rvb

[rvb]

Had the IN SS/PD over the weekend. Shot Sat, worked Sunday.

Results came out where I hoped they would. Came in 2nd in PD after Micah. Wasn't near as clean as I'd have liked. None of the other M-class guys were having great days either.

shot 91.6% of the points. only 3 D's one M.

Started on Stage 7, Dangerous Man... plan had me starting off w/ 10 rounds then a RL. Needed an extra shot on the popper. My grip caused the slide to not lock back and the mag didn't fall free for some reason. let myself get into the "hurry up to make up for the goof" mode, and miked the next target. only M of the day at least.

Stage 6: 8 rounds. I seem to recall needing an extra shot on steel? otherwise nothing remarkably good or bad. 3.8x seconds.

Stage 5: Started out of position... got the STOP! command. thought I DQ'd. It definately flustered me. I should have waited a couple shooters, but I went right back to the line. Didn't seat a RL, so I used the round in the chamber on a swinger activator, "click" on the next target, and all down hill from there.

Stage 4: 21 steel targets. I decided to be ballsy and planned my RL to shoot it clean [first mistake]. First several rounds were clean and then I let that thought creep in "you're on a roll." ... miss miss miss....

Stage 3 had me engaging some targets through a port about 3 yds ahead. I called a hit on the port but didn't make it up cause I knew could see it later. burned down the steel and the mover, and made up that miss. Very happy. During scoring I noticed two hits on the port and called the RO to point out my mike... he didn't think he could score it accurately (didn't know which target it was on or if the hole had been there previously), so I got a re-shoot.... and I blew the reshoot. needed a make-up, rode the slide lock, got a "click" on the steel, needed make-ups on steel.... bummer.

Stage 2 I felt I rocked it. Good shooting on the move, great transitions, smoked the steel. But I needed a make-up on one of the papers, rode the slide lock, got a "click" on the next target (seeing a theme?)

Stage 1: 7A/1C all SHO in great time. My best stage maybe. too bad such a short stage.

Stage 8: Had a phenominal plan and really stuck to it. I rushed the mini poppers and had to take 3-4 make-up shots. Did static RL before I ran dry. I got back on plan in my next array and didn't hurry to make up time at all and still finished great. This was the "BIG" stage of the day (32 rounds, and miffed a lot of people). So I was somewhat happy with this one.

Lessons:

- If you get a STOP command. Take time to reset, then reshoot.

- Need to figure out what's up w/ my grip the SL never works any more.

- Focus on the shot you're shooting right now... don't think about past or future shots.

-rvb

[rvb]

I recall something interesting from the match.

On several of the draws, I distinctly remember trying to take the safety off as I was bringing my weak hand to the gun... Only my PD gun doesn't have a safety.

And it's not like I was taking off the safety of a 92FS, no, it's like I was taking the safety off my 19/2011s. I've NEVER noticed myself doing that in DF. Or in my live-fire practice. Since my full-size carry gun is a 1911, I guess I'll consider that instinct a good thing....

-rvb

[driver8M3]

...my full-size carry gun is a 1911...

i'm sure you really miss maryland...

[rvb]

i'm sure you really miss maryland...

Yea, I love being a Hoosier.

(And now that I'm a father, I'm a "Hoosier Daddy.")

The irony is that I feel like I "need" a carry gun much less here. But I can, so...

It honestly felt very weird when I picked up my 1911 just walking out of the shop with it. NICS and done. No crazy lock contraptions, no waiting period [but I'm angry NOW!], no training certificate, no state background check forms, no shell casings....

There's a couple of goofy laws here, but they are pretty minor.

-rvb

[rvb]

I only filmed a couple of stages from the IN SS/PD match... but one of those videos caught TWO bullets in flight...

you can see them against the white wall

here is the video. if you watch, you can see them... both shots are near the 5 second marker.

http://www.youtube.com/mdhoser#p/a/u/0/1Vo2izWbJV0

-rvb

[rvb]

Shot PD at Ft Wayne on Sunday...

classifier was 99-24, Front Sight II. great big ZERO!!

