Latest shooting exploits....

      Lately I have been a bit hung up on the newest of the shooting disciplines: Zombie Shooting. I've been to three events so far and it's really starting to get under my skin. I make friends at all the shooting events I go to as I can't help but talk.  Shooting sports, guns, and how to make them fit together is a combination that will make me hoarse if I'm not careful.

     The first event I attended was a pistol match and it was a wild time. Folks of all skill levels were going after the head shots quite calmly after the first stage and the scoring was easy to understand....a good thing from the RO and shooter's perspective. The odd pace of three shots to the infected target and lone headshots to the zombies was upsetting to the comfort zone of double tap everything. I got over it and really enjoyed the confidence building of the made bonus headshots at twenty yards and the rock 'n' roll triple taps of point blank infecteds.

The second event was a three gun zombie match. Very interesting as the divisions were broken down by total loaded capacity of all three weapons. Pretty cool really, as shooters were adjusting their round counts to make a particular division. The shots were quite demanding for the average shooter from the long bonus plate racks to maximum cylinder bore ranged shotgun plate to 100+ yard offhand flash targets. Zombie shooters were quickly put on notice that while the sport was geared to both the beginner and the seasoned shooter all were expected to bring their best game and learn something while they were at it.

By the third event I had a good feel for the game and decided to shoot pistol only as I was running a squad and it just made sense. I ended up winning high over all with a revolver against numerous auto shooters some using as many as 15 rounds in a magazine. The secret was making my hits. I had two clean stages, one with a plate rack and one with a six 20 yard bonus head shots. This match felt better as it was still a notice of excellence required, only this time my squad had brought a better game. I was fortunate to squad again with some familiar faces and this made it a good time as well as an easy gauge of the match.

Tonight I directed an IDPA match and competed with a 2" Model 10 running in the SSR division. The difficult shots included 5 head shots and three bowling pins. Before I started playing with Zombie Shooting those shots would have been a challenge and uncertainty, but they all passed rather uneventfully as all the tough shots were made with seeming ease.

The match was made even more difficult by the downright evil placement of Non-Threats which preyed upon the score sheets of all but a few.  I was among the fortunate to get through unscathed, which was a good thing after my " Tonight I've got no sympathy for any of you, I'm shooting a snubnose revolver," speech. I feel it has helped my with my accuracy and comfort with my guns in tough shot situations. It will be interesting to see how this translates to USPSA, but I'll definitely be back for more at the next match.

The Forgotten Art of the Speedloader....at least by me.

Recently I recieved two new caliber conversions for my Dillon 550 in .40 S&W and .38 Special. The ability to crank out .38's is much appreciated as it's a fun caliber to shoot, but single staging the rounds took forever. As a result my speedloader-fed guns were left unshot.  Armed with my two slicked up/chopped up revolvers I headed off to the local farmer's gravel pit. Shot to shot splits seemed a bit quicker with the 120PF .38 loads and were a welcome relief from the 165PF .45's. Reloads started out being quite laughable on the north side of 5 seconds. After about 150 rounds fired my personal best was a 3.04 out of a 2" model 10.  My 581 wasn't quite as fast due to some trigger issues that have since been resolved.  It really surprised me how accurate the little snubnose 10 was
So there's work to be done in this area and now that I have the production abilities there's no excuse to leave them out of the practice rotation. I suppose with the right amount of practice they should be just as competitive as the moonclip guns. I just have to figure out what the right speedloader holders are now.



Side note: Farmers tend to be awfully friendly folks in my experience.  If you express an interest in helping them out with pests such as groundhogs or a general lend a hand when needed attitude you can luck into a cheap place to shoot.  A certain mastery of the art of conversation is needed as these folks tend to be quite conversant and inquisitive, but I like to talk. The particular farmer who is gracious enough to let me use his gravel pit often stops by to watch my practice. This serves two great functions...it keeps me on my toes performance wise and gives a good opportunity to share my sport.

A supposed hiatus from shooting

  I recently had to pass on three matches this past weekend to attend the funeral of my beloved Grandfather in Pennsylvania. He lived to be 84 and passed away from pre-existing breathing issues and other complications which were exacerbated by a recent car accident. I miss him dearly, but his passing was not unexpected and our families were prepared. May he rest peacefully.

  With the arrangements not yet set in stone I did what any crazy revolver shooter would do...packed a suit and two bags...one full of clothes and the other full of match gear. Some may find it a little sacreligious to do such a thing, but there is only so much family time a person can take and arrangements had not yet been made. I figured a great way to deal with the emotional stress was to go out and meet new shooters and learn how other clubs put on matches. I had only one problem....I had decided I would take one gun and only one gun. After all I was driving my grieving mother and my father up to the funeral and could not afford the extra space.  I went with a new to me 646 and both an IDPA and USPSA setup which all fit marvelously in a small tool bag with ammo, carriers and holster.

I went online and looked up USPSA matches in the area and finally set my sights on one that I thought would be easy to make and contacted the match director to make certain they were planning on having a match that weekend. This was a good thing because they ended up cancelling due to range drainage issues and I recieved an email to that effect.  USPSA local match....dead in the water....oh no! On to the bailout plan....find an IDPA match and go to it! Luckily for me I had painstakingly decided to leave my 5" 625 at home and bring my super cool 3 and a whole lotta change" 646 .40 instead. Having an IDPA legal gun and setup was a game saver in the end, as this club turned out to be very cool and probably would've let me shoot my USPSA gun/gear there, but some won't.

The match was incredible for a local match. $15 bought six stages 5 of which had props with one standard 12 shot 2 string stage. There was house clearing with drop turners and and a waving mover. A six shot stage with two pieces of steel that when hit activated two dropout paper targets. A car stage where shots occured in and out of the car. A stage where a kicked over popper started a mover across the stage on a wire..with non threats in tow..very cool. Another scenario stage had me tac loading twice to engage the array which included 4 shots from one position a jog behind cover and a tac load to bring on a long steel activator and super close dropout threat which then made for an obstructed finish. Brilliant! Thanks to the match directors for a challenging diversion in difficult times.