Brazos SC Shooter Posted March 26, 2007 Author Share Posted March 26, 2007 (edited) 3/26/07 1 hr 30 min of dry fire this morning. I was really struggling on my reloads today. I don't think I hit 10% of them clean. This was a little frustrating. I noticed, just like in matches, my frustration leads to distraction and of course that compounds into the next drill and the next drill. I am quick to get down on myself and it isn't helpful. At least I am aware of it, but it is going to take lots of practice to move past this. Edited March 26, 2007 by Texas HK shooter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brazos SC Shooter Posted March 26, 2007 Author Share Posted March 26, 2007 I decided to bring my 1911 and IDPA rig with me to NY. My goal is to make Master in CDP this season and I really need to get some practice in with that pistol. My wife likes to keep the HK for protection while I'm away. My first IDPA match is in two weeks. I struggled a little last year making the transition from one game to another. I hope this year will be a little easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brazos SC Shooter Posted March 27, 2007 Author Share Posted March 27, 2007 3/26/07 30 minutes of dry firing with my 1911 and my IDPA rig. This took a little but of time to make the switch to the differnce in equipment location. The gun is much higher and closer but I was able to index my draw relatively quickly and get some some work on the first few drills from "the book". I will resume in the morning and begin logging my par times for this set up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brazos SC Shooter Posted March 27, 2007 Author Share Posted March 27, 2007 (edited) 3/27/07 1 hour dry fire - Established par times with my CDP rig for the first 8 drills. I have not, however, been doing any of the drills from concealment. I will add that in eventually but right now I am just focusing on getting familiar with my new gear. Working with my 1911 really has me "jonesing" for my new gun. The count down is on and there are only about 20 days left. I had hoped to have it in time for the April Circleville match but that isn't happening. If I am lucky it will be in just in time for the Miami RPC special classifier match the 3rd week of April. I don't know what it is about NY but I can't sleep in this city. It is to freakin' noisy. Since I have jumped in head first to getting my "M" card, I have been totally pumped to get up and dry fire in the morning, even if it is at 5:30. This was not the case today. I slept horribly but knew I would feel worse if I didn't get up and practice. I will be able to do some additional practicing tonight. The one good thing about traveling for work is that there are no family obligations in the evening, so I can get in some additional dry fire time. I picked up a copy of Point of Impact on the way to the airport. I have heard such good things about the book I thought I should read it before seeing the movie. I made it through 125 pages yesterday. I have to admit that this book is a big distraction from practice. I can say that the way this guy writes about shooting and the discipline "Bob the Nailer" has about his craft does provide some great info on the mind set needed to be a M/GM in this sport. Added 1 more hour of dry fire tonight. I am please that I am able to match all of my par times with this gun and rig. The test will be to keep pace with my concealment vest. I am going to shoot the IDPA classifier this weekend and hope to see improvement over last year. I will be shooting factory .45 ammo so I will see how it works out. If I am not happy with it I might have to break down and purchase the quick change kit for my 550 and start working up some loads. Edited March 28, 2007 by Texas HK shooter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brazos SC Shooter Posted March 28, 2007 Author Share Posted March 28, 2007 (edited) 3/28/07 1hr 10 min - dry fire session I ran through all of the single target drills in "The Book" this morning. Spent extra time on reloads. The hotel rooms in NYC are so damn small it is tough to do much more than stand in one place. I added table draws and reloads into today's routine. I am now able to bring my front sight into clear focus immediately. Transitions and visual patience are next on the agenda. I have to fly home this evening but I don't land in Columbus until 11pm, that is if my flight is on time. I am going to have to haul ass home in order to make before midnight so that I can get on the waiting list for nationals. I did not have any intention of trying to make this match as recently as two weeks ago. Now I am totally pumped and want to give it a shot. If it looks like there is no chance for me to get home in time I will likely stay at the airport with my laptop until I can get on the list. Edited March 28, 2007 by Texas HK shooter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 You'll get in...don't sweat it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brazos