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Pittbug


Pittbug

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Well the results are in, I won ESP (11 competitors) and won the match overall (42 competitors).

Even though I won, I had a much higher number of penalties and 1 procedural than I usually do. I think in this match I've had more penalties than any other match (23.5s in total points/penalties).

But hey, a win is a win and I'm happy I managed to pull it out of the bag, beating four EX shooters.

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This weekend I drove up to the Chain O Lakes club in Northern MI to take a class with Bob Vogel. My check engine light came on 3/4 the way up there, so I wasn't sure if I was going to make it, but I managed to get there. Checked into the motel and did some dry firing. Sunday's class was great. I picked up a few things which I hadn't tried before. I think the top two things I need to work on are: grip with elbows out and box entries.

The grip change is going to need a lot of dry dire and range time to work that one out so it comes naturally because it feels a little awkward right now. When entering boxes I do the typical beginner sequence of events, enter box, look for target, aim, fire. I need to incorporate some movement drills to get that ingrained into my subconscious.

I'm also thinking that I may have to start using the timer during DF.

On the way back I missed the exit to hit 23 and bypass Detroit. OMG, I got caught up in poorly signed construction detours, which really sucked. Fortunately, I whipped out the iphone and used maps and constructed my own detour to get me the heck outta there.

Worked out last night, although no DF, since it was too late and I really needed to hit the weights. I'll do some DF tonight working on getting used to gripping the gun with my elbows out.

Edited by Pittbug
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Worked on a slightly modified grip tonight, as suggested by Bob Vogel. My support hand is now canted further forward than before and I'm twisting my elbows out, which presses the tops of my hands together, tightening the grip. The pad of my support hand now has a longer contact patch along the length of the slide, which seems to steady the gun much more. I used to try to arrange my hands so that my strong hand index finger and support hand thumb, when stretched out were at the same length down the frame, as described in Todd Jarret's video. With this modified grip, my support thumb is much further forward.

This modified grip definitely helps keep the gun steadier during transitions, but I need to do some live fire at some point to get a real feel of what it's like and what happens during recoil.

I'm missing the IDPA classifier this weekend because I'm looking after babies while the wifey goes out shopping with her mother, for Mother's day. I can't complain, I was away for 3 days last weekend.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Went to the indoor range today to try out the modified grip. I found that after a few rounds, I'd needed to shift my support hand because it had slipped. I continued to battle on, but I still need to work at it some more because it's still awkward and slightly unpredictable.

I did some strong/support hand only strings concentrating on grip and trigger control.

I finished the session with a 1/2 size silhouette at 75 feet offhand to force myself to work on trigger control. I think I've started to develop a flinch when shooting quickly, so I need to get some more range time in and work on that, otherwise it's going to really hold me back.

I did have one failure to eject, which is the first time I've experienced that in this gun. I didn't want to take any chances to I field stripped it to make sure it wasn't a squib or something else bad. Juggling a hot barrel was fun.

The more I practice the more things I realize I have to work on.

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Shot an IDPA match at big darby creek today. The weather was gorgeous with a little haze, so I shot with my sunglasses instead of my clear el cheapo eye protection. It made a big difference because the front sight seemed clearer and there was more contrast. It confirmed that I really need to get a proper pair of shooting sunglasses.

I think I shot pretty well. It all seemed to happen so fast and yet I didn't feel like I was getting ahead of myself. I did make a couple of silly mistakes, but I was really proud of the fact that on a few targets I called a bad shot and made it up without having to look at the target.

I did have a new oddity with my equipment. After firing about 5 shots the mag just dropped out. Usually if it's badly seated it will drop out after the first round is fired, but this happened on 2 occasions. Looking back on it, I'm also really happy that it didn't phase me. I felt the mag drop and automatically just reached for a new mag and kept going with the same focus and speed.

Edit: Results were posted today (Sunday), I won ESP and came in second out of 30 shooters.

Edited by Pittbug
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  • 3 weeks later...

Since I'm now shooting ESP, which has a 125PF minimum, I decided to download my ammo from ~170PF down to about 130ish or so. After searching around and reading many threads I decided to give Harmon's minor load recommendations a try.

I had previously ordered a 10lb recoil spring and 17lb hammer spring from wolff in anticipation, which arrived the day before. So I loaded up about 150 rounds and went to the range. Man it's so soft shooting, it's like a 9mm. I did some slow accuracy work, pairs, a couple of bill drills, strong/support hand only and then more accuracy work. There's very little muzzle flip and it makes seeing the front sight much easier, since it didn't flip that far out of sight in the first place.

