rvb

[rvb]

When you say the first 8 in the dryfire book are you doing the recommended number of repititions or are you doing more than that?

depends. that night I did 10 ea of every set, where most recommended 5. was purely working on index that night. some nights I'll do less than the recommended, or only 1 set of 5 or 10 vs multiple sets. just depends where I want to focus.

-rvb

[rvb]

opted to not go the indoor match at niles today... just decided this early in the season 3 to 3.5 hrs in the car (and $40 in gas) seemed excessive for 3 stages.

Did get some dryfire in, about 60 minutes each the last couple nights.

Observations...

rotating my strong hand outward seemed to cure the inconsistency I was having gripping the gun on the draw. I was plagued by this last season where it seemed the heel of my hand never landed on the gun consistantly. The downside to this rotating of the hands is it seemed a bit unnatural and added tension. On further experimentation I realized I could get to the same position when grabbing the gun if I started with my elbows more "in," but that too seemed a bit unnatural. A eureka moment came when I realized by NOT rolling my shoulders forward (from tension!), my elbows, heel of my palm, and grip kinda all landed where I wanted.

I had trouble hitting my pars tonight, but I was more focused on the different "feels."

One bright spot on the pars... last night I added multiple targets to the routine. Doing El-Prez I had 5 consecutive runs under 4.0 both last night and tonight. I'm even trying to make the drills harder than last year by completely pulling the trigger on every shot (ie double action). That forces my splits to stay around ~0.20. Would like to get consistently in the 4.5 and under range in live fire this year.

On reloads, I've made a couple of small changes that seem to have really helped on smoothness, and have helped my speed. 1) My focus instantly goes to grabbing the new mag as fast as possible. Previously I had focused on getting to the mag release since it seemed the most complicated step (I have to shift my grip). 2) I time hitting the mag release with the new mag coming out of the holster.

-rvb

Edited January 24, 2011 by rvb

[Coach]

When you say the first 8 in the dryfire book are you doing the recommended number of repititions or are you doing more than that?

depends. that night I did 10 ea of every set, where most recommended 5. was purely working on index that night. some nights I'll do less than the recommended, or only 1 set of 5 or 10 vs multiple sets. just depends where I want to focus.

-rvb

depends???? Ok. I was just trying to decide how fast you were working. I had another question but I cannot remember it now.

[rvb]

When you say the first 8 in the dryfire book are you doing the recommended number of repititions or are you doing more than that?

depends. that night I did 10 ea of every set, where most recommended 5. was purely working on index that night. some nights I'll do less than the recommended, or only 1 set of 5 or 10 vs multiple sets. just depends where I want to focus.

-rvb

depends???? Ok. I was just trying to decide how fast you were working. I had another question but I cannot remember it now.

I work slower than I used to. It used to damn near be exercise, I be sweating and muscles would be sore, and I'd go balls to the wall for long periods of time. But I didn't get anywhere. Muscles get tired, they don't respond as fast, tension builds, focus drifts, etc. it was really counter productive. I set my par timer to give me enough time to get gear set back up (gun/mags holstered, pick up mags, set up the chair, whatever) plus another 10-15 seconds to re-focus. with most of those short drills at the front of anderson's book, I may only give 7-8 seconds till the next beep, then I'm doing ~6 draws /minute.

-rvb

[rvb]

I'm feeling guilty.

I haven't done any practicing since my last post... a couple of weeks ago.

This whole "taking the year off" is a motivation killer. I need a way to make this a positive; to keep motivation.

-rvb

[rvb]

[double post somehow].

-rvb

Edited February 10, 2011 by rvb

[rvb]

I got to fire a gun!!

First time pulling the trigger on a live round since Oct! 6 months. A record!

Been working ~20hrs OT/week, in addition to dealing w/ the new baby and 2 yr old.

This past Sunday I shot (and worked) the Angola match.

Shooting was dismal as it always is for me at that club... setting up for a couple hours, then rushing to get a couple stages in before shooters start is bad for the mental game, especially when your game has been on break for so long.

I haven't dont any dryfire since Jan, so I wasn't expecting much. The night before the match I did a few draws and found my index to not be as perfect as it was. Did about 5 minutes of "practice" and that helped a little to knock off the cobwebs.

1st stage was 99-11 El Prez. 6.2x, 42 points. Do'h. Blew the reload. Really Blew it. T1 was 4A... that was the target I started and ended on. T2 was 4C, perfect verticle 8" string just left of the A-zone. Obviuosly pushed that middle transition a hair. T3 was 3C1D, the target I came in and out of the reload on. Obviously rushed after the botched reload.