SC Shooter Posted March 28, 2007 Author Share Posted March 28, 2007 You'll get in...don't sweat it. I hope so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 That's way too much dry fire!!! Shoot 500 rounds every Friday and then shoot a match on both Saturday and Sunday. I wasn't kidding when I said shoot till your arm hurts. I'm wearing a "tennis-elbow" brace at work as I write this. I shot about 25,000 rounds a year LIVE FIRE until I got my GM card. Now I only shoot 18-20M to save wear and tear on my old body (that doesn't count my city issued gun and long guns). Dry fire is good to a point after that you need the recoil control and trigger reset from live fire. I just rebuilt the lockwork on my latest SV. I can get it to run .11 splits but not in dry fire... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 Let me contrast slightly w/ Mick... I made it to A class almost solely on dry fire, a two stage indoor weekly match, and a very occasional monthly outdoor match. Dry fire and live fire both have their purposes - you can't learn recoil management or gun timing doing dry fire, and you have to be extremely self honest to be certain that you're shooting the points you think you are... Things change under live fire, as well - your mind sees it differently. But, while live firing, it can be hard to refine skills clearly, because you're also dealing with recoil and noise (and concussion). Once I hit A, though, I stalled until I was able to turn up the live fire and get some training. I made M shortly thereafter... Now, I find a balance of both - because of my locality to my practice range, I can't easily make it out there during the week, right now. So, dry fire somewhat fills the gap. Plus, I use it to further refine the basics, etc. Doing it with a timer and pars helps add some pressure. Dry fire with no live fire is not reality, and can lead to inattention to the sights, and a warped sense of how long it takes for you to actually do certain skills. Live fire with no dry fire tends to lead to sloppy skills... for me, anyway... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 I'm not sure that was much contrast... Instead of dry fire I'll do some accuracy slow fire at 15-25 yards to stop whacking the trigger. JoJo Vidanes gave me the a secret for making my left eye work (I'm right eye dominant) while firing fast. I covered the muzzle end of the C-More lense with tape so I couldn't see through it and then shot stages and plates. Both eyes superimpose so the dot is still used to aim. What a difference that made. I was 45 years old and went from 93% to 98% in LTD with both eyes working. Now I need glasses to write my name and I still practice this even though my left eye is much weaker than my right eye now. HMMM must be all that excercise the right eye gets looking through the iron sights... I know Adam once said he did allot of dry fire. I found shooting a plate match twice a month helps me concentrate on the sights. Dry fire just isn't any fun anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 Dry fire just isn't any fun anymore. I didn't say it was fun... Just that I see it as maybe a little more useful than you do - and possibly more useful than livefire for shooters at A-B class and below, at least in as much as its easier to clean up technique in dry fire... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 I still do it some especially to transition back and forth from the Glock 5# trigger. The 2# SV doesn't need much but that Glock sure does. My own AR has a similar trigger being a JP 2, 1/4 trigger but my patrol rifle is like the Glock so I dry fire it too. There's a place for it. My Academy classes fire about 4-5,000 rounds in 9 days. The academys that don't shoot that much often get less results when we critique the students who go to the different Depts. We let them dry fire on their own as it's a waste of time on the range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brazos SC Shooter Posted March 31, 2007 Author Share Posted March 31, 2007 (edited) 3/29-3/30 Unfortunately, I have not been able to do any dry fire exercises because of the very expensive life lesson I have just been through beginning at 8pm on Wed. night until 3:30pm this afternoon. Please read and learn from my mistake. I thought this would never happen to me and that I had done a sufficient amount of homework. Per my previous posts you all know that I took my 1911 with me to NYC on Monday. I knew going out there that there was no reciprocity between Ohio and New York and so my conceal carry permit was not recognized. For this reason I did not take any ammo. (This will prove to be the best move I could have made). Everything was fine on the way out, gun was locked with a safety lock and the gun case it self was locked and lastly the suit case. I have flown with firearms many times and so I checked in, declared my weapon and my out going flight was perfect. Skip ahead to Wed. night at LaGuardia airport at 7:30pm. Same