VA/MD Section Match progress report

Ever shoot a match and have a great time and then see the results and realize you did everything about four seconds too slow? Yep...

I'll add a bit more later but right now it's time to relax after a fun and slightly soggy weekend.

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Did I forget anything??

It's almost 10pm on May 16th, which means I'll be leaving for Fredericksburg, Virginia to attend the USPSA VA/MD section match in just about 12 hours.  I always feel a little nervous at this point before matches. Not because of match nerves, but because I always feel like I'm forgetting something.

Below is my packing list for this match. The truth is, it really shouldn't be that much different from packing for a weekend  match, but it feels like it is. Obviously I have to pack an overnight back, and will bring my laptop so I can insult people on the internet all the way up until the minute the match starts, but other than that, it's the same.


Did I forget anything?

Rain gear

Cold gear Under Armor

travel bag: 

Shoes, extra shoes, extra socks,

jersey,

shorts and pants

Pivotheads

laptop, charger, phone charger

Cooler

Sunscreen

ammo (duh)

spare pistol

Holster belt

SIRT pistol

reader suggestions:

bathing suit for pre-match part

BEER (how the hell did I forget?)

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New IDPA Rulebook Rant

The title of this post was a bit misleading because I wasn't really planning on ranting about the new rules, just going over them and talking about them, but within the first two minutes of my scan of the book I already have to call out the Tiger Teams.

Why in the word would you make one of the most important gunhandling rules even more relaxed? I'm talking about having your finger in the trigger guard when it doesn't belong there...read this crap


S5.1.  The first occurrence of improper finger placement will be a warning with the “Finger” command given.  The second occurrence in a single match will result in a Procedural Error.  The third occurrence in a single match will result in a Failure To Do Right (FTDR) penalty.  Disqualification from the match will result from subsequent occurrences. 

That is unbelievable to me.

Moving on, another interesting thing to note is that ALMOST crossing a muzzle safe point (but not actually crossing it, which is a match DQ) now results in a warning, followed by an FTDR.

Next on the list of odd, stupid or potentially dangerous new rules is S14.

When a shooter is about to run into a barricade, potentially trip or fall, or do something unsafe, the SO will physically intervene when possible, to prevent a potential accident.  Because the SO kept the shooter from having a safety issue due to a shooter’s error, there is no reshoot. 

If a shooter is about to eat dirt, the best thing that can happen is for the shooter to keep his finger outside of the trigger guard, and to continue to eat dirt. If an SO grabs his arm, shirt, or otherwise it could cause all sorts of other problems. Forget that noise.



Speed round! (Quick things I noticed that I will post here but won't really talk much about)
No shots on scenario stages further than 25 yards, 6 shots only at 35 yards maximum for standards stages. Sissies.

Sanity has prevailed and it is no longer legal to require someone to load an empty magazine from lose rounds during a stage.

SSP guns now have a max weight of 43 ounces. Will we see more CZ Shadows now?

Match bumps now count as your classification requirement for the year.

No staged long guns allowed anymore

Holsters and pouches now must be behind the hip bone, not behind the centerline of the body

They made the classifier times significantly lower in SSP, and rounded the numbers off in the other classes.

and finally...

The words "round dumping" do not appear anywhere in the rulebook.

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"Buidling" your competition Glock

I got a request from a youtube subscriber to do a review/setup video about my USPSA Limited Glock 24. I decided I'd do a break down of all of my competition Glocks.

We are also going to start taking requests for any gear or technique questions you guys have for USPSA, 3 Gun or IDPA.  We also are planning some other fun and informative videos coming soon.

Check out the first video below.

This is my first video blog entry so be nice. Or not. Constructive feedback is appreciated.

Slide machine work done by Jerry M at Jers Guns. Contact me for his info (I don't want to post his email address openly on the net and spam him to death)
Refinishing by Norton Gunworks
Sights and magwell by Dawson Precision.
Vanek Super trigger by Vanek Custom
JP mag release button
Lonewolf connectors
Trijicon RMR sight

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Time to get my shit in gear

With the VA/MD match barely three weeks away, I'm not really happy with my shooting and really need to step up my game. Maybe it's all mental, but I have this feeling that I'll go to this level 2 match as my second match since making Master and will get my butt kicked.  I guess that's a defeatist attitude but I was really feeling on my game at the Eastern Shore Practice Shooters month USPSA match in Maryland this month.

