baldrage's shooting log

[Joe L]

Always good to get the first match of the year over with.  I did the same on Saturday myself, but it was bullseye.  Slow, deliberate, bullseye.  But I survived the match just fine from a physical standpoint--none of the back and hip aggravation that I had in 2017, and, of course, the CZ 75B frame and Kadet and 9mm 10x bushing slides both worked just fine.  A good day for me, even with low scores for everyone. I still had the highest of the poor scores. 

All of my bullseye buddies and I shot poorly, but we got through it.  It was like a training match for February, when we go to the normal bullseye match length of 2700 points.  That will make for a long day at the range.  This year I think i can handle it. 

We both showed up.  That's a good thing.  Now if we can just keep it up.

Joe

[baldrage]

Always good to get the first match of the year over with.  I did the same on Saturday myself, but it was bullseye.  Slow, deliberate, bullseye.  But I survived the match just fine from a physical standpoint--none of the back and hip aggravation that I had in 2017, and, of course, the CZ 75B frame and Kadet and 9mm 10x bushing slides both worked just fine.  A good day for me, even with low scores for everyone. I still had the highest of the poor scores. 

Glad to hear you are feeling better, Joe! 

We both showed up.  That's a good thing.  Now if we can just keep it up.

Yep, even a mediocre outing at a match is still a chance to get away from job/family/life stress for a few hours.  That was only my eighth match since starting IDPA in fall of 2016, so gaining experience can only be a good thing.  If you had told me in 2016 that I'd think finishing in top third of competitors was mediocre, I would have been pretty happy, so good to keep things in perspective!

[baldrage]

Live Fire Training, January 31, 2018

Uggh, Dot Torture was brutal this week -- 41/50!  Trying too hard on the single-handed shooting, and it did not work.  One more bad run like this, and I will be reeling the target back into 3 yards:

01312018_DOT by baldrage, on Flickr

Walk-back drill was much better:

5 yards - 5/5
10 yards - 5/5
15 yards - 5/5, 5/5
20 yards - 4/5, 4/5, 5/5
25 yards - 3/5, 1/5, 5/5

Finished up .22 with 10 shots on bullseye target at 25 yards -- 67/100, a minor improvement over last week.  Joe L still doesn't have to worry about me ... yet

01312018_25 by baldrage, on Flickr

Switched over to 9mm, new drill -- draw and shoot 1 in DA at 5 yards.  Intended to help me shake my tendency to flinch/anticipate on first shot in DA.  Hit 8 or 9 out 10 shots, much better than I thought I would do.  Wonder if I should make this a draw-and-shoot-2?

01312018_DRAW1 by baldrage, on Flickr

Interestingly enough, my single-handed shooting with 9mm was much better than my earlier .22 single-handed shooting on Dot Torture.  8/10 SHO, and 16/20 WHO.  Big improvement from last week.  I think the difference was I didn't worry about trying to control recoil -- just focused on a smooth trigger pull and let the gun recoil however it wanted.  Not the fastest way to shoot SHO/WHO, but seemed much more accurate.

01312018_WHO-SHO by baldrage, on Flickr

Transition drill:  10 yards, from holster, 2 shots on each target, 6 second PAR/facing time.  Ran it six times, for a total of 12/18 on first three runs, and 15/18 on the second three runs.

01312018_TRANSITION by baldrage, on Flickr

Finished with two runs on FAST drill. First run with 8 second PAR/facing time was clean.  Missed the first DA shot on the second run with 7 second PAR/facing time.

[Mccian]

@Baldrage and Joe...... just to let you know someone is following and thoroughly enjoying the journey.....keep it up

[baldrage]

@Baldrage and Joe...... just to let you know someone is following and thoroughly enjoying the journey.....keep it up

Hey, thanks!  I've been keeping this log going for my own sake, but nice to hear that someone else is following along and finds it worthwhile!

[baldrage]

Live Fire Training - February 5, 2018

Dot Torture at 4 yards - 40/50.  That's really bad.  The downside of a drill that's so easy to score is that I am pressing, and thinking about my score the whole time rather than focusing on each shot.  OK, I think I'll take a brief hiatus from Dot Torture and bring it back to 3 yards when I resume shooting it:

02052018_DOT by baldrage, on Flickr

Walk-back drill, not as good as last week.  Good news is that I am routinely getting 100% out to 15 yards and at least 3/5 or 4/5 at 20 yards.  Consistency at 25 yards is still eluding me, though:
5 yards - 5/5
10 yards - 5/5
15 yards - 5/5, 5/5, 2/5
20 yards - 4/5, 5/5
25 yards - 1/5, 0/5 (!), 3/5 (better)

Bullseye at 25 yards:  66/100, almost identical to what I shot last week.

Switched over to 9mm.

Draw and shoot 1 at five yards: 9/10.  Pretty decent grouping on my first 5 shots, but group really opened up on the second 5 -- barely nicked the outside of the target ring with 4 of the shots.  Not sure what was going on there...

