The birth of the 929 as I rise again from the ashes...

It has been a while indeed. I fell away from shooting and life got in the way. The side effect was a loss of focus in life due to the absence of the Zen provided by shooting. So first of all I would like to thank my good friend John Zaczek Sr. for being an incredible inspiration and one hell of a good person to have in my life. Thank you John, you are the best definition of friend that can be expressed.

Some of you may have been opposed to the changeover of rules in USPSA Revolver division that was spearheaded by a few individuals with great credibility and poor foresight. Eight shot minor is the only game in town now. Okay, I am on board. Got it. My 625 and 610 will remain standing by for any instance where I feel inspired to go back to six shot Major PF. So I found a 929 wonder gun in stock at the LGS and proceeded to bite the bullet, drink the Kool-Aid, and commit to entering the eight shot game. So here I sit invested in 9mm with two great guns: an M&P 9 and the 929.

Shooting the wondergun was as expected. Lighter than the 610 and recoiling about lighter as the 610 in .40 Major. Okay, I can deal with that. I am happiest with a 6.5" barrel. Everything sits mostly stock at this point with the exception of the Hogue extended cylinder release lever that is on long term loan from another great shooting friend Ken Kiesler. He didn't like it on his guns and I am trying hard to fall in love with it as I fish around for the reloading technique that I will move forward with. I am considering switching for several reasons, chiefly because I am out of practice and can objectively experiment at this point to find the best technique for the stubby 9mm bullets.

Cool things from BladeTech

After the ZSA 2013 Ground Zero Championship I ended up with a bunch of cool BladeTech gear. Some was purchased and some was won, but the end result was really great gear for me to use. Ryan Preece from BladeTech was a great guy to meet and a really knowledgeable fellow. I'd be lying if I said I got anything other than a great deal on a bunch of gear.

Perhaps the single coolest piece of gear I came by was the most minimalist. It came off the prize table and appeared to be an inside the waistband (IWB) holster for a Glock 19/23. My G19 is heavily tricked out and has a magwell. "What am I to do with an IWB holster?," I pondered. This was not just another IWB holster and after about five minutes I knew exactly what I'd do with it; keep it and be grateful. Imagine an IWB that's as fast as conventional holster, stays open and doesn't allow the gun to jostle around. That is the BladeTech Klipt IWB holster.

I have used this method of carry for years and really think it works well. The downside for me has always been tensioning the belt just right to gain stability and retention, but still allowing the gun to be drawn smoothly and with speed. Well look no further as this holster is the ticket! I could not believe how cool this holster was. I must have spent an hour and a half the first night home practicing my draw with it. It is dangerously addictive. It breathed new life into carrying an old favorite indeed. I should mention that even with the crazy magazine well and extended basepads the Klipt holds the gun in close and makes it disappear under an untucked shirt while maintaining a fast draw speed. Now if they only offered it for every gun I wanted to carry, I'd have a pile of them.

The second notable BladeTech item was a gift to me by my good friend and shooting mentor, John Zaczek. This is a standard holster for the M&P 9/40 full size pistol. The slide on the standard models is a bit thicker than on the pro models. I had tried to purchase a holster at the match, but was unable to make it work in a pro series holster. This holster is stamped with the S&W M&P logo and fits the weapon perfectly. I am very pleased with the retention and fast presentations from this holster. It features a standard adjustable belt loop and also came with a paddle attachment. I opted to use the belt loop feature.  This holster proved equally addicting with how well it both retained and released the weapon at the draw stroke. Although slightly less novel than the Klipt, it's still an awesome piece of gear. I favor this standard holster much more than the Hogue speed rig as it gives me great peace of mind. Gift or not, I couldn't have been happier with the design and function.

The following items I purchased and am most grateful for the deal I received: a Springfield XD holster and an AR dual magazine pouch. The XD holster was for a friend that has one and they were most grateful to receive such an awesome upgrade to the stock holster that came with the gun. Although labeled for a 9/40 5.25" XD, it fit their .45 Compact very well and locked up properly. Perhaps this gift was all that was necessary to ease one more shooter into the game, which is what it's all about! 

The dual magazine pouch is definitely cool and makes my AR instantly more useful in competition or an emergency as now I have a way to carry magazines on the belt very quickly with the Tek-Lok fittings.

 I also own a magazine pouch for the AK and it is both attractive and useful. I like the smooth lines it has and how well it holds an otherwise bulky 40 round magazine with ease.

I would like to thank BladeTech  for supporting the shooting sports, ZSA, and sending a great guy like Ryan for us all to talk to.

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to shoot in the 2013 ZSA Ground Zero NC State Championship Match. It was 307 rounds required to shoot it clean attempting all bonus shots. I don't think I fired more than two or three dozen makeup shots thanks to a challenging course of fire designed by my good friend John Zaczek Sr. There were sixteen stages with anywhere from three to 38 shots available. I use shots available due to the expansion of the stages due to bonus targets and their optional engagement. Engagement range was 10 to 60 yards on steel targets and 3 to 50 yards on  paper.

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Top: John explains the stage.
Bottom: Cliff and Kori strategize.

I shot this clean free style and weak hand only. It was about fifteen yards maximum range, maybe 18.
The directions were 12 shots limited with a mandatory reload before the last shot. Freestyle for the first string and the option to get bonus points for shooting strong hand only and massive bonus points for shooting weak hand only. The catch was that the penalties doubles and tripled as well. I decided that I would take the WHO route as I had fired extensively with my left hand in cowboy action. It paid off magnificently with a clean stage that erased two penalties from other stages.


By far the most amazing part of the weekend was the people. Some of the people have known me for years and when I walked up I felt like Norm strolling into Cheers.  The catch was it had been over two years since I had seen some of them. You can imagine how touched I was to be fondly remembered by a group of shooters. I truly believe that this is the warmest of the shooting communities with a deep fellowship and camaraderie. The only shooting sport I have seen approach this level is cowboy action. I saw unhesitating generosity all over with shooters helping other shooters plan the stages out, with ammunition shortages, even water and snacks. After the shooting was done on Saturday the band Madison Rising played a special concert for us after shooting the match. You really need to hear their rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. It will reaffirm your faith in our country's greatness.

Myself and the great shooter and Top Shot contestant Cliff Walsh. 

So the beginning of the match was a little bit of a rough start with unfamiliar borrowed gear shooting a relatively new platform. The M&P is still young in my hands and I had really only out about 500 rounds through it before the match. I had planned to shoot out of simple gear: a. Leather IWB holster and a simple Fobus magazine pouch. Some safety concerns about the IWB holster from fellow RO's led me to borrow some less than simple gear that in the end was highly efficient and worked out great. I think it was a smart choice and good advice overall. Thanks so much for the loan Mel! (Mel Zaczek is John's lovely wife and a truly awesome and generous shooter.)



By the second half of the match I was accustomed to the gear and its advantages and limitations. The advantages I found were a quick draw and very easy access to the pistol and magazines for speedy reloads. The disadvantages I found were due to my style of shooting which relies upon my foot speed to make up for slower more deliberate shooting. I dropped a magazine on a stage that I ended up not needing, but it unnerved me. Other issues arose with the holster. I didn't feel comfortable running flat out with the gun in it and I found it easy to inadvertently lock the gun down during the draw stroke.

There was a stage which required entering a school bus and engaging some 14 target from the inside. The catch was the start position was right on the 180/DQ line and you ran up the steps and turned to the left and down range. Another complication was that there were bars to be navigated at the top of the stairs presenting additional "muzzle foulers." So before the beep my plan was to get to the top of the stairs and draw after turning toward the first target. After the beep the plan modified into a step and a half into the bus, grabbing the rail with my left hand, and drawing the gun as legs and arm propelled my into the bus. I just didn't feel comfortable leaving the gun in the unlocked holster going up the stairs.

On another stage I locked the gun down as I grabbed for it my super long fingers and flipped the lever up. It cost me a half second or so on the draw as I thumbed the lock down and redrew the gun.  This wasn't a super stage killer , but it was a belt flexing annoyance.  I can definitely attest to the security of the locking function. I think that despite all my experience with the Hogue holster, I will stick to a more conventional design with my auto loaders.

By the end of the match I had found a familiarity with the M&P and really finished strong.

The game face. 

Preparations for the ZSA NC State Championship

Earlier this week I ventured out to the range one more time to really wring out the M&P before the upcoming match. I was interested to see just how tight I could get the groups prior to the match. I was pleased to find that four groups of fifteen shots fired consecutively with slight pause between magazines were kind enough to group nicely at fifteen yards.

I went on to fire some 250 rounds and am feeling pretty confident that if I can get that finger to calm down just a tad, that I am going to have a great match. I will update after the 16 stages of zombie slaying madness are over with tomorrow. Hopefully with a little bit of video also!

New toy and a new outlook!

Well for those of you still remotely interested in what I'm doing I have good news! I am coming back to the shooting world. I have been off and dabbling in other things such as competitive rowing and archery. One of the guys I row with had actually read my blog well before he ever knew me. Small world right!?!

Anyhow I have been playing with a new toy that some good friends of mine John and Mel Z over at Zombie Shooters Association of America (ZSA) turned me on to: The S&W M&P 9mm. I have a plastic gun as most people do and it's also a 9mm. The Glock 19 has served me well over the years and I have a great deal of affection for it still. That being said, I was very impressed with the M&P's that John and Mel had shown me. What's more to demonstrate how awesome these guys are and how great friends can be, they let me shoot one of their M&P's in a match and provided ammunition. I was passing through and had no real equipment with me and it was an incredible gesture from two great friends. So off we went to shoot a USPSA match in Ant Hill, NC with another great guy Ken Kiesler, who I am also privileged to count as a friend.

The particular M&P I was using was a five inch model with a fiber optic front sight and some Apex Tactical Specialties internals. I got through the match and back behind a gun for the first time in a while and it was great. I relearned a few things, such as I am not a fan of green fiber optics(it disappears for me), and I learned that I would likely prefer the shorter barreled model. I felt like the five inch gun left too much reciprocating mass atop a lightweight frame. Those two points aside I was in love with the M&P and was tryin desperately to find one of my own.

John had warned me that the magazines were pretty scarce right now and I was fortunate enough to procure one that came with three magazines instead of the normal two. I could get through a match most anywhere now. I decided that I would use makeshift gear for the time being and just run the gun without fretting about the gear too much. I found that the M&P uses the same mag pouches as the Glock 9mm/.40! Awesome! I have a pair of Fobus pouches that will work just great. I found out that the M&P also fits in my Bianchi Professional IWB holster that fits my Sig P220 and a fullsize Glock.  Awesome! Now I have gear for a match. Some of you may be thinking right now is he crazy? Why would he use an IWB holster for competition? The short answer: I have it right here, right now and it presents better than the cheap do all holsters I have. Remember I want this to be about the gun, not the gear this time. I have been too focused on extras in the past. I want to worry about wearing this gun out with bullets and becoming a shooter again.

Okay to be honesty I did do a little bit to the gun in close consultation with John Z and Cliff Walsh. John Zaczek Sr. is a Master level revolver shooter is USPSA and a believer in less frills. Cliff Walsh is a Grand Master level revolver. Shooter in USPSA and holds the distinction of the only man to ever beat Jerry Miculek with a revolver. John and Cliff both suggested Apex internals as the way to go for making the trigger better. I opted for the FSS or Forward Set Sear as it would be most like a 1911 which is my favorite competitive platform in a semiauto pistol. Cliff evetually won me over to all black sights over John's suggestion of fiber optic. I went this way because I feel like the all black work better and never become invisible in daylight. Right now the gun has its original front sight mounted because I did a poor job of fitting the front sight and it fell off. Perhaps this was a blessing in disguise, because I am finding I prefer this odd sight combination of factory front white dot and Warren Tactical smooth rear. The cut outs in the sides of the rear sight really do make it easier to see more around the sight and I find the sight comes up fast, like a peep. I don't believe I will have any appreciable change in point of impact because the front sights are the same height.

Initial range impressions were great. I enjoyed the clean brake of the Apex trigger and FSS. To be fair I should warn you that I adjusted my trigger to have the absolute minimum take up in which to allow the trigger to fully reset. I also bent the disconnector in toward the sear to ensure maximum reliability during the reset and avoid the dead trigger. I also removed the trigger safety. This is a controversial move according to many because some believe its a necessary item for some silly drop test. I found that it made the trigger pull less smooth because of the point in time when it fully disengaged. I realize this disqualifies the gun from certain divisions and competitions all together, but I Don't Participate Anymore nor am I a production fan. I like full magazines with lots of shooting. Back to my original thought, I was pleased with the accuracy and function of the weapon right up until the groups went to pot as the front sight fell off. A friend was shooting it at the timfe so I was super pissed at myself and embarrassed. I will be heading to the range again this weekend to do a final practice and check of gear before the 2013 NC State Zombie Match where I'll get to shoot with my friends! As with all things ZSA related I am sure of three things: it's going to be safe, it's going to be fun, and I'll come home with more friends than I left with.

Some five shot offhand groups at 15 yards:

This time it really has been a while...

Well it has been two years off from blogging. I do apologize for the disappointment caused by my sudden departure.
•The .38 super special is still going to happen. I'm totally geared up to load it, the only remaining item is to have the cylinder cut for moonclips.
• I never took a break from shooting. I switched into heavy archery for a while and I am still active there. I also took up cowboy action shooting.
•Cowboy action shooting was a lot of fun. I learned how to use a lever action rifle in a fast and efficient manner. Another added benefit came from shooting in the Gunfighter category: learning the art of effectively shooting two pistols at once and bringing my left hand up to speed with the right. I am currently working on overcoming my dominant eye for right gun/right eye and left gun/left eye sight pictures. This is somewhat challenging, but I hope to master it sometime soon.

Thirty one shots in an hour.

Well it may not sound like much, but yesterday evening I resolved to shoot my heavy bow for one hour with the goal of taking thirty shots with it. By the end I was sweating fairly regularly and was well exercised.

These were the second and last groups of six arrows. The lighted arrow was just a celebratory thing. A decent night of shooting with my 100 pound longbow. More updates a little later on.

A new bow brings new challenges to shooting

So a few weeks back I ordered a bow from a guy named Nate Steele of Bama Bows out of Tulsa, Oklahoma. I went big with the thought of someday going to Africa to hunt big game. I selected the most basic model because I like minimalist bows and the price was right. I asked him to make a 100 pound draw longbow and it arrived some six weeks later. I recieved the new bow two days ago and have been actively shooting it as much as I am physically able.  Yesterday I took four shots with the bow and today I took about a dozen. The physical toll this takes on the muscles is amazing. The process is like a workout with shooting, two of my favorite things. Today I have taken about 30 shots in a series of two sessions. The accuracy is nothing to brag about but I can hit a four inch circle 4 out of 6 shots at ten yards. The penetration that this setup is achieving is incredible. From 15 to 20 inches into target backers is common with the two types of arrows I am using.

Something for the Revolver guys..

On the 16th of October Virginia and I were invited to attend the founders of Zombie Shooters Association's wedding match. I was working on a ship at the time so I had to request time off to go. We made it down to the ceremony and shared time with our good friends John and Melinda Zaczek. These two people rock! I've never seen two folks so excited to see us. I tried to take a video of the ceremony, but I messed it up with a double tap to the record button. So I offer my fast recovery video instead. I only missed the first few seconds.

The match that occurred afterward was something special also but pales in comparison. We took no video because we were both so rusty at the revolver game. The highlight of the match was that my HearthCo moonclips were proven bomb-proof or stomp-proof whichever you prefer. I was on a squad that was not revolver saavy and thus not revolver reloading device friendly. I had to straighten one of my Ranch Products clips after the match and that took some doing. Good news John! I hope you saved the bent .41 Mag clips.

Been a while...Part 2

Practice for me started out at 10yds and lasted two and a half hours. I shot to closing time at the local BPS and hardly realized it. The reason I had for shooting indoors were that it was temperature controlled and I would not have to deal with heat fatigue and that it was easier to recover my arrows, a big key to expediting progress. Having to search the ground for lost arrows flat out sucks. It takes time away from practicing and the grass/ground/leaves are hard on your fletchings. Over time I was able to keep more and more of my shots on the five spot target. Imagine a piece of paper with five 6 inch bullseyes on it say 12"x14". Now imagine a foam block 4'x4'. Now imagine missing both of those from ten yards at times. Indoors is the way to go if it's available. If it is cost prohibitive I recommend a large field where the grass is kept cut for a close second. So I guess a whole month or so rolled by before I even tried the twenty yard targets. As I came to shoot at the BPS more often a second advantage came to be realized: someone was always watching. Sometimes it was just employees, other times it was customers looking through the windows, and the best of all was other people coming to shoot their bows.  This was the first great thing to happen to my shooting ability, the ability to compete against other shooters. At first it was a given that everybody under the sun was better than I was, but then I started to get better and better. There is nothing like the feeling of shooting with another person and testing yourself against them and sharing the excitement and letdowns of the results downrange.

So it's been a while....Part 1

I appologize for taking so much time off from the blog. I have decided to lay down the semi-autos and revolvers for a while and get back to the basics . I have been devoting my time to the bow and practicing for the up coming archery deer season. After watching the two seasons of Top Shot and realizing that I was really lacking in this particular area of marksmanship it really bothered me. I have decided to forego the modern technological race with supercams and mechanical broadheads. I am using semi-traditional archery equipment this year opting for a modern minimalist longbow and carbon arrows. The arrows are at least feather fletched although I am pursuing a high Forward Of Center (FOC) setup where much of the weight is in the front of the arrow for increased penetration. The broadhead I have chosen weighs in at 250 grains. This is due to a mis-step on my part where I had my arrows cut to fit my draw length before considering how stiff that would make them. I ended lucking out in that this particular setup shoots very nicely off several of my bows and has tremendous hunting potential both on and off this continent.

Starting out, the road was not an easy one as I made many mistakes and had no guidance. I had owned the bow for 2 or 3 years but had not done anything serious with it and it rode the corner of the closet most times. I had taken it hunting once and missed by the slimmest of twigs a nice buck causing me to lean away from this platform altogether. I recently checked on the equipment and saw that almost all of my arrows needed to be refletched and that the shelf of the bow needed attention. I made a note of what I needed ventured into the local Bass Pro Shop(BPS) and ran into a guy named Dean. After a few questions, he told me what my options were and that refletching arrows was not difficult at all. I told him that I wasn't set up for it and that I spent most of my time reloading ammuntion. As luck would have it, he was in need of ammuntion for his handgun and I had just run into my new best friend. Having acquired a source to get my arrows refletched, I had conquered the biggest hurdle I had in archery so far. The next step was going to be the longest of the whole process...practicing.

My First Zombie All Gun Match at SVDFI

This past weekend I was priviledged to attend another exciting ZSA Zombie All Gun Match. This time the match was held at the Southern Virginia Defensive Firearms Institute in Nelson, Virginia. The match consisted of nine stages of pistol, rifle, and shotgun both combined and separate. The facilities were amazing and well constructed to endure high round count rifle stages. Mike Oberman, the owner and lead intstructor, did most of the course design and it was an amazing match. With a round count of around 200 pistol, 100 rifle and 75 shotgun, the ammo bag started out extremely heavy and finished light and all for the price of a local three gun match. I was highly impressed with the caliber of and effort that went into this match. I will be very excited to attend the next match at SVDFI and highly recommend it to any three gunner or pistol shooter. Yes, there is enough pistol in most of the stages for you to enjoy yourselves too.

Stage one was a nightmare for me with a horrible double feed occuring right in the middle of the stage and some trouble remembering where the targets all were. All in all it was a good stage I just came up to the line unprepared to take on this challenge. I really need to focus on small target shooting with my glock. This stage didn't do too much for my match standings for the get go.

Stage Two was your basic long standard for ZSA consisting of 3 infected targets at 25 yards and a possible 3 bonus zombies. The second string of this stage was at 10 yards strong hand only and consisted of three infected targets and four zombies. The third and final string was weakhand only from seven yards with the same array as the ten yard string. This was a limited round count stage of 38 rounds.

Stage Three was all set to be a breeze if I had just decided not to use the unproven 33rd magazine. I was going for no reload on the stage, but as you can see it did not happen that way. I ended up just blazing away to get out of the hole the big stick left me in.

Stage Four was a good recovery stage for me. I was off to a decent start finally. This was rifle and pistol and although not as fast as I had hoped, it was a solid stage for me. I also identified a mechanical issue with my pistol on this stage that would stay with me for the whole match: a rounded edge on the sear was causing a dead trigger on the first shot on an unloaded start. This has since been resolved.

Stage 5 was a 25 meter appleseed target shot standing, sitting and prone. It was a limited exercise of 33 rounds. Guess who shot 35?

Stage Six was a rifle only hose fest that I thoroughly enjoyed and had a strong performance on running it clean in fifty some odd seconds. 45 Rounds minimum.

Stage seven was where I gained my new nickname "Sexy Time," from the great Yousef Sansour and finally got to use my beast of a Benelli that holds 12 total rounds. No Yousef, I don't care if it's legal anywhere else.  It was a lot of fun with flying clays and a Cooper tunnel. Twenty rounds of shotgun and 9 rounds of pistol. Now if I could just learn to count the rounds in the shotgun.....

Stage Eight was by all rights the attack of the guarded Texas star. I changed to a tighter choke just so I wouldn't hit those darned clays. I liked this stage until I had to go to the pistol and try and hit all the little targets, which by this point in the match I was too tired to hit efficiently. Solution: Shell the whole thing.

Stage Nine was a welcome sight for us all because we were finishing the match up and all we had to use was the shotgun. I have always been comfortable with a shotgun and the ammo is easy to hold on to. A borrowed shell holder came off in my hand during a reload here and being tired I did not realize that I had more than enough to finish the stage. Lesson learned: Tekloks are a beautiful thing. So I fiddled with that thing for a minute...or so it seemed. I walked by one clay in this stage, but still came out pretty fast.

I would like to thank SVDFI, Mike Oberman, and ZSA for putting on such an incredible match this weekend. It will be hard to top this one next weekend at The Range!

Special Thanks to the Combine Camera Task Force of Virginia, Russ at Wooddude.net , and Ken Kiesler for helping video this match!

Zombie All Gun This Weekend....

So this weekend was the great baptism of fire for my new AR.  I had so much fun that I all but forgot to video tape the match. My good buddy Ken Kiesler and I remembered to video tape our last stage which only included shotgun and pistol. Oh well. This match went exceedingly well for me until my pistol started to light strike. I was using a heavily modified glock 19 that I had like an idiot cut a few coils off of the striker spring. Note to the rest of the world: Don't do this. Ever. There are great aftermarket springs that will do the job and keep the gun going bang. So a few quick shots here and there and then a quick malfunction drill. I was actually surprised at how well I could do the malfunction drills since it was been at least 6 months since I touched the pistol.

Pre match gear selection was an easy process as I don't have a lot of options when it comes to 3 gun. The thought ran through my mind exactly like this: Gee, with this nice new AR and those big magazines it seems a shame to run a revolver on such a pistol heavy three gun match. I decided that since there are no specified power factors, I should run a 9mm and enjoy the high round count and low recoil. I chose my Glock 19 with HiViz sights, a stainless guiderod, reduced travel trigger, Arredondo +6 magazine extensions, and Dawson Precision super heavy magwell.

For my shotgun I elected to run my Mossberg 835 Ultimag with a 20" barrel(5+1) and a modified choke over the Benelli SBE1 due it already having a side saddle for extra shells. The Benelli would have held more rounds (7+1), but without a belt mounted shell caddy I would have been lost at the reload.

The rifle was my AR that I discussed in a previous post. I decided to run the Pmags exclusively for this match and selected the 30 rounder with the Ranger baseplates just in case. I did reload to a twenty round mag at one point also.

The minimum round count was 36 shotgun birdshot, 55 rifle and 91 pistol. The Range is not really all that well suited to a lot of rifle shooting as the berms are not that high or thick. There were seven stages and two of which were all long gun. I think it's very important to have a long gun only stage at a 3 gun match. It allows competitors to be tested on that skillset alone, or in some cases that weapon type alone. I thought stages 6 and 7 did this very well.  Stage 6 was a shotgun only stage where you started on the left hand side and engaged seven pieces of falling steel and then moved to your right while reloading for an additional six pieces of steel. My entire squad aced this stage with only a few footwork/angle issues for the beginners. Stage 7 was a very different story altogether. The appleseed rifle target was the focus of this stage with each of the ten targets to recieve three hits apiece. The big target was easy and just about everyone hit that one, however as the targets got progressively smaller they often eluded the bullets. The reason for this is that many people are unable to correct properly for their zero at closer ranges. My zero was off, as I discovered yesterday, causing many of my shots to hit lower than expected during the competition. I got throught the stage hitting five targets properly, the high man for my squad.

 Stage 1 consisted of a plate rack at 10 yards or so shot with the shotgun, and then 6 infected targets as you either backed up or ran back and engaged. I made two mistakes in this stage, a miss at the plate rack and a CAW, both of which I made up. Scan close targets if you are shooting an auto or you still have bullets in your Revo. It can make a difference, but only if you don't have to reload first. Remember to keep a count of roughly how many seconds it's been since your last shot...if it's more than 5 seconds you are wasting your time trying to make up shots except if the stage has multiple infected targets.

Stage three was the only stage that I got any video of and but for the one missed zombie, I think it ran pretty well. Need a little work on the shotgun reloads. We won't talk about the light strikes...man they were annoying! The duelist shot at the end sure didn't help things either. I guess I saw a bad target but it took a while to take that shot. Two hands doofus! TWO HANDS!

 And here's a video of Ken's run: 

Ken did well at the shotgun, but a little over confidence after the reload cost him on the steel. While he did not miss any Zombies, the infected targets in the back gave him some penalties. He's a relatively new shooter and this was his first three gun match. I believe that he will do well as his skill with the various weapons advances. 