Dropped a shot about 2" into the left NS on the first string, so I shot decided to see how fast I could do string 2... 4 mikes and 3 NS's later I had zero'd the stage. I don't know why the HHF seems so high on this and 99-23, it sounds reasonable in hindsight. I think I push too hard. Never shot these two well. It seems like a good drill so if I can get to the range this friday I'm gonna set it up and work on it.

Rest of the match went well. Favorite stage was a very simple 4 targets (8 rnds) at 25 yds, relaxed start, Vir count. My shot calling was spectacular. I think at 25 yds I could have called my points based on the FS alone. 4A/3C/1D, 4.51 seconds. I was really feeling the trigger focused on the FS. I'd like to set this one up in practice, too, just to really burn in that long-range/high-speed feeling.

On last stage, had some monster trigger freeze. Must have been really tense. There were two targets at maybe 2 yds, I should have had them cleared in well under 2 sec from the buzzer.... probably took me 4. Tension bad.

Over-all, too many Cs in this match. Even throwing out the classifier I only shot ~84%. But there were a lot of 20-25yd targets, and a few of those I took on the move, so maybe in context it wasn't too bad...

-rvb

[rvb]

finally got in some DF last night. the arm is feeling a little better, but I don't want to push it.

Warmed up w/ some draws and reloads. I felt tense nothing was going smooth. Cranking the Led Zeppelin helped.

I set up 99-23 w/ 1/3 scale targets. After getting grooved in I was able to DF string 1 in 2.2 and string 2 2.4 with all As or maybe just one C. That's where I need to be cold. Trick is reacting to buzzer and prepping that DA shot so it's ready to break asap once the sights are on. Being late on that trigger prep or waiting to start stroking the trigger til the sights are on adds another .2 - .5.

I think this is a good classifier to drill on. The transitions are bigger than el-prez so it's harder to cheat by relying on the index, and tension kills the points and the transition times.

-rvb

[rvb]

Friday 5/7/10. Spent a couple hours at the range w/ the production rig. went through 500 rounds.

First major take-away... My stamina is not what it used to be. Lack of live fire practice is really showing. My arms felt tired at the end, and my focus was wandering. I need more time w/ live ammo.

2nd major takeaway is I am dry-firing too much. Timing was off. much more muzzle rise than normal. I felt like I was working to tame the gun rather than just letting it happen. I need more time w/ live ammo.

My accuracy has fallen off. Best group I could do at 10 yds was ~1.5". Using my A-zone sized steel, I could easily get 10/10 hits at 25 yds, but only about 5/10 at 50 yds, and around 3/10 at 75 yds. I kept hitting left, and was having to hold right at 75 to hit the plate. Sights looked good. Pretty sure it's a trigger issue. My grip on the 92 is different this year than in years past (residual from shooting the open gun for a whole season I think), I need to fix that. Also, I was using my 115s instead of my good 147s, it's possible they just aren't as accurate... Should have taken some good ammo w/ me.

Best I ran on the El-prez was 4.1x. But it was sloppy. All the hits were on paper, at least. Even when I slowed up going for all As, I ran it in 5.2x... except I didn't get all As. No where close. Had a couple misses on a couple of runs.

Timing drills paid off. Should have done them before the El-prez, but I wanted a "cold" baseline. My timing drill groups were about the best they've ever been (about hand-sized [majority in palm-sized], 10 yds, doing 0.20s), but they were centered near the left A line, and low...

I went planning to do a bunch of drills for entering/exiting positions, shooting on the move, etc., but didn't get to them.

mucho work to do before A5.

-rvb

Edited May 10, 2010 by rvb

[rvb]

I was fortunate to get to spend another 2.5 hours practicing on friday. 525 rounds. production gear.

