In the course of seeing how bad the video quality was from the Memorial Day Steel Match, compared to the HD video I shot earlier, I edited my Match Checklist this morning to add my HD camera. I use this checklist to remind me of what I need to do, and I typically start it a few days before the match.
I thought I would share it with you. Here’s the checklist. Feel free to copy it for your own use.
Photo courtesy of the USAMU via the Military Marksmanship Association.
I was clicking around today looking for information on the US Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU), when I came across the website for the Military Marksmanship Association, a private, non-profit group made up of former USAMU members. I was surprised to find there on the first page a familiar name, SFC Jason Sargent.
The last time I shot a GSSF match at Fort Benning in 2008, the USAMU served as Range Officers. Sergeant Sargent was the RO when I shot 5 to Glock. How could I forget that name?
I was also shooting with another shooter, for whom it was actually the first time they had shot a pistol. I was fascinated with how patient the other RO was with this new shooter, even though her strings took minutes to complete.
While we waited, SFC Sargent asked me, “Would you mind if I gave you a pointer?”
Well, duh. When the US Army Marksmanship Unit offers you free advice, you take it.
It turns out I was slapping the trigger, that is, removing my trigger finger from the trigger after every shot. He showed me how to shoot with reset, that it, to hold the trigger until the gun cycled, then release it just enough to reset the trigger, ready to fire. The difference was palpable, and I was able to reduce the time on my next string of fire by over 3 seconds.
It was probably the most valuable shooting advice I’ve every gotten, and I remember it vividly. After all, like I said, you don’t forget someone named Sergeant Sargent.
Part of the benefits of being a member of the GSSF and attending matches is the factory armorers are there. They will check out your Glocks and replace any parts that are worn. Now, even though I’m a trained and certified Armorer, I like to have my guns looked over at least once a year by the pros. An upside is that the factory guys are not very reluctant to change parts, so your Glocks always stay factory fresh.
So, after checking out all three Glocks, the only thing they did was replace the trigger bar on my G17. I had noticed some scratches on the top of the cross piece, and I guess he thought it was enough to warrant replacement. Better safe than sorry, I suppose.
Then, when time came to put the slide back together, I noticed he also replaced the rear cover plate. I think it was because he had misplaced the original. I was sad. This was an original piece from 1992. Now I am left with the frame, the slide, and the barrel.
Now, as a downside, this meant that part of my cleaning routine on Sunday was a 5 cent trigger job, just an abbreviated version of the 25 cent trigger job. All I had to do was polish the new trigger bar.
I dry fired a bunch since then and I can’t tell much difference. That’s an upside.
R. Lee Ermey and Travis Tritt pose with the GSSF MatchMeisters prior to the Gunny Challenge. Note the orange “Guns Save Lives” button from GeorgiaCarry.org that the Gunny is wearing.
This past weekend the Glock Annual Shoot XVIII was held at the South River Gun Club in Conyers, Georgia. This is the culminating match for the Glock Sports Shooting Foundation, or GSSF, and, as in previous years, it certainly lived up to its billing.
The match consisted of the normal GSSF match I’ve written about before, plus the Gunny Challenge VII. The Gunny Challenge, named for Glock’s celebrity spokesman R. Lee Ermey, is a special match pitting the winners of GSSF matches around the country against each other, vying for a first prize of $5,000.
The Gunny Challenge was won, for the second year in a row, by Butch Barton. Bryan Dover took second, followed by 2009’s winner Dennis Kirchoff, and David Knight in 4th.
After the Gunny Challenge came a special head to head match between the Gunny and country music star Travis Tritt. Gunny won, 5 – 0.
The Gunny squeezes of a shot from the Gen4 G35, with GSSF Director Chris Edwards acting as RO.
Of course, all this was a side show to the real attraction, the Glock Annual Shoot. This event has grown just about every year, and this year there were 1,025 entries in the various categories. This made it the largest action pistol match in history, breaking the old record of 744 entries, set last year by the Glock Annual Shoot XVII.
Fortunately, there weren’t 1,025 people there, since the rules allow shooters to enter multiple categories. But it was definitely a crowded venue.
I shot on Saturday, arriving at the range about 10:30 AM. Already, the bays were crowded, so once I signed in and received my stickers, I signed up for what looked like the 3 least crowded bays. Not that it mattered – I still had to wait about an hour at each one.
My shooting was okay. I shot Glock the Plates first, leaving no plates, with times in the mid 7’s. Not really fast, but I was determined not to leave any plates. Missed plates carry a 10 second penalty.
Glock M
My second stage was Glock M, and I shot it with times in the 8’s. Again I had no misses, and was only 4 shots down, meaning I had only 4 shots out of the A-B main scoring range. All those shots were on the farther targets, which I should have taken as foreshadowing.
By then, the Gunny Challenge was getting close, so I had lunch and watched the match. I also shot video of the Gunny Challenge, and I’ve posted the finals on my Youtube channel, along with video of two of the stages, Glock M and Glock the Plates. No, those are not me shooting. Next year I’ll bring a tripod.
After the Gunny Challenge, I took advantage of the lull in the action and shot the 5 to Glock as soon as I could. I shot in the 7’s, but I missed 4 targets, all on the farthest one. Looking back, I realize I should have gone to a safe area and dry fired a little while to get back the trigger feel.
All in all my score, with penalties, was 160 and change, which is a little worse than I shot at Dawsonville earlier in the year. Oh, well.
+++
One thing was missing from this year’s Glock Annual Shoot – the Glock shooting team. Usually, they have been on hand with product demonstrations, autographs, and just plain shooting fun. But with the recent departure of Dave Sevigny, the remaining Team members Randi Rogers and Tori Nonaka were not in attendance. Hopefully next year we will see them again, maybe with a new team member.
Because of the GSSF rules which award random prizes based on the number of entries, there will be 41 Glocks awarded. Maybe I’ll win one – I did in 2009, that’s where Liberty, my G19, came from!
One more thing – I heard that the last 26 entries had to have their paperwork filled out buy hand, because the staff found out their software didn’t support over 999 entries. I’m sure they’ll have that software problem worked out by next year. But it’s a nice problem to have.
Fill Yer Hands 