Last post on Blogger

My new blog is over here:  http://johnshootspistols.wordpress.com/

Well, this will be my last post on Blogger. No, I haven't given up my 2nd Amendment rights and my firearms, and no, I haven't stopped shooting IDPA, although I am done for the summer until the weather cools. What I am done with is using Blogger which is a Google product. You see, Google has decided to censor guns, ammo, and accessories from it's shopping results when you do a Google search or "Google Shopping". This was a great help in finding some of the things I was specifically looking for in regards to IDPA shopping parts  for my competition gun. I was looking for the Apex Duty Carry kit also known as the DCAEK. Easily found with "Google Shopping" at many sites. Now I'll have to try and dig and find it. For those who haven't seen it, this was what one of the "vendors" received from Google in regards to their sale items:

Dear Merchant,

We're writing to let you know about some upcoming changes to the product listings you submit to Google. As we recently announced, we are starting to transition our shopping experience to a commercial model that builds on Product Listing Ads. This new shopping experience is called Google Shopping. As part of this transition, we'll begin to enforce a set of new policies for Google Shopping in the coming weeks. A new list of the allowed, restricted, and prohibited products on Google Shopping is available on our new policy page - http://www.google.com/appserve/mkt/ApI7UWRj6OCZpd.

Based on a review of the products you're currently submitting, it appears that some of the content in your Merchant Center account, HamLund Tactical, will be affected by these policy changes. In particular we found that your products may violate the following policies:

Weapons

When we make this change, Google will disapprove all of the products identified as being in violation of policies. We ask that you make any necessary changes to your feeds and/or site to comply, so that your products can continue to appear on

Google Shopping.

To help you through this new set of policies and how to comply with them, we would like to give you some specific suggestions regarding the changes needed to keep your offers running on Google Shopping.

Weapons

As highlighted on our new policy page http://www.google.com/appserve/mkt/ApI7UWRj6OCZpd, in order to comply with the Google Shopping policies you need to comply first with the AdWords policies http://www.google.com/appserve/mkt/StQ08jAzM4fVtG. We do not allow the promotion or sale of weapons and any related products such as ammunitions or accessory kits on Google Shopping. In order to comply with our new policies, please remove any weapon-related products from your data feed and then re-submit your feed in the Merchant Center. For more information on this policy please visit http://www.google.com/appserve/mkt/GbBNIGHOribLzf.

We're constantly reviewing our policies, and updating them when necessary, to ensure we're offering the best experience possible to our users. We've identified a set of policy principles to govern our policy efforts on Google Shopping in the U.S. These principles are:

1) Google Shopping should provide a positive experience to users. Showing users the right products at the right time can truly enhance a user's experience. When people trust us to deliver them to a destination that's relevant, original, and easy to navigate this creates a positive online experience to the benefit of both users and merchants.

2 ) Google Shopping should be safe for all users. User safety is everyone's business, and we can't do business with those who don't agree. Scams, phishing, viruses, and other malicious activities on the Internet damage the value of the Internet for everyone. Trying to get around policies or "game the system" is unfair to our users, and we can't allow that.

3) Google Shopping should comply with local laws and regulations. Many products and services are regulated by law, which can vary from country to country. All advertising, as well as the products and services being advertised, must clearly comply with all applicable laws and regulations. For the most part, our policies aren't designed to describe every law in every country. All advertisers bear their own responsibility for understanding the laws applicable to their business. Our policies are often more restrictive than the law, because we need to be sure we can offer services that are legal and safe for all users.

4) Google Shopping should be compatible with Google's brand decisions. Google Shopping must be compatible with company brand decisions. Our company has a strong culture and values, and we've chosen not to allow ads that promote products and services that are incompatible with these values. In addition, like all companies, Google sometimes makes decisions based on technical limitations, resource constraints, or requirements from our business partners. Our policies reflect these realities.

We've given much thought to our stance on this content, as well as the potential effect our policy decision could have on our Merchants, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.
Sincerely,

The Google Shopping Team

© 2012 Google Inc. 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043 You have received this mandatory email service announcement to update you about important changes to your Google Merchant Center account.







So, there you have it. I know these posts don't reach a whole lot of folks, so this won't come as a great loss. I'll update this post with my new blog site once I'm up and running wherever that may be. Until then, just remember:


Shoot safe, shoot straight!

More range therapy - June 9,2012

Went to the range today to get some more therapy in. Put 150 rounds down range. Wanted to try some more of the Blazer Blaster aluminum case ammo for use in IDPA. I bought two boxes of that from Dicks Sporting Goods and ran that through my M&P.

I started off at 10 yards with 25 rounds at the down zero zone. All 25 rounds were clean, although I did drop one that just barely broke the line for scoring. After that, I ran 25 rounds at the head down zero zone from 10 yards. Out of those 25 rounds, 22 were down zero, 2 were down one, and one was a miss to the left. Not too bad. I'm using the smaller scoring zone of the head to try to focus my head shots when I have to take them at 7 yards. I figure if I can get my head shots at 10 yards, getting them at 7 yards should be easy. Seemed to work out pretty well the last couple of times at IDPA matches with only one miss.

After that 50 rounds, I moved the target up to 7 yards and worked 25 rounds strong hand and weak hand. Strong hand was much better this week with all 25 rounds in the down zero scoring zone. I did use the slightly bent/flexed strong arm technique this week and it definitely worked. After that, I send 25 rounds weak hand and didn't do quite as well as I hoped. Only placed 20 out of 25 in the down scoring zone with 3 close low and left, but pulled 2 real low and right almost down into the 3 zone. So still have a lot of work to do there. I can say that on those two that I pulled real low and right, I did try to pick the pace up and move a little faster. Probably a little to fast.

Well, that was my "IDPA" practice. After that, I broke out my PT-92 which I hadn't shot in a while and put up a "Right-hand" shooting chart and sent 50 rounds at it at 10 yards. Put 40 out of 50 rounds into the orange and white center circle. The other 10 rounds were 2 high and a bit right and 7 low and left. Not terrible for not shooting this gun for probably over 6 months. I actually may try shooting this gun at the bowling pin match later this month.

Oh, if anyone has an "IDPA" range training that they can suggest, I'm all ears. The problem that I'm running into is that none of the ranges that are close to me will let me draw from a holster and shoot, so at best, I'm going from low ready. What I've written here today, I've done the last couple of weeks. As I get better with strong and weak hand, I may get a different target with multiple small targets and work shooting between the targets, but this is pretty much what I have until the weather cools back off and I can get back into the monthly matches.

Well, that's it for me. Remember, shoot safe, shoot straight!

June 4th 1942 - The Battle of Midway

Today marks the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Midway. I know, so what does the Battle of Midway have to do with me. Well, nothing directly, but I did serve in the Navy aboard the USS Yorktown, CG-48 which was the 5th ship to bear that name. It was during the Battle of Midway that the USS Yorktown, CV5 was lost due to a combination of bombs and torpedoes.