No matter what I do w/ this beretta, I cannot drop the hammer and keep the sights perfectly still w/o dragging the frame on the left side w/ my trigger finger.. Too many people at the range to practice 50-75 yd shooting, but just 10 yd groups shows I need to keep the trigger in the joint.

Tried out the double draw master drill. 15 yds, once relaxed and once from surrender. I, uh, have some work to do.

relaxed I shot 51 points, 6A/7C.

surrender I shot 37 points, 4A/5C/2D. could have gotten in another shot but the gun ran empty.

Next I ran some timing drills. Saw some big improvements over last week in sight tracking and alignment.

I then set up 99-23, Front Sight. Biggest lesson learned: POINTS!!!

1st run strings were 2.23 and 1.95. 4A/6C/2D. HF = 9.57

2nd run strings were 2.43 and 2.32. 7A/3C/2D. HF = 9.68

3rd run strings were 2.19 and 2.31. 7A/4C/1D. HF = 10.67

I shot some other stuff then came back for more:

4th run strings were 2.15 and 2.20. 6A/5C/1D. HF = 10.575

5th run strings were 2.17 and 2.19. 6A/6C/0D. HF = 11.01

I found it noteworthy that on my final run my goal was to clean up the hits and not get any Ds... and I didn't take any more time. My best run was still only ~86.6% nationally.

I also shot the ElPrez.

First run was 4.67 with 6A/1B/4C/1D, HF = 9.85

Second run was 4.80 with 9A/3C, HF = 11.25.

Again, focusing on points added very little time.

Did some Bill drills... on the 7 yd drills I was getting relaxed starts of low .8s, and surrender starts of .9s. Practice is really paying off on the draws (but the double draw master shows I have work to do). 7d drills were averaging about 1.7x, and 10 yd drills about 1.9x.

reloads: Did some 7yd 2-R-2 drills. I was running them in about 2.6x pretty consistently, with a couple as low as 2.4x. I have to admit I was basically whacking the trigger when the sights were on brown. Draws were ~0.9 and reloads around 1.2 (with one as low as 1.08!). Definitely an improvement on reload times. On elprez I was seeing reloads around 1.3. And I don't recall missing a reload all day.

Hoping to get in another big practice session or two before A5...

-rvb

[rvb]

shot production at FWAPS today.

It was basically 4 standards (incl 99-42) and a 32-round field course.

I shot 2 of the stds really well, and 2 pretty poorly. Draws felt much more confident and smooth. Screwed up transitioning off the steel again. That killed 99-42 for me. I shot 52 points (4Cs, 1 ea paper) and probably would have had a 90+%... instead, I transitioned off the far left steel, shifted the gun in my grip to hit the mag release and started the left hand moving to the reload, and then realized I missed the steel and had to get back on the gun. Time ended up at 7.8x. Looks like it'll only be ~ 70%. Mistake 1, I pushed it knowing it was a classifier. Mistake 2, I didn't call that shot on the steel.

I used to trust my speed, now that I made M I no longer do... I feel I need to be faster. Have to get that out of my head. I think it's a pure confidence thing. I'm just not getting enough practice time.

The field course I also royally screwed up. the stage had black plastic for soft cover on 4 targets, w/ the head and a bit of shoulders visible. For some reason I was aiming REALLY low, like D zone low. I realized it as I was shooting, but then that became where I focused and I couldn't convince myself to look up to where I needed to be aiming... kinda like a motorcycle rider focusing on the guard rail while he knows he needs to be looking through the turn to avoid crashing...

Earlier in the stage I called and made up a mike on a target w/ complete hardcover painted on except the A zone (shot was about 1" out of the A). I had 10 rounds planned before the reload, so that caused me to use all 11. I rode the slide lock, got a click on an empty chamber, had to get the gun running, and that messed up my momentum since it all happened in the middle of a shooting on the move. What should have been a 17 or 18 second stage took 22.

Spent some time learning EZWinScore before the match. I'm now the score keeper for Angola.

