gunsablazin: progress report

[gunsablazin]

I had a very nice Christmas, got to spend some time with my wife and kids and see most of my extended family as well. I got several books With winning in mind, and refinement and repetition for myself, and my sister got me a book on gunfighting by Jim Cirrilo and one by Massad Ayoob. The techniques recommended by the competition shooters is alot different than the gunfighter people, crush grip vs neutral grip etc. On my trip to the range on last friday I did some experiments with the neutral grip and just watching the gun time itself, very interesting, when relaxed and focused my transitions are much smoother/faster it is going to take some more time dryfiring and shooting to work this into match results. My new year resolution is to use Steve's book religously, I have a 2008 calendar I'm going to use to plan my dry fire sessions. I'm planning on doing a 3 day one week and 4 day the next week rotation to avoid burnout. I'm predicting this to be good year coming up, I made alot of improvement in 07, and the plan is to continue learning as I go. The new reloading bench is going to be built tomorrow, my new dillon 550 is here so if all goes well I'll be reloading in a nice clean organised area by 6:00 pm friday night!

Robin

[gunsablazin]

The reloading bench went together even better than I had hoped, it is solid enough to do engine work on and looks great with a pair of 550s mounted side by side. I now have nice oak cabinets to store all my stuff in and it is clean and organised. My shooting practice has been way down, but I have been using S. Anderson's dryfire drills on a 3 days one week and 4 days the next week schedule for about an hour or so per practice. My next project is a target rack for the basement with a "platerack" and the works. I missed ORSA's match last Sat. in order to go rabbit hunting with my Dad and brother, I had not been in years and watching the dogs work and hanging out with my old hunting buddies was alot of fun, fried rabbit is as good as I remembered! The plan for this week is to dryfire every day through Thurs. and get to the range on Sat. for an extended livefire session to knock the rust off real good. I may even shoot 3-gun just to mix thing up a bit, but my main focus now is CDP. I expect to see steady improvement over the next few months and I am ready to get back in the game.

Robin

[gunsablazin]

You just gotta love stuff that performs as advertised, Slide Glide is great, I cleaned my 1911 and then just basically packed the top end of it full of the stuff and 350 rds later it is still right where I put it. I am not planning to to field strip it for a good cleaning for at least 800 rds and based on what I have seen so far I would bet it would go much further than that. It works great in my Kahr CW9 as well, but I keep my totin' guns clean. I made it to the range for some practice last Sat. and I can see that the dry-fire drill are really helping me stay sharp, my times to first shot are really smooth and consistent and the El-Prez I ran was very smooth, unfortunately my timer battery died prior to running that one,but I would bet it was faster than I have ever shot one 0-down, I was focused on the rythym of fire and both strings of six shots sounded like they were fired at one target, splits and transitions at same speed. The last 6 rds. I fired were single shots from a full draw with my eyes closed, resulting in three 0's and three-1 hits the range was seven yds. I was pleased with that, seeing your sights on the target at home is different than seeing a hole in a target. My 20 yd. offhand shooting was very much improved as well, I was a little bit surprised by that as it is a skill that seems to degrade faster than the close in fast shooting does. I was shooting 0's with regular consistency and in 40 rds. fired at that distance I was down only by two -1 hits. I am really looking forward to shooting the CHRPC match this coming Sat. I have not shot a match since Nov. and it will be good to see all my friends and even though it is supposed to be very cold I believe I will have no trouble shooting at my best level. That is going to be my goal for every match, to see each shot, and shoot at the limit of my skill. I know that with practice that limit will continue to rise. As Calamity Jane says " The journey is the reward"........

Good luck to all at the games this coming weekend!!

