Davids Road to Running with the masters

[waxman]

Ok, I am back up and running again. I received and fitted my new parts yesterday. The problem was the IBF on my SV was loose and was causing extractor problems. When I got home it actually fell out of the gun, when I was cleaning, and inspecting it. Thanks to fellow BE members, I was able to install and fit the new part, 2 hrs before my club match.

One other thing I would like to mention. While yes, I had gun troubles, and yes, I shot really poopy at the MN section, I did still place 6 out of 24 in limited. This is pretty small potatoes for some, but it is still an accomplishment. I also ended up 2nd B out of 7 of us. Not great, but i think respectable. I received my first ever plaque for this, and I am pretty proud, especially since It was given to me in front of all the members of our club.

Ok, the next think I want to talk about is another accomplishment last night. For the first time, i took HOA at our club there were 33 shooters, so it at least is worth mentioning.The next entries will be back to training, the next match is Sunday.

Here it is, I am pretty happy about it.

009

Match Date: 6/24/2009

Combined divisions - These are NOT official results.

Place Name USPSA Class Division PF Lady Mil Law For Age Points Stg %

1 Schaefer, David A59452 B Limited Major N N N N 459.6335 100.00%

2 Sitter, Larry TY44744 B Open Major N N N N 428.8845 93.31%

3 Troolin, Rob A61232 B Production Minor N N N N 417.9672 90.93%

4 Pierce, Harmon A55120 B Limited Major N N N N 409.0812 89.00%

5 Bradshaw, Mark TY57056 B Production Minor N N N N 372.4990 81.04%

6 Johnson, Jerry A46789 B Production Minor N N N N 342.8226 74.59%

7 Hammond, Les A56844 C Limited Major N N N N 336.7822 73.27%

8 Koskie, Edward A51037 C Production Minor N N N N 303.5283 66.04%

9 Ziemann, Randy A60088 B Production Minor N N N N 283.7230 61.73%

10 Bailey, Phil A60940 U Limited 10 Major N N N N 282.3838 61.44%

11 Collins, Kevin A64637 U Production Minor N N N N 265.4541 57.75%

12 Schmitt, Jay A59047 C Production Minor N N N N 265.2242 57.70%

13 Bailey, Brandon Pen U Production Minor N N N N 243.4863 52.97%

14 Bestland, Greg Pen U Limited 10 Major N N N N 223.4649 48.62%

15 Galde, Jon A55156 B Revolver Major N N N N 222.4931 48.41%

16 Kern, Joshua Pen U Limited Major N N N N 220.0060 47.87%

17 Harrison, Randy TY59163 D Production Minor N N N N 215.5846 46.90%

18 Hamilton, Michael A64866 U Production Minor N N N N 215.0226 46.78%

19 Fiebke, Jim A59294 C Production Minor N N N N Senior 206.7441 44.98%

20 Bailey, Kameron A64725 U Production Minor N N N N 189.6465 41.26%

21 Mundy, Dan A63479 U Production Minor N N N N 188.3050 40.97%

22 Sinclair, Bob A65387 U Limited 10 Major N N N N 183.6172 39.95%

23 Weaver, Matt A58623 D Limited Major N N N N 177.1136 38.53%

24 Tri, Steve A64933 U Production Minor N N N N 171.5419 37.32%

25 Montgomery, Stephe A64130 U Limited Major N N N N 157.7532 34.32%

26 Lansing, Steve A64015 U Production Minor N N N N 150.4506 32.73%

27 Anderson, Doug A65112 U Production Minor N N N N 147.2539 32.04%

28 Bradshaw, Donovan Pen U Production Minor N N N N 146.0678 31.78%

29 Young, Clay A62426 U Production Minor N N N N 137.9736 30.02%

30 Hight, Harry TY64925 U Production Minor N N N N 133.7638 29.10%

31 Harrison, Scott A65394 U Production Minor N N N N 112.6105 24.50%

32 Benjamin, Connie Pen U Production Minor Y N N N 76.1422 16.57%

33 Kern, Ember Pen U Production Minor Y N N N 39.2752 8.54%

Combined divisions - These are NOT official results.

Sometimes the order of finish changes from the 'By Division' report and

the 'Combined' report. This is beacuse a different Stage High Hit Factor

was used to calculate the stage points.

Edited June 25, 2009 by waxman

[Ridgerunnr]

Your doing great Dave...congrats again!..NIce to see the hard work is paying off for ya.I stunk it up bad last night. ALso half way thru the shoot the heat got me. Set up started a little after 2 and by 7 i was paying for it. Oh well still had fun and the Star really was fun to shoot!!!!

[waxman]

Thanks Phil. Harmon told me about your crash on the table stage, that sucks, sounds like you were really Kicking ass, till you ran out of mags!! Thanks alot for all of the hard work setting up stages, they were really great last night. Except for the hiddden Mini popper that cost me a procedural. Never knew it was there until till we scored my run. I guess I am off to the range. Hope fully see you either Sunday, or Next wed. Oh. according to my calculations, it looks like you are going to win Lim 10 this year. It was neck and neck with you and Greg.

[Ridgerunnr]

Yeah that stage was going great..did a mag change and swept out my last mag i needed..ugh..was ugly. The Lim was runnin perfect and everything was going great til that point..lol I need more competition in Lim10..if i can win 1st on a night like last night? I didnt earn it and that bugs me. I push myself harder when i know I have to bring my A game if that makes sense. I did the same on stage 1..stayed wide on port before the star and missed seeing a target..no excuse really but by then i was feeling pretty miserable and just struggled to finish it . I only missed once on the star but a 35 sec run on that stage was all i could muster. Oh well going to load some more tonight maybe if i get time and start practicing more..the heat is supposed to drop at least some anyway.

[DarkSmileyX]

I don't see a match for Sunday on the MN Section calendar?

[waxman]

I don't see a match for Sunday on the MN Section calendar?

The match is in Holmen WI.

[waxman]

Just got in from a good practice session. I set up 10 targets at 20 yards and compleately plastered them with no shoots. Shot it 5 times, but only once clean. That second shot really needs work. I was going for speed. I have noticed from watching my videos that I am really slow at long range targets, especially with hardcover, and no shoots on them. Need way more work on these, no confidence yet. I left it up, to shoot later tonight. The heat and skeeters are pretty bad right now.

[waxman]

Ok, put a little twist on my no shoot nightmare as I am calling it. I shot the same stage as yesterday, but this time. I shot 2 at a taget did a mag change, and then 2 more at another target. Sure see alot doing this. You must really follow through, or it is really easy to tag a no shoot. My best time with just a standing reload was a 4.32, best with a step was 4.23, go figure. Must be that we never do standing reloads in limited. I am sure with some more practice, i could get into the 3's, but after 100 rnds, I was beginning to get a little sloppy, so i called it a day. Now I just have to figure what to work on for tomorrow.

[waxman]

Had a little Hiatus for the past few days. Been on the hunt for work. All is well in that department, but It takes a large toll on shooting practice. Well Right or wrong, I have been trying to push the envelope a little more at matches to try and amp up the speed a little. Unfortunetly this has been at the expense of accuracy. I totally sucked big time at a match, but it is working out a little as my vision is catching up with the pace. Many good shooters dont feel like a match is place to push boundries, but I am trying everything to get some improvement. I ended up with 2 mikes at my last match, but the speed was alot better. Ended up 2nd limited, and 3rd over all at the match. I was only 5.86 seconds behind the winner, who is a master. Not sure if a clean match would have helped me as much as a speedy one. But this is what happend. Have a few bigger matches coming up, so maybe my speed and accuracy can find each other. Should get a fair share of practice this weekend , So we will see.

[Lawdawg112]

Had a little Hiatus for the past few days. Been on the hunt for work. All is well in that department, but It takes a large toll on shooting practice. Well Right or wrong, I have been trying to push the envelope a little more at matches to try and amp up the speed a little. Unfortunetly this has been at the expense of accuracy. I totally sucked big time at a match, but it is working out a little as my vision is catching up with the pace. Many good shooters dont feel like a match is place to push boundries, but I am trying everything to get some improvement. I ended up with 2 mikes at my last match, but the speed was alot better. Ended up 2nd limited, and 3rd over all at the match. I was only 5.86 seconds behind the winner, who is a master. Not sure if a clean match would have helped me as much as a speedy one. But this is what happend. Have a few bigger matches coming up, so maybe my speed and accuracy can find each other. Should get a fair share of practice this weekend , So we will see.

I think our wed matches are a great place to push yourself especially since your gearing up for Las Vegas and the other sectionals. Just wish we had a couple more experienced shooters coming down on a more regular basis to learn from and compete against. Just received Steve Anderson's book refinement and repetition, dry fire drills for dramatic improvement. I know you hate dry fire, but this is more like a work book to track progress and improve on all the little things to make you better as a whole, I love it so far, and reccomend it to everyone. 25 clams from andersonshooting.com

[waxman]

Ok, fine Rob, you did beat me by 1.39%, so I suppose I should listen to ya!! Just got done with 100 Perfect reloads. Wow I think that took me about 30 minutes, and about 200 imperfect ones. I finally did the dot on the inside of the magwell trick so many have done. Really forces you to get the gun up, where it should be. I am actually sweating from dry firing, is that a good thing?I am planning on getting some live fire in this afternoon to reenforce some of the muscle memory.

[Lawdawg112]

Ok, fine Rob, you did beat me by 1.39%, so I suppose I should listen to ya!! Just got done with 100 Perfect reloads. Wow I think that took me about 30 minutes, and about 200 imperfect ones. I finally did the dot on the inside of the magwell trick so many have done. Really forces you to get the gun up, where it should be. I am actually sweating from dry firing, is that a good thing?I am planning on getting some live fire in this afternoon to reenforce some of the muscle memory.

Still don't understand how they can do the overall scores and compare limited to production to open. Glad to hear your training is going good, wish I had a range in my backyard. Keep at it.

[waxman]

Hit the range again. Perfect weather. Just worked mostly on shot calling, and technical shots. I finished up by shooting the classifier 6. Best Run was a 3.41 clean. According to the calc dealie, that is a 91% run, but I have heard that it is not accurate for 08 classifiers. I am hoping that is at least a A. I need to get a firm hold on this classifier gremlin and squash him. I am down to almost no ammo now, so tomorrow I will have to work on Dry fire, and Reloading.

Rob. I know it is unfair to compare all divisions together, but since we have very few good people in each division, it is nice to compare to something. I just figure if I am beating you, I am running pretty good!!. Oh also since you wish you had a range in your back yard, I wish I had access to free ammo!! like someone I know.

[Lawdawg112]

Hit the range again. Perfect weather. Just worked mostly on shot calling, and technical shots. I finished up by shooting the classifier 6. Best Run was a 3.41 clean. According to the calc dealie, that is a 91% run, but I have heard that it is not accurate for 08 classifiers. I am hoping that is at least a A. I need to get a firm hold on this classifier gremlin and squash him. I am down to almost no ammo now, so tomorrow I will have to work on Dry fire, and Reloading.

Rob. I know it is unfair to compare all divisions together, but since we have very few good people in each division, it is nice to compare to something. I just figure if I am beating you, I am running pretty good!!. Oh also since you wish you had a range in your back yard, I wish I had access to free ammo!! like someone I know.

I hear ya there. For me shooting with/against equal or better shooters is the one thing that helps me improve more than anything. Sounds like your practice with "6" is going good. I've been working hard on my turns lately, snapping the head right to that target while drawing and getting that first sight picture. Have you heard what any of the other stages for the PIPS points match is going to be? I hope a lot of people come, it should be a great match.

[waxman]

Been freaking out her latley trying to diagnose this weird extractor issue I have been having. I ended up putting my Old IBF back in, and so far so good. Just got back in from trying to make it FTE again, but I could not do it. I worked for a while on 20 yard plates, my draw turn and fire, and some mag change practice. I ended up with 5 rnds left, so I though i might as well finish up with a Bill Drill, to test the gun. I got a new personal best of 1.78. The draw was1.15 then a .24 .11 .17, a final .11. Not good for much of any thing, but it sure felt cool. Got alot of matche comming up, so I am pretty excited, hope that I and the gun will both Run, like we are supose to.

[waxman]

Gun seems to run fine with the old IBF back in, got about 300 through it, without a fte, so that helps the confidence a little. Been kind of a weird past couple of days. I have Been so bent on trying to amp up the speed, my accuracy has went out the window. Ended up shooting a no shoot, and 2 mikes again at the last match, that is 2 matches in the row with bad shots. I decided to work just on accuracy last night. I set up a standard target, and surrounded all, but about a 5"x 6" square of the A zone with no shoots. I just shot a pair at this from 10 ' all the way back to 66' Every time I winged the no shoot, I would stay at that spot , and work on it. Almost like the Horse game with basketball. Ended up firing about 100 rounds at this target, and was getting alot better by the end. The part that I am pretty bummed about , It takes me almost 6 seconds to put 2 in that small of a area from 66' Not sure if practicing this will help but I will see. I am having a really hard time mentally not pulling the trigger too hard on my second shot. I have to mentally force myself to steady press. Have a points match Sat, and A section match Sunday. So stay tuned for further developments!!

[Lawdawg112]

How was your shoot today? Hope it went well for you.

[waxman]

Wow, what a marathon shooting weekend. Ended up shooting both our clubs biggest match of the year, and the great plains sectional in 1 weekend.First things first, with between 4- 500 rounds this weekend, the SV was perfect. I am so thankful for that, I am starting to feel the confidence again. The points match I ended up 3/19 in limited, and 9/64 overall. And the Gp section match was 5/24 limited, and 17/79 overall. I decided to play both matches a little more safe, and ended up with 3 misses all weekend, which I am pretty happy about. I really only have 1 stage that I totally hit the crapper on. I have been beating myself up pretty bad over it, but honestly it was a devious contraption I have never seen before ,that thumped me. The activated texas star. I looked like a idiot on that stage and ended up taking 16 shots at that ugly thing

My time was 60.83, which is without a doubt, the longest stage time of my life. Other then that, I had a mike on a double drop turner, that I called, but I didnt think it would pay to put another hit on it, from a different position. Ended up 12th overall on that stage, so I think it was the right choice. I have noticed that I am placing much better at matches when I concentrate more on accuracy then speed, so i think that is what I will stick with for a while.

Now onto training. I found that I really need to practice shooting targets laterally on the move. I tried a stage with stand and shoot targets at distance, vs, running by and shooting them. I was crushed as far as time, and the hits were not that great. I will work on this. I think I need to shoot arrays faster then I do, so I will also work on this. Finally as always, I need to be smoother with the movement. . These will be were my training is headed in the upcoming weeks.

Edited July 14, 2009 by waxman

[Thomas H]

Wow, what a marathon shooting weekend. Ended up shooting both our clubs biggest match of the year, and the great plains sectional in 1 weekend.

[snip]

I really only have 1 stage that I totally hit the crapper on. I have been beating myself up pretty bad over it, but honestly it was a devious contraption I have never seen before ,that thumped me. The activated texas star.

The GP Sectional really had some devious evil stages, didn't it? That activated Texas Star through a barrel got a number of people. Don't feel too bad---lots of people got slower times than you did on that stage. Of course, the fact that we were standing in a foot of water at the time didn't help either.

[waxman]

Wow, what a marathon shooting weekend. Ended up shooting both our clubs biggest match of the year, and the great plains sectional in 1 weekend.

[snip]

I really only have 1 stage that I totally hit the crapper on. I have been beating myself up pretty bad over it, but honestly it was a devious contraption I have never seen before ,that thumped me. The activated texas star.

The GP Sectional really had some devious evil stages, didn't it? That activated Texas Star through a barrel got a number of people. Don't feel too bad---lots of people got slower times than you did on that stage. Of course, the fact that we were standing in a foot of water at the time didn't help either.

Yes, it was pretty devious, but I loved every second of it. Just pointed out a few shooting weaknesses i have. Here is the video, so any help or critique, would be great. Especially you BEN!!

[waxman]

Finally had time to get out to the range again. Burned up 120 just working on movement. I set up a stage with 3 targets obscured by no shoots, and then a plate. Then I had to change mags, and sprint to a similiar array. My first run was a 13.47, after 5 runs, I got it down to a 9.99. I am really trying to figure out how to make my first run on a stage, the best i can do. If I am can improve 3.5 seconds on a 13 round course how much better could I shoot a 32 rnd stage ? Only thing I noticed is, I was alot lower on my subsequent tries. This is really hard for me to remember when stepping to the line. finished up with some mag changes on the move, while shooting at the targets with no-shoot .

[waxman]

Worked on transitions from wide left, to wide right. I Ended up burning .6 off the time, just by pushing the draw, and seeing how quickly I can break the shot when the sights enter the A. I am surprised I am able to press the trigger at speed, Never used to be able to do that. I then added a mag change between them . I was about 1- 1.3 seconds more with the mag change. Smooth is definetly faster . When I just ram it and force things, the 3rd thumb seems to show up, and it ends up being slower anyway. Good training. Pretty happy how things are going. Seriously thinking about either the WI section, or Area 3 just to see where I am at, before the big show.

[waxman]

Went out to the range, and really had no idea what to work on. For lack of imagination, I decided to do what the local Gm is doing. I set up 3 targets about 20' to 30 ' apart, and then 2 shooting positions about even with the outside target. I then put no shoots on them and shot them from each position . I did a mag change while moving, and did this both left and right. My first run each way, I taged a no shoot, and was in the 11's. After a few runs, and concentration on keeping the gun high. I posted a best right run of 9.93, and a best left of 9.99. worst hit on the targets was a tight c.. I know there is tons of improvement to be had on this, It is hard for me to have the patience and wait for the front sight to come back down. A few times I didnt wait, and you can imagine what the hits looked like. Just for fun, I ended up doing a quick Bill Drill, and hit a 2.02. which is not great, but reviewing the splits, I had a .10. in among the crappy ones.

[waxman]

Been a pretty busy week, so not alot of range time. Did manage to make a match on Wed. Shot prety well. The part I am most happy about is, I finally nailed a classifier. I have done something stupid on most of them lately. I actually brought my percentage down, by screwing up so many. Well hopefully that is in the past. I ran 6 in 3.75, Which was enough for 83%. This wont push me into A, but it will bring my % back up. Have another match tomorrow, with the classifier steely speed. Need to run it in 3.97, so time will tell. Ran about 150 down the pipe in the last 2 days so hopefully that will make up for the lack during the week.

[waxman]

Have Not been writting in here much lately, But have been doing a good amount of practicing. Shot a really poor match last Sunday, and then shot one of the best of my life on Wed. I am pretty happy with where I am at right now, Just over a month until Nationals, so That should provide enough time to work on my trouble areas. I just got in from running 15 yrd head shot drills. One of my weakest areas, is accuracy on the second shot, at speed. I figured shooting a pair at just head shots,may help this. I set up the targets, so all of the target was covered, but the head, with a NS. I got the OA time down to around 2.37 -2.45 area, but any faster then that, I would pull the second shot high. If there is enough Daylight,I may try this drill again tonight. I then want to try 1 round on all 5 of the head targets, reload, then 1 round again coming back again.

I am having a hard time keeping practice interesting I just went over 10,000 rounds this week, so I am at a all time high for this time of year. I ordered another 5k, so I should be set for the remainder of the season.

Cant seem to get any of the bigger matches to work out, so I am going to have to treat the local matches like they are the real thing. Well, going back down to hang out with my Buddy, Mr. Dillon.