Lee King

[Lee King]

1/15/2010 LIVE FIRE

Made it to the range after work for some live fire. Goal was to really crank the gun and try to make it fail. We changed grips. The original grip was a hair tight on the mainspring housing. After I replaced the grip tape, I had to pry the grip apart to get the housing in. Mags were sticking at the last MCRC match in the extreme cold. I also wanted to set up a swinger in the same manner as those that gave me trouble at the open last year. I.e. barrels blocking the "pause". You had to hit them in mid swing. I set up my 1/2 ipsc steel on either side of the swinger.

Drills:

Draw

222 (2 on steel, 2 on non-swinging paper, 2 on steel)

222 (with swinger)

I took a few minutes to just shoot the swinger. Focused on breaking the shot on the leading edge of brown.

El Pres with Swinger (activate by pulling rope, then turn and draw)

Bill Drill on swinger (to test a possible stage idea)

SOTM - forward movement on steel

SOTM (side to side on 1 steel)

SOTM (slicing pie far steel, static swinger, close steel) - practice shooting back across my body

Bill Drill on Static paper (just hammering to try to get the gun to fail at this point)

Bill Drill on steel

SUMMARY:

I actually felt pretty good about this practice. Accuracy on the 1/2 ipsc was there. I usually start off sloppy on these. The swinger was giving me issues at first. I was catching the edges of the paper. I relaxed and tried to break the shot as the leading edge came across the sights. This worked much better. I also played with the timing a little bit. Hammering the paper. Breaking the 1st shot and moving the gun with the 2nd. Good learning experience. I want to set this up again.

1/17/2010 DRY FIRE

Usual drills. Just a quick session.

[Lee King]

1/19/2010 DRY FIRE

GOALS:

Put up the "turtles" to prep for Fl. Open. Basics. Reload. Turn and Draw.

DRILLS:

Draw

222

Step

Reverse Step

Vice Pres

Turn and 222

El Pres

2 reload 2

SUMMARY:

Not sure what got into me but I was cooking through these. I really felt like the sights were there. I was calling mostly A hits. I experimented with hand positions on the turn and draw. By my ears. Out to the side. Out in front of my face. I also worked on eyes forward and eyes down. The goal was to snap my eyes to the gun and pop it with the palm as I was turning. I need to continue to experiment with the best way to get my hands down to the gun. I didn't find anything that felt consistent.

Reloads started off problematic. Again, relax. When I try to hurry I fumble it. But if I try to just let things "float" through the reload I'm very consistent. More work on this.

[Lee King]

1/25/2010 DRY FIRE and AIRSOFT

I did dry fire 1/22 and shot 2 of 5 stages of the steel challenge. But I was on-call and work interupted right before 1st shot. I managed to get 2 in but I was too distracted and just throwing rounds downrange. I finally had to leave so I'm not really counting that as good.. well.. any kind of training/experience.

For 1/25 I put targets around the house in a mock COF.COF was L to R movement. 3 targets wide open. 2 behind a wall. 1 behind a couch. 1 behind a table. 1 behind the counter in the kitchen. The last 3 opened up R - L as you moved R so you had to go back across your body.

I experimented with different types of movement. I had to get moving while shooting the 1st 3. If I went L-R as while moving right I kept trying to pull shots off to the R. Opposite felt like I couldn't really control the last shot to the far L. Going L-R did set up the 1st target behind the next wall. In the end the best movement was to shoot L-R while moving out a bit. It opened up the next target almost immediately. I didn't have to hunt for it.

I tried running the last 3 targets in different orders. Engaging the far R target as soon as I could see it then swing back for the far L while sliding into pos to see the last. I also tried just running to the far R target, go static and work R, M, then L. That actually felt faster because you didn't have to slow down to swing back to the L. Also moving while swinging back across your body was almost information overload. Good practice but a miss waiting to happen.

I moved the practice to the garage to work on airsoft. 3 targets (using turtles in prep for the open).

Drills:

Turn and 222

222

draw

I ran each drill at least 10 times. I had 2 M. I was surprised at how tight I was grouping. Usually I'm all over the place and have to slow down to tighten up. But this time I was only dropping a C here and there. The key seems to be to take as long as needed to settle for the 1st shot after either the turn or the draw. Then I can crank out the shots after that. If I start out of control I am all over the place. The other thing I felt good about was calling each shot. I knew each M as the shot broke.

Opportunites. I really need to set up a moving COF with airsoft, or get some live fire in with a lot of movement. I started the mock COF's calling a lot of misses. I want to validate the training and not build on bad habits. I think the feedback of actual live fire is crucial right now.

[Lee King]

1/26/2010 DRY FIRE

GOAL: Work on more aggressive draw. Reload.

Drills:

Draw

222

2 reload 2

222 reload 222

Turn and 222

SUMMARY:

Overswinging. I caught myself getting sloppy and breaking the shot with the sights on the edge of the D/M zone. Visual patience wasn't there at first. I'm trying to smack the gun from the side on the draw. I've been driving the gun down, presumably to index the V of my hand into the beavertail before the grab. But I'm hitting the beavertail 1/2 the time. I've moved the holster all around and it will be ok for a while, then I start hitting it again. I'm trying to smack the outside to index, then drive down to set. So far it feels more aggressive and consistent. I just have to remember to do it. Need more reps.

I slowed down a bit on transitions and the sights snapped to the A better. I can't get sucked into "speed" mode. I think some slow work coming up.

[Lee King]

1/28/2010 DRY FIRE

GOAL: SLOW down. Visual patience. Movement.

Drills:

Draw

222

Step

Reverse Step

Across the array

For movement and "port" drills I used the hallway and targets in each room.

SUMMARY:

I had zero energy so I kept it short. Just a few passes with each drill. I tried to slow down and make sure I had perfect sight picture, trigger control, grip. Movement started off strong. I was relaxed. Had good visual patience. Made sure the sights were there. Towards the end I lost focus and started getting sloppy. I noticed I was really struggling on SOTM. I need to work on that some. I couldn't get the sights to settle.

Edited January 29, 2010 by Lee King

[Lee King]

1/31/2010 LIVE FIRE

Quick live fire session. I had limited rounds so I kept it simple.

DRILLS:

Draw - 10 rounds

Movement with plate rack

Figure 8

Draw for warmup.

