Micah's Range Diary

[RussellM]

I bought my poppers from a place called C&M targets. He sells dry fire kits that include 1/2 size poppers.

[Micah]

-45min cardio (off to the gym in 5 minutes)

-no df today I have an obligation in Cincinnati in two hours.

Where did you get the poppers?

I've had them for years...purchased them from CPWSA, so you might want to check there first. Most of the targets that I have up are cut out of cardboard using the store bought targets as templates.

[E K]

I bought my poppers from a place called C&M targets. He sells dry fire kits that include 1/2 size poppers.

Thanks

[E K]

-45min cardio (off to the gym in 5 minutes)

-no df today I have an obligation in Cincinnati in two hours.

Where did you get the poppers?

I've had them for years...purchased them from CPWSA, so you might want to check there first. Most of the targets that I have up are cut out of cardboard using the store bought targets as templates.

Thanks.

[Micah]

-45 cardio

-45 df

A few weeks ago I was invited to be a guest judge at one of my junior high schools science fairs. The fair was today, and that was a very cool experience! It was interesting to be on the other side of the table. We have some exceptionally talented students in my district

I'm getting into more of a groove with my dryfire now. Things are becoming more automatic and unthinking, smooth and precise. Of course I need to do some livefire to validate what I am seeing with an empty gun...

[whitedog]

Have to ask....what the heck do you tell a girl when you bring her home about targets being everywhere? My girlfriend thinks its creepy and vetoed the idea.

[E K]

Since when do girlfriends get a vote?!

[whitedog]

Since my girlfriend is hot....

[RussellM]

Since my girlfriend is hot....

Sounds too bossy to me.

[JakeMartens]

Since my girlfriend is hot....

Hot or not until she is throwing some money down on the rent then tough shit

give them inch........ and she will use you as a door mat

[Chris Keen]

THIS THREAD IS USELESS WITHOUT PICTURES !!!!! LOL

[whitedog]

You saw her Chris.. and money ain't everything.

[Micah]

Lol! To give you some idea, she took this picture at a random mall:

And here's one of us:

She knows the drill. Dryfire comes first, I'll be home when I get home from matches (aka Don't bug me), and she is an emerging shooter from a family that is gun friendly. Although she keeps a loaded XD in her nightstand, I'm nudging her to the Glock side

It has been a good week filled with dryfire and working out. I am retooling my practice here at home on a daily basis to fully use the space that I have here, as well as accurately train myself in the skill sets that I have the greatest need in.

[whitedog]

Nice micah. I have also started dry firing and gym. Reading yer diary helps.

[L-10_shooter]

Who would have thought you would have blue poppers......

Mine are red because white blends in with the walls. Your daily updates/dry fire drills are a huge motivator thanks dude!!!!

[Micah]

Thanks gents! I'm glad that you get something out of them.

Today was a long day, but I was still able to get in my cardio and dryfire. I'm toying with the idea of dryfiring in the morning before work, just so I can have a consistent dedicated time for it.

Someone emailed me a few good questions, and I thought it would be helpful to share them here.

My reply on the topic of how I became a better shooter:

Thanks for the email! I thought that I would just respond directly to your email address:

I started dryfiring. Seriously, that was the beginning of it all. I did it every day. Before work, before bed, I just made it happen. I first worked on all of the basic skill sets needed in this sport. Once those became automatic, I worked on other things like table draws, weak/strong hand shooting, and shooting on the move. In tandem, I studied my ass off on the topic of how the top GMs do it.

I used club matches as my verification and testing grounds. I lost many at first, then I only lost a few by testing new things, but I always regarded it as livefire training. I honestly livefire at the range in non match situations very little as I don't have a home range, but when I did, it was usually to verify the par times that I have established in dryfire, shooting on the move, and shooting groups.

Making many parts of our sport automatic through dryfire was the biggest leap that I made in shooting.

And after talking about Steve Anderson's first dryfire book, I suggested a few more:

That would be the one. If you have the loot on hand, I would recommend 3 more books:

Principles of Performance by Steve Anderson (more dryfire and match management)

Thinking Practical Shooting by Saul Kirsch (this book is like my shooting bible! Dryfire aside, it is my alltime favorite shooting book...I've read it dozens of times)

With Winning in Mind by Lanny Basham (Everything you ever wanted to know about goal setting and mental management)

[E K]

Since my girlfriend is hot....

