Lugnut's journey

[lugnut]

Mini USPSA classifier match last night 4 stages.

Six Chickens 46.2967%

Six 72.8142%

Madness 74.4536%

Works for me 45.4964%

I felt like I've been shooting well lately so I was hoping to get some good runs in. My first stage was Six Chickens- it was a good run till I popped a shot off the target as I just transitioned to my strong hand. 1 miss on too many Cs.

On the next stage, Six. I hooked up pretty good. I didn't get the best grip out of the holster and got A/C on the first target. Got the steel quick with the last target fast as well with 2A. 3.77s

I feel like I do well on drills like Madness and felt it was a good run. I think I had 3 Cs though. I got a good draw and reload. I think I could have picked up some speed on the last two targets on the right before the reload but I'll take it.

Works for me... oh well for some damn reason my mind was thinking one shot each paper. I got a quick shot on the far right and started my transition off the target but I realized it was now two per paper... and I popped one just off the target for a miss. Threw off my tempo and had a miss on the right steel but I had a quick make up right after the middle paper and left steel. Time and accuracy were off. Too bad.. I know I could have had a good run on this stage if I did it again.

All in all I think if I just try to shoot regular and not try to hose the classifiers- I tend to be getting many in the 70+% now so I'm pleased.

[lugnut]

Good matches this weekend- Friday was a Walls of Steel match and today we had a local USPSA match.

I don't spend a ton of time shooting steel and I realize I can always use some work on this so I had signed up. The match was a great time. I was shocked at some of the small steel that was set up. I shot ok, but it's clear that some people are just real good at standing shooting steel. I guess in some respects it's great as it REALLY puts emphasis entirely on getting a good sight picture and trigger control. I learned a lot about managing the trigger on the tough shots. I also felt strange about starting from the ready position so I decided to draw from my holster and reload from my belt.... why not it's what I do most of the time anyway. I also didn't count to 9 then reload, then count to 10 and reload. If I did this a lot I guess I should but I don't see my slide lock reloads being all that much slower.... plus I can't count!

Today's USPSA match was tough. It was really rainy and miserable but it's good to get practice in this kind of weather too. I squadded with a couple of great shooters and learned a lot again. Sometimes the "obvious" way to shoot a stage is not the best. I need to be more open minded before picking a way to shoot stages. I felt a little "off" today but the steel looked huge and I think I only had one make up shot on the steel all day. One stage gave you far shots at steel OR take the same steel at half the distance from another position but now you had no shoots directly behind them- ingenious. I was confident on the closer steel and figured that if I got closer my time would be quicker. I hit them clean and easy. A couple hesitations and one strange gun problem cost me some time on a couple stages. I finished with the classifier Quicky II. I wanted to push it on this and I did... but I shouldn't have. Got decent times but 2 delta and 1 mike. Even with the mike and 2 Ds my percentage came out to 60.7%- damn that sucks. I am close to 75% and a good run away from making A. I really just need to ignore this and just shoot but it's so hard when I am extremely focused on achieving certain goals. It WILL happen but I can't force it...

Edited August 22, 2010 by lugnut

[Supermoto]

It WILL happen but I can't force it...

Yep, Shoot the classifier like any other stage, stop worrying about classification and just shoot.

[lugnut]

It WILL happen but I can't force it...

Yep, Shoot the classifier like any other stage, stop worrying about classification and just shoot.

I guess I need to be more disciplined. Temptation is a tough thing to ignore. I'll work on it for sure.

[noidlight]

It WILL happen but I can't force it...

Yep, Shoot the classifier like any other stage, stop worrying about classification and just shoot.

I guess I need to be more disciplined. Temptation is a tough thing to ignore. I'll work on it for sure.

You shot a great match today Dave.

[Dan Sierpina]

Yep, Shoot the classifier like any other stage, stop worrying about classification and just shoot.

I seem to try to tell him this too. A classifier is JUST a stage in the match. Improve match performance, the classifier goes with it.

[lugnut]

Fair enough guys. The thing is I don't just have one single goal- I have many,-performing at a certain level at a match is one short term goal, getting to A is another, etc. I put pressure on myself for each goal I have. Reviewing my classifications is similar to reviewing the results of a match in my mind. I probably would have pushed myself a bit on the Quicky II stage anyway as it's the kind of shooting I'm very confident with. Chit happens.

[Supermoto]

Dave,

I understand where you are coming from, I know the pressure and drive you put on yourself to move up, I did the same thing

when I was in your spot. "I just need one good classifier and I can move up". I chased this for many months and I have seen others do the same... it rarely works. You will get to your goal faster if you just shoot the stage the best you can without adding the pressure or expectation of moving up.

anyways, the best way to make A in production is to make M in Open

[lugnut]

Dave,

I understand where you are coming from, I know the pressure and drive you put on yourself to move up, I did the same thing

when I was in your spot. "I just need one good classifier and I can move up". I chased this for many months and I have seen others do the same... it rarely works. You will get to your goal faster if you just shoot the stage the best you can without adding the pressure or expectation of moving up.

anyways, the best way to make A in production is to make M in Open

Ahh I knew that was coming. I'm just waiting for the gun to blow up then I'll switch. LOL! I hear ya though, I do.

I'm trying not to let Rob catch me in Production, I got the edge the other day. I will say this- he's fast and I'm sure that came from lots of practice with you in Open.

[Dan Sierpina]

Never mind Rob, you should be more concerned with Jerry. Consistently beat him, and you'll have the skills for the "A" card. Maybe you need a stogie to chomp on while shooting. Either that or a short Sig.

[lugnut]

Never mind Rob, you should be more concerned with Jerry. Consistently beat him, and you'll have the skills for the "A" card. Maybe you need a stogie to chomp on while shooting. Either that or a short Sig.

Yeah, I know. Jerry is a great competitor and not just for his shooting ability. He's the type of guy that really gets excited when his competition cranks out a good run and he's always will to give help.

And I tried his Sig... I think I'll go for the stogy!

[lugnut]

Small update. After the WOS and USPSA match I got my blood retested on that following Tuesday... came back at 21- a few months ago it was down to 18. So somehow even with just shooting outdoors my levels trickled up a bit. No headaches still but maybe I should start taking the Heavy Metal pills again as nothing has really changed! My Dr. really wants me to get my levels down to below 10 and thinks I should use a respirator even outdoors...

I have not shot since then either due to scheduling issues so I'm dying to get some shooting in. Did little dry firing while on vacation in Maine.

[lugnut]

Finally got some practice in this weekend! The weather was just superb. I felt that I was a little slow to start and although it was only 2 weeks it felt longer.

Anyway today I tried something new. Everyone really says it's important to shoot with both eyes open... I usually close my non dominant eye and I know at least one other real good shooter that does the same. But today I figured I'd try the whole practice with both eyes open. It wasn't much effort at all, and frankly I think with my better set of mono-vision contacts- it seems fine. I do think I can call my shots better and see more of the sightsmoving .... that was a big surprise. I didn't notice any peripheral vision advantages though. I've always been able to shoot with both eyes slow fire but at match time I closed of squinted my non dominant eye. I'll see if it works well going forward.

I did a fair amount of shooting of the move, tough shots, head shots and big transitions. I think my biggest challenge lately is mental patience... I seem to want to go faster than I "can". Sometimes in practice this is ok, but not in matches. Played around with some Mozambiques too for fun- best was a 1.67s... bad thing is my draw is still in the high teens on that- it should be faster, that's where the time is. As always- I need to work on prepping the trigger on the tight/tough shots.

All in all a good day- shot a few hundred rounds at least.

[lugnut]

I just reread my post above and wish I had really found a way to become more patient this weekend! Shot an IDPA match Saturday- what a spectacular day. I shot good except for a couple shots... that happened to hits on no shoots! Worse thing was on one stage there was a hole in the NS that was clearly not mine- it was easy to tell by looking at the holes in the threat target- everyone was joking about it but the scorer didn't realize it and gave me the no shoot. Since they kept the score sheets and didn't require a signature I didn't notice till the end! Oh well. 3 No shoots and one PE and I still somehow managed to come in 1st in division as well as all semis. Fun time regardless. Tried shooting with both eyes and it was ok... definitely didn't see enough of the sights though.

Then yesterday at the NE Sectionals USPSA match.. well let's start with the good things. I learned a lot, I just hope I can execute next time. My last two stages of the day were my best (3rd and 4th in Production out of 44 with several real good shooters). I hauled ass thru a cooper tunnel so much so that the guys were laughing their asses off because they never saw me move so fast. I had good hits before and after hauling ass so that was good. The match had plenty of tough shots and for the most part I was shooting the difficult targets well. There were a fair amount of plates that I handled easily.

