Corey's road to success

[steel1212]

Not only am I a GM in L10/SS I'm a GM shipper. Keep on ordering and I"ll keep on beating the record!!

I take it Mike showed you the email? hahahaha

I'm sitting in the same office!

[Corey]

I know! I was hoping it'd get to you. I expect the next order to be out in under 10 minutes

[Corey]

Feeling accomplished after this weekend. Got my JP gas block installed on my rifle and got it tuned up for my loads. Took a but of the recoil out along with the LMOS carrier. Ran a few drills, did a couple tests and am happy with both so far. Really hoping I can get my Nordic upper soon to get some real trigger time in with the AR. Also finished up my winter skeet league today. Shot well and finally got my first 25 straight!

Now that the league is over, I can focus on the upcoming 3gun and USPSA seasons. Working out harder than ever and dry firing both pistol and 3gun gear when I can. Looking forward to being able to shoot soon.

[Corey]

Nothing like getting back in touch with an old friend. Dug the SS rig out of the safe today. With two months until Nats, I figured it was time to brush up with skinny gun. Man this mag opening is small, haha. Got the 550 converted to load a bunch of 45s as well. Productive little day. Gym and chrono tomorrow, 3gun practice on Sunday so it should be a fun weekend. Season officially kicks off next weekend with the 3gun match at ACC. Bout time to get to some shooting...

[Corey]

Spent some time with the SS gun again this afternoon. Draws feel great, reloads are smoother than I thought. Didn't try to put a bunch of speed into them. Just getting back in the swing of things. Wasn't a real structured session, just an hour or so of handling a gun I haven't touched in months. Also worked on the shotgun today too. No timer, but tried to hustle all the loads. Lot less fumbles today which made me feel good. Worked on empty chamber loads as well as standard. Both are feeling pretty good. Hoping the weather cooperates for practice tomorrow.

[Corey]

Had a decent practice yesterday despite the brutal wind and snow. Shotgun reloads were tough to do with my hands not wanting to move, but we go a few done. Ill keep working those into dryfire this week. Rifle is zero'd and ready to go and I finally got to run some ammo through the new M&P. Man that Apex trigger is smooth. Almost reminds me of my Geissele 3Gun trigger a bit. More dryfire with the shotgun and SS rigs this week.

[Corey]

Took advantage of the nice weather yesterday and sneaked out to the range after work with my 3gun gear. Ran some more ammo through the M&P mainly just as a function check on my new mags. Everything seems ship-shape with them. Also ran a few mags of ammo through the rifle. Did some 1 shot drills from low ready and port arms. Also did some doubles and target transitions. Didn't bring my timer, so I wasn't rushing. Just trying to be quick and smooth. Also took the time to run some shotgun loading drills, mainly from an empty chamber. I'm trying to build in a slightly different routine if/when I run the gun dry. Hopefully it wont pop up very often . Instead of reaching under with the shells and tossing one in the chamber, then closing and loading the other 3 in my hand, I'm closing the bolt empty, loading the 4 (or 8) then racking one in. Seems much easier and a bit faster for me. Ran a full box of shells that way, loading 4 to an empty gun, racking and taking 1 shot. Empty the gun and start over. Got into a nice rhythm and I feel pretty good about how its coming along. First INMG match this weekend...

[Corey]

First match is in the books. Great time. Sunny and 70 on the second weekend in March, how can you complain! Match attendance was way higher than we anticipated. 79 shooters showed up!! I think it was a record for the club for a monthly match of any discipline. I shot fairly well. First stage of the day I had some shotgun troubles, mainly jitters and trying to move too fast. Lost about 15-20 seconds. That stage was eventually thrown out so it'll help my overall time. Rifle went well as did the pistol. I think I should have a couple of top 5 stage finishes. No real struggles on any other stage. Waiting to see what times/scores look like. Working on video in the coming days as well with critique to follow.

[Corey]

Video from the INMG match this past weekend:

2 stages arent shown. One is on another camera and the other never got filmed. The one that didn't get filmed may have been the best one of the day. That's the way it usually goes though. Haven't seen the official scores, but I heard I was 6th out of 82, which considering the talent pool, (Brian Butcher, Tony Holmes, Ryan Zamberlan) I'm pretty happy with, especially being the first match of the year.