I set up 2 steel 1/2 size ipsc about 5 yards from the plate rack. 2 sets of barrels marked "walls". Start in the middle. Move right and engage 2 ipsc with 2 each from around the barrels. Move L and engage the plate rack from around the barrels. Ran this drill in both directions. I don't think I had a clean run on the plate racks. Most required 1 extra shot. I had 2 runs where I tried to push the speed and took a lot of M on the rack. It has been raining for several days so movement was tentative at best. Opportunity - practice airsoft on upper A only targets. Trigger control.

Figure 8 is the Mik Seeklander drills. This is one humbling drills. LOTS of M on the first 2 passes. I finally slowed down and forced myself to wait to break the shot. I was slow, but better. Still had some M. Opportunity - Work this drill with airsoft.

[Lee King]

2/7/2010 LIVE FIRE

We had company earlier in the week and it really screwed up dry fire time. I also tried some airsoft practice, but the cold seriously affects the performance of the magazines. I only would get about 3-4 shots off before losing power. Gonna try to find a heating pad to put the "non-active" magazines under.

We were supposed to have our regular monthly match Saturday but the weather did a number on the range and access road. The rain was gone late Sat morning but the facility was a mess so I had to cancel. But I made it out Sunday afternoon for some live fire. My main goal was to work on movement and SOTM. Every miss I have had in the last few matches has been OTM.

Started the session off with draw. Kept it simple. 10 rounds only for each drill. Started off with a really tight group for the 1st 5 shots or so. I got sloppy when I pushed the speed but I only had 1 or 2 M on the 1/2 size ipsc plate. Continued with Surrender, turn and draw. Ended warmups with slow fire on the 6" dualing tree at 20 yards. I really struggled with accuracy here. I ended up running this about 5 times until I finally remembered trigger control and went 1 for 1 slow.

SOTM drill was a COF. 2 1/2 size ipsc targets on L side of bay. 3 paper on R along side berm. Barrel obscuring #2 so I had to take 1 move then 2 and 3. 3 static plates at the back. I used barrels to mark "walls" on the inside. I.e. had to go around the barrels to see the L targets and as an obstacle to go around before moving forward to engage the side targets and plates.

Started off very sloppy. Took 2 extra shots on the 1/2 size ipsc. Was tight OTM but then struggled with the plates. Took about 4 passes before I slowed down and focused on trigger control and visual patience. Went 1 for 1 on 2 runs.

Reversed the COF so I started on the plates, backing to take the 3 paper on the R. Then running to the L to take the 1/2 ipsc plates. 1st run was ok. Went 1 for 1 on the plates, but then really struggled on the 1/2 size ipsc. Tried to take the plates OTM backwards but I need to work on that. I did it with 1 extra shot 1 time. The rest I took a lot of M until I stopped and went static.

Moved the paper to the middle to shoot OTM side to side. At this point it was hard to call M or dropped points because the targets were shot up and I wasn't pasting. I didn't feel comfortable with side to side though.

Ended the session with turn and 222 on the 3 paper to run jacketed through to clear the lead (was using cast most of the session). I really pushed the speed on the last 2 runs just to find the edge of control.

Opportunities:

SOTM on plates and poppers. Focus on trigger squeeze and visual patience. Side to side SOTM. Hopefully I can keep my airsoft mags warm enough to do some of this.

Edited February 8, 2010 by Lee King

[Lee King]

2/8/2010 DRY FIRE - AIRSOFT

GOAL:

Classifier match this weekend. Focus on fundamentals. Transitions. I did a dry fire session. Then my wife bought a heating pad and I wanted to try it on my airsoft magazines to see if it would help with the power loss problem. For airsoft I set up the mad bull poppers and shot those at increasing distances.

DRILLS:

Draw

Surrender Draw

Turn and Draw

222

Step

2 reload 2

222 reload 222

Turn and 222 reload 222

Airsoft:

3 poppers at 15, 18, and 21 ft.

SUMMARY:

Just a good solid practice. I struggled a little bit with the draw. I still haven't locked into a consistent index and sometimes miss the grip. I'm spending time adjusting my hands instead of breaking the shot. A couple of passes I let the sights drift as I was breaking the 2nd shot. But for the most part the sights were there. I took some time to focus on grip pressure.

With airsoft I started at 15 ft with 3 airsoft IPSC poppers (without the head). The first 2 passes I went 1 for 1. So I decided to try to push the speed until I started having M. I made about 8 passes and only had 1 M. Moved back to 18 ft. Again I had a consistent cadence. Only 1 M. Moved back to 21 ft. That seems to be the magic distance. Took about 10 shots to hit 3 poppers on the first run. Went 3-4 more passes with a lot of M before I settled down. Really focused on sight picture and trigger squeeze. The M went from 4-5 to 1-2. I made another 4-5 passes focusing on visual patience. Squeeze the trigger and not milk the grip. Went 1 for 1 on the last 3 passes. The last pass I tried to go fast and focus solely on the trigger. Went 1 for 1. I want to work into that drill a few more times with airsoft. Seems like if I can reproduce that sensation of relaxed with focus on my finger I can push the speed. It seems like finding that sensation is the trick right now.

The heating pad worked btw. When I walked to reset my poppers I would exchange the mag with the one in the heating pad. I ran all of these drills without recharging either mag.

[Lee King]

2/11/2010 Airsoft

Classifier this weekend. I really wanted to work on poppers. Steel is a weakness for me right now.

The drill was simple. 3 poppers with paper on either side. Shot it at 15 (this is all airsoft targets so 15 real feet = 15ish yards), 18, and 21 feet. Shot L-R R-L. The last 5 or so reps I just shot the poppers and mixed up the order. I went M,R,L. L,R,M etc.

SUMMARY:

15 and 18 feet were fine. Fast. I only missed a popper once on the first pass. I have to remember visual patience. I knew it was a M as I broke the shot. 21' is where things get interesting. I really have to pay close attention to everything. Squeeze, perfect sight, grip pressure, follow through. I don't think I had a clean run at 21'. I always took at least 1 extra shot on the poppers. I really like this exercise because it's forcing me to do everything perfect. I'm going to try to run the poppers before I do any dry fire to try to hyper-focus the fundamentals.

[Lee King]

2/14/2010 LIVE FIRE

Work got in the way of yet another match. I feel horribly unprepared for the Fl. Open. Got to the range to try to get what practice in I could. I only had 200 rounds to work with so I kept it simple.