02052018_DRAW1 by baldrage, on Flickr

Transition drill:  10 yards, from holster, 2 shots on each target, 6 second PAR/facing time.  Ran it six times, for a total of 12/18 on first three runs, and 12/18 on the second three runs.  A bit worse than last week.
02052018_TRANSITION by baldrage, on Flickr

Single-handed shooting at 7 yards:  8/10 SHO, about what I usually get; and 16/20 WHO, same score as last week, but big improvement from how I shot in Dot Torture earlier in the evening and in general.  Forgetting about recoil control and just focusing on front sight and smooth trigger pull make me much more accurate.

02052018_WHO-SHO by baldrage, on Flickr

Also messed around with my .40 slide.  I replaced the factory sights with some of the CGW EZ/D sights to mimic the set up I'm used to on my 9mm Shadow slide, and I'm pretty sure they are shooting about 3 inches low at 10 yards.  Need to look at the calculator on Dawson Precision website and post something in the gunsmithing forum here to see about replacing the front sight....

[baldrage]

Live Fire Training, Feb 13, 2018

OK, I said I was going to take a break from Dot Torture, but I was feeling relaxed and alert on my weekly trip to the range this evening, and last week's poor performance was still sticking in my craw, so ... 45/50 at 4 yards.  Much better!  This would have been a clean target at 3 yards, as all 5 of the misses were just barely outside the circles.

02132018_DOT by baldrage, on Flickr

Building on that, a very good walk-back drill.  I was really seeing the sights well and focusing on a nice, smooth trigger pull:
5 yards - 5/5
10 yards - 5/5
15 yards - 4/5, 5/5
20 yards - 5/5, 5/5
25 yards - 3/5, 5/5
Don't usually post pics of this drill, but I feel that kind of shooting merits a picture:
02132018_WALKBACK by baldrage, on Flickr

Last drill with the Kadet -- Bullseye target at 25 yards, 10 shots.  77/100 -- not Joe L territory, but personal best for me!
02132018_25BULLSEYE by baldrage, on Flickr

Switching over to 9mm, Draw and shoot 1 at 5 yards, focus on breaking the shot as I bring the pistol up and extending out.  Intent is help break my tendency to flinch on first DA shot.  Good on my first five shots (top target), lousy on my next five (bottom target), great on my last five (bottom again):
02132018_DRAW1 by baldrage, on Flickr

SHO/WHO at 7 yards -- 4/5 and 7/10 SHO (fair, not great), only 5/10 (poor) and and 8/10 (good) on WHO:
02132018_WHO-SHO by baldrage, on Flickr

Transition drill, from holster, 7 yards, 6 second facing time, 2 shots on each target. 15/18 on my first run, and 12/18 on my second run.  Impressed myself by hitting 6/6 on target #1 on my first run, as it is the first shot from DA that I usually flinch and shoot low.  Maybe the draw-and-shot-1 drills are paying off ... Anyway, I am still shooting these type of drills on on rhythm rather than waiting the extra .1 second for a good sight picture.  Also in too much of a hurry to transition to next target and not following through.  Have to remember to slow this down next week, maybe a 7 second facing time.
02132018_TRANSITION by baldrage, on Flickr

Finished up by testing some new bullets -- SNS 125 gr CN for 9mm, and RMR 165 gr RNFP for .40.  SNS looks promising, will load up some more at 4.0 gr Win 231.  The RMR were my first-ever .40 reloads, so not really testing for accuracy, just making sure I did everything right and they functioned.  They went "bang" and I still have all of my fingers, so they functioned fine. Will load up some more of these and test for accuracy/recoil next week.

[Joe L]

Baldrage--on the .22 slow fire, all you are doing that can be improved a little is minimizing moving the gun as you pull the trigger.  Try gripping tighter, taking up the slack and just starting to move the sear before you line up the sights.  "prepping the trigger" I call it.  Then smoothly move the trigger to the rear without changing the tension in your grip.  Every shot, not just for 7 or 8 like I sometimes do!

On the flinch, I have that too, sometimes even moving my eyes from the sights as I pull the trigger.  Guaranteed bad shot.  Not always the first shots after the .22, sometimes after 5-10 rounds.  Again, I have to think to myself, "tight grip, prep the trigger, smooth trigger pull".

But, I'm no open sight shooter.  I couldn't shoot a 4" group with the P-07 or P-10C on Friday standing, two handed grip, 25 yards, with Rem UMC ammo.  I'm blaming the ammo. 

Hang in there. 

Joe

[baldrage]

Baldrage--on the .22 slow fire, all you are doing that can be improved a little is minimizing moving the gun as you pull the trigger.  Try gripping tighter, taking up the slack and just starting to move the sear before you line up the sights.  "prepping the trigger" I call it.  Then smoothly move the trigger to the rear without changing the tension in your grip.  Every shot, not just for 7 or 8 like I sometimes do!

Thanks, Joe!  Good advice, as always.  Shooting pistols sounds so simple, yet it is hard to do it well consistently.

[baldrage]

Live Fire Training - March 7, 2018

Uggh, I hadn't done any live fire since Feb 13 and it showed.  Work and family kept me from the range for the last several weeks, but I had increased my dry-fire accordingly, thinking it would help stave off any rust from setting in.  It didn't.  Results today were brutal!  Oh well, no one can accuse me of vanity and selectively posting only good results, so at least I've got integrity if not marksmanship skills  ...

