Jump to content
Brian Enos's Forums... Maku mozo!

Corey's road to success


Corey

Recommended Posts

Been a crazy busy week with weird work hours so not much dry fire been going on :(. I did get a little good news today. I've been trying to sell a few things to enhance my new addiction and today i got my old paintball gun sold and ordered a scope for my AR15 for 3gun/ target shooting. :)

Got a local match this weekend, looks like the weather should be good to go for it. I'm torn between approaching the match two different ways. On one hand I want to go all out for speed to see if I can expose any unseen issues. I see a lot of positive reinforcement for the "run til the wheels fall off" method to push myself and would like to see how I perform if I do that. On the other hand, I have a semi-big match (Buckeye Challenge) the following week and I don't know how Id feel if i pushed the limits this week, had some shooting issues then went into the big match. Idk if going hard the week before will be better or having a nice solid match under my belt the week before will yield better results. I'm gonna dry fire for a couple hard days and see how I feel Sunday about it I suppose.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 539
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

its amazing how much better i feel after having a gun and some mags in my hands for about an hour :). Worked on quite a few drills from Steve Anderson's dryfire book. Im really glad I got that back out recently as its giving me more motivation with new drills. I'm slowly cutting down my times on a lot of drills. 6-RL-6, 2-RL-2, 1 to the body on t1-t3-RL-1 to the head on t3-t1, etc. Also tried to work on some movement drills, somewhat hard in my limited space, but managed to work on drawing into a box from multiple distances and moving side to side into boxes. didnt put a timer on me, was just trying to practice being smooth and focus on keeping the gun up and ready. I just want to get my footing down and being ready to shoot sooner after getting into the box. After watching Matt Burkett's videos the other day I want to be able to shoot as I lift my 2nd foot into the box. After the last match, i had pretty good points (my actual point totals were as good or better than everyone in my division) i just seemed to be a few seconds slower everywhere. As soon as I can get to the practice range (really cant wait for my club membership to come thru) I want to work on pushing my speed more.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use my CED7000. I just adjust the par times to whatever drill I'm using. Usually i try to start a drill with 2 or 3 reps without turning it on, then set it to the par time I previously have written down, then bump it down a couple .10s.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Corey, looking at your classifier scores, I think you should practice a bit on your WHO shots. You are bound to run into this type of course again. Speed will come with repetition, speed will come with repetition. No matter how fast you are, when it comes down to it, WHO will keep you from being a better shooter. Dry fire WHO, at least....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think that's going to be the plan for later tonight if i feel the urge to get the 1911 back out. if not, its now on the agenda for tomorrow after i get off work. Its been a match or two since I've seen anything SHO or WHO so I'm about due I suppose, haha. The last time i did shoot WHO, it was trigger control that got me. i can draw to WH or RL to WH fairly well (at least in my mind). its the trigger and recoil control. I'm hoping for a range day on a day off next week where I want to do mostly SHO/WHO live fire.

ETA: just took a look at the classifiers again myself and you're right. pretty easy to tell my deficiencies thus far. Ive been working a lot on RL and target transitions and I think its showing a bit, but the scores that are the lowest are indeed one handed shots (and one where I had issues on steel and was forced into a RL).

Edited by Corey
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Corey the WHO advice is good. Not that I'm a WHO guru, but when I first started that practice I was terrible. It did not take me long to feel some confidence WHO. I have found that the "pause principle" can be applied anywhere. While you know that you can't do two things at once consciously, you can do one thing to your best. Try getting ants in your pants before and after shooting positions. Develop a mental pause before shooting, then shoot "A's". Blast, mental pause/shoot "A's", blast. I'm talking a mental pause/brain reset. This happens in your head and shouldn't be noticed by anyone, but you. What do you think?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use my CED7000. I just adjust the par times to whatever drill I'm using. Usually i try to start a drill with 2 or 3 reps without turning it on, then set it to the par time I previously have written down, then bump it down a couple .10s.

What is the best/cheapest place to buy one?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like the pause idea, not a delay just a momentary lapse for me to see and shoot the A.