GOAL: Poppers

DRILLS:

Simple COF with 2 1/2 size ipsc plates, 3 poppers. IPSC Plates to the outside. Poppers in the middle. Started at 25 feet. Worked back in 15 ft. incrememnts.

SUMMARY:

Not a good practice. I struggled with the poppers. I went through about 75% of my ammo before I moved off of the 25' mark. I ended fairly positive. But it took a long time to get there. I had a lot of jams too. My current confidence is extremely low before the Fl. Open.

Bad - Milking the grip and yanking the trigger.

Good - Went 1 for 1 when I concentrated on fundamentals. Even at distance.

Opportunities - Slow work on poppers with airsoft. It's the only practice I will get before the open.

I'm going to start recording the changes I make to try to get to the bottom of my jam problem. This time I noticed it jams more with match ammo vs. practice. The only difference is the powder throw. I change powder measures but leave the toolhead alone. Perhaps the slide timing is affected by 1) OAL and 2) recoil spring weight:

Past changes:

tune magazine #2, #4

Replace all magazine springs

Replace grip

Slide stop detent

Current changes:

shortened ammo for the Fl open from 1.179 to 1.165 (it's going to be hot since I had already run the ammo for the match)

Replaced old 12.5 lb spring with 13lb variable wolf. It feels much heavier than the old spring. Perhaps it is just time to change it.

[Lee King]

2/17/2010 DRY FIRE - AIRSOFT

GOAL: Trigger control. Grip Pressure. Poppers - airsoft

DRILLS:

Draw - slow

Draw - fast

222

Outside in

Step

Reverse Step

2 reload 2

222 reload 222

AIRSOFT -

3 poppers at 21' - L-R and R-L

SUMMARY:

Started slow and focused on trigger squeeze/grip pressure. I also tried to relax. I felt my head dropping down into my shoulders with a lot of tension. Tried to stand a little more head up and relaxed. Pushed the sights a little throughout the session.

Airsoft - started strong with 3 1 for 1 runs. The poppers were a hair closer than normal so I moved to the corner of the garage to give me the most distance possible. Started struggling. Again, trigger squeeze and relaxation is the key. Took a lot of passes to go 1 for 1. I also think my gun is shooting a hair high at that range so I was shooting over the poppers.

Opportunity - more relaxation work. More popper work.

[Lee King]

2/17/2010 DRY FIRE - AIRSOFT

GOAL: Continue popper work. Strong hand/Weak hand

DRILLS:

Draw

222

Step

Reverse Step

Draw Strong

222 Strong

Step Strong

Draw weak

222 weak

Step weak

Airsoft: 3 poppers

SUMMARY:

Started with airsoft. Went straight to max distance (~21'). First pass 3 for 3 fast. Then it went a little downhill. I pushed the speed too much and took 1 extra shot on the next few passes. Then it was an extra 2 shots for a few after that. Grip pressure seems to be the key. When I think "squeeze with left, relax right" I go 1 for 1.

Carried this to dry fire focusing on left hand squeeze. Strong hand and weak hand I was pushing the sights a lot. I need to do one more session tonight focusing on being patient strong and weak hand.

ROAD TO FL OPEN TOMORROW!! W00t!!

[Lee King]

2/20/2010 Florida Open

Not much positive to say about my performance at this match. I had massive technical difficulties with my gun and a backup gun. Had a little accident with a knife and finally decided to call it a match. My gun is with the smith so I'm out of commission for a while.

I'm just going to jot down a few things for reference as it pertains to the gun etc.

Re-ran the ammo through the press to shorten the loads to 1.165 from 1.179. I believe this caused the accuracy problems.

I need to check the aftec for tension and burs around the hook.

Run more ammo at 1.165, 1.180 and 1.190 to see what feeds.

[Lee King]

2/24/2010 Airsoft

Just ran 1 magazine at poppers from max distance in the garage to keep the rust off. No gun at the moment so this is the best I can do for now. First run was 1 for 1 fast. Couldn't duplicate after that. Visual patience is really the key. Don't break the shot until the sight picture is right. Period.

[Lee King]

2/27/2010 STEEL CHALLENGE - Palmetto Gun Club

I finally finished a match.. and did so in style. 1st rimfire rifle open, 1st rimfire pistol irons.. 1,2 overall. My only goal for the match was consistency. Steady, see the sights, forget time. Started on stage 2 so:

Stage 2: Roundabout

RFPI: Started slow just to get the first out of the way. Had an ok run. Took 1 extra shot. 2nd run I missed the #3 plate and hit S before I made it up. Tried to go too fast. 3,4,and 5th run were consistent. I found the groove. Relaxed my shoulders. Focused on sights, squeeze, and smooth transitions. 2.5ish average for those 3. 3rd overall 12.14s

RFRO: Struggled with the first run. Took a lot of extra shots trying to go too fast. Settled into the same groove as pisolt for runs 2-5. For those runs 2.83 was worst, 2.21 was best. Throw away was the 1st at 4.44s. 1st overall 10.25s

Stage 3: Smoke and Hope

RFPI: First run I took extra shots on the #4 plate. Had to go back for it. 3.4s. Had smooth runs for 2,4, and 5. 3rd run I tried to go way too fast and over-transitioned past the #2 plate. Went back for it THREE times before hitting it. 3.76s on that one. 1st overall 10.93s.

RFRO: I really struggled with rifle on this one. Overswinging. For some reason I started coming UP from the bottom of the plates to break the shot. I.e. swing from 1 plate, down and up to the next. Not consistent. Not fast. I also had some trouble with my shoulder when I tried to swing way to the R. The rifle is just too heavy for this game and it shows on this stage. 5th overall at 12.09S

Stage 4: Up and Down - custom stage

This stage had 3 plates to the L of center. Small plate high, big round plate low, another small plate high, stop low. Small plate WAY off to the R.

RFPI: This was a really hard stage. I opted to start with the small far plate to the R, then do a big transition to the little plate to the L and work up and down across the array back R to the stop plate. I didn't like having to swing back and forth any other way. This way only required one big swing. Slow and steady was the way to run this one, like pendulum. No easy way to get in a rhythm because of the up and down, big and small plates mixed. I took a lot of shots on the first run and had a really horrible run when I tried to go too fast on the 4th run. 8th overall at 17.58s.