routine, check in at the kiosk, checking one back, and head to the counter. As the ticket agent is putting on my baggage claim ticket I advise her I am declaring a weapon. Things go bad from here on out. She provides me the tag that goes into my luggage and then makes a phone call. I ask if she needs to see the gun to ensure it is unloaded and she say, "No, just leave it where it is." With in a few minutes 3 police officers show up and now I am nervous. I present them with my license and my conceal carry permit, to try and show that I am not a scum bag. After questions about, why do you have a gun, how long were you here etc.,ect; the officer has to call his Supervisor to see what they want to do. He thinks that maybe since I was only there two days they can consider me in transit even though the rule is 24 hours maximum in the state. I tell them I compete and that I brought it for practice, the fact that I have my holster, timer and dry fire book with me, I think is going to help me out. It is against the law to posses a firearm without a permit in the state of NY. Now I am questioning why didn't I bring the blue plastic HK; the answer was I needed to work on reloads. The Supervisor shows up and talks to me for awhile and then determines they need to take me in and are charging me with a Class A Misdemeanor - Crimal possession of a firearm. If I would have had bullets with the gun I would have been charged with a Felony. Thank God for small miracles. My chance to make it home in time to get on the Limited Nationals waiting list has just disappeared. I am taken to the Port Authority Station at the airport, where I am printed, pictured and questioned. Of course the prints, gun and background come back squeaky clean but there is no turning back now. The Detective messes up the information on my Affidavit and has to refax this document. (Foreshadowing) The first one that was drafted indicated I was at TSA Security screening with the gun in my suitcase rather than at the ticket counter. I tried to remain calm, but made sure they knew that was a mistake and that it needed to be corrected immediately. I was surprised at the number of times they had to ask and repeat the make of the gun (Kimber) and that they had never heard of it before. It showed me that even though these folks carry a gun everyday for their job, that they don't necessarily know jack about guns. Each office that saw it commented on how nice it was (it is a bare bones 1911) so I tried to talk guns or ask them about theirs to lighten the mood. Only one person could have cared less about guns. At 11:00pm Wed I am transferred to Queens central booking where the waiting begins. I am not processed until after 1am so there is no seeing a judge that night. By 12pm the next day I have yet to be called to see the public defender or the judge so I call my lawyer in Ohio who calls an attorney in NY to help me out. Things don't move any faster throughout the day and it turns out they have lost the affidavit and can't move me through until they have that. At 11pm they still do not have all of my paperwork and I have missed the cut off for the last round of night court sessions and now I am spending my second night in jail. As angry or frustrated as I got, I kept thinking, this falls squarely on me. The responsibility for knowing the laws when traveling with a gun are mine and mine alone. Even with as inept as their process was, if I would have done my job, I wouldn't have been there. I listened to story after story from other folks in my cell that were complaining about how they were "done wrong" or that them being in there "was not their fault". I didn't speak much but when asked, I completely owned up to my current circumstances being 100% my responsibility. By 9am this morning when court resumed they still did not have everything together. My wife, God bless her, worked her butt of to track down the arresting office and get him to resubmit his information. She road the attorney like Sea Biscuit to make sure he was pushing me through the system. She even tracked down the Assistant DA to confirm they had what they needed. At 3:30 I went before the judge and was released on my own recognizance. I will have to go back to NY in May for another court date and hopefully I can get this dismissed. When I went to pick up the rest of my belongings the Officer said it was highly unlikely that I would ever see that gun and those magazines ever again, even if the charges were dismissed. So in the end, not doing my home work has cost me 1 pistol, 3 magazines, lawyer fees, new airline tickets to get home, a future return trip to NY for court, likely missed opportunity to go to Nationals and potentially in the worst case scenario a Class A Mis. on my record. As humiliating as this is to tell I hope that someone learns from my mistake. Edited March 31, 2007 by Texas HK shooter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted March 31, 2007 Share Posted March 31, 2007 OUCH Drew! Sorry to hear about your mishap. Glad we live in the funky & behind-the-times, but very benign state of Ohio now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brazos SC Shooter Posted March 31, 2007 Author Share Posted March 31, 2007 OUCH Drew! Sorry to hear about your mishap. Glad we live in the funky & behind-the-times, but very benign state of Ohio now. I appreciate the comment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted March 31, 2007 Share Posted March 31, 2007 Hindsight is always 20/20 ..... so don't kick yourself while you're down, but live & learn. But do everything in your power to get that Kimber back. I'll be rootin' for ya. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brazos SC Shooter Posted March 31, 2007 Author Share Posted March 31, 2007 (edited) But do everything in your power to get that Kimber back. I'll be rootin' for ya. I am going to give'em hell about it. Without it I won't be able to meet one of my goals and I don't really have the extra cash to buy a new single stack with my new Limited blaster on order. I am headed to bed. I am looking forward to not sleeping on a cold dirty concrete floor tonight. Edited March 31, 2007 by Texas HK shooter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted March 31, 2007 Share Posted March 31, 2007 (edited) Ahhh ...... good old dirty Columbus, OH still beats NYC any day of the week! Edited March 31, 2007 by CHRIS KEEN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted March 31, 2007 Share Posted March 31, 2007 When you wrote that you were in NYC in an earlier post I wondered if that would be OK. I've been a COP for 27 years and I don't think I would go to NYC let alone with a gun. I kinda have a problem with the Officer having to call his supervisor to find out what to do. Having spent 20 years on Patrol in Arlington, I make my own decisions. If I need some book boy to tell me what to do then I'll let you go unless it's a high profile deal like a murder suspect I brought in this week. Hopefully this deal in NY won't take away your CHL or other legal problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted March 31, 2007 Share Posted March 31, 2007 CHL could have been revoked by a felony charge, but I don't think this is the case here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brazos SC Shooter Posted March 31, 2007 Author Share Posted March 31, 2007 (edited) When you wrote that you were in NYC in an earlier post I wondered if that would be OK. I did some additional research last night and if I would have said I was going to or had been to match it turns out I would have been ok. There is a provision to allow non-residents to be in possesion of a weapon if they are attending a shooting competition. CHL could have been revoked by a felony charge, but I don't think this is the case here. You are correct this is a Class A Mis at worst, which is still serious. And yes Chirs, I would pick living in Columbus 1000 times over living in NYC every day of the week. Edited April 2, 2007 by Texas HK shooter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brazos SC Shooter Posted March 31, 2007 Author Share Posted March 31, 2007 (edited) 3/31/07 1 hr live fire - Everything was done with my SSP conceal rig. I spent some time on steel plates and drawing to an A-zone hit from concealment. I also timed reloads with retention and tactical reloads to see which one I was faster with. I was faster with the tactical reload by far. Shot the IDPA Classifier. I was doing very well until I got to the 3rd string. I dropped too many points and had a few misses. I ended up with 26 seconds (52 points down) in penalties and points down. Final score was 122 sec., Sharp Shooter, which is where I have been for a while. I was two seconds away from expert but those points down on the 3rd stage would be enough to move from Sharp Shooter to Master in production. All the targets are at 30 yards so that will be easy to work on in live fire. Edited April 2, 2007 by Texas HK shooter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brazos SC Shooter Posted April 2, 2007 Author Share Posted April 2, 2007 (edited) 4/1/07 Was not able to get to my dry fire practice today. I spent about 2 hours dealing with reloading stuff like sorting brass, cleaning, loading primer tubes etc. I have almost completed Point of Impact. What a great book. Bob is one bad mother, and I like the way they discribe his shooting in the book. It is something to strive for. My delayed return from NY meant a lot of things to catch up around the house. I will hit it hard again tomorrow morning. Edited April 2, 2007 by Texas HK shooter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunuva Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 (edited) Drew, im glad your back in Ohio. sorry you went throu all that sh*t it really bums me out. Keep your head up. Edited April 2, 2007 by Sunuva Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 And stay the *@ck outta NYC. 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