March 2009 3-Gun Match...

So, the first 3-Gun match of the year occurred this past Sunday. An interesting rifle stage, that started with knocking over a steel plate at a distance, then moving to short-range targets with no-shoots in the way. A pistol stage (of my design) that required lateral and reverse movement with some kneeling and prone shooting. And a combined shotgun/pistol stage that included few shotgun reloads, but LOTS of movement.

I did pretty well on the pistol and shotgun stages, other than having my pistol jam two times on live rounds--0nce per stage. (Grrr...) Not sure why, either. Different magazine each time, jammed on live rounds---I'm thinking that in my reloading, there may have been a batch that had 0.1 or so less powder than normal, and just not enough umph to make the slide work properly. Not sure...need to take the gun out and function-check it a few times, including one-handed shooting. We'll see.

The rifle stage, on the other hand----was HORRIBLE. Hit three different no-shoot targets, and actually hit one of those no-shoots TWICE. The second shot didn't count, because it didn't quite cross the perf. Yes, we were shooting at close targets, so the rifle was going to shoot low. But I KNEW that, since I had gone out the previous day and checked my targeting for various distances. While it is true that I didn't hold as high as I should have for the close distance, the main problem was lack of trigger control. On everything past the first shot I just felt like I was jerking the trigger---and of course, I didn't fix the problem, I just noticed I was shooting horribly.

For the shotgun stage, I used my new method of reloading, and it seemed to go well. That being said, however, I only had to reload 8 rounds, so it wasn't much of a test for reloading speed. I did manage to miss one of the distant paper targets (when shooting slugs) which was completely my fault for lack of aim--but the rest went pretty well (except that one of the pistol jams occurred right at the end, and added several seconds to my time).

Just not really an auspicious shooting day. Fun, yes. Good, no.



So, I'll be going back out to the range for some more practice. Of course, I should do that no matter what. :) But in this case, I need to function-check my pistol, and definitely practice my rifle.

I also need to revamp that pistol stage I designed, and submit it for possible inclusion in the Area 3 match later this year. We'll see---it was well-received in this match. Lots of grumbles beforehand, and several compliments afterward.

In related news, my firearms student got herself an AR-15. A little practice with that, some shotgun work, and we'll have her doing 3-Gun next month along with the rest of us. :)

ENPS March Pistol Match...

Ardi skipped the match today. (Kidding! She had other commitments.)

It was COLD. The strange thing was it was completely clear, sunny, with almost no wind at all---perfect day for shooting. Oddly enough, once we got started, you didn't notice the cold at all.

Which is good, because when my hands get cold (which is almost immediately) I don't shoot well---even worse than normal.

Today's match was interesting. Since there was snow on the ground, and it was so cold, we had table starts for each stage, and not a whole lot of movement. Nonetheless, we still had some interesting stages. I designed one, then threw together a second one so that we would have 5 stages overall. I ended up getting the top score on both of the stages I put together---which is the opposite of normal. Most of the time, I do fine everywhere BUT my stage.

I kept forgetting to ask someone to film for me, so I only have video of three stages. And of course, the two stages where I did best are the two that are missing. [sigh] Ah well---I learn more from the stages where I screwed up anyway.

What did I learn this time? Quit taking late late late shots! And trust where I've called the shot. I didn't, and so took an extra shot on my first stage, costing me 1.76 more seconds, plus an extra no-shoot hit--when it wasn't necessary. Arg. This isn't the first time I've taken an extra late shot, but I do think this is the worst outcome.

At least until the next "worst outcome."

SO---need to stop that.

Second thing--some weird pauses in my reloading. As much as I mentioned reloading practice in the last couple of posts, I haven't had a chance to actually do it. And I think it really shows. Watch the reloads in the video---while they aren't horrible, it is very obvious that they could be faster.

On the good side, my trigger control (mostly) seems to be getting more consistent, with better attention to the front sight, even when shooting faster. More dry fire practice needed, of course, but improvement seems to be occurring.



I ended up not only getting first production, but first overall! Rather surprising, actually. Rob normally beats me, but this time I won, though only by the tiniest margin (0.8%).

First 3-Gun match of the year coming up in two weeks---should be interesting. I watched a video on shotgun reloading from the US Army Marksmanship Unit, and it really gave me some things to think about.



I've been reloading the shotgun based on my own ideas and some things I've seen--but since my shotgun experience is minor, it really wasn't working well. (That is a kind way of saying that I reload like an arthritic sloth.) We'll see if the new method helps at all. Gotta admit, it certainly works for SSG Johnson.

For rifle---well, we'll see. I bought that Nordic Components mag extension, so as long as prone is not required, having that for longer stages is going to save me a reload. It seems to feed perfectly in my rifle, and it is based on a PMag, so I'm not worried about it failing.

Being 3-Gun coordinator, I wonder what else I should be doing? Doug is doing the shotgun stage this month, and Rob said he'd come up with another stage. I wonder which weapon? I can throw together a pistol and a rifle stage, and just set up whichever one he doesn't, I suppose. I can't wait for it to get warmer and drier--I have a fun (read: deviously nasty) rifle stage design I'd like to try.

Back to practicing!