Stage 6 (on other camera): Shot the "long range" rifle targets well from the rooftop prop and breezed through the other short range rifle targets. Had a brain fart on the shotgun and tried to rack the gun without dropping a shell from the tube. Also tried to shoot too quickly and of course missed a couple targets throwing off my reload plans. Wasted a good 15 seconds or more in general with the shotgun. Pistol went well on this stage. ( This stage was eventually thrown out due to various target issues)

Stage 1: Quick speed shoot. 3 to the upper head portion of the target with the rifle, then 3 to body with the pistol. Couple of extra shots with the rifle as insurance as I wasn't positive of the sight picture when they broke. Nothing seriously wrong here. Only place to improve is getting the gun into position and getting more familiar with a new pistol

Stage 2: started off like I wanted with a quick 2 shell supplemental reload before I started shooting. That and the double target shot on the berm got me out of that area with one left in the tube like I wanted. Dropped a shell on the reload walking up and needed to go to the belt a 3rd time for a single shell which cost me time. Now I'm rushing and of course missed a couple shots. Had to slide lock reload the shotgun wasting a few more seconds. Finished with pistol.

Stage 3: All rifle, 3 "long range" newbold targets from a prone position then full size and half size rifle targets scattered throughout the stage. No problems with any of the shots and I was pretty happy with the end result. Too bad this one didn't get videoed.

Stage 4: another speed shoot. Shotgun was to have 4 rounds loaded and pistol mag was limited to 8 rounds only. Empty mag on one barrel, empty gun on the other. After the buzzer, load the 4 remaining shells needed and go to work. No extra shells were allowed so I made myself slow down a tad more than normal and make sure I got the hits. Got them all and was fairly happy. This carried into the next stage.

Stage 5: 3 slug targets to start the stage then 14 steel knockdowns after that. The mentality of focus and making the shots count paid off here. If I didn't miss, I would only need 2 separate 4 shell loads to get me through the shotgun portion. Got them all and was pleased. Took advantage of stage design and got a double on some paper with the pistol then finished on the plate rack. Plates could have gone better. I just know I need to practice more with the new M&P.

Fairly happy overall. Got some weak points to work on before next month's match at Wildcat. Glad we get to use actual long distance targets there

ETA: Scores are officially up. 6th out of 82 and 4th in Tac Ops. Ill take it.

[rvb]

Cool man, good shooting.

Looks like they put on some good matches.

I might have to tag along a couple times this summer [and borrow your shotgun ]

-rvb

[Corey]

Ryan, let me know when you get a free weekend!

Worked on some baseline times with the SS rig last night. Set par times for Sessions A & B in the Seeklander book. Good CrossFit workout after that as well. No dryfire tonight, but I did make it to the gym. Hoping to get to the range tomorrow to finish getting acquainted to my old skinny friend, haha. Planning on at least one live fire session from Mike's book. Will maybe try to get in 2. It all depends on time and if the fiance goes with me to play with her new M&P. Planning some range time this weekend too. Thought about going to the steel match at ACC, but I think my time will be better served working out then hitting my drills hard. Planning on sticking with the SS gun exclusively until Nationals.

[Corey]

Holy cow, I forgot how awesome live fire practice can be. I missed that!! Got out to the range last night with the SS gun and ran some drills. Ended up being a shorter night than I thought though. My old ammo from last year still wont run in my gun. I was hoping things had changed there. Good thing I took some good ammo with me as well. Did a few of the drills from Mike's live fire session A. Also did a couple draw-fire-reload-fire and 2-rl-2 drills. Looking for smoothness on reload, I only bobbled one. Then ran a couple of Bill drills. Planning on doing more of these this weekend if I can sneak back out there. All in all, I was happy with the range time.

[Corey]

Another day on the range. Man I'm loving this weather. Forget my Seeklander book at home (I guess that's what happens when you pack your gear the morning after St Patty's day ) so I just did some "get to know the gun drills". Draws, single shots, doubles, some simple target transitions, Bill drills. I also used today as some experimenting time. The ammo problems I have been having with my old SWC appears to be mag related. I switched to my old CMC mas today and all the old ammo ran just fine. Im still planning on using the Montana Golds for matches, but at least I don't have to waste the 800-1,000 rounds I have left over. Plenty of practice ammo to shoot up before Nationals!

More workouts and dry fire this week to come, maybe a range day one evening now that DST is keeping the sun up until close to 8PM. Possibly may start the USPSA season this weekend at ACC if the schedule works out as well.

[Corey]

No match today but managed to sneak out to the range for a couple hundred rounds of live fire practice. Did some draws, transitions, and bill drills. Accuracy was improved from last week. I think its just a matter of getting back in touch with a gun that I haven't shot in awhile. Also spent some time working on SHO/WHO shooting. I was very happy with how this went today. Its always been an area that I've struggled with, mainly b/c I don't practice it enough. Planning on continuing this progress and extending the distance with each range session. I'm hoping to be able to at least get out there once a week until Nationals for a practice session to go along with matches. More workouts & dry fire to come this week.

[Chris iliff]

I wondered why you weren't at ACC. Glad you got trigger time anyways!!