This puts me into shooting L10 minor with a 45, which seems a very strange combo, but I can't spring for another gun right now, so I'll just have to run this setup for a while, even though flexmoney doesn't seem to approve :)

This weekend I have an IDPA match at Circleville and an SO course at Ashland Lake, then an RO course 27th/28th back at Circleville. Hopefully my head won't be spinning between the two different sets of rules. I'm really looking forward to attending both classes.

I can't wait to shoot the match this weekend, I've been so close to catching one of my friends running a g34 in SSP and now I think with this new configuration I'm going to be closing the gap even further.

Also after reading more threads on here about reloading and premature detonations, I'm being a bit more careful with my ammo handling and using ammo boxes. They've already come in handy since I came across a round with a backwards primer!

Ok, off to do some DF.

Edit: I decided to resurrect my timer and play around with par times using my concealment vest:

1.4s draw and fire 1

1.9s at slidelock, reload and fire 1

2.9s/3.0s draw and fire 1, reload and fire 1

Edited by Pittbug
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This puts me into shooting L10 minor with a 45, which seems a very strange combo, but I can't spring for another gun right now, so I'll just have to run this setup for a while, even though flexmoney doesn't seem to approve :)

LOL...I thought that would be my usually "minor sucks" (which wouldn't apply to IDPA).

For the back story on that, Check out Jack Black > Spiderman > MTV music awards at about the 2:45 mark (costume design)...one of Steve Anderson's favorite jokes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX2haPMTAik

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LOL...I thought that would be my usually "minor sucks" (which wouldn't apply to IDPA).

For the back story on that, Check out Jack Black > Spiderman > MTV music awards at about the 2:45 mark (costume design)...one of Steve Anderson's favorite jokes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX2haPMTAik

I'd never seen that before, that's pretty funny :roflol:

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Shot the IDPA match at Circleville today and it felt great. I didn't feel quite as pumped up as I sometimes do at matches, but it still felt good. I don't know if it's because the novelty is wearing off, or I'm just becoming more relaxed. On one of the stages I set off moving from P1 to P2 and my feet almost slid out from under me as the gravel shifted. Fortunately I saved myself from falling and made it to P2 safely. I remember once I had finished the stage that once I had arrived at P2, I engaged the targets and remained in the zone. The stumble hadn't thrown me mentally, which I was really happy about.

The gun ran great with no problems at all. I think I put in some fairly quick stage times, so we'll see how the scores pan out.

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I won ESP, but it looks like I screwed up a couple of stages so that put me 2nd overall, only 1 second behind first place.

I took an SO class at Ashland Lake Gun Club, by Larry Wenger and had a great time. It seems that I was destined to launch myself into the gravel at some point this weekend, since it happened during the practical part of the course. The pieces of gravel were large and loose and trying to move between p2 and p3 sent me belly first into the gravel. Fortunately I retained the gun, kept it pointed downrange and kept my finger out of the guard so no ADs *phiew*. Not having an AD was the highlight of the day for me.

Hopefully I'll get my SO card and be able to help out at the state match.

Now, I have to get the USPSA rulebook out and study for the RO course in 2 weeks. Hopefully my head won't explode.

Edited by Pittbug
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1hr DF tonight. I worked in some movement, snaking my way around the gym equipment. I also worked on reloads with retention, and then including movement.

DF felt good tonight, perhaps it helped having an argument with the wife before hand so I could get fired up.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The first of a 2 day RO class is over and I've just got a quick test in the workbook to do later tonight. The class is going well and Gary is doing a great job of imparting his knowledge of the rules, past experiences and the practical issues of running a shooter.

I had a little trouble getting my head around the issue of scoring a target where the noshoot perf is directly on top of the target perf, but after a bit of chit chat on the topic the penny dropped.

I have the practical part of the class tomorrow, which should be interesting. It'll be nice to be outside in the sun. I just need to make sure I don't inadvertantly use the IDPA commands.

As far as my dry fire training is going I've settled down to about 3 nights per week and weight training 3 times per week. This ensures that I look forward to dry fire, so I can stay focussed and get the maximum benefit. I'm following a year long weights program where all the routines are spelled out for me, so 3 times a week is what that calls for right now. I had to take a 3 week break since I strained my back, but last Thursday I started it back up again and it felt great.

I think over the past few months I've gotten into some bad habits with my trigger release, so lately I've been really concentrating on moving my trigger finger slightly differently so I don't disturb the sights. When I do some live fire practice at the local indoor range, I shoot a group of about 50 rounds at 25 yards to continue working on accuracy.

The one thing I just realised I haven't done yet, is to shoot a group at that distance off a bag/rest, since i'm using a new minor load.