However things didn't start very well. My first two targets of the match had two mikes. Bad enough but they were at about 5-7 yards and WIDE OPEN. I was horrified as otherwise it was a decent run. I know I saw the target but little of the gun, never mind my sights. I think trying to use both eyes after little training wasn't smart but I basically lost patience and took those targets for granted. That hurt. The next stage was a little shaky but I ran it clean.. still managed to miss a popper a few times some how. I stayed focused and ran the next several stages ok. Nothing spectacular but it felt like I was doing better. I started using one eye only. I had one other stage with a blow up. Again a bunch of close targets at about 7 yards. Miss and No shoot.. ughh. Not enough patience again... I won't even mention what the previous run was like on this stage (had reshoot because the recorded time was not correct). Nonetheless the two last stages after that blow up were my best runs.

So... I can come back from adversity.... I know I can shoot, I just need more patience and discipline- I know I've said this before- but it keeps eluding me. Not really sure how to fix this problem but I know I will. The pain is too much to endure after training so much. I NEED TO SEE EVERY SIGHT ON EVERY TARGET. Don't ignore the "easy" ones. So yeah when it was all said and done- 4 Mikes and 1 NS. All but one was completely within my capability.... if I paid attention.

So 7th of 44 is what it was. I'm happy with my overall ranking but disappointed at the 4 shots that hopefully have helped me learn a valuable lesson for good this time!

[lugnut]

Playing with the wheel gun a bit. I really enjoy everything about shooting the 686.. except all the reloading!! I need to tweak the Comp IIIs, I realize why people do this now. I find that watching the sights on the wheel gun is quite the experience. The front sight is much easier to track as it only goes up and down unlike the semis. Also you are almost forced to keep your eyes on the sight as the trigger pull is a mile long! Thing is accurate and I've got some good loads worked up for it. Club match Saturday then a couple more weeks and the CT state! I need to run a classifier before that sometime. If I made Expert I'd be pleased... it will be hard.

[lugnut]

Shot an IDPA club match this weekend and had some good fun with the 686. I enjoyed it but I can see how people get bummed when more people don't shoot in their divisions.

Today I was able to run the classifier at my club. It was a little rough around the edges but I felt it coming together a bit. Ended up shooting it in 110.05s which I was pleased with. I can see where I can find some time to get to Master in the future. Funny to think that just a year ago I squeaked into SS at about 155s.

And damn the gun is accurate. After the classifier I took three shots at a target to make sure the gun was sighted in correctly... 1" group at 20 yards.

[lugnut]

Shot a USPSA club match today- great weather and great stages. Strange shooting the Glock again... I couldn't get into shooting the 686 with speedloaders in USPSA... that and I don't have enough pouches. Didn't feel smooth all day... not just with the gun but with my movements. I was shooting pretty accurate but had occasional mental lapses still. A couple of misses on easy targets- still finding myself fast forwarding my "plan" before I've finished shooting a target/array. Today I actually started a reload after the 1st shot on a paper target- and I had 2 rounds left in the gun- just a mental fart! On one stage I was doing VERY well- got lots of A hits and time was quick but I failed to step into a box directly in front of me before engaging 2 steel and it cost me 2 PEs!! Damn the steel was in front of Noshoots as well and I shot them just fine!

I am very confident in my ability to make tough shots, I can shoot just fine. My problems lie in other areas still- primarily consistency and patience. I'm surprised at just how elusive these two things are! I think these two are going weigh heavily when deciding my goals for next year!

With only a month of outdoor shooting left- maybe two depending on weather- I want to focus on the 686 but the Glock is like a magnet to me!! It keeps calling me back! Not sure how to deal with this and I feel neurotic not being able to stick with a particular gun other than the Glock for more than a week or two. A friend suggested staying with the 686 until the IDPA Indoor Nats... not a bad idea at all. I have so many guns I'd love to shoot more but going back and forth is just too difficult....

[lugnut]

Had a good practice with the revolver last Wednesday and shot the CT IDPA State today. Fun time and have lots to learn still! Best part is I WON a S&W M&P 9!! Wahhooo!!!

Here are things I learned:

Using a revolver with a flashlight is tricky for sure

Transitions and splits are slower as expected but I can see it working out- bad shots were me not focusing enough and rushing

Need to work on faster reloads- I should be able to get them under 4 secs and possibly 3.5s with more effort/training

I called a shot on long target... but it was a nonthreat hit, oh well.

I took a good dive and was able to keep the gun in a safe direction and recovered quickly.

It really does feel like every stage is limited vickers now... make ups hose you and can throw off your whole plan.

Most importantly- I enjoy shooting the 686. I feel it will really help me develop as a better shooter!

[Chuck Z]

Great job shooting the revolver in CT. I think Gene has far too much influence on you guys. Both you and John C. drinking the kool-aid.

Congrats on the M&P. They're a lot of fun once you tweak them.

[lugnut]

Great job shooting the revolver in CT. I think Gene has far too much influence on you guys. Both you and John C. drinking the kool-aid.

Congrats on the M&P. They're a lot of fun once you tweak them.

Thanks Chuck- yeah between Gene and Craig it's hard to ignore. I will say that it is fun to step out of my comfort zone though... and I'm not talking about doing the face plant like I did... lol. I'm going to stick with it for a bit. Another thing about shooting revolver... Linsky shot revolver for just over a year.. look where he's at now!

[lugnut]

Still shooting the revolver and really am having a good time. Shot another couple local matches and the Maine State today (got in last minute which was cool). I feel like I still have some learning to do but what's got me bugged lately is I'm having issues with rounds not going off which makes me crazy!! I use Federal primers and never had problems with this gun before even with factory ammo. I'm not really sure what's going on. I am going to try switching to a different batch of Federal primers and see if that has anything to do with it. I'll break the gun down and give it a good look over and maybe even put a little bend in the mainspring to help it out.

Today I had some good runs but had a couple mental farts. Reloads are getting better and I'm figuring out the trigger... I had to engage one array of 6 targets with 2 each from cover. After the reload I lost track of which targets I had engaged and ended up missing a wide open target... that cost me the win in EX for sure. The other one was when I shot 6 rounds and had to move a dummy and reengage the targets... I was so concerned with moving the dummy I forgot to reload and tried to fire the already shot rounds about 4 or 5 times... I thought I was having primer issues again... boy did I and the guys in the squad have a laugh at that!

I think I might just shoot a USPSA match or two with it... not the best choice for USPSA revolver but I want to get this revolver thing!

Edited October 18, 2010 by lugnut

[lugnut]

Revolver work:

Complete breakdown and cleaning. Light CLP and wiped off.

Bobbed hammer- removed spur and some extra material, safeties 100% functional

Wolff Reduced Power Main Spring

Wolff 13lb Rebound Spring with two coils clipped

Re-polished all surfaces

Yoke shows slight wear from Yolk screw.

[jar]

How's the reliability with the reduced spring?

[lugnut]

How's the reliability with the reduced spring?

Believe it or not the reduced power mainspring appeared to be installed when I did the S&W action work last year.- I suspect it is a Wolff Everything was fine till recently. I was documenting the parts in the gun in the diary just to keep track. I did clip two coils on the rebound spring and that obviously doesn't impact (no pun intended) the hammer strikes. Lately I've got several misfires/light strikes. Strain screw was tight but it looks like they may have sanded a bit off the end so I have ordered replacements. It could be a tired main spring- not sure. The FP I have is .495" and Titanium so it's not the short one people have complained about in the past on some of the 686s. So I guess I will need to see if the bobbed hammer was enough to fix the light strikes... plus I increased the bend a tad on the main spring. I ordered a Apex Tactical Competition FP kit to see if that would help as well. Since I use well seated Federal primers and my gun is over 7lbs for sure, I can't think of many other things it could be. My endshake/headspacing seems to be within tolerance but a longer FP would address that anyway.... we'll see.

As you can tell I'm not tolerant of ANY gun problems!

[lugnut]

Took advantage of the great day we had today and went to the range and shoot at the steel plate rack. I had installed the Apex FP and fired 200+ rounds but still had two light strikes. Damn it pisses me off- I shouldn't have any issues with a 7.5lb trigger and Federal primers! My reloads seem to be getting better- mostly in the 3.5sec range at 12 yards. Draw and splits still are off my semi auto times but when I push it I can get draws in the one sec range and splits in the low .20s. Most draws were in the 1.3-1.4s range. Spend most of the time engaging plates in different orders from different starts and distances... some on the move as well.

On the light strikes... I'm pissed but I straightened out the main spring a bit but now I have about a 9lb trigger. I'm still wondering if I just got a batch of primers that has harder than usual cups. Who knows.

On another note a buddy of mine came up with a great idea for the off season. Each of us is going to put away 25 cents for each day that we do at least 20 minutes of real dry fire practice. We are going to also put away 50 cents for each pound we lose. Whoever has the most money the day of the S&W Indoor Nats get the other guy's money. Should be fun!

Edited October 29, 2010 by lugnut