When I served onboard the "Battle-cruiser" as we called her, I didn't pay much attention to her previous namesakes. I knew they were there, but I didn't really know much other than there were a couple of aircraft carriers and one was lost during World War II. We even had a space onboard the ship called "Yorktown Square" which had a park bench and probably 50 or so pictures of the earlier versions of the Yorktown. I looked at them and there was a passing interest, but nothing major. It wasn't until a couple of years ago that I started to read about the "Yorktowns" and the Battle of Midway. Just the fact the Yorktown made it to the battle was pretty remarkable itself. She was pretty well damaged at the Battle of the Coral Sea and had expected to go to Bremerton, Washington for repairs after a brief stop in Pearl Harbor. Imagine the crews surprise when the ship was swarmed with yard workers who basically did a months work in roughly 72 hours and got her back out to sea. Without Yorktown to accompany Hornet and Enterprise, Midway may have turned out a lot different than it did.

As it was, Admiral Nimitz gave the yard workers 3 days to get Yorktown back at sea to meet up with Hornet and Enterprise to go against a huge Japanese battle fleet. By size comparison, it wasn't even close. For the United States side we had:
3 carriers
~25 support ships
233 carrier-based aircraft
127 land-based aircraft
Total: 28 ships

For the Japanese side, they had the following:

4 carriers
2 battleships
~15 support ships
248 carrier-based aircraft
16 floatplanes

Did not participate in battle:
2 light carriers
5 battleships
~41 support ships
116 other ships (including auxiliary and transport vessels)
Total: 185 ships

It was a crazy battle and the United States got lucky by losing formations. Our torpedo bombers were separated from our dive bombers and fighters. They were completely obliterated by the Japanese fighters and only one or two actually got to launch torpedoes. But the Japanese fighters lost focus and followed the bombers and lost altitude. This allowed almost a perfect clear sky for our dive bombers which caught the Japanese aircraft carriers in the midst of re-fueling and re-arming their own bombers. Their fighters had no chance to get back up and provide cover and three carriers were hit and severely damaged in quick succession. 

The Japanese from the carrier Hiryu in turn hit Yorktown with 3 bomb hits which knocked out her boilers and left her dead in the water. However, with good damage control, she was back underway in a little over an hour. Thinking Yorktown sunk in the first raid, the Japanese went after her again assuming she was Enterprise and hit her with 2 torpedoes. Again Yorktown lost her boilers and steerage. Yorktown also took on a 26degree list. Eventually, abandon ship was called for the Yorktown due to the increasing list. However, planes from the Yorktown did assist with the location and destruction of the last Japanese carrier Hiryu by Enterprise planes.

Later, rescue and recovery teams went back aboard Yorktown to see if they could stabilize the ship. The destroyer Hammann was tied alongside to provide power and firefighting as necessary. The teams worked to alleviate the list by cutting away heavy sections of guns, weights, planes, and counter flooding. The teams made good progress and there seemed to be a good chance that the Yorktown might yet be saved even after taking such a heavy pummeling. Alas, the Japanese sub I-168 was able to elude a screen of destroyers and put two more torpedoes into the Yorktown. A third Torpedo hit the Hammann which broke her in two and killed 80 of her crew. The Yorktown finally slipped under the water shortly after 5am on June the 7th. 

Dead in the water

Listing

Rolled over

So many things could have changed the outcome of Midway. What would have happened if Yorktown hadn't made it to Midway? What would have happened if our formations had stayed together instead of getting separated? What would have happened had the Japanese not have been in the middle of switching from land attack to sea attack when our bombers hit? What would have happened if the Japanese had attacked another carrier instead of Yorktown a second time? What would have happened if the Japanese forces had stayed in closer contact instead of being so spread out? It brings up a lot of different and interesting scenarios. For me, it led to Yorktown, CV10 which had it's own illustrious career serving during World War 2, Korea, Viet Nam, the space programs, and then Yorktown, CG-48, the "Battle-Cruiser". Had I not been on her, I might not have taken the time to learn about the earlier Yorktowns and what they brought to the history of the Navy.

Going back to the original USS Yorktown, she was a 16-gun sloop of war and mostly served to interdict slave trade during the 1840's. She struck an un-charted reef off the northern coast of Maio Island of the Cape Verde Islands. She broke up incredibly fast, but the training of the crew ensured that no lives were lost. 

The 2nd USS Yorktown was PG-1 or patrol gunboat. She was a steam powered ship but was also rigged to use sails as well. Her biggest claim to fame was the first successful use of the telescopic gun-sight on Unalaska Island on September 22nd, 1892. 

Well, I guess that's it for my history lesson today. Didn't really know where I was going with this and can't really remember if I have it all right, but it should be fairly close. At 44, almost 45, the brain ain't quite what it used to be. 

That's it for me. Remember, shoot safe, shoot straight!

Range Therapy - Sunday June 3rd, 2012

Ok, so no IDPA this weekend. Would have been a good weekend for it as it wasn't too hot, just nothing close by that I could have done. Allergies and sinuses have been really playing havoc, so I figured maybe some gunpowder therapy would be helpful. So, I headed off to Elite Training Academy in Monroe. My plan was to shoot about 50 rounds freestyle, with another 50 rounds strong and weak hand. I worked my first 25 rounds at 7 yards freestyle on a standard IDPA target and kept everything in the 0 scoring zone, just a little left. After that, I did 25 rounds strong hand, and another 25 rounds weak hand. Of those 75 rounds, I had 7 rounds drop out of the 0 zone. A couple dropped significantly as I was trying to figure out my grip for strong and weak hand. I found that on strong hand, if I don't fully extend my arm, my groups seem to be much better. I just kept it slightly bent. On weak hand, it was the opposite, I did better with a fully extended arm. Finished up with another 25 rounds at the head zone at 10 yards. Put 21 in the 0 scoring zone, with two low and left 1 scoring zone, one high off the target, and I had one round go off before I was fully sighted (I'm still struggling with the reset point on this gun after a year) which apparently completely missed the paper.

I didn't get any pictures of the head shots. After I was done with the pistol work, I broke out my rifle and did some .22 work at 25 yards getting the rifle sighted in. Anyway, the very low and right shots were a couple of my first weak hand shots where I had my arm partially bent like my strong hand. After seeing those shots way off, I went back to fully extended and locked for weak hand and my shots were much better. It's all a learning process.

Well, that's it for me. Remember, shoot safe, shoot straight!

Scores in from MWDS 5-26-2012 match

Scores are in and they're pretty much what I figured they would be. I am staying pretty consistent from what I'm seeing. My overall time was 214.69 with 56 points down. Out of 78 shooters, I was the 35 most accurate and the 58th in overall time. That's pretty much been what I've been doing the last 6-8 matches. My accuracy had usually been in or around the top third, but my speed has usually been in the bottom third. Of the 6 stages, I was 58th on stage one , 41st, on stage two, 59th on stage three, 70th on stage four, 70th on stage five, and 44th on stage six. Stages four and five killed me. Both were the one handed stages, so I guess I know where a lot of my time at the range will be spent this summer. Without that hit on the non-threat on stage 4, I move up five places.

