Lee King

[Lee King]

LIVE FIRE - 6/25/2008

GOALS:

Fundamentals. Check zero with lead vs. Montana Gold.

DRILLS: I didn't have nearly as much ammo as I thought I did. I only ran about 100-150 rounds so I condensed the drills.

Marksmanship: Using a plate ring it at 10 yards then at the back of the bay which I think is 25 yards.

2-2-2: Paper targets starting at 8 yards. Each target progressively farther 8, 14, 20.

Movement: Using targets above engage while moving on oblique parallel to targets.

Reload and Draw: Draw, fire 1, reload fire 1

I did a few drills with the .22 as well.

Marksmanship: Test zero on 1 type of ammo vs. another.

Transitions: 1 on paper, big swing to plate.

Plate rack:

SUMMARY:

My zero was about 4 inches left at 25 yards. Could explain my meltdown on Pendulum since it was a long distance small plate stage. My hits were about 1" from the edge of the plate. There was no noticeable difference between the MG's and lead. Or if there was, it was only about an inch at that distance. Using lead splatter as a guage of accuracy isn't exactly a precise deal. But I would say at 25 yards I was shooting 2" groups offhand. I painted steel between groups.

2-2-2 was interesting because I drew on the closest target. I was about 80% in the A zone, 15% in the C and 5% in the D with 1 mike I called immediately. Almost all of my D and C hits were on the farthest target. 8, and 14 were very consistent. But for whatever reason the last target was always the worst. Even though the majority were A hits, there was a noticeable difference in the groupings from the middle target to the last. I don't know if I was getting progressively sloppier after each transition or if it was the distance. I started trying to change gears knowing the last target was my worst. The groups improved some. Speed AND accuracy. I want to run that one again and try it backwards, i.e. farthest first to see if it makes a difference. Does my technique get progressively sloppier in a string?

Movement: I called a D hit. Other than that it was a good drill. I didn't push the speed because it has been a few weeks since I did this "for real". I wanted to practice the movement technique. Arm position. Settling the sights. It felt like good progress.

Reload and Draw: Caught myself pulling the gun down instead of keeping it up high. Results were the same with both. I managed to miss 2 reloads. I need to continue to work on this.

.22 Drills:

The "thunderbolt" ammo SUCKS. My groups went to s@#$ when I ran out of the other.

Transistions: I struggled with 2nd shot. Lot of misses.

[Lee King]

My training is coming to a temporary stop. I trashed my elbow at karate wed. night and will be out for a minimum of 4 weeks. I will have an MRI hopefully early next week to determine whether or not I'm just looking at physical therapy or surgery. Either way Summer Blast and the Va Steel sectional are a no go.

I'll be back as soon as I can.

[Ms. Kitty]

POKE!

[Lee King]

I wondered when the angry drunks would show up!!!

POKE

Edited July 1, 2008 by Lee King

[DrawandDuck]

You rang....OOPS...you said ANGRY drunks....

Later Tim

Randal

[Lee King]

... eh heavy breathin drunks are welcome too!

[LChico]

I've met most of your friends, Lee. I'd call them "happy drunks." At least they laugh a lot. Often at things that aren't that funny when they are sober. Of course, I may not be the best judge of that, since these observations occurred while I was under the influence.

Question: At the SC State 'after party,' what prize table item was it that Ms Kitty told us she would "never look at the same way again?" That was certainly a 'happy' moment.

Linda Chico (L-2035)

Columbia SC

[Lee King]

I don't think she won the vibra-prime... but she DID bid on it!!

[Ms. Kitty]

OK....it wasn't the vibra-prime Vibra-prime was a new "term" you, Jack, Tom and Donnie taught me....(however I still thought it a made up term til I saw one posted for sell in the Classified section... BTW: POKE

Randal: Who was the masked man hitting on Te-um at MS?!!

[LChico]

I don't think she won the vibra-prime... but she DID bid on it!!

Well, that ought to be a warning to J. C. not to skip the SC Match again

You, Suber & Tom Thompson were as close to "ROFLMAO" as I have ever seen. Certainly the three of you were near tears!

Linda Chico (L-2035)

Columbia SC

[Lee King]

Well, that ought to be a warning to J. C. not to skip the SC Match again

Yes.. WWJCD? BWAHAHAA!

It's the drugs talking...

[DrawandDuck]

Randal: Who was the masked man hitting on Te-um at MS?!!