RFRO: Learned my lesson from pistol and just focused on hitting each plate. Forget time. 1st run took extra shots. 2-5 were smooth and consistent. 1st overall 14.13s

Stage 5: Accelerator

RFPI: Refocused on steady and smooth. Started slow and picked up speed. I hit the edge of speed on #4 missing the #3 plate and hitting S before I realized it. Raw times went 3.29, 3.09, 2.83, 2.72 (M), 3.31. 2nd overall 12.52s

RFRO: Again started the dip thing. Took some extra shots at the #3 plate on run 3 and on the #4 plate on run 5. Not very consistent. 4th overall 13.41s.

Stage 1: 5 to go

RFPI: The #4 plate is always the gotcha for me. Though the 1st and 4th run I took an extra on #4 and on 5th I kept overswinging the stop plate. Not very consistent. 2nd overall with 13.52s

RFRO: Again, I learned the lessons from pistol and really tried to focus on just hitting the plates. 1st run was pretty sloppy. #2 was worse. I buckled back down and 3-5 were very consistent. 2.7-2.8. 1st overall 11.61

Summary:

I need to work on relaxation. This game is all about smooth. I could feel my runs improve when I dropped my shoulders and let my head come up out of my shoulders. The gun flowed, sights settled, times were consistent. Every throwaway run was me pushing too hard. If I had run every run relaxed and focused solely on hitting the plates, I would've easily knocked 3-5s off my total time.

SIDE NOTE -

Got my Trubore from American Shooter's Edge. THANK YOU SAM CONWAY!!! I didn't have mags and ammo together to run it in the match (I picked it up AT the match). But I had about 30 rounds of production 9mm. I ran 5 to go several times after the match with it and it was AWESOME!!! Looking forward to playing with it!

[Lee King]

3/1/2010 Dry Fire

Borrowing a gun while mine is in the shop. Ran the normal set just to get used to it (not a whole lot of difference).

Drills:

Draw

222

Inside out

Step

Reverse Step

222 reload 222

SUMMARY:

Pushing the sights around some. Focused a lot on relaxation. Loosening the shoulders. Visual patience is way off. Need to slow down and get the sights there. Letting them drift into C and D territory.

[Lee King]

3/3/2010 LIVE FIRE and DRY FIRE

Went to the range to cron a new load in the borrowed gun. Did a few runs at the plate rack. Trigger prep and follow through was off. I really need to work on live fire with complete focus on trigger. Forget anything else. I played with the open gun a little and the heavy trigger really highlighted the lack of propper prep and follow through. With the open gun, I'm really having a hard time with the dot. I see a trace of it swirling and bouncing around and have trouble picking the spot to break the shot. This will take some work at some point.

DRY FIRE

Drills:

Draw

222

Turn and Draw

Turn and 222

222 reload 222

SUMMARY:

I was really getting sloppy. About mid-way through, I decided to do nothing but get A's. Before I couldn't tell you if I was in the A or C. I THOUGHT it was A's and occasionally I knew I slid off into the C zone. But the hyper-focus was kind of cool. I don't know how fast I was. But I was picking out flaws in the "A" printed on the paper even with the focus on the sights. I guess I was letting myself open up to more information. I think I'm going to try to reproduce this for the next couple of sessions. Maybe even onto air soft.

[Lee King]

3/4/2010 DRY FIRE

Usual set of drills. Added SOTM because I struggled with the little bit I tried to do Wed for live fire.

DRILLS:

Draw

Surrender Draw

222

Surrender 222

Turn and draw 222 (surrender)

222 reload 222 (from relax and surrender)

SOTM

Down the hall SOTM/Barricade (using doorway)

SUMMARY:

Spent a lot of time trying to find the edge of hyper-focus on the A zone and speed. I.e. get the A consistently, then push until I was drifting off. Also focused on relaxing my shoulders. Struggled a little with reloads. Never had what I would consider a great one. SOTM was all over the place. Timing is off on foot falls. Visual patience to wait to settle the sight was not remotely there. Went back to down the hall on a 1/2 size target SLOW until I got the sights to settle a bit. I also tried this with the open gun just as an exercise to see how steady I could get the dot. Make the trace a wiggle instead of a spiderweb all over the glass.

Not sure if I'll get any dry fire in today. If so I want to re-focus on SOTM and reloads.

[Lee King]

3/6/2010 PALMETTO GUN CLUB - Level I

Decent match. I remember things a lot more slowly than they were on the video. 3rd overall. I shot Open, but with a limited gun. I want to get my classification for Open but don't want to switch to the dot until after State.

Started on Stage 3 so:

Stage 3: Party Crasher's

Start pos was seated at a table holding knife and fork. Enter shooting area. 1 long to L. V shapped corridor looking into the "point". 3 targets 1 NS in the middle. Move R. 4 targets in line. 2nd is disappearing out and back. Barrels obscuring targets. Wall to R with targets against R berm obscured by barrels. NS right at the end with target behind it. Hidden target WAY to the L corner you can only see from the end.

Came off the table. Draw felt really slow because I locked the holster. I was in position before I got the gun up. Took the L far target. L target inside the "V". Mag dropped out. Reloaded. Click. Rack. I was drifting R so I took the other 2 in the V from the R side of the NS. Move R hit the 1st static. Transitioned to 3rd static, hit it while moving to activator. Activated drop out. Got 2 off. Meant to hit it a 3rd and trigger froze. Turned and hit the 4th while coming off the barrel. 2nd shot hit the barrel. Moved R and hit it again as I cleared the barrel. Reload. Took the targets on the berm, moved up and hit the last R target behind the last barrel. Leaned hard R and took head shot on the paper behind the NS. I remember thinking "this is dangerous" because I point shot it. But it was A,B. Swung and shot at the far L target 3 times for good measure.

The mag drop really cost me. I ran it in 20s. Took a M on the out and back but it was a no-penalty. The top guys never bothered with the out and back and ran it in the 13s. Next time I leave it. This stage cost me enough points to move me to 3rd overall.

Stage 4: Like a Glove

Wall to L. Start pos touching wall. Plate rack around L side of wall. 2 targets in open on R. 1 back to the L tucked behind the wall. Another behind a barrel on R. Another back to L. 1 out a bit to the R. 1 tucked in the trees in the L corner. Target in open on berm you can see as soon as you clear the wall. 2 behind low barrels. Can see heads from wall too.