-rvb

Edited May 17, 2010 by rvb

[rvb]

started playing around with the Multi-Par function on the CED timer... kinda cool.

Un-intended side effect: I'm less tense with it. I can set reasonable pars for different sections of a drill and know that as long as I hit (or am close to) the buzzers I'm going to end up with a solid run. I'm no longer trying to "beat" the end buzzer, just go in "sync" with the multi buzzers.

example: el=prez:

par 1: 1.2 (1st shot)

par 2: 1.1 (5 shots)

par 2: 1.3 (reload)

par 4: 1.1 (5 shots)

That's a 4.7s el-prez w/ what I'm confident would have been 54 points or better each run. While I've dryfired it as much as .5 faster, it was w/ a ton of tension and lack of confidence in the shot calling. I'm hoping this new trick will let me turn down the time slowly, and where I need it most (for now, I'd like to take a tenth of the draw and reload).

bought some new cleats last night. Got rubber cleats this time so I don't have to tip-toe on wood or concrete so much (got the underarmers. Didn't have big enough nikes in stock).

Goals for the rest of the week are to focus on shooting on the move and reloading in the first step out of a position.

-rvb

[rvb]

my gun room:

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=106768

-rvb

[rvb]

Basically took the weekend off from practice. Too much else going on with the holiday. Did get in 1/2-hr DF last night, but it was late and I wasn't in to it, forcing myself to do it. Couldn't hit one of my baseline pars to save my life. Very tense. Hopefully tonight will go better. Will try to start before midnight....

Did get to the range on Saturday w/ my Dad for about 3 hours. We hadn't shot together in a long time. He brought out a couple of his old revos and I took my carry guns and my SBR'd/silenced 9mm AR. Mainly just shot for groups or rang steel. I did sneek in a little shooting on the move practice w/ the .45.

I shot my best groups yet w/ the snubby 642. at 7 yds I put 3 of 5 on a paster. The other two were w/in 1/2". Shooting the snubby close and fast, I short-stroked the trigger a couple times. I should get back into dryfiring that somewhat regularly.

Hoping I can get an afternoon off this week to practice before A5...

-rvb

[rvb]

I've been trying to identify things I need to work on.

I identified what I think are two key and related items.

I went back to my videos and, sho'nuf, I see these problems have been there for some time.

1) eliminate extra shots

2) lower my grip to not interfere with controls.

These issues absolutely killed my score at the IN SS/PD match. My shot calling has dramatically improved over the last couple years, such that I am now making up not just mikes but Ds, as well as shots that are just barely outside of the A and into NS or hardcover. In itself, an extra shot is no big deal; but coupled with a 10-round array, these extra shots are causing my gun to run dry. ... ok... so what, right? Well, my grip is too high and I interefere w/ the slide lock. I would guess about 6 times during the SS/PD match I ran the gun dry and got the dreaded "click" on the next array, even after reloading the gun. When the gun locks back, my brain realizes I need to do something. The other side of the coin is training my subconscious to know the gun is empty in those situations. But when there are several targets between the makeup and the reload, my feeble brain forgets.

So while I should focus on those details, the real root cause of the problem is needing extra shots to begin with. So that's the goal. No extra shots. Shoot clean, and do it the first time. After all, it takes more time to make it up.

The second issue is currently a problem just because of the slide on the 92 not locking back. But on the 1911 I even sometimes can't keep the safety down (never a problem on the 2011 though). I've been working on lowering the grip lately, and I feel more consistent when I get it right, and I don't feel I have to reach down with the trigger finger.

I think after the majors in June are done I'll switch to SS. That'll force me to fix my grip, and put on extra pressure to not make extra shots...

-rvb

[rvb]

sent my slot to the open nats back to Sedro Woolley today...

sure wish I had unlimited budget and vacation.

maybe someday...

