Tracking my progess-let 'er rip 'tater chip!

[tgibson]

6.2.08

Well the IF match didn't go as well as I would have hoped, but for the most part it was alright. I think there were only about 15 or 20 shooters, but it tested the majority of the skills I will need for the Ironman. I don't have exact numbers but I do have a rough breakdown. Basically, I won three stages, came in 3rd on one and was about dead last on the long range stage. I have no idea what happened here, but I think it had to do with the ammo. I went from the 55gr Federal to the 69gr Match Kings. I would have thought these would have been better, but I doesn't appear to be so. Oh well. Now I know and I have enough of the 55gr stuff for the Ironman long range stuff.

Things that went well:

I shot and reloaded my SG pretty good. My slug hits were well within tolerances. I didn't miss any flying clays. My reloads were good except for one stage, and there was a lot of it at the very end so my arms were getting a little pumped up and the fingers didn't want to work right.

I was happy with the pistol. The first stage I shot had some 8" plates at about 20 yards. I was trying to hurry things up and got a little sloppy. Other than that, things were good.

The rifle. How I love this thing and how I hate it. I love this gun for close range. I do pretty good with it there too. I know how to hit A's at point blank range and everywhere between there and 50 yards. The long range stuff seems to kick my @$$ though! I would have bet ANY ammount of money I was going to clean house on the long range stage at this match. Not the case! Oh well. I am going to get some first rate help in the next month or two on getting this thing ironed out. I CAN HARDLY WAIT!!!

Things that went BAD!!:

$140 speeding ticket 15 minutes to the match and then it didn't even start on time!! Other than that, the long range rifle, and some pretty crazy scoring issues, things went pretty good!

That is all for now. I probably won't be back for the next three weeks. I have the Ironman and then the A1 match. Really looking forward to that.

Adios,

TG

[tgibson]

Well we have another Ironman in the books and for the most part, it came off pretty good. Everyone seemed to have a pretty good time, and we had the scores out the same day as the match!!!

Now we'll discuss my shooting....HOLY CRAP!! I really didn't expect to do any good, but there is always that hope. If I hadn't been tied up with match duties and been concnetrating on the machine gun stage, I probably wouldn't have gotten those TWO 300 SECOND penalties. OUCH!! If it werent for that, I would have met my goal of making the top 20. Like I said, I would like to have done better, but I sort of knew it wouldn't happen. Oh well it is over now!! YEAAAA!!! On the lighter side, I did get all of the long range bonus targets.

I have been shooting the Wed night steel matches and this week was awesome! I shot Roundabout, Speed Option, Accelerator, and Show down in 47 seconds!! I am going to be able to shoot two more USPSA matches and one more SC match before the A1. I think these will be good tune ups before the A1 match. After shooting a 3 gun like the MGM, shooting a pistol match seems really simple. I don't have to think about ammo management, smooth shotgun reloading, weapon transitions, or anything. All I have to do is concentrate on hitting A's and doing it as fast as I can! Seems pretty simple!

I'll get back with this weekends results.

Adios,

TG

[el pres]

Hey Travis, just wondering, how did you get 2 "300" sec. penalties ???

Also, dont ever "hope", think that you "will", then deal with the reasons why you did'nt after.

Dont be so hard on yourself, your an awsome shooter.

Peter

Edited June 21, 2008 by DIRTY CHAMBER

[tgibson]

Thanks for the compiment and words of encouragement. That thing is WAYYY mentally exhausting. I think I am still trying to get recovered!!! I got the penalties for leving my pistol and rifle on the table with rounds left in them. It said in the course description all guns had to be totally empty. It really didn't matter because you couldn't go in front of them, and if I would have noticed that during the RO shoot, I would have changed it. OH well. Actually without those two penalties, I would have been pretty happy with my overall performance. Thanks again, and I'm looking forward to shooting with you again. Take care.