Robin

[bigj45]

Dang Robin, After reading all of this I better start practicing, I haven't shot a match since Oct. and am sure it will show when I get back out there. I am going to try to make the IDPA match at ORSA in Feb. so we will see how bad I really suck. Good job and stay after it. Jason Edwards

[gunsablazin]

It sure was nice to get to shoot a match again! The CHRPC/IDPA match was one of the best local matches I have ever shot at, we had six really good stages. They were challenging and straightforward and the match ran smooth. I also had the good fortune to get in a squad of some of my favorite shooters, so in addition to a fun match I also had the company of good friends. It was almost like a family reunion! I shot pretty well 5th overall out of 32 shooters, 2nd CDP and 2nd most accurate. What dryfire practice I have done seemed to help especially on the long shots, but I felt a little rusty for a stage or two. The lesson for me here is that there is no substitute for shooting matches to get better at this game. I also learned about a new website www.shooting performance.com that has some good training tips, apparently if you let yourself miss in practice you are training yourself to miss at the matches. At any rate there is some food for thought there, I caught myself rushing a shot after a slidelock reload (not a first) it was on a limited vickers stage, so I could not make it up and it hit the -3 area, I definitely did not call that shot! I am going to the range this Sun. with the intention of calling every shot I take, I hope to get that so ingrained that I can't do it any other way. Is it possible to have as much fun as I had last Sat. and still be serious enough to win? I suppose I'll need to answer that question for myself, I think that once I get back in the match groove I can do both. My new reloading area is so nice it has put the fun back in reloading, I even set the old press up for .38 spl. and ran off 500, since I hardly ever shoot .38's they should last me for a couple of years, it will be cranking out .40's soon, ordered the dies today.

Robin

[gunsablazin]

I had a really productive and fun trip to the range on Sunday for practice. If I have ever shot any better in my life I don't remember it. Worked on a new target the IDPA club bought called the out and back, basically it is a swinger that you get one presentation on, and it is quick! after playing with it in some scenario type practice runs, I decided to go for head box shots on it and made 2 hits three times in a row and then managed a failure drill on it 0 down. At the next match we use this target I have got its number. Shot alot of strong hand weak hand drills and 20yd shots, working around the barricade I was able to shoot 0's consistently and that is a big improvement for me. It was no question the best practice I have done in a long time. I took four of my handguns, 1911 .45, S&W .38 J frame, Kahr CW9, Ruger MKII, and did a total of 400+ rds combined (shooting the out and back with the snubby is good practice!) Some other guys were around and I got to shoot a Kel-Tec .32, Glock 27, Kel-Tec .40, the Kel-Tecs shot suprisingly well the little Glock has too much felt recoil for me, I'm not that recoil sensitive, but follow up shots with that gun were alot more difficult than with my Kahr 9 or the Kel-Tec .40 If I were buying a micro Glock I think the 9mm would be much better, for me anyway. I am still doing S. Andersons dry-fire drills, and feel it is making me more consistent if not much faster, which is OK by me for now, my shooting is getting better and I am enjoying myself so all is well. I may have mentioned that I have modified most of the drills to make them more IDPA biased, ie. I wear concealment, do RWR reloads etc. I will be shooting Sat. at ORSA, the stages they have posted look like they will be challenging, I'm feeling up for it! My nephew called today and said He would be there to shoot with me, so that will be good, he does not shoot alot of matches, but usually shoots pretty well considering his level of experience. I have not shot the classifier in a while, I think I was putting too much emphasis on getting to masterclass and not just focusing on my shooting. I know if I just keep on at my current rate I'll get there in due time. I am going to shoot it again in a week or two, not going for master, but rather to see where I have improved compared to my last run on it. I am just taking things one shot at a time right now, and that may be the best aproach anyway, since that is all you can shoot. There is no hurry, as far as I know I'm not going anywhere. Good luck to all at the games this weekend, be safe and shoot straight.