I always knew you shot in panties!

[whitedog]

Dude yer panties would not fit my theigh....don't ask how I know.

[E K]

Dude yer panties would not fit my theigh....don't ask how I know.

[Micah]

More cardio, more dryfire...I'm getting itchy and need to go bang bang instead of click click sometime in the near future.

The skill that has eroded the most since I took my break is presenting the gun on the A zone on the draw. I have had to do a significant amount of rehab in that department.

[CMV]

More cardio, more dryfire...I'm getting itchy and need to go bang bang instead of click click sometime in the near future.

The skill that has eroded the most since I took my break is presenting the gun on the A zone on the draw. I have had to do a significant amount of rehab in that department.

That ability to present the gun to the same point every single time without thought or even the slightest bit of searching for the sights AIN'T EASY!!! I still struggle with that constantly

[Chris Keen]

Hey Micah, you should switch squads for the BITB match. That crazy Canadian is on my squad, but he's shooting the wrong gun again!!! Should be allot of fun!

[Micah]

I haven't sent in my app yet...should probably get a move on that. The BITB was a well balanced and fun match last year.

Click, click, click...been working in table draws, seated starts, and dropping in mags on the beep.

[E K]

Hey Micah, you should switch squads for the BITB match. That crazy Canadian is on my squad, but he's shooting the wrong gun again!!! Should be allot of fun!

I joined your squad for BITB.

[Micah]

I really need to squad up then! My squad last year was great, but all of the other squads were an excellent source of conversation and humor.

A complete detraction from the shooting:

There is a psychologist that I work with in my district that, according to my memory, looks very similar to my late grandfather. My grandpa, other than my my own father and cousin Robbie, have had the greatest positive impact on my life. Robbie died in a drunk driving accident when I was very young. As a difficult and spastic child he was one of the few persons in my little world that "dug" me. I don't remember his funeral, but I clearly recall the loss of a wingman that accepted me for who I was. That was my first experience with death, and certainly not the last to date, molded my laissez faire doctrine to the matter.

Being waaaaaayyyyyy too young to give two cares about Star Trek, and having limited interaction with my father's parents whom lived in Kansas, I vaguely recall going to the theater showing of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country with my father and grandfather. I was intrigued by the story of humans intertwined with the struggle with living and battling with extraterrestrial beings. From that point on, while my friends watched Saturday morning cartoons, I cued in line to catch Star Trek:TNG. None of my peers, and I use the term loosely, had any interest in that "nerd crap" but one week at a time, I bartered with my parents and successfully negotiated my allowance to stay up and watch the syndicated space odyssey that unfolded on Fox.

ST: Generations provided me with the bridge between the ST that I was first exposed to with two generations of my own family and the generation that I was familiar with, it left me wanting. The epic battle between Borg and Man in ST: First Contact was the greatest visual and auditory gift that I could have ever wished for. A few weeks ago I revisited this movie, and again tonight, after a short weekend and shoring up my documentation for another 5 days within the district, it plays again in the background.

I want to talk tomorrow with that psychologist that looks just like my grandfather and share with him how much more awesome Picard is compared to the misogynistic Kirk is. I want to tell him how the Borg was the complete villain as they threatened the very history of humanity and the entire Federation of Planets, instead of the Klingons whom jostled for gaps in the Neutral Zone. I want to tell him that although I saw him relatively very little in my life, that I love him and think of him often, and that I miss him.

None of that last paragraph will happen because this man is not my grandfather, and he would probably call human resources and I would have some serious explaining to do as to my current behavior, and more than likely be forced to pee into a cup and see another psychologist...not the one that resembles my late grandfather.

All of that is to say this: I struggle with living in the past because it is very easy to live there, The past is predictable, safe, and selective because it is the reality that we create in our own minds. It is the opiate of the noggin, and can make us complacent.

I know who I was, I'm trying to figure out who I am, and I know who I want to be. It's all about what I have to do to become the person that I aspire to be.