Did not feel good about this stage. 11 shots to clear the plate rack. 1 extra shot on the far R target. Took the open target OTM and hit the targets behind the barrels whereever I ended up after the open target on the berm. The reload felt goofy so I wasted time hammering the mag to make sure it was seated after the drop on the previous stage.

Turns out everyone struggled on this stage somewhere. I ended up 3rd with 23.68s.

Stage 5: Beep Beep

Loved this stage. Start pos was at front of the stage touching barrel on either L or R side. L and R were mirrors. A hall in the middle. You had to back up one side to get to the "hall" and move forward on the other. 2 targets low right in front. 1 off to the outside corner of the bay. Backing up 2 to the inside around a barrel. Another in the middle you could see from the R,L, and hall. One to the outside aboutg 1/2 way up the hall. In the hall were 2 targets on the L and R side, then the one you can see everywhere. A NS in the middle to slow you down.

Most people on my squad started on the L side. I didn't like it because you would be finished shooting the outside targets and still have to move backwards. It was an awkward turn OR you had to run slow backwards. Starting on the R, you could turn to the L and run hard with the gun pointed back. It was very difficult to move backwards and not drift out to the outside. Everyone ended up at least 5 steps from the hall to the outside. IF you had to run you were doing so in a goofy position if you were on the L. This stage was actually a kind of blur. I remembered taking an extra shot because the sight wasn't remotely in the notch on the first shot. But I had it totally wrong as to which target it was. Came off the barrels shooting the close targets. Transitioned to the corner. Made sure to back on an angle towards the next set so as to be moving towards the wall instead of away. I wanted to be lined up on the inside targets. Held the middle target until I was moving forward on the opposite side. Didn't want to take it backing if I could help it. Transitioned to the R middle target. Hit it. Turned to the L and ran about 6 steps to get to the middle of the hall where I could see both the L and R target without the NS in the way. I way close enough to the wall and the 6 steps were all running uprange instead of to the side. Took the 2 in the hall. Reload moving to the L. This was the target I needed a 3rd on. I broke the first shot clearly with the sight on the wrong side of the notch. Hit is again to be sure. By this point I had almost run up on the inside targets. Had to slow to take them close. Almost over ran the middle target. Came almost to a stop to hit it. Moved up taking the low targets behind the barrel. Trigger froze on the last target. Finally hit the outside corner target.

Felt like a good run. Worked my plan. Didn't panic when I almost overran a target. Needed some patience on the first target after the reload. Took a lot of charlies. Strong run overall. 2nd place. 90% of open M shooter. Not so good on points.

Stage 1: Air Mail

I stole this stage from Flyin 40. It was originally an airsoft stage. 2 barricades about 8' apart. Outside were 2 targets with HC. Tucked behind each barricade was a target you saw from the middle. 4 poppers you saw between the barricades. Start pos was touching marks on the barricades. There was a low picket fence between barricades with ribbon strung along the top. All shots on the steel had to be below the ribbon through the slats of the fence.

This was one of those stages where everything seemed to slow down. I distinctly remember staring at the ground thinking "you need to get down there to shoot that steel...any day now.. DROP". But on the video not only did I drop fast I hit one of the targets tucked behind the barricade on the way down. I also remember point shooting that guy and wondering if I hit it while engaging the steel. Weird things you think about during a run sometimes.

I started to the L making sure I had my foot planted firmly against the fault line to help launch to the R when I was ready to move. Took the L targets, drove hard to the R engaging the target behind the opposite barricade. Surprised myself as to how quickly that target was there. Point shot it and actually noticed the 2 tight alpha appear in the paper. Thought I was really slow getting to the outside. Hit the outside. Turned back to the R to engage the opposite target behind the first barricade (point shot). I was moving when I hit it and had already started to look at the ground while shooting. This was where I remember thinking "I need to get down there". I hit the ground and engaged the steel. Took 1 extra shot on the 2nd popper and had to tell myself to slow down and see the sights. To my surprise all my hits were there (especially on the crossing paper where I point shot). I thought 11s was too slow. Turns out it was a stage win.

Stage 2: Classifier Front Sight CM 99-23

Simple. 2 strings. First turn and 222. Second simple 222. Hand pos must be up or down in 1st string and opposite in 2nd.

Dropped too many points. 1st string was ok. Nice and relaxed. Dropped a C or two. 2.67ish (IIRC). 2nd run I was way too tense. Each target got faster and you can see the tension with each transition build. The last 2 shots I yanked down into bottom D's. That hurt. Would've been a 74%ish run if it weren't for that (in Limited that is.. but I was running Open with irons). I think it will be a 64% open run.

Ran it again single stack. Took 1M on the 1st target. No idea why I didn't take more. I never picked up the sights on the 2nd string. I was looking for the front sight but it's not fiber and I didn't have the patience to find it. No clue what my HF was.

SUMMARY:

Not a bad match. I need to work on SOTM and accuracy. Dropped a lot of points whenever I was moving. Steel was still a challenge. Need to work on the plate rack and poppers. I liked using the fault line to launch. Getting my body moving from a standstill always feels slow. It actually surprised me on stage 1. I could've used it on Stage 4 and it shows in the video.

[Lee King]

03/09/2010 (and 3/8) DRY FIRE

Drills:

Draw

222

Surrender 222

Turn and 222

222 reload 222

222 strong hand

222 weak hand

222 reload 222 strong

222 reload 222 weak

SOTM

Summary:

Focused on calling the shots. I'm trying not to let myself get lazy with A hits and dry fire. Also tried to force myself to relax. I keep catching myself hunkering my head down and carrying a lot of tension in my upper body. Cost me points Sat on the classifier.

Ran a lot of these drills with the open gun. Then switched back to limited. BAD idea. the dot is too easy. No more open for now. I have to wait until after State before I play with it more.

UPDATE ON GUN: Got a call from Derek. Looks like it's a combination of plug and recoil spring. I swapped the spring out about 9 months ago as part of regular maintenance. Didn't know you were supposed to trim a coil or 2 until the plug can go all the way to the GR saddle. Accounts for the occasional jam. Then I replaced the plug after mine cracked. It was much thicker than the original. THEN right before the FL. Open I swapped to a 13lb spring. Add it all up and jam-o-matic.

[Lee King]

3/21/2010 LIVE FIRE

I've been slack about posting in my diary. I'm practicing and dry firing. Even shot a match. I just haven't written it down.