Well, that's it for me. Remember, shoot safe, shoot straight!

IDPA match at MWDS 5-26-2012

Had a great time at the IDPA match at Mecklenburg Wildlife Defensive Shooters yesterday. Good and challenging 6 stages. Bit of a warm day with a high of 92 which definitely affected me. I did wind up with a pretty nasty migraine which I was lucky enough to have my wife with me to drive home. I had hoped with the new medicine, that I'd be able to get by, but it looks like I'll be done with IDPA for the summer until the weather cools off. Anyway, off to the stages.

Stage 1 has you starting off facing downrange, at buzzer, you turn to your left and engage 3 targets in tactical sequence with 2 rounds while retreating. After that, you engage 4 more targets from around the end of the barrier. See video below:

Stage 2 had you engaging a total of 6 targets with 2 shots. Three targets you engage from a window while slicing the pie. After engaging those, you go to low cover and engage two more targets. After that, you go to the end of the barricade and engage the last target. Lots of folks went to their knees for low cover. I went to a crouch. I was afraid at my age and weight, if I went to my knees, I might not have been able to get back up. Pretty good crouch for a 44 year old pushing 280lbs. See video below:

Stage 3 had the first of our moving targets. The premise is that you are taking out the trash with the trash in your weak hand. At buzzer, you open the trash can with strong hand which activates a pop-up target which you engage with 2 rounds. From there, you move to the right and engage a series of 6 targets shooting furthest to nearest. This simulates a drug addled target closing in on you taking a lot of damage. Unlimited round count, so you'll see me make up a shot at the end. I wound up getting two shots out of three onto the pop-up in the 3 scoring zone low and just outside the 1. Getting better, but I'm still pretty bad with moving targets. See video below:

Stage 4 had us shooting strong handed. Bleh. I don't shoot near enough one handed and it showed. From the barricade with briefcase in weak hand, you draw and shoot the first target around the left side of the barricade, then, while moving to the right, you must shoot each of the next 4 targets while moving. Each target must receive at least one shot before you reach the next barricade or you must retreat back to the left side and reload. Once you reach the right side, you can set down the briefcase and shoot two more targets using both hands around the right side of the barricade. Unfortunately, I did get a shot through the non-threat  high on the left shoulder. I should have waited half a second longer to get more to the right before I took that shot. See video below:

Stage 5 had 6 targets, from the buzzer, you draw and shoot in any order, 1 shot to the body strong handed, 1 shot to the body weak handed, and 1 shot to the head free-style (two handed). I decided to go with the head shots first, then strong hand, then weak hand, this way I could do a standard reload after 11 rounds with the gun in my weak hand. Well that was the plan anyway. Slide didn't lock back after the 11th round, so it threw me off. Anyway, excuse the video, it stops filming while I'm doing my head shots and picks back up when I transition to strong hand and works fine from there. 

Stage 6 had multiple movers. From the buzzer, you move right and shoot one target with two shots, then two steel poppers, the first activates a swinging target and the second a clam-shell. You must shoot both steel before engaging any other paper, so after getting the steel down, I engaged the clam-shell. After the clam-shell, I shoot another target behind the barrels you can't see, then move to the left side of the barricade and shoot the near target, 3 shots at the swinger, and 2 shots at the last target behind the barrels. As I approached the first target I shot for scoring, I was baffled, I saw only one hole, I couldn't have missed that badly, but the safety officer pulled me in close and you could see the hole was elongated by two shots. I had key-holed the shot. It looked like a side-ways eight. That was pretty cool. Never done that before. Anyway, see video below.

No scores yet, but I'm not really competing with anyone but myself. Other than winding up with a crappy migraine, I had a great time and really enjoy hanging out with the folks who shoot IDPA. Well, that's it for me. Remember, shoot safe, shoot straight!

Saturday at the range 5-19-2012

Decided to hit the range for some therapy yesterday. Worked at 10 yards and my first 5 shots told me how the day was going to go. First shot, dead x. Next four shots, slowly trending low and left. I never really did get all that comfortable yesterday. Not really sure why. I spent most of my ammo working on head shots at 10 yards at a standard IDPA target. Out of roughly 125 rounds at the head, I had 3 miss to the left and around 20 in the low left 1 scoring zone. Definitely not what I wanted to see. I can say that I was picking up my speed a little more, so that my have had me slapping the trigger a little more.

I'm still using the stock trigger on the M&P 9mm which most people will tell you is about the worst thing about the gun. Smith and Wesson did a great job designing and building the gun, but left a lot to be desired on the trigger. Finding the reset of the stock trigger is probably even worst then the break of the trigger itself. One of these days, I may break down and get the Apex  Action Enhancement Kit, either duty or competition. I'd like to try them out first to see how they feel. I'm just worried about a sub three pound trigger pull of the competition kit. If I do the Apex kit, I'm definitely getting the Reset Assist Mechanism as well. That is one of the things I miss about the Glock 19 I had. The Glock had a very tactile reset. You could feel it and almost hear the reset. With the M&P, the reset is very mushy. The Apex RAM kit is supposed to fix that as well.

Anyway, that's it for me. Remember, shoot safe, shoot straight!

Scores in for CCSC 5-12-2012 match

Well, it was pretty much as ugly as I thought. Total match time was 129.83 seconds which was the worst of the stock service pistol marksman shooters. Raw time was 111.83 with 26 points down. I lost 21 points down on the first two stages which had all the movers. What this tells me is that my static work at the range is helping with my accuracy, but I have no real way to work on moving targets or shooting on the move at this point other than to keep shooting matches. I'm still following the advice of Morgan Allen which is to take my time and work on my accuracy and let the speed come with experience.

For stages 3-1, 3-2, and stage 4, I was only down a total of 5 points. Overall, it was pretty much what I expected. I was pretty slow on my times being the 41st out of 51 in overall time. As to accuracy I was the tied for 21st most accurate with 3 other shooters. Still, had a great time. Couldn't ask for better weather and as always, the people are the best thing about the sport. While they may be competing with you, they love to see you excel and get better.

Well, that's it for me. Remember, shoot safe, shoot straight!

IDPA match at CCSC 5-12-2012

Had a great time at Central Carolinas Shooting Club down in Edgemoor, South Carolina. Pretty challenging stages. Had another two firsts today, one of which I froze on, and one I did ok on, but could have done better. I didn't keep track of my times or scores and they're not posted yet, so I'll update them when they become available, but after stage 1 where I started, let's just say I won't be competing with anyone for winning any trophies anytime soon. I did meet some new people, one of which was Tony Hill who is also a member of the North Carolina Gun Owners website. It's nice to meet people in real life that you've seen postings from on a website. I also finally joined CCSC. I've been shooting there for a little over a year now and I've been meaning to join for a while, guess when I hurt my shoulder, I put everything on hold wondering if I was going to have to have surgery or not. Still not 100%, but I'd say I'm about 98%. Gets a little sore every now and again, but maybe that's just me getting a little bit older. I am working out with weights a little bit more and it seems like I don't get as sore with free weights as I do with the machines, so maybe I'll stay with those. So, I guess we can move on to the stages.