As for my timer, I bought mine from Brownells but at a really good discount. I'd probably check out Shooters Connection. make sure to check out the thread about BE member discounts there in their vendor area here. Most of the shooting stores will sell them. I really like the CED 7000 b/c its so small and light. i can just clip it my belt of pants pocket and run my own drills in live fire. doesnt take up a lot of range bag space either.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm glad I read this post again...Makes me realize how much further I have to go....Also, reminded me (by looking at Corey's scores!), that I also need to follow my own advice and practice and shoot WHO....

Keep it up Corey, you'll get there....

Now, what about buying a press or finally getting an open gun? :sight:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm glad I read this post again...Makes me realize how much further I have to go....Also, reminded me (by looking at Corey's scores!), that I also need to follow my own advice and practice and shoot WHO....

Keep it up Corey, you'll get there....

Now, what about buying a press or finally getting an open gun? :sight:

Press will come before an Open gun, haha. I don't even know what i want my next gun to be? I kinda would like a new SS gun. I want a limited gun. I sorta wanna try production. Open looks like a boatload of fun, but way to expensive for me right now. Going to a gun show locally here tomorrow. May try to sell my XD45 for some gun funds :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How much are you willing to spend? You can find open blasters pretty cheap is you are diligent in looking....But then again, SS is damn fun with a well tuned machine, so is limited. What kind of SS do you shoot right now?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm shooting a Colt XSE right now. I've done a little work to it, new grip safety, Magwell, some internal trigger work (replaced some pins, etc), some new spring combos. That's really about all I've done to it, other than blacking out the factory white dot fixed sights.

I dont really have a new gun budget. I sold another gun for $600 a few weeks ago and that money is just sitting in the bank so if I sell my XD too, that'll give me a decent little chunk for something fun: new gun, press, whatever.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm shooting a Colt XSE right now. I've done a little work to it, new grip safety, Magwell, some internal trigger work (replaced some pins, etc), some new spring combos. That's really about all I've done to it, other than blacking out the factory white dot fixed sights.

I dont really have a new gun budget. I sold another gun for $600 a few weeks ago and that money is just sitting in the bank so if I sell my XD too, that'll give me a decent little chunk for something fun: new gun, press, whatever.

What about that check from your Uncle Sam? You could probably get a pretty penny for that Colt, and move up to something a bit better (I say better, but some Colt's are pretty good...depends on the day the guy at the factory was having. :rolleyes: ). My Springfield Trophy Match was (is) straight up, out of the box, is one of the best 1911's I have ever shot. I liked it better than the Colt Gold Cup, the Kimber, etc. Now, I'm not comparing it to a Wilson, Baer, or Brown, but it's pretty damn good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I want to go all out for speed to see if I can expose any unseen issues. I see a lot of positive reinforcement for the "run til the wheels fall off" method

I'm personally not a fan of pushing beyond my limits in a match. I do it often in practice, where I can do the same drill or stage over and over and really earn something new... but a match, even a local, is not a place for learning technique, imo. It's a place for practicing the mental management you'll need at the larger matches, and for identifying weakness in technique. But that's just my opinion. there are probably many who view it differently.

-rvb

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Local match went fairly well today. We took some video, just need to have them emailed to me so I can post them.

Stage 1: Long field course, 32 rounds. Started holding a coffee can to your ear(picture the coffee can on a string phones from your childhood) with strong hand. Hang up the phone and engage as visible. I drew and went threw the doorway 3 targets on the right, RL, 4 more on the left. RL while moving downrange, 2 plates 2 poppers on the left. Shot these very well and moved along. 4 targets behind soft cover on the right. Shot these on the move fairly fast(maybe a bit too fast, threw one M). final RL and 3 targets low and close over a barricade. Ended with moslty solid hits, other than the M, and a good time. 2nd overall for HF on this stage.