Beats me??? I was trying to keep up the conversation with "young" Suber so I was really having to FOCUS.....I have NO clue what was going on up front of the short bus..................

Edited July 2, 2008 by DrawandDuck

[Lee King]

Beats me??? I was trying to keep up the conversation with "young" Suber so I was really having to FOCUS.....I have NO clue what was going on up front of the short bus..................

Don' ask me... I went to my happy place the moment I heard "Oh teee-tum" whispered in my ear!! In fact I stayed in my happy place until about ohhh.. say Atlanta!

[Jack Suber]

Its all about the Vibra-prime.......

Bzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!!!!

Edited July 3, 2008 by Jack Suber

[LChico]

Umm . . . Lee. . . I hate to point out the obvious, but your range diary gets a lot more traffic for "off the range" activity than when you are posting about your training schedule.

Perhaps your friends are trying to cheer you up while you are incapacitated

Linda Chico (L-2035)

Columbia SC

[LChico]

Umm . . . Lee. . . I hate to point out the obvious, but your range diary gets a lot more traffic for "off the range" activity than when you are posting about your training schedule.

Perhaps your friends are trying to cheer you up while you are incapacitated

Linda Chico (L-2035)

Columbia SC

[DrawandDuck]

Apparently the Range thing wasn't working and he was polishing up his hand to hand combat skills Personally I would rather shoot them than fight them!!

[Lee King]

I read "polishing" and "hand" and went to my "happy place" before I finished the rest of the post!!

Edited July 7, 2008 by Lee King

[dirty whiteboy]

Stimulating conversation!

[Lee King]

And by "happy place" I mean curled in the corner...

[Lee King]

7/7/2008 - DRY FIRE

I couldn't take it. I haven't picked up a gun in more than a week. Last night I decided to see what I could or couldn't do with my elbow. I spent 10 minutes working on basic grip and sight picture. My wrist still won't turn more than 90 degrees vertical. But I thought maybe I could modify my grip slightly and still hold the gun. To get a proper sight picture I have to either bring my elbow in tight to my stomach or angle it a little bit gangsta style. I can hit the mag release if I bring my elbow even farther across my stomach. I am not able to extend at all. It feels like the arm position I use when I'm moving. I little closer to my face. But I can draw and get a sight picture this way.

Having said all of this, I can feel it in my elbow when I squeeze the trigger. It doesn't hurt, but it's tight. I worry if I couple that with recoil it will really hurt after a few rounds. Of course I haven't tried any transitions. It is entirely possible I won't be able to make big swings to my strong hand side. I mostly focused on what it would take to get a sight picture at all.

So the big question is, will dry firing in this manner have a negative affect on my game. Is it better to continue to work sight pictures and eye focus and run the risk of screwing up my grip and other "grip related" fundamentals? Or lay off until I'm more rehabilitated?

PHYSICAL

I saw the Dr. thursday afternoon and have another appointment this morning. I have a tiny chip off of the radial "head". He drained several syringes of blood from the bursa. We have not taken an MRI yet, but he is certain I have a tear in the tendon. Lastly, he injected something to "numb" the elbow. But it didn't really do anything. Since the appointment, I have a little more mobility. However, the same motions cause extreme pain. It's like the swelling is down and he drained the blood allowing me some movement. But the inury still prevents me from moving in other ways. I still can't extend or turn my wrist over. Lastly, I have been using my hand for simple things like typing. The hand is palm down which is ok.

I haven't run or gone to karate (obviously).

[dirty whiteboy]

Lee,

i shattered my elbow in a motorcycle accident many years ago. Not to bring you down, but that joint can be difficult rehab. Best to listen to what the Docs have to say and not risk any further trauma. This will pass and you will be back at it soon. No need to rush things.

[Lee King]

PHYSICAL UPDATE:

Good news/bad news. I had an MRI. There is a lot of fluid and blood still around the joint (the Dr. drained 3 syringes of blood last week), but there is nothing severe enough for surgery. I talked to the nurse and she didn't know if there is tearing in the tendon or if it is just strained. Just that there is "fluid" and to continue "exercise". The bad news is, based on my current "progress", this means I can look forward to another good month of limited movement and pain. Since the Dr. wants me to try to use it and exercise it "gently", I am going to take that as a green light for dry fire.

