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Ben Stoeger


Ben Stoeger

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Area 5 is on the books.

The match was a collection of stages where the vast majority of shots were medium to difficult. There was very little hosing to be done at Area 5. Most of the close targets had no shoots all over them so you still had to spend some time aiming.

There were no strong hand only, weak hand only, low ports, prone shooting, or goofy props. There were, however lots of big field courses that required you to run around a lot.

Look above if you missed the video.

Ok so that isn’t really a very great match on my part. I fired lots of costly extra shots and dropped too many points. I guess you can’t go out and have the match of your life all the time, can you?

There were some positives here though:

Firstly, I am seeing a big improvement in my gunhandling ability. There was very little delay on the reloads for the most part and I think all my draws were pretty solid.

I am very pleased with my shooting on the move. I crushed it whenever I had a chance to move and shoot at the same time. I was even shooting a few very tight partial targets while my feet were moving a little bit. I have NEVER shot targets that tough while moving and I was surprised I didn’t end up with any penalties as a result.

This match was a great chance to shoot against Matt Mink. Mink has really been training hard this year after going full time at this whole shooting thing. He was leading me throughout most of the day, but by a narrow margin. He made a mistake on one of the final stages that gave me a very slight edge in the points situation. On the second to last stage I had to dig deep to get a lead. I really enjoyed the competition with him and I like how we can go to dinner afterward and be friends.

As a result of this match, I have decided to modify my training plan a little bit. When I am shooting really hardcore accuracy stuff I have decided to leave my timer at home and just work on getting the hits at speed. I want to train at match speed and just worry about points.

One final note… Area 5 was held on the same range 2 years ago and the stages had a similar flavor. Here is my video from then. I think I see some improvement!

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I am in the middle of a forced break from shooting. The way my schedule lays out I have so long between majors it just does not make sense to try to train crazy hard. It seemed a better idea to make myself take a little bit of time away from the range to get hungry for the shooting again. I miss live fire and I wish I could be out there doing it.

I am certain now that I am going to be going to the range once a week to work on shooting very difficult targets without a timer. I am still going to shoot quickly, but I don’t want to be concerned with anything but my accuracy level. That may sound strange, but it is the same way I approach a match (shoot quickly but focus on points). I am thinking that will help me.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am back on the range doing some practice. Here is some video:

I made sure to setup a partially obstructed mini popper… just like the one that irritated me at Area 5.

I just got a feel for my gun again during training, I am not really pushing forward at the moment. I am going to leave that for tomorrows training session.

Training is going really well and I am feelings good. Ammo stockpile is looking good again. I sent registration in for a bunch more matches and I have 7 majors to shoot yet this year. I am looking forward to it.

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I went out and did my accuracy block for the week tonight.

The fun part was that I went to the range and left my timer at home.

I shot at 30 yard classics at match speed but did not have a beep. My training session was absolutely magical.

I essentially practiced doing something that I only really do at major matches. At a major, I shoot without regard to the time. I simply shoot the best points I can while right “on the edge”.

In normal practice sessions, I use the timer to sort of push that edge forward a little bit. I gain more control at greater speed and distance. I make little mistakes a lot and I don’t worry about them. I push forward, and that is the whole point.

Today, I simply shot at my edge and tried to get the best points I possibly could. I refined my grip and my sight alignment. The only measurement was my shot calling vs the holes in the targets. It was the most productive session of the year for me.

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I had a really good week of training.

I trained with a student for a few days early in the week. I got a little bit of my own shooting in AND had a couple big revelations on how to explain getting a GM card and how to explain movement through a stage. This is too much crap (like page after page) so I sort of doubt I will post it all, but I enjoyed coming up with it.

I worked on the El Prez yesterday and I enjoyed that. I pushed as hard as I could and I could usually call my shots really well. It was difficult to fall apart in terms of accuracy but it wasn’t hard to mess up a reload.

Today was my accuracy day and I worked classics at 30. I enjoyed the practice and am going to continue to refine my grip.

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...had a couple big revelations on how to explain getting a GM card and how to explain movement through a stage. This is too much crap (like page after page) so I sort of doubt I will post it all, but I enjoyed coming up with it.

...

I look forward to reading this as an article on your web page. Or a series of articles.

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I got out and shot yesterday and today.

Yesterday I made a mockery of the Hackathorn Standards and set the new standard for wearing sandals while shooting on the move.

After that I worked at 50 yards. I noticed 2 key things at 50:

1. I am WAY better than I was last year

2. I still suck bad

After the 50 yard misery I moved to 25 yards. I chased a 25 yard 2 second All As bill drill for about 150 rounds. No dice. I am refining my grip though!

I wasn’t planning on shooting today, but the weather was so awesome I just had to go. It was 30 degrees cooler than yesterday AND overcast. Score!

I worked short course type stuff. One handed shooting and gun pickups and that sort of thing. I shot really well on a few strings but mostly I feel too slow. More work to come.

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I chased a 25 yard 2 second All As bill drill for about 150 rounds. No dice. I am refining my grip though!

(This might be old hat, but I'll put it out there.)

If you haven't yet, try starting out by setting up your Point of Aim with your eyes closed...present the gun, and open your eyes. If you are a bit off, adjust the feet.

The idea is to adjust so that your Natural Point of Aim has you right on target. Then, there is no time wasted muscling the gun onto target.

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I chased a 25 yard 2 second All As bill drill for about 150 rounds. No dice. I am refining my grip though!

(This might be old hat, but I'll put it out there.)

If you haven't yet, try starting out by setting up your Point of Aim with your eyes closed...present the gun, and open your eyes. If you are a bit off, adjust the feet.

The idea is to adjust so that your Natural Point of Aim has you right on target. Then, there is no time wasted muscling the gun onto target.

But the question is can you do it without sights on the gun, you know, like DRM? ;)

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I chased a 25 yard 2 second All As bill drill for about 150 rounds. No dice. I am refining my grip though!

(This might be old hat, but I'll put it out there.)

If you haven't yet, try starting out by setting up your Point of Aim with your eyes closed...present the gun, and open your eyes. If you are a bit off, adjust the feet.

The idea is to adjust so that your Natural Point of Aim has you right on target. Then, there is no time wasted muscling the gun onto target.

i'm not trying to be condescending. i'm really asking. Is there any plausible application for that? For instance, do you do the same thing on your first target of a stage? Or do you frequently shift your feet while standing and shooting so that your NPA is pointing right at your target? I think this has been covered before, but I don't have a good memory.

I really am not trolling you.

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I chased a 25 yard 2 second All As bill drill for about 150 rounds. No dice. I am refining my grip though!

(This might be old hat, but I'll put it out there.)

If you haven't yet, try starting out by setting up your Point of Aim with your eyes closed...present the gun, and open your eyes. If you are a bit off, adjust the feet.

The idea is to adjust so that your Natural Point of Aim has you right on target. Then, there is no time wasted muscling the gun onto target.

i'm not trying to be condescending. i'm really asking. Is there any plausible application for that? For instance, do you do the same thing on your first target of a stage? Or do you frequently shift your feet while standing and shooting so that your NPA is pointing right at your target? I think this has been covered before, but I don't have a good memory.

I really am not trolling you.

Imagine a stage where the first target is a 35yd popper. I would definitely align that target with my NPA at the beginning of a stage. In terms of maintaining a dynamic NPA... I think constantly shuffling your feet would be a horrible idea, but setting up in a position with your NPA adjusted for a hard target automatically wouldn't be so bad. I would be hesitant to put any brain power into it during my stage planning but would certainly not mind if it happened on its own.

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I chased a 25 yard 2 second All As bill drill for about 150 rounds. No dice. I am refining my grip though!

(This might be old hat, but I'll put it out there.)

If you haven't yet, try starting out by setting up your Point of Aim with your eyes closed...present the gun, and open your eyes. If you are a bit off, adjust the feet.

The idea is to adjust so that your Natural Point of Aim has you right on target. Then, there is no time wasted muscling the gun onto target.

The draw isn't what is holding me back. =(

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I chased a 25 yard 2 second All As bill drill for about 150 rounds. No dice. I am refining my grip though!

(This might be old hat, but I'll put it out there.)

If you haven't yet, try starting out by setting up your Point of Aim with your eyes closed...present the gun, and open your eyes. If you are a bit off, adjust the feet.

