck]

Fired the last shot on the last target as my right foot came up off the ground and then hit the ground pretty good on my left side. Kept the gun perfectly flat and into the berm with my finger out of the trigger the whole time, so it wasn't as ugly as it could have been, just a tad embarrasing, and on top of that, didn't even earn any style points.

I once came into position behind low cover, moving from left to right, and almost kept my balance. I slowly toppled over, kinda like the old guy on the tricycle on Laugh-In. Kept my finger out of the trigger guard, muzzle toward the berm, struggled back up and got behind cover and finished shooting the CoF. No style points either, but lots of laughs.

[Catfish]

At least no one got it on film.