-rvb

[Corey]

Cant wait to have you in the SS world soon

[rvb]

Had a good practice last night. 1hr+15min. was smashing my pars when pushing the mechanics, and felt I was getting all As at my pars. One of those nights you dont want to stop practicing.

Cant wait to have you in the SS world soon

need to get a couple more mag pouches, and do some work on the ones I have. I did get a new large primer slide for my 550 so I can get cranking on some ammo w/o having to manually work the primer system on each round.

-rvb

[BillD]

Had a good practice last night. 1hr+15min. was smashing my pars when pushing the mechanics, and felt I was getting all As at my pars. One of those nights you dont want to stop practicing.

Cant wait to have you in the SS world soon

need to get a couple more mag pouches, and do some work on the ones I have. I did get a new large primer slide for my 550 so I can get cranking on some ammo w/o having to manually work the primer system on each round.

-rvb

Man, you should have said something. I have a large primer system for a 550 just sitting in the drawer.

[rvb]

Man, you should have said something. I have a large primer system for a 550 just sitting in the drawer.

Thanks Bill, but Dillon took good care of me. Lg primer setup came w/ the press but just hadn't used it until a year or so ago. Hole in the slide for the punch was drilled out of square causing the punch to drag on the tube housing. Fought it for a couple thousand rounds thinking I didn't have something tweaked right. A phone call was all it took once I realized I wasn't the problem [for once].

-rvb

[rvb]

On Thursday I spent about 2.5 hours at the range, production rig. 500 rounds (250 of 115gr, 250 of 147 ball).

Started off with timing drills. 160 rounds. Things really felt good at this point. Even did an extra 20-round set at .20 splits and all but one were in the A, grouped hand sized(10 yds). I feel like my shot calling and control has improved w/ the irons. I -knew- where every round went...

I moved on to the Double Draw Master. This is where the practice started to go down hill.

(all minor)

1) relaxed: 12 shots, 9A/2C/1D = 52 points.

Then, in retrospect, I let the tension and the "trying" in.

2) surrender: 12 shots, 4A/4C/3D/1M[!] = 35 points.

3) relaxed: 12 shots, 5A/7C = 46 points.

4) surrender: 12 shots 4A/7C/1D = 42 points

On the surface it looks like minor improvement from last time, but I was disappointed and expecting more. Was hoping to be consistently in low 50s. I did a few more sets than that, but they were all lost due to 1) forgetting to clear the timer and 2) needing to adjust the sensitivity on the timer, it was picking up sonic cracks (at one point I thought I had 3 mikes because the timer had 3 extra shots! That added to my frustration.

El-Prez.

I ran this 4 times (actually 6, but I'm an idiot and didn't manage mags well... came up empty a couple times). I decided to focus on points, so the times aren't stellar. Unfortunately, neither were the points.

1) 5.03 -8 = 10.34HF

2) 5.04 -6 = 10.71

3) 4.91 -12= 9.77 [Right target was -10, 3C/1D. The group was nice, just on the C/D line ]

4) 4.95 -6 = 10.91 Had a bad reload (1.75, probably an extra .25) This felt like a good relaxed run otherwise, but I let the bad reload stick in my brain.

99-23 Front sight.

Almost embarrassed to put up my numbers. By now I was just pissed at myself. Both times and points suck. Practice was spiraling.

1) 2.56/2.43 -8

2) 2.34/2.39 -16

3) 2.61/2.54 -12

Continued on with some groups, a little SHO/WHO, some bill drills.

Was very flustered by the time I left, but I ended on a good note. I did 1/2 dozen or so 7 yd uprange/surrender starts. Best was 1.01. Worst was 1.2. Why couldn't I come even close to that in the rest of practice? Ah, because I wasn't "trying" to go fast, just execute and keep my focus on what I was doing.

Over-all ... a waste of about 350 rounds....

oh well.

Match at Angola this weekend. I get to figure out this score-keeper nonsense (sorry, everyone if it takes me an extra day.)

[Homer Simpson] It's my first day! [/Homer Simpson].