GOAL:

I just got my gun back from Derek. I had changed my ammo for the gun I was borrowing. I needed to Cron and run the gun hard. It was raining off and on and I didn't really have a plan or anything I wanted to accomplish other than to test the crap out of my gun.

DRILLS (all on 1/2 size ipsc shaped plates except plate rack):

Draw

Barricade

Movement

Ben Stoeger's box drill (4 shoot positions in the shape of a box.. 2 from each.. rotate start box around the square)

Figure 8 SOTM

Bill Drill

Plate Rack

Awesome practice. Warmed up with the draw. Then I set up two barricades. Shoot L side, R side, then move to the other and repeat. L-R and R-L. I started off a little sloppy. Not enough visual patience. Break down in fundamentals. Yanking the trigger etc. But after the 3rd rep I had settled down and was consistently ringing the steel. Usually I struggle with the box drill because I lose visual patience. I want to crank rounds as soon as I hit a position. I had a few misses but I ran the drill clean (not even requiring extra shots) for at least 3 rounds. The Figure 8 drill is usually my nemesis. I throw a lot of M's. I started slow. Focused on keeping my knees bent. Patience for a good sight picture instead of just ripping rounds. The first pass I think I only had 1 or 2 M out of 21 rounds. I got a little sloppy in the middle of the 2nd pass and threw about 5 in a row. I say "threw" because I know that's literally what I was doing. The last run I went through 2 magazines and believe I only dropped 1 shot.. maybe 2. My goal is, of course, 100%. But usually the best I can accomplish is dropping 4 or 5 on this particular drill. When I would have a few rounds left in a magazine I would do a few quick simple drills to break things up. I.e. 1 bill drill. Also a transition drill. Hit 1 plate, then the other. Forcing myself to move my eyes etc. Finally I went through about 5-6 magazines on the plate rack. At this point it was a steady drizzle. I stood under the shelter to shoot. This puts the plate rack as far as possible in the bay. My expectations were low. Usually I eek 1 maybe 2 clean runs out at about 1/2 the distance. The 1st run I took about 3 extra shots. Then just 1. I had 2 or 3 clean passes which surprised me from this distance. Then, for giggles I shot the plates standing on the 2nd plate rack across the bay (or rather corner to corner). The first time I tried this with 1 last round in the magazine and missed. The 2nd time I had about 3 rounds. I focused on all fundamentals. Slow squeeze etc. Went 1 for 1 with the 3 rounds I had.

The biggest thing I think I accomplished with this practice was trigger control. I was focusing on the reset. Feeling the click. The press. Follow through. Usually I only notice when I'm missing and have to force myself to focus. This practice I was much more aware of the sensation of correct trigger work more often. Very cool. I think the next few practices I really want to try to focus on this. I'll see a good sight picture, on steel in particular, and still miss. I know it's because I'm slapping, or yanking, or milking the grip/trigger.

Lastly, the gun RAN GREAT!! 300 rounds of full power ammo (well... almost.. I need to bump it up.. I'm at 163. But it's not my "practice/steel/3 gun" load at 145ish). Not a single hiccup. The final gun fix was to FIT the recoil spring.

[Lee King]

3/23/2010 AIRSOFT

I set up one of Ben Stoeger's drills (Hoof It)for airsoft using 1/2 size cardboard targets. Used feet instead of yards. The classifier coming up on the 1st Sat is similar with NS over the bottom half of the targets.

I didn't really feel like I could get in a good rythm on this one because of the NS. I experimented with speed and "control". My hits on the 2 close targets were surprisingly tight in the A zone. The far target had a tight group but more along the A/C zone. I tried to go faster on each run focusing on sight picture and the quality until I started dropping out of the A on the close. Had a couple of misses on the far. Then backed it down to "control" again.

Movement felt awkward as hell. I didn't feel confident letting my body start to move out of a position until I had completely broken the last shot. Then I felt like I was trying to "catch up" moving to the next position. I think I want to work on this some more. Perhaps with live fire. I need to build confidence the shot is there by ignoring the NS and focusing solely on the hit.

[Lee King]

3/27/2010 Steel Challenge Palmetto Gun Club

Shot rimfire pistol with irons and my AR Carbine with a conversion kit open. Started on stage 5 so...

Stage 5: 5 to Go

With pistol, Steady start on this one. Just went for smooth. As usual the number 4 plate always gets me. One or two extra shots on it. The 4th run I took extra shots on it AND the stop plate. 1st overall with pistol (out of 64). 12.43s.

Rifle was another story. New conversion kit. What could go wrong?? The first run I got to the #3 plate and suddenly couldn't hit anything. I was watching the reticle on the plate and rounds hiting left, right, high, low. I probably shot 10 rounds at that one plate. 4 or 5 at the #4. I was thinking this isn't going to go well (and I didn't bring my backup). Runs 2 and 3 were ok. 4 back to missing. 5 I had a jam that I had to hold the bolt back and bang the gun on my thigh to get the round out. Finished about 30th at around 22.44s.

Stage 1: The Pendulum

Pistol: I wish I could take back the first 2 runs. On this one I just try to get hits and forget about speed. I started 1,2,3,4,S. But I kept pulling off of the #4 plate. So I went back to tried and true 1,2,4,3,S. I shaved 1.5 seconds on the last three runs. 4th overall 14.78s

Rifle: I guess whatever was causing the problems on stage 5 were gone. I was a little too cautious with the 1st run. Smooth and steady for the other runs. 1st overall with 11.91s.

Stage 2: Roundabout

Pistol: Very consistent. Stuck with the 1,2,4,3,S method. Took 1 or 2 extra shots on the 1 plate. But I don't like the swing if I do 2,1,4,3,S. They didn't really cost me. All runs in the 2s range. 3rd overall 10.41s.

Rifle: For the most part things were humming. I took about 3 shots at the S plate on the 2nd run. The rest were in the 2s range. I had a fail to fire on run 4. I had to use my knife to pry out the round. Good solid strike but no fire. The win 555 is crap. Still, ended up 4th overall with 11.19s.

Stage 3: Smoke and Hope

Pistol: Must aim a little. The 1st 2 runs I overswung the #1 plate and had to come back for it. Both times I was pushing L. I saw the front sight.. it was just to the L of the notch. Settled down and had 3 VERY consistent runs at 2.29, 2.36, and 2.3s. 3rd overall with 9.98s

Rifle: Pushed too hard on the 1st run. Missed the #1 plate more than once. AND the #4 plate. Settled down for the 2nd run and had a SMOKING pass at 1.91. Went back and forth between pushing too hard and smooth for the rest. 4th overall 10.06s.