2nd stage, I had a couple extra shots on a plate, hitting a little low.

my stage... I had planned to take a mike (two 6-round arrays real close, was going to fire 11 rounds) to save a reload and avoid some long shots, but I forgot and reloaded between arrays anyway. Game plan meets window.

last stage... major trigger freeze on paper! also nicked a NS. However, I dominated a row of 8 poppers... I was about done with the array before the 1st hit the ground. Perfect shot calling

Things I noticed...

basic motions not as smooth. to be expected.

recoil control seemed as precise as when I hung up the gun at the end of last year. The FS seemed to lift straight and settle right back where I wanted it to.

On the first two stages I had a little trouble keeping my attention where it needed to be, but by the end of the match I felt I was doing much better.

Next month is a classifier.

Debating if I want to wreck my PD %, or play in SS...

-rvb

[Corey]

SS it up with me!

Good to hear you got back out on the range!

[Chris iliff]

Hey man, how ya been? I know you really want to limit the shooting this year, but Warsaw is this weekend. No pressure, just saying. Stay in touch and take care.

[rvb]

SS it up with me!

ok, Corey. you talked me into it.

I ordered some mag pouches (Safariland 771s), but they took 3 weeks to ship and now I don't think they'll be here in time. So I'll have to use my old idpa pouches (only have 2) plus my pockets... but that should be ok for a classifier match, just not as "racy."

lubed up the .45 and added some extractor tension last night. Got in about 20 minutes of dryfire (no timer). Let's see if I can start earning that A card in SS (currently an A at 58%! ha! I can't go down!).

-rvb

Edited April 28, 2011 by rvb

[Corey]

atta boy! now we just need the rain to hold off. I dont want to shoot another classifier match in the rain up there again like last year, haha

Im thinking i may try to add a production score to my name as well this weekend.

[rvb]

atta boy! now we just need the rain to hold off. I dont want to shoot another classifier match in the rain up there again like last year, haha

Im thinking i may try to add a production score to my name as well this weekend.

Now the forcast is calling for partly cloudy w/ only a 20% chance of rain.

Lasts month's match was rain w/ some snow mixed in... that sucked...

-rvb

[rvb]

What's a matter Corey, afraid a little rain/mist will frizz your hair?

Anyway, shot the special classifier at Angola on 5/1. I shot SS (since COREY talked me into it). Rusty describes my shooting well. No glaring problems, again just not maintaining mental focus all the way through the stages. A couple of "near miss" no shoots in there. Also had some equipment problems. Mag fell out of the pouch on can you count, so no mag to reload to. Gun wasn't always going into battery (a new problem w/ this gun; that's not happened before, have some investigating to do). I actually shot through some of the stages a second time to get something on the board to try to bring my % up to where it should be. Did manage what should be a ~84% on can you count (~3.3/3.6 seconds, down 2), and a ~77% on Paper Poppers (~6.3 down 2 with a couple of extra shots). Nothing stellar but it'll move my % out of C class.

New Mag pouches showed up Monday.

-rvb

Edited May 3, 2011 by rvb

[rvb]

lubed up the .45 and added some extractor tension last night.

Gun wasn't always going into battery (a new problem w/ this gun; that's not happened before, have some investigating to do).

Well, since this problem was new, and I had done some work on the extractor before this match, I thought the extractor might be a good place to start. Easing a round into battery it pretty consistantly hung up as the case rim came into concact w/ the extractor. So I pulled the extractor and it fed smooth as butter. Ah-ha, right?

I had taken just a couple thousands off the pad that limits how far towards the center the extractor can reach to give it some more bite. (It did seem to cure the random/sparse extraction problem.) So I added a little more bevel to the bottom of the extractor, and smoothed/rounded it really well, and it's again feeding as smooth as butter, with the additional extractor range of motion. The very last round still hitches a bit since it doesn't have another round below to help nudge it up behind the extractor, but it's only noticable if I work the slide slowly by hand. All other feed very smoothly.

Getting the urge to play in SS more, especially if all the bugs really are worked out of this little project gun. New 771s are here. May switch to SS for IN Section??

-rvb

[Corey]

your going to switch to SS and Im going to be switching to LTD, haha. good to hear you got yours up and running. I think mine is as well now. We shall see tomorrow at the Manny Bragg class...

[rvb]

Shot Production at Angola, in17, this weekend. A big turnout for the club, 42 shooters. Would be nice to break the 50 mark.

I was pretty happy with this match. No major issues. Nothing stellar, but no crashes. That's how I hope to shoot IN State.

