Makeup Steel Match...

Ok, today's steel match was MUCH better. [whew] Fixing my sights made a huge difference.

Dennis, Zeeb, and I were on the same squad today, and we shot the three non-field stages first. (In other words, the ones where you attempt it five times, and then throw out the slowest time.) After three stages, Chris and Dennis were tied (and we measure to one-hundredth of a second) and I was only .04 seconds behind them. This is after the best 12 of 15 strings of fire. That's close! Made for a fun match.

On the field stage, Dennis got first, I got second, and Zeeb got third---so in production class today, I got second place. I can live with that---particularly compared to the steel match earlier this month! In the last couple of months, I've been REALLY disappointed in my shooting, so this makes me feel much better.

Video of some of the stage runs plus the field stage:



Still have things I need to work on, of course. In the field stage, I could have gotten a better time but I rushed one sequence of shots for a number of misses that just wasted time. And as always, I need to work on my draw-to-shoot times and reload times.

However, my accuracy was back up to almost my normal. I'm hoping that having my sights off didn't cause me to develop more bad habits---I have enough of those! We'll see if this accuracy thing continues with the regular pistol match next week.

I'll be shooting it with different ammunition---I'm out of Rainier bullets, so I'll be trying Montana Gold this time around. I hope I get a chance to try them out before the match---if they aren't going to work, I need to know soon!

With my computers non-functional since the basement flooded, I'm going to have to practice regular dryfire without a signal/tone. Ah well--I needed smooth precision work anyway.

Tomorrow is the next steel match...

...but I had to write a quick update regarding my handgun sights.

In good news, the distance misses don't seem to be my fault. Not exactly. Close misses are still my problem, though. (But I haven't had many of those---which explains why "stand-and-shoot" stages haven't gone well, but "freestyle-movement" stages have been good---I can move to where I need to, and with good movement I get closer shots in good time.)

Checking my sights today at 20 feet, 40 feet, and 60 feet, I find that my Glock 34 shoots to the right. Only slightly at 20 feet. (Hence the lack of problems at close ranges.) However, at 40 feet and up, it shoots several inches to the right---which is enough to take my shots off steel targets if I'm not aiming exactly perfectly at the center of the target. (Which, at speed, I'm certainly NOT.)

So, I adjusted my sights. We'll see how much of an effect that has on the match tomorrow. (Steel match again---makeup for the canceled January match.)

That being said---I'm fairly certain that some of it is my fault in terms of how I'm shooting. I'm not inconsistent--I'm shooting nice small groups. They are just consistently to the right with the old sight settings. The problem is that when I adjust the sights and I'm consistently shooting center, the rear sights themselves seem FAR to the left. As in noticeably to the left when looking at the gun.

The annoying thing is that I was doing this sometimes from a braced position (no arm movement, just a slow, careful trigger squeeze) and sometimes from standing unbraced--and I was shooting to the same place. So left/right -wise, my trigger pull doesn't seem to be the problem. It just seems odd that the sight needs to be so far to the left...

The sight itself is centered in the middle of the slide like it is supposed to be. (The Glock 34 has an adjustable rear sight.) The adjustable part is just far to the left.

I'm wonder if I should spring for a better set of sights?

Well---anyway, the gun is now shooting where it is supposed to. So tomorrow we'll find out if I can shoot where I'm supposed to.

Steel Match Today...

So today was the first Steel Challenge match of the year. (The January one was postponed due to extreme cold and bad weather--matter of fact, the new date for it is in two weeks.)

And it was horrible! My accuracy was bad, which meant my times were very bad. In a steel match, you go until you hit the targets (all of them) which means that if you are inaccurate, you keep shooting and keep shooting and keep shooting until you do hit the target---which of course takes longer.

My speed isn't what it was by the end of last year (I really do think that the cold has something to do with it) but what has really been hurting me lately is my lack of accuracy. I placed third today---out of three. :(

My ending score was 77.47%, and it really shouldn't have been. I'm not saying I should have won today, but my accuracy just was not up to my normal standards. Of course, that has been true for the last several matches.

I need to go out to the range, and do some long-range accuracy practice. Then some near-and-far targets (not fast, just working on sighting transitions). Most of all, however, I need to figure out if my sights are on! I know, I know---99.9% of all people who say "my sights are off" don't have sight problems, they have sighting problems--but in my case, I haven't sighted in my Glock 34 since I put a new front sight on it, and adjusted the position of the rear sight a few months ago. (Something hit the rear sight, and knocked it to the side, so I had to quickly slide it back in the middle of a match.) So maybe not all of the accuracy problem is my fault.

But I've got to get to the range to find out.

Here is a recording of the field stage we had today--two plate racks, four poppers, one small circle, and two Texas Stars that were obscured by a wall. I started out okay, but the distance stuff didn't go well.



In other news---I'm buying a new AR. :) Some of the people at the action pistol matches have talked me into trying the 3-gun matches down at the Weeping Water gun range, but to do it, I need a rifle that is capable of hitting bowling pins at 200 yards. My bolt-action .308 could do it (matter of fact, my 30-06 probably could too) but to do well, you really need a semi-auto, like an AR-15.

I have one, but---well, it is a Bushmaster Shorty AK that has had no work done on it. Iron sights, though I do have a little 4-power scope I could put on it. While it may be capable of hitting several bowling pins in a row at 200 yards, I couldn't hit bowling pins at 200 yards with it. Not without an inordinate amount of luck.

I've been meaning to get a varmint-type AR for several years now---this seems like a good excuse to do it. I'm going to be buying it through Fulton Armory, and getting a variation on one of their Predator models. Should be fun to have! When I get it, I'll post pictures.

March Pistol Match...

Well, I didn't get nearly as much dry fire practice in February as I wanted---matter of fact, I probably managed practice less than twice a week, and sometimes only for a few minutes each time. While that is better than nothing, it isn't extremely useful.

So, this month I'll try to do better. With the RUReady software, I have a shot timer with par times, and I have taken recordings from my pistol matches so that the "RO commands" given by the program are actual recordings of the ROs from my matches--and so is the "beep" sound. Pretty cool!

Nonetheless, apparently the practice I got in did help---either that, or I've somewhat gotten over my "slump" of the last couple of months. Today's pistol match, while not stellar, was at least decent overall, with me shooting to my normal level for two solid stages, and me doing mostly decently for the other two. I meant to have all of the stages recorded, but I managed to get distracted and forgot one---so the video this month only includes 3 of the four stages.

Unfortunately, the one stage I didn't get recorded was the one where I finally shot a Texas Star perfectly--and I didn't get it on tape! Arg! Ah well.

Here is this month's match:



Faster than last month, better accuracy--but I need to start "snapping" my hands down for the draw and especially the reloads. I am moving smoothly (other than that last reload on the classifier stage) but just not very fast. I even know what I need to do differently ("snap" the hand down for the initial grab for the magazine--it will speed everything up) I just need to find the time to practice it until it is unconscious.

I can't wait until it is warmer and I have some free time---I have a non-timed accuracy drill that I want to work on, but it requires actual live fire. And while I love shooting, at the moment I don't love it enough to brave the cold weather!

Maybe next week?

In two weeks: Steel Challenge match. Should be fun...