Stage 4: Cone of Silence (custom stage)

Shaped like a V. Far L was big square. 10" closer. 12" S in the middle closest. Back out to 10" to the R then 12" to make the other half of the V.

Pistol: This isn't an excuse. I'm the only one pulling the trigger. But I let it get to me. The squad on stage 5 (my friends ) were walking by to go to 1. I pushed WAY to hard on my 2nd run and had to take extra shots. Then the heckling started. Ok yeah I was too fast blah blah. On the 3rd run I went 1,2,4,miss, S. I hit the S before the M registered. Then the heckling REALLY started. At this point, it got under my skin. The first little bit was all good ribbing. We all do it. But this was going a little beyond. Pass #4 and I took extra shots on the S plate. They were really giving me sh@$ now. I pulled the same deal on the 5th pass by hitting the S before I realized I missed #3. Humor is fine and all. But at what point is it overboard? I shouldn't let it get to me. But it did. And this isn't the first time with one individual. After, my own squad was making comments about "stage fright" and "the hecklers". Somewhere around 30th with 16.88s.

Rifle: Came back strong and finally put together the rifle run I SHOULD have with this gun. Solid 2s runs. I knew I smoked #3 (it was 2.06). I backed off just a hair for #4 so I got 4 solid runs. #5 I pushed just a hair too hard and took an extra shot on the #4 plate. 1st overall 9.63.

SUMMARY:

With pistol I had a good day. I was 1st in Rimfire Pistol Irons. 4th overall. I was 6s out of 1st on stage 4. That 6s cost me 2nd overall. I finished at 64.48s and 2nd place was 60.88. I kinda felt like it ended on a sour note with the heckling. I have to work on focus.

Rifle was an ok day considering. Once I got past the 1st stage it ran ok. The jams I had were all fail to fires. Good solid strikes on the rim so that's pretty much ammo. Not sure what happened with the accuracy. Maybe just needed to "shoot out the new" I guess. The biggest problem is the extractor won't grab the rim. So IF I have a fail to fire, I can't get it out. Cost me big time. I can cycle it out of the gun (since it's all 1 unit) and it won't grab the rim at all. Something to work on.

[Lee King]

4/9/2010 SC Sectional Championship

Having a hard time keeping the diary up to date. Work etc..

Great match. My best performance at this match so far. 11th overall out of 62. 2nd B. 78%.

Started on Stage 1 so...

Stage 1: Have Fun Storming the Castle

This was the stage I designed. I could never be accused of giving myself an edge. Only 2 penalties of the day were here.

Blocked off area in the middle. Start pos was standing between 2 walls battering ram touching barricade. Once in the shooting area, 2 open targets on the right. Had to go L around blocked off area. Wide open target going to that side. Must lean in to see target to L. Wide open target in front of you. 2 long targets with NS in between (could see at end with a lean). Target to R against wall (also could see at end with a lean). Coming back around blocked off area, 3 targets tucked in an opening on the R. One tight against a wall that closed down fast. Wide open target to L. At the end 4 poppers on rightish side. One activated non-disappearing out and back. Open target on L side of array you could only see at the back fault line.

I opted to shoot the first R open targets while stepping into shoot area. This was probably a mistake because you had to come back by them. Moved L taking open target. The far targets on this side were open, but far. NS in the middle of 2 of them. I opted to hold off at this point and get a closer shot at the end. Took one Lish target wide open, then leaned in to get the extreme L. Did not engage the other 3. Came back around blocked off area. Skipped the first 2 (because I already shot them). You had to swing wide to see them which was why I skipped. I could go straight to the next set. I think it would've been faster to go ahead and swing wide to get them. Took the 3 in the opening. Turned L and hit the wide open. Reload. Stepped to the R side of the fault line to take 4 poppers. Came back for the out and back. Then the inside target to the L of this array. Stepped L to take the 2 I skipped earlier and the one tucked against the wall (I also skipped).

Really fast run. Too fast. I ran it in 22s. 1st place GM on Fr. was 20. I had 2nd fastest time on Fr. Caught the perf on the NS in the last array (the one I skipped for a closer shot) and had a M on the L target in the same array. Slowing down a hair here would've saved me the penalties and probably given me 1st B.

Stage 2: Which Way to Go

Straight forward stage. Start pos in a box about 5ft from shoot area. Step into shoot area and hit 3 targets with NS in front. 2 poppers further down range. R activated swinger. Move on angle to the right downrange. Opening with the swinger and the 2 poppers again. 2 wide open targets to the R. Continue moving downrange on angle for about 25 yards. 1/2 target in a window to R. Cluster of 3 targets. Far target (about 25 yards) obscured by NS. Target against wall to L you had to go extreme R to see. Move L for 2 poppers, the same far target from before but without NS and R target tucked against wall.

Simple plan. Take the 1st 3 and the 2 poppers to activate swinger. Move to next opening. Hit swinger. Turn R and hit the next 2 OTM SLOWLY. Haul ass reloading to extreme R corner. Took the 1/2 target in the window OTM. Hit the 3 in the cluster. Left the long target. Didn't quite get deep enough into the corner and had to take a big lean to get the L target tucked against the wall. Hauled ass to the other corner. Nailed the poppers and the close R target. Took 3 at the long target.

After stage 1 my expectations were all skewed. I didn't expect this to be a good run. Ended up being 8th at about 84%.

Stage 3: Zombieland

Start pos hands touching marks in middle of wall. 2 low targets to L and R. You had to go all the way to one side or the other to see at least 2 targets. Move around the 1st wall. Series of targets tucked behind barricades so you had to move across the back side of the bay L-R or R-L to open them up.

Started to R hitting the L R target at a run. Took 3 targets on the corner static starting outside and working back to the middle. The L target from this position eliminated the need for 1 move later. Come back to the L hauling ass (I like running this way better than the other) taking the L low target at a full run. Hit the brakes at the corner and took the opposite 3 from the other side OTM. Drove to a Middle R target while reloading keeping the L center target in my periphery stopping when I could see it. Took R, L middle, far L. Stepped to the R and hit the far R, R middle, and L target. Screwed up a couple of ways. 1st I didn't move far enough R and had to lean to get the R middle target. THEN I had a M on it. At ULASC, I really screwed up. I dropped the mag, noticed a M on the R middle, brought the gun up and hit it with the 1 in the chamber. Added about 4-5s for that all to transpire. I got SO lucky in that the RO had already moved the timer behind his back anticipating me to ULASC and didn't get the extra shot. I got a reshoot. Next go round I made sure to go a little deeper so I didn't have to lean and laser focus on the front sight. Awesome 2nd run. 8th again at 84%.

