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Chris Keen's Range Diary


Chris Keen

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Registered online for the US IPSC Nationals today. This is going to be my 2ND IPSC Nats in 3 yrs. And my 2ND trip to Florida this year. 24 stages shot over a 3 day period. I can't wait! This is going to be a "Don't Miss It" kinda match, not to mention a great warm up for the USPSA Nationals. it'll really be wild, as I can only imagine Florida in September has to be humid as hell. Then the next month shooting in the desert of Las Vegas in October! Crazy! But cool as heck too! :)

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Well, I did my best, but with a few small errors on my part, it just wasn't enough to win Area 5. I came in 2nd place in Open, with close to 100 shooters, and a few damn good ones at the top I had to beat out, but I almost pulled it off. :)

That would have been sweet, and seeing that I had beat Shane on a number of stages (3 for sure) I kinda thought it might just happen to me this time, but alas I have to settle for first loser.

I shot great when I was shooting good, but other times, I think I lost focus just a little, and wasn't aiming as well as I should have been. But then again, I did only have 2 Delts for the whole match! That Rocked! ;) Cause that's something I've been struggling with lately, is accuracy. It seems to have come together lately, yet sometimes I still drop my attention level on some stages, and then I start to lose time because I'm busy making up shots. So I do see the fallacy of that problem. I'm still working on it all the time. I recently added a CR Speed Thumb Rest on my gun and I really like it. It's taken a little getting used to it, but it's really helped me make my grip more consistent & solid. It's good!

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Don't worry about me. I'm learning what comes back and how after a five year break. Every match is a learning experience. Fun. The bullets are about half gone.

I expect you'll know when they're all gone. :)

I'm coming off a long layoff as well,,,,about 5 years. I find it amazing how fast somethings are coming back. I'm two small club matches in with virtually no practice and when I compare my scores against higher classed shooters, I'm scoring pretty close to where I did before I left (between B and A mostly) . But with the proliferation of video now, I'm able to look at my performance and I already see/know where I need to focus. Before it took a couple months of butt kickings to figure out where I was losing ground. After watching video of my last match I saw exactly where to focus my time in prepping for the next match.

I no longer have the time I used to be able to use/focus on this game, so now I have to be more strategic and deliberate in what I choose to spend my time focusing on to get the best improvement. That's where the video really helps.

For instance, I have lost big ground on steel thus far in my two matches back, but looking at my tape, I see exactly why. I have about the same amount of make up shots as the other guys and though by draw is a little slower due to rust, it isn't THAT slow, but I was losing time buy not calling shots properly and transitioning properly. I was firing and confirming the hit on the steel before moving on, rather than calling the shot and either instantly following up or transitioning to the next target. Watching the video and the amount of time between the shots and thinking about what I saw during the run, it made it very obvious what was happening and why I was getting my tail handed to me on steel. Looking forward to the next match as we have a steel stage everytime due to the range layout, so I can't wait to shave about 25% off my typical score on steel. :lol:

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  • 1 month later...

Shot a killer local match today at Milford. I've taken a couple of weeks off of practice and local matches lately, just to save some money & bring back the hunger for the range, so I haven't been practicing very hard lately, and it kinda showed tword the end of the day. Shot a clean match, and I didn't have a single D all day until I got a little lax, and sloppy on my last stage (El Pres.) & I popped 3 of those suckers all on 1 stage! LOL (I did however get all my hits, in only 4.56 sec.)

But all in all I had a superior day today! I wish I had videos from todays stages, as I pulled off some of the craziest shit, like reloading on El Pres. so quick I hit the mag coming OUT of my gun with the fresh mag going in ..... dropped a big-stick too early on the all-steel stage just cause I was moving from my 1st position to the next, & I literally caught the mag as it fell, re-inserted it in the gun, and continued shooting like a fiend to win the stage! Then on the 32 round field-course I skipped the drop-turner just to make it a 30 round stage so I wouldn't have to reload!!! I WAS ON FREAKING FIRE TODAY! ;)B):rolleyes:

Next time I'll have to get videos, cause today's shooting was way too awesome to just explain it ...... you had to either see it, or just be there to get the full effect!!! LMAO :)

Next up:

Indiana Sectional in Aug.

IPSC Open Nationals in Sept.

USPSA Open Nationals in Oct.

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Newest video from the Michigan OPEN-LTD-L10 Sectional over the weekend. Had a good match, but made a lot of mistakes that I need to straighten out before the Nationals in Oct. My biggest flaw is still hitting steel 1 for 1. Might need to shoot a couple steel matches between now and then. Other than that my gun & gear is running great, and my ammo is even better! I am proud to announce Rainier Ballistics as my newest sponsor. They offer the finest plated bullet on the market, and I've had great reliability & accuracy using them in my Open gun. I'm currently using their 124 gr. RN bullet out of my 38 Super STI @ about 1420 fps. Makes a 175 PF with 3N37, which also makes a really BIG flame out of my comp! ;)

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  • 1 month later...

Well, it's been a long, winding road this season, but the Nationals are over and I'm happy to show off my video from the Open Nationals. I finished 27th place out of 300 shooters. Not terrible by any means, but not exactly where I would have liked to finish. The top 20 was filled with most excellent shooters, so I'm honored to finish not too far behind them. :)

I was squadded with some very good shooters, and by watching them & then watching my video I see where I made a few mistakes. I shot too timidly, but wanted to get good hits. I judged a few activators & movers incorrectly, but overall I made good stage plans. I just need to work on some shot calling & try and do better next time. I feel like I have much to improve on, and will work on this through the off season.

Thanks to all my wonderful friends, family, & sponsors who helped support me this season! I couldn't have done it without your help. :cheers:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Here's my latest club match video. This club generally has cool, gimmicky stages and this match was no exception! :) Also as a side note, I've been trying to work on getting better points and it's finally paying off. Had lots of stages with only 3 Charlies, or 1 Charlie / 1 Delta. The work is finally paying dividends! :rolleyes:

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