[monicataliani]

No match today but managed to sneak out to the range for a couple hundred rounds of live fire practice. Did some draws, transitions, and bill drills. Accuracy was improved from last week. I think its just a matter of getting back in touch with a gun that I haven't shot in awhile. Also spent some time working on SHO/WHO shooting. I was very happy with how this went today. Its always been an area that I've struggled with, mainly b/c I don't practice it enough. Planning on continuing this progress and extending the distance with each range session. I'm hoping to be able to at least get out there once a week until Nationals for a practice session to go along with matches. More workouts & dry fire to come this week.

Glad to see you got to shoot today!

[Corey]

I was hoping to get to the match but being up late the night before winning at beer pong, didn't help the cause . Maybe I'll get up in time to go to Angola next month, haha. I need to shoot Angola, Warsaw and FW as warmups for Nationals. I need a couple of real matches to knock off the fine rust from things.

Workout tonight and about 20 minutes of dryfire. Also reloaded 200 long range 3gun rifle rounds.

[Corey]

Shot Angola yesterday. First match of the year is always a fun one. Overall I'm pretty happy with the day. Ended up a close 2nd in SS. Had a few problems here and there, but for the first match, not too bad. Bobbled a couple reloads and clipped one no-shoot. Was able to stick with my plans for the stages and I felt fairly smooth throughout the runs. More dryfire and CrossFit to come this week.

[Corey]

Didn't get as much dryfire in as I would have liked this week, but did hit the gym quite a bit and was able to spend some time on the range Thursday night for the weekly practice session. These little drill nights are going to be a big help as I'll be help to set up drills specifically to target my weaknesses and improve on them.

Shot Warsaw's match yesterday. Great match as usual from those guys. With the exception of one stage, I was fairly happy with the day. Was able to see my sights better than last week and was fairly happy with the way I shot steel. With Nationals coming up, I need to put my effort on accuracy and not needing make up shots. Got into a hurry on one stage and missed a couple of steel plates that cost me some time. I ended up winning 2 stages and a 2nd on another. Had one feeding issue on a stage. Had 4 jams that wouldn't feed the first round out of the magazine. Went to the safe area and cleaned up the feed ramp a bit and the rest of the day went off without a hitch. Looks like its time to tear my gun down give it a thorough cleaning along with the mags. Forgot my mag brushes at home and mags got a little dirty Sunday which didn't help my cause. Things will get a good cleanup this week, then I still have 2 Thursday practices and 2 more matches for testing before Nationals.

Also ordered some ammo from AA&A today that should be here this week.

Video from Warsaw, minus jam stage

[Corey]

Welp, my match at FW is on the books. Had some real good points and real ugly points today. First and foremost, I wanted to put on a good match with fun, challenging stages. Check!! Next, I wanted to make sure my gear was running at 100% after the jam issues at Warsaw last week. Check!! Third, I wanted to shoot well and win the division. Fell flat on that one for sure.

Breakdown.

Stage 4: My design, had a decent enough plan. It went to hell when I missed a few shots on steel and was forced to change my reload plan. This changed my next two arrays. From here I was winging it.

Stage 5: 03-11 El Strong & Weak Pres. Couple of No-shoots hurt me here. Most of my shots were good, just a couple barely into the NS target. Won't count for me.

Stage 1. Had a great plan in my head and executed the first 65% of it great. absorbed draw fairly well while moving to a shooting position. Shot the first paper arrays, fine, reloaded and gunned down 4 steel on a slow roll through an open area. Shot a couple more paper and some plates. Missed a few plates and had to do an extra reload. After RO'ing 5 or 6 shooters, I lost track of my plan at the end and forgot about the last paper target I was supposed to shoot. Whoops! That hurt the score sheet.

Stage 2: Started off great, but extra shots on steel cost me again as I got off my reload plan and couldn't get back on it. Finished slow with a couple of Ms on wide open targets.

Stage 3. Interesting little stage with close paper and longer steel shots. Had a plan i was confident in and was able to follow through on the majority of it. 26 round COF that I finished with 25 As and stupid M on the last paper target. Just plain missed it.

Today I really wanted to ensure my gun/mags/ammo would run under match conditions which it did without a hitch. I need to verify my sights with my new AA&A rounds this week. Couple more Thursday practices and possibly the ACC match next weekend before Nationals. I feel comfortable with my gear. Now I just gotta get my head on board as well.

[Corey]

Man I hate playing Monday Morning QB after a relatively ugly match. Had a couple high points, but a lot of lows. Going to verify sights Thursday and work on a little trigger control. Going to be a short night on the range as I have a work meeting later in the evening. Might have plans Saturday, if not Im going to try to shoot the SC match at ACC. Definitely going to make the effort to shoot their USPSA match. Need a couple final tune ups and confidence builders for Nationals.