Robin

[gunsablazin]

Hello, I made it to ORSA Sat. for their IDPA match, they put on a really good match as usual. 56 shooters showed up to play, that is a great turnout this time of year. I shot really well and was pleased with my shooting even before I saw the results. I could tell that the practice both live and dry have helped with in my confidence in breaking my shot much sooner, I see what I need to see much sooner. My goal last Sat. was to shoot the match 0 down, well I didn't quite make it, I dropped 1 point on stage one. I still came out OK, I was 1st CDP, 2nd overall, and only dropped 7 points (3.5 sec.) for the match. The one guy that beat me was also the TN state IDPA champion in 2006, so I didn't feel too bad about that! It is good to have shooters around who can show us mere mortals what is possible. I am happy with the progress I have made, it is satisfying to shoot a match and know that the reason you shot well was because you practiced and then let yourself perform on match day, it really makes the hard work seem worth it. The shooting itself felt totally effortless, I stayed relaxed and just had fun shooting. OK its time to quit patting myself on the back, I've got to get back to work, got 4 days of dryfire lined up for this week and live fire practice on Sun. I am planning to shoot the classifier this Sun. to see how I am progressing, I have not shot it since mid Nov. that is too long between runs.

Robin

[gunsablazin]

Me and my boys had a nice trip to the range yesterday, could not have asked for nicer weather this time of year, sunny and in the 60's, perfect. I reshot the classifier and set a personal best of 100.14 and only 9 points (4.5 sec.) down, that leaves me about 8 sec. out from master class in CDP. I shot stage 1 with 1 point down, stage 2 with 3 points down, stage 3 only 5 points down, not bad. I shot the entire course with an emphasis on calling each shot, and did not focus on speed at all, so I was suprised when my time came out over 6 sec. faster than I have ever shot it before. Comparing the scores from my last five classifiers tells me I need to get back in on the close stuff and practice them, I have shot them faster in the past without giving up too many points, the long range stage was where I had the biggest improvement. It is not too hard to see where the 8 sec. I need will come from, one here one there pretty soon you got 8 sec. easy! The dry fire practice has had more impact on what I am doing now than I ever would have believed, the gun handling skill alone is worth the work, but I never thought it would improve my long range shooting like it has. I used to hate the bianchi barricade, now I can shoot around it no problem. I am starting to believe that the subtle aspects of the draw and reload can be examined piece by piece and studied in ways while dry firing that might never be discovered at the range because of a difference in emphasis on the task at hand. At the range the focus seems to be on the "holes", when your not making holes you start looking at other aspects of what is happening and why it happened like it did. For me anyway an emphasis on relaxed consisitency is "faster" than "speed". I have three nights of dry fire lined up for this week and an IDPA match this Sat. at CHRPC, I have seen the stages and it looks like it will be a fun and challenging day of shooting.

Good luck at the games!

Robin

[gunsablazin]

Last night was not a dry-fire or practice night of any sort, so I got Brians book and a Budweiser tall boy and sat down to read and think. I have not opened Beyond Fundamentals in at least 4-5 weeks, so I just flipped through for some random reading. It is funny when you are reading something for at least the second time, but for the first time it hits home. On page 157 "just make sure that you understand when setting and reaching goals can be beneficial, and, more importantly, understand how placing too much emphasis on achieving a particular goal can be limiting." My approach to my shooting changed from making master class to just shooting 0's as fast as I can see them, and, with the help of some serious dry-fire and focused live practice, almost instant improvement. I am closer to my goal without thinking about the goal itself, only the shooting. I'm having more fun this way too, sure I still study scores and compare this classifier to the last ones, but instead of thinking damn 8 more seconds to go, it is, another 7 gone, much more satisfying to take pleasure in what you have accomplished, than to worry over the destination. Tonight I will gear up and dryfire, I wonder what I will see.

Robin

[gunsablazin]

Shot the CHRPC IDPA match Sat. we had 45 shooters, good turnout for our club. There were six good stages and I acted as SO for my squad. The results for the match suprised me because I did not feel all that great about the way I shot, didn't feel as smooth as usual especially on two stages, I felt slow on my first stage and I hit on a non threat on stage three. At any rate I was first CDP and second overall, third most accurate. I'm still on my dryfire plan, four days this week, and a practice on Sun.

I have been running a test on my 1911 with Slide-Glide, my goal was to shoot 1000+ rds. of my reloads (precision 230 gr. bullet, WW 231 powder) without any cleaning or additional lubrication. I completed the test this past weekend, and the gun had no malfunctions of any sort, and upon taking the gun apart for cleaning the lube was still in the gun just where I put it, and although the gun was dirty it would probably gone another 1000 with no problems. The result of this experiment tells me that Slide-Glide performs as advertised. +1

Robin

[gunsablazin]

Hello,

I made it to ORSA for their monthly IDPA match last Sat. they are rebuilding all the bays and making the berms 22' tall, nice, but the rain the night before the match combined with the construction work, well have you guys ever been ankle deep in red clay? What a mess. They had 70 shooters show up to play, keep in mind this is only a club level match, that is a nice turnout. We shot six stages, including a Bills drill and El-Prez, I started out slow, my squad shot the drills first and I shot the worst bill drill- el prez I have shot in I can't remember when, I didn't dwell on it however and went on to shoot really well until stage 6, my squads last stage. It was a 14 rd. stage with quite a bit of movement I was talking to some buds when I was called to the line to shoot, to make a long story short I forgot the last target and was unloading my gun when the SO said, there is one more target, I reloaded and shot that target amazingly only adding about 5 sec. to my time and was still 0 down. What a boneheaded thing to do! In spite of that I wound up 1st CDP 2nd overall and with only 9 points down 1st in accuracy. Unfortunately the score does not reflect the way I felt about my shooting, I have to laugh at myself, (along with everybody else). Lessons learned, when in the hole or on deck, shut my mouth and get my head ready to shoot, at matches don't shoot drills you have shot a million times in practice like you can't miss! OK I'm through beating myself up, I am dryfiring like a madman, and as soon as the time changes I am putting one more live fire practice on my weekly schedule. The past is over I can only get better in the future, I think sometimes when I start getting cocky, karma likes to remind me that I am far from perfect! Damn, I love to shoot, I may never be the best, but I will continue to be better.

Good luck to all at the games,

Robin

[gunsablazin]

The results in my previous post should say 4th overall, not second. My bad.

[gunsablazin]

I took a week and a half off from shooting after shooting the first ever IDPA match at Dodd Training in Sale Creek, TN. It was a very well done first match, 23 shooters and some fun stages. I finished 2nd CDP and 3rd overall, not too bad of a day. Then work and my kids spring break family activities took me away from the range, and some of my dry firing. Made it out to the range for practice last night after work and had the best practice I have had in a while, I really felt into the gun and the runs I made for time were easily as fast as some of my best ever times on bills drill and el prez, failure drill etc. Maybe the short break made me really refocus on the task at hand, I know this much it was really satisfying to drive the gun and see the hits, very stress relieving also. I'm heading to ORSA on Sat. and I can feel a good day coming on!

[gunsablazin]

Shoulda stayed home! tanked at ORSA! I shot the worst match I have shot in years, could not get my brain in gear at all on the first 2 stages, missed shots I "expected" to hit ( still must use sights), blasted a non threat on stage 2. The one stage I shot well was one of my design, and the standards on stages 5 and 6 went well. On paper I was 2nd CDP and 7th overall of 42 shooters, which sounds better than it felt. On the upside after giving it some thought, at least I have some things in mind that need some work, and I am reminded that I need to shoot without expectations, I expected to do better than I did. What I am trying to say is, just shoot each shot and stop "trying". This happens every time I start thinking that I am the man! Humbling that's what this sport is! My goal for my next match is to just be smooth and see each shot, when I feel that I have done my best that is a win, I hate leaving the range shaking my head over a crappy performance. O.K. I got that off my chest, now upward and onward!

[gunsablazin]

I made it out to the range Sun. for a nice practice session, I was expecting some of my regular shooting buddies to make the scene, but they did not show up. It was the first time in a while I have got the opportunity to practice solo, very relaxing. I decided to shoot some slowfire offhand groups at 20-25 yds. since this is something I don't do often enough. I did not even put on my holster or mag pouches, just to slow down the process. I would shoot 3-4 groups and pick up brass, paste targets, contemplate the results of my last efforts, watch the clouds go by etc. I shot strong hand headbox shots weak hand COM shots all at 20-25 yds. I only missed two headbox shots strong hand all day, not too bad. Finished up with doubles and transitions from 20 yds. on three targets, amazing after shooting groups how quickly you can put 2 in an 8 " circle! It was nice just reading the sights and making myself do every thing just right. I spend too much time shooting the close fast stuff, because it's FUN, but there can be no doubt that the ability to make more difficult shots is as an important a skill as there is. I don't know anything of course, as I am a work in progress.

Robin

[gunsablazin]

I had a great day at my backyard range yesterday! Both of my young daughters decided they wanted to shoot with daddy, they have both shot a little in the past year or so, but they are now getting old enough to have more of an understanding of it. The older one just turned 9 and the little one will be 8 in July. Anyway we got out their Marlin youth size .22 bolt gun and proceded to shoot up over 200 rds. in it and their great-grandads S&W Mod. 34, which is a .22 on the J-frame (adjustable sights too!) the little revolver is an antique, but shoots like new, it was the girls first time to shoot a handgun, and they loved it. My 9 yr. old can now safely load and fire the rifle and hold it steady enough to hit a clay pigeon at 10-15 paces, not bad for a true beginner, she made me proud. The little one still needs help holding steady and loading, but she understands using the sights well enough to get hits often enough to keep it fun. They both want to go to the "big range" next Sun. , so it looks like I've got two new shooting buddies! Now if only we could get their mom more interested in shooting with us I would be in heaven. At any rate, I'm willing to buy all the ammo they want to shoot and take them whenever they want to go, teaching them to shoot is as much fun as learning to shoot, which I'm still doing . We also planted flowers which we grew from seeds, played baseball, and had a cookout, all in all a weekend to be thankful for and repeat as often as possible. Like the commercial, Gun collection $14,000, reloading equipment $2,500, two little girls that want to shoot with their dad, Priceless!

Edited April 21, 2008 by gunsablazin

[gunsablazin]

Due to a hand injury and family obligations I have not been to a match in 3 weeks. I have managed to squeak in some decent practice at the range but not as much dry-fire to let my hand heal up.It has given me some time to think about my shooting alot however. I was having a discussion with a buddy at a match back in March, and we were discussing the speed/ accuracy dilema and he made the comment that "it's not about shooting 0's it's about winning", well I have practiced hard,dry-fired a bunch and given alot of thought about winning, but I have come to the realisation that is not what makes shooting fun for me. Don't get me wrong I enjoy winning, but that is not what motivates me to shoot, I shoot because I love to shoot, I enjoy spending time on the range with others who love to shoot, I like to SO, and cut up with people and just enjoy a nice day outdoors. When I leave the range and "feel" that I have shot well, that is just as good as seeing my name at or close to the top of the match results, better really. I work in a job that pits me against the clock to produce a custom product, one deadline after another, that is work, if shooting becomes work I quit. I'm not knocking the competitive people, I'm just not one of them. I am satisfied to shoot my best, and take my occasional "win", for me it is about shooting 0's. OK now I feel like playing again!

Robin

[et45]

I know you wasn't talking to me because I ain't nobody's goddamn buddy.Check your PM and email.

[gunsablazin]

I know you wasn't talking to me because I ain't nobody's *@#**#@* buddy.Check your PM and email.

There cleaned it up a bit! The dude I was talking to probably doesn't consider me a buddy either!

[gunsablazin]

5/17/08: CHRPC IDPA match. We shot 6 stages including the 4 postal match stages and it was a great match, weather perfect and we had 34 shooters show up. The match results show me as being 2nd CDP and 7th O.A. which does not look too bad, what it does not show is the target I put 3rds in hard cover and took 10 sec. penalty on that 1 target! The good news is that I shot the whole match just the way I wanted to without feeling any pressure, not TRYING to do anything except shoot at my speed and have fun. I had 3 targets remaining after the target I fouled up and I shot them fine and went into my next and final stage and shot the best I had all day. I felt it was a victory for my mental game, not carrying the previous performance to the next stage. There was a post about Pharoh Benders ,"relax, don't rush, trust" mentality, I think that sums up last Sat. for me (except that one target ) and is going to be my goal for a while to see how it works for me. I feel that I am in the process of rebuilding my mindset, eliminating desire, not worrying about results, and back to what I can do and that is shooting. Time will tell, there is no hurry.

