It's a New Year...

Happy New Year, everyone!

So what does the new year hold, shooting-wise? New things, of course...

New Thing The First: Got a new holster---finally broke down and bought a Blade-Tech Drop/Offset holster for my Glock 34. Been practicing with it, and while I really don't think my draw/fire times are going to decrease much in the near future, I do agree with people that when undergoing awkward movements (standing, sitting, bending, etc) the draw from a lower position is going to be easier due to not having to pull my elbow up quite so high to clear the holster. We'll see what happens overall, but I haven't had any problems practicing with it, and will be trying it out in our monthly match this Sunday.

New Thing the Second: I've had the Deep 6 Comp Reset Trigger Kit for several months now, but only in the last week have I had the time to put it in my Glock 34 and practice dry-firing with it. It replaces the entire trigger assembly in the gun, and basically makes dry-firing a lot simpler---the trigger resets itself (similar to if the gun had actually fired) so you don't have to re-rack the slide each time. The trigger pull isn't the same (drat!) but the reset position is, and so dry-fire practice is made much easier. It allows multiple-shot trigger work during dry-fire, and I think it is really going to help my trigger control. Again, we'll see how this Sunday goes. But I'm thinking that after every match, when I clean my gun, I'll automatically put the reset trigger back in so I can dryfire practice with it before the next match. Again--under the assumption that it is going to work.

I will say that after 1.5 weeks of practice with it, I can (mostly) keep my sights rock-steady on distant targets when pulling the trigger multiple times, directly from a draw. Now, obviously the gun's recoil is going to make a difference, but I'm thinking this type of practice is going to help my accuracy considerably. More details to come on if this worked after Sunday's match, which is likely to be aimed at my weaknesses---the ground is muddy and/or frozen, so their won't be much movement. Lots of stand-and-fire, which is what I'm worst at. Movement and tactical plans are my strengths, so I normally really like the long, complicated field courses. This Sunday will be the opposite--but it really will test whether or not the practice I've been doing is going to help.

If it doesn't, I'm probably going to suggest to Ardi that she get herself one for her Glock, too, to practice with.

New Thing the Third: I really have been thinking about holding formal firearms classes through the NHA---a Basic Pistol class, and Tactical 1 and 2 classes. (Though I hate calling them "Tactical." Perhaps Protection 1 and 2? There has to be a better name for them.) I would NOT call myself a firearms master by any means (nope!!!!) but I am good at teaching basics, plus intro levels of shooting. To really advertise effectively, though, I probably need to pick up the NRA Pistol Shooting Instructor certification. I don't know if I'd teach the NRA basic pistol course (though I would probably offer it also), but having that on your firearms resume is a good idea. Plus, they may have educational suggestions there that might be helpful. So, currently I'm looking around for people/places that teach the instructor courses for the NRA. It would be nice to do that sometime this year. Looking at the NRA site, I'm a little worried---I don't see any courses for Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, or South Dakota for instructor training. I'll have to give them a call and find out who nearby does this sort of thing.

New Thing the Fourth: One of my new yearly goals is to get at least one new person to start (and continue) shooting, whether for sport, fun, or self-defense purposes. (Though it often seems to be all three.) Last year I got Ardi started---this year perhaps Megan and Todd? Who knows. Emily seems really enthused about learning how to shoot---wouldn't that be fun to get her started on USPSA? I've got gear she can use...

I was going to write some about competition attitudes and such regarding who I shoot with---then I decided not to do so. Mostly, the people I shoot with are good folks. Rule One still always applies, but these folks really do tend to be above average in maturity and responsibility---which does not surprise me. Things aren't always perfect, and occasionally people are disappointing in their actions--but mostly, these are good people. So I'm not really going to write about it.

Happy New Year, folks. Have a good, safe, fun year of shooting!