Dot Torture -- 38/50 at 4 yards.  One out of 6 on WHO.  Lots of flinching and peeking at the target.

03082018_DOT by baldrage, on Flickr

Walk-back drill - first run was brutal, marginal improvement on second run at 15 - 25 yards:
5 yards - 5/5
10 yards - 5/5
15 yards - 3/5, 3/5
20 yards - 1/5 (!)), 5/5
25 yards - 2/5, 2/5

Bullseye at 25 yards -- 64/100 (pic below says 59/100, but I didn't see that I just nicked the 5-ring on my first look, so scored it incorrectly).

03082018_25BULLSEYE by baldrage, on Flickr

Switched over to 9mm.  Draw and shoot one on top target, draw and shoot 2 on the bottom target.

03082018_DRAW1 by baldrage, on Flickr

Transition drill at 10 yards, 7 second facing time. 16/18 on my first run through, 12/18 on my second run.
03082018_TRANSITION by baldrage, on Flickr

SHO/WHO at 7 yards. 8/10 SHO; 6/10 and 8/20 WHO -- that's really bad.  Lots of peeking at the target going on instead of just focusing on my sight picture.

03082018_WHO-SHO by baldrage, on Flickr

Finished up by testing some new loads of "40 lite" with SNS 180 gr RNFP coated lead bullets.

Pretty poor showing all around, but hopefully I got all of the rust out of my system with this outing.  This is good motivation to redouble my dry-fire, with a focus on simple mechanics like good trigger pull and follow-through instead of draws, reloads, and movement.

[Joe L]

My bet is that the next range trip will be good.  At least for me that is what happens.  Reality of live fire sets in on the first trip after missing a few weeks, then I am back on track rapidly after that. 

Also note that your 25 yard bullseye target has smaller scoring rings than a B-8C, I think it is a slow fire 25 yard target, with sizing to simulate the normal 50 yard slow fire.  We can shoot 50 year round here so we don't have to use that target.  It always hurt my feelings to shoot at something with that small of a scoring circle!!   

Hang in there.

Joe

[baldrage]

Also note that your 25 yard bullseye target has smaller scoring rings than a B-8C, I think it is a slow fire 25 yard target, with sizing to simulate the normal 50 yard slow fire.  We can shoot 50 year round here so we don't have to use that target.  It always hurt my feelings to shoot at something with that small of a scoring circle!!   

Hmm, the 25-yard targets I use are B-16 "NRA Slow Fire Pistol 25 yard targets," but if you're telling me they have unusually small scoring rings, I'll jump on that as an excuse!!! 

[baldrage]

Live Fire Training, March 12, 2018

After my horrible showing last week, moved the dot torture back in to 3 yards, and slowed down.  Much better results - 49/50, had one flyer on WHO at #8.

03122018_DOT by baldrage, on Flickr

Walk-back -- I've been doing a lot of dry-fire with both eyes open, so I gave a try shooting the 5 and 10 yard targets with both eyes open for the first time:

5 yards - 5/5, 5/5
10 yards - 5/5, 5/5
15 yards - 5/5, 4/5
20 yards - 4/5, 4/5
25 yards - 2/5, 4/5

25 yard bullseye - 60/100, a couple of flyers:

03122018_25BULLSEYE by baldrage, on Flickr

Switched over to 9 mm, draw and shoot one on the top target (11/20), draw and shoot 2 on the bottom target (9/10):

03122018_DRAW1 by baldrage, on Flickr

Transition drill at 10 yards, 7 second facing time, 13/18 on first run, 14/18 on the second run, 15/18 on the third run.

03122018_TRANSITION by baldrage, on Flickr

Single-handed shooting at 7 yards, hit my usual 8/10 SHO, but much better WHO this week -- 18/20

03122018_WHO-SHO by baldrage, on Flickr

Finished up by testing some ".40 lite" hand-loads with SNS 180 gr RNFP bullets.  Very low recoil -- softer than 9 mm.  I can see using one of these light loads for IDPA once I get the hang of the sight picture on the CGW EZ/D 9-40 sights.

[Joe L]

You are back!  That looks good.  On WHO, consciously try a little more trigger finger insertion.  Looks like you are pushing the gun right.  I am assuming you are right handed, same as me.  Your .40 results are interesting.  I don't like how snappy my 9mm 75B slide is compared to a 97 in .45 or even a polymer 9mm P-09.
Keep at it.
Joe

[baldrage]

You are back!  That looks good.  On WHO, consciously try a little more trigger finger insertion.  Looks like you are pushing the gun right.  I am assuming you are right handed, same as me.  Your .40 results are interesting.  I don't like how snappy my 9mm 75B slide is compared to a 97 in .45 or even a polymer 9mm P-09.
Keep at it.
Joe

Yeah, I have strong tendency to push the gun right when shooting left-handed (I am a righty).  I have long fingers, and already pull the trigger at my first finger joint, rather than pad of my finger, so I don't think more trigger finger is the answer.  Guessing it is more due to snatching at the trigger instead of a steady pull, but thanks for the suggestion!