I'm hoping to stick around after the match and get 100 rounds of practice in to get the bad taste of yesterday's practice out of my mouth.

-rvb

Edited June 5, 2010 by rvb

[rvb]

Shot PD at Angola yesterday....

That was how I want to shoot A5.

It's always good to go into a major having just completed a rock solid practice or local.

Actually kept my head on straight for the classifier, too:

99-62, Bang and Clang. I shot it with A/C on the paper, in 2.82. HF = 9.9291.

I pulled the C transitioning off to the steel. I called it right on the line, and it missed the line by about 1/4".

On one of the short courses, I had a make-up on steel. On the other short course, I smoked the two poppers but put a couple of deltas on paper. A couple of the courses had good oportunities for shooting on the move. I took those as hard as I could, really trying to haul butt. Put up a lot of A/C on target but was happy with how that went. My shooting on the move really helped my times. On the longer courses I was right there with the open guys.

Darin's stage had good practice shooting through ports. Targets were close but spread wide. I was really happy how well I set up on the first target in each port, then hit the second while hustlin to the next target.

Had 4 Ds on the match. No penalties. Shot 83% of the points. I'd have liked that to be higher, but I'm still happy w/ the match.

Did the scores for the first time last night. Should go faster next time (I hope). I figured out the shortcuts when entering scores so I don't have to reach for the mouse so much. Plus I had to import the shooter db and figure out how to upload everything...

-rvb

[rvb]

2010 Area 5:

http://www.youtube.com/mdhoser#p/a/u/0/v8MLOtKmlfo

6th in PD, 2nd Master.

Shot 87.5% of the match points. Not wonderful, but an improvement as late. Had FIVE MIKES. What the Crap?! I'm ok with one of those. That bitch was fast. I took my two shots quick and got on with it.

Started the match on Stage 8. I was the first shooter. it was a HORRIBLE way to begin. In vid above it begins at 2:15. First 5 shots were all good, although a little slow. Then on the next array I took 11 rounds for 6 required, and SLOW. Next array was ok, but then the gun decided not to feed... after activating a set of movers. Hit the swinger but all that was left of the clam shell was the top 1/2 of the head at ~10 yds... took 2A on it, but slow. On the final array I had two more jams. On vid it looks like I just did an extra reload on one of those short-feeds, but I think it fed real slow so I said to hell with that mag... 47 seconds. The match was out the window and it was just 8am...

Following stage I was still flustered. Threw two un-called mikes. On stage 10 I decided I needed to get back into it. I took it conservative, but got all my hits [and finished 6th on that stage!].

I got back into it and shot the next 6 well, but stage 5 bit me hard. I let non-shooting crap get into my head. I was making ready and it was realized my score sheet was lost. I knew I handed it in [and my sticker was gone] so we had to get that squared away. I rushed my second make ready and was trying to remember my plan sitting on the pot (yea, the stage was "Latrine Swing"). I messed up my plan, mis-timed the movers, and had two mikes. I was seriously pissed... at myself for not having the brains to ask to shuffle down a couple shooters and get ready again, or at least ask for time... I blame heat/hunger/tiredness/stupidity...

I had some water and some fruit and a protein bar and got my head back into it and shot the last two solid. I was surprised I ended up placing as well as I did. I wasn't expecting a top 15 by 9am.

So... about the shooting...

I seem to have improved the problem with my grip. I shot empty 3 or 4 times (a couple by plan) and each time the gun locked back, so I seem to be off the controls. I had a failure to feed on a SLR on stage 2.

I felt a lack of confidence shooting on the move. I think it shows on the vid. I thought I had been doing much better at it recently, including the last local match where I was really aggressive on the move, but I was timid this weekend.

Equipment problems suck. 4 feed failures in this match. Should have kept tract of the mags, maybe one is getting bad? Recoil spring is new. Gun was cleaned (I actually think that's the problem! ). I hate not having 100% confidence in my equipment... that G34 is looking better and better.