Came in 1st PD, 3rd over all (~96%). I shot 90.5% of the points. 4 Ds. One mike: I left a steel standing because my reload plan forced me to slide lock so a make up would have cost me a reload... fastest time of all divisions on that stage (ie I should have done what it takes to make that hit).

Classifier was 03-07 Riverdale Standards. Shot it just well enough to count and drag down my % for the next year or so (should come in ~81.5%). 86 points in 14.36. 14A, 5C, and [doh] 1D. Strings were in the 5.2, 5.5, 3.7 range IIRC. I felt I was way too slow getting the first shots off, both out of the holster and after reloads. I think it was a lack of trust in my index and what I was seeing on the sights (like I was over-aiming it). Once the first shot was off, splits/transitions felt good.

I dryfired for 3 nights prior to this match, focusing on basic draws, index, and reloads.

-rvb

[Chris iliff]

Good to see you posting! Hope to shoot with you this year and see you!! Take care.

[rvb]

Shot production at Ft. Wayne, IN05, yesterday. Good for them in getting the club back up and running! Those field courses w/ lots of movement will keep the crowds coming.

Nothing stellar performance wise, but it was a fun match.

Shot just 89.4% of the points, so a little weak on hitting the A zone. 5% of which were given up on the classifier! Throw that out and my field course % was about 94%, which I'm quite happy with. Only 1 D on field courses.

One plate gave me trouble, took 4-5 rounds on it, otherwise I was one for one, incl the tx star which had to be engaged through a LOW barrel. One stage had 4 poppers close to each other... any one of them activated two disappearing drop turners. I was happy I was able to clear all 4 poppers and get good hits on both DTs, except for the one D on the last shot I snagged just as the DT was getting sideways.

Classifier was 99-51, Single Tap Standards. I simply tanked this one. I got into positions quickly and smoothly, but I was horribly slow getting off my first shots. I'd ballpark 3 seconds from the time I was prone to the time the first shot broke, and my prone index was good, I was just WAY too cautious on the DA trigger prep... WAY over-aimed. Same w/ kneeling. I ended up rushing the SHO/WHO strings cause I let the time get into my head. 3 Ds! only 84/120 points (9A/12C/3D) in a sorry 18.97. I was innacurate, but I made up for it by being slow.

Opted for plans that ran the gun dry a couple of times and both times the slide didn't lock back. Letting my WH grip get too high again.

Really enjoyed being out shooting w/ a good group of people. Really wish I could get out more, and the lack of shooting/practice is starting to show a bit, but I'm working hard to not let it bother me and just enjoy my limited time on the range.

-rvb

[Chris iliff]

I'm glad we talked a little, eventhough we didn't squad up. It was good to see you. Next month same squad and we will all bring and use our cameras!! Take care!

[rvb]

Shot Production at Angola this weekend. Came in 1st in PD, and, somehow, first in combined results. But it wasn't pretty.

At least one penalty on 4 of 5 stages. Only shot 83% of the points.

Classifier was 03-11, El Strong & el weak Prez. One Mike, One NS (not the mike'd round, a grazer). 13A, 1B, 9C, 1M, 1NS for 95 points in 18.48s. Very slow on the first shots. SHO/WHO timing was off, had to really steer the front sight.

My initial reaction to a couple of the field course misses was "Hey, I didn't call a miss!" Well. In hindsight I didn't call or see anything on those rounds. That mental focus is what is suffering first in this time away from practice or regular matches. I keep finding distracting thoughts creeping back into my head instead of just shooting.

I really liked the stage I designed. Going to have to remember that for a major some day. In the video it's the one with the TX Star. Amazing what a piece of steel hardcover does. Man did that mess with people's heads. The stage had a lot of options, but they weren't obvious. Had several folks accuse me of an illegal stage and it took some convincing that there were in fact no dissapearing targets. It was my worst shot stage (9 rounds I think on the star!, should have been ~5 seconds faster), but my plan put me in position to avoid a disaster.

The last stage was a real hose fest. 26A, 5C, and... do'h 1M. I called that on the very edge and opted not to make it up, it skimmed the paper and stick just outside of the D. Shot broke during the transition between targets (4th target on the array on the right behind the wall).

remembered the vid this time:

http://www.youtube.com/mdhoser#p/a/u/0/Y0TVRilGhUI

Was a great day to be shooting. Next match is IN State. Might try to fit some dryfire into my crazy schedule for the next month...

-rvb

[Corey]

You got a copy of the overall combined results from last weekend? I had a couple really ugly stages, but Id like to see where I ended up.