We did four bays yesterday with bay 3 having stages on it. Please excuse the videos, they again are done with my android phone and stage 2 was done from distance so you could see the double charger with the drop turner at the end. 

Stage 1: You started close up between two targets with one a little further away, at buzzer, you draw, and from retention(from the hip) shoot the two nearest targets in tactical sequence (each of the targets must be engaged with 1 shot before any target gets a second shot, commonly known as 1-2-1 for shooting the two targets). Then while retreating, engage the further target with two shots (if you don't shoot the target while retreating, you get a procedural penalty). After that, you withdraw back down the "hallway" being careful to keep your muzzle pointed downrange, look around the corner, engage target with two shots, move forward to next corner, engage steel popper which activate a killer clamshell (engaged target pops up, then a non threat covers it)and double-drop turner simultaneously. After those, you turn the corner and engage two more static targets. I did great on everything except the clamshell and double-drop turner. First shot on clamshell was a 0, second hit the non-threat, just way too fast and truth be told, I wasn't prepared for how fast it was, nor did I shoot it correctly. I waited for the target to come all the way up. I should have been shooting at it as it was rising. By the time I fired my second shot, the double-drop turner was already on it's second turn, so no chance to even shoot that. In any event, not a great way to start the day, but still a lot of fun. Here's the video of someone shooting it. He had a lot of problems with his gun, but did fine once he got it cleared.

Stage 2: You start in a doorway and flip on a light switch, in front of you is a low non-threat target about 3-4ft tall, the light switch activates a double charging target, when this reaches the end, it activates the drop turner. From there, you can go right or left, doesn't matter, I went left, through the window is a non-threat with two targets behind it, you have to shoot the two targets, slicing the pie as they become visible through the window. After that, move to the right, and shoot two targets, one low right and on it's side and cut out like a dog, and one between two barrels. Here is a video of one of our better shooters engaging the course of fire. Again, it's from a distance so you can see the chargers and the drop turner. 

Stage 3: The two "strings" on stage 3 were designed to be revolver friendly. There aren't many revolver shooters out there, but we do have a couple of dedicated revolver shooters and CCSC does a good job trying to set at least one stage that is revolver friendly. The first string on stage 3 has 3 targets, one is upright, one is at about 60 degrees, and on is on it's side on the ground. At buzzer, you draw, shoot two to the body of targets 1 and 2 and one to the head of target 3. For semi-auto shooters, our mags were down-loaded to 6 rounds. We could reload if we missed, but it wasn't really necessary. I don't think we had anyone that missed and I think only one person took an extra shot and only because they weren't sure their headshot was a good score. See video below:

Stage3 - String 2: Standing behind 3 barrels, gun in box, magazine loaded, no round in chamber, at buzzer, you draw, engage two nearest targets around the non-threat with 1 body shot, 1 head shot, then kneel and place two body shots to far target which was about 20 yards I guess. Again, a revolver friendly stage. Minimum round count was 6 and that is what most people did. Poor Damon in the video. Well, you'll see. He's a great shooter and he did excellent for what happened.

Stage 4: Nothing really major here, just a lot of movement. Only thing is at start, you are looking perpendicular to down range. At buzzer, draw and shoot the first two targets in tactical sequence (1-2-1), turn 180, shoot third target that is perpendicular to down range. Come to corner, shoot fourth target that is WAY down range (25 yards was my guess). Move forward, shoot fifth target on the right while moving. Stop before corner on left, and shoot sixth target to left around corner. Turn left down hallway to right corner and shoot seventh and eighth targets behind non-threat. Sounds easy, right? Description doesn't do it justice. I took two videos. One of a shooter running the course, and then a walk-through. See both below.

Well, that's it for me. Remember, shoot safe, shoot straight!

IDPA match at Mecklenburg Wildlife Defensive Shooters 4-28-2012

Finally got back on the horse and shot an IDPA match. I haven't shot an IDPA match since the February match at MWDS which was the classifier. Between weather and being sick most of the last 4-5 weeks, I just haven't much felt like getting outside and shooting. Anyway, it was another quality match put together by Bruce Hurt. It was six stages which had some interesting situations and a steel plate rack which I've never shot before and as bad as I shot it, hope I never have to shoot it again. I only got video of the first five stages and didn't get my times and scores. For the most part, my shooting was decent and I think my times were ok. I was mostly just wanting to get back out there and throw some lead down range and not break any safety rules. This was important as we had two people disqualified on the very first stage.

Stage 1 you are sitting facing uprange, your gun in a box, with 10 rounds in the mag, no rounds in the chamber and your mags on a table. At signal, you get up, go to the table, stow your mags, chamber a round and engage two targets from the table. From there, you move up, and engage three targets in the first room, then two targets in the second room, and finally one target in the last room. Sounds easy, right? Well, I brain farted this course of fire. I did everything right up to the first room. Shot the first two targets just fine and forgot about the third target. Moved on and finished the course of fire. So, procedural penalty, -10 for completely missing the target, and a failure to neutralize. Nice way to start the day. Anyway, here is a video of one of our revolver shooters running the stage. He did a really nice job.

Stage 2 was just a bunch of targets behind hard cover that you had to shoot from behind cover. Differing amounts of each target was available to shoot. Didn't have too much of an issue with this course of fire. I was all zero's and one's with one score of two on this course of fire. I had been working on my head shots at the range last week, so I think that really helped out here. See the video. I think I may have cut off a bit short, but you'll get the basic idea.

Stage 3 had you again facing up range, you turned, drew your weapon and fired at three targets in sequence 1-1-2-1-1, each target gets one shot before any target gets a second shot. From there, you move to cover and shoot each of three more targets from cover with two shots each. Sorry about the video. Lots of people moving around.

Stage 4 had 9 targets and was shot under Vickers scoring. What this means is that you can ONLY shoot the prescribed number of shots per target. No makeup shots. Basically, 3 targets right, 3 targets left, and 3 targets further downrange. You draw and shoot in any order, but 3 targets to either side have to be strong hand only, weak hand only, and the 3 targets downrange are free-style (two handed). I did ok here except for my last shot weak hand. I pulled it right and off the target for a miss. Was really my only bad shot all day except for not shooting that target on stage one. I really need to work on my one handed shooting. Anyway, here is a video of stage 4. Kinda hard to get in all the targets, so sorry for the quality.

Stage 5 had a first for me. It was a steel plate rack with 6 steel plates. After shooting those, you step on an activator panel which releases a swinging no shoot, move to cover and shoot 3 targets while slicing the pie with the no shoot swinging in front of them. What should, if you are a good shot, take you 12 rounds to shoot took me 21 rounds. I missed the first steel plate with 4 rounds. Seems I was high and left with is completely out of character for me. If I miss, 99.999% it's low left. I'm "Grand-Master Flinch" which causes you to pull low left. Anyway, I got through it. It was ugly, but I got through it. Not sure the distance, but I'd guess it was between 12-15 yards for the plates. Guess I need to work those distances a bit more. 

Finally, there was stage 6. Stage 6 was 9 targets. All of which must have been shot from cover. Unfortunately, I don't have video for you, but the first 5 targets are shot from the starting area with four of them at around 7-10 yards and one of them probably 20-25 yards. Reload, move up to cover spot two, shoot 3 more targets in various levels of cover, one of which only gave you basically the head and shoulders to shoot at, and finally, move forward and left to shoot at one more target at basically arms length around a barricade. So, nine, targets, 18 round minimum. I shot 21 rounds total. I know I shot 3 at the long distance target, and 3 at the head of the head and shoulders target because I wasn't sure I had hit it twice. Can't remember where the third extra round went. I'm checking with my friends on North Carolina Gun Owners to see if anyone else has video of stage 6. If they do, I'll update this post and add it. 

Well, that's it for me. Had a great time again at Mecklenburg Wildlife Defensive Shooters. They  put on another great match as usual. 

Remember, shoot safe, shoot straight!

Sunday at the range

Decided to do a little shooting today with my youngest son. He was a little let down today as he expected to pickup a new video game today, but alas, it releases on Tuesday, so to pick him up, I decided to break out the CMMG M4 with conversion and let him shoot that while I worked on head shots with my M&P 9mm.

We set the target out to 10 yards and I let him blast away with the rifle. I put 59 out of 60 rounds into the head area of a standard IDPA target with one just low and outside of scoring. After that, we moved the target out to 15 yards and continued our shooting. I fired off another 50 rounds at the head and well, the results weren't nearly as good. I only had 34 out of 50 in the head box. Out of the 16 that missed though, 7 were just outside of scoring but on target, seven would have been total misses of the target, and two were dropped well low, but on target. Of those total miss 7, 5 were high, but within 2-3 inches of scoring, 1 was left within 2 inches of scoring and 1 was a Scott Norwood "Wide Right" Superbowl miss by about 4 inches.

Overall, while not happy with the 15 yards shooting, I wasn't un-pleased. I could feel the tension coming up as I took longer and longer to try to line up the shots and my sights would get more fuzzy. I'm hoping that by focusing on a smaller target at a longer distance, it will help me focus on the center mass at shorter distances and make the target seem larger. Well, psychologically speaking, that's the hope :)

That's it for me! Remember, shoot safe, shoot straight!

2011 IDPA World shoot dominated by Glock and S&W

I kinda figured they would be the predominant firearms used in the 2011 IDPA World Championship and it's true. Turns out that 67% of the competitors used Glock and Smith and Wesson firearms in the competition. You can find a total break down on the IDPA blog site here: http://www.idpa.com/blog/post/2012/04/20/Glock-and-SW-Make-Up-67-of-IDPA-World-Shoot-Guns.aspx

That's it for me. Remember, shoot safe, shoot straight!

Wow, it's been a while

Guess it's been a while since I posted. Not much going on. I haven't done an IDPA match since my last qualifier. This time of year, I always wind up with allergies, sinus infections, strep throat, thrush, etc and this year is no different. I should know some time on Monday if I have strep throat or not once the results come back from the lab. I think it's thrust (trench mouth) which I had been dealing with and almost had gotten rid of and then it came back with a vengeance. Don't know why.

Also have an update on the migraine front. For those who may have been reading for a while, you know I'm a chronic migraine sufferer and definitely get them when outside in the heat and sun. Well, a month ago, I had a migraine every day for almost a week and a half and I had had it at that point. I went to the doctor and we decided to try one more medication before going to a neurologist. I'm not taking the generic version of Topamax twice a day and it is definitely making a huge difference. I have kept a migraine log for the last four weeks and I usually need to take about 8-12 migraine pills over a 4 week period. This period, I've needed 6, and 4 of those were in the first two week and were for 2 migraines. Success! I even get workout induced migraines and have been pushing my workouts harder. I did get a migraine after my last kick butt workout, but was able to manage it with regular pain reliever, relaxing meditation music and just cool air and some darkness. Much better than in the past where I would have been popping $15 pills and curling up in the fetal position wanting to die.

So, now, back on to what this blog is all about, which is shooting and yes, while I haven't been shooting IDPA matches, I have  been shooting. I've shot every weekend for the last month, just working on my fundamentals and for fun, did shoot my first bowling pin match. That was a lot of fun. I actually won the "B" group of the shooters there. Had a clean first run under 7 seconds (6.7), but pretty much fumbled after that. Still, had a great time with the folks over at Elite Training Academy in Indian Trail.

I also decided to trade in my Glock 19. It's not that I didn't like the Glock 19, I did, but sometimes it felt like when you hit a lamppost with an aluminum baseball bat. My hands would ring after shooting it quickly. I also felt that the transition from my IDPA weapon which is a full size Smith and Wesson M&P 9mm to the Glock 19 left a little bit to be desired, so I found a fellow shooter over on the North Carolina Gun Onwers website and we swapped firearms. He got the Glock 19 and I got his M&P9c. I now carry the 9c regularly. I did get some X-grip adapters so I can use the full size mags in her which gives me 17 rounds. Also seemed to balance it out a bit for me to. I shot both today switching between them at the range. Other than the sight radius being different and the center of gravity being a bit off, they both shoot fairly similarly.

Well, the plan is to shoot next Saturday at the IDPA match at Central Carolinas Shooting Club down in Rock Hill next weekend. Hopefully I'll have an update for you after that.

That's it for me. Remember, shoot safe, shoot straight!

Saturday at the range.

Went to Elite Training yesterday to do some shooting. As I didn't do very well the last classifier with my M&P, I thought I'd work on my Glock 19 to see how it did. I also dragged my wife along with me. If you've been keeping up with my story, you know my wife did some shooting with me very early in our relationship, so she's not a stranger to shooting, she just doesn't do it very often.

So, yesterday, we went with my Glock and my friends Ruger Security Six .357 revolver. I had my M&P along as well. We shot between 5-10 yards for the day. Using a standard B-27 target, I shot the head while my wife shot the body. She took her time and put all 50 .38 special rounds onto target, with the bulk being in the 8-X rings. Pretty awesome shooting for someone who hasn't picked up a gun since this time last year. I also had her shoot my M&P with the smallest grip adapter installed and the Glock 19 (third gen). The revolver didn't bother her shooting in single action, but the double action pull was tough for me to try, so I didn't even have her try it. The pistols though both her the web of her hand and her thumb. Seems they're just too wide for her. It's tough finding a pistol that fits her as she's only 4'11" and has small hands. I'd like to find a 9mm for her to shoot that fits well enough as .38 special ammo is not the cheapest stuff around.

As to my shooting, I put roughly 75 out of 80 rounds into the head of the target with semi-rapid shooting. I may have broken the rules a bit by shooting more than 1 round per second, but at most I did 3 rounds every 2 seconds. So, I guess I'll try the Glock at my next classifier. I may go and shoot another 100 rounds today just to get some more trigger time behind it.

Well, that is it for me. Remember, shoot safe, shoot straight!

Classifier at MWDS - 2-25-2012

Oh well, it did not go as well as I had hoped. They had the classifier as part of a match which wasn't a problem, but I got stuck on a squad which started off on the 20 yard part of the classifier (hardest stage). It started bad and went downhill from there. I was the third shooter and the only words for the day were ugly, ugly, ugly. There ain't no alibi, it was ugly.

Based on what I scored and timed, I think I finished about 7 seconds slower than my last classifier. Still well within the Marksman class, but rough anyway.

I have another chance at the classifier at CCSC in two weeks. Think I'll give the M&P a break for a while and warm up my Glock 19, just to see how it feels to shoot.

Guess I can't complain too much, a bad day at a competition still beats a good day at work.

Anyway, that's it for me. Remember, shoot safe, shoot straight!

IDPA Classifiers coming up

Mecklenburg Wildlife Defensive Shooters are having their IDPA classifier on Saturday, February 25th. Also, Central Carolinas Shooting Club is having their IDPA classifier on Saturday, March 10th.

Made Marksman class last time in October, shooting for Sharpshooter this year.

Here's a video of someone shooting the classifier:

Remember, shoot safe, shoot straight!

IDPA Match at Central Carolinas Shooting Club 2-11-2012 Part 2

Continued...

Stage 4 - This stage consisted of 3 paper targets which are engaged with 2 rounds each. Minimum round count was 6, but you could make up shots. In this stage, you are simulating speaking to 911 when you have to engage 3 targets with strong hand only. I am NOT very good with one hand only shooting. I shot this stage in 8.04 seconds and down 4 points for a total time of 10.04 seconds.

Stage 5 - This stage consisted of 1 steel target at the end of a "hallway" and 5 paper targets spread out on each side of the hallway as you advanced. Each paper target received two body shots and one head shot for a minimum round count of 16. I shot an extra 3 shots on the paper targets to the right. For some reason, I have a hard time aiming around the left sides of barricades. Something I need to work on. Anyway, I finished this at a snails pace of 50.03 seconds and down 1 point for a total of 50.53 seconds.

And finally, we have a walk-through of stage 5. Always tough to see what's happening when you video from behind, so Deb walked it for me and showed each target.

So, final tally. Minimum round count was 63 of which I took 70 shots. My raw time was 133.42 and I was down 6 points (add 3 seconds) and had 1 hit on a non-threat (add 5 seconds) for a total time of 141.42.

Hope you all enjoy the videos. I'll hopefully be shooting at the next Mecklenburg Wildlife Defensive Shooters match which will be a classifier. Maybe this time I can do better and move up from Marksman to Sharpshooter.

Well, that's it for me today. Remember, shoot safe, shoot straight!

IDPA Match at Central Carolinas Shooting Club 2-11-2012 Part 1

Had a fun time at the match today at CCSC. Good amount of people which kind of surprised me as there is a fairly major match going on up by Raleigh this weekend. I think we still had close to 60 shooters. Weather complied with us, but was a bit chilly and windy. Even got a few flakes of snow and then some frozen rain for about a minute or so.

Anyway, here are the first 4 courses of fire.

Stage 1 - Mix of paper and steel targets. Seventeen round minimum count to engage 6 paper and 3 steel targets. One steel target was an activator for a drop turner. Videos, compliments of my lovely wife are of me shooting! Yay. This one cut off about 5 seconds early. I thought I was done, but had one more target just around the corner of the barrel. You'll see it to the left at the end. I finished this stage in 32.99 seconds and no points down.

Stage 2 - Six paper targets of which one is a pop-up target that is activated by opening the door. Total round count was 12 for this stage of which I shot 15. I shot an extra shot at one of the first 3 targets, one at the long range target, and one at the target behind the no threat (black hands target). Finished in 29.05 seconds, with one point down, but just barely hit the non-threat target, so that cost me 5.5 additional seconds for a total of 34.55 seconds.

Stage 3 - This stage was shot in two strings of 6 shots each (limited, can't shoot any more than 6).

First string had you engage the center target first with one shot, then each of the other two targets with one shot, before each target received a 2nd shot. This was a clean run for me at 6.3 seconds with no points down.

The second string was about the same as the first, except you engage each target with one body shot and one head shot. Again, you had to start with the center target first and then each of the next two targets. This was again a clean run with no points down at a time of 6.74 seconds.

Hope you all enjoy the videos. I'll hopefully be shooting at the next Mecklenburg Wildlife Defensive Shooters match which will be a classifier. Maybe this time I can do better and move up from Marksman to Sharpshooter.

Well, that's it for me today. Remember, shoot safe, shoot straight!

Four questions to ask yourself when choosing a holster

Nice little article on guns.com about holster selection. For readers note: my concealed carry holster is a Crossbreed Supertuck Deluxe for my Glock 19 and my competition holsters are Bladetech Revolution for my Smith and Wesson M&P 9mm and one for my Glock 19.

Find the article here: http://www.guns.com/questions-buying-concealed-carry-holster.html

Remember, shoot safe, shoot straight!

MWDS scores in from 1/29/2012 match

Not too bad. I finished up at 142.92 seconds and down 21 points across the 6 stages.

Stage 1 - 23.53 seconds and down 7 (this was the strong hand/weak hand shooting stage. thought I did much worse than I did.)

Stage 2 - 24.41 seconds and down 0

Stage 3 - 26.45 seconds and down 5 (this was my last stage where I got the procedural after having to re-start it).

Stage 4 - 18.78 seconds and down 0

Stage 5 - 32.70 seconds and down 9

Stage 6 - 17.05 seconds and down 0

So, those down 0 stages would be my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th down 0 stages. Yay for accuracy!

Overall, I was the 21st most accurate shooter out of 103 and the 9th most accurate stock service pistol shooter.

Overall I was the 62nd in time and was 32nd out of 58 SSP (stock service pistol) shooters.

Well, that's it for now. Have another match this weekend at Central Carolinas Shooting Club. Have a great week and remember, Shoot Safe, Shoot Straight!

Sunday at the range

So, after a lot of fun on Saturday at the Mecklenburg Wildlife Defensive Shooters IDPA match, I decided to go to the range and shoot my rifle. For those that haven't read past posts, I purchased a CMMG M4LE 5.56 carbine. Love shooting it, but the closest range where I can shoot 5.56 is about 40 miles away. So, I went in search of the CMMG .22lr conversion kit and found it on sale at CDNNinvestments.com. Not only was the price better than what I could find locally, but it also came with a free 25 round magazine. Sweet! It was also only $6 shipping. If I could have found it at or close to that price, I would have bought it locally, but alas, it was not to be.

So, I loaded up the gun, conversion kit, and my oldest son who likes shooting rifles more than pistols which my youngest son likes. We went to Elite Training Academy which is just a few miles from the house with a brand new  Winchester Whitebox .22lr value box. $22 for 550 rounds isn't too bad a deal. We loaded up the magazines (I have two with the free one) and proceeded to have some fun. One thing we noted was one magazine was much more difficult to eject than the other. Well, eject isn't really the right word. I had to hold the rifle and the mag release button while my son pulled it out with both hands. After doing that twice, we just decided to use the one mag until I could figure out what was wrong.

As we were shooting, another father came in with his teenage daughter and son who was around 9 years old. The son noticed that we were shooting an "ar-15" and was very intersted. I'd see him out of the corner of my eye when he wasn't shooting with his father. Eventually he came up and asked if we were shooting an ar-15 and I said yes we were and if it was ok with his father, he was more than welcome to shoot it. Zoom! Off he goes, "Dad, I need your help!, Dad, I need your help!". I could only smile seeing the enthusiasm. He spoke to his father who came down and introduced himself. I let him know that his son and daughter were welcome to shoot the rifle as well as the father. The son came down first and we let him shoot off 20 rounds. The smile on his face couldn't have gotten much bigger. He was afraid there'd be some recoil, but I put him at ease. Soon after, the daughter came down who was also concerned about recoil, but I let her know that with the rounds we were shooting, it would be negligible. After shooting, she was very happy with a big smile and a thank-you.

What turned out to start was just some quality father-son time turned into a great day for us and some young shooters which made me feel even better. Seeing the huge smile on his face was a great reward for me.

Well, that's it for me. Remember, shoot safe, shoot straight!

**Oh, and the magazine that was sticking? Fixed that by removing two tabs on it. Smoothly ejects our normally now. I didn't figure the CMMG magazine would have issues ejecting out of a CMMG rifle, but the tabs were installed for other manufacturers. Go figure.

Saturday match at MWDS

This past Saturday, we had a great match at Mecklenburg Wildlife Defensive Shooters. At last count, they had 103 shooters which may have been a record. The weather was beautiful with lots of sun, bright blue skies, and the smell of gunpowder. For as many shooters as we had, we still finished in around 4.5 hours.

MWDS always puts on decent matches and this one was no exception. Scores aren't available yet, but we had a lot of fun. Not much movement on this match, but lots of head shots and some strong and weak hand only shooting. I didn't pay much attention to my scores as this is the first "match" that I've shot since early December and I've only shot a couple hundred rounds since then. This match was mostly about accuracy and not breaking the rules. I did fine all the way up until the 6th stage. Wound up with my only procedural of the day. Everything else was good. No safety rules broken, no hits on a non-threat, and no misses.

I wanted to start on stage one and work my way through, unfortunately, stage 1 was booked, so I moved over and started on stage four. So, stage four had you facing four targets at about 4-5 yards, draw and shoot each target once, then each target twice, and finally one head shot for each target. Below is the video for stage 4. Sorry I missed the beginning.

Stage 5 had you shooting at targets at approximately 15 yards. Starting behind a barricade (like the qualifier), you drew your weapon and shot twice at each of 3 targets, perform a tactical reload with retention, and fire at the 3 targets again from the other side.Again, no real problems here. See video below:

Stage 6 was a sitting stage. From a seated position, you drew your weapon, and fired two shots at the threat target first (behind and between the two no-threat targets), then engaged the other 5 targets with two shots each. Below you can see one of our fastest shooters take care of the "problem". 

Back up the hill and down the hill to stage 1. This was a one-handed stage. From approximately 7-8 yards, you draw and shoot one handed, 3 shots at each target, tactical reload with retention, and then shoot 3 shots at each target with your other hand. This wasn't a great stage for me as I don't shoot a lot of one handed rounds. It was good in the fact that I didn't miss any shots with all 12 on target. I think I was down 5 of one target and 7 on the other target. I again took video of one of our best shooters which can be seen below:

Stage two was the first movement stage for us. From behind the barricade, you draw and shoot two shots to the body and one shot to the head of each target while "slicing the pie", move forward, and shoot two shots to the body and one shot to the head of the next two targets. Had to be cognizant of moving forward in that you don't go out too wide and become open to the far targets. See video below, again, sorry I got it started a bit late. Shooting video on my android does leave a bit of lag between pushing record and it starting.

And finally on to stage 3. This is the stage I flubbed. The scenario is this. You are at an ATM machine taking a withdrawal when you are confronted by 3 thugs with an innocent by stander close by. Your turn, draw your weapon, shoot the thugs in any order, but 1 shot each before following up with a 2nd shot. Then move forward to the end of the wall and shoot two shots at each of four targets. Oh, and they switch the non-threat out for each shooter. Basically they had a pair of hands painted on cardboard and hung it around the necks of a different target for each shooter. Unfortunately, by this time I was a bit tired and had a migraine coming up. Didn't help that my gun locked up tight after firing the first 3 rounds at each target. The spent casing must've swelled up to much to be extracted and the next round nose-dived under it. Slide was locked back fully and the mag wouldn't eject. I attempted the standard tap and rack maneuver, but the slide was going no where and I couldn't get the magazine out of it. After the safety office called stop and we were discussing what happened, I managed to get the magazine out, but was totally frazzled at that point. 

Anyway, because it was a club match and not sanctioned, they did allow me to re-shoot it. Unfortunately, I forgot about engaging each target once before the follow up shots. Turned, drew my weapon, and fired 6 beautiful down zero shots, but not in the prescribed manner for my procedural error. Moved to the end of the barricade and finished with 8 good shots at the other four targets. I believe I was down a total of 2 points this stage, but add in the procedural and it was easily the worst stage for me. Please excuse the video. It was rough trying to find an angle to get the targets inside the ATM bay and still get the 4 outside the bay, but I did the best I could. See below:

Well, that's it for me. Hope everyone had a great weekend. Remember, shoot safe, shoot straight!

**Forgot to add that MWDS is going to have a classifier next month for those who need to qualify or re-qualify. It will most likely be held on Sunday instead of Saturday.**

Support Starbucks on Valentines Day

So, apparently Starbucks has a policy of not banning concealed or open carry on the premises. Unfortunately, the National Gun Victims Action Council has decided that Starbucks needs to be boycotted on Valentines Day to push Starbucks to change their policy. So, I thought it would be a great idea if we as a gun community were to support Starbucks on that day. I know I'm going to make sure to visit that day and get a coffee while carrying. Hope many of you will join me.

See the mis-guided NGVAC article here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/01/23/4208271/starbucks-pro-gun-policy-prompts.html

That's it for me. Remember, shoot safe, shoot straight!

Customer shoots robbery suspect.

Score one for the good guys. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46084559/ns/local_news-charlotte_nc/#.TxweuqW0xqA

Customer shoots robbery suspect at SC Waffle Shop

SPARTANBURG, SC (AP) -- Authorities say a customer at a South Carolina Waffle shop pulled a gun and shot one of two men trying to rob the restaurant.

The Greenville News reports (http://grnol.co/AkoQDk ) that the shooting took place early Saturday morning inside a Waffle Shop off Interstate 85 in Spartanburg County.

Coroner Rusty Clevenger identified the dead man as 19-year-old Dante Lamont Williams of Roebuck, who was shot in the head and body.

Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright declined to identity the customer, citing concerns for his safety. Authorities said the customer had a concealed weapon permit and tried to hold the two men at gunpoint until officers arrived, but that one suspect began to point his gun at the customer, who then fired shots. The second robber fled and is being sought by authorities.

Good article about a woman and her introduction to firearms.

I thought this was a good article about a woman taking her first training class and her experiences. Make sure to leave positive comments for her at the end. She still has some "fear" issues and could use our support.

Should I buy a gun?

That's it for me. Remember to shoot safe, shoot straight!

Tagging Gun Owners

Had heard about this happening to a match here in NC a couple of months ago. Thought maybe it was a one time occurrence. Guess not.

Warning: Tagging Gun Owners
Posted on January 4, 2012 by Georgetown PD

Gun lovers public service announcement: While I was in a Texas gun store today, my car was tagged on the wheel in the parking lot. The gangs do this on wheels or bumpers at gun stores, shooting ranges, gun shows etc. Later when you are parked at a restaurant, hotel, or other location that’s less well guarded or under video surveillance, other gang members spot the marker and break into the car for a quick gun grab. This is so RAMPANT in San Antonio where we were for a National shoot this summer, the Sheriff of Bexar County came out to brief the 400 participants of our competition. Too bad three teams had already been victimized the first day. This is the first I’ve heard of this in Texas. Please pass this info along to your 2nd amendment list. Daily check you car, truck or motor home for unusual painted dots, marks, check marks or other strange looking symbols that are not normal to your type vehicle. It could prevent you from being a victim of robbery, or even save your life if you catch the thief in the act.
This next comment from a Gun Site instructor:
I don’t know how widespread this is becoming, but the info regarding the NSCA Nationals in San Antonio is correct, as all of us who compete in sporting clays know. Competitors there were having their vehicles marked with a small adhesive dot on the rear license plate or rear bumper, then followed for miles and having their vehicles quickly and efficiently broken in to when parked for lunch etc.
Some crews were working the parking lot at the Nationals itself. 27 high end shotguns were taken there recently. They know when 1400 shooters with high $$ competition guns are in town.
BTW I shot with a young man who was trying out a new gun at the Nationals. He and his father lost all their guns and equipment while making a quick stop for lunch at a BBQ place in Corpus Christi the month before.

Remember, shoot safe, shoot straight!

Out with the old, in with the new....... not really

So, I was supposed to shoot the club match at Central Carolinas Shooting Club this past Saturday. Supposed was the optimum word. Let's face it, I'm a wuss when it comes to cold weather and it wasn't getting above 40 until early afternoon according to weather.com, so I stayed all snug in my bed with about 4 blankets covering me up and slept in.

So, instead of shooting on Saturday, and lord knows I couldn't shoot on Sunday with two NFL playoff games going on, I decided to shoot on Monday which was a holiday for me.This is where the "out with the old, in with the new" kinda comes into play. No, I didn't get rid of anything, just didn't shoot it as much, but I did get to shoot something new.

I had been saving up for a M4/AR15 rifle as I want to get into rifle matches and 3gun matches in the future. I didn't want to spend a lot of money, because lets face it, I'm not going to be shooting professionally for any major manufacturer and traveling around the United States on someone else's dime. At most, I might travel to Virginia and Maryland where I have family or South Carolina because it's not far away. Anyway, for the price I was looking to spend, there were several vendors available. I finally decided on a CMMG M4LE in 5.56 nato. With shipping included, I believe the price was $714.

So, I received the gun just about two weeks ago and boy was I hopped up to shoot it, but something strange happened. I went to several gun shops, Walmart, and Dicks Sporting Goods and you know what? Everyone was out of 5.56 and .223 Remington ammo. Guess with all the guns purchased for Christmas, that everyone bought up all the ammo as well. I can tell you from experience, it's not real fun when you have a new toy and can't play with it. Anyway, I ordered 500 rounds of .223 Remington from USAAMMO.com and received it a couple of days ago.

So, I went to Shooters Express in Belmont which is the only place I know where I can shoot a rifle that won't cost me an arm and both legs to shoot at to become a member (Charlotte Rifle and Pistol Club), or have a fairly long waiting list (Mecklenburg Wildlife Club). Now Shooters Express does have a couple of rifle lanes, but they're only out to 25 yards. Good enough for me as I haven't shot a rifle since 1991 and have never shot an M4/AR15. So, I send my Osama Bin Zombie target out to 25 yards, load up my rifle, sight in and fire. Hmmm, not much of a kick. Didn't really expect it with a .223 remington round, but definitely different than shooting an M14. So, after 10 rounds, I bring the target back and find all my shots low. Still on the target and definitely taking out major organs, but not where I was aiming. Helps when you use the center sight and not the protective flanges around the sight. DOH!

Next 10 rounds are much better, basically right around the lower sternum area, but not where I'm aiming, so I adjust and fire the next 20 rounds right through the center mass heart area, as if a zombie has a working heart. I know, I know, why am I shooting a zombie in the heart. Well, I'm saving the head for my pistol work. Anyway, these first 40 rounds are shot free style, standing up and holding the rifle. Finished up with the 10 low rounds and the next 30 in the area of roughly a baseball. I shot the last 10 rounds seated and using a table for support. Still not off a sandbag, but supported anyway. These last 10 rounds made a nice group roughly the size of a golf-ball with several holes touching. Sweet. Again, it's only 25 yards, but hey, let's let some success stand.

Now I pull my Osama Bin Zombie target up to 10 yards and load up my Smith and Wesson M&P 9mm. I had forgotten that with my new trigger pull, I'm shooting a little high. Remembered that when I saw my first couple of rounds slightly high, but definitely taking the turban off. Accounted for the new trigger pull and finished off my box of 50 Speer Lawman 115gr FMJ. Nice group. Threw a couple outside, but all 49 out of 50 were in the space of a softball with most of them in the size of a baseball. Nicely centered too.

Finished up, packed everything up and went to browse in the store. Found lots of nice eye candy, but they were crowded, so didn't ask to see anything. Been looking for a new range bag. My current bag is a canvas gym bag. Poor thing is not designed to hold up to carrying a couple hundred rounds of ammo, couple of pistols, ear protection, safety glasses and such and is starting to break down. Also looked at the rifle cases as well to see what they have. Right now I'm still transporting my rifle in the cardboard box, and frankly, that's just not cool. So, if anyone has a recommendation for a good value range bag and rifle case, sound off! It would be much appreciated.

That's it for me. Remember, shoot safe, shoot straight!