My plan for the next week is to dry fire working nothing but fundamentals. Grip, trigger control, sight picture. If things go ok, I am going to try a little bit of live fire with the .22. My extra powder measure came in last week. I plan to use it for steel/minor loads. I'm going to try to run 100 or so rounds with 3.5 of clays and try it as well.

Edited July 11, 2008 by Lee King

[Lee King]

DRY FIRE 7/14/2008 6:00pm

Gave it a shot just to see how it feels. I have been out of the sling since Thursday. Friday was pretty bad, but Sat and Sun were awesome. I'm getting more and more mobility everyday.

GOAL:

Fundamentals. Evaluate my arm. Am I ready for live fire? Front sight focus and transitions. I figure if nothing else I can keep working on eye movement and focus.

DRILLS:

Basic Draw

2-2-2

Transitions

Movement

SUMMARY:

Basic Draw: This is probably my weakest now. For about the first 1/3 of the movement out of the holster I feel very weak. I guess the position of my hand and motion of the gun up to my chest to meet the other hand puts pressure on the muscles that have been most affected by the injury. The first few times I felt like I was about to drop the gun. It was difficult to get a consistent grip. I had to make adjustments at extension almost every draw. Once my hands start to come together my grip feels much stronger. I really have to slow down to get a solid grip. Hopefully this will improve over the next couple of weeks with practice. I can't extend fully. It's close. But not quite there yet.

2-2-2: This actually felt pretty good. I can tell I have laid off for a little bit. My eyes are all over the place. Transitions are next to nothing and my focus has slipped to blurry everything. I did about 20 reps. The last 15 were slow and deliberate working on front sight focus and moving my eyes to the next target AFTER I called the shot.

Transitions: I just wanted to see how it felt to do big swings towards my right arm. No problems. Or rather, nothing more than any other drill.

Movement (down the hall on a 1/3 size target): Again, testing my arm under different conditions. This one felt the best of any. Good front sight focus. It took me a couple of passes to remember to roll my feet.

Movement (position to position): I noticed while doing some basic drills I struggled some while my weak hand was not supporting the gun. When I run from position to position, my weak hand comes off the gun until I am approaching a position. I wanted to test my strength and see if there was any problems doing this. I can feel it once my weak hand comes off the grip, but it's a nuisance, not limiting. In the overall scheme of concentration and action, it's negligible.

MENTAL CONFIDENCE: 3 I don't like feeling weak on the draw. I want to see how I can handle recoil. Clearly some fundamentals slipped over the last few weeks.

OPPORTUNITIES:

Live Fire. Only way to measure progress. I worked up some minor loads for steel. Tomorrow I plan to give it a shot and see how it feels. I want to test the load for function, but also to see how I handle recoil. If it goes well, I may shoot the August local match Limited Minor.

Edited July 15, 2008 by Lee King

[Lee King]

LIVE FIRE 7/16/2008 5:30pm

100 rounds of live fire to test the arm and minor loads

DRILLS:

General Marksmanship

Draw

Transition

SUMMARY:

I used 2 plates set at about 15 yards for the drills. The minor load ran GREAT. I need to run them through a cron to see if I can stand to back off more.

General Marksmanship: I was all over the damned place. I couldn't hit a plate if my life depended on it at first. I slowed down and checked to see if my zero changed with the different ammo. Nope it was me. I struggled with my grip since I can't extend my arm.

Draw: Horrible. I bought a timer (finally). It feels really weak and it shows in my times. 1.9ish. My best draw was 1.4 but I couldn't hit the plate.

Transition: I spent a lot of time focusing on eye movement. Oddly enough, when I relaxed and made sure to follow through with my eyes, THEN move then to a plate, my splits improved. I was doing transitions in the .9 sec range. Clearly I need more work on this.

After I went through the 100 rounds I was testing with the limited gun, I worked on transitions with the .22. I could get the splits down to the .5 range. But I find it way easier to hit the plates with the .22 than my limited gun. I think my fiber on my limited gun might actually be too small. I may experiment with making a "blob" to see if bigger helps me or not. If it does, I might change my front sight for one with a bigger fiber. Hmm..

CONFIDENCE: 4. I still feel really weak on the draw. I struggled too much just to hit the plate. My last few runs were positive though. I didn't drop any shots. It was just slow.

PHYSICAL: My arm felt ok with recoil. But it hurt like hell in between strings. I have a tendency to try to push my arm to extension. I go too far then pull back. But it's manageable. I tried to run the other day but the fluid in my elbow was setting off the nerves with each step. I'm going to try again next week.