The good news is I have those three weeks to really hit the dryfire and live fire practice and square my gear issues away. I also have a good idea of what I want to work on in live fire in order to get dialed in before VA/MD. I need to work on visual patience and not transitioning off close targets too fast (the first target I shoot from the second position in the below video had one A and one miss on it, which is a terrible and unacceptable level of shitty shooting) and recoil control after shooting a lot of 3 gun practice with weak ammo and letting my grip get weak.  More later...

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Colt 3 Man 3 Gun - Topton 2013

This Sunday Team Super-Tactical.com, in association with Standard Deviation Arms and Team Timmay! shot the first match in the 2013 Colt 3 Man 3 Gun series in Topton, Pennsylvania.  We had another great time at this match and really showed a lot of improvement over last year which was our first ever major 3 gun match and only my second 3 gun match ever.

The stages were varied and consisted of relays and "rolling thunder" type stages. The relays involved all three shooters shooting two or three guns, one at a time, and tagging the other team member when done. The rolling thunder stages had all three shooters shooting various guns, simultaneously at different target types.  One stage even required the pistol shooter to shoot two poppers, which in turn launched two flying clay birds that the shotgun shooter had to hit mid-air.  The only long range rifle stage required two standing and unsupported hits on a steel IPSC A/C zone target, followed by five hits on some six inch plates using a barricade for support, followed by four required hits on an array of six inch Colt speed plates that were partially obscured by steel hard cover. All of these shots were from 200 yards. We all managed to get our hits on what shouldn't be an overly difficult stage, but every year people seem to struggle majorly on this stage. Last year we ran into the time limit and took nearly two minutes in penalties for targets we were not able to hit on this stage.

As in many three gun matches, the scoring was simple; two hits anywhere on a paper target and it was considered "hit".  This means going as fast as possible while still keeping your shots on paper, but there was a massive 10 second penalty for any missed shots.  These penalties caught all three team members at some point during the day, both on mid-range rifle head shots and pistol shots.

The results will be posted later tonight and I think we had a pretty strong match overall, and once again learned what we have to hit on the practice range in order to do well in the second half of this match, which will be held at the Peacemaker Training facility in West Virginia.

One last thing...make sure your cleared pistol is firmly on the table before you let go of it in order to transition to the rifle. I almost had an embarrassing moment and a potential DQ on the last stage of the match. Check it out from two different angles in the below video.

All POV video recorded with Pivothead video recording eyewear. Check them out here 

Also, if you're thinking of ordering, remember to contact me for any deals, discounts or incentives that may be available from the manufacturer.

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39 matches to Master

I started writing this post on March 18th, as I was sitting here trying to figure out my shooting schedule for the rest of the month, and being disappointed that the weather caused two match cancellations this weekend.
For some reason I found myself on my USPSA classification page and was looking at my old scores. I noticed that I really didn't start seriously competing until 2011 and that I've only shot 39 matches USPSA matches in my "career" (I guess it is slightly more than that because I've shot two or so matches that didn't have a classifier, and therefore won't show up on this page).  Below is the breakdown, by year, of my match participation.

1 in 04

2 in 05

2 in 08

1 in 09

3 in 2010

16 in 2011

13 in 2012 1 in 2013

What does this mean? What it means to me is that once I started to actually put time into this sport, my results changed pretty quickly.  I started out shooting IDPA in 2003 and have shot a lot of IDPA matches. It wasn't until 2011 that I finally "broke through" and made Expert. Shortly after that, I shot my first sanctioned IDPA match in a long while (the January 2011 Arctic Blast) and managed to place DFL in my class. That match was definitely an eye opener and part of what made me really decide to improve.

Yes, you must DECIDE that you are going to progress in this sport in order to actually do it. You can't just shoot your local match every month and wish for good results, you have to put in the time. For a while I had just been casually shooting matches, mostly IDPA and without any sort of training or practice regimen. In 2011 that all changed. I decided to up my dryfire practice and join a range, and actually put in real practice.  The truth is, I still don't practice nearly enough, but when I do I go out with a goal, and a few small drills to run through. I never go out to just punch holes in paper anymore.

Classifications (updated 4/14/2013): OPEN Class: U Pct: 0.00 High Pct: 0.00 LIMITED Class: M Pct: 86.76 High Pct: 86.76    BOOM! LIMITED10 Class: A Pct: 72.07 High Pct: 78.88 PRODUCTION Class: A Pct: 71.18 High Pct: 73.29 REVOLVER Class: U Pct: 0.00 High Pct: 0.00 SINGLESTACK Class: U Pct: 0.00 High Pct: 0.00

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