Stage 2: 8 target, 4 sets of 2 stacked vertically with a NS in between. shoot one array, RL, shoot the other. F'ed up the RL, had a couple Ms as a result. Score keeper messed up my sheets, got to reshoot. Didnt miss, but clipped a NS. Had a better RL, better time, and better hits so I guess it was good, but should have been better. 3rd overall for HF on this stage

Stage 3: 4 poppers-2 pepper 2 USP, and 2 paper. short speed shoot stage. Had a VERY similar array to end a stagelast week so I felt pretty good going into this one. Both pepper poppers, both papers and 3 shots for the last 2 USPs and it was done. SOmthing in the 5.6xish range for a time. felt pretty good. Score sheet got lost or something as the website has me as a DNF and a 0 for the stage, but I know I shot it well. (im looking into the scoring).

Stage 4 (Classifier): Fast'n Furious- 2 paper and 2 poppers on each side of a barricade. shoot one side, RL, shoot the other. Fairly simple. HF of 6.6351 should land me a score of ~69% which is my 2nd really good run in 2 weeks. Gives me a little confidence that last week wasnt a fluke. Looking at the scores, unless anyone else's scores were screwy, it puts me as the HOA for this stage. Again, makes me feel really good!

Stage 5: Barricade again. 4 targets on each side. Virginia Count stage. shoot one side, RL, and shoot the other. Under 9s and mostly good hits. had the 3rd highest HF out of everyone for this stage.

Overall, it was a good day. With a few exceptions i felt more consistent today than I have in the past. Had a couple issues (like my thumb not wanting to what I told it to do on one stage) but felt good overall. I wanted to try more shooting on the move but only had one opportunity to do so today. I think I was able to accomplish my goal of shaving some time off my runs here, but it did cost me one M at the end of the stage. Im going to work on sight alignment while moving this week to get ready for the Buckeye Challenge next week. I have the COF breakdowns for that match as well, so thats what Im going to practice this week in anticipation. Also want to get back to SHO/WHO work as its something I was able to avoid today but wont forever. Plus I think my hand needs a break. Seriously feels like the lower palm of my left hand (mag grab hand)has something wrong with it. Idk if its possible to break/fracture one of those small joints in the palm of your hand, but damn it hurts!

Edited by Corey
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did about an hour of dryfire tonight. warmed up with slow draws, then draws at speed. RL drills for about 15 min after that. 2-RL-RL, 6-RL-6, El prez. Worked on SHO/WHO trigger control. the front sight is staying still better but not still enough yet. Need to make sure I work this into every session. Spent about 20 minutes walking up and down my hallway and left to right thru my dining room just pulling the trigger trying to keep the sights on the A zone. Threw in a RL every once in awhile, but mainly wanted to get used to shooting while walking as it cost me some points last weekend and most likely I will need to do it again this weekend at Buckeye. Also worked a few quirky things Ill see this week- table starts, briefcase starts and actually loading mags into my belt on the clock. :mellow: I'm not a fan of whoever came up with that bright idea <_< , lol. GOing to try a morning session tomorrow before work as I wont have time afterward (Sevendust and Papa Roach live in concert :cheers: )

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Shot the Buckeye Challenge at MRPC this past weekend. There were only 6 people shooting Single Stack, so it is a little hard to compare myself, but I was able to finish 2nd in the division to an M-class shooter, 1st in C-class (2 of us) and I actually beat both of the B-class shooters! That does make me feel a little better knowing I will be a B class shooter when the system gets run in mid June. Ended up being 22 out of 101 shooters overall, which is a season high best for me.

Stage 9: Started on stage 9. We had to start with gun and all mags to be used in a closed briefcase. I had practiced loading mags to the belt on the clock this past week and had a pretty decent plan...we all know how well that works when the buzzer goes off. I flipped open the case the mags I had propped up fell over making them hard to grab. when I pouched them up, the front mag got pushed forward to far forward and almost out of the holder. luckily it stayed but the time it took me to figure it out killed me on this stage. Other than the mag load, decent run to start the day. 111 pts, 22.53s, HF:4.9268

Stage 1: Target arrays to the left and right, mag change in between. Usually i like to start left to right but the ability to 2 targets on the move as I approached the right array made my decision to start there. Shot smooth and reloaded to the left. Lost some time when I leaned a bit too far to get the near targets. Reloaded up the middle and engaged the poppers (each activated a double swinger) and some paper. Hindsight: should have shot the poppers and swingers immediately as I had to wait for the swingers when I came back not knowing where they would be at. 153 pts 24.00s, HF:6.3750