[Corey]

Culdn't CrossFit this morning like I usually do on Saturday mornings due to a beaver dam removal on our property up North, but I did manage a nice P90X workout this afternoon so I feel good. Going to try to supplement my CrossFit workouts with more P90X on the days I can't get to the gym. 6 weeks until beach time!

Going to pack up the gear for ACC tomorrow and do some dry fire this afternoon and evening. Not planning on using the timer, just work on form. My draw feels great, but my reloads are a little stiff. Couple times in the last few matches, I've felt the need to tap the bottom of the mag to ensure its seated. I need to work on using the heal of my hand to seat it on the first shot, then I can re-grip and proceed. Lots of lost time in the past that I don't want to give up anymore

Goals for tomorrow:

-100% function of gear

-Clean match. No penalties, misses or No-Shoots.

-Be smooth in non-shooting movements

[Corey]

Well that dryfire session turned into over an hour of running around my house with shooting boxes, practicing loading on the move, coming into positions with gun up and ready (something I lose a bit of time on). Felt really good afterwards!!

Shot Atlanta's match on Sunday. No video this week though. Shooting was so-so. Goals from previous post:

-100% function of gear =

-Clean match. No penalties, misses or No-Shoots. =

-Be smooth in non-shooting movements = I think

Gun and mags ran like the champ they are supposed to. I can quit worrying about that now. Couple of misses on targets that I really shouldn't have, trying to out-shoot my sights. One target was on the move and I was chugging through an area pretty darn fast and just plain went too quick.

Had a little epiphany on one stage. It was simple one. 4 open targets, shoot 2 on each, RL shoot 2 on each again, RL again and shoot 2 SHO. I figured no problem, I can do this. Drew and fired the first 8 shots. As I was reloading, I couldn't remember seeing the first shot on the first target. The second one was there and the sight bounced nicely to the next 3 targets. Shot the next shots fine and reloaded again. Shot the SHO shots and unloaded. As I unloaded, I thought to myself, " the gun went bang 8 times, but I don't remember seeing anything on the first shot SHO only." When we go up to score, sure as shit there are 2 Mikes, each on the exact target I was fearing. Then I thought back to the M on an earlier stage and am 99% sure its the first shot on that target that was missed as well. I'm an just plainly out shooting my vision. I'm drawing and getting the gun on target and cranking the first shot b/c I'm in a hurry. When the gun recoils, my eyes pick up the front sight, they focus on it and I'm in business from there on out. I should know better by now but I've bee doing it all year thus far. I'm going to be putting a lot more effort into more dry fire the next couple weeks before SS Nats and on our Thursday night drill league I need to tell myself to find the front sight! I can't believe I didn't realize what was happening.

My movements felt really good, but I wish I had video to confirm from a 3rd person POV. I may try to sneak out to the range on my own this week and set up my camera to catch some movement drills.

[Corey]

3 straight days in the gym feels good! Day off from official workouts tomorrow to run our weekly drill night. One of the last times Ill have live fire practice time before Nationals.

Dryfired tonight for about 45 minutes. Spent a lot of time drawing and acquiring the front sight as well as after a reload. Had a target with some slug holes in it and I made sure the holes were nice and blurry behind the crisp front sight. Reloads felt good after some ugly ones last weekend at ACC. Started out slow doing some Burkett reload drills then half speed full reloads. Kicked the speed up a couple notches and things were going well. Tried to incorporate a little stress by getting the heart rate up a bit then doing reloads as fast I could (faster than I ought to be trying to do them). Missed a few here which I expected, but not many. Slowed it back down to what I'd call match speed for me and hit them all super smooth. I need to do this more often. Push myself harder in my personal practice sessions. I have pushing a little too hard in matches and my scores suffered. Push in practice, then slow it down a tad and rock through a match. IN general, I feel really good about my night, but I need to work on it a lot more and especially drive the ideas home in live fire tomorrow night. Going to try to work on some movement drills as well as some near to far stuff. Working on snapping the eyes first then locking onto that front sight.

[Corey]

Long day at the Indiana Multigun Match this past weekend. Great time though. Could have shot a lot better, more mental mistakes than anything that cost me. Not verifying some simple rule stuff and then blatantly forgetting two targets because it was late in the day and I was tired and not focusing. Live and learn. Had some really great points in the day as well so things to build on. Shotgun shooting was in general much better than it has been in the past. Rifle went extremely well also which made me feel good. I do really like shooting steel with rifle at longer ranges . Pistol was nothing spectacular, I just need a lot more trigger time with the M&P I use for 3G. Got a couple of the stages on video that I will try to upload shortly.

Final preparations for SS Nats this week. Gun will be cleaned tonight then test fired on Thursday night. Dryfire every night this week. Mainly want to work on seating the mag firmly on reloads and acquiring that front sight on draws and after reloads. I NEED to be able to find it EVERY time.

What little video we got from the Multigun last weekend: