Match Report – USPSA at Cherokee Gun Club

On By Tom LindsayIn Competition, USPSA5 Comments

This past Saturday I shot the regular monthly USPSA match at the Cherokee Gun Club in Gainesville, Georgia.

The weather was perfect for a pistol match, starting in the low 50’s F and ending around 60, with a slight breeze. There were 67 competitors and all classes and divisions were represented except revolvers. And, Dave Sevigny was there, and I got to chat with him for a few minutes.

There was an excellent mix of stages as well, including a couple of simple stages and one of the most complex field courses I have ever had the pleasure of running. More on that later.

I started on Stage 4, but I’ll go through the stages from the beginning. Stage 1 was called Do Your Dance, and it consisted of multiple targets along the edge of the stage, with barrels and a dividing line up the middle of the stage. The Dance came from the requirement that targets on the left side be shot from the right side of the divider, and vice versa, so that the shooter was essentially dancing back and forth down the field. Very interesting. I shot it clean (which for me means no misses, I”ll worry about all Alphas later) but my time was slow. No surprise.

Stage 2 was the Classifier stage Cash ‘n’ Carry, with three targets from engaged from a box, one popper engaged while moving to a second box, and three targets engaged from the second box, only from under a horizontal bar that forced us to kneel or squat. (Given the choice I usually kneel.) I missed two shots on this stage and shot a no-shoot. Not good.

Stage 3 was called Doomed, and now I know why. It’s the one shown in the picture above. There were two swinging targets and a guillotine target. The Guillotine target is covered by a no-shoot at the beginning of the stage, and shooting a popper drops the no-shoot. About 2 seconds later another no-shoot rotates into position blocking this target, so you have a short time to shoot it.

I shot Alpha / Charlie on the guillotine, not bad. But I missed one shot on a 25 yard target, and one shot on one of the swingers.

The best way to shoot swinging targets is to shoot when the target is all the way down on the left or right, as it’s changing directions. In retrospect I should have shot more shots at the swingers.

Here is Dave Sevigny shooting stage 3:

Stage 4, where I started, was called Gotcha, and it was basically targets up the middle of the stage, with lanes on the outside of the stage where the shooter had to be. We shot our way down to the end and then shot three targets over a barrier. For me this was my best stage of the day. No misses, mostly Alphas.

Stage 5 was called Zombiemart. This one started with the gun in a cash register (really a briefcase) and then we engaged three targets straight away, with targets to the left and right.

I’ll come back to Stage 6. . . .

Stage 7 was the Classifier Table for 1, and was a welcome change. Starting with an unloaded gun sitting at a table, we shot three targets, then reloaded and shot them again. Since I finished 6th in Production on this stage, this tells me my shooting was good but I need to work on my movement.

On Stage 6 this was painfully obvious. Here I am shooting Stage 6, Barrel Issues.

Here is Dave Sevigny shooting the same stage.

That was the fastest time of the day. As you can see, there were steel plates, poppers, and a gallows. All the fun a shooter can stand.

In the end, I finished 50th of 67 shooters, and was the highest in the D class. I take what victories I can!

I also took away a lot of things today:

> I need to (obviously) lose some weight, so I can get around quicker.
> I need to work on my double taps on close targets. On Stage 6 I shot a measured pair when a double tap would have done better. (Of course, I could also argue that if I shoot worse with double taps, say, Alpha / Charlie versus 2 Alphas, does that get eat up the faster time?)
> My magazine changes were decent.
> My sight pictures were decent, and I was calling my shots most of the day, even on the stages with lots of movement.

All in all it was the best match I’ve shot in a long time, and the most fun I’ve had in USPSA. Kudos to Peter Oliver, the match director at Cherokee. Peter came in second overall, by the way, which was probably the best he could expect.

Range Visits for Self Defense Practice

On By Tom LindsayIn Drills, Self Defense, Training1 Comment

The ideal place to practice shooting for self defense is an outdoor range, because you need to be able to practice shooting on the move, shooting from odd positions, and other scenarios that you would encounter in a self defense situation.

Unfortunately, many of us don’t have access to an outdoor range often enough to practice these perishable skills. In some previous posts, I gave some thoughts about how I practice at an indoor range to get ready for competition. Yesterday during lunch I went to the range to practice my self defense shooting.

Here’s what I practice for self defense. Since my range doesn’t allow me to draw and shoot, all shots are from low ready.

I use a silhouette target set at 7 yards to 10 yards. I use 10 yards because I’ve paced off my house, and this is the longest shot I would have to make. Sure, I might face longer shots, but that’s not what I’m practicing today.

I start with the target at 7 yards, and make single shots into the central target zone. For me, this is a triangle formed by the nipples and the larynx. A shot in this area makes the most effective hole in an attacker, and is most likely to stop the fight the fastest. I want 10 or so good shots in this zone, with good form and follow through.

Next I do two shots to the triangle, starting with a measured pair, and moving to a double tap. Again, I want good hits, good form, a follow through.

Next, I do Mozambiques – a shorthand for a drill invented by Lt. Colonel Jeff Cooper, consisting of two shots to the triangle which fail to stop the threat, followed by a shot to the head. It should be noted, from my experience at competitions where it has been included, that a true Mozambique is not a quick “two shots to the body and one to the head.” There is a pause between the first two shots and the head shot to assess whether the head shot is needed. This is important, because in a real fight, there is no way to know that the third shot would be needed. So, that’s the way you should practice it.

In fact, if you have a shooting partner at the range, a great way to do a true Mozambique is for the partner to watch you shoot the first two shots, then call “Yes” or “No” indicating whether your shots stopped the target. If not, then you follow up with a head shot. Then, go on farther – if that shot isn’t dead on the central nervous system, follow up with a pelvic shot.

Next, I turn my body 90 degrees left, and starting with the gun at low ready, I press out to the target with my right hand and deliver shots to the triangle, first singles, then doubles. This simulates a shot to the extreme right, where you might not have a chance to square yourself to the target.

Next is a couple of Mozambiques from this position, but I try to square myself to the target between the body shots and the follow up, just like I would want to do in a real situation.

Next, do the same from the other side. Naturally, using the weak hand means taking more care, but that’s the point of practice. You will get better.

If your range allows, shots from the retention position would also be included. My range has a bench in front of me, so this isn’t a good idea.

Next, I run the target out to 10 yards and practice making single shots and doubles, either to the triangle, or to another zone like the pelvis, so I can distinguish those shots from others. The longer distance doesn’t seem like much, but it’s enough for me to make a difference.

I usually end the session with the target at 5 yards, and I shoot 4 or 5 shots as fast as I can, while keeping them in the triangle.

As you can see from the photo, I’m not always as accurate as I want to be, but most of the shots are in the triangle or in the head, or at least where I was aiming. But I am getting better, and that’s the whole point.

The Safety Rules In Depth – Part 2

On By Tom LindsayIn Safety3 Comments

Rule 1 – All guns are always loaded.

This rule has probably generated the most dissension among gun owners than anything else, including the “9mm versus .45ACP” debate. Some don’t even include it as a rule, arguing that, if the other rules are followed, it becomes moot.

However, it can be argued that unloaded guns cause more “accidental” shootings than anything else in the shooting world. Of course, what really happened is that guns that were assumed to be unloaded did what loaded guns are designed to do when the trigger is pulled. And, since no care was taken about which direction the gun was pointed, the result, many times, is tragic.

A loaded gun is a deadly weapon. To treat it as anything else is negligent and foolish.

But the argument is made that not all guns are loaded. Examples would include guns at a “cold” range, such as at a competition. In this case, guns are only loaded once the competitor is on the firing line, and then only at the direction of the Range Officer or Safety Officer.

The point of this rule, though, is to prevent the negligent discharge of a gun that was assumed to be unloaded, but really wasn’t. As with many things, Lt. Colonel Jeff Cooper said it best in his final version of Rule 1:

All guns are always loaded. Even if they are not, treat them as if they are.

If we treat all guns as if they are loaded, then we won’t point them at anything we don’t want to destroy, and we won’t put our fingers on the trigger until we are ready to shoot.

It’s a mindset that we have to develop, that is part of the overall safety mindset – that our gun is a powerful tool, which we must control and direct at all times.

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Certainly one of the scariest and most frustrating experiences is to be around someone who has no concept of gun safety, and insists on waving it around or putting their fingers on the trigger. I have no qualms about asking someone politely to treat the gun as if it were loaded, and please stop that. It is usually at a gun show or gun store. If they get upset about my request, I take myself and my business elsewhere.

Of course, at a range or in my home is another issue. I try to be as nice as I can, but nothing pulls the barium rods out of my nuclear asshole reactor quicker.

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Once, when my son was perhaps 8 or 9 years old, we were getting the BB guns out for a shooting session. We put on our safety glasses, and I took down the trusty Red Ryder Range Model Lever Action Carbine (without a compass in the stock, or this thing that tells time), and I tilted it back and forth to make sure there were no BBs in the action.

I handed it to my son, and asked, “Is that loaded?”

“No.”

Wrong answer. The guns went back up, to be brought out another day.

He’s never forgotten that lesson. And he knows every gun is loaded, even if there might not be any ammunition in it.

Fall Back, Get Ahead

On By Tom LindsayIn Uncategorized

Just like remembering to change the batteries in your smoke detectors, the change of time from Standard to Daylight Savings Time and back again affords us a built in reminder to do those things we need to do every 6 months, or yearly.

For instance, I change batteries in every clock in my house on New Year’s Day. It’s a reminder of the fleeting nature of time, and I usually have a bunch of batteries I got on sale for Christmas.

So, Sunday I took the opportunity to do some of those things I always do once a year.

I detail stripped my Glocks and checked all the things I usually don’t check, like recoil springs, firing pin springs, and firing pin cups. (Everything was fine.)

I baked the desiccant bags from my gun safes, to restore them. (I know, I should do this monthly. It’s now on my calendar.)

I unpacked my Get Home Bag, and checked all the items against my checklist. (You never know when I’ve taken something out and forgotten to replace it.) I also ran the blanket and sleeping bag through a fluffy cycle in my dryer. I replaced all the water bottles with fresh ones, and replaced the box of granola bars. (Guess what my snacks are this week . . . )

I did an ammunition inventory. I will then put that against my calendar of upcoming matches and shooting outings to decide when I need to buy more.

I took all my long guns out of the safe, and cleaned out the bottom of the safe (so that’s where that went) and re-positioned the spacers that hold up the guns. I then wiped down my guns with a good oily rag, and put everything back in neatly. Man, that looked nice.

One embarrassing confession – I took photos of a lot of this, but I also blew off my whole yard with the leaf blower, put together a new roll-around tool box, and put together a new fire pit. So, I didn’t get a chance to download the pictures. It’s just as well, some of these tasks will make good stand alone posts later this week.

Oh, I also set my clocks back an hour.