I got into Area 2.

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:
I got into Area 2.

Awesome!

I shot my first major of the year last Sunday. The Cornhusker Classic in the Omaha area. My personal goal was to finish at 80% or higher. I ended up at 80.94%. I had an excellent match hits wise with 178 Alpha, 40 Charlie, and 2 Delta over 11 stages with no penalties. This was refreshing as I've been a little plagued with penalties and vision mistakes recently. My overall time was disappointing at 35 seconds behind the division winner. The division winner was super squad level GM Lane Gries and there were several other GMs in Carry Optics at this match. I also won high law enforcement for the match so that was kind of neat.

To prepare for this match, I shot a couple thousand rounds the week before including running my monthly LE hit factor match, which I shot in back to back squads (we start squads every two hours) to give myself 10 stages and somewhat simulate a major. I ended up finishing 2nd and 4th in that match, just 8 points out of the win. The turnout for the June LE match was the best for the year so far and was a real shot in the arm for keeping me motivated to continue running them.

For July I've got a couple locals to shoot but the focus will be on training and trying to find some speed going into August where I'll shoot two majors (one of which is nationals).

What's up with everyone else?

I’m shooting 4/5 local matches a month. Shot a PCSL match this morning, finished 6th overall out of 20 something shooters. (25 I think?)

I’ve got a pattern of dry fire/live fire that I work at like a part time job. I have 4 more (possibly 5) matches this month. Next month I have 3 local matches I plan on shooting, a two day Brantley Merriam course and then the Valor Cup.

After that I’ll use local matches to train up for Area 2 in November.

A friend and I shot the local match this morning. Short result: mine was absolutely not a match to brag about. I shot like garbage.

Misfeed on the first stage set the tone for the day, I think. That cost me time and scrambled any confidence I might have had. On the fourth stage, I skipped over one target altogether — lost focus, after stepping back from the point of cover and concentrating too much on the swinging target. On the fifth I took a hit for dropping a not-yet-empty mag to the ground on a reload.

I could toss out “it’s the first time I’ve shot a match with this gun,” but that’s just bogus. The short reality is that I just didn’t perform well.

It was hot and humid, and we sweated like a bunch of old hogs. And we had fun doing it. :^)

IDPA or USPSA?

IDPA. This group labels it Action Pistol, being a bit less than super-strict about some rules.

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:
I’m shooting 4/5 local matches a month. Shot a PCSL match this morning, finished 6th overall out of 20 something shooters. (25 I think?)

I’ve got a pattern of dry fire/live fire that I work at like a part time job. I have 4 more (possibly 5) matches this month. Next month I have 3 local matches I plan on shooting, a two day Brantley Merriam course and then the Valor Cup.

After that I’ll use local matches to train up for Area 2 in November.

Thoughts on PCSL? Which format (pistol/rifle/2 gun)?

Shot a local last Thursday and won. I would say I win that match a little over half the time. Not a super deep one but I enjoy shooting with the regulars.

My plan going into the season this year was that I would make Master in carry optics and then switch to limited optics to get classified before nationals. Unfortunately, I have had big classifier problems (for me) this year and am still stuck in A at around 81%. I realized the other day that nationals is about a month out and that I statistically cannot get to enough matches to classify in LO so I ended up finding a six stage all classifier about 3.5 hours away.

I got up at 4:45 AM yesterday and made the 220 mile trek to shoot the match. It's at a club I've never shot at before halfway across the state. It was somewhat surprisingly not sold out. Classifier matches seem to be really popular most places but this one only saw 19 shooters (of 30 slots). The selection of classifiers was good - all stage style ones and no stand and shoots. I don't really care either way normally but if you're doing six of them it's much more engaging to shoot stages that involve moving.

I ended up winning that match and should classify at 78% in LO. I had one total abortion of a stage (due to a miss) at 57% but the others inlcuded a 93%, 90%, 77%, 76%, and 72%. Most of the times were solid but the hits on the ones in the 70s were rough. I'll probably be able to pick up two more classifiers before nationals to give me a best 6 of 8 that will hopefully bring that up.

quote:

Originally posted by DaBigBR:


Thoughts on PCSL? Which format (pistol/rifle/2 gun)?

I shoot 1 gun. I don’t know if my experience quality is PCSL as a whole or the one club I shoot it at. PCSL seems way more laid back and less technical. A lot of true hoser stages. There however are way less rules/divisions. CO and LO is one division as an example. Some interesting rules like a single round to the head A box is scored two alpha.

Most of the guys are USPSA shooters that have this one PCSL club in their rotation. Everyone has a good time. I usually place a little better at PCSL than USPSA. Despite that as an empirical data point, the level of shooters are higher in that club. Lots of really talented guys and the bar is high.

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:
IDPA. This group labels it Action Pistol, being a bit less than super-strict about some rules.

Yeah. A couple places here do the sane thing. Or call it an “outlaw match”. 99 percent of gun owners didn’t show up. You did. All that matters.

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:
99 percent of gun owners didn’t show up. You did. All that matters.

And I'll keep showing up. Each match shot -- even if shot poorly -- is a chance to improve, and to learn from mistakes.

Shot PCSL the last two days. Held around 75 percent match points both days with some really good dudes shooting open. Had one stage I bombed with 55 percent. Had a Mike on hard cover that I didn’t call. Watched a Glock blow up due to a double charge on a dudes reloads. Which is as interesting.

I'm on it!