Stage 2: Shot this one pretty good. Watching the video now I can see where I could have picked up some speed in the middle to save some time. targets were close and I should have been moving quicker. It was a left to right stage, which I like so I felt comfortable. I had a pretty decent plan, or so I thought and was able to execute it like I had planned. Just could have done it faster I think. ended up 1.3s off the pace of the winner. 151pts, 18.23s, HF:8.2830

Stage 3: Quick moving medium stage, almost straight forward movement. targets were in sets of 2, so it made my planning pretty easy. Of course, watching other videos, Ive seen a better plan that I wish I had thought of. Non-the less, fairly happy with my scores here are well. 106 pts, 10.22s, HF:10.3718

Stage 4: Really liked this stage! lots of movement, lots of reloads, lots of shooting options. Didn't care for the idae of the triple swinger, but managed good hits on it. Wasn't sure if I was going to engage the drop-turner or not. Missed two steel shots and knew I didnt have the ammo for it and wasnt going to RL at that point, so i finished up the double bobber and called it a day there. 136 ps,26.90s, HF:5.0558

Stage 5: 2 foot pad activators, each activating a clamshell and drop-turner. Plus a star in the middle. Had a good plan until the the star. had to do a standing reload to finish it up. Reload again and on the last activator to finish up the stage. Ended with one M on the stage, only one of the match. 95pts, -10 pen, 23.94s, HF:3.5505

Stage 6: Chrono: gun weighed in at 42.3 oz. :unsure: closer than I thought it would be. 173 PF so ammo was good. gun fit the box with new Dawson magwell so I got to stay in SS :)

Stage 7: Classifier- Can You Count. 2 strings, 5 shots per target, reload in between. String 1 was 4.54, string 2 was 4.00. dropped 3 Cs for 97 pts, but my HF of 11.3585 was best in the Division (should be a ~ 68% which will put me into B class in mid June). Should have been a better run, but i tensed up and my finger froze on target 1 in string 1.

Stage 8: Gun had to be placed on one X, mags on the other. We could start anywhere in the shooting zone. Started by the mags (thanks for the tip Corey) and moved to gun. 3 targets, Rl on the move, but off the table. Should have put mag #2 on my belt as I moved as i bobbled the mag on the change. ran to the starting position and grabbed a 3rd mag and finished things up. felt pretty good, but the mag bobble cost me some seconds. 86 pts, 14.72s, HF:5.8424

Overall I was fairly happy with how I shot. I'm going to try to breakdown the videos later when I'm not so tired but just watching them a couple times I already see some areas of improvement for me, especially ways to cut down wasted movements. I hadnt thought of myself as a B-class shooter until this match. 3 classifiers in a row that are going to b mid-high Bs and fairly solid day beating my C class competition and both B shooters.

Its more apples to oranges, but I also beat EVERY other Production shooter and a few Limited C-class guys.

Edited by Corey
Link to comment
Share on other sites

if only i had a way to crank out more rounds per hour for practice..... <_< haha

Thanks tho, I do feel like I am improving. Gotta keep up the drills and hopefully will have a local club membership soon so I can go practice live drills more often.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a vacation home about an hour south of Lexington. I'm hoping to get to the battle next year.

Thats good to hear....hope we have it biggrin.gif

Corey it was good to talk to you at the match. Keep up the work your moving right along. Single Stack is a hard division to compete in, you have just enough rounds but one little screw up and the next guy is going to fly on by. Be consistent, if you watched my video you'll notice I didn't burn down any steel but I also didn't have any make up shots on anything at the buckeye match. Keep plugging away, you'll get there! I guess I'll see you next at IN sectional! cheers.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ive already watched it a few times. when i get some time, I'm going to watch yours and mine 1 stage at a time to compare and see where I'm losing time, other than missed steel. Consistency is def one area i need to improve on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



×
×
  • Create New...