Again a special thanks to Ken Keisler for videotaping and Worth Taylor for running the timer so we could videotape. Thanks Guys!

New Rifle: Zero and Field Test



Little Bear, the Second Amendment Cat, posing next to the AR.
(I placed it on the floor for this picture and she couldn't resist the
 opportunity to be near a firearm and later fell asleep on top of it.)



    So a little over ten days ago I came across a deal and joined Team Black Rifle. In other words I purchased an AR-15 more specifically a hybrid conglomeration of parts that I thought was cool enough to buy. The upper is a Ruger 556C which is the 16.12 inch model with a heavy fluted barrel and integral flash suppressor/compensator. The lower is a CMMG with a Rock River Arms National Match trigger group. The previous owner also added a Magpul M.I.A.D grip,  an Ace Socom M4 Buttstock(Long version) with an A2 buffer and buffer spring , Eotech 512 Holosight, Surefire 6PX Tactical flashlight with KZ offset mount,Troy modular vert grip. The gun came with 7 P Mags and 12 C Products magazines with Magpul floor plates. The price was right and I am glad I bought it. I really have to say that this thing is addictive to shoot. My friend Paul has a Rock River LAR-15 Entry Tactical and we have been doing a comparitive study by shooting both.  I have found that I enjoy the Pmags for their free fall ejection and their ability to be left loaded at capacity without taking a set. I went ahead and fitted an Arredondo Magwell to the gun not because it was difficult to change magazines, but because it made it fool proof and gave a decent grip surface to the front of the lower.  I also opted for a Magpul AFG first generation because it allows me a positive close range/fast transition grip while the Troy grip is perfectly positioned for steadying longer shots and operating the flashlight if/when needed.

   We decided that after we developed practical zeros on the rifles(we went with a 25 meter zero) we would put them to a real world test by hunting groundhogs in the adjacent bean fields next to our target range/gravel pit. Before anybody jumps on us for killing defenseless animals, this is a service we provide the farmer in exchange for the use of his gravel pit. It is also a practical test of the shooter's ability to make tight shots at various distances with time constraints. I believe that this is a great way to practice shooting and help out the farmer in production of food for our country.

Our first expedition was unsucessful and after waiting too long in order to show Paul what a groundhog looked like two rushed shots were taken and nothing accomplished.  Today's hunt was very different once I learned to stay within certain limitations. My first shot was presented at 120 meters at two groundhogs together. I chose the larger of the two for obvious reasons and took up a hasty prone position in the middle of a farm road and steadied as best I could for the shot. A clean squeeze and a clean miss. The little dot in the middle of the EOTech looked gigantic and seemed to cover the whole head of the groundhog at this distance. I waited some 20 minutes and was rewarded with another shot which I took from a carefully sandbagged position and missed again. I was now certain that this shooter did not have the ability to make consistent hits on this size of target at that distance. I abandoned this spot and went to another beanfield, where due to recent rain, I abandoned my truck and went on foot for some 800 meters through a cow pasture to reach the next beanfield. On approaching the beanfield I was greeted by an erect and alert groundhog at a distance of 181 meters. I figured given my recent performance the likelyhood of a successful shot at this distance would be slim and opted to take a less direct and longer route in the name of stealth. This gamble paid off and presented me with a shot on the same groundhog at a distance of about 60 meters. I say about because I located it through a brush divide between the fields, set up a decent offhand position and squeezed off a shot in short order. The stupid part is that I used the 6x optic of my laser range finder to verify the target without ranging it and did this several times during the hunt. The shot felt good and after a short period of let down and suspected miss anxiety I found the hole and its deceased occupant. Good technique resulted in a humane and instant kill. Being in the middle of the field I too a moment to scan my surroundings to learn if any other holes were nearby and attempt to gain some intelligence about the possible number of groundhogs in the area. I was shocked to find a hole some forty meters to my left (as I faced the position I had shot from) with what appeared to be part of a head sticking out of it. I took but a moment to study the object before executing a clean trigger press and a stable shot. I did not know it at the time, but I had just made a headshot on an exposed area of about 4 square inches.   

The first animal taken from about 60 meters offhand.

The second animal taken at approximately forty meters offhand partial head exposure.

The hunt was dually successful in that it provided great practice and great service and I am grateful for both opportunites.

Ridiculous Fun and the Lessons Learned.

So about two weeks ago I got the bright idea to shoot a snubnosed revolver in a falling steel shoot. This was an idea born out of necessity, because I let my components run down and had several revolvers out of action due to cylinders being fitted for custom moonclips.  So in a stroke of utter brilliance I decided to shoot my K-frame 2" Model 10. I was not going to give up the revolver division without a fight...or atleast amusement of my fellow competitors. The first problem I encountered was not having any speedloader holders....in IDPA I always ran them out of a pocket....so I called up a friend and asked to borrow his. This turned out to be a gold mine of gear. I recieved seven speedloader holders, 5 comp 3's and two holsters to choose from. The holster issue turned up because my holster was in use by my girlfriend who was shooting my...err her 646...long story. I chose a Fobus GP-100 holster which although sized for the Ruger GP-100 worked really well for the little snubby. With all my gear now set the last problem to attend to was ammo, which I fortunately had some 250 rounds loaded up of 158gr minor loads. So after some speedloader practice and dryfire I set off for the match. 

Stage two was about the point where I really figured out just where the gun was shooting. In a stroke of genius I had forgotten that this particular gun liked the 125gr bullets and shot monstrously high with 158's. Oh well a nice shotgun point hold cured this and got me back in the game. I went on to become a little over confident and ended up missing the plates when I should have connected.

Stage Four was a decent stage for me, but I went slowly and deliberately trying to avoid extra reloads as it was such a speed shoot. I accomplished what I came to do and got through it clean. Not pretty, but clean.

Stage Five was my best stage except for the misses I had to make up. I was happy to clean the poppers and be on to the next stage. If you listen carefully you can hear the spectator saying "Run Forrest!" I got a decent chuckle out of that after the course was complete. The extra shots cost me here but not enough to cost the division win. I ended up first in revolver division by sheer luck and determination...skill obviously wasn't present this time.

The lessons I learned here were: Bullet weight matters a lot in fixed sight guns....always shoot the gun load combination ahead of time...steel is unforgiving.  Speedloaders are a pain in high round count matches because they must be reloaded often, picking up the brass is time consuming, and dropping live rounds is even less fun. Smaller sight radius guns are just as accurate as larger sight radius guns, however they do not give as much indication of movement so be on your best behavior....no lazy technique! I'd do it all again, but not with speedloaders, I'd opt for moonclips next time.

A Weekend of USPSA

This weekend I was priviledged to attend two USPSA matches in two different states this weekend. The best part of the weekend was getting to see my friends from both groups in the same time period. I find it funny to see several other shooters getting their shooting fix at both matches just like me.  The first match was at Sir Walter Gun Club and was a hot mess. I'll be honest with you and say that I only ran three stages close to well.

I won the stage entitled Credit Card Slide where the shooter had to open the first port by swiping a steel card through a slot. The port opened and you drew and engaged three paper targets and then moved to an array of two mini poppers, a paper target, and two mini poppers. The catch was that one of the poppers both opened the second port and activated a down and back target in the third array. Good luck trying to catch it with a revolver with the reload in between the popper and the dynamic paper. Two quick A headshots solved that problem and the stage was over.

Stage Two was the classifier Fluffy's Revenge 1. I shot a 72% on this stage even with my super cool miss an makeup on the steel. I don't like Fluffy, but I do well on them.

Stage 3 started with six pieces of steel and then moved all over the place. I could have done better wth my positions and footwork. All in all it worked out ok here.

Before Stage 4could start John Zaczek made kissy faces at me and I retaliated with an french kissy face to the amusement of the squad. There were two paper targets in the left and right ports of barrel world. The center port contained two more paper targets and a series of four plates one behind the other. Easy stuff, had I not had a stiff ejection in one of the reloads. It never ceases to amaze me how long I think things take and how quickly they happen on video.

Stage 7 I did ok on except for the delta on the first paper. The footwork and positioning must get better if I am to get better. Not everything is bull in a china shop drag racing.

Thanks to Ken Kiesler for graciously recording my performance. See Ken's shooting here: My YouTube Vids

I did not record any video of the Fredericksburg match the next day because it was only myself and one other revolver shooter: The Great Mike Wilczek. We had great fun and Mike actually clobbered me on one stage with his minor .38 Short Colts. It was an excellent performance on his part and I regret not capturing it on video. The classifier was Bang and Clang and I shot it in 4.97 clean. That is a 54.97% but it's good enough to get me into B Class. I won the match, but Mike is a worthy opponent that does not let you get away with many mistakes. It was great shooting with you again Mike!

New Targets...New Approach to Training

So I recently got the urge to change my training techniques to better optimize my time on the range. I was spending entirely too much time on pasting up targets. Seriously, think about it....you shoot until you can't make head or tails of what is your last shot and then go paste the whole target. The distance fired walked up and back every so many odd rounds usually 24 or less in my case as the center gets blasted out...just kidding!  So my buddy Paul Cho came up with a ridiculously simple way to repair the targets really quickly. Duct Tape. Three or four strips cover the alpha zone or zero zone and then right back to shooting. This was a great revelation; because we no longer taped the main body of the target hits off the tape did not count. Brilliant! Focused shooting efforts for a better score. I liked this until I realized that the high value zones were highlighted. Perfect for a beginner like Paul, but holding me back like a crutch. I ran this plan until my roll of duct tape ran out and then got another idea....what if somebody made an A zone target out of steel...no more pasters!

I got in touch with the good folks at NEVCO Targets when I found out they made exactly what I was looking for. It wasn't like it was a grand search, I know the Mortons and shoot with them a lot. So after a short chat Nevitt got me set up with two awesome steel A zones for my shooting pleasure.  After about a week from first call I had my targets in hand and went to the Lowe's to pick up some 2x4's to stand them up on. I also selected some fluorescent yellow paint and some cardboard brown paint...yellow for a zombie match application and brown for USPSA practice. Nothing good comes from shooting white A zones...nothing.