The idea is to adjust so that your Natural Point of Aim has you right on target. Then, there is no time wasted muscling the gun onto target.

i'm not trying to be condescending. i'm really asking. Is there any plausible application for that? For instance, do you do the same thing on your first target of a stage? Or do you frequently shift your feet while standing and shooting so that your NPA is pointing right at your target? I think this has been covered before, but I don't have a good memory.

I really am not trolling you.

Imagine a stage where the first target is a 35yd popper. I would definitely align that target with my NPA at the beginning of a stage. In terms of maintaining a dynamic NPA... I think constantly shuffling your feet would be a horrible idea, but setting up in a position with your NPA adjusted for a hard target automatically wouldn't be so bad. I would be hesitant to put any brain power into it during my stage planning but would certainly not mind if it happened on its own.

that's sort of what i expected, and half-remembered. Thanks.

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Imagine a stage where the first target is a 35yd popper. I would definitely align that target with my NPA at the beginning of a stage. In terms of maintaining a dynamic NPA... I think constantly shuffling your feet would be a horrible idea, but setting up in a position with your NPA adjusted for a hard target automatically wouldn't be so bad. I would be hesitant to put any brain power into it during my stage planning but would certainly not mind if it happened on its own.

I'm pretty sure Steel Challenge shooters do that kind of thing on purpose.

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Imagine a stage where the first target is a 35yd popper. I would definitely align that target with my NPA at the beginning of a stage. In terms of maintaining a dynamic NPA... I think constantly shuffling your feet would be a horrible idea, but setting up in a position with your NPA adjusted for a hard target automatically wouldn't be so bad. I would be hesitant to put any brain power into it during my stage planning but would certainly not mind if it happened on its own.

Part of bullseye and PPC is really setting up so that your general index/NPA/whatever is lined up pretty close to the target...

I think it is useful when there is no movement, but in action shooting, it ends up being less aplicable in the textbook sense...

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I chased a 25 yard 2 second All As bill drill for about 150 rounds. No dice. I am refining my grip though!

(This might be old hat, but I'll put it out there.)

If you haven't yet, try starting out by setting up your Point of Aim with your eyes closed...present the gun, and open your eyes. If you are a bit off, adjust the feet.

The idea is to adjust so that your Natural Point of Aim has you right on target. Then, there is no time wasted muscling the gun onto target.

i'm not trying to be condescending. i'm really asking. Is there any plausible application for that? For instance, do you do the same thing on your first target of a stage? Or do you frequently shift your feet while standing and shooting so that your NPA is pointing right at your target? I think this has been covered before, but I don't have a good memory.

I really am not trolling you.

I do that in USPSA matches, on occasion. I do it often in Steel Challenge (I like lining up on the most difficult shot in the stage). If I were going for a 25y Bill Drill...I'd certainly tweak the NPA to be on target. It costs nothing to do so.

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I had a really good week of training.

I went to the range 4 times total and used about 1200 rounds.

I did about 5 hours of dryfire at home.

I worked every skill set I could think of and got a good overall picture of how things are shaping up this year.

I feel really strong at medium distance shooting and I feel good about partial targets. I feel that best about shooting while moving. ( I surprised myself and shot very well this week on 15 and 20 yard targets shot on the move).

I feel like I will forever suck at 50 yards, SHO/WHO, and high speed high tension close range blasting. No matter how much work I do I can easily force a breakdown on those things.

I got my 650 setup and it is running really well. That should cut down on my time investment for loading my ammo. Also, I am getting the primers seated a lot better.

Area 3 is soon and I am excited to go. I want to finally have a good match this year and I am hoping that will be it.

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No matter how much work I do I can easily force a breakdown on those things.

What do you do to "force a breakdown"?

I got my 650 setup and it is running really well. That should cut down on my time investment for loading my ammo. Also, I am getting the primers seated a lot better.

Time for a bullet feeder? :)

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...had a couple big revelations on how to explain getting a GM card and how to explain movement through a stage. This is too much crap (like page after page) so I sort of doubt I will post it all, but I enjoyed coming up with it.

...

I look forward to reading this as an article on your web page. Or a series of articles.

This.

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