Stage 4: Playin' the Slots

This was an awkward stage. Start pos was angled to the L, strong hand on one of 2 levers. Pull lever and 2 pop ups came up and went back down. Static to the R of those. Swing WAY R (the bay is shaped funny) to take 2 long targets you can only see from this pos (3 in this array, the 3rd you could only see later). Move forward and L to opening with 3 targets. Move more forward and L to another opening in corner with 3. Step to middle with paper to R, popper than activated drop out. Another popper than activated drop out.

The start pos was giving people fits. The lever wasn't consistent as to how it activated the pop ups. You only had to have strong hand touching the lever to start. Not to pull. I used the L lever because it was a quicker transition to the Far R targets. Turned my L hand so thumb was pointing down. This allowed me to punch straight down with the lever without getting into a screwed up contorted position to get to the bottom of the pull. It actually startled me because the pop-ups both just hung there. I almost forgot to shoot. Hammered them. Turned R and took the inside L, open L. Moved forward looking for the last target in that array to open up. Hit it OTM. Swung back L and drove to the opening. I was a little out of shape and had to go M, R, then L as I was moving. Reload. The reload felt goofy and I was thinking I may not have seated well. Hit the 3 corner targets. Stepped to middle and saw my mag fall out. Reloaded again hoping there was one in the pipe (there was). Went R paper, popper, popper, then back across middle to catch the drop outs that were now available.

Jerky. Couldn't get a flow going. The mag drop hurt but I think I was as smooth recovering as I could've been. 12th overall at 71%. I don't think point wise I would've gained much more without the mag drop. Just a few.

Stage 5: Certifiable mail.

Start facing uprange at mailbox, strong hand touching handle. Target to extreme R and L. Walls with ports (and doors) to R and L with 3 behind each. 2 open targets in R and L corner. Wall with port in middle with R paper (extreme R) popper, and L paper. Popper activated drop outs to far outside corners of the bays (you had to move to extreme R and L to see them).

No easy way to run this. You had to hit all corners and ports. No shortcuts at all. I opted to go R first because I could get a couple of feet via a stretch that way. Hit R target, all the way back across for the corresponding L. Came around the wall back the middle and opened the L port. Didn't get a good sight picture on the 1st target and hit it 3 times (didn't need it). Caught middle and L target backing across to the other wall. Same deal, sliced pie L-R. Reloaded going to back middle port. Left the open L and R targets because you had to run by them to get to the drop outs anyway. Opened the middle port, took the popper and L target. I decided on a hero or zero move and left the extreme R target. Moved L hitting the open target and the drop out all the way in the corner. Started back across the middle and hit the R target in the port I left. I pulled it off and got it. But it closed fast and I wasn't sure. Hit R open target and the R dropout to finish.

I thought I had a strong run on this one with 23s. Turns out I was 14th at 76%. 2nd worst finish at 14th and 76%.

Stage 6: No Time for Tea

Start pos was sitting in chair with paddle "paddling". Move way L and back uprange a hair, lean around wall to get 2. Up some stairs for 3 on platform. Back down stairs. 1 wide open to the R. 2 more on the R behind cover, 1 in back corner you could see from middle port in back as well, and another just to the R of the back wall. Middle port with 1 to the R next to the wall, the 1 in the R corner (you could see), and 2 wide open targets. Far L corner has 1 wide open target and a texas star.

Jumped up and hit the 2 around the L wall. Moved up the stairs and was concerned about 180 so hit the 3 static. Jumped off to the side of the platform rather than run down the stairs. Got low and hit the R target OTM. I expected the next 2 R targets behind barriers to open up and they just didn't. Lost time looking for them. Hit those and the L target of that array against the wall. Left the far middle for later. Reload. Drove to L corner taking the open target OTM. Took 2 extra shots on the star. Stepped back R to the middle and overshot the damned opening. I was so keyed up I took a huge step. Had to lean way L to get the R target. Took the next 3 targets without any problem.

Waiting for the 2 R to open up and the big overstep cost me. 10th overall 68%.

Stage 7: Stan Helps Pinetucky

Start pos was heels to mark in center of shoot area. Back to targets. Wall in the middle right against shoot box. 2 L shaped walls to L and R about 4 yards deep overlapping middle wall. 3 targets on L. One you saw back in the middle against the R side wall (cross ways). Then 1 in the way back about 25 yards. Mirror image on the other side.

Went L first. Took the 1st 2. I threw 3 at the last one just to be sure. Came back and hit the inside R target. Threw 3 at the far back R target. Made a big step reloading to R side and did the same thing in reverse.

Wow if I hadn't wasted the 3 extra shot on the far targets. I should've just trusted my sights. Didn't need any of those. 14s, 7th overall 83%. Those extra shots probably accounted for 2s. Woud've put me around 2nd or 3rd.

Stage 8: Stan or Lie About It

Start pos was "in the middle of the wall". L and R arrays of 4 targets shoulder to shoulder. 3 NS targets in front of the array. Little port on the ground with 4 targets in the back. 2 NS in the middle of that array.

This was a crazy stage because by this point, I just didn't want a M or NS. I started about 5 ft. off the wall in the middle (because it didn't specify anywhere specifically in the middle). Big step L and deliberately went across the array. Reload move R, repeat. Dropped hard to the ground and went R to L deliberately. Took 1 extra shot on the L target because I didn't feel good about it.

Turned out I was winning the stage after Fri shooters. 23.02s. Sat. Travis and Todd both ran it in 16s. I took 4th overall, and my score was only 66%.

SUMMARY:

The most important thing I learned, is to let all expectations go (again). I tanked stage 1. Then my goal was just to run clean the rest of the day. I thought my times were WAY out of contention. I was wrong. This is the best finish I have had at the SC Championship. I would've loved to walk away with 1st B. But I feel like I'm right where I should've been. There is room for a lot of improvement. But a 78% again Todd J is good progress against previous matches.

[Lee King]

Haven't been able to post much BUT...

I just got a merit bump to "A" for my performance at SC Sectional