[rvb]

IN Section is in the books. Came in 6th in PD, 2nd Master. All GMs and 1 M in front of me. This match was a LOT of fun. And it felt like an endurance test.

First... no pain no gain. I forgot my orthopedic inserts for my shoes. by the 8th stage I could hardly walk. Tried to stay off my feet as much as possible, but that's only about 30 seconds while someone shoots before you're up pasting again.

Pulling out of the house to drive to the match I was having a hard time focusing. Realized it was just my left eye. My right eye (dominant) was BETTER than normal?! I had my contacts in the wrong eyes. I had been to the eye Dr like 5 times and was never happy w/ my prescription. Turns out the left works pretty good in the right. So I put in a new left one, grabbed some spare contacts, and got back on the road.

This was my only major this year. So I practiced... A whopping 90 minutes or so the week leading up to it. What I really noticed my time "off" has hurt isn't accuracy or shot calling or sight tracking, but stage execution, visualization, and the "flow" of a stage. I felt like I was shooting each stage in sections and thinking the stage through as I shot. Plans weren't followed, or if they were, not smoothly. No stage felt stellar (although I did end up w/ three 2nd's). But I was consistent and had no crashes, and that's what saved me.

I shot ~92% of the points. 5 Ds, 2 mikes.

First stage, (stage 1 by chance) plan had me starting shooting 10 rounds on an empty-gun start. Didn't think about the gun going empty during the walk through and was thinking WTF when the slide locked back. Gun didn't go into battery on the load, which has not happened before. much time lost.

2nd stage. Plan? what plan? I included an un-planned reload, and the execution was true "shoot em as you see em." I had a good plan but didn't even begin to follow it. "Now what?" is how I felt the whole time.

Stage 3, meh. very blocky. had feet planted where I planned to be moving. Too many Cs (9).

Stage 4, a short 2 paper and 4 poppers, My first ever call for calibration, and I got the reshoot! Whew! Came in 2nd. I can say I beat Ben on a stage. Could have been a couple tenths faster but I called a miss on the first steel. I called it an inch under the cal zone and an inch left. But on vid I see it hit an inch on, so steel #1 had 2 rounds on it.

Stage 5, I was too chicken sh* to go for hitting the activator first and then all steel and paper before going for the clamshell, so I hit the paper, activator, 3 steel... and WAITED on the mover. damn. This was my worst place finish at 12th.

Stage 6, another 2nd place finish. I set up well on the ports. 2Cs. Not much I could have done different. I like the way Ben shot it, that certainly saved setting up in another position. smart.

Stage 7. Long shots went ok. 2 Ds. one called, one called a C. I hit the activator for the dual max traps moving too fast, I pulled a miss on one. You can see on vid I jumped a little thinking about coming back for it, but I opted to take the mike (too close to 180 and too tight a shot w/ the NS, plus the time to back up). Still came in 9th, and the miss only cost me one stage position.

Stage 8, another "meh." Opted for a safe plan that let me get a couple targets from a little lower port at the expense of an additional position to set up in. If I were an inch or so taller I think I would have gone for 5 targets from the middle of the back wall, reloaded, and hit all the low targets at the end on a single mag. Didn't burn-in where to look on the 2nd position on the back wall and almost engaged the wrong targets. 4th on this stage.

Stage 9, another 2nd place finish. A D on this stage really hurt. I felt this was my best stage. Except for that D, I don't know I could have done it much better.

Stage 10, I second guessed how to start right up to the buzzer. Starting SHO like Ben did didn't occur to me, I think that was the ticket... I -almost- had the right plan. A called edge D on the far static paper needed a make-up, and I must have ridden the slide lock and it didn't occur to me the gun was empty. So I got to my second position and the gun went "click." Shit.

Stage 11. Stage went well except for the last position through the port. On the second shot for the 1st paper, my hand bumped the port frame as the gun fired, and I had NO idea where it went. after shooting the array, I came back and made it up... but I pulled off the last target too soon hurrying to get back and pulled a mike. And the target with the errant round? Well, I made up a C with a C... That mike cost me about 5 stage positions.

Vid here:

http://www.youtube.com/mdhoser#p/a/u/0/WJ4PDTKHO4U

-rvb

Edited August 2, 2011 by rvb

[Chris iliff]

Good shooting man! Wish we could have talked more.

[Stony Lane]

Two Beretta shooters in the top 6!

[rvb]

Good shooting man! Wish we could have talked more.

Thanks, man.

Good to see you, too. Agree that I wish we could have chatted more. The good thing about a big match is that you get to see folks you dont see often. The down side is everyone, shooters and staff, is hustling to keep the match moving.

Catch ya around sometime,

-rvb