Robin

[gunsablazin]

Life has once again interupted my match schedule, I have been getting in alot of really good practice however. Having spent some quality range time shooting groups at 15-20-25 yds. offhand with no emphasis on speed, I set up some close range scenarios in practice last week and was able to hose targets with sight pictures for every shot! Small progress, but I'll take it. Is it just me or is anyone else afraid to read the match screw ups section here? I am sometimes tempted to look, but I have not stopped there in a long time, I just don't feel the need to learn from others screw-ups, I learn plenty from my own! One would think as long as I have been shooting I would have it down pat by now, but I am never quite content with my current skill level and even though I am patient I always want a little more. Fathersday was a hoot, spent the afternoon at the range with the wife and kids, my little ones are getting pretty good with their little .22 rifle, looks like I am raising myself some new shooting buddies! My wife says I'll regret what this will cost me, but I doubt that very much! What is the cost of a few more guns and a truck load of ammo compared to seeing two future Annie Oakleys busting caps!

I have a busy week of shooting coming up, practice wed. CHRPC is shooting the IDPA postal match again fri. night for those who missed it the first time, I'm dusting off my 625 to take a fun run at it in ESR, then we have our regular IDPA match at CHRPC sat. morning. Looks like the blue press will run a little overtime this week.

Best of luck to all at the games,

Robin

[gunsablazin]

Gunsablazin got to go outside and play last night! Made it to the range to test fire my Glock 35 with its new Lone Wolf barrel, the barrel performs as advertised, dropped in and worked, you gotta love stuff that works, the POA/POI did not even change! I shot it with WWB 180 fmj, Atlanta Arms 180 fmj, and my test load of WW231 4.5 gr. and a Rainier 180 gr. plated bullet.( 150,000 PF) The only hitch I had was a couple of FTF with my old 10 rd. mags, all my standard capacity 15 rd. mags worked perfectly. That might be an issue for those of you who live in more resticted areas than do I. After the "work" part was done with the chrono etc. we ran some IDPA type scenarios and did some drills,Bills drill, El Prez. I am starting to get this Glock thing, shot my fastest ever El Prez at 6.37 with -3 down, the 3 down were -1 hits not one -3 hit. This was at 10 yds. with 6' spacing between targets. Aftere running out of .40 ammo I broke out the 1911 for comparison, and while it is my first love the minor PF .40's sure are soft shooting. At any rate it was a productive and enjoyable trip, hope for more like it soon.

[gunsablazin]

gunsablazin have good weekend of blastin' !! I shot my Glock 35 with lone wolf barrel and my load of 4.5 gr WW231 and rainier 180 gr plated bullet,(150,000PF) friday night at CHRPC postal match II, for those who missed it the first time. I finished 1st of 11 shooters @ 51.97 sec, not too bad for an experiment! At sat. regular match (CHRPC), I was 3rd of 39 (CDP took 1st 2nd 3rd!) shooting CDP. I was on cloud nine at the end of the match, did not know the scores yet, but I was happy with the way I shot. I was in drive on and don't look back mode, and it worked out pretty well,I was only down 12.5 sec. for the day. Fired 79 rds. for a score of 88.30, missed 2nd place by 2.46! and first by 10+. The "old man " that won was smokin'! ( nice shooting GH) I felt like my old self for the first time in several matches and it was FUN. I plan to play with the Glock some more in practice and get that load down to 135-140,000 get comp-tac holster etc. before using again at a match, but I gotta say even at 150,000 it is much easier to shoot fast than I would have ever thought, especially compared to my CDP gun. Go figure.

Edited June 23, 2008 by gunsablazin