Freshly Painted Tan A-Zones

After a weekend's wait, I was finally able to get out and use my targets yesterday. I really enjoyed the instant feedback the steel gave me each and every hit. I could say every shot but four holes in my 2x4 attest to that being untrue. I really enjoyed the feedback from the holes in the board because I wasn't able to paint over them and they did not go away between strings. The ability to stand ten yards off the targets with .40 major PF jacket ammo being safely directed down and away from the shooter was a great plus. I engaged the targets successfully from 10 to 50 plus meters, although less sucessfully at the longer ranges. The targets gave good and clear indication of bullet strike whether glancing or full diameter at all ranges. The fun on this day was limited only by the 250 round ammo supply which went extremely quickly even though I had to reload moonclips every 78 rounds.  I cannot wait to unleash my 625 on these targets...I have 166 moonclips for it, that's 996 rounds of clang potential! I think something will definitely have to give under those strenuous circumstances and I'm sure it's not going to be the targets.

The Test Platform



The Results...if you look closely you can see the misses.

 So if you are looking to improve your game or make practice a little more productive give Nevitt at NEVCO a call at 804-994-9195 or visit them online at http://www.nevcotargets.com/ . Be sure to tell them you heard about it here. I am not currently sponsored by nor am I soliciting sponsorship by writing this article. This is just a positive evaluation of a product I personally purchased and use.

Zombie All Gun Match Today....

Yesterday, I participated in the Zombie Shooters Association monthly Zombie All Gun match. It's kinda of like three gun except there is no particular rule that says I can only use three guns...awesome! For lack of the baby stroller and troop of gunbearers I took only three guns. For my rifle I chose my 10/22 with 3-9xreally big objective scope as the engagement ranges were well suited to rimfire rifle. For my shotgun I took along my trusty Mossberg 835 with 20" barrel and fiber optic sights, as well as Tacstar 6 round side saddle. My sidearm, of course, had to be a revolver(or else I'd lose cool points). So I opted for my trusty Smith and Wesson 610 Classic. There isn't much classic left in it with the super light trigger job, shaved hammer, extended firing pin, fiber optic sights and ghastly effective chamfer job. Needless to say it's a target blasting beast that runs like a fox on fire.

The match provided a good mix of close and far handgun shots with the right amount of "hose fest" and tight shots. I was really impressed with the level of effort put into the match design on such very short notice as the Match Director had been away all week on family business. The rifle was a bit on the close side with the shots ranging out to a cool 50 yards which was well within the grasp of my 10/22. Had the rifle and magazine combo functioned a bit better, I would have been a lot better off. Had I cleaned the rifle after the previous practice session and before the match it may have helped. As many may have guessed the revolver and pump shotgun combination was nearly flawless with only one hiccup each, both of which can be traced back to the operator. I chose three videos which were free of malfunctions and also included the revolver, since long gun only stages are flat out boring to watch. So I humbly sumbit stages one, three and four to showcase an amazing new discipline of shooting.

I appologize for the lack of detail in stage four, but seeing as a fellow shooter had just been DQ'd  for a gross safety violation nobody but the shooter and RO were allowed into the hot stage. The stage was set up with 1 infected target visible while holding the door handle and a zombie at the end of the hall which had to be shot before entering the hallway for a 12 to 15 yard shot. The first room on the left contained two infected targets, while the first room on the right contained only one infected target.  The second room on the left contained another infected target and across the hall the room on the right contained one zombie at the downrange end and right at the 180 an infected lay in wait. The end of the hallway revealed a large open area with 5 infected targets and 5 steel plates. Your shotgun was waiting loaded and chambered on the couch after you engaged the paper targets. The array of infected targets was one to the extreme right and left, one at a forty-five degree angle from strait down range right and left, and a final target directly out in front of the shooter behind the hallway zombie. Hopefully this makes sense out of the video for you.

Stage 4

On stage three the shooter started in the vehicle on their knees with their rifle at low ready loaded with only eight rounds. On the signal the shooter engaged eight zombies with one head shot each, safed the rifle and dismounted the vehicle. Upon exiting the vehicle there were six infected targets to neutralize and the opportunity to make up any missed head shots with the handgun. I did not need this opportunity, however I did skip over one target with the rifle and had to go back to it. It went like this, "1,2,3,4,5,6,7 oh crap you're at the end of the targets! Quick, find the one you passed over doofus! Shoot it! Don't just look at it dummy!" Thankfully it did not take as long to complete as it seemed. The revolver ran really well on the outside of the van and I was pleased to have recorded the fastest time in my squad for a clean run on the stage.

Stage 3

Stage one was a seemingly fairly simple exercise. If you listen closely, other shooters are talking about the plate rack and how they approached it. They were apparently quite impressed with the plate rack bonus target challenge. Many shooters failed to properly manage their time on the stage; expending more time and ammo at the bonuses than seconds they could save. Lesson: If you can't hit the bonus targets with any efficiency and they are optional, don't exceed your ability and waste time. I was not quite as amused when I failed to clean the plate rack in the first cylinder. The one missed plate was not worth an extra reload so I moved on to step two of the plan. I reloaded and shot all the near zombies so that I could better navigate the infected targets at a higher speed. If I can keep the gun in one gear and get the results I need, I see no reason not to do a little bit of prep work to make that happen. I really enjoyed this stage as it was an easy one to shine on if you could shoot at distance and having a little speed in your pocket was an added bonus. Second Lesson: Anytime you can efficiently move closer to an array of targets to increase your accuracy do so. To potshoot from a distance is silly when a twenty yard hustle will save you split time and double your hit potential. Note to self: SOMEDAY I will actually start to shoot on the move a little more.

The pause near the end was an almost double coverage on an already shot target.

Stage 1

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