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Second day of the RO class today was spent outside at the range doing the practical. Afterwards a few of us stuck around and did a bit of practice which was really great. Practicing the texas star was great, since I've had such little experience with it.

I guess I better end here and start working on my RO exam.

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I got my SO certificate in the mail today :D

Looking forward to tomorrow's USPSA match at Circleville. It looks like there are going to be some fun stages. It's calling for storms tomorrow afternoon, so hopefully we'll be able to get done before they home in on us.

My shoulders are suffering from a little muscle pain today, so I'm going to do some DF tonight to get the lactic acid flowing out of them.

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The match went well today. During one of the stages I thought I noticed that some of my loads felt lighter than others somehow. Not sure what's going on there. Perhaps it's just my inconsistent grip, but I need to be mindful of that in future.

I ran the classifier in 10.something, but it should have been probably 8.something since I missed the last popper and had to do a reload... ack! Oh well, perhaps next time I'll play it safe and do a reload between the two boxes.

Something is definitely a little funky with my grip. I've noticed the past couple of matches that the front sight tends to float high in the notch. I wonder if somehow, the tension in my forearms is affecting it. I need to do some live fire practice and experiment with that a little.

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Thanks for the comment, that confirms that it's not just a grip issue. I guess I'll recheck the dies and powder dispenser. They're all being made from the same batch of 230RN, cci primers and clays powder, the only variance is in the mixed brass. Maybe I need to sort my brass and produce batches of ammo by headstamp?

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How much Clays?

I wonder... try this... Just after the round leaves the powder station of your press, pull it. Then, slowly tilt it while shaking it a a bit and see if you powder charge is likely to be below the flash/primer hole when you'd have a bullet in there and the round would be on it's side.

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Shot an IDPA match today at Circleville. I've started to design stages and submitted a couple to the match director, who decided to use one for this match. As it turned out I started off in that bay with my stage and was also first to shoot. After having done the new shooter orientation and rushing around to get everything going to try and beat the rain, I was not exactly in my usual mindset. I totally messed up the stage with misses and a lot of dropped points. It also didn't help that I hadn't done any dry fire for a while since I'd been feeling kinda crappy last week. It was a good learning experience and I know I'll do better on my next cold start.

Part way through the match it did start pouring down. While everyone else was doing their best to stay dry during the downpour, I continued to stay out and SO as many shooters as possible. I wanted to get myself totally drenched to see how things changed. How my equipment held up, how my clothing felt, how slippery everything got, what the targets looked like with bags and everything else that shooting in the rain brings. I'm hoping to shoot the state match in September and who knows what the weather might bring, so I wanted to get that experience now and have a chance to adjust equipment if necessary. The one thing that kinda stood out was that my 511 vest got really heavy. I don't usually have anything in the pockets except some brass and maybe a pen. But I guess it must be made of cotton because it felt like it weighed about 10lbs when I took it off.

So after my disastrous cold start I think I shot the other stages quite well. The rain really didn't bother me at all and I didn't have any equipment problems.

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Well the results are in and as suspected, I did horribly. I had 34 points down in total and 1 penalty, the bulk of which were accumulated on stage 4. That kind of screw up tends to really put a dent in the results. Looking on the bright side, my raw times were really good. I know where I made my mistakes and know what I need to work on.

I've been reading through the new airsoft forum and am starting to get quite intrigued.

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  • 3 weeks later...

The Circleville match today was fun. Thanks to Conrad for putting together a great match.

My shooting was mediocre today. On the stage with the two stars the buzzer went off and my plan went right out the window. I managed to complete it ok, but I think I took extra shots on one target when I didn't need to. I guess that's what happens when you stray from the plan, then try to get back into it later on.

The classifier hoser heaven was tough, but still enjoyable since the par time really made you get a move on. I saw some shooters were not able to get all their shots off in the 5 seconds alloted, so that got me to really focus on the front sight and get that gun on to the next target pronto. I've never practiced a strong hand draw, then switching to support hand only, so I need to add that to my dry fire routine.

Big thanks to Kyle who helped me chrono some rounds after the match. I need to go over the numbers again to be sure, but I think I may end up tweaking the charge up a touch just to be on the safe side. It seems like the less powder that was in the case, the higher the spread. I also tried out some 180gr moly coated bullets and they seemed a lot more consistent in velocity, but maybe that's because there was more powder. I'm looking forward to trying them at the next IDPA match and seeing how they work out.

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How did your loads chrono out? It's intriguing to me that as we were talking yesterday, mine are making major at such a smaller OAL. How long did you say you are running yours with how many grains?

Brian

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