Adios,

TG

[tgibson]

I just got back from the A1 match in Portland. This was a very technical match. I realized the first day of looking at the stages that the person who shot clean with the least ammount of M's and NS's was going to do well. One of the most profound things I have ever came up with happend to me in the hotel room the night before I started shooting. Get ready cause here it comes..."don't let your perception of speed cause you to shoot beyond your capabilities." HOLY CRAP!!! Why didn't I think of this before? I think it had a lot to do with the fact that this was such a technical match. The funny thing is, even on the very few hoser stages there were at this match, it still applied. It made so much sence to me, I wrote it down in my match book and will probably never get rid of it. This really set the tone for my match and every time I would start to get wound up, I would get out my match book and read this. Here is the rundown of the match.

I got off to a pretty rough start with a NS, but I was able to get past that and get on with the job at hand. This made me really happy. The next couple of stages were shot pretty conservatively. Not real fast, but pretty accurate and not many penalties. Then there was stage three. Ringading. I practiced drawing an empty gun and loading it the night before, and just before I shot. I told myself to be smooth and don't push it. I ended up shooting the stage in 4.92 seconds I think. This was .05 seconds slower than Travis T. I was jacked!!! I really didn't push things, and just shot my sights. Any time I think I need to speed up, I am going to remember this stage. It was great!!

The next day I started on stage 5 and 6. I had some issues with the swingers on stage 5 and came up with a M. I got over that pretty quick and was just going on with my game. Stage 6 went pretty good, and then I had another M on stage 7. At this point, I knew I was pushing too hard and it was time to read my profound thought, which I did. After that, things were all good. I went into stage 8 KNOWING I was going to shoot good...and I did....until my extractor broke with three steel and two paper left. This really hurt. It turned what should have been a 15 second stage into a 65 second stage. I ended up 89 out of 92. OUCH!!

I tried two different extractors, neither of which worked, and then Frank C on my squad offered to loan me his backup gun. Thanks Frank!! It was way different, but at least I was going to be shooting. I put the issue out of my mind and went to the standards stage. I bobbled a reload (wasn't used to the gun), but other than that, things went alright. I had one M on that stage. The Breach door stage went pretty good as well.

I checked out the scores today, and guestimating where my finish would have been with out the broken extractor, I would have been second A shooter behind first by about 8 points. With the bobble I had on the standards stage because of the borrowed gun, I think I could have had first. Oh well. I was really happy with how I shot and if it wasn't for the broken part, I know I would have done well.

I'm off to Albany for the R and R next, and I'll let you know how it goes.

Adios,

TG

[DMS42]

Hey Travis, not to make you feel bad or anything, but I'll make you the same offer on your pistol that you made on my rifle after it quit working at the Ephrata 3-Gun.

But I am sorry to hear that you had gun problems and hope that you get them fixed.

As an added thought, the guy that builds LimCats was there and there were lots of extractors for sale in the vendor tent.

Plus I would have been happy to lend you either my Para-Ord Limited .45 or even my Colt Commander.

See you in Spokane.

[tgibson]

Hey Travis, not to make you feel bad or anything, but I'll make you the same offer on your pistol that you made on my rifle after it quit working at the Ephrata 3-Gun.

But I am sorry to hear that you had gun problems and hope that you get them fixed.

As an added thought, the guy that builds LimCats was there and there were lots of extractors for sale in the vendor tent.

Plus I would have been happy to lend you either my Para-Ord Limited .45 or even my Colt Commander.

See you in Spokane.

Thanks for the offer Dennis!! I got it put back together though . I had two brand new extractors that I bought for $140, but neither one of them fit without "gunsmithing". I'll keep you in mind next time I have an issue. Thanks again for the offer. Take care.

Adios,

TG

[Franksremote]

I, and the rest of the squad, felt your pain on Twinkle Toes. It sucks when your gun goes down Glad the b/u gun worked out ok for you.

[tgibson]

I, and the rest of the squad, felt your pain on Twinkle Toes. It sucks when your gun goes down Glad the b/u gun worked out ok for you.

I really appreciated that Frank. It worked great! I wish I had a backup gun that nice! Thanks again, and if there is ever anything I or MGM can do for you, please don't hesitate to call. Take care.

Adios,

TG