-rvb

[rvb]

Just finished going through my mags. I loaded a couple rounds into each and then eased the breech against the back of the round, and let it slide home. Two of the mags nosedived enough to cause jams that looked just like my Area 5 vid. Just as in the vid, the slide closed on the tap part of the tap/rack or with light pressure on the back of the slide. For now I've pulled those mags out of the rotation. I ordered all new factory mag springs from brownells (yes, via the site here). The trick is going to be finding time to test-fire w/ the new springs before the IN Sectional. Might toss in a recoil spring w/ another 1-lb weight to be safe...

-rvb

[rvb]

got new mag springs from brownells, but they do not fit in the beretta 10-round mags.. too wide. Will have to return and get some factory or wolfs. the brownells springs didn't appear to bend up enough to keep the nose of the follower up anyway. found 6 lightly used 10-rounders w/ bumpers online for ~$13 ea (incl shipping) so those are on the way...

took the production gun w/ me to the in-laws this weekend. father-in-law put 10 rounds through it then we decided to be done. In that 10 rounds I lost a pint of blood to skeeters.

couldn't really do any DF on vacation, so I took a book. I got 3/4 through Inner Game of Tennis... Some new ideas I've picked up on...

1) Learn from watching better shooters... not to pick up technique, but to pick up attitude and flow and "rhythm." Let the subconscious learn, don't analize.

2) When trying new techiques, expect a loss of results elsewhere. This is an idea I've "lost"... any more when I try something different or to increase speed on a drill, I still expect As.

3) Tension leads to unnecessary muscles working against you. Tension leads to tennis elbow. Tennis elbow is a sign that you are holding the racket [gun] with too much tension in your wrist/arm/shoulders. You can grip it firmly and powerfully enough with just the grip, and have better control with other muscles relaxed. [duh, but hearing it from a different source/context makes an impression].

I've already applied 1 and 2 while home mid-week. I watched some vids of a GM PD shooter doing 4 sec El Prez's. I just watched his rhythm, without trying to study technique, and tried to mimic his rhythm w/o even a gun in my hand. I then DF'd the drill, but w/o regard to points... if I even paid any attention to the FS, I let the shot break wherever it was. I was ahead of the 4.0s par every time. Interestingly, after 1/2 dozen I decided to see what I could do going for all As, and I was able to either just beat the 4.0 par, or finish during the beep (<4.3). Considering just last week I could only hit 4.7, and that was inconsistent/tense, that's >10% improvement over-night....

Also interestingly, I felt almost no unneeded tension doing this, and my elbow didn't bother me when I was done. I stopped the practice when I felt the "trying" to go fast creeping in, since I wanted to end positively. I'll be curious to try this in live fire to see if I can go <4.5. I've never done that w/ the PD gear, only w/ the open rig.

-rvb

[rvb]

Angola on Sunday..

working the match caised me to not get to shoot all the stages. I got 3 in before the match started, 2 stand-n-shoots and a 28 round field course I designed.

I shot 97.3% of the available points between those stages (only 1C on one stage, and 1D on the field course). Was very happy about the points, I've been working on pulling my points % up. I did have a couple makeups on steel. Didn't prep properly on the field course so I was kinda "hunting" targets, and I blew a reload (actual reload was ok, re-grip sucked and I pulled a couple shots off steel). Did not get the classifier in.

Almost no dryfire this week.

I did get a new hammer/sear in my single-stack over the long weekend. Followed the guide on brownells site, finally using my jig I got for Christmas. Came in @ 2lb 6oz. Got 50 rounds through it after the match, no sign of hammer following no matter how hard or wimpy I gripped it. Just used the wilson "value" line of sear/hammer since I figured I ruin a couple. Under magnification I'm not 100% happy w/ this set, so I may do a couple more before cutting into some expensive parts... but first I'd like to put a couple k through the gun as is to see if it holds up...

-rvb